Mini Pies & Pie shots

Whenever there's pie, there's Lai. We (as in mostly Lai) made these mini pies and pie shots. This time it's not just apple pies. One of them is blackberry. It all started out with me wanting pie and Lai being there. We had two Fuji apples, one jumbo-size and one regular-size. Thinking that there wouldn't be enough apples, we decided to utilize the blackberries in the fridge. Thinking that we don't have enough crust, we overcompensated and ended up with extra pie crust. As a result, the pie shots were born.

The crust this time was especially good, perfectly flaky and buttery. The last time we made pie, some corners were cut. We just used store-bought pie crust, and it had a weird after-taste. I guess with pies, it's all or nothing. Making the crust is time-consuming, but well-worth it. Nothing beats homemade crust from the Lai:

Hello, I'm Lai and I am Karen's pie-slave. Here's my recipe.

For the pie crust, do not be shy with the fats. After all, you are making pie for yourself. You might as well burn the ship you're sinking in and go down in blaze and glory.

For a 9'' pie round (multiply by two if you are making a covered pie with another 9'' round piece)

4 TBS butter, chilled

3 TBS shortening, chilled

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup ice water

Chill the fats in the freezer for 15 minutes, then cut into small chunks.

Combine the flour and the salt, then add the chilled fats (butter and shortening) and crumble them together until it gets mealy-lookin.

Spritz the surface with the icy water, mix, spritz, mix, spritz, mix, until you get a doughy substance. Roll it up into a disk shape, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. If you're making a covered pie, using this recipe x2, now divide your dough in half and wrap two disk-shaped doughs.

Make sure to keep it away from any Karens, who will come and nibble at it when you are not looking.

Roll your chilled disks out on a flour-dusted surface, and press into pie-tin. Poke the bottoms with a fork a couple of times. Filling time.

For the apple filling, find a couple of apples. Unfortunately apple sizes now go from the size of a baby's fist to the size of a baby's head. I would say aim for the middle. I like a combination of Fuji and Grannysmith, because I prefer a crunchier filling. Those who like mushier apples, Roma apples are pretty awesome. They also have a really deep crimson skin, the color almost resembling blood. Which is a plus, maybe?

3-5 tart apples, peeled

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 TBS flour

1 TBS lemon juice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

Core and slice the apples. Mix sugars, flour, cinnamon and salt, and just right before you're going to put them into the pie crust, fold in the apple slices. Add the lemon juice, and mix one last time before you fill your pie.

Cover the pie however you like, but make sure you put some holes on top so the apples can breathe while they boil in their own juices. Delicious.

For the blackberry filling,

I don't have the recipe. I'm guessing you roll the blackberries in some magic concoction of lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch. Maybe lemon zest.

Find Karen.

Lai signing out.

Karrr, signing out.

Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes

I baked these last night. I thought they would be great for my last day of work of the year. They were. It definitely took the edge off of the usual Friday biology meetings, which have the reputation of lasting all morning and sometimes even digging into lunch.

As the name suggests, these irresistible cupcakes are a fusion of chocolate, peppermint, and coffee. I found that the sugar and caffeine were especially helpful in getting me through the day. This is only step one into my holiday baking, hopefully. The recipe is adapted from the two sites below.

For the cake,

http://annies-eats.com/2009/12/11/peppermint-mocha-cupcakes/

Dry ingredients:

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2-3 tsp. espresso powder
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt

Liquid ingredients:

1 cup milk
1 cup strong brewed coffee (2 tbs. expresso powder + 1 c. boiling water)
1 tsp. peppermint extract

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 cupcakes pan with liners. Combine dry ingredients in one bowl, and liquid ingredients in another. Lastly, mix the sugar and butter in a large bowl on medium speed for 2-3 minutes. After mixing in the egg one at a time, blend in the dry and liquid ingredients by alternating between the two and beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Divide batter into the cupcake pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, and then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

For the frosting,

http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipes.recipeListing/filter/dianas/recipeID/3533/Recipe.cfm

9 oz. white chocolate, finely chopped

3 1/2 cups powder sugar

1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
1 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened

pinch of salt

Heat the white chocolate until smooth in a double broiler, and then let cool to room temperature. Mix powder sugar, milk, and peppermint extract in a mixing bowl, blend in the butter and salt, and beat until smooth. Then, stir in the melted white chocolate, and refrigerate for 30 minutes until firm enough to frost.

For the final touch, I broke some candy cane into pieces and used them for top the frosting.

That's it! Enjoy.

As for me, 2 weeks of vacation here we go~!

fall, finals, food, friends

monday: kar's seafood pasta seasoned with lemon and parsley


tuesday: halibut steak with cilantro by nancy


wednesday: tina's tomato soup and chicken basil pesto sandwich


thursday: steak and salad by guest cook bryce


friday: originally a four-people dinner, multiplied by two, plus two more later that evening. our small, intimate dinners have their own way of evolving to parties

Baileys Buddies

Baking is my drug of choice. Of course, it's even better when it's spiked with something. How about the Baileys that's been in the fridge? No doubt, it'll be a great way to wind down a brutal day of analytical labbing and mamphys cramming. I present to you the perfect remedy for any ailment. This is the day when betty meets baileys, and ta da! We get Bailey Buddies.

The recipe is simple. Pick up a Betty Crocker white cake mix, and let the baking begin. For the most part, follow the instruction on the back of the box, which calls for 1 1/4 c. water, 1/3 c. vegetable oil, 3 egg whites. The only that I changed was the water. Instead of measuring the full amount, I measured out approximately 1 cup then added 2 tbs. Baileys Irish cream and filled to 1 1/4 mark on the measuring cup. The rest is described in detail on the box.

For the chocolate frosting on top, you will need 3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, 3 tbs butter, 2 1/2 c. of powdered sugar, 4-9 tbs total of both Baileys and milk. The relative amounts of the two will determine how alcoholic the frosting tastes. In these cupcakes I added approximately 2 tbs Baileys. (In my humble opinion, I believe more could be used. -lai) First, melt and mix the chocolate and the butter until a creamy, smooth texture and let it cool for approximately 5 minutes. After which, you mix in the powdered sugar into the chocolate mixture with an electric beater on medium speed. The chocolate and the powdered milk won't be fully incorporated into each other, so it will look chunky. At this point, you add milk/Baileys while beating on medium speed until the frosting is fluffy and lumpless. Now you are ready to decorate the cupcakes!

Above: Wrestling match between the spoon and the electric hand-held mixer. This is better than a jello fight. But, who is going to win?

L'amie Limon

3 lemons are used. I couldn't have made it without my roommates, Lai and Tina. Lai assumed (or perhaps was forced into) the position of bottle opener and lemon zester while Tina acted the part of recipe reciter and raspberry washer. With all three of us, the cupcakes were completed in no time.

We followed the recipe closely, but the cupcakes did not rise as much as anticipated. My suggestion would be to add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in addition to the baking powder to get them to rise more.

For the recipe, check out this site:

http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2009/08/30/lemon-limoncello-cupcakes/

P.S. I forgot one roommate. Nancy did not partake in the making, but was designated taste tester and helped in the consumption.

POM Pals

Just as many metabolic processes are often coupled with the hydrolysis of ATP, my workload relates to my inclination to bake in the same way. I want you to meet POM Pals - the kind that just might give you a heart attack. I made them while studying for my psyc midterm. UPDATE: Got an A in psyc, thanks to these babies.

For the cake,

1 box french vanilla cake mix

1 pomegranate

3 eggs, room temperature

1 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

For the frosting,

1/2 stick butter, room temperature

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup powder sugar

1 ts. vanilla extract

2-3 drops red food coloring

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Juice 3/4 of the pomegranate seed, reserving some for garnish.
3. Mix the batter according to the instruction from the cake mix for 2/3 of the mix. For the remaining 1/3, add pomegranate juice instead of water. A couple drops of red food coloring can be added to enhance the color. Pour the french vanilla batter into 2 12-cupcake pan to about 1/2 full. Then, add a spoon of pomegranate batter on top. To distribute, cut the batter with the back of the spoon using a zig zag motion.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350F. After baking, cool cupcakes for 30 minutes or so.
5. While cooling, prepare the cream cheese frosting by whipping cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract, and food coloring with an electric mixer until fluffy and light (approximately 2-3 minute on med speed). Then, add the powder sugar 1/4 cup at a time, making sure to mix well after each addition.
6. Top cupcake with the frosting, and garnish with the reserve of pomegranate seed from before.