Recipe:
I have recently taken part in my first ever baking competition, Cupcake Wars at the Fair Expo. I was against two other competitors, both from cooking programs, and I won. My winning cupcake flavor was Gingerbread with Maple Frosting. Delicious in the colder days of winter, but just as good in the summer, gingerbread is an amazing flavor. Be warned, these cupcakes are slightly addictive.
Gingerbread Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
1 stick salted Butter, room temperature
½ cup brown Sugar
1 tsp ground fresh Ginger
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 dash Allspice
½ cup Maple syrup
2 Eggs
½ cup Sour cream
1½ cups Flour
1 tsp Baking soda
For the frosting:
¼ cup Maple syrup
2 Egg whites
¼ tsp Salt
¼ cup brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
2 tsp Garam masala
For the topping:
Crystallized Ginger
Gingerbread-boy cookie
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F and line or grease a cupcake tin.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, and allspice until no lumps remain.
3. Beat in the maple syrup, eggs, and sour cream, beating well between each addition.
4. Add the flour and baking soda. Mix well, leaving no clumps.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared liners and bake for 30 minutes.
6. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and let cool on a wire rack.
While the cupcakes are baking, prepare the frosting.
1. In a small pan, bring the maple syrup to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl whip egg whites and salt until foamy. Add brown sugar, vanilla, and garam masala. Continue to beat until soft peaks form.
3. Remove the maple syrup from the heat and add a small amount of the egg mixture to the maple syrup. Stir to combine. Then, slowly add the maple syrup mixture to the egg mixture while beating on high. Continue to whip on high speed until glossy and stiff peaks form and the bowl can be turned upside down without spilling (about 5 min).
4. Pour the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip.
(If there are leftovers, store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. The liquid will separate and sink to the bottom of the container. Simply stir, or beat it back together; however, be careful not to over-beat your eggs.)
Once the cupcakes are fully cooled, you are ready to assemble.
1. With the frosting in your piping bag, pipe large mounds onto the cupcakes. Alternatively you can also spoon mounds of frosting onto the cupcakes.
2. Sprinkle a spoonful of crystallized ginger over the frosting. Then, using a sharp knife, cut a small slice into the cupcake and stick a gingerbread-boy cookie into the hole.
My Top 5 Favorite… TV Shows:
1. Downton Abbey. Downton Abbey takes place in Yorkshire, England in the early 1900s. The viewers watch the wealthy Crawley family and their servants throughout their everyday lives. As always with old English families, having a male heir is the utmost importance to keeping one’s estate and family name. When one heir after the other is tragically killed, it creates quite a dilemma in the Crawley’s simple lifestyle. Finally a suitable young boy is born, carrying the title to the entire estate; however, the residents have had to change their ways to become a self-sustainable manor. I absolutely love watching this British show. British movies are always more classy then their American counterparts. The actors are also superb, bringing depth to all of the characters in the show. I am constantly on bated breath as I wait for the next episode to be released.
2. Perception. Perception revolves around the life of Dr. Daniel Pierce, a schizophrenic neuroscientist, who works as a college professor; as well as occasionally solving cases together with his friend Kate Moretti from the FBI. With each episode, Dr. Pierce encounters a new hallucination which helps him solve his current case. Perception is one of my favorite TV shows because even though it is entertaining, it is also extremely educational. Because Dr. Pierce is a neuroscientist, he solves his cases with the use of psychology. Each episode portrays a different neurological disorder. Watching this series has enlightened me, and given me a taste for learning psychology.
3. Doctor Who. Doctor Who is all about a thousand-year-old alien, or time lord, known simply as The Doctor who travels around space and time in a “big blue box” called the Tardis. The Doctor is constantly picking up companions both human, alien, and robot to accompany him on his adventures. This is another British TV series, and the actor’s accents are absolutely superb. This TV show has been going on since the sixties, and it is easy to see why. While difficult to explain, this series is wonderfully captivating from the moment I sat down to watch it several years ago.
4. Sherlock. Sherlock is a new adaptation of the novels “Sherlock Holmes” by Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle. Taking place in modern day London, Sherlock Holmes and his friend John Watson assist the police solving crimes using the science of deduction. I have always liked detective stories since I was a little girl, and “Sherlock Homes” have always been one of my favorite books. When I started watching Sherlock a couple months ago, it immediately became one of my favorite TV shows as well.
5. White Collar. White Collar is about Neal Caffrey, an extremely clever con-artist, and his friend Peter Burke, FBI Special Agent. Neal is always hatching new plans to get rich fast, while trying to stay under the radar of Peter’s ever watchful eye. This show is definitely one of my favorite TV shows, because of its unique characters and story line. The ever constant twists and turns of life are flawlessly portrayed in this series. As a viewer, I am constantly kept on the edge of my seat, which is exactly how I like it.
Recent Event Meme:
Kim Jong-Un wins North Korea election with no vote against him and no one else on the ballot.
Tamara Koubi 