I don't know what it is about bagels, but I love them.
Love, love, love them.
What else do I love?
Well, a lot of things. But for the purposes of this post... BRUNCH!
So, this week I picked up some bagels and this weekend, I had an Aha! moment.
Why can't I french toast a bagel?! Well... boys and girls... I can now tell you without any hesitation that there is no good reason why I (or you) can't french toast a bagel.
Walk this way.
Step 1: Turn on Grey's Anatomy (oh hai, Arizona!) and slice your bagel at least once. I sliced mine into 4 pieces. 3 would be perfect... but my bagel was pre-sliced. So... 4.
Step 2: Crack two eggs into a big, shallow bowl. Whisk them up with 1/2 tablespoon of milk, 1/4 tsp of cinnamon extract, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.
Step 3: Dip a slice-o-bagel in the egg mixture, and fry it up.
Step 4: Reassemble the bagel as the slices are fried. Place in front of Grey's Anatomy episode still in progress.
Step 5: Add butter and syrup to taste. Enjoy the bagelly goodness.
Mmmm... I wholeheartedly approve.
What would be better? Some sort of fruit topping. Or filling. Or cream cheese filling with a fruit topping. Just saying.
Those bagelly layers are just screaming for something colorful and tasty. Hmm... I'll keep you posted.
So I'm back. And I've made you dinner. Alright... fine, I'll be straight with you: I made myself dinner. And I took pictures of it for you.
So what are we am I having?
only Spaghetti Squash!
I forgot to take a picture of the whole squash, but you can probably imagine what it looked like. Annnnd... you can probably imagine the epic struggle that took place when I had to cut that squash in half lengthwise...
I grunted. I strained. I took breaks. I might have even broken a sweat. I don't remember now.
Anyway, this is what I came up with.
Two halves. One gutted, one not. For comparison purposes.
Now, I first thought "this is will be my first and last experience making my own spaghetti squash" when trying to cut the damn thing. The second time I thought that was when I cracked it open and caught sight of what looked an awful lot like pumpkin gunk. Ew.
Luckily it's much easier to rid spaghetti squash of their gunk than it is pumpkins.
Once gutted, the spaghetti squash halves got the spa treatment with some olive oil, salt, pepper and a 350 degree oven.
See how handy I am with a knife? Take note. I had A LOT of control of what was going on with that knife.
*over-dramatic eye roll*
After about 30 minutes, the squash looked like this. Almost falling apart into its spaghetti-ness. I took a fork to it, dumped it into a bowl with a bit of butter (alright, it was vegan "buttery spread" but it worked), parmesan cheese, and bit more salt and pepper.
It was... so delicious.
I do think it was bit overcooked, because I've had spaghetti squash that was firmer. So... ugh... I guess I will have to make another date with the knife in the near future.
This next time, though, I'm going to send out a text to let someone know that I'm taking my life in my own hands. Just in cases.
Hmph. Yeah, I can hear you. I know what you're thinking.
"So what? It's a cupcake. It looks chocolate, but whatev. Why do we care?"
Well... maybe you don't care. And I won't try to make you... but if you were to give a flip, I'd encourage you to find the animal products in this pile of ingredients.
Can't? Good. These chocolate & coconut cupcakes are vegan, babies.
Which explains why yesterday I found myself standing beside a friend, staring into a bowl of chocolate soy milk and vinegar and wondering if it would ever - in fact - curdle. (It didn't.)
We soldiered on though... and forked the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
And combined them (in two parts) with the soy & vinegar solution.
I then poured 1/4 of a cup of batter into each cupcake liner. Apparently while I did that, the vegan said or did something funny.
Exactly 15 minutes after the cupcakes went into the 350 degree oven, they were perfectly cooked and domed. And just... perfect. Chocolatey and moist but very light with a velvety crumb. It might be a new go to chocolate cake recipe for me.
The icing was not so perfect, but it was my first time trying to make a buttercream with... "buttery spread." Here you can see the shortening and buttery spread whipped together.
After adding the extracts, coconut milk, and powdered sugar, it pulled together like a weak icing. Not bad... but odd. As in, really light in texture but wicked sweet. So I'm going to do some finagling with the icing recipe. I'm going to consult Wilton next time.
The verdict: vegan shmegan. Maybe it's because I didn't have to do anything with silken tofu, but I didn't really find vegan baking too taxing. What does that mean? Well... I think it means I need a gluten free friend to come along and really rock my baking boat.
Should you or a vegan treat of yours want to follow in my ever-cautious, fumbling footsteps, here are the recipes I used.
1 cup soy milk (We used Light Chocolate Silk because I already had it.) 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/3 cup canola oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, chocolate extract, or more vanilla extract (We used coconut because we thought, why not?) 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/3 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt
1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
2. Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and other extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are OK).
3. Pour into liners, filling 3/4 of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated shortening 1/2 cup nonhydrogenated margarine (We used BestLife Buttery Spread because anyone who doesn't listen to Oprah should be questioned.) 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted if clumpy (You already know I did not sift.) 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (We used 1 t coconut extract and 1/2 t vanilla extract.) 1/4 cup plain soy milk or soy creamer (We used coconut milk.)
1. Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes.
2. Add the vanilla and soy milk, and beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy.
Now that I'm writing out this recipe, I'm thinking that the coconut milk was the problem. I think it's a bit too thin to really bring together a nice icing. So perhaps before I go to all the way to Wilton, I'll just try making it with soy.
I didn't want to do peanut butter, because I just have to assume that any peanut butter combination I come up with will be done (and probably done better) in the round-up by someone else.
Since I <3 almond, I decided that an almond butter would be the best, sneakiest, inventive-iest ingredient on which to base my November Cupcake Hero entry. But... as you might have guessed... this is NOT the post in which I unveil my November Cupcake Hero cupcake.
I think you'll see just what kind of post this is in just a minute.
My quest to procure almond butter started in all the usual places: grocery stores, health food stores, the Saturday farmer's market. I was soundly and swiftly disappointed at each place.
Refusing to give up, I researched the process of creating almond butter. Oh, it's so simple. (They said.) Just blanch, peel, roast, and process. (They said.)
It's just a list of steps. I can handle steps, right?
1. Blanche: Bring pot of water to a boil, remove from heat, add almonds, let sit for 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Drain mucky brown water off the almonds and pop the nuts out of their wrinkly skins.
This process made me a little angsty. In a giggly way. So you guys get a video.
(I know you care. I was just in a bad place.)
3. Place nuts in food processor and let her rip. Nuts should (should) become a meal, release oils, become a ball, and finally smooth out to a butter.
Umm... this is as far as I got. Almond meal.
So... almond butter didn't happen for me. But that's okay because now I have over two cups of amazingly fine almond meal. Any recipes I should try?
Boys and Girls, I have news. It's November. (That's not the news bit.) And Smalltown, Georgia is still enjoying temperatures in the 70s.
I don't get it. I keep getting up in the morning and making tough decisions about which ridiculously patterned sweater to add to my already patterned (sometimes twice) teacher outfit, only to walk out the door and realize I don't need it. A few days I've been glad to have it but then shrugged it off by afternoon again.
So today I asked my chatty 9am class what I should expect. It went something like this...
Student A: "I'm freezing!" Me: "Really? Tell me, how cold will it get in Georgia?" Student B: "Oh, it gets pretty cold." Me: "Now, what do you mean by 'pretty cold'? Because I've been living in Maine for the last two years..." Student B: "Okay, no, it doesn't get cold. This is about as cold as it will get." Student A: "No way, it will get a lot cooler! Like in the 40s, probably."
(-_-)
Friends, I can do 40s.
So when I ask what season we are having, I really am asking. Apparently this is fall, but it feels like winter to my students. To a Mainer, this feels pretty dern close to an endless summer.
Since I don't know what season it is and since my Australian friends are having a different season entirely and who knows... they might be confused too... I don't think any of you can sass me for making a seasonally inappropriate cupcake.
Like many before it, this cupcake came to me in a dream. I woke up from an afternoon nap with the startling knowledge that I had all the ingredients to make a bangin' Mint Julep cupcake.
The cake is vanilla mint bourbon with a white chocolate bourbon ganache filling and topped with a mint bourbon marshmallow buttercream.
Overall, the flavor was... bizarre. The cupcake tasted a lot like the drink. Some tasters enjoyed this (one said, "What is this filling? More of that!"), others did not.
I wasn't sold in either direction.
I dropped one off in a colleague's office in the morning and came back from class later to find the following message on my dry erase board:
"How can you stand that much speermint?! It's like eating gum or toothpaste! But I still love you."
Hilarious. There is nothing I love more than an honest review. None of that smile and nod business for me!
As it turns out, the verdict is out on both the season and this Mint Julep Cupcake. To both this cupcake and the season, I say a big "Why you always gotta label things?!"
skullikin [skull-ih-ken] (n.) 1. a skull that possesses some notable quality that either renders it adorable, frightening, or in some way laughable. read: all skulls. 2. a skeleton complete with skull.
Halloween is just around the corner, so I think we can officially declare this Halloween week.
I wish I had more time this week in order to make the absolute most of this holiday. It really is my favorite holiday. More than Christmas or even my birthday, Halloween gives me something to look forward to all fall.
And now it's here!
So let's make skullikin cookies for the occasion, no?
I painstakingly sliced sugar cookie dough (that wasn't the painstaking part) and cut away everything that wasn't a skullikin. I was so excited about the look of these cookies.
But...
They baked up like blobs. Not even skullikin blobs.
Back to the drawing board, I scaled the skullikins way down and tried again.
And these were much more manageable. The eyes and nose still filled in, but as soon as they came out of the oven, I poked them in with the round end of a swizzle stick.
Such work for such little reward. But, alas, these skullikins served their purpose on the Zombie Cupcakes and they were prepared dough tasty.
So, boys and girls, I'm curious. What are you going to be for Halloween?
Since I started teaching full time in August, I've really grown to appreciate the weekend. I've always loved Friday afternoons and all they promise, but it's a totally different ballgame now that I spend 10+ hour days with over one hundred college freshmen.
This Friday started with a cleansing nap and ended with dinner and dancing. Saturday saw brunch, a teacher meeting (I know, right?!), and pumpkin carving. And Sunday... well... this Sunday, like most, is all about Amanda.
So I slept until 11:12am. And I didn't even think about sitting up in bed until I knew exactly what I was making myself for Sunday brunch.
Crunchy French Toast with Peaches
I've wanted to try this french toasting experiment since I bought this Shredded Wheat a week or so ago. I was swayed by the vintage packaging, but... in reality... plain shredded wheat doesn't have a lot of flavor. I settled on a peach topping because I ate one of my peaches yesterday, only to find it wasn't as soft and perfect as I wanted it to be. Cooking the other one down just seemed like the natural response.
For this experiment, I needed...
(Not pictured: sugar, very necessary cup of coffee, Pandora "Folk FTW" station, photo staging/cropping skillz)
All the troops assembled, I...
sliced up the peach...
pulverized the shredded wheat...
cracked two eggs and beat them up about a tablespoon of half and half and a 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste.
Then I stewed the peach in some sugar (didn't measure) and a little bit of water to get things going.
I dipped bread in egg, coated it in shredded wheat, and fried it up in a skillet over medium heat.
While I was super excited about the prospect of a crunchy French toast (which I got), I didn't really think about the fact that adding one flavorless crunch to a fairly bland French toast would yeild a... ya know... somewhat blah French toast that just so happens to crunch a bit.
Enter peaches... The syrupy peaches were the perfect counterpoint to the rock steady toast. I ended up adding syrup to the whole deal (don't judge), but in the future, I'll double the vanilla in the egg mixture and stew more peaches to step up the peach influence.
This shredded wheat technique could also be nice when paired with a stuffed French toast that would bring it's own flavor in a filling.
Overall, I'm pleased with how Sunday is going so far. My legs are happily sore from Friday's dance-a-thon, my stomach is full of brunchy goodness, and my bed has already informed me that she wants me back.
Update: Voting for Cupcake Hero is now open until October 21st at midnight. Check out the competition and vote here.
Complete credit for that winning title goes to my bff and former college roommate, Kira. This weekend Kira had the honor of being my first houseguest in Smalltown, Georgia. And... since Kira loves to bake as much as I do, we quickly decided to make some sort of complicated dessert happen while she was here.
And, in a perfect storm of blog contest deadlines and amazing thrift store finds, Kira and I decided to make A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Cakes.
In plain English, pumpkin and vanilla swirled cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese icing. As you might imagine, it takes a lot of ingredients to make that cake happen: And there is just one more ingredient to pull the whole thing together... Yes, indeed. A $7 Goodwill Cinderella costume.
Kira and I took turns wearing it while we made the cupcakes. Try not to be too jealous of our merriment. You could probably have just as much fun if you lightened up a bit.
Once the batters were ready, we got really fancy. I'd dropped and marbled and twirled and tie-dyed batters before, but I wanted these pumpkin swirl cakes to be more deliberately and artfully swirled. So... we filled two piping bags with our two batters, cut the tips, then dropped those two bags into a third bag with a large round tip.
And voila! A fairly labor intensive batter delivery method not for the faint of heart.
We made exactly 12 cupcakes and 24 minis.
In my opinion, it was all worth it. Look at that great loopy swirl! The swirl runs all the way down, around, and in the cupcakes. Ex-act-ly what I wanted. (yay!)
Once the cupcakes cooled, I made a quick cinnamon cream cheese buttercream. I used a brick of cold cream cheese, 5 tablespoons of softened butter, a splash of vanilla, and cinnamon to taste. Easy and delicious.
We topped the other 6 cupcakes with colored sugar, stars, and hearts and the next thing you know, A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Cakes.
And just take a look at the cross-section shot. Adorable. I just can't say enough about this swirl and how pleased I am with it.
And while we're at it, the flavor and texture of these two cakes works together extremely well. The batters were similar in consistency, so they piped well side-by-side. The combination of pumpkin and vanilla is a wonderful one, I think. I love pumpkin, but I do like to temper it with something creamy - think whipped cream on pie - so the vanilla addition made me very happy.
I would very highly recommend making these for any sort of fall festivus. They are light, moist, soft, and so delicately pumpkin and spiced. Mmmm...
I just might have to go downstairs for a minute... and... ya know... have a cupcake.
Let them hang out and toast a bit...
Flipped them a couple of times to toast on all sides... (salting as I turned)
And la-tee-freakin-da. Bagel fries. 
Let them hang out and toast a bit...
Flipped them a couple of times to toast on all sides... (salting as I turned)
And la-tee-freakin-da. Bagel fries. 
