Sangria Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

         1 & 1/2 cups flour

         1 tsp baking powder

         1/2 tsp baking soda

        1/4 tsp salt

       3/4 cup sugar

       2 eggs

       1 stick butter, melted

         1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla

         1/2 cup sour cream

        1/2 cup chopped strawberries

         zest of 1 orange

         1/4 cup blueberries or diced apples

To top the cupcakes

           Orange slices, strawberry slices and blueberries.

Buttercream

        1 stick butter, room temperature

        1/2 cup vegetable shortening

        2-2.5 cups powdered sugar

      1/2 tsp vanilla

    2 cups red wine 

   1/4 cup sugar

Instructions

Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Whisk and set aside.

In a mixing bowl combine the eggs, melted butter, vanilla, and sour cream until combined.

Slowly add half of the flour mixture to the liquid, stirring to combine. Repeat with the rest of the flour mixture. Add in the chopped strawberries, orange zest, and blueberries or chopped apples. Stir to mix.

Divide the batter among a muffin pan lined with muffin liners, fill the muffin cups to be about a little more than 1/2 full.

Bake for 14-16 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Red Wine Syrup

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the red wine and sugar to a boil. Once the wine starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, you still want to see the wine boiling, just not a rigorous boil. Allow the wine to thicken and reduce, about 20-30 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow it to cool at remove temperature. This is where the wine will begin to thicken. Once the wine has cooled to room temperature, you can place the saucepan in the fridge to help speed on the cooling process.

Buttercream

In a mixing bowl, combine the room temperature butter and shortening, beat using an electric mixer for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Add 1/4 cup of the red wine syrup and mix. You can add more later, but you do not let the buttercream to become too wet.

Begin to add in the powdered sugar, about 1 cup at a time. Slowly beat the mixture until the powered sugar is incorporated. Continue this process, adding enough powdered sugar to make sure the frosting isn't too wet. You can add more red wine syrup at this time if you’d like the flavor to be stronger. You may have to add more powdered sugar too.

Transfer a portion of the frosting to a large ziploc bag or piping bag fit with a piping tip. Push or squeeze the frosting down, getting rid of any air pockets. If using a ziploc bag, cut half one corner, making a hole between the size of a dime and a penny.

Begin to pipe the frosting onto a cupcake, starting with the outside edge and working your way into the center of the cupcake, progressively stacking the frosting as you go around in circles.

Top each cupcake with a small orange slice, strawberry slice and one blueberry.

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Homemade Tortillas

16 tortillas

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup warm water

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine flour, salt and baking powder in the bowl of a stand mixer. With the dough hook attached mix dry ingredients until well combined. Add oil and water with mixer running at a medium speed. Mix for 1 minute, stopping several timesto scrape the sides of the bowl. After about 1 minute, or when mixture comes together and begins to form a ball, decrease mixing speed to low. Continue to mix for 1 minute or until dough is smooth.
2. Transfer from mixing bowl to a well-floured work surface. Divide dough in half, then in half again. Continue until you have 16 fairly equal portions. Form each piece into a ball and flatten with the palm of your hand as much as possible. If dough is sticky, use a bit more flour. Cover flattened balls of dough with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rest for 15 minutes before proceeding.
3. After rest period, heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Roll each dough piece into a rough circle, about 6-7 inches in diameter, keep work surface and rolling pin lightly floured. Don’t stack uncooked tortillas on top of each other or they will get soggy.
4. When pan is very hot, place one dough circle into pan and allow to cook about 1 minute or until bottom surface has a few pale brown spots. The uncooked surface will begin to show a few little bubbles. If tortilla is browning too fast, reduced heat a bit. If it’s taking longer than a minute to see a few pale golden brown spots on underside of tortillas, increase heat a bit. Flip to other side and cook for about 30 seconds. You want the tortilla to be soft but have a few small pale golden brown spots on surface. Remove from pan with tongs and stack in a covered container or zippered bag till all tortillas are cooked. This will keep them soft and pliable.
5. Wipe out the pan inbetween tortillas if flour is started to accumulate.
6. Serve warm or allow to cool for later use. When ready to use, place a slightly damp paper towel in the bottom of a container (with a cover) that will hold the stacked tortillas. Microwave, uncovered for 15-25 seconds (start with 15) or until warm, then cover to hold heat while serving.
7. The tortillas will keep well stored in an airtight container or zippered bag at at room temperature for 24 hours or can be frozen indefinitely. To freeze, separate tortillas with parchment paper or waxed paper and place in a zippered bag before placing in freezer.

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Oreo Cake

INGREDIENTS

Cake
1 1/4 cups All-purpose Flour
2/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder (or Hershey’s Special Dark)
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Unsalted Butter
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
3 large Eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cups Buttermilk

Frosting
Scant 1/2 cup Flour
1 1/2 cups Milk
2 tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) Butter, softened
1 1/2 cups Granulated Sugar 
25-30 oreos

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 8-inch cake pans with butter and flour.

Into a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, or a large bowl using a hand held mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. About 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated and scraping down sides as needed.

With mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, mix until incorporated. Then add 1/2 of the buttermilk, mix until incorporated. Repeat until the last 1/3 of flour has been used. Mix until incorporated and then beat for 1 additional minute.

Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the sides begin to pull away from the edges. Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto the racks and allow the cakes to cool completely.

While the cakes are baking, prepare the frosting. In a saucepan, whisk together the flour and milk and cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens (I would compare it to mashed potatoes). It is very important to whisk continuously so clumps don’t form. This took me about 4-5 minutes, but it’s best to go by texture.

Set milk mixture aside in an ice bath and allow to cool completely.

In a medium bowl, (or bowl of a standing mixture fitted with a whisk) beat together the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat for 1 minute. Add the cooled milk mixture and beat on high for 3-5 minutes. If it looks separated, keep beating.

Cake Assembly

When the cakes are completely cool, cut each cake in half horizontally. Use 1/3-1/2 cup of frosting to fill between each layer. When all the layers are stacked, set aside 1/2 cup of frosting then use rest to frost the outside.

Using a ziploc bag and a rolling pin, crush all but 6 of the Oreo cookies. Apply the cookie crumbs to the sides of the cake.

Use the reserved 1/2 cup of frosting to create 6 swirls on the top of the cake, place a cookie in each swirl.

Serve with a glass of milk.

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Super Nuts Biscotti

Ingredients:

1 cup shelled almonds
1 cup shelled pistachios
1/3 cup candied pineapple, chopped
1/3 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/3 cup candied cherries (I used dried craisins)
1/3 cup dried papaya
1 stick (8 Tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp real vanilla extract
3 large eggs, room temp
3¼ cups all purpose flour
2¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

Instructions:

1.      Preheat Oven to 350˚F.

2.    Place almonds and pistachios on an un-greased baking sheet and bake at 350˚F for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven to cool to room temp then coarsely chop and transfer to a medium bowl.

3.    Chop your dried/candied fruit into pieces about the size of raisins. Add dried fruit to the bowl with nuts and stir to combine. This would make one fine trail mix; I tell ya what!

4.    In the bowl of your electric mixer with whisk attachment, beat together: 1 stick butter, 1 cup sugar, and 2 tsp vanilla on high speed (3 min). Add 3 eggs and beat until well combined (1 min).

5.    In a medium bowl, whisk together 3¼ cups flour, 2¼ tsp baking powder, and ¼ tsp salt. Add to the butter mixture and mix (with the paddle attachment) until combined. Stir in nuts and fruit with a spatula, mixing until dispersed.

6.    Divide the dough into three equal pieces and shape each piece into a 12″long by 2″ wide by ¾” thick. They can be longer or wider but be sure you stay under 1″ in thickness for even baking. Arrange on a large greased baking sheet, at least 1″ apart. Bake at 350˚F for 25-28 min or until starting to turn golden (they shouldn’t be fully cooked at this point).

7.    Remove from oven and when cool enough to handle, use a serrated knife to carefully slice each log into individual biscotti about 1″ wide. Add a little more grease to the same baking pan(s), arrange cookies evenly over the top and bake 15-18 min or until golden and firm. Biscotti cookies will harden more as they cool.

 

Enjoy it!

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