Playing dress-up with my cupcakes

How many of you were told time and again not to play with your food? There you were, still a little munchkin, sitting at the table with your mind on other more interesting things than what's on your plate. You're pushing the peas around with your fork and there's a bored look on your face, which is likely resting on the palm of your left hand, when the stern reprimand comes. Sound familiar?

Yes, we were taught well. Instilled deep in our bones are proper table manners and good etiquette that spared us many a embarassing moment later in life. And with maturity comes freedom. The freedom to play and have fun and express ourselves, as with the food we create. Our toys may have changed over the years but one thing is certain, we never get too old to play! So when I saw these Silly Feet silicone baking cups, I just had to have it. I mean, look at those bright pretty colors they come in. Hey, Barbie isn't the only one who's gotta accessorize! My cupcakes could use some new shoes too. :)

I made a dozen of these cupcakes to take to my sister's house for a party she was throwing. I baked 8 cupcakes in regular paper cups, and used the silicone cups for the other 4 which I saved for my sister's kids. Those in the Silly Feet are not really meant to be eaten like regular cupcakes, you'll have to use a fork for these, but that doesn't make it any less fun to eat! I thought they looked adorable and the kids got quite a kick out of them so you can bet I'll be playing dress-up with many more cupcakes in the future.

The recipe is from Buttercup Bakes at Home by Jennifer Appel, owner of the popular Buttercup Bake Shop in Manhattan. The delicious cookbook which has separate chapters for cookies, quick breads, layer cakes, pound cakes, cheesecakes, pies & tarts, puddings & icebox desserts, baking with kids, and of course cupcakes was a birthday present from dear Joey who had snuck a peak at my Amazon wish list for gift ideas. Thanks again, Jojo! :)

These cupcakes are quite light, that is until you slather on the scrumptious frosting. The original recipe calls for 2 cups of sweetened shredded coconut to be swirled into the frosting along with the pecans but I didn't have any at the moment so I left that out. It still came out wonderful.

So get in touch with your inner child and play with your food. It's fun! And because I said so. ;)

German Chocolate cupcakes with caramel pecan frosting

To make the cupcakes, you'll need:

2 oz. Baker's German's sweet chocolate - I used Callebaut dark gianduja
1/4 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
2 eggs, separated
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 deg.
In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the chocolate with the water, stirring to melt the chocolate completely. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar using medium speed for about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolks, beating well until combined. Add in the chocolate mixture and the vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients in thirds, alternating with the buttermilk, beating after each addition until smooth.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites on the high speed of an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gently fold into the batter until no streaks of white are showing.
Spoon the batter into muffin tins lined with cupcake liners (or cute silicone cups) to about 2/3 full. Bake for 23 to 25 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Be careful not to overbake, as this cake has a lighter texture than most.
Let the cupcakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Remove from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack. Spread on Caramel Pecan Frosting.

For the Caramel Pecan Frosting, you'll need:
3/4 can evaporated milk
3 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

In a large pot, whisk together the milk and egg yolks. Stir in the sugar,butter and vanilla extract. Stir continuously over medium heat about 10 to 12 minutes, or until thickened and bubbly and golden in color. Remove from the heat. Stir in the pecans.
Transfer to a large bowl and cool until room temperature (about 2 hours until it thickens to good spreading consistency). Spread the frosting over tops of completely cooled cupcakes.

White Chocolate & Macadamia Nut cookies

As far back as I can remember, we would often have a box or two of Hawaiian Host chocolate-covered macadamia nuts courtesy of a visiting relative or friend of my parents'. It seemed to be the favorite pasalubong (gift from travels) during those times along with cans of salted macadamia, Almond Roca and Violet Crumble (ooohh how we would fight for these!) among a few others. And so for a very long time, that was all I knew of that nut. That it either came salted in a can or covered in delicious milk chocolate, but always from the exotic islands of pineapples and grass skirts.

Of course now I'd like to think that all these years exposed to more types of food from here and beyond have not only helped to expand my waistline (groan) but also my little knowledge of foods somewhat. Like for example, I know now that the macadamia nut is not only native to Hawaii as I ignorantly presumed, but also to Australia, Brazil and some other countries in South Africa and South America.

I found them to be abundant in Beijing, piled high among an assortment of dried fruit and nuts. I wish we had as much variety here and for the same reasonable price. I bought tons of the stuff, some to eat right away and the rest packed away for home. I stuffed myself silly with the sweetest, most delicious chestnuts I had ever tried! As far as the macadamia nuts were concerned, I already knew what I wanted to do with them...these cookies of course! I don't know what it is about white chocolate and macadamia nuts, but they make a good marriage.

I found several recipes online which I morphed into this one here. It worked out perfectly. Not too sweet, which is what I was afraid of because the chocolate I used - Ghirardelli white chocolate chips - were not unsweetened. I undercooked them a little to leave it a little gooey and chewy, the way I like my cookies to be. It was a little tricky to shell so many of the nuts in one go, but nowhere near as crazy hard as shelling those pili nuts was! The nice ladies in the market thoughtfully threw in a couple of those 'keys' you use to pry the shell open. All you have to do is slip the key into the crack, they all have 'em, then twist until the shell cracks further.

Now if you can resist popping all of it into your mouth, you can proceed to make these wonderful cookies!

White Chocolate & Macadamia Nut Cookies
adapted from several diff. recipes at allrecipes.com
Can make up to 2 dozen
cookies

1 stick butter, softened
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white vanilla sugar
1 egg
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, cream the butter with both sugars until smooth. Then beat in the eggs, slowly. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt before gradually stirring into the creamed mixture. Mix in the nuts and white chocolate. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes or until it starts to turn golden brown.

MarieBelle, my belle...I want you, I want you

Be still my beating heart!

The sweet Christina from Brooklyn gifted me with this precious box of MarieBelle chocolates (along with a can of chipotle peppers!) when we met last Saturday. I made a feeble attempt at suppressing a squeal when she handed me the elegant robin's egg blue box with it's dainty ribbon for I knew what treasures lay inside. She had told me previously in one of her online messages that this was her favorite brand of chocolates, preferring them over La Maison du Chocolat. After thanking her profusely, I put it in my bag for safekeeping. I wanted to open it while alone in my bedroom (which, by the way, is done in the same colors as the packaging, just like my blog :-)), where I could really appreciate every moment of this sweet encounter.

As soon as I got home, I plopped down on my bed and slowly opened the box. I pondered it's uncanny likeness to a box from Tiffany's. And while it didn't hold any jewelry, what lay inside were gems in their own right. Nine beautiful, delicate chocolatey gems! I gazed lovingly at each one, admiring all the details. Each little nugget is a work of art, intricately designed with stylish and romantic images that just tug at your heartstrings. They were almost too gorgeous to eat, even though some of the pieces did not hold well in transit.

Life is like a box of MarieBelle chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get.

I picked one to try, first one top row. It had an image of a hanging skeleton and what looked like a little girl. Very mysterious looking; I had no idea what to expect. Could it be a halloween-inspired flavor such as pumpkin? Or maybe licorice, candycorn? But when I took my first bite it was clear as crystal. I experienced a burst of flavor that immediately transported me to a sunny beach in the tropics where the only sounds were those of palm leaves swaying in the breeze and waves lapping at the shore. It was the unmistakable taste of a sweet luscious mango, my most favorite fruit in the world. What a wonderful surprise!

Over the next couple of days I unlock the mystery hidden under each pretty design. Each flavor is so intense that it plays tricks on your mind. There was espresso, passionfruit, caipirinha (which at first I thought was margarita until I consulted the little booklet that comes in the box), pineapple, spices, mandarin and hazelnut praline. The booklet also showcases the other exotic flavors: manjari, coconut, gianduja, champagne, lavender, dulce de leche, pistachio, cinnamon, white chocolate kona bean (!), saffron, cardamom and wild berry. To borrow one of my friends favorite expressions, Santa Banana! I wanna try them all!

Thank you so so much, Christina, you made my week! :)