Strawberry Shortcake Muffins

10-20-12

  Life's been busy, my in-laws were over the other night and we went to Ikea with them. It was nice to see them and spend time together. I've only tried three new recipes in the last few days. My favorite by far was a really delicious shortcake, I've had the link for a long time now and was so excited to finally get to try it. My hubby was a real sweetheart and helped me out, as it was a more labor intensive recipe, and I don't have four hands yet. :-P

 
Strawberry Shortcake Muffins
Yield: 1 dozen

2-1/2 cups Almond Flour
3/4   tsp  Baking Soda
1/4   tsp  Salt
2/3   cup  Honey
1/3   cup  Coconut Oil, melted
4    large Eggs, room temperature
1     Tbsp Lemon Juice
2     tsp  Vanilla Extract
1/2   tsp  Lemon Zest
1/2   cup  Strawberries, finely chopped
Frosting:
2          Egg Whites
1/3   cup  Honey
1/4   tsp  Lemon Juice
1-1/2 Tbsp Strawberry puree

Preheat Oven to 325^F.
1)  Combine honey, oil, eggs, lemon juice, vanilla, and lemon zest in the blender. Puree on medium speed for 20 seconds or until frothy or smooth.
2)  Add dry ingredients and blend on high for 30-45 seconds. The batter should be very smooth and contain NO lumps. If needed, scrape down the sides with spatula and blend again for a few seconds until all dry ingredients are incorporated.
3)  Gently fold the chopped strawberries in by hand. Divide the batter evenly into lined or greased muffin pan, filling about 3/4 full.
4)  Bake for 16-18 minutes, until a toothpick can be inserted into the middle and comes out clean. 
5)  Let the cupcakes cool completely on the counter or wire rack.
Frosting:
Begin making frosting after cupcakes have cooled completely.
1)  Bring your honey to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
2)  Meanwhile, beat the egg whites and lemon juice until frothy and you can just begin to see trail marks from your beaters. When you lift out the beaters, you should see the soft peaks.
3)  With the beaters running, slowly pour in the boiling honey in a steady stream. Continue beating for 6-8 minutes, until the meringue is cool to the touch.
4)  Gently fold in the strawberry puree, spread onto cupcakes with a knife. Serve Immediately. (keeps in fridge, on cupcakes, for 24hrs)

Original Recipe Link:  http://www.againstallgrain.com/2012/08/27/strawberry-shortcake-cupcakes/                  

Using What's on Hand...

10-16-12

  One of my favorite things to do is find an ingredient in my kitchen that has just been sitting there, usually because someone is afraid to "eat the last one", or because it's too small of a quantity to use in one of my normal recipes. With this ingredient in mind, I then scour the internet for a recipe that utilizes that food item and anything else I have on hand. 

  Last night I was craving some bread, after eating the delicious squash soup, so I began to look for a recipe that would use the 1, overripe, banana sitting idle in the fruit bowl. It was quite a task, because most bread and cake recipes I found used 2-4 bananas. At long last though I found a recipe that served the purpose and sounded delicious! My Hubby and I worked together and made this dessert. When it came out of the oven, and cooled sufficiently, everyone tried a piece and thought it was super good! I was so glad the guys liked it so well (although I wonder if they were just happy to have a good homemade dessert again), however I didn't like it so well at first. The flavor was good, but the crumble on top was off for me and too dry. This morning I decided to have a piece again, but I drizzled some honey on top after warming it up, and enjoyed it so much more. I'd contemplated trying to alter the recipe the next time I make it, but decided, that with such an easy fix, I'd leave it as it is. 

Always,

Kittydid

Banana Spice Coffee Cake

Batter:

1       Banana, mashed

5       Eggs

1.5 tsp Vanilla Extract

1  Tbsp Honey

1.25cup Almond Flour

1.5 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Ground Ginger

1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg

1/2 tsp Ground Cloves

1/2 tsp Sea Salt

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 cup Coconut Oil, melted (plus more for greasing pan)

Topping:

1/2 cup Almond Flour

1   tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Ground Ginger

1/8 tsp Ground Nutmeg

1/8 tsp Ground Cloves

1.5 tsp Coconut Oil

Preheat oven to 350^F

Batter:

1)  In a large bowl mix together mashed banana, eggs, vanilla, and honey until all the wet ingredients are incorporated.

2)  In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and baking soda.

3)  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until better forms. Stir in melted coconut oil to batter; mix well.

Topping:

4)  In a small bowl, blend together flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and coconut oil. Blend until the mixture forms a crumb-like texture. Add 1/2 tsp more coconut oil if the crumb mixture doesn't form.

5)  Pour batter into greased 8x8 baking dish and sprinkle topping evenly across the top. Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

  Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes and then cut into squares and serve.  

Original Recipe Link:  http://www.multiplydelicious.com/thefood/2012/08/banana-spice-coffee-cake/

Apple Cake Mistake

10-4-12

  I'm back and ready to give an account of my first "conversion" recipe. I made a Plum Cake for my client the other day and wanted to see if I might be able to alter the recipe to comply with my diet. The original recipe had said that you could use other fruits in place of plums. I only had apples on hand, so I made apple cake. :-)
  The results of my cake were not what I expected. The cake ended up rather bland, but the sliced apples on top are what made it delicious. After discussing what I found in my alterations with a few people, I decided that I'll need to make another cake to work out the kinks. The next time I make it, I'm planning to add some vanilla extract. Until then I'll post below with the Original and Converted cake recipes. 
  On another note, when I arrived home from work today my husband and his two younger brothers were making another batch of Sorbet, this time it is Peach flavored. They used the same recipe as before, with the strawberries, only they substituted the strawberries with five large peaches. The taste is very delicious once again, however, we found that the textures are altogether different. The peach sorbet is light tasting and fluffy in texture, while the strawberry sorbet was bold and a definite sorbet texture. I'm very proud of the guys and their talents at making delectable frozen desserts. 

God Bless!
Kittydid

Apple Cake (SCD)
  1       Egg
  1   tsp Lemon Juice
  2  Tbsp Butter, melted
 1/4  cup Honey
1-1/2 cup Almond Flour
 1/8  tsp Cinnamon
 1/8  tsp Baking Soda
 1/8  tsp Salt
  2 small Apples, peeled & sliced
 1/4  cup Cinnamon-Honey mix 

1)  Beat egg until lemon-colored.
2)  Add lemon, butter, and honey; mix well.
3)  Sift dry ingredients together and add to egg mixture.
4)  Press batter into greased 8"x8" pan. (If batter is too stiff, add a bit of water--but it works w/o adding any.)
5)  Arrange fruit on batter and drizzle evenly with Cinna-Hony mix.
6)  Bake for 40 min. at 350F.

*note: next time I'm going to add 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract. Will write update when I do, with how it turns out.

Original Plum Cake Recipe
 1       Egg
1/2 tsp  Lemon Extract
 2 Tbsp  Butter, melted
1/8 tsp  Cinnamon
3/4 cup  Flour
2/3 cup  Sugar
1/2 tsp  Baking Powder
1/8 tsp  Salt
Fresh-or-Frozen Italian Prune/Plum halves
1/4 cup  Cinnamon-Sugar mix

1)  Beat egg until lemon-colored.
2)  Add lemon extract and butter, mix well.
3)  Sift dry ingredients together and add to egg mixture.
4)  Press batter into greased 8"x8" pan. (If batter is too stiff, add a bit of milk--bit it works w/o adding any.)
5)  Arrange fruit, cut-side up, on batter. Sprinkle with Cinna-Sugar mix.
6)  Bake for 40 min. at 350F.