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The Best Red Velvet Cupcakes. Ever.

12 January 2011, 1:05 pm

My nephew recently turned 3, and because of that I got the joy of baking up a batch of cupcakes. Since he and his older brother don’t really discriminate against any sort of sweets, I decided on red velvet cupcakes. I’ve been trying to find a recipe that I like for ages now, and I was fortunate enough to stumble on joythebaker.com‘s version of the red velvet cupcake, which is reprinted below. MUCH better than Cook’s Illustrated version, in my opinion (sorry, CI, you know how much I love you otherwise).

Cupcakes turned out to be a fantastic way to play with my nephews. They both love helping and baking (though they’re a bit messy).

I opted out of using red food coloring (hey, I’m a hippie, and food coloring is NOT natural), but still used the classic cream cheese frosting. You can find the recipe for cinnamon cream cheese frosting on joythebaker.com, but for this I chose Cook’s Illustrated cream cheese frosting, as it’s just soooo rich and creamy. The result? Pure heaven.

Red Velvet Cupcakes (thanks joythebaker.com)

This recipe makes 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients

  • 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 3 Tablespoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder
  • 2 1/2 Tablespoons red food coloring (or water, if you don’t want red food coloring)
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

Directions

  1. Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes.  Turn mixer to high and add  the egg.  Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.
  3. In a separate bowl mix together cocoa, vanilla and red food coloring to make a thick paste.  Add to the batter, mixing thoroughly until completely combined.  You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color.
  4. Turn mixer to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk.  Add half of the flour and mix until combined.  Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour.  Beat on high until smooth.
  5. Turn mixer to low and add baking soda and white vinegar.  Turn to high and beat a few more minutes.
  6. Spoon batter into a paper lined cupcake baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center cupcake comes out clean.
  7. Let rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then place them of a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

Notes

  • I rarely have buttermilk around. You can always do the trick of mixing together milk with a small amount of vinegar. For a half cup, I usually use 1/2 cup minus 1 teaspoon milk, and add in a teaspoon of vinegar. I never measure this exactly, though, as approximating hasn’t really gotten me in trouble.
  • I actually keep powdered buttermilk around, as it’s got a very strong buttermilk flavor to it, and it keeps really well. If you want to use this instead, you can make a half cup of buttermilk by mixing together a half cup of water and scant tablespoon of powdered buttermilk. You can also just use the package instructions, but since powdered buttermilk has a very strong flavor, you’ll want to ease up on the amount you use just a bit.

Cream Cheese Frosting

This recipe is enough to make 1 1/2 cups, or enough to frost 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients

  • 6 oz. cream cheese
  • 3 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 2 teaspoons sour cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Directions

  1. Beat the cream cheese, butter, sour cream, vanilla, and salt together with an electric mixer on medium-high until smooth (2-4 minutes).
  2. Reduce the speed to medium-low, and slowly add the powdered sugar. Beat until smooth (4-6 minutes).
  3. Once the powdered sugar is incorporated, beat the frosting on medium-high until it is light and fluffy (4-6 minutes).
Filed under Desserts, Recipes.
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DIY Sous Vide, Part 2: Temperature Sensors and the PT100

2 January 2011, 12:50 am

Probably the most important thing to a sous vide is the temperature sensor. There are many different sensors, from thermocouples to thermistors, to infrared temperature sensors. Selecting the right one isn’t difficult though, as most of the available sensors aren’t really suitable for cooking.

IR temperature sensors are pretty neat, however, they can be less precise since they are not in direct contact with the material being measured (in this case, the water). They rely on infrared waves (which we feel as “heat”) to measure the temperature. I can think of at least two major sources of error in this case:

  1. An object emits radiation radially, in all directions. As you move farther away from the object, just as you would perceive the environment to be less hot, so would the sensor. That means you’d need to set the sensor at the same distance from the surface of the water every time to get a precise (not necessarily accurate) reading.
  2. A lot of these sensors are not broadband — that is, they really only look at certain wavelengths (or possibly only one wavelength) of infrared light to calculate the temperature. Though they’re pretty well calibrated, this could become a source of error.

An example of a pre-packaged, calibrated IR temperature sensor is the MLX90614, available from SparkFun here: http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9570.

Thermocouples rely on a voltage difference created at a junction between two metals, which is related to the temperature of its surroundings. They are inexpensive and fairly small, and many of them are standardized. I opted against this, as many of them are not readily sold in a package that is waterproof.

Thermistors are different from thermocouples in that their resistance varies with temperature. You can find them in all sorts of packages. Most are very cheap (on the order of $0.10), but most also contain lead, or other toxins, that you wouldn’t want leeching into your water bath. I opted for the platinum sensors that are completely encased in stainless steel. This ensures that the sensor is completely water tight, and also has no toxins that could get into the food.  They come in various resistances; I chose the PT100 probe, which specifies that the platinum is 100 ohms at 0 degrees Celsius. You can find these on eBay for very cheap. Here’s the one I bought, and I added a mono jack to the end of the lead wires for easy connection:


Please note that the rest of this post assumes that you know a bit about circuits as well as programming. I’m leaving the A/D conversion stuff up to you, but you are welcome to ask me any questions.

Doing the Math

How do I turn a resistance into a temperature? Fortunately, since the PT100 is very standardized, there are well known equations that describe the resistance of the platinum wire as a function of temperature:

where the coefficients have been solved to be

and R0 is the resistance of the sensor at 0 degrees celsius, in this case, 100 ohms (taken from http://www.picotech.com/applications/pt100.html).

That’s not too useful though, since we’ll know the resistance, but not the temperature. Fortunately, I found a forum discussion, where a participant used an approximation that was accurate for 0-400 degrees Celsius (well beyond our measuring range, since water boils at 100 degrees Celsius). The approximation is as follows:

Great, but a microprocessor doesn’t actually measure resistance. The trick, then, is to put this sensor as part of a voltage divider and then measure the voltage. (Rt refers to the PT100 probe.)

Given this circuit, we know that

Solving for the resistance gives us the following:

Since we choose R and Vin, and we measure Vout, we can get the resistance of the temperature probe. Pretty easy math. The issue of course, is that the voltage in can vary, depending on your circuit. I use a very typical 5 volt regulator, the TL7805, and though I’d like to think that it’s perfectly 5 volts, it’s not. How then, can I eliminate the value Vin?

Say you have another voltage divider, where you choose two static resistors, with the bottom resistor having the same value as the bottom resistor of the previously discussed voltage divider.

Given that the voltage divider is using the same power source, our new equation is

Solving for Vin gives us

Finally, we can plug this into our original equation to yield the following:

You can see that I’ve now taken out the dependence of fluctuations of the power supply. For my circuit, I’ve chose R to be 1000 ohms (to limit the amount of current being pushed through the voltage dividers), and R’ to be 100 ohms (to match the nominal resistance of the temperature probe).

By the way, for those of you familiar with circuits, you’ll see that this has a resemblance to the classic Wheatstone bridge.

Calibration

Finally, there will always be a little bit of error in your calculation if you do it this way, without any calibration. Though the platinum wire is nominally 100 ohms at 0 degrees celsius, the wire leads that attach your sensor to your circuit will add a nonzero amount of resistance. If your wire is short and thick, the amount of resistance that is added may not be a problem. The probe I settled on has a very long wire — this ends up adding about 2 to 3 ohms of resistance, which is a fair amount.

We can edit the final equation, then to add this offset term:

We know that resistance of the platinum wire is supposed to be R0 (again, in this case 100 ohms) at 0 degrees Celsius. Knowing this, we can solve for the offset, yielding the following:

Be sure to obtain the voltage values when your probe is measuring 0 degrees Celsius! Measuring ice water is probably your best bet, but you’ll want to check the actual temperature with a thermometer. You only need to obtain this offset one time per probe, but it’s a good idea to turn this into a calibration routine in your project, in case you ever have to change your probe.

Filed under Electronics, Sous Vide.
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DIY Sous Vide, Part 1: Introduction

1 January 2011, 10:57 pm

First of all, let me apologize for my lack of participation in my own blog! I’ve had a crazy half a year, mostly with joining a new research laboratory (see kubiak.ucsd.edu) and getting settled in there. I’ve been learning a whole slew of new stuff, and I’ll slowly add my bits of wisdom (after all, a handy hippie should at least know about what goes on in say, a cleanroom facility).

Second of all, you’re probably wondering what a sous vide is! Sous vide is French, which translates to “under vacuum.” According to one of my favorite publications, Cooks Illustrated, sous vide cooking is one of the hot new trends in cooking today — you vacuum pack your food, throw it in a water bath, and heat your water to a desired temperature. Soon after (as in WAAAAY after your food would be done on a stove), your food has reached an equilibrium temperature with your water bath. You can cook pretty much anything you want this way, from custards to steaks (okay, maybe not breads and cakes). You can get more detailed information about sous vides at Wikipedia.

My brother, an avid cook, has been obsessed with the idea of making one of these, seeing as buying a sous vide unit costs $400 or more. He was originally inspired by seattlefoodgeek.com, whose writer made a sous vide using immersion heaters, a temperature probe and a PID controller. I didn’t necessarily think I could make one for less, but I thought it’d be fun to try making one with more functionality, with the possibility of upgrading. As of the new year, I’m still not done yet (sorry bro, your Christmas present is obviously late), but I’m documenting the major steps to making a sous vide here, separated into parts.

Like seattlefoodgeek.com, my design incorporates a sensor, however, I’ve been programming my own microprocessor to replace the bulky PID controller. Instead of a relay, I’m using a TRIAC, which eliminates the clicking noise you hear when the heater is turned on an off. And finally, my project incorporates a timer, measuring hours and minutes, that will trigger a buzzer noise to let you know your food is done.

Filed under Electronics, Sous Vide.
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Kanelbullar – The Swedish Cinnamon Roll

27 June 2010, 10:27 pm

If the title didn’t get your attention, I hope the picture did. Back when I was in high school, a friend of mine had a Swedish mother who loved baking and loved feeding her guests. Kanelbullar was definitely my favorite one. What makes it truly different from American cinnamon rolls is the lack of the sugary frosting or glaze, but instead a sprinkle of “pearl sugar.”  You can buy this off of the internet (of course), and if you have an Ikea in the area, it will be even easier for you find it there.

Ingredients

  • 1 envelope active dry yeast
  • 12 tablespoons butter (1.5 sticks)
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cardamom
  • 3 cups flour

Filling:

  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar + 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon, mixed together

Glaze:

  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • Pearl sugar

Directions:

  1. In a pan or a pot, melt the butter. Add the milk, and heat until the the mixture is lukewarm (too hot will kill the yeast!).
  2. Pour the mixture into a large heatproof bowl. Then add the yeast, and mix until dissolved.
  3. Add the sugar, salt, and cardamom.
  4. Add most of the flour (2 3/4 cup or so), and mix. Turn the dough onto a floured counter and knead the dough until it is elastic (I do this in my stand mixer fitted with the dough attachment).
  5. Place the dough in a large bowl. Cover it, and let it rise for 30-40 minutes, until it has doubled in size. (Note that the “doubled in size” statement is more important than the time. Even though I live in sunny San Diego, my apartment is frigid, so it takes more time to accomplish this.)
  6. After it has risen, turn the dough onto a floured counter, and knead again. Use the remaining flour if you find the dough too sticky to work with.
  7. Roll the dough out into a square about 1/3″ thick.
  8. Spread the 2 tablespoons butter onto the dough, and then sprinkle it with the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
  9. Roll up the dough to form a log. Cut the dough into 20-24 pieces. Lay the pieces flat onto a prepare baking sheet. You can also place the pieces in muffin cups or muffin tins.
  10. Let the rolls rise for 20 or so minutes. It is difficult to test to see whether or not the rolls are ready to be baked. I test them by poking them lightly. If the dough bounces back quickly, then it should rise some more. If the indentation caused by poking them stays, then they are ready to be baked.
  11. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
  12. Once the rolls have risen, before baking, brush them with the beaten egg, and sprinkle them with pearl sugar.
  13. Bake the rolls for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.
  14. Practice your pronunciation of “kanelbullar” so you won’t make a fool of yourself when you serve Swedish people.
Filed under Desserts, Vegetarian.
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Worms, worms, worms… a mini-guide to vermicomposting

24 June 2010, 10:31 am

First of all, sorry I haven’t posted in a while! Studying for finals, then finals, then grading the finals, then life… It really gets in the way of being a good blogger!!

Anyway, I thought I’d take a break from crafting, and write a quick little guide to vermicomposting, or worm composting. (Composting, after all, is on the path of hippie self-actualization.) I’ve been looking into different methods of composting for some time now, but in the past I didn’t really have the space or the means to do so…

…that is… until now.

Yes, that’s right, my not-so-beautiful-but-fully-functional worm composter. In my short time composting, I’ve learned a lot, so hopefully, the following can become your jewels of knowledge (or, more appropriately, heaping piles of healthy worm poop).

Is vermicomposting right for you?

First of all, you have to decide, is vermicomposting right for you? Do you have an aversion to little wigglers?

Personally, I found that vermicomposting worked better for me than traditional composting. Traditional composting relies solely on the microbes that exist in nature to break down plant waste. This method requires balancing the “greens” (grass cuttings, fruits or vegetables, leaves that aren’t dry…) and “browns” (dried grasses and hays, dried leaves, bread and pasta…).

To speed up the composting process in traditional methods, you must create the perfect environment for microbe growth: hot and humid. The compost pile is then kept moist and often covered (both to keep the pile from drying out too quickly, and to keep the pile heated). Though traditionally this pile was layered in an area fenced with chicken wire, this is now more often done in commercial compost containers or tumblers. Both help keep the pile extra warm, while the tumbler has the added benefit of easy turning of the compost pile. The traditional method is great if you have a lot of yard waste, as you’ll have plenty of “browns” to work with.

Vermicomposting is different in that it uses worms to break down the material, not microbes (though, of course, the microbes are still active). Because this method uses live worms, the compost pile must be in the shade. The compost pile must also be kept moist, as the worms need the moisture in order to survive. Most importantly (to me, anyway), is that the worms will eat almost anything, and balancing of the “greens” and “browns” isn’t as necessary, especially since I don’t really have a lot of brown waste. What is also neat is that vermicomposting can easily be scaled down, making it possible to compost out on an apartment patio, or even in the kitchen.

Choosing a container

Choosing a container is probably the easiest part. You’ll want something that has a lot of airflow, as well as good drainage. Because the process gives off a lot of fluid, drainage is necessary so that the pile doesn’t get too wet. (Note that this liquid can be used as a great fertilizer and is often referred to as “worm tea.” Its greatest feature is that it doesn’t burn roots.) If you must build the compost pile in the sun, make sure that you can provide shade in an alternative way.

Here are some ideas:

  • The woman I purchased my worms from had a large ditch in the grown that was corralled off from the rest of the garden with concrete bricks. This had excellent drainage, of course, since there was no bottom. It was open on the top, so there was plenty of airflow. For shade, she used some  large pieces of wood to cover the pile when the sun was too strong.
  • I was lucky and picked up a simple composting bin off of Craigslist for free. There is no bottom to the bin, so drainage isn’t a problem. The sides have plenty of holes, so airflow isn’t a problem. There’s a lid to my bin, which provides plenty of shade for my worms.
  • If you’re trying to do something on the patio, you can always just grab a large pot with a hole on the bottom, put it on a drip tray, and keep it in the shade. The neat thing about this is that you can keep the worm tea.
  • There are fancier worm “condominiums” and such, which is more than necessary of course.

Do I need special worms?

Yes. Typically, people use red worms or red wiggles for composting, since they’re not nomadic. This means that as long as you feed them, they won’t leave you. Your typical garden soil earthworms don’t like to stay together in one place, and after time will leave in search of greener pastures (browner decayed matter?)

Fortunately, red worms are pretty easy to find. If you say “vermicomposting, help” at any specialized garden center, I’m sure they’ll happily reply “red worms, here!”

Where do I get the worms?

Dude, have you heard of the internet??!?! What can’t you order on the internet nowadays?!?!

Really, though, it’s probably really easy to find worms locally, from a private vendor. Try craigslist. I purchased mine from a woman I found off of craigslist here in San Diego. (If you’d like to contact her for worms, try 858-279-7072.) She’s got great prices, she’s chock full of information, and she provides the worms with their bedding, so there is no shock to the worms. Here’s a picture of my worms after I brought them home:

Last case scenario, local specialty garden stores, just as Armstrong Garden Centers, have the worms that you need. They’re just more pricey.

What do I feed the worms?

Anything that we eat, basically, plus many things that we don’t. It’s probably easier to list the things you should limit/avoid:

  • Fats/oils – you can put in a little, but I mean, really, would YOU want to eat a whole stick of butter?
  • Citrus – You can compost this, but limiting is a good idea. Citrus oils are often used as bug repellent, and worms aren’t really crazy about them. If you put in a little at a time, though, you should be okay.
  • Tough, dried, material – For example, dried rose stems. They will still eat it, but it will take a LONG time. You might have some better luck cutting into little chunks and soaking them in water before trying to get the worms to eat them.
  • Not necessarily something to avoid, but it’s funny — throwing any seeds in the pile will often result in sprouts a bit later. If you remember what you threw in there, you can always pull the sprout out and plant it. You can also do this if you don’t know what it is (mystery plant!!). If you don’t want the plant, you can just mix the sprout back into the dirt. The plant will eventually die (no sunlight, after all), and the worms will munch away.

Worms like soft food best (no teeth, after all). Because of this, egg shells should be crumbled before adding to the compost pile. If you want the worms to eat really fast, you can food process items before throwing it into the compost pile. Also, I know my worms are super happy and super active when I throw in the waste from making vegetable stock — all that soft material is really easy for them to digest.

To keep pests at bay, it is really important to bury the food bits that you throw in the compost pile. This also helps the worms find the food, as well as keeping the flies away.

Harvesting the compost

If you get yourself a screen, you can easily separate the dirt from the worms and the uncomposted material. ‘Nuff said.

Compost away!!

Really, that’s it! There’s not much else to vermicomposting. My worms are super happy and healthy, and I hope yours will be too!

Filed under Gardening.
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Woohoo!! Comments are now OPEN!!!

24 May 2010, 9:06 am

You don’t need to wait for my approval anymore! I finally added a working CAPTCHA system. You know, the word verification thing? That’s the REAL name.

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Two Clutch Patterns

21 May 2010, 11:33 am

Like I said, I’d put up patterns to the clutches I made for this year’s May Giveaway Day. Not much to say here, except that I hope you guys enjoy the free patterns, and I do hope you improve on it and tell me what you did!!

Basic Clutch

Curved Bottom Clutch

Here are the pictures of the clutches again for reference.

Note that the patterns don’t have information regarding making the flower pins. I’ll save that for another day. :)

Filed under Free Patterns.
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And the Winners Are…

21 May 2010, 11:27 am

Thanks everyone for entering! I wasn’t expecting sooo many responses, so I decided to give away ALL the clutches! Here are the winners:

Clutch 1: Katie – “I love purse #1. My favorite birthday is a cookout with friends and family. I’ve had several birthdays in this style and it’s always so much fun.”

Clutch 2: La Yen – “Oh, so hard to pick! #4 or #2, I think. And for my birthday I love to have a big piece of chocolate cake. Or two or three. That’s my favorite tradition!”

Clutch 3: Lisa – “I love them all and would be happy with any of them! Thanks for the chance to win :) As for my fave birthday event, I think I would have to say it’s pretty simple – I love to go out for a nice meal (so I don’t have to cook) and just have some time to take it easy and enjoy the day!”

Clutch 4: Kathryn – “These bags are SO cute. I am so glad my friend of facebook referred me to sew momma sew to see all the great crafts. You are SO talented! I love clutch 1 and 4 the best, they are awesome. My fav B-day gift was tickets from my hubby to see Conan O’Brien last month in Seattle. Eddie Vedder showed up and it was just amazing.”

The random number generator smiled on you all! I’ve sent you all emails, so hopefully you received it!!

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Last day for the May Giveaway Day!!

20 May 2010, 12:29 pm

Just a reminder that this is the last day for the giveaway. Come back some time tomorrow to check to see if you won! And of course, everyone will at least “win” the free patterns to the clutches.

I wanted to also take the time to note that any pattern I make will always be posted on this website, and will always be free. I’m a hippie; I’m all about sharing, especially information. I encourage you guys to use the patterns I create and improve on them. And then, come back and tell me what you’ve done!!

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May Giveaway Day and Happy Birthday to ME!!

16 May 2010, 7:49 pm

Yes, that’s right. Today is my birthday. I’m officially in my late 20s now. Kinda feels… exactly the same as yesterday.

Anyway, even though it’s MY birthday, I thought I’d go ahead and list the May Giveaway Day items I have. Not all are up for grabs; the winner can pick one of the four items pictured below (though, who knows — that might change, I might give away all the items!).

-Drum roll please- I present to you 4 different handmade clutches.

Clutch 1: If you read my blog, you should recognize the pattern printed on the purse as the one I used my Riso Gocco to print last week (see here). It’s a simple square design, with a green stripe interior. This one also has an interior pocket.

Clutch 2: This one is the same shape and size as clutch 1, only with a very summery (juicy? citrusy?) print. No internal pocket on this one, but it comes with a removable flower that has a pin backing.

Clutch 3: I used some various fabrics to create the cover of this one. I thought the addition of the button really added something special to the bag, as well. This bag is a bit smaller than the other clutches, but I think still just as cute.

Clutch 4: This one is roughly the same size as clutches 1 and 2, but with a curved bottom instead. This one also comes with a removable flower with pin backing. The colors are very much autumn colors, but I still think it’s pretty.

So here’s how to enter the contest — Leave a comment with the following information:

  • First and foremost, which clutch you’d like. If you don’t care, then you can say that, and I’ll select one for you.
  • Since it’s my birthday, I’d like to hear about yours. Tell me what your favorite birthday event/thing to do/present/etc is. It doesn’t have to be long! Just remember to keep it clean!

The giveaway will be open starting now until 11:59 PST on May 20th, 2010. I’ll be selecting the winner randomly and I’ll notify the winner shortly after.

Note that I will have a consolation prize for everyone else — I’ll be posting up detailed sewing patterns for clutch 1 and 4, just as soon as I’ve assembled everything together. So look forward to that as well!

Filed under Giveaways. Tagged 
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