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

Nice balls

Dear City Gay:

I had grandiose plans of posting a whole series of holiday baking recipes, but with a week until Christmas, I only have one recipe to share (even though my counters are covered with cookies).

Many people who know my family look forward to Christmas because it's the only time of year peanut butter bon bons are made. This recipe is the perfect, rich holiday treat, and it also leads to plenty of jokes about balls, much like the cherished SNL skit below:



The recipe is incredibly easy and can be a nice thing to add to any holiday goodie trays.

Peanut Butter Bon Bons
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 12 squares, but boxed crumbs can be found in the baking aisle)
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 6 oz. package milk chocolate chips

Directions:
Mix powdered sugar and cracker crumbs. Heat butter and peanut butter until melted. (I use the microwave for this.) Stir into crumb mixture. Shape mixture into 1 inch balls.

Heat chocolate chips with 1 tbsp. shortening. (You can do this in the microwave. Heat and stir in intervals of 15-20 seconds to make sure the chocolate doesn't burn.) Dip balls into melted chocolate with tongs (or special dipping tools found in cooking stores) and place on wax paper. Refrigerate until firm.

Yields: 3 dozen


As you can see, I also dip some balls into white chocolate. I also tend to swish a bit of white chocolate onto some of the milk chocolate balls, which makes things look a bit fancier.

So, City Gay, some of these balls are en route from the country to the city, and I hope they arrive safely, so you can enjoy my balls. (See? The jokes can already begin!)

Happy Holidays,
Country Gay

Guest Gay: Dueling flans

Courtesy of our Guest Gay, Clay

“You had your choice of any dessert on the menu, and you chose flan? What were you thinking?!?”

That was my friend Laura’s response after I chose my free birthday dessert at Superior Grill. To be completely honest, I wasn’t sure if I had made a mistake by ordering the flan. I’d only had it at Superior Grill in New Orleans, and the last time was pre-Katrina. Would it be the same delicious dessert that I remembered? My choice was confirmed after she had her first bite and said, “Wow, this IS good!”

I’ve been meaning to attempt this for awhile. I like to challenge myself and expand my skills in the kitchen, so this seemed like the perfect dish for that. Since I was pretty sure that this was the type of dish that could be maligned by the wrong recipe, I decided to try 2 different recipes and then compare the outcomes, hence the dueling flans. In one corner, we have a Saffron flan that is billed as “traditional.” In the other corner, we have a Tres Leches flan that sounded delish. Which one will win the contest, or will they both be losers?

I’ve included the recipes at the bottom of the post, so skip down if you want the exact steps. To begin both recipes, you have to make caramel and pour it into your cake pan. I failed miserably the last time I tried to make caramel for an ice cream, so this was my chance to tackle it again. As it turns out, I didn’t have the heat on high enough last time. This is what it should look like as it starts to melt.



Once it’s completely melted, you pour it into your 9” cake pan. This was a little tricky because I guess my pans were too cold so it didn’t really spread as much as I would have liked. Fortunately, this had no effect on the final dish.



While I let the caramel pans cool in the fridge, I prepared the mix for each flan. Since they called for being baked at different temps, I started with the Saffron flan first. Once it was finished, I put in the Tres Leches flan. The key to this step is the water bath. I use a broiler pan (without the top grate) because it’s the deepest tray I have that can fit a cake pan in it and still hold enough water. Here is how they turned out after baking:

Pre-flip leches

Pre-flip saffron

Now let them cool for several hours, the longer the better. If you’ve ever made cheesecake and tried to eat it too soon after baking, then you know what a mess custard desserts can turn into if you don’t let them set up. Once they cooled, I inverted them onto plates. Apparently the fat in the batter mixes with the caramel in the oven and turns it into a permanent liquid state. That’s how you get that delicious caramel sauce on top of the finished product!

Post-flip leches

Post-flip saffron

They basically look the same at this point, although the Tres Leches turned out a little better (maybe I improved with practice). The Saffron made a nice slice, but I botched the Tres Leches while removing it; you’ll have to see the remaining flan instead:

Missing slice of leches

Slice of saffron

The textures were similar, so I was pleased with that. But in the end, it all comes down to taste. The saffron flavor was a little overpowering to me, so I did not enjoy it as much compared to the flan at Superior Grill. The Tres Leches flan, however, tasted exactly like the one at Superior Grill! It was just sweet enough and very pleasing to the palate. This is now my official go-to recipe for flan.

Tres Leches wins!

Recipes:

• Saffron Flan (click the link for the recipe)

• Tres Leches Flan (recipe follows)

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar
1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 egg yolks, at room temperature
1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12-oz.) can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups milk (I used 2%)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Cook sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, 5 to 7 minutes or until melted and medium-brown in color. Quickly pour into a 9-inch round cake pan with 2-inch sides. Using oven mitts, tilt cake pan to evenly coat bottom and seal edges.

2. Beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer in a large bowl 1 minute. Reduce speed to low; add eggs and egg yolks, and beat until well blended. Add sweetened condensed milk and next 3 ingredients, beating at low speed 1 minute. Pour milk mixture over sugar in pan. Place cake pan in a roasting pan; add hot water halfway up sides of cake pan.

3. Bake at 325° for 1 hour or until edges are set. (The middle will not be set.) Remove from oven; remove cake pan from water, and place on a wire rack. Let cool completely. Cover and chill at least 8 hours. Run a knife around edges to loosen, and invert onto a serving platter.

Southern Living, NOVEMBER 2006

There oughta be a lemon law

Dear Country Gay,

I took the liberty of signing us up on Blogger and I chose what I felt to be the most homosexual of all the default templates from which one can choose. As you know, I have the technical know-how to create my own template and may do so in the future. For now, I have neither the heart nor the time nor the Mountain Dew to make this a priority. I hope you understand.

Given that the main focuses of this blog are the (gay) triumphs and (gay) heartaches associated with eating, drinking and cooking, I thought it prudent to report back to you on the miniature lemon meringue pie we purchased together at Whole Foods during your visit to my fair city.


Firstly, I apologize for not making the time to consume this tartlette together while you were visiting. But really, I blame your grieving process for the confusion. Next time, let's try not to have a family tragedy during vacation, hm? But I forgive you and will now explain in mediocre detail how I felt about my lone consumption of the tangy mini pie.

In short, Whole Foods disappointed me this dessert go-round. The crust was quite delectable for a very small two-day-old refrigerated pie, despite the fact it was too thick and heavy for such a petite dessert. Oddly, I felt grateful for the girth (Yes, I said girth. I'll say it again.) of the crust after getting a taste of the unnecessarily tart, dense filling and the barely-there meringue. The crust helped dull my overly-excited taste buds.

The real disappointment was the meringue itself. Even though there was a mere quarter inch of it on the pie, it ruined the experience for me. Perhaps I expect too much from meringue, but here's where it went south for my mouth: I could actually feel the sugar crystals within the meringue exfoliating my tongue. No, this didn't seem to be an intentional technique used to give the top of the pie a brulee-like consistency -- this was within the depths of the meringue.

Because of the texture, I immediately started feeling guilty for how much sugar I was consuming. I did, however, continue to consume it until a sad quarter-moon shape was left. But I didn't feel good about it. I regret not photographing the subject, but I promise to try harder to gain visual evidence in the future.

In closing, I look forward to hearing your rural culinary tales of joy and woe, my sexually deviant friend. Until then, stay strong and know you and your gastrointestinal experiences are in my thoughts.

Love always,

City Gay