Bourbon Laced Pecan & Walnut Tassies, .. with lashings of Orange Peel and Whipping Cream!

Pecan Tassies are a Holiday tradition in my family. They are such a special treat that I look forward to every Christmas Eve. The day I mastered my first Pecan Tassie recipe was a very proud day for me! I was 16, and since then I've tried many a variations of the Pecan Tassie. The recipe I share below is the one I love the very best these days, alongside the good ol'classic! I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

The pastry recipe below is quite the classic cream cheese pastry recipe, however for the filling, I went off the classic and I made it my own. I was 22 when this recipe came to full fruition, ..this was at the time when Jim Beam made its appearance into my life as well, hence the bourbon in the tassies! Jim and I had some memorable and not so memorable times, camping!

I love how bourbon heightens can't say the same for inhibitions the flavours of many richer recipes that call for nuts and brown sugar. 

I also love to add a citrus peel (usually orange or lemon) to my 'nuttier', richer recipes, as it lightens the heaviness of the dessert and freshens the palate, ..but never taking away from the richness of the flavours. As a matter of fact, the peel adds a whole different dimension of flavour.

The addition of the whipping cream, well that's just to lighten the sweetness load and give the filling a smoother texture, ..and the cream also offers a gorgeous caramel flavour without it being sickly sweet!

Prep Time: 45 minutes (not including chilling of dough)
Bake Time: 18-20 minutes
Amount: approximately 48 mini tassies
Level: Easy to Moderate

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Cream Cheese Pastry
 

1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
6 ounces (170 grams) cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

Pecan & Walnut Filling

 

3 large eggs, room temperature
3 tablespoons (42 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 3/4 cups (370 grams) light brown sugar (dark brown sugar can be used for a more intense flavour)
2 tablespoons bourbon, I use Jim Beam
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Rind of one medium or large orange
1/4 cup 35% whipping cream or cooking cream, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (110 grams) pecans, coarsely chopped
1 cup (110 grams) walnuts, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup (114 grams) white chocolate chips, optional

  

 ..the photo above and the photo below show another version of this Tassie recipe, using 1 cup white chocolate chips and 1 cup, coarsely chopped pecans. The walnuts are omitted.

 

Directions

Cream Cheese Pastry

On medium-high speed, cream butter and cream cheese with electric mixer or hand mixer. Cream until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add flour and salt and mix ant low speed until well incorporated, another 3 minutes.

Flatten dough into a 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and place oven rack in the center of the oven. Have ready two 24-cup mini muffin pans or four 12-cup muffin pans.

Remove pastry from the refrigerator and pinch off about one quarter of the pastry. Return the remianing pastry in the fridge. On a lightly floured surface, (I love to use this pastry mat from IKEA) roll the pastry dough until about 1/8 inch thick and cut into rounds that are slightly larger than the muffin tins.
Gently place the dough rounds into the muffin tins. Repeat with the rest of the pastry dough.

 Ikea Sockerkaka Baking/Pastry Mat

Pecan & Walnut Filling

 

Beat the eggs, melted butter, brown sugar, bourbon and vanilla on medium-high speed for 2 minutes. Add orange rind salt and whipping or cooking cream and mix on low speed for one minute more. Stir in pecans, walnuts and white chocolate chips (optional), using a wooden spoon or spatula.

 

Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the filling into each of the pastry-lined muffin tins.

 

Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until pastry has some golden-brown bits to it and filling is set (not liquid-y but soft).

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool briefly before removing from tins.

These gorgeous little bites can be frozen for up to 2 months!

 

Enjoy!

Camouflage Cupcakes aka Call Of Duty Cupcakes..

FYI: ..the blog is now called Life In The Sweet Lane, and no longer Life In The Smelly Lane-long story about the name, ..'cause there's nothin' smelly, except in a 'smells really good kinda way'! about this place! The photos for this post were taken and 'fancied up' before the name change, therefore there is still the old name on these photos.

So on to more important matters at hand, like cupcakes that look like they have joined the army!

..And they are so easy peasy to make, I promise!

Last month, I made the ''freakin' coolest cupcakes' (says my 7 year old son), and they were made for my friend's son 15th birthday party. He's a huge Call Of Duty fan, as are the 20 million other dudes of all ages out there, giving us moms, girlfriends and wives major nagging issues!

So, as I revealed these cupcakes to the birthday boy and his guests, I did receive a few ooohhhss and aaahhhs, and "Did you REEEAAALLLLY make these?-How?" "Omg, they're so awesome!", "You're so talented!" Yep, my ego was lovin' it, big time! ..but of course, the day was not about moi! ..bummer!

BTW, I got the idea for these cupcakes, HERE. Thank you, Crafty Mama!

I needed 24 of these cupcakes, and I do not do cake mix often unless I'm desperate, which is not very often anymore these days, ..or unless the cake mix is used as a base for an actual recipe. Hey, there is nothing wrong with a cake mix, I just prefer 'from scratch' cakes, so I won't judge you for using cake mix, ..I promise!

So, how do you go about making these, you might be asking by now? ..Well, I'll tell you how, just
below!


HOW TO:

For the batter, I used my super delicious Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcake recipe, and doubled the recipe to get 24 cupcakes.

For the frosting I used my No Fail Buttercream Frosting:

Frosts about 24 cupcakes

Frosting Recipe:

1 1/2 cups butter/340 grams
6 cups icing sugar
2 tablespoons milk (I use 2%)
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Mix butter and icing sugar for 3 minutes. Add milk, mix for another 2 minutes, add vanilla extract, and mix for another minute more! Voila, easy peasy, delisious Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.

Step 1:

Make batter and divide the batter evenly, into 4 bowls.

Step 2:

Make frosting, and tint it an Army green hue (I used Wilton Gel Colour in Juniper) and set aside, covered at room temp.


Step 3:

Tint 3 out of the 4 batters in Army Green, Dark Brown and Light Brown hues. I used Wilton Gel Colours in Brown and Juniper for tinting the batters. You can also use Cocoa Powder to get the brown hues.


Step 4:

Line cupcake pans with cupcake liners and scoop 1 tablespoon of batter from each bowl, alternately, until filling each cupcake liner, 3/4 of the way full.

Step 5:

Bake as per instructions, and let cupcakes cool in cupcake pans for 5 minutes, then transfer them onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Step 6:

Gently cut a little off the tops of the cupcakes to make crumbs, to be used as crumb topping over frosting.

Step 7:

Frost your cupcakes and sprinkle cake crumbs on top of frosting.

Step 8:

Use toppers of choice (like toy soldiers and/or cardstock toppers (print and cut out Call Of Duty images) to finish them off!


Enjoy!

Friday Finds - Pumpkin Seeds

..Happy Friday!

I'm going to start a new weekly or bi-weekly post on Fridays called Friday Finds, which will be mostly about cool things (food related) that I find online, ..through blogs, articles, etc.! I enjoy finding new and innovative ways in say, baking a pie, like mini pies on sticks (Pie Pops), and vintage recipes becoming new and hip again, ..like Beef Stroganoff!  ..so yeah Friday Finds will be all about finding stuff online that I think is cool, and sharing it here!

..I was eating pumpkin seeds yesterday evening, while on the net searching for pumpkin pie recipes oh the iron-y, and I came across a post, HERE about the benefits of pumpkin seeds. Go figure! I've known for awhile that pumpkin seeds have some pretty awesome health benefits, so I've been eating and cooking with them consistently for a few years now!

..but I had no idea that pumpkin seeds are considered nature's happy pill! Many of us could always use a bit more or a lot more happy in our lives, right?! Anything (positive and/or legal, of course ;)) that can help naturally, with alleviating my symptoms of chronic/clinical depression is always of interest to me! It is a battle I face almost daily and one I work very hard at fighting. So if pumpkin seeds can help in my overall well-being, I'm going to keep them in my life. They must surely balance out the sugar consumed as well, no?! ;)

 P.S. I get my seeds at Bulk Barn, when pumpkin season is over and also when pumpkin season is full on! ..it is much easier and much less messy than getting them out of the guts of a pumpkin, ..that job was left for 2 boys that like slime!

Pumpkin Seeds

Basic Nutrition

Pumpkin seeds are a dense source of calories. A single ounce of pumpkin seed kernels contains 163 calories, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Most of the calories come from fat --- 1 oz. of pumpkin seed kernels contains 14 grams of fat. Pumpkin seeds supply 8 g of protein and 4 g of carbohydrates, a 2:1 ratio followers of low-carb diets will appreciate. Eat pumpkin seeds in their shells and you'll get a significant fiber boost as well --- 6 g per oz. If you choose to eat the shells, you'll consume fewer calories per ounce. Whole pumpkin seeds contain 126 calories and 6 g of fat.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/285180-fat-content-in-pumpkin-seeds/#ixzz2BkTNHPdR

photo courtesy of YummyMummyClub.ca

Benefits of Pumpkin Seedsby YummyMummyClub.ca

. They help raise good cholesterol, HDL, and lower bad cholesterol, LDL, because they contain oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid.
. They are Nature’s “happy pills." They contain lots of tryptophan, which is good for relaxation and sleep, and also glutamate, a precursor of GABA, one of the neurotransmitters that calms the brain.
. They are full of magnesium and zinc. Magnesium is hard to come by in the American diet, and a majority of us are deficient in it. Zinc is also a common deficiency. It is important to have enough zinc because it is one of the most important elements in preventing osteoporosis.
. They contain fibre which increases the satisfied “full feeling” that keeps you from getting hungry and binge eating.
. They are a natural anti-inflammatory which effectively reduces inflammation helping with arthritis.
. They are used in traditional cultures to prevent and treat parasites.
. They help prevent kidney stones as they prevent calcium oxalate formation.


What about pumpkin itself? It has beta carotene and potassium. Beta carotene, the same B vitamin that is in carrots, is a player in preventing everything from cancer to wrinkles! A cup of pumpkin contains more potassium than a banana—it’s going to have to be a good-sized piece of pie to get a cup!

How To Roast Pumpkin Seeds

photo courtesy of Babble.com

Below, is a recipe I love, using pumpkin seeds!

  Quinoa with Butternut Squash and Pumpkin Seeds

photo courtesy of Food52.com

 

 

 

Enjoy!

 

Halloween Candy! - Creative ideas and recipes on what to do with all that candy!

1. CrystalLake - CaryPatch - 7 creative ways to use up your Halloween candy

photo courtesy of CrystalLake-CaryPatch

2. Your Homebased Mom  - 12 ideas on what to do with all that candy

photo courtesy of Your Homebased Mom

3. Hoosier Homemade - Butterfinger Cupcakes

photo courtesy of Hoosier Homemade


These cupcakes are moist and fluffy, and of course, delicious! They can be done with most left over Halloween candy bars on hand, not just Butterfingers!

4. Lauren Conrad - Candy Cookies

photo courtesy of Lauren Conrad

We made these cookies last year and they are sensational!


 

5.  Cookies & Cups - 15 ideas on what to do with all that candy
 

photo courtesy of Cookies & Cups

Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween! Our thoughts are with everyone affected by Hurricane Sandy. Lots of love, strength and courage to you all!

Movie Night Cupcakes, ..topped with easy-to-make Caramel Corn

Last Friday these were made, on a whim, ..on an intense need to have caramel, popcorn, cake, and all that makes my sometimes crazy-busy reality feel saner and calmer. Sugar! I am usually in control of my sugar intake (lol, lmao). Ok, stop laughing at yourself, Nance, ..but I really do like to think that I am in control, at least most of the time, ..but last Friday proved otherwise because after baking these and having so much left over caramel corn, caramel corn staring at me in the face, ..well the caramel corn won, BIG TIME! ..oh well, nothing an hour walk/run on the treadmill won't fix, right?! Ha, that's funny, too. I've learned not to be so hard on myself in my older age! So indulging happens often around here! Balance!

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Bake Time:  18-20 minutes
Amount: 12 standard-sized cupcakes
Level: Easy

Printable Recipe

 

Ingredients

Cake:

1 1/4 cup all-purpsoe flour
1 cup white/granulated sugar
1/3 cup fine cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup/75 grams butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup egg whites, slightly beaten (1/3 cup equals egg whites from three medium eggs and 2 large eggs. Use egg yolks for this delicious recipe!)

Caramel Corn:

1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons salted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon Golden Corn Syrup, (I use BeeHive)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups plain popped popcorn


Frosting:

1/2 cup/113 grams butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons 35% whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups icing sugar, sifted

Directions

 

 

Cake:

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (180 degrees C).

Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together, flour, sugar corn meal, baking powder and salt.
Add melted butter, buttermilk and vanilla; beat on medium-low for about two minutes or until well combined. Do not overmix.
Add egg whites; beat on low for another two minutes.
Fill each cupcake liner halfway with batter.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden, and toothpick in center of cupcake comes up clean.
Once out of the oven, leave cupcakes in cupcake pan for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Caramel Corn:

Stir together brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup in a medium heat proof bowl. Microwave on medium-high for 1 minute, and stir. Brown Sugar should be melted and caramel should be warm and easy to pour over popcorn. It should not be bubbling over, either or caramel will get too hard. Stir in baking soda. Arrange popcorn on a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper. Drizzle popcorn with caramel and stir to coat. Cool until set.

Frosting:

Beat butter for 2-3 minutes at high speed, then reduce speed to lowest setting, and add icing sugar. Continue to beat for another minute. Add vanilla extract and whipping cream and beat for two more minutes.


Assemble:

Pipe frosting, either by hand with a spoon or piping bag and tip, onto each cupcake and garnish with clusters of caramel corn.

Deeeeeliiiish!

Enjoy!