Adventures in Baking (as opposed to babysitting)

Monday mornings always kind of suck. I hate the fact that I know I have to wake up early to make full use of the first weekday, that the weekend is 5 long days away, and that now I have no excuse not to clean, do laundry, or be productive. The weekend is so great! I can put off everything, even if the pile of laundry is getting so big that the hamper has now fallen over and everything is spilled on to the floor, and the spill is slowly creeping towards the bedroom door, possibly taking on a life of its own. No, but really, Monday's aren't so great. This particular Monday I woke up to lovely 10 degree weather, which is freezing, pouring rain, and winds. This makes Monday October 11th even worse. But whats even worse about the even worse is that its not even redeeming itself by being Thanksgiving Monday over here, and I am missing Canada. I miss turkey! and I miss stuffing! and I miss gravy and cranberry sauce, and most of all I miss pumpkin pie. I have been to about 5 butchers in this city, all of whom say that turkey's aren't really normal in New Zealand and they could "maybe" give me a 5 KG turkey if I wanted but they'd have to get it from a special freezer somewhere. What does that even mean? Regardless, no butterballs for us. Pumpkin pie, something I treasure and covet, and eat for all three meals of the day is also not going to happen. I love to make pumpkin pie from whole pumpkins and last year, in Budapest, my mom and I discovered the perfect gluten free pumpkin pie recipe and it was incredible. We bought a huge whole pumpkin and carved it out, roasted it, blended it, and pie-d it up. It was amazing, we downed it so fast. This year, no dice. The pumpkins at Neworld (NZ's Loblaws equivalent) were so small and so green! They looked like mangos. I guess its time to face reality, it is not fall time here, despite the cold weather today, it is definitely spring. On the plus side, there is an abundance of lamb and sheep. I decided in order to feel better about everything and in honor of a certain someone's special birthday, I was going to make cupcakes. I wanted chocolate with vanilla frosting but the birthday boy wanted vanilla with vanilla frosting, so I found two different recipes one for chocolate and one for vanilla and a recipe for the frosting from the same website as the chocolate cupcakes. I made the vanilla ones first. The batter was kind of clumpy, which I was a little skeptical about.



But I carried on anyways.

They didnt look so bad before I put them in to the oven, but being new to baking, I kind of forgot to make them more "cupcake like" and the tops were like wild fires. Baking tip: mold the top with a butter knife so that its smooth. This makes it more aesthetically pleasing and easier to put the frosting on once they are baked.




Regardless I popped them in the oven and began to make the frosting.

Making frosting is a little weird for me, I've never made homemade frosting before and I didn't know how I felt about putting an entire bag of icing sugar in to something that I was going to be consuming. I have also never worked with shortening before. Initially, before I put the soy milk in to the frosting, I was little scared I had totally royally screwed up the cupcakes.



The most important tool for baking? Electrical beater. Trust me folks, nothing good can ever happen without this gem. After pouring the milk in to the mix, voila! The stuff finally looked not only edible but also very pretty, it was so smooth and creamy!!



Now, by then, the vanilla cupcakes were done from the oven. I decided to take one of the mounds off of one of the tops of the cupcakes to taste. My initial reaction? A funny face. They weren't that sweet (I used honey and maple syrup instead of sugar, but I always use this substitute and I have never had an issue with sweetness before). I checked back to the recipe and compared it with the recipe I had for chocolate cupcakes. The chocolate cupcakes used way less flour and a little more oil. Maybe this was the problem? I had no idea. I decided to put some of the icing on a piece of the vanilla cupcake and try it.



Hmm...it wasn't bad, the icing was INCREDIBLE. The frosting I had made was very rich but it masked the blandness of the cupcakes. I let the cupcakes cool off and then I covered them in icing and sprinkles.



They look pretty good, huh? Thats the problem. Things that look nice and pretty, aren't always as sweet or great on the inside as they seem on the outside(also, a metaphor for life). I had enough cupcakes to fill two plates. I also had a huge amount of icing left. Because I wasn't too keen on the vanilla cupcakes I decided to try the other recipe for chocolate cupcakes and see what happened.

Because we just moved here, I don't have that many bowls, or kitchen tools. I had to use a random glass pan and a pot to mix the chocolate muffins in. Hey, you gotta work with what you got!



The reason for the lemon beside the bowl (as I'm sure many of you are wondering). The cupcake recipe calls for curdled milk. In both recipes the authors say to use either regular vinegar or apple cider vinegar. I was a genius and forgot to buy this at the store. So, I did some researching. It turns out that lemon juice can be used, and is just as good as vinegar, to curdle the milk. Also, those on an alkaline diet or those who cannot consume vinegar, can definitely use lemons instead.



For this recipe I used this fair trade baking cocoa. It rival's Green and Blacks any day and it has a really great taste. I also use it to make hot chocolate sometimes, by putting a little of it in a mug with some honey and cold milk, stirring it in to a gooey mess and then pouring hot milk overtop. It is de-lish!



So, I mixed everything up in the pot (due to a lack of bowls haha), scooped it in to the muffin tray, and baked it.

The chocolate ones ended up coming out very good! They weren't too sweet and they tasted incredible with the very rich frosting. Now, I would have to get my royal taste tester to see if he agreed with me.



The vote was unanimous in the end, the vanilla ones were not really edible. I still can't put my finger on why they were so completely devoid of sweetness, or any flavor, and so bread-like. It must be the flour? Anyways, the chocolate cupcakes were a success. BUT, we ended up going out for dinner that night to a GREAT steak house, which you can check out here: http://www.jervoissteakhouse.co.nz/ and when we got home we were too full to eat any cupcakes. The next day, the chocolate cupcakes were sub par. They only lasted one day!!! They dried out fast and lost their star power quickly.

We were both still craving cupcakes and so we ended up at a cupcake shop near us, also, at the liquor store. Because really...who doesn't eat cupcakes with some over priced champagne? It was a special treat and a great way to end a fantastic weekend.
Also, I now have a new goal! Find a great gluten free cupcake recipe, that's not too sweet but not bland, where the cupcakes taste good 24 hours later. I feel like it might take a while. Until then, I am going to scour New Zealand for some canned pumpkin so that I can impart my gluten free pumpkin pie deliciousness wisdom on to my readers...if I even have any.

Today...its still Monday, there is still laundry to be done, as well as cleaning. Also, a Bikram class and some gym time. I wish all of my Canadian friends a Happy Thanksgiving, I hope you all have an incredible weekend filled with incredible food and that you do actually take some time to reflect on the things that you are thankful for in your life. Recently I came upon a facebook status that one of my friends had on his wall: "In India, people numbering twice the population of the entire United States live on 2$ a day...How are you spending your money today?" (thanks AS). It is something that makes you think as well as reflect on how lucky we are. Right now, I am thankful for the green smoothie I am about to devour! xJ