Kielbasa: Sweet, Sour, Simple

I am usually not one of those "over rice" people. I don't like sauces mixing all up with my rice, as in I prefer my stir fry to the side of the rice (more on that later). But this is one dish where I like the sauce so much, I will happily put everything on top of the rice, just so I can get all of it into my mouth.

Keilbasa is a great sausage. It has a nice sweet semi-exotic taste (and the no fennel seeds are a bonus, at least for me). You can simply grill it for a sandwich, but Keilbasa with a sweet and sour sauce is a great filling meal that is easy to make. My mother used to make this when I was a kid, and I was very excited when I found a recipe that recreated the taste of that dish. I like to use turkey keilbasa because it is healthier, and you won't miss the calories.

Ingredients
2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 pound turkey kielbasa sausage, sliced in 1/2 in slices on the bias (slanted, so they will look prettier)
Scant olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste.

A deep skillet is good for this recipe, but a large saucepan will work as well. Now watch how easy this is. Saute chopped onion for 1 minute in just a bit of olive oil in the skillet. Then add all of the ingredients to the skillet, with the heat on medium low. Stir until combined, and the sugar and butter start to melt. Turn the heat down to the lowest it can go, and cover. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over rice.

Easy! There are just a few tips to make sure this dish turns out right.

1. Keep an eye on the pot, because you don't really want this sauce boiling. Depending on your stove and the way your pan heats this can be a little bit of a challenge if the heat keeps concentrating in one area. You can lift up the lid, and stir to prevent this, but just keeping it on low should work fine. The reason why you don't want it to boil is because the casing on the Keilbasa can tighten and sort of bulge out the meat, making it a little tough on the outside. If this happens, it is not the end of the world. It will still taste good, it just will leave a little to be desired in the texture.

2. You will know that it is ready by its smell. The vinegary smell should not be present. The vinegar is a flavoring, but this sauce should not have an acid taste like raw vinegar. If you take off the lid and get a whiff of strong vinegar smell, keep cooking.

3. And of course, taste! Add your salt and pepper to taste right near the end of cooking, so you can judge what you need according to the fully cooked sauce, and not a sauce that hasn't matured yet.

Saving the Cake!

I know, I haven't written in a while. Vacations, weddings, birthdays--sometimes they get in the way of blogging. That's probably a good thing.

So this entry will be short and sweet (excuse the pun). My husband's birthday was a few weeks ago. He really likes white cake with white frosting. I mean really likes it. His favorite cake is what he calls "supermarket white cake," and this was the top tier of our wedding cake, because he insisted on it.

Naturally, this is what I made for his birthday. Or attempted to make. I don't know whether my PAM is way past it's expiration date, or my non-stick pans are lying to me, but I had a big problem getting these cakes out of the pan. The first layer cracked into three separate pieces. AAAHH! I yelled and panicked and thought, well that is ok, I can repair it, as long as the other one is fine. I waited 15 more minutes, to make sure the other layer had cooled, and AHHH! again, only this time, the layer broke into 7 pieces, one of which landed on the floor.

I was very tempted to throw the whole darn thing out, but one thing about me is, I really hate wasting ingredients. So, what did I do? Made an extra batch of frosting, and well, glued it all back together.

What do you think?


This is proof that no matter what happens, you can repair your cake and no one will ever know what a disaster you had earlier! I got many many compliments--who knew just hours before I was cursing at the thing, frosting all over the table? But you should definitely volunteer to cut it, because some of the slices will turn out to be entirely frosting (and you can toss those ones out, without anyone being the wiser.)

Next time though, I will probably use parchment paper the pans. It will take a little extra time, but at least I know it won't stick!

Mustard Chicken

If there is one recipe I am famous for, at least around my house, it is mustard chicken. I have made this recipe at least fifty times, which has helped me perfect it, and which has also made it my husband's first guess at what's for dinner. This is the ideal weeknight main dish. It is quick, easy, and actually healthy. I developed this recipe when I had a health problem that caused me to have to remove "fatty foods" from my diet for six months. This was a challenge, but out of it came the famous mustard chicken, and it stayed on the menu even after I could eat fat; meaning it's worth taking a shot at even if you scoff at "health foods."

Mustard chicken is essentially chicken cutlets (I mean, who doesn't love cutlets, right?) with mustard acting as the sealing agent rather than your typical flour/eggs routine. This not only makes the dish healthier, but gives it a lighter more flavorful taste that can go well with a variety of side dishes. Depending on how much you like mustard, or which type you like, you can mix it up. I like to use a pretty strong dijion or grainy mustard, because I like the mustard taste to be prominent. If you are a little afraid of mustard, try a honey mustard, and you'll get a pleasantly sweet tasting cutlet, and the mustard will be your secret.

Here is what you will need (serves 3-4):

Mustard Chicken

3-4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, sliced in half through the middle of the breast, and pounded thin (you can use a saucepan if you don't have a mallet)*
1 cup of breadcrumbs (both regular and panko work fine, but panko gives a good crunch)
3-4 Tbsps of dijon or grain mustard
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Toasted Sesame seeds (optional)
*you can also brine the chicken breasts in salt water beforehand, to bring out more flavor

Steps:

The first step is to have all your materials ready. I use a kitchen brush and a fork, and this way, I never have to touch the chicken, and I don't get my hands all covered in breadcrumby mess. See sample "station" here.


Now, the first thing you'll want to do is spread your mustard onto the chicken with the brush. You want a nice coating, but you don't want globs of it on one part and barely anything on another part. If you don't have a brush and are using a knife to spread it, that is fine, but just be sure not to put too much. It's a coating; the mustard should not be dripping off at any point. See photo.

Now, take one cutlet and set it mustard side down in a plate of breadcrumbs (put your toasted sesame seeds in the breadcrumbs if you are using them). Press it into the crumbs with the back of the fork. While it is still in the breadcrumbs, use your brush to coat the other side with mustard. Try your best not to touch the breadcrumbs. You will want to keep your ingredients as separate as possible to avoid mess. Once finished, use the fork to pick it up, and put the side you just coated down into the bread crumbs. You may have to use the fork to push the breadcrumbs onto the sides of the chicken if your cutlet is large.

Repeat this for all cutlets, and put aside on a plate. Once they are all finished being coated, get a frying pan ready with some olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of your pan, but not too much (the chicken shouldn't sink into it). Wait, can you leave the coated cutlets while you are busy tending to your side dishes? Why yes you can. These cutlets cook in about 5-7 minutes, so if you have other things you want to prepare, go for it. These cutlets can stay breaded for a while and not lose their texture because there is no flour. With a flour coating, you want to cook your cutlets right away or the flour will congeal, yielding a weirdly textured product. Here, there is no worry about that. Just don't leave it out for too long (more than 20 minutes or so); if it's going to be longer, put them in the fridge.

Ok, so you've got your pan with olive oil. Set this on medium high, and when the oil starts to shimmer, it means it is good and hot (if it starts to smoke, it's too hot!) Then take your cutlets and put them right down in the pan with enough space between them so they are not touching.

The goal here is to only flip these once, kind of like fish. The reason for that is that there are no eggs holding these breadcrumbs. They will stay on, but you don't want to be constantly turning them because then they will fall off. Keep that one side down for a few minutes--the oil will be very hot, so be careful of spatters! I wear long sleeves for this because I really hate getting hot oil on me. Then, when you think it's ready, just peek at the underside. It should be golden brown. You should also start to see the edges of your chicken turn white from the raw side. Then, flip them. Using a flat spatula works, but I like to just use a fork, that way I don't scrape any of the crumbs off accidentally.

After this side is cooked, you are done! You should serve them right away to ensure crispiness.

Here are the tips to remember:
1. Pound chicken so it's thin; you only want to flip the chicken once and thin cuts will ensure that the chicken is cooked through after one flip.
2. When spreading the mustard on the chicken make the layer thin; you want the flavor but if you put too much, it will overwhelm the breadcrumbs.
3. Don't let the oil get too hot; if you see smoke or if all the oil gets soaked up, replace it fast, and turn down the heat. You want crispy cutlets, but not burned ones!

Now mustard chicken can become famous in your house, too. Enjoy!

Scallops and Spaghetti

I am always looking for ways to incorporate more seafood into my diet. Not only is it good for you, but it tastes great. The only problem is that it can be very expensive, and in some places not very tasty. Because I live in the city I shop pretty much solely at Trader Joes--even they have a so-so fish showing. Virtually all of it is frozen, and much of the good quality stuff costs more than the steak they have. However, I have found good use for their frozen bay scallops. These are really great to have handy, especially to throw in for a quick saute, or pasta dish, like the one I'll be showing you today.

This recipe is adapted from Mark Bittman, who is known for his simplistic recipes that taste great. It is a great quick meal, one that you can make any night (especially those nights when you forgot to take something out of the freezer that morning.) The best part about this recipe is that it has a delightful "creamy" taste, but it requires no cream or cheese (though feel free to add a sprinkle of parmesan). It is good for you, good tasting, and quick. What could be better for dinner on a night when you really don't have the time to cook?

You will need:

1 pound of spaghetti (or linguine)
20-25 bay scallops, thawed (these are the tiny ones; if you have big ones, cut them into quarters)
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1-2 Tbsps of butter
1/4 cup of breadcrumbs
1 tsp of parsley
1/2 a can of diced tomatoes, drained
Salt and pepper to taste

To thaw the scallops quickly, you may want to use a trick that I learned a while back. A metal frying pan conducts the heat from the air more rapidly to the frozen food, so put the scallops in one layer in the pan. After a few minutes, turn them over, and you'll notice that the underside is already thawed. It should only be a few minutes before the other side is all set.

Heat up a pot of water with salt for the spaghetti, and add it once the water boils. Meanwhile, add the olive oil into a medium sauce pan, and put it over medium heat. Once it is warm, add the garlic. Cook it for about three minutes, or until it turns a tan color. Then add your butter in, and mix it around until it melts. Turn up the heat to medium high, and add your tomatoes and scallops. The scallops need to cook for about 3 minutes. You'll know they are done when they turn opaque. Once they are cooked, take the sauce pan off the heat.

This is the trickiest part of this recipe, but it's actually not bad, you just have to be patient. Once the pan is off of the heat, mix in the breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and parsley. You want this mixture to be evenly incorporated, and then let it sit, and allow the breadcrumbs to absorb the mixture. You don't want to see any extra oil or liquid in the sauce pan, otherwise it is not ready. If you've waited more than 5 minutes and there is still oil, try to drain it out. You should look for this type of consistency below, and you'll know it's ready.



You will need to warm up the scallop mixture just a bit before adding it to the pasta. Drain the pasta, and reserve a half a cup of pasta water. Put the pasta back in the pan and add the scallop mixture. Then add the pasta water, and stir until the pasta is evenly coated. And you're done! You'll be so surprised that breadcrumbs have made this pasta have such a delicious creamy texture; it is hard to believe.

Now if that wasn't quick, I don't know what is.

Just remember:

1. To thaw the scallops quickly, lay them on a metal frying pan.
2. Wait for the breadcrumbs to soak up the liquid of the scallop mixture before adding it to the pasta.

And there you have it! Another quick meal to add to your weeknight arsenal.

Chicken, au naturel

My favorite meal in the world is roast chicken--I used to ask for it every year on my birthday (I know, who would ask for that, right? My mom is that good.) It is so easy to make, and yields such great results that I don't know why people don't make it more often.

Well I do know why. Here are some of the reasons I've gotten.

One, it is gross to touch, and you have to pull out all the organs. Rebuttal: not true. I have never once bought a roast chicken that didn't have all the organs in a nice neat sack for you to pull right out of the cavity and drop into the trash. And you're going to have to get over touching raw meat if you want to learn to cook. Also, it can be fun--try making it dance around and you'll see how fast you get over the gross factor.

Two, it looks hard. Rebuttal: It is not. See recipe below.

Three, seems too fancy for an everyday meal. Rebuttal: again, untrue. You could make this for a weeknight dinner if you get home at five and want to eat around 7:30. Or if one of your older kids/significant other is willing to turn on the oven and put in the pan for you.

I won't say that roast chicken is without its challenges. I think its biggest problem is that sometimes, even when it looks delicious on the outside, the meat is actually pretty bland. This has definitely happened to me before, and it took me a few tries (and sometimes extra time) to beat this. However, an excellent gravy, also covered in this entry, always saves the day.

Gravy, too, you say! No problem. If I can do it, you can do it. No lumps, no flour taste, and no jar--just deliciousness you made yourself.

For the chicken (serves 4, or a very hungry husband and yourself):

Roast Chicken

1 whole roasting chicken (3.5-4.5 pounds is good)
1 small onion
1-2 cloves of garlic, depending on how much you like garlic
1 tsp of dried rosemary, fresh is even better (use a bit more)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (or not, if that's not your thing)
2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
olive oil (about 3 Tbsp)
and a little bit of butter if you aren't watching your calories
a roasting pan and rack (or inverted ovenproof saucer if you don't have a rack)

Preheat oven to 375. Cut the ends off of the onion, and peel it, but leave it whole. Set aside. Take out chicken, take off plastic, and remove any other padding/packaging that might be sticking to it. Reach into cavity, grab sack of organs, toss. Rinse the chicken under sink both outside and in the cavity. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Let rest while preparing the rub.

In a small bowl combine garlic, rosemary, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Stir so that all the ingredients are incorporated. Then slowly add olive oil to the bowl while stirring until you make a thick spreadable paste consistency. (You will want to use your hands for this next part). Take the chicken and rub a little bit of the mix onto the bottom, and place it in the roasting pan, on the rack if you have one. (The bottom is the opposite side from the part where the leg joints are. The wing tip should be the furthest from the pan, not the furthest into the pan. Don't scoff, this can be confusing.)

Then take the rest of the rub and rub all over the skin of the chicken, putting a little bit inside the cavity. You want to leave those good tasting chunks of garlic on the chicken--they crisp up and taste delicious! Then, if you are adding the butter, cut it into thin pats. At the top of the breast, you will see that the skin can be separated from the meat--slide the butter pats under the skin, spacing them out evenly over the breast meat. This step is not necessary, but everyone knows butter makes things taste better. [Stop here if making it the night before--refridgerate, and complete the next steps 2 hours before you want to eat.]

Next, in order to ensure a moist and flavorful chicken (learned this trick from my mom) put the onion into the cavity (push it as far back as it will go). If your onion is too big, cut it in half. It will work fine just the same. Put in the oven for 2 to 2 and 1/2 hours depending on the size. (If the juices from the meat are running pink, it's not ready.)

And you're done! (well aside from occasionally basting after the first hour, and basting often in the last 20 minutes--be sure to get all of it, meaning the legs and wings too!). You will want to let the chicken rest, covered with foil, for 10 minutes after it is finished. Don't put it on its platter to rest, or it will look like your chicken is taking a bath by the time you serve it. P.S. You can eat the onion after the chicken is cooked--I love it!

When the chicken is about 10 minutes from finished, you'll want to start your gravy. Gravy needs to be on the stovetop for at least 10 minutes in order to cook the flour completely.

And now for the roux--and a little science. For gravy you need three things 1) a fat, 2) a thickening agent, and 3) a flavoring agent. Though the fat makes things taste good, the fat's most important purpose is to incorporate the thickener into the liquid flavor (ie. chicken broth in this case), and do the job of thickening the liquid. The roux incorporates the fat and the thickener on its own, before the liquid gets any attention, because they need to become blended in order for the gravy to really work (similar concept to creaming the butter, sugar, and eggs in my chocolate chip cookies post).

Chicken Gravy (makes one cup)

1 cup chicken broth
2 Tbsp fat (either pan drippings, or butter)
2 Tbsp flour (your thickening agent)
Salt and Pepper to taste (Be SURE to taste your gravy. Why serve something that's under-seasoned when it could have been great if you had just tasted it?!)

The first 1-2 minutes of making gravy will need your rapt attention, so make sure you can devote yourself to it the whole time, and that you have your liquid measured out ahead of time. Get out a sauce pan that you can use a whisk in (if it is non-stick, use a coated whisk, if it's stainless steel, whisk type doesn't matter). Put in your fat and then your flour, and turn on the heat to medium high. Whisk the ingredients rapidly--they should form a paste. Make sure that the fat and flour are incorporated, and that you keep mixing as the paste heats so that part of it doesn't burn. Continue mixing and heating for 1 minute. The flour needs to cook a little here, but don't be afraid; you can control it.

After one minute, pour in the chicken broth slowly, but in a steady stream, while continuing to whisk the roux. After all the liquid is in there, keep whisking to ensure there are no chunks of roux, and then, turn the heat to med-low, and just wait. It will magically thicken. I promise. If it doesn't write me a comment and we'll figure it out. Stir the gravy every now and then, and once it has come into a consistency that looks like normal gravy, add your salt and pepper to your taste. Leave the gravy on low heat for at least 10 minutes. It's ok if a skin forms. Once you stir it in it will disappear.

So there you have it folks! A dinner to impress, and a dinner with--well a lot less stress than you thought right?

Let's review the things to remember:
1. A whole chicken is not gross!
2. Add the onion inside to make it moist.
3. Put the chicken right-side up! This is imperative, or all the juices will flow the wrong way. See the photo below if you're still confused.
4. Once the chicken is cooked, let it rest in it's pan--not on the presentation platter.
5. Don't be afraid of the gravy! But make sure that for 2 minutes your attention is devoted completely to it.
6. Be sure to full incorporate the flour and butter, and to cook the roux for a minute before adding your liquid.

Hope you enjoy it. Be on the look out for a little higher maintenance "Chicken under a brick"-- for when you have a little bit more time, and have gotten this guy under your belt.

Valentine's Day (or any day) Sugar Cookies

Since it was literally snowing sideways today, I spent the day inside, baking (and watching movies, and those other things normal people do on snow days). Since Valentine's Day is fast approaching, I decided to make sugar cookies and use the heart sugar cookie cutter that I have never managed to use before. I just don't make sugar cookies unless it's Christmas time...that is until I learned about royal icing. I mean, sugar cookies are time consuming, and even though they taste good, there are many other cookies I'd rather eat. But what a sugar cookie has that no other cookie does is visual appeal. I love that you can decorate them like a blank canvas, and sprinkles are great and everything, but royal icing really gives them that professional look. You may have seen seasonal sugar cookies decorated in stores and thought, how do they make them look so good? The answer, my friend, is royal icing (and a lot of practice drawing with a pastry bag).

Today, I just went for something simple but appealing. Pink hearts.

The following is the recipe for sugar cookies. I am telling you, this dough is so easy to make, and so easy to roll, you won't believe it. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
* 2 cups white sugar
* 4 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 5 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. (If you are using a stand mixer, add flour gradually). Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 375. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on cookie sheets (give them a quick spray if you like, but I find you don't need to grease them).
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely. Makes about 60 cookies.

Now the first thing you'll want to be sure of, especially if you've never made sugar cookies, is to have enough time to chill the dough. An hour is fine, but I usually leave mine overnight so I can minimize the mess in my tiny kitchen by cleaning up from making the dough before settling in to roll, cut, bake, and decorate them.

Once you've chilled the dough, you'll need a flat, clean surface to roll your dough on. Some people have pastry boards or cloth, but I just use my kitchen table. That way I don't have to worry about whatever I'm rolling on sliding around. Sprinkle a bit of flour on -- a bit! You want just enough flour on the surface to create a thin film, and you should still be able to see the surface through the flour. Also put some flour on your rolling pin. Oh no, you don't have a rolling pin? That's alright! A wine bottle (preferably empty) will do just fine.

When I roll dough, I like to make one good flattening roll, and then flip the whole piece of dough over to begin the "evening out" roll. I suggest you roll out as much dough as your space can hold. If you keep breaking off small pieces to roll and only make 8 cookies or so with every piece of dough, you'll run into he problem of consistent height in your cookies. Some might be closer to 1/8 in. thick, and others 1/4 in, and you might think they all look the same but, usually they aren't. This will cause different cooking times in the oven, and some will be more browned than others, which is not ideal. However, if you only have a small space, just try your best to watch the thickness of your cookies, and compare them to the previously cut ones.

Thickness is also another personal choice. For Christmas, when I use a lemony icing and sprinkles, I like my cookies thin, about 1/8 of an inch. But for these Valentine's cookies, with thick royal icing spread on them, you want your cookies on the thicker side as well. Something needs to balance out the extreme sweetness of the frosting, and a thin little cookie isn't going to cut it.

Move the racks of your oven to the two topmost rungs. I find that if I bake sugar cookies too close to the bottom of the oven, they burn on their bottoms, and look uncooked on top. You can certainly put two sheets in at once though if they are on the top two rungs. You will want to watch them carefully as these little buggers can really burn fast. As soon as you see any eensy bit of browning on the bottom edges, yank them out. Then cool them on racks after they've been on the sheets for a bit.

So, now, royal icing.

Here's a recipe that will make enough to ice the cookies from the recipe above (and 60 is a lot of cookies!)

2 cups confectionary sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp Meringue Powder (you can substitute egg whites, but some people don't like raw egg whites in their food; use 2 medium egg whites)
1/2 tsp vanilla or lemon juice or another flavor you like
Several Tbsps of room temperature water (start with 3)
Food coloring

Royal icing is different from frosting. It will be spreadable and seem pretty liquidy at first, but it dries solid with a matte finish. Therefore, you would never want to ice a cake with this, since you'd probably need a saw to cut it open (not to mention it would not taste good). Royal icing is used by professional bakers to make roses and other flowers for cakes ahead of time; they are then transferred to the cake once they are hard. They also use it to decorate cookies, like we will be doing here. When it is dry, it won't be smearing off if you accidentally bang into it (like a cupcake frosting), which I think is a great thing. The other nice thing is that royal icing is water based, so it comes off of things very easily (can't say as much for the food coloring though).

So, you put all the frosting ingredients in your mixer, and beat it on high for 10 minutes, stopping as necessary in the beginning to scrape down the sides and make sure it is all incorporated. You will need a stand mixer for this, because you definitely will not want to be holding a hand beater for 10 minutes, and it could burn out your motor on it. (If you don't have a stand mixer, you can make a different kind of icing, with confectioners sugar, a little lemon juice, and a little milk, which will be like a glaze). Don't move that icing until it's been 10 minutes. It might look ready but trust me, it is not. I have done this more than once and I have been very unhappy with the results (I told you I'm not very patient).

Now you need to check the thickness. Chances are, it is pretty thick now. You'll want to add at least two more tablespoons of water. You want the frosting to be easily spreadable if you are going to spread it on the whole cookie, and even if you are going to pipe it, it needs to be pretty thin. It will still work if thick, but won't give you as smooth a look on your cookie. Once you've got your thickness the way you want it, add your food coloring.

I like to take a little bit out and put it in a small piping bag for white, and then separate the other colors out as necessary. I just added some red into the whole batch for this one though. As you can see, they are pink, not red.

It is very difficult to get red frosting, and even if you manage to, you've probably used your whole food coloring jar, and the frosting will probably have an odd chemical taste. Here are your options: 1. Buy "no taste red" food coloring. This is specially designed not to make you gag when you add a lot of it in. or 2. only make a little bit of red. There is no way you could make the whole bowl red, but a small cup, sure.

Then, you're ready to decorate. You can pipe designs with this, or just spread a coating. Whatever you want to do is up to you. Don't layer it too thick though: you do want to be able to taste cookie, right? Let them dry for a few hours. The test that they are ready is that the frosting has become a uniform color. If you see dark pink and light pink, the frosting is not set.

So, the things to remember:
1. Coat surface and rolling pin for easy rolling.
2. Roll dough to an even thickness and roll as much as you can at once for uniformity in cooking.
3. Take cookies out at the first sign of browning on bottom edges.
4. The frosting isn't dry until the color is uniform. Don't eat until you see that!

These are a great treat for kids, to bring to a party, or even to make for your sweetheart on Valentine's Day. They will be very impressed. I mean, who wouldn't want a Valentine's message in cookies?

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

And now for the second installment on cakes. This time, cupcakes! But not just any kind of cupcakes, carrot cake cupcakes! These are my all time favorite, and the weird thing is, I don't really care for carrots on their own. Although many think that carrot cake is an "adult cake," kids will like this version as well. No raisins and no nuts (yuck!) But, if you are a real adult, you can certainly add them to the recipe. I got the base recipe from smittenkitchen (great site for recipes), and altered it a little bit to fit my tastes. It's a really simple recipe but it yields great results. There are also just general cupcake tips if you have a different recipe you prefer. Read on!

So for carrot cake you've got to have two elements; first the cake, and then the cream cheese frosting. If you don't have the latter, well, no one will like your cupcakes :).

Here's the cake:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups canola oil
4 large eggs
3 cups grated peeled carrots
1 cups coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

Line 24 cupcake molds with papers, or butter and flour them.

Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in medium bowl to blend. Whisk sugar and oil in large bowl until well blended. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time. Add flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in carrots (and nuts/raisings, if using). Divide batter among cupcake molds, filling 3/4 of each.

Bake cupcakes 14 to 18 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Let cool in pans for five minutes or so, then transfer cakes to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before icing them.

And here's the great twist on the frosting: maple!

Two (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup

In a stand mixer beat all the ingredients on medium until fluffy. Chill the frosting for 10 to 20 minutes, until it has set up enough to spread smoothly.

So let's start with the cake. First of all, if you have a food processor, you'll want to use it for the carrots. Once peeled, cut then into 2-3 inch peices and plop them in there. Grind it on pulse (so you can control how fast and how long it chops for, so you don't end up with carrot juice, which has happened to me on more than one occasion.) You want your carrot pieces to be small because no one likes crunchy carrot cake (see photo). If you don't have a food processor, then you can grate them with one of those large cheese graters, or even mince them all by hand, but that will take a very long time and you will probably never want to make this ever again.

So you've got your carrots, and then you want to get your dry ingredients ready in a separate bowl. Then mix the sugars and the oil. They have to be incorporated completely, forming a sludge (see photo). Then you'll want to crack eggs in, one at a time, meaning to incorporate one egg into the sludge before adding the other.


Now, maybe you have a strategy for cracking eggs, and maybe you don't. But if shells are a constant problem for you, here's a tip: crack your eggs on a flat surface (counter) not an edged surface (bowl). Why? Have you ever noticed that thin almost skin-like layer underneath the shell? Well that is your friend. If you crack on an edge and break that skin and separate shells from that skin, well then its up to chance whether those shells get in your batter. But by breaking it on a flat surface, the shell fragments remain attached to the skin, and never come off (well, almost never). This technique has always worked for me.


Now, you mix all the separate ingredients together, according to the instructions, and your batter is ready. So now it's you versus the cupcake tray. One of my friends mentioned to me that she hates making cupcakes because not only is it a huge mess getting the batter into the individual cups, but that all of the cups come out different heights no matter how close she tries to get them. I agree--those things are very annoying. And here is how we fix that. An ice cream scoop.

If you have an ice cream scoop that has one of those metal pieces inside that rotates to clear the ice cream out (I have a smaller version as well for dropping cookies onto cookie sheets), you are in luck. You have the perfect tool to lessen your cupcake-making stress. Even if your scooper is just a level half-sphere it will help you out. By scooping the batter over its bowl, and then putting it into each cup with the scoop, you have a pretty perfect measuring cup and a less messy way of transporting the batter. Try this next time. I had a small scoop, so I put two scoops in each cup, and the results are below. They are pretty even and definitely the most even batch I've made.



Cupcakes complete. Now for the frosting--this is the easiest and best tasting frosting ever. The tips I have for this are the same as I had earlier for my other cake frostings: make sure the butter is at room temperature, as well as the cream cheese. These bases need to be soft or you'll have lumps in your frosting (it will still taste good though). Also, incorporate the fats (cream cheese, butter) a little before adding the powdered sugar so it doesn't spray out of the bowl and onto you during mixing. After trying this recipe a number of times, I found that there wasn't enough maple flavor for me, so I put about 2 TBSP more maple syrup, and I preferred it. But you can do as you like.

If you don't feel like getting out your cake decorating supplies (or don't have them) put the frosting in a ziplock bag, and force all the frosting into one of the bottom corners. After refrigerating, cut of a small part of the corner, and make a swirl with the frosting on top of the cupcake. Yours can and will be much prettier than mine (cut way too big of a hole at the corner).


To recap the tips for this recipe.:

1. Shred carrots small to avoid raw carrots in final cupcakes.
2. Crack eggs on flat surface if you have problems with egg shells dropping in your batter.
3. Use an ice cream scooper to help you limit the mess and get even sized cupcakes.
4. Make sure cream cheese and butter are soft before making frosting.
5. Add a little extra maple syrup to the frosting if you hope to get a kick of maple flavor.

Bring them to your next party, or make them for someone special. I promise that they will convert any carrot cake haters in your life.