spice & rice (cambridge)

What do you do when it's 96 degrees outside and you didn't bring a lunch to work? You order in! Yes, that's right folks, me and a couple of coworkers were too chicken to face the heat and humidity by getting in our cars to seek out food this afternoon so instead we had some delivered from Spice & Rice in Cambridge (Inman Square).

It was funny because after I dropped my husband off at work this morning, I thought to myself, "Hmmm, I could really go for some sushi today," but then I thought, "Gee, where can I drive to later on this afternoon to get some?" So then I kind of just let that thought pass through my head because I remembered it was going to be 1,000 degrees outside, and there aren't that many places near our office building that I could just stop in for a take-out order. And then later this morning one of my coworkers stopped me in the hallway and asked if I knew of local restaurants that delivered because she, too, didn't want to face the sun. Luckily, I convinced her to go with Spice & Rice so that I could [selfishly!] have some sushi. It was definitely worth the $2.00 delivery fee.

And yo yo, did I have some sushi! I ordered the sashimi special which came with 12 pieces of sashimi plus a little box of rice on the side. It was pretty good sushi for only $10.95! I also ordered some Negihama maki (yellowtail rolls, $4.95/6 pieces) thinking that the sashimi wouldn't be enough, but I was very wrong. It all washed down quite deliciously with some cold green tea, too.

One of my friends ordered the bulgoki special lunch box ($7.95) and man, that was a lot of food in one cute container! The marinated thinly sliced beef came with a California roll, shumai, yaki soba noodles, rice and a salad. She said it was good, but too much to finish in one sitting.

Our other friend had the vegetarian pad thai ($6.95) with tofu instead of chicken and said that it was "okay, not great". Again, a big enough portion for her to have leftovers for tomorrow's lunch too.

And what better way to end a lunch break than with some Kickass cupcakes, eh?! This was the August batch from my winnings. And of course, they had no problem disappearing by some obliging coworkers. :)



Spice & Rice
1172-1178 Cambridge Street
Inman Square
Cambridge, MA 02139
617.864.4500
www.spice-rice.com

matcha mochi cupcakes

A high school friend of mine, Azusa, has a wonderful food blog called Humble Bean. She takes some amazing food photos, y'all! Anyway, as I was browsing through some of her posts one day, I came across this one about Matcha Mochi cupcakes. I really didn't know what matcha was at the time (err, that green tea was called that), but I did know that I love mochi so I decided to give it a try. Since the recipe calls for Mochiko rice flour, this is what originally initiated a trip out to the new H Mart Asian grocery store in Burlington (read all about that hellish trip for my husband excursion here).

I ended up making a test batch of these before we had a baking contest at work and I had the hardest time figuring out what to use as a topping (or if I even needed one - these are delicious on their own). I decided to go with a lemon and plum glaze with some crystallized ginger on top. I scored this huge bag of ginger from Christina's for less than $4!

I noticed in Azusa's photos that she uses those little silicone (?) mini cupcake cups in the pan before she pours the batter in, which I think would've been very helpful. The little papers I used stuck to the mini cupcakes pretty tightly and so I decided to peel them off before presenting them. I filled them up almost all the way to the top and that produce a nice little domed cake.


The recipe says to let them bake for 30 to 40 minutes so don't be afraid of leaving them in the oven for that long! You want them to get a little toasted and browned on top because it leaves a nice crunchy exterior.



And the inside is so nice and soft and has the slightest hint of green tea flavoring. Yummmmm! My husband and I love them and quite possibly ate half the batch in one night (hence the inability to sleep later), they are that good! So give the recipe a try if you want to try baking with the rice flour. It's a super easy recipe and the cupcakes are irresistably delicious. :)

Thanks, Azusa!

*****

Matcha Mochi Cupcakes
(makes approximately 24 mini cupcakes)

Ingredients:

1 (1 lb.) box mochiko (rice flour)
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. matcha
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup oil (I used canola oil)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Whisk all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.

3. In a large bowl combine the eggs, milk, and oil. Add dry ingredients and stir until well mixed.

4. Spoon batter in a muffin pan lined with baking cups (optional) and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until slightly browned on top.

5. Top with an optional lemon and plum sugar glaze by mixing some powdered sugar with a couple of drops of lemon juice and a teaspoon of plum jelly.

limoncello liqueur cupcakes

Once in a while at work we have a baking contest. And boy, do I have a lot of coworkers who are talented bakers! I made these limoncello liqueuer cupcakes for a liqueur themed contest we had at work today, and the seemed to be liked by a lot of people, although it didn't win first prize in the contest. Here's the recipe for the limoncello cupcakes, just in case you feel like whipping up a batch!

I should preface this by saying that I ended up tripling the recipe for the cupcakes after realizing that it yields only 12 cupcakes. I filled each cup about 1/2 way and I ended up with 44 cupcakes total. Some came out rather peaked, and some came out rather level on top. I don't know why ... I'm just sayin'!

Ingredients for cupcakes (my measurements for triple are in the brackets):

3/4 cup all-purpose flour [ x 3 = 2 1/4 cups ]
1 teaspoon baking powder [ x 3 = 3 tsps ]
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda [ x 3 = 4.5 tsps ]
1/2 teaspoon salt [ x 3 = 1.5 tsps ]
zest of one lemon [ x 3 = zest of 3 lemons ]
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar [ x 3 = 1 1/2 cups plus 3 tbsps ]
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened to room temperature [ x 3 = 1.5 cups ]
2 eggs at room temperature [ x 3 = 6 eggs ]
3 tablespoons limoncello liqueur [ x 3 = 9 tbsps ]
juice of one lemon [ x 3 = the juice of 3 lemons ]
1 tablespoon milk [ x 3 = 3 tbsps ]

Directions for cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Line the muffin pan with the paper muffin liners.
3. In small mixing bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in lemon zest and set aside.
4. In large mixing bowl, beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition to fully incorporate. Add the limoncello liqueur, juice of the lemon and the milk. Beat for one minute.
5. Divide the batter up evenly into the 12 muffin liners. [Note: I filled them up 1/2 way]
6. Place the pan on a center rack in the oven and bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until the cakes have risen and are golden-brown on top. Test one for doneness by inserting a wooden pick into the center. The cupcakes are done when the wooden pick comes out clean.
7. Remove cupcakes from the oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Ingredients for the frosting (I made just one batch and it was more than enough to cover all 44 cupcakes):

8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened to room temperature
2 teaspoons limoncello liqueur
zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 - 3 cups powdered sugar (I ended up using a whole 1 pound box of powdered sugar)

Directions for the frosting:

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the limoncello liqueur, zest and lemon juice.
2. Add two cups powdered sugar and beat on low speed until mixed, then beat on high speed until smooth. Beat in additional powdered sugar as necessary until the desired spreading consistency is achieved.
3. After the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost the tops of each with a icing tube and star shaped tip.

Enjoy! :)

if I won the lottery ...

At $25,000 a pop, I think not actually. LOL

a little kick*ss competition

One of my favorite cupcake shops is based here in Somerville, aren't we lucky?? Kickass Cupcakes in Davis Square is holding a month long contest for a new cupcake idea to list on their menu. The winner will get a year of cupcakes - holy icing, Batman! You can enter as many times as you'd like (read: you can confess the multitude of fantasy cupcake concoctions you possess) so let the creativity begin!

So my question is: What kind of a cupcake would you like to see a bakery make?

Here are the things that you need to supply with each of your entries (I'm using an example that someone already submitted):

Name: Winter Solstice
Cake: Dark Chocolate Cake
Frosting: Peppermint Buttercream
Garnish: Mini Candy Canes
Other: None

To enter the contest you can either drop it off or send it directly to them at the bakery, or via their Facebook discussion.

Good luck! Can't wait to see what kind of combinations you all come up with!!

Kickass Cupcakes
http://www.kickasscupcakes.com
378 Highland Avenue
Somerville, MA 02144
info@kickasscupcakes.com

P.S. If you ever get the chance to stop by there, try the Mojito cupcake (pictured as a mini-cupcake above)! It's a rum-soaked cupcake topped with a lime frosting. Yum-o!!

zaftigs delicatessen

"Let us be your Jewish mother." Ha ha ha, that is the first thing you'll see on their website. After a quick crafting trip to Paper Source and driving around the Brookline area, Liz, Renee, and I had a late lunch at Zaftigs in Coolidge Corner. We were actually craving sushi, but Mr. Sushi was closed so this was our second choice. And right next door.

They had so many good things to choose from on the menu, plus they serve breakfast all day. How can you go wrong with that? Liz got a giganomous pastrami sandwich that she said was killer with the spicy mustard. Renee got the challah french toast which was simply yummy and covered in syrup. I opted for a sirloin burger that came out perfectly medium-rare.

And since we were all too stuffed from lunch, we got dessert to go. I mean, how can you not get something from this lovely display of baked goods?

And alas, my hubby benefitted from this little outing, too, by divulging in a vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting. I went for the coconut cupcake. Yum-o! They bake all the cupcakes and brownies there on premise by the way. So if you're in the Coolidge Corner area and need something to soothe your sweet tooth, be sure to check out their bakery!

Now where's that treadmill of ours?