The Nifty Foodie

Whenever there’s good news swirling around in my life, I get so excited. While I know I’ve never met many bloggers, I still consider a few of them that I “know” online as friends. When my friend, Krystal, announced her pregnancy, I was so happy for her. She already has the most adorable daughter (seriously…every time I see a baby picture on Instagram, I get a TEENY bit of baby fever), and I know she’s going to be such a great big sister. Krystal is sweetly referring to baby #2 as “cupcake”, so with that in mind, Eva of Eva Bakes had the idea to throw Krystal a cupcake virtual baby shower!

My contribution are a childhood favorite of mine: funfetti. My Mom used to make funfetti cupcakes all the time. I love the color bursts from the sprinkles, and the almond-y, butter-y flavor is just awesome! I found this recipe on Sweetapolita’s blog, and I think it’s even better than the boxed stuff. I never thought I’d say that, since I LOVE boxed mix funfetti (judge away), but oh gosh…this is a goodie.

Congratulations Krystal on your bundle of joy! I can’t wait to see pictures of the little one!

Check out the great cupcakes that other bloggers are sharing for her shower!

Funfetti Cupcakes with Whipped Vanilla Frosting
Source: Sweetapolita

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

• 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
• 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 whole egg, at room temperature
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• 2 3/4 cups cake flour, sifted
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 12 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup Rainbow Jimmies

For the frosting:

• 3 sticks + 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
• 3 tbsp. milk
• 1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt
• sprinkles for decorating

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two cupcake pans by lining them with paper liners and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, add the eggs, 1/4 cup of the milk and the vanilla & almond extracts. Whisk the mixture well and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt on low speed for 30 seconds.
4. Add the butter cubes to the dry mixture, and mix on low speed for 30 more seconds. Add the remaining 3/4 cup of milk and mix everything on low speed until the mixture is just moistened. Then, turn the mixer up to medium speed, and mix everything for 1 1/2 minutes.
5. Scrape the sides of the bowl, and then add 1/3 of the egg/milk mixture. Beat on medium speed for 20 seconds, and repeat with adding another 1/3 of the egg/milk mixture and mix for 20 seconds again, doing the same thing one last time with the remaining 1/3 of the mixture. Gently fold in the rainbow jimmies, until well incorporated throughout the batter.
6. Scoop the batter into the lined cupcake pans (filling 2/3 of the way full). Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cupcakes.
7. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, and then transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
8. While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting. Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix the butter for 8 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add in the confectioners sugar, milk, vanilla extract and salt, mixing on low speed for one minute. Then, turn the mixer up to medium, and fluff the mixture for 6 minutes.
9. Once the cupcakes are fully cooled, frost the cupcakes generously with the vanilla frosting, and add sprinkles for decorating.

I was a huge *NSYNC fan back in the day, and every year, I get a real kick out of the “It’s Gonna Be May” meme. Seeing it 2390859 times on Facebook this week made me watch the video again, and it reminded me of the days when I would get to drive my Mom’s minivan and would blast *NSYNC’s “Pop” CD in the old Discman (with the cassette tape attachment), since the minivan only had a cassette player. Ahh…how times have changed, y’all!

(Please tell me someone else attached their Discman to the car stereo with the cassette tape adapter…)

Anyway…it’s May (whoa..). And well, since it’s May, Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner. Usually the tex-mex places appeal to me with their food and margarita specials for the day, but lately, I’m not that much of a drinker since I started calorie counting. Give me ice cream over a 1,000 calorie cocktail. I know…I’m weird. We actually purchased alcohol on our cruise in December, and this is the first time I opened the tequila we bought there. We’re kind of boring in this house.

I’ve been wanting to make these cupcakes for a while, but the boozy aspect is what got to me. I can’t exactly do my usual baking routine of baking a recipe and bringing it to coworkers. I’m pretty sure HR would be at my desk within 2 hours, so I’ve never made them. However, these are for a celebration for a good friend of mine, and since she’s a big fan of everything tex-mex, I thought these would be the perfect cupcake to celebrate.

I ended up adapting a strawberry cupcake recipe by adding lime juice and zest, as well as brushing the tops of the cupcakes with tequila (which I found this idea on another blog). The frosting is a simple buttercream with strained strawberry puree, lime zest and of course, tequila. The combination of these flavors are just awesome. I hope she enjoys these!

Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes
Source: cupcake recipe adapted from Martha Stewart, technique from Confections of a Foodie Bride, frosting is a Nifty Foodie Original

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• juice and zest of one lime
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 10 oz. strawberries, hulled and diced finely
• 1/4 cup tequila

For the buttercream:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3-4 cups of confectioners sugar, divided
• zest of one lime
• 1 tbsp. tequila
• 1/4 cup strained strawberry puree (puree in a blender, put in a sieve over a bowl to let excess liquid drain for appx. 30 minutes)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and prepare 2 cupcake pans by lining them with paper liners. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the two flours, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer (using the paddle attachment), beat the butter and sugar for 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl, and beat in the eggs one at a time, until well-mixed. Add in the vanilla, as well as the lime juice/zest, and mix until just combined. Put the mixer on low speed, and add 1/3 of the flour mixture (mixing until combined) and then 1/3 of the milk (also mixing until combined), repeating until everything is in the batter. Fold in the strawberries.
4. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full. Bake the cupcakes, rotating the pan halfway through baking (at the 10 minute mark), for 20 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean). Immediately brush the cupcake tops with tequila (using a pastry brush), and then transfer the pans to a cooling rack to cool for 5 minutes, and then remove the cupcakes from the pan to finish cooling on the wire racks.
5. While the cupcakes are cooling, make the buttercream. Cream the butter for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add in 3 cups of confectioners sugar, and beat well until the mixture is sort of crumbly. Add the lime zest, tequila and strawberry puree, and beat the mixture for 2 minutes. If the buttercream appears to be too wet for piping, add more confectioners sugar (1/4 cup at a time), beating for about a minute after each addition.
6. To serve, pipe or spread the buttercream on completely cooled cupcakes. Enjoy!

If you put a bag of Reese’s in front of me, consider it gone almost immediately. It’s one of my vices, and I know I can’t keep that kind of stuff in my house. When my husband and I went shopping at Sam’s Club a few weeks ago, however, I saw Reese’s minis…in bulk. Ugh. I totally bought it, justifying that I would bake with them. Haha. Yeah…

Well, 1 bag mysteriously disappeared , but then I was asked to bake up a simple cake for my work’s birthday club. Every month, they have a cake to celebrate birthdays for those in the office who had a birthday that month. Previously, they would just buy a sheet cake from a grocery store, but since my coworkers know I love to bake, they asked me to do it from now on. Um…how could I say no to that?!

I figured a Reese’s cake would be a tasty one, so I made chocolate cake with a chocolate peanut butter frosting, and then topped it with chopped Reese’s minis. The cake may not be the prettiest (ugh…my cake totally stuck to the pan in the corners so I used frosting to glue it back together), but darnit…it was GOOD! I had to pour dish soap on the leftover frosting or I seriously would have eaten the rest with a spoon. So good!

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting
Source: cake from Ina Garten, frosting adapted from this post

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups cocoa powder
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

For the frosting:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 5 tbsp. heavy cream
• optional: Reese’s minis (chopped), for decoration

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 9×13 inch cake pan by lining the inside with baking spray or butter/flour
2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer, and mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until combined. In another large bowl, mix the buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla together. Turn the mixer on low speed again, and slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula, and then slowly add the coffee and mix until everything is just combined.
3. Pour the cake batter into the prepared 9×13 inch pan, and bake for 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for 30 minutes, and then turn it out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.
4. While the cake is cooling, make the frosting. Place the two sticks of butter in a clean bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment and cream it on medium-high for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Turn the mixer to low and add the confectioners sugar, cocoa powder and salt until well-mixed. Scrape the bowl down, and then, add the vanilla extract, peanut butter and heavy cream and mix on low for 30 seconds to incorporate the ingredients. Turn the speed up to medium and whip up the frosting for 2-3 minutes, until fluffy.
5. Once the cake is completely cool, frost your cake and if preferred, add the chopped Reese’s on top for decoration.

Isn’t it a shame how quickly the weekends fly by? I feel like the ultra-productive ones leave me longing for another weekend. This past weekend was one of those weekends. I swear, I took 3 trips to Lowes and Home Depot to get more flowers or plants, only to think that the garden definitely needed something more. The third time, I went on Saturday. You would have thought they were practically giving away flowers or something. It was packed…like Black Friday packed. Everyone got the Spring itch at the same time, I guess.

After all of that work outside, I spent most of Sunday doing some Spring cleaning. Junk mail stinks y’all….I wish I actually kept up with it, but nope. I usually regret sifting through a huge pile a few weeks later. Once that was done, I definitely was in the mood to bake. I had a good bit of cream cheese in the fridge that as about to expire, and I’ve had this recipe starred on Google Reader for quite some time (as usual). It did take a little bit longer to throw together the three components (crust, cheesecake filling, raspberry topping), and since you’re making about 3 dozen little cheesecakes vs. one large one, it can be a little tedious. However, I found it completely worth it. These desserts are adorable (I mean, who doesn’t like mini desserts?), and they taste great! I think they would be perfect for a Spring party or for Easter.

Raspberry Swirl Mini Cheesecakes
Source: Annie’s Eats, originally found in Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the crust:

•  1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 3 tbsp. sugar

For the raspberry swirl:

• 6 oz. fresh raspberries
• 2 tbsp. sugar

For the cheesecake filling:

• 2 lbs. cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line your cupcake pans with cupcake liners. In a small bowl, add the graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar. Stir everything together until everything is well mixed and the dry ingredients are moistened. Measure 1 tbsp. of the graham cracker mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner, and press down (I used a 1/4 cup flat measuring cup.). Bake the crusts for about 5 minutes, until set, and transfer them to a cooling rack.
2. While the crusts are cooling, make the raspberry puree by blending the raspberries and sugar together in a blender or food processor until smooth. Pour the puree through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds.
3. To make the cheesecake filling, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until fluffy. Add in the sugar and mix until smooth. Then, mix in the salt and vanilla. Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. To prepare the cheesecakes, add 3 tbsp. of the cheesecake filling on top of the crusts. Then, dab 1/2 tsp. of the raspberry puree in small dots over the filling. Use a toothpick to swirl the raspberry puree in for a marbled effect.
5. Bake the cheesecakes for about 22 minutes (until the filling is set), rotating the pans halfway through the baking process. Transfer the cheesecakes to a cooling rack and allow them to cool to room temperature. Then chill the cheesecakes in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving.

Not sure how time flew by this quickly, but tomorrow, I’ll be 29. One year away from 30. My birthday always seems to sneak up on me, because in my family, March is a busy birthday month (mine being the last March birthday).

Every birthday, I look back on the year and try to think about something significant that happened that year. 2010′s birthday was really the last “big” year for me. It was the year that I got married & the year I became a home owner. Two big adult-like things. 2011 and 2012 were just dull in comparison, but this past year, something pretty significant has happened (which most of you know about). I’ve lost nearly 70 lbs. and my husband has lost 110 lbs. (hope he doesn’t mind me bragging about him here).

I shared a picture last night of the before/after. The before picture was in October 2011 at IFBC New Orleans. I thought that was a great picture, and I never thought that my face was “fat”. In fact, as I’m losing weight, people ask me if I really notice a difference, and I’ll be honest…I don’t until I fork out older pictures. It always shocks me. At IFBC, I was wearing a size 26. Today, I’m wearing a size 16. It’s a whole ‘nother side of the plus size store & I’m being introduced to regular sizes now for the first time in almost 15 years. It’s crazy…never thought I would be here. EVER. I also signed up for a half marathon next year…I regularly ask myself WHO AM I? when these thoughts cross my head.

Of course I would write about weight loss/fitness in a cake post. Oops.

I’ll be honest…my sweet tooth is shifting. Cake/cookies/brownies…while they’re delicious, they’re starting to taste TOO sweet to me. I guess that’s a good thing…it discourages my urges to binge and eat the whole pan or something. While my eating habits are changing, I still wanted to make cake for my birthday…the whole process is just so fun to me. Whipping up the batter, dividing the cake into layers, whipping up frosting and assembling…all wonderful.

I chose this cake, because of the almond flavor in the recipe. I love wedding cake, and because of the almond, this cake reminds me a lot of wedding cake. The almond flavor is definitely there, and the raspberry just bumps up the cake a bit. I wasn’t sure about the frosting, but I really like that the cream cheese icing breaks up the sweetness. I’m used to 4-5 cups of powdered sugar in a recipe…this only calls for a little over a cup. The combination is perfect, and when I brought this cake to work, it was gone that day (which NEVER happens with cake around here).

Almond-Scented White Cake
Source: Williams-Sonoma

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 12 tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1 cup milk
• 5 egg whites, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup raspberry preserves, melted

For the frosting:

• 1 lb. (2 blocks) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 6 tbsp. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp. almond extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees & move the oven rack to the middle position. Prepare two 9″ round cake pans by butter/flouring (or using baking spray) the insides of the pans. Set aside.
2. In a medium sized bowl, sift together your dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Place the egg whites in another bowl, and set aside. Wash your bowl to reuse for making the cake batter
4. Using the same bowl (now cleaned), cream the butter on medium-high speed with the mixer until it’s light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar gradually, beating until everything is well-blended. Add in the vanilla and almond extracts, and scrape the bowl down. With the mixer on low, add 1/3 of the dry mixture, then 1/3 of the milk, repeating until all ingredients are just combined.
5. Fold in the egg whites gently into the batter until everything is just incorporated. Divide the batter equally between the cake pans and smooth the batter with a spatula.
6. Bake the cakes on the middle rack until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Place the cake pans on a cooling rack for 10 minutes, to slightly cool, then invert the cakes onto the cooling rack to finish cooling.
7. As the cakes are cooling, make the cream cheese frosting. In a large bowl, cream the cream cheese and butter, until light and fluffy, for about two minutes. Reduce the mixer to low, and add the confectioners sugar, beating until everything is smooth. Add in the vanilla and almond extracts until everything is well-blended.
8. To assemble the cake, using a long, serrated knife, cut each cake in half horizontally. Place a small bit of frosting in the middle of the plate (or cake board), then place your first layer over that (this helps the cake stick to the plate). Add 1/2 cup of frosting over the top of the cake and spread evenly, and then drizzle 1/4 cup of the melted preserves. Top this with another cake layer and repeat for the rest of the layers until you get to the last layer. With the last layer, you want to top the cake with the cut side down (to prevent crumbs for final frosting). Using an offset spatula, spread the rest of the frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Serve immediately or cover the cake, refrigerate and serve the next day (being sure to bring the cake to room temperature before serving). Enjoy!