Strawberry Whoopie Pies

Stawberries have such a fun, summery vibe that I thought it would be cute to add little gingham printed fondant hearts on top of each little pie.

                                            Fondant hearts painted in gingham print with food coloring

This recipe is adapted from Baked's Strawberry Whoopie Pie recipe, which is delicious. I wanted my version to be bright pink and girly to pay homage to the strawberry cake mix cakes I loved so dearly as a kid.

For the Strawberry Whoopie Pies (makes about 20 mini whoopie pie sandwiches)
Adapted from Baked's Strawberry Whoopie Pie recipe
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups AP Flour
2 tbsp dehydrated strawberries (ground into fine powder)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup fresh strawberry puree
2 large egg whites

Directions
Sift flour, powdered strawberry, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl, and set aside.

Put sugar and oil in a large bowl and mix well, using a whisk to break up any lumps in sugar. Whisk in strawberry puree and sour cream until combined, then whisk in egg whites, one at a time, just until combined. Fold in flour mixture in two parts, being careful not to overwork the batter. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°. Using a pastry bag, pipe 1.5 inch diameter circles, spacing about 2 inches apart. Working in batches, bake until cookies are set and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, 8-10 minutes (longer if you do large pies). Remove cookies from oven; cool completely.
TIP: The batter is fairly thick, so you may want to wet your index finger and smooth tops of batter before baking to prevent bumpy cookie tops.

For the cream cheese strawberry filling:
2 sticks unsalted butter
1/2 block cream cheese
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste or extract
1/2 cup diced strawberries (chop into fine pieces using food processor)
2-3 drops Americolor Deep Pink food coloring

Whip butter in stand mixer fitted with battle attachment. Add cream cheese and then slowly add confectioner's sugar. If mixture is too thick, add a splash of milk to make it easier to mix. Add vanilla and food coloring- mix well. Add in strawberries last and mix just until combined.

To assemble:

Pipe filling on one side of each cookie to create "sandwiches." Decorate as desired.

Shirley Temple Cupcakes

This is my second version of a Shirley Temple Cupcake (the first version was not documented on Pixie Crust). I wanted to make another version because i wasn't completely satisfied with the first recipe.

This version is a white cake with a hint of lime filled with pomegranate curd and topped with Shirley Temple flavored swiss meringue buttercream. In case you didn't know (as I didn't for a very long time) grenadine actually has a pomegranate base, not cherry.

For the Cupcakes:
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
2 tsp lime zest
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp lemon juice
6 large egg whites
3 cups sifted cake flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract or paste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees* (I baked my cupcakes at 325 degrees because my oven gets crazy hot, but just as a tip, I generally find that baking cakes at slightly under 350 degrees makes for better results)

Cream together the sugar and butter, beating with paddle attachment for at least 3-4 minutes.

In the meantime, sift the cake flour with the baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Add in the vanilla, zests, and juice.

Combine sour cream, water, and egg whites in bowl and lightly whisk.

Add in the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar in 3 parts, alternating with the sour cream and egg white mixture. Mix after each addition, but do not over mix. Scrape the sides of the mixing bowl and bottom to be sure that the sugar and butter is all incorporated.

Divide batter evenly into cupcake liners and bake in oven for 20-25 minutes, alternating halfway through. The cupcakes are done when they spring back to the touch.

PS: I added pink food coloring to my cake batter, hence you may notice the cupcakes are not "white" like a true white cake. I wasn't that happy with the color after they baked, so I recommend not adding any additional coloring to the cake.

For the Pomegranate curd
1 1/2 cups POM pomegranate juice
Juice from 3 limes
1 1/2 Tsp lime zest
1 1/4 cups sugar
7 egg yolks
1/2 stick up butter, cut into pieces
5 drops red or dark pink food coloring

Combine pomegranate juice, lime juice and zest, sugar, and egg yolks in a medium sauce pan set over low-medium heat. Continually whisk and gradually increase heat to medium. Cook until mixture has thickened enough to coat back of a spoon. Turn heat off. Add butter and stir until fully melted. Add food coloring. Pour mixture through fine mesh sieve and place plastic wrap directly on top of the curd to prevent a skin from forming. Allow to cool for at least 2 hours before use. Mixture will thicken more as it chills.

NOTE: The curd will turn brown without food coloring due to the color of the POM juice and how its effected by being cooked with egg yolk, so the coloring is purely for aesthetics.

For the Shirley Temple Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

4 egg whites
2/3 cups sugar
3 sticks butter, unsalted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup grenadine (you may need to add more to taste- I kept adding until it tasted like a Shirley Temple)
3 tbsp sprite
1 tsp lime zest
4-5 drops Americolor Deep Pink food coloring

Combine egg whites and sugar in a heat proof mixing bowl and place over saucepan of simmering water. Continually whisk until sugar is dissolved and mixture reaches 160 degrees on a candy thermometer. Place mixing bowl on a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and continually whisk until mixture is thick and fully cooled. Add butter, piece by piece, mixing well after each addition. Switch to a paddle attachment and beat for another 2-3 minutes. Add grenadine, sprite and lime zest.

To assemble:
Core each cupcake using a small paring knife. Use a pastry bag to pipe curd inside cupcake, or use a small spoon. Once each cupcake is filled, pipe frosting on the top of each and place a maraschino cherry on top (be sure to pat them down on a paper towel before use so they don't drip juice on the frosting).

Passion Fruit Macarons & Blackberry Macarons

I bought two items this past week that I'm so in love with...

1. A Silpat
2. Passion Fruit Puree

I go nuts for passion fruit desserts- passion fruit just gives such a nice tangy, tropical tone to creamy deserts.

As for the siplats, I love not having to cut parchment paper to fit my baking sheets (yay!) Plus I feel kind of French and legit using one.

I generally really enjoy making macarons filled with ganache or buttercream, but this time around, I thought it would be nice to make some with fruit based fillings. The blackberry french macarons are filled with a really easy to make homemade blackberry jam and the passion fruit french macarons are filled with a passion fruit curd.

For the Macaron Shells (makes about 35 cookie shells)
Ingredients
3/4 cup almond flour
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 egg whites
1 pinch cream of tartar
a few drops of food coloring

Directions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Sift almond flour and confectioner's sugar 2 times. Set aside. Whisk egg whites on low-medium until foamy. Add a SMALL pinch of cream of tartar. Whisk on medium-high until whites are whipped and have soft peaks. Slowly add in 1/4 cup sugar and food coloring, continuously whisking until whites form stiff peaks. TIP: Whites should form a peak on the whisk attachment, but should not be whisked to the point that they are too stiff to fall off the whisk when tapped on the mixing bowl. Sift dry ingredients over egg whites in three parts- do not stir, but fold gently with a rubber spatula into egg whites. Continue folding batter until it "ribbons" off rubber spatula.

Scoop batter into a 14-16 inch pastry bag fitted with a medium round tip. Pipe circles onto parchment paper lined baking sheets (or use silpat).

After piping, hit baking sheet on the counter a few times to remove air bubbles. Allow cookies to sit for 15-30 minutes before baking so that they form a protective "skin." This step also helps to avoid cracking.

As I often put out as a disclaimer, my oven is old and gets really, really hot. I baked these macarons at 275 degrees and had a few crack. Generally, I start baking at around 250, or even a little lower. After they appear to be set and a foot begins forming, I increase the oven temperature to around 275 degrees. Bake about 15-20 minutes (depending on how hot your oven is), until you can lightly touch the cookie and it doesn't slide (the foot is stiff and baked through).

Allow shells to fully cool before filling. For best taste, allow macarons to meld with filling at least overnight and preferably 1-2 days.

For the Passion Fruit Curd (recipe from Martha Stewart)

Makes 2 cups

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened passion-fruit puree
6 large egg yolks
1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Directions

Combine sugar, passion-fruit puree, and egg yolks in a medium saucepan, and place over medium heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until thick enough to coat back of spoon, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter, piece by piece, until melted. Cool, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed (will keep in fridge up to 3 days).

For the Blackberry Jam:

-8 oz fresh blackberries
-2/3 cup granulated sugar
-1 tsp grand marnier (optional)
-1 tsp orange zest
-1 tsp orange fresh orange juice
-splash of lemon or lime juice

Puree blackberries in blender and strain mixture with sieve. Combine blackberry puree with all other ingredients in small saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil, skimming any foam off of the top that surfaces. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Mixture will thicken as it cools.

Pudding filled Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes

Happy Seis de Mayo!
This year, it was a very tough decision on what to make for Cinco de mayo, but I decided on Mexican chocolate cupcakes with a Mexican chocolate pudding center. I tossed around a few other flavor ideas that I think I will ultimately save for Dia de Los Muertos (can’t wait to use my sugar skull molds!)
These cupcakes are moist chocolate cake filled with a very simple to make Mexican pudding and topped with Mexican chocolate swiss meringue buttercream.

For the Cupcakes (Yields 24 cupcakes):

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
3 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup boiling water

Sift the flour and set aside. Whip the butter in an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment until creamy. Add the granulated sugar and then the brown sugar to the butter and mix for 2-3 minutes. Add in the eggs one at a time. Continue mixing until light and fluffy.

Add the vanilla extract and melted baking chocolate. Mix in the baking soda last.

Add the flour in batches, alternating with sour cream. Mix on medium until well combined- do not over mix!

Lastly, remove the bowl from the mixer stand. Add in the boiling water and hand stir until combined.

Bake for 25-35 minutes, until cake springs back to the touch and/or an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

For the Mexican Chocolate Pudding Filling (adapted from Epicurious):
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
5 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon (or more to taste)
2 cups vanilla rice milk
2 cups whole milk
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp vanilla extract
Whisk together brown sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt in a heavy medium saucepan, then whisk in milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking often. Then boil, whisking for about 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla. Chill in a bowl, surface covered with a piece of buttered wax paper, until cold, at least 1 1/2 hours.
NOTE: Pudding may develop a skin while chilling in fridge. If so, you can simply scrape it off before using to fill cupcakes.

For the Mexican chocolate swiss meringue buttercream:
Ingredients
4 egg whites (Large or Extra Large eggs)
3 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
Chocolate Ganache flavoring
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 oz semi-sweet or dark chocolate
2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
½ cup heavy cream
1 tbsp unsalted butter

Make the ganache. Heat ½ cup whipping cream in small sauce pan until sides are bubbly. Turn off the heat and add the chocolate, whisking to hasten the melting process. Once all of the chocolate is fully melted, add 1 tbsp butter and whisk until combined. Put bowl in fridge (or freezer if you’re short on time) to cool.

Make the swiss meringue buttercream. Combine egg whites and sugar in a heat safe mixing bowl. Place mixing bowl inside a saucepan filled with boiling/simmering water. Whisk together over heat until sugar fully dissolves and mixture measure 160 degrees on a candy thermometer. Beat egg whites and sugar with mixer fitted with whisk attachment until mixture has a thick, meringue-like texture and is fully cooled. Add the butter in pieces, mixing well after each addition. Once butter is all added and mixed, switch to paddle attachment and beat for an additional 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and chocolate ganache and mix until fully combined.

To assemble the cupcakes:
Core each cupcake using a paring knife. If cake is crumbly, put cupcakes in the freezer for about 15 minutes so they’re easier to core. After all of the cupcakes are cored, pipe pudding into each cupcake and frost with swiss meringue buttercream as desired.

Vanilla Bean French Macarons with Fresh Raspberries

I love French Macarons. They're petite, pretty, and so versatile. For this version, both the cookie and the swiss meringue buttercream the cookies are filled with are made with vanilla bean.

One of my favorite baking items right now is Nielsen-Massey Madagascar vanilla bean paste. Using vanilla bean paste is so much easier and economical than whole vanilla beans.

I also love the look (and taste!) of fresh berries in desserts.

For the Macaron Shells: (For directions, see this post)

Ingredients
3/4 cup almond flour
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 egg whites, at room temp and aged for at least 24 hours
1 pinch cream of tartar
1/2 tbsp vanilla bean paste, or 1/2 of the seeds from a vanilla bean

*NOTE: For this recipe, I made the cookies a bit larger than a typical French Macaron with a ganache/buttercream/jam filling

For the Swiss Meringue Butter Cream:
2 egg whites
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Generous 1/2 tbsp vanilla bean paste
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (at room temp)

Combine egg whites and sugar in heat-safe mixing bowl. Fill a saucepan 1/3 way full of water and bring to a simmer. Make sure that the mixing bowl fits inside the pan nicely because if the pan is too big, water will splash and it could get dangerous! Place mixing bowl into pan and whisk sugar and whites together until sugar is fully dissolved and mixture is slightly frothy. Transfer mixing bowl to stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Whisk on medium-high until mixture is fully cooled and has a thick, meringue-like texture. Add the butter a piece at a time, mixing well after each addition. Switch to a paddle attachment, add vanilla bean, and beat for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Assembling the Macarons:

Spread a very thin layer of butter cream on one shell. Add four small dollops of butter cream onto four edges of cookie. Place a raspberry on each each of the cookie (you can cut them lengthwise if they look to large or awkward inside the cookie). Sandwich the cookie together and pipe small dollops of frosting in spaces between raspberries. Apply edible gold glimmer dust with a dry paintbrush, lightly covering entire top cookie. Place a small dollop of buttercream on the top of a raspberry and stick on top of cookie. Lastly, dip paintbrush in gold dust again and flick on top of cookie and raspberry.

Sparkling Mariposa Alfajores (Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies)

This was my first time making dulce de leche and I must say, it’s pretty amazing that this confection comes out of such simple ingredients as milk, sugar, and a bit of baking soda. While the ingredients and technique are very simple in making this treat, it is time consuming. I suggest making it a couple of days in advance and then making the cookies and putting them together another day.

I chose to make the cookies butterfly or “mariposa” shaped, but you could certainly do any shape such as a flower, heart, or the standard circle.

For the cookies (recipe courtesy of Marcus Samuelsson)

Alfajores (Dulce de Leche Cookie Sandwiches) Recipe
Makes 20 round cookies and 30 butterfly cookies

Ingredients:
1⅔ cups cornstarch
1¼ cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
⅔ cup sugar
10 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon cognac or brandy
½ tsp. lemon zest
4 egg yolks
1 cup chopped milk or dark chocolate, for dipping cookies

Heat oven to 350°. In a bowl, sift together cornstarch, flour, and baking powder; set aside. In a mixer fitted with a paddle, beat together sugar and butter until fluffy. Add cognac and zest; beat. Add yolks one at a time; beat. Add dry ingredients; mix. Transfer dough to a floured surface, knead briefly; divide into 3 pieces. Working with 1 dough piece at a time, roll dough to 1/4″ thickness. Using a cookie cutter of your choice, cut out cookies; transfer to parchment paper—lined baking sheets, spaced 1″ apart. Reroll scraps and repeat. Bake until golden (about 10 minutes for smaller cookies and 12-15 for larger shaped ones). Let cool.

For the Dulce de Leche (recipe courtesy of Alton Brown)
Ingredients
• 1 quart whole milk
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped OR 1-2 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Combine milk and sugar in a 3-4 qt sauce pan. Simmer over low-medium heat until sugar is fully dissolved. Switch to low heat and add the baking soda. Mixture will begin to foam. As the mixture slowly caramelizes, it will continue to foam throughout- scrape the foam off of the top of the mixture (DO NOT REINCORPORATE), being careful to not discard any of the liquid with the foam. Stir occasionally as mixture cooks. Continually cook mixture over low heat, following the same process of scraping/removing foam from top and stirring for about 2 hours. Remove mixture from heat once it’s reached a dark caramel color and thick consistency (should be reduced to about a cup- it will thicken slightly more once cooled). Before dulce de leche is cooled, pour through a sieve to ensure smoothness. Allow to cool before filling cookies. Mixture can be stored in fridge for about 2 weeks, however, for best results, use within one week of making (sometimes it can crystallize in the fridge).

To assemble the alfajores:

Put about a teaspoon of dulce de leche between two cookies and sandwich together. Once all of the cookies are assembled, place back onto a baking sheet and place in freezer for about 30 minutes (to ease the dipping process).

Melt 1 cup of semi-sweet or dark chocolate in double boiler. Dip the top and sides of each cookie and place on wax paper lined baking sheet to harden. Once cookies are completely dry (you can put them in the fridge after dipping to speed the process). Decorate as desired.

Andes Mint Chocolate Cupcake

I actually made these Andes Mint Chocolate cupcakes the same day as the Peanut Butter Ball cupcakes. My office mate and friend asked me if I would make cupcakes on Friday, either a peanut butter chocolate cupcake, or a mint chocolate cupcake, so I decided to do half and half. If you want to make a couple of flavors of cupcakes for a party or special event, these are two good recipes to use together to make less work for you, and give your guests two equally delicious, but different options.

These cupcakes are a chocolate cake base, filled with Andes chocolate ganache (made with actual Andes mints) and topped with a white chocolate mint swiss meringue buttercream. I prefer using swiss meringue buttercream when the rest of the cupcake (i.e. ganache) is on the richer side of the spectrum, rather than using a heavier American or French buttercream.

For the cupcakes- refer to chocolate cake recipe used in Peanut Butter Ball Cupcakes.

For the Andes Mint Ganache:

-2 4.67 ounce packages Andes Parfait Thins (56 mints)
-1 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
-1-2 ounces good quality dark, semi-sweet, or bittersweet chocolate
-1 cup cream
1 tbsp butter

HINT: I used a mixture of chocolate because I didn't want the ganache to be overwhelmingly sweet or minty, but Andes mints are pretty well balanced, so you should be able to simply use 2.5 packages of just the mints if you don't have other chocolate on hand.

Heat the cream in a small saucepan placed on the stove on medium-low heat. When the cream becomes bubbly on the sides of the pan, turn the heat off. Stir in the chocolate. Once totally smooth, add the butter and stir until fully mixed. Set aside to cool.

For the White Chocolate Ganache:

-4 oz good quality white chocolate
-1/2 cup cream
-1 tbsp butter

Follow same process as above, but place in fridge immediately after making so that mixture becomes cold and more solidified.


For the White Chocolate Mint Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

-4 large egg whites
-2/3 cup granulated sugar
-3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
-White Chocolate Ganache
-2 tsp mint extract
-blue and green food coloring (I used one drop teal Americolor and two drops green)

NOTE: If you have or can find creme de menthe extract or liqueur, it would be tasty to use that instead of plain mint extract. Also, in that case, you could probably just leave out the white chocolate and skip a step without skimping on Andes flavor.

Fill a saucepan halfway with water and bring to a light boil. Combine egg whites and sugar in heat proof mixing bowl and place mixing bowl in simmering water. Whisk mixture together over heat until sugar is fully dissolved and it measures 160 degrees on a candy thermometer. Place mixing bowl on stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Whisk until mixture forms a fluffy meringue and is fully cooled. Mix in butter a piece at a time, whisking well after each addition. Switch to a paddle attachment and mix for an additional 1-2 minutes. Add the mint extract, cold white chocolate ganache, and food coloring and mix for another minute.

To assemble the cupcakes:

Core each cooled cupcake with a paring knife. Cut the corner off of a large freezer bag (or use a pastry bag without a tip) and fill bag with ganache. Pipe ganache into the cavity of each cupcake. Pipe frosting onto each cupcake and decorate as desired.