Strawberry Muffins

Tags

lemon, muffins, strawberry, yogurt

For many people, the school year has begun yet again. That means early mornings with rushed breakfasts, and quick afternoon snacks on the go. What could be better than muffins! The perfectly portable treat! 🙂 These muffins happen to be strawberry, and I realize that strawberries aren’t really in season anymore but I’m sure there are still some good ones out there. Even if they are less than perfect, that just means they’re perfect for baking to really help pull out their sweetness. Besides, the plump, juicy, sweet strawberries are so hard to resist just popping in your mouth until oops, they’re all gone! But I digress… These muffins are a perfect vessel for strawberries, or any fruit really. They have a tender crumb, but are still sturdy without being overly dense. (They are normally very domed like bakery muffins, but my mom’s oven was apparently having some issues which explains why things weren’t quite baking right when I was there.) They also have a slight hint of lemon which adds to the fresh flavor. So give yourself and your family a treat and try these strawberry muffins!One Year Ago: Strawberry Lemonade Icebox Pie

Strawberry Muffins
Yield: 18 muffins

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
¼ teaspoon lemon extract
1½ cups plain fat-free Greek yogurt
1½ cups chopped strawberries
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling tops (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or spray with cooking spray; set aside

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla, lemon extract, and eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix the flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the yogurt, beating until incorporated; batter will be thick. Gently fold in the strawberries.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle tops lightly with coarse sugar, if using. Bake for 8 minutes and then decrease oven temperature to 375 degrees F and bake for about 12 more minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool 5 minutes in the pan before removing and cooling completely.

Source: Confections of a Foodie Bride

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Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry Cupcakes

Tags

chocolate, cupcake, sour cream, strawberry

I know I’ve been gone for a while… again… In my defense, I’ve had no internet or computer for the last week, which makes it a little hard to do posts! 🙂 To make it up to you, I’m going to share some amazing cupcakes! Cupcakes make everything better, right? I totally thought I was being brilliant when I thought these up, that these somehow must be something that no one has ever made. Of course, I was wrong… It seems virtually impossible to make something that no one has made before, nowadays! But, in my defense, I do think these are different than most of the other chocolate-dipped strawberry cupcakes out there. Or maybe I’m just being hopeful!

I took a chocolate cupcake, filled it with some macerated strawberries, topped it with a strawberry buttercream, then finished it off with some chocolate ganache to truly epitomize a chocolate dipped strawberry. The components really melded wonderfully to mimic the flavors of the strawberry treats. And everyone loved them, which is always a good thing! 🙂

An interesting little story about when I made these… Whenever I’ve made Swiss meringue buttercream, I’ve never had a problem with the whole curdling effect and whatnot. And every time I make it, I think that to myself and hope that I don’t manage to jinx myself. Well, this time I did. I tried all the tricks that people use to help bring the frosting together again, and nothing seemed to be working. So I cheated, and it somehow worked! Which made me very happy with myself, that my frosting didn’t end up as a total epic fail, especially since I didn’t have enough strawberries to try again. So my personal trick, if all other attempts to fix a curdled buttercream fail, try adding some powdered sugar. A little bit at a time, beating for a while after each addition and crossing your fingers that it will come together. 🙂 But I’m thinking this was just a weird fluke as to why I had a problem, because this strawberry buttercream recipe has been used so many times by so many different people with such wonderful success. Maybe I was just having an off day.

So if you’re looking for a fun treat to serve at a fancy party, or as a way to say I love you to a special someone, or even just to make for fun like I did, please don’t hesitate to give these awesome cupcakes a try!!Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry Cupcakes
Yield: 24 cupcakes

Cupcakes:
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa powder
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon hot water
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¾ cup sour cream

Strawberry Filling:
1¼ to 1½ cups strawberries, finely chopped
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Strawberry Buttercream:
1½ cups fresh strawberries (8 ounces), pureed
4 large egg whites
1¼ cups sugar
1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Chocolate Ganache:
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into very small pieces
½ cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons vanilla

To make the strawberry filling: In a small bowl, combine the strawberries and the sugar; toss to fully coat the strawberries. Set aside and allow to macerate while the cupcakes bake.

To make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and hot water until smooth; set aside and let cool slightly. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Slowly mix in the vanilla extract then the cocoa mixture, beating until incorporated. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, beating until just combined.

Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners, filling them about ¾ of the way full. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the strawberry buttercream: Set a heatproof mixing bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Combine the egg whites and sugar in the bowl. Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture reaches 160 degrees F, or all sugar is dissolved and mixture is hot to the touch.

Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat on low speed for 2 minutes, gradually increasing to high speed. Beat until stiff peaks form and mixing bowl is cool to the touch. With the mixer on medium-low speed, gradually add a couple tablespoons of butter at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating on medium-high speed until thick and smooth. Add the strawberry puree and beat until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides as needed. Switch to the paddle attachment and beat on low speed for 2 minutes to eliminate air bubbles. Spoon frosting into pastry bag fitted with large decorating tip.

To make the chocolate ganache: In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the heavy cream until very hot, but not boiling; remove from heat. Place chocolate in a heat safe bowl. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and allow it to sit for about 5 minutes. Whisk the cream and chocolate until smooth and thoroughly combined; stir in the honey and vanilla. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep it smooth; don’t let it sit too long or the ganache will harden.

To assemble the cupcakes: Using an apple corer or a paring knife, cut out a well in the center of each cupcake; discard the cores. Fill each well with about 1 tablespoon of strawberry filling. Frost with strawberry buttercream then pour a spoonful of chocolate ganache over the frosting to finish the cupcakes. Refrigerate the cupcakes until the ganache has set. Store cupcakes in the refrigerator and bring to room temp before serving.

Source: Cupcakes adapted from Martha Stewart, frosting adapted from Annie’s Eats, ganache adapted from My Baking Addiction

Strawberry Lemonade Icebox Pie

Tags

lemon, meringue, pie, strawberry

Whenever I bake stuff, at least some of it inevitably ends up at work. I need to get it out of my apartment, or else I’ll eat it all, and as tasty as that may be I don’t think my waistline would appreciate it. 🙂 But I think my coworkers have become spoiled. One of my coworkers actually commented that I hadn’t made him anything in a while, and he almost seemed hurt and neglected! That day he was looking through a Martha Stewart Living magazine and he found a section with pies. It had a full page picture of each pie, and he apparently found one he liked because when I came in to work the next morning, the page with the pie picture was sitting in my work cubby. Subtle hint, huh?

I was nice, and I made him the pie. And he was a happy camper! The pie was super lemony, but the meringue topping counteracted the tartness perfectly. And strawberries, they go perfectly with everything! The pie was a huge success and now I have all my coworkers asking for more goodies. 🙂Strawberry Lemonade Icebox Pie
Note: Strawberries and meringue should be placed on pie right before serving. Also, whipped cream can be used in place of the meringue.

Crust:
Vegetable oil cooking spray
1⅓ cup graham cracker crumbs (9 to 10 graham crackers)
¼ cup sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
⅔ cup strained fresh lemon juice (from about 4 lemons)
2 large egg yolks, plus 1 large egg, lightly beaten (reserve egg whites for topping)
¼ teaspoon salt

Topping:
12 ounces strawberries, sliced (2 cups)
¾ cup sugar, divided
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3 large egg whites, room temperature

To make the crust: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Coat a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar, mixing thoroughly. Drizzle butter over graham cracker mixture and stir until mixture is moist and holds together when pressed between 2 fingers.

Press crust evenly into bottom and up sides of pie plate using your fingers or the bottom of a dry measuring cup, making sure all areas are pressed firmly so the crust wont crumble when baked. Bake crust until firm and turning darker around edges, 10 to 11 minutes. Remove from oven, and reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

To make the filling: While the crust is in the oven, whisk together condensed milk, lemon juice, salt, egg yolks, and egg.

Pour filling into warm pie crust. Bake until center is set, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

To make the topping: Sprinkle strawberries with 2 tablespoons sugar and the lemon juice. Let stand for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat egg whites and remaining ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar in the heatproof bowl of a mixer set over a pan of simmering water until sugar dissolves and mixture is warm to the touch, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to mixer, and whisk on high speed until medium peaks form, 8 to 9 minutes.

Spoon berries over pie. Spoon meringue over top. Place pie under broiler, with rack in lowest position, until meringue is just browned. Make sure to keep a close eye on it. Alternatively, use a kitchen torch to brown the top.

Source: Martha Stewart Living

Strawberry Summer Cake

Tags

cake, lemon, strawberry

I look around on other food blogs a lot. And I mean a lot. My husband looks over his shoulder at what I’m doing and kind of laughs at me as he sees me looking at different sites and bookmarking new recipes constantly. But what can I say… I love my food! And it’s not like he complains when he gets to try new things! When I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen, I knew it was something I had to make, as soon as possible. And with the next carton of strawberries I bought.Strawberries mean summer, and it is definitely summer. Temps have been in the 100’s for a while here now, and it is HOT. So what could be better than a nice, cool dessert with some strawberries? Nothing! This is a light cake with a slight lemon kick to it. The berries are soft and almost jam-like from the long cooking time, and they pair perfectly with some lightly whipped cream. You could probably use any berries of your choice for this as well, and it would come out deliciously no matter what. As an extra bonus, it’s an incredibly easy recipe and you should have everything on hand, except for maybe the strawberries…. Maybe. 🙂Strawberry Summer Cake

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for pie plate
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon table salt
1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons lemon zest
1 large egg
½ cup milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 10-inch pie pan or 9-inch deep-dish pie pan, or a 9-inch or 10-inch springform or cake pan.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. In a large mixing bowl, work the lemon zest into 1 cup of the sugar, using your fingers to mash the zest and sugar together. Add the butter and beat until pale and fluffy with an electric mixer, about 3 minutes. Mix in egg, milk and vanilla until just combined. Add dry mixture gradually, mixing until just smooth.

Pour into prepared pie plate. Arrange strawberries, cut side down, on top of batter, as closely as possible in a single layer, but overlapping if needed. Try to keep strawberries away the touching the edge of the pan to minimize sticking. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries.

Bake cake for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F and bake cake until golden brown and a tester comes out free of wet batter, about 50 to 60 minutes. (Gooey strawberries on the tester are a given.) Let cool in pan on a rack. Cut into wedges. Serve with lightly whipped cream or dusted with powdered sugar.

Cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days, loosely covered.

Source: Adapted from Smitten Kitchen