The way to the stomach is through the mouth .

.............and the way to the heart is through the stomach.

Christopher and I made a southern style dinner to celebrate our first Valentine's Day as a married couple. We had an amazing time cooking together in the kitchen. This was the first time we made corn oysters, a fried puff of corn batter. They have an amazing tender and delicate consistency with a dynamite fresh corn and salty flavor. We wondered why this side dish isn't more popular, way tastier than hush puppies (and I like hush puppies!)

The fried catfish was very good but I didn't post a recipe for it since I want to try making a batter that has a spicier seasoning mix (I also enjoy the Zatarain's fish fry breading.) We also planned to serve a vegetable as a side but opted to cook it the next day instead to save some room.

For dessert we made a southern specialty into jumbo cupcakes- Buttermilk-Caramel Cake.
The tang of the buttermilk cake is well balanced by the sweetness of the frosting. A glass of milk is welcomed as an accompaniment here.

Corn Oysters
Recipe from America's Best Lost Recipes Cookbook

Serves 6

• 4 medium ears corn, husks and silks removed (make sure to use fresh corn, frozen or canned is too dry to produce a creamy batter)
  
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 quarts vegetable oil

1. Grate the kernels from the corn into a medium bowl using the large holes of a box grater. Using the back of a knife, scrape any pulp remaining on the cobs into the bowl with the grated corn. Stir in the flour, cornstarch, eggs, salt, and baking powder until well blended.
   
2. Heat the oil in a dutch oven (large pot) (or us a deep fryer) over medium heat until it registers 350 degrees. Carefully drop 13 to 15 heaping tablespoons of batter into the hot oil and fry, turning once, until the corn oysters puff and are golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Add more oil to the pot if necessary and heat to 350 degrees. Repeat with the remaining batter. Sprinkle the corn oysters with salt. Serve immediately.
   

Buttermilk-Caramel Cake
Recipe from America's Test Kitchen Baking Book

Cake

• 2 3/4 cups (11 ounces) cake flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 3/4 cups (12 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs (room temperature)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, room temperature

Caramel Frosting

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed (7 ounces) dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 2 cups (8 ounces) confectioners' sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. For the cake: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 13 by 9-inch baking pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
   
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar together with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until combined, about 30 seconds. Beat in the vanilla.
3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in one-third of the flour mixture, followed by half of the buttermilk. Repeat with half of the remaining flour mixture and the remaining buttermilk. Beat in the remaining flour mixture until just incorporated.
   
4. Give the batter a final stir with a rubber spatula to make sure it is thoroughly combined. Scrape the batter into a prepared pan, smooth the top, and gently tap the pan on the counter to settle the batter. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.
5. Let the cake cool completely in the pan, about 2 hours. Run a paring knife around the edge of the cake and flip the cake out onto a wire rack. Peel off the parchment paper, then flip the cake right side up onto a serving platter.
   
6. For the Frosting: Bring the butter and brown sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is foamy, 3 to 5 minutes. Whisk in the milk, return the mixture to a bried boil, then remove from the heat. Stir in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla with a wooden spoon and beat the frosting until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Spread the warm frosting evenly over the surface of the cooled cake and let set, about 25 minutes, before serving.
   

Hope you had a great Valentine's Day!!!

Strawberry Cupcakes

The strawberries in the grocery stores are finally sweet, not to mention on sale. Here's one way to use them. You will need a 1 lb. container of strawberries to make these delicious cupcakes. The strawberry frosting was amazing, creamy, tangy, and packed with fresh strawberry flavor. Next I want to use the strawberry frosting on homemade banana cupcakes! Mmmm strawberry banana....

Strawberry Cupcakes:
Compliments of Good Things Catered
2 1/2 c. cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. unsalted butter
1 1/2 c. sugar (minus one heaping tablespoon)
2 eggs
1/3 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c. chopped strawberries

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare 2 cupcake pans.
-Sift flour, salt, and baking soda in medium bowl.
-In bowl of mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
-Add eggs one at a time until combined.
-Add buttermilk, oil and vanilla until combined.
-Add flour mixture and stir until just combined.
-Fold in berries.
-Fill cupcake pans 3/4 way.
-Bake for 20 minutes.


Strawberry Frosting:
1/4 c. strawberries
1 Tbsp. strawberry liquor (I used strawberry extract)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
8 oz. cream cheese, room temp
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1 3/4 c. powdered sugar
1/2 Tbsp vanilla

-For frosting, put berries, extract/liquor, and juice in saucepan.
-Bring to a boil over medium heat and then reduce to a simmer for 5 mins.
-Let cool then blend until smooth.
-In bowl of mixer mix cream cheese and butter until creamy.
-Add sugar, then vanilla.
-Add berry puree (after cooking I pureed in the blender) until smooth.
-Frost cupcakes when they are completely cooled.


If you are low on time, I'd recommend making the frosting and buying a Duncan Hines Cake Mix. (While i'd never dream of using canned frosting, cake mixes are usually a good product.) Duncan Hines mixes have been rated the best cake mix brand and are always guaranteed to be fluffy and moist. I'd stick to their basic Devil's food and Yellow cake mixes because some of their flavored mixes have a very artificial taste. If you want to add other flavors to the basic mix, recipes from the Cake Mix Doctor should do the trick.