Strawberry Yogurt Parfait

 

Sometimes I wish I could make more time for breakfast.  It's one of the meals I happen to "skip" over.  I'm just not hungry in the morning - and by the time I am, it's already time for lunch.

But a few weeks ago, when strawberries were still in full swing, I couldn't help but make these parfaits over and over and over.  I wish I had decided to take pictures of them when we had an abundance of strawberries, but I got around to it when we only had a few (so the layers aren't as pronounced - but it was delicious, nonetheless!).

I just might have to switch over to blueberries since they're the fruit of choice in our CSA right now.  Feel free to improvise with whatever fruits and yogurts you have on hand!



And don't forget to vote in the treat poll - I need something to make for the 4th of July!  There's a little bit of everything, and no matter what gets picked, I'll try to give it a 4th of July twist!



Ingredients:

1 cup strawberry-flavored yogurt (I used Stonyfield Organic Strawberry)
1 cup strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 tablespoon sugar
2 strawberry-flavored Nutri-Grain Bars, chopped

In a small bowl, combine the strawberries and sugar.  Let sit for 10 minutes.

In a mason jar (or bowl/cup/container) spoon about 1/3 of the yogurt for the base of the parfait.

Add your chopped strawberries.  Top with another 1/3 of yogurt.

Add chopped Nutri-Grain bar pieces (you could also sub in some granola here, but I had the bars, so that's what I used).  Top with remaining yogurt.

And you've got breakfast in about 10 minutes!  I couldn't stop eating this - I was definitely sad when strawberry season slowed down.  But like I said, I just may have to switch up the flavors and try this with the blueberries!

What's your favorite way to use yogurt and fruit?

Hope you all have a fantastic 4th of July weekend!

Meyer Lemon Poundcake Cupcakes

Well, this post would have come sooner if a certain somebody didn't mistakenly take the USB cable for my camera with him to work instead of his own camera's cable.  But... I'm not complaining.  I've let go of that grudge. Hehe.  But trust me, I wasn't a happy camper earlier.

Anyway, it's been a pretty cruddy day.  It hasn't stopped raining since this morning and the sky is a depressing shade of gray.  Days like these I just want to stay home and bake.  Bake things that brighten up my day and my mood.  Like these cupcakes.  Guaranteed to turn any depressing, gray day into something bright and beautiful!

I brought these into work earlier this week and they practically vanished in no time!  And funny conversation, I told them I used Meyer Lemons and kind of educated them on the difference between it and a regular old lemon, and the whole time I was saying Meyer lemons, my coworkers were thinking I was talking about the grocery store we have around here, Meijer (pronounced the same way), and so they were a bit puzzled why those lemons were so special.  Silly, silly coworkers.  I really have to give them some more citrus education soon. 

Anyway, without further ado (I mean, you've waited long enough), one of the best cupcakes I've ever had...

Ingredients:
Adapted from Cooking on the Side's recipe

They're just waiting to be eaten.

For cupcakes:

3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
2 & 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
juice from 1 Meyer lemon
zest from 1 Meyer lemon

For glaze:


1 cup powdered sugar
juice from 1 Meyer lemon

I'm tellin' ya, they go quick!

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Line a muffin tin with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, combine flour and corn starch.

In a large bowl, beat sugar and butter until fluffy and creamy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Alternate adding the flour and heavy whipping cream to sugar and eggs.  Stir in vanilla, lemon juice and zest.


Fill each paper liner about 3/4 full with batter.  I had enough batter to make 18 cupcakes and a whole loaf in a bread pan.

Bake cupcakes for about 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake come out clean.  If you decide to make a loaf as well, bake for about 1 hour, or until toothpick comes out clean.


Remove cupcakes from muffin tin and cool on a cooling rack until at room temperature.

To make the glaze, in a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice.  Using a whisk attachment, beat until glaze is smooth and free of lumps from sugar.  Add more lemon juice, if desired.  Top cupcakes with glaze.


Seriously, these were amazing.  The pound cake was perfectly dense and had just the slightest lemon tinge, which was perfect for me - and apparently Andy also, who ate like 5 in one sitting.  Whether you make a loaf or a cupcake, you'll have a hard time keeping these around because I've noticed they have a tendency to just disappear!  Enjoy guys!