Thursday, July 29, 2010

Rhubarb Muffins

My mom has a number of rhubarb plants and I enjoy making different desserts with it.

RHUBARB  MUFFINS


3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp soda
1 egg
1+ cup rhubarb
1/2 cup oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup nuts
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla

Streusel Topping

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix muffins until just moistened, don't overmix.  Sprinkle with streusel topping.  Bake 30 minutes at 325 degrees.  I used muffin/cupcake liners.  If not using those grease muffin tin.  Makes about 12-14 muffins.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Purple Velvet Cake


I saw a blue velvet cake not long ago and thought I should use my favorite color: PURPLE!  The only thing I would change next time is less coloring.  I used 1 oz and it was too dark.  It was hard to take a picture to get the color to show up.  Enjoy!

Purple Velvet Cake

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp cocoa
1/2 to 1 oz violet icing color (I use Wiltons)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp baking soda

Place racks in oven on the second and fourth levels. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour or place cupcake liners in cupcake pans. Cream butter, sugar, and eggs in a heavy duty mixer.  Add cocoa and food coloring to the creamed mixture. Mix the salt and vanilla with the buttermilk in a 2 cup liquid measuring cup, and add to the batter alternating with the flour. Mix the vinegar and baking soda in a small bowl (it will fizz). Carefully and gently fold this into the batter--DO NOT BEAT!  Place batter in cupcake liners in 1/4 cup measure.  Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the cakes spring back when lightly touched. Remove from the oven and cool on racks for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and place on racks to finish cooling.  Frost with cream cheese frosting.


Cream Cheese Frosting

 8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar

Cream together cream cheese, milk and vanilla until creamy.  Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing well with each cup.  Spread on cooled cupcakes.