Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

I went to Costco this week and came upon a magazine titled " Cupcakes, 150 sweet recipes". Needless to say I just had to have it. I came home and showed it to Dear Husband, who immediately  chose Boston Cream Pie Cupcake- you can take a man out of Boston but you can't take Boston out the man! So I very happily complied and made it as our weekend treat- it takes us several days to eat anything since it's just the two of us, we start to eat a dessert on Saturday and it pretty much lasts all week. 

The final product was good, but I think I overcooked the filling, it was too much like pudding, I will try and get it to be creamier next time. 

Vanilla Cupcakes- the base for the Boston Cream Pies

1/2 cup butter- at room temperature

1 egg- at room temperature

2 egg yolks- at room temperature

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup whipping cream

1. Allow butter, egg, and egg yolks to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, line twelve 2 1/2-inch muffin cups with paper bake cups. If using vanilla bean, use small knife to scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean; set seeds aside. In a small bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. 

2. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, beating on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape sides of the bowl. Add egg, egg yolks, vanilla bean seeds ( or the 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract), and the 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; beat until combined. Alternately add flour mixture and whipping cream to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined ( batter will be thick). 

3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each about three-fourths full. Use the back of a spoon to smooth out batter in cups. 

4. Bake about 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in muffin cups on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from muffin cups. Cool completely on wire racks.

Boston Cream Pies

3 egg yolks

1/3 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/3 cups milk

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

12 vanilla cupcakes

1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces

1/2 cup whipping cream

1. For vanilla cream, in a small bowl lightly beat egg yolks; set aside. In a medium saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch. Whisk in milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 more minutes. 

2. Gradually ad about 1 cup of the hot mixture to the egg yolks, stirring constantly. Return all of the mixture to the saucepan. Cook and stir until bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in butter until melted. Stir in vanilla. Cover surface with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours. 

3. To assemble, using a serrated knife, cut each Vanilla Cupcake horizontally in half. Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of the vanilla cream onto the cut side of each cupcake bottom. Replace cupcake tops. Place cupcake on a wire rack set over waxed paper - or you can be lazy like me and set it straight on the serving platter- it gets a little messy but it works. 

4. For ganache, melt  chocolate chips and cream on a double boiler, over medium heat, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

5. Spoon ganache over cupcakes. Let stand just until chocolate is set. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving.

Satisfying but not too sweet, cream needs to be cooked less in order to be creamier.

They were excellent with ice-cream.

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Strawberry is by far my favorite fruit, I love how versatile it is. One can make smoothies, pies, ice-creams, cakes, cupcakes...the possibilities are endless. I tried this new recipe this past weekend and was pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out, just sweet enough, smooth texture, yum! It's a keeper for sure. 

Ingredients: 

- 1/2 package refrigerated pie crust, or your favorite homemade recipe

- 1 cup sugar

- 5 tablespoons cornstarch

- 7 ounces ( about 1 cup) Sprite

- 1 quart sliced strawberries

Directions: 

Place dough in a pie plate, removing excess edge and poking holes on it with a fork to prevent it from rising. Bake it in a pre-heated, 425F oven for about 13-14 minutes, until browned.

For the filling, blend sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan; add Sprite and cook stirring until smooth and thick. You can add red food coloring if desired, I did and it looked great! Add strawberries and cook for five minutes. Pour into cooled pie shell and cool. Top with whipped cream.

Fresh strawberry pie, easy and delicious!

Fresh strawberry pie and premium vanilla ice cream. Oh So Sweet!

Premium Vanilla Ice Cream

Readers be warned: this is an extremely rich and sweet ice-cream!!! Eat at your own risk! Dear Husband swears it's just like Amy's, if you are from Austin, TX you know what he means!

Ingredients: 

3 cups heavy cream

1 whole vanilla bean

2 large eggs

3 large egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

Directions: 

Put cream in a medium saucepan. With a sharp knife split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Use the blunt edge to scrape out the "seeds". Stir the seeds and bean pod into the cream, bring it to a slow boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer it for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Combine the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar in a medium bowl. Mix it on medium speed until the mixture is thick, smooth and pale yellow in color, about 2 minutes.

Remove the vanilla bean pod from the cream. Pour out 1 cup of hot liquid. With the mixer on low speed, add the cup of hot cream to the egg mixture on slow steady stream. When thoroughly combined, pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan and stir to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium low heat until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain it into a bowl, cover with a sheet of plastic wrap placed directly on the custard, and chill completely. 

Turn your ice-cream machine on, pour the chilled custard into the freezer bowl and let mix until thickened, about 25-30 minutes. 

Transfer the ice cream into a bowl with a lid on, put it in the freezer for hardening, about 4-6 hours depending on the freezer's temperature. 

Premium vanilla ice cream being served with strawberry pie.

Vanilla bean- it can be found in the spice aisle of your grocery store, or online. Or you might have a great mother-in-law who travels to Mexico and brings back all sorts of fabulous gourmet foods :-)

Scraping out the seeds.

What the seeds look like after being removed from the pod.

Vanilla seeds, bean and cream simmering.

Pouring the soon-to-be ice cream into the machine.

Scooping out the ice cream onto a container, ready to go into the freezer for hardening.

Oatmeal-Cranberry Cookies

On Friday our Relay for Life ( to fight against cancer) team at school ( well, work for me, as I am a teacher) is hosting a fundraiser, where we will be selling a taco salad with dessert, and all the proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society. I volunteered to bake the desserts, as this is something I enjoy. I will bring these cookies, chocolate-caramel cake and coconut cream pie, which I will bake tomorrow night. I couple of friends stopped by while I was baking the cookies, they tried them and said they were delicious! I certainly think so :-)

This recipe yields about 3 dozen cookies. 

Ingredients:

- 2 cups all-purpose flour

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 1 teaspoon baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon table salt

- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

- 1 cup sugar

- 1 cup brown sugar

- 2 eggs

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- 3 cups oats ( not instant)

- 1 cup dried cranberries ( or raisins)

- 6 oz. good-quality white chocolate chips

Directions: 

Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl, set aside. 

Cream butter, both sugars, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl with a mixer until light and fluffy( about 5 minutes). Add flour mixture, stir until completely blended. 

Fold the oats ( by hand, do not use mixer), cranberries, and white chocolate into the dough until evenly distributed. 

Drop the dough into 3 tablespoons mounds ( a #40 cookie scoop if you have one) onto baking sheets covered with parchment paper, spacing about 2 inches apart. 

Bake for 11-13, or until golden but still a little moist. Let cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack. 

Enjoy!!!

Fresh out of the oven, notice the parchment paper lining the baking sheet.

If you forget to soften your butter before hand, like I did, just beat it with a rolling pin about three times, then turn it over and repeat on all sides about five times.

Great stress reliever!

When the butter/sugar mixture is ready it will lighten in color and drip easily. You should not see any pieces of butter.

Folding in the oats, add cup by cup and fold in gently.

My favorite part- the chocolate! Make sure it's real chocolate, not almond bark.

It will be hard to mix it at this point, be patient and gentle.