Not Too Sweet Carrot Pumpkin Cupcakes

Last weekend I went to the U of M to visit two of my best friends.  One of those friends was celebrating his 19^th birthday, so I decided to bring him a birthday treat.  I asked him what he would choose to have for his birthday if he could have anything in the world.  He couldn’t really come up with one single thing but told me “not too sweet.” I knew he liked pumpkin/carrot/any kind of spice cake so I suggested that and he seemed pretty happy.  So, these are my “not too sweet” carrot pumpkin cupcakes.  The pumpkin is pretty subtle because the spices add so much flavor.  The sugar measurements are picky because I wanted to get just the perfect amount of sweetness.  I lowered the sugar content and added some honey in both the cupcakes and the frosting.  The ironic thing about honey is that it’s much sweeter than sugar but the tanginess makes it seem less intense than straight sugar.  These cupcakes turned out moist (that’s the oil working its magic) and just sweet enough to satisfy my crazy sweet tooth.  And they got rave reviews from my roommates, my mom, and one very handsome birthday boy. Hope you like ‘em!

Not Too Sweet Carrot Pumpkin Cupcakes

Makes about 12-16 cupcakes *

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

3/4 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp nutmeg

½  tsp cloves

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

a couple shakes of pumpkin pie spice

²/₃ cup oil

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoon brown sugar

¼ cup plus a tablespoon white sugar

2 eggs

¼ cup plus a tablespoon honey

1.5 tsp vanilla

½ tsp lemon juice

¾ cup pumpkin purée

1 cup grated carrot

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes enough to generally frost the cupcakes and have a little left over for snacking

Ingredients:

1 ½ sticks of butter (softened)

5 Tbs cream cheese (softened)

1 tsp vanilla

¼ cup + 1 Tbs honey

1 cup powder sugar

Directions:

Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350 and line muffin tin with 12 muffin liners (add more liners if you have extra batter)

Put all of the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, pumpkin pie spice) into a mixing bowl and set aside.  Beat together the sugars and the oil until the sugar starts to dissolve a little bit.  The sugar will not dissolve completely but it should look a little bit creamy.  Beat the eggs into the mixture until they are thoroughly combined.  Add the honey, vanilla, lemon juice, pumpkin puree, and grated carrot to the mixture and beat until all ingredients are combined.  Gradually add the dry ingredients (in parts) to the wet ingredients just until combined; you don’t want to over-beat the flour.  Stir in the chopped walnuts.  Scoop the batter into the muffin tin filling each of the cups 2/3 full.  Bake for 16-19 minutes (check at 16) at 350 degrees F.

Frosting:

Beat the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes).   Beat in the honey, vanilla, and powdered sugar.  Pipe or spread over completely cooled cupcakes.

Notes:

*I planned for this recipe to make 12 muffins but given my slightly smaller than average muffin pan, I got 16.  So, it will depend on the size of your muffin tin.  The baking will also depend on the size.  My slightly smaller cupcakes only took about 16 minutes.  If you have a tin with muffin cups of a larger radius, the baking time will likely be longer.

*In my haste to get packed and too the bus on time I completely forgot to take a picture.  I'm pretty bummed because they were very pretty cupcakes but really I'm just glad I made it to the before it left without me.  

Coconut Curry Chicken With Rice

I love curry.  Red cury, green curry, coconut curry, all curry.  I am also in college, which by default means I have very little money and a small grocery budget.  The ingredients that go into a homemade curry (namely fresh produce and herbs) can get pricey.  Given my limited income, I cannot blow a whole month’s worth of grocery money on all the lovely fresh ingredients that go into a more complex curry.  I have to save some money for the important things like bread, milk, eggs, and easymac.  So this is a simplified, and therefore much cheaper, version of coconut curry that utilizes the herbs and spices everyone should keep in their cupboards.  The simplicity also keeps the cooking time down which is also bonus when functioning on a collegiate time budget, a.k.a forever and always lacking time. Just because its simpler, however, does not mean it lacks in flavor or deliciousness.  I personally thought it was quite flavorful and pretty delish. Enjoy!

This is the finished product.  Apologies for the photo quality. I wish I could take fancy food pictures with a nice camera, lovely backgrounds, colorful dish ware, and pretty garnishes.   However, all I've got is my cell phone, my apartment countertop,  and the cheapest ceramic dishes found at Target.  I think I'll buy pretty dishes when I grow up and get a real job, maybe even take a food photography class.  But for now, I'm pretty content with what I have.     

Simple (Cheap) Coconut Curry Chicken with Rice

Makes about 2 servings

Ingredients:

5 Tbs butter (divided)*

1 cup yellow onion (diced)

1 Tbs garlic (minced)

½ tsp garlic salt

1 cup chicken broth*

1 ³/₄ tsp coconut extract

¼ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp basil

1 ¼ tsp curry powder

½ tsp coriander

¼ cup + 2 tsp whole milk*

1 chicken breast (cut into bite-size 1-2 inch pieces)

½ cup rice

Salt or garlic salt to taste

Directions:

Melt 3 Tablespoons of the butter in a medium size pot or saucepan. Add ½ tsp garlic salt.  Sautee the chopped onion and minced garlic in the butter on medium high heat until the onions begin to get soft (about 4 or 5 minutes).  Stir coconut extract, nutmeg, basil, curry powder and coriander into the cup of chicken broth*.  Add the chicken broth to the pan or pot and bring to a boil.  Once it reaches a boil, quickly stir in the rice, chicken, and milk.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover.  Simmer for 17-20 minutes.  (I cooked mine for 20 minutes and the rice was softer.  Usually I demand al dente but for this type of dish I like it softer. If you prefer rice al dente always, simmer for less time).  Once the rice is cooked, uncover the pan/pot, stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, salt or garlic salt to taste, and the dish is complete.  I used about ¼ to ½ tsp of garlic salt, but everyone has different salt threshold and I tend to like things on the saltier side, so salt how you like. 

Notes:

*You can cut down on the butter to cut calories if you prefer.  I guarantee you it will not taste nearly as good, but it will still taste good.  Just remember, everything is better with butter.

*You can use your own homemade chicken broth or the basic chicken broth you get from a can at the grocery store.  I used Swanson’s low-sodium chicken broth and it was cheap ($1.00) and delicious.

*I used whole milk because I had some leftover in the fridge that was about to expire.  It gave the dish a nice creamy texture.  However, if you don’t happen to have whole milk on hand, I’m positive skim or 1% would work just fine.  The texture would just be a little less creamy.  You could even use a combination of milk and half and half or cream if you have either of those on hand

Here goes nothing...

My mother has been telling me for about a year now that I really need to start a food blog.  That I need to start writing down the recipes for all of the deliciously fattening things I make, get them on the internet, and share them with the world.  I've been avoiding it until now because food blogs include recipes. I absolutely love to experiment in the kitchen but I absolutely hate to write down the ingredients I use as I go.  I like to play it by ear, or taste rather. I also have no clue how to blog, Nor do  I understand this blogger site.  So, here goes nothing...