Honestly, what are the odds of a homeless guy singing the saddest Beatles song at that moment?

PS - I guess the main page of Non-Gravity was screwed up when I uploaded the new comic on Sunday and I didn't know until Wednesday. Shoot.

Labels: comical

:(

I used the same recipe as before. Only this time I added more strawberries and strawberry extract. It made the flavor pop, but unfortunately, it made the batter too loose (the strawberries were fresh and just washed, so they were probably holding a lot of water). I also overfilled the cups and undercooked them.

At the same time, the chocolate icing set a lot faster than before and was starting to loose it's spreadability by the time the cupcakes cooled.

The outcome was cooked cupcake batter that had poured over the cup and actually created a shell around the wrapper. But the cupcake it self was crumbly cause of the loose batter and undercooking. So when I tried to apply the thick icing, they all fell apart.

After ruining about five I finally figured out a pattern to gently icing them and peel off the batter shell. Then I put them in the fridge for a day and a half (I pulled them from the Night Hawks menu). When I brought them to work as rejects, I guess they'd dried out some, because they held their shape and everyone liked them. So it sort of worked out in the end?

Labels: comical, icecream

The last test bake before my big cook off Sunday for the bake sale Monday.

For the cupcakes:

Ingredients
3 cups (330 g) cake flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (8 oz or 230 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups (454 g) granulated sugar
5 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups (10 fl oz or 300 ml) buttermilk

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter and line with parchment paper two 8x2-inch (20x5-cm) pans. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Cut up the butter into 1-inch pieces and place them in the large bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment or beaters. Beat for 3 minutes on MEDIUM-HIGH speed until the butter is light and creamy in color. Stop and scrape the bowl. Cream the butter for an additional 60 seconds. Add the sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs one at a time. Reduce the mixer speed. Stir vanilla into the buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk. Mix just until incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a knife. Lift up the pan with the batter, and let it drop onto the counter top to burst any air bubbles, allowing the batter to settle. Center the pans onto the lower third of the oven and let bake 45 to 50 minutes or until the cake is lightly brown on top and comes away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Note: Let the cake cool in the pan. Storage: Double wrap the cake in plastic wrap. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Yields: Two 8-inch (20-cm) cakes

For the frosting:

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups whipping cream
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
4 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
16 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon (scant) almond extract

Directions
Whisk first 4 ingredients in medium saucepan over medium heat until butter melts and mixture comes to simmer. Remove saucepan from heat. Add chocolate and both extracts. Whisk until chocolate is melted and smooth. Refrigerate frosting until slightly thickened but still spreadable, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.

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I added a batch of strawberries from Trader Joe's to turn the yellow cake into strawberry cake. The strong strawberry flavor unfortunately didn't survive the cooking. So next time I'll have to add more strawberries (if I can't find strawberry extract) and my cooking buddy says almond extract to bring out the flavor. I also was very haphazard in putting the cupcake batter together cause my friends were watching Top Design and I didn't want to disturb them. You have to fill the cupcake cups to the top cause the batter didn't rise so high (maybe my fault in making them).

The only thing I did different in the icing is skip the almond extract cause I didn't have any. The icing takes a long time to set to a point where it's spreadable. I put it in the fridge and the freezer and after an hour gave up and just poured them on the cupcakes while they were still runny. They didn't taste great (warm cupcake with runny icing). But I put them in the fridge over night and the next day the icing was solid and they tasted a lot better. So I think I am going to use them for the show.

Labels: icecream

Trying more recipes before the Team Ellie bake sale on Monday.

Ingredients
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups mint chocolate chips (about 12 ounces)
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. and butter and flour a 9-inch square baking pan, knocking out excess flour.

In a heavy 1 1/2-quart saucepan melt butter, unsweetened chocolate, and 1/2 cup mint chocolate chips over low heat, stirring, until smooth and remove pan from heat. Cool mixture 10 minutes and stir in sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well with a wooden spoon until mixture is glossy and smooth. Stir in flour, salt, and remaining cup chocolate chips until just combined.

Spread batter evenly in pan and bake in middle of oven 25 to 30 minutes, or until a tester comes out with crumbs adhering to it. Cool brownies completely in pan on a rack before cutting into thirty-two 2- by 1-inch bars. Brownies keep, layered between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container at cool room temperature, 5 days.

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I used Trader Joe's mint chocolate UFOs.

My friends review: "the way you bake, Matt, it's a good thing you like fat girls."

:)

Labels: icecream

Amy Winehouse - Back To Black This album just blows me away. She should have done the Casino Royale song. The Bond producers better nab her for the next.
Air - Pocket Symphony I've listened to this album twice today and both times it sort of passed me by. Like it got to the end and I barely realized I'd been listening to it. That's good and bad.
Carla Bruni - Quelqu'un m'a dit My friend turned me on to her. Pretty pretty.

My friend gave me a 3 disc mix tape of 2006 music, so I might be making a second music trip soon to pick up stuff that's catching my ear in the mix.

Labels: amoebaeats, critiqua, listy

Bid bid bid! If you don't win, don't worry, there will be more auctions and commissions to come!

Labels: comical

I had eggs left over from the butter cookies (and Trader Joe's pumpkin bread the night before), so I figured I'd try a new recipe tonight to use them up. Also I'm going to try baking for the concert my friends are hosting in a few weeks. Proceeds from my goodies will go to Team Ellie.

Recipe from Epicurious:

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
1 12-ounce package semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then vanilla. Sift next 6 ingredients over butter mixture; beat just until blended. Mix in chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough until cold, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter 2 large baking sheets. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto sheets, spacing 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake cookies until golden brown but still soft to touch, about 10 minutes (for crisper cookies, bake 12 minutes). Let stand on sheets 3 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool.

Makes about 30.

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I added a bit of cayanne as per the comments off Epicurious. My only other change was mixing half milk chocolate chips with chopped dark chocolate. I'm wondering now if I should have left it all milk chocolate though as they're a bit harsh. Maybe in a good way? We'll see tomorrow when I take them to work. Not that my department is a very critical one when it comes to free cookies.

Labels: icecream

Last night I attempted to mimic my Yaya's butter cookies using this recipe from allrecipes.com:

Recipe yield: 4 dozen
Prep Time: 10 Min ~ Cook Time: 10 Min ~ Ready In: 20 Min

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar for rolling

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and egg until smooth. Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Blend in the flour to form a dough. you may have to knead by hand at the end. Take about a teaspoon of dough at a time and roll into balls, logs or 'S' shapes. Place cookies 1 to 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned and firm. Allow cookies to cool completely before dusting with confectioners' sugar.

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I skipped the almond extract and just gave it a full teaspoon of vanilla. Other than that though, I followed the bouncing ball. I was probably rolling mine a bit large as I didn't get four dozen out of the deal. They weren't my Yaya's cookies. Hers have a bit more butter and some sort of glaze (where as these are dry with powdered sugar). But everyone really enjoyed them, so it worked out anyway. My mom thinks she has Yaya's recipe around somewhere so I'll get to try these again soon.

Labels: icecream

That was worth the month wait right? Eh?

Labels: comical