One of my favorite food videos. Watching frozen raspberries break in to druplets. So pretty. I have no idea how to find liquid nitrogen. Because I am not a super-villain. :-) But looks like fun.
This week has been crazy, with the tornado taking out my brother’s family home, to my friend losing her son and having to find a home for his pups (we may have a Balloon-Juice match, I’ll keep you up to date), not to mention work. I almost bagged the recipe exchange, but at the last moment decided to put together a simple one. So from the blog:
JeffreyW’s delicious blueberry bars
For tonight’s recipe exchange, I put together the recipes based on what’s been cooking in our kitchens this week.
Missing my fresh fruits, I make do with flash-frozen berries:
Love the full-on strawberry flavor in my Strawberry Bread (recipe here)
Blueberries, I could make stuff with blueberries everyday. Including JeffreyW’s Blueberry Bars (recipe and photos here) and his Lemon-Blueberry Bread (click here for photos and recipe)
My afternoon pick-me-up of late probably isn’t for everyone, but really works for me. Hit of energy and curbs my sweet cravings. I blend a pound of frozen strawberries, a pound of frozen blueberries and about a cup of frozen raspberries in my Vita-Mix, which creates a very smooth mixture (if you ignore the raspberry seeds) which unlike juicing, retains all the fiber. I add it and an equal amount of water to a big pitcher, mix well. I have a glass of this in the afternoon and a pitcher lasts a good two weeks in the refrigerator. YMMV.
My pressure cooker has been getting a real work out lately. A couple of meals to continue on the one-pot theme from last week:
In this Pressure Cooker Pot Roast (click here), I pushed the limits and began with a frozen roast, just to see what would happen. It turned out great and the booze made up for some of the flavors lost by not being able to brown the beef first.
Seriously, don’t all JeffreyW’s meals look delicious? Above is his yummy pot roast and below is his Pork Mole
Playing with his new Electric Pressure Cooker, JeffreyW tackles Pork Mole (click here) with much success.
I would have a Bixby update, but he’s been so crazy today, I haven’t had time to download the photos and video from our play date this week. Crazy-assed dog. (Update: I did find and post a forgotten 10 wk photo, was he really ever that small?)
For tonight’s featured recipe, thinking ahead to Valentine’s Day, these are a fun, elegant treat. I’m actually making them for a birthday get-together.
Pretty and tasty, they were inspired by a novel I was reading. If you want to read the full Food in Fiction post, click here.
Chocolate-Raspberry Cupcakes
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Moist Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 eggs,
separated - 1 cup cold water
- 1/2 cup chopped raspberries
Dry ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup dry cocoa
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
Grease and flour muffin tins. Cream together oil, butter and sugar. Mix in remaining moist ingredients, one at a time, until well mixed. Sift together dry ingredients. Mix dry mixture into creamy mixture and beat for 2 minutes at high-speed. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full and bake for 20-25 minutes, until they bounce back when pressed lightly.
Chocolate Ganache:
- 6 oz dark chocolate
- 6 oz heavy cream
Double boiler (I use a metal bowl over a saucepan with about an 1 inch of water)
Place chocolate and cream in top of boiler, bring water in bottom half to a boil, reduce heat to med-high and let chocolate melt, stirring occasionally. When completely melted, remove from heat and stir until cream and chocolate are completely mixed. Let cool and dollop over cooled cupcakes
Raspberry Sauce:
- 2 cups raspberries
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
saucepan
Puree raspberries until smooth, add raspberries and sugar to saucepan and heat to a low boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute, reduce heat to medium and stir constantly until thickened, remove from heat and add lemon juice. Let cool and spoon over frosted cupcakes.
Note: For a layer cake, take 1/2 of the ganache, let it cool, mix with 1 cup crushed raspberries and spread between layers. Keep the other 1/2 of the ganache warm and pour over cake to make a beautiful and smooth coating. Serve with warm raspberry sauce.
That’s it for this week. Have a fun and safe weekend and say a little prayer for tornado damaged areas of Florida, as they are expecting more rain and stormy weather. If you didn’t see it, here is my brother’s house, or what’s left of it. – TaMara
Friday Recipe Exchange: A Little of This and a Little of ThatPost + Comments (27)