Christmas Pudding Cupcakes

See those glorious specks in the browned butter frosting? Perfection!

At the end of my whirlwind trip to London last year I found myself with a few hours to kill in Heathrow Airport. You know how they tell you to get there hours before your flight is scheduled to leave? Yeah, that's good advice if the wait in the security line is longer than five minutes or there's a problem with your ticket. Otherwise you'll be sitting there becoming increasingly hungry and might find yourself tempted by the overpriced food vendors. After I polished off a bacon, tomato, cheese, and ketchup baguette I was still ready for more. Must have been emotional stress eating at the thought of leaving my beloved London. Although it seems silly to visit an American chain while overseas, I gravitated toward the Starbucks kiosk in search of a festive holiday drink to end my dream vacation. I try to avoid desserts from chain stores that don't specialize in baked goods but while I was scrutinizing the menu for differences between the US version and the UK branch, a certain item caught my eye in the bakery case: a Christmas pudding cupcake.


Frankly, it didn't look that impressive and the photo I snapped of it is even more underwhelming but I found myself unable to resist anything with the word "cupcake" in the name. I was intrigued by what their version of Christmas pudding in cupcake form might taste like. Turns out the answer to that was simple and easy to sum up: delicious. I wish I had clearer memories of the flavors involved but I remember that the cake contained just the right amount of raisins to be reminiscent of Christmas pudding without being overly dense. The frosting was of the kind I would happily eat with a spoon straight out of the bowl, delicately flavored and paired nicely with the cake. Aside from confusion over the name I think it's something that would sell nicely here in the US.

I promised myself I'd try to recreate it in my own kitchen once I got home but somehow that plan fell by the wayside as I plunged into the holiday season. So here I am a year later unable to recollect the delicious details. After my suggestion to take a trip to England purely for the purpose of taste testing another was ruthlessly shot down by my husband, I decided to come up with my own interpretation of a Christmas pudding cupcake that may or may not resemble Starbucks' version. No matter as these are delicious concoctions in their own right.

Surprisingly, no one else out there on the internet seems to have tried this concept so I had to start completely from scratch. Of course, to add to my problem there just have to be hundreds of widely varying Christmas pudding recipes out there. I should also say that the one time I had Christmas pudding it wasn't my favorite, so I wasn't eager to completely copy the stuff. Just capture the essence in a more cake-like form. From my research, I came away with the thought that the defining characteristics are dried fruit in the form of raisins, cranberries, dates, etc. and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. Booze is a popular addition but since I don't own any of the traditional ones like rum or brandy I left that aspect out. I think it would be a welcome change to my recipe if you'd like to try it for yourself. I started with a sticky date cupcake recipe from the indispensable 125 Best Cupcake Recipes and went crazy from there. I substituted raisins and dried cranberries for some of the dates, decreased the overall amount of fruit, threw in some mixed citrus peel, and added the necessary spices to give it that holiday flair. The cake's a little denser than I envisioned so perhaps next time I'll try it with a more traditional vanilla cake recipe as my starter, but the denseness does work with the spices and fruit to emulate a good old fashioned fruitcake. There's just the right amount of fruit in each cupcake and the unexpected citrus burst from the mixed peel is the kicker.

And browned butter frosting? Why did no one ever extol the virtues of browned butter to me before? Damn, is this stuff good. Very, very sweet, but a perfect match for the spiced cake. Quite a winning combo to get me into the holiday spirit!

Christmas Pudding Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from 125 Best Cupcake Recipes by Julie Hasson

1/3 cup raisins
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped dates
1/8 cup mixed peel, chopped
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk

1) Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 12 muffin wells with paper liners.
2) In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine raisins, cranberries, dates, and water. Cook until fruit is soft and water is absorbed. Stir in mixed peel. Set aside and cool.
3) In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg.
4) In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together granulated and brown sugars and butter until well combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture, beating until combined. Add milk and fruit mixture, beating until smooth.
5) Scoop batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on rack.

Browned Butter Frosting
Recipe adapted from The Sister's Cafe

1/3 cup unsalted butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2+ Tb heavy cream

1) Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking, stirring constantly and watching closely, until butter just starts to turn golden (4 to 6 minutes). Butter will get foamy and bubble and you will see black flecks start to form toward the end. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature.
2) Beat butter and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until combined. Add vanilla and gradually add cream until frosting reaches the desired consistency. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

These are especially delicious served warm, so feel free to pop them in the microwave.

A Photo A Day [Days 103-105]

A photo of a photo of London. I knew none of my own pictures would turn out this good so I bought a few professionally-done ones as keepsakes.

Day 103

Who knew cranberries looked like this on the inside?

Day 104

Closeup of one of our animatronic figures' hair. Turned out pretty funky straight out of the camera.

Day 105

Theme: up close

A Photo A Day [Days 101 & 102]

Day 101

This is Punky, my first born. I found a poem online that perfectly captures her:

"My Cat is the cat of all cats
For she is like a beautiful Painting
She sleeps and awakes in the early morning
To demand her requests for the day.
My Cat is the cat of all cats
She is royal and dignified.
Poets and Writers have long been inspired
She is admired by all who encounter her
My Cat is the cat of all cats
And shall remain so, until the end of her nine lives."
-Kim Day

Day 102

Thawing out cranberries for a pie I plan to make in honor of National Pastry Day. Sure, it'll be a bit late since that's today but it's a great excuse to bake something unhealthy. I'm being patriotic or something. While some of these cranberries have seen better days at $0.25 per bag I'm not about to complain about a few shriveled berries.

This week's theme: up close

Stocking Stuffer Idea

Photo from Sew Woodsy

It kills me that most of the projects I've been working on for Christmas can't be shared here until after the holidays because I don't want to spoil anyone's surprise. I don't know which of my friends might be reading my blog so I don't want to risk anyone getting a sneak peek at a present until the big day. I'll keep this post sufficiently vague and free of pictures from my actual project.

This is a bargain project with cute, customizable results. One of my favorite bloggers, Sew Woodsy, first made some skeleton magnets for Halloween that caught my eye. I added it to my to-do list and then, of course, promptly forgot about it. The concept is so simple and the supplies are cheap. Hit your local dollar store and buy a bag of round glass stones, the type used to anchor and decorate floral arrangements. You'll need a little Mod Podge and some hot glue plus a package of round magnets, easily found at a craft store. Either cut some pictures out from a magazine or catalog, print photos of your favorite celebrity crushes, or get creative and use wrapping paper or scrapbook paper to make fun magnets like these:

Photo from Sew Woodsy. No, I'm not trying to imply that Santa is her celebrity crush but you never know!

Follow Sew Woodsy's simple instructions to Mod Podge the paper to the back of your glass stone, trim, glue down the edges, and hot glue a magnet to the back of each. I've made two sets so far and plan to package them in decorated Altoid tins as stocking stuffers for friends. One set was made completely from pictures cut out of a clothing catalog, mostly closeups of their pretty floral fabrics. Another simple, satisfying project that can be done in a hurry, perfect for this time of year when we've all got a lot on our plates.

Huge Giveaway at Bella Before and After

If you're not already following Bella Before and After you really should. She's got tons of enthusiasm, great ideas on her blog, fun link parties, and is one of the sweetest bloggers I've ever come across. Can you believe she takes the time to check out and comment on all of the links in the parties she hosts? We're talking thoughtful, meaningful comments that show she actually read the post. In honor of reaching 100 followers she's got a big ol' giveaway going on her blog through Friday. I lost count of how many prizes there were around number five so we're not talking about just one or two dinky prizes. These are lovely, handmade gifts that you'd probably want to buy for yourself if you're not the lucky winner. So please go check her out, become a follower, and enter to win the fabulous prizes for yourself.

A Photo A Day [Day 100]

Accidental self portrait. Glad it's small and blurry enough that you can't see the mess behind me.


Theme: up close.

Citrus Brined Roasted Chicken

I know many of you out there have been dealing with cold temperatures and even snow for weeks but around here we just got our first cold snap of the year. Sunday felt like a "hole myself up in the house in an effort to keep warm" sort of day, perfect for roasting a chicken in the oven for a few hours. This was my first attempt at cooking any sort of large bird on my own so, in typical methodical German fashion, I made sure to do ample amounts of research first. I came away with the feeling that as long as I cooked the thing long enough I could be as creative as I wanted with the preparation and flavors. In other words, it would be difficult to screw it up.

Left with a lot of orange and lemons after making the Glühwein before Thanksgiving I figured this would be the perfect way to use some of them up. I found an intriguing-looking recipe for a citrus brine and while I'd never brined meat before either alone or with my mom I was ready to go whole hog with this bird. My chicken soaked for about two hours in a bath of chopped oranges, lemons, onion, garlic, black pepper, and thyme. And, of course, salt. Lots and lots of salt. I don't typically use much salt when cooking but, again, figured I'd follow protocol and poured the salt in.

Taking inspiration from a number of different recipes, after removing the chicken from its bath I rubbed a combination of butter, orange zest, thyme, pepper, and salt under the skin and in the cavity. For a little extra oomph I chopped up an orange and a lemon and stuffed the wedges inside the bird. I even took a stab at tying the poor thing up with string so the legs and wings wouldn't get overcooked and dry out. Not sure I did it properly but whatever I did seems to have worked.

I was also eager to try an orange glaze recipe from December's issue of Cooking Light. While the chicken was cooking, I juiced my remaining oranges, made a few adjustments to the recipe including adding some sugar, and cooked it down enough to make a thick sauce instead of a glaze. It was absolutely divine when drizzled onto the chicken. Heck, it was divine when I ate it with a spoon. No chicken required to make it delicious.

A few hours later I had a nice, juicy, flavorful bird to hack apart. I was picturing the scene from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation when Clark cuts into the turkey only to find it's so overcooked that it bursts and deflates into a dry husk. Fortunately, mine didn't turn out like that at all. If anything it was too juicy, which I didn't mind but is something my husband complained about. Not sure if that's because of the brining or if I needed to cook it longer even though the meat was all thoroughly cooked. Oh well. You don't hear me complaining. It was a perfect end to a chilly weekend.

Citrus Brine
Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com

1/2 cup salt
1 lemon, cut into wedges
1 orange, cut into wedges
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
3 cloves garlic
4 bay leaves
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
Cold water

Rub salt onto your chicken and place remaining salt, lemons, oranges, onion, garlic, bay leaves, thyme and pepper into a large pot. Place the chicken in the pot and fill with enough water to cover. Refrigerate 1-2 hours. Discard brine after removing chicken.

Rub chicken with a combination of orange zest, salt, dried thyme, black pepper, and softened butter under the skin and inside the cavity. Chop an orange and a lemon into wedges and insert into the cavity. Truss the chicken and place on a roasting rack above a pan lined with aluminum foil (for easy cleanup). Bake in a preheated oven at 350 F, 20 minutes per pound plus an additional 15 minutes.

Orange Sauce
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light

1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
2-3 thin slivers of chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup brown sugar

Combine the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil until reduced to a sauce-like consistency. Strain and serve over chicken.