Oooof.

Overdid it? Feel like fasting between now and New Year's? Vowing to everyone in sight that this is the last time you will participate in this appalling national orgy of gluttony?

Yeah, me too, which is why breakfast today consisted of my sure-fire morning-after remedy: lemon ginger tea. The ginger aids in digestion, and both ginger and citrus will quickly settle an upset tummy. You can make ginger tea just by steeping a few slices of fresh ginger in hot water for a few minutes, with perhaps a spoonful of honey added for sweetness, but I really like the combination of ginger and lemon, and I think it works a little faster than ginger alone. I suppose you could even add some fresh mint, if you really want to hedge your bets.

I've been using candied or crystallized ginger rather than fresh lately, because it keeps forever in the cupboard, is easier to carry along to the office or while traveling, and because the sugar in the ginger sweetens the tea by itself. If you don't have any, use an inch-long piece of fresh ginger, sliced (no need to peel it if you don't want to), and a teaspoon of honey.

Ginger-Lemon Tea
Serves 2

Equipment: A small teapot, or two cups or mugs

4-6 pieces candied or crystallized ginger, roughly chopped
1/2 lemon, sliced
2 cups boiling water, or enough to fill the vessel you're using

Place the ginger and lemon in a small teapot, or divide evenly between two cups. Cover with boiling water and allow to steep for five minutes. Stir before serving.

Notes: You could also serve this over ice, with some additional fresh lemon juice and a shot of simple syrup.

Pie? Meh, but Cupcakes I Can Get Behind.

We never had pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving when I was growing up. While my mother adopted Thanksgiving with a vengeance when she first discovered it as an immigrant, her nearly-wholesale appropriation stopped short of the dessert course. She never cared for pumpkin pie, probably because she dislikes cloves and allspice, so we usually had some variation on apple pie (pie, strudel, even tarte tatin) instead. As an adult, though, I've thrown off my mother's aversion to the spices usually found in pie, and I've also become really fond of pumpkin as a dessert medium, although pie is still not my favorite use for it, partly because really good pie dough without hydrogenated fat is my personal demon and constant nemesis, and partly because there are so many more interesting possibilities for pumpkin.

For the past few years, I've been alternating between the flan/creme brulee end and the cake ends of the spectrum. This year, I decided to follow the example of the very inventive Chockylit at Cupcake Bakeshop, because, in addition to being cute, leftover cupcakes would be much easier to take to work than a partially-consumed cake. I used the same recipe for the cakes, but I'm just not convinced by the combination of pumpkin and chocolate. I opted for a mascarpone and cream cheese frosting instead, based on a recipe I'd seen on Everyday Italian (yeah, she's annoying, but at least she does have a legitimate grounding in terms of both training and Italian cuisine). The results were both yummy and attractive, although next time I might double the amount of frosting, since there was only enough to cover eighteen cupcakes, and not particularly generously, either.

I won't re-post the cupcake recipe, since I didn't modify it at all (although it made twenty-four rather than thirty in my muffin tins, probably because I always resist underfilling the cups), but I'll post the frosting recipe, since I added vanilla and since the Food Network pulls recipes after a while.

Mascarpone Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes enough to lightly frost 18 cupcakes

3 oz cream cheese
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Let the cheeses and butter come to room temperature, then beat together the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the mascarpone until combined, then the honey and vanilla extract.

Chill until firm.

Hiatus

No blogging for two weeks, as I'm off on a business trip to Thailand.