ICE: Music

It has returned!!!!

Iron Cupcake Earth, that is! And this time with an even more open area of interpritation and experimentation. This month is Iron Cupcake Earth: Music.

The gifts this year are amazing!!!

Our Generous IronCupcake:Earth Prize Providers:
The Demy™ by Key Ingredient
Hello, Cupcake by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson
Bella Cupcake Couture
Cupcake Stackers by Gourmac
The Cake Mix Doctor Returns! by Anne Byrne

And when you have the chance, "To help get IronCupcake onto The ELLEN Show, please take a moment to contact Ellen via facebook at "The Ellen DeGeneres Show"; on Twitter @TheEllenShow or on the website, http://ellen.warnerbros.com/. Tell them you want to see IronCupcake hit the national airwaves! With the local challenges and our launch of IronCupcake:Earth, year 2...there is no time like the present. The more who ask, the more likely it will happen!!!!"

Special K Blueberry Cereal & cravings

If you haven't had the opportunity or desire to try Kellogg's Special K Blueberry cereal, take the time to do so. It is phenominal. It's not like the Strawberry version with freeze dried strawberries. The blueberries are actually baked into the flakes. It is a great low fat meal with a punch of flavor. :)

Now that I've put away a whole box on my own, allow me to explain the sudden craving. I'm pregnant again. Yes, with #4. No we don't know what the gender is yet, but I'm sure as soon as we do, you'll know too. In the mean time, this baking blog might find itself entertaining some very random food cravings.

Shrimp & Snow Pea Salad

While enjoying my Mother's Day manicure and spa pedicure, I was reading my copy of the April edition of the Food Network Magazine. (Which if you haven't already bought a subscription, you definately should!) And wouldn't you know, it had a receipe I just thought I'd have to share because it seems too yummy to be true. I know, FNMag wouldn't have good receipes, DUH! Yes it does and not just one, but more than I can count on 2 hands and 2 feet. So here it is...Enjoy!

Shrimp & Snow Pea Salad (courtesy of Foodnetwork.com)

Ingredients
12 ounces snow peas
1 1/4 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
6 radishes, thinly sliced into half-moons
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
Salt
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Directions
Bring a large saucepan of water with a steamer basket to a boil. Put the snow peas in the basket, cover and cook for 2 minutes. Remove the basket and transfer the snow peas to a bowl of ice water to cool. Drain and pat dry.

Add the shrimp directly to the saucepan of water and return to a boil; cook for 2 minutes. Drain, then plunge the shrimp into a bowl of ice water to cool. Drain and pat dry.

Slice each shrimp in half lengthwise. Cut the snow peas diagonally into 1/2-inch pieces, discarding the ends. In a large bowl, toss the shrimp, snow peas, radishes and scallions.

In a small bowl, whisk the vinegar, both oils, the ginger and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Toss with the salad right before serving; top with sesame seeds.

Per serving: Calories 280; Fat 13 g (Sat. 1 g; Mono. 4 g; Poly. 3.5 g); Cholesterol 215 mg; Sodium 510 mg; Carbohydrate 7 g; Fiber 3 g; Protein 32 g

Photography by Lara Robby

FoodBuzz 24.24.24.

Have you heard of what buzz at Foodbuzz.com, their 24.24.24?? Not yet you say? Then man are you missing out. Every month at foodbuzz.com 24 chefs or foodies get $250 to create an amazing blog about their experience with food, menus, celebrations, etc that all happen on a set day.

"Showcasing posts from 24 Foodbuzz Featured Publisher bloggers, the monthly Foodbuzz 24 highlights unique meals occurring around the globe during a 24-hour period."

What a great idea!! So i'm thinking about actually putting in for it this month. Its perfect grilling weather. We've had amazing weather for outdoor photography, not to mention the bluebonnets are in full bloom. So what better way than to document a Spring festivity in Texas?!

So here i am, adding another thing to my list, hoping I win the opportunity to be highlighted on www.foodbuzz.com for the month of April. Now to just decide if I want to make it a wine-excursion, Grill feast or a romantic spring celebration! Any input?

I know one thing is for sure, dessert is a definate. Cookies, cupcakes, you name it. I WILL be baking! I'm so ready to get back in the kitchen.

Starbucks at town & country is sporting cupcakes!

In case you haven't noticed, the Starbucks at memorial and beltway 8 is now serving up cupcakes. And let me just add that not only are they pretty to look at, they are more than equally tastey.
Pardon the picture... It was spur of the moment and with the camera phone.
Sherra Ogden
281-642-4313
Sherra.ogden@gmail.com

ICE_006: Wine - Mimosa Sunrise Cupcakes

To start the New year off with a BANG, Sandy announced the first 2009 Iron Cupcake Earth challenge ingredient as Wine. It could be sweet, savory, red, white, bubbly...it didn't matter as long as it was wine.

So I chose Champagne...and paired it with oranges for a nice Mimosa Cupcake. Start off the day with a good Mimosa and start off the year with a great Mimosa Cupcake!

Happy New Year!

My recipe is a modification from a post on the Cupcake Project. The original receipe was a modification from one of my favorite blogs, Ooh You Tastey Little Things.

Mimosa Sunrise Cupcake Recipe

3 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp frozen orange concentrate
3 eggs
3/4 cup plain yogurt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix together the flour, salt, baking soda and powder and set aside. In a medium sized bowl, cream the butter until smooth then add the sugar and cream together. Once the butter and sugar are creamed add in the orange juice concentrate. Mix in one egg at a time. Add in flour mixture 1/3 at a time. When flour is thoroughly mixed, mix in the yogurt. Batter will be slightly lumpy, but should be smooth kind of like pancake batter. Divide the batter evenly into lined cupcake tins and bake for about 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool.

Poke about 4-5 holes in the top of every cupcake, but not quite all the way to the bottom. You also might want to place the cupcakes on wax paper or a platter as the next step can run over a little.

Champagne Syrup (my modification)
2 cups champagne
2 cup powdered sugar

1pkg of Orange Jello

Bring the champagne, powdered sugar & Jello to a boil and let them reduce about half way. It will thicken up some but will still be liquidy when you are done. Drizzle the syrup over the top of each cupcake. Let it absorb into the cupcake and add more. Keep adding to taste.

Champagne Frosting

It was recommended to use champagne flavoring instead of real champagne, but I didn't have the chance and wanted to make these right away. So I modified this as well but am posting both receipes.

The problem with champagne frosting is that you have to add way too much champagne in order to get a strong champagne flavor. This ends up making your frosting runny.You can buy some champagne flavor from LorAnn Gourmet.

1 cup chilled whipping cream
8 oz mascarpone
2 to 3 cups confectioner's sugar (depending upon how thick you prefer frosting)
8 drops of champagne flavor (use an eye dropper)

Whip up whipping cream in mixer until soft peaks begin to form. Fold in mascarpone. Then, while mixing over low speed, slowly add the confectioner's sugar one cup at a time, being careful not to over whip frosting. Mix in the champagne flavor.

My Modified version:

1 cup chilled whipping cream

4 oz cream cheese, softened

4 oz sour cream

4 Tbl Champagne

3-5 Cups of confectioner's sugar

Cream the sour cream and cream cheese together until well mixed. Whip the whipping cream in mixer until soft peaks form. Add the cream mixture and the champagne. Then slowly add the confectioner's sugar until desired stiffness is acheived.

The frosting didn't set up quite like I wanted, so I will be trying the Champagne flavoring next time.

But regardless, the cupcakes are by far one of my favorites! They are moist, flavorful and just down right Yummy!!!

Special thanks for the amazing prizes this month!!

Our January ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:
DOGBONE ART - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=22042
as well as a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6057281.
PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!

As an added bonus for January, our friend at SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY will be tossing in another treat as well, http://www.acupcakery.com/index.html.

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com; the CUPCAKE COURIER http://www.cupcakecourier.com; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com. NEW, BEGINNING IN JANUARY; our new friends at UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/ will be providing our winner with one of their cute cupcake attitue t's! Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com .

What is Cake Flour?

Last night while working on a new cupcake (I'll share shortly), I was asked "what is cake flour?"

Um?! I don't really know. I know Alton Brown has a pretty good explanation but I don't recall. So on the google search I went...

According to WiseGeek, Cake Flour "is made from the endosperm of soft wheat. The endosperm is the softest part of the wheat kernel, making cake flour the finest flour available. As cake flour is milled, it is heavily bleached, not only to make it white but to break down the protein in the flour. Typically, cake flour is around seven percent protein, much lower than other flours; bread flour, for example, has twice that amount of protein.

The delicate, fine texture of cake flour is accomplished by heavy milling. The fine grain absorbs fat readily, ensuring that butter and other fats in cakes are well distributed throughout the batter. Cake flour can also carry a high volume of sugar when compared to higher protein flours. Since cake flour is a high-starch flour, it is extremely well suited for certain baking tasks. Cake flour is also lighter than conventional flour, which is why the substitution above falls short of a full cup."

So in basic english, Cake flour has a less protein, finer grain and a lighter, fluffier finish.

As a good rule of thumb, don't use Cake flour for breads or too many savory items, but do use it for cookies, cakes and of course, cupcakes!