Molasses-Gingerbread Cupcakes with Coffee Icing

Forgive me for the unseasonably and unfairly long list of ingredients, but I promise these are totally worth it. You know the drill—punchy, no-bullshit flavors that I can't effectively persuade you into trying, partly because February is the longest month of all time and I'm completely exhausted, but mostly because: Molasses. Ginger. Coffee. Chocolate. There's not much else to say! So much love though, from my sometimes churlish kitchen to yours.

Gingerbread Cupcakes
Adapted from The Craft of Baking by Karen Demasco

3/4 cup stout beer, such as Guinness
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly brewed coffee
3/4 cup dark molasses, such as Grandma's
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons grapeseed or other neutral oil
3 tablespoons Demerara sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger
1 large egg
1 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/4 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Candied ginger, cut into thin strips, for topping

1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Using two cupcake tins, line 18 cups with silicone or paper liners.

2.  In a large saucepan, bring the beer, coffee, and molasses to a gentle boil.  Whisk together to combine. Remove from the heat and whisk in the baking soda (it will bubble quite a bit); let the mixture sit for five minutes to cool.

3.  In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, oil, Demerara, and grated fresh ginger.  Whisk in the egg.  In another large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, white pepper, and salt.  In three additions of each, alternately whisk the flour mixture and the beer mixture into the brown sugar mixture to combine.

4.  Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling them about three-quarters of the way each.  Bake for 20 minutes without opening the oven.  Then, rotate the tins and bake until the cakes spring back to the touch or until a cake tester inserted into the centers comes out clean, about five minutes more. Invert the cupcakes onto a rack, turn them top up, and let cool completely.  Proceed to icing!

Coffee Icing
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar (I used 3/4 cups, see below)
4 tablespoons coffee (I used two of coffee and also two of heavy cream)
1 tablespoon dark molasses
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1.  I'm not too into the taste of confectioners' sugar, so I used half of what KD recommended and made mine more of a glaze than a thick icing. I accidentally brewed my coffee too strong too, so I used cream for half the liquid to temper the taste.  Add your sugar to a mixing bowl and whisk in the coffee (cream), molasses, and vanilla.  Add more sugar if you want to thicken it up, or more coffee or cream if you'd rather thin it out.

2.  Dip tops of cupcakes in the icing, top with strips of candied ginger, and let icing set for 30 minutes.  Cupcakes will keep, covered, for up to three days.

P.S. I don't always redo my banner to match my most recent posting, just this once!

Coconut Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

Last weekend was a weekend of cravings ignored and answered. First on Saturday morning, cake donuts infiltrated my dreamscape (sprinkles too) and prodded me awake with the hope for donuts and coffee. It is a combination that's so very unobtainable to a tired-eyed girl on a snowy Saturday morning, but a craving so acute that I'll be splashing around with hot oil and a splatter guard in the near future. Then there was a barbeque chips vs. brie vs. chocolate dilemma at the store; it ended poorly, and my self-preservation is prompting me not to recount. Then came a good and proper craving that I could master and that wouldn't involve Joey whispering devilishly in my ear to just get all three. And as much as taste, this recipe answered a craving for textures.  Airy cake with fluffy frosting and hunky shards of flaked coconuts, and well...

Coconut Cupcakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes
Makes between 16 and 18

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut, packed
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 large eggs plus 2 large egg whites (so four whites all together)
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup or so large-flake unsweetened coconut, for tops of cakes

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line cupcake tins with 16 liners to start.  Mix all dry ingredients in a medium bowl.

2.  In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about two to three minutes.  Add eggs to butter one at a time, beating after each addition, then add whites and beat.  Measure coconut milk, and add vanilla to the same measuring cup.  Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in three additions, alternating with coconut milk mixture and ending with dry ingredients; whisk after each addition until just incorporated.  Scrape sides of bow to make sure batter is evenly mixed.

3.  Fill cupcake tins 2/3 full, and bake for 20 to 23 minutes until domed tops are springy to the touch and cake testers inserted in the centers come out clean.  Turn out of tins and let cool on wire racks.  Frost (recipe follows) one at a time, sprinkle large-flaked coconut on top, and serve immediately.  These are best the same day, but will keep at least overnight, covered.  I didn't manage to let any stick around longer than that to see what happened.

Marshmallow Frosting
Classic recipe, with more frills according to Martha Stewart, less according to Joy of Cooking

2 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 light corn syrup or golden syrup (the latter will lend a more caramel- or honey-like taste)
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1.  Combine all ingredients and a pinch of salt in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water.  Beat at high speed with an egg beater for six to seven minutes, or until frosting is thick and fluffy.  Remove from heat and continue to beat until slightly cooled.  Use the same day.

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

Maybe pancakes aren't a baked good, but in the midst of the snowiest winter the District has witnessed since 1898, I'm inclined to believe that almost anything with flour (rapidly depleting as we head into the seventh day of snowy annihilation) counts as a baked good. Hamburger buns? Yes. Pizza crust? Close enough. Pancakes? Sure thing! And if you're still not feelin' it, well, these pancakes get you to exercise the single most important baking preparation skill of all time, which is whipping eggs, a skill my father showed me when I was a wee thing who wanted to eat belgian waffles for every breakfast.  My mom taught me to cook, but I have to give heaps of credit to my pops too since the alchemy of egg-whipping is what attracted me to manipulating food through baking. 

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart's The Original Classics

If you don't have buttermilk or don't have three cups worth, just make your own by mixing one tablespoon of distilled white vinegar with one cup of milk (for every one cup of buttermilk) and setting it aside for ten minutes to curdle.  Also, if you don't feel like whipping your egg whites, just beat the eggs together and whisk them in all at once.  The results will still be tasty!

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons sugar
2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
Whites from two large eggs, beaten until soft peaks have formed
3 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 extra tablespoon melted for brushing the pan between pancakes
About one cup fresh or frozen blueberries or raspberries, or one to two thinly sliced bananas, or a half-cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Fahrenheit, this is for keeping the pancakes warm while you continue cooking them.

2.  Place cast iron or regular frying pan on medium heat.  Whisk all dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Add the buttermilk, lightly beaten egg yolks, and melted butter, and whisk just until combined.  You want batter that's pretty lumpy, so don't over mix.

3.  In a clean, glass measuring cup or bowl, beat egg whites on medium until foamy, about one minute. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for about two minutes more, or until soft peaks have formed.  You'll know that you have soft peaks when you turn your mixer off, remove it from the egg whites, and the little peaks left from the beater marks maintain their shape, but curl over on top.  Using a rubber spatula, plop egg whites on to batter, and gently fold in (do not stir!) until egg whites are distributed.  Batter should still be lumpy.

4.  Test the heat of your pan by sprinkling some water droplets on it.  If the sizzle and shake, you're good to go.  Brush the pan with a thin layer of butter, and pour out your pancake batter using a half-cup measurer.  In an amount to your liking, add your blueberries to the pancakes' up-sides.  Let cook until golden brown, from two to three minutes, then flip and let cook for a minute more.  Using an oven-safe plate, slide your pancakes into the oven to keep warm.

5.  Repeat with remaining batter, and serve warm with toppings of your choice.  We went with powdered sugar and agave nectar, but last time did bananas, pecans, and maple syrup.  Enjoy!

Obi Wan Kasnowbi: Crafting Sanity

My house, with twenty inches of cotton balls outside and four people approaching insanity inside. 

Coffee-molasses-ginger cupcakes with coffee icing. Recipe to follow in the coming days!

My first earrings project for a lady who works at my favorite brunch spot in Takoma Park, MD.

I worked on a few valentines for my nearest and dearest before giving in to the blizzard malaise and cracking open very many beers.

Super Bowl party at my house tonight supplied much jubilation, burritos, pizza, pepper dip, and beers—social reprieve from our thusly two-day snow sentence.  Both thankfully and not though, I'm off work again tomorrow while the city patches up the roadways and makes getting around reasonable, so I'll be catching up on a few more crafts, seeing a movie or two, and working on some baking endeavors (anyone see Smitten Kitchen's walnut-jam cake post? Yes.).  And I'm hardly bored, but tomorrow will definitely be a dig-deep sort of day, best begun by a serious brunch and a couple long walks in the forest. Capping it with some drinks and Yahtzee for money wouldn't hurt either.  Happy snow day to you!

Braided Challah Loaf

The District is, according to headlines, "completely paralyzed by epic snowfall."  The snowfall is slightly less than apocalyptic so far (about 18 inches), but we're sealed in all the same, steeling ourselves against cabin fever with NPR, early afternoon beers, Roald Dahl, and crafts. Being from Southern California though, I might be a little too delighted by weather and banishment from the outdoors since this snowy stalemate has become the most convenient reason to work on sewing projects and use up all of my flour. It's practically springtime in our house too, as I'm swaying to a dreamy Beach House album and just about sweltering from the heat of the oven and furnaces.  Well, if you've been forecast to be stuck inside for three days too, then challah is a great choice for bread-baking because it will fully perfume your house while it's in the oven and will make the perfect french toast on your final day of weather captivity.  Here's to hoping that my first blizzard is as charming at the end as it is at the beginning.

Challah
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 packet instant dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 1/2 teaspoons + 1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable or olive oil, plus more for greasing the bowl
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk + 1 more egg for brushing
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup raisins, if using, plumped in warm water and drained
Poppy seeds for sprinkling

1.  Dissolve yeast, 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, and seven ounces of lukewarm water in a large glass or metal bowl until yeast foam doubles in size (or close to it).

2.  Whisk oil into yeast, then beat in two eggs and one yolk, one at a time each.  Also add remaining sugar and salt.  Gradually add flour.  When dough holds together, it's ready for kneading.

3.  Turn dough on to lightly floured counter and knead, for eight to ten minutes, until dough is smooth.  Clean out bowl then grease it, then return dough to bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place for one hour, until doubled in size.  My favorite way to do this is to place the bowl in the oven and leave the oven light on--it provides just enough warmth to get the dough going.  Gently deflate dough and let it rise for another half-hour.

4.  Knead the raisins into the challah if using.  To form a braid, divide the dough into six balls and roll each ball into a strand that's about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches thick.  Then follow this video tutorial or check Smitten Kitten's directions if you're not a visual learner.  I couldn't make sense of the written directions, so I won't post them to this blog, but really, the YouTube video helped me along nicely, and SK's directions were well-received in her comments section.  Brush loaf with beaten egg and let rise for another hour.

5.  If baking immediately, heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, brush with remaining egg, and sprinkle with poppy seeds.  Or put loaf in the freezer, and remove at least five hours prior to baking, brushing with egg and sprinkling with poppy seeds once loaf has warmed to room temperature.

6.  Bake in middle of oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden (If you have an internal thermometer, bake until center is 190 degrees.  I don't have one and just went by looks).  Cool loaf on rack, and enjoy!

Note:  Any of the three risings can be done in the fridge for a few hours.  When you're ready to work with it again, just bring the loaf back to room temperature and move on from there.  Also, in my opinion, this would be excellent with cinnamon marbled through it, rolled in to the dough when you roll your strips before braiding.