White Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

25 Comments

This past Sunday, my auntie Mary hosted a fantastic wedding shower for my little sister. It was a truly beautiful event. My auntie and cousins put so much love and thought into the shower. All of the details were so representative of my sister’s style & taste. She felt so very spoiled and loved during the shower – so, I would say, mission accomplished! I have to admit, I am kind of jealous that my sister got a gorgeous set of Curtis Stone pots & pans though! *hah* My aunt had the whole event decorated with beautiful flowers and accents of “Tiffanys blue”. The food was wonderful – fancy tea sandwiches and a lot of delicious dainties. My mom brought beautiful petit fours from High Tea Bakery – they were fantastic. My contributions to the shower were Mini Ferrero Rocher Cheesecakes and these White Chocolate Cupcakes. 

I had made the white chocolate cream cheese icing before and got rave reviews. But I paired the icing with a plain vanilla cupcake recipe the first time around. They were good, but not quite right. This time, I tried a white chocolate cupcake batter and it was perfect! Such a moist and fluffy texture. This recipe will definitely be my standard white cake recipe. Next time, I think I will try a lemon cream cheese frosting and add some blueberries to the batter. 


Hope you all have a fantastic Tuesday :)


Note: for the Mini Ferrero Rocher Cheesecakes, I used this recipe. I omitted the chopped oreos and added 1/2 cup of Nutella and 1/2 cup of chopped hazelnuts.

Cupcake Ingredients

  • 1 and 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/3 cup of unsalted butter (5 + 1/3 tablespoons)
  • 3/4 cup of granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 4 ounces of good quality white chocolate, chopped and melted
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla
  • 1 cup + 1 tablespoon of skim or 2% milk



Frosting Ingredients

  • 8 ounces (1 package) of cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 6 ounces of white chocolate, chopped and melted
  • 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
  • 4 to 6 cups of icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar)
  • milk to thin out icing if too thick



Note: to melt the white chocolate, use the double boiler method. 


Method: Cupcakes


1. Preheat oven to 325’F.


2. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners of your choice.


3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.


4. In another large bowl (or with a stand mixer), cream the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until light & fluffy (2 to 3 minutes).


5. Add the eggs in one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the melted white chocolate and vanilla – mix well.


6. Add the dry ingredients alternating with the milk in 2 to 3 portions. Mix well after each addition. Divide batter evenly into prepared cupcake pan.


7. Bake cupcakes until a tester inserted into the centre comes out clean or with dry crumbs (about 22 minutes). Let cool completely before frosting.


Method: Frosting


1. In a medium bowl (or with a stand mixer), cream the cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until smooth (1 minute). 


2. Add the melted white chocolate and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth.


3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the confectioner’s sugar until you reach your desired consistency. Add milk 1 tablespoons at a time if needed to smooth and/or thin out the frosting.


4. Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes using desired decorating method.


Yield: 18 cupcakes


Source: The Curvy Carrot

Mediterranean Quinoa Veggie Burgers

32 Comments

I love a good veggie burger. They are so satisfying! I especially love the veggie burgers with a good dose of healthy grains and vegetables. I also love how creative veggie burgers can be. I’ve had a number of awesome veggie burgers in my life time. My favourite veggie burger is from a local restaurant called Baked Expectations. I was also very impressed by the veggie burger at Black Bird Cafe in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The veggie burger was a black bean burger, but it had delicious tart dried cranberries baked in. I have also tried a falafel-inspired veggie burger with homemade banana pepper salsa and a pakora-inspired veggie burger with a fantastic curry mayo. Mmm! 

A few weeks ago, I realized, as much as I LOVE veggie burgers, I’ve only ever made them at home once. I’ve been too preoccupied trying all of the veggie burgers restaurants in my city have to offer. About a year ago, I made thai chickpea falafel veggie burgers. They were fantastic! (note to self: share this recipe soon). But I have yet to find a “standard” veggie burger recipe that I could go to whenever I need a burger to use as a blank canvas. A few weeks back, I decided it would be my mission this summer to find the perfect go-to veggie burger recipe. 

These Mediterranean Quinoa Veggie Burgers are my first attempt at finding such a perfect burger. And they were good! They had a really nice texture and were perfect when paired with mediterranean flavours such as roasted balsamic tomatoes and feta almond pesto. I think they would work nicely with latin flavours as well, if I were to add some cumin, chili powder and fresh corn to the quinoa mixture. Perhaps I could even experiment with indian flavours or thai flavours – perhaps make a delicious mango chutney or stir in some finely chopped thai basil. Hmmmm! Lots of possibilities!!! 

My only complaint about this burger, was that it was a little tough trying to get the patties to stay together. They were really light and therefore, I would not recommend cooking these on the BBQ. So, if you are looking for a veggie burger to really sink your teeth into, then I’d suggest trying one with beans and/or tofu. Since these patties were not fried in oil, the are low-fat. The exterior of the burger crisped up nicely and the interior was nice & soft – without being too mushy. These were a great first attempt, if I do say so myself! This one is a contender! 

If you know of a fantastic veggie burger recipe you think I should try in my quest to find the perfect one, please post the link in the comments :) Thanks!

Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup of uncooked quinoa; rinsed (about 2 cups cooked)
  • 1 teaspoon of vegetable or canola oil
  • 1 cup of coarsely chopped cremini mushrooms
  • 1 cup of coarsely grated zucchini
  • 3/4 cup of coarsely grated carrot
  • 1 small shallot, minced
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 egg beaten (or flax egg)
  • 2 cups of panko bread crumbs
  • salt and peper to taste

Garnish

Method

1. Place the grated zucchini and carrot in a colander/strainer lined with paper towels to reduce some of the moisture.

2. Meanwhile, bring 1/2 cup quinoa and 1 cup of water to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a gentle simmer and cover. Cook on low heat for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat and allow quinoa to sit for 5 minutes. Remove lid and fluff quinoa with a fork.

3. Heat a large, wide non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the oil then the mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, shallot and garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add the quinoa. Stir in the egg or flax egg. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Allow the mixture to cool slightly then combine the vegetables in a bowl with the panko bread crumbs. Heat the same non-stick frying pan over medium heat. 

5. Firmly press some of the quinoa mixture into 1/2 cup measuring cup. Turn and release the patty into the pan. Gently press to shape and ensure the burger will stay together. Flatten the burger slightly. Repeat, cooking 4 patties at a time. Cook each patty until golden and warmed through (about 4 minutes per side). 

6. Place patties on a whole grain bun. Garnish with feta almond pesto and roasted balsamic cherry tomatoes. Note: toast buns if you’d like a crunchier burger.

Yield: 8 to 10 patties

Source: loosely adapted from Chatalaine Magazine July 2011

No-Bake Banana Split Cheesecake

11 Comments

For your Friday viewing pleasure – a no-bake cheesecake filled with bananas, pineapple and strawberries. Yum! I made this lovely summery dessert for my family before I started the Living Your Moksha Challenge. My mom put together a really nice BBQ last weekend to celebrate the coming of spring. She made her famous (and my favourite) spring potato salad and a delicious Greek Panzanella. I brought this dessert and it was promptly devoured even though we were all extremely full from a delicious dinner.
It was a really nice, light dessert that tasted very much like a banana split sundae. As my dad said, every bite highlighted different flavours. I highly recommend bringing this easy dessert to your next BBQ or girls’ night. I guarantee it will be a hit :)
I’ll be back over the weekend with some posts regarding the food I made during my first week of the Living Your Moksha Challenge. Week One’s challenge was to eat non-processed foods. I’ve been making a conscious effort to choose non-processed, organic foods over the week. I tend to eat as much non-processed food as possible and try to make everything from scratch. But it can be quite time consuming, especially when you are really busy. This week I tried to make meals without processed ingredients that were quick and easy in hopes of creating a good repertoire of meals I could go back to in a pinch.
Happy Friday to All :)
Crust Ingredients
  • 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
  • 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, melted
Cheesecake Layer Ingredients
  • 12 ounces of cream cheese, at room temperature (1 and 1/2 packages)
  • 1/4 cup of granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
  • 3 and 1/2 cups of whipping cream (35%); chilled
  • 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar
Fruit Topping Ingredients
  • 3 to 4 ripe bananas; sliced
  • 1-15 ounce can of crushed pineapple, drained well
  • 2 cups of sliced strawberries
Garnish
  • chopped salted peanuts
  • chocolate syrup
  • maraschino cherries
  • coloured sprinkles
 
NOTE: I used low-fat cream cheese and it still tasted wonderful
Method
1. In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter – stir until all of the crumbs are evenly moistened. Dump the crumbs into a 13 x 9 inch baking pan and press into an even layer. Refrigerate the pan while you prepare the next layer.
2. In a stand mixer (or with a handheld mixture) whip all 3 and 1/2 cups of whipping cream & 1 tablespoon of sugar until you have a light mixture that forms soft peaks. Place in the fridge.
3. In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Using a rubber spatula, fold in 2/3 of the chilled whipped cream until it is thoroughly combined. Spread the cheesecake mixture on top of the graham cracker crust.
4. Arrange the banana slices in a single layer on top of the cheesecake filling then top with an even layer of the crushed pineapple. Finish by adding a layer of sliced strawberries.
5. Cover the fruit layer with the remainder of the sweetened whipped cream. Allow the topping to be nice and fluffy to add some dimension to the cake.
6. Drizzle chocolate sauce over top the whipped cream topping. Sprinkle on chopped salted peanuts and coloured sprinkles. Arrange maraschino cherries a top the cake.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.
Serves: 14 to 16 people