All Sweets and Snacks

So today the non-baker and the foreign correspondent attended the All Sweets and Snacks Exposition, hosted by the National Confectioner's Association.

Though the non-baker had been before, she found it again, both amazing and overwhelming. The foreign correspondent assessed it as being sort of similar to being a kid in a candy store, except that all of the candy was up for grabs (and was free.) It is truly a magical atmosphere, unlike almost any and every other convention (and not just because around half the attendees go around grabbing candy while they talk to representatives from different companies.)

They both enjoyed it greatly and plan on writing more about it in the coming days. Also, though she was not able to make the convention, the non-baker is planning on making sure that the Baker gets some of the treats that were there so that she can come up with some truly creative recipes incorporating new items from the show.

World's best black bean burger and sweet potato fries

Despite the fact that neither of them is a vegetarian, the Baker and the non-baker are both exceedingly fond of black bean burgers. And while there are a lot of restaurants that sell them, and whose are quite delicious, none of them stands up to the black bean burger with mango salsa that is made at Fox & Obel. It's a seasonal item, served only in the late spring and summer, which has, on more than one occasion, been a problem for the non-baker, who would prefer to have it available all year round.

They also make the best sweet potato fries. Crispy and delectable and not too oily.
Anyway, this is mostly to say that if you're in Chicago, and looking for delicious food, the place is worth a visit. The non-baker tends to wax poetic about the place for hours, specifically about the very nice people at the cheese counter who will gladly give you samples of everything and the wall of olive oils and vinegars.

The All Sweets and Snacks Exposition

Recently the non-baker decided that she wanted to do something fun for the Baker, something food related, and something that the Baker had never done before. Last year, the non-baker attended the All Sweets and Snacks Exposition (formerly the All Candy Expo) hosted by the National Confectioner's Association. And the non-baker figured that the Baker would enjoy the opportunity to see all the new sweets and snacks and come up with recipes that incorporated them. And, of course the non-baker loves learning about the new fads in the candy and snack industries. So......in around two weeks, the Baker and the non-baker will be attending the All Sweets and Snacks Expo.

We'll be posting updates at the end of each day of the Expo, with either news about candy and snacks or with recipes that use the items that we find there. Joining us will be our Foreign Cooking/Baking Correspondent, whose familiarity with Russian candies and snacks will allow her to write about the foreign candies and snacks.

And the cupcake craze continues

Of course the Baker is not yet done with her cupcake craze. This time she decided to create a sour chocolate walnut cupcake where the sour flavor was meant to mimic this nonalcoholic wine that she's fond of (odd, why yes, a little bit, but that's the Baker for you- creativity and odd taste profiles all at once.)

And, I'm surprised to admit that she shared a relatively straightforward recipe with me:

For the batter:
two egg whites 1/3 cup oil 1/3 cup cocoa powder 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup buttermilk a little white sugar white flour baking soda baking powder salt walnuts

Instructions: (as she says) Please mix the wet ingredients together and then add the dry ones.

For the frosting:
cream cheese (1/3 of a package) (probably around 0.5 cups)
around a full cup of powered sugar, added a little at a time
some Chardonny Verjus wine (it's nonalcoholic)

Sweet Potato Fries

The non-baker decided that since finals were over, she deserved a special treat. She decided that she wanted something fun. And, she had a sweet potato sitting around. So, she decided to make sweet potato fries.

Here's the recipe:
1. Cut up one sweet potato very thinly. You can do this by slicing the potato lengthwise and then cutting each slice into long rectangles.
2.Then put these on a baking sheet and drizzle some olive oil on them. Try to get a little bit of olive oil on each of them.

3. Bake in the oven at 350F for ~40 minutes. Then, take them out, and put them on a paper towel to soak up the extra oil.

And more cupcakes

The Baker decided to make more cupcakes. She informed me that these ones were based on the idea of a fluffy peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a typical Baker inspiration.

Ingredients:
cupcakes:
1/3 cup of oil
4 egg whites
1/2 cup crunchy unsalted peanut butter
1-1 and a 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1 large pinch baking soda
2 large pinches baking powder
1/2 pinch salt
1/2 cup milk

Filling:
2 tablespoons raspberry preserves
1 tablespoon confectioner's sugar
1 tablespoon dried whole blueberries

Icing
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cups confectioner's sugar

And, here are the instructions:
1.Mix up the batter: mix peanut butter, egg whites, oil and milk until blended. Then, add flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, peanut butter chips and salt to the blended mixture, until smooth.
2.Make the filling. Combine raspberry preserves, sugar and blueberries.
3.Then it's time to assemble your cupcakes. Fill the bottom quarter of each cupcake shell with the blended mixture. Place 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of filling in the center of the cupcake shell that has already been filled 1/4 full of batter. Then, add more batter until the cupcake shell is 3/4 full of batter.

4.Bake the cupcakes at 350F for approximately 25 minutes or until ever so slightly browned at the edges. Be sure NOT to overbake them.

5.Remove cupcakes from oven and let cool until room temperature, which should take about an hour. When they're ready to be frosted, they should be cool.
6.Frosting time. Soften the butter, but DON'T melt it. It should retain its shape. Whip the butter with sugar. Mash the leftover filling. Then, slowly add the mashed leftover filling until the two are fully combined.
7.Dress the cupcakes and make them pretty. Then, if you're the Baker, you cut open the cupcakes so that you can showcase their insides.
Then, of course, you eat them.

Cupcake baking

So, it was raining and the Baker decided to bake cupcakes. But, being the Baker, she could not just bake one kind of cupcake. That would be too boring. Instead she decided to create two types, both adorned with blueberries. She delineated the two by topping one kind with one blueberry and the others with three.

Here is the recipe for one blueberry cupcakes:
1 egg + 1 egg white
2ish tablespoons cocoa powder
3/4 cups white sugar
1/3 cup buttermilk or more
red corn meal
salt, baking soda (1 pinch each)
a lot of flour

And, the recipe for three blueberry cupcakes:
1 egg + 1 egg white
2/3 melted bitter sweet chocolate
3/4 cups white sugar
1/3 cup buttermilk or more
white flour
salt, baking soda (1 pinch each) and baking powder
Both were topped with a mixture of melted chocolate, butter, vanilla, and of course, blueberries.


And, here's a small tutorial on how to ice cupcakes with a runny icing. First, dip the tops of the finished cupcakes in the icing.
Then, hold it over the bowl and slowly tilt it to get rid of any excess.
After that, just turn them the rest of the way, and finish them off by putting a blueberry on top.