Recipe of the Day (#ROTD)

Growing up my Mother usually made dessert and as my children were growing up I usually made dessert every night too. What I adopted from my Mother was the portion sizes for those desserts. Small bowls or plates and small cuts of cakes or brownies. I used a small ice cream scoop and made my ice cream Sundays in small champagne glasses. No one felt deprived but we also were not over indulging on sweets.

These little nibbles of joy fit that bill perfectly. They are very easy to make all year given you make the glaze from frozen strawberries. Plus, the cake itself is from a box cake mix (yes a box cake mix). I found this recipe years ago in Giada de Laurentiis cookbook Giada’s Kitchen

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=giadaskitchencookbook&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Preheat oven to 350°

Line 48 mini muffin tins with paper liners

• 8 ounces of mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 box white cake mix
• 1/3 cup frozen strawberries, thawed and drained
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 cup of water

In a large bowl, combine the mascarpone cheese, egg whites and vegetable oil. Using a hand mixer, beat the mixture together. Add the cake mix and the water beat for about 3 minutes until smooth. Fill each muffin liner to just below the rim and bake for 18-20 minutes. Remove cupcakes from the oven and let cool. (Note: if making these regular-size muffins increase the bake time by 5 minutes).

Meanwhile, purée the strawberries in a small blender transfer the mixture to a small bowl and whisk in the confectioners sugar/dip the tops of the cooled muffins in the glaze and let them sit for a few minutes to set. I sprinkled red sprinkles on top as well but you can leave that off.

Happy Eating!!