Carnivorous Cupcakes with Sweet potato frosting

I've recently changed my diet in life and have been taking the grains and processed sugars down. I had a moment in my kitchen one day when  I realized how much bread, oats, and granola I was eating. Actually, it was all I was eating. So, I did some research and decided I would start cooking more. I would cook more meats, eat more fresh vegetables, and be aware of what my body does well with. I by no means have gone hardcore gluten free (pizza and movies last night...duh), but I am making an effort to stay further away from processed foods and extra sugars. This has put a damper on my baking. And I am well aware of the Paleo world of sweets but I've intentionally stayed ignorant to them because I lack the time and money to plunge into that world. Maybe one day, but not today.

Anyways, I've started a new life in Georgia and my chapter includes the spawning of new relationships with classmates and the people in my world. It has been wonderful. Seriously. I am actually sad this first semester is coming to an end because I know this is gonna create a shift in the dynamics but onward and upward.

These cakes are for a classmate who has some inspirational eating habits. We have a precedent set that someone bakes for a classmates birthday and I picked this chance to make a special cake. Here are some manly meat cakes for those non sugary friends of ours. I really feel weird calling them meat cakes...it just sounds like something you shouldn't offer to a stranger. I digress.

Carnivorous Cupcakes (with Sweet potato and Cauliflower frosting)
**Start the frosting early. If you only have one cooking source, it behooves you to get the potatoes done early in the day**

• 2 lbs ground Turkey
• 2 medium carrots, shredded
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 C Panko bread crumbs (I used a gluten free version here, but you could use regular)
• 1-2 Tbls ground sage
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 dash cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper

As always, heat the oven to 350. 
Now, get that meat into a bowl and throw in all those wonderful vegetables. The ratio will look kinda funky but remember, veggies are your friend. They should be abundant. Add the seasonings and feel free to adjust these to your favorite meatloaf seasonings. Give it a good mix with your hand till everything is incorporated. Next, add the eggs and panko, then mix again.

Here, you can do a bit of variaton. I wanted these things to look nice since they are for someone's birthday. So I lined a muffin tin with a paper liner and filled it with the meatloaf mix. Seriously, mush that stuff in there. If I were making these for just me, I would just grease the muffin tin (depending of the fat content of my meat) and bake them. I didn't necessarly want a domed cake so I mushed it flat and tossed it into the oven for about 20-25 minutes. If you are NOT making these as a prep meal, go ahead an let them cook for 30-35 minutes. I wanted mine close to the line of undercooked since they are gonna be reheated later and microwaves murder turkey moisture (as if turkey is moist anyways).

You should get about 18 cakes total after the baking.

Sweet potato and Cauliflower frosting
-1 large sweet potato
-1 small head of cauliflower
-1/4 C cream/milk/cow juice
 -Cinnamon

Seriously, you will have left overs. Especially cauliflower.
This might take a bit of prep but I love sweet potatoes and figured it would totally worth it. Plus, I only have one cooking source so I roasted my potatoes way earlier in the day.
Start by wrapping your sweet potato in foil individually. I cut the ends off of my potato to help me later. Throw that sucker into a oven that has been heated to 400 degrees F for about an hour (you can give the foil a squeeze WITH AN OVEN MIT ON to check if the potato is soft after the hour. If not, keep baking). You should start getting the cauliflower mash ready here. If you have your own way, good, do that. If you have never made mashed cauliflower, try this.

Start by cutting the head of cauliflower into smaller pieces (flowerets) and put them into a veggie steamer (of if your cheap like me, just boil them). Test them with a fork after about 10 minutes. They should be tender if they are done. If not, keep boiling. Once the cauliflower is cooked use either a food processor, blender, or some device to "rice" the cauliflower. After that, add the cream and if you wish some butter. The cauliflower wont look like potatoes but if gives a different texture to the sweet potatoes. Which are probably done at this point. 

Pull those potatoes out of the oven and let them cool. After they are cooled, take a knife, make a line just through the skin length wise down the potato (ya know, fold the paper hot dog style? same thing). you should be able to just peel the skin off the potatoes from this point. Mash that thing up and toss it into a piping bag with some cauliflower. I tried to get all creative and do half of the bag sweet potatoes and the other half cauliflower mash. In retrospect, I would have just added the cauliflower the the sweet potatoes till I got a consistency I liked. 

Pick your frosting tip and decorate away. 

I will definitely make these again for myself because this seems like an incredibly easy way to get lunch prepped for a week.

Till next time.

Paint It Black, sorta.

I've never been very good at art, not until recently. My theory is that I haven't gotten better at art, I just stopped caring about how imperfect things looked and went for it. I took running after painting my wall in one of the rooms I rented in Colorado. My amazing friend/roommate/landlord Patrice allowed me to paint a wall in my room with a picture I had fallen in love with. You can see the work here. She also kept it after I moved out and still likes to show people when they come over like a proud mother.

My second project came from a broken picture frame that was intended for a calendar. After moving to a new apartment, the glass shattered and I was stuck with a frame. So I found some fabric at the thrift store, bought some foam board from Wal-Mart, and set out to make my own jewelry board.

dem jewels 

I started by painting the fabric first. I just picked a place and started out with a rough drawing. I don't mean rough like loose, I mean rough like ugly as sin. It was my first free hand and I decided if it looked like dog poo at the end, I would trash the whole project and pretend it never happened.

Look at that rough

I've always loved feathers. There was a time in my life where I wanted feathers tattooed on the back of my triceps and maybe one day in the future, but for right now I am happy to settle with the painting.

After drying for a day, I stretched the fabric over the foam board (already cut to size for the frame) and put the whole thing into place. I trimmed the fabric up on the back leaving about 1-2 inches and stapled the excess with a regular office stapler. Then I hung the frame, inserted sewing pins and hung my bling.

Here is another board I made for a friend. This one is just a simple burlap canvas with foam board inserted in the back. This was my second freehand and based off a picture she was obsessed with at the time. 

Until next time.

Gone baby gone and an Arnold Palmer

First off, I am horrible at commitments. Good thing I don't have throngs of followers or this absence could have caused an uprising. I wish I could say this is the end of my neglect dear blog, but Graduate school is starting soon and I am feeling as though my 400 sq ft apt will not make for the best baking facility. BUT, today, of today ladies and gents, I have for you, a golf classic turned cake. Arnold Palmer!

I found this recipe as I thumbed through my mother's Southern Living. Almost followed the exact recipe but I did make one change. Here is their original recipe:

Southern Living Sweet Tea-and-Lemonade cake
Shortening
1 1/2 C boiling water
3 Family sized tea bags
1 C butter, soften
2 C granulated sugar
1/2 C firmly packed light brown sugar
5 large eggs, room temp
3 1/2 C cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. table salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Now, I hate cake flour. I have never, ever, literally ever had any success with it. So I chose not to use it and make the conversion with all purpose. I followed the directions here. As a warning, it might change the way your cake turns out. There is a whole explanation here. Bake at your own risk.
Also, if you are making cupcakes, you do not need the shortening. Just get those cupcake liners out and loaded into the pan.

First, Boil the 1 1/2 C water and pour them over the tea bags in a heatproof bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it steep for about 10 minutes. Remove the tea bags and let the liquid cool (room temperature is fine) for another 20 minutes. You will only need 1 C for the cake batter.

Preheat the oven to 350. Beat the butter until creamy then slowly add the sugars in, beating until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and make sure it is blended well before adding the next egg. In a separate bowl, combine flour (cake or not), baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Alternate adding the flour mixture and 1 C of tea to the butter batter.

This is important. These cakes do not rise as much as normal cupcakes. They rise, but not that much. Fill the cupcake papers with a little more batter than average. Then bake for about 13 minutes. Let them cool and start on the frosting.

Lemonade Frosting
1 8oz. cream cheese, soften
1/4 C butter, soften
6 C powdered sugar
1 TBSP lemon zest
3 TBSP fresh lemon juice

Mix the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Slowly add powdered sugar a cup at a time. Once the frosting is all incorporated, beat in the lemon zest and lemon juice. Beat on a high speed until light and fluffy.

I chose to do a rough frosting on my cakes for the look. The frosting is sweeeeeet so you don't need too much.

This is the first time in over a year I have made regular sized cupcakes. No regret, but I still favor mini cupcakes.

 

I hope I keep up blogging this time. I will try my hardest. 

Until next time!