My Favorite Guest Posts, Part 1

I have made dozens of recipes for guest posts on other blogs over the years. It has taught me so much about writing, photography and communicating with other bloggers. It would be sad if they were forgotten over time, so I've decided to compile some of my favorites here...

Zand Gebak. These little shortbread cookies spread with espresso butter and melted chocolate are seriously addicting. And I placed in DMBLGiT with this photo! I was very proud.

Red Curry Coconut Noodles. This was my first ever guest post for Tasty Kitchen. I was so very nervous. But the recipe turned out delicious and I loved the photos.

Via Cappuccino Muffins. Need I say more?

This Salted Caramel Budino was heavenly. Layers of chocolate wafers, custard, salted caramel and whipped cream. Oh yes.

Glorious Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms - pretty and full of flavor.

Smashed Potatoes with Parmesan Gremolata. They sound (and taste) fancy, but they're simple to make.



You can check out all of my posts for the Tasty Kitchen Blog HERE. I've had so much fun creating for them over the past 3+ years.

Have a lovely Monday!
Erica

Blueberry Lemon Muffins

    You have to get creative when you cook with a toddler. Every once in a while I can sneak into the kitchen while Helen plays contently by herself, but for the most part I have to find some way of including her. 

    Sometimes I open a cupboard for her to play in. Other times I put her in her high chair and either give her a snack or a bowl of water to play with. She gets sopping wet, but those minutes of peace are worth it.

    She is also very curious about whatever I'm photographing. My backdrop is on the floor, so she has easy access to my creations. Thus the chubby baby hands in my photos. But it's preferable to her whining while I take pictures.

    If there are any moms out there with ideas for keeping a toddler occupied, LET ME KNOW.

    But about these muffins.

    They were delicious: moist, tender, and full of flavor. The butter-lemon glaze was, surprisingly enough, my favorite part. Now that Reuben has me hooked on all things lemon, I love any added citrus flavor.

I shared these with my sister and her family (her husband made me a latte in exchange) and we all enjoyed them.

    Note: I used sprouted flour, and the results were better than I could have believed possible. You could hardly tell that they were 100% whole wheat.

Blueberry Lemon Muffins

adapted from My Baking Addiction | makes 12-16 muffins | Printable Page

Ingredients:

For the Muffins:

• 2 2/3 cups sprouted wheat flour (I used my homemade sprouted flour, but I like this brand.)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• zest of 2 lemons
• 1/2 cup evaporated cane juice
• 1/3 cup sucanat
• 1/4 cup softened butter
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk
• 1 1/3 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

For the Glaze:

• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 cup organic confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions:

To Make the Muffins:

1) Preheat oven to 425 F (220 C). Line a standard muffin tin with baking cups (I halved the recipe and got more than 6 muffins).

2) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

3) In another medium bowl, mix together the lemon zest and sugars with your fingertips until moist and fragrant.

4) Cream together the butter (softened and melted) and lemon zest-sugar mixture until well combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth.

5) Add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating between adding the flour and the milk, starting and ending with the flour. Mix just until combined. Fold in the blueberries.

6) Spoon the batter into the muffin tin. Fill the cups almost up to the top. Bake in the preheated oven until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out nearly clean, 15-18 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and allow to cool slightly.

To Make the Glaze:

1) In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the glaze ingredients. 

2) Once the muffins have cooled a bit, dip the top of each one into the glaze. Let the glaze cool a little and re-dip if desired (I desired).

3) Store the muffins in an airtight container for about a day or so.

Elsewhere: Raspberry Curd

Boy do I love me some curd: the perfect blend of rich, creamy, sweet and sour. 

This pretty curd is so easy to make: through all the ingredients into a pot, cook until thickened, and strain. It's so so good spread on buttery English muffins. Or eaten with a spoon, like Reuben likes to do.

Head on over to the Good Life Eats blog to check out my guest post and get the recipe HERE.

Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

This post originally appeared on Cooking for Seven on April 9, 2012. Carrot cake is one of my favorite cakes and maple cream cheese is the best frosting, so I'm re-posting it here. Enjoy!

Super-sweet cakes are definitely not my cup of tea. Ever since I was a little girl I have disliked overly sugary desserts. Often times I would refuse birthday cake and opt for plain ice cream. Of course these days I’m a little more polite. I’ll eat my share of sickly-sweet treats; but give me a perfectly sweetened dessert and I’m much happier.

The frosting is another hang-up. Gobs of powdered sugar + only a tiny bit of butter = disgusting, in my book. To balance out the sweetness, frosting needs a good measure of fat, whether it be in the form of butter, cream cheese, cream or peanut butter.

Here I give you (what I consider to be) one of the best types of cakes: Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting. The actual cake doesn’t taste like sugar fluff; it has flavor and a bit of spice and it’s nice and moist. The cream cheese in the frosting makes it pleasantly tangy and the maple syrup and vanilla give it a lovely flavor.

What do you think? Do you prefer your desserts with less sugar, or do you have a major sweet tooth?

Notes:

In keeping with my lower sugar preference, I cut out some of the sugar both in the cake and the frosting. If you have more of a sweet tooth than I do, you can go ahead and put in the full amount of sugar.

Of course I had to use half whole-wheat flour.

The original recipe called for nuts, but since Reuben prefers his desserts without them, I only put them on top.

Because I have always wanted to try it, I halved the recipe and baked the cakes in two 6-inch pans. I have provided the full-sized recipe below, but if you want to make a cute cake, just cut everything in half and bake in smaller pans.

Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting | Printable Page | Makes 10-12 servings

Adapted from The Joy of Baking and Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

• 3/4 pound raw carrots (preferably organic), peeled and finely grated (about 2 1/2 cups)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour (preferably ww pastry flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled, or any other flavorless oil
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Maple Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 stick butter, room temperature
• 1 cup organic confectioners’ sugar
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

For the Cake:

1) Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter two 9-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper.

2) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

3) Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, beat the eggs until frothy, about a minute. Slowly add the sugar & beat until thick and light colored, about 3-4 minutes. Add the oil in a slow steady stream. Beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated. Fold in the grated carrots.

4) Equally divide the batter between the two prepared pans (I weighed the batter for precise measurement). Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

5) Remove from oven and allow the cake to cool, in the pan on a wire rack, for about 5-10 minutes. Turn the cakes out of the pans onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.

For the Maple Cream Cheese Frosting:

1) Beat the cream cheese and butter together until fluffy.

2) Sift the powdered sugar over the cream cheese/butter mixture and mix until well combined. Add the maple syrup and vanilla extract and beat until combined.

Homemade Ramen Noodle Soup!

You guys. Have you ever had homemade ramen noodle soup? If you haven't you definitely need to give it a try. It is so so good. Not only are the flavors phenomenal, it's much healthier than the prepackaged variety. And it includes protein in the form of sausage and eggs - it's a much more satisfying meal.

Stop by the Tasty Kitchen Blog and get the step-by-step instructions and printable recipe HERE.

The Best Granola Recipe

I have been making this granola recipe for over five years. You know a recipe is gold when you keep going back to it after trying many others.

Sure, it's fun to try new recipes and flavors. But somehow I always return to this tried and true granola. It really can't be beat for its simple, hearty, wonderful flavor.

Waaaay back in 2009 I first posted about this recipe on Cooking for Seven. I had found the recipe on my then-online baking bible: Joy of Baking. For some reason Stephanie (the author of that website) decided to change the recipe she had online. I felt very fortunate to have saved the original before it was moved.

And so I felt that I should share this recipe with ya'll again. It will forever be my favorite granola. 

And in the style of Top With Cinnamon, I had to share a gif of Reuben pouring milk over the granola. I convinced him, still bleary-eyed from sleep, to help a food-blogger-girl out.

The Best Granola Recipe

adapted from Joy of Baking | makes about five cups | Printable Page

Ingredients:

• 4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup of shredded or chipped coconut
• 1 cup nuts of choice, coarsely chopped (I love pecans)
• 1/4 teaspoon real salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup dried fruits (cranberries, cherries, apricots, raisins, dates, etc.), optional (I usually leave these out)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. 

2) In a large bowl, mix together the oats, coconut, nuts, and salt.

3) In a small saucepan set over medium heat, melt the butter. Remove from heat and stir in the honey, maple syrup and vanilla. Pour this mixture over the dry ingredients and toss together, making sure all of the dry ingredients are evenly coated.

4) Spread onto the prepared baking sheet and baking in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Stir the granola every 10 minutes and rotate the pan halfway through baking.

5) Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack. Once the granola is completely cool you may stir in the dried fruit. Store in an airtight container at room temperature, or in the refrigerator or freezer for longer storage.

Homemade Baby/Toddler Food: Baby Custard

Helen has started to take more of an interest in food. It's so much fun to watch her reaction to different tastes and textures and see her preferences take shape. 

At the moment she loves everything sour (Kimchi, oranges, grapefruit, lemon), butter and blueberries. But her likes and dislikes change rapidly: she hated cheese for a bit and now she enjoys it. 

I have been trying to follow the nutritional guidelines in the Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby and Child Care. It has a handy list of foods to introduce to your baby at different ages, plus a few recipes. You can find a list of their recommended foods HERE.

Helen has really been enjoying this custard. She loves it when I spoon it into a little bowl and let her try to feed herself. She can get some of it onto her spoon and into her mouth, but I still give her help when she asks for it.

Note:

This recipe is good for babies 6 months or older. Please use the highest quality ingredients you can when cooking for your baby. The cream I used is not my favorite to give to Helen (I really like this brand, which is organic and grass-fed), but at least its only ingredient is cream, it isn't Ultra Pasteurized, and it's rBST free. 

Baked Baby Custard

recipe adapted from Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby and Child Care | makes about 4 small ramekins | Printable Page

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup whole coconut milk (this brand has BPA-free cans)
• 1/2 cup cream, preferably organic and not ultra-pasteurized 
• 3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
• a pinch of real salt

Directions:

1) Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F (150 C). Butter 4 ramekin dishes and place in a square glass baking dish.

2) Whisk together all of the ingredients and pour into the prepared ramekins. Bake in preheated oven for about an hour. Cool, cover and refrigerate.




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