White on white buttermilk cupcakes

We've been having lots of birthdays lately. Since it is wildcard this week for Project Pastry Queen , I decided to try the White-on-White Buttermilk Cake but with the chocolate frosting variation. Buttercream frosting is the best. 

 My oldest daughter isn't a big fan of frosting and she said she could eat the whole bowl of it. Since I had some left over frosting, I decided to store it in the freezer for another day or maybe just hide it from my oldest. If it becomes missing, I'll know why. 

 This cake recipe was selected by Beth of The Powdered Plum. She used a Jack Daniel's Buttercream frosting. The cupcake recipe is found here.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
3 eggs
4 egg yolks
1/2 cups water
2 cups sugar
3 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 tsp salt
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted

Directions:

1. Whip the eggs and egg yolks in a large bowl on high speed for 5 minutes.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the water and sugar.
3. Simmer the water and sugar until a candy thermometer is between 234 degrees F. and 240 degrees F.
4. Immediately and slowly, add the sugar mixture to the egg mixture while mixing on low speed the whole time. 
5. Increase the speed to medium and beat for about 7 minutes.
6. Add half a stick of butter at a time while beating on medium speed.
7. Let the butter mix for about 20 seconds before adding the next half of stick of butter.
8. Once all the butter has been added, beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes so the frosting thickens. 
9. Stir in the salt and the cooled chocolate.

Recipe adapted from The Pastry Queen cookbook.

Did you already know.......
-Some types of buttercream are: American, Swiss, Italian, German, and French.
-The Swiss, Italian, and French buttercreams are meringue based.
-The German buttercream is custard based.

Mr. Brevity

Last year, I thought it would be a good idea to have a word of the week since my oldest would be taking the SAT. The youngest kids didn't mind. They thought it was pretty cool learning new words plus I tried to use fun words like flippant and impeccable. Now, my youngest children tell me how their oldest sister has a flippant attitude all the time. Their oldest sister just agrees with them. 

One of the words of the week was brevity. On school days, my son is so slow getting ready for school. He has missed the bus several times since he thinks the world will wait for him. On these mornings, I will say, "Come on, Mr. Brevity. We need to go." Well, the other day we were reviewing our words of the week. I asked my son if he knew what brevity meant. He said yes, it means quick like him because is why we call him Mr. Brevity. So, the next word of the week will be facetious.

If you have a great vocabulary word for the word of the week, let me know. The word I would use to describe this sandwich would be delicious!

Fried Meatball Sandwich with additional meatballs
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 cup dried parsley leaves,
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
3 lbs ground chuck
1 lb ground pork
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 buns
4 slices of Provolone cheese
1 jar of marinara sauce


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs.
3. Add the Parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic, salt, pepper, ground chuck, ground pork, and the Panko breadcrumbs. Mix until well incorporated.
4. Form 4 patties and the remaining meat roll into desired size meatballs.
5. In a skillet on medium heat, add the olive oil.
6. In a pot, heat the marinara sauce on low heat. Stir occasionally.
7. Add the four patties and cook about 6 minutes a side.
8. In a baking dish, add the meatballs and cook in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the meatballs look medium rare done. (You will be reheating at another time.)
9. When the meatballs are done, allow to cool and transfer to a freezer bag to store in the freezer until ready to use.
10. Cook the patties until cooked through and then top with cheese.
11. Remove the patties and place on top of the opened bun.
12. Top the patty with the warmed marinara sauce.

Recipe adapted from The Sandwich King on Food network. Enjoy!

Did you already know.............
-In 1901, the SAT was developed to test intelligence.
-In 2005, an essay section was added to the SAT.
-The SAT is offered seven times a year.
-The average score is 1520 out of 2400.
-It is recommended to score at least a 2080 for Harvard.

Agent P sandwich

My son never complains about school. Yes, he is in elementary school but he still has nothing negative to say until recently. He came home upset because his class was late to lunch. My son does like to eat. So, I asked him if lunch was his favorite part of his school day. He surprised me by saying no. I asked him what was his favorite part of school. He told me it was snack followed by recess. I should have guess.

Since my the scheduled school lunch was hot dogs, I had to make his lunch. My husband has a choking phobia so any hot dogs are out of the question. I was attempting to make Agent P from Phineas and Ferb. I made this before for the kids on an English muffin and it looked better. My son liked it. His teacher even told him at lunch that she noticed how healthy his lunch looked. Good thing, she didn't see what he had for breakfast just kidding. I meant good thing she didn't see his sister's lunch. 

I really need to start making these kind of lunches for myself. I think it would be cooler. I could give you step by step directions on how to make Agent P but Susan Yuen has great instructions. I really need to start trying to make bento box lunches. They just look cool.

Did you already know.......
-Agent P is actually Perry the Platypus.
-Perry the Platypus is the pet of Phineas and Ferb.
-Perry also is a secret agent for O.W.A.C.
-O.W.C.A. stands for Organization Without a Cool Acronym.

Strange things

Do you ever see strange things inside your house? Do you want an example? I saw my 18 year old daughter holding onto my 8 year old daughter's leg. My youngest son didn't want to be left out so he was on top of my oldest daughter's back. My youngest daughter was trying to escape and managed (I don't know how) to drag both her siblings down the hall. Since my youngest daughter was laughing, I thought it would better just not to say anything. Sometimes, I think that is the best approach.

Shortly after, it sounded like my youngest daughter somehow escaped. Within a few minutes, my youngest son came running to me and ask if I knew where his oldest sister's phone was? I said I didn't. I had a good idea who had it. I think my oldest did too. Soon, my oldest was back downstairs with her beautiful hair a little messed up. It appeared like she retrieved her phone. My husband slept through this whole experience. The things he misses. 

My youngest daughter asked me to make peanut butter cookies. I really like this recipe a lot. I made a few sandwiches with jelly in the middle. I think next time we make these cookies we will just have to add ice cream in the middle-just to test it out.

Peanut Butter Cookies
3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup smooth peanut butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
3. Whisk flour and baking soda in a small bowl. Set aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter with the sugar and brown sugar until fluffy.
5. Add the egg and mix well.
6. Mix in the vanilla and peanut butter.
7. Slowly, add the flour mixture. Mix until just combined.
8. Drop the batter by large spoonfuls onto the baking sheet. 
9. Space the batter about 1 1/2 inches apart.
10. Dip the bottom of a glass in flour and tap off the excess.
11. Flatten the tops of the cookie dough ball with the bottom of the glass.
12. Dip a fork into flour to coat and then make two cross marks across the top of each cookie dough ball.
13. Bake the cookies about 7 minutes and then rotate the cookie sheet around.
14. Bake the cookies for another 5 minutes or until lightly brown.
15. Allow the cookies to cool completely.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies.

Did you already know.......
-In 1973, the first portable mobile phone was made by Motorola. 
-Martin Cooper was the first person to make a call using the portable mobile phone since he was the one who created it for Motorola.
-Martin Cooper called Bell Lab's Dr. Engel.
-Martin Cooper had previously worked on creating the first portable handheld police radio.

Tiramisu with Homemade Ladyfingers

This weeks pick on Project Pastry Queen was Tiramisu. I told my husband about the selection and I wasn't sure if I wanted to make it. He said, "Well, that is too bad." He loves coffee and dessert so this dessert is perfect for him. He didn't even want to share.

After I made the ladyfingers, my children kept eating them. My first attempts of the ladyfingers were not perfect. I was informed some of my ladyfingers resembled a lady's forearm, a man's finger, a witch's finger, and an Easter egg. I figured out (on my last batch) to make a template of the desired shape onto the back of the parchment paper. They may not have looked perfect but they tasted good.  At one point, I wasn't sure if I had enough ladyfingers left. I also used white whole wheat flour so I think my ladyfingers didn't rise like they should have. I should have doubled my layer of ladyfingers in my tiramisu.

In addition to the traditional tiramisu, I made a children friendly version. I guess the children's version could be called more of a trifle? I am really glad I made a 2nd version since my son kept asking if he can have some. He was not happy when I told him no but then I showed him that I had made him a smaller one for them and life was good again. Please visit Sarah's blog for the traditional recipe and the ladyfingers recipe. 

A piece lacking espresso and liqueur

Children's friendly version of Tiramisu/Trifle:
Ladyfingers
Soaking Syrup (recipe below)
Filling (recipe below)
Cocoa powder
Bittersweet chocolate, grated


Assemble:

1. Coat a mini loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. Dip both sides of a ladyfinger at a time in the soaking syrup.
3. Place a bottom layer of ladyfingers in the dish. 
4. Top the layer with some of the filling then repeat the soaked ladyfinger layer.
5. Add another layer of the filling.
6. Top the 2nd layer of filling with cocoa powder and grated chocolate.

Soaking Syrup for the kids:
1/4 cup water
3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract


Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, simmer the water and sugar over medium heat for 10 minutes.
2. Remove the syrup and stir in the vanilla extract.
3. Set aside to cool.

Filling for the kids:
1 (6 oz) package of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
4 oz mascarpone cheese, at room temperature


Directions:

1. Cream the sugar with the cream cheese until fluffy.
2. Add the mascarpone cheese until well incorporated.

Recipe adapted from the Pastry Queen cookbook.

Should have doubled the layers of Ladyfingers

Did you already know.........
-Ladyfingers was created in the eleventh century by the French House of Savoy. 
-Ladyfingers are a sponge cake.
-A popular ingredient in other desserts like trifles and charlottes.