No Posts Until I Fix My Camera

No posts until I fix my digital camera, I broke mine a while back, and we have been using Thomas' sisters (which also just broke). So now I'm forced to fix ours. Good and bad, since I never seem to have enough of the green stuff. I have, however, been cooking up a storm, last week I made a fabulous coconut cupcake (I think next time I will toast the coconut on top for more texture and color contrast), and Paula Deen's Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies (I was craving chocolate, thanks hormones, and these cookies include cream cheese in the batter, sign me up). I've also discovered quite a few amazing dinner recipes, and have been coming up with a few of my own. But it's no fun posting recipes and such without beautiful photographs, and I know nobody reads this, so it doesn't much matter. I will be back soon, photo's, recipes, ramblings and all!

Lattice Peach Pie

This was my first attempt at latticing the top of a pie. It was also my first time making a peach pie. This recipe was great, but it was pretty "spicy", very autumn, it has a very nutmeg/cinnamon flavor, I think I would prefer a peach pie that was a little fresher tasting, or I would have rather made this pie mid-september when I was in a cinnamon, dead leaves, fall mood (I made this recipe mid-august).

I used the recipe for pie crusts from Mrs. Betty Crocker.

5 cups sliced peeled peaches

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Line the bottom and sides of a 9 inch pie plate with one of the pie crusts. Brush with some of the beaten egg to keep the dough from becoming soggy later.

Place the sliced peaches in a large bowl, and sprinkle with lemon juice. Mix gently. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Pour over the peaches, and mix gently. Pour into the pie crust, and dot with butter. Cover with the other pie crust, and fold the edges under. Flute the edges to seal or press the edges with the tines of a fork dipped in egg. Brush the remaining egg over the top crust. Cut several slits in the top crust to vent steam.

Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake for an additional 30 to 35 minutes, until the crust is brown and the juice begins to bubble through the vents. If the edges brown to fast, cover them with strips of aluminum foil about halfway through baking. Enjoy!

Sour Cream Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Glaze and Blueberry Mousse

These cupcakes are truly divine. I had received a bounty of fresh blueberries from a friends farm. After a couple of days of blueberry smoothies I decided these delicious blueberries needed to be used in a more creative way. I'm a huge fan of pie, however, I usually start in with pie making near the end of august (see blackberry crumble, peach lattice pie to follow). Since I've been on a cupcake kick lately I decided to whip together some cupcakes. I've been dying to try my hand at lemon cupcakes and I was really pleased with this recipe. The cake istself is moist and "thick", the sour cream (as opposed to the usual milk) makes a very thick batter and a very nice cake. Originally I was only going to frost these cupcakes with the blueberry mousse, however, the cupcakes (although pretty lemon-y) were not lemon-y enough for my taste. So I decided to use a lemon frosting (glaze) in addition to the blueberry mousse. I thought lemon on lemon would be too much lemon, and the blueberry mousse really gives this recipe more depth (and color). After I'd finished baking I invited my boyfriends sister (and good friend) over for cupcakes and iced tea. She raved about these cupcakes and ended up eating four of them in less than an hour (and as you can see below the dogs were dying for a taste as well). I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Sour Cream Lemon Cupcakes

Ingriedients:

1 cup butter softened

2 cups of sugar

3 Eggs

2 Tablespoons of lemon rind (you can adjust to your taste)

2 Teaspoons of lemon juice (ditto)

1 teaspoon vanilla 
 3 1/2 cups flour 
 2 teaspoons baking powder 
 1 teaspoon baking soda 
 2 cups sour cream 


In a mixing bowl, cream softened butter and sugar.

Beat in eggs, one at a time, waiting about 30 seconds between each.

Add lemon peel, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well.

Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda).

Add dry mixture to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, allow batter to mix well between each (batter will be thick). Fill cupcake cups with 1/4 cup of batter.

Bake at 350ºF for 25-30 minutes.

Cool for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Lemon Glaze (Frosting): 


3 tablespoons butter, softened 
 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar 
 2 Tablespoons lemon juice 
 3/4 teaspoon vanilla 
 1/4 teaspoon grated lemon rind 
 1 Tablespoon milk (1 to 2)


Cream butter and sugar in small mixing bowl.

Add lemon juice, vanilla, lemon peel and milk; beat until smooth.

Frost cooled cupcakes with a very light smooth layer (I used a Wilton cake frosting tool/knife)

Blueberry Mousse:

(adapted from Chockylit's Cupcake Bakeshop Raspberry Mousse recipe check her out at

www.cupcakeblog.com)

1 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed

3 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 Tablespoon unflavored gelatin

1 cup heavy cream

1 - 1/2 Tablespoons sugar

Combine blueberries and sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat (I went as far as to mash them, they don't break down easily, so mash really well, or you might have problems piping it later on, even with a large tip).

Stir mixture until it is basically a liquid.

Stir in gelatin, continue to cook until dissolved.

Remove from heat and transfer to a medium sized bowl. Refrigerate for a couple hours (until firm) or just pop it in the freezer (I know this is probably cheating but, eh, if it gets too stiff warm it up slight over hot water)

Beat heavy cream on high until stiff peaks form. Add the one and a half tablespoons of sugar and beat until combined.

Mix about a third of the whipped cream into blueberry mixture until well combined.

Fold in remaining whipped cream.

Pipe blueberry mousse as a dollop (or however you prefer) on top of already glazed cupcake.

I then topped the (nearly) completed cupcake with a fresh blueberry.

Enjoy!

Hello & Welcome

So I'm not very computer savvy, I really have no idea what I am doing right now. All I know is, cooking and baking provides me with an undescribable feeling. Food, in whatever form is my passion. Cooking means I get to create, I get to use my hands and my imagination. And often enough, I take pictures in the kitchen, of my creations, of my friends and family, of our pugs. . . and I think having this blog will inspire me to do so more often. A Sofa In The Kitchen may be an odd name to some, but in my house for the last 10 years or so (not the same house mind you) there has always been a sofa or a loveseat. As most would agree, the kitchen is la coeur of the home, and as such it only seems natural to have a sofa in this most important of rooms, no? And I will never again live without a sofa, loveseat, hell, if I had to even an old van seat in the kitchen, because it is the most comfortable place in the house. Okay, so doubtful anybody will ever read this, and I tend to ramble on, especially when it's past my bedtime, like now, but I look forward to my new venture. Because like I said, it gives me an excuse to take pictures, and make good food, and share it.