Happy Groundhog Day! (A Retrospective)

Today I lazily present you with last year's Groundhog Day cupcakes.

And... a little bit of a review.

This morning I got a text from the friend who helped me make those groundhog (mistaken for walrus) cupcakes. She reminded me of the anniversary and wished me a "Happy not walrus day!"

I'll be honest... before I got her text... I had no idea that today is Groundhog Day.

But! Now that I know... I figured I'd let her nostalgia throw me into my own.

Last year at this time:

I was living in Maine, tromping to and from campus (through the snow) to teach one class of 22 students and take two graduate courses of my own. My 101 class was about Oprah and popular culture; I honestly cannot tell you what my own classes were on.

I was a nervous wreck over job applications and life plans.

I blogged most days.

I had a roommate, an adorable apartment with three floors, a collection of winter clothing that now mostly belongs to Goodwill, an aloe plant that I'm still trying not to kill, and a gorgeous kitchen with windows on three sides.

My hair was a couple of inches longer, shaggier, and black.

I had a love affair with potatoes and pasta and had one or both most days.

I was staring at a tub of red fondant and wondering whether or not I'd be able to pull off my super ambitious plan.

I could not imagine reading and commenting on 92 student papers in 48 hours, while teaching and living a semi-normal life.

How-ev-er... that 92 paper task is the one set before me today. Well... the rest of the task, at least. I got the papers yesterday and I have 31 to finish by tomorrow at 9am. Easy peasy.

If only I'd stop taking these breaks to chat, blog, facebook, and tweet.

Eh... who are we kidding? These breaks maintain sanity. That's an important part of the work effort in my book.

By the way, does anybody know if that Punxsutawney character saw his shadow? I mean... it's not really important since I live in sunny GA and honestly wouldn't be able to tell if what they call "winter" continued for another 6 weeks, but still... I'm curious.

Banana Congraduation Cupcakes

Reader Beware: I'm in a whimsical mood and anything could happen in this post.


Like that. Now you know.

This week I've been in a very layer cake mood. I started a cake decorating class on Monday, and I can't wait to try out some of the tricks I've already learned. How-ev-er... I still haven't bought the equipment that would allow me to trick out my layer cake.

So instead of making a banana layer cake for my upcoming graduation party, I fell right back into my oh-so-comfortable rut and made banana cupcakes.

I followed the Banana Cake Cockaigne recipe from the newest edition of The Joy of Cooking. (If anyone knows how to properly pronounce that last word, I would love for you to spell it phonetically in a comment!)

Anyway, the dry:


2 1/4 c sifted cake flour (I didn't have CF so I probably botched this bit. I won't give you my awkward substitution.)
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt

The mushy:


1 c lightly mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large)
1/4 c plain yogurt or buttermilk (I used 1 T buttermilk powder in the dry and 1/4 water here.)
1 t vanilla

The beaten:


1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
When creamy, gradually add and beat 1 c + 2 T sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Then beat in 2 eggs, one at a time.
Finally, add the dry and mushy in alternating parts, beginning and ending with the dry.

Hear this: this batter is tasty! I love batters but every once in a while a batter comes along and knocks me off my feet (that's right, I'm wooed by batters) and this is one of them.


I got some batter on my nose. Whimsically.

Back to business, Rombauer, Rombauer-Becker, and Becker suggest putting the batter into two 9"x2" round cake pans and baking at 350 for about 30 minutes. I decided to go for cupcakes, naturally. It didn't make many. I got 18 from the batter.


The cake tester came out clean at 17 minutes but I probably could have taken them out at 15 or 16.

After letting them cool a bit, I cut holes in the banana cupcakes. These weren't big holes and they probably only went halfway down the cake.



I filled the cakes with chocolate ganache, and iced them with Marshmallow Frosting. I really, really, really didn't want to cook an icing yesterday, so I hunted around until I found a recipe that used fluff. :) Sneaky...

The recipe is very simple. I used the Fluffy White Icing as a jumping point.

Beat until creamy:
1/2 c. shortening
1 tsp. flavoring (I used vanilla)

Add and beat until creamy again:
1 c. marshmallow fluff

Alternate until you achieve desired consistency:
2 c. confectioner's sugar
3-4 tsp. milk

Voila! No cook, super good Marshmallow Frosting.

After I piped the icing on top of the ganache-filled cupcakes, my mother and I had an Aha! moment and decided to make flags to jazz up these congraduation cupcakes. My mother insisted the flags have my face on them. Ew.


But I will agree that the overall effect is cute. Very "college of our hearts, always," if you know what I mean. The other side of the flag has a picture of the football announcement board with my name on it.

The cupcake is so unassuming with the flag, isn't it?


So simple and basic and wait...


filled with ganache!

This cupcake is pretty tasty. The banana flavor isn't overpowered by the chocolate and marshmallow, so that made me happy. The cake wasn't as moist as I would like it to be, but my mom didn't think that was a problem. I give them 3.5 out of 5 tassels.

Maine Vay-Cay

Last week my Mom, Dad, and aunt made the fairly short trip from Virginia to Maine. I functioned as their cruise director through Vacationland, and I think I did a pretty adequate job.

I took them to some local highlights:


Governor's: Here we are with the Governor himself. Governor's is the home of all things big-portioned and fried. They are also home to the Federal Deficit, a $17 dessert that includes three sundaes, a brownie, banana, biscuit, piece of pie, five American flags, and a but ton of ice cream and whipped cream.

Now that I see how long this explanation is getting... you might see a Governor's post in the near future.

Continuing on...


Paul Bunyan: He's reputedly the largest Paul Bunyan statue in the world. Everyone needs their picture with him, even if his head doesn't make the shot.


Hollywood Slots: My aunt and dad were incredibly lucky and both of them actually won money. My mom lost, lost, lost, but then won $27 and made up for all the previous losses. I just lost. Of course.

I did, however, buy a raspberry/jalapeno jam. Big win!


Stephen King's House: This one is pretty self-explanatory, so I'd like to just give you some of the quotes of the excursion.

Mom: "Oh... there's a car in the driveway..."
Me: "Probably Stephen King's even."

Aunt: "I touched the gate real slowly, half-expecting an alarm to go off." [The gate was wide open just outside the shot. -_-]


Candlepin Bowling: I still stink at the bowling, but I love it. The little handheld ball doesn't hurt my fingers like the big giant bowling balls. My family loved it too.

After sharing with my family what the Greater Bangor Area has to offer, I took my family a little bit further out. We went to Bar Harbor, but you won't find any pictures of that. I guess the fam wasn't terribly impressed. What they were impressed by was...


ACADIA! Beautiful, right?

(You'll have to just bear with me. My mom was taking most of the pictures on this trip, so it seems that I show up in a lot of them.) Please enjoy some shots of me. In Acadia.


Now this is a rare treat. A picture of me and my mom. We took this picture at a random overlook on the Loop Road.


And here I am doing some sort of jig on the Sand Beach. This beach is often ranked as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. At first I thought that was just silly, but it is really gorgeous how the Sand Beach is enclosed in mountains.


One of the main(e) attractions in Acadia National Park is Cadillac Mountain. The height of the mountain and its Northern position make it the first place that sees the sunrise in North America. Needless to say, my mother laughed out loud when I mentioned this. We did not attempt to see the sunrise. My mother suggested we catch the sunset, and then we LOLed at her. Anyway... in that shot, I'm walking back up Cadillac after exploring a bit.


And this picture was taken on the top of Cadillac. Perhaps I should mention that the Loop Road has a little offshoot that winds around Cadillac. It is the ultimate drive-thru park experience.

In conclusion, I need a tan.

What? Like you weren't thinking the same thing as you looked at those pictures! Don't even try that.

It's one thing to be ghosty white in Maine in May, but its entirely another to be pale in Virginia in May. Hmmm... what to do...

The View from My Tassel

I usually don't bore you with pictures of myself doing things other than baking, but my header clearly includes "Teaching" and "Other (Mis)Adventures in Maine" and I do believe that graduation falls into both of those categories. Loosely.

So suck it up and enjoy my (mostly phone picture) slideshow.

Last week I graduated with a Master of Arts in English. In order to recognize masters candidates, my school has a hooding ceremony in which we all get... hooded. And... if you'll remember, my roommate and I have been working diligently towards hotness for hooding. This is us before we got ready for the shindig.


No... we don't usually match. But most times.

I think I achieved hotness:


And then promptly covered the hotness with a formless robe and a hood. Here I am licking my lips and getting ready to be "draped". I had to make the picture awkward, of course.


This post-hood picture reminds me of one taken of me at my kindergarten graduation. Exact. Same. Face.


And now I want to give you a couple of pictures that just prove that I carry on intelligent conversations. With adults.


With PhDs!


And mostly because he'll hate it, here is a shot of me with Evan and his wife Kim.


So there you have it: the view from my tassel.

Forthwith, you may now call me Master Amanda. I think it's appropriate. And it reminds me of David Copperfield in the best androgynous way.

Busy Busy Blogger!

So I am ridiculously busy these days. Have I mentioned it? :) I have one paper, one presentation, and three guests to prepare for. And I have to get ready for these things on Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday, irrespectively. Parallelism be damned!

Because it isn't your fault that I have no time, here are some pics that have been knocking around on my phone just begging to be blogged.

Enjoy!

1. "Gender" Fail


"Gender" is not the nice word for sex. I repeat: "Gender" is not the nice word for sex. One's BMI has absolutely nothing to do with one's prefered cut of jean or choice of footwear. One's gender, however, can be easily distilled from both.

2. It is so about the destination.


This is the view from the railroad bridge. When I get the urge to run (for health purposes), I aim for this bridge. It's quite lovely and I enjoy it much more than the run that gets me to and from it.

3. More flies with honey...


This is the nicest "Get the hell out of our trash" message I've ever seen.

4. Behold the wonder


It's peanut butter. And this picture alone makes me love and hate Sam's Club all at once.

5. Baby's first adventure in the car


Cheese got a ticket to ride and cheese don't care!


Alright, my next post will be upbeat and without any hint of stress. This I promise you. Like N*Sync.

Daring Bakers: Maine Deer Tracks Cheesecake

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

The challenge host encouraged the Daring Bakers to be super creative with this month's challenge recipe. She provided us with a basic, tried and true cheesecake recipe and then told us to have at it! I had not made a cheesecake before, so I thought about just following the recipe and given. That would be enough of a challenge, right?

Maybe?

No. I quickly decided I had to stretch myself. My roommate and I started brainstorming about our favorite desserts and then - like a moose in Baxter Park - it came to me.

Maine is the home of Gifford's Ice Cream Stand Ice Cream. I'm sure that most of you non-Mainers have never had or even heard of Gifford's Ice Cream, but it is just about the best ice cream in the world. At least that I've had. My favorite flavor is Maine Deer Tracks. Here's the flavor description from the Gifford's website:

Rich Espresso Ice Cream with Crunchy Heath Bar Candies and Tracks of Thick Chocolate Fudge

Since I'm leaving Maine [and Gifford's ice cream :(] in just a few short weeks, I decided that a tribute cheesecake would be the perfect way to complete this challenge.

Without further ado, here is how you can replicate my humble attempt at a Gifford's inspired Maine Deer Tracks Cheesecake.


Begin the cheesecake process by combining 2 cups of chocolate graham crackers, 1 tsp of vanilla, 1 stick of melted butter, and 2 tbsp of sugar.

Make sure that everything, everywhere is yellow.


Once the crust is fully combined, press it into the bottom of the pan. The challenge said that crusting the sides was baker's choice. This baker chose to half-assedly crust the sides.

Cover the bottom of the crust with a solid layer of Heath bar pieces and set the whole deal aside.


Can you imagine being about an inch tall and stuck inside a cheesecake crust? I totally can.


At this point it's smart to do your espresso prep. Heat 1/4 cup of the heavy cream (you'll need one cup total later) in the microwave until it's quite hot. Then stir 1-2 tbsp of instant espresso into the hot cream. Set the espresso cream mixture by the rest of the heavy cream so you'll remember to use it all later.


Oh hey, sexy new mixer! Would you mind beating these 3 bricks of cream cheese and 2 cups of sugar until they're smooth and gorgeous. Thanks, Babe! ;)


After blending the cream cheese and sugar, add 3 eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl between each egg.


Once the eggs have become true friends with the cheese mixture, add 1 cup heavy cream and flavorings. For this cheesecake, I used the original 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp vanilla, and the espresso that I worked into the heavy cream earlier.


This batter is wicked smooth and lovely. The espresso really gave the cheesecake a nice rich latte color. Tasty. Okay, pour the batter into the crust you lovingly set aside earlier.

Now comes the nail-biting part of the thing. Our cheesecake recipe demands a water bath. Since neither the roommate or I have large pans for this type of roasting/water bathing situation, I picked up an aluminum roasting pan when I bought the casserole dish.


They nestle together quite perfectly. Once the roasting pan is in place with the cheesecake pan inside it, carefully add boiling water to the roasting pan. The water should come about halfway up the height of the cheesecake. Do this. Set the pot of boiling water down. Slide the rack back (with an oven mitt on) and heave a large sigh of relief.


And walk away. The cheesecake needs to bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 55 minutes.

The host for this challenge explained that the cheesecake will be ready when it "hold[s] together, but still ha[s] a lot of jiggle to it in the center". Hm. Hopefully I judged this well enough. I deemed it ready at 48 minutes.

At that point, turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven in the waterbath with the door closed for one hour.


After the hour of in-oven cooling, remove the cheesecake from the waterbath (carefully, so carefully) and set it on a wire rack to finish cooling. Try to forget that you have a homemade chocolate/coffee/heath cheesecake sitting on the table next to you because - trust me - it's going to be a while. The cheesecake has to cool on the rack completely and then chill in the refrigerator overnight or at least 6 hrs.

Doo do doo do doo do do... do do do do DOO do do do... (Jeopardy! theme, duh.)

The next day, you can ready the ganache.


Be sure to place the chocolate on your student papers that you have only two hours to respond to before returning. That way, if there is any spillage, you'll have an excellent story to tell the class.


Once the ganache has cooled a bit, scoop some onto the cheesecake. I watched a YouTube video that insisted I could just pick up the cheesecake and let the ganache run, but that didn't really work for me. I think my ganache was too cool for that. (Ha! I meant that literally, but oh well!) I just spread the ganache around with my angled icing spreader. Sprinkle some more of those Heath pieces around the edge of the cheesecake and...


Oh. Em. Gee. That is one fine looking cheesecake.

This picture was taken after the whole deal chilled again to set the ganache. This shot is also nice because you can see my (im)perfect crust and my improvised "springform" pan. :) I do what I can.


Now would be the perfect time for you to cut the cheesecake. No one is around. It's just you and the cheesecake.

Personally, I did a (mostly internal) happy dance when I cut into the cheesecake and confirmed that it was, in fact, cooked through. The dance is optional. The next step is not.


Eat the first piece of the Maine Deer Tracks Cheesecake. Because someone has to. And you're the only one around.

Since you have a minute before your cheesecake cools (I'm just guessing here), I'll tell you how mine turned out.

It was... Gifford-tastic. The espresso cheesecake was so smooth and creamy that it could easily stand on its own. However, combined with the chocolate graham cracker crust and ganache, the espresso sang its caffeinated song in the perfect key. The Heath pieces inside and on top of the cheesecake provided a note of interest that was present but subtle. The overall effect: Gifford-tastic.

Later, when I took the cheesecake to campus, it received rave reviews. Ray, our janitor, asked if he could marry me.

And just in case you were wondering...


the bite that causes the cheesecake to fall over is my absolute favorite moment in cheesecake enjoyment.