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chocolate coconut cupcakes

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I am truly lucky to be surrounded by family.  Life gets busy, but every month, we have a family lunch for all of us to share a meal and spend some quality time together.

There are many birthdays to be celebrated in November so of course, cake was in order. I tried out these chocolate coconut cupcakes from So, How’s it Taste? 

The cupcakes were really easy to make and were baked in less than 30 minutes. I decided to go with a classic cream cheese frosting, which paired really well with the coconut and the chocolate. To top it all off, I toasted some coconut in the oven while the cupcakes were baking, which provided the perfect crunch with every bite.

These were great and perfect to celebrate both the young and the young at heart.

Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes
From, So, How’s it Taste?

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. coconut extract
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup boiling water

Heat oven to 350°F.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil, vanilla, and coconut extract; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Gently fold in shredded coconut.

Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Fill cups 3/4 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes.

usa rice and seafood paella

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I was very excited to participate in a blogging opportunity featuring USA Rice.

In
our house, we mostly use Basmati and I was happy that I was able to
find one that was grown in the US, so that I could feature it in a
recipe. Normally, I cook rice in a rice cooker.  For this recipe though,
the stove top and oven were used for the delicious seafood paella.

Check out this video featuring one of Canada’s culinary experts, Rose Reisman.

Here are some interesting facts about rice:

The
U.S. is one of the largest exporters of rice, supplying about seven per
cent of the rice that enters world trade. Approximately 45 per cent of
the U.S. rice crop is exported to more than 100 countries.
There are approximately 30 mills in the U.S.
Canada produces no rice of its own. Canadian wild rice is not a true rice, but the seed of an aquatic grass.
Almost 70 per cent of rice consumed in Canada is grown in the U.S.
The U.S. produces over 40 commercial varieties of rice each year in paddy, brown, white, parboiled and precooked forms.
There
are thousands of rice varieties. At the International Rice Research
Institute Genetic Resources Centre in the Philippines, there are 80,000
rice samples in cold storage.
Rice is grown on every continent except Antarctica.
One
seed of rice yields more than 3,000 grains. It is the highest yielding
cereal grain and can grow in many kinds of environment and soils.

With
rice, the possibilities are endless but I decided on making paella. I
adapted this recipe from Ina Garten’s for lobster paella. I made this
savoury dish with lobster, prawns and mussels. Definitely a comforting
dish but sophisticated enough for entertaining.

Seafood Paella
Adapted from Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa

Olive oil
2 small onions, chopped
1 red pepper, sliced
1 orange pepper, sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups USA basmati rice
5 cups chicken stock
1/2 tsp saffron threads, crushed
1 lobster tail, cooked and chopped
1 pound prawns, cooked in butter
1 pound mussels, cooked
salt
pepper
parsley
lemon

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Heat the oil in a pot, add onions and cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Add the peppers and cook for another 5 minutes. Lower the heat, add the garlic, and cook for 1 minute longer.

Stir in the rice, chicken stock, saffron, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and place it in the oven. After 15 minutes, stir the rice gently and return in to the oven to bake uncovered for 15 more minutes, until the rice is fully cooked.

In the meantime, cook the seafood. I cooked the prawns and lobster in butter.

Transfer the paella back to the stove and add in the seafood. Cover the paella and allow it to steam for 10 minutes. Garnish with parsley and lemon.

a mickey birthday and a giveaway

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Yesterday was Q’s fifth birthday. I can’t believe he is five! He has brought so much joy to our lives and I am thankful for him everyday.

Since our Disney cruise is coming up, we have Mickey on our minds.  It made sense that the theme for his school celebration should be of our favourite mouse. Chocolate chip cupcakes were topped with buttercream, finished with a couple of mini Oreos made to look like Mickey ears.

To continue with the theme, I was eager to use my new Mickey Mouse cookie cutters. I rolled out some chocolate shortbread and made the cutest little cookies.

Want to win one of these Mickey cookie cutters for yourself? Just leave a comment, either here or on Facebook, telling me who your favourite Disney character is. Contest closes on Monday, November 11th at noon MST.

white chocolate mocha cupcakes

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Today is hubby’s birthday! Happy Birthday honey!!

Since our week is usually filled with tons of activities for Q, we celebrated with family over the weekend. We had a tandoor party and made some delicious stuffed naans. I’ll have to fill you in on this soon. As for cake, his request this year was for white chocolate mocha cupcakes.

After a few searches, I settled on a recipe from Ali from Gimme Some Oven. I’ve recently started following her and love all the food that she posts. Since it seemed like I was catching my son’s cold, I needed something quick and simple and this recipe seemed pretty easy.

The whipped frosting was so nice and light, and very reminiscent of a mocha drink. Dusted with cocoa powder and topped with a chocolate covered espresso bean, it was a birthday treat that hubby really enjoyed.

White Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes
From Gimme Some Oven

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso granules

Frosting:
6 oz. white chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 muffin tins with paper liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until combined.

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet until combined. Add the 1 ½ teaspoons of espresso granules to the cup of hot coffee and stir to combine. With mixer still on low, add in the coffee/espresso mixture and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. The batter will be really runny, but don’t worry!

Using a large scoop (about 3 tablespoons), distribute the batter into the prepared muffin tins. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then remove them onto a cooling rack and cool completely. Top with the white chocolate whipped cream frosting, and either serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 48 hours.

To Make The White Chocolate Whipped Cream Frosting:

Place the chopped white chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Melt, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, bring 1/2 cup of the cream to a boil in a small saucepan. When the chocolate is fully melted, move the bowl to a work surface and pour in the hot cream. Let stand for 1 minute. Stir gently until the cream is incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Let the chocolate/cream mixture stand until it is completely cool. The mixture must be at room temperature before it is added to the whipped cream.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream only until it holds the softest peaks. With the mixer on high speed, add the white chocolate all at once and continue to beat just until the mixture holds firm peaks. Transfer the cream to a bowl, press a piece of plastic wrap gently against the surface and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Once cooled, frost cupcakes as desired.

bubble guppies and a pizza party

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Q is turning five in a couple of weeks. Five! While deciding what we were going to do to celebrate half a decade, I realized I didn’t post pics from his last party, almost a year ago. Oops! Last year, Q was very much into Bubble Guppies. Since he also loves to help out in the kitchen, we combined his two favourite things and had a cooking party at Loblaw’s (aka Superstore).

They provided the activity – pizza making from scratch. All the kids got to decorate a chef’s hat and wear that along with an apron while they made their pizzas. The kids were shown how to make the dough, and they each got to roll their dough and put on their own toppings.

The parents got to chill, while the instructors taught the kids what to do,
helping with hand washing, dough kneading and decorating. It was
perfect!

Q’s little friends each got to decorate a cake and were able to take it home as their “loot bag”.

They even provided Q with a birthday cake. Talk about a no fuss party!

I was really impressed with the dough that they made. With very minimal rising time, it was actually a pretty good crust!  In fact, I have used this recipe many times since then, and it’s perfect, especially in a time crunch.

Easy Pizza Crust
Courtesy of Loblaw’s Cooking School

1 tsp sugar
1 cup warm water
3 tsp active dry yeast
2 TB vegetable or olive oil
2 1/2 to 3 cups flour
1 tsp salt

In a small bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle in yeast; let stand for 10 minutes or until foamy. Stir in oil.

Combine flour with salt. Stir with finger. Stir about 1/2 the flour mixture into the yeast mixture. Keep adding slowly until dough is sticky enough to take out of the bowl in a ball.

On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for about 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic.

Cover dough and let rest for 10 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll out into a 12-inch circle.

Transfer the pizza to a lightly greased baking sheet and stretch with fingers carefully to desired size.

Let rise for 15 minutes before going into the oven to bake. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until dough is fully cooked / golden brown.

prawns biryani

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Earlier this week, we celebrated Eid-Al-Adha, the festival of sacrifice. As with any major occasion, we celebrate with food. One dish that you will find at any special occasion, like Eid or a wedding, is biryani. Biryani is a rice dish topped with a reduced curry of chicken, beef or prawns.

I figured this Eid would be a great excuse to try out a new dish. I have been following Fauzia’s Kitchen Fun for a while and all her recipes look great. I was excited to give her Prawn Biryani a try. The recipe was easy to follow along and the end result was a tasty dish.

I did make a few changes since my decision to make this was so last minute and there was no time for marinating over night and I also didn’t have all of the ingredients. This is best served with raw onions, tomatoes and cilantro topped with some lemon juice.

Prawn Biryani
Adapted from Fauzia’s Kitchen Fun

Prawns Masala:
oil
1 pound prawns
1/2 tsp garlic paste
6 TB fried onions
2 tomatoes
1/2 cup yogurt, whipped
2 TB tomato paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1/2 tsp ginger paste
juice of half a lemon
pinch of saffron
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 cinnamon stick
1 cardamom pod
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 large potato, boiled and cubed
4 TB chopped coriander

Heat oil and add the prawns, frying until translucent. Drain and set aside.

Add the cumin seeds, cardamom and cinnamon to the oil. Once they start popping, add the chopped tomatoes, sprinkle a bit of salt on them, and fry until all the moisture evaporates.

Combine the yogurt, 3 TB of the onions, the tomato paste and the saffron in a bowl.

Once the tomatoes have dried, add the ginger, garlic, turmeric and cumin powder. Fry for a minute and add the yogurt mixture. Cook this down for 2 to 3 minutes until it thickens. Add the prawns, remaining onions and potatoes and simmer together on low heat. Add salt as desired. Top with coriander.

Rice:
Wash then soak 3 cups of rice in water for about 20-30 minutes.

Soak a few saffron strands in some water and set aside.

Bring a big pot of water to boil, add salt, 4 cardamom pods, 2-3 cinnamon sticks and 2-3 cloves plus about 2 tbsp. of oil.

Drain the soaked rice and add it to this water when it is boiling. Cook until the rice is about 3/4 done, remove and strain out all the water. Put half the rice back into the pan, drizzle about 2-3 tbsp. of oil and the saffron water. Add a bit of orange color on one side and mix it up a bit with a spoon and add the remaining rice. Then cover the pot tightly. Steam this on low heat for 15minutes or put in a 180 C preheated oven for about the same time. Serve the rice with the prawns on top.