Sour Cream Blueberry Crumb Cake Muffins: Luxury for a mom

For CY and SS, who shared in the weekend.

Over this Memorial Day Weekend, I really indulged myself.  My two girlfriends came over to spend the weekend with me. I cooked for them. I hired a babysitter so I could go to a movie with them. We stayed up late both nights and even had a bit of alcohol for fun.  It was about as decadent a weekend as I can manage when my husband is out of town.  I am, after all a mother of three children so there aren't a lot of options for decadence and luxury.

But it is a luxury to have a refrigerator full of food and willing eaters at the table.  Friend CY ordered what I call the "large meal" as she decided on egg rolls.  When I asked friend SS what she wanted to eat, she gave a few options and I really wanted to cook as many things for her on her list.  After all, the cook's greatest reward are willing and excited eaters of his or her food.  You don't always get that loving attention from children, but friends who want to eat, you get that affection. 

I also did something I never do - I hired a sitter, and went to a movie.  We watched Sex and the City 2 in a theater, at nighttime.  The movie itself was pretty decadent in its portrayal of the women's lives, but really the experience of watching such a movie on the big screen with two good friends...absolute luxury.

We also stayed up late, laughing, talking, giggling (and one night baked something I shouldn't have).  Kids upstairs sleeping while we were downstairs having fun.  Again - about as wonderful as I could have wished.  Actually, I could have had a bit more sleeping in time in the morning, but kids are like clockwork and wake up at 7:00 AM even if I only went to bed at 3:30 AM.

This morning, when I woke up, I decided I needed something special to go with the wonderful luxury of the weekend of fun.  I set out to make a special muffin, based on a recipe I had seen in Tish Boyle's The Cake Book.  This muffin would reflect the luxury and specialness of the weekend - it would be rich, complex and super delicious.

And it was.  Immediately upon eating a bite, CY said, "It just melts in my mouth."  She quickly popped two into her mouth and washed it down with some coffee.  SS had a much more measured response to it, but ate quietly, savoring each luscious mouthful.  I had barely enough time to eat one before Daughters came running over clamoring for one of their own, and they to mumbled through full mouths how they liked the flavor.

They are rich, and have the additional complication of making a crumb topping. But if you have a special breakfast to bake for - this should be your muffin.

Sour Cream-Blueberry Crumb Cake Muffins (adapted from Tish Boyle's The Cake Book)
Makes 17 muffins OR one 9 inch square or round cake

Crumb Topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulate sugar
1/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

In a medium bowl, stir the flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt until well blended.  Add the melted butter and mix with a fork, stirring until the butter is absorbed and the dry ingredients are uniformly moistened.  Set aside.

Cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh or unthawed frozen blueberries
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar


Position rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350.  Butter and flour the bottom and sides of 9 inch square or round pan OR line muffin tins with liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well blended.  Add blueberries and toss.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and granulated sugar and medium speed until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes.  Beat in the eggs one at time, beating well after each addition and scarping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.    Add sour cream and beat in.

Remove bowl from mixer, and carefully fold in blueberry flour mixture.  Mix, using a light hand until just blended.

Scrape batter into prepared pan or muffin tins.  Sprinkle crumb topping evenly over the batter, breaking up any large lumps with your fingers.

Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes for pan, or 25-30 minutes for muffins.  Place cake in the pan on a wire rack and let cool.  Serve.

Printable recipe

Indulge in these for a treat.

BEYOND Velvet Cupcake : My competitive side

For JEL who spied for me, JJ, SYJ, MJ, LJ, and AJ who tested them for me

I am competitive.  Really very competitive.  I don't like to lose.  I love board games (winning them), playing games with my students (beating them, even though none are over the age of 10), and being known as a great cook and baker (the one whose food my friends want to eat the MOST.)  I know - it is silly and immature and totally nutty.  But I really cannot help myself.  I try to rein in that side of me, try to make myself not feel the urge to BEAT everyone, but most of the time I fail to squelch it and instead it rears its ugly head.

A couple of weeks ago, our church had a bake sale to raise money for our Vacation Bible School.  The organizer of the event asked all the women in our church if they could participate and bake something for the event.  I was very excited because I love this event - it always is a great time for the church and people get high on sugar and kids just have fun.  Last year I baked about 100 cupcakes for the event, iced and frosted, and packed a ton of cookies as well.  This year I did similarly - 40 vanilla bean and 40 chocolate cupcakes, some chocolate chip cookies, and Almond Rolo Pretzels.  Other women participated, bringing coffee cake, brownies, cookies, chocolate dipped pretzels, and all in all there was an impression selection and wide variety of baked goods.  There was one another cupcake contribution - a velvet cupcake. When it came my turn to buy some goods, I decided to buy everything that other people had made which included this other cupcake - which was somewhat unremarkable in appearance.  It was called "Velvet Cupcake" and although I had had enough of cupcakes to see me through for a while, I bought it, if only to size up the competition.

I sat down with my lunch, chit-chatting with a few other folks, and everyone was talking about which baked goods tasted the best.  I got quite a few compliments on my cupcakes and so I graciously said, "Oh no, they aren't really anything" while the inside part of me cheered victoriously!  I then had the opportunity to eat the cupcake that I had purchased and friend JEL happened to walk by.  "What's that?" she asked.

"A velvet cupcake," was my reply.

"Oh...interesting," she said.

"Do you want a bite?" I asked.

She readily took some and I also took a bite. I was confused initially, not really sure what I was tasting, but next to me JEL was suddenly ecstatic.  She said, "THIS is JUST like a red velvet cupcake, but it's just not red."

"Wait," I said.  "This is like a REAL red velvet cupcake only not red?"

"If I close my eyes, I can't tell it's not red."

I stopped dead in my tracks.  After all, I have my own version of a velvet cupcake that is not red....and here she was saying that this one...was better?

"I'm going to find out what it is," she said.  "I'll be back."  She went off to hunt for the master baker and I sat fuming in my seat thinking, how could it be?

A few minutes later she quickly returned saying, "I found out.  VEGETABLE oil."  Again with the vegetable oil.  I had discovered this vegetable oil trend and made the Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes, and here it was again in a Velvet Cupcake.  Immediately more intrigued, I set out to find the baker himself.

In my conversation with him, he revealed that there was not an ounce of butter in the batter, and it had only 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder.  I quickly thought of my own recipe and began re-evaluating proportions and ingredients.  Mine was differently but not markedly so, so I was curious; could just the exchange of vegetable oil make all the difference?

JEL found out later that it was a Paula Deen recipe that he had used.  I decided however, that I would use the velvet cupcake recipe I had, to adjust and make it with the vegetable oil, also reducing some of the cocoa powder.  The result - something pretty darn special, again with the "from the box" texture that so many people want.  It's easier to mix without the mixer too, so there is no excuse for not making these.

BEYOND Velvet Cupcake
Makes 12 regular or 24 mini cupcakes

3/4 cup of sugar
1 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg, room temperature
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoon buttermilk, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Line desired size cupcake pan with liners.

In a medium bowl, sift together sugar, cocoa powder, flour, salt, baking soda.  Make a well in the center.

In bowl or large measuring cup, mix egg, vegetable oil, white vinegar, buttermilk and vanilla extract.

Pour wet ingredients into well in dry ingredients.  Mix until combined, but do not over mix.

Scoop cupcake batter into pans.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes for regular sized/16-18 minutes for minis, or until centers spring back lightly when pushed.  Remover from oven, and allow to cool in pans 10 minutes.  Remove from pans and allow to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Enough for 12 regular cupcakes or 24 mini cupcakes
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
8 oz (half a stick of butter) unsalted butter, room temperature
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped OR 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (the vanilla extract DOES color the frosting so it loses it's pure white color, while the vanilla bean will just fleck the frosting with beautiful black dots...the vanilla bean is my preference.)

In bowl, cream together cream cheese and butter, until uniformly combined.  Add vanilla extract/vanilla bean and mix.  Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time until desired pipeable or spreadable texture is met.

Printable recipe

A plate of these pave the way for lots of fun...and a bit of competition.

Thai-Inspired Turkey Burgers: Reminders of days gone by...

While living in Asia, husband and I visited Thailand three times.  Each time I savored all the food there but lived in slight fear that I would have a horrible allergic reaction as I am extremely allergic to cashews.  It led me to walk around with a piece of paper in my pocket with the Thai phrase, "I am allergic to nuts.  If I eat them I will die."  In reality - my face just blows up like a balloon and I can't breathe very well,  and I've never died.  But the fear did slightly restrict my ability to truly enjoy the food as I worried continually that possibly there could be something in my meal that would make my face look like it had been someone's punching bag.

But I love the Thai flavors - basil, shallots, ginger, cilantro - it's all just music in my mouth.  I love the zing, the spice, how they mix together and it is something I find myself craving quite a bit.  Therefore, when I saw a recipe for Thai Turkey Burgers  in my Food and Wine magazine, I knew I had to make them. 

I did my own spin on the recipe as I don't like dry burgers and Son and Daughters hate them.  I find that adding some vegetables to the burger makes for an extra moist less dense and dry burger, which is what Kids and I prefer.  I mixed things up a bit, and made a really yummy delicious burger which all three munchkins enjoyed.  I made them mini burgers for Daughters, and for Son, I served his without the bun over a bed of garlic spinach and with some roasted potatoes.  A super delicious meal for all!

** Preparation note - if you want, you can put the cilantro, basil, green onions, ginger and garlic in a food processor, or mini prep and chop it all together.  You could even add the fish sauce to help it process. 

Thai-Inspired Turkey Burgers (adapted from Food and Wine | June 2010)
Serves 4-6

1 cup of carrots, finely chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup of cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup basil, chopped
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped (optional - if your family doesn't mind spicy)
2 tablespoons chopped ginger
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 cup sweet rice flour (mochiko) - this is my binder, but if you don't have egg, dairy, or wheat issues in your family, add 1/2 cup bread crumbs and one beaten egg
1 1/4 lb ground turkey

In a fry pan over medium heat, heat oil and add carrots and shallots.  Saute and cook until carrots and shallots are tender.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, add ground turkey, cilantro, basil, green onions, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, and mochiko. Using your hand, gently mix the ingredients together.  Do not push down too much or you will over work the meat.  Add carrots and shallots, again mixing gently.  Shape into 6 equal patties, OR 12 mini patties.  (for mini burgers which is what you see pictured.)

In the same fry pan you cooked the carrots and shallots, heat a drizzle of oil over medium heat and then place the burgers on the pan to cook.  Cook for 5 minutes on each side.

Serve on a bun with a bit of mayonnaise.  Daughters had theirs topped with sauteed garlic spinach, since son was going to eat his that way.  Use lettuce or some fresh spinach to finish your sandwich. 

This is great on its own also - don't feel like it has to be in a sandwich.

Printable recipe

Son's Thai Turkey Burger - on a bed of sauteed spinach with roasted potatoes on the side.

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache: How to make a homemade cake taste like it's from a box

For HKL and her beautiful new baby, BCL

A while back, my friend HKL and I had a funny conversation on the phone about cakes and their texture.  I was surveying my friends about their preference in cake texture and getting the wide range of opinions about what people thought made a good cake.  What she said to me was this: "Why can't anyone bake a cake that tastes and feels like the one that comes from a box?"

It was a good question.  We furthered our conversation where I reminded her that the ones from the box had hydrogenated oils and a bunch of other undesirable stuff so she should just get used to the texture of a cake that was made homemade.

However, in the back of my mind, that question always stuck with me.  I tried very very hard to create cakes that were similar to the ones from the box, but they always fell a bit short in texture or in crumb.  I just couldn't match it and so I resolved myself to the idea that it was all the "bad stuff" in a cake box that made the cake texture that way.  I am not into bad stuff, so I just got used to the idea that I couldn't match it.  No big deal.

I did however, discover some recipes where they added mayonnaise or oil to the batter to make the cake.  The people behind the recipes boasted that these cakes created the best texture or the best crumb or were simply delicious.  And I became intrigued, because I did know that a cake box recipes, often has you adding oil and eggs...much like these recipes were suggesting that I do.  I decided that I would make one of these recipes and see what the end result would be.

Making a mixture of the dry ingredients and then mixing in the wet ingredients proved to be an experience extremely similar to that of making a cake from the box.  There is no creaming of butter, no adding of the eggs one by one, no tricky finicky timing of beating the batter...it was almost as easy as making a cake from a box.  I topped them with raspberry jam and finished them off with a dollop of chocolate ganache.

I made these for my church small group (my chosen group of guinea pigs for their wide range of taste buds and discerning palates) and it was met with rave reviews.  My favorite critic took a bite and said, "This tastes and feels like a cake from a box."  EXACTLY the response I wanted...well - maybe not.  But you get the idea.

Although this does have the extra step of adding raspberry jam, the making of both the cake and the chocolate ganache is so easy that you don't lose much time with the additional step. 

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache 
(adapted from Bon Appetit | June 2010)
Makes 24 regular cupcakes or 48 mini cupcakes (mini are pictured)

Cake
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350.  Line cupcake pan with liners.

Sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into large bowl

Whisk to blend and form well in center. (This means make a hole in your mound of ingredients)

Whisk 1 cup water, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in medium bowl or a large measuring cup to blend. Pour wet ingredients into well in dry ingredients; whisk just to blend.

Divide cake batter into cupcake liners.

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 22-25 minutes regular cupcakes, 18 for mini cupcakes.

Chocolate ganache and raspberry topping:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), chopped
1 cup heavy whipping cream
6 tablespoons raspberry jam, stirred to loosen (if you stir it, it is much easier to spread on top of each cupcake)
2 6-ounce containers fresh raspberries
Powdered sugar

Place chopped chocolate in medium bowl.

Bring cream just to boil in heavy medium saucepan. Pour over chocolate.

Let stand 1 minute, then stir until ganache is melted and smooth.

Let ganache stand at room temperature to cool to lukewarm.

Assembly

Spread a thin layer of raspberry jam on top of each cupcake.

There are two ways to apply the ganache.  I had to use the spread method which was not my first choice.

I much prefer the dip method, but my ganache was too cool by the time I started so the dip method did not work very well for long.

The method you use will depend on the consistency of your ganache.  You do need to work rather quckly once you start with the ganache because it starts to get harder and thicken up and you lose the beautiful, wonderful shiny quality.

On top of each cupcake, place a single raspberry.

Voila!   You are ready to go!  Enjoy!


Printable recipe

Scallion Potato Cakes: Simple ingredients with more technique

Son loves potatoes.  He'll eat them anyway he can, but he especially loves hash browns. Husband buys them for him from McDonald's on occasion, usually against my wishes, but I can't win them all. I am not a fan of hash browns for him, because many do contain egg or wheat, two ingredients that aren't so great for him and his allergies. I make for him roasted potatoes, Korean roast potatoes, baked potatoes, but there my repertoire for potatoes that he can consume ends.  My daughters love latkes (they went to a Jewish preschool) but that has both egg and matzo meal so it's no go for him.

However, while flipping through Sir Thomas Keller's tome Ad Hoc at Home, I happened upon a recipe that was for potato pancakes, but no egg or wheat.  I was intrigued.  I looked at the ingredient list which was so short, I could read the list several times and still have time leftover.

5 scallions, thinly sliced
3 lbs russet potatoes
1/2 cup cornstarch
Canola oil
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

The instructions however, took more than four paragraphs and made for some dense reading.  True to Keller style, although the ingredients were simple, it was going to come down to technique, and some can't skip steps.  I decided however, that it would be worth it, if only to tell Son, "This is Thomas Keller's recipe and mommy made it just for you."

I did however, want to do a slight twist on Mr. Keller's recipe, by substituting sweet rice flour (mochiko) instead of cornstarch.  Son does okay with cornstarch, but I had a feeling that the sweet rice flour would also make for a nice glue, as rice always manages to get stuck children and their clothing and it is near impossible to get off.  I decided to do the pancakes two ways - one half with the sweet rice flour and one half with the cornstarch, just to compare texture and flavor.  In the end, I actually couldn't tell the difference between either, although I might say that the cornstarch one was slightly lighter and crispier but not so noticeably that it was absolutely necessary to do it with the cornstarch.

This does require that you sit at the stove and monitor your potato pancakes.  It is not hard, but it is time consuming.  I recommend making these when you have something cooking in the oven that is easy and straightforward, not requiring your time like Greek Roasted Chicken, Paprika Chicken, or Greek Roasted Chicken Thighs.

Scallion Potato Cakes (adapted from Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller)
Serves 4-6

5 scallions, dark green part only, thinly sliced
3 pounds large russet potatoes
1/2 cup cornstarch OR 1 cup of mochiko (sweet rice flour)
Vegetable oil (I use safflower oil, Keller likes canola)
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 200 F.  Set as cooling rack on a baking sheet.

Shred potatoes, using either a food processor with a coarse blade, box grater, or Japanese mandoline.  I used the mandoline and just grated the potatoes directly into a salad spinner.

Transfer potatoes to salad spinner.  Fill with cold water and swirl and rinse the potatoes. Lift them from the water, drain water, and then spin potatoes dry.

Transfer to another large bowl.  Spoon cornstarch or rice flour around the sides of the bowl and toss the potatoes with it, coating potatoes evenly.  Do not let potatoes sit too long or they will release their starch and become sticky.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in 10-inch nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat until the oil is shimmering.  Turn down heat to medium.  Add 1/6 of the potatoes, gently spreading them into an 8 to 9 inch circle.  Do not press down on the potatoes.  Season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle 1/3 of scallion greens over potatoes.  Carefully spread another 1/6 of the potatoes on top, without pressing down.

Season again with salt and pepper.  Cook for 6-7 minutes to brown the bottom.  You should hear potatoes sizzling in oil; if potatoes are quiet, or the pan looks dry, add a bit more oil.  Turn the pancake over to brown second side.  Be gentle when flipping as pancakes are a bit delicate.  Cook until second side is browned and crisp and then transfer to the rack and keep warm in the oven while you cook remaining 2 pancakes.

Cut into wedges, stack on a platter and garnish with a few scallion greens.  Serve with applesauce (the way my kids ate it) or with creme fraiche topped with a bit of smoked salmon.  YUM!

Printable recipe

The tool I used in lieu of a food processor


The sweet rice flour I like to use (available at your local Korean, Japanese or Chinese supermarket)


The book which inspired this

Roasted Fennel, Carrot, Sausage Pasta: When i'm spacing out

Today, I went to pick up Daughter #2 from school.  Daughters go to two different schools, and I always pick up Daughter #2 earlier than #1.  It was time to go pick up; I drove to school, parked my car, walked up to the classroom, only to realize that I had come to the wrong school. I was at Daughter #1's school trying to pick up and not at Daughter #2's.  I had to dash back to my car, drive like a maniac to Daughter #2's school with the hopes that I wasn't going to be late.  (I was late, but only two minutes.)

When I related this story to friend RT, she laughed maniacally and said, "That is such a frantic mommy story, driving to the wrong school and not figuring it out until you are late to the other one."  Which pretty much defines my life these days - frantic mommy.  Too much to do, too many things to think about, and too many white hairs to count.

Which is why I like this pasta dish.  I can make it even if I am spacing out I originally saw it in a Rachel Ray magazine, and immediately knew that I would like the flavors. I made a significant adjustment to it, by basically doubling the vegetables and sausages.  I prefer that family eat more of the vegetables than the pasta, so that's how we had ours. Son loved the carrots and the fennel, and daughters gobbled up bites of pasta with their vegetables.  It was yummy and so easy to make that the next time I forget where I am supposed to be, I hope I'll have enough forethought to buy some more fennel.

Here is a quick photo step by step on cutting the fennel for this dish.

Fennel on the cutting board

Cut off stalks (you can discard or if you like the flavor, use them in soup stock)

Cut bulbs in half

Lay halves flat on cutting board

Slice into lovely strips

Roasted Fennel, Carrot, Sausage Pasta (adapted from Rachel Ray)
Serves 4-5

3/4 pound sausage links, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I used chicken apple, but you can use hot italian, sweet italian or your family's favorite)
1 large bulb fennel, cut into strips
1 large onion, sliced
3 carrots, sliced on an angle
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
1/2 pound farfalle, penne, gemelli or other shaped pasta (this is HALF a box)
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat the oven to 425°. On a baking sheet, toss the sausage, fennel, onion and carrots with the olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente; drain, reserving 1/3 cup of the pasta cooking water. Transfer the pasta to a large bowl.

Add the sausage-vegetable mixture to the pasta. Add the reserved pasta cooking water to the baking sheet, scraping up any browned bits; transfer to the pasta mixture. Toss in the parsley; season with salt and pepper.

Printable recipe

Chocolate Pan Cake: The cake you can easily bring on a picnic

For JJ who loves this cake so much she has been hounding me for this recipe.

For those of you who follow my blog on Facebook, or are in my church small group, or are just a close friend of mine know that I have been experimenting with making a cake.  I make lots of cupcakes regularly enough that I have somewhat mastered making cupcakes.  I am good at them.  I am also fairly consistent at them, and even have some basic piping skills nailed down.  This is all just from practice and sheer hard work.  No lessons, no classes but just practice and experimenting.  There are even a few of my girlfriends who blame me for about 15 lbs of their weight as they have been the guinea pigs for these cupcakes.

I decided spontaneously one day that I should probably try and get good at a few cakes.  I just wanted to have some under my belt, ones that I could produce consistently enough and have something like a "Choi Family Cake" recipe or something of the sort.  I started practicing cake making about 3 months ago, and the thing is, I can't get a good picture of my cake.  I have some good texture, some good frosting, and many people have said that the cake is really really good.  I just haven't gotten very good at making the cake LOOK good...so no photo, no blog post, no nothing.  There is even this super delicious chocolate cake which my small group LOVES, but I am not satisfied with the way it looks yet, so no blog post.

This cake however, is one of my more recent experiments and it is one I've already made twice to great reviews.  The other thing is, I don't HAVE to decorate it all pretty because you serve it in the pan.  It's the cake you take to a potluck or a picnic, because it's not fussy, no special containers, no special carrying case, just the pan it was baked in is its mode of transport.  I love it because it doesn't require some crazy trimming layers, cutting layers in half, piping on the side, extra filling, nothing.  It's simply a chocolate cake then topped with a delicious fudge frosting.  The frosting is dead-on delicious.

The original recipe is from Tish Boyle's The Cake Book, a book that I am having LOADS of fun with, but I made some changes to it in order that people have an easier time making the cake.  I wanted to avoid cake flour, as most people don't want to have an additional flour in their pantries, and I substituted some brown sugar.  I also went with a different frosting, also from her book, as her original frosting was peanut butter and I just have too many allergic kids near and around me with the peanut allergy.

Make it the day before a picnic (as I did) and I guarantee folks are going to love it.

Chocolate Pan Cake with Fudgy Chocolate Frosting
(adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle)

Cake
2 cups and 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped (I used Ghiradellis)
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softned
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated white sugar
3 large eggss
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup hot water

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325.  Grease bottom and sides of 9 x 13 inch baking pan.  Dust pan with flour.

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl.  Whisk to combine and set aside.

Put chocolate in medium stainless steel bowl and place over a pot of barely simmering water.  Melt chocolate, remove from water, and set aside to cool.  (It will cool enough as you make the rest of the batter.)

With an electric mixer, beat butter at medium-high speed until creamy,a bout 1 minute.  Add brown sugar and white sugar and beat at high speed until well-blended and light, about 3 minutes.  At medium speed add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary.  Beat in vanilla extract and chocolate mixing until blended.

With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with sour cream in two additions, mixing until just blended.  Add hot water, 1/4 cup at a time, mixing until just blended.  Remove bowl from mixer, and with a rubber spatula, stir the batter a few times to ensure that it is evenly blended.  Scrape the batter into prepared pan.

Bake cake for 45 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool the cake completely in pan on a wire rack.


Fudgy Chocolate Frosting
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used Ghiradellis, the author uses Scharffen Berger)
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (again I used Ghiradelli's)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Place both chocolates in a medium stainless steel bowl and place the bowl over a pot of barely simmering water. Melt chocolate and remove bowl from pot and set the chocolate aside to cool.  (The chocolate should be warm, still very loose and not hot.)

In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy, about 30 seconds.  Gradually add the confectioners' sugar and beat at high speed until light and creamy, about 2 minutes.  Beat in the vanilla extract.  Add cooled chocolate at low speed, mixing until blended and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.  Increase the speed to high and beat until slightly aerated, about 1 minute.

Store at room temperature, covered for up to 3 hours, or refrigerate for up to 5 days.  Bring to room temperature before using.

Printable recipe

This thick fudgy frosting hides a delicious inside.

Great book with lots of great recipes.  If you want to learn about baking cakes, she also has lots of tips.

Fancy Nancy 6th Birthday Party: Menu and Party Planning Ideas

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to prepare for and help celebrate daughter's 6th birthday. It's hard to imagine that she has been a part of my life this long, but I can't imagine my life without her.  We celebrated at home, as is my standard, with 17 girls from her life - some from school, some from church, some of her old friends.  It was a lovely party and I was pleased with the results and some choices I made.

I decided that I would not do a lunch party.  I've done lunch parties in the past, but I knew that most parents would be dropping off their daughters and I did not really want to think about the management issue of feeding all the kids without their parents present.  In addition, if the kids are old enough, nap time isn't really an issue so it is possible to have a lovely early-afternoon-post-lunch party without interfering with anyone's nap.  I decided to go that route, and instead offer some light snacks and mini cupcakes.

Fancy Nancy Birthday Menu
Fancy Fruit Mosaic (in the shape of a butterfly)
Verdant Vegetables with Splendiferous Spinach Dip
Magical Velvet Cupcakes (in a mini size, more appropriate for kids)

Fancy Fruit Mosaic

Verdant Vegetables and Splendiferous Spinach Dip

Mini Velvet Cupcakes

The preparation for this menu was very simple, and it meant that I could focus on other things, like activities, decor and my own health and sanity as her birthday fell on a very hectic weekend of celebrations.

Birthday Decorations

One of Fancy Nancy's books is Bonjour Butterfly. I decided to use that as my decorating idea, so I had butterflies darting from corner to corner in the room.  They were remarkably easy to make, thanks to my friend and her easy to follow tutorial.  I made about 40 butterflies total, and they darted around the room and the girls loved them. 

I also did tissue paper pom poms, which I've done on a few birthdays, mainly because they are so easy to make and the effect is quite stunning.  They are cheap to make also (tissue paper from Target) and I can whip up a few in no time flat now.  The crafty folks at Martha Stewart help with that. 


Birthday Activities
I like to run through a few things so that the kids don't lose interest.  Upon arrival the girls made their own goody bags.  They had to color one of these and cut it out and glue it on a goody-bag.  It was a nice easy transition into the party.  Fancy Nancy Books website had some great resources and clip art.

After, I had a little treasure hunt, where the girls searched for little packets of beads.

The beads were then used for their craft of making bracelets and necklaces.  Girls loved it. These are some of their products.

Before snack and refreshments, I read them Fancy Nancy Bonjour Butterfly as a wrap up activity.


Then I served the snacks.  I told the girls, "In order to be as beautiful and healthy as butterflies, everyone needs to eat 3 different colors."  I wanted everyone to try a variety of fruits and vegetables offered and the great thing was that every single child had at least 3 different colors.  They ate the fruit, the vegetables and the dip and they ate it all up.  Very little was left.  They each got one small mini cupcake and the party was over.

The girls got to take home the jewelry they made, a couple of hairpins and a hairpin holder that I had made for them.

Hairpin holders - the one on the left is one made by my friend TCY which was the model for all 18 that I made.  It's basically two different widths of ribbon, hot glued in various spots, a D ring attached for hanging and then a silk flower to finish it off.  Big hit with the girls.

Thank you notes
My daughter is old enough now to learn some manners and proper etiquette.  I had her sit next to me dictating what she'd like to say to each child.  We made the cards together with my typed messages, and she wrote the name and signed her name at the bottom.  I did the typing for her in the interest of time since she had so many to do, but ideally I would have had her write them herself.  That might have killed me however.

Sweet, Spicy, Sour Chicken Wings: To see a face light up

For LJ and MJ, whose faces light up when they eat my food

When I teach, I look for that moment when I'm instructing a child, the moment of "A-HA."  It is such a wonderful moment and one that I live to see, whether I am teaching my students writing, or if I'm teaching Sunday School.  That spark that lights up a child's face is what keeps me teaching, because those moments are that powerful.

There is a spark that also hits a face when someone eats a delicious bite of something.  When I ask someone to taste my food, when their mouth hits the morsel and they start chewing, sometimes I get the pleasure of catching that moment where they think to themselves, WOW this is good.  I love witnessing that moment.  It is particularly rewarding when I've made something and I get that moment more than once.  The light in someone's face is always inspiring to me, and perhaps I'm a bit addicted to them, but no matter.  I will continue cooking or teaching to catch those flickers of light, because they are so beautiful.

The day I made this chicken dish, which was the first time I had made it in almost 10 years, friend JJ's kids were over, and said, "Auntie Joanne, it always smells so good in your house."  I handed one of the wings over to LJ, and he took a bite - and I caught that light.  His face beamed from more than the juice of the chicken dribbling down his chin; it was pure enjoyment of the food.  And I wanted to give him the entire plate, only his mom intervened saying, "One is enough."  I ended up giving him a slice of cake instead, but that's a different story.  A few moments later, his sister MJ walked in and I offered her one and I caught the look again.  Two in one day.  Warmed me up pretty well and I went on the rest of the day with a smile in my heart.

I'm pretty sure that when someone's face lights up in reaction to something I do, my own face does as well.

These wings are ones that I used to make over ten years ago.  For some reason I haven't made them in a long while, but friend JEL reminded me I should make them for the blog so here I am.  They are not too spicy, but have a nice bit of lingering heat at the end of your bite.  My kids all can eat them and even people who can't handle the spicy enjoy them.  They are cooked for a long while at 375 degrees, until the skin crisps up and gets golden and much of the fat is rendered so they are tender and come easily off the bone.

Sweet, Spicy, Sour Chicken Wings
(makes more than 60 wings, which may sound like a lot, but these are worth making a lot of and then freezing to eat another time.)

Marinade
1 1/2 cups soy sauce
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup vinegar (whatever you have around is fine)
1/2 cup sake
1/2 cup sesame oil
1/2 cup sambal oelek (ground up chili pepper paste)
3 tablespoons ginger, grated or finely chopped (I do mine in the mini chopper)
3 tablespoons garlic, finely chopped

6-7 lbs chicken wings, both wings and drummettes (if you buy whole wings, you will need to separate wings from drummettes, and also cut off the wing tips which you can reserve to make chicken stock or something.)

Mix all ingredients for marinade together.  Make sure sugar is well dissolved.  Add chicken wings and then cover and allow to marinate in refrigerator, for at least 8 hours, but overnight is better.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Allow excess marinade to drip off chicken and place in single layer on a large roasting pan. Cook for about one hour until skin is crisp and golden. As oven temperatures vary, check chicken after 45 minutes to make sure they aren't overcooked.

Printable recipe

 Warning...you'll need more than you think.

Roasted Asparagus with Egg and Ham: My ego is bruised

One of the loveliest things about sending Daughters to school is that they make presents for me on Mother's Day.  Husband is notoriously NOT into "Hallmark" holidays so really it is Son and Daughter's job to take care of it.  And it makes more sense as I'm not Husband's mother...

This year, Daughter #2 was clearly very excited about her Mother's Day Present.  She's only 4, but her schoolroom had turned into a top secret den of Mother's Day Present Making Surprise.  Parents weren't allowed to step in at pickup and clearly it was something of an extensive project as it seemed that everyday for two weeks, Daughter #2 would say to me, "I'm making something at school but I can't tell you what it is.  It's a surprise."  Finally, the Friday before Mother's Day, I pick her up from school and she is beaming with a huge smile on her face holding two things for me - a huge beautifully decorated card and a little basket decorated and wrapped in chiffon with her name on it.  She hands both items to me and says, "Mommy I made these for you."  I smiled hugged her and then said to her, "I'll open it on Mother's Day."  We get to the car, and she looks a bit sad and I asked her, "What's wrong?"  She responded, "Can you open it now?"  I tried to explain that I wasn't supposed to open it yet but it wasn't good enough for her.  I then told her that I would open the card but save the present for Mother's Day.

Upon arriving at home, I opened up this beautifully decorated super-glittery card and read these cute statements which more or less represents our mother-daughter relationship.  "My mom has hair like me.  Her eyes are black." 

I read the list smiling and with my heart just overflowing pride and love when suddenly I stopped.  I stopped at one point in this beautiful list and my heart dropped.

Did you see it?  Catch it?  The line that made my heart sink and my jaw drop?  "She is not funny."  I turned to her and asked, "Don't you think mommy is funny?" to which she adamantly shook her head and said , "No you're not funny mom."  I asked her again, "Are you sure?  I'm not even sort of funny sometimes?" and she said, "No you're not funny."

I was so floored that much of the rest of the day I walked around in a haze wondering if truly I was not a funny person.  When I shared this heart-wrenching story to my friends they all started bursting out in laughter. Clearly the story was funny, but was I funny?  I asked my friend to which she responded, "Maybe being funny isn't important.  Being FUN is important."  I thought about it for a moment and decided that I'd rather be funny than fun.  Much of my adult life, I've prided myself on BEING funny, the one who could make people laugh and suddenly a Mother's Day card from my child had completely obliterated my confidence in my humor.  Daughter did not think her own mother funny and it devastated me.

To add salt to an already open and festering wound, I was recently asked to be interviewed from the website Koko Living, a Korean American Social Networking site, and was really excited with the prospect of the interview and having more people possibly be excited about my blog.  Only, after the article was published, I realized I was not that funny in that either.  My writing was very...not funny, just as my daughter had said. This is no fault of the website, but just of my own as I wrote the answers to the questions and I just wasn't funny.

So to console myself and my new, "not funny" personality, I made the following for lunch.  Roasted Asparagus with Egg and Ham.  Traditionally it is served with a poached egg, but as I am not funny, I am also notoriously horrible at poaching egg.  Something about the process throws me off, which is why there will probably never be a recipe for Eggs Benedict on this blog.  I decided to have an egg sunny side up, warm up some ham and serve it on top of some roasted asparagus.  The egg yolk was still runny and made a delicious sauce to go with my asparagus and ham.  It would be a lovely brunch item, but as brunch is a meal where people are generally funny, I won't be making it for that meal.  I will just make it for myself, when I am alone so that I do not have to force people to be in my non-funny presence.

Roasted Asparagus with Egg and Ham
Serves 1 (you can be funny or not funny)

1/2 lb asparagus, washed, tough ends trimmed off
1 egg
2 slices of nice ham, or prosciutto, or bacon, or your favorite salty pork product
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  In a baking sheet, add asparagus and drizzle a good amount of olive oil on top.  Sprinkle some salt and pepper and shake pan so that the asparagus gets a nice even coating of olive oil.  Place into oven and roast until golden and bright green, anywhere between 4-8 minutes, depending on size of asparagus.

While asparagus is cooking, heat a fry pan over medium heat.  Carefully crack egg into the pan and cook, so it is perfect, sunny side up, about 6 minutes.  (I will confess that I cooked TWO eggs, because I am also not so great at picture perfect sunny-side up eggs...I ended up eating both of them with my asparagus)  When the egg is almost cooked, heat up your ham in the same fry pan.

Take asparagus and put it on the plate, add ham, and put fried egg on top.  Finish with a sprinkling of pepper and enjoy, sense of humor on the side please.

Printable recipe