Red Velvet Cupcakes

As Easter approached, I remembered I had these beautiful cupcake wrappers my mom had purchased last year and knew I couldn't let this year pass without using them. But which cupcake to choose? A delicate vanilla bean? A strawberry cupcake with strawberry buttercream? A rich chocolate with ganache? There were too many choices, so I asked my girls what kind of cupcake they wanted for Easter.

Here's how the conversation went down:
Me: "So girls, what kind of cupcakes should we make for Easter?"
My Big Girl (without missing a beat): "Red Velvet!!"
Me, knowing she had never had a red velvet cupcake before wondered how on earth this could've possibly entered her subconscious: "Red velvet? Really?"
MBG: "Yes, that's what I want. It has to be red velvet. Easter is about Jesus and His death on the cross, so we need a red cupcake. You know, for his blood."
Me (also never having had a red velvet cupcake and worried about how much it would dye the cupcake papers): "Are you sure you don't want a nice vanilla with chocolate icing?"

I couldn't sway them. They were committed. It was Jesus cupcakes or bust.

I did a bit of homework before settling on Annie's red velvet cupcakes, and I really couldn't have been more pleased with the results. I'm no red velvet expert, but we all thought they tasted delicious. The icing was the perfect topper, too: creamy, just sweet enough, and piped beautifully onto the cupcake. And, as it turned out, they were a most delicious way to remember that Easter is more than eggs and bunnies, even if they are decorated beautifully with them. :)

Red Velvet Cupcakes 
(aka Jesus Cupcakes)

Yield: About 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the cake:

• 2½ cups cake flour
• 1½ cups sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tbsp. cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1½ cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 tbsp. (1 oz.) liquid red food coloring, or ½ tsp. red gel-paste food color
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. distilled white vinegar

For the frosting:*

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract (use clear for a prettier colored icing)
• 2½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt; whisk to blend.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar.  Beat on medium speed until well blended.  Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. The batter will be runny.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared liners.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes.  Let cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.  Mix in the vanilla extract.

Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth.  Frost cooled cupcakes as desired

*Per Annie: If you are big on frosting as I am, you may want to increase the quantities by 50%.  That is what I typically do for a batch of 24 cupcakes.  I usually end up with some left over, but I would rather have too much frosting than not enough!

Source: Annie's Eats, originally from Apple a Day adapted from Saveur, via The Way the Cookie Crumbles, frosting adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Spring is more than in the air here in the Midwest. My daffodils and hyacinths have come and gone (over two weeks ago!), the grass has already been mowed, and I've had to weed my garden. Twice. What a strange, kind of wonderful start to the year. While my husband mourned the lack of snow this past winter, I was doing jubilant dances as I didn't have to shovel once.

My youngest and I made these delicious cookies on a cold winter's day, and they tasted so much like spring that I couldn't decide whether to share them sooner or later. I chose later. :)

The cookie is pretty much the perfect lemon cookie: As you bite into it, it's slightly crunchy, but that yields to a chewy interior. And Lauren (whose blog this recipe came from) remarked that just out of the oven, it tasted a lot like a lemon bar, and I couldn't agree more. My little taste tester gave her approval.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Yield: 2-3 dozen

Ingredients:

• ½ cups Butter, Softened
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1 whole Egg
• 1 teaspoon Lemon Zest
• 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ¼ teaspoons Baking Powder
• ⅛ teaspoons Baking Soda
• 1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
• ½ cups Powdered Sugar 

Preheat oven to 350° degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non stick cooking spray and set aside. Alternatively, use parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla, egg, lemon zest and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.
  
Source: Lauren's Latest

Homemade Hot Giardiniera

It takes a lot for me to get excited about a turkey and cheese sandwich. A lot. But, boy, does this giardiniera do the trick.

Having never tried giardiniera during my one visit to Chi-town, the concept for this as a sandwich topping was one I could kind of care less about. I don't eat hot dogs and rarely eat Italian beef sandwiches, so this wasn't really on my "to make" list. However, after watching a couple episodes of the Sandwich King, along with reading so many great reviews on Jeff Mauro's recipe, my mind was changed and I decided I had to at least try it.

I'm not going to lie, I had my doubts. Especially after pulling it out of the refrigerator after the initial 24 hour saltwater brine process. To say it smelled unappetizing may be an understatement. My husband wasn't convinced that it would be edible, but I was only three small steps away from completion, so I persevered.  Thank God I did. The end result was a slightly spicy, flavorful topping that I think my sandwich is so much better for being topped with. Even my husband, who has a thing against crunchy, uncooked vegetables seem to really enjoy this.

I followed the recipe as written using five Serrano peppers. It gave it a really nice, but not overpowering heat. I highly recommend making sure the saltwater brine is rinsed off the veggies thoroughly after their first night in the fridge. If you don't do a good job rinsing, I understand the giardiniera may turn out too salty. This is also one of those condiments that just gets better with age, which is a nice bonus because it makes a lot. And we all know I love a recipe that I can share with a friend or three.

Homemade Hot Giardiniera

Yield: 3 - 4 cups

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup table salt
• 1 cup small-diced carrots
• 1 cup tiny cauliflower florets
• 4 to 8 Serrano peppers, sliced (depending on heat level desired)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 stalk celery, diced small
• 1 red bell pepper, diced small
• 2 cups canola oil
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine 2 cups water and the salt in a glass or non-reactive bowl. Mix until the salt is dissolved. Add the carrots, cauliflower, Serranos, garlic, celery and bell pepper to the salt water and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Day 2, drain and rinse the vegetables. In a clean bowl, mix together the oil with the oregano and pepper. Add the vegetables and mix to combine. Allow to marinate overnight. Giardiniera will only get better with time. After 2 days at the most in the bowl, you can place in air-tight mason jars and keep in the fridge for at least 2 to 3 weeks.

Source: Food Network's Sandwich King, Jeff Mauro

St. Patrick's Day Deliciousness

Looking for some tasty ideas for St. Patrick's Day? Here are some of the goods that may be coming from my kitchen again this year:

Better than Bailey's Homemade Irish Cream

What's not to love? It's better than Bailey's (and I actually really enjoy Bailey's). This stuff is GOOD.

Irish Soda Bread

A tender, slightly fruity, almost no-knead bread. And you look like a rock star because you made your own bread. How easy it was can be our little secret.

Guinness and Bailey's Irish Cream Cupcakes

Moist chocolatey cupcake. Rich chocolate ganache. Velvety smooth Irish cream buttercream. Chocolate shavings. Absolute heaven. Make these. They really are as good as they sound.

I've also got a couple new recipes on deck. My youngest loves all things mint chocolate chip (and really, who could blame her?!), so we have this mint chocolate chip cookie recipe on the agenda for Friday. I'm also pretty curious about this cheddar Guinness dip. I can have dip with a cupcake and an Irish cream chaser, right?

Steel Cut Oats with Apples and Raisins

I love trying new ways to make oatmeal. Maybe I'm secretly hoping that one of these versions my kids will flip for, but so far, no luck. I think it's a texture thing. And one thing steel cut oats are not lacking in is texture. They are both nutty, creamy, and chewy all at once. If you're new to steel cut oats, my description doesn't really do them justice.

This version was delicious: The apple, cinnamon, raisin combination is pretty classic, and the maple syrup really amp-ed up the sweetness. I halved the recipe and the leftovers were also tasty, with just a small amount of milk added while reheating.

If those sweetened packets of instant oatmeal are your thing, shake things up a bit with this healthier version. As with other versions I've shared, if apples and raisins don't sound that appealing, use any other variety of dried fruit and nuts. I see a cranberry pecan version in my future.

Steel Cut Oats with Apples and Raisins

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

• 3 cups water
• 1 cup (2% or 1%) milk
• 1 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 cup steel-cut oats
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and grated
• 1/3 cup raisins
• ¼ cup maple syrup

Combine the water and milk in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a simmer.  Meanwhile, melt the butter in a 10- or 12-inch skillet over medium heat.  Add the oats and toast, stirring occasionally, until golden and fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Stir the toasted oats into the simmering liquid.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently until the mixture is very thick, about 20 minutes.  Stir in the salt, cinnamon, apple, raisins and maple syrup.  Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until all of the liquid has been absorbed and the oatmeal is creamy, about 10 minutes more.  Remove from the heat and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Source: The America's Test Kitchen Healthy Cookbook

King Cake

My love affair with king cake started about seven years ago. My husband and I had picked one up from a Giant Eagle bakery and we loved it! Sadly, that was also the last year we ever saw one there.

Every year around Mardi Gras, I kept my eyes opened for just the right cake. We've tried several, but none were that good or very memorable. Last year, I went a step further in my search. I contacted several Giant Eagle stores around town hoping to surprise my husband with the real deal. I was so excited when I found one store had the materials to make us one! We were so excited to have our beloved original cake get in our bellies. Only it wasn't our beloved cake. It was completely sub par: dry, bland, mediocre.

This year, I decided enough was enough. It was time to take matters into my own hands. Armed with a delicious sounding (and looking!) recipe from Bunkycooks, I set to work. I had the dough made and rising in about 30 minutes. While the dough rose, I assembled my filling, cleaned up the kitchen, and perused Pinterest, not necessarily in that order.

The dough took about an hour and a half to rise, and was a dream to roll out,  needing very little flour. The entire assembly process for two cakes only took about 15 minutes. After a 45 minute rise, they were ready for the oven. 25 minutes later, they were out of the oven and ready to get fancy. Yea Mardi Gras!

The results were sublime. King cake is a bit of a misnomer as this is definitely a sweet bread, but what a delicious sweet bread it is. The filling which includes brown sugar, raisins, and pecans is so good; the hint of nutmeg in the pastry was just perfect; and the incredibly simple powdered sugar/water icing brought it all together beautifully. I daresay, it was even better than the original king cake we had spent so many years looking for. My good friend Jo declared that making this should become a new tradition and I couldn't agree more.

Even though Mardi Gras is over for this year, do yourself a favor and don't put off making this until next year. Through it together, top it with some pretty pastel icing and call it "Easter Cake." People will thank you. Or throw some green sprinkles on there and it's "Shamrock Cake." Halloween? You know what to do.  

King Cake

Yield: 2 cakes

Ingredients:
Pastry:

• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 2/3 cup warm water (110° F)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup melted butter 

Frosting:

• 2 cup confectioners' sugar, divided
• 2- 2½ Tbsp. water, divided

Directions
For pastry:
Scald milk, remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup of butter. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water with 1 tablespoon of the white sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

When yeast mixture is bubbling, add the cooled milk mixture. Whisk in the eggs. Stir in the remaining white sugar and salt. Combine the flour and the nutmeg. Beat the flour/nutmeg mixture into the milk/egg mixture 1 cup at a time. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Alternatively, if using a stand mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix at medium speed for 6-7 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.

Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1.5-2 hours. When risen, punch down and divide dough in half.

Preheat oven to 375°. Grease 2 cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

For filling:
Combine the brown sugar, ground cinnamon, chopped pecans, 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup raisins. Pour 1/2 cup melted butter over the cinnamon mixture and mix until crumbly.

To assemble:
Roll dough halves out into large rectangles (approximately 10x16 inches or so). Sprinkle the filling evenly over the dough and roll up each half tightly like a jelly roll, beginning at the wide side. Bring the ends of each roll together to form 2 oval shaped rings. Place each ring on a prepared cookie sheet. With scissors or a very sharp knife, make cuts 1/3 of the way through the rings at 1 inch intervals. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. Push the doll or large pecan, if using, into the bottom of the cake. Frost while warm with the confectioners' sugar blended with 1 to 2 tablespoons of water.
 
Note: My cakes took about 25 minutes to bake. I covered them with aluminum foil at about 15 minutes to avoid excessive browning, and rotated the pans top to bottom/left to right halfway through baking.


Note: When you are ready to ice the cakes, you will want to make the icing separate (1 c. powdered sugar and 1 Tbsp. water) for each cake, especially if you are going to sprinkle them with colored sugars. The icing hardens pretty quickly.

Source: Bunkycooks

Quick and Easy Cinnamon Rolls

These are not the kind of cinnamon rolls that you labor over, waiting in eager anticipation while they rise, only to find that the temperature of the milk was too hot and killed the yeast. Not even close.

These are easy. No dough making required. Perfect for those mornings that your kiddos ask for cute heart-shaped cinnamon rolls. Guess who was the super mom this morning? This girl. A little pre-made store-bought pizza dough, butter, cinnamon, and sugar, plus about the 10 minutes I spent in assembly was all that was needed. Did I mention they are an IKEA cinnamon roll knock-off? You heard me.

The cute heart shape was courtesy of Gourmet Mom on the Go. The perfect breakfast for someone you love.

Quick and Easy Cinnamon Rolls

Yield: 6 Rolls

Ingredients:

• 1 package Trader Joe's plain pizza dough*
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375° degrees. Combine cinnamon and sugar. On a lightly-floured surface, roll pizza dough into a 9-inch square. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, leaving 1/2 inch border of plain dough around edges.

Roll dough to form a tight log, pinching to seal the seam shut. With the seam side down, cut evenly into six pieces with a serrated knife. Place in buttered pan, and brush tops with any remaining butter.

Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool for a few minutes before icing.

*Note from The Kitchn: You can substitute 2 packages of Pillsbury's French Loaf dough for the Trader Joe's pizza dough. The Pillsbury dough also made tasty rolls, but did they not rise as much in the oven.

Icing **
1 tablespoon whipped cream cheese
1 tablespoon buttermilk
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

Whisk cream cheese and buttermilk in large bowl until thick and smooth. Sift in confectioners' sugar; whisk until smooth glaze forms, about 30 seconds.

Drizzle glaze over buns with a spoon. Or, if you want to get fancy, fill a plastic Ziploc bag with the glaze, cut off the tip of one corner, and drizzle in a professional-looking zigzag. Serve warm.

 **I have not tried this icing, as a quick mix of a little milk, powdered sugar, and a dash of vanilla is the quickest and easiest icing, and my preferred recipe when in a hurry. I included the original icing recipe because I wanted you to have the full Ikea-knock-off experience, if your looking for that sort of thing.

Source: The Kitchn. Heart shape design from Gourmet Mom on the Go.