Winner and some recipes, finally!

Happy Fourth, everyone!  I wish I had some red, white, and blue goodies to show you (perhaps a sheet cake topped with Cool Whip, strawberries, and blueberries, anyone?), but I am fresh out of kitschy dessert recipes.  I am drinking a cup of coffee, listening to "Shaun the Sheep" in the next room, and I am still digesting the most wonderful dinner prepared by my dad AND a seriously, seriously delicious slice of birthday cake.  Having successfully finished week three of P90X, I tried to avoid the scale this morning (but oh, I am a glutton for punishment).  Needless to say, today will be a very spartan day for me.

It has been four days since I have logged onto Facebook, and although the first day was strange, I am doing well.  I do feel like there is a party raging that I have chosen not to attend, but what is new?  I am not much for parties, usually.

A bit of house-keeping, thanks to all of you who posted a response to my cake give-away blog.  The winner is Melissa (I believe "C."), which is hilarious to me.  Melissa has so much access to cake, that she actually smells like sugar.  Perhaps a pie or cookies?  So funny!  But she is the type of person who is so deserving of any gift bestowed on her, so I don't mind at all.  Thanks everyone for playing!

And onto some recipes.  I made a cake version of these cupcakes, and they were both heavenly!

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting

For the cake:

Beatty's Chocolate Cake (from Ina Garten)
* Makes 24

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup canola oil
1 t vanilla
3/4 t peppermint extract (not "mint")
1 cup hot coffee

In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients together with a whisk. In a separate bowl, mix the remaining ingredients (except the coffee) together.  Slowly pour your wet ingredients into your dry, stirring just until incorporated.  Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of your bowl!  Once finished, slowly pour in the coffee, mixing until incorporated.  Again, make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of your bowl!

As carefully as you can, pour the batter into 24 muffin cups, until 2/3 of the way full.  Try not to overfill, as these do not crown beautifully!

Bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes until done.  Immediately pull out the cupcakes and place on a cooling rack.  Prepare your frosting.

White Chocolate Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz of good quality white chocolate, chopped finely
8 oz cream cheese (I find it is best to use full-fat name brand)
16 oz unsalted butter
3 cups of powdered sugar, sifted
1 t peppermint extract
1 t vanilla extract

Melt the white chocolate in a double-boiler, or in a heat-proof bowl placed over simmering water.  Set aside to cool.

Cream your butter and cream cheese.  I find that yes, butter should be soft for making icing, but not too soft.  30 minutes outside of the fridge is just fine.  Cream it together very well, and then add the powdered sugar.  Mix on low until incorporated.  Add the extracts, and beat together until light and fluffy.

Slather on completely cool cupcakes.   Garnish with Grasshopper cookies or Thin Mints (if you have some left over), and a mint leaf.

Vanilla Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Vanilla Strawberry Cake (adapted from www.joyofbaking.com)

1 stick softened unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, room temperature
1 3/4 cups cake flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup good strawberry jam

Cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract until light and fluffy, around 7 minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time, and fully incorporate.

Whisk together the dry ingredients.  Alternating with the milk, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with the dry.  Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl in between additions.

Spoon into 24 lined muffin tins, until 2/3 full.  Drop a teaspoon of jam to the center of each cup, and swirl with a toothpick.  Put into an 350 oven and bake for 17-20 minutes.  Pull out of the tins immediately and completely cool.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 block cream cheese (full-fat & name-brand)
1/3 cup strawberry puree, seeds removed
3 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 t vanilla extract

Beat together butter, cream cheese, and strawberry puree.  Beat, scrape down bowl, and repeat until the three are completely incorporated.  Add sugar and vanilla, and beat again until light and fluffy.

Spread onto cooled cupcakes, and decorate as desired.

I did write this post yesterday, but completely forgot to post it.  I hope everyone had a very safe and happy Fourth.

Have a wonderful day!

Rachel Bee

Sometimes a girl needs...

A cake.

A whole cake, all to herself.  She can eat it all in one day, or she can cut it into slices and put them in the freezer to enjoy for- breakfast for a week.

And other times, a girl doesn't need a whole cake.  In fact, I am right to say that a girl rarely (if ever) needs to finish an entire cake on her own, no matter the size.  And when I made this for work...

... I did not intend on eating the whole thing, all by myself.

Would I create 8 fondant daisies for a cake I mean to eat by myself?  Would I cover it in delicate silver sprinkles?

Would I bake 4 layers of delicious, strawberry cake, and fill it with creamy Swiss Meringue Buttercream?

No.  No I wouldn't.

If I baked a cake for myself, it would look very little like this.  It would be full of berries and lemon curd, topped in (of course) cream cheese frosting, and probably pretty lumpy and not picture-worthy.

It would look nothing like this.  How vain do you think I am?

Don't answer that question...

But Saturday morning, I brought in this cake to work; and there it stood for hours, undisturbed.  I cut into it to give a slice to a client, and when I had some spare time, I took a slice myself.  And then, I enjoyed another slice.  And then my co-worker said to me, "Boy, you sure can put down some food."

Hmm...

And the cake continued to sit, and it was nearly 4:00PM.  So as it was time for me to go, I cut two, huge chunks of cake, and put it in my remaining co-workers' bags.  HA!  And they thought they weren't eating cake today.

"Wah ha ha ha!  Buah ha ha ha!"  Ahem.

As much as I like, even love my new place, they get no more cake.

Ever.  It is making me too chubby.

OK.  That is a bit harsh.  I can be persuaded.

After all, we are all so very cute...

I really like these people, and I would do nearly anything for them, including wearing a Polo shirt and posing beside a golf cart.

And I would bake them another cake, even if only to eat all by myself.  That's what being "confectionate" is all about.

Rachel Bee

Get into the van...

As you all may have gathered, I am a busy girl.  I am a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, stylist, knitter, baker, and song writer.  I like to picture myself as a mother of 9, driving all of my kids around in a gigantic blue van.  Each of my children gets her time in the front seat.  We chit-chat; labouring over dreams, successes, and failures.  Our heart-to-heart lasts until either one of my other babies clamours for attention, or I am simply annoyed, fed up, or even disappointed with our time.

Usually, life in the van is without major incident, but last week we picked up a pesky little hitch-hiker, by name: "The Cold."  He was malodorous, obnoxious, and selfish; not willing to share the front seat with anyone.  Sometime yesterday we pried him from the vehicle, and now I have 9 neglected and malnourished babies to care for.

Yikes.

So lets begin with a strawberry cake recipe, shall we?

Strawberry Cupcakes

Strawberry Cake

2 cups white sugar
1 package strawberry gelatin
1 cup butter, softened
4 eggs (room temperature)
2 3/4 cake flour
2.5 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 c whole buttermilk
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 cup strawberry puree

Preheat oven to 350.  Prepare your pans.

Cream together sugar, gelatin, and butter for 5-7 minutes, until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated.  Stir in vanilla.

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.  In another, mix together buttermilk and puree.  Add the dry and wet ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating between the two; beginning and ending with the flour.  Scrape the bowl between additions.

Divide between pans and toss into the oven, baking...

25 (or so) minutes for 2 8" rounds
15 (or so) for cupcakes

I say "or so" because I do not trust my oven sometimes, so I always start checking for doneness about 5 minutes beforehand.  These cakes look very moist, almost undone when they are finished.  Make sure you check with a tooth pick.

For the frosting I used the recipe found here for Marshmallow Frosting, but I added some pink food color.  You could also do a Cream Cheese Frosting (without the lime zest), or a Swiss Meringue Buttercream, but please, do not be fancy and try to add  too much strawberry puree to butter-based frosting.  It will separate and end up in the trash.

And you will cry.

Couldn't you just leave well enough alone?  It was pink!  It was sweet!  It had little strawberry seeds in it, making it adorable!

But you just had to add another tablespoon, didn't you?

Oh.  Sorry.  I digress.

So, enjoy this Strawberry Cake.  It tastes like spring.  It is pink.  It is delicious.

And maybe a skein or two of yarn can make it into the front seat of the van this evening.

Have a beautiful Monday.

Rachel Bee