Guest Post from Amy at Fruit Salad Life- Zuke Cuppy Cakes

Hi Guys!  I am so sorry I have been MIA recently but I am just swamped with work and my move!  Luckily my girl Amy has my back.  Check out her guest post below!- Thanks Ames!

Hiiii to all you lovely bakers out there! I’m Amy from over at Fruit Salad Life! Since my girl Jess is beyond swamped with work and moving (yay!) this week, I figured I’d help a sister out and do a guest post for her. Now, first of all…Jess and I go way back in the day. After coming back from abroad my junior year of college, I was shoved into a 4-person single dorm room and Jess and I hit it off right away. Now that we’re finally reunited in the same city, I adore our weekly dates!

Generally, I’m the cook and she’s the baker, but every so often we like to mix it up and try something different. I was channeling her the other day and just needed to bake! I had a couple zucchinis lounging around my fruit bowl and checked in with mah gurl, Martha Stewart, for a good cupcake recipe involving these fine veggies. The result? Pure, unadulterated, baked-good bliss.

Oh and ummmm, let the record show that I yanked mine out of the oven after baking for 3 minutes and had to remix the batter, because I had a total blonde moment. I completely forgot to add baking powder to the mix! MAY-JAH duhhhhh, Amy. But they turned out perfectly nonetheless!

Zuke Cuppy Cakes (makes 12)

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 zucchinis, coarsely grated (1 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease muffin tin and set aside.
2. In a bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
3. In another bowl, combine zucchini, oil, eggs, and vanilla; add to flour mixture, and mix just until combined (do not overmix).
4. Divide batter evenly among cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.
5. Cool in tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes; turn cupcakes out, right side up, and cool completely (I actually stuck my muffin tin straight into the freezer to cool, so I could frost immediately! 

Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons room-temperature unsalted butter
• 4 ounces room-temperature bar cream cheese
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions
In a medium bowl, beat butter and cream cheese together by hand until smooth. Add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla extract; beat until light and fluffy. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Star Fabulous Rating: 9/10

Adventures with Amy and its Everyone's Birthday

Last night I had a fabulous evening with Amy over at Fruit Salad Life that was filled with shopping (both loehmans AND TJMaxx) grocery shopping (my favorite kind), making dinner, baking, and just general girl time hangs.   Ever since Amy moved to NYC I have been overjoyed! She has the best outlook on life and the most upbeat and contagiously happy personality. Last night's adventure was nothing short of wonderful. 


We spent most of the day online gchatting about our evening plans.  As Amy said, we are both planners which allows us to organize very fun activities on our busy busy schedules.  We decided that we could do a little shopping.  Amy was in desperate need for new swim suit bottoms- yay summer!  We hit up Loehmans, which obviously meant Jessica bought a new shirt.  Amy grabbed a shirt and a fun pair of swim suit bottoms that were a very exciting pattern (very Amy!).  On our walk over to Trader Joes (obsession!), Amy spotted TJMaxx which, of course, meant we were going in.  A full swim suit, swim suit bottoms and a cool reusable coffee mug later, we were off to Trader Joe's to get our dinner.  We had decided earlier in the day that we were going to cook dinner because we both want to avoid the going-out-to-dinner-ever-night disease that many people in the city catch.  I had chicken so we decided to grab some sweet potatoes for sweet potato fries and last minute purchased some brussel sprouts! nom nom nom.


Amy whipped us up a delicious meal:

 Sweet Potato Fries:

Baked Brussel Sprouts.


These of course accompanied some protein.  Grilled chicken with melted cheese on a cinnamon raisin bagel thing. It was phenomenal.


If you are looking for recipes for the sprouts, head over to Amy's blog and check it out!


After dinner, baking was done, Birthday Cupcakes were made!   Today is a big birthday day for a lot of this girls friends. Therefore, BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT TIME:


HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEVON!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADDIE!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHAR!


In honor of everyone's birthday I decided to make birthday fun cupcakes for Lisa who lives in NYC too! I am going to surprise her at work and drop them off... shhh dont tell her :)


This recipe was adapted from about a bajillion things (one of which is this go to Weight Watchers recipe) so I will just lay out the recipe for you. 


Easy Peasy Recipe for Birthday Funfetti Cupcakes.


Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 egg whites

3/4 cup fat free vanilla greek yogurt

1/4 cup fat free vanilla yogurt

1/4 cup fat free skim milk

1/3 cup sprinkles

Steps:

1) Preheat oven to 350°F.

2) In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt 

3) In a separate bowl, combine butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy with an electric mixer

4) Add eggs and yogurt to the wet mixture and mix until well-combined with an electric mixer

5) Alternating between the flour mixture and milk, add to the wet mixture while the electric mixer continues to run until batter is fully blended

6) Blend in sprinkles

7) Spoon batter into muffin tins that have been pam-ed and lined. Each muffin should be about 3/4s full.

8) Bake until tops are slightly golden about 18 to 23 minutes. 

9) Let cupcakes cool

10) Spread on frosting. (This time I used some store bought frosting as I am going out of town this weekend and didn't want to make a huge batch of frosting)

These turned out very well. I may or may not have had 1, or 2.  Perfect dessert from Amy and my amazing meal!


And now they are all packaged up to take to Lisa at work :) Hope she is surprised!

Not going to Starfabulously Rate these as they are very similar to the birthday cupcakes made for roommate in early May

Happy Birthday Everyone!

Neon, Nutella and an Addiction to Rhyming

This weekend I went to Boston to see some friends, one of whose birthday it was! Lots of birthday's in May in case you didn't catch on to that- :)

It was an amazing time. Lots of 80s style bowling followed by lots of dancing. I LOVE bowling.  I don't think you fully understand my degree of love for bowling... and the 80s for that matter. I know that my girl Amy over at Fruit Salad Life will be extremely jealous when she sees my neon orange nails that were painted for the 80s bowling occasion!  Please see the amazingness below of the ladies bowling:

On the train ride home, feeling quite gross, I decided two important things:

1) I was ABSOLUTELY going to work out the second I got home

2) I refused to let the excess frosting from Faj's Bday Cupcakes go to waste so more (different!) cupcakes needed to be made.

After my fabulous workout- it stunk, but hey, I did it!- I made these amazing creations. I had a little bit of Nutella left over from my Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies. I had to be used up. I am pretty much addicted to Nutella so leaving it around the house is never a good idea for this girl. Therefore this creation was made with a combination of Nutella and These Easy Vanilla Cupcakes.  

Also, I made roommate take them with her to work this AM because I am pretty sure my colleagues are going to kick me if I keep bringing in baked goods and they obviously can not stay in my apt.

Vanilla Nutella Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting- RHYMING!

These are easy as pie, or in this case- cupcakes!

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 egg whites

3/4 cup fat free vanilla greek yogurt

1/4 cup fat free vanilla yogurt

1/4 cup fat free skim milk

1/3 cup Nutella

Steps:

1) Preheat oven to 350°F.

2) In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt 

3) In a separate bowl, combine butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy with an electric mixer

4) Add eggs and yogurt to the wet mixture and mix until well-combined with an electric mixer

5) Alternating between the flour mixture and milk, add to the wet mixture while the electric mixer continues to run until batter is fully blended

6) Spoon batter into muffin tins that have been pam-ed and lined. Each muffin should be about 3/4s full and 3/4s of the batter should be gone from the bowl

7) Add a dollop of Nutella on top of each cupcake

8) Add the remaining cupcakes mix on top of each cupcake evenly so Nutella is no longer visible

9) Bake until tops are slightly golden about 18 to 23 minutes. 

10) Let cupcakes cool. 

11) Once cupcakes are cool frosting with Buttercream Frosting 

Below the frosting domainted them:

After frosting dominated them:

NOM NOM NOM.  I ate one for dessert and I would deffinitly give them a Star Fabulous Rating of 7/10.  They are quite delicious and hit the spot.  When warm, we are probably looking at a Star Fabulous Rating of 8/10. Nothing like warm melting Nutella- OOPH I am making myself hungry!

Star Fabulous Rating: 7/10

Cupcakes, Birthdays and Family Nights on the Town

Last night was a fabulous adventure with the fam!  We went over to Sissy K's apartment for much Pinot and cupcakes (my creation) and then headed out to dinner at Crispo downtown which was amazing! I got a delicious prosciutto cheese platter- yes for my meal, I have been CRAVING prosciutto recently so gotta satisfy my craving and move on!  They also had the most amazing artichoke heart appetizer. So amazing that we got two orders!

Well the cupcake creations were an absolute hit! Dad loved them so I believe if the birthday boy enjoys them you can classify those as a hit! Wahoo. And yes, we ate them before dinner- it felt very indulgent and fabulous :)

These are a little trickier to make than your standard cupcakes and frosting but not by much. They are worth ever step! We will do the cupcakes first and then tackle the frosting.

Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

3 large egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup milk

12 tablespoons sugar free strawberry preserves (I went with Trader Joes- OBVI)

Steps:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F

2) In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

3) Add butter to try mixture with an electric mixer

4) In a separate large bowl combine mill, egg whites, and both extract.

5) Slowly add the dry ingredients to the large bowl of wet ingredients and beat slowly until there are no lumps.

6) Fill pam-ed muffin tins 1/2 way

7) Scoop one tablespoon of sugar free jam on top of each cupcake

8) Top with one more scoop of cake batter

9) Bake for 15 to 25 minutes, until top of cupcakes begins to brown slightly

10) Remove and let cool!

While the cupcakes are cooling, you can create the frosting!

This frosting was stolen from here and is absolutely delicious! Note tho: It makes SO much frosting that I think I'm going to have to bake tonight because I have an entire bowl left! If you are trying to make frosting just for the above cupcakes, I would suggest cupping the below recipe in 3!

Frosting:

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperate

6 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Steps:

1) In a small bowl cream butter with an electric mixer

2) Add 4 cups of the powdered sugar and the milk and vanilla and mix at a low speed until combine (add powdered sugar a little at a time)

3) Add two more cups of the sugar and combine until light and fluffy!

After the cupcakes are cooled completed spread the frosting on top of the cupcakes and dollop with red cakemate. Swirl around with spoon for effect (if you desire)

These are amazing cupcakes.  The strawberry filling really adds the extra omph to make them over-the-edge-superior-to-your-standard-cupcake-kinda-treat. 

The frosting was a little too sweet for this girl but all in all the creation was quite delicious.  I give these a Star Fabulous Rating of 8/10!

Star Fabulous Rating: 8/10

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

This weekend was some FABULOUS ladies birthday celebration weekend.  7 people in one apartment on Saturday night is obviously the sign of a successful birthday.  Other key components a successful bday, Mexican food, margaritas... and BIRTHDAY CUPCAKES! 

These cupcakes are a staple in my life.  They were also made back in the day for my other roommate's birthday in January but this time I changed things up a little bit and just to make things better, the frosting, which is amazing, is completely made from scratch and a Jessica-vention. 

Cupcake Ingredients: (Adapted from Weight Watchers)

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 egg whites

3/4 cup fat free vanilla greek yogurt

1/4 cup fat free vanilla yogurt

1/4 cup fat free skim milk

Steps:

1) Preheat oven to 350°F.

2) In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt 

3) In a separate bowl, combine butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy with an electric mixer

4) Add eggs and yogurt to the wet mixture and mix until well-combined with an electric mixer

5) Alternating between the flour mixture and milk, add to the wet mixture while the electric mixer continues to run until batter is fully blended

6) Spoon batter into muffin tins that have been pam-ed and lined. Each muffin should be about 3/4s full.

7) Bake until tops are slightly golden about 18 to 23 minutes. 

8) Let cupcakes cool. 

Frosting Ingredients:

1/4 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup skim milk

1/2 tablespoon of cocoa powder

2 tablespoons of powdered sugar

Additional: White Chocolate Chips

Steps (continued):

9) While cupcakes are cooling put chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds.

10) Remove and add water and place back in the microwave for 1 minute

11) Remove, stirx (add more water if necessary), and put back in the microwave

12) Add cocoa powder, powdered sugar and milk and stir until frosting-like consistency.  If it appears too think place in the microwave a little longer.

13) Once cupcakes have cooled frost and add white chocolate chips for decorations!

  Decorating these was the most fun.  Actually, late night eating them was the most fun. 

I believe all in all, SUCCESS!

My roommate (whose birthday it was) gave them this great rating!

Star Fabulous Rating: