Tag Archives: Candice Kumai

Carrots & Cake

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Almost four three, I swear I can count, months have passed without a single post from me…yikes!

Anyone out there still?? {echoes, echoes, echoes}

I’ve been seriously slacking in the kitchen. My main contributions have been opening the bag of frozen Alexia sweet potato fries or opening up a box of Trader Joe’s pizza, palak paneer or tikka masala.

C’est la vie.

Though, don’t get me wrong – all of those frozen goodies are delicious…but the whole “motivation” thing has been lacking.

Today I decided to get off my butt and get moving in the kitchen (and…the real catch… actually blog about it). Candice Kumai’s “Pretty Delicious” has pretty much become a staple in my kitchen since I bought it a year ago. FYI – her soups kick bootaay.

As I flipped through the book, I was looking for something that I hadn’t really tackled before… in came her Pineapple-Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. Plus, I’m a sucker for frosting…I was definitely that kid that licked the frosting off of cake/cupcakes…left the cake behind and went back for seconds.

After a quick inventory of the kitchen, I had everything absolutely necessary – and dove right in.

I made ‘em mini…if only for the opportunity to get more frosting into my mouth.

15 minutes later, they came out fluffy and golden brown.

I made the frosting (minus the orange juice/zest… didn’t have one!)…I just amped up the vanilla.

After they cooled (and I’ll be honest, I dunked one into the frosting … you know, you have to taste!), I experimented with the frosting… and ultimately ended up with this photogenic beauty.

Flufffay! These ended up being really delicious. The cake itself isn’t too sweet, which leaves lots and lots of room for frosting. :)

My only thoughts for the future would be to play around with the nutmeg. I like the stuff (though, I think it’s one of those polarizing things – where you either like it or you absolutely hate it), but I think I would reduce the amount next time, just for my own personal taste…maybe 1/4 tsp.

Now, I’m off to go enjoy some frosting…err, I mean…cupcakes.

Pretty Delicious

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Ahh – so the baking bug has set in again . I really like cooking, but truly my passion lies with baked goods. haha Sugar and carbs? Yes.  Surprised? You shouldn’t be. :)

Months ago, I purchased Pretty Delicious, a cookbook by former Top Chef contestant Candice Kumai, and I’ll be honest I wanted it when I looked at the cover. I’m a sucker for a great foodie photo.

click.for.source.

As per my previous confession, my cookbook addiction just wouldn’t let me walk away from it, but I had yet to make anything from it.

Today, I set out to change that, and Candice’s recipe for Baby Blue Babycakes was calling to me. The recipe, which is a decently healthy (aka not terrible for you: approx 135 cals for a mini-muffin!) twist on your average blueberry muffin, just seemed like a great summery treat. The twist is the addition of both lime zest and juice – plus a little coconut! YUM.

Babycakes Recipe (yields 24 mini cakes):

Cake 

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 Tbsp grated lime zest (about 4 limes) …there may have been a zesting-related injury in this step… damn box grater.. Oh, and I’m sure using lemons would be equally as delicious
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice (this came out to be 1 lime’s worth for me)
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter at room temp
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup frozen blueberries (I used Maine bloobs – smaller and sweeter, delish)
Combine all dry ingredients (flour, zest, salt, baking powder), whisk them and set aside. Combine buttermilk, Greek yogurt, lime juice and vanilla in a separate bowl.  Separately (largest bowl – I used my KitchenAid here), cream together butter and sugar and then add eggs – mix to combine.  Then alternate dry and wet ingredients while mixer is set to low speed (took me 3 additions). Scrape bowl and then fold in blueberries with spatula. Spoon into cupcake cups – bake at 375 for approximately 15 minutes.
Lacking a mini-muffin tin, I simply made them normal sized -which yielded 12 cakes. They took approximately 20 minutes. 

Icing

  • 1 cup of confectioners sugar (I ended up using a little less)
  • 1 Tbsp grated lime zest
  • 1.5 tsp fresh lime juice
  • 1-2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk or buttermilk (I used buttermilk)
  • 3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Once cakes are cool, combine sugar, zest, lime juice, and milk to a good consistency (I chose to make mine thin…more soaking into the cake rather than just sitting on top, and added some coconut to the actual glaze). Dip into coconut.

LOVED the combo of lime and blueberries. Never would have thought to do it, but, man, it’s so good. It adds this summery punch of freshness to both the cake and icing, making a seemingly average blueberry muffin, anything but. Plus, coconut?

You had me at hello.

Pretty delicious? Definitely.