Living the Mad Dash

Today, I baked. Yes I know everyone is out there baking these beautiful breads and whipped coffees and mini-pancake that you eat like cereal. And I have been consuming lots of food that I’ve cooked. I might’ve made a baled treat or two early on, meant to satisfy a need for sweets. But so far in this quarantine time, I’ve been good getting my food hug from a bottomless cup of coffee with lots of almond milk and sugar. I don’t think I’ve known what to think - whether to worry, or relax in the ‘this too shall pass’ wisdom. So I’ve kept my eyes on the next few steps in front of me. Telecommuting for work. Virtual homeschooling. Guilt for the extended screen time. A long walk to compensate for it. Wash those never-ending dirty dishes. What week are we even in at this point? Today, I needed the special mental retreat that is working from a recipe I know by heart that delivers a hearty warmth that I can hold in the palm of my hand and eat. It feels like somebody loves me. Surprise, it’s me. I made that cookie.

Back to basics tonight for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. This recipe is straight from the under lid of the Quaker Oats oatmeal container. Not everyone has had great experience with this recipe, I’ve heard. I wonder if it’s like styling an outfit. Two people can put the same pieces of clothing on, but the outfit can look totally different depending on how you pull it together. For my cookies, I pile the dough in a mound and add a dimple in the center which seems to help it bake in more evenly. Plus, I ‘styled’ them with chocolate chips.
I hope you and yours are safe, secure and feeling loved.

I can spend all day in a kitchen. Baking is therapeutic for me. Time does not always permit - but I still have sugar needs. Lately I've been chasing this berry cheesecake flavor- something like this special edition of Ben & Jerry's Blueberry Cheesecake ice cream I had several summers ago now (thanks a load, guys!).

Late in the day Sunday it kicked up again. But there wasn't time to get into heavy duty baking. Normally I'm a 'from-scratch' girl but I did some pantry scouring and googling to line up my shortcuts with ingredients on-hand. I found a box of Pillsbury Purely Simple White Cake mix, some strawberries in the fridge. And a recipe for strawberry frosting. These turned out SO well, that I need to write it down.

I'll be honest that when I used this cake mix in the past I was underwhelmed. It lacked character and flavor. Soooo, a google search landed me a tip or two to enrich box cake:

use only egg whites, and replace the fat from missing yolks with 2 tablespoons of butter - source here: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/18513_cake_over_how_to_make_boxed_cake_mix_better/

Additionally, I added 1 teaspoon vanilla extract to the cake mix.

I found a recipe for strawberry cream cheese frosting, and I didn't change a thing: https://joyfulhomemaking.com/2014/07/vanilla-cupcakes-with-fresh-strawberry-frosting.html I sped the cooling process for the puree by placing it in a shallow bowl and into the freezer.

Did I tell you these were to be cupcakes?

At assembly time, I did something a little different. The frosting recipe called for only 1/4 of the strawberry puree. Any more and the icing became too loose. But I really wanted those strawberries in my cupcakes! Rather than use the strawberry reduction for something else, I scooped 1 or 2 spoons of the frosting (all the sweet stuff) and added it to puree. You see what I did there? A little bit of sweetness that complemented the strawberry tartness.

I used a decorator's tip and bag to insert the strawberry reduction into each cupcake. Kind of sounds fancy, but it was not. Also, I totally thought I was overflowing the middle with it. Not even close, teehee. Note to self: push further into the cupcake with the tip, and do it in stages to allow it to absorb into the cake more.

This step is what made these cupcakes soooo good. I got a strawberry cheesecake vibe from the frosting, but when matched with the buttery taste of the cake and that super strawberryfilling...man. It really made for a complete experience.