baking – Page 11 – The Witty Child

Margarita Cupcakes – After Dark

March 6, 2012June 7, 2018 wittychild

I remember now why I like quick, small crafty projects: instant gratification. For example, right now I’m working on a rather large (14″ x 14″) needlepoint. Although I’m genuinely loving every stitch, and it really is progressing at a reasonable clip, I still have nothing completed to show for my efforts. Ditto my recovering project. Waiting for my not-so-silent partner to hold up his end of things means I don’t yet have an awesome “finished” photo. For someone who blogs about her crafty exploits, it can be frustrating.

Thank heavens for cupcakes. Who doesn’t like foodporn photos of cute, tender little cups of love?

And look! With a different finish than usual! I usually follow the prescribed decorating from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World; that is, a demure little layer of icing spread evenly on top while coloured sugar coyly mimics the salted rim of a real margarita. (This can be seen in an earlier post.) Somehow, though, the fluffy piped swirls and haphazardly sprinkled sugar just scream, “Fiesta!” Perfect, since I’ll be taking four to a coworker who has just a) turned the big 6-0 and b) announced her rapidly approaching retirement.

Public opinion will determine whether this flirty new approach sticks. I’m sure my test subjects can hardly wait.

baking

Why don’t you make like a banana and split…

February 12, 2012June 7, 2018 wittychild

…into a dozen delicious cupcakes! Muahahaha!

*ahem*

I had had a hankering for these for a while, and had slowly been acquiring the ingredients necessary to churn out a batch. When soy yogurt – *bing* – magically found its way into my fridge on Friday, I knew I was in the clear.

These are Banana Split Cupcakes from Kris Holechek’s The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes, and oh, lordy, they can make believers out of omnivores!

The picture doesn’t do them justice. A moist vanilla cake studded with chopped maraschino cherries and bananas, mini chocolate chips, and crushed pineapple…heaven! I actually wound up with 16 cupcakes instead of the alleged 12, but this is my own fault for not measuring my mix-ins as precisely as I could have. (“Eh…that looks like 1/4 cup.”) I topped them off with a basic vanilla buttercream piped into approximations of swirls, and sprinkled a few chopped peanuts on top for good measure. They make a nice contrast to the sweet of the cupcake and icing.

The best part? My cherries were not quite as thoroughly drained as they ought to have been, and imparted a lovely pale pink colour to the batter. It wasn’t my intention to make Valentine’s cupcakes – I used the heart-print liners because they’re seasonal, but it wasn’t a deliberate attempt or anything – but I wound up with them anyway.

baking, Cross-stitch and Embroidery

Paws up for birthday cake!

January 29, 2012June 7, 2018 wittychild

What is it with Margaret Sherry and cute cat designs? While flipping through a back issue of Cross Stitcher magazine on New Year’s Eve (is that a debaucherous evening or what?), I found the perfect design to turn into a card for my mom’s birthday. While the red velvet pancakes were ~~charring~~ cooking, she opened a rather unassuming white envelope to find this staring back at her:

I used 18-count fabric instead of 14 as called for by the magazine to get it to fit in the card, and used random colours that looked close enough to those on the model – perfect way to use what I had laying around. I love the concerned look on his face, and promised to use fewer candles on her birthday cake – if only by one.

(Please excuse the “arty” shot.)

I don’t think the cake could have been any simpler to make: a double batch of the basic chocolate cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, divided between two round layer pans, topped with a coffee-and-Kahlua’ed version of the chocolate buttercream frosting from the same. Because I had serious doubts about my ability to wield a tube of decorating gel, I had the foresight to trace the words onto the top using a toothpick, and then follow the lines. Hey, it may not be terribly skillful, but it worked.

And now that it’s all over, I get to breathe easy again, at least until Mother’s Day.

baking

Labour Day Classic

September 5, 2011May 27, 2018 wittychild

I didn’t set out to make Rider cupcakes yesterday, really and truly I didn’t. All I really wanted to do was to experiment with my new cupcake pan (sturdier and not prone to bending the way my shiny disposable aluminum ones are; the trade-off is that the darker coating wreaks havoc with my baking times and temperatures and results in what I feel are overbaked cupcakes. Hence, experiment), using a familiar – so I knew what I should be getting – and preferably light-coloured cupcake recipe, that I might better be able to judge degree of browning. What better than the basic vanilla cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World? The liners I used weren’t terribly important; these were just going to be “practice cupcakes” for home. Yet when my eyes lit on an open package of green and white gingham liners, an idea started to form. Green and white liners….white-ish cupcakes….perfect snacks for the Labour Day Classic between the Bombers and the Riders!

I substituted almond extract for the vanilla in the recipe since for some reason I have three bottles of the stuff in the cupboard, and found a lonely-looking lime in the fridge that seemed to be begging to be incorporated into the icing. While almond-lime seems like – and is – an unusual combination, I thought the sweet and tangy might play off one another well, although my test audience remains uncertain of its status as the next power-combo. It’s no peanut butter-chocolate, that’s for sure, but certainly not offensive, at any rate. And I actually had enough icing left over for a 13th…what, too soon? Okay…

While I realize that neither almonds nor limes are indigenous to the Land of the Living Skies, there’s also canola oil and wheat flour (101 varieties suitable for growth in Saskatchewan, according to the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation, which also lists lemons and oranges as viable crops but not limes), so I feel like it’s at least somewhat representative. And I can’t say for sure whether my culinary toying affected the outcome of the game, but, well, Riders 27 – Bombers 7.

Which of course raises the question: can a blue and gold creation pull things the other way at next weekend’s Banjo Bowl?

baking

It’s a marshmallow world in the…spring?

April 23, 2011May 27, 2018 wittychild

A normal person would, much in the style of Charles Emerson Winchester III, do one thing at a time, do it very well, and then move on to the next thing. My approach is somewhat more chaotic, and I have found myself with one Mother’s Day project on the go, one yet to be started (eep!), one baby sampler due early summer started, and one anniversary present due late June started. Everything is slowly getting done, bit by bit, but thanks to my own special brand of multitasking, nothing is really getting finished. Thank goodness for long weekends.

I did, however, manage to steal a bit of time to try my hand at homemade marshmallows. These are not vegan, alas, as my experiences with agar agar have been somewhat unpredictable and I actually wanted these to work; if anyone knows a good gelatin-to-agar agar equivalency rate or other vegan option, I’d be thrilled.

That said, they turned out perfectly! I used Alton Brown’s recipe (found here), although I used nearly 2 1/2 Tbsp of vanilla instead of the recommended 1 tsp to enhance the flavour. They do get a little sticky if left at room temperature, despite the powdered sugar/cornstarch coating, so I’ve been keeping them in the fridge.

Some of them have extra “skin tags” because I cut them once in the pan, then turned them out and re-cut on the bottom, and some of my cuts didn’t quite line up perfectly – but that’s purely cosmetic. I’ve never used a candy thermometer before or attempted anything quite like this, but if I can manage, anyone can. They are vanilla-y, soft, and smooth, and I can’t wait to make s’mores out of these babies!

Oh, yes: Happy Nabokov Day!

baking

You’re a cute l’il pumpkin, aren’t you?

September 25, 2010May 27, 2018 wittychild

I don’t hate my job, per se. I do, however, hate that the eight hours per day spent at work, plus travel/preparation time, is severely cutting into my crafty time. Hmm. Maybe I’ll enjoy it even more if I don’t get to do it all that often. Or maybe I can learn to cleverly invest my paycheques and retire within the next two years, thereby freeing up all sorts of time. Or not. In the meantime, if they’re happy to pay me to hang out in the office, being helpful and productive and generally not screwing things up too much, then I’m happy to be there.

One thing I definitely love about my job, though, is the Bake Day Club. There are about 20 or so of us now who take turns bringing in delicious home baking (or even purchased donuts; we’re not picky) every Thursday. This week was my turn – my first time. Eek! It had come out some time ago that I do the whole vegan thing, so I was super determined to prove to everyone that I can bake just as well as they can, without the use of dairy or eggs. I whipped up a pan of Cranberry Lemon Zing Oat Bars from Kris Holechek’s The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes – a crowd-pleaser if there ever was one – and these little gems:

Top-down shot:

How autumny! (Thursday being the first full day of fall, of course.) These are a variation on the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I left the chocolate chips out, replaced them with ground walnuts, and added a little extra ginger, nutmeg, and cloves (about 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon of each) to give them a spicy pumpkin-pie feel. Oh, yes, and used mini-cupcake pans, obviously, instead of standard ones. People kept asking if I had baked them from scratch, and no one thought to ask whether there was, you know, like, tofu or something in there, ick. Yay! Chalk up another victory for tasty vegan baking!

Despite the aforementioned time crunch and sad lack of craftiness, I have managed to finish a couple of UFOs (or does that make them FOs, now?). Stay tuned….

baking

Some day we’re gonna marry and you’ll be my pineapple queen

June 15, 2010May 27, 2018 wittychild

Nothing outstanding today, sorry. This isn’t even the first time I’ve made them. But summer’s rapidly approaching, and nothing is quite as refreshing as a Pineapple Right-Side-Up cupcake from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Aren’t they adorable?

They look all fancy-like but are actually ridiculously simple. And straight out of the fridge…mmmm….that delicate blend of spice and fruitiness can’t be beat. And who couldn’t use a little extra Vitamin C?

baking, Cross-stitch and Embroidery

Birthday Bonanza

January 31, 2010May 23, 2018 wittychild

Update: I was finally able to give the birth sampler/card to my coworker last week, more than a month after the baby was born, but no matter…

My mumsie’s birthday was also last week; naturally, much home-made goodness was in the works. I made her blue velvet cupcakes (blue is her favourite colour) with vanilla-coconut buttercream frosting. It’s kind of hard to tell in the photo what colour they are, but trust me, they’re blue.

I think that icing may be my favourite thing that I’ve ever made…all coconutty and yummy…

She still collects hedgehogs, so a hand-stitched card was a must:

It’s from issue 216 (I think!) of Cross Stitcher, and originally said “Nice Cross Stitch”, but I took some artistic liberties with it. I still have a baby-sized callous on my finger from doing the backstitch on that. Uurgh. Trying to pierce the fabric where there’s no hole and it plainly doesn’t want to be pierced becomes old after a while. Still, I think the end justified the means.

For the next piece, you must understand that “Bork” is a verb in our household, and not just an interjection. In the kitchen, dropping, spilling, or mixing vigorously and flinging, well, anything, will cause someone to yell, “You borked the ice cream/potatoes/toast!” (Much as the Swedish Chef yells “Bork, bork, bork!” just before he sends his utensils flying.) She “got it” as soon as she opened it, and I daresay as custom designs/projects go, this was one of the best. Also simplest.

It’s on one of those awesome tea towels from Sublime Stitching which was an absolute dream to work on, and is currently brightening up the oven door.

As always, thanks for looking!

baking

Tequila and lime juice and salt…oh, my!

September 2, 2008April 30, 2018 wittychild

When I kicked off my five-day weekend (technically, Labour Day should only afford me a three-day weekend, but yay for vacation time!), let me tell you, I had plans, baby. Big plans. It was going to be a veritable orgy of creativity around my place. But you know how it is: the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Oh, I did get a little cross-stitching in, and started a mock-up of a Lolita dress, but neither of these creative endeavours yielded anything I could complete and post here, proudly proclaiming, “I made this!” That all changed today when, with my trusty copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World! in hand, I turned out these babies: Mucho Margarita Cupcakes.

Aren’t they festive? I think the coloured sugar around the edges is my favourite part. This is the second recipe I’ve tried from that book – having inhaled the pumpkin-chocolate chip cupcakes with cinnamon icing before I could get a picture – and I cannot say enough good things about it. This is twice, now, that I’ve managed from-scratch cupcakes that a) rose properly, b) cooked through properly, and c) didn’t burn. Highly recommended!