Fresh Strawberry Frosting

The month of February is a bit crazy over here. First there is my half birthday and then 3 days later it's Valentine's Day. A week and a half after is Isla's half birthday, with Emma's half trailing 3 days behind that. By the time we make it to Emma's special day, we are all highly under the influence of sugar and I confess that there has been a time or two when I've served leftovers of her older sister's dessert 3 days prior for her celebration. Sue me. 

The observance of the half birthday originated thanks to my father, who was born on April Fool's Day. I've been told many a tale of his childhood birthdays when he received wrapped boxes full of rocks as gifts and "cakes" made of cardboard and iced with shaving cream. When he and my mom met and subsequently married, my mom took pity on his poor soul and began honoring his half birthday, which could be celebrated entirely prank-free. Of course once us kids came along, we weren't about to let dad be the only one to have a day with cake and special treatment and a gift. And so the tradition was born.

My husband has gone along with the tradition, somewhat begrudgingly at times. I'm pretty sure he thinks it's a gimmick to get him to buy me more gifts. (It is). But honestly, who can complain about having an extra day each year where people offer up well wishes, say nice things about you and cook you your favorite meal? Doesn't seem like a terrible arrangement to me.

Anyhow, we do our best to keep our half birthday celebrations small - cake, one present, and your choice of breakfast and dinner. But if any of you have ever met my first born, you know "small" is not really a word in her vocabulary. It's pretty much go big or go home. All day. Every day. Her half birthday this year was no exception. Her enthusiasm with celebrations used to really stress me out. She is constantly planning parties and menus and making guests lists for all sorts of events she hopes I will host for her. It can be overwhelming when we don't really have the capacity to host 7 of her closest classmates and all of their families for no particular reason. BUT, when we do have an actual occasion approaching, particularly one that honors her, it's glorious. I just sit down with a pen and paper and ask her to recite me her menu. Wham. Bam. Thank you Ma'am and done. 

Of course, her menus usually aren't the simplest of undertakings but we work together and we make some compromises and in the end we come up with something we can both work with. This year's offerings included the following:

Cheese and "the rectangle crackers from Trader Joes"

Mandarin oranges

Potstickers with dipping sauce 

Sort of Thai Noodles

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cupcakes with Fresh Strawberry Frosting 

(I of course also added an Asian slaw salad because I'm anal about serving vegetables like that)

It just so happened that my brother-in-law was in town on Isla's special night and so we invited the whole Crozier clan and made her half birthday dinner a combined family affair. She was pretty sure Uncle Scott flew up from California JUST to celebration her and I wasn't about to burst her bubble. Next year she'll be pretty bummed to remember half birthday dinners usually include "just" the five of us!

When it came down to her menu, the first four courses were all items I knew I could make. But I was a little unsure about her Fresh Strawberry Frosting idea which I had never, ever heard of. I mean, it sounded divine but is it really a thing? What do real strawberries taste like in frosting? Do they turn brown? What is the texture like? I did some puttering around on Google to make sure I wasn't the first person ever to attempt such an undertaking and I was reassured  that I couldn't screw up too terribly when I saw that Martha Stewart had a recipe floating out on the world wide web. Most of the recipes I encountered called for strawberry jam or freeze-dried strawberries and Isla was insistent that we use fresh so we got crazy and free-styled a recipe. As it turns out, I'd say my Isla is onto something: Fresh Strawberry Frosting is DELICIOUS, not to mention a natural lovely pink! 

I'm a big fan of cream cheese in my frosting and it does a great job of countering the sweetness of the combination of powdered sugar and strawberries. You might have to play around with the ingredients just a bit, depending on the ripeness/juiciness of your strawberries. Add more powdered sugar to thicken the frosting or more strawberries to thin. Ours ended up a bit on the thin side but it held up well under refrigeration. Also of note, you need not use *quite as many sprinkles and my little helpers did (gag!!) when you decorate yours. ;)

Fresh Strawberry Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

1 cup finely diced strawberries

Combine the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand up mixer. Beat at medium speed until fluffy, about 3 seconds. Add powdered sugar and strawberries and mix on low speed until combined. Adjust thickness as needed by adding more powdered sugar to thicken or additional strawberries to thin.

Makes enough frosting for 2 dozen cupcakes

Snow Angel Cupcakes

Yesterday was my mother-in-law's birthday. She has done so many things for our family but what is freshest on my mind right now is the gift of her amazing cake making skills. She has treated each of our kids with some of the most intricately detailed birthday cakes, representing whatever it is they happen to be most passionate about that year. We've had 2 ducky cakes, a butterfly cake, a Cheerio box cake, a camera cake, a Winnie the Pooh cake, a princess fairy cake, a Stellaluna the bat cake, and most recently, a bus cake. I don't have a clue how long it takes for her to create one of these masterpieces but they truly are works of art. Our kids' glee can hardly be contained when she arrives with cake in arms and I have been found guilty at times of photographing the cake more than the kids. My middle child said it so well the other day when she exclaimed "Grandma is great Caker!"

This past Saturday of course was no exception. We were celebrating my son's 2nd birthday and opted to invite immediate family only to keep the party to a more "intimate" group of 18. Of course it never occurred to me to let my mother-in-law know that we would be smaller in number than in past parties so she went all out and made the most amazing yellow school bus cake that seemed nearly life-size in scale. Needless to say, my bus-obsessed son was THRILLED and, mistaking it for a toy, immediately began patting it and trying to play with it. The cake was as epic as it was delicious and it is still being very much enjoyed. Right as I type this post, in fact.

There is nothing like a party-packed weekend and this past one was certainly one of them! After celebrating like 2 year olds on Saturday, on Sunday, the spotlight shifted and we focused our attention on my mother-in-law. Imagine my fear and trepidation at the thought of making her, the queen of cakes, a birthday cake!! Especially after that bus cake! But even the cake-maker, maybe especially the cake-maker, needs a birthday cake. And so I sent off a text to my father-in-law, asking what her preferred cake might be. I was envisioning some of my favorites that were sure to impress: Salted Caramel Six Layer Chocolate Cake or maybe Banana-Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting. Both of these were always crowd-pleasers! So when my father-in-law responded with a simple "angel food cake," that nervous knot in my stomach twisted even further. How could one possibly make an angel food cake special? Isn't a boxed mix required to make it? Yes, the queen of make-it-from-scratch literally asked herself that very question. There's just some sort of magical magicalness about angel food cake that makes it seem only possible to create in a factory, am I right?

I logged onto my friendly Pinterest account, hoping to find some sort of inspiration for the task ahead. Well, in case inquiring minds want to know, as it turns out, my "research" proved that, with a dozen room temperature egg whites, some cream of tartar and a couple other ingredients, you can make angel food cake from scratch. :) My search also revealed that I could make it in the form of cupcakes which sounded exciting and special AND also solved the age-old issue: I suck at frosting cakes. SOLD! The soft peaks of freshly whipped cream in lieu of frosting were sure to look super elegant and cloud-like atop the angel food cupcakes. Then I would finish them off with a few fresh raspberries as garnish, ensuring the birthday girl got the berries she favors on her cakes.

Who knows? Maybe making angel food cake from scratch is a temperamental process. But in this first-time experience, it couldn't have been easier. The hardest part was sifting the flour (mostly because I don't own a sifter and was using a colander instead) and folding the flour mixture into the egg whites. And that wasn't even hard, just a tad annoying. I even managed to whip these up on Sunday morning BEFORE church when I was flying on solo kid duty. The end result was awesome, if I do say so myself. And I'm the queen of go-big-or-go-home dense and rich desserts and so angel food cake isn't usually my thing. These cupcakes were as light as air (which made it totally permissible for the guests to have seconds). Mr. Crozier declared them the best angel food he'd ever had and the birthday girl seemed pleased as well. The recipe made 2 dozen easy and I had enough batter left over to potentially fill a third muffin tin (if I had one).

Snow Angel Cupcakes
(from thecakeblog.com)

FOR THE CUPCAKES:
2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups sifted cake flour
12 egg whites, at room temperature
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
zest of one lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, pulse sugar until it is superfine. Combine 1/2 cup sugar with flour and sift together four times. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer filled with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites, salt and cream of tarter until medium firm peaks. Sprinkle 1 1/2 cups sugar over egg whites with mixer running. Mix until thick and shiny. Add lemon zest and mix for several additional minutes until very thick. Remove bowl from stand mixer.

Sprinkle 1/4 of flour mixture into bowl and gently fold into egg whites using a clean rubber spatula. Repeat until all flour has been added. Spoon batter into a muffin tin lined with cupcake wrappers. Fill each wrapper to the very top. Smooth top.

Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes and then remove from muffin tin to cool completely.

FOR WHIPPING CREAM "FROSTING":
16 ounces heavy whipping cream
4 tablespoons sugar
Fresh Raspberries
Confectioners Sugar

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk cream and 4 tablespoons sugar until you have soft peaks. When ready to serve, spoon a dollop of whipped cream on top of each cupcake. Top with a fresh raspberry and a sprinkle of confectioners sugar, if desired.

Makes 24+

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cupcakes

I'm going to do my very best to keep my posts seasonal. I make no guarantees because sometimes I get a hankering for something that is most unseasonal and the urge is just too irresistible. But I think we can all agree there is nothing worse than seeing a recipe for fresh peach crisp in the dead of winter when there are no peaches worth being called peaches around. All this to say, I will try not to set you up with cravings for pumpkin pie in the spring and watermelon salad when it's snowing outside. But I digress.

This week's seasonal bounty is zucchini so I have a few recipes to share that I hope you will enjoy. My eldest daughter just celebrated her 5th birthday and there is a slight chance I might have forced her to have these cupcakes. Maybe "forced" is too strong of a word choice but let's just say I didn't really present any other options. There is also a slim possibility she might have wailed (ever so briefly!) when she heard me utter the word "zucchini" in the same sentence as her beloved birthday dessert. Her sorrow was short-lived and then entirely forgotten when she realized the cupcakes came out not even resembling a vegetable in the least.

The addition of shredded zucchini (which keeps it's presence unknown) produces a cupcake that is moist and delicious, not to mention rich and chocolately. The original recipe said that the chocolate chips were optional but they MOST CERTAINLY ARE NOT!! If you're a chocolate chip omitter, alas, my blog might not be the place for you (coming from the girl who occasionally can be found hiding from her kids in the pantry, snacking on chocolate chips...)

But back to the recipe! The final result is a delicious chocolate cake that can be jazzed up with the frosting of your choice. Historically I have used a peanut butter frosting - a perfect pairing in my eyes! However, my 5-year-old-and-just-a-hair-opinionated daughter does not care for peanut butter and I knew this frosting would be a no-go. It was her birthday after all and so I opted for my mom's frosting recipe which is really better known as The Best Frosting Ever. It is buttery and sweet, but not the overly-sugary-store-bought-cake-frosting type of sweet. It contains both vanilla and almond extract which is heavenly and an absolute must, in my humble opinion. The frosting is dual-purpose  and works great on sugar cookies come Christmas time too. For this occasion, I dyed it pink and it complemented the cupcakes wonderfully while acting as the perfect vehicle for the star sprinkles that had been hand-selected for the occasion!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cupcakes

2 cups shredded zucchini
3 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
¾ cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1 recipe The Best Frosting Ever

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line twenty-four 2-1/2-inch muffin cups with double or single layer of paper bake cups or lightly coat with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
In a large bowl stir together zucchini, eggs, granulated sugar, oil, and vanilla. Add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, baking powder and chocolate chips, stirring until combined. Spoon batter into prepared pans, filling cups about half full. Bake about 25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove from cups. Cool completely on racks and frost.

Makes 24 cupcakes


The Best Frosting Ever

4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter
2 Tablespoons milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract

Combine powdered sugar, butter, milk, vanilla and almond extracts in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at medium-high speed, adding more milk as needed, until the frosting is a smooth consistency, about 3-5 minutes.

Makes enough for a 2-layer round cake or 24 cupcakes

Carrot Cupcakes with Coconut-Cream Cheese Frosting

I'm a sucker for cream cheese frosting and lately for anything coconut too. So why not marry the two? Exactly. Why not? These cupcakes were deemed delicious even by some individuals who claimed to not like coconut or carrot cake. So there. They made an appearance at my eldest's first birthday party and now also at the first birthday parties of a few friends around us. I mean, they have carrots, raisins and pineapple in them so they are practically a healthy food. WARNING: you might want to make a double batch as this recipes only makes 12 cupcakes and, honestly, who eats just one cupcake? 

Carrot Cupcakes with Coconut-Cream Cheese Frosting
(From Cooking Light Magazine)

Cupcakes:

2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup finely shredded carrot
1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice, well-drained
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup raisins

Frosting:

1/4 cup (2 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, chilled
1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine, softened
1/8 teaspoon imitation coconut flavor (optional)
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons flaked sweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cupcakes, beat first 4 ingredients at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended. Add carrot and pineapple; beat well. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (flour through nutmeg) in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture; beat well. Stir in raisins.

Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups lined with paper liners. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

To prepare frosting, beat the cream cheese, butter, and coconut flavor at medium speed of a mixer just until blended. Gradually add powdered sugar (do not overbeat). Spread frosting over cupcakes; sprinkle with flaked coconut. Store, covered, in refrigerator.

Makes 12 cupcakes