Tea Time Baby Time

What do I know about baby showers? Nothing. Just a vague idea, really.

They are not an English thing.  But I wanted  to celebrate. Daughter No 2 is expecting a baby girl in about 5 weeks and excitement is mounting.

the piece de resistance!



baby badem şekeri/sugared almond

There were so many friends I wanted to invite but reason - and size of sitting room - prevailed and we were about 22: mostly her friends but also some of mine, those who had a close connection with her. So it was a mixed group, Turkish and English, young and old, family and friends.

I made squidgy lemon-ginger cake, this time with soft dried apricots which made it beautifully moist:

squidgy lemon-ginger cake

Joan’s chocolate chip cookies, always popular:

joan's chocolate chip cookies

A Bakewell Tart with a cutout teddy bear shape:

bakewell tart

And these cupcakes:

 This was a new recipe from BBC Good Food's website - Romantic rose cupcakes but decorated with sprinkles and strawberries. I normally love this website but this particular recipe wasn't very successful: way too much butter and that icing with white chocolate, icing sugar and yet more butter was sickly. But the finished cupcakes looked pretty and tasted all right. It's just that I won't be making them again. 

My daughter's mother-in-law is a fabulous traditional Turkish cook and among her many specialities are dolma and börek.She even makes her own yufka/filo pastry from scratch! She came bearing great tepsi or trays of both, the sight of which calmed my palpitations: now I knew we would have more than enough to eat!

Unfortunately there was no chance to photograph them which is a pity as just then, the guests started to arrive: so what with the doorbell ringing, telephones both home and mobile too with friends asking for last minute directions, parking spaces ... it was all pretty hectic and the moment for photography eluded me.

 Daughter No 1 employed her well-honed organizational skills and led us through various games on a baby theme starting with Guess the Girth of the Mom-to-be, followed by a light-hearted quiz based on the father-to-be's answers that she had elicited beforehand. And then a special Pass the Parcel where each layer of paper contained a challenge eg name 3 famous babies!

But the grand finale was the baby cake that I had ordered from a novelty cake-making bakery arkadaş pasta & çiçek (tel: 0216 449 4950) just round the corner from here in Fenerbahçe:

chocolate filled with cherries: it was perfect complete with edible bib, booties, and dummy!

Sweet Petite Cupcakes with Sugared Flower Petals

With the flutter of incoming Spring, all sorts of "rites of passage" events begin unfolding all across the U.S.  One of the most important to juniors and seniors in high school is "The Prom".

In our homeschooling world, we have what is called "The Gala".  I know, we could have just called it "The Prom" but we just have to do things a bit differently...

For a teen girl, this means shopping for formal dresses and pretty sparkly shoes, pampering the nails and toes, and booking a hair salon for that romantic and elegant "up-do".

But the swirling thoughts in this mother's mind were "What should I bake for the pre-party?".  It should be sweet, elegant and petite.  That's when I eyed these hydrangea flowers at the market.  They were so soft, fragile, and velvety.

Something with sprinkles and flowers sounded like a good idea.  Little petite cupcakes.

The girls spent the day in full girlie preparation for the evening Gala.  Toes were polished, hair was curled up in ringlets.  My daughter and her sweet friend Mary are huge Jane Austen fans and this is their modern day version.

I spent the day making crystalized flower petals.

When I snipped off a hydrangea petal and held it upside down, it was in a nice little heart shape.  These could be the adornment for the tip of my petite cupcakes.

The Limosine was parked outside.  The belles of the ball and the dashing young gentlemen all arrived. Along with the fun and frolic came my petite cupcakes with their crystalized flower petals.  Photos were capturing the moment and sweet bites of small treats were savored.

The day was ending for my baking quest to make  little sweets to bring for their gathering.  The night was just beginning for these young ladies and gentlemen, who were all swept  into the waiting limo, ready for hours of dining and dancing.

Sweet Petite Cupcakes with Crystalized Flowers:

Cupcakes:
(adapted from Martha Stewart's cupcake recipe)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time; scrape down bowl, and beat in vanilla.
3. Add flour mixture and milk alternatively, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
4. Divide batter evenly among liners, about three-quarters full each. Bake until golden and tops spring back to touch, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer pans to wire rack; cool completely.

Frosting:

I must admit.  My first batch of frosting was a dismal failure.  At room temperature, the butter cream frosting I made started to droop and sag on the cupcakes.  I decided to buy canned cream cheese frosting.  It worked beautifully.  It has the texture and strength to really sit up and hold the sprinkles.  

Flowers:

Whisk the whites of one egg until bubble and frothy.  Take a small paintbrush and lightly coat the flower petals.  (Snippets Notes:  I do one or two petals at a time and then sprinkle with sugar)  Lightly sprinkle the petals with sugar.  Let air dry in a safe spot over night until stiff and sparkly!  

Baby Blue Bird Nest Cupcakes

S.Kenney - 2011

I just love Martha Stewart's magazines.  For about 7 years now, I have been keeping her Easter editions. I put them all in a basket in my guest bedroom.  When I am looking for cute placecards, or holiday ideas, I often end up with something out one of her magazines.  This link can take you to the online page of where I found these fun Easter treats.

My son's "Odyssey of the Mind" group lucked out again.  They were the recipients of these cupcakes!


The little nest on top of these coconuts is made from toasted coconut flakes.  I have never toasted coconut before.  Honestly, though, anyone who likes coconut should just toast some in the oven even if they don't want to make cupcakes.  The smell is wonderfully potent...nutty, sweet, tropical.  I'm afraid I burned the first batch of coconut flakes and that was not so terrific a smell but the second batch improved.

S.Kenney 2011

While I am confessing my mistakes on the World Wide Web, I'll also spill the news that I've never made cupcakes from scratch.  Yep, its always been from a box. Now, there is no going back.  I followed the recipe very carefully and the result was delicious.  These cupcakes had a richer, deeper flavor and texture than any out of the box mix.

S.Kenney 2011

Cupcakes... They are so pretty; they are like an empty canvas waiting for creativity.  The buttercream frosting was especially tasty.  It was very light but with a very deep rich flavor. 

The original recipe for these sweet nest cupcakes made the little baby bluebirds out of piped, colored frosting.  I decided to use Hershey's milk chocolate Easter eggs instead.  I thought that was much easier and tastier than a mouthful of frosting.  

Cute cupcake-making interruption!!

While writing this article, my daughter begged me to see the movie "Burlesque" with her.  This is the movie featuring Cher and Christina Aguilera.  

Woah!!  

From describing my sweet little baby blue bird cupcakes to this steamy, sultry, va-va-voom Burlesque story was QUITE a distraction and required a mental shift.  I'm not sure I agree with the PG-13 rating on this movie.  And, I hope every wanna-be dancer out there doesn't run off to L.A. thinking that a burlesque lifestyle is that innocent.  

However, I must give a strong thumbs up for those who can appreciate the music, choreography, and cinematography of this movie.  It was visually stunning, musically captivating, and choreographically superb.  The acting was weak, the plot was predictable and cheesy moments were the basis of the movie but being a former dancer myself (of the classical ballet variety however!!) the dancers were incredible.  

I have to return to these cupcakes, a little frazzled, but admitting I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.  (Still can't figure out the why Jack wore that black eyeliner...)

Interruption over...back to the innocent little baby bird cupcakes.  Whew!  If I can divert myself back, that is.

S.Kenney 2011

The beaks were the most difficult details in making these cupcakes.  I didn't pipe frosting like the recipe entailed.  I used little chewy candies that were colored yellow.  That didn't quite work so well.  They were sticky and hard to handle.  Perhaps something drier would work better that could be secured with frosting to the tops.  Perhaps crushed lemon drops...

Baby Blue Birds' Nest Cupcakes:

Frosting:

Yield

Makes 2 1/2 cups

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Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar

3 large egg whites

1 cup (2 sticks) plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

3 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Directions

Combine sugar and egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Place over a pot of simmering water; whisk until hot and sugar is completely dissolved, about 3 minutes. Transfer bowl to mixer stand, and beat on high speed until cooled, 7 to 10 minutes.

Replace whisk with paddle attachment, and set mixer on medium-high speed; add butter, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, until incorporated. Beat in chocolate. If not using immediately, refrigerate buttercream in an airtight container for up to a week. Bring to room temperature, and rebeat or stir vigorously before using.

Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread coconut on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until light brown, 8 to 10 minutes, rotating pan once. Set aside to cool.

Lightly frost cupcakes with 1 cup chocolate buttercream; set aside. Tint 2 tablespoons reserved buttercream pale yellow; place in a pastry bag fitted with a #349 Ateco leaf tip; set aside. Tint remaining buttercream light blue; place in a pastry bag fitted with a #11 Ateco plain round tip, and pipe three bluebird heads, 3/4 inch in diameter, onto each cupcake. Using leaf tip, pipe yellow beaks. With a toothpick, add melted-chocolate eyes. Form each nest with 2 tablespoons toasted coconut.

Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes

I'm an avid recipe reader and now have a huge collection of recipes I have been able to cut out plus the handwritten ones and put into scrapbooks. Every so often - not that often, if the truth be told - I have a purge and throw out the ones that turned out not to be as good as I had thought.  But you will understand why I cut this recipe out of the Saturday ‘Weekend’ magazine in The Guardian when I was in the UK last autumn and put it aside for a rainy day. In fact, I’ve had it on my desk ever since just biding its time because I knew that given the right moment I would make it.

 It was the ingredients that attracted me, the pumpkin, the ginger.  I skimmed through and saw walnuts too. What a delicious-sounding combination was my first thought, followed in quick succession by a further thought: what’s more, all easily available here in Istanbul right now. This is always the issue here: can we get the ingredients? There was an inviting picture as well. I always think pictures are essential for recipes, don’t you? They lure you in. These cupcakes looked just right for a January afternoon at home with friends.

one perfect uniced cupcake

In my haste to make them, I didn’t wait for Son to be here to eat them up so I am happy to report that they freeze very well.  I froze them uniced.  Defrosting them was quick and completing with the icing the morning my friends were coming round was easy. Half the amount given in the recipe for the icing was exactly right for the 8 I had defrosted. Son has yet to try them.

Ingredients for Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes

Makes 12-16

125g stem or glace ginger in syrup ( my ginger was not in syrup)

175g brown muscovado (or molasses) sugar

200g unsalted butter, softened

2 large eggs

250g pumpkin (or butternut squash flesh), grated

200g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp each ground ginger and allspice

¼ tsp each ground nutmeg and clove (I didn't have clove)

125g chopped walnuts (or pecans)

200g icing sugar

125g full-fat cream cheese

1 tsp extra ground ginger for icing.

before and after

Method

·         Pre-heat oven to 190C/170C fan-assisted/375F/gas mark 5.

·         Finely chop the ginger. Beat sugar and 125g butter until smooth, then beat in the eggs, one by one. Stir in the pumpkin and chopped ginger, sift in the flour, baking powder and spices, add the nuts, and stir until smooth.

·         Line the pockets of a deep muffin tray with muffin papers, then fill each one almost to the top.

·         Bake for 25 minutes, then set aside to cool.

For the icing:

·         Beat the icing sugar, cream cheese and remaining butter until smooth. Add 1 tsp ground ginger.

·         Swirl a dollop of icing on each cupcake and decorate with a single piece of chopped stem/glace ginger.

Tips

1.       It’s amazing how this amount of grated pumpkin is magically absorbed into the other ingredients. Also the grating itself is much easier than it sounds.

2.       I recommend filling each muffin paper, as the recipe calls them, full as the mixture doesn’t overflow and they look terrific when beautifully risen. So next time – and there will definitely be a next time -  I will go for  12 -14 cupcakes, I expect.

3.       The reason that syrup was mentioned in the list of ingredients is that the recipe states that a little may be necessary for the icing ‘to make it easily spreadable’. However I didn’t find this necessary: the icing spread beautifully and tasted exquisite.



just right for tea with friends

 Afiyet olsun! Hope you like them as much as we did!