Happy Birthday Ariel: Shirley Temple Cupcakes!

Admit it. You love Shirley temples. Sprite (or 7up), grenadine, and maraschino cherries. Such simple, syrupy awesomeness. All in honor of Ariel.

Ariel is one of my best friends. Always funny, energetic, and easy to talk to. We cause chaos where ever we go. Shirley temples are one of her favorite things, so these cupcakes were made for her.

I made a batch of Shirley temple cupcakes for Ariel last year and they tasted good but the look and texture wasn't right. They were a little orange and didn't rise. Also, the wrappers fell off. Very strange.

So this year is a redo. And the are awesome.

Shirley Temple Cupcakes, take 2

1 box white cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
          the mix calls for 3 eggs, 1/2 cup oil, and 1 1/3 cups water (I used Sprite)
To the Sprite I added ~1 T of cherry flavoring (I found it at Walmart next to the almond extract) and some red food coloring.
I also diced up ~1/2 cup of maraschino cherries, dusted them with flour (so they wouldn't sink) and mixed them into the batter for an extra cherry punch

Mix and bake (350 degrees, ~18-20 mins)

For the frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
~3-4 cups powdered sugar
a few drops of cherry flavoring
several T of sprite and grenadine

Mix together and frost the cupcakes!

Very sweet, very girly, very yummy

They were a hit with Molly too!

Me and the birthday girl!

Left Over Pumpkin??? Solutions!

So you followed my post on how to make a pumpkin pie from scratch, but you're now facing a dilemma. Extra pumpkin. 


This extraneous pumpkin would not be a problem if you had enough for a second pie, but its not. You only have a little left. What are you going to do with it? It seems wasteful to throw it away. And its not something you're just going to dig into with a spoon (at least I wouldn't), or give to the dog (although mine would love that option). You want to use it purposefully.

First, figure out how much pumpkin you have left... 1 cup, 1/2 cup, just a few tablespoons? Here are a few ideas:


Mini Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins (Healthy!)
Adapted from http://kirbiecravings.com


3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking power
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used sugar free apple sauce)
1/2 cup fat free milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup pumpkin puree

Coating:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon (go nuts on the cinnamon if you love cinnamon like I do)

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease mini muffin pan with pam spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar and egg until combined. Add in flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix until combined.
3. Then mix in pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract.
4. Spoon in batter to muffin pan about 2/3 full (it will look quite runny, don't worry).
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let muffins cool before coating with cinnamon sugar.
6. For the coating. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a small glass bowl. In another small bowl, combine 2/3 cup white sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon. Dip top of donuts in melted butter (or you could go wild and do the whole thing) and then dip in the sugar mixture.

Caution: These things are addictive. You can't eat just one!

So moist and yummy!

If you have only a tablespoon or two left, this recipe is perfect. This syrup is great in coffee, chai tea, and best of all, oatmeal!

Pumpkin Syrup:

From: http://www.savvyeat.com

Mix anywhere from 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of this pumpkin spice syrup into a mug of your favorite hot drink, depending on how sweet and pumpkin-flavored you want it.

Yields: approximately 1 1/2 cups
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Over low heat, bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally to keep the sugar from burning.
Simmer until the sugar is completely dissolved and the pumpkin is fully mixed into the syrup. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to an airtight container. Refrigerate and use within 3 weeks.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies for Karin

Tomorrow is one of my best friend's, Karin, birthday. As is tradition (two years and counting) I asked her what she wanted for her birthday. Her request: Red Velvet Whoopie Pies! Yum...

So these whoopie pies are dedicated to Karin, a great friend and confidant. She's been there for me quite a lot the last few years, helping me with personal and school related crises. She's always around for a laugh or a quick therapy session, sometimes both (she always knows what to say to keep me sane!). So here's to Karin!

Whoopie Pies: The new cupcake

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies:
recipe adapted from: www.browneyedbaker.com

Yield: About 2 dozen assembled whoopie pies

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Bake Time: 40 to 50 minutes total

For the whoopies:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder (sifted)
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup vegetable shortening
½ cup light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3+ teaspoons red food coloring (depends on how red you wanted them, the batter will darken a bit when baked)
1 cup buttermilk (or buttermilk powder, which I highly recommend, because who needs a whole carton of buttermilk that they have to use up)

For the cream cheese filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
7 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

2. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter, shortening and both sugars on low speed until just combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat until fluffy and smooth, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and the red food coloring and beat until just blended.

4. Add half of the flour mixture and half of the buttermilk to the batter and beat on low until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the remaining flour mixture and remaining ½ cup buttermilk and beat until completely combined.

5. Using a spoon (or a medium cookie scoop, which is what I used), drop a ball of batter onto one of the prepared baking sheets and repeat, spacing them at least 2 inches apart (they really spread). Bake one sheet at a time for about 15 minutes each, or until the cakes spring back when pressed gently (check, don't just assume). Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the cakes cool on the sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

6. While the cakes are cooling, prepare the filling… In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together the cream cheese and butter on medium speed. Add the sugar and beat on low speed until combined. Add the vanilla and increase the speed to medium-high; beat until creamy and smooth, about 4 minutes.

7. To assemble: Spread the filling onto the flat side of one cake using a knife of spoon. Alternatively, you can use a pastry bag with a round tip (I used a large star tip) to pipe the filling onto the cake. Top it with another cake, flat-side down. Repeat with the rest of the cakes and filling.

Storing: Assembled whoopie pies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. If you need to stack layers, place a piece of wax paper/clingwrap between layers.

Finished Product: Sweet, creamy frosting, moist cake. Amazing.

Vanilla Bean Cardamom Bundt Cake with Chai Tea Syrup

My future sister-in-law, Andrea, just came back from a trip to Madagascar, and she sent me whole vanilla beans. When I got them, I was SOOOO excited. I've seen vanilla beans used on cooking shows and I have always wanted to use some myself, but they tend to be pretty pricey. When I received these, my first thought was "I have to find a recipe!" This is what I came up with: Vanilla Bean Cardamom Bundt Cake with Chai Tea Syrup from http://weekofmenus.blogspot.com

You gotta smell this cake

I've never cooked with cardamom and didn't even know what to expect, and wow, its some strange stuff. I bought a jar (the stuff is pretty expensive) and got to work. Here is the recipe:


Cardamom Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake with Chai Soaking Syrup
Makes 10-inch bundt cake, serving 12 to 14

Cake
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons ground cardamom powder
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds removed (empty vanilla bean used for the syrup)
1 cup sour cream

Syrup
Ingredients
⅓ cup water
⅔ cup granulated sugar
2 chai tea bags (whatever you like)
Leftover vanilla bean pods (for extra flavor)

Method
Place rack in center of oven, and preheat oven to 350. Grease and lightly flour inside of 10 inch bundt pan.

Whisk together flour, ground cardamom, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

Using either a stand mixer (paddle attachment) or a hand mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add sugars and beat at medium-high speed until the mixture is light in texture and color, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating for 30 to 40 seconds after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl as necessary. Beat in vanilla bean. At low speed, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with sour cream. (Add a bit of flour, a bit of sour cream, a bit of flour, a bit of sour cream, a bit of flour.)

Scoop batter into pan and spread with spatula. Smooth with spatula.

Bake cake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then invert it onto another rack. Place the cake, on the rack, over a baking sheet.

While cake is baking, make syrup. Combine water, sugar, teabags and empty vanilla pod in a small non reactive saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Using a pastry brush, dab syrup generously all over surface of the warm cake, allowing it to soak into the cake before reapplying. Let the cake cool completely.

Finished product... yummy

Homemade Pumpkin Pie

Welcome to Fall! Today is October first and we woke up to a "cold front" this morning. By cold front I mean 76 degrees in the morning with a high of only 86 today. So, not a cold front to those up North, but cold enough for me!

I'm not a fan of Fall. Even as a kid, I didn't really like Fall. The only things I like about Fall are fresh apples, pumpkin pie, Halloween (as a kid), and football. I moved to Florida, in part, to get away from the cold and Fall. I like Florida Fall much better. Still warm enough to go to the beach, get a tan, walk the dog in shorts at 7 am, and never having to bundle up.

Yeah, we love football

As I said, I love pumpkin pie. I grew up having it on Thanksgiving morning for breakfast (yes, breakfast. Its a vegetable!). My dad was always in charge of making the pies for Thanksgiving, even though he didn't like pumpkin pie himself. He just made it for us girls. That's a good dad for ya.

Now that I'm an adult, I make my own pumpkin pie. If you don't count the crust, its one of the easiest pies to make. Pretty much you just throw everything into a bowl and mix it up. Chris also loves pumpkin and our 6 month anniversary is Oct 5, so I have made it for the two of us the last three years. So, in addition, happy 3.5 year anniversary Christopher!!!

I've never made pumpkin pie from scratch before. I'm not talking about making the crust (that's a given), I'm talking about starting from a whole pumpkin!

Turns out, roasting the pumpkin is super easy! Just procure a sugar or pie pumpkin (I got mine at Walmart), wash it, cut it in half (use a big knife), scoop out the seeds, and roast it for ~45 minutes in a 350 degree oven. If you can poke into it easily with a sharp knife, its ready. Let it cool, scoop out the flesh, and puree. I guess it freezes very well. If you want an in-depth look, I suggest watching the Good Eats episode on youtube.

Side note: I opened my pumpkin and was like "Oh yeah, pumpkin seeds." I rinsed them, dried, and toasted them in a non-stick skillet, dropped on 2 T of brown sugar, and then sprinkled with salt. Ta-Da! Kettle cooked pumpkin seeds! They were amazing!

Here is the roasted pumpkin. Very pretty color.

Pumpkin puree

First, before mixing up your pie, you have to make the crust. I've made pie crusts for years, but I have yet to have any luck with them here in Florida. I think its too warm (our apartment is about 79 degrees) and humid for a crust to stick together well. Oh well, the good thing about pie crust is that its hidden by filling.

Pie Crust (9 in):

1 cup AP flour

1/3 + 1 T shortening (NOT BUTTER)

2 to 3 T cold water (very cold)

Mix the flour with shortening with a pastry cutter or two forks until the shortening is in pea sized pieces. Drip in the water (1 to 2 T more water can be used if needed, but be careful). Mix until the dough comes off the bowl. Form into a ball, flatten into a disk, then wrap in cling wrap and chill in the fridge for about 45 minutes. 

To roll, I suggest using a silicone mat under it, sprinkled with flour, and roll out. Its also a good idea to flip the crust halfway to make sure its not sticking. When its the right size, either roll it over the rolling pin or cold up and move into the pie pan. Bake for 10 minutes, covered with foil at 425 degrees. Uncover and bake for another 2 or 3 minutes until starts to get golden.

For the pie filling:
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon cloves
15 oz pumpkin puree
12 oz evaporated milk

In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Pour into prepared pie crust. Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees. Lower temp to 350 degrees, bake 45 minutes. Test the pie by wiggling. If the middle only jiggles a little, its done. If the edge of your crust is getting too dark, wrap with a strip of foil.

Cool for 2 hours or overnight. Enjoy!

Finished pie. Crust doesn't look great, but its all about the flavor

Dreamy.

Simple Banana Bread

I rarely commit recipes to memory, but this one is so simple and delicious that I'm trying to make sure I never forget this one! I've made it three times in about a week and I can already recite it without a problem. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures (I was too busy eating), but I'm posting the recipe anyways. 


Don't forget add-ins: Chocolate Chips (my favorite choice), nuts (walnuts or pecans), nutella, raisins (if you really want to, just don't tell me about it)


Simple Banana Bread (from allrecipes.com)


3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves & allspice
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour (all or a portion of whole wheat flour is good)

METHOD

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a wooden spoon or potato masher, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl (chunks are not a bad thing!). Mix in the sugar, egg, vanilla, and spices. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

You can also put the batter into a muffin tin (~12 muffins) or mini-muffin tin (~24-30). Cook regular muffins around 20 minutes and minis about 14 minutes.

I hope you all make this. Its really that simple, I know you have some overripe bananas on your counter.

Lemon Macarons

Until this spring I don't think I had ever tried a macaron. I don't mean the chew coconut mound macaroons. I mean French Macarons. Very different.

Check out the cute "feet" on these little guys!

My friend Karen went to Paris and brought back a box of macarons from the famous shop in Paris called Laduree. Laduree specializes in macarons. And wow, they are yummy!


French macarons are two almond cookies with some sort of yummy filling. Many times they're made in unique flavors such as lavender, rose, green tea, raspberry, etc. I wasn't quite that daring, but I thought lemon would be very nice. I searched around awhile and found a recipe.


Now, after a quick google of macarons I discovered that they're not the easiest thing to make. Every website had a detailed and extensive list of tips and tricks to get them to turn out right. The almonds had to be ground just right, sometimes dried in the oven. The egg whites had to be aged; some say on the counter overnight, other said a few days in the fridge. Some call for only powered sugar, other for granulated that is pulsed with the almonds. Most talked about drying the batter after pipping for an hour. And on and on like this. Needless to say, I was undeterred.


I found a recipe that looked fairly moderate and held the plethora of tricks in my mind as I went along. I never completely follow a recipe, even when baking tricky items, and this was no exception. Below I've given the recipe for the macaroons I found. My changes are in red.


And yes, you will need a good kitchen scale. No macaron recipe is in volume.


Meyer Lemon Macarons
slightly modified from Tartelette

110g blanched almonds (or buy almond flour. I would do that next time)
200g powdered sugar
1 meyer lemon, grated peel of (I used lemon extract, about 1/4 tsp)
100g egg whites, aged for day and brought to room temperature (I put a bowl of ~3 egg whites on the counter overnight)
50g sugar
2 drops yellow food coloring (optional)
lemon curd (I found a nice lemon curd near the jams and jellies at the grocery store)

Macarons: (If not using almond flour...) Pulse almonds in a food processor until finely ground (Sift with a find mesh. Then sift again and re-weigh). Add powdered sugar and lemon zest. Pulse until well-blended (I mixed with a wisk. I'm a rebel like that). In a small bowl, mix the sugar and food coloring together until well blended (i.e the sugar turns yellow). Whip the egg whites until foamy and gradually (or just dump it in.) add the granulated sugar while whipping until a shiny meringue forms (but not too dry). Add the almond mixture to the meringue and quickly incorporate the mixture into the meringue while taking care not to overbeat. You want to achieve a batter that flows and “ribbons” for at least 5 seconds (aka settles without bumps). Pour the batter into a piping bag fitted with a large plain piping tip (Ateco 809 or 807(?, I used a large star tip because I didn't have a large plain tip)) and pipe small rounds onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (Trust me, use the parchment or a silpat. I didn't and I had to wire mine off and about half broke). The rounds should be about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and at least an inch apart. Let the macarons sit for an hour to develop a hard shell. Preheat oven to 300°F and bake for 8-10 minutes (10 minutes for me). Remove from oven and let cool. Remove from parchment.


Assembly: Pipe a small daub of lemon curd (a little goes a long way) onto a macaron and sandwich with a second macaron. Makes about 2 dozen.

Sticky little bastards wouldn't come off!

Finished product!

In the end, they came out alright. I'd say a 7 out of 10. They were really yummy, had a nice crispy shell and chewy interior, good feet, and the lemon curd was great. But you can see the almond pieces in the shell (it should be smooth), I didn't fold the batter long enough (notice the peaks in the picture) and they stuck like crazy to the baking sheet.

But I didn't get any complaints on their taste. And in the end, that's what counts!