Couple of Cupcakes

Yesterday I made cupcakes. I used the one-bowl chocolate cupcakes recipe from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. I had issues with this recipe in the past and that's why I wanted to try it again. Overall, the results this time were better than before, but there are points that I would like to tweak in the future.

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The batter is pretty runny, unlike the batters that are between runny and muffin batter, which I prefer. If you were to pour the batter from a spoon, it would flow like juice opposed to flowing like ribbons, or however it's supposed to flow.

You have to only fill these two-thirds full unless you want it to overflow in a volcano-like mess. I filled these probably a little too much, though it worked out fine because I didn't overfill it to the extent I did in my pre-blog era. This is where I'd tweak it, decreasing the water slightly to make a somewhat thicker batter and to decrease the amount. It was supposed to yield 2 dozen, but I got 26 and enough extra to fill all the cups a little more. I couldn't use another tin since I only have one oven. (In my dream kitchen I want two restaurant-style ovens with gas burners.)

I blurred out the brand name of my toaster oven enough so that I cover any legal troubles.
Just kidding, that was unintentional.

In this picture, you see the baked cupcakes that have risen quite nicely, extending over the holes enough to add character without saying that I'm a horrid baker.

What you are looking at to the left is pretty much self-explanatory -- the cupcakes outside of the tin.

And if you noticed, it's sunken a bit. That's because the recipe says to switch the tins on the top to the bottom rack of the oven halfway through baking. I've never had success doing so, which is why I waited until later on in the baking time, nearish the end. It didn't work. I think my oven is too creaky and "bumps" when I closed the door that resulted in fallen cupcakes. And maybe it's me. I should have left well enough alone since it was baking nicely anyway.

I wanted to really go all the way with these cupcakes, so I made a simple vanilla buttercream frosting (actually, half butter, half Smart Balance shortening). I don't think I added enough vanilla extract because it kind of sort of just tasted sweet. But still good. Since I don't like too-sweet things. It came out really well, smooth and thick.

Does this picture look better?

These are half of the frosted cupcakes. (Frosted sounds better than iced -- I picture trees at Christmastime "frosted" with snow.) I dolloped some frosting in the middle and spread outwards, keeping a mound in the middle and thinning it out a bit at the edges. My aim was to create swirls on top. Don't they look nice? I could have stopped there, but did I? NOOOOOO.

I wanted to make them even prettier by drizzling MELTED CHOCOLATE... on top... OH yeAH!!!! (I'm "yelling" now...)

This is a close-up on an individual cupcake. MY cupcake, the cupcake I would eventually eat. It's pretty, and I like the peak of frosting at the tippy-top that was happened to be perfectly topped with drizzled chocolate. I didn't do that on purpose. If I tried to do so, it would have failed. That's just how I am.

This really reminds me of a ballerina's tutu. That's why I took this picture, and that's why I almost didn't eat it, it was so pretty. But... it occurred to me that the cupcake was DEAD. So I ate it. After this:

After I took the innards shot, that is. Can you see the billowyness of the frosting? And the cupcake was very moist.

My overall thoughts were that the frosting seemed to overpower the cupcake, because when I took a bite all I could taste was the sweetness of the frosting. Maybe I didn't redistribute it properly. Also, when I took a bite of the top edge, it kind of took away from the textural taste because it was between crunchy and soft, but not quite rubbery. Most likely a result of overcooking a bit and accidentally keeping them in the tins too long.

I had fun making these and I'll bake something soon so I can share it with you all again. :)

Everest Biscuits

I have a request for my biscuit recipe. I want everyone to be able to make stellar biscuits and I hope you'll try this recipe.

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Rumford Baking Powder Biscuits
Recipe from the back of a Rumford Baking Powder tin

Ingredients -

4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2/3 cup shortening (I use Smart Balance)
1 1/3 cup milk
(you might need a little more milk to make it cohesive enough to shape)

Directions -

1. Heat oven to 425˚. If you have cast iron skillets, put about a tablespoon of shortening each in 3 10-inch skillets and place in the oven to heat while preparing the dough. I use a 10 1/2-inch, an 8 1/2-inch, and a 6-inch skillet because that's what I have. If you don't have any cast iron skillets, grease a large cookie sheet and set aside. Or, use the cast iron skillet and a cookie sheet if you haven't enough skillets.


2. Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together. Cut in shortening until mixture is like coarse corn meal (if some pea-size chunks remain, that's okay). Add milk, stirring it in quickly with a fork, to form a soft dough. (If a large portion of the dough is still crumbly and not dough-like, add a tablespoon or so more of milk.


3. Turn dough out onto lightly-floured surface; knead about 1/2 minute. Roll 1/2 inch thick, or slightly taller (Update: To get the height you might want to pat the dough out to about 3/4" or even 1". Also, baking them close together sort of helps them "grab hold" of something and bake up instead of out.); cut with 2-inch cutter dipped in flour (I use both a 2-inch and a 1 1/2-inch cutter). Place fairly close together in the skillets or on the cookie sheet (about 1/4" apart) (you can also brush the tops with melted butter if you like) bake about 12 minutes. Serve hot.

Randomness and Peach Salsa

This is the post where I put pictures of foods I have eaten but didn't give a separate post. And a running update at the end.

Stellar peach salsa with homemade pita chips. The recipe, which I will include, is really simple and very versatile with the ingredients. There wasn't any single flavor, but rather it was as salsa should be, which is all the flavors melding and complimenting each other. Even the skeptics ("Okay, what should I pretend the peaches are?") were highly impressed.

This has to be the best snack I ever bought. It's coconut-flavored rice crackers from my local oriental market where I buy my rice from. It cost 79¢ for a 5 oz. bag. The texture of the rice isn't like regular rice cakes, which can be chewy. Rather, these were thoroughly crispy. I could taste the coconut because I've eaten unsweetened coconut before and made a note of the flavor, otherwise it might not taste much like it if you're used to sweet coconut. There is sugar, just not very much (it's listed in the ingredients list but not in the nutrition facts under "sugar"). The square-like crackers has a powdery coating that makes it not entirely eat-in-the-car-while-you-should-be-driving friendly, though if you don't care about that, or the fact it might get all over the car if one isn't careful, I swear it's better than chips and you should get it, because this was on the verge of sweet and seemingly savory without a salty taste.

What you see there is exactly what you think it is -- a hunk of beef. This was just seasoned and rubbed with a little tomato paste (I think), then cooked over low heat with a little water added for a couple of hours. The result was a tender, falling apart-as-you-cut-it chunk of beef with very flavorful beef broth. Perfect taco filling with warm corn tortillas with salsa verde on top.

**Running Update**

I've been doing the 5 minutes running, 2 1/2 walking x4 this past week, but on Wednesday I started getting a bit discouraged at the whole thing. Sooo... On Friday I decided to give my ego a boost and just run 3 miles. And I mean run, well, slow jog, basically I'm not walking. I finished 23 seconds over 30 minutes. That's pretty good for not running in four months, though this wasn't about the time, I was just letting myself know I still have it and I'm not terribly far off from where I was.

I might run today, though I might not. If I don't today I will tomorrow, back to my regularly scheduled run.

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Peach Salsa
Recipe by Christina Provo

Ingredients -

3 large peaches, peeled, pitted, chopped
1/4 c. finely diced red bell pepper (I used green)
1/4 c. chopped red onion (I used white)
2 TB fresh lime juice
2 TB chopped fresh cilantro (I forgot the cilantro but it didn't ruin it)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded (minced is optional)
(I added a can of rinsed black beans)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions -

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and serve immediately (or can be refrigerated up to 2 days).

Possible Uses:
-spoon over grilled fish or shrimp or sauteed w/ scallops
-spoon over toasted baguette slices w/ cream cheese or goat cheese
-use w/ chips as a dip!