Red Velvet (from beet juice) Cupcakes

It is the week of L-O-V-E!  And you know what?  I couldn't care less about Valentine's Day, honestly.

I know, I am such a February Grinch.

But you know all those years that you didn't have somebody to celebrate with except your girlfriends, going out together pretending that you would rather be with them than with some hot dude, all knowing you were lying to each other, but for the sake of the holiday, that lie must go on?  Yeah, that was me.  Forever.  And so at some point between passing out little grocery-store cards in elementary school and getting dressed up to pretend celebrate in college, I just gave up.

Of course, now I have my Valentine, and a forever one at that.  It does make the day seem a little more appealing... except all those people all trying to make dinner reservations for the same night, and all those expectations of roses and candy and cards and... AH!  It makes my head hurt.  Besides, Valentine's Day is celebrated on a completely different day in Brazil, so my husband would never even remember anyway.

But you know what we do remember, every single year?  President's Day.

Think about it: no crowds and you (or at least WE) get the whole day off, and it is close enough to V-day that you don't feel totally like a love-grinch.  And so, we celebrate President's Day.  I know, how romantic. ;)

In the spirit of President's Day - slash - Valentine's Day (for the rest of you), I give you kinda-red velvet cupcakes with no artificial coloring.  Ta-da!

For Sundays with Joy this week we were supposed to make her red velvet marble cake.  That sounded good and all, but I really wanted cupcakes, and not marbly ones.  And all that food coloring really just turned me off.  So I set out to see what I could do instead.  Google kindly informed me that beets were my go-to pigment changer and I just so happened to have some in the fridge, straight from the farmer's market.  Even though I didn't follow Joy's recipe, she did inspire me to create one that is amazing.  Very little sugar, no added colors, and a most-excellent taste.  PERFECT.  And just in time to celebrate President's Day... or Valentine's Day, if you are into that sort of thing.  :)

My Valentine.  (Ok, I guess I am not a total grinch!)

Red Velvet (from beet juice) Cupcakes
adapted from the Bake Cakery Blog

ingredients

• 2 large beets
• 3 tablespoons cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 heaping teaspoon plain greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Wrap beets individually in tinfoil, unpeeled.  Bake on baking sheet for one hour or until you can pierce with a fork.  When finished, peel beets and cut into large chunks.  Reduce oven to 350 degrees.
2. Put beets, lemon juice, and vinegar in blender and blend until a puree.  Add other wet ingredients and blend again.
3. Mix dry ingredients in large mixing bowl.  Add beet mixture to dry ingredients and beat with cake beater until well mixed.  
4. Pour into cupcake liners (2/3 full) and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until fork inserted in the middle comes out clean.

**For the frosting, I used this buttercream recipe and added the beet juice that pooled inside the tin foil to make it pink. 

**My cupcakes came out dark, but adding more lemon juice is supposed to make it brighter.  You can play around with that.  The color was bright pink batter, but dark pink/brown when baked with my amount of lemon juice. The taste was fabulous, though.

COST: $2.52   COST PER CUPCAKE (12): $0.21

Perfect Hot Chocolate {Sundays with Joy}

'Tis the season.  For lights and jammies.  For peace and joy.  For hot chocolate.

'Tis the season for learning how to make Christmas goodies from scratch, too.

Before tonight, the words "hot chocolate" were synonymous with "Swiss Miss".  Or maybe "Nestle".  But now they sound like "Oh my goodness, there is amazingness in my mug".

Cute Christmas mugs deserve amazingness, I think.  You do only get to use them for a little bit each year, after all.

You probably like marshmallows in your hot chocolate.  Good, go for it!  I am not a marshmallow girl, but that did not stop this from still being the perfect cup of hot cocoa.  As my husband said, "Now THIS is what I call hot chocolate, not that watery stuff!"

Go get a little Joy in your life, and celebrate the season of joy and happiness on Earth with the light twinkling in the background and a warm mug in your hand.

Recipe from the Joy the Baker cookbook.  For a similar recipe, visit her blog HERE.  And enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

** There are a lot of families today in Connecticut who are not going to be able to feel peace and joy for quite some time, if ever again.  My thoughts and prayers are constantly with them as I realize Christmas will never be the same again.  One more example of why we cannot take the people we love for granted, at this time or any time.

(This post is a part of the Sunday with Joy baking group I am a part of.  Since we are going through the entire book, recipe by recipe, we do not post the recipes online unless we have changed them and made them our own.  This one was perfect as is.)

Peppermint Crinkle Cookies {Cookie Swap Recipe}

My poor baking gadgets have been neglected.  There they sat, in the drawer, lonely and wondering what they did that was so bad to make me never take them out to see the light of day or feel the heat of the oven.

Poor babies.

Good thing the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap came to the rescue!

This was the second year I participated in this cookie swap, and both times I have had so much fun!  I mean, who doesn't like to have boxes of cookies -- freshly baked, I might add -- show up at their door?!  Yeah, that's what I thought.

Last year I sent off some cookies to Tennessee, and later met and became friends with the lady who received my box.  And, completely randomly, I received a box from someone who lives in the same little town in Illinois that my mother and grandmother grew up in.

Cookie swaps make the world just a little bit smaller...

How nice of OXO to send us all spatulas!  You can get one of these
bad boys for yourself HERE, and half of the proceeds go to fight
cancer in kids.  SWEET!

Of course, there is always the task of finding the perfect cookie recipe.  Since it can't be one that is on your blog yet (and if you are like me, you can only cook things that you put/have put on your blog), that means you need to find a new recipe.  One that you will like, one that strangers will like, one that ships well.

Luckily we live in the day and age of Pinterest.  Within five minutes I found it.

Cookies that taste like brownies???

Yes, please!

To celebrate my favorite flavor of Christmas, I added some peppermint extract.  Peppermint + chocolate = a merry Christmas, if you ask me.

And so, Peppermint Crinkle Cookies were born.  They lived a good life, for about five minutes, until my husband gobbled them all up, leaving me with one.

He apparently forgot that sharing was caring.

How nice of him to leave me one... ;)

In the end, these cookies traveled from my home in California to New York, Maryland, and another city not too far away from me, hopefully to arrive in tact and still fresh.  You never know with the busy holiday mail season!

And the best part?  I got cookies, too!  Thank you Natalie at The Sweets Life and Taylor at Greens & Chocolate.  You ladies had me at the peppermint...  As for Beka, your coconutty cookies were a perfect treat for this half-Brazilian home.  You brought a little bit of Natal our way.  Thank you!

Cookies from Taylor @ Green&Chocolate

Another holiday season, another cookie swap in the bag.  Merry Christmas!

Recipe adapted from the Magnolia Bakery in Los Angeles

MAKES 24-30 cookies
INGREDIENTS:  

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups White sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoon Baking powder
½ tsp. Salt
½ cup powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small bowl whisk together 2 cups flour, 2 tsp. baking powder and ½ tsp. salt. Set aside.
2. In a medium size stainless steel bowl whisk together 1 cup cocoa, 2 cups white sugar and ½ cup vegetable oil.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking slightly after each.
4. Stir in the vanilla just until mixed.
5. Stir the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture.
6. Cover dough and chill for at least 30 minutes
7. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
8. Using a scoop, roll dough into a one inch balls.
9. Roll the balls in powdered sugar coating generously.
10. Line a sheet tray with parchment paper and bake  cookies for 10-12 minutes just until set. Watch these cookies carefully. They are like a brownie and are better when the center is just barely set. The cookies will “crack” on top exposing the soft chocolate center.

COST: $3.16    COST PER DOZEN (about 3): $1.06

Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Cookies (Sundays with Joy)

"Oh, come on, try some.  You'll like it, I promise!"

How is it that every single time someone says those words they turn out to be a liar?

This is how my dear, incredibly honest aunt became a liar every single Thanksgiving.  The food she was talking about?  Yams.  Yucky yams.  I tried them, I did not like them, and then the next year we would go through the same thing.

You know what else I didn't like? Every year?  Sweet potatoes.  Because they tasted like yams.

Vegetables are not supposed to be sweet!  It is against the laws of nature, right?!

This week's Sundays with Joy recipe is sweet potato chocolate chip cookies.  Sweet potatoes + chocolate chips.

Yes, you read that correctly.

But... but.  Hold on a second.  When I was in Nashville this summer I went to this local joint called the Pancake Pantry and I was told I had to try the sweet potato pancakes.  "Come on," they said, "try them.  You'll like them.  Promise."  Liar liar, pants on fire...

Except when I did try them (a bite off someone else's plate) I DID like them.  A lot.

So this recipe by Joy the Baker did actually sound like it had some good potential.

Yes, those are some large 'heaping tablespoons' there.  And yes, my cookies came out quite large.  But whatever, they taste GOOD.

Sweet potatoes, you are no longer on the Yucky List!  Maybe vegetables can be sweet, in sweet things.   Now I need to try some yams...

Nah.

Since I am participating in October Unprocessed this year, I made these so they would be 'unprocessed'.  (I know it is not October until tomorrow, but I will be eating them in October, so I figured I should just go for it.)  These cookies were made with unbleached flour, raw sugar, and some chocolate chips that are made out of the same types of things (pure sugar, unsweetened cocoa, cocoa butter, and salt -- that's it, no more, no less).  You, of course, can make them any way you like them, but however you do it, they taste good.

Go ahead, try some.  You'll like it.  I promise.

And I am not lying!

Recipe adapted from the Joy the Baker Cookbook.  Do yourself a favor and buy a copy HERE.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup baked, mashed sweet potato (pierce skin with fork and bake at 400 for 40 minutes on tin foil-lined baking sheet)
• 2 cups unbleached flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon Allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup packed raw brown sugar (smells a little different but tastes great)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup 'fresh' chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease baking sheet and set aside.
2. In large bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Set aside.
3. In medium bowl, whisk eggs and sugar together.  Add oil and vanilla; whisk again.  Fold in mashed sweet potato.
4. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients, all at once.  Using a spatula, mix until now flour remains dry.  Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Scoop cookie dough, by the heaping tablespoonful, onto greased baking sheet, 2 inches apart.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before placing on wire rack to cool completely.

COST: $5.34   COST PER Cookie (18): $0.30

Turtle-Candy Tart -- A Taste of the South

My little Palauan fourth graders were sitting at my feet, listening to me read Peter and Fudge's story in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.  It was the point where Peter learns that his (rather annoying) little brother Fudge not only killed Peter's turtle, but he ate it.

"Ew!" I said in overly exaggerated disgust.  "He ATE a turtle!"

I looked down at these nine-year-olds expecting to see horror on their faces. Nothing.  And then one little voice popped up...

"Teacher, of course he did.  Turtle is food."

Turtle is food?  Huh.  Clearly this was something that my culture never shared with me.

Don't worry, I don't have a turtle recipe to share with you.  Well, I do, but it isn't green, shelled turtle.  I think I would have the PETA people here in a heartbeat if I did.  No, I have a Turtle-Candy Tart.  No reptile, lots of sweetness.  That's turtle I can enjoy.

This is another one of those, "Let me make your house my photo studio" posts from Alabama.  But this recipe I actually had a part in making.  My friend Blaine made the chocolate-graham cracker crust, I made the caramel center, and Lisa made the ganache topping.  We make a great team, don't we?

I never realized how incredibly easy ganache is!  You seriously just boil heavy cream and pout it over bittersweet chocolate and stir.  And with how delicious this tart is, well, I will be making that ganache again -- and soon!

(Next time however, I will cut the tart into small squares as it is too rich to eat one whole piece in one sitting.)

Recipe from Country Living, September 2012

INGREDIENTS

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 14 chocolate graham cracker, crushed
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• sea salt
• 1 cup light-brown sugar
• 1 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 6 ounces pecan halves, toasted (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 1/2 cups heavy cream

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Meanwhile, in a small pot over medium-low heat, melt 1 stick butter. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add graham crackers, granulated sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and combine. Press mixture into the bottom and along the sides of an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Bake crust for 10 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and cool, about 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, make the caramel: In a medium pot fitted with a candy thermometer, melt remaining butter over medium heat. Add brown sugar, condensed milk, corn syrup, and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and stir to combine. Allow caramel to come to a boil; maintain gentle boil, stirring constantly, until mixture reaches 240 degrees F, about 10 minutes. Stir in pecans and vanilla. Pour caramel into tart crust and spread evenly. Set aside to cool, about 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, make the ganache: Place chocolate in a medium bowl. In a small pot, bring 1 cup heavy cream to a boil and pour over chocolate. Let sit for 30 seconds, then stir until melted. Pour over caramel and spread ganache into a smooth, even layer with a spatula. Refrigerate tart until set, about 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl and using an electric mixer, beat remaining heavy cream until soft peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Once tart is set, remove outer ring of pan. Let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving. Serve with dollops of whipped cream.

COST: $10.65    COSt per serving (16 skinny slices): $0.67

Read more: Turtle Candy Tart Recipe - Country Living 

Chocolate Strawberry Fudge Pops -- Sundays with Joy

Alright, I fixed it.  My super-failed pops from the other day can now just be considered a stepping stone to the real stuff, because this time I actually followed the recipe.  Following the recipe leads to good news -- real fudge pops in my freezer.

So now that I have fudge pops waiting to be eaten (which, btw, make my day even if it is cold outside for some odd reason...) I am thinking of all the other summer stuff I need to start doing.  I made a bucket list for the season but I have yet to cross anything off.  Been too busy doing other stuff, good stuff no less, but other stuff.  Time to get to work on that.

This recipe was pretty simple: make a chocolate custard out of milk, sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, and cornstarch, adding a bit of butter, some heavy cream, and teeny bit of vanilla when cooked.  That cooled and I mixed in my add-ins: strawberry chunks and white chocolate chips.  The original recipe called for raspberries and dark chocolate, but I decided to change it up a bit. 

I didn't have popsicle molds, but Dixie cups and spoons were found in my cupboard.

Totally worked. 

Fudge pops in hand, I can say, "Viva Summertime!"
 

Let me know what's on your Summer bucket list.  How are you doing with checking those items off? 

Mint Chip Ice Cream Pie (Sundays with Joy)

I don't know about you, but Summer has gotten a hold of me and taken me hostage.  Not that I am complaining about that... sunshine, beach days, carefree moments spent in between the stuff I must do.  I really would have it no other way.

What that means, however, is I have spent almost no time in my kitchen.  Yup, I have resorted to eating super easy food and lots of leftovers.

Whatever.

Leftovers are the bomb if they came from a good meal, right?

Something good about being a part of a cooking group (Sundays with Joy) is that there is some motivation to get myself in there and make something because, well, I have to.  I committed to this thing, and I want to see it through!  My husband had no complaints about that.  "You are making ice cream pie?" he asked.  "I'm not really sure what that is, but it sounds good!"  And so off to the kitchen I went.

The original recipe had this as a coffee-vanilla ice cream pie but ever since my husband gave up coffee  because I was tired of him being grumpy when it wasn't around (a Brazilian that doesn't drink coffee -- WHAT?! Yes, they are a rare species, but they do exist...) he won't taste anything that has any coffee flavor.  He didn't just give it up, but he rid himself of anything having to do with it.  Which means my Starbucks runs are always alone and he will not eat any mocha flavored ice cream or anything.  Oh well, more for me ;)  But mint chip?  Oh, we LOVE mint chip, so that is the flavor I went with.

To make it even more husband-friendly, I used Brazil nuts in the crust instead of walnuts.  Are Brazil nuts even really from Brazil?  I have no idea.  But the name sounds nice :)

I finished making this around 10pm on Friday night (yes, I was baking on a Friday night instead of going out -- call me a square if you want to, but if I am a square then I am a square with really good food in her kitchen and in her belly!) and then I tossed it in the freezer to finish up completely planning on taking pictures and enjoying it the next day.  Yet Summer took hold of me once again and I had no time for such behaviors.  Thus, when I was asked if we could try the pie last night I said, "Nope, the lighting is poor.  We have to wait until tomorrow so I can take pictures first."  This delicious pie has been there for 24 hours and yet I have not let anyone dig in. 

Poor husband.

You think that is bad enough, but then he woke up with a cold today.  A cold.  In the summer.  He has no desire to eat ice cream pie.  So sad for him...

But that didn't stop me.  I had it for breakfast ;)

Although it was more money than I normally spend on a dessert, this is totally and completely a repeater.  The recipe looked a little difficult but it wasn't at all.  And my favorite part is that everything I used, from the knock-off Nilla Wafers in the crust to the chocolate on top, it was all from Trader Joe's.  Why does that excite me?  Because anything that is TJ's name brand is guaranteed to be preservative and artificial flavor free.  Which is how I like it.  Not to mention cheaper than going than if I got the stuff at my other local grocery stores.  It's a win-win, I tell ya.

This recipe was taken from the Joy the Baker Cookbook, inspired by the Pioneer Woman.  To see Joy's complete idea, go grab the book.  For the recipe that inspired it all (and to see how to make the crust) visit Pioneer Woman's link, here.

COST: $9.32          Cost per Serving (8): $1.17

Strawberry Chocolate French Toast

Normally I wake up at the crack of dawn (or before), schluff off to the kitchen, pour a bowl of cereal and milk, and chomp down, just trying to wake up.  Then about 30 minutes later my husband wakes up and does the same thing.  It is one of the things that just is what it is.  When you have to head out at 7:10 in the morning -- and you are not really a morning person -- that is as good as it gets.

But not during summer!  Whenever I have time off of work I get to sleep in until 7:10 (yes, I try to wake up at that time even though I have nowhere I need to be) and I can enjoy my breakfast. 

So.

Much.

Better.



Surprisingly, that "All I need for breakfast is cereal, every single day, nothing different ever, please" man of mine was down for this, as well.

Really, who wouldn't be?

Nutella (or in my case, cocoa almond spread) sandwich fried into french toast, with strawberries and powdered sugar on top...  Even though he does not believe bacon and eggs are breakfast food, this counts.  Ok, ok... we can save bacon and eggs for dinner.  But this is a new breakfast favorite for us!

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 lb. of strawberries, tops cut off and sliced in half

3 T of white sugar, divided

8 slices of bread (white, preferably)

Nutella or Cocoa Almond Spread

3 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

a few dashes of cinnamon

2 T butter, divided into for parts

powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix strawberries and 2T of sugar together.  Set aside.
2. Make four chocolate sandwiches. 
3. Mix eggs, milk, cinnamon, remaining white sugar, and vanilla together.  Dip on sandwich at a time into mixture, putting on non-stick skillet with butter melted, medium heat.  Make sure to get both sides eggy.
4. Fry each sandwich until light golden color on each side.  Top with powdered sugar through fine mesh seive (if you have one) and put strawberries on top.

Cost: $3.80   Cost per serving (4): $0.95

Sundays with Joy: Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

I am so incredibly proud of myself right now.  For the first time in my life I have made cupcakes from scratch.  Not from the box, from scratch.  Vegan cupcakes, at that!

Yes, the ingredients are a little unusual.  Avocado, white vinegar... not your typical baking supplies.  But you know what?  They totally worked.

My ingredients were even a little more unusual.  Last October I did the October Unprocessed challenge and I started buying this unbleached flour and organic sugar, and I liked it.  Yeah, the graininess of the sugar is a bit different, as is the color, but it works just fine.  So not only are these cupcakes vegan, but they are unprocessed as well.  Except for the frosting.  Silk soy milk doesn't really fall into that category last time I checked.

Then I added a little bit more of the cocoa powder because, well, I like chocolate.  Now, adding way more avocado then called for... yeah, that was just an accident.  Somehow the 1/4 cup looked like 3/4 cup to me... whatever.  It totally worked.

And since I learned my lesson last week, I checked all the expiration dates.  Not only was my baking powder expired, but so were some of the other items.  Oops!  Guess I need to bake more often so they don't sit around in my cupboard for so long!  (I was going to put coconut in my cupcakes and on top of the frosting, but shreds were dried and long past their date.  Yes, I was very sad.)  I tossed all that old junk out and headed to the grocery store where I spent some time in the baking aisle filling my basket with supplies.  What a difference the fresh ingredients make!

I tried to be all fancy and use my cookie press/decorating gun to make a beautiful top, but that didn't turn out so well.  So I pulled out a knife and just spread that frosting on there.  At one point I took the gun and pretended to be Sydney Bristow... you know, and take out all the bad guys.  My husband just stared at me.  Then he threw up his hands and said with a smile on his face, "Why does this not surprise me?"

Yay for being with someone who knows you are weird and is more than OK with it! :)

To make things a little different, I turned the frosting into minty-buttercream (once I figured out my super coconut idea was not going to be working out).    End result?  Delicious!  These cupcakes are light and airy, very fresh, and just the right amount of sweetness.  I have had two, he has had three.  Or four.  The truth is you would never be able to tell they were vegan unless you were told. 

But you better mash you avocados well unless you want your husband asking why there is a booger in his cupcake... ;)

Recipe adapted from the Joy the Baker Cookbook.

VEGAN CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH VEGAN MINT-CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
Yield: 12 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cup unbleached flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup raw, organic sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup mashed avocado (about 1 avocado)
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

(for the buttercream)

• 3/4 cup vegan butter in sticks, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 2 tablespoons soy milk

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375*F.  Line cupcake pan with liners.
2. Mix flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.  Set aside. 
3. In large bowl, mix sugar, oil, avocado, water, vinegar, and vanilla.  Add the flour mixtures and mix.
4. Pour into cupcake liners, filling 2/3 of the way.  Bake for 18-20 min.  Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.
5. For the buttercream -- place "butter" in mixing bowl and mix on low until soft.  Add the cocoa powder and sugar and stir to incorporate.  Add the vanilla, peppermint, and soy milk.  Mix on medium speed until fluffy.

Store cupcakes, well wrapped, in fridge for up to four days.

Cost: $6.90                 Cost per Cupcake (12): $0.58