Chocolate Mousse Cupcakes with Raspberry Chambord Filling

 When I started making these cupcakes--a rich combination of a fluffy chocolate cake, glorious French chocolate mousse and spiked raspberry preserves; I knew they would be a challenge. The cakes themselves came out fine. Unfortunately, while I was filling the pastry bag, I forgot to put my finger over the tip and therefore managed to decorate my lap with a large quantity of raspberry/Chambord. HA! Zen baking: Be the Cupcake!

Cupcakes:
1 3/4 C flour
3/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
2 C sugar
2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
2/4 t salt
1 C buttermilk
1/2 C vegetable oil
2 t vanilla extract
2 large eggs--at room temperature*
1 C strong, piping hot coffee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper cupcake liners in a muffin pan and set aside. In a large bowl...sift together dry ingredients. Then mix together with a fork or a large whisk. In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, vegetable oil, vanilla and eggs. While mixing on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix to combine...but do not over mix! Slowly add hot coffee, mixing until just combined.  The batter should be thin--break up any lumps with a fork.  Pour the batter into each cupcake liner from a measuring cup. Wipe off cup after each pour.  Bake for 14-15 minutes, without opening the oven. After 14 minutes, lightly touch the top of a cupcake's center. If it makes an impression, leave them in there for a couple of minutes (every oven heats differently). Once done, cool for 10 minutes in pan then transfer to a cooling rack to continue cooling. While they cool, make the Chocolate Mousse.

Ingredients:

6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, in chips or chopped (a good chocolate is best-- I like Dagoba or Guittard. But if saving money, use Nestle's or Baker's chocolate, not Hershey's)
3 T unsalted butter
3 egg whites
3 egg yolks
1/2 t cream of tartar
1/4 C
1/2 C heavy cream (very cold)
1/2 t vanilla
2 additional T sugar

Warm 3 eggs (in shells) in a hot tap water in a bowl if they are not room temperature. Keep them in there at least 5 minutes. Place the chocolate and butter in the top of a double-boiler or a heat-proof bowl on top of a pot of barely simmering water. Stir with a wooden spoon till smooth. Remove from stove and cool slightly--chocolate should still be liquid. Separate eggs, reserving whites in a medium bowl and whisk the yolks into the chocolate mixture one at a time. 

Beat egg whites in medium bowl until foamy. Add cream of tartar and continue to beat. Gradually whisk in 1/4 C sugar and continue beating until stiff peak form. Beat the cream in a chilled bowl until it begins to thicken and foam. Add remaining 2 T sugar and the vanilla. Continue to whip cream until it holds soft peaks.
Gradually fold in the egg whites into the chocolate mixture with a rubber spatula. When the egg whites have almost disappeared, delicately fold in the whipped cream until the mixture, stopping the minute it is no longer two-tone. Don't rush this--slow and steady wins the race! Refrigerate until ready to frost cupcakes.

Raspberry Filling:
Use 1 C (or more) raspberry preserves for this. If you want to make it really fancy mix together 1 C raspberry preserves with 6 t Kirsch or Chambord liqueur. Take an apple corer or a sharp paring knife and gently cut a hole in the center of each cupcake. Using a small knife and a teaspoon or a piping bag with a large tip...push a small amount of the preserves into the cupcake. Be careful to put the piping tip deep inside of the cupcake BEFORE you put the raspberry mixture into the piping bag. Do it one teaspoon at a time--otherwise it will get all over your counter and you!

Assembly:
After filling cupcakes, frost with a pastry bag and a large pastry bag tip. Or just use a dinner knife. I use a swirl pattern--you can do what you want. Place a fresh raspberry in the middle of the top for fun---and if you have extra chocolate--grate some on top. I would refrigerate these a few hours or overnight before serving! I was amazed at the difference this made.


 

Fresh Fruit Tart...

In the summer of 1993, someone brought a fresh fruit tart with a cookie crust and a cream cheese filling to a party.  A near riot of joy broke out. The tart came from "The Farm" bakery/cafe in Aptos, California. Still wildly popular...it kind of reminds me of a fruit pizza!

Yield: a 12" tart -- Serves 8-10

Note: If you make the crust and the filling one day and fill it with fruit the next, the crust will stay crisp, and the flavors will meld. If you make it and eat it all the same day --that works too. It's showy and as easy, as well... pie!

Ingredients:

Crust: 
1/4 C sugar
1 1/3 C flour
10 T already melted butter

1/2 t almond extract (or vanilla)

If you don't want to make crust you can always use Pillsbury Sugar Cookie refrigerated dough-- this homemade version, however, is more like shortbread and is less sweet.

Filling:
1 (8-oz) pkg. cream cheese--softened
1/3 cup powdered sugar (if you like things super-sweet use 1/2 C)
1 t vanilla extract

Fresh Fruit Topping:  
Use 3 C or more of any combination of those listed below:

Strawberries (cut in half or quarters--looks pretty as a "star" in the center of the tart)

Peaches or nectarines (sliced thinly)
Blueberries
Blackberries
Olallieberries  
Raspberries
Seedless grapes (slice in half and lay sliced part down for easy eating)
Red pears (sliced thinly)
Kiwi (sliced thinly--you can overlap these when you lay them on the crust--artsy)
Star Fruit (sliced thinly--best used on top of another fruit like blueberries or in the middle of the tart)
Exception to fresh: canned mandarin oranges--super easy--no slicing!

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the dry ingredients. Add melted butter and almond extract and stir until dough forms. Press dough into a 12-inch tart pan with a removeable bottom, pressing dough up the sides and until the dough is smooth and flat in the middle. Prick the dough on the flat part of the pan with a fork 3 or 4 times. Bake until golden 20-25 minutes. Remove and cool.

Mix filling ingredients together in a small bowl with a mixer and spread thickly on cooled crust. Place washed fruit on a paper towel and pat dry with a second towel. Next, arrange fruit on cream cheese filling in concentric circles starting with the middle and working outward. Make fruit glaze...

Fruit Glaze:
1/2 C fruit juice (apple, peach, pineapple)
1/4 C sugar
1 T cornstarch (mix with a T of water before adding)
OR or melt some apricot preserves in a small sauce pan to use for glaze

Directions:

Combine fruit glaze ingredients in a saucepan and heat to a simmer. Simmer until thick and remove from heat. Cool slightly before brushing on to fruit. You can also melt (gold-colored) apple jelly if you'd rather not go to the trouble of making your own glaze.

Wonderful Sticky Buns

Went to a farm today for a ladies' brunch. There were about 15 women there. The farmhouse was a lovely Victorian-style home surrounded by well-kempt chickens and donkeys and sunflowers planted in rows. The air was fresh and cool.  The chickens reminded me of women in groups. They are very chatty. And whenever a new person comes to their pen, they waddle over to that person in rapt expectation of being fed.  Our hostess, Carrie, was one of many people who fed us chicks this morning. She made these terrific Sticky Buns that tasted like cinnamon love and caramelized joy. We indulged...happily cackling to ourselves and each other.

Ingredients:

1 C brown sugar
1 C unsalted butter plus 3 T butter
1 C chopped pecans
1 Bridgeford Bread dough log--partially thawed
1/2 C white sugar
6 t cinnamon

Directions:

Heat oven to 200 degrees and turn off. Put Bridgeford Bread dough log in a greased bread pan, cover loosely and let rise 45 minutes in the oven. Meanwhile in an 9X9-inch (preferably Pyrex) pan, sprinkle 1 C brown sugar. Drizzle 1 C melted unsalted butter on top of sugar. Sprinkle 1 C chopped pecans overall. Set aside. Take bread dough out of oven and set on a clean surface sprinkled with 2 T flour.  Roll out the thawed Bridgeford Bread dough into something close to a rectangle. Spread evenly on top of rectangle: 3 T melted butter, 1/2 C white sugar, then 6 t cinnamon. Roll dough up like a jelly roll and pinch the ends. Cut into about 12 (pinwheel) slices about 1"to 1 1/2" thick. Pinch the end of each pinwheel so that the filling doesn't get out while they bake. Place pinwheels on top of sugar/butter/cinnamon mixture in Pyrex pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in the refrigerator overnight or until the dough has doubled in volume. Bake at 330 degrees for about 30 minutes until done. Loosen edges and invert onto serving plate.
Eat with coffee or tea and cackle!







 

Quinoa Salad

I am writing this in 2013 when 4 food items are in vogue: quinoa (a brown rice-like grain), fava beans, faro, and edamame. If you don't know what they are please look them up on the internet.  I LOVE quinoa! However, there are some people who don't like it.  I call it "Quinoaphobia". It usually hits those that haven't tried it. They stare at the grain and gasp "What IS that?". Then they run away. You can see them tearing down the street ...hair streaming behind them yelling "Nooooooo
Quinooooaaaawww!" 

So, the question is: are you adventurous enough to eat quinoa?

 When it's a salad it's very wet. Serve it in a pretty bowl lined with lettuce-leaves or as individual servings in lettuce-leaf cups. Use it as vegetarian lunch--low fat and relatively inexpensive. Yield: Feeds about 5 as a side dish.

Ingredients:

1 C quinoa (dry)
2 C water
2 C sliced grape tomatoes
1 chopped--peeled cucumber
1/2 C sliced kalamata olives
3/4 C crumbled Feta cheese
1 1/2 T olive oil
1/2 lemon--juiced
1 t oregano (if you don't like oregano--use basil)
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper

Combine quinoa and water in a saucepan. Boil. Reduce heat, simmer 15 minutes--until all water is absorbed. Combine vegies, add quinoa and tomatoes and herbs. Mix well. Add olive oil, lemon, and sprinkle feta on top. Toss and chill overnight or at least 4 hours before serving.

Tabbouleh...

My mother used to run. When I was around 12, she started running up and down the roads of Portola Valley. For fun and for health. Soon the whole nation was running! To this day I am convinced mom started it. Just like Al Gore invented the internet.

Eventually the whole family started to run. My sister, her husband Tad, my husband Alan, mom and I started running in races like "Bay to Breakers" and "Wharf to Wharf".  After running the race (badly) the Shelby family and our family would have gourmet food and lots of wine and beer. It was fun! So fun that I think the only reason Alan ran was to be able to go to the picnic afterwards! Here's one of the utterly delicious recipes...it's inexpensive and keeps beautifully!

This is originally from the Oakland- East Bay Junior League Cookbook called "California Fresh". Pine nuts are very pricey...and not necessary...but you can put them in if you wish! Yield: serves 8-10

Ingredients:

 Dressing:
1/2 /C olive oil
6 T fresh lemon juice
1/4 /c loosely packed chopped fresh mint leaves
1/4 C loosely packed chopped fresh parsley
3 chopped green onion white parts ( including about an inch of each green portion)
1/2 t minced garlic
3/4 t cumin
3/4 t salt
1/4 t ground pepper

Salad:
1 C bulgur wheat (such as Kasha)
1/2 C boiling water
1/2 C pine nuts (optional)
2 medium tomatoes seeded and finely chopped, or 8 oz. "grape tomatoes" sliced in half

Directions:
Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl with a whisk. Set aside. Add boiling water to bulger and stir to moisten evenly. Immediately stir in dressing, optional nuts, and tomatoes. Set aside for at least 8 hours or refrigerate overnight to allow "vulgar bulger" to soften and absorb dressing. To serve...line a serving bowl with romaine lettuce and fill with tabbouleh. OR-- serve it in a large "sand-pile" mountain on a platter. Garnish with fresh mint leaves. You can always opt to cut a few extra tomatoes into "flowers" and put them in the midst of randomly placed bunches of fresh mint leaves around the edge as well.  Just don't let the stems of the mint show!

Note: Keeps well several days in the refrigerator

California Organic Salad...

California is the home of fresh organic vegetables and fruits. This salad is one fresh example of California's riches. Part of its appeal is that it's so darn pretty! The other secret was that its ingredients just taste so good...

Ingredients:

mixed organic lettuces (at least 15 oz.)
4 avocados
8 small vine-ripened tomatoes cut in quarters
2 washed and sliced English cucumbers
Feta cheese (6 oz. --crumbled)
red bell peppers (sliced very thin)

Directions:

Wash lettuces if they aren't pre-washed in a salad spinner, then wrap them in a few paper towels and/or a plastic bag and put them in the refrigerator to crisp for at least 45 minutes.  Remove lettuce and put in a large bowl. Arrange on top the tomato quarters...the sliced cucumbers ...the red bell peppers...the avocadoes and sprinkle with crumbled Feta. Toss right before serving on individual plates or putting on the buffet table. Have dressing available in small bowls with spoons. 

Dressing: Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil (just whisk together equal parts with a pinch of salt and drizzle over the salad after it's on the plate).

Greco Casserole-- Great for Potlucks!

The mainstay of most working mom's freezers is the all-mighty casserole. OK pizza is a mainstay too. This very traditional potluck casserole has been popular since the 1960's. My mom used to make it and us kidlets loved it! It's also called "More" casserole in some cookbooks due to the fact that everyone who tastes it always want more! 

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef (you can try ground turkey, but it won't taste as good)
1/3 C chopped onion
3/4 C chopped green pepper
2 6-oz. cans tomato paste
1 can corn
one can stewed tomatoes (or peel 3 fresh and quarter them)
1 t sugar
2 t salt
2 t chili powder
1/2 t garlic salt
pepper to taste
8 oz. egg noodles or shell pasta
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese (medium sharp)

Directions:

Cook beef and green pepper in skillet until beef is brown and crumbly. Drain off oil. Mix rest of ingredients in a bowl and add them to skillet and simmer. Bring all to a boil and add noodles. Cook with top off until noodles are done. Put in a greased casserole. Cover with shredded cheddar and keep oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Serve hot and cheesy!