Mr. Darcy and Granola Bars

Mr. Darcy wanted to say hi.  He is a 3 1/2 year old cavalier king charles spaniel, and, yes, he is named after  a Jane Austen character.  He seemed intrigued by the camera.  Then he fell asleep- again.  He sleeps an awful lot.

Mom made a batch of granola bars yesterday.  I haven't tried them yet but they've been good in the past! They looked pretty though, and I couldn't help but snap a few pictures.

I wanted to bake some mini cheesecakes today but we didn't have all the ingredients.  Maybe tomorrow then; today has been quite lazy.

Margaret

A Story

The story of The Cupcake Suite is one that originates in New York City, where six friends are nearing the end of their freshman year.  But before they can feel the freedom of summer and even before they have to brave the battle known as final exams, they have to survive a battle that may be even more stressful.  It is known as the housing lottery.  They are a hopeful bunch, though, and stick together, deciding on suite selection.  The process of suite selection includes an online registration where each member of the prospective suite join the group online.  It also requires a name for the group.  Now, one of the six friends (guess who) is rather fond of cupcakes- obsessed, her other friends might say.  But they don't mind too terribly, as long as they are able to have some of the pastries she talks about.  Well it was nearing the deadline for the group to be submitted to the housing system, and a name had not been suggested yet, so that one friend decided to name it herself.  And thus The Cupcake Suite was born.  The friends were incredibly lucky to actually secure a suite together in the housing lottery, so the cupcake suite did not have to be broken up.

So yes, next year I am living in a corridor which is officially, in the university housing system, referred to as The Cupcake Suite.  Not a bad deal, right?  Now I will just have to bake enough cupcakes in my little kitchen to prove the name suits the suite.  I am quite excited.

Margaret

Baking for Breakfast

Breakfast is one of my favorite meals of the day- especially when it's sweet and filled with fruit. These scones do just that. I have used this recipe for plain scones at least three times in the last month or so, but today I decided to throw in a little extra something. Today it happened to be dried blueberries and lemon zest, but really any fruit would work nicely. Enjoy!

Mini Blueberry Scones

Adapted from Gourmet

Makes about 16 (I got 20 since mine were smaller)

1/2 cup heavy cream plus additional for brushing the scones

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 tablespoons sugar

Additional raw sugar for sprinkling scones

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 cups cake flour (not self-rising)

1 tablespoon double-acting baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter

1/2 cup dried blueberries

1 tablespoon lemon zest

In a bowl whisk together 1/2 cup of the cream, the egg, the vanilla, and 6 tablespoons of the sugar until the mixture is combined well. In another bowl stir together the flour, the salt, the baking powder, and the baking soda. 

Using a cheese grater that yields large pieces, grate butter directly into flour mixture and stir in with a fork. (I find that this is easier than cutting it and then trying to blend it into the dough.)  

Stir in the blueberries, lemon zest, and the cream mixture with a fork until the mixture just forms a sticky but manageable dough. 

Knead the dough gently on a lightly floured surface for 30 seconds, pat it into a 1/2-inch-thick round, and with a 1 1/2-inch fluted cutter cut it into rounds (or other fun shapes!). 

Gather the scraps, repat the dough, and cut out more rounds. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper brush the scones with the additional cream and sprinkle them with the additional sugar (I like to use raw sugar here). Bake the scones in the middle of a preheated 400°F. oven for 15 to 18 minutes, or until they are golden.

Perfectly Peach

Mocktails are a new obsession.  (You know, cocktails without the alcohol.)  They are especially fun in the summer, with all of the delicious farm fresh fruit.  There was one lonely peach left in the refrigerator this evening, so I decided to put it to good use.  I didn't have a recipe on hand so I just made it up as I went.  I think it turned out pretty well- definitely a refreshing summer drink!

Recipe after the pictures!

Peach Daiquiri

(makes 1)

1/2 peach, sliced

1/2 oz grenadine

juice of 1/2 of a lemon

1 oz seltzer water or club soda

ice

Combine peach slices, grenadine, and lemon juice in a blender.  Add ice several pieces at a time until drink is desired consistency.  Add club soda and lightly blend until combined.  Serve with a lemon and/or peach slice.

the aftermath

Happy summer, enjoy!

Margaret

Strawberry Success

I love cupackes, I love fruit, and therefore I love cupcakes made with fruit.  However, until recently, I have NOT gotten along well with frosting made with fruit.  I love how it tastes, but making it has been quite a challenge.  Because of the high water content in fruit, especially strawberries, mixing it into a buttercream or meringue becomes difficult.  The water doesn't mix with the butter and it separates into a gooey mess.  I have resorted to just frosting my cupcakes with a plain vanilla buttercream to avoid the disaster.  However, my mom recently suggested I try freeze dried fruit.  It worked.  I had these in the house, so I just took a pack of them and put them in the cuisinart.  The result was a very fine powder that blended perfectly into the buttercream cream cheese frosting.  You could also add in some strawberry extract, but I didn't have any on hand.  The result not only looked appealing, but tasted really excellent- fruit frosting has been conquered.

 Strawberry Frosting

(enough for 12 cupcakes or so)

4 tablespoons butter, softened (1/2 stick)

8 tablespoons cream cheese (1/2 8 oz pack)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups confectioners sugar

6-8 freeze dried strawberries

Cream butter and cream cheese in electric mixer on high until fluffy (at least 2-3 minutes).  Add sugar a half cup at a time until fully combined.  Add in vanilla and mix thoroughly.

Place strawberries in a cuisinart and blend until they become a fine powder.  Add two tablespoons of the powder to the mixing bowl and beat on high until fully combined.  If desired, add more strawberry powder or strawberry extract to taste.

Enjoy your easy and delicious strawberry frosting! (It goes great on these cupcakes.)

Margaret

Summer Fruit

Welcome to the Cupcake Suite!  (Name comes from a not-so-long story to be explained shortly.)  I have been avidly checking up on all of my favorite food blogs, especially since the start of summer, and I was recently inspired to post some of my own creations- so here goes.  Now I don't know what is going to become of this blog- will I update it ever? Or will this post be the first and last it sees?  Will I even finish this post?  Hopefully I can keep it up.  I used to always keep a journal during the summers when I was little; maybe this could suffice.

Well, here's a start anyways.  I have fallen in love with summer all over again.  On Saturday I went to a local farm with the family and we came home with what I thought would be way to much fruit- or stuff rather.  See we went to pick blueberries, but ended up picking not only blueberries but also blackberries and peaches, we cut our own flowers, and snagged some watermelon, cucumber, and corn from the farm store.  Well three days later all that remains is an eight of the watermelon an half a cucumber.  The fruit was incredible; really nothing can beat just picked berries.  The blueberries ended up in muffins and fourth of July pie, the blackberries went into smoothies, the watermelon made a great picnic drink, and the peaches were snacked on before I could muster up the energy to put them in a galette.  The treats were all incredible and now all I can think of is how I want to go back next Saturday.  I just might, actually.

Well If you've made it this far, thanks for reading!  You deserve some pictures too- so here they are.

White and Yellow Peaches

Blueberries

Enormous Blackberries!

Fresh Cut Zinnias

Happy Summer
Margaret