I  look forward to  the amazing  way that  a weekend allows me to  spend time alone  and  with  my  loved ones  and my good  friends  doing all my favorite things.

Last weekend was somewhat  of a  challenge as  I found   myself  having  to  hop skip and jump  between helping friends, celebrating, baking  and some  charity  work.

Saturday started  with me  playing  dress   up  to portray  a  grown up   version  of  red  riding  hood as made  popular by the  children's fairy tale.    It was a week after Halloween and photographer friend  cast me as his model for an artistic shoot.  It was a brisk 50  degree  day  and  while I  complained about the cold  while shooting,  the end result  is a set  of  stunning photos. Check out his work and my modelling debut at www.theorangecameraguy.com

​

Later in the  day i dashed   off  to  the  best  6 year old,  Olivia's   popstar themed birthday party. (I am babysit her so i'm  little biased) I  decided  to  make  her   birthday cake and  cupcakes  for  the  day's festivities. The  microphone cupcakes made from ice  cream cones  and a  3 layer yellow cake  with cream cheese frosting  where  a  huge  hit.....Click Here For The Recipe...

Sunday  morning  bright and  early  my friend  Natt  and  I as  well  as  many other chocolate lovers gathered  in Grant park  for  the annual Hot chocolate 5K or  15km  race. I ran  the 5K this year  and  hope to run the 15km  in the future. Im  getting  pretty  good  at 5km races now.
I have to say thank you for the race organizers  who came up with this  delicious way to combine exercise and chocolate. ​

After the  invigorating run I quickly made my  way to the  Chicago  Wat Pa temple   for The Thord Gathin Festival.

At  this  time of  year  Buddhists people gather at  the temple to celebrate the  Thord Gathin festival. ( Thai:ทอดกฐิน) is a traditional Buddhist festival celebrated in northeast Thailand.  Colorful parades and offering ceremonies of  home made food marks  the end of monks' retreat at local temples.
A  wide assortment of  homemade Thai   dishes made  by  attendees  to  be  shared where  brought into this ceremony.

Being  away  from  home is never  easy but these  dishes  made it  feel like I had  a little  part  of  home with  me  even for  a little while.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

" No matter what you do please be sure that  you are happy! "
Cheers

Natty

Some good options to bring for Birthday Parties. 


"Cupcakes, mini cupcakes, Cake, cookies, bottle of wine, booze, appetizer " ? 

While I was thinking what to pick from my list, I got a call from the Birthday girl "Leeann". She said bring mini cupcakes. Alright then, I love when people tell me what they want. And this is what kind of girl she is, she knows what she wants! Leeann is smart, funny, sharp and a great cook. A birthday present and mini-cupcakes are a simple way to say thank you for a great friendship. Thank you for being with me when I have had rough days and cheering me up :) 

The plan was to go to a beach party by Oak Street Beach in Chicago. The party started around bunch time and lasted until to sunset……… 


Brunch combined with Mini cupcakes-I am thinking about bagels, cream cheese and coffee. Then Coffee Mini-Cupcakes with Espresso cream cheese frosting idea was born. This recipe comes from one of my favorite baking books, Baking Illustrated. I like this recipe book because it is accurate.


As I say it is "Bagel, cream cheese and coffee". I picked yellow cake recipe from this book, adding more espresso- Makes you feel like you have all in one with those mini bites. I have some leftover espresso pastry cream, which gives a little surprise inside those goodie mini cupcakes. 

Happy Sunday Everyone

XOXO

Natty

Here are the recipes: 

Ingredients 

Mini-Cupcake  makes 41 
Cupcake makes 14

 
1 1/2 cups all-purpose-flour
   3/4 cup   sugar
   1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
   8    tablespoons (1stick ) unsalted butter, room temperature
   1/2 cup sour cream 
   1    large egg plus 2 large egg yolks,room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1       teaspoon Kaluah
1       teaspoonespresso powder
1       teaspoon brew coffee liquid
1/4   cup roasted pecans, chopped ( for garnish )
1       tablespoon cocoa powder ( for garnish )  

Espresso pastry cream filling recipe 

Espresso cream cheese frosting *


*Espresso Cream cheese frosting recipe


1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened or at room temperature
1 package or 8 ounces cream cheese, chilled
3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar 
1 tablespoon brew coffee liquid 
1 teaspoon Kaluah
1 teaspoon Espresso powder

Steps 

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees
• Line a mini muffin tin with paper 
• In a bowl of standing mixer on low speed whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. in about 1 minute.
• Add  the butter, sour cream, egg, yolks and vanilla and beat the wet ingredients in to the dry at medium speed until smooth, about 30 second. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and stir by hand until smooth.
• Divide the batter evenly among the cups of the prepared tin. Bake until the cupcake tops are pale gold and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 10-12 minutes. 
• Use a toothpick or paring knife to lift the mini-cupcakes from the tin and transfer to a wire rack: cool the mini-cupcakes to room temperature,about 45 minuites.
• Meanwhile start making Espresso cream cheese frosting : brew coffee liquid, Kaluah and Espresso powder well with fork. Set aside.
• In the mixing bowl fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and cream cheese on medium speed until it is light and fluffy.
• Gradually add confectioners' sugar one tablespoon at a time. Make sure every 1 minute to stop the mixer and scrape down the mixture. Repeat until the confectioners' sugar is all added to the mixture. Add the wet ingredients, gradually pour it over the mixture on low speed for 5 seconds then higher to medium speed until smooth and fluffy.
• Cool cupcakes completely! When the mini-cupcakes are cooled, Hollow out a small hole in the center( using a cupcake corder or a small knife). Fill hole with Espresso Pastry cream filling.
• Frost the mini-cupcakes with a butter knife, metal icing spatula or pipe it on with a star tip.
• Garnish with chopped roasted pecans and cocoa powder 

Note

You can make this Cream cheese frosting ahead for 2-3 days in an airtight container. Make sure to take the buttercream out of the fridge 1 hour before use.

I made white cake cupcakes before with a vanilla frosting topped with Olaf characters for decoration. That time I chose " The Best White Cake Recipe " from Add A Pinch (addapinch.com).  I love this recipe because it is so moist.

Orapin loves my coconut cake. This time I want to create something new, so I'm trying to combine this best white cake recipe with coconut flavor.

A lot of coconut has to be used in this recipe:

- Buttermilk made from coconut milk
   The same way as homemade buttermilk.
   * 1 cup coconut milk
      2 tablespoon vinegar or fresh squeezed lemon
- Coconut oil
   When you use coconut oil substitute with butter, you can substitute the same equal amount with butter. For example, if the recipe requires 3/4 cup of butter, you can sub with 3/4 cup of coconut oil.
   If you want to think about fat and water that are involved:
   *  Butter is 80% of milk fat and 20% of water. You can substitute coconut oil with 3/4 cup of butter required in the recipe. So 3/4 cup equal 6 tablespoon.  You can use 5 tablespoons coconut oil plus 1 tablespoon liquid as water or milk. In this recipe I choose milk .
- Coconut extract to add some more flavor into it.

The outcome is moist and delicate texture with a compound coconut flavor.   This coconut cake is a delight- like having real coconut in your mouth.  

Not enough coconut ….. Let's go crazy with it …. Go Coconut!!!!

I add coconut pastry cream filling plus fresh raspberries and blueberries with coconut cream cheese buttercream, topped with white chocolate ganache and shredded coconut. This cake " sounds better than heaven with a Caribbean vacation" Chef Janet Burnette commented about this cake.

Wherever there are baby showers and birthday parties,  cake and cupcakes are involved. It depends on how many adults or kids are in the party if you are going to either have cake or cupcakes prepared. I am a big fan of both… seems I go for cupcakes more often because I can control the amount of what I am eating :) … One or one more sometimes wouldn't be a problem if I have my favorite cupcake.

Cupcakes are easy to clean and good quantity control for a party that has kids around. No problem with not enough cake!!  When you know exactly how many kids and adults are gonna be there, you might have a few more if someone wants to go for another cupcake.

I got invited to two parties this weekend- one is a baby shower for my friend Orapin Furman and another one is birthday party for one of my friend (Nok's son-  Quince) . I am planing to bake a cake for the baby shower and bring cupcakes to Quince's birthday party.  

Ingredients:

10 tablespoons butter, room temperature
5   tablespoons coconut oil
1/2 cup shortening
3 cups sugar
5 eggs, room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole milk plus 1 tablespoon
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
Delightful coconut cream cheese buttercream
White Chocolate Ganahce
Coconut pastry cream filling
Coconut syrup
Fresh raspberries
Fresh blueberries

Steps

Preheat oven 350 degree

Coat three 9 inch round cake pans with nonstick baking spray or with butter and flour.

In the medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
For wet ingredients: In the small bowl with coconut milk and vinegar use fork whisk together well. Set on a side. In the measuring cup, whisk together milk, vanilla extract, coconut extract and coconut mixture. Set aside.   (set aside, not set on aside)

In the mixing bowl with the paddle attachment on medium speed: mix cream butter, coconut oil and shortening until light and fluffy. Slowly add sugar- two tablespoon at a time, until it is incorporated. Add room temperature eggs one at a time, making sure to scrape on the side after each egg is incorporated.

With the low speed gently add dry ingredients to the mixture and  switch with wet ingredients, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.

Gently scrape down the mixture, making sure all ingredients are mixed well.

Evenly pour the mixture in each pan. Gather each pan to the big baking sheet with the wet towel wrapped around the pan (see note). Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow cake pans cool for at least 15 minute on the wire rack. (allow not around)

Notes

- Wrap the wet towel around the pan to prevent the cake popping in the middle of the batter- it makes the cake come out evenly and easy to frost.

- If you don't use the wet towel, you can bake approximately for 25-30 minutes.

- For cupcakes, bake approximately 18 minutes.

Assemble the cake:
Cut three cakes in even layers. Dap the butter-cream on the cake stand ( 2 tablespoons ), put the first layer on top of the butter-cream. Brush first layer with coconut syrup, spread 1 cup of coconut pastry cream filling on top. Gradually layer raspberries on to coconut pastry cream filling. Cover with the second layer of cake. Repeat this with remaining 3 layers, switching raspberries and blueberries in between each layer.

Once your cake is assembled, crump coat your cake before you cover with coconut cream cheese butter-cream.

Decorate from your own style !!!!