Spartanburg Little Theatre | Cecile's Cuisine

In honor of the upcoming birthday of the wreck of the renown Titanic, the Little Theatre of Spartanburg is pleased to present the Titanic play at the Spartanburg Chapman Center this up-coming week-end. The play will be offered on March 9-18 on Friday, and Saturday at 8pm, and on Sunday at 3pm.

Why do I bother telling you about this? simply because it is a fantastic play and that you will not want to miss it!

Also because as a board member, I helped support an event that was to undercut the cost of this amazing production. The event was entitled ” The Last Evening on the Titanic”. In this event, guests were to enjoy the last meal that was served that very night in first class.

The meal was combined of 11 courses, all French:

Canapes a l’Amiral
Cream of Barley Soup
Poached Salmon with Mousseline Sauce
Chicken Lyonnais
Creamed Carrots
Beef Forestiere
Punch Romaine
Asparagus Salad with Champagne Saffron Vinaigrette
Pate de Foie Gras
Chocolate Painted Eclairs with French Vanilla Cream
Assorted Fruits and Cheeses
Coffee, and after Drinks

All was provided as donations or at cost. I helped with the Punch Romaine and the Chocolate Painted Eclairs. Though I did not have the chance to be present at the party, I certainly hope everyone enjoyed all that I gave. I know that we, at home, enjoyed eating the many extras that i made;-).

Anyway. If you have nothing to do this week-end, or simply wish to have a great time go to the play, and buy your tickets at http://www.spartanburglittletheatre.com/.

As a board member of the The Little Theatre of Spartanburg, I tried to help whenever I can. Since the SLT hosted a reception to thank the sponsors of the Little Theatre, I offered to help. It was an hour reception before the Show Honky Tonk. After listening to all the different fares that would be offered that evening, I decided to bring in cupcakes. Easy…But I wanted the cupcakes to reflect the theme of the party so I looked up the word Honky Tonk. The word Honky Tonk is defined in Wikipedia as ” rough establishments, mostly in the Deep South and Southwest, that served alcoholic beverages to a working class clientele. Honky tonks sometimes also offered dancing to piano players or small bands, and were sometimes also centers of prostitution.”

So I started thinking of Southern desserts and thought of divinities, pecan pies and thought of making a Praline, Pecan and Vanilla Cupcakes.

Ingredients for 12 cupcakes or 24 small cupcakes or 30 mini cupcakes: 1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 1/4 tsp of baking powder, 3/4 cup of sugar, 6 tbsp of butter at room temperature, 2 large eggs, 1 tbsp of vanilla extract.

Turn the oven to 350. In a bowl, mix together the flour and the baking powder and set aside. In another bowl, beat the butter and the sugar until the butter is becoming very fluffy. Add one egg at a time in the butter mixture and mix well. Add the vanilla extract also and beat well. Add the flour into 3 additions beating on low-speed. Beat just enough until no traces of flour remain. Do not overbeat!!!

Place the dough in a plastic bag, cut one end and fill the cupcakes. Cook in the oven for 15-18 minutes for the big cupcakes, 13 for the small and 10 minutes for mini cupcakes.

For the frosting you need to make a vanilla cream cheese frosting, and a caramel.

Cream cheese frosting: 8 oz of cream cheese, 6 tbsp of butter at room temperature, 1 tbsp of vanilla extract, 3/4 cup of sugar.

In a bowl of an electric mixer, place the cream cheese, the butter, the vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Add the sugar a little at a time and mix until it is well combined. Set aside.

Pralines and caramel: 1 1/2 cup of pecans, 1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar, 4 tbsp of heavy cream.

Turn the oven to 375, place the pecans on a silpat and cook for 10 minutes until they are toasted and are becoming a dark golden brown. Keep 1/2 cup for decoration, and break the other cup of pecans in small pieces.

In a small saucepan, place the cream and the brown sugar, and cook until it is bubbling and the sugar dissolves. Add 1 cup of pecans pieces into the caramel and stir to coat them with the caramel.

Empty the caramel into the small round flexiform and place it in the fridge for the caramel to cool. When the caramel is cold, empty it into the cream cheese frosting. With a spatula, fold the caramel into the frosting slowly but do not combine! You should see streaks of white and brown. Using a spoon, scoop the frosting onto the cupcakes and place 1 pecan half on each cupcake. Fini!!!