Something Sweet, Something Cheesy, and Something Lonely

First let's do the something sweet.  Twas my very good friend Donnie's golden birthday this weekend and as I met him whilst working at Starbucks and he has furthered his career with the coffee giant, I felt some sort of Starbucks-themed cupcakes would be relevant and fun.  I'd seen some variation on Pinterest and decided to make Caramel Frappucino Cupcakes. 


Yes this may require some theft of Starbucks Venti straws.  (Your straws went to a good cause, *$ :) ) .


So these are pretty involved and took some time because of the filling, but the filling is delicious so I don't recommend leaving it out.  Also, I made monstrous sized cupcakes.  Don't over fill the tins if you don't want them to look like they are on steroids.  


Caramel Frappucino Cupcakes 

Adorable and Delicious - May be my favorites yet!

For the Cupcakes: (Cupcakes and filling based on Kim's Kitchen)

• 3/4 cup whole or low-fat milk
• 2 package of Starbucks Via Instant Coffee
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 3 cups cake flour (I actually used all-purpose and it worked fine)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup butter at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cup white sugar
• 4 eggs, yolks and whites separated
• 1/4 cup sour cream

Heat the milk in the microwave or on the stove until hot – stop short of a simmer. Stir in the instant coffee until well blended. Add the vanilla and set aside.

Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, soda, salt,  and cocoa.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment until creamed. It should be slightly fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time.

Add 2/3 of the flour mixture and the sour cream. Add the remaining flour mixture and milk. Beat until smooth.

Scrape all the batter out into a separate bowl and wash the mixer bowl thoroughly.

Switch to the whisk attachment and beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. They will hold a stiff peak but they will still slip around a little in the bowl.
Fold the egg whites into the cake batter gently, folding the batter around until well combined.

Fill cupcake liners with batter and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes (they baked up surprisingly fast).

Let cool. 

For the Coffee Mousse - (I actually recommend cutting this recipe in half because I had TONS leftover and now it's all sitting in my fridge to torment me at night.) 

• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 package of Starbucks Via Caramel flavored coffee  (I am an idiot.  I went to Starbucks just to get this - well and to steal a few venti straws - and saw Iced Coffee Via and thought that would be better since I would be more likely to actually use it.  I didn't pay attention and bought regular  - So to solve the problem, I used regular caramel (the kind you put on ice cream cause I had it already in my fridge) and it worked deliciously.  If you go this route so you don't have to buy two kinds of Via or instant coffee, just add a whole bunch of caramel.  Maybe like 1/3 cup).  
• 2 1/2 cups chilled whipping cream

Whisk sugar, yolks, water and Starbucks via in large metal bowl.  Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bowl to touch water); whisk until candy thermometer registers 160°F, about 8 minutes. (I do not have such a  thermometer. I pretty much just kept touching it until it was super hot) 

Remove bowl from over water. Using electric mixer, beat egg mixture until cool and thick, about 5 minutes.  

Beat cream in another large bowl until stiff peaks form.  Fold into egg mixture.  

Caramel Coffee Mousse Filling :)

Caramel Buttercream Frosting: (From Martha Stewart)

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 package (16 ounces) confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, plus more if needed
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat until nut-brown in color, about 8 minutes. Remove pan from heat and pour butter into a bowl, leaving any burned sediment behind; let cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add confectioners' sugar, vanilla, salt, and butter. With the mixer on low, slowly add cream; beat until smooth. If frosting seems too thick, stir another tablespoon cream into the mixture

  

Fill the cooled cupcakes by pouring mousse into a pastry bag fitted with a piping tip and squeeze until the mousse bubbles over a bit.  Frost with a large flower tip to look like Starbucks whipped cream and drizzle with caramel.  The site I used for the cupcakes has what looks to be a delicious recipe for caramel, however, I am cheap and lazy and had ice cream caramel in the fridge from a previous cupcake excursion.  Cut Starbucks venti straws into about 4 pieces each and stick out of the cupcakes.

I printed a bunch of Starbucks logos off and created little strips to wrap around the bottom of the cupcakes to complete the look. These were a huge hit at the party.


Next for the cheesy!!! 

Quinoa Mac and Cheese: 


Alright, this is another one snagged from Pinterest and as you may have read in my previous posts, I am on a huge quinoa kick.  I tried red quinoa for this which tastes about the same, but maybe isn't as pretty for this purpose so ignore that as far as the photos go and use whichever quinoa you prefer.  This probably wasn't that healthy because I used a hell of a lot of cheese.  Can you blame me?  Sometimes I like to convince myself that cheese isn't actually bad for you.

This is altered from: Around the Table

• 1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed and drained
• Veggies of your choice (optional) (I didn't have any on hand so I did without)
• good pinch of salt
• a few grinds of seasoning salt (Didn't have - Used chipotle seasoning)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup non-fat milk
• 1 1/2 cups grated Cheddar cheese, more for sprinkling (I always have a ton of cheese so I decided to use it.  I used about 1/2 cup graded Cheddar, 1/2 cup shredded Mexican, 1/4 fresh shredded gouda, and about 1/4 cup or so shredded Parmesan.  A totally different taste and it was delicious) 
• Panko bread crumbs for topping 

Cook quinoa to packaged instructions until fully cooked. (About 15 minutes) (I like to cook it in chicken broth)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat 13x9 inch dish( or 8 individual ramekins) with cooking spray.Whisk together eggs and milk in large bowl. Fold in quinoa mixture and cheese. Stir very well and let some of the cheese melt.  Transfer to prepared baking dish and if using Panko Crumbs or Bread add now and bake 30-35 mins, until bread crumbs are browned. 


I, as usual, enjoyed this with some Greek yogurt and Srihacha ( I can't spell that word even though I use it every day).


OK Last: The Lonely


Made a new cover song video.  Christina Perri's "The Lonely".  Enjoy.