sweet potato & vanilla bean cupcakes

The wonders of creating new baked goods with sweet potatoes always excite me. I am a sweet potato-holic, can't get enough of them. I found this recipe over here, and decided it was perfect, nothing else was needed (although I did change the frosting a bit) and I wanted to create it in mini cupcake form. I love mini cupcakes, so easy to eat so many in a sitting! I just wish I could decorate them better to make them cuter. But I am absolutely horrible at decorating them (as you'll notice in the photo). Plus I really should get one of those turning cake stands--they do help, yes? Do you know that I have on my list to take cake decorating classes? Anyone else out there doing this or have done this? I can't wait. Now I have to hope for a class close to cape cod to appear! I really don't want to have to drive into Boston for this. For those of you that do decorate and are fairly good at it, what did you buy for decorating tools and where? I would love to know, since if I can't find classes, then maybe I can buy them and just practice, practice, practice.



My changes: for the cake no nutmeg, and I used mini cupcake pans. Made about 12 mini's, not much batter. For the frosting I did 1/2 - 3/4 cup of confectioners sugar, 2TB fresh OJ, half stick of room temp butter (unsalted), tiny pinch of salt, whipped up very well and then chilled for a bit before frosting.

sweet potato cupcakes
adapted from blog.serialcooking.com
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Cook notes: this does not make much batter. I was only able to get 12 mini muffins from this. You can try using a loaf pan, but use a small one.

Cake:
225g mashed cooked sweet potatoes (1 small sweet potato)
150g plain flour
110g butter
100g dark brown sugar
50ml yogurt
1 egg
1 vanilla pod (alternatively you can use vanilla extract but the taste won’t be quite the same)
½ tsp ground nutmeg (I did NOT use this)
1tsp baking powder
1 pinch of salt

For the icing:
½ - ¾ cup confectioners sugar
2 TB freshly made orange juice
Half stick of unsalted butter (4 ounces), room temp
Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350 degrees). Spray a mini cupcake pan with non stick spray.
Cream the softened butter with the vanilla seeds scraped out of the pod, sugar, ground nutmeg and salt.
Add in the egg, slightly beaten.
Mix well until well blended.
Add the mashed sweet potatoes and yogurt.
Combine the baking powder and flour and add to the mixture. Mix well.
Pour the mixture into the pan.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
Leave to cool.
To make the icing, mix the icing sugar, butter whip then add in the orange juice. Chill a bit before frosting.
When the cake is cool, spread the icing on top.

the best veggie calzone, ever

Get out a pen and paper, I'll wait.... Go ahead, go get them because you're going to need to write this down. The next time you go to Whole Foods, do not leave the store without picking up a couple batches of their multi-grain pizza dough. This is the best pizza dough I've ever had the pleasure of working with. I am not one of those people who likes to make their own pizza dough. Why? Well, I have a 55 sq. ft. kitchen and an oven that "sometimes" works. So, until we move into a better kitchen I'm not chancing all that hard work of bread & pizza dough making and then baking it, sitting by my untrusty oven with crossed fingers. I had this same problem when I attempted cheesecake :::shudder:::
But, let's go back to this multi-grain pizza dough from Whole Foods. The texture, the taste, the ease of forming it was a breeeeeeze people. You know how some pizza doughs you buy from the store are just awful; there is no stretching those dry puffs of dough or if you do they just rip. And don't get me started on the taste. This multi-grain pizza dough had such an incredible taste and texture (plus it did very well when freezing for later). Let's not forget that it's multi-grain and that means it's good for you. I had been craving one of my calzones for some time now and wanted to try a veggie version.

All I did was saute one red, orange, and green bell pepper, one small onion with olive oil and salt & pepper. When it was just about done sauteeing I added in a couple splashes of Worcheshire sauce. Then added in a few marinated mushrooms from a jar, toss well, set to the side. Roll out pizza dough into a circle, cut in half. Fill with sauteed veggies, top with a bit of mozzarella cheese or whatever you fancy. Seal up dough very well. Poke a couple holes on top of calzones for steam to escape, rub some olive oil on top of the calzone (make sure you get the olive oil all over the crust too! that's the best part!) and top with some sharp cheddar. Bake in 450 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, depending on your oven. Let them cool a bit before biting into them because these babies are HOT! I loved these so much I ate my leftover half cold for lunch, oh yeah, I could not wait to heat it up, I was that impatient--it was delish cold.

Look at the crust! Is that not perfection? And this is multi-grain dough people! You have to try this, you will love it, trust me.


I could not pass the chance to introduce you all to the newest part of my friends' family. This is Anderson. Yes, he is a King Cavalier. And he is the most precious puppy I've come across in ages. I'm the lucky one that gets to watch him from time to time. Look at that face! Do you know how hard it is to kiss that face when all he wants to do is play? Impossible, but I'm still working on it!

This recipe and photographs are copyrighted and are the property of Dawn Finicane.

pineapple & bacon pound cake

Yes, I know a lot of us are on diets, myself included. I've been doing the "clean eat" semi-diet for a while now. So I did not really eat this, only a small sample to make sure it came out great. And yes it truly came out decadent, divine, heavenly, pineappley & baconley. I have wanted for some time now to make something with pineapple and bacon. I mean they go so well together on a pizza (if done right), so I wanted to try it else where. I came up with the idea of putting pineapple and bacon in a butter rich pound cake. Why not? Let's just kick that fattening pound cake up a few more fattening notches shall we? Allllrighty then!

pineapple & bacon poundcake
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3 – 4 pieces of bacon, cooked crisp
1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple, undrained, divided (might need a bit more, so have a small can of crushed pineapple set aside in case you need it)
½ cup vegetable shortening
1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temp.
2 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 ts baking powder
¼ cup half & half
1 ts pure vanilla extract

Cook about 3 – 4 slices of bacon till just about crisp. Drain on paper towels, set aside.
Take a few pieces of pineapple and chop up about 2 ts (or more) for the glaze, set aside in fridge to keep cool.
Put 3/4 cup or so, of undrained pineapple with its juice in a small bowl; set aside.
Drain remaining pineapple and measure 1 cup of drained crushed pineapple; set aside.
Cream shortening, butter, and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition.
Sift flour and baking powder together; add to creamed mixture, 1 large scoopful at a time, alternating with half & half. Now stirring by hand, add vanilla; then fold in 3/4 cup undrained pineapple with juice and blend well.
Pour batter into a well greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Place in cold oven.
Turn oven to 325° and bake for 1 ½ hours, or until top springs back when touched lightly with finger.
Let pineapple pound cake stand for few minutes in pan. Run knife around edges to loosen and remove pineapple cake carefully to a rack.

Pineapple & Bacon Glaze

1 cup confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons reserved pineapple syrup
About 2 ts of minced pineapple (or more if you like it, I did)
3-4 ts +/- of cooked bacon, finely chopped.

Mix the sugar and pineapple syrup until desired consistency (I like mine fairly thick), then add in minced pineapple and bacon, pour over pound cake.

tomato pie

I'm pretty certain tomato pie is an old-fashioned recipe. And there are a few recipes on the web for it. This recipe comes about from my experience, as a child eating heirloom tomatoes with sugar and mayo on them. With summer fast approaching (thank goodness!) that means abundant tomatoes will be here. Heirloom tomatoes are one of my favorite, and Whole Foods has some of the best around. Since I am not a gardener, playing with dirt is so not me. I highly doubt I ever will be a gardener, so thankfully there is a Whole Foods that sells nice, juicy heirloom tomatoes in the summer. Plus I have a few clients that love to share their fast growing summer tomatoes with me.

I have some distant family that is Canadian and spent some of my childhood summers in the Thousand Islands region. I clearly remember summertime dinner being fresh, juicy tomatoes with cracked pepper and sugar (yes sugar), slab of sharp cheddar cheese & mayo, and corn on the cob slathered in butter. No, we weren't poor, it was just the way they did a summer meal from time to time. Man, that was good and fresh. Ever since those summers I've always loved a good tomato and sharp cheddar cheese sandwich with a hint of pepper and mayo.
So my latest creation, or craving, comes from some of those memories. Keep in mind, this pie is very rich and full of fat. A treat of sorts. Best to eat it cold, not hot from the oven, well, unless you're daring. Look at this money shot. This is one pie that tastes perfect when eaten cold; like a tomato & cheese sandwich with crust!




tomato pie
recipe by vanillasugarblog.com (family recipe)
recipe and photographs are copyrighted & are the property of Dawn Finicane.
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1 (9") deep dish pie shell, kept frozen (recipe here) or use pre-made crusts
4-5 lg. tomatoes, thickly cut (heirloom works wonderful in this)
Freshly cracked black pepper
a gentle sprinkling of fine sugar
1 c. good quality mayonnaise (Hellmans)
1 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
½ cup cooked real bacon, chopped fairly small (not the fake stuff please)

I like to keep my deep dish pie crust ready to go and sitting in the freezer till I’m ready to use; it cooks up better that way. I've also used premade pie crust and they work just as fine, but they also need to be kept cold till ready to bake.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, 350 for convection. Slice up the tomatoes in rather thick slices and place them on paper towels to absorb some of the excess moisture.
Get out pie crust from freezer, place sliced tomatoes over crust; do a double layer of sliced tomatoes. Recipe by dawn finicane of vanillakitchen.blogspot.com Then sprinkle with an ever-so-light sprinkling of white sugar, then some freshly cracker black pepper.
In a bowl combine mayonnaise with shredded cheddar cheese, and the chopped up bacon. Spoon over tomatoes; try to get it spread evenly over the tomatoes, but don’t push down.
Bake for about 30 minutes. Mine was done at the 25 minute mark, so best to keep an eye on it at the 20 minute mark.
I let my pie cool down about an hour before slicing into it. It really does taste best when it’s refrigerated and served cold. Serve with a nice glass of white wine.
Note: I love my crust nice and dark brown, if you don’t like it that way then cook it less. This is a really rich pie, so cut the slices smaller than you would an apple or other fruit pie. (not the size I did in the above photo).

steak diane

One of my favorite ways to eat a good steak is either a steak diane or steak bearnaise. Those two sauces are some of the best around, but they have to be made from scratch; that dry stuff in the packets or in the jars, no no! I love going to French restaurants, authentic French restaurants mind you, that make the sauce from scratch; and in some places right in front of you. These are the same places that have no qualms when I ask them for extra sauce, on the side--s'il vous plaît! I am a true sauce junkie. If the sauce is good and is full of flavor then I want more, I want it on the side or I want it slathered on my plate: depending on the meal. I love bearnaise sauce so much that I will put on sunday morning poached eggs. And yes, I have used it on a veggie burger and it was fabulous. I've also used it on hummus rollups.
Are there any other sauce junkies out there? What is your favorite or favorites?

Steak Diane (I have no idea who the original owner of this recipe came from)

2 (6 oz) Filet Mignons (I used sirloin steak this time, worked fine)
1/8 ts salt
1/8 ts freshly ground pepper
2 TB butter
3 ts Dijon mustard
2 TB Shallots, minced
2 TB Butter
2 TB Lemon juice
1 TB Worcestershire sauce
1 TB Fresh chives, minced
3-4 ts Cognac (use the good stuff)
1 TB Fresh parsley, minced

Season both sides of steak with salt and pepper.
Melt 2 TB butter in a heavy skillet; add steaks and cook approximately 4 minutes on each side for medium-rare; about 2 minutes longer per side for medium.
Remove steaks to serving plate and keep warm.
Add into pan drippings, mustard and shallots. Sauté over medium heat 1 minute.
Then 2 TB butter, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and chives.
Cook for 2 minutes. Add brandy; pour sauce over steaks.
Sprinkle parsley over the top.
Serves 2.

Serve with thin crispy french fries--a must!