I can't express how much I miss baking

So, I know we are supposed to write about all of our fantastic ideas here, but it has been eight months in China without an oven and without baking supplies and I really miss getting in the kitchen and seeing what I can make.

Baked goods here are entirely different from everything we have in America, when I expect something to be sweet it i salty and covered with meat flakes or some strange substance. When I expect something to be salty it turns out to be sweet and full of too much sugar.

The only baking I've done during the year has been in a toaster oven and without any real baking pans, which has been a great challenge. At the same time this has all been teaching me how to improvise and learn to work with what I have in front of me. I made some baked french toast for Easter that was way different from the original recipe but my friends kept asking for seconds, thirds and eventually fourths. On the other hand, we've had some major flops ... foods cook and cook and never get done or they cook for almost no time and burn in an instant. It's all a game and I'm glad I'm learning how to play by some new rules.

I'm missing cupcakes a lot, I tried explaining cupcakes to some of my Chinese friends and how KShaw and I like to stir things up and see what we come up with. I'm excited to get back in the kitchen and stir the pot a bit when I finally get back to America.

P.S. I finally figured out how to use a proxy server, which explains my long absence from the blog and now, finally, my return.

Picky Palate

Lindsey, my official taste tester for the month, wasn’t too impressed with culinary experimentation. Might have been the throat-scratching, ginger-infused coffee I concocted. Her face twisted when she sipped on the spicy drink and, without hesitation, shoved the drink aside. But when I handed her my Cuisinart standing mixer’s wire whisk caked with piña colada cupcake batter and she wiped her finger into the creamy rum and pineapple, her face didn’t purse up. My sugary experimentation was a success.

Roughly Following the guidelines of a piña colada cupcake recipe from a recent Christmas present, “Cupcakes Galore,” I created a fairly decent batch of cocktail cakes. I tossed in a few different ingredients—I replaced shredded coconut with almond slivers since Lindsey doesn’t like the white flakes and in place of crushed pineapple I added the same amount (1/3 cup) of apple sauce, which added a sweet lightness to the batter and softened the pineapple juice. I would additionally suggest adding at least ¼ cup of vegetable oil to ensure the cake stays moist.

¼ pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/3 cup pineapple juice

1 Tablespoon rum

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 ½ cups flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1/3 cup crushed pineapple (or 1/3 cup applesauce)

1/3 cup shredded coconut (or 1/3 cup slivered almonds)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease the muffin pan or line with paper cups. In a large bowl or standing mixer, beat together the melted butter, pineapple juice, rum and vanilla extract. (Add the ¼ cup of oil here.) Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. In a separate bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, ½ cup at a time, until combined. Fold in the applesauce and almonds. Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full. Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.