Kindergarten Cupcakes

So, I have been trying to be very proactive about volunteering at Aidan's school. It is a charter school that is "service learning" oriented so all families are required to volunteer at least 30 hours through the school year. School is only one month in and I am already almost half way there, so it isn't going to be a problem getting our time.

One of the things I did to volunteer was to help with the food at the fall fundraiser "fiesta." Basically, my help entailed helping make some Carne Asada for tacos (more on that soon - promise) and helping make quesadillas at the function (which were insanely popular - we couldn't slow down all night!).

The mini cupcakes you see here were from going in to Aidan's kindergarten class last week to talk about "Community Helpers" - in this case, being a baker. Now, technically, I have done very little along these lines so far and am just getting started (a couple of cakes so far). Anyway, they needed someone to take the time and I had 5 minutes to talk to the kids so it was a win-win situation. I decided, as a mom of one of the crazy, wound-up 5 year olds in the class, that since we were going to let the kiddos have cupcakes as a treat that day that I wanted them to be better (aka, slightly healthier and less of a sugar rush) than regular cupcakes.

I think these little darlings did a great job. They were actually really great without the frosting and warm from the oven as mini-muffins too. We will definitely be making these again since Aidan and I couldn't get enough of them! The cupcakes themselves are patterned after the ones I made a while ago and the frosting was inspired by Peabody's amazing looking cupcakes.

So, here I give you my very first cupcakes for Aidan's kindergarten! I sent home copies of the recipe to all the parents in the hopes that since these are so easy to make they would take the time to start teaching (if they aren't already) their kids to bake.

All the kids in the class were super excited about the topic so I'm sure they would all love to do it! There was an awful lot of kids that thought making pancakes was the epitome of baking though (which actually made me feel good that it sounds like I'm not the only mom who ends up feeding their family pancakes a few times a week). Anyway, you really should give these a try - as I said, they don't need the frosting, but well, why not?

Since these aren't your average, everyday, buttercreamed cupcakes I am sending these over to Fanny at Foodbeam for this month's Sugar High Friday. If cupcakes are dying, I think this rendition is a good step in the right direction! Don't believe me - just look below to see what Aidan thought of them!

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon wheat germ
1 1/2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 large ripe banana
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cups semisweet mini-chocolate chips (reduce amount to 1/2 cup if using regular chocolate chips)

In a bowl whisk together the flours, the baking powder and wheat germ. In another bowl with an electric mixer cream together the brown sugar, the peanut butter, and the butter. Add the banana and beat well, then add and beat in the egg and the vanilla.Beat in one-third of the flour mixture, then half of the milk, followed by half the remaining flour, then the remaining milk, ending with the remainder of the flour mixture. Mix each addition in gently and only until incorporated. Last, stir in the chocolate chips.Divide the batter among 12 paper-lined 1/2-cup muffin tins and bake the cupcakes in the middle of a preheated 350 F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Turn the cupcakes out onto a rack and let them cool completely.

Chocolate Ovaltine Whipped Cream Frosting

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup powdered sugar
4 Tablespoons Ovaltine

In a large bowl, whip the cream until it forms soft peaks. Add sugar and Ovaltine. Beat until stiff. Frost cooled cupcakes with whipped cream frosting. Top with a Whopper (malted milk balls).

SHF #43: Citrus! Orange Mousse Creme Brulee

Let's just get this out of the way - this is not your traditional creme brulee or mousse. However, since the components lend themselves to those names that's what I'm calling it - until and unless someone else comes up with a better name anyway. I'm also calling it delicious.

The orange creme is light, silky and super yummy plus - I love a sugary crust on just about anything - hmmm, let me think about that...... yeah, pretty much anything.


So, I give you my version of an Orange Mousse Creme Brulee for this month's Sugar High Friday, the super fabulous event created by Jennifer, the Domestic Goddess, and hosted this month by Helen of Tartlette. Helen chose the theme Citrus! and really got me thinking about all the different citrusy things I love. I've really been putting more citrus into just about everything lately, so this one was only difficult for me in trying to decide what to make. I had a lot of big plans, one of which included making a meringue, but the time has come to make my dessert and we have three days of rain, rain, and more rain. So, I am not going to attempt the meringue and have the meringue elves turn it into a fiasco - that idea will just have to wait.

Anyway, the flavor for this is light pure orange and creamy and the texture? It is a bit harder to describe - not quite a custard, not a mousse - more like a silky smooth cross between the two - thus the name.

For the recipe below I borrowed some of the ingredients and method from the Lemon Creme Tart in BFMHTY with a few additions and the obvious change from lemon to orange. I realize that there is an Orange version in the book, but it has a mixture of citrus in it and for this I chose to just go all orange. I added some cream and some vanilla to get the texture and flavor I was looking for and, as shown, I served this in either a hollowed out orange or a ramekin - whichever you prefer.

Orange Mousse Creme Brulee
(Adapted from Pierre Herme's Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart
- makes 4 servings -Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan)

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 large orange (2 if they are smaller)
2 large eggs
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (from 1 large orange)
11 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Getting ready:
Have a thermometer, preferably an instant-read, a strainer and a blender (first choice) or food processor at the ready. Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.

1. Put the sugar and zest in a large metal bowl that can be fitted into the pan of simmering water. Off heat, work the sugar and zest together between your fingers until the sugar is moist, grainy and very aromatic. Whisk in the eggs followed by the orange juice.

2. Fit the bowl into the pan (make certain the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl) and cook, stirring with the whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid to the touch. You want to cook the cream until it reaches 180°F. As you whisk the cream over heat—and you must whisk constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling—you’ll see that the cream will start out light and foamy, then the bubbles will get bigger, and then, as the cream is getting closer to 180°F, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. Heads up at this point—the tracks mean the cream is almost ready. Don’t stop whisking and don’t stop checking the temperature. And have patience—depending on how much heat you’re giving the cream, getting to temp can take as long as 10 minutes or more!

3. As soon as you reach 180°F, pull the cream from the heat and strain it into the container of a blender (or food processor); discard the zest. Let the cream rest at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until it cools to 140°F, about 10 minutes.

4. Turn the blender to high and, with the machine going, add about 3 pieces of butter at a time. Scrape down the sides of the container as needed while you’re incorporating the butter. Once the butter is in, keep the machine going—to get the perfect light, airy texture of orange-cream dreams, you must continue to beat the cream for another 3 minutes. If your machine protests and gets a bit too hot, work in 1-minute intervals, giving the machine a little rest between beats. Add the cream and powdered sugar and continue to beat for 1 to 2 minutes more until well incorporated.

5. Pour the cream into your individual serving dishes and press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal and chill the cream for at least 3 hours or until ready to serve.

6. Just before you are ready to serve cover the surface of the creme with 1 teaspoon of the sugar and brulee/melt the sugar with a kitchen torch or under a broiler.

Storing:
The orange creme can be kept in the frige for 4 days and in the freezer for up to 2 months.

SHF Round-up Posted

Just a quick reminder to go check out the round-up for Sugar High Friday of Sweet Gifts. The theme was chosen and hosted by Danielle of Habeas Brulee. There are so many great entries, so go check it out. If you missed my entry before, then go take a look at these Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffle Cupcakes.

My First Sugar High Friday - Molten Chocolate Reisens for Living

For my very first SHF, the theme chosen by CandyRecapper was Baking with Candy. At first I had a hard time thinking of something I could do with this. Then, it finally hit me. I could combine my favorite candy from my teen years with my most favorite, want to try it, but still never have recipe. Thus is born "Molten Chocolate Reisens for Living." So, I compulsively save magazines that have recipes that look like I have to try them. I have held onto this one forever (ok, just since 2002). In that time, I just finally tried it for the first time today. Sort of. I decided that the Molten Chocolate Cakes in Martha Stewart Living (Feb 2002) would be perfect for this. But would it work?

If you have never had a chocolate Reisen's candy, then let me explain what they are. They are small chocolate caramels covered in bittersweet chocolate. They were my absolute favorite in high school. We had a tradition that whenever the girls got together for a special occassion (birthdays, sleepovers, dances, parties, etc.) we would get a bottle of sparkling pink (non-alcoholic of course) catawaba. Mainly, because it was pink, and We would drink it out of pretty glasses. We would get everyone's favorite treat to have with it, which could vary, and we would always get Chocolate Covered Reisens. We would pour our pretty pink drink, take a chocolate, and make a toast of sorts. Then when everyone was ready to open their first chocolate, you had to give a reason for living, or in this case, Reisen for living. It didn't have to be anything earth shattering and was often silly, or just having to do with the occassion. I can't actually remember a single reason I ever gave, but I remember all the awesome memories with my best friends. (And for someone who is a bit of a tom-boy, this was about as girly as I got!)

Though miles and years have separated us, we are still all friends. We only get to see each other once or twice a year if that, but it doesn't matter as far as how close we feel. They will always be my sisters. And, we will always have Reisens and Pink Catawaba.

So, on to the experiment. Obstacle number one. Will the hard chocolate caramel of the Reisen's melt? I worried over this, but figured, apply heat and what else could it do. I knew the chocolate would probably melt and be absorbed into the cake. Yup. That happened. The chocolate melted. The caramel softened and kind of absorbed into the cake a little too, but there were caramely bites within the center that were delicious to find. It would be fun to try this with regular caramels too to see if that would make a melted caramel center. I'll have to try that some other time.

Obstacle number two was tougher to beat, and frankly, I didn't beat it. Martha's recipe calls for cake rings. I have no cake rings. I have no money for cake rings (they were $10 each on http://www.bowerykitchens.com/). $60 was not an investment I could make for this. Believe me, I want to, but with medical bills from me and the baby still piled up there was nooo way. So, I zigged when I probably should have zagged. Translation? I used a jumbo muffin tin. Dumb idea! There was no way to individually get these cakes loose without ruining the lot. Bottom line. I should have used my small brulee cups instead, but I didn't think of it until it was too late. I don't think I probably could have still unmolded them, but they could have been plated in each little brulee cup and been prettier. So, I knew that the jumbo muffin tin really wasn't going to work for actually plating and removing the cakes, but I really wanted to try making the dessert anyway. Since I don't recommend using the jumbo muffin tin, I've included Martha's original directions for baking.

So, prettiness aside, these cakes tasted great, and though not perfect looking, still look mighty tempting! The nice surprise of caramely bites was awesome and really was a surprise. Since these are chocolate caramels, you couldn't see where they were. These gooey bites were a real "sneak attack". Spoon in hand (thinking to myself, "will there be caramel, or cake, both... hmm... poor me, I'll just have to keep eating!").

I served it with a little sweetened whipped cream. Anyway, it was lovely, even if it didn't look as lovely as Martha's. But I maintain, it tasted great! I am a firm believer that if you use the best quality ingredients you can get that even if you run into trouble with a recipe you will still succeed.

Obviously the key here was the chocolate. I absolutely love bittersweet and dark chocolate the best. I got really lucky here because I have some Guittard chocolate that was left over from a wedding cake I made a little while back for some friends. (Poor me, beautiful chocolate on hand... oh what will I do - besides put it in everything I can think of and have fabulous hot chocolate every day! Mmwwaa - ha - ha!)

Chocolate Caramel Cakes (a.k.a Molten Chocolate Reisens for Living)

(Adapted from February 2002 Edition of Martha Stewart Living - pg 202)

Special Equipment - 6 (2 1/2-inch high by 2 3/4-inch in diameter) cake rings (this is what Martha recommends - as I do not have those, I used a jumbo muffin tin - which was messier and I do not recommend)

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for ring molds

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I like Guittard)

5 large eggs, separated

10 Tbsp sugar, divided

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

12 chocolate Reisens candies, unwrapped, set aside

sweetened whipped cream for garnish

chocolate shavings for garnish

1. Butter six ring molds. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and set aside.

2. Place the chocolate and butter in a medium heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, and heat until melted. Stir mixture to combine.

3. Combine the egg yolks and 6 tablespoons of sugar in a large bowl, and whisk until mixture is pale yelllow and thick, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract.

4. Add a little bit of the chocolate mixture at a time to the egg yolk mixture, and stir to combine.

5. Place the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat until frothy. Add the remaining 4 tablespoons of sugar, and whisk until stiff peaks form.

6. Fold the egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture.

7. Spoon enough mixture to fill the cake mold almost half way. Place two Reisen candies back to back and gently place into the middle of the batter in each mold.

8. Spoon the remaining batter into each mold over the candies.

9. Place the tray into the freezer to set for at least 1 hour (or until you are ready to bake them).

10. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Transfer the ring molds with the baking sheet into the oven. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until sides and top are set but center is still soft.

11. Using a thin spatula, carefully transfer the cakes (still in the ring molds) to a serving plate.

12. Serve the cakes warm with the sweetened whipping cream and chocolate shavings (or vanilla bean ice cream)