cupcakepalooza

Still working on this "Day of Cupcakes" that I have deemed CUPCAKEPALOOZA. Today's creations are a breakfast cupcake and a snack. Now, I could have gone the easy route and produced a muffin for breakfast, but I thought that would be cheating. A muffin is a muffin. So I was thinking quiche. Parchment paper wrappers on cupcakes are pretty trendy right now, so I made a faux wrapper with filo dough. I am not the biggest fan of eggs, so I covered up the taste and texture as much as I could with tons of fresh chopped vegetables and pepper jack cheese. I used the top of the cauliflower florette to mimic frosting on top...besides it being a cute addition, the roasted cauliflower on top gave the whole thing depth.
The snack, is a simple cucumber sandwich cut to make a cupcake. For fun, I used two types of bread (dark rye and sourdough) and cut them to match the size of the cucumber. And of course, like the caprese below, a fun savory cream cheese frosting pulls the whole idea together. I thought these would be perfect for a wedding or baby shower.
QUICHE CUPCAKE

½ cup onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
½ cup red pepper, minced
1 cup cauliflower
½ cup asparagus, diced
1 cup pepper jack cheese
1/4 C flour
1/4 t baking powder
8 eggs
1/2-1 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 box of filo dough
6 Tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
On a cutting board, lay a piece of filo down and brush it with the melted butter. Lay another sheet over and repeat. Cut into squares and tuck into a muffin pan. Fill all twelve holes.
In a bowl, combine the onion, garlic, red pepper, cauliflower, asparagus, cheese, baking powder, flour, salt and pepper. In another bowl, beat the eggs and milk until frothy. Pour eggs into vegetable and cheese mixture and combine. With a ladle, spoon enough of the mixture to fill each filo filled hole. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and set.

CUCUMBER CUPCAKE SANDWICH
4 slices rye bread
4 slices white bread
1 Armenian cucumber, sliced thinly
2 tablespoons dill
1 teaspoon Dijon
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 package cream cheese
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

In a bowl, combine dill, Dijon, lemon zest, salt, pepper and cream cheese and blend with a handheld mixer. Lightly spread cheese mixture over each slice of bread. With a small 2 inch cookie cutter, cut the bread and cucumber into circles. Stack the bread and cucumbers alternately. Pipe the remaining cheese mixture on top with a star tip.