Appeale

The Canvas Underground has an exciting dinner coming up in the near future – one that is going to be filmed for a special television show about extreme dining.  Last Sunday Canvas volunteers got together for a test run of a few dishes and warm, cozy chatter from my living room.  I’ve never seen that many people in my house, and I’ve never seen my kitchen bust out that much delicious food.

The night was filled with the aroma of ginger, a taste bud changing experience, and bizarre discussion including what it’s like working at a porn store in Florida (where edible panties are known as eeeedible draaawers)  After personally tasting several dishes I’m excited to see the finished product this Sunday!

Last night I finally checked out the Night Life event at the Cal Academy.  I had just been at the museum (during the day) a few weeks ago, and I was afraid that visiting again so soon might be too much – gladly I was wrong.  Night Life manages to completely change the already hip and up-to-date museum into a night club experience, and not the you’re-garunteed-to-get-a-drink-spilled-on-you kind of club.  Another big plus, no babies/strollers/kids allowed at the 21+ event.

Zebra photo courtesy of Neil Conway.

Earlier that day I had been thinking about the homemade oreos I made a while back.  Neil and I recently had a conversation about all things mint and chocolate – more specifically Girl Scout’s Thin Mints and the mint flavored Oreos that were super popular a few years back (around the same time the peanut butter creme Oreos came out).  Already having all ingredients on hand I figured why not give a mint cookie sandwich a shot.  I made pretty small sandwiches – 1 tsp size balls.  I feel like they ended  up a nice portion size, but if you want bigger cookie sandwiches go for it.

Chocolate Mint Cookie Sandwiches

Makes 20 to 25 sandwich cookies

Chocolate Cookie Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp coffee or espresso grounds
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

Mint Creme Ingredients
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups powder sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon mint extract
green food dye

Cookie Directions
Cream together room temp. butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Stop mixer, scrape, and continue to beat. Add egg while mixture is beating. Sift dry ingredients and whisk together and then add to wet mixture. Mix on low until just combined – it will be pretty thick.

On a parchment lined baking sheet place 1 tsp size balls – about 2 inches in-between. Flatten the dough only slightly with your hand and bake for 8-9 minutes at 375 F. Cool completely before assembling sandwiches.

Mint Creme Directions
Beat butter, vanilla, mint flavor, and shortening in a mixing bowl until well combined.  Start at a low speed and increase speed, while gradually beating in the sugar, one cup at a time. Add green food dye until desired tone is reached. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy. If your creme is looking too thick and not fluffy enough add 1/4 teaspoon of milk to lighten it up.

After the cookies are entirely cooled place 1-2 teaspoon drops of cream in the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Enjoy!

Today, for the first time since moving to California, I experienced a real storm: rain, thunder, hail, LIGHTNING. All of these things are quite common in a midwest summer, but sunny California…really? A debate over whether or not to make a trip to the store was quickly ended and thus I continued a new trend: making use of what’s in the kitchen already.

For today I tried a new vanilla cupcake recipe topped with a lemon buttercream frosting. For an extra flavor twist I added non-pareils with a sweet cherry flavor. Overall I quite liked the texture of the cupcakes, and the light, fluffy taste of the buttercream was a delicious compliment. I went with the lemon flavor and added some yellow food dye to the frosting. Obviously any color would make a festive addition to any special occasion.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Frosting

Makes about 24 cupcakes

Ingredients
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, softened
2 cups Sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. (If your butter is too cold this step will take longer) Remove from the mixer, scrape the bowl and add the vanilla. Return speed to medium, and add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Scrape the bowl. Return speed to medium for a few seconds. Turn off mixer and add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with two additions of milk, and beating until combined after each. Scrape in between additions of flour mixture.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until cupcakes spring back when lightly touched and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to cooling rack and cool completely before frosting. Cupcakes will shrink a bit while cooling.

Lemon Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

1 Cup (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, softened
6-8 Cups Confectioners’ Sugar
½ Cup Milk
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2-3 tsp lemon juice
food dye

Directions
With an electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes. Next, add the one cup confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice. Beat until well combined. Add another cup of confections’ sugar, and the milk. Continue to add confectioner’s sugar in one cup additions until the desired consistency is achieved (about 6-8 cups). Test taste the frosting to see if additional lemon juice is needed for flavor. Finally, beat in selected food dye color until desired tone is reached.

Fill an icing bag or zip lock bag (with the corner snipped off) and pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. Decorate with sprinkles.