I'm Back!

Yes it's true, I am officially back in action! *insert fireworks and marching band*

After two hard weeks, I finally am beginning to feel like my old self again. Probably the fact that I am baking again also has a hand in that. I will say that since taking a break,  I have realized just how much I love my blog, baking, and in general, being around delicious baked goods. Not baking these past two weeks felt almost unnatural to me; my cupcake adventure has slowly made a home for itself within my life. I also want to say thank you to every one who supported me these two weeks. I'm not that I would be back to my zippy old self if it weren't for all of you. You know who you are, please pat yourselves on the back.


So now down to business. As I sit here in my dorm room, my suite mates are all grumbling about the predicted snow storm that may hit Worcester tomorrow night. I love snow, so I'm jumping up and down at the idea that it might snow. I mean, come on, how often does it snow in October? Had I known about the snow, I would have baked something this week with a winter theme in mind. Instead, I decided to bake a tribute to fall using that old fall favorite, pumpkin. And what better way to make pumpkin cupcakes then by taking a recipe from a classic, "Vegan Cupcake Take Over the World" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. Not only is this a suite favorite, we actually have TWO copies of the book sitting side by side on our cookbook shelf. Yes, we have a cookbook shelf; deal with it. In addition to the delicious recipes that can be found in this cookbook, I had the perfect can of pumpkin to use with it.

Starting last fall, my mom handed my a recipe for pumpkin pie that used organic pumpkin rather than the alternative. The results were beyond amazing. So when I decided to make pumpkin cupcakes, I didn't even have to think about the can of pumpkin I would use. Did I mention that there was chocolate chips involved with this recipe? Well, there are! Ironically, one would think that I would have a stash of left over chocolate chips lying around somewhere in my room from past baking endeavors. I don't. I kinda eat them all. Fortunately for me, there is a wonderful brand of products called Value Time that sells all sorts of things at reduced prices. Two bags of chocolate flavored chips= $2.00. What a bargain!

Originally I was going to try and make apple pumpkin cupcakes since I had gone apple picking for the first time this past Sunday. Well, I didn't want to waste any of the apples in case I screwed up so I decided to leave the apples out of it. I did, however, make an improved cookie recipe. Sure, they ended up tasting like muffin tops (how did I manage that?) but they were sooo good. Going back to cupcakes, I was fortunate enough to have been given an adorable packet of fall themed cupcake liners. I think they are the cutest thing ever! They also came with cute little flags with owls and cats on them. I didn't use them this time around, but will definitely next time.


 The recipe itself was really simple, which means that I still found a way to mess it up. Instead of only using 8 ounces of the pumpkin, I poured in all 15 ounces! Talk about a mistake. I tried to correct the mistake, but in the end, I just poured it all back into the bowl. What did I have to lose? At least I didn't pour too much cinnamon in. Now that would have been bad. I do not have a photo of it, but I also made cinnamon icing. Yea, I had to remelt the margarine in my Pyrex measuring cup after everything was combined, but I don't think it messed anything up.


Don't they look scrumptious! Ok, never using that word again. But you can't deny that they look good. This was a really easy recipe and in fact, this is the third recipe that I have baked from this cookbook. In past I have made their chocolate and vanilla cupcakes. I also discovered that tofu chocolate mousse is perhaps the best thing ever! Just ignore that there is tofu in it and you'll think that this was the real deal!

I'm getting ready for a Halloween dance at the moment so I'll post more later. But here's a fun little photo from apple picking that I think fits really well with todays post.


Until next time,

Jill

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero

Ingredients

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/3 cup oil

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup soy milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the muffin pan with cupcake liners

2. In a medium bowl, stir together pumpkin, oil, sugar, soy milk, and vanilla. Stir flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir together with a for -don't use a hand-held mixer, as it will make the batter gummy. Once well combined, fold in the chocolate chips

3. Fill liners two-thirds full. Bake for 22-24 minutes, Transfer ti a wire rack and let fully cool before icing

Cinnamon Icing

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons margarine, melted

1 tablespoon soy milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Place sugar and cinnamon a small bowl. Add the margarine, soy milk, and vanilla and stir with a fork until smooth. Keep at room temperature until ready to use. The mixture should look opaque and honey brown. It it's glistening a lot or looks too liquid, add a little extra confectioners' sugar.

Its Been a While

Sorry for not having posted in while, however, I have been having a pretty stressful time. One week ago, my grandmother on my mother's side health took a turn for the worse. 

 

Yesterday, she passed away. Though I could not be there when she passed, I was able to spend time with my sister in which we reminisced about our grandma and all the good memories that we had of her. I will truly miss her and would like to dedicate this post to her. While initally I was in shock, a friend of mine went for a long walk yesterday and ended up in a cemetery. While this might seem like a strange place to go on such a sad day, it was actually calming for me to be there. I felt at peace with my grandmother's passing and was reminded that life goes on but people will always remember their loved ones.

This is quite a blow for me, and at the this time I am seeking comfort from friends here at school, and family members. Originally, when I started this post a few days ago, I was going to talk about a cake I had baked and the vegan cupcakes I made two weeks ago. This means that my recipe count is actually 483. Right now, I am taking another break from baking but I will return to it next week.

I will post again later this week with photos that I took while I was with my sister; some of the photos, I think, are quite beautiful.

Until then,
Jill 

Another Important Post

These past few months with my blog have been a blast. I have come so far from when I started and everyone who knows me, can tell that I am at my happiest when I am typing a new post. However, reality can be a little demon and at this time, I have to face it.

Oh, wait.

Are all thinking what I think you're thinking? That I am announcing the end of my blog? Wouldn't that be a silly thing to do! Of course I'm not shutting down my blog; I still have so much more to do, so many different recipes to try, and yes, I still have to set off the smoke alarm. However, there is a matter at hand that I definitely need to discuss. If you haven't already guessed it, what I am referring to is $$$; those little green pieces of paper/fabric that hold so much significance in today's society. As I have mentioned countless times before, I am a college student who has to manage my baking along with academics, clubs, and my attempts to not go insane. But lets face it, how am I supposed to continuing baking if each trip to the supermarket includes at $50+ bill? Its not viable and to be honest, its starting to affect my bank account. With that said, lets face another truth: I will not be able to bake 500 different recipes over the course of 500 days. If I want to keep my dreams of spending my spring break hiking in Utah and studying abroad for the summer, I need to take a step back and asses what I need to do. But here is the good news: I am not one to readily throw in the towel. I will continue baking and blogging, that is certainly not going to change. I will still bake one recipe, maybe two a week, but those days of four recipes in one go are over. My poor bank account cannot withstand something like that again. Considering all the support I have at school and at home, I think it would be silly of me to just walk away. True, I wasn't very competitive when I ran cross country in high school, but now I am determined to not admit defeat. Besides, clearly yesterday when I asked my mom what the difference was between slicing and dicing is enough of a justification to prove that I still have a lot to learn. 

With that said, I have decided to ask you, my dear readers, what recipes you would like to see me take on next. With the exception of vegan mint chocolate cupcakes (I am saving that one for a very special occasion), I am pretty much up to trying anything. However, please keep in mind the costs of the ingredients. Other then that, I look forward to seeing that you all suggest; even if only one person actually posts a suggestion :P

Sorry I don't have pictures for this post, but I have been pretty busy.

Until next time,

Jill

A Sticky Day and Weekend in the Freezing Whites

"The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things: of sticky caramel sweets and tarty green apple dreams." 

What do you guys think? Do I possibly have a career as a poet awaiting me somewhere down the road? Anyway, let me say now that is good go be back. This might sound strange, but last week I just felt so empty without having to write a blog post. Originally I was going to write something, most likely about a hiking trip that I had taken with the Outing Club. Sadly :( I was all caught up getting ready for another Outing Club adventure, this time, to the White Mountains. More on that later. Despite the emptiness that I felt inside, I won't deny that it felt good to not have to worry about doing any intense baking last week. I can assure you that my wallet felt relived as well. However, without having to worry about baking any cupcakes I had plenty of time to contemplate my next baking endeavor, Caramel Apple Cupcakes. I want to give a special thanks to everyone who took my little survey seriously and took part in it. One specific co-worker of mine has been waiting two weeks for this recipe. Well, tonight he finally got them and from the feedback that I have gotten, these little beauties were worth the wait.

So what exactly about this recipe was I most excited for? Why the apples of course! I love apples, especially green apple. Basically, any recipe that includes apples is fine by me. Additionally, I really wanted to try another cupcake recipe that incorporated fruit so this one came at the right time. Another big plus to this recipe was that I got to test out my newest kitchen toy, my food processor! Sure, she's a bit load, but she sliced and diced those apples like a dream. What better way to commemorate my food processor's maiden voyage than by testing out its grating capabilities. Another fun fact about this recipe was that I got to try my hand at toasting pecans. Which, by the way, cost me nearly $9.00! Even the store clerk at Big Y felt bad for me; he kept going on about the things food stores -including the one he works for- get away with these days.

As for my roasting skills, well, lets just say if you need a person to roast chestnuts for the winter holidays I am not the person to ask. I guess you could say that I forgot to pull the pecans out at the correct time, hence their darkish, blackish color. Some might call it burned, however, I think the darkness of the pecans adds a nice rustic undertone to the flavor. And once they were sprinkled on top of the caramel frosting/drizzle, you really couldn't tell that they were slightly over-cooked.

What else can I say about this recipe? Hmmm. Well, some might call it cheating however, for this recipe I ended up using cake miz. Please, before you break out the torches and pitchforks hear me out. When I found this recipe, I just decided to take it on face value, not really doing the smart thing, aka, researching to see what other recipes were out there. Today, however, my delayed mental light blub finally went on and I briefly did a google search. Well, as it turns out, making spice cake mix isn't so hard; just your standard batter ingredients with a few extra surprises. Now, technically I should have just made the batter the old fashion way, but  I had already bough the darn cake mix and I intended to use it! And, in my own opinion, the cupcakes came out really good.

 

Yea, they were a bit moist, but that was to be expected with all the apples that I had put into them. For the final touch, I needed to melt the caramels I purchases in a thing of boiling milk. After unwrapping all fifty individually wrapped caramels, I realized that I had left my measuring spoons up stairs. Can you guess what I did then? If you guessed just assess what you think 3 tablespoons look like then you are correct! Unless you have a pretty good eye for these sort of things I don't suggest trying this anytime soon. Despite this minor blunder, one my roommates had the brilliant idea of adding corn starch to the mixture. Well, that definitely did the trick and just like that, I was back on track. Once the caramel had cooled down enough (putting it in the freezer was a great idea ;))I carefully poured it on top of the cupcakes, sprinkled them with the pecans and stepped back. Personally, I think they looked pretty frick'n good, like something you would see at a school bake sale. 

On a totally different note, I went to the White Mountains last weekend. How was it? Cold. Cold and wet. Cold, wet, and slippery. Tag on really pretty and that basically covers the trip. When we got there it was raining, when we woke up it was slightly raining. When we got to the base of Mount. Madison it wasn't raining but little did we know :P

At first, everything was going great. Yea it was a bit foggy but that just made the whole adventure even more cool. As for the temperature, it wasn't that bad at all. considering how much we were moving around, at one point I was down to just one layer. You can't see it that well, but the riv er running under the bridge had the potential of being a really great white water rafting course (if only the water was deeper). In actuality, things didn't start taking a turn for the worse until after we began a descent. Let me say now, I can run a seven minute mile, but that's if the terrain is flat. It took us nearly two and half hours to hike two miles. Trust me, the runner in me was crying loudly. However, when the tail looks like that -----> you can see why it might have taken us so long.Of course, our joy of finally getting past the tree line was incredibly short lived since that was when Mr. Rain Cloud decided to turn on the pressure. Factor in the fact that we were about 2000 feet above sea level  you can understand what I mean when I say that our hiking party was screwed.

The photo above was taken moments after we broke through the tree line

This was taken right before everything went sour. You can tell because I am still wearing just a lightweight windbreaker and a soaking wet bandanna. Perhaps thirty minutes later we would be shivering at 3000 feet in wind, rain and, yes, hail. By that point I was way too cold to take any good photos of the peaks. Yes I peaks because before you reach the top of Mount. Madison, you have to cross twelve mini peaks first. I think our party got past three or four before turning tail and making a run for it. Getting to the top would have been cool , but not worth getting hypothermia over. Though to be honest, by the time we reached the final mile of the trail, I was so cold and wet that I think I suffered from a very slight case of hypothermia. I was soo cold, just like every body else. When we finally reached the bottom of the mountain, everyone agreed that we couldn't stand another minute of New Hampshire and raced back to camp. Literally tossing everything into the van, Therese, our driver, hit the gas pedal and sped out of there. Even with the heater roaring on high, the cold refused to leave my bones; my hair remained wet for hours! And do you want to hear the worst part? So the whole drive back to Worcester, all five hours, we were stuck in rain. We reach the outskirts of Worcester and suddenly, no more rain. It was like the storm decided to just turn around and go back to New Hampshire.

In the long run, I will go back someday to the White Mountains to complete the hike. But for now, my body had developed a natural aversion to rain. As for my cupcakes tomorrow I am going to attempt to make vegan chocolate cupcakes with vegan chocolate mousse. I know my sweet tooth can't wait for that. And in case you haven't been keeping track: 15 done, 485 to go.

Until next time,

Jill

Carmel Apple Cupcakes, recipe taken from Tasteofhome.com

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Caramel-Apple-Cupcakes?ZSHINEL2

Ingredients

• 1 package (18-1/4 ounces) spice cake mix or 1 package (18 ounces) carrot cake mix
• 2 cups chopped peeled tart apples
• 20 caramels
• 3 tablespoons 2% milk
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted
• 12 Popsicle sticks

Directions

• Prepare cake batter according to package directions; fold in apples.
• Fill 12 greased or paper-lined jumbo muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
• In a small saucepan, cook the caramels and milk over low heat until smooth. Spread over cupcakes. Sprinkle with pecans. Insert a wooden stick into the center of each cupcake. Yield: 1 dozen.

*I used normal sized cupcake pans instead and the recipe made about 22-23 cupcakes. My only advice is to buy at least 45 caramels (depending on how big they are).