Future files: Hydrangea cakes

t must be a sign that I am ready for spring. (Not just ready, but Ready. Maybe even READY.) When I saw these cupcakes posted to Facebook by iambaker, my little ready-for-spring heart went pitter pat.

I have always been a huge hydrangea fan, and especially of the periwinkle variety that both of these bakers pulled off so wonderfully--though I do love the pink/periwinkle combo on the cake. iambaker linked over to Glorious Treats as evidence of her not having "recreated the wheel," but I am oh-so-glad she had the inspiration. (And be sure to check out iambaker's grandma's hydrangea watercolor she featured as additional inspiration. Quite lovely.)

I just need someone (anyone?) to announce a) an upcoming wedding, or b) an upcoming baby, so I may shower that individual with hydrangea cakes... so come on, people! Get with my program, would you?

I hope these dear cakes bring a little spring--dare I say summer?--to whatever little corner of the world you're in this morning. We're currently still quite chilly and overcast, so I might just sit and stare at these cakes a little longer, sipping my coffee, waiting for the phone to ring with baby/wedding news... (you know who you are).

Future files: Pretty pastel ice cream sandwiches

Would someone please have a baby so I can throw a shower? These just scream BABY SHOWER! (You know who you are, get on it. That little boy needs a sibling! Ha ha.)

Or, for a little girl birthday party... or for a fun summer afternoon activity. I'm envisioning them in rainbow shades... bet you didn't see THAT coming!

I discovered these ice cream sandwiches on yet another fun blog I recently discovered, Such Pretty Things. Prepare to enter Pretty Land, truly. And these sandwiches are the tip of the Pretty Iceburg! OK, enough Pretty Talk.

Future files: Artichoke hearts, fried

uite a rare thing happened the other day: I had leftover FRESH artichoke hearts in the house. By rare I mean it's never happened before. Usually what happens is that I scarf the whole thing--leaves, heart and all--in one fell swoop. That's just how I roll.

 But the other night I had a four-pack of small artichokes from Costco that were languishing in the back of the fridge and I thought, finally, I'll roast 'em up (since discovering the flavor of roasted artichokes, I don't think I'm ever going back). I made it through quite a few leaves but was slowing down as I approached the hearts and in rare (again: never) fit of sensibility, I thought I'd tuck them away for a future lunch or dinner and figure out something spectacular to do with them. (If this whole paragraph seems really "I" centric, it's because artichokes are a solo experience around here. Weird looks from the boys, no takers here. Just didn't want you thinking I actually KEEP the artichokes from them.)

The tucking away happened. The spectacular, not so much. I did my usual Google search and came up with plenty of things to do to jarred or canned artichoke hearts... not really what I was looking for. So I just ate them. Yep. Just like that. And they were good, don't get me wrong. But. Take. A. Look. At. These. Babies. Yeah. That's what I'm talkin' about. Tick tock, the future's coming...

Artichoke Hearts from food52
2 globe artichokes, preferable with some stalk.
1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 egg, beaten
1 cup dry bread crumbs

Prepare the artichokes: Peel all the leaves off the choke. Peel the stalk and with a paring knife neatly trim the bottom where you removed the leaves.

Cut the trimmed artichokes in half vertically and with a spoon remove the hairy choke. Be careful when cutting in half to evenly cut the stem, too.

Rub immediately with lemon juice so the artichoke doesn't get brown (which happens very quickly!). Steam the hearts until tender. Time will vary depending on the size of the hearts (about 15 minutes).

Dip each artichoke half into the egg and then into the bread crumbs. Fry in the olive oil over medium heat until golden. Set on paper towels to absorb the oil.

Creamy Cumin-Lime Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup creme fraiche
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
Finely grated zest of a lime
Juice of a lime
Salt

Mix all the ingredients together, adding salt to taste. Serve the golden hearts warm with the creamy dipping sauce.

I'm still a little freaked that this recipe came along about 24 hours after I needed it--it's like the internet knew what I was looking for and sent it to me! Maybe it couldn't quite anticipate my needs, but still, that's pretty quick, don't you think? And I think it won't be very long until I find myself with some hearts on my hands, too!

Future files: Peach cakes

My dear friend Margie sent me this link to a wonderful foodie blog, Big Red Kitchen, a couple of weeks ago and I have been salivating ever since! Seriously. If you knew me as a toddler, you wouldn't doubt that to be possible.

Take a look at these sweet cakes... don't they look like the real deal, sorta crusted in sugar? Yum.



I will be making these lovely wonders... one of these days!

So let's see... so far the future files contain chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes (not yet made), lemon meringue cupcakes (check, pretty good), sweetened condensed milk as coffee sweetener (check, no need to pursue further), and that scrum-deli-icious rainbow cake (not yet made). Is there anything I want to make that's NOT sweet? Ponder.

Actually, tomorrow I'm off to experiment with two things: that zucchini "pasta" concept with peanut sauce and a homemade V8 (husband's request). I'll let you know how it goes.
But it's a toss up between the rainbow cake and the peach cupcakes, which one gets made first... until I see some new, drool-worthy sweet thang tomorrow....

Future files: Happiest cake on earth

Imagine my delight when I found this cake:



It was featured on a blog I check in on somewhat infrequently: whatever. A very stylin' photographer gal with a crafty bent. Semi-celebrity in the blogosphere too, I do believe.

Actual. Intake. Of. Breath. (The happy kind. Not the kind I got from watching Hangover today, which was the somewhat horrified/frightened kind, at times. In between unabashed shrieks of laughter.)

Can't wait for a fun occasion to get dye all over my kitchen and make a mess. And eat it up. Whoo-hoo. Cake. And anyone who knows me knows my whacko penchant for colors, in a spectrum. Somehow haven't outgrown it. Yeah for that.

Future files: Lemon meringue cupcakes

In the not-so-distant future (that is, by next weekend when relatives are visiting!), these babies are coming out to play. Seth will be on cloud nine. I will post that happiness that will be mine.

UPDATED: Future files: A little somethin' somethin' for my coffee

OK, this one is not so far off in the future. I just read an interesting tidbit about condensed milk and am now about ready to pillage the kitchen in search of a can...

Take a look at the article on Serious Eats (I swear, I do read other food blogs, but they've been holding my interest a lot lately): What to do with condensed milk? Aside from many wonderful sounding uses for this ingredient in ethnic baking, I was most struck by the writer's everyday use of it in coffee.

I have been floundering around trying to figure out a great, tasty way to sweeten my coffee without the help of high fructose corn syrup. I know, there is all kinds of controversy currently pinging about the internet calling into question the latest flogging of an ingredient and many are saying what's the dif between HFCS and sugar? I'll leave that for you, dear reader, to investigate...

But, I did make the decision a couple of months back to forego my hazelnut creamer in favor of something that is REAL: cream, or soy milk/cream. And, frankly, it hasn't been doing it for me. My tastebuds have been ruined by the devil, and the devil's name is Carnation Coffee-Mate.

So, I feel like I've been thrown a lifeline. A caffeinated lifeline, if you will (could there be a better kind?). I have no idea if the pantry still holds a can of the stuff, as I usually only stock it for holiday baking. But I probably have a little left over... tomorrow a.m. finds me up very early and on my merry way to California, so I will brew a little coffee and give it a whirl. And I'll keep you posted!

UPDATED: OK, so it works. It's not the home run I was hoping for, but it's sweet and does the trick at least three-quarters of the way. I had to add a touch of actual cream to lighten the color--for some reason, color of coffee matters a great deal to me... I know, I know. Anyway, I may try it again, but I will probably actually look at the nutrition facts on the stuff before doing so. This morning, making coffee at 5 a.m., not so much looky at nutrition, me.

Future files: Cookie dough cupcakes

Not everything I see and drool over can I make Right This Minute. Not only do I not have the time and energy for that, I also don't have the metabolism! So I dreamt up a new category for this here blog o' mine and decided to call it "Future Files." In all my little scourings of the web I see countless little nuggets to taste and try over time... this will be my method of filing them away to try later. I swear I will try them later, and then post again, my version.

This one just jumped out at me this last week from Serious Eats. I have always been a sucker for cookie dough (ask my mother who used to threaten to make me eat a whole batch. I just prayed she'd follow through on that!), and though I don't go in so much for the cookie dough ice cream that was all the rage a few years back (and probably still is), I AM a self-professed cupcake nut, so this combo looks just too good to pass up. I ran it by the young taste-tester this morning and he gave it the big thumbs up, so it will definitely come out of the "future" and into the present, soon!

This version is from a "mix" recipe, which I'm not generally a big fan or proponent of. So when I do make these, it will be a from-scratch scenario. Yum. I think I need to go find some lunch...