The Champagne Cake

Here’s something sweet for the end of a lazy, long weekend

I first spotted the champagne cake just before New Year’s Eve, but haven’t had the time nor the reason to make the cake since. That is, until last week when Que opened a bottle of champagne and left half a bottle unfinished. It was also my cousin’s birthday this past week -  what perfect timing!

I didn’t have a lot of time to decorate the cake though, so I added a bit of pink food coloring and stuck with a simple butter cream icing and summer fruits! I thought it complimented the cake quite well and everyone had a second slice!

Happy baking

Champagne Cake
adapted from allrecipes

Ingredients:

2-3/4 cup AP flour
3 t baking powder
1 t salt
2/3 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup champagne (I used Martini & Rossi Asti)
6 egg whites

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees; oil & flour 10″ round cake pan
2. In large bowl, cream butter; add sugar and cream until light and fluffy
3. In separate bowl, sift dry ingredients
4. Add dry ingredients to large bowl, alternating with champagne; add a bit of pink food coloring
5. In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peak forms
6. Fold egg whites into mixture
7. Pour mixture into pan & bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean

Buttercream Icing

Ingredients:

2 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup butter
1 t vanila
1 T heavy cream

Directions:

1. Cream butter
2. Add sugar and vanilla; mix
3. Add 1 T heavy cream; add more 1 t at a time to adjust consistency of icing

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

I was skeptical about these cookies.  I usually don’t like cookies with a lot of spice (and I definitely am not a fan of ginger), but I decided to make them anyway after seeing the Martha Stewart recipe on Lovin’ from the Oven. They just looked so chewy!

Egg Nog Cupcakes

The Egg Nog Cupcake were by far the favorite dessert hands down at the Christmas Party last week. I loved these! The only thing I would do differently would be to leave out the cinnamon stick  (the one used for decor) – people tried to eat it!

Peppermint Meltaways

A Christmas Party / A Christmas Project (I)

It’s been full on party prepping mode this week at 2626. The lights have been hung, the mini-tree has been decorated, the baking has commenced, and… the blog has been a bit neglected.

But, not to worry ~ there are plenty of posts lined up! Khris and I are hosting A Christmas Party for A Christmas Project this upcoming Thursday (a small gathering to collect winter items for Bhutanese refugees here in Houston) and there will be an array of little treats to be made and eaten.

Here’s a preview of the list of goodies to come:

Peppermint Bark
Marshmallow S’mores pops
Peppermint Meltaways
Chocolate Molasses Cookies
Sugar Cookies
Gingerbread House
Eggnog Cupcakes
Peppermint Cupcakes

The kitchen is a mess. The internet is down at home (again. whyAT&Twhy??).  But recipes / pictures will be posted soon! Really. Promise.

Peanut Butter Cookies

I received my issue of  Taste of Home Holiday: Christmas Cookies & Candies last Friday and I couldn’t wait to try out the recipes! I made these Peanut Butter Cookies the very next day for the Texas v. Nebraska game (hook em’ horns!). As promised, these cookies were both moist and chewy!

“With Love, Apple Pie”

This Thanksgiving I learned:

(1) Older Asian people are really not that into pie
(2) They don’t appreciate the concept of fruit dip

Mental note to self for next year:  fresh fruit and sponge cake.

But with that said, thank you, Joy the Baker for your Apple Pie tutorial! I have never once successfully made pie crust from scratch until I found you. Sure, there were moments of panic and moments when I felt I was being overly ambitious for even attempting this pie (“why, why did I decide to make pie?!!”), but you… you guided me through (with pictures and all). And because of you, I had a delicious apple pie to bring to dinner ^_^ So, thank you, Joy.  xoxo

Chocolate Cookies

The best friend / ex-roommate was recently accepted into medical school. And with medical school, comes endless hours of studying and a bad case of the munchies (and apparently, also a strong desire for meat … but, that’s a different story).

Anyway, while chatting with her the other day she mentioned that she would like some  cookies, chocolate cookies in particular. What? I can make those! And not only that, I also have a “Secret Turkey” (think Secret Santa, but for Thanksgiving) to make. Two birds, one stone. Perfect! I’m all about the efficiency.

But what kind of chocolate cookies? I sat on it for about a week. Finally, I decided on chocolate and Andes mint. I mean, who doesn’t love Andes mints? Okay, fine -  midway through I decided that maybe I wouldn’t want that many Andes mint cookies.  So, I opted to try an assortment of chocolate cookies instead. I dug around the pantry and finally came up with – Andes mint chocolate cookies, chocolate dipped chocolate cookies with walnuts, chocolate peppermint cookies, and regular chocolate cookies.

Here, take a peek inside the box…

The Vending Machine

[I was sifting through old posts on the old blog and came across this entry. The first thought that came to mind was - What? I posted about a vending machine?? Followed by - I... must.. repost this. So, here it is (again).]

Thursday, January 12, 2008

Practically every afternoon for the past two years I’ve donated a quarter a day to our local, friendly vending machine. And it has served me well. It has never once failed to dutifully provide me (and countless co-workers) with caffeinated goodness day after day.

Then three months ago it began running low on sodas.

This past month was the worst. There is usually a hierarchy of drink selection. The first to go is always the guilt-free Diet Coke followed by the regular Coca Cola, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, etc until it trickles down to the stuff we wonder why is even still in existence – the Big Red and the Welch’s Grape Juice. Now when even those are gone – you know there’s a problem.

Panic spread through the office – Where were our sodas? When will the machine be filled?

The days came and went and our machine sat empty.

Then Monday morning we looked out into the hall and the vending machine man was here! We cheered (really, we did) and then our cheers turned into concern – wait, was he taking our machine away??

Horror.

We bombarded HR with questions of when our machine would return. No answer. We made plans to buy a mini fridge for our department.

Rumors swirled about why the vending machine was taken away. Some said the vending machine was being removed because “we didn’t drink enough soda” for the vending machine company to make money. There were also rumors that our HR department forgot to pay the bill for our vending machine. Anger.

Then today, two agonizing weeks later, a new and improved (and more expensive) machine has arrived!

…

[4:13:05 PM] Coworker: when i passed the new soda machine it almost brought tears to my eyes. ;(
[4:13:14 PM] Me: why is that?
[4:13:43 PM] Coworker: because it was so beautiful to see it again. lol

…

And all was well again.

Chicken Curry Puffs (Asia Market)

Last Tuesday my friend, Elaine, came over for dinner and brought with her a box of Chicken Curry Puffs (along with Panang Curry, two boxes of Pad Ke Mao, and Papaya Salad, but as delicious as they were, nothing, nothing compared to that little box of curry puffs!). They were sweet, they were flaky, they were the most amazing. One box just wasn’t enough! But alas, they were all sold out. It was the only box remaining and she had grabbed it for us (Thank you, Elaine).

Where?? Where, I ask. I must have more!

Asia Market, she said. A tiny hole in the wall grocery store slash restaurant in the Heights. It was the only Asian market in the area, so one day she decided to stop in to see what she could find. The first time she was there, all she wanted was to not be there. The place was small and dark; the windows were completely blocked off. Talk about a hole in the wall.

She never went back.

That is, until one day a Thai co-worker of Elaine’s took their boss out for Thai food. The boss came back with rave reviews. Elaine was perplexed, “Asia Market? Are we talking about the same small, dingy Asia market?” Apparently, the mini-market slash restaurant was under new management. The place is still a hole in the wall, but at least there is light! Elaine was happy (and safe).

Then, she discovered the curry puffs. Now we are all happy. So, so happy.

//Other note worthy dishes include the Pad Se Ew, Panang Curry, and Seafood Pad Khing . All of the dishes boast a strong basil flavor and when you tell them spicy – they make it spicy (Awesome).

Asia Market
1010 W Cavalcade St Ste D
Houston, TX 77009
www.asiamarket-hou.com