I would like to start this column with a story.
The other day, I entered the front door of my house after school. Another Michael greeted me and the conversation quickly turned to the upcoming dinner party we were planning. We invited two of her other couples for a fun evening of dinner, drinks and laughter.
Another Michael mentioned one of our guests – let's call him “Ned”.
“I just found out that 'Ned' is much older than I thought,” Michael said innocently.
I stopped and looked at him. Ned is the same age as me. Like me, he was also a member of his Class of 1985. So both of us, he's 57 years old, and I pointed that out to Michael.
He should have considered his response more carefully.
“Yeah, I know,” he said. “He looks very young. I had no idea he was as old as you.”
Thank you for your words of encouragement.
As you know, I feel anxious about a lot of things. But my appearance is generally not like that. Except in one area, that's my age.
I don't care that I'm 57 years old. In fact, I'm happy to be 57 years old. As a friend points out, it's better than the other options. However, I don't like people to think I'm older than that. Over the years, I've had people think she's 5, 10, 15, even 20 years older than I actually am. Seven years ago, this Great Reclamation occurred when a man in my church took me aside and asked, “So, who are you?” 65? Seventy-five? “
I was 50 years old at the time.
Michael tries to tell me that it's simply because my hair and beard are graying quickly. That's true. I used to be blonde, but lately when I cut my hair, I have very little of my precious blonde hair falling on the floor and more silver-gray hair.
As I said earlier, I'm fine with getting older. Still, I like to pretend I'm still a kid every once in a while. I watch the stupid TV shows I enjoyed in my 20s (Friends is still funny) and read young adult novels aimed at teens (especially Simon vs. the Homo Sapien Agenda). Is good). I also like to eat things that I used to eat when I was a teenager.
The only difference is that now I don't have to rely on my father or mother to buy things for me. I'm an adult, so I can eat whatever I want, no matter how close it is to dinner time. Another benefit is that I learned that many of these things are easy to make yourself.
But what should I make? For some reason, I wanted to try Hostess cupcakes, so I put together a recipe. they were great. My next conquest was a recipe for the kind of peanut butter bars that were served in my high school lunchroom. It was even easier than cupcakes and made me feel like a kid again.
That was the point. It doesn't matter how old people think I am. What matters is how you feel, and most of the time you feel pretty good. So I'm going to dip Oreos in milk and eat Pop-Tarts every once in a while.
Don't tell me I look 75 years old.
chocolate cupcake with cream
Hostess cupcakes always looked so delicious when I saw them at the store. The chocolate cake coated in chocolate icing and rippled white frosting was incredibly appealing. Sadly, on the rare occasions when my parents bought them for us, I was always disappointed. The icing was hard and peeled off in one piece. The cake was ok, but the cream filling wasn't quite there for my liking.
So it's no wonder that 50 years later I wanted to try making it myself. I put together recipes from the websites “Sally's Baking Addiction” and “Bakerella” and was very happy with the results. Now, my squiggles aren't very good. These treats are much tastier than store-bought ones.
Note: If you just want to make cupcakes and ganache, you can still make a great dessert. But I think what's on top of this cupcake is the cream filling.
material
For cupcakes:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 cup buttermilk (you can also use whole milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice)
1/2 cup hot coffee (hot water can be substituted)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. This recipe makes at least 15 cupcakes, so you'll need a second pan or reuse the pan. Let's set it aside.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Let's set it aside.
In a mixing bowl, combine oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk. Combine dry ingredients. Add hot coffee (or water). Mix until combined. The dough will be thin.
Pour into the prepared muffin tin (do not fill more than 2/3 full). Bake for 20-22 minutes (a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake should come out clean). Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before proceeding with the recipe.
cream filling
material
2 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons butter (room temperature)
7 oz marshmallow cream
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
4 tablespoons fresh cream
Sift the powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the butter and mix until evenly distributed. Add marshmallow cream, vanilla, and heavy cream. Mix until fluffy.
To assemble cupcakes:
Use a paring knife to cut a small circle in the center of each cupcake (the circle should be about the size of a nickel). Lift cake down about 1 inch. Fill the hole with about 1 teaspoon of cream filling. Replace the small circular pieces of cake you cut out. Repeat this with all cupcakes.
chocolate ganache
material
3 tablespoons softened butter
10 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used chocolate chips)
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/3 cup fresh cream
Melt the butter and chocolate with the corn syrup and heavy cream in the top of a double boiler set over simmering water. Stir constantly until the butter and chocolate are melted and smooth. Alternatively, you can heat everything in the microwave. Start with 30-40 seconds at a time to avoid burning the chocolate.
Dip the top of each cupcake into the ganache. Wait until the icing hardens.
Note: Cupcakes can be left alone. However, if you want to add unique squiggles, use leftover cream filling. You can use a piping bag and a thin tip.
lunch room peanut butter bar
If the previous recipe was more difficult than you expected, these no-bake peanut butter bars are the answer. It can be mixed in minutes (it takes a while to set) and requires few special ingredients.
I fondly remember these bars from my days at Sheldon High School. It's soft and coated with chocolate icing, so it's perfect for those days when you want something sweet.
There are hundreds of recipes for this dish. This is from the website “More or Less Cooking”.
material
1/2 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups (about 12 crackers) crushed graham crackers
1 cup smooth peanut butter
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
Line an 8-by-8-inch baking dish with foil.
Melt the butter in the microwave. Stir in powdered sugar, peanut butter, and crushed graham crackers. Press this mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
Melt the chocolate chips until smooth. Spread over peanut butter mixture. Chill in the refrigerator for about 60 minutes to harden the chocolate.
Slice into squares and enjoy!
Michael Knock is a food columnist for the Iowa City Press Citizen.