October 2010 Daring Baker's Challenge: Doughnuts!

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

I used to be so on top of the Daring Bakers challenges, so I am a little disappointed with myself for waiting until the 31st of the month to make, let alone post, my challenge results. It was only with mild excitement that I greeted the announcement that doughnuts were the monthly assignment. I had made them once before and found that between the rising and the frying, it could be a laborious effort. It also pretty much guarantees a huge mess in the kitchen.

I started with a grand plan of making pumpkin doughnuts with a variety of different glazes. As the month quickly passed, I downgraded my plans to plain yeasted doughnuts with maple glaze or a dusting of sugar. On the last day of the month, I decided to settle for cake doughnuts in powdered sugar and very low levels of enthusiasm. The Daring Bakers were kind enough to present 4 different recipes for us to choose from. I settled on the "Old Fashioned Buttermilk Doughnuts", or cake doughnuts by Nancy Silverton.

I had only been exposed to Silverton's bread recipes, and was quite shocked to see that she dabbled in doughnuts as well. Her bread recipes are very fussy, to say the least. I am sure if followed properly, they yield some of the most delicious bread you can bake, but who has time or patience to monitor changes of 1 to 2 degrees in temperature in your dough... or to precisely adjust the rising time to the temperature in your kitchen? A friend gifted me a copy of her La Brea bread book which looked like an exercise in masochism for the home baker. I am just not convinced that I would really be able to detect the differences between a loaf I baked with my own short cuts and a loaf I baked with her perfect execution. Go ahead, call me a fraud.

Based on my knowledge of her through that book, doughnuts just seemed a little sloppy for her; the recipe looked too simple and friendly. It also yielded some of the softest, fluffiest, most flavorful doughnuts I have ever tasted. The secret ingredients seem to be a bit of yeast, which produces more rise than baking powder and baking soda alone, as well as fresh nutmeg which adds some depth to the flavor.

I waited until after I had made the dough and cut it into rings before I began to heat the oil. I just didn't believe that I would be able to finish mixing the batter and shaping the doughnuts before the oil reached the proper temperature. This was a big mistake! Apparently it can take almost half an hour for oil to become hot enough for deep frying while it only takes about 15 minutes to prepare the dough. So my doughnuts sat on the counter, rising slowly, while Aaron complained impatiently about how they were rapidly becoming more of a lunch than breakfast. 

Once in the oil, it took no time for them to cook. The soft dough froze in shape the instant I dropped it into the pot, turning to a golden brown within about 30 to 40 seconds. I allowed them to cool for a few minutes on a baking rack covered in paper towels and then dredged them in a mixture of powdered sugar and cinnamon, moving quickly to ensure they were still warm when served. 

All in all, the recipe was pretty simple and I think I will be making these again! If I had realized just how simple and flavorful they would be, my attitude towards this challenge probably would have been quite different. Next time I am hoping that with a little planning I might have time to try some different flavors and glazes to spice things up... if I ever get around to it. 

Recipe after the jump! 

Pumpkin Cupcakes

An hour has passed and Aaron is still cleaning up the kitchen. We had a friend over for dinner tonight and it looks like a tornado has hit. So that the boys could enjoy an afternoon of football, I offered to handle dinner on my own. For most people, that wouldn't have been that big of a deal, but I just can't do things halfway. Homemade pappardelle, veal ragu and a batch of cupcakes had taken their toll on the kitchen. I even managed to splatter pomegranate juice on the fridge - don't ask.

I thought about posting photos of the mayhem here (friends might enjoy imagining the horrified expression on Aaron's face when he saw the destruction). I also considered writing step by step instructions for homemade pasta. Nope - that will be saved for another day. For once, I'm going to stick to the original theme of this blog. The cupcakes were outstanding.

I have had pumpkin on the brain ever since my company offsite a few weeks ago. Our Q3 "day of fun" was at one of those "pick your own" produce farms in central New Jersey. After a few hours of presentations, we were released into the fields to pick apples and pumpkins. Let me just say, I take these things VERY seriously, as I planned for my pumpkin to be more than a jack-o-lantern. Ever since I learned about the plans for the offsite, I had been dreaming of making my own pumpkin puree for pancakes, cupcakes, bread, pie... you get the idea. I scoured the patch and managed to pluck an enormous, yet very perfect pumpkin to take home. 

I hauled the pumpkin home and left it in the corner of my dining room. Then I got busy. The pumpkin sat there for a few weeks... and then it molded and I was devastated. Into the garbage it went and I was pumpkin-less. Unfortunately, all of my day-dreaming about pumpkin dessert meant that I wasn't giving up until I had a chance to test a few of them. On our next trip to the grocery store, I picked up two cans of pumpkin and waited semi-patiently for an excuse to use them. 

One can of pumpkin was finished off with pumpkin pancakes for breakfast. This evening's company meant I would have an excuse to try a recipe for pumpkin cupcakes that I had been eying. Aaron begged me to skip dessert and respect the fatwa. Seriously? How could I skip dessert? I think that at this point it is all but expected from our guests. Moreover, I needed to get the pumpkin obsession out of my system. As a compromise, I halved the recipe and made just 8 cupcakes. 

The melted butter (as opposed to room temperature, creamed butter) and pumpkin yield a very moist but very dense cake. 

Recipe after the jump!

The Daring Baker's Challenge, September 2010: Decorated Sugar Cookies

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

A few months ago Ms. Kumquat sent me a note requesting my favorite sugar cookie recipe. She thought that as her baking-est friend, surely I must have something I could send her. Embarrassingly I had nothing. Despite all of the baking I do, sugar cookies are something I had avoided. While I love other varieties of homemade cookies, homemade sugar cookies have always hit a flat note with me. They are usually too hard, with a hint of cardboard flavoring. Several failed attempts and I swore them off forever. 

As such, it was with much curiosity that I greeted this month's Daring Baker's challenge. I had taken a pass on the challenges over the past few months as my new job and our vacation kept me more than occupied. Who knew that a sugar cookie challenge would bring me back? Decorated sugar cookies were something that I had always wanted to try and this was the perfect opportunity. I just needed to figure out what I would do with all of the cookies. 

I made just one elephant. For some reason the thought of decorating an entire batch of elephants seemed overwhelming,

At first I thought Aaron could just take them to work. Maybe I could decorate the cookies with little dollar signs or something equally ridiculous but appropriate for his office... perhaps a few elephants. A sole elephant cutter is the only non-round cookie cutter I have. Aaron didn't seem completely thrilled about having to tote a bunch of "cute" cookies into his office. Fortunately a friend freed him from that duty by planning a small party - the perfect venue for disposing of a batch of baked goods.

To say the cookies, themselves, were easy to make is an understatement. It might have been the easiest recipe I have ever tried... except for the part that said to add "any flavorings you are using". For some reason I interpreted that to mean "pick a random flavor and add it", so I accidentally dumped in a TON of cinnamon. Oops. Fortunately I don't think anyone at the party noticed, as the cookies disappeared quickly and nobody complained about the flavor. Maybe they were being nice? 

I found the icing to be a little more challenging. It was my first time working with royal icing and I was totally unprepared. For some reason I assumed that decorating would be a piece of cake - the icing would come out of the tip smoothly and slowly. Of course the opposite was true. I found the icing to be runny and difficult to manage. It drizzled out of the tip and ran over the edges of the cookies once applied. My photos are misleading because I only took photos of the best ones.

Despite the mishaps, this was one of the more enjoyable challenges I have undertaken. I would call my first attempt at decorated sugar cookies an almost success, and certainly something I will repeat. 

The 2010 NYC Vendy Awards

Aaron and I are sitting on the couch in a sort of food coma. For one of the first times in my life, the thought of eating seems totally and completely unappealing. Not another morsel of food shall pass my lips... at least for a few hours.

A falafel sandwich from the Vendy Cup AND People's Choice winner - The King of Falafel.

Today we attended the annual Vendy Awards on Governors Island with our friends David and Jen. The Vendy Awards are sometimes referred to as the Oscars of the street food world and always understood to be a day of delicious gluttony. Each year, dozens of NY's best food trucks (as nominated by the people) come together to compete for the coveted Vendy Cup and People's Choice awards. The trucks assemble to serve attendees for a few hours, and then professionals select the winner while the hoi polloi vote for the People's Choice. For me, it was an exciting opportunity to sample trucks in NYC that I had not yet had a chance to try, such as the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck, while also enjoying some of my favorites, like the Bistro Truck (their merguez sandwich is a religious experience).

"Sides" from Schnitzels and Things included potato salad, sauerkraut, beets and chickpeas. 

They also had a number of sauces to add to your schnitzel. I took the spicy mayo. 

and finally... the schnitzel. 

The Vendy Awards was an event I had anxiously awaited for months. Those who know me (and perhaps those who read our updates from Southeast Asia) know that I have an unhealthy obsession with food trucks. In my opinion, one of the good side effects of the great recession has been the renaissance in American street food and the rise of the gourmet food trucks. The only thing I miss about working in Times Square is the absence of great street food near my office in suburban Jersey. Bland salads and boring sandwiches from the cafeteria seem so unappetizing when compared to the tacos and lamb over rice that I used to take for granted.

Taiwanese pot stickers with two kinds of soup. 

Something delicious and Venezuelan. Don't remember the name but it was juicy pork sandwiched between fried plantains. 

My obsession with food trucks has actually started to verge on crazy. Since I no longer have easy access, I have discovered that I really look forward to finding my favorite trucks when I do get to go to the city. Discovering a great new truck is even better than finding an old favorite. When I notice a new truck down the block, my pace quickens and I can feel the anticipate of findings a new purveyor of grilled meat or cupcakes. Then the disappointment sets in when I realize the truck I saw was actually a mail truck, not a food truck. Yes, I have started seeing "mirages" of food trucks in NYC. It is bad. 

Enchiladas and other Mexican goodies from El Rey del Sabor. 

The weather in New York was perfect for the event. Though it looked like rain in the morning, but the time we got off the ferry on Governors Island it was sunny with cloudless skies, verging on a little hot. We had brought a quilt with us that we spread out under some trees to serve as home base. Then we split up to conquer the event, leaving one person on the quilt at all time while others fetched food. I had full intention of sampling the dishes at every truck, but after eating tacos, schnitzel, ice cream, bread pudding, panna cotta, pot stickers among other things (most inhaled too quickly for photos), I had to call it quits. I just could not stuff another thing in my stomach. Aaron fought through it and was the real champion of our group, as he managed to try something from almost every truck, save the souvlaki truck and the communist ice cream truck. 

Slow food hot dogs with sauerkraut from one of the Philadelphia trucks.

 Of course the desserts were my favorite part. I was particularly excited to see both the Dessert Truck and The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck in attendance. I had wanted to try both for sometime, but neither parked close enough to my office when I worked in the city. The Dessert Truck brought their famous pudding and panna cotta, pictured below. The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck had a number of hand prepared soft serve treats, including vanilla with nilla wafers and dulce de leche sauce, and smaller samples of more off the wall flavors like curried coconut.

Chocolate bread pudding from The Dessert Truck.

Perhaps the biggest surprise, however, where the slushies from Kelvin Slush. The naturally flavored frozen concoctions were refreshing in the heat of the day and nice and light after all of the greasy food we had eaten. We slurped ours down too quickly for pictures (and then regretted the speedy consumption when we were hit with painful brain freeze!).  The line at Kelvin Slush was more than one hour for most of the event, but folks couldn't get enough. Despite the wait, they managed to walk away with the dessert prize, which we felt was well earned.

Cassis Panna Cotta from The Dessert Truck. 

Samples of mixed berry ice cream from The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck. 

All in all, my first Vendy's experience far exceeded my expectations. Though I am stuffed now, I can honestly say I can't wait for my next NYC street food experience.

Back to reality... *le sigh*: Heirloom Tomato Tart

Well, we have been back for a little more than a week now. It is amazing how quickly you fall back into your old routine; it is almost like our trip didn't even happen. Seeing how little things changed over the six weeks we were gone just makes our trip seem even shorter. Aaron and I are already trying to dream up ways to take another extended vacation sooner rather than later.

As a summer loving foodie, returning home at the start of the fall season has particularly punishing. Sure, I should be excited about the abundance of colorful produce at the market and the ability to grill outdoors without melting from the heat. I am just not finding anything particularly inspiring. Aaron and I often look at our weekend grocery shopping as an adventure - what kinds of surprises will greet us at the store... will we find that impossible to find chili pepper that we have been searching for since last spring... are there any new types of bread in the bakery that I should try to copy? **Sure, I can admit it, we are super geeky about food. Some people find it annoying - others just try to get on the barbecue invite list :).** I'm sorry to say, after all of the exotic things we tried during our travels, even the ripe heirloom tomatoes aren't doing it for me.

Running errands on Friday, I decided I needed to snap out of it and stop whining. After all, one of the things that made our great adventure so precious was that it had to end some time. Moreover, I get about two or three (at the absolute most) more weeks of summer produce and if I don't take advantage I know I will regret it when I am on month two of eating parsnips and celery root with many more to go before warm weather arrives again. 

With that I ran to Union Square to explore what seasonal goodies were being hawked at the farmers market. We missed Hoboken's annual heirloom tomato festival, so I settled on a mixed bag of tomatoes at the very reasonable price of $3 a pound. 

Aaron's only menu request was that I used at least most of the basil growing in the back yard; we have two flower boxes full that need to be emptied before it starts to get too cold. After some searching, I came across this Epicurious recipe for Heirloom Tomato Tart and thought I would give it a whirl. The recipe seemed a bit suspicious at first (a tart with RAW tomatoes???), but it called for heirloom tomatoes, basil and other ingredients I had on hand. 

Surprisingly the uncooked tomatoes, pesto and mozzarella paired nicely with the parmesan crust. I assembled the tart just before eating it, as I worried any sitting would result in a soggy tart. I might have worried too much about sogginess because the leftovers kept beautifully in the fridge over night. 

It was a nice meal for our first real meal back at home. Farm fresh produce, western flavors... a last taste of summer... a return to reality. 

All good things must come to an end...

After hours of flying, we are finally back home, but not too happy about it. We thought that after nearly six weeks of traveling, both of us would be a little homesick and ready to stop living out of suitcases. Things couldn't be further from the truth - everything on our trip was so wonderful that both of us easily have about 6 more months of travel in us. Maybe we would not ever feel like going home? 

At any rate, we are both getting ready for work as we speak which means the vacation is officially over. With that, this space will cease to be a travel blog (until our next trip anyway!) and return to its usual baking content with Ms. Cupcake at the keyboard. 

Cheers. 

Champagne and Laksa?

Ms. Cupcake, Ms. Kumquat, Mr. Ibu Oka and I are all sitting in our adjoined suite at the St. Regis right now drinking champagne, eating strawberries and macarons.

How in God’s name did this happen?

We started this morning shedding tears as we left Bali. Looking out at the ocean as the sun rose this morning, it was dawning on all of us that our lovely days of vacation were coming to end. We had our last lak lak for breakfast, courtesy of the wonderful staff at the villa, and then departed for the airport.

We arrived in Singapore in the middle of the afternoon. Changi airport’s efficiency had us land and be in our hotel within 50 minutes. We enjoyed our free cocktails and canapés and head out to Singapore for our final food tour.

Laksa!

Another temple, of course.

We hit up the Katong for the majority of the evening. The red light district is a food emporium and we loved it. We went to Katong Laksa and savored the delicious spicy coconut broth. We went to Larong 9 and ate two heaping mounds of beef noodles, fried carrot cake (not what you think) and downed it all with Tiger beers. Finally, we ended with some satay and pork buns at La Pu Sat.

Beef Kway Teow, "wet"

Beef Kway Teow, "dry" (we liked this one better, which apparently is "typical" for westerners according to our cabbie)

Carrot cake. It is NOT sweet, but still tasty.

We were exhausted and dreaming of bed. Arriving back at the hotel, we went to say goodbye to our dear friend Andy. For the entire trip he has gone above and beyond to take extra special care of us and we felt really bad to be leaving him behind. In all of our travels, his service has certainly been amongst the best we have ever received.

Somebody get this restaurant some pig!

Our departure gift... bittersweet.

After saying our farewells, we clambered up to our rooms, depressed to be saying goodbye to vacation.

We arrived to two bottles of champagne, two dozen macarons, two plates of fresh berries and beautiful hand written notes from our Andy. Thanks a million, Andy. You have brought an incredible end to an incredible vacation. 

Champagne started this vacation, and apparently it is going to end it.