Blueberry Cream Cheese Cupcakes

Blueberry Cupcakes Taken from pastryaffair.com

Finished image taken from Pastryaffair as we were too busy eating them to take pictures.



57g unsalted butter, room temperature 
169 grams granulated sugar 
2 large eggs 
76 grams plain, non-fat yogurt (or sour cream) 
59 ml vegetable oil (a little over 3 tbsp)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract 
175 grams flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp baking soda 
1/2 tsp salt 
160ml milk 
340 grams fresh blueberries


Cream cheese frosting
227 grams cream cheese, room temperature 
57 grams unsalted butter, room temperature 
1 tsp vanilla extract 
3/4 tsp salt 
375 grams Icing sugar


Preheat oven to 350 degrees
For this I used disposable paper sauce pots as I wanted bite-size cupcakes.
Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. 
Ass the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Beat in the yogurt, vegetable oil and vanilla extract.
Gradually add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Mix in the milk, stirring until the batter is smooth.
Stir in the blueberries (I would probably add less blueberries next time, as they filled up the little cases rather quickly and made the cupcakes very moist)

Fill the paper cases about 2/3 full and bake for 16-18 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool before frosting.

For the frosting, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
Beat in the salt and vanilla then gradually beat in the icing suar.
Add more icing sugar if necessary (I found I added a bit extra) to get to a spreadable consistency.
Pipe the frosting on top of the cooled cupcakes and decorate with a few blueberries.

Carrot Cake for One .. or three

Carrot Cake For One or three

Adapted from Chocolate-Covered Katies 'Carrot Cake for One'

64g white flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

5 tbsp brown sugar

1 egg

1 carrot, shredded

2 tbsp milk

2 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix the dry ingredients together.

Mix all wet ingredients 

Add dry mixture into the wet mixture and stir.

Pour into a greased silicone muffin tray and cook for 15 minutes at 180C.

Once cooled, cut the tops off three of muffins to be the bases and make the cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting Adapted from allrecipies

14g cream cheese

14g butter

34g icing sugar

splash of vanilla extract

Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth

Add icing sugar and mix well (add more if necessary)

Pipe onto cakes.

Crispy Cheddar Chicken

Crispy Cheddar Chicken Adapted from Jamie 

4 large chicken fillets

2 sleeves Ritz crackers

1/4 t salt

1/8 t pepper

1/2 C milk

3 C cheddar cheese, grated

1 t dried parsley

Sauce:

1   10 ounce can cream of chicken soup

2 T sour cream

2 T butter

Crush the ritz crackers in a small food processor or hand blender

Pour the milk, cheese and cracker crumbs into three separate bowls

Add salt and pepper to the cracker crumbs and stir to combine

Start by dipping the chicken into the milk, then to the cheese, then into the cracker crumbs.  Pressing the ingredients on each time (some will fall off)

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and lay the chicken on the tray

Sprinkle dried parsley over the chicken, cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes.

Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes

To make the sauce, combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream and butter in a saucepan, stir over a medium heat until the sauce is heated through.

Served with boiled potatoes and green beans.

Santa Brownie Hats

Christmas Baking Adapted from DesertLivingToday

Santa Brownie Hats  

113g butter, at room temperature

192g sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
160g all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons red food colouring (optional)
24 whole Strawberries
256g White Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
For this recipe I used a Silicone Cake Tray as it enabled me to get the same sizes for each hat.
In a small bowl, combine cocoa powder, red food colouring (add more food colouring for a deeper colour), and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract to create a paste.
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy using an electric mix.
Add eggs one at a time, then add remaining teaspoon of vanilla extract. 
With the mixer on medium speed, add in cocoa powder mixture. Beat until batter is completely red. 
Add flour and salt, mixing until just combined. 

Fill each mini-muffin cavity about 3/4 of the way full with bater. 
Bake for 25-30 minutes and let cool completely before frosting.
Whilst the brownies are cooling, its a good idea to hull the strawberries and prep them for decoration.

Melt the white chocolate chips over a double boiler until completely melted and transfer into a piping bag, not forgetting the dot on the top of the strawberry.