Living the Mad Dash

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.

Now I can set my tastebuds for something else. There are a few steps involved, but they went by quickly. I hope you get to try these.

Y'all, it's late - I know it. But technicallyit's still Valentine's Day. I threatened to post this story a year ago and then- well, life happened. It's back. May your little ones be tucked away in bed and you find yourself blessed with some one-on-one time with your Love.

This is NOT my recipe - all credit goes to the author: Siri Daly. I caught this on a Valentine's Day episode of the Today Show. Frankly, it's worth Googling to watch the entire segment on cooking a special dinner for busy parents. "Just a Few" Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies are delicious and soooo quick to prepare.

Short work is made of a few ingredients that come together to satisfy a taste for chocolate and cookie...but not exactly chocolate cookie. You see, the butter is melted! You don't have to spend time creaming the butter and sugar...you can get on with the good stuff and get these bad boys in the oven.

Because the recipe really is for "just a few" you'll only need small amounts of ingredients. A teaspoon of milk that you can steal from milk that you were going to serve with breakfast? Easy. No one will even notice it's missing.

I did deviate slightly. I added some chopped pecans and skewed my recipe a little more heavily towards the brown sugar than the white. Just the flavors I like. I mean- that WE like.

Just one more pic and I'm sending you to the recipe, I promise! These are always a hit- and they really could be ready in the time it has taken you to read this post. Certainly you'll be able to eat them all by the time your kids stumble out of bed because they smell cookies. Just kidding! I hope they don't wake anybody.