Saturday, March 17, 2012
Happy St. Patty's Day!!!!
My guinea pigs, er co-workers, are used to getting regular cookies or cupcakes at work but after being inspired by so many talented blogs I decided to work on decorative sugar cookies. Who knew my biggest hurdle would be finding a St. Patty's day cookie cutter!?!?! Seriously Michaels! Thankfully my cousin had one that I was able to use. I also decided that there was no reason that I had to make a full batch, which is like 60 cookies, for work so I scaled my recipe back to 1/4 and it ended up making about 20 shamrocks, perfect! (recipe is in next post!) Still learning about decorating, people make it look so easy but it isn't!
Friday, March 9, 2012
Cheers with a Cupcake!
Of course as soon as I came up with the idea of a margarita night I started thinking about what I could bake; seriously I don't think I could have done any better since this had not only the cute factor but the delicious tasting factor. It was a huge hit. A lot of the margarita cupcake recipes I saw used tequilla either in them, glazed on top, or in the cream cheese and I really wanted one that did not have any tequilla in it because I knew we were going to have enough delicious margaritas and one of the girls who came was pregnant.
I made cupcakes out of this recipe and it came out to be 12 normal size cupcakes and about 8 minis (I do not use wrappers for the minis). O I messed up and forgot to add the lime juice to the cupcakes so at the last minute before they went into the oveN I sprinkled it into each muffin tin and then mixed it. The recipe below had a cream cheese recipe with it but not everyone seemed to love it and I knew I had an amazing cream cheese frosting recipe so I altered it to be a lime cream cheese frosting. I used the bottled lime juice because I am lazy. I ended up putting a lot of frosting on these (which everyone loved) and then sprinkled green sprinkles on top to look like green salt. I also cut straws down to size and used part of it to be a straight straw and then the bendy part too ( I had to cut both sides). I also bought some of the lime fruit salad slices and cut them in half for the big cupcakes and in thirds for the minis.
So happy with the way these came out. People took some cute pictures like they were drinking out of the straws :)
MARGARITA CAKE
(Source:Allrecipes)
INGREDIENTS
1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix (I used a golden butter recipe cake mix)
3 egg whites
1 (10 fluid ounce) can frozen margarita mix (such as Bacardi®), thawed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon grated lime peel
1 tablespoon lime juice
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13-inch cake pan or a cupcake tin.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cake mix, egg whites, frozen margarita mix, vegetable oil, lime zest, and 1 tablespoon lime juice. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center shows moist crumbs, 30 to 35 minutes. If you do cupcakes about 15-20 minutes. Cake will be very moist. Cool in the pan.
LIME CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
(Source: Alexis)
INGREDIENTS:
1/2c. of unsalted butter (softened)
2- 8oz. packs of cream cheese (softened)
3 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
1 tbsp of Lime Juice (might need an extra 1 to 2 tablespoons based upon on thickness and flavor)
1/2 of a lime grated
Directions:
- Cream the butter and cream cheese together and then add the powdered sugar, lime, and lime peel. If you need to make it thinner use some more lime juice - I think I used an additional tablespoon but of course didn't write it down!
I made cupcakes out of this recipe and it came out to be 12 normal size cupcakes and about 8 minis (I do not use wrappers for the minis). O I messed up and forgot to add the lime juice to the cupcakes so at the last minute before they went into the oveN I sprinkled it into each muffin tin and then mixed it. The recipe below had a cream cheese recipe with it but not everyone seemed to love it and I knew I had an amazing cream cheese frosting recipe so I altered it to be a lime cream cheese frosting. I used the bottled lime juice because I am lazy. I ended up putting a lot of frosting on these (which everyone loved) and then sprinkled green sprinkles on top to look like green salt. I also cut straws down to size and used part of it to be a straight straw and then the bendy part too ( I had to cut both sides). I also bought some of the lime fruit salad slices and cut them in half for the big cupcakes and in thirds for the minis.
So happy with the way these came out. People took some cute pictures like they were drinking out of the straws :)
MARGARITA CAKE
(Source:Allrecipes)
INGREDIENTS
1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix (I used a golden butter recipe cake mix)
3 egg whites
1 (10 fluid ounce) can frozen margarita mix (such as Bacardi®), thawed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon grated lime peel
1 tablespoon lime juice
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13-inch cake pan or a cupcake tin.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cake mix, egg whites, frozen margarita mix, vegetable oil, lime zest, and 1 tablespoon lime juice. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center shows moist crumbs, 30 to 35 minutes. If you do cupcakes about 15-20 minutes. Cake will be very moist. Cool in the pan.
LIME CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
(Source: Alexis)
INGREDIENTS:
1/2c. of unsalted butter (softened)
2- 8oz. packs of cream cheese (softened)
3 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
1 tbsp of Lime Juice (might need an extra 1 to 2 tablespoons based upon on thickness and flavor)
1/2 of a lime grated
Directions:
- Cream the butter and cream cheese together and then add the powdered sugar, lime, and lime peel. If you need to make it thinner use some more lime juice - I think I used an additional tablespoon but of course didn't write it down!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Easy and Delicious Guacamole
As I have said before I like to bake but not to cook so of course when I started planning margarita nite I planned the drinks and the dessert but did not think of food. The day before having everyone I was talking to my coworker and said that I couldn't decide if I was going to buy guacomole or make it fresh. Her husband is Mexican and in turn has become an excellent Mexican cook so she said that it was sooooooooooooo easy that I had to make it myself.
Even though I had no idea how to peel an avocado (I tried to use a peeler and then ended up just tearing the skin off but later she said the easiest thing to do is cut it in half and take the pit out and then scoop out the insides) and no idea how to actually cut and mash an avocado it came out delicious! (I think I might be really picky about guacamole because I either love it and that's rare or hate it because it reminds me of a face mask but this one is a love). She said I could use a potato masher to mash it up but if it is not a baking tool I do not have it, so I ended up cutting it a little bit and then acting like I was a 4 year old and using my hands to mash it, I left part of it chunky.
Also, the originally recipe was for 4 servings but I ended up doubling it but instead of using 4 tomatoes I used 3 and not quite 1 cup of onions. Everyone kept raving about it and the 5 of us destroyed it! (I bought regular tostitos and the whole wheat scoop ones.)
From searching the internet I learned a little trick that is helpful and impressive once your friends hear about it; take an avocado pit and stick it in the middle of the guacamole until it is time to serve it, it will help it from turning brown.
I apologize for the bad iPhone photo!
GUACAMOLE
(Source:allrecipes)
INGREDIENTS
3 avocados - peeled, pitted, and mashed
1 lime, juiced (I used 1 Tablespoon of bottled lime juice)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup diced onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)
DIRECTIONS
- In a medium bowl, mash together the avocados, lime juice, and salt. Mix in onion, cilantro, tomatoes, and garlic. Stir in cayenne pepper. Refrigerate 1 hour for best flavor, or serve immediately.
Even though I had no idea how to peel an avocado (I tried to use a peeler and then ended up just tearing the skin off but later she said the easiest thing to do is cut it in half and take the pit out and then scoop out the insides) and no idea how to actually cut and mash an avocado it came out delicious! (I think I might be really picky about guacamole because I either love it and that's rare or hate it because it reminds me of a face mask but this one is a love). She said I could use a potato masher to mash it up but if it is not a baking tool I do not have it, so I ended up cutting it a little bit and then acting like I was a 4 year old and using my hands to mash it, I left part of it chunky.
Also, the originally recipe was for 4 servings but I ended up doubling it but instead of using 4 tomatoes I used 3 and not quite 1 cup of onions. Everyone kept raving about it and the 5 of us destroyed it! (I bought regular tostitos and the whole wheat scoop ones.)
From searching the internet I learned a little trick that is helpful and impressive once your friends hear about it; take an avocado pit and stick it in the middle of the guacamole until it is time to serve it, it will help it from turning brown.
I apologize for the bad iPhone photo!
GUACAMOLE
(Source:allrecipes)
INGREDIENTS
3 avocados - peeled, pitted, and mashed
1 lime, juiced (I used 1 Tablespoon of bottled lime juice)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup diced onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)
DIRECTIONS
- In a medium bowl, mash together the avocados, lime juice, and salt. Mix in onion, cilantro, tomatoes, and garlic. Stir in cayenne pepper. Refrigerate 1 hour for best flavor, or serve immediately.
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