Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

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Hello Strangers! Yet again I have let this lovely place lack in new posts. But I am coming back with not just a great recipe but an AMAZING new cupcake!

These pretty little things are Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes. Sounds phenomenal right?



They look phenomenal too, don't they?!



They are light and airy vanilla cupcakes filled with a blueberry sauce that is made with honey instead of sugar, and topped with a cream cheese  frosting. A great summer cupcake, especially here in South Jersey where blueberries are as fresh as you can get!

I also got fancy and used colored icing swirled with white icing. I think this is my new favorite way of frosting cupcakes. I could look at them all day they just look so great!

To make the swirl is actually very simple. A great tutorial can be found HERE. It is also quite a great blog as well. If you haven't checked it out yet, you should.

I filled the cupcakes by using a small pairing knife to cut a circle into the top of the cupcake. Then I pulled the piece out and gently pressed down on the hole to make a little but more room for the filling. Next I spooned the cooled blueberry filling into the hole and topped with the piece I removed. Its very simple but if you want more detailed directions at Annie Eats, another blog I love following.

I wish I had a good picture of the middle of the cupcake but I only have a blurry one taken from my cell but I will show you just to give you an idea of what the blueberry filling looked like. But I will post it at the bottom away from the prettier pictures, lol.

Anyways, stop reading and go make these delectable cupcakes!

my niece loves her cupcakes!

Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

makes 12 cupcakes

Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter 
• 1 egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon good quality vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup whipping cream

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 and place 12 cupcake liners in muffin tin.
• Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl and set aside.
• Beat butter with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Add in sugar and beat until combined.
• Add egg, and egg yolks one at a time until fully incorporated.
• Add vanilla.
• Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat until  just combined. Follow with half of the whipping cream. Repeat, and end with the last 1/3 of the flour mixture, beating until just combined.
• Pour evenly (usually about 1/4 cup) into the muffin tin and back 15-18 minutes, until top is slightly golden and toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool in tin for 5 minutes, then remove and let cool completely on a cooling rack.

Blueberry Filling

I used my go to blueberry sauce recipe used for these oatmeal bars and this frozen yogurt cake, mmm!

• 1 2/3 cups blueberries
• 3 tablespoons honey, or sugar but I prefer honey
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• A pinch of nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice 

Directions

1. Add all ingredients to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and stir constantly until sauce thickens, about 5-7 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and set aside.

*there will be plenty left over; perfect for ice cream or waffles*

Cream Cheese Frosting

*this makes quite a lot as well, but it's always great to have extra icing :)

Ingredients

1 8 oz package of cold cream cheese (not rock solid, but right out of the fridge is perfect)

5 tablespoons of room temperature butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups powdered sugar

*Blue food coloring for half of icing mixture

Directions

1. Sift 2 cups of powdered sugar into a large bowl and set aside.
2. Beat cold cream cheese with butter and vanilla until combined, do not over mix or it will loosen and separate.
3. Gradually add sifted sugar and beat until just combined. Add more until you reach the consistency and sweetness level you prefer.
4. Scoop half of the frosting into a separate bowl and add enough blue food coloring until the color you want is achieved.
5. Spoon the white frosting in a piping bag and the blue into another.
6. Cut the ends and place into a larger pipping bag fitted with the tip of your choice. Make sure both ends are inserted into the tip or you will only get one color to come out.

To Assemble Cupcakes

1. Once cupcakes and filling have cooled, use a pairing knife to cut holes in the top of the cupcake.
2. Trim the bottom off the piece you just removed from the cupcake, leaving just the flat top
3. Spoon blueberry filling into the hole and replace the top of the cupcake.
4. Pipe frosting onto cupcake in a large circular motion.

*Again refer to these two sites for excellent step by step directions:

   To swirl frosting

   To fill cupcakes

<3ENJOY

 

 P.S. Here's a look at the filling

 

  

Squash & Fetta Fritters

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Squash & Feta Fritters

Hello hello! This post is going to be short and sweet just like this amazing recipe.

I had some left over yellow squash and could not think of what to do with it. I tend to saute it and add it into pasta, rice, or couscous. But I wanted to think outside the box.

So I went to straight to the all knowing  and did my research. I googled it. I typed in yellow squash recipes and found a few recipes that used them to make pancakes, latkes, fritters, patties, whatever you want to call them. I think they sound more appetizing when they are called fritters. Wouldn't you be more intrigued by a fritter as opposed to a patty? I think so.

Well these fritters are light and healthy and go great with a yogurt dipping sauce, over lettuce, or just as they are. I dove right in and ate about 3 just on their own. DELISH!

Great for a snack or with a meal and they literally take no time at all. Go ahead and maybe add some zucchini and carrots too if you want some more veggies. You can change up the cheese as well, but I think the feta is perfect. I also thought maybe using panko breadcrumbs might be good too, to make it have a nice crisp texture.

Anyways, enjoy! :)

Squash and Feta Fritters

Makes 6-8 Fritters

Ingredients

•  2 small- medium yellow squash (or zucchini)
• 3/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup feta cheese
• Zest & Juice of one Lemon
• 1 egg 

Directions

1. Grate zucchini into a bowl and squeeze out  the liquid with a strong paper towel or clean dish towel.
2. Add bread crumbs, feta and lemon zest and egg and mix well.
3. Make sure mixture is not too wet. If it is, add more bread crumbs. If it is too dry add another egg. Form patties and pan fry on medium until golden with 1 tbsp of olive oil or cooking spray. 

Vanilla Walnut Granola

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Hello hello! Happy June everyone! I hope you are enjoying the weather and this time of year. Getting out and soaking up the sunshine and enjoying being outside!

Lately it seems every day I am off, the weather has been anything but enjoyable, so I've seen quite a bit of movies and gotten quite a bit of art projects started. However, recently I had off on a Saturday and was determined to enjoy it to the fullest! And that is exactly what I did.

Living at the shore is great and I could have easily enjoyed a beach day, but I have plenty of time for that. Instead I wanted to get out and enjoy nature and some beautiful scenery. So a hiking I went!

A few friends and I took a nice day trip to the Pocono's in Pennsylvania. It was an absolutely beautiful park filled with waterfalls and lots and lots of uphill climbing/hiking. It was such a great day!

My friend Morgan & I at the top!

Anyways, before we headed out I thought we would need some good grub to keep us energized for the day. What goes great with hiking? Granola does!

Yes you can go with the typical trail mix but this has way more flavor and is easy to travel with.

Its nice and sweet but not too sweet and has a deep vanilla flavor which makes it hard to put down.

Granola is actually extremely simple to make and lasts for a while, so why not go ahead and make your own and leave out all the added preservatives and fake flavorings.

This recipe is nice and simple and can be adjusted to your liking. Don't like walnuts? Use almonds, cashews, or peanuts. Or don't use any. Its up to you. You can also add anything you normal enjoy in granola.

This recipe makes quite a bit, so throw it on yogurt, over milk, or just keep snacking on it :)!

Vanilla Walnut Granola
Ingredients

• 4 cups oats
• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 c. canola oil
• 1 c. honey
• 3 Tbsp. vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300-degrees.
2. Combine oats, walnuts, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
3. In a saucepan combine oil, honey, and vanilla and bring to a boil.
4. Continue to boil for one minute then pour over oat mixture.
5. Mix  well, until all ingredients are moistened.
6. Spread mixture on a large cookie sheet (you may need two sheets). 
7. Bake for 20-30 minutes, stirring several times, flipping the granola.
8. Remove from oven and cool for several minutes until the granola hardens slightly.
9. Break up granola and store in large Ziploc bags or containers.
10. Serve plain, with yogurt, or with milk.
11. Enjoy!

When Life Gives You Lemons...

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Honey Lemon Loaf Cake

with lemon glaze

Hello hello! How did everyone enjoy their Memorial Day weekend?! Hopefully it was filled with good company, good weather, and of course good food! I made this cake this week and though it was just the perfect summer cake and would have been perfect for a Memorial Day BBQ.

I  don't know about you but I am a HUGE fan of anything lemon. It surprises me how many people do not like lemon. I could eat gallons of lemon water ice, a ton of lemon bars, lemon cookies, lemon chicken, and slurp glass after glass of lemonade. So for me this cake is absolutely perfect! And for those of you who aren't too thrilled about anything lemon I recommend trying this cake. It's not a super strong lemon flavor. 

This cake is super light with a sweet yet slightly tart flavor.

  

Honey Lemon Cake

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• Zest of 1 full lemon

For the Glaze

• Juice of 1 full lemon
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a 9in loaf pan and line it with parchment paper, letting it hang over the edges. This will make it easier to remove from the pan. 
3. In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
4. In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat together the honey, sugar, butter and eggs.
5. Add the milk and lemon zest then mix further.
6. Add the flour mixture and blend it until it's just combined.
7. Pour it into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
8. Bake it for 30 – 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean and the top is a golden brown. It will bake much quicker on the top and edges and look finished but check the middle with a toothpick to be sure. 

To Make the Glaze

1. In a small bowl whisk together the reserved lemon juice, honey and powdered sugar.
2. With a spoon drizzle the glaze over top of the warm cake and let it soak in for 10 – 15 minutes.

Using the parchment paper overhang lift the cake out of the pan and let it cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing it. Enjoy!

Blueberry Oatmeal Bars

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Look at me, back in action and keeping up with my blog posting! Well now that I have somewhat of a schedule and a working computer be prepared for some OUT OF THIS WORLD recipes. Haha not really, but still quite tasty and down right Pinterest worthy right?!

This recipe is one I came up with yesterday morning. I had bought some blueberries and they were extremely plain and almost flavorless. I get it, its a tad too early for blueberries, but I could eat buckets of blueberries so whenever they are sold I can't resist and buy them knowing they are not going to be nearly as delicious and ripe as they should be. If I just wait a few more weeks I can have an endless selection of blueberries at my finger tips, being that I literally live in the blueberry capital of the world.

However, I bought the pint of blueberries. Since I did not want to eat them plain I figured I'd bake something with them. I decided to go with a good old blueberry bar. Its nice and sweet thanks to making a sauce with the blueberries and honey, but also toasty and crunch because of the oatmeal and walnuts.

Mmm mmm. I could eat the whole batch, but I won't. At least I hope I won't.

If you went out and bought blueberries a bit too early don't eat them its not worth it. Make these bars, they are well worth it!

Blueberry Oatmeal Bars

Makes 12-16 bars

Ingredients

For the bars

• 1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, dark or light
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 a teaspoon cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

For the Filling

• 1 2/3 cups blueberries
• 3 tablespoons honey, or sugar but I prefer honey
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• A pinch of nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line an 8 in square baking dish with parchment paper, or foil with non stick spray.
3. In a large bowl, mix the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together.
4. Add the melted butter and mix with a fork until combined and a light crumb forms.
5. Press half of the mixture into the prepared dish and bake for 12 minutes.
6. While baking the crust; Prepare filling by adding the blueberries, honey, cornstarch, nutmeg, cinnamon and lemon juice to a medium sauce pan.
7. Stir ingredients and continue to cook over medium heat until sauce thickens, about 7 minutes.
8. Pour over crust and top with remaining mixture.
9. Sprinkle the 1/4 cup of nuts over the top, and bake for about 30 minutes.
10. Let cook in pan on a wire cooling rack.
11. Once cool cut into bars and enjoy!

Here Comes the Sun

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Summer Time Pasta Salad

with homemade dressing

  

Hey hey! We are quickly creeping up on summer and that brings on more bbq's and other outdoor gatherings which usually involve quite a bit of great summer time grub. It's the time of year for burgers and dogs, bbq chicken, and anything else you can throw on the grill.

Well, to go along with all the delicious bbq food I have an equally delicious pasta salad that is full of fresh veggies and a simple light dressing. I also used whole pasta to make it even healthier, but feel free to use whichever pasta you like best.

The recipe for this dressing is simply delicious and great for a garden salad as well. It's also great to make your own dressing at home because you control the ingredients and avoid added sugars, salts, and preservatives. This will last you up to 90 days in the refrigerator so make a big batch and enjoy! (This recipe is more than enough for one batch of pasta salad)

Happy Almost Summer!!

Summer Time Pasta Salad

Ingredients

• 1 box of whole wheat penne
• 2 bell peppers, which ever colors you prefer
• 1 medium tomato
• 1 cucumber
• 4-5 oz extra sharp white cheddar,
• 1 batch of homemade Italian dressing, recipe follows

Italian Dressing

• 1 cup red wine vinegar (or whichever you prefer)
• 1 1/3 cup olive or canola oil
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 tablespoon onion powder
• 1/2 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• Pinch of crushed red pepper (optional)

To make the dressing

Place all ingredients in a large bowl and which until fully combined.
OR
Pour ingredients into large bottle and shake until combined.

Directions

1. Prepare penne as box instructs.
2. While pasta is cooking, chop the vegetables and cheese into small like size pieces.
3. Once pasta is cooked, drain and toss with vegetables and cheese, in a large bowl.
4. Pour about 1/2 of the dressing and stir.
5. Taste and add enough to your liking.
6. Enjoy!

Back From The Dead With an Easy Baked Egg Breakfast!

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Baked Eggs with Feta

Over Roasted Tomatoes

HOLA MI AMIGO'S!!!! I am back and Peace Love & Yumminess is up and running with lots of recipes to share!!!

Now, I know all of you were anxiously checking everyday if I had a new post, sorry for all the nail biting but you need not worry anymore! I am back from trekking the Amazon Forest and sailing through the Caribbean.

Hahaha if only both those statements were true :). I have been M.I.A for several reasons, mainly being out of a computer. I have however been cooking and baking quite a bit and have lots of recipes to catch you guys up on. So why not start with a recipe for the most important meal of the day, breakfast!

This was a pinterest recipe I literally made the morning I found it. It is super easy and quite healthy. I thought it was a great change than the normal morning egg, with layers of delicious flavor.

You will need ramekins for this recipe, although I'm sure you could just make this in casserole form as well. But, that just not as fun as having your own little dish.

When I made this, it was only me eating however I made two dishes. Not sure why, but I did. I enjoyed this dish so much I almost went right back for the second. I stepped back and regained my self control and saved it for lunch with a side salad. To reheat it, I just popped it right back in the oven to warm it up. The egg did cook a little more but still tasted amazing.

The recipe is also in single serving portions, just apply the recipe per ramekin.

Enjoy<3!

& Glad to be back!

Oven Bakes Eggs with Feta

over roasted tomatoes

adapted from For the Love of Cooking

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1/2 tsp olive oil
• Handful of grape tomatoes sliced
• 1/4 tsp basil, dried
• Dash of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 2 eggs (I used one because my ramekins are quite small)
• 1 tsp milk
• 1 tsp feta cheese ( I used tomato basil feta to amp up the flavor!)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray  a small ramekin with cooking spray.
2. Toss the sliced tomatoes with the olive oil, basil, crushed red pepper, garlic, salt, and pepper.
3. Pour into each ramekin then place the dishes on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven then crack the eggs into the dish, then add the milk, feta cheese, and season with salt and pepper.
5. Return to the oven and cook for 13-15 minutes or until the whites set but the yolks are still soft. Remove from the oven and serve with some whole grain toast.