But why is the rum gone?

Happy Holidays all!  I got a little bored with Thanksgiving so I'm going to skip Thanksgiving part 3 (sorry!) and move on to bigger and better things aka Christmas!  But don't worry friends, my second family (i.e. Kayle's family) is Jewish and a challah post will be coming soon.  Also, just so I don't leave out my own heritage, Chinese New Year is right around the corner so expect a delicious Asian dessert that my momma taught me.

Ahh, but I get ahead of myself!  Let's talk about Christmas!  I love Christmas.  And I really love Christmas music - like really really love.  I've had my Spotify Christmas playlist on non-stop since Black Friday and I am still not bored of it.  I'm actually pretty sad it's not acceptable for me to listen to Christmas music year round.  Sometimes I just need a little holiday Josh Groban to make me happy, you know what I mean?  Is that really asking too much?  If you're my brother, it is.  He does NOT like Christmas music so I had to make sure I got my fix on the way to Mom and Dad's so as not to bother him with it during our week of confinement in Lincoln, NE.  And, to answer your question "What?  You're in Lincoln, NE?" - yes, yes I am.  It took three flights, two security checkpoints, and about thirteen hours of travel time, but I made it.  Don't ask why we're here.

A good friend of mine, Carlos, asked me to cater an ugly sweater party that was put on for a charity called the Congo Leadership Initiative.  The CLI was started by a fellow Cornell alum and I really encourage you to take a look at the charity (above link) and donate if you can.  A bunch of people decided to have ugly sweater parties for the CLI on the same weekend, and all participants were able to enter into the competition and I won second place yo!  I think I was totes gypped since a simple photograph could not contain the wonderfulness of the sweater I borrowed from Kayle.  I mean, seriously - there is a blinking feature people!

I'm good....I'm cool.  I'm over it.  More importantly, I got to make a ton of Pooncakes for my friends and make them I did.  To go along with the holiday spirit, I made two types of cupcakes: Chocolate Peppermint and Eggnog with Spice Rum Buttercream.  OK - so I'm not gonna lie - I do not like eggnog.  I just don't!  But add an alcoholic buttercream and you've got my attention.  I do heart chocolate and mint as a combination, so all in all I'm very happy with the way everything turned out.  I think everyone else did too!  Thanks to Carlos who coordinated everything (and hired me!), Shane who hosted, and Nate for starting such an awesome reason for us all to come together.

For the sake of keeping this post from becoming an epic novel, I'll save descriptions of my kick-butt baking/food blog Christmas gifts that are obviously from my brother for the next post.  For now, I hope you are all safe and enjoying all the snow!

Chocolate Cupcake recipe from Nutella Cupcakes

Mint Chocolate Ganache adapted from Cupcake Bakeshop

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate

½ cup heavy cream

½ teaspoon peppermint extract

1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature

Chop the chocolate into small pieces and put into a heat-proof bowl.

Heat the cream in a small pot until simmering, then carefully pour into the middle of the chocolate.  Allow the chocolate to sit for a minute before slowly whisking until smooth.  Add the peppermint extract and butter, and mix well.  Let cool completely.

Core out the middle of the cupcake using an apple corer or any other device you may have.  Fill each cupcake with the ganache, making sure to not over-fill.

Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting adapted from With Sprinkles on Top

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

½ cup butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

6 cups confectioner’s sugar

In a medium bowl or the bowl of a standup mixer, cream together the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.  Add the peppermint extract and mix until well combined.

Slowly add the confectioner’s sugar until smooth and you reach your desired consistency.  If the frosting is too thick, add milk or cream, a tablespoon at a time, to thin it out.  Decorate cupcakes and add any festive toppings such as crushed candy canes.

Eggnog Cupcake adapted from Baker's Royale
Yield: ~40 pooncakes

1 ½ cups self-rising flour

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

¾ cup eggnog

¼ cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350° and line your cupcake tin.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours and set aside.

In a medium bowl or the bowl of a standup mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs in, one at a time, allowing each to incorporate before adding the next.  Beat well and scrape down the bowl.

In a small bowl or a measuring cup, mix together the eggnog and milk.

Alternating between dry and wet ingredients, add the flour in three additions and milk in two additions.  Make sure you let the batter incorporate before the next addition.

Fill the cupcake liners about ⅔ full and bake for 18-20 minutes depending on your oven.  Remove from tin as quickly as possible and allow to cool on a cooling rack.

Spiced Rum Swiss Merengue Buttercream adapted from Baker's Royale

5 large egg whites
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 cup (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cut into tablespoons
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ cup spiced rum

Note:  You will also need a candy thermometer and a double boiler.  To set up a double boiler, add about an inch of water to a small saucepan.  Allow the water to come up to a simmer, but do not let it boil.  This mixing bowl sits on top of the saucepan.

In a medium bowl or the bowl of a standup mixer, mix together the egg whites and sugar.  Place the bowl on top of the saucepan and bring the temperature of the mixture up to 150° degrees, whisking constantly.

Transfer to the standup mixer.  With the whisk attachment fitted, whisk the egg whites on medium speed.  The volume will eventually double.  Let the bowl cool to room temperature, then begin adding the butter one piece at a time and allowing each piece to incorporate before adding the next.  There's a possibility the whole thing may curdle and look like cottage cheese.  Do not fret!  Keep mixing and it'll eventually smooth out again.  Add the salt, vanilla extract, and spiced rum and mix.  When adding the spiced rum, do so slowly as the buttercream will "separate" from the bowl and it will take some time for it to fully incorporate.  Pipe buttercream onto cupcakes.


Tiffany