Springtime Cupcakes!

I'll let you in on a little secret - when I make cupcakes, I often use a cake mix.

SHOCK AND AWE!

I know, I know, it's a cheat but I just figure it's cheaper than raw ingredients and they rarely ever fail. The key to making it not just taste like a typical boring cupcake is to add new ingredients to it to make it unique.

Like....

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I haven't had marshmallow fluff since I was a wee child. It's full of horrible sugar and it's AMAZING! I can see myself using Fluff for more cupcakes in the future. Perhaps S'mores cupcakes?

Here's my recipe for Strawberry Shortcake Vanilla Bean Cupcakes.

Cupcakes
1 box white cake mix
4 egg whites
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup buttermilk (or 3/4 cup milk plus 3/4 tablespoon lemon juice*)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp vanilla bean paste

Filling
1 cup marshmallow cream
1/2 cup strawberry jam
1 cup icing sugar

Icing
500 ml whipping cream
1 tbsp strawberry flavoured gelatin powder
1 cup icing sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350º and place liners in cupcake tray.

2. In mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except cake mix. Blend well. Sift in cake mix to ensure no lumps of mix will be in the cakes. Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated. Try not to over mix.

3. Fill cake liners 3/4 full and bake for 15-17 minutes.


*if you do not have buttermilk, you can substitute it for 3/4 cup milk and 3/4 tbsp of lemon juice. You should prepare this mixture 10 minutes before starting the recipe as you need to give the milk time to sour.


Once the cakes have cooled, cut a piece out of each one for the filling. I happen to have a rad cupcake tray that bakes each one with a hollow centre from the get-go. It saves on time and each one looks perfect!

4. Combine all ingredients for the filling. Spoon into hollow cake centres.

I love the use of vanilla bean paste in baked goods. I love the look of the speckled vanilla beans throughout the food. I find it appealing.

5. Whip cream until hard peaks form. Add gelatin and icing sugar.

6. Pipe whipped cream onto cupcakes just before serving and garnish with a strawberry.


I brought 15 of these to a friend's place last night. There were six of us and they were eaten in about an hour or so. Impressive!

I'm moving once again...in just under two weeks! I'm looking forward to it. Closer to the city and work, and I'll be living alone once again. My crafting time may be lessened in the next couple of weeks but it'll be worth it.


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Peanut Butter + Cookies = Happy Jennifer

I luuurve peanut butter cookies. And peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips are even better. But what's EVEN better is if these cookies also have oatmeal AND peanut butter chips.

Oh yes.

And no, they are not diabetic friendly. Not even close.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup natural peanut butter (don't use Kraft or any other processed peanut butter. Get the 100% natural peanut butter. Trust me, you'll thank me)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla bean paste (you can use vanilla extract - if you have to)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp hot water
2 cups flour
1 cup ground oatmeal
1 bag chocolate chips
1 bag peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 350º. Cream together butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy and then add sugars. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Mix baking soda, salt and hot water in small bowl and add to butter/sugar mixture. Add flour & oatmeal, one cup at a time. Blend cookie mixture until well blended and is rather fluffy. Add chocolate and peanut butter chips. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Roll dough into a ball and place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes.

You may not have to cook them as long as I do, but I happen to use a 3 oz. cookie scoop so my cookies tend to be pretty massive. If you prefer to make a smaller cookie, you may only need to bake them for about 10-12 minutes. Just keep and eye on them and when the bottoms start to brown, get 'em out of the heat!

And last but not least, EAT THE COOKIES!

If they happen to last more than a day or two, I recommend putting them in the microwave for about 15 seconds or so. They get all warm, gooey and delicious.

Enjoy!
**** Come visit my new site at www.thecraftinista.com ****

Mmm...mmm...awesome!

We're in the middle of a soup kick at my house. In the last three weeks I've made a tomato chicken soup, beef, quinoa & barley soup and a split pea soup but my favourite has been the Italian sausage and tortellini soup. It's rich, filling and delicious. Try it!

Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup

3 links sweet italian sausage, casings removed
1 cup diced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
5 cups beef stock
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup diced tomatoes (canned or fresh)
1 cup chopped carrots
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup corn
1 green pepper, diced
8 oz cheese or beef tortellini
chopped parsley

I started by removing the sausage from casings and browned it in sauté pan for about 10 minutes. Drain most of the fat but leave a bit to sauté the onions and garlic in. Next add the beef stock, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, skimming any fat that may surface. Finally, add the rest of the ingredients and let cook for another 10 minutes or until the tortellini is cooked. Now eat.

We actually made double the recipe and have been eating this soup for days. Normally if I make this much soup in one go, I would freeze half of it but I figure the tortellini would soak up all the liquid and would become huge and soggy.
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Mmmm...baked goods.

There is only one thing better than baking banana bread. Eating it. Recently I cleaned out my freezer only to discover that I had a plethora of frozen bananas that I should probably try and get some use out of it. I couldn't decide if I should make banana bread, banana chip cookies or banana nut muffins so I asked my friends via facebook what they thought I should make. Banana bread was the overwhelming winner and I was more than happy to oblige!


Here's my recipe...

Banana Nut Bread

1 cup sugar
1 cup mashed banana
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
walnuts (optional)


Cream together sugar and banana. When blended add butter. Add eggs, one at a time. Sift together dry ingredients and mix together with banana mixture only until all flour is mixed in. Try not to over mix it. Pour into greased pan and place into 350º pre-heated oven. If you use a mini loaf pan such I did, cook for about 25 minutes. If you use a regular loaf pan, 45-60 minutes will be needed.

I added walnuts on top, although occasionally I will mix in chocolate chips instead.

Enjoy!
 **** Come visit my new site at www.thecraftinista.com ****