Blueberry & Strawberry Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Frosting

  » By Keith Prickett

July 3rd, 2008 - Posted in Cupcakes, Dessert | Leave a comment (0)

I had to come up with something to celebrate the holiday with and for some reason around the 4th of July my mouth waters for every cake I see with whole blueberries and strawberries on top.  This cupcake recipe was my answer!  I used the Strawberry cupcake recipe from last week and simply reduced the amount of strawberries and added whole blueberries to the batter.  Then to make it have all the red, white and blue flair I used whipped cream, whole blueberries and strawberries to top it off.  The result is a festive, decadent, delight that we got to share with some friends the other night.  Here’s what I did:

Ingredients for Cupcake:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 egg
• 6 ounces Homemade Applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• About 15 medium sized Stahlbush Island Farm’s Frozen Strawberries (thawed slightly) cut into quarters
• 5 oz whole, fresh or Stahlbush Island Farm frozen blueberries (thawed slightly)

Ingredients for Whipped Cream Frosting:

• 8 to 10 fluid oz Heavy Whipping Cream
• 2-3 tablespoons powdered sugar (more or less to your sweet toothe’s taste)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions for Cupcake:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Beat sugar and butter together until fluffy
3. Add your egg and applesauce and mix thoroughly
4.  Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl then add to your wet ingredients
5. Fold in strawberries and blueberries
6. Place in lined cupcake baking tins (I made about 14)
7. Bake for 20 minutes or so, until toothpick comes out clean

Directions for Real Whipped Cream Frosting:

1. Mix whipping cream, sugar and vanilla in a mixer
2. Beat until extra thick (but definitely stop before you make butter)

Put it all together by spreading real whipped cream on each cupcake.  Top with a whole strawberry and a bunch of whole thawed blueberries.

Rosemary Lemon Rhubarb Spritzer Recipe

  » By Keith Prickett

June 15th, 2008 - Posted in Drink, General | Leave a comment (0)

Thanks Elise!  Your spritzer was great!  I followed Elise’s spritzer recipe and it turned out wonderfully.  Since Rachel is working at Stahlbush and the first rhubarb harvest of the year is just finishing we enjoyed tons of leftover rhubarb samples from their lab.  Rachel had mentioned they were harvesting, I had some fresh rosemary growing in our tiny garden and Elise posted this recipe.  It was a match made in heaven.  Serve this drink at a party (especially one with a pink theme) or just to enjoy the creatively unique flavors on your palate.  Here’s what I did:

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of frozen cut Stahlbush rhubarb (or other frozen/fresh)
• 2 cups of water
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary (Elise used more but I think it was nice and strong with 2 tablespoons)
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• Soda (Carbonated) water, chilled

Directions:

1. Simmer rhubarb, sugar, water and rosemary in a sauce pan for about 15 minutes (until rhubarb dissolves)
2. Remove from heat and let it cool for a bit
3. Strain well into a separate container (I used cheesecloth, Elise used a fine mesh strainer)
4. Add the lemon juice
5. Chill and serve 1/3 cup of syrup with 2/3 cup of soda water.

I hope you enjoy it!

The Dominican Republic: Part 2 (Coffee!)

  » By Keith Prickett

February 5th, 2008 - Posted in Breakfast, Coffee, Dinner, Lunch | Leave/read a comment (3)

Above: Coffee Drying operation in the Village of Travesia

Coffee in the Dominican Republic, simply, is a way of life. My wife and I visited many friends in their houses during our two week trip. During every visit to a friend’s house we would be served a delicious cup of Dominican coffee. If you’ve read my last post, you know coffee also comes along with every meal. Needless to say, we drank a lot of coffee while we were there!

How it’s brewed:
Coffee is brewed in an Italian-style espresso maker they call a “Greca.” A little bit of since electricity there is fairly inconsistent — we had electricity about 1/2 the time we water goes in the bottom of the brewer. Some ground coffee goes into the “filter” area and it’s all screwed together. Almost everyone there uses a gas (propane) stove top to cook were there on average. The water is heated and boils through the filter (from underneath) and then up through a little spout into a reservoir.

How it’s served:
Once the water is all boiled into the reservoir it is removed from the heat and often poured into a serving carafe. About one-half cup of sugar is added for each pot (about 2-3 cups). This makes for one sweet cup of coffee! For drinking, you are served one very small cup (about the size of an espresso shot). I really enjoyed sitting on someone’s porch, taking in all the delicious smells, sights and sounds of the Dominican Republic while sipping on my sweet cup of “cafè.”

Often times the ground coffee is mixed with nutmeg, cinnamon and/or other spices during brewing for an extra layer of flavor. It is delicious!

Growing and Roasting:
Fortunately for me, I had the opportunity to visit a village where coffee is grown and roasted! The growing seemed fairly normal in the village of Travesia (a small village in the mountains above the city of Jarabacoa), but the roasting was quite unique.

First off, they grow it under the banana and orange trees all along the hill sides. As we were walking up the trail to the village I saw coffee growing everywhere along the trail. It’s picked and husked using a small husk-removing machine (see photo) . Afterward it’s dried on a cement slab under a plastic covering. It is raked into ridges about twice a day (ridges are alternated between length-wise and width-wise).

To Roast in the village they use a clay-oven top called a “fugòn.” It’s basically a clay base and sides with a small fire (see photos). The coffee and unrefined (natural cane — still brown) sugar added at the same time to a huge cast-iron pot. Its stirred with a wooden spoon and caramelized.

My theory is that this is done because the fugòn and wooden spoon can’t get the beans evenly roasted so the caramelization hides the roast. The end result is a really black bean (on the outside) but a delicious flavor when ground and brewed! I brought some home and it’s sitting in my freezer now! YUM! My mother-in law once brought back about 10 pounds on her carry-on of this stuff and we drank it all year.

I hope you’re enjoying this series on the Dominican Republic. Feel free to ask me questions on the comment sections or just leave comments.