Day Late, Dollar Short? Move over cupcakes

Is anyone really a true-original artist anymore? This topic has been brought up many times in my colorful and creative household. Do cooks and bakers really create revolutionary, history making delectables anymore? I say who cares. Taking that beloved recipe from grandma and changing it up a wee bit doesn't make make you a genius but it sure as hell makes you feel like one for a bit when it comes out right.

The cupcake has been brought back to life over and over again. Sex and the City, and our favorite 4 singles, literally put Magnolia Bakery on the map. Before you knew it, cupcake shops were popping up all over the city. Then, again to reinvent the scene, came the cupcake trucks, the mini cupcake gals, and of course, the cupcake reality shows. Seemed like everyone who was into baking was suddenly a cupcake genius.

Don't get me wrong, I can not pass a good cupcake ever.. 

A few years ago, there was a bit of an uprising in the food nation. After everyone got on the band wagon for reinventing the cupcake, there was an uproar for something new. Something to distract us from the yet another cupcake shop.

But, somewhere tucked in the madness of reinventing something that has been around since 1796, according to Wikipedia, there was a bit of a calling for something a bit different. I bring you the Whoopie Pie.

According to the book "Whoopie Pies" by Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwell, whoopie pies hail from the Northeast region. They are a mix between cake and cookie. I like to call them an inside out cupcake. Soft pillowy cake, shaped like a cookie with the most amazing fluffy frosting in between. No wrappers, no nonsense.. I dare you to eat just one. 

If you remember, I had a post last November about pumpkin whoopie pies, with Maple Frosting. Do NOT MISS THOSE for the fall..

But this time I went for the classic. Chocolate with Marshmallow Cream Filling...

Sadly, I don't think that the push to overthrow the cupcake kings with whoopie pies has actually caught on, and I may have missed the bandwagon all together, but in our house, these are staying on the menu :)

Classic Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Marshmallow Cream
**Tip- these are best eaten same day. You can store in an air tight container for up to one week, or you can freeze up to a month. If they last that long.

Cake Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coffee 
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter- at room temperature
• 4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
• 1 (packed) cup dark brown sugar
• *I actually used Splenda dark brown sugar and it came out perfect. Just use 1/2 cup instead. (bonus!)
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup milk

Filling Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups marshmallow Fluff
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable shortening
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Method

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 

Line two baking sheets wit h parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl beat together the butter, shortening, and brown sugar. Beat until fluffy- 3 mins.

Add the egg and vanilla for another 2 mins.

Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk to the batter and beat on low until just incorporated. Scrape down sides of the bowl. Add the remaining flour mixture and milk and beat until completely smooth.

Using a tablespoon, drop batter on to baking sheets. Space them about 2 inches apart. 

Bake about 10 mins or until pies spring bake with pressed gently.

Remove and let cool completely .

Makes about 48 two inch cakes for 24 pies.

Filling:

Add all ingredients to bowl and mix together.

Scoop mixture into empty Gallon Freezer back. Snip one corner off bag and pipe the frosting onto 1/2 of pie. Sandwich to make complete pie.

Alternatively: you can spread the frosting with a butter knife or offset spatula. I just like having one less dish to wash at this point..

Enjoy

Don't tell my Aunt (Jemima) that I found someone new.

I love found new recipes in a pinch. While I will admit, my last few postings have revolved around breakfast meals, it's too good not to share. And hey, don't the experts say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

My day's during the week are pretty fast and furious. I am often up and out the door in about 30 mins, barely having enough time to fix my own food basket for the day let alone get food in the munchkins bellies. I rely on my husband and mother in law to help ;which they thankfully do).

So I have been on a mission to find wholesome (not jacked up with preservatives) breakfasts that are fast and well frankly no thinking required for my husband.  One of my favorites is pancakes. Once I got this recipe, I decided to never go back. It's fast, easy, and all ingredients I can pronounce. Best part, I make up a huge batch on a Sunday morning and then freeze the one's we don't finish. These babies will last in a freezer safe baggie for well over 2 months at least. We have never been able to really make it past that point before finishing them.

These pancakes have all the ingredients you probably already have in the cupboard and it costs pennies on the dollar. You tell me which sounds better?

Aunt Jemima's Ingredients

ENRICHED BLEACHED FLOUR (BLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), SUGAR, LEAVENING (SODIUM BICARBONATE, SODIUM ALUMINUM PHOSPHATE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE), SALT, CALCIUM CARBONATE (A SOURCE OF CALCIUM).

Or our recipe:

Makes about 18 small pancakes

Prep Time: 5 mins

Total Time: 10 mins

Heat pankcake griddle to 350 degrees or use hot frying pan with 1 tablespoon butter or vegetable oil.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons melted butter (4 if using pan) *use 3 in recipe and 1 for pan
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

1. Beat egg until fluffy.

2. Add milk and melted margarine.

3. Add dry ingredients and mix well.

4. Heat a heavy griddle or fry pan which is greased with a little butter on a paper towel. Or heat pancake griddle and skip greasing..

5. The pan/griddle is hot enough when a drop of water breaks into several smaller balls which 'dance' around the pan.

6. Pour a small amount of batter onto pan/griddle. I like to use a pyrex measuring cup or other pourable cup.

7. Flip over when you see the surface of pancakes start to bubble and break.

Result..

See for yourself

When Mother's Cupboard is bare..

Earlier this year, when the weather turned warm and the flowers began to bloom, I had gotten the itch to start working on our yard. It's pretty barren. Years of neglect from the previous owners, a major renovation and two busy parents has only added to the problem. My husband and I are trying our best, well we were, to chip away in a very DIY style, at making it look like the oasis we know it can be.

How far did we get? Not far. In fact, despite my motivation most of our plants in the front of the house have dried to a crisp with our scorching summer. We will have to try again.

BUT, I did have some success with 4 little plants in the back yard (lavender, rosemary, basil and some daisies), and since then, I have a liking to the survivors and forgotten about my hydrangeas. I hope both of my kids end up to be strong, would hate to have to cultivate one and not the other.. Just kidding. :)

 

So, with my itty-bitty plants, I water and pluck and taste my bounty as often as I can.

 

Now that it's high season for tomatoes and such, I turn to my "garden" and find a quick and tasty lunch option that can be thrown together on the way out the door and whipped up at work. Not only is its fresh easy and tasty, it's cheap and my co-workers think I am a culinary genius.

I present...

Work Friendly-Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella Paninis on french baguette.
 Needed work equipment: Toaster Oven
 Ingredients

• 2-4 slices of crusty bread
• 1/2 cup of fresh basil leaves (6-10 leaves)
• 1 Roma or plum tomatoes ( any tomato will do, but plum/Roma are less messy and juicy)
• 3-4 slices of fresh mozzarella
• Optional: cooking spray (can be added to bread before you leave the house)

1. Set toaster to 350 degrees
2. Layer all ingredients on one side of bread with cheese on top- so it melts nicely and anchors the other fixings.
3. Toast for 5 mins or until cheese is melted and toast is golden brown.

Enjoy!

Baked Cinnamon Squares

Such a yummy start to the day. And middle and ending if we are being totally honest..

This morning's challenge was to find something new, simple and yummy for breakfast. I'm not typically a sweets person, but my husband and daughter are. In fact Charlotte just hears the word cake, donut or just plain sweets and her little-fat-2 year old feet come running as fast as she can from wherever she is. 

For this reason, sweets are at a minimum in the house.

I stumbled onto this great recipe a few weeks ago from Cooking with my kid, and thought that it might be a nice alternative to the store bought options and the recipe is really easy, light and surprisingly not chucked full of fat or sugar.

OK, OK.. I know its also not full of any kind of nutrition, but not everything we eat has to be perfect. How else are these kids going to learn Good Karma Balance, if I never show them the dark side?

Since I don't have a donut pan (although these nearly put me in a trance straight to William Sonoma to pick one up) I made them into what I hoped were donut holes. They came out more like squares, so for now, that's what I am calling them.

Prep Time: 10 mins Cooking Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1 egg (lightly beaten)
• 1 6 oz container of non fat organic vanilla bean yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 1/2 tablespoons real maple syrup
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon 
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter (melted)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Toss the cinnamon and sugar together, put into a ziplock bag (shake and bake style) and set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients.

In another bowl stir together oil, lemon juice, maple syrup, egg and yogurt.

Make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the hole.

Gently fold everything together until combined.

The batter will be pretty thick and airy.

With a spoon ice cream scooper drop dough onto greased pan.

If do have a donut pan, fill each pan with dough at this point.

Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Let cool for a few moments and then flip over onto a cooling rack while still warm.

Dip each donut into butter and then place in bag of cinnamon sugar. Shake and place on plate (or directly into mouth)

Makes 6 donuts or 15 squares.

** could use powdered sugar as well.

Results
Love all around! 8 thumbs up.. Jake was more into the plain version so I wish I left more plain. He just didn't want to get messy he said. .