Today was excellent. I slept in til and made some time to bake and meet my man for lunch before an afternoon in the office. I wound down with anice family dinner and a bout of baking.
What did I make? Well, you remember, I had one criteria the first time I tried to be vegan: sweets. Now, it’s take two, the Suzie-homemaker mod: everything I produce for my own consumption will be vegan. I made that dream real with last week’s success creating vegan salteñas. My coworkers requested a made to order salteñas day, so now I have 18 beautifully browned pockets of savory goodness and a great how to for dough braiding “fresh out da box!”
I was sad I couldn’t find any demo videos for braiding to link last week, so I made one for you tonight. Enjoy!
The past couple days, I was really bumming, but I went into the restaurant last night and decided to stop feeling so sad for myself; just get back to running shit and loving my everyday. It worked. I had great guests and even when things weren’t perfect, I was able to course correct and really connect with people in a good way. I even got into a really nice conversation with a couple about their 6 kids, blogging, and baking. Inspired and feeling full of love, though I went home tired, I decided to get into the kitchen.
So, you may or may not know, the meaning of life is locked in the braided dough of a delicious salteña. A childhood favorite, I learned how to make it vegetarian recently in the past couple years. Today, I have reached true baking nirvana: VEGAN salteñas. Last night, I prepped my vegan mod of the traditional filling and I chilled a batch of Terry Romero’s empanada dough over night. It was perfect. Less buttery and heavy than the original, these salteñas were just as satisfying and flavorful as I ever remembered. Check it out:
Original Recipe for traditional Bolivian salteñas is here. Vegetarian mod. Ultimate Vegan mod.
Results:
Thank you to everyone who continues to send good vibes to Gimme Dem Cupcakes!
This is my favorite time of year. I’m hoping to get my tree up tonight so I can sit in the dark with the lights twinkling while I try to drag Cocoa Bean away from the beckoning ornaments!
So far, I’m having a great time! So much celebrating! I enjoyed a flawless family Thanksgiving + Lars and I got a little weekend time with my homies back from grad school , too. And upon reflecting the future challenge of life without Can Can, my wonderful Corolla DX wagon, I went on my usual existential bend and concluded my life purpose is to concoct and share cupcakes. (It’s getting real: business cards are ordered and I’m working with a friend to write up a business plan!) Meanwhile, we had a great 2009 Holiday Party for our community of volunteers, students and staff here at the Literacy Council, Cocoa Bean enjoyed her very first snow, and I was again blown away by the culinary feats of the Perry House homies at Friendsgiving. (:
All these ooey gooey sharing caring events have my cupcaking noggin churning ideas for new cupcakes and business ideas… thinking about what I need to do to certify my kitchen for commercial use, how to market more effectively to people I don’t know, how to do community service with cupcakes… Could GDC hold workshops for the community or be totally structured as a non-profit? We’ll see…
Results: You guys are so predictable… A billion of you were into vanilla and chocolate combinations, sometimes with fruit, and sometimes topped with sprinkles. Less dominant were the classics like carrot cake with cream cheese, red velvet, lemon+blueberry, and the dreaded funfetti. There were a few more interesting selections like white chocolate, smore + peanut butter, but overall nothing much original. I was hoping people would be more adventurous. But I was reminded, cupcakes are sentimental comfort food. People want their childhood favorites and the their mom’s (Betty Crocker’s) recipes. So, while you are comfortably nestled in your cardboard box favorites, I’ll shake in a little ginger, hibiscus, coconut, lychee, green tea, marzipan, and all the ideas I have that might break you out of your shells! You know, stuff like this.
When things are intense at work, sometimes I feel a travel bug is just about to get me. I feel like meandering. The Cupcakeologist knows how to pull at my heartstrings. I need not wander when I have memories of Italy flooding my eyes. Ahh, Firenze, how I miss The Oil Shoppe and Perche No! and Vivoli… Curling up in my homestay on Piazza Santa Croce to watch Roma,Citta Aperta. Better yet, I remember walking to the edge of the city and coming back from the markets with fresh fruit, cheese and bread to share with the birds while I layed out on the legs of the Ponte Santa Trinita, writing poems instead of working on my thesis. Don’t judge, but Sfizzi Pizza, a watermelon, and a jug of wine do make the perfect summer night full of dancing and searching and getting lost only to walk two blocks out of the way to be driven a block home by a creepy artist. It was a good place to learn about beauty, the-not-so-pretty, and passions that make life feel meaningful…. such a long time ago and such a short 2 months, but thinking of it makes me feel all fuzzy and warm.
This all inspried by The Cupcaketologist, one of my very favorite cupcake aficiandos. She make nuts sexy. For every cupcake, there’s a stunning image and a terribly romantic story. It’s not a kitsche collection of anything, just a really tasteful life reflection presented through confection. Beck, that’s a good blog. I love getting lost on the internet…
Not as sexy, expect to see a Spumoni in the test kitchen here shortly.
A lot of my favorite food experiences have been from trucks or open markets. Who wouldn’t love accessible quality local food? In most cities , they have city blocks lined with mobile food carts and in most there are always beautiful farmer’s markets featuring the local harvests.
I’ve come across some of best food ever in an outdoor setting: like The Grill Cheese or The Fojol Brothers. They take a great food concept and pair it with responsible action like recycling and philanthropy.
As I look to my own business ventures, I’m wondering if finding a little plot to squat or a truck to drive around would be a good way to start my own sales. I may have to pay for all the regular certification and business start up, but I could lease or buy a truck and not worry about full rent costs. I wonder what the power or fuel costs are like
So, I have received commission number numero dos. It’s not cupcakes and it’s not vegan, but for those of you who haven’t had my salteñas, they are full of love!
Salteñas are my favorite food (next to curry)and it is my life goal to find a good vegan dough and make the leap to an even more animal friendly version. I made some for a BBQ with a batch of the Choconut cupcakes and both were well received. There was lots of encouragement to open a bakery featuring salteñas and cupcakes exclusively. Whether my business is named “Salty Cakes,” “Gimme Dem Cupcakes,” or “Beckmakery” the kitchen is always open so long as I’m not working elsewhere; let me know what you’ve got a hankering for and we’ll see what my oven can do.
So after spending time with Yuli baking this Saturday, I want more! While it wasn’t a victory in vegan exploits, we did make about 40 saltenas and one delicious peach poundcake. We didn’t make it to fondant, but I’m looking forward to more Saturdays. In fact, let’s get organized. I’m planning to start a mini baking think-tank. Who knows, maybe it’ll become the baking dream team of tomorrow! I’m thinking at least one Saturday a month. I’m calling you out. Email me if you want in: beckmaka@gmail.com! I’m thinking potluck ingredients, free recipes, good company, great food. Who knows, with the right music, it might dissolve into a series of sugar infused dance parties. Also, in an effort to be more inclusive, I’m going to update my account on Bakespace, so be on the lookout for recipes… eventually.
In other news, I’ve been recruited. 1. to lead a Bake Sale… yes, I’m talking about you, Cristina and Cole. Come to a club meeting and you’ll have all the know-how to do your own baking. I know you can do it! I’ve had your cake and lasagna! To die for. 2. I’ve been hired to bake for Back to School Night for my main squeeze, the Literacy Council! My first commission deserves my original recipe, the Jelly Donut and then I think I’ll do Chocolate Almond and Vanilla with the new beans I just bought wholesale at Artie’s!
Level Up Salesman Skillzes! Rival cupcakers, prepare to be pwned.
I love grocery stores. I love open markets, dirty ethnic shops, gaping mega-grocers, and small business gourmets. They tell you so much about the neighborhood and all the good food they’re cooking. Grocery shopping is my favorite way to spend money. All the shapes and sizes, colors and textures, then add to that the people watching! You can see the soccer mom’s just waiting to pounce their 100 calorie packs while the ethnic people carefully knock, smell, pull or pluck a the produce. All the food is just waiting for the right moment to be devoured. I have memories of going into stores with my mom and drooling over the selection of baked goods. We’d pick out a loaf of something and eat half of it on the way to the check-out (leaving some to account for). Tacky, I know, but that’s what dreamy sentimental stuff in my head is made of…
Truth is, you can’t have great cupcakes without great ingredients. Luckily, my travels take me over a pretty big area of Northern Virginia, so there are a lot of great grocery stores and ethnic shops I frequent. Living in the suburbs outside DC, I have the benefit of access to better maintained/bigger stores that have great selection and competitive prices as well as the little businesses. I am looking to into some fancier stuff, so I’m hoping to find a place to buy whole vanilla beans, quality chocolates, and the like. Do chime in with ideas.
I’m a vegetarian and I don’t like to eat a lot of processed stuff. In general I enjoy cooking from scratch anyway, so it’s all about fresh produce. My favorite store, hands down is H Mart on Gallows Road in Merrifield. Great Wall is also great. You’ll find the difference between the two is ethnic/management. H Mart is Korean and Great Wall is (duh) Chinese. My favirte finds here have been canned/jarred items like Tamarind paste, Jasmine Extract, Bamboo Shoots, Lychee nuts, etc. You know, Asian stuff! They also frequently have people prepping free samples!
Better yet, farmers markets! They are all over the place in myneighborhood and yours, I’m sure. Usually May until Novemberish. I get fresh breads, pasta, plants for my garden, cheeses when I want to show off my weak vegetarian ways…
When I’m looking for better organic stuff I go for Whole Foods or make the hike to Wegmans. There, I find more obscure seasonal items like figs or better vegetarian meal offerings.
For kitchen gear I don’t always have to go to a home good store. At my local Shopper‘s they have tortilla presses and grill pans, and I found a great mortar and pestle at Duangrat’s.
As I try to get into the dreamier gourmet side of things, I’m looking to check out places that are a little farther away like maybe Balducci’s or some of the small markets like Fern Street’s or Taylor’s in DC.
Like most mythical creatures, there has to be a good resting place away from the public eye for cupcakes. So where do they live before you eat them? Some live in boxes, or cake carriers but the real special cupcakes live in tins. After a brief stint on the cooling rack, my cupcakes take in a little R&R, getting done up with a little ganache, butter cream, or icing then some kind of finishing touch to accent the flavors or colors. Then delicately placed in a tin lined with parchment, they travel in style.
Why do I love tins? They usually don an antiquated illustration style that really just warms me up. And more than anything… I love the sound they make when they bump. I put them on the top shelf of my cupboards just so I can hear them ding when I blindly fumble for them.
Before a cupcake touches your lips, I’ve usually happened upon a tin from somebody’s basement, handed down from their grandma only to be found for $.049 at my favorite thrift stores. Pictured here are a few of my favorites. I like it when they’re a little roughed up, inappropriately sized, or just plain cute.
