Almost as good as Mom’s –
Double Chocolate Layer Cake

April 30, 2013 by 6 Comments

Almost as good as Mom's - Double Chocolate Layer Cake by JavaCupcake.com

When I want to bake but I’m not quite sure what to make I usually tend to make something that I’m craving.  Today – chocolate cake.  I am IN LOVE with my chocolate cake recipe.   It’s decadent, rich – but light and moist.  All things I love in a great cake!

I am pairing my favorite chocolate cake with a creamy whipped dark chocolate buttercream.  It’s a very simple recipe, but it’s so stinkin’ delicious that I’m pretty certain I may consume half the cake myself!

Mostly though, I love this cake because of the memories it brings me.  Growing up, I would request a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting every year for my birthday.  My mom, without fail, would make it for me… from scratch and with love every time.   Our birthdays were only 2 days apart, so we always shared a birthday cake.  I don’t know if she loved this cake as much as I did, because she never asked for anything different… or maybe she was just being a good mom and letting me have what I wanted.  Either way… nothing could ever beat her chocolate cake.  Not even this recipe.

My mom passed away a few years ago… but, every time I make a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting I am reminded of her and how we shared this cake on our birthdays.

Enjoy!

Almost as good as Mom's - Double Chocolate Layer Cake by JavaCupcake.com

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Almost as good as Mom's - Double Chocolate Layer Cake

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours

Yield: 1 2-layer 9-inch cake

Ingredients

    Dark Chocolate Cake
    Chocolate Cake
  • 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
  • 1 1/2 cups brewed coffee
  • 1 Tbsp espresso powder
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla
  • 3/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
  • 2/3 cup sour cream
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
    • Whipped Chocolate Frosting
  • 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)
  • 5 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup + 3-4 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
  • chocolate shavings (garnish)

Instructions

    Dark Chocolate Cake
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Grease, line with parchment paper and flour 2 9-inch cake pans.
  2. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter. Add the coffee, espresso powder, cocoa powder, and vanilla and whisk until combined. Set aside to cool slightly.
  3. In a large bowl, sift together the sugar, flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream and the eggs. SLOWLY add a few tablespoons of the chocolate mixture to the sour cream and eggs. Whisk to combine. In a slow stream, whisk in the remaining chocolate mixture until combined completely.
  5. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in wet. Using a whisk, stir until no more lumps remain.
  6. Divide the batter evenly into the 2 prepared pans. Each pan should get 3 cups of batter.
  7. Bake 26-28 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing from the pans to cool on a wire rack.
  8. Once the cakes have cooled, but are still warm, use a cake leveler to cut off the round mound on the top of the cake. Make sure both layers are the same height.
    9. Whipped Chocolate Frosting
  9. In the bowl of your stand mixer, whip the butter until smooth.
  10. Add the dark chocolate cocoa powder and mix on medium-high until combined.
  11. Add the sugar and salt and mix until incorporated. The frosting will be very thick.
  12. Mix in the vanilla extract and 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream and mix until smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix again for 20 seconds.
  13. Add 3-4 Tbsp more of heavy cream until you have reached your desired consistency. Scrape the sides of the bowl and whip on high for 3-4 minutes.
    14. Assembly
  14. Place a piece of wax paper on your rotating cake prep stand and place the flattest side of one layer on it. Spread a thick layer of frosting on the top of this layer of cake.
  15. Place the second layer, flat side UP, on top of the frosting.
  16. Crumb coat the entire cake. (A crumb coat is a very thin layer of frosting that seals in the crumbs.) Place cake in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
  17. Spread a 1/2 inch layer of frosting on the top and side of the cake. Using an offset spatula, smooth out the sides.
  18. Spread an even layer of chocolate shavings on the top of the cake. Place cake back in freezer for 10-15 minutes.
  19. Gently slide the cake off the wax paper and place it onto your cake stand.
  20. Press remaining chocolate shavings onto the bottom edge of the cake closets to the cake stand.
  21. Serve with a giant glass of milk and a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!
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Filed Under: cake, cakes, chocolate, chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, dark chocolate, frosting and icing, layer cake, recipes

Basic Chocolate Buttercream

March 20, 2013 by 4 Comments

Basic Chocolate Buttercream by JavaCupcake.com

I needed my recipe for basic chocolate buttercream today and as I went to look for it on my blog, I realized I haven’t dedicated a post just to this frosting!  I didn’t feel like digging through all the recipes to find it, so I made it from memory and decided I needed to share it here with you!

This recipe is so super easy to  make, you’d think it took a long time when you taste it though!  The ingredients are basic, yet very specific. I use a dark chocolate cocoa powder, heavy cream and a pinch of salt.  These three ingredients (versus regular cocoa powder, milk and no salt) really take this buttercream to the next level.

I’ve used this recipe for cakes, cookies, cupcakes… anything really! It’s so yum!

Enjoy

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Basic Chocolate Buttercream

Yield: Enough to frost 12+ cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup Hershey's dark chocolate cocoa powder, sifted
  • 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

  1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, whip the butter on high until smooth.
  2. While that is whipping, sift together the cocoa powder and powdered sugar.
  3. Add the salt, sugar and cocoa to the butter and mix on low-medium until incorporated.
  4. Add the vanilla and half the heavy cream. Whip until smooth.
  5. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
  6. Add the remaining cream slowly until you reach your desired thickness. You may or may not use all the cream.
  7. Whip on high for 3-4 minutes. Frosting will lighten in color and become fluffy.
  8. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Bring back to room temperature again before using.
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Filed Under: buttercream, buttercream, chocolate, chocolate frosting, dark chocolate, frosting and icing, recipes

Irish Stout Cake with Bailey’s Ganache

March 15, 2013 by 6 Comments

Irish Stout Cake with Bailey's Ganache by JavaCupcake.com

It’s that time of year again… the time where I stock up on Guinness beer and Bailey’s Irish cream and Jameson whiskey.   And why? you may be wondering… well, it’s St. Patrick’s Day!  The day American’s celebrate their Irish heritage by getting sloshed! HA! I don’t particularly drink too much… so I like to use my liquor in my baking and this year made a chocolate Guinness Irish stout cake filled with Bailey’s cream cheese frosting and covered in white chocolate Bailey’s ganache.

OOooooooooooooooooooooh yeah.

Irish Stout Cake with Bailey's Ganache by JavaCupcake.com

This chocolate cake is seriously one of my all time favorites.   I mean, I could make this cake over and over and over again (and trust me, I already have) and NEVER get tired of it.

At first, I just wanted to make a single layer of cake and cover it in a simple white chocolate Bailey’s ganache.  BUT… I didn’t have a large enough round pan (I wanted a 10in round pan, but I only had an 8in round).   Boo.  So, two 8in rounds it was.   Between the  two layers of cake is a Bailey’s Irish cream & white chocolate ganache that I let set up overnight in the fridge so that I could spread it.  On top is hot ganache poured over the cake and down the sides.  I love that you can see the chocolate layers of this cake too.  Yaahh… this cake is good.

I brought it over to my neighbor Chrissy’s house to share with her family.  I served a big ole slice to her husband with a Guinness… HUGE hit!

Enjoy!

Irish Stout Cake with Bailey's Ganache by JavaCupcake.com

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Irish Stout Cake with Bailey’s Ganache

Total Time: 24 hours

Yield: 1 2-layer 8-inch cake

Dark chocolate Guinness Stout cake filled with Bailey's cream cheese frosting topped with Bailey's ganache and white chocolate shavings - the perfect St. Patrick's Day dessert!

Ingredients

    Irish Stout Cake
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 12oz bottle of Guinness Stout beer
  • 3/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)
  • 1 Tbsp espresso powder
    • Bailey's Cream Cheese Frosting
  • 6oz cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp Bailey's Irish Cream
    • Bailey's Ganahe
  • 6oz high quality white chocolate (not white chocolate chips)
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
  • 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • White chocolate shavings (garnish)

Instructions

    Irish Stout Cake
  1. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Grease and flour 2 8in round cake pans. I also lined mine with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Whisk in the beer, cocoa powder and espresso powder until smooth. Bring to a simmmer and let bubble 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Set aside to cool 5-10 minutes.
  3. While it's cooling, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
  4. In another large bowl, whisk together the vanilla, eggs and buttermilk.
  5. Once the chocolate mixture has slightly cooled, add 1-2 Tbsp of it to the eggs and milk and whisk until smooth. This is going to temper the eggs so they don't scramble. Slowly pour the remaining chocolate in with the eggs and whisk until incorporated.
  6. Make a well in the flour and pour in the chocolate. Use a spatula to fold together until no more flour can be seen. It will still be clumpy at this point. With your whisk, quickly stir the batter 20 strokes. Do not over mix. The batter may still have a few lumps in it, but that's okay.
  7. Divide the batter evenly into the prepared pans. (I got about 2 3/4 cup of batter into each pan.)
  8. Bake at 375 F degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 F degrees and cook another 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  9. Cool cake in the pans for 10 minutes until removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
  10. Once cooled, trim the tops so that each cake is level and the same height.
  11. Wrap cake layers and freezer for several hours or over night.
    12. Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting
  12. Using your stand mixer, cream together the cream cheese, butter and shortening until smooth.
  13. Add the powdered sugar and beat on high for 2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is incorporated.
  14. Add the Bailey's and salt and mix for 1 more minute.
  15. Chill in the freezer for about 10 minutes or until firm and easily spreadable without being too soft.
    16. Bailey's Ganache
  16. Run the white chocolate though the food processor until it is in very small, fine pieces. If you don't have a food processor you can just chop the chocolate into very small, fine pieces. Place them in a medium glass bowl.
  17. In a medium pot, bring the heavy cream, Bailey's and butter to a simmer. DO NOT BOIL. Pour cream over the chocolate and let it stand for 1 minute.
  18. Stir chocolate and cream slowly and smoothly until all the chocolate has melted. Do not over-stir the chocolate... you don't want to create air bubbles.
  19. Place the bowl in a ice bath until it has come to room temperature. Cover and chill for 1 hour or until it has thickened.
    20. Assembly
  20. Place first layer of cold from the freezer cake on your cake stand, cut side up. Using all the cream cheese frosting, spread an even, flat layer across the top of the cake to the edges. Place the second layer of cake, cut side down on top of the frosting. Press down gently until the top is level. Put cake in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.
  21. Remove the cake from the freezer and spoon ganache on the top of the cake. Using an offset spatula, GENTLY AND SLOWLY spread the ganache to the sides of the cake. Add more ganache when needed to create an even layer. You'll want the ganache to slightly drip off the sides, but most of it to remain on top. Pop any air bubbles with a toothpick.
  22. Garnish the top of the cake with white chocolate shavings.
  23. Store cake in refrigerator until ready to serve. Remove 15-20 minutes before you want to cut the cake.
  24. Store in an air tight container up to 2 days.
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Filed Under: alcohol, alcohol frosting, cake, chocolate, chocolate cake, dark chocolate, frosting and icing, ganache, ganache, holiday, recipes, St. Patrick's Day, white chocolate frosting

Raspberry Dark Chocolate Cookies

February 20, 2013 by 9 Comments

Raspberry Dark Chocolate Cookies by JavaCupcake.com

We don’t get many specialty items at the PX here in Germany.  We’ve got the standard bags of candy and seasonal stuff, but when it comes to unique flavors and new items, we don’t tend to see it much.  SO, when I spotted a bag Raspberry Dark Chocolate M&Ms I snatched them up immediately to bake into cookies!  I mean, seriously… how could I not?

After opening the bag to sample one – I ended up sampling half the bag and was forced to go back to the store and buy another one.  I think everyone else in Grafenwoehr had the same idea I did, cause there was only one bag left!  ACK!  Luckily though, I have plenty to make these cookies.

Raspberry Dark Chocolate Cookies by JavaCupcake 2

The base for these cookies is a dark chocolate cookie… which, by itself is pretty darn delicious.  It’s fudgey, soft and almost like a brownie. But, you know me… I have to kick things up a notch!  So along with the Raspberry M&Ms, I added some espresso powder and extra dark chocolate chunks to the batter to intensify the chocolate flavor.  I think it worked.

If you come across these Raspberry Dark Chocolate M&Ms… snatch up a couple bags and make these cookies.  They won’t disappoint you!

PS… You’ll need a big glass of milk with these! YUM!

Enjoy!

Raspberry Dark Chocolate Cookies by JavaCupcake.com

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Raspberry Dark Chocolate Cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: 3 dozen cookies

Chewy, fudgey, brownie like cookies with chunks of dark chocolate and Raspberry Dark Chocolate M&Ms.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 3/4 cup flour
  • 1 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)
  • 1 tsp espresso powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 8oz bag Raspberry Dark Chocolate M&Ms (plus more for garnish - optional)
  • 1 cup dark chocolate chunks (plus more for garnish - optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
  3. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
  4. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, salt and baking soda.
  5. On low, incorporate the flour into the wet ingredients until it comes together. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix until no more flour is visible.
  6. Fold in the 8oz bag of M&Ms and the dark chocolate chunks.
  7. Drop golf ball size rounds of dough onto your prepared cookie sheet.
  8. Press 5-6 m&m's and chocolate chunks onto the top of each ball. This step is optional, but it makes for a really pretty cookie.
  9. Bake cookies for 9-10 minutes. Do not over bake. Let cool on pan for 1-2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
  10. Store in an air-tight container for up to 4 days.
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Filed Under: candy filled cookies, chocolate, chocolate cookies, cookies, dark chocolate, m&m cookies, M&Ms, raspberries, raspberry, recipes

Triple Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

January 17, 2013 by 8 Comments

Triple Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes by JavaCupcake

One of my very good friends, Margot, is having her baby shower tonight.  Her baby was born several months early and we didn’t get a chance to celebrate her baby girl before she arrived… so tonight, we celebrate Evalyn and Margot!  Margot loves my cupcakes… how do I know this?  Well, she was Emily’s teacher and the recipient of several “thank you” cupcakes thoughout the year and ALL the other teachers at the school were very jealous! tee hee hee

Margot & Evalyn

Now… you might be surprised that I didn’t make these cupcakes 100% from scratch.  I know… you’re used to seeing unique recipes for my creations that don’t include a box.  But this week I have been super duper busy that I didn’t want to take the chance of a recipe not working out and not having the time to redo the cupcakes.

So, I used Duncan Hines Triple Chocolate Cake Mix.  This isn’t your $0.99 box of cake mix.  This cake mix produces a rich, dark chocolate cake that has ribbons of fudge and chunks of chocolate in it.  Really… for a box… it’s AMAZING!  And even more… paired with my favorite peanut butter buttercream it’s OUT OF THIS WORLD!

Have you had my peanut butter buttercream before?  Uhm…. it’s light and fluffy with the perfect amount of peanut butter flavor.  Not too sweet, not to strong… just perfect! I could eat this by the SPOONFUL!

Oh – and it’s Girl Scout Cookie Season and I just HAD to top these cupcakes with a Tagalong cookie!

Love those liners?  I got them from Sweets & Treats Boutique! I LOVE THEM!

Enjoy!

Triple Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes by JavaCupcake.com

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Triple Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

51

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours

Yield: 2 dozen + 9 cupcakes

Ingredients

    Triple Chocolate Cupcakes
  • 2 boxes Duncan Hines Triple Chocolate Cake Mix
  • Oil
  • Eggs
  • Water
    • Peanut Butter Buttercream
  • 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (I used Jiff)
  • 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/3-1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • Chocolate jimmies
  • Tagalong Girl Scout Cookies - quartered

Instructions

    Triple Chocolate Cupcakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners.
  2. Prepare the fudge filling and the batter as directed on the box.
  3. Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners.
  4. Dollop a scan tablespoon of fudge filling on top of the batter. Use a toothpick to swirl fudge into the batter. You want to make sure that the batter is covering the fudge filling.
  5. Bake 18-20 minutes, rotating the pan after 12 minutes.
  6. Cool in pan for at least 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
    7. Peanut Butter Buttercream
  7. Cream together the peanut butter and butter.
  8. Add the powdered sugar and mix on high until incorporated.
  9. Add 1/3 cup of heavy cream and mix until smooth. Add more cream until you reach your desired consistency.
  10. Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat on high for 4-5 minutes. The frosting will lighten in color and become smooth and fluffy.
  11. Using a Wilton 1M tip, pipe frosting onto each cupcake.
  12. Top with chocolate jimmies and a Tagalong cookie piece.
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Triple Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes by JavaCupcake.com

Filed Under: buttercream, cake, cake from a box, chocolate, chocolate cake, dark chocolate, frosting and icing, peanut butter, peanut butter frosting, recipes

Chocolate Mint “Frango” Cupcakes

January 3, 2013 by 5 Comments

Mint Chocolate Frango Cupcakes by JavaCupcake

During the holiday season, my parents would take me and my brother and sister to Frederick and Nelson to get our picture taken with Santa.  While we were there, Mom and Dad would pick up a couple boxes of Frango chocolates, the mint ones.  If we were good with Santa,  we’d get to have a few of these super yummy chocolates on the drive home.  Of course, we were always good and always got to get a chocolate treat!

Now, Frederick and Nelson has long closed and when I’m in Seattle, I take my kids to Nordstrom to see Santa.  BUT… the chocolates can be found at Macy’s! My dad surprised me with two boxes of chocolates in a care package yesterday! I was so excited to see them!

Mint Chocolate Frango Cupcakes by JavaCupcake

These chocolates are bite size… perfect for popping one in your mouth when you want a hit of smooth, creamy mint chocolate goodness.  Seriously, they are one of my favorites.  I wondered though, could I melt down these chocolates and put them in a cupcake?

So this morning, I did just that!  I took one of my most favorite recipes for chocolate cake and adapted it to include the Frango Mint Chocolates! YUM!  Since I’ve done a chocolate mint cupcake before that was topped with a green mint buttercream, I wanted to do something different with these and top them with a chocolate frosting that had more of the Frangos melted and added to the butter and sugar.  Soooooo good.

I’m sure if you can’t find any of these chocolates, you could just a good bar of your favorite mint chocolate.  I’m pretty certain Lindt has a 4oz bar that would be perfect!

See those pretty green liners I’m using? I was given those by Shannon Harvey, owner of Sweets & Treats Boutique to test out! Sweets & Treats makes greaseproof liners that are supposed to stand up to the discoloration that often happens when baking cupcakes, especially chocolate and other dark colored cake. Shannon sent me 4 sleeves of liners in all kinds of patterns and colors.  For these cupcakes, I chose the solid green liners to bring out the mint aspect of the cupcake.  Since I was baking chocolate cupcakes, I wasn’t too sure how much color these liners would hold… but, I was happily surprised!  They held their color really well and stuck to the cupcake nicely!  Especially with this dark cake, I was happy that I could still see a lot of green in these liners!  I would definitely use them again!  Thanks Shannon for sending them to me!

Enjoy!

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Chocolate Mint “Frango” Cupcakes

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

Yield: 12-15 cupcakes

Rich chocolate mint cupcake made with Mint Chocolate Frangos!

Ingredients

    Chocolate Mint "Frango" Cupcakes
  • 4oz Frango Mint Chocolates (about 14 pieces), roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup brewed coffee
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp mint extract
  • 1/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
    • Chocolate Mint Buttercream
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 1/3 heaping cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
  • 1 lb powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp mint extract
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 12-15 Frango Mint Chocolates
  • chocolate jimmies
  • green sugar crystals

Instructions

    Chocolate Mint "Frango" Cupcakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners.
  2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, sour cream, and the vanilla & mint extracts.
  4. Using a double boiler, melt together the Frango chopped chocolates and butter.
  5. Once the chocolate is smooth, whisk in the cocoa powder and brewed coffee completely incorporated.
  6. Slowly, add a few tablespoons of the hot chocolate mixture to the sour cream/egg and whisk until combined. This is going to temper the egg so it doesn't cook. Add the remaining chocolate and whisk until smooth.
  7. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the chocolate. Mix with the whisk until just combined. Do not over mix.
  8. Pour into cupcake liners 3/4 full.
  9. Bake for 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  10. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
    11. Chocolate Mint Buttercream
  11. Cream together the salt and shortening.
  12. Add the cocoa powder and powdered sugar and mix until incorporated.
  13. Add the extracts and mix to combine. The mixture will be clumpy at this point.
  14. Add enough cream until you reach the consistency of frosting you desire.
  15. Beat on high for 4-5 minutes or until the frosting lightens in color and becomes light and fluffy.
  16. Using a star tip, frost each cupcake. Top with chocolate jimmies, green sugar crystals and a Chocolate Mint Frango.
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Filed Under: candy cupcakes, chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, chocolate frosting, cupcake recipes, cupcake reviews, dark chocolate, frosting and icing, mint cupcakes, mint frosting, recipes

Frosted Peppermint Dark Chocolate Cake Donuts

December 3, 2012 by 10 Comments

Living here in Germany, I don’t get the opportunity to eat very many cake donuts.  Last week, the commissary bakery was selling a glazed chocolate cake donut that was pretty yummy.  And now… I can’t get them off my mind.

So my cake donut obsession and my current peppermint obsession came together today to make my first peppermint recipe of the season!  Baked glazed peppermint dark chocolate cake donuts! NOM!

The recipe is a simple one.  Two bowls, one whisk and just a little bit of mixing are necessary to make a thick, fudge brownie type batter that will get piped into a donut pan and baked to puffy, cakey perfection.

Instead of a typical glaze, I wanted a thicker frosting.  So, I made my vanilla buttercream and made it a little smoother than I would if I were frosting a cupcake by adding more heavy cream.   After frosting each donut, I topped them with crushed peppermint candy canes! YUMMM!

Enjoy!

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Frosted Peppermint Dark Chocolate Cake Donuts

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 13 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: 10 full size donuts and 12 mini donuts

Ingredients

    Donuts
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 tsp peppermint extract
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
    • Frosting
  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp peppermint extract
  • 3-4 Tbsp heavy cream
  • Crushed peppermint candy canes or peppermint sprinkles for garnish

Instructions

    Donuts
  1. Preheat oven to 325 F degrees. Spray donut pans with cooking spray.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients... flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa. Make sure there are no sugar clumps remaining.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and extracts.
  4. Make a well in the flour mixture. Slowly pour in the wet ingredients and begin to whisk. Whisk until smooth, about 15 strokes.
  5. Spoon batter into a piping bag (you can use a ziploc bag too). Squeeze batter into donut pan filling about 2/3 full.
  6. Bake full size donuts for 12-14 minutes. Bake mini donuts for 9-11 minutes. The donuts will be done when you gently press down on them and they spring back.
  7. Cool in pans for about 3-5 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
    8. Frosting
  8. Beat together the sugar and butter until smooth. Mix in the vanilla extract.
  9. Add the heavy cream slowly until you get your desired consistency. I like my frosting smooth, creamy and spreadable
  10. Spread frosting onto each donut. Sprinkle crushed candy canes or sprinkles on top.
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Filed Under: bread and pretzels, chocolate, dark chocolate, doughnuts, doughnuts, peppermint, peppermint and mint, recipes

Crown Royal Cupcakes

October 17, 2012 by 12 Comments

I am in love with my chocolate cake recipe.  It is so versatile.  I mean seriously.   I’ve made this chocolate cake so may different ways now… It’s gone mocha/coffee, dark chocolate, Guinness, cream, and now Crown Royal Reserve.  I love the fact that just replacing this one ingredient, substituting just this one aspect of the cake can change the flavor so drastically.  It’s amazing!

The cupcakes I made today are full of Crown Royal Reserve flavor.  The aroma of the batter was extremely intense and tasted so incredibly delicious.  The whiskey flavor was strong, but not over powering.   It was perfection.

Inside these cupcakes is a spiced chocolate cream I had left over from the pumpkin spice cupcakes I made last week.  I just whipped it up until it was smooth, added a tablespoon of Crown Royal to it and it was silky, smooth and perfect to fill these cupcakes with.

Topping these cupcakes is a cream cheese frosting with nothing but Crown Royal Reserve as the flavoring garnished with a dollop of the same chocolate cream as in the middle of the cake.

My neighbor got to sample one of the “rejects” as I call them and she said it was delish!  (I usually don’t even eat a whole cupcake when I make them for clients.  lol  I’ve made these types of cupcakes so many times that I know what it all tastes like already! I’d be 325lbs again if I ate a cupcake everytime I made them haha)

Enjoy!

Print
Crown Royal Reserve Cupcakes

Yield: 2 dozen cupcakes

Crown Royal infused dark chocolate cake filled with spiced dark chocolate cream topped with Crown Royal frosting. Perfect for the CR lover in your life!

Ingredients

    Crown Royal Cupcakes
  • 3/4 cup Crown Royal
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2/3 cup sour cream
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup milk
    • Dark Chocolate Cream for the filling
  • Recipe can be found here!
  • NOTE: You'll only need about half of what the recipe makes, so save the rest for later or only make half
  • 1 Tbsp heavy cream
    • Crown Royal Frosting
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
  • 2 lbs powdered sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp Crown Royal (more if you want a thinner frosting)

Instructions

    Crown Royal Cupcakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake pans with liners.
  2. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat.
  3. Once melted, add the Crown Royal and cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Bring just to a boil then remove from the heat to cool slightly.
  4. While cooling, whisk together the eggs, sour cream and milk in a medium bowl.
  5. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
  6. Slowly pour 2-3 Tbsp of the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and whisk until smooth. Pour the rest in and whisk until combined.
  7. Make a well in the flour and pour in the wet mix. Whisk until smooth.
  8. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  9. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
    10. Dark Chocolate Cream
  10. Using about half of the frosting from the this recipe, add 1 Tbsp of heavy cream.
  11. Using the whisk attachment on your stand mixer, whip frosting until light and fluffy.
  12. Core each cupcake and fill with the chocolate cream.
    13. Crown Royal Frosting
  13. In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese.
  14. Add the powdered sugar and beat on high until smooth. If it becomes too thick to mix, add the Crown Royal to loosen up.
  15. Mix in the salt and beat on high for 3-4 minutes.
  16. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes and top with a dollop of the dark chocolate cream to garnish.
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Filed Under: alcohol, alcohol cupcakes, alcohol frosting, chocolate cupcakes, cream cheese, cream cheese frosting, cupcake recipes, dark chocolate, filled cupcakes, frosting and icing, recipes

Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes and an Owl Tutorial

October 5, 2012 by 4 Comments

The winds are blowing, the leaves are rustling around the streets and the rain is falling from the grey skies.  Fall is upon us here in Bavaria!

And what is better for Fall than another pumpkin recipe! This cupcake is a one bowl batter that tastes just like pumpkin pie! Because I wanted to decorate these with owls, I had to top them with a chocolate frosting.  Instead of my favorite chocolate fudge frosting that calls for melted butter and baking chocolate, I used a basic chocolate buttercream which used cocoa powder.  I needed something that I could easily pipe and spread and my chocolate fudge recipe can get a bit thick.  This buttercream worked perfectly!

I know these cute owls on top have been floating around the internet, but I just had to give them a try!  Especially since I kind of have this fascination with owls.  (Our son Matthew, now 7 months old, well his baby theme is owls!) Below the recipe, you’ll find a full tutorial on how I made them!

Enjoy!

Print
Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

51

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 17 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

Yield: 12-16 cupcakes

Cupcakes that taste like pumpkin pie topped with a spicy chocolate buttercream! Nothing better!

Ingredients

    Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ginger
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
    • Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Frosting
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup Hershey's Dark Chocolate cocoa
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1lb powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

    Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees and line cupcake pan with liners.
  2. In a medium bowl, melt the butter in your microwave.
  3. Whisk in the sugars, eggs, vanilla and pumpkin puree.
  4. Sift the dry ingredients onto the pumpkin mixture and whisk until just combined. It will still be lumpy at this point.
  5. Add the milk and whisk until smooth.
  6. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. NOTE: Don't be afraid to fill these liners full! These cupcakes do better with more batter in the cups and puff up nicely!
  7. Bake 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  8. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
    9. Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Frosting
  9. Cream together the butter, cocoa, cinnamon and vanilla.
  10. One cup at a time, add the sugar and beat on high until smooth.
  11. With the mixer on low, slowly add the heavy cream until you reach your desired consistency. NOTE: If you're just going to basically frost your cupcakes, you'll want the frosting stiff enough to pipe onto your cupcakes. If you're making the owls, make it a little looser so that you can easily decorate your owls.
  12. Mix on high for 4-5 minutes or until fluffy.
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Owl Cupcake Tutorial

Supplies:

  • 1 package OREO cookies
  • 1 box Junior Mints candy
  • 1 box Reese’s Pieces candy
  • Frosting (recipe above)
  • Spatula or knife

Directions:

  1. Prepare the OREO cookies by separating one cookie layer from the cream center, leaving the center in tact.
  2. Pipe a drop of frosting onto each cream center and place a Junior Mint candy on top.  This will create the eyes for the owl.
  3. Separate out the orange Reese’s Pieces candies and set aside.
  4. Using the spatula or knife, frost cupcake creating a flat surface.  At the top of the cupcake, make two little points with the frosting for the owl ears.
  5. Place two eyes on the cupcake, making sure to leave room for the beak and not to cover the ears.
  6. Place an orange candy under and between the eyes for the beak.

 

Filed Under: buttercream, chocolate, chocolate frosting, cupcake recipes, dark chocolate, frosting and icing, halloween, holiday, pumpkin, pumpkin cupcakes, recipes, seasonal, spiced

The Best Chocolate Cake You’ll Ever Eat

September 27, 2012 by 19 Comments

Or… at least the best chocolate cake I’ll ever eat!!!

I crave my chocolate cake.  I mean, I think about it every day.   Dream about it.  Drool about it.  Everyone who ever needs a cake recipe, I tell them to use this one.  It’s by far the BEST chocolate cake I’ve ever made.  The best part of it… it’s so incredibly simple to make.  It takes just a few minutes to put together and you don’t even need a mixer.  Two bowls, sauce pan and a whisk.

I’ve made this recipe so many times that I have it memorized.  Which is saying a lot for me because I don’t have ANY other recipes of mine memorized.  I always have to bring the tablet to the kitchen and look up the recipe on my blog.

Because this cake is just for me… I’m not decorating it fancy or doing anything special with it.  I am just baking it in a 9×13 pan and frosting it with my favorite chocolate fudge frosting (recipe from my Mamma) and garnishing with simple sprinkles.  I’m pretty sure my daughter and I will finish off a big slice tonight with a giant glass of milk and the rest will be gone by the weekend.  Hmmm, maybe I’ll even invite my neighbors over for a slice.  Maybe not.

This cake… this is the cake that you make when you want chocolate.  When you just need a fix of that rich decadence that is chocolate but you don’t want a candy bar or cookies and you definitely don’t want to spend 100 hours in the kitchen making something.  This is the chocolate cake you make when you know you want to eat it straight from the pan with a fork.

This is…

The Best Chocolate Cake You’ll Ever Eat!

Print
The Best Chocolate Cake You’ll Ever Eat

51

Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Yield: 1 9x13 cake

In my world, a quarter of the cake! hehe

The moist delicious chocolate cake you'll ever eat!

Ingredients

    Chocolate Cake
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup strong brewed coffee
  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbsp espresso powder
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
    • Chocolate Fudge Frosting
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 4 1oz squares baking chocolate
  • 1 lb sifted powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ½ cup whipping cream

Instructions

    Chocolate Cake
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Grease and flour 9x13 pan. I also lined mine with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter. Add the coffee, espresso powder, cocoa powder, and vanilla and whisk until combined. Set aside to cool slightly.
  3. In a large bowl, sift together the sugar, flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream and the eggs. SLOWLY add a few tablespoons of the chocolate mixture to the sour cream and eggs. Whisk to combine. In a slow stream, whisk in the remaining chocolate mixture until combined completely.
  5. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in wet. Using a whisk, stir until no more lumps remain.
  6. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.
  7. Bake 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan completely before frosting.
    8. Chocolate Fudge Frosting
  8. Once the cake has cooled completely, prepare the frosting.
  9. Sift sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment.
  10. In a double boiler, melt the butter and chocolate together. Stir in the vanilla.
  11. With the mixer on low, slowly pour the chocolate into the powdered sugar. The frosting will be very thick and hard to mix.
  12. Add the whipping cream and beat until smooth. You may not need all the whipping cream, so add it slowly.
  13. As the frosting cools it will thicken so spread over cooled cake immediately.
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Filed Under: cake, cakes, chocolate, chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, dark chocolate, frosting and icing, recipes

Chocolate Nutter Butter Cupcakes

September 21, 2012 by 7 Comments

I wasn’t going to write up a blog post for these cupcakes, but they came out really awesome looking, so here it is.  I had a request for my Tagalong Cucpakes, which was easy enough… but because Girl Scout cookies aren’t exactly in season right now, I wanted to top the cupcakes with another cookie, equally as delicious as a Tagalong.  I thought that Keebler made a cookie that was similar to the Tagalong, but of course the commissary here in Germany didn’t sell them.   So while paroozing the cookie isle at the store, I came across the Nutter Butters and thought they would be perfect!

I decided to jazz them up a bit (Wait, how old am I? Did I just say “jazz them up?” hahaha) by dipping them in chocolate and nuts.  I thought that made for a very dramatic effect on the top of these cupcakes!

I used the same recipe for the Nutter Butter cupcakes that I used for the Tagalong cupcakes… so you can find that recipe HERE.  I did make a few changes though…

  • I used 1 1/2 sticks of butter in the chocolate buttercream instead of just 1 stick.
  • I used Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate cocoa powder in the buttercream instead of regular chocolate and cut it back to about 1/2 a cup.
  • Not only did I fill all the cupcakes, but I piped a layer of peanut butter on top of every cupcake before frosting with the chocolate buttercream.
  • Topped each cupcake with a Nutter Butter cookie dipped in melted chocolate and chopped nuts.

Filed Under: buttercream, chocolate, chocolate frosting, cookie cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cupcake recipes, dark chocolate, filled cupcakes, frosting and icing, peanut butter, peanut butter frosting, recipes

Chocolate Cupcakes with Biscoff Milka Cream Cheese Frosting

September 5, 2012 by 20 Comments

Ok.  I’ll have to admit.  Before today I had never tasted a Biscoff cookie.  I’d seem them at the German restaurants and in the stores but had never tasted one.  To be honest, I didn’t even really know what flavor to even expect.  But today, once I actually tried one I realized what the obsession with Biscoff is.  Caramel.   Yup.  These cookies taste like caramel!!  NO WONDER!

I looked all over the internet for someone else who had made a Biscoff cupcake and I really wasn’t impressed with what I had found.  None incorporated the cookie into the batter, just the spread and none of them had the appearance I was looking to achieve.  So, I set out to make a recipe of my own.

Peanut butter is a lot like Biscoff spread in texture and consistency, so I researched peanut butter cake recipes.  I found this recipe for Peanut Butter Cake by Paula Deen that called for crushed graham crackers in the cake and thought that could be easily substituted for crushed Biscoff cookies and the peanut.  So I made it the batter, altered the sugar to include some brown sugar, substituted Biscoff for the peanut butter and crushed Biscoff cookies for the graham crackers.  The recipe FAILED miserably.  I think there was too much leavening (baking powder) in this recipe and the cupcakes all sank like the Titanic.

I seriously hate it when recipes fail.  I mean REALLY hate it.  It feels like such a waste of ingredients and like I should of known better or something.  Seems like lately I’ve just had too many epic fails with recipes.  (Most of those I don’t even mention on the blog or Facebook, btw.)

Well… I had about 2/3 cup of Biscoff spread left and decided to try again, but this time I’d make my chocolate cupcakes and top it with Biscoff buttercream.  I bought Milka chocolate cream cheese at the German store and thought that’d pair well with the Biscoff in the buttercream.  Damn.  This buttercream is so good…  definitely glad I decided to go with the chocolate cake though…. pairs perfectly with it!!

I created cute little tags and attached them to these cups with some ribbon and gave a cupcake to each of Emily’s 7th grade teachers at her Open House last night.  They were all very shocked and surprised and loved them!! I’m pretty sure that Emily’s teachers will be getting treats from me until she graduates from college!!

Print
Chocolate Cupcakes with Biscoff Milka Cream Cheese Frosting

Yield: At least 12 cupcakes

Decadent chocolate cake topped with a smooth frosting bursting with Biscoff flavor!

Ingredients

    Chocolate Cupcakes
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp espresso powder (optional)
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 3/4 cup hot water
    • Biscoff Milka Cream Cheese Frosting
  • 1 package Philadelphia Cream Cheese with Milka
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2/3 cup Biscoff spread
  • 1lb powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 Tbsp heavy cream
  • crushed Biscoff cookies (for garnish)

Instructions

    Chocolate Cupcakes
  1. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Line cupcake pan with 12 liners.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, egg and vanilla.
  4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the oil mixture. Whisk until you can't anymore.
  5. Add the hot water and whisk until smooth.
  6. Fill liners 2/3 full with batter. Bake about 16-18 minutes or until a toothpic comes out clean.
  7. Cool completely before frosting.
    8. Biscoff Milka Cream Cheese Frosting
  8. Cream together the cream cheese, butter and Biscoff spread. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
  9. Add the sugar, vanilla and heavy cream. Mix until combined and crape the sides of the bowl again.
  10. Beat on high for 4-5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
  11. Pipe a swirl of frosting onto each cupcake and rim the sides with crushed cookies.
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Filed Under: Biscoff, Biscoff buttercream, caramel cupcakes, chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cupcake recipes, dark chocolate, frosting and icing, recipes

Chocolate Raspberry Ombre Petal Cake

August 17, 2012 by 19 Comments

Since I’ve been on a cake kick lately, I’ve been daydreaming non stop about what flavor to make next.   I’ve been craving my favorite chocolate cake recipe and my fridge is fully stocked with raspberries so I knew I had to incorporate them into this cake.  Next week I’m baking a cake for a birthday and thought today’s cake would be the perfect opportunity to practice a new decorating technique before I have to make the birthday cake!

I really took my time putting this cake together.  I started it about 11am and finished it around dinner time.  The most time consuming part was the frosting, not making the frosting, but decorating with the frosting. The cake itself only requires 2 bowls and a small pot, no mixer required.

Ombre is a style of decorating where you use several shades of the same color to frost your cake, beginning with the darkest and continue with lighter and lighter shades of your color until it becomes white.  This cake being raspberry, I figured pink would be the best choice.  I used Wilton Gel color pink, separated my frosting into four parts, thentinted my frosting three shades of pink and left one white.

The Petal Technique uses a round tip on your piping bag and a small spatula to create the effect.  It’s a simple process, just very time consuming.

Since I’d never made a cake like this before, I did my homework and read several blogs about how to successfully create these looks on a cake.  My favorite was from The Hungry Housewife.  She posted a tutorial on her blog that demonstrated both the ombre and petal effect to decorate a cake.  So, I watched this video, prepped my frosting and got to work!

I’m not going to include my step by step on how I decorated the cake, I’m going to let you read what The Hungry Housewife wrote… why reinvent the wheel.  But, I will give you the recipe for the cake I made and the raspberry filling.

Let’s talk about the cake for a second…

Dark chocolate, rich, dense and moist.  This is my FAVORITE chocolate cake recipe OF ALL TIME.  Yah, it’s that good.  And like I said before, no mixer required to make this cake… which makes it even better.  I’ve used this recipe for cupcakes before, but I’d never transitioned it into a cake, but it preformed wonderfully in cake pans!

Raspberry filling… nothing better next to chocolate than this raspberry filling.  Can I tell you a secret?  Last night, after the cake was finished, I spooned this raspberry filling onto extra pieces of chocolate cake and shoveled it into my mouth.  Actually, I made raspberry sandwiches with it… two pieces of cake filled with raspberry.  Decadent.  Heavenly.

A few things I realized during this cake that will make your cake making process a lot easier…

  1. PLAN AHEAD!  Decide what colors you want to use, what cake flavors you want to use and go over all your recipes and tutorials before you begin.  Be thorough so there are no surprises.
  2. Make sure you have all your tools ready.  You really want to have enough bags with the same tip prepared and ready to go when you start piping.  It will make this process 100x easier.
  3. Go slow.  Take your time.  Don’t rush it.  I know I get excited making new things and sometimes rush… but really, take your time.  Breathe and enjoy the process!

I really hope you try this cake for your next special occasion.  Your friends will be super impressed.  I’m even impressed with myself.  :)

 

Print
Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Ingredients

    Chocolate Cake
  • 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
  • 1 1/2 cups brewed coffee
  • 1 Tbsp espresso powder
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla
  • 3/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
  • 2/3 cup sour cream
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
    • Raspberry Filling
  • 4 cups fresh raspberries
  • 3 Tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • juice of a lime
  • 2 Tbsp corn starch
  • pinch of salt
    • Vanilla Buttercream for filling
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1-2 Tbsp cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1lb powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • vanilla bean - split the bean and scrape seeds from one half of bean
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 2-3 Tbsp milk
    • Vanilla Buttercream for icing
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3 Tbsp cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 cup shortening
  • 2 1/2 lbs powdered sugar (about 10 cups)
  • 2 Tbsp vanilla
  • seeds of 1 1/2 vanilla beans
  • 1/4-1/2 cup milk
  • Wilton Food Coloring Gel - Pink

Instructions

    Dark Chocolate Cake
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Grease and flour 4 8in cake pans.
  2. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter. Add the coffee, espresso powder, cocoa powder, and vanilla and whisk until combined. Set aside to cool slightly.
  3. In a large bowl, sift together the sugar, flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream and the eggs. SLOWLY add a few tablespoons of the chocolate mixture to the sour cream and eggs. Whisk to combine. In a slow stream, whisk in the remaining chocolate mixture until combined completely.
  5. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in wet. Using a whisk, stir until no more lumps remain.
  6. Divide the batter evenly into the 4 prepared pans. Each pan should get about 1 1/2 heaping cups of batter.
  7. Bake 23-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing from the pans to cool on a wire rack.
  8. Once the cakes have cooled, but are still warm, using a cake leveler to cut off the round mound on the top of the cake. Make sure all four layers are the same size.
    9. Raspberry Filling
  9. In a large pan, melt the butter.
  10. Add the raspberries, sugar and lime and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Stir continuously so that the raspberries begin to break down.
  11. Add the corn starch and stir to combine. Continue to cook until the raspberries thicken, about 2 minutes.
  12. Stir in the salt.
  13. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely before filling cake.
    14. Buttercream (you'll use the same method to make both buttercreams)
  14. In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese (shortening too if you're making the bc for the outside of the cake).
  15. One cup at a time, add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
  16. Mix in the vanilla extract, vanilla bean seeds and salt.
  17. Add enough milk until you reach your desired consistency. Mix on high for about 5 minutes.
    18. To color the frosting:
  18. Divide frosting into four bowls. Set one aside that will remain white. Using a toothpick, dab a VERY SMALL amount of the pink dye into one bowl and mix until uniform in color. Use a little bit more color in the next bowl and even more color in the final bowl. The colors should get gradually darker.
    19. To assemble the cake:
  19. Place the first layer of cake on a cake board/cake stand. Using the first batch of buttercream, make a border of frosting on the top of the cake along the edge. This will create a space for the raspberry filling and keep it from oozing out the sides.
  20. Fill the top open space with 1/2 cup of raspberry filling, spreading evenly.
  21. Place the second layer of cake gently on top. Spread a 1/2 inch thick layer of buttercream evenly on top.
  22. Place the third layer of cake on top of the frosting and repeat the process used for the first raspberry layer.
  23. Finally, place the last cake layer on top. Using the remaining frosting to crumb coat the cake.
  24. Freeze cake for 20 minutes before frosting.
    25. Petal Cake Frosting Technique
  25. Visit The Hungry Housewife for a complete petal cake frosting tutorial.
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Filed Under: buttercream, cake, cakes, chocolate, chocolate cake, dark chocolate, decorating ideas, featured, fruit filled cake, ombre, ombre cake, petal cake, raspberries, raspberry, recipes

Peanut Butter & M&M Cookie Dough Filled Cupcakes

August 7, 2012 by 5 Comments

Today’s a big day in my little world.  My husband joined a squadron unit last week and tonight is the first FRG meeting for me with his new troop.   If none of that makes sense to you… don’t worry…. I’ll explain.

My husband is in the Army and got moved to a new unit.  Each unit has an FRG or Family Readiness Group which help to create a community among the spouses and families as well as provide important information about training, community events, and deployments.  I’ve always been the FRG Leader in the unit my husband has been in… so this will be a bit of an adjustment for me, not being in charge.  Tonight is the first meeting and I thought I’d make a good impression and bring cupcakes.

(Side note:  I was not in the mood to set up and take fancy photos of these cupcakes… just didn’t have time after I made them, honestly! Had to get to the meeting!  So… you get camera phone/Instagram pictures!)

I’ve made cupcakes similar to these before, so I had a pretty good idea how to make them.  They turned out pretty good… next time though I think I’ll use a cake recipe that’s a little denser… this cake is pretty light and the frosting and cookie dough ball are a bit heavy in comparison.  Cake doesn’t quite hold up to them.  BUT… it’s still darn delicious!

They’re chocolate cake with a peanut butter m&m cookie ball baked inside…. topped with peanut butter cookie dough frosting and more m&m’s.

VERY RICH!  You need a HUGE glass of milk with these cupcakes!

I’m bringing 2 dozen of these cupcakes to the FRG meeting with me tonight.  I hope the ladies enjoy them!!!

Wish me luck!

Print
Peanut Butter & M&M Cookie Dough Filled Cupcakes

51

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

Yield: 2 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients

    Cookie Dough Balls
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 1/2 tsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • pinch of salt
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup M&M candies
    • Chocolate Cupcakes
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar, NOT packed
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 3/4 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
  • 1 Tbsp espresso powder (optional)
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup milk
    • Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Frosting
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 lb powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2-3/4 cup heavy cream
  • M&M candies to garnish

Instructions

    Cookie Dough Balls
  1. Cream together the butter and sugars.
  2. Beat in the milk and vanilla until combined.
  3. Add the flour and mix until combined.
  4. Fold in the M&Ms.
  5. Roll into 1 inch balls and place on a piece of wax paper on a cookie sheet.
  6. Freeze at least an hour or until ready to use in cupcakes.
    7. Chocolate Cupcakes
  7. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners.
  8. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
  9. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the oil, sugars, eggs, vanilla and sour cream until smooth.
  10. Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk. Begin and end with the flour. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix only until combined.
  11. Fill cupcake liners HALF full and push a cookie dough ball into the batter to the bottom of each cup.
  12. Bake for 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  13. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
    14. Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Frosting
  14. Cream together the peanut butter and butter.
  15. Add the brown sugar and beat until smooth.
  16. Mix in the flour and vanilla until incorporated.
  17. Add the powdered sugar and mix until combined. NOTE: It will be VERY thick at this point and your mixer may not like you very much. hehe
  18. Add the cream until you reach your desired consistency. I used almost 200ml of cream (about 3/4 cup) and it was a thick, moist mixture, just like dough!
  19. Using a large round tip, pipe a dollop of frosting onto each cupcake. Garnish with three M&M candies.
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Filed Under: buttercream, candy cupcakes, chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cookie dough frosting, cupcake recipes, dark chocolate, featured, filled cupcakes, frosting and icing, M&Ms, peanut butter, peanut butter cupcakes, peanut butter frosting, recipes

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Cupcakes

July 20, 2012 by 5 Comments

Don’t let these cupcakes fool you.  Yes, that may look like a perfect peanut butter cookie on top of this cupcake… but, it’s not!  It’s frosting!  Can you believe it?  (A big shoutout to Annie’s Eats for inspiring me to make my own version of this cupcake after she posted hers!)

When I made my Dark Chocolate Raspberry Curd cupcakes, I saved about a dozen chocolate cupcakes aside so I could turn them into these beauties.  I spread a whipped dark chocolate ganache on top of each cupcake and then placed a peanut butter cookie on top.  The cookie is actually a scoop of peanut butter frosting formed into a ball, pressed down and embellished with the traditional fork stamping of a peanut butter cookie!  Genius, right?!

My husband doesn’t typically enjoy anything I make with peanut butter, but he ate the entire cookie frosting off this cupcake and left the rest. He said it tasted like peanut butter fudge, which he absolutely loves.

I tasted all the ingredients separately and really, this is one cupcake that all three parts really taste better…. together.  Don’t get me wrong, the cupcake is awesome, the dark chocolate ganache is yummy and the peanut butter cookie frosting is heaven… but all together in one bite….. OUT OF THIS WORLD!

Print
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Cupcakes

41

Total Time: 2 hours

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

    Dark Chocolate Cake
  • I used a dozen cupcakes from this recipe.
    • Dark Chocolate Ganache
  • 9oz 100% cacao dark chocolate (or the darkest you can find)
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream (you might need more.... the darker the chocolate, the more cream you'll need)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
    • Peanut Butter Cookie Frosting
  • 9 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1½ cups peanut butter
  • 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1-2 Tbsp heavy cream
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

    Dark Chocolate Cake
  1. Follow the directions to make the cake in the recipe here
    2. Dark Chocolate Ganache
  2. Chop chocolate into very small pieces and place in the bottom of a glass bowl.
  3. Heat the heavy cream until just boiling/bubbling.
  4. Pour hot cream over the chocolate and let it set for 3-4 minutes without touching or stirring it.
  5. Using a spatula, stir the chocolate and cream together until smooth.
  6. Stir in the butter and vanilla.
  7. If the ganache isn't as smooth as you'd like it... add more warmed cream to the mixture and continue to stir until you get your desired consistency. NOTE: The consistency you're looking for a a smooth, yet thick, spreadable consistency.
  8. Use a wire whisk to whip up the ganache until it's fluffed up a bit. YUM!
  9. Spread a 1/4 inch layer of ganache over each cooled cupcake.
    10. Peanut Butter Cookie Frosting
  10. Cream together the peanut butter and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.
  11. Add the powdered sugar and mix until incorporated. NOTE: The frosting will be very thick.
  12. Add a 1-2 Tbsp of heavy cream to loosen up the mixture and make it a little smoother. NOTE: You still want the frosting to be thick, so don't add too much cream.
  13. Mix in a pinch of salt to cut back on the sweetness of the sugar. You want the frosting to be full of peanut butter flavor!
  14. Roll a generous tablespoon of dough into a ball and press flat with your hands. Using a fork, press the traditional peanut butter cookie lines into the cookies.
  15. Place a frosting cookie on top of each ganache covered cupcake.
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Filed Under: chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cupcake recipes, dark chocolate, featured, frosting and icing, ganache, peanut butter, peanut butter frosting, recipes

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Curd Filled Cupcakes

July 15, 2012 by 30 Comments

Dark Chocolate + Raspberry = Heaven

100% Dark Chocolate from a little chocolate shop in Southern Germany + Fresh picked German raspberries turned into raspberry curd = Heaven x1000000!

These cupcakes are probably one of the most decadent, sophisticated cupcakes I’ve ever made.  The intense dark chocolate paired with the tart raspberry curd plus the sweet buttercream are a combination unlike anything I’ve ever had before.

I made the raspberry curd a few days before I made the cupcakes, so it made for really easy assembly.

And the vanilla buttercream is my most favorite recipe for vanilla buttercream EVER! I’ve made it before and it’s become my “go-to” recipe for vanilla.

The chunk of chocolate on top… yeah, that’s a German chocolate.  Raspberry Chocolate.  PERFECT for this cupcake.

Print
Dark Chocolate Raspberry Curd Filled Cupcakes

51

Yield: 2 dozen cupcakes

Decadent, rich, dense chocolate cake filled with fresh, tart raspberry curd topped with sweet vanilla buttercrea.

Ingredients

    Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
  • 1/2 cup strong brewed coffee
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup 100% Edel-Kakao extra brut chocolate cocoa powder (or the darkest cocoa powder you can find)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 2/3 cup sour cream
    • Vanilla Buttercream
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 4 Tbsp cream cheese, room temperature
  • 2 lbs powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1/4-1/2 cup heavy cream infused/steeped with vanilla beans
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1/8 tsp salt
    • Raspberry Curd
  • Recipe can be found HERE
    • Dark Chocolate
  • Cut dark chocolate into chunks to top each cupcake.

Instructions

    Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake pans with liners.
  2. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. Add the heavy cream, brewed coffee and vanilla extract. Heat until just barely simmering. Remove from heat and allow to cool as you prep the other ingredients.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  4. In another medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream and eggs.
  5. Slowly pour the slightly cooled chocolate mixture into the egg/sour cream mixture and whisk until smooth. NOTE: DO THIS SLOW! You don’t want to cook the eggs, so start pouring a very small amount of the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture… DO NOT DUMP IT IN ALL AT ONCE.
  6. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture. In three parts, add the chocolate mixture to the flour. Whisk until just combined and smooth after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is incorporated. Finally, whisk batter about 20 strokes.
  7. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter. Bake 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  8. Cool in pans for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
    9. Vanilla Buttercream
  9. Cream together the butter and cream cheese.
  10. While that is creaming, steep your heavy cream with 1 vanilla bean. To steep: Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds and add to the cream. Whisk. Bring the bean/cream to a simmer, remove from heat and cool slightly. Remove the pod.
  11. Add the sugar, one cup at a time, to the butter/cream cheese. Mix on high until smooth.
  12. Add the vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.
  13. Add 1/4-1/2 cup vanilla cream until you get the desired consistency you desire. Beat on high for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.
  14. Mix in the pinch of salt.
    15. Assembly
  15. Core the center of each cupcake using an apple corer.
  16. Spoon in raspberry curd into each opening.
  17. Pipe frosting using a Wilton 1M tip onto each cupcake.
  18. Top each cupcake with a chunk of dark chocolate.
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Filed Under: buttercream, chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, cupcake recipes, curd, dark chocolate, featured, filled cupcakes, frosting and icing, raspberries, raspberry, recipes, vanilla, vanilla frosting

Cosmic Brownies

March 3, 2012 by 2 Comments

Earlier this week I saw a recipe (by What Megan’s Making) for some cosmic brownies that looked like they needed to be made in my kitchen… like ASAP.  So, I bookmarked the recipe, Facebooked about needing brownies in my life… and then seriously, made it happen.

Usually when I bookmark a recipe, it stays there for a few days until I muster up the energy to make them.  But… not these brownies.  Two bowls, no mixer and only 18 minutes in the oven.  Seriously, it only took 45 minutes before I was putting one in my mouth.

The original recipe called for mini M&M’s on top… but I didn’t have any.  So I used rainbow sprinkle jimmies.  I also tweaked the ganache recipe a bit too.

So uhm yeah… make these.

Print
Cosmic Brownies

51

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 12 brownies

Thick, chewy brownies topped with a dark chocolate ganache... perfect Friday night treat for the family!

Ingredients

    Brownies:
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 Tbsp water
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla

  • 1 1/2 tsp espresso powder
  • 1 1/3 cups flour
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
    • Ganache:
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 7 oz 84% cocoa dark chocolate
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp butter
  • pinch of salt
  • Rainbow Sprinkles/Jimmies to sprinkle over the top

Instructions

    Brownies:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Grease bottom of 13x9in metal pan with butter then line with parchment paper and butter top of paper and sides of the pan. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars, melted butter, eggs, water, and vanilla until smooth.
  3. In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking powder and salt.
  4. Add the flour to the wet mixture and whisk until combined, about 25 strokes. Do not over mix.
  5. Pour batter into greased pan and spread evenly with an spatula.
  6. Bake 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with crumbly brownie, no wet batter.
  7. Allow to cool on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes before frosting with ganache.
    8. Ganache:
  8. While the brownies are baking, prepare the ganache.
  9. Chop the chocolate into very fine pieces and place in a medium glass bowl.
  10. In a small sauce pan, heat the cream until simmering. Do not boil.
  11. Pour the cream over the chocolate and stir until smooth. NOTE: If chocolate seems too thick and does not smooth out, add a few more tablespoons of heavy cream and mix in until it becomes smooth.
  12. Stir in the salt.
  13. Add the butter and mix until smooth.
    14. To Assemble:
  14. Pour the ganache over the brownie while still in the pan. Use a spatula to spread.
  15. Top with Rainbow Jimmies.
  16. Put in the freezer for 20 minutes to allow the ganache to set up/harden or if you're more patient, just leave it out to cool completely and harden. (I'm not that patient!)
  17. Cut and EAT!
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Filed Under: bars, brownies, chocolate, dark chocolate, featured, ganache, M&Ms, recipes

ChocolateLove Bloghop: Red Velvet Cheesecake Chocolate Brownies

February 4, 2012 by 26 Comments

Does anyone notice a theme lately?  Pink! Red!  Love!  YES! It’s definitely that time of year where all I want to bake and create are love themed and colored goodies!

Today… it’s Red Velvet, Cream Cheese & Chocolate Brownies.  Now, you may have noticed that I don’t make many red velvet things… I’m not really a huge fan.  I don’t always have red food dye on hand and I’m not a huge fan of cream cheese.  Call it pregnancy hormones and cravings… but for the first time in my life, I’ve been wanting to use cream cheese in every dessert I make.

The recipe is pretty simple… there are a few steps, but it really didn’t take much time at all to put together!

I made these especially for the #ChocolateLove BlogHop that I’m apart of!  So make sure you visit the BlogHop Co-Hosts listed at the bottom of this post and add your favorite CHOCOLATE recipe to the list!

ENJOY!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies
Makes 12-16 brownies

Brownie Batter:
9 tbsp unsalted butter
7oz 70% dark chocolate

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp red food coloring gel/dye

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt

Cheesecake Batter:
12oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line 9×13 glass pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray (or grease/flour pan – I prefer parchment paper, makes the brownies easier to pull out at the end).
  2. In a double boiler, melt the butter and chocolate together.  Stir often.  Set aside to cool slightly when melted.
  3. While that’s melting, in a small bowl, whisk together the flour and salt and set aside.
  4. In an even smaller bowl, with a fork, stir together the cocoa powder and food coloring until it becomes a paste and set aside.
  5. While the chocolate/butter is cooling, in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the eggs, sugar and vanilla until smooth.
  6. SLOWLY pour in the slightly cooled chocolate.  Start with a little bit at a time, you don’t want to add it all too much, too hot and cook the eggs.
  7. Add the cocoa powder/food coloring.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat until your batter turns a dark red color.  If you want, you can add more red coloring at this time.  Make sure the food color is very well incorporated before you move on.
  8. Slowly add the flour and mix until smooth.  Don’t beat too much… just enough until all the clumps are out and the batter is smooth.
  9. Remove 1/2 cup of batter and set aside.
  10. In a clean bowl for the stand mixer, mix together the cream cheese, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla on high speed until whipped and smooth.

  11. Spread brownie batter in the bottom of the pan, making sure to get it into the edges and corners.

  12. Dollop the cream cheese mixture on top of the brownie mixture.  Using an offset spatula, gently spread to cover the brownie mixture.

  13. Drizzle remaining brownie mixture on top of the cream cheese.  Using your offset spatula, swirl the three layers together.  NOTE:  Don’t swirl too much!  You want a lot of the white cream cheese to show through!
  14. Bake for 20 minutes, rotate pan, and cover with foil.  Bake another 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with crumbs, not wet batter.
  15. Allow to cool completely in pan before removing to cut into squares.

Recipe adapted from An American Cupcake in London

ChocolateLove BlogHop CoHosted by:

A Little Bit of Everything ~ Roxana ~ @RoxanaGreenGirl * ASTIG Vegan ~ Richgail ~  @astigvegan * Badger Girl Learns to Cook ~ Kimberly ~ @BdgrGrl * Baker Street ~ Anuradha ~ @bakerstreet29 * Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves ~ Becky Higgins * Baking Extravaganza ~ Samantha * BigFatBaker ~ Erin ~ @BigFatBaker * Bon a croquer ~ Valerie ~ @Valouth * CafeTerraBlog ~ Terra ~ @CafeTerraBlog * Cake Duchess ~ Lora ~ @cakeduchess * Cakeballs, Cookies and More ~ Sue * Cooking with Books ~ Marnely ~ @nella22 * Creative Cooking Corner ~ Karriann ~ @KarriannGraf * Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies * Elephant Eats ~ Amy * Georgiecakes ~ Georgie ~ @georgiecakes * Hobby And More ~ Richa ~ @betit19 * Java Cupcake ~ Betsy ~ @JavaCupcake * Kitchen Belleicious ~ Jessica * Mike’s Baking ~ Mike ~ @mikesbaking * Mis Pensamientos ~ Junia ~ @juniakk * No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ TR ~ @TRCrumbley * Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose * Preheat the Oven ~ Jason ~ @officialchefjae * Rico sin Azucar ~ Helena ~ @ricosinazucar * Savoring Every Bite ~ Linda ~ @Spicegirlfla * Simply Reem ~ Reem ~ @simplyreem * Smart Food and Fit ~ Lisa ~ @LisaNutrition * Soni’s Food for Thought ~ Soni ~ @sonisfood * Sprint 2 the Table ~ Laura ~ @Sprint2theTable * Teaspoon of Spice ~ Deanna ~ @tspbasil  * That Skinny Chick Can Bake ~ Liz ~ @Thatskinnychick * The Dusty Baker ~ Jacqueline ~ @dustybakergal * The More Than Occasional Baker ~ Ros ~ @bakingaddict * The Spicy RD ~ EA ~ @thespicyrd * The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Susan ~ @wimpyvegetarian * Vegan Yack Attack! ~ Jackie ~ @veganyackattack * Vegetarian Mamma  ~ Cindy ~ @VegetarianMamma * You Made That? ~  Suzanne ~ @YouMadeThatblog

Filed Under: bars, blog hop, brownies, cheesecake, chocolate, cream cheese, dark chocolate, desserts, featured, recipes, red velvet

Tagalong Cupcakes

January 28, 2012 by 6 Comments

I had surgery on Thursday… and I was SUPER nervous.  It’s nothing too serious, just having 3 teeth pulled that should have been fixed a long time ago.  But now, I’m 33 weeks pregnant and in TONS of pain and just can’t wait any longer to have them taken care of.

So… to keep my mind occupied the day before (and hopefully off the throbbing in my mouth), I decided to bake cupcakes!  Last week, I made Thin Mint Cupcakes with Girl Scout cookies so today I’m trying out a recipe for Tagalong Cupcakes made with my favorite peanut butter and chocolate GS cookie!

I asked on my Facebook page how exactly I should make this Tagalong cupcake and I really enjoyed the suggestion of one reader to make a thick crumb cake.  I’ve never actually tried to purposely make a cake with a big crumb and I thought this might be the perfect time to try that.  I did an internet search for thick crumb cake recipes and found lots of recipes for a New York Style Crumb Cake and I thought hmmm…. with a little tweaking, this could be pretty darn good as a cupcake!

And of course, the cupcake has to be filled with peanut butter… just like the cookie!  For this filling, I used a variation of my favorite peanut butter buttercream recipe, but made it more creamy and smooth than thick like a frosting.

Oh the frosting.  When you see a Tagalong cupcake…. you first see the dark chocolate covering the cookie.  It’s shiny and sometimes, I just bite the edges of the cookie off and eat just the chocolate part first.  So I knew this cookie had to have that same shine and color.  Creamy chocolate was a MUST!

New York Style Vanilla Bean Crumb Cake
Makes 12 cupcakes

Recipe updated: September 2012

1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup vanilla sugar (regular sugar is okay too)
2 large eggs
seeds of one vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract (split bean length wise and scrape out seeds)
1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup heavy cream (or milk)

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line cupcake pan with liners.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and vanilla sugar for about 2 minutes.
  4. Add the vanilla bean seeds egg, scrape the sides of the bowl, and beat on high for at least 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
  5. Mix in the sour cream, making sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
  6. Add the flour in two parts and mix just until smooth.
  7. Add the heavy cream and mix only until incorporated.  DO NOT OVER MIX!
  8. Scoop evenly into 12 cupcake liners.
  9. Bake 18-19 minutes, rotating pan after 12 minutes.
  10. Cool in pan 4-5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe inspired by: First Look, Then Cook

Whipped Peanut Butter Filling
Makes enough to fill & garnish 12 cupcakes 

2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp heavy cream

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the whisk attachment, cream together the butter and peanut butter.
  2. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and add the powdered sugar.  Mix until smooth.
  3. Scrape sides again, add the vanilla and heavy cream.  Whip on high for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.

Creamy Chocolate Frosting
Makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 oz cream cheese
1 lb powdered sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and cream cheese.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and cocoa powder.
  3. Add the sugar/cocoa to the butter mixture and beat until smooth.
  4. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix in the vanilla extract.
  5. Add up to 1/2 cup heavy cream or until you get the smooth consistency you want.
  6. Beat on high for 3 minutes.

To Assemble the Cupcakes:

6 Tagalong Girl Scout Cookies, halved
Whipped Peanut Butter Filling
Creamy Chocolate Frosting
Piping bags & tips

  1. Core the center of each cupcake using an apple corer.  I wanted to make sure these cupcakes had LOTS of peanut butter filling, so I cored them all the way down to the bottom liner.
  2. Using a small closed star tip, pipe the whipped peanut butter filling into each hole making sure a little bit peeps out the top.
  3. For half of the cupcakes, I stopped there with the peanut butter filling.  On the other half, I piped a small layer of the peanut butter filling on top of the cupcake as well.
  4. Using a Wilton 1M tip, pipe a beautiful pile of creamy chocolate frosting on top of each cupcake.
  5. With the remaining peanut butter filling, pipe a small dollop on top of the chocolate frosting on the cupcakes that are only filled in the middle.
  6. Garnish with half a Tagalong Girl Scout Cookie.
  7. EAT!
Filed Under: buttercream, chocolate, chocolate frosting, cookie cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cupcake recipes, dark chocolate, frosting and icing, girl scout cookie cupcakes, recipes, vanilla, vanilla cupcakes

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Hug Cookies

January 8, 2012 by 4 Comments

Valentine’s Day is just a few short weeks away… and you know what that means? LOTS AND LOTS of delicious baked yummies all colored in pink and red for this holiday full of LOVE!

Actually, it’s just another reason for me to bake. Haha. My hubby and I don’t usually celebrate Valentine’s Day because he’s either been in the field training or deployed to war. This year, he’s home…. but we’re still not celebrating.

Instead, I’ll be making cookies and cupcakes in the weeks leading up to this mushy, pink, lovey dovey holiday!

But seriously, is anyone really going to complain about that? Probably not!

My first cookie is a spin on all the holiday blossom cookies I made during December. Hershey’s has a raspberry filled white and pink hug KISS this season which I thought would go perfectly on top of a blossom cookie! So these cookies are made with my favorite raspberry jam and a super dark chocolate rolled in hot pink sugar crystals and topped with a Hershey’s Raspberry Kiss! nom nom nom nom

Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Hugs Blossom Cookies
Makes 3+ dozen cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup raspberry jam (I used Smuckers because it’s my favorite!)
2 cups flour
2 tbsp milk
3.5 oz chopped 70% dark chocolate, chopped

1 cup hot pink sanding sugar
Hershey’s Raspberry Hug Kisses

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the sugar, butter, salt and vanilla.   About 2-3 minutes.
  3. Add the raspberry jam, scrape the sides of the bowl, and mix until well combined.
  4. Add the flour and mix on medium speed until combined.  Add the milk just before flour is completely combined.   This will help the flour incorporate into the dough.
  5. Add the chopped chocolate and fold in using a spatula.
  6. Chill for 20 minutes in refrigerator.
  7. Scoop 1 inch balls of dough and roll in hot pink sugar crystals.   Place on a baking sheet at least 1-2 inches apart.  (Note: Don’t roll dough balls any larger than 1 inch or they will spread too much on your cookie sheet!)
  8. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until edges begin to brown.
  9. Immediately press a Raspberry Hug into the middle of each cookie.  Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
  10. Eat and enjoy!
Filed Under: blossoms, chocolate, chocolate cookies, cookies, dark chocolate, fruity cookies, holiday, raspberry, recipes, seasonal, valentine's day