#89) Strawberry Surprise Mini Cupcakes

Wow!  So much to share...  and not just the delicious little cupcakes in the picture :)

Husband and I have welcomed our own little sweetie into the world!  Our little man is already 9 weeks old and is perfect in every possible way :)  He has changed our lives in so many ways, but it seems like things are just how they were always meant to be - a truly amazing feeling.  It blows me away how much he changes each and every single day... before you know it he'll be making sweet treats of his own, maybe like these cute little cupcakes :)

Now, for anyone who reads my recipes, you know I am a chocoholic at heart - there's no denying it.  So the thought of a simple vanilla cupcake doesn't really excite me all that much, but throw some homemade Strawberry Rhubarb Apple Jam in the middle of that thing and I am all over it!  Top it all off with some fluffy Strawberry Rhubarb Frosting and I will devour it :)  So that's just what I did.  Give it a try and let me know how many you chow down before sharing!

Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vanilla sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup Strawberry Rhubarb Apple Jam, recipe found here

Steps

-Preheat oven to 350F.  Line mini cupcake pan with paper liners.
-Cream butter and sugars.
-Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
-Whisk together dry ingredients in small bowl.
-Alternately add dry ingredients and milk, stirring to incorporate after each addition.
-Divide half the batter between 24 mini cupcake liners.
-Spoon 1/2 teaspoon of jam into each liner.
-Cover jam with remaining batter.
-Bake for 7-9 minutes.
-Let cool completely.  Frost and enjoy!

*makes 24 mini cupcakes

Strawberry Rhubarb Frosting

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup icing sugar
2-3 tbsp Strawberry Rhubarb Apple Jam, depending on personal taste

Steps

-Cream butter.
-Slowly beat in icing sugar.
-Stir in jam.

#86) Starwberry Rhubarb Apple Jam

While I was thinking abut what to write for this post it dawned on me it is really all about generosity - the generosity of others to be more specific.

See, all the major players in this post - the strawberries and rhubarb in the jam, and the bread in the photo - were all given to me.  The strawberries and the homemade whole wheat bread are from my generous mother-in-law, and the rhubarb was a gift from one of husband's co-workers (those Rhubarb Pie Cupcakes I sent him to work with must have been ok :p).

The other "invisible" key player in this post is the food science lesson I learned thanks to Christina over at Form V Artisan.  She has a couple of posts where she generously explained the science behind making strawberry jam - all about negatively charged pectin and candy thermometers - the whole bit.  So I took what I learned from her and applied it to my own jam concoction, and I have to say, it worked out just as she said it would!

So you see, all you need sometimes to be inspired to get in the kitchen is the generosity of others!

Now on to the recipe - it was my first attempt ever at homemade jam...  I usually leave the jam making to my aunt who generously brings some to Newfoundland for me each summer.  But I decided I am a big girl now and it is time to figure out how to do it myself.  The jam has a great texture - thick, smooth, and sticky :)  Husband would have liked some more fruit chunks, but what can I say, I like smooth jam so I mashed away at the fruit while it was cooking :)  There is a touch too much cinnamon so next time (yes, there will be a next time) I will add maybe just half.  And oddly enough, the one little apple I added for extra pectin packed a lot of punch.  Next time maybe just half an apple.

So there you have it - my first ever homemade jam!  Hope you enjoy :)

Ingredients

2 2/3 cups rhubarb, chopped (if frozen, let thaw first)
1 cup strawberries, chopped (if frozen, let thaw first)
1 granny smith apple, peeled and chopped into small pieces
1 1/3 cup sugar (don't skimp! see this post)
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

Steps

-Add rhubarb, strawberries, and apple to a large pot and put over medium heat.  Stir occasionally until some liquid has been released (3-5 minutes).
-Add sugar and cinnamon and bring to a boil.  Let boil for 3 minutes, then add lemon juice.
-If you have a candy thermometer, attach it to your pot and continue to boil, stirring occasionally until you get to 220F.  (If you do not have a candy thermometer, continue to boil, stirring occasionally until mixture is thick and resembles syrup - about 15-20 minutes.  You will see the bottom of the pan as you stir.)
-Transfer to sterilized jar(s) and let cool completely before refrigerating.

*I got two small jars of jam, which would be about one large jar.  If you double, triple, quadruple, etc this recipe be sure to do so precisely.

#85) Rhubarb Pie Cupcakes

I may love sweet treats, but I have to tell ya, I really do love tart flavours.  Give me a bit of lemon any day!  So that's why I was so excited when one of husband's co-workers kindly gave me a big bag of fresh rhubarb from her garden.  The only question was, "What do I make?"

I could have done the ol' strawberry rhubarb combination, but that just seemed too straight forward.  Then it dawned on me that I haven't made cupcake in way too long!  So there you have it - a rhubarb pie cupcake :)

The cupcake itself is kind of heavy, due the skipped creaming step, but I wanted to mimic a tart shell you might put your pie filling in.  The pie filling is straight up rhubarb with just enough sweetness to take the edge off.  And the frosting?  OMG the frosting!  I am not great at frosting and I am not a huge fan of how overly sweet homemade frosting can be.  Also, I wanted to re-create the whipped cream you might have on a piece of rhubarb pie.  So I went on the hunt for something a little different and found 7-minute frosting.  Okay, mine took more like 14 minutes, but SO worth it!  It's like a fluffy marshmallow sitting on the top of the cupcakes.

Give 'em a try and let me know what you think :)  Oh, and don't forget to vote for our blogiversay recipe revisit to your left.  Thanks!

Rhubarb Pie Filling

Ingredients

4 cups chopped rhubarb

1 1/3 cups sugar (start with 1 cup and add accordingly throughout cooking process depending on the tartness of your rhubarb)

6 tablespoons flour

Steps

-Combine all ingredients in large saucepan.  Cook over med-high heat for about 10 minutes, until liquid from rhubarb moistens the mixture.  (I covered mine and stirred often.)
-Reduce heat to low and let cook until all the rhubarb pieces have broken down.  Mixture should be thick.

-Remove from saucepan to bowl and allow to cool completely.

Cupcakes

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups cake flour (for those of you with AP flour - measure out all your flour, remove 7 tbsp, replace with 7 tbsp cornstarch - def worth the extra effort!)
2 cups sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup milk
4 eggs
2 egg whites
2 tsp vanilla

Steps

- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line muffin cups with paper liners.
- Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into large, deep bowl.
- Add the butter and 1/2 cup of the milk. Mix on medium speed until dough-like consistency.
- In a separate bowl, blend the eggs, egg whites, the remaining 1/2 cup milk and the vanilla. Add to the batter in 3 additions, mixing for 2 minutes on medium speed after each addition. Scrape down the bowl between additions.

Assembly

-Add 1 heaping tablespoon of batter to liners.  To centre of batter add 1 1/2 tsp of rhubarb filling.  Cover filling with another tablespoon of batter (be sure the bottom batter and top batter meet to seal in the filling).
-Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until skewer comes out clean.
-Let cool completely on wire rack.

*Makes 3 dozen filled cupcakes.

7-Minute Frosting

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup water

3 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 tbsp vanilla (I used homemade rhubarb syrup)

Steps

-Add sugar, water, egg whites, and cream of tartar to a large double boiler bowl.  Beat with electric mixer until mixture is foamy (about 1 minute).
-Put bowl over simmering water and beat with mixer until soft peaks form (supposed to be about 7 minutes but it took me more like 14).
-Remove from heat, add vanilla, and continue to beat to thicken frosting (about 2 minutes).
-Let cool completely before using.

#83) Little Lemon Pies

"A change is as good as a rest." - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)

Changes keep life interesting, I get that. But there is too much of a good thing, right?

For the past 13 years, half of my life, I have moved 10 times. That's a lot of change. Each move has been for different reasons - following my family, moving for school, finding new job opportunities. It has been hard in a lot of ways - never really having a home, no permanent address, not to mention actually moving all of my belongings. The past couple of years have been the hardest because I am married now and have a newly purchased home, only I have been living 3 1/2 hours away, separated by a gravel highway (yeah they still exist in some corners of the world).

BUT... that is all over now because I have moved into our new home with husband permanently! No more temporary mailing addresses, no more packing up my life. I am home :)

You know what that means, right? I finally get to enjoy my new kitchen and all its fixins. Expect lots of new sweet treats over the summer, and remember, if you have any requests or suggestions e-mail me at dani@sweettreatsdani.com or find us on facebook :)

What better way to start off summer with some refreshing lemon pie? These two-bite pies are great for your next BBQ with some friends, or your next work social.

Pie Crust

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1/2 cup butter
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
2 tbsp cold water

Steps

-In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, lemon zest, and butter until small, coarse crumbs appear. (I used a fork for this, but it would have been easier with a pastry cutter.)
-In small bowl, combine egg yolk and water. Stir into flour mixture.
-Knead pie dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

-Preheat oven to 375F. Spread pie dough into an ungreased mini-muffin pan (makes 24). Bake for 10 minutes or until golden. (They will puff up, don't worry!)
-Let cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on wire rack.

Lemon Curd

Ingredients

1 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup water
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp butter
3 egg yolks, lightly beaten

Steps

-Mix cornstarch and water together in medium saucepan. Add sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly.
-Stir half of hot lemon mixture into slightly beaten eggs. Add egg mixture to saucepan. Bring to gentle boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and cook for 2 minutes.
-Pour into bowl and cover with plastic wrap (touching the surface of the curd) and chill until needed.

-Once pie shells and curd have cooled completely, fill shells with about 1 1/2 tsp of curd each. (There will probably be a little left over, but that shouldn't be a problem... Lick that spoon!!!)

***I used 2 lemons for the zest and juice in this recipe.

#51) Bakeapple Blossoms

Click here for an update on this recipe :) - June 3rd, 2016.



I know, I've been away a while, eh? Well, with finishing up my internship and last weekend's wedding show get-away, I haven't spent that much time in the kitchen. But with yesterday being the last day of my internship I thought maybe I should bring in some treats as a thank you to the staff. I didn't want to make anything too fancy because I didn't have a lot of time, so I decided to make some scratch shortbread. But that wasn't enough - they needed something more. So I took out a bag of bakeapples given to me by a good friend and made some of my no-fail berry cake filling, sieved out the seeds, and poured in into indentations in the shortbread. The result was exactly what I was going for - a simple treat with a interesting twist. They were huge hit and will stay in my back pocket now as a go-to recipe :) The cake filling can be replaced with any fruity preserve you like, but if you have access to bakeapples I would give 'em a try!!!

Bakeapple Cake Filling

Ingredients

1 cup bakeapples
1/4 cup water
7 tbsp sugar (adjust according to the tartness of your berries)
2 tsp corn starch

Steps

-Boil berries with 3/4 of the water. Simmer for 3-5 minutes.
-Push the cooked berries through a fine sieve, discarding the seeds.
-Whisk corn starch into remaining water. Add cornstarch mixture and sugar to berries.
-Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Let cool completely.

Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients

1 1/8 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour

Steps

- Combine butter, sugar and extract in mixer bowl and beat until creamy.
- Add the flour, scraping often until well mixed.
- Refrigerate dough for 1 hour. Work together with hands upon removing from refrigerator.
- Heat oven to 350°F.
- Shape dough into 1 inch balls and place them on silpat or parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Use a tsp measure to make an indentation in the center of each cookie.
- Fill the indentation with a small dollop of your fruit filling.
- Bake for 14 - 18 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned.
- Place cookies in wire rack and cool completely.

#3) Perfect Pancakes

My blender is one counter-top appliance I simply can NOT live without. I immediately fell in love with how easy it makes life. I now have some recipes specifically written for blenders, but I have also adapted some of my faves to work with it as well. This recipe is a perfect example of one my "blender makeovers". A sweet treat for breakfast, who could ask for more? :)

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cup flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk (soy milk works fine)
4 tbsp melted butter (I used vegetable oil this time and it was fine)
1/2 tsp vanilla

*Add-ins - chocolate chips, lemon zest, pecans, sliced banana, let your imagination go wild! (From 1/4 - 1/2 cup, depending on taste)

Steps:

-Add flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt to blender. Pulse until mixed.
-Add eggs, milk, butter/oil, and vanilla to flour mixture. Pulse until combined.
-Add-ins. Pulse just until incorporated.

#2) Cooking Light Carrot Muffins

If it is a question of having a sweet tooth, I am guilty as charged. But, this is why I try some healthier recipes every now and then. This one is my favorite light version of carrot cake. Granted, it is not as dense as original carrot cake, and no, it isn't smothered with cream cheese frosting.... BUT it does turn out a tasty sweet treat you can eat without one ounce of guilt.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup flour

1 1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup flaked coconut

1/3 cup raisins (optional)
2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon

3 tbsp applesauce
2 large eggs
2 cups grated carrot (2 large carrots cut in chunks, if using blender)
1 1/2 cups canned crushed pineapple, drained

Steps:

*I make my muffins using the blender. It is a time saver and keeps the mess contained :)

-Add the pineapple, carrot, eggs, and applesauce to blender. Mix until carrot is grated and ingredients are combined.
-Add cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and coconut to blender. Incorporate well.
-Add sugar and flour and incorporate. If the batter is too dry add reserved pinapple juice by teaspoon until you acheive a better texture.
-If you are using the raisins, add to the blender and pulse just until the are incorporated.
-Pour into muffin cups and bake at 350°F for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

*Yields 1 dozen muffins :)

Tips:

-Allow muffins to cool before removing from the paper muffin cups. They do not separate well when still hot/warm.

-Spread into a 13x9 inch pan sprayed with Pam for a cake.