Busy, busy weekend! So this week's Sweet Melissa Sunday recipe was the Strawberry Shortcake. You can find the recipe at Pink Stripe's blog here. We'll come back to the shortcake in a bit.
many strawberries, I decided to embark on something a little different on my own... I looked around for a fresh strawberry cupcake recipe but didn't come up with anything, and also didn't find anything that used preserves as a layer (instead of mixing preserves straight into the cake batter). So I decided to do a little experiementing.
hopped up itty bitty pieces of fresh strawberries into it. This made for a refreshing frosting that wasn't all cream cheese and sugar. Make sure that if you do this, you chop it small enough so that it can make it through the piping tip and that it doesn't get stuck.
I also didn't have buttermilk and after a little bit of Googling, I was able to find that you could make one cup of buttermilk by using one cup of regular milk plus 1 tbsp of vinegar. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes and voila! You have homemade buttermilk.
I really have to pat myself on the back. This turned out to be one really good cupcake. The cake was a great consistency, light and fluffy. The strawberry preserves on the bottom was a nice little surprise, although I was a little disappointed that while baking, it sank to the bottom. The fresh strawberries in the cream cheese frosting was simply DECLICIOUS and also a neat little surprise, especially for the hubby. I'm glad I experimented with this!
For the Sweet Melissa Sunday shortcake, I followed the recipe exactly, except for the lemon zest and I also cut the recipe in half My biscuits came out light and fluffy and really, really good. I love macerated strawberries, so I made extra just to snack on... and my homemade whipped cream was easy to make and smelled (not to mention tasted) delicious. I was tempted to throw in small chunks of strawberries into the whipped cream, but decided against it. Even hubby liked these and he hardly ever eats sweets.
Here they are cooling on the rack, with the little cupcakes right behind. I also followed everyone's suggestions to make 4 instead of 3 when cutting the recipe in half and look how cu
te they came out. I have made note to test this biscuit recipe in the future for savory flavors (cheddar, chives, etc).
I actually have a little secret: I've never had strawberry shortcake before. So having strawberries on biscuits was something that was a little bit strange to me, since I've always associated biscuits with savory flavors and not with sweet flavors. But strawberries with whipped cream on crunchy yet fluffy biscuits... how could I not like it?
Coincidentally, strawberries were on sale at Stop 'n Shop. So being that I had so
many strawberries, I decided to embark on something a little different on my own... I looked around for a fresh strawberry cupcake recipe but didn't come up with anything, and also didn't find anything that used preserves as a layer (instead of mixing preserves straight into the cake batter). So I decided to do a little experiementing.I made adjustments to the following recipe:
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 egg whites
- 2/3 cup buttermilk (I didn't have buttermilk, so used regular milk and just added vinegar)
- strawberry preserves
- Mix dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt)
- Beat sugar and butter until creamy. Add egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each egg white. Alternately beat in flour mixture and buttermilk in batches.
- Scoop a small amount of cake batter into cupcake liners, then strawberry preserves as a layer, and then another scoop of the cake batter.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees F.
hopped up itty bitty pieces of fresh strawberries into it. This made for a refreshing frosting that wasn't all cream cheese and sugar. Make sure that if you do this, you chop it small enough so that it can make it through the piping tip and that it doesn't get stuck. I also didn't have buttermilk and after a little bit of Googling, I was able to find that you could make one cup of buttermilk by using one cup of regular milk plus 1 tbsp of vinegar. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes and voila! You have homemade buttermilk.
I really have to pat myself on the back. This turned out to be one really good cupcake. The cake was a great consistency, light and fluffy. The strawberry preserves on the bottom was a nice little surprise, although I was a little disappointed that while baking, it sank to the bottom. The fresh strawberries in the cream cheese frosting was simply DECLICIOUS and also a neat little surprise, especially for the hubby. I'm glad I experimented with this!
***
For the Sweet Melissa Sunday shortcake, I followed the recipe exactly, except for the lemon zest and I also cut the recipe in half My biscuits came out light and fluffy and really, really good. I love macerated strawberries, so I made extra just to snack on... and my homemade whipped cream was easy to make and smelled (not to mention tasted) delicious. I was tempted to throw in small chunks of strawberries into the whipped cream, but decided against it. Even hubby liked these and he hardly ever eats sweets.Here they are cooling on the rack, with the little cupcakes right behind. I also followed everyone's suggestions to make 4 instead of 3 when cutting the recipe in half and look how cu
te they came out. I have made note to test this biscuit recipe in the future for savory flavors (cheddar, chives, etc). I actually have a little secret: I've never had strawberry shortcake before. So having strawberries on biscuits was something that was a little bit strange to me, since I've always associated biscuits with savory flavors and not with sweet flavors. But strawberries with whipped cream on crunchy yet fluffy biscuits... how could I not like it?
On the right is the finished product. So pretty!
***
So as most of you know from my previous post, we went to DC and had some awesome crabs, which gave hubby something to work on. We bought a pound of female crabs and our very own Old Bay seasoning, and steamed them up at home ourselves.
It was actually very simple to follow. Clean the crabs, spread the seasonings, steam for 30 minutes and enjoy!
We used McCormick Old Bay seasoning, which was found at a Gristedes in the city. Apparently, the Queens supermarkets don't carry them :(
Sunday, May 03, 2009 |
Category:
cupcake,
seafood,
shortcake,
strawberry,
sweet melissa sundays
|
9
comments
Comments (9)
Sounds like you've been quite busy in the kitchen! Your shortcakes look wonderful. I loved this recipe - can't wait to make it again!
ooh...I like the strawberry cupcakes. They look delicious.
Your shortcake looks wonderful. I'm glad both you and your husband enjoyed them. Thanks for baking along with me this week.
Cool cupcakes! Your shortcakes look way better than mine!!!
Both the cupcakes & the shortcakes look delicious! I've never had true strawberry shortcake either. I'd love to give this recipe a go soon!
Your cupcakes and shortcake look delicious!
The cupcakes and the shortbread both look wonderful!
Your cupcakes and shortcakes turned out beautiful. I'll have to try the cupcakes. Love the preserves center. Guess what? I never had strawberry shortcakes before either :o)
yumm!
Wow, am I ever late getting around to commenting. Sorry that I've been a bad commenter for the past couple of weeks; I just finished law school exams and am just now getting to my google reader! Your strawberry shortcakes look totally delicious! And those crabs are gorgeous :)