Orange Pekoe Cupcakes with Apple Cinnamon Buttercream

Who doesn't love tea? It's a hot, caffeinated and delicious. Ok ok, I guess it can be decaf as well, but rarely do I choose that option. My favorite tea is probably Earl Grey. You wouldn't know that from visiting where my house, where I seem to be mysteriously void of such tea *straight face*.

Last week I came across a recipe called Black Tea Cake With Honey Buttercream that immediately stole my heart. Tea in cake? Brilliant! Before reading the recipe, I assumed she used brewed tea in the recipe, but I was wrong. To make this cake, you actually expel the tea from the tea bags. I thought it might result in a bitter and grainy cupcake, but again I was wrong. I baked a batch last night with some modifications and was gobsmacked. They are amazing; super moist and the frosting, well, lets just say I had to stop myself from eating it by the spoonful. I ate three before dinner.

I can't wait to make another round of these, using earl gray tea and perhaps a honey vanilla frosting. drool. First the pictures, then the recipe...

   

Orange Pekoe Cupcakes with Apple Cinnamon Buttercream (adapted from Pastry Affair)
Yields 9-inch cake, 18 regular cupcakes, or 24 mini cupcakes

For the Orange Pekoe Cupcake:
1 cup skim milk
The contents of 4 tea bags
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup melted coconut butter (or vegetable oil)
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line your cupcake tins and set aside.
• Warm the milk until near boiling on the stove or in the microwave (keep an eye on it, it's really easy to scorch the milk). Cut open the tea bags and add the tea directly into the milk. Allow to cool.
• In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the coconut oil and vanilla extract. Gradually add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the tea brewed milk, mixing until batter is uniform and smooth.
• Spoon batter into mini cupcake liners and bake for 11-12 minutes (for a full cake bake for 30-40 minutes  or 18-22 minutes for regular cupcakes). Remove from the oven and allow to cool before frosting or serving.

For the Apple Cinnamon Buttercream:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3 tablespoons apple cinnamon butter
2 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

• In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and apple cinnamon butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and continue mixing until the frosting comes together. 
• If the frosting is too runny, add more powdered sugar until it reaches the right consistency. Likewise, if the frosting is too stiff, add more honey (or a splash of milk) to thin it out. If the frosting is too sweet, add a pinch more salt until the desired sweetness is achieved.
• Spread or pipe the honey buttercream onto the cooled cake and serve.

How to kill a hangover

If morning (or perhaps afternoon) rolls around and your head is pounding, your mouth tastes like a garbage dump and your stomach is rolling as if you were on a boat in the middle of a storm, Congratulations, you have a hangover! At this point you have a couple of options:

1. Stay still. Don't move an inch! The hangover may subside on its own. (This is super unlikely.)
2. Get up and out of bed and actively fight this hangover. Helmets and gloves style, you will take this hangover DOWN! (Also unlikely, depending on hangover severity.)

If you choose option one, good on ya - I wish you the best of luck. Please note that you may turn to option 2 at any time, when you realize that you still feel terrible.

First of all, if you are out partying and have the sense of mind to do some forward thinking, go order a glass of water and then three more. If you skipped dinner and had beers instead, be kind to yourself and grab a slice or two of pizza or make a pot of Kraft dinner. You will thank yourself in the morning.

Now, let's talk business! The following steps are an almost maybe sure-fire way to kill that nasty hangover.

1. Advil. Take 3 before opening up your eyes. Ideally, you should sleep with a bottle under your pillow to facilitate this step.
2. Get your hands on some coffee. If you come across a bottle of Bailey's, you should definitely incorporate it. Total twofer - caffeine and hair of the dog.
3. A hot shower will probably make you feel slightly more human. If you can't stand long enough to make that happen, at least wash your face and brush your teeth - you probably did neither before going to bed and you probably are disgusting.
4. Time to eat. McDonald's breakfast - GO! If it's past the sacred McDs breakfast hour, fear not, you have options - try Dennys. If you are a slug and have slept most of the day away, feel free to have lunch instead. Either way, get something carby and greasy and bacony in your stomach and try not to regurgitate it.
5. Depending on your level of hungoverness, you now should either go do something active or hit the couch super hard. Fresh air and keeping busy will make the hangover feel less awful. If, however, it hurts to move, you should camp out on the couch. It is imperative you set yourself up correctly here - you MUST be wearing sweatpants, have a blanket handy, have snacks and drinks at your immediate disposal and have the blinds shut tight. You are looking for a cave feel here. I would recommend putting your phone on silent. If you lost your phone last night, ever the better.
6. Drink a diet root beer.

If you are still feeling terrible, it probably means you had a really good time last night, and you will just have to wait this one out. It should be noted that during steps 1 through 6 you should drink at least your body weight in water. Also remember, misery loves company. Surrounding yourself with other hungover individuals is a good idea! There's nothing worse than suffering a hangover with someone who feels amazing... Actually, there's' a lot of things worse. If you DO have a friend at your disposal who IS feeling great, use them! Steps one through 6 can easily be facilitated by a buddy. If you can get them to bring you the Tylenol and breakfast and root beer all the better!

I sure hope these steps help. If you have any alternate suggestions, please let me know. I will test them out next weekend.

That is all.Good luck and god speed!

Cobbles & Cream

Valentine's day dessert, of course, was up to me. A million chocolaty recipes ran through my mind, along with guilty thoughts that I was being selfish because i know Nick likes vanilla more. I also learned this week that he thinks pie trumps cake. I don't think I've ever been so surprised...and horrified. PIE!? hrmph. So i mulled over maybe making an apple pie, but then all of the sudden it was Friday and I had no time and no pie making ingredients.. and by that I'm referring to Lard. I Also think peeling, coring and slicing apples is the most painful thing ever. My mommy dearest has a contraption that does it all for you, so I prefer to fulfil my apple pie needs at her house.

5PM on Friday, no desert in sight. I find a can of coconut milk, score! I have a can of sliced peaches in the fridge and blueberries in the freezer. A plan arises. Blueberry peach cobbler with coconut whipped cream!

I find some recipes and make some adjustments to suit my ingredients and need to not leave well enough alone. The cobbler comes together without a hitch and I throw it in the oven by 5:30, deciding I will warm it up after dinner.

The Coconut Whipped Cream (Oh She Glows has a great write up) did not go as planned. Every recipe called for a can of FULL FAT coconut milk, which is a problem as I never buy full fat anything. The second problem- I don't have time to let it chill as long as is called for. I throw it in the freezer and pull it out half an hour later, hoping for the best. Ideally, when you open the can of coconut milk the cream should have hardened so you can easily scoop it out and leave the rest of the coconut milk behind . Mine isn't even close. I carefully tried to skim the coconut cream off but of course, got some milk in the bowl in the process. Bad news. I chill my bowl and beaters and cream and cross my fingers and try to whip it. No luck. It will not get whippy. Hrmph. I recall a recipe for chocolate coconut milk ice cream that I had perused and dismissed earlier, and decide to go that route. I throw the rest of the coconut milk in the bowl and add some sugar and vanilla and whip it up, throw it in a container and into the freezer. I say a little prayer to the Dessert Gods that the ice cream will harden in time.

The re-warmed cobbler comes out of the oven and is bubbly and the crust is golden brown and it looks amazing. I check the ice cream and it has hardened- hallelujah! It is isn't very creamy but it IS cold and delicious I throw a couple of scoops on top of the cobbler and BOOM Valentine's Day is complete!

Here are my adapted recipes:

Winter Blueberry-Peach Cobbler (Adapted from Better Homes & Garden)

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup margarine, softened

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 cup canned peach syrup

3 cups canned peaches

1 cup frozen blueberries

1 tablespoon margarine

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoonground cinnamon

Directions

1. For topping, stir together flour, the 1/2 cup sugar, and baking powder. Add coconut milk and the 1/4 cup margarine all at once. Stir until smooth; set aside.

2. For filling, in a medium saucepan stir together brown sugar and cornstarch; stir in water. Add peaches and blueberries. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Add the 1 tablespoon margarine and the lemon juice; stir until butter or margarine melts. Pour into an ungreased 9x9 glass dish. Spoon topping in mounds over hot filling. Sprinkle with a mixture of the 2 tablespoons coarse sugar and the nutmeg or cinnamon. Place on a shallow baking pan in oven, to catch any spill over.

3. Bake cobbler in a 350 degree F. oven about 35 minutes or until bubbly and a toothpick inserted into topper comes out clean.

Vanilla Coconut Milk Ice Cream (Adapted from The Detoxinista)

Ingredients:
1 14 can coconut milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and with a hand mixer beat until smooth and creamy. Throw in a container and freeze for a few hours. Take it out of the freezer and let it sit until it's scoopable.

Med Rountain Ski Trip

Eight years ago was the last time I spent anytime on a ski hill. After breaking my arm in an underwhelming snowboarding fall, I lost the nerve to get back on the mountain. Instead, I worked on my chalet skills. I bet you didn't know those existed... It's a fine art involving mostly drinking but also activities like hot tubbing, playing cards and shopping. This weekend, however, I got rustled out of my chalet-indulging activities and got dragged up the hill for some skiing.

For the last three weeks I've been fretting and worrying about the impending ski trip to Red Mountain in the town of Rossland. What if I forgot how to ski? What if I fell off a cliff? What will I wear? Everyone assured me it would be like riding a bike.. I had to remind them that my bike riding history is marred with a fall resulting in two broken arms. Nick assured me his mom, Bev, would take care of me on the mountain so I acquiesced. I collected all the necessary ski gear from my mom and sisters and Thursday morning boarded a little pacific coastal flight to Trail.

Friday morning arrives. Nick, Andy, Jess and Cody ventured off for a day of cat skiing and leave Bev and I to hit the mountain. Nervous doesn't even begin to describe how I feel. I get my ski pants on and two sweaters and my jacket and then realize I've forgotten to put on my suspenders so I take it all off and start again. We walk over to the rental shop where I check Beginner as my skill level. I ask the rental guy for some tips and he suggests that I try to upright. Twenty minutes and a few muttered swearwords later, I've manage to get one ski boot on. I think I might have sprained my shoulder trying to get the buckle done up. The second boot is just as difficult. I've broken a sweat and haven't left the shop. The chair lifts aren't open yet so off we go for a coffee. Now, more coffee was probably the last thing I needed, since I was practically hyperventilating with the fear of my first chairlift ride in almost a decade. We go to head outside and I realize I've misplaced my gloves already. Guess I can't go skiing! Bev's not buying that excuse so we retrace my steps and locate my lost mittens at the rental shop. Darn, plan Abort Ski Trip has failed.

I am officially freaking out while we wait in line for the chairlift. It is foggy and freezing and I'm scared and all I can think about is falling whilst trying to get off the chairlift. Bev tries to reassure me and promises to steer clear so I have lots of room to exit the lift. The end comes and I am a broken record of "oh my gods". I stand up and on shaky legs I ski away with no disaster! Anti-climatic, I know, but boy was I stoked.

We stand at the top of a green run and after some inner mental coaching I giver down the hill as if I had just skied yesterday. Muscle memory is a wonderful thing! I make it down the run and through the day with no falls or tears.  Actually, the only fall I had all weekend was when I fell out of my chair at dinner *face palm*

In total, Bev and I threw down 52 runs in three days of skiing. To celebrate, I threw down at least 52 beers. Those beers were necessary to ease the pain I was feeling. By day three my legs and shoulders and various other parts were screaming in agony. My toes hurt from smashing against my boots and it's very possible I may lose some toenails from this adventure. My face is wind burnt and chapped from the wind and cold. Despite all that whining, I'm feeling pretty great. It was an awesome weekend with lots of laughs, good food and great people.

A few things I learned this weekend....

1. I should spend less time obsessively worrying about things.
2. Half the battle of learning how to ski is being able to dress yourself appropriately in ski gear and then not falling off the chairlift. If you can do those two things successfully you have left the Beginner level and have arrived at intermediate.
3. Switching the first letter of someone's first and last name can make for a hilarious nick name.
4. If you pretend you are in a ski race, you will immediately feel way cooler and ski ever so slightly faster.
5. That some people consider the color pink to be 'smug'.