Good Pounds

Wow these photos and this post has been sitting in my blog buffer for over a month now!  I made this delicious pound cake in early May for a dinner party with some friends.  Ok seriously, don't judge me, but I made it from a box mix - I KNOW!  It's actually really good and if you're looking for something you can quickly throw together I recommend this.  It's a Betty Crocker Pound Cake mix.  After baking mine I decided to make an orange glaze with some orange juice, powdered sugar, and some orange zest.  Just poke holes in the top with a fork, drizzle glaze, and enjoy!

Tastes the best when enjoyed with a good cup of tea!

Happy Baking everyone!

Woof Woof Woof

Last year for Christmas Kyle bought me a silicon University of Washington "W" cake pan and last Friday I finally got a chance to use it!!  A close friend of ours had a guys night to celebrate his birthday so I thought this would be the perfect dessert to bring (they are Husky fans like us.. go Dawgs!!).

Here is a picture of the white cake hot out of the oven.  Unfortunately, after I let it cool and turned it out on a dish the center was not quite cooked enough and a little gooey.  I was pretty bummed, but decided to stop by the store, purchase another cake mix (I know.. I never use mixes, but I did this time) and try again.  This time I split the batch in half.  Half went to making the most delicious, moist cupcakes, and the other half I tinted with purple food coloring, added mini chocolate chips and baked in the silicon mold.  Here is how everything turned out...

The white cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream frosting, yellow and purple sprinkles, and a piped "W".

The frosting was so yummy.  I used the Buttercream frosting off of the Wilton's site.















The finished display after turning out the "W" cake and frosting the cupcakes.  I can't wait to use this again for tailgating this fall!  Woof woof woof!

Favorite Cream Scone

I love scones.  Love them!  The funny thing is... I've never made them before - I KNOW!!!  So I decided to ask my friend Katrina for some recipes.  I knew she would be the perfect one to ask because she has a lot of books on scones and tea party type goodies - yum!

This is her favorite Cream Scone recipe.  What can I say... it is SO simple.  Especially if you have a food processor (or pastry blender, but I used my food processor).  I love how in a matter of minutes you can have scones hot out of the oven.  I also love how unlike cupcakes, you use the butter, eggs, and cream straight out of the refrigerator - no waiting for room temperature my friends!  That got me all excited!

Ok, so the picture above is one cream scone served with a little amount of apricot preserves and some homemade whipped cream - so delicious.  I'm going to make another batch of these soon and add some frozen organic blackberries.

She also sent me a Simple Sweet Scones recipe that I also plan to try.  Oh the possibilities!

Favorite Cream Scones
from Katrina

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter (right from the fridge! ~ it's actually really important that it's cold)
2 eggs, well beaten (also right from the fridge)
1/2 cup heavy cream (ya baby!)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Lightly butter a cookie sheet (or use a Silpat like I do).
3. Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl (I just added everything to my food processor).
4. Work in butter with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal (I cut the butter up into cubes, added to the food processor and pulsed until it resembled coarse meal).
5. Add eggs, cream, and vanilla and stir until blended (I added to the food processor and hand stirred with a spoon until it was together enough to take out - why dirty another bowl???)
6. Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead for about 1 minute.
7. Roll dough about 3/4 inch thick and cut into rectangles or form into a circle and score 6-8 wedges (I just used my hands to flatten into a circle and cut 8 wedges).
8. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes being careful not to over cook (at 9 minutes it wasn't long enough so I ended up needing to leave them in for ~11 min.).

Lastly... enjoy!!! I like to have my scones with some fresh whipped cream, sometimes with whipped cream and preserves, and always tea.. yum!!  Kyle also really liked them too with just whipped cream.

Off to make the next batch...

Grilled Caprese Sandwich

Grilled Caprese Sandwich.  So simple, yet so delicious.  I decided to make these sandwiches the other day as a late lunch before serving some friends dinner.  This recipe is super easy!  Take a french baguette and slice it in 4 inch long pieces, then cut the pieces in half, and drizzle with olive oil.  Top one of the halves with basil leaves (I used Genovese), tomato slices, and fresh mozzarella.  Heat up a grill pan, panini press, or in my case a George Foreman and grill until the crust is golden and the mozzarella just starts to melt.  Would be good with Creamy Basil Tomato soup.

Enjoy! This is the ultimate fresh tasting sandwich.

White Cupcakes with Tinted Buttercream Peaks

I made these White Cupcakes with tinted Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting on Saturday for a Mother's Day Tea event my church had.  I was a table hostess and my theme was cupcakes - this was my centerpiece.  Most people really like the cake batter in this recipe.  It's super light and fluffy (thanks to the stiff egg whites folded in).  I got mixed reviews about the frosting.  It's not super sweet like an American Buttercream that has a lot of powdered sugar.  A SMB does not have any powdered sugar.  It has egg whites, butter, vanilla, and some granulated white sugar.  It's very simple and light.  In my opinion it pairs well with intensely flavored cupcakes.  This cake batter was also lighter in taste so I can understand why some did not think there was enough flavor in the frosting.  One way to make this frosting sweeter (without switching to American buttercream) is to add 4oz. of melted white or dark chocolate.  I've done this before and it tastes great.

Here is the recipe (from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook):

White Cupcakes with Pastel Buttercream Peaks (or in my case, tinted - I went dark on the tints)
Pg. 154

3 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising)
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup plus 6 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
5 large egg whites, room temperature
Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting
Gel-paste food colors

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.  Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.  Stir vanilla into milk.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter until smooth.  Gradually add sugar, beating until pale and fluffy.  Reduce speed to low.  Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk, and beating until just combined after each.

3. In another bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form (do not overmix).  Fold one third of the egg whites into the batter to lighten.  Gently fold the remaining whites in two batches.

4. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full.  Firmly tap the tins once on the countertop to release any air bubbles.  Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.  Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.  Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozn up to 2 months in airtight containers.

5. Divide buttercream into four portions; leave one untinted and tint remaining three to desired colors.  Place each portion in a pastry bag fitted with a coupler.  Using a small open-star tip (#20), pipe peaks: Squeeze gently while lifting the tip, the release at the halfway point, and draw up until icing forms a point.  Starting with untinted buttercream, pipe a single peak in the center of each cupcake, then pipe more peaks in a ring around it.  Switch to tinted buttercream; pipe rings of peaks around the plain, until you reach the edge.  Refrigerate 30 minutes to allow frosting to set.  Cupcakes can be refrigerated up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before serving.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting
Pg.304

Recipe can be found on Martha Stewart's website, here. Please note this recipe is double the amount needed for the recipe above.

Enjoy!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I made these Martha Stewart Red Velvet Cupcakes on Monday night for a client's birthday.  A coworker and I decorated his office with 90+ balloons, streamers, and a Happy Birthday sign.  I picked this recipe because I really like red velvet cake.  The one thing that was weird with this recipe is that it called for baking soda and vinegar.  I'm not sure what it did to the cupcake (maybe made it more air-y??), but it tasted pretty good.  I was disappointed that it didn't turn out super red.  It looks more brown and that bummed me out, but it still tasted good.  I love love love this cream cheese frosting.  It tasted great on this cupcake, but it also pairs well with pumpkin spice and the banana pecan cupcakes. 

Red Velvet Cupcakes
Martha Stewart Cupcakes (pg. 30)
Makes 24

2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon red gel-paste food color
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
Cream-Cheese Frosting

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cake flour, cocoa, and salt.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together sugar and oil until combined.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.  Mix in food color and vanilla.

3. Reduce speed to low.  Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and whisking well after each.  Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl (it will foam); add mixture to batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds.

4. 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.

5. To finish, use a small offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting.  Refrigerate up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before serving.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes 4 cups

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

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.

Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Frosting

I love baking cupcakes.  Anytime I can find an excuse to make them, I usually do.  This weekend I made some cupcakes for my brother-in-law because he's celebrating his 24th birthday this week, Saturday actually - Happy Birthday Kevbro!

His favorite cake is yellow cake with chocolate frosting.  His mom usually makes this for him every year, but this year I offered to make cupcakes.  I knew instantly I wanted to make his favorite - yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I already had frosting made from the Chocolate Chip Cupcakes I made last week, so I was good there.  All I needed to do was buy some buttermilk for the cake batter.

This yellow buttermilk cake batter is pretty good and would pair nicely with any frosting - chocolate, fluffy vanilla, maybe a caramel swiss meringue buttercream or a white chocolate swiss meringue buttercream.  It's the perfect base.  I would also be a good cake batter for decorative cupcakes.

If you try these let me know what you think! Happy cupcake baking!

Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes

Martha Stewart Cupcakes Cookbook (pg. 26)

Makes 36

3 cups cake flour (not self-rising)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 1/4 cups sugar

5 large whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks, room temperature

2 cups buttermilk, room temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Dark Chocolate Frosting (recipe in this post)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.  Sift together both flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.  Reduce speed to medium.  Add whole eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.  Add yolks, and beat until thoroughly combined.  Reduce speed to low.  Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and beating until combined after each.  Beat in vanilla.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full.  Bake, rotating tins halfway through (this is only if you are baking two 12 cup tins at once, if you are only baking one tin, then you don't need to rotate), until cupcakes spring back when lightly touched and a cake tester (aka a toothpick) inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes.  Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.  Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

4. To finish, use a small offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting.  Refrigerate up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature and, if desired, decorate with sprinkles before serving.