Papaya Coconut Cupcake

I had some papaya in the fridge that I wanted to use and the oven was already on as I was baking some cinnamon buns for O’s work. What else could I do but try some cupcakes? I found a recipe on Chockylit but decided to make a couple of changes, mainly adding whole wheat flour.


Ingredients:
½ cup oil
2 large eggs
¼ cup coconut milk
1 ⅓ cup sugar
1 ⅓ cup all purpose flour
⅔ cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ cup shredded coconut
6 ounces of pureed papaya

Method:
1. In a bowl mix together the oil, eggs and coconut milk.
2. Add in the sugar followed by the flour and baking soda.
3. Once the flour is mixed in add the coconut and papaya and mix until just incorporated.
4. Fill cupcake cups (the batter will be a little sticky) and bake for 22 minutes at 350F. The cupcakes will be golden on top and a toothpick will come out of the cupcakes clean.
5. Allow to cool, and enjoy!

Reviews:
I enjoyed this but am hesitant to call them a cupcake. The consistency of the cake is much more like a muffin than a light and fluffy cupcake. O thought they were a little bland, but no one else seemed to have that complaint (and I blame this on my papaya - seriously, why did I think I could get a flavorful, sweet, juicy papaya in the middle of Canada in the winter?).

I topped these cupcakes with a strawberry cream cheese frosting which is the hit of the day (it really stole the thunder from the cupcakes themselves) and the recipe for that will be coming shortly.

Cream Cheese Icing

I know I said I would post this a while ago, and I am sorry for the delay.

This is just a general cream cheese icing that I use for many purposes - icing cupcakes, cakes or even dipping monkey bread into (yum!). I add different flavours depending on the occasion but I must say it is pretty good all on its own.

Ingredients:
1 block (8 ounce) cream cheese
½ cup butter
2 to 3 cups of icing sugar

Directions:
1. Make sure the cream cheese and the butter are soft and at room temperature, the longer they have been out the easier they will cream together!
2. Cream together the cream cheese and the butter. Slowly add 2 cups of icing sugar and mix in.
3. Now the fun part - taste the icing. Is it too tart - add a little more sugar, is it too runny - add a little more sugar (you get the idea).
4. Use however you wish (eating with a spoon is always an option, just not the healthiest route to go!).

Lime Coconut Cupcakes

There was a birthday at work this past week, and I hadn’t baked anything in a while, so I figured that was a good enough reason to make something. I wanted something new, not the same old cookies or vanilla cupcakes. Also I didn’t want anything too sweet - that is for next week when Valentines Day hits (still have no idea what I am making for that one - pink cupcakes maybe?)

Anyways, I wanted something a little spring like and upon investigating the contents of my fridge I came across some lime juice. I love lime flavoured deserts and went on the hunt for a lime cupcake recipe. I came across Coconut Lime Cupcakes on the foodnetwork site and decided to try - along with my own modifications of course, I was looking for a lime cupcake not a coconut cupcake!


Lime Coconut Cupcakes (makes ~ 12 to 15 cupcakes)
Ingredients

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 tablespoons lime juice (bottled or freshly squeezed)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cups loosely packed unsweetened shredded coconut


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. With an electric mixer (or a really strong arm) cream together the butter and sugar. The resulting mixture should be light and fluffy (don’t be afraid to let it beat for a couple of minutes to get it this way).

3. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until well incorporated. Add in the vanilla extract and the lime juice, mixing well.

4. In bowl combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add ⅓ of the mixture to the wet ingredients and let mix. Add ½ of the butter milk, followed by ⅓ of the dry ingredients. Repeat once so all the milk and flour is used. Mix until a smooth mixture results.

5. Stir in the coconut.

6. Drop the mixture into cupcake holders, filling about ⅔ or ¾ of the way up. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes - until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

7. Allow to cool before Icing.

Reviews:
I used a cream cheese icing on these cupcakes and they were great. They got great reviews at work and I didn’t come home with any left! I will be making these again when I want something a little more spring/summery or just that hint of citrus!

Hashbrown Egg Casserole

It has been snowing here (a lot) and it has been cold. This combination has made my desire to go grocery shopping almost nonexistant. I have been trying to stretch the distance between shopping trips as much as I can, as all I want to do after work is to come home, curl up with a warm blanket and a good book while trying to stay warm. This recipe came up as a result of an almost empty fridge and a refusal to go out into the cold for more ingredients. It is a variation and mix of an old recipe I only half remembered and one found on allrecipes.com.


Hashbrown Egg Casserole
Ingredients
1 (32 ounce) package frozen cubed hash brown potatoes, thawed
1/2 pound sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 eggs
1/2 cup water
1 can evaporated milk
½ onion chopped, cooked until soft


Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine hash browns, bacon, 1/2 cup cheese and salt. Spoon into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish.
2. In a bowl, beat eggs, water, salt, pepper and evaporated milk milk until smooth.
3. Pour the egg and milk mixture over hash brown mixture. Sprinkle with paprika.
4. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 45-50 minutes until golden.
5. Top with the remaining cheese.


Reviews:
Oh, I love this for a change for supper. I rarely have the time or the desire to cook hashbrowns and bacon in the morning despite my love of them. This recipe is so simple and has endless changes that can be made to make it fit my mood for the day - adding vegetables such as chopped peppers, or switching the cheese. I do love a little jalapano montery jack in this - gives it a little kick. The egg taste is very mild to not really there (unless you are looking for it), which is a bonus for me.

Velvet Cupcakes

I have always loved red velvet cupcakes, but never tried making them myself. When I saw the recipe for velvet cupcakes in Jamie Oliver’s new cookbook I thought I would give it a try. After a few batches and a couple of changes (due to the horribly dry climate I live in mostly) and a couple of “ooops” moments, here is what I ended up with.

Makes 12 cupcakes
¼ cup butter (rt)
¾ cup powdered sugar
1 lg egg
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp red food colour (optional)
2 heaping tbsp cocoa powder
1 ¼ cup flour
½ cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp white vinegar
3 tbsp oil


Directions:
Heat oven to 350F

1. Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. , Gently beat in egg, vanilla and food coloring.

2. Whisk together cocoa and four. Fold half into the butter mix, followed by buttermilk. Repeat for remaining flour and milk.

3. In a bowl mix the baking soda and vinegar, stir into cake mix.

4. Divide into 12 liners in muffin tins, bake for 20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in the pan then transfer to a wire rack.

Let cool before frosting.

Reviews:
Even after playing with the recipe, the cupcakes were denser than I would have liked. However I seem to be the only one that had an issue with the cupcakes - everyone else loved them (even when I had an oops moment and used apple cider vinegar!). This is a good cupcake, but won’t be my go to recipe.

Favorite Chicken Sandwich

I love roasting chicken when it is cold out, the house smells amazing for the day and it is just a comforting meal when it looks miserable outside. The other thing I love about roasting a chicken - it usually lasts us no less than 4 complete meals and multiple lunches! The number of meals I am left with at the end usually depends on the number of people who are coming over for th initial roast chicken dinner and how big of a chicken we have.

Anyways, I had a chicken thawing for roasting when i went to the grocery store and disscovered on of my new favourite foods - peppercorn crusted bacon! How could I pass that up - it would be amazing on burgers right? Well since it is not grilling season, I did roast chicken sandwiches with leftover roast chicken. The peppercorn bacon was perfect and these are definatly my favourite sandwich!

Peppercorn Bacon Chicken Sandwich

Ingredients:
2 large soft kaiser buns (or your favourite bun)
Leftover roast chicken
6 to 8 slices peppercorn crusted bacon, cooked
Pickles, sliced
Mayo
Cheese (I used Swiss, but cheddar is equally good)

Direction:
Assemble the chicken, bacon, pickles, mayo and cheese in a bun with mayo. Enjoy!

Reviews:
Oh this so so good! I don’t usually make sandwiches for supper, or even eat leftover chicken sandwiches that much, but these babies make my mouth water! If I had another chicken in the freezer, I would be planning on cooking it soon just so I could have these again!

O liked the sandwiches as well - he said they would have been perfect with a slice of tomato (sadly we had none in the house).

Sorry for the Delay

Oh wow has it been a long time since I put a post up! Sorry about that. I have a good reason - I swear. Since the last time I posted, my husband and I have bought a house, moved, tiled a bathroom, painted and put in a kitchen island. On top of that we went to the in law's for Christmas. So busy! Hopefully the posts will become more frequent now that the house is unpacked and I am settling into the new routine. Enjoy some picks of the house for now.

The living room before painting:


After painting (sorry about the bad lighting)