Earl Grey Tea Cupcakes

Alright, here goes my first post. I am warning that the recipe is in progress, and the pictures were in low light, but I'm still excited so here you go.

As most of you know, I love tea, so when I saw this recipe I had to try it. Characteristically enough, it came to my attention during some quality facebook stalking, where someone I barely know (but still regularly spy on) posted their pictures of earl grey cupcakes, so I looked up a recipe. Most seem to be a general variation of this one: desert candy and so this is my attempt. I followed the recipe as listed, except that I only did half (ie, enough for one cupcake tray instead of two) and where the recipe calls for mixing the tea and and 1/2 flour and adding that, then adding the rest of the flour and milk, I instead added 1/2 flour, then milky-tea and the rest of the flour, but let me demonstrate...

I'll repeat the recipe for clarity, but as said, I followed the original:

1 cup (1/2 lb) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups self-rising flour
1 cup milk
2 bags or 2 tablespoons earl grey tea i used loose leaf earl grey from Archer Farms





Preheat the oven to 350 F, fill 2 cupcake pans with paper liners or grease well. In a bowl (or with a stand mixer), beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and cream the butter with the sugar until it is light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating each egg very well so that it is thoroughly combined before adding the next egg. Beat in half of the flour along with the tea. Then add the milk and the remaining flour, stirring until just combined.
This was actually a bit tough, and so the picture was my best first attempt, but I think I got it right.

Here's where I made my main change. Instead of adding 1/2 flour + tea, I instead added the half flour, and then poured my loose leaf tea into the warmed-up milk and let that sit for a while. I got impatient and put it in the fridge for a few more minutes, and then added it with the second half of the flour while it was still fairly warm. This may have been a bad idea (the warm tea part)...



You can also see my mixed flour on the left. I didn't have self-rising flour, so instead used the following short cut to make my own from all-purpose flour:

1 cup self-rising flour = 1 cup flour + 1.5 teaspoon (tsp) baking powder + 0.5 tsp salt

After mixing, I poured the dough into the cupcake pan, and it was super lightweight! It really surprised me. After baking about 20-25 minutes, I took them out. They hadn't risen very well, which I think may have been because I poured in the still-warm milk, and they were a bit difficult to get out of the pan, but they were delicious! I'd even say maybe a bit too sweet, and next time I'll definitely cut down a bit on the sugar, and probably making mini cupcakes instead.

Lastly, for the topping:

Lemon Buttercream

1 cup (1/2 lb, 2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 lb (4 cups) powdered sugar
zest of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons limoncello or lemon juice

1. Cream the butter until smooth, gradually beat in the powdered sugar until the mixture is very fluffy. Zest the lemon over the bowl into the frosting, add the lemon or limoncello, stir until smooth. Spread or pipe the frosting on cooled cupcakes. Please remember buttercream should be served at room temp.

This was super easy, and again I halved the amounts, which was good because I was still slightly short on powdered sugar. Also I skipped the lemon zest and didn't miss it. This is also super sweet in the end, but still good. If I can get the cupcakes to be a bit less sweet, I might skip the topping next time all together.

My cupcakes!


Conclusions:
-using loose leaf tea is not a problem, actually looks very attractive and tastes fine
-buttercream is delicious

Things to change:
-might want to make it a bit less sweet, may reduce sugar amount
-need to test between following the recipe or mixing the tea+milk but making sure to let it cool down entirely
-if I keep them this sweet, I'd likely switch to making mini cupcakes so its a more bite-size snack

I ate a few and brought the rest to a game-night with some friends and everyone enjoyed them! I'll definitely be making them again soon!

Nut Meringues

For my first entry, I thought I'd start out with one of the first cookie recipes I ever tried out, from the first cookie recipe book I ever owned.

The Better Homes and Gardens: Cookies Cookies Cookies (editor: Shelli McConnell) is a fairly standard recipe book with your classic cookie recipes with a somewhat gimmicky twist: flip the book over and you get a variety of Christmas cookies to bake! Anyways, I've developed a small collection of cookbooks throughout the years, but this one has been around the longest (over 10 years!) and is therefore my favorite. So you can expect to see many recipes coming from here.

I believe the first cookie I ever made from scratch was the good ol' chocolate chip cookie, but that's boring so I've chosen not to write about it. Instead, let me introduce you to the Nut Meringue. Two things initially attracted me to this recipe: 1. There aren't very many ingredients needed and is therefore perfect to satisfy my frequent urge to bake something...anything!...without needing to run to the grocery store and 2. I'd heard of the mystical "stiff peaks" resulting in beating egg whites for a long time, but never actually witnessed or produced them myself.

And who knew such a simple recipe would result in such a delicious, light-as-air dessert? Surely, my 12-year-old self didn't! Yeah, it takes a bit of elbow grease to whip up those egg whites (even with a handheld mixer) but oh, it's worth it! You can also argue that it's a healthy cookie because of the almonds and egg whites.

I recently made a batch by halving the recipe and doubling the size of the cookie. Can you believe just one egg white (and no flour, of course) can make six giant cookies?!

Definitely give this recipe a try.

Nut Meringues

2 egg whites

1/2 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup very finely chopped almonds and/or hazelnuts

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate pieces

1 teaspoon shortening (or butter)

~In a medium mixing bowl, let egg whites stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

~Add vanilla to egg whites. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed till soft peaks form (tips curl). Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high speed till stiff peaks form (tips stand up straight) and sugar is almost dissolved. Fold in nuts.

~Bake in a 325 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or till edges are lightly browned. Remove cookies and cool on wire racks.

~In a small heavy saucepan, melt the chocolate and shortening or butter over low heat, stirring occasionally**. Drizzle over cookies. Makes about 30.

**I just microwaved the chocolate and a tsp of butter. Works just fine.

McConnell, Shelli. "Nut Meringues." Recipe. Cookies Cookies Cookies. Des Moines, Iowa: Better Homes and Gardens Books, 1992. 63.

Inauguration!

This is the beginning of something great. I can already feel it. It's right on the tip of my tongue! (Pun intended).

The last couple of days I've been struck with inspiration with regard to my experimentation in the kitchen. That might have something to do with the fact that I had a final exam this morning (yes, I know it's Sunday) and that I have a major presentation on Tuesday night; it's just speculation at this point. Last night I took a peek in my fridge and realized that I had a leftover green bell pepper that was rapidly ripening and a half-can of garbanzo beans that was probably nearing the end of its rope as well. So I plugged those two into allrecipes.com and came across something for garbanzo bean soup. Fantastic. Although the recipe for that didn't sound all too appetizing, since it involved blending my cherished beans into some kind of mush and then watering it down. I instead opted to boil everything directly, added a spoonful of garbanzo flour and reduced it down to a thick curry. Turns out I was on to something.

Ingredients:

• 1 green bell pepper, diced


• 1 clove garlic, minced


• 1/2 can garbanzo beans


• 1 tsp garbanzo/chickpea flour (Two names for the same bean)


• 1 tbsp tahini (sesame paste)


• 1/2 tsp dijon mustard (I used Sierra Nevada Stout mustard)


• 3/4 c. chicken broth (You can use water to make it veggie; I do it this way so I don't have to worry about salt)

Throw everything into a medium saucepan. It should look pretty soupy and milky at this point (see above). One word though, when you add the tahini, resist the urge to lick the spoon afterwards. It tastes like really bitter peanut butter, but sticks more.

Cook over medium heat for about 10-12 minutes, until it has the consistency of a curry. You'll know this by when you can push it against one side of the pot and it stays there for any measurable amount of time. Stir every 2-3 minutes to keep from scorching any flour that's stuck on the bottom.

And there you have it. Garbanzo curry.



So I ended up eating a little last night, but little did I know that it turned out to be the perfect complement to tonight's meal. I've had these salmon burgers from Whole Foods that I've kept in the freezer since maybe six months ago, and I had yet to crack into them because I'd also gotten tuna and mahi-mahi burgers as well, and you get four to a pack, and I just got to my salmon. I decided the best oil to go with the salmon would be olive oil, so I poured maybe two or three tablespoons worth into a small frypan. Heated it up to medium-ish, then tossed on my salmon patty. Browned it on one side for about five minutes or so, then flipped it over. Then, I had a stroke of inspiration! As it was, I had recently bought a dozen eggs and I was getting sick of hard-boiling them, so I was jonesing for some more creative ways to use them. Caught up in the moment, I decided to crack one over my salmon patty, turning it into a "French fish," if you will. I tried to snap a picture while the yoke was still on top:



Oh well. So much for artistry. I eventually had to shove all the egg back on top to keep it from overcooking, resulting in the glorious platter you saw at the beginning of this post.

So, just to recap:

• 1 salmon patty
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large egg

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.