Sunday, March 18, 2012

Drive Fast, Take Cupcakes

Acid King are awesome. They're one of those bands that if I haven't listened to them in a while, and a song of theirs comes up on shuffle, I'm quickly reminded of how much I love them. Then I can't stop listening to them for weeks.
The best way I can describe their music is really heavy doom, kind of psychedelic, and topped off with lots of dreamy, fuzzed out vocals.
Their name was inspired by the book Say You Love Satan by David St. Claire. It chronicles the crimes of Ricky Kasso, also known as "The Acid King." Kasso tortured and killed 17 year old Gary Lauwers in 1984, while another friend stood by and did nothing. They admitted to being high on LSD at the time. The sensationalism surrounding this crime was due to the fact that Kasso was a big fan of Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Ozzy Osborne. He was also wearing an AC/DC shirt when he was arrested. At the time, people tried to blame Heavy Metal for Kasso's actions. Fools.

Founding member Lori S. is originally from Illinois. Their album Busse Woods is named after a forest preserve where Lori and her friends used to hang out.
The name has been changed since 1999. It's now called "Busse Forest Preserve and Elk Preservation," and it's actually not that far from where I live.

Hey look! There I am!



This was the only sign I could find that still had "Busse Woods" on it.
But to be clear, Acid King didn't come together until Lori moved to San Francisco.

While I don't recommend dropping acid and murdering your friends, I do recommend baking these cupcakes, and listening to Acid King. This recipe doesn't call for any actual LSD. The acid featured comes from limes.

Acid King:
Drive Fast, Take Cupcakes




Makes 18

Metal Constituents:
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon lime zest
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
For the Candied Lime Slices:
  • 2 large limes
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons Sugar
For the Frosting:
  • 1 (80z.) package of cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon lime zest
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Merciless Instructions:
  1. Make the candied lime slices first: Slice both limes into thin rounds, and remove any seeds.
  2. Boil lime slices in water for about 2 minutes, then drain.
  3. Using the same pot, combine water and 1 cup sugar.
  4. Heat over medium-high heat until the mixture begins to simmer, then add lime slices.
  5. Simmer 10-15 minutes, or until the white pith looks translucent.
  6. Drain and place on a cooling rack to dry for at least an hour.
  7. Fill a small bowl with 2 Tablespoons sugar.
  8. Coat both sides of each lime slice with sugar. Don't be afraid to press the limes into the sugar, you want a lot of sugar to stick to them.
  9. Store in an air tight container between pieces of parchment paper until ready to use. You can make these a few days ahead of time.
  10. To make the cupcakes: Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Line a cupcake tin with baking cups, and set aside.
  11. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  12. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  13. Add eggs one at a time.
  14. Add vanilla extract, lime zest, and lime juice. Beat until well combined.
  15. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk in 5 parts, alternating between the two. Begin and end with the flour mixture.
  16. Fill baking cups about 3/4 full.
  17. Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into one of the cupcakes comes out clean.
  18. Allow cakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
  19. To make the frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth.
  20. Add powdered sugar.
  21. Add lime zest and vanilla, and beat until light and fluffy.
  22. Frost completely cooled cupcakes.
  23. Top each cupcake with a candied lime slice.
  24. Got your cupcakes? Let's ride!
Here is some live footage of Acid King playing "Sunshine and Sorrow" off their album III. It's one of my favorite songs by them. Enjoy!



3 comments:

Pili said...

I'm gonna have to give a try to the music and the recipe, those cupcakes sound awesome!

phyte club katie said...

These look delicious! (I might actually not be lazy and finally make them...) Great call on the limes for acid/"acid". And I love the logo -- I have a shirt of that and your post inspired me to wear it last night. "Sunshine and Sorrow" is one of the best, and their cover of "Motorhead" is, I think, better than the original (if you're going for ocean-y, fuzzed out heaviness....). Lovely post, as usual. Thanks!

Kathy Bejma said...

Thanks, Katie!! <3