Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes

My friend Lisa visited this weekend.  She is a math teacher in Connecticut and we became friends living next to each other in our apartment complex.  Her daughter Bailey is a beautiful and busy 5 year old who always makes us laugh and smile with her antics but since Lisa and Bailey moved to Connecticut it's been a while since we have seen each other.  By a while, I mean about a year.  However, this week is Lisa's spring break and she decided that the best place to spend her first weekend off would be with me at Penn State!  What a great decision that was!  She arrived in the evening on Friday and got to spend time grading papers and catching up on sleep while I worked.  After sleeping in on Saturday morning, we hit our favorite restaurant  Waffle Shop, for breakfast and the decided to hike Mt. Nittany with my upstairs neighbor and mutual friend Nicole.  We had an awesome, sweaty, laughter filled time.  Coming back exhausted we decided to spend a simple night hanging out and enjoying some girl time.  

  Sunday found Lisa and I shopping and walking downtown.  We went into just about every store in downtown State College and had a blast doing it.  From some super cute summer dresses to Penn State souvenirs, there was never a dull moment.  As we headed back to my place to watch movies and enjoy a quiet Sunday evening, I decided that I needed to make Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes.  I had willing and very enthusiastic tasters (Nicole and Lisa) and all the stuff to make these delicious morsels.  

   I'll be honest with you, at first I didn't think that there was enough cherry flavor in the chocolate batter.  I mean come on, I wanted it to scream CHERRY.  However, with the trusting taste buds of my friends, I realized it did taste like cherry and that I should just bake them already.  (Truth is, I think they might have just been hungry.)  So into the oven these little darlings went.  However, 14 minutes is a lie or else I fill my cupcakes a little full.  These took more like 16 to 18 minutes, but make sure to check on them fairly frequently.  Maybe my oven isn't as hot as where this recipe originally came from, so just pay attention is the best advice I can give you.  

   The frosting is also divine, who would have thought?  Butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, cherry juice and some raspberry extract... yumm, not a bad combination.  Here is the original recipe that I found, but I've done a few small changes.  Instead of just milk chocolate cocoa powder, I did a 1/4 cup of dark chocolate cocoa powder for a rich dark chocolate taste and a hint of raspberry extract in the frosting really helped bring out the cherry flavor (If you don't have it, don't worry, it'll still be awesome!) I also made chocolate dipped cherries for decoration on top.  Delicious and easy! 

Ingredients

6 tablespoons butter (softened)
1/2 cup light sour cream or mayonnaise (this makes the cake super light and
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk chocolate cocoa powder
1/2 cup cherry juice (from a jar of maraschino cherries)
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups milk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 3/4 cups flour

Frosting
1/2 cup butter (softened)
8oz cream cheese (softened) 

3 cups powdered sugar 

1/2 tsp raspberry extract

3-5 tablespoons cherry juice (from a jar of maraschino cherries)

Directions 

 Preheat oven to 350*.   In a large bowl beat together butter, mayonnaise/sour cream, and sugars until smooth. Add in the cocoas and cherry juice and mix well.  Add the salt, eggs, and milk and mix until well combined.  Gradually add in the soda, baking powder, and flour. Once combined mix on high for one minute. Place 24 liners into cupcake pans and fill with cake batter 2/3 of the way. Bake about 16/18 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Let cool on racks completely before frosting.

Frosting
 Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add in powdered sugar and beat really well.  Pour in cherry juice one TBS at a time and continue beating until it reaches the desired consistency. Frost cooled cupcakes. Top each cupcake with a cherry. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Dipped Cherries 

Take 24 maraschino cherries and lay them out on a paper towel.  Take another paper town and lay it over the cherries, press VERY GENTLY until the cherries are dry.  In the meantime take about 4 Tbsp of milk chocolate chips and melt them gently in the microwave, about 30 seconds at a time until melted.  Then dip the dry cherries in the chocolate and place on wax paper.  Put in the refrigerator for 10/15 minutes  or until hard.  Peel off the wax paper and place them on top of the frosting.  Eat and Enjoy!

Strawberry Orange Cheesecake Cupcakes

A few weeks ago I promised my co-worker that I would bring cheesecake into work with me after torturing him for hours with pictures of various types of cheesecakes.  It also happened to be my friend Mike's belated birthday (although I didn't know it at the time).  I was hoping to copy my grandmother's mini cheesecake recipe that she makes with Nilla Wafers as the crust, but I soon realized I had a problem.  When I was at the store I had brought everything for the cheesecakes except mini cupcake wrappers and I figured that I couldn't just make the cheesecake in the trays and hope that they came out.  So I decided to make full size cheesecake cupcakes.  

  The original recipe is a Paula Deen recipe and there isn't any butter in it, just butter extract.  However, I decided since I wanted it to taste more Spring-like, I was going to add orange extract, some lemon juice and lemon zest.  Since the Nilla wafer wasn't quite big enough to cover the entire bottom of the cupcake wrapper, I put one Nilla wafer in the bottom and then proceeded to crumble other Nilla wafers around it, until the entire bottom was covered by both the cookie and the crumbs.  Turns out, it's a great idea and makes a nice crust.  Give this recipe a try for a delicious Easter/Spring treat!  They were a huge hit at work and they look very nice on a plate lined up to serve.  

Ingredients 

2 pkgs of cream cheese softened 

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp orange extract 

half a lemon of lemon juice 

half a lemon of lemon zest 

2 eggs 

12 Nilla wafers plus more for crumbling, I think I crumbed 6/7 more wafers (half a wafer per cupcake tin in addition to the one wafer 

10 whole strawberries diced 

1 tbsp of sugar 

First, dice the strawberries into small pieces and put into a bowl.  Sprinkle sugar over the diced berries and let them sit.  Overnight would be best, but if you don't have time, let them sit while these cheesecakes are made and cool and then top the cheesecakes with just the berries and a small amount of juice. 

Next, mix the softened cream cheese with the sugar and beat until fluffy.  Slowly add the eggs one at a time, then add the orange extract, the lemon juice, and the lemon zest.  The batter will be pretty loose.  In the meantime, add a Nilla wafer to each cupcake holder.  There will be space around the edge of each cookie, take another Nilla wafer, break it in half and crumble the half of the wafer into the space around the edges, creating a full crust of the cheesecake.  When this has been done to all cupcake holders, pour the cheesecake on top of the crust about 3/4 of the way to the top. 

Bake the cheesecakes in the oven for 20 minutes on 350 degrees.  Remove from the oven and let cool.  The tops of the cheesecakes will sink a bit, but don't panic, that's a perfect place for the strawberries to be put.  When the cupcakes are completely cool, add the strawberries and bit of strawberry juice.  Serve immediately or put in the refrigerator to chill.  

Pecan Pie

I went down to visit my brother in New Orleans over spring break and I decided to surprise him with one of his favorite pies, a pecan pie.  Since I was flying down, I had to take my pie on the airplane in a pie carrier.  Once I got to Houston and people started asking me what kind of pie I carried, I had to fight of the hordes of people who wanted to get their hands on my pie.  Pecan pie in the South is a hot commodity, especially if it's being carried around an airport by a girl in boots.
    This recipe is a little bit different than the recipe that I normally make.  I got this recipe off of Cook's Country, another affiliate of Create Tv.  I must say, this recipe is delicious.  I enhanced the flavor of the pecans by roasting them before I put them in the pie and it was amazing!  This pie isn't too heavy, isn't too sweet, but is definitely sticky and pleasing, everything you want from a pecan pie.
  So with Easter just around the corner, I suggest that you surprise the ones you love with this ooey, gooey, sticky Pecan Pie.  The perfect dessert for an Easter meal.


1 cup Maple syrup (the real stuff please)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp of molasses
4 Tbsp of butter, cut into cubes
1/2 tsp salt
6 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups of toasted and chopped pecans
1 9 inch unbaked pie shell
Serves 8 to 10

INSTRUCTIONS
Toast pecans:  Scatter pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Roast in the oven on 350 for 5 minutes, stir and then  put back into the oven for another 5 minutes.  When nuts start to smell toasted and look lightly brown, remove from oven and let cool.  

Then make the filling: Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Heat sugar, syrup, cream, and molasses in saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes. Whisk butter and salt into syrup mixture until combined. Whisk in egg yolks until incorporated.

 Bake the pie: Scatter pecans in pie shell. Carefully pour filling over. Place pie in hot oven and immediately reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until filling is set and center jiggles slightly when pie is gently shaken, 45 to 60 minutes. Cool pie on rack for 1 hour, then refrigerate until set, about 3 hours and up to 1 day. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Cheese Souffle

I decided a while ago that I wanted to make a cheese souffle.  I had never made one before and I had always heard these horror stories about how souffles were the worst thing ever to make.  I had heard about how they didn't rise, or how they fell, how they were raw in the middle or how they were overcooked.  Needless to say, I had a fear of souffles.  Looking back, what a silly fear! This souffle recipe is easy to follow, not too hard, and turned out perfect cheese souffles.  I added a few spices to the recipe and it is delicious.  If you want the original recipe, here is the link .

Ingredients
4 1/2 tsp of butter
4 1/2 tsp of flour
1/2 cup of 2% milk
1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
2 eggs, separated
1/2 tsp dry mustard
pinch cayenne
pinch black pepper
pinch of salt


Directions
In a large saucepan, melt butter. Whisk in flour until smooth; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat; stir in cheese until melted. Remove from the heat. Beat egg yolks and spices. Stir a small amount of hot mixture into yolks; return all to the pan, stirring constantly. Cool slightly.
In a small bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into egg yolk mixture. Pour into two 8-oz. ramekins or custard cups coated with cooking spray.
Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve immediately. Yield: 2 servings.

Nutritional Facts
1 souffle equals 301 calories, 23 g fat (14 g saturated fat), 270 mg cholesterol, 350 mg sodium, 9 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 15 g protein.

Tofu Cheesecake

I know that I normally don't cook or bake with a whole lot of tofu.  It's not that I do not enjoy tofu, I do, it's just that I am never really sure what to make with it or what kind to buy.  However, I was watching Create Tv here at at PSU one day and Christina Cooks came on, a chef who cooks only vegan, non-dairy food.  Since I was trying to watch calories, but had been craving something sweet and cheesecake-like I was caught by her remake of cheesecake using tofu.  It was a lot lower in calories and had more protein than regular cheesecake, but it did use tofu.  I wrestled with the idea of the tofu cheesecake for a while and then finally figured, what the heck, I would give it a shot.  
   To be honest with you, I didn't really know what to expect.  Sometimes the magic of television doesn't transfer over to the magic of taste, but this time, I was pleasantly surprised.  The recipe was delicious.  Now the only warning I will give you is that the texture is not exactly the same as cheesecake.  It is just not as dense or as rich.  However, with the addition of some brown sugar into the batter, it was heavenly.  I will also tell you that since I do not have any allergies or intolerances to dairy or meat, I used regular chocolate, gelatin, and brown sugar.  If you do have an intolerance, here is the link to the vegan, non-dairy version .  
Otherwise, follow my version for  a pleasant and delicious surprise.  

Almond Oat Chocolate Crust: 
2 cups finely ground, blanched almonds
1 cup finely ground rolled oats
Pinch salt
2 ounces chocolate chips, melted
2 tablespoons butter, melted 

Filling:
2 pounds firm tofu, coarsely crumbled
1 cup agave nectar 
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons almond butter
Pinch salt
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2/3 teaspoon turmeric
1 package of unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond or soy milk
1/4 cup of brown sugar (make sweet to taste) 


Directions 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly oil a 9-inch spring form pan.

Make the crust. Combine ground almonds, oats and salt in a food processor with melted chocolate. Mix well to create a moist texture. If the crust mixture seems dry, add butter, by the teaspoon, until the texture is moist. It should gather and not stick to your fingers, but crumble easily.

Press the crust evenly into prepared spring form pan, covering the bottom and up the sides as much as your quantity will allow. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven and cool completely before filling.

Make the filling. Place all ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth and creamy. Spoon ingredients into the cooled crust and bake for about an hour, until the edges of the filling are set, even though the center will still be loose. Set aside until cooled to room temperature and then place the cake in the fridge and chill completely.  Once cake is cool feel free to garnish with chocolate or fruit of your choice.  

Spicy Chicken Tostadas

So when I say that the weather this week was going to be cold and snowy I decided that I needed something warm but not too calorie heavy.  I wanted something filling and comforting but spring is just around the corner and I don't want to look like a grizzly bear once I can wear shorts again.  On the Myrecipes.com website I ran into the recipe and with some modifications, I made these amazing tostadas.  I would highly suggest following my recipe if you like it spicy and delicious!  They smell so good while your reheating the chicken in the same pan that you just fried the soft tortilla in... my mouth waters just writing about it!  They are definitely a finger food and so food you'll just want to bury your face in them and eat until you're full!

Ingredients
16 small tortillas
1/4 cup red onion
1 garlic clove
1 tbsp honey/sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 peppers in adobo sauce (plus some of the sauce if you like it spicy!)
7 chicken breasts
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
pinch of cayenne
1 tsp paprika
1 jar of salsa (pick your heat level, I used medium)
1 bunch of cilantro
1 cup of thinly sliced cabbage
1/2 cup queso fresco (or mexican cheese)
thinly sliced avocado
crema thinned with some milk
tomatoes

Instructions:
  Turn the over to 400 degrees.  Thaw the chicken and dry it with some paper towels.  Mix the chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne together in a bowl.  Sprinkle this mix over one side of the chicken breasts.  Roast for 15 minutes on one side.  Turn the chicken, sprinkle the other side with the spice mixture and then roast that side for 15 more minutes.
     Take the chicken out of the oven and let it cool down.  Once it has cooled down, shred it into pieces and put it into a bowl.  In your food processor, combine the salsa, cilantro, onion, garlic and honey.  Puree until this is a liquid and then mix with the chicken.  Thinly slice the cabbage and mix milk with crema to thin it out.  Slice the tomatoes and avocado.
    When you're ready to serve, put a little bit of oil in a pan and heat it until it shimmers in the pan.  Put down the tortilla and fry for 2-4 minutes or until light brown, then flip and cook until light brown.  Remove from the oil and put on a paper towel.  While the pan is still hot, throw the chicken with sauce into the pan to reheat.  When it's hot and started to slightly brown, top the tostada with the chicken and cover with cheese, cabbage, tomato, avocado, and crema.  Serve hot!  YUMMMM  You'll crave a margarita and a beach chair within minutes!  Enjoy!
 

Pineapple Foster Pudding

My best friend Helen and her boyfriend Josh and I were having dinner one night.  She made the meat and potatoes and I was in charge of the dessert.  Do you see a theme here?  For some reason I was in the mood for something with pineapple (not knowing that Josh was not a fan of pineapple) and decided to make a pudding with pineapple on top.  I decided that a homemade rum pudding with a pineapple, brown sugar, bourbon topping would make a wonderful dessert.  Turns out, Josh likes pineapple when I make this dessert.  This was really quick and simple, I made this dessert in about 15 minutes.  The cooling time is the only thing that you need to take into account.  They need about 30 minutes to totally cool, but you can add the pineapple topping as soon as the pudding looks set.  Just remember to let the pineapple mixture cool a bit before you add it to the pudding.

Ingredients:
2 cups of milk, needs to be 1% or above, fat free won't work
1/2 cup white sugar or you can use a Splenda substitute, just follow the instructions for substituting
3 Tbsp of cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp dark rum, I used Meyer's dark rum

Pineapple topping
1 lg can of chunked pineapple, drained well, reserve 1 Tbsp of pineapple juice
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp of butter
2 Tbsp dark rum
pinch cinnamon
tiny pinch of salt


Add the milk to a sauce pan and while it is still cold, add the sugar, cornstarch, salt and butter.  Over low heat, stir the milk mixture on a regular basis.  You really don't want this to burn, so I would stir pretty often.  Once the milk starts to get warm, stir constantly.  When the mixture gets close to boiling, you will be able to tell by the texture, the pudding starts to get thicker and there may be bubbles.  At that stage, let cook for 2 to 3 minutes still stirring.  Remove from the heat, add the vanilla and the rum, stir and then pour into the ramekins.  Refrigerate immediately.

In a frying pan, add the brown sugar and butter and cook until liquid and hot.  Carefully add the pineapple and the pineapple juice.  Cook for approximately 6 to 7 minutes.  Add the dark rum, cinnamon, and salt.  Remove from heat and let them sit for about 5 minutes.  Pour on the top of the slightly cooled pudding.  Put back in the refrigerator and let cool.  Serve and enjoy!