Last fall, I dabbled in cake decorating, and spent a semester at El Centro College’s Food & Hospitality Service Institute learning how to pipe borders and figures, carve cake, finagle fondant, and sweet-talk gum paste from local cake whiz Chef Chris Miller. As I brought my cakes into the office to share—a girl can only eat so many frosted confections on her own!—I couldn’t help but think of connections to artworks at the Museum.
Below are cake creations and their DMA artwork doppelgangers.
Georgia O’Keefe, Yellow Cactus, 1929, Dallas Museum of Art, the Patsy Lacy Griffith Collection, bequest of Patsy Lacy Griffith
wooly mammoth meets Alf
Elephant, Asia: 12th century, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Alta Brenner in memory of her daughter Andrea Bernice Brenner-McMullen, 1992.43
fanciness!
Celia Eberle, Folly, 2002, Dallas Museum of Art, Texas Artists Fund
Nic Nicosia, Untitled (Sam!), 1986, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Meisel Photochrome Corporation
Julian Onderdonk, Untitled (Field of Bluebonnets), 1918-1920, Dallas Museum of Art, bequest of Margaret M. Ferris
Detail of Jim Hodges, Changing Things, 1997, Dallas Museum of Art, Mary Margaret Munson Wilcox Fund and gift of Catherine and Will Rose, Howard Rachofsky, Christopher Drew and Alexandra May, and Martin Posner and Robyn Menter-Posner, 1998.44
Turkey effigy, c. 1950, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of The Dozier Foundation, 1990.247
And one lone cake sans DMA connection, that looks an awful lot like this Tom Friedman sculpture.
Amy Copeland
Manager of Go van Gogh and Community Teaching Programs
A pair of tiny gold earrings in our Ancient Mediterranean gallery was the inspiration for this month’s recipe. Of course jewelry always makes a perfect gift for Valentine’s Day, but these little beauties are particularly appropriate since they depict Eros, the Greek god and Valentine’s Day icon better known as Cupid. But if you can’t afford any ancient golden jewelry for your Valentine this year, how about whipping up some miniature golden cupcakes instead? And be sure to use Meyer lemons to make these goodies extra sweet for your sweetie!
Eros earrings, Greek, late 4th century B.C., Dallas Museum of Art, the Cecil and Ida Green Acquisition Fund
Meyer Lemon Mini Cupcakes
Yields about 48 cupcakes
Level: Easy
Cupcakes:
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
Zest and juice of 2 Meyer lemons
6 ounces vanilla yogurt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line mini muffin pan with paper liners.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar, beating at medium speed until light. Add lemon zest, then incorporate eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add lemon juice and yogurt and mix until fully combined.
In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add flour mixture to mixer, mixing on low speed and scraping down sides of bowl until just incorporated.
Divide batter into muffin cups, using a tablespoon scoop to fill each cup ¾ full. Bake about 11 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
Frosting:
¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
Zest and juice of 1 Meyer lemon
2 teaspoons limoncello liqueur (optional)
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Whip butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment on medium-high speed until creamy. Continue to mix on low while adding lemon zest, limoncello, and half the powdered sugar. Squeeze in juice from half the lemon and incorporate remaining sugar, mixing on low until combined. Add additional juice to reach desired consistency for spreading or piping.
This month’s recipe is inspired by our wonderful Pointillist painting by Pissarro, Apple Harvest. I imagine this painting, like most apple picking, takes place in the fall. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t still bountiful varieties of apples to be had at this time of year–just check your local grocery store! And one of our very own McDermott Interns–whose favorite dessert is apple pie–just happened to have a birthday last week. But much like the Neo-Impressionists, I wanted to do my own thing. So I decided on an apple pie inspired cupcake, which combines apples and spice into a scrumptious handheld bite. Try these out for your next holiday get together and impress your friends with your artistic hand. Happy Holidays!
Camille Pissarro, Apple Harvest, 1888, Dallas Museum of Art, Munger Fund
Apple Pie Cupcakes
Yields 24 cupcakes
Level: Moderate
Topping:
2 Jonagold (or similar) apples, diced small
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons caramel sauce (left over from last month’s recipe)
In medium saucepan, melt butter and sugar over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Add diced apples and sauté for 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently, until apples are soft and lightly caramelized. Remove from heat and stir in caramel sauce. Set aside to cool. Note: 2 tablespoons sugar can be substituted for caramel sauce.
Cupcakes:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs, room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
Preheat oven to 325° F. Line muffin pan with paper liners.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and both sugars, beating at medium speed until light. Add vanilla and continue beating at medium speed. Incorporate eggs one at a time, mixing until fully combined.
In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Beginning and ending with dry ingredients, slowly add flour mixture to mixer, alternating with milk. After each addition, mix on low speed until just incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
Divide batter into muffin cups, filling each cup slightly more than ½ full. Bake 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with sparse crumbs. Allow to cool slightly in pan, then transfer to metal rack to cool completely.
Frosting:
½ cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
½ cup shortening
2 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Splash of milk as needed
Beat butter and shortening in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment on medium-high speed until creamy. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon, mixing on low until combined. Add splash of milk and additional sugar as needed to achieve thickened, slightly firm consistency.
Assembly: Fill quart size Ziploc bag with frosting. Squeeze frosting to one corner and snip to create opening. Outline the rim of each cupcake with a line of frosting. Place a spoonful of apple filling in the middle of each cupcake. Cross filling with lines of additional frosting in a basket weave pattern, mimicking pie crust.
Store finished cupcakes in refrigerator until ready to serve.
The many wonderful artworks at the DMA can certainly be a rich source of inspiration for all types of artists. One art form I enjoy is cooking, so I thought it would be fun to take a culinary tour through the collection and see what works could inspire me in the kitchen.
For my first recipe, I’m starting in the Reves Collection with a Cézanne and something sweet—who can resist a cupcake? Try it out and let me know what you think!
Paul Cézanne, Still Life with Carafe, Milk Can, Bowl, and Orange, 1879-1880, Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection
Blood Orange Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream
Yields about 30 cupcakes
Level: Easy
Cupcakes:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 vanilla bean
2 tablespoons finely grated blood orange zest, from about 2 blood oranges
4 large eggs, room temperature
¾ cup heavy cream
¾ cup nonfat milk
½ cup freshly squeezed blood orange juice
1 ½ tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon orange liqueur, such as Cointreau (optional)
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line standard muffin pan with paper liners.
Split vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out seeds with the edge of a knife. Cream butter, sugar, vanilla seeds and orange zest in the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beating at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until combined and scraping down sides of bowl after each addition.
In measuring cup, whisk together cream, milk, orange juice, vanilla extract and orange liqueur. In medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beginning and ending with dry ingredients, add flour mixture to mixer in 3 batches, alternating with 2 batches of cream mixture. After each addition, mix on low speed until just combined.
Divide batter evenly between liners, filling each cup about ¾ full. Bake 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Splash of heavy cream
Beat butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attachment on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, until pale and shiny. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt, mixing on low until combined. Add cream. Increase speed to medium-high and continue whipping mixture for 5 minutes until light and creamy. Additional sugar or cream can be added to achieve desired consistency.
The tasty result: my interpretation of the painting in fondant and frosting
