Cake, cake, and cupcakes

So a long time ago, I made a cake for a devotional meeting/potluck with some Baha’is in the area.  And ever since, I’ve been meaning to make a post about it, but haven’t.  Now that I’m more-or-less couch-ridden (Andreas and I have both come down with some something icky), I thought I finally would!

The cake was really delicious, though very heavy, but kept well.  The cupcakes were all eaten, but the cake was ours to take home.  It took me a week and a half to eat the whole thing, and when I got to the last piece, it was still moist, and in good condition!

 

Andreas helped me out with these, and the chocolate designs were all his idea!  He even made the ones atop the cupcakes.  I think the best part about bringing them to the potluck was sharing the compliments, and getting to brag a little bit about Andreas.

Now hopefully he can use his creativity to think of something we can eat without having to go out in the cold.  We’ll do anything to stay in our pajamas.

 

Sanity-Saving Chocolate Cupcakes

Things are still hard.  I’m still having good days, and bad days, and the occasional mental breakdown.  It’s about time to move again.  We were supposed to move next Wednesday, but we might be putting it off a few more weeks, as the person we’re subletting from might not be coming back.  Might.  Maybe.  Even though I’d like to stay here a bit longer before moving, all this uncertainty is getting to me.  It might not seem like a big deal, but amid all of the other uncertainty and “stuckedness” it’s really frustrating and disheartening.

There’s not much that seems to help sometimes when everything gets so overwhelming, but having little things to look forward to, and to take my mind of off whatever is happening (or not happening) in the big picture does perk me up a bit.  These chocolate cupcakes are exactly that.  Even Andreas loves them, and he doesn’t have nearly the sweet tooth that I have.  I’ve found that the people I’ve met here in general aren’t really big fans of frosting, but this one can capture anyone’s heart, and it has.  It’s more buttery and rich than sweet, and the cupcakes are wonderfully fluffy and chocolatey.

Now, as I’m making my way through another rough patch, I feel the urge to make these today.  These and soft pretzels…but we’ll see how far I get.  The cupcake recipe is the base of these delicious-looking hostess-style cupcakes.  When I baked them, they ended up perfectly domed on the top, and I decided they were better suited to a pile of silky frosting.

The buttercream recipe is the one my mom has always used that she got from her mom, and maybe that’s why these are so comforting to me.  With buttercream, it’s generally suggested that you let it sit out for a while before serving, so it can soften, but I’ve always preferred it straight from the refrigerator, and so does Andreas.  Something about the solidity of it melting slowly on my tongue is like a mix between frosting and ice cream, and brings me back to almost every birthday my family celebrated while we were growing up (which were many, because we were a family of nine!).

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

1/4 cup (60 g) butter
2 Tbs. flour
2 Tbs. cocoa powder
3/4 cup milk (I used chocolate oat milk to make it extra-chocolatey and more Andreas-friendly)
1 tsp. vanilla (I use vanilla sugar)

Melt butter over low heat.  Add flour and cocoa powder, then gradually add milk.
Cook until it boils and thickens, stirring constantly.  Cool to room temperature (this is super important!  I usually put mine in the fridge for a while) and then add vanilla.

Cream 1/2 cup (120 grams) of softened butter with 1 cup sugar.  Add the “pudding” mixture and beat for about five minutes, until it reaches a nice spreadable consistency and all the sugar granules are dissolved.

 

Shiny Crinkly Gorgeous Chocolate Cookies

The other day, after making little lemon cream pies, I realized I had a few leftover egg whites in the fridge, and a hankering to make something chocolatey.  A few minutes with trusty Foodgawker later, and I had a recipe ready to go!  These cookies were not only really, really pretty, but they tasted amazing.  Like pure, chewy chocolate…except that doesn’t sound very nice.  The blog I got the recipe from describes them as “chocolate clouds,” but mine didn’t turn out particularly “cloudy.”  Let it just be left at “these cookies are so delicious that I cannot adequately describe them” and move on to the actual cookies!

Chocolate Crackle Drops
Recipe adapted from: overtimecook

Ingredients:
1.5 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 egg whites (about)
1 Tbs prepared coffee
150 g chocolate, chopped (I used dark)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (I used to always just butter the pan and skip the parchment paper, but I think this is one of the recipes where it’s pretty important.)  Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa powder together.  Add the coffee and egg whites.  Whisk gently until incorporated, then fold in chopped chocolate.

Place tablespoon-fulls onto the prepared baking sheet (don’t mind if they look like blobs of mud with straw and stones in them, the beautification process takes place in the oven) and bake about 12 minutes until shiny and crackled along the top.  Remove from the oven and let cool on the parchment paper before removing them completely.  (That’s the hardest part.)

Then stack them up like you’re counting your gold, and enjoy!

 

Spring Overload

It’s spring.  It is sooooo spring.

Today is the first day that I really feel it.  It is bright, it is sunny, and people are walking around “in their shirtsleeves” (I wish people still used this phrase).  Although I spent the morning accidentally locked into the apartment, I love that we have a sunny balcony.  I love that my neighbors play string instruments on their sunny balcony.  I love that every door was open, letting in the beautiful music, and the delightful spring air.  I love spring.

I also like caramels!  I’ve been wanting to make them for a while, but it was one of those sort-of-intimidating can-I-really-do-it projects.  However, with my new resolution to tackle that exact sort of project, into caramel, I dove!

I didn’t have a candy thermometer, so I decided to try the “cold water” method (and by “decided” I mean, I’d already started boiling the caramel when I realized I didn’t have a candy thermometer).  It ended up going really well, although the caramel is a bit softer than I was aiming for, I’m pretty proud of how it turned out.  I used the basic caramel recipe here.

I put some roughly chopped cashews on top, but next time I think I’ll put MORE cashews on top!  I put some in these cute little candy cups I bought a while ago, and covered them in dark chocolate

Some of them, I rolled into “logs” and set out to cover in chocolate, but I realized they looked too much like turds when I did that, so I decided to just drizzle them and wrap them in parchment paper, heh.

All-in-all it was a good experiment.  I’ve been wanting to get some more experience making candies, because I think sometimes they make better gifts than baked goods do (and they’re easier to give).

Caramels and spring…how can I not be happy?

Rants and Ravings on Valentine’s Day

During my daily over-browsing of Facebook, I’ve noticed today that I’ve read more negative posts concerning Valentine’s Day than positive ones.  Now, given the big hoopla that everyone makes over Valentine’s Day (both those celebrating it, and those vehemently NOT celebrating it) I guess I should have expected this, but I really didn’t.

Valentine’s Day has never been a big deal for me, except in elementary school where I got to decorate a Kleenex box and everyone attached candy to their Valentines.  The best part was when we all got to mill around and deliver them (my love of sorting has not dimmed since then).

Anyway, I was thinking (surprising, right?) and I don’t see why Valentine’s Day is a big deal.  Originally it’s some celebration of a saint who got eaten by a lion or something, and over the years it’s been commercialized and made into a day where we’re supposed to buy things for the one we love.  But that does not change the fact that it IS a holiday (it’s on the calendar after all).  The thing I’m going to say next would probably spark a lot of controversy if anyone really read this blog, but as it’s mostly just my sisters (hi sisters!) I’m not too worried about it.  So here it is: I don’t think Valentine’s Day has been all that much more commercialized and over-celebrated than Christmas! So there!  Christmas is a celebration that Jesus was born (and it’s not even celebrated in the right season!).  So why do we feel compelled to buy gifts, eat lots of food, and have parties?  Because that’s what you do on a holiday.  So why shouldn’t we do it on Valentine’s Day, too?  Personally, I feel like Valentine’s day was created to nudge us all out of our depressed mid-winter rut, and I appreciate it as just that.  Anyone who hates Valentine’s day for its over-commercialization should also be required to hate Christmas for the same reason and not do anything except sit with his family and think about Jesus as a baby (hmm, that doesn’t sound so bad.  I’ll bet Jesus was an awfully cute baby.)

For the record, I didn’t feel any different about Valentine’s day when I was single.

And now to the present!  This is Andreas’s and my first Valentine’s Day together, and in celebration, he came on a walk to the neighborhood Netto with me (and without complaining), we bought chocolate (mine!) and chips (his!) and we’re going to watch a movie (his choice).  Perfect.  And to be honest, I don’t really care whether it’s Valentine’s Day or not, but it’s nice to have an excuse to do something special and fun and cuddly.

So for anyone who’s reading this, Happy Valentine’s Day!  I’d share if I could

An Extra Big (Swedish) Hazelnut Chocolate Bar