Cupcake Creamsicle’s

Cupcake Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
7 Tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup self-rising flour 
2 teaspoon orange flavoring, orange oil, or orange liquor
(May use 1/2 teaspoon almond extract instead of the suggested 1 tsp.vanilla extract.)

2-3 Tablespoons milk

Directions :

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. (I bake them at 375* F) Line a 12 cup muffin tin with baking paper cups. Put all the ingredients except for the milk into a food processor and blend until smooth.
Pulse while adding the milk down the funnel to make for a soft consistency.It doesn't seem like enough batter, but it will all work out, scrape every bit from the bowl and try to fill each cup equally. Bake for 15-20 or until they are golden on top. (These are perfectly baked in 14 to 15 minutes @ 375* in my oven) It's best to start checking them at 12 minutes.

Orange Cream Cheese Icing

1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter softened

8 oz softened Cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp orange flavoring, orange oil, or orange liquor

Combine the room temperature butter and cream cheese together in a mixer with a paddle attachment. Slowly add the sugar 1/4 cup at a time and add the orange flavoring at the end. For the easiest results put the icing in piping bag with the tip of your choice and pipe onto cupcakes.

Basic Muffin Recipe ~ Sweet

INGREDIENTS:

Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup white sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 egg About 1/3 cup milk  or buttermilk 1 cup of additions fruit, nuts, etc.

Crumb Topping

1/2 cup brown or white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, cubed at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2.	Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in fruit, nuts or whatever. Fill muffin cups with a 4 tablespoon ice cream scoop, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3.	To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar or brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4.	Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Challenges

I spend a lot of time watching food shows on television and one of my favorites is a show called "Chopped." Contestants, who are from a variety of culinary backgrounds, are given a basket of ingredients and are challenged to come up with a better dish than the rest of the contestants. There three rounds ~ Appetizers, Entree, & Dessert ~ one contestant is eliminated in each round.

I like this show because when the ingredients in the baskets are announced I run through ideas in my head and it gets me thinking about what flavors combinations I would add to come up with a winning dish.

Building on the Chopped theme I give myself a monthly technique challenge and this month's is to nail the Southern style biscuit. Today, I am patiently wait for my delivery from King Arthur's Flour Company because in order to make a light fluffy biscuit instead of one like a hockey puck I'll need certain flour milled from Winter Wheat grown in the south.

This is the recipe I'll use for my first batch ~ Bakewell Cream Biscuits