Chocolate cupcakes

Cupcakes have been very trendy for the past couple of years. Some friends of mine got married and had cupcakes arranged on a large multi-tiered plate instead of wedding cake. Bakeries all around town have begun selling pretty, decorated cupcakes. In NYC there are entire bakeries dedicated to taking the humble cupcake to new heights of elegance and sophistication. Cupcakes have a lot going for them: they are single portions, they don't require a fork, and they can support a generous amount of frosting.

My favorite cupcake recipe comes from the March 2005 Cooks' Illustrated. Currently the recipe is available for free on their subscription Web site, but I've also copied it below.

It makes twelve cupcakes and cannot be doubled. The cupcakes come out with a tender, moist crumb and a rich, chocolate taste. I have topped them with coffee flavored frosting, peanut butter frosting, and chocolate frosting. The coffee frosting is great but I doubt children would like it so keep that recipe for adults! I know that I would have been woefully disappointed as a child if I bit into a delicious homemade cupcake only to discover it had coffee frosting!

Dark chocolate cupcakes:

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate , chopped 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocao (1 1/2 ounces) 3/4 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour (3 3/4 ounces) 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 2 large eggs 3/4 cup sugar (5 1/4 ounces) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon table salt 1/2 cup sour cream (4 ounces)

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard-sized muffin pan (cups have 1/2-cup capacity) with baking-cup liners. 2. Combine butter, chocolate, and cocoa in medium heatproof bowl. Set bowl over saucepan containing barely simmering water; heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted and whisk until smooth and combined. Set aside to cool until just warm to the touch. 3. Whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder in small bowl to combine. 4. Whisk eggs in second medium bowl to combine; add sugar, vanilla, and salt and whisk until fully incorporated. Add cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Sift about one-third of flour mixture over chocolate mixture and whisk until combined; whisk in sour cream until combined, then sift remaining flour mixture over and whisk until batter is homogenous and thick. 5. Divide batter evenly among muffin pan cups. Bake until skewer inserted into center of cupcakes comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. 6. Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes. Carefully lift each cupcake from muffin pan and set on wire rack. Cool to room temperature before icing, about 30 minutes. (To frost: Mound about 2 tablespoons icing on center of each cupcake. Using small icing spatula or butter knife, spread icing to edge of cupcake, leaving slight mound in center.)

Easy coffee buttercream:

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar (5 ounces) Pinch table salt 1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 tablespoon heavy cream

In standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds. Add confectioners' sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds. Scrape down bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds; scrape bowl. Dissolve instant espresso in vanilla and cream, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice. The frosting may be made ahead and refrigerated but bring it to room temperature before using. The recipe may be doubled to make enough for a two layer cake.

Chocolate malts

I love chocolate malts! Vanilla ice cream, malt, and chocolate syrup. I think some people call this a black and white because the malt or shake isn't made with chocolate ice cream.

Elmo's in Durham makes the best chocolate malt I've had so far. It is just as I like it with lots of malt flavor, chocolate syrup and vanilla ice cream. The drug store on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill makes tasty malts too but they call it a black and white. I heard the that old MacDonald's drug store on 9th St. might reopen as a soda shop and ice cream shop. That would be great!

Cafe Driade on Franklin Street deserves special mention for their chocolate mocha shake. It has vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup and a shot of espresso! MMMM! I don't even miss the malt.

So I decided to try making malts at home. I started with 2 scoops of plain old Ede's vanilla ice cream becauce chocolate ice cream isn't all that, in my view. I'd much rather eat (or drink) vanilla ice cream with a lovely chocolate sauce. The beauty of shakes and malts is that the fewer high brow the ingredients, the better. I added 2 T of chocolate sauce, 2 T Ovaltine malt and 1/2 c of milk. It was a disaster! Ok maybe not quite a disaster because it was drinkable and very good, but it had too much milk and I didn't like the Ovaltine. It might have even had too much chocolate sauce, if that is possible. So I am still on a mission to find the right ingredients and the right quantities. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

Hainanese chicken and rice

Two friends and I made this lovely dish at the weekend. One friend is from Singapore so we decided to try making what is basically the national dish of Singapore. Never mind that it comes from Hainan province in China. The dish is served room temperature with hot rice and hot soup. It is surprisingly easy to make although it did take us nearly three hours because we got sidetracked talking. For some of us, it is hard to stir and talk!




We made sauteed bok choy with garlic and fish sauce as a side dish.

Here is the recipe for the chicken and rice from recipe czar. When you make it, start with the chicken. While it is boiling and resting, make the sauces and the rice. We didn't make the chili sauce. Rather we bought the red colored garlic chili sauce available in supermarkets.

For the chicken:
1 whole chicken cut into pieces
1 large thumb size piece of ginger crushed
4-5 cloves of garlic peeled and crushed
1t salt
enough water to cover chicken for boiling
1 cucumber peeled and sliced
3 Roma tomatos sliced

Bring water to boil. Add garlic, salt, and ginger. Add chicken. Cook uncovered for 20 minutes on a slow simmer. Turn off heat and cover pot with lid. Let chicken sit for another 20 minutes. Then remove chicken and immerse in cold water. Slice chicken off the bone then cut into narrow slices. Slice the tomatoes and cucumber and arrange on a plate. Arrange the chicken on top of the vegetables.

For the chicken sauce:

1	tablespoon garlic oil (make this by sauteeing 2 cloves minced garlic in canola oil a minute or two until fragrant)
2	teaspoons sesame oil
5	tablespoons light soy sauce
1 1/2	tablespoons sugar (to taste)
3	tablespoons chicken broth (from boiled chicken)

Combine all ingredients. Pour over chicken. Garnish with chopped cilantro and sliced green onions.

For the rice:
3 c. jasmine rice
2 T fat (from chicken or canola oil)

2-3	cm ginger, grated
3-4	garlic cloves, grated
1-2	teaspoon salt (to taste)
3	cups chicken stock, according to rice package instructions (or more, reserved from chicken that you will boil)

Heat the fat in a saucepan. Add the ginger and garlic. Stir for a minute or until fragrant. Add the rice and stir for a minute until it is coated. Add salt. Add chicken stock and cook according to package instructions.

For the dipping sauces:
Buy the garlic chili sauce at the supermarket and put in a small bowl.

Ginger sauce:
5 T peeled and cut up ginger
6 cloves of garlic
1/2 t salt
1T lime juice
3T chicken stock

In a blender or food processor blend the ingredients until it is the consistency of a coarse pesto. Put it in a small bowl and serve with the chili sauce.

To serve:
Serve rice mounded on dinner plates. Pass around the chicken. Serve the chicken stock in bowls with a garnish of cilantro and sliced green onions. Serve with dipping sauces.

White bean, goat cheese and rosemary pizza

Sometimes I wish food would just magically appear so I wouldn't have to cook. Don't get me wrong, I like cooking but by Friday evening I am ready to go out to eat or to have someone else cook for me.

Tonight I didn't feel like dining out, and no one was around to cook for me, so I either had to cook for myself or eat cereal. Not wanting to eat cereal for dinner, I whipped up my favorite wholewheat pizza dough (it's so easy to make and I always have the ingredients on hand), pureed 1 cup of of white beans with a few cloves of garlic, 1 T of chicken broth, and 1 t of olive oil and spread it over the pizza dough. Then I topped it with some thinly sliced onion (maybe half of a small onion), some thinly sliced tomato (a whole tomato), crumbled 4 oz of goat cheese on top, and sprinkled with some chopped, fresh rosemary. I seasoned it with salt and ground pepper.

It went into an oven preheated to 450 F and baked for 18 minutes.

I mixed some baby greens in olive oil and ate with some pizza.

Easy. It would be even easier if a person bought the pizza dough. Any canned white bean will do. I've made this recipe before w/ cannellinis, great northerns, and garbanzos. They all taste good. I've never met a legume I didn't love.