Once upon a time there was... Vanilla/Vanilla Cupcakes

I, (the pig), consider myself to be quite the cupcake expert.  I make all kinds of fancy cupcakes, but the mark of a true cupcake master is to be able to make a perfect basic cupcake.  And I believe that I have created perfection.  Well, with some help from Martha Stewart and Billy Reese.  We made these cute cupcakes for a friends baby shower.  When we are working during the day and need to make cupcakes, we like to make the cakes a day ahead of time, and store them in our airtight cupcake carrier.  Then we make the icing and do the decorating the day of the event.  Also keep in mind that if you are making royal icing decorations, they will need 24 hours to fully dry.

cake ingredients
1 3/4 c cake flour
1 1/4 c regular flour
2 c sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 c (2 sticks) unsalted european butter, cut into chunks, chilled

4 eggs
1 c whole milk
2 tsp Madagascar vanilla

buttercream
1 c (2 sticks) unsalted european butter, room temperature
6-8 c sifted confectioners sugar
1/2 c whole milk
1 tsp Madagascar vanilla
1/2 tsp lemon juice

for the royal icing flowers:
2 eggs
2-3 c sifted confectioners sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
gel food coloring
wilton tip 2D
sprinkle for the center

cake instructions
1. prepare for cupcaking.  preheat the oven to 325.  line your muffin pans.  hide your cows.

2. prepare batter.  in an electric mixer, blend the dry ingredients together.

3. add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.

4. in a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, and vanilla.  Add the wet to the dry in 3 batches, scraping the bowl before each addition.

Cornelius' note: If your cupcake batter does not appear pink, do not worry, you have done nothing wrong.  We dyed these.


5. Fill the liners about 2/3 full with batter.
Cornelius' tip: We like to use an ice cream scooper and a tablespoon, scooping up the batter with the scoop, then emptying it into the cups with the spoon.

6. bake for 17-20 minutes.


7. cool completely on a wire rack.

frosting instructions

1. cream butter until smooth.

2. add sugar, 1 c at a time, occasionally alternating with the wet ingredients.

3.  Add more sugar (1/2 c at a time) to make the icing sweeter or thicker, add milk (1 Tbsp at a time) to make it thinner, add lemon juice (1/2 tsp at a time) to reduce sweetness.

4.  Add food color if desired.  Pipe or spread onto cupcakes.

flowers instructions


1. prepare royal icing.  beat egg whites until soft peaks form.  Add sugar, 1 c at a time, until incorporated.  Add lemon juice.  Adjust consistency by adding water or more sugar.  You want a pretty stiff icing (if it is too thin the flower will not hold its shape.)

2.  We could try to explain how to do this, but Wilton already does a good job here.

3. Add sprinkle to the middle and let dry for 24 hours.

We think these cupcakes came out very cute!  Of course the decorating possibilities for vanilla cupcakes are endless, so be creative, and if you have any questions, just ask any pig (we are all cupcake experts).

pig, out.

Once upon a time there was... Amaretto Cake

On the day we made amaretto cake, we had some culinary disasters.  We failed at making caramel for a different recipe, twice.  More on that later... So, when we had a party to go to, a dessert we needed to bring, and not a lot of time left to do it, we turned to our trusty amaretto cake!  Now, castle farm cookbook blog readers probably know about our aversion to box cake mixes.  To summarize, we don't like them.  How can one properly cream the butter with the sugar? Or add the eggs 1 at a time, scraping after each, if everything in the box just gets dumped.  But this is one recipe where we accept that sometimes a cow and/or pigs gotta do what a cow and/or pigs gotta do, even if that means buying baking products from a box.  It's really worth it.

ingredients
1 18.25 oz yellow cake mix
1 5oz package instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1/2 c water
1/2 c canola oil
1/2 c + 2 Tbsp amaretto
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 c sifted confectioners sugar + more for sprinkling

instructions
1. preheat oven to 350.  grease and flour a bundt pan.

2.  combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water, oil, 2 Tbsp amaretto, and almond extract and blend together.

us, ashamed of the boxes

us, with the only ingredient we can be proud of

thats right, just dump it all in there and mix it up.

3. pour into prepared pan.  bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

4. near the end of the baking time, whisk together the 1/2 c amaretto and confectioners sugar to make a glaze.

5. when the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes everywhere, using a fork, knife or toothpick.  be liberal with the poking and make them deep.

6. pour glaze all over cake while it is still hot (this is important).  now let it sit for 2 hours.

7.  remove cake from the bundt, you might have to nudge it a bit, especially if you let it sit longer than 2 hours.

why is there a hole in my cake?

8. sprinkle with powdered sugar to look pretty.

For all of our complaining about box mixes, etc, there is one very good reason we make this cake.  it is one VERY good cake.

pig, out.

Once upon a time there was... Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes

Last year for thanksgiving we made 8 lbs of mashed potatoes. In case you were wondering, that is a LOT of mashed potatoes. As a result, we had a LOT of leftover mashed potatoes. While we really enjoy mashed potatoes there are only so many different ways to dress them up and after a few nights you stop enjoying them. Since we had hit that point, we looked up a recipe for leftover mashed potato pancakes. We liked them so much, we made them again post-thanksgiving this year. We found this recipe at MrBreakfast.com although we object to categorizing them as breakfast.

ingredients

2 c mashed potatoes

1 large egg, beaten

6 Tbsp flour

2 Tbsp grated onion

2 Tbsp dried chives

salt and pepper

vegetable oil for frying

instructions

1. Heat 1/8 inch of oil over med-high heat until it is hot but not smoking.

2. combine potato and egg. stir in flour, onion, chives, and salt and pepper.

3. Add heaping tablespoons of the potato mixture to the fry pan. Flatten them with the back of your spatula. Cook about a minute on each side (until golden brown).

4. Put pancakes on paper towels to drain excess oil. Serve with applesauce or sour cream.

Moo!

Once upon a time there was... Cheesecake

Cheesecake, oh cheesecake. There really are few things in life finer than a cheesecake. Strawberry or oreo, chocolate or vanilla bean, however you dress up a cheesecake, we will certainly eat it. In this case, we made this very special cheesecake for a very special thanks-christmas family gathering. What you won't see is that we also made cherries jubilee (yes, we got to light things on fire, and no we did not burn anything we weren't supposed to). Because we had such a fancy and flaming cheesecake topping, we made a plain and simple cheesecake. This recipe is excellent because you can make the cheesecake and then also make all kinds of toppings, so everyone can have exactly the kind of cheesecake they would like. I could really keep talking about the joys of cheesecake for a while, but I think you want to know how to make your own. So here it is, recipe adapted from copykat.com.

ingredients

3 8oz packages Philadelphia cream cheese, room temperature

1 1/3 c sugar

5 eggs

16 oz sour cream, room temperature

1/4 c flour

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp lemon juice

1 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs (about 24 crackers)

6 Tbsp melted butter

instructions

1. preheat the oven to 325.

2. prepare crust. combine melted butter and crumbs in a bowl. Press into the bottom of a 9" springform pan.

3. beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. slowly add sugar and beat until creamy. add eggs, 1 at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.

4. add flour, vanilla, and lemon juice, mix well. Add sour cream and mix well.

5. pour mixture into the prepared crust.

6. Place on the top rack and bake 1 hour 15 minutes. When time is up, open oven door to let slowly cool for 1 hour.

Cal's note: see how ours is kind of sinking? We thought we knew better and took it out too early. Do not think you know better. If you have already taken it out, do not worry, it will still be delicious. Also, the slowly cooling is important to prevent cracking.

7. Now put it in the refrigerator and do not even think about eating it for at least 24 hours. If you try to eat it sooner you will say, "that pig and cow don't know anything about cheesecake. this is the blandest cheesecake i've ever had." but if you wait you will say, "the cow and pig are masters of cheesecake knowledge." You can see from our faces below that we did wait, and that the cheesecake was delicious.

Moo!

Once upon a time there was... Pasta with Chicken and Gorgonzola Sauce

This will be a pretty quick post because it's a pretty quick meal.  This is a nice dish to make for a weeknight.  Its simple and has a very different taste from your average pasta with chicken meal.  If you like the gorgonzola, you will like this.

(serves 2)
pasta ingredients

3 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp crumbled gorgonzola cheese

1 green onion, minced

1 clove garlic, minced
4 oz pasta
salt and pepper to taste

chicken ingredients

8 oz chicken breast

1 egg

1/2 c bread crumbs

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp butter

1/4 c parmesan cheese

1 tsp garlic powder

instructions

1. prepare the chickens. cut chicken into 1" chunks. Whisk egg into a shallow dish. Combine bread crumbs, parmesan, and garlic powder in another shallow dish. Dip chicken in egg then coat with crumb mixture.

Now your chickens will look like this:

2. cook your pasta according to package directions.

Cornelius' tip: we like to measure our pasta. 2 oz (uncooked) is a serving.

3. cook your chickens. heat oil and butter in a frying pan. Add chicken and cook, flipping as necessary, until golden.

4. make sauce. When the chicken and pasta are almost done, combine onion, gorgonzola, garlic, and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low, until ingredients are heated and combined. Add salt and pepper to taste.

5. combine sauce and pasta. top with chicken.

pig, out.

Once upon a time there was... Mashed Potatoes

Freshly mashed potatoes are such an easy food to make. Despite this, we admit that there are many times we use the mashed potatoes in a box. Basic mashed potatoes are always some variation of potato, butter, and milk. I prefer to use a butter substitute and our regular 1% milk, while the pig prefers to go all out and use real butter and half-and-half. Of course whatever you pick is going to affect the richness of your end potato product. But trust me, fresh mashed potatoes will always taste better than the box variety - especially when they are made by a pig and a cow.

ingredients (for 4 servings)

2 lbs potatoes (russet or your choice)

4 Tbsp butter

1/2 milk or half-and-half

instructions

1. prep your potatoes. line em up. peel em. and cut em into chunks (1" is recommended, but you can make them smaller or larger if that's what you like). If making a double-batch and small dice like we were, this can be exhausting work.

2. put potatoes in a pot of cold water and salt. bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat, and let simmer until potatoes are tender (about 20 minutes).

3. drain potatoes and then put them back in the pot. let them steam dry.

4. once dry, but still pretty hot, beat in the butter.

5. beat in the milk/cream product.

6. whisk vigorously until fluffy (or beat lightly until blended, whatever texture you prefer). season with salt and pepper, eat!

Moo!