Happy Birthday, Malibu!

The city of Malibu turns 20 on Monday. There will be a big  on Sunday at  and a ceremony at the meeting the next day. But what’s a birthday without some cake?

Malibu caterer Melissa Stein comes to the rescue with some delectable carrot cupcakes. “OMG these are good,” is the way she describes them. That rave seems fitting for a birthday commemorating two decades of existence!

She is known throughout Malibu for her excellent, inventive cooking. Melissa has catered luncheons and holiday parties for up to 75 people, most recently for GROW, an offshoot of the Malibu MOPS group (Mothers of Preschoolers). 

Her luncheon for GROW included egg salad sandwiches on rye, chicken salad on croissants and a surprising, old-fashioned favorite—cucumbers and cream cheese on white bread. Melissa marvels at how popular such a simple tea sandwich still is. For those who want to try it themselves, it is cream cheese spread on white bread, sliced cucumbers on top, a sprig of dill and some salt and pepper. Put a lid on the sandwich, cut it into quarters or diamonds, and trim off the crust. Voila! Everything old is new again.

The remainder of the GROW menu was Greek salad, caprese salad and some Greek yogurt layered with bananas and blueberries, with granola and honey on top (is anyone else hungry yet, just reading about this?). Leftovers from the meeting were whisked to her daughter Julia’s third-grade classroom party at , where they were unceremoniously devoured.

“Although the food was prepared with adults in mind, the kids just gobbled it up," Melissa said. "There was nothing left. Children have very sophisticated tastes these days, and you might be surprised at what they will eat."

For example, her children, Julia and Jake, a first-grader at Webster, happily nosh on dates stuffed with manchego cheese and wrapped in bacon (sweet, salty, smoky … who wouldn’t munch that, given the chance?). 

A Melissa Stein menu might center on her signature dish, brisket.

“Everyone loves my brisket; I’m from Texas, and we do brisket," she said with a laugh and her slight Texas twang. “So brisket sliders, crab cakes, and I love to make chocolate cupcakes. My absolute favorite thing to make is a chocolate cake.”

Asked what’s so special about her chocolate cake, Melissa countered, “Well, I’ve had a lot of practice!” 

When she was pregnant with Julia nine years ago, Melissa had an insatiable craving for chocolate cake. She found the recipe on the back of the Hershey’s cocoa container, realized she had everything on-hand to make it, and immediately popped one in the oven. Melissa made—and ate—a chocolate cake every week! The frosting recipe was also from Hershey’s, only her trick is to double the frosting so as to have enough for a thick frosting middle inside the layer cake.

“I do love making desserts, it goes with my sweet tooth," Melissa said. "I like to make cupcakes, but I prefer the mini cupcakes because the ratio of cake to icing in each bite is perfect.”

Good point. There is nothing worse than a bite of dry cupcake without icing!

For children’s parties, Melissa has fashioned a cake into a big shark with its mouth wide-open, showing the teeth. She has made a fire truck cake. And perhaps her funniest creation was a triangular cake in the shape of a big piece of cheese for her daughter’s Ratatouille party. The cake was covered in rolled fondant, and she wrote on top in orange icing, which looked like Cheez Whiz. Brilliant! 

For the non-sweet part of that party, Melissa offered children the opportunity to assemble their own pasta dish out of cooked pasta and various sauces and toppings. She popped the resulting creations into the oven. And “since they made it, they ate it"—score!

There’s another special ingredient that goes into all Melissa Stein food. According to her son Jake, the food is so yummy because she never forgets the secret ingredient, which he claims is a family secret they don't usually share with just anyone. He nailed it one time when he was 5, and came into the house when she had just put a batch of cookies in the oven. He said, "Mmmmm... it smells like love!"

Back to the 20th birthday. Those of us who share Melissa's sweet tooth are going to love these OMG Carrot Cupcakes.   

Happy birthday, Malibu!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

From Melissa Stein Catering, 310-595-6548 

2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil (yes, you read that right; that's what makes them oh so moist and delicious!)
4 large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups finely grated peeled carrots (about 1 pound)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour muffin tins (do not use muffin tin liners for this recipe due to high oil content). Set pan aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat sugar and vegetable oil in bowl until combined. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into sugar and oil mixture. Stir in carrots, chopped pecans and raisins (if using).

Pour batter into prepared muffin tins, dividing equally. Bake about 30 minutes (check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cupcake; it should come out clean). Remove from oven and let cool about 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge to loosen each cupcake, and remove cupcakes from pans. Place on a rack to cool completely.

When cool, frost with Cream Cheese  Frosting.

Makes 24 regular cupcakes + 12-18 mini cupcakes (bake mini cupcakes for less time). 

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 cups (1 pound box) powdered sugar
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Using electric mixer, beat all ingredients in medium bowl until smooth and creamy. Spread onto cooled cupcakes. 

Dorothy Reinhold has written about food and developed recipes for 25 years. Her food blog is at www.shockinglydelicious.com, where you can find more scary-good, addictive recipes for home cooks.