Friday Night Date with Caramel Cake

I couldn't decide what to make for dinner on Friday, and no restaurants called our name. So I forgot my usual preoccupations with nutrition and "real food," and went for this Best-Ever Caramel Cake from Food & Wine magazine.

The multi-step process (plus time for photos) was a lengthy ordeal that left me thoroughly sick of caramel, so the cake sat untouched in the fridge until Saturday night. Probably for the best: according to the magazine, this caramel cake is better the second day.

Since neither Brian or I have ever had a caramel cake, we can't confirm whether this is actually the best-ever. But the super-sweet caramel icing spread thin enough to not overwhelm the vanilla cake, which was rich and dense (not at all "fluffy" as described in the recipe). If I was throwing a birthday party for a caramel-lover, this would be my cake of choice.

2 Teaspoons, Meet Joe Black (and my peanut butter cookies)

So I watched Meet Joe Black for the first time ever tonight (how did I miss this film??), and among other exciting moments, we see Brad Pitt discovering peanut butter. Which of course makes one want a spoonful of peanut butter right this instant.

Fortunately, I had the last three of these no-bake chocolate and peanut butter oatmeal bars in the freezer. I recommend "blending" the peanut butter layer ingredients in the food processor -- it may take away some of the oatmeal texture, but it made the process super speedy. Storing in the freezer has two benefits: 1, it ensures non-melty chocolate and 2) it keeps the bars semi-hidden, and therefore they last longer.

Super easy to make. Ideal for peanut butter lovers. You hear that, Brad?

The Sweetest Things

Let's not tiptoe around the truth: this last week was full of sweets, all hand-made in Seattle. This city's not known for its bakers, but I envision many tempting walks to the pastry case this spring and summer.

The first treats came from Honore in Ballard, via friendly recommendation. The pastry of choice: the Kouign Amann, a buttery, sugary, sticky, slightly-salty circle of flakey pastry. I also picked two macaroons: salted-caramel coconut and coffee. Fragile, delicious. Loved the lighthouse coffee and the weird-but-friendly baristas. We will definitely be back to Honore.

Moving from Wallingford, we left things behind: the phenomenal view from Gasworks, a walking commute to work, tasty vegan thai. But we didn't leave behind the chocolate. After Indian on Friday, we stopped at Chacolati in Greenwood for a mocha and spicy hot chocolate, plus two little peanut butter cups. The cozy coffeeshop smells like a box of truffles. A bit much for my morning caffeine, but pretty perfect after dinner.

The kitchen at work is consistently stocked with free food: big platters of Thai from some lunch, assorted cookies, bagels, muffins, gift baskets from anonymous and grateful friends, a random loaf of bread (I don't know who left the whole wheat last week, but thanks for the toast!).

Mid-week, hidden behind a pile of japanese chips and cookies in iridescent gift-basket cellophane, I found a small square cake covered in chocolate curlicues -- not just a cake, but a superfluffy hazelnut chocolate mousse from Bakery Nouveau in West Seattle, on a crunchy chocolate base. I considered grabbing the cake and running for home, but beyond the impracticality of jogging with mousse, taking only my fair share seemed best. I do love desserts, but sharing is sweetest. :)

Caramel Corn

If I trust anyone to turn a fairly healthy food into a sugary, buttery bowl of snacktime happiness, it's Paula Deen. For our Oscar party, I followed her simple instructions for Caramel Corn. (Can't you just hear Savannah grandma drawl wooing you with care-a-mel?)

This takes about 5 minutes of work (10 if you include the stirring later), plus very little skill beyond not burning your fingers on hot sugar. The baking soda makes the caramel puff up and become more mixable. One very important tip: filter out all unpopped kernels before mixing the popcorn and hot caramel, or you'll find them later glued unpleasantly into the popcorn.

Paula Deen's Caramel Corn

Ingredients

• 1 C butter
• 2 C packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 C light corn syrup
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 8 quarts popped corn

Directions

Melt first 4 ingredients in a saucepan over medium. Boil 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in baking soda.

Pour hot caramel over popcorn. Stir to coat -- you'll stir more as it bakes, so it doesn't need to be 100% perfect.

Bake in large roasting pan (something with sides at lest a few inches high) at 200 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool thoroughly before eating.

Victoria Cupakes

Feeling a bit indecisive about what to make for our first posting, I decided to start with something simple and almost always a winner amongst even the pickiest of eaters: the cupcake. Having just received a living room full of wedding presents, I chose the recipe out of one of my newly acquired cookbooks - Cupcake Heaven. Not quite wanting to say goodbye to summer, I selected a recipe worthy of an outdoor picnic or BBQ, with fresh strawberries and homemade whip cream. They are almost more strawberry shortcake-esque than cupcake. Now if I only could have braved the rain this morning and got fresh strawberries from the Ballard farmer's market...sigh...QFC will have to do.

This is only the first recipe I've made from this book, so I can't really vouch for it's yumminess yet. Most of the recipes look pretty tasty, or at least have interesting presentations.

The recipe is extremely straightforward:

Ingredients

• 1 stick of unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup self-rising flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

To Decorate

• 2 Tablespoons strawberry Jam (I like Bonne Maman)
• 3/4 cup heavy cream (add some vanilla extract if you are using a whip cream maker to sweeten the mixture)
  
• 8 oz strawberries, thickly sliced
• confectioners' sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, then beat in the eggs, one at a time. Combine the flour and baking powder and sift into the mixture. Fold in, then stir in the vanilla extract.

Spoon the mixture into the paper liners and bake in the preheated oven for about 17 minutes until risen and golden and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To decorate, using a serrated knife, carefully slice the top off each cupcake, down to the level of the paper liner. Spread each cupcake with about 1/2 teaspoon jelly.

Whip the cream and spoon on top of the jelly-covered cupcakes, then top with slices of strawberries. Replace the top of each cupcake and dust with confectioners' sugar.

Notes: Next time I would double the batter recipe as the cupcakes did not rise high enough to cup the tops off nicely. I would recommend making these cupcakes for an outdoor picnic or BBQ where you know they will be eaten right away. I anticipate these will end up a soggy mess of whip cream by tomorrow afternoon.

Makes 12

One of my favorite kitchen tools is my whip cream maker. Though sort of pricey, I think it's worth it as I'm sort of a snob about store bought whip cream and don't really enjoy standing around for 10-15 minutes whipping my cream into stiff peaks.

I generally use 1 pint of heavy whipping cream and add about 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla extract for a little sweetness. The whip cream only lasts about about 1 week, so make sure and thoroughly clean the container after it's expired.