FrogPrincesse

So after all this experimenting with the strawberry cupcakes, I did not have any time left to tweak chocolate cupcake recipes before the actual birthday party. I was not satisfied at all with the two recipes I had tried and did not feel that modifying them would give me the result I was looking for. So I was looking for a recipe that I could trust. In the past I found that David Lebovitz had consistently reliable recipes so I decided to use his devil's food cake recipe. (Surprisingly the recipe is by volume - as he explains it is a good recipe if you have to bake but your scale does not work). I made it as is, using the best cocoa powder I could find (i.e., Scharffen Berger). He gives the option of using coffee or water as the liquid and I opted for water since I was baking them for a kids birthday party. There were no surprises. The batter used considerably more liquid than the recipes I tried before (see upthread) so it was less dense. So this all looked very promising. They rose well and cracked a little, but much less than the other recipes. The recipe yielded 2.5 dozens cupcakes. For the frosting, I used the dark chocolate frosting recipe from Sprinkles since it is so decadent, with Trader Joe's pound plus 72% dark chocolate. And I used the chocolate "flakes" on top, which are square-shaped sprinkles made with real chocolate, and I was relieved to find them in a local store (although they cost more of less their weight in gold. If I make the recipe again I will try to buy in bulk!). The finished result and cross-section. One of the two platters we had at the birthday party. Some slight damage during transportation and handling, but nothing too bad. Well I have to day, David Lebovitz is a genius, because this was really fantastic, The cake was moist and delicate, more or less crumbless, and had an intense chocolate taste. I could not have been happier and here ends my quest for the perfect chocolate cupcake.

I made the strawberry cupcakes a few more times since my last posts. I made the Sprinkles recipe as is again, but using a fresh jar of baking powder since the one I had used in my first attempt was only a few weeks away from expiry. There was no difference - excellent taste and very good frosting, but the cake itself was still quite dense. After that, I had to bake a couple of dozens so my daughter could take them to school. I tweaked the recipe as much as I could (without making any drastic changes) - adding a little bit more baking powder, slightly more liquid, etc). But in the end there was no noticeable difference. So I concluded that it was just the type of cake that was not to our taste. I believe we would prefer the cupcake with a different type of cake that is inherently lighter, such as maybe a genoise/sponge cake. It's still a pretty good recipe and the frosting is great. I baked a dozen of them for the actual birthday party. Everyone seemed to love them and the natural light pink color is very pretty. I would be curious now to buy them again from the Sprinkles store and see how they compare. I am more or less convinced that the recipe that they have made available to the public is not what they use.

With my daughter I made this super simple recipe from The Country Cooking of France last night. She loves eggs (soft boiled, hard boiled, fried, scrambled, omelettes, you name it). For a change we made Oeufs en Cocotte. We cooked thinly sliced chives in butter (the recipe calls for scallions but I did not have any). Then we prepared croutons by frying little cubes of stale country bread in more butter. We added chives and croutons to buttered ramekins, then she cracked an egg in each one, and added a spoonful of sour cream (heavy cream or crème fraîche work well too). The eggs were cooked in a bain marie in a 350F oven. We forgot about them so they were a little overdone, but still wonderful. This recipe is very easy to modify by adding all sorts of interesting ingredients (cheese, sauteed mushrooms, ham, smoked salmon, fresh herbs, etc).

I made this (dry) Americano variation last night called Rome with a View (Michael McIlroy, via Bartender's Choice). Campari, dry vermouth (I used Dolin), lime juice, simple syrup, soda water. I was not sure how the pairing of Campari and dry vermouth would work; I am not usually a fan and have a hard time enjoying a Lucien Gaudin or an Old Pal for example. It was very nice though, bitter but not overly so (if there is such a thing), very refreshing with the lime and soda water, and the dry vermouth added a lot of interesting aromatic flavors. A good summer-time apéritif.

I think that the Brown Bomber is an amazing drink - but I make it with Lillet (as specified in the PDT cocktail book)!

I really like the Cocchi as well. I tried it side by side with Lillet in a Corpse Reviver No. 2 and a Vesper and liked it much better than Lillet in both. However for one of my favorite cocktails, the White Negroni, I have to admit after much testing that Lillet is a better choice. So Lillet still has its use.

My mint is still doing extremely well these days, despite aggressive trimming. Since I had prepared an Eastside Fizz for me last night, for my husband I just substituted cognac for gin (and held the club soda), resulting in a Maid in France. It's served on the rock(s) instead of up. He liked it very much, although maybe not as much as the bourbon version (the Kentucky Maid discussed upthread).

My drink last night was an Eastside Fizz. 2 oz Plymouth gin 1 oz lime juice 3/4 oz simple syrup handful mint leaves 3 slices cucumber + 1 thin slice for the garnish club soda Muddle the cucumber and mint with the gin, lime, and simple syrup. Shake with ice, double strain, add club soda, float a thin cucumber slice as a garnish. Absolutely gorgeous drink. Right away it reminded me of Toby Maloney's Juliet and Romeo. It is a simplified version of that cocktail (without rose water, Angostura bitters, or pinch of salt). Even without these adornments, this is still fantastic. It tastes slightly salty; the mint, cucumber and Plymouth gin blended really well together.

Last night I made an Imperial Fizz with rye, Jamaican rum, lemon juice, simple syrup, egg white, and club soda. Smooth and spicy at the same time. The choice of rye and rum could probably be fine-tuned. The flavor of the Bulleit rye came though, but the Appleton 12 was a little muted in that drink. A Jamaican rum that is a little more robust may be a better fit.

I just found a picture of the spot prawn dish that I took at the time. I still dream about it.

Honkman, I attended a previous event of Evolve Cuisine back in March, the Cambrian Event which was focused on seafood (provided by Catalina Offshore, whose owner also attended the event). We had a great time. We sampled a wide array of great seafood with original preparations. We chose to sit at the counter so we could witness all the cooking right in front of us which is always fun. Some of the standout dishes were a spot prawn dish that was served raw with pickled daikon and a very delicate ocean broth; the uni bisque (even though it was served in a syringe...); and a shrimp ceviche appetizer with ponzu. I did not care AT ALL for the molecular cocktails. Encapsulating overly sweet "cocktails" to make them look like sushi or other food items has very little to do with actual cocktails in my opinion. In the end, the finished product tasted mostly like thick gelatin (gummy bears come to mind) and very little else. They were fun to look at of course, but did not taste good. This is one area where using the modernist tools just felt like a gimmick to me. Cocktails aside, this was a very enjoyable event and a good value (I believe we paid $75 for a dozen courses overall). The menus for the past events are here- in addition to the announced menu we had three tray-passed hors d'oeuvres and a few other "bonus" items along the way. Also a highlight of these events is that you get plenty of chances to interact with the chef and the various cooks, which adds a lot to the experience.

A Hays Collins tonight (found on Bartender's Choice). It's simply a Tom Collins with an absinthe rinse. The absinthe rinse (I used pastis) alters the taste slightly. The finish changes from citrus to herbal, although it is subtle. I like it a lot.

Chris- You may want to try your Amaro Montenegro in a Cobble Hill (2 oz rye, 1/2 dry vermouth, 1/2 Montenegro, 3 slices cucumber, stir, strain), a Manhattan variation created by Sam Ross. I tried that cocktail last weekend at the Varnish and it's fantastic.

Ventreche is rolled, cured but not smoked. It's similar to pancetta.

Beautiful weather yesterday (it finally feels like summer), so we were in the mood for a tiki drink. I made a Test Pilot (Don The Beachcomber, via Beachbum Berry Remixed) which is one of the tiki drinks I make regularly. The recipe was posted on the falernum thread for those who would like to try it and don't have Jeff Berry's books. It's spicy, it's deep and complex, and it keeps getting better with each sip. I imagine it would be even more fantastic with homemade falernum. The pastis + Angostura bitters combination is quite a wonderful base for the cocktail. We started singing Don Ho songs at some point, not sure how that happened.

Or being in California and craving horse meat... In the US you cannot get: tonka beans or real bison grass vodka as they both contain coumarin which is banned by the FDA raw (unpasteurized) milk cheeses aged for less than 60 days (FDA again) scallops in the shell with the roe is illegal as well, as far as I understand fromage blanc, petits suisses (not illegal but very hard to find) amer picon and suze are not distributed here for some reason

Odd. In San Diego, I see fresh passionfruit at Bristol Farms or Whole Foods regularly (and also at some of the local farmers' markets). It's not cheap, but it's available.

I made a Mint Daiquiri last night. Identical to a normal daiquiri, with the addition of fresh mint. I used rhum agricole and its distinctive flavor married well with the mint. 2 oz rhum agricole 1 oz lime juice 3/4 oz simple syrup fresh mint shake, double strain

SobaAddict70: Your panzanella salad looks so delicious. What a great use of bread!

I am glad I found this thread. I made a Country Life No. 2 (Sam Ross, via Bartender's Choice) a couple of weeks ago and could not figure out what category to include it under. The original Country Life calls for bourbon, Jamaican rum, port, Angostura bitters. Sam Ross' version subs sweet vermouth for the port (bourbon, Jamaican rum, sweet vermouth, Angostura bitters). The proportions are too different to categorize it as a Manhattan variation. Each component can be tasted (my husband was able to guess easily what all the components were), but the cocktail still is harmonious as a whole.

Last night I tried the Three Seasons (Toby Maloney, via Bartender's Choice). Gin, Pimm's No. 1, lemon, lime, and orange wedges, cucumber, mint, strawberry, soda, borage (my addition). LOTS of fruit in the glass, which was fun. Light and refreshing.

I could not agree with you more regarding the Collins. I just started a thread on the Collins and the Fizz. These are great summer drinks that deserve more attention.

I searched through the various threads and did not find one devoted to the Collins or its close relative, the Fizz. My understanding is that they both variations on the Sour with the addition of soda water. The Fizz is served up, while the Collins is served tall, on ice. There are many variations and I thought that it would be good to have one place to record them. Here are some of the recent ones that I have tried. The Derby Fizz (via Bartender's choice): rye, lemon juice, curaçao, egg white, soda water. I had a hard time getting this one to foam properly. It was not the nice creamy foam that I usually get with other egg white drinks. I wonder if my eggs were to blame (too fresh?). Taste-wise, it was a little bland. The Ross Collins (via Bartender's choice): rye, lemon juice, simple syrup, orange slices, angostura bitters, soda water. To prepare this drink, the orange slices are shaken with the rest of the ingredients (except the soda water of course), a technique similar to what is used for another one of Sam Ross' creations, Too Soon?. That has the advantage of extracting some juice together with aromatics from the zest. On paper, it did not seem like this would be too interesting. However the first sip revealed that it was a delicious and balanced drink, with each component bringing something to the overall flavor. This weekend my husband and I went to Comme Ça, a restaurant in LA that has a bar program overseen by Sam Ross, and my husband ordered this drink again. Here is their version (with the orange wedge). They have the good ice and use a single long ice cube. The other drink with the lime wedge may be considered a loose variation on the Collins. It was called an Old Sombrero and contained tequila, cynar, lime juice, honey, egg white, soda water, and a mezcal rinse. It was smoky and a little bitter.

Glad you liked it. It's really a fantastic cocktail. I try a lot of cocktails (if that was not already obvious...) and every once in a while I find a "gem". The Rattlesnake is without a doubt in that category.

Death in the Gulf Stream (via Bartender's Choice). It's a swizzle with genever, lime juice, simple syrup and Angostura bitters. It is said to have been a favorite of Hemingway. It is intensely sour at first as expected with only 1/2 part simple syrup for 1 part lime juice. It grew on me as the ice melted. It is really refreshing.