Category Archives: Dessert

Rhubarb – the Jewel of Spring!

Posted on by tinycookba
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The first time I tried rhubarb was about 2 years ago and ever since then I have been obsessed with it.  It has such a unique tart flavor that I can’t even describe – you just need to try some!

I’m also obsessed with vanilla beans,  so rhubarb and vanilla beans together makes me a very happy person.  Instead of a crisp or other baked good, I decided to experiment with a compote – and it came out great!

Rhubarb Compote

1 pound rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (remember the leaves are poisonous)

1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out (or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, added at the end)

1/4 – 1/3 cup sugar (more if you like it sweeter)

pinch of salt

Mix everything together in a square glass baking dish and bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes, stirring once, midway through.  OR, put everything in a skillet and cook for about 20 minutes until everything is cooked through.

My kids loved this over their ice cream and I loved it over my Greek yogurt for breakfast. It would be great as the J on a PB & J, delicious on toast or scones, or just eaten with a spoon, which is how I ended up eating most of it:)

Vanilla Bean Coconut Cupcakes

Posted on by tinycookba
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I had such high hopes for this recipe, as I love vanilla beans and coconut  – and I was intrigued by the idea of reducing the coconut milk and adding it to the batter and the frosting!  I got the recipe here, from Epiciurious.com.

It was a bit labor intensive, with reducing the coconut milk and toasting the coconut as additional steps to making batter and frosting.  (Once again, I should remind you that I do not have a sweet tooth so my perspective might be a little different than yours.)    I expected to bite into a moist coconut dominantly flavored cupcake – there was coconut flavor, but not as much as I expected, and it wasn’t as dense and moist as I had hoped for (keep in mind that I undercook my cupcakes by at least 2 minutes because I hate dry cupcakes).  And I felt like the frosting was WAY too sweet.  Everyone else seemed to like them, but as for me, I prefer Martha Stewart’s Yellow Butter Cupcakes (made with vanilla bean).  Give those a try – and make sure not to overcook them:)

A little tip on vanilla beans, you can get them super cheap at Costco around the holidays – I always stock up for the year, otherwise they are so expensive.  I also use them in sugar cookies and caramels – which I’ll blog about a little later.