Gonna Go Walk the Dogs

Happy Birthday JulieB! Welcome Mr. President!

Sunday afternoon:

"So Julie, tomorrow is your birthday. What do you want me to make for you?"

"Something pomegranate."

An hour later, " Make me a pomegranate cheesecake"

Muddled Merlot Chocolate Pomegranate Cheezecake

 

Julie knew better- it would be a cheezecake - with tofu, of course. 

And....another creation for Ironcupcake, in celebration of Inguration Day of our 44th president, Barrack Obama.

For the cake I made a crust of almond meal and agave, then more almond slivers- topped with carob chips and popped into the oven to brown a little- 275 at 10 minutes-- the chips just beginning to melt....

Layer that with a tofu cheezecake batter infused with Merlot wine and pomegranate juice....ahhhh, so good.

In the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, then an addition of pomegranate carob swirls on top--pomegranate jelly and more carob chips swirls into the batter.... then finish baking another 45 minutes.

This cake was decorated with a fudgy carob sauce and topped with vegan pomegranate gummies....oh, the decadence!  The cupcakes were the same- just mini versions- in perfect celebration party bites! Yummm!

If you like this recipe, or any of the other Ironcupcake recipes for this month, why not vote for me?  After January 24th, you may visit No One Puts Cupcake in a Corner and Vote!

Muddled Merlot Black & White

Pomegranate Cheezecake hors d'oeuvres

                                       

 

 

Crust:

2 cups almond meal

Muddled Merlot Black & White Pomegranate Cheezecake hors d'oeuvres

3 tbsp Smart Balance

¼ cup agave syrup

 

Mix together and pat into cuppie liner bottoms.

 

Layer on top of crust:

1 cup carob chips

Sprinkle on top of crust.

 

Cake:

 

4 8-ounce package Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese
1 cup raw sugar
1 cup pomegranate juice

1 tablespoon vanilla
4 tablespoons Merlot
Egg Replacer for 4 eggs

3 tbsp flour

Cream all ingredients together and fold on top of crust and chips. 

 

Swirled layer on top of cheesecake:

 

1 cup pomegranate jelly

1 cup carob chips

 

Melt over double boiler and gently swirl into batter.

 

Bake 15 minutes at 325 degrees.

 

Decorate:

½ cup pomegranate jellies

1 cup melted carob chips

 

Yields 48-52 minis

 

Acai Berry Cure All--In A Cupcake!

In my veterinary world, I work with a woman who has some dietary restrictions- basically- sugar is out. Well, each week my cupcakes come around and she passes them by....no, not today. Thank you very much. Well, this week I made a creation for Desiree.

We have all heard of Acai-

that Brazilian berry originally from the Amazon Region that is considered to be one of nature's most complete and healthy foods. The berry is loaded with antioxidants, amino acids, essential omegas, fibers and protein. Some of the health attributes associated with the acai berry are increase in sustained energy, help with healthy cholesterol management, improvement of digestive system, strengthening immune system, weight loss, you name it.. Oprah's website described acai as "one of the most nutritious and powerful foods in the world...", while the book, The Perricone Promise, calls it the "nature's perfect energy fruit. Let's face it, acai is the panacea for the 2000s.

Why not in a cupcake? That is right - and this one is sugar free and loaded with a natural harvest of berries. Lots of them. And for Iron Cupcake, I whipped up a cashew kreme, sweetened it with agave, and spiked it with some Lambrusco- a sweet Italian wine (mind you, you could add some to the batter also, or just wallow the berries in it like I did for half the cuppies this recipe). And guess what - these are so light and delicious that you can forget the kreme if you like...you can find acai in many forms- powdered, liquid - in teas, capsules, mixed fruit concoctions- be brave and creative...and have fun!   

Acai Cup Cake with

Naturally Sweet Berries &

Acia Cake with Naturally Sweet Berries & Lambrusco Kreme

 

Lambrusco Kreme  

                    

¼ cup Acai Powder

½ cup Blueberry Juice

2 cups all purpose flour

Egg Replacer for 3 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup vegetable margarine

¾ cup agave syrup

3 teaspoons vanilla

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line tins

with cupcake liners. Cream margarine and

agave two minutes – beat in vanilla.

Mix all dry ingredients together and then add the resting of ingredients. Fill liners 2/3 full and bake 10 minutes.  Pop in 1 berry and then finish baking – 10 minutes until done.  Cool completely.

 

2 cups Cashew Kreme (or non dairy whipped topping)

2 tbsp Lambrusco Wine

 

Mix together and “ice” tops- decorate with fresh berries and mint.

 

Makes 24 cuppies

 

 

Making Moonshine....

I always have way too many pumpkins after the holidays....after deciding on making pumpkin butter, I still had them all over- I decided-- why not be daring...why not make wine! 

The process was quite easy actually- the hard part, as always, is awaiting the fruits of your labor....and gosh, know what, this wine was just as good as a $50.00 bottle of the best Chardonnay out there! 

Wanna be adventurous for 2009, why not make some home brewed moonshine? Goes well in cupcakes also!

Bumpkin Pumpkin Moonshine Cupcakes

with Butterscotch Cinnamon Kreme

                                     

 

 

 3 cups cake flour                                     

1/2 tsp salt

BumpkinPumkinMoonshine Cupcakes with Butterscotch Cinnamon Kreme

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup vegetable margarine

1 cup raw sugar

¾ cup Pumpkin Wine

Egg Replace for 3 eggs

½ cup pumpkin

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

 

Mix cake ingredients and pour into

lined cupcake pan- fill ½ full.

Bake 20 minutes in a pre heated oven at

350 degrees. Cool.

 

Mix 2 cups of hazelnut kreme (or whipped topping) with 2 tbsp butterscotch extract and 1 tsp cinnamon.

Dollop on top and serve.

 

 

Pumpkin Wine (from the internet – this really tastes great):

 

1 large pumpkin left over from the holidays

Cut around the top, and lift off the lid
Add 5 lbs. raw sugar and 1 pkg yeast
Fill to top with water
Take the top and put it in place, seal with tape.
Put the pumpkin in a black garbage bag and leave it in a warm spot for a week or until you can feel that it would be easy to poke your finger through the shell near the bottom.
Put a small whole in the garbage bag, sit a clean bucket or crock under the hanging pumpkin and slice into the pumpkin, letting it drain out into the bucket.
let the wine sit over night, covered.
Siphon the wine into a bottle, taking care not to disturb what is left at the bottom of your bucket, then discard the pumpkin.

Makes about a liter.

 

 

31 Days of Wine and Cupcakes.....well, almost....

One of my Flickr contacts declared me cupcake crazy today. She is right. Seems that where ever I go, I get a spark, an idea.  I have to act on it. Mind you, they keep creeping into my head- when I am not looking or thinking!

This cupcake- pairing red wine and cherries, I wanted to do from the start. With chocolate.

Sweet and sophisticated, yet bold and sensous.  Perfect little bites of bliss. 

The batter was similar to a brownie batter, and creamed up with the Cabernet....so sweet with undertones of berry and cherry. And chocolate chips were then added before I dipped a drunken cherry into the center....and the finale- a cabernet flavored nut kreme topped off with a fresh cherry on top.  

This cupcake - not too much, but just right. With a cherry on top. Enjoy your wine and cupcakes everyone!

Cherry Cabernet Chocolate Truffle Cupcake with Cabernet Kreme                      Cake:   ¼ cup Karo Syrup                                                                         ¾ cup granulated sugar ½ cup vegetable margarine, softened Egg Replacer for 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla Dash of clove ¾ cup cocoa powder ½ cup all purpose flour 1 cup Cabernet ¾ cup carob chips         Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In mixer, beat sugars with margarine and egg replacer.  Add vanilla, cocoa powder and stir until well blended. Stir in flour, chips, then wine. Pour batter into liners- 1/4 full- do not overfill. Pop a cherry in each center, then add another teaspoon of batter. Bake until cakes are pulled away from the edges--25 minutes or so.     Cherries: 2 cups cherries and pit- gently cook with ½ cup raw sugar, 4 tablespoons cherry liqueur, and a ¼ cup or so of water. Once tender, thicken with a little agar or arrowroot and then cool   Cabernet Hazelnut Kreme:   Prepare 2 cups of kreme, mix with ¼ cup Cabernet and a ¼ tsp clove. Pipe on top of cupcakes and decorate with a cherry.   20 “cordial” cuppies.

Cherry Cabernet Chocolate Truffle Cupcake with Cabernet Kreme

Tip Your Glass To a Toast!

Peared Chardonnary Cupcakes with Peachy Butter Cream

Tom's Mom Nina loved her family, loved her home. She loved to cook and go to the Elk's club every Saturday night.  Even after Tom's Dad passed on. Nina was modern and "with it" and could talk to anyone about anything. She taped her soaps because she was too busy doing other things during the day - even at 80 years old. You could hear her in the evening, watching the shows, and jabbering on the phone with her friends.  Often days, for lunch usually, Nina would do a simple small glass of Chardonnay with a baguette slice and Brie. And she would sit on her balcony, calming looking out toward Catalina Island, enjoying her lunch.

Nina loved Chardonnay.  This cupcake is for Nina. I have "peared" Red Anjou Pear with Peach - undertones in an organic Bonterra Chardonnay that sometimes Tom and I enjoy. A pear slice is wrapped around a Chardonnay pear cake and then frosted with a peach butter cream, then decorated with more fruit.

Somehow, I think Nina would have approved.

As we shot the photos of this cupcake, family friends tipped their glasses, in a bittersweet toast to Nina. She still has a view, and perhaps, just maybe, she is sipping a glass right now....

 

Anjou Peared Chardonnay Cupcake with Peachy Butter Cream

Cake:

¼ cup Smart Balance

1 ripe Anjou pear, sliced into 14 pieces

Peared Chardonnary Cupcakes with Peachy Butter Cream

 

1/2 cup Pear nectar

2 cups sifted cake flour

½ tsp white pepper

¾ teaspoon baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

½ cup Chardonnay

½ cup Light Karo Syrup

Replacer for 2 eggs

 

Whisk together dry ingredients- beat wet together and then sift dry into wet.

Fill cupcake pans ½ full and bake 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Pop a slice of pear in each cupcake and then finish baking- about 10 minutes more. Cool.

 

 Butter Cream:

 

 ¼ cup vegetable shortening

¼ cup Smart Balance

Dash of salt

1 large peach, pureed

1 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp Chardonnay

5 cups powdered sugar

 

Beat ingredients together, refrigerate until cold and then pipe on top of cuppies.

Garnish with a slice of pear and peach.

 

14 Cuppies

   

Let's Get To the Party!

Anybody ever see Laugh-In?

Rowan and Martin's comedy program was so politically incorrect and hilarious.

Judy Carne was often tricked into saying "sock it to me" which led to her being doused with water, slammed with a giant powder puff or otherwise assaulted. "Sock it to me" also became a catchphrase in the late 60s and 70s--- everyone said it.

This Iron Cupcake: Saki-To-Me Cardamom with Go-Go Strawberry Filling and Kiwi Ganache is also so much fun- who would think, saki in a cupcake (who would think, Ronald Reagan or Nixon on Laugh-In) anyway? Cardamom and strawberry goes well together, and kiwi tastes a little of strawberry so why not?

Remember Arte Johnson, Joanne Worley, Lily Tomlin?

So much humor so little time. Years ago I took care of these folks pets- all big animal lovers. Arte and his dear wife Ursula had cocker spaniels, Fraulein and Liebchen...they were real sweethearts.

If you have not seen Laugh-In, lately, why not tune in?

And hey, why not have a cupcake in between the giggles?

"Goodnight Dick"(RIP).

Saki-To-Me Cardamom Cupcake with

Go-Go Strawberry Filling & Kiwi Ganache

Cake:

1/2 cup Smart Balance2 c. sugar

THe WINNER: Saki-To Me Cardamom Cupcake with Go-Go Strawberry Kreme and Kiwi Ganache

Egg Replacer for 1 egg

1 cup Saki
2 cup sifted all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp ground cardamom

Cream all ingredients together. Pour and fill half way into

lined cupcake pans-  bake 20 minutes at 350 degree, or

until the cakes have pulled away from the edges.

 

Strawberry Filling:

 

2 cups nut kreme or whipped topping

½ cup fresh strawberries, processed

2 cardamom pods, crushed

Blend filling and refrigerate overnight.

 

Kiwi Ganache:

 

8 kiwis, peeled and processed

6 tablespoon Smart Balance

2 cups nut kreme

½  cup light corn syrup

1 tbsp vanilla 

1 tsp Saki

In saucepan, melt margarine, vanilla, and corn syrup with saki. Transfer to a cold ice bath and mix in kiwis- once mixture is cooled and the nut kreme. Refrigerate.

 

Kiwi Gummies:

 

½ cup water

6 tbsp agar agar flakes

½ cup pureed kiwis

Combine agar and cold water in a small saucepan. Stir until well mixed.

Place saucepan on stove over medium heat. Continue stirring while mixture heats up and becomes liquid. Once mixture is fully liquid, remove from heat and pour into prepared molds (vegetable spray)  

Allow to cool slightly, then place in freezer for 10 minutes to solidify.

 

Make cupcakes- hollow out a cone of cake and fill with strawberry filling. Replace cone and pour ganache over top. Sprinkle with candies and decorate as you wish.

 

Zowie...

Verrrry Interesting!

  

Seeing Pink Elephants or How I Spent My New Year....

Haha.

Really, I do not drink.  When I turned 21 years old I had already bought my first home and my neighbor behind me worked in a bakery.  She made me a "Drunk Elephant Cake" complete with a bottle of Jack. Wow, we sure celebrated. It was fun. And I didn't have to drive home. Yes.

Since wine is the Ironcupcake challenge this month, I knew that I had to make a Drunk Elephant Cake similar to the one Ruthie made me. Fond memories. Long gone but never forgotten.

Perhaps you wish to do the same.....

 

Drunk Elephant Cake

with Champagne Butter cream

                                      

 

2 ¾ cups cake flour, sifted

Drunk Elephant Cake

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup Vegetable Oil

1 ½ cups raw sugar

¾ cup  Pink Champagne

Egg Replacer for 5 eggs

 

 

 Mix all ingredients well.  Add beet powder to batter for “pink” color of your liking.

 

Fill cup cake lined pans ¾ full and bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  Cool.

 

Melt 10 ounces white chocolate chips with ¼ cup vegetable shortening. Fill cuppies.

 

Spread with this butter cream:

 

½ cup vegetable margarine

1 cup vegetable shortening

4 cups powered sugar

¼ cup Pink Champagne

1 tsp vanilla

 

Decorate with you choice – glasses, bottles, confetti, “drunk elephants”, etc.

Yields 14 cup cakes.

 

21 and a Drunk Elephant Cake

That is me, 21 and a pink rose to boot!

What a riot!

Heck, I am having so much fun with wine I almost forgot to tell you- at the end of the month go to:NoOnePutsCupcakeInACorner and vote ...if you like my cuppies, well, vote for me!

These are the neat prizes the winner will get:

 

DOGBONE ART - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=22042
as well as a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6057281.
PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!
As an added bonus for January, our friend at SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY will be tossing in another treat as well, http://www.acupcakery.com/index.html.

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com; the CUPCAKE COURIER http://www.cupcakecourier.com; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com. NEW, BEGINNING IN JANUARY; our new friends at UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/ will be providing our winner with one of their cute cupcake attitue t's! Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com .

New Year, New Cupcake

This blog, I really must get it in gear....here we are in almost the middle of the new year and this is my first entry of the new year.

Sigh.

Bogart dug a huge tunnel over New Years- the earth dog in him woke up.... you can see photos on Flickr. It was so funny. Never before has he gone to these extremes. While Bogart dug, I pondered over January's Ironcupcake ingredient.

Wine.

A lot came to mind, but foremost, sweet nectar,

The Mimosa. A champagne drink made with orange juice. Divine.

There are many wineries around here, and one local winery carried a sparkling wine-- a champagne, Wilson Creek Almond Champagne. Lovely. That was it. Almond aroma and delicate favors lingered on my nose.

A new year, a new cupcake. For Iron Cupcake, and for you, my blog friends.

Happy New Year. May we all hold on tight and sail forward, good luck at our heels.

Mimosa Cupcakes with

Almond Champagne Kreme

           

Mimosa Cupcakes with Almond Champagne Kreme

                               

3 cups cake flour                                     

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup Smart Balance margarine

1 cup raw sugar

¾ cup orange juice

Egg Replace for 3 eggs

½ cup soygurt

 

Mix cake ingredients and pour into

lined cupcake pan- fill ½ full.

Bake 20 minutes in a pre heated oven at

350 degrees.

 

Mix infusion-

 

2 cups Wilson Creek Almond Champagne, 2004, with 1 cup powered sugar.

 

Using a tooth pick, puncture holes in the cooled cuppies – fill with the infusion and sit overnight.

 

Make the Kreme-

 

Use either 1 cup almond kreme or non-dairy whipped topping- add 2 cups powdered sugar, 8 ounces Toffuti Cream Cheeze  and ½ cup champagne.  Beat together- add more powdered sugar as needed. Add 1 tbsp orange zest.

Ice cuppies and sprinkle with toasted almonds.

 

Yields 14-16 cuppies.