Cupcakes again. Rewarding.

I'm happy. Relieved. And relaxed.
Second semester's just got over and it feels like a super-powerful whirlwind just threw me out of its belly.
Forty-eight hours of no sleep and the reward: and enormously satisfying final presentation.
I can now look forward to working towards my dissertation.
Wow. Dissertation. The word sounds so alien to me. Foreign and uncomfortable.
I was 18 when I left home for college. I wasn't prepared to face what architecture school demanded. Staying up late, sometimes for days and nights......and then facing comments that would squeeze out every bit of confidence even from the most surest of all people. There were those times I gagged at the thought of a Masters degree. Why do I need one, I would ask. I can get on in life with a B.Arch.

Six years later, Im ready to work on a dissertation.
Even as I'm typing the word, I feel this urgent gurgle rising up my throat.
I could burst out into uncontrollable giggles at the thought of me producing a legitimate piece of serious work on Architecture. Do I know enough about the subject?

Anyways, Let's just concentrate on some more cupcakes for now. They're distracting, rewarding and strangely addictive.

Fairy cakes with streaky chocolate cream icing.





The recipe was adapted from the one over at Joy of Baking.

Chocolate Cream Frosting whip about a cup of double cream till it can hold stiff peaks (the frosting's a little stiffer than the regular buttercream variety). Melt 125gms of dark chocolate bits in a baine marie and pour it into the whipped cream. Fold in gently leaving streaks behind. At this point, I should mention that by the virtue of not having much of a sweet tooth I usually don't add sugar to the frosting, but if you'd rather then go ahead and add in half a cup of castor sugarwhile whipping the cream. Spoon the streaky frosting over the cupcakes (after they've cooled). Sprinkle on sprinkles and consider it a reward for your efforts.

Venting.

Have you ever worked in a group?

Like on some project being undertaken by your office or maybe some project in school? I don't really know about other professions, but if you're a student of architecture, chances are that you have and always will....right through your professional life.

Working in a team is a pain. You keep telling yourself that you're a team player. Then there comes a time when you actually believe it...and everything is fine for a bit. But all that is before your groupmates piss you off and you realize that your wavelengths don't match. Or that your teammates just don't like you. Or that, to you, they're complete idiots...or arrogant ass-bastards who have absolutely no reason to be arrogant about.

I'm venting, I know.

I'm on the second stage of obtaining a Masters degree in architecture (don't ask my why I decided to come back to school)...and I'm in a group, the members of which I just cannot stand. They're all of 22 years old, fucking ugly and arrogant. And I don't fucking know why...

Sometimes group work is just plain satisfying --- especially when you've been through toughies to accomplish something worthy of greatness. But not this. This time it's dark, gooey shit.

I'm just waiting for the damn project to get over...four more days to go. And to think I'll have to go through it all my life of being an architect.

Somebody give me a gun.

In other news, I've just discovered that raisin-studded scones that come out of a packet can taste absolutely gorgeous smeared in strawberry jam and topped with whipped cream.

Cupcakes.

I just happen not to like cupcakes.
Now before you start hurling expletives at me, just pause a bit while I explain.
As a child, my mum would always pack a white bread and jam (or white bread and salami) sandwich in a lunch box, which I would then drag to school and eat contentedly, while my friends feasted on oily Indian curries and saffron rice, soggy slimy wheezy fruits, luchi and aloo dum and the eternal favourite, Maggi noodles.
I used to hate the fruits. They were always cut and packed tightly into lunch boxes. Four hours later they would emerge soggy and discoloured and thoroughly embarassed to be seen.
However, sandwiches were my favourite. I loved what my mum gave me - the simpler the better. And I went through twelve years of school with them, before I said "Bollocks."
It was sudden and almost out of the blue, but I had started to hate the sound, sight and smell of anything bread, cake, muffin, cupcake, sponge, pie, crust...you get the idea. Call me weird, its been seven years and I would still cringe at the idea of a Christmas plum pudding or a bagel extraordinaire for breakfast. I have softened though considerably over the years and now I won't say a blind 'no' to a piece of chocolate cake smothered in chocolate and I wouldn't say no to iced cupcakes. Iced, please.
And since I've taken up baking lately (more like experimenting with flour, eggs and butter for the last two months), I've been trying to get my cupcakes right. I'm not going to lie to you, I would give up those suckers for a bowl of ice-cream anytime.
Ok, I'm ready for those expletives now. Give it your best shot.

Coffee cupcakes with white chocolate and sour cream icing.



I made these for my friends, about a fortnight back.

Coffee cupcakes:
Pre-heat a fan-assisted oven to 170 C. Prepare cupcake tins with paper holders.
Sift in 1 and a half cups of self-rising flour and 1 and half cups of castor sugar in a mixing bowl. Make some espresso by stirring in a tablespoon of instant coffee powder in 2 tablespoons of boiling water. Add this espresso along with 3 eggs, 1 and a half cups of softened salted butter, one-fourth cup of boiling water and half a cup of sour cream, to the flour-sugar mixture. Stir to combine well - there shouldn't be any big lumps of flour and the batter should be runny and lava-like. Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake holders by filling them two-thirds of the way. I got about 18 cupcakes out of the amount of batter that I had. If there's leftover batter, put it in a ziplock bag and freeze it for later. Pop the tin into the oven and bake at 170 C for ten minutes. Reduce heat to 150 C and bake for a further 10-12 minutes, till a cake needle run through the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Take it out of the oven and cool.

White chocolate and sour cream icing:
Melt 100gms of chopped white chocolate with 100gms of unsalted butter in a double boiler (or microwave) and rest to cool a bit. Meanwhile whip 125ml of sour cream and 3 tablespoons of castor sugar in a bowl till slightly fluffy (not whipped cream consistency though). Add the chocolate-butter into the cream and combine well. Try not to over mix the icing - it will just turn runny and become difficult to work with. Fill a pastry bag with this mixture and ice the cooled cupcakes. Serve.

Spring and some guilt

Hi spring!

I've missed you. The winter wasn't really harsh, but you know how I love you.

Anyways. Onto some guilt. My spring break is over. The blossoms haven't even had the time to bloom properly yet and already we're thinking about summer. I wasted my break royally. Royally.
The 7-day escape to Paris was worth it. And I had promised to slog my arse off once I returned. I've been back home for three weeks and I haven't worked at all.
My folks think I'm working hard. So they think.
I somehow always manage to avoid the 'how are your studies coming along, hon?' question everytime I have a phone conversation with them. They don't know I'm over my head with piled up essays and reports. They don't know how I wile my time away watching Cheers on the internet. They don't know, and neither do I, as a matter of fact, whether I'm going to end up with a first class degree or not. The guilt in question, comes from knowing how much my father's spending behind my education.
But oh yes, Paris was amazing. Absolutely orgasmic. And I've come back with this irresisitible urge to give up everything and become a pastry chef. Ridiculous? Well, I suppose.

But even with this bit of guilt inside, I'm happy about spring. Our backyard, unkempt and uncared for, is yellow and green and is watered by the rain almost every other day. The summer sale's going to be on next month...can't wait to splurge some more! And oh, all the tubs of ice-creams I gobble up everyday are starting to show. Not in places that you can see at the moment, but wait a while.
I'll leave you with a photograph of the above mentioned backyard.

The bottomless pit

No devils or demons here. Or maybe a few. But you'll know about them if they dare poke their heads out.
I'll be writing anonymously. Because its just more fun when you don't know what I look like or what my name is. And its way easier to bitch and sneak about other people. Its an itch you just have to scratch.
And oh yes, I usually prefer it if people like me and I always get excited whenever I receive a comment or email...but in case they don't. Well then, balls.

Stay a while though.