02.22.09

Green Tea Cupcakes

Posted in Make at 7:41 pm by Erin

Every time I make these, at least three people ask me for the recipe. They’re my favorite cupcake recipe, with a moist crumb, and a delightful medley of almond and  green tea flavors. As cupcakes go, this is a fairly innocuous recipe, health-wise. You could even substitute half of the oil with applesauce, although that creates a slightly rubbery texture. This is the original vegan recipe, although you can substitute non-vegan ingredients and everything works out just fine.

Matcha powder  is simply green tea, ground to a silky consistency. It can be found in any pan-Asian grocery store (such as Lotus in the Strip district here in Pittsburgh). It is a little pricey, but it goes a really long way.

greenteacupcakes

Green Tea Cupcakes (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line muffin tins (or grease them with a tiny bit of oil).

The Cupcakes

In a large bowl, whisk together:

½ cup soy yogurt
2/3 cup rice milk (soy milk works well, too)
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup canola oil
½ teaspoon almond extract

Beat well to blend in yogurt.
In a separate large bowl, sift together:

1 ¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
3-4 teaspoons matcha powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¾  cup sugar

Add the dry ingredients to the wet in two batches, mixing after each addition. Beat a little longer to break up any large lumps.
Fill liners 2/3 full and bake 20 min.

Green Tea Glaze

2 tablespoons  margarine (I use butter, as a non-vegan. If you are a vegan, I like Earth Balance brand)
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/8-1/4 teaspoon matcha powder
1-2 tablespoons rice milk
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
a few drops of vanilla extract

With a fork, beat butter or margarine to a fluff. Mix in confectioners’ sugar and matcha powder to form a crumbly texture. Slowly beat in 1 tablespoon rice milk, almond extract, and vanilla extract. If icing is too thick, pour in an additional teaspoon of rice milk.

Marzipan Flowers (optional)

I tend to skip this step, unless I’m making these for special occasions, simply because it’s a bit time-consuming. They are quite pretty, though. This recipe does not come from the cookbook, but from my head:

3/4 cup almonds, blanched (buying them pre-blanched will save you quite a bit of time)
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 drop red food coloring
few drops of water, if necessary

Toss the almonds and confectioners’ sugar into a food processor and process away! The goal is to grind those almonds into a fine powder–or as close to a powder as you can get them. Otherwise, your marzipan will be grainy. Toss in the wet ingredients, except for the water, and process again. You’ll want a dough-like substance to form–something resembling cookie dough, except maybe a bit dryer. If a dough is not forming, add a few drops of water at a time.

When you get the right consistency, spread out your marzipan on a countertop that has been lightly dusted with confectioners’ sugar. You can use either a small cookie cutter (1-2 inches in diameter), or a knife to create your flowers. You might want to try cutting out individual petals, then pressing five petals together to form a flower.

To Assemble

Once the cupcakes are completely cooled, use a tablespoon to pour green tea glaze into the center of each cupcake. Spread out a bit with the back of the spoon. Gently place marzipan flowers on top of the glaze. Let glaze set before serving.

02.08.09

A Day at Toast Letterpress

Posted in Look at 9:40 pm by Erin

The people at Pittsburgh Craft Collective have been putting together many affordable one-time classes on all sorts of crafty things: fused glass, bookbinding, knitting, etc.  My first experience with one of these events was an amazing demonstration at Toast Letterpress. The owners spent two hours with us, explaining step-by-step how they produce the lucious impressions that define letterpress today (in contrast to older letterpress fashions, which favored no indentation in the paper). Then, we got to create our own Valentine’s Day cards! I learned a ton of information, and the owners were extremely nice (and talented–they have a portfolio in their office that was filled with gorgeous work). And, as if this weren’t enough, they had heart-shaped cookies for us.

While I quickly realized that I should have been taking notes (I was too transfixed by the machinery), here is a glimpse inside the studio:

Contemporary Plate

A contemporary letterpress plate. In the past, wood was used. Wood gave way to metal plates, which are still sometimes used today.

Inks

The inks for the press, which are either rubber-based or oil-based. Rubber-based ink is generally preferred.

A Vandercook press, inked up and ready for action. This is what we used to create our cards. The plate is laying down, and I hand-cranked paper over it. This press is suitable for small runs.

A Vandercook press, inked up and ready for action. This is what we used to create our cards. The plate is laying down, and I hand-cranked paper over it (with the help of rollers). This press is suitable for small runs.

A windmill press: the Original Heidelburg (a platen press). This thing is amazing. It has mechanical arms to auto-fee paper, and it self-adjusts as the stack of paper gets lower. It was a whirl of activity, the sort of contraption that Willy Wonka might have thought up if he had turned to printing. Or, you know, been a real person. On this one, the type and/or images are kept in a vertical case, and it meets the paper. There's a glass funnel and hose, which was originally used to spray a chemical fixative so that the ink didn't smear on the paper. This is not necessary any more, of course. Built in the 1950s.

A windmill press: the Original Heidelburg (a platen press). This thing is amazing. It has mechanical arms to auto-feed paper, and it self-adjusts as the stack of paper gets lower. It was a whirl of activity, the sort of contraption that Willy Wonka might have thought up if he had turned to printing. Or, you know, been a real person. On this one, the type and/or images are kept in a vertical case, and it meets the paper. There's a glass funnel and hose, which was originally used to spray a chemical fixative so that the ink didn't smear on the paper. This is not necessary any more, of course.

Both of those presses were built in the 1950s. We also got to view an industrial paper-cutter, which instantly made me think of severed hands for some reason. I was assured that there’s a safety feature that makes it impossible for that to occur. We also got to use the corner-rounder, a cute little machine that produces the rounded corners that the kids like so much.

Here is my final product:

finishedcard

What a fun way to spend an afternoon! Thanks to Toast Letterpress and the Pittsburgh Craft Collective for putting this together.

If you want to see a letterpress firsthand, there are some good videos on YouTube (like this one). There’s also a really extensive introduction to all things letterpress here.