Night Market Challenge: Peanut Butter Bacon Cannoli Cupcakes

What happens when you're out with a fellow dessert-loving blogger and you eat a sweet treat that just doesn't deliver? You go home and remake it, but better!

Blogger buddy Alyssa of Suitcases and Sweets and I were out trolling the Food Trust's Night Market, our favorite, and by far most gluttonous, activity together. It's blocks and blocks of diverse food truck offering a wide range of unique comforts. The scene is hopping and the demand (ahem, lines) can be intense. 

We are strategic in what we select to eat. 

We divide and conquer.

We share like siblings. 

And we critique like a nightmare.

 

After trolling hard-core and assessing our options, we committed to the most interesting savory foods and, as stated above, tasted, indulged, commented, considered strengths and weaknesses, and carried on.

Then came time for a sweet bite. Cupcake trucks? Meh. Alyssa bakes a mean cupcake and it wouldn't have been fair. Avante garde chocolates? Sigh. Mini key-lime pies? Sold out.

My eyes settled upon a distant chalkboard. Down at the bottom was scribbled a sugary offering of interest: bacon peanut butter cannolis. Now that was new! Bacon? Peanut Butter? In a cannoli? We were mildly concerned, maybe even a little scared, but we threw inhibition into the wind.

And it didn't deliver! The flavors were muted, the peanut butter was meek, the bacon was bland... the cannoli shell delivered, but hey, there had to be a saving grace to the thing! Sad and disappointed, we vowed to recreate those crazy flavors but better. 

Hello!

These cupcakes are full of bright, bold flavors -- a moist, fluffy cannoli flavored cupcake is filled with thick chocolate bacon ganache and then topped with a creamy peanut butter cream cheese frosting. 

It's a nutty flavor combination that combines the absolute best of sweet and savory. Bacon? Peanut Butter? Cream Cheese? Chocolate? Vanilla and Almond? 

All are front and center in this delightful remake of the Night Market original. I'm so glad that Alyssa and I were able to collaborate on something new and improved! And the best part about it was the lack of food truck to sell these out of... which meant we had every last crumb for ourselves (and a few lucky friends)!

Peanut Butter Cannoli Cupcakes: makes 24
Ingredients:
For the cake:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 cups sugar
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup milk

For the Filling:
4 ounces semisweet chocolate morsels
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
3 strips crispy bacon, crumbled

For the Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar
1 strip crispy bacon for garnish, optional

Directions:
Cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake trays with 24 liners. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl and set aside. With an electric or standing mixer, cream the sugar and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping after each addition. Add vanilla and almond extracts. On low speed, add the flour mixture and milk in alternating parts, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until smooth.

Fill each cupcake liner about 3/4 full with batter. Bake about 15 minutes or until golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack about 5 minutes, then remove onto the wire rack to cool completely. Meantime, make the ganache and frosting, below.

Chocolate-Bacon Ganache Filling:
Pour chocolate chips into a medium bowl. In a small pot on the stove, add the cream and butter and heat until just simmering (do not boil). Pour cream mixture over the chocolate and stir until smooth.Add the 3 strips of crumbled bacon.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting: 
With an electric mixer beat together the butter, cream cheese, and peanut butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Switch stand mixer to high and beat for another 2-3 minutes until fluffy.

Assembly:
Use an apple corer to remove the center of each cupcake, then spoon or pipe the ganache into the holes to fill. Use a piping bag to pipe the frosting onto each cupcake, then top with a small crumble of crispy bacon. Serve, or refrigerate the extras (there won't be any!).

Celebration Cake: S + P Get Engaged

I'm ecstatic for my friends Sarah and Patrick, because they've just gotten engaged! It's a cause for celebration, colorful cake, and sprinkles on top!

When Patrick tipped Sarah's friends off that he was planning to propose and wanted to gather in celebration afterward, my first question was, "what can I do to help get this shindig off the ground, please?" I couldn't have been more pleased when his initial response of "nothing" was changed a few hours later to, "actually, how about a cake? for 30?"

Celebration challenge accepted. Let's go.

I hemmed and hawed over how to best feed a crowd. I'm used to baking round layer cakes, but ultimately (after much paralysis and an emergency phone call to my resident baker friend/blogger Alyssa in the baking aisle of Walmart) decided on a 4-layer, 9 x 13 inch cake.

Later, I got to work doubling the already big recipe for fail-proof vanilla cake. When I got done with the butter and sugar creaming steps I realized there was no way I'd fit the rest of the ingredients in my standing mixer.

A 53 second crisis emerged. I looked around my kitchen, scouring for a solution. Crapppp, I always do stuff like this!

My eyes landed on my enormous lobster pot-slash-wedding registry item I thought I couldn't live without but really won't have use for until I maybe have 10 children to boil pasta for.... except for now.

When it's time to call in the big guns.

Hee hee. That standing mixer bowl looks like a dwarf. 

Okay, so after mixing the batter I divided it up into about 7 cups each in two bowls. Sarah and Patrick met at the University of Delaware, colors blue and yellow. I also wanted a way to party-up this traditional white on white bridal style cake, so boom, let's go throwback to kindergarten finger painting time and mix it up with primary colors.

Pour each bowl into a separate pan, smooth out and bang on the counter to release those pesky air bubbles. 

Then bake. 

This is the ultimate surprise party cake, because the cake itself is hiding its own party surprise. Creamy white on the outside, quiet, unassuming.... suggesting nothing but the norm inside.... Then wham! Layers of color! 

There are a bunch of pictures missing of... how burned this cake was on the very outer parts. I admit it, I'm not going to pretend I baked this flawless, picture perfect thing. Through much stress, wondering how the heck I could have burned the cake, wondering whether I would have to start again, I was ultimately able to rescue this cake. 

It involved shaving off lots of sad, completely overdone pieces. My garbage was quite full. It also involved brushing the cake with a delightful mix of vanilla, sugar, and water, which addressed my fear that the cake I saved would be somehow overdone. Which I don't think it was. It was just a weird situation where for the first time ever the outer parts of the cake got incinerated. 

Well, it wouldn't be a party without someone hitting their head on the ceiling fan while dancing on the table, would it? 

After an entire day and night in my kitchen, the time was nearing 11 PM and I hit a wall. I simply could not bring myself to color more frosting to pipe a message on top of the cake. 

For the millionth time that day, I looked around my kitchen for an escape to the corner I'd backed myself into.

Sprinkles.

I used the squared off end of a fondue skewer to carve a path of S + P into the frosting (this way, if I messed it up I could simply smooth it out and trace the initials again.) I then used a tiny spoon to carefully fill the message with colorful sprinkles. Fun!

You could use any sort of sparkly, sugar, or chocolate sprinkles for this. 

It's your party, you can do what you want to. 

After all was said and done, the cake weighed as much as a third grader.

Sarah was surprised twice in one weekend, a party was had, dessert was a hit, and love was all around.

Congrats Sarah and Patrick!

Celebration Cake: makes one 9 x 13 inch four layer cake
1, 2, 3, 4 Cake:
Note: to make two 9x13 inch panfulls, you must make this recipe twice in two batches.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temp
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
3 cups sifted self-rising flour
1 cup milk
1 t. pure vanilla extract
food coloring of choice

Prepare 9x13 pan with nonstick spray and dust with flour. Preheat oven to 325. In an electric mixer, cream butter until fluffy, then add the sugar and continue to cream for about 8 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and milk alternately, beginning and ending with the flour. Add vanilla and beat until just incorporated. Color with food coloring as desired. You can either use one mix for a smaller cake and divide into two colors, or use one color for this batch. Mix well but don't beat or the batter will become tough.

Pour into prepared pan and drop several times on the counter to release air bubbles. Bake 25-30 minutes or until the center is set. Cool in the pan 10 minutes before releasing gently onto a cooling rack. Flash freeze 1 hour in the freezer once its completely cooled, as cake is easier to work with when firm.

Meanwhile prepare frosting:

Thick Buttercream Frosting: I quadrupled this recipe for my 4-layer 9 x 13 inch cake.
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
3-4 cups confectioner sugar
1-2 T. pure vanilla extract
1 T. milk

Cream the butter, then turn the mixer on low add in the sugar one cup at a time. Once the sugar is all barely incorporated, add the vanilla and milk and turn the mixer on high and beat until fluffy and smooth.

Cake assembly: Once my two sheet cakes were frozen, I sliced the tops horizontally to make them flat (its ok if they aren't perfect, I simply stack up thinner sides with thicker sides of the next layer when stacking and it all events out), and stacked the cakes on top of each other and trimmed the sides so the sizes matched.

I then carefully sliced horizontally through the center of each cake to produce 4 separate layers: two yellow, two blue.

I added a dollop of frosting to the bottom of my cake base, then placed my thickest layer, a yellow one, on the bottom. I smoothed out about 1.5 cups of frosting on this layer, then put a blue layer on top, repeating this process until I ended with a blue layer on top. I then coated the entire cake in a thin layer of frosting, the crumb layer, and set in the fridge to stiffen.

A couple hours later, I frosted the entire cake again to ensure a smooth and level outside with no crumbs. I decorated it and put it back in the fridge until ready to eat!

Cheesiest Cottage Cheese Baked Rigatoni

Oh, hi there. Have you noticed the weather cooling down?

 

Each day this week a breezy, cool evening sinks into a downright chilly night, which blooms into a crisp, sunny morning.

 

I have to put my sweater on to walk the dog. It's delicious.

I get excited in my bones for the change of the seasons. I'm sure you do, too.

And I get all giddy at the thought of piping-hot comfort food dinners. Like this one.

 

Don't call it low-fat, that's a term that makes me say, "boo, no flavor." It's got the hiss of that word "insipid." Call it lusciously sensible. There's no sacrifices here, and due to pureeing the cottage cheese into a ricotta-like texture, you don't even have to mention that you used the cheese that comes with a bland, bad rap and usually gets a boost from an odd pairing with pineapple.

 

Nope, let's just not mention it. Except for putting it smack in the recipe's title.

Your ooey, gooey secret's safe with me.

Cheesiest Cottage Cheese Baked Rigatoni: serves 6-8

First, prepare the sauce. Of course, you can always use a quality jarred:
Sauce: In a medium saucepan, heat 2 T. olive oil over medium heat. Add 1/2 a largely diced red onion. Saute until slightly golden, 5-6 minutes, then add 6 cloves minced garlic and stir. Push onions and garlic to the sides to make a clearing in the middle of the pan, and add a heaping tablespoon of tomato paste. Caramelize the paste a minute, then add 1 t. dried basil, 1/2 t. dried oregano, 2 t. kosher salt, and 1 t. dried red pepper flakes. Stir, then add 1/4 cup red wine, 2 t. white sugar, and 1 28-oz. can Tuttorosso crushed tomatoes w/basil. Simmer 1 hour on low, stirring occasionally. Add up to 1/4 cup pasta water after cooking to thin it out a little bit, and season with salt + pepper to taste.

Then, boil 1 lb. rigatoni to very al-dente, about 4 minutes less than the suggested time on the bag. Drain. Meanwhile, prepare the cottage cheese "ricotta":

Cottage Cheese Ricotta: Food process together 1 16-oz container lowfat cottage cheese, 2 large eggs, a pinch nutmeg, generous pinches of dried basil, salt, pepper, and 3 T. grated parmesan cheese.

Shred: 1/2 lb mozarella cheese and 1/2 lb fontina cheese
Have some torn fresh basil on hand, too!

Once you've got all of the above on hand, coat an 8X8 inch baking dish with oil. Add a few scoops of red sauce to bottom of dish and spread. Add 1/3 of the pasta, 1/3 white sauce, and 1/3 shredded cheese. Repeat this, ending with a last layer of white sauce topped with shredded cheese and fresh basil. Spray top generously with cooking spray and bake 375 degrees covered with non-stick coated tin foil, then uncovered for 10-15 minutes or until bubbly and browned. Enjoy!

Pearl Couscous with Mint, Basil, and Gigantes

This recipe is for everyone with an abundance of summer herbs. Please, please don't let your beautiful basil or mint overheat in the sun or go to seed -- chop those beauties and toss them into this light, fragrant pasta.

The whole dish is ready in minutes, with the couscous taking less than ten as it simmers away in broth. Chop the herbs while the pasta plumps, then stir in veggies and beans, salt to taste, and sprinkle with some feta cheese if it's on hand.

Since I used frozen corn and peas, this dish is largely a pantry and herb garden creation. Perfect for busy weeknights when flavor can't be sacrificed for time and relaxation.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
1 T. olive oil
1/2 large Spanish onion, largely diced
2 cups chicken broth (vegetable broth for vegetarian)
3/4 cup pearl couscous
red wine dressing (recipe follows)
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas
1 can gigante beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup basil, chopped
1/3 cup mint, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

red wine vinegar dressing: 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 2 T. fresh lemon juice, 1 T. honey, 1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper, 1/2 t. salt, 1/2 cup olive oil whisked together)

Directions:
Bring a large saucepan to heat over medium low, then add the olive oil to coat. Add the chopped onions and cover, stirring a couple of times, until turning just golden. Pour in the chicken broth and couscous and cover, turning up the heat to bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and stir occasionally. When the couscous is tender but still firm to the bite add the red wine dressing and stir. Add in the frozen corn, peas, and beans and heat through. Stir in the basil and mint and salt and pepper to taste. Add feta cheese on top if desired and serve warm or room temperature.

Chinese Takeout Takeover: Beef & Broccoli

After returning from a week vacation in Maine that was filled with binges on bags of Cape Cod potato chips, late night ice-cream sandwiches, giant lobster rolls dripping in butter, "taste testing" beer variety packs, and multiple rounds of BBQs, I returned determined to get back to healthy. Don't get me wrong, my vacation indulgences were exactly what I wanted, but the swollen feeling I noticed coming over me at about day 5 was not exactly what I wanted.

Wait, what? I can't eat a diet solely of fat, sugar, and carbs?

If only....

I threw back the last bag of chips on the return drive home, bought myself a McDonald's ice cream cone outside of Philly, and vowed to get back to healthy for the week ahead. Bye bye vacation, hello balanced diet.

I'm surprised I wasn't shaky from the withdrawal, but I started off my week focusing on protein and produce without sacrificing flavor or fun. That's how we fell in love with this beef and broccoli dinner we ate three times this week.

Thinly sliced soy-sauce marinated beef, tossed with loads of broccoli and peppers and combined with light and scrumptious tofu noodles was a trick to our tastebuds. It was a takeout takeover.

Ok, so we might have had a beer with it, and a bit of chocolate for dessert afterward, but with dinner this good it simply felt like we were still on vacation.

And that's exactly how every day should be.

Chinese Beef & Broccoli: serves 4
canola oil for the pan
1.5 lb Thinly sliced steak, marinated 30 min. in 2 T. soy sauce
1 green pepper, cut into 1" dice
1 lb. frozen broccoli, thawed
1 t. grated ginger
1 bag of tofu "linguini"*
sesame seeds for sprinkling, optional
Sauce:
1 cup broth
6 T. oyster sauce
6 T. red wine vinegar
1/2 t. garlic powder
2 t. sesame chili oil
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. cornstarch

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add enough oil to coat, and sear the beef strips in batches quickly, giving each piece enough room to sit and brown before turning over with tongs (this ensures the meat does not steam, but instead browns). Add oil between each batch. Remove beef strips immediately after they are browned on each side, as they will finish cooking through once added back into the stir fry. Cover and keep warm.

Add more oil to the pan and then sear the peppers. Meanwhile, whisk together the sauce ingredients. Clear a hole in the center of the pan then add more oil and the grated ginger. Bloom in the oil 30 seconds, then stir. Add the sauce, bring to a boil, reduce 5 minutes until thickened. Add the tofu noodles and the broccoli and heat through, then stir the meat back in.

Serve topped with sesame seeds.

* Tofu pasta is sold in the refrigerated section of Whole Foods stores.

Bacon Cheddar Deviled Eggs

 Deviled eggs are making a comeback! I adore eggs in every form, but deviled eggs are a special indulgence due to their extra-rich, creamy filling. For these deviled eggs I stole a note from twice-baked potatoes... that is, take the filling out, whip it together with extra fat (mayo for this, butter for potatoes)... and more fats like cheese and bacon... and then put it back in. This is how the ordinary becomes amazing!

I made these eggs for our book club picnic. We read David Sedaris's "Me Talk Pretty One Day," which is a hilarious compilation of short stories. Since the stories are brief, we made our bites brief, too.

From sliders, to mini pies, to cute little bunches of veggies tied up with a sprig of parseley, all of our menu items were small.

These eggs might be bite sized, but they're certainly not small on flavor! Don't underestimate just how luscious these cheddar-bacon filled deviled eggs are, and plan to make a few for each person you're serving to.

After all, I've never been friends with anyone who would say no to something with bacon and cheese... And since my book club ladies are some of the best, these eggs flew right off the plate and into our laughing, happy, story-telling mouths.

Bacon Cheddar Deviled Eggs: makes 24
1 dozen hard-boiled eggs (directions below)
4 slices bacon, cooked until crisp
1/4 of a medium white onion
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/8 teaspoon paprika, plus more for sprinkling
salt to taste

Directions: To hard boil the eggs, place the eggs in a large pot of water and bring to a boil. Turn off and remove from the heat and allow to stand 12 minutes. Drain the eggs and shake in the pan to lightly crack the shells (this allows the cold water to get under the shells and aids with peeling). Fill the pan with cold running water for 2 minutes. Peel all of the eggs and set aside.

Cut each egg in half and gently remove the yolk with a small spoon. Add the white onion, mayo, and sharp cheddar to the food processor and process for a minute. Add the paprika and yolks and process until very smooth. Salt to taste. Crumble 3 bacon slices and stir into the yolk filling. Use a frosting piping bag to pipe the bacon cheddar filling back into each egg half. Crumble or slice the last bacon piece into 24 small pieces. Add a small bacon piece to the top of each egg mixture and gently sprinkle with the remaining paprika.

Chill. Can be made 4 hours ahead.

Fried Brown Rice with Tofu

That tofu in the fridge was creeping toward its "use by date." It was in stiff competition with the remaining BBQ leftovers from Memorial Day -- packages of hot dogs, hamburgers, buns, all begging to be cooked and eaten -- along with leftover pizza and pastas from a night out to dinner where Matt and I managed to grossly over-order, as if we might never eat again.

There simply weren't enough dinner-times in the week to give all those items a rightful spot in the repertoire! Sorry burgers and dogs, you're getting re-located to the freezer for use another day. Pizza, you'll get taken for lunch until you're done. As for dinner, it's tofu's time to shine.

It has been a while since we had Chinese food so I decided on fried rice. It's a one dish meal that seemed simple to make while satisfying major cravings for takeout. Add in tons of healthy veggies and protein packed tofu, and it was a dinner winner.

I think you'll really enjoy  my version, which uses the more toothsome and nutty brown rice instead of traditional white. Brown rice also has more nutrients, so it's a better bang for your meal buck. The coating on this fried rice is a bit more robust, too, with the use of dark soy sauce.

Needless to say, I made heaps of it with the intention of creating (yet more) leftovers.... and we ended up with barely any! That empty fry pan speaks volumes!

Fried Brown Rice with Tofu: serves 4-6

Ingredients:
3 cups uncooked brown rice, rinsed thoroughly
vegetable oil (keep the bottle handy)
1 package extra-firm tofu, rinsed and patted dry
2 tablespoons regular reduced-sodium soy sauce
3 eggs + 1 tablespoon water, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon Sriracha, divided
1 white onion, cut into large dice
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 bag of frozen mixed Chinese vegetables
2 cups frozen peas
1/4 cup dark soy sauce
1/4 cup Mirin
2 tablespoons hoisin
1 tablespoon (plus more to taste) sesame oil
salt to taste

Directions:
Cook the brown rice according to the package directions. I used a rice cooker, but a pot works just as well. Once the rice is just-cooked and chewy in texture, spread out on a baking sheet to cool and dry out slightly.

While the rice is cooking, prepare your tofu by cutting it into 16 equal cubes and pressing to dry. In a small bowl, mix the low-sodium soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of Sriracha. Toss the tofu in this mixture and set aside to absorb.

While your rice is cooling, in a very large skillet or a wok, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-low heat. Add the eggs and cook as a flat omelet for 2 minutes, then break up into pieces. Remove from skillet into a medium sized bowl and set aside.

Heat the skillet to medium-high again. Add about 1/4 cup oil, or enough to generously coat the pan. Add the tofu and allow to cook until browning and crisping on the sides, stirring only every few minutes. Add the onions halfway through and allow to cook until golden and soft. Add the garlic and stir one minute. Remove tofu and onions to the bowl with the eggs.

Heat another 1/4 cup oil in the skillet and now add the rice, frozen vegetables, peas. Stir often, allowing the rice to crisp and the vegetables to heat through. Whisk together the dark soy sauce, Mirin, hoisin, sesame oil, and remaining Sriracha. Pour over the rice and stir to coat, salting to taste, as well.

Add the tofu, onions, and eggs back in and stir to combine well and heat through before serving.