I Heart My Readers

In case you haven't heard, Valentine's Day is creeping up on us this weekend. Sure you could go all "bah humbug" about it, if you're in that kind of mood (and frankly, who isn't in mid-February?). Or you could go all out and declare your feelings with a run to the local market for a flocked velvet heart, filled with assorted chocolates. Exactly what does that say about your love?

I say let's use Valentine's Day as another excuse to bake something sweet and delicious. A day to eat chocolate without guilt, whether it was a gift from a friend or a gift foryourself. A day to send little love notes in lunchboxes and cupcakes for the class party.

Bonus Baby kindly offered her mom, the food blogger, to be Chief Cupcake Maker for the third grade class. I don't think they are allowed to call it a party, and they're not even supposed to have sugary snacks (the classroom being the new frontier in the fight against childhood obesity.)
But again, it's Valentine's Day, and I mean to keep it dedicated to all things sweet.

So we made chocolate cupcakes a la Martha Stewart. You can make them in one bowl, no butter required - it's almost too easy. We frosted them with the ooey-gooey marshmallow frosting I wrote about a few weeks ago. And we decorated them. So cute! And the sweetest part isn't the sugar - it's baking with the BB.

The Sweet Benefits of Blogging

Funny thing about blogging...you get into because you have something to say that you think people might want to read. Or you start because you feel so strongly about something - like food. And maybe you actually enjoy writing for yourself, not a client, and you're brave enough to share it with everyone out there willing to give you five minutes.

One thing I never anticipated when I began blogging was the new blogosphere friends I would make. I don't know, I guess it just never occured to me. Really, all you have to do is a make a nice comment on someone's blog and the next thing you know, you're pals, in a sense. It's whole community and I must say, I'm really enjoying it. It's a lagniappe of blogging!

One of my first blog friends was Jain at onceinabluemoon. I don't even remember how we connected. Well, last week I got an email from Jain, asking if I would like to join a private, group cooking blog she does just for fun. It's called WFD & more (What's For Dinner). Only members can read and comment. It's like being asked to join the cool kids at the lunch table. Of course I said yes and now I have a whole new group of blog pals.

The group does a bi-monthly event called Darling Bakers, where everyone bakes, or makes, something from the chosen category. This week it was cupcakes. I was expected to whip up a batch, photograph them and show them on WFD by Saturday. Of course I rose to the occasion.

I took my inspiration from that which surrounds me completely - snow. Everywhere you look, it's white. Chocolate is normally my flavor of choice (that'll have to wait til mud season), but I wanted to keep the whole thing light and airy, like meringue and marshmallow. I don't have much experience with sugar art or cake decorating, but I do have a box of Snow Village pieces that has yet to be put away after Christmas. Instant decorations! Sure, they're not edible, but they look pretty.

True confessions: I used a cake mix for the cupcake itself (oh like you wouldn't).  I just wanted to get them made quickly so I could get to the decorating part. I made the marshmallow icing from a recipe in the wonderful book by Judy Rosenberg, Rosie's All-Butter, Fresh Cream, Sugar-Packed No-Holds-Barred Baking Book. If you don't have it, you should. She's the Rosie of Rosie's Bakery in Boston. Everything in the book (and the bakery) is crazy delicious and not too hard to make.

Here it is:

Marshmallow Frosting

2 large egg whites, room temperature

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsps. sugar

3 Tbsps. light corn syrup

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Put the egg whites, sugar and corn syrup in the top of a double boiler placed over rapidly boiling water. Beat with a hand-held mixer until soft peaks form, about 4 minutes.

2. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Add the vanilla and beat with an electric mixer (whisk attachment if possible) on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, about 30 seconds. Use immediately.

Hey kids, remove decorations before consuming.