productivity

I had a comment on my previous post asking about what went right for the wedding food I made this past weekend, so I figured I should write a little more about that. (Although I did have a few positive things to say in my previous post, I always figure that warnings to someone who may be doing the same thing are more useful than my raving about how delicious everything was. Which it was!)

For one, the little lemon tarts were fabulous, with the crusts staying crisp even after sitting for awhile. I’m not going to re-write the recipe here but instead will direct you to “A Set of Sweet Mini Tart Variations” earlier in this blog. The lemon recipe is the fourth one down. The brownies also came out well, and as it turned out these two items had the most leftovers, for some reason. In spite of my agonizing about the oversized cupcakes and cheesecakes there weren’t really all that many left when all was said and done. The tarts and brownies were the most freezable of the items I made, so they’re now safely ensconced in freezer bags out in our extra garage freezer.

Here’s the brownie recipe, which is so great for making little brownie bites because the recipe is easily scaled for doing that. It’s from the Taste of Home website, and I added a few flourishes (of course):

BROWNIE CUPCAKES
(from Taste of Home online magazine)

Yield: 12 mini brownies for each recipe made with amounts given; easily multiplied to give yield needed.

Sugar Content: 5.5 grams per brownie, not including extra chips or glaze

Ingredients:

Instructions:

Melt chocolate and butter together in a microwave-safe bowl, preferably the bowl you’re going to use for mixing the batter. For this small amount try 45 seconds at 50% power, then check. You may need another 30 seconds or so. When the mixture is partially melted stir it until smooth and completely melted. Let cool slightly. Mix in sugar, egg and vanilla, then fold in flour and nuts if using.

Divide batter among 12 mini muffin cups, preferably with liners. For extra chocolatiness, you can put 3-4 chocolate chips in the bottom of each cup. I did this for the wedding brownies. Bake at 325^O for 8-10 minutes, or until still somewhat soft in the center. Let cool completely before frosting. These cupcakes are specifically described in the recipe as not needing frosting, so the choice is up to you. Buttercream (plain, chocolate or peanut butter) or chocolate ganache would both be great if you decide to go that route, though. I used chocolate ganache, with a ratio of 2 parts chocolate chips to 1 part heavy cream, nuking it at 50% power in the microwave for 2 minutes, stirring, then doing 2 minutes more. Don’t ever heat chocolate on high in the microwave! These ganache proportions resulted in a nicely-set, beautiful glaze. I sprinkled some gold decorating sugar on the tops, but I think people may have thought that it was salt. Oh well.

I will also say that, in spite of my having to rescue my frosting at the last minute with great gobs of powdered sugar, the piping I did with it looked pretty great. I have something called a “frosting gun” or “frosting press” which I bought through Amazon. Any real decorator worth her salt would turn up her nose at this item, as its capacity is very limited. I would say that it can hold enough frosting at one time to do maybe 10 normal-size cupcakes, and it is somewhat of a pain to refill. But it’s so much easier and less messy than those dratted plastic frosting bags that are the norm, and it doesn’t require much work for your hands. I have carpal tunnel problems that can flare up, but I don’t have any issues using this tool because it has this nice lever or trigger that you use to dispense the frosting. I just wish they’d make one with a bigger capacity, but there it is. If I were doing a whole big wedding cake (which is never, ever gonna happen), I would probably ask my mother-in-law if I could use her Wilton cake-decorating set. But for what I do, and especially if I’m doing mini items, this tool is perfect. If and when I wear out the one I have, I’ll probably go with the stainless-steel one from Wilton.

Okay. Enough positivity for one post! Want you to know that I’m working very hard on my cookbook/entertaining manual/handbook of easy hacks/etc. It’s expanding as I work. If you’re a subscriber to this blog you’ll get a special deal! Score!