Strawberry-Lemon Mousse

86. Strawberry Mousse

Okay, if you're like me, you're already sick of the dreary winter weather. Come on, world! Bring on spring! Bring on summer! I'm tired of freezing my butt off everytime I let my dogs outside. I've got the winter blues, that's for sure.

Let me tell you something... there is nothing better than indulging in a summery treat to get out of the winter blues. Strawberries and lemons? Come on. How can you say no? This was more than enough to motivate me to endure winter for just a FEW more months. It was also a lot healthier than the stuff I've been dishing out lately, so hey, EVERYONE WINS!

Now get your mixing bowls out, my fellow sweet lovers.

Ingredients

1 1/3 cup strawberries.
1 tablespoon of sugar.
1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice.
3/4 teaspoon of unflavored gelatin.
1 1/2 tablespoons of cold water.
1/3 cup chilled heavy whipping cream.

1. First of all, mash your strawberries, lemon juice and sugar in a small bowl. If you're like me and you like hunks of strawberry scattered throughout your desserts, mash them whole. If you dislike the texture and would prefer a smooth mousse, you can puree them together or quarter then mash.
2. In a small saucepan, sprinkle the gelatin over water and let it settle for one minute. Move the saucepan over low heat and stir the gelatin until it dissolves.
3. Combine the mashed strawberries with the gelatin. Fill a larger bowl with ice and cold water and set the strawberry/gelatin mixture into the 'bath.
4. Stir the strawberry/gelatin mixture frequently until it starts to thicken. It should take about 5-10 minutes.
5. While waiting for the strawberry/gelatin mixture to thicken, whip your heavy cream until stiff peaks are formed. Easy enough, right?
6. Fold the cream into the gelatin mixture until well-blended.
7. Serve right away. This recipe yields two servings.

Cinnamon Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Buttercream

I love a good challenge. And I love to bake.
So it's only natural I'd combine the two...right?
Well, that's exactly what I did. With the help of my friends on DeviantArt, I gathered 100 recipe ideas and I'm going to bake and blog about every one of them!

There are a lot of recipes to try out. There's some I've never even heard of, some with flavors I've never tried, etc. It's all very exciting to say the least! I got a LOT of cupcake suggestions. So I figured that cupcakes would be the best place to start. I picked one of ShadowSquishy's suggestions first.

Cinnamon cupcakes.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour.
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder.
1/2 teaspoon of salt.
1 1/2 sticks of softened, unsalted butter.
1/2 cup of sugar.
1 large egg.
1 large egg yolk.
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.
3/4 cups of whole milk.
2 1/2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
1/2 cup of packed, light brown sugar.

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
4. Beat together the white sugar, brown sugar and butter in an electric mixer until fluffy, then add the eggs and vanilla.
5. Slowly pour in your flour mixture, alternating with milk, at a low speed.
6. Line your cupcake pan with papers of your choice.
7. Fill 3/4 of the cupcake liner with batter.
9. Bake them for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out cleanly.
10. Let them cool for about 20 minutes.

I would also share the recipe for the buttercream but...
I have a primitive habit of making up icing recipes on the spot and forgetting to write them down?
My method is simply:
1. Make a basic buttercream.
2. Add buttloads of different ingredients to get a good flavor.
3. Force my family to taste test. If they go back for more...it's good!

Vegan Rootbeer Cupcakes

Wooo, now that I have a new frilly template, I think I'll start blogging again. It's about time I stop being a lazy bum, eh? Well, let's kick off this new blog with my newest recipe. I gave up on cupcakes for a while after trying to find the perfect yellow cupcake recipe. Do you know how hard that is to find? They either come out tasting like cornbread(weird, I know) or dense and unappetizing. I'll stick to box mix for yellow cake.
I decided that I would redeem my cupcake baking skills for the New Years. So I got my cute little apron on and went hunting for an interesting recipe. I'm a pretty daring baker, so plain old vanilla and chocolate just didn't cut it for me. All of the recipes I found included things I didn't have or things that I just didn't want. I almost gave up and printed out a chocolate recipe.
But wait, there's more...! Before the last shred of hope I had in finding in interesting recipe dissipated, my cousin's complaining shed a bit of inspiration on me. You see, my cousin has a slightly unhealthy obsession with all things rootbeer. I typed "Rootbeer Float cupcake" into my search bar and there you have it...!
This lovely recipe led me to one fun day of baking.

I took a look at the recipe and made some last minute adjustments so...
here you have it. It's time to get messy.

RootBeer Float Cupcakes

1 Cup Rootbeer Soda
1 Teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
3/4 Cup Sugar
1/3 Cup Canola Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
3 Teaspoons Rootbeer Concentrate
1 1/2 Cups Flour
3/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt

Line one muffin tin with cupcake papers and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the rootbeer with the vinegar. Let that sit for a minute or two. In the mean time, sift your flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a seperate bowl. Now, back to the soda concoction... Whisk in the sugar and oil vigorously until it becomes frothy. Add in the flavorings and then slowly pour in the flour mixture. Avoid overmixing. Using an icecream scooper, fill each cupcake liner 3/4ths of the way up. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Use the toothpick trick to test its doneness. Let them cool completely before icing.

Now these cupcakes are vegan.
So if you have any veggie friends, I'm sure they'd love these.

However, I committed a taboo.
I put whipped cream on a vegan cupcake.
WHIPPED CREAM.
I'm sure vegans everywhere are frowning down upon my decision.
But I don't care.
They're delicious.