Amy Sedaris Vanilla Cupcakes w/ Mint SMBC

WHAT A DISASTER! Okay, let me start over. We’ll do this constructively. We’ll pretend this entry is a sandwich, beginning and ending with a positive thing (the bread) with negative things in the middle (the meat… or veggies if you’re a herbivore). Let’s just say this is going to be a tall sandwich.

Intense Pear won the poll. Hurray, that’s the one I voted for! I was going to use the idea ShannieCakes suggested from Chockylit’s Cupcake Blog. I was going to use her pear filling and pear chips idea. I planned on making Amy Sedaris’ vanilla cupcakes, stuffing them with pear filling, and topping them with Intense Pear ganache and a pear chip. I began drying the pear chips in the oven for an hour. Everything was going smoothly for about the first 45 minutes (that’s the positive piece of bread on top). Meanwhile, I started the pear filling on the stove. When it came time to add the cornstarch and sugar, all the water had evaporated from the pan. I ended up with pear paste. Then I added 1 whole teaspoon of vanilla instead of ½ teaspoon. And since it’s vanilla extract crush, it’s already extra strong. So that went in the trash. Then I started measuring out the ingredients for the cupcakes. I cranked the oven to 350… 5 minutes later… WHAT’S THAT SMELL? Yeah, I forgot to take the pear chips out of the oven. Most of them were burnt and gross. So they went in the trash. Next, since I was aiming to make “fancy” cupcakes, I decided to use the nut & party cups I’ve had since Christmas. I was nervous that they were going to overflow, but alas the cupcakes came out perfectly! And may I just say, now that I've finally done it right, Amy Sedaris' recipe is my favorite vanilla cupcake! (Okay so this is a double-decker sandwich with a positive slice of bread in the middle.) While the cupcakes were cooling I started the ganache... Heated the cream, poured it over the chocolate, stirred until smooth, let sit until spreadable. I won’t deny that ganache is not my thing. I used too much cream so it was like a thin glaze. I tried whipping it. Then it got all curdled-looking and separated. Yuck. So that went in the trash. As of right now, the whole pear idea is out the window. Let’s re-cap: 2 pears – TRASHED! 1 chocolate bar – TRASHED!

How can I save this? My dad brought home some limes from a food show, so I juiced and zested them and start on a lime custard filling type thing. My plan was to fill the cupcakes with lime filling, top them with meringue, and toast them in the oven. Well, the lime custard stuff never thickened on the stovetop. Then it got too cold in the fridge and congealed. So that went in the trash. Let’s re-cap again: 2 pears – TRASHED! 1 chocolate bar – TRASHED! 2 limes – TRASHED!

Now how can I save this? I thought about it for a while and eventually settled on SMBC. I knew it wouldn’t let me down. I flavored it with a bit of peppermint and vanilla extracts. I loaded the cupcakes up with frosting and topped them with mini chocolate chips. And they were delicious! So that’s the positive piece of bread on the bottom. Here are the photos and recipes:

pear chips going into the oveningredients for cupcakes

This stuff smells just like a vanilla bean. I love it!

ready for the oven
oops, forgot about the pear chipscupcakes coolingmaking ganachesmooth ganachenot so smooth after whipping it :(pear "paste"... yucky The final delicious yet unexpected product: Vanilla Cupcakes w/ Mint SMBC

Pear Chips from cupcakeblog.com
1 good sized pear

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Using a mandolin or very sharp knife, slice thin cross-sections of pear.

3. Place on a baking sheet making sure that the slices do not touch.

4. Let them dry in a 200 degree oven for about 1 hour (depends on how thin the slices are) flipping 2 or 3 times until they are dried out and no longer soggy.

Pear Filling from cupcakeblog.com
1 good sized pear, pealed, pitted, and chopped into small dice

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/3 vanilla bean (I was going to use 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, until I accidentally put 1 whole tsp in, which was way too much.)

1. Add pear and water to a medium sized pan. Cook for 10 minutes over medium-high heat. (At this point my water had evaporated; I doubt that was supposed to happen.)

2. Stir together sugar and cornstarch then stir into the pears.

3. Split open the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds to the pears.

4. Cook until thick, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature.
Note: The filling can be made a day in advance and stored covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator.

Vanilla Cupcakes from Amy Sedaris
12 regular cupcakes

3/4 stick (6 tbsp) unsalted butter
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons milk

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees.
2. In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
3. Beat in eggs, vanilla, salt and baking powder.
4. Add flour in 3 batches, alternating with milk.
5. Mix until batter is smooth with no lumps. Do not overbeat.
6. Divide batter evenly among cups. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes or until tops are pale gold and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

7. Cool on wire rack for 45 minutes or until at room temperature.

For Mint SMBC recipe, click it in the drop-down menu on the left-hand side of the blog.

Overall rating on a scale of 1-5
Moistness: 4
Tenderness: 4
Frosting: 5