Pumpkin Cupcakes

***I really want to give these a try. I've been searching for excuses to make them. It is too bad that I am going to a cookie exchange and not a cupcake exchange.


Romina's Pumpkin Cupcakes

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 cup raisins (optional)
1 can (15 oz.) solid-packed pumpkin (about 1 3/4 cups if you're making your own puree)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 eggs

Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick of butter, cubed and cold
8 oz. cream cheese*
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon spice mix (see below)

Spice Mix**

1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

**you'll only need to use 1/4 teaspoon of this mix for the frosting so keep the remaining mix as a reserve for something else yummy or for the next time you make this recipe.

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 350ºF. Line three 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake wrappers.

To make the cupcakes, in a bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and salt.

In another, larger bowl whisk together the pumpkin, granulated sugar, brown sugar and oil. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition. Add the flour mixture in three additions, stirring with a large wooden spoon until just combined.

Fill the muffin tins about 2/3 full. Bake until the cupcakes for 20 minutes. Transfer the tins to a wire rack and let cool for ten minutes; then remove the cupcakes from the tins and let cool completely.

To make the frosting, cream the butter until fluffy, but still cold. Add the cream cheese in small chunks. When completely combined (no lumps of either butter or cream cheese), add the powdered sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add the vanilla and then 1/4 teaspoon of the spice mix before blending one last time.

* make sure you use Philadelphia Original; I've found that anything else compromises the texture and flavor.

Magnolia Red Velvet Cupcakes

This week we celebrated one of my work/school friend's 30th birthday. Since I'm now known as the baker, I was put in charge of the yummy treat. After thinking about it for way to long, I finally decided on red velvet cupcakes. Now, I know that they are probably not the true Magnolia recipe, but it is still a pretty good recipe. I got a whole lot of compliments and one of the New Yorkers that had one said it was actually better than the Magnolia recipe.

Ingredients
3 ⅓ cups cake flour (not self-rising)
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 ¼ cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
6 tablespoons red food coloring
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½ cups buttermilk
1 ½ teaspoons cider vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
Frosting: 1 pound (two 8-ounce packages) cream cheese, softened and cut into small pieces
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cut into small pieces
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
5 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and lightly flour three muffin tins. Place cupcake papers in the tins.
To make the cake: In a small bowl, sift the cake flour and set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring, cocoa, and vanilla. Add to the batter and beat well.

In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts, alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overheat.

In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.

Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Bake each tray for 20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pans for 1 hour. Remove from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack.

Frosting: In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat well. Gradually add the sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating continuously until smooth and creamy. Cover and refrigerate icing for 2 to 3 hours, but no longer, to thicken before using. When the cake has cooled, spread the frosting liberally on the cupcakes.

Makes 36 cupcakes.

Pizza Dough

One of my favorite wedding gifts was my pizza stone and I used it to death. I recently got a new one and have been working on getting it seasoned. I know some people are just not that into making homemade pizza and I totally understand. If this is you, just ignore this post. For the rest of you, this is the pizza dough recipe I use. It is from the Williams Sonoma Pizza cookbook. I'm going to post the recipe as I make it, because I have made alterations from the original recipe.

1 T. active dry yeast
1 c.. lukewarm water
2 3/4 c. flour
1 t. salt
1 T. olive oil

Pour yeast into water in small bowl and set aside.

In a food processor(with metal blade) or Kitchen Aid mixer(with dough hook, combine flour and salt. With the machine running, slowly pour the yeast mixture into the flour mixture and continue to mix until the mixture forms a ball of dough and the dough rides around blade or hook on the mixer.

Move dough to lightly floured counter and kneed with the palm of your hand for 2 minutes.

Brush two medium sized bowls with oil. Cut dough in half and place each half in one of the oiled bowls. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled.

Once dough is doubled, preheat oven to 450. place pizza stone in oven while preheating. For a crusty dough, you will want the stone to have been in the oven for at least 15 minutes at 450.

Turn one ball of dough out onto a flour dusted surface. Press and stretch mixture out into desired shape , flipping the dough over from time to time as you work with it. (I use a rolling pin) For a crusty pizza, roll until 1/4 inch thick. For a softer pizza roll until 1/2 inch thick.

Transfer dough to corn meal dusted pizza peel. Let dough rise again for 5 minutes. Top and transfer to pizza stone. Bake for 10 minutes or until crust is lightly brown and cheese is starting to brown and bubble.

Repeat procedure with second ball of dough.

My notes

1)I use Quick Rise Bread Machine Yeast in order to speed up the rising process. If you use the regular yeast, it usually takes 1-2 hours to rise. With the Quick Rise yeast I usually let it rise for 30-45 minutes, depending on the temperature and humidity.

2)You can play with the amount of white flour to wheat flour ratio. I like to make mine with at least half wheat flour. I like a finer ground wheat flour. It makes for a fluffier crust. Trader Joe's wheat four works well. I've also ground my own wheat to a very fine flour and that works well too. You can also make this recipe using just white flour.

3)For an herbier crust, you can mix dried or fresh herbs right into the dough.

I hope this recipe is written clear enough. If you have questions, let me know.

Summer Squash, Goat Cheese, and Walnut Pizza

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 garlic clove, minced
All-purpose flour, for dusting
6 ounces pizza dough
Pinch of crushed red pepper
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup shredded part-skim-milk mozzarella
1 teaspoon chopped summer savory
1/4 pound summer squash, thinly sliced on a mandoline
2 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons chopped toasted walnuts


DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 500°. Preheat a pizza stone. In a small bowl, combine the 1 tablespoon of olive oil with the minced garlic and let stand. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough to form a 12-inch round, 1/4 inch thick. Transfer the round to a lightly floured pizza peel.
Leaving a 1/2-inch border of dough, brush the round with the garlic oil and sprinkle with crushed red pepper, salt and black pepper. Scatter the onion slices over the round; top with the mozzarella and savory. Arrange the squash slices on top in a single layer, overlapping them slightly. Dot with the crumbled goat cheese.
Slide the pizza onto the hot stone and bake for about 5 minutes, until the bottom is crisp and the squash is slightly browned. Transfer the pizza to a work surface. Sprinkle with the walnuts and drizzle with olive oil. Cut into wedges and serve.

*This recipe is from Food and Wine Magazine

My Notes

I make my own whole wheat pizza dough. I'll post that recipe next. I divided my pizza dough in half and made 2 pizzas. I split this recipe's toppings between the two pizzas and it turned out great. As for the toppings themselves, I used dried savory and used about and 1/8 tsp. per pizza. I do not own a mandoline, so I just sliced the squash thinly. And the goat cheese I bought from Trader Joe's was coated in herbs and ended up tasting incredible with the pizza. I'm sure that just plain goat cheese would be fine, but I think I'll make a point to buy the herbed stuff again.

Natalie's Molasses Crinkles

In high school my friend made the best soft ginger cookies. They were always a favorite of mine. I was so excited when my mom gave me a copy of their ward cook book a couple of years ago and I saw that Natalie's mom had put the recipe in it. Yea! They are so gingery and yummy, and they stay soft for forever. The recipe makes around 6-7 dozen cookies, so I usually half or third it, depending on how many cookies I want.

Molasses Crinkles

1 1/2 cup oil
3 cups white sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup molasses
6 cups flour
1 T. baking soda
1 1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1 1/2 t. ginger

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing in molasses last. Form into one inch balls and roll in sugar. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes.

*My Notes
I usually make these with whole wheat flour. The flavor of the molasses and ginger makes it nearly impossible for anyone to tell that they are whole wheat. Also, I usually make 1.5 inch balls and cook them for closer to 11 minutes. I like my cookies to be a little bit larger.

Butternut Squash Soup

This post if for my friend Amee. We had her and her husband over for dinner tonight and we made one of our favorite fall recipes, Squash Soup. She requested that I post the recipe on my blog, so here goes. The picture is not technically of my soup, but mine looked pretty dang similar.

Butternut Squash Soup

2 T. butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 (2 lb.) butternut squash, peeled and cubed
2 c. chicken broth
1/2 t. marjoram leaves
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1/8 t. ground cayenne pepper
1/4 t. garam masala (or to taste)
1/8 t. curry powder (or to taste)
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. sour cream (optional)
*optional garnish-balsamic vinegar

Melt butter in skillet. Saute onion until tender. Mix onion/butter mixture with remaining ingredients (except sour cream) in saucepan. Simmer until squash is tender (about 15 minutes). Blend mixture in blender of food processor ( I use one of those hand held blenders right in the pan. It is so much easier than transfering everything back and forth.). Return to saucepan. Heat until hot, not quite boiling. Stir in sour cream if desired with wire whisk until smooth. Garnish each bowl with approximately 1.5 t. balsamic vinegar, if desired.

Anniversary Menu

Recently my friend brought me a couple of her old Food and Wine magazines. Holy hannah those things had good recipes in them. Immediately I went through and starred some of the recipes that I knew I needed to try. For our anniversary on Friday night, we decided to give a couple new recipes a go. We had a blast making them. Spencer and I both love to cook and enjoy a good excuse to try new recipes. Here was the menu and the recipes for them are hyperlinked.

Homemade Gnocchi with creamy tomato sauce
Steamed asparagus with lemon and pepper
Salad de Maison
Lemon-Blueberry Cheesecake Parfaits

*My notes
Gnocchi-Use normal, smaller size potatoes for the Gnocchi. We used really large baking potatoes and the ratio of flour and egg to potatoes was off. We cooked the first batch and they were little soggy clumps of mashed potatoes. After adding some more egg and flour to the rest of the dough, they came out perfect.

Creamy tomato sauce-the picture for this recipe was less than appetizing, but the reviews were all really good. We gave it a shot and both declared it to be a winner. Ours looked a lot more appetizing than the recipe picture. I wish a would have taken a picture. Also, it says to simmer for 45-50 minutes. We both agreed that the full 50 minutes would not be necessary. 30 min. would be plenty to have a flavorful sauce.

Lemon-Blueberry Cheesecake Parfaits- These were really good, but took a whole lot of time to make. Spencer did most of the work for these while I was at school. While I think you could take some shortcuts (store bought shortbread cookies or blueberry pie filling) the result would not be as good. The orange zest added the perfect hint of citrus that you would not get with store bought cookies and the compote was not as sweet as pie filling. Probably something I would only make for a really special occasion because of all of the time it takes.

Chickpea Pasta With Almonds and Parmesan

Serves 4
Hands-On Time: 20m
Total Time: 20m

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
7 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
kosher salt
1 pound angel hair pasta
1 15.5-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/4 cup unsalted roasted almonds, chopped
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Directions
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the broth, red pepper, and 3/4 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil.
Add the pasta and cook, stirring, until the broth is nearly absorbed and the pasta is al dente, about 6 minutes. Stir in the chickpeas and parsley.
Divide among individual bowls and top with the almonds and Parmesan.

Orange Kissed Coconut Cream Pie

Once again, I meant to take a picture of this before taking it to our Sunday BBQ. I totally forgot to though. So, for those who actually had a piece, comment and let everyone know how delicious it was. This pie is so tangy, light and refreshing. I have to give credit to my mom for passing the recipe on to me though. She has a very good eye for recipes.

Orange Kissed Coconut Cream Pie

1 pre-made pie crust

Filling
1 c. sugar
3 T. corn starch
1 c. water
1/4 c. orange juice
1 T. orange peel
1/4 c. butter
3 egg yolks
1/2 c. coconut toasted
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. whipping cream

Toppings
1/2 c. whipping cream
2 T. powdered sugar
1/4 c. coconut toasted
2 T. sliced almonds toasted


Instructions
Filling
Prepare oven to 450. Prepare pie crust for unfilled, one crust pie according to box. Bake @ 450 for 9-11 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool crust completely. In medium saucepan-combine sugar and cornstarch, blend well. Stir in water, O.J., butter, orange peel and egg yolks. Cook over med. heat until mixture thickens and boils-about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. refrigerate 1 hour (I do not do this. I run really cold water into the sink and place the pan in it to cool. It only takes about 10 minutes for the mixture to cool enough to proceed to the next step.). Once cool, stir in 1/2 c. coconut and sour cream. Whip cream and fold into rest of filling. Spoon mixture into pie crust.

Topping
Whip cream and sugar until stiff peaks form. spread whipping cream over filling. garnish with almonds and coconut.

Refrigerate 1-2 hours before serving (I put mine in the freezer for 15-20 minutes). Store in fridge.

*If you have any other questions, email me or post them in the comment section.

Other flavors of Melona

I finally got to try the other flavors of Melona ice cream bars. At the H mart they are having a big sale on these ice cream bars. When I stopped by last night to buy a box, I was delighted to find that not only are they $2 off right now, but they had samples of every flavor. The cute little Korean woman who was doing the samples insisted that I try every flavor. She then dug down to the bottom of the freezer for the most frozen boxes so that it would not melt it the Philadelphia heat on my way home. And last but not least, if you bought 3 boxes they gave you this mini cooler thing to be able to keep them cold. I only bought 2 boxes but the girl loved me so much that she gave me the cooler thing anyway. The whole experience just made me laugh. It was so different from the typically Philly customer service.

As for the flavors, the melon is still my favorite. The mango comes in second. The banana and strawberry were definitely at the bottom of the list. The banana tasted too fake to me. Don't get me wrong, I love banana flavored Runts candies. I just don't want my ice cream to taste like them. The strawberry was similar in its fakeness. I would suggest sticking with the melon flavor.

Chicken Souvlaki

This recipe was delicious. If you like tzatziki, the combination of the cucumbers, dill, yogurt, lemon juice, and olive oil is essentially just unmixed tzatziki. The whole thing was so simple to make and tasted so good. If the chicken was grilled ahead of time, it would be the ultimate of a simple meal for a weeknight.

* I altered this just a little to work with things I had. I only made a 3rd of the dressing (I was cooking only for me). I used chicken I had grilled rather than a rotisserie chicken. I left out the onion but added tomato instead. And last but not least, I didn't use fresh dill. I wish I had fresh dill in my garden, but I don't. I just wasn't willing to go to the store for it.


Chicken and Dill Souvlaki
Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
kosher salt and pepper
1 2 1/2- to 3-pound rotisserie chicken, meat sliced
2 Kirby cucumbers, sliced into thin half-moons
1/2 small sweet onion (such as Vidalia), thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
4 flat breads
1/2 cup plain yogurt, preferably Greek-style
Directions

In a large bowl, combine the oil, lemon juice, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Fold in the chicken, cucumbers, onion, and dill. Divide the chicken mixture evenly among the flat breads and serve with the yogurt.


* this recipe is from this Real Simple Magazine

Bruschetta

Currently I have an over abundance of tomatoes. This means that pretty much every post for the next little bit will include tomatoes because I have to find new recipes to use them before they go bad. This one is simple but still one of my favorites. I was not 100% faithful to the recipe but you can start with the suggested amounts and add more of whatever you think it is missing. For me it was garlic. I like my bruschetta to be so garlicky it knocks you over, so I added an extra clove (or two). You just can't beat a homemade bruschetta with homegrown tomatoes and basil. Hope you enjoy it too.

Salad de Maison

I'm not sure where my mom first got this recipe, but it is now a Seamons family staple. If there is a get together happening, there will most likely be Salad de Maison there. I recently took it to our neighborhood Sunday BBQ and it seemed to be well received. Unfortunately, I do not have any picutres of it to post (I meant to take one last night but forgot.) It looks much like a regular green salad, but the garlicky dressing with all the toppings is just divine.

Salad de Maison
2 heads Romains lettuce
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 cup grated swiss cheese
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup croutons
1/2 pound bacon, torn into small bits

Dressing
Juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3/4 oil (I usually cut this down to 2/3 cup)

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

This has been one of my favorite recipes to make for our Sunday BBQs. It doesn't take very long and the results are amazing. If you love portobello mushrooms, this is a good recipe to have on file.

Gazpacho Part II

Hmmm... well, the soup has gotten better with some time, but it still isn't my favorite. Can't really put my finger on why. If you have a good recipe, please let me know.

Gazpacho

Just finished making a batch of gazpacho soup. I haven't tried it out yet, but I sure hope it is good. I'll let you guys know how it turns out. If the recipe is worth posting, I'll definitely put it up. Oh, and if you know of a really good cold soup recipe, gazpacho, cucumber, or anything else, send it my way. It is so hot and muggy that cold soups are the only thing that sound good right now.

Melona Ice Cream Bars

Technically this isn't a recipe, but it is something you can eat and most definitely should eat. In May, Spencer and I discovered Melona ice cream bars at the H-mart, a Korean market in Upper Darby. They were giving out samples and both Spencer and I fell in love. They are so creamy and the melon flavor is delightful. They also make banana, strawberry, mango, and green tea. I've honestly only ever tried the melon, but one of these days I will give the other fruit flavors a whirl.

Cucumber Soup

Found this in last months Real Simple. The night I made it I wasn't so sure about it. The next night I had it for dinner and found it to be so much better. I think that letting the flavors mix together for a little bit before serving really pays off in the end. I only ate it with bread and no olives or cheese.

*Just a little bit of warning, the two jalepenos really give it some kick, so if you do not like spicy stuff, you might want to cut back on the peppers

New Blog

I must be crazy. I really must be to be starting a new blog just for my recipes. I barely keep up with my regular blog. I'm not sure what I am thinking, but I'm going to give a it a try. I hope you enjoy.