Cinnamon-Vanilla Bean Cake with Strawberry Rhubarb Buttercream Frosting

I wanted to make something tasty but custom for Heath's Birthday (A week early but we had a lunch with his fam).  Since I've heard amazing things about his mom's strawberry rhubarb pie, I opted out of the pie making...good thing too, her's was delicious!  Instead, I wanted to keep those flavors and have an excuse to get more fondant practice.  My camera batteries were dead, so I just have this cell phone picture and no pictures of the inside :( Looks like I'll just have to make more...

The Cake:

Prepare a recipe of white layer cake, but add 2 tsp of cinnamon with your dry ingredients.  Bake as specified, or in whatever pan/cupcake tin you need for your occasion.

The Frosting:

Prepare a recipe of vanilla buttercream frosting, keeping it on the thick side.  You may want to almost eliminate the milk addition, as the strawberry-rhubarb reduction is juicy.

In a small pot, combine 1/2 cup chopped strawberries, 1/2 cup chopped rhubarb, and 1/2 cup sugar.  Stir thoroughly and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, until all ingredients are tender.  

I used the smoothie attachment for my hand mixer, but a food processor or blender would do the trick.  Puree/blend the sauce to work out the chunks.  Let cool completely.  Slowly add to your buttercream until you reach the flavor you desire.  This seemed VERY sweet to me, next time I'm going to either cut back on the sugar or not use buttercream, but it tasted very good with the cake.  Frosting will be a light pink.

Frost your cake/cupcakes as desired, and enjoy! The cinnamon really compliments the strawberry rhubarb flavors for a very delicious treat.

This particular cake I decorated with fondant (blue water and camoflage upper; white fish with luster dust) and modeling chocolate (grizzly bear and bobber) to make it very "Heath-ified."  The camoflage was a pain to make...split into 4 different colors of greens and browns, then arrange in a camoflage-like way as you roll it out.  Might stick with solid colors until I'm a little more seasoned at decorating cakes!

HEALTHY Thanksgiving (in May...)

So I was craving Thanksgiving flavors, and didn't get called to work the other day, so I figured I'd get creative and create a healthy version of Thanksgiving dinner! This meal consisted of orange-glazed turkey breasts, mashed cauliflower, and roasted butternut squash with craisins.  Delicious!

Turkey

The turkey breasts are really easy for this meal. You need:
2 Turkey Breasts
1/2 - 3/4 cups orange juice
3 Tbsp brown sugar

Combine orange juice and brown sugar in a medium bowl.  Place turkey in bowl and marinate for at least an hour (the longer you marinate, the more flavor you'll get).  Sear the sides of the turkey with your grill on high heat (1-2 minutes per side), then turn the heat down and cook thoroughly.

Mashed Cauliflower

I made a HUGE batch of cauliflower for this meal...it just meant more leftovers for me!  I recommend using a food processor for this to get a better texture that is more like mashed potatoes (I was at Heath's, the bachelor pad that lacks cooking appliances, so I just mashed them by hand).
1 head of cauliflower
1 Tbsp of butter (more or less depending on your preference)
1/4 cup fat free cream (more or less depending on your preference)
Salt and pepper

Cut and clean the cauliflower into florets.  Bring a pot of water to a boil, cook the cauliflower until tender.  *Using a food processor* (or by hand if you lack the tools), mash the cauliflower into a fine texture.  Add butter and cream to reach your desired consistency, then add salt and pepper to taste.  Enjoy!

Roasted Butternut Squash with Craisins (thanks, Wegmans!)

This is my favorite side dish served up by Wegmans.  I just started working there part time and it's an internal battle not to get this every time I work.  I changed the recipe slightly, but the original can be found on the Wegmans website. yummy!
1 medium-large butternut squash, cubed
1 medium-large vidalia onion, chopped
1/2 cup craisins
1/2 bag of baby spinach 
Olive Oil 
Salt and Pepper

Peel and cube the butternut squash.  Chop your onions.  Toss with olive oil (I used about 1 Tbsp to keep it on the light side) and salt and pepper.  Place in a roasting pan and roast until tender (about 45 minutes in the oven at 350).  Remove from oven, then toss with craisins and baby spinach.  Serve and enjoy!


These flavors together were delicious and VERY healthy!

Strawberry-Banana Low Fat Muffins

Continuing my healthy kick is hard when I'm a "choco-baked goods-sweets-o-holic."  I know I'm not alone in this....Anyways, I've started exploring "healthy" baking...I know, I know, healthy and baking don't really meld well.  I'm not claiming that this stuff is actually healthy, but it is WAY healthier than the full-fat, full-butter alternatives.  So what's the trick? Applesauce!

I had always heard that applesauce can be used instead of butter, but I never tried it out until recently.  After much research, I found that most people replace butter or oil with applesauce in the same ratio (1 tablespoon of butter for 1 tablespoon of applesauce).  More recipes to follow this, however EVERYTHING I've made with applesauce tastes almost the same as the full fat version (and the flavor difference is justified by all the Kcals you're not consuming!)

I interpreted this recipe from something I saw on pinterest...

1 1/3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 TB *no sugar added* applesauce
2 brown bananas ***see below how to expedite this process!
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup chopped strawberries


Preheat oven to 375 F.  Either line a muffin tin with liners or do as a loaf (I'm partial to serving-sizing it out in muffin tins).  Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt, then set aside.  In a large bowl, combine sugar, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla.  Mix until smooth.  Slowly add dry ingredients until incorporated. 

***If your bananas aren't ripe enough yet but you want to bake with them, I can offer you this tip (courtesy of my aunt Ellen!)....ROAST them!  Preheat your oven to 350, place your young banana on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes....skin will turn completely brown, your kitchen will smell delicious, and the banana will be soft, sweet, and ready to bake with!


Add the cooked quinoa and mashed bananas, mix until combined.  Finally, add chopped strawberries. Distribute batter amongst muffin liners.  Top each with a thin slice of strawberry for garnish.  Bake for 25-30  minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.