Lemon-Coconut Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting and Raspberry Filling

The Cupcake is a fascinating being.  Essentially, it's a slice of what would have been a large cake.  Though, instead of baking the cake as a whole and cutting a slice, these 'slices' are baked separately, forming their own little cakes.  They're cute, they're individual, and people just can't seem to get enough of them.  Perhaps it's the intimacy of unwrapping the cupcake before tasting, or the rebellious satisfaction of eating cake with your hands and tossing a fork and plate to the wind.  The cupcake trend that started long ago you would think would have died out by now, but there still seems to be a new cupcake shop popping up everywhere you turn.  And now, there's even a supposed Cupcake ATM?  Good grief.  

But I digress.  I still love the darn things, and this recipe is one to be reckoned with.  It's a conglomerate of a few different recipes and brainstorming ideas that my cousins and I thought up while contemplating what Ultimate Cupcake we could create for a recent party with our aunts.  Vanilla or Chocolate?  Vanilla we decided.  Or wait...what about Lemon?  Or coconut?  Heck, let's combine them.  And we wanted a filling...Raspberry?  A done deal match with Lemon.  Vanilla frosting was the perfect backdrop, and with a toasted coconut dusting to finish?  Outta the pahk. 

Moist, tender, a perfect marriage of flavors...  Regardless if you're on the cupcake trend train or not, I recommend introducing these cupcakes into your life.  You will make friends, and have very happy taste buds.  And you didn't even have to go to the ATM.

Lemon-Coconut Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting and Raspberry Filling

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, divided
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
Finely grated zest of 3 lemons (about 3 tablespoons), plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup raspberry jam

1/3 cup unsweetened coconut, toasted

Method

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, 1 cup coconut, baking powder, and salt.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in zest and vanilla. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk and lemon juice, and beating until just combined after each.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

To finish, either inject a scant teaspoon of the raspberry jam into the center of each cupcake with an injecting tool, or cut out a small of the top of each cupcake with a paring knife and spoon a scant tablespoon of the jam into the made divot. Frost each cupcake as desired, and sprinkle each cupcake with toasted coconut to finish.

Vanilla Frosting
Good 'ol Domino's Confectioner's Sugar side-of-the-box recipe.

3 3/4 cups  (1 lb. box) confectioners sugar
1/2 cup - butter (1 stick), softened
3 to 4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl with electric mixer at low speed, combine sugar, butter, milk and vanilla. Beat at medium speed 1 to 2 minutes until creamy. If desired, add more milk until frosting is spreading consistency.

Soft Rye Pretzels

As my streak of baking experimentation with different types of flours continues, these Soft Rye Pretzels have been my most recent project.  I came across this recipe as I was flipping through Kim Boyce's book Good to the Grain; an excellent source if you too are interested in broadening your horizons from baking with only All-Purpose Flour.  As trusty and useful as our beloved AP flour is, it is amazing to see the transformation of flavor and texture your baked goods can go through once you introduce a variance of flours into their recipes.  Once you start, you'll be hooked, trust me!

There is no need for a stand-up mixer to make and knead this dough - only a wooden spoon and your own two hands.  This is true with any bread really, but this is a great recipe to start with as you practice your hand kneading skills.  A shaggy dough will become soft and elastic as you roll and push it across your kitchen counter - and you will feel the entire transformation under your fingertips.

Then, after it rests and rises, you will start your own mini pretzel making shop as you roll pieces of dough into snakes and twist them into the classic pretzel shape.  A quick boil in a pot of water mixed with baking soda before they hit the oven gives them that classic mahogany pretzel color and flavor.  With a liberal sprinkle of coarse salt on their crust, these pretzels are incredible solo, or dipped in mustard or honey.  Fresh out of the oven, they define the word irresistible.

No matter how you have them, they will be gone quickly, and then all you will want is fresh pretzels at your beckon call for the rest of your life.  Now you can at least know how to make that happen when you find yourself in need.  

Soft Rye Pretzels

These pretzels are best eaten the day they are made, but still delicious resurrected by a toaster oven the day after.  I used kosher salt for the topping since that is all I had - it works perfectly fine, but more traditional and more coarse salt (as suggested below) is worth seeking out as well.  

Ingredients

Dough

1 package (2 1/4t) yeast

1 tablespoon honey

1 cup rye flour

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon kosher salt

Bath

1/2 cup baking soda

To Finish

Maldon, or other coarse salt for sprinkling

Method

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1 1/2 cups of warm water, add honey, then stir in the flours and salt.

2. Dump the dough onto a floured surface and knead.  Add up to a 1/2 cup of all purpose flour, as needed, until the dough is tacky (not sticky), soft, and supple.  About 10-12 minutes.

3. Brush a clean bowl with melted butter, oil, or spray with nonstick cooking spray.  Place the dough in the bowl and cover with a towel or plastic wrap until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

4. While the dough is rising, heat your oven to 450 degrees and oil or butter 2 baking sheets.

5. Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured board and divide it into 12 equal sized pieces. Roll each piece into a thin snake with tapered edges about 17 inches long. 

6. To shape the pretzels, fold one third of the left side of the snake over the center.  Then fold the one third of the right side over the left, twisting once where they intersect and laying their ends over the bottom of the pretzel forming its classic shape.  

7. Place the shaped pretzels on the oiled baking sheets, cover with a towel or loose plastic wrap, and let  rise for 15-20 min.

8. Meanwhile, fill your biggest, widest pot with water. Once the pretzels are proofed and the water is boiling, add the baking soda. Be careful, the water will bubble rapidly when you add the soda.

9. To poach the pretzels, gently place them in the boiling water and cook for 30 seconds on each side. Pat off any excess water and transfer back to the baking sheets. Sprinkle liberally with coarse salt.

10. Bake for 15-18 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through baking. The pretzels should be very dark in color.

11. Transfer to a rack to cool and eat warm with desired sides/condiments.  

See below for a particularly delicious trifecta:

Oatmeal Molasses Quick Bread

I cant tell you how thrilled I am to post about this recipe.  I came across this type of bread while perusing the World Wide Web of Food-Information Overload, and upon reading this recipe, my skepticism of its simplicity made me get up from my seat and make it in my kitchen right then.  Really, it's true.  I had to see if it would actually work, and taste good.  And oh, did it so.

The result was a bread that took me probably 7 minutes to put together, with all ingredients that I had in my cabinet and fridge, and in measurements that are so easy to remember that I don't have to use a recipe anymore when I make this.  It has whole grain flours - whole wheat and rye - and is speckled with whole rolled oats, which makes it a powerhouse for the heart and soul.  The only sweeteners are honey and molasses, and buttermilk, my favorite, moistens the bread and balances the flavors wonderfully.  Hearty but not dense, sweet but not sugary.  Perfect for toast, heavenly with butter or cream cheese.

I want to be honest with you here... I almost kept this bread a deep dark secret of mine to keep in my culinary back pocket.  But alas, here I am... for you.  Make it, enjoy it, share it.  ...for me.

Oatmeal Molasses Quick Bread

Apparently I really like bread, particularly when it involves oats and molasses.  You can find a similar Quick Bread type of recipe here that uses oats, or a slightly more complex yeasted bread here that also uses oats and molasses (It's one of my all time favorites.  I consider this recipe below it's little brother since they have similar flavors; but I make this quick bread when I'm too impatient to wait for rising dough).  

Ingredients

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup rye flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk (see Tip below)
1/4 cup honey, can substitute sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 tablespoon vegetable oil




Method


Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x5" bread loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray or coat with butter or oil.  

Mix together flours, oatmeal, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In a separate bowl, mix milk, honey, oil and molasses. 


Stir wet and dry ingredients together just enough to moisten dry ingredients. Don't overmix or bread will be tough.

Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake, about 45-60 minutes, or until no wet crumbs stick to a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf.

Let cool for a few minutes, then remove from pan. Slice when cool.  (I try every time, but I don't know if ill ever make it that long...)



TIP: No buttermilk in the fridge? Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice for each cup of milk, let sit a few minutes until milk begins to coagulate.  Yes, that's what buttermilk is...soured milk! mmm

Brussels Sprout Chips

We've all had a potato chip, of this I'm sure.  Who doesn't love a salty, crispy handful of Lays with a delicious sandwich?  I sure do.  And I'm guessing the majority of you have experienced the phenomenon of the Kale Chip trend too.  This is when you bake kale leaves until they are as crispy as a potato chip, but it's a leafy green instead of a starchy root.  Kale, something that is usually cooked down or steamed to tenderness, is now in your mouth with a crunch, and yet oh-so delicate snap.  It plays with your mind, and it's awesome.

What I want to tell you though is that this phenomenon is not just limited to kale.  Oh no, you shall be restricted no more!  You can also use the outer leaves of Brussels Sprouts and still follow the same exact method for making kale chips.  When I roast Brussels sprouts I always remove the looser, outer leaves to maintain a tight head of the sprout to stay intact when roasting.  Not to go to waste, one day I roasted the leftover leaves in the style of a kale chip and they worked out fantastically.  Plus, they are a great appetizer to munch on while you wait for your Brussels sprouts to finish roasting.  Crispy, light, flavorful...these chips are arguably better than anything you can find in bag.  

Brussels Sprout Chips

To roast the remaining whole Brussels sprouts after taking off the outer leaves, trim the stems and cut each sprout in half.  Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper on a baking sheet, placing them cut-side down.  Roast in a 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes, or until they are done to your liking (in my opinion, the browner and crispier the outer leaves and cut-side, the better!)

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds Brussels Sprouts

Olive oil

Salt

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

Peel off the outer, loose leaves from each Brussels sprout.  Keep the whole Brussels sprouts to halve and roast for later (directions above).  

Toss the leaves on a baking sheet with about a tablespoon of the oil.  Sprinkle with a good pinch of kosher salt.  Bake in oven for 15 minutes, then watch closely until the chips reach your desired doneness.  Dont be afraid of the browning, the more a leaf is brown and curled, the crispier and more delicious it will be! 

Happy Munching

Rice Hippie Treats

I confess, I have an inner hippie.  I mean, I lived in Vermont for four years, what can you expect?  She loves to frolic around in nature, talk to plants, and, such as in this case, likes to put a twist on certain recipes to make them a little more mind/body/soul friendly.


She surfaced recently when I wanted to make Rice Crispie Treats for a potluck dinner.  I knew I had everything to make a batch at home minus the marshmallows; a pivotal ingredient in this childhood treat.  But in both an effort to avoid the store and to improvise, I started thinking about how I could recreate this treat without including the highly processed white puff of an ingredient.  Don't get me wrong, I love a good toasted marshmallow, s'more, or old-fashioned Crispie Treat.  But if we can avoid ingesting things like, say, tetrasodium pyrophosphate when we don't have to, why not see if something else could do the trick as well?


I had been planning to make a peanut butter version of the treats anyway, so I started with that as a base of the binding ingredients to hold these bars together.  To keep with the theme, I used natural peanut butter which contains only ground up peanuts and salt.  Honey came in next, and some butter to pull all of the ingredients together.  For the dry ingredients, I substituted part of the rice crispies with rolled oats, and added dried cranberries for a contrasting tart/sweet taste, and chocolate chips too because, well, who doesn't like the combo of chocolate and peanut butter?  


I had created an almost granola-ish cousin of the Rice Crispie Treat, with all honest ingredients that we can all pronounce and recognize.  My inner hippie was proud.  And you will be too regardless if you have your own inner hippie or not, since at the end of it all these bars are just plain simple, delicious, and worth making no matter what.




Rice Hippie Treats  
My favorite way to eat these is a little cold right from the fridge. Mmmm


Ingredients

4 cups rice crispie cereal

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup dried cranberries 

1/2 cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
3 tablespoons unsalted butter


Method
Butter a 9x13 baking dish or spray with nonstick cooking spray.  Combine rice cripsies, oats, cranberries, and chocolate chips in a medium bowl.  Set aside.  


Combine the peanut butter, honey, and butter in a sauce pan over medium heat.  Stir until all is melted and combined.


Pour peanut butter mixture over rice crispie mixture and stir to evenly coat the dry ingredients.  Pour mixture into the prepared pan and pat down evenly with a buttered or non-stick sprayed spatula (or else the treats will stick and the spreading will not be fun).  


Store bars in the fridge to set.  Cut into squares and enjoy.  In your Birkenstocks.  

Oat Soda Bread

There are some days when I wake up and I think; "today, I want bread".  But this doesn't mean I will walk down the stairs and take a slice of bread out of bag from a store bought loaf...no, no.  These are the days I want bread that I will know from start to finish; that I will make with my own hands.  It's bread that will fill my house with the tantalizing smell of freshly baked goodness, and on which I will promptly smear a slice with butter, only to have the butter melt away from the warm freshness of the dough.  Oh yes, this is the bread I crave when I want bread.  And sometimes, I cant have it fast enough.

This is why I keep recipes like this Oat Soda Bread around.  It is not as time consuming as yeast breads, and the ingredient list is impossibly simple.  It is hearty, nutty and sweet from the oats and seeds, and serves equally well as a breakfast of toast with jam in the morning, or buttered with a bowl of soup later in the day.  But regardless, when you are having those types of Bread Craving days, this can be your quick go-to without any loss of satisfaction.

Oat Soda Bread Recipe

If you don't have oat flour - which I usually don't, but almost always have old-fashioned rolled oats - you can make your own flour by blending oats in a food processor or blender until it forms a fine powder. 

Ingredients

butter, to grease pan
2 cups / 7 oz rolled oats

10 ounces / 285 g / ~2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting and kneading

1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons fine-grain sea salt

1 3/4 cups / 415 ml buttermilk, plus more if needed, and 2T. for brushing

mixed seeds - sesame, caraway, poppy, etc.

Method

Preheat the oven to 400°F / 205°C with a rack in the middle of the oven. Butter and line a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan (or one with ~8 cup capacity) with parchment paper and set aside. Alternately, you can bake this bread without a pan on a lightly floured baking sheet.

To make the oat flour, use a food processor to pulse the rolled oats a few times. Then process into a fine powder - another minute or two. If you are buying oat flour, not making your own, measure out 7 oz / scant 2 cups.

Sift the flours, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the flour and pour in the buttermilk. Stir just until everything comes together into a dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured countertop and knead for 30 seconds or so, just long enough for the dough to come together into a cohesive, slightly flattened ball without many cracks or fissures. If your dough is on the dry side, add more buttermilk a small splash at a time. Now ease the dough evenly into the prepared baking pan - see photo if you need a bit of guidance.

Brush all over the top and sides with buttermilk and sprinkle generously with mixed seeds or flour, 2 tablespoons or so. Slice a few deep slashes across the top of the dough. Bake for about 30 minutes, then quickly (without letting all the hot air out of the oven), move the rack and the bread up a level, so the top of the bread gets nice and toasted. Bake for another 20 minutes, or until a hard crust forms and the bread is baked through. It will feel very solid and sound hollow when you knock on it. Carefully lift it out of the pan, in a timely fashion, and allow to cool on a wire rack. Enjoy with a good slathering of salted butter.

Makes one loaf.

Prep time: 10 min - Cook time: 50 min

adapted from 101 Cookbooks

Breakfast (or lunch...or dinner) Enchurritos

Enchurrito? Wha?  Well, it’s a creation I just made myself for dinner.  As I pulled it out of the oven, my roommate walked by, stopped, and said: “you better be blogging about that”.  So, here I am.

I was trying to scrounge up something for dinner from my fridge, and once I saw my trusty-always-must-have carton of eggs, I knew it was breakfast-for-dinner time.  I had corn tortillas too, and I knew I wanted them to be involved.  Breakfast burritos?  Yes please.  But wait…then I saw a full jar of peachy green chili made from peaches picked from one of the best places on earth (Excelsior Orchard, which you can read and see more about here) and then I had a smothering sauce that needed to be incorporated.  This meant fork and knife.  Plus, they were corn tortillas and not flour ones.  Yes, this meant enchiladas…and breakfast burritos….as one.  And right then and there, enchurritos were born.  (I thought this was my own crafty creation, but apparently they already exist?  Madness I tell you.  Let me know if you already knew this or have had them before.  That is…before you make these!)

To round them out and make them even more super fantastic, I added a bunch of fresh herbs and cheddar cheese to my scrambled eggs, and layered them with cooked spinach and beans within their tortilla robes.  Hearty, cheesy, eggy, smothered-in-a-chili salsa goodness.  Topped with a whole lot more freshly chopped herbs and a dollop of sour cream, and you’ve got yourself a helluva breakfast…lunch….or dinner. 

Breakfast (or lunch...or dinner) Enchurritos

This recipe is made for one person, but be sure to double, triple, or quadruple to make for as many friends who want in too!

Ingredients

2 eggs

¼ cup (or more) shredded cheese of your choice

½ tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (or use any combination of herbs you like! chives, tarragon, cilantro…)

1/2 cup cooked spinach

1/3 cup black, white, or red beans (optional)

1 cup salsa

2 6-inch corn tortillas

Salt

Pepper

More fresh chopped herbs, shredded cheese, and sour cream

Method

Preheat broiler to high and set a rack to one of the highest rungs in the oven.  Cover bottom of a small, ovenproof casserole dish with half the salsa.  Warm up the two tortillas in the microwave, toaster oven, or in a dry skillet just to make them pliable.

Heat a splash of olive oil in a small skillet over medium high heat.  While it heats, scramble the two eggs in a small bowl and add to the skillet when up to temp.  Move the eggs around with a spatula until just cooked; add cheese, beans, fresh herbs, salt and pepper to taste.  Stir to combine.

Divide spinach and spread in middle of each tortilla.  Divide egg mixture and place on top of spinach.  Fold each side of the tortilla to the center over the filling and place seam-side down in the casserole dish.  Top with remaining salsa and shredded cheese, if desired. 

Place under broiler until salsa is bubbly and cheese is melted. 

Top with herbs, and a dollop of smooth, cool sour cream. 

Devour.