March 23rd: Quinoa Tabbouleh & Peanut Butter-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

I can't believe I waited a month to write about my baby turning 2! This awesome kid is so much fun to have around and completes our family so perfectly; I can barely remember what it was like before we had her. In the time leading up to and since her birthday, she has become more independent and communicative; I enjoy her company each and every day.

Sadie Birthday Baby

For Sadie's birthday dinner, we had a big family party, with members from both sides of the family in attendance for the first time in my children's lifetime! At Greg's request, I laid out a healthy spread, which included roasted broccoli and cauliflower, roasted pork tenderloin, and a quinoa tabbouleh salad, the last of which I pulled off epicurious:


Quinoa Tabbouleh

1 cup quinoa, rinsed well
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large English hothouse cucumber or 2 Persian cucumbers, cut into 1/4" pieces
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
2/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
2 scallions, thinly sliced

Bring quinoa, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 1/4 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until quinoa is tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork, then let cool.

Meanwhile, whisk lemon juice and garlic in a small bowl. Gradually whisk in olive oil. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer cooled quinoa to a large bowl; mix in 1/4 cup dressing. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover remaining dressing and quinoa separately; chill.

Add cucumber, tomatoes, herbs, and scallions to bowl with quinoa; toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle remaining dressing over.

Makes 6 servings.

Going from memory, I think I altered the recipe a bit, increasing the lemon and reducing the oil, and reducing both the parsley and mint by a bit. I didn't keep notes, so this is guesswork. I do remember the salad was well-received and we enjoyed it.

For dessert, I used my Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook and made:

Peanut Butter-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips*

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate chips*

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

Peanut Butter Filling (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Put butter and chocolates in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water; stir until melted. Remove from heat, and let cool slightly.

Whisk granulated sugar into cooled chocolate mixture. Add eggs, and whisk until mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla. Add flour mixture; stir until well incorporated.

Spoon 2 tablespoons chocolate batter into each lined cup, followed by 1 tablespoon peanut butter filling. Repeat with another tablespoon of batter, and top with 1 teaspoon filling. Swirl top of cupcake batter and filling with a wooden skewer or toothpick.

Bake, rotating tin halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centres comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, about 40 minutes. Transfer tin to a wire rack to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored up to 3 days at room temperature in airtight containers.

Makes 12.

*The original called for chocolate, chopped. I always use chips. The chopping is done!

Peanut Butter Filling

4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup icing sugar, sifted

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

Stir together all ingredients until smooth. Use immediately.

Makes enough for 12 cupcakes

Thanks to Olivia bringing it to my attention just in time, I remembered one of our guests had a peanut allergy, so I subbed Wow Butter in for the peanut butter. The cupcakes were good, but I suspect with real peanut butter, they would be a truly wow experience.

That's March complete. Now for April. Eep.

March 24th: blackberry cornmeal cupcakes

Sadie Baby's birthday! Oh, my sweet little baby girl is a year old and almost not a baby anymore. Crawling, babbling, getting into EVERYTHING. I love this child to pieces and wish I could slow down time to spend more with her.

For her first birthday, I decided very last minute to make Martha Stewart's Blackberry Cornmeal Cupcakes, from a cookbook I received for Christmas: Martha Stewart's Cupcakes. Silly me, I thought the recipe sounded a bit like a muffin recipe, and would be a better option for a baby who doesn't know the difference, but no, they were super sweet and definitely a cupcake, so she had lots of sugar, and enjoyed doing so.

Blackberry Cornmeal Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups all-purose flour
1/2 cup fine-ground yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 to 2 containers (6 ounces each) fresh blackberries

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar. In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter; pour over flour mixture, whisking to combine.

Fill each lined cup with a scant 1/4 cup batter. Top batter with blackberries (3 to 4 berries per cup), then sprinkled evenly with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.

Bake until evenly browned on top, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before removing cupcakes, otherwise, they stick to the papers and fall apart.

Recipe says it makes 16 cupcakes; I only made 12.

Recipe also points out 375°F is essential for the blackberries to stay on top and not sink to bottom.

May 13th: Vanilla Butter Cupcakes

Olivia has been asking recently if we could make a cake with Smarties on top. I don't know where she got the idea - we've never done this before - but I thought it sounded like fun. I decide to make cupcakes instead, because I like them better. This was our Mother's Day activity. A recipe from May 2007's Chatelaine: Vanilla Butter Cupcakes. The recipe has almond extract in it, which gives the cupcakes a hint of cherry flavour. Feel free to omit if that is not to your fancy. Yum yum.