Peanut Butter and Jelly Time

See?
I knew I shoulda stayed away from the kitchen and stuck with the sewing machine.
Now I've got myself addicted to baking again.
I foresee many more sugar overdoses in my future.
OH WELL, TOO LATE NOW.

My dad came to visit over the weekend to "see my shows" but I know the real reason he came down was to see his beloved VANDAL football team get their buts kicked against the AGGIES.
(Sorry Billy Boy but it's the truth, ain't it?!)
I'm just happy as a clam with the fact he was able to visit... no matter the reason!
We always have a great time.
Mostly spent laughing.
Or telling childish jokes.
And as for the Huckleberry Macarons??
They were a hit.
He also brought me a carry on full of garden grown veggies... zucchini, yellow squash, red onion, garlic, potatoes, and carrots... HOORAY!


Now for a couple days on my own and then the next batch of family flies in for Giselle!
I can't wait for them to see Giselle.
They are going to love it.
You know what else they are going to love?
PB&J Macarons.

I got the inspiration for these little buggers from this adorable new place that opened a couple weeks ago.
It's called "Petite Sweets".
They serve tasty little one bite sweets like macarons, cake balls and mini cupcakes and also have really really yummy frozen custard!
I go like 4 times a week..
I'm not gunna lie.
They also serve coffee from the best roaster in the universe, Amaya Roasting Co.
It's a happy place....

One day they had a pb&j mini cupcake.
It was soooooooo tasty.
I got the urge to make it into macaron form.
So I did.




Half I made with:
Peanut shells
Peanut Butter Buttercream
Huckleberry Buttercream



The others:
Peanut shells
Mom's garden fresh rhubarb- strawberry jam
Peanut Butter Buttercream




As for the Zucchini...


It was made into a glorious little cupcake/muffin.

Adapted by Martha Stewart's Sweet Zucchini Cupcake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
• 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 zucchini (10 ounces), coarsely grated (1 1/2 cups)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Streusel Topping:

• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cups of a standard (12-cup) muffin tin with paper or foil liners. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. .

3. In another bowl, combine zucchini, oil, eggs, and vanilla; add to flour mixture, and mix just until combined (do not overmix).

4. Divide batter evenly among cups. Combine all the Streusel ingredients until crumbly and sprinkle over tops of the cupcake batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. (MINE DID NOT TAKE 40 MINS! More like 25 so keep your eyes peeled!!!)
   

Huckleberry Crumb Cake

The pro huckleberry picker (my mommy)

I have to apologize to my eleven followers for my hiatus.
I have been living in the depths on the dungeon (AKA the theater) without light for the past couple weeks and will continue for two weeks more :) My skin is so pale you can practically see through to my innards. I mean you would think the florescent lights would be more flattering..... NOT!
I will post some performance shots soon but for now lets get to something more appetizing...

HUCKLEBERRY CRUMB CAKE

For those of you who have not tried Huckleberries, you are missing out on the greatest berry in the history of time. You read recipes and they will go on to say "easily replaceable with a wild blueberry". NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT. No comparison. They don't taste remotely the same. Maybe you could compare the color... MAYBE. Huckleberries are more petite and like a little purple pearl of greatness that grows under the tiny leaves of the plant. Now I owe everything to my mom and my dog Sandee (and dad you too if you went huckleberry-ing .. but you were most likely golfing). They get to go in the woods and go huckleberry-ing at the end of every summer. It's like the best thing ever. All I can say in my next life I am totally being a bear so I can just sit in the bushes and chow down on wild berries all day. Greg (my brother) thinks that bears got their name because they eat berries. Wonder if it's true? Those little berry-vours. So jealous.

Anywhoodle, back to the delicious crumb cake. I have an issue with crumb cakes. Once I start eating I can't stop. It's part of my childhood. My mom would make it on occasion and she would find me sitting in the kitchen with a fork and the entire 9x13 baking dish infront of me just chowing away like it was my plate. This crumb cake is on another level. Perhaps because it's not made out of bisquick...

Huckleberry Crumb Cake:

Adapted from Gourmet

For cake

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup raspberry jam or preserves

Crumb Topping

• 3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Make cake:

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Generously butter a 9-inch square or round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Whisk together butter, milk, and egg in a large bowl, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined. Pour batter into cake pan. Dollop jam all over surface, then swirl into batter with spoon.

Make crumb topping:
Whisk together butter, sugars, cinnamon, and salt until smooth. Stir in flour, then blend with your fingertips until incorporated. Sprinkle crumbs in large clumps over top of cake.

Bake cake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean and sides begin to pull away from pan, about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes.

Homemade Poptarts???

Start with butter, loads and loads of butter.

Throw butter into flour mixture. Now for the fun. Crumble butter and flour in between your fingers to make a crumbly dough.

Mom's huckleberry jam waiting patiently to fill the pop tarts.

An assembled poptart.

The Huckleberry Pop Tart.

The cinnamon and brown sugar pop tart.

Homemade poptarts anyone?
I am definitely not the first, but surely not the last to make homemade poptarts.
They have been all the rage on the foodie blogs every since Bon Appetite printed a recipe in their magazine.
I am not sure how you can even compare the original and these flaky rectangles of heaven, except for maybe the inspiration of flavors like my childhood favorite, Cinnamon and Brown Sugar.
I also filled a couple with my mom's homemade Huckleberry jam.
TRES TRES délicieux!!!

Adapted from Bon Appetite:

Ingredients

• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour plus additional for shaping and rolling
• 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 4 tablespoons ice water
• Huckleberry Jam (or any preserves you want!!)

Preparation

• Whisk 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour, coarse salt, and sugar in large bowl. Add butter. Using fingertips or back of fork, blend in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water by tablespoonfuls, tossing until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball. Divide in half; shape each half into disk. Wrap in plastic. Chill at least 1 hour.
• Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough on floured surface to about 13x11 inches. Trim to 12x10-inch rectangle, then cut into eight 5x3-inch rectangles.
• Arrange 4 rectangles, spaced apart, on each sheet. Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons preserves in row down center of each rectangle. Top preserves with second dough rectangle. Using fingertips, gently press all edges of each tart to seal; press all edges with tines of fork to double-seal. Using toothpick, poke a few holes in center of top dough rectangle. Cover; freeze tarts on sheets at least 2 hours and up to 1 week.
• Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 375°F. Bake frozen tarts uncovered until golden, reversing sheets after 15 minutes, 25 to 30 minutes total (some preserves may leak out). Immediately transfer tarts to rack. Sift powdered sugar lightly over. Serve warm or at room temperature with fresh berries.

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Variation:
1/2 c brown sugar
1 to 1 1/2 t cinnamon, to taste
4 t flour
1 large egg, to brush on pastry before filling

Whisk brown sugar cinnamon and flour together in a small bowl. Brush the edges of the pastry with egg mixture and dollop the center of the rectangle with heaping tablespoon of cinnamon and brown sugar mixture.

Cinnamon-Maple glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon maple syrup

whisk together and drizzle over warm pop tarts.

ENJOY!