Pumpkin chocolate fleck sugar cookies.

I meant to make these for Halloween.


Actually.. I've been meaning to make sugar cookies for Halloween for at least the past three years, ever since I bought Halloween cookie-cutters at a post-Halloween sale at Crate and Barrel. Those post-holiday sales are so very dangerous. My cookie cutter and cupcake liner collections are proof.

Anywho, as I had written in my last post, I have been doing a whole lot of pumpkin-hankerin' lately. And I wanted to make jack-o-lantern pumpkin sugar cookies that actually tasted like pumpkin. So here's a tried and true sugar cookie recipe from one of my favorite cookbook authors, Carole Walter, altered a bit with a little pumpkin-chocolate pizazz.

These cookies are sugar cookies with a hint of pumpkin -- not anything like pumpkin drop cookies that have more of a cakey texture. Also, I'm pretty particular about my sugar roll-out cookies. They've got to be firm (though not dry), and they've got to hold their shape -- 'cause cookies that spread out into indistinguishable blobs bug me.


But these.. these make me grin.


Pumpkin Chocolate Fleck Sugar Cookies
Adapted from "Classic Sugar Cookies," Great Cookies, Carole Walter

3 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (plus more if needed)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly firm
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup finely shaved semisweet chocolate
1 large egg white, lightly beaten with 2 teaspoons water

To decorate:
Sparkling white sugar OR
Icing of various colors (made with confectioner's sugar and a bit of milk)

1. Strain together flour, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugar on medium-low.
3. Beat the egg and vanilla together and mix into the butter-sugar mixture. Add the canned pumpkin. Mix in the dry ingredients in two additions, mixing just until combined.
4. Measure out about 1/4 the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Lightly knead the chocolate into the dough, being careful to not overwork.
5. Empty out the rest of the dough onto the floured surface and lightly knead the all the dough together three or four times to create a marbled effect. Divide into quarters and shape into four disks. Wrap each disk with plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes.


6. Using one disk at a time, roll the dough to a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut using various cookie cutters and transfer the cookies to a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Brush tops lightly with egg wash and sprinkle with sparkling sugar if desired.
7. Bake the cookies in a 350 degree oven for 12-14 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Remove from oven and wait a few minutes before moving the cookies to a cooling rack. Wait until cookies are completely cool before decorating with icing, if desired.


These were yummy, but I think I'd prefer them just a tad sweeter. I might try adding 1/4 cup brown sugar next time, see what that does.

Biking off tamales.

Have you heard? Biking is my new obsession.

It's a good one for me, though. Much healthier than my old fondue obsession, for example. (Go ahead, ask me how many fondue cookbooks and fondue sets I have.)

Anyway, I've been trying to bike at least 4 or 5 times a week. Most of the time, it's past 10 p.m., so I just bike around the neighborhood. I now know better what Old Towne Orange looks like at night than during the day.

But I feel such a great sense of satisfaction when it's early enough to get a chance to run errands -- dropping off a package at the post office or picking up some quick groceries. I'm biking with a purpose.

Like when I biked 10 miles the other day on my visits to Target and the bookstore. And after that, when I biked to La Poblana Bakery/Panaderia to reward myself with steaming, sweet tamales.


Sigh. I did it again.

I don't think this little Mexican bakery wants me to be healthy.


So, I had no idea that dessert tamales were even possible. But they ARE, and they are wonderful. Strawberry/fresa tamales have fresh-strawberries-turned-gooey within; pineapple/piña tamales have the occasional raisin. They taste like sweet, fluffy corn bread.

But you must eat them right away, while they are still warm. Inhale them, if at all possible.


Champurrado is hot chocolate that is spiced with cinnamon and almost thick enough to chew. It is a perfect accompaniment to sweet tamales. Even though it looks like a cup of mud.

By the way, it is really difficult balancing champurrado in your bike basket on the ride home.

(Updated with address on March 13, 2009. Oops.)
* * *
La Poblana Bakery
604 W. Chapman Ave.
Orange 92868
714.771.4465

Chocolatey goodness.

When your pastry chef cousin Irene asks you if you want to attend a free Valrhona chocolate demo, all you can do is say 'hells yes.'

I mean, come on: it's free, at Surfas (absolute heaven for chefs, gourmands, and cooking enthusiasts), and it features the be-all and end-all of chocolate -- mother effin' Valrhona. You don't have to ask me twice.

Corporate chef for Valrhona, Derek Poirer, with his endless capacity for patience and chocolate knowledge, demonstrated recipes and humored silly questions from participants for more than two hours.

Oh yeah, and he also fed us chocolatey goodness:


Above, a chocolate financier, studded with streusel and "Valrhona's solution to the chocolate chip," per the description of chef Poirer's assistant. And that Tootsie Roll-looking thing on top? A luscious log of chocolate custard.


Valrhona's chocolate mousse topped with macerated strawberries. Because 'macerated' is a way cooler word than 'chopped.'


Chocolate soufflé, which was actually a baked version of the chocolate mousse.


Finally, chocolat chaud made with a special chocolate spiced with curry, cumin and other spices. Oh, and topped with fresh vanilla foam, of course.

The recipes are supposed to be available someday soon on the Surfas website -- if and when they do post them I will include the link here. For now, please join me in drooling at the photos and fantasizing about swimming in a giant tub of chocolate mousse.

* * *
Surfas
8824 National Blvd.
Culver City 90232
310.559.4770

Happy Independence Day: The red velvet strike ends!

In celebration of 4th of July, my cousin Cha and I made red velvet cupcakes. Or rather: "Blue(berry), White, and Red (Velvet)" cupcakes. Tee hee hee.


I had a much better, less redder experience with red velvet this time around (we only put half a teaspoon of red food gel into these babies).

My cousin preferred red sugar crystals for decorating:


"Aww, yours are cute. They're rustic and homey!"
"Hey, Irene always uses 'rustic' whenever she messes up on something."

"Rustic" or not, they were mighty tasty. And not frightening in the slightest. REJOICE!

A happy belated Valentine's Day.

My boyfriend luurrves me. Why?

This could be one reason:


Valentine's Day fell on a Thursday this year, so we waited until the weekend to celebrate. I decided to show my love for him by slow-cooking the shiz out of some beef. This smoky beef stew with blue cheese and chives had enough tender, fall-apart meaty goodness to ensure our future together. Hehe, kidding. Maybe.

For me, this recipe is one of those where you can't argue with any of the ingredients. To quote Sunset Magazine, "bacon, smoked paprika, and chipotle chile powder give this stew layers of smoky flavor." Red wine gives it depth (I used a Shiraz Cabernet), onions add sweetness... and who doesn't like buttery potatoes and carrots? To top it all off, tangy blue cheese slowly melts into the stew to complete a flavor masterpiece.

This recipe doesn't mess around.

Cornbread muffins were a perfectly sweet accompaniment to the salty smokiness of it all. It's teetering on the edge of my dish and contemplating a skinny dipping.


DO IT. JUUMMMP.

By the way, Trader Joe's Cornbread Mix (complete with real corn kernels!) is awesome. Of course, I added even more corn and then sprinkled the tops of my muffins with sugar. I couldn't help it. I love corn and sugar.

Oh, and I didn't forget about dessert: peanut butter and chocolate fondue, with apples, bananas, pretzels and strawberries.


Yes, I garnished it with sprinkles shaped like lips. And what.

Red velvet scandal.

The first time I had a red velvet cupcake, I wondered where the red color came from. Blood red strawberries? Overripe raspberries? I remember thinking. And then I looked up a recipe.

Oh, it's just food coloring. Lots and lots of red food coloring.

This didn't wig me out, oddly enough. I continued happily indulging in red velvet cupcakes whenever I got the chance. And finally, I decided to try making my own.

Now this recipe, by Elisa Strauss in The Confetti Cakes Cookbook, calls for a whopping 6 tablespoons of red food coloring for a 3-layer, 9-inch cake, equivalent to about 3 1/2 dozen cupcakes.

While I was collecting the ingredients, I pictured myself buying a bunch of those tiny little food coloring bottles that are readily available in any grocery store. Then it came to me -- a cake supply store, duh.

I arrived at Orange Novelty Cake Decorating and asked for a bottle of red food coloring.

"Do you want the airbrush food coloring or the gel paste?"
"Um.. what's best for red velvet cake?"
"Probably the gel paste, since it's more concentrated."
"Okay, I'll take that, then."

I should have also asked, "What is the gel paste to liquid food coloring ratio?"

(.... Yeah, I'm sure any pastry chef or red velvet cake veteran reading this can imagine what happened next.)

So later when I started making the cake batter, and when it came time to add the red, I thought, Okay, since the recipe calls for 6 tablespoons of liquid food coloring, 3 tablespoons of this stuff will probably be good.

I started with a single tablespoon. And then another.

Hmm. This batter doesn't look dark red enough.

I hate it when red velvet cupcakes are pink. They're not called PINK velvet! I like dark red velvet cupcakes. So I start to squirt more food gel in, a little at a time. When I decided to stop, I still wasn't satisfied with the color and felt that it was too light. But by that time, I was becoming disturbed at how much artificiality was going into these cupcakes.

(My pastry chef cousin later told me as I was telling her this story, "Yeah, the baked cake is always much darker than the batter." That would have been nice to know before I had started dumping gobs of red into my batter.)

Anyway, so I baked the cupcakes and was delighted to find that the cakes were moist, sweet, and a deep red color. It was one of the most delicious cakes I had ever made and tasted.

But as time went on, I became increasingly worrisome: What are the health disadvantages to artificial food dye?? My paranoia prevented me from thoroughly enjoying my cupcakes, which is very sad to me.

Later I found out that I used something like 6 times the amount of red food gel that I actually needed. Needless to say, I've had my fill of red velvet for probably the next year, and next time I will be making just "velvet cupcakes." Without the "red." Because the red is only used to dye the cake and not add to the quality of it, the cake will still be luscious and tasty.

But here's the now infamous recipe:

Red Velvet Cake, Elisa Strauss, The Confetti Cakes Cookbook
3 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch-processed)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups canola oil
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
6 tablespoons (or 3 ounces) LIQUID red food coloring OR start with 1 teaspoon red gel paste at a time
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl.
2. Place oil and sugar in a bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. With machine on low, very slowly add red food coloring. Add vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two patches. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.
3. Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds.
4. Divide batter among 3 round 9-inch layer cake pans, or fill muffin tins 2/3 of the way full. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes for layer cake or 12-15 minutes for cupcakes. Transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting.

After going on and on about the cake, I haven't even mentioned the icing. This delectable marry of whipped cream folded into mascarpone and cream cheese is what saved the day. Thanks to the New York Times (Feb. 14, 2007) for coming up with this killer combo. I recommend using an electric hand mixer to whip the cream, and a food processor to combine the other ingredients.

Red Velvet Cake Icing, John Doherty with John Harrisson, The Waldorf-Astoria Cookbook

2 cups heavy cream, cold
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
12 ounces mascarpone
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1. Softly whip cream by hand, in electric mixer or in food processor. Cover in bowl and refrigerate.
2. Blend cream cheese and mascarpone in food processor or electric mixer until smooth. Add vanilla, pulse briefly, and add confectioner's sugar. Blend well.
3. Transfer cream cheese mixture to bowl; fold in whipped cream. Refrigerate until needed.

And there she is. Naked, violated, and bleeding.


And yes. This baby stained. Everywhere.

* * *
Orange Novelty Cake Decorating
3625 W. Macarthur Blvd. #305
Santa Ana 92704
714.556.4661

Bouche full of Boule.

I realize I'm a little late in hopping on the Boule-bandwagon, as there have been a million other reviews on the little Los Angeles pâtisserie, but here are my two cents anyway:

French macarons (from left to right) -- rose petal raspberry, lemon meyer, and the seasonal pumpkin. Crispy and delicate, you have to get one of each (unfortunately the selection was rather limited when I got there late in the day).


It's like a rainbow of mini hamburgers! ... Except sweet, and not meaty. The lemon was my favorite.

Next: Boule's famous chocolates (clockwise, starting at top left) -- "Flora"/passion fruit-jasmine, "Li"/lychee-pistachio, "Jade"/green tea, and "Fatale"/scotch bonnet pepper.


"Flora" and "Li" turned out to be very fruity, as you may have guessed, while "Jade" gave me a subtle hint of green tea breath, only after I finished it. Surprisingly, I found my favorite to be the hot hot "Fatale." At first it fools you into thinking it's just an innocent piece of dark chocolate ganache, and then it gives you a right kick in the pants.

I should have been a little more prepared when I entered -- the sight of the chocolate display nearly overwhelmed me, and I couldn't think properly. Upon walking out I realized how much I wanted to try the curry gianduia and the lavender, too.

Oh well. This definitely gives me a reason to come back. And hello, there's sweet corn ice cream, too??

Have I mentioned that I adore corn?

* * *
Boule (Note the new address, a couple stores down)
408 N. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles 90048
310.289.9977