Key Lime Pie Cupcakes February 4, 2011

My dad is a very, very picky eater.  He’s most certainly a meat and potatoes sort of guy.  He won’t touch Chinese food, turns his nose up at most vegetables, and the idea of leftovers is a completely foreign concept to him.   Thankfully, I didn’t inherit this pickiness from him, but I did wind up with his adoration for lime-flavored anything.

Key lime pie is one of my favorite desserts, but finding key limes has never been very easy for me.  Fortunately, my friend Heather keeps coming across them, and gifting bags of them to me.  I’m now stockpiled with enough key lime juice in my freezer to make many a key lime pie treat!

I’ve had several key lime recipes booked for ages, many which come from Peabody.  I decided to ask her what her personal favorite key lime recipe from her blog was, and she directed me to this one.  Oh, sure, Peabody – pick the multi-step recipe. :) This was my first time making filled cupcakes and eventually they turned out well, but I did have a little trial and error, Goldilocks-style.  At first, I was overfilling them, making the filling ooze out of the top after I placed the cupcake top back on.  Then that worried me, so I underfilled them.  Finally I got it “just right,” though I did still have some leftover filling.  The leftover filling is a nice accompaniment with some leftover graham crackers, but I think next time I would use cream cheese rather than mascarpone.  Don’t get me wrong, I love mascarpone but it’s a bit pricey and since it didn’t all get eaten, I’d opt for the frugal-friendly cream cheese next time around.

A few other changes I made: I used sour cream instead of buttermilk in the cake recipe because that’s what I had around, and also added just a splash of vanilla in the buttercream recipe. I also “made” my own cake flour.

At any rate, these cupcakes are delicious.  I mean, they are key lime pie enveloped by cake.  You really can’t go wrong there. It’s too bad I couldn’t get some of these to my dad!

Key Lime Pie Cupcakes

Makes 24 cupcakes
Adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody (cake adapted from Easy Home Cooking magazine)

1 recipe key lime pie filling (recipe follows)
1 recipe graham cracker crust (recipe follows)
1 recipe lime cake batter (recipe follows)
1 recipe lime buttercream (recipe follows)
graham cracker crumbs for garnish (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350.

Pour the batter from the line cake evenly over the graham cracker crust.  Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Remove from the pan and allow to cool completely.

Once cool, fill your cupcakes with the key lime pie filling using the cone method.

Frost each cupcake with the lime buttercream, and top with graham cracker crumbs, if desired.

Key Lime Pie Filling
8 oz. mascarpone or cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (9 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
5 oz. key lime juice

Place all ingredients in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, and mix on low for 30 seconds.   Increase the  speed to medium and blend for 2 minutes.

Refrigerate the filing for 2 or more hours.

Graham Cracker Crust
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 Tbsp. sugar
3-4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Prepare 2 muffin tins with liners.

In a food processor, blend together graham cracker crumbs and sugar.  Add 3 Tbsp melted butter and pulse a few times.   If it seems like it needs more butter, add the remaining tablespoon.  Distribute evenly among cupcake liners and press down to form a shell.

Lime Cake
2.25  cups cake flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2  tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1.5 cups granulated sugar
2 egg whites
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp. lime zest

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl; set aside.

Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy.

Add egg whites, beating well after each addition.   Add eggs, beating well after each addition.  Beat in the lime zest until blended.

Combine milk, vanilla, and sour cream in a bowl, whisking until incorporated.

With electric mixer at low speed, add flour mixture alternately with milk mixture, beating well after each addition.

Lime Buttercream
1 cup  unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 to 8 cups powdered sugar
3 TBSP key lime juice, possibly more to thin out frosting
splash of vanilla

Beat together the butter, 3 cups of the sugar, key lime juice and vanilla on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.

Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency.

You may not need to add all of the sugar.  If too thick, thin with more key lime juice.  You can also use more lime juice if you want a more tart flavor.

S’mores Ice Cream October 21, 2010

I’d never, ever eaten marshmallow fluff before this ice cream.  I bought a jar of it nearly a year ago when I was planning on making a particular cake recipe that I never got around to making. Then this past weekend, I decided to clean out my food cupboards and realized the fluff was set to expire in like 10 seconds.  (Did  you know that stuff expired?  I assumed it to be imperishable, much like Twinkies.)

I set out to find an easy recipe using the fluff.   Although I don’t necessarily find many of her recipes “easy,” I checked out Peabody’s blog because I knew I’d find something enticing there. Sure enough, she’d made mini s’mores ice box pies (so cute) using a marshmallow ice cream as her base. Peabody basically took David Lebovitz’s vanilla bean ice cream, added marshmallow fluff, upped the vanilla, and decreased the sugar.  (Did you see that last part? Have you known Peabody reduced the sugar in anything?!) I decided to use the marshmallow vanilla bean ice cream as a base for s’mores ice cream.  I added chopped chocolate bars, fudge ripple (to sort of mimic the melted chocolate in a s’more) and crushed graham crackers.  Voila!  A much cooler version of the warm campfire treat.

I only had one jar of fluff, which is 7.5 oz. and Peabody used 10 oz. in her ice cream.  The ice cream could have used a bit more marshmallow flavor, but I think one jar did the trick just fine.  This ice cream is pretty darn fabulous.  I only used a half  batch of fudge ripple (which is the quantity I have listed below) and I am pretty confident that Hershey’s bars have gotten a lot smaller than they used to be, so you may or may not want to add more chocolate, based on your preference.  I really loved this ice cream and would definitely make it again.

S’mores Ice Cream

Makes about 1 quart

Marshmallow vanilla bean ice cream (recipe follows)
2 milk chocolate bars, chopped
5 sheets (20 total) graham crackers, crumbled
Fudge ripple (recipe follows)

Fold the chocolate bar pieces and graham crackers into the marshmallow vanilla bean ice cream.

Scoop 1/3 of the ice cream in your freezer container.  Spoon half the fudge ripple over the ice cream, then put another layer of ice cream, followed the rest of the fudge ripple, and then the rest of the ice cream.

Freeze for a few hours before serving.

Marshmallow Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody / David Lebovitz

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
6 egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 jar marshmallow fluff

Warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup of cream and salt in a medium saucepan.  Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the warmed milk, and then add the bean itself.  Cover the pan, remove from the heat, and let steep for 30-60 minutes.

If you’ve let the milk steep for longer than 30 minutes, gradually re-warm it.

Pour the remaining 1 cup cream into a large bowl, and set a mesh strainer over the top.   In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks.  Slowly add the warm milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, and then scrape back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula (don’t boil!).  Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream.  Add the vanilla bean and vanilla extract to the custard, and then stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in your refrigerator. When ready to churn, remove the vanilla bean and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Place the just-churned ice cream at soft serve consistency in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Beat the marshmallow fluff into the ice cream until incorporated.

Fudge Ripple
Adapted from David Lebovitz

1/4 cup sugar
2.5 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
3 Tbsp. unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Whisk together the sugar, corn syrup, water, and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan.  Heat over medium whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles at the edges.

Continue whisking until it gets to a low boil. Cook one minute, whisking frequently.  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.  Let cool and then chill in the refrigerator before using.

Fresh Mint Ice Cream (with cookies!) September 2, 2010

Although this mint ice cream is featured in my ice cream bible, The Perfect Scoop, I neglected to really notice it  until I came across David’s recent blog post about it.

Mint and chocolate combinations are a relatively newish love of mine.  I think ever since I found Trader Joe’s Candy Cane JoJos a few years back, I’ve been a wee bit obsessed.  I’m looking forward to the holidays for an excuse to make many, many chocolate/mint combo desserts.  At any rate, I debated what type of chocolate to add to this ice cream and landed on Oreos.  To be honest, I reallllly wanted brownie chunks but I was too lazy to make brownies and I didn’t want to pay for them, either.  The upside (besides, of course, that the Oreos tasted great with the ice cream) was that I had an extra half package or so of Oreos to make cookies and cream ice cream the next week!

When I first tried the ice cream (okay, okay, I tried the custard before it was really ice cream…), I wasn’t sure what to think.  Actually, I thought it was a bit odd.  Good, but odd.  But the more I ate it, the more I really liked it.  It’s much different than your standard mint ice cream, so if you’re looking for that, this is not the recipe for you.  This ice cream is very herbaceous, but really refreshing and delicious.  I couldn’t help thinking that with some rum and lime juice, it would also make a fabulous mojito ice cream. :)

Fresh Mint Ice Cream with Oreos

Makes 1 quart
Adapted from David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop

1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
pinch of salt
2 cups packed fresh mint leaves
5 large egg yolks
10-15 chocolate sandwich cookies, chopped

Warm the milk, sugar, salt, and one cup of the cream in a medium saucepan to steaming.   Add the mint leaves, cover, and remove from the heat.  Let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

Remove the mint with a strainer, then press down with a spatula to extract as much mint flavor as possible.  Discard the mint.

Pour the remaining cup of heavy cream into a bowl and set a strainer on top.

Rewarm the infused milk.  Whisk the egg yolks together in another bowl.  Slowly pour some of the warm milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, and then pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan.  Cook the custard, stirring occasionally with a heatproof spatula, until it’s thick enough to coat the back of the spatula (about 170 degrees).

Immediately strain the mixture into the cream, and stir over an ice bath until cool. Refrigerate the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it according to your ice cream manufacturer’s instructions.  Fold in the chocolate sandwich cookies as you’re transferring the churned ice cream to a container.

Tin Roof Ice Cream July 20, 2010

July is national ice cream month!  And I will, only somewhat shamefully,  admit to recently picking up a box of Good Humor Strawberry Shortcake bars, a childhood favorite.  (Have those gotten smaller or  have I just gotten bigger?)

But, I wish I would have celebrated ice cream month every single day with this ice cream.  Sadly, it didn’t last in our house anywhere near a month.  This ice cream is oh-so-good.  A delicious vanilla base that I already raved about, chocolate-covered peanuts, and an old school fudge ripple.  How could you possibly go wrong with that combination?  Really, the only way this could be even better in my opinion would be with the addition of a caramel ripple – which I may try next time.

I’ve never heard of tin roof ice cream, and what a travesty. Have I mentioned I really liked it? Yum.  It actually reminds me a bit of Dairy Queen’s peanut buster parfait, but it’s better, of course.  Despite being made of three components, this ice cream is still incredibly easy to put together.  The peanuts take no time and the fudge ripple comes together in just a few minutes.  Once everything is chilled, you are ready to go and then after that  you are ready to eat one of the best ice creams ever.

I honestly didn’t even realize I was only supposed to use half of the chocolate-covered peanuts, so I used them all.  I would definitely go this route again because otherwise, I don’t think it would be enough. I also used salted peanuts even though the recipe called for unsalted because I’m a big fan of salty-sweet combos.  Other than that, I made no changes to this recipe, because it doesn’t need changes.

Tin Roof Ice Cream

adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

3/4 cup whole milk
2/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1.5 cups heavy cream
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
4 large egg yolks
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 batch of chocolate-covered peanuts (recipe follows)
1 batch fudge ripple (recipe follows)

Warm the milk, sugar, salt, and 1/2 cup cream in a medium saucepan.  With a sharp paring knife, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add them, as well as the pod, to the hot milk mixture. Cover and remove from heat.  Steep at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Rewarm the milk mixture.  Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.  In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks.  Slowly pour the warm milk mixture into the yolks, whisking constantly.  Scrape back into the saucepan.  Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a spatula or wooden spoon, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula.  Pour the custard through the mesh strainer and sit it into the cream to cool.  Add the vanilla bean back into the custard and stir the mixture until cool over an ice bath.  Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.

Remove the vanilla bean and freeze the mixture according to your ice cream manufacturer’s directions.  Fold the peanut pieces into the frozen ice cream as you remove it from the machine, and layer it with the fudge ripple.

Chocolate-Covered Peanuts
4 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup roasted peanuts

Put the chocolate pieces into a dry heatproof bowl. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water to melt the chocolate.  Stir until smooth.  In the meantime, stretch a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper over a plate.

Once the chocolate is melted, remove it from the heat and stir in the peanuts, coating them with the chocolate.  Spread the mixture onto the lined plate and chill.

Before mixing them into the ice cream, use a sharp knife to chop the chocolate-covered peanuts into bite-sized pieces.

Fudge Ripple
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
6 Tbsp. unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Whisk together the sugar, corn syrup, water, and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan.  Heat over medium whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles at the edges.

Continue whisking until it gets to a low boil. Cook one minute, whisking frequently.  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.  Let cool and then chill in the refrigerator before using.

Vanilla Ice Cream June 23, 2010

To be honest, I’ve never been the biggest vanilla ice cream fan.  I mean, of course I like it because it is ice cream, after all, and what ice cream isn’t good?  But, it’s always been more of a vehicle for other flavors to me.  You know – caramel sauce, Oreo cookies, berries.  Or, of course, the base of one of the greatest inventions ever, the Blizzard.

When my now-husband and I started living together (yes, in sin), he loved having vanilla bean ice cream around.  My husband has never really been the most discerning foodie, but when it comes to ice cream he knows his stuff – always going for the all-natural kind, made with vanilla beans over solely extract (or imitation extract. *shudder*). Slowly, I started to change my tune regarding vanilla ice cream.

When I wanted to make my first batch of homemade vanilla ice cream, I of course turned to David Lebovitz.  Like always, he didn’t disappoint.  This ice cream is really delicious and oh-so-vanilla-y.  The custard base is fabulous and rich, and will knock the socks off your grocer’s ice cream, natural vanilla bean or not!

Vanilla Ice Cream

Makes about 1 quart
The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
6 large egg yolks
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup of cream and salt in a medium saucepan.  Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the warmed milk, and then add the bean itself.  Cover the pan, remove from the heat, and let steep for 30 minutes.

Pour the remaining 1 cup cream into a large bowl, and set a mesh strainer over the top.  In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks.  Slowly add the warm milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, and then scrape back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula (don’t boil!).  Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream.  Add the vanilla bean to the custard, stir in the vanilla extract, and then stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture in your refrigerator. When ready to churn, remove the vanilla bean and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Sablés January 6, 2010

I’m sure that if you’re anything like me, and have a bazillion blogs in your Reader that participate in Tuesdays with Dorie, you have seen this recipe more than you care to. You are so over this recipe, I’m sure.  Well, I’ve got news for you: you shouldn’t be.  Not at all. In fact, you should just make these right now. These cookies are so easy to make and totally worth the minimal effort. They are tender, buttery, and delicious. The fact that these are slice and bake cookies, which makes them even easier to always have around, makes this recipe even better.

I decorated these with red sugar for the holidays, but of course you can use any kind of decorating sugar you prefer.  The only change I made to the original recipe was adding vanilla because…I just thought they would be better with it. It’s rare that things aren’t better with vanilla, in my opinion. I also finally decided to bust out the convection setting on my oven during all my holiday baking, and that worked out well enough that I just baked both sheets at the same time.

I’ve made these a couple times now and I’m so happy to have such an easy and well-liked (they got plenty of good reviews) sablés recipe in my repertoire.

Sablés

Makes about 50 cookies
Slightly adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large egg yolks at room temperature, and 1 egg yolk for brushing the logs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
decorating sugar

Beat the butter in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until smooth and very creamy.  Add the sugars and salt and beat until well blended, about 1 minute. You are looking for a smooth and velvety texture, not fluffy and airy. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the egg yolks, one at a time, and the vanilla, just until incorporated.

Turn off the mixer, pour in the flour, and drape a towel over the mixer (to avoid flying flour). Pulse 5 times at low speed for 1 or 2 seconds each time. If there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a few more times. Otherwise, remove the towel and, continuing at low speed, mix for 30 more seconds, until the flour disappears into the dough (I use my spatula more toward the end to avoid overmixing). You’re looking for a soft, moist, clumpy dough that should feel like Play-Doh when you pinch it.

Scrape the dough onto a work surface, gather it into a ball and divide it in half. Shape each piece into a smooth log, about 9″ long (it’s easier to use plastic wrap or wax/parchment paper to guide you in making the logs). Wrap the logs well and chill for at least 2 hours.

When ready to bake, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

Place one log of chilled dough onto a work surface and brush with the egg yolk.  Sprinkle the entire surface of the log with sugar, and then slice into 1/3″ rounds.

Place the rounds on the baking sheet, leaving an inch of space between each cookie, and bake for 17 to 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet at the halfway point. When properly baked, the cookies will be light brown on the bottom, lightly golden around the edges and pale on top. Let the cookies rest 1 or 2 minutes before carefully lifting them onto a cooling rack with a spatula. Repeat with the other log of dough. (Make sure the sheet is cool before baking each batch.)