Merry Christmas - Pina Colada Cupcakes with Nas Dean!!!

Hey everyone!

I hope you're all geared up and looking forward to the festive season!

KISS author Kimberly Lang with Nas
at the US conference earlier this year

I so have a treat for you this week. A while back I asked gorgeous reviewer, editor and book publicist Nas Dean to share a recipe and a little about herself and in my uselessness hadn't got it up on the blog - so what better time than Christmas?! I LOVE the sound of these cupcakes - especially given pineapple is my all time fave fruit! (Ok, it's tied with raspberries). But these sound uh-mazing!

Here's the how-to:


Pina Colada Cupcakes


2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups canned crushed pineapple (drained slightly)

Directions-
1. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar until slightly thickened and a light cream color (about 2 minutes).
3. On low speed, mix in the oil and vanilla until blended.
4. Add in the pineapple and sour cream and mix until fully incorporated.
5. Add the flour mixture and blend until just combined and smooth.
6. Line a cupcake pan with 12 paper liners and fill about 2/3 full.
7. Bake cupcakes in a pre-heated 350*F oven for about 22 minutes.
8. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.
9. Frost with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below)
Recipe yields 24-28 cupcakes.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
½ cup (1 stick/8 Tablespoons) butter (cool)
8 oz. cream cheese (directly from fridge)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (always use pure vanilla extract if possible)
1 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract (you may want to start with just 1 teaspoon of coconut extract, you can always add more, but you can’t take it out!)
4 cups powdered confectioners sugar
1 Tablespoon heavy cream, heavy whipping cream or milk
-or-
1 Tablespoon Dark Rum
Directions:
*Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend until smooth. Add cream cheese and blend until well combined, about 30 seconds.
*Add vanilla extract, coconut extract and powdered sugar (1 cup at a time) and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.
*Slowly add the heavy cream or rum.
*Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.
*Use at once or keep refrigerated. (This frosting will keep well in the refrigerator for several days, but you may need to re-beat it for the best texture.)
For added flavor and texture, top frosted cupcakes with toasted coconut.
(To toast coconut- lay about 1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut on a baking sheet and bake at 375*F about 4-5 minutes).
Decorate cupcakes with fresh pineapple, maraschino cherries or paper umbrellas.

Nas (on the right) with New Zealand author Louisa George

I adore Nas - she's a fabulous advocate for our books and really, really knows her stuff. She's generous and kind - so be sure to follow her on Twitter and find her group on Facebook - I promise it'll be fun!

An avid and passionate reader of romance, Nas Dean loves reading and when not reading can be found gardening, her second favorite! She blogs at Romance Book Paradise,  and Romance Book Haven Befriend her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter or 'Like' the ROMANCE BOOK PARADISE Facebook page!

And you can join her Romance Giveaway group on Facebook for information on all the giveaways!

Her reviews can also be found at
·  Amazon.co.uk
·  Amazon.com
·  Barnes & Noble
·  Goodreads
·  Harlequin
·  Library Thing
·  Mills & Boon UK
·  My Shelfari

"Ladies a Plate" - having a tea party with reviewer & reader Sara from Harlequin Junkie!

 One of the most fun things about going to romance writing/reading conferences is the social aspect. Sure the workshops and plenary session are interesting, but the dinners and drinks and room parties are the really good bits :)
I missed conference this year (boo!) so I've decided we should go ahead and have a party right here and now - a comfy catch-up over yum food and drink :) I love getting to know the readers who get in touch with me and the reviewers who love romance. Here in New Zealand we have an expression 'Ladies, a plate!' - which basically means when we're all going to get together for a picnic arvo tea somewhere pretty and sunny, bring a plate of finger food and we'll all share. 
I do like sharing :)
So, I thought it'd be fun to have an afternoon tea here on the blog - and get to know some of the peeps I chat to on the 'net a bit better. PLUS, many of you are in spots all around the world and so I figured you'd have really yummy different treats that you'd usually take - how's that for win/win ;) Nothing better than learning a recipe from somewhere else in the world, right? When I travelled round Europe in my early twenties I grabbed a cookbook for every country (if I could find one in English!) - I still love looking at them!

Anyway, first up is Sara from Harlequin Junkie! Thanks so much for coming and sharing a treat with us today Sara, it's so nice to have you here! :)

Natalie thanks for inviting me to Ladies a Plate to talk romance novels … I’ve brought along some delicious ‘Banana split cake’ and ‘chocolate Martini to wash it down with of course ;)

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Sara and I blog about romance novels on my blog HarlequinJunkie, I am a big fan of Natalie’s Harlequin’s so being invited here was a big deal to me *fan girl moment*, though I tried to play it cool when Natalie extended the invitation J

I read my very first romance novel ‘Love’s Tangled Web’ by Mary Lyons as a young teenager and it was the start of my lifelong love affair with category romances that has spanned over two decades and still going strong.

I will admit, I’m shamelessly addicted to reading category romances; they provide me escapism from my number crunching day job in Finance like nothing else can. To me there is no better way to unwind than sitting down with a good romance novel where the focus is solely on the hero, heroine, their relationship, and a guaranteed HEA with none of the other bells and whistles.

I’m a voracious reader; I read a book a day, sometimes two, which doesn’t leave me too much time for baking …

Blogger I am, domestic goddess I am not, but you wouldn’t know that from eating my delicious ‘Banana Split cake’. The magic words here are ‘No baking’ and ‘simple’. One of my girlfriends shared this recipe with me and I have used it time and again…today I’m more than happy to pass it along to all the other undomestic goddess out here J

Do give this recipe a try and let me know how it turns out, it is finger licking good if I may say so myself  :)  

Natalie it was a pleasure to hang out with you today!

 Sara

Follow Sara on Twitter (@HarlequinJunkie)

Banana Split Cake

CRUST: 

1/2 cup butter

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

Melt butter and mix with crumbs. Press firmly into 9 x 13 inch pan. Refrigerate 2 hrs

FILLING:

1/2 cup butter (room temperature)

2 eggs

2 cups icing sugar

Beat ingredients above until smooth. Spread over crust.

Slice 3 medium bananas on top and spread 1 large can crushed pineapple

Top with 1 large container of Cool Whip, cherries, chocolate sauce, nuts....

(photo courtesy – food network)

Chocolate Martini (1 serving)

2 oz vodka

1 oz creme de cacao  

OMG Sara - this all sounds DELICIOUS!!!!! Now, for translation purposes, I'm thinking 'Cool Whip' is whipped cream in a can??? I love pineapple - is my fave fruit tied with raspberry. YUMMO!!!

And do you know I've heard all this interwebby talk about chocolate martinis but I've never actually had one... I"m so going to have to rectify that situation PRONTO! Esp now I know what to put in it!

Thanks so much for being here today and sharing with us :)

And don't forget to read all about RIVA hottie-hero ETHAN in the post below and enter the comp to win him and two other gorgeous dudes ;) PLUS you can find out some more  on Ethan over at Ally Blake's blog today...

The House of Lurgy...

... is where I'm based in reality today... so cyberwise I've sloped off to LoveCats to talk about fever in romance - come on over!!!

p.s. bring some good soup recipes with you, will you?!?! :)