White Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

Alright, I’m warning everyone right here, right now. Liz and I…are addicted to Cupcake Wars. And as a result, we are constantly texting each other about new cupcake ideas. Soooo….if you see a few hundred cupcake recipes in this blog, you now know why.

I’ve been thinking about making these particular cupcakes for about a week now and finally decided to give them a whirl. It took a lot of going back and forth and asking other people what they thought. I don’t usually bake so this is all new to me. I’m shocked that I even want to try.

But these cupcakes are by far the best one’s I’ve ever made. I really hope you all like them.

The music: A lil’ bit of Dave Matthews Band, thank you very much.
The drink: Some yummy blackberry wine. Yeah, I drank while making these. I was childless! Don’t judge me! Stop it, right now!!

I decided to try and find a different cupcake recipe considering mine keep coming out quite dense. So after some searching, I found this one:

2c. flour
½ t. salt
2 t. baking powder
½ c. butter, softened
¾ c. sugar
2 eggs
1c. milk
1 t. vanilla extract

Allow me to give credit where credit is due: Simple Vanilla Cupcakes
Follow the instructions, right down to the 20 minutes. This recipe says it makes 20-25 cupcakes. I got 12. Who knows?

Now, I added about 3 tablespoons of melted white chocolate to the batter on a whim. I’m not exactly sure if it made a difference, but hey, why not?

Cool on a wire rack, then dig out little holes in the center of the cupcake.

Filling:
1 pint of fresh raspberries
¼ c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 container of mascarpone cheese, softened

Wash raspberries and put them into a pot with sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, smushing the raspberries a little until they form a yummy raspberry liquid. Add the vanilla then remove from heat. In a separate bowl mix together the mascarpone and raspberry liquid. Stick it in the fridge until you’re ready to fill the cupcakes. (which I forgot to take a picture of)

Frosting:
½ c. butter
1-8oz. package of cream cheese; softened
2 ½ c. confectioners sugar
1t. vanilla extract
¾ c. melted white chocolate

In a mixer, cream butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add vanilla and mix. Slowly add the sugar, little bits at a time until it’s sweet enough for you.

Make your own double boiler by filling a pot about half way and set a bowl over it (the bowl should not touch the water). Turn on the heat, bringing the water to a boil. The steam from the water will melt the chocolate. Do this slowly otherwise the chocolate will burn. Once it’s melted, add to the frosting.

Put the filling into a pastry bag (if you’ve got one) and fill up the holes you made in the cupcakes. Then do them up with some frosting. Top with a little bit of sugar to make it sparkle and one raspberry.

Aren't they pretty?!?!

Love,

Sarah

Chicken Fajitas

Now, what did I do today while my husband painted our kids’ room you ask? (Wait, you didn’t ask? You don’t care!? Well crap….I’ll tell you anyway) I cooked. Exciting stuff, I know, but try to contain yourselves, jeez.

I love making fajitas. I have ever since I was, well, two months younger than I am now. I really had no idea how to make them and never even attempted until I saw them in a book. One of those restaurant ingredient books. I made the fajitas they way they told me (using shrimp instead of chicken) and they were…alright. It wasn’t very flavorful which disappointed me. So, I decided to start making my own and haven’t looked back since.

Fajitas are SO easy it should be illegal. So make them. Right now. What are you waiting for? Get up and do it.

The music: None this time. I had Julie and Julia playing in the background. Completely appropriate for cooking and blogging right?
The drink: Diet Pepsi. Momma needed her caffeine!

For the meat part:
4 chicken breasts
Kosher salt
Cumin
Lime juice

Cut the chicken breasts into strips like so….

Sprinkle with salt, cumin (a little less than a palmful I suppose, I forgot to measure), and add the lime juice until it covers the chicken. Cover the bowl and let it hang out in the fridge for a bit. I had mine in for a couple of hours.

When that’s all ready, grab:
1 large green pepper
1 large red pepper
1 onion (you can use whatever kind you want, I had a red one on hand)

Uh….slice them. (Yeah, those are my words of wisdom. I freaking Sage, I am)

Drizzle some olive oil into a pan and add the veggies. I put a little salt in there as well to help sweat them out but you don’t have to. Oh, medium-low heat works well for this. Stir occasionally.

Quit cooking the veggies before they are cooked all of the way through, put in a bowl and set to the side while you cook the chicken. Be sure to drain the lime juice before putting the chicken into the pan. (You’ll probably have to drain a couple of times during the cooking process. Stir occasionally.

After the chicken is cooked through, add the veggies again and turn up the heat a bit. I usually try to get some coloring on the chicken. And again, stir occasionally.

Toppings:
Shredded lettuce
Cheese
Sour Cream
Tomato
Avocado

I think the avocado deserves its own picture…just sayin’. YUM!

And now…put it all together! My order was, chicken/veggie mixture, cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado, and sour cream. Fold in the ends, roll, and enjoy!

Love,
Sarah

Chocolate Chili Cupcakes

I was feeling adventurous and thought I’d try another type of cupcake. Yes, more baking. And yes, I lived to tell the tale, aren’t you impressed? You should be. Anyway, this one was made while my children were tugging at my pant legs, “Mom, are they done yet? How about now? Are they done? Can we have one when they’re done? Mommmmm, are they DONE!?!!?!?” Yeah…that was enjoyable. No matter how many times I tried to tell them that they may not like this particular cupcake, they wouldn’t listen.

And after making a huge chocolaty mess, a few failed attempts at making pretty chocolate curls, and a very messy Kitchen-Aid, much to my surprise, the kids actually loved them! These cupcakes aren’t for everyone. Some people don’t like the little “kick” they have to them. But I think regardless whether or not you think they’re weird…they’re worth a shot.

One thing I will say, this is a very dense cupcake.  A couple of my coworkers really liked it, saying that it was so rich and chocolaty, and that they almost felt like the had a cheesecake consistency. It doesn’t have a light and fluffy texture. So if you’re looking for a cupcake like that, just click that lovely little X in the top right hand corner.

The music: Shockingly enough, The Gaslight Anthem. No song in particular this time, just…all of them.
The drink: Coffeeeeeee for this zombie momma.

Basically for this batter, I used the same one that I did for my Somewhere Over the Rainbow Cupcakes, only I added:
3/4c. Cocoa powder
3/4t. Cayenne pepper
½ t. Cinnamon
1c. + an extra splash of milk

Follow the instructions from the Somewhere Over the Rainbow Cupcakes, just making sure that you add the extra ingredients. If you want to start out with smaller amounts of the cayenne pepper and cinnamon, that’s fine; you can always add more. Doesn’t that look yummy? I kind of want to stick my face in that….anyway….

Fill up the lined cupcake tin and bake for about 18 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Frosting:
3/4c. Butter, softened
3-3 ½ c. confectioners’ sugar
¼ c. vanilla extract
1c. Cocoa powder
½ c. milk
2T. Grated dark chocolate

Do it all up in a mixer, adding the milk gradually. Yup…that’s it. - Quick note, this makes way more frosting than you need.  So if you wanna eat a spoonful or five...go ahead...I won't judge...too harshly.

After the cupcakes have cooled completely, just put that beautiful frosting with a kick on top and sprinkle with grated dark chocolate.

And there you have it, Chocolate Chili Cupcakes....

Love,

Sarah

Basic Buttermilk Pancakes

Pancakes are tough.  To make homemade pancakes that are light and fluffy are hard.  I still haven't accomplished it. But today I woke up and wanted to make pancakes.  So I did.  So easy and tasty!  Be warned though, it makes a LOT of pancakes.

The cast of characters:

3 C. flour
3 T. sugar
3 t. baking powder
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
3 C. buttermilk
1/2 C. milk
3 eggs
1/3 C. butter, melted

Ok, so.  Buttermilk.  I didn't have any on hand, but really, really wanted buttermilk pancakes. Because buttermilk pancakes make mornings better.  So I used a substitute.  I used 3 cups of regular milk, and added 3 tablespoons of lemon juice to it.  You can also use vinegar, instead of lemon juice.  Let it sit for 10 minutes before using it.

Mix together the buttermilk, milk, eggs, and melted butter.   In a separate bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients.  After your pan is nice and hot, over medium heat, mix together the wet and dry ingredients until combined.  Be careful to not over mix.  Just like with boxed pancake mix, its ok if there are clumps.

Take about 1/4 cup (if you want bigger pancakes, use more batter.) of pancake mix and pour it into the hot pan.  Towards the end, I won't lie, I was using about 1/2 cup of batter.  I only have so much patience with things that take constant watching, such as pancakes.

Use the same rule of thumb you would if you were making boxed pancake mix.  Once the bubbles start appearing, go ahead and flip the pancake, and cook for another minute or so on the other side.

Smear with butter and smother with syrup, if that's what floats your boat.  Or some powdered sugar.  Or, do it like my brother-in-law does it.  Peanut butter and syrup.  Put whatever you want on top.  Just eat them while they are hot!

Cheers,
Liz

Strawberry Lime Bars with Coconut Crust

I've been wanting to make a lime-coconut-something for a while now.  Just ask Sarah.  It was going to be cookies.  It really was.  But then...I glanced over to the other side of my counter and the strawberries that were sitting there called my name, loudly.  But the thought of using strawberries in cookies scares me a little.  I think they would look dirty.  So I decided to do bars.  I love bars.  No pun intended. 

I have a go-to recipe for lemon bars that I decided to tweak a little bit to make it extra yummy.  Here's what you'll need:

1 stick of butter
1 C. lightly packed brown sugar
2 C. flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 C. flaked coconut.  (using oatmeal is very good too)

3 limes
Strawberries
1/3 C. sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Zest of one lime

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 

Slice the strawberries and put them in a bowl with the sugar and the juice of one lime.  Let it sit for about thirty minutes to get all nice and glossy and sweet.

Mix together butter and brown sugar, for the crust.  Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, then add it to the butter/sugar mixture.  Add the coconut and stir to combine.  You'll have extra, because I usually use these measurements for a double layer.  If you want to, you can use the leftover crust mixture and sprinkle it on top of the strawberry layer.
Press it into the bottom of a greased 8x8 pan.

Open up your can of sweetened condensed milk and mix it with the lime zest and 1/2 C. of lime juice.  The limes I had were NOT good for juicing, but luckily I had bottled lime juice on hand.  Mix it together well, then pour it on top of the crust.

Take the strawberries and put them in your blender and puree for a few seconds, until there are no more big chunks.  Pour it on top of the lime mixture and bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes.  Cool completely and cut into squares.  These are really good cold, so slide them in the fridge for a while before eating.

Fig Prosciutto Pizza with Baby Spinach

I saw this recipe a while ago at The Pioneer Woman.  It's good.  So make it.  Right now.  NOW!  K?

Start off making your pizza dough.  I forgot to take pictures of mine as I was making it because my child made me stupid.  I swear he ate half my brain cells when I was pregnant.  At least thats my story. 
Once you've made the dough, and let it rise, divide it in half, because you'll want nice, thin, crispy crust for this pizza.

Once your dough is made, either roll it out, or spread it out onto your pan.  Pizza pan, cookie sheet, whatever floats your boat.  I spread it out.  I don't like to use my rolling pin more than I have to.  (On another note, I used my BRAND NEW Pampered chef stone baking sheet.  I loves it.) 

Ignore the crappy lighting.  Please.

Take a few spoonfuls of your fig preserves and spread it right onto the crust.  Then, once you're done spreading lick the spoon.  You know you want to.  It's divine. 

Take your mozzerella cheese and put it on top of the fig.  I like to use fresh mozzerella, sliced, but I'm not above using shredded.  Not a bit. 

Bake at 425 degrees for 13-15 minutes, until the cheese is slightly brown and bubbly.  It may take a little longer if you're not using a stone.  Just keep an eye on it.
Once its done, take it out and put the prosciutto on top, and pop it back in the oven for a minute.  Take it out and add the baby spinach.  Bend over the pizza and inhale.  Try not to drool on the pizza.  Your family will thank you.

On a personal level, I think I added too much prosciutto.  Next time I will add maybe half as much, and in smaller pieces.  But it was still amazing.  Delightful.  Fantastic.  It'll make you sing.  And dance.  Believe me.

It might even make you weep. 

Pizza dough:
2 1/4 t. active yeast
1/2 t. brown sugar
1 1/2 c. warm water
2 T. olive oil
1 t. salt
4 c. flour

In a large bowl, combine water with brown sugar and yeast.  Let it sit for about 10 minutes to activate the yeast.  Add the salt and oil and mix.  Add two cups of flour and mix together.  I use my dough hook on my kitchen aid.  Add remainder of the flour 1/2 c. at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm, draft free spot for 1-2 hours.  I always rise my dough in my microwave.
Once its done, punch it down and divide it in half.  Put half of the dough in a ziploc bag in the fridge.  It will keep for several days, and taste super yummy.

For the pizza, you'll need:
Pizza crust
Fig preserves
Prosciutto
Mozzerella cheese
Baby spinach

Spread or roll pizza dough into your pan.  If you're using a pizza pan or cookie sheet, lightly grease it.  Spread the fig preserves onto the crust, and top with cheese.  Bake at 425 for 13-15 minutes, until golden and bubbly.  Place proscuitto on top of hot cheese, and place back in the oven for a minute or so.  Remove from oven and top with baby spinach. 

Eat it all.  You'll want to.

-Liz