Posted in Recipes

Rainbow Bridging Cupcakes (& Cake Push Pops)

With Hurricane Sandy approaching, I thought it might be a good idea (while we have power) to post about these rainbow cupcakes.  I’m not sure that there will be a rainbow after Sandy, but you can make your own with these cupcakes!

I made these cakes for a Girl Scout Ceremony where a troop was bridging from Cadettes to Seniors. As a result, they get a rainbow-bridge patch to signify their “bridging”.

I used light color liners so that the colors would show through. If I had to do this again, I would omit the white swirl in the rainbow and keep it to only colors. The addition of the white swirl made it look more like paintball or graffiti cupcakes instead of a true rainbow.

I used Duff Electric Color Gels that my Mom gave me as a gift a while back. Because they are “electric” colors, they are a bit off compared to primary colors which are much deeper. For the red, orange, and yellow I used Williams-Sonoma Vivid Food Pastes. If you don’t want dyed skin, wear gloves. I didn’t care so ended up with rainbow fingers.

Mixing the food coloring into the batter was tricky because of the cake recipe I chose. I used the simplest White Layer Cake recipe I could find from Martha Stewart and I did not like the taste or process at all. I was wondering why everyone that made rainbow cakes started with a box mix; I figured that making a white mix from scratch and then coloring it 7 different colors and then swirling it wouldn’t add too many steps. Sadly, the cake I picked required folding in of egg whites at the end which just made it bake weird. The worst thing? After baking it tasted like box mix!

But, these cupcakes weren’t really about taste. It was about presentation. I went to a local drugstore and picked up some rainbow strips and mini-marshmallows. I dyed a simple cream cheese frosting blue to simulate the sky and cut the strips. You’d think that over 8 feet of rainbow strips would be enough, but I ran out and soon had to improvise. I cut some mini-marshmallows in half and fashioned hearts out of them. I had to cut all the mini-marshmallows in half anyways because un-cut they would not cooperate with the cupcake tops.

This was also my first time ever making cake push pops! I bought the containers from The Baker’s Kitchen, but am not sure I would buy them again in hindsight. At over $1 a piece, you better believe I was going around to all the kids and collecting them for wash and re-use.

To make these cakes, I made one 9″ cake by dropping in white and colored batter and swirling it together. After baking and cooling, I cut it in half. Some of the cake was overdone and some was still gummy. This was probably because of the pockets of egg whites that the recipe had me fold in. I then used a 1⅞” cutter to cut rounds of cooked cake, plopped them in, and layered with icing.

I tried to keep the icing to a ring just around the outside of the cake when layering because I did not want them to get too sweet. Since the main audience for these cakes was children, I didn’t fret too much over the disappointing flavor of the cake. I made extra for my office, which unfortunately, has been spoiled by the quality of my previous baked goods.

Everyone loved the novelty of the push-pops and asked where they were purchased from. My home, silly!

Oatmeal Cookies

I find it hard to believe that I haven’t posted about these Oatmeal Cookies yet. We make these cookies so often that I’ve almost memorized the recipe. I say almost because I don’t usually make these, my boyfriend does. He’s much more of a cookie/pie guy and not so much in to tarts and cupcakes.

This recipe is very flexible. The traditional recipe calls for 1 cup of raisins, but we usually sub them for more interesting ingredients. You could try other dried fruit, chocolate, peanut butter, or nuts. Our go-to is half peanut butter chips and half mini-chocolate chips.

These are best right out of the oven, but last several days if covered.

I accidentally forgot the “additional” 6 tablespoons butter mentioned in the recipe below– that’s almost half the butter and these cookies still tasted great! Because of the lack of extra butter, it did make 19 cookies instead of 24 (I was doing a half recipe).

Quadruple Strawberry Cupcakes

These cupcakes have four different types of strawberry in them – Strawberry Cake, Strawberry Lime Gin Compote Filling, Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting, and a Chocolate-dipped Strawberry on top. Needless to say, my strawberry-allergic-sister got no where close to these. I made these cupcakes for a surprise baby shower that we threw for a co-worker. The cake was very moist, maybe even a little too moist, but I’ll attribute that to the liquid-y filling. I actually made these the night before and for once, a swiss meringue frosting turned out! Unfortunately, I chilled it overnight and it separated. No amount of beating or adding of powders could solidify it again. I took the remaining strawberry gin compote and tossed it a traditional cream cheese frosting which tasted just as good.

These cupcake liners are Martha Stewart. I splurged on a bunch of them because they were on sale at a local craft store. I wish I would have tried the liners before buying so many – these are not worth it! You would think that Martha Stewart products for the price would be good quality, but these liners are equal or less quality than grocery store brands for about 6x the cost! This is a light, yellow cake with a dark purple and white liner and you can barely see the pattern. *sigh* I might be able to salvage them by baking a pastel muffin liner inside them, but I don’t know if it’d be worth it.

 

Egg Salad & Carrot Cake Cupcake Bento

It’s been a while since a lunch post appeared!

Have you ever boiled a bunch of eggs and wondered what to do with them? Easter, Labor Day, and other holidays come to mind. This egg salad is a basic recipe that substitutes the celery for green peppers and is on pumpernickel/rye swirl bread . Going with the Easter theme (only 5 months late, right?), this lunch was packed in a Miffy sandwich box with a carrot cake cupcake, some edamame, and a fruit cup.

The cupcake packed above was from my “mother-in-law”. It’s a coincidence because I made a bunch of carrot cake cupcakes too! I stopped by a local cake supply store and got some sugar carrots as decoration, but other than that, this recipe is simple and timeless.

I used the extra batter to bake mini-cupcakes. I mixed a little green food coloring and some shaved coconut to make some “easter grass”, then decorated them with jelly beans for eggs. An ice cube tray was a perfect vessel for transport.

This past April I went to my parents’ for Easter. We had some Hawai’ian bread, sweet potatoes, ham, scalloped potatoes, bacon baked beans, and corn. I’m not religious, though my parents are a bit. They know I just come for the food ^_^ I tried to propose a lamb or rabbit for Easter dinner next year but that didn’t seem to fly. It was hard enough to get them to try a different turkey last Thanksgiving!

Drinks Using Gourmet Spices from Marx Foods

I was given some exotic ingredients from Marx Food and challenged to create a cocktail and mocktail recipe. I often make cocktails based on drinks I’ve had at local places or weird flavor profiles that I think up in my head. It’s easier to think of cocktail recipes because you set yourself down a path based on what spirit you choose to start with. It’s actually harder to make a non-alcoholic drink because the possibilities are endless and overwhelming. Sometimes you don’t want to have alcohol in your drink due to lifestyle, medication, age, or just to be family-friendly. In the end, our house liked the mocktail better because we could drink as much as we want and share it with everyone.

Update: The poll is now open! Feel free to see the other contestants & vote for your favorite!


Community Garden

Makes 1 drink. This drink is a mixture of herbs and vegetables you might find in your backyard garden. It’s very fresh with a slight savory note. Because it’s not too sweet, it stays light and you can taste all of the flavor layers. Saffron adds an exotic spice while the dill pollen sprinkled on top is the first thing you smell before sipping.

  • 1 ounce cucumber vodka
  • ½ ounce cointreau
  • ½ ounce RHUBY
  • 2 dashes celery bitters
  • 2 ounces club soda
  • 1 teaspoon yuzu juice
  • 1 pinch saffron leaves
  • 2 basil leaves
  • 1 dash dill pollen
  • cucumber slice for garnish
Muddle basil, saffron, and cucumber vodka. Add remaining ingredients except for dill pollen and club soda and shake until combined. Add to glass filled with two handfuls of ice. Top with club soda, stir. Sprinkle top with dill pollen and garnish with a cucumber slice.

Pacific Shrub

Makes 2 drinks. This drink is a more complex version of iced tea. This black tea from Hawai’i is spicy and has citrus notes and is inspired by the island’s volcanoes. It is brewed hot and then allowed to chill while being infused with dried pineapple and saffron. The club soda helps to keep this from getting too sweet and too muddled. Note: Bitters range in percentage of alcohol. Fee Brother’s has no alcohol % on its label so I am assuming they are alcohol-free.

Add tea leaves to hot water. Brew for 5 minutes and then strain tea leaves. Add to refrigerator-safe container and add saffron and dried pineapple. Refrigerate until cold (2 hours to overnight). Take two glasses, fill with two handfuls of ice, put half of the iced tea in each glass (½ cup), reserving the pineapple. Add ½ tablespoon of strawberry shrub to each glass, followed by ⅛ (2 tablespoons) of ginger drink and ⅛ cup club soda in each. Add 2 dashes of Fee Brother’s Aromatic Bitters to each glass and stir. Top each glass with a pinch of fennel pollen and a no-longer-dried pineapple wedge.