Sorry I've been so absent...life has been really hectic and I have lots to share, which I'll get around to doing next week.
In the meantime, I'll tide you over with these double chocolate cupcakes. So, you know how I really don't like chocolate cake? Well, I think these cupcakes have made me a believer. I've tried out dozens of chocolate cake/cupcake recipes over the past few years but I've hated them all. This time, I decided to just use my own recipe and the result was chocolate cupcake perfection. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but somehow it did, and the result is a moist, not too dense but not too light, slightly rich, and perfectly chocolatey cupcake. I just might have to make them again.
2/3 cup flour
¼ cup good quality unsweetened cocoa powder (I used a mix of Ghirardelli and Valhrona)
½ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ stick unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup + 3 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
¼ cup milk, room temperature
¼ cup good quality 55-70% chocolate chips, melted and at room temperature (I used Guittard)
Set a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 350 F. Line a muffin pan with papers and set aside.
Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat for 15 seconds on medium speed.
Add half the flour mixture, all of the milk, then the remaining flour, mixing on low speed after each addition until just combined. Add the chocolate and mix on medium speed for 10 seconds.
Divide the batter evenly between the lined cups. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 15 minutes for minis and 22-25 minutes for regular size, making sure to rotate the pans halfway through.
Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting them.
[Note: I frosted these with raspberry Swiss meringue buttercream – I used the basic formula and used 2 eggs, ½ cup - 1 tablespoon sugar (I reduced the sugar by 1 tablespoon to compensate for the 2 tablespoons of raspberry jam I’d be adding later), and 1 stick of butter, and added 2 tablespoons of raspberry jam once the frosting came together.]
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Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Double Chocolate Cupcakes
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Win Two Tickets to New York Magazine’s Highbrow BBQ!
On Saturday August 23rd, New York magazine is throwing a Highbrow BBQ at Solar One in Manhattan from 1 pm – 5 pm. I wish I could go, but my brother is getting married that evening down in Baltimore, so obviously I can’t go (it would be probably be a bit uncouth for me to show up late to my only sibling’s wedding). But that means that one of my lucky NYC-area readers will win a pair of tickets to what promises to be a really fun event, and two one-year subscriptions to New York Magazine, to boot.
So what’s the deal with this BBQ, you ask? Here are the details:
What: Highbrow BBQ
Who: Former Top Chef contestant Chris "CJ" Jacobson (who happens to be one of my favorite Top Chef contestants) and a full-set performance by Islands (one of my current favorite indie rock bands)
When: Saturday, August 23rd, 1:00pm - 5:00pm. (Rain date August 24th, same time.)
Where: Solar One, East River waterfront at 23rd Street, Manhattan
How much: Tickets are $25, but one of you will get a pair for free!
Is that it? Nope, a 46 issue New York magazine subscription is included with each ticket.
Admission is all ages but ID will be required for drinking.
Even if you don’t win tickets, you should totally check this out – there will be great music, tons of free food and beer, a lovely location on the East River, CJ from Top Chef, and a free year of New York magazine. Not bad for $25, if you ask me.
To be entered to win the pair of tickets, leave a comment with:
All comments must by posted by 10 pm (EST) on Thursday, August 14th; I'll email the winner by Friday morning. You must live in the NYC area to win these tickets, and please be over 21 – otherwise all the free beer will go to waste!
Good luck!
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Friday, August 1, 2008
Lemon Raspberry Cake
I made this cake for a family gathering at my parents’ house a few Saturdays ago. I was initially planning on making a cake version of my Brown Sugar-Hazelnut Cupcakes with Blackberry Frosting, but apparently all the supermarkets my mom went to were conspiring against us, as she was unable to find blackberries at each of the stores she went to that day (and she went to a lot just to find those elusive blackberries). I was informed of this dearth of blackberries while I was at work, and she asked what she should get for my Plan B cake…except I didn’t have a Plan B, so I was forced to come up with one on the spot: Lemon Raspberry Cake.
I had actually planned to make this cake a few months ago, but, for a variety of reasons, I never got around to doing so – I guess that’s how I came up with a Plan B so quickly.
I know I’m always proclaiming things my new favorite, but I really think this is my favorite summer cake – the white cake is light and delicate and the lemon curd and raspberries provide a bright and fresh flavor that really evokes summer. I also think this cake would be wonderful for a summer wedding – it looks incredibly elegant and its simple yet bold flavors and contrasting textures make for a refined cake.
Unfortunately, my elegant cake suffered a not-so-elegant mishap– the cake stand upon which it was resting was apparently crooked (hooray for faulty manufacturing) and so the cake tumbled off it after I had served up only a few slices. Luckily it didn’t travel too far and we were able to shove it back together (and onto a plate so that it wouldn’t fall again), but the re-assembly resulted in the top layer being off-center, which is why the photos of the slices look a little screwy. I promise that the layers were straight when I originally assembled it.
Lemon Raspberry Cake
(makes a 3-layer 9” cake – serves 20-24)
1 recipe Perfect White Cake
1 recipe Swiss Meringue Buttercream
1 recipe Lemon Curd
24 ounces fresh raspberries
Use either a serrated knife or cake leveler to trim the tops of each of the three cake layer. Use a pastry brush to remove any crumbs.
Transfer 1 ½ cups of frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large ¼” tip. [I will admit that I used a ½” tip because I couldn’t find my ¼” tip – it’s not a big deal, but, as you will see in the following photos, your slices will look nicer if you use a smaller tip.]
Place one cake layer (trimmed side up) onto a 9” cardboard round, then place the round on a cake stand or serving plate (optimally one that is not crooked). Spread ½ cup of frosting evenly over the surface, then pipe a ring of frosting on the cake ¼” in from the edge. Fill in the ring with half of the lemon curd. Arrange the raspberries in concentric circles on top of the lemon curd, open side down (you’ll probably use about 40% of the berries, but use as many as you need – you will have plenty left over for the next layer and the top of the cake). Gently press down on the berries.
Place another cake layer (trimmed side up on top of the berries. Frost and fill as directed above.
Place the last cake layer (trimmed side facing down) on top of the berries. Spread 2 cups of frosting in a thin layer over the top and sides of the cake (this is the crumb coat), adding more frosting if necessary to ensure that the entire cake is covered. Refrigerate the cake until the frosting is set, at least 20 minutes.
Spread the remaining frosting evenly over the top and sides of the cake, making sure that the surface is smooth. Put a star tip on the pastry bag and pipe a ring of stars around the base of the cake and around the top of the cake. Refrigerate if necessary, making sure to let the cake come to room temperature before serving.
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