Cupcakes for the Cure - and Wilton's Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

How fast would you run for one of these?

 A few years ago, a dear friend and colleague of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Her students came to me and asked if we could run the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure as a group, for her.  I said of course! But they were worried about participation.  Even with such a great cause, it's hard to get teenagers to want to get out of bed early on a Saturday morning to run.  So I announced that anyone who beat me in the race would get a cupcake :)  I have found in my 8 years of teaching that teenagers are HIGHLY motivated by food.  And competition.

To achieve this, I used a large Wilton open star frosting tip with the jagged edge.

I made the frosting, then I cut the end off of a Ziploc bag (although I highly recommend a frosting bag if you have one... I used to, and it's recently disappeared :( But my birthday is only a few days away!)

For the cake, you can make my mom's chocolate cake, or this Ina Garten version that is even softer and richer than mom's (sorry, Mom!). 

But what really makes these special is the buttercream icing. 

Here's the recipe, adapted from Wilton and my mother-in-law - the queen of all things frosting!

1/2 cup solid shortening (I buy the Crisco bars - they rock!)
1/2 cup salted butter at room temperature (DO NOT microwave this to soften it!)
3/4 cup dark cocoa powder (Hershey's is fine)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 bag powdered sugar, plus more as needed
1/4 to 1/2 cup milk (I used skim)

In the bowl of a large electric mixer, beat the shortening and butter.  Add the cocoa powder.  The more you beat the cocoa powder, the lighter it will get, so be careful if you want a dark icing.  Add the vanilla and beat until combined.  Alternately add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, with the milk, 1 Tablespoon at a time.  You may need more milk or more powdered sugar, depending on the consistency you want.  To make a very thick frosting, you may need 1 cup more than the bag of powdered sugar.

Use a spatula to spoon into a frosting bag or Ziploc bag, fitted with the appropriate tip.  Go to youtube for a video, or visit my mother-in-law for a step-by-step tutorial on how to make pretty cupcakes :)

Enjoy!

p.s., I think I'm going to find some pink sprinkles for these guys before I get to school in the morning.  

Easy Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce for ice cream

Hot fudge sauce on ice cream - is there really anything better?

This (along with homemade pizza) has been the recent obsession at our house.  Of course, my husband desecrates it by dipping cream puffs from Walmart in it... apparently his way of saying I don't make cream puffs often enough...

Anyway, the reason I love this hot fudge sauce so much is that even when you put it over ice cream, it doesn't get hard and crunchy... nor does it puddle in the bottom of the bowl (like the thin stuff you get out of a bottle).  It's perfect... and very easy.

Place a pan of water on the stove.  Put a heat proof bowl on top.  Voila - you have just created a double-boiler, perfect for melting chocolate.  (I have no success with doing this in the microwave - the chocolate or the cream always burns or curdles or does something otherwise unpleasant.  However, if your microwaving skills are more advanced, feel free to melt the chocolate in the microwave).

In the bowl, place 6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate (chips are fine, but I had bars on hand - if you are using chips, this will be about 3/4 cup).  Add 1/4 cup heavy cream.  Heat until the chocolate melts. Stir until smooth.

Remove this from the heat.  Stir in 1 tablespoon of honey and 1 tablespoon of coffee.

And that's it!

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa

1/4 cup heavy cream
6 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon coffee

Heat the first two ingredients on the top of a double boiler until melted.  Stir in honey and coffee.  Will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Cucuzza soup (summer squash soup)

I love my neighborhood.

It's been an insanely busy few days at my house... but this afternoon, the neighborhood kids organized a huge game of hide-and-seek that kept my older son entertained for two hours.  Do you know how much you can get done with only one kid in two hours?  Especially if you are used to two?!


So my little man and I decided to do something with a squash given to us by our neighbor down the street.  It's a weird Italian squash, called a cucuzza.

(Oh, and don't be alarmed, this is definitely NOT a 2 hour recipe - the soup took about 30 minutes... it was the mountain of laundry that took the bulk of the afternoon).

As you can see, it's quite a bit longer than your average toddler (and for some reason, this will NOT rotate!).

I was introduced to this soup by Christina, one of my best friends from high school, while we were both living in New Orleans.  It was handed down from her grandmother, which definitely means it's something special.  She has the type of grandmother who invites the whole family (somewhere around 42 first cousins) over for spaghetti every Sunday - and believe me, if they're in town, they show up.  

Christina's mom, Christina, and her grandmother, Gammy

The other great thing Christina taught me about this soup is that you don't have to have funky Italian squash to do it... just plain old yellow squash and/or zuchini work great.

 Oh, and the other weird thing about this soup is that you poach eggs in the tomato broth toward the end... but trust me, it's amazing.

Recipe below!

1-2 lbs summer squash (zuchini, yellow squash, and cucuzza all work well)
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce1 tsp dried oregano (1 tablespoon if you are using fresh)
1 cup water
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup wine
5-6 whole eggs
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated


Slice the squash into thin rounds.  If you are using real cucuzza, you need to peel it first; yellow squash and zuchini both work well with the skin still on.

In a stock pot or other soup pan, heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil until sizzling.  Add the crushed garlic and cook briefly. Add the squash and saute until tender (about 10-15 minutes).  Add the tomato sauce, water, chicken stock, wine, and seasonings.  Bring to a boil and cook until the sauce changes color slightly (more of a brownish red, but it's subtle).  This takes about 15-20 minutes, but the soup is forgiving and can cook a little longer. 

About 10 minutes before you are ready to serve this, crack each whole egg into the soup.  Spread them around the pan and DO NOT stir until they have had a chance to cook a little.  You are basically poaching the eggs in the tomato broth.  Cook the eggs until their centers are firm.

Garnish with freshly grated parmesan cheese (a lot!) and serve with French bread and a green salad. 


Enjoy!!

Peach Blueberry Cobbler

Here it is - my favorite summer dessert. 

I've been meaning to post this one for a while, but I kept forgetting to take pictures at the right stages. 

And technically, it's probably more of a crisp than a cobbler - but to me, a cobbler should have a crispy top.  And so many cobbler recipes are just for a square pie.  This is crispy and sweet on the outside, and warm-fruit-gooey on the inside.  Sigh - cobbler heaven. 

I've eaten way too much of this in the past two months - but I can't resist the peaches. 

For this recipe, you'll need a lot of peaches.  Four pounds or so, which for me was 10 peaches.  I used a mix of white and yellow peaches. 

First, get the hairy skins off.
When I'm just eating a peach, the skin doesn't bother me at all.  But in a cobbler/ crisp... well, it needs to go.

Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Drop in the peaches, a few at a time for about 1 minute.

Then dunk them in ice water.

Remove them and the skins will just slide off!

This trick amazes me every time.

Tada!  Naked peaches.

Halve them and take out the pits.

Then toss them in a bowl with some sugar and flour (amounts below).

Add the zest of 1/2 of an orange, and/ or a lemon.

Then add 1 pint of blueberries.

Toss to combine.  Let this sit and get juicy while you make the topping.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine butter, oatmeal, flour, sugar, and salt.  Sprinkle the mixture on top of the peach filling.

Cook for one to one and a half hours.  Everything will get bubbly and crunchy and delicious on the top.  

Serve with vanilla ice cream!

 Recipe, adapted from the Barefoot Contessa cookbook.

Ingredients:

4 pounds peaches (about 10 large ones), peeled, pitted, and sliced into wedges

1 lemon zested (or an orange, or a mixture of the two)

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 cups, plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 pint blueberries (the original recipe called for raspberries instead - also great, but not so easy to find around here)

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup quick cooking oatmeal

2 sticks of butter

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Combine the peaches, citrus zest, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 3 tablespoons of flour.  Toss well.  Gently mix in the blueberries.

Pour into a large casserole dish. 

Combine 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, salt, oatmeal, and butter in a mixer with the paddle attachment (or a food processor with a steel blade).  Mix until crumbly.  Sprinkle evenly on top of the peaches and blueberries.  Bake for 1 hour (I usually need closer to 1 1/2).  Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream!

You can assemble this earlier in the day and keep it in the refrigerator.  Just take it out before you cook it and allow it to come back to room temperature (or thereabouts).  

Fig-Glazed Pork Tenderloin

I've been making a lot of fig preserves this summer... and this is my new favorite thing to do with them - a glaze for grilled pork tenderloin.

Of course, my first favorite thing to do with them was to spread them on buttered toast... 

and then my second favorite thing (which is definitely worthy of a  blog post) is to make a pizza: 

here's Pioneer Woman's version.  Mine will be coming as soon as I remember to buy arugula - because that little green does NOT appreciate 100 degree temperatures, so mine's dead. 

So, when I decided to take a break from pizza, I discovered a recipe in Cooking in High Cotton.  

With a few tweaks, we were grill ready!

Sliced...

It's delicious - and go ahead and make two.  The leftovers are incredible in sandwiches.

Here's the recipe, adapted from Cooking in High Cotton by the Monroe Junior League

Marinade:
1/2 cup fig preserves
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup white wine vinegar (can also use rice vinegar)
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

2 pork tenderloins, trimmed and rinsed.

Combine marinade ingredients in a zip top plastic bag.  Place the meat in the bag and seal.  Marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 12 hours.  Preheat the grill to medium high.  Grill, turning occasionally, until a meat thermometer measures 155 degrees for the center part of the meat.  Remove from the grill and cover loosely with foil.  Allow to rest for 15 minutes before slicing. 

Brownies Without the Box

For someone who has always shied away from box cakes (I can make my mom's faster than I can go buy the box), I've always been deathly afraid to make brownies without a box.

I was scarred (not physically) very early in life by brownies.  One afternoon I was babysitting my younger sisters and brother and they asked for brownies.  Since we didn't have a box on the shelf, I decided to start from scratch.  I was 14 at the time and more than a little overconfident about my cooking abilities.  I mean, if I could make Kraft Mac and Cheese (this was before the kind in the cups), surely brownies were not beyond my reach.

I pulled out my mom's copy of Celebrations on the Bayou and decided to go for the ambitious sounding "Swamp Bottom Brownies."

To this day, I'm not quite sure where I went wrong.  Maybe I substituted baking soda for baking powder, or a tablespoon for a teaspoon.  Or maybe both.  Or maybe my mom had TNT powder stored on a shelf in her pantry.  Whatever the cause, my creation exploded in the oven.  Literally.  There was baked-on, exploded brownie on every square inch of surface in my mom's oven.

Needless to say, after 2 cans of Easy Off Oven Cleaner and almost an hour on my knees leaning in and scrubbing, I decided box brownies were all anyone every really needed.

That, and my oven was going to be at shoulder level - not down near the floor.

So why the change?  Well, we are approaching the one year anniversary of the start of this blog, and part of my goal was to challenge myself in the kitchen.  After all, this whole thing started because I had never made pickles before, either.  So I decided to tackle the beast - brownies.

Plus, there were some really cute boys around who spent an afternoon exhausting themselves - they needed some chocolate.

The afternoon started with an epic watergun battle...

Avery inspecting the weaponry

followed by swimming...

more fun with a giant ball

and a kiddie trampoline...  surely all this merits chocolate!

And no, I did not attempt "swamp bottom" ones.  These are fairly basic - they didn't even require the mixer. 

I was so busy snapping pictures of kids that I failed to get any of the brownies... except for this one.  I think Meredith should be a hand model :)

I adapted this from Ina Garten's Outrageous Brownies by substituting brewed coffee for instant granules (which I didn't have), and by cutting the recipe in half.

2 sticks unsalted butter
12 ounces plus another 1/4 cup of semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons hot brewed coffee
3 extra large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

Butter and flour (or Baker's Joy) a 12" casserole.
Melt butter and 12 ounces of chocolate chips over simmering water. Add the coffee.  Allow to cool slightly.

In a large bowl (not a mixer) stir together the eggs, vanilla, and sugar.  Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture.  Allow to cool to room temperature.

Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add the remaining chocolate chips and nuts (if using).  Pour into the casserole and bake at 350 for 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Do not over bake!

Bryce gave them a good review!

Snickerdoodles (and cooking with GIRLS!)

Can you believe it?  I got to cook with GIRLS today!  Dressed in pink and everything J 

My oldest son was at a reading camp for the morning (yes, I’m aware I am preparing him for a lifetime of nerd-hood), and a friend asked if I could watch her girls for the morning while she finished some last minute moving chores.   She promised to return the favor when I am in a similar situation in the future.

I jumped at the chance!  I mean, I love being a boy mom, but yea!  Girlie time! 

Of course, there is not one doll or little hair accessory in my house.  Sigh. 

So, first, we played in the dirt.

They discovered all of my son’s trucks, tractors, and trains (and loved them all).

And then, we baked cookies.

Snickerdoodles, to be exact, because it was the first recipe I came across that involved rolling the dough.

These made a crunchier, thinner cookie than I was looking for… but they were still tasty!

Recipe, adapted from Smitten Kitchen

2 sticks butter

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 3/4 cups flour

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

To roll:

2 Tbs cinnamon

2-3 Tbs sugar

Preheat the oven to 400. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. 

In a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until well combined.  Add the eggs and mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until just combined.

In a separate bowl (or 2, if you have 2 helpers), mix the sugar and cinnamon.

With an ice cream scooper, scoop out balls of dough.  Drop them into the cinnamon and sugar mixture.  Roll until coated on all sides.  Place on the cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes until slightly brown on the outside edges.

Perfect for enjoying while watching Cinderella – or the girl movie of your choice!