Old-Fashionned Strawberry Shortcakes

At last, at last, we have a summer worthy of it's name! There is lots of sunshine, it's wonderfully hot and sticky (I happen to love warm weather, even if it means covering my pasty skin in about an inch of sunscreen), terraces are full, people brought out their barbecues and ice cream parlors are sprouting like mushrooms.

It is not the ideal weather to bake fancy stuff, unless you have a really powerful air conditioning in your house (I don't), but a simple shortcake is very forgiving and almost impossible to mess up, even during a heatwave. It is a traditional Southern sweet, after all! It is also a very versatile, easy to assemble dessert that will look fancy and impressive when you serve it at your next garden (or balcony, whatever the case may be) party.

A shortcake is basically a layering of sweet biscuit, fruits macerated in sugar and whipped cream. It can be made as one big cake, but I find much cuter (and more practical) to make little individual shortcakes: you can prepare the biscuits in advance, freeze them and then garnish them as you need. Let's face it, shortcakes are tricky to slice, so a huge one is more likely to become messy than a bunch of small ones your guests can destroy as they see fit. This recipe will give you enough dough for 8 little helpings of happiness.

It's also a dessert that can be easily converted to a vegan treat: use a non-hydrogenated margarine instead of butter, non-sweetened almond milk and coconut milk whipped cream (this is my favorite recipe for the stuff), and voila! All the decadent, buttery pastry and the fluffy, dream-like whip... and none of the dairy!

The local strawberries are in season, so that's what I used, but any kind of berry or fruit can be used in a shortcake. You could also mix and match your favorite fruits, or be really naughty and add chocolate chips to your shortcakes!

Biscuits:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick butter), chilled
2/3 to 3/4 cup milk

Filling:
1 quart strawberries
1/3 cup sugar 

Garnish:
1 1/2 cups whipping cream

Rinse the berries under cold water; drain well. Hull and slice the berries and put them in a bowl. Sprinkle with the sugar, cover and let stand at room temperature for about 1 hour. This will sweeten the berries and also make them release some moisture, which will give you a lovely strawberry syrup at the bottom of the bowl.

Whip the cream (add 2 or 3 tablespoons of sugar, if desired) until it holds a soft peak. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Set the rack at center level. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl or food processor. Cut the butter into about 8 pieces and add to the mixture.

Pulse in a food processor (or work with a pastry cutter or clean fingertips - I personally prefer to prepare my dough completely by hand) until the mixture resembles coarse meal, but with few pea-size chunks of butter left in the mixture.

If you were using the food processor, transfer the mixture to a large bowl and make a well in the center. With a fork, stir in the milk, until the dough is just moist. Be very careful not to overwork. The dough doesn't have to hold together well at this point. Let the dough stand for a minute. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough 4 or 5 times, until it is holding together and is less sticky, sprinkling with flour as needed.

 
Gently pat the dough into a 6 by 12-inch rectangle about 3/4-inch thick and cut into 8 (3-inch) biscuits with a floured round cutter (you can use an old-fashioned glass if you do not have a cookie cutter). This can be tricky if your dough is not holding together well. Don't be shy to work it a little bit more until you can cut out your biscuits properly.

Carefully transfer to a cookie sheet lined with parchemin paper. Brush on a little milk and sprinkle with some sugar. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the biscuits have risen and are golden brown. Remove to a platter and split each biscuit horizontally with a serrated knife.

Once the biscuits have cooled, top the lower half of each with a generous tablespoon of the berry mixture and a dollop of whipped cream. Replace the tops and finish with a tablespoon or so of berries and more whipped cream.

The pastry was light and buttery, but firm enough to be the vessel for piles of sweet strawberries and luscious whipped cream. We drizzled a bit of the strawberry syrup on top of each shortcake and they were stunning!

These are messy to eat, but messy in the best possible way! Home-made whipped cream is so easy to make, and the decadent taste and texture is totally worth the trouble. With the light, delicious pastry and the fresh fruit, this is quite a heavenly end to a nice summer meal. It's the perfect dessert to make for those who feel like they suck at baking and can't do fancy icing flowers: a shortcake should not look too perfect. The rustic look is definitely part of the charm, in my opinion.

Chana Masala

Being on vacation makes me hungry. I don't know why, but I feel like I can never wait for the next meal, and since I have plenty of time to cook on my hands, I hunt down new ideas and new recipes that I can play with at my leisure. That's my favorite way to cook: glass of wine in hand, with Gogol Bordello blasting in the background. THAT is the good life!

One of the recipes I couldn't wait to try was some chana masala. I love chickpeas: they are so cute, tasty and versatile! I also love Indian cuisine, so when I found some recipes for chickpea curry, I started to drool. My beloved beans in a spicy stew with ginger and tomatoes?! Heaven!

I combined elements from a couple of recipes I found. It's a bit of a lazy version: I used canned beans and tomatoes, because I am not nearly patient enough to soak and cook dry chickpeas, and because I was fresh out of local tomatoes. Damn. If you have the time and the tomatoes, by all means, use them! Also, some traditionalists call for the tomatoes, onions, ginger and garlic to be pureed together before being cooked. I personally like my curries to be chunky and rustic, so I simply cut everything really small, so that it would still be saucy, but I would get the lovely tasty bits of onion and ginger...

With dishes like this one, that require the adding of a large variety of spices at the same time, I like to measure all my spices and mix them together in a small bowl so that I can literally add them all to the pot of a flick of the wrist. No time wasted scrambling about with measuring spoons while the onions burn and stick to the bottom of the pan!

One last note! If you can find amchoor powder (dry mango powder), you need to do 2 things:
1- tell me where you bought it: I couldn't find any at my usual bulk spices haunts...
2- use 1 tablespoon of it in your spice mix, and only use the juice of 1/2 lemon: amchoor powder adds a citrusy taste so will you need less lemon juice if you use it.

Without further ado, here is the recipe I came up with (with a little help from Madhur Jaffrey and Smitten Kitchen)!

1 tablespoon peanut oil
2 medium onions, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 fresh chile, chopped small
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 (15-ounce) can of diced tomatoes, with their juice (or 2 cups of fresh tomatoes, cut small)
2/3 cup water
2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 4 cups of soaked and cooked chickpeas)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon yoghurt, preferably Balkan-style (optional)
Lemon quarters, for garnish
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and chili pepper and sauté over medium heat until the onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes.

Turn heat down to medium-low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, paprika and garam masala.

Cook the onion mixture with the spices for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes.

Add the chickpeas and carefully pour the water in so it just covers the other ingredients.

Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then stir in the salt, lemon juice and yoghurt (if using). Serve with basmati rice, lemon wedges and a sprinkling of chopped cilantro.

The smell of this curry is amazing! And it comes together in a snap; the hardest part if definitely the chopping. Though I admit that not sneaking spoonfuls of the stuff out of the pot while it was cooking was a challenge. It just smelled so damn good...

And it tasted as good as it smelled! Hot and spicy, but not too much, with the lovely sour kick of the lemon. A good balance between the heat and the sourness is often the make-or-break factor of a good curry, and the proportions in this recipe are really flawless.

I enjoyed a nice glass of C'est La Vie rose wine with my plate, and it was a perfect refreshing match for the sharp flavors of the curry.

There is a Pakistani version of chana masala called aloo chole, which is essentially the same recipe, with the addition of 2 medium potatoes, peeled, boiled and diced, and added to the curry along with the chickpeas (some people fry the potatoes instead of boiling them... how naughty!). Who doesn't love potatoes? You can certainly add them if you want to, but personally, I prefer chana masala in the summer, and aloo chole in the winter, when a nice starchy root veg adds a "comfort food" vibe to a simmered dish.

This curry reheats very well, so the leftovers are perfect for the next day's lunch. If anything, waiting a bit makes the taste of the spices more defined and delicious!

Sangria... Which is French for "Summer Afternoon Drink in Montreal"

Actually, it's a play on the Spanish word for "blood" (sangre), because of the dark red color. But in Montreal, we like to bastardize language...

We did not really have the luxury of spring this year, did we? We had winter, and then it was so hot one could barely deal with their clothes... I used to feel weirdly girly about all those sun dresses in my closet, but at this specific moment, I have never been so grateful for them! The weather is so insane that if they weren't there, I'd be running around naked. Yeah for sun dresses!

Now, I am sure everyone reading this has drank some sangria on a sun-soaked terrace at some point in their lives. If not, please, come to Montreal and do it. Like now. If you have been a sangria drinker, you have probably experienced both delicious sangria, and nasty sangria. Obviously, the best way to avoid the nasty stuff is to make it yourself! Sangria is a very easy beverage to make, and let's face it, everyone loves a nice glass of cold sangria!

This recipe is just about as healthy and tasty as you get considering it's wine punch. I made it up on a particularly hot and sticky Montreal summer day with my friend Paul (for whom I made jerk chicken on his birthday). We wanted a drink, but neither of us could stand the idea of heavy beer or room-temperature red wine, so we got everything we needed to whip up some sangria and experimented...

The first thing I realized was that ice cubes are a bad idea: they will dilute your sangria until it tastes bland, so avoid it and simply refrigerate your magic wine potion until it's cool enough to enjoy! Also, do not waste your money on a high grade red wine: you will be mixing it with all kinds of stuff, so it's actual taste will be lost. Just make sure it's dry red wine: the mix of sugar, sweet alcohol and citrus fruit requires a strongly flavored wine to avoid your sangria turning into an excessively sweet syrup.

Also, I highly recommend that you use carbonated water (flavored or not); that way, you have a better control of how much sugar you are ingesting, because the typical blends, which include lemonade mix and/or Sprite, 7Up or other sodas, will also include the corn syrup and other unspeakable horrors those beverages contain to your sangria. This is also why I use cane sugar, and not confectioner's sugar... I like to know what I put in my body, even if that stuff ends up getting me tipsy.

It turns out the bar-tending classes I took about 5 years ago are occasionally very useful! I kinda eyeballed the whole thing and it turned out so tasty we just... drank the whole thing... *whistles innocently* Technically, this should make enough to get 4 people tipsy, but yeah, Paul and I are... weird that way... We DID share a couple of glasses with his boyfriend... Anyhoo, here is the recipe!

1 orange, finely sliced

1 lemon, finely sliced

1 lime, finely sliced

1 cup cane sugar

1 to 1 1/2 cup spiced rum (but you could use other hard alcohol you like, such as brandy, gin, Southern Comfort, etc.)

1 cup orange juice (preferably freshly squeezed, but high-quality juice with pulp also works beautifully)

1 bottle dry red wine (preferably Spanish wine)

2 cup carbonated water (flavored to taste; we used lime flavored carbonated water, but lemon, tangerine or berry flavored would also work)

Optional: a handful of any kind of berries you might want to add to this: strawberries, raspberries, cherries, etc.

Put the sliced citrus fruits in a 3 liters-pitcher or punch bowl (you can save a few slices to garnish your glasses).

Add the cane sugar and rum and mix well with a wooden spoon.

Let it rest for approximately 5 minutes, for the flavors to mix and for the fruits to get soaked in the rum. Add the orange juice, red wine and carbonated water (and berries, if using) and refrigerate until cold. Serve with some citrus fruit slices and fresh berries.

Some people add sliced apples or peaches, or melon or mango chunks to their sangria. That's fine, if it floats your boat, but if you prefer those fruits to citrus, try using white wine instead of red, and adding a stick of cinnamon and a whole star anise to your pitcher, for some sangria blanca!

This sangria tasted really lovely: the sweetness of the sugar and rum was perfectly balanced with the acidity of the orange juice and red wine. It was very refreshing, but be warned! It's very potent, and you do not taste the alcohol in it... which really makes it the ultimate summer drink, if you ask me!

Paul and I sat on his balcony, sipping away and listening to the Civil Wars, and it was glorious. And since the weather is finally properly summer-y, I am sure you will find plenty of occasions to share a pitcher of this delicious sangria with your friends! It would be the perfect drink to go with some juicy burgers (made with meat or portobello mushrooms) or some fajitas.

Have a great summer everyone!

Spicy Ginger-Lime Udon Stir-Fry

A few weeks ago, I made a lovely udon noodle stir-fry. It was very tasty, but it needed a side of protein to make a full meal. I was in the mood for a stir-fry, but I really wanted a one-bowl meal. I was also craving the intricate blend of spicy, hot, sweet and salty flavors that good Thai food never fails to deliver. In such circumstances, what's a girl to do but dig out a whole pile of ingredients from her pantry and throw it all together in a wok?

That's what I did!

There was a bag of shrimps in the freezer, just waiting to be turned into something tasty, so that's what I used, but chicken or pork, cut into thin strips would work very well here, as would some pre-fried extra-firm tofu, for those who swing that way. If you are going to use shrimps, you can definitely use pre-cooked shrimps. They won't need to be in the wok as long; just make sure they are nice and heated through. Mushrooms and bell peppers are some of my favorite veggies to use in stir-fries because they cook quickly. They are also wonderful immune boosters, which I really needed as I have been nursing a cold for the past few days (in June!! what the fuck?!), but if you have snow peas, baby corn or broccoli florets, they are all wonderful with stir-fried noodles.

I basically used the same technique I had used with the previous udon recipe, but with the sort of flavors I usually see in McDermott's "Real Vegetarian Thai". For the sauce, you have to taste and adjust: not everyone handles Sri Racha as stoically as my boyfriend (as I realized when I served my brother some General Tao tofu and he spent most of the meal blowing his nose... he loved it, but it was obviously too spicy for normal people), and since I am used to cooking for him, I can go a little overboard with it without even noticing. Just be careful!

Sauce:
1 1/2 lime, juiced
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 to 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce (or more soy sauce and a pinch of sea salt)
2 teaspoons Sri Racha sauce
1 teaspoon cane sugar

1 (8 ounce) package udon noodles
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 small yellow onion, finely minced
1 pound medium shrimps, peeled, deveined
1 small red bell pepper, julienned
1 container cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced

Sesame seeds, for garnish
Fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish

Lime wedges, for garnish

Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Taste and adjust.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the noodles according to the package instruction. While the noodles are boiling, preheat the peanut oil in a large wok, over medium heat. Stir-fry the onion until it just begins to soften. Add the shrimps, and stir-fry until cooked and pink.

Add the bell pepper and mushroom and cook until the mushrooms have released their moisture and are shiny.

Remove the vegetables and shrimps from the wok and set aside. Remove the wok from the heat, add the sauce and let it get warmed up, stirring it for a couple of minutes until it thickens.

Add the noodles, vegetables and shrimps pan to the wok, put back on the heat and cook for a few more minutes, mixing it all up, until the flavors have blended well.

Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds and cilantro leaves, with lime wedges.

Oh boy, did this ever kick ass! Hot, tangy, slurpy noodles with crunchy veggies and chewy shrimps. On a dull week night, what else could you want? I love this sauce so much that I just can't wait to try it with different veggies and protein. I bet it will be insane with chicken, red onion and baby corn, or with some tofu, sugar snap peas, grated carrots and scallions... Omnomnom!

This recipe would be perfect for those who want healthy lunches that can be eaten on the go. It tastes wonderfully fresh and light, so it's ideal even with hot summer weather, and can be played around easily depending on what you have in the fridge! Enjoy experimenting with it!

Green (Day) Thai Curry

O.K., so before the purists get their self-righteous panties in a twist, I confess for the record that yes, I do like Green Day. There, I said it. And I also happen not to really give a rat's backside about whether they are real punks or posers. Their music is fun: it makes me feel like jumping up on tables and kicking crockery to the floor. Glorious, mindless, somewhat infantile fun. We all need that every once in a while. Get over it.

Now that we got that out of the way, let's talk about food! And another, equally fun, but somewhat more "serious" punk band.

I had prepared a big pot of this curry not that long ago, when I came back from a long weekend in Toronto, but by some devilry, all the pictures I took of it inexplicably vanished from my computer AND camera... so I had to start all over again... *deep breath* Here we go!

It takes a lot to get me off the island of Montreal, but wanting to see my favorite band live is a huge motivation that will get me into action-hero mode. That's just the kind of crazy I am, so on May 23rd, I packed a bag and dragged my boyfriend to Toronto for the sole purpose of seeing Anti-Flag destroy the Hard Luck Bar two nights in a row. Yup, that's how much I love those guys!

I had a complete blast, pogoed like a maniac, hurt my ankle (still don't really know how I did that...), ate some awesome food, saw the Patti Smith exhibit: really good times! And of course, the two shows were mind-blowing! There is a reason I am willing to travel over 500 km (300 miles, for my American buddies) to see those guys: they are fucking awesome!

But I was less than impressed upon my return, to find my beautiful Montreal under a cold and rainy sky reminiscent of what you'd expect in March... Sigh...

Curries are my favorite comfort food when the weather is chilly, because they are stick-to-your-ribs chunky and the mix of spices is very warming, so I decided to play around with what I had in the fridge and make a Thai curry that would keep me from shivering too much as I unpacked. It got nicknamed the Green Day curry because everything I threw in it (except the tofu and mushrooms) was green.

It got inspired by Nancie McDermott's method in "Real Vegetarian Thai", but the recipe is just as easily adaptable for vegans (use soy sauce) or carnivores (use chicken), but I kept this version vegetarian, mostly because it could be my culinary homage to Anti-Flag, who are vegetarians. By the way guys, if you are reading this and are ever in Montreal, I would be thrilled to whip up a big pot of this green wonder for you! (yes, yes: I am a hopeless fan-girl, piss off!)

1 (15-ounce) can coconut milk
3 tablespoons green curry paste
1 zucchini, cut into half-moons
1 bunch scallions, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon cane sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce or soy sauce
1 lime, juiced
1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed, cut into small cubes
1 container shiitake mushroom, stems removed, and chopped
1 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

Shake the can of coconut milk. Open it and spoon about 1/3 cup of it in a large pot and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until it thickens, about 3 minutes. Add the curry paste and cook for 3 more minutes, mashing, scraping and stirring until the paste is completely combined with the coconut milk (this is where an angled stir-fry spatula comes in handy).

 
Add the zucchini and scallions, and stir to coat them well in the curry paste.

 
Add the remaining coconut milk, vegetable stock, sugar, fish sauce (or soy sauce) and lime juice, and stir well.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the zucchini is tender. Taste the broth and adjust the seasoning. Add the tofu, mushrooms and bell pepper and stir gently. If you need to, add vegetable broth until the ingredients are just covered in liquid.

Let the curry return to a boil and remove from the heat. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving on jasmine rice, sprinkled with the fresh cilantro.

By the time I was done chopping everything, the sun had finally managed to get through the big grey clouds that welcomed me back home, but a big plate of those delicious veggies in a spicy, creamy broth really hit the spot. It was the perfect meal to enjoy after the long train ride and the eventful weekend, because it's easy to make and ready super quickly, which is a huge plus if you are starving because train food is... questionable...

This recipe is great to use up any vegetables that are laying around in the fridge, lonesome and forgotten, so you can adapt it to whatever you have left before going to the grocery store; just remember to add the firmer vegetables first, and the softer ones at the end!

I should also give a spice warning: green curry is the hottest Thai curry (yellow is the mildest, and red is in the middle), and while it has a wonderful and exotic flavor, if you have sensitive taste buds, go easy on the curry paste! There is also no need to add garlic or ginger (or galangal, which is the Thai ginger) to a green curry, because there is already a lot of those (along with lemongrass, white peppercorns and lime zest) in the paste. The heat will be smoothed out by the coconut milk, but you can add a bit of cane sugar if you prefer a sweeter bite.

Enjoy the curry... and up the punx!!

Will Bake Whiskey Cupcakes for More Ink!

I got my first tattoo when I was seventeen. I had been talking about it for 5 years, so my parents were not really surprised. Little did they know this would be the opening of the floodgate: getting inked is freakishly addictive! Every time I get a new tattoo, it takes me about... an hour to come up with a new awesome idea for another one. Budget restriction is a blessing in disguise sometimes...

While I do occasionally get tired of silly questions (such as "What will it look like when you get older?" - to which my typical response is: "Fucking bad-ass. Go away.") and of random people at bus stops feeling like they can touch my arm without asking, I am forever in love with the art of tattooing, and if I could draw (which I really can't: even my stick-figures suck), I would have loved to learn how to do it! I suppose I must be content with being a walking canvas.

Of course, when you are young and craving a new tattoo, you sometimes come up with ideas that will make you frown a decade later. Such was the case for the astrological symbols I got tattooed on the nape of my neck (as a Virgo with Libra rising, I like to have things clearly labeled, I guess). It was a nice little tattoo, but as I got older, I figured something a bit edgier would probably suit me better and decided to have it covered up. Given my obsession with cupcakes, I started toying with the idea of getting a bad-ass, colorful cupcake tattoo! On a whim, I walked into a tattoo shop near my apartment, and the next thing I knew, I was watching one of their artists sketch the exact wicked cupcake I had in mind!

I was so impressed with how nice and friendly the guys at the shop were, and the artist did such a cool job that I decided to express my gratitude to the Jolly Rogers' crew with a batch of whiskey cupcakes. A boozy dessert seemed an appropriate choice to thank them for my totally rockin' new tattoo!

I had been meaning to try whiskey maple buttercream frosting for a long time, as I had heard nothing but raving praises about the sinful-sounding combo. Technically, this blog entry's title is a lie, because there was no whiskey in the cupcakes per see; I sneaked it all in the frosting! But I did pipe the frosting on some lovely vanilla cupcakes.

These vanilla cupcakes are vegan, and I know I killed the vegan-ness of the ensemble with the butter in the icing, but as far as basic vanilla cupcake recipes go, this one is really one of my favorites because of how simple and straight-forward it is. If you have never baked a cupcake in your life before, this recipe is a good place to start because it will not intimidate the pants off you (I admit, some baking recipes scare me to death... I have been telling myself I will make home-made bread for ages and it still hasn't happened). If you want non-vegan vanilla cupcakes, this recipe is a bit more complicated, but utterly delicious and well worth the extra-effort.

Vegan vanilla cupcakes (from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World")
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract and
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped or 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. Whisk the almond milk and vinegar in a measuring cup and set aside for a few minutes to get good and curdled. Sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and mix.

Beat together the almond milk mixture, oil, sugar, vanilla extract and vanilla bean in a large bowl.

Sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix until no large lumps remain.

Fill cupcake liners two-thirds of the way and bake for 20 to 22 minutes.

Transfer to a cooling rack.

I was 1/4 cup shy of the required quantity of all-purpose flour, so I topped it off with some whole wheat pasty flour, hence the more golden hue of the cakes. My little trick did not affect the taste; it just gave them a slightly "healthier" look.

The frosting is inspired by the infamous Cupcake Royale specialty of bacon cupcakes iced with whiskey-maple buttercream... These people are clearly insane in the best way one can imagine.

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup whiskey
5 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups confectioners' sugar

Using an electric mixer, beat butter, whiskey, syrup, salt, and one cup of the confectioners' sugar together until smooth.

Add the rest of the sugar bit by bit until it has reached the desired consistency (you might not use all of it).

Spread generously on cooled cupcakes. This makes enough frosting for a dozen cupcakes.

Being both a whiskey-girl and a maple syrup addict, I was sold on this icing from the moment I read the ingredients list. While it looks like completely innocent vanilla frosting, one lick of this creamy buttercream packs a lovely sweet and boozy punch. Simply sinful. A clean-tasting cake like the vanilla one is the perfect vessel for such a decadent frosting, but it would also work great on Guinness cupcakes!

Oh, and take it from me: bring your tattoo-artist cupcakes, and they will love you forever!