Peach Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Meringue Buttercream

title says it all..they aren't very 'peachy' so next time i would add a peach glaze and try making a buttercream with peach puree..they ARE very good and fluffy, just not very peachy

i topped with some cinnamon sugar

now, someone explain to me why my url takes people to some spam site

Dark Chocolate with Marshmallow Buttercream

Another quick post...Just a basic 'one-bowl' chocolate cake with a marshmallow buttercream.  I did the shortcut of buttercream with Fluff, not the same as the usual cooked marshmallow frosting.

The cakes came out with perfect domes!

Another Strawberry Attempt

This time I made a strawberry cake, complete with fresh strawberry chunks and a strawberry swiss meringue buttercream.  I love making this type of frosting, it takes a bit more time but its so much *more* than a traditional buttercream. 

The batter on this batch did overflow and normally I would redo (because overflowing cupcakes tend to bother me) but I was exhausted and had to accept the uneven cakes.  The buttercream came out great but I have a feeling the strawberries were a bit too tart.  I guess we will see how these go over with the crowd tomorrow.

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

These were made at the last minute, I haven't had the urge to bake lately.  Warm weather always bums me out because it messes up my bake times and flattens my buttercreams. :(

These were a white cake, which ended up browning too much, fresh strawberry filling and vanilla buttercream frosting.  The frosting was a bit too soft so they are in the fridge stiffening up a bit before serving.

Happy Memorial Day!

Lemon Cream Cupcakes

I am always paranoid about trying new recipes, mostly because I never know how they will rise during the baking process. I filled 3/5 full, as I do most recipes, but this one could have used a tablespoon more of batter since they did not rise much. I made a lemon cake with a light lemon-vanilla cream filling, topped with a lemon buttercream. I whipped the hell out of the butter today and it came out perfectly fluffy!

 I topped with my favorite white sprinkles and yellow sugar, yay! I'm getting better with a piping bag, I swear :P

Banana Pineapple Bread

I swear I am done with bananas for a while now :)

I was going to use a faithful Paula Deen Banana Bread recipe, then I remembered there was a Disney World Banana Bread recipe...turns out they were the same...then I thought 'hmm, I wonder if I could make this into a Hummingbird sort of loaf' and enter the pineapple!  I debated on the coconut, maybe next time

and Finished (this recipe does produce a darker bread, the hole is from me poking it with a fork)

Banana Pineapple Bread         makes 2 loaves

* 1 cup butter, melted
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 cups sugar
* 3 cups flour
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 teaspoons water
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* 24 medium ripe and mashed bananas
* 8-10 oz crushed pineapples, drained  (smaller cans are 8 oz, i had a 20oz can so I split it in half, obviously)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease two loaf pans (i even grease my silicon, whatever)

 Sift together flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon, set aside.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one.
Add water and butter.
Add bananas, vanilla and pineapple — Mix well.
Fold in flour mixture until well incorporated.
Grease 2 loaf pans and divide batter equally between the 2 pans.
Bake for 60-65 minutes or until center of loaf is firm and a toothpick inserted to the center comes out clean.

Banana and Strawberry Whoopie Pies

Can you see a pattern yet?  When my produce starts to die, I turn it into something.  I always have bananas on hand, and this week, strawberries.  I've already pureed and stuck the remaining in the freezer, stay tuned for later in the week.

I am already growling at the oven, I never have any luck with whoopie pies when it comes to spreading..The first tray came out nice, the second tray blobbed together

Finished!

The first, good tray

The bad tray, grr

Banana Cakes         about 12 whole whoopie pies

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 medium mashed bananas
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip butter and sugars until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add 1 egg and vanilla, mix until combined.  Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl, set aside.  Combine bananas and buttermilk in bowl, set aside.  Add banana mixture into butter mixture, alternating with dry mixture.  Do this in 2-3 turns until well combined.  Pipe out batter onto tray about 1 1/4 inch dollops, keep cakes at least 1 1/2 apart (more if possible).  Bake for 12-14 minutes until golden.

Strawberry Buttercream Filling

• 2 sticks butter, room temp
• 1/3 cup strawberry puree (or preserves)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Whip butter until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add vanilla and puree, whip until combined.  Add powdered sugar slowly until combined.  Add more or less, depending on consistency.  Pipe onto cakes and sandwich.  Dust with powdered sugar or chocolate drizzle. Refrigerate until ready to serve.