Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

These were for a friend's niece's birthday party this weekend. Chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream. Sooooooo tasty!

I made my usual vanilla buttercream and then cooked a bag of frozen raspberries with some sugar (about a cup?...I eyeballed it), until everything became thick. I let the raspberries cool and mixed them into the buttercream. The flavor was so intense and fresh, without being overwhelming!

I also discovered the joys of vanilla bean paste, as opposed to vanilla extract. Again....very strong flavor, but smooth, like good vanilla ice cream! It's harder to find, and more expensive, but a little bit goes a long way. I think it's worth it in something like vanilla buttercream, where the vanilla is the star, and it certainly enhanced the raspberry! (For the chocolate cake batter, I still used vanilla extract, but maybe the paste would produce totally new and amazing results there too?)!

Applesauce...

Is applesauce worth blogging about? Everyone knows how to make it, right? (Peel and chop apples, add a little water, cook until soft). I might as well write about the toast I made this morning (place bread in toaster and turn on).

But I like applesauce, and it's one of the few things I actually made this week. And I'm having fun taking pictures of all the food that comes out of my kitchen.

And there are surprisingly many questions that come up when you tell people you're making applesauce...

Do you add cinnamon and nutmeg? (I did, but V said it made it taste too much like pie filling and he would have preferred it without. Personally I think this is a good thing...pie filling for breakfast, woohoo)!

Do you add sugar? Never!! The sugars concentrate as the apples cook and it was soooooo sweet as is!

Do you puree it after it's cooked? This is a personal preference of course, but I think the thing that makes homemade applesauce so unique is its chunkiness. So you could throw it in the food processor, but then it would taste like store-bought and you'd have more dishes to do! :)

So actually applesauce is a very nuanced and delicate thing to make and not like toast at all.

But I do like toast! And taking pictures! And it is another one of the few things I made this week...

4 Crostini make a party!

Crostini are officially my new favorite party food! One trip to the farmer's market and we could have made endless variations on this theme!!!

Here's what my friend Jeanne and I came up with this past weekend (everything was on thin slices of pre-toasted baguette):

Roasted Butternut Squash

We cubed the squash and roasted it in the oven for about 30 minutes (400 degrees) with garlic, chopped onion and salt. When done, I tossed everything with some chopped sage. Jeanne massaged some dandelion greens with salt, to wilt them, and chopped them too. A little olive oil on the bread, then the dandelion, then the squash! Yum!

White Bean Puree and Kale

In the food processor, mixed a can of cannellini beans with fresh garlic, fresh thyme, salt and pepper. Spread that on the bread. Sprinkled some lemon juice on chopped, steamed kale. Laid it on top. Done.

Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta

Chopped heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh garlic and a tiny bit of salt.

Cashew Cream and Sauteed Mushrooms

In a food processor, mixed raw cashews with enough water to make a spreadable paste. Added salt and pepper.

Sauteed chopped cremini and shiitake mushrooms in olive oil with garlic, salt and a little white wine. Let everything reduce till the liquid was cooked off.

For the non-vegans we had the same slices of baguette with melted organic cheese and sliced fresh figs.