It’s definitely time for cupcakes. After all, spring has sprung. What better time to get our pastel frosting action on?
Well, I think spring has sprung. The D.C. area has a habit of swinging back and forth like a crazed toddler on a playground with temps, but I’m hoping we’ll stabilize soon. Until we do, I plan to hide in the house with cupcakes.
These are, according to a picky person I work with, the best thing I’ve ever baked. The cupcake batter is made with Canada Dry® Blackberry Ginger Ale and topped with a blackberry frosting. They’re pretty darn special.
All year long, I wait for fruit to finally become available. It seems patently unfair to me that some parts of the world have amazing fruit on a yearlong basis while we have to endure the winter.
But then I think about my grandmother. When she was a girl in Russia, they barely had any fresh fruit, ever. One day someone gave her an apple, which was a rare treat. Her siblings (she had five of them) ate their apples right away, but she saved hers for later. And saved it. And saved it.
You can probably guess what happened. The apple rotted, and my poor grandmother never got her treat. When I think about that story and then consider how absolutely spoiled I am (I mean, I can’t go a day without sugar), I realize I have nothing to complain about.
There’s no doubt that the spring brings forth increased desire for refreshing treats, and these cupcakes are the epitome of that. The Canada Dry® Blackberry Ginger Ale is made with real ginger, and I also have some ground ginger in the cupcake batter. The goal is to create a subtle undertone of ginger to complement the stronger blackberry flavor, and it worked out great.
As the official birthday coordinator in my office, it’s my job to bring in treats for everyone’s special day. When these cupcakes came into the office, nobody could resist eating them. There’s just something so festive about a blackberry ginger cupcake in the spring!
I also brought in some of the Canada Dry® Blackberry Ginger Ale 2-liters so that everyone could taste the soda, and all that bubbly made everyone even happier. But since the soda is only available seasonally through mid-May, they’ll have to get it quickly!
These can be made with pretty much the ingredients you already have, plus the Canada Dry® Blackberry Ginger Ale. For the frosting, make sure the jam you buy is seedless. You don’t want seedy frosting!
Remember to pick up a bottle of Canada Dry® Blackberry Ginger Ale for some fun spring cupcake action this season. Your cupcakes will be the life of the party, guaranteed!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners and spray them lightly with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix again.
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and ground ginger. Set aside.
- In another small bowl, combine the sour cream and the Canada Dry® Blackberry Ginger Ale. Mix until incorporated.
- Alternating mixtures, add the dry mixture and the sour cream mixture to the stand mixer. Beat until all ingredients are smooth.
- Using an ice cream scoop for portion evenness, portion the cupcake batter into the prepared liners. Fill each liner about 3/4 of the way up.
- Bake the cupcakes for 20-22 minutes. Cool completely.
- When the cupcakes are cool, make the frosting. Cream the butter and vanilla until smooth. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time until a smooth frosting forms. You want it to be stiff enough to pipe with, especially since you're adding jam. Finally, mix in the blackberry jam.
- Using a large star tip, pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. Place a blackberry in the center of each cupcake.
- Allow the frosting to set. Store covered.
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No, don’t worry. This is not the start of a new trend. But every now and then, I feel compelled to offer up one of my favorite savory recipes. And this is definitely one of my best ever happy ones!
I invented this soup a few months back, and it is divine. It’s also divinely simple. It’s thick and creamy, but there’s no cream in it, so it’s healthy, too! It’s also very rich. One bowl is pretty much a meal, as long as you’re having it with a piece of excellent bread. Yes, you’ll want a good crusty loaf to have along with this.
The base begins with onions and cashews, which get browned in the pot along with ground ginger before you add the carrots and chicken stock. You pretty much simmer the heck out of the carrots before pureeing everything with still more chicken stock. It’s so easy, and I guarantee that people will be bowled over (no pun intended, I promise) when they try this soup.
The secret to creamy soup that contains no cream is all in the ratio of liquid to vegetables as well as the thoroughness with which you puree everything. This recipe contains almost two boxes of chicken stock, and I puree everything with an immersion blender until there are no small bits of anything left.
Now, a word about immersion blenders, a.k.a. my favorite kitchen tool. You could do all this in a regular blender by transferring batches in and out, but just rethink that for a minute. Immersion blenders are not expensive (unless you buy a top-of-the-line one) and they save so much mess and dishwashing. They’re convenient as heck. I bought my first immersion blender seven years ago and never looked back. My regular blender is now pretty much a margarita machine.
Once all of your ingredients are pureed and your soup is ready, you have a dish that everyone loves! Well, nearly everyone. Two out of my three kids love this soup. That’s pretty good stats. And when I served it at a dinner with 14 people, everyone gobbled it up and most demanded seconds.
It’s freezing out, and good healthy soups are where it’s at. I’ll get back to dessert in my next post, but for now, make this for dinner!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Put a large soup pot on medium heat. Grease with cooking spray.
- Sautee the onion for two minutes. Add the cashews and cook until lightly browned. Add the ginger and curry, stirring for one minute.
- Pour the bag of carrots into the pot and add one box of chicken stock. Turn the heat up to medium-high and cover the pot.
- Simmer the carrots until they are tender, about 30 minutes. You can test with a fork. They should fall apart easily.
- Remove the soup from the heat and puree with an immersion blender. When the mixture is getting incorporated, gradually pour in about 3/4 of the remaining box of chicken stock. You can refrigerate the rest for a different recipe.
- Puree until the soup is creamy and completely smooth. Add ground pepper if desired and stir again. Serve hot.
- Can be refrigerated for one week, or frozen for one month.
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