Pipe Dream #111: To Have A Green Thumb – Olive Oil, Almond & Polenta Cupcakes

I’ve never liked gardening very much. Don’t get me wrong–I have tried to like gardening. I mean, it seems like a pretty cool and trendy and hipster thing to like, growing your own heirloom tomatoes and having an herb garden.

My excuses are that I never have time to do it, that I don’t have my own garden, and that I’m too busy, but what it really comes down to is the work of it. I don’t like the idea of standing out in the beating sun, breaking my back picking weeds and getting dirt under my fingernails. It’s supposed to be this extremely satisfying, relaxing thing, and I haven’t got the maturity to get it yet.

I might try it this year. The heirloom tomatoes, I mean. And to try and gear myself up for it, I am posting these flowery cupcakes I made. They are made with polenta and olive oil, which makes them feel even more garden-y. :] They were very light and eggy and almondy, since I substituted the vanilla for almond extract.

If I could do this recipe again, I would bake them in a regular oven, rather than the convection oven. There was a certain amount of crunch from the polenta which may or may not have been normal. I think if they were baked slower and longer, the polenta would have softened up a bit more.

I piped a swirl starting in the center of the cupcake, which made a flat surface upon which to arrange the flowers. Some of them featured a single bloom…

…while others were mini gardens unto themselves.

This is probably the best garden you’ll ever see out of me.

Someday I’ll grow up,

L

Olive Oil, Almond & Polenta Cupcakes

Adapted from David Lebovitz’s Ready For Dessert

For the cakes:

1 tablespoon plus 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons plus 3/4 cup polenta
or stone-ground corn meal
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup olive oil
5 large eggs, at room temperature
2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon almond extract or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

2. Smear 1 tablespoon butter all over the inside of a 10-cup (2.5-liter) Bundt cake or tube pan, or line 2 muffin pans with cupcake liners.. Sprinkle the 2 teaspoons of rosemary evenly into the pan, then dust with the 2 tablespoons (20 g) of polenta, tilting the pan to coat the sides.

3. To make the cake, in a small bowl, sift together the flour, 3/4 cup (130 g) polenta, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk the olive oil, eggs, egg yolks, and almond or vanilla extract.

4. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl by hand), beat together 1/2 cup (4 ounces/115 g) butter and the sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. With the mixer running, slowly dribble in the egg mixture, a little at a time, until completely incorporated. Stir in the flour mixture along with the 4 teaspoons of rosemary until just incorporated. Don’t over mix.

5. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let cool for about 30 minutes, then invert the cake onto a serving plate.

For the buttercream:

2 sticks (226 grams) butter

3 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

1-2 tablespoons heavy cream

In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

Pipe Dream #87: To Befriend People Who Don’t Like Chocolate – Walnut Blondies

This is a true pipe dream of mine. How close can we really be if you don’t like chocolate? Chocolate is a significant part of my life, and if it is not a significant part of yours, well…

Blondies are kind of the perfect dessert because they get people who don’t like chocolate. Although these interesting specimens are few and far between and barely deserve to be called human, I sometimes like to practice mercy and make non-chocolate desserts. With blondies, you get all the consistency of a brownie, and the absence of chocolate opens up the door to any number of interesting flavors. In this case, toasted walnuts.

The thing that attracted me to this recipe was that it didn’t include any baking powder or baking soda. This just speaks dense and rich to me. The opposite of angel food cake!

 

I added some frosting on the top not because I thought these needed it, but because I figured I might as well do as much as possible while I was in the kitchen. And bonus, frosting stars are cute. I’ll show you this frosting later because it is ultimately awesome.

And by ultimately awesome, I am for serious,

L

Blondies

Adapted from How to Cook Everything

8 tablespoons (1 stick, 4 ounces or 113 grams) butter melted

1 cup (218 grams or 7 3/4 ounces for light; 238 grams or 8 3/8 ounces for dark) brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

pinch salt

1 cup (4 3/8 ounces or 125 grams) all-purpose flour

Butter an 8×8 pan (or line with parchment).

Mix melted butter with brown sugar – beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla.

Add salt, stir in flour. Mix in any additions, like toasted walnuts, or a 1/2-1 cup of anything that strikes your fancy.

Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350°F 20-25 minutes, or until set in the middle. Underbake them a bit, duh, then let cool before cutting.

I Got It Right: Secret Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

My friend Tara came to visit me once. We had lots of fun, mostly eating burgers and chatting. She happened to visit during a bit of a busy time, so I spent a lot of time dragging her around to different events at which I was obligated to be. I don’t think she minded. She is very personable and happy.

And besides, we made the best chocolate frosting ever. And then no one was complaining. No one did complain. The complaints were non-existent.

Let me just say something about this frosting. It is crazy good. I have had–count ’em–four independent confirmations of its awesomeness. It is unlikely I will ever feel the need to improve upon it. It has some secwet ingwedients.

And we baked an excuse to eat frosting, vanilla cupcakes. I didn’t know it until later, but I actually made these cupcakes before. Here I was, thinking, “Oh, I’ll just try out a new vanilla cupcake recipe. It’ll probably be better than the last ones I made.”

They were better than the last ones I made, probably owing to Tara’s cheerful presence and butter-hwhipping skills. Do you know anyone that puts the h sound in front of their wh words? So weird for real. You can find the recipe for Ultimate Vanilla Cupcakes here.

This is a picture of  Tara complaining about how I dragged her along all weekend. :] Isn’t she pa-retty?

To finish up, i sprinkled them with some leftover Heath bits. Although, these babies needed nothing, it was clear that they needed something.

Christ is life. Everything else is this chocolate buttercream,

L

The Best Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Adapted from Joy the Baker

makes enough to frost 24 cupcakes or one 8-inch layer cake

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup Ovaltine (or hot chocolate mix, like I used)

Cream together butter, cocoa powder and salt. Butter mixture will be very thick. Turn off the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add powdered sugar. Turn mixer on low and mix in powdered sugar while adding milk and vanilla extract. As the sugar incorporates, raise the speed of the mixer to beat the frosting. Beat until smooth. In a 1-cup measuring glass, stir together heavy cream and Ovaltine. Turn mixer speed to medium and pour cream mixture into frosting in a slow, steady stream, until you’ve reached your desired consistency.  You may not need the full amount of Ovaltine and cream.  Spread or pipe onto cupcakes.