Red Velvet Cupcakes

Cooking Class Coming!!

I know you're waiting and the first video is being edited right now.  We actually have several "in the can."  My granddaughter is a perfectionist.  I have asked her to share the raw footage with you. . .it is hilarious.  But, I don't think she is going to do that. 

In the meanwhile, subscribe so you may receive regular postings from this blog!

Cooking Lessons

I am giving my granddaughter, Marieshia,  cooking classes.  They are fun, humorous, and prove that anyone can cook.  She will be posting our first class very soon . . . Red Velvet Cupcakes. . .ummm good!!

Thanksgiving is coming!!

Neely's Whoopie Pumpkin Pies

Recipe courtesy The Neelys

Show: Down Home with the NeelysEpisode: Monster Mash

• Recipe categories: Vegetables, Pumpkin, Cheese, Cream cheese,
  more

  • Dish : Cookie
  • Occasion : Holiday , Halloween
  • Who's Dining : For a Crowd
  • Season : Fall

Photo: Neely's Whoopie Pumpkin Pies Recipe

Total Time: 28 min

Prep:  20 min

Cook:  8 min

Yield:  12 pies

 

Level:  Easy

 

 

• Thanksgiving Main
• Easy Appetizers
• Perfect Turkey
• More

Neely's Whoopie Pumpkin PiesRecipe courtesy The Neely's

Ingredients

Cookies:

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch salt

Ingredients

Filling:

• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Using a stand mixer, add the butter and sugar and beat together until light and fluffy. Add the egg, then the buttermilk and the vanilla. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients in increments to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined.

Drop heaping tablespoons of the batter onto parchment lined sheet trays, leaving a 2-inch space between each cookie. Put in the oven and bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on rack.

Beat together the cream cheese and butter, in a small bowl, until smooth. Slowly add in the confectioners sugar. Once smooth, add the pumpkin puree, the cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Beat until smooth and well mixed.

To assemble the cookie, spread a heaping tablespoon of the filling to the flat side of a cookie and sandwich with another. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Transfer to a serving platter and serve.

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All Rights Reserved.

 

Cooking w/Liquor

Most people think that when you cook with liquor, it evaporates.  When D's Delectables cooks with liquor, that ain't so!! I found this posting online  (Cook's Illustrated) which  backs up my claim.

How much alcohol is cooked off during cooking?

We are frequently asked how much alcohol is cooked off from wine, beer, and spirits used to flavor dishes. The common belief is that the alcohol (ethanol) completely burns off with time (or direct heat—see flambéing below), but we’ve found out that it’s not that simple.

When alcohol and water mix, they form a solution called an azeotrope—a mixture of two different liquids that behaves as if it were a single compound. Even though alcohol evaporates at a lower temperature than water, the vapors coming off of an alcohol-water azeotrope will contain both alcohol and water—they become inextricably mixed.

We measured the alcohol content of the stew liquid in our Beef Burgundy recipe before it went into the oven. Every hour, we sampled the liquid to measure the alcohol concentration, and every time, it had dropped--but not as much as might be expected. After three hours of stewing, the alcohol concentration of the stew liquid had decreased by 60 percent. A major reason for the retention of alcohol in this dish is the use of a lid. If the surface of the liquid is not ventilated, alcohol vapor will accumulate, reducing further evaporation. Because most stews and braises are cooked in lidded pots, significant alcohol retention is the rule rather than the exception, even after hours of cooking.

Alcohol cooked in a skillet, say for a pan sauce, evaporates faster and more completely if allowed to reduce almost completely before liquids are added, though a certain percentage of alcohol will remain. As long as a liquid starts with an alcohol content higher than 5 percent, the final alcohol content will remain at about 5 percent.

Flambéing

One way to quickly reduce the amount of alcohol in a liquid is to ignite the vapors that lie above the pan, a technique known as flambéing. But the degree to which a flambé will remove alcohol depends partly on the heat added to the liquid underneath. We found that brandy ignited over high heat retains 29 percent of its original alcohol concentration, while brandy flamed in a cold pan held 57 percent. In the case of a flambé, the addition of heat (not just the flame from a match) can make a significant difference in the strength of the finished sauce. Practically, what does this mean? Steak Diane, which is cooked on the stovetop, will lose more alcohol than Cherries Jubilee, in which flaming liquid is poured over ice cream.

Our Conclusion?

Though it is possible to remove the majority of alcohol in food through cooking, traces will almost always remain.

New Recipes

Okay. . .so I am running a little behind.  You have asked for some of me recipes    . . . Here we go! 

WE will Have actual Cooling class starting tomorrow. Are you there?  It does NOt make sense for me to post if you are not Listening.

Yogi and Saeed . . .you are added so we can begin to put together the cookbook.

Country Pecan Morsels - Daily InBox Recipe- Beliefnet.com

Country Pecan Morsels - Daily InBox Recipe- Beliefnet.com