Cupcakes Week 23

I have never worked with lychees, so this was totally new to me.


Lychee Rose Cupcakes

Ingredients 
(makes 24)
 1.5 cups self raising flour
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup ground almonds
250g butter, softened
2 cups sugar (i only used 1.5 cups)
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
60ml rose syrup water (2 parts water to 1 part syrup)
1 tsp rosewater essence
24 pcs canned lychees

 Directions : 
1. combine flours and ground almonds in a bowl. in another bowl, beat butter & sugar until light and fluffy, then add in eggs one at a time and whisk until combined.
2. add in flours in 3 additions, alternating between milk and rose syrup water. do not overmix. fold in batter until just combined.
3. spoon 1/2 mixture into cupcake liners, top with a lychee and pour in another 1/2 batter (total height should come up to 3/4 of liner).
4. bake in preheated oven of 170C for 20 mins or until skewer inserted comes out clean. * for the **raspberry cream cheese frosting, i combined cream cheese, butter, raspberry puree & sifted icing sugar according to taste.

Another break from the cupcakes...

If you guys haven't heard about Pinterest, you should hop on over there and sign up. Seriously so addictive. It's like a virtual pin board of all your ideas, recipes, crafts, vacations, and more! Whenever I'm bored I always jump on and find stuff to do or new recipes to try.

Well that is what happened with tonight's dinner. I seriously haven't made a dinner where my husband has licked the plate clean, like he did tonight.

These 2 recipes went so well together.

I want to make sure to give the original blogger and website get props, so here are links for you.

Grilled Balsamic Garlic Crusted Pork Tenderloin

Mustard Roasted Potatoes

Cupcakes Week 22

Good morning! If you can't have a mimosa in the morning, you can always have a Bellini :)

Bellini Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

Cake Ingredients:
3 large egg whites, room temperature
1 cup champagne
1 ½ cups cake flour
¾ cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

Cake Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In small bowl, mix egg whites and champagne. Set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Mix butter into dry ingredients until it resembles moist crumbs.
Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients until fully combined.
Divide evenly between twelve cupcake liners. Bake for 20 minutes or until cupcakes bounce back when lightly touched.

Filling and Frosting Ingredients:
15 oz can sliced peaches
½ cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
White sanding sugar for topping

Filling and Frosting Directions:
Melt two tablespoons of butter in a medium-sized skillet on medium heat.
Drain and discard liquid from peach can.
Use a towel to pat dry the peach slices, removing excess moisture.
Place the peaches in a single layer in the hot skillet.
Cook for about three minutes or until the bottom side is browned, then flip.
Repeat until all sides of the peaches are browned.
Remove peaches from skillet and cool.
Use a food processor or immersion blender to puree the peaches.
Use a small paring knife or cupcake corer to remove a piece of cake from the center of each cooled cupcake.
Fill each hole with approximately two teaspoons of the peach puree.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter on high speed for five minutes.
Slowly mix in the powdered sugar and beat for another five minutes.
Mix in vanilla extract, salt, and ¼ cup of peach puree and beat for two minutes.
Pipe onto cupcakes using Wilton tip 4B.
Sprinkle cupcakes with white sanding sugar.

Cupcakes Week 21

A little slice of summer before it ends...

Key Lime Cupcakes

Cupcakes

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons key lime zest
3 large eggs
1/4 fresh Key lime juice
3 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Key Lime Filling

14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup key lime juice
3/4 cup whipping cream

Key Lime Whipped Cream

2 cups whipping cream
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. key lime juice
1/2 Tbsp. key lime zest
1 Tbsp. key lime filling
*Adjust amounts to taste

Key Lime Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 24 cupcake liners in muffin tins.
In a large bowl beat butter, sugar, and lime zest at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in juice until combined.
In a medium bowl, combine cake flour and baking soda; sift.

Gradually add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Pour evenly into prepared cupcake tins.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Key Lime Filling
Mix together the sweetened condensed milk, whipping cream, and lime juice.

Two Filling Methods:
(1) Poke several holes into the cupcakes with the back of a mixing spoon. Use a pastry bag to pipe filling into each hole.

(2) Use a butter knife to cut a hole in the center of each cupcake. Fill with filling. Cover with cut out cupcake piece.

Refrigerate cupcakes for about an hour.

Key Lime Whipped Cream
Use a stand mixer to combine 2 cups heavy whipping cream and 3/4 cup powdered sugar. When stiff peaks form, add juice, zest, and filling to taste.

Pipe frosting onto cupcakes after they come out of refrigerator. Garnish with a slice of lime

Cupcakes Week 20

What's better than pink lemonade on a hot summer day? That-in cupcake form ;)

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
Pinch salt
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 egg whites
1/3 c. thawed frozen Pink Lemonade Concentrate
1/4 c. buttermilk
2 or more drops red food coloring

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin pan with liners.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, egg whites and lemonade concentrate. Alternately whisk in flour mixture and buttermilk, making three additions of flour mixture and two of buttermilk, beating until just smooth. Add just enough food coloring to turn the batter a light shade of pink.

Scoop batter into liners (fill about three-fourths full). Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on rack. Top cooled cupcakes with frosting (see below).

Lemonade Buttercream:
3 c. + 3 Tbsp. confectioner’s sugar
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
1/8 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. pink lemonade concentrate
Red food coloring

Add the butter, confectioner’s sugar, salt, lemon juice, and a few drops of food coloring to the stand mixer and mix on low using the paddle attachment until combined. Turn the speed to med-high until the buttercream is fluffy and uniformly pink. Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes.

Cupcakes Week 19

Who likes Cosmos? I do! I do!

Who likes Cupcakes? Me! Me! Me!

Who likes the two combined? EVERYONE WILL!!

Cosmo Cupcakes

Cupcakes

You will need:
1 stick butter, room temperature
2 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 tsp salt
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1 1/4 cup Cosmopolitan (recipe below), room temperature
zest of 1 lime
Red food coloring

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line muffin pans with cupcake papers.

With a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time and beat until
well combined. Add the lime zest. Combine salt, baking powder, and flour in a separate bowl and set aside.
Make the cosmopolitan and measure out 1 ½ cups in a separate bowl.

Add in 1 cup each of the dry ingredients and cosmo mixtures alternately, beating on low until the whole
mixture is well combined. Last, slowly add the red food coloring until you achieve the desired color. I choose
to keep my cupcakes on the lighter hot pink side, but do whatever color you would like!

Fill cups with batter two-thirds full. Bake at 350 F for 18-22 minutes or until cupcakes
spring back in the middle when touched lightly. Cool for 10 minutes in pan.

Glaze

You will need:
1/2 cup cosmopolitan

Heat the cosmopolitan in a sauce pan over med heat until thickened and slightly reduced. Allow to cool slightly
and then brush glaze on the tops of each cupcake while the cupcakes are still slightly warm.
Allow the cupcakes to completely cool before frosting with Cosmo Buttercream.


Cosmo Buttercream

You will need:
3 sticks butter, room temp
4 c confectioner’s sugar
1 tbsp meringue powder (optional)
a pinch of salt
3-4 tbsp of the Cosmopolitan (or more until you reach desired consistency)
red food coloring

Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the powdered
sugar one cup at a time beating well with each addition. Add the meringue powder and the salt. Add the Cosmopolitan
one tablespoon at a time until you reach desired consistency. And lastly add red food coloring, slowly, again until you
reach your desired color. Pipe onto cupcakes, and top with a straw or a drink umbrella!

Cosmos

You will need:
1 (1.5 fluid ounce) jigger cranberry flavored/infused vodka
1/2 fluid ounce cointreau
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1 1/2 fluid ounces cranberry juice
1 twist lime zest, garnish

Pour all the ingredients into a shaker with lots of ice.
Shake vigorously for several seconds and strain into a cocktail glass.
Garnish with a lime twist.

A break from cupcakes

I know this blog is all cupcakes all the time right now, but I had to break to share this recipe I just made. I wanted to make something summery for lunch for the week and while surfing pinterest (of course!) I found this yummy looking salad. Whipped it together for myself and hubs to take to work for the rest of the week.

it.is.amazing.

Chinese Chicken Salad
INGREDIENTS

6 large chicken breasts
olive oil
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 lb. green beans, asparagus, or sugar snap peas - ends removed, cut into 1" to 2" pieces
2 sweet bell peppers - red, green, yellow, or orange - cored, seeded, and sliced into 1" to 2" pieces
1 10-oz. bag shredded carrots, or a couple peeled carrots that are thinly sliced
4 green onions (white and green parts), sliced thinly on the diagonal
2 T. white sesame seeds, toasted

for the dressing:
3/4 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
1/3 c. soy sauce
2 T. dark sesame oil
3 T. honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tsp. minced fresh ginger
1 T. white sesame seeds, toasted
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

PREPARATION

First, prepare your chicken. Depending on what I'm in the mood for, I'll either roast or grill the chicken breasts. Whatever you choose to do, first rub some olive oil onto your chicken breasts and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. If roasting, place the chicken on a sheet pan covered in foil (easy clean-up!) and place in a 350° oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until chicken is just cooked. If grilling, place on a medium-high grill and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until chicken is done. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then shred the chicken by using two forks to pull apart into bite-sized pieces.

While the chicken is cooking, blanch the green beans in a pot of boiling salted water for 3 to 5 minutes, until crisp-tender. Immediately place them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain.

If you don't have some toasted sesame seeds on hand, toast some now. Do this by placing the 3 tablespoons of sesame seeds (2 T. sprinkled over the finished salad, plus 1 T. in the dressing) in a dry saute pan. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until they are nicely browned and fragrant. Remove to a plate to cool.

Combine the shredded chicken, green beans, peppers, and shredded carrots in a large bowl.

Whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing and pour over the chicken and vegetables. Gently combine. Sprinkle the green onions and 2 tablespoons of toasted sesame seeds over the top and season to taste. I always add some freshly cracked pepper over the top. Serve cold or at room temperature.