Apolinaras always gives me the cutest sad puppy dog face when I’m whipping up treats to bring into lab for birthday celebrations. If I’m making cupcakes, I always save a couple for him to enjoy, but I can’t just cut into a pie or cake and give him a slice before it’s served! Poor guy. I rarely make special desserts just for us, but this week decided we were in need of a sweet spring treat!

I also had a little goal in mind – I wanted to finally use my 12 cup mini bundt pan for the first time. I bought it at the Williams Sonoma outlet store the last time we headed to Wrentham over a year ago but never got around to using it…oops. Since we’re going to the outlets next weekend, I felt like I couldn’t justify anymore specialty pan purchases unless I had actually used what I’ve already bought. Now I can browse guilt-free to my heart’s content!

These little bundt cakes are just the right size. They have a nice dose of lemon zest and are packed with strawberries, which makes them super moist. And most importantly, Apolinaras loved them!

Strawberry Lemon Mini Bundt Cakes
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk
Zest of 1 lemon
2 cups chopped strawberries (16 ounces)

Directions:
Heat the oven to 350˚F. Mix together flour, baking soda, and salt and sift the mixture into a large bowl. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer in a large bowl until creamed. Add in eggs and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Slowly mix in half the flour mixture, followed by half the buttermilk, until smooth. Repeat with remaining flour and buttermilk. Fill 12 1/2-cup cavities of a greased nonstick mini bundt pan 3/4 full (I had a little batter left over and also made 2 cupcakes!). Bake cakes at 350˚F for 16 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, flip over onto a wire rack, and cool cakes completely, about 30 minutes. Makes 12 mini bundt cakes (and 2 cupcakes!).

Nutrition: 170 calories, 7.6g fat, 2.2g fat, 2.9g protein per cake
Cost: $0.52 per cake

Time for my third and final New Zealand recap post (here are part 1 and part 2 if you missed them!). From Kaikoura, we set out on our longest drive of seven hours to the opposite side of the South Island to see two glaciers. Yes, glaciers! We visited Fox Glacier first and were there around 8pm. Much to our delight, we were the only people at the national park!

So we goofed around to our heart’s content.

And then had dinner by Lake Matheson and took a hike to see some more glowworms in the forest. We stayed in a rustic lodge that night which had a breakfast room where you basically just helped yourself to whatever you wanted, so Apolinaras made us eggs and toast from homemade bread, mmmm. I was glad we fueled up so well because we tackled the Franz Joseph Glacier hike that morning.

And really enjoyed checking out not one,

or two,

but three waterfalls!  It’s hard to tell in the last picture, but Apolinaras is actually underneath part of the falls and got pretty wet!

After lunch, we snuck in another hike through the rainforest before heading to Queenstown.

On the way, we spontaneously stopped at a beautiful beach so Apolinaras could go swimming in the ocean again. I call him my water baby sometimes – he just loves swimming, even in freezing cold water!

The roads and views while driving were just incredible. We stopped here for a quick picture – imagine scenes like this around every corner!

After arriving in Queenstown, we headed to Fergburger, which I talked about here. The next morning we went to Fergbakery and shared a brunch spread of lamb pie, carrot cake, chocolate croissants, and coffee, which we enjoyed in a quaint park.

Then we took a gondola up to the top of a mountain for breathtaking views of Queenstown and a ski lift up even further so we could race in a couple of luge rides.

Then we walked all around the city and explored a couple of parks. We enjoyed some fantastic Indian food and one of our bottles of wine from Marlborough that night and sat outside and fed the ducks. It was so peaceful.

The next morning we flew back to Auckland and went up in Sky Tower.

People regularly pay big bucks to jump off Sky Tower and you can also walk around an outside rim of the tower, while attached to safety cords, of course. I would be way too scared to do either, but it was fun watching the brave ones!

We also had coffee and pavlova in Sky Tower and really tasty pizza and gelato that night for our last dinner.

The next morning we checked out the Auckland Museum, where we learned even more about Maori culture.  Then we had lunch in the Parnell Quarter, which brought things full circle since it’s also where we had breakfast our very first day of the trip, before flying home. We love hiking, exploring, and being outdoors, so visiting New Zealand was just a perfect vacation for us!

I’ve never been a huge meringue fan, but I really enjoyed my pavlova in Sky Tower. In fact, pavlova just happens to be New Zealand’s national dessert! It’s a meringue shell with a marshmellowy center topped with whipped cream and kiwifruit. I bought a cute retro magnet in Queenstown with a pavlova recipe on it, which I only modified below by adding a bit of cocoa powder. Of course, I had to give my dessert a little twist and topped my pavlova with Nutella mousse and chopped strawberries. This was my first time making meringue so I was pretty proud about how it turned out! Ah New Zealand, I miss you and already want to go back!

Nutella Pavlova with Strawberries
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Pavlova:
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup castor sugar (also called superfine sugar – the granules are larger than powdered sugar but smaller than granulated sugar – I found some at Whole Foods)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon white vinegar

Nutella Mousse and Strawberry Topping:
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup Nutella
2 cups chopped strawberries

Directions:
Heat oven to 300°F. Place the egg whites and salt in the bowl of a mixer with the whisk attachment and beat on medium high until stiff peaks form, about 10 minutes. Gradually pour in the caster sugar while beating, making sure all the sugar is dissolved. Use a spatula to lightly fold in the cocoa powder, cornstarch, vanilla extract, and vinegar. Turn the mixture into the center of a pizza pan lined with parchment paper and shape into a circle with the spatula. Turn the oven down to 285°F and bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven down to 250°F and bake for an 1 hour. Turn off oven and let cool completely in the oven.

Meanwhile, make the Nutella mousse. Place heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract in a well chilled large bowl and beat with a mixer with whisk attachment until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Stir in Nutella until smooth. Top cooled pavlova with Nutella mousse and chopped strawberries. Slice into wedges. Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition: 329 calories, 16.8g fat, 1.8g fiber, 4.6g protein per serving
Cost: $0.97 per serving

It’s been a couple months since we’ve had a lab birthday to celebrate, but I finally got the chance to whip up some cupcakes for our lab manager’s big day this week! I’m usually up pretty late when I undertake a baking project in the middle of the week, but this time I somehow managed to have the cupcakes completely decorated AND the entire kitchen cleaned by 11pm. Usually the kitchen is a complete disaster the next day and I have huge bags under my eyes, so I was pretty proud of my efficiency! Anyway, one of Christina’s favorite treats is black forest cake, so I decided to make chocolate cherry cupcakes.

I brushed the top of my chocolate cupcakes with a generous layer of cherry puree. Since cherries aren’t in season right now, I used frozen pitted sweet cherries from Dole, and they worked just beautifully. I also folded some of the cherry puree into whipped cream that I piped on top of the cupcakes. Of course, they weren’t complete without a sprinkle of dark chocolate shavings and a maraschino cherry on top too!

Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons espresso powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cherry Puree:
12 ounces frozen dark sweet cherries, thawed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

Cherry Whipped Cream:
2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Garnishes:
1/2 ounce shaved dark chocolate
16 maraschino cherries

Directions:
To make the chocolate cupcakes, heat oven to 350˚F. Fill 16 cups of 2 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners. Sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, espresso powder, and salt together into the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract in a medium bowl until well combined. Add whisked liquids to dry ingredients and mix for 1 minute or until combined on medium speed. Scrape down sides of the bowl and mix again briefly. Evenly distribute cake batter into the 16 prepared cupcake liners, filling each about 3/4 full, and bake at 350˚F for 20 to 24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cupcake comes out clean. Let cool 5 minutes in the pans, then remove cupcakes and place on a wire rack.

To make the cherry puree, place thawed cherries in a food processor and pulse until smooth, about one minute. Place puree in a small stockpot and stir in sugar and lemon juice; bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer 2 minutes, stirring frequently, or until sugar is dissolved. Cool 1/2 cup of the puree to room temperature (I stuck mine in the freezer for 15 minutes) and set aside to use in the cherry whipped cream. Pierce each cupcake with a fork 5 times and use a pastry brush to evenly cover the cupcakes with the remaining cherry puree; evenly cover with one layer, allow to dry, and then add another layer, as needed.

To make the cherry whipped cream, place heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract in a well chilled bowl and whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 1 1/2 minutes. Fold 1/2 cup cooled cherry puree into the whipped cream until smooth.

To assemble the cupcakes, place cherry whipped cream in a decorating bag with a 1M decorating tip. Quickly frost cupcakes evenly and top with shaved chocolate and the maraschino cherries. Store in the refrigerator until serving. Makes 16 cupcakes.

Nutrition: 368 calories, 22.9g fat, 2.1g fiber, 4.3g protein per cupcake
Cost: $0.56 per cupcake

I’m finally starting to get into the Christmas spirit!  I’ve been humming along to Christmas carols and doing a bit of online gift shopping. I love finding the perfect little something for everyone. I’ve also already squeezed in a little holiday baking!

I made my first batch of cookies this weekend to share at Shannon’s annual cookie swap! There were tons of decadent treats and such lovely company – Boston really has the best food blogging community. To check out what everyone brought (and vote for your favorite cookie!), check out Shannon’s recap here.

My bar cookie contribution was centered around warm spices (cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and cloves), an ooey gooey layer of caramel, and a crunchy pecan topping. After whipping up a spiced sugar cookie dough, I mixed a small portion of it with both ground and chopped pecans. I baked the remaining dough, topped the partially baked bars with caramel sauce, and then crumbled the pecan dough on top and finished the up in the oven. Yum!

Spiced Caramel Pecan Bars
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup ground pecans (I pulsed whole pecans in the food processor until ground)
1 cup chopped pecans
1 10-ounce jar Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce from Trader Joe’s 

Directions:
Heat oven to 350˚F. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Mix in eggs and vanilla extract; stir in flour, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, baking powder, and salt until soft dough forms. Place 1/2 cup dough (4.5 ounces) in a medium bowl and stir in ground and chopped pecans; knead until the nuts are well incorporated. Spread remaining dough in bottom of a greased 13×9-inch pan. Bake 15 minutes at 350˚F or until light golden brown on the edges. Remove from oven and evenly spread caramel sauce on top. Crumble pecan dough evenly on top and bake an additional 13 to 17 minutes at 350˚F or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour, and cut into bars. Makes 32 bars.

Nutrition: 201 calories, 11.5g fat, 1.1g fiber, 2.3g protein per bar
Cost: $0.26 per bar