Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Meringue Frosting

Okay, again, it's been too long since I last updated my blog.  A lot has been going on in my life, but I'm not going to bore you with the details.  I'm finished with classes for the summer, well, I have one, it's on-line though.  I don't have a summer job (yet, but I'm hoping somebody will get back to me), so I will probably be updating this blog a lot. 

I made these cupcakes yesterday since I had a lot of strawberries that were probably going to go bad soon, so I wanted to use them for something.  This recipe comes from Gluten-Free Cupcakes by Elana Amsterdam.  It's the first recipe I've made from this book and they turned out great.  The frosting was a little too sweet for my taste, but the cupcakes weren't overly sweet at all, so it was balanced out.  The only bad thing about this recipe was it only makes 8 cupcakes, so if you're making them for an event, you might want to double or triple the recipe, same goes for the frosting.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries

Here's what you'll need for the frosting:

•  1/4 cup agave nectar
• 2 egg whites
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh stawberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line 8 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine the coconut flour, arrowroot, salt, and baking soda.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, agave, and vanilla.

 Blend the wet ingredients into the coconut flour mixture with a handheld mixer until thoroughly combined, then fold in the strawberries.

Scoop a few tablespoons of batter into each prepared muffin cup.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached.  Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 1 hour, then frost and serve.

Now onto the frosting:  In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the agave to a boil, stirring constantly.  Decrease the heat to low and simmer for 6 to 10 minutes, stirring on occasion, until the agave darkens slightly from its original amber color.  Remove from heat and set aside.

In a deep bowl, whip the egg whites to stiff peaks using a handheld mixer.  Stop whipping as soon as the egg whites are stiff.

Could have been stiffer.

Drizzle the warm agave very slowly into the egg whites, while whipping with a handheld mixer, to keep the peaks stiff.  Allow to cool to room temperature, then fold the strawberries into the meringue.  Use right away.

Enjoy!

Mexican Chocolate Cookies (for Cinco de Mayo)

So I originally made these cookies on May 4 as a snack to eat with my friend while he drove us to a CT Roller Derby bout.  They needed help at the last minute, so I volunteered to go as well.  However, after the cookies came out of the oven and I had left the kitchen, I heard this bang of pans hit the floor.  I don't know how or why my cookie sheets fell but I was extremely angry since they were now unedible.  I was going to make them again on Sunday but I was out all day and really didn't want to bake at 10:00 p.m. 

So yesterday is when they were finally made, and they turned out delicious!  The recipe comes from my Cookinglight Everyday Baking book.  It was an easy and quick recipe and I highly recommend them.  They have an extra kick in them that goes well with the chocolate.  I can't stop eating them and even though I saved some for my friend, he might not get them tomorrow. 

Here's what you'll need:

• 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped 
• 3.3 ounces all-purpose flour (about 3/4 cup)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Dash of freshly ground black pepper
• Dash of ground red pepper
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute or until almost melted, stirring until smooth.  Cool to room temperature.

Weigh or spoon flour into dry measuring cups, level with a knife.  Combine the flour and the next 5 ingredients stirring with a whisk. 

Place sugar and butter in a large bowl and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended, about 5 minutes.  Add in the egg and beat well.  Add the cooled chocolate and vanilla and beat just until blended.  Add flour mixture and beat just until moist.

Drop dough a tablespoon at a time onto a coated cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until almost set.  Remove from oven and cool for 2 minutes on pans.  Then cool completely on wire rack. 

Enjoy!

Toasted Coconut-Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Last week I made these cookies for a very small road trip my friends from derby and I were taking to help out with a neighboring league.  The trip was only a couple of hours, but who doesn't want to snack on cookies with chocolate and coconut in them?  These were extremely easy and quick to make.  They also came out of my CookingLight Everday Baking book.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (I used light)
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

 First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Arrange the coconut in a single layer in a small metal baking pan.  Bake for 7 minutes or until lightly toasted, stirring once.  Set aside to cool.

Weight or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup;  level with a knife.  Combine flour and next 3 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk until blended.

Place sugar and butter in a large bowl;  beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended.

Beat in vanilla and egg.  Add flour mixture, beating at low speed just until combined.  Stir in toasted coconut and chocolate.

Drop dough by level tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until bottoms of cookies just begin to brown.  Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

Enjoy!

Flourless Chocolate Cake

So it's been a while since I updated my blog.  I have been extremely busy lately.  I've been helping out a roller derby league for a number of months now, and I finally started skating with them.  Well, not technically with them because I'm training to become a referee, so I'm skating with the other men and women who are also refs or refs-in-training.  That being said, I've been skating a lot.  It's a great work out and I'm actually comfortable enough on my skates these days to even practice jumping in them.  Not that I want to!  However, that's one thing I will have to do to pass the physical test. 

This recipe I found on allrecipes.com, and I was originally making it for a Passover post, but since Passover is long gone, it's just a flourless chocolate cake.  It was extremely rich, and only a small piece will fill you up.  It was also extremely easy to make. 

Here's what you'll need:

• 4-1 ounce squares semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Grease an 8 inch round cake pan, and dust with cocoa powder. 

In the top of a double boiler over lightly simmering water, melt chocolate and butter.  Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, cocoa powder, eggs, and vanilla.  Pour into prepared pan.

 Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.  Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack and cool completely. 

Enjoy!

Easter Bread Wreath from King Arthur Flour

I wanted to publish this before the spring holidays (Easter and Passover), but I just didn't have enough time.  Also, this recipe took a long time to make.  So before I show you the recipe, you might need a day or two to make this bread.  I found this recipe in one of the King Arthur Flour catalogs, and found the full recipe on their blog.  This was the first time I ever used yeast.  I thought it would be terrible, remembering an "I Love Lucy" episode when Lucy baked bread and it rose too high and became too thick.  I thought it would take over my oven, but that wasn't the case.  So I'll probably be baking more yeast breads in the future. 

Here's what you'll need:

• 3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cool water
• 2 1/8 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon orange oil (or extract, I used Penzeys' Orange Extract)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground anise seed, optional 
• grated peel (zest) of 1 large orange (I used 2 tablespoons of Penzeys' Orange Zest)
• 1 cup of confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk or orange juice (I used juice)
• Little multicolored nonpareils (sprinkles)

To start the bread, you'll need to leave out 1 cup of flour, the cool water and 1/8 teaspoon instant yeast covered lightly and left out on the counter overnight.  

The next day add 2 1/4 cups flour, salt, 2 teaspoons instant yeast, sugar, butter, eggs, egg yolk, extracts, anise seed (if you are using) and zest to the starter.

Mix and knead using an electric mixer until the dough is elastic and satiny (as KAF states). 

Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 1 to 2 hours, it might take longer than this to rise.  I left mine out overnight on the counter. 

It looked like the above picture the next morning.  Now divide the dough in three equal sized portions and shape each piece into an 18-inch long rope.  Pinch the ends together, squeeze to a point, and tuck that point under the braid.  To form the braid, bring one of the outer ropes over the center rope.  Bring the opposite outer rope over the "new" inner rope (which used to be the outer rope).  Repeat until the braid is finished.

Curve the braid to a ring and pinch the ends to seal.

Cover the wreath and allow to rise until puffy, about 1 to 2 hours.  Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Bake the wreath for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 20 minutes, lightly foiling it for the final 10 minutes of baking.  The wreath will be golden brown. 

Transfer to a cooling rack to cool.  When cooled or just barely warm, start making the glaze.

To make the glaze, stir together 1 cup confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons milk or orange juice.  Add more liquid 1/4 teaspoon at a time, until the glaze is thin and pourable. 

Drizzle onto the cooled bread and decorate with sprinkles if desired.  Serve it at your next Easter dinner and enjoy! 

 

Greek Yogurt Chicken

Sorry for the blurry picture, I used my iPad to take it.

This was Friday night's dinner.  I asked my husband to get me some Fage Greek Yogurt so I can put it into my smoothies, I thought he'd buy a few small containers or the next size up.  He came home with 35 ounce container!  That's a lot of Greek yogurt for one person, since he doesn't usually eat any of it.  So I started searching the internet for Greek yogurt recipes, turns out there's more than I thought.  I found a ton on Pinterest alone.  I found a few from food blogs I follow and one new blogger (well, new to me) I found.  This recipe was influenced by Life of Meg's blogspot.  I changed some of the spices since I have a lot of Penzeys' spices, I figured I'd use them. I used Ruth Ann's Muskego Ave. Chicken & Fish Seasoning which consists of salt, black pepper, garlic, lemon peel, and onion.

Here's what you'll need:

• 4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup of plain Greek yogurt (I used Fage)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1-2 tablespoons Ruth Ann's Muskego Ave. Chicken & Fish Seasoning (Penzeys')

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  In a small bowl combine the Greek yogurt, cheese, garlic and spices.

  Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly spray with cooking spray.  Coat chicken breasts in the yogurt mixture.  Bake for 35-45 minutes depending on thickness of chicken breasts.

Pair it with your favorite veggies or couscous (which would go well with it too).  Enjoy!

Teriyaki Salmon with Mushrooms

I made this recipe for dinner almost two weeks ago but have had other things on my mind so that's why I'm late in blogging it.  My spring break was this past week and all I really did was go roller skating, study for my second Financial Accounting exam, and help in a roller derby scrimmage.  I know it doesn't sound like much, but I've also been running errands, and reading a book that's been saved on my iPad for a long time, that I didn't have time to get to until now.  So, this recipe comes from my Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast Weeknight Meals cookbook. The recipe also has a side to go with the teriyaki salmon, orange-ginger sugar snaps, but I chose to use rice instead.   The salmon was delicious and the teriyaki and mushrooms gave the rice an extra flavor, since rice is so flavorful to begin with. ;-) 

Here's what you'll need:

• 1/4 cup sherry (I used white cooking wine)
• 1/4 cup low-sodium teriyaki sauce
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 1 8-ounce package presliced baby portobello mushrooms
• 4 6-ounce skinless salmon fillets (about 1"-1 1/2" thick)

Combine the first three ingredients in a small bowl;  stir to dissolve sugar.  Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat;  add mushrooms, and saute 4 minutes or until tender (it took more than 4 minutes for me, I don't remember how long though).  Add 1/3 cup sherry mixture to mushrooms.  Reduce heat, and simmer 1 to 2 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates (it will take longer, again, I don't remember how long.

Spoon mushroom mixture into a bowl and set aside.  Heat pan over medium-high heat;  add fillets.  Cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until browned on all sides (depending on how thick the fillets are, it will probably take more than 4 minutes).  Add mushrooms and remaining sherry mixture to pan;  cook 2 minutes.

Transfer fillets to a serving platter, and top with sauce and mushrooms.  Enjoy!