Moss Cupcakes You Say?? I Do!!!

Ok, I know this is a sort of ridiculous thing to be posting, but I don't really care.  The idea popped into my head and it just wouldn't go away... Cupcakes. Made to look like moss balls.  "You know, those moss balls you see sold at home decor places."  I said, explaining the idea to Jason.  "What?  Like, the kind you put in your closet?" he replied.  He was driving in his car and on a headset, so there was a good deal of static on the line.  Still, I was pretty sure he said "closet" and I was really confused.  "No, what?  Why would you put cupcakes in the closet?" I said, shaking my head (to no one).  "I was going to ask the same thing!" was the reply.  "And since when are moth balls GREEN?".  "OH!  No, not MOTH balls, MOSS balls..."  I said, almost rolling my eyes and then realizing "moth balls" might actually have made more sense.  "Um, oh... well... I'm sure it'll turn out great, sweetie... Moss balls...". 

I could picture him nodding his head on the other side of the phone.  Convincing himself, mentally, that he was not dating a crazy person.  Jason really is so supportive.  Even when my suggestions scare and confound him... and everyone else around me.  But it's okay if people are worried, because in my head this stuff makes a weird kind of sense. Sometimes my little brain says "You know what would be fun?  Making some cake balls that look like sheep."  And off the couch I go, zombie-like, to the kitchen to see if I have any Pocky around I can use for legs.

Most of the time people come around to my way of thinking once they see the results.  That, or they're too frightened to say otherwise.  "I LOVE the cheese snowmen, really!" they say, grabbing the tray I bring to their party... smiling a little too widely as they make a mental note not to invite me to their next one.  That's what I imagine.  But I'm hoping they will amuse someone.  Moss may not be the most exciting substance to want on a dessert.  It's not cute.  Or even logical.  But I had a surprising amount of fun making them, and I think they're perfect for Spring, really.  REALLY.  They're pretty tasty, too, when you combine the chocolate bases with the minty green tops and then coat them with more minty chocolate cake crumbs.  

By the way, this recipe asks you to buy mint oil to flavor it.  There's no reason why you should have to listen to that, though.  I think these would work perfectly well if you chopped up a handful of chocolate mints to put in the cupcake base and called it a day.  I wouldn't be a good Chicagoan if I didn't ask that those chocolate mints be the classic Frango Mints from the old Marshall Fields stores (now Macy's, boo) if you can help it.  But really anything minty would work.  Use your imagination!  I do... even when it tells me to make odd things like this...

Recipe: Chocolate Mint Moss Cupcakes

Makes 16 cupcakes

For the cupcakes... (adapted from Joy of Baking)

1/2 cup cocoa powder (Dutch-processed preferred)

1 cup boiling hot water

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons mint oil

For the frosting...

2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/3 cups confectioners sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon mint oil

Green gel food coloring

For the "moss"...

Might I suggest the Martha Stewart Red Velvet Cake recipe, and substitute green food coloring for the red.  Allow it to cool and then crumble half of it finely to use for coating your cupcakes.  It's good stuff and you can just eat the leftover cake you didn't "crumb" (there will be some).

What to do with it all...

For the cupcake base, start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees F and lining 16 regular-sized (4 ounces) cupcake cups with paper.  I use the standard thin white papers that turn transparent when you bake in them to show off the choclate base against the green tops.

In a small butter stir together the cocoa powder and the boiling water until smooth.  Set aside, allowing to cool to room temp.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

With a hand mixer, cream the butter, sugar and mint oil until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat only until incorporated. Add the room-temp cocoa mixture and stir until smooth.

Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full with the batter and bake for 16-20 or until the batter rises and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the deepest part.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

For the frosting, start by creaming together your butter and sugar until fluffy (about 2-3 minutes) with a hand mixer on medium-low speed.  Beat in vanilla and mint oil, then increase mixer speed to medium-high and beat until frosting is glossy.

Using a spatula or similar, coat your cupcakes with frosting, then roll in your previously made green velvet crumbs.  Done!

On being away...

I've rewritten this post thirty times, nearly literally, and have realized the best way to say it, is just to say it.  I've been away from Peas Love Carrots because my father passed away, suddenly, early this month.  I rushed off to Enid, Oklahoma where he and some of my family live and have just recently returned from there.  I thought about not mentioning it on the blog, but well, it felt sort of wrong not to.
I don't intend this to be maudlin in any way.  The sadness I feel is mixed with the joy of memories of Dad.  Which is how I feel it has to be.  The years have been stripped away from thought and I am finding comfort in childhood recollection.  After hearing the news he was gone, several memories rushed immediately to mind that have not left it since.  One was of his large bristly mustache, which was an eternal source of amusement for me as a little girl.  The mustache had a personality all it's own and I would watch with curiosity as he groomed it every day with a little comb that reminded me of the one I used on my Barbie's hair.  It would tickle my cheek with every kiss goodnight.  It would twitch, Charlie Chaplin-style, whenever he knew I was watching him, just because he knew it would make me laugh.  As I would also giggle whenever he ate, as some crumb of food would inevitably get caught up in it in the process.

Another memory is of his spontaneous hijinks in the kitchen, whenever Mom would let him break into her domain.  My mother made food that made you know, in your bones, you were well cared for.  The sort that are comforting touchstones that in adulthood serve as Proust's Madeleine in their ability to whisk me back a decade ago to her kitchen as I now cook them.  My father, however, was a mad wizard at the stove.  If the notion popped into his head to cook, the best thing to do was to rush to the kitchen doorway and watch the fun.  There were no sweet moments of helping chop or stir like there was with Mom.  Just a flurry of flour, the rattling of odd pans and in the end, fantastical dishes I had never knew existed.  They were most often inspired by his Southern-American roots, though I don't know how much of that I realized at the time.  This meant Louisiana crab cakes stacked in high towers and made with mascarpone, étouffée with olives and saffron, and once, as I watched in awe, he stuffed apples with golden raisins and brown sugar and then, with his long fingers wrapped them whole in pastry dough to bake.

I now know these are called Apple Dumplings and the recipe is rather common in the South.  But to me they will always be magic, and they will always remind me of Dad.  Last night I had my first real desire to cook something since returning from Oklahoma.  The choice for me was clear.  It would be Apple Dumplings.  I realize I am truly biased here, but I have to tell you that this is the best version you are apt to taste in your life.  It's rich without being cloyingly sweet, and fun and easy to make, though you'll look like a gourmand when it's served at the table.  Please trust me on the crème fraîche, and leave it unsweetened for your first attempt, at least.  It's nutty and perfectly lush with the apple and crusty pastry.

Just remember to check your mustache, should you have one, for crumbs while rapturously enjoying this... I can nearly guarantee you you will have some.

Recipe: Apple dumplings with cardamom and crème fraîche

What you need to get..

For the dumpling base...
4 Granny Smith or other tart apple, peeled and cored, but keep whole
4 raw flaky biscuit dough rounds (premade and found in cans in refrigerated sections in the US) or 1 sheet puff pastry dough (make it yourself, or buy frozen and thaw)

For the filling...
4 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons golden raisins
2 tablespoons unsalted pistachios (optional)

Other ingredients...
1 egg, beaten, for sealing/glazing dough
White granulated sugar for dusting dumpling tops
AP flour for rolling biscuit rounds
Unsweetened crème fraîche for serving OR unsweetened whipped cream, or cream lightly sweetened w/honey

What to do with it all...

Preheat oven to 400˚F.

Place peeled/cored apples in a microwave safe dish and microwave on 50% power until fork-tender (5 - 7 minutes for most).  You can also bake for 10 - 20 mins at 400˚F lightly covered in tin foil for same results.  Once tender, remove to refrigerator to cool.

While your apples are cooling, mix the filling ingredients and set aside.

Roll out each biscuit to about a 7 - 8 inch round (depending on the size of your apples) on a floured surface.  Place one apple on each round and fill each with 1/4 of the filling mixture.

Brush beaten egg on dough around apple, then bring up the sides to wrap the apple.  Seal and finish with a twist at the top of the apple.  Brush outside of dumpling with a little more egg, then dust with white sugar.

Place your sealed dumplings on a baking sheet, and bake for 15 - 18 minutes, or until golden.  Serve with crème fraîche and a dusting of cinnamon.