THE YEAR OF THE CUPCAKES

There's No Place Like Home

2011-11-11T20:22:00.000-08:00

Where is 2011 going?!

When we were growing up, my dad would always tell my sister and me that "as you get older, time will fly by faster and faster." He wasn't kidding.

I think it's pretty accurate to say that I have been wishing for October to arrive since late July. I don't think I ever mentioned it here, but July was when I found out that my mom and I were going to be visiting our family in Japan for 3 magical weeks. Well, those 3 weeks finally came and went (hence the reason for my lack of updates) and now I'm back home, armed with tart pans, melon flavor extracts, and ALL KINDS OF POWDERS for delicious macarons!

Seriously, this is just a fraction of what I brought home.

I just came back from the land of the rising sun on Monday, and I didn't waste a second of baking time. I jumped into the kitchen headfirst and attempted a batch of Matcha macarons, but I guess 3 weeks was long enough for me to lose my touch. Maybe I thought the matcha was bad luck, but today I decided to use my egg custard powder, in hopes of avoiding macawrongs.

creme brûlée macarons

Hooray! Feet! When paired with my mom's top secret vanilla custard (I'm SO glad she finally shared her recipe), it tasted just like heavenly creme brûlée, one of my ALL TIME favorite desserts. It was so good that I had to eat two. Then I remembered that they'll taste better tomorrow after they've rested, and I miraculously found the will power to put them away. Sigh.

I'm hoping to put together a little post of all the delicious treats I ate while I was in Japan. I was ECSTATIC to run into a Lauderée while in Fukuoka, and that really deserves a post on it's own. Stay tuned, and happy baking!

<3<3<3

A time for reflection

2011-09-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

It's hard to remember a world where words like "terrorist" and "terrorism" only existed in the movies.

Like so many other Americans, I remember September 11, 2001 very clearly. I was 13 years old, just barely going into my second week as a freshman in high school. I woke up early that morning to get ready for 0 period band, and by then my dad was already glued to the TV, watching reports about a plane crashing into one of the Twin Towers. I didn't understand any of it then, but I remember thinking that it must have been some kind of awful freak accident. Watching footage of the burning building left me in utter disbelief. I had witnessed the glory of the Twin Towers only 5 months before, on a school trip to New York and Washington D.C. with my 8th grade class.

My dad had the day off, and so he took me and my friends to school. During the commute to one of my friend's house, we heard about the second plane crash.

"It's a terrorist attack," my dad said. And there it was. Terrorist. The word that caused me to feel completely confused, and very scared.

While 9/11 is painfully etched in many of our minds, I also remember the night of 9/10/01 very clearly. In my last conscious moments of the night, I remember sitting in bed and praying as I normally do. But that night, I just felt so sleepy that all I could muster was a "Dear God, please keep everyone safe and happy tomorrow."

This sleepy prayer was all I could think about as I sat through 0 period and listened to our band director talk to us, and it kept repeating in my head as my 1st period biology teacher made us watch the news before reluctantly clicking off the television to resume her lesson. It was all I could hear as the skies above my home were silenced and void of any aircrafts, and it was all I could hear as the news repeatedly showed footage of the Pentagon and falling towers for weeks, and months to come.

All I could do was feel guilty that maybe I just didn't pray hard enough for all the innocent people that lost their lives that day. I was so shaken by this thought that I couldn't even shed a tear.

Fastforward to this very moment, and I can't say that a decade's worth of knowledge has enabled me to completely understand it all. I still don't understand how some people can feel so heartless as to intentionally take away the lives of thousands, but I don't think any of us have an explanation for that.

I'll never forget that horrible day, and today I pay tribute to those who lost their lives in New York, Washington D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. I'm praying for the broken families, for the children that lost their beloved parents, and those that will never know the parents that they've lost. I pray that words like "terrorism" and "hate" are forgotten and replaced with words like "Patriotism" and "love."

...and God knows that I'm praying harder now.

Taken in April 2001, on my 8th grade trip to New York

Good morning!

2011-09-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure I can blame all of my AP teachers from high school for ruining my circadian rhythm and sleep cycle, because I am NOT a morning person. Unlike most people, I don't need a steaming cup of coffee in my system to become an approachable and functional human being of our society. No, what I really need is about 5 more hours of sleep. Or 8.

(Most) Sunday mornings are an exception. My dad is a Lector at our church and he is usually assigned to read for Mass at 6:30 AM. This usually means that, if I'm not tip-toeing back inside my home at an unreasonable hour on a Saturday night, my bleary-eyed self is stumbling out of bed at 5:45 AM to join my dad in church. Promptly after coming home from mass at around 7:20 AM, I can be found face-planted in my pillow to add onto the 3+ hours of sleep I got the night before.

I know. Call me lazy, I can take it.

My favorite Sunday mornings, though, take a bit more effort. These mornings include breakfast with my parents at the table, and rummaging through the Sunday paper to find the Target ad and to attempt the crossword puzzle in the Arts and Books section of the LA Times. My mom usually has breakfast prepared for us when we get back from church. On the mornings she doesn't, my dad and I take the reigns in the kitchen.

This morning I was feeling a bit more awake than usual, and my dad wanted to make pancakes. Okay, here's a little known fact about me. I don't like pancakes. It might be because every personal attempt at making them has yielded crepes. They're delicious crepes, but my inability to make thick and fluffy pancakes has ingrained a distaste for them. Anyway, I'm pretty sure my dad was a bit disappointed when I crinkled my nose at the thought of pancakes on such a gorgeous Sunday morning.

But then I remembered this. Cinnamon Roll Pancakes. Thank goodness for StumbleUpon.

It took some convincing, but my dad gave in.

We added apple chunks in the batter and we didn't use the Cream Cheese frosting, so it was more of an Apple-Cinnamon Swirl Pancake. It was perfect. As my mom said, "apple and cinnamon are soulmates."

Serve warm and with no syrup. If you're like me, you'll love the contrasting fluffy/crispy textures.

This is a great reason to stay awake on a Sunday morning.

Baby pancake!

Scrambled eggs with tomato, ham, and cheese

A beautiful golden-brown :)

No...THIS is a great reason to stay awake on a Sunday morning.

<3<3<3

Macaron Experiment

2011-08-21T17:29:00.000-07:00

Question:
Can macarons be made with anything OTHER than almond flour?

Answer:

Apologies for the low quality: taken with my ancient Palm Centro

Sort of. Above, you will find "Exhibit A," made with graham cracker powder. Smelled DELICIOUS. It even looks like a macaron...but it was SUPER crunchy/chewy. I imagine the equivalent to be chewing an old piece of gum, only after it's fallen in wet cement.

Judge rules...it's an imposter! MACAWRONG. Case closed.

<3<3<3

An Early Mactweets Challenge? GO ME!

2011-08-11T14:07:00.000-07:00

Seriously, I can't remember the last time I submitted an entry for a Mactweets challenge early, let alone a few days after it's been posted.

Anyway, I'd like to start off by saying that I absolutely loved my years as an undergrad. I met and made friends that I know I'll have for life, I learned how to cook in my sorry excuse for a dorm kitchen, and I learned A LOT (both musically and personally speaking). The one thing college failed to teach me, however, was how to hold my liquor.

Sadly, I take after my mother's drinking genes.

Many people would think that being half Mexican and half Japanese would yield superhuman drinking powers (you would understand if you've ever been to a birthday party for a child hosted by Mexicans, or if you've ever been to a karaoke bar after work hours and seen Japanese business men...I know I'm being stereotypical, but it's TRUE)...but I am truly a cheap date. It doesn't take more than a neck of a Smirnoff® bottle to get me ~~red~~ purple. Thank you mom, for the Asian glow gene.

Rest assured, I will never be an alcoholic. As happy as I get with a drink, I don't like the feeling of my warm purple face and pulsating teeth (really).

As for liquor infused desserts?...now THAT is something that I can agree with.

This month's Mactweets challenge called for us to bake a macaron with some liquor! While I don't drink enough to have a "drink of choice", I do enjoy a (tiny) glass of Baileys® On the Rocks every once in a great while. This sweet and refreshing drink became my inspiration for this month!

Here it is...my Chocolate-Kona Coffee Macarons with Baileys® Buttercream!

I <3 Macarons :)

My mom and I did sneak a taste of these sinfully delicious treats and we both enjoyed them, though a tablespoon of Baileys® might have been too much for the buttercream ("It's getting warm in here!" "Don't eat these and drive!")...or perhaps my mom really is that much of a lightweight. Either way, the rest of these babies are off-limits and are resting in the fridge, waiting to be enjoyed by my dear friends and me at the Hollywood Bowl tomorrow! Rodrigo y Gabriela AND macarons? I can't wait!

<3<3<3

Horchata Macarons

2011-07-31T16:46:00.001-07:00

*WARNING: Reading this entry may make you crave Mexican food. :)

Have you ever wanted to try something seemingly radical in the kitchen, only to stop yourself and think, "Nahhh, that couldn't POSSIBLY taste good"? I must admit, I am completely guilty of having this mentality ALL THE TIME. Thanks to the lovely ladies over at Mactweets and this month's Macaron Challenge, my idea of combining ice cream with macarons has become a reality!

But first, a trip down memory lane.

My boyfriend and I are pretty big fans of a TV show called Man Vs. Food. We recently took a little trip to San Diego and tried the famous Lucha Libre Taco Shop, and ordered the Surfin' California...honestly, whoever thought of putting french fries in a burrito needs to be made a saint! It was amazing, but the best part of the meal was washing everything down with a nice big cup of Horchata.

Look at the size of this thing! Picture courtesy of my boyfriend and his beloved iPhone.

If you've never heard of horchata before, keep reading. Trust me, I'm doing you a favor.

Horchata is a cinnamon-rice milk drink, and it's easily found at most Mexican or "Mexican" restaurants here in Los Angeles. I've never been a fan of jamaica (hibiscus juice), but horchata...that's a different story. It's the subtle combination of flavors that really makes this drink delicious. In my opinion, the most refreshing glass of horchata isn't too sweet or cinnamony (I'm surprised spell check didn't flag me on this one). To be honest, any meal from King Taco - or any restaurant that serves horchata for that matter - is not complete without this refreshing drink.

So where am I going with this? Oh yes. I've always wanted to try making macaron ice cream sandwiches, but I've always felt that combining ice cream with a dainty macaron shell might ruin the texture, but this was heaven.

This...meaning THIS.

TADA!!!

That, my friends, is homemade horchata ice cream sandwiched between cinnamon macaron shells. AMAZING.

Cinnamon shells...they came out horchata-colored!

I've never made ice cream before, but making this was easy, definitely a friendly introduction to making your own ice cream. This recipe is worthy of it's own blog entry. It's a lovely, creamy homage to horchata! I made sure to reduce the sugar, as many of you know that I'm not a fan of super sugary treats. I also cut back on the cinnamon, since there was PLENTY going in the macaron shells. After sandwiching the two, I was blessed with a match made in heaven.

The only bad thing about these is that they need to be eaten quickly (which is really NOT a problem. :) ). I was generous with the amount of filling I added, and the shells got softer...but at least it lasted for the picture!

Thank you, Jamie and Deeba! This month's challenge has allowed me to create a delicious ice cream flavor...and now I will never doubt the wonder of ice cream between two macaron shells ever again. :)

<333

Happy birthday, Jon :)

2011-07-17T14:32:00.000-07:00

I used to be terrified of baking cakes.

My fear started when I attempted to bake a lemon cake for Jhonny's birthday a few years back. Being stuck in the confines of an inadequate dorm kitchen, (with less-than-favorable baking equipment) I ended up baking a glorified lemon pancake/cornbread hybrid inside a pie pan, definitely something more of a science experiment than an edible treat.

Fast-forward a few years later, and now I feel that baking layer cakes is the best thing on earth. I still have a lot to learn, though.

So what was the occasion for this layer cake? Earlier this week was Jonathan's birthday (a long time friend since elementary school). He loves chocolate, so I went with Ms. Humble's chocolate cake recipe, and threw in layers of banana buttercream, and surrounded the cake with Nutella whipped cream. The verdict? Delicious win. I have found my go-to basic chocolate cake recipe...not too sweet, not too chocolatey, and VERY moist. Ms. Humble is not one to be doubted, and if you haven't seen her blog/tried her recipes, what are you waiting for?!

Pardon my messy coating.
...and my messing piping.
...and no, he's not 42 :)
One thing the recipe is forgetting, though, is a nice tall glass of milk. Mmmm.
After devouring a slice, we headed out to Ashiya park and "vandalized" with light graffiti.

Happy birthday, Jon! Here's to many more.

<333

P.S. Stay tuned for my first ever guest entry, which should be up in a few days :)

Good Mistakes

2011-07-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

I have ALWAYS wanted to make blue macarons.

My color bias is probably attributed to the fact that blue is my favorite color, and it's not everyday that I get to make blue desserts, or blue food for that matter. Blue food isn't exactly that common, and I actually remember reading somewhere that humans stay away from eating blue food. Blue usually means that something is uncooked or rotten, and it is within our vary nature to reject food with a blue hue.

But I don't care. I will never deny a macaron, especially if it's blue.

When Mactweets posted their June fruit challenge, I knew exactly what to do. BLUEBERRY MACARONS!!! I made my way to Whole Foods and bought this:

Courtesy of Eden Foods

Silly me. Just because the package says that they're Dried Blueberries, doesn't mean they're FREEZE-DRIED blueberries. My whole plan to add pulverized blueberries to get a beautiful blue macaron shell pretty much went down the drain. Nevertheless, this brand of dried blueberries would be wonderful in a bowl of yogurt or cornflakes!

Despite my mistake, I wasn't too depressed. Mactweets did say, afterall, that this month's challenge was a celebration of fruit. I don't know about you, but during these hot Southern California summer months, sometimes the only thing that I'll have an appetite for is a nice refreshing fruit salad. While cramming an array of fruit flavors into one macaron seemed a little much, a simple strawberry/blueberry combination was easy.

After rummaging through my pantry, I found an unopened bag of freeze-dried strawberries from Trader Joes. I threw the strawberry powder into the batter, which (*sigh*) gave me a pink tint. After they came out of the oven (with feet!), I sandwiched them together with a simple vanilla buttercream with whole dried blueberries.

No, these macarons aren't blue. While pink is my least favorite color, I must say that this mixed berry macaron turned out to be pretty delicious. And of course, it's a reminder to me that sometimes things happen for a reason, and mistakes aren't always so horrible. We might get something good and delicious out of it in the end :)

Mixed Berry Macaron

Summer is here!

2011-06-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

Nothing brings people together like a table full of food.

Growing up, my parents always taught me the importance of dinner time. It brings a family together to share stories, laugh, and unwind from the day. As a child, I always took for granted what my parents were trying to do. Now that I'm older (and admittedly much more sentimental) and less likely to be home for dinner, I wish for the simpler days where I could run in from playing outside on a summer's day to sit down and enjoy dinner with the company of my family. Oh, the woes of a young adult's social life...

I missed family dinners the most when I moved out to live in the dorms at CSULA. This meant 10:30 PM (sometimes Not So) Easy Mac dinners by myself after 12 hours of classes. After a few months of this sort of pattern, my friends and I decided to get together once a month to test out recipes on each other so that we could learn how to cook and spend time with each other.

Fast forward almost 7 years later, my friends and I still get together on what we've endearingly called "Fat Fridays" (or the occasional "Tubby Tuesday", "Stuffed Saturday", etc.) Although I've since moved from CSULA and the location has changed, the idea is still the same. We still rotate dishes, experiment with different ingredients (sometimes a little too freely), and end up sharing A LOT of laughs. Our busy work schedules have sadly interfered with us meeting every month, but when we do get together I know that I'm in for a night of lots of fun.

Last night we had Krystal on main with lasagna (which was DELICIOUS). Since we had a sort of Italian theme, I decided to contribute an Italianesque appetizer and dessert.

A few days ago I StumbledUpon this delicious recipe of a Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart bread. I instantly thought of Cinnamon Monkey Bread when I saw it. It's pretty much the same idea, instead you get savory bite-sized pieces of garlic cheese bread instead! While it does take time to knead the dough and let it rise, let me tell you - with a side of marinara sauce, it is SO WORTH YOUR TIME.

My version of the Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart bread, half gone!

Of course, a meal isn't complete without dessert. I didn't have all the ingredients on hand to make actual Tiramisu, so I settled on making Tiramisu cupcakes. Since I was pressed for time, these aren't the same time-consuming Martha Stewart recipe that I blogged about awhile back. Instead I substituted the cake with the Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcake, and went ahead and followed Martha's Coffee-Marsala syrup and Mascarpone frosting recipes found here and here. The cupcakes were okay, but to be honest I was so excited on how well the bread turned out that it was kind of hard to outshine it :)

I've come a long way - from messing up Easy Mac to baking my own bread, and it's hard to believe that we've managed to keep this tradition alive for so long. I suppose I can thank the amazing power of a table full of food...and the life lesson that my parents taught me of sharing food with people you love.

<3<3<3

Hello Summer Vacation...

2011-06-18T13:46:00.000-07:00

Classes are done!

Stay tuned for a post on 1-ingredient ice cream, cupcakes, and (hopefully) macarons :)

<3<3<3

Oka-san

2011-04-30T00:18:00.001-07:00

My mom is awesome.

At first glance, my mom is a small and silent Japanese woman. In most social situations, she is very quiet. Maybe it's her lack of self-confidence in carrying on a conversation in English (even though she's lived in the United States for more than half of her life and she is perfectly capable), but either way she is usually observing and soaking in her surroundings.

For those that know my mother, she is quite a character. She's a wonderful cook, a fan of any baseball team with a Japanese player, a Tetris/old school Super Mario Bros. master (SERIOUSLY!), and an amazing mother. Oh, and she's beautiful.

My mom with my sister and me (I'm the baby!)

It wasn't until recently that I started thinking about how amazing my mom really is. You see, I'm 23 years old now, and I've been really thinking about how I'm such a homebody. I'm the type of person that could never leave my hometown of Montebello. My family is here, it's 7 minutes away from CSULA (my school), 15 minutes away from downtown Los Angeles...it's home. My whole life is here.

On the other hand, my mother left Japan at the age of 25 to marry my dad. They met while he was stationed in Japan in the Air Force, and they continued to write to each other even after he moved back home. She says that you can tell a lot about someone's character based on their words, and that's what she fell in love with. She fell in love with a man halfway across the world, and she left everything and everyone that she knew behind, all based on my dad's words. And here they are, married more than 30 years later and still going strong.

Sometimes it's easy to forget how brave and amazing my mom is. Her bravery is a quality that I wish I could have.

Anyway, today was her birthday (her 21st birthday, apparently), and since I've been in the baking mood recently, I decided to bake her a cake for her big day! I decided to bake a basic vanilla cake, with alternating layers of matcha cream cheese and banana buttercream in between. I finished it off by covering the cake with a simple whipped cream, strawberry halves and slices of banana.

It was delicious...

Vanilla Cake with Matcha Cream Cheese and Banana Buttercream

お誕生日おめでとう、お母さん <3

Try, try, try, try...and try again.

2011-04-24T09:56:00.000-07:00

It seems that during my 5 month hiatus from the kitchen, I forgot how to bake macarons.

Of course, the thought of pulling macawrongs from the oven flashed through my mind as I walked to the kitchen, but I had already baked nearly 20 batches - surely it would be like riding a bike for the first time in years?

All the motions felt right. Sifting the ingredients over and over still felt tedious. My wrist and shoulder still ached as I whipped my egg whites until they defied gravity. I still felt the anticipation as I ~~skillfully succeeded in~~ tried really hard to pipe perfect rounds of batter on my Silpat, followed by the embarrassment and defeat as I actually pulled not one, but four failed macaron batches out of the oven yesterday.

Well, fifth time's a charm...kind of. The trademark frilly feet were there fresh out of the oven, but they kind of disappeared over night. Either way, I had one ugly batch for every month I neglected my macaronage technique.

Unfortunately this semi-pretty batch only yielded 11 macarons, so I'll have to take some chocolate macawrongs to Easter lunch with me.

Strawberry and Chocolate Macarons with Rose Cream Cheese Filling

...hopefully, my family doesn't mind too much :)

Happy Easter, readers :)
<3<3<3

To my Dad on his birthday

2011-04-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

Oh hello, blogspot. I'm so glad I didn't forget my password to this.

Thankfully, life has been a little less crazy since I got into my accident, but it has also been really busy. I have a new car, I started and finished my student-teaching, and I'm on my way to clearing my preliminary Music teaching credential!!! I'm so thankful and blessed that I've been able to finish in a timely manner...now if only I can finish my Masters, find a teaching job and start my career... :)

Since I've been occupied with school and work, I've had virtually no time left for baking, but today was such a special day that I knew I needed to change that.

As you might have guessed by the title, today is my dad's birthday. Of course, all fathers are special, but mine is truly amazing. For starters, he has ALWAYS been there for both my sister and me. He's the man that snuck my sister and I a few extra bites of ice cream while mom wasn't looking; he's the one that read to me after tucking me in at night; he's the one that taught me how to play tennis; he's the one that volunteered countless hours as a die-hard band parent; he's the one that encouraged and inspired me to pursue a path in music...for all this and more, I am blessed.

The least I could do was to bake him a cake today. :)

He really loves carrot cake, so I decided to attempt my very first carrot cake - wait, my very first cake EVER.

I love you dad. Happy birthday, and here's to many more :)

*DISCLAIMER: POOR PIPING/DECORATING SKILLS AHEAD*

Carrot Cake with Maple Buttercream Filling and Cream Cheese Frosting

<3<3<3

Whew!

2010-12-21T20:23:00.000-08:00

Wow, it sure has been awhile since I updated around here.

My life this past month has been crazy! I have been baking, but I've also been consumed with finals, and this...

Yup. That happened on December 11, right after I finished with finals.

Anyway, I promise to share some things that I've been baking in just a bit (and hopefully, there will be a new Mactweets post as well! :D )

w/<3 from Anne

Black Sesame macarons

2010-11-11T17:50:00.000-08:00

I kind of hate to admit it, but Gossip Girl is a guilty pleasure of mine. Everything about that show is so trashy, yet pretty at the same time! Anyway, Monday night's episode really highlighted macarons (as they are Blair Waldorf's favorite treat), and it's upped my craving to bake and eat them even more than usual.

Anyway, I took my mom to the grocery store the other day and I happened to see some black sesame seeds for sale. I've seen some delicious looking black sesame macarons on some other blogs, and I know that black sesame can be a great ingredient for desserts.

My mom is from a little city in Japan called Tosu (in Kyushu, the southernmost island). I haven't been back to visit my family in over 5 years, but I've been dying to go back. We always visit in the summer, and it's a MUST to go to a family-owned popsicle shop called "Yaoki Ice." Azuki (red bean) and milk are the two most popular flavors, and the last time we went they came out with a black sesame flavor. It was DELICIOUS. Of course, remembering this only gave me more faith in the tastiness of black sesame macarons.

If you haven't smelled black sesame before, it's a very overwhelming aroma, similar to that of peanut butter. It's only intensified after grinding them. I could even smell it after incorporating it into the batter, which by the way, looked a lot like melted cookies and cream ice cream!

Even though they aren't of the typical eye-catching spectrum of macaron colors, I thought they came out beautifully. And they were delicious too, especially when I sandwiched them with a simple vanilla butter cream <3

Happy baking, everyone :)

Rodriguez 2012

2010-11-08T13:41:00.000-08:00

If I ever become President, I think I would host a Macaron Summit. I would invite the leaders of all the countries that we're having issues with (and hey, maybe I'll even invite our allies) for an afternoon of hot tea and macarons.

Oh, right. Didn't I say that I wouldn't talk about politics on my blog? Alright then, I'll just talk about my pumpkin macarons.

The city of Los Angeles has been going through a strange weather pattern recently. We've been experiencing a week of 90°+ weather, followed by a 20-30° drop in temperature and rain...lather, rinse, repeat. November hasn't been an exception to this see-saw pattern. Thanksgiving is a few short weeks away, but with the strange weather it's been difficult to get into the spirit of the holidays. Despite the fact that Costco has had Christmas trees on display since July, the 96° weather and my Southern California upbringing says it's really time to go to the beach and have a bonfire.

But this morning was a little different. Maybe it was the fact that it rained again, or maybe it was the ending of daylight savings. Even though it's still a bit warm, the strong winds and the crisp air outside just makes it FEEL like the holidays are around the corner. And indeed they are.

Anyway, Mactweets has just posted another theme for this month, and this is my second entry for the Mactweets "Falling for Macarons" round-up. What does fall mean to me? PUMPKINS!!! I'm sure you've noticed that it's been the flavor of the month for me. I had some leftover pumpkin in the fridge...so what's a girl to do? Make macarons, of course!

Macarons with Pumpkin Custard

BEST MACARONS TO DATE. Instead of making a buttercream or cream cheese filling, I decided to go with a pumpkin custard. My mom makes amazing cream puffs (seriously, they're better than Beard Papa's), and so I stole her custard recipe and added pumpkin and spices to it. It could be that I love these macarons because they're reminiscent of my mom's glorious cream puffs - or maybe it's the addition of the pumpkin. Whatever it is, these macarons could bring world peace.

Rodriguez 2012. You heard it here first.

Happy baking, everyone :)

Today...

2010-11-02T16:13:00.000-07:00

Today is a very important day, for several reasons.

First and foremost, it's election day! I certainly hope that you've all done your patriotic duty, and cast your vote.

Okay. I promise, that's probably the only political issue you'll hear me talk about on this blog.

Next, today is important because it is Día de los Muertos, a traditional Mexican holiday. It is believed that the souls of beloved deceased return to earth to visit their living relatives. Families usually gather together and pray and honor their loved ones. Altars are decorated with marigolds, candles, food, and sugar skulls to entice the spirits back home.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a terrible Mexican.

It's not that I'm not proud of my heritage; in fact, it's the exact opposite. I'm half Japanese AND half Mexican, something that I'm very proud of. But growing up was a little difficult. Other than the confusion and the weird looks followed by questions of, "What are you?", some lesser-known holidays from both cultures got lost in the mix.

Sadly, Día de los Muertos is one of those holidays. But now that I'm older, I'm trying to change that.

Today, I took a step in what I think is the right direction of embracing my beautiful heritage, and I decided to do that with food and baking.

Another festive food item that comes with celebrating Día de los Muertos is pan de muerto, or bread of the dead. (side note, "pan" is also bread in Japanese! How cool is that?) I spent some time reading over recipes and finally selected one that involved an orange glaze (yum!)...and here's the result!

Pan de muerto

Gorgeous, right?

Pan de muerto is traditionally eaten with the family and served with Mexican hot chocolate (usually laced with cinammon), and they remember and honor the dead. Unfortunately, I have class until 10 pm tonight, and I don't anticipate getting to enjoy this bread with them, but it smells so good that I might just bake this again next year.

So here's to my grandparents, Manuel and Ruth. While I never met my grandmother, I understand that she was an amazing cook; my grandfather lived to be 99 years old, and he was a fighter until the end. I hope my pan de muerto is good enough to honor their memory. Here's to being a better Mexican, and here's to a new tradition.

Happy baking, everyone :)

My first homemade pie

2010-11-01T01:21:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't noticed, I've been on a pumpkin kick lately. But it's Halloween and I'm going to take advantage of the seasonal flavors while I can, gosh darn it!

Anyway, I hope you all had a lovely (and safe) Halloween this year. I certainly did :) No, there were no costumes, and I didn't get any candy...but I did spend quality time with great friends, watch scary movies, and make/devour pumpkin spice lattes and pumpkin pie (made from scratch).

Oh, the pie...I have no words.

So I'll be quiet now :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-10-29T15:18:00.000-07:00

Since last night, I've been in the mood for chocolate chip cookies. So despite the almost 80 degree weather this afternoon, I thought I'd be a little festive and make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies :)

There's something about this time of year that makes me start craving pumpkin...Pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin pie, pumpkin smoothies...

Well, these cookies didn't exactly come out tasting exactly like I wanted them to, but they satisfied my craving. :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Maturity

2010-10-18T22:42:00.000-07:00

A lot of people say that macarons are like women. They're beautiful to look at, but they take a lot of work to look so good. And they definitely have an evil side that is unleashed when they're not treated properly.

But today, I've come to the conclusion that they're more like little boys. Girls in elementary schools around the world usually HATE how they're treated by little boys. The little critters like to pull hair, roll in dirt, pull pranks - and be really annoying in general. These little girls usually don't understand that these boys are just seeking their affection, but who wants a snotty little brat for a boyfriend at that age? NO ONE. That's why girls wait until the boys mature into well-behaved young gentlemen.

Where am I going with this? Well, it's custom to let the macaron sit and "mature" for a day, in order to meld the flavors of the shell and frosting together. In fact, many a pâtisserie sell their macarons only after they have matured for a few days. Selling them right off the baking sheet is a no-no. Unfortunately, I've been committing a crime because I've been eating them fresh out the oven. And you know what? They're delicious. Then I ate one of these right out of the oven yesterday:

Pistachio macarons with chocolate ganache

I spent A LOT of time working on these. My dad and I shelled and skinned what seemed like hundreds of pistachios for a few hours, and then I had to carefully make the batter. After all the work I did, I must have overmixed the batter because my macarons came out hollow and took forever to bake all the way through. Then I added the chocolate. And then...

...meh.

All of my hardwork produced mediocre macarons. They were too crispy. They weren't very soft and chewy in the center. And there was too. much. chocolate. I love chocolate, but the ganache really took away from the exquisite pistachio taste that should have been there.

...but then I grabbed one about a half hour ago, approximately 28 hours after baking. And it was magical.

The texture was PERFECT. Thin and crispy shell, chewy and moist in the center. And the taste? It was to die for.

Maturity, folks. It does wonders. Pierre Hermé doesn't let his macarons sit around for nothing.

Lesson learned.

Happy baking :)
<3<3<3>

Yup, more macarons!!!

2010-10-17T18:34:00.001-07:00

I think it's FINALLY safe to say that I've figured out the tricky nature of macarons. A post on my pistachio macarons will follow shortly :)

Anyway, sit tight kids. It's story time again.

During my dramatic, emotional, and macawrong-filled journey, I found an inspiring website that I absolutely adore. It's called Mactweets, and if you haven't been there yet, you need to check out all the great themes and pictures that are submitted on a monthly basis.

As many of you know, October is breast cancer awareness month. I, for one, am tired of the stupid statuses that people have been posting on Facebook (especially the recent one about where we like to put our purses), because does that REALLY raise an awareness for breast cancer? Probably not.

While many of you may argue that macarons and breast cancer awareness aren't really synonymous, I think they're a lot cuter and classier than those Facebook statuses. Run and tell that, homeboy.

So how does breast cancer awareness tie in with Mactweets? Well, they're hosting the month of the pinkarons in honor of October's theme! I hope it's not cheating, but I made my sister these delicious pink macarons at the beginning of October...I hope I still qualify!

Here are my pink macarons with Rose Cream Cheese filling. Simple, but delicious.

And here's hoping that someday, we'll have a cure!

Happy baking :)

My remedy...

2010-10-04T15:32:00.000-07:00

I love gloomy weather, because it gives me a good excuse to bake.

My dear sister and bro-in-law got me a Silpat mat. I decided to experiment today, and I made these little rays of sunshine.

Chocolate macarons with (leftover) rose cream cheese filling.

YUM.

The feet didn't rise as much as I would have liked, and I'm wondering if the Silpat absorbed too much of the heat? Maybe I don't need to stack baking sheets anymore. I will do my research and keep experimenting.

Happy baking, all :)

I'm a horrible person.

2010-10-03T23:41:00.000-07:00

Shhh.

Don't tell cupcakes, but I've found a new love. Reader, in case you haven't met yet, I'd love to formally introduce you to the French Macaron.

Photo courtesy: http://papergoddess.typepad.com

Look at them...so cute. Colorful. Adorably ruffled. DELICIOUS.

First things first, I know you're thinking...macaron? Isn't it macaroon? To which I'll say, NO. French macarons have a wonderful eggshell-like crispness, and a cakey (yet airy) center, whereas American macaroons are ugly, dense coconut concoctions. French macarons are beautiful, and it's rumored that even Marie Antoinette loved them.

Disclaimer: I really don't like Kirsten Dunst. So let's pretend that this is actually Marie Antoinette enjoying macarons.

Secondly, you're probably wondering why I'm posting about another dessert on a blog dedicated to cupcakes. Well, let's put it this way. I've baked maybe 3 batches of cupcakes since the beginning of 2010. How many batches of macarons have I baked this year?...as of yesterday, I think I've baked 13 batches. In a 2 month span. Yes, I'm obsessed.

See, macarons are adorably cute and delicious, but they are truly the divas of the pastry world. There are two methods to baking these little treats, the Italian method, and the French method (which I will explain in just a bit). There are only six ingredients for macarons, which makes it deceptively easy to master. Take a bowl of aged egg whites, add a pinch of salt, and whisk to soft peaks. Slowly beat in granulated sugar until medium soft peaks. Add your food coloring, and slowly add sifted almond flour and confectioners sugar.

Next comes a technique that the French call "macronage," which is the process of carefully incorporating the dry ingredients with the meringue, until it flows like magma*. This stage determines whether you'll have macarons or macawrongs. One turn too little, and you'll end up with lumpy cookies. One turn too much, and you'll be eating deflated, porous almond cookies.

This is where I would post pictures of 10 of my failed batches, except I'm too embarassed to admit to my failures. And yes, you read that correctly, 10 failed batches. Out of 13.

If I have learned anything about baking macarons, it's that it's not only the macronage that counts. The meringue has to be JUST right. It can't be humid outside, because meringues don't like humidity. The temperature in your oven also has to be perfect, and the heat needs to be equally distributed. Not too hot, or else the macaron shells will crack. Not too cold, or else they won't get those beautiful feet. They also need to sit on the counter until they develop a skin before going into the oven. It also helps if Jupiter is aligned with Venus, and if there's a herd of unicorns flying over a volcano outside of your home (*because really, how many people actually know what flowing magma looks like?).

Anyway. My first batch of macarons was actually a success. I got my coveted feet, and of course I wore it as a badge of honor.

Banana Cream Macarons

...aaaand, I became a little too confident. Clearly, anyone that can successfully bake a batch of macarons on their first try is a prodigy. Well, those stupid cookies put me in my place, because the batches that followed were MACAWRONGS. 6 batches later, I succesfully made Matcha macaron shells, and used Azuki bean paste as a filling.

After a string of more failures, I succeeded in making Rose cream cheese flavored macarons for my sister's birthday.

OKAY. So clearly, I have a problem. I think I'm okay with admitting that now. However, I'm not finished with macarons yet. I think that I'm JUST barely starting to understand their finicky nature, and I still have dozens of flavor combinations that I would like to try.

...but I haven't completely forgotten about cupcakes. In fact, exploring different macaron flavors have inspired me to come up with different cupcake recipes, too.

So to sum it up, I love macarons, and you should too. I'm also thinking about turning my blog into a general baking blog, because you know what? I like baking all kinds of things. Cookies, cakes, souffles, you name it. It's time for a change!

But if you happen to see a cupcake before I do, please let it know that we're far from over. They will always be my first love.

Happy baking :)
<3<3<3

Happy holidays!!!

2009-12-29T13:30:00.000-08:00

48 cupcakes, 4 batches of frosting, and 7 hours later, I decided that I don't have the energy (or proper tools) to be a professional cupcake baker. *SIGH*. Oh well, there's always teaching music! :p

I decided to go with the idea that I should bake cupcakes for presents this year. Do I regret that decision? Absolutely not. Was I tired? ABSOLUTELY. Will I be participating in another baking marathon? Weeeeell, maybe. But not for awhile :)

I was really thinking about Christmas and the different flavors that you see around the holidays, and I did some searching to see which of those flavors could be incorporated into cupcakes. I finally settled on 4 winter-themed cupcakes...and here's the first one up!

Cinnamon Cupcakes

I used this recipe to create the Cinnamon cake base, but I decided to add to the cinnamon flavor by making a butter-cream cheese cinnamon frosting! Unfortunately, I can't really help you with the frosting recipe; I ended up improvising most of it. I CAN tell you that I forgot to add the buttermilk to the cake...oops. So for those of you who ate these, I'm sorry if they tasted kind of bland! I would definitely make these again, but next time I won't forget the buttermilk, and I would probably throw in some apples into the batter. These would be DELICIOUS for breakfast :)

Next in the line-up is another cupcake that is suitable for breakfast, especially with the Maple syrup cream cheese frosting that I ended up using on top.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Cupcake

I had A LOT of batter; so much, in fact, that I ended up making a dozen of these cupcakes, and 20 mini cupcakes (which were served for breakfast the next day). I don't have a recipe for the frosting, but I can tell you that I used about a half a block of cream cheese, and added maple syrup and powdered sugar to taste. You may want to add more cream cheese, but if you're not a fan of tooth-decaying gobs of frosting on your cupcakes, half a block will be enough.

The next dozen is a recipe that I experimented with earlier in the month, and I took these cupcakes (in mini form) to the Annual Fund potluck (whoo, shout out to the AF team!)
One of the things that I love the most about the chilly weather is that I get to bundle up and enjoy a nice steaming cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows. I tried to capture this flavor in cupcake form, and here's the result:

Hot Cocoa Cupcakes

I revisited the chocolate cupcake recipe that I used for Jonathan's birthday which were suitable for even those who aren't real chocolate fans. For the frosting, I used this light and fluffy Martha Stewart recipe for marshmallow cream frosting, and I added mini chocolate chip morsels for decoration :)

Last but not least, I made...

EGGNOG CUPCAKES!!!

To be completely honest, I'm not a fan of eggnog. It's too thick, too sweet...just too much. I was skeptical about making these cupcakes, but who doesn't think about eggnog when Christmas is mentioned? These turned out to be AMAZING, which only proves that things are always better in cupcake form. The cake was light and fluffy, and paired very nicely with the just-sweet-enough frosting.

Oh yes, the frosting. The recipe calls for powdered sugar. 2 cups of it. I'm sure everyone knows by now that I don't like sugar overpowering my cupcakes, and as mentioned above, I already think eggnog is too sweet. While I understand that the sugar is meant to make the butter cream nice and thick, I also think that there are other ways to make your frosting nice and thick without sacrificing a couple of good, healthy teeth. I opted to put in cream cheese instead (yes, cream cheese saved the day once again!) and ended up with a very delicious frosting. I highly recommend that you steer clear of the sugar option and just add cream cheese until you get the right consistency :)

Okay, so there you have it! Those were the cupcakes that I decided to make for the holidays. School starts next week, so I think it's safe to say that I won't be baking again for awhile. Maybe I'll be inspired by something during the quarter, though...and maybe I'll end up coming back. In the mean time, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Best wishes for 2010, and happy baking! :D

WOW!

2009-12-29T12:46:00.001-08:00

Have I been neglecting this blog or what? I certainly hope that this doesn't meet the same fate that my Xanga did...(R.I.P....I know you're floating around somewhere in Internetland...)

Anyway, needless to say, I haven't been doing a great job keeping up with this, but I also haven't been baking much, either. Who knew that getting your Masters degree and teaching credential could be so gosh darn time consuming?! I sure didn't. That's pretty much what I've been up to. I just completed my first quarter as a graduate student, left my post as teacher and orchestra conductor at the local music conservatory (I will miss those kids!), and have wandered my way back into the kitchen during my winter break (which, by the way, is ending all too quickly).

I'm sure most of you know what the holidays mean....stress, shopping, and more stress! Which is why I came to the conclusion that I should show my loved ones that I love them...by baking cupcakes! I managed to bake 48 in one day...that post is coming up soon! ...

...which brings me to my next item on the agenda. I logged into this thing realizing that I had an entry that I meant to publish back in September. I'll go ahead and finish that one first, and then I will publish my holiday cupcake adventures :)

Happy baking, everybody! :)

ERROR: Fail cakes!!!

2009-09-22T01:22:00.000-07:00

Can somebody PLEASE tell me where August and the first half of September went?!

*sigh*

Seriously, I'm about to start class again this Thursday. This does not make me a happy camper. Neither do fail cakes, which have been becoming frequent...well, they don't look pretty. But they taste pretty good :)

Anyway, I decided that the economy sucks (yes, I JUST decided that). Bad economy + very little hours at work = broke Anne. Broke Anne = no money for extravagant birthday presents. But who says that sweet teeth need to suffer from the bad economy? Not I! Therefore, I have decided to hand out cupcakes in place of birthday presents. They're cute, sweet, delicious, and they take effort...therefore, they show that you care.

September is full of birthdays.

Needless to say, I've been baking A LOT! I have 3 cupcakes to share with you :)

Okay, first up are my sister's birthday cupcakes. I got a gorgeous rose-cake pan from my Auntie Connie, and I decided to try to make Red Velvet rose-shaped cupcakes with a cream cheese filling, with white chocolate leaves and a side of vanilla ice cream. Sounds amazing, right?

oops.

Turns out I didn't butter the pans enough, so the roses had a bit of trouble coming out. They tasted delicious, though! And I think the chocolate leaves were a nice touch:

Anyway, you can use the Martha Stewart recipe that I used here.

Of course, baking cupcakes is always so much more fun when you bake with a friend. What about baking with your sister? THAT'S TWICE THE FUN! :D We decided to try some of Martha Stewart's cupcakes from a recipe book that my sister got for her birthday. Check it out!

Martha Stewart's Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

And that's my lovely sister/baking mentor frosting Martha Stewart's blueberry cupcakes! These are perfect for breakfast! <3

Enjoy, and happy baking!

Jonathan's birthday cupcakes

2009-08-18T02:41:00.000-07:00

Attention chocolate lovers (and non-lovers)! I think I've found the perfect chocolate cupcake recipe. I made these cupcakes for Jon's (belated) birthday...and if I do say so myself, they were pretty darn good. Even my chocolate-sort-of-hating boyfriend liked these...so that's gotta mean something, right?

Anyway, this cupcake does come packed full of chocolate flavor and goodness, but the cake is surprisingly light and fluffy. I was kind of worried that the frosting might have been a tad too sweet, but it's the perfect balance to the unsweetened cocoa that the cake portion of the recipe calls for. The frosting is a simple butter cream, but I think next time I might want to try a chocolate/cream cheese frosting.

So...behold! I present, the best chocolate cupcake recipe! Oh, and you might want to have a tall glass of cold milk ready to go. Don't say I never warned you.

Chocolate Cupcakes

I'm still baking!

2009-07-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

Birthday cupcakes for Jelissa and Melissa (*haha, that rhymes :p*)

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Thai Tea Cupcakes

See? I'm not MIA. It's just been waaaay too hot to bake and I'm working a new summer job that leaves me tired at the end of the day. I'm missing Jon's cupcakes, which I hope to bake soon...apparently, he likes chocolate cupcakes so I'm looking for a really good recipe!

Also...I just got a beautiful rose cupcake pan from my Auntie Connie :) I hope to bake some red velvet rose cupcakes with a cream cheese filling...I hope it cools down some day soon!

Throwback!

2009-06-22T13:29:00.000-07:00

I haven't made any cupcakes since last Tuesday (but my sister and I probably will for July 4!)...so I thought it would be fun to post some pictures of previous batches.

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

My very first attempt at cupcakes...I loved these, and I think they were a hit at work. The coconut milk that the recipe calls for really makes the cake moist, and the sweet-tangy frosting is really light. This would be a VERY refreshing summer dessert :)

Cherry-Limeade Cupcakes

These...were kind of sweet. Like I said before, I'm not a fan of diabetes spread on top of my cupcake. Okay, I'm being dramatic. These weren't THAT bad. I'd probably eat them again, but I think I would much rather eat the Strawberry Lemonade cupcakes. These were fun to make and decorate, though!

Thai Tea Cupcakes

Feeling adventurous? This is definitely a recipe that you want to try. I think my sister and I spent most of our time trying to find the Thai tea syrup, only to discover that you could only really buy it online. We needed to improvise, and we bought a whole bucket of tea leaves and ended up brewing and straining them instead.

The custard inside didn't really firm up, so we ended up with a pretty goopy (but delicious) mess. I really liked these cupcakes...my sister, not so much. These were just sweet enough, and it really tasted like Thai tea (thanks to the custard center and the Thai tea cream cheese frosting)

P.S...I LOVED the orange color <3

Sorry! None for you, Charlie!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

These need some work. From what I remember, the frosting got kind of hard and I think we can cut back on the sugar a lot more. But I really loved the cake :)

I hope to perfect this one by the end of the summer!

That's it for this throwback entry. Make sure you check back here around July 4...more cupcakes to come!

Tiramisu cupcakes

2009-06-18T00:16:00.000-07:00

Reader, meet the Tiramisu cupcake. I've had my fair share of cupcakes in my life, and I'm pretty positive that this is the best one that I've ever eaten...and I just HAD to kick off this blog with an introduction to the best cupcake EVER.

I'm really not a fan of cavity inducing frosting or heavy cake, and I was a little worried that these cupcakes would be just that. Instead my sister and I were pleasantly surprised with the outcome. The cake is based on a fairly simple vanilla cake batter - not too sweet, not too bland. After going in the oven to bake, a coffee-marsala wine syrup is drizzled over the cupcakes. The frosting is made from a VERY light and fluffy cream and marscarpone cheese combination, and then the cupcakes are dusted with cocoa powder...absolutely AMAZING.

Honestly, the first word that popped out of my mouth after taking the first bite was "WOW." This cupcake didn't take too long to make (and of course, it helps to have a sister that's really good at baking). I think we'll definitely have to try this one again!

Woot.

2009-06-17T22:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I caved in. I got a real blog (although I still have my Xanga). But I decided that I wanted to dedicate this blog to cupcakes, and possibly any other baking adventure that I may have.

Anyone who knows me can tell you that I've developed a love of anything cupcakes within the past year. I have discovered a love of cupcake fashion, thanks to Johnny Cupcakes...and of course, I love baking and eating them, too! There's something about the tiny, beautifully decorated and delicious treats that I just can't get enough of.

My sister just got the Martha Stewart cupcakes book, and we decided that we're going to attempt to bake our way through the entire book. Most of the recipes will be from there, and others will be from websites that I find.

Okay! So here we go! My first real post is coming right up...that is, as soon as I can upload my photos :D