Truffle/Olive Oil and Lemon Cupcakes with Rosemary Whipped Cream

You didn't think that I would make 5 recipes and not have any be a baked good did you??  Obvoiusly I had to have some sort of cake or cupcake because I love to make them!  Plus I got a whipper for Christmas so incorporated a whipped cream of some sort was a must.

I looked around the internet for savory cupcakes to get my brain moving in the right direction.  I ended up only making half a batch because I' the ony person home and there is a blizzard outside, so I doubt that anyone would be trying them with me. 

Cupcakes
1 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar
little less than 2/3Cup Olive Oil
Add to bring total oil to 2/3 CupTruffle Oil
3/3 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 Cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 Eggs
lemon zest for taste

First I made the cupcake batter, which was relatively easy.  I sifted all of the dry ingredients together in a big bowl.  I added all of the wet ingredients and stirred until all mixed.  Lastly I added the lemon zest and combined. 

I pored the batter into the cupcake tins in the pan.  I used my big cupcake pan so as not to have tiny cupcakes.

Lastly, I drizzled a little more truffle oil on the top...just for taste....I couldn't resist.

I stuck these babies in the oven for 20-25 minutes on 375.


While they were baking I got started on the whipped cream. 

I put 1 Cup of whole cream in a pan on medium heat.  Added 3 TBSP each of rosemary and powdered sugar.  I didn't have fresh rosemary so I needed to use dried.  I probably would've thrown in two or three whole sprigs if I had fresh.  I brought this to a quick boil and then removed it from the heat.  I tried to infuse as much rosemary taste as possible into the mix.  I then put in the refrigerator because it needs to be nice and cold to make into whipped cream. 

I took the muffins out of the oven and they looked very dense, but yummy.  I let them cool to room temperature (which was cold, b/c the heat is off downstairs during the day).

I put the cream mixture through a strainer so the bits of rosemary wouldn't get caught in the nozzle.  I pored the concoction into the whip creamer and voila!

They tasted really yummy.  At first you got the olive/truffle taste and then a blast of lemon.  The whipped cream certainly had a rosemary flavor to it that added to the yumminess swirling around in my mouth. 

Now I have 5 other cupcakes and plenty of whipped cream just sitting here!   Damn you blizzard.

Popcorn with Truffe Oil & Parmesan Cheese

One of my favorite restaurants is Blanca in Solana Beach, CA.  For a swanky atmosphere, delicious drinks, and tasteful appetizers this places Happy Hour can't be beat.  One of their offerings that I favor is the Popcorn with truffle salt and Parmesan.  I love popcorn so the addition of truffle oil to a great snack is fantastic. 

So tonight, I did my own take on this delicious appie.

I bought midnight black popcorn at Homegoods for pretty cheap and measured out 1/3 of a cup.

Next I measured out 1/8 of a cup of truffle oil/olive oil.  I didn't want to use all truffle oil because I just couldn't bare to part with that much for one snack, so I did about 1/16 truffle oil and 1/16 olive oil.

That went into a big pot set on high and I dropped in two popcorn kernels.  When the two kernels popped I knew that the oil was ready.

It only took a few minutes for the popcorn to start popping in the pan.  I was at least smart enough to put the cover on so all the kernels didn't pop right out of the pot. While the popcorn was in the pan I grated about 1/4 a cup of Parmesan cheese. 

When the popcorn was finished popping, I put it in a bowl, added some salt and pepper, then the cheese and tossed it around.

 

The popcorn was yummy, but the taste of the truffles was not easy to find.  I think using the dark popcorn masked the truffle flavor a bit.   All in all it was a good snack.



Truffle Oil Pizza

I was craving something crunchy and cheesy for dinner tonight so I decided on making myself a pizza.  I have a little pizza about once per week and they are super yummy.  However, it was even yummier this time because I used truffle oil!  

First, I cut in half whole wheat pita bread. I usually use pita or lavash for my pizzas. Then drizzled it with some truffle oil..yum!

I went into he fridge and grabbed cheeses that I thought would work well with the oil. I ended up using Parmesan, Romano, Feta, and Brie. I found at Trader Joe's mini single serving brie all in their own containers. Obviously I had to have them because they are MINI! Once assembled I sprinkled it with a little dill, salt, and lots of pepper.

I popped her in the oven for about 10 minutes on 350 and voila!

The warm cheeses and the truffle oil all went really well together. Another good supper featuring my new BFF truffle oil!

Truffle Cream Sauce

So last night I needed to make something for dinner, but because of the Holidays our cabinets and fridge were pretty bare.  I did have the ingredients to make a cream sauce so I figured why not make it a truffle one! Here is how I did it:

1. I grabbed my Mastering The Art Of French Cooking Vol. 1 and looked up how to make a roux.  Right there on  page 56 were the basic flour to liquid ratios.  Thanks Julia!

 

2. Then I grabbed the ingredients I figured I'd need.  

• 2 tbs and 1 tsp Flour
• 1 cup Light Cream (that's all I had, otherwise I would've used heavy)
• 2 tbs Truffle Oil
• 1 cup Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese
• Garlic (I decided not to use Garlic because I was afraid it would mask the truffle flavor)
  2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
• Salt & Pepper to taste

 

3.  Next I put the light cream and butter in a sauce pan and melted it on med/low heat.  Once combined I added the flour.

4.  With the flour in there I kept stirring until completely mixed in.  Next I put the cheese, stirred until melted, and then finally the Truffle Oil, stirring all the while. 

5.  Lastly I added salt and pepper to taste and voila it was done!

Adventures in Truffle Oil

Every year for Christmas Chris tries to get me something to do with cooking or baking.  But not just anything, something slightly off the cuff, which  makes it fun and adds to our household collection of utensils, ingredients, and gadgets.  This year one of my food themed gifts was truffle oil.  Chris did A LOT of research on truffles and truffle oil to ensure that I got a quality product that wasn't a 'like' truffle oil sort.  He even got me a book on truffles.  While the book is interesting some of it is WAY over my head. 

With my piqued interest in Truffles I have decided that this month I am going to create 5 recipes that have truffle oil as its ingredient.  Obviously these won't be anything award winning, but it'll be my first attempt to really come up with something edible completely from the ground up.  Plus I'll get to enjoy the buttery taste of truffle oil! 

Wish me luck!