hehe

Iron Cupcake Earth : Cheese

Here's my 1st entry to Iron Cupcake Earth. The challenge this month is CHEESE.
cream cheese would have been so wonderful and easy and delicious, but I wanted to step it up for my first challenge. It is really fun to be part of such an eclectic and lively bunch of bloggers, and I had a good time researching all the different pairings I considered. I'm super happy with this cupcake- so happy that I ate 8 of them in roughly a 24 hour period.....(i have no will power)
The prizes are posted below! (lots of etsy good things included in the prizes)
Voting does not open until the end of the month.

Honey, Lavender and Roasted Fig Cupcakes adapted from Amy Sedaris Vanilla cupcakes and how to eat a cupcake's measurements for just 12 cupcakes.

3/4 stick (6 tbsp) unsalted butter
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup Lavender Sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon wildflower honey
roasted figs cut into sections- see recipe below

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees.
2. In large bowl, cream together butter and sugars.
3. Beat in eggs, vanilla, salt and baking powder.
4. Add flour in 3 batches, alternating with milk.
5. Mix in the Honey
6. Mix until batter is smooth with no lumps. Try not to eat the batter directly from bowl...i know its hard not to.
7. Divide batter evenly. Insert a section of the roasted fig into middle of each cup and smooth batter over the top.
8. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes or until tops are pale gold and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Roasted Figs
Preheat oven to 425
Select plump juicy figs- I like the Brown Turkey figs
Slice the stem off and then cut into quarters.
Lay them in a baking dish and sprinkle with lavender sugar* (the quantity of sugar depends on the sweetness of your figs)
and drizzle generously with honey
Roast for 15 minutes
they should come out looking slightly caramelized with a pinkish thick syrup (so good)
* some specialty spice stores carry lavender sugar or you can make it yourself with fresh food grade lavender buds and scooping a handfull into a 2 cups of sugar. cover with lid and just let it hang out for a few weeks. And you can keep it going by just topping it off every now and then. I baked these cupcakes with the sugar unstrained, so there were some speckles of lavender buds in there. But if you'd like you can run the sugar mixture through a seive to strain out the buds- but put the buds back in your sugar container.

Honey and Fig Goat Cheese Frosting
makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes + extra to dip your left over fresh figs in- so delish!

4 oz mild creamy goat cheese
2 oz cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of roasted figs pureed

bring cream cheese and goat cheese to room temperature and whip it up.
Add honey and then mix in powdered sugar
Finally add the fig puree- if you would like your frosting thicker, decrease the amount of fig puree, as the puree does make for more of an oh so delicious glaze than a thick piping frosting.

Iron Cupcake Earth: Cheese Prizes!

ETSY artist ART ON THE MENU with her awesome little cardboard cupcake, her link is: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5738002 and a pair of cupcake earrings from Lots of Sprinkles at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6057281.
As an added bonus for October only we have a sassy and sweet T from Bakelove Bakewear, http://www.bakelove.com/cupcake_t-shirt.html. Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com; the CUPCAKE COURIER http://www.cupcakecourier.com; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com .

Team Edward

let the countdown to Nov. 21 begin

A place for my pots

I want this kitchen.... for the next dive apartment/house we buy and fix up. This is a great inspiration kitchen to design something along the same lines! (is that ok kev?)
dark wood floors, marble, gas stove, deep drawers , love it all!

This pic came from Domino magazines new book, you can read more about it on design sponge.

No milk, no cream - no problem.

I typically have what I call- "Sweet Tooth Sunday", each Sunday night I make something sweet. Cupcakes, cookies, brownies, or ice cream. Sunday because its usually a lazy day and I bring the left overs to work. Sunday is a "safer day" with minimum time to be left entirely alone with a giant plate of sugar laden goodies and no witnesses.

This Sunday was pretty warm and humid in the house, so I didn't feel like firing up the oven. Ice Cream sounded delish- I could whip up some Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream, or Vanilla Bean no problem. Oh No- wait- I didn't buy milk or cream. No dairy in the house due to my sheer laziness at the grocery store (hey milk is heavy to carry home). My brain had already triggered the ice cream craving and there was no denying it- so I had to think outside of the "ice" box and after a little internet digging I settled on Sorbet- (I can't believe I didn't know there was no dairy in sorbet!)

It turned out surprisingly good- not quite as creamy as ice cream- but very rich with great flavor.
I used the Barefoot Contessa recipe and it was a snap to pull together- I highly recommend it! The cinnamon and espresso give it a gourmet twist and the flavor was outta sight, almost like a mexican hot chocolate taste. It took about 3 minutes to make and then 30 minutes in my ice cream machine (yeah for wedding presents!).

The recipe makes enough for 3 people...or enough for one "Sami" sized portion.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup very good cocoa powder (recommended: Pernigotti) - I used good ol' Hershey's
  
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup brewed espresso (1 shot)
• 11/2 tablespoons coffee liqueur (recommended: Tia Maria) - I used Kahlua
  

Directions

In a large saucepan, mix the sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in 2 cups water and the espresso. Cook over low heat until the ingredients are dissolved. Off the heat, stir in the coffee liqueur. Transfer to plastic containers and refrigerate until very cold.

Freeze the mixture in an ice cream freezer according to the manufacturer's directions. The sorbet will still be soft; place it in a plastic container and freeze for 1 hour or overnight, until firm enough to scoop.

(I ate it straight out of the machine- but you really should let it freeze up a little before enjoying it)

1,2,3,4

Oh this is so cute! I swear I'm not a total puppet freak, however I do have an incredible soft spot for the muppets. Plus this is really well done, Feist, Muppets, counting- what more could a girl want? Maybe some chickens just back from the shore.....