Coconut Cream Cupcakes

These were DIVINE.

Cupcake Ingredients

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

5 extra-large eggs at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup buttermilk

14 ounces sweetened, shredded coconut

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In 3 parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in 7 ounces of coconut.
Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each liner to the top with batter. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.

Coconut Custard (for the filling)
(adapted from Bobby Flay's coconut custard recipe)

3/4 cup whole milk
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
4 large egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons cream of coconut
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Combine the milks and vanilla bean and seeds in a medium nonreactive saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Whisk together the yolks, sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl. Slowly whisk the warm milk into the egg mixture then return the mixture to the pot over medium heat and bring to a boil, whisking constantly, until thickened. Scrape the mixture into a bowl and whisk in the rum and vanilla extract. Let cool to room temperature then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours.

To finish the filling, mix:
3/4 cup coconut custard (recipe above), cold
3/4 cup very cold heavy cream

Combine the custard and cream in a bowl and whip until soft peaks form.

Fill the cupcakes, and then frost with the best whipped cream frosting ever:

Frosting Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups heavy cream

Directions:

Combine the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract and almond extract in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Fit the mixer with the whisk attachment and mix on medium speed until smooth. While the mixture is still whipping, slowly pour in the heavy cream. Stop and scrape the bottom of the bowl a couple of times while you continue whipping until the cream can hold a stiff peak.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Center and Almond Buttercream

These were pretty yummy too.

Back on the diet. I have been bad this week. I don't know about you, but the last 5 lbs. are the HARDEST!!

Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcake

• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 2 (1/2 cup-12 capacity) muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

When cooled, fill with dulce de leche (you can put an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk in the crock pot for 8 hours and it will "magically" turn into dulce de leche, by the way).

Almond Buttercream:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 8-9 cups confectioners' Sugar
• 1 1/2 Tsp. Vanilla ext.
• 1 Tsp. Almond ext.
• 1/2 to 1/3 cup milk

1.) Cream butter in mixing bowl until fluffy. Beat in confectioner's sugar 1-2 cups at a time with mixer. Add extracts. 2.) Add milk slowly until the desired "frosting" consistency is achieved.

YUM.
Ps. Stole the picture. I don't have any time to take pictures of the cupcakes I make and they're never as pretty, let's be honest :)

Lime Cupcakes

Another amazing recipe.

CUPCAKES•2 cups all purpose flour
•1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
•1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
•2 1/2 cup sugar
•4 large eggs (I actually messed up and only put 2 eggs in...and they STILL turned out great! Weird.)
•5 tablespoons fresh lime juice (I did less of this--like 2 Tbsp's because I filled the cupcakes with lime curd)
•2 tablespoons finely grated lime peel
•1/2 teaspoon neon-green food coloring
•1 1/2 cup buttermilk

FROSTING
•1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
•3 cups powdered sugar
•1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
•1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel
•1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
•1-2 Tbsp. lime juice

LIME CURD FILLING
Can I just say I LOVE LOVE LOVE lime curd? I really love lemon curd...had never had lime curd, and it is awesome. This recipe is so simple and SO good.

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon lime zest
2 eggs, beaten

Preparation

CUPCAKES
•Preheat oven to 350°F. Line standard muffin pan with 24 paper liners. Whisk both flours in medium bowl. Beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar; beat to blend. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then next 3 ingredients (batter may look curdled). Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions. Spoon scant 1/3 cup batter into each liner (an ice cream scoop is the perfect amount.)
•Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 18 to 25 minutes.(Mine always come out great at 18 minutes in my particular oven) Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool.

FROSTING
•Beat all ingredients in medium bowl until smooth. Spread over cupcakes.

LIME CURD1.Place the sugar, butter, lime juice, lime zest in the top of a double boiler; stir over medium-high heat until butter melts. Mix 2 tablespoons hot lime mixture into the eggs and stir to blend.
2.Reduce heat to medium until water simmers. Slowly whisk egg mixture into the lime mixture. (Be careful, if the liquid is too hot, the egg will cook...like imagine hard egg white floating around!) Cook over the double boiler until lime mixture thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly and spoon into a clean, glass jar. Cover and refrigerate.

So, I stuffed the cooled cupcakes with this delicious lime curd. Then I frosted them and added a sliced, sugared lime slice on top. Yummy and cute!

Recipe is from Bon Apetit. I doubled it though. And I tweaked the frosting to suit my needs :) I like it much better with lime juice and not just lime zest in it. And I found the lime curd recipe here.

My Version: Almond Joy Cupcakes

ANOTHER post NOT about the kids!!

So I've been doing cupcakes a lot lately. Funny that this post comes RIGHT AFTER the diet post lol :) But I do them on my cheat days, so it's OK. I could never open any kind of bakery though...being around baked goods 24-7 would mean 100 lb. weight gain for me, for sure!

So, today I made some chocolate cupcakes with almond...let's say "almond creme" (that sounds good) filling and coconut cream frosting. They were YUMMMM-O!!!

So I think I'll post the recipes, mainly so that I can find them later by tagging them as "recipes" and share the ones I have tried and tested with you so you can benefit (if you want to go to the trouble of making cupcakes :)

Anyway, here it is:



Adapted from Chockylit Cup Cake Bake Shop: (and I stole the picture online...I don't have time to take pictures of my cupcakes every time let's be honest... but these look about as yummy!)

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cupcakes
24 regular cupcakes / 350 degree oven


3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cocoa powdered (I use the Hershey's dark chocolate version...much better)
1-1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

1. Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating 30 seconds after each addition.
3. Measure the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and espresso powder into a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine.
4. Measure the milk and vanilla into a measuring thing.
5. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
6. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 1/2 to 2/3′s full (or they will overflow! I can do 34 cupcakes with this recipe). Bake at 350 degrees for about 18-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes outclean. (at 18 minutes, mine are PERFECT.)

This has become my go-to recipe for chocolate cupcakes. Super easy, nice and moist, but not too moist, and spongy enough to fill without falling apart.

Almond Creme Filling

Sounds so fancy with the title I just gave it! But it's not :) I just did:

3/4 can sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup almond butter
1/4 cup milk

NOT sure how accurate these measurements are because I kinda just made it up and blended it together adding milk until it came to the right consistency. So, start with the almond butter, add as much sweetened condensed milk you want (til you reach the taste and texture you want) and then add regular milk until it thins out enough to fill the cupcakes. You don't want it runny, but you don't want people feeling like they're eating a chewy ball of almond butter either.

Coconut Cream Icing:

This I adapted from a recipe in Southern Living Magazine (I guess). I found it online here. It's YUM. I added about a cup of coconut flakes and lessened the powdered sugar.

½ cup butter, softened
3 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup coconut flakes (sweetened)
¼ cup cream of coconut (I didn't stir it up in the can...I just put the chunky part in and left the liquid, so then it didn't make the frosting too runny)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended. Increase speed to medium, and slowly add cream of coconut and vanilla, beating until smooth.

Yield: 3 cups


Again, I hope these measurements are right--just play it by ear lol.

Creamy Yogurt Chicken

Had some chicken, some plain yogurt, and yadda yadda yadda...found this GREAT recipe. I have to say, this was pretty delicious!

Creamy Yogurt Chicken

□ 4 chicken split breasts, skinned (or I think 6 or 7 regular 1/2 lb. chicken breasts work!)
□ 4 tbsp. butter
□ 1/2 c. chopped onion
□ 1/2 c. chopped celery
□ 2 tbsp. cornstarch
□ 1 c. chicken broth
□ 1 c. low fat yogurt
□ 1/2 c. white cooking wine
□ 2 tbsp. lemon juice
□ Coarsely ground black pepper, to taste
□ 1 c. sliced fresh mushrooms

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a shallow baking dish; place chicken breasts in the pan. Bake, uncovered, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, over low heat, saute the onion and celery until tender in the remaining butter in a saucepan.

Dissolve cornstarch in chicken broth and add to sauteed mix, stirring until thickened. Add yogurt, wine, lemon juice and pepper, stirring until blended. Remove pan from oven. Turn each chicken breast and cover with sliced mushrooms. Pour sauce over all.

Bake, uncovered, for another 30 minutes or until chicken is done. Makes 4 servings.

Note: The chicken breasts I used were pretty thin, so I only baked them for 20 minutes, and then after pouring the sauce over them, another 10 minutes. I don't like overcooked chicken! I also found I had TONS of sauce (I did 4 regular chicken breasts) and that it went GREAT over some delicious basmati rice! Yummmmmmm.

Upon trying this recipe, you will NEVER make Bisquick waffles again!!! (unless you're crazy, of course)

Are you sick of hard-as-rock, way too dense waffles? I can just never seem to get them right, and I've tried a lot of different recipes. Well, I don't have to try ANY more. I found a SUPER EASY, delicious one, that is light and fluffy and has that great chewy texture...you know what I'm talking about--that spring when you pull off a piece. Man, I have such an incredible vocabulary. I should really be a food critic...

Anyway, here it is: And it only took me 4+ years to discover it was in the Essential Mormon Cookbook by Julie Badger Jensen, RIGHT under my nose (well, right in my cupboard all these years...)

Best Waffles Ever.

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup butter, melted

In a bowl, beat eggs. Add buttermilk, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and melted butter and beat until smooth. (I mixed it really well--you don't have to worry about "overmixing" with these!)

Cook like you normally do! They were wonderful even though I used that powdered buttermilk stuff too! Yield: makes about 4 cups of batter or about 4-8 waffles, depending on the size of your waffle iron. Mine is really big, and I halved the recipe so it made about 2 waffles.

PS. The other recipes in this cookbook are amazing too...

Butternut Squash Bisque

Due to popular demand, I'm posting this recipe! The great thing, is that, at least at my Costco, I can now get already-cubed butternut squash! I just put it in the freezer, and use it when I want to make this soup! It's so easy.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 3/4 cup diced carrots
• 4 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
• 1 apple
  
• 3 cups vegetable stock (or you can do three cups water with 3 chicken bouillon cubes)
  
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• ground nutmeg to taste
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat the oil and melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir the onion in the butter and oil under tender.
2. Mix the carrots and squash into the pot. Pour in vegetable stock, and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until vegetables are tender.
3. Add peeled apple in chunks.
   
4. In a blender or food processor, puree the soup mixture until smooth. Return to pot. If you have an immersion blender, you can just keep it in the pot and puree it there--much easier! Once pureed, stir in the heavy cream. Heat through, but do not boil. Serve warm with a dash of nutmeg.

Fresh Cranberry Apple Relish

Something I'm especially thankful for this season is FOOD. :) Especially delicious things like our family's traditional Cranberry-Pineapple-Apple Relish. I have looked for similar recipes, and no one seems to combine all three! My family can't even imagine Thanksgiving without it, to be honest--or Christmas! I now make it every year so that wherever I go, I have it! The Cranberry-Orange kind isn't as good...even though this picture has an orange in it...it was the best I could find online! Anyway, here's the recipe!

1 c. frozen or fresh cranberries, washed
1 or 2 apples, cored
1/2 c. crushed pineapple, drained
2/3 to 1 c. sugar
pinch of salt

Grind up cranberries and apples in a food processor. Mix all ingredients together and stir until sugar is dissolved. User the lesser amount of sugar if you want your relish to be more tart. Store in the refrigerator. (Best tasting if you let it sit in the refrigerator for a few hours before eating) You can also freeze this mixture for use at a later time.

If you make this for Thanksgiving, please let me know if you/everyone/anyone liked it!! (via great comments in this post :)

Fresh Black Bean Salsa

So, this is one of those crowd-pleaser foods I make when I want people to think I'm a good cook or something...little do they know how simple it is :) This is seriously HEAVENLY for anyone who loves salsa--especially the FRESH kind...not the cooked--cooked isn't quite as good as fresh salsa, I think!

It's always best to make this the day before--it tastes better as it all marinates in the dressing! And seriously, when I haven't had green onion, I've done regular onions, and that's good too, or red onion... this recipe is REALLY FORGIVING if you don't have everything :) (If you don't like cilantro, you could use parsley instead)

Dice:

4-5 large tomatoes

1 small bunch green onion

1 small bunch cilantro (they come in huge bunches, so I usually just do half, but it's perfect if you're doubling the recipe!)

Rinse and drain:

1 can shoepeg corn...this is hard to find, I hear Albertson's has it though (it's white corn)

1 can yellow corn
1 can black beans
1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

Add:

1 packet dry italian dressing

6 oz. rice vinegar

1/4 c. olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

Also, very important--BEST if eaten with the Tostitos "hint of lime" chips...yummm!!! You also may have to double this, since it goes fast!

GREAT Thin Crust Pizza!!

If you read my last post with my love for the "Tortilla Land" uncooked flour tortillas from COSTCO, you will know that...yes...we're obsessed...and yes...we like to make PIZZA with them! YUMMM. So, I thought I'd spread the obsession to you all with Jordan's own creation... "recipe..." or rather, "formula" for making GREAT personal tortilla pizzas.

This is what you do:

1. Preheat your oven to 450

2. Place 1 uncooked tortilla on the rack for 1 min, 30 seconds. (of course oven times will vary…mine tends to be fast) It will have puffed up into a giant balloon (maybe you can prick it with a fork first so this doesn’t happen, but don’t prick all the way through, bc the pizza sauce will leak through)

3. Take the puffed up tortilla out of the oven (don't worry, just prick it lightly with a fork and it will deflate!)

4. Then, flip it over so that the crispy side is up. That is the side you’ll put the sauce, cheese, and toppings on.

5. Once you’ve “dressed” the pizza, you put it in the oven again at the same temperature for about 7-12 minutes. Be careful to not over-cheese it. This is a very thin-crust pizza and is delicate. Always put it directly on the rack.

Jordan has perfected this recipe through trial and error, so shortcuts won’t work! Enjoy!