Mango Lime Cupcakes with Neufchâtel Cheese Frosting & Chili Powder

Rob and I have been eating a lot of mango using this method of preparation recently. It's perfect for the summer heat. It's tropical, flavorful, with the littlest whisper of spice in the background. I could think of no better cupcake to put together for Elise's backyard ice cream social (which we will cover in the next post to be sure).

The mango is sweet and delicious in this intensely rich, moist, and dense cake. The lime perks up the cake perfectly. The Neufchâtel cheese is something new; it's basically a low fat cream cheese without that highly distinctive tang that cream cheese possesses. It's mild and sweet, perfect for fruit based cakes where you don't want to overpower or compete with the other flavors. The chili powder and lime zest were a tad bit tame, I think I would add a bit more next time as it seemed to get a bit lost sometimes. It shouldn't be strong, it should just barely be recognizable, almost invisible, but should still be present.

Overall though, I was very happy with the outcome. I was able to share it with all my Sac blogging buddies, and many other awesome peoples. A simple cupcake I plan to make again.

Mango Lime Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes / 350 degree oven

What You'll Need...
1 stick of butter, room temperature
1 cup of sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup of milk
1 1/3 cup of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
good pinch of salt
1 mango, peeled and chopped
zest of one lime
1 tablespoon of lime juice

What You'll Do...
1) Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Beat the butter for about 2 minutes until well creamed. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl halfway through.
2) Add the egg and egg yolk and beat for 45 seconds. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
3) Combine flour, salt, and baking powder and sift together. Combine the milk, lime zest, and lime juice together. Add some of the flour mixture, then some of the milk, alternating between dry-wet-dry and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix together until just combined.
4) Fold the mango into the batter. Scoop into cupcake papers until almost full.
5) Bake for about 15-18 minutes. Cupcakes will be dense, heavy, and moist. A toothpick should still come out clean. Let cool on a wire rack.

Neufchâtel Cheese Frosting
What You'll Need...
1/4 cup of butter (1/2 a stick), room temperature
4 oz of Neufchâtel cheese, room temperature (this cheese can be found near the cream cheese)
2 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (taste as you go)
lime zest
chili powder

What You'll Do...
1) Cream the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes. Scraped down the sides and bottom.
2) Slowly add the powdered sugar. Add the vanilla to taste. Spread on cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle with lime zest and chili powder.

Eat Beast Update #5 - The Next Bigfoot Stole My Egg Salad Sammich!

This is Cid. Cid is our good cat. The well mannered one, minus his habit of opening every drawer and cabinet in the apartment that is. But his eating habits are normal, and don't irritate me in any way.

Until recently that is. Mace, the Eat Beast's, eating habits are wearing off on Cid. Cid, when I wasn't looking, snatched a piece of egg salad sammich away from me. It's the first time he's ever done this, so he got a good scare when I squirted some water at him and I doubt it will happen again.

However, the second I go to photograph the evidence for a post about this, what should happen? The Eat Beast, who possesses supernatural abilities when it comes to food, suddenly swooped down and stole the piece of sandwich right as I clicked the picture! Then *poof* he was gone when I moved the camera away from my face.

Like photographing Bigfoot or a UFO, all I have is a blur on film that can't either confirm or deny anything. You just have to take my word for it. It's the Eat Beast striking once again. Seriously, how does something so goddamn fat move so quick?

Suits at Happy Hour (Spa Bar - Midtown Sacramento, CA)

To celebrate the article about us in the Bee recently, Madeline, Kristy, and I went to Spa Bar, the special happy hour that Spataro's holds on weekdays from 2-6:30. Spataro's is the super fancy restaurant owned by the Paragary's restaurant group, and this particular place is the main hangout for their head honcho chef, Kurt Spataro.

Spataro's is located on L and 14th, in the lobby of the Meridian Plaza across from the park and near Mason's. It's in a very busy corporate area of downtown, and you can tell. The place is swarmed with suits. Honestly, it felt like I was back in Orange County again. The entire crown was all power ties, blackberries, and Prada. Everyone was very "look-who-he's-with-and-what-is-she-wearing?" I felt a little out of place for a sec, then realized that I didn't give a crud how I was dressed (I write/work in non-profit, Kristy writes, and Maddie is a lawyer but she was dressed well but non-pretentious cause she rolls like that).

ANYWAYS, back to the restaurant, it's a nice place, very fancy, love the outside as the view is pleasant, and it's a good people watching perch. We did have a small issue with service through the time we were there, but the place was totally swamped (the place is popular, even on a Wednesday) and there was only one waitress and she was in the weeds, poor girl.

Still, all these little negatives are nothing. The food is fabulous. I started with the chef's special cocktail of the night. Lemon juice, lemon vodka, and freshly muddled cherries started my night. It was fruity and refreshing. A light summer drink I'll want to re-create at home.

We started out with some simple french fries. They weren't to greasy, but nice and crisp and salted with some shredded Parmesan cheese. The deep fried asparagus was to die for, they were bursting with flavor and were perfectly salted by the fry batter; served with aioli it was a little slice of heaven.

We also ordered housemade mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto, however they were out of mozzarella so we got a large plate of deliciously salty and well aged prosciutto drizzled with a peppery olive oil, and given a nice crack or two of fresh pepper. Mmm-MM! Like a hug from Jesus!

The bread was also quite yummy, we were served slices of fresh baguette and some ciabatta that had a light rub of olive oil, herbs, salt and pepper. We had a bit of marinara sauce to dip it in as well so the bready front was well covered.

The biggest plus? Each dish was only $2-$4, each drink between $2-$6. Each plate fed about 3 people when shared. We got a drink each, four different delicious plates, plus tax and tip paid about $27 bucks I think. The place also serves lunch and dinner, with menus that look equally frugal and deliciously Italian in their origins.

Overall, a fantastic experience. Good food, good drink, and a good place for a great price! We all plan to go back again!

Spa Bar - in Spataro Restaurant and Bar
1415 L Street
Downtown Sacramento
916.440.8888

One Year Later

Things were not going so well one year ago. Remember then? Life seemed to be falling apart at the seams. To much change was going on, and none of it good. It all was lacking focus and effort. You got bored, so you started to wander the internet during your lunch breaks.

You stumbled onto a little something called The Julie/Julia Project, and it was amazing. Life changing. You read the entire thing in 3 days, shirking responsibilities at work and home to voraciously digest this woman's misadventures. Then you looked for more. You found The Restaurant Whore and she made you laugh, Becks and Posh who made you think, Cooking with Amy who grabbed your attention, and Eggbeater who pulled you in with her prose.

You wanted to start your own blog. Something permanent. So that no matter how much change kept happening or how bad it got, you had one constant in your life. But all the blogs were based in San Francisco. You would be the food blog of Sacramento and Yolo. You would call it Vanilla Garlic (as 14 Eggs was already taken at the time). You would have an excuse to get out of the house and live life. You would give a personal look at restaurants and events in the areas. And no recipes. You didn't want to be a recipe blog.

On your first day, 4 people read your blog. You were floored. Now, you hit over 120,000 page views.

You then started to meet people and e-mail people. You made new friends. Truly wonderful, crazy about love, life, and food people. You started to get together and go out. Raising money for those in need. Volunteering. Having pot lucks and parties. People you didn't know even wrote for restaurant suggestions. You had readers in Europe, Australia, and Asia and your readership kept growing.

People actually cared about what you wrote.

Then one day, you discovered another blog, and you decided to give baking another go. It worked, so you tried again. And then again. And then you decided to try baking your own recipe and it was a success. Then people actually started to make your recipe.

It soon became an addiction. Cupcake recipes sprang forth from you. You were a non-stop flour force, armed with a cup of sugar and a stick of butter. Not to mention a whole lot of gusto. Sure the oven would earn your temerity once in a while, but you loved it. You couldn't bake before, but you started to take classes, read books, educate yourself. You could give baking advice with confidence and teach friends. The blog partially became a recipe blog. A cupcake blog.

The blog became a site of notice, you were mentioned in print. Then one day you achieved a dream. You were asked to write. About food. By a magazine. You achieved a goal you had been after for years.

The blog became a cupcake blog. A restaurant review blog. A blog to write your essays in. A blog to share with friends and family about your life. It was a space for you where you could put your soul into print.

What started as a safe haven, a constant that still persists, is now a home.

To anyone who has ever read Vanilla Garlic, to all the friends I've made, and people I've met, THANK YOU.

One year later. Happy Birthday, Vanilla Garlic.
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I'll be posting every single day for a week to celebrate this. Hope you drop by and see what's in the oven.

Sliced Mango with Lime and Chili Powder -&- We're in the Paper!

My God, this is so deliciously shibby it should be illegal. I mean, I'm pretty sure I could commit the very act of murder and then villainously present any witnesses and/or accusers with this dish. They would be so enamored with the flavors that it would grant me time enough to commit the deed again. (Yes, I suppose that villains are defeated in the long run, but they have more fun along the way than the heroes do.)

The mango is sweet, the lime is slightly salty and of super citrusy, the slightest dusting of chili powder gives it a little bit of kick. A formal recipe would be silly and a waste of both our time; you chop up a mango, juice a fresh lime over it, then give it a light sprinkle of chili powder. Done.

A fabu little dish perfect for beating the heat, it meets all of my recipe requirements: simple, cheap, quick, and tasty. Make it for yourself or serve it as a light salad, appetizer, or even dessert. Now, I wonder if I can adapt these flavors to a cupcake?

Or murder. Whichever.
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By the by, Vanilla Garlic was mentioned in the Sac Bee today along with Everything Rachael Ray by Madeline, and Cakegrrl.com by Kristy, and quite a few others! Check out a copy of the article today! There is one large article, and then three individual interviews. Special thanks to Bob Sylva for writing the piece about the Sac food blogging community and Kevin German for the photos. Be sure to check out the other Sac Bloggers too, links located in the sidebar!

Many others were mentioned too, such as Pie is the New Toast, Simply Recipes, Chucrute com Salsicha, and Yogurt Land! Hope you enjoy.