Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

Have you ever tried a recipe that was just so delicious that you wanted to share it with the world?  Well, I have one of those oh-my-goodness-this-is-amazing recipes.  I found the original recipe here on Ms. Martha Stewart's site (so of course it will be heavenly, right?).  Enjoy!

BOSTON CREAM PIE CUPCAKES

Directions for cupcakes:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Vanilla Cream (directions at the bottom) - I doubled this recipe to ensure I would have enough cream for all 20 cupcakes this recipe made.  I was glad I did because we ate the extra cream :)
• Chocolate-Ganache Glaze (directions at the bottom)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. You can either butter and flour a muffin tin or do like I did - use cupcake liners.  Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. 
2. Beat eggs and sugar with a mixer on high speed until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. Beat in dry ingredients.
3. Bring milk and butter to a boil. With mixer on low speed, add milk mixture to batter, and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each halfway. Bake cupcakes until light gold, about 15 minutes. Let cool in tins for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks. Let cool.  When my cupcakes were cool, I then took the paper liners carefully off of them.
4. On the Martha Stewart site, she cuts the cupcakes in half and puts the cream in the middle.  That is a bit too messy to eat for me so instead I put the cream into a pastry bag and pipped the cream into the cupcake.  It was super easy and very nice and tidy.  After the cupcakes were all filled, I dipped the top into the ganache.  I had a bowl of extra ganache on the side for those who like a little extra chocolate.

Directions for Vanilla Cream

Ingredients for Vanilla Cream:

• 2 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Whisk yolks until smooth. Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add milk and start whisking. Cook, stirring, until mixture begins to bubble and thicken, about 5 minutes.  Make sure to keep stirring because the bottom of this mixture can burn easily.
2. Pour 1/3 of milk mixture into yolks, whisking constantly. Return egg/milk mixture to saucepan, and cook over medium heat, again, stirring often, until thick, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in vanilla.
3. Pass vanilla cream through a fine sieve into a bowl (I didn't do this and mine did not turn out too lumpy). Press plastic wrap directly on surface. Refrigerate until cold, at least 1
   hour, or up to 2 days.

Directions for Chocolate-Ganache Galze:

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Directions:

1. Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan.Remove from heat, and add chocolate and corn syrup. Let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, and let cool, stirring often. I let my ganache sit for quite a while before dipping my cupcakes into it.

Allison: Toddler Muffins

Hi!  My name is Allison... I used to contribute regularly to this blog.  Remember me?  Yep, I'm back.  I have no idea how, but time has just slipped away from me these last few months.  It might have to do with sick babies and just daily life.  But I have some creative opportunities coming up in the near future, and I thought I'd better get back in the habit of blogging.

Anyone out there have really picky eaters in their house?  I knew that my little Isla (2 1/2 years old) was picky, but lately, it's gotten so much worse!  There are days where she'll skip lunch AND dinner.  My skinny little girl seems to be getting even smaller, and it's started to worry me a little.  She's definitely more of a snacker, and I've found myself giving her things I wouldn't normally, just to get her to eat something.

So when I found this recipe here for "Toddler Muffins", I knew I had to give them a try.  Here's the best proof if they were liked or not:

She loved them and ate 3 for breakfast.  The only foods we've been able to get her to eat for breakfast are cinnamon toast (or "sugar toast", as she calls them), and french toast with syrup.  Can you find the theme here??  This girl definitely likes sugar (I have no idea where she gets that from)!

I didn't modify the recipe too much.  I didn't have oat bran in the house, but saw that others had substituted oats or flax seed.  I had ground flax seed in my house (weird, I know), so I used a 1/4 cup and a 1/4 cup of oats.  I'm sure a half cup of oats would work just great too.  For the baby food ingredient, I'm sure any pureed veggie would work.  I had a baby food pouch of pear and butternut squash that I used.  I also only added a 1/4 cup butter instead of 1/2 cup.  That seemed like a lot.  They still turned out super moist and delicious.  I also added raisins.  Because of the bananas, they tasted a lot like banana bread.  Yum!  They yielded 24 mini muffins, with enough left over to make a mini loaf.

Well, I hope this recipe helps some of you with little ones that have a mind of their own when it comes to food.  I'm hoping to make a few more adjustments (maybe wheat flour?), or adding more veggies.  Whatever it takes to get them eating their fruits and veggies, right?  Until next time... have a great week!


Allison

Sara Jane: Apple Cider Vinegar...Wart treatment???

Alright folks, this is probably my most random entry ever but I have to share with you an exciting tip I received.

My oldest daughter has had a plantar wart on her big toe for about a year.  I feel like I have tried the over-the-counter salicylic acid  (Compound W) 20 times in the last year.  A few months ago, I gave up on this wart and decided I would try again later.  However, when I went back to try again, there was ANOTHER wart on her other big toe.  Ahhh!  When I went to the store to get more wart remover, ran into a friend who said she had just seen something about apple cider vinegar getting rid of warts. What?!?  I ran home and looked it up on the internet and sure enough, there were hundreds of testimonials that it would work.

That night I got to work.  I made a q-tip size cotton ball, soaked it in the vinegar, pressed it against the wart and covered it with a band aid.  All the testimonials said it did hurt pretty bad but within about 3 or 4 days the pain was gone and so was the wart.

The first night, no pain.  The skin was definitely dying around the wart the next day though.  The second day, however, my daughter was extremely upset by how bad her toe hurt.  That night, it took her a long time to fall asleep because of the pulsing pain in her toe.  The next day, more skin was dead and the wart was black.  By the third day of trying this, I gave up because of her constant complaining.  Abraham and I decided we had better take her in and have a doc take care of it.  Better the doctor put her through pain than us, right?

So, here we are a week later (I waited a week so the skin on her toe could heal.  I was afraid the doc would think I was a bit nuts :).  Yesterday I took Penelope to the foot specialist and to my surprise, she praised the work I had done on her foot and said that Apple Cider Vinegar is actually one of the greatest remedies for warts if you can get through the pain.  AND that wart that I have been working on for the last year is actually gone!  All that is left is dead skin.  IT WORKED!!!!!!  As for the little wart on her other big toe, the doc put something on it and today it is killing Penelope :)  Oh well...you can't win them all.  

We are all about doing stuff the natural way when we can and I am so glad to have found this remedy.  Has anyone else ever tried it and had good results???

Allison: 14 Day of Valentines and Kids' Crafts

Hello!  Remember me?  Yeah... life has been a little crazy, but I thought I'd share a fun activity I've been doing all month.  My husband, Brent, might be the hardest person to shop for... IN THE WORLD.  He might counter saying that I'm the hard one to shop for, but don't listen to him.  So I jumped on Pinterest for help, and came across a fun idea: "The 14 Days of Valentines".  I saw a couple of variations, but the idea was the same: a gift/act/service each day for your significant other.

I won't go into what I did too much, but really enjoyed surprising my husband with goodies in his car on the way to work, or leaving fun notes for him to find on the front door, or on the bathroom mirror.  My sweet husband LOVES sushi, so when I came across the candy sushi idea, I knew it would be perfect.  I found a video tutorial here, and found it to be pretty easy, and kind of fun.  My two-year-old was also a fan!  I surprised him further with some actual sushi for dinner.

My husband thought it was fun, and I got the credit for being creative.  

I tried to coordinate each activity with the day of the week.  For example, Brent has meetings Monday mornings, not always allowing him time for lunch.  So I packed up the girls, and we dropped him lunch at work.  

Saturday morning, we made Brent breakfast.  I saw this idea for pancakes, but had a little trouble with the hearts.  :)  

Here we are at day 12.  I know it's a little early, but we decided to make Brent some Valentines.  I knew that mixing my two-year-old with paint, might be a recipe for disaster... but it turned out okay.  I saw the idea on Pinterest of using empty toilet paper rolls, shaped into hearts.  But I had a hard time getting it to work just right, and decided to use a cookie cutter instead.  It worked great, and Isla enjoyed creating this pretty picture.

Norah's valentine was a little easier, as she just laid there, drinking her bottle while I painted her feet.  :) I like how it turned out.

Doesn't Brent have some cute little Valentines??  Two more days of surprises to go!  What are you doing for your significant other?  Hope you all have a Happy Valentine's Day!


Allison

Allison: Valentine Wreath Giveaway!!

*****  GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED  *****

Hello!  I know... it's been too long.  But I have a fun way to make it up to you.  How about a give away?  I was looking through my Valentine's board on Pinterest, and found this cute wreath.  I knew I had the supplies to make it, so I attempted one myself.  A few months ago, I found some great 1/2 wreath forms at Target in their dollar section.  They're great, because they lay flat against the door.  I knew I'd have a reason to use them eventually.  It's that very thinking that has my crafting supplies busting out of every storage space of my house.

It took me about 40 minutes to wrap the wreath in yarn (10 minutes here and there), and not much longer to cut out 12 hearts from scrap felt I had from other projects.  I used a cookie cutter as my template and cut the heart out of a cereal box.  (We're real sophisticated around here.)

I used a tiny dab of hot glue to secure each heart in place, until I could wrap them with yarn.  It was such a fast and easy project!  I was going to write up a tutorial, but after I finished, I clicked on the pin that had originally inspired me, and found a great tutorial found here.  Go figure.  :)

So... here's the giveaway questions:

What's your favorite way to spoil your significant other on Valentine's Day?

Or...

What's your favorite way to be spoiled on Valentine's Day?

Leave a comment below, and Monday morning I'll randomly select a reader to win this cute, 9" Valentine's Wreath.  I hope you all have a great weekend!



Allison

Allison: Christmas Card Books

Hello, and Happy New Year! It feels like forever since I've posted and I figured it was time to get back in the routine.

I have many resolutions this year, but one that always seems to make the list is to stay organized. I thrive in an organized environment and usually feel completely lost in mess and disorder. Needless to say that with a two-year-old, I usually find myself in the later situation.

Post-Christmas is usually a time I feel a little stressed as the house is overflowing with new toys and gifts, and a plethora of decorations that need to be stored. I always feel a little sad as the cards and pictures from family and friends get taken down. Last year, I stumbled upon a fun way to keep those special cards organized and cherished for years to come: Christmas Card Books.

I simply organized the cards of each year by size, punched holes, scrapbooked a cover and held them together with rings. To personalize them a little further, I added a significant event or two from the year to the cover. I then store them with my other Christmas decor and now we can see how our friends have grown and changed each year.

Look at Sara's adorable family!!  :)

I hope you all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to all this new year will bring. Have a great week!


Allison

Sara Jane: Microwave Caramels

Hey everyone.  Sorry I've been a slacker.  Our advent calendar kind of took over around here and its been fantastic :)  Tonight, the advent calendar insisted we go caroling with our lovely friends.  It was perfect!  

For our goodies plate that we handed out while caroling, I made a delicious and simple caramel that I had to share with you.  These caramels weren't the absolute best I have ever had but they were pretty stinkin' good and only took SIX minutes to make.  Yes, you read that correct.  SIX MINUTES!  I found the original recipe here.

6-MINUTE CARAMELS

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup white sugar1/2 cup brown sugar1/2 cup light Karo syrup1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
sea salt

Directions:

First, line a dish with parchment paper and lightly spray with cooking oil.  Next, Combine all dry ingredients in a large microwavable bowl.  Mix together.  Add butter.  You don't need to mix it in.  Just stick it in.  Then, in the microwave, cook for six minutes, stirring every two minutes.  Be careful when you take the bowl out...its going to get hot!  After your six minutes are up, pour into greased dish.  Again, the bowl will be VERY hot so be careful when you do this.  

After I poured my mixture into my dish, I sprinkled a good amount of sea salt on top because I like salt on my caramel.  If you don't like salt, omit.  

Since I needed my caramel to set quickly, I put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes.  After it had cooled enough that I could work with it, I took it out, cut it into little logs (about 2 inches by 1/2 inches) and wrapped them up in parchment paper.  

There you have it.  I hope you are all having a very enjoyable December.  

Sara Jane