Pretty in Pink: Home Baked Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcakes

I have been into cupcakes lately. And I mean, like, really into it. There is a Sprinkles-like cupcake shop near work that offers one of the best Red Velvet cupcakes (with cream cheese frosting) around and I’ve eaten about six of them just in a mere week! I really don’t know what triggered this new-found addiction (perhaps the trip to Magnolia Bakery?) but my mind is consumed with the images of those lovely, moist cupcakes smothered in ooey gooey frosting every minute, every second. I just can’t get enough.

In all honesty, cupcakes have held sort of the “red headed stepchild” status in my baking repertoire until just recently, and I never really considered them as “real” desserts. I couldn’t figure out what they really were – they weren’t really a cake, but they weren’t muffins either … so what the f#*% were they? Either way, I never considered them more than a confused, mini confection with a dollop of artificially-colored icing and even more unappetizing sprinkles on top. Even my first visit to beloved Sprinkles didn’t impressive me much, but look at me now, I’ll inject a cupcake through an IV if I could.

Maybe my new-found love for cupcakes has something to do with the way those cupcake shops smell when you walk in — you know, these welcoming, comforting aroma, like you just walked into your grandmother’s kitchen? Or maybe it’s the vibrant color of the frosting that reminds you so much of childhood. Cupcakes are like your cute, friendly, bubby, uncomplicated dessert next door that bring a whole lotta fun to bakers and consumers alike. I finally understand the public’s fascination for these pint-size cakes

It was my mother’s birthday on the 12th, and to celebrate this special day for the most magnificent woman in the world, I decided to bake her cupcakes. I was torn between Magnolia Bakery and Sprinkles but the latter won out when I found the recipe for its Strawberry Cupcakes and Strawberry Frosting. I know how much mom adores strawberry shortcakes (the Japanese-French version with airy sponge cake, fresh strawberries and whipped cream) and I figured this light-pink cupcake is pretty close.

Truth be told, this was my first attempt in making cupcakes – yes, my absolute first. Sure, I’ve participated in bake sales at school in the past but I always resorted to cookies and brownies, and never cupcakes. So I was a little nervous in the beginning but I trusted the recipe to bring me the heavenly result.

I brought out my lovely pink Kitchenaid mixer as my trusted companion and I got busy whipping the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. I added the dry (flour, salt, and baking powder) and the wet ingredients (strawberry puree, milk and vanilla, pictured below) simultaneously, being careful not to over mix.

Once everything is well incorporated, I poured the batter evenly between 12 cupcakes. You can divided the batter into 8 cupcakes too, if you prefer a slightly larger cupcakes.

Many (or most) say that the frosting is the best part and while I agree that it’s delicious, it’s the scariest thing … ever. To make enough frosting for a dozen cupcakes, I had to use 2 sticks of butter, as well as 3-1/2 cups of powdered sugar. Okay, my cupcake addiction may come to an end here … just the idea of licking the load of softened butter (afterall, frosting is nothing more than that) gave me nausea!

I though the cupcake came out amazing. The cake was perfectly baked – moist without being too gooey, and not overly sweet (just the way we like it). The cake and the frosting had the prettiest tint of pink but it’s comforting to know that no artificial colorings were used in this. The lovely color came from strawberries.

My mother loved the actual cake so much (but all of us – my mother, father and I – were equally afraid of the frosting so we wiped most of it off the cake) that she suggested using this recipe to make a real cake for the official birthday party this weekend.  Maybe I can make her favorite strawberry shortcake afterall, sandwiching fresh strawberries and whipped cream in these layers.

If you love Sprinkles cupcake or just any cupcake, I recommend this recipe highly. The sweet-and-tangy combination from the strawberry puree will take you back to your sweet, summertime memories of childhood.

My Favorite Home Cook Next Door: Harumi Kurihara

Equally as respectable as classically-trained celebrity chefs (with their new restaurants popping up all over the world like zits on a teenage kid’s face) are some of the emerging “home cooks,” who, despite their lack of formal culinary training, bring a joy of cooking to average food lovers like myself, thanks to a powerful vehicle like Food Network.

I like watching shows with veteran home cooks like Ina Garten and Nigella Lawson (seriously, can she be any hotter?) who unapologetically toss five sticks of butter to make a little entrée for two (you go ladies!). And although I fear that I have accidentally flipped the channel to an inappropriate station whenever I see her joyfully massaging ground beef while sporting a very low-cut shirt, Giada De Laurenttis (my friend Gabriel and I call her the “Baby Nigella” because she’s sexy but not as much as the undisputed Domestic Goddess) is actually pretty fun to watch too. I like the fact that they have somehow remained authentic and true to their culinary roots which makes watching their shows educational, as well as entertaining. (fyi, I can’t stand Ms. E-V-O-O, thank you very much!)

One home cook who is virtually unknown in the Western market and has gone completely under the food-obsessed American media radar is Harumi Kurihara, Japan’s version of the domestic diva, who has been inspiring millions of Japanese home cooks with Martha Stewart-like vim and vigor (and equally impressive empire with appearances in numerous Japanese television shows, 20-plus cookbooks and her own magazine … all while staying out of jail) for over two decades, introducing them to fresh and creative ways of turning ordinary, everyday ingredients into innovative dishes. My favorite talent of Harumi is her incredible ability to resurrect the often unwanted leftover food into a stunning new dish.

Her menus are delicious but surprising simple, quick and very straightforward — making many wonder why they didn’t come up with the recipe. Her food in an award-winning cookbook Harumi’s Japanese Cooking is perfect for people who are curious and want to dive into Japanese home cooking (like Japanese Somen Noodle Salad, Spaghettini with Fish Roe Dressing, Japanese-Style Green Risotto, and Tofu and Avocado Dressing), and equally appropriate for Japanese cooks who’s looking for some inspiration to add creativity into their everyday meals.

Her Carrot and Tuna Salad (she says that this recipe, “has proved to be one of the most popular”) is a perfect representation of what you’ll find in her cookbook. There’s nothing special about this salad, really – just a mixture of julienned carrots with finely chopped onion and garlic, and a canned tuna tossed in mustard dressing – but when you take a bite into it, you will taste something so familiar but new, something so simple but robust, and something so healthy but hearty. I made this salad for the first time for dinner last night, and believe me, I was under her magical spell just after one bite!

Silly Putty for Grown-Ups: Homemade Potato Gnocchi

I loved playing with Silly Putty and Play-Doh growing up — kneading, rolling and forming those colorful bouncy doughs into strange, obscure shapes. I then moved up to fiddling with Fimo clay as a teenager, turning those polyester clays into jewelry pieces. I guess I never got over the love for mushing and mixing things, which explains why I am, now in my 30s, obsessed with the art of cooking and baking.

I also love performing mindless, repetitive tasks (MRT) alas chopping vegetables, knitting, and even running (afterall, running is just putting one foot in front of the other over and over and over again, isn’t it?). I find these activities that allow me to submerge into my own little world where nothing negative exists very therapeutic (until, of course, you cut your finger with a knife, or tangle the ball of yarn, or bonk… then it’s a whole different story).

After weeks of travel, I really missed doing something creative and my body desperately wanted to “create” and “make” something with my own two hands. After strolling down the aisles at Trader’s Joe’s for inspiration, I decided on making potato gnocchi for dinner which seemed liked a perfect combination of my favorite childhood activity and a much-needed MRT.

I searched online for some good gnocchi recipes, but all the ones I found served 10 or more, which was way too much, so I jot down the main ingredients (boiled potatoes, flour and eggs) and decided to improvize – a gutsy move, I know, for my first attempt in making these little Italian dumplings.

Potato Gnocchi (serves 4)
(Disclaimer: As in all recipes on this site, this is not really an instruction on how to make gnocchi. I don’t know what the heck I’m doing here. It’s merely a recount of my experience so please, use with caution.)

4 large Russet potatoes
1 cup flour (and more for dusting)
1 egg
1 pinch salt

① Boil potatoes until fork tender. Peel the skin while hot, and run them through the food mill. I didn’t have the food mill so I just mashed the potatoes with a fork and ran them through one of those vegetable colanders. Ghetto, I know, but it worked!

② Place the mashed potatoes onto a floured wooden cutting board (or any work surface). Make a well in the middle and pour flour and egg.

③ Mix the flour and egg together. Once mixed, incorporate the mixture with the mashed potatoes.

④ Knead well for about 5 minutes until all the ingredients are well incorporated.

⑤ Many “proper” recipes require you to roll the mixture into a log and cut the pieces off with a knife, but I just picked a small amount directly from the potato dough and rolled it in my hands to form a little, edible piece.

⑥ Put a little dent in the center of the dumplings by pressing a fork onto each piece. This step may sound boring but it’s worth it in the end, when you’re able to scoop the delicious sauce! Place each dumpling on a floured baking pan until ready to cook.

⑦ Cook the gnocchi in boiling water, just as you would with pasta. When the pieces float to the top (about a minute or so, depending on the size), remove them from hot water, and move them into a bowl of ice-cold water to “shock” them. This stops the cooking process immediately, preventing them from getting soft and mushy.

⑧ Toss them in olive oil until ready to cook.

After debating how I should prepare the gnocchi, I decided to go with my quick, easy, fool-proof pink sauce recipe (it’s like the vodka sauce but with no vodka).

Pink Sauce (serves 4)

1/2 pint of Half and Half (add more, depending on how thick you want the sauce to be)
2 cups of uncooked spinach
1 large onion
3 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 twigs of rosemary
3 twigs of thyme
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

① Sautee chopped garlic and onion with olive oil on low heat, until they are clear and tender. Add finely chopped rosemary and thyme. (The kitchen would be smelling absolutely divine at this point!)

② Turn up the heat to medium, add spinach and cook until wilted and tender.

③ Pour the half and half and whisk in the tomato paste, making sure that the paste is well incorporated into the liquid. Add salt and pepper to taste.

④ Add the cooked gnocchi and toss, and make sure to be careful when tossing, as you don’t want to break any dumplings.

The dish came out fairly well, much better than I expected for a first timer. The texture of gnocchi was perfect — not too flour-y, not too starchy. I served the dish with a simple salad of mixed greens, cherry tomatoes and prosciutto ham, and a glass of Chianti.

I’m happy to be home and back making a mess in my playground (aka the kitchen)

Chasing the Flavors of the City: Magnolia Bakery, NYC

I won’t go so far as to take the Sex and the City bus tour, but I was definitely curious to see some of the memorable locations featured in the show while I was still in New York. (Just like any other red blooded women in the world, I absolutely love the show.  I would have to say that Miranda is my favorite character, although all those silly “which-SATC-character-are-you” quizes I take indicate that I’m more Charlotte … hmmm.) One place in particular that I had to visit was Carrie’s apartment, or the front of the apartment known to fans as Carrie’s Stoop. Although she lived in the Upper East Side on the show, the actual apartment steps are located in Greenwich Village on Perry Street, between West 4th and Bleecker Street. The actual address is 66 Perry.

Another reason why I wanted to visit the Greenwich Village was to check out the ever-so-popular Magnolia Bakery and try its famous cupcakes. I admit that I’m a total ambulance chaser when it comes to sweets, and ever since I watched Saturday Night Live’s “Chronicle of Narnia” rap, I had to check this place out and see what the buzz was about with my own eyes.

The bakery was only a few blocks from Carrie’s Stoop, and as I expected, there was a line about 15 people deep. The place was a lot smaller than I expected but I was able to grab the famous Red Velvet cupcake from the self-serve cupcake section. Since there was no place for me to eat there, I walked over to the little park across the street.

I really enjoyed the whipped vanilla frosting that was smothered on top of the cake (it was heavenly) but the cupcake itself was a blah. The cake was pretty flavorless and way too dry! Perhaps it was because it had been sitting out for a while (afterall, it was already around 3:00 p.m. when I got there) and it would have probably been so much better earlier in the day, but still, I thought Sprinkles was 100 times better! Nonetheless, I was very happy that I had the chance to take a bite out of the beloved New York landmark.

Magnolia Bakery
401 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10014

Ox Soup for Your Soul: Gam Mee Ok, New York City

While looking through my trusted guidebook trying to figure out what to eat for dinner, I came across Gam Mee Ok in New York’s Koreatown on 32nd Street that received some impressive reviews on its Sul Lung Tang, a milky soup made from cooking ox bones for many hours. Although I had never heard of the dish before, I wanted to give it a try since it sounded like an ideal dish to settle my tired stomach after overdosing on meat in Brazil.

It was only a short, 10-block walk to the restaurant from the hotel, and when I got there, I noticed that everyone – and I mean EVERYONE– was enjoying Sul Lung Tang and nothing else, despite the fact that it did offer other Korean staples like Bibim Bap and Bulgogi. I knew then that this soup has got to be delicious.

And delicious it was. When you first get the soup, it comes completely unseasoned. Only flavor you taste is the rich, deep flavor of the broth made of bones — very similar to the milky consistency of the tonkotsu ramen broth. You can season the soup with salt and pepper, and sprinkle some scallions for added richness. Every sip was divine and heavenly, and the noodle and rice inside the soup was hearty enough to satisfy even the hungriest souls.

The plate of kimchi that accompanied the soup was as impressive. It had the distinct sourness that only comes from fermenting the napa cabbage masterfully, and the spiciness truly complimented the simple but robust flavor of Sul Lung Tang.

I’d better look for a restaurant that serves as good a Sul Lung Tang in Los Angeles before I start experiencing some serious withdrawals!

Gam Mee Ok
43 W. 32nd (between 5th and 6th Avenues), New York, New York

Solitude and the City: New York City

One of my all-time favorite movies is Sophia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, but I get a lot of slacks when I tell this to my Japanese friends. The flick, for some reason, is not too popular among the Japanese crowd, who feels that the movie makes a mockery out of the culture, and depicts the city in a negative light. One friend said that it’s unrealistic for Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson’s character) to be in Tokyo, one of the most exciting cities in the world, and still manage to feel alone.

It was very interesting that he said this, because that is the exact reason why I love this movie so much — that you can feel lonely even in a city so crowded that you can’t walk down the street without rubbing shoulders with strangers. New York, to me, was exactly that kind of place, where, despite thousands and thousands of people sharing one small space, everyone is alone and in their own, solitary world.

Next stop on my whirlwind of business travel was Manhattan — not a huge departure from Sao Paulo which was equally metropolitan, but definitely a change from my everyday life in the quite suburb of Los Angeles.

To me, New York seems not a city, but a living, breathing being. When I walk by all the famous landmarks alas the Chrysler and Empire State buildings, etc., I couldn’t help but to acknowledge its existence, as if I’m greeting an actual person. Each location has its own distinct personality and charm, and sometime I want to smile, hug, wave, bow, high-five, or just applause because it’s truly magnificent.

My favorite spot in the city was the Bryant Park, located right across from the office, and only a few blocks from the hotel I was staying. I often escaped the office at lunchtime, grabbed food at a local eatery (Pret A Manger being my favorite … thank goodness they were all over Midtown) and just hang out at the crowded park watching the other office escapees – in a complete peace and solitude.

The Happy Hour, Brazilian Style: Acai

My week-long Brazilian adventure came to an end on Friday. While I was happy and relieved to have everything I needed to accomplish in Brazil accomplished, a part of me wasn’t ready to bid farewell to this town, and the people that made my experience such a special one… at least not without a final lunch!

To make my last day special, as well as to celebrate the end of the long workweek, my friends took me to Acai for lunch, an outdoor restaurant that looks like it belonged in Hawaii rather than on the busy street of Faria Lima in Sao Paulo. Acai, they told me, is a real popular hangout especially on a Friday and although they are not known for authentic local cuisines, they have some great casual eats.

The restaurant, part juice bar and part tropical island-inspired restaurant, served wonderful variety of fruit smoothies, including its namesake, acai. Acai is a nutrient-dense Brazilian berry used to make drinks and desserts. I ordered the acai smoothie with ginseng, which was refreshing and satisfying. (Its grainy texture and sweet flavor is seriously addicting!)

I was not disappointed when I ordered a Filet Mignon sandwich with thick slice of mozzarella, sun dried tomatoes and arugula on a sesame bun, with a side of crispy fries either. The meat was tender and seasoned deliciously with salt and pepper, and the flavorful juice oozed out with each delicious bite.

I was too full to eat dessert but I took bites out of other’s, including the Papaya Cream and fresh pineapple with lime juice and zest. They were both so delicious that I wished I had some room left for the dessert of my own!

My weeklong adventure in Brazil was an amazing one. I could not have imagined having a better time than this, and I owe it all to the wonderful people I had the opportunity to meet here. I look forward to returning to this place soon