Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

My little brother Steve just graduated from high school this past summer and is now attending Dartmouth...hence the tiny little flags I made by hand with the Darthmouth "D" on them! He's a smart little brother and we're all very proud of him. For his graduation party I was enlisted to make about 125 cupcakes as part of the dessert spread. Steve is allergic to dairy so we made vegan cupcakes. For this party we did vanilla cupcakes with chocolate chocolate frosting. And on the other side we did chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting! The chocolate peanut butter combination was definitely the hit! Delicious! Do not hesitate to try just because I left out the beloved ingredient...aka butter. We'll make up for it in a later post!

Chocolate Cupcakes

if you want to make them vanilla-leave out the cocoa and double the vanilla.

1 1/2 C flour

3 T cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1 C white sugar

1/2 t salt

1 C cold water

5 T oil

1 T vinegar

1 t vanilla

Mix all the dry ingredients, then add the wet. Beat until smooth.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

Peanut Butter Frosting:

1/2 C peanut butter

1/2 C vegan butter

2-3 C powdered sugar

splash soy milk

Beat until fluffy!

Scrapple...

Scrapple. This is what I know. You eat it for breakfast. It is made up of all the extra bits of pig that get thrown away. You slice it and you cook it in a pan until its brown. Its from Pennsylvania and its worth trying if you've never had it!

Disasters

Sometimes we have baking disasters! I am not a master baker...I just pretend to be. My sister recently has become vegan. She was away all summer and as her welcome home treat we decided to make vegan Vanilla Thyme Roasted Peach & Blueberry Cupcakes with a Tofutti Cream Frosting. Delicious.

But they forgot to leave out the part that they explode! The explosion could be...part us trying to veganize the recipe...or it was the part that these super cute cupcake wrappers did not work out. Baking fail...it happens now and then.

Buckeyes Revisited

Always a winner...if you can tell by the empty plate. Make these ASAP! And just tell your consumers that they have little sugar and are very healthy. I recently switched to using dark chocolate with them to hopefully increase their healthiness factor. Here is the original recipe that I posted a few months ago! Still the best thing that take the least amount of time. Peanut Butter Chocolate Truffle Recipe

Mrs. Winslow's Potato Salad

Mrs. Winslow is my brother's girlfriends mother (BD's potential Mother in law!) Recently my parents spent the weekend with their family in upstate New York. When they returned home they had a new recipe to share with me. This is very simple and I'm not going to give any measurements because it's a secret. Trust me. If you combine these ingredients until it looks about right, you've created a good thing! Enjoy!

Celery-chopped

Vidalia Onion-chopped

Potatoes-boiled, skinned, cooled, and chopped

Mayonnaise

Salt, Pepper

Hard Boiled Eggs-chopped

Jalapenos Revisited

For those of you who are cautious of spicy things....DO NOT AVOID this recipe! These little guys are delicious! The cream cheese really cuts the heat, but you're also baking it so that brings down the heat as well. Below I've included a more detailed recipe for you adventurous cooks!

Jalapenos Wrapped with Bacon

Ingredients:

Bacon-in thirds

Jalapenos-as many as you can get your hands on

Cream Cheese-one package

Cut jalapenos in half and take out seeds. If you're making a lot of jalapenos. WEAR GLOVES. Otherwise you will experience hand discomfort for the next three days!

Scoop a generous amount of cream cheese into the jalapenos.

Wrap with bacon. And close with a toothpick.

Bake at 375 degrees F for about 25-30 minutes. Make sure the bacon is cooked!

Eat up!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Originally this evening I was planning on making Spiced Carrot Muffins. But instead I made these cookies which are actually quite hearty with the addition of the raisins, nuts and oatmeal. I'm so happy that fall is here! Pumpkin you will be my best friend until it is time for sugar cookies and gingerbread! This cookies recipe is very easy and I will definitely make it again now that we're moving into these fall months!

Revised: I did make the Spiced Carrot Muffins the following night. They were delicious! Yum. Make these ASAP!

Quiche Lorraine & Hash Browns

The perfect beginning to a lazy summer day! -just be certain to plan ahead!! This deep-dish recipe is yet another classic from Cook's Illustrated. The hours necessary to prep the crust are well spent! While you prepare and wait for the crust to take shape, spend the hours with a dear friend over coffee and biscotti or settle-down with a good book!