Another Gluten Free Cupcake

Recipe for Vegan, Gluten Free Chai Tea Latte Cupcakes

With the success of my Maple Bacon Gluten Free Cupcakes, I thought I would try and see if the recipe would translate to another non-Gluten Free recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. The recipe I tried was Chai Tea Latte Cupcakes and I used the Gluten Free flour mixture from the Gluten Freedom Cupcakes in place of AP flour.

Hm, well they didn't turn out as nice as I had hoped. I thought the batter was looking a little watery and was worried the cakes wouldn't hold their structure. But they turned out ok. In fact, the crumb ended up being extremely moist and a bit dense. Not quite as fluffy as the Gluten Freedom Cupcakes. 

borderline "too moist" crumb

The flavor was unfortunately not so great either, which was probably mostly my fault. I was shocked to discover that I hadn't brought back one of the several bottles of ground cardamom I had in Japan. So in place of the cardamom I threw in a bit of Chinese Five Spice. Ha. Well, anise is similar to cardamom, right? ......   I also thought this cake had way too much cinnamon. In fact, that was all I could taste. But I thought there was potential in this cake, so I tried again. 

I went out and bought some $15 cardamom (!). I thought of replacing the soy yogurt with applesauce, but I wanted to get rid of some of that extra moisture, so instead I opted to omit the yogurt. I also put the loose leaf tea right into the cupcakes, rather than steep tea bags, since I really wanted the tea flavor to come out. As I was mixing, the smell of cardamom filled the kitchen and I was sure this was it. It smelled so good and nothing was even baking yet.

I have to say, the crumb looked so much better. They almost looked like they could be a little dry.

But after cutting it open I saw that it was still pretty moist. Still not quite as fluffy as I had hoped, but much better than the previous attempt. The flavor was, well, strongly of cardamom. *sigh*. BUT other than the fact that there was just way too strong a cardamom taste, I thought the cake overall was pretty good. It tasted much closer to a chai latte and the texture was much closer to a cupcake. My next thought is that perhaps I didn't mix everything long enough. Maybe my mixing even longer I can really develop the structure of the cake (and soak up the flax seeds better so you don't notice those little gritty bits when you chew). I'm also toying with the idea of scrapping the vegan part of it and using regular milk instead of soy. Not sure if that will change anything, since I haven't played around much with gluten free yet. 

So this is still a work in progress, but I am MUCH closer than before.

So here is my *untested* recipe for Gluten Free Chai Latte Cupcakes, adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

Ingredients:

1 cup soy milk

1/4 canola oil

3/4 sugar

1tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 cup tapioca flour

2Tb. ground flax seeds

1/3 cup almond flour

1/2 cup white rice flour

1/2 cup quinoa flour

1tsp. baking powder

1/2tsp. baking soda

1/4tsp. salt

1tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2tsp. ground cardamom

1/4tsp. ground ginger

1/4tsp. cloves

pinch of white pepper (I used cayenne, but white pepper is probably better)

1. Preheat oven to 350℉ and prepare cupcake pans.

2. Heat soy milk in a small saucepan on medium heat until almost boiling (should at least be steaming). Remove from heat, add the tea, and let steep/cool for at least 10min.

3. Whisk together in a medium bowl the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.

4. When the soy milk has cooled a bit, pour back into measuring cup and add any extra soy milk to make sure it is 1 cup. 

5. Lightly whisk together the soy (tea) milk, sugar, oil and vanilla until blended. Add tapioca flour and flax seeds and beat on medium speed for about 1 minute, or until the tapioca has completely dissolved. You may want to beat a little bit longer to really make sure the flax seed are incorporated into the batter. 

6. Add remaining dry ingredients, mix at low speed. Once the ingredients are incorporated, switch to medium-high speed and beat for 2 minutes or more. 

7. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full (the cupcakes will rise, but deflate a bit when they are ready to be taken out of the oven) and bake 20-22 minutes. 

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Frosting Ingredients (American Buttercream):

1/2 cup high ratio shortening (Sweetex if you have it, otherwise Crisco will do)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

2-3Tb salt water (just add salt until it tastes salty, about 1-2tsp. per 1/2 cup)

1. Blend the butter and shortening until thoroughly creamed.

2. Add powdered sugar and cornstarch and slowly blend with butter mixture.

3. Add salt water small bits at a time until the frosting comes together (you may not need all the water) and then blend on medium-high for about 3-5min.

4. Spread onto cooled cupcakes. You can decorate them with large cinnamon sugar crystals.

New Books and a New Recipe!

レシピはこちら
Gluten Free Maple Bacon Cupcake Recipe!

So my cookbooks are gone. I sent them by boat when I moved from Japan to the US and...  the package is MIA. grr...  I will have to start over with my cookbook collection, but thank goodness for the internet. 

To start off my new collection I bought a couple brand new books.

I'm a fan of the Bake at 350 blog. Her stuff is just so cute! She posted on her blog that amazon was suddenly selling her book for some ridiculously low price ($5, I think), so of course I snatched that right up. The first thing I tried out of her book was making royal icing transfers. I had never done this before, but it looked simple enough. 

I first printed out the message that I wanted to put on a cookie. This time it was baby cookies for a friend who is expecting. I taped wax paper over the printout and traced over the printout with royal icing. I let the royal icing dry overnight and the next day I lined and flooded cookies. After I flooded about a dozen cookies (about 15min.) I took the dried royal icing letters and stuck them on the (still wet) iced cookie. It was pretty much impossible getting the letters on there without getting a bit of wet icing on my fingers, but I think it was better to use fingers rather than tweezers because the tweezers may have broken the royal icing (it was a bit fragile). I did 2 types of these transfers:

to get the lifted bubbles I waited about an hour after flooding and then just put colored dots all over with my flooding icing. If you want the icing colors to blend then you need to put the color in right after flooding (while the icing is still wet). Details and cookie/royal icing recipes can all be found on the Bake at 350 blog. 

The next book I bought because I am interested in baking healthier for myself, since I have a sensitivity to refined sugars and possibly gluten. I'm still not sure exactly what, but healthy is always better anyway. I have tried gluten free baking in the past, but everything tasted...  not so great. Even the few items I made that were edible had this funky texture (almost gritty). I would gladly take a regular cupcake over that weird gritty stuff. But gluten free bakers are showing up on cupcake wars, so it seems there is a a hope for gluten free, healthy sweets. When the decorating cookies book went on sale, I went ahead and bought this book that I had been on the fence about for a while:

I put off making any of these cupcakes because they require such a variety of specialty flours and products. It was really intimidating and just looking at the long list of ingredients would put me off. However an opportunity arose where I needed to make a special cake. My cousin has several food allergies, 2 of which include dairy and wheat. So I pulled out this never before used book and gave the Vanilla Gluten Freedom Cupcakes a shot, but decided to add some maple and bacon, since those are one of the few things he CAN eat and I was assuming the gluten free cupcakes weren't going to taste too great to begin with. I was wrong though. These cakes were awesome. So awesome that I'm sure they would be just as awesome without the maple and bacon.

oh yes.

super moist cupcake, but still fluffy and light. and no strange gritty texture!

Recipe for Not-So-Vegan Maple Bacon Gluten Free Cupcakes (adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World). Makes 9 cupcakes.

Ingredients:

3-4 strips of bacon, baked or fried crisp. Reserve drippings.

3/4 cup soy milk

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

2tsp. vanilla extract

1/4cup tapioca flour

2Tb. ground flax seed

1/3 cup  almond flour (or corn flour)

1/2 cup white rice flour (or brown rice flour)

1/2 cup quinoa flour

1tsp. baking powder

1/2tsp. baking soda

1/4tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 350℉ and prepare cupcake pans. Bake or fry bacon and reserve the grease. Let cool until it is cool enough to touch (about 10min.)

2. While the bacon grease is cooling, whisk together the almond flour, white rice flour, quinoa flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. Once cooled, put bacon grease, soy milk, maple syrup, sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl and mix slightly, until everything is blended. Add tapioca flour and flax seed and blend on medium for about 1 minute, or until all the tapioca has evenly dissolved.

4. Add to the wet mixture the remaining dry ingredients and mix on medium-high for 2 minutes or more, to be sure all ingredients are thoroughly blended.

5. Fill cupcake cups at least 3/4 full, or about 1cm (.5") below the top of the liner, as the cupcakes will not rise much. Bake for 20-23min.

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Following the non-vegan theme of this cupcake, I made a regular American buttercream (however, you can probably just substitute the butter with margarine to make it vegan).

1/2 cup high ratio shortening (Sweetex if you have it, otherwise Crisco will do)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 tsp pure maple syrup

2-3Tb salt water (just add salt until it tastes salty, about 1-2tsp. per 1/2 cup)

1. Blend the butter and shortening until thoroughly creamed.

2. Add powdered sugar and cornstarch and slowly blend with butter mixture.

3. Add salt water small bits at a time until the frosting comes together (you may not need all the water) and then blend on medium-high for about 3-5min.

4. Spread onto cooled cupcakes and top with crisp bacon.

**EDIT: I realized that I originally forgot to write sugar into the recipe (I have since amended the recipe). The original recipe calls for 3/4 cup, but I reduced it to 1/2 cup, since I used maple syrup.

The Cake Wars

I'm beyond frustrated....

I have always been able to make a decent cake. Chocolate, Carrot, whatever. My cakes were always pretty good. I even became the unofficial birthday coordinator in my office, making a birthday cake for all my friends and many of my coworkers. But the one cake that always threw me off was vanilla. Such a simple cake, yet the most troublesome. I tried quite a few different recipes, and while they always turned out alright, none were ever spectacular. None were up to my overachieving standards.

So after moving back to the United States, where butter and flour are sold at reasonable prices, I decided to start a Vanilla Cake project. It was so tempting at first to start using cake mix. It seemed every other week the supermarket had them on sale for near $1 to $1.25 a box. Easy AND cheap, what a great combo! But I felt really uncomfortable with all the chemicals listed on the side, not to mention my own sensitivity to processed foods. So, I decided it best to avoid cake mix at all cost and stick to scratch baking. I was determined to create the perfect base vanilla cake. One that was so tasty on its own, but versatile enough that I could add other flavors and expand. That's not asking too much, is it? 

Day 1: I don't have a picture. I was making blue colored cupcakes for a friend and experimented with a couple recipes. 

• Recipe 1: Joy of Baking White Cake - ok, this isn't vanilla cake. But I was making blue cupcakes, not green. These turned out awful. Completely awful. In part, it was my fault because I think I whipped my egg whites too long, so they were probably too stiff when I put them in. They ended up a bit dry and kinda rubbery at the crust (because of the overbeaten egg whites) and tasted like baking soda. Gross. I did make this cake once before as a rainbow cake ("gayke" - picture below) and it turned out alright, flavor and all... but this time it was all bad. 
• Recipe 2: Glorious Treats "Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes" - I had high hopes for this one. The author testified that she went through dozens upon dozens of cupcakes to perfect this recipe. Well, they turned out pretty darn good. They did bake perfectly and they were so spongy and light. However, the taste was not so great. Again, this tasted a little heavy on the baking soda and using oil in the recipe I think left something missing in the final product. I don't know how to describe it, but it was almost like eating a hallow cake. It was perfect and yummy on the outside, but it just didn't taste "complete". ok, not the greatest explanation... but in the end I was disappointed. It looked perfect, but the flavor just wasn't there.

Day 2: After disappointment with the "Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes", I went online and bought myself the Cake Bible. 

Yeah, so these didn't turn out so great either. *sigh* I tried 2 white cake recipes and 2 yellow cake recipes. 4 dozen cupcakes. ugh. From L-R:

• Recipe 3 - Vanilla cake recipe from Three Little Blackbirds. This recipe is based on the yellow cake recipe in the Cake Bible, but supposedly adapted to perfection. Ummmm, well the cupcake didn't rise much and was quite wet and sticky on the outside. I thought it tasted "ok", but the consistency was NOT what I was going for. Next, please.
• Recipe 4 - The Cake Bible "All Occasion Downy Yellow Cake". This one rose too much and then flattened on the top. I also found that it took much longer than the recipe said for it to bake. I think I baked them an extra 10-15min. Consequently, the tops were hard and crusty, and somehow a bit rubbery (? not sure why). The inside of the cake was good though. My thought was to try this recipe with oil instead of butter.
• Recipe 5 - The Cake Bible "White Velvet Cake" - I read really good reviews online about this one. The flavor was really good, but as you can see, the top baked flat and it was crumbly/flimsy. Half the top broke off when I tried to pick it up. According to the book, either my oven temp was too low or I undermixed - both possibilities because I was trying not to overmix and not really checking the temp of my oven. 
• Recipe 6 - The Cake Bible "White Velvet Cake" - After seeing the results of the Cake Bible cupcakes, I substituted oil for the butter and remade the White Velvet Cake. I added a tsp of butter flavoring to make up for the lack of butter. The texture of the cake was perfect. I also replaced a portion of the milk content with yogurt for moisture, but I'd like to try this again with just milk. Overall, I thought this cake was pretty good, but it gave me a bit of that "empty" or "incomplete" feeling that I got with the Three Little Blackbirds cake. Back to the drawing board.

Day 3: I really have high hopes for the Cake Bible. So many bakers swear by it. So I tried it again. This time, I waited until my oven was preheated before I started making the cakes, just to be sure the oven was hot enough by the time I got my cakes in there. I am going to make a "construction" themed cake for my cousin's 1st birthday (will post later), hence the crazy yellowness of the cake. It's the food coloring, not the recipe.

• Recipe 7: I first made the one on the right. The Cake Bible All Purpose Downy Yellow Cake (again). I thought that maybe I was having trouble because the last time I made this, I halved the recipe. This time I did the whole recipe (a super thick 9" round layer and 10 cupcakes). For some reason I have such a hard time baking these. And I don't know if it's a human error, or if it's my oven. It's most likely me, and I have no one here to tell me what I'm doing wrong! Ok, so this cake baked better than the last time I tried it, but it was still dry. The top of the cupcake was again crusty and dry. This time the inside was a bit dry too. The flavor was ok. *sigh*
• Recipe 8 (the one on the left): Bakerella's "Moist Yellow Cake" - This one uses butter AND tells you to add butter flavoring. What? Really? Well, I did. and...    it was all sorts of awesome. I loved the flavor, but thought it could use some more vanilla. This is probably the closest I have come to achieving my goal. However, as you see, the crust completely crumbled off as I tried to get it out. Also, the 9" cake crumbled to pieces when I tried to get it out the pan. Big Phat PHAIL! *grumble*. Well, even though the cake was unstable and the top was completely crusty and crumbly, the inside was heaven. Seriously. Moist and great flavor. I am so close! I just need to fix the consistency and figure out what's going on with my oven. Although I used Bakerella's recipe, I followed the semi-complex mixing instructions from the Cake Bible (because I'm still thinking that this really is the Bible of cakes). Perhaps that is where things went wrong. But it's just cake, right? (ha). My notes on this are to add another teaspoon of vanilla, take the cake out before it looks done (because I seem to keep overbaking!), and wait until the cake is completely cool before I take it out of the pan. Oh, and perhaps I should buy an oven thermometer? I don't like my cupcakes to have a crusty top! Oh again, I also thought of removing 1 egg, since the cakes were so unstable. Most other recipes I have found only use 3 eggs. But maybe i'll try the recipe once more as is, before I start playing around with eggs.

After all these disappointments, I searched online and found a great link. 

Suggestions for fixing all sorts of cake problems. 

Day 4: I'm a bit sick of cake. In fact, this isn't a project in the works 4 days in a row. I started about a month ago, and ate so many test cupcakes that I made myself sick (because of my sensitivity to gluten & sugar). I couldn't eat normal food for about a week and had to give up coffee for a good two weeks (gasp!). My stomach is still in a bit of a funk, but I needed to get all the layers done for my cousin's construction cake, so I went at it again. I tried Bakerella's recipe again, following her instructions (not the Cake Bible) and adding a teaspoon of vanilla [note: I don't have self-rising flour so I mixed 3 cups homemade cake flour with 2tsp baking powder and 1tsp salt. I previously used 4 tsp. baking powder as per instructions in the Cake Bible, but I read in the Cake Bible forums that reducing the amount of baking powder will help make a more domed cake].

they at least look MUCH better

• Recipe 9: seriously. 9 dozen cupcakes. The local supermarkets are loving me. So I used Bakerella's Cake Recipe and followed it to the "t". The result, not as good as yesterday's cakes! What's going on here? They baked pretty awesomely though, so I'm going to stick with my reduction of 2tsp. baking powder instead of 4tsp. However, I thought that the batter just wasn't as flavorful and still had a slight crust on the top. I'm really thinking it might be my oven. I bought an oven thermometer and even when my oven "beeped" that it was at 350°F, my thermometer only read 200. So I kept it going for another 30min. My thermometer only read 280. Which do I trust? The oven or the thermometer? I turned up the oven to 360°F and gave that a shot. The thermometer hovered around 300. But my cakes started to brown around the edges too early, so I turned it back down. I think I have a faulty thermometer. hmph. Ok, whatever. I will revert back to the Cake Bible recipe, but reducing the amount of baking powder to 2tsp. and adding 1/2tsp. of butter flavoring... because I love butter. Since I have 3 dozen cupcakes in the freezer and absolutely no more space, I guess I will have to wait until the next baking opportunity to try this recipe. 

To Be Continued...

What the heck is Baker's Sugar?

So reading through the Cake Bible, I found out that most commercial bakeries use something called "Baker's Sugar". It's apparently more fine than granulated, and will make a lighter, fluffier cake.
I did notice that the granulated sugar crystals in the United States are larger than the ones I was used to in Japan. I wasn't sure if it really made much of a difference, but the other day I noticed a box of "Baker's Sugar" at the supermarket that was reasonably priced so I thought, why not?

The crystals on the left are regular, granulated sugar. On the right is Baker's Sugar. It has a consistency like NutraSweet or whatever those artificial sweeteners are called. When I creamed it with my butter I definitely noticed a difference. The butter mixture looked a lot smoother and it blended faster than usual. As for the final product, I have never found my cakes to be grainy, so I couldn't really tell the difference. I'll keep using the Baker's Sugar I bought until I run out, but I'm not sure if it's necessary to go for the finer grain, unless I'm making something super light like chiffon cake. Maybe once I understand cake baking a little better I'll have a better idea of whether I should continue using Baker's Sugar instead of granulated. Or I could just buy a food processor like I have been wanting to and make a finer grain myself.... 

Finding the Perfect Fondant

Fondarific!

I have been doing some research on different fondants. I only just started using fondant. I tried Wilton's rolled fondant, which is awesomely stretchy and pliable, and contrary to what everyone else out there says, I don't really think it tastes THAT bad. I mean, I wouldn't want to cover a whole cake in it, because it really isn't the tastiest thing in the world, but when in a pinch.... 
I also tried making my own marshmallow fondant. It tastes like marshmallows, so if you like that kind of thing, then great... but it doesn't stretch at all. I had a horrible time trying to get it onto a cake without tearing. In the end, I mixed bits of the wilton rolled fondant into my marshmallow one and that saved the day. 
Although the combination worked, it was a very stressful ordeal and making marshmallow fondant is sooo messy. So I started to look online to see if there is an affordable fondant out there, that is just as nice as Wilton, but tastes good too. Through my search I found Fondarific. They make fondant in a huge variety of flavors AND they sell samples, so of course, I had to get my hands on some. I purchased 2 sample packs and got: 

Almond
Buttercream Antique White
Cinnamon Bun
Cherry
Chocolate
Lemon
Melon
Coffee Mocha
Vanilla

Here are my thoughts. I started with what I thought would be the least flavorful and worked my way down.

Vanilla - tastes very sweet, like a white chocolate flavored marshmallow fondant. The flavor is ok, but a little too sweet for my taste. It was very pliable, which is nice when you're making figures. But its stretchability is nothing compared to Wilton. I tried to stretch it a bit in this picture.

Buttercream Antique White - when I opened the bag I got a bit whiff of buttercream. The taste was less sweet than the vanilla, but had a stranger aftertaste. I can't quite put my finger on it... but it tastes a bit, like those wilton candy melts. Although I liked it being less sweet, I preferred the flavor of the Vanilla. My sister also agreed that the Vanilla tasted better. 

Almond - ooh I was excited for this one. I really like almond. It smelled so lovely and the initial taste was just as I expected. Except... the aftertaste was really gross. I got that same strange taste that I had in the buttercream. It almost tasted stale or something. Maybe I'm just having an off day with my taste buds, but I did not like the lingering stale, almost chemical taste in my mouth. My sister's reaction: "oooh almond! ...  oh, ... yuck!" So I guess my taste buds are spot on.

Cinnamon Bun - Oh I love cinnamon. When I opened the bag it smelled like cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting. Drool. After the last two though, I wasn't expecting much...  but behold! It was tasty! Yay! It tasted just like frosted cinnamon rolls. I love it. But, it's unfortunate that I can't just use it on any cake because the flavor is so specific. As for stretchiness, it's about the same as the vanilla. Not stretchy at all. Still..  awesome flavor.

Chocolate - Tastes like a tootsie roll. End of story. It was surprisingly stretchier than the vanilla, but still not stretchy. I think I would have preferred it taste more like rich cocoa than a tootsie roll. I tried to add some gum tex to it to see if I could get it to stretch more, but that didn't help all that much.

pre-gum tex

after adding gum tex

Coffee Mocha - the smell was...  a combination of Vanilla Fudge and.. something bitter and gross. I was scared to put it in my mouth. But I did. and it was quite tasty. It tasted like those instant cappuccino thingies. Not bad. It would probably be pretty good on a cupcake, taken in moderation. My sister, who doesn't like coffee, also agreed that it was pretty good. It was very pliable, which made it nice to work with.

Lemon - smells like a lemon scented eraser. yikes. The taste was, extremely overpowering. It wasn't like a lemonhead candy, but the lemon flavor was super concentrated. My sister said it tasted like the lemon creme filling in girl scout cookies. It was also super pliable like the mocha.

Melon - smells like watermelon flavored gum. Bubblelicious? My sister says it smells like Lip Smackers chapstick. I thought it tasted like taffy. Or maybe a bit stronger. Maybe closer to skittles? Either way, tastes like candy. If this flavor was a little less concentrated, I might like it better. It was probably the most stretchy of all the samples. It was even a bit sticky. I had to wash my hands well after touching that one. 

Cherry - smells like playdough. eek. Really? oh well, I think we've all eaten playdough at some point in our lives. The taste was... almost like a starburst, but still had that lingering playdough taste. Not so nice. My sister said the flavor reminded her of a cherry scented anesthetic she was given when she had surgery as a child. Enough said. Nasty. It was about as stretchy as the chocolate.

Overall, I was not incredibly impressed. Of course these tasted much better than Wilton rolled fondant, but because they don't stretch as well, I don't think I will purchase them again. I read reviews saying that Wilton is hard and difficult to work with, but I personally haven't had much trouble. So, unless I have use for the Fondarific cinnamon bun flavor, I think I would rather add flavoring to Wilton, since it's cheaper anyway. But I do plan on trying some other fondant brands too, so perhaps the perfect fondant is still out there!

April 6, 2013

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Wilton

Wilton is obviously trying to monopolize the cake decorating industry. You can find their products anywhere. While their fondant doesn't taste the greatest, it stretches really well and is conveniently found almost anywhere. While I'm still trying to find the perfect fondant (great taste AND consistency), Wilton will do as long as I'm using it in moderation (for small accents and figures). Really, I don't think it tastes THAT bad. It's better than Fondarific's cherry.
Meanwhile, my search continues...  Here are a couple videos comparing Wilton's stretchability and Fondarific (after I added gum tex).

 

Fondarific Chocolate (with gum tex added)

Wilton Rolled Fondant

April 6, 2013

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

日本語はこちら

Photo: Smitten Kitchen

Another back-log.

I don't remember how I came up with this one. Well, I didn't come up with it, but when I was thinking of a birthday cake to make someone, I suddenly had a thought of making a peanut butter cup cake. I did a search online and found TONS of peanut butter cake recipes. I looked through a few and tried one out and it was amaaaazing. Loved it! I added a bit of coffee to add depth and bitterness to my cake and it went so well with the sweet, creamy peanut butter frosting. Yum! So here's the recipe, taken from Smitten Kitchen.

Chocolate cake (makes two 8" or 9" layers):

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch process
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup canola oil
1 cup yogurt (original recipe calls for sour cream)
1 1/2 cups water
2 Tb distilled white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tb strongly brewed coffee 
2 eggs

Peanut Butter Frosting:

1 8oz. package (200g) cream cheese, at room temperature
8Tb (100g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups (450g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2/3 cup (175g) smooth peanut butter

Peanut Butter Chocolate Glaze

8oz (227g) dark chocolate
3Tb smooth peanut butter
2Tb light corn syrup (homemade corn syrup recipe)
1/4 cup (60mL) milk
1/4 cup (60mL) cream

To Make:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180℃). Spray or butter/flour the cake pans. Line the outside of the pan with bake even strips. [see the Chocolate Stout Cake recipe for homemade versions of these].

2. Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Add the oil and sour cream and whisk to blend. Gradually whisk in the water, followed by the vinegar, vanilla and coffee. Whisk in the eggs and beat until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and be sure the batter is well mixed. Pour equally into the pans and bake for about 30-35min.

3. When your cake is done, let it completely cool [see the Chocolate Stout cake recipe for instructions on how to check if your cake is done]. After they have completely cooled, line with wax paper or parchment and seal with foil, then place in the freezer for at least 30min. to firm up.

4. While the cake is chilling, make the frosting. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Only use your electric mixer in this step if you are using a deep bowl, otherwise powdered sugar will go flying everywhere. If you don't have a deep bowl, I would recommend adding the sugar by hand (with a wooden spoon). Once the sugar is incorporated, beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Finally, add the peanut butter and beat until thoroughly blended.

5. Remove your cake and spread a crumb coat, then cover with the final layer after the crumb coat has set. Put in the fridge to chill again, so it doesn't melt when you finally put on the chocolate glaze. 

6. While the cake is chilling, prepare the glaze. Put all ingredients in a microwave safe, medium sized bowl and heat 30 seconds at a time, until completely melted. Stir the ingredients well between each heating to make sure the heat is evenly distributed. This will take about 2-3 minutes of heating. Be careful not to heat too long, or your chocolate will burn.

7. Pull out your frosted cake and place over some wax paper or baking sheet, to catch any of the dripping chocolate. Then just pour away! If the chocolate isn't spreading evenly over the top of the cake, use an offset spatula to spread. Make sure to do this quickly, because the chocolate will start to harden over the chilled peanut butter. Refrigerate uncovered for at least 30 minutes to allow everything to set. You can serve it just like this, or add some crushed nuts or leftover peanut butter frosting swirls on top. Here are a couple examples of what I did before.

This is what happens when you burn chocolate. I overcooked the chocolate a tad, so it got grainy on me. It's ok though. I covered it with some oreo crumbs and homemade fondant.

I again tried to make the glaze cover the cake perfectly. It looks better all dripping over. I couldn't think of how to decorate it, so I put on some fresh flowers [!! if you use flowers, make sure they aren't chemically treated, or your frosting is going to taste funky -- and probably not be too good for consumption]

Chiles en Nogada... sort of

日本語版

I came across a picture of Chiles en Nogada randomly on the internet and decided I really wanted to try some. Although I'm a bit under the weather this week, I thought I would give it a shot. The Chiles en Nogada dish is a specialty of Puebla, Mexico and is eaten during pomegranate season, since it is garnished with pomegranates. The white sauce looks so delicious, especially with a fresh sprinkling of parsley and bright red pomegranate. 
I found this recipe online and got *most* of the ingredients. In typical fashion, I didn't read any of the instructions and just went at it after glancing at the ingredient list! Bad habit. I thought everything was turning out a bit sweet, so I made a few modifications to fit the taste buds of my family. For one, nobody in my house really likes peppers or pomegranate. (!) So I bought minimal peppers and decided to use the rest of the filling and stuff pork. I also added salt and garlic to the walnut sauce because it was tasting too sweet. So ultimately I am changing the staple parts of the dish... but I've never had it before so I didn't know the difference. and it was delicious!!

Ingredients:

1lb. (500g) tomatoes
4 chiles poblanos* [see notes at bottom]
3 pork cutlets, butterflied and pounded thin* [see notes at bottom]
1Tb shortening or oil
1 med. onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2lb. (250g) ground beef (yes, I stuffed pork with beef - don't judge)
1 box (40g) raisins
2 small peaches
1 apple
1 pear
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup aloe [ok, so the original recipe called for candied pineapple. I didn't like the sound of that so I thought of another common ingredient in Mexican dishes, which is candied cactus. I didn't have any on hand, so I used aloe, but honestly I think this could be completely omitted]
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. oregano
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 egg white
salt

For the walnut sauce:
2 cups walnuts
1 clove garlic
4oz.(113g) goat cheese or feta
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1Tb. mirin (or sherry)
pinch of salt

Garnish:
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 cup pomegranate seeds (my family doesn't like pomegranate so I used 1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries)

How to Make, er rather, How I Made:

1. Set the oven to low broil and put the tomatoes over some foil on the bottom rack. Broil for 30-40min, or until the tomato is completely cooked. Move to the top rack for 5-10min. to char the skin. Let it cool for use the following day, or stick it in the freezer for about 10min. to use immediately.

2. Next, stick the peppers in the oven and char as you did the tomatoes (about 20-30min.). While your peppers are cooking, melt shortening in a large pot or skillet on medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until translucent. Add meat and brown.

Ingredients are measured and ready to go

When the onions are translucent, add your meat

3. Puree the tomatoes in a blender and strain. Add the strained tomatoes to the meat. When it comes to a boil, add the fruit, nuts and spices. Cover and simmer for 30min.

I forgot to strain, so I did it over the meat.

Obviously, I didn't use a big enough pan.

Simmering. I found it to be a little dry, so I added about 1/2 cup white wine.

4. When the peppers are done, take them out and wrap them in a towel or dish rag. I kept min wrapped in the foil as well, so I wouldn't dirty the towel. Leave them to cool for 20min.

5. While the chilis were cooling and filling simmering, I [had my dad] butterly and pound the pork cutlets and seasoned with some salt and pepper. I checked on the filling and added a couple pinches of salt to taste. 

6. After my chilis cooled, I peeled the skins and carefully used a spoon to get the seeds out. The peppers are fragile now, so be careful not to pull or scrape hard or you will lose half your chili.

7. While everything was cooling, I made the sauce. Put all sauce ingredients in a blender and go at it until it's smooth. It will be quite thick so you will need to get in there with a spoon and move things around in order to get everything mixed properly.

8. Stuff your peppers (and meat - close with toothpicks). I didn't like the idea of having a cold sauce over hot meat, so I put the sauce in a pan and put it on low-low heat to warm it up and put the stuffed pork in the middle of the oven, set at 350°F (180°C). These should bake about 30-40min.

9. After about 15min., I put some oil in a fry pan and whipped an egg white with a pinch of salt until it formed soft peaks. You are SUPPOSED to make a whole load of egg whites and roll the pepper around in that stuff so it's completely covered and fried in oil. I didn't feel like going through all the trouble, so I place a bit of egg white (about 1/4 of what I made) in the pan and then flipped the pepper over so the open side was over the egg, forming an egg barrier over the filling to help keep it in the pepper.

egg whites in the pan

looks like an omelette

10. Generously pour the sauce over the peppers and pork and garnish with pomegranate/cranberries and parsley.

Yum!!! So good.

Notes: I actually liked the pepper flavor combination than the pork. And so did my family! I will definitely make this again, but following the original recipe and just using peppers (and that would be 12 poblano chilis and 3 egg whites). 
The pork was good too, but needed a bit of a kick. If using pork, I would add a 1/2 tsp of chili powder to the filling to give it some zip. I might also add some lemon zest to the filling. Also, the pork should probably be pan fried rather than baked, so it doesn't dry out. 
I also didn't peel the walnuts. I thought the sauce was great, but it would probably be a lot whiter if the walnuts had been peeled. Aloe is definitely not needed.