Blackberry Lime Cupcakes
As many of you may know this last week was Teacher Appreciation week. Now, I normally don’t buy into the teacher appreciation idea but with the new school my boys are going to I appreciate that there is some really great teachers at that school. To share the goodies with everyone I made some Blackberry Lime cupcakes.
After hours of looking online for inspiration and being picky about wanting something that would fit the seasonal bill I had an epiphany. Why not combine the two? At first, a Strawberry Lemon cupcake cake was on my list but it is so traditional and I just wanted to get away from the usual. Sorry for the frozen pictures but these photos were snapped on the way out the door at 8AM after the cupcakes had been the freeze all night.
Blackberry Lime cupcakes with a bit of frost.
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin/cupcake tin with paper or foil liners.
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add butter, Greek yogurt, egg and lime zest and juice; beat at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula and mix for another 10 seconds.
Divide batter evenly among cups of prepared cupcake tin using a small ice cream scoop. Bake until cupcake tops are a pale gold; about 22 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from tin and transfer to wire rack; cool cupcakes to room temperature before frosting.
With an electric stand mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy, for 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, and then add the blackberry jam, and mix until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
Fill piping bag fitted with a 2D tip. Frost top of cupcake. Garnish with a slice of lime and a blackberry on top.
If making the cupcakes a day ahead they can be frozen just bring up to room temperature about 2 hours before serving.
http://mooshujenne.com/blackberry-lime-cupcakes/
On another subject, I have a question for my readers. My grandmother loves bingo but with her not being able to move around quite as well as she use to, it is impossible to take her to the bingo hall. I have been searching online at sites where you can add a little money in and play bingo and win prizes. Something like Cheeky Bingo. Does anyone have any suggestions about these sites? Do you play? I am thinking about setting her up on one and putting money in for her to play. Might be a great Christmas present. Your feedback is welcome!
Vivid Salad in a Jar
Ever since the new revelation of salads in a jar on Pinterest, I have been dead set on making different salads to go in jars and eat through out the week for lunch. Trying to talk the teenage boys in my house into taking them to school for lunch rather then a PB&J. I love to use what is in season. For a cheat sheet to see what is in season before going to the store monthly have a look at Food Network’s Produce Guide. It helps with ideas and what to buy that should be fresh.
What’s great about the jar is it keeps the salad fresh longer. I have many variations of these salads and you can get just as creative. Have a look at my Green Salad for another salad that can go into the jar. Soon I hope to add more salad recipes for healthy lunches. If you come up with one please feel free to put a link in the comments as I would love to try it out!
Ingredients Instructions In a medium bowl, add all your sliced fruits and vegetables. Drizzle with Italian dressing to your preferred amount. Salt and pepper and toss. Add to glass jar and seal tightly. Store in fridge for up to a week.
Looking forward to seeing your combinations! Let me know how you like my vivid salad in a jar.
Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
When the Summer season is upon us it is just too hot to cook indoors. Though when your grill tank is out that perceives to be a problem. The quickest meals to make with less effort and money is pesto. Very few ingredients, hardly no heat, and super quick to throw together. The only thing I suggest is owning a food processor. If you don’t have one your so missing out! These guys can whip up a quick pesto to a delicious dressing to a super spicy salsa in seconds! Buy yourself one, you won’t regret it. Either that or ask for one as a gift for your birthday; that’s what I did!
When searching your local market for Sun dried Tomatoes you might find it difficult to get them whole. I hope in the near future I will figure out the drying process of these, but in the meantime, try to find them whole and make sure to drain the oil from them as it adds to much oil to the pesto. I love a Romano or a Parmesan Reggiano but the cheese is completely up to you on which of the stinky cheeses you like. The strongest of all the suggestions with this recipe is to definitely buy a basil plant and use the basil straight from it. It seriously gives the best flavor when fresh. I never suggest using dried basil in pesto as it offsets the texture completely. Besides, fresh basil smells so good and you can plant the roots to regrow the plant!
Ingredients
Instructions
In a large pot, boil water with olive oil and salt. When water is boiling add in pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes depending on pasta. Follow pasta package for detailed instructions.
In a food processor, add in basil, garlic, and sun-dried tomatoes. Process for 1 minute until the tomatoes are in small bits. While processing add in olive oil slowly till you get a paste. Be careful not to add to much oil.
In a large bowl, add drained pasta, reserving a 1/2 cup of pasta water into bowl with pasta. Add pesto and cheese to pasta and toss. Salt and pepper to taste and serve while hot.
http://mooshujenne.com/sun-dried-tomato-pesto/
Strawberry Lemon Basil Dressing
Are you super picky about dressings? I know I definitely pick apart dressings. Ranch dressing is huge here in Texas but it definitely is not my favorite. I love the red house dressing all Italian restaurants serve. I can never figure out what’s in it, in which that is why it is my next quest.
I was very lucky to receive the chance to review OXO’s new Salad Dressing Shaker. I love this product! It serious keeps my homemade dressings fresher longer and is a simple storage device that fits perfectly into the fridge door. The little lever on the top makes it easy to use and I love the suction that helps keep it fresh. The even cooler aspect is they gave me one for one lucky winner to win here on the blog (more below).
But before I just lead you right into the contest, I want to show off my new recipe for Strawberry Lemon Basil Dressing. It is completely vegetarian, healthy and tart!
Ingredients Instructions Wash the strawberries. Take off tops.
In a food processor, add in strawberries and basil. Blend for about 1 minute until pureed. Add in lemon juice and zest; careful not to let the seeds drop in. Add in the 4 tablespoons of yogurt and process till mixed well. Slowly drizzle olive oil into processor while running, stopping periodically to check the consistency; it should be thick but running, not too thin. Add in salt and blend to mix well. Store dressing in container or glass jar in fridge. Saves for up to two weeks.
To enter the giveaway follow the instructions below on the Rafflecopter. This giveaway is sponsored by OXO.
Avocado Alfredo
Fridays are generally the one day of the week that I do not want to cook. There is a little Italian joint in town, named Italian Villa, that I always end up at having a spaghetti and meatballs; on rare occasions a Philly cheese steak. It is safe to say that I love pasta. To curve that craving, do it healthy, and have something that screams “Spring” for this Friday I had fun being uber creative with this Avocado Alfredo. Avocado is the super fruit! The super fruit is fun to use in many dishes. Do not let people fool you into thinking that it can not be warmed. It does not get bitter if you heat it slow. In this dish it is not heated. The pasta warms the avocado and many other flavors of this dish. The family gave me a few strange looks when I set this on the table but ended up enjoying it. Plus, it is perfect for Easter weekend with its colors!
Ingredients
Instructions
Fill large pot of water and set on stove to boil.
Meanwhile, in the food processor add in garlic and parsley and pulse for 30 seconds. Add in avocado and lemon juice; pulse for 1 minute till avocado is smooth. Add in heavy whipping cream and pulse for 30 seconds till well blended. Add Parmesan and pulse till well blended.
Fry bacon and set aside. Save bacon grease.
Cook pasta for 8 to 10 minutes until done. Strain and add it to a large bowl. Pour avocado sauce into the large bowl. Wash out processor, add your bacon, and pulse till you have homemade bacon bits. Add bacon bits to the bowl and add about two tablespoons of the bacon grease. Toss pasta till well covered and serve.
http://mooshujenne.com/avocado-alfredo/
Check out another great recipe for a Friday.
Red Grapefruit Parmesan Salad
What a heck of day here in North Texas! Pick up the teens early due to tornadic weather reports. Glad I got them home before the schools went on lock down. My daughter’s school thought it would be a bright idea to just leave the kids in the classroom cause their is glass in some of the hallways. Though I agree, I don’t think the classroom is a good place either. Why not the gym? Not to mention it took them over 30 minutes after the sirens went off (and were still going off) to decide to move the kids. The sirens went off after I decided to go get my boys (as I was walking to the car) and I went to their school first, which had them in the hallway, and then headed to my daughter’s school; in which I encounter chaos and mayhem. The secretary had the nerve to tell us that we had to wait while they handled the kids. My first thought, you should have handled the kids thirty minutes ago and there would be no chaos. Wow!
After that we headed home and watched the show outside unfold and the reports on the TV of over 12 tornadoes that touch down around our area. The closest two were Grapevine and Coppell. Both are less then 15 minutes from me. I am glad there is no reports of badly injured people. I feel horrible for those without power. I did manage to take a few shots as the storm died off, in which, they will be on the blog tomorrow for Wordless Wednesday.
This a simple red grapefruit parmesan salad I make when the power goes out or just for a easy, quick lunch at home. I used a bottled vinaigrette salad dressing but I hope soon to have a homemade version up on the site!
Ingredients
Instructions
On a plate, add lettuce and top with grapefruit slices and red onion rounds. Grate Parmesan cheese over the top and drizzle with French Vinaigrette dressing.
http://mooshujenne.com/red-grapefruit-parmesan-salad/Homemade Corn Dogs
What a fun week this was! Took my daughter to go see Hot Chelle Rae in concert and she got a chance to meet them. We delivered them 24 cupcakes that they enjoyed. More can be read about that at Muusat with a complete story including a recipe for the cupcakes and pictures.
This is a recipe I use to make corn dogs with out all the creepy lurky ingredients of those frozen dogs you buy at the store. What I truly love about making these from scratch is that you can seriously add any extras you would like to the batter. I prefer jalapenos and cheese. You could add bacon, corn, cheese, jalapenos, blueberries, and strawberries. Really the sky is the limit!
Stop buying store bought junk and try the endless possibilities at home. You can even make them mini corn dogs. Just cut up your dogs before adding them to the batter. Homemade corn dogs are the bomb diggity!
This will give you an idea of how thick your batter should be.
Don’t forget to dry those dogs.
You can fry them in a fryer or just use a pan. I prefer the pan as it uses less oil and it is definitely budget friendly.
I wish had a picture of my final project but alas the sun was going down as I was cooking these bad boys and I couldn’t get a decent picture. Next time I make some I will be sure to add the finished product picture here.
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oil to 375 degrees. Preheat oven to 190 degrees. Line a baking sheet with clean paper towels and place it in the oven.
In a large bowl, combine the corn meal, all-purpose flour, salt, pepper, sugar, cheese, jalapenos and baking powder. Add the egg, milk, and honey. Mix until thoroughly combined, adding more milk, as needed.
Dry the hot dogs by rolling them on paper towels. Dip one hot dog at a time into the batter and using a toothpick or your hands pull out and set into hot oil. (careful not to splash hot oil and burn yourself). Fry the corn dogs for 3 to 5 minutes until deep golden brown. Place the cooked corn dogs on the baking sheet in the oven to drain off excess grease and keep warm till the rest are cooked. Serve once all corn dogs are finished frying.
http://mooshujenne.com/homemade-corn-dogs/Recipe adapted from Bakingdom
Birthday Cupcakes
This week is not only Spring Break but my daughter’s 12th birthday. I have had the lack of time to do a any posts as I have been making tons of cupcakes as you see here.
Luckily, I have some great blogger friends that have the ability to do a post this week!
Brined Fried Chicken by Juanita’s Cocina
Shamrock Shake with Bailey’s Whipped Cream by Chocolate Moosey
Vanilla Blood Orange Cupcakes
I love to make cupcakes; it’s an obsession! With that being said, I used to just play with the “bang your head on the wall” icing out of a plastic container also known as store bought. This last Christmas I received a KitchenAid and the icing I make comes out so wonderful now, I would never let go of my KitchenAid. Any who, I decided I need to work on technique and such before my daughter’s birthday and who could resist using the new Nikon D5100 for some food shots. The camera, kitchen, and myself have become one. It’s scary!
Oh! And did I mention that Blood Oranges are in season and we finally got them here. I bought two huge bags and this week and went back for more. Blood oranges are perfect for a garnish. Ha! Ha! Be my Bloody Valentine!
Peel the blood orange and roll your orange slices in sugar and set aside.
Don’t brown the cupcakes or they become crunchy on top. The lightly brown/golden color is perfect!
Before the orange slices (above) and with orange slices (below).
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard cupcake tin with paper liners.
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add butter, sour cream, yogurt, egg, egg yolks, and vanilla; beat at medium speed until smooth for about a minute.
Divide batter evenly among cups with an ice cream scoop. Bake until cupcakes are lightly golden and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from tin and transfer to wire rack; cool cupcakes to room temperature before frosting.
Using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 2 minutes till butter is soft and fluffy. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar. Once all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and add the vanilla and blood orange juice, mix well. Whip at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.
To swirl the icing, simply put white icing on one side of the icing bag and pink on the other. I used a 1M tip from Wilton.
http://mooshujenne.com/vanilla-blood-orange-cupcakes/Irish Cream Cupcakes
After New Year’s, I had a quarter bottle of Irish cream left over and I just wasn’t sure what to do with it. Now that I received a new KitchenAid as a gift for Christmas, I thought it should be a bit simpler to make icing and why not try it out. My V does not care much for alcohol mixed with food. On the other hand my 16 year old loves it. You know how teenagers are! I have to consistently explain it really is just for flavor and it’s not going to get you drunk. Oh well, as long as they eat it I’m happy!
These cupcakes would be fantastic for St. Patrick’s Day and you can always spruce them up with some clover sprinkles.
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line your cupcake pan with paper or foil liners and set aside.
Sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, water, heavy cream, oil and vanilla. Mix in stand mixer or with handheld mixer until smooth. Fill each cup with batter half full. Bake for 20 minutes and let cool before frosting.
In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, sugar and Irish cream. Begin at low speed increasing to high. Beat until fluffy and thick. Transfer mixture to a piping bag fitted with 1M and decorate cupcakes. Dust top of cupcakes with a little cocoa for decoration.
For a extra wow when it comes to the cupcakes take a chopstick and make a small whole in top of cupcake and squeeze Hershey’s chocolate syrup into the hole until you see it pop out of the top then top cupcake with icing.
http://mooshujenne.com/irish-cream-cupcakes/
