Food Fight
(Cupcakes)

Chocolate Blueberry w/ Blueberry Frosting

vs

Chocolate Grape w/ Grape Frosting

  

 

          

                      

    

Verdict: Success*

Neighbor-worthy*

This post is a perfect follow-up to my last "yay me" post.  The idea was great, the fun was there, but I needed to amend a piece afterward into making a success (for one little piece that ended up a lil too much), essentially taking me down a peg.

I've been challenging my "cheater" mentality a lot lately with making things from scratch-it's part of my growth.  I used to be a "cheater" that was all about cutting the corner and saving time but this weekend was definitely an exception.  To be honest, I've been super lonely lately 'cause my partner has been traveling and I miss him to the Nth degree.  His job is so important to him and he is the hardest worker with the most dedicated worth ethic of any one I know. I accept his absent hrs whilst putting 100% support behind him and try to apply the same dedication and focus he possesses into my own side projects.  Making cupcakes obviously pales in comparison but he has always said "If you're going to do something, DO something".  So ONE of the things to put my all into is this blog...

I have a lot of plates spinning (a common thing for any successful Type A(DD) personality), and have been trying to turn everything up a few degrees (see what I did there?) while keeping them in constant motion.  So, this weekend I thought I would challenge myself to, well, myself.  I did dueling recipes and one did most certainly come ahead of the other.  One also fell short (or actually way, way past of) what I had hoped for but has an obvious solution that is noted in green for you.

For the post, I infused different flavors into "regular" chocolate cupcakes and doing the same to my first attempt at making Decorator Icing.  These are my own takes on recipes but you will even note "tweaks" to myself.  Who won in their quest to mate best with Chocolate, Grape or Blueberry.....?

Ingredients:

Cupcakes (2dozen):

2 cup flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup hot water**

2/3 cups unsweetened baking cocoa

3/4 cup shortening

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

+ **from Grape Kool-Aid (made with 2 packets) for Grape Cupcakes

+ **plus 1 handful/2 oz blueberries crushed with a fork for Blueberry Cupcakes

Decorator Icing:

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

1/4 cup shortening

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt (plus 1/8 teaspoon for Grape)

4 cups powdered sugar

2-4 tablesppons milk

+ 1 packet Grape Kool-Aid *1/4 packet Grape Kool-Aid for Grape)

+ plus 1 handful/2 oz blueberries crushed with a fork for Blueberry.

Pre-heat oven to 350° and place your baking cups into your cupcake pan.

For cupcakes, mix flour, baking soda, powder and salt in a medium bowl.  Mix in your water mixture (BB or G) with the cocoa in another bowl and set aside.  In a large bowl, beat your shortening with a hand mixer on Medium speed for 30 secs and gradually add sugar a little bit at a time.  Beat for 2 minutes when all sugar has been added (remember to scrape the bowl as you go along).  From here, add the eggs one at a time while beating still.  Add your vanilla and lower your speed to Low and add your flour and cocoa mixture alternatively (flour, cocoa, flour, cocoa, flour) until blended.  Add your batter to your cups equally and bake for 22 minutes.

For icing, beat butter and shortening in a bowl with a hand mixer on Medium speed.  Add vanilla and salt.  Lower speed to Low and add powdered sugar little by little.  Add your milk slowly, while beating, and eye texture before putting in too much.  Add in your Kool-Aid or Blueberries and mix with a spoon.

Allow cakes to cool and prepare to ice.  prepare your pastry bag with a decorative (I have no idea what it is called: the jagged looking one that isn't too big).  Stuff your bag with your icing and squeeze out in a circular motion upon your cupcakes.  Add a berry for the Blueberry cupcakes.

Notes:

Ok, these were both good but I think anything each pales vs my last entry.  That's okay though.  Not my best but pretty good. 

The Blueberry Cupcakes were the victor here.

**My mistake was that I overdid the grape flavor with the icing.  It came out WAY too sweet so, as marked in green, I cut it by 2/3rd for my instructions for others.

I still have some room for improvement in my decorative art which I am totally looking forward to.  I have many tips to look forward to play with.

Tweaks:

*I changed my own initial aim and reduced the amount of Kool-Aid in the recipe.

(Further notes: Did you know there is no caffeine in Kool-Aid??? Thank goodness the sugar you need to add doesn't negate that!)

Desserts?  (I'm going through a phase.)  Send them to me: theManicCheater@gmail.com

Dark Cherry-Red Velvet Roll-Up

Dark Cherry-Red Velvet Layer Cake

SALVAGE ATTEMPT

Ingredients:

Cake:

unsalted butter (for smearing)

1 1/2 cups flour, plus extra for dusting

1 cup dark cherry cola (I used Dr Brown’s)

2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup buttermilk *see buttermilk mixture cheat at bottom.

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon red food coloring

2 teaspoons 1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

confectioner’s sugar, for dusting

Filling:

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups 1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/3 confectioners sugar

Pre-heat your oven to 350º

Line a high-lipped cookie sheet with parchments paper.  (Unsalted) butter up the paper and the sides of the cookie sheet and dust with flour.  Lay out a kitchen towel (nothing soft like a bath towel or hand towel) on your workspace and dust with confectioner's sugar.

Cake:

Start with your cherry cola.  Put in a medium sauce pan and place on your range set on Med-High.  Bring to a boil and allow to simmer for like 20 minutes.  Let the soda reduce some.  You will need at least 1/2 a cup for this recipe.  Allow the cola to cool.

While the cola is cooling, whisk together your flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and powder and salt in a bowl.  In a bigger bowl whisk the granulated sugar, (cooled) cola, oil, food coloring, eggs, extracts and buttermilk mixture.  Slowly pour the dry bowl into the wet mixture bit by bit until the ingredients have mixed.

Pour the batter and spread evenly onto your parchment paper and put into your oven on the center rack.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Filling:

While cake bakes, whisk the cream cheese, 1/2 cup of the heavy cream and the extract in a big bowl.  In another bowl, beat the other 1/2 cup cream and the powdered sugar with a mixer until it ripples.  Slowly fold the mixer mixture into the other bowl, folding the cream cheese over gently. Throw in the fridge to chill.

When the cake is done baking, take out of the oven and place on a cooling rack**.

When cake has cooled, carefully flip it (and for people like me, seriously, carefully) onto the sugared towel and peel back the still buttery paper.  Slowly roll the cake and towel, from the short end, into a loose coil and set on the cooling rack to kind of get used to that shape.

After you've checked your e-mail or taken a nap, unroll the settled cake. Spread the filling over the cake surface and carefully reroll the cake. Put on a plate or platter and trim off the sides to clean it up and dust it up with confectioners' sugar for aesthetics.

SALVAGE ATTEMPT: If the cake has cracked at this point, keep cake as is and (as the cracks most likely occurred on the edges where the folds failed to sustain their curve) slice off the edges and dust it up with confectioners' sugar for aesthetics.  You will be left with a long plank with visible layers.  From here, slice width-wise into several pieces and you have portioned layer cake that still looks good (and if not screwed up due to tweaks or errors) and tastes just as good as the product the original recipe would have yielded.

Notes:
I pieced this together from different recipes and tweaked ‘em and made them what I thought would be appropriate.  I changed measurements from said recipes and added or swapped items.

Tweaks:

I cut back on the amount of soda and added time to the reduction.  Whenever I "reduce" anything, it always takes longer than as prescribed by others.

I chose to use less heavy cream than proposed in the recipes I saw--isn't this dessert indulgent enough? 

Cheats:

*I substituted a mixture of whole milk and lemon juice for buttermilk.  I HATE buying a product to only use a small portion of it.  I always have milk and lemon in the house.  1 cup whole milk + 1 tablespoon lemon yields buttermilk substitute after it has had a chance to curdle (about 15mins.)

**I live in Manhattan and don't have a freakin' cooling rack.  I take out the tray from my microwave and out it on top of two bowls. 

Personal Errors:

I forgot to measure out the buttermilk mixture after making it, so I actually used a whole cup instead of 1/3 of it.

Injuries:

I burned my palm talking the cake out of the oven.

ORIGINAL Verdict: Failure

The cake tore a bunch of times when rerolling toward the end.  Tasting happens on Easter, so we'll see...

Salvageable? Yes

Successful Salvage? Yes
(For both taste and presentation)


This recipe is not now deemed Neighbor-worthy Holiday Family-worthy.


Want to be on the mailing list or have a recipes to share? Contact me at themaniccheater@gmail.com.