Cinco de Mayo

by ingredient

Margarita Bars

May 1, 2013 19 Comments

I told you recently that Cinco de Mayo was one of my all-time favorite holidays to bake for, so I couldn’t help but share another great and festive recipe. A true Fiesta isn’t complete without a limey margarita right? It’s one of the only cocktails that I can drink without immediately getting sleepy afterwards, so honestly it’s what I choose any night I want to have fun. (Which lets be honest, is only once in a rare while for this homebody.)

These bars are essentially the same concept as lemon bars, but with lime filling and plenty tequila mixed into the batter. They are easy to make, a beautiful limey color (thanks to a drop of food coloring) and the perfect festive treat for a weekend celebration. Most of the tequila cooks out of the bars in the oven, but just enough of the flavor remains to make these super margarita-y without being overly boozy. Olé!

Margarita Bars %The Baker Chick

PS- The lovely Rachel from Rachel Cooks featured me in a little blogger interview series on her site. Check it out!

Filed Under: Bars, Cinco de Mayo, Recipes Tagged With: Booze, Lime

Tres Leches Cake

April 19, 2013 24 Comments

Of all the fun holidays that we make special themed treats for as food bloggers, Cinco de Mayo may be my favorite. I’m not one to go crazy on the actual day, but any day where I have an excuse to drink a margarita and eat Mexican food is a holiday worth celebrating. I’m such a sucker for Mexican food and the desserts have become a weakness in the last few years as well. Churros, Dulce de Leche anything, and this, Tres Leches Cake, have me over the moon.

It also doesn’t hurt that I have a dear friend Dilia who happens to be Mexican, and loved the idea of coming over to help me bake something traditional and delicious. She’s the best company and actually just went ahead and washed all my dishes while I photographed this cake. I would like her in my kitchen all the time please!

Filed Under: Cake, Cinco de Mayo, Recipes

Baked Churros

May 4, 2012 70 Comments

When I realized that Derby Day and Cinco Mayo were both this Saturday I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find time to bake something festive for both. I’d been dying to share my recipe for Mint Juelp Cupcakes ever since I first made them for my Dessert Party last summer, so they won. (Or so I thought.) Two days ago as I was browsing Pinterest, I saw a Churro inspired dessert that started the following train of thought: “Are Churros hard to make? Ooh- deep fried…not so sure about that. Could I bake them?? Ooh..here’s a recipe that sounds SO easy. Yes! I will make them tomorrow!” And just like that, with a list of ingredients I already had on hand, I whipped these babies up in about 45 minutes.

Not only are these churros baked and not deep fried, but they honestly and truly come together in minutes. The ingredient list is short and all baking basics which make these a very easy last minute Cinco de Mayo treat. The soft dough is scooped into a pastry bag, piped onto a cookie sheet, and baked for 15 minutes. Then you roll the crispy churros in cinnamon and sugar, and if you’re like me, you burn your mouth eating one too soon. :)

Now that I know how easy it is to whip these up, I have lots of ideas for making them again. How cute would these be in mini form? I’m thinking they’d be a perfect to dip into some dulce de leche for a little Fiesta dessert? Oh man, now I want to go have more. (I’ve already had 3 today- that’s allowed right?) Olé!!! :)

Baked Churros

Yield: 10 churros

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
?1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1 cup all purpose flour
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar
cooking spray

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium saucepan combine the butter, salt and water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat.
Remove from heat add the flour and stir with a spoon to combine. Mixture will thicken and start to resemble the texture of mashed potatoes.
Leave dough in the saucepan, but beat it on low with a hand mixer, adding one egg at a time, mixing well before adding another. After adding each egg, the mixture will become wet and glossy, but after mixing on high for a few seconds it will thicken again. (Alternately you can transfer the batter to your stand mixer bowl, I just think using a hand mixer saves a dirty dish.)
When all the eggs are are combined add the vanilla. The dough will be thick and starchy, (still with a similar texture to mashed potatoes.)
Spoon the dough into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Lightly spray a cookie sheet and pipe 8-inch rows of the dough with at least 1 inch between each churro.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown*, and when a toothpick comes out clean.
Spray churros lightly with cooking spray, and one at a time, transfer them to a square tupperware, or shallow baking dish and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. (Shake it around to make sure they are well-coated.) Makes about 10 churros.

Notes

*It's really important that you bake these until they are golden brown. If are 20 minutes yours are not, leave them until they are! My oven runs hot so yours may need a little longer!

Also- I have gotten a few comments mentioning a problem with the consistency of the batter. I made these several times since just to make sure I didn't make any mistakes. I have to say they consistently turn out for me.

I want to help though so I have edited the recipe with a few extra notes and descriptions! These really are one of the easiest and most delicious treats I made so I hope you all have success with them!

*I used a Ateco #847 Tip

http://www.the-baker-chick.com/2012/05/04/baked-churros/

Recipe adapted from: Cooking with my Kid via Isabel’s Cantina Cookbook

Filed Under: Cinco de Mayo, Recipes Tagged With: Cinnamon

Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes

May 5, 2011 24 Comments

Here is one last Cinco de Mayo themed recipe for the week! I have been dying to make Margarita cupcakes for ages and have been waiting for this holiday to do it! I wanted to put my own twist on the many margarita cupcake recipes on the blogosphere. To do that, I decided to go for a Strawberry Margarita Cupcake which consists of a tangy lime cake, strawberry-tequila filling, and a strawberry-lime tequila butter cream. Finish it off with a “salted” rim and it’s just like the real thing!

I am very happy with how these turned out. I wouldn’t have minded a stronger tequila flavor, but I don’t think this is so easy to do. My experience with tequila is that it evaporates and loses it’s flavor pretty quickly, which means that serving these right after making and filling them would be a good idea. The one I tasted right after making them had the perfect amount of tequila, but it wasn’t as pronounced a few hours later. (Feel free to leave it out all-together for “Virgin Margarita” cupcakes.)

Notes: 1- For the “salted rim” I sprinkled on some coarse sugar with a spoon right after frosting. 2- If you have a different butter cream recipe you prefer, feel free to use that and just mix in about 5 tablespoons of the strawberry puree. 3- The picture below of the filling was taken right after I filled and frosted the cupcakes. If the cupcakes sit for a couple hours, the filling will absorb into the cake and won’t ooze out like mine did. I tried them both ways and they are equally great! :)

Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3 limes, zested and juiced
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
Strawberry Tequila Puree:
1- 8 oz container of strawberries
Juice and zest of 1 lime
1/2 cup of tequila
2 tablespoons of sugar
Frosting:
1 cup organic non-hydrogenated shortening
2 sticks un-salted butter slightly chilled
4 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup strawberry tequila puree

Instructions

For the Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 325? F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir with a fork to blend.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes.
Blend in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the lime zest, lime juice and vanilla.
With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Beat each addition just until incorporated.
Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about ¾ full. Bake 20-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely

Meanwhile make the filling:

In a bowl of a food processor, add the strawberries, lime juice, tequila and sugar. Puree the mixture until there are no chunks of strawberry. Set aside.

Filling the cupcakes:

Using a small paring knife, cut a cone out of the top of each cupcake. Remove the cut-out cake and spoon a tablespoon of strawberry puree into each cupcake. Replace the top part of the cone, cutting the tip to leave room for the filling.

For the Frosting:

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the shortening and butter on high until well mixed and fluffy. add the powdered sugar one cup at a time alternating with a tablespoon at a time of the Strawberry puree. Mix until the frosting is thick and creamy. Spread or pipe on cupcakes. Use a spoon to sprinkle some coarse sugar around the edge of the cupcake and top with a lime wedge. Enjoy!

http://www.the-baker-chick.com/2011/05/05/strawberry-margarita-cupcakes/

Cake recipe adapted from Annie’s Eats via Martha Stewart.

Frosting/Filling- Baker Chick original :)

Filed Under: Cinco de Mayo, Cupcakes, Recipes Tagged With: Booze, Lime, Strawberry

Audra’s Favorite Guacamole

May 3, 2011 9 Comments

I have found that many people claim that they make the “best guacamole.” Personally, I know I have said this often, claiming that I have amazing kitchen skills that make my guac better than anything you could get anywhere. What I realized though, is that I am very particular about how I like it: salty, limey, no huge chunks of onion and absolutely no cilantro. (Nothing ruins food for me quite like cilantro does.) Most people I know like theirs a very certain way too. So maybe all these people that say they make the best guacamole, actually just make it the way they like it. That being said, this may not be your favorite, but on Cinco de Mayo, I hope to be eating a huge bowl of this deliciousness, (and it is pretty great!)

Audra’s Guacamole
Serves 4-5
3 ripe Avocados
1 small Red Onion (chopped small)
2 small Tomatoes or 1 large (chopped into 1/2 inch pieces.)
Juice of 1 lime
2 tsp. of coarse Sea Salt
Cayenne pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Start by adding red onion and tomato into a medium sized bowl
2. Cut each avocado in half and scoop insides into the bowl with a spoon, saving one pit and setting it aside.
3. Using 2 forks, mix the ingredients breaking the avocado apart but leaving some chunks. (to me those are the best part!)
4. Gradually add the lime juice and salt, mixing them in well. (As I said I like mine full of salt and lime, feel free to add a little at a time until you find your perfect balance.)
5. Sprinkle a dash of cayenne pepper for a little kick, I found that about (1/8 tsp was a good amount for my taste.)
6.Put one Avocado pit into the bowl of Guac to keep it from turning brown.
7.Serve right away or cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 hours.

Filed Under: Cinco de Mayo, Recipes, Savory

Mexican Chocolate/Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies

May 2, 2011 8 Comments

Happy Cinco de Mayo week! I’m not quite sure why, but I really love this holiday. Maybe it is because one of my closest friends is Mexican and she is so proud of her culture. (Or possibly I just like an excuse to drink margaritas and eat Enchiladas.) Either way, I knew I wanted to make something this week that would be a festive treat for the holiday.

I have been brainstorming some 5/5 appropriate recipes and this is the first one I will be sharing. These delicious treats consist of spicy chocolate cookies filled with creamy dulce de leche. Some cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne pepper really enhance the chocolate flavor, balancing the creamy caramel centers perfectly! I chose to make my Dulce de Leche from some sweetened condensed milk that I already had, but you could just buy it ready made as well.

I loved making these because I actually had ALL the ingredients in my pantry to begin with. Also, the cookies only required one bowl (which I love.) The dough needs to be rolled into logs and chilled for a couple hours, (as always I sped this up by putting in in the freezer,) but all in all, I think it’s a very simple recipe. ¡Disfruta!

Print

Mexican Chocolate/Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies

24 sandwich cookies

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 egg
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
To make Dulce de Leche:
Pour one can (400 gr/14 ounces) of sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk) into a glass pie plate or shallow baking dish. Stir in a few flecks of sea salt.
Set the pie plate within a larger pan, such as a roasting pan, and add hot water until it reaches halfway up the side of the pie plate.
Cover the pie plate snugly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 to 1¼ hours. (Check a few times during baking and add more water to the roasting pan as necessary).
Once the Dulce de Leche is nicely browned and caramelized, remove from the oven and let cool. Once cool, whisk until smooth.
To make the Cookies:
In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, salt, and cayenne pepper. Beat until combined, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in flour.
Divide dough in half; cover and chill 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle.
Shape each portion of dough into a 6-inch-long roll about 1-3/4 inches in diameter. Wrap rolls in plastic wrap or waxed paper and chill about 4 hours or until dough is firm enough to slice. (can be sped up in the freezer.)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Cut rolls into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place slices 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheet.
Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.
Spread a rounded tablespoon of dulce de leche on the bottom flat side of each of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies, flat sides down, pressing together lightly. Makes 24 sandwich cookies.
Notes
* Do not substitute dulce de leche ice cream topping.
To Store: Layer assembled cookies between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days. Or freeze unassembled cookies for up to 3 months. Sources:
Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin
2.2
http://www.the-baker-chick.com/2011/05/02/mexican-chocolatedulce-de-leche-sandwich-cookies/