Holiday - grace grits and gardening

Maple Glazed Cupcakes

December 1, 2012 By Talya Tate Boerner

Maple syrup and pecans – a classic combination, right? Maple Pecan Cupcakes are intensely flavored and fittingly festive for holiday entertaining. And the best part – the few basic ingredients needed to create these heavenly cupcakes are likely already in your pantry.

Don’t let the three-part recipe dissuade you. Really, this is simple. But read the entire recipe before you start, and dole out the ingredients in little bowls like the Barefoot Contessa. It really is more fun and efficient. You don’t want to get to the sticky caramel part and realize you have no parchment paper….

(Recipe courtesy of Cupcake Heaven, Susannah Blake)

Cupcake

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

¼ cup packed brown sugar

2/3 cup pure maple syrup, dark

2 eggs, room temperature

1 cup self-rising flour

½ cup roughly chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350F. Beat the butter and brown sugar together until creamy. Add maple syrup and continue beating. Beat in eggs one at a time. Scrape down the sides of your bowl if needed. Fold in flour and nuts. Easy. Especially with a Kitchenaid.

Spoon into cupcake liners. I use an ice cream scoop. No mess.

Bake in the preheated oven for 17 minutes until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center cupcake is clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Frosting

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup, dark

1 ¼ cups confectioners’ sugar

Beat the butter, maple syrup and confectioners’ sugar until pale and fluffy. (Note the adorable measuring spoon… a 50^th birthday gift from one of my BFFs.)

Ice the cupcakes only after they have completely cooled… This frosting is amazing on spice cake and chocolate cupcakes. Don’t forget to lick the spatula.

Decoration

½ cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons water

12 pecan halves

To make the caramelized pecans, gently heat the granulated sugar in a saucepan with water. Stir, stir, stir until the sugar melts.

Gradually increase heat and continuing stirring until the mixture turns a pale brown color. About 5 minutes. Spread the pecan halves on a sheet of parchment paper and spoon a bit of the caramel over each nut to individually cover. Let cool. Top each cupcake with a caramelized pecan half.

Makes 12. But they won’t last long…

A note about butter and flour…

Make sure your butter is room temperature (the texture and feel of Crisco – soft but not too soft). This is important because room temperature butter has structure. When the recipe calls for ‘creaming’ the butter, the sugar crystals are actually cutting up the butter and making tiny holes that help incorporate the other ingredients. The holes also make for a better texture (fluffy, light, flaky) when baking.

Spoon the flour into your measuring cup. If you scoop it straight from the bag with your measuring cup, it will pack down and you will end up with way more than needed. (If a recipe calls for 3 cups and you scoop it, you may end up with 4 cups in your dish, which will totally affect the outcome.)

Enjoy!

talya

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

O Fake Christmas Tree

November 27, 2012 By Talya Tate Boerner

I swore I would NEVER be one of those people with a fake, pre-lit Christmas tree. Part of the holiday fun is selecting a tree, tying it to the roof of the car, driving it home and dragging it in the house.

When we were kids, Momma always made us wait until the next day to bring it in the house. The boughs had to fall—her excuse. Really she was exhausted from our trip to Keiser Supply to pick out the tree. She needed a night to recuperate before the official decorating event.

My sister and I were so excited we watched the tree through the window all night as we counted down the days til Christmas.

For whatever reason, about seven years ago, John and I bought a permanent tree. It looks amazingly real, even borderline dry often shedding needles. And it was EXPENSIVE—in two more years we may break even.

The Tree lives 11 months out of the year in the garage attic, stored in two giant red canvas body bags. Each year shortly after Thanksgiving, John climbs into the black attic hole to retrieve The Tree via the pull down ladder purchased on sale and installed by our builder-friend. My job is to ‘spot’ him, a skill learned in cheerleading days. As if I could catch him should he fall…

Buying a rickety pull down ladder ‘on sale’ may not really be that great of a bargain. Plus it has a weight limit near that of John’s, especially after Turkey Day…

The good thing about the fake tree—the moment Thanksgiving dishes are cleared away, we can drag it down and decorate it. No shopping in the rain or wind or heat. No waiting. Immediate gratification. The new American way.

The bad thing about it—its fakeness. I love the smell of Christmas. I spray the fake tree with essence of evergreen, and for five minutes it almost smells real. I reinforce the aroma with fresh garland arranged around the mantle.

My kids (now grown) hate this fake tree. These are the same kids who never took much interest in decorating a real tree.

This year, I’m getting a real tree. Yay! John is happy he won’t have to drag down the heavy body bags. The dogs will love drinking tree water from the base. I will add another year to the break-even equation…oh well.

When the kids come home for the holidays, our house will smell like Christmas.

talya

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing:

O Tannenbaum, Vince Guaraldi Trio