I spent way longer in the kitchen than anticipated the other day and so then I felt terrible. At one point, I placed my big mixing bowl on the floor in the middle of the kitchen and squatted over it, violently mixing with both hands. I think I must have looked like a tribal woman, hacking away at bits of tree fibers with a rock to make a rudimentary dough of some sort. Not to mention the fact that my daughter had that "look". You know the one...that mouth-half-open-what-the-hell-are-you-doing-mommy look that can only be characterized by a truly awestruck 7-month-old baby in her ExerSaucer?
In between getting batter mixed, cupcakes in and out of the oven and things cleaned up, I attempted to keep Peanut relatively happy. I am not sure if she was fussy because I was focusing so hard on cooking rather than her or she was just generally fussy. I think it was a little bit of both. So now I feel like a terrible mother. Not to mention the fact that my cupcakes turned out less than pretty. Much less. And my ambitious attempt to make confectioner's sugar in my food processor was a flop and so my chocolate frosting is gritty. As you can see, lacking the proper automatic equipment to mix my batter, my hand is now festooned with four grotesque blisters from going crazy with my wooden spoons. (Note the tiny, suspicious-looking crumb on my pinky.)
What have I learned through all this?
Let's see...a few things:
1. One can't make powdered sugar with a food processor.
2. No matter how hard one tries, one cannot beat cake batter with wooden spoons as fast as a KitchenAid electric mixer and furthermore, if one tries, one will end up with blisters that look like the result of a long hard day in the fields. Or in the jungle, pounding tree fibers. Choose your own adventure.
3. It is probably best to make frosting with real powdered sugar instead of powdered sugar made with a food processor or the frosting feels like eating sand mixed with mud. Again, a tribute to early desserts made by our ancestors by pounding things with rocks.
But, dagnabbit, I have to hand it to myself for a commitment to a dream! My cupcake dream! I wanted to make devil's food cupcakes from scratch and by golly, I did it! They turned out good enough for me to eat the entire plate so that says something right there. I even have some leftover batter. Ohhhhhh, leftover batterrrrrrrr. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh. (That last part should be read to the tune of Homer Simpson.)
In between getting batter mixed, cupcakes in and out of the oven and things cleaned up, I attempted to keep Peanut relatively happy. I am not sure if she was fussy because I was focusing so hard on cooking rather than her or she was just generally fussy. I think it was a little bit of both. So now I feel like a terrible mother. Not to mention the fact that my cupcakes turned out less than pretty. Much less. And my ambitious attempt to make confectioner's sugar in my food processor was a flop and so my chocolate frosting is gritty. As you can see, lacking the proper automatic equipment to mix my batter, my hand is now festooned with four grotesque blisters from going crazy with my wooden spoons. (Note the tiny, suspicious-looking crumb on my pinky.)
What have I learned through all this?
Let's see...a few things:
1. One can't make powdered sugar with a food processor.
2. No matter how hard one tries, one cannot beat cake batter with wooden spoons as fast as a KitchenAid electric mixer and furthermore, if one tries, one will end up with blisters that look like the result of a long hard day in the fields. Or in the jungle, pounding tree fibers. Choose your own adventure.
3. It is probably best to make frosting with real powdered sugar instead of powdered sugar made with a food processor or the frosting feels like eating sand mixed with mud. Again, a tribute to early desserts made by our ancestors by pounding things with rocks.
But, dagnabbit, I have to hand it to myself for a commitment to a dream! My cupcake dream! I wanted to make devil's food cupcakes from scratch and by golly, I did it! They turned out good enough for me to eat the entire plate so that says something right there. I even have some leftover batter. Ohhhhhh, leftover batterrrrrrrr. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh. (That last part should be read to the tune of Homer Simpson.)
