Applesauce Cake Cupcakes

Hello, fellow foodies!

I am at home on spring break for a week which means I finally have had the opportunity to make more noms! My wonderful boyfriend came to visit this weekend, and, loving to bake and cook as we do, we decided to make cupcakes yesterday. As I've said before, I'm a big fan of winging it with just a little bit of help from the internet. After raiding the pantry to see what we had in stock, I came across a bit of applesauce. Now, there's a woman at my church who is notorious for making delicious baked goods with applesauce, so I wanted to give it a go. Applesauce cake? Yes, ma'am! But I wanted my Southern gentleman to have something to take home with him, so I decided on turning the cake into cupcakes with my magic shrink-cake-ray. And for the icing? Lots of recipes recommended cream cheese frosting, and while I was all for it, there was none to be found in the house. However, we had sour cream in moderate amounts, and wouldn't you know! Yes, you can make frosting out of sour cream.

(Question food friends, is it frosting or icing? I think our result was more like icing or a glaze. Meh. It's creamy and sweet and it goes on cupcakes. I don't really care what you call it.)

Anyways, the end result tasted GREAT, and these babies haven't lasted real long in the house. Below are the borrowed recipes with a bit of Jess's mess thrown in. The original Amish applesauce cake recipe comes from Oasis Newsfeatures and the icing recipe was adapted from the one used on this pumpkin cake from Fat Girl in a Skinny Body.

Happy baking!



Applesauce Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup Miracle Whip
1/2 milk
1 1/2 cups applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt.
In a large bowl, cream the sugar, Miracle Whip, and milk together. Beat in the applesauce and vanilla.
Gradually add the dry mix to the wet.
Line muffin tin with cupcake liners. Spoon batter into liners so that each one is 2/3 full.
Bake for 18-20 minutes, testing with a toothpick.
Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before adding icing.


Cinnamon Sour Cream Icing
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sour cream
4 tbsp butter (room temp)
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tbsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

Instructions:
Cream all the ingredients together with an electric mixer.
Spoon onto cooled cupcakes.
Keep cupcakes refrigerated.


Blogger's tip: This icing is also great for cinnamon rolls!

From the Far East to the Deep South

Ok, so I’m not sure exactly how deep south from whence BBQ supposedly originated, and I understand that “BBQ” means totally different things depending on where you land. My boyfriend is from Maryland, and I’m from Pennsylvania, so I categorize him as “southern” even though he usually objects. Anyways, the idea for this recipe is this: in my second attempt at making this version of “easy” Sweet and Sour Chicken from Made It. Ate It. Loved It., I think I stumbled upon a pretty good BBQ sauce recipe.

The first time I tried making this Sweet and Sour Chicken, the recipe kind of tanked. First off, my family doesn't like Chinese food—yeah, even American Chinese. But when I’m home from college, I like to, uh, experiment on them. I've gotten them to eat chicken and fried rice so far, and this was my next attempt. However, I ended up using way too much vinegar, and the sauce was thin, sour, and just all-around gross. Needless to say, the family wasn't thrilled.

So . . . round two! Right now, I’m taking an intercession (two-week, three-credit) course at college before the real semester kicks off. I've been staying off-campus to save a bit of cash, and I've gotten used to making my own one-person meals for the last week and a half since I'm not on my regular cafeteria plan. I figured, since it's just me this time, I’d give the recipe another go. After looking down through the comments on the original recipe post, I saw that a lot of people substituted brown sugar for white. Also, I like to spice things up a bit, so I threw in a bit of this and that. What I ended up with wasn't so much sweet and sour sauce as it was good old ‘MURICAN barbecue. Go figure, though. All of the ingredients are the same as other BBQ sauces, and the sugar proportions are in line for the standard of American cuisine. Anyways, I’d make the sauce again just for grilling up some chicken.

So, here ya go! Let me know if you like it, or what you decided to change. Feel free to mess with the measurements yourself to get it just right. My basic strategy is dump-and-cook, so the measurements given are approximate. Also, the amounts listed are good for one personal-size chicken portion (two chicken tenders or one breast), so you'll have to scale it up if you're cooking for a crowd.

Ingredients:

4 tbsp Ketchup

1 tbsp Vinegar

1 ½ tbsp Brown Sugar

½ tsp Chili Powder

½ tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp Minced Onion (I used the McCormick stuff my hostess had in her pantry.)

Salt and Pepper if you roll like that

Instructions:

Mix it all up, and add a bit more ketchup if the sauce looks too thin. Take it easy on the vinegar unless you like your BBQ extra tangy.

Slather it on your chicken, grill it, bake it, whatever. Enjoy!


Update (3/4/14): I'm trying the BBQ sauce on slow cooked spare ribs tonight. Looking good!

Another Food Blog?

Yup. Just what the internet needs!

What's this mean for me? Another project that will likely be abandoned in the next year. I have over-achiever DIY-ADD. Trust me, it's a thing. I can't say how many things I've started and left unfinished--books, crafts, sewing projects . . . The list is endless. And when is a blog really ever "finished" anyways?

But in the meantime, until I get bored with this, I hope to share some humor and food with my readers.

I developed an interest in cooking about two years ago, and since then I've been both terrorizing and pleasing friends and family with my occasionally Frankenstein-esque food creations. As noted, I'm a full time college student, so sadly my cooking time is limited. However, when I'm back home, nothing delights me more than making my family eat their vegetables.

I've rarely made up my own recipe. Mostly I just tweak what I find on Pinterest, but isn't that what most people do? Anywho, this will be the place where I share what I find, make, eat, and tweak. Suggestions are welcome! I'm game for most foods, but I steer clear of sauerkraut and pickled eggs. (Just like any sane person who's grown up in Pennsylvania Dutch country would, right?) I hate mustard, I put ketchup on my eggs, and pumpkin-flavored goodies make me happy. I'll cook almost anything in a skillet.

And I solemnly swear to always, always make a mess.