Cupcakes Delight

I can cook and bake wonderfully but when it comes to decorating, well, I was only given the sports gene, not the artistic/creative gene! So I decided, for fun, to take a cupcake decorating class in hopes of finding out what I can and cannot do and working on that. The class was taught by one of the Pastry Chefs at the Playboy Mansion, so right off the bat I knew this would be a good class to take. Obviously if she wasn't good, she wouldn't be working at a place like that.

I'll provide all the information I gained in the class as well as pictures of the instructor with her cupcakes and the steps I took to make my own. I hope everything I post here is helpful in some way. The class was pretty fast paced and grabbed as much info as I could in the time limit we had.

I found on my own that this is something I know I'd like to work on, but more of a hobby for myself to do on the side. I also have the huge urge to buy all cake decorating tools and turning my kitchen upside down! :) I'm also considering taking a 3-D Cookie class to step up the everyday cookie. Oh the things I do that easily excite me!

Cupcake Useful Tips In The Kitchen

♥ Cake is best when served at room temperature
♥ When coloring frosting, use gel or paste, not liquid in order to not get a watery frosting consistency
♥ Use an ice cream scoop so each cupcake is the same size
♥ To obtain perfectly flat cupcakes, bake at 340 degrees F
♥ Fill cupcake tins half full
♥ Do not hold the frosting-filled bags unless working with it in order to keep it thick and not heated through body heat
♥ Don't make Buttercream Frosting on a hot day; for the day, our Chef used shortening. On a hot day, the butter will just easily melt and be hard to work with
♥ To stuff a cupcake: use an apple corer, stick the cream into the cupcake by using a pastry tip or cut off the top with a paring knife
♥ Fondant: Gelatin, Glycerine, and Powdered Sugar. If it hardens, microwave for 10 seconds. If too hard, just throw away
♥ Marzipan: Almond and sugar confection used in desserts, cake decorating, and can be shaped as part of cake decorating

Getting Started.


Have your pastry bag folded over and fill with the frosting. Unfold the bag, as shown below, when filled with frosting.



Instructor demonstrating the inside-to-outside technique. Below she demonstrates the outside-to-inside technique of decorating a cupcake.



Demonstrating one way of stuffing a cupcake by injecting the pastry tip into the cupcake.


Making "grass".



Working with Fondant.


Making my favorite flower, the sunflower.

Her finished cupcakes:





YUM is all I have to say!

My Cupcakes. Practice will make perfect.



First cupcake is the outside-to-inside method and the second one is the inside-to-outside technique. Like I said, all practice work. I'll get better eventually. :)


Complete with cute red and pink hearts. ♥


Sunflower.





Butterfly and Two Ladybugs in a Lovely Spring Garden.




Finding Nemo. You know it!


Pretty in Pink Flower.

The last three cupcakes were somewhat rushed through due to our time limit and me spending SO much time with the other cupcakes (You can't rush good work in the kitchen!) that I kind of just played with the frostings and made random decorations.





And lastly, I played a little and added a happy :) face to one of the plain decorated cupcakes. I wanted to do the regular happy face with the black eyes and mouth but needed five more minutes to be able to do that.



This class has truly inspired me and made me confident enough to know that I don't need the "creative" gene to decorate a cupcake. It just takes practice. And I'm happy that my good friend Eunice will now trust me to bake and decorate her bridal shower cake later on in the future!

The Windy City: Chicago Edition

After all my hard work preparing for Open House at work by myself, I rewarded myself by taking a lovely 3 day vacay to Chicago, Il, my first home. Got to meet up with my good friend Pam, whom I haven't seen in YEARS. A great weekend to relax, catch up, enjoy the weather (and by that I mean the rain, thunder, and lightning! LOVED it.), go to a Cubs game, just have fun, and of course eat good food!

So here is a long story short via pictures of my weekend getaway.

Franchesco's Ristorante

Caesar Salad with Shrimp and Bacon-Wrapped Scallops.

Gnocchi Basilico.

Chicken Caprese Carbonara which Pam had with a side salad and a Balsamic Pesto Dressing.

Shogun

Orange Sharbet, Sweet Shrimp, Snapper, Maui Roll, and Wasabi Roll. Fresh and Fabulous. (Not pictured: Surf Clam)

Red Bean and Mango Mochi.

Wrigley Field

The Ballpark Ultimate Dog. It was actually a really good hot dog.

Soda in my Cubs cup!

Pretzel time.

Ballpark Peanuts.

Moe's Cantina, Wrigleyville

Fajitas de Arrachera. Skirt Steak Fajitas.

Ceviche de Camarones y Pescado Blanco. Shrimp and Whitefish Ceviche.

Paella.

Pollo Paprika y Camarones con Tocino. Paprika Chicken and Shrimp wrapped in Basil and Bacon.

Up close and personal.

Grilled Banana.

Datiles con Tocino. Bacon-wrapped Dates served with a Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Lou Malnati's
One of the best in Chicago. Check it! ----->10 Best Pizzerias in Chicago, IL<-----

I think we made a pretty good choice with our pizza. We were also considering two other pizzeria's on this list so we did great!

My opinion: The BEST pizza that I have ever had by far! Nothing here in California compares to this perfect deep dish pie that I consumed while in the Windy City. I looked online and saw that they do, in fact, deliver their pizzas throughout the US, so I'm hoping to order a pie or two sometime soon! Here is the website for more info: ----->Lou Malnati's


The Lou

Traditional Style Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. Perfect.

A Lou slice.

Goodness on that plate.

I took my leftovers back to California!

At the Chicago O'Hare Airport. I wish I had the time before the flight to stop by and order something to try off the menu but unfortunately didn't.

That concludes my mini-trip. Chicago, my first home, is an amazing city and offers a very good blend of different cuisines, as well as a wide mix of culture and city life.

Fig Tree Cafe and The Sidewalk Cafe

Lucky me, I got the two-for-one deal in Venice today when I got to try two restaurants that I have been interested in trying for years! Spent all day at the beach today. Beautiful day, not so much the wind though! Great entertainment too by a local doing kickboxing moves in his speedo on the beach. So hilarious, I wish I had the video to show! Apparently thrusting is part of the kickboxing workout? Couldn't stop laughing and it still cracks me up right now! Anyway, good relaxing day, in which I needed it bad due to work and our upcoming Open House in which I'm doing everything by myself. A little stressful but excited to get it over with! So pardon my quick reviews of both restaurants considering I have been exhausted all week and still have half a week left of this, but wanted to write something down for what seems will be the only time I'm on my computer for the next week. Then I have a three day mini vacay in Illinois this weekend so look out for a special edition post: Chicago. So here we go, two different restaurants in one day..

Fig Tree Cafe
Right on the boardwalk lies the Fig Tree Cafe and I have wanted to go there only because I love the name of the restaurant! After looking over the menu, I pretty much was satisfied with the selection to choose from. Of course at the same time, I was having a hard time because I wanted almost everything! I did settle on the Grilled Salmon with Brown Rice and Grilled Vegetables.



Perfectly grilled salmon. Perfectly grilled veggies. Perfectly cooked brown rice. Loved the scallion-butter sauce. Combination--flawless.

Chef got the Grilled Ahi Tuna Salad with the usual and added capers, basil, and balsamic vinaigrette. The only thing I tried was the ahi tuna and that was perfect to me. I see no complaints here.



I give the Fig Tree Cafe 4 hearts: ♥♥♥♥. Prices pretty decent for being a beach restaurant, portion was pretty decent, service was good, and flavor was there. I'm planning on going back to try the other dishes I was craving!

Second restaurant, The Sidewalk Cafe. The one restaurant I have wanted to try for 9 years and I FINALLY try it out! Don't know why it took so long but glad I finally made the jump!

So I ended up getting the Pasta Basil with freshly chopped tomatoes, basil, and garlic. I decided to add goat cheese to the mix as well. I enjoyed it thoroughly, including the flavor. I LOVE fresh basil! The tangy goat cheese paired along with the entire dish.



Chef orded the Dylan Thomas. Yes, a Dylan Thomas. They name their hamburgers after people. And I love it! The Dylan Thomas is a hamburger with Egg, Bacon, and Cheese. Quite interesting combination! No complaints with the hamburger. I would have liked to try it but I'm not a fan of the cheeseburger and "American Cheese". I'll only eat a cheeseburger if the cheese is Swiss.





I give The Sidewalk Cafe 3 1/2 hearts: ♥♥♥1/2. Would have been more but the service was terrible. This is ALWAYS a busy restaurant, but that doesn't mean you should never see your waiter. Besides that, prices were actually reasonable, good variety of food options to choose from, and overall enjoyed our meals.

Can never go wrong spending a day at Venice Beach! Something for everyone.

The Cat and the Custard Cup and Veronese Gallery Cafe

One of the top restaurants in La Habra, CA.

I came here to The Cat and the Custard Cup a couple weeks ago and I must say I miss it dearly! This restaurant is just wonderful and I seriously think you should make the drive for it. The ambience and interior is old-fashioned, the people are so friendly, and the food, just exceptional. I loved our waiter! Very informative and loved how he thoroughly explained the specials of the day and why the sauces were paired with the dishes. Speaking my language! So here we go...

Appetizers

Red Braised Pork Belly With Wasabi Mashed Potato, Shiitake Mushroom, and Unagi. So delectable. Succulent. Delish.



Seared Sea Scallops With Cauliflower Puree, Almonds, Golden Raisins, Capers, and Balsamic Syrup. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Preferred it without the raisins and surprisingly the capers were a wonderful addition to this appetizer. I absolutely loved the balsamic mixed with the cauliflower puree. Paired well along with the scallops.



Creamed Corn and Creamed Spinach. Loved them both. My tongue knew right away that they snuck in bacon into the creamed spinach. Took Chef a second to figure it out. Me, I know my flavors like I know the alphabet backwards! True, yes I do! Quite well, I'd like to add!



Entrees

Seared Red Deer With Blackberry Cassis-Port Wine Sauce, Point Reyes Bleu Creamed Potato Gnocchi. Unfortunately, this wasn't my dish but it would have been if I had seen it first! Definitely one of the top favorites that evening. Never had deer until that day and it was so good. Never have it more than medium rare or it tends to be a tougher piece of meat. It has a similar flavor to beef but more of a gamey taste to it. Try it is all I have to say.



Grilled Lamb Tenderloin With Sweet Potato Polenta, Pomegranate Reduction, and Goat Cheese Leek Fondue. Enjoyed the lamb paired with the reduction and fondue. Just perfect together. Loved the sweet potato polenta but I could got a hint of the sweet potato. Wish I had tasted it more but it was still good.



Dessert

Rustic French Bread Pudding With Egg Custard, Dried Apricots, and Pippin Apples. Easy and comforting dessert after a wonderful meal.



I give this restaurant 5 hearts: ♥♥♥♥♥. Honestly, it was a lovely setting, absolutely adored the interior of the restaurant, our waiter was the best, the food was delicious, I absolutely loved the pairing of the sauces with each dish, and prices were reasonable. I'd say I would go back but I know I'm going back next month and I can't wait!

Oh and we also made a stop at the Veronese Gallery Cafe in Fullerton, CA. I absolutely loved this place. It looks cool from the street because it looks like a house but when you turn into the alley you can see the back and it is wonderful with the beautiful garden. A nice array of coffee, tea, and scrumptious delights are offered there while you relax.