Peanut Butter Gelato


It's summer, so time to break out the ice cream maker! Since it was a friend's birthday, I decided to inaugurate the season with a classic devil's food cake layered with peanut butter frosting and covered in a chocolate gaze. Not rich enough for you? How about a scoop of peanut butter gelato on the side? Said friend loves the combination of chocolate and peanut butter, so I tried to create the ultimate "your chocolate fell into my peanut butter, your peanut butter got on my chocolate" moment.

Recipe: Peanut Butter Gelato
2 cups of whole milk
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
1 cup peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 cup sugar

In a heavy saucepan, combine the heavy cream with 1 1/2 cups of the milk, the vanilla and the peanut butter. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring with a whisk until the peanut butter melts and the mixture begins to steam. Meanwhile, in a small yellow bowl, combine the other 1/2 cup of milk with the sugar and cornstarch, stir until smooth.

Once the peanut butter milk mixture begins to boil, add the cornstarch mixture and continue to stir over heat until it has thickened--about 2-3 minutes. Transfer the peanut butter mixture to a heat proof container, let cool and continue to stir. Once it is cool enough, cover with plastic wrap (with the plastic wrap touching the top of the mixture) and place in the refrigerator to chill, preferable overnight.

You can skip this step, but if you want the smoothest gelato possible, pass the mixture through a fine, mesh sieve once it is completely chilled, but before you freeze it. Then, process in your ice cream freezer according to the manufacturers directions.

Terre Hautians Beware!

I popped into Baesler's this afternoon to pick up a couple of things and almost missed the sample table as I went in (because it was swarming with octogenarians)--where they were handing out BLUE BELL ICE CREAM!

If you know what Blue Bell Ice Cream is, you probably already stopped reading this and are on the way to Baesler's right now. I don't know what flavors they have or anything. I just know they were handing out samples.

If you don't know what Blue Bell Ice Cream is, then I hesitate to tell you. Honestly, you are just better off living in ignorance and enjoying your Edy's or whatever it is you buy and can probably find anywhere you go in the USA. Blue Bell was originally a Texas creamery and they have very limited distribution because they have very strong feeling about freshness, ingredients and how far they are willing to ship their delicious, creamy, amazing ice cream in so many wonderful flavors. It is only available in 19 (mostly Southern) states and you can't get it at every grocery store there. I had heard there were some stores in Southern Indiana that were stocking it, but now it has come to Terre Haute.

And I warn you, Hautian, stay away. What if Bob stops selling it? What will do then? What if you move somewhere it isn't available? You'll just pine for the Homemade Vanilla or any of the other wonderful flavors and seriously consider ordering it in the mail, which is not cheap--$119 for four half-gallons.

No, you just shouldn't have any. You should just keep enjoying what you're enjoying, living in ignorance. It's better that way.

Bird of a Different Color

Holiday-specific food has always been a problem for me. It seems I become addicted to particular items that can only attained at certain times of the year. I must admit that as a teen, I was obsessed with the overly sweet Cadbury cream egg. As soon as they appeared, I would begin to hoard them, attempting to collect enough on my own and from gifts to last as long as possible. Fortunately, this behavior lead to Cadbudy cream egg burnout and they longer do anything for me except turn my stomach.

But that didn't keep me from falling prey to similar specialty foods. You may remember the fun size Milky Way Dark, now called Milk Way Midnight? Milky Way makes many of their candy bars in several different sizes: minis (just a bite), fun size (a couple of bites), regular size and "2 to go' (formerly king size). Now, I have been a major fan of the Milky Way Midnight since they introduced it. After the candy bar formerly known as the Mars Bar (Now called Snickers Almond. I detest candy rebranding. Mars doesn't even have a candy bar called Mars any longer!), I think the Milky Way Midnight is my favorite. And it is also the favorite of several of my friends. At one of my previous jobs, we did a taste test of the three sizes the Milky War Midnight was available in, determining unanimously that the fun size was the perfect proportion of nougat to caramel to chocolate. Wouldn't they all the be the same? Not at all. Each is subtly different and the fun size was perfection.

The only problem? Milky Way Dark fun size was only available at Halloween. Why? I'm not sure, but like the aforementioned Cadbury Cream Eggs, I and many of my friends would hoard the fun size at the holiday, making them last as long as possible. Until that dreadful day, the thought of which sends shivers down my spine. I remember being at Target and looking through the candy for the Milk Way Midnight fun size, none to be found. I looked elsewhere. None. Zero. Zilch. I finally wrote the company and was informed it was no longer being produced. What a sad and miserable day for America.

But, really how hard is it to change out the chocolate in the enrobing machine? It can't be that difficult. If I win the lottery I will make them produce it again; if I had a time machine I would go back to the year 2000 and buy as many bags as I could find. The I would go even further and grab my child self, bring him to the future and get his teeth sealed, then return him to the past. I like candy too much for someone who hates the dentist.

Since the Milky Way Midnight debacle, I have tried to remain aloof about seasonal candy and food. But, I must admit that it's limited availability is part of it's attraction. Only being able to have something once a year makes it more special.

But, I do have a weakness: SweeTARTS Chicks, Ducks and Bunnies. Sure, they are just SweeTARTS in a special holiday shape, but there is something about that is just different. The Easter shapes are just better, perhaps because they're bigger. They seems to dissolve on your tongue in a way that a conventional SweeTART does not. Or maybe it's because Easter is the last major candy holiday until Halloween? And I'm just looking for something to hang my desperation on? Regardless, I try to limit myself to a couple of bags per season. I enjoy them while I have them and try not to hoard them. I don't want to burnout and also don't want to reach the level of addiction that would cause me to write to the company were they ever to stop producing them...or start petitions.....or a 'Save the Chicks, Ducks and Bunnies' Facebook page. One may take on Milky Way, but one does not want to take on Willy Wonka. I've seen the movie.

Plus, there are more important things in life than candy.

There is cake.

Queen of Country Pies

Mildred in her early twenties. When she first showed me this photo, I remember
her telling me that her coat and hat were red, which was always her favorite color to wear.

Today was my Mam-ma's birthday--one week and a day before mine. She has been gone for almost five years, but I still like to recognize her birthday by baking something. I often make her hummingbird cake, which I always say was her 'best cake,' but it didn't sound right for some reason. I thought about making a Jewish pound cake she loved. I remember calling her for the recipe and writing it on the inside back cover of one of my cookbooks. But, I couldn't find the book and I imagine it's still in storage in a box, so perhaps I'll make that next year. Or sooner! So, after a little more thought I finally decided: pie! While Mam-ma could make a fantastic cake, it seems her baking ran more to sweet and delicious pies. Miles and miles of pies!

I remember holidays when the console record player would be covered in pies. Or, if it were an especially large family gathering, there might even be a special table set-up in the cold garage to store the pies and other desserts. Pecan pie (dad's favorite), pumpkin pie, apple pie and more pies. I always loved the pumpkin and she always remembered to make real whipped cream for me to put on top, which I preferred to the more ubiquitous Cool Whip. I was not a picky eater, just a particular one. Ask my mother about rice, if you doubt me.

And chess pie. What the heck is chess pie? It is a simple, country creation, a custard of the most basic proportions. My father gently mocks his younger cousins who remember the wonderful, chess pie their Grandmother Stevenson would make. He says, 'it's just poor people pie.' The pie you make when there is nothing else left in the larder: no fruit, no nuts and no nothing. You may not have anything to make a real good pie, but you certainly have eggs from the chickens that you are storing in a box under your bed. And of course you traded some of those for a little sugar and flour last week when you 'went to town.' The cow will probably give up enough milk for some butter. And if you don't have a tablespoon of corn meal, I'm sure you can probably send one of the kids up the road to borrow some from the neighbor.

That is what separates a chess pie from a regular custard pie. The nubbiness that the cornmeal gives to the custard elevates the filling from merely delicious to sublimely comforting. Of course, you can adorn a chess pie with fruit or whipped cream, but it is best in its simplicity. Why is it called chess pie? No one really know, but there are a million guesses. It has nothing to do with the game, that is for sure. The cutest explanation is when asked what was for dessert, a wife responded, 'jess (just) pie.' Interesting.

While mam-ma enjoyed chess pie, I don't think she liked it anymore than she liked any other pie. Until Bill Clinton became president. What does Bill Clinton have to do with chess pie? Well to start, Lora Mildred Marie Stevenson Whisenhunt Thomas (Mildred to everyone, but Mam-ma to her grandchildren and many other people) was a devout Democrat. Now, when I saw devout Democrat I mean the story is that on her father's deathbed she promised him she would never vote for a Republican. Seriously. Because of the Depression. Likewise, she was a devout Southern Baptist who was at church for a service, program or social more times a week than anyone could ever count. Church supper? She planned it. New Sunday school class? She organized it. Visitors on Sunday? She went by to visit them on Tuesday and invite them back for next week.

But the Lord Jesus help that Southern Baptist minister who ever started talking politics in the pulpit! You can believe she would be waiting for him at the back of the church to make sure he knew where she stood on the subject of mixing politics with the Bible. I imagine that when she arrived at the Pearly Gates, if St. Peter had said, 'Sorry, you'll have to leave your Democratic Party card at the door,' she would have definitely have stopped and thought about that for a moment. Believe it.

But when William Jefferson 'Bill' Clinton became the 42nd President of the United States of America, I tell you that woman did die and go to heaven for the Inauguration Ball given by Mary Magdalene. She thought Bill Clinton was the greatest thing since canned biscuits! She and her best friend Evelyn Rutledge would talk on the phone for hours about what was happening in Washington and the White House. She loved it every moment of it.

And when she learned that Bill Clinton's favorite pie was a lemon chess pie that his mother made, you better believe that she loved him all the more. I think it gave her a sense of pride that her president was so down-to-earth and from such good country people that he even loved chess pie. And she began to make his recipe.

Now, you can Google 'Bill Clinton's lemon chess pie' and find the recipe on about 326 million sites, so I'm not going to reproduce it here. But, you should definitely make this pie. It is simple, delicious and the perfect end to just about any meal. The lemon, eggs, butter and milk undergo some sort of alchemic transformation, with the cornmeal as the catalyst. Perfection! Now my pie isn't going to win any awards at the State Fair for looks, but I promise you it will get a blue ribbon for flavor!

Enjoy!

Sugar Rant

It's true, I'm an old lady and I love sugar cubes. Do you keep them in your cupboard? Do you use them? Do your kids even know what sugar cubes are? Do they get those, 'one lump or two' jokes from cartoons?

Next time you're at the market, check out the sweetener section of your store. I won't even call it the 'sugar' section, because as I think you'll find: there are more things there that aren't sugar than are. Every kind of artificial sweetener you can buy.

Now, I have nothing against artificial sweeteners. I know they're very important, especially for diabetics, and keep people healthier. I'm thankful there are more choices out there and that some of the newer choices are made from natural sources and processes. But, to edge out sugar? To the point where there aren't even sugar cubes on the shelves?

That's just wrong.

Sugar cubes are important for several reasons:
  1. They're just a more civilized way of serving sugar for coffee or tea. Some little tongs; plop, plop, stir and tap the spoon on the edge.
  2. Sugar cubes allow you to have the same amount of sugar every time you use it. Spoons differ in size and so do scoops. Maybe you're more aggressive one day and less another. This equals different amounts of sugar in your drink. Not with sugar cubes. One sugar cube is one sugar cube on Monday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
  3. Two words: champagne cocktail. Champagne cocktail!! You cannot make a Champagne cocktail with a packet of sugar, a packet of Truvia, a spoonful of sugar or a packet of Equal. You must have a sugar cube. You must place it in the bottom of your glass and douse it with a few drops of bitters. You must top it with your favorite bubbling wine. You must watch the bubbles stream from the cube to the top of the flute. You cannot do it any other way.
  4. What are you going to feed that horse that is leaning over the rustic fence on the idyllic country rode with tall trees shading the lane and a brook running along one side? You can't feed him a spoonful of sugar you pulled from your pocket, I know that much. And she sure doesn't want you to give her a packet of something that used to be sugar or was processed from a leaf of a plant in Mexico. She wants a sugar cube.
So what do we do? Two of the three stores I visited last weekend did not stock sugar cubes. You can buy them on-line and I'm going to get some of those fancy French sugar cubes. What great packages!

Talk to your store manager. Write your congressman. Most importantly, buy, use and serve real sugar cubes. Before it's too late. Before they are....extinct. And you'll have to make your own.

Cupcakes Are So Last Year

Cupcake-shaped cookies are the new black! That's right, cupcake-shaped cookies. Or simply: cupcaked cookies. Yes, we took your favorite cookie and replaced it with one in the shape of a cupcake. Pleasantly surprised, weren't you?

Friday we ran some errands in Indy, knocking out most of the holiday shopping. At Crate and Barrel, I couldn't resist getting a little something for myself: a second miniature salt pig and this set of cupcake cookie cutters in two different sizes. So fun.

And since this week is Hadley's first birthday and he is going to Florida for a wedding (kids today!) , we decided to make him cupcake cookies for a surprise treat at dinner on Sunday night. And he loved them. His first cookie ever, apparently, so it was fun to watch him munch on it, throw it on the floor and have sprinkles all over his mouth. Adorable!

It's also the time of year for cutout cookies and there are lots of recipes out there. Most of my baking books are still in storage, and I couldn't find the Best Recipes recipe or the Dorie Greenspan one either. So, I went to the font of all kitchen knowledge: Martha Stewart. Her recipe is here and it couldn't be easier.

Couple of tips:
1. Add two tablespoons of corn starch to the dry mixture. This will make your dough especially toothsome.
2. Don't skip the freezing step after you cutout the cookies. Freezing the dough helps it retain its shape while baking and let's face it, it's all about the shape, right?
3. Icing is good, white chocolate is better. Yes, these babies are frosted in white chocolate that has been tinted, then sprinkled with multi-colored non-pareils. Yummy!

Even though I love the cupcake shaped cookies, I have to honestly say it doesn't mean I'm over the cupcake! This craze has no end in site and we even have a cupcakery in Terre Haute now--it opened on Friday. Stop into Caboodles Cupcakes for a very sweet treat.

Caboodles Cupcakes
3419 S. 7th Street
Terre Haute, IN, 47802
Phone:
812-232-5551

Mon - Fri:
11:00 am - 6:00 pm
Sat:
11:00 am - 5:00 pm

Recipe: Honey Gelato

Well, the weather in Indiana has turned cool and chilly, and my desserts thoughts have turned to warm and homey. Still, there was room for one for batch of frozen deliciousness before the snow starts to fall, so I created a honey gelato to accompany a Lebanese meal with friends last Sunday. The idea was baklava deconstructed: flaky, crispy cookies; slightly salty pistachios; and of course the honey gelato.

Recipe: Honey Gelato
3 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup honey (use your favorite)
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a medium saucepan, combine 3 cups of the milk with the honey and whisk over medium heat until combined. Continue to heat and stir until the milk begins to steam and boil. In the meantime, whisk together the other 1/2 cup of milk with the cornstarch and salt. Once the milk has begun to boil, add the cornstarch mixture and continue to heat and stir until the mixture thickens--to the consistency of Remove from heat and strain, let cool and the chill until very cold. Process according to directions in your ice cream freezer.

To make a baklava sundae, combine three small scoops of the ice cream in a dish, add two crispy cookies such as Royal Dansk Luxury Wafers (vanilla) and top with chopped, salted pistachios.

Recipe: Fresh Blueberry Cinnamon Coffee Cake

One of my favorite things to bake in the fall is a Fresh Apple Coffee Cake. It's light and delicious, with the combination of cinnamon and apples hitting the perfect note during autumn weather. While sour cream and coffee cake is probably more orthodox, the cream cheese in this batter is what makes the texture and flavor of the cake so delectable. But what for summer? I wanted to remake the recipe to take advantage of the wonderful summer fruits now in season, so I chose blueberries. I think you'll find its the perfect thing to take to a friend's house for brunch or for Monday at the office when everyone needs a little pick-me-up.

Recipe: Fresh Blueberry Cinnamon Coffee Cake

1 3/4 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
2 tsp. vanilla extract
8 oz. cream cheese (low-fat is okay, but i wouldn't use fat free), softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose or cake flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 1/2 cups blueberries

Combine 1/4 cup sugar with cinnamon. Rinse the blueberries and pat them dry but not all the way: add 2 tbsp. of the sugar/cinnamon mixture and toss to coat.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. In a big yellow bowl, beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, butter, vanilla and cream cheese together at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture to butter/cream cheese mixture, beating at low speed until well blended. Fold in blueberries gently by hand, until distributed throughout the batter.

Spread into a 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly dry. It's a little difficult to use the toothpick test, since the the blueberries can make little wet spots. Cool in the pan, then remove sides and transfer to a serving platter. I love my springform pan with the serving platter built in--I highly recommend it.

Strawberry Fields For-evah

Saturday morning was beautiful and clear, so we drove out to Ditzler Orchard, north of town, for some u-pick strawberries with Jonah and Stephanie. The patch was huge and we got to choose a row and pick and pick until we had enough. I guess, presented with tons of fresh ripe berries, our eyes were larger than our stomachs. Mitchell and I picked about nine pounds of berries, got them home and then had to decide what to do with them. What would you do with nine pounds of fresh, ripe strawberries?

Here's my answer:

1. Jam.

We made a full batch of strawberry jam and a half batch of strawberry balsamic jam. That's twelve 8-ounce jars. I had never made jam by myself, but I had helped my grandmother make it when I was a kid and my family has always 'put up' food. Stephanie made some last year for the first time, so with her encouragement I sallied forth. It all seemed to turn out just perfect, but I guess we'll see for sure when we open a jar and begin to enjoy it. Note: for those who think my preserve selection too exotic, it is now well-stocked with homemade strawberry jam. Just like you like it.

2. Cheese cake Ice Cream with Strawberries

A double recipe of one of favorite ice creams, studded with red berries. Yum!

3. Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble with Walnuts

I held back enough fresh strawberries to make a crumble with rhubarb that was promised to me for Monday. Some people (Dad!) don't care for the tartness of rhubarb or the idea of adding all that sugar, but that sweet-tart mix is one of my favorite flavors. Oatmeal and walnuts on top? It's practically a health food!

4. Share the Harvest

Give some to friends! We had a delicious dinner on Saturday night with Jimmy, Ellie, Hadley and the menagerie, and took them some fresh berries to enjoy on Sunday morning.

5. Sorbet

I froze a few of them to use in a strawberry sorbet at some future date.

THAT is what you do with a flat of fresh-picked strawberries that I thought would never end...next week: the TH farmer's market opens and I have been studying up on preserves, pickles and other treats. Stay tuned.

(More) Frosting

Frosting Cupcakes in Belmont Shores is super cute, with a fun mural of a dancing cupcake that strikes a vintage vibe. Since I am about to go into sugar shock, I showed restraint and only had a bite of M's chocolate peanut butter. Mmmmmmm...

We popped into Babette's Feast, with its well-stocked pastry case (including the elusive chocolate filled eclair) with the promise of 'one of the best' chocolate chip cookies. I couldn't stand it and had to delay the intake of more sugar for a later moment. Despite how fantastic everything looked....soon they will all BE MINE.

See, too much sugar.


Mexi-CAN



We had great Mexican last night, with amazing salsa and guacamole at Super Mex.

Then we went by Pinkberry to find out what all the culty business is about. I had original flavor with blueberries, so felt a little healthy but still satisfied. I took a photo, even though you aren't supposed to. The interior was very cool, but a little loud...so we didn't linger.



After, we popped into a great little candy store with all kinds of treats: Mike & Ike (my favorite!) in vintage-y boxes; salt water taffy in all kinds of flavors; all your favorite old fashioned candy; and Marie Antoinette lollipops! It was a good thing I was already stuffed full of burritos, enchiladas and yogurt, or I would have bought a huge bag of goodies...


Mini-cupcakes!

We had dessert at Miss Priss Cupcakes, close to John's office. Sugar rush!

The have bittles--bite size cupakes in every flavor they make. I was glad, because that meant I got to try a wider range. John says it's the best red velvet he has ever had--and he may be right!

I had:
Vanilla Cookies & Cream
Lemon
Red Velvet
Chocolate Peanut Butter
Chocolate Cream
Death by Chocolate (a divine way to go!)

All of then amazing, moist and perfect.

Recipes: Cupcake Battle

It was a battle against myself, I guess. My challenge: bake and decorate 102 cupcakes for my friend Melissa's exhibition, Soft Power, at Halcyon Contemporary Art. Many of the works included present flags, ideas of nationalism and the struggle with identity. Melissa created little flags that would top the cupcakes, echoing some of the images in the work.She also served bomb pops, which were actually a media used in some of the work. Melissa is crazy brilliant and I was happy to contribute my baking talent to her opening. But, 102 cupcakes? An undertaking.

Here are the recipes I used, some you've seen before and others are new. Although the NYTimes proclaimed that the whoopie pie is actually the new cupcake, I don't see the popularity of these little wonders declining anytime soon: Martha Stewart will publish a cookbook devoted to cupcakes in June; my friend Dave wrote that a cupcake bakery is opening in Madison, WI; and Sprinkles, cupcakery to the stars, continues to expand nationwide. I think cupcakes are popular because they remind us of birthday parties at school, youthful innocence and personal treats. Like all individual desserts, they connote a specialness that a slice or piece of something cannot: this was made just for you.

One batch of these recipes will not yield 102 cupcakes, but multiple batches and combinations will. It's a story problem from the math classes of our youth: Brian made 102 cupcakes using four different recipes. The My Favorite Chocolate Cake recipe yields 12 cupcakes; the Mildred Thomas' Hummingbird Cupcake recipes yields 24 cupcakes; the Lemon Drop Cupcake recipe yields 12 cupcakes; and the Coconut Cupcake recipe yields 18. How many batches of each must Brian bake to yield 102 cupcakes?

Recipe: Hummingbird Cupcakes
Although I've made my Mam-ma's Hummingbird Cake in a number of iterations, I've never baked it as cupcakes before. I'm sure she would be pleased as the little guys are perfection in a foil wrapper.

Follow the directions for the recipe here, but divide between 24 paper-lined cupcake tins. Bake for 20-23 minutes. Cool in pan, then on wire rack, before topping with cream cheese frosting (below). Top with candy sprinkles; chopped or halved pecans; dried pineapple slices; or dried banana slices.

Makes 24 cupcakes.

Recipe: My Favorite Chocolate Cupcakes
As I've said before, this recipe can do no wrong. I've used it in numerous ways (sheet cake, layer cake, topped with mouse, in a trifle, etc.) and it is always delicious. But, I should caution this isn't the chocolate cupcake of your youth: these little guys are light, but dense, and lack the sweetness of a devil's food recipe. The cream cheese frosting is the perfect foil.

Follow the directions of the recipe here, divide batter amongst 12 paper-lined cupcake tins. Bake for 20-23 minutes. Cool in pan, then on wire rack, before topping with cream cheese frosting (below). Top with candy sprinkles; chocolate curls; chocolate jimmies; or anything your hearth desires and your mind thinks goes well with chocolate.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Recipe: Mildred's Cream Cheese Frosting
Use this recipe for either the Hummingbird Cupcakes or My Favorite Chocolate Cupcakes.

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup butter (1 stick), room temperature
16 oz box or bag of powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

In a big yellow bowl, use a hand mixer to cream together the butter and cream cheese. Slowly add the powdered sugar and work in into the butter mixture. Add the vanilla and blend until combined.

Recipe: Lemon Drop Cupcakes
My search for the perfect lemon cupcake yielded a variety of choices, none of which seemed quite right to me. So, I developed my own which yielded a delicious, light cake with a supreme lemon taste. The secret? Lemon juice, lemon zest AND lemon extract. For everyone who loves lemon.

3/4 cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel
Large pinch of salt
2 large eggs
1 ¼ cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon extract

Preheat oven to 350°F and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. In a big yellow bowl, beat the butter, 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, and 3 teaspoons lemon peel until light and fluffy and pale yellow. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating to blend after each addition. Beat in half of flour. Add buttermilk and 2 tablespoons lemon juice and extract; beat to blend. Beat in remaining flour.

Divide batter equally among 12 paper-lined cupcake tins.

Bake cupcakes until tester inserted halfway into centers comes out clean, about 20-23 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan on rack.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Recipe: Lemon Frosting
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 pound (3 2/3 cups) powdered sugar
3 tsp. lemon extract
3 tsp. lemon peel
1 to 2 tablespoons milk (optional)

In a big yellow bowl, cream butter until smooth. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar; beat until smooth. Add lemon extract and peel, beat to combine. If too thick to spread, beat in 1 to 2 tablespoons milk.

Recipe: Coconut Cupcakes
I'm not a fan of coconut. It's the one food I really don't care for. In actuality, I love coconut flavor and coconut milk, but the texture of the dried coconut drives me insane. When I was a child, every year my grandmother made the Easter cake and it was, of course, covered in coconut. Perhaps there was some internal trauma caused by the giant knife being slipped into the coconut covered bunny? Who know, but Melissa requested coconut cupcakes and I was not going to disappoint. This recipe is based on one from Martha Stewart. I think it's different than the coconut cupcakes of my youth in that it uses coconut milk in the batter. Without the flakes, I'm sure it would be divine, but with them I'm sure a fan of coconut would be in absolute heaven.

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup packed sweetened shredded coconut
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Extra coconut for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl with the coconut. In a big yellow bowl, cream together butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Reduce speed to low. Add half of dry ingredients to butter mixture and mix until combined. Add coconut milk, mix until combined, then other half of flour mixture. Divide between 18 paper-line cupcake tins. Bake for 20-23 minutes. Cool in the pan, then on a wire rack. Top with white icing and additional coconut.

Makes 18 cupcakes.

Recipe: White Icing
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 pound (3 2/3 cups) powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons milk (optional)

In a big yellow bowl, cream butter until smooth. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar; beat until smooth. If too thick to spread, beat in 1 to 2 tablespoons milk.



Mangez!

Restaurant: Sprinkles of Beverly Hills

If a place sells only cupcakes, is it really a restaurant? Is the cupcake craze really over? Or just reaching critical mass? Should a cupcake really cost $3.50? These are the questions I was asking myself as I entered Sprinkles of Beverly Hills' Dallas location with Kristina and Gab.

And by entered, I mean waited outside to get in the door. Seriously, there was a line out the door and the people were three deep inside. All waiting to get these gorgeous, supposedly sublime cupcakes. I had seen the proprietress of Sprinkles of Beverly Hills (I mean the name says it all, right?) last year on the Martha Stewart Show during cupcake week. And there were raves, from Martha and the audience. But could they be any better than any other cupcake?

I doubted it. The store itself is incredibly chic and well-branded, with light pink and browns covering the walls, and a very modern wood counter and display. At Sprinkles, they sell: cupcakes; drinks to go with cupcakes; t-shirts that talk about cupcakes; stands to put their cupcakes on; and their own brand of cupcakes mixes. That's it.

But was this 'experience,' this highly stylized store built to deliver the simplest of childhood treats, worth the cost? I wondered if the people standing there were all fools, and I with them, to stand in like for cupcakes and pay such a price for them. You can buy a pretty good cupcake at Central Market for $.50 and Whole Foods has some pretty fancy ones that cost a little more. But the ingredients are simple and the delivery basic. How can you make that better?

And then I tasted the dark chocolate cupcake. It was unbelievable: The crumb was moist and you basically need a fork to eat these little guys, and I should clarify that this $3.50 cupcake is no larger than a regular cupcake. The frosting was perfect, an absolute balance of chocolate and sweetness and creamy delight.

But, how?

Gab & Kristina Ogle the Cupcakes

When I bake, I use good chocolate, organic sugars, the best cocoa, good butter and free range eggs! I am pretty good at technique and know how long to beat things and what batter should look like. What could you possibly do to make a cupcake THAT much better? That divine?

I tasted the red velvet and the experience was similar. The banana chocolate, I think I could top. I could try and top anyway, but the addition of banana to batter lends a heaviness to the crumb that is impossible to combat. Yet, part of the charm.

You can find her strawberry cupcake recipe here. Notice anything out of the ordinary? Thought not.

I imagine she is leaving out some secret ingredient: MSG? Crack? Heroin? Something delicious and addictive. I don't know, but I do know that I want more and I would shell out $3.50 without a whimper, without a second thought. After a taste, you would too. Hold your breath, because Sprinkles could be coming to a town near you very soon...

The candy dots on top of the cupcakes distinguish flavors that might look similar, as in the variety of chocolate frosted cupcakes they sell. Here's the codes and the day on which each are available. I wanted to try lemon, so next time I'm going to try and hit them on a lemon day.



Recipe: Pecan Lace Cookies

Recipe: Pecan Lace Cookies
A friend brought some delicious Pecan Lace Cookies to an event at the Museum a few weeks ago and I decided I had to try my hand at them. They have the amazing caramel flavor of my favorite Pecan Crispies, but the with a slightly fancier feel to them--a little bit of orange zest cuts the sweetness and makes them unique. My friend attributed them to Lee Bailey, one of my favorite Southern cookbook authors, but I found the recipe at Martha Stewart.com.

It really couldn't be easier: melt together butter, sugar and corn syrup in a sauce pan; add flour, pecans and the orange zest; then chill until firm and bake. The fact that there is no creaming of butter and sugar makes it snap. No eggs either, so a true breeze to whip out.

Ingredients:
2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
2/3 cup cake flour (spooned and leveled)

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, over medium heat cook sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt, stirring until sugar has dissolved and butter has melted, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat and fold in zest, pecans, and flour. Transfer to a medium bowl, cover with plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. Stir once or twice why the dough is chilling, to make sure the pecans are fully incorporated throughout the batter.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment or a silpat. Using a teaspoon measure, roll dough into small balls (each 1/4 ounce). Place on a large baking sheet, about 2 inches apart (you can fit 6). Bake one sheet at a time, until cookies are golden brown, about 9 to 10 minutes. Let rest on the sheet for one to two minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 55 cookies.