Peach and Cream Cupcakes

It's peach season! We went out to Long Island to pick fresh tree-ripe peaches. They were the most delicious peaches I've ever had - not that I had much peach experience. They smelled very peachy - extremely sweet and juicy - and incredibly fuzzy...

Out of 6 or 7 pounds that I picked, my friends and I ate about half fresh and we used the rest for peach and blueberry mini pies. They were all well and delicious. The only problem was that I told everybody I would make peach cupcakes for a friend's birthday party. So peaches from the supermarket would have to do... They were not as fragrant and sweet. But with the magic of butter, sugar, and creamcheese - the cupcakes turned out wonderful. One of my cupcake fans even claimed that these were his ultimate favorite cupcakes (so far.)



Ingredients

• 2 sticks butter - room temperature


• 2 cups sugar


• 3 large eggs


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 1 teaspoon baking powder


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1 cup buttermilk


• 2 ripe peaches - peeled, seeded and chopped
• 
  
  
• 2 packages of cream cheese, divided


• 1 stick butter - room temperature


• 3 cups confectioner sugar


• 2 ripe peaches - peeled, seeded and pureed

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pans with paper liners.


2. With an electric mixer, beat 2 sticks of butter and 2 cups of sugar together until light and fluffy - about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beat well after each addition. Add vanilla extract and beat until well combined. Scrape the bowl as necessary.


3. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.


4. Stir the flour mixture into the batter alternately with buttermilk in three batches. Stir until well combined. Fold in chopped peaches.


5. Drop the batter by generous tablespoonful into the prepared muffin pans. Fill each up to half. Cut cream cheese into about 1/4 inch cubes. Drop each into the middle of batter.


6. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool completely on cooling racks. Make 32 cupcakes.


7. To make the frosting, beat confectioner sugar and a stick of butter together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the rest of cream cheese. Beat well. Add peach puree. Beat until well combined and stiff. If the frosting becomes to watery, add sugar or leave in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Drop about a teaspoon onto each cupcake and frost.

Dimpled cupcake (from a drop of cream cheese)

Espresso Shortbread Cookies

We went to the beach this weekend. I thought long and hard about what cookies to make for the trip. At first I was going to make just classic oatmeal and raisin cookies. They could pass for breakfast cookies. But then I went down the list of my to-bake and saw coffee! Perfect! We wouldn't have time to stop for a coffee. We wouldn't be able to find any coffee on the beach. And because we are city people, we need our coffee.

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Ingredients

• 2 sticks butter - room temperature


• 1/2 cup sugar


• 2 cups flour plus more for rolling


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1 tablespoon instant espresso


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy - about 3 minutes. Add vanilla extract and coffee. Beat until well combined.


2. Combine salt and flour together and stir into butter mixture. Stir in ground Chai tea and vanilla extract.


3. Form a ball from the dough. Wrap in a plastic wrap and refrigerate over night or freeze for 30 minutes.


4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Let the dough sit at room temperature for 5 minutes. Roll out the dough on floured surface into about 1/4 inch thick and cut out with cookie cutter.


5. Bake for 15 minutes. Let cool completely on a cooling rack. Make about 50 cookies.

2(0) Girls and a Cup(cake)

I have now had the cupcake to beat all cupcakes, and sadly, it was not made by me! At Montana's baby shower today, there were Vanilla Cupcakes from Teacake Bakeshop in Emeryville. When the tray came out, you could smell the vanilla - which is, according to our hostess, because of the Madagascar Vanilla that they use to make these delicious treats. Every bite was heavenly, from the dense, moist cake to the unbelievably delicious buttercream frosting (and I don't even like buttercream frosting!)

I was given 2 cupcakes to take home - so generous! - and enjoyed one after dinner. It was every bit as amazing as the one I had had in the afternoon. 1 more to go, and then, I think a trip across a bridge is in order.

The Next Dimension

Want to get away for a while? Need a little fun in your life, and don't have time to hit the amusement park? Go to a 3-D movie instead. Last night I went with Andy & Kristina to see "Journey to the Center of the Earth" staring Brendan Fraser (in 3-D, yes, indeed, mmmm), and I highly recommend it. For a mere $12.50 (it costs extra for the glasses), you will have things hurled at your face, disappear down a huge hole, and look straight into the mouth of evil creatures. It's like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride on steroids. You'll be thrilled, nauseated, but most of all, completely entertained.


Note the double-glasses effect, very cool and not nerdy at all.


This is what I looked like for the rest of the night:

Takes the Cake

I love blogs that are written about a single, weird topic and filled with comments and observations that are totally spot-on. Cake Wrecks is an example of just how misdirected and twisted people can be. And they express it in CAKE! Too Fabulous!

This combines 3 of my favorite things: baking, fuck-ups, and occasionally, inappropriate quotation marks. Ah, the Holy Trinity.




(Many thanks to my friend Josh for sending this to me and keeping me laughing all day long!!)

"Wedding" Cake

I haven't been blogging much lately. That's because I had been keeping myself busy with this giant project -- a wedding cake. Yes, a wedding cake - in my tiny kitchen (plus every square inch of my studio apartment.) And since nobody is crazy enough to trust me (and my baker friend Hannah) with their actual wedding cake yet, we organized our own "wedding."

It was set in Prospect Park in Brooklyn over the weekend. About twenty of our friends came out despite the hot summer day. It was a lot of fun. And the cake was delicious.



We baked 2 13-inch chocolate chili cakes, 3 9-inch, and 3 6-inch chocolate cakes to make up a 3-tier cake. We used this recipe from MarthaStewart.com. I made 5 batches of the recipe. Three went into the 13-inch chocolate chili cakes. We frosted the base with chocolate chili buttercream. The middle layer with peanut butter buttercream and the top layer with coffee butter cream.



We also made some white chocolate fondant to cover the cake. We cut out about 300 flowers from the leftover fondant to decorate the cake.



We brought the cake to the park in 3 pieces. Lots of heart-attack induced events on the way but we got there.



The cake eventually got eaten. They were delicious. Each layer had distinct flavor but also complimented the others. The cake help itself up really well during at least 3 hours in close to 100 degree outdoor weather.

The Writing on the Wall

Here is my next must-have: Giant Chalkboard Stickers! How cool are these?! I have always been enamored with Chalkboard Paint (I would like to have it on one wall of my kitchen), but now I am in love with these animal-shaped stickers from Australian website French Bazaar. They are not cheap (with our sucky dollar, the cost converts to roughly $96), but they are both practical and art at the same time. Of course, our friends would probably abuse the poor animal and write inappropriate things on its body parts...but that is what an ERASER is for.

Don't Look a Gift Dog(ue) in the Mouth

My Mom is in town, and she is always very generous in bringing and sending gifts. I would say I like her gifts about 50% of the time (this percentage has improved over the years), but when it comes to art...well, I just think that art is a very difficult thing to give someone. What do you do, take down something else and put it up only when they come over? Art is just very personal, and therefore hard to predict what someone else will want to showcase in their home.

However, on occasion she will succeed. Yesterday she gave me a print called Le Bouledogue by an Illinois artist called Keith Grace. I really love it, and he has captured the dog's expression perfectly. The map of France used in the fur adds dimension and a really unique touch (if you click on it, you can even see it in the shadow). I already have a primo wall spot picked out for it!

Thanks, Mom!

Blueberry and Peach Mini Pies

I meant to bake these mini pies for my friends. But they were too tempting and delicious that I ate them all before they reached any of my friends. These are great - very juicy - bursting with peaches and blueberries. I might have to make them again after finish writing this post.



Ingredients

• 2 cups peeled and chopped peaches


• 2 cups blueberries


• 1/2 cup sugar


• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour


• 2 pie crust recipes

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a muffin pan with a non stick spray.


2. Toss the peaches and blueberries with sugar and flour.


3. Roll out the pie crust and press onto the muffin pan.


4. Spoon the fruit onto the prepared muffin pan. Bake for 30 minutes.


5. Let cool in the pan. Pop out when they cool. Keep refrigerated and serve cold.

Cheap & Cheerful Chicken

I made this dish for the first time in London, with my cousin Viv, as a thank-you dinner for her parents. That was on my "Jamie Oliver" trip when I did so many things related to Jamie Oliver that it became kind of a running joke - dined at Fifteen, visited his parents' pub in Essex, the Cricketers, and made this dish from his book "Jamie's Dinners" (which I bought, signed, on that trip) for my aunt and uncle. We put it together in her ill-equipped flat (she is many great things, but not a cook) and it came out perfectly.

I love Jamie's food and his casual, intuitive style of cooking, but to me what really differentiates him as a celebrity chef is his commitment to giving back to the community and making real changes in the way that we eat. He created Fifteen as a way to give disadvantaged kids a chance at a culinary career, and he has been working on his campaign "School Dinners" for the past several years to show how inexpensive meals can still be tasty and healthy. "Jamie's Dinners" takes this philosopy home, as an attempt to show people that everyday meals can be easy, more cost effective, and healthier than take-away.


Recently my brother was hit by a car - he's OK! - but had found himself laid up on the couch and in danger of going into a fast-food coma. I went over to his apartment (and ill-equipped kitchen...sigh!) and made this dish to last for several meals throughout the week. I had to sub chili beans for the cannelini beans, and used 8 drumsticks instead of 4 whole legs, but the beauty of the recipe is that you can't really mess it up.

"Everyday Crispy Chicken with Sweet Tomatoes"

• 4 chicken legs, jointed
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• a big bunch of frsh basil, leaves picked, stalks finely chopped
• 2 big handfuls of red and yellow cherry tomatoes, halved, and ripe plum tomatoes, quartered
• 1 whole bulb of garlic, broken up into cloves
• 1 fresh red chili, finely chopped
• olive oil
• 1 can cannellini beans, drained

- Preheat oven to 350.
- Season chicken pieces all over and put them into a snug-fitting pan in one layer.
- Throw in all of the basil leaves and stalks, then chuck in your tomatoes.
- Scatter the garlic cloves into the pan with the chopped chili, and drizzle over some olive oil. Add the beans.
- Mix around a bit, pushing the tomatoes underneath.
- Place in the oven for 1 1/2 hours, turning the tomatoes halfway through, until the chicken skin is crisp and the meat falls off of the bone.
- Squeeze the garlic out of the skins before serving.

Stern Grove 71st Season

Pizza Art

As a perfect follow-up to the Renegade Craft Fair, Jude & I went for a late lunch at Pizzetta 211 in the Richmond. Now, in my opinion, there are only two good pizza places in San Francisco, Little Star and this place. The former is where you go for a perfect, classic deep dish while drinking microbrewed beer and listening to punk rock, and the latter is where you go for a slow-foods, European style, artisinal experience, to be lingered over and savored.


Since Pizzetta is both legendary and tiny (nearly microscopic, sort of the Sushi Zone of pizza places), it is best avoided for dinner past 7pm most nights, unless you like hanging out on a windy street corner watching other people eat. So our 3pm lunch meant that we were able to grab two seats at the counter immediately and attend to our rumbling tummies. Look what was on the counter right in front of us - a raspberry and nectarine galette oozing juice - don't think we weren't tempted to grab a forkful when everyone's backs were turned!


The counter space is great because you get to see the pizzas being made. I will never understand how they get the dough quite that thin, and cook it so perfectly each time. It's something out of Druid lore - some skill simply beyond my comprehension.

Since the pizzas take a while, we started with the Artisinal Cheese Salad and the Roasted Beets Salad. Both were excellent, and generously portioned. These are the types of dishes that I imagine myself making after a trip to the Farmer's Market, but I never achieve this level of success.


And then came the pizza, oh my oh my. We had one with Rosemary, Pine Nuts, and Sheeps Milk Cheese, to which we added 2 fried eggs. If you have never had a fried egg on a pizza, you don't know what you are missing. That lovely, silky yolk dripping all over the cheese and savory bits - pure delight in the mouth. It's very common in Europe, but for some reason, only a few places offer it here in the States.


Even though we were pretty full, we had to have a piece of the galette to round out the meal. You can't just stare at something that long and not eat it, and besides it had been one of those weeks for both of us, so the galette was like the food version of a stiff drink. And it was worth it - light, not to sweet, and of course, delicious crust. And the whipped cream - so good, you almost need a cigarette afterwards.


All in all, one of those perfect meals that are worth the wait, but if you don't have to, that makes it even better.

Rebel With a Crafty Cause

This weekend marked the opening of the first San Francisco Renegade Craft Fair, a cloth, yarn, paper and jewelry DIY event. It was started in Wicker Park in Chicago (city of big shoulders, represent!) and although we boast our own share of creative outposts (Capsule, Appel and Frank), this felt new and more focused on true crafts rather than just fashion trends. With it being inside, at the Fort Mason Pavilion, with free admission and almost-free parking, clean bathrooms, and plenty of room to shop, it was definitely my favorite of these types of events.


There were some very cool graphic tees, a booth featuring stuffed organs (uterus, anyone?), and lots and lots of letterpress cards, my personal kryptonite. I bought a box of cards from awesome letterpress company hello!Lucky, and this little crocheted baby owl from a Chicago vendor called Tart Heart. It is quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen. If you don't agree, you have a black and inhuman soul! Just look at his feet!!


I think that the coolest thing about going to an event like this is not the amount that you purchase (although you should purchase something in the name of keeping local crafting alive & well), but getting to meet the artists, looking at great ideas, and sparking your own creative juices. And let's face it, everyone could use a healthy dose of cuteness in their day.

Leave the Light On

Friday night was the 6-year Anniversary show of Porchlight, a local storytelling series created by Arline Klatte and Beth Lisick. Every month, they choose a different theme, such as "Sleeping With the Enemy: the Sex Show" and "All I Got Was this Stupid T-Shirt: the Souveneir Show", and then local people submit their stories and are given 10 minutes to tell them. It makes for a wonderfully real, always entertaining, unique evening. There are no better stories than those that come from real life, and it's a reminder of how gut-wrenching and hilarious life can be.

I was introduced to Porchlight by my friend and culture-maven Beth. It was the night of our 2nd Yelp Book Club (quickly defunct), and since hardly anyone was going to show and the remainder of us disliked the book, she suggested that we go to Porchlight at the Swedish American Hall, a really cool historical building in the Castro. The theme that night was "Busted" and before we knew it, we were rolling in the aisles. I couldn't remember the last time I laughed that hard. My friend Suzanne even joined in by submitting her name for an impromptu 2-minute story on stage.


Just like in life, some stories are better than others, and some storytellers are better than others. My favorite ones are the ones that minimally rehearsed, but well constructed, with the speaker so full of passion about the subject that they crack themselves up. And there are so many interesting people that get up there - one night, a guy whose parents own the Wax Museum in Fisherman's Wharf got up to tell his story, using the head of Frankenstein as his "prop", which he later passed around the audience. He told about how his dad used to administer an unusual punishment to his children - if they were bad, he would drop them off in front of the museum late at night and they would have to walk through the Chamber of Horrors by themselves. It worked, like a kids version of "Scared Straight". Why not let the Mummy and Jack the Ripper do your job? Other parents should be so lucky.

The theme this past Friday night was "The Seven Deadly Sins", and since it was an anniversary show, it was comprised of some favorite speakers from past shows. The theme was broad enough to give each speaker enough leeway to be themselves, but as you may imagine, sex and drugs and humiliation (and sometimes all three) were common threads. They also had performances by some local bands, one of which was the Ian Fays, who I enjoyed very much.


During their introduction, Beth and Arlene talked about the fact that they have been approached by tv programmers, and have been asked to do Podcasts of their shows, but that they don't believe in recording them for two reasons: 1/ they don't want to affect the speakers' performances, knowing that they are being filmed or recorded and 2/ they really want to keep it local, a singular experience to the night, venue and city and time. I thought that was so great - and it's not as if these two women do not understand commercial success - Beth has published several books and Arlene works in real estate - but they do understand what it means to stay true to the nature of their creation. And there you have Reason #2789 that I love living in San Francisco.


I was lucky enough to run into my friend Beth and her fiance at Porchlight (and by "ran into", I mean that I heard her calling my name from across the room), and I sat with them in the balcony, which offered a comfortable and unobstructed view. With my $5 cup of plastic wine in hand, and hearing the laughter of friends beside me, it was one of those nights that makes you appreciate how the details of life are all so brilliant and colorful, and how, by sharing our experiences, we become part of a community in a very age-old, yet timely way.

Repurpose, Reuse

I decided the other day that it was high time to move on from my living room chair as my chosen spot to do my work. It was starting to resemble a homeless person's makeshift dwelling, with bits of food everywhere, dirty glasses, stuff piled all around me, and discarded shoes left on the floor to trip over. Plus, working in the living room was far too distracting for me. It's where I watch TV, read magazines, entertain people, and generally relax. Not very conducive to getting things done.

I love the fact that we have a full dining room, which is not always the case when you live in a city. But truth be told, we use it as such about once a year. We have never been people who sit down to dinner at a set time and talk about our day. I don't know what that says about us, but that's how it is. I am much more apt to sit at the kitchen table - to be close to the source, perhaps? So the dining room table functions as a dumping ground for all of the miscellaneous "to deal with" stuff in our lives - presents to wrap, bills, invitations to respond to, etc.

Cleaning off the dining room table was cathartic. I realized how disorganized and cluttered I had become. Putting it in order felt great, and before I knew it, I had set up a "desk" for myself. The table had already moved from its center space to be flush against the window (left this way after some buffet meal, probably Christmas), so all I had to do arrange my things in an order that suited me. I dug out my desk set from my last job, created files, and did an inventory check on my supplies. I threw away all of the outdated and unnecessary papers (I have to remember to throw out theater programs - I must have found 10 of them), and put away anything I needed but wasn't using every day. After that, I added personal things like my iPod speaker, some fresh flowers, hand cream, and a cute souvenir that Olga brought me from her trip to Japan.

I love my new space! It's light, airy, faces the ocean and the trees, and I have a comfortable yet straight chair to sit in, and an actual surface to write on (no more writing on a hardcover book on my lap). It's amazing how much difference your workspace can make.

I have missed having a desk, and an office. That separation of work and home is very important to me, and I had let those lines blur. I can always take the laptop over to my beloved living room chair for some late-night surfing-while-watching TV (a terrible habit and time suck, don't do it), but I love thinking that I can shut it down and step away from it.

Today I started off my day answering emails, and then I checked in with Jen Lancaster's blog for a laugh and some writers' camaraderie. Her post on writers' block and procrastination made me laugh out loud.

It's not a conventional office, but it works for me. Come 5pm, you'll find me in the living room chair, probably with a glass of wine. Until then, I'll be at my desk.

And the Worst Name Award Goes to...

First we had the Stuff White People Like blog (hilarious), and now it's the Scuppie Handbook. It's kind of funny, but the problem is that it takes itself way too seriously - unlike the Preppy Handbook, which was completely tongue-in-cheek. Taking yourself too seriously - a Scuppie* trait if I ever saw one.


SCUP·PIE /skәp·e/ n. (Socially Conscious Upwardly-mobile Person)

1. A person who desires all the best life can offer and strives for those goals in a socially conscious manner.

2. One who is dedicated to the pursuit of peace, happiness and cash (not necessarily in that order).

3. Someone ‘green’ -- i.e. one who understands the love of money does not preclude the love of nature...and vice-versa.
______________________________________________________________________

* And the reason that I think that Scuppie is a terrible name is not because it's not clever - it is - but the word itself is so unappealing. Sounds like someone tried to put together Scum + Puppy = Scuppie. Or a youthful version of Judy Tenuda's Scum Puppets - Scuppies. Well, if the shoe fits...

Nectar of the Birds

(click on the picture to see it full size - worth it!!)

Jewelled coryphee
With quivering wings like shielding gauze outspread.
- Ednah Proctor Clarke (Hayes), Humming-Bird

Hummingbird cake is one of those southern foods that you simply accept, like Red Velvet cake and Country Captain Chicken. Its origin is unknown, but from what I have read, a recipe was published in the 1978 issue of Southern Living magazine and thereafter it adorned many cake stands across that part of the country. One theory as to the name suggests that it has enough sweet things in it to tempt the hummingbird, like nectar.

I first had a Hummingbird cupcake a few years ago at the Appel & Frank show, and I have been craving one ever since! Last night, I realized that I had all of the ingredients, plus a couple that would make it extra-special.

Pecans, the nut of the south, are a key ingredient. We had received a gift basket recently from Zingerman's, and included in it was a big tin of spiced pecans. While I love spiced nuts, I realized that Charles and I would never get through the whole thing on our own, and they would be just the thing for my cupcakes.


Then just yesterday, Kristina and I were at Cook's Boulevard in Noe Valley, and she surprised me with my very own jar of Vanilla Bean Paste! What is so cool about Vanilla Bean Paste is that it works just like regular vanilla, except that you get all of the wonderful flecks that you would if you used a vanilla bean - and for much less fuss. At $11.00 for a whole jar, it's much more economical as well. If you are unable to find it at your local specialty store, you can order it from one of my favorite Chicago suppliers, The Spice House.


The recipe is full of wonderful things: bananas, pineapple, pecans, and of course sugar and spices. It's like banana bread meets pineapple upside down cake meets pecan pie. Some recipes use coconut, but this is not true to the original version. The cake is extremely dense and moist, and the vanilla cream cheese frosting is the perfect compliment. I purposely frosted them very casually as I love the homemade look, and those beautiful little flecks are just perfect, like a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream! I will definitely be making these many times over.

Hummingbird Cupcakes
makes 24 cupcakes

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
1 8oz can crushed pineapple, with liquid
2 mashed bananas
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1. Mix flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt with a whisk in a good sized bowl.
2. Beat eggs.
3. Add oil and vanilla to beaten eggs and mix until somewhat combined.
4. Add egg/oil/vanilla mixture to flour/sugar/baking soda/cinnamon/salt mixture.
5. Mix together pineapple, bananas, pecans until combined.
6. Add to the rest of ingredients and stir to combine. (my note: I found it was easiest to mix everything with my hands)

Bake at 350 degrees for ~25 minutes until golden and a cake tester comes out clean.
(Note, because the batter is so moist, you will have to watch the baking time. Mine took about 10 minutes longer than the suggested time - I removed them when I just started to see golden edges on one of the cupcakes).

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 package cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 T. Vanilla Bean Paste
1 box confectioner's sugar

1. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and cream cheese, scraping down the sides occasionally, until well mixed.
2. Add the Vanilla Bean Paste, mix until distributed evenly.
3. Add 1/2 of the confectioner's sugar and mix until incorporated. Add the other half and mix until it has a nice sheen.

Frost cupcakes and top with 1 pecan each.