Olive Oil and Balsamic Strawberry Cupcakes with a Herbed Mascarpone Cream -Iron Cupcake Earth: Savoury

So here it is, this month's addition to Iron Cupcake Earth: Savoury Cupcakes! And no, Savoury isn't spelled wrong, for some reason certain words are spelled differently in Canada like 'flavour', 'savour', 'favourite', and 'colour'. Anyways, I am the last person that should be telling anyone how to spell so I will just say that Ian and I are both still amazed that this little blog won the last Iron Cupcake Challenge, and thanks to all of you who voted!

I was a little afraid to make savoury cupcakes after seeing one entry that was a meatloaf cupcake with mashed potato topping. Could I live up to that? Did I want to live up to that? That cupcake will get my vote for sure!

The other night Ian took me out for dinner at this chic little restaurant down the street where I had a delightful appetizer. It was a strawberry and bocconcini caprese salad tossed in fresh basil pesto and aged balsamic vinegar, then topped with a light and fluffy herbed whipped cream. Yum, it was so different, yet so delightful I had to recreate it in a cupcake.



The cupcakes are made with a strawberry and aged balsamic vinegar syrup mixed into a vanilla cupcake batter. I substituted half of the butter for a deliciously fruity Extra Virgin Olive Oil that gave a great savoury taste to the whole cupcake. Once they cooled I drizzled some thick aged Balsamic over top.

I obviously was not going to add bocconcini to the cupcake so I used thick Mascarpone Cheese and blended it with some whipped cream to create a lighter texture. Then I minced up some basil and oregano to make a wonderful herb infused topping for the cupcake.

So that is the story behind these savoury cupcakes. But, if you know anything about Ian, you know that he is allergic to those lovely strawberries so I switched out the syrup for some lemon zest and watched him stuff one after another of the lemon olive oil cupcakes into his mouth. I guess they were a hit no matter what the flavour!

Voting should be open on Saturday, May 30 at 8 p.m. at NO ONE PUTS CUPCAKE IN A CORNER, and will be open through Friday, June 5 at 12 noon. I don't really think that we can win anything again, nor would it be fair, so go and check out all the other entries and vote for your favourites!



And now for the sponsors:
A sweet cupcake ID bracelet by INSANEJELLYFISH, something sweet and dangly from CHERRYCREEKCHARMS .
a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery,
PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!
Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, JESSIE STEELE APRONS ; TASTE OF HOME books; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM . Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers

Olive Oil and Balsamic Strawberry Cupcakes with a Herbed Mascarpone Cream

Strawberry Balsamic Syrup
adapted from A Good Appetite Blog
1 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen (frozen worked really well)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Olive Oil and Balsamic Strawberry Cupcakes
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup fruity Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
Strawberry balsamic syrup
aged balsamic vinegar for drizzling on top

Herbed Mascarpone Cream
2 tbsp. fresh oregano minced
4 tbsp. fresh basil minced
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup whipped cream, no sugar added

Strawberry Balsamic Syrup
If using fresh strawberries cut them in half & remove the stems. If using frozen thaw them. Mix the strawberries with sugar & let stand for about 15 minutes. Place in a small saucepan & add balsamic. Let simmer over medium for about 15 minutes. The strawberries should create a syrup. After 15 minutes of cooking puree until you have a uniform syrup.

Olive Oil and Balsamic Strawberry Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream the butter, olive oil and sugar until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour, salt, and baking powder then add in four parts, alternating with the milk, strawberry balsamic syrup and the vanilla extract, beating well after each addition. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers. Spoon the batter into the cups about three-quarters full. Bake until the tops spring back when lightly touched, about 20 to 22 minutes. Once cooled, drizzle with aged balsamic vinegar.

Herbed Mascarpone Cream
Gently mix together the whipped cream and mascarpone until smooth. Add in the minced herbs.

Key Lime Cheesecake -- DB's

Ian and I have been waiting to post this for quite a long time now; it's the Birthday Cake that I made for him... which also doubles as the Daring Bakers Challenge this month. As you probably know by now Ian looooves citrus, making this his new favourite dessert.

I once made a key lime pie with an Oreo crust and candied limes on the top so I knew this combination would turn out great. I just switched out the recipe for key lime cheesecake then baked them in my mini springform pans and they tasted so creamy and delicious. And yes, this was the dessert that I was making when the thumb injury occurred. Watch your fingers around a mandolin…

I heard that cheesecake could be made with a few less calories so I used two regular bars of cream cheese and one low fat bar. I also switched the full fat cream for 15% and I don’t think anyone knew. It tasted like it was a heart attack waiting to happen, just as a cheesecake should.

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake:

crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
** I substituted 2-1/2 cups of Oreo crumbs with 1/2 stick of butter for the crust.

cheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake
**Key lime - add zest from one lime to sugar before mixing with cream cheese. Substitute lemon juice, alcohol, and vanilla with key lime juice.



DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil "casserole" shaped pans from the grocery store. They're 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away.

Mashed Potato Gratin with Carmelized Onions

Last night was the second gathering of our new Supper Club and it was quite a turnout. I don’t know about all of you but I had a blast! Ian and I wanted to pick something simple that everyone would like, so we went with the same menu as his Birthday dinner... RIBS! On Saturday I went to the Maitre Boucher and picked up 10 POUNDS of ribs, then proceeded to cook them all in my tiny oven.

Even though ribs were the star of the show, many people couldn’t get enough of the supporting actor, the mashed potato gratin with caramelized onions. Basically this dish is made from Ian’s delicious mashed potatoes with a generous layer of caramelized onions in the middle and topped with grated 2 year old port soaked cheddar.

This mashed potato recipe has been a winner since the first time I made it, and whenever my mom or I have to bring a side dish to a party, we make this. Plus it is so easy and can be made well in advance. For years people have been asking for the recipe so here it is guys, use it wisely! Usually I make them with grated Asiago on top instead of the cheddar which gives a great punch but some people don’t like strong cheese so old cheddar is a great alternative.

Ian and I just wanted to thank all of you for a great night, and especially Kelly who made a killer beer and caraway seed bread and her little darling two year old Mason, who tuckered himself out making butter from whipping cream for the bread. Also, big thanks to Alex who brought a super decadent flourless chocolate cake and perfect apple pie. We couldn’t have done it without you guys!

Mashed Potato Gratin with Caramelized Onions
adapted from a really old LCBO magazine
this is my half recipe that serves 4-5 people

1 tbsp olive oil
3 cups sliced sweet onions
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
2/3 cup chicken or beef stock
Freshly ground pepper
1-1/2 lbs yellow fleshed potatoes, peeled and cut in even-sized chunks
10% cream or a couple spoonfuls of sour cream
2 tbsp butter
Salt and freshly ground pepper
½ cup grated Asiago or 2 year old cheddar cheese

Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add onions and salt and sauté until onions start to soften. Add half a cup of water and continue to cook until the water has evaporated. Add a second half cup of water and repeat, stirring occasionally, until onions turn golden brown. Stir in vinegar and stock. Raise heat to high and reduce until stock almost completely disappears. Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper and reserve.
While onions are cooking, place potatoes in boiling water to cover and bring to boil until potatoes are tender. Drain well and mash potatoes with a potato masher while beating in enough cream to make a smooth mashed potato, and the butter. Season well with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 350.In a large gratin dish layer a half of potatoes and the onions. Layer on the rest of the potatoes and sprinkle with cheese. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until top is browned and potatoes are hot.

Smoked Salmon, Dill, Goat Cheese, and Artichoke Quiche - Magazine Mondays

While browsing around Cream Puffs in Venice’s blog I came across this great Challenge. Basically you rummage through all those old foodie magazines that you have lying around or squirreled away from who knows when, and you finally make one of the recipes. This way you are trying something new AND getting some use out of that bookshelf full of dusty "meant to make it" recipes. (Seriously, it’s a bookshelf.)

If you know me then you know I am a crazy food magazine addict. I check the newsstand daily for my favourites, even if I know they won't be coming out for another month. I even buy them in French because it forces me to practice the language. Needless to say, the semester that we were studying grammar and names of food products I got an A+.

Even though I love reading these magazines, there are just too many and I completely forget to make any of the recipes. That is why this challenge was right up my alley. And even though I didn't use one of the French recipes I still re-read three of the magazines today searching for the perfect premier recipe. Yes, my French teacher would be proud.

This recipe came from Fine Cooking Magazine, a pretty expensive magazine (10 bucks in Canada) that is really worth the money. I only came across it a couple months ago when Ian was sick and I needed something to read and pass the time. Wow though, it's like a new little cook book every month. When I heard caramelized onions, goat cheese, dill, artichokes, and smoked salmon I knew there was no way I could go wrong.

We really didn't feel like making the crust for the quiche...so we bought it Gaaaaaspp! Whatever, it was so worth it. Two gourmet quiches with minimal effort, umm yes please.


Smoked Salmon, Dill, Goat Cheese, and Artichoke Quiche
adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine, April/May 2009 #98
makes 2 quiches

2 deep dish frozen pie crusts
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 386ml can of artichokes, drained and cut in quarters
4 large eggs
1 cup 10% cream
1/2 cup milk
3 Tbsp. roughly chopped fresh dill
salt and freshly ground pepper
Pinch nutmeg
6 oz. smoked salmon, roughly chopped
4 oz. fresh goat cheese

Preheat the oven to 400F. Prebake the two pie shells for 8 minutes on a baking sheet.
Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and turning translucent. Add the artichoke hearts and cook until softened and slightly browned, another 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Beat the eggs in a bowl with the cream, milk, dill, salt, pepper, and the nutmeg. Pour 1/44th of the egg mixture into each crust. Bake in the oven until the filling is partially set, about 15 minutes. Scatter half of the onion and artichoke mixture, the salmon and the goat cheese over the partially set egg mixture. Pour on the remaining egg mixture and then scatter the remaining onions, artichokes, salmon, and goat cheese over the egg. Bake until the center is set, another 20 minutes. If the crust is browning too fast, cover it with strips of foil. Cool for 5 minutes before cutting. Garnish with extra dill.

Cherry Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart

Hey BB's. What to say about this tart? Well how about crazy amazing. Or maybe insanely good. I guess just simply tasty will do. Anne Strawberry picked this Ina inspired tart (of course made with butter filled puff pastry) that BB's all over the world lovingly made and enjoyed.

I made three sizes of the tarts thinking that I could eat a couple small ones with my hands like appetizers, ummm...no, they were so good I ate all three sizes with my hands. Nuts to utensils.

The tomatoes were like fresh berries, they burst at every bite releasing delicious juice in your mouth. It was nice to have a 'summery' dish to remind us that winter (horrid horrid winter) is over and of what's to come.


Cherry Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart
adapted from Ina Garten's book 'Back to Basic's'

1 package (17.3 ounces/2 sheets) puff pastry, defrosted (PC makes it pre-rolled)
Good olive oil
4 cups thinly sliced yellow onions
3 large garlic cloves, cut into thin slivers
salt and black pepper
3 tbsp. dry white wine
2 tsp. minced fresh thyme leaves
4 tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan
4 ounces fresh goat cheese
20 mini tomatoes, cut in half
3 tablespoons julienned basil leaves

Unfold a sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll it lightly to an 10 by 10-inch square. Using a 6-inch wide saucer, cut 1 circle from each sheet of puff pastry, discarding the scraps. Repeat with smaller round plate, and possibly a cup, until most of the pastry sheets have been cut out. Place the pastry circles on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and refrigerate until ready to use. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the onions and garlic. Saute for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are limp and there is almost no moisture remaining in the skillet. Add salt and pepper, the wine, and thyme and continue to cook until the wine has evaporated and the onions are lightly browned. Remove from the heat. Score a 1/4-inch-wide border around each pastry circle. Prick the pastry inside the score lines with the tines of a fork and sprinkle a tablespoon of grated Parmesan on each round, staying inside the scored border. Place some of the onion mixture on each circle, again staying within the scored edge. Place the cherry tomatoes on top of the onions. Crumble goat cheese on top and brush the tomato lightly with olive oil and sprinkle over some salt and pepper. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. Once baked add the basil on top of each tart. Serve warm or cold.

Egg, Ham, and Cheese Cups

I am so hooked on the 'á la di Stasio' cookbook by Josée di Stasio (see yesterdays post). That is why today we had breakfast for dinner. But this wasn't any normal dinfast, or breakner, we turned it into a little craft, and a tasty one at that.

Get out your cupcake pan, because that is how you make these little cups of goodness. Just start layering bread, black forest ham, and spinach, then spoon in some goat cheese and crack an egg in the middle. You can add anything you want to the cup, I just love goat cheese and spinach with my eggs. These are so much fun to make, and even more exciting to eat.



Egg, Ham, and Cheese Cups
adapted from Josée di Stasio's book 'á la di Stasio'
serves 4

8 slices whole wheat bread, crusts removed
1 tbsp. butter
8 slices black forest ham
8 large eggs
1 cup baby spinach
4 tbsp. young goat cheese
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a rolling pin or wine bottle flatten the bread slices, and then butter one side. Place bread slices one by one in each cupcake cup, butter side down. Layer a ham slice over each bread slice, pushing into the cup. Add spinach to bread and ham cup. Place 1/2 tbsp. of goat cheese in the cup, on top of the spinach. Top the cup off by cracking one egg into the centre. Season with salt and pepper. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes or until eggs are done.

Homemade Perogies with Port aged cheddar filling

Homemade Perogies with Port aged cheddar filling

Good evening, Ian here. So, as promised earlier, I managed to convince my dear mom over today to make up a batch of her homemade perogies! My mother learned how to make these from her mother, a first generation Lithuanian immigrant who used perogie making as an all day long family activity for my mother and her siblings. My mother, when asked about any “ secret family recipe” couldn’t actually provide me with any sort of handwritten recipe, as she informed me that she “used ingredients for this by feel, not measurements”, so this is an effort to capture accurately a record of this really special recipe. I have really fond memories of spending afternoons with my mom when I was little making these and just chatting about my school, and her work, really just the best kind of childhood cooking memories. So, without further ado, here is the recipe for these absolutely delicious result of my mothers family perogie recipe, with a little twist added by myself (p.s it’s the port aged cheddar).

Dough
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cups warm water
Salt to taste

Filling
4-5 Yukon Gold Potatoes
½ Brick of Port aged Cheddar (aged cheddar will do fine), Grated
2 tablespoons of Butter
½ cup of 1% milk
Salt to taste

ONION AND BACON
4-5 strips of bacon, fried & finely chopped
1 whole white onion, finely chopped and fried

DOUGH
In a large bowl measure 4 cups of flour. Make a well in the center of the flour, add the oil into the well. Slowly pour the water into the flour and oil, mix with hands and kneed dough until the dough forms into a soft ball. Cut dough ball in half and set one half aside. Sprinkle a cutting board with flour. Place half dough ball onto flour board and roll out dough until the dough is the same thickness as a pie crust dough. Use a cookie cutter, or a medium sized glass to cut out circles in the dough ( you can use any shape here, circles, squares, preferably something that can be folded in two).

PEROGIES
Place 1/2 teaspoon of the potatoe mixture into the center of the dough. Fold the dough together forming a half moon shape. Firmly pinch edges together to seal the perogie. Place formed perogies aside on a plate and arrange so that they don't stick together. Cover with another to prevent the perogies from drying out.
Take the remaining half dough ball and repeat the DOUGH and MAKING PEROGIES steps.

ONION AND BACON
Finely chop onion and add to a frying pan. Fry onion until done. Add bacon strips and fry until crisp, then chop finely

COOKING PEROGIES
Boil water in a large sauce pan. Gently drop perogies into boiling water. Boil for 5-minutes or until perogies float to the surface. Drain perogies using a collander. Place perogies into large serving bowl. Pour onion and bacon mixture over the perogies making sure the perogies are well-coated. This prevents the perogies from sticking. Sprinkle chopped, cooked bacon over the perogies. Serve with sour cream.

Roast Pear, Walnut, and Cambezola Salad

Tonight we were invited to a dinner party at Ian’s best friend Steve and his wife Gabby's apartment. These two are super great people and so are all of Ian’s friends, so naturally I was excited.

We were told that Gabby was making an extravagant lasagna, and boy oh boy, she did not disappoint. This lasagna was packed with at least a couple of different cheeses, mushrooms, ground beef, and even a nice layer of spinach to round everything out. Thanks guys.

Ian and I wanted to make something nice and simple to bring over, so we brought my favourite salad made of roast pear, walnut and Cambezola. The Cambezola is actually a mix of Camembert and Gorgonzola, which makes it a very mild tasting, smooth and creamy cheese. Pears and walnuts are a natural pair, and the addition of the cheese and walnut oil brings everything together.

You want to know how good this salad is? When I made it for my dad a year ago he asked for seconds! Seconds! Of salad! It’s green, and as we all know he doesn't eat anything green! So give it a try, even the green haters out there will be happy with it.


Roast Pear, Walnut, and Cambezola Salad
Adapted from Licence to Grill, Foodnetwork.ca

3 x pears, cut into eighths, seeds and cores removed
1 cup of walnuts, toasted
3 tbsp of honey
ground pepper
4 cups of Spring Mix Salad
150g of Cambezola Cheese cut into 1/4 inch wedges

Dressing
3 tbsp of walnut oil
6 tbsp of sherry vinegar
2 tbsp of honey
Salt and pepper to taste

Roast Pear, Walnut, and Cambezola Salad
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss pears in honey and pepper mixed with 2 tbsp. water to create syrup. Roast in oven for 20-25 minutes, covered in foil. Place spring salad mix into a bowl and drizzle with the dressing. Toss. Add toasted walnuts, cheese and roasted pears.
Dressing
Combine the dressing ingredients and mix thoroughly.