Green Velvet Cupcakes

Posted by: Maggie

St. Patrick's Day is almost here!!! I'm Irish, I love the color green and love beer even more, so this is such a fun holiday for me.  Last year, Jeff, our friends, and I celebrated St. Patrick's Day in a pretty awesome way.  We all took the day off work, and did a daytime bar crawl through DC on the Boomerang Bus.  I have to say, riding on a party bus past your office at 2 pm on a weekday is a pretty good feeling.

This year, our St. Patrick's Day plans are even better.  We're going to Las Vegas! Jeff's 30th birthday is the day before St. Patrick's Day, so it was decided last year right around his 29th birthday that we'd do a trip to celebrate the big 3-0, St. Patrick's Day, and to watch and gamble on all the March Madness games.  Personally, I couldn't give a hoot about basketball, which is why I'll be spending a lot of time here.  At last count, there were 20 people going on this trip including me and Jeff, so I know there will always be someone fun to hang out with even if half the group is glued to the basketball games.

Last year I didn't make one single St. Patrick's Day dessert, so I couldn't let this year go by without making something green.  These cupcakes are originally from Bakerella, but I actually spotted them on Love from the Oven a few days ago.  I couldn't believe what a gorgeous shade of green these came out to be.  I wish I had cut open a cupcake and photographed it for you, because they are the prettiest shade of kelly green I've ever seen.  As you can see from my accident below, they use a LOT of food coloring to achieve that result.

Oh hai, man hands. P.S. You can't see most of my shirt, but York College represent! 

I'm a messy cook, what can I say? Soap and water did little to get the food coloring off my skin - interestingly enough, when I took a shower the next morning my shampoo that's intended for color treated hair washed it away!

These are mixed together somewhat unconventionally (no creaming of butter and sugar), but they were moist and fluffy, which is all that matters! I halved the recipe, but the amounts below are for a full batch of 24.  I didn't follow an exact recipe when I made the cream cheese frosting, but there are a few listed on our site already.  I would suggest this one, sans cinnamon if you want a stiffer cream cheese frosting that holds its shape.  I used the "Giant French Tip" from Bake it Pretty for these.  It was my first time using it, and it's my new favorite.

If green velvet isn't your cup of tea, make sure to check out co-blogger Annie's recipe for Irish Car Bomb cupcakes from back when we started blogging! They would also be perfect for St. Patrick's Day.

 

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Here's what you'll need:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 T unsweetened cocoa powder

1 t salt

1 t baking soda

2 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

1 T white vinegar

1 t vanilla

1 oz green food coloring

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and line cupcake pan with paper or foil liners. 

In a medium bowl, lightly beat eggs with a whisk.  Add in the oil, buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla, and food coloring.  Whisk til blended and set aside.  

In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, and baking soda.  

Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients, and beat on medium speed with an electric mixer for about 1 minute, or until everything is well combined.  Don't overbeat, or your cupcakes will turn out tough! 

Pour the batter into prepared cupcake pans.  Bake for 17-19 minutes.  Let cool for a few minutes, then remove from pans.  Cool completely before frosting.  I'm impatient, and usually just stick my cupcakes in the freezer for 10 minutes to cool them off! 

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Source:  Adapted from Bakerella and Love from the Oven

Tri-Color Pasta Salad

Posted by: Maggie

I meant to post this easy and meatless recipe first thing this morning since it's Ash Wednesday, and those of us who observe it don't eat meat today.  But then, work happened, and after work I went to Mass for ashes, and then I went on an unsuccessful shopping trip to Ann Taylor Loft (this top = super cute on hanger, not so cute on Maggie), and then came home and ate an entire pint of blueberries and watched 3 episodes of My Name is Earl on Netflix Instant.

Fortunately, those of us who observe Lent have 7 meatless Fridays ahead of us, and you still have plenty of time to make this pasta salad.  My reasons for making this Tuesday night were twofold: first, I knew that I would need something vegetarian to nosh on all day today.  Second, I gave up buying breakfast and lunch at work for Lent.  Despite my love for cooking, I never ever make myself a lunch.  Since I work in the expensive city of Washington, DC, this has turned into quite a costly habit.  Depending on the day, I spend between $12-$20 on food and drinks at the office. You will be seeing a lot more lunch dishes around here for the duration of Lent.  Does anyone have suggestions for lunch ideas beyond the typical sandwich?

As with all pasta salads, this can really be tweaked to accommodate your personal tastes, but this combination of ingredients turned out too tasty not to share.

What you'll need:

12 oz. tri-color rotini
6 tablespoons full fat Italian Dressing
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 jar sundried tomatoes, julienned
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
20 Kalamata olives, halved (I bought these at the Harris Teeter olive bar, and they'd mixed the pitted ones and ones with pits.  What dumdums.  Pitting olives is the pits.  Har, har.)
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and rinse.

Toss with the dressing, pepper, sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives, garlic, and parmesan in a large bowl.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Refrigerate overnight prior to serving for best flavor.

Hummingbird Cupcakes

Posted by: Annie

Craving warmer weather anyone? Despite growing up on the Jersey Shore*  I am not the biggest fan of what is considered "beach" weather, but I am definitely sick of twenty-degree mornings, panty-hose and close-toed shoes. These cupcakes remind me of the lovely spring time weather that I am craving. When I saw them on Annie's Eats, I immediately fell in cupcake love with the ingredients and the name - Hummingbird Cupcakes. The pineapple and banana flavors mixed with coconut are out of this world, and become addictive when topped with a rich cream cheese frosting.

*(Disclaimer: it is nothing like the show people- I only Snooki poof my hair for special occasions)

What you will need:

For the Cupcakes:

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

11 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/3 cups mashed ripe banana (approximately 3 medium-sized)

2/3 cup crushed pineapple, drained

2/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (optional- I omitted)

2/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

For the frosting:

8 oz cream cheese

5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla extract 

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed,  beat the butter, vanilla and sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the mashed banana. With the electric mixer on low speed, slowly mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Using a spatula fold in the pineapple, nuts and coconut.

Fill the liners until 3/4 full. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick entered in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool in the pan for approximately 10 minutes then remove and cool completely on wire racks.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer on high speed beat until the cream cheese and butter are well combined and smooth. Mix in the vanilla extract. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar, initially on slow speed, and then increase the speed until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes. Garnish with coconut if desired. 

Source: Annie's Eats