Pink Velvet Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting & Candied Bacon

Last week was a busy birthday week in our family since C shares a birthday with her Aunt.  I was on a cupcake roll after making C's Blue Velvet Cookie Monster Cupcakes, and I decided to go pink for my Sister-in-law's surprise treats.  After being inundated this year with candied bacon everywhere I looked, I knew that I too had to jump on the band wagon and thus my Pink Velvet Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting and Candied Bacon were born.

For the cupcakes, I wanted to try a slightly different version than I did with the Blue Velvet, they tasted incredible but they did sink in the middle a bit for me.  I found this variation of the same recipe at The Foodies' Kitchen and decided to try it.  These cupcakes looked exactly how I had wanted my Blue Velvet ones to look (well, except for the colour), and were slightly easier to put together, but they were lighter in texture and missing that oh so good buttery goodness... but still an excellent adaptation, and one I will make again.

Pink Velvet Cupcakes
Adapted from The Foodies' Kitchen

2 1/2 cups cake/pastry flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp Wilton Rose Petal gel food colour, this gave a Dusty Rose shade to the cupcakes.
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray 2 (12 cup) muffin pans lightly with non-stick spray and line with paper cupcake liners. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa. In a large bowl, gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food colouring, vinegar and vanilla (I did this in the KitchenAid, first (stir) speed). Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined (KitchenAid speed 2 while combining ingredients and then speed 3 for an additional minute).

Spoon batter into prepared pans and bake 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out dry. Remove from pans and let cool completely before frosting.

While my cupcakes were cooling and before I made the maple cream cheese frosting, I made up 6 strips of candied bacon. To do this, I simply put 6 slices of bacon on a parchment lined baking sheet, sprinkled them liberally with brown sugar and baked them at 350 for 25 minutes. When the bacon came out of the oven, I let it cool on the parchment before chopping.

When the cupcakes were cooled, I made the frosting and piped it onto the cupcakes using a large star tip and then topped with the chopped candied bacon.  These cupcakes were fabulous and any richness that may have been lacking in the cupcakes themselves was more than compensated for with this decadent frosting.

My Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 block (4 oz) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

2 tbsp cream (or milk)

3 - 3 1/2 cups icing sugar.

With whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together in KitchenAid stand mixer until light and fluffy on a medium speed.  Beat in the salt, maple syrup and cream and start mixing in the icing sugar about half a cup at a time until desired consistency is reached.  I used a bit more as I wanted the piped frosting to hold its shape.  Let beat for 4 to 5 minutes at a medium high speed to ensure no lumps and an incredibly light texture.

Pesto Potato Pizza w/ Bacon, Mushroom & Goat Cheese

So Pizza Friday came back swinging last week and wow, it hit a home run.  I didn't even have a game plan when I put my Pizza Dough on in the Kitchenaid... I just knew I didn't want to do the same ol' pizza.

Looking around the kitchen I started to hunt and gather.  In the fridge I saw some basil pesto, a big bag of sliced mini bellas that were crying to be eaten, half a yellow onion, and some bacon.  So I put them all on the counter and went back to open my 'Cheese Chest', a big storage container I keep in the fridge.  I had bought some Fontina, a cheese I hadn't eaten before but have seen a lot lately and wanted to try, so I grabbed that and a bit of mozzarella and some grated Parmesan.  As I was closing the door I noticed the small package of goat cheese I had bought the week before and at that point, I knew this was going to be an incredible pie. Then I saw the bag of mini potatoes I had just bought sitting on the baker's rack and thought, why the hell not:)

There isn't a recipe here per se, just hopefully some inspiration for you to create a great Pizza by thinking outside of the box, using ingredients you already have in your house and whatever you think you would like.  If you would like to try a pizza like this delicious one I made, here are some tips:

• Use my Pizza Dough recipe ;)
• After rolling out dough, brush liberally with basil pesto.
• Cover pesto with all of the cheese, except the goat cheese, save that to dollop on top.
• I sliced the potatoes thinly and partially cooked them in the microwave for 2 minutes.
• I sauteed the mushrooms, onions and bacon together until they were fully cooked down.  Without the bacon, this would be a fantastic vegetarian option!
• Brush the outer crust with some olive oil.
• I put some chopped fresh parsley on top once it came out of the oven (baked for 20 minutes at 450 and broiled for about 2 minutes to brown top a bit more).

Wholly Delicious! Nacho Dip

With the holiday long weekends in full swing (last weekend for us Canadians, this weekend for our American buddies) and summer almost upon us, it's time to party!  I don't spend a ton of time in the kitchen during that very short spell that we in Nova Scotia call summer...it's way too nice (and brief) to be stuck inside.  It's all about grilling, salads and quick fresh meals.

The layered nacho dip is another one of the old get-together standbys that if you eat Mexican food on a regular basis at all, you probably have the ingredients you need already in the fridge.  Everyone has their own version of this recipe (I have about a dozen myself).  Some are hot, some are cold, some have beef or chicken, some are vegetarian.  After winning a cooler full of Wholly Guacamole products last month I have become a believer.... you actually can buy edible guacamole in the grocery store after all!  Thank you Wholly for making a product out of real ingredients that tastes great!

My Wholly Delicious! Nacho Dip

1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened (light or regular)
1/2 cup sour cream (fat free, light or regular)
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 pkg Wholly Guacamole Classic Dip
1 - 2 cups your favorite salsa (Wholly also makes some kick-ass Salsa, but that's not available locally to me yet)
2 cups shredded old cheddar cheese (or Monterey Jack, or really, whatever you love on nachos)

Toppings:
Sliced jalapenos
Olives
Green Bell Pepper
Green Onion
Roasted Red Peppers

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese, sour cream, chili powder and pepper.  Spread over the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.  Spread the entire package of Wholly Guacamole over the cream cheese layer.  Cover the guacamole with salsa (cover it all, this will keep it from turning brown.  Top with the shredded cheese and then with whatever toppings you desire.   I like to make it a few hours in advance and let it chill in the fridge, but lets face it... it's good whenever.  Serve with a big basket of your favorite tortilla chips.

Do you have a really fun, maybe different version of this classic?  Share it with me!  I think a layer of BBQ pulled pork might be insanely good!

Hot & Cheesy Roasted Red Pepper Dip

This is a really simple, last minute throw together dip that I made out of ingredients I already had in our fridge for our guests to munch on at C's birthday party.  It  went over great, so great I only got to try a bite or two, so you know I will be making it again very soon.  I didn't actually get a picture of it when it came out of the oven, we were in a rush to dig in!

My Hot & Cheesy Roasted Red Pepper Dip

1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese
2/3 cup Hellman's Real Mayonnaise
1 cup shredded old cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 green onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 to 2 bottled roasted red peppers, diced small (I get the large bottles of Pilaros Roasted Red Peppers at Costco)
black pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl and then transfer to a small casserole or oven-proof dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Serve right out of the oven with tortilla chips or your favourite dipper.  My Mother-in-Law is making this tonight and adding some lobster meat.  I'm excited to try that and I'll let you know how it turned out :)

Blue Velvet Cookie Monster Cupcakes

Our little girl is growing up so fast that it made me blue.  As blue as these very blue cupcakes... there wasn't a pink tongue in the house (toothbrush in loot bags?).  I had been planning on making Cookie Monster cupcakes for C's second birthday for months now, but it wasn't until late last week that I stumbled upon the Blue Velvet cupcake and immediately I knew that it had to the base for my cookie-munching creations.

I got the cupcake recipe from Sprinkle Bakes and it tasted absolutely divine.  Something went a little funky though and they sunk a bit in the middle, which usually indicates too much baking soda.  I measured carefully, so I'm not really sure what happened.  I also had a few minor streaks, so I could have mixed the colour in just a wee bit more.  Practice makes perfect, right?!  Chelsea didn't help me make this batch as they were a surprise for her, but these cupcakes would be so much fun for the little ones to help out with.

Blue Velvet Cupcakes 
ala Sprinkle Bakes

2 cups sugar
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp Wilton royal blue gel colour (I had not quite enough, so I mixed in some cornflower blue too)
1/2 tsp Wilton violet food gel colour
2 1/2 cups cake/pastry flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp vinegar

In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter, mix until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs 1 at a time and mix well after each addition. Mix cocoa and food colorings together to form a paste, and then add to sugar mixture, beating well.

Pulse together flour and salt in food processor (or by hand by sifting).  Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk.  Mix in vanilla.  In a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar and fold into mixture, just to combine.

Spoon batter into 24 cupcake tins lined with paper liners.  

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

Normally you would top a Velvet cake or cupcake (whether red, blue, green, pink, purple... and on and on) with cream cheese frosting, but that can a bit too soft to pipe, so I decided to go with a vanilla buttercream instead.  In hindsight, cream cheese probably would have been totally fine.  I ended up making WAY too much frosting than what I needed for 24 cupcakes though as I normally use the large star tip.  For Cookie Monster I used the Wilton 233 tip, the grass tip, which uses a lot less frosting.  

My Vanilla Buttercream

2 cups (1 lb or 4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp salt
approx 1 1/2 lbs icing sugar (give it a few pulses in a food processor or manually sift)
1/4 cup heavy cream/coffee cream/blend
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Cream butter in KitchenAid mixer using the whisk attachment.  Add in salt, vanilla and about 1/4 of sifted icing sugar at a time, adding in the cream alternately the same way.  Let mix on med-high speed for 4 or 5 minutes, if the frosting looks too soft for your needs, add some more icing sugar a bit at a time.  Conversely, if it looks too stiff, add a tiny bit more cream.

Seeing that this batch was for Cookie Monster's fur, I added approximately 2 tsp of Wilton sky blue gel colour at the beginning, and it was well blended in by the time the frosting was ready.

To frost the cupcakes, I used the Wilton 233 (grass) tip, which I learned is very forgiving.  If C was just a wee bit older, these would have been fantastic for her to help me with.  I made Cookie Monster's eyes from Wilton white candy melting wafers and brown Smarties stuck to them with some buttercream (make sure that you make them googly-eyed!).  Cookie's mouth was simply (and fittingly) a mini chocolate chip cookie pressed in at the end :)

Birthday Time Again!

It seems like just a few weeks ago that we celebrated our daughter's First Birthday and here we are again.  I cannot believe how fast this year passed and cannot wait to have our families get together later today and celebrate her for the being the sweet little soul she is.

I'm working on quite a few posts for the week ahead, but just wanted to stop by and let you know that it is her Big Day and what has been keeping me busy the past few days.  Spoiler alert:  Blue Velvet Cookie Monster Cupcakes!

C's SuperWHY First Birthday Cake made by Lori at Femme Fondants

Mommy & Daddy love you C!

C's First Cake... she never looked back!

Wordless Wednesday - Longfellow's Evangeline

The Legendary Black Bean Brownie

For years I have heard about the amazing Black Bean Brownie.  The parents of picky eaters rave about it, folks on Weight Watchers are fans, the G-Free people have jumped on board... well who am I not to give them a whirl (pun intended, read on...)?

These turned out to be a winner for us.  I wouldn't make them for a special occasion, but for an everyday sweet treat which is also full of fibre and some protein, absolutely!  Nothing I love seeing more than my little one with beans all over her face screaming YUM!

These brownies are prepped in the blender (whirl, get it?), so you can easily whip up a batch of these in 45 minutes, including prep, baking and clean-up.  These are extremely moist, and get even more so with time it seems.  Personally, I think they taste best the same day, but after they are fully cooled.

My Legendary Black Bean Brownies (aka Stop or My Mom Will Toot!)
Adapted from Allrecipes

1 19oz (540ml) can black beans, well rinsed and drained
3 large eggs
3 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2/3 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp instant espresso
1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Rinse and drain the black beans well.

Add all ingredients except for chocolate chips in blender.

Blend until very smooth, pour into an 8 inch square baking pan which has been sprayed with non-stick spray, sprinkle with chocolate chips and bake at 350 for 30-32 minutes.

Enjoy!

The Kids Cook Mondays - Pumpkin Quinoa Muffins

It's been a challenging week in our house.  Both my husband and I battled a nasty stomach bug for the majority of the week, meaning there wasn't a whole lot of food being cooked or eaten around here.  Somehow, C didn't catch anything and I'm still thankful that we got off so lucky... but she still needed (and wanted) to eat :)

Easy (very easy) and nutritious became the only meal guidelines and that brought to mind these muffins, made from leftover cooked quinoa and pumpkin puree.  Quinoa is a grain-like seed which originated in South America which is dubbed a 'super grain' because of it's high protein-content.  A note when cooking quinoa, make sure that you rinse it very well prior to cooking it, otherwise it can have a bitter taste.  C is in charge of rinsing now, a job she thoroughly enjoys :)  She also likes to put the cupcake liners into the tins... what a good helper!

Our Pumpkin Quinoa Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cold cooked quinoa
1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1/3 cup 2% milk
6 tbsp pumpkin puree
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt (unless you had used salt when you cooked the quinoa, then omit)
1/3 cup golden raisins or dark chocolate chips (if desired)

In a large mixing bowl, beat the oil and brown sugar.  Add in egg and pumpkin and mix well.  Stir in milk, vanilla and cooked quinoa.  Combine flour, baking powder, salt and spices together and pour all at once into wet ingredients, stirring with a large spoon only to combine, do not overmix.  Fold in raisins or chocolate chips if using.  Spoon into 12 prepared cupcake tins and bake at 375 degrees for 20-22 minutes.

Here's to a healthy week ahead, full of healthful meals, photography and blogging :)  It'll take me a while to catch up after losing a week, but it will be tasty!

Craggy Chocolate Cake for Food Network.ca's May Cooking Club Challenge

I saw the blog post on Food Network.ca about May's Cooking Club Challenge and I knew I had to make it. May's recipe is Laura Calder's Craggy Chocolate Cake, a flourless cake with but four ingredients.  Simple is always best :)

I decided to make this decadent cake for my contribution to our Mother's Day gathering, which was perfect as it was so delicious that it would have been a bad thing to have just sitting in the fridge tempting me.

I decided to do something different with this recipe.  I decided to actually follow the recipe exactly as written. Weird.  The main reason I did this was because of its simplicity, I just didn't want to muck with it.  Because I didn't make any changes, I'll let you visit Food Network.ca to get the recipe :)

Here is hint of the ingredients list though:

This cake is fantastic, and I will be making it again and again.  I might add a flavor, I might not... it's just so good as is.  I did over prepare my pan though, leaving a bit too much showing on the cake, which is the only thing I would fix the next time and was totally my bad... I overcompensated for a less than quality springform pan.

It would be perfect served with whipped cream as suggested by the original author, but I wanted to share some of this week's Ginger Maple Ice Cream, and it was another great match :)

Wordless Wednesday - Times Square Tourist Bites (Big Ones!)

Mango Coconut Crumble

I had a very large bag of frozen mango in the freezer and was getting tired of mango smoothies, what to do, what to do.  I chose the easiest dessert ever, a crumble.  Being a good old Nova Scotia girl from the Annapolis Valley, the majority of crumbles eaten in this house involve an apple, so I'm being a bit of a rebel here.

Mango, check.  What goes with mango?  Coconut!  Mmm!  I have adored coconut ever since I was a little girl; the taste, the smell, the everything.  Coconut, check.  What goes with mango and coconut?  GINGER!  While there is a pinch of ginger in this recipe, it is what inspired my Ginger Maple Ice Cream and wow, do these two go good together... incredibly good.

My Mango Coconut Crumble

8 cups cubed mango (frozen is fine and in this climate, probably better)
1/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1 tbsp flour
1/8 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cinnamon

Topping:
1 cup unbleached white flour (could use part whole wheat easily)
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup rolled oats (I used Quick Oats)
1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon

In a large bowl, toss the thawed frozen or fresh mango with the brown sugar, flour, ginger and cinnamon.  Pour into a 9 x 13 inch baking pan and prepare the topping.  To make the topping, simply mix all of the dry ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl, pour the melted butter on top and mix until crumbly and combined.  Could it get any easier?

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes and eat it alone, with some rum-spiked whipped cream, or with my Ginger Maple Ice Cream like we did, it'll blow you away :)

Peanut Butter Pancakes for The Kids Cook Monday

The Kids Cook Monday initiative encourages families to set aside the first night of every week for cooking and eating together as a family.  We try to do this every night, but I know that we are very fortunate to be able to do so.  As you all know, our almost 2 year old can be a very picky eater...you never know when or what she will try.  I wanted to make C's first cooking adventure an easy one, and one I was hopeful she would enjoy...pancakes!

Fat-free Greek yogurt has become a staple in our house because of its protein boosting power that is easily added to a ton of recipes and just to eat on its own with some honey and fruit or nuts.  I looked through the pancakes recipes I normally use and figured out how to easily incorporate some. Why stop there though?  I also decided to add some peanut butter to the batter to really up the protein, nutrients and flavor, but still keeping them toddler friendly.   A fruity yogurt dip and we would call this dinner.  I know, I know, pancakes are generally a breakfast food, but we love having them for dinner too :)

I got C dressed up in her apron, we got out our matching orange mixing spoons and got to work.  

The floor and the sink really needed to be stirred apparently.  She also loved to help count the spoons and measuring cups.

Our Peanut Butter Pancakes

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup unbleached white flour

2 tbsp honey

1 lg egg

1/3 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt

1 cup 2% milk

1/4 cup peanut butter (we use Kraft Unsweetened/Unsalted)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

In a large bowl, mix the two flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  In another medium size bowl, beat egg and mix in honey, yogurt, milk and peanut butter.  Mix until everything is well combined, even though a few little bits of peanut butter not fully incorporated is fine.  Pour into dry ingredients and stir gently until the flour is just blended in, do not over mix.

Drop by heaping 1/4 cup measures onto preheated griddle (375ish) that has been sprayed with non-stick spray, and flip when nicely browned on the bottom (3-4 minutes).  

Cook on second side another 3-4 minutes or until done.  

Makes 10 delicious pancakes.  Daddy and I enjoyed ours with a smear of Nutella, strangely enough something C hasn't taken to.

To make our dipping sauce I put another 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup of thawed mixed frozen berries and 2 tbsp of honey in the blender and pureed it until smooth.  C loved the pancakes...

...and the yogurt dip (along with her big orange spoon)!  She ate 3 of these, which is a dinner time record for her.  She had two at the table and then for dessert, wanted another whole one to munch on.

Needless to say, our first family dinner-making experiment was an overwhelming success!

Ginger Maple Ice Cream - Philadelphia Style

I've converted to being a huge lover of Philadelphia style ice creams. It could be because they are easier, I am the first one to confess that I can be lazy from time to time. However, I really think I prefer the lighter, pure cream taste as opposed to the original custard-based recipes (which don't get me wrong, I still enjoy immensely!).

Ice cream is currently one of my favorite things to experiment with.  The options really are endless, which I love.  With this recipe, if you had some candied ginger, you could chop it finely and add it near the end of the churning process.  I didn't have any tonight, so I didn't put any in :)  This is at the moment, my favorite ice cream ever... until the next one comes along.

My Ginger Maple Ice Cream - Philadelphia Style

2 cups heavy (whipping) cream
1 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Fresh ginger (about the size of an adult thumb)
1/4 tsp salt

Scrub ginger, but no need to peel it.  Cut it lengthwise into thin strips and put it into medium sized saucepan with water to cover, no more than an inch. Bring to boil and blanch for one minute (to reduce acidity in the ginger and prevent possible curdling).

Drain ginger through mesh strainer and put back into same pan, adding 1 cup of the whipping cream, maple syrup, sugar and salt. Warm mixture to dissolve the sugar but do not let it boil. Remove from heat and let sit for one hour, allowing the ginger flavor to permeate the cream.

In 6 cup Pyrex measure (or large bowl), measure the remaining cream, milk and vanilla. Strain the ginger mixture through a mesh strainer into the Pyrex as well and stir to combine. 

Cover and allow to cool in the fridge for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. When well chilled, process in your ice cream maker as directed.

Let ripen in freezer for at least 4 hours before serving.

There are so many ways this ice cream can be enjoyed. I initially paired it with a warm Mango Coconut Crumble (post is coming this week, I promise!), but you could also crush some gingersnaps on top, make ice cream sandwiches with those same gingersnaps, drizzle it with a warm dark chocolate sauce, or just enjoy it right out of the freezer with a spoon :)