Friday, July 10, 2009
After our giveaway, I was intrigued about Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes book. Since I rarely buy things for myself, I didn’t think twice about picking up a copy when I saw a great deal on them at Sam’s Club.
I pretty much made myself carsick the whole way home reading over all the recipes, flavor combos, and decorating ideas. (Thank you Boo for driving!) It wasn’t long before I knew which recipe I would try first. My friend Beth, gave me a BIG FAT zucchini. (Seriously, it was bigger than my forearm.) This recipe seemed like perfect excuse to bake a great way to use this healthy summer vegetable.
I love that these cupcakes are different from your average zucchini bread or muffins. They are most definitely cupcakes. Light, moist, fluffy, and frosted! And, did I mention, delicious? Because they are. So if you’re seeking an alternative for zucchini in baked goods, try these cupcakes!
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Zucchini Spice Cupcakes
from Martha Stewart Cupcakes
Yields: 24 cupcakes (I got 18 regular cupcakes and 24 mini cupcakes, with some batter left over)
Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
3 cups all purpose flour (I subbed 3/4 of this with whole wheat pastry flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 cups packed light brown suga
3 cups packed grated zucchini
1 cup walnuts (about 3 ounces), toasted and coarsely chopped
FROSTING:
(note: this yielded MUCH more frosting than I needed for the cupcakes. You could reduce it by 1/2 if you're a conservative froster, or by 1/3 if you're a generous froster and want some leftover)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 pound (4 cups) confectioner's sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions:
CAKE:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. In another bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, vanilla, and zest until well blended; whisk in brown sugar until smooth. Stir in zucchini, then add flour mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in walnuts.
Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.
To finish, use an offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting. Refrigerate up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before serving.
FROSTING:
With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, and then vanilla, and mix until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 3 days in an airtight container; before using bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again.
PS. Check out my friend Beth’s blog to see what she did with some of the zucchini she didn’t give me!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
**
We interrupt to bring you this news bulletin**
CUPCAKES!!!!!!
That’s right boys & girls. Downtown Nashville just got a lot cuter. I was walking with a coworker to the Arcade to go to the Post Office (Dear USPS, please do not close this location), and we about stopped in our tracks when we saw this.
After getting done with my errand at the Post Office, I quickly ran walked at a totally normal pace, into the shop.
I was immediately greeted by the most WONDERFUL smell. Freshly baked cupcakes! I purchased two for sharing with my buddies.
One was Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, the other was Chocolate with Caramel Hazelnut Frosting.
Both were divine.
If you live or work downtown Nashville (or are a tourist) definitely check out Painted Cupcake. They were reasonably priced, some are $2.65 and some $2.95. And we all agreed it was the perfect amount of frosting, atop a moist & delicious cake.
*Sorry for the crappy photos. They were taken with my iPhone.*
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Pasta is one dish we just don’t eat that often. It’s not that we don’t like it (believe me… we both love pasta), it’s just that I don’t like to eat such carb-heavy meals. But, it just so happened I got a glorious bunch of basil in my CSA share. I used some of it to make bruschetta, but there was so much left, I knew, I’d finally get the chance to try my hand at pesto. I’ve never made it before, because I never had a plethora of basil at my disposal.
So, I pushed up my sleeves, scoured the cabinets & freezer, did some googling, and pulled this dish together. First I made the pesto. I knew enough about it, that I didn’t even look up a specific recipe, because it’s pretty common knowledge. I just eyeballed the other ingredients according to how much basil I had, and the fact that I wanted to use as little oil as I could get away with.
As I said, I was using what ingredients I had on hand, and I had some chicken breasts I had bought in a large package and individually frozen, as well as some sun-dried tomatoes. I am able to find sundried tomatoes that are not oil-packed, but still soft and flavorful. I love these in salads and other dishes, or just to snack on. Plus they are already julienne cut! I think it’s this brand. I knew I wanted to combine the pesto & sundried tomatoes, and I quickly found this recipe as my inspiration. I didn’t really follow it, but just sort of looked at it a once and then did it my way!
I knew this meal was a hit because, before I even got the chance to ask him how everything was, The Boy told me THREE TIMES “This is good, Boo”, “This is really good”, “This is good”. (I know that doesn’t sound all that amazing, but it sure is a step up from “It’s fine”, which is what I often get.)
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Basil Pesto Chicken Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes
Ingredients:
PESTO:
Pesto: (all amounts are approx)
3/4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
2 Tablespoons Parmesan-Reggiano
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 Tablespoons pine nuts
2 garlic cloves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
REMAINING INGREDIENTS:
2 servings pasta of choice (I chose whole wheat thin spaghetti)
2 chicken breasts
1/3 cup sundried tomatoes
italian seasoning (I used a Sicilian blend)
Directions:
PESTO:
Combine all ingredients except oil in food processor. Add half the oil, and process until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl when necessary, and slowly add in as much of the remaining oil as you desire to reach your desired consistency. Set aside.
PASTA:
Cook pasta according to package instructions.
Meanwhile season chicken with italian seasoning, and heat grill or skillet over medium high heat (I used the trusty George Foreman Grill). Cook chicken breasts until done. Slice chicken into bite-sized pieces.
Toss chicken, pasta, & sundried tomatoes in a bowl until well combined.
I served ours with sliced french baguette that had been brushed with extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkled with the same italian seasoning, and broiled in our toaster oven. This is another indulgent treat of ours!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
That’s a freaking long title. But don’t let that stop you from making these cupcakes. They were divinely delicious. One of my best friends was coming to town to visit, and not-so-subtly hinted there had better be cupcakes waiting for her when she got here. I knew I had to deliver something good. One of my good friend/coworkers, Jamie, is a cupcake connoisseur (see examples here and here) had told me a while back about a cupcake cookbook she had found called Perfect Cupcakes, where all the recipes were for a batch of 6 cupcakes! Luckily she recently got a NEW cupcake book, Hello Cupcake!, to obsess over, so I didn’t think she’d mind if I borrowed the small batch cookbook. I knew that Kalena & I surely didn’t need a dozen and a half cupcakes sitting around, so only making a few would work much better.
One thing my friends know about me is I can be very indecisive, especially when it comes to food, and I always aim to please. So, like I did with Katie, I gave Kalena a list of eight or so options, and she narrowed it down to just a handful for me to decide on. I settled on the Vanilla Sour Cream, because it was one of the flavors Jamie had made and shared with me, so I already knew it was yummy.
I also knew I had a 1/2 pint or so of strawberries I needed to use, and I really wanted to make a meringue buttercream. That has quickly became one of my favorite frostings. It’s incredibly smooth, and not overly sweet like buttercreams made with powdered sugar. I twittered at Clara asking if she had one, and she pointed me in the direction of (who else) Martha Stewart. I swear, Martha has YET to fail me. It’s amazing. I was even pretty scared about making this, because I quartered the recipe, to reduce it down to 1 egg. I wasn’t sure if I’d get the measurements right, and this method was different than me previous experiences with meringue buttercreams (here and here). But sure enough, just like magic, once all the butter was added, the consistency quickly became exactly what it should be. Smooth and creamy! Then I was worried again about adding my strawberry puree, but I stirred it in, then beat it a little more, and still perfect. Martha & Meringue Buttercreams, I *heart* you both.
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Vanilla Sour Cream Cupcakes
Cake from Perfect Cupcakes, out of print, but you might be able to find it in your Barnes & Noble store
makes 6 (I got 7, plus 2 minis)
Frosting from Martha Stewart
Ingredients:
CUPCAKES:
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup sour cream
FROSTING:
1 large egg white
1/3 cup sugar
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into tablespoons
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extrac
1/3 cup strawberry puree
Directions:
CAKE:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with liners.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, using a hand held mixer on medium speed, beat together the butter and sugar until light. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well blended. Gradually beat half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, then half of the sour cream; repeat with remaining dry ingredients and sour cream.
Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Bake until the tops spring back when lightly topped, 20-25 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on the rack.
FROSTING:
In the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a saucepan of simmering water, combine egg white and sugar. Cook, whisking constantly, until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch (about 160 degrees).
Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat the egg-white mixture on high speed until it holds stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until the mixture is fluffy and cooled, about 6 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment. With mixer on medium-low speed, add butter several tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. (If frosting appears to separate after all the butter has been added, beat on medium-high speed until smooth again, 3 to 5 minutes more.) Beat in vanilla. Beat on lowest speed to eliminate any air bubbles, about 2 minutes. Stir in strawberry puree with a rubber spatula until frosting is smooth. Beat again if necessary.
*I did all of this using my hand held mixer, as it wasn't quite enough volume to work correctly in my stand mixer.
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