add the butter and whiskey (if you’re using it)...

"irish carbomb cupcakes"

date taken: march 22, 2011

photo by: me

in september 2010, i initiated a project that weds my desire to re/connect with my friends with my desire to share sugary pastries with the world. i called the project "random acts of pastries." the goal was simple: to develop and strengthen my existing friendships by sharing something small and special with my friends. i figure that giving someone i care about a batch of cookies or cupcakes i had slaved over gave me an excuse to sit down with them for a few minutes, catch up, and ideally make further plans to reconnect in the near future. and they (hopefully) get to enjoy an unexpected yummy treat. so why not just pick up the phone and call? because i have limited space on my desktop and unless i have lunch with you once a week, i'm terrible at keeping in touch. and what's wrong with just baking cookies for my closest friends, the people on "the resuri panel"? well. nothing. in fact, many of the people on the panel get a cut of whatever i'm baking anyway. the point of the exercise is to nourish the friendships that have fallen to the margins, which, for me, is the vast majority of people i actually do care about. but do i really care about them when i don't even think about them until some randomizer spits out their name to be cupcake or cookie recipients? yes, often and fondly. i just have difficulty taking the time to catch up with everyone i care about (they are large in number), and honestly, i feel embarassed for losing touch in the first place.

enter facebook, the method by which i passively observe what is going on in the lives of the people i care about. i periodically weed out the people i don't really know or care to know, and i've gotten better about not adding people i don't care for, who have likely added me out of curiosity with no genuine interest in knowing me. well, in the words of my people, "fuck that." facebook has provided me an easy system to select cupcake recipients. out of my 500+ friends, i simply select my victims at random using the number randomizer at random.org, and selecting the friends who correspond to the numbers spit out (friends are arranged by alphabetical order). once selected, a person becomes ineligible to receive pastries in the project for one year. friends who are not on guam are automatically disqualified, though i am interested in starting a random act of cookie giveaway for off-island friends.

so if i've been doing this since september, why haven't i posted about it earlier? because i've been a bad bad bear. but baby, i'm trying to change.

this month, in honor of my black irish heritage, i decided to make cupcakes inspired by my favorite insensitively-monikered alcoholic beverage: the irish carbomb. to those of you who have never had the pleasure, this drink consists of 2/3 of a pint of guinness (or other irish stout), and a shot glass filled with a half jameson (irish whiskey) and half baileys (irish cream liquer). you then drop the shot glass into the guinness and chug that sucker down. it's delicious, tastes like chocolate milk, and it fucks you the hell up if you drink two of them on your 28th birthday, five minutes apart. or so i hear.

unlike the cocktail, these cupcakes were surprisingly refined. the flavors were distinct and rich. quite possibly my favorite chocolate cupcake that i've made. ever.

theoretically the guinness in the cupcake and the whiskey in the ganache both cook off, but the baileys in the frosting does not. though the quantity is small, methinks that makes this an adult cupcake. i wouldn't serve it to my 2 year old nephew.

so here's the recipe, modified from smitten kitchen:

Chocolate Whiskey and Beer Cupcakes with Baileys Frosting

Makes 20 to 24 cupcakes

For the Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes 1 cup stout (such as Guinness) 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process) 2 cups all purpose flour 2 cups sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt 2 large eggs 2/3 cup sour cream

Ganache 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate 2/3 cup heavy cream 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature 1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (optional)

Baileys Frosting (see Recipe Notes) 3 to 4 cups confections sugar 1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature 3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream, or a combination thereof)

Special equipment: piping bag (though a plastic bag with the corner snipped off will also work)

Make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

Make the ganache: Chop the chocolate (i used chocolate chips--no chopping necessary!) and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. (If this has not sufficiently melted the chocolate, you can return it to a double-boiler to gently melt what remains. 20 seconds in the microwave, watching carefully, will also work.) Add the butter and whiskey (if you’re using it) and stir until combined.

Coat the cupcakes: Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped (the fridge will speed this along but you must stir it every 10 minutes). This is where I deviated from smitten kitchen. Instead of filling the cupcake as the original recipe called for, I dipped them in the ganache, creating a pretty coat of smooth chocolate under the frosting (see photo). no doubt these would be mucho delicioso with chocolate filling, but believe me, this method was easier and prettier, and there is plenty of goodness everywhere to satisfy the most ravenous chocoholic.

Make the frosting: Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. By adding the sugar slowly, you get a smoother, less chalky taste to your frosting.

When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.

Ice and decorate the cupcakes. I used a large round tip and topped this bad boy with a chocolate-covered espresso bean.

buon appetit!

sift together sugar and green tea powder...

date taken: august 20, 2010

photo by: me

subject: green tea cupcakes

i made these for supper club. the theme was sushi night. i ended up using two kinds of green tea powder. the one i tried first was in the batter, which didn't come out green enough. take my word for it, spring for the matcha. it's worth it. this was very cool, not too sweet. and they were so cute, i almost wanted to name them and make them all matching dresses.

green tea cupcakes

(recipe made about 28 cupcakes, just spray tins with pam and bake for 15 minutes. i put the frosting into a zip lock baggie, cut the tip and swirled away).

enjoy!

combine beef and pork in a large bowl...

date taken: august 2, 2010

photo by: me

subject: all-out insomniac's cooking extravaganza meatball subs

i haven't been sleeping all that well lately, just my annual anxiety marathon. about a week ago, i went on an all-out insomniac's cooking extravaganza. i made a jackfruit pie (it was aight...), a boca negro cake for my friend's birthday, bread dough for baguettes, and meatballs.

the grand plan: meatball subs.

they were fairly successful, and i'm thrilled to report there are more meatballs in my freezer just waiting to be cooked up. and since we all know i'm moderately obsessed with baking bread, i expect i will have meatballs subs on the regular.

since you already have my baguette recipe (just split into 3 loaves...), here's the meatball recipe i use. veal is not easy to come by on guam, and this recipe is delicious half beef and half pork. also, i baked these instead of frying. 350 for 45 minutes.

bon appetit.

meatballs

starting with the blue batter...

date taken: august 5, 2010

photo by: me

subject: rainbow cupcakes

these were cute and sweet and took only slightly more effort than usual. for people willing to take an extra 3 minutes to get a smile out of almost anyone. mine don't turn out exactly like they do on bakingbites, but i assure you there are still adorable.

Rainbow Cupcakes

blend in butter with your fingertips...

date taken: july 25, 2010

photo by: me

subject: southern mango cobbler

easy enough to make and ooey gooey. just like peach cobbler, in fact all i did was substitute mango for every instance the recipe said the word peach. also substituted butter for the shortening and doubled the cornstarch. used 2 mangoes in this recipe, which would have fit perfectly into a 9x9 square pan. serve with vanilla ice cream...

southern mango cobbler (remember, just substitute the word "mango" for the word "peach")

just remembered that a lot of people are mango stupid. here is how to cut up a mango properly.

how to cut mango like a filipino

cover and let rise in a warm place...

date taken: july 31, 2010

photo by: me

subject: rosemary baguette

i make baguettes with regularity, on average 3 times a week. sometimes when i want to be fancy i'll do something special with them like put cubes of pepperjack in there, or in this case, some rosemary. fresh is best of course, but i used dried here. follow the recipe below and sprinkle rosemary over dough before rolling and the second rise.

i made this one for my tuesday night buffy-the-vampire-slayer-DVD club. i may just make it again this tuesday. it smelled so good...

rosemary baguettes

ugh. i totally forgot i had to modify this recipe because i don't have a bread machine. believe me, you don't need one. mix 1.5 tsp. yeast (or one packet of yeast) with 1 tbs. of sugar and 1 cup of water. supposed to be lukewarm water, but on guam, everything is lukewarm :-D. Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes (this is called "proofing" -- waking up the yeast). Then mix in 1 tsp. salt, and 2.5 cups of flour (mine always requires about .25 cups more). Then let it rise. This is the first rise, you cover it in either plastic wrap that is sprayed with cooking spray, or a cheesecloth, which in my experience is more traditional but not as sanitary. Then pick up at number 3 in the recipe. Kapeesh?

drop by heaping teaspoonfuls...

date taken: august 1, 2010

photo by: me

subject: white chocolate macadamia nut cookies

these seemed like there were too many chips/nuts for the amount of cookie dough, but they baked beautifully. they still don't beat out chocolate chip cookies in my heart of hearts, but they ain't bad for the occasional tryst.

white chocolate macadamia nut cookies

sprinkle with a little parsley...

date taken: july 20, 2010

photo by: me

subject: thin-crust anchovy pizza

i actually make quite a bit of pizza. and i've been on kind of a dough-making frenzy in general for the past month or so. i'm just trying to perfect it so i don't have to keep looking. i make it in big batches and freeze it in zip locks and defrost it in the fridge two days before for a quick mid-week meal. it probably seems like i got a lot of time on my hands, but actually, my perfect dough is forgiving and rises in the fridge overnight. this dough is my favorite thin-crust so far, and since thin-crust is my favorite, i guess this is my favorite pizza dough.

new york italian style pizza dough

my favorite pizzas that I make are Buffalo Chicken and Exotic Mushroom. but when my friend xorxe suggested anchovy, i couldn't say no. this was the easiest pizza ever, the ingredients were easy to find, and it had a nice kick to it on account of the fact that i used good old-fashioned boonie peppers, so it is now permanently on the pizza menu. thank you jamie oliver! only modifications are based on another pizza book that i have, which recommended putting the anchovies on under the cheese. what i ended up doing was putting down a thin layer of mozzarella, then the anchovies mix then more mozzarella. that's what's up.

pizza with mozzarella, anchovies, chilli, capers and parsley

just a little sidenote. my favorite pizza topping is lemon zest. try it!

mix graham cracker crumbs with butter...

date taken: july 5, 2010

photo by: me

subject: chantal's ny style cheesecake

cheesecake is one of those things you can live neither with nor without. it's best to just live in the moment and not think about the extreme consequences associated with your indulgence. naturally, i prefer mine pure. ny style. no distractions. the only fancifying going on here is with the decorative toppings. even without frilly white chocolate and canned cherries and whatever other way you can demean a beautiful cheesecake, people have trouble turning it down. it really is one of the best things to acquiesce to.

Chantal's NY Style Cheesecake

(recipe modified to add cinnamon, white sugar, and additional butter to the graham cracker crust)

sprinkle sesame seeds on top...

date taken: April 10, 2010

photo by: me

subject: cheeseburger-shaped cupcakes

these are the only things i make out of a box. the beauty is in the assembly. such a crowd-pleaser, they are almost too cute to eat. enjoy!

step by step photo instructions

let excess chocolate drip off...

date taken: april 7, 2010

photo by: me

subject: homemade tagalongs (peanut butter patties)

these took a little bit of effort, mostly in dipping the cookies in the chocolate, and licking your utensils clean afterwards. small price to pay to have girlscout cookies year-round.

Homemade Tagalongs (a.k.a. Peanut Butter Patties)

Cookies 1 cup butter, soft 1/2 cup sugar 2 cups all purpose flour 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 2 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk. The dough should come together into a soft ball. Take a tablespoon full of dough and flatten it into a disc about 1/4-inch thick. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough. Cookies will not spread too much, so you can squeeze them in more than you would for chocolate chip cookies. (Alternatively, you can use a cookie cutter, as described in the post above). Bake cookies for 11-13 minutes, until bottoms and the edges are lightly browned and cookies are set. Immediately after removing cookies from the oven, use your thumb or a small spoon to make a depression in the center of each cookie Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Filling 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (natural or regular) 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar* generous pinch salt 1/2 tsp vanilla extract about 8-oz semisweet chocolate

In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, salt and vanilla. When the mixture has come together, heat it in the microwave (again in short intervals, stirring frequently), until it is very, very soft. Working carefully with the hot filling, transfer it to a pastry bag (or plastic bag with the tip cut off) and pipe a generous dome of the filling into each cookie’s “thumbprint”. Chill cookies with filling for 20-30 minutes, or until the peanut butter is firm. Melt the chocolate in a small, heat-resistant bowl. This can be done in a microwave (with frequent stirring) or on a double boiler, but the bowl of melted chocolate should ultimately be placed above a pan of hot, but not boiling, water to keep it fluid while you work. Dip chilled cookies into chocolate, let excess drip off, and place on a sheet of parchment paper to let the cookies set up. The setting process can be accelerated by putting the cookies into the refrigerator once they have been coated.

Makes about 3-dozen

*You might need slightly less sugar if you’re using the conventional peanut butter, as it tends to be a bit sweeter. Taste the filling before using to make sure you like the sweet/savory balance.

stir until crumbly, like coarse and wet sand...

date taken: march 31, 2010

photo by: me

subject: strawberry pecan shortbread crumble bars

quick and painless, the hardest part about this recipe was chopping the pecans finely. otherwise, a solid recipe for those days (or late late nights) when you're fixin for something yum and uncomplicated.

Strawberry Pecan Shortbread Crumble Bars
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
1 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
3/4 cup strawberry jam/preserves

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt and pecans, then stir in the butter and egg until mixture is crumbly, like coarse and wet sand. Set aside 2 cups of the mixture, and pour the remaining mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Press down gently, but firmly, into an even layer.
Spread strawberry jam over the shortbread layer. Sprinkle remaining crumbs evenly over the top. If the mixture is too wet to sprinkle, simply break it up with lightly floured fingers and spread it out.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, until lightly browned.
Cool bars in the pan before slicing.

Makes 24 small bars.

combine bourbon with sugar...

date taken: march 27, 2010

photo by: me

subject: boca negra

One of my mock trial kids, Dara, made this sneaky bet with me, by which he wagered that he would score no lower than a 9 out of 10 on every score from every judge in our final game against Academy last week. The bet? "Black Mouth Cake", which I had never heard of before, let alone made. We won the game, Dara lost his bet, but the recipe looked too good to leave to the idle hands of a self-absorbed 17 year old boy. Made it for the team yesterday. Served with fresh whipped cream. Tasted almost like pudding with a thin crust on top. The deepest, richest chocolate thing ever, in the history of mankind. But really, any recipe with bourbon in it is a friend of mine.

Boca Negra

(recipe courtesy of Baking Bites)
12 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup bourbon (or rum)
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
8 oz (2 sticks) butter, cut in 10 pieces
5 eggs

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 9 inch round cake pan, line the bottom with a circle of parthment or wax paper and butter again. Set the cake pan in a roasting pan and set aside. Set a kettle of water to boil while making the batter.
Place the chocolate in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade.
In a medium sauce pan, combine bourbon and sugar. Cook over high heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Bring it to a full boil and pour over chocolate. Whizz chocolate and syrup until smooth, about 20 seconds.
With the motor running, drop in the butter piece by piece, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next. Add in the eggs one at a time.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Place roasting pan in the oven and fill it with boiling water from the kettle until it reaches 1/2 way up the side of the cake pan.
Bake for exactly 30 minutes. (***was still wet when i took it out at 30 minutes. put it back in for 10 more minutes, looked fine and tasted amazing!)
Carefully remove the cake pan from the water bath. Dry the cake pan. Lay a piece of plasti wrap over the top of the pan. Invert cake (and plastic wrap) onto a flat plate and remove the parchment paper circle. Reinvert cake onto a serving platter and remove plastic wrap.
Serve warm, or at room temperature, with whipped cream.


Note: This cake can be stored at room temperature for one day or in the refrigerator for up to three days. It can also be made well ahead and kept frozen for up to a month. If it is frozen, defrost it, wrapped, in the refrigerator overnight. Bring the refrigerated cake to room temperature before serving.