My Favorite Recipes from 2013
For the past couple of years, I’ve been doing a favorite recipes post at the end of the year. It’s a great place to go to when I want to make something that I already know I’ll love. So here goes.
January – Homemade Cheez-Its. Enough said. This one is self-explanatory. I made cheez-its many many times in 2013. Sometimes we tried different flavor combinations, sometimes we just made them with cheddar and salt and pepper. No matter what ingredients were used, they were always a hit.
February – Ham, Spinach, Goat Cheese, and Bell Pepper Quiche. This quiche might have become a signature recipe for me in 2013. I served it to multiple overnight guests, I made a bunch cooked in muffin pans when my sister had her baby, and Hubby and I enjoyed this on numerous weekend mornings. It is packed with all sorts of ingredients so you don’t even notice that there’s no crust.
March – Funfetti Chocolate Chip Cookies I took my favorite chocolate chip cookies, and made them festive for any occasion by adding sprinkles, white chocolate, and almond extract.
April – Mexican Shrimp Cobb Salad Hubby loves a good Cobb Salad. This one is a Mexican spin on the classic. The recipe makes a HUGE amount of salad, so we’ve served this as a meal when we have friends over for dinner.
May – Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Bars This was a tough month to choose just one favorite. So many of the recipes I posted in May were made over and over throughout the year. There’s no surprise that when you combine cheesecake with snickerdoodles, you’re going to have a winning recipe. If you haven’t tried this recipe yet, add it to your to-do list for 2014.
June – Chocolate Goat Cheese Mousse Tart Chocolate and goat cheese just go so well together. I impressed multiple friends and family members with this tart. I made it with strawberries the first time, then also with raspberries and blackberries. I have to admit, I think my favorite was the blackberry variation.
July – Peach Champagne Sorbet with Thyme I made a LOT of ice cream in July. Well, actually, I made a lot of ice cream all year. But especially during the summer months. I really liked how complex the flavors in this sorbet turned out. It was very light and refreshing on a hot summer day. Man do I miss those hot days now…
August – Caramelized Cherry Cheesecake Ice Cream More ice cream, I know. This was the one recipe I looked forward to trying most out of Jeni’s cookbook and it did not disappoint. Hubby still claims it’s his favorite of the many many flavors of ice cream I made in 2013. I’d say it’s in my top 3. Possibly top 2.
September – Spicy Tomato Jam and Brownie Sundae Ice Cream I had to choose two recipes for September. That brownie sundae ice cream was my favorite ice cream recipe for the year. Probably because a great brownie sundae is my all time favorite dessert. Ever. And that spicy tomato jam? We ate it on EVERYTHING. And then when we ran out, I made more. That cycle has been repeating ever since I first made it.
October – Strawberry Margarita Pie This is another one that shouldn’t need much of an explanation. It’s a strawberry margarita for dessert. With a pretzel crust. I was heavy handed with the tequila since we were enjoying it with adult friends. I want to make this pie again, but in a lime variation (my margarita of choice).
November – Sausage, Kale, and Butternut Squash Stuffing I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ll never try another stuffing recipe in my life. This is it. Period. Done. My grandkids someday will call this grammy’s stuffing. I made a 1/2 batch of it vegetarian this year too and the vegetarian at Thanksgiving really enjoyed it too.
December – Peppermint Patty Fudge The York Peppermint Patty is one of my weaknesses. I used to have a girl who worked for me who kept them in her candy dish. I had to control myself around that candy dish. It was not good. After I made the first batch of this fudge, I turned around and made a second batch. Then I promptly wrapped the fudge up to give to friends so I wouldn’t eat it all.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Instant kill for salmonella is 160 degrees so please be safe and heat your egg whites to that temp. It only takes a couple more minutes to be safe. I am shocked that epicurious printed this recipe at only 140.
Almost all swiss meringue buttercream call for it to be heated to 140. Unlike the yolks, the whites have a Ph level that is too high to sustain salmonella. I am certified for food safety/handling.
Dear Terry-
Educate yourself before giving advice. Eggs whites beaten with sugar are denatured by the sugar, making them perfectly safe to eat. There is no need to heat them except where the recipe calls for it. Stop being an online fear monger.
Source: Any high school chemistry class
Hi,
I’m very curious about SMBC and would like to try it. Do you think it will work with a hand mixer? Kindly advise. Thank you. 🙂
beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 1:04 pm
I have never used a hand mixer to make it, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Let me know how it turns out if you do try it.
Jen – have you ever tried a cream cheese Swiss meringue frosting? Other recipes seem similar to this, although the best looking ones I saw in a quick search were in metric units (grams), which seemed confusing. They seem to follow a similar procedure, but adding chunks of cream cheese after the butter is fully incorporated. Considering giving this recipe a whirl (so to speak!) by substituting Hal the butter w/ cream cheese, but was curious whether you thought that nigh work. Thanks.
beantownbaker — June 16th, 2013 @ 1:01 pm
I have never heard of cream cheese SMBC. But I love both frostings, so a combination of the two sounds devine. I think your approach could work. Definitely let me know how it turns out!
I tried your Swiss meringue buttercream today. It was amazing! I had no problem with it at all, except that I didn’t have a candy thermometer. (Oops!) However, I did use a meat thermometer, to get an estimate. I heated the egg-sugar mixture until it was hot to the touch, and there was no sugar crystals when I rubbed my two fingers together. It turned out fine. I beat the egg whites until it was ribbon-like. So yummy! I’m about to frost some vanilla cupcakes with it.
beantownbaker — June 25th, 2013 @ 5:38 pm
So glad you didn’t have any problems with this recipe!
I want to frost the cake well before the party. Should I store the frosted cake in the fridge? Will it hold up overnight? Thanks in advance for your insight!
beantownbaker — August 22nd, 2013 @ 2:38 pm
I would store it in the fridge overnight, then let it come to room temperature for about an hour before serving. This frosting gets a little too firm in the fridge for me, so I always let it come to room temp before eating.
I tried your SMBC with a hand mixer.. and it turned out great. However I only put half of the butter as to what the recipe calls due to lack of butter at home.. It still tasted buttery though and still yummy. anyways thanks for this. Will make this for sure next time!
beantownbaker — November 24th, 2013 @ 5:54 pm
Glad to hear this worked out for you.
I just found this post and gave it a try. I wondered, do you use this only as a frosting to cup cakes or would you also use it as a substitute for ganache and does it set up under fondant. TIA
beantownbaker — February 23rd, 2014 @ 8:45 pm
I haven’t used it under fondant. If you do try it, let me know how it goes.
Hi:
Wondering if it work if I don’t use the paddle, (which I don’t have one) my mixer only comes with wire whip? Do you have any idea or suggestion on how can I give a grey/silver colour to the buttercream?
Thanks.
beantownbaker — April 27th, 2014 @ 2:52 pm
I don’t see why it wouldn’t work… For the coloring, I’d get some gel food coloring for the frosting. Hope it goes well for you!
Tried this recipe for the first time a few days ago, I was so sick of gloppy oversweet and gritty “American” style buttercream and needed a change. This recipe was very easy to follow, I also did not have a candy thermometer, but the first time I made it just using the sight and touch method, worked flawlessly, the second time I made it, just yesterday I used an IR non-contact thermometer and it worked out just as well. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this recipe, it tastes delicious and is extremely user friendly. I have received so many compliments on it. Thank you so much for sharing!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:02 pm
So glad you enjoyed this recipe. I agree, American buttercream can just be too sweet. I love making this Swiss meringue buttercream.
Hi! I started using SMBC recently so have made it only 5 times. The first two times it worked like a charm. The other 3 times it was a flop. I live at 5500′ feet so in order to get the egg whites and sugar to 170 degrees F, I cooked it for about 15 mins until the egg whites were sticking to the side of the bowl. Could this be the reason the egg whites didn’t double?
Would really appreciate some help in ‘conquering’ this problem!!
Thanks!
This really looks lovely!
Can i color or add tint to this? Which should I use, oil based food color, gel, or will any food color do? I’d love to try this! Thank ahead 😀
can you double this if you were doing a bigger cake or more cupcakes??