Good v. Evil

It's a classic conundrum, right? Good v. Evil? Heaven v. Hell? And under normal circumstances there's no question which to choose. Good always wins. Well...almost always. You see, there's one particular instance where, when given the choice, I'm sucked into a pit of irresistible temptation and no matter how I try I simply cannot stand strong. The result is always an epic fail. But you know what? Somehow it feels much more like a triumphant win. What is this evil I fall prey to every time I face it? Devil's Food. MMmmmmm. Just hearing the name sends me into a state of pure bliss. It's chocolate cake, people! But not just any chocolate cake. We're not talking chocolate chiffon, or genoise, or sponge, or any of those dry, crumbly, European-style cakes. Devil's Food cake is all-American. It's moist and rich and decadent and bold and I have to stop before I embarrass myself. It's just good. The best there is. Apparently my grandmother would make one for my mom's birthday every year and, similarly, her sister Marsha would get an Angel Food cake every year for hers. Mom says that's because she reminded her mother of her real dad, Woody, who, as fate would have it, was somewhat of a hellion. But I don't buy it because if my mother reminded grandma of the devil then Aunt Marsha must've reminded her of an angel and, well, if you know Aunt Marsha... Anyhow, my point is this: if Devil's food is wrong, I don't want to be right.

About 2 years ago I was head-over-heels for this boy. And when I like a boy, I bake for him. Well, okay, I bake for everybody. But if I like a boy I tend to go a little overboard. Don't worry, I'm learning restraint. So one day I decided that I would win his heart with a Devil's Food cake. Good plan, yes? I know! Everyone loves Devil's Food cake. I had just gotten this new cook book and I was itching to try out their particular D.F. recipe. This was the perfect opportunity. I followed the instructions to the letter. Four hours and about $30 later it was done. It was beautiful. Sure, there was ganache everywhere and my roommates hated me for hogging the kitchen, but in the grand scheme of things none of that mattered. I had the perfect cake to win over the (seemingly)perfect boy. I had reserved a few of the scraps and ganache so that my roomie, Laura Jane, and I could make sure it wasn't poison so I called her into the kitchen for the long-awaited tasting. Cue enormous melt-down. The cake tasted like...nothing! It was bland! It was, despite having tons of chocolate in it, veritably tasteless! How could this happen??? I was so upset that, after stabbing the cake a few dozen times, I sat on my kitchen floor in my pj's and pink bathrobe and just cried. It was awful. I vowed to never make Devil's Food again. Never ever.

Fortunately, time heals all wounds and I once again began to hear the call of that dreaded dessert. And what perfect timing! I'm surrounded by some of the most renowned pastry chefs in the culinary industry every night of the week. Why not get the most out of the experience that I possibly can, right? So I went to Chef Mark. Mark Chapman. He's fabulous. And helpful! He gave me his recipe for Devil's Food cake or, as he called it when he was at The Driskill, 1886 cake. It's spectacularly easy and undeniably delicious. Here's how you do it:

Ingredients
1 lb 1 oz All-Purpose Flour
1 lb 14 oz Sugar
4.5 oz Good Quality Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder
1/2 oz Salt
3/4 oz Baking Soda
12 oz Vegetable Oil (Do Not Substitute Butter!!)
18 oz Buttermilk
7 0z Eggs
18 oz Hot Coffee (or Hot Water)

First, preheat your oven to 350. Now sift all of your dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda). Next up, add in your wet ingredients one at a time, mixing after each addition (I used a hand mixer but if you'd rather do it the old-fashioned way, go for it. Technology is not required for this recipe!) I know, the batter seems a bit soupy. Fear not! It bakes up beautifully. Pour it into two 10" cake pans that have been lightly greased and floured and slide them into your oven. Set your timer for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Now walk away. Resist temptation to open the oven door every twenty minutes. Just say no. Go do something fun! Watch a few episodes of Glee online or go start an herb garden or re-read Twilight. Has it been 1 hour and a half? Okay. Now you're allowed to open the door. Bump the pans a little. If they look jiggly or wet in the centers leave them in for another 10-15 minutes. When they begin to pull away from the sides and the centers are springy to the touch, you've hit pay-dirt. Rescue them from the fiery pit of hell (and by that I mean pull them out of the oven) and set them on the stove top to rest until cool (about 20-30 minutes). Once they've cooled down invert them onto a flat surface and wrap and refrigerate 5 hours or over night.

Okay. Now the fun part. If you're up for it, go ahead and cut those two cakes in half with a long, serrated cake knife to make four layers. If not, two layers works, too. My favorite way to eat this cake is with creme chantilly. Heavy cream whipped to medium-to-stiff peaks with powdered sugar and a little vanilla extract. About 1 tbsp of powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract for every 1 cup of cream. I like to ice the cake with this, between each layer and then all around the outside, and then pour chocolate ganache on top in the center and let it run down the sides. Kind of like a free-form tuxedo cake. Yum. For the ganache, bring 3/4 cup of heavy cream and 2 tbsp butter to a boil in a small saucepan. Pour over 8 oz of chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate and let stand for about five minutes. Now whisk until smooth. If you'd like you can add in a tsp of flavoring like vanilla or almond extract (almond's my fave) or liquor at this point. Let stand for about five or ten minutes until the ganache has cooled down just enough to not melt the whipped cream but not so much that it's begun to set. Pour over cake in the center and watch the magic happen. It's beautiful, I know. Just wait until you taste it.

I made this cake over the weekend in honor of Laura Jane's birthday (only I used ganache to ice and layer with and punched it with macerated raspberries). Five days later, I'm desperately searching for another excuse to get my Devil's Food on again. Be my excuse! Come see me and I'll make you one. You won't regret it, I promise. I'll even customize it just for you. You want cupcakes? Done. You want trifle? You got it. Layered with caramel mousse? Hazelnut buttercream? No prob. Whether I make it for you or you brave it alone, you have to try this cake. It doesn't disappoint, scout's honor. And speaking of things that don't disappoint, hold on to your hats. Next week = eclairs/cream puffs. Now go for a jog or a swim or do some jazzercize so you can feast without a guilty conscience.

XOXO,
Mindy

Sweet City Woman

So there's this song. One of my all-time faves, actually. And, as it turns out, also my inspiration for the name of this blog! "Sweet City Woman" by The Stampeders. It's about this guy who's totally revved about going to see his "sweet city woman". And who could blame him? She sounds awesome! For instance, in the song she makes him feel "shiny and new" and "sings in the evenings" and, most imporantly, "feeds him love and tenderness and macaroons". That's a pretty stellar combo. Does it really get any better than that? No wonder he's so pumped. Anyhow, right in the middle of the song, just after the first chorus, they stop to sing this simple phrase over and over again: "Bon, c'est bon, bon, bon, c'est bon, bon, bon, c'est bon, bon, bon, bon, bon" which translates to "Good, it's good, good, good, it's good..." and you get the point. It's good there. Of course it is! He gets to eat macaroons!! Which are, arguably, the most delicious and most adorable treat known to man.

Now, okay. He might have been talking about the little coconut cookies, but I am most definitely not. When I say 'macaroon' what I really mean is 'macaron'. Ze French Macaron! Precious little almond and meringue batter cookies baked and sandwiched with anything your heart desires: flavored buttercream, lemon curd, ganache, the list goes on and on. Any flavor you like. My personal favorite? These little guys right here -->
Almond macarons with strawberry French buttercream. The first time I made these amazing confections was during our petit four block about a month and a half ago. One bite and I was a goner. Who would have ever thought that these pink (I say pink because I chose strawberry for mine but like I said earlier, any flavor/any color you like) hamburger-esque cookies could turn your mouth into one big deliciously sweet party? And the best part? They're not nearly as much of a daunting task as everyone seems to think they are. I don't have pics of the whole process but fortunately for you I'm excellent at explaining things. Let's get started. :)

One of the first things you learn in pastry school? Mise En Place. French for "Everything in it's place." Before you begin something like macarons (or really anything, for that matter) you need to have everything together. All your ingredients and tools ready and waiting for you at your convenience. Today you'll need the following:

Ingredients
(Macaron)

• 4 oz Almond Meal
• 8 oz Powdered Sugar
• 4 oz Egg Whites (room temperature)
  
• 2 oz Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1-2 drops Food Coloring (preferably one that correlates to the flavor of your buttercream but if you'd rather be unpredictable and crazy then I say go for it)
  

(French Buttercream)

• 8 oz Granulated Sugar
• 2 oz Water
• 3 oz Egg Yolks
• 10 oz Butter (room temperature)
  
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• Flavoring to taste

Tools

• KITCHEN AID STAND MIXER!! (my favorite piece of equipment in the whole world even if I don't own one just yet...)
• Spatula
• Mixing Bowl
• 2 Piping bags, one fitted with a #4 round tip for your cookie batter and the other for your buttercream (no need for a tip on that one, just snip the end)
  
• Sheet pan lined with parchment or a silpat
• Metal Sieve (for sifting your almond meal and powdered sugar)
• Small Sauce Pan (for cooking your sugar)
• Candy Thermometer (so you know when your sugar is ready)
• Pastry Brush and Glass of Water
  

Macarons:

Step 1
Together, sift your almond meal and 1/2 of your powdered sugar onto a piece of parchment paper or into a bowl. Got it? Good. Now do that 2 more times. This makes sure you get rid of all those hard lumps in your almond meal and makes it nice and light and airy. Set aside.

Step 2
Take your room temperature egg whites and dump them into the bowl of your stand mixer. Using whip attachment, mix on medium speed until frothy. Now sift the second half of your powdered sugar and gradually add to egg whites. Mix until glossy, medium peaks form but be careful to not over-mix or your meringue will be too dry. Using a spatula, fold in 1-2 drops of food coloring.

Step 3
Now we're gonna add our sifted almond meal and powdered sugar using a technique called "macaroner" (pronounced macaronay) which basically means to slightly deflate or over-mix. Add about 1/3 of your almond meal/powdered sugar mixture into your meringue and fold about 5 0r 6 times or until it's mixed just enough so that you still see traces of unmixed batter. Repeat 2 more times. Now check your batter. when you run your spatula through it, it should look like a thick ribbon. It should flow but not be too runny. If it's still a little thick, give it a few more folds but make sure you don't turn it into soup.

Step 4
Okay. Now it's time to pipe. Grab your sheet pan lined with parchment or silpat and your pastry bag fitted with a medium round tip (I use Ateco #804). Fill with batter and pipe small rounds (about the size of a quarter) in rows about an inch and a half apart from each other. If your rounds have tips on them you can go back and smooth them out by dipping your finger in a little water and running it over the tops of your macarons. Now set them aside for about half an hour until they look dull. In the mean time preheat your oven to 300 degrees F (275 F if your using a convection oven). After about 1/2 hour go ahead and slide your sheet pan into the oven and bake for about fifteen to twenty minutes. Just watch them to make sure they don't get brown on top. When they're done, let them sit and cool while you make your buttercream.

French Buttercream:

Step 1
In clean stand-mixer bowl, beat egg yolks using whip attachment until pale yellow.

Step 2
Pour sugar into sauce pan along with your 2 oz of water. Using a pastry brush dipped in water brush down the sides of pot to make sure all the sugar is at the bottom where it belongs. No stray sugar for us, otherwise crystallization happens and you'll never get your sugar to be smooth and pourable! Set over medium heat and gently stick your candy thermometer inside the pot. Now leave it alone and let it do it's thing. The key to cooking sugar is to not disturb it. Every so often brush down insides of pot with water but that's it. Just watch the magic happen! Once your thermometer reaches 240 degrees (aka softball stage) pull your sugar off the stove.

Step 3
By now your yolks should be a nice, pale yellow. With your mixer on, slowly SLOWLY begin to pour sugar down the inside of the bowl, just letting it run down the side into the yolks. Now let the mixer do it's thing until the bottom of the bowl is cool to the touch.

Step 4
Is the bottom of your mixing bowl cool? Are you sure? Because it has to be cool before you move on to step 4. Okay? Okay. Now that your yolks and sugar have mellowed out it's time to add the room temperature butter in small chunks, one at a time. Add one every five to ten seconds. Just make sure you give it time to mix in completely otherwise your buttercream will seperate.

Step 5
Now that all your butter is in, go ahead and pour in your vanilla and your flavoring of choice. I used strawberry jam for mine, about a tablespoon and a half, but you can use whatever flavor you'd like. Whip until light and fluffy.

Assembly:

Step 1
Match up your macaron shells by size, you'll need 2 shells for each. Now fill your second pastry bag with your buttercream, snip off the very end of it, and start piping swirls of buttercream onto the bottom of every other shell.

Step 2
Sandwich and ENJOY!

I know. They're delicious. Now all your friends will call you a pastry god or goddess and you'll be the most popular person at work. No need to thank me. It's my pleasure. And now that your taste buds are totally satisfied I'll leave you with something that will appeal to another one of your senses. My inspiration. Hope the rest of your Tuesday is spectacular. :)

XOXO,
Mindy

Food and Cheer and Song

Food and cheer and song. I don't think that anyone, even Webster himself, could come up with three better words to describe me. I AM those words. I live them everyday. Well, almost everyday. Sometimes you just have to take a step back and have a good cry-day (girls, you all know what I mean). For the most part, though, that's me. I spend my days cooking and singing and laughing. I can even do all three at once. I'm very talented. Yes, those words are me in a nut-shell. And speaking of nuts, that's why I'm here. Well, maybe not nuts, but nuts are food and food is the reason. Not just any kind of food, though. Sweet food. Desserts. Pastries. Mmmmmmm.

To fully understand my obsession with all things baked you'll need a little bit of history. My name is Melinda. Mindy, for short. I actually prefer Mindy, which is a recent development but that's another story. Sorry, tangents are a bad habit of mine. I'm 24 (at least until November when I hit the big 2-5, OMG!) and for the last six years I've lived in Austin and (semi)attended the University of Texas. I say semi because the truth is my heart was never in it. I started as a theater major. Acting was it for me. My first true love. But after a year and a half in UT's cut-throat department, along with a professor who (though he recognized my talent and love for the field) said I was way too "sweet" to really succeed (cue month-long depression) I decided that maybe the classroom was a better arena for me. So on to education I moved. I started taking all the classes and began working at a local preschool and tried, I mean really tried, to love what I was doing. I loved the kids, mostly. But classes became less and less important to me. Sure, I was paying for them. But for some reason that just wasn't enough to motivate me to actually attend. I was way too busy for class. I had friends to hang out with! My schedule was such that I was able to work Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays and (supposedly) attend class Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. But like I said, friends were much more appealing. A mid-morning-target-run with one person would turn into a lunch date with another person would turn into an afternoon coffee with another person and so on and so forth. What can I say, I'm a people person. Looking back I recognize that I just wasn't happy with the direction my life was headed. I never really loved teaching. I knew I could make a living doing it, and I knew I would be good at it. But it was never a passion. It never excited me.

The time of year I really loved was finals time. Not because I loved studying or being stressed about exams (neither of those could really apply to me since more often than not I pretended like I didn't have final exams) but because that was the time of year when everyone around me was feeling anxious. And I quickly discovered that anxious people live for baked goods. I would hole up in my kitchen (or a friend's kitchen when I lived in the dorms) and bang out double and triple batches of cookies and brownies and cupcakes and pies for all the people in my life who really needed a good dose of yummy. I loved being able to provide some much needed happiness, loved the expressions on people's faces as they took a bite of something really delicious, loved how appreciative they were. There's just something undeniably special about gifts from the kitchen. I loved the process, the attention to detail, everything from the scaling of ingredients to the "please-let-everything-come-out-right" prayer that races through your mind as you slide a baking sheet into the oven to the rush of excitement and relief as you realize that it did, in fact, come out right. And, of course, the crowning glory when someone chows down and you hear that beautiful sigh of satisfaction. Music to my ears.

To make a long story short I finally had to stop and re-evaluate where I was headed. I packed up my whole life and moved back home to live with my parents (something I swore I'd never do). As I began to sort through all my emotional baggage, along with the mess I'd made of my college education, I turned once again to my tried and true stress-reliever: baking. I took a few ed. classes at the local community college and waited tables at Chili's and baked my little heart out. I began taking cookies to all my co-workers on their birthdays, but that wasn't enough for them. All of a sudden I was taking orders for a dozen oatmeal-pecan or two dozen snickerdoodles and people were actually paying me to do this! The holiday season came and every weekend I found myself baking and icing and decorating as many sugar cookies as I could to fill the orders I was getting. It was fabulous. And then the moment came that changed it all for me. One of my managers suggested I go to pastry school. It was an idea that had never occurred to me before then. I always had secret dreams of owning my own bakery someday, but a dream was all it really was. A pipe-dream that I had never even considered acting upon. But all of a sudden it just made sense. I loved baking. I was good at it. I needed a career. Why not make a career out of the hobby that I already adored? It just fit.

Fast forward seven months and here we are. I'm back in Austin and already three months into pastry school at Texas Culinary Academy/Le Cordon Bleu. And to top it all off, I've never been happier. I love it so much that I haven't missed one day of class (and if you know me at all you know just how much of a miracle that really is). I spend every night of the week in an enormous lab kitchen where my instructors teach me methods and ingredient functions and where we make the most delicious things I've ever eaten. Ever. And I want to share it with the whole world. I want everyone to be able to eat like this in their own homes. I want people to experience the joy that comes from taking a recipe and making it your own or from trying something you never thought you could do and realizing that it's not that difficult and even if it is, the results are SO worth it. What I post here during the week will be things I've done in class, but on the weekend is when I really have fun. I'll show you what I've experimented with and ask you for suggestions and give you pics and recipes and introduce you to all my fave food blogs. I'm pumped. I'm also new to the whole blogging thing, so be patient with me. I'm pretty sure I'm technologically inept so if I'm doing something wrong or you have a spectacular new idea for me just hit me up. Thanks for visiting, and I hope you have a wonderful day. Just to make sure you do, I suggest eating a whoopie pie. It's my newest discovery, and they're delicious. But more on that later.
XOXO,
Mindy