Orange Blueberry Pound Cake

I know I already made something this week, but my husband was looking for egg-less recipes (since our 2 year old is allergic to eggs) and he found this.  It looked so tasty that I wanted to try it.  So I guess this week is my twice a week... I have the feeling that some weeks are just going to be two treat weeks.

The original recipe called this a bread, but I thought it had a very pound cake like consistency, so I'm calling it a cake.  In fact, I may tweak this recipe in the future for other pound cake flavor options.

1  1/2 cups flour 

1/4 tsp baking soda 

1 1/4 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp salt

5 Tbsp butter, melted

1 cupsugar

1/4 cup applesauce

1/4 cup plain yogurt

4 Tbsp orange juice

1 Tbsp orange zest

1/2 cup milk

1 cup blueberries

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.Prepare a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray. 
2. In a small bowl whisk together the applesauce, yogurt, orange juice and zest.
3. In a large bowl mix the sugar and melted butter for about 5 minutes.  This is going to look somewhat crumbly.  Add the applesauce/yogurt mixture to this.  It will look a little curdled.
4. Add the dry ingredients and milk, mixing after each addition.
5. Fold in the blueberries and pecans.
6. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour, or until the cake is golden brown.  Allow it to cool and then enjoy!

Orange and Chocolate Glazed Doughnuts

This week is a semi-failure.  Well, it started out as a failure, but I was able to fix it.  I've been wanting to try to make doughnuts for months now, but I never seem to do it.  So this week I decided to try - homemade doughnuts are so good!  Except they just weren't as good as I was hoping!

I combined a couple of recipes and came up with this one.  I liked that you made the dough the night before and then cooked them in the morning.  When I tried that, they didn't really rise!  Problem was, I think that the warm setting on my oven was too warm for the yeast, and after rising a little bit, the yeast ended up dying before they got big enough.

I also liked the idea of a baked doughnut - it would be better for you. I ended up making two trays of doughnuts and one tray of holes.  Since only two pans would fit in my oven, the holes sat on the counter to rise (instead of proofing in the oven).  They rose much better than the actual doughnuts. I also decided to fry them instead of baking them.  Wow!  What a difference proper rise and frying makes in a good doughnut.  I learned that if I am going to make a delicious treat, if I try too hard to be healthy also I might just end up not satisfying my craving and then wanting more junk food later. 

I also thought that the chocolate glaze would be my favorite, but the orange glaze was so good that I just couldn't keep away from the orange doughnuts!

Dough:

2 cups milk
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp yeast (1 package)
1/3 cup applesauce
1 tsp salt
6 cups flour

1. Combine milk, shortening, maple syrup and sugars in small sauce pan over medium heat.  Heat until shortening melts and sugars are dissolved then remove from heat.
2. Allow milk mixture to cool until it is between 100 - 110 degrees F and then add the yeast.  Allow this to sit for about 5 minutes.
3. Combine 4 cups flour, salt and applesauce and then add the milk and sugar mixture.  Continue adding flour until the dough is sticky, but doesn't stick to your fingers (about 2 more cups).
4. Cover dough and lit rise until double - or about an hour.
5. Roll out dough to about 1/2 inch thickness and cut into doughnut shape and place on greased cookie sheets.

Here's where the directions diverge.  You can either...

1. Place cookie sheets in refrigerator overnight.  In the morning set your oven to its lowest setting (if your oven has a proofing setting this is what you want) and allow doughnuts to rise in oven for 30 minutes to an hour, until they have doubled.  
2. Turn oven to 350 degrees F and cook doughnuts for 10-15 minutes.  Glaze them while they are still hot.

Or you can....

1. Allow doughnuts to rise again for about an hour or until doubled.  
2. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat.  Fry the doughnuts in batches, flipping them over halfway through, until they are golden brown.  Glaze them while they are still hot.

Personally, I'm going to fry them from now on.  So much better!


Glazes

Orange Glaze
1 Tbsp butter, melted
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp orange juice
1/2 tsp dried orange peel or 1 tsp fresh orange peel
1 cup powdered sugar

Chocolate Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
4 Tbsp milk

Whisk ingredients of glazed in small bowls and dip doughnuts in when they are done.

Panna Cotta with Fruited Tapioca

Last April I was in Utah on vacation, and while we were there we went to this restaurant where they had the best dessert! This is my attempt to re-create it. The Panna Cotta itself was easy, there are tons of recipes online and they are all basically the same. The tapioca topping, however posed a problem. I found plenty of tapioca pudding recipes, but I didn't want a pudding. In the end I improvised, and here's what I came up with!



2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 packet powdered gelatin (about 2 1/4 tsp)
6 Tbsp cold water
1/4 cup small pearl tapioca
1 cup fruit juice (I used Juicy Juice Apple Raspberry)

1. Heat the cream and sugar over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved.  You want to get it hot, but don't let the cream boil.
2. While sugar is dissolving, add the powdered gelatin to the cold water and let stand for 5-10 minutes.
3. Take the cream-sugar mixture off the heat and add the vanilla and almond extract.
4. Pour the hot cream mixture over the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is dissolved.
5. Pour mixture into serving cups and chill for 4 hours.
6. Cover the tapioca pearls with plenty of water and soak for two hour.  Drain.
7. Combine the tapioca pearls and fruit juice and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  The tapioca is done when the pearls are completely clear.
8. Allow tapioca to cool, then spoon over your set panna cotta.  You can keep them in the fridge this way for up to 2 days.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cream Frosting

I have to admit, the main reason I wanted to make these was so that I would have a means of shoveling peanut butter cream frosting into my mouth. The cupcakes themselves turned out pretty good, too!


I found the cake recipe here, but I altered it slightly. My 2 year old is allergic to eggs, so instead of using eggs, I used Ener-G Egg Replacer. It worked great! I added more cocoa powder than the original recipe, and the original recipe was for a cake, and I made cupcakes instead. The butter cream I took straight from this site.



Cupcakes

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tbsp Ener-G Egg Replacer whisked w/ 4 Tbsp water (or use 2 eggs)
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare your cupcake pan with liners.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer. Stir in the boiling water last. Batter will be thin. Pour about 1/4 - 1/3 cup of batter per cupcake.
3. Bake 18 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting

• 1 cup butter
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup peanut butter

1. Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add in the sugar.
2. Add the vanilla and cream.
3. Beat in the peanut butter until creamy.

Frost your cupcakes and enjoy!

Once a Week Treats

After having my fourth baby, I knew I wanted to loose some weight. The problem comes in when I say I want to eat healthier. Though I don't regularly eat junk every day, as soon as I tell myself I can't have sweets, that's all I want! So, in order to alleviate the crazy sweets cravings, I'm going to make something delicious every week. The only rule is that I can't eat the whole thing by myself, and sharing with neighbors and friends is always good.

Wish me luck! Here I go!