Grand Marnier cupcakes with
strawberry buttercream

Note: I wrote this piece for my friend Tuffer’s magazine project. I’ll post the link to it soon!

Last weekend was a crazy pop cultural roller coaster. After wallowing in an endless rotation of Jackson 5 singles and seriously epic music videos, I came up for air to do some baking. And what better way to escape a pop-induced funk than baking cupcakes?

My cake of choice was a butter cake spiked with Grand Marnier. I matched it up with a classic buttercream made with strawberries. Let’s say the buttercream icing is the “Rock With You” of the combo: sweet and fluffy, the roller skates, smoke machines and disco of desserts. Then, think of the cake as the “Wanna Be Starting Something” of the pair. That song was my jammy joint – it makes me want to put on a zipper jacket, break in some of those white and red stiff-leather Nikes and make a mix tape with my sister. The song seems bubbly and innocuous at first, but then you listen to the lyrics and are like, “WTF?” For the cake, the hit of booze is your little WTF moment: a little dark, a cupcake for grownups.

Alright, I’ll admit the analogy was a stretch, so let’s talk about strawberries instead. June rolled around and earlier this week, I started seeing Wimbledon on the tube. All the snooty tennis snobs on the grounds hogging down strawberries and cream always remind me that it’s time to buy the sweetest strawberries of the year.

For this recipe I decided to compare two types of buttercream: Italian meringue versus Swiss meringue. I had previously done a comparison of American butter icing (butter and powdered sugar) and Swiss meringue buttercream; the meringue being my clear favorite. After buying the excellent baking book, CakeLove (a cookbook from Warren Brown’s famed CakeLove bakery in DC), I decided to finally try Italian meringue buttercream. I had never tried it before because, frankly, it is kind of a pain in the neck to make. With Swiss buttercream – shall we call it the Federer of icings? – you heat and whisk sugar and egg whites together, then add butter. Simple elegance (Federer).

Let’s say Italian buttercream is more like the icing Nadal: it seems like an unnecessary amount of effort, but completely thrilling in the end. (He’s injured and skipping Wimbledon this year, but work with me here.) You have to make a sugar syrup, heat it to softball stage, and add it to already whipped egg whites. Timing is of the essence. (And the tennis analogy was even more of a stretch, so I promise I will stop now.)

I prefer the Italian buttercream, but I guarantee, either one will be killing it. Go simple and use a spatula or butter knife to spread the icing, top with a beautiful little local strawberry, enjoy the June weather, blast “I Want You Back”, tune in to Wimbledon, and have your cake and eat it too.

Grand Marnier cake
adapted from CakeLove
Makes 24 cupcakes or 2 9-inch cake rounds

Ingredients:
7 ounces (200 g) AP flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
13 ounces (375 g) caster sugar (extra fine sugar)
8 ounces (225 g) butter
4 large eggs
½ cup (150 ml) whole milk
½ cup (150 ml) heavy cream
1 tablespoon (25 ml) vanilla extract
2 tablespoons (50 ml) Grand Marnier

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line muffin tins with cupcake paper, then spray surface with a little non-stick cooking spray. If making a large cake, line the bottom with parchment paper (don’t grease the sides).
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside
3. Combine the milk, cream, vanilla and Grand Marnier in a measuring pitcher. Set aside.
4. With the paddle attachment on a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes on medium speed.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next. When all eggs are added, continue mixing on medium for about 3 minutes.
6. Lower the speed to low. Alternate adding the flour and the milk mixture in 2-3 additions, starting and ending with the flour.
7. Spoon out into the muffin tins. Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. (For a large cake, bake for 25 minutes.) Check with a skewer to make sure there are only crumbs clinging to it, not batter. Cool on a baking rack to room temperature while you prepare the icing.

Strawberry Italian Meringue Buttercream
The key here is that you have a candy thermometer – it is essential that the sugar syrup come to 245 degrees F (118 degrees C), otherwise the icing will be too soft. For either of these icings, make sure to serve at room temperature; just like butter, it hardens up and becomes unappetizing straight out of the fridge.

Egg whites almost done whipping

Ingredients
4 large egg whites
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons fine sugar (7-1/2 ounces, 200 g)
¼ cup water (50 ml)
12 ounces butter, (350 g) at room temperature
1 cup strawberries (250 ml) pureed (will have about ½ cup, or 125 ml of puree)

Adding the butter

1. Prepare the egg whites in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Don’t start mixing just yet – you will be making the sugar syrup first because that takes longer.
2. In a small saucepan, add the 1 cup of sugar and pour the water over it. On low heat, tilt the pan gently until the sugar and water start combining (don’t stir it!).
3. When the sugar has mostly dissolved (you will see it becoming less and less gritty), raise the heat to medium-high.
4. Wait for the mixture to come to a rapid boil, then cover immediately for exactly 2 minutes.
5. In the meantime, start beating the egg whites on high speed.
6. Uncover the sugar mixture after the 2 minutes. Continue tilting around the pan – you are going to bring the mixture to 245 degrees F (118 C, use a candy thermometer).
7. As the sugar mixture approaches 245 F (118 C), add the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar to the egg whites.
8. As soon as the syrup reaches 245, immediately remove from heat, and with the mixer running, slowly pour the syrup into the egg whites. Try not to get any on the side of the bowl because it will just harden there.
9. Continue mixing at medium-high speed for 5-7 minutes, until the mixture has cooled to room temperature.
10. Lower the speed to medium. Add the butter one tablespoon at a time until it is fully incorporated. If it starts looking curdled, don’t worry, continue beating the daylights out of it and it will come back together, I promise. (Beat it? Okay, I couldn’t resist.)
11. Add 1/3 cup of the strawberry puree and beat until incorporated.
12. And now you ice.

Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream
In this recipe, you will also need a thermometer to make sure the egg mixture comes to 140 degrees F. This has a tendency to separate during the butter addition stage. Don’t panic: just keep beating the mixture and it will come together after a while. (It’s actually amazing to watch.) Again, serve this at room temperature. You can store it in the fridge before icing a cake, but if you do, take it for a quick whirl in the stand mixer before you start icing.

Ingredients
4 large egg whites
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
½ cup sugar (100 g)
2 tablespoons (50 ml) water
12 ounces butter, (350 g) at room temperature
1 cup strawberries (250 ml) pureed (will have about ½ cup, or 125 ml of puree)

Heating the egg white and sugar mixture

1. Prepare a large saucepan that will fit your mixer bowl filled with water. Heat until it is simmering. Keep it over about medium heat.
2. Combine the egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar and water in the mixer bowl. Have a thermometer handy for when you will have to take its temperature.
3. Set the mixer bowl in the simmering water. Use a whisk to whisk the mixture constantly until it starts becoming foamy. (Make sure you don’t stop whisking, otherwise the eggs will start curdling and cooking). When the foam seems thick (I describe it as latte-like foam), remove from heat and take its temperature. You should bring it to 140 degrees F. If it’s not at 140 yet, continue heating and whisking (make sure to wash off the thermometer for measuring again later and preventing contamination.)
4. Remove to your mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on high for 5 minutes, until it is at room temperature.
5. Add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Again, if it starts looking curdled, don’t worry, just continue beating the tar out of it and believe me, it will magically come together again.
6. Add 1/3 cup of the strawberry puree and beat until combined.
7. Start icing!

Booze for your cupcakes

Links:
Crispywaffle: Vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream

BBA Challenge: Challah

I’ve been horrible about the Bread Bakers Apprentice Challenge: no book at first, then problems finding the right flour, then a lack of time, blahblahblah fishcakes.

No more excuses. I couldn’t find the right flour, but I had AP flour on hand, so I went ahead and made the BBA challah. I was instantly reminded of the mind-melting awesomeness of homemade bread. As you set out mixing the ingredients, you may think, “This is nothing but a tremendous pain in the ass I don’t have time for this why don’t I just buy some bread at the bakery.” You may think this right up until the moment that you slather some salted butter onto a fat slice of freshly baked challah, and then your attitude changes completely: “I Will Bake Homemade Bread Every Single Day Possible.”

Challah is a traditional Jewish sabbath bread. In Baking With Julia, it is described as “Eastern European brioche.” This is a good description of the specific recipe in Baking With Julia, as it calls for large amounts of eggs and butter, and is fairly sweet. However, from my understanding, a Kosher challah uses eggs, but not butter as it is supposed to be pareve, or neutral (and containing no meat or dairy). It is also meant to be sweet and made with white flour, essentially to make it special for Shabbat.

The recipe is from Baking With Julia is buttery and rich and tastes amazing just torn from the loaf. To be honest, I liked the texture of the BBA challah, but was disappointed with the flavor as it called for oil rather than butter, and this changed the flavor enough to make it a bit more bland. If you’re not concerned with whether the challah is pareve, then I would suggest using melted butter instead.

Simple braid for bread:

For me, this bread was, start to finish, 5 hours (mostly rising time, as most breads are), rising on a Saturday at home while getting other things done. It was out of the oven by 3 in the afternoon – just in time for tea. By 4 o’clock it was totally devoured with loads of butter. Hey, I didn’t promise that it would last – the very reason I’ve never tasted tomorrow morning’s French toast made with challah. Maybe next time I’ll double the recipe.

Links:
Amazon.com: Bread Baker’s Apprentice
Pinch My Salt: The BBA Challenge
Wikipedia: Classification of food in Jewish law

Sorta Seattle rolls

Maki sushi costs a fortune where I live. And did I mention that it’s also generally pretty terrible? Two reasons not to buy it!

It’s so much cheaper to roll your own sushi. This is totally a ’what’s in the house’ recipe (if you’ve been reading this blog, you’ll find that there are quite a few of those!) A Seattle roll doesn’t have the popularity of say, a California roll; in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it outside of Seattle. It’s filled with salmon, cream cheese and cucumber. Apparently, it’s sometimes also made with asparagus. Here, I’ve replaced the raw salmon with smoked salmon, kind of like lox in a sushi roll. I’ve heard that the smoked salmon and cream cheese combination is often called a Philly roll, but coming from Seattle, I hadn’t seen it with that name. Makes sense though. Also, make your kids roll the sushi. Put them to work! (Actually, they really like it, so it’s a fun thing to do with the kiddies.)

The only things I’m picky about here is the rice and the vinegar. Make sure you use a short-grain Japanese rice. Our staple rice in the house (that 25-lb. bag sitting in the corner of the kitchen) is jasmine rice, but I wouldn’t use it for this. The vinegar should also be rice vinegar. The rest is up to you.

Instructions for rolling sushi (in hasty visual format).

Sorta Seattle Roll
makes about 32 rolls

Ingredients
1-3/4 cups rice (300 g or 10.5 ounces)
1/3 cup rice vinegar (80 ml)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
100 g smoked salmon
1 English cucumber
container of cream cheese
4 sheets of sushi nori

1. Wash the rice in cold water until the water is clear. Usually I just wash the rice in the rice cooker bowl, draining it using a colander. It will take a few rounds of this.
2. When the water is clear, add fresh water and let the rice soak for 3-4 hours.
3. Cook in the rice cooker, or if you need to use a stove, according to the instructions on the rice packaging. (I’m sorry I can’t be more help in this department – I usually make rice in the rice cooker so measurements – besides the ’knuckle’ measurement – are beyond me.)
4. Stir the vinegar, salt and sugar together until the sugar and salt dissolve.
5. Scoop the hot rice out onto a flat pan or serving dish. Pour the vinegar mixture over it. Using a rice paddle or spatula, stir the mixture into the rice until it is all absorbed, while fanning the whole thing with a piece of paper until there’s no more steam coming off the rice. By fanning it, you cool the rice as it absorbs the mixture, and also keeps the rice shiny. Cover with plastic wrap and let it cool entirely.
6. Cut the cucumber to the length of the nori sheets. Cut in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut each half into 4 pieces.
7. Place the nori on a sushi mat. Spread the rice evenly over the mat, leaving a half-inch at the top and the bottom of the nori that will not be covered in rice. At the end of the nori closest to you, place one piece of cucumber, and an amount of salmon the same width as the cucumber pieces. Next to the salmon spread an amount of cream cheese about the width of the salmon.
8. Using the sushi mat, roll the sushi starting with the end with all the ingredients. Roll tightly.
9. Cut the sushi roll into 8 pieces. Repeat for the rest of the nori sheets.

Tzatziki: the easiest sauce ever

Tzatziki is a Greek sauce, traditionally used for gyros and souvlaki. I really like it on sandwiches (such as the chickpea fritters that my kids like so much), and it is one of those things you can make in a pinch to eat with pita bread or chips, and it’s also amazing with just about any kind of grilled meat. Not to mention it’s the perfect opportunity to use the insane amount of mint that is growing in our garden. Oh yes, this is the season where mint appears in everything we cook.

There are a couple of keys to making a nice thick tzatziki. First, make sure to use Greek yogurt, such as Total. This way, you won’t have to strain the liquid out of the yogurt. Second, after you grate the cucumber, make sure to squeeze out as much water as possible.

That’s it. Easy peazy lemon squeezy. Oh, yeah, speaking of, you do need a squeeze of lemon and then fresh herbs (did I mention mint?) to round it off. Done and done.

Tzatziki
1 cup (250 g) Greek yogurt
1 medium cucumber
2 cloves of garlic, minced fine
a couple of pinches of salt
a small squeeze of fresh lemon juice
a small handful of fresh mint, minced

1. Cut the cucumber in half and scoop out the seeds. Grate it on the large side of a box grater. Toss with a couple pinches of salt, then place the cucumber in a strainer and set aside.
2. Stir together the rest of the ingredients in a medium bowl.
3. Press the cucumber down into the strainer so it releases as much liquid as possible. Add to the yogurt mixture and stir until combined.

Little baby leaves of mint from the garden

Gotta use Greek yogurt

The basics: Filipino Adobo

Last week, an old friend of mine emailed me asking me what my recipe for adobo was. I was like, “I don’t know, the usual I guess, you know, vinegar, garlic, etc.” I guess he was crowd-sourcing this question, so he ended up coming back to me with more questions: “Do you use lemon instead of vinegar?” “Do you marinate?” The variety was starting to trouble me: a recipe without garlic. Wait. A recipe with liver pate. What?! When I got these messages, I was wondering if my lola (grandma) was spinning in her grave just because I knew about all of this. I checked around to make sure the lights weren’t flickering on and off in the house like she was trying to communicate with me, then I decided to write this post to help a brother out.

I’ll start with a bit of history. According to Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan’s excellent book, Memories of Philippine Kitchens, the vinegar braise that is the basis for adobo is indigenous. They point out that Ray Sokolov, in Why We Eat What We Eat, suggests that the Spanish gave the name adobo to this dish based on its loose resemblance to Spanish adobo (oil, garlic and marjoram).

As far as I’m aware, there are at least two ingredients that adobo needs to have to be called adobo: vinegar and garlic. Everything else is up in the air. But replace the vinegar with lemon? I’m going to say it, then I am going to immediately get an inbox full of hate mail: That. Ain’t. ADOBO. (And before you pound out that flame mail, did I mention how awesome Pacquiao is? Come on people, we can agree on something, right?)

I asked an expert:

Me: Does anyone ever use lemon?
Mom: For what?
Me: To replace the vinegar?
Mom: I thought you were asking me about adobo??

Notice that this question is so baffling that she answers everything with a question.

I also contacted fellow Pinoy food blogger, Arnold of inuyaki.com Twitter:

crispywaffle: @inuyaki Imma ask you a crazy question: has anyone u know ever made adobo w/lemon instead of vinegar? A friend asked me & I said he was loco
inuyaki: @crispywaffle I’ve never done that. If I ever did, then I wouldn’t call it adobo.

What you add beyond vinegar and garlic is up to you. I have seen recipes with liver pate, ginger and green onion. I personally find this bizarre, but if it has vinegar and garlic, I’m not gonna say that it’s not adobo.

For pork or chicken adobo, there’s another thing that makes a ‘typical’ adobo: the process. Hell, there are only two necessary steps: braise and fry. “Reduce” is a new-fangled step that my grandma didn’t use, or that the Spaniards brought with them or something. (Okay, that speculation is not based on anything.) I like to reduce the sauce, but it’s not a necessity. But do you just braise the adobo without frying the meat? I’m sorry kids, but that is just nilaga. Fry the meat without simmering it? Isn’t that sisig?

Now that I got that off my chest, I will provide the ratios for my adobo. I won’t claim it’s “D BEST!” or anything, it’s just what I like, and it’s a very good basic adobo because I learned it from my mom who is a Kapampangan cook, who learned it from her mom who was also a Kapampangan cook. And Kapampangans make some slammin Filipino food, seriously. Let’s not argue about that.

Now that you are ready to make adobo, here are a couple of tips:

• DON’T STIR THE SAUCE BEFORE THE VINEGAR COMES TO A BOIL. I should have this tattooed up my arms and then wear a t-shirt with the words printed on it backwards for when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror in case I forget to look at the tattoo on my arms. Why? Because my mom can’t talk about adobo without saying these words. When you braise the adobo, you mix the sauce ingredients, but once you start heating it, Do Not Touch It. Mama’s not playing! Let the vinegar sauce come to a boil, then cover and allow to simmer until the meat is cooked through. This way, the acids in the vinegar mellow out and the ‘raw’ taste burns off. I have to admit, this has been so ingrained, I have never even tried to stir it. Why mess with what your mama says?
• The amount of soy sauce you put in is up to you. Some don’t even have soy sauce. My grandma made a version of adobo that had coconut milk in it. And hard-core purists say you shouldn’t even use soy sauce because this is a Chinese ingredient that was brought to the islands later on. True as that may be, a typical adobo these days often has soy in it. I tend to use very little and put in some salt as well. Balance it to your taste, or leave out the soy sauce entirely and just use salt.
• For a typical adobo, I go with vinegar and garlic, but also soy sauce, bay leaves and black peppercorns. This is not the law by any means, but many adobos I’ve had in Pinas, Europe, and the States, contain this quintet of ingredients. If you want to make a typical adobo, this is what you’d probably start with.

So that said, here is my version. I will stick with chicken for this because Filipinos may argue until they lose their voices about what cut of pork to use. For chicken, I like dark meat for adobo, but a whole, cut up fryer chicken will work perfectly.

Basic Adobong Manok (Chicken Adobo)
serves 4 with heaps of white rice
Adjust the ratios depending on how much sauce you want. I like a lot of sauce because that is the magic elixir for turning plain white rice into God’s Food. If you make a lot of sauce, you will have to reduce it at the end so it thickens. If you want to skip the reducing step, don’t add water to the initial sauce.

Ingredients
1 cup vinegar (I like palm vinegar best, but your favorite white vinegar will work, or cider vinegar as well)
1 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce (a light one like Kikkoman, not ‘Soy Superior’) If you prefer more soy sauce, add it, but don’t put as much salt in the mix
4 bay leaves
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
5 or 6 whole cloves of garlic (I like to smash them slightly with the side of a knife)
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
To this you will add about 1 kilo of chicken, cut up.

1. Bring the whole thing to a simmer over medium heat in a large saucepan (if you are using a Dutch oven, make sure it is a Le Creuset or another kind of enamel-coated cast iron, otherwise it’ll react with the vinegar. Do not stir the mixture, cover and simmer over medium low until the meat is cooked through. For chicken, this won’t be more than 30 minutes. For pork, you can give it an hour or so, depending on the cut.
2. When the meat is cooked through, remove it from the pot. Turn the pot with the sauce in it to medium high, and boil until the sauce reduces by about half. It should be much thicker. Remove from heat.
3. Meanwhile, heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium high heat in a large saucepan. Add the chicken. If you have a splatter screen, use it. You’ll definitely see why. You can also cover it and just lift the lid when you need to turn the chicken pieces. Fry until they are crispy golden brown all over.
4. Remove the chicken to a serving platter. You can either pour the sauce over directly, or use a strainer to strain out the bay leaves, garlic and peppercorns. My mom does that. I’m sure it’s because as kids we would scream whenever we’d bite into a peppercorn. But again, this is up to you. Maybe you like biting into peppercorns.