Strawberry Cupcakes

Homemade Strawberry Cake

Adapted from Paula Deen’s Hummingbird Cake

Nonstick vegetable spray
All-purpose flour, for pans
3 cups self-rising flour
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup pureed strawberries, strained*
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest
4 large eggs, beaten
red food coloring**

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray and flour three 8-by-2-inch round cake pans, tapping out excess flour; set aside.
- Prepare the cake batter; in a large bowl, stir to combine self-rising flour, sugar, oil, pureed strawberries, vanilla, lemon zest, and eggs.
- Divide batter evenly between prepared pans, smoothing with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until the tops spring back when gently pressed with your fingertips, 26 to 28 minutes.
- Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto wire rack. Re-invert cakes and let them cool completely, top sides up.
- Prepare the cream cheese frosting (recipe below); frost as desired and refrigerate until ready to serve.

* You can use fresh or frozen strawberries. If you use frozen, let them defrost on a cookie sheet. Then place in a food processor and pulse until pureed. Run through a medium-sized strainer to remove the seeds. If you have some extra strawberries, try whipping up a quick batch of strawberry scones!

** While I did manage to avoid using red colored gelatin, I did add some food coloring to achieve that perfectly pink color. If you don’t care about getting the pink color, feel free to leave it out. I used about 5 drops, but you should add them one at a time until you achieve the color you are looking for.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
1 stick of butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
~ 3 cups (approx. 1 box) confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
1 TBL milk (if needed)

Directions:

- Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
- Slowly add the sugar in 1 cup batches until desired sweetness is achieved. You may need less than 3 cups if you like your frosting less sweet.
- Stir in vanilla. Add milk slowly if you need a looser consistency.

We made this with regular flour instead of self rising flour, which made for a really dense cake. If I did this again, I'd add some baking powder. Other than that, it was delicious.

Maple Pecan Cake

I made this for book club tonight, and, other than being a little too done on the bottom, it was really good.

Maple Pecan Cake

• Cake Ingredients:
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup pecan flour (or 1 cup toasted pecans mixed in the food processor)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 large egg yolks, beaten to blend
• 2/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup pecan or vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon brandy
• 6 large egg whites
• 1/3 cup sugar

• 1. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan with a removable rim. In a bowl, stir together all-purpose flour, pecan flour, baking powder, and salt.

  2. In a small bowl, mix egg yolks, maple syrup, pecan oil, and brandy. Pour into flour mixture; stir to combine.

  3. In a large bowl, with a mixer, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Beat in sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and continue to beat until glossy, about 2 minutes. Stir a quarter of the egg-white mixture into yolk mixture. Scrape into remaining egg-white mixture and fold in gently.

  4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in a 350° oven until cake springs back when lightly pressed in the center, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer in pan to a rack and let cool about 1 hour.

  5. Remove pan rim. Cut cake in half horizontally and place bottom layer on a cake plate. Spread half the maple-cream cheese frosting on bottom layer; top with remaining layer. Spread remaining frosting over top (leave sides bare). Sprinkle with chopped pecans.

• Frosting and Topping:
• • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (1/4 lb.) butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  In a bowl, with a mixer on low speed, beat cream cheese and butter until well blended. Beat in powdered sugar. Add syrup; beat until smooth. Sprinkle 1/2 cup toasted pecans on top.

Coconut Curry Chicken, Curry Sauce & Rice

Does anyone else have a better name for this dish?

1.  Make this Crispy Coconut Chicken
2.  Make rice- whatever kind you prefer
3.  Make this curry sauce:

Ingredients:
1 can chicken broth
1 can coconut milk
3 cloves garlic (chopped in food processor with onion)
1/2 yellow onion (chopped in food processor with garlic)
2 T olive oil
1 red pepper (sliced)
2-3 t curry powder
1 t ginger powder
3-4 T dried basil (fresh would be better- it just wasn't available)
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
cilantro (optional)

Directions:
In a medium sauce pan heat oil, add chopped garlic and onions.  Cook until onions are translucent.  Add chicken broth, red pepper, curry, ginger and simmer 10 minutes.  Add coconut milk, basil, salt, pepper, cilantro and simmer 10 more minutes.

Serve over chicken and rice.

Instant Oatmeal

Yes, it looks like mush, but I'm kind of excited about this little recipe. All the ingredients are optional, and they can all be adjusted by preference, but here's what I did.

4 cups oatmeal

3 tablespoons powder coffee creamer

1/4 cup oatmeal that's been ground in the food processor (makes it nice and thick)

1 cup dried apples, chopped up (I'd add more if I had more)

3 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup almonds and pecans

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Toast the nuts on a skillet in melted butter, add brown sugar until everything's toasted and coated. Let cool for a minute, then throw everything together in a bowl or ziplock bag and mix it up. Put some in a bowl, add hot water and/or milk and eat!

If my dried peaches hadn't gone bad, I'd do a 'peaches and cream' oatmeal. Also, I'll do dried cranberries in my next batch. I'm looking for ideas of what to add to this, what other grains would go well?

NO SOUP FOR YOU

Mulligatawny soup aka yellow curry soup.

Turned out yummy... and was gone fast at the progressive!

Recipe from Pioneer Woman, but I added a little something extra here and there...

Ingredients

• 1 whole Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, Cut Into Bite-Sized Pieces
• Salt And Black Pepper To Taste
• 4 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 whole Medium Onion
• I added carrots and celery
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced Finely
• ¼ cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 Tablespoon Curry Powder
• 32 ounces, fluid Chicken Broth
• 2 cups Half-and-half (I used coconut milk)
• 1 whole Granny Smith Apple, Peeled And Diced
• I added a potato as well
• 1 Tablespoon Sugar (white Or Brown) More Or Less To Taste
• 2 teaspoons Salt, More To Taste
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• Cayenne Pepper (optional, For Spice)

Preparation Instructions

Season diced chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden. Remove chicken to a plate. Set aside.

In the same pot, add butter and reduce heat to medium. Add diced onion and carrots and celery and garlic and stir to cook. Onions should be starting to brown.

Sprinkle flour over onions. Stir to combine, then stir in curry powder. Cook mixture over medium heat for one minute, stirring constantly.

Pour in chicken broth then potato. Stir to combine, then cook for five minutes. Add half and half or coconut milk, salt, pepper, and sugar, then cook for another five minutes.

Add chicken and diced apple and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes. Turn off and allow to stand 5 or 10 minutes before serving. Taste for seasonings before serving.

baked hot chocolate

Jayme's Baked Hot Chocolate

cake mix- prepared
chocolate chips
heavy cream
mini marshmallows
mugs

1. Preheat oven to 350, prepare mugs.
2. Use any chocolate cake mix.  I used one from this Cupcakes recipe book.
3. Fill mugs half full with batter.
4. Bake.  Remove and let cool.
5. Melt about 1/2 chocolate chips (I used semi sweet and milk) and 1/4 cup heavy cream in a double boiler.  Once smooth, pour over cake.  Immediately place marshmallows in ganache.

Cinnabon Popcorn

Cinnabon Popcorn

from Our Best Bites

12 C popped popcorn (about 2 bags of microwave popcorn)
1 C roughly chopped pecans
1 C brown sugar
3/4 t cinnamon
1/4 C Karo syrup
1 stick real butter (1/2 C)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
3 squares almond bark

Preheat oven to 250 degrees

Place popcorn and chopped pecans in a large bowl and set aside. (I had to use 2 bowls). Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a big, microwave-safe bowl.  Chop butter into chunks and place on top of sugar mixture. Pour corn syrup (or honey) over the top of everything.  Microwave on high for 30 seconds (just to soften the butter a bit) and then stir to combine.  Return to microwave and heat for 2 minutes. Remove and stir and then microwave for 2 minutes more (don't over cook it).  Remove from the microwave and add in vanilla and baking soda. Pour over popcorn.  Stir right away, and stir lots. Take too long and the caramel will harden on you. Keep stirring until everything is well coated. Spread popcorn mixture onto a foil-lined jelly roll pan.  Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

When it's done, give it a final stir and let it cool off for a bit while you melt your almond bark in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds.  Use a fork and drizzle the melted almond bark over the popcorn mixture.  I sprinkled a little more cinnamon on at this point for fun.

When it's hardened (pop it in the fridge to speed that process along) break into chunks and enjoy!

I brought this to school today. 

I'll let you know what they say (the faculty, not students- like I would make this for them.....)