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By Wolfgang Puck, Tribune Media Services
I see the trend most dramatically in the many parties my team and I cater in Hollywood. A few years ago, the most famous stars wanted their parties to end with creme brulee or molten chocolate cakes. Today, they request a variety of incredible cupcakes, and everyone at the party enjoys them with childlike smiles on their faces.
Maybe the trend this time owes something to the fact that all of us are looking for more comfort in our lives during uncertain times. And a personal portion of delicious, home-style cake with a gooey topping definitely falls under the category of comfort food.
One of the most comforting kinds of cupcakes I know is based on carrot cake, which itself has a history reflecting tough times. Although carrots have been used for centuries in spice cakes to add sweetness and moisture, in modern times carrot cakes first rose to prominence during World War II when sugar was scarce. They became trendy in restaurants in the 1960s, especially with cream cheese frosting, and they've never really gone away since.
It's easy to transform a traditional carrot cake batter into cupcakes. All you need is a standard cupcake or muffin tin with individual cups that have a 1/2-cup volume. Be sure to grease the cups with nonstick spray or line them with pleated paper cupcake liners, available in the baking section of most markets, before you fill them. My recipe yields enough batter for 2 dozen cupcakes, plenty for a great party, but you can divide the ingredients by a half or a quarter if you like.
Feel free to play with the batter, too, adding small quantities of other ingredients, such as seedless raisins or drained chopped pineapple, that define carrot cake comfort and fun for you. After all, when you're preparing a trendy treat, you yourself become the trendsetter.
Makes 2 Dozen
Ingredients - Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Cupcakes
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
4 eggs
3/4 cup canola oil or peanut oil
1-3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 pound carrots, finely shredded
2 cups chopped pecans or walnu
Frosting
1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch salt
Preparation - Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
For the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat the cups of two 12-cup standard-sized (1/2-cup) muffin pans with nonstick cooking spray or line them with paper cupcake liners.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
Put the eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl. With the stand mixer's whisk attachment or with a hand-held electric mixer, beat the eggs at high speed until they are frothy. Reduce the speed to medium and pour in the oil in a slow, steady stream until it is fully incorporated. Add the sugar and mix until well combined.
With a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the egg-and-oil mixture just until a moist batter forms. Add the shredded carrots and the nuts and fold them in just until evenly incorporated.
Spoon the batter into the prepared cupcake pans. Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Remove the cupcake pans to a wire rack to cool completely.
Meanwhile, prepare the frosting. Put the cream cheese and butter in a clean stand-mixer bowl or in a clean medium-sized mixing bowl. Beat with the stand mixer or a hand-held electric mixer at medium speed just until the cream cheese and butter are thoroughly combined and have a smooth, spreadable consistency. Reduce the speed to low, add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt, and continue beating until thoroughly combined.
With an icing spatula or a table knife, spread the frosting generously on the cooled cupcakes. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container at cool room temperature for up to 3 days.
(c) 2008 WOLFGANG PUCK WORLDWIDE, INC. DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
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Wolfgang Puck's Kitchen by Wolfgang Puck
The world-renowned chef with an extraordinary passion for food now shares that passion in Wolfgang
Puck's Kitchen. Puck makes great cooking easier than you ever imagined. He reveals how to turn common ingredients into uncommon masterpieces. Each feature includes both an expert tip and an easy recipe-exactly what you need to transform your home cooking from acceptable to delectable. Moves with color photos.
About Wolfgang Puck
Wolfgang Puck, in the eyes of food lovers and experts alike, is one of the most famous chefs in America and arguably the world. He has spawned a culinary empire that includes a fine dining group of 12 internationally acclaimed restaurants in Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Las Vegas, Chicago, San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Maui; an extensive catering & events business with bases in Hollywood and Chicago, famed as official caterer to the Governors Ball following the Oscars; as well as Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc., a corporation that controls, licenses, and franchises the Wolfgang Puck brand in a wide variety of business activities, including casual Wolfgang Puck Cafes, fast-casual Wolfgang Puck Expresses, consumer packaged foods, cookware, book publishing, television, and the Internet.
For the first time, Puck shares his expert, easy-to-master approach to cooking in the newspaper arena through WOLFGANG PUCK?S KITCHEN, a newspaper column syndicated by Tribune Media Services.
The Austrian-born Puck began his formal training at age 14, inspired by his mother, Maria, a hotel chef. He left Europe for America in 1973 at the age of 24, having already worked in the master kitchens of three-star French restaurants. In 1975, Puck moved to Los Angeles, and soon was both chef and part-owner of Ma Maison. It quickly became a magnet for the rich and famous, with Puck as star attraction. Since then, he has changed the way Americans cook and eat by fusing formal French techniques and Asian and California influenced esthetics with the highest quality ingredients.
After the 1981 publication of the first of his five cookbooks, Puck, in partnership with designer Barbara Lazaroff, opened Spago. Located in West Hollywood on the Sunset Strip, it was an instant success and culinary phenomenon from its opening day in 1982. Although the original location closed in 2000, three years after the successful opening of Spago Beverly Hills, Spago Hollywood today is remembered internationally as a legendary haven for entertainment, political and social luminaries.
In 2000, Puck developed his own "Wolfgang Puck" television show, which began airing on the Food Network in January 2001. The show features Puck sharing his cooking expertise with a studio audience who joins him in his kitchen, along with field documentary segments in which he explores the vast and diverse world of food, from farms to artisan workshops to restaurants, and visits with such luminaries as Julia Child, Robert Mondavi and Paul Bocuse. "Wolfgang Puck" was awarded a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Service Show in 2002.
Puck also appears regularly on ABC's "Good Morning America," sharing his latest creations. He has been a guest on a multitude of other shows, including "The Late Show with David Letterman," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "Entertainment Tonight," "ABC News with Peter Jennings," "CBS Evening News with Dan Rather," "Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher," "Frasier," and "The Simpsons." In 2001, the A&E Network featured Puck's life on its popular "Biography" series.
Puck and partner Barbara Lazaroff are actively involved in many philanthropic endeavors and charitable organizations, including their own Puck-Lazaroff Charitable Foundation, established in 1982, which supports the annual American Wine & Food Festival to benefit Meals-on-Wheels.
Puck lives in Beverly Hills. He and Barbara Lazaroff have two sons, Cameron and Byron.
(c) 2008 WOLFGANG PUCK WORLDWIDE, INC. DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
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