Chocolate Raspberry Mini Cakes

Are these not the most beautiful little cakes you have ever seen?  I alway get excited when I find a recipe that makes delicious food that also happens to be pretty, because normally, pretty food is not my forte.

The cakes are rich, moist chocolate cakes - like, so moist that it was kind of hard to use the cute-shaped cookie cutters on them because they were so sticky.  I think its the buttermilk and the coffee that add both moisture and flavor.  The frosting is a raspberry buttercream made from beating egg whites like crazy with sugar and raspberry puree.  We cheated and used raspberry jam instead of fresh raspberry puree so that we could save the berries for topping the cakes.  It still made a perfectly pink, sweet, fruity frosting, so it worked just fine.

My mom actually found this recipe for me, and we worked on making the mini cakes for my aunt Susie's birthday.  She loved them and agreed that they were maybe the most beautiful little cakes ever baked.  My family kept a few and devoured them (and perhaps my mom ate the scraps of cake dipped in the leftover frosting... don't judge us).

Recipe:

chocolate raspberry mini cakes
from Sprinkles for Breakfast

Ingredients:
for chocolate cake:
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup strong black coffee
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
for raspberry buttercream:
4 egg whites
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into cubes
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces raspberries (plus extra for garnish)
pink food coloring (optional)

Instructions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a half sheet pan with baking spray and parchment.

2) In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, and baking powder.  Mix on low until dry ingredients are thoroughly combined.

3) Add eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla.  Beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes.  The batter will be thin.   Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake 35 - 40 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Place on wire rack and let cool completely while you make frosting.

4) To make the buttercream frosting, combine the egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl and place over a pan of simmering water.  Whisk constantly with a whisk until sugar has dissolved and the mixture is warm to the touch.

5) Put mixture in a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment.  Whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form (about 10 minutes).  The mixture should be fluffy and glossy and completely cool.

6) Put mixer on low-medium speed and add butter a little at a time.  Once all the butter has been added, add vanilla and increase speed of mixer to high.  Let mix for 3 - 5 minutes.

7) Puree 4 ounces of raspberries in a blender.  Press the raspberry puree through a fine mesh strainer to get rid of all seeds.  Discard seeds.

8) Add puree to buttercream and beat until the frosting is smooth.  If you want, you can add a little punk food coloring as well.

9) To assemble the cakes: once the cakes are completely cool, use a 2" cutter to cut out circles of cake.  Using a knife, cut the circle in half horizontally and separate the 2 layers.  Fill a piping bag with a star tip with raspberry buttercream, and pipe a circle on the bottom layer.  Place the top layer back on top and pipe a circle on the top.  Top each one with a fresh raspberry.

Caribbean Shrimp Kabobs

Okay I'm a good month or so behind when it comes to recipes.  So even though it's fall (officially now), and people are drinking pumpkin coffee and wearing boots, I am going to tell you about some grilled shrimp that I made in August.  I mean, it's not so cold that you can't grill anymore, so if you're freaking out about summer ending (like I am), then go ahead and make this meal this week and pretend it's August, or pretend you're in the Caribbean, or just pretend it's anything but a muggy late September Tuesday.

Obviously this meal isn't exactly up my alley, but my family loved it.  Even I have to admit that the marinade sounded good: orange and lime juices, cilantro, chili powder, and garlic add lots of flavor.  The shrimp marinates in it (for no more than 30 minutes, by the way, or the citrus juices start to cook the shrimp and make them tough), and then you actually cook the leftover marinade in a saucepan after you take the shrimp out.  It becomes a sauce that you drizzle over the freshly-grilled shrimp for even more flavor.  Win-win.

I made the marinate and Nick did the grilling, and I am pretty sure every shrimp kabob was devoured.  It was tasty and easy and delicious (and healthy - only 260 calories per skewer!)  I made some rice and beans for myself, but it made a good Caribbean-themed side.  May I suggest some sort of tropical drink to go with it?  Don't judge me.  It's been a long week.  And it's only Tuesday :)

Recipe:

Caribbean shrimp kabobs
from Parade Magazine, August 2015
serves 4

Ingredients:
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 pounds peeled large raw shrimp with tails, deveined
4 12-inch wooden or metal skewers

Instructions:

1)Whisk together first 7 ingredients (through garlic) in a large shallow dish or zip-top bag.  Add shrimp.  Cover or seal, and chill 30 minutes.  If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for the 30 minutes.

2) Light charcoal grill or preheat gas grill to 350 - 400 degrees (medium high).  Remove shrimp from marinade; reserve marinade.  Thread shrimp onto skewers so they touch each other.

3) Grill shrimp, covered with grill lid, 2 minutes on each side, or just until shrimp turn pink.  Meanwhile, bring reserved marinade to a boil in a small saucepan and cook 5 minutes.  Remove from heat; drizzle over grilled shrimp.

Eggplant Pizzas

The best part about your friend discovering that she has a green thumb is getting her extra garden harvest!  Cathleen has supplied me all summer long with thousands of tomatoes (got some more yesterday... probably the last batch before fall hits for real :( ) and some eggplants too.

When she gave me eggplants last month, she also suggested that I try making eggplant pizzas.  They're basically little slices of eggplant that take the place of pizza dough; then you can top the with your favorite pizza toppings.  It's gluten-free, low carb, low calorie, and basically all-around perfect.  I tried this out one day when no one in my family was around, which was good, because I literally ate an entire eggplant by myself.  They're addictive.  My eggplant was skinny so each little pizza was one adorable, delicious bite.  It felt like you were going to town on those little bagel pizzas that I may or may not be obsessed with, except it's the healthy version!  Try these out, you won't regret it.  Right CF?

Recipe:

eggplant pizzas

from Cathleen!

serves 3 - 4

Ingredients:

2 - 3 medium eggplants

salt

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

pizza toppings - I used a jar of sauce, cheese and basil, but you can use whatever!

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2) Slice the eggplant into 1/4-inch slices, and lay the slices on paper towels.  Sprinkle with salt and let sweat for 30 minutes.  Dab with paper towels to absorb water and excess salt.

3) Brush slices with olive oil and Italian seasoning.  Roast for 20 - 30 minutes; don't let them get mushy.

4) Remove eggplant from oven; top the slices with sauce, cheese, and basil (or toppings of your choice).  Broil on low until cheese is melty and lightly browned.

Blueberry Coffeecake Scones

It's a little ironic that I am writing this post about blueberry scores, full of freshly picked summery blueberries, on the second day of fall.  I may or may not be wearing warm Christmas-themed pajamas as I write about blueberry picking.  Craziness.

Anyway, these scones.  They're incredible.  As far as scones go, they are incredible.  We've all had scones that are crumbly and dry, but these are moist and flavorful and bursting with sweet blueberries.  There's also a slight hint of lemon zest that brightens everything and makes you want to eat the whole batch in one sitting.  True story.

The recipe calls for a coffeecake-like crumb topping.  I left it off solely because I was going to the movies and ran out of time.  But I am actually glad that I did, because I didn't think they needed it at all.  I'll still post the recipe the way it comes, but feel free to skip it if you don't want the extra half stick of butter.  They're decadent enough!

Recipe:

blueberry coffeecake scones
from Simply Scones: Quick and Easy Recipes for More than 70 Delicious Scones and Spreads, by Leslie Weiner and Barbara Albright
makes 8 scones

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled
2 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 1/2 cups fresh or thawed blueberries
for crumb topping:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup unsalted butter, chilled

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly butter an 11-inch diameter circle in the center of a baking sheet.

2) In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes and distribute them over the flour mixture.  With a pastry cutter, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

3) In a small bowl, stir together the eggs, milk, vanilla, and lemon peel.  Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine.  The dough will be sticky.  With lightly floured hands, gently knead in the blueberries until evenly distributed.  Pat the dough into  9-inch diameter circle in the center of the prepared baking sheet.

4) To prepare the topping, in a small bowl stir together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes and distribute them over the flour mixture.  With a pastry blender, cut the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Sprinkle the topping mixture lightly into the dough.

5) With a serrated knife, cut the circle into 8 wedges.  Bake for 30 - 35 minutes until the top is lightly browned and a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean.  Remove the baking sheet to a wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes.  Using a spatula, transfer the scones to the wire rack and cool.  Recut into wedges if necessary.  Serve warm, or cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Cream of Asparagus on Toast

This recipe name is not the most appetizing. Cream of anything never sounds good to me; it reminds me of cans of congealed white muck.  And toast is under-appreciated (although I do believe it's becoming a tad more trendy these days).  To be honest, when my mom showed me this recipe and wanted me to make it, I was underwhelmed.  Asparagus and eggs on toast in a white sauce?  That's dinner?  But I gave it a shot, and I am so glad I did.  So keep reading.

Imagine a thick, creamy, cheesy sauce with chunks of hard boiled eggs, served over crunch toast with tender-crisp fresh asparagus.  Top it with some more slices of eggs and salt and pepper. Now imagine that the sauce is actually not that bad for you; contrary to the name, there is no cream (just milk, and you can use skim!) and only 1/4 cup of cheese.  There are tons of eggs in there for protein - and have you seen a prettier dish?  I bet you have not.  I'm telling you, this is a diamond in the rough recipe right here.

Recipe:

cream of asparagus on toast
from Red Head Can Decorate
serves 4

Ingredients:
1/2 pound fresh asparagus, 1 inch cut off bottoms
5 hard boiled eggs, peeled; 4 eggs chopped, 1 sliced in circles
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
parsley
8 slices toast

Instructions:

1) Wash asparagus.  Boil in salted water for approximately 3 minutes; drain and set aside.

2) Melt butter in medium frying pan.  Add flour and mix into a paste with a wooden spoon.  Add milk and whisk until lumps are gone.

3) Add cheddar cheese and the 4 chopped eggs.  Stir in salt and pepper.

4) Top toast with sauce and asparagus.  Garnish with parsley and sliced egg.  You can make a double decker if you want but I thought single deckers looked nicer.

Dinner Rolls

Things are just crazy around here these days.  I am feeling a little better about life in general, but I still have my moments. My house is looking and feeling great after some hard work by my mom, Rachael and Sam.  It's nice to relax here.  I feel really busy lately, but maybe that's just a combination of being back at work, trying to see lots of friends, and hauling two dogs around who move at vastly different speeds.

No matter how busy I feel, I had to find the time to talk to you about these dinner rolls.  I believe that they are the best rolls I have ever made.  Italicized to show emphasis.  But for real, these are the softest, tastiest, most amazing little crescents of bread.  I ate so many the night I made them, it was embarrassing.  Then I continued to eat them for the next few days; they kept surprisingly well in an airtight container (homemade bread doesn't usually stay soft very long).

I am sincerely wishing that I had some right now, actually.  The good news is that I could make that happen if I wanted; these are not difficult to make.  Yes, they're yeast rolls so there are 2 periods of letting the dough rise.  They might not be quick, but they aren't hard.  The hardest part is rolling the crescents to make them pretty, as opposed to how mots of mine looked.... not so pretty.  But still tasted amazing, so who cares?  Make these the next time you want to really impress people at dinner.

One note - the recipe suggests running a stick of butter over the rolls when they come out of the oven.  I felt like they tasted buttery enough without that extra step and calories, but hey, if you want to go big or go home, go for it!

Recipe:
dinner rolls
from How Does She
makes 48 rolls

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons yeast
2 cups warm water
9 - 10 cups all purpose flour
at least 1 cup butter, softened

Instructions:

1) Scald 1 1/2 cups milk, 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup butter (cut into small pieces) in a microwave safe bowl for about 2 minutes.  It's okay if there are still some cubes of butter floating around.

2) Stir in 1 - 2 cups flour into the hot mixture to cool it down.  Add 1 egg and 1 tablespoon salt. Let cool 2 more minutes.  Meanwhile, in a measuring cup, dissolve 2 tablespoons of yeast in 2 cups of warm water and 1 tablespoon sugar.  Let sit for a couple minutes until bubbly.  Add the yeast mixture to the milk mixture.

3) Using a fork or wooden spoon, gradually stir in 7 - 9 cups of flour.  Add 2 cups at a time and stir in between.  The dough will be dense and sticky and may be hard to stir; you will have to change to stirring with your hands at the end.  Don't add too much flour.  Smooth the dough out and cover the bowl with plastic wrap.  Leave in a warm place and let it rise until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

4) When your dough is close to raising completely, butter 2 cookie sheets and set them aside.  Cover your work space with flour.  When dough is ready, dump it out and divide it into 4 balls.  Try to make them even but they don't have to be perfect.  Using one ball of dough at a time, roll the dough into a circle.  Once it is rolled out, spread the top with butter from edge to edge. You will use about 2 tablespoons per circle of dough.

5) Cut the dough into quarters using a pizza cutter.  Then cut each quarter into 3 pieces.  You should end up with 12 triangles from each circle of dough.  Roll each triangle of dough starting with the wide end of the triangle.  Tuck the tail of the triangle under the roll and place it on the buttered cookie sheet.  You should be able to fit 24 rolls per pan, 3 rows of 8.

6) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Place the pans of rolls in a warm place to let them rise.  Once they are touching and full in size, cook one pan at a time in the oven until they are golden brown, 10 - 15 minutes.  When they are done, you may choose to run a stick of butter over the tops of the rolls for a buttery glaze.

Eggplant Rollatini

When I offered to make dinner for Alex's family, I was stressed.  What if they're strict carnivores?  What if they wanted ground beef or chicken or something equally as unsavory?  The less I cook with meat, the more it distresses me to think about it.  But luckily, they requested eggplant rollatini.  Excellent.  I could make 2 batches and keep one for our family!  That's exactly what I did.

Eggplant rollatini, for those of you who aren't obsessed with eggplant like I am, is thin slices of eggplant, rolled around a ricotta-based filling and baked in tomato sauce.  What's not the like?!  This filling also has pine nuts, mozzarella, parmesan and basil, so it's basically one cheesy bite of Italy.

Rather than frying the eggplant like in most eggplant parm recipes, it gets grilled.  This was the first time I pulled out the grill attachment for my gas oven, which I was pretty pumped about.  It worked awesome.  So even though there are 3 different cheeses, I tell myself it's fairly healthy.

The recipe comes with its own recipe for sauce.  You could totally toss a jar of sauce in there if you were in a pinch, but let's be honest: when you're taking the time to chiffonade basil and salt-sweat eggplant, you've got the time to make your own sauce too.  Plus this makes plenty of leftover sauce that can be frozen for the next time you make rollatini :)

End result?  Tender rolls of eggplant with creamy, cheesy, ricotta, swimming in a flavorful tomato sauce.  Mmmmmm.

Recipe:

eggplant rollatini
from Food Network 

Ingredients:
for sauce: 
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 32-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
2 dried bay leaves
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, optional
for rollatini:
3 medium-sized eggplants
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
vegetable oil spray
32 ounces ricotta cheese
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
8 tablespoons grated parmesan
3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
20 basil leaves, chiffonaded
extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Instructions:

1) Make the tomato sauce first.  In a large casserole to, heat oil over medium high heat  Add onion and garlic, and sauce until soft and translucent, about 5 to 10 minutes.  Add celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper.  Sauce until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 to 10 minutes.  Add tomatoes and bay leaves and simmer uncovered on low heat for 1 hour or until thick.  Remove bay leaves and check for seasoning.  If sauce tastes acidic, add unsalted butter 1 tablespoon at a time to round out flavors.  Add 1/2 the tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor.  Process until smooth. Continue with remaining tomato sauce.  You will need 2 cups for this recipe; allow the rest to cool completely and pour into freezer plastic bags.  It will keep for up to 6 months.

2) Preheat the grill pan and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Place a rack over a large baking sheet.  Cut the 2 ends off the eggplant.  Sprinkle with seas alt to help remove excess moisture and any bitterness from the eggplants.  Set aside for about 10 to 15 minutes.  Rinse off the salt from the eggplants and pat dry with a towel.  Spray hot grill pan liberally with vegetable spray and then place eggplant slices on the grill until lightly browned on each side and tender, about 4 minutes per side.  Remove slices from the grill pan and allow to cool.

3) In a large bowl, beat eggs until lightly scrambled.  Mix the ricotta in with the egg.  Add mozzarella, 3 tablespoons of parmesan cheese, and toasted pine nuts, and gently combine.  Fold in basil just to combine.  Do not overmix.

4) Place a tablespoon of the cheese mixture on 1 end of the eggplant and roll up tightly.  Place the eggplant rollatini into a greased (with olive oil) 13 by 9-inch baking dish, seam-side down.  Continue with remaining eggplant.  Evenly distribute the tomato sauce on top of the eggplant rollatini.  Season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle the remaining 5 tablespoons of parmesan and bake for 15 minutes.  When cooked, drizzle the top with extra virgin olive oil.

Maine Wild Blueberry Pie

Whoa.  Summer is over, I'm back to work, my CAGS class is in full swing, and thus we have a lack of blog posts, along with me sitting in my pajamas by 9:30 on a Friday night.  Cool?  Probably not.  But I am totally exhausted.  Luckily, I am not too tired to talk to you about Maine wild blueberry pie (made with blueberries that are neither from Maine nor wild... they were picked from Odd Pine Farm in Ashburnham, MA!).

Susie had posted this Yankee Magazine recipe on Facebook and said it was the best pie she ever tasted.  We had just gone berry picking that morning and had way too many berries for a normal family to eat.  I was making dinner for Alex's family that night, so I decided to make two pies, one for us and one for them.

The filling itself is super simple: plenty of fresh berries, sweetened with sugar and flavored with a little lemon juice.  I also used their recipe for pie dough, which came out beautifully.  The end result is definitely a beautiful and delicious blueberry pie that just tastes like summer.  Which, on a  slightly chilly September night, sounds pretty darn good.

Recipe:

Maine wild blueberry pie
from Yankee Magazine
yield 8 servings

Ingredients:
for pie crust: 
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
18 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
6 - 8 tablespoons ice water
for filling:
5 cups fresh blueberries
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 - 1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons butter

Instructions:

1) In a medium-size bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt until well combined.  Sprinkle butter over flour mixture, and cut butter into flour.  Stop when the mixture looks like cornmeal, with pea-sized bits of butter remaining.

2) Sprinkle 6 tablespoons ice water on top, and stir with a fork until dough begins to come together.  If needed, add more ice water a tablespoon at a time.

3) Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead three times, or just enough to make a cohesive dough.  Do not over mix.  Gather into a ball, then divide into 2 pieces, one slightly larger than the other.  Press each piece into a disk and wrap in plastic.  Refrigerate 30 minutes.

4) Wash berries, remove stems, and gently stir with flour and sugar.  Sprinkle with lemon juice to taste.  Set aside.

5) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Unwrap the larger disk of pastry dough and place in the center of a sheet of parchment paper.  Cover with a second piece of parchment.  Roll out, working from center, to a circle.  Peel off top piece of parchment and transfer dough to a 9-inch deep dish pie plate, peeled side down.  Peel off remaining parchment and press crust into plate, draping any excess over the sides.

6) Unwrap smaller dough disk and place in the center of a large sheet of parchment paper.  Cover with a second piece of parchment.  Roll out, working from center, to an 11-inch circle.  Set aside.

7) Pour berries into bottom crust.  Distribute dots of butter over berries.  Peel one sheet of parchment off top.  Transfer top crust, peeled side down, to pie; then peel off remaining parchment.

8) Using a sharp knife, make 3 slashes in crust to let steam escape.  Fold bottom crust up over top crust and crimp to seal.  Brush with egg wash, then bake until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling, 40 -50 minutes.