Red Velvet Cupcakes

Undisputed and arguably one of the best cupcakes I've ever tasted come from "Cupcakes" in Vancouver and "Sprinkles" in California.  My cupcakes are nowhere near their rich, velvety, moist, and indulgent marvels, but when I do feel the need to create something fun and insanely nice to eat with The Young Tongue, we bake (or cook) in our kitchen.  Yesterday, we decided to make Red Velvet cupcakes for my best friend and The Young Tongue's god mother, Garlic (yes, that's her name!), who is all the way in the Philippines and for our Nanny, who celebrates her birthday today with us here in Bangkok.  The Young Tongue helped me spread icing on the cupcakes, and well, all over the place!  With christmasy colors for our cupcake paper cups, we've climbed the festive ladder a few good steps, don't you think?!


Did you know that originally, the red color came from an acidic reaction of cocoa powder to buttermilk?  These days, most people use red food coloring.  But if you have the urge to go for natural, try to look for cocoa powder that will react with the buttermilk and reveal it's anthocyanin.  Okay, enough of the science!


I'd love to say that I came up with the recipe for this one, but I must admit, I just lifted it from the internet (tons to choose from, just choose one that you're comfortable with), called an expert pastry chef from Singapore named Dennis to verify a few steps and processes, tweaked here and there, and the results turned out surprisingly good.  I still want to work on my icing though since I want it to hold more ground but I sort of don't want to put unctuous amounts of icing sugar into the recipe.  So there, it's still a toss up between finding the balance among the usual players -- cream cheese, butter, icing sugar, vanilla, and sour cream (yes, sour cream!).  And admittedly, I'd like to come across some liquid Madagascan vanilla here in Thailand -- anyone know where?

The only real trouble here is, I think I've made too many.  Our kitchen churned about 35 cupcakes last night, and there's really only 3 of us here.  I already ate 3 pieces (and The Young Tongue's other half since she was too busy hoarding and devouring the icing on it's own) and I don't have enough containers to transport them to the office where I think I can bully a few people to eat them (pun intended).  Oh well, there's still the weekend and if I take say 5 pieces to work later, we're left with about 18 pieces which gives me, The Young Tongue, and our Nanny 3 days to eat 2 cupcakes a day.  Alright then, sold!

Happy birthday Garlic a.k.a. Big Bad Bawang!  We love and miss you so much.  And since we can't celebrate with you today in Manila, we're going to eat as much cupcakes as we can in honor of you.  Fly and visit us soon!

Salmon, Capers, and Anchovies

I learned this recipe from my sister-in-law, Donna, who happens to be a fantastic cook,  whilst on a visit in Vancouver last year.  The weather was quite nippy and the copious amounts of garlic entailed in making this dish full-flavored, was well worth all the heat!

Chop 1 bulb of garlic (or 2 for extra heat and umph) extra fine or place in a mortar and pestle and grind until it turns to almost liquid consistency.  Open two tins of anchovies, in oil, and using the back of a fork, crush the fillets until fine; then blend this mixture into the garlic.  Drain about 8 tablespoons of capers in vinegar and chop finely; toss this into the same mixture.  Drizzle about 3 to 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and add freshly ground black peppercorns.

Place a salmon fillet, skin-side down, on a baking tray lined with a trivet.  I personally like placing an aluminum foil underneath for easy clean-ups.  Then place the caper mixture on top of the fillet.  Bake at a pre-heated oven, 180 degrees Celcius, for about 15-20 minutes (depending on the size of the fillet).  Once it's cooked, you'll be able to easily remove the flesh off the skin.  Transfer into a serving dish and although optional, garnishing with fresh dill will make all the difference!