You know what I'm craving? A little perspective. That's it. I'd like some fresh, clear, well seasoned perspective. Can you suggest a good wine to go with that? --Ratatouille (Pixar, 2007)

Friday, January 25, 2013

Andy Makes Ming's w/ a Twist!

Hey Everyone!

Besides normal food blogs, the world has become overflowing with a trend we know as "food porn." Websites that primarily show delicious pictures of delectable dishes, food porn is generally better looked at than cooked. "foodporndaily.com" has become a fan favorite due to the fact that it definitely stays true to its slogan, "click, drool, repeat."

One food blog showing its own version of food porn is Mingmakescupcakes.yolasite.com. The site's cook, a secret person named Ming, doesn't post stories like me. Rather, Ming just posts delicious pictures of cupcakes he makes that have short and sweet recipes. I, dying over his amazing looking cupcakes, decided to try one of his succinct recipes.

I was drawn in by the "Sour Cream Fig" cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I loved the idea because I knew that sour cream often makes cupcakes deliciously moist. However--one twist. I had a delicious jar of date preserves. Thus, I swapped the fig jelly for date jelly. (Don't worry it turned out delicious, not too different.) The recipe is as follows:

CUPCAKE
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sour cream
fig jam or preserves (but I used date)


Light oven to 350 degrees.
 
 In a mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add vanilla and egg. Stir in sour cream. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt.  Add flour mixture to wet mixture.  

The process for filling the cupcakes looks like the following:
Fill cupcake liners 1/3 full.  Place a spoonful of fig jam in the center.  Cover with batter.  




Bake at for 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

FROSTING
8 oz. room temp. cream cheese
1 stick room temp. butter
1 lb confectioner’s sugar
1 tsp vanilla

My frosting ended up kind of soupy because I was using cream cheese pulled outta the freezer and microwaved--but--this recipe is kind of weird, so I'm going to give you my classic cream cheese frosting recipe. Use whichever you want, but the one below is slightly more foolproof. 

1 pound cream cheese, softened
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup), softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Anyway, happy cooking. Hope yours turn out as nicely as mine!