sour cream blackberry cupcakes

Fun fact about me #12: I bake when I get stressed. Fun fact about me #39: I love sour cream. So these lovely cupcakes just make me happy. I have a few adjustments that I want to make, but they are quite nice. Recipe adapted from Ming Makes Cupcakes. Originally the recipe calls for apricot preserves (which I wanted to try), but the store didn't have the apricot preserves that I wanted, so I went with blackberry instead.

Sour Cream Blackberry Cupcakes
1 cup flour (I used 1/2 oat flour and 1/2 coconut flour)
2 tsp. baking soda
pinch salt
1 stick butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar (I used coconut sugar)
3 Tbsp. applesauce (unsweetened)
1/2 cup sour cream
blackberry preserves

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. In case you can't tell, I added cinnamon.


In a separate bowl combine the butter and sugar. Then add the applesauce.

Add the sour cream.


Add the dry ingredients.


Fill cupcake liners 1/3 full. Add a spoonful of preserves.


And cover with remaining dough. One adjustment that I want to make is to put a little less dough on the bottom and make sure that the entire top gets covered. I also would use less jam than I did in these. But all around they were good.

Mascarpone Frosting
8 oz. Mascarpone
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Blend all ingredients and beat until soft peaks form. Frost cupcakes and top with toasted, sliced almonds.

my own creation

So last year on labor day, my roommate and I decided to grill and have a nice summer meal to celebrate. One of the items on the list was potato salad. However, the grocery was out of regular potatoes (apparently everyone else had the same idea. . .what were they thinking?!). To make a long story short, this delightfulness was born out of that situation: sweet potato salad. And I'm going to let you in on how I make it. Lucky you!


Start with a diced up onion. You can dice it as fine or as coarse as you want. And add as much or as little as you want. I think I used about half an onion and diced it fairly fine. You also want to add 2-3 cooked, diced sweet potatoes depending on the size of the sweet potatoes and the number of people you want to serve. I used two here. I boiled them, then removed the skin and diced them up.


Add to that two hard-boiled eggs that you have diced up.


Add some raisins.


And some chopped up pecans.


Add mustard, mayo, and season with curry powder, cinnamon, turmeric, and a touch of nutmeg. I suggest stirring it all up and then tasting it to see if it needs more mayo or mustard or seasoning. And there you have it. Simple, easy, delicious. I will never make regular potato salad again.

the healthiest cupcake you will ever eat

Okay, please don't let the healthy part of this drive you away. Cupcakes can be both nutritious and delicious. These are simply healthy because of the substitutes and additions that I made. I was also making these so the roommate could have some. She's back from vacation, so I get to cook for her again instead of filling that void by cooking for other people. (Don't worry, other people, you will still get treats too.) This recipe is adapted from Ming Makes Cupcakes.

Carrot Cupcakes
1 cup flour (I used unbleached all-purpose)
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. applesauce (just an fyi, I use unsweetened in everything)
1/2 cup sugar (I used dark brown)
1/2 cup canola oil
crushed pineapple
2 cups grated carrots
flake coconut

Start with your grated carrots.


Add dry ingredients. Hmmm. . .at this point I may have also added a bit of nutmeg and ground ginger, but I like adding spices. You may do what you like.


Add applesauce.


Add sugar and coconut. (Okay, I admit it, I randomly thought that this would be good with coconut in it, perhaps because I love coconut, and so I randomly added some. Feel free to leave it out if you aren't as obsessed with it as I am.)


Give it a good mixing up.


Fill cupcake papers and bake at 325* for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. My oven runs a little warm, so I think mine were done in about 30, but I could just be making that up.


Ready to be iced and garnished.

Cream Cheese Icing
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick butter, softened
1 cup confectioner's sugar

Mix all ingredients together and spread on cupcakes.

I garnished with sliced almonds and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

sweet and sour chicken

Fun fact about Me #57: I love sweet and sour chicken. I, in fact, crave it at least once a week and could probably eat it every day if it was in my budget to do so. However, sweet and sour chicken is full of things that my roommate is allergic to. Which is sad because she too loves it. So I decided to make my own version that she could eat. I made this while she was gone so that I could experiment with it a little and see if I could get it figured out so I could make it for her sometime.


An important part of sweet and sour chicken is rice. Sushi rice on to boil. Yum.


I diced up 1 chicken breast into bite sized chunks. (Okay, pet peeve, I don't understand Chinese restaurants who give you five huge chunks of chicken that could easily be three bites each.)


Then I prepared my breading. I used oat flour, water, and perhaps a little almond milk (I don't for sure remember). I think I also seasoned this with a little salt and perhaps some curry powder and ginger.


Toss the chicken pieces until they are completely coated.


Then place in hot oil and turn until golden brown and cooked through. I removed them to a plate that I covered with paper towels to drain just a bit.


While the chicken was cooking, I started on the sauce. I started with a mixture of pineapple juice and water which I heated and then added tapioca flour to to make it thicken. This was a bad idea as the flour just clumped and I had to toss it out and start over. Word of the wise: first mix the tapioca flour with some water and then pour it in.


Once it had thickened, I added some diced yellow pepper and pineapple chunks. I used yellow pepper here because I had some and my roommate doesn't like it. If I were fixing this for her, I would probably add carrots instead. Hey if you like both, throw it all in there, the more veggies, the merrier. I also added some lime juice because the sauce didn't have enough "sour" to it. Most sweet and sour recipes call for vinegar (which my roomie is allergic to), so I am a bit muddled about what to put in instead. I also added some ginger to this.


All around, this was a decent first attempt. I was pleased with the chicken, but not so much with the sauce. It wasn't sweet or sour enough. I have a few ideas in mind of what to try next time, so we shall see what attempt number two brings.

I can't wait for it to be summer. . .

. . .so that raspberries will be cheaper!! Because I fell in love with these cupcakes! So incredibly delicious!! Recipe from here. Confession: I was really tired when I made these, so I forgot to take pictures until they were ready to go in the oven. Oops.

Sour Cream Raspberry Cupcakes
1 cup flour (I used unbleached all purpose once again)
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
pinch salt
1 stick butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp. applesauce
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups raspberries
1 tsp. cinnamon

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl cream butter and sugar. Add applesauce to butter mixture, then stir in the sour cream. Add the flour mixture. Then gently fold in the raspberries. Be gentle with the raspberries. They like the blueberries are sensitive creatures and you want to maintain their integrity.

Bake at 350* for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Look at that deliciousness waiting to happen!!

Cream Cheese Frosting
4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 stick butter
1 cup powdered sugar

Mix ingredients by hand and then beat with a mixer until light and fluffy. Spread on cupcakes.

As you can see, I garnished with a sprinkle of cinnamon and raspberries on top. Delicious!! I'm so ready for summer!!

chocolate + coffee = heaven

I love coffee. I love chocolate. And when you put the two together. . .ummm. . .yeah, heaven on earth. Once more from Ming Makes Cupcakes. Here's my version:

Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup buttermilk
3 heaping Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 stick butter
1 tsp. cinnamon (approximately)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour (I used unbleached all-purpose)
1/4 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. applesauce
1/2 tsp. Irish Cream liqueur

Start by combining the buttermilk and baking soda. It's best if the buttermilk is room temperature, but will work if it is cooler.


In a saucepan over low heat melt butter with cocoa powder and cinnamon (I may have added a dash of nutmeg here as well, but I don't remember), stir until smooth. Then add coffee.


In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and sugar.


Add the applesauce.


Then add the chocolate coffee mixture and mix well.

Add the buttermilk and baking soda mixture (at this point it should be a little foamy) as well as the Irish Cream. Mix well.

Bake at 350* for 20 minutes.


Let cool and frost with Irish Cream frosting.

Irish Cream Frosting
1 stick butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup Irish Cream liqueur
1 Tbsp. milk (I used almond milk)
2 Tbsp. coffee

Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth.


Frost cupcakes and garnish. I used dark chocolate chunks and some coffee grounds, although you could sprinkle them with cinnamon instead of coffee grounds. Enjoy!

*Side note: For my coffee, I used a french press because I like dark, rich coffee, but I'm sure that a regular coffeepot coffee would be just fine as well.

blueberry instead of mango

After the failure of the mango cupcakes, I still had time to try some other ones, so since I had blueberries, I decided to try making blueberry cupcakes instead. I find that it is always good to follow failure up with success as quickly as possible. These were lovely. I had an idea that they would be something like blueberry pancakes in cupcake form. Once more from Ming Makes Cupcakes. My adjusted recipe:

Blueberry Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour (I used unbleached all-purpose for this one)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 stick butter, melted
3 Tbsp. applesauce
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup milk (I used almond milk)
1 cup blueberries (I guessed, so I may have been a bit over or under)

Combine dry ingredients. I believe I added some cinnamon, and possibly a sprinkle of nutmeg.


In a separate bowl combine applesauce with melted butter.


Add buttermilk and almond milk to the butter mixture and combine.


Pour into dry ingredients and combine.


Now this is important to maintain the integrity of the blueberries. Toss the blueberries in about a Tablespoon or so of flour before adding them to the batter.


Fold the blueberries in gently. You don't want to bruise them or damage them. Blueberries are very sensitive creatures. . .in case you didn't know.

Bake at 350* for 20 minutes.

Brown Butter Frosting with Honey
1 stick butter
1 tsp. (ish, I didn't really measure, just sprinkled) cinnamon
1/4 cup milk
3 Tbsp. honey (once again, didn't measure, just poured)


Melt the butter in a skillet with cinnamon and cook until browned.

Pour in a bowl and add the other ingredients and mix until smooth. This frosting is another one that I just fell in love with (but I do love butter a lot!!). I'm incredibly sorry that I don't have pictures of the finished product. I was in a bit of a hurry and forgot to take one later.

After icing the cupcakes, I topped them with blueberries. Remember what we talked about garnishing cupcakes. . .it makes the entire experience so much better.

Oh, remember what I said about thinking these would be like blueberry pancakes. . .one bite confirmed my thought. They were deliciously like blueberry pancakes. Yummy!!