White Velvet Blueberry Cupcakes & My 4th Blogerversary!

January 15, 2013 by 7 Comments

White Velvet Blueberry Cupcakes by JavaCupcake.com

One of my goals of the New Year was to get off the couch and get a life.  Ha! With that said… I may have over done myself just a little bit.  My blogs 4th Anniversary came and went and I was so consumed with my new life and responsibilities, that it took me over a week to bake, frost, take pictures of and blog the cupcakes that I had planned to celebrate my Blogerversary! ACK!

Better late than never, right?

Now that I’ve finally had a moment to breathe and blog… let me tell you about these cupcakes.  The original idea for these came from the liners.  I took a trip to the IKEA in Regensburg to get a new coffee table for my living room.  My little man has started moving around way too much for that little table we had, so a bigger one was in order! While we were there, I spotted these new liners for their one of a kind cupcake pans.  If you haven’t seen them before they make a really tall, skinny cupcake and a big muffin top! I love them for special occasions and novelty cupcakes.  Unfortunately, they don’t have much of a selection in the liner department.  I used this pan a few years ago to make Red Velvet Cupcakes and now again with these blueberry cupcakes.  The blue and purple in the liners are really what inspired the flavors of this cupcake!

My husband decided a white velvet cake would be best but I wanted to incorporate blueberry in some way.  So, I came up with a white velvet cake filled with blueberry compote and then top it all off with blueberry frosting! YUM!  They turned out super delish and the blueberry compote is TO DIE FOR!

But seriously… can you believe it’s been FOUR YEARS of blogging at JavaCupcake!  It’s been an AMAZING journey so for that’s brought me so much joy!  I can’t believe the connections it has made me both professionally and personally.  THANK YOU to everyone who has been so committed to reading my blog and who has stuck by me for four years!  My readers are really truly amazing!!

Here’s to another great year of blogging!!

Enjoy!

White Velvet Blueberry Cupcakes by JavaCupcake.com

Print
White Velvet Blueberry Cupcakes

Total Time: 3 hours

Yield: 18 cupcakes

Ingredients

    White Velvet Cupcakes
  • 3 egg whites
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/3 cups flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 9 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature & cubed
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 tsp vinegar
    • Blueberry Compote
  • Use THIS RECIPE
  • Before the compote cools, put it through a strainer. You just want some of the juice to come through, you don't need to strain it all. The goal is have a thick, juicy compote for filling and syrup for the frosting. You only need to do this step if using the compote for this recipe.
    • Blueberry Frosting
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 1lb powdered sugar
  • 3 Tbsp blueberry syrup from the compote
  • 1 Tbsp heavy cream
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • Wilton food dye gel in purple (optional)
  • Purple and blue sugar sprinkles
  • Fresh blueberries for garnish

Instructions

    White Velvet Cupcakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg whites, vanilla and 1/4 cup milk.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in the sugar.
  4. Add the cubed butter and 1/2 cup milk and mix on medium speed for 1 minute.
  5. Add the egg mixture in 4 parts and mix on medium-low after each addition until just incorporated.
  6. Fold in the vinegar making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl. DO NOT OVER MIX. The batter should still have a few small clumps of butter in it.
  7. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
  8. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  9. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
  10. Core out the center of each cupcake and fill with blueberry compote.
    11. Blueberry Frosting
  11. Cream together the butter and shortening.
  12. Beat in the powdered sugar until smooth.
  13. Add the blueberry syrup, heavy cream and salt and mix until combined.
  14. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix frosting on high until light and fluffy.
  15. OPTIONAL: Add a few drops of food coloring dye to enhance the purple of the frosting. Mix until incorporated.
  16. Using a wide open star tip, frost cupcakes and top with sprinkles and a blueberry to garnish
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Filed Under: berry, blueberry, cupcake recipes, featured, filled cupcakes, frosting and icing, fruit frosting, fruity cupcakes, recipes, velvet, velvet cupcakes

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

My 5th Marriage Anniversary & a Special Cake

July 27, 2012 by 17 Comments

Yesterday I celebrated five years of marriage with my husband, Dave!  Our marriage story is a unique one.  We didn’t have a wedding.  We weren’t even there when we got married.  Dave was in Iraq.  I was in Washington.  We were married in Montana.

WHAT? HUH? Don’t get it?  It’s okay…. it’s complicated.

You see, my husband I met in December 2006 and he left for his first tour in Iraq in April of 2007.  A few days before he deployed, Dave ask me to marry him at Safeco Field (home of the Seattle Mariners) on the big screen in center field.  Of course, my heart swooned and I said YES!  A few days later he left for Iraq and my heart was broken.

April 7, 2007 – The morning Dave left for Iraq

It didn’t take but a few weeks of Dave being in a combat zone that he confessed to me that he wished he would have married me before he deployed so that he’d know that me and my daughter would be taken care of if something were to happen to him.  (Let’s not even think about the “what-if’s” of that scenario).  So, without hesitation I began researching a way to make this happen.  How could we get married while he was deployed?

Another soldier in Dave’s company had recently gone through a similar situation and I reached out to his new wife for advice.  She told me about a lawyer in Montana that could help us.  I contacted that lawyer and he told me the process was simple.  Montana was the only state that allowed marriages by proxy.  Meaning one or two of the parties were not present, but had someone stand in for them.  Wow.  I couldn’t believe you could actually do this.  So, I sent the lawyer all the necessary paperwork and his fee and I waited.  And waited.  And waited.

I waited until July 26, 2007 when I got a phone call that changed my life forever.   It was my lawyer and he had just returned from the courthouse in Montana.   We were married.  It had only been official for about 30 minutes by the time he called me.  I jumped for joy in excitement and I couldn’t wait to tell Dave!  I had to wait several hours until that evening before I could tell my new husband of our marriage when he got online to chat with me from Iraq.  We were married!  I was his wife.  He was my husband.  I was the happiest girl on the planet.

When I was a girl, like every little girl, I dreamed of a perfect fairy-tale wedding with a perfect dress, flowers, and cake.  This however, my real life fairy-tale, was so much better than anything I ever dreamed of as a girl.  I had my prince, a man who was willing to lay down his life for his country and for me.  I felt, and still feel, honored to be his wife and I love him more today than I ever imagined possible.

Zurich, Switzerland – June 2012

About a month ago I decided I wanted to make a special cake for our 5th anniversary.  We’ve been through so much in our first 5 years of marriage (2 deployments to Iraq, the death of my Mother, a move to Germany and the birth of our son… to just name a few) and I wanted to make a cake for us to cut and share together, something we never got to experience when we were first married.

I had been eyeballing Amanda from i am baker‘s tutorials on how to make a vertical layer rose buttercream cake.  This cake was way out of my league, but her tutorials made them seem to obtainable, so easy.  So, I set my mind on it and I started my research.

I read these posts from i am baker:

Vertical Layer Cake Tutorial

Rose Cake Tutorial

The Perfect Crusting Buttercream

I knew I didn’t want to fuss with the cake itself, so I planned to use a box chocolate cake and a box strawberry cake.  I wasn’t too sure how I felt about an all shortening buttercream like the one Amanda suggests, so I used a combo of butter and shortening in my frosting and it crusted up perfectly and tasted wonderfully.

Here are a few things I learned while making this cake…

  1. FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS!  Seriously, read what Amanda has written and truly take it to heart.  She has spent a lot of time practicing how to make this cake and she lays it out so simply in her tutorial.  Read it, study and take it step by step.
  2. DON’T RUSH! Take your time! I found myself so excited at times to make this cake that I found myself rushing.  I had to remind myself to breathe and enjoy the process.
  3. The simple syrup that Amanda mentions in the Vertical Cake tutorial… don’t skip it.  In fact, every time you make a cake that you’ll be putting in the freezer to set… use it.  My box cake turned out so moist and delicious with this syrup added.  It’s definitely a “must-do” for future recipes.
  4. I CAN DO IT!  *phew* The cake is finished and I gotta say… I’m pretty darn proud of myself! It’s not perfect by any means, but damn… it’s pretty!  I’ve been saying for along time… “I don’t make cakes.”  But hey, maybe I do… when I put my mind to it, I can do anything!

Since this actually makes two cakes, I plan to use the extra for a birthday party for a little neighbor girl this weekend.  I’ll update this post after I frost that cake.  She’s having a rainbow party, so I’m think about doing lots of fun colors with the frosting!

I’m really excited to see what I can come up with in another five years!!

HAPPY 5th ANNIVERSARY, HUSBAND!  I love you more today than I did yesterday!  Thank you for the best five years of my life! I feel so blessed and loved and honored to be spending my life with you! xoxo  And I look forward to the next five years!

Filed Under: cakes, family, featured, life

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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Desserts for the Deserving: Monster Cookies

July 16, 2012 by 3 Comments

When Amanda at i am baker put out the call for bakers to participate in her “Desserts for the Deserving” program, I knew I had to be involved.

Desserts for the Deserving was established in 2011 with the sole purpose of bringing people joy. It is a non profit movement where bloggers, bakers, crafters, and all forms of creative people offer up time and resources to bring strangers joy.

This year I was pared up with an extraordinary woman.  Here’s what her sister shared with us and why she nominated her to be a recipient of “Desserts for the Deserving.”

“I would like to nominate my big sister, (name omitted for privacy). She is a nurse in the NICU and as is her nature, ALWAYS cares for others. Our father passed away 3 years ago and she was there when he was slipping away. She used her medical expertise and cool head to perform CPR until the EMS arrived. He never regained consciousness, but he survived for another 24 hours which allowed our mother, me and our 3 brothers to say goodbye and be together when he died. I will be forever grateful for that. Unfortunately, last year her marriage of 25 years ended and she is now in the middle of a heartbreaking divorce. It saddens me beyond belief because she deserves every happiness. She is my daughter’s godmother, my sister and my best friend. I want her to know she is cared about and thought of every day. Getting an unexpected surprise in the mail would make her day I know!”

So, I am pleased and honored to be sending  a care package full of these cookies.  I wanted to make her a cookie that would travel well all the way from where I am, Germany to where she is back in the USA.  A big cookie full of yummy chocolate would do the trick!

These Monster Cookies have chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, M&Ms, oatmeal and peanut butter.  Can’t get much better than that.

I really hope that she enjoys these cookies!  (If she doesn’t… she can send them back cause I know a 12 year old who will eat them! hehe)

To learn more about “Desserts for the Deserving” and how you can nominate someone or get involved as a baker… check out the i am baker blog or “Desserts for the Deserving” on Facebook!

Thanks to AMANDA at i am baker for putting this amazing project together!  It’s such a great thing to see the blogging, baking and crafting world come together to bring others joy <3.

Print
Monster Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3 eggs, room temperature
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla
  • 4 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 cup chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cup butterscotch chips
  • 1 cup M&M's

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and lightly spray with cooking spray.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and peanut butter. Mix in the sugars and cream on high until smooth.
  3. Add the eggs one at a time. Mix well after each addition.
  4. Mix in the vanilla.
  5. In a large bowl, whisk together the baking soda and the oats. On medium speed, mix in the oats. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to ensure all the oats get combined.
  6. Fold in the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and M&M's.
  7. Scoop 2 in balls of dough onto baking sheet. For more uniform cookies, roll dough in your hand gently to form a ball.
  8. Bake for about 10 minutes or until edges begin to brown and cookies begin to look set in the middle. Don't over bake!
  9. Cool on pan for about 1 minute before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
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Now THAT is a MONSTER cookie!

Filed Under: candy filled cookies, chocolate cookies, cookies, events/meet ups, featured, M&Ms, oatmeal, peanut butter and chocolate, peanut butter cookies, recipes, volunteerism

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Curd Filled Cupcakes

July 15, 2012 by 33 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

Chunky Peanut Butter M&M Cookies & Cookie Bites

May 17, 2012 by 2 Comments

I don’t know what my obsession with M&Ms is lately, but I seem to be buying out the stock of them in the store and baking EVERYTHING with them.  Maybe it’s because I like how colorful they  make my cookies rather than using chocolate chips…. maybe it’s just cause I love chocolate… or maybe… well who cares, I just love them!

I’m pretty sure a lot of you have seen the chocolate chip cookies that have been floating around Pinterest and the internet that require 36 hours of chilling before baking.  I had often wondered myself what all this chilling really does for a cookie… I have never really tried it with a cookie other than my Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, but reading all these blogs talk about how amazing their cookies were after a prolonged chill… I got to wondering if this would work with other cookie dough recipes?

Peanut butter cookies are similar in ingredients to the chocolate chip cookie, brown sugar, butter, egg, flour, etc etc so I thought it might work.  Plus, everything I’d read about this long chill, the cookies turn out crisp on the edges and chewy in the centers… which is exactly what I wanted for these peanut butter cookies.

So, I’m patient… but I’m not THAT patient.  I didn’t chill these cookies for 36 hours, I made it about 19 hours.  But… I’m thinking that it’s a perfect amount of time because the cookies turned out perfect!! Chewy in the middle, a bit crisp on the edges, golden brown and so good!

Print
Chunky Peanut Butter M&M Cookies & Cookie Bites

Prep Time: 18 hours

Cook Time: 11 minutes

Total Time: 20 hours

Yield: About 32 3in cookies + 24 cookie bites

These peanut butter cookies are the perfect combination of crisp edges with chewy centers with a peanut & M&M in every bite!

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, slightly soft but still cold
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla

  • 1 cup unsalted peanuts, chopped into chunks
  • 1 12.6oz bag of M&M candies

  • 1/2 cup sugar for rolling cookies

Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix in the chopped peanuts and set aside.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the peanut butter, butter and sugars for 3-4 minutes.
  3. Add the eggs one at a time and vanilla and cream for another 3 minutes. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl often to ensure everything is incorporated.
  4. Add the flour mixture in two parts, mixing until just combined.
  5. Fold in the M&Ms using a spatula (NOTE: You can use your mixer for this, but make sure you do it on low so the M&Ms don't break.)
  6. Cover dough and refrigerate overnight or at least 18 hours.
  7. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  8. Roll out 2 inch balls of dough and coat with sugar.
  9. Place balls on cookie sheet 2 inches apart and press down with a fork in a criss-cross pattern until slightly flattened.
  10. Bake for 10-12 minutes or the cookie is slightly golden brown. NOTE: DO NOT over bake these cookies!! You want the middles to seem gooey still! I baked mine exactly 11 minutes, but every oven varies.
  11. Allow to cool on pan for 3-4 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely. (Or if you're like me, you'll eat them straight from the oven!)
  12. Keep dough refrigerated between batches so it stays chilled.
    13. Cookie Bites:
  13. Spray lightly the insides of a mini muffin pan with cooking spray.
  14. Place 1in balls of cookie dough into each opening.
  15. Bake at 350 F degrees for 7-9 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown.
  16. Allow to cool at least 5 mins in pan. Use a toothpick to pop out each bite. NOTE: If you try to remove the cookie bites too early, they may fall apart. You want to give them enough time to set up before removing.
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Filed Under: brown sugar, candy, candy filled cookies, chocolate, cookies, featured, M&Ms, mini, peanut butter, peanut butter and chocolate, peanut butter cookies, recipes

Mocha Mallow Cookies

May 3, 2012 by 1 Comment

Last weekend we had a neighborhood BBQ and of course, it’ was my job to bring dessert.  It’ was 80F degrees, so I didn’t want to spend a ton of time in the kitchen baking.  So, I decided to make cookies… but not just any old plain boring cookies would do.

I recently bought a couple containers of the KRAFT Jet-Puffed Mallow Bits.  If you aren’t familiar with these, they are super mini marshmallows, the kind you’d find in your packets of hot chocolate.  And ya know what? They are PERFECT for cookies!  (PS: They’re perfect for topping cupcakes with too!)  I made S’mores cookies a few days ago and today I’m making a Mocha Mallow cookie with these mini bits of heaven!

I started with a recipe that I’ve seen on several blogs from Annie’s Eats to My Baking Addiction and then put my personal spin on them.  I added the mallow bits, reduced the chocolate chips, added espresso powder and vanilla.   Adding the Mallow Bits was my hubby’s idea.  I think he’s a genius.  The original recipes for this cookie also wanted me to make them giant cookies… but I needed to feed a bunch of people, so I decided to make them a bit smaller so the batter would go further.

They turned out pretty darn yummy.

PS… For the I also made M&M Cookie Bars (which you should make too… cause UHM YUMMMM!)

Print
Mocha Mallow Cookies

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: About 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (18 Tbsp) cold, unsalted butter, cubed
  • 1¼ cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup cocoa powder
  • 2¼ cups flour
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp espresso powder
  • 1½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup Jet-Puffed Mallow Bits

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking powder and salt.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the cold butter and sugar about 2 minutes.
  4. Add the eggs and vanilla and continue creaming together until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
  5. Add the flour mixture and mix on low until just combined.
  6. Add the chocolate chips and Mallow Bits and mix on low until incorporated. NOTE: Dough will be thick and you may need to incorporate the chips and bits by hand.
  7. Drop 1 1/2 inch semi-flat mounds onto a cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. Refrigerate dough between batches.
  8. Allow cookies to cool 4-5 minutes on cookie sheet before remove to a wire rack to cool.
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Filed Under: chocolate, chocolate cookies, cookies, featured, marshmallow, recipes

Mini S’mores Cookies

May 2, 2012 by Leave a Comment

So… I don’t know if it’s a fluke, but last week I baked FOUR times.  FOUR TIMES!

I’ve made Scones, Cupcakes, Muffins and now Cookies!  Oh, and don’t forget the Fudge!

I’ve gotten into a little routine with Matty in the morning.  We stay in bed until about 8am,  then get up, have breakfast and then he goes down for a nap.  While he’s napping, I get to baking!

Last week, my husband wanted me to make something to take into the office to share with the guys.  So, I searched Pinterest for some ideas and I came across a delicious recipe for S’mores Cookies by Sugar Crafter!

They turned out pretty darn YUMMY!  And the mini’s in them were perfect for these mini cookies!

Print
Mini S'mores Cookies

51

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

  • 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs + pieces

  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips
  • 1 cup Jet Puffed Mallow Bits

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and graham cracker crumbs. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
  4. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until smooth, about 2 minutes.
  5. In two parts, slowly mix in the dry ingredients until just combined.
  6. Fold in the marshmallows and chocolate chips.
  7. Form 1 inch balls by hand and place on cookie sheet. Gently press each ball to flatten slightly if you like a flatter cookie.
  8. Bake 10-11 minutes or until the cookies are a golden brown color.
  9. Remove immediately to a wire rack to cool... or eat one warm! Just like it's hot off the camp fire!

Notes

Recipe slightly adapted from Sugar Crafter.

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Filed Under: cookies, featured, marshmallow, recipes, smores

Peanut Butter & Jelly Banana Muffins & a Baby Play Date

April 26, 2012 by 2 Comments

Three of my friends and I all had babies, two weeks a part.  Daniella was first, then Mareile, then Me and last was Becky.

Four friends, four babies, four weeks.

Needless to say, it’s been a crazy few months for all of us.  So now that our babies are all 2 months old, we decided it was time to get together so they could play and we could drink coffee and chat.

This morning, two of my friends and their babies came over to play!

Of course, I needed to bake something delicious for us to enjoy during our Coffee & Babies Play Date… so I whipped up these muffins.

I’ve already eaten three of them… cause yeah, they’re that good.

Print
Peanut Butter & Jelly Banana Muffins

51

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Yield: About 20 muffins

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups ripe bananas (4-5 small bananas - I like chunks of bananas, so I don't over-mash mine)
  • 1/3 cup buttermilk
  • 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon

  • 2 cups fresh raspberries (not frozen)
  • 1/4 cup coarse sugar (I used Sugar in the Raw or Turbinado sugar)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake/muffin tin with liners. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together mashed bananas, buttermilk, peanut butter and melted butter.
  4. Add the eggs and sugars to the wet mixture and whisk until smooth.
  5. Pour the wet mixture into the flour mixture and fold together with a spatula until just combined or until only a few flour lumps are visible.
  6. Add the raspberries and gently fold into the batter. NOTE: Do Not over mix! You don't want to break up the raspberries or work the flour too much.
  7. Gently scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin filling no more than 3/4 full. Top each muffin with the coarse sugar.
  8. Bake 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the muffins and the tops are golden brown.
  9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 20 minutes before running a butter knife along the edges of the pan and inverting the bread onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

Recipe inspired by: Joy the Baker

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Filed Under: banana, breakfast, featured, muffins, peanut butter, raspberries, raspberry, recipes

Grandma Dillow’s Peanut Butter Fudge

April 24, 2012 by 2 Comments

Facebook is a wonderful thing.  It allows me to stay in daily contact with friends both near and far.  It allows me to learn, share and create ideas with friends, family, and even perfect strangers.

A few days ago, my friend Erica (she’s an Army Wife too & our husbands worked together at JBLM in Tacoma, WA.) said she was making peanut butter fudge and my ears perked up like a dog who heard a fire truck and wanted to run after it!  Immediately, I asked for the recipe and Erica responded with 5 simple ingredients.  Seriously, could fudge be that easy?  This recipe comes from her Grandma Dillow… which means it’s sure to be a winner if it comes from Grandma!

So today, I tried it.  Erica’s recipe didn’t call for the use of a candy thermometer, but I had a brand new one I wanted to try out, so I used mine.  I can’t say I’ve ever really been a successful fudge maker, but after making this recipe… I think I am!

Grandma Dillow didn’t top her fudge with chocolate, but I LOVE chocolate and peanut butter so, I added a thin layer of chocolate to the top of the fudge.  YUM!

Thanks Grandma Dillow and thanks to Erica for sharing this yummy family recipe!

If you’re like me and are new to making fudge, read this helpful post: Tips for Making the Perfect Fudge!

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Grandma Dillow’s Peanut Butter Fudge

51

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 64 1-in squares

Grandma's perfect peanut butter fudge... with a twist!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, cubed
  • 1/2 cup milk or heavy cream
  • 9oz (about 1 heaping cup) creamy peanut butter
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips + 2 Tbsp for garnish (optional)
    • Tools Needed:
  • Medium/large heavy-sided sauce pan
  • Wooden spoon
  • Candy Therometer
  • Small off-set metal spatula
  • 8x8 baking dish + 1 Tbsp butter for greasing

Instructions

  1. Butter the bottom and sides of an 8x8 baking dish. (I used glass, but a metal dish is okay too.)
  2. Measure out the peanut butter & vanilla, set aside.
  3. In a medium/large heavy-sided sauce pan, bring the butter, sugar and milk to a boil - stirring constantly using a wooden spoon.
  4. While constantly stirring, bring mixture to 240-244 F degrees. Remove from heat and immediately mix in the peanut butter and vanilla.
  5. Press fudge into prepared dish using a small off-set metal spatula.
  6. OPTIONAL: While still warm, sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the top of the fudge. Using a small off-set spatula, once the chocolate begins to melt, spread it evenly. Allow to cool about 10 minutes then sprinkle evenly remaining 2 Tbsp mini chips as garnish without spreading.
  7. Allow to cool completely before cutting and serving. NOTE: If you need to cut it sooner, place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
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Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

April 23, 2012 by 44 Comments

I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve actually baked a cupcake.  Weeks… probably more like months.  I’ve baked cookies, scones and crescent rolls, but no cupcakes!  Crazy, huh?  Cause this is supposed to be a cupcake blog, right?

Hmmm… So yeah.  I made cupcakes today.  And, I didn’t start back into baking cupcakes slowly.  No, I didn’t ease into things.  I went BIG!

Chocolate cupcake + Cookie Dough = HOLY GOODNESS!!!

Baked inside this cupcake is a chocolate chip cookie dough ball.  Yah, you read me right.  Cookie Dough.  The best thing that God ever created inside this cupcake.

And to make things even better…. the frosting.  Cookie Dough.   Both my hubby and my neighbor told me I needed to just make this frosting.  A big giant bowl of it so they could take a spoon and scoop it out and shove it in their mouth.  It’s that good.

Personally, I found the bottom of the cupcake to be the best.   But hey, everyone has their preferences.

Print
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

51

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Ingredients

    Cookie Dough Filling:
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/8 tsp baking soda
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 2 Tbsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
    • Chocolate Cupcakes:
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp espresso powder (optional)
  • 3/4 cup hot water
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
    • Cookie Dough Frosting:
  • 12 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Decorate:
  • additional mini chocolate chips
  • 12 mini chocolate chip cookies (I used Chips Ahoy)

Instructions

    Cookie Dough Filling:
  1. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, sugars, milk and vanilla until smooth.
  3. Whisk in the dry ingredients and the chocolate chips until smooth.
  4. Refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes or until firm.
  5. Scoop out dough into 12 balls. Freeze for at least 30 minutes.
    6. Chocolate Cupcakes:
  6. Preheat the oven to 375 F degrees. Line a cupcake pan with 12 liners.
  7. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and salt.
  8. Add the water, oil, egg and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure all ingredients are combined.
  9. Fill each cupcake liner 1/2-2/3 full. NOTE: You may have extra batter... no worries, make extra cupcakes!
  10. Gently press a cookie dough ball into the center of each cupcake, only submerging the ball 1/2 way.
  11. Bake the cupcakes for 19-21 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cupcake portion of the cupcake (not tested through the center where the dough is), comes out fairly dry. Chunks/pieces of cake are okay, just not moist batter.
  12. Cool the cupcakes completely before frosting.
    13. Cookie Dough Frosting:
  13. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until smooth and creamy.
  14. Add the flour, milk and vanilla and beat on high until well combined.
    15. To Assemble:
  15. Pipe swirls of frosting onto each cupcake.
  16. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top and garnish with a mini chocolate chip cookie.

Notes

Source: cupcakes & frosting slightly adapted from RecipeGirl

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Strawberry Lemonade Scones

April 17, 2012 by 6 Comments

I’ve been trying to get into the kitchen at least once a week lately.  I just have to.  Baking is what makes me feel like… me.  So, this morning I whipped up a batch of scones.  Not just any scones though…

Strawberry

Lemonade

Scones

Yah… I said it.  Two of the most perfect fruits paired together to make a sweet and tart delicious breakfast treat!

I actually wanted to make these over the weekend for my family, but when I went to the store to buy the berries…. they were all out!!  How rude of them to be out of berries when I needed them.

I was inspired to make these scones by Munchkin Munchies.  She made a strawberry lemonade scone and it looked so yummy!  But, I’m lazy and didn’t want to make lemon curd to top it with… so I came up with my own recipe to incorporate the lemon more into the dough to create a stronger lemon taste.

I’m thinking they turned out pretty darn amazing!

Enjoy!

Print
Strawberry Lemonade Scones

51

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 6-8 scones, depending on size

Ingredients

    Scones
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt

  • 8 Tbsp cold unsalted butter

  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • zest from one large lemon or 2 Tbsp
  • 1 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold buttermilk

  • 1 heaping cup fresh strawberries, cut into chunks

  • Turbinado sugar or Sugar in the Raw

  • Flour - for kneading and work surface
    • Lemon Glaze
  • 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp powdered sugar
  • 1 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 tsp milk

Instructions

    Scones
  1. Place rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 425 F degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, lightly spray with cooking spray and set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, press lemon zest into sugar using the back of a spatula. Add the lemon juice, egg yolk and butter milk and whisk until just combined. Set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter using a fork and your fingers until no large chunks of butter remain.
  4. Add the sugar mixture to the flour, stirring to make a soft dough.
  5. Fold in the strawberries. NOTE: Dough will get sticky with the addition of the berries.
  6. Turn out onto a generously floured board and knead about 15 times or until the outside of the dough is no longer sticky.
  7. Pat/press dough until it's 1 inch thick. Cut into 6-8 squares and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar.
  8. Place on prepared baking sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes or until edges and top turn golden brown.
  9. Remove to wire rack to cool.
    10. Glaze
  10. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, juice and milk.
  11. Drizzle over cooled scones.
  12. Sprinkle more Turbinado sugar over glaze.
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Filed Under: berry, bread and pretzels, breakfast, buttermilk, featured, fruit, lemon, recipes, scones, strawberry

Cinnamon Breakfast Cake

March 10, 2012 by 3 Comments

My last morning before baby arrived I decided I needed to do some baking.  Usually, I wake up in the morning and eat a bowl of cereal topped with raspberries and other fruit… but I’m always in need of a mid-morning snack.  So this breakfast cake will be perfect for that!

I saw the recipe for Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll Breakfast Cake on Six Sisters Stuff… one of my new favorite blogs to read!  There are so many blogs out there that it’s hard to keep up with them some times.  I was featured on their blog a couple of weeks ago, so I

bookmarked them, follow them on Facebook and keep coming back to their recipes!

This cake is good room temperature, but we sliced it right out of the oven after I drizzled the glaze on top and it was so OOOEY AND GOOEY and yummy!  Swirls and chunks of the cinnamon/sugar all through it with the sweet glaze on top.  It’s pretty much a perfect Sunday morning treat for the family!

Definitely a WINNER!

Enjoy!

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Cinnamon Breakfast Cake

51

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Yield: 15 bars

Warm, gooey, breakfast cake that rivals any Cinnabon cinnamon roll!

Ingredients

    Batter - 1st layer :
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract (I used homemade!)
  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
    • Batter - 2nd layer:
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature and soft
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 Tbsp flour
  • 1 Tbsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
    • Glaze:
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 5 Tbsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • pinch of cinnamon for dusting

Instructions

    For the cake:
  1. Preheat oven to 325 F degrees. Grease a 13x9 in metal pan. (I also like to line the bottom of my In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder from the "1st layer".
  2. Add the milk, eggs, and vanilla from the "1st layer" and whisk until smooth.
  3. Gently mix in the 4 Tbsp melted butter.
  4. Pour batter into prepared baking pan and spread to the edges.
  5. In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the "2nd layer" butter and brown sugar.
  6. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix in the flour, cinnamon and nutmeg until smooth.
  7. Using a tablespoon, drop this mixture evenly over cake batter. Use a knife or spatula to marble/swirl through the cake.
  8. Bake 35-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out nearly clean from center (a few crumbs is what you want). You may need to cover the pan with foil for the last 5-10 minutes to prevent the edges from getting too brown.
  9. Allow to cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then glaze, cut and eat warm!
    10. For Glaze:
  10. In a bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth.
  11. Drizzle over warm cake, dust with cinnamon , cut and eat!!
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Recipe adapted from: Six Sister’s Stuff

Filed Under: bars, bars, bread and pretzels, breakfast, cake, cinnamon, cinnamon rolls, featured, glaze, recipes

Cowboy Cookies

March 6, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I’ve only got a few more days of baking until my baby arrives!   And since I cleaned my baking corner this weekend, I realized I have a TON of half used bags of chips, pretzels and M&M’s to use up before they go bad! So today, I decided to make some cookies… Cowboy Cookies!

I’ve often wondered though… what exactly goes into a Cowboy Cookie?   I did a little digging online and couldn’t really find a solid history of the cookie.  I’ve seen them made with everything from nuts and coconut to oats and raisins and of course… chocolate! I kinda always thought of these cookies as a “whatever you’ve got left in your kitchen” type of cookie.  So, that’s what I’m going with today.

These cookies have butterscotch, white chocolate, and semi-sweet chocolate chips, M&M’s and pretzel chunks.  Oh… and a special little ingredient for some added kick: espresso powder! (Everything but the kitchen sink!) I’ve made a cookie before with pretzels in them and everyone who ate them were surprised at how tasty they were… but pretzels in cookies?  Ya just gotta try it! YUM!

I made a double batch of these so I could take them into my husband’s office… made a few jumbo cookies and a few regular size too.  I’m pretty sure the soldiers will love them!

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Cowboy Cookies

51

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 9 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Yield: 2 dozen jumbo cookies & 2 dozen regular size cookies

These cookies are perfect for all the leftover stuff you've got in your baking pantry! Just throw "whatever" into the batter and you've got some pretty tasty Cowboy Cookies!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 4 tsp vanilla
  • 4 eggs

  • 4 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp espresso powder

  • 1/2 cup butterscotch chips
  • 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used a combo of mini and regular size chips just because that's what I had on hand)
  • 1/2 cup of M&M's + a few more to put on top
  • 1 cup pretzel chunks + a few more to put on top (I used pretzel rods, but any kind of coarse chopped pretzels will work. You want chunks, not too fine.)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and espresso powder.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar - about 2 minutes.
  4. Add the vanilla and eggs, scrape the sides of the bowl and beat on high for 4-5 minutes. You want this mixture to be light in color and fluffy.
  5. Add the flour mixture and mix on medium until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure it's all incorporated.
  6. Add the chips and M&M's and mix until combined.
  7. Fold in by hand the pretzels - you don't want them to break into pieces.
  8. For larger cookies, scoop 8 golf ball size balls of dough onto cookie sheet. Place a couple extra pretzel chunks and M&M's on top of each ball. Bake 9-11 minutes or until edges and top start to brown.
  9. For regular size cookies, scoop tablespoon size balls of dough onto cookie sheet. Place 1-2 extra pretzel chunks and M&M's on top of each ball. Bake 8-9 minutes or until edges and top start to brown.
  10. Let cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
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Recipe inspired by: For the Love of Cooking

Filed Under: butterscotch chips, candy filled cookies, chocolate, cookies, featured, M&Ms, pretzels, recipes, white chocolate

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.

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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

Mardi Gras Cupcakes

February 20, 2012 by 12 Comments

Tomorrow, I’ll be ON THE RADIO!!!!  AFN Bavaria here in Germany is hosting me for a 2 hour segment to talk cupcakes and baking!  And, well… since it’s Mardi Gras tomorrow, I thought it’d be a perfect reason to make some party cupcakes!

Since I needed to color the batter, I needed a basic white base to start with.  So, I whipped up a simple vanilla buttermilk cupcake.  But… you know me, nothing I do is ever basic.  These cupcakes have my favorite Madagascar vanilla beans, buttermilk and some added sour cream for flavor.  There is nothing basic about the flavor of these bad boys!

I topped them with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting and them embellished them with some fun sprinkles and mini cupcakes made with pb cups.  Topsy Turvy Cupcakes!

These cupcakes will be READY TO PARTY tomorrow morning!  I hope the radio station is ready for the sugar rush!

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Mardi Gras Cupcakes

51

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Yield: 2 dozen cupcakes

These cupcakes are ready to PARTY for Mardi Gras!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs, room temperature
  • the seeds of 2 Madagascar vanilla beans
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 ¼ cups Buttermilk
  • ¼ cup sour cream
  • 3 cups cake flour
  • 3 ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • Green, Purple and Yellow food coloring gel (I used Wilton brand)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake pans with white liners.
  2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for 3-4 minutes.
  3. While that is creaming, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  4. In another medium bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the buttermilk, vanilla beans, vanilla extract and sour cream. Whisk until combined. It will look lumpy, which is okay.
  5. Add the wet mixture to the butter/sugar and mix on medium speed. Scrape the sides of the bowl and make sure everything is incorporated. NOTE: It will look curdled. DO NOT FRET! It will smooth out once you add the flour.
  6. Add all the flour at once and mix on low to medium speed until smooth. Don't over mix!!
  7. Separate batter evenly into three bowls.
  8. Add food coloring and mix until uniform in color.
  9. Using a tablespoon, scoop one color into the liner against one edge. Quickly, scoop the second color next to/overlapping the first color. Finally, add the third color. NOTE: By the time you get to scooping the third color, you should still be able to see a 1/3 of the bottom of the liner.
  10. Add another smaller scoop of each color until the liners are 1/2-2/3 full. NOTE: Do not fill these more than 2/3 full. They puff up nicely and you don't want overflow!
  11. Bake 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Rotate pan after 12 minutes.
  12. Cool in pans for 7-8 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting and decorating.
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Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

51

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Yield: Enough to frost 2 dozen cupcakes

Is there anything better than cinnamon and cream cheese together?

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
  • 2 lbs powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4-1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
  • pinch of salt
  • green, purple and yellow sprinkles
  • Rolo candies
  • Mini Reese's peanut butter cups

Instructions

  1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese.
  2. 1/4lb at a time, add the powdered sugar. After the first addition, add the vanilla extract and cinnamon. Beat until smooth.
  3. After the next additions of powdered sugar, add whipping cream and beat on high until smooth. After the last addition of sugar, add enough cream until you get your desired consistency.
  4. Add the pinch of salt and beat on high for 5 minutes.
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How to assemble Mardi Gras cupcakes

Ingredients

  • Baked & cooled Mardi Gras cupcakes
  • Cinnamon Cream Cheese frosting
  • green, purple and yellow sprinkles and rainbow jimmies
  • Mini Reese's peanut butter cups
  • piping bag with star tip
  • purple food coloring gel

Instructions

  1. Reserve 1/2 cup of frosting and tint with purple food coloring gel. Put it in a piping bag with a small star tip. Set aside.
  2. Using the white frosting and a large star tip, pipe a swirl of frosting on top of each cupcake. Embellish with sprinkles and jimmies.
  3. Put a swirl of the purple frosting on top of the Reese's pb cups and embellish with sprinkles and jimmies. (You want it to look like a mini cupcake.)
  4. Place a pb cup on top of each cupcake, off center.
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Filed Under: buttermilk, candy cupcakes, cinnamon buttercream or frosting, cream cheese, cupcake recipes, cupcake toppers, decorating ideas, featured, frosting and icing, holiday, Madagascar vanilla beans, Mardi Gras, novelty cupcakes, recipes, seasonal, seasonal and holiday cupcakes, tips & tricks, vanilla, vanilla cupcakes

Lemon Raspberry Tart Pie

February 19, 2012 by 3 Comments

I have two boxes of left over Nilla Wafers from various parties and events that I needed to use up… plus two lemons.  I wanted to make something different (other than a muffin or cupcake or bread) with this stuff, so I searched the internet for all kinds of inspiration!

I came across a few recipes for pie crusts made with Nilla Wafers, lemon meringue pies, and some tarts… I decided to combine a few of the ideas together to make one delicious dessert.  This creation is a cross between a pie and a tart… mainly because I didn’t have a tart pan and I didn’t really want to go all out and make a lemon meringue pie.

It starts with a pre-baked Nilla Wafer pie crust then I fill it with a sweet lemon filling… bake it and let it cool.  Then I top it all off with my favorite raspberry preserve and a drizzle of white chocolate and put it in the fridge to set.  Now, if I wanted to get really fancy… I’d dollop each slice with some heavy cream and top with a few fresh raspberries.  But, let’s not get too carried away with ourselves!

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Nilla Wafer Pie Crust

51

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 1 9in pie crust

Nilla Wafer Pie Crust

Need an easy pie crust? This Nilla Wafer crust is quick and simple and so tasty!

Ingredients

  • 50 Nilla Wafers
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 tbsp sugar, heaping

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Gently spray 9in pie plate with cooking spray.
  2. Add the Nilla Wafers and sugar to your food processor and run on high until they are in very fine pieces.
  3. With the processor on low, slowly pour in the melted butter. Increase to high speed until combined.
  4. Take the blade out, scrape the sides of the bowl and make sure all the butter has been incorporated.
  5. Dumb the crumbs into the pie plate. Evenly press the crumbs up the sides and the bottom of the pie plate. This may take a few minutes, but you want to make sure the crumbs are evenly distributed.
  6. Bake for 7-8 minutes.
  7. Remove to a wire rack while you make your filling.

Notes

If you're baking a pie that requires a lot of time in the oven, you may want to skip the pre-baking of this crust. It browns up easily on the edges when in the oven for too long.

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Lemon Raspberry Tart Pie

51

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes

Yield: 1 delicious Tart Pie

Lemon Raspberry Tart Pie

Not quite a tart.... not quite a pie... but quite definitely delicious!

Ingredients

  • 6 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • Zest of one lemon
  • 2/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (approx the juice of 2 lemons), strained
  • scant 1 cup heavy cream

  • 1 pre-made Nilla Wafer pie crust
  • 1 cup raspberry jam, warmed
  • 4oz white chocolate, melted

  • fresh whipped cream
  • fresh raspberries

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.
  2. In a small bowl, zest the lemon. Add the sugar and press the sugar into the lemon, releasing all the oils. Do this for about 2-3 minutes until the sugar becomes fluffy.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs until just combined.
  4. Add the sugar and lemon juice and whisk until incorporated.
  5. Gently fold in the heavy cream.
  6. Pour mixture into pre-baked Nilla Wafer pie crust.
  7. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the filling appears set or until it cracks and puffs in the middle.
  8. Let cool on a wire rack for about 35 minutes then chill in the refrigerator for about 90 minutes (or until firm, cold, set).
  9. Once cooled and set, spread the warmed raspberry jam over the top of the tart using an off-set spatula.
  10. Melt the white chocolate in a double-boiler. Using a piping bag, pipe zig-zag lines of white chocolate across the top of the tart-pie.
  11. Place back in the refrigerator for 30 more minutes.
  12. Cut into slices and serve with a dollop of fresh whipped cream and raspberries.
  13. Store in refrigerator.
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Recipe inspired by Just Jenn &  Gourmande in the Kitchen

Filed Under: desserts, featured, jelly and jam, lemon, pies and tarts, raspberry, recipes, tarts

Mocha Mocha Cupcakes

February 8, 2012 by 20 Comments

I had an order for a client today for some decadent Mocha cupcakes.  Mmmm coffee and chocolate… you really can’t go wrong with that combo. I decided that I would take my new favorite chocolate recipe that normally calls for the use of a Guinness beer and sub that for brewed coffee to create more of a mocha flavor.  I then topped the cupcake with a basic chocolate buttercream but threw in a little bit of cream cheese for some extra tang and smoothness. Really though, this recipe for chocolate cupcakes I’m finding to be very versatile and it creates a moist, dense cupcake… every time! So although this post is short and sweet…  these Mocha Mocha cupcakes are FULL of flavor!  YUM!

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Mocha Mocha Cupcakes

51

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Yield: 2 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 1/4 cup strong brewed coffee
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 tbsp espresso powder (HEAPING tbsps!)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2/3 cup buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk, add 1tbsp of vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk and let sit for 5 minutes)
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake pans with liners.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a medium sauce pan over medium-high, heat and whisk the butter and brewed coffee together until the butter has melted.
  4. Whisk in the cocoa powder and espresso powder and heat until simmering. You want the mixture to thicken, but not boil. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
  5. While the chocolate/butter mix is heating/cooling, in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk.
  6. SLOWLY pour the chocolate mix into the egg mix, whisking constantly. NOTE: Add only a couple tbsp to temper the eggs. You don’t want to add so much hot liquid too quickly, it will cook the eggs. Scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated.
  7. Whisk the flour/sugar into the wet mixture in two parts. Whisk about 50 strokes.
  8. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 with batter.
  9. Bake 18-19 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Rotate pan after 12 minutes.
  10. Let cupcakes cool in pan for 4-5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
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Mocha Mocha Buttercream

51

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Yield: Enough to frost 2 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 4oz cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 tbsp espresso powder mixed with 2 tbsp warm whipping/heavy cream
  • 2lbs powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup whipping/heavy cream
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

  1. Cream together the butter and cream cheese.
  2. Mix in the cocoa powder and espresso powder/cream. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
  3. Mix in the powdered sugar in two parts. Add a few tbsp of heavy cream after each addition. Beat on high until smooth.
  4. Mix in the salt. Scrape sides of the bowl.
  5. Add the remaining heavy cream until you get the consistency and texture you want.
  6. Beat for 4-5 minutes on high.
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Filed Under: buttercream, chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, chocolate frosting, Coffee, coffee cupcakes, cupcake recipes, featured, frosting and icing, mocha frosting, 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

Madagascar Vanilla Bean Sugar & Cream for baking

January 21, 2012 by 8 Comments

Beanilla was having a HUGE sale on their vanilla beans, so I snatched up a 1/2lb of Madagascar beans this week.  Seriously, the BEST investment I’ve made for my baking in a long time.

These beans are so fresh, so moist, and so full of great vanilla flavor…  I really can’t wait to use them in EVERYTHING for the next few months.  I just hope that 1/2lb was enough!

First thing I made took me no time at all.  Vanilla Sugar.  Seriously, get some vanilla beans and make some of this yourself.  It takes 2 minutes and your sugar will thank you!!

Vanilla Sugar
airtight container
5lb bag of sugar
2 Madagascar vanilla beans, split length wise

  1. Empty the bag of sugar into the airtight container.
  2. Add the two vanilla beans to the sugar.  Put the lid on and shake until the beans are covered in sugar.
  3. Let the beans hangout over night in the sugar.
  4. Take the lid off, smell, taste, enjoy!  You now have vanilla sugar!

NOTE:  You can just keep adding sugar to the container as you go through it as well as any other used vanilla bean husks as you bake.  Just take the old ones out when they’re all dried up.  You can used the dried up beans in milk/cream to make vanilla cream! Nom nom nom.

And then I made Vanilla Cream.  You can use this cream in place of any recipe that calls for milk or heavy cream.  It will add such a rich, delicious vanilla flavor to whatever it is you’re baking.

You could also use it as coffee creamer.  Nom nom nom

Vanilla Cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 Madagascar vanilla bean

  1. Split the vanilla beans open length wise using a sharp knife.  Scrape out the vanilla bean paste from inside the pod.
  2. In a small heavy bottomed pot, whisk together the heavy cream, vanilla bean pod and paste.
  3. Cook on LOW for about 10 minutes, whisking often.
  4. Increase heat to medium until the milk just begins to simmer and bubble.  NOTE:  You don’t not want it to reach a full boil or burn.  Just a nice, slow simmer.
  5. As soon as the milk begins to bubble up, remove it from the heat and whisk.
  6. Allow to cool to room temperature.
  7. A film may form on the top of the cream, just whisk it until it’s smooth again.
  8. Remove the vanilla bean pod if you’re going to use all the cream immediately.  If you plan to store the cream for later use, leave the bean in the cream until you’re ready to use it.

Filed Under: featured, Madagascar vanilla beans, recipes, vanilla, whipping cream

New Year’s Raspberry Champagne Cupcakes

December 31, 2011 by 9 Comments

I’ve been dreaming of doing a special post for New Year’s… but wasn’t sure if I’d make it in time.  Today… well, with nothing really on the agenda today, I decided to spend a few hours in the kitchen and make some cupcakes!

And… what better way to celebrate the New Year than with a big bottle of BUBBLY!  These cupcakes have a very strong champagne flavor but paired with the homemade raspberry filling they sure are a sweet treat!

Of course, these little cupcakes had to be all dressed up to celebrate 2012!  I melted white chocolate and created the cutest toppers for these cupcakes… perfect to ring in the New Year!

Since this will be my final post of 2011… I want to take this time to wish you all a very Happy 2012!  I hope all your dreams and wishes come true in this year year!

Love you all!

Raspberry Champagne Cupcakes
Makes 18-20 cupcakes

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream

1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup of your favorite champagne – I used Cook’s Extra Dry for this recipe

pink food gel coloring

Preheat your oven to 350 F degrees.  Line cupcake pan with liners.

  1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sugar and eggs until fluffy and smooth… at least 4-5 minutes.
  2. Mix in the vanilla and sour cream.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
  4. Add the flour and champagne, alternating, as well as beginning and ending with the flour.   Mix only until combined.
  5. At this point you can either add the pink food gel coloring or you can leave them white.  I did half white and half pink.  Mix the food gel only until combined… you don’t want to overwork the batter.
  6. Scoop into liners 2/3 full and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  7. Cool in pan for 2 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
  8. Once cool, using an apple corer, remove the center of each cupcake and fill with raspberry filling.
Recipe adapted from: Sprinkle Bakes

Raspberry Filling
Makes enough to fill 2+ dozen cupcakes

1 bag of frozen raspberries
1/3 cup sugar
3-4 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp corn starch

  1. In a large pan on the stove, melt the butter.
  2. Add the raspberries, sugar and vanilla and cook for about 5 minutes on med-high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.
  3. Once the sugar melts and the raspberries begin to bubble, in a 1 cup measuring cup, mix together with a fork 4-5 tbsp of the raspberry mixture and the corn starch.  Add this mixture back to the pan with the remaining raspberries and stir until combined.
  4. Bring mixture to a bubble/gentle boil then remove from the heat.  Stir every few minutes as it cools.
  5. Cool completely before filling cupcakes.
  6. To fill cupcakes:  place raspberry mixture into a piping bag and squeeze just enough filling into each cupcake.

Champagne Buttercream
Makes enough to frost 18 cupcakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup butter flavored shortening (you could use all butter if you wanted too)
1 1/2 lbs powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/4-1/2 cup Champagne (I used the same as what I put in the cupcakes)

  1.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and shortening.
  2. One cup at a time, add the powdered sugar and mix on high until smooth.
  3. Add the vanilla and salt and mix until combined.
  4. Add 1/4 cup of champagne and mix on high until smooth.  Add remaining champagne until you get the consistency you desire.
  5. Mix frosting on high for 1-2 minutes until fluffy and the color brightens.
  6. Pipe frosting onto your cupcakes and decorate!

And here they are all dressed up for a client to enjoy!  Happy 2012!

Filed Under: alcohol, alcohol cupcakes, alcohol frosting, champagne, cupcake recipes, featured, filled cupcakes, frosting and icing, fruity cupcakes, holiday, new year's, raspberry, recipes, seasonal

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chunk Blondies

December 27, 2011 by 1 Comment

On Christmas, my family and I went to a community dinner sp0nsored by the USO.  Lots of people brought side dishes and desserts to the dinner and one in particular stood out to me…

It was a blondie of sorts.  A cookie bar.  Inside it had chocolate and marshmallow… and it got me to thinking, why haven’t I made more blondies before?

Since I had these two beautiful  jars of homemade peanut butter that I had just whipped up… I knew this was a perfect opportunity to make some peanut butter blondies!

The grocery store had a huge sale on it’s holiday bags of chocolate… so I picked up a couple bags of Hershey’s Chocolate Chunks for only $1 each today… so I knew I had to include some chocolate with the peanut butter!

This recipe makes a ton of peanut butter chocolate chunk blondies…. so be prepared to share!

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chunk Blondies
Makes 12 large squares… more if you cut them smaller

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup homemade peanut butter (see my recipe!)

2 eggs
1tsp vanilla

1/4 cup milk

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1 cup + 1/4 cup chocolate chunks

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 F degrees.  Great a 9×13 metal pan with shortening or butter.
  2. In a medium sauce pan, melt together the butter and brown sugar on medium heat… whisking often.
  3. Once melted, remove from heat and whisk in the peanut butter.  Whisk until all the peanut butter has melted.  Set aside to cool as you prepare the flour.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  5. Whisk the eggs and vanilla into the butter/sugar mixture.
  6. Make a well in the middle of the flour and pur the butter/sugar mixture in.  Using a spatula, fold the butter/sugar into the flour about 6-7 strokes.
  7. Add the milk and fold 4-5 more strokes.   You just want to barely combine the ingredients, making sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
  8. Dump in the chocolate chips and fold until combined.
  9. Pour the thick batter into your prepared pan and spread to the edges.  Top with the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chunks.
  10. Bake 25-30 minutes or until the top and edges have turned a golden brown.  Allow to cool in the pan before cutting into squares.
  11. Drizzle with extra peanut butter, serve with a big glass of milk and enjoy!

Filed Under: bars, blondies, brown sugar, chocolate, featured, peanut butter, recipes

CitrusLove BlogHop: Clementine Cranberry Scones

December 26, 2011 by 25 Comments

I used fresh cranberries for the first time in my Mandarin Orange & Cranberry cookies last week.  And let me tell you… I must be a crazy woman for not ever using these before!

This morning, the Cake Duchess posted a recipe for scones that featured these beautiful little berries and I knew I just had to whip up a batch with the rest of my cranberries!

The scones turned out SO GOOD.  Seriously.  Warm, fresh from the oven with a little butter on them.  Almost too good to eat! They are tart, yet sweet… full of beautiful color and flavor with a crispy sugar crust.

I will definitely be making these again!

Clementine Cranberry Scones
makes 6 large scones

Supplies:
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
zest of 3 Clementine oranges, about 2-3 tsp

1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

1 cup chopped fresh cranberries

1 tsp vanilla extract
8-10 tbsp milk, divided

1 tbsp sugar (use turbinado if you have it)

cookie sheet
parchment paper
cooking spray

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 F degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, lightly spray with cooking spray and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, ginger, orange zest, and salt
  3. Add cubed butter to flour mixture.  Using a fork, press butter into the flour mixture against the side of the bowl.  The goal here is to create a very dry dough where the butter is in small pieces, not chunks… coarse like.
  4. Add the cranberries and stir with a wooden spoon to combine.
  5. In a small measuring cup, mix together 5 tbsp of the milk and the vanilla together.   Add milk to the flour mixture and combine.
  6. Add 3-5 more tbsp of milk at a time until the mixture forms a dough and no dry ingredients remain.
  7. Move the dough to your cookie sheet and flatten into a round circle about 1 1/2 inches thick.  Cut it into 6 equal triangles with a sharp knife, and space evenly across sheet.
  8. Brush the scones with a tablespoon of milk and sprinkle generously with sugar.
  9. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until tops of scones brown.  Watch carefully you don’t want them to burn!
  10. Remove to a wire rack to cool… or you could smear them with butter and eat warm! YUM!

Recipe adapted from: Cake Duchess 

Filed Under: blog hop, bread and pretzels, cranberries, featured, recipes, scones, scones

Holiday Recipe Round-Up

December 24, 2011 by 8 Comments

2012- Another year in Germany and more delicious recipes to share!   Check back often as I’ll be adding to this list this holiday season with lots of new delicious recipes! This picture is of my family at our first Christmas Market of the season at Schloss Guteneck in Nabburg, Germany! Happy Holidays!

2011- This year, I’m spending Christmas far away from my family, but yet I still seem to be in the holiday spirit! Last weekend my daughter and I attended a “Ugly Christmas Sweater Party” where I dressed up, well… more cure than ugly. (PS… isn’t this photo great! You can’t even tell I’m 7 months pregnant! hehe)

And then this week, I created some of the most festive cupcakes I’ve ever made for Christmas! With the holiday spirit in mind… here is a round up of some of my favorite holiday recipes from my blog! Enjoy!

Cupcakes

4 Holiday Cupcakes - Coconut cake w/ Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

Gingerbread Latte Cupcakes

New Year’s Raspberry Champagne Cupcakes

Candy Cane Cupcakes

Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

Cinnamon Eggnog & Bourbon Cupcakes

Gingerbread Cupcakes

Cookies

Candy Cane Crinkle Blossoms

Candy Cane Crinkle Blossoms by JavaCupcake.com

 

Grinch Cookies

White Chocolate Candy Cane Blossoms

Lemon Blackberry Shortbread Cookies

Lemon Blackberry Shortbread Cookies by JavaCupcake

 

White Chocolate Gingerbread Blossoms

White Chocolate Dipped Cranberry Biscotti (left)

Gingerbread Biscotti (right)

Mandarin Orange & Cranberry Cookies

Chocolate Cherry Blossoms

Chocolate Crinkles

Gingerbread Men

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Breakfast

Eggnog French Toast

Frosted Peppermint Dark Chocolate Cake Donuts

White Chocolate Cranberry Muffins

Clementine Cranberry Scones

Other Desserts & Sweet Treats

Toffee & Pretzel Fudge

Easy Fudge Two Ways by JavaCupake.com

 

Peanut Butter M&M Fudge

Easy Fudge Two Ways by JavaCupake.com-2

White Chocolate Peppermint Pretzel Rods

Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Rods

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Holiday Chex Mix

Hot Cross Buns

Applesauce Bread

 

Applesauce Bread by JavaCupcake-26

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

 

Updated: December 19, 2012

Filed Under: Christmas, featured, holiday, recipe round up, seasonal

4 Holiday Cupcakes – Recipes & Decorating Tutorials

December 23, 2011 by 8 Comments

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

All they way from Germany, I’m totally feeling the holiday season!  I’ve been dreaming up all kinds of fantastic ideas for super special Christmas cupcakes… so many actually that I couldn’t choose just one!

I wanted a very white cupcake to use as a base for these cupcakes, so I went with a coconut cupcake and topped it with a coconut cream cheese frosting.  (NOTE: If I were to make these again, I would probably not use cream cheese in my frosting and stick with a straight buttercream recipe.  Cream cheese frosting tends to get really soft and the trees and snowmen will hold up better with a stiffer frosting.)

Make sure to check out the photo slideshow at the bottom with ALL the pictures of these fabulous cupcakes!

Coconut Cupcakes
Makes 18 cupcakes

Supplies:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar
3 egg whites
1 tsp coconut extract

3/4 cup AP flour
3/4 cup cake flour
1/2 TBSP baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup coconut milk

1/8 cup hot water
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line cupcake pans with liners.  (I tried to use a variety of liners to match the themes of the cupcakes I was making.)
  2. Cream together the butter and sugar.
  3. Add the egg whites and extract and mix on high for 4-5 minutes.  The batter will look like it’s turning into whipped cream, really light and fluffy.
  4. Whisk together the cake flour, AP flour, salt and baking powder.
  5. Add half the flour mixture to the butter/sugar and mix on low until just combined,  about 10 seconds.
  6. Add all the coconut milk and mix on low until just combined, about 10 seconds.
  7. Add the remaining flour and mix on low until just combined, about 10 seconds.  Note: You don’t want to over mix the flour into the batter.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix the last bit of flour by hand.
  8. Add the coconut and hot water and fold in by hand until combined.  Remember, do not over mix!
  9. Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full of batter.
  10. Bake 17-19 minutes or until cupcakes begin to turn golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
  11. Let cool in pan for 2-3 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
(This makes enough frosting to decorate all the cupcakes I made today… it’s typically enough to normally frost 2-3 dozen cupcakes)

Supplies:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 1/2 lbs powdered sugar
1 tsp coconut extract
1/4 cup (or less) coconut milk
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

  1. Cream together the butter and cream cheese.
  2. Add 1/3 of the powdered sugar and beat on high until smooth.
  3. Add the extract and mix until combined.
  4. Add 1/3 of the powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
  5. A few tbsp at a time, add the coconut milk… do not add it all here.
  6. Add the remaining 1/3 of the sugar and salt and beat in until combined.
  7. Add more coconut milk until you get your desired consistency.  Remember, this is cream cheese frosting and it gets very SOFT so you won’t need a lot of milk.
  8. Mix on high for 1 minute or until smooth.

The North Pole

Supplies:
Cupcake
White frosting
Coconut flakes
Candy cane stick
Red hot candies
North pole flags (I made these and taped them to a toothpick)
Offset small spatula/spreader

Directions:

  1. Using your offset spatula, spread a mound of white frosting on top of your cupcake.
  2. Using the palm of your hand, pat the frosting with coconut flakes, shaping it into a ball.
  3. Place a small dollop of frosting on the tip of a candy cane stick and place a red hot on top.
  4. Press candy cane stick 1/3 way into the cupcake.
  5. Place North Pole flag next to the candy cane stick.

Christmas Tree

Supplies:
Cupcake
White frosting
Shredded coconut
Green frosting
White chocolate & yellow sprinkles
Various sprinkles (to decorate tree)
Wilton 1M piping tip
2 piping/pastry bags
Offset spatula/spreader

Directions:

  1. For the star on top, I melted white chocolate, put it in a piping bag, and piped the shape of a star onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet.  I then immediately covered it in yellow sprinkles.  I put the stars in the freezer for 20 minutes to set up before place them on top of the piped tree.  Make a few extra in case they break and for variety. You could also do this to create ornament shapes (dots with colored sprinkles).
  2. Using your offset spatula, spread a small amount of white frosting on top of the cupcake, completely covering it.
  3. Using the palm of your hand, pat the frosting with coconut flakes, making a flat surface.
  4. Using the green frosting in a piping bag with the Wilton 1M tip, pipe green frosting in the shape of a tree onto the cupcake.  I used this VIDEO TUTORIAL I found on YouTube to help guide me in this.
  5. Use any kind of sprinkles to decorate your tree.  I found that the larger round dots made better ornament shapes.  Really, just use your imagination… the decorating is the fun part!

Snowman

Supplies:

Cupcake
White frosting
Pink/Red Frosting (Or any color you want for the scarf and hat)
White & Dark chocolate
Orange sprinkles
Coupler & 4 piping/pastry bags
Offset spatula

Directions:
  1. For the arms, eyes and mouth:  Melt dark chocolate, fill a piping bag and cut a small hole in the tip.  On parchment paper on a cookie sheet, pipe dots for eyes, tiny dots for a mouth, and twigs for arms.  Make sure to make a few extra of each in case they break later.  Put them in the freezer for at least 20 minutes to set up.  Check out this VIDEO TUTORIAL on how to make the arms.
  2. For the carrot nose: Melt white chocolate, fill a piping bag and cut a small hole in the tip.  On parchment paper on a cookie sheet, pipe a small dot then using the tip of the bag, drag the dot to one side creating a carrot like shape.  Immediately cover the shape in orange sprinkles.  Make sure to make a few extra of each in case they break later.  Put them in the freezer for at least 20 minutes to set up.
  3. Using your offset spatula, spread a small amount of white frosting on top of the cupcake, completely covering it.
  4. Using the palm of your hand, pat the frosting with coconut flakes, making a flat surface.
  5. To pipe the snowman, scarf and hat: I used this VIDEO TUTORIAL as a guide to pipe the snowmen.   NOTE:  Pipe the scarf onto the snowman before you pipe the head on. It looks more like it’s around the neck when you do this.  I didn’t put a tip on the coupler when I piped the head on either.  Also, I didn’t use a tip in the bag for the scarf and hat, just a small hole.  For the hat, I just piped a dollop on top of his head in a circular motion and flipped it to the side a bit as I pulled the bag away.
  6. Gently place the eyes, carrot nose and mouth onto your snowman’s face.  Press arms in gently into the 2nd snowball of your snowman.

Wreath Cupcakes

Supplies:
Cupcake
White frosting
Green frosting
Red frosting (or any color you want for the bow)
Sprinkles
Frosting/piping/pastry bag
Leaf tip

Directions:
I used the tutorial Jennifer Shea of Trophy Cupcakes in Seattle put together for the Williams-Sonoma blog.  Instead of re-writing it all, you can find that tutorial HERE to create your own Holiday Wreath cupcakes!

Filed Under: Christmas, Christmas and Holiday Cupcakes, Christmas tree, coconut, coconut cupcakes, cupcake recipes, featured, holiday, holiday wreath, North pole, snowman

Mandarin Orange & Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

December 18, 2011 by 2 Comments

I’ve got this yummy box of mandarin oranges just sitting on my counter.  I don’t know what it is… but I think my family might be all mandarin oranged out.  I think this might be our third box this season… so yeah, it was about time to do something with them before they went bad.

But what?  Oh… duh, COOKIES!  haha  It’s that time of year and I’ve been doing nothing but baking cookies lately.  So, why not mandarin orange cookies?  But hmmm…. what goes with orange in cookies… hmmmmm??? CRANBERRIES!  Oh and WHITE CHOCOLATE!

I took a basic brown sugar cookie cookie dough recipe and transformed it into a super amazing Mandarin Orange & Cranberry White Chocolate Cookie!

Now, I used fresh cranberries and fresh oranges, but I’m sure if all you had was canned or jarred that would be okay too.  I just love the idea of big chunks of fresh fruit in these cookies!

I’ve seen some with a glaze on top, but I didn’t want to hide the chunks of fruit inside of them, so I just topped them dough with sugar before baking.  I think they’re pretty much PERFECT!

Mandarin Orange & Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies
Makes about 4 dozen cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp orange extract
3 tbsp orange juice
Zest of one Mandarin orange

2 1/2 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1 cup halved fresh Mandarin orange slices (about 4 Mandarin oranges)
1 cup chopped fresh cranberries
1 cup white chocolate chips or chunks (I used a mix of both cause that’s what I had on hand)

1/4 cup sugar, for dusting

  1. Preheat your 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.
  3. Add the egg, extract, zest and orange juice.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix on high for 3-4 minutes or until the dough is light and fluffy.
  4. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
  5. Add the flour to the butter/sugar and mix on low until just combined.
  6. Fold in the halved orange slices, chopped cranberries and white chocolate.
  7. Drop 1 tbsp of dough onto the cookie sheet, 1-2 inches apart.  Do not place more than 12 on a sheet, the cookies spread and need room!
  8. Dust each mound of dough with sugar.
  9. Bake 12-14 minutes or until edges begin to brown.  Do not overbake!
  10. Remove and let cook on sheet for about 1 minute.  Remove to a wire rack to cool complete.
Filed Under: cookies, cranberries, featured, fruit, fruity cookies, mandarin orange, orange, recipes

Ooey Gooey Double Chip Surprise Cookie Bars

December 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Another group of soldiers is in need of some TLC as they ship off to Afghanistan and it’s my job to make sure they have sufficient amounts of sugar as they board the plane on the biggest adventure of their life!

This time… it’s a cookie bar with a huge surprise in the middle.  Baked in these cookie bars are two kinds of chips and a Reese’s peanut butter cup! Seriously, I wish I had extra for myself, cause they are SO YUM!

Run to your kitchen and whip up a batch of these for your kids…. they’ll thank you for it.

(PS… I didn’t feel like breaking out the big camera to take pictures…. so, you get camera phone pics!)

Double Chip Surprise Cookie Bars
Makes 12 bars

8×8 glass pan
parchment paper
non-stick cooking spray

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp milk
10oz bag + 1/4 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
12 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Lightly spray bottom of an 8x8x2 glass pan with cooking spray.  Line bottom of pan with a square piece of parchment paper.  Generously spray top of paper and sides of pan with cooking spray.  Set aside.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars.
  3. Add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat on high for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
  4. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.  In two parts, with the mixer on low, add the flour and mix until barely combined.
  5. Add the milk and mix until just incorporated.
  6. By hand, fold in the chocolate and butterscotch chips.
  7. Press half the dough into the pan.  Arrange 12 peanut butter cups evenly onto of this layer, pressing them gently into the dough.
  8. Spread evenly the remaining dough on top of the pb cups, making sure to spread into the corners.  Again, press dough gently into bottom layer.
  9. Bake in the center of your oven for 40-50 minutes or until baked through.  Do not over bake!
  10. Allow to cool completely before cutting into 12 squares.  Be patient, you want them to set up before you cut them… they will keep their shape better if cooled when cutting.
Recipe adapted from Picky Palate.
Filed Under: bars, bars, butterscotch chips, chocolate, cookies, featured, filled cookies, recipes

Dark Chocolate Brownies with Peanut Butter Sauce

November 13, 2011 by 4 Comments

I had my friend Steffen and his daughter Robin over for a visit this weekend. Steffen is an American living in Germany and his daughter is 1/2 American, 1/2 German and only knows German culture. This was Robin’s first visit to our house and I wanted to spoil her with some delicious American baking! Brownies. Seriously delicious brownies.

I asked my BFF baker friend, Carrie Fields of Fields of Cake, what recipe I should use to make such brownie and she led me to the most amazing brownie I have ever tasted. Seriously, this brownie is AH-MAH-ZING!

It’s thick, moist, chewy and so chocolately that you neeeeeeed the whipped cream and peanut butter sauce to balance out the awesomeness of the chocolate.

And let me tell you about this peanut butter sauce. OH MY GAWG. I just want to eat spoonfuls of it. And really, can’t wait to buy some ice cream to top it with. You can use this sauce on ANYTHING. SO GOOD.

So, thanks to Steffen for wanting brownies and thanks to Carrie for the recipes! I changed things up just slightly, but for the most post… the recipes are all Carries!

Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Brownies
Adapted from Fields of Cake

1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp cocoa powder
14 ounces quality dark chocolate (85%), chopped coarsely
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tsp instant espresso powder
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
5 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Butter the sides and bottom of a glass or light colored metal pan 9×13 pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, the salt, and cocoa powder and set aside.
  3. Using a large double boiler, melt together the chopped dark chocolate, cubed butter and instant espresso powder.  Stirring occasional until melted and completely combined.  Turn the heat off, but leave on the burner and keep the bowl on the double boiler.
  4. Add the sugars and whisk until combined.  Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes or until it comes to room temperature.
  5. Add three eggs, whisk just until combined.  Add the remaining two eggs and whisk only until combined.
  6. Gently stir in the vanilla.  Do not overmix the batter or the brownies will turn out cakey.
  7. Fold the flour mixture to the wet mixture just until all the flour has become wet and just combined.  Again, DO NOT OVERMIX.
  8. Pour the mixture into your buttered baking dish.  Using a tapered spatula, gently spread the batter into the corners of the pan, smoothing out the top.
  9. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs.  Rotate pan half way through baking. Do not over bake.
  10. Allow to cool in pan completely before cutting and serving.
  11. Serve with unsweetened fresh whipped cream and peanut butter sauce drizzled over the top.

Peanut Butter Sauce
Adapted from Fields of Cake

1 cup sugar
½ cup honey
½ cup water
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 tsp salt

  1. In a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat, combine the sugar, honey, water and salt with a whisk until all the sugar is dissolved.
  2. Allow to come to a boil and cook, without stirring, until the sugar turns a dark amber color.  This process can happen quickly, so watch the sugar closely so you don’t burn it.  It will start to smell like caramel when it’s done.
  3. Once it turns dark amber in color, remove immediately from the heat and whisk in the butter.
  4. Add the cream and whisk to combine.
  5. Stir in the peanut butter and whisk until combined.
  6. Taste the sauce, if it’s too sweet, add 1 tsp more of salt to cut the sweetness.
  7. Allow to come to room temperature to thicken before drizzling over brownies with fresh whipped cream.
Unsweetened Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream, very cold
1 tsp vanilla extract

  1. Place the metal bowl and whisk of your electric mixer in the freezer for 20 minutes.
  2. After they bowl and whisk are very chilled and cold, attach them to the stand mixer.
  3. Pour in the heavy whipping cream and whisk on high for 3-4 minutes.
  4. Pour in the vanilla extract.
  5. Continue to whisk on high until it becomes thick.  Do not over mix or it will deflate.
Filed Under: bars, brownies, chocolate, featured, peanut butter, recipes, syrup

White Chocolate Candy Cane Blossoms

November 11, 2011 by 6 Comments

Halloween is barely over…. Thanksgiving is still two weeks away… but this girl has CHRISTMAS on the brain!  Last weekend I made white chocolate peppermint cupcakes for the craft fair which were a HUGE HIT.  I had some left over Hershey’s Candy Cane Kiss chocolates and figured I’d come up with something delicious to make with them.

Peanut butter blossom cookies are traditionally made with a peanut butter cookie and a Hershey Kiss… but I thought, what about a white chocolate cookie and a Candy Cane Kiss?  PERFECT!

Now, I know that white chocolate liqueur might not be easy to find… so you could make these with vanilla extract and some milk instead of the liqueur.  But, if you can find the white chocolate… use it.  It’s subtle but SO YUMMO.

White Chocolate Candy Cane Blossoms
Makes 2 dozen (and a few extra) cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
3 tbsp white chocolate liqueur
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Green and red sugar crystals
1 bag of Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda.
  3. Cream together, with an electric mixer, the butter and sugar.
  4. Add the egg and beat on high for 2 minutes or until smooth and fluffy.  Scrape the sides and beat again for 1 minute.
  5. Mix in the white chocolate liqueur.
  6. Add the flour and mix on medium speed just until combined.  Scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure all the flour is incorporated.  Do not over mix.
  7. Roll 12 1-inch balls of dough in the red sugar crystals and place on cookie sheet.
  8. Roll 12 1-inch balls of dough in the green sugar crystals and place a cookie sheet.
  9. Bake one cookie sheet at a time for 8-10 minutes.
  10. Cool on pan for 1 minute then place an unwrapped Candy Cane Kiss in the center of each cookie.
  11. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Filed Under: blossoms, candy filled cookies, cookies, featured, holiday, peppermint, peppermint and mint, recipes, white chocolate

Ultimate Peanut Butter Chocolate Kiss Cookies

November 7, 2011 by 2 Comments

This weekend was HUGE for me. 270 cupcakes all by myself, plus selling them. I was EXHAUSTED by the time Sunday rolled around. I thought I wouldn’t want to bake for a week.

WRONG!

Monday rolls around and I’m back in the kitchen baking. This time, one of my favorite combos: Peanut Butter and Chocolate.

I made these soft and chewy peanut buttery chocolate kiss cookies cause ya know, they’re my favorite and I made them HUGE because well, you know… everything is better when it’s HUGE!

Ultimate Peanut Butter Chocolate Kiss Cookies
Makes 2-3 dozen JUMBO cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup peanut butter, extra crunchy
2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp vanilla extract
5 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 10oz bags HERSHEY’S mini chocolate Kisses

  1. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Cream together the butter and peanut butter.
  3. Add the sugars and beat on high until combined.
  4. Add the eggs, one at a time and mix on high for 2-3 minutes until smooth and fluffy.
  5. Beat in the corn syrup, water and vanilla extract.
  6. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.
  7. Add the flour mixture in two parts to the cookie dough, mixing only until just combined.
  8. Fold in the mini kisses.
  9. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop 8 mounds of cookie dough onto your pan.
  10. Bake for 9-10 minutes.  DO NOT OVER BAKE!  You want them to begin to turn golden on top but still be soft in the middle.
  11. Remove to a wire rack immediately to cool.
Filed Under: brown sugar, chocolate, cookies, featured, peanut butter, peanut butter and chocolate, recipes

Blood Orange Candy Corn Cupcakes

October 30, 2011 by 1 Comment

You may have read about the Graveyard cupcakes I made for the Fall Festival at my husband’s work.  Well, I also wanted to make candy corn cupcakes.  The first batch I made I knew I screwed up.  I told myself… hey, there’s citrus in these cupcakes, CHANGE THE RATIO OF BAKING POWDER.  Did I listen to myself?  No.  I also didn’t listen to myself when I KNEW I had over mixed the cupcakes when adding the food coloring.  BAD BAKER!

Are you wondering how my errors screwed up my cupcakes?  Well, to begin with they sunk in the middle.  They also overflowed the edges AND their texture was too light and crumbly for my taste.  Not a good combo for a cupcake.

So this morning I decided to have a second try at them and fixed my errors.  I omitted the baking soda and added more baking powder (this helps combat the acidity of the citrus) and I also added the coloring BEFORE I mixed in the flour.  This allowed me to fold in the flour just until combined, making the perfect cupcake consistency!

These cupcakes are “Blood Orange” Candy Corn cupcakes because I’m using flavored candy corns.  My best friend sent them to me…. Blood Orange Candy Corns.  Unfortunately, my store didnt’ have any blood oranges, so I used a naval orange.  :)   I’d suggest using an actual blood orange if you can!

Blood Orange Cupcakes
Makes 18 cupcakes

zest of 1/2 a large Blood orange (I used a Naval orange – read above)
1 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1 tsp orange extract
juice of 1/2 a large Blood orange (I used a Naval orange – read above)

2 cups cake flour
(to make cake flour, measure AP flour, remove 4 tbsp and add 4tbsp corn starch. sift together 2-3 times)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk

Yellow Gel food coloring

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line your cupcake pan with liners.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the orange zest and sugar.  Press the back of a spatula into the sugar and zest, releasing the oils from the zest into the sugar.  Keep doing this until sugar becomes fluffy and fragrant.
  3. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.  Set aside.
  4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and orange sugar.
  5. Add the eggs one at a time, scrape the sides of the bowl and beat on high for 2 minutes.
  6. Mix in the sour cream, orange extract and orange juice.
  7. Add the food coloring and mix until there are no streaks of white batter left.
  8. Fold in the flour in three parts, alternating with the milk.  Mix ONLY UNTIL JUST COMBINED.  Do not overmix!
  9. Bake for 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Orange Buttercream
12 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1.5 lbs (about 6-7 cups) powdered sugar, sifted
1/4-1/2 cup heavy cream
3-4 tbsp fresh sqeezed orange juice, strained
1 tsp orange extract
1/4 tsp salt
Orange Food Gel food coloring
Blood Orange Candy Corns
  • Cream the butter.
  • One cup at a time, add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth.  Between each of addition, add the orange juice and extract.
  • Once all the sugar has been added, add the heavy cream until you get your desired consistency.
  • Add the salt and mix until combined.  Remember to scrape the sides of the bowl.
  • Remove 1/3 of the white frosting.
  • Add orange gel food coloring to remaining 2/3 of the frosting and mix until no more white streaks are left.
Assembly
  1. Pipe a large swirl of orange frosting on top of the cupcake.
  2. Place a small dollop of white frosting in the center of the orange frosting.
  3. Garnish with a Blood Orange Candy Corn.
Filed Under: cupcake recipes, decorating ideas, featured, frosting and icing, fruit frosting, fruity cupcakes, orange, recipes, seasonal, seasonal and holiday cupcakes

Graveyard Cupcakes

October 29, 2011 by 4 Comments

Today is the Fall Festival for my husband’s Battalion here in Germany.  I am also an FRG Leader for one of the companies in the BN so I had a huge part in planning the festivities for today!  One of the events is a Bake Off (my idea, of course!  hehe)!  I wanted to make something that was not only delicious, but spooky and on theme for Halloween!

I decided to make an Oreo cupcake and decorate it like a graveyard as well as an orange flavored candy corn cupcake! I know that candy corn typically isn’t orange in flavor, but my friend Sarah sent me a package of blood orange candy corns… so this works out perfectly!

For the Graveyard cupcakes I made this oreo cupcake… it’s a favorite recipe of mine that works out perfectly every time I make it!   Instead of a cream cheese frosting like the recipe calls for… I used a standard buttercream and added oreos.  I made 1.5x the amount I’d normally make for a dozen cupcakes, just to make sure I had enough frosting.  Here’s that recipe:

Oreo Buttercream
12 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 lb powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
10 Oreos, chopped
1/4 tsp salt

  1. Beat the butter until smooth.
  2. Slowly add the powdered sugar, alternating with a small amount of cream at a time, and beat until smooth and creamy.
  3. Mix in the vanilla.
  4. Add the chopped Oreos and mix on high for 2 minutes or until all the big chunks of Oreo are gone.
  5. Add more cream until you get your desired consistency.  You may not need all the cream.
  6. Mix in the salt until well combined.
Assembly of the Graveyard cupcakes is really a quite simple process.
Here’s what you’ll need:
6 Milano chocolate cookies, halved
Wilton Foodwriters pen
10 Crushed Oreo cookies (just the cookie, not the cream)
  1. Top the cupcakes with a generous mound of frosting.
  2. In a medium bowl, dump the cookie crumbs.  Turn your frosted cupcake upside down and dip it into the cookie crumbs.  You’ll want to put some pressure into the crumbs so that the cookies coat the entire top of the cupcake and frosting.  Roll the sides too if needed.
  3. Using the palm of your hand, pat the cookie crumbs until they form a nice round mound, like a grave.
  4. Using the food pen, write any spooky phrase you want on the cookie halves.  I wrote RIP. Place each cookie into the frosting.
  5. You could also put hands or bones, maybe gummy worms or other spooky creatures in your grave… really, the possibilities are endless!
Filed Under: buttercream, chocolate, cookie cupcakes, cooking icing, cupcake recipes, decorating ideas, featured, frosting and icing, halloween, holiday, recipes, seasonal, tips & tricks

Pumpkin & Chocolate Bundt Cake with a Cinnamon Glaze

October 27, 2011 by 6 Comments

I’ve never owned a bundt pan before. I know, hard to believe. But, it’s true. This week, I was going to borrow one from a friend to make a cake for a Bake Off, but then saw one for only €7 at Rewe here in Graf and snatched it up.

So for my first bundt cake… I decided on a chocolate and pumpkin combo. I figured it would be best to be safe and instead of doing two batters and making it marbled, I would make one batter with chocolate and pumpkin together.

For the glaze, I spent all morning pondering it… Do I make a vanilla & cinnamon glaze for a more dramatic effect or a thick chocolate ganache for flavor and texture? I’m leaning toward the chocolate because really, you can’t go wrong with chocolate. I guess we’ll know which one I decided on by the end of this blog! HA!

The cake batter is a little unorthodox in it’s ingredients, but trust me the cake will be AMAZINGLY delicious!  It’s super dense, moist and the pumpkin flavor is just enough to add some spice to the cake.  It leaves you wondering… mmmm, what is that?

Pumpkin & Chocolate Cake
1 3/4 cup minus 1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp corn starch

1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp espresso powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground gloves
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, room temperature
1 large egg white, room temperature

1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 tbsp vanilla extract

  1. Preheat oven to 350 f degrees.  Grease the inside of your large, deep bundt pan.
  2. Sift together the flour and corn starch in a large bowl.
  3. Add the granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, espresso powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt.  Whisk until well combined.
  4. In another large bowl, mix together with an electric mixer the buttermilk, pumpkin puree, and brown sugar.
  5. Mix in the eggs one at a time.
  6. Add the canola oil, corn syrup and vanilla and mix until combined.
  7. Gradually add the flour to the wet mixture.  Fold in the flour mixture until just combined.  Do not over mix.
  8. Pour batter into bundt pan.  Pound pan on the counter 2-3 times to help the batter settle and to get any air bubbles out.
  9. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a long skewer/stick comes out with no wet batter or just a few crumbs.   You may want to rotate your pan after at least 40 minutes cooking to ensure even baking.
  10. Allow to cool in pan for 20 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely, about 2 hours.
  11. Drizzle glaze over the top allowing it to drip down the sides.
  12. Top with mini chocolate chips.
  13. Cut into slices and enjoy!
Cinnamon & Sugar Glaze
1/2 cup packed powdered sugar, sifted
1 tbsp buttermilk
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup packed powdered sugar, sifted
1 tbsp buttermilk
mini chocolate chips
  1. In a small bowl, mix together the powdered sugar, buttermilk and cinnamon.
  2. In another small bowl, mix together the powdered sugar and buttermilk.
  3. Drizzle the cinnamon glaze over the bundt cake, allowing it to drip down the sides.
  4. Drizzle the sugar glaze over the cinnamon glaze, making sure it drizzles between the cinnamon glaze drizzles…. creating a contrast in colors.
  5. Top with mini chocolate chips.
  6. Allow the glaze to set before cutting &  serving.
  7. Enjoy!
Filed Under: bundt cake, cake, chocolate, featured, pumpkin, recipes

Fall Recipe Round-up

October 21, 2011 by 1 Comment

Updated: November 2012

I’ve made a ton of yummy desserts and baked goods that are perfect for Fall over the years… so I thought I’d put them all together in one place!

Enjoy!

Caramel Apple Cupcakes w/ decorating tutorial

 

Cupcakes

Black Velvet Pumpkin Cupcakes w/ Tutorial

Bread/Muffins/Donuts/Scones
Filed Under: featured, holiday, recipes, seasonal, tips & tricks

Chocolate & Banana Cupcakes with PB Buttercream

October 16, 2011 by 9 Comments

I’ve been dying to make peanut butter frosting for a while now.  I was waiting for a reason to make these, but then decided I needed no reason and just whipped some up.  I love this recipe because it’s a one bowl batter.  My FAVORITE kind.

Now, I wanted to make these really strong in banana flavor, so I used banana extract and did not add the typical spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc).  If you wanted to turn these into a muffin, I’d suggest adding a few spices, using a bit of brown sugar instead of white and creating a crumble for the top.  But, since I’m topping these with a peanut butter frosting, I really wanted a strong banana flavor not to be overwhelmed by the frosting.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
Makes 18 cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
4 ripe medium bananas, smashed
2 large eggs
1/2 tbsp banana extract
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line cupcake pan with liners.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  3. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add in the melted butter, bananas,  eggs, banana extract and sour cream.  Mix together with a whisk about 10 strokes.
  4. Add the chocolate chips. Switch to a spatula, scrape the sides of the bowl and mix another 10 strokes.
  5. Fill liners 2/3-3/4 full with batter.
  6. Bake 22-24 minutes or until tops of cupcakes are golden brown.
  7. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Peanut Butter Frosting
Makes enough to frost 18 cupcakes

12 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup peanut butter, heaping
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/3 cup milk or heavy cream
pinch of salt (optional)

melted chocolate
banana slices

  1. Cream the butter until smooth.  Add the peanut butter and cream together on high until smooth.
  2. 1/2 cup at a time, beat in the powdered sugar.  In between sugar additions, add 1-2 tbsp milk.  You may not need all the milk, but you will use all the sugar.  (I used the heavy whipping cream and only used about half of the 1/3 of a cup I poured out.)
  3. Add the pinch of salt and mix together until smooth and fluffy.  (The salt is added to cut the sweetness, if you like a super sweet frosting, omit the salt.)
  4. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes.
  5. Drizzle melted chocolate over frosting and garnish with a fresh banana slice.
Filed Under: banana, buttercream, buttercream, cupcake recipes, featured, frosting and icing, fruity cupcakes, peanut butter, peanut butter frosting, recipes

Apple Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

September 14, 2011 by 14 Comments

I had the pleasure of getting 11 apples from a new friend here in Germany that came from her parents apple trees in Schweinfurt, Germany.  I can’t say that I’ve ever tried an apple from Germany so this was a real treat.  The apples she gave me were crisp and slightly tart, but full of great flavor!

Everyone told me I should make an apple pie with the apples, but I really wasn’t in the mood for pie.  So, I surfed the internet for inspiration and saw a pull apart bread baked with diced apples and tons of cinnamon and brown sugar.  I’ve always wanted to try a pull apart bread so I thought this would be the perfect time to start.

The recipe I got my inspiration from came from Flour Me With Love.  It’s got a great photo tutorial that I followed to put together the dough and bread.  I changed up the ingredients just slightly and of course added my own flair to it. :) I liked this recipe a lot because I didn’t have to wait for the bread to rise. I just made the dough, rolled and cut it and into the oven it went! :)

Apple Filling:
6 apples, peeled & diced (I used my apple peeler, corer, slicer then cut into pieces. This worked great!)
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3-4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tbsp nutmeg
pinch of ginger
1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp warm water

  1. Peel, core and dice your apples.  Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over them.
  2. In a large pan, combine the butter, apples, sugar, vanilla and spices.
  3. Mix the corn starch and water together then add to the mixture.
  4. Bring to a light boil and cook for 3-4 minutes,
  5. Reduce heat and simmer for an additional 2-3 minutes,  continually stirring.
  6. Set aside to cool and thicken.

Dough:
3 cups flour (plus more for work surface and kneading)
1 package yeast
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup water
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Grease and flour a 9×5 loaf pan.
  2. In a small sauce pan, bring the milk to a simmer… just until bubbling.  Remove from heat and add the butter, stirring until melted.  Set aside.
  3. In the bowl of your stand mixer with the hook attachment, whisk together the flour, yeast, salt and brown sugar.
  4. Add in the water, egg and milk/butter mixture.
  5. Turn on your mixer to medium speed and mix until a ball forms.  My dough wasn’t coming together, so I added another 1/4 cup of flour to help it come together.
  6. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a well floured surface.
  7. Knead for 5 minutes adding more flour to keep the dough from getting sticky or sticking to your hands or counter.
  8. Roll out into a large rectangle (or the best you can do), about 1/4 inch thick.
  9. Spread 2 tbsp butter over the dough then spread the apple mixture over it evenly.  Reserve about 1/4 cup of apple mixture.
  10. Using a pizza cutter.  Cut about 4×5 inch pieces of dough.  Stack them into piles of three pieces.  Don’t worry if sizes aren’t exactly the same, just do your best to stack like sizes together.  If you have odd sizes, just add them to the tops of your piles of three.
  11. Hold your baking pan on it’s end.  Stack your pieces into the pan.  Set the pan down and spread the pieces out so they fill the entire pan.
  12. Use the reserved 1/4 cup apples to spread on top.
  13. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until golden brown.  If the apples on top start to brown or burn, cover the loaf with foil.
  14. Let cool in pan for about about 30 minutes, there may still be some raw dough in the middle, but don’t worry!
  15.  Run a butter knife along the edges of the pan to help it come out.
  16. Glaze and enjoy!

Glaze:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
3 tsp milk

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the powered sugar and cinnamon.
  2. Add the vanilla, butter and milk and mix until you get a smooth consistency.
  3. Pour over slightly cooled bread.  Allow to set up before cutting into the bread.
Filed Under: apple, bread and pretzels, cinnamon, featured, fruit, recipes

3 easy steps to core & fill cupcakes

September 10, 2011 by 1 Comment

Recently, I made Caramel Apple cupcakes where I needed to core and fill both mini and regular size cupcakes. I realized how simple the process was and decided to take a few pictures so I could share the process with you.

Mini Cupcakes

Tools: 
Apple corer
Piping bag

3 Steps:

-Press the apple corer into the center of the mini cupcake.  Twist gently and pull out the center piece of cake.
-Fill a piping bag with your mixture, cut off the tip so you have about a 1cm opening.
-Pipe the mixture into the cupcake just until it reaches the top.

Standard Cupcakes

Tools: 
Sharp knife
Mini ice cream scoop

3 Steps:
-Using a sharp knife, cut a cone out of the center of each cupcake.  Make sure the knife goes almost to the bottom of the cupcake when cutting the cone.  Trim off the bottom of the cone so what you have left is a flat top.
-Using the mini ice cream scoop, scoop a dollop of filling into each cupcake until it’s full.
-Replace the flat top of cake back on top of the filling and press down until it’s flat.

Filed Under: featured, filled cupcakes, tips & tricks

Shirley Temple Mini Cupcakes

August 17, 2011 by 12 Comments

Hola friends! :) A few weeks ago I came across Shirley Temple cupcakes from The Curvy Carrot and I knew I haaaaad to make them!  I decided to go the mini route, just because they’re so cute, especially with a little cherry on top, but either way-they’ll be a big hit!

[Read more...]

Filed Under: almond extract, buttercream, buttercream, cherry, cupcake recipes, featured, frosting and icing, fruity cupcakes, mini, posts by jenn, recipes