Frosting: A no need to measure recipe...

These are mini cupcakes that I sent to school for Ella's birthday a couple of weeks ago. Nothing special about the cupcakes, just a box of chocolate cake but aren't they fabulous with that little bit of sparkle on top???? (have you ever seen that edible glitter - find it near other cake decorating products at craft stores, mine was from Jo Ann's)

Anyway, I thought these would be fun to share because while the baking was nothing special the frosting was homemade and isn't frosting an important part of baking? Of course. :)

I don't measure to make my frosting but I will try to give you some rough amounts so you can try it.

I start with a little softened butter
(1/2 stick to 3/4 stick butter)
Beat until fluffy
Add a cup or so of powdered sugar and a dash of milk
Beat together
Add some more powdered sugar and another splash of milk, plus any food coloring you want to add and flavoring. I like my butter cream frosting flavored with 1/2 t. almond and a splash of vanilla.
Now you've added all the other liquids besides milk, continue to add powdered sugar and splashes of milk until it is spreading consistency.
My guess is you should add between 3 and 4 cups of powdered sugar, plus about 3 T. milk.

Yummy!

Making Baking Healthier: Brownies

Can you bake things that are a bit better for you? Can you add some good things to baking and take out some of the things that aren't good for you? I attempt it every now and then and plan to attempt it more. Because when you love to bake and you love to eat what you bake, the results can be bad. :)

So today a recipe for low-fat brownies. These aren't no fat, just lower fat. And they certainly aren't health food - they still have a lot of sugar, but a good choice if you really need a brownie. They are really yummy. I found the recipe in a Kraft Food and Family Magazine (a great free magazine - does Kraft still offer it? I haven't gotten it in a while but always found it had some good recipe ideas + some coupons). It's from the Winter 2008 issue.

The Recipe:

4 squares unsweetened Baking chocolate
1/3 c. Canola oil
1/3 c. unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. sugar
8 large egg whites
1 c. flour
1/2 c. chopped pecans if you like (I skip these, we have nut haters at our house plus they do add fat, but healthy fat and fiber. :) )

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over the sides of the pan. Grease foil.

Microwave chocolate in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH, in 1 min intervals. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add oil, applesauce and vanilla; mix well. Stir in sugar. Add egg whites; stir until well blended. Add flour and pecans; mix well. Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake 25 min. or until brownies start to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely. Remove brownies from pan using foil handles.

Makes 24 servings, 1 brownie each.

I find these work perfectly for cutting out with a good, metal cookie cutter because you lift them right out of the pan with the foil. I usually make mine heart shaped, you wouldn't want to use a very complicated cut-out. We had them last week for Ella's birthday. She's a chocolate lover. :) That's when I took my picture of them.

Enjoy!

Mini Lemon Meringue Pies

We had friends coming to dinner on Sunday and I was planning mini-burgers for dinner. I wanted to keep my mini theme for dessert plus I wanted to use my new mini-muffin pans that I received for Christmas and I may be slightly mini obsessed. :) They are just so cute!!!!!

If you are feeling brave (these are kind of labor intensive) and want to make your own mini-lemon meringue pies, you’ll need:

2 mini-muffin pans (48 count total)

2 ½ inch circle cookie cutter

3 frozen pie crusts

For lemon filling:

3 large egg yolks

1 ½ c. sugar

1/3 c. plus 1 T. cornstarch

1 ½ c. water

3 T. stick butter

½ c. lemon juice

2 drops yellow food color

For Meringue:

3 large egg whites

¼ t. cream of tartar

6 T. sugar

½ t. vanilla

Heat oven to 475 degrees.

Cut 48 2 ½ inch circles from the thawed pie crusts.

(You could certainly make the crust from scratch and then cut circles from it, but I decided not to do that this time. These mini pies were a little labor and time intensive already, so I saved some time with the frozen crusts.)

Lightly grease the mini-muffin pans. Place a pie crust circle into each mini-muffin cup. Press down and poke the bottom with a fork. Bake these mini-crusts for about 5 minutes at 475. When crusts are done, remove from oven and set aside. Turn oven temp down to 400 degrees.

(Watch the crusts. Mine browned very quickly. I even thought mine were a little over done, but I baked them about 7 minutes, 5 minutes should be about right but it will depend on your oven and your pans, etc.)

Next, prepare the lemon filling. Beat egg yolks with fork in small bowl. Mix sugar and cornstarch in 2-quart saucepan. Gradually stir in the water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute.

Immediately, stir at least half of the hot mixture into the egg yolks to temper them. Stir back into hot mixture in saucepan. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in butter, lemon juice and food color. Spoon about 1 T. of filling into each of the prepared mini-pie crusts.

To prepare meringue: Beat egg white and cream of tarter in medium bowl with electric mixer on high speed until foamy. Beat in sugar, 1 T. at a time. Continue to beat until stiff and glossy. Do not underbeat. Beat in vanilla.

Spoon or use pastry bag fitted with large tip to pipe about 1 T. of prepared meringue unto each mini pie. Be careful to seal meringue to edge of each pie to prevent shrinking and weeping. (I spooned mine on, but they would have been prettier if it had been piped on.)

Bake in the 400 degree oven for about 6 minutes until meringue has browned slightly. Cool a few moments and then run knife around each mini-pie to be sure they are easier to remove when completely cooled.

Enjoy!

*Thanks to Betty Crocker’s New Cookbook for lemon filling/meringue ingredients, amounts and some directions.

Getting started...

I've decided it would be fun to share what I've been baking lately. I love to bake and I love to share recipes, what better way then a blog.

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Today, I baked my grandma's homemade bread. I've modified the recipe slightly to make a bit smaller batch then her original makes. And today I added some whole wheat flour to the recipe to give it more nutritional value and make it a bit denser. I find it keeps a little longer with whole wheat flour in the mix, as well.

It is really best enjoyed the day you make it though.

The recipe:

Preheat oven to 375 - 400 degrees Fahrenheit

1 1/2 T. instant, dry active yeast

1/4 c. of warm, not hot water

1/2 T. sugar to feed the yeast

2 eggs

1/4 c. vegatable (I use Canola) oil

1/2 T. salt

1 1/4 c. warm (again not hot) milk

1/4 c. sugar

4 to 5 c. flour (today I added about 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour and the remaining cups regular bread flour, bread flour works better than regular all-purpose but you can use all-purpose)

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the 1/2 T. sugar. Let this rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

Mix in all the other ingredients. Stirring as you go.

It is easiest to mix the last 1/2 of the flour in with the dough hook of a Kitchen Aid mixer. But you could certainly knead the dough by hand. Cover and let rise at least one hour. Shape into three, french bread like loaves. Let rise a bit longer on the greased baking sheet (20 minutes to half hour).

Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. Let rest 10 minutes before slicing with a bread knife.

Enjoy!!!!