The Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes

I bought the June issue of the Cook's Illustrated cooking magazine because they claimed to have mastered the Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake. I trust them and they've never let me down. The article explained about how a great chocolate cake batter doesn't necessarily lend itself to a great chocolate cupcake just because you pour the batter into a muffin tray instead of a cake pan.  What? This was news to me. Apparently, the cake batter, while excellent when served as a slice of cake on a plate with a fork, could make a messy, crumby cupcake. And this is unacceptable.  A cupcake must be "transportable", meaning, one must be able to eat a cupcake with their hands and no plate to catch the crumbs in order to be considered the "Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake".  They also went on about packing as much chocolate flavor into the batter without the chocolate breaking down the gluten of the flour.  Apparently, there is such a thing as too much chocolate.  Also news to me.  See why I love Cooks Illustrated?!  I'd already learned two very important lessons and I hadn't even made the cupcakes yet.

They weren't kidding about elevating the chocolate flavor, these cupcakes pack a lot of punch by using a combination of cocoa, melted bittersweet chocolate and coffee. They're sort of the grown-up version of a chocolate cupcake. It's like the difference between eating a piece of milk chocolate and piece of dark chocolate.  These cupcakes fall into the latter category.  They were also ridiculously moist and, while tender, they did have a sturdy crumb that didn't fall all over the place.

Wait, I'm not done!  They had another trick up their sleeve.  The recipe starts off by making a dark chocolate ganache that you chill till slightly firm.  Then after your batter has been divided into individual cupcakes, you place a small dollop of the ganache on top of the cupcakes.  While baking, the cupcakes slowly absorb said ganache and the result is a truffle-like filling inside. Genius! 

As much as I loved these cupcakes, the next time I make them I am going to use milk chocolate for my ganache filling for 2 reasons.  One, because I prefer milk chocolate to dark chocolate; and two, because I think the milk chocolate will be more visible.  Dark inside dark is hard to see, and when you've gone to this much work, you want everyone to be able to see it.  But maybe that's just me.  If you love dark chocolate, then don't change a thing.  These cupcakes are the ultimate chocolate lover's fantasy.

The cupcakes were cooling off and I was making the icing while talking on the phone to my friend Joanna. It was about 10:30 a.m. Her little guy was demanding ice cream on the other end, while mine were demanding a chocolate cupcake. Joanna and I agreed that while relenting and giving them sweets in the morning was unacceptable, any time after 12:01 p.m. would be perfectly acceptable.  I do love having like-minded friends support my parenting philosophies, it's so validating! So shortly after I got off the phone with Jo, I made an announcement to my kids. I told them that if they cleaned up their mess of toys without my help, they could have a chocolate cupcake for lunch, which was, incidentally, being served at 12:01 p.m.  Immediately suspicious, they replied, "Wha? Chocolate cupcake for lunch, mom?" from 2 year old.  And, "Whatchu mean?" from my almost 5 year old.  Well, let me tell you...bribery works.  I've never seen them work together so well cleaning up after themselves! It made me think back to the resident child psychologist who works at my daughter's old pre-school.  He told me that bribery was not a good tool when trying to get your kids to cooperate, whether it be potty training or getting them to...well...clean up their mess.  He said it sets unrealistic expectations for the child and that's not how the real world works.  Yada yada yada!  Whatev.  It works. I'm a fan. I highly recommend it. Once you get over your irrational (albeit good-intentioned) desire to earn your perfect mommy halo, save yourself the frustration and employ this methodology. Just a small pearl of wisdom I thought I'd impart. : )

(BTW: my kids had already eaten pancakes, fruit smoothies, homemade banana bread and cheese - so I think I can polish my tarnished halo and hold my head up.)

Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes with Ganache Filling

(Source: Cook's Illustrated - June 2010)

Ganache Filling:

2 ounces of good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 T. confectioner's sugar

Place chocolate, cream and sugar in microwave safe bowl.  Heat on high till mixture is warm to touch (20 to 30 seconds). Whisk till smooth; transfer to fridge and let stand till just chilled, no longer than 30 minutes.

Chocolate Cupcakes:

3 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

1/3 c. (1 ounce) cocoa

3/4 c. hot coffee

3/4 c. (4 1/8 ounces) bread flour

3/4 c. (5 1/4 ounces) sugar

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. baking soda

6 T. vegetable oil

2 large eggs

2 t. white vinegar

1 t. vanilla

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 350 degrees. Line standard size muffin tins with liners. Place chocolate and cocoa in medium bowl. Pour hot coffee over mixture and whisk till smooth. Set in fridge to cool completely, about 20 minutes. Whisk flour, sugar, salt and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

Whisk eggs, oil, vinegar and vanilla into cooled chocolate-cocoa mixture until smooth. Add flour mixture and whisk till smooth. Divide batter evenly among 12 muffin cups. Place one slightly rounded  teaspoon of ganache filling on top of each cupcake.  Bake until just firm to touch, 17 to 19 minutes. Cool cupcakes in muffin pan 10 minutes, then lift each cupcake out and set on wire rack.  Cool to room temperature before frosting (about 1 hour).

My filling sunk to the bottom - can you see it?  That little chocolate blob? I promise, it's there.

Here's a close-up...

Yum!

S'mores Cookies

You know how when you see a picture of food, or a food commercial and you just have to have whatever it is?  That's what happened with these cookies.  I found the recipe on one of my favorite food blogs, Obsessed with Baking by Steph, and after drooling over the pictures, I added the necessary ingredients to my shopping list.  There was no getting around it, I had to try these cookies. And fast.  (I might also mention that this is the same blog responsible for putting an end to my miserable search for the perfect moist chocolate cake...so thank you Steph...again!) 

Everyone knows the 3 basic components required for S'mores. Just looking at the picture of these cookies, you see it's got the chocolate and marshmallows, but when I read the ingredients and saw that it also has Graham Wafer crumbs in the batter, I was even more intrigued. I've never been one to eat raw cookie dough. I'll taste a small bit off my finger or the spoon, but that's it. Until today. This cookie dough is to die for. I couldn't stop. I kept going back into the fridge as it was chilling and sneaking spoonfuls of it. It's just that good. It's gotta be the graham wafer crumbs.

These cookies are fabulous.  Obviously a kid-pleaser, but not to the exclusion of adults.  Trust me.  Make. These. Cookies.

Recipe for S'mores Cookies

(Source: Obsessed with Baking blog)

1 3/4 c. flour

1 c. graham wafer crumbs

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

1 c. butter, softened

3/4 c. white sugar

3/4 c. brown sugar

2 t. vanilla

2 eggs

2 cups of miniature chocolate chips (I only used 1 cup)

1 1/2 c. miniature mashmallows

2 Hershey's plain chocolate bars, chopped

In a stand mixer, beat butter and both sugars until fluffy. Mix in eggs and vanilla until combined. Add flour, graham wafer crumbs, salt and baking soda. Mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Chill dough for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. (I saw that Steph used a much lower temperature so I compromised and did it at 350 degrees, which worked for me.)

Drop by rounded tablespoon onto cookie sheets. Bake 8 minutes, remove from oven. Push 3 to 4 marshmallows and few pieces of chocolate bar into each cookie and return to oven for additional 2 to 3 minutes until fully cooked. (Or until they are the right hue of golden brown to your liking - I waited 4 minutes.) Cool on wire rack.

The Daring Bakers: Traditional British Pudding

I joined a "cooking club" so to speak called "The Daring Kitchen".  You can either enroll as a Daring Baker or a Daring Cook, or both.  I joined as a Daring Baker. Each month a member of the club hosts the challenge and chooses a dish that everyone has to try. The host will tell you whether substitutions can be made and what exactly is required of you. So this was my very first challenge.  The challenge was unveiled to its members on the first of the month, and I'm not kidding when I tell you that I was up early on March 1st, logging onto the Daring Kitchen website to see what I had gotten myself into.  We have to reveal our results on our respective blogs on the 27th. They do blog checks to ensure that the participants have, in fact, participated and so there are mandatory lines we must include in our post and they are:

The April 2010 Daring Baker's challenge was hosted by Ester of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional ingredient: suet.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, let me tell you about this fun little exercise. The idea was to try a traditional British Pudding - which meant steaming. Ester did allow that the participants use a suet substitute (lard, butter, oil etc.) but there was no getting around the steaming.  Admittedly, the recipe I chose from one of the permitted sources: The Pudding Club website was not exactly "traditional" but it did fulfill my obligations.  A lot of people chose a savoury version (i.e. steak and kidney pie) but that did nothing for me.  It was with much trepidation that I tackled this challenge, I've never steamed a dessert, but as it turns out, my fears were completely unfounded.  This was easy to throw together, and I'm thinking I may even do it again.  I don't have a proper pudding basin for steaming, and I was more confused by the diagrams and suggestions of make-shift steaming contraptions offered by the members of the club.  In the end, I pulled out a cheap ceramic bowl I'd bought at Ikea years ago, put a piece of pleated foil over it to allow for rising:

tied some butcher's twine around the neck (cause that's what everyone else was doing)

and then I stuck the bowl inside my metal steamer/colander; placed that over a pot of boiling water; and then waited with baited breath.

After an  hour and a half of steaming (I did use a lid), I had a delicious, moist and very chocolatey "pudding" (or cake to the rest of us) that looked like this:

What was all the fuss about?  I waited until the last possible day to do this challenge because I was so  unsure, but I was quite pleased with the final results.  Honestly, the idea of signing up for a club that basically forces me to try new things, things that I would probably never otherwise try, was really scary initially.  But now, I realize I was being silly.  Of course, I say that now, not knowing what the May challenge will be...I just hope it's something delicious that is worthy of being served at my Mother's Day dinner that I'm hosting. 

The only negative thing I'll say about this is that it's not exactly the most pretty dessert.  You can try to dress it up and make it look elegant (and I did try) but in the end, I settled on tossing it in a bowl with a scoop of my homemade vanilla ice cream and calling it a day.

Now, if only I'd had some of that Chocolate Fudge Sauce left...

If you're interested in trying this out for yourself, check out this link: The Pudding Club

Banana Bread

A friend of mine who reads my blog but is not a "follower" (ahem), emailed me today telling me about a banana bread recipe she made and loved.  In fact the words she used were "it turned out perfect", and those claims always get my attention.  There was one caveat to her news, it had to do with an ingredient that's used in the banana bread.  I'll admit that when she mentioned this ingredient, I was surprised, maybe even a little...perplexed...(okay, I was grossed out), however, her claim that it was "perfect" still resonated in my head and I figured, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?  The ingredient I'm talking about it is...brace yourselves...Miracle Whip.  When it comes to this "dressing", there are 2 camps of people: those that use Miracle Whip and those that use Mayonnaise.  I am a full-fledged member of the Mayonnaise camp.  I cannot be swayed.  And I cannot justify going out and purchasing a jar of Miracle Whip for the 1/2 cup that is called for in this recipe, so I simply substituted mayonnaise. Before you turn your nose up at this, remember that there are many chocolate cake recipes out there that use mayonnaise.  Besides, considering what mayo is comprised of - oil and eggs - this isn't such a giant leap after all. 

This recipe knocks the socks off all the banana bread recipes I've tried, and I've tried a lot. It's list of ingredients is short, it's not finicky, you don't have a lot to clean up afterwards, and you can get it in the oven in about 5 minutes flat. And for the record, it did turn out "perfect". I almost never use that word when describing something that I've baked.  I can almost always find something wrong with it, but alas, I couldn't find one bad thing to say.  Thank you Dominika, this recipe gets filed into my favorites.

Recipe for Banana Bread

(Source: adapted from Kraft website)

1 egg

1/2 c. mayonnaise

1 1/3 c. mashed bananas (approximately 3)

1 1/2 c. flour

1 c. brown sugar (light or dark)

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

2/3 c. nuts or chocolate chips (optional) (I omitted)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat egg and dressing and bananas in large bowl with whisk until well blended.  Mix remaining ingredients in separate bowl.  Add to banana mixture and stir till moistened.  Pour into 9x5 greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour.

Enjoy!

Yellow Cake with Instant Fudge Frosting

Now that I've found my "go to" recipe for moist and delicious fool proof chocolate cake, I figure it's time to start experimenting with the other varieties.  Like yellow cake, so much more interesting than white cake, if you ask me.  So when my new May issue of Saveur arrived in the mail yesterday and I found a recipe for "Yellow Cake with Fudge Icing", I knew it was only a matter of time before I'd make it.  As it turned out, it was only a matter of hours, after I ran to the store to pick up the Crisco Vegetable Shortening for this recipe.  It wasn't long ago that I would have turned my nose up at this recipe, after reading that it used lard instead of butter, but I am reformed.  After all my dry cake disasters that featured butter as their main source of fat, I've come to the realization that a cake recipe that uses oil instead of butter is usually incredibly moist.  And given my recent enlightenment, lard isn't such a big leap.  After all, isn't it just a solid version of oil? 

What I love about this cake is its beautiful, buttery, yellow color.  Ironic, I know.  At first I was unsure of the texture, it's got a much coarser crumb than my chocolate cake. It's not that soft pillowy crumb. It's much tougher than that.  But after a few more bites, I decided that all cakes are not supposed to be the same. If there are hundreds of different flavors, then why can't there be a hundred different textures too? I think this one just falls under the sturdier spongey crumb category and there's nothing wrong with that. Besides, I am probably guilty of over-thinking this. If it tastes good and it's not dry than that's good enough.

I was not impressed with the chocolate "Fudge Icing" recipe that accompanied the cake in Saveur.  I didn't make it because the picture looked dry, hard, and far to dark for my tastes. It also said you had to work fast, before the frosting set. Who needs that extra stress? So I made a different one, "Instant Fudge Frosting" and I'm glad I followed my instincts.  Throw everything in your food processor and press on. So simple and it is delicious.

Yellow Cake Recipe

(Source: Saveur Magazine, May 2010)

1 c. vegetable shortening, such as Crisco, plus more for greasing pans

2 c. self-rising flour, plus more for pan

2 c. sugar

5 eggs

1 t. vanilla

1 c. buttermilk

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease two 9 inch round cake pans with shortening; dust with flour, shake out excess and line bottoms with parchment. In bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat shortening and sugar on medium high until fluffy (1-2 minutes). Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each until incorporated. Add vanilla. Reduce mixer to low alternately add flour and buttermilk in 3 batches. Mix till smooth. Divide batter between pans.  Bake until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean, (35 to 40 minutes).  *I baked for 30. Set cakes on rack to cool completely.  Remove cakes from pan.

Instant Fudge Frosting

(Adapted from Sky High Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes)

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled

(I only had 2 ounces of unsweetened, so I added 4 ounces of semisweet chocolate)

4 1/2 c. icing sugar (no need to sift)

(I only used 3 cups because I was using mostly semisweet chocolate instead of unsweetened)

3 sticks of butter at room temp.

6 T. half and half (I used 3 because I was using less sugar and didn't want it too runny)

1 T. vanilla extract.

Place all ingredients in your food processor and pulse to incorporate.  Then process until smooth.

Lesson:  Don't take pictures of cake an hour before dinner, regardless of how good the lighting is, unless you are prepared to let you kids eat your props. 

Vanilla Ice Cream & Classic Hot Fudge Sauce

If you've never tried homemade ice cream, you must.  There is a noticeable difference between store-bought and homemade, and let's face it, some of those store-bought brands are pretty darn good.  It's not hard to make, but it is time-consuming.  You want to make it in advance and you need an ice cream maker.  Don't bother with those hand-cranked ones either, even if they save you a few bucks.  The electric kind is not very pricey and easy to find.

With so many different flavors, you can get really creative, however, I went with "plain old vanilla", which in my opinion, doesn't always get the credit it deserves. Yes, it could be perceived as boring, compared to some of the other flavors out there, but it pairs well with almost anything.  When you see the black flecks of vanilla bean, and you can actually smell the vanilla aroma, and it transforms itself in your mouth from a frozen custard to a thick, rich, velvety cream, "plain" is not a word that comes to mind. Besides, if you served homemade vanilla ice cream alongside warm homemade brownies, you'd look like a super-star. Or, you could drizzle some homemade hot fudge sauce on top and your kids will forgive you for making them eat their vegetables.

David Lebovitz is the ice cream guru.  His book "The Perfect Scoop" is almost as important as the ice cream machine should you decide to try making your own ice cream.

Recipe for Vanilla Ice Cream

(Source: David Lebovitz "The Perfect Scoop")

1 c. whole milk

3/4 c. sugar

2 c. heavy cream

pinch of salt

1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise

6 large egg yolks

3/4 t. vanilla

Warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup of the cream and salt in a medium saucepan until the sugar dissolves.  Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the warm milk and add the bean as well. Cover, remove from heat, and let steep at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks.  Slowly pour the warm mixture in the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan. Stir mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula.  Pour the custard through the strainer and stir into the cream. Put the vanilla bean into the custard, add the vanilla extract, and stir until cool over an ice bath. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator.  When ready to churn, remove the vanilla bean, then freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Recipe for Classic Hot Fudge Sauce

(Source: David Lebovitz "The Perfect Scoop")

3/4 c. heavy cream

1/4 c. packed dark brown sugar

1/4 c. cocoa powder

1/2 c. light corn syrup

6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 T. salted butter

1/2 t. vanilla extract

Mix the cream, brown sugar, cocoa powder and corn syrup in a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil and cook, stirring frequently, for 30 seconds.  Remove from heat and add the chocolate and butter, stirring until melted and smooth.  Add the vanilla.  Serve warm.

Tomato, Avocado & Shrimp Bruschetta

We had 2 of our favorite foodie friends over for dinner on the weekend and I served this bruschetta as our pre-dinner hors d'oeuvres.  Fresh, simple and super easy to throw together...it was a hit. I always struggle with what to serve for starters...I spend too much time focussing on dinner and dessert, it always feel like an after-thought.  I got the idea from Grazing by Julie Van Rosendaal, but then modified it to my liking.  If you're looking for a quick, summery appetizer that you can throw together either last minute (like me) or ahead of time, try this one.  It's a keeper.

One of the challenges of blogging about food you make for friends is that, if it's assembled when they're over, you have to try to get a good picture when you should be entertaining your guests.  I always feel like a loser when I pull out my camera and take pictures of my food in front of people...maybe it's because I'm not very good at it and so it takes several shots to get one decent picture.  Or perhaps it has something to do with the wine that is consumed... Anyway, needless to say, my pictures are less than inspired, but here's a close-up.  I do love to take close-ups.

Recipe for Tomato, Avocado & Shrimp Bruschetta

1/2 lb cooked shrimp (I cooked mine in chicken broth)

2 - 3 ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 ripe avocado, chopped

juice of one lime

handful of chopped fresh basil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 T. olive oil

kosher salt and pepper to taste

Combine ingredients and mix gently.  Spoon on top of crostini. 

*Note - next time I will add chopped jalapenos for some extra heat

Milk-Chocolate Cookies

Why, so soon after Easter and all the chocolate indulgence that goes along with it, am I baking Milk Chocolate Cookies?  Well, because I had to do something to redeem myself. I thought that today was the first day back at school for my daughter.  She was really excited.  She couldn't wait to show her friends her new outfit she got over spring break. (She's 4, this is important stuff!)  She got dressed, we packed her backpack, we drove to school only to find the parking lot empty and the building locked.  Bad Mommy!  School starts tomorrow.  If only I'd checked the calender earlier. 

There were a few tears, a lot of explaining, and finally my peace offering:  "Do you want to go home and bake cookies?" All is right in her world again. I'm still feeling stupid, but a little less guilty.

These cookies are from my Martha Stewart Cookies book, and they're really easy to throw together. The use of melted butter and chocolate not only eliminates the need for room temperature butter (who ever has room temp butter when you need it?), but it also creates a flat, crispy and chewy cookie.  If you're a fan of cakey cookies, this one is not for you.

Milk Chocolate Cookies

(Source: Martha Stewart Cookies)

1 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. coarse salt

8 ounces good quality milk chocolate (4 ounces chopped; 4 ounces cut into 1/4 inch chunks)

1/2 c. unsalted butter

1 1/2 c. sugar

2 large eggs

1 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in bowl and set aside.

Melt 4 ounces of chopped chocolate with the butter in a small heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water; let cool slightly.

(Or, if you're comfortable melting chocolate in your microwave, like me, I put the chocolate and butter in a bowl and microwave it at 1 minute intervals using only 40% power so I don't burn it; stir after first minute; put in for another minute; repeat until fully melted.)

Put chocolate mixture, sugar, eggs and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Mix on medium speed until combined.

Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.  Fold in chocolate chunks.

Using 1 1/2 inch icecream scoop (or I used a tablespoon); drop dough onto parchment lined baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. (They do spread a lot!) 

Bake until cookies are flat and surfaces crack, about 15 minutes (cookies should be soft).

Let cool.  Cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Enjoy!

Green Goddess Dressing

Last year when I hosted my family's Easter dinner, I made a Green Goddess dressing for one of my salads. It was great. Even I really enjoyed it, and that's saying something because, unfortunately, I'm not a big fan of salads.  I wish I was but I view salad as nothing more than a vehicle for dressing.  Unless, of course, the salad is studded with goodies like toasted almonds, bacon bits, cheese and croutons.  Now that's a salad I can get excited about but it's not exactly healthy. 

I don't remember what magazine I found last year's Green Goddess dressing in (geez, I wish I was blogging back then) and so, when I decided to make it again, I had to settle for a recipe I found on Epicurious.  It was not the same, I knew this because the list of ingredients was much shorter than I recalled and the end result was good, but not as good as last year's. I would make this one again, I may just make a few adjustments, unless of course, I found the 'lost recipe'. 

For the salad, I really wanted a simple affair, fresh and crisp iceberg lettuce, radishes, carrots and, of course, yummy bacon bits...

and toasted almonds...

It's for Easter dinner, afterall, so flavor trumped health.  All the herbs in the dressing, of course, have to be fresh not dried.  Flat leaf parsley...

chives...

and tarragon...

When I ran the ingredients through my food processor, it wasn't very green.  It was more of a light yellow color with specks of green.  (This was not a problem with my 'lost recipe').  So I pulled out my neglected and under-used VitaMix blender, which I should have used in the first place and Voila!  A beautiful pale green creamy dressing in less than 5 seconds.  I will definitely be making better use of that piece of equipment in the future.  So, if you're interested in trying this close second, here's the recipe. 

Green Goddess Dressing

(Source: Epicurious - Gourmet Magazine)

1 cup mayo

3 anchovie fillets, minced

1 chopped scallion (I used a shallot)

2 T. chopped parsley

2 T. chopped chives

1 T. tarragon vinegar (I used white Balsamic)

1 t. chopped tarragon

salt and pepper to taste

Throw all the ingredients in your food processor and blend.  Add salt and pepper at the end to taste.