teacher by day - chef by night
I recently bought the Jelly Shot Test Kitchen’s book (which I lent out before I even made my first recipe from it – that is how excited we [me & my friends] were to have it). I could have went through this entire book and …
We recently got a bumper crop of Snap Peas from our Co-Op (at least it was a lot for me who does not did not like Peas). I needed to do something with them to “mask” the flavor (but ended up snacking on lots of …
These cupcakes go out to all the Harry Potter Fans out there!
More than a decade is coming to a close. In June of 1997 the first Harry Potter book [Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone] was released and a Nation (world) was hooked.. we read the books, we hurt and laughed with the characters, we bought/devoured/shared the books, we loved hearing the ‘rags to riches’ story of the author, & were thrilled movies when the first movie was released in 2001 (and compared every detail of the movie with the book). This month – an era draws to a close (or at least becomes a complete package for future generations. The final installment of the last Harry Potter Movie [Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows] comes out next week!
For my birthday a few months back – I went to NYC with my Mom, 2nd Mom, & two youngest “siblings”. We headed into the FREE Teacher Preview Day of Discovery Times Square: Harry Potter (as well as visiting Toys R Us, the Disney Store, and getting great pizza @ John’s – but I digress). It was an awesome day and the Harry Potter exhibit was pretty cool, I enjoyed checking out all the details that went into every prop and costume on display (kinda like a Potter Museum!).
Well, after visiting the exhibit and being totally stoked for the final installment in the series, I noticed that Erica (over at Erica’s Sweet Tooth) had posted these Butterbeer Cupcakes, which I immediately knew I had to make for my dear friend, co-worker, and self-proclaimed Harry Potter addict: Jolene. Happy Harry Potter celebration to Jolene & everyone else out there!
Enjoy these cupcakes as you curl up with a good book, or head out to watch the last movie, or make a batch and have a Harry Potter Movie Marathon with your friends.
While you are enjoying these cupcakes, don’t be afraid to try this Warm Butterbeer OR a (alcohol included) Butterbeer Cocktail: 1/2 can cream soda, 1 shot butterscotch schnapps, and a 1/4 t of that butter flavored powder – ENJOY!!
Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake tins with paper liners. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffly, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl between each. Add in vanilla and butter flavoring.
Combine buttermilk and cream soda in a small bowl and alternate adding that combination with the flour mixture with the mixer on low, starting and ending with the flour.
Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks.
Butterscotch Ganache
Melt butterscotch chips and heavy cream together using a double boiler until completely smooth. Cool to room temperature to allow the ganache to slightly thicken. Fill a plastic squeeze bottle with the ganache, and insert tip into each cupcake, filling until the ganache starts to slightly overflow.
Buttercream Frosting
For the frosting, cream butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add ganache, vanilla, butter flavoring, and salt and mix until well combined. Beat in powdered sugar and allow it to come together for about 2 minutes. Add cream a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes with a large tip and drizzle leftover butterscotch ganache over each.
Recipe yields 18 cupcakes.
And I leave you with this question… what Movies or Books are a Pop-Culture Phenomenon in your life!?
This classic and awesome Tuna Pasta Salad from Kids Can Cook – the cookbook I grew up with & did lots of my early on my own cooking from. I almost did not get this cookbook when I moved out! My parents would not let …
I decided to round out “breakfast sweets” week with just one more recipe of another tasty breakfast goody that traveled to the shore with us last weekend! This one is in the HEALTHY breakfast goodies category and will be making a repeat in our kitchen …
I went strawberry picking (twice) last week. I knew it was late in the season so I wanted to get as much out of it as possible.
On Saturday we picked about 8 pounds: about 3 pounds went into refrigerator jam, I froze about a pound for smoothies (gone already) and I’m not really sure where the rest went – I guess we ate a lot! So just four days later on Wednesday I dragged Mom out to the fields and brought home about 5 more pounds. I had found this Buttermilk Strawberry Cake and knew that I wanted to make it so made sure to put some berries aside. Besides this cake, we ate (and drank in smoothies) a lot more berries again the rest of the week.
I’m telling you – you just can’t beat the taste of fresh-picked berries. Strawberries from the store have a super strong yummy taste but the fresh berries are super sweet and have a more subtle and natural flavor! This year the strawberries in our area were very tiny because of the super wet spring. The smallness of the berries made it a little harder to pick and prepare: but did nothing, in my opinion, to the tastiness of the berries!
I decided to make this cake for my parents who were babysitting the pups while we were away with friends/family for the weekend. While I had all the ingredients out and the oven heated up, I decided to whip up another cake to bring to the beach with us to go along with the other breakfast goodies.
My dad said this cake was awesome warmed back up with some of the strawberry jam I had given them over top (and just for good measure – he put some vanilla ice cream between the layer of strawberry cake and strawberry jam).
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Dad was not the only one who enjoyed this cake.
I had the cake (and Snickerdoodle Muffins AND Banana Carrot Whole Wheat Muffins) all cooling on the table. Upon walking toward the kitchen I heard some “slurping” and walked in to see Donner (our Flat Coat Retriever) with his head tilted in a perfect angle to get his tongue to the side of the cake….
He immediately stopped when I screamed at him (and I guess we should be happy that at least all 4 legs were on the ground and he wasn’t hopping up on the table)! The cake which we brought south with us ended up arriving with a slab cut off the side in order to protect everyone from dog slobber (except for Rich who decided it is his dog and the cake was too good to let some slobber ruin it).
SO, this cake is: dog, father, boyfriend, & friend approved – enjoy!
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And I leave you with this classic Beatles Quote: “Let me take you down, ‘cos I’m going to Strawberry Fields. Nothing is real and nothing to get hung-about. Strawberry Fields forever.”