Kitchen Experiment: alcoholic cuppies (1)

Today was quite an amazing day, I was able to hit the gym and read research related literature. I actually felt like going out for a mojito but I was too lazy to go out since I still have tons of readings. So I decided to whip up my own mojito. I have mint lying around in the fridge but no rum in store, so I substituted it with white wine, and guess what, it actually is a good substitute. Now, I wanted to bake something, and I really wanted to use the mint and white wine combination so I whipped up Chardonnay Cupcakes with Mint-Infused Chardonnay Buttercream Frosting. Remember how I don't like things being too sweet, so instead of using Reisling (sweet white wine) I opted Chardonnay.

This baby is made by creaming 2/3 cup of butter and 1 1/4 cup of sugar together. **Remember to preheat your oven to 350F. ** In a separate bowl, mix your dry ingredients 2 and 3/4 cup flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt. Alternately mix this in the butter mixture with 3/4 cup of white wine. Don't worry if the end result is crumby. Its only normal.

In another bowl, whisk 6 egg whites until they have stiff peaks. Fold this in the crumby mixture. You might find that the crumby mixture is still crumby. What I did with mine was whisked them together for a few seconds before transferring them into the baking pan.

Line your cupcake pans and fill them until they are 2/3 full. You have baking powder there so they will definitely rise. Bake them for 20 minutes.

While waiting for our baked goods, it is a good time to make your frosting. Basically, mix 1 cup butter with 3 cups of powdered sugar, and 2 tablespoons of Chardonnay (infused with mint leaves).

Frost your cupcakes after they have cooled down, garnish with a couple of mint leaves and voila!

These cupcakes are light and fluffy, almost like you are on a cloud. When I feel sad and I want to lift my spirits, I normally seek solace in eating tons of marshmallows. I think these may also be a good substitute in the absence of marshmallows. :D

And after this, my hand surprisingly smells like butter. Weird but I love it.

Watch out for other kitchen experiments in the future.

Trip to the grocery

Thanks to four-day university work weeks, I get to do things at my own time on Fridays. Starting the days off with answering emails, and gym, I went to the grocery. I hit two stops actually, Harris Teeter and Costco. I learned my lesson from the last time I went crazy grocery shopping, so I brought my buddy along:

A suitcase!

Its not odd when people see me walking around with a suitcase. First, because I live one metro station away from the airport. Secondly, I also see other people walking around with suitcases. Anyway, I brought the suitcase along just to make sure that I wont have a hard time lugging all my purchases around. Last time I did that, I got sick. Anyway, I couldn't believe that my purchases from Harris Teeter didn't fit. I had to carry a plastic of herbs back. I got myself a couple of good deals. 

This bag of basil actually has the plant with its roots in some amount of water, making sure that consumers get fresh basil all the time. The nice this about this is that its priced exactly the same as fresh basil that has been cut and packed, so I went for the living basil

Buy 1 get 1 free special on Pepperidge Farms Milanos!!! Last week they had the same promotion for Pepperidge Farms cookies. These are my favorite even back home, but I wouldn't buy them normally because they are quite expensive for their size ($3.49 each). I am considering to stock up on these. the promotion only runs until tuesday.

Cling wrap is also in the buy 1 take 1 list, also until tuesday. Although I still have some, it won't hurt to stock. (Gosh, I seriously feel like a hoarder!)

This was also on sale, only $0.97 but I didn't hoard because the promotion runs until April 16 anyway. I will pick this up over time.

This was also on sale.

On my way back home, I dropped by Costco. It was already around 3pm and I haven't had lunch so I went around trying out their samples while doing my second round of grocery. I finally bought the things that I actually want such as honey, pecans, dark chocolate acai blueberries. When I got home, I was so tired but I had to make dinner, yes it took me that long to get home, so I made this:

Salmon tofu burger with edamame pesto

I based the recipe from this link. If you read my earlier post on red velvet cupcakes, I mentioned that I usually get a recipe from the internet, cross reference it with a bunch of other recipes and recalibrate it to my own personal preference.

Recipe for Salmon tofu burger with edamame pesto (my version):
I basically used half a block of soft tofu, a can of sockeye salmon, a can of pink salmon, a few sprigs of cilantro, (I honestly forgot to buy wasabi! It would have added a kick to this), a few rounds of dijon mustard, salt and pepper to taste, 1 egg to bind everything, although i think I should have used more. Make 3 inch sized balls and coat with panko (japanese breadcrumbs), flatten and continue to coat with breadcrumbs. Since I'm cooking for just myself, I kept everything else in freezer bags (2 patties in each bag so I won't have to defrost everything, every time).

For the edamame pesto, I simply eyeball measured everything based on the taste that I wanted to achieve, so in a food processor, combine edamame beans, cilantro, basil, pecans (because that's what I have, but you can easily use walnuts or pine nuts), extra virgin olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Like I said in a previous post, i used to bake a lot back in high school. i could have imagined myself setting up my own cafe if I pursued a different life back then. But my mom was too traditional to let me study culinary arts. It was assumed that a career in the kitchen will not sustain a living, maybe she was right. I mean, I wouldn't be where I am if I wasn't pushed to choose my course in college.

Anyway, enough about my past, I usually get recipes online and revise them to achieve the texture that I want. Today, I tried to make a famous southern dessert, red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Despite the lack of culinary education, most of which can be attributed to food network tv, here are some lessons that I've learned:

1. Follow instructions: unless you already know what you are doing, follow every instruction down to the last detail.

2. Use different measuring tools for dry and wet ingredients: this will definitely affect the quality of your product.

3. Use the best ingredients: when the recipe calls for butter, use butter and not margarine! they are called two different things because they are definitely not the same! Some manufacturers may claim that their product tastes like butter but the process and ingredients used to make butter will enhance the texture of your finished product.

4. Do not be afraid to bake in the absence of proper tools, i. e. mixer. I've always wanted a Kitchen Aid mixer, but sad to say, I cannot afford one as of the moment. I am currently using the whisk attachment of my cuisinart hand blender as a whisk and a fork to cream butter and sugar and mix everything together. Maybe a mixer will make your life easier, but lets just say that machines make life easier, in general, but they weren't always there.

5. Never forget to preheat your oven! This will affect the quality of your baked goodies. You wouldn't want to throw in your mixture in an oven that's just about to warm up. You want the oven hot and ready for you.

Enough about the pointers and here's how to make this delectable moist dessert:

Here are the ingredients

Notice, that I do not really use name brand products, as long as they have it the store brand I'm fine. I noticed that there isn't much difference in the quality (at least here in the united states) :)

I usually have my recipe written out before I start and I have my "entertainment" all set up while preparing.

First thing you have to do!!! PREHEAT YOUR OVEN to 350F

In a bowl, combine 2 1/2 cups of flour (I use all-purpose but some people use cake flour), 1/2 cup  unsweetened cocoa (I used hershey's dark cocoa but most recipes just call for unsweetened cocoa,  but I couldn't resist the dark cocoa when I saw it on the shelf, I love dark chocolate), 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt.

In another bowl, cream 6 tablespoons butter at room temperature and softened with 1 1/4 cup sugar.

Add in two eggs

In another bowl, set up 1 1/4 cup buttermilk.

Mix in a part of the dry ingredients in the butter mixture.

Mix a part of the buttermilk mixture. Do this alternatingly, ending with the dry ingredients.

Here's where the magic begins: mix in 1 1/2 teaspoons of vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, and 2 tablespoons red food colouring.

Line your cupcake pans with liners and fill them with your red mixture 2/3 full, and toss them in your preheated oven.

And after 18-20 minutes, you have these!

Make your frosting: combine 5 tablespoons butter, 4 teaspoons buttermilk, 1 block cream cheese, 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla. Put them all in a piping bag with your favourite decorating tip.

Frost and enjoy your yummy cupcake!