Red Velvet Cupcakes

I have been gawking on Twitter and on my Instagram that I want to learn how to bake cupcakes for sometime now. I really love watching bakers or pastry chefs do their magic on TV or in YouTube or anywhere else. Channels on my telly were always on Lifestyle Network or TLC where there are lots of cooking shows.

I have this passion for cooking that when I want to cook something, all I have to do is read and follow the recipe and the result will always be delicious. Even if it is my first time to cook the dish, the result will always be superb. Maybe, I was a baker or a chef in my past life.

Cooking has always been my therapy. So last Saturday, after all the stress from work (BTW, I am a government lawyer) I decided to try baking for the first time. I Googled recipe for red velvet cupcakes, drove my way to the grocery store to buy the ingredients and started to work my magic in our kitchen.

screen shot from my Instagram account.

The result was amazing! My sister and pamangkins loved my take on the red velvet cupcake. I brought some in the office and my officemates loved it, too! In fact, some of them are asking me to bake some more. (So, proud of myself!) hehe. They loved the cream cheese frosting, too.

I told you, I Googled the recipe and I found this Blog called The Alchemist which offered the recipe of the super moist red velvet cupcake I followed.There are other interesting recipes in the said blog, too, just click on the link. Click here.

Here's the recipe: (Courtesy: Melissa aka The Alchemist)

Super Moist Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

an original recipe by Melissa, aka The Alchemist

makes about 32 cupcakes

Ingredients

3 cups (450 g.) all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup (25 g.) cocoa

2 1/2 cups (515 g.) sugar

1 cup (236 ml.) vegetable oil or another type of neutral oil

1 cup (225 g.) butter, melted

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups (354 ml.) buttermilk well shaken, (or add a tablespoon of vinegar to regular milk and let sit for a few minutes) Or use 1/2 yogurt and half soured milk. (that's what I did this time, but I've also used only soured milk)

1 Tablespoon vinegar, white or cider

2 Tablespoons vanilla extract

red paste food coloring-use enough to get it as red as you want it. I use almost a half a jar.

Or if you only have access to the liquid color in the grocery store, you will need a whole (1 oz.) bottle.

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, 160 degrees Celsius, or Gas Mark 3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa.

Beat together the sugar, melted butter and oil until smooth, about 3 minutes in an stand mixer. Or you can use a hand mixer.

Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Add the vinegar and the vanilla.

Add half the dry ingredients and mix well, then add half of the buttermilk and/or yogurt if you are using it.

Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix well, then add the rest of the buttermilk/yogurt.

Add the color. If using the paste, add quite a bit, then stir and see if it's dark enough. Add more color to get it really red if it needs it. I use almost 1/2 a jar of the Wilton paste. If you are using the liquid, add the whole (1 oz.) bottle of liquid and mix well.

Scoop the batter with an ice cream scoop into muffin cups lined with cupcake liners, **edited to add** these cupcakes can be a bit greasy on the bottom, if you don't want that, then bake them in greaseproof or foil cupcake liners.** about 3/4 of the way full. The batter is quite liquidy, so alternately you can use a measuring cup with a spout and pour the batter in the cups that way, if you prefer.

Bake the cupcakes for 25-32 minutes. They're done when they pass a toothpick test .

When cool, frost the cupcakes with the cream cheese frosting recipe below. Top with crumbs if you like. It took me 2 cupcakes of crumbs to cover 30 cupcakes. (the recipe made 32.)

Cream Cheese Frosting

2, 8 oz packages cream cheese, room temperature

2 sticks (1 cup) (225 g.) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 Tablespoons Vanilla extract

pinch of salt

5-7 cups (625 g. to 875 g.) powdered sugar

Beat the cream cheese and the butter together with a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer.

Beat it well until very creamy, about 4 minutes. Add the vanilla, 5 cups (625 g.) of sugar and a pinch of salt. Beat well until very fluffy, another 3 minutes or so.

Now check the consistency of the frosting. If you are going to pipe it, you may want it a little stiffer. I used exactly 5 cups (625 g.) and I was just able to pipe it. If you like a stiffer frosting, go ahead and add more powdered sugar to get it the way you like it.

The delicious Sisig.

Every year, the Development Bank of the Philippines along Gil Puyat Avenue cor. Makati Avenue in Makati City opens a "Christmas Tiangge" during mid-November or after bonuses were given to employees.

The packaging for a barkada sisig meal. Good for 2-3persons. Rice is not included.

There are lots of foods, clothes, decors, and accessories to choose from. If you are a shopaholic, you will love this tiangge. 

But what me and my friend, Mia, love the most is the sisig from Sisig Hooray! Though not the sizzling sisig we, Filipinos, love, this sisig is to die for. I don't know if the mayonnaise they use has something to do with the taste or the chicharon topping, but it is oh so de-li-cio-so!

Sisig Hooray offers a variety of meats to choose from. They have pork, chicken, bangus, squid, and steak.
I have tried pork and squid and loved it. Mia said chicken is good, too. 

The prices for one order of sisig with rice ranges from P75-P85 depending on the meat. The Barkada Sisig Meal prices range from P140-190.

Sisig Hooray also has branches all over the Metro, I think. But I am certain, as I have seen it, that they have a branch in Landmark Food Court, Trinoma. So once my sisig craving starts to kick in again after this tiangge, I know where to go. 

Pork Sisig with Red Chili.

Pork Sisig with Rice.

Chicken Sisig.

Oysters are Dirty!

A series of food poisoning incidents in the Philippines lately made it to the six o'clock news. Fish kills from the north to the south of Luzon made consumers hesitant to buy and eat milk fish from Batangas and Pangasinan. Thus, it is better to know which food is safe and which isn't. Better to be informed which food is clean and which is dirty.

Just as I was craving for some fresh oyster, Yahoo! posted this article. Perfect. So, would this article change my mind? Definitely not. I love oysters that nobody can stop me from eating them unless there is red tide or I am pregnant.

There is no warning against red tide and I am definitely not pregnant as of the moment. So, it's safe.

But eating oysters have benefits, too. According to experts (again! Experts have something to say on almost every thing.), eating oysters may help in the prevention of prostate cancers. And for some, oysters are great aphrodisiacs.

Here's the Yahoo! article I was telling you earlier.

The dirt: Oysters' power as an aphrodisiac is overblown, but their power as a diarrheic when slurped raw is not. They can contain the norovirus (a pathogen notorious for nixing ocean cruises), Campylobacter, and Vibrio vulnificus. University of Arizona researchers who studied oysters from so-called certified-safe beds discovered that 9 percent were contaminated withSalmonella bacteria. Still hungry? "We found E. coli in 100 percent of Gulf Coast locations, and in high amounts," says Lynn Joens, Ph.D., the study author.

At the supermarket: Buy from the same beds that a chef stakes his reputation on. Sandy Ingber, executive chef and seafood buyer for Grand Central Oyster Bar in New York City, buys Blue Point, Chincoteague, Glidden Point, Narragansett Bay, Pemaquid, and Wellfleet oysters in the winter months. During summer, he buys Coromandel oysters from New Zealand. The reason for the seasonal shift: More than three-quarters of outbreaks involving raw oysters occur in the Northern Hemisphere's warm-water months.

At home: Very simple: Eat only thoroughly cooked oysters. If you must slurp, do so only after following the buying advice above.

FIX IT WITH FOOD: Did you know that oysters can help protect against prostate cancer? They make our list of 40 Foods with Superpowers—foods that, even in moderation, can improve your health.

BE INFORMED. READ.

xoxo,

C

Kilawing Talaba (Fresh Oysters in Spicy Vinegar)

I love raw foods. Well, not all raw foods. But I would exchange a burger for a salmon or tuna or uni sashimi at any time of the day or night.

Lately, I have been craving for fresh oysters in spicy vinegar. Actually, it is oysters soaked in vinegar with onions, red chilis, ginger, salt and pepper. I think the scarcity of lemons in the Philippines was the reason this dish was invented. (*now I'm drooling) The sourness of the vinegar and the taste of oysters go really, really well with the chilis and the ginger.

Here's the recipe for "Kilawing Talaba" as we call it here in the Philippines:

Ingredients:

1-1/2 c. of shucked oysters

1/8 c. of strong vinegar

1 tsp. of salt

1 tbsp. of finely chopped onions

2 chili peppers, cut into thirds

1 tsp. finely chopped ginger

Procedure:

1. Place the fresh oysters in a large shallow basin. Pour enough boiling water to cover all of them. Let stand for 3-4 minutes or until shells are slightly opened. Using a pointed knife, pry the shells open and remove the meat.

2. Place the oysters in a bowl.

3. In a different container, mix all the other ingredients. Pour onto the oysters and mix until all the oysters are covered with the vinegar mix. Let stand for at least 10 minutes. Serve chilled.

Today's Weather.

‘Dodong’ dumps rain in Luzon; Signal No. 1 up in 7 provinces

PAGASA-DOST MTSAT-EIR Satellite Image for 1 p.m., 09 June 2011
MANILA, Philippines – Signal No. 1 has been raised over seven provinces as the low pressure area west of Luzon has intensified into a tropical depression.
In its first weather bulletin, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said that the weather disturbance, tagged as “Dodong” was seen as of 12 noon at 60 kilometers southwest of Iba, Zambales packing maximum sustained winds of 55 kilometers per hour.
Dodong is expected to move north northwestward at 15 kph.
Signal No.1 has been raised over Zambales, Pangasinan, Cavite, Bataan, Pampanga, Tarlac and Metro Manila.
Residents in low-lying and mountainous areas in provinces under signal number 1 are alerted against possible flashfloods and landslides, the state-run weather bureau said.
This weather disturbance is also expected to enhance the southwest monsoon and bring rain over the western sections of Central and Southern Luzon, Pagasa added.
By Friday morning, Dodong is expected to be 210 km west of Laoag City and by Saturday morning, it is forecast to be 440 km west northwest of Basco, Batanes, Pagasa said.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/13487/%E2%80%98dodong%E2%80%99-dumps-rain-in-luzon-signal-no-1-up-in-7-provinces?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

London Photos. Part 1.

Houses of Parliament, London. 07 January 2011. My boyfriend and I.

London is, by far, my most favorite place of all the places I've visited in the UK.

"Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot... But what of the man? I know his name was Guy Fawkes and I know, in 1605, he attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. But who was he really? What was he like? We are told to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught, he can be killed and forgotten, but 400 years later, an idea can still change the world. I've witnessed first hand the power of ideas, I've seen people kill in the name of them, and die defending them... but you cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it, or hold it... ideas do not bleed, they do not feel pain, they do not love... And it is not an idea that I miss, it is a man... A man that made me remember the Fifth of November. A man that I will never forget." ~V for Vendetta.

V.

"Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot... But what of the man? I know his name was Guy Fawkes and I know, in 1605, he attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. But who was he really? What was he like? We are told to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught, he can be killed and forgotten, but 400 years later, an idea can still change the world. I've witnessed first hand the power of ideas, I've seen people kill in the name of them, and die defending them... but you cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it, or hold it... ideas do not bleed, they do not feel pain, they do not love... And it is not an idea that I miss, it is a man... A man that made me remember the Fifth of November. A man that I will never forget." ~V for Vendetta.

One of my favorite movie quotes aside from those in "A Few Good Men". What is your favorite movie quote, by the way?