Cups of cake.

cupcakes.

these little jewels can be the death of the everyday baker. Mix batter. Frost. Decorate. Repeat. How about 450 of them? Piped icing and edible gold dust and a tiny star on the top.
torture.

only it's not so bad if you're enjoying yourself. which i did. turns out i'd be a pretty good pastry chef. i even decorated a cake. turns out milli vinilli's signature isn't easy to write in frosting. perhaps it's better if you don't ask.

oh. you're curious? well... i'll bite.

450 people. half of them dad's from the likes of wallstreet and the nfl, the other half screaming little girls ages 9 and up. oh, you think i'm kidding? that was my saturday.
and the cupcakes... well.. here we go.

CUPCAKES:
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt

Butter Cream Icing (recipe below)

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cups confectioner sugar
1 T vanilla
2 T milk

Cream butter and shortening well.
Add vanilla.
Gradually add powdered sugar.
Add milk.
Mix thoroughly. Tada! Icing.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (that's the dial right after 325 degrees on most ovens)
Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers or you can do minis if you want.
In a little combine the dry ingredients except the sugar and set them aside..
In a large bowl or Kitchenaid mixer at medium speed cream the butter until smooth and pasty. Add the sugar a little at a time. Beat this until it gets fluffy.. which will probably take you about 3-4 minutes. Resist the urge to sing "Beat It". Add vanilla.
In a seperate small bowl crack each egg to make sure it isn't a bad one... no feathers, blood, etc.
Add the eggs to your fluffy sugar mixture one at a time while beating. Do not over beat. We don't want to make wallpaper paste, folks. Add all your dry indredients and milk, mix well.
Now get yourself something to make sure you've gotten the mix all incorporated and get the mix out of the bowl with, preferably a rubber spatula... if you don't have anything your hand will work as long as it's clean and you don't mind getting dirty... or you could go next door to borrow something from your super cool neighbor..

Use a spoon to get the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 of the way full. Bake these babies for about 20–25 minutes.
Use a toothpick or wooden skewer or cake tester thingy to check the cake. If the thing you use comes out dry your cakes are done. If it pulls up a gooey mess, put it back in the oven!!
Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Ice these babies up good with that buttercream icing!!!

Enjoy. xo

Got soy milk?

There is an ongoing debate about the benefits of drinking soy milk over drinking whole/1% milk. So I'm going to weigh in on the topic.

First, Soy milk tastes pretty good... but you definately have to get used to it. It does NOT taste like regular milk. Since it is not actually dairy and does not have the fat content of normal milk you will feel at first like you are drinking water. For your first try get a flavored soy milk such as Vanilla or Chocolate. I prefer the vanilla- it's great to drink and super goood on cereal and in coffee.

So what are the benefits of soy milk? Well, it lower cholesterol. Also it lowers triglycerides. This means your heart will be healthier. So if you can stand to drink it and it makes you healthier, why don't you?

Here's another fact about soy milk:

One glass of soy milk provides ~8g of soy protein. In addition, soy milk is rich in Isoflavones, a type of phytoestrogens that have structure similar to that of human estrogen. Numerous studies indicated that populations that consume soy products (as in Japan and China) have lower incidences of breast, colon and prostate cancers. More and more researchers now investigate the benefits of soy milk in cancer risk. (http://www.healthcastle.com/benefitsofsoy_heart.shtml)

So what does Ms. Mystery have to say about Soy?

Drink it and Enjoy. xxo

Cranberry Chocolate Coma Bread Pudding

I love chocolate... but even more than I love chocolate I LOVE dehydrated cranberries. Today was old roll is about to turn into mold roll day at work. So what do we do to rectify the situation? I vote for a bread pudding of some sort. And the vote is unanimous. All two of us wanted to do a bread pudding. So then my brain gets to thinkin' about what we've got in dry storage... and the fridge.. and just like that I have a bread pudding made and in the oven. Curious? Well, give it a try and let Ms. Mystery know what you think.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (that's fahrenheit, folks.) Make sure you have a rack on the middle shelf, of if you don't have a middle shelf, on the top.

Start with 1 bag of old-ish (NOT MOLDY) rolls - do not use stale rolls. Your bread pudding will taste like stale bread pudding. I like to use yeast rolls that are still moist enough to tolerate on their own or with soup. Like I said, 1 bag... or about 12 rolls. Rip up the bread into bitesize-ish pieces. Don't be shy, rip with love. Store in bag until you've got the custard set up.

Get a Huge mixing bowl ... Then get four eggs (not room temperature, we're talking straight from the fridge. Room temperature=food poisoning) Crack the eggs into the bowl- careful not to get any shell in it. Also, you will need 5 cups of a dairy type liquid to add to the eggs. I prefer 2 cups of half and half and 2 cups of heavy cream. (If this seems like too much liquid for your bread cut it down to 3 cups... but you want enough liquid to make it a custard.)
Wisk the eggs and liquid together. Then add....

2 T Cinnamon, preferably grated from a fresh stick
1/4 cup vanilla
1/2 cup rum
3 T brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt (trust me- it cuts the sweetness of the chocolate)

Wisk again, like a bat out of (you know where) and get this all incorporated.

Then add:

3 cups dehydrated cranberries
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Once you've got everything mixed together put your bread in a greased casserole pan. I prefer glass. 9 x 13 should work. A little smaller is okay too.

Dump the bread (lovingly) into the casserole pan. Dump (again, lovingly) the custard mix into the casserole pan on top of the bread. Toss ingredients with a spoon, ever so gently, to incorporate.

Put on the middle or top rack of your oven. Bake for 30 minutes, uncovered. (Set a timer!)
Once your timer is hollerin' get to the oven and check your pudding. Wiggle the pan gently. If the contents of the pan are still jiggly and wet it's NOT done. Set your timer another 5 minutes and check again, and again, and again. When your bread pudding is done it should be set up, meaning when wiggled it should be firm, not wet. (Don't mistake goey chocolatey goodness for wet, eggy milky not done-ness.)

When you're absolutely positive that your bread puddin' is done take it out of the oven (use potholders... I know you're so excited by now you can hardly think straight!) And set it on your oven top. Turn off your oven. Let it sit for a few minutes (5ish) and get happy.

By this time you should have taken out your vanilla ice cream, an ice cream scoop or whipped cream and a spoon.. and you should be tapping your foot impatiently staring at the bread pudding. If you're not, what's wrong with you? Get with the program!

I don't need to tell you what comes next... and if I do... then what are you doing in the kitchen?


Enjoy. xxo

Recipe: Asian Tossed Salad

This salad is best served at room temperature, with the dressing super cold!! Be careful not to burn the sesame seeds, ramen noodles or almonds- they take practically no time to toast! Also, this goes very well with an off dry Reisling such as: Bonny Doon Pacific Rim Dry Riesling $ 20's

1 med. head Bok Choy, ribs in tact, cut into chiffonade
1 med. head Napa Cabbage, ribs removed, cut into chiffonade
2 bags Ramen noodles, uncooked, toasted in pan w/butter
1 small red onion, if desired, sliced VERY thin
1 cup slived almonds, toasted in dry hot pan until golden brown

Dressing:
1 cup blended oil
1/2 cup rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons sesame oil
2 Tablespoons sesames seeds, toasted in dry hot pan until golden brown
Juice of 1/2 lime, no seeds
1 Tablespoon lime zest
1 Tablespoon soy sauce

Shake all ingredients for dressing in a jar with a lid, closed tightly. Serve cold.

Welcome

Welcome to Delectable Dlights- an experimental food writing and photography blog. The focus of this blog will be to get myself out of the way and talk about food. The only thing you need to know about me is that I love food and writing. It all started in my grandmother's kitchen- she has magic fingers. Since then I have cooked both as a passionate hobby and professionally. I want to share my experiences with you and perhaps inspire a spark of interest, or feed your growing flame both in a way to help you learn and also to entertain you. So cheers to you ~ Bon Appétit

~Ms. Mystery