Raspberry Cupcakes with Lemon Meringue Frosting

I felt like making a summery cupcake that is refreshing and light after all the holiday binge eating, so we made cupcakes using egg whites and meringue frosting (also egg whites) rather than heavy buttercream.  Insert protein, minus the little cholesterol balls AKA egg yolks, minus the fat of butter.  Just light, refreshing, and a good way to start a new year.  I also cheated a bit with the cake batter to make it easier since the frosting is a bit more work.  Enjoy!

Raspberry Cupcakes:

1 box white cake mix <--the cheating part

3 large egg whites

2 tablespoons melted butter (I would have used smart balance to stay on the healthy kick but I wasn't at home so I used what I had!)

2 teaspoons almond extract

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon raspberry extract

Fresh raspberries (I didn't measure, I pureed a bunch and added it to the batter until I liked the raspberry flavor.. probably added up to about 18-20 oz of raspberries pureed)

Water as needed for consistency (half cup-ish? it really depends on the raspberry puree..)

Puree however many raspberries you want.  I pureed 4 6-oz containers of raspberries and had quite a bit left over (which I later used as drizzle).  Stir all the ingredients together in a bowl, adding water slowly until the consistency is cake batter-esque.  Put into cupcake pans (and cupcake papers) and bake at 350 degrees F for a little over 15 min (poke it with a fork at 15 min and every few min after until it doesn't come back doughy. Since the dough was so pink it was a little hard to just watch for it to get "lightly golden," and poking it is more fun anyway.) Let them cool... or eat one immediately like I did...

Lemon Meringue Frosting:

4 large egg whites

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice (we just squeezed a whole lemon's worth in there..  we like lemon..)

1 teaspoon lemon zest (again, we zested an entire lemon rather than measuring)

Pinch (technically 1/8 teaspoon) of cream of tartar (necessary for denaturing the egg whites!)

Pinch (1/8 teaspooon) of fine salt

Put a few inches of water in a pot and boil it.  Place a pyrex (or anything of the sort) bowl over top of the boiling water (the bowl should be bigger than the pot so it sits on top nicely).  Mix all of the ingredients in this bowl with a wisk constantly while over the steam until the sugar completely dissolves and the mixture is hot to the touch (the eggs will get a little frothy and white-ish). This will take about 2 minutes.  When ready, take the bowl off of the pot and transfer the ingredients to a stand mixer (kitchen-aid) with a wisk attachment.  Set the stand mixer on medium-high speed for a minute then kick it up to high for about 7 minutes and/or when stiff peaks form.  It doesn't look like it's going to do anything at first, but it really fluffs up.

We had extra frosting and extra raspberry puree, so you could use the raspberry puree as a drizzle or you can fold the puree into the meringue to make a raspberry-lemon frosting.  Or just spoon it all into your mouth (and take subsequent food coma nap).

Happy Holidays! Scout Loves Presents!

Happy Holidays! Here's Scout being adorable opening her own present!

Apple Cinnamon Syrup

I am making apple chips, and I got a little overzealous slicing a boatload of apples, only to realize that the dehydrator would only fit like half of what I sliced.  I hate wasting food, so I decided to salvage the leftover apple slices since otherwise they would go bad.  I threw them in a sauce pan (with no idea at the time what they would turn out to be) with other random things around the house and this is what I ended up making:

Pancakes with cinnamon apple syrup! (no, the apples did not end up making pancakes, the pancakes were just the medium on which to eat the apple syrup).

The recipe is below, but like usual when cooking on the stove top, I didn't measure. Anything. I literally threw things together until it looked and smelled right.

Ingredients:

Apples (mine were sliced, but only because their original purpose in life was to become apple chips; if I were making this again I would probably cut them like I was making apple pie)

Apple Juice

Brown Sugar

Cinnamon

Pumpkin Pie Spice (or nutmeg, I really only used it for the nutmeg..)

Directions:

Throw apples in a sauce pan with enough apple juice to submerge them.  Turn heat on to medium-high and stir in brown sugar (taste frequently! I didn't measure this traditionally, but I did taste measure--you don't want this to be overly sweet!).  Stir in as much cinnamon as you want (again with the tasting).  I added a few dashes of pumpkin pie spice to add a little nutmeg; cinnamon is the major spice here, though, so I added a ton of that.  Stir together until liquid dissolves the sugar and spices.  Let it boil and reduce for... a while.  I didn't check the time, I just kept checking on it and stirring every now and then to make sure it was all still mixed together and not burning.  I did take pictures, though.

At first it looked like this:

Really liquidy and boiling little teeny foamy bubbles.  After it was done it looked like this:

Darker in color, and a real syrup consistency.  Then I put it on pancakes because delicious syrup needs pancakes or waffles to make its life complete.

And yes, I ate breakfast for dinner. :)

Lemon Blueberry Cookies

I made these up the other day when I really wanted cookies but we had like nothing in the house, and Campus Cookies had closed for the Summer.  I found some random things that we typically always have on hand:

...also remembering the delicious Lemon Blueberry cake from Our Daily Bread, I decided this was awesomeness waiting to happen (and it was).

Ingredients:

1 batch of sugar cookie dough (you can make this from scratch from whatever recipe you prefer, or be lazy like me when hungry and prepare a mix)

2 lemons (this may change depending on how big your batch is. Remember, I hate measuring when cooking, and I rarely, if ever, do.)

2 cups of blueberries (same comment as above. Also, this probably will taste better using fresh fruit, but all I had at the time was frozen..)

Directions:

Prepare cookie dough.  Zest 2 (or however many you prefer) lemons and stir zest into dough.  If the dough doesn't taste lemony enough to your liking you can always use a squeeze or 2 of said lemons; it really just depends on how much lemon you like.  I added an extra squeeze of juice because when it comes to citrus, I believe you can never have too much.  That's the Floridian in me, for sure.  Next mix in the blueberries.  Add as many as you like, really.  Be careful not to mash them too hard (gently mix them in) unless you want purple cookies.. and hey, maybe that's what you want, and if so I say go for it and mash away.  Cook according to sugar cookie recipe.  My mix said 375 degrees F but perhaps yours says something different.  Cook until golden but not burnt.  No one likes burnt cookies. :)

NOM!

Caramel Apple Cookies

...are AMAZING!

I took your average Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe and tweaked it a little.  Basically I made the dough the same but changed the mix-ins.  Here's my recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (I used smart balance) @ room temp (easier to cream that way)
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar (apparently there is light brown sugar and dark brown sugar.. I guess it doesn't matter, so go with your preference, but I used light)
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup of diced/chopped up apple (1 ginormous apple will do)
1 1/2 cup of butterscotch morsels (like chocolate chips, only butterscotch)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
In a bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt together.  Set aside.  Grab another bowl and cream together the butter and sugar of both varieties.  Add the eggs and stir.  Gradually mix in the flour mixture.  Once your dough is ready to go add in the chopped apple and butterscotch morsels and mix them in.  Spoon dough onto cookie sheets to whatever your size preference.  I made some tablespoon sized (takes about 10 min) and some ginormous cookies (of which I only fit 6 on a cookie sheet) that took 15 minutes to bake.  Whatever you decide to go with, just keep an eye on them and take them out when they start to brown.  You can also add more or less of the mix-ins as desired.  Remember, I made this up, so you can, too.

NOM!

Scout has a thing for shoes, too. No, really, she carts them off and cuddles them..

 Actually, she ate them as a puppy. She's since learned that shoes are good things that we want in tact.  Now she just collects them like treasure.  Wonder where she got that from?

It was only a matter of time before shoes landed on my blog.  I know, I know, I should totally be studying right now, but really, after a full day of lecture/lab/astronomical amount of clinical pathology, a girl needs some down time.. (actually I'm flipping between this and lecture slides right now.. I know.. sad).

A lot of people comment on my attire and fashion sense, and I love that.  I know, shocker, I'm a girl who likes attention.  But perhaps I should share some secrets.  I'm a poor vet student, married to a poor grad student, so I rarely buy something without a sale and/or coupon.  Like my current favorite shoes ever: these micro-wedges in multicolor velvet from Aldo that are on sale for $25 here.  They're sold out on aldo's main website, but Amazon still has them.  The floral pattern gives hints of spring season, but the velvet is very much a winter thing.  Kinda like Blacksburg right now: I want it to be spring soooo badly, but it's winter, so warmth and texture is key.  They're the most comfortable cute shoes ever, and they cost less than what I've spent on lunches at school this semester.  Seriously, where are all the free lunches this year??

Lack-of-Free-Time Brownies

School starts soon! Which means the abundance of free time is coming to an end. What's a foodie to do? Make brownies from a box?
Actually... Yes. However, I like putting a twist on any ordinary food, and this twist is super easy and super fast. My personal favorite flavor is raspberry, so after stirring together my brownie batter according to the box, I added a 12 oz bag of frozen raspberries and stirred them into the batter. Stick those bad boys in the oven according to the box directions and after 2 minutes of work you're back to studying. Okay, obviously not this week but during the semester! Not a fan of raspberries? Instead of adding berries to the mix you can chop up some andes mints and add those instead. I've tried it both ways (that's what she said) and both are really good. So when that first big test starts heading our way, ask your study group this: raspberry or mint brownies?

*sorry no pics, but I wrote this one from the blackberry. Winter break is all about traveling to see the fam, after all.

Balsamic Strawberry Ice Cream

The latest Iron Chef VMRCVM was Battle Balsamic Vinegar, as well as my debut as a cook rather than a judge.  My classmate, Jenny, and I took home the honors of winning that battle, and the dessert round was our strongest.  So I made it again tonight so I could share, but this time I altered it a bit for a lower fat version.  I'll post it both ways.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

 1 quart heavy whipping cream (or half and half for the health conscious)

 24 oz frozen sliced strawberries

 fresh strawberries or mini semisweet chocolate chips, whichever you prefer

 balsamic vinegar (amount is up to you, but trust me, it's not a lot as this flavor is strong)

 1 ice cream maker (I have the kitchen aid attachment), placed in the freezer overnight

Directions:

 In a blender, add the entire 24 oz container of frozen sliced strawberries (I ran hot water on the outside of the container to make it easy to slide the contents out in one big chunk).  Add as much of the cream or half and half as you want, depending on if you want a strong strawberry flavor or a creamier flavor, but I wouldn't put more than a quart of either or you'll dilute the strawberry too much, and you need the strawberry to make the balsamic flavor blend well.  I added 3.5 cups (the quart minus half a cup) of half and half this last time.  You can add some of the cream, blend, taste, and based on that decide if you want to add more or not.  This recipe is all about how it tastes as you make it rather than measuring because that's just how I cook.  Blend together.  Add a TEENY splash of balsamic vinegar, blend, taste, and repeat as needed.  The idea is that the balsamic vinegar adds a tartness that really brings out the strawberry, but make sure you add enough to taste it, because the balsamic really adds a nice flavor that compliments the strawberry.  However, if you add too much, it can get a bit strong so you might want to dilute it with some leftover cream/half and half and some more strawberries.  Tasting throughout the process is key (you go through a lot of spoons, so I set aside a spoon that I never lick for the dipping, and dribble the blended cream mixture onto a spoon that I do lick without touching spoons to keep from contaminating the dipping spoon; unless you're just making this all for yourself, to which I say double dip away).  It should be cold since the ingredients were either frozen or refrigerated, so we're ready to make ice cream; if you're not ready, just stick it in the 'fridge until you are.

 When you've got a blend that you think tastes awesome, get the ice cream maker out.  While running on low speed (at least, that's how the kitchen aid works, you'll have to read the directions to your maker if it's different), pour in the soon-to-be-ice-cream.  Add sliced fresh strawberries or mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, or both if you so choose, as it's mixing.  After about 10 minutes churning away, it will be a soft-serve consistency.  You can get it right then, or transfer it into a freezer safe container (I use glad-ware) and put it in the freezer for a more solid-frozen treat.

Last step: OM NOM NOM!

Smelly Jelly Kelly

I've mastered the art of the smelly jelly, as well the art of being a poor graduate student, so it only makes sense to master the art of gifts on a budget.  Using jars, smelly jelly crystals, and fragrance oils found here, water, and some old food coloring that's too old for me to want to eat, but not too old to look pretty in stuff I can't eat, I made these:

Fragrance oils are $2.60 an ounce (about 30 mL), which contributes to 2 jars and a little extra for some lotion experimentation (I use about 14-15 mL per jelly jar).  A set of 12 jars (including the metal slitted lids and the plastic lids to keep the fragrance in until you're ready to use it) sets you back $14.29, but you could use any old candle jars or old jelly air freshener containers you have around, or re-use the 12 from this site (like I do) when your jellies dry out--just clean it out and make a new one.  One pound of jelly crystals only costs $6.75, and this is enough to make 80 jars.  So really, one jar costs about $2.56 to make.  And they smell awesome and like anything you want (there are TONS of fragrance options), plus they're really cute.  Score.

These fragrance oils can also be used in candles, which might be my next adventure in the summer.  If I can nail that down, I'd save a lot of money that currently goes to my candle obsession (though the air freshening smelly jelly jars do help abate that).

Even More Corgi in the Snow!

For whatever reason, Firefox/Google/something really doesn't want me to upload the 3rd corgi in the snow video, but here's the 4th: