Baby Boy Shower

Well, we have been trying to move this last week, and all I have to say is, we haven't really moved anything, yet.
Our renter had a cat living inside and it destroyed the carpet in two rooms. There is lots of repainting that needs to be done, so I am working on that while we are haggling with Home Depot and their flooring department.  And when I say haggling, I mean haggling. You would not believe some of the stuff if I told you.
On top of that, we have had a little run in with the flu virus. But hopefully we didn't share and we have seen the last of it.

That said, hopefully we will be in by the end of the week and things can get back to normal.

Red Velvet Cake/ Cupcakes

Well, its finally over. The marathon that starts mid-October and stretches through til after Valentine's Day. With birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, parties, and special events, now lengthened by my nephew's February birthday, sometimes I feel like I can't breathe for a few months of the year. Not that I don't enjoy it. I love parties, I love planning for parties and making the food, but I might over-extend myself a tiny bit.

Pumpkin time

Well, I have quite a few things to blog about. I have some restaurant reviews, and a couple of recipes I had forgotten about, but one sticks out among the rest. I thought this recipe was on my blog. A friend asked about it and I was about to give them the link when I realized it wasn't on here!
This recipe I discovered when reading Gourmet magazine a few years back. It was from the book of the month, and the recipe was for pumpkin bread. I absolutely adore pumpkin bread. It symbolizes everything fall to me. All things pumpkin signal the arrival of cooler weather; pumpkin spice lattes show up at the beginning of September, and my coffee even knows its time to get baking. Pumpkin rolls, filled with cream cheese frosting are a given at fall potlucks and family gatherings. Pumpkin scones make their way to the table on cool autumn mornings and pumpkin spice cakes and breads add to the festivities. Last year I made a pumpkin spice cake with maple cream cheese frosting. Amazing.
Up until I read this recipe in Gourmet magazine, I had never had a pumpkin loaf recipe that really impressed me. I had made breads that were more like cakes, but never a real bread with some substance. I made this recipe, and I knew I needed this cookbook. It was from the Art and Soul of Baking. I know. You are probably like 'Blah, blah, blah...is that the only cookbook she reads?' Its not. I really do read a lot of cookbooks, but I am seriously telling you this one is a winner.
I fell in love with this cookbook, just because of this pumpkin bread. I made it for lots of people, and they still talk about it. As a matter of fact, a friend made a pumpkin bread, then sent me a message asking for that recipe because it is so superior. It is the best breakfast/snack time bread. Seriously.
So.....while you are wasting time reading this, I am going to be baking it. You should do. You won't regret it. As a matter of fact, you will probably wish you had made two, and put one in the freezer to thaw and enjoy later, or take it to a neighbor.

Pumpkin spice loaf (with walnuts, if you want)
2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped toasted walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 and position the oven rack in the center. Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray. Combine dry ingredients, except sugar, in a medium bowl. Whisk together eggs, water, and sugar in another bowl. Add the pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, and vanilla, and blend well.
Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk until blended and smooth. Add the walnuts, if desired, and stir until they are evenly distributed. Scrape into prepared loaf pan.
Bake for 55-65 minutes, until bread is firm to touch and toothpick inserted comes out clean. In the meantime, make cream cheese frosting, if desired. (The bread is great without it, so don't sweat it if you don't have the ingredients or just don't want to make it.)

Cream cheese frosting (this makes a lot)
12 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 stick butter, at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

What's in a name

If I am unsure about what to make, I often ask my husband his opinion. This happened recently when I was trying to decide what type of cupcakes to make. I have made a whole list for my catering business of different types, with candy bar themes and ice cream shoppe themes, etc., and I just couldn't decide which type to try first-they all sounded so delicious to me. Before I could even recite the list to my husband, to let him know what his choices were, he immediately answered: Red Velvet. Now, I don't think he has ever even  had Red Velvet, but that was the choice he made. I remember eating it as a child, and I wasn't too terribly impressed. For Christmas this last year, my husband bought me a Red Velvet cake mix from a bakery. I tried it out and wasn't too impressed with the results. I figured I just don't care for it that much. I also feel immensely guilty about the extreme amount of red food coloring called for in the recipes I have seen.
So, I harrumphed and decided to make the Red Velvet for him (since I asked).
I had a Red Velvet recipe in a magazine my mom had purchased (for herself...somehow it ended up with my stuff...odd...) The author detailed how some recipes use a chocolate cake and simply add red food coloring, but that is not how true Red Velvet should be made. I figured, hey, she owns a pretty successful bakery, she probably knows.
There was still something bothering me, though. I didn't like the thought of using all that food coloring. Don't get me wrong, I use the stuff, but only about once a year at Christmas when we are decorating cut-out cookies. I decided to try to find out if there was a substitution I could use that wouldn't compromise the color or flavor. I found many chefs who don't like to use that much food coloring use an equal amount of cherry or blackberry juice is a substitute, so I decided to go compromise a bit. I used about 1/3 of the red food coloring called for and the rest I used cherry juice (I had some in the freezer) it worked great and looked great, too. I felt better about using the juice, and next time I will probably use all juice.

The cupcakes were, by the way, absolutely amazing. I think my husband ate three the first time around. They were tender, probably due to the inclusion of buttermilk, and flavorful, and the cream cheese frosting is just delicious. These are definitely a make again item.
I piped white chocolate lettering on some parchment just as an experiment, and that's what you see in the picture. You should definitely try these.

Red Velvet Cupcakes


Makes about 20 cupcakes
1 ¼ cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring, blackberry juice, or cherry juice
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon high-fat cocoa powder such as hershey’s special dark

Preheat oven to 350. Using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, combine oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.
With the mixer on low, add dry ingredients to the wet ½ cup at a time. Do this slowly so that the batter doesn’t develop clumps.
Transfer batter to lined muffin pans, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting: (double batch)

8 oz unsalted butter, softened
16 oz cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream butter and cream cheese until soft and smooth, about 2 minutes. With mixer on low, add powdered sugar ½ cup at a time. Add vanilla and mix on medium speed.

Use white chocolate or white melting chocolate for lettering.

Sugar and spice, Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin is my realm. It has been for quite sometime. When I was fourteen or fifteen years old, I decided I was going to make a couple of desserts for a church potluck. I was going to make pumpkin bars, pumpkin roll, and pumpkin pie. I was going to make it all from scratch, and all from actual pumpkin, not canned. I boiled the pumpkin. I did that for several years. I boiled it, and  it was so waterlogged, after I removed the skin and pureed it I cooked it down to try to remove some of the liquid. I ran into a myriad of problems cooking the pumpkin this way. Some times it was very fibrous, and sometimes my recipe was way too watery.

I found out just a few years ago that there is actually a particular pumpkin that is used for the canned pumpkin. It has a flesh that can only be described as 'custard-y'. The usual pumpkins we buy for their appearance in the fall months usually do not have this attribute. These pumpkins are called 'sugar-pie' or 'pie' pumpkins. I have asked at grocery stores and produce stands, but everyone looks at me like I have two heads. I have since decided that I will either have to: A. grow my own pumpkins, or; B. resign myself to buying canned pumpkin, or; C. use the pumpkin I can find and deal with its idiosyncrasies.

So, I have yet to grow my own pumpkins. Every year something happens, the kids dig out my plants, they die, I forget to plant them in time, we move...etc.

I have also discovered that roasting the pumpkin results in a mellow, rich flavor without the extra water that I have to get rid of. I roast halved pumpkin, cut side down, on a stoneware baking pan at 350 for 1-2 hours, until the pumpkin is soft to the touch. After it cools I puree it and freeze it in 1 cup portions to use in recipes. It works fine in recipes. But I still just buy canned pumpkin if I have none left in the freezer.

These cupcakes are just another cupcake recipe. Not really. They are from one of my favorite cookbooks, and they are moist and delicious. They actually can be a cake, which I think would be amazing, but I was taking them to a party and I didn't want to risk disaster. They have a modest maple cream cheese frosting, sprinkled on the on the top, and I had someone remark that they were the best cupcakes they ever had. Not bad for pumpkin, huh?

If you made this into a cake, I would finely chop the pecans and sprinkle them all over the top and press them into the sides.

For the cupcakes

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup pumpkin puree

2 cups sifted cake flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

Frosting

12 ounces cream cheese

3/4 stick butter, room temperature

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup, preferably grade B

1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 cup pecan pieces, toasted and finely chopped, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 and position and oven rack in the center. Place muffin liners in pans.

Cream the butter with the sugar, beating in the bowl of the stand mixer on medium-high until very light in color, 4 to 5 minutes. You can also use a hand mixer and a medium bowl, although you may need to beat the mixture a little longer to achieve the same results. Scrape down the bowl with the spatula.

Beat the eggs and vanilla in a small bowl to blend. With the mixer on medium, add the eggs to the butter mixture. Add the pumpkin and blend well, scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary.

Alternate combining the wet and dry ingredients. 

Bake until toothpick inserted comes out clean, 15-20 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Make the frosting: Place the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a mixer or food processor. Blend until smooth. Add the maple syrup and confectioners' sugar and mix thoroughly.

Frost cupcakes, and sprinkle the tops with toasted chopped pecans or pumpkin candies.

Makes 18 cupcakes.