Opera Singer in the Kitchen

Artistry in Food, Music, and Life

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    Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Raspberry Peanut Butter Icing and GIVEAWAY

    April 2nd, 2012
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    How did this weekend fly by? I was not ready to start a new week but here it is, April, and well, might as well embrace it.

    I got to do a lot of baking this past weekend and even created a recipe! It has been a chocolate-themed weekend for sure.

    I recently was given the opportunity to review some peanut butter. I have been enjoying eating it with Fuji apples, carrots, and pretzels for my snacks or even my lunch.


    Have you heard of PB Crave? It is peanut butter with a twist and unfortunately it is not vegan because it uses milk products in 3 of its flavors and honey in all 4 flavors. Either way, I was glad to be able to taste and review this product because the company has created a great cause.

    Curt’s Peanut Butter Company, based in Minnesota, creates 4 unique peanut butter flavors with premium ingredients.

    Choco Choco Peanut Butter–made with sweet and dark chocolate
    CoCo Bananas Peanut Butter–made with dark chocolate and banana flavor
    Razzle Dazzle Peanut Butter–made with white and dark chocolate and raspberry flavors
    Cookie Nookie Peanut Butter–made with chocolate chips and cookie dough flavor

    All their peanut butters are made with palm oil, peanuts, and cocoa butter and their chocolate is Belgium chocolate too! While I have had 2 weeks to savor these flavors I only liked 2 of them.
    The Razzle Dazzle and the Choco Choco flavors were by far my favorites. The Cookie Nookie and CoCo Bananas flavoring did not appeal to me. The blend of flavors was nice but it was not my favorite even though I like bananas and all.

    Did you know that with every bottle the company sells that 2% of the proceeds go a non-profit organization called Project Peanut Butter that focuses on treating malnourished children.

    I plan to continue purchasing the flavors that I enjoyed. I even created a recipe using the Razzle Dazzle peanut butter too. Feel free to substitute your favorite vegan peanut butter to make this recipe vegan.

    The cupcake is vegan but the frosting is not. I made 26 cupcakes and took it to a party with more than 10 kids and they all liked it!

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    The process was fun because I finally got to use my cupcake corer. I had been hand carving my own cores when preparing cupcakes that I caved in and finally bought one. Ha! They are fun and easy to use too!

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    Thanks PB Crave for letting me have a chance to review your yummy products!

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    Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Raspberry Peanut Butter Icing

    by Noelle Kelly
    Prep Time: 45-60 minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes
    Keywords: bake dessert chocolate peanut butter cupcakes

    Ingredients (26 cupcakes)

      Chocolate Cupcakes

      • 2 cups So Delicious coconut milk
      • 2/3 cups vegetable oil
      • 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
      • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
      • 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
      • 3/4 cup cocoa
      • 1 3/4 cups sugar
      • 2 teaspoons baking soda
      • 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

      Icing

      • 1 cup PB Crave White Chocolate Raspberry Peanut Butter ( or vegan peanut butter)
      • 4 cups powdered sugar
      • 1 1/2 sticks Earth Balance margarine
      • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
      • 4 Tablespoons So Delicious coconut milk

      Instructions

      For Cupcakes

      Preheat oven to 350. Use regular cupcake tins and line with cupcake papers.

      In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

      In a smaller bowl, whisk together the coconut milk and apple cider vinegar let it sit for 3-5 minutes until it curdles like buttermilk. Add the sugar, oil, and vanilla extract.

      Now add the wet ingredients to the dry and stirring with a spoon, fold and mix together until the batter is fairly smooth–a few dry spots will be okay–you don’t want to over mix–thus the spoon technique. Use a 1/4 measuring cup for smaller–either way, fill the cupcake holders to 1/2 full.

      Bake for about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow cupcakes to cool completely for about 45 minutes. Prepare icing.

      For Icing

      In a mixer, add the peanut butter and margarine and whip until combined. Sift the powdered sugar and add the coconut milk and vanilla extract. Mix until all ingredients are combined well and smooth.

      Assembly

      Using a cupcake corer or a serrated knife, make a hole midway into the center of the cupcake. Add half the icing into a pastry bag and add 1-2 Tablespoons to the center of the cupcake. Add the cupcake center on top of the icing.

      Ice each cupcake with 2-3 Tablespoons of icing using a flat icing knife or spoon. Top with one chocolate cup for decoration.

      *note* To make recipe vegan, use vegan peanut butter. This PB Crave product contains honey.
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      I FORGOT the giveaway friends!


      ONE person (US Reader) will win 


      A PB Crave Natural Peanut Butter Variety Pack (3 pack / 16 ounce jars) given by the company:

      • 1 CoCo Banana
      • 1 Cookie Nookie
      • 1 Razzle Dazzle
      and

      I will throw in one of those CUPCAKE Corer

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      What are the ways to enter?

      Just tell me which flavor you would love to taste! (mandatory)

      extra entries: (leave a comment for each)
      1. Follow Opera Singer in the Kitchen on Twitter and Facebook
      2. Follow PB Crave on Twitter and Facebook
      3. Tweet giveaway “Artisan crafted peanut butters–Enter for a chance to win a 3 pack & a cupcake corer #giveaway http://bit.ly/HDc0MW“
      Make sure you leave your email address so I can contact you!

      If you can’t wait to try these peanut butters, order them with FREE SHIPPING, just use this code: 

      singerFS

      This code is only valid until May 2nd and this code becomes active tonight at 6pm central

      You have until THURSDAY, April 5th midnight EST to enter

      1 Comment "

      Chocolate Stout Brownies

      March 31st, 2012
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      I finally got a recipe in this week! Yay for this busy mama….I am totally not being sarcastic.


      I’ve been doing a lot of cooking, but the blogging and writing has been really hard especially this week.


      Julianne has pulled a different card on us these last 3 weeks and it got a little challenging last night. Perhaps it is a growth spurt or maybe teething but hey, am I supposed to know all the signs now? 


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      As a new mom, I know that I probably know my daughter the best but lately I feel like she knows me too well. For the last 3 weeks she simply refuses to sleep in her crib, so this means that while I work, I am either holding her, having her sleep on my boppy on my lap, or she is sleeping the Moby wrap or Ergo carrier. 


      Sigh. I feel so bad for my daughter, but I believe she is going through separation anxiety. I have read about it. I understand it completely.She loves feeling the warmth of my hand as she grabs it and holds it with all her might.


      I simply cannot know what a baby feels but it really does break my heart. I constantly give her kisses and hugs and tell her how much mama and dadda love her.


      As I held her last night, after she really could not sleep at around 4 am, I remember carrying her in my womb. I really feel blessed to have carried her for more than 9 months, and I almost miss being pregnant. I too go through separation anxiety especially since we have had to have an occasional babysitter. It has been hard not to have family around, to really have people you know you can trust.

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      So, I lean not on the sleepless nights or cranky mornings because I know it is for a time. As I hear my baby girl call out my name (ama) from her crib now at midnight, I know this is a gift I have been given and much is required of me. How will I respond? Taking it one day at a time.

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      So why am I talking about my life when we have chocolate before our eyes? Well, talking about my week and my life as a new mom helps me as much as baking as well.


      This past week I was asked a few baked goods to a reunion party and I decided to make my Rocky Road Bars and a new recipe I stumbled upon last week: Chocolate Stout Brownies


      Yes. You might be asking yourself why I made these seeing that St. Patty’s is over, but hey, what can I say? I did not get to make anything during that time so I am making up for it, besides, I had a bottle of a double chocolate stout in my fridge and it was calling my name.


      While I do claim these as vegan, the only thing that really does not make it vegan is the beer. I photographed the brownies with Guinness, which is not vegan, but in fact I used a double chocolate stout that is also not vegan. Oh, well! If you are hardcore vegan you can find yourself some vegan beer and make these.


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      These brownies are so fudgy and decadent that I decided to cut them in 16 squares instead of 9 large squares. Do it. You’ll thank me and you;ll be proud of how disciplined you are. Yes, that you only had one small square.


      Do you enjoy that occasional piece of dark chocolate?


      I know I do and this is that one square plus a little more! The espresso granules give the brownies depth and the coconut oil a little tropical flavor, while the stout give it a rich flavor. 


      Have I tempted you enough? Make it for your next party and I bet you’ll it will be a hit. 


      It’s chocolate! Enough said.

      Chocolate Stout Brownies

      by Noelle Kelly
      Prep Time: 15 minutes
      Cook Time: 30 minutes
      Keywords: bake dessert vegan chocolate

      Ingredients (Yields one 9×9 pan –16 small)

        Brownies

        • 3 tablespoons water
        • 1 tablespoon flax, ground
        • 1 cup stout
        • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
        • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
        • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
        • 1/2 teaspoon salt
        • 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate
        • 6 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
        • 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
        • 1 cup sugar
        • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
        • 6 Tablespoons So Delicious coconut milk



        Stout Glaze

        • 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
        • 1/4 cup reduced stout
        • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
        Instructions

        Place your oven rack on it’s lowest position and preheat your oven to 350F.

        For the Brownies

        Line an 9 x 9 inch glass baking dish with parchment paper allowing excess parchment paper on opposite sides so you can pull the brownies out of the baking dish later.

        Bring stout to a boil in a medium sauce- pan; cook until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 12 minutes. Let cool. Reserve 1/4 cup stout for the glaze.

        Stir 2 ounces chocolate and coconut oil in a medium glass bowl and place in microwave. Set for 1 minute on high. Stir mixture until well mixed.

        In a small mixing bowl whisk together the water and flax meal. Let it sit for about 3 minutes so it can set.
        In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

        In a large mixing bowl whisk together the sugar, espresso, vanilla, 1/4 cup of the reduced stout, coconut milk, flax mixture and melted chocolate mixture, mix until smooth and combined. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until just combined. The mixture will become extremely thick.

        Spread mixture with a spatula into the glass pan. Bake for 30 minutes and no more. This will be a decadent and fudgy.

        Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes. Prepare the glaze.



        For the Glaze

        Stir remaining 4 ounces chocolate and coconut oil in a small glass bowl and melt in the microwave for 45 seconds. Add reserved 1/4 cup reduced stout and mix with a whisk until all combined.

        Pour warm glaze over brownies. Let stand at room temperature until glaze is set, about 40 minutes or overnight.
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        1 Comment "

        Weekend Highlights

        March 26th, 2012
        After show

        I told my husband I was going to bed at 10:30pm but here I am writing a quick post to be ready for Monday morning. I realized tonight that I was not able to post a lot this past week because we were so busy. 


        Some exciting things happened as well this past week that I plan to continue doing in the upcoming weeks. I went on a nice walk with a Russian gal and her 9 month son. It was not quite a play date but more of a let’s- take-ourselves-on-a-walk kind of date. It was lots of fun and very hot.

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        Julianne has been a dear these past 2 weeks. She has been quite verbal with shrieking noises and exclamatory screeching sounds that I fear our neighbors will be disturbed but oh well, they know we have a little one. I believe she has been teething somewhat so we have tried having her chew on different toys in order to soothe her pain. I believe she is getting cuter by the day!

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        It has been a challenge getting Julianne to play on her tummy but I am not worrying because the time will come when she will enjoy it. As I was working this past week I noticed her roll from her back to her tummy for the first time! I love talking to her and telling her what a great job she is doing. She coos and smiles like she understands me and I take it all in.

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        I have put away a lot of Julianne’s clothing away…sniff….sniff. She is already wearing 6 month clothing because she is pretty snug in her 3-6 month clothing. Here I wake up daily thinking my child is not growing and I constantly have to be changing her out of clothing because it no longer fits. My little one is getting so big.


        Something else that was pretty exciting this past weekend were my TWO singing gigs. Yes, after almost 5 months after giving birth to my precious baby, I am back performing and in a better way. 

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        On Friday night I participated in a concert called The Great Showstoppers with 15 or so singers from the group we belong to in Holland, MI. We all wore our fancy dresses and went on stage to perform our numbers. I have to say that this was the first time I have not felt jittery with nerves.


        I first started with Un bel di, vedremo from Madama Butterfly. I quickly got into character after leaving my poor baby crying with my husband in the nursery next to the room where we were performing. I was VERY scared that I was not going to be able to concentrate knowing that Julianne was refusing to go to sleep at her normal hour. Anyway, I got on stage and I decided to perform and sing, and boy did I feel great about it! I walked off stage with a tear in my eye. Note to self: having to much emotion can mess up the way one sings a piece but if done correctly it is fine.

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        We had intermission, so I went to check on Ryan and Julianne. Little did I know that she had been shrieking for a while and Ryan had to move her to another room in the nursery. Baby girl sure knew that mama was doing something else other than being at home hanging out with her daddy. I felt so bad that she did not want to go to sleep but she WAS asleep finally when I checked on her during intermission. I picked her up and placed her in the pack n’play so she could be a lot more comfortable. 


        That was my true test as a professional. Do I blow off performing and singing to take care of a baby who refuses to sleep like she always does, or do I trust that my husband or anyone taking care of her will be able to handle and take care of her? Yes, it was hard but at the end I know it will get easier for both Julianne and myself.

        Beth & Noelle

        Intermission was over my next number was a duet. The flower duet from Lakme’ went really well and it was nice singing with a rich sounding mezzo. It was also lots of fun singing in 2 different languages too.


        I will be sharing the recordings soon after my husband sends them to me. I cannot wait to hear how it sounded. All I know is that I got lots of people coming up afterwards telling me how I made them cry. Really? Yay!!! I know, I know, it does not sounds nice, but I thank God for the gift of singing so I can share my passion and delight to other people. Stay tuned!


        What did you do on your weekend? Anything fun?

        No Comments "

        Vegan Chocolate Matcha Bundt Cake

        March 21st, 2012
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        Are you tired of seeing bundt cakes? They are so many different types of recipes that I seem to not be able to escape them.

        My posting is a little on the slow side this week. I am really not trying to stress about all the music I need to learn. Well, actually, I am not stressed, it just feels like I have a lot on my plate but it is doable.

        When do I practice my music? Well, the baby goes to sleep around 7 or 8pm and then we eat dinner and watch a little something and then I practice from 9:30pm to 11pm or even midnight, like I did last night.

        I know I should be in bed but when I know how much there is to do I simply cannot go to sleep.

        This past weekend we got to spend some time with friends who recently moved away. It was sad because our babies are so close in age, like 2 days apart! My friend also has a little girl in addition to her little boy and  she wanted to hold her this weekend. How cute is this?


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         Sigh….babies!

        Anyway….we had lunch with them after our church service and I was in charge of dessert. Remember when I said I only make dessert when we are going somewhere? Well, I had to choose wisely cause you know this girl likes her dessert.

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        When I saw a recipe on Bakerella’s site from 2009, I wondered why I had not seen it before. I am big on chocolate and on green tea, but adding the two together? Yes please.

        Anyone use matcha before? Matcha equals finely ground green tea. When I lived back in Houston I would go to Jamba Juice OFTEN and order a smoothie with vanilla soy milk, matcha, and protein powder after a workout and be so energetic. Why?

        Matcha is an energy booster, a calorie burner, and full of antioxidants to say the least.

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        Add a tablespoon to your smoothie and tell me how you feel the next day or even during the day. I purchased my bag from the local Asian market, which is SO much cheaper than buying it at some fancy tea place.

        How did it taste in this cake? Well, even though the powder is light green, it did not come across as a vibrant green in my cake. I wondered if it had to do with the fact that I used non-dairy milk as opposed to regular milk, but then I wonder if the originator used green food coloring. Hmmm.

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        The process and preparation was fun. Swirling two cake batters is always fun and different. The finished product looks pretty rad too!

        This was a moist cake with chocolate undertones and a bit of tea flavoring, not to much. If you want to make the green come out more..add some NATURAL green coloring. 

        I am glad I got to make this and I hope you find an excuse to make it too!



        Chocolate Matcha Bundt Cake

        by Noelle Kelly
        Prep Time: 20 minutes
        Cook Time: 50-55 minutes

        Ingredients (12-16 slices)

          Chocolate Mixture

          • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
          • 1/2 cup cocoa
          • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
          • 1/2 teaspoon salt

          Matcha mixture

          • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
          • 3 Tablespoons matcha powder (green tea powder)
          • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
          • 1/2 teaspoon salt

          Wet ingredients

          • 2 1/2 cups vegan sugar
          • 1/2 cup Earth Balance Coconut Spread, melted
          • 3 Tablespoons flax seed meal
          • 9 Tablespoons water
          • 1 3/4 cup So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk
          • 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
          • 1 teaspoon vanilla
          Instructions
          Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 12-cup Bundt pan.

          With a wire whisk, mix the dry ingredients for the chocolate mixture in a small bowl and set aside.

          In another small bowl, do the same for the matcha mixture.

          Using a mixer, cream the coconut spread and sugar. Mix the flax seed meal and water together and set aside for 3 minutes. In a medium bowl mix the coconut milk and apple cider vinegar together. (This makes a vegan “buttermilk”) Add the flax mixture to the coconut milk and vanilla and mix until thoroughly combined.

          Divide the creamed mixture evenly in two separate bowls.

          Slowly add the chocolate mixture to one half of the creamed mixture and mix thoroughly.
          Then, add the matcha mixture to the other half of the creamed mixture and mix thoroughly.

          Drop alternating spoonfuls of each mixture into the bundt pan until it’s about 3/4 full.
          For a marbled effect, gently run a knife through the two batters in a swirling motion.

          Bake for about 50-55 minutes or until knife comes out clean.
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          Almond Quinoa Hot Cereal

          March 15th, 2012
          Breakfast Quinoa1



          Happy Thursday folks!


          I am so glad to the weekend in the horizon because I am in dire need of some downtime with my family. We have one little fussy baby on our hands and sleep has been quite erratic especially during the day time. My husband is finishing his dissertation so he is up to 3 or 4 am so I will be glad to see him sleep a little more after he turns in his work tomorrow. What a sigh of relief right? I always find that our weekends are for catching up on sleep so here is to this weekend.


          After the baby goes to sleep around 8pm, our evenings are spent watching an episode of a favorite show then in recent evenings it is mostly focused on learning music. What am I learning music for? If anyone in West Michigan is interested, our Holland Chorale is holding a concert called The Great Showstoppers featuring an array of soloists and ensemble groups performing show tunes and works from operas.I actually have been having lots of fun just making myself spend more time with music since having the baby. It is relaxing and therapeutic.


          You know what also has been helping? Having good meals during the day. One of my favorite go-to breakfasts, that my husband simply will not touch, is breakfast cereal made with quinoa.


           Several weeks back, on my birthday weekend, I bought some tricolor quinoa from Trader Joes because it looked so exciting! I have only had white or red but never black or a mixture so I was glad to make that purchase.

          Picture from 52KitchenAdventures

          You know what I also purchased from there? This bottle of fig butter. I talked about it on my Facebook page several days back and raved about it because it is just about delicious on everything. I added it to my quinoa cereal and I added it to a toasted slice of Ezekiel toast with some Earth Balance smeared on it. YUM!

          Breakfast Quinoa

          Here is how I used my tricolor quinoa. I added some of So Delicious Almond Plus Milk that has 5 grams of protein per serving so a bowl of this cereal packs some big protein.


          Did I mention that this breakfast is super filling??? Try it soon.


          Remember, tomorrow is the last day to enter the So Delicious Giveaway so if you want to try it in this cereal, enter now. 🙂

          Almond Quinoa Hot Cereal

          by Noelle Kelly
          Prep Time: 5 minutes
          Cook Time: 25 minutes
          Keywords: cook breakfast soy-free vegan vegetarian gluten-free quinoa

          Ingredients (three 1 cup servings)
          • 1 cup tricolor or any other color quinoa
          • 1 cup So Delicious Almond Plus Milk
          • 1 cup water
          • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
          • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
          • 1/2 cup sliced almonds
          • 1 banana, sliced
          • 3 Tablespoons fig butter (optional)
          • 4 Tablespoons coconut palm sugar (optional)
          Instructions
          Rinse the quinoa under cold water and drain.
          Add the quinoa in a small pot and cover with almond milk and water. Stir in the cinnamon and vanilla extract.
          Cook cereal for 25 minutes or until the quinoa has absorbed the liquid. Once it is cooked, add the sliced bananas, almonds and fig butter.
          (The Almond Milk was sweetened so I really did not need the sweetener especially with a banana but you can add the sugar if wanted)
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          4 Comments "