I recently offered to make dessert for a family gathering and wanted to try something new. I love trying out new desserts for large groups because it means that I don’t eat it all! I wanted something light and fresh and these cupcakes fit the bill. Summer and citrus go hand in hand. And, since I can’t be down at the Florida Keys, I can at least take a bit and pretend I am! While I love key lime pie, I’ve never made them with a cake before but I figured these would taste delicious and I wasn’t wrong. Even some folks that I figured would steer towards other desserts were tempted to grab these pretty little cupcakes and commented on how good they were. Best part? Yet again cream cheese haters were in love. Another point for Maeghan in the cream cheese battle. Moo ha ha!

While there are a couple of steps in preparing these cupcakes, make it easier on your self and break it up into two days. Go ahead and make your cupcakes, I opted to go for my tried and true Vanilla Bean cupcakes. Also, make your key lime curd and let it chill overnight. This will ensure that the curd is thick enough to pipe into your cupcakes. When you are ready to assemble, whip up the cream cheese frosting, pip the curd into your cupcakes and decorate!

Key Lime Cupcakes

Ingredients

For the Key Lime Curd

• 1/4 cup key lime juice (about 10 key limes)
• 1/2 Tbsp key lime zest
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened and cut into two pieces

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For the Cream Cheese Frosting

• 6 oz cream cheese, softened
• 6 Tbsp butter, softened
• 12 oz powdered sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Key Lime Curd

Over a saucepan with simmering water, (double boiler) whisk the key lime juice, zest, egg, and sugar in a bowl. Add butter and whisk until thickened and smoother. About 160 F. Strain the  mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap. You will want the plastic wrap to touch the curd so that a skin doesn’t form. Place the mixture into the refrigerator and allow to cool. It will pipe much easier if the mixture is chilled.

Cream Cheese Frosting

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the vanilla and salt and mix until combined. Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until smooth.

To assemble the cupcakes

Use an apple corer or knife to cut a hole in the center of the cupcake. ( A Bismark tip will not work in this case, since the curd is too thick) Do not go to the very bottom of the cupcake. Fill the hole with the chilled key lime filling using a spoon or pastry bag. In this case, you do not need to cover the hole with the left over cake. The frosting will cover the curd filling. Pipe frosting on the top of the cupcake and garnish with lime twists, sprinkles, zest.

Makes 12 to 14 cupcakes

Source: Adapted from She Makes She Bakes, Vanilla Bean Cupcakes from Annie’s Eats

When one of my friends was about to deliver her baby girl, a few of us got together and made some freezer meals for her. I decided to veer from my usual pasta dish and make some enchiladas instead. I wanted to send her something that she may not prepare for herself, was tasty and would satisfy her whole family, and would be filling and relatively good for them. What I wasn’t thinking of was the spice factor. So the story goes, they had these the day before she went into labor, so sending Mexican to an expectant mother can be helpful in other ways as well!

This meal encompasses all of my favorite things. It is very tasty, it is packed with fiber and protein with plenty of cheese to fool everyone. I also sneak some bell pepper in there for a serving of vegetables! It is inexpensive and easy to make and I can make a few batches at a time and throw some in the freezer. Score!

Healthy Beef and Bean Enchiladas

Ingredients

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 cups bell peppers, sliced
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 oz lean ground sirloin
• 1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 12 6″ tortillas
• 16 oz salsa
• 1 cup Monterrey Jack cheese

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In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium heat. Add peppers and onion and saute for 5 minutes, until softened. Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds.

Add the ground beef, breaking it up with a large spoon, and cook for about 5 minutes, until no longer pink. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, paprika, cayenne, salt, black beans, and ¼ cup of the salsa. Mix well.

Preheat your oven to 350º F. Spread half of the remaining salsa over the bottom of a 13 × 9” baking pan.

Lay your tortillas on a clean work surface and spoon a heaping ¼ cup onto the center of each. Roll tightly and line them up, closely packed into the baking pan, seam side down. Once you have finished, evenly pour the remaining salsa over the tortillas and top with cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes. Allow the enchiladas to sit for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with sour cream, olives, or cilantro.

Serving size 2 enchiladas.

Calories: 368.8, Total Fat 17.3g, Cholesterol: 45.9mg, Sodium: 938.9mg, Total Carb: 41.2g, Fiber: 20.7g, Sugars: 2.6g, Protein 27.5g

Source: Can You Stay For Dinner?

There is nothing like finding a recipe you want to try, going out to the grocery store and buying all of the items you need and coming home to find that you don’t have the one item you ALWAYS have! That happened to me and it was a rainy day and I wasn’t about to go back out. Thanks to the powers of the internet, I learned that I could make my own substitute for Chili Powder. I make a lot of my own seasonings, but I had never thought to do this. This blend worked well and I had dinner prepped and ready to go in no time. Which meant my little one and I could snuggle in with some books instead of going back out there!

Chili Powder

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder

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Combine all of the ingredients together and store in an airtight container.

Source: About.com

Every year growing up I had a Carvel Ice Cream cake for my birthday. The month of August was great because my brother had an ice cream cake two weeks after for his birthday too. When we moved from NY to SC that tradition died since there were no Carvels around and the grocery stores hadn’t started selling them.

When I went to college in Boston I found one of their football cakes in the store and immediately took that back to the dorm with me. You know the one I’m talking about, it’s covered with the Carvel crunchies on the outside and has them in the inside as well. I forced to eat the whole thing rather quickly since it wouldn’t fit in my mini-fridge freezer!

After using crushed chocolate wafers in another recipe and realizing these gems made up the wonderful crunchies I’ve been saying that I want to recreate my own cake for a while now and this year I have done it. Folks, I mean I really did it. This cake tastes so darn good. My husband, in-laws and I devoured it and decided that it was one of the best cakes I’ve made and it needs to go into the birthday cake rotation. My daughter proclaimed it, “The best cake EVER!” Everything is made from scratch so you definitely have the great taste with the ingredients alone, but the BEST part is it really tastes like a Carvel cake. Not one of those copycat recipes that kind of taste like the original. This did not last long in our house and I had to hurry to take a picture of it. The outside doesn’t look as pretty since I’m not used to writing on cakes and I don’t do flowers, but there is always the next birthday to perfect that!

If you’ve never had a Carvel Ice Cream cake, make this now and fall in love and if you have had a Carvel Ice Cream cake make it and love the fact that you now hold the secret!

I decided that since I was making a homemade cake I wanted everything to be made homemade. So, you’ll find everything from the ice cream, whipped cream topping, and Magic Shell are from scratch. If you don’t want to go that far, you can definitely use store bought ice cream, whipped topping, and Magic Shell.

Carvel Ice Cream Cake

Ingredients

• 1 qt Chocolate Ice Cream, softened
• 1 qt Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, softened
• 9 oz Chocolate Wafers
• 1 container (7.25 oz) Magic Shell (or this Magic Shell recipe!)
• Stabilized Whipped Cream – see below

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Take a 9″ springform pan and place it in the freezer for 30 minutes.

In a food processor, pulse the chocolate wafers until they are coarse crumbs. You don’t want big chunks, but fine crumbs will form big chunks of crunchies which you don’t want. Add the Magic Shell topping to the chocolate wafer crumbs and mix well. This will become your crunchies!

Pour your softened chocolate ice cream into the springform pan until you reach the halfway point on the pan. Then, place your crunchies on top of the chocolate ice cream. You will want to spread them out in an even layer and keeping them an inch away from the outer edge. Place the pan in the freezer and allow to set for at least one hour.

Remove the pan from the freezer and pour in your softened vanilla ice cream, taking care to create an even layer on top. Freeze for several hours or overnight.

Remove the pan from the freezer and open the springform pan. Take a knife of a cake spatula and slide it alongside the underneath of the cake to remove the bottom layer. Take some of your whipping cream and spread evenly over the entire cake. Place the cake in the freezer and allow to set for 30 minutes.

Take the cake out of the freezer and decorate the cake with the remaining whipped cream. Taking care to smooth it out nicely and pipe and decorate how you wish. Place the cake in the freezer to set until ready to serve.

When you are ready to serve, remove the cake from the freezer and allow to thaw for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

For the Whipped Cream

• 3 tsp unflavored gelatin
• 3 Tbsp cold water
• 3 cups heavy or whipping cream
• 9 Tbsp confectioners sugar
• 3 tsp vanilla extract

Put your mixing bowl and whipping attachment in the freezer and allow to cool.

Mix the cold water and gelatin in a small dish. Wait one minute and then heat the gelatin mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds to allow it to become liquid. You will use this to stabilize your whipped cream.

In the cold mixing bowl, beat the cream until peaks form. Start off slow and gradually increase the speed.

While the mixer is still on high speed, add the sugar. Next, add the heated gelatin. Finally, add the vanilla extract.

Source: Stabilized Whipped Cream from Baked Bree, Carvel Crunchies adapted from Our Best Bites