Reese's Cupcakes

I've decided candy bars are great for cupcake inspiration. Because so many people love peanut butter, I decided Reese's would be my first candidate. Now, I have made these cupcakes several times for cookouts, work events, just for fun, and they are a hit every single time.

You can start with devil's food cake (recipe here), or even just grab a box of devil's food or any other chocolate cake from the store to bake. Then you fill the cupcakes with peanut butter icing/filling, top with peanut butter - chocolate frosting, then decorate with a Reese's peanut butter cup minis.

I am fortunate to have a super awesome big sister to buy me these fancy little cupcake tools to remove the filling, but before I had these, I simply used a 1A round tip, pushed it into the cupcake and squeezed in filling until just before the cupcake seemed like it would burst.  For those of you who want to achieve the same flowery swirl that's in the photo below, I used a 1M tip for that and iced from out to in.

If you make mini cupcakes, believe it or not, you can still fill them!

 

Peanut Butter Filling

1/2 C. butter, softened
1 C. creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp. milk
2 C. confectioners (powdered) sugar

Mix butter and peanut butter, then gradually mix in sugar, adding milk as necessary for a creamy filling. Fill cupcakes.

Peanut Butter - Chocolate Frosting

1 C. butter, softened
1 C. creamy peanut butter
4 C. powdered sugar
1/4 C. milk
3 tbsp. cocoa powder
2 tsp. vanilla

Mix butter, peanut butter, and vanilla, then gradually mix in sugar, adding milk as necessary.

Hope you enjoy these!

Balsamic Roasted Brussel Sprouts

I've always loved brussel sprouts, even as a kid. But many people really don't. I encourage you to try these if you're one of those people. Every time I make these for some occasion, at least one person declares they've never really liked brussel sprouts, they go ahead and try one to be polite, and then ask me for the recipe.  It's super simple.

Start with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette.  Wash the sprouts and toss in the vinaigrette. Put in a baking dish. Sprinkle with some seasonings, and then bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes, until they start to soften and can be penetrated with a fork. Turn on the broiler for the last 5 minutes to crisp and brown the edges and you have this very tasty and healthy side dish.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

3/4 C. extra virgin olive oil

1/4 C. balsamic vinegar

2 - 4 cloves garlic crushed

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. course ground black pepper

Mix or shake all of the ingredients together in a bottle.

Brussel Sprouts

1 lb brussel sprouts

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. thyme

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

enough balsamic vinaigrette to coat sprouts

And of course, if you like spicy like I do, once the sprouts are cooked, add a little Tapatio and these are perfect!

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

Ever since my sister's affinity for the cupcake led me to take a decorating class with her as a birthday gift, I've been creating cupcakes and have tested out some pretty amazing ideas. 

My love for baking is actually non-existent. I never was that interested in baking, nor did I have the patience to do it. The part I love the most about cupcakes is decorating them and making them look like you really want to eat them. The trick is, you have to also make sure  that people want to keep eating them. So, I began learning how to bake.

I started with finding some basic cake recipes and worked on perfecting those. Once I got the hang of it, I began putting my own twist on the recipes and testing out fillings and icings and toppings and I quickly realized that I am not too shabby at this baking thing. Cupcake baking/decorating has become one of my favorite things to do.

Here is just one of the recipes I've come up with. Start with a basic Devil's Food recipe - I will share mine here - and a basic frosting recipe where you will add raspberry flavor.

Devil's Food Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour (I replaced a 1/2 C. of Coconut flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder (I used Ecuadorian 100% cocoa from my wonderful brother and sister-in-law)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup milk

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly butter or spray your muffin pans, or prep with muffin cups. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-high and slowly add the sugar. Continue beating until light and smooth. Add the cocoa powder and vanilla and beat at medium speed for 1 minute more. With the mixer running at medium-low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute between each addition.

Combine the water and milk in a saucepan and bring just to a boil. Remove from the heat.

With the mixer at low speed, add the flour mixture, about a 1/4 cup at a time. Carefully pour the hot liquid into the batter. Remove the bowl from the mixer and, using a large rubber spatula, finish combining the batter until smooth.

Divide the batter evenly into each of the muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes - keep an eye on the cupcakes as different types of pans and altitude affect the baking time.

Let cool completely before decorating. This is very important because the cake can break apart if it isn't cooled.

Raspberry Frosting

Ingredients: 
2 sticks unsalted butter
1/2 C. Crisco
3 Cups confectioner's sugar 
Raspberry candy/baking oil

Directions:
Beat butter and Crisco on high until creamy, then add sugar. Add a few drops of the raspberry oil until it's at the right level of flavoring for you (5-10 drops). 

Frost the cupcakes, and top with fresh raspberries if desired (I washed the raspberries and added a tsp. of sugar and let them sit while I completed the frosting).

I hope you enjoy these!
 


 

What's for dinner?

I've been super busy with work, Girl Scouts, studying, haven't had time to make it grocery shopping which usually makes dinner plans quite difficult. In the past year, though, I have managed to learn what it is to be resourceful, especially with food, and come with something great with whatever is available. When you like to eat good food as much as me, that part isn't so hard to learn.

Of course, while fresh everything is always preferable, there are things you should try to have on hand at all times for these types of situations. Things like spices and dried herbs or the occasional canned food item. Minced garlic in a jar in the fridge for when you run out of fresh is great for any style meal you want to cook.

Today, I came up with a wonderful, vegetarian, stir fry. I had half of an eggplant left in the fridge (thankfully, because stir fry is awesome with eggplant). I had a handful of mushrooms and one carrot. There was half of a yellow onion with a tiny piece of red onion. I also had about 4 big pieces of broccoli in a bag that was used for salad and a leek that I never got around to using in a soup that I had planned to make. And thankfully, there was a lone can of pineapples in the pantry as well as some red chili paste that I have been wanting to use.

Some of these things might be things you'd never happen to have on hand, but that's okay! Any vegetables can work, and you can certainly used canned vegetables. Some good ones to think about keeping are water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, corn or baby corn, and mushrooms.

Now, I am a Filipino American which means I always have a good supply of rice, soy sauce, and patis (fish sauce).

Once you figure out what's in your pantry or fridge, all you have to do is stir fry it all together in a little bit of oil (I use coconut oil) and add some spices, herbs, soy sauce, and fish sauce. Be sure to get your rice going before you cook the vegetables since that will take a little longer.

Here's my resulting recipe:

Vegetarian Eggplant Stir Fry
 


Half of an eggplant, cut into cubes
Half of an onion diced
Tbsp minced garlic
1 carrot, peeled and diced
Handful of broccoli
1 leek, just the white sliced
1 can of pineapple (chopped into bite size pieces)
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp fish sauce (optional)
1 tbsp red curry paste (or red pepper flakes will work for that little bit of spice)
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 C of rice or quinoa
2 tbsp oil for stir frying

Heat oil in skillet, add eggplant and stir fry until pieces are browned, then set aside. Add garlic, onions, and carrots. Add red curry paste with a tbsp of water, along with the rest of your spices. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the uncooked vegetables and the soy sauce and fish sauce. Stir fry everything for about 5 more minutes and then add the eggplant and pineapple. Cook just long enough to warm eggplant and pineapple, be careful not to over cook or eggplant will get mushy. Serve over cooked rice.