Black River Cafe Cupcakes

These were made as a tribute to the delicious banana chocolate chip pancakes at the Black River Cafe in Oberlin. They're incredibly moist banana cupcakes filled with chocolate chips and topped with maple buttercream. The original banana cupcake recipe is from Martha, although I found it made way more than 12 normal cupcakes. I had to overfill all of the cups and I still had enough batter left over for 2 more. But that probably had something to do with all the chocolate chips I added. Also, her recipe says to bake them for 25 or 30 minutes, but mine were done - though still extremely moist - at 20. You can choose to follow her recipe; what follows is what I did.



Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar (I used light brown cause it was what I had)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted or just seriously softened
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas)
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (or a little less, if you don't have the guts)

Directions

Preheat the ovento 350 and assemble your paper liners or silicone cups or whatever you use. Mix together the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt)in a small mixing bowl. Mash the bananas with a fork in a large mixing bowl until they turn into pudding. Whisk in the sugar until it melts. Whisk in the butter until everything is smooth, then beat in the eggs and vanilla. You can puree this if you want - pureeing the wet ingredients makes for a fluffy texture in some recipes, like the banana walnut muffins below - but I think these cupcakes are best with a few small banana chunks. Still, you do want this pretty smooth.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing minimally. Add the chocolate chips when it's half-mixed and then continuing mixing until incorporated, always keeping in mind that cupcake batter is best when it's mixed less.

Fill the cups not quite to the top and bake for 20 - 22 minutes, until a fork/toothpick comes out clean. Top with chilled maple buttercream frosting and serve to anyone looking for a taste of Oberlin.

Maple Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

3 tbs maple syrup
2 tbs butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
around 2 cups powdered sugar

Directions

Beat the maple syrup and butter together in a bowl. This would be a lot easier if the butter was melted but that'll ruin the consistency so tough luck. Add the vanilla and some of the sugar and mix till smooth. Keep adding sugar until you get the desired consistency (may take more than 2 cups). Chill it for a bit, especially if you're going to pipe it, and then pipe or just spread on your delicious cupcakes.

My friends Matt and Kurt, current students, enjoy a taste of Oberlin:





The gorgeous insides.



You know, I could really go for one of these right now. Hell yes.

Big Fattie Banana Walnut Muffins

I made these the other day when I was sick and ansy. You may say, who the fuck wants to eat muffins made by a sick person? I don't know, man. That's not my department.



The recipe is from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero's Veganomicon. I used all whole wheat pastry flour - a magical flour that allows you to make what my coworker Miriam disdainfully calls "health muffins" while still keeping them fluffy - and I replaced the wheat germ with milled flax cause it was all I had. And apparently you can do that cause they came out just fine. And obviously, I also put in a whole bunch of walnuts cause walnuts are so excellent.

The most significant feature of these muffins is that they are enormous, easily twice the size of mortal muffins. And that is probably also the best way to decrease their health quotient. Just eat muffins til you pass out. A muffin bender. Who's with me?

Arugula-Walnut Pesto with Peas and Faux Chicken

I just got this adorable baby food processor. I really should've taken a picture of it cause it's so damn cute. But anyway, this gadget was on my mind as I was coming home from work the other night, and I decided I had to make pesto. I didn't feel like spending tons of money on a huge bunch of basil and hunting down pine nuts, but I already had arugula and walnuts at home. I added a some peas for veggie flavor and sauteed Morning Star chik'n strips for protein.



This should make enough for maybe 3 bowls of pasta, or you could also use it as a sandwich spread, mix it into scrambled eggs, etc.

Ingredients

1/4 cup walnuts
Maybe half a bag of arugula
Plenty of olive oil on hand (maybe up to 1/4 cup)
Maybe 1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese*
Salt and (lots of) pepper
Optional: peas and sauteed fake chicken strips, cut into small pieces

*You can leave this out for vegan pesto, but you may want to add something else for flavor. Not sure what; maybe Erica can weigh in on this.)

Directions

Sorry the measurements are so imprecise, but pesto is really all about feel. You'll have to see for yourself what amounts work for you, and taste it frequently. Grind the walnuts for a bit, then start adding arugula. If you're using a little baby processor like me, you'll only be able to add a small amount at a time, which is okay. Pour in some oil when you add the arugula. Process it smooth and add more, adding a little more oil when needed. When you've got the amount you want and the texture and taste are good, add the cheese and some salt and pepper. You may need to add a little more oil.

When it's ready, toss your pasta and optional fixins in. Voila.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes

Sometimes, I get these ideas in my head. And I cannot rest until I have executed them. Sometimes these experiments go awry; sometimes, as here, they are delicious beyond any imagining. I found a solid recipe for peanut butter cupcakes (this one is very delicious but not vegan; you can certainly substitute a vegan recipe if you like) and dropped pockets of strawberry preserves right into the batter, instead of filling them more traditionally with a pastry bag. This was easier, more beautiful, and allowed me to put in lots of jelly, which is what I wanted.



Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter, room temp
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk (maybe an extra splash if the batter is too goopy)

You'll also, of course, need jelly or fruit preserves, in the flavor of your choice; I was using delicious strawberry preserves from Trader Joe's, but if your preserves are too liquidy, you might want to strain some of the liquid off first.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Get your muffin tin ready with paper liners or set out your silicone cups (which is what I use).

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter and brown sugar until smoothly blended and lightened in color, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Mix in egg. Add vanilla and beat for 1 minute or until the batter is smooth.

Add the flour mixture in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and mixing until the flour is incorporated and the batter looks smooth. I threw in an extra splash of milk here because I thought it looked too thick.

Plop a small drop of batter into each cup, using your spoon to smooth it up the sides of the cup a bit so you create a sort of well for the jelly. (This is something I didn't think to do at the time but should have done. But my cupcakes came out awesome anyway.) Plop in as much jelly as you want (but don't go crazy here) and then cover with batter. You can fill these pretty full; they seem to be able to handle it.

Bake about 20-22 minutes until the tops are just firm and beautifully golden; it will be hard to test them with a fork or toothpick, due to that whole filled-with-jelly thing, but you can try. Mine had cracks on the top, making them look like peanut butter cookies from above, which I liked. Cool them away from your still-warm oven and serve with a frosty glass of soy/rice/almond/cow/goat milk. Or a beer. Be prepared for your facial muscles to stick in an expression like this one when you eat them:



I was originally planning on making a frosting for these, but when I tried them I realized they were perfect and anything more would be too much. However, if you're serving these as a dessert and not just cramming them all into your face at once, I do think a simple scoop of vanilla ice cream (or your favorite vegan sub) would be a wonderful addition.

Here you can see the jelly pockets poking through.



My hand model, Chris Riggs, displays the inner workings of the cupcake. Luckily he works for baked goods.

Poached Eggs with Cilantro Tomato Sauce

I've been on a poached egg kick lately. Something about how fucking difficult they are to get right awakens a sense of adventure in me. And while plain old salt and pepper is hard to beat, sometimes I feel a little creative and want to do something special. I found an intriguing recipe on Epicurious but it was a little too fancy for a Thursday night. But I liked the idea of a substantial tomato sauce flavored with cilantro, so I thought I'd try an easy version. The result is really tasty and satisfying and something I've made a bunch of times since.



Ingredients

2 fresh eggs (best for poaching)
A couple tablespoons of apple cider or rice vinegar
1 small can tomato sauce
3 or 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped
salt 'n pepper
an english muffin or something
optional: a little fresh parmesan


Directions

First, take a decent-sized pot and fill it with about 3 inches of water. Decant your eggs, carefully - you're fucked if the yolks break - into two little cups; teacups with adorable little handles are perfect. Turn the heat on your pot of water, and while it heats up, you can start frying your garlic in a little oil. Once it starts getting brown, dump in the tomato sauce and stir it around a bit. Keep the heat low here.

Pour some vinegar into the water; the more you use, the better the egg whites will set. You can use regular white vinegar, too, but my suggestions above are tastier. Once the water boils, turn the heat down so there's little bubbles but the water is still. This is the slightly tricky part; I'm still mastering it. Stir the water to make a whirlpool and carefully dip an egg-cup into it so the egg slides out. If you do this right, the egg will swirl around in the water and the magic of centrifugal force will gather the white around it. Do the same with the second egg, obviously being careful not to mess with the first one. Once they're both in there, stir carefully to make sure they're not sticking to the bottom - that'll ruin em - then turn off the heat and cover the pot. If you like the yolks really runny, which is the only way serious people eat poached eggs, only leave them for about a minute, just until the whites set. You can leave them longer but they'll cook more.

Poaching:



A breached yolk:



Meanwhile stir the cilantro into your tomato sauce and let it wilt there. Scoop your adorable, fluffy eggs onto your freshly-toasted english muffin with a slotted spoon and top generously with the sauce. And actually if you've got some leftover cornmeal pancakes from the delicious chili you made a couple nights ago those would make a delicious bed for the eggs, too. Then shave some parmesan on top, liberally sprinkle with black pepper, and eat them eggs up.



One final note: this makes enough sauce for 4 eggs, so either invite a friend to dinner or save half of it for more eggs later! It'll still be good next time you want fancy eggs (which if you're like me will be in like 6 hours).