A little fall baking...

When I think of Fall culinary treats, the usual suspects come to mind.... pie, cider, roasted turkey, etc. Sorry to disappoint, but my latest urge to bake came in none of those forms. Inspired by the Fall's ever-present spice (cinnamon), I decided to make Devil's Food Cake cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting.... doesn't that sound DELICIOUS? 

Yeah, well... hold your salivating for later. I made the cupcakes based off a Devil's Food Cake recipe from my cookbook Baked, and I made a sub-par substitution... the recipe called for cake flour, and all I had was wheat flour. I *love love love* wheat flour in cookies, I think it adds a depth of flavor that most cookies benefit from. But cupcakes? Well... cupcakes aren't meant to be deep. 

So, my cupcakes had the consistency of a chocolate bran muffin, which is really *not* an attractive quality in a cupcake. On the upside, I found a frosting recipe that I love, and I think that if I use the correct ingredients, the cake recipe will be a winner as well. Picture? Don't mind if I do...

Super cute muffin tins c/o my mom. Because she is super cute.

Cookbook c/o Jules last Christmas. (I will *always* love the gift of an awesome cookbook.) 

If you want the Devil's Food recipe, ask and I'll send it. But really, you should just buy this cookbook. The lemon scones? Amaaaaaazing.
The frosting comes from Emeril. I added some red food coloring to make it pink, and I wanted a smooth texture so I nixed the cinnamon and subbed 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon extract instead.

CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
1 lb confectioners' sugar
8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons milk
With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, cinnamon and milk- keep on low until incorporated. Then, kick it up to medium and beat until smooth. Yield: 2 cups frosting. 

Road-tripping is where it's at...

...And you should know, Portland really IS as cool as people say it is. As evidence I submit this fact: while in Portland, we ate breakfast at home one day... and through the course of the day still managed to sit down at 4 restaurants. Best part of this story? It was happy hour at EVERY place we went. A New York Times article explains:

"While other towns — notably Seattle, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Charleston, S.C. — also serve cheap eats in the late afternoon, Portland has been doing it since the last recession. If you ask restaurant owners, they’ll tell you the back story: a state liquor law forbids businesses from promoting discounted alcohol, so it made sense to lure in diners with at-cost food. (Though this law has recently changed, $5 plates are more ubiquitous than ever.)"

Highlights include the custom brews at Laurelwood and delicious eats at Nostrana - a James Beard nominated restaurant, where the earliest reservation we could get on a Saturday was 9:00pm. Since we had hit up 3 other places between 2 and 9, it wasn't an issue, and if this happens to you, I promise the food is worth the wait.

Laurelwood in the Alphabet District - Pic a la their website

Nostrana deliciousness - Pic a la biscuitsandjam.com

The best part of this whole thing was being able to connect with good friends, new and old. Well, mainly all old friends, but their fiances were new! I took absolutely no pictures on this trip, so I failed on that part, but quite frankly I was too busy soaking up the beauty of the whole weekend to worry about any of that...