Bite of Bellingham

First off, I apologize for not posting anything last week. For some reason, I was really tired and my work was really difficult. 

Now that that is behind us, let us start this week. To make up for last week, I went to the Bite of Bellingham, where local restaurants come together in a farmers market-like manor and give out "bites" or samples of food that they serve. Having a passion for baking and critiquing desserts, this was the perfect opportunity to try the local talent. I tried a total of seven different desserts and boy, did my stomach hurt after having one dessert after the other. 

Destination 1: Bellingham Flat Bread

Dessert: Gluten Free Red Velvet Cupcake

Critique: This was a very good cupcake. I really liked the frosting because it was cream cheese (I love cream cheese frosting) and it wasn't too sweet. The cake was good for being gluten free, but I found it to be grainy. 

Score: 4 out of 5

Destination 2: Alice's Pies 

Dessert: Mix Berry Pie

Critique: I did not really like this pie. I thought I could make it better. The crust and mix was not sweet enough for me. The crust was also not flaky enough. I thought that the whipped cream on top was too milky and not whipped enough. 

Score: 2 out of 5

Destination 3: Pure Bliss Dessert 

Dessert: Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcake

Critique: I was excited to try this cupcake because of two reasons, I have made this type of cupcake before, and this restaurant is one of the best bakeries in Bellingham. 

I came out disappointed. The chocolate cake was too bitter and the frosting was too sweet. You would think combining it together would even the two out, but the frosting was too sweet; it overpowered the whole cupcake. 

Score: 3 out of 5

Destination 4: Goat Mountain Pizza

Dessert: Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookie

Critique: I know that this is not a bakery, but if you are going to be serving desserts at your restaurant, it should be just as good as the food you are serving. This cookie was BAD. I liked the idea of the sea salt because salt brings out flavor. This cookie was TOO salty. 

Score: 1 out of 5

Destination 5: The Table by Bellingham Pasta Co

Dessert: Chocolate Mousse 

Critique: This mousse was okay. It had a grainy texture at the beginning that then smoothed out while you ate it. My friend said she thought that they whipped it too much, but I do not know. If it did not have that grainy texture I would have been really pleased.

Score: 3 out of 5

Destination 6: The Mount Bakery Cafe

Dessert: Caramelized Lemon Custard Tartlet 

Critique: This restaurant is an other bakery that is one of the best bakeries in Bellingham. I have actually applied to work here, but God had other plans of me. 

The Lemon Custard was good, but the crust was too flaky. Together they didn't fit that well. There was one saving factor: the blueberry. When you took the bite with the blueberry, the juice of the fruit helped hold everything together. I wish the whole top was covered with blueberries. 

Score: 3 out of 5

Destination 7: Mrs. B's Pies

Dessert: Harvest Pumpkin Pie

Critique: By this time in my venture, I was going to die. I needed to eat something other then desserts, but I wasn't about to give up. 

First off, the lady (I am guessing Mrs. B) was really nice. I asked her what she suggested and she said it depends on what I like. She ended up suggesting the pumpkin pie. I was VERY pleased. The crusted was a crumbed gram cracker crust that had spices in it that really help balance the pumpkin. My friend gave me the taste of the raspberry pie, which was amazing and tangy. 

Score: 5 out of 5

Kirsten

Last Taste of Summer

This week I had the amazing opportunity to bake Lemon Strawberry Cupcakes. My lovely sister-in-law gave me the idea to bake with lemons and strawberries. What was fun about this week's creation is that one, I got to combine two separate recipes to make something delicious. Two, it was the first time I got to share my love with my co-workers. Usually I take my baked goods to my church picnic on Wednesdays, but with fall around the corner, the BBQ grill is in hibernation until next summer. My co-workers were pleased and are excited for me to share more. 

It was the perfect week to have something refreshing, because we were blessed with 80 degree weather. Enjoy this last taste of summer before it's time to settle inside, listening to the rain, wrapped in a blanket, enjoying the desserts of the coming season. 

As for an update about the happenings in my life, autumn is my favorite season. I love the colors of the leaves changing and the smell of pies in the air. For all who are consistent in following my steps to open up my own bakery, I have great news.  I am making the desserts for my church's women day. What better advertising? So expect new recipes and images as I test out what I am planning on making! 

Kirsten 

Lemon Strawberry Cupcakes

The lemon cake recipe I took from http://www.marthastewart.com/632498/lemon-cake.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 2 1/2 cups of flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of lemon zest
• 1 1/2 cups of sugar
• 2 large eggs plus 3 large egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup of low-fat buttermilk

Directions

1. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cupcake pan by placing in liners. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mixing at a low speed add in eggs and yolks on at a time. Beat in lemon juice.
3. Alternately beat in the flour mixture and the buttermilk. Begin and end with the flour mixture. Mix just until combined.
4. Put batter into liners and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool for about 10 minutes. 

The strawberry frosting I took from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/strawberry-frosting-recipe/index.html

Ingredients 

• 1/2 cup of butter
• 4 cups of powdered sugar, plus extra if needed
• 1/4 cup of whole milk (at room temperature)
• 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of strawberry fruit spread or jam

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, beat the butter until light and smooth. Beat in 3 cups of powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth and creamy.
2. Beat in the strawberry fruit spread or jam into the frosting. Mix the remaining 1 cup of powdered sugar (plus extra if needed) until smooth and creamy. 

Kirsten

The Science in Making a Cupcake

Today's Tuesday tip will be on a science of making cupcakes.

One day while on the internet I came across an image explaining how to fill cupcakes properly. As a home baker, it can be difficult because you don't want to overfill the cupcake liner so the cake tops off and you have a mushroom looking cupcake. Another difficulty is the attempt to make them all look uniform. The picture that I came across explained that if you were to fill a cupcake liner about half to 3/4 full, the cake will come out perfect peak or a flat surface to frost. Lately, as I have been baking I've been putting this idea into practice. I like to fill the cupcake liner about 3/4 of the way. This helps it too you have a nice peak in the center, without having a mushroom top.

I'm a perfectionist and I like a clean finish so if you don't really care about your finished product, then disregard this information I just presented. However, I believe that it's important to you share with you the tips that I've learned on how to make the product look professional.

As for baking time I usually bake the cupcakes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 to 20 minutes it. It really depends on your oven temperature on how long you want to bake your cupcakes.

I now turn to how to frost a cupcake. First, I will direct you to an early Tuesday Tip of mine where I discussed the consistency of frosting. Now, I will explain what type of tip you use frost your cupcakes. The different tips one can use is a M1 open star tip, the extra large closest star tip, the extra large French tip, or the extra large round tip. You can usually find these tips at Michaels, Joann, Target, or Walmart. There is also a tip for filling, but I won't go into that today.

You may decide to go the old school route with frosting it with a nice for spatula and get to make it look beautiful, but again I am a perfectionist and I really like the swirling technique on the tops of my cupcakes. 

To create that classic swirl, all you have to do is hold your piping bag at a 45 degree angle from the top of your cupcake and use your wrist to create that swirl. Sometimes I hold the cupcake in my hand, or is start the swirl in the middle, instead of the sides. If you mess up, the beauty of frosting is that you can usually just swipe it off the cupcake and try again. You can also practice on just parchment paper. 

Kirsten

Ooh La La Cupcakes

My husband and I went to Victoria, BC for our anniversary this last week. I thought that since I could not bake anything this week for the blog I chose to go to a cupcake shop and review it. I really wanted to go to Original Cupcakes, a show called The Cupcake Girls that you might have seen on WE tv, but that was a little too far. Instead I went to Ooh La La cupcake. They are featured in this clip of a Canadian news channel. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiyfJ03bsXI

I was expecting to have a really good experience, but sadly I was disappointed. When my husband and I walked up to the shop it looked closed. We walked in and the lady who was working was in the back room. She came out and was friendly, but as soon as she served us she went back to the room. 

My husband had the red velvet cupcake and I had the monkey business cupcake. The red velvet had a really good salty cake bottom which wasn't dense. However, the frosting was made out of whipped buttercream. With red velvet you really want to use cream cheese frosting, so that the sweetness of the frosting doesn't overpower the sweetness of the cupcake.

 As for my monkey business cupcake, it was a banana cake bottom and a whipped chocolate frosting on top. The frosting was good and the cake was good even though it was very heavy, but the two together did not taste that great. I think it would have been better if they had put some banana in the frosting to make it taste more like a banana.

I hope you didn't miss me while I was gone, but one of my favorite pastimes is to go to bakeries, try their goods, and critique them. It helps me when I try to produce my own work. I hope to have the opportunity to review more cupcake shops in the future and please leave comments below about your feelings towards this review.

Kirsten

My German Husbands Favorite

For a while my husband has stated the fact that I have been baking all these delouse treats for others, making him eating little to none of his wife's sweets. I promised him that this week I would make his favorite German chocolate cupcakes. I thought it would be a nice gesture, especially because our anniversary next week. Adding to this reason, a fellow teacher had a birthday and i found out that she likes German chocolate too. I made enough for her, my husband, and for our church picnic. I don't care for coconut, but the kind people who devoured the cupcakes seemed to have enjoyed them. 

Kirsten

German Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients 

Cake:
1 4-ounce package of sweet German baking chocolate chopped
1 1/2 cups of milk
3/4 cups of butter
3 eggs
2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
3/4 teaspoon of baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 3/4 cups of sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla 

Frosting:
1 egg
2/3 cup or 5-ounce of evaporated milk
2/3 sugar
1/4 cup of butter


Directions

Cake: 

1. In a double boiler, combine chocolate and milk. Cook and stir over low heat until melted; set aside to cool. 
2. Have butter and eggs reach room temperature (about 30 minutes). Meanwhile place cupcake liners in your cupcake tin. In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside. 
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl beat butter for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar 1/4 cup at a time until well combined (about 3 minutes). Scrape sides and continue for 2 more minutes. 
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in vanilla. 
5. Alternately add flour mixture and chocolate mixture to the butter mixture, beating on a low speed. Spoon cake mix into the cupcake pan. 
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Cool thoroughly on racks. 

Frosting:

1.  In a medium sauce pan slightly beat the egg. Stir in the evaporated milk, the sugar, and the butter. 
2. Cook and stir over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. 
3. Remove from heat; stir in coconut flakes and chopped pecans. Cover and cool before frosting cupcakes. 

Adopted and adjusted this recipe from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book 14th Edition copy right in 2006. 

Kirsten