Apr 03

In Honor of My Cousin Margaret

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Okay, so we’ve never been able to prove it, but I’m sure somewhere along the lines you’d find we’re related. We’ve spent enough time together that even if we weren’t related before, osmosis could take effect. (And yes, I know that’s not how osmosis normally works. Humor me.) No matter what your thought is on our genealogy, Margaret Steward is one wonderful woman. She’s been a part of my life since I was 7 years old, and we’re friends for life. She’s one of the world’s best storytellers, mother of my fantastic friend Daina Steward (and the rest of the awesome Steward clan), and my mom’s best friend. She also has an angel food cake recipe to die for. I wanted to impress someone this week, so I called her for it. I am pleased to report that it was a total success. It was Margaret’s recipe – how could it not have been? I’ve put it below, with some minor changes of my own.

Margaret’s Angel Food Cake

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch

Mix and set aside.

  • 12 egg whites (it says 12, but Margaret really says to use 13-14)
  • 1 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract (Margaret uses 1 tsp. vanilla extract and 1 tsp. almond extract)
  • the seeds of 3 vanilla beans (Margaret doesn’t do this. I’m simply a vanilla addict.)

Whip egg whites, cream of tartar, salt and vanilla until peaks begin to form.

  • 3/4 cup sugar

Pour sugar into the egg whites slowly while still beating. Beat until high peaks form.

Slowly turn the mixer down until it stops. Take 1/3 of the flour/cornstarch/sugar mixture you set aside before and barely blend it into the egg white mixture. (I think this is easier to do by hand than with the mixer.) Repeat with 1/3 of the mixture. Finish it off with the last 1/3.

Gently scoop the mixture into an angel food cake pan. Bake for 60 minutes at 325 degrees.

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Jan 12

Some Desserts Are Sexy

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Creme brulee is sexy.

I got out my vanilla beans, my creme brulee torch, a little Shatto cream, and made some magic in the kitchen today. It. Was. So. Good. Do you make sounds when you eat? I do – sounds of total enjoyment. Even if you don’t make sounds, this creme brulee might persuade you. It is that good.

Thanks to Williams-Sonoma for an easy recipe (which I slightly modified). It’s been awhile since I’d ventured into creme brulee territory, so I’m putting the last step first. (That way, if you don’t really want to make it, have someone else read the rest of the post and make it for you. This is all you’ll need.)

FINAL INSTRUCTIONS: Enjoy. Share with your lover. Or don’t. Either way, you’re bound to make a few sounds.

If you actually want the recipe, here it is:

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 3 vanilla beans, scraped out
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 3 egg yolks
  • dash of salt

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees and place a pot of water onto boil. Put a towel in the bottom of a shallow baking dish and arrange four ramekins on top of the towel.

Put the heavy cream and vanilla beans (scrape the seeds out, use both the pods and seeds for this part) in a saucepan over a medium-low heat. Let warm until steam begins to come off the top and it starts to form little bubbles at the sides of the pan. Remove from heat and let steep for about 15 minutes.

While the cream and vanilla are steeping, combine the sugar, salt, and egg yolks. Beat with a wire whisk for about 5 minutes until a thick syrupy beautiful yellow color.

Slowly mix the cream and vanilla (after you have taken the vanilla pods out) into the egg yolk mixture.  After the mixture is combined and smooth, pour into the ramekins (which should be on top of the towel in the shallow baking dish!). Place the baking dish in the oven, and then take that saucepan of boiling water and pour the water into the baking dish (but NOT the ramekins!).

Bake for about 30 minutes until the sides are set. Take out and place the ramekins in the fridge to cool for about 4 hours. (You didn’t think something so delicious would be ready in five minutes, did you? That’s called a quickie. Creme brulee is not the quickie sort.)

After 4 hours of (agonizing) waiting take the creme brulee out of the fridge. Sprinkle a thin layer of sugar over the top and get out your creme brulee torch to caramelize the sugar. Then caramelize it! (Really, did I have to add that last sentence?)

And you’re done – except for the final instructions, which can be found before the recipe. (Just where you expected them, right?)

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Oct 27

At Least The Cupcakes Were Good

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cupcakesI watched the BYU-TCU football game this past weekend. For a BYU fan, that was a pretty brutal game. I don’t even want to think about it. The one part I did like came in the form of festive cupcakes – I made white cupcakes filled with white chocolate mousse, topped with vanilla frosting. DELICIOUS. (I may be biased – I made them after all – but I make a pretty good cupcake. And these were good. Trust me.)  Here’s how I did it:

Cupcakes: a white cake mix.  with fresh eggs. made according to the box. (SUPER easy.)

White Chocolate Mousse: heavy whipping cream, whipped up. while whipping, add one bar of melted white chocolate – but make sure that the chocolate is mostly cool while you pour it in, or it’s going to be gross.

Frosting: 1 bag (2 lbs) powdered sugar, 2 cubs (1 cup) softened butter, about 1/4 cup water, 2 tsp vanilla.  Mix until fluffy.

Assemble: Cut a hole out of the center of the cupcake, but don’t go so far that you cut out the bottom.  Fill it with white chocolate  mousse.  Top with frosting – cover up the hole where the mousse is sticking out.

Finally, eat the pain away!  That’s right, if you eat enough cupcakes, you just might forget how BYU played. (Or rather, how they didn’t play.)

*PS – sorry for the picture quality – the lighting wasn’t fantastic & there’s no flash on the iPhone.

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Sep 24

You Can’t Go Wrong With Cupcakes

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There is something about a cupcake that makes it impossible to hate.  And most of the time, impossible to resist.  Maybe it’s the fact that it’s your own personal little cake.  Maybe it’s the pillows of frosting that all good cupcakes come with.  I have been to a few cupcake bakeries in my time – they’re called “cupcakeries.”  One of my favorites is Mad Hatter Cupcakes in Las Vegas, in the Summerlin area. When I lived in Las Vegas, they were a dangerous addiction – way too close to my house and just on the way home from the gym. (Because you can justify having a cupcake after you have worked out for an hour. Totally negates the workout, but at least you aren’t doing yourself as much harm.)

Making specialty cupcakes on your own isn’t that difficult and if you do it right, they are often better than the cupcakes you can buy.  They can even look stunningly sophisticated.

There are a few websites that have some great ideas for inspiration:  The Cupcake Project, The Busty Baker and Bakerella.  (You’ll notice that they are also listed in my “Things I Love” blogroll.)

Here’s one of my own latest cupcake creations, inspired by The Busty Baker’s own Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes.  Her photography is better than mine and her directions are probably clearer.  The biggest difference between the cupcakes is that my cupcakes are filled with raspberry filling.  These were a big hit when I took them to a friend’s dinner party.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

White Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake

Cupcakes:

  • Your favorite chocolate cake mix or recipe.  I cheat.  I use a box.

Filling:

  • 2 1/2 cups raspberries
  • 1/2 cup sugar

Mix the raspberries and sugar together on the stove until sugar is dissolved and raspberries have been all been smashed.  Continue to stir on the stove until raspberry mixture has slightly thickened.

Frosting:

  • 1 1/2 sticks of butter, softened
  • 1 bag of powdered sugar (2 lbs.)
  • 4 squares of white baking chocolate, melted
  • 1/2 tsp. salt

Mix all above ingredients.  While mixing, add 1/4 cup water by the spoonful.  Whip until you have a nice, fluffy consistency.

Put it all together:

Wait until your cupcakes have cooled.  Cut out a hole in the top of each cupcake.  Spoon raspberry filling into the holes.  It will seep throughout the entire cupcake.  You can replace the top of the cupcake if you want.  Cover with white chocolate frosting.  Voila!

PS – these are especially good if you have let them sit in the fridge overnight so that the filling really gets into the cupcake.

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