Dining with Disney: Lilo & Stitch: Chocolate Cupcakes with Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting.

Lilo & Stitch is such a wonderful story of family and friendships. Beings from 2 completely different worlds, literally, find common ground and form a long lasting friendship. It's celebrates differences and confidence in oneself. It also shows the importance of family, the bond that's shared with siblings and that no matter what,  you love and take care of one another. Ohana means family, nobody gets left behind!


Dining with Disney Menu is as follows:

Appetizer- Deep Fried Spam Musubi

Entree- Chicken Katsu Dinner Plate

Dessert - Chocolate Cupcakes with Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting.

Now let me example my thought process. Now some of it is quite obvious. The film is based in Hawaii so Spam Musubi & Chicken Katsu make sense. You can make your own Musubi (regular or fried) & Katsu or use my recipes. I serve the Katsu with steamed rice & macaroni salad. Please feel free to go to your local Hawaiian joint and get these goodies.You may not be able to find deep fried musubi but you'll find regular spam musubi which is just as yummy!

Now let's look at the dessert. Chocolate Cupcakes with Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting. You're probably thinking what does chocolate cupcakes have to do with Hawaii or the movie. Well, in the movie, Lilo orders a slice of chocolate cake which Stitch proceeds to devour then spits out because he realized that he just eaten her cake. At the end of the movie to make up for his mistake Stitch bakes Lilo a Chocolate cake. So in honor of those moments I'm sharing this cupcake recipe. Oh, the pineapple is there because it's Hawaii the land of pineapples! I hope you enjoy your time Dining with Disney with your Ohana!

Aloha!

Preheat oven 350 F. Place 3 oz of bittersweet chocolate

1 stick of butter cut up

1/2 cup cocoa powder ( I prefer dark cocoa) in a microwave safe bowl

Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring after each time until chocolate, butter & cocoa are completely combined. Allow to cool.

To a small bowl combine 3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

In a medium bowl add 2 eggs, 3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

Combine well.

Add cooled chocolate mixture into the wet mixture.

Add flour little by little until all is combined.

Add 1/2 cup sour cream and combine. The batter will be thick.

Line Trays

Using a small scoop or melon baller (That's what I used) pour batter into liners. Bake 18-20 for regular cupcakes or 15-18 minutes for mini cupcakes. Test doneness with a toothpick.

8 oz of cream cheese & 1 stick of butter at room temperature.

Cream together and add 1 tsp of vanilla

Add powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time to your desired sweetness.

Add 1/4 cup crushed pineapple and combine.

Remove from oven and let them cool for a 5 minutes in the pan.Then remove from pan and cool on a wired rack.

When cool frost the cupcakes.

Top them with a chunk of pineapple

Don't they look pretty!

If you want to take one more step add a piece of Millionaire bacon. The sweet & salty totally work!

Live adventurously, add the Millionaire bacon!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting - yields 12-14 reg cupcakes or 35-40 mini cupcakes


Ingredients:

3/4 cup Flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 stick of butter
3 oz bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup cocoa powder (dark)
1/2 cup sour cream


Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting:

Basic Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 cup crushed pineapple
2-3 slices of pineapple rings, cut into small chunks 
1-2 slice of Millionaire Bacon, cut into pieces (optional)

Note: If using Millionaire Bacon, make that first. It will keep while you make the cupcakes.

Roadmap:

1. Preheat oven 350F.

2. Add chocolate, cocoa powder & butter in to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second increments until chocolate melts. Stirring after each 30 seconds until incorporated and completely smooth. Be careful not to over cook chocolate. Allow chocolate mixture to cool.

3. In a small bowl mix together flour, baking soda and baking powder. In a medium bowl mix together eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt. Incorporate cooled chocolate mixture into wet mixture.

4. Add flour mixture little by little into the wet mixture. Add sour cream and stir until well combined.

5. Place liners in pan. Divide batter into cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes for regular cupcakes. (for mini cupcakes 15-18 minutes) Insert toothpick, if clean allow cupcakes to cool in pan for 5-7 minutes. Take cupcakes out of pans and completely cool.

6. While cupcakes are cooking make frosting. Basic Cream Cheese Frosting- Add 8oz cream cheese (room temperature) and 1 stick of butter (room temperature) into a medium bowl. With a hand mixer, cream together until blended. Add vanilla and blend. Add and blend powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time until desired sweetness. Add 1/4 cup of crushed pineapple and mix in with a spatula. 

7. Frost cupcakes and topped with pineapple chunk (mini cupcakes) or chunks (regular cupcake). If you want to go extra crazy add a piece of millionaire bacon with pineapple chunks. It sounds crazy but it works!! Try it!  Enjoy!

Dining with Disney: The Princess & the Frog: New Orleans BBQ Shrimp

As I've mention in a past post, I love themes. Be it a holiday, a sports event or a movie, I love coming up with dishes that pair with the theme. My favorite pairing is Dinner & a Movie. I'm a big movie buff and a big foodie so this dynamic duo is always a blast to do! On top of being a big foodie and movie buff; I'm a big Disney fan. Lucky for me so is my husband, otherwise I'd drive him mad. Over the years we've collected the many Disney animated films. Unfortunately my hubby hasn't had the time to watch a few of them. So I took the opportunity to line up those films and make dinner menus for each one. I was so excited!! I couldn't wait to start! But why just do those films, why not all our Disney favorites!? So, this post will beginning a periodically series of posts I loving call Dining with Disney.  Tonight's film is "The Princess and the Frog".  New Orleans theme here we come!!!

The thing I love best about this Disney film is that food plays a major role in Tiana's life, the princess in the story. Her dream is to open a restaurant. A restuarant that her daddy dreamed about opening himself but just wasn't able too. It just a sweet back story.

Now New Orleans cuisine has a reputation about being spicy. My husband doesn't do spicy so I had to figure out a dish that wouldn't burn his taste buds. Enter New Orleans BBQ Shrimp. As I was reading up on New Orleans BBQ Shrimp, I came to learn that it has nothing to do with barbeque sauce or the the grill. Not your typical BBQ. It's main flavors come from Worcestershire sauce, lemon, creole seasoning and lots of butter. There was even one recipe calling for 3 sticks of butter for 1 lb of jumbo shrimp!!!  I'm not using that much butter, just because it's just too much to think about, but I bet it tastes crazy good! I melded together two of New Orleans' top chefs' recipes, Chef John Besh & Chef Emeril Lagasse. I took their recipes and made it one. For the most part the ingredients and the technique were similar, but each added an ingredient that the other didn't, so I took and omitted a thing or two and let me tell you it made a wonderful dish!! The sauce alone is outstanding!! All the flavors meld together and don't fight for attention, very well balanced. 

I served up the shrimp with baked potato for hubby & mash potato for me. But shrimp wasn't alone on the menu, oh no! I made a southern style appetizer & dessert!

Here is my menu:

The Princess & the Frog Dinner Menu

Appetizer- Mini Pimento Cheese Grilled Sandwiches

Main Dish - BBQ Shrimp

Dessert - Beignets




It was a great night of cooking, eating and quality time. Can't wait for the next movie night!!!!!

Buen Provecho!! 

Peel and devein shrimp, reserved shells. Season with Creole seasoning.

Use your hands. Make sure every shrimp is covered.

Begin with sauce base, add oil, saute onions and garlic

Saute until shells turn pink.

Add Worcestershire sauce,

Remaining Creole seasoning,

cloves,

bay leaves,

lemon juice,

and the lemon. Why not?! Extra flavor! My added touch.

Bring to boil then simmer, reduce until half. Strain.

Press down to get all the sauce.

I got 1 cup. You can get up to 1 1/2 cups of sauce.

Shrimp time! Add shrimp, sauce base,

BUTTER,

and heavy cream. Bring sauce to a boil, simmer for about 5 minutes or until shrimp turn pink.

All done! Beautifully cooked. Be careful not to over cook.

My dish. Mash potato on bottom topped with shrimp & sauce. LOVE THIS!!!

Hubby's plate.

Simply good eats!

 New Orleans BBQ Shrimp - 4 appetizer or 2 entree servings

For the Sauce Base

1-2 tbsp olive oil
Shrimp shells from the 2lbs of shrimp
2 tbsp Creole seasoning
1/4 of a chopped onion
1-2 garlic cloves, grated, minced
1/2 cup Worcestershire
1/2 tsp whole cloves
2  bay leaves
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp black pepper
2 cups of water

For Shrimp

2 pounds of large shrimp, peeled and deveined (reserve shrimp shells for sauce base)
1 tbsp Creole seasoning
1 cup of sauce base
1 stick of butter
1 cup heavy cream

Roadmap:

1. Peel the shrimp, leaving only their tails attached. Reserve the shells and set aside. Sprinkle the shrimp with 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning and coat shrimp. Refrigerate the shrimp while you make the sauce base.

2. For the sauce base, heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over high heat, add chopped onions and garlic and saute for about a minute. Add the reserved shrimp heads/shells and saute for about a minute, allowing the shells to turn pink. 

3.  Add the Worcestershire, black pepper, Creole seasoning, cloves, bay leaves, and lemon juice,  along with 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Once the liquid is boiling, reduce heat to moderate and simmer until it has reduced by half. Strain and reserve. There should be about  1 - 1 1/2cups.

3. Put the shrimp and the sauce base, cream, and butter in a large skillet over high heat. Bring the sauce to a boil and cook for 5 minutes or until shrimp is pink.

4. Remove the shrimp from the skillet and arrange on a platter or in individual bowls. Reduce the sauce by half. Pour the sauce over the shrimp. Enjoy!!!