I'm having Sunday blues. Only that it's Tuesday. Tomorrow will be my first day at work after 2 weeks of a blissful staycation, where all I had to think about was eat, drink, be merry, and cook for my friends. I also spent inordinate amounts of time watching telly - actually, DVDs - curled up on the sofa, hugging a fluffy cushion, which I seldom get the chance to do normally (which is a pity really, because my sofa is damn comfy). There's nothing to look forward to tomorrow, apart from a dinner with friends in a restaurant I have long wanted to try. I know what's waiting for me in the office - the same steaming heap of unresolved problems, slowly composting. As I have a couple of friends to thank for their recent generosity - and nothing says thank you better than freshly baked treats - I did what I do best: donned my brightest apron, invoked the Domestic Goddess, and baked like there's no tomorrow - literally.
Old recipes, that I am trying to improve, and new ones, laying the ground work for more goodies to come (the Perfect Black Forest Cupcake Research Project is still in the works - watch this space!). Will this make me feel better tomorrow, when I have to confront people with their lame excuses for sitting on their hands doing nothing the whole time I was away ? Probably not. But it certainly did make me feel a lot better today. The warm smell of a baking chocolate cuppie is the cheapest and most effective form of therapy I know.
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| A triple-decker of freshly baked madeleines and chocolate/vanilla cupcakes, cooling down. |
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Madeleines, baking.
The quest for the perfect madeleine is a long road for the home baker... The childhood recipe I have been using for many, many years calls for 83% butter (compared to the flour weight). Today, I tried the same version with 100% butter - makes things noticeably better! There's still a bit of work to do on the hump though... |
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| Test-bake 1: vanilla cuppie. Dense and moist. Part of the lemon & poppy seed cupcake project ;-) |
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| Test-bake 2: chocolate cuppie |
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| Chocolate cuppie, cross-section. This is a new recipe - no butter, only crème fraîche. Part of the Perfect Black Forest Cupcake Research Project - getting there... |
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| Cuppies rising |
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| Chocolate / vanilla cuppie - perfect for dunking in coffee! |
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| Chocolate / vanilla cuppie - cross-section |
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