It’s Iron Cupcake time, and I actually made the deadline this month! This month’s theme was to come up with a savory cupcake. All I could think of was bagels. And what is more NY than a bagel that has a dream of becoming a cupcake. NY being the place where impossible dreams can come true. But I didn’t want a plain old bagel. I envisioned an parmesan cheese and olive spiked “cupcake” of delectable doughy goodness…but would it work?

Our May ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:

• A sweet cupcake ID bracelet by INSANEJELLYFISH, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5021935
• something sweet and dangly from CHERRYCREEKCHARMS at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6686445.
• a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin’ Cakes Cupcakery, http://www.acupcakery.com/
• PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice – sweet!

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com .

Voting will begin no later than Saturday, May 30 at 8 p.m. at NO ONE PUTS CUPCAKE IN A CORNER, http://www.ironcupcakemilwaukee.com and will be open through Friday, June 5 at 12 noon.

Thanks to my local library, I’ve been examining the book, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. Along with that, I checked out another Peter Reinhart book, Crust and Crumb, to see which one I liked better. After surveying each book, I think I’d get The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. In his own words, the bagel recipe included in the new book is “an improvement on the formula given in Crust and Crumb,” so that’s what ended up being my blueprint for these “cupcakes”.

This was another month of waffling about, not being confident in whether my hair-brained idea would even fly, or boil as the case may be. Can you actually boil a cupcake? Thinking about it, I figured if you can boil a ring of dough, then a cupcake-shaped blob of dough should be fine.

Some of you may be saying, “But why I ♥ NY?” To get at the reason behind that we need to look at the history of the bagel, as well as myself. The bagel, like so many other beloved foodstuffs with a long history, has a debatable background. The only thing that seems to be consistent in all the tales is the country of origin, Poland. One legend tells of another Polish King, Jan III Sobieski, and his successful campaign against the Ottoman Turkish empire in 1683 as the inspiration for the bagel. Apparently Polish bakers modeled this commemorative bread after the King’s stirrup of his saddle in celebration of his victory. This story is relegated to that of legend in Maria Balinska’s The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread. She states that in the 16th and 17th century, known as a “golden age” for the Jews in Poland, the bajgiel became a popular repast for the country. And according to the book The Joys of Yiddish, the first time the word “bagel” appeared in print was in 1610 in the Community Regulations of Kraków. Due to the symbolic protective significance of bagels, they were a common gift presented at various celebrations, from births to deaths, in Europe. The descendants of these European Jews brought the bagel, along with other culinary delights, across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States, specifically the classic port of call, New York, in the centuries that followed. Although Jewish emigration is recorded as early as the 17th century colonial period, it was until the 1970s that the bagel was introduced to the majority of America. It was Harry Lender, who opened the first bagel factory outside of New York City in New Haven, Connecticut, who helped disseminate the bagel, albeit frozen, to the United States. Now you can find fresh made bagels in every grocery store.

Like the bagel, I’m from New York with Polish heritage. I moved away (too) long ago, and have wanted to get back ever since. For me, there’s nothing like New York, as for many bagel lovers, there’s nothing like a New York bagel. Some say it’s the flour they use, or the famous New York water, but I say it’s the energy of the place and the people that infuses every experience there including its food…you can’t beat it. So what better way to pay tribute to the city I love dearly, and I will always call home no matter how far I away I may be, than to call my crazy concoction, inspired the very New York bagel, an I ♥ NY Cupcake. And if a bagel can become a cupcake, then maybe I can get back to New York

I ♥ NY Cupcakes

Notes before you begin:
First off, you really need a scale to do this right. I measured out the “cupcakes” using my scale, and I can give you a ballpark shape to look for (a large handful), but even when measuring out the ingredients in the first place…if you’re making any kind of yeasted dough, you need a scale. Sorry.

I hate to burst everyone’s bubble, but you’re not going to be able to use paper cupcake liners. Unfortunately I didn’t find this out until after I had baked, and taken pictures of the “cupcakes”. They stick. Big time. I’m sorry for including pics with cute bagel “cupcakes” in cupcake liners, but you just can’t do it. Again, DO NOT use paper cupcake liners when you finally throw these in the oven. This won’t be the last time you hear this because I don’t want you to forget. If you’re worried about forgetting, then just lock your cupcake liners away and don’t use them at all. I do want to note, that you will get a more consistent cupcake-shape if, when retarding in the fridge overnight, you place the dough in a cupcake liner in your cupcake pan. BUT, if you think you’ll forget and put them back in those liners after boiling, well, just forget about using the liners. Otherwise you’ll be trying to avoid eating said liner. THEY STICK….don’t forget! Now, you can do the aluminum foil liners, but those don’t stick at all. So much so that when I took those out of the pan, the liner didn’t come with. It just stayed in the pan. If someone figures out a liner that sticks with these, but not like glue let me know.

Everything should go smoothly, especially if you have a stand mixer with a dough hook. For those of you who don’t (like me!) I want you to know that this can be done without a stinking mixer The tricky thing will be knowing when the dough is really ready. Your best friend will be your hands and your eyes. If you are making any additions to the dough, this process will take longer, and a lot longer if your additions hold any moisture of their own. I’d say that the olives added probably another 20 minutes of kneading time and a heck of a lot more flour.

It won’t necessarily take this long for you, but I was a bit leery of adding too much flour. The next time I do this I’ll know to just dump an extra half cup of flour in and go from there. I was just doing light dustings, but it really needed a lot of extra flour to absorb all the moisture in the olives. In the end I think I may have actually added a whole extra cup, but until I have this recipe down I still plan on playing it a little cautiously.

As far as additions go, I added parmesan cheese, kalamata olives, and dried parsley. Originally I had planned to throw in some sun-dried tomatoes, but I didn’t have any at the time so I just mixed those into some cream cheese for a “frosting”. You can add whatever the heck sounds good to you. Or if you’d rather just go for the classic plain bagel, go for it. Whatever you can imagine on a bagel (or even a pizza for that matter) you can probably add to these. Just keep in mind the moisture factor when kneading those additions in and you’ll be fine.

If you choose to fill these with your “frosting” I’d suggest using the cut the center out from the top method. Basically you cut a “plug” of sorts out of the top, scrap some of the center out, fill up the part you scrapped out with “frosting”, trim your “plug” so it fits back into the “cupcake”, then use it to plug up the hole, frost the top and you’re done!

Sponge:
1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast
4 cups (18 ounces) bread flour
2 1/2 cups (20 ounces) water

Dough:
1/2 teaspoon (.055 ounce) instant yeast
3 3/4 cups (17 ounces) bread flour
2 3/4 teaspoons (.7 ounce) salt
2 teaspoons (.33 ounce) malt powder
OR
1 tablespoon (.5 ounce) malt syrup, honey, or brown sugar *I used dark brown sugar.

Miscellaneous:
1 tablespoon baking soda for the water
Cornmeal for dusting the pan
Additions for the bagels such as olives, onions, sun-dried tomatoes, or garlic

If you are looking to replicate what I’ve done here, I added 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup kalamata olives, and 2 tablespoons of dried parsley. You’ll need a bit more parmesan cheese for sprinkling on top.

To create your own sun-dried tomato cream cheese “frosting”, use 8 ounces of cream cheese and about 4 tablespoons of diced sun-dried tomatoes, or to taste.

The Night Before

Make the sponge by stirring the yeast into the flour in a large mixing bowl. Add the water and stir until all ingredients are blended into a sticky batter, like pancake batter. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise at room temperature for two hours, until the mixture becomes foamy and bubbly.

Once the sponge has risen, remove the plastic wrap and stir in the additional yeast. Add 3 cups (approximately, I did this by eyeballing since being exact at this point is not of importance since you already measured the flour out precisely in your prep….right?) of the flour, the malt powder (or dark brown sugar in my case), and the salt into the bowl. Stir (or mix on low speed with the dough hook) until the ingredients form a ball. Slowly work in the rest of the flour to stiffen the dough.

On a clean surface, knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes (or 6 minutes by stand mixer). *I actually kneaded mine right in the bowl. It worked fine.

If you are making any additions (olives, onions, etc.) now is the time to add them. Again, your hands are your guide in this process (even if you use the stand mixer). You’re looking for a firm but pliable dough, that’s smooth. There shouldn’t be any dry flour – everything should be hydrated. If the dough is too dry, add water, a few drops at a time. If the dough is sticky, then add more flour. The finished dough should feel satiny, not tacky, and pliant.

Line a baking sheet with parchment. Immediately after kneading, split the dough into 4 1/2 ounce pieces for big “cupcakes”, or 2 1/2 – 3 ounce pieces for smaller, regular looking cupcakes. Roll each piece into a ball and set it on the parchment, cover with a damp towel, and let rest for 20 minutes.

After the dough has rested, place the “cupcakes” in either oiled or cupcake liner lined cupcake pans. Cover pans loosely with plastic or use a food-grade plastic bag. Allow dough to rise at room temperature for about 20 minutes. (AGAIN, if you think you’ll forget on baking day and return your boiled “cupcakes” to a liner then DO NOT USE THEM. DO NOT PUT A “CUPCAKE” IN A PAPER LINER IN THE OVEN! THEY STICK! That said, at this point, they will help keep a more cupcake-like shape in the long run. If you decide to use the liners at this stage, make sure you leave one liner-less for the “floater” test described next.)

Now you need to check to see if the “cupcakes” are ready to be retarded. You can check this by doing a “float” test. I did come across, over on the Fresh Loaf, a baker who decided to skip the test, and just retarded them after 20 minutes. Fill a small bowl with cool or room-temperature water. Drop a test “cupcake” in the water. If it floats within 10 seconds of being dropped in, they’re ready. If not then return it to the pan and continue to proof at room temperature, checking every 10 to 20 minutes until a tester floats. Once you have a “floater”, then return the tester to the pan, pat it dry, cover the pan with plastic, and place it in the refrigerator overnight (you can wait up to 2 days from this point before you actually bake them, if you choose).

While the pans do not need to be covered with the plastic tightly, do make sure that they are completely covered. I missed the edge of one and found that the part exposed had dried out overnight. I have to say that this didn’t seem to matter in the finished product since the boiling rehydrated them the next day.

Baking Day

Preheat the oven to 500°F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the tablespoon of baking soda to the pot. This reportedly alkalizes the water, replicating a traditional New York bagel shop flavor. I forgot to do this. Honestly, they still tasted great. I remember to do it with my cinnamon raisin “cupcakes” (did I mention those? Oops!) and frankly didn’t notice a difference. It’s up to you.

Having a slotted spoon nearby, remove the “cupcakes” from the refrigerator. It will be a little tricky, but gently take them out of the pan (obviously remove the liners before boiling if you used them). Don’t worry too much if they seem to become more misshapen. Once you put them back in the pan, they’ll regain a more cupcake-like shape. Drop a few of the “cupcakes” into the boiling water and let them boil for about a minute and a half. Flip them over and boil them on the other side for another minute and a half.

Before removing the “cupcakes” from the pot, sprinkle corn meal on the cupcake pan. Remove them one at a time, set them back into the cupcake pan, and top them right away (I used some extra parmesan cheese to sprinkle on these, but you can use whatever you want or nothing at all), while they are still slightly moist. Repeat this process until all of the “cupcakes” have been boiled and topped. I did let mine drip dry on a paper towel. I just felt weird throwing a very moist “cupcake” into the pan. It worked out fine, but you can probably skip that and just throw them in the UNLINED cupcake pan.

After all the “cupcakes” have been boiled and topped (if you chose to do so) bake for 6 minutes in your preheated oven. Reduce the heat to 450°F degrees, rotate the pan, and bake for another 6 minutes until the “cupcakes” begin to brown. You can bake them longer if you prefer more color in your “cupcakes”.

Remove the pans from the oven and let cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes before serving. These are fabulous right out of the oven!

Reece, Marc, Leah, Reilly & Jake

I know, I know, it’s politics all over again, but I promised these kids I’d put their photo on my blog. Here are a couple of pictures from yesterday’s historic election. My local polling place is actually across the street from my house, but I voted with an absentee ballot earlier in the month. I found out the ease of voting absentee the year I took a contract job out in California. Considering some of the lines that were reported in the state of Florida this year I’m glad I went the absentee route this time around as well. That being said, there didn’t seem to be much of a crowd where I was, but then again I kind of live in the sticks.  

One way or another, I think all Amercians should feel proud that we did not revisit the same election mishaps that we encountered in the last two Presidential elections. From the reports I heard, the worst thing people had to deal with were waiting in long lines to cast their ballot. And of course, the world has seen a historic day of the first African-American President of the United States. I’m so proud of my country and the people. I’m proud of the amazing concession speech that John McCain gave in Arizona. Despite all the missteps and backbiting that has went on in the campaigns on both sides both Senator McCain and President-Elect Obama have shown true leadership when the chips were down on November 4th. I look forward to a brighter future for the United States as well as the world knowing that these same leaders have put a call out and shown the path to a truly united people. Regardless of your party affiliation, let’s all come together as Americans and show the world what we can do together.

This dog was entirely too cute.

Just in case you weren’t aware (right!), the United States will be holding its Presidential election today. I want to stay away from politics for the most part on this blog, but I couldn’t help noting this tidbit that I came across on Serious Eats when I was doing a search on Pumpkin Macarons of all things. It was an ad and I just couldn’t resist. I had to know what the candidates are eating. I have to ponder whether there is some pervasive bib-culture conspiracy because I think in nearly every election I’ve witnessed, some photographer catches each of the candidates wearing one.

One thing I did notice in this slideshow, why are nearly all the open-mouth takes are from Obama? Talk about “gotcha” journalism. Poor guy. I’d HATE to be in a position where people are taking photographs of me eating. I have to admit that in the food department Obama has my vote, I love pie! Not that it factors in my criteria for a good president, I am fascinated by the eating habits of American (or any other for that matter) history.

I’m actually reading a book right now called The President’s Table: Two Hundred Years of Dining and Diplomacy. I’m only a few pages into it but it’s very interesting. For example, did you know that President Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States, held a gala on Washington’s Birthday in 1837 where throngs of private citizens and Congressmen devoured a 1,400-pound wheel of Cheddar cheese that sat at the entrance to the Executive Mansion for the previous two years in only a few hours? You can learn this among many other fascinating facts about the history of the American Presidency and their cravings in this fun book!

But seriously, this is history folks. Regardless of who’s your candidate, don’t miss it. Go vote!