Friday, March 16, 2012

Gettin baked...

I've been in the kitchen a LOT this past week and while I don't have time to regale you all with stories of childhood and family kitchen fun I did want to at least give you something to drool over.

The week started out with playing around with the faux Hostess cupcake recipe from the NY Times. I tweaked the recipe a bit by adding about 1 cup of Momofuku Milk Bar's Chocolate Crumb for a more intense chocolate flavor, a teaspoon of vanilla and a few tablespoons of milk to keep the batter smooth. I followed the filling and ganache recipes exactly although I probably did add just a bit more vanilla to the filling than called for. My piping still needs work but overall I'd say these were pretty darn good and now I'm significantly less concerned if Hostess does go out of business. 
 Then, later in the week I embraced the approach of St. Patrick's Day with an Irish soda bread. I found my basic recipe and then added caraway seeds, whiskey soaked raisins and a little whiskey just for good measure (for both the bread and me). This came slightly softer than I wanted it but the flavor was great especially when spread with some soft butter (ok a LOT of soft butter on top). Next time I think a bit more flour and bake a little longer to ensure a dry crumb.

And finally, in full on celebration of St. Patrick's Day I used Chloe's recipe for Vegan Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with an Irish Whiskey Buttercream. I love Chloe's recipes because even though I'm the farthest thing from a vegan as humanly possible (last night's indulgence in grilled pork belly, cow heart skewers and pulled pork kimchi tacos from local watering hole Buddha Beer Bar affirms that) I never feel like I'm missing something. I left off the caramel drizzle because I was running short on time and used a little colored sugar instead but I bet the caramel would be delicious!
And, as usual there is no rest for the weary. Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day and in order to avoid going out on amateur night I've been brining an 8 pound brisket in my fridge for about two weeks now. Stay tuned for pictures and tales from how my first corned beef and cabbage dinner goes and in the comments please let me know your favorite St. Patrick's Day indulgence!

Erin Go Bragh!

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