Look What the Easter Bunny Laid in My Basket

I realize that the title of this post sounds dirty. Or disgusting. But the important thing is that you are looking at one of the most scrumptious chocolates ever to slip down my gullet. It is from Chocolate Covered, the tiny chocolate emporium on 24th Street in Noe Valley.

I don't know what it is - the gooey caramel, the huge, crunchy walnut, the dark, dark chocolate, the generous sprinkling of coarse salt on the top, or the combination, but it is like a little nugget from heaven. The first time I had one, I was driving and nearly had an accident because I was so enraptured. And by enraptured, I mean moaning and groaning with pleasure. Unfortunately, I was not alone. I cannot apologize enough for my public display of lewdness (or the many near-accidents I am sure I caused), but this chocolate swept me off my feet and left me weak in the knees and begging for more.

(Marilyn Monroe voice): Thanks, Easter Bunny. *wink*

Peep Peep

I love Peeps, so this year it was time to create a Peep-themed cupcake.

I kept it simple - basic chocolate cake recipe with marshmallow fluff frosting (softened cream cheese mixed with a jar of marshmallow fluff and powdered sugar, colored with green food gel). The Peeps are held up by toothpicks, so you just have to remember to warn kids to take them out carefully and remove the toothpick before digging in. You don't need much to make these look festive - the Peeps do it for you!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Easter Basket

I had a lot of fun coming up with and making these cupcakes for Easter. I wanted to do something a little bit playful, something that would delight both kids and kids-at-heart. As always, taste is the important thing to me.

I made chocolate cupcakes, which is old hat at this point. The recipe that I have been using lately is surprisingly from Hershey's: the "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake. It's easy, moist, foolproof, and best of all, inexpensive. I can make it on a whim, because it does not require butter at room temperature. The only change that I make is to add only 1/2 C of boiling water instead of the full cup that the recipe calls for.

So, that done, I could play with the frosting and toppings. I have had a jar of Raspberry Marshmallow Fluff in my cupboard for years, and I never knew what I wanted to do with it. It occured to me that it would be great in a frosting - almost like an ode to Peeps.


I made a cream cheese frosting with 2 sticks butter, 1 pkg cream cheese, about 1/2 box of powdered sugar, then mixed in the entire jar of fluff. It made a beautiful frosting - bright, happy pink, and a wonderful texture.


For the Easter grass, I really wanted to achieve that artificial, bright green color of the stuff you find in Easter baskets. I had recently bought a food color gel in "Electric Green" and I added some of that to about 1/2 bag of sweetened coconut and mushed it around until it turned the right color.


I frosted the cupcakes using a round tip on my piping tool, added the grass, and topped them with 4 Jelly Beans. I used ones that I had found at Williams-Sonoma, which are really delicious and infinitely better than the ones you find at the drugstore, but much less strong in flavor than Jelly Bellies. They come in Pineapple, Cotton Candy, Blue Raspberry, and Key Lime, which worked well with the Raspberry Fluff frosting.

Fun to make, fun to eat - that is what cupcakes are all about!

Hot Chicks

About 5 people have sent this to me now, and I smile every time I see it. Come here and gimme some sugar, sugar!

New Beginnings

It's Good Friday today, and right now we are blessed with days full of sunshine and cool breezes. This time of year is always one of both introspection and optimism for me, after settling into the routines brought on by numerous New Year's resolutions and personal goals. I like to think of this time of year as a time to check in, see how you're doing, and take some quiet time to look around and be grateful. It really doesn't have anything to do with Easter so much as the rising of Spring and the wonder I feel when I am faced with when seeing something beautiful in nature, or enjoying a great time with friends.

I decided to make a mix CD to go with my mood. It's called "Spring Forward" and it's mellow and upbeat at the same time. It's not all roses and sunshine, though. There are definitely deep feelings expressed in the songs, things that touch on some of my worries and fears. But music has that amazing ability to lift the spirits, and to soothe the soul.

1. Those Dancing Days are Gone, Carla Bruni
2. There's Too Much Love, Belle & Sebastian
3. Eli, the Barrow Boy, The Decemberists
4. When You're Mind's Made Up, from the "Once" soundtrack
5. Hope, Jack Johnson
6. Metal Heart, Cat Power
7. Happy, Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins
8. Foundations, Kate Nash
9. Just, Mark Ronson featuring Alex Grenwald
10. Hold on to Your Friends, Morrissey
11. Sea Legs, The Shins
12. Give It Away, Zero 7
    

1. 

Which Craft?

I have a group of friends who are part of a crafting group that meets periodically share food, catch up, and make things. Each one of us has our specialty (some of us, are more, um, enthusiastic than *ahem* talented), and it's a great way to spend a day learning something new while hanging out with your friends. We've done everything from stained glass to sewing to card-making. Some days it's BYOC (Bring Your Own Craft) and people can knit, organize magazine articles, what ever. No matter what we end up doing, they are always a blast.

Yesterday was Amy's annual "Ukranian Egg Decorating" day. These traditional eggs, called pysansky, are made using a wax resist technique. You draw on the eggs using a kystka, a tool that allows hot beeswax to flow through the tip like a pen, and then you dip the egg into different colored dyes, starting with light and ending with dark. You then melt the wax off very carefully using a candle, and if you are so inclined, blow out the contents of the egg using a special tool. It requires creativity, a steady hand, and patience. With practice, the results can be quite beautiful, and can be kept and displayed for years. My cleaning lady breaks all of mine - either by mishap, or perhaps as a commentary on my "art". Here are a few good ones that have survived over the years (not made by me):


Some of the women at yesterday's event had never made Ukranian Eggs before, and they did an amazing job! How cute is that pink squirrel?!!


I had a lovely time stuffing my face with the gorgeous food that everyone brought, and working on my eggs. I love my modern, free-form little creations - like the poor, red-headed stepchildren that they are. When I brought them home, my husband Charles remarked, "Were you angry today?"


I love these days, and look forward to every single one. I can imagine what it must have been like for women in the past, especially in remote areas, when getting together like this was a frequent tradition. The sewing circles and quilting bees of our grandmothers' time have returned in a modern way, and we now see activities such as "Stitch-n-Bitches" popping up everywhere. The difference is that the crafts we make are for pure enjoyment, not necessity. But no matter what the end result is, the sense of community, and the joy of being together, is something that I cherish. I love my Crafty Girls!

Oh yeah, and the mimosas are pretty damned good, too.

Wascally Wabbits

Yesterday I attended one of my favorite events of the year, Ukranian Egg Decorating day at my friend Amy's. It was "suggested" that I bring cupcakes, and I thought it was a good time to make a batch of Carrot Cake Cupcakes, being so close to Easter, and I just happened to have some floppy-eared bunny decorations from Sugar & Spice in my pantry. Given that this was a late morning/early afternoon event, the ingredients seemed well-suited to the time of day as well, as these can stand in for a decadently divine breakfast treat.

While my all-time favorite Carrot Cake recipe comes from the Silver Palate Cookbook, this recipe from The Barefoot Contessa's Parties! book is better for cupcakes.

One note that I have on this recipe, and others as well, is the yield. It says it makes 22 cupcakes. 22? So, do I need an 11-cup pan, and where exactly might I find that? My other go-to cupcake book features recipes for 18 cupcakes. 18? What ever happened to multiples of 12? Note: cupcake recipes should ALWAYS be adapted into multiples of 12. It can't be that hard. Empty places in tins make me crazy, and a litte sad. That said, this recipe is easily stretched to 24 cupcakes.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- makes 22 cupcakes (24!!)

2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
3 large eggs at room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour + 1 tablespoon
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 lb. carrots, grated
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin pans with paper liners.
  
• Beat the sugar, oil and eggs together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light yellow. Add the vanilla
• In another bowl, sift together 2 cups flour, cinnamon, baking soda & salt
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients
• Toss the carrots, raisins & walnuts with 1 tablespoon flour. Add to the batter and mix well (use your hands)
• Scoop the batter into muffin cups until almost full
• Bake at 400 for 10 minutes, then lower the temp to 350 and bake for 35 min (my note: watch carefully to avoid over-cooking - mine only took 25 min)
• Let cool on a wire rack

Cream Cheese Frosting
(note: the addition of lemon is my own, it makes the frosting taste MUCH better)

1 8 oz package cream cheese
1/2 c unsalted butter at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Juice of 1 lemon
1 lb. confectioners' sugar, sieved

• Mix the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
• Add the lemon juice
• Add the sugar in batches, and mix until smooth