Strawberry Birthday Cakes!

I am feeling very girly for this birthday. I wanted to make a strawberry cake/cupcake. We found this recipe for Sprinkles cupcakes and frosting. They are pretty good. It's a little on the sweet side for me. I would reduce the amount of sugar in the cake and frosting both next time.

They did come out this beautiful pink color and were full of fresh strawberry flavor.


Ingredients

* 2/3 cup whole fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
* 1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 large egg, room temperature
* 2 large egg whites, room temperature
* Sprinkles' Strawberry Frosting

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.

2. Place strawberries in a small food processor; process until pureed. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree, add a few more strawberries if necessary or save any extra puree for frosting; set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree; set aside.


4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.




5. With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.

6. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in tin before icing.







Frosting

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup whole frozen strawberries, thawed
* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold
* Pinch of coarse salt
* 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
* 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners' sugar; beat until well combined. Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended. Do not overmix or frosting will incorporate too much air. Frosting consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice cream.

Zucchini and Pattypan Squash Lasagna

My sister is in town and we were wanting something to do with all of the adorable pattypan squash that was dirt-cheap at the market. We wanted to make a vegetable lasagna but we wanted to roast the vegetables first to get some of the water out. If you are a vegetarian, I'm sure you've had your share of watery vegetarian lasagna. This method worked well.



1 large or 2 small eggplant(s)
2 zucchini
5 pattypan squash
2 portobello mushroom
1 yellow onion
1 package of cherry tomatoes
5 sheets of fresh pasta (can use box sheets but I would boil them first)
48 ounces of tomato sauce (fresh or jar works fine)
16 ounce package of fresh mozzarella (can use shredded dry kind too)
10 leaves of fresh sweet basil
2 tablespoons of dried oregano
crushed red pepper to taste


1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Use a mandoline to slice squash, zucchini, and eggplant very thin. Toss with salt, pepper, and olive oil and roast in oven for about 20 mins, until a lot of the water evaporates.

2. Chop onion and mushroom--we also threw some cherry tomatoes in here because we had leftover but you don't need to use them. Saute with olive oil and set aside.


3. After the squashes are roasted take them out and start to layer the lasagna pan. I turned the oven down to 350 degrees here. Since the ingredients are essentially cooked at this point I only had this in the oven for about 45 mins. Layer it like this:
a. Sauce
b. Pasta Sheet
c. Squashes
d. Mushrooms and Onions
e. Cheese --try to end up with sauce on the last layer or just cover it with a layer of sauce no matter which you are on.


4. I like to put more cheese on top after it finishes baking. We didn't even take a picture of it because we got really occupied with frying the extra eggplant! I also did a chicken breast for my dear husband. I feel bad when I impose too many vegetarian meals on him.