Upside Down Caramelized Root Vegetable Tart with Flaky Gruyere Crust

What's that you said?

You don't know what a parsnip is either?

I've started a new thing- I go to the supermarket, see something I've never cooked, and buy it.  

Then it sits in my fridge for a week because I don't know what to do with it. 

So I bought a couple parsnips.  Research says they are a root vegetable related to the carrot.  Makes sense, as they look like white carrots.  Wikepedia (yes, I really did get my info here) says they are buttery, sweeter than carrots, and have subtle flavors of butterscotch, honey, and cardamom when cooked.  Sounds pretty good.  

If you don't know (as I didn't) they get peeled the same way carrots do, and then simply cut into slices for this recipe.  

Sounded to me like parsnips and sweet potatoes would go pretty well together, and lucky me- I had a leftover sweet potato! So for you, I decided to make this upside down tart, quite lovely as an appetizer, a lunch, or a snack.  It can be eaten either hot or cold, though the crust is so delishiously flaky right out of the oven. 

Why upside down, you ask?

Because the vegetables caramelize so beautifully when cooked in oil in the hot cast iron skillet.  They turn a nice golden brown and have such a sweet flavor- butterscotch and honey are good ways of describing it. 

And the crust gets SO flaky when not weighed down in the bottom of a pan.  

If I had other root vegetables, I would have thrown them in too.  Experiment with whatever you have on hand, this recipe is pretty basic and forgiving.  

Upside Down Caramelized Root Vegetable Tart with Flaky Gruyere Crust

1 sweet potato, peeled, rinseed, and cut into thin (1/8 inch) slices
2 parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/8 inch slices
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper
olive oil

Flaky Gruyere Crust
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
5 tbsp butter, cut in pieces and chilled
5 tbsp ice cold water
1/4 cup packed shredded gruyere

Crust:

Combine flour and salt in a large bowl.  Add the cold butter, and using your hands, work it into flour mixture until it is a crumbly texture.  Do this quickly, you don't want butter to melt too fast.  Drizzle water in and incorporate quickly (I don't mean you need to speed through this, but don't start and then walk away..)  Form gently into a ball, flatten into a 6 inch dish, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 375.

The veggies:

Heat a few drizzles of olive oil in your cast iron skillet over medium, medium high heat. Add the red onion. Saute until soft.  Add garlic, saute a minute longer, and remove red onion and garlic from pan and set aside. 

Add a bit more olive oil, allow it to warm up for 30 seconds, and add half of the sweet potato. Saute until sweet potato begins to get golden brown color.  Remove from heat and saute other half of sweet potatoes. Remove and repeat with parsnips. 

Once all your veggies are sauteed until golden, remove them all from pan and remove skillet from heat.  Now you can arrange them in a pretty manner.  Pour 1 tbsp of olive oil into the cast iron skillet and disperse.  Evenly sprinkle the thyme directly onto the pan. Begin layering veggies: I started with layering the smallest parsnips in the middle of the pan, followed by a layer of the smallest sweet potato slices, the red onion mixture, more parsnips, and more sweet potato. Season generously with salt and pepper. 

Remove the crust from the fridge and roll out until it is large enough to fit over the cast iron skillet. Quickly place it on top of the veggies and tuck the sides in a bit.  

Place in cast iron skillet in oven and bake for about 25 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

To remove the tart from the pan: 

Let cool 5-10 minutes until easier to handle.  Using a thin spatula, gently work it underneath the tart to try to lift any veggies stuck to pan.  Remember your pretty arrangement- be gentle with the spatula.  

Grab a plate- most dinner plates will fit just perfectly inside the cast iron skillet.  Place the plate on top of the tart, and (with oven mitts on!) lift the whole pan up and turn is upside down quickly.  Your tart should fall right out and look ever so perfect on your plate!  If it doesn't pry stuck veggies off and rearrange- the tart is pretty east to work with! 

Cranberry Swirl Muffins

This isn't a recipe you make just because you have leftover cranberry sauce.  

I mean, if you have some leftover, sure, make this recipe, it's freakin delish.

What I'm trying to say is this:  this recipe is so good that you may find yourself making cranberry sauce just to make this recipe. 

These are the perfect little rays of sunshine to the gloomy beginnings of winter.  They're perfect for breakfast or as a coffee-break snack.  They're just a bit tart from the cranberry, and just a bit sweet.  

A word of warning: This recipe is made based on the use of cranberry sauce, not just whole cranberries.  If you just add cranberries (or blueberries, or other fruit you may want to sub), these muffins will be a bit dry.  The added moisture from the cranberry sauce being swirled into the batter is what keeps these so moist.  

In fact, when experimenting, I made these muffins two ways: 

One- The Cranberry Stuffed Muffin.  I placed just a bit of cranberry sauce in the middle of the batter and covered it up for a cranberry surprise.  

Two- The Cranberry Swirl Muffin.  I placed a little bit more of cranberry sauce in the middle of the muffin, covered it, and used a toothpick to gently swirl it together.

The results?  The cranberry stuffed muffin was a bit dry, but the cranberry swirl was perfectly moist.  

So without further ado:

Cranberry Swirl Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup whole milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 large egg

4 oz (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 tbsp orange zest

1 tbsp orange juice

1/2 cup cranberry sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. In a separate large bowl, whisk the egg.  Whisk in the sugar, and when combined, add the milk, vanilla extract, orange juice, and zest.  Add the butter (it should be melted completely but NOT hot or it will cook the egg!)

3.  Add the flour mixture gradually to the egg mixture, a bit at a time.  Stir only to combine the dry ingredients to the wet, do not overmix. 

4. Pour into paper-lined muffin pan (I made mini muffins).  Bake mini muffins for 10-12 minutes, and regular muffins for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out dry.  Cool on wire rack. 

Wensleydale Apple Cranberry Tartlets with Thyme Shortbread Crust and Bourbon Glaze

Be the star of a holiday party- bring these delectable little tartlets.  

They're like little mini-apple pies, made with Wensleydale cheese with cranberries. 

Wensleydale is an English crumbly cheese that is supple and moist with a flavor of wild honey.

Wild Honey!

This Wensleydale has cranberries mixed in- adding just a bit of... tartness... to these tarts! 

An unexpected, but incredible herb-y thyme shortbread crust that balances out the sweetness of the apples. 

I found this Wensleydale with Cranberries at Whole Foods.  

It would be AMAZING on a leftover turkey sandwich after Thanksgiving.  

So as I'm baking these, The Boyfriend keeps asking me when he can have one.

Finally I give him one.  I turn around, turn back around, and it's gone.  GONE.  

He looks at me wide-eyed, like he doesn't know what happened. 

And takes another.   

Wensleydale Apple Cranberry Tartlets with Thyme Shortbread Crust and Bourbon Glaze

The Crust:

1 1/4 cup bread flour

3 tbsp sugar

1/8 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup thyme, leaves only, chopped

1/2 cup butter

2 tbsp ice water

The Tart:

4 Granny Smith Apples, peeled and sliced

2 McIntosh Apples, peeled and sliced

1/4 lb Wensleydale Cheese with Cranberries

3 cups sugar

1 cup plus 1 tbsp water

1 stick cinnamon

2 whole cloves

1 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp bourbon

*You'll also need some kind of little tart baking pans. I found mine at either Kitchen Kapers or ACMoore, I can't recall..

Make the Crust:

1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, vanilla, and thyme. Cut in the old butter using a pastry blender or a knife until dough is crumbly.

2. Sprinkle 1 tbsp cold water over dough.  Quickly form into a ball, adding a few more drops of water if you need more moisture to hold it together. Do as quickly as possible, you don't want to handle the dough to long or the warmth from your hands will melt the butter, resulting in a less flaky crust.

3. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour, or a day or two.

4. Remove from fridge and roll out to about 1/4' thickness.

5. Cut out approximate shape of your tart pan, and lay dough over top.  Press into pan gently.  Use a rolling pin to roll over the TOP of the tart pan, giving you a nice even crust.

6. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.

Make the Tart:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water, cinnamon stick, and cloves. Bring contents to just a boil.

2. Reduce heat immediately and add all apples.  Cook until tender but not falling apart.  If it looks like the liquid is evaporating to quickly, add a bit of water to keep it moist.

3. Remove the apples, and lay out on parchment paper in one layer to cool off.  Reserve the poaching liquid.

4. Slice the Wensleydale cheese thinly.  Don't worry if it crumbles. 

Assemble:

1. Remove the crust from fridge.  Add a few of the apple slices that did not keep their perfect shape (the unsightly ones).  Top with a few slices (or crumbles) or cheese.  Pour 1 tsp of heavy cream over, letting it sink down (this is how much I used for tarts that were 3 inches across.  If you are making larger tarts, you may need to add a tbsp or two of heavy cream.  The cream shouldn't reach the top of the tart, rather just cover the bottom layers of apples and beginning to seep into the cheese layer).

2. Add the pretty, intact sliced apples on top, fanning them out decoratively.  At the base of the 'fan' add a crumble of cheese with cranberry for contrast in color.

3. Repeat with remaining tarts.

4. Bake in the preheated oven about 10 minutes, until edges of apples begin to darken and shortbread crust begins to turn golden.

5. Cool on a wire rack.

Glaze:

1. When tarts are cool, remove the cinnamon stick and cloves from the reserved poaching liquid. Add the bourbon.  Head the liquid medium high heat, reducing by half.  Liquid will get a bit sticky.

2. Brush the glaze over the tarts immediately. Let dry, and brush another layer over. 

Dark Chocolate Coconut Cake

The perfect midafternoon snack- 

coffee and cake!

This Dark Chocolate Coconut cake is not overly sweet or decadent. 

It's sophisticated. 

Deep, dark, and chocolaty. 

The yogurt and coconut add another layer of sweet moistness.

And the glaze adds gives it a sheen chocolate crust.  

The perfect ending to a holiday brunch,

or perhaps a slice during teatime...

this cake will sooth the winter blues away.

You'll note instructions say to bake in a bundt pan.

You'll also notice in the pictures I did not bake mine in a bundt pan. 

A tragedy of moving- lost, forgotten kitchen supplies.

Like Toy Story, only it's my bundt pan and spatulas dancing around my room.

I encourage you to reconnect with your bundt pan though.  

Dark Chocolate Coconut Cake

This recipe is from Grace Parisi for Food and Wine Magazine

CAKE:

 7 oz bag sweetened shredded coconut (about 2 cups)

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 large egg white

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

scant 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 sticks (6 oz) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar

3 large eggs

3 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

2 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups plain nonfat yogurt

GLAZE:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Make the sweet coconut/yogurt filling. In a small bowl, combine the chopped coconut, egg white, and condensed milk.  Using your hands, form this mixture into an 18' long rope, and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes, until slightly firm.

2. Make the cake. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and butter and flour an 8-cup bundt pan.  In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate, large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar, beating until light and fluffy, and add the eggs one at a time.  Once combined, add in the melted chocolate and the vanilla.  Finally, add the flour mixture and the yogurt in batches- add a bit of flour, mix, add a bit of yogurt, mix, flour, mix, yogurt, mix, etc until all of the flour mixture and yogurt is gone and batter is smooth. 

3.  Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan.  Remove the coconut rope from the fridge, unwrap, and place on top of the batter, following the circle of the pan.  Let the rope sink into the batter a bit (give it a few pokes to help it sink in) until the rope is beneath the surface and fully covered by about an inch of batter.  

4. Bake for one hour, or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack in pan for 10 minutes, and invert to cool completely.

5. Make the Glaze. Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar.  Once dissolved, remove from heat and immediately whisk in cocoa powder and vanilla.  Let cool.  Do not attempt to pour the hot glaze on a hot cake.  That has disaster written all over it!

6. Once cake is cooled, and the glaze is cooled to lukewarm, brush the glaze over the cake.  Let this layer dry slightly (about 5-10 minutes).  Brush another layer on, let dry, brush, etc until glaze is gone.  Refrigerate the cake- the glaze will set and harden.  

Sweet Potato Croqettes

I love sweet potatoes. 

Sweet potato fries, casserole, mashed sweet potatoes, pie....

ahhhhhhhhhhh 

I took my love one step further and make these Sweet Potato Croquettes.  

This is a Southern recipe, though I've also seen 'Fried Yam Balls' in African cooking.

They are reminiscent of hush puppies, though hush puppies contain much more breading.

And if you don't know what a hush puppie is, you need to take a trip down south and find out. 

Anyways, these  are delicately crispy on the outside, soft sweet potatoes on the inside.

These would be perfect for an appetizer for a party, or served as a side to dinner for a little added fun-n-crunch.  I could see them being added to a brunch menu too.

I made these the day before- I roasted the sweet potatoes and added all the ingredients but bread crumbs and eggs.  The next day, I simply added the crumbs and eggs, and fried.  

I fried these in extra-virgin olive oil.  No they weren't slimy at all, as you may think would happen from frying in olive oil.  The fact is, olive oil's smoke point is 410 degrees.  When deep frying, oil is  somewhere between 250-350 degrees.  That means you most certainly CAN fry with olive oil- in fact it is healthier, and frys things a bit more delicately if you ask me.

You can use peanut oil or even vegetable oil if that's what you have on hand.

I'm pretty sure using leftover mashed sweet potatoes, adding the bread crumbs and egg, would work just great too!

Sage and Maple Turkey Breakfast Sausage

Good morning America!

How about a healthier (yet delicious) breakfast meat this morning?  

I made these Turkey Breakfast Sausage patties last night, and this morning flung them in a pan and served with scrambled eggs and english muffins.  You could use ground beef or chicken if you so desired.

As we've previously discussed, I must make breakfast items the night before, due to The Boyfriend declaring war on anybody standing in the way of his immediate need for breakfast sustenance. 

:)

We went out to breakfast once and had to wait about 40 minutes being seated.  

He didn't speak.  He didn't move.  

He just gripped his stomach in agony, muttering.. 'why...?   WHY...??'

So I sauteed these bad breakfast boys up real quick, and we had a delicious, healthy, and quick breakfast.  I drizzled some syrup on mine.  Yum.

Would be great to have these patties in the fridge for nights when you may have company.  Or even in the freezer, and if unexpected company, pop them out the night before, defrost in fridge, and voila!

Strawberry Salad with Halloumi and Cucumber

My New. Favorite. Salad.

I bought halloumi a couple weeks ago, and it's been sitting in my fridge waiting to be included in a recipe worthy of halloumi.  

'What the heck is halloumi?' you might be thinking...

Halloumi is a Greek semi-soft cheese made from goat's, sheep's, and sometimes cows milk.  It taste kind of like mozzarella but is saltier.  It also has a high melting point- which allows you to fry or GRILL IT!  Who doesn't want warm, gooey cheese straight off the grill?!? 

Well I had finally had enough waiting, and I saw Jamie Oliver paired halloumi and strawberries in a salad.  Conveniently, I had strawberries so I decided to give it a go.   

 I wasn't sure what to expect, I had never had halloumi.  But the mixture of salty halloumi, sweet strawberries, crisp cucumber, and sharp onion....  all I can say is WOW. 

This is amazing.  It's elegant, easy, impressive, and delicious.

Caprese Quiche

I recently spent the weekend with The Boyfriend's family, and his mom served up 2 beautiful quiches, and it got me to thinking- considering how much I love quiche, why do I never make it??

And then I remembered that The Boyfriend must eat as soon as he arises, or the world will feel his wrath.  I do not exaggerate. He knows it, I know it, and anyone else that knows him.. knows it.  Consequently, there is never time to prepare a quiche. Really, who has an hour and a half to prepare breakfast?

Well I took matters into my own hands last week.  I made pie crust, and froze half so I can whip up another quiche at any given moment.  The remaining crust I used for Caprese Quiche, and had it for lunch, and breakfast for the next two days (The Boyfriend had some for breakfast too- by the miracle of the microwave).

The caprese flavors- tomato, basil, and mozzarella- work beautifully in a quiche.  Because the flavors are more delicate, I made a lighter, fluffier quiche to not overpower the simple ingredients.  The taste though, is anything BUT simple.

Make sure you use the freshest ingredients for this quiche.  Do not commit the Ultimate Sin of buying a bag of pre-shredded mozzarella! Just don't do it!  Those bags say low moisture for a reason- they will make for a dryer, less elastic quiche (think about having a pizza- some pizza when you pick up a slice the mozzarella cheese stretches for miles before you can get it to tear- that's REAL, more elastic cheese... some pizza you can pick it right up, no long strings of cheese- that cheese is a little dryer, and what you will get with pre-shredded cheese).

So for best results, buy fresh mozzarella near the deli, NOT mozzarella from the refrigerated section. You'll thank me later.

Caprese Quiche

For the Quiche:
3 eggs (room temp)
2 egg whites (separated while cold, egg whites at room temp)
1 tomato, sliced into 6 slices, placed on a paper towel to absorb excess moisture
1 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
3 basil leaves (for garnish)
1/2 cup fresh mozzarella, grated
1/2 cup mozzarella, cut into thin, round slices. Reserve 3 of the most perfect round slices.
1 cup milk
salt and white pepper to taste (I added about 1/4 tsp salt and a 1/4 tsp white pepper)
1/4 cup flour
extra virgin olive oil

A 9 inch pie crust (Purchase one, or for best results, make the crust below)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sprinkle tomato slices with a little flour on each side. 
3. In a saute pan, drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil in pan over med-high heat.
4. Add the floured tomato slices, and cook until just turning golden, about 2 minutes each side.
5. Transfer to dry paper towels to drain (same way you drain bacon on paper towels. 
6. Use a whisk (or fork) to beat the 3 whole eggs together.  Add the milk, chopped basil leaves, salt and white pepper.  Add the egg whites and SHREDDED mozzarella cheese.  Whisk to combine.
7. Add 3 tomatoes to the pie crust so they are not overlapping. Add the SLICED  mozzarella on top of the tomato (making sure you reserve 3 of your prettiest slices)
8. Slowly pour the egg mixture over the tomato and mozzarella.  
9. Place the remaining 3 tomatoes gently on top of the egg mixture. Top each tomato with a basil leaf, and top the basil leaf with the 3 reserved slices of mozzarella.
10. Bake in preheated oven 45-55 minutes, or until cheese is melted and quiche is golden on top.

For the Crust:
Recipe from The Joy of Pastry by David Munn

Makes two 9-inch pie crusts

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
10 tbsp cold butter
1 large egg
2 tbsp ice water

1. If you have a food processor, add the flour, sugar, and salt to the processor.  Cut the butter into small cubes, and add them to the processor gradually, pulsing to combine.  Continue pulsing until butter is distributed and you have a very crumbly dough.
2. If you do not have a food processor, mix together the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Cut the butter into small cubes, and cut it into the dough.  When cutting into the dough, I use a sharp knife, and literally keep cutting the dough on the sides of the bowl.  The butter gets broken up into smaller pieces, making a crumbly dough. 
3. Remove dough from food processor if using, and add to a large bowl. Now the dough is in a large bowl for everybody.  
4. Using your hands, grab handfuls of dough and squeeze together slightly (don't squeeze super hard!).  You must do this fast, because you don't want the warmth from your hands to melt the butter. Continue squeezing until butter chunks are about the size of raisins.
5. In a separate bowl, mix together the water and egg, and add to the flour mixture.  Knead it through the flour mixture until the liquid is dispersed, but do NOT over-knead it. It will still be a very crumbly dough.  You'll be tempted to add more water.. don't.  A crumbly dough means a flaky pie crust.
6. Form the dough into a ball.  You;ll have to squeeze it a bit to get the crumbs to form a ball.
7. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.

When rolling out the dough:

1. Remove dough from fridge. On a lightly floured surface, begin to gently roll out the dough.  Make sure you also flour your rolling pin, and dust some flour on top of the dough as well.
2. If dough begins to crack, use your hands to lightly press it back together.  
3. Keep checking to make sure the dough is not sticking to the surface.  If it is, peel it up with a spatula, and add more flour to the countertop. 
4. Roll the dough out to about a 9 inch round circle.  
5. Carefully lift it with a large spatula and place it in the 9 inch glass pie pan.
6. Press down the sides so the crust is even with the baking dish. Place the whole dish in the fridge to let the dough relax for about 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
7. Remove crust from fridge and bake for 12 minutes.  Prebaking the crust without the quiche filling will keep the crust from getting soggy.
8. Let cool for about a half hour before filling it with the quiche ingredients.

A few other fave summertime recipes:

Strawberry Salad with Halloumi and Cucumber

Gougeres (French Cheese Puffs)

Double Orange Goat Cheese Cupcakes!

A little tart, a little tang...

I've been nuts for cupcakes lately.  Looking through my pantry, I didn't see many good cupcake ingredients.

I did see oranges in the fridge that will never get eaten.
I saw goat cheese leftover from failed appetizers this past weekend.
And of course my favorite ingredient that must go in everything I create lately (including the failed goat cheese appetizer- Jasmine Blossom Honey!

Hmmm.

It all worked out!

These little mini cupcakes are delish!

The frosting is not too sweet, it's light and fluffy. 

The goat cheese center complements the orange honey cupcake- this is not an overly sweet cupcake. Good for breakfast?  Why the heck not?!

Double Orange Goat Cheese Cupcakes

Recipe modified from Half Baked- the Cake Blog

You will need:

Cake:
1/2 cup butter, room temp
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp orange zest
1 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice

Goat Cheese Topping:
6 ounces goat cheese, room temp
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg

Frosting recipe follows.

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line 2, 24 muffin pans with cupcake liners
2. In a medium bowl, mix together all dry ingredients- flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a small bowl mix together the wet ingredients- buttermilk, honey, orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla.  Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until combined.
5. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Gradually alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
7. Using a tablespoon fill the cupcake liners a little over halfway full, not quite 2/3 full.
8. Now make the goat cheese topping.
9. In a mixing bowl, mix the goat cheese and sugar until well combined.  Mix in the egg.
10. Using a teaspoon (or the same tablespoon, but I found a teaspoon easier to use) top the already filled muffin liners with a dollop of the goat cheese topping. Use the tsp to press the dollop down into the batter a bit, but not so much that it reaches the bottom.
11. Bake both sheets 8-10 minutes, switching the position of the two baking sheets halfway through.
12. Let cupcakes cool in pan for 5 minutes, and then remove them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
13. Once completely cooled, frost with the frosting.

Frosting:

8 ounces goat cheese, room temp

1/4 cup butter, room temp

3 cups powdered sugar

1 cup whipping cream

2 tsp orange extract (or if you don't have, substitute 1 tbsp orange zext and 2 tsp orange juice)

1. Cream goat cheese and butter in large mixing bowl.
2. Slowly add powdered sugar, mixing to combine.
3. Add whipping cream and orange extract.  Whip on high speed for several minutes until frosting is light and fluffy.

I must admit my measurements on the frosting are approximate- I added and tasted, until I got the consistency and taste I was looking for.  

Yes, there is a large amount of whipping cream in this frosting, (who doesn't love whipped cream?!)  I was looking for a really light, airy frosting, as a typical buttercream frosting sounded too heavy for these little bites of bliss. 

Enjoy!

A couple other favorite recipes:

Red Chili Honey Butter Shrimp

Mango-Chorizo Stuffed Pork Chops