Food
Chocolatey cupcakes
Recently I had a craving for cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes with cream filling and a milk chocolate icing. YUM. I bought a gluten free chocolate cupcake mix, and used a recipe for the cream filling that I can’t find now! I inserted the cream into the cupcakes using a large icing tip, and whipped up a batch of chocolate frosting. I added sprinkles for extra FRILLS. I ate a few (yes, a few), saved some for Lyle, and then gave the rest away so that I didn’t eat them for the next day’s breakfast, lunch and supper. So good!
Chocolate Cupcakes + Orange Cream Cheese Icing
Hi everyone! Happy Monday! Last week I posted a few snapshots of a recent baby shower I helped host. This week I wanted to give you the details on the chocolate cupcakes with orange cream cheese icing that I made. I made the daisy cupcake toppers out of water, powdered sugar and meringue powder. I piped out the shape of the flower on a Wilton flower nail and then let them harden for a few days. Go here for a good tutorial explaining the process if you are interested.
The chocolate cupcakes are a mix. I often make cupcakes from scratch, but I use a mix when baking simple flavors such as chocolate, white or yellow cakes. I have found that the boxed mixes are just as good and a lot more convenient in these cases.
I do, however, ALWAYS make my frostings from scratch. Interested in this recipe? Get it below!
Orange Cream Cheese Icing (Adapted from the Cake Mix Doctor)
Ingredients:
- 1 stick of butter
- 1 oz bar of neufchatel cheese
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- orange zest from 1 orange
- orange juice from 1 orange
Instructions
- cream together first two ingredients
- beat powdered sugar in one cup at a time
- add orange zest and juice
- beat with electric mixer until smooth
Frilling Eats: Orange Marmalade Cake
Friends, full disclosure here. This is in no way healthy. This is in every way decadent, stick-to-your-hips, raise-your-blood-sugar, delicious. To make matters worse, it’s easy. Apologies in advance.
One day, shortly after T was born, I happened to be lounging, nursing her and watching PBS, which is pretty much the only TV we have, being as we went cable-free over 2 years ago (and never looked back). Well, P. Allen Smith’s show came on. And he was making this Orange Marmalade Cake, which instantly grabbed my attention. How could it not? It looked so delicious and simple and fresh and lovely and scrumptious. And it has lived in my mind ever since. Finally, an excuse came along to make it: to celebrate the visit of a dear cousin.
Yellow cake, plus layers of mascarpone cheese, cointreau-tinged marmalade, slivered almonds, and fresh clementines. Well, I will refrain from tempting you more. But if the opportunity arises, and you feel like a splurge of gooey sweetness is in order, look no further.
PS: I made this with a gluten-free cake mix and it was fairly magical.
Frilling blogs: Skinnytaste
This week, I needed some quick, easy, healthy and new recipes, so I headed over to Skinnytaste, which has been my go-to food blog since last summer when a good friend let me in on the secret! I love it because all the recipes I have tried so far have been tasty, the blog is easy to navigate and all of the nutritional information and weight watchers points are provided for every recipe. To top it all off, she also has plenty of options for people with dietary allergies or preferences, such as myself!
Here’s what I’m making this week. All photos are via the Skinnytaste blog:
Baked Chicken with Dijon and Lime:
I made this one already, and it was so easy and full of flavor. I used the leftovers to make delicious chicken sandwiches for lunch the next day! Yum!
I also made these already. Roasted veggies of any kind are my favorite so I knew these would be a win from the get-go!
Spaghetti with Creamy Butternut Leek Parmesan Sauce:
I haven’t tried this one yet, but the recipe looks so easy. Plus, I love anything with sautéed leeks. I have my brown rice spaghetti noodles ready to make this meal gluten free.
The main ingredient of this recipe is cauliflower! We eat cauliflower a lot of different ways around here (as a substitute for pasta, potatoes, etc.). Plus, I love any kind of citrus treat. I’ll let you know how this turns out!
What are your favorite food blogs? Have you tried anything from Skinnytaste before? Do you have any recommendations for us?
Melinda’s German Chocolate Icing
Mmm.. Yum. My husband’s birthday was last week (remember our post on iFly?) Every year he asks for either carrot cake or German chocolate cake, and since we had carrot cake last year, I decided to whip up a batch of gluten-free cupcakes and use his mom’s delicious icing recipe to make them extra special!
I’ve used this recipe before (on a Father-of-the-bride’s cake order for Cake Jubilee). That was when I first learned that German chocolate cakes are the hardest to ice EVER. Seriously. I remember freaking out on the first one thinking I was doomed. But somehow it always comes together.
I frilled up the cupcakes using coconut shavings and chocolate chips, and I also added pecans to the little 6 inch cake. But the icing on these treats is the star of the show. It is absolutely delicious; so much so, that I had to share the recipe! (Also, thanks to Aunt Cindy for my newest cupcake stand!)
Melinda’s German Chocolate Icing:
Ingredients:
- 1 can of evaporated milk
- 1 cup or so of chopped pecans
- 1 cup or so of dried coconut
- 3 beaten egg yolks
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 stick of butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions:
- Cook all ingredients in a saucepan over the stove at high heat, stirring often until thick.
- Spread on cake or cupcakes.
- Enjoy with milk!
(I tend to cook it over the stove for about 15 minutes and then refrigerate it until it has reached the desired consistency.)
Sweet Saturday: A Birthday Cake
Just some glimpses of the cake I made for my sweet niece’s 2nd birthday recently:
A frilling tea party: the spread
A few weeks ago, Fran’s mom and I hosted a lovely tea party to celebrate the future arrival of my newest niece (come on Baby T.; we’re ready for ya!).
We served a variety of different teas, such as English breakfast tea, which was served in this beautiful silver tea service Fran and Lyle’s mom inherited from her mom years ago. We all sipped on tea, enjoyed cool weather and the company of fabulous women, and for a morning, allowed ourselves to feel a little more fancy than we usually are.
We decorated the table with fall decor: autumn-colored flowers and miniature pumpkins, and we served all kinds of little treats one might find at a tea. It was the ONLY weekend so far this fall where it was cold enough to wear a jacket. It was the perfect day for a tea party.
We had cucumber cream cheese as well as olive and nut tea sandwiches. Yum, YUM:
We had blueberry and lemon poppy seed scones with strawberry jam, and we even scoured the city to find traditional clotted cream:
We served grapes and a variety of sliced apples and cheeses:
We had lemon bars, too (recipe here):
I baked tea cakes from scratch using Paula Deen’s highly rated recipe. I even tasted a bite of one even though they weren’t gluten free. They were very tasty indeed:
A lady from Fran’s church brought this baby-carriage themed cake she whipped up! How sweet and thoughtful!
We had such a fun time planning a creative and beautiful celebration. Baby T. isn’t even here yet, but she sure is loved. Sometimes the small, but FRILLING extras in life can be the most gentlest reminders of love. I think we may start having tea parties more often. Stay tuned for more sneak peaks of the party planning!
A chocolate cake kind of day
This week has been an extra long one, so I’m absolutely FRILLED that it is finally Friday. I really haven’t had much time to stop and rest in the last 7 days, but I did take some time mid-week to do something sweet for myself.
Recently, I left work (did you know I work at J Crew now??) absolutely craving cake. Not just something sweet either – it had to be chocolate cake. I walked over to the Steeping Room (y’all know how much I love that place) because they often have freshly baked gluten free treats. However, the closest thing they had to what I wanted was carrot-cake cupcakes. Even though I generally love carrot cake, I went home empty handed because it was one of those its-chocolate-or-nothing kinda days.
I decided that if I wanted something done right, I was just going to have to do it myself. In fact, I realized that I had yet to make a full-fledged delicious gluten free cake since I went gluten free over a year ago. I couldn’t believe it! I mean, I have a reputation to protect (my niece does call me Cupcake, after all).
YUM. I can still taste it’s perfection. It was everything a proper cake should be: moist, fluffy, chocolate (obviously), mouthwatering, DELICIOUS. Later in the week, I shared some with friends. It’s gone now. I miss it.
Chocolate cake. The perfect example of how the little things in life are often the sweetest. They add up. They are the best. Happy Friday, y’all! Hope you have a FRILLING weekend!
For those interested, I used boxed mixes for the entire cake (what can I say? I’m a busy gal these days). The cake itself is Betty Crocker gluten free chocolate cake mix, and the frosting is a Naturally Nora Cheerful Chocolate mix. I cooked the cake in two 6 in. pans (as opposed to the sad 8 or 9 in. one layer suggestion on the box) and just kept an eye on the cake until I was certain it was done. After I iced and decorated it, I sprinkled powdered sugar on top, just for more FRILLS.
Frilling Friday: 3 Frilling Addictions
Happy Friday!
Here are three things I’m currently addicted to. Maybe you’ll love them too…
…fresh, in-season figs and pomegranate seeds, drizzled with honey…
…naturally scented Mediterranean Fig Candles by Pacifica…
…and crocheting little hearts to make a bunting for Tiny T’s room, based on this tutorial. I can’t stop making them. They’re so fun and quick!
Got any Frilling Addictions lately? Happy Weekend!
-f
Keepin’ It Frill
Why, Fran, where have you been? Well, exhaustedly pregnant to tell you the truth. At this point, getting anything done beyond basic necessary tasks and childcare is just… hard. My plan each day is to get through each day, and hopefully that involves taking a nap. Ugh, I don’t want to be the lazy, exhausted pregnant lady, but there I am.
That isn’t to say I haven’t done anything at all FRILLING or creative or fun lately. I have, just more slowly. Like…
…sewing up some FRILLING curtains for the girls’ bathroom
…creating healthy appealing toddler meals in our PlanetBox lunchbox, complete with Raw Cookie Dough Bites…
…slowly getting Baby T’s room ready with help from my own childhood Raggedy Ann and Andy…
…knitting up another little hat…
…and teaching Little B how to peel clementimes (“Kem-times”) (blurry photo, sorry)…
Keepin’ it Frill, people. That’s what it’s all about.
