Hi Everyone!!!
I am super excited to announce that Cheater Bites got a makeover! She is looking pretty lovely now on her very own URL: http://www.cheaterbites.com/
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Hope you love it as much as I do!!! 
When I had heaps of raspberry Swiss meringue buttercream icing left over from my festive Fourth of July cupcakes, I decided to bake again, this time a cake for a dinner party. I thought chocolate would be heavenly with the fluffy sweetness of the raspberry icing, and man was I right. I am consistently thrilled with Ina’s dessert options, so I went for her Beatty’s Chocolate Cake recipe from her Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook. I will never make another chocolate cake recipe again…this cake was awesome. It had the perfect consistency, moist and fluffy, not too dense, just rich enough. Oh man, I am drooling just thinking about it! OK, so here are the details…
You will need:
some butter for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, plus a bit more for dusting the pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup good quality cocoa powder, I like to use Ghirardelli
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
Preheat your oven to 350° and butter two cake pans (I used 6 inch), line with parchment, then butter and flour on top. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of your electric mixer. Quickly mix on low to make sure all the dry ingredients are combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla. With the mixer on low, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ones. Once combined, add in the coffee. Mix again until just combined, scraping the bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated.
Pour the batter into prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely. Slice into layers if you want more than two, frost and decorate with icing of your choice. I used a very generous amount of raspberry Swiss meringue buttercream, which was just decadent. It looked pretty with some fresh raspberries clustered in the center as well!
Wait til you see what I did with the excess cake…hint: Bakerella would be proud!!
Time: 30 minutes of prep + baking (40-ish minutes), cooling (1 hour) & assembling (20-ish minutes)
Yields: two 8 inch cakes
From: Barefoot Contessa at Home
Growing up I can remember hot summer evenings when my Mum would fix fresh tuna Niçoise salads for dinner. I was never one to really complain, I would eat anything, but I didn’t really get the appeal. Now that I truely love yummy tuna steaks and appreciate the simplicity of fresh summer ingredients, this is one of my favorite hot summer evening meals. The creamy fresh oregano dressing adds another level of delicious flavors. This superb salad needs nothing more than good bread and a cool glass of French wine.
For the salad you will need:
salt
1 pound green beans, trimmed
8 red-skinned new potatoes, scrubbed
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 or 4 tuna steaks (about 1.5 pounds), 2 inch thickness
freshly ground black pepper
4 eggs, hard boiled, peeled and quartered
2 large, ripe tomatoes, seeded and sliced in wedges
1/3 cup Niçoise olives, drained
sprigs of fresh oregano for garnish
Bring a pan of salted water to a boil, add the beans and cook for about 6 minutes, stirring once or twice. Drain and transfer immediately to a bowl of ice water to cool completely, drain and set aside. In a saucepan, cover the potatoes with cold water and stir in about 1 tablespoon of salt before setting over medium heat. Cook until just tender, about 9 minutes after the water reaches a boil. Drain and let cool. Both the beans and the potatoes can be prepared a day in advance.
Rub the room temperature tuna steaks with olive oil, salt and pepper and set the grill to medium/high heat. Place steaks over the hottest part of the grill and cook, turning once, 2 minutes per side for rare or 3 minutes per side for medium. Like Mario says, “if you want your tuna more cooked than that, throw the steaks directly into the trash and buy some cans of good tuna instead!”
Cut the tuna along the grain into 1/4 inch thick slices. Arrange the beans and sliced potatoes on the plates. Fan tuna slices in the center and garnish with the eggs, tomatoes and olives. Garnish with fresh oregano and drizzle with the dressing. Will also need some nice coarse salt sprinkled on top for an extra umph.
serves: 4 people
time: 35-40 minutes
from: The New American Kitchen
For the dressing you will need:
1/3 cup clean, whole fresh oregano leaves
1 egg
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 medium garlic cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 to 3/4 cup olive oil
In a small food processor, combine the oregano, egg, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper. Process for about 30 seconds. With the machine running, add the olive oil in a quick, steady stream. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking. Dressing can be made up to 2 days ahead of time, just bring to room temperature before serving.
yields: around 1 cup
time: less than 10 minutes
from: The New American Kitchen
In the Cheater Bites household, we love salsa. We will put it on just about anything. We were using up some leftover steak and decided to whip up some tacos, at which point Matt requested corn salsa. Well that was a good call because this recipe is awesome…I could just sit and eat a bowl of it alone. It has great fresh flavors with a light, lingering heat from the poblanos and a bit of sweetness from the honey.
You will need:
1.5 cups Trader Joe’s fire roasted frozen corn
1 poblano chile, roasted, peeled, seeded and finely diced
1/2 small red onion, finely diced
generous handful chopped fresh cilantro
juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons canola oil
salt & pepper to taste
Microwave the corn to get it to room temperature. Take your whole poblano pepper, set it on some foil, under the broiler on high. The skin blisters quickly, so after 3 minutes, flip the pepper over, then cook for another 3 on the opposite side. Take out of the oven and either dump the pepper into a plastic bag and seal it or into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit for about 15 minutes to allow the skin to loosen. Then peel, halve and seed the pepper before you chop it up.
Combine the corn, poblano, onion, cilantro, lime juice, honey and oil in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Stir well and taste for flavors. I added a little more honey, oil and salt until it reached the perfect balance of flavors. Let sit for at least 15 minutes before serving, but it can be made the day before you want to serve it. Just be sure to serve it room temperature!
yields: about 2 cups, plenty for 4 people
time: 20 minutes
adapted from: Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill Cookbook
Mama Cheater Bite recently came back from a trip to the Mediterranean, and Greece was one of the fabulous stops. Upon her arrival back to the states, she was in the mood for Greek inspired cuisine, so one afternoon we cooked up some garlicky and delicious homemade tzatziki. It’s rather easy to make; a healthy snacking option and condiment to many different dishes.
You will need:
1 1/2 cups Greek yogurt, drained
1/2 seedless cucumber, cut in small cubes
1/2 medium sweet onion, grated
3 cloves garlic, zested/grated
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper
3 tablespoons fresh dill
Place the yogurt in a sieve over a bowl in the fridge for about 2 hours. This drains the excess liquid and makes the tzatziki thicker. Cut your cucumber, being sure that there are no seeds. Toss the cucumber into the yogurt. Grate in your onion and garlic. Drizzle in olive oil and season with salt, pepper and dill. Stir well and taste. Adjust oil and seasonings to your desired thickness and flavor.
Keeps for at least 5 days or so, covered in the fridge. It’s great on a pita chip or some veggies. Goes wonderfully with pork, chicken, lamb and really anything that can use some “sauce.” Adds a fabulous flavor!!
Stuffing flank steaks is such a great idea. It’s a rather cheap piece of meat, so you are not spending a fortune on a snazzy cut of meat. The possibilities are endless for what flavors you can add. We have done pancetta and cheese before as well as tomato, basil and mozzarella. For our big family cook out, we decided to use spinach, carrots and cheese. This can also be a good way to use up some of the produce in your fridge…
You will need:
2 lb flank steak
1 cup shredded fontina cheese
large handful fresh spinach
1 cup shredded carrots
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
salt & pepper
olive oil
butchers twine
Lay your flanks steak, striated side up, on your cutting board. Using a very sharp boning knife, trim off any access fat. Butterfly cut the steak so that it opens up like a book. Try to cut evenly in the center, and leave one of the long sides attached. Salt and pepper both sides and rub on a few tablespoons of olive oil. You can put in a plastic bag in the fridge until you are ready to stuff and roll the steak.
Lay the steak out on your cutting board. Lay on the spinach, cheese, carrots and garlic in an even layer across the steak, leaving about 1/2 inch steak on all sides. Add more salt and pepper to season. With either a second set of hands readily available or 6 pieces of pre-cut butcher’s twine, tightly roll the steak, tucking in the filling as needed. Tie several pieces of butcher’s twine along the meat to keep everything in place.
stuffing in place
tightly roll the steak
tie on several pieces of butcher's twine
ready for the grill
You can either grill the meat or cook it in a skillet in your oven:
For grilling – Turn your grill on medium-high and let sit with lid down til the temperature reaches 400°. Spray the grates with grilling Pam, and place your meat over the direct heat. Sear on all sides, about 2 mintes each turn (brown, sear marks, not charred). Turn center burners down to medium while keeping side burners on high, check the temperature. If it’s not at the desired temperature yet, keep grilling and test again in 2 to 3 minutes.
For skillet cooking – Preheat your oven to 400°. Brown all sides of the meat in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, takes about 5 minutes. Place the skillet in the middle rack of the oven for 5 minutes, then use your thermometer to check the internal temperature. If it’s not at the desired temperature yet, place back in oven and test again in 2 to 3 minutes.
**When you check the temperature of the meat, make sure you are inserting the thermometer into the center of the meat. For medium-rare, internal temperature should be 120° (for medium 130°) right when you take the meat out, then let sit for 10 minutes.
Time: 30 minutes prep time + 15 minutes cook time
Serves: 4 people
Lazy days poolside at my in-laws are fantastic…
and even more so when accompanied by fruity drinks…
My sister-in-law Lauren doesn’t like mint, so enjoying a mojito is difficult for her, unless of course it is made with basil. So I stole her idea for this mojito variation…thanks Laur!
You will need:
generous handful basil, rinsed and torn
2 tablespoons sugar
8 strawberries, 7 of them sliced
4-6 oz. rum (I used Bacardi Limon)
juice of 1/2 lemon
club soda (or Sprite)
In a small bowl, muddle the basil and sugar together until it resembles a paste. Slice 6 of the strawberries and then add them to the sugar/basil paste. Muddle in the strawberries.
Place ice cubs and the rum in a cocktail shaker. Add the muddled basil, sugar and strawberry mixture and the lemon juice and shake well.
Fill 2 fun glasses with ice and the remaining sliced strawberries. Divide the mixture in the shaker evenly between the glasses, top off with club soda/Sprite and garnish with the remaining strawberry and some basil if you wish.
Place a straw and a colorful umbrella in the glasses, drink, and repeat!
*the measurements can easily be adjusted to your preference of fruit vs. basil vs. rum ratio!
I was feeling very patriotic this weekend, partaking in poolside afternoons, barbecues, backyard parties and visits with family and friends. Even got some sun on my shoulders…the freckles are out in full force! It is the height of the summer and I’m loving it. We were invited to a barbecue at a friend’s house on the 4th for fun and firework-watching, and logically Matt volunteered us to bring dessert. I was in the mood to conquer swiss meringue buttercream again, so cupcakes were in order. I perused Martha’s 4th of July themed desserts and found these little bites of joy. They are fluffy vanilla (white) cakes with (blue)berries. Then I used the buttercream recipe from my margarita cupcakes, just played with the flavors a bit, and settled on adding (red) raspberries! Hence the red, white and blue cupcakes! Festive, and might I add quite delectably delicious!
For the cupcakes you will need:
3 1/4 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk
8 large egg whites, room temperature
3 cups blueberries (about 1.5 pints)
Preheat your oven to 325° with your racks in the middle and lower positions. Line your tins with liners and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, blend together the butter and 1 1/2 cups of the sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. After scraping down your bowl, reduce the speed to low and add in the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions of the milk.
In another large bowl, beat your egg whites in high-speed until soft peaks form, about 8 minutes. * This is when having a second bowl for your standing mixer comes in handy…as using a hand-held mixer for 8 minutes is tiring and quite boring! Also, for the 8 egg whites, you can buy a carton of egg whites at the grocery store. It has the same effect and doesn’t require you throwing away the yolks. * OK, so once the soft beaks form, slowly pour in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Whip about 5 minutes longer, until glossy, stiff peaks form. Fold about 1/3 of the egg mixture to the batter, then carefully fold in the remainder. Rinse and dry the blueberries and then toss them with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour. Gently fold the blueberries into the batter. Divide the batter evenly in the prepared cupcake liners using an ice cream scoop like this one.
Bake for 23-25 minutes, rotating pans half way through (I rotated them at 11 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for around 10 minutes then remove to let cool completely on racks.
For the icing you will need:
2 cups sugar
8 large egg whites
pinch of coarse salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature – keep another 3 or 4 tablespoons on reserve
1 teaspoon raspberry extract
1 pint fresh raspberries
Combine the sugar, egg whites and salt in a heatproof bowl (glass or metal works best) and set over a pot of simmering water (or use a double boiler). It is important that you do not let any part of the bowl touch the water, this process just uses the steam from the water to cook the eggs and create the consistency we want. Heat, whisking frequently, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture reads 160° on a candy thermometer like this one. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of your standing mixer. Using the whisk attachment, beat the mixture on medium-high speed until the mixture has cooled, soft peaks form and resembles meringue. This process takes every bit of 8 or 9 minutes. If it does not fit the description above, then keep whipping it! This is a very important step, because the frosting will not work if this mixture is not whipped enough.
Once your cooled mixture resembles meringue and soft peaks form when up lift up the whisk, reduce the speed to medium and add in the butter 2 tablespoons at a time. Don’t add the butter too fast, make sure each addition is incorporated before you add another. Once all of the butter is mixed in, the consistency should be light, fluffy and smooth. Add in your raspberry extract and fresh raspberries, mixing on low. This may thin the mixture and the consistency may start to look a bit curdled, but don’t panic…this is why you have a few extra tablespoons of butter. If you need to, add in your extra butter one tablespoon at a time until the mixture comes together again. *Remember, it needs to be thick enough to put in a bag and pipe onto the cupcakes!
Frost the cupcakes with a generous heap of the buttercream (I used a large star tip, which looked pretty) and decorate with either festive toppers or whole red raspberries. These are sure to be a hit at your next holiday or birthday event!
Time: 2 to 2 1/2 hours
Yields: about 3 dozen cupcakes
Adapted from: Martha Stewart
Doesn’t that look delicious?! Summer is the perfect time for light and fruity desserts and this dish really tops the charts with sophistication. It’s a rather easy dish to prepare and can be done hours ahead of when you want to serve it.
You will need:
1/2 cup good quality honey
2 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dried lavender blossoms, plus more for garnish
12 apricots, halved and pitted
18 fresh figs, halved lengthwise
In a large nonstick skillet, boil the honey with the lemon juice and lavender blossoms over high heat until reduced a bit, approximately 1 minute.
Arrange the apricots in the skillet, cut sides down and cook over high heat until just tender, 2 minutes. Turn and cook until softened, about 1 minute more. Transfer the apricots to a plate using a slotted spoon.
Add the figs to the skillet and cook over high heat until softened, approximately 2 minutes, turing once. Spoon the figs and juices over the apricots. Garnish with the lavender sprigs and serve.
time: 30 minutes
serves: about 10
adapted from: Food & Wine
When a friend of mine sent me the link to Apollinas’ Stella Cake I knew right away this was going to be my dad’s birthday cake. Not only did the recipe sounds absolutely fresh and delicious, it looked amazing! And with a little crafty inspiration as well as some fun supplies, I made a bunting banner instead of writing on the cake. I was thrilled with the results!
For the citrus cake:
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
zest of 3 oranges and 3 lemons
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon orange extract
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup whole milk
sliced oranges, lemons, limes & mint leaves for decoration
Set your oven to 350° and butter and flour 2 cake pans (I used 8″ rounds) and lay in parchment paper and put more butter on top so the cakes don’t stick. Cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Zest your oranges and lemons and add to the butter/sugar mixture. Add in the vanilla & orange extracts and the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low, add in the milk and dry ingredients in 5 alternating additions, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. With each addition, blend only until just mixed. Fold gently with a rubber spatula to make sure everything is incorporated.
Put half of the mixture into one of the cake pans, then if you are feeling crafty like I was, mix in some orange food coloring into the second half of the mixture. Pick up and drop the cake pans a couple of times to get out the air pockets and get a more even top once baked. Put both pans in the oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes (note this is for 8″ pans) rotating them after 15 minutes to make sure they bake evenly. Let cool for about 15 minutes in the pans, then let cool completely on wire racks. I always wrap my cakes in plastic and put in the fridge or freezer so they firm up and are easier to cut and handle.
For the citrus buttercream:
4 sticks (2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 tablespoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1 pound confectioners sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
Beat the butter on high-speed until fluffy, around 3 minutes. Add in the lemon zest and orange juice and mix together. Gradually sift in the confectioners sugar and then the salt. Blend until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides. You can ice the cake right away or refrigerate overnight, but be sure to bring back to room temperature before icing the cake!
Lemon curd – I used store-bought lemon curd, which you can find at your local grocery store or even at Marshalls or Home Goods. If you are feeling very Susie Homemaker, you can make your own. I suggest using this Joy of Baking recipe and video to help!
To assemble everything:
1. After chilling the cakes so they are firm, slice each layer in half so that you have 4 layers of cake. You will have 2 very flat pieces, from the bottom half of the cake pans. Use these for the very bottom and top layers. Take one of your flat pieces and place on a cake board. Top with a generous dollop of lemon curd and spread out evenly. Place another piece of cake on top, this time spread a generous dollop of your buttercream icing on top. Repeat again with a second layer of lemon curd. Finally place your second flat piece of cake on the top. *If you dyed one of your layers like I did, be sure to alternate the colors.
2. Make sure that all of your layers are even and adjust accordingly before icing the cake. Using an offset spatula, take large scoops of the buttercream and spread evenly around the cake. There is more than enough icing to really layer it on thick, so don’t be stingy. I never get too intense about making the icing look extremely smooth and perfect, I absolutely do not have the skill to do that just yet. Plus you will be layering the sliced fruit on top so it doesn’t need to look perfect!
3. Rinse off your fruit and mint leaves. Using a mandoline or very sharp knife, very carefully slice your oranges, lemons and limes into thin pieces. Lay them on a paper towel to soak up the excess juices. Arrange the fruit slices and mint leaves around your cake in any way you like! Add fun candles and a fun bunting banner if it’s a celebration cake, or just keep the fruit as the centerpiece.
Time: 2 1/2 to 3 hours, but can be spread out over two days
Serves: 12-14 rather generous slices
adapted from: Apollinas Stella Cake
Cheater Bites 