Brittany's BlueBerry Puddin' Bites

Happy hump day!! Hope y'all have been having a great week thus far!  Last night around 8:30 I became a weee bit antsy-- shocking I know!!! So decided that I would bake something to share with you guys!! I combined a few recipes I have used in the past as well as some I've been wanting to try for quite some time!  What I came up with is a heavenly pudding cupcake/shortcake type thing with blueberry topping topped with a cream-cheese honey almond icing!!  Needless to say it's very sweet but still has a sense of freshness and goodness from the blueberries!  I made them in a smaller cupcake pan to create a bite-size appeal!  The recipe is as follows:

Cupcake ingredients:
2 c of flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 c butter
2 large eggs
2 tsp almond or vanilla extract (I used almond since I used almond in the icing)
2/4 c milk
1/4 c vanilla instant pudding
1/4 c whipping cream

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.  In a separate bowl combine butter (I melted mine to better mix), eggs, almond and milk.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.  Once fully incorporated slowly add instant pudding mix. Mix to make sure all ingredients are combined.  As a last step whip in the whipping cream.  The mixture will be slightly runny but that is what we are going for.  This will cause the cupcakes to sink in the middle verses rising; creating a little pouch for all of our toppings!!! OH and extra extra moisture-- believe me its heavenly!!!  Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until the tops are golden brown :)

Blueberry topping ingredients:
1-1 1/2 c blueberries
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp lemon
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
2 tsp honey

Place blueberries in blender and blend until you get a syrup consistency I recommend pulsing so that you don't end up with soup haha!  Add other ingredients and mix until fully combined.

Cream Cheese Honey Almond Icing
8 ounces of cream cheese (room temperate-- sit out on counter while making cupcakes)
1/2 c butter
1 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp honey
1/4 c confectionery sugar

I wish there was a button you could click on that would send you a treat.. Perhaps one day!! ;) ENJOY!

FRESH SUMMA TREAT!

This week I visited my local market that is down right AH-MAZING!!  I frequent this place on the regular.  Even though the smell and location are not the greatest their produce sure is!  They have fresh produce from farmer's in the area for pennies on the dollar!  Well worth the trek if you ask me!  

I swung by Monday to get my fix of freshness and goodness-- start the week off on the right foot if you know what I mean! I went a little overboard this time- whoops!  What does one do when they purchase an abundance of produce and know it will go bad -- BAKE!!!  I baked up a storm last night and had to use a wee bit of imagination!  After much research and tummy consulting I decided that a peach and cherry crumble is just what the doctor ordered!  I'm not sure how many of you have worked with fresh cherries when baking but boy it's no field trip!!  Those little tiny itty-bitty pits are tricky little things!!! I searched high and low for this little device known as a "cherry pitter".  Again for those of you who have not worked with them, they make working with cherries a breeze. They essentially send this little pick through the cherry that forces the pit out the other end. Well seems to me that they don't make those around these parts either that or everyone under the sun up here decided to bake with cherries this week- doubtful!!  That is where some internet hunting and imagination came in to play! Drum role.... the end of a pencil!!  Couldn't be easier! It pops those little stubborn suckers right on out!! I removed the eraser from a pencil, sanitized it of course, and pushed the pits right on out! SHEWW it took some time but all the effort was well worth it!! I decided to combine two recipes to incorporate all my favorite ingredients.

CHERRY and PEACH CRUMBLE:

2 cups fresh cherries pitted and halved

3 medium sized peaches pealed and sliced

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp of cornstarch

1/3 c of granulated sugar

Crumble ingredients:

2/3 c all-purpose flour

3/4 c brown sugar

pinch of salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

4 1/2 tbsp butter (little over a half of stick)

little sprinkle of nuts on top (optional) makes it look pretty :)

 

Combine fruits, lemon juice, cornstarch, and sugar in a medium sized mixing bowl.  Making sure the ingredients are fully incorporated. In a small bowl stir together the flour, brown sugar, oats, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Once combined add the butter, blending the mixture until it's clumpy.  Spread fruit mixture into a 13X9 baking dish and sprinkle crumble mixture on top.  Finish with nuts on top.  Bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes until crumble mixture on top is a golden brown.

Highly suggest serving it with ice cream- its a crowd-pleaser!!

First Post!!!

Hey guys!!! Thanks so much for stopping by to see the sights!! I can't wait for what's in store for my blog!!  I plan to post recipes here and there, restaurant suggestions, life updates, interesting articles I come across and maybe a few more mixaroos in between!! I'm so excited to get started that I have absolutely no idea of where to actually start!

I guess I'll start with a little bit of a life update.  I just returned from an almost 2 week vacation down at the Outer Banks where I visited with both family and friends!  We shared a bunch of memories that I am sure none of us will forget.  From dance parties around the kitchen table, waking up to 30 cup, sleeping in stairwells, eating a mouthful of sand, the girls winning catchphrase by a landslide to Brendan's infamous dance moves, it was sure a vacation that will be engraved in the books! The first day back at work was definitely wretched! I could not focus on work, all I could think about was being a "grown-up" and having to work for what seems like the next umpteen million years!! Does not sounds like much fun if you ask me! But from what I hear, such is life!  So I guess this a reminder to myself and all of you to take advantage of acting like a kid and live life to the fulliest!!

Until next time,

B