I can’t decide what to make on this coming Monday when I’m not working. Now that my Tuesday Treats get bestowed upon (members of) legal teams in three banks in Singapore, it has to be something I can do in bulk, which will keep overnight, and won’t take too much time (as I’m trying out the menu for my scholarship on Monday as well).

Hmmmm. Ideas, anyone?

While the bunny was working for a couple of years in Tokyo, she drank so much coffee (and got so stressed out) that it gave her a gastric ulcer. As a result, she no longer can drink coffee on a regular basis. That hasn’t stopped her from absolutely loving the taste of it, and whenever she can, she takes a sip of my latte or indulges in coffee-flavoured cakes and desserts.

I haven’t baked in a while - mostly because I’m too tired on my off days, despite having a file brimming with recipes that I want to try. Last night, I decided that I’d bake today, and remembered that bunny had loved this espresso buttercream so much the last time I made it that she’d piped the remainder straight into her mouth, and skipped around the chocolate cupcakes I’d paired them with (being the chocolate-hater that she is). Apparently, her colleagues also miss my housewifery, as they haven’t had their Tuesday Treats (as my baked goodies had been dubbed, since Monday was my usual off day for October and November), so I made enough for all of them to share.

The cupcake recipe was taken off Chockylit’s recipe for Vietnamese Coffee Cupcakes, only I used strongly brewed normal coffee straight out of my espresso machine, as I figured that since she’d paired it with a Sweetened Condensed Milk Pudding and slightly sweetened whipped cream, it couldn’t be one of those insanely sweet cupcake recipes. She’s also got a whole bunch of recipes that I’ve been wanting to try out, so this was as good as any to start with. (Note: Weighing in approx 50g of batter into each cupcake liner - which filled them slightly over the halfway mark - gave me 30, not 24 cupcakes.)

Chocolate coated coffee beans are also so easy to make and delicious (just melt some semi-sweet chocolate in a bain-marie or microwave, then stir in the required number of beans, and let cool in the refrigerator for 15 minutes on a tray lined with silicone paper), so they were a no-brainer to choose for this triple-shot morning-coffee cupcake.

Espresso Buttercream

2 eggs
1/2 cup caster sugar
a pinch of salt
1/4 sheet of gelatine, softened in cold water
250g unsalted butter, cut into 2cm cubes, at room temperature
4 tbsp strong espresso, cooled

Special Equipment:
Instant read thermometer
Stand mixer

1. Crack the eggs into the bowl of your stand mixer with the sugar and salt. Whisk together briefly with a hand-mixer. Bring 2cm of water to the boil in a small saucepan, and rest the bowl of your stand mixer over the saucepan, ensuring that the base does not come into contact with the water. Squeeze the excess water out of the gelatine, then whisk constantly until the temperature reaches 70 deg Celsius. The mixture should be very pale, foamy, and increase by about 4x in volume.

2. Re-attach the mixing bowl to your stand mixer, then beat at high speed for about 5 minutes or until cooled to room temperature. THIS STEP IS IMPORTANT, DO NOT UNDER-BEAT. When the mixture has cooled, reduce the speed to medium and add the butter in one cube at a time. It will probably curdle halfway through, but it should smoothen out into a velvety buttercream by the time you add the last cube.

3. Add the espresso in, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then beat on high speed for 1 minute. Spread/smear/pipe onto cooled cupcakes and consume immediately, or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days before using. In the event that the buttercream feels too stiff to use, just tip it back into your stand mixer and whip it thoroughly for 30 seconds to soften it.

Yield: Makes enough to top 30 medium-sized cupcakes as shown in the picture above.

I’ve pretty much decided that when I’m done with this stage, I’m going to write a book. (Check back with me when I’m actually done with said stage to see if I really get down to writing it or not.) Not about my experiences with this kitchen/restaurant in particular, just some things I’ve found out, been taught, and in general want to scream at the world at large.

The first chapter is going to be titled after this post. Salad leaves are the single greatest bane of my existence in a professional kitchen. Salad leaves get wet, bruised, START TO SMELL FUNKY, and always - ALWAYS - need to be treated with the utmost care. In my first week, I really did little more than sort out buckets and buckets of salad leaves - for which I’m glad. Because now I respect them, now I know how they need to be treated, and - frankly speaking - if I didn’t, I wouldn’t trust myself with a knife.

Yesterday was my first day into the second half of my stage. It’s growing to be the sort of experience where you wake up each morning with half of you excited about going to work, and the other half has to be dragged kicking and screaming out of bed. I love that I’ve become more comfortable with my surroundings; that I now know (more or less) exactly what I need to do, that a grey tub slightly over half full of salad dressing X will likely last me at most 3 more days before it’s time to make a new batch, that I need to defrost the chicken first thing in the morning so that I can get it grilled before dinner service starts. I just wish there was something that would make it easier to yank myself out of bed when it’s a Sunday morning and my girlfriend’s fast asleep next to me.

As much as I hate having 3/4 of my non-sleeping hours locked up every single day of the week, I know I’m going to miss this terribly when it’s over. I guess I might be having one of those existentialist moments where I wonder if I’ve found something I could do for the rest of my life.