Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes with Boiled Flour Icing

One of the many things I learned from my mother was how to substitute ingredients.  After my dad retired from the Navy and they built our home on three acres my grandparents had given them, grocery stores were not that close and the commissary was almost 30 minutes away.  I know that doesn't seem far in today's standards, but when you have a large family and only one car...you might as well "forget about it!"

The first time my mother made up a batch of "boiled flour" icing was because there wasn't enough confectioners' sugar and she had planned to frost a cake she made for my dad.  I was amazed at how much I loved this icing.  I can only say, it reminds me of an Italian buttercream with half the butter!

Now, for the strawberry shortcake idea...that came from Ari, who thought it would be a great dessert for PopPop's "Father's Day."  When I asked him if he wanted a biscuit cake or a vanilla cake, he answered, "Vanilla!!"  So, we decided to make them into cupcakes...because who doesn't like a cupcake.

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes with Boiled Flour Icing
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 oz. cream cheese
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 T Vanilla extract
2 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350F-degree. Line a 12-cup + a 6-cup muffin pan with 18 cupcake liners and set aside.
In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter and cream cheese together.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Add the sugar and beat until fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.  Add the vanilla.

Whisk the dry ingredients and add to the batter, alternatively with the milk.  Beat one minute more, then scoop the batter into the prepared baking cups, two-thirds full.  Bake in the preheated oven, 18 to 20 minutes.

In Mimi's house...licking is permissable!! 

Allow the cupcakes to cool about 10 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

Boiled Flour Icing
5 T King Arthur all-purpose flour
1 cup milk

Whisk the flour slowly into the milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens and forms a ball.  Remove to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and cool about 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla or as I used 3 T Strawberry Syrup

In a stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, cream the butter and sugar.  Add the vanilla or Strawberry syrup and whisk again.  Add the cooled flour/milk mixture and whisk until the icing comes together.  Additionally, you can add 2 to 3 drops of red food coloring for appearance.

To assemble:
Use an apple corer to remove a "plug" from the cupcake.  Fill with homemade strawberry jam.

I like to add a part of the "plug" over the jam before frosting it.  Fill a piping bag with the icing and swirl some on top.

Ari helped and didn't do too bad a job with a little help from Me holding the other end so he pushed the icing out the right side.

For serving, I cut strawberries in half, sprinkle with a little sugar, and Brulee them.

Wishing all the dads a happy day; my guys are chilling out--Enjoy! 

Green Velvet Cupcakes

St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner and I couldn't resist trying something different to celebrate the occasion.  Oh, there will be Irish Soda Bread, for sure, but today, I was thinking on the sweeter side with these cupcakes.  I changed up my red velvet cake recipe with green gel color, added a white chocolate "gold" nugget in the middle, then, topped it off with a white chocolate/cream cheese frosting...sprinkled with more gold!

During the 19th century, thousands of impoverished Irish citizens came to British North America and the United States.  My grandfather said the Tierney family came through Canada because they didn't have papers to enter Ellis Island.  Since the 1840 Great Potato Famine brought so many settlers, I suppose they could have been in that group.  My great grandfather, William Henry, lost his family to illness and was raised on a remote island in the Chesapeake Bay--Tangier Island.  My dad sailed to this island to see where his grandfather grew up and said it was as if time stood still, but it maintains the fishing and crabbing industry that it was well known for. When he was there, only a few people had automobiles and he saw the one room schoolhouse that his grandfather attended.  As the story goes, my great-grandfather left the island at age 16 to join the navy and was stationed aboard the U.S.S. Constitution; the oldest commissioned boat in the navy.  It was retired in 1881 and he received a medal for being on the ship that has been passed down to the first son--my grandfather, my dad, my brother, and now my nephew--all of them are named William!

Green Velvet Cupcakes with a Gold Nugget Center and White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
zest from 1 lime
1 tsp. distilled white vinegar
1 "tube" green food gel
2 1/2 cups + 2 T King Arthur all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk (at room temperature)

Gold Nuggets:
1 cup white chocolate chips, melted
2T peach or apricot jam  (if you use apricot, make sure you mince any large pieces of fruit)
In a double boiler, warm the jam first (if it's from the refrigerator), then, add the white chocolate chips.  As the chips melt, stir to combine.  Use a scoop to drop the mixer onto a parchment lined tray, then refrigerate.

I actually cute these into quarters to resemble a nugget! 

Preheat oven to 350F-degrees and line 18 openings of a muffin pan with liners.  
Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the first seven ingredients together, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed with a rubber spatula.  Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and with the mixer on low, slowly add the buttermilk.  Mix just until combines.  Remove from stand and give the batter a stir with the rubber spatula to make sure all ingredients are combined.  

Fill the cupcake liners half-way up. Then add the nugget and fill 2/3 full.

 Bake in the preheated oven about 18 to 20 minutes until done.  Remove from the oven and cool completely--about 1 hour.  This recipe makes 18 cupcakes.

White Chocolate~Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese
1 cup of white chocolate chips, melted in the microwave

6 cups confectioners' sugar
juice from 1/2 lime (about 1 T)

Gold Sprinkles

In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter, cream cheese, melted white chocolate and half of the confectioners' sugar together.  Scrape down the sides as needed.  Add the lime juice and the remaining confectioners' sugar and mix once again, whipping it to a fluffy state.  Use your favorite tube to pipe the frosting on the cooled cupcakes.  As a final touch, sprinkle Pearlized Gold Sugar Crystals over frosting.
The cupcakes are moist and the nugget will be the treasure at the end of the rainbow.

 ...and may God hold you in hallow of His hand. Enjoy!

It's National Zucchini Day - Celebrate!

Yes,  August 8th is a day dedicated to the Zucchini ~ botanically it is a fruit, but in a culinary context, it is treated as a vegetable and served as a savory dish or an accompaniment. 

My sister and I were talking the other day of the zucchini patch our grandfather had.  Many times, I helped plant the seeds for him, pushing 3 to 4 seeds into each mound and looking forward to seeing those beautiful sprawling plants with big yellow blooms spring up.  We ate a lot of zucchini growing up and preserved a lot of pickles as well.  This day brought back memories of cooking in my mother's kitchen, deciding on a dish to include this wonderful vegetable from the garden for our meals.

Today, I went a little crazy and will show you three ways, starting with a cupcake for dessert.  I decided to add zucchini to one of my favorite desserts, English Sticky Toffee Pudding.  It's a cake that has some caramel sauce poured over it when nearly done, thus becoming the "sticky" part with additional caramel sauce drizzled over it and a dollop of whip cream. It was invented by a hotel operator by the name of Francis Coulson of the Sharrow Bay Country House in Cumbria, England.  I also did a side dish called Torta di Risotto from one of my favorite vegetarian cookbooks~ New Vegetarian by Celia Brooks Brown and an appetizer of crispy zucchini sticks, baked in the oven instead of frying, to show off its versatility.

Zucchini Sticky Toffee Pudding Cupcakes
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut in pieces and softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped dried dates
1 cup boiling water
1 tsp. baking soda
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
2 cups grated zucchini (approximately 2 medium zucchinis)

Preheat oven to 350F-degrees.  Line muffin pans with paper liners.

To begin, add boiling water to the dried dates.  Add the one teaspoon of baking soda to the mixture and set aside.

Grate two zucchinis into a colander in case any liquid oozes from it.

In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the vanilla and beat again.

Add the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder and salt and pour the date mixture over it.  Beat on medium one minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl, then, beat one minute more.

Add the grated zucchini and mix just until combined.

Scoop the batter into 18 muffin openings.

Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes; until golden brown and when lightly touched, springs back.

 Let cool completely before proceeding to the filling and frosting.
Since typically Sticky Toffee Pudding has a caramel sauce, I used some of the remaining caramel I had made for the Cinnamon Sticky Bun Cake.  You can also use a store bought version.

Use an apple corer to create a "well" for the caramel

Pipe in the caramel, then place the cupcake "plug" over the hole before frosting

Caramel Buttercream
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) at room temperature
2 T meringue powder
5 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup homemade caramel (or you can use a store bought)
3 to 4 T milk

In a stand mixer, cream the butter until fluffy.  Add the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder and blend (mixture will be stiff).  Add the caramel and 3 tablespoons of milk and beat to combine.  If needed, add an additional tablespoon of milk to give a light a fluffy frosting.

Pipe on the cupcakes.

To decorate, I added some edible pearls...in honor of the Queen, of course!

Next, was my side dish...

Torta di Risotto 
1 cup arborio risotto rice
4 oz. mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 oz. Fontina cheese, cut into 1/4 cubes
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

The 3 cheeses: Mozzarella, Fontina & Parmesan

 Add the rice to a saucepan with about 4 cups of boiling water and let simmer 10 minutes until the rice is tender, but still firm (al dente).  Drain.

1 zucchini, sliced into 1/4-inch long slices (I used my mandolin)

Brush slices with olive oil and place on a hot grill pan to sear.

Brush the top side with additional olive oil and when the grill marks show on the cook side, turn over the slices, using tongs.  Repeat grill marks and then remove.

3 to 4 T Olive Oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
16 oz. canned chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. dark brown sugar
1 tsp. dried basil or 1/4 cup of fresh basil torn or coarsely chopped

Heat the olive oil.  Add the minced garlic, then, the canned chopped tomatoes.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly.  Stir in the basil.

Add the rice and cheese and stir to mix well.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble:

Oil a 9" x 5" loaf pan.  Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of bread crumbs on the bottom.  

Spoon in half of the rice mixture and smooth flat.  Layer the zucchini (corgettes) in a single layer over the rice.

 Spoon remaining rice mixture over the zucchini, then sprinkle with another 2 tablespoons of bread crumbs.

At this point, you could wrap the mixture with aluminum foil and refrigerate and cooked later.
Preheat oven to 425F-degrees and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.  Run a long-bladed knife around the edges, then turn our onto a serving platter.  Cut the torta into slices and serve.

Finally, I did an appetizer...

Breaded Zucchini Spears with Lemon/Chive Dipping Sauce

Preheat oven to 425F-degrees.  Once the oven has come up to temperature, heat a baking sheet with 4 tablespoons of olive oil.  Prepare zucchini.

2 zucchini (washed and ends trimmed)
1/2 cups King Arthur flour
salt and pepper
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups Panko bread crumbs mixed with 1/2 cup fine bread crumbs

Cut the zucchini in half horizontally, then, cut each section into thirds and each of those sections into half--you should get 12 spears from each zucchini.

Divide the flour with salt & pepper, eggs, and bread crumb mixture into 3 dishes.

To begin: Roll the zucchini spears in the seasoned flour, then into the beaten eggs, and finally roll in the bread crumbs.  Open the oven and place the spears on the heated baking sheet.

Bake in the oven, turning once about 15 minutes or until brown and crispy.

Lemon-Chive Dipping Sauce:

1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
juice of one half lemon
1/4 cup finely chopped chives

Mix all ingredients together and get refrigerated until ready to use.

So, there you have my tribute to a vegetable that was a big part of my life growing up and remains so today--Happy Zucchini Day.  Enjoy!