Farewell to a family friend :(

Today had a rough start with having to say goodbye to an old family friend.  Rosie will surely be missed.  I think the fruits of my labor in the kitchen today would be a meal she would love.  And, as her eulogy stated, "You should never turn down a pastry or piece of pie".  This one's for you Rosie....

Let's start with dessert:

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Blood Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

*I found this recipe at: www.simplysweetbakeshop.blogspot.com

The recipe is for 12 cupcakes, so my recipe below is based on a double recipe (I ended up with 22 cupcakes).  However, I did a single batch of frosting and just altered that a bit.  Thank you to Simply Sweet Bake Shop for the great recipe and jumping off point!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/3 cups and 2 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup and 2 tablespoons white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line muffin tins. In medium bowl, pour boiling water over cocoa, and whisk until smooth. Let mixture cool. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at time, then stir in vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture. Spoon mixture into muffin tins, 1/2 full.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 18 - 20 minutes. Allow to cool.
   
   

Blood Orange Cream Cheese Icing

 

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup of butter (1 1/2 sticks), room temperature
8 oz of cream cheese (1 package), room temperature
  3Tbs juice from one blood orange
  2tsp zest from one blood orange
3-4 cups of powdered sugar (sifted)-I only used 3 cups
1 tsp of orange extract-did not have, so used vanilla instead

DIRECTIONS:

1. With an electric mixer, mix the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes on medium speed until very smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.

2. Add the orange extract, blood orange juice and zest and mix. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Keep adding until you get to desired sweetness.

3. Either spread on with a blunt knife or spatula, or spoon into a piping bag and decorate your cupcake.I had to put this in the fridge to firm up a bit.  This could be because I added an extra tablespoon of orange juice (originally asked for only 2 TBS). 

And now for dinner:

Local made Italian sausage with parmesoan and parsely roasted in the oven with:

• 1 sliced onion
• 4 thinkly sliced yukon gold potatoes
• Sliced mushrooms (as many as you like)
• 2 packages of sausage
• Parsley, oregano, garlic powder, salt, pepper
• 1/2 cup of water (white wine is better if you have any!)
• Drizzle with olive oil & toss

Dump everything in a baking pan, cover with foil and bake 350 degrees about 45 minutes or until you think it's cooked!  Take foil off after 30 minutes to let everything brown.  Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.  Yum!!!