Last week I had three of the most fun days ever thanks to the Cooking Channel and Kelsey Nixon’s show The Perfect 3. As one of the winners of the Perfect 3 Recipe Contest I flew out to NYC to film a segment for the show’s second season. Surprise, surprise, I’ll be on the cupcake episode! (I’ll obviously let you know when it’s expected to air as soon as I find out.) Here’s the video I made – good thing the cupcakes were good when they tested them because I totally forgot to include tip #2 in this video. (Tip #2 is not to over mix the batter.)

If you took my advice in my last post and downloaded DishPal you may have noticed that I did a lot of eating while I was there. As soon as I threw my bags in my hotel on Wednesday I hightailed it to Doughnut Plant where I tried the creme brulee, coconut cream and a blueberry cake doughnut. Mind you it was after 5pm, so they probably weren’t as fresh as they could have been, but I have to give Doughnut Vault here in Chicago the upper hand on this one.

My friend Melisser, who has made many appearances on this blog, met up with me at the Maritime Hotel and we headed over to Angelica Kitchen to meet up with Mike Edison and our friend James. I had the Wednesday Salad (because it was Wednesday,) which consisted of black eyed peas, squash and other magical things that I desperately needed as I was fighting a bad cold and sore throat. Also badly needed was the vegan peanut butter and jelly ice cream topped with marshmallow I had later at Lula’s Sweet Apothecary. While we were there, Mike also bought me a bar of Fakin’ Bacon chocolate by Rescue Chocolate.

On Thursday morning I woke up early and had breakfast at La Bottega inside the Maritime Hotel. I read Tina Fey’s Bossypants over a plate of truffled eggs until the car service arrived to take me to the Lower east Side where we were filming. Having had a less-than-pleasant experience on Cupcake Wars, I was honestly worried. Would they hate all the clothes I brought? Would my cold-ravaged voice sound disgusting? Would they be mean? All of those fears were set aside long before we even arrived at the studio thanks to Natasza, the talent coordinator at Working Dog Productions. She complimented my dress, told me how much everyone enjoyed my recipe in the test kitchens, and allowed me to ramble on and on about Teno all the way there.

Once we arrived I met Kelsey and the rest of the crew and got to work. Kelsey and I are about the same height, although I look like a giant standing next to her because she’s so teeny tiny, so we both stood on boxes for the whole segment. Not only was she as sweet and smiley as she appears to be on TV, but she’s also extremely down to earth. During our “smiling and nodding” takes, which is the most awkward and funny thing I’ve ever had to do, she had me cracking up.

On my way out I got to meet Nivedita from Panfusine, winner in the Indian Category. She was making her Carrot Halwa Blondie Bars which looked and sounded amazing. I was smiling like a fool when I got dropped back off at the hotel. I grinned like an idiot all the way to Stone Street Coffee Company where I noticed that all fashionable ladies in NYC wear their hair piled up in a really severe bun on the top of their heads. Melisser confirmed my observation, and we both proclaim it weird.

James met up with me a bit later and we headed to Blossom Du Jour for lunch. We opted to split a smoky avocado wrap so we’d have room for lots of junk at Billy’s Bakery just down the street. Billy’s smelled like sweet, buttery heaven and I was especially excited to try his famous vanilla cupcake. Honestly, it was pretty mediocre, but he made up for it with the best carrot cake cupcake I’ve ever had and a peanut butter chocolate bar that James later proposed to.

After that we walked through Chelsea Market where I not only marveled at how many fucking cupcake places there are in New York (I thought Chicago was overrun!) but I also saw a guy in a trench coat with hair down to his ankles, which was awesome. You could kind of spend a whole day eating your way around the Market, but we took the whirl-wind route and just stopped in Jacque Torres for some chocolates for Teno and The Filling Station where I found ghost pepper salt for Tony.

Eventually we met back up with Melisser and found our way to Candle Cafe where I think I had my favorite meal of the entire visit. I took a picture, but it kind of looked like dog food, so let me just tell you that it was porcini-crusted seitan. Garlic-shallot-potato mash, sautéed spinach and string beans with grilled oyster mushrooms, topped with home-style gravy. Good god. I washed it down with an extra-grassy Green Goddess juice and all was well.

Melisser and I had a slumber party that night, which, when you’re in you’re 30′s, means we washed our faces, put on pajamas and talked for about 5 minutes in bed before falling dead asleep. I had a meeting with my literary agent Sally in the morning and she had to work, so we said our sad good byes and parted ways on Friday morning.

Before I flew home I was sure to eat two entire bagels. They just aren’t the same in Chicago! I finished my book just as we were landing, and Tony surprised me at the baggage claim. We headed straight to Native Foods and then to Wormhole for Koopa Troopa lattes.

I had so much fun, and I’m so grateful to Cooking Channel for choosing me. And of course what would I have done without my friends to show me there’s much more to eating vegetarian in NYC than Red Bamboo?

Make sure you tune into the Mike & Judy Show this Sunday – Melisser and I are the guests and we’re going to try to not make assholes out of ourselves while talking about veganism and vegetarianism. If that’s even possible!

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Me & my beardy valentine

There are two things to remember when making a Valentine’s Day meal for two: One, it should be easy enough for a man to do, because preferably he’s the one in the kitchen while the lady relaxes by the fire (or in front of the Xbox, whatever.) And two, it shouldn’t leave you too full for the two best things about Valentine’s Day – dessert and making out. So keeping those two important rules in mind, my husband and I put our admittedly creepy heads together and came up with Dismembered Artichoke Hearts in Marinara.

Using a few short cuts, this recipe only takes a few minutes to throw together – and all the chopping and red stuff is reminiscent of our favorite February 14th horror flick- My Bloody Valentine. (Re-made in 3-D no less!) So put on your favorite high-waisted jeans and a Canadian accent and settle in for a meal that hits the spot but doesn’t leave you too heavy to run like hell from Harry Warden.

Like I said, this recipe uses a few short cuts to make things simple for any newbie cooks who might be reading this. If you’re too advanced (aka snobby) for shortcuts you’re welcome to clean and cut down all the baby artichokes this recipe calls for, as well as slave over a pot of homemade marinara (I recommend my grandma’s recipe.)

You’ll need:

• 1/2 dry pasta of your choice
• 1 bag frozen artichoke hearts, thawed (or 1lb whole baby artichokes)
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 vegetable broth
• 1 cup prepared or homemade marinara
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges for garnish

If you’re using whole artichokes, check out the directions here for cleaning and preparing them. Cut the artichokes in half lengthwise and rub the exposed, newly cut side with lemon to prevent discoloration.

If you’re using frozen artichoke hearts, lucky you! Let them thaw on your counter top, then drain them to make sure there’s no excess water.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. This is a good time to get the water for your pasta boiling as well. Cook and stir the artichoke hearts, onion and garlic for 5-10 minutes until the onion is soft and golden. Add the vegetable broth and cover the skillet. Bring it to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 10-15 minutes. Throw your pasta in the water when the artichokes have about 4-5 minutes left to simmer.

Preheat your broiler and spread the marinara in the bottom of an 8″, broiler-proof pan. Arrange the artichoke hearts cut-side-down in the sauce, plop the garlic and onions anywhere in the marinara. Sprinkle with cheese and brown under the broiler about 5 minutes, or until the marinara is hot and the cheese is melted. Remove from broiler and drain pasta (I feel like a jackass saying this, but cook the pasta according to the directions on the box, 9 minutes should do it.)

Serve the artichokes over pasta and garnish with lemon wedges. Wait until after dinner to reveal any unexpected plot twists you had planned for the rest of your evening.

Originally posted on Slash & Dine, 2009.

Special Valentine’s Day bonus: Check out these pictures of how much my husband loves to spend time with me. <3

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Hello! I’m headed to the airport in a few minutes – going to NYC to film a segment for Cooking Channel’s The Perfect 3. I made a quick video to tell you about an app I’ve been using called DishPal*. It’s free, and it’s kind of a neat way to connect with other foodies. Download it and do a user search for me – Natalie Slater – so you can see all the stuff I manage to shove in my face in this quick trip.

Hey! Don’t forget to vote for my Vegan Chai Koala Cupcake every day until 2/12 – if I win I’m donating the entire prize to Grind for Life. It could mean a whole lot to a family dealing with cancer, so tell everyone you know!

*Nope, I’m not being paid to tell you to use DishPal. I was compensated to test the beta version, and I thought it was cool so I’m sharing it with you.

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I posted a pretty cryptic update last week about my upcoming trip to NYC, but I just got the go-ahead from The Cooking Channel to share the real story with you so here goes: I’m going to be on The Perfect 3!

My Vegan Banana Bread French Toast Cupcake was chosen in the cupcake category so I’m headed to New York in a few days to shoot my segment for season 2 of the show, which kicks off in May.

I don’t have that green and black checkered dress from Cupcake Wars anymore – so things might get crazy! I was thinking about setting up a Hangout on Google+ so you guys can chat with Mike Edison, Melisser and myself while I’m there.

I’m super stoked to get back to New York and eat all the bagels and, of course, to have this opportunity.

And hey – while I have your attention, have you voted for my Vegan Chai Koala Cupcake yet? If I win the $2,500 travel voucher I’m going to donate it to Grind for Life so you should probably GO VOTE NOW and every day until Feb. 12th!

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I don’t normally post begging you guys to help me win contests, but I’m doing just that today because I’m hoping to win, and donate the grand prize to my favorite charity.

I recently entered my Vegan Chai Koala Cupcake in the Celebrations.com Cupcake Crown contest. The grand prize is a $2,500 travel voucher furnished by Wyndham Vacation Rentals and I want to win it for Grind for Life.

Grind for Life is a non-profit organization that provides financial assistance to people with cancer (and to their families!) As much as I would love to win a $2,500 travel voucher for myself, I want to win one for them even more. They can use it however they choose – to send a deserving family on vacation, or as a fundraiser to help even more people with cancer.

So please CLICK HERE and vote for my entry every day! You can also use the share buttons and remind everyone you to know to vote! The contest ends February 12th. Thank you guys so much!

PS If I win one of the other prizes I will find a way to donate it, even if it means auctioning it off!

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Photo by Courtney Ivo

I have some news & updates to share and I figured I’d stick them all in once place so you can ignore them all at the same time rather than having to ignore several tweets and Facebook updates.

First of all, I’ll be in New York City and Miami next month and hoping to see some of you guys while I’m in both places. the New York trip is kind of whirlwind (I really can’t wait until I’m allowed to say what it’s all about – follow me on Twitter to find out!) but the Miami trip is 6 days so that should leave me with some hang out time. Check out the Facebook events – I’ll be posting updates to where I am in each city on those pages: New York & Miami

Also, tomorrow (Jan, 28th) is my mom’s birthday! I’m taking her to get her first tattoo (Morrissey lyrics – jealous?) and we’re having dinner at Mana Food Bar because in addition to being a Morrissey fan, she also recently went vegetarian! Yay mom!  If you’re on Twitter you can wish her a happy birthday tomorrow – she’s @bossylynne

Did you happen to see my business partner Katya and I in Crain’s Chicago Business earlier this week? Well, you can check it out on the Greyslater blog. Also, there is apparently a picture of me in Inked Magazine this month – who knew? Check out my Press Page for more unattractive bragging.

Finally, I would like to cordially invite you all to Mat Arluck’s Birthday/Arluck Time DVD Release Show! Back in 2010 we all got together to celebrate the life of our friend Mat, which was cut short by his battle with cancer. We raised a bunch of money that night for Grind for Life, and the whole thing was documented in this DVD! If you’ll be in the Chicago area on February 4th get your tickets and come on by. Just like in 2010 I’ll be heading up a 100% non-profit bake sale featuring vegan and conventional treats, not to mention exclusive Bake and Destroy accessories made by Lucky Cupcake Hairclips. And of course, like last time, ticket sales, raffles and other stuff will all benefit Grind for Life.

Thanks for reading my update! (Oh and a special thank you to everyone who has written me such sweet, supportive emails over the past year since my dad’s passing. I write back to each one of you, but I just wanted to say again how much it means to me that you take the time to do that.)

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It’s January 20th, do you know where your New Year’s resolutions are?

In honor of the Overlook Hotel’s perpetual haunted New Year’s party in The Shining, I’ve put together an alcohol-fused sugar bomb that’s sure to cure even the most murderous case of cabin fever.

A little butter, a little sugar and a whole lot of over-acting and you’ve got yourself one devilish dessert.

To make just over a dozen cupcakes you’ll need:

• 1 & 3/4 cups cake flour
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 & 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3 Tbs dark rum
• 1 Tbs + 1 1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 3/4 tsp cider vinegar
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• Red food coloring*

* I recommend Americolor Super Red for the goriest possible color.

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners. (You’ll probably get 18 cupcakes from this recipe, so line two pans while you’re at it.)

Then you:

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until very light and fluffy, About 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a small bowl, whisk together the dark rum, cocoa and vanilla. Add to the batter and beat well. Add red food coloring until it’s a nice, bloody red.

In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts alternating with the cake flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not over beat. (You might break someone’s arm.)

In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well-blended and the batter is smooth.

Fill cups 2/3 full (these are high-risers) and bake 20-25 minutes, or until the tops spring back when you gently touch them, Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely.

All cake and no frosting makes Natalie a dull girl – so lucky for you I happen to have the perfect cream cheese frosting for these beasts!

You’ll need:

• 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• A pinch of salt
• 2 & 1/4 cups confectioner’s sugar

In a bowl, with your electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat together cream cheese, butter and salt until creamy. Beat it like Jack beats his family. Ouch! With mixer on low speed, make 1/2 cup additions of sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Increase the speed of your mixer between each addition.

I should note that this recipe can just as easily be made sans-alcohol. Honestly, the rum doesn’t add much more than a laugh to the finished product. Just don’t tell Jack.

Originally posted on Slash & Dine, 2009

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It’s Friday the 13th, y’all! Tonight I plan on cuddling up in front of the TV with a cup of cocoa and a cupcake and relaxing to the sweet crackle-crackle sound of campers being cremated alive in their own sleeping bags. Ah yes, the horrors of summer camp, how many times have we been warned over the years? Don’t leave the kiddies alone while you sneak off to make out with your boyfriend and his sweet 80s headband, don’t wander through the forest in your underpants and whatever you do, for the love of God, don’t re-open Camp Crystal Lake!

In honor of the original Friday the 13th, I’ve created these smores cupcakes (a variation on Julie Hasson’s Best Chocolate Cupcake recipe.) I’m even including a PDF so you can make your own Jason cupcake toppers. Just click here to download them, print them on cardstock, cut them out and glue them to toothpicks.

For the cupcakes you will need:

• 1 & 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup coursely chopped graham crackers (or graham cookies)

Then you:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pan with paper liners. Mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Stir in chocolate chips. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, egg and vanilla until smooth. Alternately whisk in flour mixture and buttermilk until smooth. Stir in graham cracker pieces. Scoop batter into pan and bake 22-27 minutes until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely on wire rack.

Marshmallow frosting:

• 1 c. marshmallow fluff
• 2 egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 c. superfine sugar
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/4 c. water
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

In double-boiler top over hot, not boiling water, combine all ingredients except vanilla. With hand mixer, beat until soft peaks form. Remove from heat and continue beating until stiff. Beat in vanilla.

Top each cupcake with a sticky pile of frosting, then crumble more graham crackers and sprinkle more chocolate chips on top. Stick in a Jason topper and prepare for the slaughter!

This recipe was originally posted on Slash and Dine, 2009.

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When I found out my friend Whitney was moving to Madison I knew I had to make her something stupid delicious to say good bye. Whitney and I met when Ian’s Pizza decided to get involved in SugarSlam last year and we’ve been sending each other politically incorrect text messages ever since. I really struggled with this one – what do you make the girl who works somewhere that serves such creative gems as Green Bean Casserole Pizza and the G.T.S. Pizza named after CM Punk?

Suddenly I remembered two things – one, I just went on a major Bake It Pretty shopping and acquired, among other things, a bottle of root beer extract. And two, Ian’s serves the world’s greatest root beer, Gale’s Root Beer by famed pastry chef Gale Gand. So I got out my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe (Julie Hasson’s The Best Chocolate Cupcake from 125 Best Cupcake Recipes) and got to tweaking. What I ended up with was a root beer, ginger, and cinnamon-inflused chocolate cake with a root beer and vanilla buttercream. If you want to find out what Whitney thought, follow her on Twitter – I’m bringing them to her tonight!

For the cupcakes you’ll need:

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  Whitney & CM Punk

  1 & 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp root beer flavoring
• 3/4 cup buttermilk (I actually used kefir)

Then you:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pan with paper liners. Mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, egg and root beer flavoring until smooth. Alternately whisk in flour mixture and buttermilk until smooth. Scoop batter into pan and bake 22-27 minutes until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely on wire rack.

I frosted these with a basic vanilla buttercream, and added a splash of root beer to the portion that I colored red and blue. I frosted little Chicago flags on there to remind Whitney what city she was in when she met the coolest and most modest girl in the entire world – me. Good bye, Whitney! I’ll miss you!

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Teno's Christmas face

We don’t hold too many holiday traditions sacred in the Slater household. As an adventurous baker, I love that about us. I don’t get stuck making the same old pumpkin pie or Christmas cookies year after year. I literally do whatever I feel like every single December. This year we spent Christmas day at my mom’s eating pizza and watching Star Wars, so Christmas Eve was as close as we got to a traditional holiday dinner. I made lasagna with farmers cheese, and for dessert, Tony requested by Bike Messenger Brownies in whoopie pie form.

I didn’t exactly fulfill his request as what I ended up making was more of a spice cake with coffee filing, but he knew better than to complain about it. I basically tweaked the vanilla whoopie recipe from Whoopie Pies with the spices from the chai cupcake in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and threw in some birthday cake kefir for good measure. Then I made a pretty basic coffee buttercream and filled them with that.

To make these whoopie pies you’ll need:

• 2 & 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 Tbs unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 Tbs non-hydrogenated shortening
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup kefir (plain or vanilla, or use buttermilk)
• 2 Tbs milk
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

 Then you:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and prepare your whoopie pie pan (this can be an actual whoopie pie pan, or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.) In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, spices and salt.

In your stand mixer (or with an electric hand-held mixer) beat together the butter, shortening and sugars until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and kefir (or buttermilk) and beat until combined.

In a small measuring cup, mix together the milk, baking soda and vinegar. Add the milk mixture, along with the flour mixture, to the butter mixture and beat on low until just combined. Add the vanilla and beat on medium for about 2 minutes.

Drop onto prepared baking sheets (I use a 2 Tbs scoop with my whoopie pie pans, or you can use 1 Tbs to make about 48 2″ cakes.) Bake for 10 minutes, then cook on the pan for 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely. Sandwich together with the filling of your choice.

If I was making these for a less picky crowd I might use a splash of anise in place of the vanilla and call these Turkish Coffee Whoopie Pies.

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