Mission accomplished!

I did it!  NaBloPoMo success--30 posts in 30 days.  I'm still trying to decide if I want to continue the daily posting into December, but it's really nice to know that I can manage it if I put my mind to it.  My goal is to avoid getting hung up on being perfect, and just write more often than I did before this month.

I was tempted to wait on posting about the Gingerbread Cupcakes until I could get a better picture.  But that would have taken a while, since I would have been tempted to make more cupcakes first.  Since I wanted to take most of them to work but keep a few for us, I increased the recipe by half so I got 18 regular-sized cupcakes.  The only ingredient that was a little tricky was the egg.  I cracked an egg into a small bowl and beat it to combine the yolk and white.  Then I measured out about 25 grams of it to add to the batter along with the other whole egg.  It worked out pretty well.  Other than that, the recipe was pretty straightforward to follow.  My cupcakes took 20 minutes to bake.  For the frosting, I only used 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, since I was using high-oil Vietnamese cinnamon.  I only ended up adding a couple teaspoons of milk to the frosting, since I wanted it pretty thick for piping.  One thing to note is that I didn't have to increase the ingredients for the frosting.  The original amounts yielded more than enough frosting for 18 cupcakes.

The verdict?  These were definitely a hit at work--and a nice change from chocolate.  The cupcakes were quite tasty on their own--nice and spicy--and the frosting was very good, too.  The cinnamon kept it from tasting overly sweet.  Both the cupcakes and frosting are going on the make-again list.

Baking therapy

Is it bedtime yet?  This has been a very long week.  I'm sick of everyone being sick, while keeping my fingers crossed that I don't come down with whatever has been plaguing everyone else.  I'm tired of G coughing her head off and B whining that she can't breathe.  And J isn't feeling so hot either.  Might just be a respiratory virus, might be the flu, who knows.  But it can go now.

G managed to be sick on days that she had off from school anyway.  B, on the other hand, missed school on Monday and Tuesday.  As a result, we've been paying for it yesterday and today.  She's had a bunch of math classwork and homework to catch up on, as well as a test that she ended up bringing home today.  Figure in the facts that she still isn't feeling well and that she's a drama queen at the best of times, and you end up with me spending the better part of four hours (over two days) dealing with her as she's been sitting at the kitchen table complaining.

I finally gave up and went for the stress relievers--baking and booze.  Not the hard stuff, just some tasty cider.  And some gingerbread cupcakes that are in the oven now.  If all goes well, the finished products should make an appearance here soon.

Double yolk!

Mug shot II

One of the other places Gillian and I went yesterday was Crate and Barrel.  They're still focused on Thanksgiving (which is good), but the other holiday stuff is starting to creep in.  We found these cute mugs, and couldn't pass them up.  We're amassing quite the collection of C&B seasonal mugs.

I like big bundts, too

For the past year (not counting our summer hiatus), I've been part of a fun activity with a bunch of other bloggers/bakers.  Each month, we bake and send each other treats.  It's kind of like Secret Santa, but with baked goods, so it ended up with the name Secret Baker.  I've participated every month so far, but was actually thinking of sitting this one out.  Then I got an email from this month's organizer, Kayte.  She said that the theme for the month was Bundt Cakes, and the targeted shipping date was November 15th.  Now as an avid reader of The Food Librarian, I'm well aware that November 15th is National Bundt Cake Day.  So how could I resist? =)  (As it turned out, Kayte didn't know about the significance of the theme and date until I mentioned it.)

Mary, the Food Librarian, is crazy for bundt cakes.  (And I mean that in the best possible way.)  Last year, she posted 30 bundts in 30 days, leading up to the grand finale on National Bundt Cake Day.  And despite vowing never to do it again, she decided to repeat this impressive feat this year.  She welcomed everyone to join her in celebrating today by making bundt cakes of our own.  After she was sweet enough to make a cake that I suggested to her, I knew that I absolutely had to join in.  

For my Secret Baker recipient, I knew I wanted something with fall flavors.  But I didn't want to try something brand new, since I wouldn't be able to sample the finished product.  (It would be awfully tacky to send a bundt cake with a piece missing.)  I turned to one of my favorite magazines, Fine Cooking, and checked some of the recipes that I have bookmarked online.  I settled on the Espresso Gingerbread Cake.  I've made it before, and it's delicious.  The espresso works well with the dark molasses and spices in the cake.  I thought about buying a new bundt pan, since I've really been wanting this one.  But I'm trying to be good, and well, Christmas is coming. =)  So I went with my Classic Bundt pan.  It makes a very pretty cake.  

The batter is pretty straightforward to make, using the creaming method.  The liquid comes from brewed coffee or espresso, but I don't usually have those on hand, so I used water with some additional espresso powder added.  Espresso powder also gets included in the dry ingredients, along with ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.  The batter filled my bundt pan about halfway, and the cake took 40 minutes to bake.  I wasn't sure about adding a glaze since I'd be wrapping and shipping the cake, so I ended up brushing it with syrup instead.  I made the syrup by mixing 100g of turbinado sugar with 50g of water in a Pyrex measuring cup.  I heated the mixture in the microwave for a minute, and whisked to dissolve most of the sugar.  Then I added half a tablespoon of dark rum and a big pinch of kosher salt to the syrup.  I brushed the bottom of the cake with the syrup while it cooled in the pan for a few minutes before I turned it out of the pan (onto a cardboard cake round).  Then I brushed the syrup all over the rest of the cake.  I only ended up using about two-thirds of it.

The only other time I've shipped a bundt cake, it had a similar syrup, and I think that helped it stay moist during its travel.  Once the cake was completely cool, I wrapped it (cardboard and all) in several layers of plastic wrap.  Then I wrapped it in heavy duty foil.  Then it will go into a box with lots of crumpled newspaper for padding and be sent on its way.

The verdict?  Well, that's hard to say right now.  I'll come back and let you know once the recipient gets it, later this week.  Update: I heard from Tracey, and she really liked the cake. Yay! And it got there in excellent condition. 

In the meantime, head over to Mary's blog to see all the great cakes she's baked in the past month.  She'll probably have a recap of them today.  And in a week or two, she'll have a lot of the other great bundt cakes that are being posted around the web today.  If you'd like to try the one I made, you can find the recipe here.  Here's a peek at the rest of my bundt pan collection, as well. (On the left, my two mini bundt pans; they hold three cups each.  On the right, my fancy Kugelhopf pan.)  Happy National Bundt Cake Day!