Lindt White Chocolate Strawberries and Cream Frosting

A few weeks ago Lindt Chocolate asked if I wanted to try some of their new Classic Recipe Strawberries and Creme bars. Perfect! Yes! I got to work thinking about what I should make with it and decided it would make delicious frosting.  I topped each cupcake with a little piece of the chocolate bar as a garnish. I found this cute little chalkboard bunting printable from Simpleklassichome.com (see the pin here) to fancy them up for my friend's birthday. I just printed it out, cut and glued onto some baker's twine. This is way fancy for me (and only took about 10 minutes).

I made a modified version of my favorite frosting and poured in the melted chocolate bar and gave it a quick mix before piping it out on devils food cupcakes.

I also brushed the tops of the cupcakes with a little raspberry Torani strawberry syrup to reinforce the berry flavor and keep them moist. They're great for making homemade Italian sodas or fancy lemonade. The salted caramel is yummy in hot chocolate too! They are cheap and so fun at Smart at Final locally or available on Amazon of course. This isn't a necessary step but it's quick and fun for Baby Strawberry to help with and adds a little more depth of flavor.

I loved how this chocolate had little pieces of strawberries in it that made the frosting really pretty with little bits of pink mixed in. It was delicious and a fun variant from my normal frosting I use for everything.

Lindt Strawberries and Creme White Chocolate Frosting
from Anne Strawberry
{printable recipe here}

4.2 ounces (one bar) of Lindt Strawberries and Creme Chocolate
1/2 C. butter, barely softened (one stick)
6 cups of powdered sugar (more or less to achieve desired consistency, this is a baseline. I usually use most of a standard two pound bag)
1 T. meringue powder
1 t. pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
dash of salt

Chop up the chocolate and melt in the microwave on low for about 30 seconds. Stir and repeat until smooth.

In a mixer with the whisk attachment, blend the butter until light and fluffy. Add about two cups of powdered sugar, the meringue powder, and mix until combined. Add in the vanilla, sour cream, and salt and mix. After it's all smooth and combined, mix in the melted chocolate. Mix in powdered sugar on low speed until desired consistency is reached (I like thicker frosting for decorating, especially when it's so hot!)

The meringue powder will help set the frosting after it dries so it holds its shape. It's not necessary but makes for a much better final product. You can find it in the cake decorating section at Walmart, Michael's, JoAnn, or Hobby Lobby (or on Amazon!)

Pipe out onto your favorite chocolate cupcake and enjoy. I use an oversized pastry bag and tip like this to make them cute in a hurry.

Easy Devils Food Cupcakes
from Anne Strawberry

1 cup sour cream (reduced fat is fine)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup canola oil
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 box Devils Food chocolate cake mix (I recommend Betty Crocker)

Preheat the oven to 350.

Combine all ingredients in stand mixer and beat for two minutes until combined. Using a medium cookie/ ice cream scoop, scoop into 24 paper-cup lined muffin tins.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until cupcakes spring back slightly when touched and a tooth pick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool on racks and frost once completely cooled.


disclosure: Lindt sent me a couple of chocolate bars but the opinions and info are my own.

Ricotta Pancakes

Now that my son is in school, I appreciate summer a little more! We have really enjoyed the relaxing mornings before we head out to swim team and lessons. The kids love pancakes but I usually make waffles (less babysitting involved I think) but their extra nice request was too hard to resist the other morning. I had a clearanced container of ricotta in the fridge and remembered hearing about ricotta pancakes once so to Google I happily went.

Smitten Kitchen never disappoints (she has a lovely new cookbook too) and although I didn't make the apples she suggested for her lemon ricotta pancakes, some yummy canned peaches from last fall were perfect with our favorite homemade maple syrup. Honestly, though, these tasted amazing fresh off the stove with a little butter on top. I hate lumpy pancakes (though I probably deserve them using Bisquick!) Because these pancakes are mostly ricotta and eggs, there's no lumps- just soft, tender pancakes to melt in your mouth. Next time I'll double the recipe because these were all gone before the griddle cooled with only my little man, baby strawberry and I eating them.

What's your favorite topping for pancakes and waffles? I'm going to try these with strawberries next time (surprise surprise!)

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes 

from Anne Strawberry
adapted from smitten kitchen
Servings: Makes about twelve 3- to 4-inch pancakes.

4 large eggs, separated
1 1/3 cups ricotta
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoons lemon zest
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Separate the eggs and set aside the whites. In a bowl whisk together the egg YOLKS, ricotta, sugar, and zest. Lightly stir in the flour until barely combined. In a bowl with an electric mixer beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they hold stiff peaks. Whisk in a quarter of the whites then fold the rest in gently. Cook the pancakes over medium heat on a griddle of flat pan brushed with butter for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, or until they are golden. The recipe will yield about a dozen 1/4 cup sized pancakes. Transfer the pancakes as they are cooked to a heatproof platter and keep them warm in a 200°F oven (or eat them hot off the pan with a little fresh butter!) Try fresh fruit or maple syrup on top.

Irene's Maple Syrup
from Anne Strawberry
2 cups Sugar
2 cups Water
1/2 cup Dark Karo Syrup
1 teaspoon Maple extract
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Combine all ingredients in sauce pan, place over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil. Boil for five minutes and serve over pancakes. Store leftovers in a screw-top glass jar for a few weeks (reheat in the microwave or on the stove).

Peanut Butter Popcorn

I don't know about your family, but at our house, as soon as we walk in the door from Church the children act like I've never fed them before and start razing the pantry and fridge. To hold off the hunger tide I made this popcorn on Sunday. I saw the recipe from the Lazy Budget Chef earlier in the weekend and thought it would be worth trying. With the starving kids begging for a snack, I didn't follow the recipe but just threw a few things in a sauce pan, lets them melt together, and poured it over a big bowl of plain air popped popcorn. Lazy, quick after-Church cooking- I love when that works out!

I told my tall man that this was 'healthy caramel popcorn' and he laughed (and grabbed a handful on his way out of the kitchen). I know it's not healthy but it does have healthier ingredients. The butter is replaced by coconut oil and the brown sugar by honey. I'll admit I was skeptical. I don't love honey on it's own and was a little nervous that the final product would have a honey taste. The original recipe suggests a peanut butter variation so I went with that, figuring it would camouflage the honey. I am happy to report this tasted like the real deal. It's sweet and a little (not too) sticky, barely salty, crunchy and delicious. My mom makes peanut butter rice krispy treats that are a lot like these (but I'll take popcorn over cereal any day!)

I should also tell you- I really, really hate coconut but there's no nasty sunblock taste here even when you use the oil. Give it a try.

Please forgive the instagram photo. I have a sparkly new camera but my phone is just so easy when I'm in a time crunch!

Peanut Butter Popcorn
from Anne Strawberry
aka 'Healthy Caramel Popcorn'

1/4 cup of coconut oil
1/4 cup of honey
1/4 cup of smooth peanut butter
2 teaspoons of vanilla
salt, to taste (I prefer Kosher)
one big bowl of plain popcorn (about 2/3 cup kernels, popped)

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine coconut oil, honey, and peanut butter. Stir and cook until melted and combined. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Carefully pour the hot topping over the popcorn and stir with a big wooden spoon. Season with salt to taste (go easy- the peanut butter is a little salty) and enjoy!

Note- these measurements are approximates. These ingredients are way too sticky for me to measure regularly, I just eyeballed them! I'm sure butter would be a yummy substitute for the coconut oil, too, if you don't have any.

recipe inspired by Lazy Budget Chef's

In Other Food Related News...

Well, I said I would be on to post about the trifle I made but writing a full on recipe and post seems about as possible as well, I don't know, most things are a little difficult right now with a cute little monkey in my arms. Getting to swim team on time is pretty impressive for now (we're 3/4 for on time, not too shabby!) I've sat down and worked on my post 15 minutes at a time for a few times but it's not finished so I thought I'd share a few things instead. For the locals, there's a new place to get your carb fix in downtown Mesa- Proof Artisan Breads. The pain au chocolat is to die for and I'm looking forward to trying some of his fancy breads. Mr. Carbohydrate was even impressed and asked when I was going to bring those home instead of gorgeous chocolate pastries he can't eat. Check it out if you're close by.

I think I might have been the last person to notice this salad dressing but I thought I'd pass it along just in case. I love making my own salad dressings and usually do (maybe that's why I didn't know about the Olive Garden dressing?) But I was looking for a dressing we had had at a party and couldn't resist this $3 bottle of deliciousness. It tastes like the real deal- much more than all the copy cat Olive Garden salad dressing recipes I've seen and tried on Pinterest. I'm not breaking up with homemade salad dressing (I have lots of great ideas on my board here) but I'm certainly going to buy another bottle of this when it runs out. I found mine at Walmart, $3 well spent!

The last thing I'm nibbling on most of the time is this cute girl. I think I'm going to call her baby Rosebud for now. She's adorable and delicious and about to wake up from her nap so it's time to cut this super eloquent blog post off.

Have you been eating anything amazing lately? Is there a salad dressing that I should have tried by now? Do tell!

A busy kitchen!

Well it's no secret that the Anne Strawberry Kitchen has not lived up to it's potential lately. But, I was very busy baking up a very special treat- a sweet new baby girl! She's a perfect little pretty with the nicest snuggles and the sweetest personality (must have been all those chocolate chip cookies I craved). She's 2 months old now and I'm finally baking and {more importantly} making decent dinners again most nights. She definitely sapped my baking mojo while I was pregnant and I went weeks at a time without using my KitchenAid- a sad first for me!

I have missed my little corner of the blogosphere a lot, although it's kind of awkward to figure out how to break back in. I'm not taking gorgeous pictures of cupcakes very often though I still have dreams about new baked goods to invent and try out and love seeing what my friends are cooking. I'll try to post as often as I can and remember that this is still my favorite way to save and share my most loved recipes, even if it's not as fancy and perfect as I'd like it to be. Perfectionism is tricky, friends! Hopefully... I can remember that it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful (or delicious).

Speaking of fancy and amazing food blogs, a few of my favorites are really great lately...

Tracey's Culinary Adventures
Cafe Johnsonia
Aggie's Kitchen
Closet Cooking
And my always favorite... Peabody

I always love finding new blogs and seeing what my favorite bloggers and reading and enjoying. Let me know if you have someone I should be following (while we still have Google Reader, right?)

We had a perfect Mother's Day yesterday and I've had a few Facebook friends request the trifle recipe I made. Since I just threw yummy things together until it looked right I'll work on making an actual recipe and get that up tomorrow hopefully. Until then, happy baking (and let me know if you have a suggestion for my sweet baby's new blog nick name! I hadn't thought about that until just now!)