This cupcake and cocktail is dedicated to my sister, Catherine, who introduced me to the St. Germain Cocktail during a trip I took to visit her in Boston over the summer of 2008. Cat’s roommate at the time, Ria, brought home a bottle of St. Germain, and she fixed us a beautiful glass of this amazing concoction that I can only imagine Greek gods drink on an everyday basis. A mixture of sparkling wine, St. Germain’s Elderflower liquor, club soda, and garnished with fresh lemon, it soon became my new favorite cocktail. Leisurely sitting on Cat and Ria’s back deck at their cozy apartment on Cherry Street, we enjoyed this sparkling drink and even more sparkling conversation. It was one of those summer evenings where you just want to freeze time and live in that moment forever. That’s why I thought a St. Germain cupcake and cocktail pairing would be the perfect way to recreate that carefree, summertime feeling. To really dedicate this cupcake and cocktail to my sister, I had to develop a gluten-free version of this St. Germain cupcake. Which wasn’t really that difficult, because I had never created a regular version to begin with! So I was really starting from scratch, pun intended. Catherine was just recently diagnosed with celiac disease, which means her body can’t tolerate gluten, even in the smallest amounts. She has to stay away from wheat, flour, rye, and barley. Most people know someone with a gluten allergy or intolerance, and finding quality baked goods can be a challenge. Cat has told me that it’s really hard to find gluten-free cupcakes that actually taste good, because most cupcakes are made with all-purpose flour. Since she was visiting me in Santa Barbara this week, I wanted to surprise her with a gluten-free cupcake that actually tasted delicious, and that the ordinary person without a gluten-allergy would try and love as well. After a few attempts, I came up with this fabulous recipe.
*Spoiler alert – Cat LOVED the St. Germain cupcake!!!
St. Germain Cocktail
Ingredients:
2 parts dry sparkling wine (chilled)
1 1/2 parts St. Germain
2 parts club soda (chilled)
lemon twists for garnish
How:
Stir ingredients together in a champagne flute or tall Tom Collins glass. Garnish with a lemon twist. Pair with gluten-free St. Germain cupcake. Recipe below.
Gluten-free St. Germain Cupcakes
Ingredients:
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch salt
5 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
2/3 cup St. Germain Elderflower Liquor
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
How:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixer, cream together eggs, egg yolk, butter, and sugar. Add baking soda, salt, and vanilla extract. Slowly alternate adding the gluten-free flour and the St. Germain liqour. Mix until thoroughly combined. Fill cupcake liners almost to the top (gluten-free cupcakes don’t rise as easily) and bake for 20 minutes, or until a fork comes out clean.
Gluten-free Champagne Buttercream
2 sticks butter
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup dry champagne (such as Andre Brut Extra Dry)
3 cups powdered sugar
How:
In a stand mixer, cream together butter and cream cheese. Slowly add the champagne, until thoroughly combined. Little by little, add the powdered sugar and mix until frosting is light and fluffy.
I don’t remember my first margarita… but I do remember growing up in Syracuse, NY and going to my family’s favorite Mexican restaurant, Garcia’s. We’d go on special occasions, good grades on our report cards, birthday dinners, etc. Being about ten years old, I obviously never tried a margarita when I was there, but my parents would always get one. My sister and I would steal the colorful swizzle sticks that came decorating the salted rim glass and put them in our soda cups; suddenly our drinks became fancy and special too! Since then Garcia’s has shut down, and sadly been replaced by an “all you can eat” Chinese buffet… but I’ll always remember it as Garcia’s. Years later, I’ve definitely tried more than a few margaritas, some more authentic than others. From blended margaritas to flavored margaritas (strawberry, mango, you name it), I have to say, my favorite is simply the classic, made with tequila, Cointreau, and lime juice. Salt the rim, and it doesn’t get much better, unless of course, you invite a cupcake to the party! This cupcake pairs almost too well with a margarita; it’s a lime cake with a tequila frosting and just a pinch of sea salt sprinkled on top. Sweet, sour, and refreshing, I introduce: the margarita cupcake.
Margarita Cupcake
Cake Ingredients
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
How: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, cream butter, eggs, and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine the flours. Slowly alternate adding the flour and the lime juice to the butter mixture until thoroughly combined. Add the vanilla extract. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full, and bake for 18 minutes, or until a fork comes out clean. Frost with Tequila Frosting and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt.
Tequila Frosting:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup tequila
4 oz cream cheese
1 stick cold butter
How: Cream together cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl. Alternate slowly adding the tequila and the powdered sugar until the frosting is light and fluffy.
Classic Margarita
Ingredients:
2 ounces tequila, preferably reposado or blanco
1 ounce Cointreau
1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
Salt for garnish
How: Combine tequila, Cointreau, and lime juice in cocktail shaker filled with a handful of ice.
Wet rim of chosen glass, with leftover lime. Hold glass upside down and dip rim into salt.
Oh Cupcake Wars. You gave me amazing publicity and glory, and also provided me with an endless supply of nightmares that haunt my dreams three to four times a week. Most times I’m in the Cupcake Wars kitchen, scrambling to frost a 1000 cupcakes in under 2 hours, but sometimes it changes up and I’m in front of the judges, getting ripped apart. Truly, there’s always another creative cupcake nightmare to be had. Usually I wake up happy and relieved, knowing I won Cupcake Wars and it was just a dream, but I’m still wondering when my Cupcake Wars post-traumatic stress disorder will end. Honestly, how do people handle shows like Top Chef, where they are filmed for days and weeks on end, having to compete in challenge after challenge? One exhausting day of filming was enough to scar my life for months!
However, it was truly an amazing experience, sparked first by my unhealthy obsession with The Food Network. I would record every Cupcake Wars episode and be so inspired that I couldn’t fall asleep at night, and at the same time be so insanely jealous of every baker who got such an opportunity, that it made it hard to even watch. So, I did what every obsessed girl does, I stalked Cupcake Wars on Facebook until I saw they were casting! There was a casting email address, so of course I emailed them with photos, a link to my website, and every possible bit of information I thought they might find relatively important. A few days later, checking my email on my phone at Trader Joe’s, I got an email from Cupcake Wars casting! They wanted to see a video of me and my cupcakes in action! What!? The checkout girl must have thought I was insane by the way I rushed out of there. Fifteen minutes later I was on the phone with my best friend and former roommate who lives in San Francisco, asking if she would make a last minute trip to Santa Barbara to help me film this audition tape. If there’s one thing I’ve learned through this crazy Cupcake Wars experience, Erica is a true friend! She drove down two days later, and with the tireless help of Stacey and Oliver and Michele, filming, directing, and editing this video, we came up with a gem. After watching it, I knew I would have to resign myself to being the biggest dork in the world if I made it on the show; apparently when I get on camera I am a complete and utter cornball. Check it out below, if you’re ready for your daily dose of cheese factor.
Ok, so yeah, not going to win any major cool points with my ultra amazing acting skills, but Stacey did an incredible job filming us, and Erica and I had a blast. Video sent in, I waited anxiously for the next few weeks for a response. Amazingly enough, on my 29th birthday, August 22nd, I received a phone call from Cupcake Wars. “I just wanted to let you know you’ve been selected as a contestant on Cupcake Wars” the voice on the other line said. The amount of freaking out on my part was insane, and if you know me, you know I get excited at pretty much the tiniest of things. If I see a kitten, I have a heart attack and die of cuteness. And kittens are pretty commonplace. So, being told I’m on Cupcake Wars was crazy; it was definitely the best birthday present I had ever received. From the time I found out I was selected, to the time Cupcake Wars filmed, Erica and I put ourselves through what I like to call “Cupcake Bootcamp”. It was hardcore, “learn everything we don’t know about cupcakes” intensity. We watched every episode of Cupcake Wars we could get our hands on, read cupcake blogs, tried new decorating ideas, and I bought a book called “The Flavor Bible” which tells you what flavors are most likely to pair well together. I made cupcake flashcards, I memorized recipes, nothing was going to get in my way. My poor friends, they knew the only way they would see me during this time was if they came over to try a new cupcake flavor. Wait, why am I feeling bad for them?
Finally, the day of filming came, and of course, Erica and I found it hard to sleep. I think I got a full one hour of sleep that night. Waking up at 5am the next day, Erica and I rallied ourselves with far too much hotel coffee and a pre-Cupcake Wars dance party. From now on “You Make Me Feel…” by Cobra Starship will forever remind me of that morning. Don’t judge. It’s a great song to get the adrenaline flowing before an all day cupcake competition. Oh and if you haven’t seen our episode, you can watch it below!
Honestly the episode really says it all. It was definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life, but truly the most rewarding as well. On December 11th, the night my episode aired, I hosted a “Cupcake Wars Viewing Party” at Oreana Winery. We poured Sugar Cat Noir and Sugar Cat Blanc, and I made a zillion Sugar Cat cupcakes. It was so amazing to be able to celebrate with my friends, although I have to admit, slightly awkward for me to watch myself on the big screen. Turns out I’m overly animated with my facial expressions; I’m pretty sure any time they wanted a glimpse into what people were thinking, they panned to me raising an eyebrow or smiling ridiculously. But hey, we weren’t playing poker here, we were baking cupcakes! All in all, it was an amazing experience, but I couldn’t have done it without Erica and Stacey, and the support of my friends and family. I owe you all a lifetime of cupcakes!!!
It’s the best day of the week, Wine Wednesday! I’m so happy to be sharing a chardonnay that has quickly become one of my favorite white wines of all time, the 2008 Morello Chardonnay. Nick Morello is the winemaker at Morello Wines, and I met him last November when I started baking brunch cupcakes to pair with sparkling wine at the tasting room he runs in downtown Santa Barbara, Corks n’ Crowns. Since then, I’ve started working there on Sunday mornings, while selling my cupcakes as a trio to pair with the wine and beer flights they offer. Corks n’ Crowns offers an array of five wine flights, ranging from a pinot flight, to an international flight, to the “diamond” flight, which consists of ultra-premium wines. There are also two different beer flights, a craft beer flight and a flavored beer flight. Plus, with the sparkling wine and cupcakes on Sundays, there truly is something for everyone!
The first time I tried the Morello Chardonnay was my first day working on a Sunday, and Cecily, the girl I was working with, said, “you HAVE to try this.” Sidenote: I love all the girls at Corks n’ Crowns; they are all super fun, friendly, and welcoming. Seriously, if you want to meet awesome people, start working at a tasting room, it’s amazing how many friends you will make! Getting back to the wine, before I tried it, I noticed the rich, just slightly oaky flavor this wine had. I know a lot people are turned off by overly oaked, buttery chardonnays, hence the shift to stainless steel barrels as opposed to oak barrels. But as I’ve recently learned, it’s not just the oak that gives the chardonnay that buttery flavor, that happens because of the second ”malolactic” fermentation that occurs with most reds and some whites, to soften the acidity of the wine. In chardonnays, this results in a creamier, buttery flavor, as opposed to a more tart, crisp, fresh, and citrusy taste if there was no secondary fermentation.
Personally, I don’t discriminate. I would prefer more of a crisper chardonnay with notes of citrus fruits with a meal probably more than I would a rich, butterscotchy chardonnay. However, on its own, a chardonnay with notes of vanilla, caramel, and toast might be perfect around 6pm before dinner sitting outside on a spring evening. Or even paired with dessert, a cupcake perhaps? Oh come on, did you really think I wouldn’t suggest pairing a cupcake with this wine? I’d go with a salted caramel cheesecake cupcake. Truly, this wine is delightful on its own, and at $36 per bottle, it’s a great bottle to open either for a special occasion, or simply because it’s Wine Wednesday. You can order this wine online or stop on by to Corks n’ Crowns, preferably on a Sunday, for a trio of Sugar Cat Studio mini cupcakes too!
The first time I realized cucumber wasn’t just for salads, was at a little cafe in Pasadena about seven years ago, where they were serving water in pitchers with sliced cucumber. It was one of the most simple, refreshing drinks I’ve ever had! I can’t believe it hadn’t dawned on me years ago how perfect cucumber would be in a cocktail, or even better, in a cupcake! Today’s cupcake and cocktail is cool and sweet, basically everything you want to drink and eat on a Friday evening after a long week. Mix up a cucumber gin martini tonight along with a cucumber gin cupcake, and ring in the weekend with style. This cupcake would be perfect for a tea party or bridal shower served as dessert after cucumber tea sandwiches. Find some vintage serving platters, and you’ll have a soiree that even the queen would love!
Cucumber Gin Cupcake
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup gin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, cream butter, eggs, and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine the flours. Slowly alternate adding the flour and the gin to the butter mixture until thoroughly combined. Add the vanilla extract. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full, and bake for 18 minutes, or until a fork comes out clean.
Cucumber Frosting:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup pureed cucumber
4 oz cream cheese
1 stick cold butter
Cream together cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl. Add cucumber puree and mix til combined. Slowly add the powdered sugar until the frosting is light and fluffy.
Cucumber Gin Martini
1 1/2 cups gin
1 cucumber (about 9 ounces), cut into 1/3-inch-thick slices, plus 6 thin slices for garnish
2 tablespoons (or more) dry vermouth
Ice cubes
Mix gin and thick cucumber slices in pitcher. Cover and chill overnight or 2-3 days.
Remove cucumber slices. Pour half of gin into cocktail shaker. Add 1 tablespoon (or more) vermouth, then fill shaker with ice. Shake vigorously; strain into 3 glasses. Repeat with remaining gin and desired amount of vermouth. Decorate your martini with thin cucumber slices and serve.
Copyright 2012 Stacey Millett All Rights Reserved
All photographs {unless otherwise noted} are copyright of Stacey Millett or The Sunday Sparkle, all rights reserved.
