Sunday, October 31, 2010

Jelly-Filled Cupcakes With Peanut Butter Frosting

Cook Time: 20 min
Yield: 12 cupcakes


Ingredients

11/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk
1 cup grape jelly (Recommended: Welch's Grape Jelly)
Candy bars (Recommended: Reese's Pieces, Butterfinger, Nutterbutter, Heath Bar, smashed up with a rolling pin, for decorating)
Peanut butter frosting, recipe follows


Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.


Line a cupcake pan with paper liners, gently spray the liners with nonstick spray and set aside.


Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt over a large piece of paper. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar with a hand mixer on medium speed, until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, the egg yolk, and the vanilla. Reduce the speed to low and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Pour in the milk and continue to mix until smooth. Pick up the paper with the dry ingredients and gradually pour it into the wet ingredients, continue to mix just until blended.


Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared cupcake tins, about 3/4 full. Bake until the tops of the cupcakes spring back to the touch and are not too golden; about 20 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, and then allow to cool completely on a wire rack before filling, frosting or decorating.


Fill a squirt bottle with the grape jelly and screw on the cap. Carefully insert the tip of the squirt bottle as far as it will go into the top of the cupcakes. Gently squeeze about 1 tablespoon worth of jelly inside of each. Ice the tops of the cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting to cover. Decorate with your favorite candy.


Peanut Butter Frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon milk


Beat the butter, peanut butter, and cream cheese with a hand or standing mixer on medium speed, until light and fluffy. Slowly add the confectioner's sugar and continue to mix until the frosting is smooth, mix in the milk and continue to mix until it reaches a good spreading consisting.

Yield: 2 cups

From: foodnetwork.com

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Overstuffed Pumpkin with Cornbread, Apples and Turkey Sausage with Sauvignon Blanc

Ingredients
 
1 pumpkin
1/4 cup melted butter
Salt
Pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, divided
1/4 cup chopped fresh sage, divided
Salt and pepper
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cubed
2 pounds ground turkey sausage
3/4 cup Sauvignon Blanc wine
1 cup heavy cream
1 (16-ounce) package cornbread stuffing
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
 
 
Directions
 
Cut off the lid of the pumpkin and set it aside. Pull out the seeds and strings from inside the pumpkin. Brush the inside flesh with melted butter, season with salt and pepper. Place pumpkin on a roasting pan and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.
 
 
In a large skillet, heat oil over moderate heat. Add onion, celery, garlic, celery seed, fennel seed and 2 tablespoons each parsley and sage. Cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the apples and cook 2 minutes. Add the ground sausage, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, and brown until no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Deglaze the pan with wine, cook down 2 minutes to evaporate the alcohol. Stir in the cream, check seasoning.
 
 
Scrape the sausage mixture into a large bowl and fold in the cornbread. Gradually blend in the eggs and chicken broth, until the stuffing is evenly moistened. Add remaining parsley and sage. Fill the pumpkin with stuffing, return to the oven and bake 20 minutes until the eggs are cooked and the stuffing has a little lift. Serve stuffing in the pumpkin bowl topped with lid.