Those Cupcakes....

If you were in rehearsals with me this past Tuesday, you most likely experienced the cupcakes which I brought in honor of Cenovia’s and Lorra’s birthdays. I would like to write about Those Cupcakes tonight. After all, you’ve been talking about them for the past five days. You’ve sent me texts and Facebook messages about them. Every time I see you at gigs, you keep asking me if I have any more of Those Cupcakes. I am thoroughly delighted that you responded to them so enthusiastically, more than I can even say. And so it would give me great pleasure to share the recipe for Those Cupcakes with you. Yes, I'll tell you how to make those Chocolate Cupcakes with Mascarpone and Almond-Pinenut Praline, which are also known as the Oh-my-GOD Cupcakes!

Most of you know that I LOVE celebrating birthdays. I celebrate my own birthday extensively, not only on the actual day or even just the week, but the entire month of August is declared Birthday Month! However, lest you think that I am a narcissist who wants it to be all about her, I honestly get just as excited about my friends’ birthdays as I do my own. This is a particularly happy time of year since I have many Scorpios in my life, many of whom were born within a 12-day stretch. The first week+ of November is the time of celebrating Alissa, Joyce, Cenovia, Lorra, Belinda, Stephanie and Kristina. Even Kristina’s baby, who is due to make her appearance in the world any day now, is going to join this list of fabulous Scorpio women!

My dear friends Cenovia and Lorra share their birthday on November 4th. I knew I would be seeing a lot of them that day, since we were scheduled for multiple rehearsals together on Tuesday in addition to having a birthday dinner with several of our other friends. As a Leo who never had to go to school on her summer birthday, the concept of being stuck in school or at work on one’s birthday has always felt wrong to me. And because this was such an intense work week for all of us, I felt compelled to cushion the indignity of my Scorpio friends having to spend their birthdays in long rehearsals for various concerts we were playing together this week.

Champagne and chocolate immediately spring to my mind whenever I’m trying to conjure up a celebration. However, as fun as it might have been, I knew that sparkling wine was probably not the best choice for our 10 a.m. rehearsal. I had just finished a round of CocoaRoar truffles for Halloween, so after hand-shaping hundreds of truffles and individually dipping each one in melted chocolate, I was eager to work in slightly broader strokes. Rather than schlepping a big cake all over town, cupcakes seemed to be the natural solution.

Honestly, who doesn’t love cupcakes?! A multi-layered cake can feel very grown-up and serious, but cupcakes are fun and whimsical, often evoking memories of being a child when life was simpler and more calorie-free. Savoring a little cupcake somehow seems less indulgent than chowing down on a big slice of birthday cake. On a purely practical level, cupcakes are easy to transport and require no plates or serving utensils, which is an important detail to consider when you have to get around by subway and set up your mini party in a bare-bones rehearsal space.

If you’re anything like me, you wouldn’t seriously consider most of the local cupcake bakeries as a viable option. I often complain about many of the overrated cupcakeries around the city which serve dry cake heaped with a mound of icing so cloyingly sweet that it makes my teeth itch. Could somebody please explain to me why those overpriced tasteless cakes are so popular?!? Life is simply too short to eat cupcakes without nuance!

I wanted to make something that would honor these two sensational birthday women, both of whom are not only terrific violinists but are also huge-hearted, fabulously talented in so many ways, and incredibly fun to be around. Cenovia and Lorra are also my frequent partners in all sorts of culinary adventures, so I wanted to make something that would appeal to their excellent palates.

Imagine a tender chocolate cake with a fine crumb and a deep chocolate flavor without being overly sweet. Instead of veering off into diabetic-coma-inducing sugary icing territory, I made two different toppings for these velvety chocolate cupcakes. The first was a cardamom icing perfumed with a bit of rosewater and rose petal sugar, as a nod to Cenovia’s and Lorra’s fondness for that flavor combination. Yum. But I would like to talk about the second version, in which the perfect little chocolate beauty was topped with amaretto-laced mascarpone cheese. And as if that weren’t delightful enough on its own, would you please imagine a little sprinkling of a crunchy almond-pinenut praline on top?!

Whoa! Skyrockets in flight!...AFTERNOON DELIGHT!!!!!!

We had the cardamom rose cupcakes at our Riverside Symphony rehearsal in the morning, and then the praline cupcakes in the afternoon at St Ignatius Loyola while rehearsing for a different concert. There was such excitement in the air since it was Election Day, and all of my friends and colleagues were buzzing with choruses of, “Did you vote? Did you see how many people were lined up around the block to vote?! Have you ever seen anything like it?!” And throughout all of these animated conversations, the cupcakes were absolutely devoured.

This has been my favorite cupcake recipe for a long time, but now it has special resonance for me as they will always be associated with Election Day 2008! It would have been a memorable day just to play great music as we did, and the day was extra special since I got to celebrate with these two fabulous friends of mine on their birthdays, both in rehearsals and then at an especially lovely birthday dinner later on. But there are no words to describe the elation that so many of us felt shortly after 11 pm when the election results came flooding over our television screens and computer monitors. I had saved one chocolate praline cupcake for myself which I ate in a spirit of great celebration that night, and these are now forever sealed in my mind as the Obama victory cupcakes!

Now I know I just gave you a chocolate cupcake recipe a few weeks ago, but somehow I don’t think you’ll mind my inclusion of this one as well. The October 17th chocolate cupcake recipe that I make with my nephew Mac is a little more kid-friendly, both in taste and in the preparation, which is perfect when you are baking with a very young friend. But these beauties are more sophisticated, mainly because of the mascarpone and praline topping. Whereas the other cupcake recipe uses just butter, this particular recipe uses a combination of butter and oil which creates a beautiful cake with a velvet texture. The inclusion of both unsweetened cocoa and melted bittersweet chocolate in the batter lends a chocolatey depth that I find intensely appealing.

You don't even need a mixer for these cupcakes. After the flour and baking powder are sifted into the chocolate mixture, buttermilk is whisked in. This adds moisture and tempers the sweetness, intensifying the chocolate flavor of the cake.

The praline is made by cooking a simple sugar and water mixture until it caramelizes and turns a deep amber color. Quickly stir in toasted almonds and pinenuts, and spread the mixture out on a piece of foil to let it harden.

  

 

When the praline has hardened and cooled, it is crushed into coarse pieces for the topping. Creamy mascarpone, the Italian cream cheese, is spiked with amaretto before being slathered on the cupcakes. It provides the perfect bridge between the fine textured chocolate cake and the crunchy praline that is then sprinkled on top.

 

Whether you have birthdays or political optimism to celebrate, or if you're simply craving a fabulous treat, I urge you to go directly to this recipe, for it will create one of the more memorable cupcakes you will ever have the pleasure of experiencing!

CHOCOLATE MASCARPONE PRALINE CUPCAKES

Adapted from a recipe in Gourmet, April 1999.

The cake is light yet quite dark chocolatey without being overly sweet, and I think the combination of the mascarpone with the unusual crunch of the almond-pine nut praline is heavenly!

For the praline:

½ cup slivered almonds

½ cup pine nuts

¾ cup sugar

¼ cup water

For the cupcakes:

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/3 cup canola oil

2/3 cup water

3 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk

For the topping:

8 ounces mascarpone cheese, at room temperature

2 tablespoons amaretto

Toast the almonds in a dry skillet over medium-low heat until just barely golden brown, stirring frequently; set aside to cool on a plate. Toast the pine nuts in the same way and set aside.

Line a baking sheet with heavy foil. In a skillet bring the sugar and water to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil the syrup without stirring until it begins to turn golden. Swirl pan until syrup is deep golden and remove from heat. Stir in the nuts and immediately pour praline onto baking sheet, spreading evenly. Cool the praline completely and break into pieces. Transfer the praline to a resealable plastic bag and coarsely crush it with a rolling pin.

Preheat oven to 300°. Line 18 standard-size muffin cups with paper liners.

In a small saucepan combine the cocoa powder, butter, oil, and water. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until smooth, and remove pan from heat. Add the chopped chocolate and sugar, whisking until smooth, and transfer to a bowl. Cool chocolate mixture completely and whisk in the egg. Sift flour and baking powder over chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Whisk in buttermilk and pour batter into the prepared cups, filling each about 2/3 of the way full. (You will probably have some empty cups if you are using 12-cup muffin tins, so fill each of those halfway with water to keep the muffin tin from scorching.

Bake cupcakes in middle of oven for 25-30 minutes, until the top springs back when touched or a tester comes out clean. Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then transfer cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

When you are ready to frost the cupcakes, stir the mascarpone and amaretto together in a medium bowl. Spread mixture liberally over the tops of the cupcakes and generously sprinkle with praline. Makes about 18 cupcakes.

Note: You can also bake this cake as a single 9-inch round. Generously butter a 9-inch round cake pan and line bottom with parchment paper, then butter the paper and dust pan with flour, knocking out excess. Bake the single cake layer for 45-50 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting with the mascarpone and praline.

Ecstatic About Escarole

I love escarole. Absolutely LOVE it. I am going through a phase where I am bored with regular lettuce, instead opting for bolder and firmer greens. Radicchio, arugula, frisee and chicory all make me happy, but lately it is escarole that really makes my taste buds dance.

Escarole is the M.V.P. of the chicory family. At first glance it looks like a firm head of green leaf lettuce, but it has so much more to offer than that. Gutsy and bold, escarole can definitely hold its own on center stage, yet it is gracious and versatile enough to be an excellent supporting player when necessary.

It is gorgeous as the main star of a perfectly composed salad, which is probably my favorite way to enjoy it. It makes for a mouthwatering bruschetta when slivered and sautéed with olive oil and garlic, generously piled onto grilled bread and topped with toasted pine nuts. Yet it is equally delicious in a soup (especially a hearty vegetable soup with white beans and a hunk of parmesan cheese thrown in for flavor), where silky emerald ribbons of simmered escarole contribute a depth to the overall dish. It is like finding the perfect date, one who is savvy and well-rounded, utterly at ease at both a formal black-tie event as well as at a very casual relaxed affair.

I found the most beautiful head of escarole at the Fall Festival farm stand on Sunday, and I have been making a series of salads with it this week. Would you just look at this beautiful specimen?! When I removed the rubber band around its leaves, it made itself quite comfortable and sprawled out all over my cutting board.

(It reminded me of my hair on a humid day: it can be carefully contained, but once it is loosened from its restraining elastic band, it goes crazy! Look at my profile picture if you need further proof of this.)

Alissa came over the other day to help me out with this considerable head of escarole. We’d had a decadent afternoon, celebrating the beginning of her birthday week by escaping to a movie theater to watch “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”. It was cold twilight when we emerged from the theater back onto Broadway, yet we were floating on visions of the most delicious Spanish sunshine with daydreams of fleeing the concrete jungle for blissful Barcelona.

Since we had eschewed the overpriced stale movie popcorn and were both ravenous by the end of the film, I offered to make something involving this crazy bunch of escarole I had at home. Now I know that might not sound like the most thrilling proposition, especially when you’ve just spent the previous two hours enjoying a smoldering Javier Bardem and a fiery Penelope Cruz on the big screen! But you might feel quite thrilled yourself if you tasted this salad too, one which falls into the category of “So Simple Yet So Incredibly Satisfying”. If you have great ingredients to work with and use the freshest produce available to you, it’s easy to prepare dishes that answer to that description. We’re talking four main ingredients (escarole, shallots, mint, and almonds) and three supporting ingredients (olive oil, white wine vinegar, and fresh lemon juice) to highlight the flavors and tie it all together. Check out what happened:

The star of today’s post, my beautiful majestic head of escarole, was shredded into ribbons, then cut crosswise into smaller bite-sized pieces before being placed in a large salad bowl. Shallots shaved into paper-thin rings got a short soak in a spoonful of wine vinegar, just to take the edge off of them. Slivered almonds are always lovely, but they became even lovelier when lightly toasted. Fresh herbs are one of the easiest way to add an additional layer of bright flavor to any dish, and I thinly sliced a few mint leaves for this particular salad. Once the shallots had a few minutes to soak and were removed from the vinegar, my four main ingredients were ready to play.

These flavors were so fresh and bright, they didn’t need much else except a drizzle of great olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and a sprinkling of sea salt and freshly ground pepper to tie them all together. When you're dressing a salad, I would encourage you to taste as you go, using the recipe as a guideline for the amount of olive oil and lemon. Start by adding a smaller amount, since you can always add more if necessary but you can’t take away. You want the escarole leaves to glisten with the finest film of olive oil, lightly coated but not laden down with oil. The lemon juice adds a necessary acidity, a brightness that only enhances the flavors of the salad. Taste as you go, adding more olive oil and lemon juice if you think it needs it. I gilded the lily a bit by shaving some fresh Pecorino cheese over the top, which is a fabulous addition but not strictly necessary.

Since it was the beginning of Alissa’s birthday week, we opened a celebratory bottle of Punkt Genau, a sparkling Gruner Veltliner from Austria. I have a handful of friends who are part of the "I LOVE Sparkling Wine" club, of which Alissa and I are both founding members. Whether it comes from France, Italy, Australia, California, or in this case, Austria, we simply love bubbly wine! I discovered this particular wine in January of this year, and it was one of the great revelations of my wine year. Since Gruner Veltliners tend to be still white wines, this sparkling beauty is the only one of its kind, redolent of green apples, minerality, green melon and honeysuckle. I have ordered cases of Punkt Genau from Astor Wines over the course of the year, and each bottle has been an effervescent delight.

The Punkt proved to be a felicitous choice for the evening, as this happy bubbly wine truly enhanced the lively flavors of the escarole. We both kept laughing over how excited we were about this SALAD! It’s one thing to be thrilled about gorgeous oysters, or the most beautifully prepared piece of fish, or any number of decadent chocolate desserts. But an escarole salad?! I told you it was a more thrilling proposition that you might have expected! Alissa kept saying, “I wish you could include an audio clip on your blog of me moaning over how much I love this salad!”

In honor of today’s birthday girl, I am including the recipe for this favorite escarole salad. (Here’s to you, Alissa, wishing you many escarole salads and beautiful bottles of sparkling wine this year along with every other happy birthday wish!)

ECSTATIC ESCAROLE SALAD

You can substitute chicory for escarole in this recipe with equally happy results. This makes a good starting course for 4. However, if your names are Louise and Alissa, this recipe might only provide 2 large servings!

1 small shallot, peeled and sliced crosswise into paper-thin rings

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

6 cups escarole, leaves washed and spun dry

2 to 3 tablespoons freshly chopped mint leaves

¼ cup toasted slivered almonds, or more to taste

3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (about half a lemon)

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Pecorino cheese, for grating (optional)

Place the sliced shallot and vinegar in a small bowl with a sprinkling of salt. Let sit for five minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.

Slice the escarole leaves into thin ribbons, then cut cross-wise into bite-sized pieces. Place the chopped escarole in a large salad bowl. Drain the shallots from the vinegar and add them to the escarole, along with the chopped mint leaves and toasted slivered almonds.

Drizzle the olive oil over the salad and toss gently, using just enough oil so that all of the escarole leaves are lightly coated. Add the fresh lemon juice, a sprinkling of sea salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper. Toss gently and taste for seasoning and balance, adding more lemon juice and/or salt&pepper if needed. Divide equally between four salad plates or bowls. If you are using the optional Pecorino cheese, grate a little on top of each salad serving. Go crazy.

Fall Festivities

If you have read some of the previous posts on Kitchen Fiddler, you know that I derive great pleasure from beautiful produce, especially when it’s from a good farmer’s market. I love seeing fruits and vegetables proudly displayed by the people who nurtured them from seedlings and tended them with care as they grew. A visit to a farm stand sparks my culinary imagination much more vividly than walking the produce aisle of a grocery store ever does, for the possibilities somehow seem greater when I encounter that which has been harvested just hours before. With that in mind, can you imagine my glee yesterday when a little farm stand arrived right in front of my apartment building?!

As I walked out of my building early yesterday morning, there were parent volunteers from the local Montessori school setting up for their Fall Festival, an annual event which takes over my entire street the last Sunday in October. I headed down the block towards Broadway, walking past the people from Bialas Farms in New Hampton unloading the bounty from their truck. But when I encountered this delightful display of miniature pumpkins and gourds, it halted me in my tracks. And I couldn’t stop smiling.

This autumn quartet was the first photograph I took that morning, and if that had been the only picture I snapped, I would have considered it a successful morning. But look at what else I found!

I’m certainly familiar with the yellow&white sweet corn which is one of the great joys of summer. However, this was bi-colored corn from a totally different palette! Have you ever seen rosy colored husks such as these? And who knew corn could have dark green kernels like this?!

I actually came home with golden beets, but these radishes were so photogenic that I had to share them with you.

My mind began to race with endless recipes involving butternut squash and roasted onions.

It felt magical to have the first glimpse before anyone else arrived, and I wanted to soak it all in.

Golden autumn light gently bathed the apples, making them glow.

Winesaps, Jonagolds, and Macouns all seemed to cry out, “Pick me, pick me!” So I did!

Unusually enough, movie snacks were also being sold at the farm stand. Peanuts in the shell and popping corn were very inviting.

It was an incredible way to start the day, walking out the door in a half-groggy state but being immediately awakened by one visual delight after another. Artichoke flowers kept company with the mini pumpkins and that crazy corn, making a very exotic and colorful trio.

By the time I returned home several hours later, the Fall Festival was in full tilt. My street was bustling with children decorating pumpkins and having their faces painted. I saw kids concentrating hard on their cupcake-decorating and candy necklace-making, and I had a good laugh as I watched some little ones playing Go-Fish, purposefully trying to reel in rubber duckies from wading pools. Winnie the Pooh had a busy afternoon being photographed with toddlers sitting on his lap while Spider Man and Big Bird mingled amongst the parents and children.

 

It was great to see so many happy families enjoying the glorious day, but the best part for me was definitely the stunning array of fall delights from Bialas Farms. (They set up a weekly stand on the corner of 97th Street & Amsterdam on Friday mornings.) Talk about a feast for the senses! I’m happy to report that quite a few of those autumn beauties made it upstairs into my kitchen, and I am already having a wonderful time coaxing the best flavors from these simple ingredients. I will leave you with photographs tonight, with promises of recipes to come as the week progresses. Come back soon, for I know you're going to love what I'm making this week!

Truffle Masterclass: Bittersweet Caramel Sea Salt Truffles

Starbucks came out with a salted caramel hot chocolate this fall. I’ve heard some people puzzling over this combination, but it sounds delicious to me. I’ve ALMOST been tempted to go into one of the four Starbucks stores within ten blocks of my apartment (!) and try a cup for myself, even though I don’t like to patronize the ubiquitous ultra-corporate coffee chain. I also have a mental block with Starbucks because I never manage to phrase my order to their liking, and I hate being corrected when all I usually want is a double espresso. (I once encountered a snippy-but-hilarious barrista who corrected my request for a large cappuccino. “Uh, we don’t have ‘Large’ here,” he said, making quotation marks with his fingers in the air. “Our three sizes are ‘Huge’, ‘Ridiculous’, and ‘Oh my God!’”)

Since I’m not about to darken the door of a Starbucks anytime soon, yet the salted caramel hot chocolate sounds so appealing, I’ve come up with a much more interesting solution to the dilemma. It would be my extreme pleasure to introduce you to my Caramel Bittersweet Truffles With Sea Salt this evening.

In a word, they’re lovely. Oh so very lovely indeed. In fact, they’re much more than lovely. They’re downright divine. The bittersweet chocolate ganache is deepened with luscious caramel notes. As if that weren’t enough to make the chocolate sing, the sea salt adds another layer, keeping your taste buds interested and ensuring that you are not lulled into sweet complacency. This truffle is one decadent and delicious ménage a trois of flavors.

Fiddling Around In The Kitchen With Mac

I have had a hilarious week taking care of my seven-year-old nephew Mac while his parents are away, and the days have been just packed. Mac lost both of his front teeth this past week, so we went to Ben&Jerry’s to celebrate the new big gap in his mouth. There was an incident in which poor Mac accidentally took a trip to the district school bus yard, but it all turned out fine in the end and we have gotten a TON of mileage out of this misadventure. It has been a fabulous week of story-telling, and he has practiced reading aloud in different accents, which cracks me up. We have watched our favorite movie “What’s Up Doc?” twice (the wacky 1972 screwball comedy with Barbra Streisand, Ryan O’Neal, and Madeline Kahn), providing our own spirited commentary which makes me laugh just as much as the movie itself! And we have definitely been fiddling around in the kitchen together.

Mac and I have a history of being in the kitchen together. He insisted on helping me make his birthday cake the year he turned four, and from that time he has been my little helper on many an occasion. He loves the movie “Ratatouille” and proudly refers to himself as my “Little Chef”. Here are a few cooking tips from Mac:

A garlic press is an effective and fun way to grate cheese. This works well for a semi-hard cheese such as cheddar, making it ready to add to hot cooked noodles for a quick and yummy macaroni&cheese.

It’s really fun scrambling an egg with an old fashioned springy whisk. This whisk doubles as an excellent radio antenna when balanced carefully on top of a tower of Legos.

Celery with peanut butter tastes even yummier when you add peanut butter chips on top.

And making chocolate cupcakes together can be a real riot. They’re even better when you use great cocoa powder. (We found my favorite Valrhona cocoa on sale at Whole Foods, oh happy day!)

Mac likes to measure and then level off the dry ingredients with a knife.

It’s important to keep your hands far away from the beaters when the mixer is on, no matter how badly you want to taste the batter. But a measuring cup with a long handle makes a good hat.

One of the perks of being the Little Chef is that you get to lick the beaters.

And the bowl.

It was really difficult waiting for the cupcakes to bake, and THEN there was the indignity of having to wait even longer for them to cool. But it was worth it, because the cupcakes were absolutely delicious!

MAC&LOUISE’S EASY CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH VERY VANILLA FROSTING

Makes about 12 cupcakes (or more if you can keep your fingers out of the batter)

Louise’s Excellent-Yet-Easy Chocolate Cupcakes

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

¾ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

½ cup whole milk

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

Beat the butter with an electric mixer until soft. Add the sugar and continue to beat for 3 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and unsweetened cocoa powder till they are well combined. Add a third of the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture, beating just till combined. Scrape down the sides and beat in half the milk. Continue alternating the dry and wet ingredients, scraping down the sides after each addition, and ending with the last third of the dry ingredients.

Fill the muffin tins two-thirds of the way full and bake for 20 to 22 minutes. The cupcakes are done when the top springs back when lightly pressed in the center. Transfer the cupcakes onto a rack to cool. When they are completely cool, frost with Mac’s Very Vanilla Frosting.

Mac’s Very Vanilla Frosting

½ cup (1 stick) softened butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

3 to 4 tablespoons milk

Beat the butter and 1 cup of the sugar with an electric mixer till well-combined and very fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the remaining cup of sugar, mixing at first on low and then increasing speed. Beat in the vanilla and add 3 to 4 tablespoons milk until the frosting is of a spreadable consistency.

Frost the cupcakes using a small knife or offset spatula. To pipe the frosting, you can make a quick piping bag by filling a small Ziploc bag 2/3 of the way with frosting, twisting it closed, and snipping off one corner of the bag with scissors to create a little hole for the frosting to come out.

Mac recommends topping these cupcakes with vanilla frosting and decorating them with peanut butter chips and/or chocolate eyeballs, available at Jacques Torres Chocolate Haven. Serve with a tall glass of milk.