Baking for the Freezer: Magic Wands and Mini Cupcakes

It's school week, which means I'm baking up a storm getting ready to pack some completely home-made, nutrient-rich lunchbox goodies for my girls. Yesterday, I made fairy princess bread. Today, I made magic wands and some magical cupcakes. The magic in the cupcakes is that they're full of green apples and orange carrots. They are still dessert -- I don't mistake them for anything else -- but if I'm going to serve dessert, I might as well get some green and orange in the girls' bellies, right?

Both of these goodies were taste-tested today by my girls and their friends, and both passed with high marks. The kids kept asking for more. Good thing the cupcake recipe turned out a whole bunch! I'm sticking these in the freezer. By freezing them on a cookie sheet until solid, then transferring to containers, I can preserve the shape of the cupcakes. A frozen cupcake packs wonderfully, thawing just in time for lunch at school when placed in an insulated lunchbox.

Magic Wands

What You Need:

• 1 packet of active dry yeast
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour (or substitute whole wheat for half)
• colorful jimmies
• almond bark or white chocolate (1/4 lb was all I needed)
• colored sugar

How it's Done:

1. Combine yeast, sugar, and water in a mixing bowl. Stir and let this sit for ten minutes until doubled in volume and bubbly.
2. Mix in oil, salt, and flour. Knead 5 to 7 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
3. Cover and let dough rest at least 15 minutes. It's forgiving: If you need to let it rest an hour or two, just punch it down when you're ready to move on.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide in half.
5. Roll each half into a roughly 9x11" rectangle. Sprinkle colorful jimmies over dough and run the rolling pin over it to press them into the dough.
6. Cut the dough into strips, less than 1" wide.
7. Twist the ends of the dough until a tight spiral shape is achieved.
8. Place each spiral straight on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 425 degrees for 14 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp. Let cool completely.
9. Melt almond bark. Dip the end of each wand into the melted candy, then sprinkle with colored sugar for a magical tip.
10. Let the candy harden. Store tightly covered.

Mini Apple-Carrot Cupcakes with Honey-Butter Frosting
makes about 56 mini cupcakes

I love honey-butter frosting. I first made it with maple cupcakes and everyone gobbled them up. This time I paired the frosting with a denser cupcake and it didn't disappoint. The batter is very thick and full of fruit and vegetables. If your eaters are fussy about this, I suggest you puree them instead of grating them.

What You Need:

for the cupcakes:

• 1/2 cup safflower or other light oil
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 6 carrots (peeled or not -- I peeled mine)
• 3 small apples (peeled or not -- I did not peel these, and I used Granny Smith)

for the frosting:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup honey
• 5 to 6 cups confectioner's sugar

How it's Done:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line mini cupcake tin with papers or spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Grate the carrots and apples and set them aside.
3. Beat butter, oil, and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between additions. Add vanilla extract.
4. Slowly stir in flour, cinnamon, and baking soda. Once all are incorporated, beat on medium-high 2 minutes.
5. Fold in apples and carrots.
6. Fill cupcake tins all the way to the top. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until top springs back when pressed gently. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
7. For the frosting, beat together the butter and honey. Slowly add the confectioner's sugar until the desired consistency is met. If you want to color the frosting, do so before adding the confectioner's sugar. Frost as desired.

How are you preparing for back to school? Have you ever cooked ahead and frozen portions for lunchboxes?

Even More Peaches!

Day 152.

I still have peaches left over from my recent purchase of 25 pounds of them. And I'm tempted to go back for more from my farmer's market.

Today, I peeled and cut them into slices for future use in recipes. More specifically, I'm putting these up for future pies. While I would prefer to pack them dry, I want to avoid freezer burn and keep them in good condition, so I'm packing them in a light sugar syrup. And that works out well for pie peaches. Here's how it's done:

You will need:

• 8 peaches for each future pie (I'm making enough for two future pies)
• 2 cups of sugar
• 6 cups of water

Step 1: Prepare the sweetener liquid.

I used plain sugar. Heat 6 cups of water on the stove. Slowly add 2 cups of sugar, stirring constantly, until all the sugar is dissolved. Let this solution cool completely before you add the peaches.

Step 2: Prepare the fruit.

Bring  a pot of water to a boil. Drop peaches in gently and let them boil for 30 to 45 seconds.

Remove with a slotted spoon and immediately submerge the peaches in an ice water bath. Leave them there for a few minutes.

The skin will now slide off easily. Cut off any bruised portions.

Cut the peaches into slices or halves, whichever you prefer. Sprinkle the slices or halves with lemon juice or Fruit Fresh to help them maintain their color.

Step 3: Combine the fruit with the sweetener.

Fill your freezer bags or containers. If using containers, leave 1/2" head space. If using freezer bags, be sure to squeeze out as much air as possible before sealing.


Step 4: Label and freeze.

Enjoy the fruits of your labor all year long!

Peaches!

Day151.

A few days ago I posted my monthly shopping trip and mentioned that I scored 25 pounds of fresh Georgia peaches for roughly 50 cents per pound. :o) Today, I spent about an hour turning half of them into freezer jam. This was my first time making jam. It was so easy a child could do it. As a matter of fact, I did enlist the help of my two daughters. We all got sticky together.

The scent of ripe peaches filled the air in our home all afternoon. It was heavenly.

Being that it's summertime, many of us will come into bounties of fresh fruit. One way to extend the life of that fruit is through freezer jam. You don't need any special canning equipment and it takes only three ingredients to do. Here's how it's done:

1. Peel your peaches. You're going to need four cups' worth of mashed peaches. This was about 18 peaches for me. Remove the pits and dump them in chunks into a large bowl.
2. Mash them really well with a potato masher. I left lots of chunks in my jam because I like chunky spreads, but let your taste buds guide you.

3. In a separate bowl, combine 1 1/2 cup sugar with a packet of pectin (I found one specially formulated for freezer jams).
4. Stir together the mashed fruit and the sugar-pectin mixture. Stir for three minutes.

5. Funnel into jelly jars.     I found these lovely plastic freezer-safe jelly jars made by Ball. Leave 1/2" head space in each jar. Seal the jars.

6. Let the jam sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, or until thickened.
7. Refrigerate or freeze. The label on the pectin says that the jam will keep for three weeks in the fridge or a year in the freezer.

*I had a little leftover mashed peach mixture so I plopped it into popsicle molds for homemade all fruit popsicles for the kids.