Lemon Cupcakes with Roasted Strawberries and Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting

For me, Memorial Day is the official start to summer. It's the first long weekend of the warmer months, you can "legally" wear white pants again (I have some differing opinions about this, but this is neither the forum nor the time), and BBQs are in full swing!

Our friends Tom and Tracy (the talented photographer who took the beautiful pictures below) invited us to a BBQ at their house over the long weekend and I thought it was the perfect time to try out a new recipe, highlighting the flavors of summer.

Previously, my blog posts haven't veered too far from the recipes I've researched. I've changed a thing or two to make it different than the original, but haven't been confident enough with my skills or taste to stray too far.  However, this time I decided to create something of my own.

I knew I wanted to create a fresh, light, bright and obviously delicious treat to please the guests of our friends' BBQ. I saw a recipe that incorporated roasted strawberries in the frosting. This looked great, but I thought sliced, roasted strawberries would be a delicious middle layer to a cupcake. But what flavor should the cupcake be? In my opinion, the citrus flavors of a lemon cake would be a great accompaniment to the sweet, syrupy roasted strawberries. Finally, I had to figure out the frosting. The roasted strawberries reminded me of that delicious strawberry syrup that you usually find on the top of a classic cheesecake. Because of that, mascarpone seemed like the obvious and perfect topping to this delicious treat. Mascarpone is less grainy than ricotta cheese and definitely more sumptuous than typical cream cheese.

So I've come up with my own combination of flavors - my first original recipe!

I woke up early the day of the BBQ, excited to start putting together these concoction of flavors. Everything started well. The roasted strawberries came out of the oven syrupy and sweet, the batter of the cupcakes were a bright, fresh burst of lemony goodness, and the first pan of cakes baked to an airy, golden perfection.

And then the power went out.

I had the last six cupcakes in the oven (those were thrown out. Except for one, which I ate anyway. Half-baked is still better than eating raw batter, right?), and I still hadn't made the WHIPPED mascarpone frosting. I emphasized whipped there because you're supposed to whip the mascarpone cheese, heavy cream and sugar with an electric mixer on high speed. ELECTRIC mixer. And we had no electricity. Needless to say, I got my arm workout that day!

In the end, though. The cupcakes that did bake turned out great! They were well-received at the BBQ and were the perfect treat for the official start to summer.

A special thank you to my extremely talented friend Tracy Rodriguez Forbes (aka Tracy Rodriguez Photography - check her out on Facebook!). She took the time out of her BBQ hosting duties to snap some pics of my cupcakes. She specializes in wedding and yoga photography, but I personally think she should take up food photography as well because she made my simple cupcakes look phenomenal!

 Roasted Strawberries

1/2 pound of strawberries, hulled and sliced

1 tsp. sugar

Lemon Cupcakes

1 cup cake flour

1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Zest of 3 medium lemons

1/2 cup half & half

Mascarpone Whipped Frosting

8 oz. mascarpone cheese

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1.) Preheat oven to 400. Arrange strawberries in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with 1 tsp. sugar and roast 15-20 minutes, until berries are soft and beginning to caramelize. Set aside to cool.

2.) Lower oven temp to 350. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners. Set aside.

3.) In a large bowl combine cake flour, flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar. In another bowl cream together butter, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, and half and half. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients in three parts. Mix until all ingredients are just incorporated.

4.) Fill each cupcake liner 1/3 of the way with the batter. Place 2-3 sliced, roasted strawberries on top of the batter, then add more batter on top of the strawberries until the liners are 2/3 of the way full

5.) Bake 19-22 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool.

6.) In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, mix the mascarpone cheese, sugar, and vanilla on high until completely blended. Add whipping cream to the mascarpone/sugar mixture, and mix on low until cream is mostly incorporated into the cheese/sugar mixture. Scrape bowl. Then whip on high until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with your favorite cupcake frosting tip and top the cooled cupcakes.

Chocolate Babka

So the blog is back.

And we've rebranded to Sweet Tooth. I'm thinking long-term here and Sweet Tooth seems more appropriate. Also, "The Sweet Spot" can be misconstrued too easily and no one wants to be part of that awkward conversation...

So anyway, you know you've hit it big when someone other than your mother or your best friend asks you to bake something for them.

One of my coworkers found out that I have a passion for baking and asked me to make one of his wife's favorite treats: Chocolate Babka. She has a couple of food allergies, so she usually can't eat the Babkas that are available at local bakeries.

In my excitement of being given this task, I immediately said yes, without even looking up what Babka was or how to make it. For those of you who don't know what it is, Babka is a spongy, brioche-like yeast cake. The one my coworker requested was the version associated with the Eastern European Jewish tradition, which is folded, twisted, baked in a loaf pan and filled with either cinnamon or chocolate.

Oh, and it also has about A MILLION STEPS!

First of all, this recipe contains not only a yeast-dough, but also a filling, a streusel and a syrup topping. Secondly, the dough has to be left to rise about 16 times (not really, but it still seemed excessive at the time). Finally, the dough had to be split, braided and twisted before placed into the loaf pan. I can barely braid my own hair, so I was on struggle street during this part.

Because of all this, I really had to time everything out. Thankfully, the filling and streusel could be made a few days in advance and then stored in the refrigerator until ready to use. The rest I had to do on the weekend because the timing wouldn't have worked out in between work and other activities throughout the week.

Although this was one of the most time-consuming recipes I've ever made, it was honestly a great challenge/learning experience and seeing the result makes me want to do it all over again! The recipe made two loaves so I was able to give one to my coworker for his wife and the other I brought into the office for all of my other coworkers to try. They either lied to my face or really enjoyed the cake.

I was able to try a slice myself and it definitely was delicious! It wasn't too sweet, as I used bittersweet chocolate for the filling, but certainly sweet enough to satisfy my sweet tooth. The dough was moist in the middle with a hollow crunch on top where it was twisted and braided. The syrup gave it a perfect stickiness, with the streusel adding a complimentary texture as well.

So I would recommend making this cake on a rainy weekend or a time when you have a few days to plan accordingly. Although a time- and effort-intensive recipe, I think it's good to have on hand if you're looking to impress your guests or if you'd like to give a loaf as a gift (and keep the other for yourself)!

Babka dough ingredients

Babka chocolate filling ingredients

Streusel ingredients

Streusel

Rolled dough spread with chocolate filling

Dough and filling rolled-up

Dough and filling - split and twisted

Unbaked cake in loaf pan (pre-streusel)

Baked Chocolate Babka!

Wrapped and ready for gifting!

Babka Dough

½ cup whole milk

1 package (1/4 ounce/7 grams) active dry yeast

⅓ cup granulated sugar, plus a pinch

4 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, more as needed

1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

4 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing bowls and pans

Chocolate Filling

½ cup granulated sugar

¾ cup heavy cream or half-and-half

 Pinch kosher salt

6 ounces extra bittersweet chocolate, preferably between 66 and 74 percent cocoa, coarsely chopped

8 tablespoons/1 stick unsalted butter, diced, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Chocolate Streusel

½ cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 ½ tablespoons cocoa powder

½ teaspoon kosher salt

4 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

⅓ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Syrup

⅔ cup granulated sugar

1.) Make the dough: In a small saucepan or a bowl in the microwave, warm the milk until it’s lukewarm but not hot (about 110 degrees). Add yeast and a pinch of sugar and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, until slightly foamy.

2.) In an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, or in a food processor, mix together flour, 1/3 cup sugar, the salt, the vanilla and the nutmeg. (If you don't have a mixer or processor, use a large bowl and a wooden spoon.) Beat or process in the yeast mixture and eggs until the dough comes together in a soft mass, about 2 minutes. If the dough sticks to the side of the bowl and doesn’t come together, add a tablespoon more flour at a time until it does, beating very well in between additions.

3.) Add half the butter and beat or pulse until the dough is smooth and elastic, 3 to 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed. Beat in the rest of the butter and continue to beat or pulse until the dough is smooth and stretchy, another 5 to 7 minutes. Again, if the dough sticks to the sides of the bowl, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.

4.) Butter a clean bowl, form the dough into a ball and roll it around in the bowl so all sides are buttered. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place (inside of a turned-off oven with the oven light on is good) until it puffs and rises, about 1 to 2 hours. It probably won't double in size, but it should rise.

5.) Press the dough down with your hands, re-cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight (or, in a pinch, for at least 4 hours, but the flavor won't be as developed).

6.) Make the filling: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, cream and salt. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar completely dissolves, about 5 minutes. Scrape mixture into a bowl. Stir in chocolate, butter and vanilla until smooth. Let cool to room temperature. Filling can be made up to a week ahead and stored, covered, in the fridge. Let come to room temperature before using.

7.) Make the streusel: In a bowl, stir together flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Stir in melted butter until it is evenly distributed and forms large, moist crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chips. Streusel can be prepared up to 3 days ahead and stored, covered, in the fridge.

8.) Make the syrup: In a small saucepan, combine sugar and 2/3 cup water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then simmer for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves.

9.) Butter two 9-inch loaf pans, then line with parchment paper, leaving 2 inches of paper hanging over on the sides to use as handles later.

10.) Remove dough from refrigerator and divide in half. On a floured surface, roll one piece into a 9-by-17-inch rectangle. Spread with half the filling (there's no need to leave a border). Starting with a long side, roll into a tight coil. Transfer the coil onto a dish towel or piece of plastic wrap and stick it in the freezer for 10 minutes. Repeat with the other piece of dough.

11.) Slice one of the dough coils in half lengthwise to expose the filling. Twist the halves together as if you were braiding them, then fold the braid in half so it’s about 9 inches long. Place into a prepared pan, letting it curl around itself if it’s a little too long for the pan. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until puffy (it won’t quite double). Alternatively, you can cover the pans with plastic wrap and let them rise in the refrigerator overnight; bring them back to room temperature for an hour before baking.

12.) When you're ready to bake, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Use your fingers to clump streusel together and scatter all over the tops of the cakes. Transfer to oven and bake until a tester goes into the cakes without any rubbery resistance and comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. An instant-read thermometer will read between 185 and 210 degrees.

13.) As soon as the cakes come out of the oven, use a skewer or paring knife to pierce them all over going all the way to the bottom of the cakes, and then pour the syrup on top of the cakes, making sure to use half the syrup for each cake.

14.) Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.

Pecan Pie

Last Thursday was Valentine's Day and my Valentine's sweet spot is Pecan Pie.  He doesn't like a lot of sweets, but for some reason his favorite dessert is one of the sweetest, most sugary ones there is.  So my Valentine's Day present for him was to bake this classic treat.

I finally bought a pie plate for this special occasion, but I ended up getting one of those deep dish ones, so I had to double the pastry and the filling recipes.  Normal pie plates (9 inch) should be fine with the single recipe.

Overall, the recipe is very simple and straightforward to make.  I pulsed the pastry ingredients in my food processor (thanks Jess and Chris!), which made it much easier to cut the butter into the flour. This is normally a much more difficult and lengthy process when you do it with two knives and your hands.  So I recommend a food processor if you have one!  The filling is even easier to mix together and all you have to do is pour it over the pie crust before you throw it in the oven.

So if your sweetheart is sweet on this sweet, then I definitely recommend whipping this recipe up!

Pastry Dough Ingredients

Coarse Dough

Dough Flattened into Disk

Pecan Pie Filling Ingredients

Pastry Dough Pressed into Pie Plate

Unbaked Pie 1

Unbaked Pie 2

Baked Pie 1

Baked Pie 2

Baked Pie 3

Pastry Dough

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 stick cold unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 to 5 tablespoons ice water

Pecan Pie Filling

3/4 stick unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar

3/4 cups light corn syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

2 cups pecan halves (1/2 pound

1.) Blend together flour, butter and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until mixture resembles a coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps.

2.) Drizzle 3 tablespoons of ice water and gently stir with a fork (or pulse in processor) until incorporated.

3.) Squeeze a small handful; if it doesn't hold together, add more ice water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until incorporated, then test again.  Do not overwork dough or pastry will become tough.

4.) Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Using your hands, mold the dough together into a ball.  The warmth of your hands will help distribute the fat.  Press the ball of dough into a 5-inch disk.  Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap until firm, about one hour.

5.) Preheat oven 350 degrees F with a baking sheet on middle rack

6.) Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 12-inch round and fit into a 9-inch pie plate.  Trim edge, leaving 1/2 inch overhang.  Fold overhang under and lightly press against rim of pie plate, then crimp decoratively. Lightly prick bottom all over with a fork.  Chill until firm, at least 30 minutes (or freeze 10 minutes).

7.) Meanwhile, melt butter in a small, heavy saucepan over medium heat.  Add brown sugar, whisking until smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in corn syrup, vanilla, orange zest and salt.  Lightly beat eggs in a medium bowl, then whisk in corn syrup mixture.

8.) Put pecans in pie shell and pour corn syrup mixture evenly over them.  Bake on hot baking sheet until filling is set 50 minutes to one hour.  Cool completely.  

Chocolate Oreo Fudge

Those Twinkies were quite an undertaking last week.  Between the egg whipping, the heating, the cooling, the stirring, the molding, the injecting...it took about two and a half hours to make something that took me about 2.5 seconds to inhale. Not that the amount of time was a bad thing.  I was happy with the final product, but I just don't have that amount of time every week to commit to my Sweet Spot.

So this week's recipe took about the same amount of time, but two of those two and a half hours were spent waiting for the fudge to harden in the refrigerator; so to me, that was time well spent for a sweet that was just as good, if not better.

In summary, the Chocolate Oreo Fudge was extremely easy to make and even easier to eat!  With very few ingredients, fudge is a great go-to treat and you can add many different goodies to the mix to make it your own.  Nuts are a great addition as well as peanut or almond butter.  I decided to add Double Stuffed Oreos to my recipe because...well because they're Oreos!

I definitely recommend this recipe if you don't really consider yourself a "baker", but need something quick, easy and delicious to fill that Sweet Spot!

Chocolate Oreo Fudge
18 oz semisweet chocolate baking squares
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/8 tsp salt
3 cups coarsely crushed Oreos

1.) In a heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt chocolate squares, sweetened condensed milk, and salt.  Remove from heat; stir in crushed cookies

2.) Spread evenly into wax-paper-lined (or greased) 8-inch square pan. Chill 2 hours or until firm.

3.) Turn fudge onto cutting board, peel off paper and cut into squares.  Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator.

Vanilla Snack Cakes--a.k.a "Twinkies"

Apparently Hostess will no longer be making Twinkies.  And for those two days when America wreaked havoc on the snack aisles in grocery stores, beating up their neighbors for that one last box of creme-filled sponge cakes, I thought to myself, "maybe I should learn how to make them, just in case". Then, of course, some other food manufacturer took over the weighted task of producing the novelties, and all was right in the world again.

But I still wanted to try to replicate the treats, and without any of those nasty preservatives (so you could technically say this recipe is the "healthier" version of Twinkies...sorta).  They ended up being pretty good. I didn't have any snack cake molds (who does, anyway?) so I used those mini disposable meatloaf pans, pictured here:

But if you're feeling more creative and coordinated than me, you can mold a double layer of aluminum foil around a bottle of spices.  If executed properly, the final product's shape would be a lot closer to that of an actual Twinkie.  Since I used these pans, mine turned out more flat and square, rather than round/oval-shaped.

The creme injection part can also be a little tricky if you don't have a special tool.  I'm lucky enough to have this cool cupcake decorating contraption (pictured below) that I used to pump the filling into the cakes.  If you don't have something like this, I recommend just frosting the top of the cakes with the filling and calling it "icing" instead.  It will taste the same and it's all going in the same place anyway!

Aside from the difference in shape, the spongy texture and taste of the cake was very similar to that of the original and the creme filling was sweet and light.  I definitely recommend making these treats if you are a real vanilla snack cake fan.

Cake Ingredients

Creme Filling Ingredients

Whipped Egg Whites

Cake Batter

Cake Batter in Molds

Creme Filling

Snack Cakes, Filled (whole)

Snack Cake, Filled (split)

Vanilla Snack Cakes

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 egg whites

1/3 cup cane sugar

2 tbs honey

1/4 cup water

2 tbs vegetable oil

4 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

Snack Cake Creme

2 tbs all-purpose flour

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup cane sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

4 tbs (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

4 tbs coconut oil

Directions:

1.) Snack Cakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease your molds

2.) Sift the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside

3.) In a dry mixer bowl with dry beaters, beat the egg whites until stiff, about 2 minutes.  Transfer the beaten egg whites to a clean bowl and set aside

4.) In the same mixer bowl, add the sugar, honey, water, oil, egg yolks and vanilla and beat for 1 minute. Add the flour mixture and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.  Fold in half of the beaten egg whites; once the first half is fully incorporated, fold in the second half.

5.) Pour the batter in the prepared molds, filling them about 2/3 of the way full.  Bake until golden, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating the pans half way through baking.  Cool the cakes in in the pan for at least 20 minutes, then remove to a wire rack and cool completely before filling with the Snack Cake Creme

6.) Snack Cake Creme: Combine the flour and milk in a saucepan over medium heat to form a thin paste, about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly.  Be careful not to brown the roux.  Stir in the sugar and continue to cook until smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.  Cover and refrigerate to cool completely.

7.) In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the butter and coconut oil until light, about 1 minute.  Add the cooled flour paste and beat until creamy, about 5 minutes.

8.) To fill the cakes, use a skewer or chopstick to poke 2 to 4 holes (depending on the size of your cake) partially through the snack cake from the bottom, and wiggle around to hollow out some space.  Use a piping bag fitted with a Bismark (#230) tip or a very small star-shaped tip to fill the cake with the Snack Cake Creme.

One last thing!  Shout out to my sister who is an EXCELLENT BAKER!  She is also extremely artistic, so her desserts are always so pretty!  Check out her latest creation below: Italian Creme Cake with Pecans.  Isn't it beautiful?!  Great job, Jess!  Love you!

I'm Back!

I know what you're thinking.  Did I stop baking?  Did I give up on this whole blog thing?  Have I gone gluten-free?  The answer is no, to all of the above (and definitely not the third one...you can't be gluten-free if you have a sweet spot like mine).

I really have been baking.  Quite a bit, actually.  The holidays require sweets, and lots of them.  I made well over 200 cookies for Christmas to give as gifts and serve at parties.  However, by the time I was done baking, I was too exhausted to write about it. So to prove to you that I actually have been baking, I've posted a few pictures of my flour and sugar-filled Christmas adventure below.

Here is a list of the cookies I made.  If any sound interesting to you, please comment below and I can send you the recipe directly:
Hello Dolly Bars
Pistachio-Cranberry Biscotti
Maple-Walnut Spice Cookies
Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Italian Ball Cookies (sorry, this one is a family secret...my lips are sealed!)
Roll-and-Cut Sugar Cookies

Butterscotch Chip Oatmeal Cake

A bowl of oatmeal is a great way to start the day.  The breakfast staple is an excellent source of fiber (which keeps you fuller longer), full of whole grains, and if you add a little honey or brown sugar, it's a real tasty treat!

Which is why when I add oats to my desserts, it automatically transforms them into healthy treats and I can have three or even four servings in one sitting.  The healthy benefits of  a couple of cups of oatmeal negate all of the butter, sugar, flour and, in this case, butterscotch pieces that also find their way into the batter of my favorite desserts.....

....Well, not really.  But oats certainly do add a light texture and hearty flavor to many desserts.  This cake specifically is extremely simple and yummy!  The oats give the cake an airy texture and the pecan pieces provide an added crunch.  The butterscotch chips seem to fall to the bottom of the batter in the pan during the baking process, so when they melt, it creates a sort of caramelized crust on the bottom, which pairs well with the moist cake.  As you will see from the pictures, it isn't the prettiest dessert, but it's one of the tastiest!

So next time you're feeling in a "healthy" mood and are looking for an easy and delicious treat, I definitely recommend this Butterscotch Chip Oatmeal Cake!

 

 

Butterscotch Chip Oatmeal Cake
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1 3/4 cups boiling water
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, cut up and softened
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 12oz package butterscotch-flavor pieces
3/4 cup chopped pecans

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place oats in a large bowl.  Pour the boiling water over oats; let stand for a couple of minutes.  Grease and flour a 13x9x2-inch baking pan; set aside.

2.) Add granulated sugar, brown sugar and butter to oats mixture; stir until the butter is melted.  Stir in eggs until combined.  Stir in flour, baking soda and salt until combined.  Fold in the butterscotch pieces and chopped pecans.

3.) Pour batter into the prepared pan.  Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.