Sunken cupcakes

Black Pepper Tempeh

2012-02-12T19:44:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure I have ever cooked tempeh before. Black Pepper Tempeh from Super Natural Every Day was really good and I will be making it again. Tempeh and finely chopped cauliflower is cooked in a sauce of ginger, shallots, lots of garlic, soy sauce, cane sugar, and red and black pepper. If one wanted to make a version of this with chicken instead of tempeh I'm sure it would also be great.

I asked over at the Food52 Hotline for what to serve alongside this recipe. People over there suggested something crunchy, so I made the Ramen coleslaw recipe from Feeding the Whole Family. The purple cabbage I used in that added a nice splash of color to the otherwise all-brown meal (we had brown rice as well). Crisp-tender broccoli with sesame oil would also have gone well with the meal.

The recipe has been posted on a few other blogs, so I'll just link to one of them here in case you want to try it out: Black Pepper Tempeh. The cookbook author, Heidi Swanson, has a culinary blog over at 101 Cookbooks as well with a bunch of other recipes.

2012-02-12T19:31:00.000-08:00

Dinner Menu, Feb 12 through 18th

This week I'm going to try a few new recipes from Super Natural Every Day.

Sunday: Black Pepper Tempeh (from Super Natural Every Day) with rice and Ramen-Cabbage Slaw

Monday: Stir-fry night (with chicken) with brown rice

Tuesday: Slow-cooked pork shoulder or stew (probably Georgian Pork Stew from Gourmet)

Wednesday: Wild-rice casserole (from Super Natural Every Day)

Thursday: Squash and cranberry stuffed chicken breasts (from Feeding the Whole Family) and Lemon and Garlic Quinoa Salad (also from FtWF)

Friday: Salmon and something else

Saturday: Thai-style roasted chicken (The Best of Vietnamese and Thai Cooking) I may be making a ton of tamales that day. If I am not making a ton of tamales I'll have time to make dinner. If I make a ton then maybe we'll have tamales for dinner instead.

2012-02-12T10:04:00.000-08:00

At baby group I was talking to another mom about menu planning and she said she plans out a month at a time. That sounds like a challenge, but maybe I'll try it later this year. After I get the hang of things a bit more. Last weeks menu planning was rough. Hopefully this week goes better. Lessons from last week include: don't forget the grocery list, and, don't lose the weekly menu plan.

Another inspiration to me was in the intro to a new cookbook I picked up this week, Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson. I learned about this cookbook at Food52's Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks contest. A lot of good cookbooks were in the contest this year. I also ordered Nigel Slater's Tender and Momofuku Milk Bar.

Anyway, Heidi Swanson went over her shopping routine -- she shops about one time a week at a local farmer's market (benefit to living in CA, you can get a lot of produce year round). I suppose I could go shop at the SF farmer's market year round. Maybe I'll try to go next Saturday.

She shops about once a month at a natural foods store to stock up on beans and grains, and other specialty stores as needed. That would be cool if I could do that this summer -- just shop at the farmer's market. Sounds challenging. You really have to cook with what is in season that way. In the summer I do try to buy most of my produce at the farmer's market. I wouldn't mind trying to do a meal or two a week this winter/spring using only local ingredients. I'll have to get to the market and see what they have for me.

2012-02-10T07:37:00.000-08:00

This week in menu planning has not gone well. For starters I have gone to the grocery store just about every day. The problems started when I forgot to bring my shopping list with me to the store on Sunday. Then I misplaced my menu and couldn't remember what we were going to eat some days. The following is this week's menu as of Friday:

Sunday: burritos (kind of everyone for themselves really)
Monday: stir-fry
Tuesday: Chicken Etouffee (first time making this from Joy of Cooking and it turned out well -- just make sure to really brown the roux)
Wednesday: Rotisserie Chicken (this was unplanned)
Thursday: Asparagus Pesto with pasta and peach pie
Friday: Stuffed butternut squash
Saturday: Salmon with lemon garlic quinoa.

2012-02-06T11:39:00.000-08:00

Follow up/notes on previous menu from end of January (week 3).

OK, so the recipes from Cooking Light slow cooker cookbook were a bust. The pork loin recipe would have been good if I had used a fattier cut, such as pork shoulder, instead. The lean meat dried out after cooking all day. Also, the recipe seemed too sweet, so I added in a sauteed onion which helped add a savory note. Next time I buy a pork loin I will go with my instincts and not overcook it. Butterflying the loin and stuffing with dried fruit would be a better way to go.

The cabbage rolls were not that good. I made extra filling that I froze, and I think I will find a use for (like adding smoked turkey and butternut squash and then stuffing the squash), but the tomato sauce that went on top wasn't very tasty. The leftovers were eaten out of a sense of duty.

Lets see. John had a stomach virus Thursday and the groundnut stew wasn't sounding very appealing. I made a slow cooker chicken drumstick in tomatillo chile sauce instead. That was good. I used Rick Bayless' salsa verde recipe and browned up the ddrumsticks then put it all in the crockpot for a few hours.

Friday I changed it up a little as well. We had salmon but I made Dilled Brown Rice and Kidney bean salad instead. There was some other side as well but I can't remember what it was now. Maybe baked sweet potato.

Menu planning

2012-01-24T19:22:00.000-08:00

My new year's resolution is to plan weekly dinner menus. When I plan dinner in advance it makes my life easier and cooking more enjoyable. My goal in blogging about it is to take notes of what works and what doesn't and is also a more social way of keeping track of the menus.

I don't usually plan out the vegetables until I go grocery shopping, unless I know that something will be in season or if the vegetable is the main attraction. I also like to note what I can prep for the next day or make extra of something to freeze.

For example, if I'm making brown rice, if I make extra I can freeze it and pull it out on a night when I don't have 45 minutes to make it.A few of my goals with menu planning are to identify menus that work really well, and expand my repertoire of recipes.

Two of the recipes this week are brand new to me, the cabbage rolls and the pork loin. I checked out a book from the library on slow cooking (i.e. Crockpot) by Cooking Light.

Menu for the week of January 23-27th (This week's plan is only for 5 days because on Saturday we leave for a week of vacation)

Monday: Meatloaf with leftover Emerald City Salad and baked sweet potato.

Tuesday: Stuffed cabbage rolls (vegetarian) and salad. Make double recipe of the filling to freeze for another meal.

Wednesday: Slow cooker pork loin with dried fruit and squash. Freeze extra cooked butternut squash.

Thursday: Sweet potato groundnut stew (Recipe from Joy of Cooking)

Friday: Salmon (or trout) with Quick Lemon and Garlic Quinoa Salad. I usually broil the salmon with a rub. We eat salmon once a week and I usually don't sweat how I am going to prepare it.

Puffed Apple Pancake

2010-03-31T17:30:00.000-07:00

From the Gourmet Cookbook. Active time 25 min, start to finish 45 min.

This is a lot like a clafouti but I only eat this at breakfast time for some reason. You could use cherries instead (thaw & drain liquid), and omit the cinnamon & cloves and add a generous dash of brandy or rum instead.

2 tart apples, cored & sliced 1/4" thick (peeling optional)
1 TB lemon juice
3 TB packed brown sugar
4 TB sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
3 TB unsalted butter
3/4 cup whole milk (buttermilk also works and you can get away with non-whole milk I imagine)
3 large eggs
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
scant 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 425, rack in middle of oven.

Toss apples with lemon juice, brown sugar, 3 TB white sugar, cinnamon and cloves in a bowl.

Heat 1 1/2 TB butter in 10-inch ovenproof skillet (nonstick or cast iron) over moderate heat until foam subsides. Add apples and cook, stirring occasionally, unti just tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer apples and any liquid to a wide bowl and let cool.

Clean skillet & heat in oven for 5 minutes. Combine milk, eggs, flour, remaining 1 TB sugar, salt, and vanilla in a blender and blend until smooth (or use a mixer or whisk).

Remove skillet from oven. Melt remaining butter in skillet over moderately high heat then pour batter into the skillet. Spoon apple mixture evenly over top. Bake until puffed and golden and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar if desired.

Notes: You can use other fruit, but make sure it is hot and that excess liquid is drained off, or else it won't cook very well.

I'm so lazy

2008-09-12T10:25:00.001-07:00

I think maybe I'll start a more general blog. I keep forgetting to post to this one. I'm hoping to do some cake baking while I'm at sea level, see how recipes are supposed to be for comparison...

Alise's Velvet (Cup)Cake

2008-03-19T17:22:00.000-07:00

Alise's Velvet Cake (cupcake-style)

This recipe was included with a box of Scharffen Berger Unsweetened Chocolate. I don't think they provide this recipe anymore as I couldn't find it on their website, and it doesn't come with the chocolate anymore. The Velvet Cake listed on their website is totally different recipe. This one was provided by their pastry chef at Cafe Cacao, Alise Raya. Since the recipe is not really available anymore I will include the original amounts & instructions here.

I was getting sick of modifying the other chocolate cupake recipe and thought maybe a different chocolate cake recipe might be easier to modify for this lofty elevation. This recipe seems promising because it doesn't use very much baking powder, and it uses buttermilk, a high altitude staple. The acidity is supposed to help tenderize as well as do other groovy things.

Their description of the cake:

Dense but delicate, this cake has a crumb that's as velvety-smooth as the name implies.

I am a fan of Scharffen Berger's not-so-cheap boutique chocolate that I can't really afford. But the upside to buying it in Los Alamos is you can support a local business. Cook'n In Style is the only place to buy Scharffy in Los Alamos. But any good quality unsweetened chocolate can be used.

Again, this recipe uses unsweetened chocolate, which you don't ever want to just bite into, as it is 99% cacao, and has no added sugar. Just cacao and vanilla beans. I'd be curious how this is with bittersweet choco or a combination of the bitter + unsweetened.

I modified the recipe a bit for my first stab at it, just doing some minor fairly run of the mill adjustments: adding flour and buttermilk, reducing sugar and baking pow.

Ingredients (underlined ingredients were modified, see below):

8 oz unsweetened chocolate
6 TB (3 oz) unsalted butter
2 c. sugar
2 tsp rum (could probably substitute vanilla).
3 large eggs
3/4 c. flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt.
1/2 c buttermilk

Modifications for high altitude, Take 1. Note, this didn't work out perfectly, so baker beware.

2 cups minus 2 TB sugar. Hint: 2 TB == 1/8 cup
3/4 cup plus 2 TB flour. The flour weighed 100 grams total.
scant 1/4 tsp of baking powder, maybe more scanty than usual. But not an 1/8th or anything.
1/2 cup plus 1 TB buttermilk.

I almost added an extra egg but resisted.

Measuring Note: I whisked the flour in a bowl, then spooned into a measuring cup and levelled off. If you weigh the flour, just measure out 100 grams (for high altitude). In the original recipe it would be just over 3 oz of flour.

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. Either prepare cupcake pans; or butter two 9-inch round pans and line bottom with baking parchment.

Melt the chocolate & butter in a stainless steel mixer bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir occasionally until smooth and melted. Add sugar, stirring until well incorporated. Set aside.

Beat eggs & rum together in medium bowl. In another bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowing add the beaten eggs and rum to the melted chocolate and mix at low speed until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix at medium speed until the batter is shiny, about 2-3 minutes, scraping the bowl down as needed. Add the buttermilk and mix at low speed until incorporated.

Divide batter between pans (or put into cupcake pan 3/4 full) and bake until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Set on cooling racks about 5 minutes, then turn the cakes from the pans.
Let cool completely.

Overall: The cupcakes didn't rise very much. They took forever to bake (over 40 minutes), and I never got the center completely baked. It's slightly gooey in the center. There is a bit of crust on the top. Not a velvety-smooth texture. But tasty.

First Batch:
I only filled the cups 1/2 full, so they didn't rise above the cupcake papers. I cooked them in the lower part of the oven at 350 F for 40-45 minutes. I took them out even though the tester came out with batter on it. They taste pretty good -- crunchy at the top, moist and dense inside. Very chocolatey. But a little too gooey in the center.

Second Batch: The batter was super thick from sitting around at room temp for 40 minutes. I raised the oven temperature to 375 F. I filled the cups almost totally full this time. Again I had to cook them for too long (40 minutes), and eventually had to take them out of the oven as they were getting almost black on top. These ended with a thick crust and the bottom go too cooked as well. I took a bite of one and it wasn't as good as the first batch.

Wrap-up: I'll keep the first batch and toss the second. I've googled a little and am not sure how to fix this issue, but the first thing I will try is some more liquid (buttermilk), and probably will use the full 1/4 tsp of baking powder. It's possible an egg would add more liquid. They definitely need to set faster.

Another idea is to change the methods used putting the cake together. I think I might try creaming the butter and sugar (more air gets whipped in, helping volume), and adding in melted choc later. Also, I might try alternating adding the buttermilk & flour mixture. Beating the flour & chocolate mixture for 3 minutes at medium speed seemed weird to me.

thoughts on high altitude baking

2008-03-14T18:33:00.000-07:00

The problem with baking up high is that you don't know what the cake should be like in the first place, or even if the recipe works reliably at sea level. Obviously I can go on how it tastes and looks when I make it. But how do I know I'm starting with a decent recipe in the first place?

With the cupcake bakeshop blog, I can stare at the photos of the cupcakes and attempt to get mine to look similar. They look like they taste good.

I do wonder if some recipes just can't be adapted for high elevations.

I've been cleaning out the recipe/cookbook shelves tonight, and found some more chocolate cake recipes that are similar to the Caldera cupcake recipe, but with variations. I've also found a ton of JP's mom's old recipes, some of which I should try out sometime.

One chocolate cake recipe I found is from a Scharffenberger box of chocolate. It's called Alise's Velvet cake. It has 8 oz of chocolate, less butter, fewer eggs, not a lot of flour, and some buttermilk. Buttermilk is a traditional High Alt. fix, so this recipe looks promising.

Another recipe that looks similar is Bittersweet Chocolate Cake, from the Silver Palate cookbook. It uses a whopping 14 oz of chocolate (wooooo!), 12 eggs, and the usual flour, sugar, etc. It uses whipped egg whites which tends to work well up this high. They also have some other chocolate cake recipes that sound good: Decadent Chooclate Cake is one of them.

One idea I've had is to use the Caldera Cupcake recipe, but beat the egg whites separately. I might have to try that.

Chocolate Cupcakes remixed.

2008-03-14T07:21:00.000-07:00

Last night a friend and I made cupcakes. We used my Caldera cupcake recipe and each made a few changes. I dramatically cut back on baking powder and used a little less flour. My friend tried to keep everything pretty much the same. We each made a half recipe of cupcakes.

My cupcakes look kinda funky on top. No dramatic sinking or anything, but this pumice or lava like look across the top. They taste fine, but I want a cupcake that tastes great & has killer good looks to boot.

Chocolate cupcakes with Ganache frosting.

2008-03-12T11:54:00.000-07:00

I don't have any pictures of these cupcakes. I made them for a potluck party. They were pretty lightweight and flat on top.

The thing I noticed about the recipe is that it made about twice as many cupcakes as the recipe was supposed to make. This was because I would only fill the cupcake paper maybe 1/4 full, as the cupcake rose dramatically while baking.

I'd like to try this again but cut back on the leavening agents (baking powder, baking soda) even more. I'd probably try 1/8 tsp baking powder, 1/8 tsp baking soda. I like a denser cupcake.

Cupcake recipe is also from the Cupcake Bakeshop blog. I have modified it here some, adding an extra egg, cutting back on the baking powder, and I probably increased the flour by a TB and reduced sugar by 1 TB.

The ganache recipe is from me, well, I learned it working at Katrina's on San Juan Island.

Cupcakes (modified)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temp
1-1/8 cups sugar
3 large eggs, room temp
3/4 cup flour (4 oz flour)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream butter & sugar then add in eggs one at a time and vanilla. Whisk remaining dry ingredients together. Alternate mixing in flour mixture and milk.
Bake in 375 oven for 20-25 minutes, or really, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool.

Ganache
1 cup whipping cream.
8 oz semi-sweeet or bittersweet chocolate chopped up into smallish pieces, or chocolate chips or pareils.

In a frying pan or skillet, heat the cream over high heat till it's boiling and frothy. I turn it on and ignore it while I prep the chocolate. When it is is all boiling and frothy, take it off the heat, and add the chocolate. Stir until it is all melted. And you have ganache. It will keep forever as well if you don't eat it all.

The Caldera Cupcake

2008-01-10T15:28:00.000-08:00

I made some chocolate cupcakes from a recipe over at cupcakeblog.com. I used the Chocolate Chai cupcake recipe, just minus the chai spices for a standard choco cupcake. The cupcakes were rising beautifully and poofily, with a crackly brownie like top. Then I watched as the crusty top sunk down and made a little crater deep within the cupcake. Hence the name, Caldera Cupcake, after the caldera near here.

I'm going to briefly go over the ingredients here. I weighed out the flour, FYI. I forgot to weigh the cocoa, because I was lazy, and had a conference call very soon and needed to get them in the oven. The oven was set to 350 F, with a thermometer inside.

Ingredients
200 grams semi-sweet chocolate (Ii used Callebaut semi-sweet)
3 sticks butter ( i used half fancy margarine, half butter)
7 oz flour (i assume about 5 oz == 1 cup of whisked flour)
2 1/8 cups sugar (original called for 2 1/4, but I reduced for altitude).
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup cocoa powder
8 eggs

I altered the recipe slightly -- I reduced the baking powder by 1/4 teaspoon, and I added a few tablespoons of flour, and left out 2 tbps (1/8 cup) of sugar.

I used an oven thermometer to make sure the oven was at 350 F. I noticed when I put the cupcakes in, the temperature dropped 5 or 10 degrees. The second batch I upped the temp to 375 F and it seemed to stay around 350 F the whole time, mainly. Both sunk dramatically.

I think next time I might cut down the baking powder even more. I don't think adding eggs will help -- this recipe already uses a ton of eggs. Perhaps increase the flour, and possibly up the oven temperature as well. Or maybe I should just frost the craters and eat them as is. They do taste kinda good -- kind of chewy but dense as well.

I'm not sure how Cheryl at Cupcake Blog measures her flour (some people sift then measure, some whisk it in a bowl then measure, others just scoop from the bag).