Octopi!

Still working on my tentacle technique........I WILL get it perfect! 

Gotta love the minis!

I didn't want to shout it out right away, but these yummy minis are VEGAN! I myself am not vegan, but I do love to bake that way. Not only are most recipes absolutely delicious, but they are super easy AND you don't have to fear salmonella when you lick the spoon ;)  These were a hit at a brunch I just attended this weekend, and I'm sure they will be a hit for you too. Enjoy! 

Lola

Vanilla Blueberry Minis 

1 cup Soy or Almond Milk

1 tsp. Apple Cider Vinegar

1 ½ cups All Purpose Flour 

2 Tblsp. Cornstarch

3/4 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/3 cup Canola or Vegetable Oil

3/4 cup Sugar

1 ½ tsp. Vanilla Extract

24 frozen blueberries

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and line a mini muffin pan with 24 paper liners, set aside. Put the milk in a small bowl and add the vinegar. Wisk it a little and set aside. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Wisk the oil, sugar, and vanilla together with the milk and vinegar mixture, then add it to the large bowl and mix together well. 

Take your batter and put about a teaspoon of it in each mini muffin cup. Add one blueberry to each, setting it in the middle. Don't worry about pushing it down or anything. Take the remaining batter and fill each cup about 3/4 full, making sure to cover the blueberry as much as possible. Transfer to the oven and cook for 13-15 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack. 

I need revamping

So far I've been pretty lazy with this venture. I've only posted recipes from the newsletter, which is only SUPPOSED to be a little part of the grand scheme of things. Stick with me....hold tight....I'll figure it out soon.

Lola

Easter Cheesecake (late post, as usual!)

I recently went into my bookmarks on Google and was horrified to figure out I had THOUSANDS of websites linked with those little gold stars. I confess; I have a slight hoarding tendency. It's true. I decided to go through all of these links because, hello! Who needs that many bookmarks? After about 5 hours of "Click, delete. Click, delete." I gave up. It is what it is. What I was proud to find though was Martha Stewarts' recipe for Easter Cheesecake. I was drooling over this recipe from the moment I saw it, but tucked it away in the black hole that is my bookmark tab because it's just what I do.

I'll be the first to admit that I make a mean tasting cheesecake. Ask any of the 3 people I've made one for. What I don't have the ability to do though is make a "pretty" cheesecake. Mine are hideous. Almost inedible looking. Now, I'm used to my cooking. My cooking is horrid. But my baking is not. So to bake something and have it be downright nasty looking, oh how it hurt. I've tried and tried to make these things pleasing to the eye, but no matter what, they look.........gross. Then it clicked. Put that damn cheesecake IN something! All the taste, none of the darkened bumpy nastiness! (I'm serious, U-G-L-Y!) I also don't want to take someone else's recipe and just make it. That's not me, not mine. So after a night of throwing ideas around in my head, I decided to incorporate it into a cake.

Honestly, the thought of making a hideously delicious cheesecake is a little intimidating. So I decided to do what I would normally do in that situation and half ass it so I could GTFO! I used......boxed cake mix. But that's okay! No one is too good for boxed cake mix! Sometimes it's just what you need. I went back and forth about a fruit filling of some type to layer between the cakes, but ultimately scratched that idea. It would totally be easy to do, if that is what you fancy, but I just didn't feel like adding an extra step to the process (LAZY). I didn't want this cake to be too sweet, so a traditional buttercream or 7 minute frosting was out of the question. So why not cream cheese frosting? Hey, it ties it all together. I have a problem with being pretty biased towards cream cheese frosting. I'm good at making it, it comes out tasty.....why fix what isn't broken? Boom. Done.

I spaced the process of this cake out over a couple days, mainly because I kept effing things up. My first set of cheesecakes came out hideous (figured), but they also didn't want to come out of the pan. I haven't tried to make cheesecake without a springform pan or crust before, so big fat DUH on my part. I should have realized. Luckily I had halved the recipe to begin with, so I still had ingredients on hand. The next round I lined the bottom of the pans with parchment paper so I could actually get them out. A little advice though........never leave anything that resembles cooking spray next to where you set the spray down on the counter. Doesn't turn out too well. Washed pans, started over. Sigh. The cake of course came out perfect. Thank you Pillsbury Dough Boy, you are on my side! I had also completely forgotten that I wanted to do a cream cheese frosting, and instead whipped up a 7 minute frosting (recipe courtesy of Paula Deen). It wasn't until I taste tested it that it hit me. DUR! Sometimes my brain refuses to work right. Oh well, I'll figure out what to do with it. (Dead giveaway that I wrote the beginning of this post BEFORE I actually started making the cake.)

Putting everything together is super easy. I cut the cake rounds in half to make 4 pieces, and had the two cheesecakes ready. I thought about putting some frosting between all the layers, but I wasn't sure if I had enough to do that AND frost the whole outside of the cake, so I skipped it. Don't skip it. Double up on the frosting recipe if you want to, or use a fruit paste of some sorts. Use anything that will bind it all together. Even chocolate. Yummy!

Once you have your layers stacked, start frosting the outside. I start on top and work my way down the sides. I should probably invest in a frosting spatula. Once frosted you can pretty much do whatever you want to finish it up. Coconut, sprinkles, slivered almonds, fruits........anything would work. Endless possibilities! Mine is kind of the blah, stock version. Next time I'll be stepping it up!

VANILLA EASTER CHEESECAKE

(Cake)
1 box vanilla cake mix

Prepare as directed in two 9 inch round pans. Remove from pans and let cool completely on a wire rack. Take a long serrated knife and cut each cake in half lengthwise. Cover and set aside. (You will only need 3 of the layers)


(Cheesecake)
4  8oz. packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Grated zest of 1 orange
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325. Grease two 9 inch round cake pans lined with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl beat cream cheese, heavy cream, and sugar with mixer until smooth. Add eggs and beat until just incorporated. Mix in zest and vanilla.



When baking, some like to also use a water bath. I didn't this time, but feel free if you like! I personally haven't seen a difference in cakes.


(Frosting)12 oz. cream cheese (1 1/2 packs), room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Add powdered sugar in 4 parts, mixing well each time.


(Assembly)
Take the bottom of one cake and set on a plate, or any flat surface. Spread a little of the cream cheese frosting over the top, mainly focusing on the middle. Put one of the cheesecakes on top of the cake layer, then spread a little of the frosting on top of that and add the bottom layer of the other cake. Repeat this step, but after the second cheesecake, finish off with the top layer of the vanilla cake. Take the rest of the frosting and cover the entire outside of the cake, starting from the top. Then garnish (optional).

Strawberry Cream Cupcakes

*my camera was dead so I didn't get to take pics of the process :(

There are a few things you can be certain about in February around here. We've started gaining daylight, the weather is all over the place, and there's a limited selection of fresh, inexpensive fruit at the supermarket. The solution? Use frozen! Equally as nutritious as fresh, you can get up to twice as much for the same price per pound. Only issue I've found is that baking with frozen fruit will almost always pose a problem due to its high moisture content once thawed. It is perfect though for fillings, and the syrups work well to add flavor to frosting.

A perfect pairing with a vanilla (or chocolate) cupcake, fruit fillings and creams are super versatile and great any time of the year. And don't be afraid to experiment with different flavors. Sometimes an odd combination will turn out to be the most delicious!

Enjoy!


Lola




STRAWBERRY CREAM CUPCAKES WITH BALSAMIC FROSTING

(Strawberry Cream)
2 cups Frozen Strawberries (thawed, with syrup)
1 cup Heavy Cream
2 Tblsp Cornstarch
1 cup Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Take thawed strawberries and put them in a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Add cornstarch to heavy cream, mix well, then add to the pot with strawberries. Stir or wisk constantly until thickened, about 10 minutes. Break up any large chunks of strawberries as you stir. Remove from heat and add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Set aside to fully cool.

*chilling is recommended, so if you can make this ahead of time, please do. If not, just make sure it is room temperature at the most.

(Cupcakes)
2 cups All Purpose Flour
½ cup Cake Flour
½ tsp Salt
1 Tblsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
½ cup Milk (whole or 2%)
½ cup Oil (canola or vegetable)
½ cup Unsalted Butter
1 cup Sugar
3 Eggs (large)

Preheat oven to 350°. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, combine flours, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In a smaller bowl, wisk the vanilla, milk, and oil. Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl, adding the eggs in one at a time. Alternate adding the wet and dry ingredients to the large bowl, starting and ending with the dry. I do it in 5 increments (D/W/D/W/D) Doesn't need to be perfect, just a little at a time.

Pour batter into cupcake liners and fill about ⅔ full. Bake 15-20 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

(Balsamic Frosting)
½ cup Unsalted Butter (room temp)
8 oz. Cream Cheese (room temp)
1 cup Powdered Sugar (sifted)
½ tsp Vanilla Extract
½ cup Strawberry Jam
2 Tblsp Balsamic Vinegar
In a large bowl, mix the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla. Add the sifted powdered sugar and mix on medium until fully incorporated. Add jam and balsamic vinegar and mix well.

(Assembly)
Take fully cooled cupcakes and cut a little cone shaped piece out of the top, set aside. Take about a tablespoon of the strawberry cream and pour into cupcake. Cut the bottom of the piece you set aside off and replace the top. Then frost the tops however you like and you're done!

Clementine Spice Cake (First feature post!)

The holidays basically mean one thing in my house. DESSERT! With that said, being so close to the new year always makes me feel full of hope and excitement, ready for what could be next. Strange thing though is at the same time I want to run and scream. This is where my debut recipe for Interiors by Mae comes in.

I was on the hunt for something new to make that could end up a holiday staple with my family. Adapted from a Nigella Lawson post I came across recently, I was very intimidated by this recipe. Intrigued by the ingredients, but scared to death of the process, I wasn't sure if I could pull it off. Once I got passed my initial fear and embraced the somewhat unique approach to this cake, I was pleasantly surprised by how quick and easy it all was (that is, after boiling the clementines of course). I have become very adamant about mixing all of the ingredients by hand with this recipe. Hand mixers I've found will froth the egg too much and you will end up with a lot of air bubbles and a bumpy, uneven cake. Not to mention that if you choose to use a glaze, it won't spread properly over the entire surface.

Kind of sweet, kind of spicy, with mild citrus undertones, the glaze really pulls it all together. Warmth, surprise, and accomplishment. All in all this cake sums up the holiday season. Enjoy!

Happy Holidays!

Lola

CLEMENTINE SPICE CAKE

5-6 clementines, about 1 lb. total

6 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 1/2 cups ground almonds (I buy raw and grind them myself)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp nutmeg

In a large pot of cold water, add the whole clementines and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook for 2 hours. Drain, and when cooled, cut each one in half and remove any seeds. Finely chop the whole batch (rind and all!) in a food processor or blender. Set aside.

Preheat your oven to 375° F

Grease an 8-inch springform pan and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper.

Wisk the eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar, baking powder, and spices. Mix together well, then stir in the ground almonds. Once fully incorporated, fold in the chopped clementines.

Pour cake mixture into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Make sure to cover with foil after the first 20-30 minutes so the sides and top of your cake don't brown too much. You will know it is done when you insert a skewer into the middle and it comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan on a wire rack. Make sure it is fully cooled before you try to remove the cake from the pan.

GLAZE (optional)

2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

1/3 cup citrus juice or water (I use the extra juice from the clementines)

1 Tblsp cocoa powder, unsweetened (optional)*

Wisk confectioners sugar, citrus juice, and cocoa powder (optional) together until fully mixed. The consistency of the glaze is very important, so don't be afraid add more liquid (teaspoon at a time) in case it is too thick (or more sugar if it is too thin).

Pour the glaze over the cake, starting from the middle. Should cover the entire top and drizzle down the sides. Let set 1-2 hours.


*I decided to omit the cocoa powder in the glaze this time around, but it is definitely still delicious either way!