mint brownie cupcakes and bullriding

I realize as I am putting up these posts on the blog that I don't talk much about my life these days. The truth is, I'm pretty busy with work, research, and trying to decide what to do with my life next year. I mean, ideally, I will have a job next year, but who knows where it will be, or what I will be doing.

So, again, I turn to baking things to quell the anxiety I have over what will happen to my future. Also, we had Mix 'n Munch.

I have never made brownies from scratch. I once dated a guy who loved brownies, and did whatever he could to get women to make them for him. Then, one day, he made them for himself, and he was a little disappointed to find out how easy they are to make. I like that about brownies, and I have never wondered what I was missing by making them from mixes.

However, they're in the book, so I made them.

But first, I watched Championship Bull Riding with Stephanie, Layne, Ryan, Cathy, and some of her miscellaneous EFY friends (too much to explain). I am posting a picture of it here to help all of you to see that there is more to my life than just cupcakes and research. There are also Stephanie-orchestrated white trash outings.

Although it is more complicated than your average brownie recipe, in that it involves more than adding eggs and oil to a mix of dry ingredients. But I think it is the adding of the York Peppermint Patty that makes them great.

Mint-Filled Brownie Cupcakes

8 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used the last of my Trader Joe's chocolate)

1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature

1 c. sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

3 large eggs

1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 c. unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted (I do not sift)

12 small chocolate covered peppermint patties (I used York Peppermint Patties)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin with paper liners. Place chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water. Stir occasionally just until melted, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove bowl from heat. Whisk in sugar and salt until mixture is smooth; whisk in eggs to combine. Gently whisk in flour and cocoa just until smooth (do not overmix). Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of batter into each lined cup (I used a small cookie scoop). Place 1 peppermint patty on top, gently pressing into batter. Top with 2 tablespoons batter, covering patty completely. Bake, rotating tin halfway through, until a cake tester inserted halfway in centers (above mint patty) comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, about 35 minutes. Transfer tin to a wire rack to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

According to Nick, who used to be my home teacher, this is a good recipe because it seems like it's just a brownie, but then, when you bite into it, there's a surprise inside. He's going to be a doctor. They were a hit at Mix 'N Munch, as evidenced by the fact that I had to take a phone call, and by the time I got in line for food, they were all gone.

Jumbo Cupcakes with Creme Filling

I used to be a big fan of The Simpsons. In the last few years, it has lost some of its cleverness, and so I haven't followed it for many years, but one of my favorite episodes has a side plot in which Moe decides to convert his seedy bar into a family restaurant, similar to Applebee's, called Uncle Moe's Family Feedbag. He decorates it with "a lot of crazy crap on the walls" and advertises gimmicks such as Million Dollar Birthday Fries and, "If I'm not smiling when your check comes, your meal is on me."

As the episode progresses, Moe's enthusiasm for his restaurant wanes. When someone orders the Million Dollar Birthday Fries, he comes out with a basket of fries on his head, along with pinwheels and sparklers and sings this song:

"Here you go!

Here I am!

Uncle Moe! Thank you, ma'am!

This'll be a treat!

Uncle Moe, here I am, while you eat!"

After doing this several times, he begins to cut corners. Eventually, the song sounds like this:

"Here you go.

Here I am.

Eat your fries.

Eat 'em."

I reflect on this clip a lot, particularly because I think I often do the same thing. In my life there are many things that I do over and over again, and sometimes I wonder, when I get tired or stressed out if I am doing them with the same enthusiasm and impact that they once had. I think about this every time I write another blog post.

This is a good recipe. It was even worth having to buy a jumbo cupcake pan to make them. They are similar to Hostess cupcakes, in that they have a cream filling and they are decorated on top with white squiggles, but there is no way you would ever mistake these for store-bought cupcakes.

A couple of tips:

• The recipe does not specify whether to use natural cocoa powder or Dutch process cocoa powder. I used the Special Dark blend from the grocery store, which made them very dark and rich. Mmm.

• Martha advises you to hollow out the cupcakes at the bottom, put some filling in them, and then put the bottom back on. I didn't do that, and, as a result, some of my cupcakes were not as full of filling as they should have been.
• I bought a special piping tip for filling, which was longer than most piping tips and had a slanted opening, to more easily insert into cake.
• Rather than lining the tins with cupcake papers, grease the pan with butter and dust it with cocoa powder. This way, the cupcakes look more like Hostess cupcakes.

I made them for the people I work with, who loved them. The recipe only makes 12, and they are huge, so they are not really ideal for bringing to any kind of a potluck thing where there will be lots of other desserts. However, I think they would be a fabulous substitute for birthday cake.

Zucchini Cupcakes

Zucchini and cupcakes are two words that don't seem like they should go together. But I love zucchini bread. When my sister Melanee was little, my dad used to make it, and she called it "bikini bread." Melanee, as a small child, was probably one of the most unintentionally funny people I have ever known. She will probably hate that I said that.

Anyway, as I go through the Martha cookbook, I have earmarked certain recipes for certain things. There are the recipes that are crowd pleasers, which I take to things like Mix 'n Munch or when I teach Relief Society. There are the bland recipes, that I try to reserve for when I need to make something kids will like. The funky ones I tend to bring to the people I work with because they have refined palates. There are some that I have earmarked for certain people, like carrot cupcakes, lemon meringue cupcakes, and German chocolate cupcakes. There are some that I consider seasonal, if they remind me of a holiday, or if they call for an ingredient like fresh berries that have a specific growing season.

This recipe is both a seasonal recipe, and one that I had earmarked for someone particular. Zucchini, in general, always reminds me of fall. One fall, as a missionary, I was in area that had been particularly blessed with an abundance of zucchini. We tracted into a woman who had a huge bumper crop, and she sent us home with two bags full, along with some recipes. I made zucchini brownies that year, which were wonderful.

Also, my friend Kim recently finished her dissertation and is now clear to defend it at the end of the month. She loves zucchini bread, and this recipe coincided perfectly with a celebration of the end of her career as a student.

Finally, I had to give the oral presentation of my theory of therapy paper last week, and baking this recipe seemed like a good way to thank the people who endured my presentation.

Has anyone else become disturbed by the slow entropy of these posts? The pictures have gotten progressively spottier to the point where-I am ashamed to say-I don't even have any pictures of the zucchini cupcakes. Bad.

Zucchini Cupcakes

3 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg (No, I did not use freshly grated nutmeg. I used the vaguely Mexican nutmeg I bought at Wal-Mart.)

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1 c. vegetable oil

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract (still using the imitation stuff)

3/4 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

2 c. packed light brown sugar

3 c. packed grated zucchini (my zucchini was little, and it took me three to make three cups. However, after learning my lesson from the carrot cupcakes, I used my food processor to shred them, which was wonderful)

1 c. walnuts, toasted (you can do this by putting them on a baking sheet and baking them in the oven on 350 for 10 minutes)

Preheat the oven to 350 and line your muffin cups. Whisk together dry ingredients, including spices. In another bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, vanilla, and zest until well blended. Whisk in brown sugar until smooth. Stir in zucchini, and then add flour mixture until just combined. Stir in walnuts.

Fill cups 3/4 full (I use an ice cream scoop with a sliding trigger). Bake about 20 minutes, rotating tins halfway through.

Here is a link to the cream cheese frosting I used, which was wonderful.

As it turns out, not everyone loves zucchini, which is a shame. However, Kim gave them a great review, which was enough for me.

If you only make one zucchini recipe this fall, make it this one.

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Not to be confused with chocolate chunk cupcakes.

What was the difference, you ask? The chocolate chunk cupcakes were very much like a cookie-dense, oil-based, a little on the brown side. The chocolate chip cupcakes were more like a white cupcake, light and fluffy, with regular semi-sweet chocolate chips, and a chocolate chip buttercream frosting. I'm still not sure why Martha included both of them, but I can tell you that I made both of them because both seemed like good recipes for a crowd.

These accompanied me to Relief Society, where I was teaching a lesson on families. I was anticipating having a large attendance, and made two pans of cupcakes. Unfortunately, I had a little trouble getting them into the kitchen, and I ended up tipping an entire pan of cupcakes upside down on the hallway carpet. An entire pan. I almost cried. The frosting was pretty thick, so clean up was not too difficult. However, I did not feel okay about serving them to the Relief Society sisters. Hence, not everyone in Relief Society got one. However, after the block ended, the bishop's wife invited the Elders' Quorum to eat the ones that had fallen on the floor. I got rave reviews, particularly on the frosting, both from the Relief Society sisters and the guys who had come in to eat the ones I didn't feel right about serving to the girls.

I think my lesson went okay, too.