cinnamon

Cinnamon Ornaments

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

I love decorating my Christmas tree! It is a fun and sometimes bittersweet trip down memory lane as I pull out keepsake ornaments (one from my grammy, my dad and aunt, all whom have passed away; and ones from my girls that are homemade or in the year of their births). IMG-2517

One of my favorite homemade gift are these Cinnamon Ornaments! They are so easy to make and smell amazing. I made some three years ago, and they still smell great on my tree. This is a great activity for kids to help with and gives them the pride of knowing they did most of the work.

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Ingredients:

1 cup ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. white school glue
3/4-1 c. water

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F. Line three baking sheets with parchment or wax paper. In a large bowl add the cinnamon and glue. Add 3/4 c. water to start with. Mix well until there is no more dry cinnamon. If you need to use the remainder 1/4 c. of water, mix in a little at a time. The mixture will feel spongy … remember FLOAM? That is the consistency your are looking for. Roll mixture out onto a piece of parchment or wax paper and use your favorite cookie cutters to create fun shapes. After placing these on your baking sheets, use a skewer or tooth pick to make a good size hole near the top, being careful not to be too harsh or it can break apart the shape. Bake in the oven for 2 hours. These will start to curl slightly while baking, so I always flip them 1/2 way through. This also gives you a chance to inspect the holes – you may need to use your skewer/toothpick again to help the holes stay open. You want to make sure you bake these for the full two hours so that they don’t break once hung on the tree. Once baked, let them cool before adding ornament hooks, ribbon or string. I have in years past added raisins to the gingerbread cutout for eyes and buttons, and we have used metallic Sharpies to decorate them as well. I even brought some into work to put on my mini tree near my desk. The possibilities are endless! I can’t tell you enough how great these smell – my house currently smells like a giant cinnamon bun, and they will bring a smile to anyone who receives them as a gift.

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Merry Christmas!

Key Lime Pie Cupcakes

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes you crave a flavor combination. Sometimes that flavor combination is known for a specific dessert already. Sometimes you want the flavors but not the dessert they were “intended” for. Hence why I decided to make Key Lime Pie Cupcakes for the other half of my brain as her birthday treat!! I love Key Lime Pie, but I didn’t want to make a pie, and as with most birthday treats for each other we like to experiment. So I decided I would make Key Lime curd to fill cinnamon cupcakes and top them with a delicious Fluff buttercream. These are definitely going into my recipe book as they were not only a hit, but a refreshing summertime treat! If you love Key Lime Pie, you will love this spin on a classic.

13537779_505734049633628_3339730287453242550_nFor the Key Lime Curd:
1/2 c. fresh squeezed Key Lime juice at room temp.
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 stick unsalted butter at room temp.
2 ex. lg. eggs at room temp.
1/8 tsp. salt

Remove the zest of your limes with a zester. Put the zest and sugar into a blender and blend until zest is finely minced and mixed with the sugar. Juice limes to make 1/2 cup and set aside. With a mixer, cream the sugar mixture and butter. Add eggs one at a time scrapping the bowl after each one is added. Add lime juice and salt and mix until combined. The mixture will look separated, which is fine. Put mixture into a medium sauce pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until it has thickened enough to leave a path when you scrap the back of a coated spoon. Pour into a bowl and press plastic wrap down onto mixture to avoid a skin from forming – place in fridge to cool and store until use.

13516410_505682656305434_3295211559007071609_nFor the Cinnamon Cupcakes:
I debated on using my vanilla cake recipe and adding cinnamon, but I decided to go the the web and try a new recipe out, since I was experiment with flavor. I used a Cinnamon Vanilla Cupcake recipe by LizP (see recipe and instructions here: http://www.food.com/recipe/cinnamon-vanilla-cupcakes-439272) that I found on food.com. This created a dense almost muffin-esque cupcake. This was good for the curd filling, as it held up nicely to the extra moisture. This made 12 cupcakes in large cupcake liners. I also went with 2 tsp. of cinnamon to really give it that flavor.

For the Fluff Buttercream:
2 c. butter, softened
2 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 13 oz. jar of Fluff
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cream butter in electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add in powdered sugar. Add in Fluff and vanilla, and mix until combined. Put into pipping bag for later use. I kept it on the table so that it would be room temp. for easier piping onto my cupcakes. This frosting is prettier when piped versus using a knife or small offset spatula due to it’s consistency.

13095975_505734042966962_3414481367897242628_nAfter letting my cupcakes cool, I used a large piping tip to hollow out the center of my cupcakes to make a good size whole for the curd to go into. I then piped a generous amount of frosting on top and sprinkled with gold luster dust for a pop of color and pizazz. These are birthday cupcakes after all!