Pumpkin Dulce De Leche Cupcakes

These cupcakes turned out fabulous! Thanks to http://www.cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/ and http://www.thesweetestkitchen.com/ I found this recipe for halloween this year. I was unable to frost the spider web on my cakes, but the dulce inside made up for it! They were sooooo delicious! This recipe definitely goes on my top favs!

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Adapted from Martha StewartMakes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon allspice

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

7.5 ounces pureed pumpkin

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree.
Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.
Once cooled, using the cone method, fill each cupcake with a dollop of dulce de leche and frost with dulce de leche buttercream. If desired, decorate cupcake with spiderweb design using 3 tablespoons chocolate chips melted together with 1/4 teaspoon shortening.

Dulce De Leche

Adapted from Recipe GirlMakes just enough to fill cupcakes and use in frosting

Ingredients

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

boiling water

Method

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Open up the can and pour the sweetened-condensed milk into a pie pan. Cover tightly with foil. Place into a larger pan and pour boiling water in larger pan & around pie plate (level of water should be about halfway up the pie plate). Don’t let any water seep up and into the pie plate.
Place in oven and bake for 1 hour. At the one hour point, peel off foil and check for progress. If the mixture has thickened and turned a caramelly color, it’s done. If it doesn’t quite look thick enough or dark enough, cover it up and bake it a little longer (mine took 75 minutes).
When the mixture appears to have turned into a nice, thick caramel, remove from the oven. Let sit for a few minutes, and then beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

Dulce De Leche Buttercream

Adapted from Joy The Baker

Makes enough to generously frost 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

pinch of salt

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons prepared dulce de leche

Method

Cream together softened butter and powdered sugar on low using an electric mixer. Add cream and vanilla and beat on medium speed until smooth and no lumps appear. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the prepared dulce de leche and beat to incorporate.

MILK

A truely indulgent place to go!! I L-O-V-E MILK!! The food is tasty and comforting and the desserts are amazing! It's a small shop that sits in front of Beverly Blvd right down the street from the infamous New Beverly Cinema (where I get my dose of exploitation movie education every now and again...thanks to my hubby!). They feature a daily menu aside from the regulars of sandwiches, soups, salads and pastas which is always a crowd pleaser. I suggest the crispy half chicken with a basil risotto cake, oven dried tomatoes, olives, roasted fennel and citrus sauce! YUM! But who am I kidding.....I come for the DESSERT!! I like to sit right in front next to the display case full of cupcakes, blue velvet cakes, cookies, macaroons, muffins, scones, blondies, moon pies...just to name a few.It's deadly! While I wait for my lunch to be prepared I can already fantasize about which desserts I have to have and which ones I want to try. In the end I can't resist the ice cream. This isn't just any old ice cream. MILK makes their ice cream in house and always surprises me with seasonal flavors, such as blood orange sorbet, pumpkin choc. chip, thai tea and banana dulce de leche!

No matter how much I love the desserts here, the food is still on my top list! The hot pressed sandwiches never disapoint! Check these out!!



Prosciutto & Provolone-with arugula, slivered potatoes, pickled onions and cabbage and black pepper cream (all sammies only 9$) The potatoes in the sandwhich defintely bring out the flavors. I had it once before without the potatoes and the mixture of the prosciutto and provolone was just too salty.


Media Noche-roasted pulled pork and ham with manchego cheese, pickles, and roasted garlic mayo. Always a crowd pleaser in my book! I loved the pulled pork and the pickles are the best!




Turkey BLTC-turkey breast, crispy bacon, lettuce, tomato, aged cheddar cheese and lemon mayo. It's a good sandwich, but I felt it was lacking a bit of bacon. But the lemon mayo was the highlight!

DESSERTS!!
I think one of the reasons why I always get the ice cream is because there are so many variations of recipes for the ice cream. You can: Make an ice cream sandwhich (choose any ice cream you like and any 2 homemade cookies), Shakes, Malts or Floats (either choose one of the concoctions created by MILK or create your own), Make an ice cream sundae (choose one from MILK or your own; comes with your choice of topping, sauce and with vanilla, chocolate, cookies n' cream or starwberry ice cream), or a Dipping Station (choose either of the 4 ice creams with choice of it dipped in Chocolate,Chocolate Mint Crunch or Butterscotch)...it just goes on and on!!! They call it the Ice Cream Bar! It's fabulous!!


Pumpkin chocolate chip and coconut ice cream


Pumpkin chocolate chip and banana dulce de leche ice cream sundae with chocolate sauce and nuts

If you've got a sweet tooth like me, then definitely hit up this LA favorite!

Royal/T Cafe

Is there anything more glorious than having tea and cupcakes in the afternoon at a Japanese/French fusion cafe and being served by waitresses dressed in maid outfits?? I think not!! Strolling into Royal/T Cafe for an afternoon snack is quite the think to do in Culver City, CA. If you're looking for a little pub grub meets sophistication, Royal/T Cafe has the food, sweets and the drinks perfected. Not to mention it's also an art gallery and a cute gift shop too where you can buy the art, or their famous tea. Although we didn't stop by for the food, I here it's delicious and well worth the trip (even if you're not getting a cupcake..but why wouldn't you??). I was told the Sat/Sun brunch is awesome and the dinner/lunch menu (when its not crowded with events) is good also. Check out their menu.


You definitely have to try the Chocolate Raspberry Mousse cupcake. It looks so scrumptious, we couldn't resist. The cake was nice and chocolatey but the mousse was excellent!! It was velvety smooth and very sweet! Perfect!

The stawberry had a nice flavor as well. I'm not a big fan of strawberry, but this one is pretty good. I find that most strawberry cupcakes have to be overly sweet to compensate for the subtle taste, but I was very satisfied with this one-just sweet enough, especially with my tea.



I had the Kyoto Sunset Tea-hot. It's a black tea with apricots. We liked it so much we purchased a 3 oz bag of loose leaf. It's a very fruity mix. The best thing about the teas here is that they recommend adding flavored syrups to the teas, such as vanilla or peach. Later at home, we made this tea iced...and it's very refreshing!



We also tried the Royal/T Milk tea-brewed in soymilk-Iced. This one is another black tea with rose leaves. I love adding milk to my teas! And this one was great too!




Definitely need to try the food here! But I can always count on sweets and tea! And I heard Tea Parties here are fun too!

The Cupcakery-Las Vegas, NV

Ooo, I'm so excited to blog about the new cupcake place I went to! I know I'm biased because I think Sprinkles are the best thing since fro-yo, but I have to say, The Cupcakery in Las Vegas, NV is right behind Sprinkles in taste and flavors.

Here's the DL, The Cupcakery is located just a couple miles off the the strip and easily accessible. I just had to stop by! I love the fact that they have so many flavors and that the decorations and names are adorable! The quality of these cupcakes were very surprising. In fact, the chocolate cakes were the moistest of all of the flavors, and normally I find chocolate to be dry. I was also VERY impressed by the presentation of the frosting. There's always some cute sprinkles or swirls that make the cupcake look so inviting. So, here's what flavors we got (couldn't remember some of the flavors..sorry..and I couldn't find them on the website either):

Southern Belle-red velvet

Coco Frauline(dark choc. cake with creamy coconut and pecans) and vanilla with pink coconut

Lemon (with vanilla/lemon buttercream)

Hazelnut...i think??-with coconut and almonds

Grasshopper (mint chip dark choc. with mint choc. frosting) and Cherrylicious (stuffed choc cherry mousse inside a dark choc cake and topped with ganache)..hmmmm! my favorite!!

Sharon and me..holding our fab cupcakes! I was sssoo happy! I even wore my Johnny cupcake tee..I planned this! haha If you loved this post, check out www.johnnycupcakes.com/blog for more cupcake propoganda!

SushiSamba-Las Vegas, NV

My girlfriends and I headed over to Las Vegas for a birthday and I just happened to be capturing the blog-worthy food we ate there!...it's the only pictures I can show from the trip! ha!

To celebrate my friend's birthday, we ate at the super hip, SushiSamba, located in the Palazzo hotel. SushiSamba is a blend of Brazilian, Peruvian and Japanese inspired cuisine. The dishes are made for sharing so the sushi rolls and churrasco plates are perfect. And the drinks are good too! Some of the mentionable drinks were an acai blackberry vodka cocktail and the watermelon martini.



We ordered 3 rolls: BoBo Brazil roll- seared kobe beef, avocado, kaiware, shiso, red onion, and chimichurri. This came with 2 side sauces: soy sauce infused with avocado puree and chimichurri. The sauces gave a spicy and sweet hint to the rolls. Not to mention the kobe beef was delicious. Green Envy roll- tuna, salmon, asparagus, wasabi pea crust, aji amarillo-key lime mayo. This one was my favorite!! The key lime mayo was the defining flavor. And we also ordered a shrimp tempura roll, always a crowd pleaser!


We decided to take advantage of the Brazilian part of the menu which was a 5 meat churrascuria plate. It was definitely a plate to share! Our 5 meats included grilled hanger steak, ribeye, pork tenderloin, chorizo, lingüiça with malagueta pepper oil and chimichurri. And......it also came with a side of white rice, black beans, collard greens and farofa. So delicious! The favorite was the chorizo and the hanger steak. The seasonings were salty and smokey!





They gave us a complimentary birthday dessert- a 3 chocolate (milk, dark and white) mousse complete with brown sugar crisp at the bottom.


The prices are very spendy ($$$). $15-19 per roll and $46 for the 5 meat plate. Must make reservations for dinner!! The place gets very crowded. But a good place to eat before heading out to club Lavo!

Coconut-Pecan Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

This recipe was take from yet another recipe from my favorite cupcake book of the year, Martha Stewart's Cupcakes. Martha's recipes are great, but sometimes they get a little complicated for a novice baker such as myself. So I was definitely pleased with the flavor since I was able to complete her entire recipe. It wasn't your typically sweet cupcake. To me, the cake tasted like a moist muffin and the ganache has a rich, decadent taste. Here's the recipe:

COCONUT PECAN CUPCAKES

1 c. firlmly packed sweetened shredded coconut

3/4 c. pecans (3 oz.), toasted and cooled

2 c. sugar

2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp

1/4 c. creamed coconut (or 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp)

1 tablespoon pure coconut extract

4 large eggs, room temp

1 c. plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk (9 oz.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. In a food precessor, finely grind shredded coconut; transfer to a bowl. Process pecans with 2 tablespoons sugar until finely ground. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; stir in ground coconut and pecans.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, mix cream butter, creamed coconut, and remaining sugar until pale and fluffy. Add extract and then eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with 2 additions of coconut milk, and beating until just combined after each.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 20-22 min (cupcakes will not be domed). Turn out cupakes into wire racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temp or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

To finish, dip tops of cupcakes in chocolate glaze, then turn over quickly and garnish with toasted coconut.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

2 c. unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted

6 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

2/3 c. heavy cream

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Place chocolate in medium heatproof bowl. Bring cream and corn syrup into just a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; pour mixture over chocolate. Let stand, without stirring, until chocolate begins to melt.

Using a spatula, gently stir chocolate and cream until totally combined; begin near the center of the bowl and gradually work your way toward the edge, pulling in as much chocolate as possible, until the mixture is smooth and glossy. (if any chocolate pieces remain, strain mixture through a fine sieve and discard solids). If not using immediately, glaze can be refridgerated up to 5 days in an airtight container. Reheat gently before using.

Hope you all give this a try!

Orochon Ramen

We were inspired to eat at Orochon Ramen because we had seen an episode (yet another foodie show) of Man v. Food on the Travel Channel with Adam Richman. If you're not familar with the show-I'll explain. Adam travels to different cities in search of local hang-outs and unique menus. The highlight of the show is when Adam "takes on" a menu item from a restaurant, kind of like competative eating. Some previous challanges include: Eat a 72 oz. steak, with sides (bread roll with butter, potato, ranch beans, shrimp cocktail, and salad) in less than one hour or eat 6 "Atomic" chicken wings in a habanero sauce. At Orochon (located in little Tokyo in dowtown Los Angeles), Adam conquered a serving of the "Special No. 2," an incredibly spicy soup made with 10 kinds of chilies in the "Hot Ramen Challenge." If that doesn't sound crazy to you, just check out the menu below. The menu gives you a WARNING!! Specials #1 and 2 are eat at your own risk!

The menu is very simple. You choose the soup base: miso, soy sauce or salt, pick your number of spiciness and choose additions. The ramen ranks from 1-7, with 7 being non-spicy and 1 being VERY spicy. We both ordered #6 (and I could barely finish it!!). The ramen comes with green onions, egg, pork, bamboo and garlic. The ramen was delicious and SPICY! I was sweating while I was eating it! Not only is the ramen cheap and delicious, but the portions are huge!! I took half of my bowl home!
If you can take the heat, make your way over to Orochon. Be sure to arrive early, the place gets packed for lunch and the seating is limited.

The Waffle

For that perfect hang over fixer-upper, head over to The Waffle on sunset blvd for breakfast. Boy, do I love breakfast!! If you're like me, you could eat breakfast all day.. hah! The decor of the restaurant is cute with a 70's vibe with browns, mustard yellows and oranges all around, just like those old coffee shop truck stops. There's also an upstairs part of the restaurant which I think is a bar and a whole separate menu-its called the Big Rig Bar. Seating is available inside or outside on the patio.

The menu also features lunch and dinner..but lets get to the good stuff! I ordered a lemon curd blueberry waffle. Yum, so good! My waffle was perfectly cooked-crisp and golden! And the sauces together were sweet and fruity!
My husband ordered the BAKED-IN apple-wood smoked bacon waffle! This wasn't just bacon ontop of waffles-there were small bits of bacon INSIDE and all over the waffle! It was crazy! It was even better with maple syrup!

Some things to try for next time: Cornmeal Jalapeno Waffle, Baked-In Pecan waffle :)

Fair Oaks Pharmacy

This is a one of a kind trip back to the past. Where in southern California can you still find an old fashioned soda fountain with a real working soda fountain?? --At the Fair Oaks Pharmacy in South Pasadena, CA. It's a ice cream parlor, cafe and gift shop all in one! We luckily stumbled upon it on our way back from the Huntington Library. We recognized not only the line of people outside but the famous sign we has seen on a Diner, Drive-In and Dives (I'm an avid fan of the show) on the Food Network.
We were lucky to get a seat at the counter because the place was extremely busy. The service was frenzied, but friendly. We had the magnificent All American Banana Split! Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry ice cream with hot fudge, strawberry and pineapple sauce and a split banana. Wow! it was awesome! Definitely a place to visit again! And don't forget to check out the gift shop with neat gifts!

Ketchup

If you have a chance to go to this place, you NEED to visit. Ketchup on Sunset Blvd has a trendy atmosphere with an indulgent and satisfying menu and cocktails. It's a gourmet twist on childhood favorites like mac n' cheese and burgers. What makes Ketchup so fun is their 5 homemade ketchups. I recommend ordering the "threesome" (garlic parmesan, sweet potato and cajun fries) thay way you get to taste all of the delicious ketchups! Another popular menu item is the barking dogs: 2 mini kobe beef hot dogs, classic kobe beef chili, melted cheddar, and homemade ketchup. And those are just appetizers!!

We ending up getting the Mac N' Cheese with white truffle and dungeness crab! wow!! soo rich and sooo incredibly good!
For the entrees, my husband got the "Grand Daddy". It's a 12 oz special blend of USDA prime beef and short rib burger, smoked applewood bacon, shallot confit, heirloom tomato, baby arugula, Irish cheddar and served with truffle fries (tossed in white parmesan and white truffle oil). YUM!!! The burger was juicy, well marbled and the bacon was delish!
My dish was fabulous too! I had the summer truffle sausage risotto: grilled mild sausage summer links, sauteed onions and peppers, in a mild summer sage truffle sauce, over saffron risotto.

And I ALWAYS have to gets dessert! Coconut pound cake with salted caramel ice cream. I love salted caramel ice cream!
I highly reccomend Ketchup for a fun evening out. The menu was creative and inspiring while the music of rock n roll definitely set the party mood! Prices range in the mid $20s for entrees and $15-18 for appetizers. The service was friendly and cooperative too.

Wurstkuche

This place was totally awesome! Located in the artsy part of downtown, lies one of the most unique and yummy places to have a quick bite! Wurstkuche has a wide variety of exotic sausages with toppings, sauces and 4 different mustards (yay!) Choose any sausage from the Classic (brats and italian), Gourmet (Mango Jalapeno and Green Chile & cilantro) or Exotic (Buffalo, Aligator & Rattlesnake). They don't mess around!! The vibe is very casual and the back seating area is really set in thought of a German Oktoberfest haufbrau house. And don't forget to try the french fries in truffle oil! So yummy! And the price is decent too, weiners run from $6-7.75.

Chocolate Mint cupcakes

So I actually made some home made cupcakes this time! This recipe is from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book that features some of the most delicious and easy-to-make recipes I've seen. Some of my favorites include Tres Leches, Pecan Banana, Caramel Salted and Red Velvet. I changed the recipe a bit to fit my time slot and my novice cupcake baking skills. I even added a bit of chocolate shavings at the top. I had lots of fun!!

The Hungry Cat

For my special b-day dinner, I got to eat at The Hungry Cat in Hollywood, right across from the Arclight theater and Amoeba (some of my favorite places to go in LA). Specializing in a seafood raw bar with a spectacular presentation, but be prepared to open your wallet and enjoy some de-lish fish! We started out with some great cocktails and seared tuna (not on the regular menu). I had the butter braised halibut with parsley potatoes, morels, fava beans, ramps and creme fraiche ($25). The halibut was defintely moist, one of the best pieces of cooked fish I've ever had. But I have to say that my husband got the best deal. He had he ohpakapaka fish with remesco sauce, lamb bacon and baby clams. It was fabulous!!! The lamb bacon was delicious, I love bacon! Even though it was my birthday dinner, his meal definitely was my favorite, and it was cheaper too, only $22. The dessert was a surprise hit- a yummy peach crisp with a flaky crust on the top with the hot fruit inside. My husband even liked it, and he's not too fond of peach.

A very cool place to check out when you've got money to burn in Hollywood. Make sure to get reservations though, it gets crowded fast, even late an night too!

Joan's on Third

Joan's on Third is an awesomely busy food market/deli/bakery/restaurant filled with savory and sweet smells!! They had the most tempting cheese and dessert displays ever! And it seemed that everyone was also scarfing up their freshly breads.

We stopped by for lunch and luckily we were able to get a table. We were overwhelmed by the yummy food in the counter. So many vegetable dishes, they looked so good! (this is the one time it wouldn't be so bad to be a vegetarian). We ordered a MUFFULETTA (soprassata, mortadella, provolone, fontina and New Orleans olive mix on a Rustic Roll), PRESSED CHICKEN, BACON & BRIE with carmelized onions on French baguette and we felt brave a decided to order the Toasted Israeli Couscous (which was fabulouso!!!)

And we cant forget about dessert!! They had an impressive array of cupcake flavors ($3 each such as: chocolate cupcake, vanilla cupcake, coconut cupcake,
chocolate cupcake with coconut topping, vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting, vanilla cupcake with raspberry filling, marshmallow cream filled chocolate cupcake, peanut butter filled chocolate cupcake, snickers cupcake, carrot cupcake (yea, just a bit, haha)

And they were decorated so cute, not alot of gimmick topping but just enough like the chocolate sprinkles, or the snickers bar crumbled on the top, or the enormous mound of marshmallow on top.

We tried the cupcake special, vanilla lemon and the marshmallow filled cupcake.

Definitely blog worthy!

Hotcakes Bakes

Yay! Finally, a cupcake post! I went to check out Hotcakes Bakes in Culver City on Centinela. They had a great selections of cupcakes and bars, but I was only interested in the cupcakes. They have a variety of cupcakes that are available everyday and then they have a few specials too. I bought a cookies n cream, English toffee (both $3) and raspberry chocolate mousse ($3.50). I was very impressed with the quality of the cupcakes. The frosting was very smooth and not too sweet (which is sometimes a problem). My favorite frosting was the English toffee. It had little crumbs of heath bar on top and the flavor was light a creamy (unfortunately I ate this one before I could take a picture, I got too excited!!). And the cake was the moistest cake I've ever had! The cookies n cream was good too, good flavor, but choc. cake was too dry. My favorite cupcake was the raspberry choc. mousse. The frosting had the perfect fruity butter cream, the and the thick layer of chocolate covering the cake was the best part! Something definitely to try again! Check out their website, lots of yummy pictures!

Westside Tavern

Finally!!!! The Westside Tavern opened! I've been waiting for this restaurant to open since last year when they said it was going to open. Now I can officially have the "dinner and a movie" combo (and the list of cocktails and beers were quite impressive). It's located downstairs from the best movie ( its because of the couches!) theater in west LA; the Landmark Theater.

My good friend (my only other LA friend who gives me the scoop on whats really cool to do in this city! )and her boyfriend met us at the new restaurant for dinner. We ordered the Baby Artichoke Gratin with sourdough toast (good, but not enough to satisfy) and the Crispy Blue Lake Green Beans with meyer lemon aioli (excellent!!-just enough crispiness, reminded me of tempura). For our entrees they ordered a Grilled Prime Flat Iron Steak with Kennebec potato fries and bearnaise sauce and Prime Beef Short Rib Pot Roast with glazed carrots and buttery mashed potatoes. Both looked delicious and smartly decorated. I had the Spit-Roasted Lemon and Mustard Chicken with wilted garlic spinach which I was very pleased with. Not only did I get practically a half chicken but the flavors were bold and juicy.

And, of course, we can't go without dessert. The Strawberry Shortcake was good. There was marscapone cheese on top with vanilla bean ice cream. The dough was crispy and flaky with big sugar crystals on top. We also sampled the Hot Fudge Pudding cake plated with Tahitian vanilla ice cream and candied walnuts- yum!!

Overall, the food was definitely worth the wait. The prices were fair for the amount of food you get but expect to spend quite a bit if you want to indulge in the full flavors of drinks and food from the Westside Tavern.