Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

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Last night, many of my closest friends came out to help me celebrate my birthday. I decided that it would be fun if we all had a BBQ outside on the patio. And it turned out to be a great idea! It was a lot of fun. It was so wonderful to see so many people that I care about. And, yesterday, the weather was beautiful. Bright blue sky and very warm (a bit too warm for a while! *hah*). We’ve been getting a lot of rain as of late, so I was worried the BBQ was going to be 15 of us sitting in the rain. Thankfully we lucked out and had a beautiful evening for a BBQ. And to end the night, we all wandered over to the Jazz Festival that is happening downtown this week and listened to some great music while lounging out on the grass. The Born Ruffians played last night; one of my favourite bands. Check them out!
I made these strawberry chocolate cupcakes for everyone to say thank you for coming out. I had such a craving for cupcakes with fresh berries this week. I could not decide between chocolate strawberry or lemon blueberry. The chocolate strawberry won out last night, but I think I’ll be making a batch of lemon blueberry very soon to take advantage of all the fresh berries in the store right now. *sigh* I love summer!!!

Cupcake Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 and 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 1 and 1/2 cups of white sugar
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon of salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup of warm water
  • 3 tablespoons of canola oil
  • 3/4 cup of buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

Frosting Ingredients
  • 1-8 oz package of cream cheese
  • 2 cups of cold whipping cream
  • 5 tablespoons of seedless strawberry jam
  • 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup of icing sugar
Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.

2. Sift cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth with an electric mixer (about 3 minutes).

3. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to wire racks, and let cool. Cupcakes will keep, covered, for up to 3 days.

4. Make the whipped cream. Whip 2 cups of whipping cream (35% M.F) on high until you achieve soft peaks. I used my stand mixer and it took about 4 minutes to get to the soft peak stage.

5. To make the frosting, whip the cream cheese until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes at medium to high speed). Add the vanilla and whip thoroughly. Add the strawberry jam (make sure it is seedless!) and whip until well combined. While the mixer is on low, add the icing sugar gradually. Once icing sugar is well combined, fold in the whipped cream by hand.

5. Frost cupcakes as desired. Decorate the top of the cupcakes with bittersweet chocolate curls and sliced fresh strawberries. Note: if you want frosting that is a bit more vibrant, feel free to add some gel paste icing tint.

Sources
Chocolate Cupcakes recipe by Martha Stewart 
Strawberry Frosting recipe by Courtney Jones

Vegetarian Thai Peanut Stir-Fry

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This is a great week-night recipe. It takes less than 30 minutes to make and is a complete meal all in one bowl. Plus, did I mention…it’s delicious!? The sauce is very flavourful. This is definitely one of my favourite meals to make. We eat it quite often. As with a few of my other recipes on The Fig Tree, this recipe lends itself to quite a bit of left overs; which is perfect for work lunches.
You need not use the veggies I have outlined in the ingredient list. Use up whatever you have in the house. Add some diced pineapple. Or maybe some baby corn, some green beans, some snap peas or even some bamboo shoots. You could also add diced tofu to boost the protein value of this dish. Enjoy!



Ingredients

  • 2 cloves of garlic; minced
  • 1 teaspoon of vegetable or canola oil
  • 1 tablespoon of vegetable or canola oil
  • 1 tablespoon of fresh ginger; grated (or 1 teaspoon of ground ginger)
  • 1/2 cup of low-fat peanut butter (creamy kind is best)
  • 1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup of honey (or agave syrup if you are making this vegan)
  • 1/4 cup of soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup of water or vegetable stock
  • 1 heaping tablespoon of chile/garlic paste
  • 1 red pepper; chopped
  • 1 yellow pepper; chopped
  • 2 carrots; peeled and chopped
  • 1 large zucchini; chopped
  • 1 bunch of broccoli; cut into small pieces
  • brown rice/basmati rice or angel hair pasta
  • peanuts

Method


1. In a large fry pan, heat the tablespoon of vegetable/canola oil over medium heat. Add the chopped carrots and peppers and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the zucchini after 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir veggies every so often while making the sauce. Note: now is a good time to start cooking your rice or putting a pot of boiling water on for your angel hair pasta.


2. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the 1 teaspoon of vegetable/canola oil and sauté the garlic and ginger for 1 minute ensuring you don’t burn the garlic. Add the peanut butter and allow it to melt slightly. Once melted, add the water, the soy sauce, the rice vinegar, the honey and the chile/garlic paste. Stir well and reduce to low heat. 


3. Add the broccoli to the fry pan. Pour the sauce over the vegetables. Cook for about 3 minutes; or until the broccoli is just slightly tender.


4. Serve the stir-fry vegetables & sauce over either cooked rice (brown, basmati, jasmine etc) or angel hair pasta. Garnish with peanuts. Cashews would also work well for this recipe.


Serves: 6


Source: Bon Apétit Magazine – January 2003

Ferrero Rocher Cheesecake

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I had an idea that I wanted to make a cheesecake that tasted like a Ferrero Rocher chocolate. They are my favourite chocolate. Every Christmas, I look forward to getting a huge box of them in my stocking :) One Ferrero Rocher is never enough! So, I thought, perhaps I could make a whole cheesecake that tastes like a Ferrero Rocher. It would be magic!
 I had some free time this afternoon, so I decided to try and create my dream cheesecake. I used a chocolate cheesecake recipe by Anna Olson for my base. And then I flavoured the cheesecake with Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur), Nutella (chocolate/hazelnut spread), hazelnuts in the crust and then added some chopped Ferrero Rocher chocolates right into the cheesecake filling. The outcome was outstanding! The cheesecake was extremely rich and creamy. And it definitely tasted like a Ferrero Rocher chocolate. The icing I decided to add was a really nice addition. Although, you can definitely leave it out if you’d like to skip a step.
I brought this over to my parents’ place for dessert tonight after dinner. It was a huge hit. My sister said she loved the small bits of Ferrero Rocher mixed right into the filling. Warning: Prepare yourself for the ultimate chocolate overload!



Ingredients

  • 1 cup of graham cracker crumbs
  • 1/3 cup of ground hazelnuts; ground
  • 1/4 cup of light brown sugar; packed
  • 1/4 cup of unsalted butter; melted
  • 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
  • 6 ounces of semisweet chocolate; chopped
  • 2 cups of whipping cream (35%)
  • 1/4 cup of Nutella spread
  • 1 pound of cream cheese (500g or 2-8oz packages); at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup of sugar
  • 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup of hazelnut liqueur (such as Frangelico)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 9 Ferrero Rocher chocolates; chopped
  • 1/2 tub of Cool Whip OR 1 cup of 35% cream whipped until soft peaks
  • 1/2 cup of Nutella; melted

Method


1. Prepare the crust: Preheat the oven to 350’F. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, the brown sugar and the chopped hazelnuts in a small bowl. Combine the melt butter and vanilla and then add to the graham cracker mixture. Mix with a fork until the crumbs are well coated in butter and moist. Press the graham cracker mixture into either 6-4 inch spring form pans or 1-9 inch spring form pan. Bake the crust(s) for 7 minutes, remove from oven and allow the crust(s) to cool completely.


2. Reduce the oven temperature to 325’F. Place the chopped chocolate and Nutella in a bowl. Heat the cream on medium-low heat ensuring that the cream does not burn. Allow it to come to a very gentle simmer. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate & Nutella. Stir gently until the mixture is smooth and chocolate is all melted. Set aside.


3. In a bowl using an electric hand mixer (or with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then add the sugar. Beat well and then add the cornstarch; until just combined. Note: Don’t over beat the cheesecake mixture, as you don’t want to have air pockets in your filling. These air pockets can lead to cracks developing in your cheesecake while its baking.


4. Add the hazelnut liqueur and the eggs to the cream cheese batter. Beat eggs in well and then slowly add in the melted chocolate mixture. Add the chopped Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Mix and then pour the batter into the 6-4 inch or 1-9 inch spring form pan(s). Bake for 30 minutes. Note: you don’t need to use a water bath for this cheesecake, as those that have flour or corn starch in the recipe tend not to need one. 


5. Once the cheesecake bakes for 30 minutes, turn the oven off. Without opening the oven door, allow the cheesecake to sit in the oven for another 30 minutes. The cheesecakes will still look a little runny in the middle, but that is okay. Cheesecake filling is a custard and won’t firm up until it sits & sets. You don’t want to over bake the cheesecake, or you’ll get a very dry filling that is prone to cracking. If you allow the cheesecake to set while it is still a bit “jiggly” with a runny middle, you’ll get a luscious and creamy cheesecake. That being said, the cheesecake filing should not appear completely liquid. It should be just  quite jiggly.


6. Once you remove the cheesecake from the oven, allow it to cool to room temperature on a wire cooling rack. You may want to loosen the spring form pan(s), as the cheesecake will contract and may crack. Don’t worry if your cheesecake does crack. It will still be delicious!


7. Once the cheesecake is at room temperature, place in the fridge and allow to rest overnight. It will firm up nicely. 


8. When ready to serve the cheesecake, microwave the 1/2 cup of Nutella for approx. 30 seconds. Then mix it into the Cool Whip OR fold it into the whipped cream. Ice the cheesecake as desired/if desired. Note: the icing is DELICIOUS! *hehe*


Note: After the cheesecake has sat in the fridge over night, remove from the fridge approximately 1 hour before serving. 


Freezing Cheesecake: You can freeze this cheesecake quite easily. Allow the cooled cheesecake to freeze uncovered for at least an hour and then wrap well with plastic wrap. Make sure you don’t freeze the cheesecake with any topping on. When ready to use, take the cheesecake out of the freeze and place in the fridge. Allow it to thaw over night. Decorate as desired once thawed.


Source: Chocolate Cheesecake base by Anna Olson