Japanese Slipper Cupcakes

This month's Baking with Spirit Challenge over at Cake of the Week is Midori.  Well, um...Let me see.  Midori.  Never tried it and not in the BIWB liquor cabinet.  What to do?

First, immediately go to BevMo, get a bottle and taste it.  Check.

Second, search the Midori web site for cocktail and recipe ideas.  Check.

Third, pick a cocktail that seems fun and feminine.  Japanese Slipper.  Check.  {Please note: Midori has no baking recipes.  That had me a bit scared.}

Fourth, search the internet for baking recipes using the Japanese Slipper as inspiration.  Check.

So, believe it or not, there is only ONE recipe on the web that I could find for a Japanese Slipper Cupcake.  The Lone Baker.  Nice name, killer photo.

Once I had the idea and a good graphic, I set to work creating a solid recipe that I thought would bring out the 3 flavors of this cocktail: Midori, orange (Triple Sec) and lemon.  I knew that baking with Midori might be tough, so I decided to just use it in the frosting.  That left the cupcake to be the showcase for the orange and lemon flavors, with the addition of Triple Sec of course.  

Found my cupcake recipe "base" on Paula Deen's website.  I know...Think what you like.  But, you have to admit, she does have some very good recipes.  I needed something to bring out the citrus flavors and hold up with the Triple Sec.  Check.

Scored on her recipe for an orange creamsicle cupcake that infuses the citrus zest into the sugar.  Great technique and something I will bring to all my citrus baked goods.  

And, I will tell you, this Midori Seven Minute Frosting has changed my life.  

I had no idea this frosting was so easy and so delicious.  We never had this when I was a kid because we didn't have a stand mixer and there was no way my mom was going to stand with a hand mixer for 7 minutes.  Lower in fat, too, than buttercream frosting.  A good thing!

Thank god for my Kitchen Aid mixer, Bella!  And, now I also have no fear of my future with Swiss Meringue Buttercream.  

These are a shocking light green color and I love the pop of orange in the liners and sprinkles on top.  Super moist and so full of citrus flavors.  A very nice cupcake version of the Japanese Slipper Cocktail.  Super festive, too!!

And, please check out all the other Midori-inspired baked creations this month at Cake of the Week.

Enjoy!

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Carrot Cake Cutie Pies with Spiced Rum

I sometimes have a tough time naming my BIWB creations...This one is no exception.  This recipe if based on a carrot cake whoopie pie recipe in Whoopie Pies.  But then, I changed it.  Added the booze and tweaked the dry ingredients a bit. 

My original recipe adaptation goal being to by-pass the base recipe's instructions to refrigerate the batter for an hour.  Truthfully, I didn't have an hour on my furlough day...

The resultant "cutie pie" is more like a carrot cake cookie than a "traditional" whoopie pie.  These are much more "perky"...Chocked full of flavor with all the spices...Is it a cookie sandwich, a sandwich cookie, a whoopie pie or a carrot cake-what?

Which led me to another discovery during the photo shoot and subsequent sharing of my carrot cake creations...  

I'm sure, if you follow enough food blogs, you know that "props" are all the rage.  We've been counseled to add more props in our photos.  We've been told my photos suck.  At this point, I think I do my best and really focus on the recipe and end results.  If my photos are still too yellow, please excuse me.  Do I sound a bit defensive? 

Sorry, I digress...Back to props...I had purchased some baker's twine years and years ago (pre-blog) and who knew it would be used so much as a prop?  It's typically used to tie-up a stack of cookies or a loaf of bread.  I wanted to use it but couldn't wait for the next cookie post.  So, I tied up my cutie pies!

The results were like little Cutie Pies in Bondage.  The hula girl on the rum bottle doesn't hurt the image either...Definitely a conversation starter...And, a new subtitle...However, and much to my disappointment, I just don't think our media partners would have approved...

Maybe next time...And, yes, 2012 was my year of 50 Shades.

In the future, look for more BIWB in Bondage!  ;-)

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Pistachio and Orange Liqueur Cake {Watergate Cake}

Okay, so raise your hand if you were alive when President Richard Nixon resigned?  How many of you watched his speech on TV?  Ah, even fewer...Okay, how many of you (or your parents) saved the newspaper announcing the resignation?  As I thought...Not a lot of you.

That's okay my friends, because we have the Watergate Cake to bring back that very pivotal time in political history.  And, just for the record: I can answer "yes" to each of those questions.  Yup, I'm that old.  :)  This single event in our history was my first real introduction into politics at a very young age.  We were living in Northern Virginia at the time of the Watergate Scandal and I was learning about U.S. History, so this had real meaning for me as a young history geek.  I'll never forget those times...

So, most of you don't know that I am a history geek.  Yeah, I read those really long and fairly dry presidential biographies and such.  The people on my commuter bus just roll their eyes when they see my books...I've received some flack for my geekness.  It could be worse...

This cake was developed by the folks at Jello when they introduced pistachio pudding.  The date coincided with the Watergate Scandal, so coming up with a name was pretty easy.  It's quite likely the only green cake widely known, but I think most folks have lost its original name.  So, pretty cool for me that this cake covers both my hobbies: the blog and reading history books...A true win-win for this geek.

Blog baking lore has it that this cake is so aptly named Watergate cake because Jello's pistachio cake was filled with nuts and covered in fluff much like the Nixon administration has been admonished.   Go ahead...Roll your eyes...

Watergate Complex, U.S. National Register on Historic Places

I really wanted to try a pistachio cake for a while, just sounded so good...This one is easy and the ingredients are simple.  I used salted pistachios which really added a huge pistachio flavor.  Very moist and holds up well to all that frosting. 

I used the ombre' frosting style that you see all over Pinterest.  I learned how to make the ombre' frosting from a video by Stephanie at 52 Kitchen Adventures (link below).  I highly recommend watching her video if you are a visual person, like me. 

You'll see this cake again sometime soon in its "scratch" version.  I bought myself a cookbook for my birthday this year: Vintage Cakes.  So, the cake is really "Part 1: Watergate Cake" with its "scratch" cousin coming soon. 

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Almond and Orange Liqueur Cake {Gluten Free}

Yes, you read correctly: Bake It With Booze has gone gluten free again!  And, honestly, I'm beginning to think this gluten free baking thing is a great way to change up your favorite recipes.  This cake is super moist...Full of orange flavors...And has a very, very pretty presentation -- The Oooh and Aaah affect!

I made this cake for my boss's retirement reception and it was a huge hit with the crowd.  She is gluten free so I had to come up with a extra special cake just for her.  She's been such a wonderful boss, even though I've only had the chance to work for her these last 8 months. 

This yummy and elegant cake was all gone by the end of the reception (we did save a piece for my boss to take home) and I'm not even sure whether I got a piece!  I do have a vague memory of moist almond cake surrounded by soft and billowy orange frosting...

And, I am sorry, but I have no pics of the cut cake as it was gone before I could "stage" a good shot.  You'll just have to trust me that it was as pretty on the inside as on the outside!

One more eye-candy shot of all our sweets at the retirement reception...Sugar commmaaa!! 

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Orange Banana Bourbon Loaf

I think if you love bananas and you love to bake, you're always plagued coming up with over ripe bananas and trying to figure out what to do with them.  This time around, my inspiration came from an orange nut bread that my mom used to make.   For some reason, I just couldn't locate the recipe, so I looked around at all my cookbooks for some inspiration...

And, this time, though, I wanted to combine orange and banana.  And, sure, we all know there would have to be booze involved.  I personally love bourbon with both orange and banana, so I figured I had the potential for a double "win" here!

This loaf cake is super easy to make and amazingly moist.  I was surprised how much it rose in the pan, yet was not overly dense.  I like loaf cakes, but I especially like moist and dense loaf cakes. 

This recipe is adapted from a cookbook, Ida's in the Kitchen, which I was gifted about 3 years ago when my father and I drove to Utah and Colorado.  We visited some of his former work colleagues when he as stationed at Dugway Proving Grounds.  I was lucky enough to get my pick of over 100 cookbooks from his friend, Vera, who had just lost her husband, the avid cook in their home.  Ida's in the Kitchen is one of those books...Filled with old-fashioned baking and simple and easy recipes.

No copyright date...Ida has a few books out there...Hand-written corrections...Love it!

We stayed at his friends' house just outside of Salt Lake City.  Dorothy and Roy Keeling are some of the best folks I've even had the pleasure to me.  The greatest gift was watching Dorothy cook!  She is a "Southern" cook, replete with making biscuits by hand.  I was in heaven helping around her kitchen as she imparted cooking wisdom to me.  I came away with SO many of her recipes, I fell quite honored.  And, inspired!!

I hope you try this loaf cake.  It's easy to pull together, nothing fancy or complicated.  And the end result has lots and lots of WOW factor!!

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Bourbon and Orange Babka

Babka for your Babka!  It's Mother's Day and all over the world folks are eating and laughing and thanking their mother's for all sorts of things.  Birth, learning to cook, love of reading, surfing, sewing, mountain biking, making a good cocktail, fashion, laughter, you get the idea.  Moms, it's your day. 

Babka is the Polish word for Grandmother.  Babka is a polish sweet yeast bread that is SUPER EASY to make...If I can make it, you certainly can.  This recipe is easy and full proof as it comes from King Arthur Flour.  If you've never checked out their website, go there and fast!   I highly recommend the catalogue, too.  It's almost like reading a baking magazine and has lots and lots of great tools and ingredients. 

So, for all those moms I know out there and Babkas all over the world: Happy Mother's Day!!

A truly American version of a Polish Babka with

Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. 

Mildly Sweet and Very Smooth...Yeah.

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Harvey Wallbanger Cake for Picnic Day

I made this cake for a small gathering on Unitrans alumni friends in Davis last weekend.  It was the 98th Picnic Day celebration and the 1st Picnic Day at the Park for me and my Unitrans buddies.  Our fellow alumni, Mike, has gathered at Davis Central Park for years and I was lucky enough to stumble on his mini-party last year for the first time.   As you might remember I helped organize a reunion of my Unitrans buds last October...The pictures pretty much told the story.  No bus driving this time, but we had a blast, replete with a great BBQ at Mike's beautiful home (off the golf course) in Woodland. 

My friend, Lisa, gave me this recipe.  It started with a phone call...I rarely answer my phone (as most of my friends know...).  When I heard Lisa's voice, it sounded kinda concerned.  She had planned to make her father's favorite bday cake, Harvey Wallbanger, and couldn't find a key ingredient: orange cake mix.  The cake is based on the cocktail which dates back to the 1950s.  Once I heard the NAME of this cake, I was IN! 

So, onto the internet search to figure out what this cake was all about...I found a few recipes with pictures.  Intriguing.  Fun.  Different.  Galliano?  I needed a REASON to buy some...Really.  It's the truth.  I have a fondness for this Italian vanilla-anise liqueur after many a Unitrans trip up to Poor Reds for amazing Golden Cadillacs and the best tasting ribs on EARTH.  Mind you, after a few too many cocktails at a very young age, most ANY food is going to be the BEST you've ever tasted.  ;-) 

A few weeks later, Lisa had successfully made the cake with a yellow mix and she saved me a piece...Moist and such a different, yet amazingly complex flavor.  I knew I had Picnic Day plans with my Unitrans buds (Lisa's husband, Ivan, and I drove buses together...you see the connections here) and THIS WAS THE CAKE! 

Unitrans alumni meets Poor Reds memories meets Picnic Day at the Park!

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Orange Dreamsicle Cupcakes

I think orange is an under-appreciated flavor. It seems like candy dishes always run out of the "popular" flavors, like cherry, chocolate, and lime - leaving a surplus of rejected orange candies languishing at the bottom of the dish. I'm always happy to snatch them up for myself. I like to root for the underdog. And I really, really love orange-flavored everything.

These cupcakes were partially inspired by Icing on the Cupcake's orange cupcakes - which I love - and partially inspired by childhood memories of savoring orange dreamsicles on hot summer days, and swigging orange-flavored Triaminic. Wait, what??! 

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

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Grocery shopping, or cupcake concocting?

You can guess how it turned out, but that was the dilemma I toiled over last night as I made my way home from work. Sensibility was gaining the lead as I considered all of the preparation I need to do for Christmas Eve dinner, which I'll be hosting at my house. I very sensibly considered all of the things I could accomplish early by getting my grocery shopping done that very night. Frivolity, however, edged out a narrow win - I think the bumper to bumper traffic and kamikaze-esque drivers wore me down. By the time I got home, I was in full denial mode. Christmas Eve, looming only three days away? No big deal. I have LOTS of time, right??

Pomegranate Cosmo Cupcakes



Little pomegranate-bejeweled,
tangy and sweet treats...Smooth.

  If the truth be known, this is my signature cocktail.  No joke, I've made over a hundred of these for friends at Casa de Haertle.  I seriously honed my cocktail shakin' skills on this cocktail combination.  I won't go back to cranberry...Pomegranates are the only way to go, with this cupcake or the cocktail.  And, getting an extra dose of antioxidants in your diet isn't a bad thing either!