Ponchatoula Strawberry Cupcakes

It’s strawberry picking season, and while I no longer have the knees for such a task, I do love going to the local farm and buying as many quarts of still-warm, fresh-from-the-fields strawberries as I can carry.  I also find this time of the year a great one to pluck Screen Doors and Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook (one of my favorite cookbooks) from the shelves and page through in search of something new to put on the table.  Frankly, I find the title alone to be charming.  It reminds me of lazy summer days, refreshing glasses of lemonade, and cool salads for supper instead of a hot, heavy meal.

This recipe jumped out at me as a great way to use some of the rapidly ripening strawberries scenting my kitchen with their heady aroma.  These cupcakes just say summer to me.  The texture is wonderfully moist, the strawberry flavor truly fresh and genuine; the frosting that drapes itself over the sides of the cupcakes, I could eat with a spoon.

Ponchatoula Strawberry Cupcakes
(Makes 24 cupcakes)

2 ½  cups cake flour 
1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt 
1/3 cup buttermilk
¼ cup canola oil

½ teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
½  cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 ½  cups granulated sugar 
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed fresh or frozen strawberries
1 teaspoon grated orange zest 
Strawberry Frosting (see recipe below)

Make the cupcakes:  Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spray a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray or line with foil baking cups.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside dry ingredients.   In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, almond and vanilla extracts; set aside. 

In an electric mixer, cream the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add the buttermilk mixture. Beat for 1 minute at medium speed. 

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Stir in the strawberries and orange zest. Spoon into prepared muffin tins, filling them two-thirds full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until cupcakes spring back when touched lightly in the center. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert the cupcakes from the pan and cool on racks. Let cool completely before frosting.

Strawberry Frosting

½ cup chopped fresh or frozen strawberries 
2 tablespoons strawberry jam
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened 
1 ½  cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the strawberries, jam, and lemon juice. Cook and stir for 5 minutes, or until the jam is melted and the strawberries are soft. Press any big pieces with the back of a spoon to mash. Let cool to room temperature.

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter at medium speed until creamy. On low speed, slowly add the confectioners’ sugar and mix until combined. Add the strawberries and mix until combined.

When the cupcakes are completely cool, spread with the frosting.

This post is linked to:

On the Menu Monday

Angel Biscuits

I read a lot of Southern literature from the Anne George Southern Sisters mysteries, to Fannie Flagg's humorous narratives, to Michael Lee West's fiction and memoirs, to Martha Hall Foose's charming cookbooks.  It seems that, in any type of southern writing, there is often the mention of Angel Biscuits.  I'd not heard of Angel Biscuits until I started reading these books, but the mouth-watering descriptions of sweet tea and biscuits with fresh jam served in a relaxing porch atmosphere with a view of the bayou finally got to me and I had to try them.

The addition of yeast in the dough is what makes this biscuit recipe different and lighter than most.  Picture a yeast roll in biscuit clothing and you'll get the idea.  Unique in both taste and texture, they are suitable for use as both a breakfast biscuit or a dinner roll.  An added plus is that they must be made ahead. I love that in a recipe, don't you?  The one I tried is from King Arthur Flour -- a fabulous catalog company the likes of which has often been known to make bakers weak at the knees.  You can find it on their website with loads of informative step-by-step pictures here, or use the directions (sans photos) that I've written out below.

Angel Biscuits
Recipe from King Arthur Flour

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 cup cold butter, cut into pats
1 cup room-temperature milk
2 tablespoons melted butter, for brushing on top

Whisk together the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Add the shortening, mixing till evenly crumbly. Add the butter, mixing till roughly combined. Pea-sized bits of butter can remain. Add the milk, mixing till just combined. The dough will be quite wet.

Transfer the dough to a well-floured work surface, and quickly and gently pat it into a 7" diameter, 1"-thick circle. Use a 2" round biscuit cutter to cut 16 biscuits. Place them close together on a lightly floured or parchment-lined tray or baking sheet. Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap or the cover of your choice, and allow the biscuits to rest at room temperature for 1 hour. After an hour, cover the biscuits with plastic wrap, and place the pan in the freezer for at least 1 hour. Overnight is fine. Alternatively, biscuits can be frozen up to 2 months.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Remove the biscuits form the freezer, remove the plastic, and space them on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake the biscuits for 16 to 18 minutes, till they're golden brown. Remove from the oven, and brush with melted butter, if desired.

Yield: 16 biscuits.

This post is linked to:
Foodie Friday
Foodie Friday @ Little Brick Ranch
Food on Friday
Friday Favorites
Friday Fat Camp

Banana Pudding

Winner of both the James Beard Award for American Cooking and the Southern Independent Booksellers Award, gifted chef and storyteller Martha Hall Foose is well deserving. A Mississippi Delta cook who studied in France she is the author of one of my favorite cookbooks of the year in Screen Doors and Sweet Tea. A delightful collection of sumptuous recipes and southern charm, she writes reverently of her family and growing up in the Mississippi delta, juxtaposing these stories, tips, and asides with mouthwatering recipes that want to make you head to the kitchen immediately, which is precisely what I did!


The only recipe for which I had every ingredient was the Banana Pudding, and since I'd last had banana pudding as a child, I figured making it was long overdue. According to the book, Foose "...made this meringue-topped banana pudding for Oprah and her best friend, Gayle. Gayle like[d] hers warm...and she ate two helpings. The demure Miss Winfrey had a single serving."


What makes this recipe so much fun is that it is made in individual containers, namely small Mason jars. Each pudding is topped with meringue, and while I'm no expert, my meringues came out just beautifully. The pudding is rich and creamy, redolent of banana, and loaded with comfort in the form of vanilla wafers. It's but one of the many recipes I intend to share with you in this blog. This is the easiest, so I thought I'd start here.


(Much to my delight, I recently learned that Foose has another book coming out, A Southerly Course: Recipes and Stories from Close to Home. This title will be released on April 12, 2011. I can't wait!)

BANANA PUDDING

from Screen Doors and Sweet Tea by Martha Hall Foose

INGREDIENTS

For the pudding:

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup cake flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 large egg yolks

2 cups whole milk

1/2 vanilla bean split or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Freshly grated nutmeg

1/2-inch piece of cinnamon stick

Quality vanilla wafer cookies

4 medium bananas, peeled and sliced

For the topping:

4 large egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

5 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

For the pudding:

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, bring 2 inches of water to a boil. In a large stainless steel bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, and salt. Whisk in the egg yolks, and then the milk, vanilla bean, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Place the bowl over the pan of water and cook, stirring until the mixture is thick and coats the back of a spoon, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat. Remove the cinnamon and vanilla bean. If using vanilla extract, stir it in now.

While the pudding is still warm, layer the cookies, bananas, and pudding in 1/2-pint canning jars or ramekins.

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

For the topping:

Whip the egg whites in an electric mixer on medium speed until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and slowly increase the speed as the egg whites become opaque. Add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Add the vanilla extract. Whip until the whites form a soft peak. Spoon the meringue over the warm puddings, sealing it to the sides of the jars.

Bake the puddings for 4 minutes, or until the meringue is puffed and brown. Cool on a rack for 20 minutes, and then refrigerate for 2 hours, or until you can’t stand it anymore.

Makes 8 servings