happy cakes

Cupcakes are what I call a happy fun food. They're easy to make from staples found in your pantry, fun to decorate with kids, perfect for a party or play date and they always bring a smile to everyone's face. This simple vanilla cake stays moist and is delicious on its own, or it can be frosted with a fluffy buttercream for an extra special treat!

Happy Cupcakes
makes 36 mini or 18 regular cupcakes
recipe adapted from Sweet Revenge's "Pure" Cupcakes.

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 cups cake flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick (1/2 cup or 113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk (or substitute 1/2 cup whole milk + 2 tsp lemon juice)
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

METHOD:
1. Preheat oven to 325F (163 C).

2. If not using buttermilk, add lemon juice to milk and let sit undisturbed for 5 minutes. Once the milk fat has separated and accumulated on the top, gently scoop out and discard. Set aside.

3. Fill your muffin tin with cupcake liners. Tip: carefully remove each liner individually from the stack without creasing or flattening the folds. If the liner doesn't sit neatly in the tin, you may end up with a loose liner once the cupcakes are baked.

4. In a medium bowl, sift or whisk together cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Tip: if you don't have cake flour on hand, make your own. For every cup of cake flour needed, just measure 1 cup all purpose flour, then remove 2 tbsp of flour and add 2 tbsp of cornstarch. Sift well and there you have instant cake flour.

5. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Add eggs one by one and beat until well combined.

6. Mix in flour in three parts, alternating with buttermilk. Stir in vanilla.

7. Fill cupcake liners half full with batter and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 15-20 minutes for mini or 20-25 minutes for regular cupcakes. Rotate muffin tins halfway through baking.

4. Once the cupcakes are done, transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Unfrosted cupcakes can be stored at room temperature in an air tight container up to 3 days. Cupcakes must be completely cool before storing or else condensation will form and you'll end up with soggy cakes and liners that will start separating.

5. Frost the tops of each cupcake with buttercream and decorate as desired. Frosted cupcakes should be consumed the same day.

mexican with a twist

We were invited to CHINO during their soft opening earlier this month.

This cool new Kennedy Town hangout with former NOBU chef Erik Idos at the helm serves modern Mexican infused with and inspired by Asian ingredients.

Tortilla chips fresh out of the fryer. Served with pico de gallo, tomatillo salsa, guac and our personal favourite, a very unique and delicious shiso leaf salsa.

Grilled local corn with chipotle, kewpie mayo and queso oaxaca.

Pumpkin and sweet potato kakiage with lobster and uni.

For the vegetarians out there, black bean and mushroom soft tacos.

For the meat eaters, a chili glazed wagyu steak served with king trumpet mushrooms.

Other items on the menu we tried were house made vegetable and jalapeno pickles, a fresh local white fish ceviche, mushroom mizuna salad, a very crisp shrimp tostada, a filling and moist chicken tostada that was topped with a nice gooey fried egg, and a spicy and warming tortilla soup made with a chipotle and dashi broth. We loved how the do it yourself fish tacos were presented; each morsel of lightly battered and fried sea bass nestled in between the filleted fish.

For dessert we had CHINO's take on tres leches which was made with the addition of Thai tea. It had a Japanese cereal topping that gave the moist and dense cake a nice crunch. Alas we finished it too quickly to get a photo.