Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I guess now that the Super Bowl is over, that means it's time to get in gear for some Valentine's Day treats. I went from store to store trying to find Valentine's Day themed sprinkles with no luck.... it was only the 4th of February people, surely they couldn't be sold out! Luckily I was headed down to Seattle for the weekend so my first stop (as it so often is) was Home Cake. If you are in the Seattle area you MUST seek this place out. Its in a somewhat residential neighborhood near Northgate. It's just a tiny little store jam packed with everything you could ever need or want for baking. The owner is always very nice and willing to offer up advise for your project if needed. It's probably a good thing I don't live closer, it would surely bankrupt me. I gathered up a variety of sprinkles and a few other supplies and was on my way. The first recipe that came to mind was just a classic Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting. So simple, so classic but I find them incredibly beautiful, not to mention yummy! I think you could put cream cheese frosting on just about anything and it would be a winner in my book. This was the first time I've used Martha Stewart's recipe for red velvet but I liked it very much and will probably use it in the future. After removing the cupcakes from the tins, I was worried because they seemed very oily but that problem seemed to take care of itself after sitting for awhile. The cream cheese frosting is a recipe (technique?) that I developed a couple of years ago and never looked back. I used to always have trouble with my cream cheese frosting being too thin to pipe - it would just run off the cupcake and at the very least not hold its shape. After some experimenting, I found that if I cream the room temperature butter with the powdered sugar first, then add in small pieces of cold cream cheese, the result was a thick, wonderful frosting that is a dream to pipe.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

By Martha Stewart

Yields  24 cupcakes

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self- rising), sifted

2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon red gel-paste food color

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cake flour, cocoa, and salt.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in food color and vanilla.
3. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and whisking well after each. Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl (it will foam); add mixture to the batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds.
4. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Top with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Yields enough to generously frost 24-30 cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 8oz cream cheese, cubed and cold
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Cream your butter and powdered sugar in your stand mixer until very well combines, approximately 3 minutes. With your mixer running on low, slowly add in your cubed, cold pieces of cream cheese one at a time. Once incorporated, add in your vanilla extract and heavy cream. Continue beating for a few minutes longer until light and fluffy.

Note: If you desire a dense frosting with a heavier cream cheese taste, use equal amounts of cream cheese and butter.

© 2012 - 2012 Mostly Sweet & Sometimes Salty - All Rights Reserved.

Classic Banana Bread

I've found (as I'm sure many of you have) that my tastes have changed drastically as I've gotten older. I used to despise banana bread and now it's quite the opposite. In fact, sometimes I find that it's what I crave most often, not cookies or cakes but banana bread. I've tried many different recipes lately and I had some issues with all of them, either they were too dry, too moist, not flavorful, etc. I was not completely satisfied until I tried the Classic Banana Bread recipe from Cooking Light. I find it to have the perfect balance of everything I'm looking for in a a quick bread, it's just an added bonus that it is a "lighter" version than most. That is until I starting adding ingredients like chocolate chips, toffee, cinnamon chips or in this case here, mini Reese's peanut butter cups.

Classic Banana Bread

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar 

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)

1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup of optional "add ins" if you'd like, nuts, chocolate chips, etc.

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
3. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. At this point, I usually let it sit at room temperature for about 15-20 minutes to thicken up, this helps prevent the add ins from sinking to the bottom. Spoon batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray or lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

© 2012 - 2012 Mostly Sweet & Sometimes Salty - All Rights Reserved.

Pineapple, Coconut & Pecan Chewy Granola Bars

Dave is leaving for snowy and cold Manitoba for a business trip so I thought I would send him with a few snacks since he will have limited choices where he is staying. Right away my mind went to a chewy granola bar. They would be perfect; delicious, filling and somewhat healthy. I researched a few recipes and found this one by King Arthur Flour, I've always had pretty good luck with their recipes so I decided to give it a try. Boy was that a good choice. I cannot put into words how good these are. They were pretty good the night I baked them but overnight the flavors developed  into something incredible. They are the perfect combination of crunchy and chewy, sweet and salty. I found myself cutting off a small piece every time I went into the kitchen until I had eaten the very generous sized bar I cut them into. Honestly I had to make myself stop eating them or I could've eaten the whole pan. These are incredibly adaptable to your liking and to what you have on hand. Change out the nuts, fruits, sweetener, etc. the sky is the limit. I already have plans to make a batch with apricots, cherries and pepitas. The original recipe calls for something called sticky bun sugar, which I had never heard of so I used the provided substitution of corn syrup and more melted butter.

Pineapple, Coconut and Pecan Chewy Granola Bars

Recipe by King Arthur Flour

Printable Recipe

1 2/3 cups quick rolled oats

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup oats that have been ground in food processor

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional

2 to 3 cups dried fruits and nuts ( I used dried pineapple, coconut flakes & pecans)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons melted butter or vegetable oil (I used butter)

1/4 cup  honey, maple syrup or corn syrup ( I used honey)

2 Tablespoons corn syrup

1 tablespoon water

1/3 cup of nut butter, optional ( I used cashew butter)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line a 8x8 pan with parchment. Stir together all of your dry ingredients, including the fruit and nuts. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, butter, honey, corn syrup, nut butter and water. Add your dry into the wet and mix to combine. Press mixture into your prepared pan and bake for 25 -30 minutes until golden brown around the edges.

© 2012 - 2012 Mostly Sweet & Sometimes Salty - All Rights Reserved.