Week Three: Mashed Potato Bombs, Avocado Truffles, and Blackberry Cupcakes

So, in week three it obviously was necessary that I made some kind of potato recipe! This early into the game there were already complaints about lack of vegetables, so I decided to make something with avocados. The recipe that I found, however, was a lot more complicated time-wise and with ingredients than I could handle, so I only followed about half of the instructions.

I would recommend doubling the ingredients for the bombs, because after making them, I definitely wanted more and there were no leftovers for my family of five. That being said, the construction is complicated, so it would be more time consuming to do this.

Loaded Mashed Potato Bombs

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 lbs. potatoes (I used a yellow skinned potato)
• 3 tablespoons buttermilk (or milk– I used milk the first time in making these)
• 1/8 cup sour cream

OR

• Left over mashed potatoes (or packaged mashed potatoes)

Other

• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 tablespoon sliced chives (or green onions)
• 3 pieces of bacon cooked crisp and chopped or 2 tablespoons bacon bits
• 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 10 3/4″ cubes of cheddar cheese
• 1 roll of biscuit dough (10 biscuits)
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mashed Potatoes

1. Wash potatoes and poke with a fork a few times. Bake potatoes in oven 1 hour or microwave until soft. Allow to cool slighty. Slice each potato in 1/2 length wise. Scoop out the pulp and mash potatoes, buttermilk, sour cream, butter, garlic powder, salt and pepper until smooth. Stir in chives, bacon and shredded cheddar cheese. Let cool completely.

Assembled bombs!

Assembly

1. Wrap 1 1/2 tablespoons of mashed potatoes around each cube of cheese. Roll each biscuit with a rolling pin until big enough to enclose the potato ball. I will say that this step can be a little difficult and my second time making the bombs, I doubled up on biscuits so I could make them bigger.  Be sure to seal each biscuit completely to hold the cheese in.
2. Place seam side down on a pan. Bake 15-20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Finished product… delicious! (Ignore the random salad thrown in there).

Avocado Truffles

Cut an avocado in half, take out the pit. Scoop out some of the flesh, leaving a good amount intact, so that it holds its shape when you take off the skin. Mash the scooped avocado flesh, adding some squeezed lime juice. Then put the mashed mass back into the two avocado halves – distribute evenly.  There are endless possibilities for the filling. We love the classic combination of mango and avocado, so I made a simple salad of chopped mango, cilantro, black sesame seeds, and lime juice. (I put the recipe up in the words of the original people. I don’t know much about these things). Put the filling into the two halves. Assemble them back together and carefully peel off the skin. 

I did not use the following instructions when creating this meal, because I couldn’t find some of these ingredients and I had none of these in my home before making. It also seemed a little unnecessary to me, but I’m including them just in case. Have a ball.

For the coat, I used dried mango, black sesame seeds, pistachio, and freeze dried corn, peas, and red bell pepper. Grind these ingredients together with a mortar and pestle. Bathe the avocado in the ground coating, carefully turning to pick up the crumbles.

Less artistic attempt, yet still very vibrant!

Blackberry Cupcake with Blackberry Buttercream Frosting

I warn you, these are amazing!

Ingredients

• 3 6 oz packs blackberries
• 1/3 cup milk, at room temperature
• 6 large egg whites, room temperature
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 1/4 cup cake flour, sifted
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 12 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
• For the frosting:
• 2 sticks butter unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• 5 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1 Tbsp meringue powder
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup blackberry puree (do not try to buy this ingredient, as I did… it makes itself during the recipe)

Pre-frosting cupcakes!

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two muffin pans with liners.
2. Puree blackberries in a food processor or blender. Scrape into a fine mesh sieve set over a bowl. With a rubber spatula, work the blackberries through the sieve, leaving seeds behind. Remove 1/4 cup of puree for the frosting. Your mileage may vary but you should have ~2/3 cup of blackberry puree leftover.
3. In small bowl, combine puree, milk, egg, lemon juice, and mix with fork until well blended. In bowl of stand mixer, add sifted flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix to combine. Continue beating at slow speed and add butter. Mix until combined and resembling moist crumbs.
4. Add liquids and beat at medium speed for about 1 minute or until full and evenly combined. Stop mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for 30 more seconds. Fill cupcake liners ~3/4 full.
5. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center cupcake in each pan comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool in pans and then transfer to a covered plate.
6. To make the frosting, cream butter and extracts until smooth.
7. Mix in confectioner’s sugar, meringue powder, and salt and beat 2-3 minutes on high. I did not have meringue powder, so I called my grandmother up and she told me something I might use to thicken the frosting. So, my frosting is less than frosting, but certainly delicious.
8. Add blackberry puree and beat for an additional minute. Adjust consistency, if desired, with additional confectioner’s sugar or water.

Notes

Yields: 24 cupcakes

Estimated time: 45 minutes

Yuuuum!