Her Jack & Jill is a pig roast, that is awesome.

I have decided I have an undiagnosed mental illness. Any time I see anyone eating something or eat something myself I find myself trying to figure out how I can turn that item into a dessert. I spent a solid 15 minutes conjuring up recipes for Reese's Puffs while I sat at the breakfast table with my son. It happens with savory food as well but mostly with sweets. It goes something like this..........

" OH, peanut butter and crunch, I wonder if I could put those in a cookie? Would they hold the crunch once baked? Should it be a peanut butter base or sugar cookie base? What if I made a cereal bar with them and added banana? The banana would just turn to mush, OHHH, dried banana, that would work!" HMMM I wonder if I can add them to a cupcake? What if I blast them in the food processor and add the powder to the cake batter? Would it work just adding them whole?......." This happens about twelve times a day. I have a list of about 2300 different things I want to bake, and variations on all of 2300 of them. Anyway, this week was busy, busy, busy. I did manage to pull all sorts of stuff out of my garden and make one AMAZING salad.

 I picked the plum tomatoes, peppers, and basil from my garden. Roasted the peppers and tossed it all with some fresh mozzarella. Then infused some garlic into a little extra virgin olive oil, and made a balsamic glaze. This is one of those quick things you make that turns out ridiculously good and you realize you are amazing. Well, not you, me, but it could be you too.

Next up this week was the farmers market. I LOVE THE FARMERS MARKET!!! I cannot stress how excited I get for summer and farmers markets. This week I made Michael come with me. I had to bribe him with an ice cream cone from the best ice cream shop ever, little did he know I was going to get myself a cone anyway. Michael's picks at the market was a three pack of naked sugar cookies, and raspberry chocolate jam. This jam was so good. The chocolate complimented the raspberry perfectly. Not too sweet, not too chocolatey, not too raspberry, a perfect union of flavor. And it came with this cute little fabric, SOLD>>>

Next up this week is Verna's Jack and Jill. You remember Verna, she is the one who I made pose behind the creepy drunk guy who was passed out on the beach. Her Jack and Jill is a pig roast. That is awesome, I have awesome friends. I am the cupcake maker for the festivities. I have 30 pounds of strawberries in the freezer left over from my pick your own extravaganza, so, strawberry cupcakes it is. I have used this strawberry cupcake recipe twice now and it is awesome. I found it on a blog. Bloggers always have the best recipes. Usually they are really cool people who love to cook and share the awesome things they make. They are usually really pretty and funny too. Okay, so maybe I was trying to boost my self esteem there, but the cooking part is true.

Because I am an overachiever I could not make just one type of cupcake. I ended up with a beach cup"cake" made with an almond funfetti cake. The funfetti is easy, just throw some sprinkles in with your cake batter and they sort of blow up into bright colorful clouds in your cake. Verna has been going to the beach for the summer since she was three. She still goes every summer. She knows everyone there, they are like a little beach family. I wanted to do something special for her so I created a beach theme cake. Of course I added some Red Sox in because they are everyone's favorite. Well, my friends at least.

Strawberry Cupcakes

From annie's eats.

Printer-Friendly Version

Yield: 34 cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cake flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2¼ cups sugar
1½ tsp. vanilla extract
3 large eggs plus 1 large egg white
1 cup milk
2½ cups finely chopped fresh strawberries*

For the frosting:
1½ cups fresh strawberries (8 oz.), rinsed, hulled and coarsely chopped*
4 large egg whites
1¼ cups sugar
3 sticks (1½ cups) unsalted butter, at room temperature

For garnish:
Additional fresh strawberries*

*Note: I buy organic as much as possible regardless, but strawberries are one of the items where I really notice a huge difference in taste and color.  I recommend using organic berries if possible for best results.

Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, sugar and vanilla.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in the eggs and egg white one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions alternating with the milk, mixing each addition just until incorporated.  Gently fold in the chopped strawberries with a spatula.

Divide the batter between the paper liners, filling each about ¾-full.  Bake until light golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25-28 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  Allow to cool in the pans a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, place the strawberries in a food processor or blender.  Puree until completely smooth.  Combine the egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water.  Heat, whisking frequently, until the mixture reaches 160° F and the sugar has dissolved.

Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer** fitted with the whisk attachment.  Beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form and the mixture has cooled to room temperature, about 8 minutes.  (The bowl should be cool to the touch.)

Reduce the speed to medium and add the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, adding more once each addition has been incorporated.  If the frosting looks soupy or curdled, continue to beat on medium-high speed until thick and smooth again, about 3-5 minutes more (or longer – don’t worry, it will come together!)  Blend in the strawberry puree until smooth and completely incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Fill a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip with the frosting.  (I used a large, unlabeled star tip to frost these cupcakes.) Frost cooled cupcakes as desired, and garnish with fresh berries or berry slices.

**This can theoretically be made using a hand mixer, but will require even more time and a lot of arm strength.

Source: Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes