Chocolate frosting and kitchen gadgets...and a giveaway!!

I am not a fan of crisco laden, stiff and hideously sweet frostings, so when I saw this recipe for a cream based chocolate frosting I knew that I had to try it.  Honestly, the cupcakes weren't anything to write home about and I don't think I'd use that cake base again, but I did like the frosting.  It pipes nicely and holds it's shape without being too stiff.  I made these the day before leaving town and hurriedly threw the rest in the fridge and was pleased to find that 5 days later they still taste good and the frosting is still in great shape.  It's not a super gooey chocolate lover type frosting, but a good, serviceable milk chocolate flavor every day frosting.

Chocolate Cream Frosting

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup granulated sugar

pinch of salt

In a heavy medium saucepan, heat all of the ingredients together over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the cocoa blends in to the mixture.  (If your cocoa powder is particularly lumpy, you may want to sift it first.)  Remove from heat and allow it to cool to room temperature, then pour it through a fine mesh strainer into a medium bowl.  Chill in the fridge for 2 hours, then beat with an electric mixer until it forms medium peaks and reaches a good spreading consistency.  This must be stored in the refrigerator.

Now, let's talk about some of my favorite kitchen gadgets.  My kitchen is currently quite small.  A "two cheek kitchen", so to speak.  More than two people in there at once makes for a cozy experience.  Three months from now, when this construction mess is all out of the way, I'll have myself a much more serviceable space with a lovely 7 foot island, double convection oven, 36" gas range...all sorts of goodies.  In the mean time, though, I've had to be quite choosy about what gadgets make their way into my limited cabinet space.  As I've said before, I don't have a stand mixer of any sort, in part because of the space issues.  So the things I do have are tried and true.  The first things on display are disposable decorating bags.  So useful!  I've had several reuseable sets that have split within the first couple of batches, causing me great frustration.  Ever since I found these lovely little Wilton bags (available at most craft stores in the wedding cake section), I've not looked back.  Go for the larger size - you won't regret it.  Along with it, grab yourself a nice oversized star tip and you can easily pipe fancy pancy looking cupcakes like the ones above.  No more crookedly slathered frosting.

This mango slicer is a newcomer, but one that my mom insisted that I need.  The way I have always sliced a mango is to slice two big slabs off, as close to the pit as possible, then score the flesh down to the peel, pop it inside out and slice those lovely poking out chunks off.  That always leaves behind two nice swaths of fruit on the sides of the pit.  Enter this handy dandy gadget, which, with one push, neatly leaves the pit behind and maximizes the amount of fruit.  This was about 12 dollars, and is OXO brand.  I wouldn't rate this as a completely necessary thing in my kitchen, but it's definitely nice to have.  I make lots of mango salsa.

This citrus squeezer is a real gem.  Absolutely worth it's space in my drawer.  My mom gave me this for Christmas, and I'm amazed at how well it juices limes and lemons.  I have a couple of other juice gadgets that don't even compare.

I had all sorts of clever things in mind to add to these little tongs since they appear to be having a nice conversation, but got distracted and didn't get that far, so you'll have to use your imagination.  The all metal ones on the right are my BBQ grill work horses.  I have an 18" long set of true BBQ tongs that came with a grill tool set that languishes in my drawer because they're so unwieldy.  These ones are perfect for pretty much everything.  I also use them for salad, and I prefer them over a salad fork and spoon.  The blue ones are newcomers, and I found them at Tai Pan Trading company for less than 5 bucks.  They earn their keep serving salad as well as flipping meat over in my non-stick skillets.

Last but not least, my favorite basting brush.  The bristles are made of silicone, AND you can see the middle layer of bristles is specially designed to slurp up extra sauce.  I love love love this brush.  It's OXO brand, and less than 10 bucks.  I use this for grilling, brushing butter on pastries, egg washes and all sorts of stuff.

I have some other kitchen favorites, like my Roul Pat pastry mat, Calphalon pans and nice knives, but I am unfortunately not made of money so I can't be giving any of those away :).

 Here's the good news, though.  Leave me a comment about which of these gadgets you'd like the most.  I will close this on May 2nd at midnight and randomly draw one name.  The lucky winner will get the gadget they asked for AND a dozen delicious cookies.  The type will depend on how far away you are from me - some varieties ship better than others.  If your profile is set to private, leave me some way to contact you if you win.

Hint of pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

I kinda hit pumpkin burnout by Thanksgiving, but still was hankering for a little bit of it. For my sister's birthday, I tinkered around with a recipe found in the Better Homes and Gardens 75th Anniversary cookbook, and came up with these beauties. Just a little bit of pumpkin, the perfect amount to round out the spice flavor nicely. And for once, the cream cheese frosting came out PERFECT. As in, not sloppy and slurpy. It piped well, held it's shape, and tasted great. I used a little less cream cheese than usual and I also used a generic store brand rather than Philadelphia, because it happened to be on sale. The texture of the cheese was quite a bit stiffer, so I believe that was the real key to success.

Hint of Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

1/2 cup butter, softened at room temperature
1/4 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. each ginger, nutmeg, cloves
1 cup milk or buttermilk

Line two dozen cupcake tins with paper or foil liners and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the butter, shortening and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs and vanilla until well combined. Beat in the pumpkin puree. Beat in the spices, then beat in half the flour, half the milk, then the other half the flour and the remainder of the milk. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick of butter (8 tablespoons), slightly softened
4 ounces of cream cheese (generic brand is better - see above)
1 T. vanilla
4-5 cups powdered sugar

Beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla, then beat in the powdered sugar a cup at a time until desired consistency is reached. Pipe on top of the cupcakes in a swirl pattern with a large star tip.

Stabilized Whipped Cream

Ever frosted a cake in whipped cream? It's decadently delicious, but woefully unsuited to anything other than a sloppy layer on top of a cake in a pan. I've tried piping it in the past and had disasterous and flurpy results. My Rachel requested white cake with raspberry filling and whipped cream frosting for her birthday, so I went in search of a way to stabilize the cream so that it would hold up. This recipe came from the Lion House Cookbook via a couple of friends who pointed me at it, and it worked very well. Obviously, I still had to refrigerate the cake before serving it, but the piping held up well as did the general shape, without nasty texture issues. I was afraid the gelatin would make it stiff, but it really didn't - just a very subtle extra thickness. I put the cake together about 3 hours in advance of serving, and according to the recipe, this cream will hold up for 4-5 days before falling apart.

Stabilized Whipping Cream

1 envelope (1 T.) unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
3 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 t. vanilla

Place a glass or metal bowl and your beaters in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small soucepan, combine gelatin with water. Let stand until thick (it'll turn opaque and with visible crystals). Stir constantly over low heat until just dissolved and the solution is clear and runny. Make sure you scrape down all the little crystals around the edge and that they are also dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly but do not allow to thicken.

Pull your bowl and beaters out and whip the cream, sugar and vanilla until just beginning to thicken. On low speed, gradually add the gelatin in a thin stream, then beat on high until cream is thick. Use immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

**I didn't scrape down the little crystals on the edge, and I dumped the gelatin in all at once. This resulted in the formation of a few little globbies in the cream. I was the only one that noticed them, but they did clog the tip on the first go around of piping - ugh. So make sure you follow what I wrote instead of what I did and you should be fine :).

Orange Glaze

If you like your orange rolls a little sweeter, this is the glaze I use.

2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp orange or vanilla extract
2-4 Tbsp orange juice
1 tsp grated orange peel

Beat all ingredients together, adding orange juice a little at a time until reaching desired consistency.