Frozen yogurt cupcakes

It was so hot these days and I spent most of my time laying by the pool to get most of the sun :D
It's important for me to get a great tan cause I'm getting married this year at the end of august and I have to look perfect in my white dress. I'm getting so excited thinking about it! Can't wait!


And because the sun was burning and it was really hot outside, I was looking for all kinds of things to cool down a bit. I've made some great lemonade, flavored with mango and strawberries. I've bought an ice cream machine so I can make my own home made ice cream. I tried lots of recipes and I found some great ones. My hubby is in heavennn!  I ate lots of water melon, sweet and fresh!

And yesterday I remembered that  not too long ago I found this nice and simple recipe, called frozen yogurt cupcakes. Sounds so good, right? Especially on these sunny days. This one was with strawberries and bananas, but you can make whatever combination of fruits you like and desire. I will also try it with mango, kiwi, raspberry and peach!

The recipe is soo simple to make and you only need a few ingredients. Also in one hour and a half you can envoy it. That's all the time you need to prepare it and keep it in the freezer . Or you can make it by night and have it the next day, as I did.


To eat it better I suggest to put a stick in the middle and 
have it like an ice cream ( do this before put it in the freezer).
I just love these things! I'm pretty sure that I'll make a lot of these this summer.
Another great thing is that kids can have it. It's all home made.  


The recipe was with vanilla yogurt, but I preferred to make my own , from natural and bio yogurt. Just add some powdered sugar (make it as sweet as you like) and vanilla extract. That's it! :D

And here is the original recipe that I tried.

INGREDIENTS:

9 ounces vanilla Greek yogurt
8 strawberries (I added more)
Half a ripe banana
1 teaspoon mini chocolate chips to decorate
Optional - I added 5 teaspoons of chocolate chips in the yogurt

DIRECTIONS:

Place 12 mini silicone baking cups on the top of an ice cream tray or small wooden cutting board.
If you are making your own vanilla yogurt, first mix the yogurt with powdered sugar (put as much as you like) and vanilla extract. 
Add the chocolate chips in the yogurt and give it a little stir.
Fill each of the cups halfway with yogurt, using only  six-ounce.

Puree the strawberries and banana. Add a small spoonful to each cup, so no white is showing.

Add a dollop of yogurt to each cup using the last three ounces of yogurt.
Sprinkle a few mini chocolate chips on top of each cup.

 Gently place the tray in the freezer for at least an hour.

 Remove from the freezer and allow to thaw for 10 minutes before eating.
Envoy on a hot summer day!

Photos by Emi Trasnitu

Strawberry cupcakes

This time I was so happy to try strawberry cupcakes. At this time of the year you can find them everywhere. They look soo delicious and it's almost impossible to resist. 

And this strawberry cupcake is such a treat! A summer treat!

    

I have been waiting for the swiss strawberries to appear in the supermarket because those are really tasty and have this pale pink color that I'm in love with. These are my favorite! You can also go to a small farm and pick your own strawberries; this is my fav thing to do :D

Can't wait for my baby to grow, so we can go together.

Last recipe wasn't too aromatic, but I knew that this one would be perfect.

Strawberries always have a great taste, have their natural sweetness and are very scented.

The recipe is very easy to do and the cupcakes look amazing. You can see the fresh strawberries in the cake. It's simply delicious!

I decided to make a simple frosting on top, just some cream cheese and confectioner's sugar. But you can go for a butter-cream frosting( recipe here)  and dye it in pink ;) and top them with fresh fruits. Delightful!

And now the recipe I found.

INGREDIENTS:

FOR CUPCAKES:

• 1 and 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 and  1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 large egg plus 1 large egg white
• 6 tablespoons fruit juice (I used apple)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375°F/180° C
Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners (I used reusable silicone liners).
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar with a mixer on high speed until light and fluffy.
Beat in egg and egg white until well combined.
With mixer on low, beat in half of flour mixture.
Beat in juice (batter will look separated--that's ok), then add remaining flour mixture and beat until combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
Gently fold in chopped strawberries.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each until almost full.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes.
Let cool in pan on a wire rack for at least 5 minutes.

Have a great FRIDAY!

Photos by Emi Trasnitu

Blueberry Cupcakes

Tried a new recipe! This time I made blueberry cupcakes. 
I bought lots for my baby to eat, but he doesn't like them...for the moment...I hope. So I had to use them somehow. Why not make some nice and fruity cupcakes?
Blueberry cupcakes were on my list for a long time and I finally made them.
To be honest I was looking for a stronger flavor in them, but there's nothing too aromatic in blueberries.
Although they give a nice, natural color to the cupcakes.

The recipe is quite nice. You make a puree from fresh blueberries that you put in the batter and the cupcakes becomes super moist.
To decorate my cupcakes I made a buttercream vanilla frosting and I dyed it in pale blue. 

And here is the recipe that I tried :)
INGREDIENTS:

FOR CUPCAKES:

• ½ cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 ¾ cup pastry flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¾ cup milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• ½ cup blueberry puree 

FOR BLUEBERRY PUREE:

• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch

FOR FROSTING:

For recipe go here buttercream frosting.

Add a touch of  blue dye until you reach the desired color.

Add the dye at the end and continue beating for 2-3 minutes.

DIRECTIONS:

FOR PUREE:

To prepare filling, put all the puree ingredients in a food processor, and process until smooth.

Place puree in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. 

Cook 6 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly.

Cool slightly for a warm sauce, completely before adding to a batter. 

Store in the refrigerator. 

(You will have more than you need for the cupcake batter.)

FOR CUPCAKES:

Preheat oven to 350 F/ 175 C degrees. 

 Line 12-18 cupcake pans with paper liners.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl; set aside.
With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, being sure to scrape side of bowl with a spatula after each addition. Add vanilla. 

Add flour mixture, alternating with milk.

Beat on medium speed to create a cake-like batter.

Stir in puree until incorporated and the batter turns blue.

Using an ice cream scoop, add into paper liners until ½ to 2/3 full. 

Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 5 minutes in pans then remove and place on wire racks to cool completely. 

Apricot cupcakes

I am a big fan of apricots! When I was little my mom used to make me all kinds of cakes( she preferred making them and not buying) and my favorites were the ones with fresh fruits.

The best were the ones with grapes and apricots. Nothing compares with those! Now that I am a mother, I can't wait to bake for my baby. I would love him to remember such things when he'll grow up.

Now let's talk about the cupackes.
Sadly, by the time I did this recipe I could not find fresh apricots and I used the dried ones , but I will definitely try this recipe with fresh fruits. They aren't bad, but the taste will be different for sure. The fresh fruits give something sour, and I love the combination of sweet and sour in my dessert :D
Also you can use canned apricots. They work really good too!

The recipe also contains pecans, but I replaced them with pine nuts. You can use what ever you like most.

These cupcakes are really easy to make. What I suggest is to cut on sugar if you're going for dried fruits. They are high in sugar and you don't want your cupcakes to be extremely sweet.

To decorate my cupcakes I used this buttercream frosting and I added almond extract. It goes perfectly with this cupcake recipe.

And now the recipe that I tried.

INGREDIENTS:

FOR CUPCAKES:

• 1 and 3/4 (16 tbs) all purpose flour 
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons  baking powder 
• 1/2 tsp baking soda 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 1/2 cup (16 tbs) pecans, chopped 
• 2 eggs 
• 1/4 cup (16 tbs) vegetable oil 
• 1/2 cup  brown sugar  
• 1 cup apricots, cut in small pieces 

FOR FROSTING:

Go here http://lovecupcakesrecipes.blogspot.ch/2013/03/buttercream-frosting-recipe.html

Add almond  extract

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line muffin tin(s) with paper liners or lightly coat with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pecans. Set aside.
In another bowl, beat eggs lightly. Add oil, brown sugar and chopped  apricots .

Add to flour mixture, stirring just until blended.
Batter will be lumpy.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin, filling cups to the top.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

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Gently remove cupcakes from tin and let cool on a wire rack.

Photos by Emi Trasnitu