Neglect and New Beginnings

Oh, blog world, how I've neglected you. If you were a pet fish, you'd have died months ago. If you were an exercise bike, you'd be dusty-and I overweight.

But I was thinking about you today, and how I miss this tiny outlet in my life. I can offer excuses (food blogs aren't helpful to those attempting to tone up, I was busy finishing school, out of the country for over 2 weeks) but...I won't. ;)

While I was thinking about this blog I was wishing there was a way to combine my love for food with my love for other things. Expanding my blog beyond just my love for food and opening it up to travel, fashion, thrifty spending, crafty-ish things (not which I am the best of), and most importantly, inspiring thoughts from my own head.

On July 23rd I am beginning a new path as it is, starting my career in counseling as a Family Based Therapist. I am excited for the transition from student to employee, but I am aware that with this transition I will need, more than ever, a creative outlet.

So, I am setting out to attempt this expansion. It will be a slow and gradual change, and I can't guarantee what it will look like, so bare with me. :)

Saphire Beach, St. Thomas

Pistachio Cupcakes with Pistachio Swiss Meringue Buttercream Icing

So it appears that I have committed the ultimate blogging crime. Establish a dedicated group of followers by blogging regularly, and then falling off the face of the earth. I always said I wouldn't do that, and, alas, I did. :( I apologize for my negligent care of my blog. The reason I haven't blogged in almost a month? Well, yes, I was very busy. But beyond that I started realizing that I was beginning to find my blog more of a hassle than I believe it was meant to be. I was blogging to gain followers, to get more comments, to up blog popularity. I spent way too much time critiquing my photos and comparing my food blog to others, that it became an extra stress that I didn't need. But, I'm back. Partially because I'm doing a cooking class at our church tomorrow and need to blog this recipe for that, but also because I kind of miss it. :) While I cannot guarantee 4-5 consistent new posts a week, I can tell you that I hope to be more consistent sharing my creations. And here's one of them:

Pistachio Cupcakes:

This is insanely easy, especially if you are someone who struggles with measurements, as I do. Preheat oven to 350. 1 box of your fav white cake mix, 1 cup of vegetable/canola oil, 1 cup of club soda, 1 3.4 oz box of pistachio pudding (instant), and 3 eggs.

Throw them all in a bowl. Just like that. Looks gross but kinda awesome, doesn't it?

Using mixer, mix until combined. If you want your cuppies to be more green, add additional food coloring while mixing.

Fill cupcake tins 2/3 of the way full.

Bake 15-20 minutes, or until tops are slightly brown.

Cool your cakes! I made 90 of them. I know, I'm ridiculous. My husband agrees.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

Okay, while the cupcakes were brainlessly easy, the icing is a little more time consuming. Even so, if you are like me, and super picky about your icing, you may want to venture out. I HATE plan buttercream. It's thick, and I feel like I'm eating straight confectionary sugar and butter. EW. And while I totally prefer a whipped icing-nice and light-I also hate that it has to be refrigerated, and that can be a hassle. So this is sort of the best of both worlds. It's a lighter, fluffier version of buttercream that I can actually enjoy and doesn't have to be refrigerated! 

Prior to starting frosting. You'll need 4 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature. This doesn't mean pull them out 30 min before starting icing, this means at least 2-4 hours. Cut into tablespoon sized pieces. 

Separate 5 egg whites. Save the yolks for gelato! Or creme brûlée!

Bring medium saucepan to a simmer. In a heatproof bowl combine 5 egg whites, 1 cup plus two TBLS of sugar, and a pinch of salt. Whisk constantly until mixture is warm to touch and not grainy.

Ingredients prior to whisking 

Ingredients after whisking. Warm, smooth, and slightly frothy. 

Attach bowl to mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Start on low, gradually working up to medium-high speed. Whisk until mixture is fluffy and glossy (as pictured) and stiff peaks begin to form. 

Turn mixer on medium-low speed and gradually add in a few tablespoons of butter at a time. Allow butter to incorporate before adding additional butter.

After fully incorporated, don't freak out if your mixture looks like cottage cheese! It'll get better, I promise. :)

Add box of pistachio pudding mix and almond extract. Remove whisk attachment and put on paddle attachment. 

Put mixer on low for 2-4 minutes to allow everything to incorporate. Icing will start looking more like icing!

Here's what it will look like! Light and fluffy but definitely workable. 

Add icing to piping bag or zip lock bag, snip off the end like so.

If you want to get fancy, take some pistachios (please shell before, people don't want to eat shells)

Place 'stachios in a food processor (or you can put em in a plastic bag and hammer them, that's always fun!)

Chop them up! Be careful not to pulverize them, you don't want 'stachio dust!

Here's the 'stachio cuppies for my cooking class. Well, some of them. Like I said, I made 90 altogether.  Just in time for St. Patty's day!

Didn't this frosting turn out gorgeous? Oh my, this isn't a pic from a cook book, I am proud to say I took this myself!

So here's the recipes:

Pistachio Cupcakes

(original recipe found here)

Ingredients:

1 box of white cake mix

1 3.4 oz box of instant pistachio pudding

1 cup of club soda

1 cup of vegetable/canola oil

3 whole eggs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients and beat until combined (approx. 3 minutes on low setting). Pour batter into cupcake tins and bake for 18-22 minutes. Yield approximately 24 cupcakes.

Pistachio Swiss Meringue Buttercream Icing

(adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe, found here)

Ingredients:

5 large egg whites

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

Pinch of salt

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

1 3.4 oz box of pistachio pudding

Directions:

Combine egg whites, sugar, and salt in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved (the mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips).

Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, whisk until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl), about 10 minutes.

With mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all butter has been added, whisk in almond extract and box of pistachio pudding. Switch to the paddle attachment, and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula, and continue beating until the frosting is completely smooth. Keep buttercream at room temperature if using the same day, or store in refrigerator up to 3 days.

(Optional) To tint buttercream, reserve some for toning down the color, if necessary. Add gel-paste food color, a drop at a time (or use the toothpick or skewer to add food color a dab at a time) to the remaining buttercream. You can use a single shade of food color or experiment by mixing two or more. Blend after each addition with the mixer (use a paddle attachment) or a flexible spatula, until desired shade is achieved. Avoid adding too much food color too soon, as the hue will intensify with continued stirring; if necessary, you can tone down the shade by mixing in some reserved untinted buttercream. Yields 5 cups of icing, approximately enough to cover 48 cupcakes.

So, these cupcakes are a sure win to impress your friends. They may be hesitant, feeling that pistachio-related foods are just for the elderly, but you will soon prove them wrong. Make these for St. Patrick's Day, and you won't even need food coloring! These babies are perfect for early spring. And if you feel that the icing is too much of a challenge, you can easily buy store bought icing. Try chocolate icing!

Valentine's Day Devils Food Cupcakes

So I promised the "evil" portion of my valentine's desserts today. Well, I hate to say these are evil, but they are a chocolate lover's weakness, to say the least. This makes about 32 cupcakes. You can always half the recipe if you'd like. But you do get a bunch!

These are Martha Stewarts. She get's all credit here!

Start with your ingredients: cocoa powder, 3/4 cup hot water, 3 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 1/4 tsp salt, 3 sticks of butter, 2 1/4 cups sugar, 4 large eggs, 1 tablespoon plus 1 tsp pure vanilla extract, 1 cup sour cream.

Preheat oven to 350. Combine hot water and cocoa powder, whisk until smooth.

In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Melt butter and sugar over medium-low heat.

 Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled, 4 to 5 minutes. Add eggs one at at time (not whole as it looks like I'm doing in photo).

Add chocolate mixture and vanilla, beat until combined.

Then add half of the flour mixture, half of the sour cream, then the remaining flour mixture and the remaining sour cream. 

Mix until just combined.

Fill up cupcake tins about 3/4 full. 

Bake approximately 20 min. Allow to cool.

Here's my marshmallow cream. SOOOOO tasty! All it is: 1 cup of marshmallow fluff and 1 stick of room temp. butter cut into tiny pieces. Beat until butter is well incorporated.

Here's where I wasn't thinking. It really would have been best to fill these guys from the bottom, since I was doing a chocolate ganache. Be smart and don't make this mistake!

Ok, now for the ganache. Place 1 bag of semi sweet or dark chocolate chips in a bowl. Heat 2 cups of heavy cream in a small saucepan just until it starts to boil. Pour over chocolate and let it sit about 5 minutes. Then slowly mix chocolate...

Until it looks like this.

See why it's better to fill cupcakes from the bottom?

Dip cakes into ganache, allow them to drip free of excess chocolate.

Here's what your cupcakes will look like!

Now, if you want to make it v day appropriate, take some white chocolate melts and melt them down. Use a pastry bag with a fine tip to make little hearts. This is sort of difficult, that's why my hearts looks like a first grader did them. It may be easier just to buy heart-shaped candy to go on top.

Here's mine! Yours will look better because you won't make the mistake of filling them from the top. 

The sour cream add a nice tanginess to the flavor, and I LOVE marshmallow cream. Definitely a chocolate lovers dream.

Martha Stewarts Devil's Food Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup hot water
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup sour cream, room temperature
• Chocolate Ganache Frosting
• Chocolate Curls, for decorating (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
2. Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled, 4 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture, and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, and beating until just combined after each.
3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three- quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 15 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.
4. To finish, use a small offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting.

Marshmallow Cream Filling:

1 Stick of room temperature butter
1-1 1/2 cup marshmallow fluff

Cut butter into 1/2 inch pieces. Combine fluff and butter, beat until butter is well incorporated. Pipe into the bottom of cupcakes, or cut holes in the bottom and add filling.

Here's Martha's Chocolate Ganache recipe. I sort of doubled it.