The Charmed Kitchen

Zucchini and Carrot Cupcakes

These are really good cupcakes. They are moist and not too sweet with a slightly dense texture. Sort of a cross between carrot cake and zucchini bread, they have more texture than a traditional cupcake and plenty of flavor. I made these for a group of kids yesterday and they loved them.  I got 24 cupcakes out of the recipe but they were a little small. Perhaps 18 would be a better way to go. I used a simple vanilla buttercream to finish them off. I whipped the frosting a long time so it was extra fluffy. Here are the recipes for both the cupcakes and the frosting.

Zucchini Carrot Cupcakes

2 eggs
1 c. sugar
2/3 c. oil
1¼ c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon- I think I would use a little more next time
½ t. salt
1 c. grated carrot
1 c. grated zucchini, squeezed dry and packed tightly
½ c. chopped nuts, optional
Beat eggs with sugar until frothy. Beat in oil then add dry ingredients. Beat on high for 4 minutes. Stir in veggies and nuts. Pour batter into 18- 24 paper lined muffin tins, filling them 2/3 full. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 15 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Cool and frost. Makes 24.

Note: These cupcakes deflate a little while cooling.

Classic Vanilla Frosting

3/4 cup butter
6 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk
Beat butter in a large bowl until fluffy. Gradually add 3 cups of the sifted confectioners’ sugar, beating well. Slowly beat in the vanilla, salt, and 1/3 cup of the milk. Gradually beat in the 3 remaining cups of confectioner’s sugar. Beat in additional milk (1 to 2 tablespoons) if needed, to make frosting of spreading consistency. You can also tint the frosting with juice (like pomegranate or raspberry)  or food coloring.

Pink Velvet Cupcakes

For a recent dinner with friends, I offered to make dessert. I was told one of the guests loves red velvet cake. I used that as my inspiration. I already make a chocolate beet cake- which has red tones from the beets. I wanted a lighter texture for cupcakes, with more chocolate flavor,  so I made some changes to the beet cake recipe and ended up with these cupcakes. Rich, but light, with a very subtle blush of red. I decided to call them Pink Velvet. I topped them with cream cheese frosting, but a dusting of powdered sugar would work well, too, or a favorite buttercream. Everyone loved them.  Here is the recipe. I hope you will give them a try.

Pink Velvet Cupcakes (Chocolate Beet)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 t. baking soda
½ t. salt
¾ c. cocoa powder
1 c. butter, softened
1½ c. sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1½ cups grated cooked beets
Powdered sugar, optional

Preheat oven to 350°. Line 24-28 muffin tins with paper liners; set aside. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl; set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Slowly beat in dry ingredients until well mixed; stir in beets. Spoon batter into prepared tins, filling about 2/3 full. Bake 18-20 minutes, or until cupcakes spring back when touched lightly or when toothpick, inserted into cupcakes , comes out clean. Cool before frosting. Makes 24-28.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 stick, (½ cup butter) softened
2-3 c. confectioners’ sugar
1T. vanilla

Beat all ingredients together until smooth and fluffy. Store in the fridge.

Easy Croissants

I was doing a cooking camp with kids and they wanted to make croissants. I grew up with a father who was a baker. I have made traditional croissants. Yeast dough rolled out- then topped with a sheet of butter. Rolled, folded, chilled. Repeated many times to create those wonderful, flaky layers. With time constraints, I ended up teaching the kids to make these rolls, instead. Not quite what you get in true croissants, but very tender and flaky, too. The secret is butter cut into flour- the same way you incorporate fat into biscuits or pie crust. Then a yeast/milk mixture is stirred in and a batter is created. It is chilled overnight and when rolled out, the  dough is brushed with more butter and shaped into the crescent shape of traditional croissants. Really easy, compared to the original, and a pretty good roll, too.

Easy Croissants

1 package active dry yeast
1 c. very warm water
¾ c. evaporated milk
1 t. salt
1/3 c. sugar
1 egg
5 c. flour
4 T. melted butter, cooled
1 c. firm butter
Additional melted butter for brushing
1 egg beaten with 1 T. water

Dissolve yeast in water. Stir in milk, salt, sugar, egg and one cup of flour. Beat into a smooth batter and stir in melted butter. Set aside. With pastry blender cut firm butter into remaining flour until particles are the size of small peas. Stir in milk mixture gently, until all flour in moistened. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours.
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead a few strokes. Divide into fourths and roll each into a circle. Divide circle into 8 pieces and brush with melted butter. Starting at wide end roll up loosely and place on greased baking sheet with point tucked under. Allow 2-3 inched between rolls and curve slightly into an arc, if desired. Cover with a towel and allow to rise in a warm place for at least 2 hours or until nearly doubled. Brush with egg wash just before baking. Bake in a 325-degree oven for 35 minutes or until golden. Brush again with butter. Makes 32.

Note: You can add up to 2 cups of whole wheat flour in place of 2 cups of the white flour for whole wheat croissants. You can also brush the dough with fruit preserves instead of butter before rolling up, or you can sprinkle with chopped chocolate or cinnamon sugar and roll up.

Roll dough into a circle

Brush with melted butter

Cut dough into wedges and roll up

Classic Butter Cookies

We made these cookies in class the other day. Simple, rich and delicate. The kids rolled them in balls and then pressed the tops in non-pereils before baking . Others, they left plain then baked them, dipped in melted chocolate, and topped with sprinkles. Simple and very good.

Classic Butter Cookies

1 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
2 ¼ c. flour
1 t. baking powder
¼ t. salt

Beat sugar and butter together until fluffy and then beat in egg and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and stir into butter mixture. Chill dough at least a couple of hours. Roll dough into ¾-1 inch balls and roll in sugar, sprinkles or nuts. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet and bake in a preheated 375 –degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Cookies will flatten somewhat. Makes about 6 dozen cookies.
Variations: You can bake plain cookies and then dip cooled cookies in melted chocolate and then in chopped nuts or sprinkles.
Form into balls and place on baking sheet then press a nutmeat into the center of each. When cool you can drizzle with a small amount of melted chocolate or glaze.

Veggie angel hair pasta – made by an 8 year old

I am really going to miss these kids next week. The group of 8-12 year olds have worked so well together. They also want to experiment and are willing to  just get in there and do it. Today we made pasta. There was a basic egg pasta and an assortment of veggie based pastas. We made rainbow linguine, angel hair pasta and even cheese ravioli. A couple of the girls wanted to know how to make tortellini. I showed them and the next thing I knew, there were cute little rainbow tortellini all over the place. We also baked little cakes we will decorate tomorrow.

Rolling out the dough

Pita dough rising

We made pita bread in cooking camp the other day. The kids really loved it. We had them for lunch with homemade hummus and some of the kids used them like a pizza crust. After tasting fresh homemade pita bread it’s nearly impossible for me to eat the stuff I find in stores. It is fun to make and pretty easy. Although the recipe calls for placing the rolled out dough directly on the oven rack I place mine on baking sheets in the oven. Just a little easier and neater. I also used about half whole wheat flour in this batch.

Pita Bread

 4 ½- 4 ¾ c. flour

1 pkt. Active dry yeast

1 ½ t. sugar

1 ½ t. salt

1 ¾ c. water

2 T. oil

In large bowl combine 2 cups of the flour with other dry ingredients. Heat water and oil to 120-130 degrees (warm) and add to flour mixture in bowl beating until smooth. Beat three minutes then begin stirring in enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead on floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Cover dough with plastic wrap and then a towel and let rest on board 20 minutes. Punch dough down and divide into 12 pieces. Shape each into a smooth ball and place on board, allowing space in between. Cover and let rise 30 minutes. Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees. Roll dough balls into circles. Place 3 circles at a time directly on oven rack. They will puff up and brown in about three minutes. Remove to rack to cool and repeat with remaining dough. Makes 12.

Croissant with White Chocolate Drizzle

One of the girls in cooking camp wanted to make croissants. I thought it would be a fun recipe for the kids to make, but time constraints made it pretty much impossible to make traditional croissants. Instead, we made a simpler version. They came out great, and the kids did a great job making them. Some were left plain, others filled with cinnamon sugar or strawberry jam. One of the girls even drizzled melted white chocolate over one. We also made ice cream. It is a recipe that does not need an ice cream maker- so once we made a couple of batches – the kids divided it up and each made their own version.

Rolling out the dough

Brushing with melted butter

Rolled up

Warm from the oven

Making cherry ice cream

Butter cookie with sprinkles

Finished off the day baking delicate butter cookies.

Strawberry Cupcake

I was making cupcakes for a program with kids and I decided to make some with strawberries. As you might expect, they were a big hit. The berries add sweetness and color in a delicate, natural way. I used frozen berries I had gotten last month. You could also make these with fresh berries.

Strawberry Cupcakes

2/3 cup whole fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

2 large egg whites, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside. Place strawberries in a small food processor; process until pureed. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree, add a few more strawberries if necessary or save any extra puree for frosting; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.

With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.

Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in tin before icing. Makes 12.

Strawberry Frosting

1/2 cup whole frozen strawberries, thawed

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold

Pinch of coarse salt

3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners’ sugar; beat until well combined. Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended. Do not over-mix or frosting will incorporate too much air. Frosting consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice cream. Makes enough for 1 dozen cupcakes.

Braided breads

Another fun day with a wonderful group of kids. We made braided bread, homemade pita bread and “pup”cakes – cupcakes decorated to look like pups. The kids really enjoyed making the pita bread.  This is a really creative group so they did a lot more than just make pup with their cupcakes.  Here is some of what they made.

Pita bread fresh from the oven

Shrimp with Bacon and Spinach

I had intended to make a salad with some fresh spinach, but something told me to go in another direction. Since I already had bacon and shrimp, I decided to just put them all together. With just a few extra ingredients tossed in I ended up with a really good dinner. The shrimp and bacon would have been fine, but the spinach really made the dish better. I didn’t have a lot of time so the fact that it was ready in about 15 minutes was nice, too. I put the pasta on to cook when I started cooking the bacon to save even more time.

Shrimp with Bacon and Spinach

3-4 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 shallots- or 1 small onion- chopped fine
2 cloves minced garlic
8 oz. fresh spinach
8 oz. raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
¼ c. sherry
¼ c. chopped parsley
½ t. grated ginger
½ t. red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
8 oz. cooked pasta

Cook bacon in skillet until almost cooked. Add the shallots and cook until shallots are just turning brown. Add garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Add spinach and cook, stirring often, until spinach is wilted down. Add shrimp and continue cooking until shrimp are just barely cooked. Add sherry and seasonings and cook 2 minutes more. Toss with hot pasta and serve. Serves 2.
Note: You can add some fresh Parmesan cheese when serving, if you like.