Carrot Cupcakes

After never having made cupcakes before I actually made two different types this weekend. The unit on the hospital where I am currently finishing my last practicum has a few pregnant nurses who are about to go on maternity leave. I knew that one of them would be having her last shift this weekend and I thought to make some cupcakes and bring them for the staff to share. I couldn't settle on one type so I made Red Velvet, secretly chocolate in flavor, and carrot cupcakes.

Despite my preconceptions about both, and the fact that I'm not crazy about cupcakes, I actually enjoyed the carrot cupcakes more than the red velvet. They were incredibly moist and the carrot flavor was present but not overwhelming. Combined with the cream cheese frosting, featuring subtle hints of lemon zest, I could see why lots of people love carrot cake.

Ironically, the nurse that I intended to bake the cupcakes for was sick and did not come in for her shift. Since I had already gone through the effort of baking the cupcakes and bringing them in I didn't want them to go to waste so the rest of the staff happily obliged in eating them.

Carrot Cucakes
Makes 12-14 standard sized cupcakes.

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1½ cups finely grated carrots (about 3 medium-large sized)
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup vegetable oil

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Whisk to blend and set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, lightly beat together the eggs and oil. Add the grated carrots and mix together. Note: I used a food processor to make sure the carrots were very finely grated because I didn't want large chunks in the cupcakes.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until the batter comes together and everything is evenly incorporated.
4. Use a pre-greased or paper-lined muffin tin and fill each cup about ¾ full with the batter. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
5. Cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan before removing to cool completely.

Note: I frosted the carrot cupcakes with the same frosting as the red velvet ones except I omitted the vanilla and added the zest of one lemon. The recipe can be found here. 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Personally, I've never been the biggest fan of cupcakes. I know that for a lot of people they are the quintessential dessert treat. I mean who wouldn't love a mini version of a cake, right? But for me I've always preferred more robust and dense cakes, such as cheesecake, which have more of a bite to them. Still, at some point or another I thought I should at least try making such an all-American classic.

I chose to make red velvet cupcakes because I had heard a lot about them but never actually tried one myself. Despite the name and color, the cupcakes are actually chocolate flavored due to the addition of cocoa powder. For those who want to use natural ingredients, the red color can be achieved with the use of beets. However using beets presents its own challenge because depending on if you use them raw or roasted they have a different flavor and also water content, therefore changing the liquid-to-dry ingredient ratio. Also, using beets affects the acidity of the batter, meaning you have to make sure the cocoa powder and baking soda don't react with the acidic beet juice and turn the cupcakes brown. I didn't feel like making batches upon batches to discover the perfect ratio therefore I used a recipe from my favorite food blog Annie's Eats which relied on food coloring to get a nice red color.

I followed the recipe and made a vanilla cream cheese frosting which also used butter, something I don't typically put in my cream cheese frosting. The cupcakes tasted good, with a hint of chocolate flavor, but I honestly expected them to be more moist. Everyone enjoyed them, especially the frosting, and now I'm finally able to say that I have baked cupcakes.

Red Velvet Cupcakes
Makes 12 standard sized cupcakes.

• 1¼ cups flour
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 egg
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1 tbsp liquid red food coloring
• ½ tsp vanilla
• ½ tsp white vinegar

1. Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt. Whisk to blend and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, beat the egg, vegetable oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla, and vinegar on medium speed until well combined.
3. Lower the speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet. Continue to mix until smooth and evenly incorporated.
4. Divide the batter evenly in a greased or paper-lined muffin pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
5. Remove from the oven and cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan before removing to finish cooling.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
Note: This makes enough frosting to frost 12 cupcakes.

• 5 oz cream cheese, chilled
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1½ cups powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract 

1. Beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
2. Reduce the speed to low and add the powdered sugar. Once incorporated, increase the speed again to medium and continue to beat for another 2-3 minutes. Blend in the vanilla.

Mexican Beef Lettuce Wraps

I made this dish for dinner a couple of nights ago for several different reasons. Firstly, my mom and I had decided to make moussaka, something we hadn’t done in a very long time, and had some leftover ground beef. Also, we had a whole bunch of mushrooms that needed to be used up somehow so I needed to make something that would incorporate them. Most importantly though, I needed to make something that I could post in order to meet my personal monthly quota that I set for myself when I first started the blog. 

Originally I was going to make beef lettuce wraps in an Asian style, as I had done previously, but since I needed a new recipe I decided to create a Mexican version. I made up the recipe completely on the fly and used flavors and spices that I thought would give the dish a Mexican feel. I paired the beef with a corn, pepper, and bean salad somewhat adapted from my Southwest quinoa salad just without the quinoa.

To my surprise the dish was met with much more enthusiasm than I expected, considering how randomly I threw it together. I couldn’t find the right type of lettuce at the grocery store so we actually ended up using cabbage leaves as the wrapping vessel. My mother actually pointed out that the dish was Passover friendly because it didn’t use a flour tortilla for the wrapping, something I hadn’t even considered while making it. 

In the end I was quite pleased with myself as I saw how much everyone enjoyed dinner that night. I think that it was so successful because it truly had a Mexican flavor to it, something I achieved by using a couple of tablespoons of Chipotle sauce. It’s extremely spicy, so I wouldn’t recommend using too much, but just a little bit goes a long way and can really bring that familiar Mexican taste to any dish. 

Mexican Beef Lettuce Wraps

Note: For the accompanying salad follow, double the quantities of the ingredients from the southwest quinoa salad but omit the quinoa. 

1.  Heat some olive oil over high heat in a large skillet and add the ground beef. Cook until no pink is visible then drain the beef and set aside. 
2. Using the same pan, heat some new olive oil and sauté the chopped onions over medium heat until translucent, about 3-5 minutes. 
3. Add the garlic and cook for another minute, until fragrant. 
4. Add the chopped mushrooms to the pan and mix well to incorporate. Continue to cook until the mushrooms soften and brown.
5. Return the cooked beef to the pan and mix into the mushrooms and onions. Add the ground cumin, coriander, chipotle sauce, and salsa and mix well throughout.
6. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper and add some extra chipotle sauce or salsa if desired.
7. Serve alongside the corn, pepper, and bean salad as well as any lettuce that can act as a cup for filling, such as bibb or butter lettuce. 

Nutella Ice Cream

Whenever I come across recipes for no-churn ice cream I always pay attention and when I saw this one featuring nutella I knew I had to try it out. In my family the main ice cream connoisseur is my brother and he typically loves anything containing chocolate. As this ice cream contains both nutella and cocoa powder I knew it would be perfect for him.

What I didn't anticipate was how smooth and creamy it would be, no doubt thanks to the sweetened condensed milk. My brother said it was just like eating gelato and after tasting it I would have to agree. Once again my taste buds are pleased but my waist line is not after discovering this easy to make ice cream.

Nutella Ice Cream

• 10.5 oz heavy whipping cream
• 6 oz sweetened condensed milk
• ¼ cup nutella
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Whip the heavy cream on medium to high speed until soft peaks form.
2. Combine the sweetened condensed milk, nutella, cocoa powder, and vanilla.
3. Add a large spoonful of the whipped cream to the nutella mixture and stir to loosen it up. 
4. Using a spatula, fold the nutella mixture into the whipped cream until no streaks remain. Pour into a seal-able container and put in the freezer for at least 6 hours or long enough for the ice cream to set.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookies

I haven't baked cookies in a while and when I saw this recipe it instantly appealed to me because it promised for the softest cookies ever. Also I thought they looked cool with the light and dark combination of peanut butter and chocolate.

Between the two cookie halves I preferred the chocolate side to the peanut butter and I think that in the future I might just make the chocolate part as its own cookie. However it was fun to bite into the cookie directly in the middle and experience both flavors at once. My family was surprised when I made them and said they could eat all of them, meaning I wasn't baking them for any event or meeting but rather just for us to enjoy. Granted with two different cookies squished together they turned out much larger than my usual cookie but indulgence is nice every once in a while.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookies
Note: This recipe makes 3 dozen very large cookies.

For the chocolate dough:

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup + 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 cup chocolate chips

1. Cream the butter and sugars together with a hand or stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. 
2. Beat in the egg and vanilla until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. 
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. 
4. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ones. With a spoon or rubber spatula, mix in the milk and then fold in the chocolate chips. 

For the peanut butter dough:

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• ½ cup brown sugar 
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• ¾ cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1¼ cups flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips

1. Cream the butter and sugars together with a hand or stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.
2. Mix in the peanut butter, egg, and vanilla, in that order, and scrape down the sides as needed.
3. Slowly mix in the baking soda and flour. Then fold in the chocolate chips. 

To Assemble:
Note: I found it easiest to roll out all of the chocolate balls first, then the peanut butter, and then to put them together.

1. Allow both doughs to chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours to make assembly easier.
2. Measure out about 2 tbsp of each dough and roll into a ball. 
3. Squish the two balls together and roll into one large ball. Repeat with the remaining dough and place the cookies about 2" apart on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
4. Bake the cookies for 11-13 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit or until they start to crack on top. They may still look a little under baked but it is important to take them out of the oven and leave them on the tray as they will continue to bake and "set up".