Showing posts with label sig-o. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sig-o. Show all posts

Friday, June 18, 2010

Mini Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

I have been recovering from the summer flu this whole week. It started Sunday night and every night I would think that I would feel a lot better the next morning after a good night's rest, but I was wrong 4 out of 5 times. Many, many pills and 10 gallons of fluid later, I'm finally feeling better today and I will be back on my feet this Monday 100% and fully productive.
Did I ever mention that I'm going back to school? I'm pursuing a M.S. in Food Science at Chapman University! I was supposed to begin in the fall, but I decided to start early with summer school. I'm taking a class entitled Food Flavors on Saturdays. It's an interesting, yet unconventional class and allows me to apply my chemistry background to my liking.
It's such an exciting time in my life right now. Some of the most important people in my life are beginning new chapters in their lives as well. This fall my sig-o is going to Pharmacy school at USC and my sister just graduated high school and will be continuing her education NYU in the fall!
I recently found this blog "HowDoesShe". It's a blog collaboration of three mothers who love crafting and cooking. When I saw these mini lemon meringue cupcakes on their site, I knew I had to make them. I love all things sour and tangy, among other flavors. These were just my cup of tea. After making them, I only wished I made them the full size cupcake.

Enjoy and stay healthy!

Mini Lemon Meringue Cupcakes adapted from HowDoesShe

Cupcake
1½ cups flour ½ teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt ½ cup buttermilk 1 tablespoon lemon juice 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened 1-2/3 cups sugar, plus more for decorating

Directions:

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°. Line mini-muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk and lemon juice.

2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter on high speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add 1 cup sugar and the lemon peel and beat until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the 2 eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined, scraping down the sides between additions. On low speed, beat in a third of the dry ingredients, then a third of the buttermilk mixture. Repeat, alternating ingredients, until the batter is smooth.

3. Spoon the batter into each liner, about three-quarters full. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool on a rack.

Lemon Curd 3 lemons 1 1/2 cups sugar 1/4 pound unsalted butter, room temperature 4 extra-large eggs 1/2 cup lemon juice (3 to 4 lemons) 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions:

1. Using a carrot peeler, remove the zest of 3 lemons, being careful to avoid the white pith. Put the zest in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the sugar and pulse until the zest is very finely minced into the sugar.

2. Cream the butter and beat in the sugar and lemon mixture. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and then add the lemon juice and salt. Mix until combined.

3. Pour the mixture into a 2 quart saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened (about 10 minutes), stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and cool or refrigerate.

Meringue

4 egg whites
6 tbsp. white sugar

Directions:

1. In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy. Add sugar gradually, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form.

Assembly

Spread the lemon curd on the baked cakes. If you like, you could inject the curd straight into the cake with a piping bag and a medium sized tip. Pipe the meringue onto the cake. Place the assembled cakes on a cookie sheet and place under the broiler until the meringue has browned slightly.






Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Sig-O Cooks Dinner!

The sig-o has been working on weeks to perfect this recipe. He decided to surprise me with it for one of our date nights. Let me tell you, it was muy impresivo. For someone who's never had pork chops, I think he nailed it! I know what you're thinking, "You've never had pork chops?" Yeah, well, did I mention I was vegetarian for six years, and before that, I was a steak and fish kind of gal. Now that we're all over the shock, back to the pork chops. They were delicious. They were so flavorful, delicious, and juicy. His side dishes weren't too shabby either. The brocolli was just right. They were tender, slightly crisp, not too soggy, and not completely raw. That's hard to do, my friends. The pasta was great. As a recent graduate from college, he has become a master of al dente pasta and tomato sauce.
For dessert, my wonderful sig-o ran out to the store to pick up a tub of vanilla bean ice cream, while I stayed behind and finished my dinner (I'm a very slow eater).

Monday, June 29, 2009

Graduation #3: Sig-O's graduation/Red Velvet Cupcakes


This is the third and last graduation of the graduation season. This is certainly not the least significant graduation, mind you (not that there is a least). My sig-o was graduating! Yep. With two majors and a minor (management). He's going to be displaying two, count them, TWO diplomas in his future office - one in biology and the other in chemistry. I was so happy for him. What a wonderful day I was able to meet most of his immediate family and enjoy two meals with them. I enjoyed getting to know his young cousins and his younger brother.
Since his graduation, about two weeks ago, he has landed a job at the same company I work in, which is such blessing, considering the state of the current economy. We aren't in the same location, however, but we're only about 4 miles apart.

To celebrate this event of my wonderful sig-o who is always there for me and who can almost solve all of my problems, I had to bake something equally as wonderful. I decided to bake a classic red velvet cupcakes recipe with cream cheese buttercream frosting. I chose these because I knew they would not be too sweet, just in case not everyone has as much of a sweet tooth as I do. For a little extra touch, I made some cupcake toppers with a photograph I took of him at Disneyland, complete with graduation cap and ears!
Congratulations again, my dear sig-o!

Red Velvet Cupcakes adapted from The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book

2 1/4 cups (11 1/4 oz.) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 tbsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. natural cocoa powder (not Dutched-processed)
2 tbsp. red food coloring
12 tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 oz.) sugar

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 12-cup muffin tins or line with cupcake liners.

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. In another medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk, eggs, vinegar, and vanilla together. In a small box, mix the cocoa and red food coloring together to a smooth paste.

3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in one-third of the flour mixture, followed by half of the buttermilk mixture. Repeat with half of the remaining flour mixture and the remaining buttermilk mixture. Beat in the remaining flour mixture until just combined. Beat in the cocoa mixture until the batter is uniform.

4. Give the batter a final stir with a rubber spatula to make sure it is thoroughly combined.

5. Pour each cupcake cup 2/3 full. Bake the cupcakes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 15-20 minutes, switching and rotating the tins halfway through baking.

6. Let the cupcakes cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting adapted from Sky High

Note: By the time I finished making the frosting, it was slightly soft. I had to chill it in the freezer for a few minutes before I was able to use it on the cupcakes.

12 oz. cream cheese, slighly chilled
1 stick plus 6 tbsp. (7 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar sifted after measuring
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
3 egg whites

1. Place the cream cheese in a mixer bowl and beat on medium speed until slightly fluffy and smooth. Add the butter 1 to 2 tbsp. at a time, mixing until smooth. Add the confectioners' sugar and vanilla and mix until fluffy. Set this aside at room temperature while the buttercream is prepared.

2. To prepare the buttercream, combine the granulated sugar and water in a small heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Continue to cook, without stirring, until the syrup reaches the soft-ball stage, 238 degrees F on a candy thermometer.

3. Meanwhile, put the egg whites in a mixer bowl and have the mixer set up and ready to go. When the syrup is ready, turn the mixer to medium-low and begin mixxing the egg whites. Slowly add the hot syrup to the whites, taking care not to pour it directly onto the beaters, or it may splash. When all of the syrup is incorporated, raise the speed to medium-high and beat until the egg white mixture has cooled to body temperature and a stiff meringue forms.

4. With the mixer on low speed, begin adding the cream cheese mixture by the spoonful. When all is incorporated, raise the speed to medium and whip until the frosting is smooth and fluffy.

5. Pipe or spread onto completely cooled cupcakes.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Some Desk Clearing


Everyone in the department I work in is doing a little desk clearing. Consequently, a designated area (on top of the microwave in the common area, to be exact) has been created for unused stuff that everyone's finding in the back of their drawers. All items in this area are free for anyone to take. So, of course, I ran over as soon as I found out to see if there were any treasures left behind. Sure enough I found a few unique items that I don't think I will be able to find anywhere else.













The above mug is promoting one of our instruments. Notice the unique shape of the handle with the rotating dollar sign.



Also, take a look at the thermos/canteen combination. It's shaped like a thermos and made of a material used for canteens. It even has a compass attached to the screw in lid and a clip for easy attachment. This thermos/canteen will be the perfect complement to the swiss army knife that I gave to my sig-o last year when I took a trip to Austria.