MINI MOCHI CUPCAKES: MATCHA & CHOCOLATE

Basho's gone, but you can make these Mini Mochi Cupcakes yourself!

Do you miss this tiny Japanese cafe on E. Hastings street?  Well, cry no more because you can easily make these mini gluten-free Japanese sweets.  Just pull out your knitting needles, knit a cozy for your potted succulent plant and whip up some matcha tea to go along with your sweets.

This mochi recipe is highly adaptable; you can add your own unique flavours.  Stay tuned for more flavour possibilities!

MINI MOCHI CUPCAKES: MATCHA & CHOCOLATE

• 1 lb glutinous rice flour [I used Mochiko]
• 1 T matcha powder
• 2 T cocoa powder
• 1/3 Cup vegetable oil
• 2 Cups milk
• 2 Cups sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten

1. Preheat oven to 350Degrees F.  
2. Spray 2 mini-muffin pans with non-stick spray.
3. Combine flour, oil, milk, sugar and 3 eggs in a mixer and beat until well combined. 
4. DIVIDE the dough in half into separate bowls.
5. Add matcha powder to one bowl and mix well.  Add cocoa powder to the other bowl and mix well.  Pour into prepared muffin tins.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes (mini-muffin pans) or 30-35 minutes (regular-muffin pans). I ended up with 3 trays of mini-muffins! The recipe makes a lot of mini-muffins.  You can easily halve the recipe though.  Check often while baking because muffin pans vary and thus so do the bake-times. Mochi muffins are done when they are just slightly golden brown around the edges. Test by inserting a toothpick. 
7. Remove muffins from pan after allowing to cool slightly.  Set on a cooling rack to cool.  Invite your friends over who miss Basho for tea and mochi!

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GIRLIE BIRTHDAY PARTY CUPCAKES: On turning 6

My girl's 6 and here's the cupcakes I've made for her bday party!

Chocolate Quinoa Cupcake recipe:  I adapted by using coconut oil (melted) and all you need to do is dump all the ingredients in your food processor.  I used my VitaMix

So she's 6!  6 is groovy. She's old enough to go to school but still young enough to still want girlie cupcakes.  6 is a good year.  You can still sit on daddy's lap, and get your older sister in trouble by pouting and giving the "look".

I adapted the recipe again by adding 1/3 cup more cooked quinoa and ended up with 15 large cupcakes.  Baking time was approx. 35 minutes.

What girl doesn't love sparkly dragees?

The secret to a smooth, light frosting is beating the heck out of your buttercream.  5-7 minutes in a stand mixer will lighten it to a heavenly texture.

Just a dab of pink gel food colouring (don't use too much) will get you there

Using a disposable piping bag and a Wilton 1M tip

Work the buttercream outside in

Pretty yummy

Don't drop too many dragees on each cupcake.  3 should do ya

Moist crumb; not cloyingly sweet

Serve with pink and white Jelly Bellies! The white ones are birthday cake flavoured Jelly bellies

taa daa

BEST EVER QUINOA CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES
adapted from Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood
Makes 15 large scrumptious cupcakes
2 1/3 cups cooked quinoa, cold (see note below for instructions to cook quinoa)
1/3 cup milk (or soy, almond or coconut milk)
4 large eggs (or egg replacer)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cups coconut oil, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups organic cane sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
*2 large-welled muffin tins (large cups, large cupcake liners).
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the muffin tins with the 15 large-sized cupcake liners.
In a Vitamix, Blender of Food Processor, combine: milk, eggs, vanilla. Blend until combined. Add 2 1/3 cups of cold cooked quinoa and the melted coconut oil and continue to blend until smooth.
Dump in the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the Vitamix. Blend well to combine.
Pour from the blender directly into the cupcake liners, evenly distributing the cupcake batter between the 15 liners. Gently tap the tin on the counter to ensure there are no air bubbles. Smooth the tops with a small spatula (or your finger!)
Bake in the centre of the oven for approximately 35 minutes.
Test the cupcakes for doneness with a toothpick or cake tester.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and allow the cupcakes to cool completely on a rack.
Frost if desired with Swiss Meringue Buttercream using a 1M Wilton tip. Decorate with the chocolate lace hearts (see post above for the easy method I used). Bling it up with dragees if desired.
Cupcakes can be stored sealed in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month. But I don't think they'll last that long.

Note: Bring 2/3 cup raw, rinsed white or golden quinoa to boil in a heavy saucepan with 1 1/3 cups water. Cover, reduce to simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and leave covered saucepan on burner for another 10 minutes. Fluff with fork and allow the Quinoa to cool.
Rice Cooker Method: Cook rinsed quinoa as you would rice, following manufacturer's instructions and the indicator lines for appropriate water levels. I made 1 cup quinoa and found it had enough leftovers to make another dish.

GIRLIE PINK BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
6 oz (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 T milk
Place the softened butter in a large mixing bowl and gradually add the confectioners' sugar a little at a time to the butter, beating continuously. Continue until all the sugar is blended in.
Beat with the mixer until the icing is pale and fluffy. Beat in the milk until well combined
Use pink gel food colouring (not too much! a dab'll do ya) to colour the buttercream.
Scoop the buttercream into a piping bag with a "1M" tip (Wilton) and pipe swirls on the tops of the cupcakes.

Decorate with pink buttercream frosting (see below for recipe), and share the fun and have your loved ones sprinkle on the dragees, sprinkles, sanding sugar & dark chocolate shavings.




HOW TO SWIRL BUTTERCREAM

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CANDY CORN HALLOWEEN CUPCAKES: FINAL POST BEFORE MY KITCHEN RENO!

White Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Classic Buttercream and Candy Corn!

These are the last cupcakes I’ll ever make in my old kitchen!  Whee!


I have been so busy lately with work, school and just life.   I won’t be baking anything for a while until Christmas at least since we’re undergoing renovations to the kitchen. 

I will be taking pictures of the renovation along the way and will post them in my blog instead. 

My old kitchen is dark and full of granite.  It doesn’t look all that bad, but many of the appliances have kicked the bucket and I have had to replace my oven, dishwasher, microwave and hood fan since moving in over 8 years ago.   So I’ll be keeping those relatively new stainless steel appliances and just replacing the rest. 

My plan for the new kitchen:  ALL WHITE!

• island counter will be honed white Carrara marble or Statuario marble (sealed of course)
• perimeter counter will be quartz
• white cabinets; brushed silver handpulls/knobs
• industrial looking faucet in brushed silver
• stainless appliances
• 16 x 16 porcelain tile floors (white/gray)
• rectangular glass mosaic backsplash (whites/grays)

Since my kitchen won’t be usable and we’ll be living in the house still, it’ll be chaos.  We plan to eat out and eat simply.  We have a little old microwave and a bunch of plug-in appliances.  We’ll adapt.  We live within walking distance of many restaurants, a Safeway, a bunch of bakeries and we have tons of edible things in the pantry…we won’t starve.

However, I won’t be baking for a while.    Well, it’s kind of been like that anyway around here hasn’t it been?  So sorry if you came looking for cake and just found a bunch of posts of my restaurant reviews.  I have lately felt like I’ve lost my baking mojo since being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s. 

I think a new kitchen might help alleviate the doldrums and may ignite me into a new baking direction.  Yes, I am still gluten free.  My GP says if I feel better restricting gluten, I should continue.  Besides, it’s healthier.  However, having said that, I do not fear gluten (I'm not Celiac) and my kids still eat it.  I indulge once in a while with a little bit of gluten; especially if it's cake.

My grad studies?  that’s going along okay.  I am still only getting 5-6 hours of sleep a night because of the marking from regular work and having to sporadically hand in concept papers to my professors too, but that’s kind of what I knew I’d be getting into.

I’m excited about all the changes going on in my life and I’ll document the DEMO of my old kitchen on the blog through pictures.  It’ll be cool I think.  It’s almost everything I’ve wanted in a  kitchen.  Plus, I am at ease with my choices in the design since I’ve been thinking about it for over 8 years.   Everything in the kitchen is what I think I’ll be happy with for a long time.  It’s all classical colours and the look won’t wane.  I am a little worried about the quartz, but for sure I know I want to go away from the granite look.  It’s so yesterday.  I am tired of how dark it makes my kitchen.  I can’t see the crumbs the kids leave on the counters, or the sticky spills they trail until it’s too late. 

All you smarty-pants who think you know how marble is porous and it’ll etch... I already know that.  Europeans have been using marble for counters for decades.  I think I’ll manage.  I want it for my island because I do my pastry/baking there.  I also will be doing some sealing sporadically (really, it’s just a spray and wipe…how easy is that?  I already spray and wipe my current granite counters anyway)

Besides, if you compromise on the look now, you’ll never be truly happy with your kitchen.  The white marble will stay.  It’ll look great.  It’ll be classic. 

Don’t many people change kitchens every 20 years anyways?  By that time, maybe I might want to change the marble.  Or maybe I might still like it.  I have a feeling I will still like it.  In fact, I’m thinking of using it in the bathrooms too.  Maybe Carrara again.  Or limestone.  Anyway.  I’ll have to save up for that all over again. 

I’ve been saving up for 8 years for this current kitchen renovation.   By next year, we might be working on changing the dining area and the hardwood floors (they’re all banged up engineered hardwood floors).  I also want to redo the bathrooms in a few years.  Our house is just falling apart!  oh, and I hate the curtains.  They came with the house.  They’re so 90’s. 

These Halloween cupcakes were made for my daughter’s Halloween Party at school.  They are White Velvet Butter Cupcakes from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Rose’s Heavenly Cakes and the frosting is Classic Buttercream with Vanilla Bean from Beranbaum’s The Cake Bible. 

The cupcakes tasted amazing!  The buttercream was silky smooth and the flecks of vanilla were nice.  The candy corn was something my daughter said everyone in the class should like.  I don’t know…I picked mine off.  Give me simple cake and buttercream anyday with no sprinkles or candy.  Today I popped a mini bite-sized one from the batch (I made 3 sizes of cupcakes) and thought they were so yummy! Tender, moist white crumb made with 3 egg whites made it light…I doubled the recipe and the 6 egg yolks that remained were employed in the Classic Buttercream.  I like it when a cupcake is efficient and delicious at the same time!

This is a winner and I’ll make ‘em again for sure when there’s call to make a white cupcake.    I would have gone chocolate all the way, but one of the kids in her class doesn’t like chocolate.   I think that if you feel so strongly about not liking a food, hey…I’ll accommodate.  And I happen to really like this kid because he’s so darn nice!    He’s such a neat kid.  So this whole batch was made vanilla because of him.  I don’t think he knows that but that’s okay.  It would be weird if he knew that anyways.    Though they’re only 8, I’ve told my daughter that if she ever wants to date a guy, he’ll have to be like this chocolate-hating friend of hers.  Not the chocolate-hating part, but the nice part.  I think I’m safe for now because she thinks boys are icky and she’s way too cool to be thinking about liking boys anyway.

Stay tuned for some demolition pictures of my kitchen!

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GF BABY BUNDT CARROT CAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE GLAZE

GF Baby Bundt Carrot Cakes with Cream Cheese Icing

These baby bundts go very well with a shot of espresso.  The bitterness of the coffee is a perfect accompaniment to the carrot cake’s sweet flavour profile.

I purchased 6 silicone baby bundt molds from Safeway of all places.  There was a display of Ricardo Larrivée Cookware and Bakeware (he's a Quebec chef from Food Network Canada) of Ricardo and Friends.  The individual baby bundt molds caught my eye and came in a set of 6.  So cute!  The line is called Ricardo Cuisine.   There were hearts and flowers, but I chose the bundt shape.  I liked the little hold in the middle.

The GF Sweet Rice Flour Blend worked out okay with this carrot cake recipe.  However, I omitted nuts and raisins because my kid’s allergic to nuts and I don’t like raisins in my food.   I used the rest of the batter for cupcakes and piped the cream cheese frosting in a swirl on them.  For the baby bundts, I microwaved a bit of the frosting to make it pourable and drizzled it over the bundts. 

The carrot cakes should be kept in the refrigerator to store.  They taste best the next day.  The texture wasn’t at all heavy but they definitely were moist.   This is due to the use of grapeseed oil instead of butter.    The cupcakes puffed up a little in the oven and shrank a bit after removal from the oven.  So you don’t get a very dense cupcake here.  Instead, it is light and moist.  The tops are not domed so they do look best with a swirled frosting on top. 

Bib and I actually prefer the carrot cupcakes without the frosting as they are sweet and moist enough without.  We easily ate two each before they were frosted.  Bebe likes the frosting.  Without the frosting though, you could take them for a snack at school and eat straight out of hand.  They are similar to banana bread in that way.  Delicious!  If you do make the baby bundts, I do think you ought to gild them with the warmed up frosting. They do look much prettier.

This recipe could be dairy free if you omitted the frosting.

Mini Baby Bundt Carrot Cakes (GF)
adapted from Simply…Gluten-free Desserts

• 2 cups organic cane sugar
• 1 1/3 cups grapeseed oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 cups sweet rice flour blend [or your favourite GF flour blend](see HERE for a recipe)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 1 pound carrots, finely grated (about 3 cups)

1 recipe Cream Cheese Frosting 

• 8 T unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 1/8 t salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line cupcake pan with paper liners and/or prepare mini bundts on a sheet pan.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the sugar, oil and vanilla.  Lower speed and add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well until each egg is fully incorporated, and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula after each addition
3. In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the sweet rice flour blend, ground cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt
4. With the mixer on low speed, add half the flour mixture to the wet ingredients.  Add the carrots to the remaining flour mixture and toss well to coat.  Add to the batter and mix well using a large spatula, and making sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl well.  Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups.  Tap the pans on the counter three times gently to settle the batter.
5. Bake the cupcakes for 35-45 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
6. Cool for about 10 minutes in pans then remove from the pans and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.  When completely cool, frost, if desired.
7. Refrigerate carrot cakes to store.  Unfrosted cakes can be frozen.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

Cream the softened butter and cream cheese until smooth. Mix in confectioners' sugar, vanilla and salt until well combined. 

To Decorate Mini Bundts:
In a small custard cup, heat the cream cheese frosting until melted (check every 10 seconds).  Set the bundts on a rack on a sheet pan and drizzle the glaze over the bundts, allowing the excess to fall off through the rack.  Allow to set.
To Decorate Cupcakes:
Using a 1M tip, swirl frosting from a piping bag in a circle starting from the outside perimeter of the cake towards the centre.

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