This absolutely delicious vanilla bean cupcake is brought to you by cupcakeproject.com and is noted as the ultimate vanilla cupcake.
I will agree about the cake part. It was out of this world! For the icing, I went with the recommended vanilla bean buttercream frosting. It's good, but I'm not sold. With a cupcake that tastes that unbelievable, I was expecting something else. I have a feeling, if I made my strawberry frosting from earlier this year, strawberry or vanilla flavored, it would have been heaven.
One last photo just for fun!
And with that, I hope 2011 was just as sweet for you, as it was for me.
I know I took a little hiatus from blogging, but there have been other priorities lately...family and myself. This time of year, I always find to be a good time to recharge my batteries. So, that's just what I've been doing with a little retail and cooking therapy.
My only deviations from the recipe were the following:
Crushing a lemongrass stalk seemed a little agressive (maybe if you've had a bad day, this would be an option). Instead, I sliced the stalk lengthwise into 4 strips and then chopped the stalk. I placed the chopped lemongrass in cheesecloth, tied it up and threw it in with the liquid. (See the big white looking ball in the photo below.)
I added about 2 garlic cloves crushed (literaly smashed with the back of a sturdy knife, and skins removed) to the liquid.
I actually mixed and whisked all the liquid in a separate bowl before placing in the pot to heat. The coconut milk is really thick, so I recommend this part, especially if using an enameled pot to cook your mussels.
Ingredients prepped.
Mussels, debearded and washed.
I purchased from Whole Foods, and for the most part, they were ready to go, but a few still needed debearding, which is literally tearing out this fiberous little tuft from the side of the mussel. After this, I let the little guys sit in cold water for about 30 minutes to flush out any remaining sand. After 30 minutes, lift the mussels out of the water. Don't poor into a strainer, because all the sand will just end up back on the mussels. Also, be sure to ditch any mussels that are cracked or wide open, or don't close when tapping/pushing on them. And if they don't smell like the beach, the word is they're not fresh.
So, tonight's dish was so good that we forgot to take a photo before we scarfed it all up.
So what could have been so finger lickin' good? Scallops Provencal, by none other than one of my favorites...Barefoot Contessa. And yes, this recipe has butter, so be prepared, or go for a run. Because you just can't make this right without butter.
Click below for the full recipe...get a nice baguette to soak up all the yummy goodness!
