Travel Treats: Portland's Voodoo Doughnuts

It's Monday and I don't know about you, but I had quite a busy weekend. Shaun and I had no fewer than 1 wedding (congrats Joey and MariaAnne!), 2 Halloween parties, 1 engagement celebration (my bro-in-law and future sis-in law), multiple errands and 1 stop at IHOP for breakfast. Lots of fun was had, however, I'm a little disappointed that I have yet to pick up my one piece of Halloween candy for the season - a Reese's peanut butter pumpkin. Though I could go on and on about the merits of the pumpkin versus the standard Reese's cup, I'll move on to something less snooze-worthy. Something like doughnuts. And not just any doughnuts. Voodoo Doughnuts of Portland to be exact.

When my parents took a business trip out to Portland, Oregon last week, they of course ventured over to the famed Voodoo Doughnuts. A small bakery serving up, you guessed it, doughnuts, Voodoo Doughnuts isn't your average doughnut shop. Serving up doughnut concoctions including voodoo doll (filled with jam), bacon maple bar, Portland cream and Ol' Dirty Bastard (pb & Oreo...yum!), Voodoo is anything but ordinary. And to feed my food obsession so to speak, Mom and Dad made sure to not only snap some photos for thee blog (that's the voodoo doll - how awesome is that? - and the Ol' Dirty Bastard)...

...but they carted some Voodoo delights home from Portland for me to try.

And since I'm a sampler, you can be sure that I dove right into each one for a bite. Clockwise from top: Butterfingering, Diablos Rex, Portland Cream, McMinnville Cream, Sprinkle Doughnut.

First, I dug in to the Ol' Dirty Bastard - peanut butter and Oreos atop a light vanilla cake. Oh my, was this delicious, even after a plane ride back to NJ. Is it me or is there anything better than Oreo? Hmm?

Next up, I forked into the Butterfingering. The crispy, crunchity Butterfinger topping was scrumptious, while the doughnut was decadently cakey.

Though at this point I stopped snapping photos, I also dove right into the McMinnville Cream, a Bavarian cream-filled doughnut with maple frosting. Oooooh maple frosting, you are SO delicious. This was my favorite of the bunch, proving once again that Dad and I have the same taste in food (he proclaimed it the best of the bunch as well). In fact, the maple cake thing has inspired me to concoct a batch of maple cupcakes for an upcoming dinner party...stay tuned for that next week!

So there you have it. A little roundup of some tasty treats from the road. I love exploring new places and foods when traveling, even when it's vicariously through others! So for the question of the day: What's your favorite eatery or food you've ever discovered while traveling? And bonus question: How are you getting through this Monday morn?

Uncheery Cherry Chocolate Muffins

Happy Friday! Today I brought white chocolate chip pumpkin muffins into work to kick off this sweet holiday and have 2 parties tomorrow night. So today I'm dishing up one more spooktacular eat that will fit any Halloween soiree - cherry chocolate muffins!

Ever since my Dexter cupcakes, I've been trying to find a use for the remainder of that absolutely delectable sour cherry jam that I had used for filling the vanilla cupcakes. And since they came out so nice, I figured why not use it as filling twice! After all, what says gore like gooey cherry jam? For a Halloween twist, I went with a chocolate cake and white chocolate chips to highlight the red innards. Though I may have overfilled some of the muffins and the white chocolate chips sunk into the cake (see below for how to avoide both of these problems), it gave the muffins a bit of character and that 'eaten away' look which I think fits perfectly into the spooky scheme of things. And don't let the meager appearance fool you - these were moist and so delicious!

 

Cherry Chocolate Muffins
*Adapted from The Joy of Cooking
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 3/4 C all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 C buttermilk (I made my own*)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
1/2 C white chocolate chips (or chocolate chips if preferred)
1/3 C cherry jam (or more if preferred)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your muffin tin with paper or foil liners. Melt the chocolate in your microwave (for tips on this, see this article) and let cool slightly. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk and vanilla (I measured out the buttermilk in a measuring cup and simply added the vanilla to the cup - no reason to use up another bowl!). In another large mixing bowl (either in your stand mixer or with a hand mixer), beat the stick of softened butter until fluffy, then beat in the egg. Add the melted chocolate and mix until blended.

Then, with the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the buttermilk mixture. Fold in the white chocolate chips. Note: some of my chips sunk causing an ‘eaten away’ look which works for Halloween, but might not be the most aesthetically pleasing presentation on other occasions. I recommend rolling them in a teaspoon or so of flour before folding into the batter.

Place a very small amount of batter - just enough to cover the bottom - in each baking cup. (Do not use too much! I severely overfilled some of mine and I ended up with mutant muffins!). Add a teaspoon or so of cherry jam and then cover with another scoop of batter.

Again, do not make the same mistake as me and overfill these! The overfilled ones did not set properly and fell apart when removed from the baking cup, while the muffins that I made using less batter were nothing short of decadent and divine (and in tact). Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. This should make about 20-24 muffins, depending on how much you fill the cups.

The result? A chocolately, cherry gooey muffin. The sweetness of the chocolate was offset perfectly by the tart cherry jam all the while creating a gorey little treat. Perfect for Halloween, no?

So there you have it. One more Halloween treat that doesn't scream jack-o-lanterns, mummies and candy corns (not that there's anything wrong with that). And what I want to know is: are you dressing up for Halloween? What are you going as?

Psst...for more Halloween grub ideas, check out my Dexter cupcakes (recently featured as Top Killer Cupcakes for Halloween), Halloween Queso Dip and Pumpkin Spice Cake with Honey Frosting! Oh and to see me in a throwback Halloween costume, check this out!

Getting in the Holiday Spirit

The Halloween holiday spirit, that is. Today I'm happy to report that my Dexter cupcakes went all Halloween today as they are featured on City's Best - New York City as one of their Top 7 Killer Cupcakes for the upcoming Halloween holiday! Check it out, along with some other yum-inducing Halloween cupcake ideas from around the city that I will surely be pulling from for the party at my sister Kimberly's place this weekend.

Meanwhile, I mentioned that Shaun and I have been getting in the spirit since this past weekend. While I baked up some goodies to share with all of you later this week, Shaun whipped up this little beauty of a jack-o-lantern to deck out our living room:

 

I know, it's amazing. He is really the creative and artistic one in the family! Since I can't let anything go to waste, and I'd always wanted to try them, I dug out the pumpkin seeds from the innards of our jack-o-lantern and was determined to get my roast on with these little guys. After carefully plucking, rinsing, rinsing again and roasting, I have to admit...I don't really get what the big hullabaloo is over pumpkin seeds. They seemed like a lot of work for little reward. I roasted half with only olive oil and kosher salt and the other half with olive oil and pumpkin pie spice (typically the cure-all for anything!). My feelings after completion? They were just eh. Does anyong else feel this way?

 

Oh, and remember how I was telling you yesterday that Shaun made a delicious dinner on Monday night so that I could get my butt to the gym? Well I did remember to snap a pic of this delicious meal, and one of my favorite comfort food dinners - grilled cheese and tomato soup!

I realized that this could be great Halloween fare as well, since the tomato soup is orangey red (and those are homemade croutons people, crafted by a one Shaun Humiston) while the grilled cheese just oozes bright yellowy-orange. In fact, the grilled cheese could even be cut into smaller, bit size pieces - perfect as party finger food, while the soup could be put into tiny cups for a warming sip of soup for guests!

And last on the agenda for today is a photo I came across while sorting through my picture library on Sunday ( I swear, one of these days I will organize my photos and then my life will be complete!). It's one of my first Halloween costumes - Raggedy Ann!

The costume actually spawned from a life size Raggedy Ann doll and was born when my mom realized that the dress on the doll actually fit me too! Add a sweet wig and I was on my way. I'm not sure what age I am here...Mom?

So there you have it, a little roundup of what's been going down at the Humiston household to prep for Halloween and get ourselves in the spirit. So what about you? Have you been decorating? Gravitating towards orange and red foods, as we have? And bonus question: what were you for Halloween as a child? Any fun costumes?