Spicy Chocolate Cupcakes and Fried Plantains

May 7, 201016 Comments

It’s the last day of class!

I woke up this morning pretty excited about the last day of class. I threw on my gym clothes, walked to the gym only to find that it was closed because of Slope Day! So apparently Slope Day is a big deal. Essentially, people get drunk in the morning then go to “the slope” (large hill on campus) where there is a concert.

I was pretty bummed about the gym situation, but figured it’s okay. Instead of trying to find alternative means of exercise (i.e. go for a run) I decided going home and having breakfast was a better idea, so here I am.

But let’s backtrack to yesterday…

I had a potluck for my Urban Transformations in the Global South class. You can probably guess that I brought dessert. I tried to keep with the “Global South” theme. Inspired by Guatemalan Platanos en Mole, I made Spicy Chocolate Cupcakes topped with a fried plantain.

Spicy Chocolate Cupcakes

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cayenne
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable/canola oil
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and stir together. Add all the wet ingredients minus the boiling water and mix together. As you mix the batter, add the boiling water. Pour into lined cupcake pan (fill half way). This batter is really watery/runny so be careful!

Bake for 18-20 minutes. Makes about 30 cupcakes

Frost with Spicy Chocolate Frosting and top with a fried plantain.

Spicy Chocolate Frosting

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
few shakes of cinnamon
few shakes of cayenne

Combine all ingredients and mix with a hand mixer until it reaches the right consistency, add more powdered sugar if too runny.

I was talking to a friend a few days ago, and he said he really wasn’t sure what to do with a plantain since he didn’t really see it as a child. In light of that I thought I’d do a little plantain tutorial.

If you’re going to make fried, sweet plantains you want a really ripe plantain. Basically you want it to look like it’s going bad:

If you’re making a South Asian dish or something like tostones, you want a green plantain. But for now, I’m working with the super ripe!

Cut off the ends

Cut skin off lengthwise and peel.

Slice as desired. Since I was using this as cupcake toppers I cut them in circles (ish), but for fried plantains like you would get at a Cuban restaurants cut them thicker and slightly diagonal.

Put some oil in a pan (enough to coat the bottom) and heat. Once the oil is hot (but not too hot). Add plantains.

Keep the flame on low and cook until golden brown on one side. Then flip over and continue to cook.

They will probably take about 10 minutes to cook through. Then transfer them to a papertowel lined dish to soak up some of the excess oil.

Enjoy!

I loved when I walked into my apartment later in the day and it smelled like fried plantains. Reminds me of home! (Can’t wait to go home in 11 days!)

I should probably get ready for class! Have a wonderful day!

Waka Waka

May 4, 20108 Comments

So today was pretty much a terrible day, don’t even want to talk about it.

The one redeeming thing: I listened to this song about 74892048757892 million times and danced around as I tend to do.

Shakira + World Cup 2010= Pretty Exciting

Be back soon with goodies!

Hot in Hurrrrr

May 2, 201015 Comments

I’m not entirely sure why but despite the fact that it was in the 80s today and I live on the third floor of a building that does not have air conditioning, I turned the oven on twice. It’s so hot in hurrr my coconut oil is entirely liquid:

I keep it on my dresser and put it on my face before going to bed. I have some SERIOUS dry skin! Hopefully sweaty summer will make that all better and I can keep this coconut oil for cooking!

But I digress…I cooking was my way of dealing with Sunday?

Or something…

Tomorrow is the last day of the Spanish discussion section I TA. Naturally, we’re having a party. Naturally, that also means I made a sweet treat.

Vegan Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

adapted from Mama Pea’s White Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 cup almond butter
1/4 cup vegan butter (I used EarthBalance)
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup soymilk
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cane sugar
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt (omit salt if you used salted almond butter)
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 and turn on some Beyonce/Shakira.

In a bowl combine the wet ingredients and the sugars, once those are combined, add the dry ingredients except the cherries and chocolate. Shake your booty a little bit (especially if Shakira’s Did It Again comes on) then fold in the cherries and chocolate.

Plop golf ball sized lumps of dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes depending on the size of your cookies.

To counteract the vegan-ness, enjoy with a glass of milk (or if you’re like me… lactaid)!

After cleaning up and attempting to get some reading done for a few hours, I decided I should probably have dinner. For some reason, I decided to get creative and for some reason that had to involve the oven again, again Beyonce and Shakira kept me company, this time Rihanna joined in on the fun.

Polenta Pizza

1 cup cornmeal
3 cups water
1 tsp salt
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
~1 cup pasta sauce
1-2 huge handfuls of spinach, chopped
4 oz mozzarella cheese
3 artichoke hearts, chopped

Step 1: Make Polenta
Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. In a pot combine the cornmeal, water and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Keep cooking, stirring constantly for another 5 minutes at least (at this point your should pretty much just be swinging your hips to the beat). Then transfer and spread polenta on a greased baking sheet (totally forgot to grease mine). Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Step 2: Prepare toppings
Heat olive oil in a pan, add onions, garlic and red peppers. Cook on med/low heat for about 10 minutes until tender and tasty! Mini dance party for 10 minutes while it all cooks… or you could wash some dishes… then add spinach, stir around til spinach is wilted (about 2 minutes).

Step 3: Prep Pizza
Spread pasta sauce on polenta, top with veggies, cheese and artichokes, bake for another 5-10 minutes.

Pretty tasty! I was pleased! My friend, Liz, came over and enjoyed with me. She liked it too!

I should probably stop dancing around the house and read, or at least go to bed so I can make the most of tomorrow.

Have a great night!

Super Saver Banana Pudding

May 1, 2010May 1, 20106 Comments

Happy Derby Day!

Did you all watch the most exciting 2 minutes in sports?

I went to a Derby Day party. In the spirit of southern hospitality, I brought banana pudding.

Banana Pudding

from all recipe Banana Pudding IV

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 (50z) package vanilla instant pudding
3 cups cold milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 (80z) container whipped topping, thawed
3-4 sliced bananas
1 box Nilla wafers

Layer 9×13 dish with Nilla wafers.

Next add a layer of banana

Beat together cream cheese, condensed milk, pudding, vanilla and milk, then fold in the whipped topping. Pour over the wafers and bananas.

Decorate with extra Nilla Wafers! Chill for a few hours!

I didn’t actually try this since the lactose intolerance has been acting up significantly lately. I hope people liked it! I thought it looked pretty at least. I also got a work out hauling it to my friend’s house!

I should probably be going to bed, but really I just want to watch a movie and spoon… not gonna happen.

Have a great night!

My Neighbor is Awesome!

April 29, 20107 Comments

The past few days have been filled with work. While I’ve managed to get a lot done, my fridge is looking pretty bare. Consequently, I’ve been eating a lot grains and random frozen vegetables left over.

Just in time to save the day, my neighbor (who we lovingly call Slick Rick) invited a few friends over for dinner. He had an amazing spread of vegetables to grill.

Ladies, he’s single (I think…) 🙂

All sorts of amazing!

I contributed a less than exciting salad compared to all the grilled goodies.

Now I’m stuffed and ready for bed. Next week, I’m making the neighbors dinner! What should I make? I feel like it has to be amazing too! Suggestions?

Have a great night!!

M.I.A.

April 27, 201015 Comments

Hi Friends!

Next week is the last week of classes! Woo! That means the next few weeks I will be

or rather

Consequently this is the extent of the vegetables in my produce drawer:

Thus lunch has to be

Had this for a few days now. Not sure how tomorrow’s going to pan out since I’m out of bread and cheese. I’ll figure it out.

Also…

WTF, Ithaca!??! It’s practically May!!

Off to class I go!

Pear Cardamom Cupcakes with Sweet Rose Frosting

April 25, 2010April 25, 20108 Comments

It’s that day again (you know the one…), but I’m going to ignore it and just be a happy camper, because really that’s the best way to be. I’m generally a happy person. I smile a lot and can laugh at pretty much anything (i.e. when I fell down the stairs on campus a few weeks ago).

Sometimes I wonder if I should even bother doing serious things in life.

While I figure that out, I’ll stick to my hobby and potentially only real skill in life: baking.

Pear Cardamom Cupcakes

1 very ripe pear, peeled and finely chopped/mashed
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 pinches of baking soda
1 tsp cardamom
1/3 cup of milk

Preheat oven to 350. Combine mashed pear, oil, vanilla and sugar. Add one egg at a time until blended together. Add dry ingredients, mix until just combined. Gradually add milk, stir until well blended.

Pour batter into paper lined cupcake pan. Bake 15-20 mins. Makes 12 cupcakes. Once completely cooled, frost with Sweet Rose Frosting:

Sweet Rose Frosting

1/4 cup butter, softened
1-2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp rose water

Whip together all ingredients. Frost cupcakes. Enjoy!

I love rose flavored sweets. They make me want to smile.

Enjoy your Sunday! Hope you have better weather than we do here!

Bagels!

April 23, 201016 Comments

Happy Friday!

I wish I could be more excited that it’s the weekend but I have a ton of work to do. However, tonight is the Grad Prom Ball! I have a ridiculous bright yellow dress! (Pictures to come)

Let’s back track to last night… After an intense class, I needed to bake. Thus, Bagels…

2 kinds: Multi-grain and Cinnamon Raisin

For the multi-grain bagels, I used this recipe. For the cinnamon raisin bagels, I used my go to bagel recipe but added about a tablespoon of cinnamon and a box of raisins.

The cinnamon raisin looked prettier:

But the Multi-grain tasted amazing!

It is my mission to perfect these multi-grain bagels! You may see them again in the near future!

I should probably go get ready… Have a great night!!

This there a recipe you’re trying to perfect? I will conquer these bagels!

Double Down

April 21, 2010April 21, 201020 Comments

Don’t you love it when you wake up after having had the most amazing dream ever? You just know it has to be a good day.

Today was a bit of a doozy but it all turned out well.

I started with an intense work out (oh goodness I was a sweaty mess). Then had a green monster for breakfast featuring the only protein powder I’ve tried so far that I’ve liked.

So you’re probably wondering about the title, right? You guessed it.

Some friends and I drove to Cortland to KFC (because Ithaca doesn’t have one) so they could try the double down.

I had some biscuits and sides.

You’re probably not going to believe this but the franchise we went to stopped selling the grilled version because they weren’t selling enough! Isn’t that nuts?!

There were mixed reviews.

Ugh NEED to do stuff tonight! Have a good one!

Have you tried the Double Down? Been curious to do so?

Do you think it’ll last?

No Go…

April 19, 201013 Comments

I spent the better part of my day avoiding work. I’m not sure what’s wrong with me. Usually on Mondays I’m ready to go, but today was a no go!

I woke up at 6:30am hoping to be at the gym by the time it opened at 7:00am. Didn’t end up getting there til 7:30am. Intended to spend 45 minutes on the treadmill doing a variety of intervals. Ended up doing 22 mins on the treadmill and 23 minutes on the elliptical. Not feeling the gym today.

After the gym, I got ready for class, lost track of time, missed a few buses and never made it to class… instead I went to the library where I attempted to read only to end up taking a nap! What’s wrong with me?!?

I was definitely feeling a little off today.

When I got home this evening, I decided dinner and cooking would cheer me up. I enjoyed two bowls of homemade black bean soup with greek yogurt mixed in.