Cake Catch Up

Posted on March 13, 2015 by kitchenbelle

Here are two cakes I made that I never posted. (I blocked out the names on the cakes, per usual.)

Cowgirl Boot Birthday Cake

First is a boot birthday cake for a cowgirl birthday party.  Our little cowgirl was thrilled with it! My inspiration was the cake found here on Larson Lingo blog.

cake_2

cake_1

Strawberry First Birthday Cake

And here is a cake for a strawberry themed first birthday party.   I love the pink, green, and red color combo. The frosting was made with fresh berries–pretty and delicious!

265edit

Filed under: cake, frosting, strawberry | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Strawberry Lime Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Posted on July 11, 2010 by kitchenbelle

I was a bit wary about the combination of strawberry and lime in a cupcake but I decided to give it a go anyway. What a fantastic surprise! The freshness of the two flavors is a winning combination! The lime flavor was not overpowering and really complemented the strawberries nicely. I kept these in the fridge just until serving time, which turned out to be a great move. I served them on one of these excruciatingly hot Boston days and the coolness of the cake and the frosting really enhanced the freshness of the flavors.  The cream cheese frosting continues to speak for itself.  If you haven’t tried it yet I have only two words: you must!

Here are some other recipes using cream cheese frosting. (I promise–your friends and family will thank you!)

Strawberry Lime Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 1/2 pound (1 stick) butter at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 pint fresh strawberries, chopped into bite size pieces
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice (about one lime)
  • 1 teaspoon grated lime zest (about one lime)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Fill one cupcake pan with liners.

In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 5-7 minutes.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the vanilla, strawberries, lime juice, and lime zest into the mixture.

Fill the cupcake liners 1/2 – 3/4 full. Bake for 26-30 minutes, or until a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in pan for ten minutes and finish cooling on wire rack before frosting.

Adapted from recipe found in Crazy About Cupcakes by Krystina Castella.

Filed under: cream cheese, cupcakes, Dessert, frosting, icing, strawberry | 9 Comments »

Fresh Fruit Trifle

Posted on March 24, 2010 by kitchenbelle

 

The birthdays of my mother and my brother are within just a few days of each other.  The members of my family don’t love sweets as much as I do, and when I bake a cake for them I tend to eat the biggest piece of all! Last year I made this orange coconut cake for my mom’s birthday. But this year, rather than make two frosting-laden cakes (one for my brother and one for my mother) I decided to do something a little lighter and fresher.  A birthday trifle seemed like a perfect option. It is light because it is made with fluffy angel food cake and it incorporates all fresh fruit.  Additionally, it isn’t wrapped in a thick layer of sugary frosting. 

This trifle was so creamy and delicious!

Notes/Thoughts:

  • Everyone agreed that the cinnamon really added the flavor that pulled the entire dish together.
  • Feel free to “make it yours” by adding fruit you like and omitting those you don’t.
  • Trifles are just so pretty to look at! Best of all they don’t really require much skill.  You can’t really do anything “wrong” because in the end everything mixes together!  
  • For the pudding I used this recipe, the filling for Boston Cream Pie, and I was very happy with it.  It is very fresh and creamy.  I find boxed puddings to be a little sweet, but by all means, you could definitely substitute store-bought pudding here.
  • I purchased a round angel food cake from the bakery of my grocery store for $4.99 and I was very happy with it.  However, you could absolutely make your own angel food cake and use it in this recipe.

Fresh Fruit Trifle:

Fruit

  • approximately 1 pint of fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained
  • approximately 1 pint of fresh strawberries, rinsed, drained, hulled and sliced (save one whole berry for garnish)
  • 2-3 fresh peaches, peeled, cored and diced
  • 2-3 tablespoons of brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Pudding

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2 cups light cream
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 6 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

    • Garnish and Assembly

    • one store bought angel food cake (or you can bake your own)
    • one small container of Cool Whip or whipped cream

    Make the pudding:

    In a saucepan bring the butter, milk, and light cream to a boil. While this mixture is cooking, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and eggs in a bowl and whip using a whisk.

    When the cream/ milk/butter mixture reaches the boiling point, whisk in the egg mixture and cook to boiling.  Stir constantly with a wooden spoon.  Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to prevent it from burning.  As it begins to thicken, clumps may form.  Use a whisk to smooth it out. Boil for 1 minute. Use a rubber spatula to press the pastry cream through a strainer into a bowl.  Whisk in vanilla extract. Cover the surface with plastic wrap touching the pudding.  (This prevents a film from forming.)  Chill for about one hour. 

    Prepare the fruit:

    Combine all fruit, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a medium bowl and use a wooden spoon to toss well to combine.  Let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

    Assemble:

    Slice angel food cake into one-inch thick pieces and layer on the bottom of a glass trifle dish, covering the bottom of the dish.   Spoon half of the fruit mixture on top of the angel food cake.  (Be sure to drizzle any liquid that formed from the fruit and sugar. Don’t waste it!) Spread half of the pudding over the fruit mixture.  Repeat these layers until you have used all of your components. Top final layer with Cool Whip (or whipped cream) and garnish with a berry, if desired. Keep refrigerated until just before serving.

    Recipe inspired by French Vanilla Summer Trifle on MyRecipes.com.

    Filed under: blueberry, cake, Cool Whip, Dessert, pudding, strawberry, vanilla, VEGETARIAN | 5 Comments »

    Mini Strawberry Cupcakes

    Posted on March 27, 2009 by kitchenbelle

    m

    Why is that all things mini are just so cute?  Baby shoes, teacup dogs, doll house furniture, cocktail weiners, tartlets…things that are shrunken down are just so appealing that we can’t help but use words like adorable to describe them! 

    The same goes for these tiny cupcakes—they are just so cute and poppable.  You can toss one in your mouth without the investment that a typical cupcake requires.  Unlike normal-sized cupcakes, there is no need to maneuver the perfect chomp of cake and frosting while trying to balance the cake in your hand, not bite the paper, and avoid dipping your nose in the frosting. 

    With mini cupcakes, you can get all of the frosting and all of the cake all in one bite!  Plus, did I mention they are just so cute! 

    The little bites of strawberry make these cupcakes especially delicious.  Just be sure to dice the fruit small enough so that every cupcake gets plenty of delicious fruity goodness! 

    Mini Strawberry Cupcakes:

    • 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
    • 1.5 cups flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1/3 cup milk
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1.5 cups fresh strawberries, sliced then diced into small pieces

    Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Insert mini-cupcake papers into a mini-cupcake pan. 

    In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. 

    In a separate large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Add the eggs one at a time.  Beat well after each addition.

    Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk.  Mix for 3 minutes.  Use a rubber spatula to fold in the vanilla and the strawberries.  Be sure the strawberry pieces are distributed throughout all of the batter or else some mini-cupcakes won’t have any fruit! 

    Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full if you like the little “muffin-top” to bake above the cupcake liner or about 1/2 way if you prefer the cake to bake even with the liner.  (Funny–this is the only situation I can think of where “muffin-top” is a good thing!)

    Bake for about 15-20 minutes.  (These little guys are small so they bake quicker than you may think.)  A toothpick should come out clean when inserted into the middle.

    Cool and frost with the vanilla frosting recipe of your choice.

    Adapted from Crazy About Cupcakes by Krystina Castella.  You can (and should!) buy it here.

    Filed under: cupcakes, Dessert, strawberry, vanilla | 6 Comments »