"Sex and the City" and the Cupcake

Friday I had a "me" day and took the entire day off from our renovation and any of my many responsibilities. I thought I would just lay around and read or maybe sew but definitely no cleaning, no planting, no planning, no problem solving and NO phone calls!

I knew that the the move "Sex and the City" was premiering but after reading umpteen not-so-good reviews, it really was not on my agenda. When I checked my weather program we also had a very wicked storm heading straight for us. But by 9:45 am I had decided to go and heck I was pretty sure the 10:15 am showing would not be sold out. If the film was as bad as the reviews stated, worse case being I would leave in the middle of the movie or the movie would be stopped due to a tornado! With the severe storm sirens blaring, I drove to the closest movie theatre all set to be disappointed.



But I loved it! The story line, the fashion, the jokes and the gorgeous NY scenery were just wonderful. The critics are way off in their reviews and I can't help but think that the critics had never seen the TV show! Samantha was sultry, Miranda was her usual sarcastic self, Charlotte was still totally in love with Harry with her refreshing optimistic outlook and of course Carrie was still chasing Mr. Big. I enjoyed every single minute of the film. I particularly enjoyed the final scene when the girls are celebrating Samantha's 50th birthday. Psssst....I'm 52 and I love being this age!!

While driving home I wondered why the half-hearted reviews? Not everything, including movies, needs to be serious, realistic or have some deep social outreach. Sometimes, it just nice to have fun and laugh. Even though you might not see "Sex in the City", I hope my new "movie inspired" cupcake at least makes you smile.



Chocolate Popcorn Cupcakes
Beatty’s Chocolate Cake Recipe adapted from Ina Garten

1 3/4 c. all purpose flour
2 c. sugar
3/4 c. cocoa powder*
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 c. nonfat milk*
1 TBL vinegar*
1/2 cup olive oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 c. hot coffee

My changes:

1 c. cocoa powder
1 c. buttermilk
1 1/2 TBL 12-year Balsamic Vinegar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cupcake tin with baking cups.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

NOTE: This batter is very thin and I honestly did not think it would bake well but the cupcakes were fluffy, very deep chocolate and wonderfully delicious. It is a large recipe and makes about 30 regular sized cupcakes. The batter rises quite a bit so DO NOT fill the baking cups more then 1/2 full. I used my 2-cup glass liquid measure to pour the batter into the baking cups...yep the batter is very thin!



Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 stick of butter, room temperature
4-5 c. of powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla (I usually don't add the vanilla)

Cream together butter and cream cheese until nice and fluffy. Add powdered sugar 1 c. at a time until is the a firm consistency for piping.

For the Decoration: Pipe frosting and dip cupcake in multi-colored jimmies. Pop corn. Butter and salt the popped corn and then dip each piece into chocolate ganache and top with 1 kernel.

NOTE: The buttered popcorn with the cream cheese frosting was DELICIOUS!!!!




All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog