Confession #2:  I HOARD baking supplies.  This is a new thing for me.  Since moving to Germany, the luxuries of American grocery stores, having everything I need, at my disposal, all of the time is not a reality here.  When I see something at my local military commissary, I buy it… in bulk.

Confession #3:  I think “blossoms” may be becoming my favorite holiday cookie.  I have discovered two new ways of making them other than the traditional peanut butter with chocolate on top.  First, was my White Chocolate with Peppermint Kiss Blossoms and now these.  Gingerbread blossoms topped with white chocolate chips.

Confession #4: I’ve come to the realization that I’m not going to make it though the Holiday season without gaining 10lbs just from cookies.  It’s okay though, I’ll blame it on the pregnancy.

White Chocolate topped Gingerbread Blossoms
Makes 3 dozen+ cookies

3/4 cup (12 tbsp or 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup full flavor molasses
1 tbsp bourbon whiskey (you can substitute vanilla if you don’t have bourbon)
2 tbsp milk

3 cups flour
1 tbsp ground ginger (fresh if possible)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg (fresh if possible)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup sugar
1 cup white chocolate chips

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and baking soda.  Set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar for about 2 minutes.
3. Add the egg to the sugar/butter and cream for another 2 minutes.  Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl.
4. Slowly pour in molasses and bourbon then beat until combined.
5. In three parts, add the flour mixture.  Scrape the sides of the bowl between each addition.  Mix just until combined.
6. Add the milk and mix only until incorporated.
7. Scrape the sides of the bowl and pat the dough into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour to firm.  If you have time, you can put the dough into the refrigerator 8 hours or overnight.
8. When ready to bake your cookies, line cookie sheet with parchment paper and pre-heat your oven to 350 F degrees.
9. Scoop 1-inch balls of dough using an ice cream scoop and form them into a ball using your hands.  Roll them in the sugar then place 2 inches apart on your lined cookie sheet.
10. Bake 8-10 minutes or until the edges begin to brown.  Do not over bake!
11. Immediately press your thumb into the top of each cookie.  Drop 6 white chocolate chips into the well you just created then remove cookies to a wire rack.
12. After chocolate begins to melt, use a toothpick to swirl the chocolate together into a pretty swirl.
13. Cool completely and store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Recipe adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

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.

Seriously, if you love chocolate… then this cupcake should satisfy every chocolate craving you will ever have.

The first dozen I made, I also topped them white a swirl of white chocolate.  But… my chocolate wasn’t behaving for me, so I only did a dozen with the white chocolate.  It really looked awesome with the white on top… but my patience was running out by the time I got to the second and third dozen.  :)

These cupcakes are pretty labor intense and cost a little extra because of all the chocolate, but the presentation is gorgeous and they really are heavenly.

Enjoy!

White Chocolate Cake
Makes 12+ cupcakes

1 ½ cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 egg whites
1 tsp clear vanilla extract

3.5 oz white bakers chocolate, melted

¼ cup milk
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup hot water

Milk Chocolate Cake
Makes 12+ cupcakes
1 ½ cups cake flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 egg whites
1 tsp clear vanilla extract

3.5 oz milk chocolate, melted

¼ cup milk
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup hot water

Use the same directions below to make both batters.

1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In a measuring cup that pours, mix together the milk and sour cream.
4. Using a double boiler on medium-high heat. Melt the chocolate. Set aside to cool.
5. In the meantime, using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar.
6. Add the egg whites one at a time and mix until incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
7. Mix in the vanilla.
8. On medium, slowly pour the chocolate into the egg/sugar/butter mixture. Scrape the sides and mix until completely combined.
9. Add the flour and milk/sour cream alternating, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix only until combined.
10. Add the hot water and mix just until incorporated.
11. STOP. Make the 2nd batter. When that is completed, continue to the next step.
12. Scoop a heaping tablespoon of white chocolate batter into one side of the liner. Scoop the same amount of chocolate batter next to it in the liner.
13. Pound the cupcake pan flat on the counter 2-3 times to help the batter settle. Using a toothpick, swirl the two batters together 3-4 times. Do not over swirl, you don’t want to mix the two together, just create a marble effect.
14. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
15. Cool in pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
16. After the cupcakes have completely cooled, core each cupcake and fill with the chocolate ganache. Top with the dark chocolate frosting and a shaving of white chocolate (optional).

1. Combine all ingredients in a microwaves safe bowl.
2. Microwave in 30 second spurts and stir until 85% of the chocolate has melted.
3. Remove from the microwave and stir until all the chocolate has melted.
4. Let cool for 5-7 minutes to thicken.
5. Spoon into cored cupcakes.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz package of cream cheese

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 lb powdered sugar, sifted into the cocoa powder

1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted into the powdered sugar

8oz dark bakers chocolate, melted

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup sour cream, heaping

1-2 tbsp milk

1. Melt the chocolate and set aside to cool.
2. In the mean time, cream together the cream cheese and butter.
3. Add sifted cocoa powder and powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
4. Add the vanilla and mix until combined.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix again.
5. In a slow stream with the mixer on medium, pour in the melted chocolate.  Mix until combined.
6. Add the sour cream and beat into submission.  :)
7. Add the milk until you get your desired consistency.
8. Frost cupcakes immediately.

So last night, I put together a trial run of a new flavor and recipe of cupcakes.  White chocolate strawberry. I figured the cupcake recipe itself would be just fine… it was a variation of a cupcake I had made before.  But, this time I tried baking a strawberry in the middle.  Not a good idea.  It affected the structre of the cupcake and they sunk in the middle.  Next time, I core the middle and fill after baking.

So the cupcakes were a little sunk in the middle, but HOLY COW they tasted DELICIOUS.  I whip up some extra strawberry filling and decide I’ll plug those holes with this strawberry goodness.  Yum.

On to the frosting.  White chocolate whipped cream.  Double yum.  I steep the milk with a vanilla bean, get it nice and warm then melt in the chocolate.  Just like the recipe said.  Ok… on to cooling.  Pop it in the freezer to speed up the process, it was late and I wasn’t in the mood for patience.  I think it’s sufficiently cold and start to whip it in my mixer with the whisk attachment.

2 minutes later… epic failure.  It looked as though the chocolate was separating from the cream.  I’m no expert, so I have no ideawhat was going wrong.  Maybe it really wasn’t cold enough.  Who knows.  Maybe I should have added the melted chocolate after I started whipping the cream?   I don’t know.  Ugh.

I put the filled, unfrosted cupcakes in my Martha Stewart cupcake case, lock closed the lid, clean up the kitchen a little bit and go to bed feeling defeated.

A few hours into sleep, I hear a crash out in the living room.  I figured the cats had knocked

something over but was too tired to care to get up and look.  This morning when I wake up, my husband informs me as I take my first steps into the living room that I’m not going to be happy because the cats knocked my case of cuppies on the floor, smushing them.

*sigh*

I knew it was my cupcakes last night when I heard that horrific crash.  I just knew it.   I was angry but really… what could I do?  They were cats, not people.  I could yell and scream all I wanted but I’m sure they’d do it again… in a heartbeat.

So now, my cupcakes sit in their case damaged beyond any repair I could possibly imagine.  Seriously, if I could, I’d probably still eat every last one of them though.  The white chocolate cake with the strawberry is OUT OF THIS WORLD.

I’ll try these again soon… I want them perfected by Valentine’s Day, just not today… or tomorrow… or the next day.

Lessons Learned:

• Don’t bake with the cats in the house.  Lock them up in the back room until I’m done… and when I say done I mean every last cupcake is gone and the kitchen is back to being spotless.
• Don’t try to skip steps when making filled cupcakes.  Baking a whole strawberry in the middle of a cupcake equals sunken cupcakes due to loss of structure.  Bake cupcakes, core centers and then fill.
• When a recipe says to cool something before mixing it.  Don’t try to cut corners.  Allow yourself enough time to actually cool it before moving on to the next step.

White Chocolate Peppermint Pretzel Rods

1 bag store bought pretzel rods
1 bag Nestle white chocolate morsels
1 box candy canes, crushed
Parchment paper

1. Melt chocolate in a heat-safe tall cup. (Microwave on 70% in 20 second increments, stirring, until 80% of chips are melted.  Stir until completely melted)
2. Dip pretzel rod into melted chocolate, covering 2/3.  Shake off excess chocolate.
3. Before setting it down, sprinkle crushed peppermints on all sides of the melted chocolate.
4. Set on parchment paper to harden.

Milk Chocolate Pretzel Rods

1 bag store bought pretzel rods
1 bag Nestle milk chocolate morsels
white chocolate & nonpareils for garnish
parchment paper

1. Melt chocolate in a heat-safe tall cup. (Microwave on 70% in 20 second increments, stirring, until 80% of chips are melted.  Stir until completely melted)
2. Dip pretzel rod into melted chocolate, covering 2/3.  Shake off excess chocolate.
3. Before setting it down, sprinkle nonpareils on all sides of the melted chocolate.
4. Set on parchment paper to harden.
5. For white chocolate drizzle, after dipping, set pretzel stick down on parchment paper and let harden for 5 minutes.  Put a couple spoon fulls of melted white chocolate into a ziploc bag and cut the corner.  In a back and forth pattern, pipe the white chocolate onto the milk chocolate.
6. The milk chocolate hardens slower, so if you need to packages these up right away, put them in the freezer for 10 minutes and they will harden!

Courtney’s Trifle Cupcakes

Chocolate Dessert Cups:

12 oz semi-sweet chocolate

1 bag white chocolate

Muffin Cups

Muffin Pan

Pastry brush (silicon works well)

• Line muffin pan with muffin cups.
• Melt chocolates separately over a double boiler. Once the chocolate is melted brush the chocolate inside the cups making sure to get the sides and bottom.
• Freeze for about 20 minutes, then you can peel the liner off. Easy peasy I promise
• When all the cups are separated I like to put the chocolate cups in a fresh muffin cup and place in the refrigerator.

Now for the Trifle, or my take on a trifle

Cake

Bake a batch of chocolate cupcakes, cake, anything you don’t mind crumbling up! I made cupcakes so I’d have leftover to bring of those as well. I made chocolate, chocolate chip cupcakes

While the cupcakes are baking start the “mousse”. I hate real mousse, but some like it.. For me the taste is too strong, so I made a “faux mousse”

Mousse:

I used 2 packages of the smaller size chocolate pudding

2 cups Milk

2 cups heavy cream

• Whip until pudding consistency and refrigerate.

On to the whip cream

Wilton’s Stabilized Whip Cream:

Credit – Recipezaar

1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin

4 teaspoons cold water

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

• In small pan add gelatin and cold water and let stand until thick.
• Once its thick place over low heat and stir constantly until the gelatin is dissolved, then removed from heat and allow cooling, but not getting thick.
• Meanwhile whip the cream and powdered sugar until a little thicker in texture.
• On low speed add the cooled gelatin, then whip at high speed until you see whip cream.

Assemble:

Take the unfilled dessert cups out of the refrigerator. Fill a pipping bag (any tip) and pipe mousse into the cups.

Take the cupcakes…

And chop ‘em up! I didn’t use the tops.

I wanted the softer texture of the cupcakes.

Take the pieces…

Lightly crumble them into the cups.

Cover with more mousse (I switched the tip)

Then do a little star with whip cream…

Hey, wait… what about all the leftover cupcakes and whip cream? I didn’t forget