Somehow I ended up with a 12 cup bag of walnuts. I found the bag in my cupboard last week and I’ve been determined to use them all up before the expiration date. I’ve already made (a) Cranberry Walnut White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies; (b) Cinnamon Apples with Walnuts over Vanilla Ice Cream; and (c) Chocolate Chunk Jam Layer Bars. All that, and I STILL have about half the bag left!

Tonight I decided to make carrot cake, but instead of a 9-inch cake, I wanted to make cupcakes. The recipe came from Elise Bauer at Simply Recipes. I’ve made this recipe twice, and the cupcakes came out exactly the same both times. It’s not an overly sweet recipe, which is the way my husband likes it. I prefer my carrot cake a bit sweeter, but his co-workers and family members really enjoyed these. Maybe because I made them into cupcakes they remind me more of muffins than cake.

I tried one batch with crushed pineapple, drained, and one batch with the juice. There was no discernable difference in my opinion. As for the frosting, I made my own version (see below).

After a trip to a local farm two weeks ago, I was inspired by all the pumpkins and squash available. I love butternut squash especially and I’m always looking for new ways to prepare it. One of the best ways to prepare butternut squash is to roast it simply with olive oil and shallots (roasting, in my opinion, is the only way to cook the squash without it falling apart). I found so many inspiring recipes in the October issue of Everyday Food magazine (my new favorite) that I had to try some. They were big hits with my family! Some of my favorites: Rigatoni with Roasted Pumpkin, Sage & Goat Cheese in which I substituted roasted butternut squash–Delicious! 

After making a huge bowl of pasta (enough to serve 4 hungry or 6 normal portions), it was one squash down, one to go. So for the next recipe, I tried the Butternut Squash Lasagna from Martha Stewart. It was heaven but I did make a few changes only because I wanted to use up what I had on hand.

I made macaroni & cheese earlier in the week and had left over cheese sauce (butter & flour whisked for a minute over medium heat, add milk. Whisk until milk boils/thickens. Remove from heat, add shredded cheese, salt & pepper, etc.) I layered the no boil lasagna noodles (I wasn’t feeling that industrious that I would make my own pasta noodles now) with the cheese sauce, ricotta mixture from the recipe, butternut squash mixture from the recipe, and grated parmesan cheese. Repeat 2 times. Bake for 35 mins and that’s it. A delicious and satisfying dinner with no meat. We’re not vegetarians but I made a vegetarian meal by accident. I paired it with a salad of greens, thinly sliced apple, toasted walnuts, goat cheese, and a balsamic vinaigrette.

I recently made cupcakes for my daughter’s 2nd birthday party.  I had decided on two criteria: (1) they had to be cupcakes, and (2) they had to be chocolate (her favorite). I searched for recipes online via various cupcake blogs. The two best I came across were www.cupcakeblog.com and www.cupcakeproject.com

I salivated while reading cupcakeblog. The pictures were fabulous, the recipes were outrageous. Most, however, were too much for a two year old’s palette. Note to self: Check back for recipe ideas come my birthday next year.  Her chocolate recipes, however, looked like winners. To be sure, one of her recipes was featured on cupcakeproject with slight modifications. Check out the link here http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2008/02/better-than-sex-cupcakes-chocolate.html

The directions state not to overfill your cupcake liner, filling it 2/3 or 1/2 way. I went with something in between these measurements and got exactly 16 cupcakes. I should also mention I tried using liners (regular paper ones) and no liners (cooking spray greased cupcake pans). I recommend going without the liners. The cupcakes stick to the paper and get ripped up when you try to peel the paper away. I had no problems with sticking when I skipped the liners, they all came out beautifully.

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• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1-1/4 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoons vanilla
• 2/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

I just made the basic cupcake–no mousse filling, no ganache frosting. These were for a 2 year old mind you. I’m sure the recipe would have been great as written but I didn’t have the time, nor did I feel it was necessary to go the extra mile given the occasion and my audience.

In my quest to find the perfect chocolate cake recipe, I tried several, but this was by far the best. For this recipe, I got my hands on Valrhona cocoa powder (as was suggested in cupcakeblog). Result: OMG. A++ Best chocolate cupcake I’ve ever had. Reminded me of a lighter brownie. Rich chocolate taste, very moist, a little dense (but in a good way) yet still airy and cake-like. It was just delicious. I served mine with a sweetened homemade whipped cream. I added confectioners sugar (I didn’t measure anything), heavy cream, and a bit of Massey Vanilla Extract. Heaven.

My best comment: “Those are the best cupcakes this side of Yonkers has ever seen.” Thanks Kris 🙂