Run More. Bake More.: Cupcake Love!

So I needed to do some more cupcakes...I think that I was having withdrawals! Also, I haven't posted in here for a long time and yet, so much cooking and baking has been done!!

My father's birthday was a couple weeks ago and instead of buying him some frivolous gift for his BBQ or a new shirt as I usually do...I decided that it was going to be a weekend of cooking and baking for him! Saturday (his official birthday) commenced with a "I must admit" delicious Mexican Breakfast Casserole...followed by Sunday's family get together where everyone devoured Beef Enchiladas and Chicken with Homemade Tomatillo Salsa Enchiladas. And if you know me well, no family get together is complete without a cupcake for dessert. This dessert wasn't just any dessert though. I made the hard choice to give up Chocolate for Lent, so that eliminated half the cupcakes that I wanted to make. One of my dad's signature treats that he loves to make are Key Lime Pies. So I decided to make my Key Lime Pie cupcakes. My brother's girlfriend is Gluten Free, so I decided that I would make one of my all time favorite cupcakes, the Graham Cracker cupcake, into a Gluten Free cupcake. This took a little practice as the GF All Purpose flour needs a dash of Xantham Gum to hold it together. The cupcakes would be crumbly and disgusting without it...the xantham gum, therefore, acts as the binding agent. Normal all purpose flour has Gluten to hold it together... My first round of cupcakes, I didn't add enough, so I added a dash to the bowl before the next batch went into the oven. All in all, the cupcake concoction was a GF Graham Cracker Cupcake with Key Lime Pie filling and a Coconut Vanilla Whipped topping. I had some blackberries on hand, so I topped each with a blackberry too.

I think that the weekend of delicious treats was a good present to say the least! :)

Mexican Breakfast Casserole

Thanks to Emeril Lagasse

1 jar roasted red peppers

1 1/2 pounds Mexican chorizo, or other hot sausage, removed from casings and crumbled

-I opted for 3/4 lb. Green Chili Chicken Sausage and 3/4 lb. Spicy Chipotle Chicken Sausage from the meat counter at Sunflower Market

1 cup chopped yellow onions

1/2 cup chopped red bell peppers

4 teaspoons minced garlic

4 teaspoons chili powder

5 corn tortillas, quartered (Ezekiel Sprouted Corn Tortillas are great and only 4 ingredients in them...completely GF)

10 large eggs

3 cups half-and-half (I opted for Coconut Milk...changed the texture, but I don't drink milk)

1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup chopped green onions, green tops only

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

3/4 cup grated pepper jack

3/4 cup grated medium cheddar

Spray 9x13 glass dish with cooking spray. Spread the roasted peppers in a flat layer across the bottom of the dish.

In a large skillet, cook the sausage over medium-high heat, stirring to break up the meat, until browned.

Add the onions and bell peppers, and cook, stirring, for 4 minutes.

Add the garlic and chili powder, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and coconut milk with the hot sauce, salt and black pepper.

In another bowl, combine the green onions, cilantro, jack, and cheddar, and mix well.

Spoon 1/3 of the sausage mixture over the roasted peppers in the dish, top with 1/3 of the tortilla quarters, and 1/3 of the cheese mixture. Repeat layering, ending with a cheese layer.

Pour the egg mixture over the ingredients.

Let rest, covered, in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, or overnight.

Next day...

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake until bubbly and golden brown, and a knife inserted into the custard comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Delicious layers

Casserole, fresh fruit and of course, COFFEE!

The enchilada recipes, I followed almost exactly...so I will share the link to them! They are delicious!

Thanks to:

Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice for the Spicy Shredded Flank Steak recipe

Tyler Florence for his Roasted Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas

-Slow cooked the flank stead in the crockpot over night instead

LAST, BUT NOT LEAST...

Gluten Free Graham Cracker Cupcakes

adapted from Vanilla Garlic blog to be made GF

1/2 cup of butter, room temperature
1 cup of sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 cup of milk

**I use Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
1 cup of flour

**GF All Purpose Flour - Bob's Red Mill
1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs

**Smoreables is the only GF brand I found at Vitamin Cottage
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of salt

3/4 tsp xantham gum

**enough to make the batter thicker and not so runny

Beat the butter for about 30 seconds until well creamed.

Add the sugar and mix for 3 minutes using a paddle attachment until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, being sure to beat for 30 seconds for each egg.

Place graham crackers in a food processor or in a plastic bag and beat until they are small crumbs or powder.

Sift together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda and powder, and salt.

Add about 1/4 of the mixture to the butter mixture, then add some of the milk.

Continue to add the ingrdients in adry-wet-dry method, ending with the dry.

Continue to mix until just combined.

Scoop into cupcake papers and bake for 12-14 minutes in a 350 F oven or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Key Lime Pie Filling

8 oz mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
5 oz key lime juice

**Nellie and Joe's Key Lime Juice is the best! :)
9 oz sweetened condensed milk

Place all ingredients in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.

Mix on low for 30 seconds.

Increase speed to medium and blend for 2 minutes.

Place in a separate bowl and place in fridge for 2 hours.

Once cupcakes are cool, cut a hole or use corer to remove a small hole in the middle of the cupcake and spoon in generous portion of filling into each cupcake.

Coconut Vanilla Whipped Cream

3 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract (not the imitation crap)

handful of unsweetened coconut flakes, crumbled

Mix cream and sugar until stiff peaks form.

Splash in the vanilla and coconut. Mix to combine.

Chill in fridge until ready to pipe onto cupcakes.