Hey, cupcake.

Dear City Gay:

It's been awhile. I hope you are recovering from illness and your gambling addiction. Maybe something sweet will brighten your life, and Paula Deen's cheesecake cupcakes could do the trick.

For the traditional end of the year party at which my clique bitches about the end of the school year, I decided to bring a dessert. I thought cupcakes sounded fun, and I thought cheesecake sounded delicious, so thank God Paula Deen combines the two!

The cupcakes are really easy to make, though I found them a bit frustrating. I didn't let the first batch bake long enough, and they pretty much deflated when I took them out of the oven to glaze. However, I discovered this didn't affect the taste or texture. I was more pleased with the second batch that had a nice golden brown color, but they also deflated a bit. I guess the deflation was good so that the glaze would fit nicely, but I was afraid they would just completely sink and be disgusting looking. But after refrigerating for a day and garnishing with fruit, I have to say the were quite tasty.

A bit of the evidence with the recipe to follow:


I bought a new hand mixer just to make these. I imagined the hand mixer my parents received as a wedding gift just wasn't going to cut it any more. The batter is easy to make and full of cream cheese and sugar. My teeth may have rotted a bit just by reading the recipe.


Right out of the oven, the cupcakes don't look incredibly special, even with the glaze. I had a couple of problems with taking them out of the muffin tin, which meant I had to eat a couple. Note: these don't really taste good until they are completely cooled and chilled. They are a bit eggy/custardy when still warm.


I think the fresh raspberries and blueberries make these nice individual desserts and definitely add a summer flair.

Recipe from Paula Deen & Friends: Living it Up, Southern Style
Ingredients:
Cupcake:
Three 8 ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Topping:
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Kiwi or strawberry slivers, fruit topping or jam, blueberries or raspberries for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 24 regular muffin cups with paper cupcake liners.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until very smooth. Add the sugar and mix well. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.
3. Fill the cups about half full with the batter. Bake for about 25 minutes, until the cupcakes are set and golden brown.
4. Make the topping: Combine the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla and stir well with a metal spoon or spatula. Spoon about a teaspoon on top of each cupcake and return to the oven for 5 minutes to glaze.
5. Remove the cupcakes from the oven. When they can be handled safely, remove them from the muffin tins and let cool completely on wire racks. When complete cool, place them in plastic containers with lids and refrigerate until ready to serve. Just before serving, decorate with slivers of freshly cut seasonal fruit, jam, or fruit topping, or 1 or 2 whole brlueberries or raspberries. Serve at room temperature.

Makes 2 dozen.

The cupcakes seemed to go over well, and I came home with just a few, which I'm sure I'll snarf down tomorrow for breakfast.

On a side note, I had my first escargot tonight. I can't say it was amazing, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The taste was good. (It was served on a mushroom with some sort of breading; it was kind of buttery tasting.) The texture was a bit iffy, but it was pretty much like eating a clam or mussel.

Hope to see you back in the kitchen soon.

Love always,
Country Gay

Banana Bread - Or How I Hope I Didn't Poison Myself

Dear City Gay,

I was inspired by your determination to make zucchini bread, so I thought I would try my hand at the bread business. I didn't have any zukes on hand, nor did I even have a bread loaf pan, but that didn't matter. I wanted to be just like you, except without the zucchini.

Quite awhile ago, I had bananas that started going bad, so I decided to freeze them with the intent of making banana bread. I honestly don't know when exactly I put them in the freezer, but I decided to put them in the fridge to thaw yesterday. I admit the bananas looks really gross when I took them out of the fridge this evening.

I decided to use a simple, Paula Deen recipe. Even though wary of the bananas I was using, I forged ahead. (Seriously, when I peeled the bananas, it looked a bit more like fly larvae or some sort of pupa.) There really isn't much to the recipe, which I can't find online but really is a basic banana bread recipe, I promise.*

My recipe book told me to bake the bread for 50 minutes, and I trusted my oven to not burn the bread. I was a fool. I know that things bake faster in my oven, but I apparently forgot that. The bread wasn't exactly burned, but it was darker than I would have liked. I tried to take a picture, but it looked less than appetizing. I decided I should put a slice with bread in front of Brad. I think he has a look of disgust on his face.


The bread tastes fine, but I am afraid the bananas were too old. This is probably all in my head, but if I throw up in awhile, I'm totally throwing the bread out. I can't say I'm truly pleased with the final product, but it was a nice foray into the bread baking business.

Yours,
Country Gay

*For the readers, here is the recipe taken from Paula Deen's The Lady and Sons Too!
1/2 cup (one stick) butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon basking powder
3 ripe bananas

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. In a mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar; mix well. (You don't need a hand mixer; just use your muscles and a spoon.) Add the salt, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and bananas, and mix well. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes.

By the way, be careful with your eggs. I decided to waste one and throw it on the floor. Egg shell can fly quite far.