billy's vanilla cupcakes

You may be wondering who Billy is and why I'm posting about his cupcakes. Or you might know that Billy didn't make this particular batch of cupcakes, but he did create the recipe.

On a Martha Stewart show about cupcakes, one of the recipes she features was from a guy named Billy who owns two bakeries in NYC. What intrigued me about his particular recipe was his method of combining the ingredients, that method being the butter being beat into the dry ingredients before adding the liquid ingredients. What's the difference between this and the traditional creaming method? Cassie from How To Eat A Cupcake explains in this post of hers, which you won't click until you finish reading mine. Summing it up, I call it the "insurance" method because there's less of a chance of ruining the cake by over-mixing the batter since the development of gluten is delayed. Or something.

What brings me back to this recipe whenever the desire strikes for vanilla cupcakes is the velvety, billowy texture of the batter. It's beautiful, really, and even if I didn't care for cupcakes at all and threw away the batter after making it, I'd keep making it just so I can stare at the awesome batter.

I made these for Father's Day. Instead of frosting them with a traditional buttercream (the recipe that's included with the recipe for these cupcakes is especially good, and it's what makes it the second vanilla since these are actually called 'billy's vanilla vanilla', or 'billy's double vanilla cupcakes') I opted for a caramel espresso Italian meringue buttercream. An Italian meringue buttercream involves making a sugar syrup and beating it slowly into the egg whites before beating in the butter. It's really not complicated, though I didn't let the sugar syrup reach the exact temperature stated in the recipe I followed since it started turning into more of a gloppy mixture than a syrup. I don't know anymore. Sigh. Regardless, the end product was alright.

Remembering a tip from Julia Child where she said if you make a mistake, pass it off as intentional since your recipients most likely won't know. What is this saying of your recipients, anyway? Are they that ignorant? Really though, probs what she meant was that most likely whatever the mistake was wasn't that big enough of a deal. UNLESS YOU ARE RUDE AND SERVE THEM SOMETHING TRULY HORRENDOUS AND ATTEMPT TO MESS WITH THEIR MINDS SO THEY FEEL BAD WHEN THEY ASK IF YOU HAD TROUBLE IN THE KITCHEN. Or maybe while the mistake looms large in your mind because you know what it did... Ugh. Would Gordon Ramsay do that, even if it's passable and not truly ruined? In the real world (because Ramsay and his kitchens exist in an alternate universe -- at the end of the universe, even) we don't really have time to remake a wrong. I AM CONFUSING MYSELF.

Moving on.

Wait, I didn't tell you what went wrong with these? I'm not going to. Don't you know what Julia Child has to say on this matter? Gosh.

This is the caffeine-induced result of staying up late and editing pictures for a blog post. I hope you enjoy this as much as my brother and I did.

Topped with edible gold flakes to add pizazz. I hate that word, it's like a person who has trouble spelling tried to spell 'pizza' and added an extra 'z' and it confuses me.

How are these cupcakes? I'm really trying to remember because it's been a while since (SINCE YOU KNOW WHEN!) Father's Day. Pretty much... pretty much I can't put it into words, and I hate that I forgot to take an innards shot, but I think from what I remember is that the crumb is soft, almost melting, and airy while not being open, if that makes sense to any of you.

Recipe after the jump.

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billy's vanilla cupcakes
Makes 30 cupcakes

Ingredients ~
1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes (this always confuses me since I never knew if it was room temperature butter, or from the fridge butter, but I think I've made them both ways, though once the butter just didn't come to room temp completely, and both times it came out fine)
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
caramel espresso buttercream (scroll down)

Directions ~

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.


2. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.


3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.


4. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining batter. Once cupcakes have cooled, use a small offset spatula to frost tops of each cupcake. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Why would you not serve it at room temperature? I've never once thought of refrigerating cupcakes after frosting so my guests have chilled cupcakes. What does that mean?

sugared puffs

I came across a blog with a post about "Sugared Puffs", which came from a recipe by David Lebovitz, and decided it was something I needed to make. What lured me in was that these were unlike "doughnut muffins", being practically a popover with the addition of a spicy sweet coating of cinnamon sugar that lends an extra crunch.

What is a popover? Well, it's a thin, eggy batter with a small amount of flour-to-liquid ratio. Since there's no added leavening agent, what makes these "pop over" the tin is by liquid evaporation in the hot oven, thus it's steam-leavened. Like souffles, these will begin to deflate after you take them out of the oven. You traditionally bake these in a popover tin, the individual cups being more narrow and deeper than that of a muffin tin, but I made these in a muffin tin.
I would describe the taste of a popover as custard-like, which makes sense as eggs are one of the main ingredients, and since these are, of course, made with milk that's pretty much close to a custard. Biting through the crispy skin to the silky, moist innards is really a delight.

After baking and cooling a bit (outside of the tin), I brushed the tops with melted butter and coated the tops with cinnamon sugar, which really happened to be an apple pie spice mixed with sugar. I like my cinnamon sugar to be on the spicy side, so I always add more cinnamon (or apple/pumpkin pie spice) than the ratio states. (Nobody will mock me for playing by the rules.)

Please gaze upon the delicious innards

These were definitely good as soon as coated with the sugar, but it also tasted just as good the next day, albeit slightly less crunchy. My brother said these reminded him of elephant ears.

Sugared puffs would make a perfect lazy weekend breakfast along with a bowl of fruit and a steaming cup of coffee, or a nice teatime snackable. If you have any leftover, eat the next day for elevenses.

(Recipe after the jump)

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Sugared Puffs
Recipe by David Lebovitz, appeared in The New York Times

For the puffs:

Softened unsalted butter, for greasing the pan
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup flour

For the sugar coating:

2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I'm pretty sure I added a tablespoon, maybe a little more)
4 tablespoons butter, melted.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Liberally grease a nonstick popover pan, or a muffin pan with 1/2-cup indentations, with softened butter.


2. For the puffs, put the 2 tablespoons melted butter, eggs, milk, salt and sugar in a blender and whiz for a few seconds.


3. Add the flour and whiz for 5 to 8 seconds, just until smooth.


4. Divide the batter among 9 greased molds, filling each 1/2 to 2/3 full.


5. Bake for 35 minutes, until the puffs are deep brown.


6. Remove from the oven, wait a few minutes until cool enough to handle, then remove the puffs from the pans. You may need a small knife to help pry them out.


7. Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Thoroughly brush each puff all over with melted butter, then dredge in sugar and cinnamon mixture to coat completely. Let cool on a baking rack. Makes 9 puffs.

Fox & Obel

A while ago, Steve from Victorian Pantry told me about a little market-cafe-restaurant place in Chicago called Fox & Obel that I should go to the next time I was here. Well, the 5k about a week ago was the perfect opportunity to stop by.

Right here ---> please imagine a picture of the outside of Fox & Obel with the sign taken on the corner of the street. Because I spaced and forgot to take it.

Immediately upon entering the market area I'm reminded of the scene in You've Got Mail where Meg Ryan's character is shopping in what I figure is their neighborhood's version of this store, swerving around food signs and displays to keep from being seen by Tom Hank's character. There's pretty much a wide variety of different things, like the shelf dedicated to mineral waters I've never even seen before.

Once in the cafe section I order a single espresso and a dried cranberry-white chocolate-macadamia cookie.
The espresso was incredibly smooth, and still strong, but not bitter at all. Pretty much one of the best espresso I've had in my span. Back in the day I tried a SBUX espresso and I had to swallow it like when parents gave their kids castor oil. In retrospect, I really didn't need to do that to myself.
Way back in my day, my mom would occasionally buy me a white chocolate-macadamia cookie from a Mrs. Fields stand in the mall. Those cookies remain one of my favorite to this day, although I never really eat them anymore, nor have I once made any. Pretty much the memory associated with it is what makes it more special than other cookies I've eaten, but it's why I always order anything with white chocolate and macadamia nuts if I see it in the display. (Oh, the cookie was good, though chewy not by the ingredients but by intentional underbaking.)

This is their raw (I think) gazpacho, which tasted like a light salsa, but more soupy. Pretty good. I didn't taste any of the bread until the next day, and even then it was decent.

I'm going to leave you to look at the remaining pictures I took until you lose your focus or quit out of boredom. I didn't get to take as many pictures I'd have liked to, or put very much thought in the angling of said pics I didn't snap, because I forgot to charge the camera and the battery was running low, so I hope you enjoy those I did take.

Still inside the cafe



Spices -- I love the containers they use



The most incredible collection of olive oils and vinegars






Entrees


KONA! I noticed it didn't specify the grade


If I could have just one last wish, it'd be for a piece of tasty fish