Two Blueberry Recipes!

Last  year I went to Berry Patch Farms and picked blueberries with my sorority alum chapter. I tried to talk my mom into going back with me but she was not interested. Luckily this year I was able to talk her into going to Washington Farms in Watkinsville, GA. We had so much fun on Wednesday picking blueberries and strawberries. Sadly all the ripe blackberries were gone by the time we arrived (only two hours after they opened). I guess that means I just have to go back.

With half a gallon of blueberries in the refrigerator (may be a little less since mom and I split them), I started searching the food blogs for ideas of what to bake. I discovered a fabulous recipe for a Lemon Curd Blueberry Tart at Foodologie. This was my second attempt at making a tart and the first at preparing homemade lemon curd. My mom wanted me to buy lemon curd at the grocery store which I considered for a split second given that I'm not a double boiler expert. I committed to the homemade option after learning that lemon curd is $3.69 for a 10 oz. jar at Publix. Homemade just seems "healthier" when you read the ingredients of the store bought version. Mom and I struggled to get the lemon curd to thicken. After 15 minutes we took it off the stove, added the butter, and hoped for the best. It turned out great! Such an amazing flavor with blueberries and the graham cracker crust.

My great grandmother's tart pan did not have such a happy ending though. She gave the pan to my mom decades ago after asking my mom, "Do you know what to do with this?" About five years ago I found the pan buried under all the other pans in my mom's kitchen and gave it a go with a Kraft foods recipe that consisted of jello and fruit. It was good but we didn't know how to get it out of the pan neatly. The same thing happened this time and I decided it was time for us part ways with the tart pan. Other tarts I've seen online do no look like this pan. It was sentimental but I think I'm better off purchasing a new tart pan or maybe some tartlets. Sorry I didn't post more pics but I think you can understand given the pan situation.

Lemon Blueberry Tartlets
1 package graham crackers
6 tbsp melted butter
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice (about the juice of 2 lemons)
4 tbsp butter, softened
zest of 2 lemons
1-2 cups blueberries
Make your crust:
Crush the graham crackers, pour melted butter over graham cracker crumbs.  Toss to combine and press into one large tart pan or about 5 mini tartlet pans.  Refrigerate.
Make Lemon Filling:
Place a stainless steel or glass bowl over a pot of boiling water.  In the bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice.  Stir over the double boiler until thick.  This will take about 10 minutes.  Carefully remove from heat and stir in the butter and lemon zest.  Set aside and allow to cool completely.  You can make this a day or two in advance and just keep it refrigerated.
Assemble Tartlets:
Spoon lemon filling into prepared graham cracker crusts.  Arrange blueberries over the filling.  Sprinkle with a little powdered sugar to make it look extra special.
Serve immediately or refrigerate.  Makes 5 mini tartlets or 1 large tart.

Next up is blueberry scones. Anything dough like is intimidating to me. Thankfully my mom mastered my great grandmother's biscuit recipe recently and she was present for the scone making. I found this recipe at www.tasteofhome.com This was much easier than the lemon curd. Lol. Mom was not understanding how to cut the dough into wedges but once I compared it to pizza she was on board. Someone commented on the site that these freeze well so we shall find out the next time I'm ready to sit down with one of these delicious scones and a hot cup of tea or coffee.

Blueberry Scones

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 4-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold butter
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk, divided
• 1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions

• In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a bowl, whisk eggs and 3/4 cup milk; add to dry ingredients just until moistened. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; gently knead in the blueberries.
• Divide the dough in half. Pat each portion into an 8-in. circle; cut each into eight wedges. Place on greased baking sheets. Brush with remaining milk. Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Serve warm. Yield: 16 scones.

One cup of blueberries remain in the refrigerator. I may freeze them but then again I may bake blueberry muffins. Oh how I love berries!

Happy Summer!!!

Cupcake Bouquet

A while back I discovered cupcake bouquets and filed the idea in my memory as an awesome Mother's Day surprise. Last year I made brunch for my mom and purchased tulips (her favorite flower) for the center piece. Now that I have a Wilton cake decorating class under my belt I knew I could tackle this beautiful and life like creation. I planned another brunch for this year and was excited to see my mom's reaction to the center piece.

Couple of months before May I purchased 12" wooden dowels, semi circle shaped floral foam, a flower pot, green tissue paper, and Wilton Color Mist. As Mother's Day approached I became nervous and doubted my abilities. I realized that 12" wooden dowels would not work even though I remember it being mentioned in a blog. Thursday before Mother's Day my coworker said, "You should have had your skills down last week." I knew I would assemble the cupcake bouquet an hour before my mom arrived which would not give much time for any emergencies or accidents. Quickly I began searching the web and You Tube for techniques on how to produce this amazing bouquet for my wonderful mother.

The following are suggestions that I comprised from my search on the world wide web with some of my modifications:
1. You can use any size container or pot.
2. Ripping green tissue paper will create pretty leaves. Use a knife or dowel to "tuck" the leaves between the cupcakes.
3. Frost your cupcakes the day before or several hours a head of time so the butter cream crusts and will stay in place when it is time to assemble.
4. Place the cupcakes in the fridge an hour or more before you assemble so the cupcakes are firm and not as moist.
5. Wrap the floral foam in plastic wrap so you don't get pieces of foam on your cupcakes.
6. Use toothpicks! Two toothpicks for regular size cupcakes and one cupcake for mini cupcakes.
7. With a knife poke the under side of the cupcake so that the cupcake easily slides onto the toothpicks.
8. Tip 2D makes fabulous roses. Other flower options are out there and it just depends on what you like.
9. Watch You Tube videos and research images, etc online to calm your nerves and help you prepare for the assembly process.

Let me just say that Color Mist Food Color Spray from Wilton is amazing!!! I find that tinting icing is tedious and when I saw this at a craft store I knew it would be awesome for roses. However, I had another freak out moment when I read the instructions. It is basically like spay paint for frosting so don't ignore the cover your workspace instruction. It made them look natural which I know sounds weird but it took my mom a few minutes to realize the bouquet on the table was really cupcakes.

For Christmas my parents gave me The Big Book of Cupcakes from Betty Crocker. I tried the from scratch vanilla cupcake recipe. They are delish but of course the parents like the other vanilla recipe I've made in the past because it tastes like wedding cake. So hard to please. Geez!

Assembling the bouquet was easy so all my time researching paid off. Of course the look on my mom's face when she realized the bouquet was made of cupcakes was PRICELESS! Truly, you can all make cupcake bouquets and wow your friends and family.

Mother's Day Brunch:
I think I have shared my love for the Food Network in the past. I decided to make all of these recipes after seeing them on Paula's Best Dishes and Barefoot Contessa. My mom and I love the zucchini and sun dried tomato quiche from the DeKalb Farmer's Market so it made it's appearance at this years brunch too.

Baked Blintzes with Fresh Blueberry Sauce

Quiche and Blintz

Strawberry Butter served with croissants

Berry Parfait

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Creamy Fruit Salad

So I get bored with yogurt and the various snacks I pack to eat at work. I decided to start trying recipes from my fav blogs to help liven things up during the week. I love trying the recipes on the Six Sisters' Stuff blog. One day Creamy Fruit Salad popped up in my Google Reader and I thought it would be a great alternative to yogurt and add another serving of fruit to the day. Oh yeah!

Of course I freaked out just slightly when I read that one ingredient is sour cream. I like sour cream. No bad feelings towards it but I wondered how it would be with fruit. Thankfully they urged readers to not worry and suggested yogurt as alternative. I decided I would put on my 'big girl panties' (my mom says this a lot - weird) and go for it. You can't even tell it is sour cream. I wouldn't lie to you. I promise.

We had a breakfast to show our appreciation for the our nurse on the team for Nurses Week. I considered a Lemon Blueberry Muffin Cake (also from Six Sisters' Stuff) but after I made this salad on Monday I knew it would be a yummy breakfast treat. Needless to say I did not hear any complaints from my coworkers.

The first time I made it for myself I added 2 cups of marshmallows but I must say I like it better with 1 cup. That may just be me so try it and see what you think.

Side note: I asked my mom about recipes she has from her grandmothers and what recipes we have from my grandmothers. One of my great grandmothers made the best biscuits but rarely wrote down her recipes. My mom to this day is still trying to make biscuits like her grandmother. Last weekend she was pretty close! I may need to search out these recipes just like the sisters from Six Sisters' Stuff.

Grandma's Five Cup Creamy Fruit Salad
Ingredients:
1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
1-2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup sour cream (light works great)*

*Don't be scared of the sour cream! I know it sounds weird. I promise that all the sweetness from the other ingredients evens it all out. It's delicious!

Directions:
Make sure your fruit is VERY well-drained or you will have a watery salad. Combine the oranges, pineapple, marshmallows, coconut, and sour cream. Stir until all mixed together. Refrigerate for 4-8 hours before serving.

Variations:
-Use vanilla yogurt in place of sour cream.
-Use Pina Colada yogurt in place of sour cream.
-Add 1/2 cup maraschino cherries.
-Add chopped pecans for a crunch.
-Top with corn flakes for a crunch.
-Use Cool-Whip in place of sour cream.

Tres Leches Cake

Saturday was Cinco de Mayo and I was considering baking Tres Leches cupcakes but I decided to just make the cake. I've been watching the Pioneer Woman on Food Network and thought it was time to try one of her recipes. Low and behold she has a recipe for Tres Leches Cake. It was easy to make and tasted great. My mom made the cake before I arrived and together we made the milk mixture and whipped cream. Punching holes in the cake was fun!

I served it with marachino cherries one day and strawberries the next. Personally I think the strawberries taste the best. Of course my chocoholic father had to basically turn it into strawberry shortcake with chocolate syrup. Crazy!

Saturday night was also the night of the super moon. The moon was 30% brighter and 14% bigger - per the meteorologist.

Maybe one day I will try the cupcakes but cake was just right for our Cinco de Mayo celebration by the pool.

Review of Duncan Hines Frosting Creations

I keep seeing commercials for the new Duncan Hines frosting. Every time it comes on I think "I need to try that" and every time I go to the grocery store I forget to buy it. Ugh! The Target near me was renovated to now include more grocery items so I finally remembered to pick up this frosting. If you haven't heard about it, then you are in for a treat. The frosting is plain white and they sell "mix ins" in different flavors. Not sure I want bubble gum or cotton candy frosting but they have more "normal" flavors like Mint Chocolate and White Chocolate Raspberry. I selected Chocolate Almond to go on top of my Strawberry cupcakes. Please don't judge me for serving up frosting from a can on top of a box cupcake. It is tasty I promise! Anyway, you make a hole in the frosting and pour in the powdery mix and then stir. All of a sudden you have chocolate frosting! Amazing! My only gripe is that the frosting is a bit runny (my opinion). I'm just accustomed to the stiffness from the meringue powder in butter cream I guess. I was able to spread on the frosting but it is not likely that you can pipe this frosting. The next time you are in a pinch for frosting or want to try something new then check make your own Frosting Creation!

Chocolate Chip Quinoa Trail Mix Balls

OK so this is really healthy compared to my other posts. Well, the chocolate chips help. Anyway I've been going to a Body Works class at LA Fitness for over a year. I look forward to going to this class. If you are a gym rat, then you know the instructor is awesome if you actually look forward to the class. My friends in the class suggested we should make CDs for our instructor's birthday (as a gift for her but so we can hear new music in class = win win). I saw this recipe at Eat, Live, Run and brought it to class for a "healthy Birthday treat".  I knew cupcakes would result in our instructor making us do more squats and lunges - she really cares about our butts. Her saying about our butts is "if you don't care about your butt then no one else will." Too funny!

The recipe was really easy and I was able to double it with no problem. The smell of honey and vanilla on the stove was invigorating! Skip this recipe if you don't like getting your hands dirty and buy packaged trail mix bars.  If you have never heard of quinoa then this is a good way to give it a try and click on the link to learn more about it. Everyone seemed to enjoy them and I had a few requests for the recipe!

Chocolate Chip Quinoa Trail Mix Balls
by Jenna at Eat, Live, Run
makes about 14 bite-sized balls
Ingredients:
1 cup old fashioned or quick-cooking oats, dry
1/4 cup quinoa, dry + 3/4 cup water
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/3 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup dried cherries, raisins or cranberries
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp peanut butter
1/3 cup honey
Directions:
Combine the quinoa and water in a small saucepot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 12 minutes, until quinoa has absorbed all the liquid. Fluff and scoop quinoa into a large mixing bowl.
Add sunflower seeds, oats, dried cherries and coconut to quinoa and mix well. Bring honey to a simmer on the stove then stir in the vanilla extract and pour on top of nuts and seeds. Mix until well combined.
Let mixture cool before adding the chocolate chips, peanut butter and sea salt. Mix well with your hands so the peanut butter is evenly dispersed but be careful not to melt the chocolate chips!
Using wet hands, gently roll mixture into golf ball-sized balls. Place balls on a plate and chill for at least two hours until firm.
Time:
2 1/2 hours (includes time to chill)

Brownie Cupcakes

Last week I went to the Food Truck Festival in Athens, GA and finally checked out the Yum Yum Cupcakes and More truck. I sampled the Betty cupcake which was a brownie cupcake with ducle de leche buttercream. It was amazing! My dad didn't try it but requested that I make brownie cupcakes for Easter.

I found a Chocolate Brownie Cupcake recipe at food.com. Then I apparently left my brain some where because when I got to my parents house I realized that I left the shortening and meringue powder at my house. Luckily I found this wonderful buttercream recipe at allrecipes.com and halved the recipe because the cupcake recipe only yielded 12 cupcakes. Also, I added caramel sauce to the buttercream. On a few cupcakes I drizzled more caramel which was a mistake because it was too much caramel that affected the flavor of the chocolate chips in the cupcake - may just be personal taste or the fact that Ghirardelli semi-sweet chips were baked inside the cupcake. Cake Art is a store down the street from me and that is where I found the adorable flowers you see sticking up in the middle of the cupcakes. The cupcake liners are from Target. Thanks mom for providing the Easter decorations. So cute!

All in all these cupcakes are delicious. I would suggest making them at  your next gathering!

Brownie Cupcakes

Ingredients

1. 3/4 cup flour
2. 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3. 1 teaspoon baking powder
4. 1/4 teaspoon salt
5. 2/3 cup granulated sugar
6. 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
7. 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
8. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
9. 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
10. 3 eggs
11. 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325F and use muffin pan lined with paper liners.
2. In a small bowl, mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together granulated and brown sugars and butter until smooth. Whisk in vanilla and almond extract. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture, beating until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Scoop batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 28 minutes or until a tester inserted into center comes out with a few crumbs attached and a little melted chocolate. The tops of cupcakes will not spring back when touched.
5. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on rack.
6. Top cooled cupcakes with favorite frosting.

Buttercream Icing

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, and vanilla. Blend in the sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the milk, and continue mixing until light and fluffy. Keep icing covered until ready to decorate.



Betty Cupcake





Happy Easter!