Easter Dessert: Orange Carrot Cupcakes

- Orange Carrot Cupcakes -

For Easter dessert, carrot cupcakes sounded delicious. So, I made the carrot cake cupcakes from Diana's Desserts for our Easter dinner. She has a lot of wonderful recipes and make sure to try her peanut butter cookie recipe. It is outstanding! It is my to go recipe... Below you will find comments along with pictures about the cupcakes, Mascarpone icing, and garnish following her recipe.

The Cupcakes:

The carrots are in. Almost done!

I followed the instructions of the recipe word for word and used maple syrup. For the step where you are supposed to stir the baking soda and the warmed orange juice make sure you are using a medium size bowl. Once you add the baking soda, you have a chemical reaction happening called carbon dioxide gas. Your mixture will bubble and expand immediately.

Baking those cupcakes for Easter, I used those cute baking cups from Wilton with egg shapes design and pattern with soft colors that I found at my grocery store.

The recipe indicated a total of 10 cupcakes and I made 12. I use an ice cream scoop to fold the batter into the cupcake paper holder (1 scoop in 1 cupcake holder). 

12 Cupcakes Ready to Bake

Out of the Oven

The cupcakes cooked a little bit longer than the 20 minutes suggested to get this nice golden/brown color and let them cool down on a rack where they stay for several hours.



The Mascarpone icing:

The lemon zest is in.

I stuck to the original instruction for the icing and used the Mascarpone. The recipe suggested Mascarpone or cream cheese. I went for the Mascarpone but be aware of its very high in fat content. 2 tablespoons are 130 calories with 120 from fat compared to 70 calories (62 from fat) for regular cream cheese.
I did not use all the icing that I made to cover the cupcakes and had around 1 cup of icing left. I am not a big fan of icing. I think that it masks the taste of the cupcakes. I am sure you can use all of it if your guests are fan of icing ;-)

Garnish:
Because the cupcakes were Easter dessert, I added some Jelly Beans on top and Voila!

- 12 Easter Orange Carrot Cupcakes -

• What do I think of the cupcake?

The cupcake was moist, light and it was very easy to peel off the paper holder. After my first bite, I knew that I had to rename this recipe from carrot cake cupcake to orange carrot cupcake because of the orange flavor. If you are expecting to carrot cake flavor you need to find another recipe. I was disappointing because I was expecting a carrot cake flavor and got an orange flavor. However, the orange flavor of the cupcake was not overpowering and you could taste the maple syrup as well. It is a nice flavor combination. The icing was very creamy and melted in your mouth like butter. I was afraid that it would be a bit too lemony but the flavor is subdued. Even my husband who does not care for lemon liked it. Overall, the cupcakes were tasty and if you like citruses you will definitively love them.

Enjoy!

Laetitia

Vegan Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread with Wheat Germ

- Vegan Whole Wheat Bread with Wheat Germ -

This recipe makes 1 loaf of 20 slices (at least).


Ingredients:
- 2 and 1/4 t of yeast
- 2 T agave
- 2 cups water
- 1 and 1/4 t salt
- 1/2 cup wheat germ
- 3 cups of whole wheat flour + 5/8 cup for kneading

Directions:
1. In a medium size bowl, mix yeast, agave and in warm water (between 100 and 110 degree Fahrenheit) and let it set for 10 minutes.
2. Combine and stir the whole wheat flour, salt and wheat germ in a large bowl.
3. Spray some canola oil in a baking bread pan and set aside.
4. Pour the yeast mixture to the flour mixture and stir well. If the dough is a little bit sticky add around 1/8 of cup of whole wheat flour at the time.
5. Knead the dough for 10 minutes (add flour as need) and shape it as the same form as you baking pan.
6. Place the dough in the baking pan, cover it with clear plastic paper, place it on the top of the dough and place the pan in the fridge to rise until it doubles in size or over night.
Note: (1) Spray some oil on the side of the clear plastic wrap which will touch the dough to avoid to stick when it will rise. (2) The dough rises pretty fast. I planned to let it rise overnight but after 3 hours  in the fridge I was satisfied with the result and baked it.

Ready to Rise

After Rising for 3 Hours in the Fridge

 

7. After the dough had risen, cut the middle with a knife (1/4 inch in) and sprinkle some whole wheat flour and wheat germ.

8. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degree Fahrenheit or until golden brown.
9. Let it cool down on a rack.

What do I think about the recipe?
Taste: The bread has mild flavor and you do not taste the agave which still surprises me because it has a particular flavor.
Texture: You will notice a soft texture at the first bite which is nice to the palate. Because of it dense texture, the bread holds well when spraying jelly or butter.

This bread is definitively a nice bread for sandwiches and fast and easy to make.

Happy Baking! :-)

Laetitia

Buckwheat Bread Recipe

I was feeling like baking, found some left over buckwheat flour (around a cup) and made this delicious buckwheat bread.

A Delicious Buckwheat Bread!

Ingredients:
- 1 T yeast
- 1 and 1/8 cups of buckwheat
- 1 and 3/4 cups of all purpose flour + around 1/2 cup for kneading
- 2 T molasses
- 4 T butter
- 1/2 t salt
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 cup milk + some to brush the top of the bread

Directions:
1. Melt the butter with the milk, and molasses and let it cool down until you reach a temperature of 105 degree. 
2. Pour yeast to the milk mixture and sprinkle just a pinch of white sugar. Let it set for 10 minutes.
2. Grease a bread cooking pan with spray and set aside.
3. In a large bowl combine the 2 flours and salt and mix well.
4. Pour the beaten egg in the flour and gradually pour the milk/yeast mixture. Make sure to stir well.
The dough should be slightly sticky at this point.
5. Sprinkle some white flour on your kitchen counter top and start kneading the dough for 10 minutes. After 5 minutes the dough felt nice and soft and kept kneading until I reach the 10 minute mark. I did not had anymore flour as well because it was not needed.
6. Put the dough in the greased pan
7. Cut the top of the bread with a knife.

The signature of the baker

8. Cover the bread with some plastic wrap (spread as well) and let it rise for over 2 hours. 
Tip: To rise my dough, I place it in the oven (off) with the light on and with a steaming cup of almost boiling water.
9. Preheat oven to 400 degree Fahrenheit.
10. Brush the top with some milk.

After rising over 2 hours

11. Bake the bread for 10 minutes at 400 and 15 at 375 or until the top of the loaf is golden brown. 
12. Cool on a baking rack and serve.

A Perfect Loaf

Happy Baking, :-)

Laetitia

It is King Cake Time!

Today is Mardi Gras. To celebrate the occasion, I made a king cake (click on the link for the recipe). It was my first try and it turned out great! It tastes good and looks colorful. I will make it again. I have to be honest with you, I have never had a piece, but I have been told that it taste like the real one. Thanks to Jo for this great recipe. Nevertheless, we will have to make a trip to New Orleans to have a piece...

My First King Cake

Ready to rise for over 2 hours

• What Do I think about the overall  recipe?

Preparing the Dough and Filling:
- The instructions were overall clear.
- I only used 2 and half cups of flour for the dough itself and a little more kneading. I only made half of the recipe which should be 5 cups instead of 5 and half for the original recipe.
- I kneaded the dough for 8 minutes. After 5 minutes, I noticed that the dough was nice and soft. I kept kneading without adding extra flour because of the texture. I let the dough rise for 2 and half hours to double. Click here for tips about rising bread. I did not follow the instruction at all because I am like the result I get rising my dough in general.
- I only made half of what the recipe asked for and served at least 12 people.

Shaping the Cake and Baking:
-  I laid the dough on wax paper with no additional flour on the paper and rolled it. After spreading the filling evenly on the dough, I rolled it like a sushi and made sure that it was nice and tilleefd.
- I greased a big rectangular cooking pan and placed the rolled dough on it and shaped it as a crown. It is what the cake represents to me. After I made a circle and connected both ends by pinching both dough, I place a tin can (around ....inches wide) in the center of the cake. Be sure the apply some oil, butter or spray around half way through the can before placing it in the center. It would be easier to place it in the center and to remove it after it had rose for another hour before baking.
=> I did not think of taking a picture with the tin can but you have a picture of the cake below after rising. I used the same process as for rising the dough earlier.

Ready to be baked

- The cake baked for 25 minutes but it might need less time. Coming out of the oven, the cake looked dry and not very appealing. I think that I might use some milk or a bitten egg and brush it on the cake before baking to give it a nice golden and shiny color.
- I let the cake in the cooking pan because it was going to be my serving dish. However, if you want to serve it in a different pan wait several minutes for the cake to cool down before transferring it on cooling rack or a dish of your choice.

Ready to apply the frosting

Frosting:
- I followed the recommended ingredients in the instruction and it was not enough at all. I had to triple them to cover the cake.
- The instructions about how to frost cake were not clear to me considering that I had to sprinkle some colored sugar on it and had to stay on the cake. To frost the cake, you could either take a spatula and cover the cake with frosting (it is was I did) or take your bowl with your frosting and directly pour it on the top of the cake. If you decide to do it this way, I would recommend to have the cake on a cooling rack because a lot of extra frosting will run down from the cake. When the frosting and colored are set place it on your serving dish.
- Immediately after pouring the frosting sprinkle the colored crystal sugars in the following order: purple, green and yellow and several times. Make sure you have the same sequence of colors.


Describing the taste and texture:
I would describe the cake as a brioche-roulé. The cake tastes like a cinnamon roll because of the cinnamon-pecan filling and not too sweet even with the frosting. The level of sweetness fells just right. As for the texture, it is not as soft as a brioche but tender in the inside compare to the outside. I was afraid that the cake would be too much but I guess that I would have had a stronger brioche like texture if I would not have cut the recipe into two. No cutting ingredients by half for next time, we will enjoy the cake even more...

HaPpY mArDi GrAs!

Laetitia

Second Life of my Jean's Skirt

Let's take up the hem


I had a 36 inches long jean's shirt that was collecting dust in my closet and seemed that I did not want to give it away. I bought the jean's skirt 10 years ago and after all that time I could still wear it. So, I decided to give a new look to the shirt by making it shorter. It is fashionable right now with a pair of leggings and living in Colorado, a jean's shirt cannot be outdated with a pair of nice boots...

Before - 36 inches long

After - 20 and 1/2 inches long

Time: It is a perfect afternoon project for nap time.

Difficulty: Easy

Materials: Skirt and brown thread

______________________________________

Project Description:

It is pretty straight forward. After you have decided of the length that you are comfortable with (just above the knee for me) cut the extra piece of fabric. I left around 1 inch for the hem which I folded in half.

Tips: If you are working with an existing piece of clothing keep everything uniform such as the color of the thread, width of the hem, and stitch length

Happy New Wardrobe!

Laetitia