Category: Cupcakes

Banana Oat Muffins

There’s something about the stormy weather that just makes you want to stay inside and bake. So while my kids cozied up to warm mugs of hot cocoa, I decided to make use of my overripe bananas. It seems like every time I buy a bunch, they always seem to ripen faster than we can eat them. Usually, I just put them in the freezer to use for smoothies, but with Hurricane Sandy about to make an entrance, I just feel like nesting. And just in case any of my Brooklyn neighbors decide to brave the Frankenstorm for Halloween treats, I’ll have something to give them (although they’d probably rather some kit kats!)

Talking about storms, I have to be honest with you all. Lately, I’ve been cooking up some storms of my own. With the busy month of holidays behind us, I took a little break, but now I’m back to hosting big Shabbat meals again. I’ve been making lots of new delicious recipes, but I haven’t been able to find the time to photograph anything! Especially with Fridays getting shorter, and my menu’s growing more adventurous, it’s been difficult to document my foodie experiments. I still make an effort to post my weekly menu’s on my facebook page, and I’m happy to share recipes whenever I get a request. So if you don’t already follow BIB on facebook, feel free to join in on the fun.

In the meantime, stay safe and bake up a batch of these delicious muffins before your electricity goes out! The oats add a wonderful texture to the muffins and unlike most banana bread recipes, these are not too sweet, so they are perfect drizzled with some honey, alongside a cup of steaming hot coffee.

Banana Oat Muffins
adapted from allrecipes.com

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas, mashed

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and salt. In a separate bowl, lightly beat (or whisk) the egg. Stir in the milk, oil, and vanilla. Add the mashed banana, whisking to combine. Slowly add the flour mixture into the banana mixture and stir to combine. Pour the batter into muffin tins and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean.


1 year ago: roasted eggplants with Israeli salad

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Rainbow Cupcakes

We all know I’m not much of a baker, but when my newsfeed got flooded with Noah rainbow crafts of all kinds, I was inspired to create something fun with my kids. All those multicolored rainbow cakes were definitely out of my league, mixing one batter is enough for me – forget 6! (not to mention all that unhealthy food coloring). Inspiration struck from my pinterest crafting board, where I pinned this cupcake idea a while back. I simplified the idea by using a simple glaze instead of a buttercream, as well as mini marshmallows instead of pastry cream. The results are absolutely adorable! Feel free to use your favorite cupcake recipe, or follow my easy no-mixer recipe below.

*In the story of Noah, G-d promised never to destroy the world again with a flood, and as a symbol of that promise, he made a rainbow appear.

Rainbow Cupcakes

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
3 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup orange juice
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners sugar
2-3 tbsp milk
blue food coloring
rainbow sour belt candy
mini marshmallows

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk flour, sugar and baking powder to combine. In a separate bowl, mix eggs, orange juice, oil and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well. Pour the batter into cupcake tins filled with liners, until they are 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Set aside to cool.

In a bowl, combine the confectioners sugar with the milk and stir until smooth. Add a few drops of food coloring, until the glaze reaches a deep sky blue. Once the cupcakes are cooled, spread the glaze over them. Allow the glaze to set for a few minutes and prepare the decorations.

For each cupcake, set aside 1 sour belt and 3 mini marshmallows. With a knife, or using your hands, pull each marshmallow apart into 2 pieces (this will expose the sticky part and help them stick together). Press 3 marshmallow halves together to form clouds. Take the sour belt candy and gently press each side into the cupcakes to form a loop. Place the clouds on each side of the rainbow, pressing down to secure it in the icing.

Yields approximatley 24 cupcakes.

1 year ago: 3 layer chocolate cake martini

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Carrot Muffins

You all know that I’m not that much of a baker, so if I decided to make carrot muffins, there must have been a reason for it. Well, here it goes…

Sometimes things just don’t go as planned. Take this past Shabbos, for example. I had a full house for the weekend, and my menu was planned down to the tee. I usually leave the salad prep to right before the meal, preparing only what needs to be checked or processed in the blender beforehand. I had planned on making a slaw, so I shredded my carrots in my food processor and put it aside in a ziploc. Fastforward a couple of hours and I’m about to prepare the salad. I grab a jar of mayo from my pantry and open it up to find that someone has taken out a spoonful and returned it to the pantry instead of the fridge. I’m afraid to admit that that someone was probably me getting a headstart on my cooking at 12 PM the previous night! So now that there was no mayo, there was no slaw (or caeser salad…or deviled eggs…). Then I realized that we were also out of horseradish for the gefilte fish. While I would normally whip up a russian style dressing, that was not in the cards either. So I served the gefilte fish with wasabi sauce, stashed the shredded carrots back into the fridge, and redid my menu just as my guests were walking through the door.

My mayo-less meal turned out just fine, and that lonely bag of carrots had a calling after all – moist and delicious carrot muffins. You can also bake this into a cake and top with some cream cheese frosting (which I would have done, had I not shredded my carrots in my fleishig food processor). Either way you choose to serve it, you’ll find this recipe delicious. My kids were so excited to come home to freshly baked muffins. I think I have to start doing this baking thing more often!

 

Carrot Muffins

2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup oil
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups grated carrots (about 3 carrots)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Method:

Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and brown sugar to a bowl and mix to combine. Add oil, eggs and vanilla and mix with a hand blender until smooth. Stir in carrots, walnuts, raisins and/or chocolate chips and mix to incorporate. Scoop batter into baking cups and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

NOTE: Feel free to adjust the add-ins to your desired taste. You can choose to leave out the walnuts, raisins or chocolate chips, or adjust amount as desired.

1 year ago: sundried tomato olive tapenade

 

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Easy Strawberry Shortcake

Having two daughters born in the spring and summer, this time of year just feels like birthday season to me. Well that, and the fact that my kids seem to be coming home with birthday bags every other day. I’ve mentioned before how I’m not the biggest baker, and most definitely not a cake decorator either. Birthday cakes, however, are the exception. I feel like it’s that one momentous day when I get to make something special for the ones that I love. So depending on the day, week, or how hectic life is at the time, I decide on how much of a patchke that cake will be :)

Recently, we celebrated my daughters third birthday. She absolutely adores strawberries, so the kind of cake was a no-brainer. I wasn’t even planning on blogging about it, until my sister-in-law called me for the recipe. I decided if it was good enough to want to make again, I might as well share it with you guys :)

This cake recipe has become a favorite of mine because it uses oil as opposed to margarine, and it is super quick and easy. It’s a one bowl recipe that does not require a mixer. The batter works well in cupcakes, a sheet cake, or a round birthday cake. The orange juice adds a nice, mellow citrus flavor as well.

Easy Strawberry Shortcake

3  cups flour
2 cups sugar
3 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup orange juice
2 tsp vanilla extract
1  16oz container whip topping
1 container strawberries

Method:

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients besides for whip and strawberries. Pour into 2 greased 9″ round pans. Bake at 350 degrees until toothpick inserted comes out clean (about 50 minutes – 1 hour).

For whip topping, thaw the topping in the refrigerator overnight. It is best to whip topping when it is cold (some people actually put the bowl and beaters in the freezer for 15 minutes before whipping as well). Pour topping into a large mixing bowl. Beat on low until small bubbles form, about 30 seconds. Increase to medium and beat until beaters have a trail, about 30 seconds. Increase to high and move beaters around the sides of the bowl, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides as you go. Stop beating when the whip has doubled in volume and forms stiff peaks.

For the strawberries, remove the leaves and slice lengthwise.

To prepare the cake, make sure it has cooled completely. Place one of the cakes on your cake stand, and check to make sure it is leveled. If needed, trim with a bread knife until you have a perfectly flat surface. Spread whip topping over cake. Top with strawberries (use the ends for this part and save the pretty pieces for the top of the cake). Add second cake, and check to make sure it is leveled. Trim if needed. With an icing spatula, spread whip around the top and sides of the cake. Decorate the top of the cake with strawberries.

Some of my more memorable birthday cakes!

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Mini Zucchini Muffins + Rivka’s Pumpkin Cake

We don’t have an eiruv in my community, which means that once you have a baby, you are stuck at home for Shabbos until your baby can walk! So getting invited out for Shabbos (to sleep over) is a real treat! A few weeks ago, my good friend Rivka, a shlucha in Long Island City, invited us, and we were more than happy to accept. Rivka’s mother is Moroccan and her family is in the restaurant business, so it is no surprise that she knows how to cook! She make some traditional Moroccan foods, but her table is a kaleidoscope of different cuisines.

Rivka is not only a good cook, but a very practical one. Instead of three courses on a late Friday night, she serves one. She made mini pumpkin muffins which she served at breakfast, for snack, and in a cupcake tree along with the Shabbos meal. Pumpkin cake is moist and dense, so it lends itself well to be served as a kugel. I myself have served it that way many times.

My kids were head over heels for the mini cupcakes (kids love anything mini, don’t they? maybe because it’s more their size!) so last week, I purchased a mini muffin pan, and went to work on some muffins for the kids. I’ve mentioned before how I’m not the biggest baker, and it has a lot to do with the fact that cake is just so unhealthy. When I see myself throwing white flour, sugar and oil into a bowl, I think to myself, “Am I really going to put THAT into my mouth?” Not that it tastes bad, cake is delicious. And I do buy it on occasion. It’s easier when I don’t see how it’s made (even though I know it’s full of junk). So, I justify this recipe by reminding myself that it’s filled with zucchini, a vegetable :)

Feel free to make this cake in a bundt pan, it is absolutely delicious any way you bake it. You can make a zucchini bread in loaf pans, or larger cupcakes which you are free to frost with a maple cream cheese frosting!

NOTE: When I make these, I like to shred double the amount of zucchini and freeze half for the next time. Just thaw the zucchini in a strainer and press down with a paper towel to squeeze out excess water.

Mini Zucchini Muffins

2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
3 eggs
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1-2  tsp cinnamon (depending how cinnamony you like it)
1 tsp salt
2 cups grated zucchini, unpeeled
chopped walnuts (optional)

Method:

Whisk sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla together. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold in the zucchini. For mini muffins, bake at 350 for 18 minutes. For a loaf or bundt pan, bake for 45 minutes – 1 hour, until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Rivka’s Pumpkin Cake

These work extremely well in mini muffins because they are more dense but still very moist. When I called Rivkah for the recipe, it turned out to be nearly identical to mine (hers called for just 1/2 tsp more of the baking soda and powder).

I have made these to serve as a kugel, filling muffin tins with the batter, and adding a tsp of blueberry pie filling in the center (I happen to have a picture of it because I had made them on my anniversary Shabbos, and as luck would have it, the blueberry pie filling turned out as a heart in one of them, so I served it to my husband and told him I made it that way on purpose!)

2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups flour
1 15oz. can pumpkin (not pie filling)
chocolate chips (optional)

Method:

Whisk sugar, oil and eggs together. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold in the pumpkin. For mini muffins, bake at 350 for 18  minutes. For a loaf or bundt pan, bake for 45 minutes – 1 hour, until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

NOTE: If you’d like to make this as a kugel, and you feel it’s too cakey, you can double the amount of pumpkin (either by using 2 cans, or by using 1 and halving the batter ingredients). Adjust baking time accordingly.

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