Cauliflower and Brussel Sprouts Pizza Crust

Hmmm...not sure where to start with this post because this was an interesting experiment. I loved the result but hated the process. I don't currently have the right kitchen gadget to make the process a lot less time consuming. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning...I love pizza. And I love cauliflower and brussel sprouts. I think  it was probably last year when I started hearing about this alternative way to make pizza crust out of ground up cauliflower and was immediately intrigued. Cauliflower is a much more versatile vegetable than I ever thought. Side note: A few weeks ago I made beer battered buffalo cauliflower bites, which turned out delicious...I'll have to post about that experience sometime soon.

Anyways, I only have a blender, not a food processor so that made the whole grinding up cauliflower and brussel sprouts a much longer process than it would have been with a food processor. Other than that, it's a very basic recipe...put it all in a bowl, knead it up, shape into pizza crust, bake and vous la!

***please note: I found that this recipe makes two smaller pizza crusts. I like very thin pizza crust so a little goes a long way for me. 

Cauliflower Brussel Sprouts Pizza Crust 

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 8-10 brussel sprouts
• 1 cup of flour, chef's choice
• 1 teaspoon of nutritional yeast
• pinch of salt
• pinch or red pepper flakes
• 3 eggs

Preparation

1. Separate cauliflower into florets, and blend until they are the consistency of quinoa
2. Line a bowl with cheese cloth or paper towels and put the ground cauliflower to squeeze out moisture. Do this several times till it seems mostly dry. 
3. Grind up brussel sprouts till well shredded before adding to cauliflower. 
4. Mix in flour, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper flakes. 
5. Add three eggs and knead them into mixture. 
6. Line a pizza pan or cookie sheet with parchment paper and form dough into pizza crust shape desired. 
7. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until brown on top and edges. 
8. After crust is crispy, add whatever toppings desired and then cook at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes. 

Recipe credit goes to What's Cooking Good Looking. 

Cabin Fever Maple Whiskey Cupcakes

About a month ago, my boyfriend and I decided to buy several different kinds of liqour to make mostly wintery drinks but also to make a refreshing gin and tonic on the days when we want to pretend it's summer time again. One of the liqours we picked out was Cabin Fever Maple Whiskey. It tastes like maple syrup and whiskey, just like it sounds. When we first tried it, we just had a little on the rocks and the second time we put it on pumpkin ice cream, the latter of which I would highly recommend. 

Recently, I've been wanting to experiment with using liqour as an ingredient in baking so after I tried the coconut, chocolate chip, banana, honey whiskey muffins my roommate made, I wanted to make something similar. Today, I used it to make maple whiskey cupcakes with maple buttercream frosting and a bourbon drizzle. I found a recipe for honey whiskey cupcakes and simply substituted maple whiskey for the honey whiskey. As a full time nanny, I spend a lot of time cooking while I'm with my 2 year old charge, Molly and today she helped me. Don't worry, I didn't let her anywhere near the whiskey :)

It was very easy making the batter and the ingredients were simple, nothing that a regular cook or baker wouldn't have in their kitchen cupboards. The only ingredient that would need to be bought is the maple whiskey.














Making the buttercream frosting was the hardest part for me because I wanted to use milk instead of 1.5 cups of butter which seemed like a lot to me. Looking back, the butter would have made the consistency of the frosting much less runny. I had to add a lot more confectioners sugar to the milk and ended up with almost double the amount of frosting that I needed for 12 cupcakes. Next time I make them, I would use more of the maple whiskey and possibly add some maple syrup to the mix.

The drizzle was very easy to make and added a very distinctive maple flavoring. Boiling it for a couple minutes tamed down the whiskey flavor leaving it more maple-y which was exactly what I wanted.

Cabin Fever Maple Whiskey Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream frosting and bourbon drizzle


For the Cupcakes:
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3 Tbsp Cabin Fever Maple Whiskey
• 3 Tbsp Milk
• Cupcake liners
For the Bourbon Drizzle:
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Cabin Fever Maple Whiskey
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
For the Buttercream Frosting:
• 1 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp Cabin Fever Maple Whiskey
• 1/4 cup heavy cream or substitute such as almond or soy milk (as much as needed to get correct consistency)

Preparation

To Make the Cupcakes:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix just to incorporate.
3. Whisk together flour, salt and baking powder. Add to the wet mixture and beat until just combined. Add the whiskey and milk until just combined.
4. Line 12 muffin cups with cupcake liners and divide batter evenly into cups; approximately 2/3 full for each cup.
5. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes; test with a toothpick; the top will be firm so make sure the inside is cooked through.
6. Cool completely on a wire cake cooling rack before frosting.
To Make the Bourbon Drizzle:
7. Add all ingredients together in a small pan, bring to a boil and boil for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool before drizzling on cupcakes.
To Make the Buttercream Frosting:
8. Cream butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar.
9. Add the vanilla and Cabin Fever Maple Whiskey and combine thoroughly. Add the cream a Tbsp at a time until your frosting is very light and fluffy and the correct consistency.
10. Using a large serrated icing tip, pipe the frosting onto cupcakes.
11. Garnish with the Bourbon Drizzle.