St Louis

Hi hi hi! I'm back!

We had a lovely Christmas vacation; we traveled to Knoxville, TN where we spent Christmas with my family. From there, we went to the Urbana Conference in St. Louis, MO. We met up with Eric's sister Christine and stayed in a fantastic hotel room downtown that had windows all around. We woke up and saw the tops of sky scrapers and snow coming down and we could crane our necks and see the St. Louis Arch around the corner!

We ate lots of Imo's St Louis-style pizza (tasted like Nachos to me!) and we had Cupcakes from the Cupcakery- YUM.

Yes, the conference was great but I must say one of the best parts was visiting the CITY MUSEUM!!

Oh, it was indescribable! Truly, I've found my favorite playground in the world.

We couldn't go outside because of the snow, but see it?!?! An old plane fuselage, a castle turret, massive slinkies to crawl through, metal trees...

It was like someone sprinkled James and the Giant Peach magic powder on a junkyard and this unreal place grew up out of it.

It was built in an old show factory, so these slides were chutes that were 9 and 12 stories high- turned into ginormous slides! So fun!

You can also see an old pipe organ that was installed all along the corridor; it filled the huge space with watery echoey music.

And there was a white whale! and a shoelace factory! and a human-size hamster wheel! and labyrinths! and creatures!

And a circus! Oh, yes- a circus.

A circus training school, to be exact. Such young boys and girl, little jacked 5+ year olds doing flips and balancing...I want to join the circus.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Here we have co-worker Angela and the Red Velvet Cupcakes.

Red velvet cupcake recipes vary from source to source; they may be very chocolate, tiny chocolate or vanilla cakes, but they are always pumped full of red food coloring, and have the reactive combo of vinegar and baking soda. (Remember the vinegar and baking soda in your 3rd grade science fair volcano? Put that schooling to action with this lava-like batter.)

It was fun dumping in massive amounts of food coloring. It looked like a crime scene. And the next morning I found fluorescent dye stains all over my white countertops from the leaky bottle of food coloring. Fortunately, should this happen to you, I can tell you that a minute soaking under bleach lifted the stain completely away.)

I used Martha's Recipe from the Cupcake book.

(and I used all purp flour instead of cake. Sorry, Martha.)

• 2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self- rising), sifted
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon red gel-paste food color
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
• Cream Cheese Frosting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cake flour, cocoa, and salt.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in food color and vanilla.
3. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and whisking well after each. Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl (it will foam); add mixture to the batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds.
4. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.
5. To finish, use a small offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting. Refrigerate up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before serving.

Kahlua Cupcakes

I am proud of this combination. However, I used my fail-proof chocolate cupcakes from Martha, and they failed. I used brown sugar instead of white, but that may not have been the only thing I did wrong.

First make Chocolate Cupcakes. If you want, you could add some kahlua to the batter.

Second, make Chocolate Coffee Ganache for the filling.

Heat 1 cup cream on the stove. Add 2 T coffee and let steep for 5 minutes or so. Use a coffee filter or a fine sieve to strain out the coffee grains. Heat the cream again, and add 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chopped. Let sit for a minute or two, then stir til smooth.

Use a small round cookie cutter to cut holes in the tops of the cooled cupcakes. Save the pieces that come out. Put about a tablespoon of chocolate filling in each hole, then replace the cupcake cap.

Next, make icing using 2 stick softened unsalted butter. Pour in 2+ tablespoons Kahlua. Add powdered sugar, a little at a time, until preferred sweetness and consistancy. (Between a 1/2 pound and a pound.) I used food coloring to make mine orange for halloween.

Hummingbird Cake

I have only just learned what Hummingbird Cake is- from an unearthly experience at Bollweevil's Cafe here in Augusta. Go there. Eat Cake.

Think of a Carrot Cake with cream cheese icing, and then take out the carrots, replacing them with crushed pineapple, pecans, cinnamon and ripe banana. I wasn't enthralled with the idea at first, but let me tell you, one taste will release you from any hesitance you may be feeling right now.

I made a cake for the restaurant, and cupcakes for me. I sadly did not capture the finished cake, but if there's anything left next time I go in, I'll snap a shot.

I used this recipe, but I added more pineapple, less banana and less oil. I left out the nutmeg cause I couldn't find mine in the cabinet! I really need a spice rack.

Hummingbird Cake

Cake:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 2 cups granulated sugar
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  
• 3 eggs, beaten
  
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  
• 4 oz crushed pineapple, well drained
  
• 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
  
• 2 cups very ripe bananas
  

Frosting:

• 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
  
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
  
• 2 pounds confectioners sugar (I know, I know)
  
• Extra nuts for garnish (if desired)
  

For the Cake: Preheat oven to 350°. Sift flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon together into mixing bowl several times. Add eggs and salad oil to the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until ingredients are moistened. Stir in vanilla, pineapple and the pecans (saving a few to garnish the top of the cake). Stir in the bananas. Spoon the batter into 3 well-greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes,or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn onto cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.

For the Frosting: Combine cream cheese and butter; cream until smooth. Add powdered sugar a little at a time (you might not need all of it--it's always easier to add more than to remove it!), beating with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla.

Frost the tops of all 3 layers, stack and then frost sides. Sprinkle top with leftover pecans (or you might want to add more if you like a crunchier cake-top).

UPDATE: I now make the following changes for perfect hummingbird cake:

1 cup of oil instead of 1 1/4.

8 oz pineapple instead of 4 oz.

and for the cream cheese frosting, if you like yours tangier than sweeter, try 3 8-oz packages of cream cheese, 2 sticks butter, and one pound of powdered sugar rather than the amounts listed above.

I used food coloring in the icing, and not as much confectioner's sugar. Just add it slowly and stop when you're satisfied. I experimented with different icing tips and techniques. I'd like a bigger round tip, but I can't find one anywhere around here.

I like to pretend that these cupcakes are really healthy.