Shortcut Guacamole
Posted by: cupcakegirl12 on: July 12, 2009
- In: Snacks
- 2 Comments
What do you do when you really want guacamole – but don’t have all the ingredients necessary to make it totally homemade?
You make shortcut guacamole! And it’s so fast and easy to make, I had no trouble preparing it after a long day at the pool.
To get started, first you mash up two ripe avocados into a bowl:
Add fresh chopped cilantro – about a handful.
Then add two big tablespoonfuls of fresh salsa – I use medium, but you could use any kind you like. Try to drain off most of the liquid, so your guacamole isn’t runny.
Add a pinch of salt, and squeeze the juice of half a lime into the bowl:
Mix well, and put it into a bowl:
Serve it with chips, then sit back and enjoy the compliments!
Editors Note: I’d like to compliment Sabrina on her excellent photography skills – she took the last photo herself!
Mushroom Cupcakes
Posted by: Megan on: July 5, 2009
- In: Cupcakes
- 4 Comments
Just so you know, this blog isn’t only about cupcakes, but after looking through Hey There, Cupcake! recently, I was inspired to recreate the mushroom village I saw in the book.
My mom stopped me from making the entire village, however, so I had to settle for a small town instead. 
First, I baked up the recipe for vanilla cupcakes.
And more math! At least the downsizing of the recipes is getting easier.
After the cakes were finished, I set them aside to cool, and made the icing.
Instead of doing red icing with white dots, like the book showed, I decided to do pink and green icing, with white dots.
It’s getting easier to ice the cakes smooth – I guess the Wilton classes I took last summer is finally paying off!
Then it was time to pipe the dots!
I liked this part a lot:
Hmmm, this one’s a bit lopsided – that’s ok, I’ll eat it first:
Nothing like cupcakes by the pool!
And, since I only iced a few, and froze the rest, I can create lots of different cakes without turning the oven – which is good because it’s getting really hot here.
Enjoy!
White Cupcakes - Hey There, Cupcake!
3 cups all purpose flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 ¾ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 ¼ cups milk (I used buttermilk)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.
Stir together flour, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, combine butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine buttermilk and vanilla in a measuring cup, and add to butter mixture alternately with flour mixture.
Pour the batter into the liners. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the centers spring back when touched.
Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
½ cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
½ tsp salt
1/3 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
In a large bowl, beat butter until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and beat until smooth and creamy.
Pork Tenderloin in Chimichurri Sauce
Posted by: Megan on: June 25, 2009
- In: Dinner
- 7 Comments
Since I want to make more than dessert this summer, here is a great recipe that I prepared for dinner this week.
Way back when my mom first started up with Tyler Florence Fridays, this was the second recipe she made.
And I liked it so much that I asked her to make it again, but she said “Why don’t you make it instead?” So while she iced her hand from burning it on the oven rack, I gathered my ingredients and got to work.
First I peeled the garlic:
And added the canned jalapeno peppers:
Then red wine vinegar:
Fresh parsley and oregano:
Fresh lime juice:
You might notice my clothes have changed in the next photo. I was attacked by the mini prep – I guess the lid wasn’t on properly and I was spattered with vinegar once the machine turned on. I didn’t want to walk around smelling like salad all day, so I had to change my clothes. Oh, my mom got splattered too!
I finished the marinade with olive oil, salt and pepper:
I combined the marinade with the pork, and let it hang out in the refrigerator while I made guacamole and dessert (which I’ll post another day).
My dad grilled it for me, and here is the final result:
My mom said I should submit this for Tyler Florence Fridays, which is a really cool group that makes all of Tyler’s recipes.
I want to try his Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon next.
Pork Tenderloin with Chimichurri Sauce - Tyler Florence
6 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
About 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
About 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh oregano leaves
3 limes, juiced
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
2 pork tenderloins (about 1 pound each), trimmed of excess fat, patted dry
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
Lime juice, for drizzling
Parsley sprigs, for garnish
Combine the garlic, jalapeno and vinegar in a bowl. Stir in the parsley, oregano, and lime juice. Whisk in the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside at room temperature to allow the flavors to marry.
Reserve 1/2 cup of the chimichurri to serve and marinate the pork in the rest. Put the pork and marinade in a sealable plastic bag and set aside in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Preheat an outdoor charcoal grill or oven broiler to high.
Remove the pork from the marinade, wiping off any excess. Season both sides with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and place on the grill. Grill the pork on the hottest part of the barbecue for 4 minutes per side, until well charred. Allow the tenderloin to rest for about 5 minutes prior to slicing. Spoon some chimichurri over the meat, drizzle with lime juice, garnish with parsley, and serve with the remaining sauce at the table.
Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes
Posted by: cupcakegirl12 on: June 20, 2009
- In: Cupcakes
- 11 Comments
Do you like Oreos? How about cheesecake?
Well, I certainly do – and from the Martha Stewart Cupcakes book, I found the perfect way to combine two of my favorite things.
Here’s how I did it – first, line a muffin pan with paper liners, and then put Oreos on the bottom for the crust. It’s cool because the entire cookie is the crust.
Next, I put the hand mixer together. I didn’t get to use the 7 Quart Mixer, because I was making a smaller quantity again. It was much easier to scale this one down!
Then I beat up the cream cheese. I like that part.
I added sugar next:
Then I added the egg – it was such a small amount!
Sour cream went in next:
Then I took my frustrations out on the Oreos. But that was after I ate a few.
One more turn with the mixer:
I divided it up between the cups, and into the oven they went.
Mmmm – cheesecake!
And look – when I flipped it over, here’s the crust!
Thanks for visiting me!
Cookie and Cream Cheesecakes - Martha Stewart Cupcakes
makes 30 cheesecakes
42 Oreos – 30 left whole, and 12 coarsely chopped
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.
With an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.
Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.
Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes.
Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight).
Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes
Posted by: cupcakegirl12 on: June 13, 2009
- In: Cakes
- 16 Comments
Welcome to my new blog!
I spent last summer blogging with my brother as *Cooking With The Kids*.
But this summer, I have decided to branch out on my own -and this blog will chronicle my adventures in the kitchen as I expand my culinary skills.
For my first blog post, I have made Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes, from Martha Stewart’s new book, Cupcakes.
They were actually pretty easy to make – the first part of the recipe involved learning how to scale down a recipe. It involved math – and I hate math. But Mom says it’s important, so we sat together and I scaled the recipe from 20 cupcakes down to 4. She says it will get easier each time I do it.
I started out by warming the butter and milk together:
Then I measured out my dry ingredients:
I used a hand mixer to whip the eggs and sugar together until they formed a ribbon:
In between shooting hoops, my brother watched me, wondering when he’d get to eat the cake.
Until my mom chased him away by taking pictures:
So while those two were goofing off, I finished the cupcakes by beating in the dry ingredients, then folding in the melted butter and milk:
After 20 minutes, I had 4 cupcakes that looked just like this:
While the cupcakes cooled, it was time to make the custard filling:
Then the ganache:
The next day, it was time to put it all together:
Behold – the Boston Cream Pie Cupcake:
And one more picture, just because the ganache looked so pretty and shiny:
The Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes were so tasty!! My mom and I decided to pour the rest of the ganache on our cupcakes to make them even more chocolatey and delicious!
Thanks for visiting – I hope you come back and see me again!
Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes – Martha Stewart, Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for tins
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole milk
3 ounces (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for tins
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour standard muffin tins. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Warm milk and butter in a saucepan over low heat.
Beat eggs and sugar with a mixer on high speed until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. Beat in dry ingredients.
Bring milk and butter to a boil. With mixer on low speed, add milk mixture to batter, and beat until smooth. Add vanilla. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each halfway. Bake cupcakes until light gold, about 15 minutes. Let cool in tins for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks. Let cool.
Using a serrated knife, cut each in half horizontally. Spread 1 tablespoon vanilla cream on each cupcake bottom. Sandwich with top. Spoon glaze over each, and serve immediately.
Vanilla Pastry Cream
2 large egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
Pinch of salt
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Whisk yolks until smooth. Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add milk in a slow, steady stream. Cook, stirring, until mixture begins to bubble and thicken, about 5 minutes.
Pour 1/3 of milk mixture into yolks, whisking constantly. Return mixture to saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until thick, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in vanilla.
Pass vanilla cream through a fine sieve into a bowl. Press plastic wrap directly on surface. Refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days.
Chocolate Ganache Glaze
2/3 cup heavy cream
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
Remove from heat, and add chocolate and corn syrup. Let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, and let cool, stirring often. Use immediately.
