Red Velvet Cupcakes

I love red velvet cake. I first fell in love because it is a far superior vehicle for cream cheese frosting than carrot cake. Cream cheese frosting makes everything better. I had a block of cream cheese in the fridge just begging to be turned into frosting. Miss F was a huge helper with these cupcakes, much more than her usual prepping the muffin tins with paper liners. The only issue with her helping in the kitchen is that she stands on one of our kitchen chairs, which makes getting around the kitchen a bit tricky.  She is still working on learning the difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon, but she is really getting to enjoy cooking and baking.  Be mindful of the cook time on these and be sure to check on them right at 20 minutes, which was just perfect.  Thanks to Tide and Thyme for the perfect recipe.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2 ½ cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 to 2 teaspoons red gel food coloring
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt into a medium bowl; set aside. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes.

Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go. Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula. Add the gel food coloring, a drop or two at a time, until a deep red color is reached.

In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda. Add the vinegar mixture to the cake batter and stir well to combine. Using an ice cream scoop, fill cupcake cups with cake batter. Bake the muffin tins on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree oven. Bake for approximately 20 to 22 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in their tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese
4 ounces butter
3 ¾ cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Cream the butter, cheese and salt in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar until incorporated, then add the vanilla and salt.

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Sweet Corn and Pea Ravioli with Creamy Basil Sauce

It was time to break out my birthday gift to make another batch of ravioli.  Which once again, meant I needed my hand sous chef, Miss F, to assist.  She and C were at the zoo that afternoon and had called me saying they were too hot to walk home.  I drove over to pick them up and immediately put my little chef to work.  She was a tremendous help.  I used the recipe for the pasta from our cooking class at the Four Seasons, it was much preferable to the recipe that came with the pasta roller.  I created the filling and the sauce on my own, it is exactly how I prefer my ravioli.  It was incredibly delicious and I went back for seconds.  C has requested butternut squash ravioli and Miss F has requested chocolate strawberry ravioli next...

Sweet Corn and Pea Ravioli with Creamy Basil Sauce

1 ¾ cups flour
1 cup semolina flour
6 egg yolks
3 tablespoons wine
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter
2 cobs of corn, kernels removed from cob
¾ cup frozen peas, thawed
1 teaspoon dried parsley
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup cream
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
¼ cup basil, cut into chiffonade
¼ teaspoon pepper

Stir together the flour, semolina, egg yols, wine, water, oil and salt. If the dough doesn't come together, add a little more water, a teaspoon at a time. Form into a ball. Let rest for two hours. Roll the pasta per your pasta rollers instructions. Cut into 2 ½” squares.

In a largeskillet, heat the butter over medium heat. Add the corn, peas and herbs. Saute for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the parmesan cheese.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of the corn and pea mixture onto half of the pasta squares. Brush the edges of each with water and lay a second square overtop, pressing to seal. Set aside.

In the same skillet, add the cream to any leftover corn and peas. Bring the cream to a simmer over medium heat, reduce heat to low. Stir in the Parmesan, basil and pepper.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the raviolis for two minutes, drain and toss with the creamy basil sauce.

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Texas Peach Pie

The other day I realized I had never blogged a plain peach pie before. It's peach season here in Texas and we are tearing through huge bowl fulls of fresh peaches and nectarines. The biggest effort for this pie is peeling the peaches, which is made easier by blanching them first. The peach skin stained my wood cutting board a deep purplish blue, it was the oddest thing. It all came out in the wash though. Miss F has really taken to helping make pie crusts, she is a master food processor operator. Serve this pie with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream and you are ready for summer.  This recipe is adapted from both Martha Stewart and Food & Wine.

Texas Peach Pie

2 ½ cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold butter
3 to 4 tablespoons ice water

8 large, ripe but firm peaches (3 ½ pounds)
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
1 ½ tablespoons butter, thinly sliced

Pulse flour, sugar and salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, add ice water in a slow steady stream until mixture just begins to hold together.

Shape dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour or up to 3 days, before using. When ready, roll out ¾ of the dough into a 10” circle. Press the dough into a 9” pie pan and put it in the refrigerator. Place the remaining dough back into the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic wrap.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bring a large pan of water to a boil and make a large bowl of ice water. Score an “X” into the bottom of each of the peaches. Boil each peach for a minute, then put straight into the bowl of ice water. Peel the peaches, then slice into wedges.

In a large bowl, stir together the peaches, sugar, lemon juice and flour. Pour the peaches into the refrigerated pie crust and top with the sliced butter. Roll out the remaining dough into six 1 ½“ strips, weave the strips overtop of the pie and crimp the edges.

Place the pie on a cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees and cover the edges of the pie with foil, bake for 40 minutes more. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and cool. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

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