Strawberry Valentines

Happy Valentine's Day!  I am definitely one of those people who takes their holidays seriously, and Valentine's day is no exception.  Seriously, it is a day to celebrate all of the people you love, wear pink and red, and eat ungodly amounts of chocolate (and cupcakes).  Because, well, it couldn't be Valentine's Day in the Cupcake Suite without cupcakes.

Last year I lived in a building with no kitchen- all we had to work with was a microwave.  So last year on Valentine's day I made chocolate covered strawberries with my friends.  This year I decided to stick with the same theme, but take it up a couple notches.  So I made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate covered strawberries on top and strawberry cupcakes with a swiss meringue buttercream.  Everything was divine- the fact that nearly all thirty cupcakes were consumed this evening stands as proof.

For the strawberry cupcakes I adapted the Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcake recipe.  They came out beautifully- light and fluffy with a hint of strawberry.  Perfectly pink for Valentine's!

Strawberry Cupcakes

Makes 12-15 cupcakes

1 cup whole fresh or frozen strawberries, minced

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

2 large egg whites, room temperature

red food coloring

Place the minced strawberries in a small saucepan and reduce over low heat, stirring often, until the consistency of jam.  Set aside to cool.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on high until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and eggs, beating on low until combined.  Add the flour in two batches, alternating with the milk, making sure to mix completely after each addition.  Stir in the strawberry mix.

Fill 12-15 cupcake liners 2/3 full with batter.  Bake at 350 for 16-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

For the frosting, I followed Sweetapolita's Swiss Meringue Buttercream guide.  I divided the recipe she gives by four, and it made enough for my fifteen cupcakes and a little extra.  This frosting is pure airy, buttery goodness.  Seriously, you need to make it.

I also went with my classic Black Magic Chocolate Cupcakes.  They are a staple here in the cupcake suite.  It's hard to go wrong with chocolate, and this is hands down the best chocolate cupcake I've had.  They are also ridiculously easy.

Black Magic Chocolate Cupcakes

(Makes 18-24 cupcakes)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 3/4 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup strong coffee

1 cup buttermilk

Stir together flour, sugars, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt with a whisk.

Stir in the vanilla, eggs, oil, coffee, and buttermilk until blended and then beat with an electric mixer on medium for 2 minutes. Batter will be soupy. Pour into cupcake cups.

Bake 20-24 minutes at 350 degrees- or until a toothpick comes out clean.

For the frosting (and the chocolate for the strawberries) I used a super simple chocolate ganache.  All you really need to do is microwave some chocolate chips with a splash of heavy cream.  Make sure to mix it well to let the chocolate completely melt.  Then you can spoon in onto the cupcakes and dip the strawberries.

And voila!  You have a lovely Valentine's Day dessert!

Love,

Margaret

Autumn Apple Pie

Autumn is definitely here.  The heat in our building has turned on a couple times, the leaves are starting to change, and the apples at the farmer's market are absolutely perfect.  So there was really no way I could go much longer without making an apple pie.

This is the recipe that my mom and I always make together.  The crust is the best, flakiest pie crust I have had, and the filling is scrumptious.  My suite can attest to that- the pie was gone before anyone had time to think about a second slice.  I guess I'll just have to make another!  Anyways, here is the recipe, and if you haven't made an apple pie this fall yet, now you have no excuse not to.

Bon Appétit
Margaret

Flaky Pie Crust

Makes 2 crusts (enough for 1 apple pie)

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 sticks frozen butter, cut into small cubes

4 tablespoons vegetable shortening

1/2 teaspoon salt

cold water

Blend the butter, flour, shortening and salt with a pastry fork.  Add the ice water a small bit at a time, just until the mixture sticks together to form dough.  Divide the dough into two balls, wrap each in plastic wrap, and refrigerate.

Apple Pie Filling

5 or 6 apples (3 granny smith and 3 jonathan or macintosh)

1/3 cup white sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

pinch of salt

1 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch (or 1/4 cup flour)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

a grating of fresh nutmeg

fresh lemon juice

butter

In a large measuring cup mix together the sugars, salt, cornstarch, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg.  Core and peel the apples and slice them into 1/4 inch thick slices, putting them in a large bowl.  Squeeze 

1/2 of a lemon over the apple slices, and pour the sugar mixture over them, stirring well.  Let the apple mixture sit while you roll out the dough.

Assembly and Baking

Roll out the two crusts between layers of plastic wrap.  Dust the dough lightly with flour before rolling to prevent sticking.  Place the bottom crust in the pie dish, prick with a fork, and put in the freezer for a few minutes.

Roll out the top crust and cut a hole in the center to vent the pie.  Remove the bottom crust from the freezer, fill with the apple mixture, and dot with a few small pieces of butter.  Place the top crust on the pie, crimp the edges, and add additional vents with a fork.

Bake at 450° for 12-14 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 350° and bake for another 35-45 minutes (or more) until the filling starts to bubble over.

Black and White Cheesecakes

Does a mini oreo cheesecake count as a cupcake?  Hmm, not entirely, I guess, although the cupcake suite doesn't mind the slight discrepancies.  Out of all the cupcakes I have baked for my suitemates, these might just be their favorites.  And that is saying quite a bit.

I have been making these cupcakes/cheesecakes for at least over a year now, and I never get sick of them.  They are super easy to make as well.  Unlike a regular cheesecake, you don't need to separately bake a cookie crust- the oreo is the crust!  And you don't need to worry about a water bath while baking; these are small enough that they shouldn't crack.

The recipe is exactly the same as my Mini Golden Oreo Lime Cheesecakes, except you replace golden oreos for regular (preferably not double stuffed) and replace the lime with a teaspoon of vanilla.

Bon Appétit

Margaret

Autumn Apples

Each week at the farmer's market, I pick up a bag full of apples.  I love trying out all the different kinds, although I can rarely remember which is which by the time I get them home.  Regardless, they are always delicious.  I decided that I really wanted to bake with one of the fantastic apples, and I was looking for something easy.  This Swedish apple cake from Cooking with Directions was the perfect solution.

I made this in 45 minutes (5 minutes to mix it up and then 40 in the oven) in between classes, and it came out wonderfully.  The "cake" is more of a fluffy sugar cookie with delicious apples placed decoratively on top.

I used a Cortland apple, which held up really well during the baking.  It was soft, but not mushy after 45 minutes.  I would also try this again with a couple Granny Smith slices to add some more variety.  It was a really wonderful and easy fall dessert to make.

Happy Autumn,
Margaret

Ice Cream Kind of Day

Today was an ice cream kind of day.  Today I also had the chance to see friends I have not seen for weeks!  And when you combine friends with dessert it is hard to find something wrong with the day.  These wonderful friends are, in fact, part of the reason I love to bake; whenever we are together we seem to end up at my house with a batch of cupcakes in the oven.  However, today it was hot- much too hot to bake.  So we decided on ice cream.  Ice cream cones really, since we didn't have the time to make ice cream.

These ice cream cones are made on the panini press, which I thought to be ingenious.  I found the recipe here a few days ago and realized that I needed to try these.  They were a bit trickier than I imagined they would be, but we got a few good cones out of our efforts!

My panini maker does not have an adjustable heat setting, so we had trouble keeping the right temperature (it got too hot after it had been plugged in for awhile).  The timing was also tricky to get just right.  Just over a minute seemed to be about right.

Overall though I'd say it was a successful attempt- we got two delicious ice cream cones!  I wish I had put something in the bottom of the cone, such as a bit of chocolate, to prevent the ice cream from dripping down though!

Not only did I have a wonderful time seeing my friends, our dogs got a chance to say hello too!  "Mr. Darcy" and "Gatsby" bonded over their literary names with wagging tails.

Enjoy another wonderful summer weekend!

Margaret