Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

As promised on my last post, here's a refreshing, delicious summer recipe for you. This frozen yogurt is soooooo good, you have no idea. And is super easy, requires no ice-cream maker and no more than 3 ingredients - 4 if you count the salt, but everybody has is at home, right? And what is best, you can finish those strawberries you can no longer eat 'cause you were greedy and bought 4 packs last week. Don't worry, I'm not judging you. If I lived in a country with suculent, sweet and huge strawberries, I would buy tons of it whenever I could, too. ;)

400g plain yogurt
200g sweet condensed milk (1/2 can)
Pinch of salt
~250g fresh strawberries

1. Place strawberries into a blender or food processor and process until they are pureed. Pass through a fine sieve and measure 1/3 cup (75ml). You can keep the remaining puree for another batch.
2. In a metalic bowl, whisk together all ingredients until combined. Place in the freezer and whisk every 30 minutes, for 2 hours.
3. Let it freeze for another 2 hours. Take out from the freezer and let it stand for 10-15 minutes to soften. Mix with a hand mixer until smooth (this step is optional). Return to freezer until it sets.

Recipe adapted from the Passion fruit froyo from this blog. (In portuguese)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANA!

You have been a great friend and an inspiration to me when it comes to exploring and expanding my passion in baking.

Since I cannot be in Brazil to celebrate your birthday (even though I would love to!) I decided to bake something special for you instead. So my gift to you is Red Velvet Cupcakes. I decided to bake these for you for two reasons: 1) The first time I've ever had red velvet cupcakes was in Brazil, and 2) You're a cupcake fanatic.

These cupcakes were awesome-just like you. I love you, and miss you Ana!

With Birthday Hugs and Kisses

-Ann

Red Velvet Cupcakes*

2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 oz. red food coloring (two bottles)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12 cup muffin tins with cupcake liners.

2. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. In a smaller bowl, mix food colour, and cocoa powder to form a thin paste without lumps and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the red cocoa paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go.

4. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mix, then beat in 1/2 of the buttermilk.

5. Beat in another 1/3 of the flour mixture, then add the second 1/2 of the buttermilk. Add the last 1/3 of the flour mixture, and mix until well combined, making sure to scrape down the sides with a spatula.

6. In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda. Add vinegar mixture to the cake batter and stir well to combine.

7. Fill cupcake cups with cake batter untill they are a little under 3/4 full.

8. Place muffin tins in preheated oven. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, rotating pans halfway through.

9. Cool for ten minutes, and frost and decorate the the tops.

*This fabulous recipe was taken from bestcupcakerecipes.blogspot.com

Orange Poppy seed Muffins

Hi, all!I'm back and I brought you some muffins. =) I know you're all enjoying the sun and beautiful sunny days, and all you want is a cold refreshing treat. But I'll leave that for my next post, okay? It's getting colder and colder - brrr- around here and all we want is a right-out-of-the-oven treat with a hot beverage. ;)

Adapted from this book
300g self-rising flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
125g caster sugar
2 tablespoons orange zest
185ml buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, ligtly beaten
110g unsalted butter, melted
Poppy seeds - I didn't measure it but I think 2 to 3 tablespoons should be enough.

1. Preheat oven to 200ºC/390ºF. Line a muffin tray with paper liners.

2. In a large bowl, sift together  flour, baking powder, poppyseeds, and sugar. Add the orange zest and make a well in the center.

3. In a small bowl, mix together buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla.

4. Pour the buttermilk mixture and the melted butter into the flour mix and stir with a fork/whisk jut until combined. Do not overmix - a few flour lumps is ok.

4. Fill the muffin cups and bake for about 12 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Let it cool  for 5 minutes before removing from pan.

Makes 12 muffins.