Stiff Peaks

I had a wonderful weekend in Boston, celebrating my birthday with a trip to see Blue Man Group.  Mark and I stayed over at the swanky Nine Zero Hotel (thanks Priceline!), so there was little time this weekend for my resolution.  However, yesterday I went grocery shopping with Kenzie with lots of new ideas in mind.  One of them finally happened today!

I saw a recipe for banana cream pie cupcakes on one of my favorite food blogs last week, and I immediately knew that I had to make them.  First of all, banana cream pie is Mark's favorite dessert.  Second, it would be my first attempt at filled cupcakes.  I love making cupcakes and so I have been intrigued by filled ones.  And, third of all: the recipe calls for a vanilla bean, another thing that intrigues me (despite costing $7 per pod!)

It was certainly a very involved process, but I would say it is worth the work!  I had to make pastry cream first, which is a very similar process and recipe as my vanilla pudding.  Then while it cooled, I made the cupcakes.  This was my first experience splitting open a vanilla bean, scraping out the black seeds inside, and using that in place of vanilla extract.  It definitely gives a more vanilla-y taste - for a hefty price!  However, I am getting my money's worth: I saved the bean pod and the jar it came in, put the bean back in the jar, and added sugar.  In a week, I will have vanilla sugar!  Great idea I found on a blog. 

Anyway, now comes the fun part: the filling!  I had to cut out a cone of the center of each cake with a paring knife (called the cone method... I'm so smart).  A big thanks to Allie and my mother for eating all the cones to avoid having to waste them ;)  Then I had to push in a slice of banana, a spoonfull of pastry cream, and top it off with another slice of banana.  It was pretty fun to put them together like that!  Last, I made whipped cream to frost them with.  The recipe called for it to be topped with another slice of banana and a circle of pie crust, but I was too lazy to make crust and didn't want the banana to brown, so they stay as is!  From what people have been saying, they are delicious... frankly I got too full eating the leftover pastry cream and some of the cones, and I haven't even had them yet!  They certainly are pretty.  And as you can see, Allie reaaaaally enjoyed them...

Then I ended up having leftover egg whites... and you know me, I hate that!  I am used to having leftover yolks, but I knew that with whites, I could make merengues, which I like (I love the term, and the process of creating, and the sight of - stiff peaks).  I found a recipe from Ina Garten for a pavlova, which sounded basically like baked merengue served with whipped cream and berries on top.  I was hoping that it would be good, because it was sooo fast!  I just whipped the egg whites, added sugar and vanilla extract, and then a tiny bit of corn starch and white wine vinegar (I know it sounds weird... you can't taste it!).  Then you put it on a baking pan with parchment paper and mound it into a circle.  I baked it for 90 minutes, and when that was done, I left it in the oven for another hour with the door closed.  I had leftover whipped cream from the cupcakes, mixed up some blueberries, strawberries, and sugars, and voila!  Mixed berry pavlova. The recipe called for a raspberry topping, but I made do with the berries we had.  I just ate a little bit, and man is it good!  It's almost like angel food cake pudding - since the ingredients are very similar.  Knowing that Pat likes angel food, I called him over, and he had two pieces.  And a cupcake.  So he's happy :) 

Anyway, I recommend both recipes from today.  The cupcakes take a long time but are worth it, and the pavlova is ridiculously good and easy.   Run, don't walk, to your kitchen.

Recipes:
Banana Cream Pie Cupcakes
Mixed Berry Pavlova