Orders: Cupcake, po, prn, STAT!*

*(For the non-medically oriented people, po = by mouth and prn = as needed)

So I decided to enter in this little cupcake challenge thing-a-ma-bobber. It is my first one ever. And one of my first times majorly tinkering/creating a new recipe.

The theme is bananas. I for one, QUITE enjoy bananas. One of my favorite things is a peanut butter, nutella, and banana panini. DELICIOUSNESS, let me tell you!

But I decided that chocolate and bananas, peanut butter and bananas, all pretty over-done. I decided to branch out. While dozing off from a nephrology lecture, I started brainstorming cupcake combinations (kidneys = black box. I’ll need to fix that one day and actually learn their function…). One of the girls in my class suggested COCONUT and bananas! All so tropical! I approve!

So here they are. Pina colada cupcakes, with a banana pastry cream filling. There’s also banana in the cupcake itself (I used it in place of some eggs). I brought them as a treat to my shift in the Pediatric Emergency department today, and they were a big hit! One of the nurses loved them so much that he wrote my name on the whiteboard as *CHIEF MEDICAL STUDENT* (stars and all!). It was so cute. Especially since I’m the only medical student on today. And I’m certainly chief of nothing…not even myself. But I had a great day in peds emerg today…I did some suturing, some reduction of a subluxed elbow…I actually enjoyed working on a saturday! Cupcakes and medicine…ahhh…what could be better?

One little note…I’m ashamed to admit I used a box mix. I was a little short on time, in between all the shifts, so I cheated. If I make these again, I’ll be sure to actually find a vanilla cake recipe to make from scratch.

Pina Colada Cupcakes
(recipe adapted from Betty Crocker iPod application)
1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® white cake mix
1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple in juice, undrained
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil(I used 1 tbsp oil, 1/4 cup applesauce)
3 eggs (I used 1 egg and 1 whole mashed banana)
2 teaspoons rum extract (I used 1 teaspoon of rum and 1 teaspoon of malibu. crunkcakes!)

Combine all the ingredients and bake for ~18 minutes.

Banana Pastry Cream
(recipe adapted from allrecipes.com)
* 2 cups milk
* 1/4 cup white sugar
* 2 egg yolks
* 1 egg
* 1/4 cup cornstarch
* 1/3 cup white sugar
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 frozen banana (melted in the microwave)
1. In a heavy saucepan, stir together the milk and 1/4 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
2. Heat up frozen banana in the microwave until it’s a nice mushy consistency. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, egg, and banana. Stir together the remaining sugar and cornstarch; then stir them into the egg until smooth. When the milk comes to a boil, drizzle it into the bowl in a thin stream while mixing so that you do not cook the eggs. Return the mixture to the saucepan, and slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly so the eggs don’ t curdle or scorch on the bottom.
3. When the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla, mixing until the butter is completely blended in. Pour into a heat-proof container and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled before using.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 package cream cheese
1/4 cup margarine/butter
whipping cream
vanilla extract
icing sugar

I am very haphazard in making my frosting. I usually just beat the cream cheese and margarine together, and then add in a dash of whipping cream and vanilla extract…pretty much however much I feel like. Usually about a cap-ful of vanilla extract. Then I beat it some more, and start to add the icing sugar to taste. Some people like super-sweet frosting…I like mine with a mostly cream cheese taste and just sweetened enough.

Assembly:
Cut the tops off the cupcake in a cone, and then cut off the tip of the cone and fill with banana pastry cream. Replace the top of the cupcake back on. Frost. Sprinkle generously with coconut. ENJOY!!!

If I tinker with this recipe again, I’d probably choose a slightly drier vanilla cake recipe. With the box mix normally being pretty spongy to begin with, then adding all these moist ingredients (like applesauce and banana), they were a little hard to cut into to make the cones. I’d probably take out some of the water in the box mix. Or maybe even all of it. But practice makes perfect!

The day before the real world begins

Tomorrow is the first day of clerkship. It seems like a momentous occasion, but I start with Pediatrics Emergency and I don’t have a shift until Tuesday night (midnight to 8 AM!)…so all I have tomorrow is an Orientation in the morning. I have no idea what to expect, and I have no idea what I should be doing to prepare myself!

…So I decided baking was as good a way as any. Right?

Apple Pie
I had a craving for apple pie. Nothing else would satisfy it. So my friend and I made apple pie for a BBQ. Let me tell you, rolling out that dough was quite a workout! I think I deserved a big slice after all that work I did. The calories even out in the end, right?

The filling came from The Hummingbird Bakery, which my friend brought over. The crust came from an old recipe of my mom’s that I am too lazy to go dig out right now =) I don’t think I made it quite the same as she did…more practice with pies will be necessary to perfect the technique, I believe! I’ll just post pictures. We used the leftover crust to make a mini-blueberry pie.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Two Peas and Their Pod)
These cookies are QUITE tasty, especially when fresh out of the oven. They were more of a cakey-like consistency, and I think I personally prefer the more chewy-type…but they definitely hit the spot when paired with the delicious Rutherford Rose tea my friend’s mom got out for us. mmm…tea….

Ingredients:
2 sticks of good unsalted butter.
1 cup of white Sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
3 Eggs
2-3 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2-3 Cups flour (I used 3)
Bag of quality chocolate chips. (I used 1/3 chopped Callebaut dark chocolate, Callebaut white chocolate, and milk chocolate chips – I’d probably use even more next time)

1. Cream together for at least 5 minutes. (I creamed it good and long.) It takes at least 5 minutes sometimes more depending on the temp of the butter.
2. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well.
3. Add flour. Mix well. If needed add an additional 1/4 cup of flour but not too much (I didn’t add any more flour). Once the chips are in you can’t mix for too long so any flour you add may not get mixed in completely.
4. Bake at 350 for 9-12 minutes depending on size of cookie. We got about 51 cookies! Yummy!!

Turtle Brownies (From Martha Stewart)
* FOR THE BROWNIES
* 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
* 3 ounces good-quality unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
* 1 cup sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 1/4 cup whole milk
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* FOR THE TOPPING
* 1 cup sugar
* 1/3 cup heavy cream
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
* 1 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans (about 4 ounches)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a buttered 8-inch square baking dish with foil or parchment paper, allowing a 2-inch overhang. Butter lining (excluding overhang); set aside.
2. Make batter: Put chocolate and butter in a medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water; stir until melted. Let cool slightly.
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in another medium bowl; set aside.
4. Put sugar and eggs in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add chocolate mixture, milk, and vanilla, and mix until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, until well combined.
5. Pour batter into prepared dish. Bake until a cake tester inserted into center of brownies comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, 27 to 30 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
6. Make topping: Bring 1/3 cup water and the sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. When mixture comes to a boil, stop stirring, and wash down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming. Continue to cook, swirling pan occasionally, until medium amber, 5 to 7 minutes.
7. Remove from heat, and immediately add cream,vanilla, and salt. Gently stir with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula until smooth. Add pecans; stir until caramel begins to cool and thickens slightly, about 1 minute.

8. Pour caramel over cool brownies; spread with an offset spatula. Refrigerate until cold, 30 minutes to 1 hour.
9. Let brownies stand at room temperature at least 15 minutes before serving. Lift out, and cut into 16 squares, wiping knife with a hot, damp cloth between each cut. Brownies can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 2 days.

DELICIOUS!!!!

Hoorah! P=MD!

We had an exam on IV therapy this thursday, based on a 111 page manual we were supposed to read. They gave us said manual at the beginning of the summer because a large percentage of last year’s class failed it, and were given the manual at the start of the week. You think I’d learn, and try to start reading it in the summer. But no, I started reading it on monday night. So many people fail it, that they schedule a rewrite the next day…into our jam-packed schedule!

We were told that if we got an email by 6 PM on thursday, we’d have to rewrite the exam on friday. So counting down to about 5:45…I realized no email = no test = 2 hour lunch break! No studying tonight! Freedom!!

Whatever should I do with my free evening? Start reading the Basic Life Support manual? Start studying up for my pediatrics rotation? Start reading the radiology textbook?

…who are we kidding? I baked. And I baked lots.

Unfortunately, my dad’s away in Ireland and took the camera with him…and I couldn’t find any other photographing apparatus. So no pictures this time. But delicious recipes do follow!

Pecan Pie Cupcakes (from Bake or Break, originally from Recipezaar)
These cupcakes were ridiculously easy to make. I almost felt guilty getting compliments on them, because they took so little time. And are so freaking delicious. SO GOOD!!! And requires no frosting. Makes 12 regular sized cupcakes.
Ingredients
* 1 cup chopped pecans
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 2/3 cup butter, melted
* 2 eggs

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine all ingredients and mix well.
3. Spray a miniature muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.
4. Fill each 3/4 full.
5. Bake in preheated oven for approx. 18 minutes.

Cranberry Coconut Squares (recipe from Edmonton Journal…last christmas)

This is one of my mom’s FAVORITE things in the whole wide world! I made it at Christmas and she insisted I make TWO more batches the same week!! (We brought them to a few christmas parties, so thankfully we didn’t consume them all). My mom is pretty picky with my baking…she doesn’t really like cupcakes, but she loves it when I make these. Try it. Trust me.

Pastry:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cut cold butter cut in cubes

Filling:
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup whole cranberries
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter 9 x 13 baking dish.
2. Pulse flour, sugar, salt and butter in food processor. Whirl until crumbly.
3. Pat into baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes.

Lemon Mixture:
1. Meanwhile, whirl eggs, sugar and lemon juice in food processor. Add flour and baking powder. Whirl just until smooth.
2. Scatter cranberries over warm pastry. Sprinkle with coconut. Pour lemon mixture over top. It will spread to fill pan during baking.
3. Bake in centre of oven until middle is set (55 minutes). Cool and cut into squares. Store in airtight container up to four days or freeze.

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies (from Joy the Baker)

I have two lovely friends in my medical class who were recently diagnosed with Celiac’s. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, basically people with Celiac’s cannot eat gluten, which is found in a lot of wheats and tons of other products! (Stuff like soy sauce, artificial vanilla extract, etc!) So…Celiac = not such a fun time with the majority of baked things I make. So I was determined to make them a treat too this time! I love love this recipe. SO easy, SO delicious, and it helped to brighten at least 2 wonderful people’s days.

- makes about two dozen cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup all-natural chunky or smooth peanut butter (I used smooth)
1 cup sugar (1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar)
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (I added this)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet with butter and set aside. In a mixer combine peanut butter and sugars until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add egg and baking soda and mix for another 2 minutes. Roll into walnut sized balls and create a cris-cross pattern with a fork. If you’d like, add a few chocolate pieces to the top of the cookies. Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool on a baking sheet for two minutes, then transfer to… your mouth.

I also made puffed wheat squares and irish coffee cupcakes, but I wasn’t as satisfied with those two recipes. I shan’t post them until I have time to try them again and tinker around with the ingredients.

School’s back in the summer. School’s back…forever?

Tomorrow is the first day back to school for us. That’s right…August 10th. Somehow I kept telling myself that it wasn’t true over and over. I waited until the last minute to buy my course pack. I still haven’t opened the calendar to look at my schedule for next week/tomorrow. But no matter how much denial I lather on…there’s no way around it. 8:00 AM I will be back in Katz, ready to start a new year.

It’s exciting though too. After link block, we’ll officially be in clerkship and in the hospital! This is what I’ve been waiting for, for the last two years and before that. It’s also terrifying.

So to tip the scale of this bittersweet end to summer more to the sweet side…COOKIES is the answer! I’ll bring them to school tomorrow…and I don’t expect them to last too long =)

Cocoa Fudge Cookies
(Adapted from Cooking Light, from Two Peas and Their Pod)

1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter
7 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
2/3 cup granulated sugar (I only used 1/3 cup)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup plain low-fat (or fat-free) yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
(I added in about 1/4 cup of finely chopped dark chocolate)

Preheat oven to 350ºF; line 2 baking sheets with baking paper, lightly coated with cooking spray. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Sift together flour, soda, and salt; set aside.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat; stir in cocoa powder and sugars (mixture will resemble coarse sand). Add yogurt and vanilla, stirring to combine. Add flour mixture, stirring until moist. Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until almost set. Cool on pans 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks. I got 22 cookies out of this recipe. Well…21 now (see the half eaten cookie in the bottom left corner? It’s all-eaten now!)

Southgate

Today was the grand re-opening of a mall close to my house, Southgate. It was like a zoo broke out. People were swarming like bees and it took us 20 minutes to find parking. RIDICULOUS! There were at least 5000 people in the mall. I developed an acute case of claustrophobia during the hour that we were inside. I also wasn’t one of the first 1000 people in line to get a goodie bag =(

Through the insanity that is Southgate, my mother saw the newly reopened Cinnzeo store and had a craving for cinnamon buns. However, there was no way I was sticking around in that giant crowded crazyfest! So I promised her cinnamon buns once we got home…

Et voila! I love this recipe. They’re probably not the best cinnamon buns in the world, but they are pretty darn delicious. And so easy to make. Unlike some recipes that need you to let the dough rise overnight, etc. etc…this one takes like an hour in total. Or would take an hour in total if my mother didn’t insist that I run out and buy raisins because we didnt’ have any in the house and the cinnamon buns just weren’t complete without raisins. -_- My mom’s already eaten two and a half. And she’s pretty picky with my baking.

I don’t remember where this recipe is from. Somewhere online. I’m going to repost it and hope that no one gets mad at me =)

Cinnamon bun goodness
Ingredients:
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup margarine, softened
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 (.25 ounce) package instant yeast
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
1 egg
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup margarine, softened

Directions:
1. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in margarine; stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 1/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt; mix well. Add water, egg and the milk mixture; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has just pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes.
3. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, softened margarine.
4. Roll out dough into a 12×9 inch rectangle. Spread dough with margarine/sugar mixture. Sprinkle with raisins if desired. Roll up dough and pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 equal size rolls and place cut side up in 12 lightly greased muffin cups. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until browned. Remove from muffin cups to cool. Serve warm.

I made a cream cheese frosting to go on top…half a block of cream cheese, some cinnamon, some vanilla extract, some icing sugar…ermm…I just eyeballed all of it until it tasted yummy. Blend and spread! DEVOUR!

OPA!

I love Greece. I went there a few years ago and absolutely fell in love with the country. The people, the gorgeous islands, the beaches, the white-washed buildings…and the food. OH the food…

One of my absolute favourite things in the world is Moussaka. It’s like a Greek sheppard’s pie, layers of eggplant, ground lamb/beef, a beschamel sauce, and lots of cheese. Mmmmmm…
Trouble is that it takes about 3 hours to make. So the labour-intensivity dictates a limitation to how many times I can have moussaka a year. Well, that and my desire to still fit in my clothes. It’s quite the heavy dish. But hey! It has…dairy…and protein…and vegetables…/cough

My friend Paul is going to med school in London, Ontario and only comes home for the summer. That seemed like a perfect excuse for a celebration and some moussaka!

Moussaka
(Makes one 9×12 inch pan, and an 8×8 square pan worth)

2 eggplants
salt

Meat sauce layer

2 lbs ground lamb or beef (we used 50/50 split)

1 tbsp butter

salt and pepper to taste

2 medium onions, diced

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 tbsp parsley

8 oz tomato sauce

1/2 cup red wine

Bechamel sauce

4 tbsp butter

4 tbsp flour

1 cup milk

1 cup whipping cream

3 egg yolks, beaten

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp olive oil

1 lb monterey jack cheese, grated

Cut eggplant into 1 cm slices, sprinkle with salt and set aside on paper towel.

To prepare meat sauce, saute ground meat in butter with salt and pepper, onions, garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg, parsley, and tomato sauce. Add wine and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To make bechamel sauce, melt butter and stir in flour. Gradually add milk and cream, stirring constantly until mixture thickens. Add egg yolks in a slow stream, away from heat and stirring constantly. Return to heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes longer. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.

Wipe eggplant dry and brown in olive oil. (This actually takes pretty long, so if you have a few extra hands, I’d reccommend someone do this while the other person makes the bechamel sauce). Set on paper towel to drain. In greased pan, place a layer of eggplant, then cover with meat sauce, sprinkle with cheese, cover with remaining eggplant, sprinkle with more cheese, then cover with bechamel sauce and cover with remaining cheese. Do the same in both pans.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour. Serves 6-8. Deliciousness, especially with our greek salad!

We topped it all off with puff pastry desserts, from the Dorie Greenspan’s Parisian Apple Tartlet recipe. I used peaches and raspberries instead!