Entries Tagged 'Cooking' ↓
January 5th, 2010 — Cooking
Baby Cakes is a fabulous bakery that specializes in gluten free, vegan and (mostly) sugar free baked goods. Which is perfect when for adults and kids with specific allergies and when you don’t want your kids bouncing off the walls from sweets. Baby Cakes is based in New York City and just opened up a new location on the west coast… Sadly in downtown, which I rarely venture, But I’m still holding out on a West Hollywood location. Below is the recipe from creator, Erin McKenna, for Chocolate Cupcakes and Vanilla Frosting. Yummy! Feed yourself and your kids yummy treats without feeling a twinge of guilt! – THE WIFE
Chocolate Cupcakes
YIELD: 1 dozen
- 1 cup garbanzo and fava bean flour
- 1/4 cup potato starch
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 2/3 cup agave nectar
- 6 tablespoons applesauce
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup hot water or hot coffee
- Frosting for serving (see recipe below)
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line one, standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, potato starch, cocoa powder, arrowroot, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt. Add the oil, agave nectar, applesauce, vanilla, and hot water directly to the dry ingredients. Stir until the batter is smooth.
Pour 1/3 cup of the batter into each prepared cup. This portion will almost fill the cup up entirely. Bake the cupcakes on the center rack for 22 minutes, rotating the tray 180 degrees after 15 minutes. The cupcakes will bounce back when pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean. Remove from the oven.
Let the cupcakes stand for 20 minutes. Transfer them to a wire rack right side up and cool completely. Using a frosting knife, gently spread 1 tablespoon of Frosting over each cupcake. Place the cupcakes in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Vanilla Frosting
YIELD: enough for 1 dozen cupcakes
- 1 1/2 cups soy milk
- 3/4 cup soy “Better Than Milk” powder
- 1 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1/4 cup agave nectar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
In a blender or food processor, combine the soy milk, “Better Than Milk” powder, coconut flour, agave nectar, and vanilla. Mix the ingredients for 2 minutes. As the machine blends, slowly add the oil and lemon juice, alternating between the two until all parts are incorporated. Pour the mixture into an airtight container. Place the container in the refrigerator for 6 hours, or for up to 1 month, before using. – Goop.com
December 30th, 2009 — Cooking
From the grape to the glass, Krug champagne is nurtured with painstaking care and attention to detail. The Krug philosophy is, first and foremost, about a passionate commitment to craftsmanship, defined by a series of uncompromising choices which, taken together, create a taste, a style, that is as legendary as it is unique.
Of fundamental importance to the Krug style is its approach to grape selection. Krug sources its grapes, not from a few large vineyards, but from an intricate mosaic of fine-quality plots, some of which are not much bigger than gardens. This choice is based on Krug’s knowledge of the terroir of Champagne, and the fact that the same grape variety cultivated in different vineyards develops subtle nuances of flavour. As a result, the wine is more exciting – the more you drink, the more you discover. Krug knows which areas best suit its style, and endeavours to secure the best-quality supplies from those areas – indeed, some farmers have been supplying the Krug family with grapes for generations.
The grapes, selected by hand, are pressed to obtain the “must ”, which is transferred to 205-litre oak casks, individually labelled by area and vineyard. It is in these small oak casks that the wines are born. Alone among the great champagne houses, Krug still ferments all its wines in oak – not out of some slavish devotion to tradition, but because only this method can bring each and every wine so vibrantly to life. Another advantage of the first fermentation in oak is that the exchanges which take place between the wine, the wood of the casks, and the oxygen in the atmosphere naturally favour a slow, long evolution of the wine, resulting in the exceptional longevity of all Krug champagnes.
Time is the greatest luxury of all, and Krug, which has spared no effort in the making of its champagnes, now allows them all the time they need to reach maturity. For this reason, every Krug champagne is aged for upwards of six years, and in some cases much longer. Not until each has attained its perfect balance of freshness and fullness will it be released from the cellars in Reims. At Krug, a passion for the craft is also a matter of patience.
To guarantee the consistent excellence of the Krug style, despite the vagaries of climate and harvest, Krug can draw on a resource unrivalled in Champagne – its stocks of reserve wines. These are a selection of the best still wines from previous harvests, carefully stored in the Krug cellars. Like a perfumer’s library of fragrance essences, reserve wines are among Krug’s most precious raw materials, for it is the only champagne house to use them as a significant part of the structure of the blend. Above and beyond consistency, reserve wines create both harmony and complexity – indeed, for Krug, they represent the very essence of “assemblage”.
“Assemblage”, or blending, is one of the miracles of champagne, and the culmination of Krug’s craftsmanship. Different grapes from different vineyards and different years are blended together to create a whole that spectacularly surpasses the sum of its individual parts. The process of “assemblage” culminates over one week in February. It is the most crucial week of the year at Krug, on which the work of all the others depends.
Every year since 1843, Krug champagne has been blended by a member of the Krug family. The art of blending is passed down from one generation to the next, with each generation gradually building up a “memory bank” of tastes and references with which to perpetuate the Krug style. For it is from taste and memory alone that the inimitable taste of Krug has to be recreated every year. There can be no formula, no recipe, given that no two harvests are ever quite the same.
A traditional Krug Grande Cuvee, $150.00
December 30th, 2009 — Cooking
Mandarin Champagne
Ingrediants:
Makes one cocktail
1 Ounce Mandarin Liqueur, such as Mandarine Napolean
4 Ounces champagne
Clementine Peel for Garnish
Directions:
1. Pour liqueur into a champagne flute; top with champagne. Twist clementine peel over glass and gently drop into cocktail.
– Martha Stewart
Lavender Champagne
Ingredients:
Serves 16
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Tablespoon dried Lavender
4 Bottles (750 mL ) Dry Champagne or Sparkling Wine, Chilled
Fresh Lavender Sprigs, for Garnish
Directions:
1. Bring sugar and 1/2 cup water to a boil in a saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar, stir in lavender. Remove from heat. Let cool completely. Strain out lavender. Refridgerate syrup until ready to serve ( Up to 1 month )
2. Pour about 6 ounces Champagne and 1 1/2 teaspoons syrup into each flute. Garnish with lavender sprig.
– Martha Stewart.
December 25th, 2009 — Cooking
Jazz up any Breakfast with Candied Bacon. This has been a Family Tradition for the last couple years that I started on Christmas. It goes Perfectly with Eggs or Pancakes! And its so easy to make!
You’ll Need:
1 Pound Think Cut Bacon
1 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar
2 Cookie Sheets with sides
Aluminum foil
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Line 1 cookie sheet with aluminum foil (This will protect your cookie sheet from stuck on burnt brown sugar and makes clean up a breeze)
3. Spread brown sugar on 2nd cookie sheet. Transfer bacon and coat both sides well with brown sugar. Then transfer Bacon to aluminum lined cookie sheet.
4. Place sugared bacon in the Oven. Set Timer for 10 – 15 minutes (Make sure you keep an eye on the bacon, it can burn VERY quickly)
5. Place Bacon on a wire drying rack, so it doesn’t stick to aluminum baking sheet while cooling.
6. Voila a sugary breakfast treat for all to enjoy!
– THE WIFE
December 23rd, 2009 — Christmas, Cooking
You can customize the cutter by sliding in letters or premade words to form a name or message. When you press the cutter into the dough, your lettering is imprinted on the cookie, which can then be decorated with colorful icings and sugars.
Message in a Cookie Cutters, $9.99, William Sonoma
Decoration Suagrs, Pastes and Pens, $14.00 each, William Sonoma
