Black beans and rice with chicken and apple pico

Beans and rice: healthy, cheap, easy, filling… and kinda boring, right?

But it doesn’t have to be. This recipe from Bon Appetit takes what is probably the most frequently eaten dish in the world and gives it a little extra oomph (without adding too much extra time).

The most interesting part of this, for me, was what they called the apple salsa. I renamed it apple pico de gallo because I think of salsa as, well, a sauce. And this is not a sauce. (It also isn’t spicy, so you may want to try adding a chopped jalapeno for some extra kick.)

It’s really easy to make, plus it really adds some good flavor and texture. And I do love green apples, even though they remind me of dance camp and lunchtime bomb threats in high school.

The only thing I thought was off with the original recipe is the amount of broth you put in with the beans. Mine were too soupy, even after cooking them longer than suggested and smashing down as many of the beans as possible.

And while this combination works really well together, you should definitely feel free to mess around with it. You could use some other type of chicken, or turkey, or no meat at all. You can try quinoa instead of rice, add some jalapeno to the apple pico or try throwing a few slices of avocado on top of the whole thing. It all works. And it all is a little more exciting than plain black beans and brown rice.

Black beans and rice with chicken and apple pico de gallo (Adapted from Bon Appetit, serves 4-6)
Brown rice (enough for 4 cups cooked)
3-4 medium Granny Smith apples (enough for 1 cup chopped)
1/2 cup cilantro
1/2 red onion
2-3 limes
1/2 green bell pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 garlic cloves
2 15-ounce cans black beans
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 rotisserie chicken

Start cooking rice (according to package directions).

Peel and core apples, then chop into small pieces. Chop the cilantro and set 1/4 cup of it aside. Finely chop the red onion until you have 1/3 cup.

Stir the apple, 1/4 cup cilantro, 2 tablespoons of the onion and 1 teaspoon of freshly squeezed lime juice together in a small bowl (you may also want to add a diced jalapeno to this). Set apple pico aside.

Finely dice the green pepper (you want about 1/3 cup) and mince the garlic cloves. Thoroughly rinse and drain the black beans.

Pour the oil into a large skillet and add the remaining red onion and all of the green pepper. Cook on medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 6 minutes or until totally softened. Add the garlic, chili powder, coriander and cumin and stir constantly while cooking for another 2 minutes.

Stir in the broth and beans and bring the whole mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and let the mixture bubble a little as you mash some of the beans with the back of a spoon. Keep stirring often and mashing beans until the sauce is thickened (8-10 minutes). Season with salt, pepper and more lime juice if you’d like.

Remove the skin from the chicken and shred the meat with a fork. To serve, spoon rice and beans onto plate, then top with chicken and pico de gallo. Garnish with cilantro and lime wedges.

How to start swimming

I learned to swim when I was 22 months old, and I grew up with a pool in my backyard. So even though I (foolishly) quit swim team in elementary school, swimming has always been relatively easy and natural for me. When my family was living in Brussels, I would swim laps every day at a pool where I couldn’t communicate with anyone (except by hand gestures… which is how I figured out a swim cap was required). But even so, I can get a little freaked out when I’m going to a new pool. And I know just the thought of swimming laps is super intimidating to many people.

If you’re one of those people, I’m hoping I can help you get past some of your reservations about swimming. Why? Because swimming is great for cross-training or an every day workout; it doesn’t hurt your feet or knees; you don’t get all hot and sweaty; and being in the water can be very relaxing. Plus, it’s still the month of resolutions, right? Resolve to smell like chlorine in 2012.

Reservation/excuse No. 1: I can’t swim.

Obviously this is a legitimate problem. There are many different versions of “I can’t swim” — ranging from “I would drown if I fell out of a boat without a life vest within 10 feet of land” to “I can only swim a few laps without getting really tired” — but my recommendation for almost all of them is to look into swim lessons.

Many pools offer adult lessons, and if you don’t see it as an option on their website or class flyer, you should call and ask. Lessons are a must if you really can’t swim at all, and they can give you more confidence in the water if you know how to swim but need help or are scared.

But, if your version of “I can’t swim” is “I can’t remember how to do butterfly properly” (or something similar), you probably don’t need lessons. Not having perfect stroke technique or having trouble swimming long distances is not the same as not knowing how to swim. The only way to get better is to practice. And there is no rule that says you can’t just do breast stroke (or side stroke, or back stroke, or whatever) forever. Just promise you don’t start out swimming somewhere without a lifeguard or anyone else around, OK?

2. I’ve never swum laps/I’ve never been on a swim team.

I never ran track or cross-country, but I am allowed to run, right? So why should you feel intimidated because you haven’t been on a swim team?

Swimming laps is challenging if you’ve never done it before (or if you haven’t done it for a few years), but that’s OK. Just be sure to start off slow, and don’t feel bad about taking breaks. You can think of it like the run-walk method of learning to run long distances.

The breathing is probably the hardest part, so if you’re doing the crawl you may want to try not kicking so hard (so you don’t get tired as quickly). You can also try other strokes. I used to do laps and laps of breast stroke (and nothing else) until I finally managed to get the breathing down for the crawl.

You may also want to try a swimmer’s snorkel. My dad has one and he loves it. It solves the breathing problem and lets you focus on getting yourself through the water. You can always ditch it later.

3. I don’t have a pool at my gym/in my neighborhood/at my house.

As long as you aren’t a civilian living in Jacksonville, N.C., you can probably find a decent pool within a reasonable distance. Lots of YMCAs and community centers have pools (and are generally not too expensive), so I might start with your city or county’s website. You can also search here for pools all over the world. I will warn you, though: If you are picking a gym for its pool, make sure the pool is large enough to swim laps and isn’t always occupied with water aerobics classes, children’s swim lessons or random enormous old people floating around on pool noodles (seriously). See if you can get a free week of membership and try it out.

4. I don’t have the right bathing suit.

Seriously? My “lap swimming” bathing suit — for at least a year — was a purple velvet triangle top and matching boy shorts. Any swimsuit (or pair of lined workout shorts, if you’re a dude) that covers your naughty bits and stays in place while moving is fine (a good elastic waist that sits tight against your body is key for the bottom half. String bikini bottoms and/or board shorts are not recommended).

And if you need to buy a new one? It’s cheaper than a pair of running shoes, and will probably last longer. Try an outlet store or an online retailer like this, or motivate yourself with this awesome suit. And make sure you get some goggles, too.

5. I’m too pale/fat/hairy/old and I don’t want to look silly.

First off, it’s highly unlikely that you are paler than me. Second, it is extremely (EXTREMELY) unlikely that you will be the fattest/hairiest/oldest person at the pool, unless you are literally a 90-year-old obese gorilla. But even if you are, who cares? Most of the people there are going to be so focused on their own issues that they aren’t even going to notice you (unless you are really hot, in which case they may talk to you).

If you’re really worried about it, get a flattering bathing suit, shave and use some fake tanning lotion (at least a day beforehand, please!). You’ll realize it doesn’t matter as soon as you get to the pool.

6. I hate sharing lanes.

Me too. The other person is always too fast or too slow, or they stop too much or they don’t stop enough. Or they crowd you and you kick the lane line and hurt your big toe (this happens to me more frequently than you would expect). But usually you just have to suck it up.

If you want to avoid having to share lanes, call the pool ahead of time and find out when they are the most crowded and when they have swim lessons or swim meets. Those are the times you should avoid, because that usually means fewer lanes for regular lap swimmers. I actually don’t have to share a lane that often, and I am very haphazard about when I go.

If you are the one who is going to be getting into a lane with someone else, I recommend standing or sitting at the end of the lane and asking first. Some people prefer splitting the lane (one person swimming on the right, the other on the left), while others prefer circle swimming (this is a necessity with 3 or more people in the lane). I would also try to find someone who swims at about the same speed as you do (although I find this hard to judge). But it can also be really easy to split a lane with someone who is just running/hopping/Rockette-kicking their way up and down the lane. Regardless, be polite. You don’t own the pool. Unless you do. In which case you shouldn’t have to worry about this at all!

Raspberry muesli with hazelnuts

When I told y’all I was a picky child, you probably thought I meant that I would only eat, like, chicken fingers, macaroni and cheese, Cheerios and PB&J sandwiches, right? Because that’s what a normal picky child eats.

But I was not a normal picky child (just like I’m not a normal picky adult — thought I do eat a lot more now than I did then). I hated peanut butter (still don’t like it that much), I wouldn’t eat cold sandwiches (deli meat is disgusting) and I didn’t like cereal. This made breakfast and brown-bag lunches a challenge for my poor mother.

Luckily for everyone, I started eating granola in college (without raisins, obviously). And now I will eat most cereals. But I had never tried muesli… and I never really knew what it was. The name wasn’t very appealing to me, and I figured it was probably dry and crunchy and tasted like sawdust.

But, as is so often the case, I was totally wrong. Muesli is fruity and tasty and not dry at all. Even elementary school Jen (or Elise, depending on the year) might have eaten it. The only thing crunchy about it is the delightful sprinkle of toasted hazelnuts on top.

It doesn’t take long to make, either. And since it needs to be assembled the night before, it’s a great (healthy) grab-and-go breakfast. Who has time to make fancy oatmeal or an omelet before work anyway? Not me.

Did I mention it’s pink? Toby didn’t seem to mind taking a gelato container filled with a pink fruit-and-oat concoction to work, though. Maybe because it’s really good? Or maybe it’s just that the container could be hidden in his backpack.

Raspberry muesli with hazelnuts (Serves 1-2, adapted from Bon Appetit)
1/2 large apple (use a sweet variety, not something too tart)
1/2 cup rolled oats (not quick-cooking or instant)
1/3 cup plain nonfat yogurt
juice of 1/2 navel orange or 1 clementine orange
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
1 tablespoon chopped hazelnuts, toasted

Core the apple but leave the skin on. Shred or grate the apple (and skin) using a box grater or food processor. Place in a bowl with the dry oats. Stir in the yogurt and squeeze in the orange juice. Add the frozen raspberries and a pinch of salt, if desired, and mix well.

Cover the mixture and refrigerate it overnight. To serve, sprinkle with toasted hazelnuts.

NOTE: The original recipe calls for sprinkling toasted hemp seeds on top of the muesli along with the hazelnuts. I didn’t do that because I couldn’t find hemp seeds and it seemed kind of ridiculous to track them down for this one recipe. If you want some additional nutritional benefits and you don’t want to track down hemp seeds either, try sprinkling ground flax seed on top.

Spinach salad with quinoa and chicken

So, here’s the thing: I hate salads.

Not all salads. Bean salad, pasta salad and fruit salad that doesn’t include cantaloupe or honeydew are fine. But I really don’t like raw leaves. And I despise cucumbers. So that eliminates the vast majority of salads.

Unfortunately for me, though, raw leaves are a lot healthier than, say, nachos. Which means I have to try. Even if I feel like a brontosaurus chewing on all those dang leaves.

It was that spirit of trying that first led me to order a butternut squash and couscous salad from Nando’s Peri Peri (a Portuguese chicken restaurant). And even though the couscous and butternut squash and chicken was nestled on a BIG bed of raw spinach leaves, I didn’t hate it. I actually kind of liked it.

Then I saw this recipe in my new cookbook and was reminded of that Peri-Peri salad. It has different ingredients, but the general idea is the same — spinach salad with a grain and chicken on top. And I thought it would fit in well with the cleanse we’re trying to do (I had to find some new dinner options, since I don’t eat fish).

I generally don’t like sweet things in salads (seriously, you can take away my girly girl card now), and I HATE sweet dressings. But this dressing is super easy to make and not sweet — and I didn’t mind the dried cherries. Of course, you can leave them out if you are worried about the sweetness.

(You don’t have to cook this much chicken)

Anyway, Toby and I both enjoyed this salad. I didn’t even mind the spinach leaves that much. And since you keep the dressing separate it makes good leftovers, too. It’s not nachos, but you should still try it.

Spinach salad with quinoa and chicken (Serves 4, adapted from Pretty Delicious)
1 cup dry quinoa
2 cups water
1 bay leaf (optional)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 bag baby spinach
1 large Granny Smith or other tart apple
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup dried cherries (or cranberries)

Pour the dry quinoa in a bowl and pour water into the bowl until the water covers the quinoa. Allow to sit for a few minutes (or up to an hour), then drain quinoa through a fine-mesh sieve. Place the quinoa in a medium saucepan with 2 cups water and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer (uncovered) for about 15 minutes — until the quinoa has absorbed the liquid and you can see the curly germ on the outside of the individual seeds.

While quinoa is cooking, rinse and pat the chicken breasts dry. Brush them with a little of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Heat a grill pan over medium heat and brush ridges with remaining olive oil. Cook the chicken, allowing it to brown on both sides and cook all the way through. Slice cooked chicken into thin strips.

Whisk the vinegar and Dijon mustard together in a small bowl (you can add 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, too, but I didn’t). Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Rinse and roughly chop the spinach leaves, if desired. Rinse the apple and chop it up into small pieces, leaving the skin on. Chop the walnuts. Toss the spinach, apple pieces, walnuts and dried fruit in a large bowl.

Once everything is ready, scoop a generous portion of salad into each serving bowl. Top each salad with a scoop or two of quinoa and a few strips of chicken. Drizzle some dressing over everything and serve.

Photos I meant to post in 2011

I’m sorry I wasn’t more consistent in my posting last year. I am going to try to be better in 2012. But while I still have some recipes hanging around that I can post when the time is right, there are a few things that I really should have posted ages ago. Here goes.

We went to croquet in Annapolis for the first time in the spring. It was crazy crowded and full of drunk people in Great Gatsby-inspired clothes, and I realized I should have spent a lot longer thinking about what I was going to wear (and probably brought a picnic basket). I definitely need to think of a good cooking/baking project for this year’s!

I tried to make Hawaiian sweet bread, and it overflowed all over the place (but still tasted awesome… I need to try again soon).

I still haven’t been able to do a hair how-to, but here’s the photo from the Marine Corps ball that I promised:

Also, Toby got promoted! He’s like, totally major now.

My hair stylist had a baby girl, so I made her these cookies:

Then my friend Emily had a little boy. That called for cookies, too. He seemed to like them.

And, of course, Toby played a lot of rugby. He was even named honorable mention for the all armed forces team. And as an added bonus, we haven’t had to go to the ER since he started wearing the scrum cap!

Here’s to being better organized in 2012!

Who Dey

Happy 2012! I apologize for my sporadic posting during the past month or so. We were gone for most of December, but I do have some things I am going to post from our trips.

In the meantime, this is a really big day. Not only are the Bengals are in the playoffs, they actually have a chance to win. That’s huge. Toby is wearing his Bengals jersey on top of another Bengals shirt, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he put on a Bengals hat later to drink beer out of his new Bengals beer stein.

We’re trying Bon Appetit’s food lover’s cleanse again, so there is no cookie baking going on around here right now, but I did make some Bengals cookies when they were playing the Ravens the first time.

Obviously you can use this method with any shape you want to tiger-stripe. Just outline in black royal icing, then draw random stripes with points at the end. You can do up and down or side to side — whichever you like better.

Then thin some orange royal icing out a little and fill in the parts outside of the stripe with that. Next, add water to the black royal icing a drop or two at a time until it is spreadable but not watery (this is called flood icing — you want it about the consistency of maple syrup) and fill in the stripes.

For the Ravens helmets, I outlined in black, drew a Raven-esque shape in the middle with white royal icing, filled in the head with purple flood icing and added some more white for the beak and eye. Sorry I don’t have a tutorial for that one. I do have a close-up of the raven though:

Let’s hope the Bengals play better today than they did against the Ravens, though.

Who dey!

Sugar cookie recipe here, recipe for royal icing and how to make flood icing here.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

From your friendly neighborhood weirdos.

(We were wearing those costumes for a holiday pub crawl. I promise.)

Pumpkin bread pudding

Remember when I told you that my mom and I think Bobby Flay is trying to kill us? This is one of the reasons we came to that conclusion. But, I can’t deny that it’s a delicious holiday dessert. So let’s dive in.

My mom baked this particular loaf of pumpkin bread, but that sunken part in the middle always happens to me, too. I think it’s because I don’t leave it in the oven long enough. But it doesn’t really matter for this particular purpose. And you don’t even have to bake the pumpkin bread yourself if you don’t feel like it.

No matter what kind of bread you use, you should toast it first so it dries out a little and can absorb more of the deliciousness you are going to pour on top.

That deliciousness includes more pumpkin. And custard.

This one you should bake in a water bath, so make sure the dish you use will fit in another pan. We didn’t have a 10-inch glass dish (as called for in the recipe), but this worked quite well. And it was pretty. That is important.

And if that doesn’t look good enough, there’s caramel apple sauce you can drizzle on top. Yum squared. Not quite pumpkin pie, but a good dessert for National Pumpkin Pie Day (Dec. 25) nonetheless.

Hope everyone is having a happy holiday!

Pumpkin bread pudding (Adapted from Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain Cookbook, serves at least 8)
1 9-inch loaf (give or take) pumpkin bread or other bread (BF’s pumpkin bread recipe below)
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1 vanilla bean
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons maple syrup (not pancake syrup)
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons bourbon (optional)
whipped cream
Spicy caramel apple sauce (recipe below)
Shelled pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 325. Butter a 10-inch baking dish (glass is preferable, make sure the dish you use will fit inside a roasting pan).

Cut the bread into roughly 1/2-inch cubes. Spread the bread cubes evenly on a large baking sheet and bake for about 7 minutes, then stir/turn the cubes over and bake another 7-8 minutes, until toasted. Set aside.

Split the vanilla bean with a sharp knife and scrape out the seeds. In a small saucepan, stir together the cream, milk and vanilla bean (plus seeds). Heat over medium heat, stirring frequently, until tiny bubbles start to appear around the sides of the pan. Remove from  heat.

In a large bowl, whisk the yolks, sugar, maple syrup and pumpkin puree together. Slowly (and carefully) whisk the hot cream mixture into the yolk mixture until combined. Remove the vanilla bean and stir in the bourbon.

Scatter the toasted bread cubes in the prepared baking dish, then pour the custard over the bread, pushing down on the bread to submerge it. Allow to sit for 15 minutes (or more) to let the bread soak up some of the custard.

Place the dish in a large roasting pan and add hot water to the roasting pan until it comes halfway up the sides of the glass baking dish. Bake bread pudding about 1 hour, until the sides are slightly puffed and the center jiggles a bit. Remove from the oven and from the water and cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Serve bread pudding warm, topped with whipped cream, drizzled with spicy caramel apple sauce and sprinkled with pumpkin seeds.

Pumpkin bread (makes 1 9-inch loaf)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
scant 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
2 large eggs
2/3 cup water

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9-inch loaf pan.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and spices.

In a stand mixer or large mixer bowl, beat the butter, sugar and oil together until light and fluffy. Add the pumpkin puree and mix just until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.

Gradually add the flour mixture and water until just combined (you can add them with the mixer going on low speed, but you don’t have to). Pour the batter evenly into the pan.

Bake for about an hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before removing.

Spicy caramel apple sauce
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup apple juice
1 star anise
1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
4 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon apple schnapps (optional)

Stir cream, apple juice, star anise, ginger, cloves, cinnamon sticks and nutmeg together in a small saucepan and then heat until small bubbles start to form on the sides of the pan but mixture has not boiled. Remove from the heat and let sit for at least 20 minutes.

Strain the mixture back into a clean small saucepan and place over low heat.

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water, and vinegar and cook over high heat — without stirring — until the mixture turns a dark amber color (8 to 10 minutes).

Slowly and carefully whisk in the hot cream mixture and continue whisking until smooth.  Add apple schnapps and cook for 30 more seconds.

(Sauce can be made 2 days ahead of time and kept in the fridge. Make sure you warm it up before serving).

Spinach souffle

Toby and I went to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving, and now we’re in Jekyll Island, Ga., with his family for Christmas. (It’s really beautiful here — and really warm. I swam outside today!)

Anyway, my mom put the Christmas decorations up and made Christmas dinner two nights after Thanksgiving so we could celebrate with them, too. Everything was good, of course, but the spinach souffle was probably my favorite.

The massive amount of cheese could be why I like this so much… but hey, it has a bunch of spinach, too.

Weird thing about spinach souffle: I’ve liked it as far back as I can remember. Even when I was completely anti-green things and would freak out if a single strand of shredded lettuce touched my plate, I would eat Stouffer’s spinach souffle (which is way greener than the homemade version).

This is 100 times better than the frozen kind, as you might imagine. It’s not that hard to make, either. It just makes a LOT. And doing it without some kind of electric mixer would be a challenge.

There are a LOT of eggs in here. If you don’t have a really big souffle dish, you may want to reduce the recipe a little. Also, my mom used fresh spinach but I feel like it’s easier (and cheaper) to use frozen.

My mom baked this in a water bath, but I haven’t when I’ve made it. I think it might take longer to cook if you do the water bath, though, so keep that in mind if you go that route.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Spinach souffle (Adapted from my mom)
3 packages frozen spinach
9 tablespoons butter
9 tablespoons flour
3 cups milk
1 teaspoon onion powder (optional)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
4 1/2 cups grated medium sharp cheese
9 eggs, separated and at room temperature

Heat and drain (and/or pat dry) spinach.

Preheat oven to 350. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat and then add the flour and whisk. Allow to thicken slightly, then whisk in the milk and continue whisking until sauce is thick and smooth. Add the spices and stir in the grated cheese. Stir until cheese is melted.

Remove pan from heat and add spinach. Beat the egg yolks and then add them to the cheese/spinach mixture and mix well.

In a clean bowl, beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Carefully fold whites into the spinach mixture.

Pour mixture into buttered souffle dish and bake for about 50 minutes (make sure you don’t open the oven in the first 30 minutes), or until souffle is puffed and center is firm. Serve immediately.

Sugar Plum Fairy cupcakes

I started taking ballet when I was 2 years old, and my mom started taking me to see The Nutcracker every year not too long after. I was even invited to try out for a small part in Ballet Arizona’s production one year, but I was too tall (if you can imagine that!).

This year, Toby and I had tickets to see The Nutcracker at the Kennedy Center, but we didn’t get to go (for various reasons). Still, I wanted to make some Nutcracker-themed cupcakes.

I realized a few months ago (while we were watching a different ballet) that the tutus — especially the undersides — looked like frosting on a cupcake. So I wanted to make an upside-down ballerina cupcake. And though there are numerous dancers in The Nutcracker that represent sweets, the Sugar Plum Fairy is the most fabulous. I figured she would be the perfect ballerina to cupcake-ize.

Even though “sugar plums” aren’t necessarily plums, I thought Sugar Plum Fairy cupcakes should have some plum in them. However, it turns out that finding plums — fresh or canned  — is not very easy in December. So I went with plum preserves as a filling in a vanilla cupcake. The cupcake recipe I used was kinda wacky though, so I’m not going to subject you to it. You can just use whatever yellow or white cake recipe you want, or a cake mix.

For the frosting, I used a closed star tip and piped concentric circles, starting in the center. And while it looks totally fine if you don’t, I tried to make the frosting more ruffle-like by wiggling the pastry bag while I was piping. So we’ve got a tutu. But ballerinas need legs. Obviously.

I was going to get pretzel sticks and cover them with white chocolate myself, but I found these twists at Giant. I melted some white chocolate chips (disclaimer: it took me three tries to get it right — be careful) and tinted it with gel food coloring (liquid food coloring may make the chocolate seize) to make little ballet shoes.

Dipping the pretzels in the pink chocolate didn’t work very well, so I used a little paint brush to put it on the ends and then used a toothpick to do the criss-crosses. Then I used a little extra frosting to put the legs on the cupcakes, and wrapped the cupcake in a cupcake skirt (available at Michael’s, among other places) to finish the tutu effect! Cute, right?

Sugar Plum Fairy cupcakes
White or yellow cupcakes, tinted pink if desired (this recipe, minus the cream of coconut, or the cake from this post would work)
white-dipped pretzel twists
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
pink gel food coloring
1 jar plum preserves or jam
White frosting (recipe below)
Pink or white cupcake skirts (optional)

Bake the cupcakes.

While cupcakes are cooling, carefully melt the white chocolate chips according to package directions. Tint with pink gel food coloring.

Lay a piece of wax paper out on your work surface. Dip the ends of pretzel sticks into the pink chocolate (or use a small paintbrush to apply the pink all around one end of each stick). Lay the pretzel sticks on the wax paper to dry, and use a toothpick to make little criss-crosses with the pink chocolate just above the solid pink.

After cupcakes are baked and cooled, cut or scoop a small well in the center of each. Stir the plum preserves and spoon a bit into hole in the middle of the cupcakes (if the cake held together well when you cut it, you can keep the little tops and put them back on. But it’s not necessary).

Frost the cupcakes with white frosting, making sure some frosting is left over. Stick the white end of the pretzel sticks down into the cupcakes a little (so pink ends are sticking up) and pipe some leftover frosting around the cupcake end to keep them in place. Enjoy!

Basic buttercream frosting (Adapted slightly from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook – makes enough to frost about 12 cupcakes)
1/3 cup butter, at room temperature (use light-colored butter, if possible)
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar (measuring recommended)
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Additional milk, as needed
White food coloring (optional)

Beat butter until fluffy in a large mixing bowl. Gradually add 2 cups of the powdered sugar and beat well. Slowly beat in the 1/4 cup milk and vanilla.

Slowly beat in the remaining powdered sugar until smooth. Add additional milk, if needed for consistency. Add some white food coloring if desired and beat until incorporated.