Gazpacho: A Sip of Summer

No, I have not been living off of cupcakes this past month during my wedding cupcake project.  I’ve been sipping glasses of gazpacho made from tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers out of my 20 X 20 community garden plot.  So, I actually lost a few pounds during my cupcake testing.  I make gazpacho by the blender pitcher to keep in my fridge and pour it into a jam jar whenever hunger strikes. 

I adore homegrown tomatoes and I usually grow at least ten different varieties.  My favorites are Sungold, Green Zebra, Red Brandywine, and Roma.  And I grow a variety of peppers and cucumbers for Charlie.  Each batch of gazpacho I make reflects the day’s harvest.  And you can play with the color.  For a light green batch mix Green Zebras with a yellow heirloom and yellow pepper.  For a yellow batch mix all yellow tomatoes and peppers.  Play around and see what you prefer. 

Brandywine Heirloom Tomato

I even brought a bright yellow batch of gazpacho to Monica’s wedding shower.  I poured it into small clear plastic 2 ounce glasses that I found at a party store and placed them on a black platter.  It was visually striking, filled with flavor, and easy for the guests to enjoy.  I love sharing food made from my garden produce.

Green Zebra Tomato

 I prefer my gazpacho smooth with an edge of acid and spice.  I find Keena’s Gazpacho, a recipe that I found on the blog, Orangette, to be a wonderful choice.  She blends her olive oil until it is frothy and then begins adding ingredients.  It’s my go-to recipe, which I tweak to my heart's content. 

 Keena’s Gazpacho

Adapted slightly by Laura Heldreth

3 - 5 medium large garden ripe tomatoes, preferably a mix of colors

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 garlic cloves

1 bell pepper—red, orange, or yellow, seeded and chopped

½ of a medium to large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped

basil (optional)

2 Tbsp. vinegar--I prefer sherry or champagne

Salt to taste

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Blanch tomatoes in boiling water and peel. 

Pour your olive oil into a blender, not a Vita-mix, and crank it up on high and let it run until the oil gets frothy.  This will take a few minutes. Then, I pour the oil into my Vita-mix and shove in all the other vegetables.  I really cram them in. 

Then crank it back up on high and let it run for four minutes or so until it’s completely smooth.  Then add the vinegar, pinch of cayenne and salt.  Process it on low for a moment to combine.  Taste it. And then I place the pitcher in the fridge to chill and for the flavors to blend. 

Serve chilled. Preferably in a jam jar.  

Yield: 6 servings

Truth Be Toad

Isn’t it fun when life gives you a collection? I collect plants, recipes, and black lab mixes, but I’ve only purchased one piece of garden art for myself: a concrete angel with a chipped wing.  But my angel isn’t alone in the garden, oh no.  She now has three toads to keep her company.

The first toad is covered in decoupage and was given to me ten years ago. 

The second toad was guarding the front door at our home when we purchased it six years and two days ago.  The paint had worn off the concrete so I painted it copper.  And now it sits on a lime green concrete pedestal beside my Japanese anemone.

This is Rupert.  Rupert was given to me this past August for my birthday from a couple of dear friends.  They picked him up at a massive garage sale at the fair grounds because he reminded them of the copper toad in my yard.  Whenever I look at him, I think of them packing him all around the fair grounds.  And it makes me feel warm and happy inside, like just before you giggle.

The Assistant pops up in the strangest places to help me take pictures!

You Need To Grow This

 I was first introduced to the common Japanese Anemone six years ago when I was volunteering at Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden. I was kneeling beside a volunteer that was easily in her seventies with dark gray curls poking out from underneath her bandana and straw garden hat.  We were weeding underneath the gnarled branches of the ancient rhododendrons and came upon a large clump of white flowers.  And a visitor stopped and asked about them.  And I felt a bit surprised and took a second look at the Japanese Anemone while the experienced Master Gardener answered the visitor’s questions.  Then when the visitor moved on, she turned and with a mischievous smile to me took her trowel and dug a small start off the side of the clump and slipped it into my purple bucket. 

“I couldn’t!”  I gasped.

“Nobody’ll miss it.  And you need to grow this.” She insisted with a wink.

She was right.  I look forward to August to see my Japanese Anemone shoot up four-foot high stems adorned with white blossoms.  The little start has grown into a big clump in my shady back yard and I moved a clump into my front yard that is getting established.  I watch pedestrians stop and gaze at them.  No wonder.  They are beautiful and tough.  The sturdy flower stems can withstand heavy rains. The flowers do wilt a bit in a vase, but the seed heads work great in flower arrangements.  I used three big stems of them in Monica’s alter bouquet for her wedding. You can find them at you local nursery in lovely shades of pink, purple, and white. And these plants, when happy, can colonize in your garden. So, if you live in the area, let me know if you’d like to grow it.  I’d be happy to dig you out a start this month.  Because you really need to grow this!

Happily Ever After Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes

Two nights ago, my dear friend Monica married her Prince Charming Craig.  She floated down the aisle like a princess, her face aglow with love and happiness.  And the look of love exchanged between her and Craig made me tear up.  I kept taking deep breaths and thinking about all my autumn garden chores to hold it together.  You see, both Monica and Craig had prior marriages that ended in divorce.  They moved forward raising their kids until, unexpectedly, they met and fell madly in love.  This is what I have wanted for Monica; a wonderful kind man to love and adore her.  To finally make this wonderful Disney obsessed single mother feel like the princess she is.  She embodied every current and future Disney princess as she entered the church and we stood and smiled on.  And I wiped away a stray tear.  What struck me as they said their vows, is just how courageous they were.  It takes real bravery to trust in love again and build a new family. Their daughters cried joyful tears during the ceremony and I felt so happy for them that I could have burst.  And after a weekend spent with family they are heading off to Disneyland, the happiest place on earth.

Happily Ever After Chocolate Truffle Cupcake

I baked the wedding cupcakes.  Prior to this event, I had baked maybe four batches of cupcakes in my life, one of which you have already seen on this blog. (But in my defense I have baked over 20 cakes this year while I was testing recipes.)  I was nervous so I went into research mode and checked out every cupcake cookbook at the public library; 23 cupcake books in total, including Zombie Cupcakes by Zilly Rosen just for some added levity.  After flipping through all those cupcake books, I learned that cupcakes are supposed to be cute.  The emphasis was on the cute appearance and the cake being light and fluffy.

But, I already knew that my friends were going to frost the cupcakes with cream cheese frosting in a simple rose.  I wanted to make a seductive cupcake recipe that a chocolate lover could savor.  I just didn’t find that recipe in my research.  So, I decided to create a new recipe. 

I started by tweaking Monica’s family chocolate cake recipe by adding a chocolate ganache center to the cupcake, which was lovely.  But, the cupcake texture was a bit too crumbly which often happens when you make a cake recipe into a cupcake.  So, I added some bread flour because the protein amount is higher and makes the crumb sturdier.  And then I let my inner chocoholic go crazy, I added Dutch processed cocoa for a more intense chocolate flavor, my favorite Scharffen Berger cocoa powder, a couple of glugs of Godiva Chocolate Liqueur, instant espresso powder, and more vanilla.  I baked up half the batter with the ganache center and they were nice, but not amazing.

Now, the next part of the recipe developed from a physical challenge.  This past August, I received PRP injections in my right knee and ankle to help grow some new ligament tissue.  And it worked!  Which is amazing and exciting and also painful, like most change is.  And I didn’t really think the timing through because a PRP injection leaves your ligaments severely sprained.  So, I can stand for about fifteen minutes in the kitchen before I want to start cursing from the pain.   And then I go ice my foot and calf until it’s numb and go back into the kitchen.  This meant that I had to break up the tasks into manageable steps. And some nights I just had to call it early.  So, I put the trial cake batter into the fridge for the night.  The next day when My Kid came over for dinner, I pulled out the cake batter and baked up some cupcakes to send home with him.  And those cupcakes were fantastic.  So, refrigerating the batter was the trick.  And I knew that I was almost there.  But, they needed another tweak.

A couple of days later, My Pirate and I were walking through Lowe’s talking about the cupcakes, and he said, “What if you put a truffle cake center in the cupcake?” And a light bulb went off in my head;  I could put a layer of truffle cake in the bottom of each cupcake! When I want to throw a culinary pass at My Pirate, I make him The Winning Hearts and Minds Cake that I found on Molly Wizenberg's blog, Orangette, and in her book, A Homemade Life.

The Winning Hearts and Minds miniature cupcake

I tested several versions of the cupcakes with different proportions of batters and chocolate ganache. And then I refrigerated or froze them overnight.  The cupcakes that were frozen and then unthawed won our taste testing.  I then distributed all my test subjects to my neighbors and a friend’s family dinner. 

This is what I came up with.  I made up the cake batter and put it in the fridge for the night.  The next day I heated up the chocolate ganache and put it in the fridge for 20 minutes.  While the chocolate ganache chilled I made The Winning Hearts and Minds Cake batter.  And then I put two tablespoons of The Winning Hearts and Minds Cake batter in the bottom of the cupcake liner, poured in two more tablespoons of the chocolate cake batter.  And pushed in ½ teaspoon of ganache on top of each cupcake.  Then I put them in the oven. Let them cool to room temperature.  Then wrap them up and freeze for at least 24 hours.  Remove from freezer and they will come to room temp in about an hour. 

I baked off the cupcakes for the wedding and wrapped them up and put them in the freezer.  Before I returned my library books, I flipped back through Southern Living’s Big Book of Cupcakes by Jan Moon and found a chocolate cream cheese frosting recipe.  All you do is add 1/3 cup of cocoa powder to each pound of powdered sugar that you add to the frosting.  So, I mirrored all the different forms of chocolate in the cake into the frosting.  When My Pirate tasted it on the cupcake, he giggled like a little girl.  The neighbor sighed and asked me how I did it.  And a couple of my friends closed their eyes and savored every bite.  And I knew that it was ready to be served at a wedding that was all about second chances and true love.

This cupcake is worth the extra time that it takes and the postponed gratification.  Don’t serve this at a five year old’s birthday party! No, this is an adult cupcake best shared with someone that you passionately love or at your dear friend’s wedding.

Happily Ever After Cake Batter

Adapted from Markum Best Chocolate Cake

2 cups flour

1 cup bread flour

2 cups sugar—I used vanilla sugar

6 tablespoons Hershey's Cocoa

2 tablespoons Scharffen Berger cocoa

2 tablespoons Godiva Chocolate Liqueur

4 tablespoons Dutch processed cocoa

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 cups warm water

1 teaspoon instant espresso powder

2 tablespoons vinegar

2 teaspoons vanilla—the good stuff

Place dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.  Mix wet ingredients together.  Pour wet ingredients into flour mixture and stir until it just combines.  Refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours.

Chocolate Ganache

By Cook’s Illustrated

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

¼ cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon confectioner’s sugar

Place chocolate, cream, and confectioner’s sugar in medium microwave bowl.  Heat in microwave on high power until mixture is warm to touch, 20 to 30 seconds.  Whisk until smooth; transfer bowl to refrigerator and let stand until just chilled, no longer than thirty minutes.

Winning Hearts and Minds Cake

Gâteau au chocolat fondant de Nathalie

Adapted from Je veux du chocolat!, by Trish Deseine and Molly Wizenberg

And tweaked by Laura Heldreth

7 ounces (200 grams) best-quality dark chocolate

7 ounces (200 grams) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes

1 1/3 cup (250 grams) granulated sugar—vanilla sugar works great

1 teaspoon instant espresso powder

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

tiny pinch of red cayenne pepper powder

splash of Godiva Chocolate Liquor

1 tablespoon Dutch processed cocoa

1 tablespoon Scharffen Berger

1 teaspoon vanilla

5 large eggs

1 Tbs flour

Finely chop the chocolate (a serrated bread knife does an outstanding job of this) or use Ghiradelli chips and melt it gently with the butter in the microwave, stirring regularly to combine. I use the microwave in 30 second bursts and it works great.  Add the sugar, instant espresso powder, salt, cayenne, vanilla, Scharffen Berger, and Dutch processed cocoa to the chocolate-butter mixture, stirring well, and set aside to cool for a few moments. Then add the eggs one by one, stirring well after each addition, and then add the flour. The batter should be smooth, dark, and utterly gorgeous.

Happily Ever After Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes

Make the Happily Ever After Chocolate Cake batter and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours. 

Heat your oven to 350 degrees.  Then, make the chocolate ganache and refrigerate for up to 30 minutes.  While it chills, mix up The Winning Hearts and Minds Cake batter.  Line your cupcake pans. 

Place 2 tablespoons of the Winning Hearts and Minds Cake batter in the bottom of the cupcake liner.  Put two more tablespoons of the Happily Ever After Chocolate Cake batter in the cupcake liner.  Top the batter with ½ teaspoon of chocolate ganache. Place in oven and bake for 17 to 19 minutes.  My cupcakes took 19 minutes in my oven. 

Cool in pan for ten minutes.  Then place on a cooling rack until room temperature, about one hour.  Then wrap in plastic wrap and foil.  Put in freezer overnight.  You can freeze them up to a month if they are wrapped well.  To unthaw, unwrap the cupcakes and place on a cookie sheet for one hour. 

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting –Adapted from Fine Cooking

1-1/4 lb. cream cheese, at room temperature

2-1/2 sticks (1-1/4 cups) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2/3 cup of combined cocoas—Hershey’s, Scharffen Berger, Dutch processed

1 (2-lb.) bag confectioners’ sugar (about 7-1/4 cups)
splash of Godiva Chocolate Liqueur (optional)

To make the frosting
Beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand mixer) on low speed to combine. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until aerated and light, about 2 minutes. Place confectioners’ sugar and cocoa in a separate bowl and whisk together. Stop the mixer and add a few cups of the confectioners’ sugar, incorporating it into the cream cheese mixture on low speed until combined. Repeat with the remaining sugar, adding it to the mixer in two additions. Once all of the sugar is added, pour in a splash of chocolate liqueur then increase the speed to medium-high and beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.

Then frost cupcakes. Top with sprinkles. Serve.  

I also made miniature cupcakes with The Winning Hearts and Minds Cake batter.  I baked them off at 350 degrees for twelve minutes.  And the bride and groom fed them to each other for the cake slicing ceremony.  They were the perfect bite size. 

Monica's wedding cupcake display

My Last Chocolate Brown Sunflower Bouquet

Cherry Rose Sunflower

I just picked the last large bouquet of sunflowers out of my garden plot and it felt bittersweet.  I grew 103 chocolate brown sunflowers for Monica’s wedding.  I have diligently cut them every two days for the past month and a half to make them create new blooms.  And they peaked two and a half weeks ago and now they are done six days before her wedding.  Six days!  So close. But, I knew that it was a long shot with a frost looming this month.  

Practice bouquet for Monica

I grew five different kinds of sunflowers: Cherry Rose, Velvet Queen, Red Sun, Moulin Rouge, and Evening Sun.  And they were all stunning.  I learned that they needed to be picked just when the blooms barely started to open to last 7 days in a vase. 

Evening Sun Sunflower bud

Instead of deadheading the sunflowers, I picked them all just as they started to open and I shared them with my friends, neighbors, and visitors exploring the community garden.  When I handed a dark Velvet Queen sunflower bloom to a young boy he looked into the dark velvety bloom and asked, “Is it dead?”

Velvet Queen Sunflower

Several older women chided me for not letting the flowers go to seed.  Which seems a bit silly to me.  It’s my garden; go buy your own seeds!  But, I diplomatically told them that I’ll let the last couple of blooms go to seed for them.  

Red Sun Sunflower unfurling

One of my friends asked for some flowers for her son to give to his girlfriend for their Homecoming dance and I created a sunflower hand bouquet for her.  I used a pinterest design that Monica suggested using for her wedding bouquet.  And it turned out great.  When my friend dropped by to pick it up, I found myself not wanting to part with it yet, which amused me.  I'm so glad that I took pictures.  Isn't it pretty?  

Even though I wasn't able to use the sunflowers for Monica's wedding, I'm grateful that I grew them.  I highly recommend sharing your flowers with the people you care about.  Everyone can use a little more beauty in their day, even Sadie, The Assistant.