101 Things Update - May 2012

Hey there everyone! Thought I'd do a quick 101 Things update for the month of May. Much like last month I was pretty convinced I hadn't done much off my list. But I was wrong!

#1 - Year of the Cupcake: It's done! It's finished! Kaput! 12 types of cupcake, all baked, and a month ahead of time!

#2 and #4 - Tasting wine in the Clare and Barossa Valleys: Well I'm planning to, but it will depend on whether my partners in crime are able to join me. And of course I am unable to log into FB from work so I can't check my messages and therefore whether my Adelaide buddies said they were available. I really hope they are cos I have a hankering for a wine tasting!

#22 - to learn to make cheese: Done! I did it at Red Hill Cheese. I will write a post on it shortly, but for now be satisfied that it is complete. We did goat milk cheese, including a feta, a farmhouse cheese, ricotta and yoghurt. So far I've eaten some of the yoghurt and some of the farmhouse cheese, and I am suitably impressed.

#30 - to do a jigsaw puzzle: Done! I did a Ken Duncan one, and enjoyed every moment. It was kind of a meditative process, and it enabled me to clear my mind of everything but the puzzle. It's rare that my brain is that quiet and it was lovely.

#54 & 55 - to visit Mexico and Africa: I'm a step closer to this because I chatted about it with my project manager, and he didn't seem to be against it. As my friend Matt pointed out, even if they needed me on site, if I take holidays then it costs them less!

#57 - to write a list of 10 places I wanted to visit: I'm on to about the third draft of this list as I come up with new places and refine the list! I'll share it soon, though.

#60 & 61 - to re-read Wuthering Heights, and to read Long Walk to Freedom. Both are complete, and - scandal - I didn't hate Wuthering Heights!!! So I kind of failed one part of #60, because it specified that I was to try not to be angry when I realised I'd wasted my time. Technically I didn't have to try not to be angry, and I didn't realise I'd wasted my time, so I technically failed!

#64 - to get a food handler's certificate: I've found an online course and enrolled. Now I just have to find a couple of spare hours to sit down and actually do it!

#93 - to ask my dad about his life and take notes. I've actually started to talk to him about it. No notes yet, but it's a start.

Year of the Cupcake #12 - Coca-Cola Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Hello All.

It's been an interesting year. If you'd been paying attention, you would have realised that it was -

YEAR OF THE CUPCAKE!!!

The year was interesting in a lot of other ways, but I mean "interesting" in the sense of "science experiment gone horribly wrong". I'm not even going to start on that, but cupcakes have helped get me through, and so has posting here regularly. It's time spent focusing on something productive, instead of sitting back and let everything wash over me.

Don't ask me how I ended up with 12 cupcakes in 11 months. Actually, I DO know - I made two batches in the month of April, because I had an unexpected detour into Daring Cooks challenge territory. And that's not counting the ones I made and didn't blog about (but may yet do so on a slow week). So here I am, finished a month early! For those who know me, you would realise that this is a little uncharacteristic, and I imagine that nobody is suprised that it happened entirely by accident ;)

Here's a wee round-up of the year's cupcakes (and you can also find it here):

July 2011 - Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (GF). These were my first foray into gluten free cupcakery, and I was suitably impressed by how they turned out. That is to say, I wasn't disheartened as I imagine I may have been if the pumpkin cupcakes (see below) had been my first attempt.

August 2011 - Rosewater Cupcakes with Pistachio Frosting (GF). I love rosewater as a flavouring. I don't think I got the icing right because I didn't have a lot of experience in buttercream back then - it was too butter and could use the addition of milk to thin it if you're going to make them - but I'm learning!

September 2011 - The Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake (GF). Also, HAHAHA - I just realised that this page has had the greatest number of hits of any on this blog. And why, pray tell? Because it contains a picture of Ryan Gosling with his shirt off!

October 2011 - Donna Hay's Short Black Cupcakes. Tiny but mighty! They have quite an odd texture but they melt in your mouth. The fact they are mini-cupcakes also makes you feel virtuous when you eat five. Well, maybe not virtuous, but non-piggish. O, happy day :)

November 2011 - Pumpkin Cupcakes with Vanilla Icecream Frosting (GF). These were a little bit concave. I'm not quite sure what went wrong; maybe it was that there was too much moisture in the pumpkin, or maybe it was always going to be one of those gluten free cakes that will never perform like you want it to. But what it lacked in altitude it more than made up for in taste (plus, because you have to backfill the pothole with icing, you get more icing!). These will definitely be made again.

December 2011 - Christmas Cupcakes. Basically tiny little Christmas cakes, only without the drawn-out faffing about with soaking fruit in brandy for three days and cooking it for two and a half hours at a low temperature. Be careful not to overcook them because nobody likes dry fruitcake. Unless it's swimming in custard... which gives me an awesome idea for NEXT Christmas! I'll give you a hint: it involves injecting the cupcakes with something tasty. I'm officially a genius.

January 2012 - Chai Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting (GF). These were another absolute winner, not the least because they actually rose! I think the fact that I was so attracted to these, as well as to the pumpkin cupcakes, tells me that I like the spices that are common to both cupcakes. What can I say - I'm a spicy lass ;) Pity that the icing looks a little like poo, though.

February 2012 - Vanilla Cupcakes with Whipped Ganache Filling. I was a little low on inspiration in February. Life was busy kicking me in the pants so I figured the best way to deal with that was with chocolate. But not too much chocolate. So I made vanilla cupcake... and then filled and iced it with chocolate. The fact that the vanilla cupcake was just a means for getting chocolate into my mouth is irrelevant! I also just really wanted to use these super-cute sprinkles.

March 2012 - St Patrick's Day Irish Soda Bread Cupcakes with Whiskey Frosting. Oh yes, you can put whiskey into your icing, to be sure, to be sure! The cupcakes were a little odd because they were almost semi-savoury on account of the addition of caraway seeds, which I feel worked well with the icing. They also taste healthier than normal cupcakes because of the savoury-ness but, eyeballing the ingredients, this is but an illusion.

April 2012 #1 - Chocolate Heartache Cupcakes with Maple-Goat Cheese Frosting (GF). Wow. Just, wow. YOU NEED TO EAT THESE NOW!!! These contain no butter and no flour - eggplant takes the place of both. Which I would like to imagine makes them healthy, but we all know how chronically I suffer from imaginitis when it comes to that massive blind spot called my stomach! Now, if there was eggplant but no 200g of honey, and no 300g of dark chocolate, THEN I might be on the right track with imagining that they're healthy. Actually, honestly, they are a healthier alternative to your usual mud cake - eggplant contains nutrients that flour and butter don't but without the gluten or quite as many calories, and is also far lower GI than flour. But really, who cares. You  need to eat them. Now.

April 2012 #2 - Apricot Upside-Down Cakes. I chose these ones because they appeared to be relatively low calorie (for a cupcake), as well as being slightly better for you on account of using wholemeal flour and containing fruit.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, May 2012 brings us Coca-Cola Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting!

This recipe is from SprinkleBakes.com and I halved the icing recipe... and still have enough left over to ice a few more cupcakes! I imagine if I got my pretty piping tips out I may have used it all up, but it's just so rich that I decided that less is definitely more.

CUPCAKES:

1c coca-cola

1/2c cocoa powder

4tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/2c + 2tbsp castor sugar

1/2c brown sugar, firmly packed

1c plain flour

1/2 + 1/8tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/tsp salt

1 egg

Preheat oven to 175oC. Line 12-hole cupcake tin with cupcake liners (note that the mixture will stain the liner, so, if you observe the photos in the original recipe (link above), you'll noticed that the lovely Heather placed her cupcakes inside a second wrapper. I don't know whether that was for effect or because of the staining, but mine discoloured quite badly).

Heat coke, cocoa powder and butter in saucepan until butter melts. Add sugars and whisk until dissolved. Cool to room temperature then add the egg, lightly whisked.

Meanwhile, mix remaining dry ingredients in a larger bowl, then add coke mixture to it and mix.

Divide amongst 12 cupcake liners and bake at 175oC (350oF) for 20-25 minutes, until cake springs back when touched.

PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING (this recipe is halved and slightly changed):

2c icing sugar

1/2c unsalted butter

1/2c peanut butter (I assumed - and used - smooth but I suppose crunchy could also be used)

1/4tsp salt

1-2tbsp milk

Optional: sea salt, chocolate jimmies and crushed peanuts to serve.

Mix butters, sugar and salt until even in consistency and fairly smooth. Add milk slowly until you achieve the fluffiness you desire.

Mmm, desirable fluffiness...

Ice cupcakes when totally cooled.

Attempt to disregard the fact they contain in excess of FOUR HUNDRED CALORIES EACH!!!

 (do you like my new cupcake carrier? It has a rubber strip around the middle and can be adjusted to carry a normal-sized cake or a tall cake; or, one or two layers of cupcakes. I also discovered that you can carry one fairly flat cake AND a dozen cupcakes)

(I only added this photo because it was my favourite swirl)

As I said, super-high calorie... but also super-delicious. I never expected peanuts to go so well with Coke, but I suppose, when I think about it, I have eaten them together before.

Now, I'm off to jog off that cupcake, and lure one of the boys in the office into eating the last one so I'm not tempted! That's one of the best parts about working with mainly men - they are generally completely unconcerned with the impact of baked goods on their waistline, so I can still indulge in my love for baking, and eat one slice, and leave the rest for them. Win-win :)

Wilton Decorating Course - Decorating Basics, Week Three

Today was the third and final installment of my Wilton Decorating Basics course at the Greensborough Cake Decorating Centre. It kind of feels like they taught us things a little bit back-to-front because, pretty though some of the cakes we made today were, I don't think they were in quite the same league as the ones we made last week. Then again, I suppose the piping skills we picked up over the last few weeks were necessary for this week's project, so ignore everything I just said!

This week's project was novelty cakes. Wilton (and other companies) make bajillions of different shaped novelty tins, and I chose the flower pot.

This is what it was supposed to look like:

(except, not that horrible Grecian urn. Cos, eeuw... although it does show you that you don't necessarily have to follow the pattern precisely. For example, I saw another one that kept the terra cotta pot but had proper piped roses instead of daisies.)

And this is what it does look like:

(Did you notice the bottom of the flower pot was missing? No? Excellent *wipes crumbs from mouth*)

HOW TO ICE A NOVELTY TIN CAKE:

- Choose what colours you will use for your design and prepare buttercream as needed. Put it in piping bags, ready to go. I suggest having a couple of each sized tip you will use as it will make it quicker and easier to switch colours and tips. Oh, and use couplers. They're awesome.

- Glue cake to centre of cake board with buttercream.

- Brush crumbs off with pastry brush (if you remember).

- Fill in any flat, white (or not white - it will depend on the design) areas on the picture and smooth them by dipping your small spatula in boiling water, wiping it dry and then smoothing it over the buttercream. Better to over-fill an area than under-fill it because you're just going to pipe over the top of it anyhow.

- Do any crumb-coating that may be required - think large, flat areas and bits around the sides. You will be icing zig-zags around the side at the end so a crumb coating will assist with coverage and also help the zig-zags to stick.

- Pipe any outlines with a #3 tip in the appropriate colour.

- Fill in the pattern using stars (I used the #14 and #16 star tips), leaving no gaps anywhere on the surface of the cake.

- Zig-zag around the vertical edges of the cake using a large star tip (#21??), being sure to come right up to where you have filled in your pattern on top of the cake. So, you end up with an edge that looks like a series of vertical lines, only it's a lot easier than actually piping a series of vertical lines because they're all connected like a continuous S-bend.

- If desired, pipe stars or shells around the base perimeter to neaten things up - those zig-zags never quite touch the board properly.

And there you have it. This one took me a little under two hours, not including dyeing the buttercream (+40 minutes or so) or filling the piping bags, or un-filling the bags when I realised that it was almost impossible to pipe with a full bag. You're far better off continutally re-filling piping bags than getting sore hands/arms from having to push too hard because the bag is too full. Don't make it any harder than it has to be!

Oh, look. I'm a moron. The PDF instructions can be found here.