Tag Archives: strawberry

Celebrating the New Year and Top 12 of 2012

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It’s New Year’s Eve and while some of us will be popping bottles of expensive champagne to celebrate, the rest of us will be taking a much more affordable approach.  Prosecco is an Italian sparkling wine and, in my opinion, is less dry and more delicious than your usual champagne anyway.  Mix it with a little pureed fruit or, for the lazier of us, peach nectar from a can, and you’ve got yourself what’s called a “bellini”.

Simple, delicious, bubbly.  Just like New Year’s Eve should be.

Making bellinis is super easy.  Just one part fruit juice or nectar to two parts prosecco.

Bellinis

  • 2 oz fruit juice or nectar
  • 4 oz Prosecco (the sommelier at our local grocer recommended La Marca brand)

Pour 2 oz fruit juice into champagne flute.

Add prosecco and let the bubbles mix it for you.

Drink, enjoy, pour another, drink more.

Happy New Year!

The Top 12 Posts of 2012

pds

moc

basil

ddcc

scc

peanut butter truffle brownies

gooey butter cake

chocolate peanut butter cake

smore cook

btc brownie

ccroll

strawberry buttermilk ice cream + bombesticks

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Apparently Jeni Britton Bauer and I are soul mates, because I was churning Strawberry Buttermilk Ice Cream on Friday when they posted on their Facebook that the very same flavor was debuting for the season in their ice cream shops. Then Sunday, just two days after I made my very own bombe sticks, they posted about them on their page! Clearly, we are meant to be, and obviously you guys need to get on it and make these STAT.

Since I don’t have an ice cream cone maker, I had to use store-bought ice cream cones. Everything else, though, was made from scratch. Who knew that all you needed to do to make magic shell coating was mix some coconut oil with chocolate? If you’re not a fan of coconut, look for refined coconut oil which has none of the coconut flavor. It also magically turns your chocolate into an amazing magic chocolate shell sauce. Liquid when it’s warm and solid once it’s cold.

I’m not gonna lie, these are a bit of work, so don’t feel guilty if you decide to use store-bought ice cream. If you’re feeling extra motivated, though, scroll down for Jeni’s strawberry buttermilk ice cream recipe. I just wanted to surprise the Boyfriend with one of his favorite flavors from our local ice cream shop, and there happened to be a similar recipe in Jeni’s book. You can also try one of my other ice cream recipes: green tea, peanut butter, or chocolate.

Chocolate Bombesticks

Printable Recipe

Chocolate Bombe Shells

  • 12 ounces chocolate (I used dark), chopped
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil

Optional:

  • Sugar
  • 8 standard sugar ice cream cones
  • 2 pints ice cream, softened
  • 1/2 cup garnish, such as Rice Krispies, chopped nuts, crushed pretzels, or cornflakes

Preparation

  • Combine dark or white chocolate and coconut oil in a medium metal bowl; set over a medium saucepan of simmering water. Stir until chocolate is almost melted. Remove from heat and continue stirring until completely melted and smooth. **Or you can melt it in 30 second intervals at 50% power in the microwave, but be very careful not to burn it!
  • Let cool slightly (if it’s too hot, it’ll melt your ice cream), 10–15 minutes.

Assembly

  • To hold cones upright, fill 8 medium glasses halfway with sugar and set aside. OR – I used a long plastic container and covered it with a couple sheets of foil, poking holes for where I would put my ice cream cones. This doesn’t work as well as I’d like, but it gets the job done.
  • Working with 1 cone at a time, spoon chocolate mixture inside cone and swirl to coat. Pour excess back into bowl, then dip top 1/2 inch of cone into chocolate, allowing excess to drip back into bowl. Set cone upright in prepared glass (or other rigged container) and chill in refrigerator until chocolate hardens, about 15 minutes. Repeat with remaining cones.
  • Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil. Pack some ice cream into cones, then top each with a small scoop of ice cream. Lay cones on prepared sheet and freeze until hard, about 1 hour.
  • Rewarm bombe shell. Working with 1 cone at a time, dip ice cream into bombe shell, rolling to coat. Quickly sprinkle on desired garnish. Freeze until hard, about 10 minutes. Wrap each cone in foil and return to freezer until ready to use.

Book says this can be made 1 week ahead, but I suspect they will last longer

Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk Ice Cream

[ Printable Recipe ]

Roasted Strawberries :

  • 1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced ½ inch thick
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 3 Tbsp lemon juice

Ice Cream Base :

  • 1 ½ cups whole milk
  • 2 tablespoons corn starch
  • 2 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 1/8 teaspooon fine sea salt
  • 1 ¼ cups heavy cream
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
  • ¼ cup buttermilk

For the strawberries:

Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Combine strawberries and sugar in glass or ceramic baking dish and mix well. Roast just until soft, 8 – 10 minutes. Let cool slightly

Puree strawberries in food processor with lemon juice. Measure ½ cup of pureed berries and refrigerate the rest for another use (like to pour on top of pancakes later)

For ice cream base:

Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with cornstarch in a small bowl to make a slurry. Whisk cream cheese and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Fill a separate large bowl with ice water.

Combine the remaining milk, cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a 4-quart saucepan; bring to a rolling boil of medium-high heat. Boil for 4 minutes, then remove from heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring mixture back to a boil over medium high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.

Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Add reserved ½ cup strawberry puree and the buttermilk; blend well. Pour mixture into a 1 gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge sealed bag in ice water and chill in fridge until cold – about 30 minutes.

Churn ice cream base in canister until thick and creamy – about 20 minutes. Pack ice cream into storage container ( a large, square Ziploc container is the perfect size ), top with parchment and seal with lid. Place in coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

strawberry galette

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Have company coming over on short notice? In need of a dessert that’s easy to make but will still impress a crowd? Get suckered into a three pound container of strawberries and at a complete loss of what to do with it?

Then, my dear, this strawberry galette is perfect for you. Low maintenance, high flavor. I’ve made this a number of times, with a variety of fruits and berries, so don’t lock yourself in to strawberries if they’re not your thing. You can save loads of time by using a store-bought pie crust. Yeah, shortcuts are okay here. We’ve got company on the way.

I’ve kept the words short here, so you can get to baking STAT.

Well, what are you waiting for?

Strawberry Galette

[ Printable Recipe ]

  • 2 cups strawberries (or other fruit), sliced
  • 1 tsp lemon juice (a little zest, too, if you feel so inclined)
  • 1/2 tsp corn starch
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten (or you can use cream)
  • 1 recipe pie crust or store-bought pie dough (enough for one double crust pie)
  • Raw sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F

1. Toss strawberries, lemon juice (and zest, if using), corn starch, and sugar together in a bowl.

2. Unroll crusts onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. This one was a Trader Joe’s crust which was super ginormous so I just made one big one instead of two little ones…. could’ve halved and re-rolled it, but… yeah

3. Spoon berries into the middle of each crust (as if this counts as an additional step), leaving a two-inch border. You can arrange them fancy and overlapping if you like, but I’m not fancy.

4. Fold the sides over to form a border around the center of the galette. Get fancy if you like, but there’s really no need. Brush beaten egg or cream around the border (you can skip it, but it helps with browning). Sprinkle with raw sugar if desired. I desired.

5. Bake for 45 – 55 minutes until lightly browned and your house smells like delicious. Allow to cool on a wire rack until it’s safe for handling. Serve to awe-struck guests with freshly whipped cream.

Oh, you can totally make mini ones too. Yes, they’re adorable. In case you were wondering. No, I don’t have proof. I made some 4-inch ones awhile ago that were pretty cute, too. Just sayin.

strawberry buttermilk cake

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strawberry buttermilk main

It was another cloudy, dreary day…. nothing to do but sit inside and bake. Despite the words “cloudy” and “dreary”, these are actually my favorite kinds of days. Not just because it means I can stay in my pajamas ALL DAY LONG (much to my boyfriend’s dismay), but because I get to spend all day in the kitchen doing whatever I please.

And “what I please”-d (Totally a phrase. Don’t look it up, just trust me) was to use some of the gallon of buttermilk and three pound container of strawberries I purchased (what’s wrong with me?!?) at my last shopping trip to use. This recipe is adapted from an old Gourmet recipe for raspberry buttermilk cake, but given my recent surplus of strawberries,  I substituted those instead. Any berry will do… well, I’d probably steer clear of the poison berries. Any edible berries would do…. That much I’m pretty sure of.

The cake itself is light, yet sturdy. The buttermilk helps to maintain a soft inner crumb while the last minute dusting of sugar really does the trick of giving it a nice, crisp crust (which, might I add, accents the soft interior texture beautifully). I sliced my strawberries into large chunks, just because I thought it would look prettier. If you’re more interested in uniform strawberry flavor, you could dice them smaller (still keep a couple slices for presentations-sake). If you’re using a smaller berry (raspberry, blueberry, etc) go ahead and leave them whole.  If you want it to look less…. “rustic” you can skip the last minute sprinkle of berries on top. I think it looks pretty, though.

Since it’s sturdy, I think it would travel well on a picnic, or even in your child’s lunchbox. I don’t have a child, so the rest of ours went to work with Boyfriend (as so many of our desserts do). I regretted it almost immediately. I messaged him from my desk asking if he maybe forgot it, on the hopes that it would be waiting for me when I got home… no such luck.

Even though it doesn’t say it’s a “breakfast” cake, I’m certain that’s when I’d enjoy it most. Of course, it would still be enjoyable as a light, after-dinner snack as well (which is how we enjoyed it).

Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

[ Printable Recipe ]

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and sliced. (may sub other berries)

Method
Preheat oven to 400°F, placing the rack in the middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan and keep ready.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in the vanilla. Finally add the egg and beat well for another 2 minutes.

Switch the mixer setting to low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined, being careful not to overmix.

Fold in half of the strawberries into the batter. Pour batter into the cake pan, smoothing the top. Scatter the remaining strawberries evenly over the top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in the cake pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack, remove parchment, and allow to cool completely.

Serve slices of cake on their own, or with freshly-whipped cream.

chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes

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strawberry chocolate cupcake 1I’m generally really bad about posting timely recipes. I make my Christmas cookies at Christmas, not before, so I don’t have anything to post about them until afterward. Apply that same thing to pretty much every holiday themed treat and there you have it.

Well, luckily for you, I was determined to get something up in time for Valentine’s Day. I hope to make this a tradition for all the holidays this year, but realistically speaking I’m guessing one, maybe two, will make it. But that won’t stop me from trying!

So, inspired by a super cute picture from Pinterest, I was determined to make these cupcakes BEFORE Valentine’s Day. The flavors are chocolate + strawberry, so I was all “aw, chocolate-covered strawberries!” I think that, technically, the chocolate would have to be on top for it to be “chocolate-covered”, but whatever.

I played with the idea of making a chocolate ganache for the top, or even placing a little chocolate-covered strawberry on top of them… all great ideas, but since I’m not getting around to posting this until the DAY BEFORE Valentine’s Day, I decided to opt for the fastest, most stress-free way possible.

So, something relatively unheard of around here – BOX mix (GASP!) – to make all of your lives easier. You can definitely whip these up in time for your Valentine sweety or to take to work (or, as I like to do, send them to work with your other half so that you’re not tempted to eat any), or if you’ve got a Little whose got no Valentine, send them off to school with a bunch of these bad boys and they’ll be sure to win over their classmates.

Some reviews I read complained about the brownie portion of these not baking all the way through. Mine baked just fine (maybe they weren’t realizing that the brownie portion would be fudgy and brownie-like?), I’m sure it could be remedied by following the “cake-like brownie” directions, or just using a chocolate cake mix instead of a brownie. I used milk chocolate brownies, because Boyfriend loves the milk chocolate, but dark chocolate or whatever your favorite is will do just fine.

I did not follow the recipe that was posted online, but instead followed the recipes on the back of my box mixes. So if you decide to use a different type of cake or brownie mix than I did, just follow the instructions on the back of the box. If you’re not a particularly big fan of strawberry cake, just use white and dye it red or pink 🙂 If you’re super anti box mix, just use your favorite cake and brownie recipes.

Happy Valentine’s Day <3

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

[ Printable Recipe ]

  •           1 (19.5 ounce) “family size” package brownie mix
  •           2 eggs
  •           1/2 cup canola oil
  •           1/4 cup water
  •           1 (18.25 ounce) package strawberry cake mix
  •           1 1/3 Cups Water
  •           1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
  •           3 Large Eggs
  •           1 container fluffy white frosting (or frosting of your choice)

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 36 muffin cups with paper liners.

2. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions, set aside.

3. Prepare cake mix according to package directions, set aside.

4. Spoon the brownie batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each cup 1/3 full. Spoon the cake batter over the brownie batter, until muffin cups are each 2/3 full.

(I did this one pan at a time, so that one pan was baking as I was filling the 2nd pan)

5. Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, and a toothpick comes out clean – about 20 minutes.

6. Cool completely, then frost and decorate as desired. Let your other half try one for “quality control” because he (or she) just can’t wait for them to cool.

* If you decide to use a different type of cake or brownie mix than I did, just follow the instructions on the back of the box. If you’re super anti box mix, just use your favorite cake and brownie recipes.