Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes last week and they turned out really good.  The frosting makes these.  YUM.

Makes 12 cupcakes

 

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 egg
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 tsp grated lemon zest
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp lemon oil or lemon extract
1/4 cup raspberry puree (I didn't have any, so I used my raspberry freezer jam)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, butter, and egg until smooth. Add yogurt, lemon zest and juice, and lemon extract, beating until smooth. Add flour mixture, beating just until smooth.
4. Scoop 1 tablespoon or so of batter into each prepared cupcake liner. Drop about a teaspoon of raspberry puree onto batter in each liner. Add another tablespoon or so of batter on top of raspberry puree, filling cupcake liners about 2/3 full. Top with additional teaspoon of raspberry puree, and swirl batter with a toothpick to make a decorative pattern in batter. Bake in preheated oven for 22 to 25 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on rack. Top cooled cupcakes with frosting.


Raspberry Lemonade Buttercream
Makes about 2 cups (16-20 cupcakes)

Ingredients:
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp raspberry puree (again with the freezer jam)
1 tbsp lemonade concentrate, thawed
½ tsp raspberry extract
Pinch of salt

 

Directions:
1. In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together confectioners’ sugar, butter, raspberry puree, lemonade concentrate, raspberry extract, and salt until smooth.
2. Spread frosting over cooled cupcakes and set aside at room temperature until ready to serve or for up to 8 hours.

The frosting reminds me of the sweet tooth fairy cupcake... the cupcake is a little different though.  Still good, just not as dense of a cake.

Brownie Caramel Fudge Cheesecake

This is Steve's absolute favorite.  He swears you could order it at The Cheesecake Factory and be happy to pay for it.  So, I'll just take his word!  :)

Ingredients:

1 brownie box mix + the ingredients that it calls to make it (eggs, oil, water, etc)

1 (14 ounce) package individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk
6 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup white sugar

3 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 eggs
1 cup chocolate fudge topping

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease the bottom of a 10 inch springform pan.
2. In a small bowl, mix together brownie mix as directed on the back of the box. Spread into the greased pan. Bake for 25 minutes.
3. Melt the caramels with the evaporated milk over low heat in a heavy saucepan. Stir often, and heat until mixture has a smooth consistency. Reserve 1/3 cup of this caramel mixture, and pour the remainder over the warm, baked brownie crust.
4. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Pour cream cheese mixture over caramel mixture.
5. Place tin foil around the pan and put on a large cookie sheet.  Pour approx 1-2 cups water on the cookie sheet so it surrounds the cheesecake pan.  This will help prevent cracking and keep your cheesecake looking pretty across the top.  Bake cheesecake for 40-50 minutes until center jiggles but is still set when you touch it and the cheesecake is visibly browning on top. Chill in pan. When cake is thoroughly chilled (wait until chilled or you can cause a crack on the side of the cake!), loosen by running a knife around the edge, and then remove the rim of the pan. Heat reserved caramel mixture, and spoon over cheesecake. Drizzle with the chocolate fudge topping.

This cheesecake is really rich and can feed a lot of people!  Or, speaking from experience, it can feed you sitting in your fridge for DAYS.  ;)

ENJOY!

THE BEST oatmeal/chocolate chip cookie

My sister-in-law Nancy (baker extraordinare) , passed this recipe onto me a couple years ago and every time I make it, I end up eating about 10 cookies in cookie dough then help myself to a few more when they come out of the oven! (and occasionally scoop some vanilla ice cream on top)

There isn't anything better than a good 'ol oatmeal chocolate chip cookie and this is the perfect combination of flavors!! Plus the cornflakes are such a sweet surprise and add a little crunch!

:I've never added the coconut or nuts only because of my little birdies, but Nancy has and it's delish!:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup cornflakes cereal, crumbled

3 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup flaked coconut (optional)

2 cups milk chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. Mix together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, mace, nutmeg, and cloves; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in milk and vanilla.

Gradually mix in the flour mix until well blended. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the cornflakes, oats, coconut (optional), chocolate chips, and walnuts (optional).

Roll the dough into walnut sized balls, and place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets; flatten slightly. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. I found that slightly under baking these yields wonderfully chewy cookies!

Lemon Basil Chicken

This recipe was sent in the mail. It was actually an advertisement from a mortgage company, but it had a recipe on the back. (great idea!) I guess if you're going to send advertisements and don't want it thrown in the trash on the way from the mailbox, throw a little recipe on the back and it gets a free pass.

It had some ingredients in it that I don't usually (have probably never) used and others that I thought were surprising in an Italian dish. I had to give it a shot. Well, turns out, it was great!

Something about sautéing garlic and mushrooms, and using fresh basil; it brought out the Italian Chef in me! It just had a fresh, light flavor which is always a nice change from marinara and alfredo sauce.

So go outside the box just a little and give this recipe a try. I hope you liked it like our family did!

1 T virgin olive oil

1 T minced garlic (fresh)

8 oz mushrooms (sliced)

1 lb chicken breasts (boneless, skinless, chunked)

1 t salt & pepper (each)

1/2 C white grape juice

3/4 C fresh lemon juice (4 lemons)

8 Roma tomatoes (chunked)

1/2 C fresh basil leaves (chopped)

1/4 C Asiago cheese (grated)

1 lb penne pasta (cooked)

In a large skillet, brown garlic and mushrooms in oil until golden brown. Add chicken chunks, salt, and pepper and cook until done, about 10 minutes. Add grape juice and simmer 5 minutes. Add lemon juice and tomatoes. Simmer 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in chopped fresh basil. Serve over pasta and top with Asiago cheese.

Now for my variations: I was worried it would be too lemon-y and didn't want Devin to immediately taste lemon. (Have I mentioned my husband who isn't a big fan of anything too out of the ordinary?) So I only used 2 lemons. I also didn't use all 8 tomatoes, but that's just me. I like tomatoes, just not tons of them. Also looking back I would have dished out my kids plates before adding the tomatoes. (they aren't tomato fans) One more thing: I couldn't find Asiago cheese at the store, so I just used Parmesan cheese and that tasted great too!

Bon Appetite!

Crock Pot Lasagna

This makes lasagna that much easier!

I sampled this recipe at Macey's grocery store. The kids loved it and figured using a crockpot sounded great!

{and I loved that you didn't have to boil the noodles}

1 lb ground beef

1 yellow onion chopped (I only did 1/2 onion and that seemed to be plenty)

2 cloves garlic smashed

1 29 oz can tomato sauce

1 6 oz can tomato paste

1 16 oz cottage cheese

5 oz grated parmesan cheese

8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

16 oz lasagna noodles (uncooked)

1 t dried oregano

Brown ground beef, onion and garlic in fry pan. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt & oregano. Cook until meat sauce if warm.

Spoon a layer of meat sauce onto the bottom of the crock pot. Add a double layer of uncooked lasagna noodles (break to fit) and top with a layer of the cheeses. Repeat with sauce, noodles and cheeses until all are used up.

Add 1/2 C water around outside edge of lasagna. Cover & cook on low for 4-5 hours.

Serves 6