Pandanus is to Southeast Asia what vanilla is to the Western World!

Pandan leaf flavoring is similar to a smokey vanilla, and has a bright green color that might be a bit of a turn off to some, but then those non adventurous souls are missing out! The extract is from what we westerners call the the “Screw Pine”.

So, why would I want to make such a strange flavor cupcake? Well, back in 2001 when I went to Thailand I was introduced to this colorful confection addition. I have since figured that if it’s vanilla, it can be better with pandan! Often in Thai and Malaysian cuisine there is a combination of coconut & pandan, which is even better. The only question to me then was: if there is coconut and pandan in the cake, what the heck do I frost it with?

I eventually came up with the idea of a  white ginger/vanilla (aka Ginger flower) butter cream.

Below is a picture of the batter (half was already in the oven).

It looked like the stuff they poured on kids heads on that TV show from the 80’s “You Cant Do That on Television”. You know, the green goo. So far so good…. now to see who will eat them!

So I have this fantasy in my head about a theme party for Alice in Wonderland, and since I will be gone during the opening weekend and insanely busy during the month of March, I am slowly making all the cupcakes I would want for this party.

From Alice’s talking flower garden, we get this:

Rose Cupcakes

A basic White cake with a few drops of rosewater

• 3 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 TBSP baking Powder
• 1 TBSP Vanilla
• 5 Egg Whites  - room temperature
• 1 TSP salt
• 1 Cup + 2 TBSP Milk
• 1/2 Cup + 6 TBSP Butter - room temperature
• 3 drops rosewater
• 1 drop Pink Food Coloring Gel

Preheat oven to 350F Degrees. In one bowl, sift and mix four salt and baking powder.

Mix Vanilla and milk together in a cup.

In the second bowl, cream the butter with a mixer until soft, then blend in the sugar until fully mixed. Slowly add 1/3 of the flour mixture and blend, then 1/3 the vanilla milk & blend. Repeat with flour and milk mixing respectively until batter is combined and think.

In the third bowl whip the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add 1/3 of the eggs to the cake batter, gently folding until batter is lighter. Fold in half of the remaining eggs until combined. Repeat step for last of eggs into batter.

Divide batter into 24 lined cups and bake for 18 to 20 minutes.

Pink Buttercream & Rosewater Royal Ice Frosting

So, I was thrifty… I used the same recipe from last time, the “Honey Buttercream” with the 5 egg yolks left over from the cake plus a drop of pink color!! But that wasn’t all…

Rosewater Royal Icing

• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 3 cups confectioners sugar
• 3 drops Rose water
• 1 drop Pink Food Coloring Gel

Warm milk in a saucepan with the rosewater until blended, then set aside. Sift in sugar one cup at a time and whisk until it’s thick and white. Add color, and mix until blended.

I covered the cooled cupcakes with a layer of buttercream, then dipped the tops into the Rosewater Royal Icing and let the excess drip off. It sometimes took two dips for a solid coat.

As a garnish, candied rose petals top off this pretty-in-pink confection!

Things to do with leftover honey buttercream from the cupcakes: put it on hot Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Bread!

So cheap and very fast; add additional spices and chopped pecans to the batter for more flavor.

Winnie the Pooh, eat your heart out!

So in honor of the Saints, tonight I brought these treats over to a friends Superbowl party. (The bees were black and yellow, so they were Saints treats!)

The basic recipe cake part was from Martha Stewart, but I took liberties and added more honey than the original version. The bees are marzipan, the honey buttercream frosting idea was from another website, but also altered as I wanted to use the egg yolks and save the whites for a meringue “mushroom” later this week.

Below are my changes, and my frosting choice that I found online.

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I cant seem to escape it, the dryer never finished it’s job in one cycle. I hope it’s done soon as I want to get to the “Grand Asia Market” in Cary, NC before it closes (in 2 hours). Otherwise I wont be able to get my Pandan Leaf Custard.

and I need my Pandan Leaf Custard.

Everyone should enjoy the yummy green goodness that is pandan pudding: it looks like snot, but tasted like heaven!

(I also need Pandan paste for the cupcakes)

So here I go: the first blog post ever.

Wow.

The fact that no one is going to read this for a long time makes it more of a diary entry than a blog post. I suppose I ought to start with the main topics that I plan to be blogging about:

Life in North Carolina

Food, or more precisely: Baking and How I wish I could loose weight by eating more.

Theater and the Arts

Being Pagan without being a totally mindless moron hippie snowflake (peevish, aren’t we?)

and the Foibles of being newlywed.

As of now I hope to entertain (myself at this moment) and perhaps reach some enlightenment. As a friend just started “the Artists Way”, or mainly writing three-pages-a-day of whatever comes to mind which is what it was explained to me as,  I think this might be my version of the like. A catharsis…. to share with the poor victims that I con into reading my blog in the future! Meanwhile, as it’s just me, I will remind myself to to divulge anything too personal least it backfire into a maelstrom of drama.

on that note, let the games begin!

me and the better half