Swooning for Your Syntax
I have this friend. He is awesome. I met him almost 11 years ago and he somehow still surprises me with just how awesome he can be. Mostly, it’s linguistic. Word choice, for him, is always apt, and clever, and catches you just enough off guard that the tiny icicles on your heart fissure and break and cause a little musical ting ting ting as they fall and bounce off of your other equally icy organs.
I found an old IM conversation, (1. I am dating myself; 2. saved to compile into a found text play that never got written because frankly, found text of college angst is not that interesting), where he told me “I’m the snake in your garden, baby, leading you down the path that ROCKS!” I think it was in reference to watching Metropolis at 2am. Nothing crazy, but this was the kind of thing that made my 19-year-old self fall head over heels for his syntax.
Lately though, I find word choice doesn’t seem to have the same bearing. Maybe because, as we age, we step away from he-said-she-said. We recognize we are not poets. Song lyrics don’t speak directly to our teenage soul. But mostly, I think, it’s because we’ve since learned a second language, a language of actions, a language I had trouble speaking before. Now I hug. And take the G train late at night. And feed people. But when this popped up on Facebook recently:
in response to my response to the internet not ranking fake blood recipes by deliciousness, (peanut butter really is the secret ingredient!), my heart melted a little bit again for those always aptly positioned words.
So this peanut butter cup turned cocktail turned peanut butter cup recipe happened, (note: most peanut butter involved cocktails that come up in a Google search sound just terrible), because like some people, alcoholic peanut butter cups are awesome.
+21 Peanut Butter Cups
Makes 12
- 1/4 c smooth peanut butter (not natural, it will separate and become gross)
- 2 oz white chocolate chips
- 6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
- 1 oz Frangelico
- chopped peanuts (optional)
Line a 12 cups mini cupcake tin with papers. Put peanut butter and white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. If all the chips aren’t completely melted, microwave for an additional 20 seconds. Pour in Frangelico. Mixture will possibly do something strange, (it seems to depend on the brand of peanut butter) and go from smooth and creamy looking to glossy and paste like. No worries. Put semi sweet chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. If all the chips aren’t completely melted, microwave for an additional 20 seconds. Put about 1 teaspoon of chocolate in each mini cupcake paper, spreading the chocolate up the sides of the papers about 1/3 from the top. Spoon in peanut butter mixture, dividing evenly amongst the cups. Top with remaining chocolate. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts. Refrigerate until chocolate hardens. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Ode to D10tion
Disaronno & Ginger Ale Cupcakes
cupcakes at attention
My contribution to my house senior year of college was a bar. It flipped. It folded. It fit it the back of a VW Golf. I built it myself. Its awesomeness led to many happy hours called “cocktail” and expanded our horizons of what was consumably delicious. I think it was my housemate Carrie who first started us drinking Disaronno and ginger ale, a combination I had until that point avoided because it just sounded yucky. Admittedly, its pretty tasty.
Unfortunately, that half bottle of Disaronno that got packed up after graduation is still sitting untouched in my apartment as it has never occurred to me to drink it since (I guess some drinks are purely are situational, like my love of Blavod at the time). So when I was looking for alcohol to pour into cupcakes, I decided to use it up. My cupcake testers were dubious. They gave me that one eyebrow cocked look that I get sometimes when I cook. But they all gave it a thumbs up last night. They’re pretty tasty.
Disaronno & Ginger Ale Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1 box chocolate cake mix
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 5 oz (1/2 cup + 2Tbs) Disaronno or other Amaretto liquor (a standard shot glass is one ounce)
- 5 oz (1/2 cup + 2Tbs) ginger ale
- zest of 1 lime
- 1 tsp ground ginger
For the frosting:
(I use less sugar in my buttercream than usually recommended. I find this makes the frosting creamier and richer tasting, but should be kept cool or refrigerated until served as a result.)
- 1 1/2 sticks butter (12 Tbs)
- 4-5 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 oz (2 Tbs) Disaronno or other Amaretto liquor
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- squeeze of lime (about 1 teas lime juice from aforementioned lime)
- candied ginger for garnish (optional, found in most supermarkets in the dried fruit/nut section)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with cupcake papers.
In a large bowl, prepare batter according to package directions substituting the 1 1/4 cup water with the Disaronno and ginger ale. Add lime zest and ground ginger. Mix well. Pour into cupcake tins, filling about 2/3rs of the way, and place in oven. Bake for 19-22 minutes until cupcakes spring back when touched.
Meanwhile, prepare frosting. Using an electric hand mixer, cream butter and 1 cup confectioners sugar in a high sided bowl until fluffy. Add Disaronno, vanilla extract, and lime juice. Mix in remaining sugar, adding more if necessary to reach desired consistency.
Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting. Garnish with slices of candied ginger. Eat. Can be refrigerated up to 3 days.
By Ellie
