Cream Cheese – First Look, Then Cook

I am sitting here at the International Food Bloggers Conference – day 2. The first day pretty much blew me away, and if breakfast is any indication on what today will bring, I have a lot to look forward to. Let me give you some highlights of yesterday’s food blogger’s extravaganza (per my husband):

After registration we were greeted with a delicious lunch from Chipotle and the highlight of the meal – ice cream from Cupcake Royale. Now, I have to admit – their cupcakes are not my favorite – but their ice cream is a different story. Wow. I tried to mini cones – coconut and red velvet – I seriously couldn’t tell you which one I liked better, they were both incredible.

Dorie Greenspan was the key-note speaker, and I was blown away. What an accomplished and articulate woman, and she lives in Paris. She is my new idol.

Next was what I call “speed blogging” – where we tried a bunch of different products while people tweeted and blogged about what they thought. The highlight for me was this Manuka honey – oh my. Not something I ever would have bought, but after hearing about the health benefits of the New Zealand honey bees, I am completely sold.

I then chose to attend a talk by Michael Cain about WordPress. It was very informative, and they are sticking around today asking questions at the “WordPress Happiness Bar.”

The grand finale last night was the Gift Suite – where we put together swag bags with tons of different products. My husband and daughter had so much fun going through the bags last night – he opened at least a dozen different items, what fun! At the same time, the had tons of Seattle restaurants highlighting different dishes for us to try. Amazing.

So as you can see – I am pretty much in food paradise right now, and enjoying every minute. I leave you with this very unique recipe that I found in Cooking Light. The girls were not happy when they saw those blended green tomatoes go into the batter – but what came out of the oven was completely transformed. The cupcakes were incredibly moist, and had a really nice flavor – but seriously the highlight for me was the cream cheese frosting. Oh, and don’t they look adorable?

I better get back to the conference, but I have to say – this is hands down the best conference I have ever been to. Seriously, where else can you eat all day, and be encouraged to blog? Someone, please pinch me…

Ingredients

8 ounces green tomato, cored and quartered
7.6 ounces cake flour, sifted (2 cups)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
4 ounces fresh Black Mission figs, stemmed and chopped
3 ounces chopped pecans (2/3 cup)
Cooking spray
4 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash of salt
Sliced fresh figs (optional)

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Place tomato in a blender; blend until smooth.

Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Place sugar, oil, and eggs in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high-speed until blended. Stir in tomato puree and orange rind. Add flour mixture to egg mixture; beat at low-speed just until combined. Stir in chopped figs and pecans.

Place 18 muffin cup liners in muffin cups; coat liners with cooking spray. Spoon batter into cups. Bake at 350° for 17 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs clinging. Cool in pans 5 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

Place cream cheese in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high-speed until smooth. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and dash of salt; beat until smooth. Spread frosting over the top of each cupcake. Garnish with sliced figs, if desired.