Chipotle Cinnamon Chocolate Cupcakes

I busted these out after a bad meal, which I promise I will recount later. I needed to erase the stagnant memory of the interchangeable bar, crappy music, poor service, and annoying patrons. So I checked out what I had sitting around the house. My friend Eric and my partner Rob both wanted something sweet, so of course we went the cupcake route. I didn't have any chocolate or cocoa powder so I had to resort to box mix.

Dark chocolate cake mix to be exact. But if you know me, I can't just do plain chocolate. Oh no. We have to mix it up. All the ladies clap your hands, we're gonna mix it up in here. We broke out the cinnamon and a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. No boring cupcakes here.

Girls, let me tell you, boredom is the mother of all invention. They say idle hands are the devil's tools. The cure for boredom is curiosity, but there is no cure for curiosity. Curiosity killed the cat. A cat's got nine lives. Man only has one, so live life like there's no tomorrow. Cause tomorrow may not come. But no worries. The sun'll come out tomorrow. So rise and shine. It's a brand new day. Many fine things can be done in a day if you don't make that day tomorrow. So spice it up! Carpe diem!

Sieze the cupcake.

Chipotle Cinnamon Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes about 18 cupcakes

What You'll Need...
1 Box of Dark Chocolate cake mix (I feel actual pain writing those words, or it's the tendonitis...)
Whatever the box tells you you'll need. Probably eggs, water, and oil.
1-2 tablespoon pureed chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (base on your heat tolerance)
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon, plus some extra
powdered sugar

What You'll Do...
1) Mix the cake mix as the box says. Again. Physical pain.
2) Place the chipotle peppers in a food processor and puree. Add two tablespoons to the mix. Add the cinnamon.
3) Scoop into cupcake papers. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
4) Let cool. Combine the powdered sugar and some cinnamon to taste in a bowl, then place in a small mesh duster thingy that I'm sure has a name but it escapes me right now. Dust heavily with powdered sugar. Place doily or wire rack on the cupcakes to get a pattern if desired.

Other Similar Cupcakes
Chocolate Five Spice
Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes with Ancho Chili Pepper
Pumpkin Curry Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache & Coconut
Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Pink Peppercorn

Orange Poppy Seed Cupcakes with Chocolate Whipped Cream

I love poppy seeds. The slighty citric, escapingly nutty little textural fireworks that go off with each pin prick pop make these totally shibby! They dance in your mouth and give you a generous reason to smile. I knew that I had to utilize them in a cupcake that would show them off, and what better way than with an orange poppyseed cupcake?

I made these for Rob's work as he requested a cupcake, so of course I jumped at the chance to finally make these. Paired with orange, you can't help but just say wow with each comforting, edgy bite. The chocolate whipped cream was the right choice to make. Ganache or buttercream or something heavy would have detracted from the cupcake. Here the whipped cream could melt away in your mouth, and the white and brown flecks and swirls were pleasing to the eye. Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too?

This recipe does ask for a lot of poppyseeds, which can get pricey unless you know where to look. I got mine for about $3 at a local International market. It probably would have cost about $12 at the supermarket. If you know of any little hole-in-the-wall ethnic grocers, I suggest you go there.

Orange Poppy Seed Cupcakes
Adapted from Levana's Table
Makes 24 cupcakes / 350 degree oven

What You'll Need...
3 cups of flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 pinch of salt
2 tablespoons of grated orange zest
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup of orange juice (no pulp)
3/4 cup of poppy seeds

What You'll Do...
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the flour, zest, salt and baking powder together in a bowl and set aside.
2) Place eggs and sugar in a mixer and beat on high for 30 seconds until light and fluffy.
3) Add the vanilla and oil and mix until just combined.
4) Add some of the dry ingredients and then the orange juice. Alternate the dry and wet ingredients, ending with the dry.
5) Stir in the poppy seeds. Scoop into cupcake papers about 3/4 full. Bake for 18-22 minutes, rotating the pan after the first 15 minutes. Check with a cake tester or toothpick for doneness.

Chocolate Whipped Cream
What You'll Need...
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup semisweet or dark chocolate
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
powdered sugar to taste (optional; I think it's sweet enough without)

What You'll Do...
1) Whip the cream until stiff peaks form.
2) Melt the chocolate in the microwave for 1 minute on high (screw a double boiler, this is just quicker for such a small amount). Stir it, then heat in small increments of time, stirring and watching. Be sure to not let it burn. Stir then let sit for 3-5 minutes. It should still be a liquid and should be warm.
3) Fold in 1/3 of the cream to the chocolate. Add the reamining cream, vanilla, and powdered sugar if desired.

A Taste of Spring

Frozen peas, while you may not believe me, actually do taste like fresh peas in many cases depending how you use them. Mainly because fuits and vegetables are flash frozen at extreme temperatures, and like in a bad Sci-Fi original movie, they're placed in suspended animation. Once thawed peas are able to retain much of their structure with little breakdown of sugars or complex protien chains. Thus, fresh tasting peas.

That's why this dish is a staple around here during the winter months. It's fresh and sweet, a respite from the bite of winter winds. It's perfect with some slightly toasted, left over bread and a pat of butter. This jade soup is also easily adaptable to whatever you have on hand. Often times I use some diced bacon to salt it. Other times I use basil, cilantro, or mint to put some more spring in its step. This time we went with some sour cream - very yummy, the sour white once swirled into the striking green soup is truly fantastic. Fuck, I love sour cream. It makes food better. (Yeah, I swore on the blog, that's how much I love sour cream.)

Kids, may or may not like this. If you decide to serve it to them, give them the sour cream, bacon, basil, or what have you and let them customize it themselves. Interactive meals have more flavor anyways.

This dish is very quick and easy to prepare. Hope you enjoy! (And look, I avoided using the word pea-ness! Go me!)

Springtime Pea Soup
Serves 2, recipe can easily be doubled

What You'll Need...
16 oz of frozen peas
14 oz of chicken or veggie stock
4-5 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
sour cream (optional)
4 tablespoons of butter

What You'll Do...
1) Melt butter in a large pot. Saute the garlic for a minute, it shouldn't brown, but it should cook just enough to release some of the garlicy sweetness.
2) Add the peas and stir until slightly defrosted, eyeball it. Add the stock before the garlic burns. Salt and pepper.
3) Bring to a boil then turn heat to low and simmer for 6-8 minutes, until peas are tender.
4) Take off heat and let cool slightly. Use a hand blender or place in a stand blender in batches and puree. Garish with sour cream.

Fancy Food Show, San Francisco 2007

Rob and I shamelessly used this blog as a way to recently get a press pass, and thus free enterance, to the Fancy Food Show in SF. Let me tell you, it's quite an event. Tons of food and people all looking to see what great noshables are on the horizon.

We were able to catch up with Elise and Heidi and tour some of the North Hall for a bit. We got to meet lots of creators, consultants, press, and movers and shakers of the food world. Every kind of food you can imagine was present! There did seem to be a glut of olive oils; I mean seriously, how much frickin olive oil can there be?! Chocolate and tea felt kinda the same way, but maybe not as much. (In as such, yes, you can have to much chocolate... I've seen it.)

After about 6 hours though, your feet get sore, and your tongue becomes calloused. You can't taste anymore, and as you try to leave you try another and another last sample on your way to the door. Allow me to highlight some of what I thought were the best of the best and share some pictures.

Chuao Chocolate put forth a might fine and spicy hot chocolate brew. Tastiest thing we tried hands down. Incredibly shibby, we ordered a tin of the stuff the second we got home. The spicy maya is hot chocolate with peppers, cinnamon and other tasty bits.

You all probably know of Stirrings, I know I've been a fan of theirs for some time, but they've hooked me once again with their pomegranate cosmo mix! Yayness! I love cosmos and I heart pomegranates. The perfect combo!

Elise, Rob, and I fell in love with Restaurant Lulu's Fig and Meyer Lemon Balsamic Vinegar. It danced on your tongue and tingeled the senses! Truly a fabu vinegar.

Rishi Tea produced about oh, a 100 different tea varieties. Each one was striking in it's colors, textures, appearences, and scents. It was an adventure examining them!

All of us were taken with the SF local company The Occassional Gourmet. Spice mixes that possessed truly authentic aromatics! We fell in love with the dukkah in particular and I lurvs it on some freshly heated pita bread drizzeled with olive oil. Oh! they joy I felt with each delicious, nutty bite!

I also, for shame, had never tried caviar until that day. I now understand why people love this shit so much. I mean seriously, it really is that good. The various beady textures, the salty undertastes, all pleasing and decadent. We were given a small lesson from a local caviar vendor, taking us through various types of fish eggs and informing us about their local hatcheries outside of SF and Sacramento.

One last great product was the classic korma from Maya Kaimal. Spicy, sweet, salty, fragrant, exotic... all these perfectly describe the korma. *le sigh* Soooo shibby. No other word for it.

So much food. The memories. I'm in love... and in a bit of a food coma.

Feel free to check out some other photos here.

Hippies and Pubs (Raleigh's - Berkley, CA)

Don't think I hate hippies, I really don't, but when a girl with earlobes stretched out to the size of dinner plates, twigs in her dreds, and smelling to the point where the whole table has to try not to breathe in serves a raw on the inside charred on the outside burger, then yes, I will call her a dirty hippy.

Let me go back a bit. I was visiting my cousin Bob, his wife Cio, and kid Davey down in Berkeley. We all wanted to hang out a bit, catch-up, and just have a bit of fun. We decided to go downtown amongst the throngs of denizens and students and have a bite to eat. We approached a rustic building with a classic signs hanging down.

Raleigh's is a classic sports bar. Red brick walls, beaten wooden bars, and a Saint's game on every screen. Sweet. The atmosphere is exactly what it should be. The wooden seats are surprisingly comfy, and a diverse crowd seems to work and dine there from goths, to punks, to preps. From what I understand there's even a beer garden out back (though I didn't go there).

They had quite a few beers, many of them microbrews, on tap from what I saw. The menu had a great selection of grub to choose from burgers to salads and each one is served in gigantic portions.

We started with a few half iced tea - half lemonades, and a side order of corn meal battered shrimp served with side of long island dressing for dipping. Simple and pleasing, it was a nice change from your basic aioli served as a dipping sauce, though we did kind of miss it.

My bacon, swiss, and avocado burger was piled high and huge. The bacon was a bit overcooked, and the avocado a bit sparse, but it was delicious pub grub none the less. Burgers come with many options for sides from fries to salad, and my mixed greens salad hit the spot.

Rob's burger, a blue cheese burger, was just done all wrong. The blue cheese wasn't mixed into the meat, instead just being thrown on where it fell out of the burger. It was black on the outside and raw, I mean RAW on the inside. This is a serious no-no. Bad sports bar. No biscuit. The fries were dead on though, flavor hitting harder than a left tackle.

Bob and Cio's salad was classic and huge. Split between the two of them, I still don't think they finished the whole thing. Davey had a burger, he seemed happy.

Would I go again? Yeah, though maybe not during the playoffs. The chef wasn't paying attention, and the staff wasn't paying attention. To quote Cio, "This is Berkeley, what did you expect? Service?"

Raleigh's
2438 Telegraph Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 848-8652