Thursday, July 9, 2009

Chocolate cupcakes with strawberry merenge buttercream frosting

This is a combination of two Martha Stewart recipes

Cupcakes

Frosting:

Cupcakes:

Ingredients

Makes 12

  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • Easy White Icing
  • Sprinkles (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners.
  2. Into a medium bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each, then beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with sour cream and beginning and ending with flour.
  3. Pour batter into cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
  4. Cool in pan 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, then spread with Easy White Icing using a table knife or small offset spatula. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired.
Frosting:

Ingredients

Makes 5 cups

  • 4 large egg whites
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into tablespoons
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) strawberry jam, pureed in a food processor

Directions

  1. In the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a saucepan of simmering water, combine egg whites and sugar. Cook, whisking constantly, until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch (about 160 degrees).
  2. Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat the egg-white mixture on high speed until it holds stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until the mixture is fluffy and cooled, about 6 minutes.
  3. Switch to the paddle attachment. With mixer on medium-low speed, add butter several tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. (If frosting appears to separate after all the butter has been added, beat on medium-high speed until smooth again, 3 to 5 minutes more.) Beat in vanilla. Beat on lowest speed to eliminate any air bubbles, about 2 minutes. Stir in strawberry jam with a rubber spatula until frosting is smooth.

First published: January 2007


Chicken Gyros

THis recipe is from Epicurious here:

I meant to make it tonight - and got as far as defrosting chicken - but then I discovered that the pita bread I was planning to use was too old and yucky to use - buy I like the looks of the recipe so I hope to try it soon.

  • 1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

  • 1 pound skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 medium onions, thinly sliced

  • 4 pita bread rounds, heated

Preparation

Stir yogurt, 2 tablespoons dill, garlic and 1 teaspoon lemon juice in small bowl to blend. Season with salt and pepper.

Place chicken in medium bowl. Sprinkle with oregano, 1 teaspoon dill and salt and pepper. Toss to coat.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; sauté until brown and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer to plate. Add 1 tablespoon oil to skillet. Add onions; sauté until beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Return chicken and any juices to skillet. Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Stir until heated through, about 2 minutes.

Arrange pita rounds on plates. Top pita rounds with chicken mixture. Spoon some yogurt sauce over chicken. Serve, passing extra sauce separately.

Steamed Potato Salad

This was something I threw together quickly to round out a soup and salad meal that I thought would be too light. It was easy and worked out very well.

4 or 5 red potatoes - cut into 8ths - about 3/4 inch chunks.
1 T olive oil
kosher salt
2 T (or to taste) sour cream

Steam the potatoes for about 5-7 minutes - until they are cooked through but not mushy
keep the potatoes in the steamer basket and run it under cold water to cool the potatoes
put the potatoes in a bowl and add the salt and oil and toss
add the sour cream and toss

eat

this would probably be good with some chopped green herbs - like chives or breen onion tops

I liked the texture of this - it was creamy without being a mayo disaster