Springtime with PEEP Push Pops!

I know I promised that I was going to blog as much as possible for my New Years Resolution but I have been forced to take a mini break from baking by my husband! We are trying to save as much as possible to buy a house and my baking addiction was beginning to add up so i decided to calm down for a little bit but not before i made the CUTEST push pop mini cupcakes ever (remember when you were a kid and loved those Flinstone Push Up Ice Creams? These are the cupcake version of those)!!!

Lately I've been seeing so many awesome push pop cupcakes and have been dying to try them myself. The only thing that has stopped me from doing these sooner is that I cannot find the push pop containers ANYWHERE!! Maybe it's just where I live but the only place I have been able to find them is online and that means i have to pay for shipping which is no bueno! Well, my excitement won out over the cost and i finally ordered some. I knew that since these were going to be a special occasion (as cute as they are, they are pretty costly) I was going to have to pull out all the stops and make something super cute. After browsing the Internet for inspiration I stumbled across a blog called Love From The Over that had some Easter themed push pops with Peeps and I knew that's what I was going to do. Yes, I admit it, i copied this blogger but just wait until you see the pics and you will understand why...

In order to fit inside the container I needed to make mini cupcakes. In all of my baking I never have actually made minis so this was a first for me. I know its nothing different from regular cupcakes besides size but I was excited to do something new.  To go along with the Springtime/Easter theme I colored my cupcake batter a bright green. While the cupcakes were baking it was time to decapitate my Peeps. Yes, you read that correctly; i only needed their heads. But before you feel too bad for the poor little bunnies, my mom is a Peep fanatic and saved the bunny bottoms!

Once baked, I peeled off all the wrappers since they were going to be stacked in the push pop containers. I suppose I could have baked them without wrappers but I was too nervous that the cakes wouldn't come out of the tin. I separated my frosting into 3 and colored them bright pink, bright blue, and bright yellow. In each container I stacked 2 minis, alternating with different colored frosting and topped off with a Peep bunny head! It was pretty easy to get the hang of and didn't take too much time at all. The end product was adorable if i do say so myself!

Of course, I took them to work and gave them to all my coworkers!

I had some left over minis and Peep heads so I put them together for my step-dad to take to work :)

Cake Pops, Bite Sized Goodies!

Would you look at that! It's only the 7th and I already have 3 posts for the month. Looks like I am sticking to my New Year's resolution to bake and post more often :)

Anyways, last nigh was Tuesday night which meant Mike's weekly poker night aka I'm bored and have nothing to do night. Earlier in the day I was thinking about baking something but didn't want to commit to anything intensely time consuming since I have been pretty tired lately. That's when cake pops popped (haha, no pun intended) into my mind. I was still debating on whether or not I really wanted to bake anything when Jen (you'll remember Jen, my new sous chef) said she'd come over and help me, so it was decided for me!

In case you are one of the few people left in the world that doesn't know what a cake pop is, have no fear for it is the simplest thing ever! A cake pop is a little cake ball on a stick (i told you it was simple). Essentially you bake a cake, crumble it up and mix with frosting. Then form little balls (you can make crazy shapes but we'll get to that in another post), push a stick in and dip it in melted chocolate. That's it!

As a disclaimer, I know in the past I have voiced my strong objections to boxed cake mixes and canned frosting but I must say that when it comes to cake pops I go with the pre-made stuff. You're just going to mush it all up anyways so whats the point... 

Here's what you need

Cake mix - I used Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme

Frosting - I used Duncan Hines Creamy Home Style Cream Cheese

Popsicle Sticks

Melting Chocolates in assorted colors - I used pink, purple, and dark chocolate 

Styrofoam block (optional but necessary if you want to keep your cake balls round, otherwise they'll be flat on top)

I have previously gone over the steps to make cake pops in an earlier post so i won't bore you all with that again but I will say that while making cake pops isn't necessarily the hardest thing to do, it can be labor intensive and it's probably going to take a few tries to master a system that will work for you. 

Here is what I learned this time around:

1. Add a teaspoon of vegetable oil to the chocolates as you melt them. It will make the consistency of the chocolate slightly thinner and perfect for coating the cake balls. I also found that it helped keep the chocolate from thickening up again quite as quickly.

2. To get a smooth coat of chocolate that looks seamless, first dip the cake pop straight down into the chocolate about halfway and quickly pull it back out. Then, while holding the cake pop at an upright angle, spoon chocolate on the rest of the cake pop and slowly spin the it to allow the chocolate to coat the entire cake ball.

Remember my sous chef, Jen? She's back!!

You can decorate the cake pops any way that you'd like but we decided to splash chocolate in different colors for a fun, messy look.

These cake pops were soooo good! I took 27 of them into work today (I think only 10/11 people were working) and all but 4 were gone by the end of the day. Remember the coworker that once said to me "OK, freakin' yum!"? This time she came out of the break room and said "that was a party in my mouth!", LOL. If ever i feel self conscious about my baking I just need to take my treats into work because they always praise my baking and make me feel awesome!

Cookie Dough, Anyone?

My friend, Michelle, recently told me about a blog that I am now obsessed with: MyBakingAddiction.com. Not only does this blog have an amazing list of recipes to try (Nutella, Chambord, and Heath Bar cupcakes!!) but it also has a handy section with great tips (ever needed to know how to skin a hazelnut or the correct way to measure out flour??) Anyways, I spotted a mouthwatering cupcake that I had to try first: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes. Essentially, its a chocolate cupcake with a cookie dough center (yummy!!) topped with sweet buttercream frosting and cookie. Sounds like heaven, right?

The original recipe calls for pre-made cookie dough and a store bought package of devils food cake mix. While I have no problem with the semi-homemade Sandra Lee style, i didn't want to do that because that, in my opinion, defeats the purpose of what I'm doing. I love to bake and find it almost therapeutic. At the same time, I love that by baking everything from scratch I am finding awesome recipes and learning new tricks of the trade. Granted, sometimes my recipes fail but that too is knowledge that I find invaluable. So, I decided that I would compromise by using a store bought tub of Nestle's Toll House cookie dough but make my own devil's food cake cupcakes with a recipe from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.

Once I finished baking them, I posted 2 pictures on Facebook and within seconds, literally, I had several thumbs ups and comments pleading that I bring them into work the next day (which was my plan all along). I even got a text message from my sister-in-law requesting that I save one for her. That is what I enjoy about baking!

Just look at that yummy cookie center!!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes
recipe adapted from MyBakingAddiction.com


For the cupcakes
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup hot water
3 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp course salt
1 1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 1/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream

For the frosting
3 sticks unsalted butter
pinch of salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 lbs powdered sugar
4-6 tbsp heavy cream

For the garnish
1 tub of Nestle's Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Mini Chocolate Chips

1. First, bake small cookies that will be used for the garnish using approximately 1 tsp sized ball of dough.


2. Once the cookies are cooling, preheat oven to 350F and line cupcake tin with liners. Whisk together cocoa powder and hot water until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.


3. Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled, 4 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture, and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, and beating until just combined after each.


4. Spoon a small amount of batter into lined cups. Then drop a ball of cookie dough into the center of each liner. Divide remaining batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three- quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 15 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.


5. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Slowly add in powdered sugar and continue creaming until well blended.


6. Add salt, vanilla and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add additional tablespoons of heavy cream until the desired consistency is reached. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.


7. Frost cupcakes with desired piping tip, then sprinkle with mini chocolate chips (do this immediately before the frosting forms a hard outer layer). Finish by placing cookie on top of each cupcake.

Mudslide!!

Over a year ago a group of my friends and I decided to start a book club. The idea was simple: we'd get to read books that we otherwise wouldn't have read and it would be an good excuse to get together and hang out (and of course drink).  That's right, I said drink. My friends and I can drink with the best of them. So when it was time to meet up for our most recent book club meeting I thought it was appropriate to make some boozy cupcakes, yet again. 

As I was looking through one of my favorite blogs, The Cupcake Project, I saw a recipe for pumpkin mudslide cupcakes and was intrigued. I still want to make them, but a couple people said they though the mixture of pumpkin and mudslide sounded weird so I decided to make a regular mudslide cupcake with a Kahlua cream cheese frosting. A few months ago I made a White Russian cupcake and was really disappointed with the result because I could hardly taste any of the alcohol flavor which sort of is the point in a White Russian cupcake. So this time, i decided I was going to amp up the alcohol factor... 

Another fun fact, I finally got to use the whisk attachment on my Kitchen Aid Mixer Stand! As a result, the cupcakes turned out super light and fluffy and rose perfectly. In fact, a coworker of mine declared these cupcakes were the best she'd ever had in terms of the cake consistency.

The recipe I found for the mudslide cupcakes called for a Kahlua buttercream but I love cream cheese frostings so much more so I decided to switch it up and the end result was delicious! The cakes had a hint of the mudslide alcohol flavor. Nothing too strong, but it was definitely there. The frosting was not too overly sweet and had a great Kahlua flavor. Together, the cupcake and frosting tasted like I was drinking a mudslide! 

This is what SUCCESS looks like!! And one last happy picture of a happy baker...

Mudslide Cupcakes

recipe adapted from HandleTheHeat.com

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup coffee, room temperature

1/2 cup Kahlua

1/2 cup Bailey's Irish Cream

3 large eggs, separated

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup light brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with liners.

2. Whisk together the flour, cocoa, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Combine the coffee, Kahlua and Bailey's in a liquid measuring cup.

3. Add the egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-low speed until foamy. With the mixer still running, gradually add the granulated sugar. Once incorporated, increase the mixer to medium-high speed and continue beating until stiff peaks form. The egg whites should be glossy, not dry.

4. Transfer the egg whites to another bowl and clean our the mixer bowl (or use a second bowl, or use a hand-held electric mixer). With the paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time. With the mixer on low speed, alternatively add the flour and the coffee-Kahlua mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Use a rubber spatula to fold in egg whites.

5. Divide batter evenly between cupcake pans, filling each about 2/3 - 3/4 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the cupcakes spring back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cupcakes cool for 5 minutes then remove to rack to cool completely. 

Kahlua Cream Cheese Frosting

recipe adapted from LovinTheOven.com

Ingredients

5 oz cream cheese

6 tbsp unsalted butter

3 tbsp Kahlua

16 oz powdered sugar

1. Cream together cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Mix in Kahlua, then powdered sugar in one cup increments until frosting reaches desired consistency.

Tiramisu cupcakes and Jello Shots!

Unfortunately, working for a bank means rarely having a 2 day consecutive weekend and being married to a fellow banker means its pretty much unlikely that we can both get the same weekends off to plan a "weekend getaway". So when Mike and I get those rare opportunities to both have a 3 day holiday weekend off we make plans! That was the case this past weekend for Presidents Day. Mike and I drove out to Arizona to visit our friends, Chris and Michelle. Like me, Michelle loves cupcakes so it should be no surprise that on top of hanging out and having fun we BAKED SOME CUPCAKES!

That's right, we made cupcakes. But not just any old cupcakes, tiramisu cupcakes. If you haven't ever had tiramisu or don't know what it is then i suggest you RUN to your nearest store and buy some now! Hahaha. All jokes aside, I love tiramisu. Its an Italian cake dessert. Basically, it's made of ladyfingers soaked in coffee and liquor, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks and mascarpone and dusted with cocoa powder. Obviously we were going to have to tweak the design a little to make in a cupcake form but the end result was AMAZING. Keep in mind that I don't typically declare my own cupcakes to be "amazing" simply because I am always very critical of what I bake and am pretty sure I can always improve in some aspect. With that said, I still believe these cupcakes were AMAZING!!!

What You'll Need


Tiramisu Cupcakes
recipe adapted from The Cupcake Project's Tiramisu Cupcakes

6 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 lb mascarpone cheese
1 cup strong brewed coffee, room temperature
2 tbsp rum
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbsp butter
dark chocolate (to make chocolate curls, optional)
ladyfingers baked in cupcake wrappers (see recipe below)

Homemade Ladyfingers
2 eggs, separated
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder


1. First things first, brew 1 cup of coffee and allow to come to room temperature.
2. In a saucepan, melt dark chocolate and butter over medium-low heat until smooth. Line a small, deep pan such as a bread pan with aluminum foil and pour melted chocolate on top of the aluminum. Place in refrigerator and allow to harden.
3. Next, In a medium saucepan, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until combined. Slowly add milk and cook over medium heat . Stir occasionally until mixture comes to a boil. Allow mixture to boil for a minute then remove from heat. Cover tightly and chill in refrigerator for about an hour.

Next up, homemade ladyfingers! Preheat oven to 400F and line cupcake tin with cupcake liners.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder.
5. In another bowl, beat egg whites on high until soft peaks form. Slowly add 1 tbsp of the sugar and keep beating until they are stiff and glossy.
6. In another bowl, beat the egg yolks and remaining sugar until they become very pale in color.
7. Fold half the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Fold in the flour, then the remaining egg whites.
8. Evenly spoon a small amount of the batter into the cupcake liners and bake for 8 minutes. This will be the ladyfinger base of the tiramisu cupcake so you want to make sure there will be enough room on top of the ladyfingers for the mascarpone and whipped cream.

9. Remove the egg yolk mixture from the refrigerator and whisk in mascarpone until smooth, set aside.
10. In a bowl, beat whipping cream and vanilla until stiff peaks form, set aside.
11. In a small bowl, combine coffee and rum. Slowly pour several spoonfuls of the coffee/rum mixture over each ladyfinger, allowing it time to soak into the cake until it stops absorbing.
12. Spread the mascarpone over each soaked ladyfinger.

13. Spoon a dollop of whipped cream on top of the mascarpone.
14. Sprinkle with cocoa powder.
15. Remove the chocolate from the freezer and make chocolate curls using a vegetable peeler. If the curls easily break allow chocolate to warm up slightly. I find this technique works best if the chocolate is at room temperature. Place several of the curls on top of each cupcake.
16. Cover and refrigerate for several hours, until set.

As i said above, these were amazingly good! So good in fact, I don't have a single complaint about them and will definitely be making these again! 

While in Arizona we also made some fun jello shots! A few weeks ago I found a cute recipe for birthday cake jello shots on a website that I follow called Sweet Tooth and posted it on Facebook. It seems that recently a whole bunch of fun flavored vodkas have come out such as birthday cake, whipped cream, and even toasted marshmallow. In the past it seemed like only obscure brands such as 3 Olives, Pinnacle, and Frost made these yummy flavors, but even Smirnoff has recently come out with them. As a surprise for me, Chris and Michelle got all the required ingredients so that we could make them...

What You'll Need

Birthday Cake Jello Shots

recipe adapted from Sweet Tooth's Birthday Cake Jello Shots

2/3 cup cream soda

2/3 cup cranberry juice

1 tbsp heavy cream

2 envelopes plain gelatin

2/3 cup cake flavored vodka

few drops of food coloring, if desired

whipped cream

sprinkles

mini cake silicone mold

1. Lightly spray mold with non-stick spray and wipe excess off so it doesn't affect the taste of the jello.

2. Pour the soda, juice, and cream into a saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin on top and allow it to soak into the liquid for a couple minutes. Then turn the heat on low and stir until the gelatin is fully dissolved, approximately 5 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and add vodka and food coloring.

4. Pour into mold and chill in refrigerator for several hours until set.

5. Remove from mold. Top with whipped cream and sprinkles

These jello shots were delicious and we all had quite a few. In all honestly, they are going to get you drunk or even really buzzed but they are cute and very tasty. These will also be a repeat recipe...

Ultimate Vanilla Challenge

Most people who know me know that I would love to own my own bakery and it goes with out saying that I bake A LOT!! But one day my mom said to me "you should probably start figuring out some signature flavors". Well, she is totally right! I can't open my own bakery and not have a menu full of my own recipes. So I have decided to start with the most basic cupcake: vanilla. Yes, I have set out to find the very best vanilla cupcake and won't stop until it is perfect. I don't think that's too much to ask for, do you? For my first experiment i thought i'd try a recipe that claims to be "The Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake".

What You'll Need

The Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake
recipe adapted from The Cupcake Project's Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake

1 cup of sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tblsp vanilla
2/3 cup milk

First i made vanilla sugar by combining the sugar with the vanilla bean. Personally, I love vanilla sugar and generally have some around the house but happened to be out. In fact, when I use vanilla beans i put the left over bean pod in either my vanilla sugar of homemade vanilla extract. Those darn beans cost so much i'm determined to get the max use out of them!! Now, for those of you who have never worked with real vanilla beans before, have no fear, it is quite simple. Just lay the bean out on a flat surface and use a sharp knife to cut open the bean running along the entire length. Once open, scrape down the inside of the bean with the dull side of the knife. This will scrape out all the tiny little flecks of vanilla. Those tiny little flecks are what you want, not the pod. If you have it, you can substitute vanilla bean paste but you won't need as much because it is highly concentrated.

I then mixed together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then I added the vanilla sugar. Then I added the butter and mixed it until it formed a crumb like texture. In a separate bowl, i whisked together the eggs, sour cream, oil and vanilla. I then mixed the egg and flour mixture together until they were just combined. Then I slowly added in the milk. This resulted in what looked like and extremely liquidy batter, but the recipe said that was how it should look so i trusted it.

I filled the the cupcake liners a little over half full and baked them at 350 for about 17-18 minutes. The original recipe said they would only need approximately 15 minutes but when i inserted a toothpick into them at 15 minutes they were still fairly wet. Once they were completely done, i flipped them out onto a cooling rack and started on the frosting. **I'd like to mention that I LOVE using real vanilla beans because i think all the little flecks look pretty in the cupcake!

For the frosting I decided to try a vanilla buttercream recipe that came from the same site as the cupcakes. I typically don't make buttercreams and prefer to make cream cheese frostings but that is what the author said as well. She even went as far as to say that this was one of her favorite frostings and tasted like melted vanilla ice cream. So i though, "This, I have to try!".

What You'll Need

Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting

recipe adapted from The Cupcake Project's Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar (you can add more until the frosting reaches your preferred consistency)

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 tsp vanilla bean paste

1 tblsp milk

Mix together the sugar and butter until they are creamy.Then add the vanilla bean paste and milk. You can add more sugar if the frosting isn't as thick as you'd like it.

After I make frostings I ALWAYS stick my finger in it and have a little sample before i frost my cupcakes. Let me just say that the woman from The Cupcake Project was correct, this is melted vanilla ice cream in my your mouth!! It is so sweet but yet so amazingly delicious! And just like the cupcakes, the little flecks of vanilla only added to my enchantment. 

Now for the fun part... frosting the cupcakes. Since the frosting was pretty sweet i decided that you wouldn't need a huge swirl of frosting on top (and I couldn't find my 1A tip anyways) so I opted to use a 1M (large closed star) tip and just put a dollop on top of each cupcake.

And because I am a perfectionist I decided to spruce them up a little bit and sprinkle some edible gold dust on top to add some pizazz! **Shout out to my sister, Alana, for buying me the "disco dust"!

First things first, these were good cupcakes! I must say they were tasty, light and fluffy, and moist. And the frosting was literally the icing on the cake. All my coworkers said they were delicious and couldn't believe they were eating gold dust! With that said, I'm not convinced this was "The Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake". I don't know what it is that i'm missing but it just didn't scream out Amazing Vanilla to me. Never the less, this is a good vanilla cake that i'd recommend anyone try.

Boozy Cupcakes

This year for Superbowl, Mike and I hosted a party at our place. Mike was pretty excited about it and decided he was going to make his own buffalo wings; he even busted out the deep fryer! Naturally, I had to bake something equally as awesome. After browsing through many ideas I decided to make a beer cupcake in honor of the beer filled event. But because I can't do anything simple i decided that I would make not one but TWO beer cupcakes!!

Let me rewind a little and talk about how I stumbled onto these fabulously boozy cupcake recipes... Ever since I started blogging about my baking experience I have started reading other baking blogs that I find interesting. My absolute favorite is a blog called The Cupcake Project (www.cupcakeproject.com). Trust me, if you love all things cupcakes you will adore this blog! Another blog I have recently began to follow is called Sweet Tooth (www.ericasweettooth.com). This girl not only has some good cupcake ideas but also makes some pretty awesome jello shots. As soon as I have a party to go to you better believe I am going to be making tons of jello shots!! Anyways, I found my recipes on this second blog.

Now back to the cupcakes! As I said, I made 2 different beer cupcakes: Blue Moon and Corona. As excited as I was about these cupcakes, I must say I was a little worried about the flavor. Don't get me wrong, I love adding alcohol to baked goods and think they generally taste delicious but I wasn't sure how beer would translate into baking. For the frostings I made an Orange Cream Cheese frosting for the Blue Moon cake and a Lime Cream Cheese Frosting for the Corona cake. I really only need 2 bottles of each beer though so Mike lucked out and got to drink all the rest!

On a side note, I want to introduce my new Sous Chef, Jen!! She came over and helped me bake (and drink, and clean my fridge out!!!). I'm thinking I may need to get her an apron of her own so that she doesn't have to wear my Christmas apron in February! :)

Blue Moon and Corona Cupcakes

For the beer cupcakes: 

3/4 cups butter, at room temperature

1-3/4 cup sugar

2-1/2 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp orange or lime zest

1 cup Blue Moon or Corona beer, plus more for brushing on tops

1/4 cup milk

Orange/lime wedges and sanding sugar for garnish

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners.

- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

- Add eggs, beating after each addition then add the vanilla and zest.

- Combine milk and beer and alternatively add this mixture and the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture with the mixer on low speed, starting and ending with the flour.  

- Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 18 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean.

- When cupcakes are done, poke holes in the tops of the cupcakes with toothpicks and brush some beer on each while still warm.  

For the citrus cream cheese frosting:

12 oz cream cheese, cold

6 tbsp butter, at room temperature

1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange/lime juice

1 tsp orange/lime zest

4 cups powdered sugar

- Cream together the cream cheese and butter in an electric mixer until smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes.  

- Add the citrus juice and zest and gradually add the powdered sugar until well-combined.  Beat until smooth for about 2 minutes.

- Load frosting in a piping bag and pipe cupcake tops once cooled.  

To stick with the theme I used yellow wrappers for the Corona cakes and blue wrappers for the Blue Moon cakes. For the frosting I used a large star tip and sprinkled the tops with green sprinkles and orange sprinkles, respectively. I then finished the cupcakes with a wedge of a lime and orange.

Overall I thought the cupcakes turned out really good. The beer wasn't too overpowering, it was just enough to give a hint of flavor and the citrus frostings balanced out the flavors perfectly! I personally preferred the Blue Moon cupcakes but that could just be my preference in beer. Everyone at the Superbowl party seemed to enjoy them as well so I'd say they were a success!

British Invasion!

This weekend my sister, Jocelyn, came to visit all the way from Washington State. In her honor, my mom made not one, but two delicious British meals!! The night she arrived we had mince and tatties, and the next night we had stovies (which mom NEVER makes, so please hurry back Joce!). Being that I am the resident baker in the family i knew I was going to have to make some sort of treat this weekend and while I was looking through my trusty Martha Stewart Cupcakes book I saw a recipe for Sticky Toffee Pudding Cupcakes and knew it was meant to be.

What you'll Need
Cakes
8 oz dates (preferably Medjool)
1/2 water
1/2 brandy
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

Toffee Glaze
4 tbsp butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 brandy
Pinch of salt

This recipe (and perhaps all recipes for sticky toffee pudding; I've never made it before) uses dates. I have never really eaten dates, let alone used them in cooking so I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Specifically, the recipe said to use Medjool Dates if possible and that was all that my grocery store sold. I did a little research and found out that Medjool Dates are known as the "King of Dates" because they are exceptionally large and pretty sweet in comparison to other dates. As a side note for all those non-date eaters like myself, dates do have pits so you'll need to half them and take out the pit prior to doing anything with them for baking.

The first thing I did was bring the dates (halved and pitted), water, and brandy to a boil. Once at a rolling boil I turned the heat down and let it cook until the dates were soft. I then immediately transferred the mixture to my food processor and pureed it until smooth. A word of advice, DO NOT put your face close to the bowl immediately after taking the lid off the food processor to smell it!! Because of the heat from coming straight off the stove, the fumes smelled so intensely from the brandy i almost choked to death!

While the date mixture was cooling I creamed butter and dark brown sugar in my Kitchen Aid mixer. Speaking of dark brown sugar, today I learned that the difference between brown sugar and dark brown sugar is molasses! If you don't have any dark brown sugar you can just add molasses to your regular brown sugar... In a separate bowl I sifted together flour, baking powder and soda, salt, and cinnamon. Then I added the flour mixture to the butter, alternating with batches of the date mixture. 

I did not use cupcake liners in my tin (you'll see why later on) so I made sure to butter and flour the tin instead. Once I spooned the batter into the tin, I baked them at 350 degrees for 24 minutes, rotating halfway through the baking time.

While the cakes were baking I made my toffee glaze which was pretty easy. I melted butter, heavy cream, and brown sugar in a saucepan and brought it to a boil. I then added brandy and a pinch of salt and let it cook for an additional minute. That's it (I told you it was easy)!

Immediately after I took the baked cakes out of the oven i used a toothpick to slightly lift each cake out of the tin and poured a couple spoon fulls of the toffee glaze onto the bottom of the tin then put the cakes back down into place. I allowed them to cool in the tin for about 5 minutes before inverting them onto a cooling rack. By this point the toffee glaze that I had poured onto the bottom was pretty well absorbed into the cake. Never the less it did still drip a little so make sure to lay something down on the counter underneath the cooling rack.

I covered the cakes with tin foil to keep them from drying out  until we were ready to eat them (a few hours later). Prior to serving them, I poured the remaining toffee glaze on top of each cake. I also added a spoon full of custard on the side (another British thing that i can't say no to...).

All in all I'd say these were delicious! I don't think I'd change anything about the recipe. My only critique is that I think these were designed to be served immediately after they came out of the oven. I imagine the warmth of the cake would have made the toffee glaze just slightly better. I suppose I could have heated them up in the microwave but I don't think it would have been the same.

Oh well, another cupcake down...

Cheesecake Central!

Happy 2012 Everyone!! Wanna know what one of my resolutions are this year? Make MORE cupcakes and actually post to my blog on a regular basis! We'll see how that goes... On a side note, I apologize if this entry is a bit long and full of pictures. It's been a busy week, as far as baking goes.

One thing that will help me stick to my resolution is my brand new Kitchen Aid Mixing Stand! That's right everyone, after several years of begging, Mike finally caved and let me buy one. I got the Pro 600 series so that means I can make LOTS of cupcakes, woohoo!

As a result of my new awesome mixer I have been quite the little baker this past week. Not only have I made 2 different cupcakes but I also made some delish chocolate chip cookies. I should also mention that for the past week I have basically lived in my newest apron that my sister-in-law, Tammy, got me for Christmas. I am developing an obsession with cute aprons!

First, I decided to make chocolate chip cookies on Sunday for our book club meeting (yeah yeah I'm in a book club...). I have forever been searching for a chocolate chip cookie that has some substance to it and doesn't flatten out when I bake it. When I was in high school there was a family of girls that all went to my school and they were known for their amazing chocolate chip cookies; it was like this mysterious recipe that we all wanted to get our hands on. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have found it! The funny thing is it was such a basic recipe and I was not at all prepared for how great it would turn out. I read online once that the key to chocolate chip cookies was pastry flour, not just any old flour. Since I decided to make these so last minute I decided to try that theory out later and just stick with a quick and easy recipe. I'll have to use pastry flour next time and compare the two versions.

Next up is the cupcakes! My day off is always a good excuse to bake but this week I had even more incentive: a group of girls from work were getting together for dinner the next night and I volunteered to bring dessert! One of my coworkers had been bugging me for months to make a cupcake that I originally made for her over a year ago so I figured I'd make her happy which brings me to the first of my two cupcakes...

White Chocolate Cheesecake Vanilla Bean Cupcake
That's right folks, I said cheesecake AND cupcake!!! This cupcake didn't come from my Martha Stewart Cupcakes book. When I originally baked this I found a recipe that had a dollop of cheesecake in the center of a cupcake. As delicious as it was, I didn't feel satisfied with the amount of cheesecake that I ended up with in my cupcake; I wanted more! So I decided to try literally combining the two and my result was amazing, if I do say so myself.

First, I baked a basic vanilla bean cupcake (using my homemade vanilla extract - that's right, I said homemade! I'll explain that a little later) but I only filled the liners 1/3 of the way with batter. They didn't rise as much as I had expected (or maybe they did but the weight of the cheesecake smooshed them down a bit) so next time I think I'll try filling them halfway. Once done baking, I let them cool.

While the cupcakes were cooling I began making the cheesecake. Since the cake portion was already cooked I decided to us a "no-bake" type cheesecake. I wanted a flavor that would give the basic vanilla a little pizazz without overwhelming the cake so I went with white chocolate cheesecake. First, I melted some white chocolate over a double broiler. As that was cooling a little I beat together cream cheese, sour cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract (yup, more of the homemade stuff!). Once it was smooth I added in the melted white chocolate. Then I smoothed it onto the top of the cupcakes and put them into the refrigerator to firm up. Before serving them I put a fresh raspberry on top for little pop of flavor and color.

I think they turned out great. In fact, my coworker said they lived up to her high expectations! In the interest of full disclosure, however, I will say that the consistency of the cake was a little different. It wasn't bad, just different if that makes sense. They were much denser then your average cupcake. I'm not sure if that was due to them being chilled in the refrigerator or maybe some of the cheesecake mixture was absorbed into the cake as it was firming. Who know, but regardless I think they were a success!

* How cute are the bottom of these liners?!?!

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake
I was surprised how quickly I finished making the other cupcakes and still felt like baking so I decided to keep on going... Since it's been a while since I made anything from my Martha Stewart cookbook and I had a lot of cream cheese left over I thought it would be a perfect time to make these mini cheesecakes! I'm so glad I did because they were SUPER yummy and extremely easy to make.

First, I put an entire Oreo in the bottom of each cupcake liner as the crust - cute detail! Then I beat the cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, vanilla and eggs. Once it was smooth I folded in crumbled up Oreo cookies. I filled each liner with the cheesecake mixture and baked them. After they finished baking I chilled them in the refrigerator (still in the cupcake tin to help them keep their shape until they firmed up) overnight.

I must say these were a hit with all my coworkers! Shannon summed it up by saying "OK, frickin' yum!" HAHAHA, made me laugh... I would definitely recommend that everyone make these for parties, potlucks, etc... I guarantee you they will get eaten up quickly!

Lastly, I said I'd mention my homemade vanilla extract. My mom read about making your own extracts and we decided to give it a try. It is a 3 month project so it does require some patience. All you do is put a few sliced vanilla beans in vodka. A word of advice: buy your vanilla beans in bulk!! My mom and I bought a bunch of them online and divided them up; even with shipping it ends up being a much cheaper price then it would have been at the grocery store. Once a week you need to shake up the jar a little. At the end of 3 months you'll have yourself some awesome vanilla extract. The best part is you can keep topping it off with more vodka as you use it and occasionally swap out a vanilla bean for a new one. We took the idea and ran with it, and also made orange extract and lemon extract.

Day 1

After 1 Month

The Finished Product

Wildflour Cupcakes

It's no secret that I love all things cupcake, so I am constantly looking for new cupcake shoppes to try when I travel. Recently, a new shoppe called Wildflour (get the pun?!?!) Cupcakes opened up a couple minutes away from my house so of course I had to stop by and taste some of their yummy cupcakes!!!

The store front itself is actually really cute and pretty similar to how I would want to decorate my store (if I'm ever fortunate enough to open my own bakery). I really like the chandeliers and molding on the walls, it really adds character and charm. I also love the little details like the pink chairs and chalk board menu board. My only complaint with the physical store is the location. While it is in a great area and near a lot of other stores that get plenty of business (Starbucks, Pinkberry, Chipotle...) it is in the back of the shopping center behind the main row of stores so you can't see it and wouldn't even know it was there if not for the sign on the corner of the street.

Now for the important part: THE CUPCAKES! There wasn't a whole lot of options to choose from but then again, this isn't Sprinkles. I actually went to their website when I got home and found out that they do have a pretty wide selection of cupcakes that they rotate throughout the week. I decided to choose four flavors and came home with Red Velvet (of course, my favorite), Oreo Truffle (looked interesting and chocolatey enough to satisfy Mike), Pumpkin, and Carrot. The cupcakes looked exactly how I would have expected them to with the typical dollop of  frosting and small fondant flower decorations, but never the less they looked yummy. The girl behind the counter packaged them up for me in a clear plastic container that held all four cupcakes and put a sticker with their logo on the top. If it were my shoppe I would have used boxes, but that's just me...

Overall, I really enjoyed the cupcakes. They were flavorful and moist, very tasty; and the frostings weren't too sweet. I liked the Oreo buttercream frosting with the chocolate ganache coating on the Oreo Truffle Cupcake. The Pumpkin Cupcake was delicious!!!My only critique would be there was A LOT of frosting. I know some people are into frosting and can't get enough, but this felt like I was eating frosting with a side of cake, if you know what I mean. Regardless, I'm glad I tried the shoppe and will definitely return again!