Key Limes

Today I was hanging out in my backyard when I discovered that we have a Key Lime Tree back there. I haven't had key limes since I was a teenager! I was inspecting the tree and I think I'll have key limes in a couple of months. Now, my question is: Does anyone want to share recipes that use Key Limes? Because all I can do with Key Limes is Limeade and Key Lime Pie, I would like to do something different with them.

Blue & Red for St. Valentines Day

I moved to a new house last month, this is like the 5th house I've lived in so far. Last week I was reading about one of Vogue's previous editors-in-chief in this month's Domino magazine and realized that this lady (she must be in her 50's or 60's) had lived in less houses than I had.I have to stop moving so much. So, I haven't been able to bake anything because apparently I'm cursed. First there was the dilemma of the kitchen being tinier than the previous one & there was no space for the stove, so after moving stuff around my mom and I ended up putting it where the fridge was supposed to go. After that we had to install the gas for the stove, but apparently the walls here are made of titanium or something because the guy that came to install the gas couldn't make a single hole in the wall for the gas line, so we ended up with no gas and a wall full of holes. Anyway, my mom called some other guy to install the gas line, he succeeded, but three days later the oven died. We have no clue why since the stove isn't even a year old. Apparently the Bakery Gods don't think we are meant to bake in this house. Since I've been cursed, I'll leave you with some cupcakes I did last month.
I baked some red velvet cupcakes. This time I tried a different recipe because even though I liked the other recipe, it seemed too dry for my taste. Me and my best friend decided to bake cupcakes for St. Valentines. We both wanted to bake Red Velvet Cupcakes shaped like hearts, she brought her pan to my house and we set everything to bake, but we couldn't decide which recipe to do. We looked at a few recipes and ended up deciding for a recipe from Smitten Kitchen, mainly because it used butter instead of vegetable oil. The cupcakes turned out very moist and we could barely keep ourselves from eating them as soon as they would come out from the oven. I specially loved the shade of red they had, it was very deep and somehow they looked almost natural, like the cupcakes were that shade and not like we had used two bottles of red food coloring. I frosted mine with a Speckled Cinnamon Frosting from Martha Stewart and my friend frosted hers with the traditional cream cheese frosting. The frosting I used was a very good substitute for those that don't like the sweetness of butter cream and for those that are tired of the traditional cream cheese frosting. I only had a minor problem with it, apparently I wasn't patient enough when during the cooking, because the frosting even though fluffy had a strange consistency. Other than that, it was so good that I could have eaten it alone with a spoon, very soft and fluffy with a hint of buttery goodness.

Quick Update

Oh my god! I cannot believe that I haven't posted anything here since October! Time does pass by fast!

Anyway, I'll just do a quick show and tell of what I've been doing lately and if anyone's interested in a particular recipe, just ask for it.

Carrot-Pumpkin Cupcakes. It's like I'm obsessed with that combination, but these were very different because the had walnuts and coconut and were extremely moist. So moist that they would break apart while eating it. Got the recipe from verybestbaking.com


Chocolate on Chocolate Cupcakes with Pepermint Bark Garnish. I made them for my brother because he's very picky, and almost never eats my cupcakes. They were good, if you are a chocoholic. Got the recipe from A Baker's Field Guide for Cupcakes by Dede Wilson.


Pumpkin and mascarpone pie. It was a good pie, I've had better, but it was good. What made this pie good was the mascarpone whipped cream topping, which would be awesome on top of some cupcakes. I don't remember where I got the recipe, I just have it written down in one of my recipe notebooks.


Butter Pecan Ice Cream. Making ice cream is easy, but not as easy as I thought it would be, but it was totally worth it. It was creamy, rich and full of flavor, the pecans added a salty note to the ice cream. Eating store bought ice cream will never be the same after this ice cream. Got the recipe from http://www.ice-cream-recipes.com

Open Face Breakfast Sandwich

I got this recipe from Domino Magazine, it quick and easy for lazy mornings when you don't really want to cook, but don't want to eat cold cereal again for the millionth consecutive time.

Egg Benedict for a Crowd
Makes:12

non-stick cooking spray
12 slices Canadian Bacon
12 eggs
6 English muffins, split
6 tablespoons butter, softened
chives, for garnish

Preheat oven to 375F. Put two 6-cup silicon muffin trays on a baking sheet (I used regular sized tin muffin pans) and coat well with cooking spray. Crack an egg into each muffin cup, cover each egg with a slice of Canadian Bacon. Butter the English muffin and place the buttered-side down on top of the bacon. Bake 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest 5 minutes. Cover mufin pan with a plate (I used a baking sheet) and flip over, remove muffin pan. Spoon with the Bernie Sauce and sprinkle with the chives.

Bernie Sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Mix together the mayonaisse, mustard, pepper and lemon.

Pumpkin-Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese-Ginger Frosting

I've been dying to bake pumpkin cupcakes since August, I've been constantly searching for a can of pumpkin in the supermarkets, but I was told by a clerk that "canned pumpkin is only available during the Thanksgiving season". I don't get it, what's the point of canning food if it's only going to be available when in season? Maybe people don't buy canned pumpkin in this island util November, but still that pumkin is gonna stay edible at least two years from when it was first canned.
Anyway, so at last I got me some pumpkin and did the cupcakes, using as base a Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cupcakes from Simply Recipes. I really love the way they turned out, when you eat them you taste the spices and the sublte flavor of the pumpkin followed but the nice after taste of the carrots and walnuts. The cream cheese with the ginger compliments the spiciness of the cupcake. The candies on top are chocolate covered ginger. I've got to say that I'm actually very proud of this cupcakes.



Pumpkin-Carrot Cupcakes
Makes:17

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ginger, ground
1/8 teaspoon cloves, ground
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
1/2 cup buttermilk
½ cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup carrot, shredded

-Preheat oven to 350 F. Cream the butter, brown sugar, molasses and honey, until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add one at a time, the eggs, then the pumpkin and vanilla; beat until incorporated.
-In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and the spices. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternatively to the pumpkin batter. Add the walnuts and carrot stirring until just combined.
-Pour into paper lined cupcake pans, filling close to the tops (I used an ice cream scoop) and bake 18 minutes or until done. Let cool completely.

Cream Cheese-Ginger Frosting

8oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter
½ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons ginger spread
-In the bowl of an electric mixer, put the cream cheese, ginger spread, butter and brown sugar on medium speed until smooth. Refrigerate 30 minutes if too soft.

Naranja Cupcakes

In Puerto Rico oranges are called chinas, in the rest of latinamerica oranges are naranjas, but in Puerto Rico naranjas are bitter oranges that I don't have a clue what they would be called in english. Some think we call the oranges chinas because they would arrive to the ports in boxes that said "made in china", but this theory to me sounds kinda made up. The naranjas are not eaten in Puerto Rico, only the zest and pith are used to make dulce de naranja, a kind of preserve cooked in heavy syrup for a few hours. But I decided to use them for something something other than the dulce de naranja! For I don't think it's fair for the poor fruit to be tossed away... yes, I made cupcakes with them. I used a Seville Orange recipe from Dressing for Dinner with a few changes. The result was a bitter sweet combination, a soft dense cake with a hint of citrus paired with a strong sweet and sour icing.



Naranja Cupcakes
Makes:12

1/4 Lb sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 Lb self-raising flour
2 eggs
3 teaspoons naranja juice
1 1/2 teaspoons naranja zest
4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F, line a muffin tin with paper liners. In an electric mixer with the paddle attachment mix the butter and sugar until soft and creamy. Then add the eggs one at a time until it's all blended. Slowly add the flour in three additions alternating with the milk and vanilla, ending with the flour. Divide the batter into the muffin tin and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before icing.

Naranja Icing

1 stick unsalted butter
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup naranja juice
2 tablespoons orange zest

Cream the butter, then add 2 cups confectioners' sugar and mix. Add the naranja juice, zest and remaining cup of sugar; mix until all is well blended. Ice the cooled cupcakes

Childhood memories

Recently I went to visit my grandma at her farm in Aguas Buenas. There still a few fruit trees from when my grandpa used to work the land, he was a farmer. There used to be hundreds of banana and plantain trees, acerolas (caribbean cherries), guanabanas, limes, a huge mango tree, even papaya trees and oranges. I remember he even had a corn field from which he would kee some of the cobs. He used to dry them in the sun adn then he would toast them with sugar and out them in banana leaves to cool; I don't know how I never broke a tooth eating those things. My brother, my cousins and me would pick the limes from the tree and make lime juice after a long day playing in the farm and sometimes my grandpa would get coconuts from the coconut trees and serve us coconut water, I used to love to sit with a spoon and scrape the sweet white flesh from the coconuts insides. After lunch I would go with my grandma to the chicken coop, where I would help her get the eggs the chickens had layed before they began eating them (I think they get jealous from one another and try to destry each others eggs). Coffee! I miss picking coffee on the afternoons with grandma; she would place them outside to dry in the sun, then peel it in the pilon (mortat), toast it, to finally grind it... no coffee will ever be good enough for me after years of drinking our coffee. We lived about 5 minutes from the farm and sometimes I wish I could have stayed living in the country, but we moved to the city and even though we would visit weekly, it was never the same.