I was busy tonight

A really good work-friend of mine is leaving for a new opportunity. Tomorrow is her going away party, so I made some treats.

Strawberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting:




They are Angie's Famous Strawberry Cupcakes, I got the original recipe from http://www.goodthingscatered.blogspot.com/. I put the changes I made in red.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 c. cake flour (I used all purpose, b/c I didn't have cake)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. unsalted butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/3 c. buttermilk (I used heavy cream)
1/4 c. oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c. chopped strawberries (I used frozen organic strawberries)

My Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, soft
12 Tblsp. butter, soft
2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
I added some red food color since it's Valentine's Day.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift flour, salt, and baking soda in medium bowl.
In bowl of mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time until combined.
Add buttermilk (Heavy cream), oil and vanilla until combined.
Add flour mixture and stir until just combined.
Fold in berries.
Fill cupcake pans 3/4 way.
Bake for 20 minutes.

Frosting:
Mix cream cheese and butter until creamy.
Add powdered sugar and vanilla.
Add food color.

Original Frosting Recipe from Good Things Catered.
1/4 c. strawberries
1 Tbsp. strawberry liquor
1/2 tsp lemon juice
8 oz. cream cheese, room temp
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1 3/4 c. powdered sugar
1/2 Tbsp vanilla


I also made Cherry Cheesecake Brownies.

Original recipe is also from http://www.goodthingscatered.blogspot.com/. I love this blog, can you tell? I will again put my changes in red. I didn't make that many changes to this one.

I had to bake them in a pie pan b/c my 8x8 was dirty! This is not the best pic, but it will do for now.
Ingredients for brownies:
8 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp cherry juice

Cheesecake portion:
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 Tbsp sugar
1 egg white
1/2 c. maraschino cherries, finely chopped
2 Tbsp juice reserved from marachino cherries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees and prepare 8x8 baking pan.
In medium bowl, cream cream cheese and 2 Tbsp sugar until light and creamy.
Add egg white, and cherry juice until incorporated and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, heat butter until just melted.
Add the cocoa and sugar and heat, stirring throughout, until uniformly combined.
Remove from the heat and set aside briefly until the mixture is slightly cooled. Stir in the vanilla.
Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously to incorporate. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until just incorporated, then beat vigorously for 30 more strokes.
I did this all right in the sauce pan.

Spread a little more than 1/2 of mixture evenly in the pan.
Carefully spread cream cheese mixture over the batter.
Spread remaining brownie mixture, very carefully, over cream cheese.
Use a toothpick or knife to swirl the cream cheese/cherry mix slightly.
As you can see from the pic, mine wasn't really three layers, it was more like a brownie layer on the bottome, then a swirled layer on top.

Bake about 20 to 25 minutes or toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter (not completely dry).