[Recipe] Christmas 2013: "Holiday Refresher" Mint Julep Cupcakes

There are so many Christmas desserts.  So many.  Sugar cookies, gingerbread, figgy pudding (how else to wish someone a merry Christmas?), shortbread, fruitcake (although most people seem to hate this last one)... the list goes on and on, and frankly, even as I'm typing, there are so many recipes I can't wait to try.

When planning this year's Christmas menu, though, I knew I wanted to make something minty for dessert.  Preferably chocolate-y as well, but my favorite flourless chocolate cakes, like so many other truly wintry chocolate desserts, can really only be served right out of the oven, and I wasn't holding the dinner party at my own apartment but at a friend's, so the dessert had to be made way ahead of time.  Adding alcohol—and especially bourbon-- was sort of the icing on the cake, so to speak—I knew my guests (mostly men) would definitely appreciate it.

Aren't these cupcake liners too adorable?  I saw them at the store and knew I had to have them.  I'm actually pretty sad that I probably can't use them for very much longer... there's only so long the rest of the world will let me milk the Season of Jolly, I'm afraid :\

And so, in the end, I settled on the below recipe, courtesy of cookiedog of Food.com.  They turned out—well, minty fresh—and were so light and refreshing, a perfect end to an otherwise rich and very satisfying meal.

"Holiday Refresher" Mint Julep Cupcakes
a recipe by cookiedog (Food.com)

Cupcake Base - Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon mint extract
2 eggs
1-1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup Bourbon
1/4 cup creme de menthe

Frosting - Ingredients
1-1/2 cups sifted confectioner's sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon mint extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Bourbon
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
Milk

Garnish
Mint sprig (optional)
Sprinkles (optional)

Directions
1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line the cupcake cups.
2.  In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.
3.  In the mixer bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.  Add the eggs one at a time.  Once the eggs are combined, add the extracts.  Slowly add in half of the flour mixture.  Add the milk and liquors to the batter, then the rest of the flour.  Mix as little as possible, just until the batter comes together.

4.  Divide evenly among the cupcake cups.  Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.  Let cool.

5.  For the Frosting: Whip the butter and shortening.  Slowly add in half the powdered sugar.  Add in the extracts and bourbon.  Add the rest of the powdered sugar.  Then slowly add in milk until the frosting reaches your desired consistency.

6.  Once cupcakes are completely cooled, frost and top with mint leaves and sprinkles (optional).

[Recipe] "Give Thanks" Pecan Pie Muffins

I might have played with the dolls, and I definitely have as much patriotic pride as anyone I know, but I'm really not your typical American Girl.  I don't have much extended family in the US.  I don't have any memories of "over the river and through the woods" and "grandmother's house," etc., and my holidays have always been a little "unorthodox."  You know, hotpot, hot chocolate, and mahjong for Christmas; Peking duck (yum!) and football on Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving pies and cranberry sauce are, thus, a bit of a "novelty" to me, and I'm always excited about turkey, stuffing, the whole nine yards (hooray for free and/or catered college campus Thanksgiving dinners!).

Which is why, in celebration of Thanksgiving, I like to turn to this recipe, courtesy of prissycat of Allrecipes.com:

"Give Thanks" Pecan Pie Muffins
a recipe by prissycat (Allrecipes.com)

This recipe, to anyone who has never made pecan pie before, looks ridiculous. There are just five very basic, simple ingredients and an almost obscene amount of brown sugar and butter-- like a shot of delicious sinfulness straight to the arteries.

Of course, that's precisely the beauty and nature of pecan pie, and it actually makes a lot of sense that its muffin derivative would be much the same.

Comments on-line complained of over-stickiness (and lost muffin!) and suggested sticking with mini-muffin tins.  I, however, made them in regular-size muffin tins and didn't have too much trouble popping them out.  I greased the tins with butter, then dusted with confectioner's sugar.  This seemed to do the trick.

The muffins don't rise much-- probably because the recipe doesn't call for much flour and contains neither baking soda nor baking powder—and so perhaps look a little on the small-ish and unattractive side.  They are, however, plenty rich, moist, and delicious.  They're a little too sweet to be a personal favorite, but quite a number of my friends have declared, over the years, that they're "even better than actual pecan pie!"

And now, you can make them, too. I promise you, easy as... pie ;)

Ingredients
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (King Arthur's)
1 cup chopped pecans
2/3 cup butter, softened
2 eggs, beaten

Directions
1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Lightly grease the muffin tin, then dust with confectioner's sugar.  (This will help with the eventual removal of the muffins.  You might also want to consider using a mini-muffin tin instead of a regular-sized one.)

2.  In a medium bowl, sift together the brown sugar, flour, and pecans.

3.  In a separate bowl, beat the butter and eggs together until smooth.  Stir the mixture into the dry ingredients just until combined.

4.  Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups.  Cups should be about 2/3 full.

 
5.  Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

"Waiter, there is too much pepper on my paprikash." 
"But I would be proud to partake of your pecan pie... "

[Recipe] "Fall for Fall" Pumpkin Surprise Muffins

It snowed the other day.  Just a light flurry, but it reminded me that autumn and, with it, pumpkin season, is coming to an end (a travesty).  I tend to stock up on ingredients, though, and canned pumpkin puree is no exception.  So there are still a few autumn recipes left in me!

I bought these beautiful autumn silicone molds on a whim a few weeks ago and have been dying for a chance to use them.  Muffins topped with streusel might not be the prettiest way to showcase the designs, but it was more an excuse to use them than a reason.

And if anyone else is also looking for an excuse rather than a reason to make these, they'd be perfect for breakfast the morning after Thanksgiving.  Or for any morning, really, because I think you'll discover that these need no excuses or reasons at all.

Happy Thanksgiving, dear reader, and stay warm and toasty :)

"Fall for Fall" Pumpkin Surprise Muffins
an original recipe by tammiest (the Passionfruit Fashionista)

Cream Cheese Frosting Filling (Optional) - Ingredients
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioner's (powdered) sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
1.  Cream together the cream cheese, confectioner's sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth.
2.  Put the cream cheese frosting mixture onto a large sheet of plastic wrap.  Roll into a log, then freeze the log for a few hours before using.

Muffin and Streusel Topping - Ingredients
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats (for better flavor, I use instant apple cinnamon oatmeal)
4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup cinnamon applesauce
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons rolled oats (for better flavor, I use instant apple cinnamon oatmeal)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease or line 18-20 muffin cups (18 if making without the cream cheese filling; 20 or more if making with) with paper liners.
2.  Combine 2-1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup oats, the pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.

3.  In a separate large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, the vegetable oil, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla extract.

4.  Stir the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture and mix well.  Fold in the raisins.
5.  Beat 1/4 cup brown sugar with butter in a bowl until smooth and creamy.  Whisk 2 tablespoons oats and 2 tablespoons flour, using a fork, into the sugar-butter mixture until the streusel topping is crumbly.

6.  Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin, about 3/4 of the way full.  Remove the frozen cream cheese frosting from the freezer and slice into slim cylinders, short and slim enough to be slipped into the center of the muffin batter.  Slip the frozen cream cheese cylinders into each filled muffin cup and make sure the batter covers the cream cheese frosting.

7.  Sprinkle each muffin with streusel topping.

8.  Bake in the preheated oven for 25-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean (but be careful of the cream cheese frosting in the center).

[Recipe] "Summer's Kiss Goodbye" Strawberry Nutella Muffins

I love autumn.  This, dear reader, you know.  I love the colors and tastes of fall-- so warm, inviting, and bright but muted.  I love my fall wardrobe—sweaters and leggings and peacoats, at once slouchy and sleek and sexy and oh-so-comfortable and chic.  I love the crispness of the air in fall, so crisp and brisk it has its own scent but not yet so cold as to have bite.  Autumn, to me, is sugar and spice, warmth and family.

Autumn makes me wax poetic.

But all this is not to say that there aren't things I love about summer equally as well.  Top of that list are sundresses, sandals, and summer fruits.  Like strawberries.

Growing up, my mother had a beautiful garden, but it consisted almost exclusively of flowers.  The only type of fruit she grew was strawberries.  They were inevitably tiny and carried off by my neighborhood's resident rabbits, but they always signaled the beginning of summer to me, and all during the hottest months of the year, I'd eat strawberries with fresh cream, white sugar (so simple, so delicious), and strawberry shortcake.  Summer strawberries are sweet romance to me, gorgeous and juicy and red, the fruit of simultaneous innocence and seduction.

When this recipe, courtesy of Two Peas and Their Pod, popped up on my Facebook newsfeed, I just knew I had to make it.  I can't think of a better way to kiss summer goodbye than with strawberries and nutella in breakfast pastry form :)

"Summer's Kiss Goodbye" Strawberry Nutella Muffins

a recipe by Two Peas and Their Pod

There's something ephemeral about summer and in particular summer romance.  Both are bright and beautiful but also, in a way, delicate.  I'm not sure why this is, except that maybe everything seems bright and beautiful in the summer, before they wilt or fade in the autumn and winter cold.  But their somewhat doomed, delicate nature makes them no less beautiful, and they should be embraced—if only for a little while (and if only in the form of this muffin).

My sweetest summer romance was tall, dark, and sensitive, with a musician's voice, a philosopher's soul, and blue eyes that could pierce through all my defenses and lay all my secrets bare.  He was going one way, and I was going another, and we were doomed the moment we smiled and said, "Hello."

How about you, dear reader?  Do you have a particularly bittersweet summer romance?

Soundtrack: Jon McLaughlin feat. Sara Bareilles - Summer Is Over

Autumn never seemed this cold before

Here I am sleeping on the floor

We changed just like the leaves

Outside my house

And my phone lay silent by the couch

I remember June

Back when I met you

And your eyes were green

And we were, too

But summer is over

We were tangled in the morning sun

Felt you getting colder

And we knew that we would come undone

And it's back to my town, back to your life

Gray skies are blowing a kiss goodbye to the lovers

'Cause summer is over...

Yield: 10 muffins

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

1 large egg

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chopped fresh strawberries

1/3 cup Nutella

Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling on top of muffins

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease well.  Set aside.

2.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar.

3.  In a small bowl, combine the canola oil, egg, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Use a fork or whisk and mix until well combined.

4.  Incorporate the wet ingredients into the flour mixture.  Add slowly and gently stir-- but don't over-mix.  The batter will be thick.  Carefully fold in the strawberries.

5.  Fill each muffin cup half-way with batter.  Next, add a small spoonful of Nutella to each muffin cup.  Cover the Nutella filling with the remaining batter.  Sprinkle each muffin with Turbinado sugar.

6.  Bake the muffins for 17-20 minutes, or until they are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.  Remove the muffins from the pan and let cool on a cooling rack.

[Recipe] "Not Quite Korean" Short Rib Tacos

Growing up, I could sometimes feel like two different people.  On the one hand, I am, by heritage, Taiwanese.  On the other hand, I am American.  This dichotomy plays out in different areas of my life, and my parents made sure to expose me to both American and Taiwanese everything, from language to music to dance.  But there wasn't necessarily a lot of overlap.

In the last ten years or so, though, things have started to change with the onset of "Asian fusion."  It's a trend that blends East with West, and it's happening across all different platforms.  Musically, for example, Taiwanese artists such as 王力宏 Wang LeeHom, 周杰倫 Jay Chou JieLun, and 林俊傑 JJ Lin JunJie have been experimenting and yielding phenomenal hits.  On the food front, it seems like every major city has a slew of "modern Asian dining" restaurants that boost traditional Asian dishes with modern Western twists.

Korean tacos were originally the brainchild of Kogi Korean BBQ, a food truck based in L.A.  They rank among the most successful and certainly the most recognizable of the Asian fusion foods.  They've been making their way slowly across the U.S., but a surprising number of East Coasters have never even heard of them, let alone had them.  I myself have only had them once at a house party in California.

So what's a girl to do when she's craving this crazy comfort food and can't get any?  Make it herself, of course.

And so my latest food adventure with KiKi was a long time in coming, at least for me.  It was a relatively short wait for her (just two weeks), but I'm happy I was able to introduce her (and you, dear readers) to this food.

"Not Quite Korean" Short Rib Tacos
an original recipe by tammiest (the Passionfruit Fashionista)

First, the "Not Quite Korean" Short Ribs: 

The traditional Korean taco uses Korean barbecue meat.  But I didn't want to barbecue the meat—it can dry out if it's not eaten right away (though it is amazing in the moment), and KiKi and I are partial to braising our short ribs.  So I had to improvise a braising recipe instead and couldn't fall back on the storebought Korean barbecue sauce.

The resulting sauce probably isn't all that Korean.  Most of the base draws from a marinade my Taiwanese mother passed on to me, and then I added hoisin (to give it that sweet taste Korean short ribs have) and Sriracha, which is Vietnamese, not Korean.  So these are clearly "Not Quite Korean" Short Rib Tacos, so fusion they draw from all parts of the East.

Ingredients
4 lbs. beef short ribs
1 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup mirin
1/3 cup rice wine
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 quart water
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and minced
1/2 cup diced green onions, white part only
(at least) 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1-1/2 tablespoons Sriracha hot sauce

Directions
In a wide stockpot or Dutch oven, combine the soy sauce, mirin, sake, brown sugar, water, garlic, gingergreen onion bottoms, hoisin sauce, and Sriracha, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then add the short ribs, cover, and turn down the heat to a low simmer for 3 hours, checking and turning the ribs every 45 minutes or so.  At the end of 3 hours, the meat should be falling off the bone.

Then, the Asian Salsa: 

The way I understand it, Korean tacos are typically accompanied by a sour and spicy pickled vegetable salsa.  I wanted our salsa, though, to be more subdued-- a little more similar in flavor profile to a Mexican-style vegetable (non-tomato) salsa but with an Asian twist.  I thought this recipe, courtesy of The Year in Food, was exactly what I was looking for.  I took it and tweaked it for my purposes.

Ingredients
1 large avocado, diced
1 small bunch radishes, sliced into thin strips
1/2 cup Asian mung bean sprouts, each cut in two or three pieces to match the size of the radish strips
1/2 small yellow onion, minced
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1 jalapeno, minced
juice of 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 tablespoons sesame oil
(at least) 2 tablespoons Sriracha hot sauce

Directions
Slice and mince all the vegetables, as applicable, then combine with the lime juice, minced cilantro, salt, sesame oil, and Sriracha.  Adjust taste as necessary.

Finally, put it all together: 

Additional Ingredients
Queso Fresco, crumbled
Mini corn tortillas
Sriracha hot sauce (optional)

Directions
1.  Crumble the queso fresco.
2.  Shred the beef short ribs with a knife or a fork.
3.  Heat the tortillas in a pan.
4.  Once all the components have been prepared, assemble the tacos to your liking (we recommend adding a touch of Sriracha), and enjoy.

[Recipe] "Stay With Me" Pretzel Rolls

Soft pretzels are German.  Right?  But somehow I tend to associate them, especially in their soft bun variety, with America.  Maybe it's because I grew up in Pennsylvania Dutch country, which, according to this entry on the history of pretzels, was/is the epicenter of American pretzels.  Or maybe it's because I can't remember what I think of as quintessentially "American" things like baseball and football games or amusement parks without a soft pretzel in one hand and a soda in the other.

American or German, soft pretzels are an amazing comfort food.  In roll form, they're even more so.  Their texture changes, and the rolls are more pillow-y and can be almost-but-not-quite like a croissant.  The granules of salt (speaking of which, I really need to figure out where I can buy those thick granules of pretzel salt for my own purposes) satisfy every guilty salt craving I've ever had.   They're actually addictive.

I'm fond of this recipe, courtesy of Codychop of Food.com.  The following recipe yields 12 rolls, so double or triple accordingly for your needs.

"Stay With Me" Pretzel Rolls
a recipe by Codychop (Food.com)

The original inspiration for these was actually a vision of pretzel roll croutons as a topping for my Oktoberfest Mac, but I obviously "overbaked" on purpose so we'd have extra for our dinner guests and ourselves to snack on.  They proved perfect both plain and with a side of honey mustard.  KiKi and I had originally planned to improvise a recipe for honey mustard butter, but we were a little overambitious with our cooking schedule, so that experiment will have to happen at a later date.

My friends Vonnie and Apollo were the first to try these rolls.  We had made a quick pitstop at my apartment Saturday night for a change of clothes (me), a drink (everyone), and, of course, the pretzel rolls.

They impressed my friends.  We really couldn't stop eating them.  In fact, they were so addictive that my friend Vonnie's advice to me upon tasting them was, "You've got to feed these to Henri (a Frenchman, if it's not obvious).  They say 'stay with me' better than anything else.  One taste, and he'll never want to leave America."

For the curious, my pretzel rolls, while tasty, are not quite good enough to keep someone from ever going home.  But they're certainly good enough for another, and another, and another... 

Ingredients
1 cup warm water
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup oil
3 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon yeast
6 cups water
3 tablespoons baking soda
1 egg white
1 tablespoon kosher salt

Directions
1.  Mix together brown sugar, salt, and yeast in a big bowl.
2.  Mix together oil and water.  Add to the sugar and yeast mixture.
3.  Add the flour and mix to a nice doughy (not sticky) consistency.  Knead with mixer for a few minutes.
4.  Divide dough into 12 balls and shape into rolls and let rise on greased foil cover sheet for 20–30 minutes, until nice and puffy.  Codychop recommends raising in a warmed oven-- preheated to the lowest setting, then turned off, at which point the dough can be put in to rise.

5.  While the dough is rising, bring water and baking soda to a simmer in a wide pan with straight sides.
6.  Once dough has finished rising, remove from the warmed oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Place 4 rolls in the water and simmer 1 minute, than flip and simmer for an additional minute.  Drain and place the rolls on a cookie sheet.  Repeat with the remaining rolls.

7.  Brush rolls with egg white and sprinkle generously with kosher salt.  Slash decoratively with a sharp blade.

8.  Bake until "pretzel" brown, about 12–15 minutes.

[Fashion] Kate Spade "Eat Cake for Breakfast" Tote

Every once in a while, I indulge in a ridiculous splurge.  And by that, I mean that I break one of my shopping rules.

I have two cardinal rules of shopping.  They're meant to be considered in tandem with each other: if something I want doesn't follow one rule, I consider the other, which can compensate for the violation of the first.  In that sense, this purchase is fine because it violates only one of my rules.

My first rule is that the value of a piece can be measured in part by how often I know (or at least predict) that I will use it.  Thus, an expensive piece can be justified if I know that I love love love it and will use it either every day or for years to come.  The second rule considers the uniqueness and/or craftsmanship and materials that went into a piece.  I hate looking like everyone else, and, though I certainly go for my fair share of common mainstream labels, I love when someone stops me on the street or in the hallway to ask me where I got something.

To be fair, this Kate Spade bag has solicited a fair amount of compliments already, even from strangers.  But it's a canvas tote bag.  Every other canvas tote bag I own was free: a free gift along with some other purchase or a party/event favor.  Sure, with one or two notable exceptions, most of these tote bags are generic and plain, displaying the logo of whatever company/event distributed them.  But that's generally fine because people (or I, at least) don't really use canvas tote bags except to go to the store or the beach.

But this bag was just so adorably cheeky and me that I took the plunge.  I can frequently be found with freshly baked goods in my bag, so why not proclaim my baking/cooking addiction, loud and clear?

Do I love this tote like whoa?  Yes.  Will I be using this tote constantly?  Yes—in fact, I already brought it with me to the farmers' market last weekend and to work several days this week, and so, I guess, in that respect, the bag is a good investment.  But do I think any canvas tote bag could possibly be worth this amount of money?  Absolutely not.  Maybe time will prove me wrong, and this canvas will somehow, miraculously, be sturdier and better than any other canvas bag I own.

I guess I already have :)

[Music] Joe Paulson (live at Joe's Pub at The Public)

Last night I went to a Jon McLaughlin show at 11:30 PM at Joe's Pub at The Public.  I bought tickets late Sunday night-- and it was the best decision I've made this month.  I found out he was playing only by chance-- I "liked" him on Facebook years ago, and he posted a status update to let his fans know that his show the next night in New York City still had a few open seats.  I went by myself and fell hopelessly in love with him and his music all over again.  But I'm gushing ahead of myself-- he'll get his own post.

Jon's opening act was Joe Paulson, a singer-songwriter from Indiana who, according to his website/Facebook page, is an accountant by day and a musician with a heart of gold (he donates the majority of the proceeds from his merchandise sales to two extremely worthy charities) by night.  He and his music are earnest in every sense of the word.  His sound is similar to Jon's and it isn't-- his music is a little less intense and complex, which isn't meant as an insult by any means.  If pressed, I'd say he's like a cross between James Blunt and Matt Nathanson (both of whom I love-- do you see a pattern here?).

Here's a short clip of him from last night playing "The Fallout," the title track off his new EP.  Loveee the instrumental for this.

Unfortunately for the lucky few who are still waiting to see Jon on the remainder of his tour to promote his latest album, last night was Joe's last show with the tour.  But the man is definitely talented and deserves some views, exposure, recognition, etc., the whole shebang.
Check him out at: http://www.joepaulsonmusic.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joepaulsoncommunity
Twitter: https://twitter.com/joepaulson

And I'll leave you with a short clip of him playing "Take Me Back Again," also from his debut EP: