A few weeks ago, a friend’s daughter (who is 13) made him Peanut Butter Cup Banana Bread, which sounded yummy so of course I asked him for the recipe. I am not a fan of peanut butter on the whole (“good not great”) but if you have chocolate too, then I am all in. This isn’t her recipe (I modified by own “usual” banana bread recipe) but her’s looked awesome as well. So, thanks for the inspiration!
Things that I learned while making these cupcakes: Adding Black Raspberry Puree to Butter Cream does not produce a nice mellow, purplish pink color that I had hoped …. more this lovely Bubble Gum color. Lesson learned. So, while these are the least attractive cupcakes that I have made in a long time, it’s the thought that counts. Happy Birthday to my Roommate!
I haven’t made anything chocolatey for a while, for good reason: It’s summertime and there is such an abundance of fruits, veg and berries, that I should leave chocolate for the winter, when I am not as lucky. That said, chocolate is pretty good too, so I decided to make these sugar cookies. And pecans and sea salt? How can you go wrong!
What can you say really … when you have an overload of delicious berries from the Pick Your Own at Russell Orchards, you just have to go crazy. This is amazing, if I do say so myself. You might call it a cheesecake (very lemony!), you might call it a pie. I call it yummy. Topped with red and champagne currants (disclaimer: I got the champagne / pink ones from Whole Foods), jostaberries, strawberries (the very last of the season!), blueberries and raspberries. It’s a time consuming project, but oh so very very good. If you have 24 hours to spare (or at minimum twelve, but half of that is cooling time anyway), give it a go.
Here is Kat’s silly tip for the day, which you probably already know, but I am going to tell you again. When making muffins or quick breads, has it ever happened to you that the “stuff” (i.e. blueberries, chocolate chips, nuts) all gravitates to the bottom and then you have a nice top but everything else ends up in a gooey mess? solution: toss the berries, chocolate chips and/or nuts with a couple of spoonfuls of flour, creating a light coating. Then mix them into the batter. This makes the “stuff” grippier and it doesn’t all sink to the bottom!