Red Velvet Cookies: A Happy Accident

Who knew how versatile a humble box of cake mix can be? 

It was one of those days. My eyes were shot from staring at the computer all day at work, followed by a frustrating commute home… only to find out after walking in my home that I forgot to grocery shop. 

In this case, it was not for dinner but rather for an art reception the next day! Yet, I'm so exhausted the thought of making a trek to the nearest store is like getting my wisdom teeth pulled. Ok, so I haven't had them pulled yet—the big day is this Saturday—but you get the point.

So instead, I started rummaging through my cupboards, hoping for divine intervention. And it came, in a box of Duncan Hines Red Velvet Cake Mix. Problem was, I couldn't make cupcakes because the piece de la resistance at the show is an interactive cupcake piece. Le merde. 

You see, I was brought on board by my old design professor at USC to mentor a few students for their upcoming show, X Marks the Spot, where every participating artist must take a letter and recreate its form in an unexpected medium. 

As luck would have it, I was paired with 3 foodie designers! So, it was joy to brainstorm with them and basically have my minions, ahem, I mean students create my dream vision. Not going to give away the cow, so I can only say one of the pieces involves cupcakes and lots of them. If you're interested in checking it out, the reception is tomorrow night (1/25) at USC's Lindhurst Gallery from 5 to 8pm. Just say Tsz sent you! 

Anyways, back to the cake mix. Competing cupcakes were out of the equation, so what else can I do? Fortunately, it turns out with a slight alternation in the eggs and butter ratio, the mix can be transformed into a cookie dough—and it's so easy! 

Don't believe me? Let me show you in 6 steps. 

1. Open cake mix in a big mixing bowl. 

2. Grate 1 teaspoon of orange peel and mix well. Actually, this is optional, but I rather like the taste of orange and chocolate together. So if you skip this, it's only 5 steps. 

3. Beat in 2 eggs and 6 tablespoons of melted butter. Really trippy how the tan colored cake mix turns blood red in the span of a minute... 

4. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and roll them in a  mixture of 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon cornstarch.

5. Baked in a 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. 

6. Let cool and dust with more powdered sugar. 

Done and done. They're best when fresh out of the oven cause they're soft and chewy. Addicting. 

I got a little styling-happy and busted out some patriotic napkins—would make for a festive July Fourth dessert don't you think? 

Thank you Ducan Hines! 

When Life Gives You Lemons… Make Lemon Curd

I am quite spoiled—in the lemon department. 

Shortly after moving to our house 15 some years ago, my family went on a day trip to Home Depot to look for plants for the front and back yard. My mom chose roses in all sorts of colors; my dad got the standard shrubbery; my little brother didn't care as he could barely even walk; and I, a lemon sapling. This could have very been a forecast of what's to come in my future!

In just a few years, the sapling grew from the top of my navel to taller than our house, producing an endless supply of lemons. We used them for lemonade, lemon coke, preserved lemons—nothing beats walking just a few yards for the fresh stuff. 

It wasn't till recently that I ventured out the beverage arena to give lemon curd a try. Armed with a recipe from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food, I went and picked out 2 plump specimens and got to work.

In a medium saucepan, I whisked together 1 cup sugar, 1 TB lemon zest and 8 egg yolks. Next I mixed in 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 1 1/2 lemons) and 1/4 tsp salt. 

Once all the ingredients are well incorporated, I set the pan over medium-high heat and added in 10 TB unsalted butter, which equals to 1 1/4 sticks. I whisked constantly as lemon scent scrambled eggs wasn't my goal! 

In a few minutes, it was thick enough to coat a the back of a spoon. Strained and cooled in the fridge for a few hours, I had 2 cups of the lip-puckering compound.

Lacking foresight however, I did not prepare anything to serve the curd with… fail. 

After a mad scrambled, I found a box of Trader Joe's Vanilla Meringues, the hero of the day. With a generous smear of the lemon curd in between the airy cookies, I had myself a deconstructed lemon meringue pie! It works especially well as the cookies by themselves were too sweet for my taste so the lemon curd was instrumental in balancing the saccharine meringues. 

Love the classy ridges on the meringues. Makes me want to ask, "oh you fancy huh?" 

Hope you give it a try!