Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Night Sketches
Some done in the past few days:
 Labels: sketchbook
Monday, May 12, 2008
Try, try again
First, I come bearing a cake. A lemon raspberry cake frosted in cream cheese, inspired by Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake. (If I ever tear myself away from buying feathered headbands on Etsy, I really ought to get myself a copy of Baking: From My Home to Yours).
Now, the original recipe called for a velvety, frothy meringue-type frosting, which I attempted to make. Mine was terribly wet, which would have been a nightmare to attempt frosting with. I think I made some missteps in the initial whisking of egg whites and sugar over heat until a meringue develops - does anyone have any good hints on this? I need Food Network to show me how to make things!
So I used part of the meringue frosting for the filling, which was wonderful, and then whipped up the delicious & reliable cream cheese frosting. I dumped the rest of Frosting A on the first cake. Yes, I said the first cake.
It was about 9pm on Saturday night when I set about making this perfect party cake for Mother's Day. Shortly before 11, I discovered that my cakes were flat as pancakes in the oven. Ryan helped me realize that I had put in one teaspoon instead of one tablespoon of baking powder. He kindly went off to the store to get me more sugar, butter, and cream cheese; I pouted and threw my fists into the couch. When he got back, I set upon a second cake - and finally put the last raspberry on at about 1:30am.
I got many compliments on it the next day, but it tasted a bit bread-y instead of cake-y to me. Which is confusing since I bought pastry flour to try out for this recipe (I couldn't find cake flour at the Whole Foods). Pastry flour is only within a few percent of protein-content as cake flour, so maybe that particular brand was a bust. At any rate, it was still quite a perfect spring party cake, and I'd be happy to try it again.
Spring Party Cake
(adapted from Baking: From My Home To Yours)
For the cake:
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 Tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz. package of cream cheese
3 Tbsp of unsalted butter
2 cups of powdered sugar
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1/2 cup of lemon juice
For Assembly:
1/2 cup of raspberry preserves
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sift together flour and baking soda in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Whisk together buttermilk and egg whites in a separate bowl. Set aside.
4. In your main mixing bowl, mix the sugar and lemon zest until the sugar is nicely infused.
5. Beat in butter until sugar and butter mixture is fluffy.
6. Add in extract, mix.
7. Alternate mixing in a third of flour mixture and third of buttermilk mixture while mixing, beat for a full 2 minutes after until fully integrated.
8. Divide between two buttered 9" round cake pans, spreading and smoothing with a spatula.
9. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until toothpick (or chopstick, what have you) comes out clean.
For the frosting:
1. Beat cream cheese and butter together on medium speed until creamy and integrated.
2. Mix in lemon zest and juice.
3. Slowly add in powdered sugar while beaters are on slow speed, until it's a thick, spreadable consistency.
Once the cakes are done, let them cool completely (about 30 minutes) before setting them on a plate for assembly. Lay one cake face down for the bottom layer, spread the raspberry preserves about 1/2" in from the edge (add a layer of frosting here as well, if you'd like). Prop the second cake, upright, on top. Frost & decorate accordingly. Enjoy.
 Labels: foodie call, holidays
Friday, May 09, 2008
Cupcakes & Feathers
Today I bring you an offering of orange vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting. I modified a traditional 1-2-3-4 cake recipe. Unfortunately, the cupcakes didn't rise! Normally I make vegan cupcakes from my favorite Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, but I thought that perhaps the lack of egg resulted in rather stout cakes. Turns out I probably just need a bag of self-rising flour.
These cupcakes were still delicious despite their rather short appearance. The buttercream frosting didn't stiffen as much as I'd like, so they pooled into smooth, glossy ponds. Sometimes I really feel myself growing older, or maturing my palette to put it kindly, as last night, growing depressed from my ugly cakes, I collapsed with a sugar headache after eating four. Hey I said they were ugly, not gross. I brought most of them into the office today.
Orange Vanilla Cupcakes
(adapted from recipes on Martha Stewart and Allrecipes)
1 cup of unsalted butter
1.5 cups of sugar
3 cups of flour (I would try 1.5 cup all purpose, 1.5 cup self-rising)
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup of orange juice
zest of 2 oranges
dash of cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 muffin pans with cupcake liners.
Cream together butter and sugar. With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour in flour, alternating with dropping in one egg at a time, until fully mixed. Add vanilla, orange juice, zest, and cinnamon and fully integrate. Pour almost 3/4 full in each cupcake pan, makes 24.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
6 tbsp unsalted butter
6 tbsp cocoa/baking chocolate
2 cups of powdered sugar
1 tbsp of soy milk
Cream all ingredients together until you have a thick, creamy consistency. I haven't achieved the perfect balance between the right consistency and the right amount of sweetness yet.
Along with being obsessed with finding the perfect recipe for Mother's Day, I've also been fascinated with pin-up girls and fancy feathers. Especially peacock ones to wear in my hair.
 Labels: covet, foodie call, sketchbook
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Records of One's Own
Some writers need a room of his/her own. Some writers need liquor, and some oysters on the half shell by the Seine (okay, I would like that too). I need good good music and either a midnight hour or a few hours at dawn to get my fingers moving and the words composing. These past few years after college, I've had a hard time keeping myself from flitting from one interest to another, and back again. I love writing, making art, photography, food, and fashion. All of it. Thanks to the New York Times, I know I'm not alone in desiring to keep all my doors open despite a greater reward in focusing on one door.
Instead, I want to offer perhaps a compromise. What if I organized my doors, labeled them with a shiny metal plaque and color coded compartments that could go under the same door? In this case, music and writing. I love music, but I find myself with less and less time seeking out new music as I get older and my days are crowded with "real job" obligations, bill-paying, and apartment-hunting of the unfun sort. On the way to work this morning, I heard West Coast by Coconut Records. I got that familiar echo that I get when I feel a story developing in my head. I love following wherever that thought flows, a narrative suddenly woven and so so clear in my head. Of course, I was driving so the story slowly evaporates before I even pull into the parking garage.
I'm drawing a correlation between my decreased activity in developing my music library with my (missing-in-action) writing. These things take time. Sometimes it's upon third listen or three years later that I find a story in a song. I'm not talking about the story the song is about, but the kind of story the song would be a perfect soundtrack to. A scene, a moment. I'm trying to be more fastidious about my writing this year, gathering up all the slack I dropped in the process of adjusting to living in a big new city and figuring out my big new life. It hasn't been quite figured out yet, but writing needs to be a big part of it. Luckily, there are three records that I'm pretty interested in spending more "research" time with: Coconut Records' Nighttiming, Tristan Prettyman's Hello...x, and She&Him's Volume One.
I'm not sure how other writers work, though it's always interesting to find out where other people source their inspiration from. Where do you find your inspiration for your work?Labels: writing craft
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
I want a little sugar in my bowl
What can't be made right with a plateful of cookies at the end of the day? In a haze-filled nostalgia for some idealistic childhood that may not necessarily be mine, rough days were made better with a plate of cookies served up by a mom with pin curls and a floral print apron.
Yesterday wasn't particularly a rough day, but the previous ones have been not-so-good, so I made peanut butter sandwich cookies. (Thanks, Emily!) It was so hard not to eat all the peanut butter cream cheese filling straight from the bowl. These were also pretty solid in terms of recipe and overall deliciousness. It's very likely I'll make them again within the next week, though I'm noticing that as I get older I can't eat as much sugar as I used to. I get headaches or my teeth start to feel all gross. Plus sugar is the devil and all that jazz.
With that in mind, I'm in seek of a good cake recipe for the barbecue at my parents' house this weekend. My criteria for this cake are: (a) citrus-flavored, (b) not too sweet, and (c) aesthetically appealing. Here are some ideas/recipes on the shortlist:
- an orange buttermilk cake with chocolate/sour cream or cream cheese frosting
- meyer lemon cupcakes with a raspberry frosting
- 1234 Lemon Cake
- French Lemon Tart
I'll report back with my decision shortly. How many people actually make a recipe first before making the one for the special occasion? I mean, who will be around to eat all that cake?Labels: foodie call
Monday, May 05, 2008
your love is a perfect blindfold for me
 Labels: sketchbook
Sunday, May 04, 2008
treasure chest
It was a good weekend for eating.
P.S. In keeping with my May goals, I'm making site updates finally(!). I updated the About page tonight, and am working on getting the Portfolio up...Labels: foodie call, site update
Thursday, May 01, 2008
I love life drawing. It's the ultimate practice of living in the moment. When you have 2-3 minutes to draw the whole body, to look at the bigger picture, and to make aesthetic choices, it's all so natural and intuitive. It's a sort of meditation for me, my favorite kind since I'm the kind of person who needs to do twelve things at once.Labels: artsy girl
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Plans
I had plans. Big plans. Ones that involved decadent pastries, lounging on the couch in a vintage silk slip, and This American Life. I was going to tell myself all about the things I liked to do, show myself how to knead bread made from scratch or slow dance in the living room to old records. The kinds of dates that you see on dating shows and films from the fifties.
But then one thing after another got in the way, as is almost always the case when it comes to Plans and Being Grown Up. So now, on the eve of the first day of May and with just a few hours under the deadline for the April Pink of Perfection Project (and not wanting to disappoint darling, inspirational Sarah), I have a new plan. A last minute, scraped together effort to sweep myself off my feet: spending the night making butterscotch pots de creme (a favorite recipe) and sneaking hot spoonfuls over the sink as they cool. When I finally planned this out, I realized the best dates I've had have been these kinds of last minute, stolen moment affairs. Including with my most dreamy current paramour.
And in a not-so-last-minute effort, I had bought flowers for myself at the farmers' market today. A dating forever and always must. (I especially like the unusual ones). Swoon.
 Labels: inspiration, pop project
To Do in May
- update personal site content (inspired by this entry)
- make 5 paintings
- work on 2 portfolio pieces
- write two short stories
- finish reading a book
- bring lunch at least 4x a weekLabels: lists, to-do
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