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Whipped Buttercream Frosting

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Whipped Buttercream FrostingIt’s almost my Dad’s birthday! Happy almost birthday Dad! It only makes sense that my family celebrated back in early September…Turns out it’s hard for all of us to get together the more of us there are and the further we move away. Nonetheless, we did get together and have an awesome pre-birthday birthday celebration!

process1No birthday would be complete without cake or cupcakes! This frosting was perfect with the chocolate cake I made. Yummm. The frosting on the chocolate cake was originally supposed to be cream cheese whipped cream frosting. I had made it before and it was OUT OF THIS WORLD! Apparently I forgot how to make it because I ended up with cream cheese whipped cream soup instead. Major fail. Maybe someday I will be brave enough to try and make that frosting again.

fin2Until that day comes, you can’t really go wrong with the classic buttercream recipe! It’s creamy and rich. Perfect for any cake or cupcake. This one is vanilla flavored but you can also add other extracts as well (lemon, almond, mint…just to name a few!) to make it your own! Just think of the endless combinations of frosting and cakes…Oh that makes me excited to try new combinations! Comment if you come up with a good cake/frosting combinations!

Whipped Buttercream Frosting
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Prep Time
10 min
Prep Time
10 min
Ingredients
  1. 1 cup room temperature butter
  2. 3- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  3. 1 teaspoon vanilla
  4. pinch of salt
  5. 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Instructions
  1. Mix butter with whisk attachment in mixer until smooth and creamy.
  2. Add 3 cups powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Start the mixer on low then mix on high for 2-3 minutes. If the frosting is not thick enough, or not to your preference, add another 1/2 cup of sugar.
  3. Add 2 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream and mix on high for 1-2 more minutes.
Notes
  1. Do NOT skip the heavy whipping cream (you can use milk if you do not have cream but the cream makes it richer). You will be shocked how this last step really lightens the frosting and makes it fluffier and whiter.
Flavor From Scratch https://www.flavorfromscratch.com/

Blueberry Crumble Muffins & DIY Muffin Liners

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Blueberry Crumble MuffinsThis recipe is a must at least once a summer with fresh blueberries. At LEAST. Most likely more than once. You’ll totally understand when you try it. I know. I know. It’s technically Fall now but this is my end of the season, last hurrah for blueberries before they cost a million dollars a pint. Maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. We’ll go with half a million dollars.

Blueberry Crumble MuffinsThe recipe originated from a blueberry buckle (kind of like a cake) from my grandma. I’ve already made the buckle form this summer so it was time to switch it up into muffin form! These muffins are the perfect way to make this recipe seem like breakfast material. Oh, don’t get me wrong…I would definitely eat it for breakfast in buckle form too but muffins just seem more socially acceptable.

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Muffins are great because they are easy to share and serve. They can also be a grab and go food but that would just be wrong with these muffins. Spend some time enjoying them. Seriously.

Notice my fancy muffin liners?? You know that part of the recipe where you’re supposed to use a muffin or cupcake liner and you realize you completely forgot to buy them? That only happens to me about every time I make a muffin or cupcake. Literally. Every time. It’s like my brain doesn’t register the fact that I need them. Weird. So I make my own!

liner-comboIt’s a seriously simple solution to your muffin liner woes. All you need is some parchment paper and a pair of scissors. Just cut your parchment into squares that are about 5 inches by 5 inches. This is not a science. Measure if you must but really just make sure they are a couple inches bigger than the diameter of the muffin tin cup. Press the parchment paper in each muffin tin cup, folding to press in. This for sure takes some finagling. You can use a can or cup that fits in the muffin tin cup to push the paper down into the bottom. I, however, usually take the more rustic approach of pressing and then frantically filling the liner with batter to hold it down. You can either choose the more refined method or my method. Either way, you end up with a DIY muffin liner! It adds a bit of charm to your cupcakes or muffins and it’s super cheap too. Yay!

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Blueberry Crumble Muffins
Yields 12
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
30 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
30 min
Ingredients for the muffins
  1. 3/4 cup sugar
  2. 1/4 cup butter
  3. 1 egg
  4. 1/2 cup milk
  5. 2 cups flour
  6. 2 teaspoons baking powder
  7. 1/2 teaspoon salt
  8. 2 cups blueberries
Ingredients for the crumble topping
  1. 1/2 cup sugar
  2. 1/3 cup flour
  3. 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  4. 1/4 cup soft butter
Directions for the muffins
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Cream 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter, and egg with mixer. Stir in milk.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk or sift together 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into wet ingredients until just combined.
  4. Gently stir in blueberries.
  5. Divide batter into lined muffin tin (12 muffins). The muffins will come almost to the top of the liners.
Directions for the crumble topping
  1. Mix together all the crumble ingredients until the butter is distributed into pea size pieces throughout.
  2. Top each muffin with crumble topping.
  3. Bake muffins for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Notes
  1. This originated as a blueberry buckle. Also AMAZING! To make this follow the same recipe, spreading the batter into a greased and floured 9 inch square pan. Top with the crumble topping and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  2. Delicious with fresh blueberries but you can use frozen blueberries that are completely drained of any liquid as well.
Flavor From Scratch https://www.flavorfromscratch.com/

Goat Cheese & Pesto Grilled Cheese

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I first had goat cheese on a grilled cheese when I went out to a local restaurant and WOW was it good. Grilled cheese is gooey and crunchy and delicious by itself. Goat cheese is tangy and creamy and salty. Combined, this is like a grilled cheese that got promoted to grilled cheese boss. The boss of grilled cheeses.

Oh wait…how could I forget about the pesto???? In addition to the gooey, crunchy, delicious, tangy, salty, creamy grilled cheese I already had, I added pesto. Yep. You heard me. This grilled cheese is out of this world!! Specifically, I added my carrot top & basil pesto but you can also make this with regular pesto or good quality pesto from the store.

I’m going to be honest. This is barely a recipe. It’s more of a suggestion of how I did it. Once you have the ingredients you can totally play with the proportions to your taste. Since it was so delicious I just felt the need to share! If you come up with your own awesome combination of grilled cheese, let me know!

Goat Cheese & Pesto Grilled Cheese
Yields 1
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Prep Time
8 min
Cook Time
5 min
Prep Time
8 min
Cook Time
5 min
Ingredients
  1. 2 slices of multi-grain or whole wheat bread (I like mine with a good, crunchy crust)
  2. 1-2 tablespoons butter
  3. 1-2 tablespoons pesto
  4. 2 tablespoons crumbled goat cheese
  5. 2-3 slices of Gouda cheese
  6. tomato slices
  7. spinach leaves
Instructions
  1. Heat large skillet over medium-high heat.
  2. While the pan is heating, spread butter on one side of each piece of bread.
  3. On the non-buttered side of one piece of bread, spread the pesto.
  4. Add cheeses, tomato, and spinach on top of the pesto. I like to sandwich the tomato and spinach between cheese so that the cheese melts all around it and keeps it in.
  5. Top with the other piece of bread, buttered side up.
  6. Place the sandwich in the pan and cook until the bread becomes toasted and the cheese starts to melt. Flip and repeat.
Notes
  1. Add your own combination of veggies, cheeses, and sauces to make it your own. This is just how I made mine!
Flavor From Scratch https://www.flavorfromscratch.com/

 

 

Carrot Top & Basil Pesto

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I’m not going to lie…this is a weird sounding one. I got some pretty strange looks from my family when I told them I was going to make carrot top pesto. Even my sister, who I have to admit makes some weird stuff of her own, looked at me like I was out of my mind. I questioned my sanity for a brief moment. My official conclusion was that I was sane…at least in regards to this pesto.

This pesto is just as, if not more, delicious than your run of the mill pesto. It’s got a bit of a bite to it that typical pesto doesn’t have. Plus, it’s also a great use of otherwise overlooked, yet perfectly good food!

My husband and I grew some gorgeous carrots in our garden that were scrumptious in my balsamic & orange roasted carrots. We had a RIDICULOUS amount of carrot tops from these carrots. We worked so hard to grow those pretty little carrots and, by golly, I was determined to use the carrot tops. This is great for those of you who grow carrots or that get carrots with the tops on at the farmer’s market or store. I would recommend organic because you never know what ends up on vegetables these days.

I wish I had taken a picture of our refrigerator full of carrot tops while I decided what to make with them. It was like a jungle in there! Every day my husband comes home looking for a pre-dinner snack. I’m pretty sure he didn’t even question the fact that when he opened the fridge he couldn’t see through the forest of carrot tops. Apparently it’s like a don’t ask, don’t tell situation with the weird food that pops up around our house waiting to made into something delicious. I suppose he just trusts that I have a plan with the random food he finds. And I usually do have a plan…usually.

Carrot Top & Basil Pesto
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Prep Time
10 min
Prep Time
10 min
Ingredients
  1. 3 cups carrot top leaves, roughly chopped
  2. 1/2 cup basil, roughly chopped
  3. 1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted (see directions)
  4. 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
  5. 1/2 cup olive oil
  6. 3 cloves garlic
  7. salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
  1. To toast the pine nuts, place in a dry skillet over medium-low heat until they start to lightly toast. You will know they are starting to toast when they start to become more fragrant. Stay close during this process because they can burn quickly!
  2. Place all ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend until mixture turns into a paste/puree.
Notes
  1. We made pesto grilled cheese sandwiches with these (recipe to come). We also used some of the pesto to top grilled chicken, which was also delicious!
Flavor From Scratch https://www.flavorfromscratch.com/

 

 

Jalapeño Cilantro Mac & Cheese

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Mac and cheese. Oh my. Yum. Something about mac and cheese in general makes my mouth water. But then sandwich a jalapeño, cilantro, and spinach puree of wonderfulness between 2 layers of mac and cheese and WOW! Flavor explosion in your mouth.

Mac and cheese has the creamy, melt in your mouth, comfort food thing that everyone loves. The jalapeño cilantro layer gives the classic dish a punch that makes you think of mac and cheese in a whole new way! *Bonus* that it’s really not hard to pull together. Classic dish + extra punch + easy = AWESOME!!
 
I came up with this recipe after my husband asked for mac and cheese for the 1,000th time. Let’s be honest here…I love mac and cheese as well so it’s not usually hard to convince me to make it. Except that I wish I had a special contraption to make rotini from scratch since I’m on such a homemade pasta kick. I’m pretty sure I’ll get over it. With the help of some delicious mac and cheese, of course. 
 
I have recently been completing the “I would actually love to eat this again” test on food because I don’t want to torture you with just average recipes. That would just be mean. I can assure you that this definitely gets two thumbs up and passes the “eat this again” test with flying colors. 
 
One great thing about this recipe is that you can alter it to fit your taste! If you want it more rich, replace more of the milk with cream. If you want it less rich, use only skim milk. If you want it more spicy, include the jalapeño seeds. If you want it less spicy, remove the jalapeño seeds or even reduce the amount of jalapeño in the puree. If you have a favorite cheese that you are dying to use, you can use basically any kind of shredded melting cheese for the sauce! Isn’t that great?? I think it is.
 
Jalapeño Cilantro Mac & Cheese
Serves 4
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Prep Time
25 min
Cook Time
15 min
Prep Time
25 min
Cook Time
15 min
For the mac and cheese
  1. 1 pound dried pasta (I used rotini)
  2. 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
  3. 1/2 cup flour
  4. 4 cups of milk (I used 3 cups of milk and 1 cup of cream but you can use any combination of milk and cream to make it more or less rich)
  5. 1 teaspoon salt
  6. 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  7. 4 1/2 cups grated cheese (I combined 1.25 cups Gouda and 3.25 cups of cheddar)
For the jalapeno cilantro layer
  1. 1 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
  2. 2-3 jalapeño peppers
  3. 4 cups roughly chopped fresh spinach
  4. 1/4 cup heavy cream
  5. pinch of salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Boil the pasta until al dente, as instructed on the box.
  3. Melt the butter in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Once melted, add the flour and whisk together for about 1 minute. Add the milk/cream, salt, and pepper. Whisk continuously until the mixture starts to bubble, then continue to whisk for about 1 more minute until it is thick and creamy. Remove mixture from heat and add 4 cups of the cheese (I saved the last 1/2 cup for the top). Stir until the cheese is melted into the sauce.
  4. Combine the cheese sauce with the pasta in a large bowl or pot. Set aside.
  5. In a food processor or blender, add the cilantro, 2 jalapeño peppers (I used seeds and all but remove the seeds if you don't like it as spicy), spinach, cream, and salt. Blend to a puree.
  6. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and pour half of the mac and cheese into the pan. Spread to even out the layer. Spoon the jalapeño cilantro puree over the mac and cheese in an even layer. Spread the remaining mac and cheese evenly over top. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese and a sliced jalapeño (optional).
  7. Bake for about 15 minutes to heat through. Broil for another 3-5 minutes until it is golden brown on top.
Notes
  1. You can add more or less jalapeño depending on how spicy you like food. If you remove the seeds, it will cut down on the heat. Remember to wash your hands after working with jalapeño and don't touch your eyes or they will burn!
Flavor From Scratch https://www.flavorfromscratch.com/
 
 
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