I apologize in advance. I wanted to eat Coconut Cupcake and started making it without taking pictures of the baking process… so we have a few pictures of this recipe… Sorry…

Anyways, as I stated above, I was craving for a Coconut Cupcake. Convenience enough, I usually have majority of the ingredients in my pantry, I found the sweetened shredded coconut so I decided to make one myself.

The recipes that I found online produces 12 to 18 cupcakes, which I did not want to bake that much. So as usual, I tweeted one of the recipes that I found online with addition of a Tablespoon of oil. The oil will help the cupcake to be moist. Also, I usually use Salted Butter instead of Unsalted Butter but do not add any salt that instructed on the recipes online. This is the lazy way of baking but the final products usually come out fabulous so why not right?

The following recipe produces 6 fabulous Coconut Cupcakes!

Ingredients
1. 1.5 sticks salted Butter, room temperature
2. 3/4 cups sugar
3. 3 Large Eggs at room temperature
4. 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

5. 1 Tablesppn Oil (I used Olive Oil just because it was on the Kichen Counter)
6. 1.5 cups flour
7. 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
8. 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
9. 1/2 cup milk
10. 5 ounces sweetened, shredded coconut

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the Butter and Sugar on high speed until light and fluffy.
2. About after 5 to 7 minutes with the mixer on low speed, add the Eggs, 1 at a time.
3. Scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the Vanilla and mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda.
5. In 4 parts, add the dry ingredients and the Milk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry.
6. Fold in 5 ounces of coconut.
7. Spray Pam to a muffin pan. Fill each cup to the top with batter.

8. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

9. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.

The online recipes recommended to have Cream Cheese Frosting. This is just my opinion but the great moist Coconut Cupcakes do not require frosting. It is just good as is. Well, if you still think that the frosting is necessary, uuuuuum, I guess you can make one with mixing butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar together… Sorry I don’t have a recipe for it. I actually whipped some heavy cream with some sugar and mixed with about 1 tablespoon of sour cream, added on the side of the cupcake.

This Coconut Cupcake is super moist. Really 1 Tablespoon of oil makes a BIG difference. Just with butter is not enough to produce this moistness. I could cut the sugar by 1/4 more… 1/2 sugar may be enough for this recipe. I’ll try that next time!

Overall, this is a success recipe and hope you can enjoy the 6 Fabulous Coconut Cupcakes!

Happy Baking!!
Mrs. H

Friday 10/16, right after work, we wanted to go out right away after the work to start out weekend fabulous! We thought about going to get a gourmet burger… that’s not so fabulous… thought about going to the Cherry Creek North, they usually have great restaurant selections… but then we did not want to drive all the way to the Cherry Creek North….

Then, I had this vision of “Moules et Frites”…. Ahhhhh “Le Central” Zach agreed immediately, which we started driving that direction.

When we get there around 5:30pm, the restaurant was nearly empty (Lucky~!) So we were seated right away and our fabulous weekend has begun.

We ordered L’ Ail, Le Brie, et Les Croutons as an appetizer, which is a baked whole garlic head, Brie cheese, and small toasts.

The baked garlic was like butter, spread the garlic and brie cheese onto the toast, sprinkle with diced Tomato and basil… Yummy~!!! It is so simple but yet the flavor of the roasted garlic, brie, tomato and basil was bold. What a great starter! Zach had some red wine, which was sweet for me but enough dryness with it for Zach

I ordered Moules Portuguaise, the steamed Mussels in this fantastic broth with Portuguaise Sausage, diced tomato and bottomless potato fries!
Sorry, these pictures suck because the lighting of the restaurant…

This is addictive. Even though I was quite full from the appetizer but I could not stop eating… As you can see how much mussels they serve, I have to say this is a one of the lightest dishes.

Zach ordered Cassoulet du Central, which was lamb, onions, and duck confit simmered with Provence herbs and white beans, topped with grilled pork sausage and gratineed with bread crumbs, like casserole.

All the meats looked so tender and perfect for the cold fall night. I’ll ask Zach to write about this dish later on!

After the meal, we thought about stopping the dinner right there but the waiter asked us “Would you like to look at the dessert menu?” and I said “I’ll just wanna look at the menu…” Well, you all know there is no “Just look at the menu”… we ended up ordering La Creme Brulee.

The custard was creamy and had a good taste of vanilla. The surface of the custard was very crispy caramelized sugar crust. This sounds very sweet but it’s not… just right amount of sugar in this dessert. I could eat the bucket of this…

All these dishes and 3 glasses of wine, it was less than $60.00. I have to say “What a deal!!”

The atmosphere of this restaurant is cozy but yet romantic For the special occasion or just for fun, try Le Central for the Best French Food in Denver~!

Happy Eating!
Mrs. H

I was craving the sweet apple pie. It is snowing outside and Z and I certainly did not want to go outside to get the pie from the store. So I ended up baking it myself. This is a little different than the usual apple pie that I bake. This is Deep Dish Apple Pie. Hope you like it!

Ingredients
1. 8 Small Granny Smith apples, peeled, quartered and cored
2. 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3. 1/4 cup sugar, plus 1 teaspoon to sprinkle on top
4. 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
5. 1 TSP ground cinnamon
6. 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Pie Crust (MAKES: two about 10-inch crusts)

1. 1 1/2 sticks very cold salted butter
2. 3 cups all-purpose flour
3. 1 tablespoon sugar
4. 1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
5. 6 to 8 tablespoons (about 1/2 cup) ice water

Directions
1. Dice ice cold butter.
2. Place the flour, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix.
3. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse until the butter is the size of outs.
4. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and run the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball.
5. Cut the dough in half.
6. Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge. Roll out half the pie dough and drape it over the pie pan to extend about 1/2 inch over the rim.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

1. Peel and slice the apple.

2. In a bowl, combine sugar, flour, and cinnamon.
3. Fill the pie with the apple mixture.

4. Top with the second crust and trim the edges to about 1 inch over the rim. Tuck the edge of the top crust under the edge of the bottom crust and crimp the two together with your fingers.
5. Brush the entire top crust with the egg wash, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar and cut 8 slits.

6. Place the pie on a sheet pan and bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, or until the crust is browned and the juices begin to bubble out. Serve warm.

Here we go, H’s Deep Dish Apple Pie! I’ll post a slice of pie picture later~!!

Happy Baking!
Mrs. H

Almond Paste Pear Tart

Spagetti Bolonez

Home made dinner. Spaghetti Bolonez & Almond Paste Pear Tart.

Spaghetti Bolonez is my recipe. I add a 1/4 cup of port wine to the source to maximize the flavor.  Fresh chopped parsley & ground Parmigiano-Reggiano make this dish extraordinary.

Almond Paste Pear Tart by Brian Boitano was easy and delicious! This can be served with hot or warm with Vanilla Ice Cream.