Savory cakes

I've had a pretty interesting last 7 months out in Colorado. I've had the opportunity to meet some pretty awesome people who have taken me out on some pretty sweet adventures. I've been to a Lumberjack celebration, my first real concert at Red Rocks, a sweet bike race in Steamboat, an epic 13 mile hike up Pikes for Brain injury awareness, and my first night hike just to name a few. I really am blessed to be in the midst of the best years of my life and have good people around me. Or as my new roommate likes to call them, The Crew.

1st night hike

 

Last week I was invited to a friend's Thanksgiving, formally known as "Skanksgiving". Lucky for us, there was nothing skanky there. Anyways, I decided I was going to make a cupcake for the occasion and wanted to try something savory. I spent some time scouring the internet before realizing there wasn't going to be much help out there.

I settled for a butternut squash cupcake from Vanilla Garlic but when I got to the store, I switched gears completely and decided I was going to try something weird. 

 

At the end of the night a min stuffing cupcake was born

  This is an adaptation from the Brown Eyes Baker

Savory Cupcake
1 C flour
1/2 C savory herb stuffing mix
1 C granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp thyme
8 Tbls (1 stick) butter (room temperature)
1/2 C sour cream
1 egg (room temperature)
2 egg yolks (room temperature)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbls brown sugar

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and line out the cupcake tin with liners. It should be noted that I am still baking in minis, so please adjust baking time accordingly.

I bought a pack of dry Stove Top stuffing and put it in a food processor until I had a fine flour. You will have more than 1/2 C so remember to measure out after getting the flour.

Combine the flour, stuffing flour, baking powder, salt, and thyme in a large mixing bowl. *Other note, next time I make these I am going to omit the salt. I felt that the stuffing flour contributed enough salt but I'll post an update after the second batch. If you have a standing mixer, toss on the paddle attachment and add the butter, sour cream, egg and yolks, vanilla, and brown sugar. If not, start to get those arms warmed up. Mix until well combine and smooth.

Divide the batter into the lined tins. Bake at 350 for about 9 minutes. AGAIN, I am using minis, so PLEASE adjust bake time accordingly. As always, test the center of the cake with a toothpick.

Savory Buttercream Frosting
1 C butter (room temperature)
3 C powdered sugar
1 Tbls Vanilla extract
2 Tbls milk/heavy cream
1 Tbls 1 tsp rubbed sage (run through food processor)
2 tsp thyme
Dried Cranberries*

Beat the butter until it begins to fluff. With mixer on a LOW speed, slowly add the powdered sugar 1/2 C at a time until incorporated. After all the sugar is added, increase the mixer speed and add the vanilla and milk/cream. Finally, add the sage and thyme. Mix and adjust seasoning to taste. You want it to be smooth, earthy, and sweet.

Frost the cupcakes and garnish with the meatiest (literally the best adjective I could use) dried cranberries you can find.

Meeeaty

Until Next Time

Maple Baconator

Somewhere along the line we started a running joke at work that we were going to have a bacon party. Literally just pounds and pounds of bacon cooked in a variety of ways. Last night, our jokes turned into reality as 15 people joined together to create the most epic of dinner parties. We had Bacon beer mac n cheese, Lobster mac n cheese, Bacon wrapped Tennessee whiskey chicken, Candied bacon, Bacon wrapped stuffed mushrooms, Bacon vegetable cheddar soup, Bacon cheddar chive biscuits, and finally Maple bacon cupcakes. It was awesome. Someone even found Bacon soda, which was literally the only bad tasting item on the table. 

While searching for a starting point for maple cupcakes, I was continually redirected to Vanilla Garlic's website (original recipe found here). It was said to be the best maple cupcake on the web, so I had to try it with a little twist of my own. I doubled the recipe and made minis for the party, which cranked out about 70ish little cakes. 

Maple Bacon Cupcakes
Makes 12-16 / 350F oven

9 tablespoons butter, (room temp)
1 tablespoon bacon drippings (solidified)
2 egg, beaten (room temp)
10 tablespoons brown sugar
8 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup
2 1/2 cup flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
minuscule pinch kosher salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup minced bacon, cooked and drained (extra for garnish, if desired)

Start with the butter and bacon and whip it....whip it real good. Once it looks incorportaed and whippy, add the two beaten eggs, followed by the brown sugar and syrup.

In a seperate bowl, add and sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. If you are broke like me, simulate sifting by gently tossing the ingredients with a fork. 

Slowly add the flour and buttermilk, alternating between the two in 3 batches. Once the batter looks thick and well mixed, gently fold in the bacon. 

Divide the batter into cupcake liners and bake for 8-9 minutes (**I am using minis AND I am baking in high altitude). Check the cakes by inserting a toothpick and praying it comes out clean. Set those puppies aside to cool. 

Maple Frosting

8 tablespoons butter (room temp)

1 tablespoon bacon grease (solidified)
5 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup
2 cup of powdered sugar

Whip the crap out of the butter and bacon grease. Add the maple syrup and let the frosting and continue to beat on high for about 2 minutes or until it there is a good amount of air incorporated. Lower the speed and slowly add the powdered sugar. I believe once I added all the sugar, I let the frosting beat on high for about 3 minutes to get a really fluffy batch. 

Finally frost and garnish with Bacon.

I dipped my bacon in chocolate and wished I had large sea salt to add. Either way, the final product was awesome. 

Till Next Time

Peanut Butter Chocolate Awesome

Once during my senior year in high school, a teacher made a comment about how chocolate was better than sex. She stated that "chocolate is better than sex because you know chocolate never disappoints." Besides this being completely inappropriate it has fueled my desire to make a better than sex cupcake. And I think I've finally nailed it (pun intended). 

I used my favorite chocolate cake recipe, the Guinness cake from a previous blog. I found the peanut butter frosting recipe online after a bit of digging. You can see the original recipe on Beyond Frosting's Wordpress.

Chocolate Cupcake:

1 C buttermilk 
1 C butter (room temp)
3/4 C coco powder
2 C flour (all-purpose)
2 C granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
2/3 C sour cream

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line out 24 cupcake tins with liners. Combine buttermilk and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in coco powder until mixture is smooth. Set the saucepan aside.

In another bowl mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set it to the side. In a large bowl beat eggs and sour cream till combine. Add the chocolate butter mixture, then slowly add the dry ingredients and mix till incorporated. 

Fill the cupcake liners two-thirds full with the batter. Pop them into the oven for about 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Set the cakes to the side and allow them to cool. 

Peanut Butter Frosting:

1 1/2 C unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 C peanut butter 

3 C powdered sugar

1 Tbsp heavy whipping cream

First, whip the crap out of the peanut butter. I kept adding peanut butter to the bowl so it was roughly 1 1/2 cups. Beat the peanut butter until it is fluffy. There will be a color change and the texture will look like whipped butter. Slowly add the butter to the mixture and continue to beat on high. You really want to fill the frosting with air. Once everything looks nice and light, lower the speed of the mixer and begin to add the powdered sugar. Finally, after the sugar is well incorporated add the heavy whipping cream and continue to beat the frosting until you reach a desired consistency. 

 Give them nice full tops so that when you add the chocolate cap it will have a nice billowed look. 

Once frosted, put the cupcakes into the fridge. The frosting is going to need to be chilled in order to hold up to the caps. 

Chocolate Cap:

2 C chopped semisweet chocolate

3 Tbls vegetable oil

Prepare a double boiler. In the top bowl add the chocolate and oil. When the chocolate begins to melt whisk the mixture until the chocolate is smooth and completely combine. Transfer the chocolate into a cup deep enough for dipping the cupcakes in to cap the chocolate. Remove the frosted cakes from the fridge and begin dipping.  

    

Then, muster up all the patience you can and wait for the caps to harden.

Mounds of Vegan Joy

On my way out to Denver I decided I wanted to make an Almond Joy inspired cupcake. The first attempt was such an awful fail that I stepped away from baking for a few days. It was awful. So once I got the confidence to try again, I decided to do a vegan twist. I disliked the heaviness of the first vegan cake I made so I searched out a fluffy vegan recipe for coconut cake. I tried a cake from Chloe Coscarelli  and was not disappointed. Her original recipe can be found by following the link, below is what I used. The changes are noted by an asterisk.

Coconut Cake:

1 3/4 C all-purpose flour

1 C sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 C coconut almond milk*

1/2 C canola oil

1 Tbls vanilla extract*

1 Tbls coconut extract*

1 Tbls white or apple cider vinegar 

1 C shredded coconut*

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line out the cupcake pan. 

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, whisk the coconut milk, oil, extracts, and vinegar. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until combine. Don't over mix, it will lead to flat lifeless cakes. 

Fill the cupcake liners two-thirds fill and bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cakes cool and start to work on the frosting. 

Chocolate Almond Frosting:

6 Tbsp soy margarine

3/4 C cocoa powder

2 2/3 C organic powdered sugar

1/3 C chocolate almond milk

1 tsp almond extract

Combine cocoa powder and powdered sugar in a bowl. In a separate bowl cream the margarine. Add the dry ingredients and almond milk, alternating between the two. If you want a fudgier consistency, add more milk. Beat in the almond extract. 

Now, get to frosting. 

Baked?

This is not a post about a baked good. I wanted to let the world know that I haven't abandoned blogging or baking, I just needed to get some other things taken care of before diving back into a cupcake excursion. Financial priorities or something like that. Anyways, I've been stalling on painting my room for some time now. I was on a search for an overhead projector because the image I wanted to put on my wall is too intricate for me to free hand. Luckily, I found one this week and decided to stall no more. 

This is the original photo

This is my naked wall

This is the end of day one. 

 I am stoked to see how this turns out. 

Also, here is a picture of a chocolate filled croissant from dinner the other night. Boom, baked goods :)

Velvet Is the new Chocolate

I tackled a Red Velvet cupcake with a bit of apprehension. Prior to a week ago, I had never eaten a Red Velvet cupcake and never had much of a desire for one either. But, upon the request of someone at the gym, I thought I should give it a try. I started my cupcake exploration at a German bakery outside of town. And it sucked. More suck than eating last year's Halloween candy on Easter. Yes, that disappointing. I've never had a desire to eat Red Velvet cupcakes because I've never understood what it was meant to taste like. It seemed like this whole red drink purple drink issue but in cake form. This disappointing cake only fueled my decision that Red Velvet cake was a waste of flour. When my roommates took me to Yogurtland the next day, I tried the Red Velvet and realized how sad I was that I had missed out on this for 24 years.

I started searching online and figured my best option was to just dive right in. I stumbled upon this gem from the parsley thief and thought I would test it out. 

Spoiler alert, it was amazing.

Cake
1 cup plus 2 TBLS flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 TBLS unsweetened cocoa powder
2 TBLS red food coloring
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBLS water
4 TBLS {1/2 stick} unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp distilled white vinegar

Preheat the oven to 350F and line out the cupcake pan. Combine the dry ingredients (flour and salt) and set them to the side.

In another small bowl, mix the coco powder, red food color, vanilla extract, and water with a spoon until it is smooth and looks like a very thin paste. If you run out of food coloring (like I did) you can substitute a little bit of yellow and use water as the rest of the filler. I think I ended up using a 1/2 TBLS red, 1/2 TBLS yellow and 1 TBLS water. Set this weird red paste to the side.

Beat the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy then add the egg and beat until it is incorporated. Add the red paste to the batter and mix it on a medium speed until it is well combined. Add the buttermilk and dry ingredients, alternating half and half and beat until smooth. Add the baking soda and white vinegar, beat once more until smooth. I've never baked with these two ingredients, but I combined mine before adding them into the batter and it worked out pretty well. Follow the beat of your own heart.

Finally, divide the batter between the liners and bake for about 15-20 minutes, checking with a toothpick or knife to see if it comes out clean. Let them cool, despite the deep desire to ingest immediately.

Frosting
8 TBLS {1 stick} unsalted butter, room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 to 1 TBLS vanilla extract

Add your butter and cream cheese to a bowl and beat until combined (about 5 minutes). SLOWLY add the powdered sugar and the vanilla extract to your liking. Beat until light and fluffy. I trust that most of you have made frosting and have full faith of your capabilities to make frosting.

Frost your cakes and decorate as you wish. Or just eat at 12 of them in your PJs and tell no one after, your choice.

Until Next Time

Vegan ventures

I decided to take on the challenge of making a vegan cupcake. Really, I wanted to thank the guys at my gym for hooking me up with such an amazing deal when I signed up. What better way to show my appreciation than with baked goods. So I was given the vegan stipulation and set to work.
Since it is Summer I really wanted to do something light, which then turned into I want to make something edible cause I have no clue how this vegan business is gonna work.

End result? Strawberry cupcake with Basil Lime buttercream.

Strawberry cake

4 C all purpose flour
3 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 C sugar
1/2 safflower oil
2 C pureed fresh strawberries
1/2 C coconut milk
2 tsp strawberry extract
2 tsp vanilla extract
Red or pink food coloring

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt into a bowl and set aside. In another bowl combine sugar and oil, then the puree. Add the remaining liquids (and yes, use the food coloring!) Once well mixed slowly add the dry ingredients and be cautious of over mixing. I threw in some sliced strawberries at the end for the texture and color. If you choose to, fold them in gently before dividing batter into cupcake tins.

Next, get your handy ice cream scooper and fill your lined cupcake tins with this epic pink gooey mess. Bake for about 12-15 minutes. *disclaimer, my baking times are all goofy in the altitude so just do a quick check at about the 12 minute mark using a knife or toothpick.

Basil Lime frosting

1/2 C vegan butter (room temperature)
2ish C powdered sugar
2 TBLS coconut milk (room temperature)
Fresh basil (to taste)
1 lime (squeezed)
splash of vanilla extract

Start with the butter soften in a bowl. Here it awaits the powdered sugar. SLOWLY add your powdered sugar to the bowl while beating the butter (just like regular buttercream). Alternate between adding the powdered sugar, coconut milk, lime juice and vanilla extract until you have a smooth creamy consistency for the frosting. Feel free to add or omit powdered sugar based on how you prefer frosting. Here is the "to taste" part. Fresh basil, roughly chopped, and folded into the buttercream awesome. I think total I used maybe 6-10 leaves, all in various sizes. This part is totally up to you, but don't be shy. It is a good contrast to the tart lime and sweet buttery sugar you have just whipped up.
*Another disclaimer, this was originally going to be a different frosting instead of a heavy buttercream but in my vegan fail I returned to what I knew. Hope to have an update soon with a non vegan version of this.

From here, you know the drill. Let the cakes cool and frost that cake top like it's your day job. USE A WIDE TIP, otherwise the basil gets stuck. And that is just no fun.

Till next time!

Baked French Onion Soup

This new elevation has completly messed with my baking. I attempted to make Guinness cake last week and the bake time was all screwy. With mouths full of cake my new roommates said it was great, but I walked away a bit discouraged. I plan on jumping back on the baking horse soon with some cool stuff, but it will be in a few weeks.

Other news, we make homemade meals around here like it is a hurricane party. So, tonight I thought I would share my baked french onion. I used a Tyler Florence recipe from Food Network and slightly altered a few things (noted with *).

1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 bay leaves
*2 sprigs fresh thyme 
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup red wine, about 1/2 bottle
3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
*1.5 quart beef broth
*1 baguette, sliced and cubed for croutons  
*5 slices Gruyere
*5 slices swiss

Start by finding a giant pan. One with enough depth to hold all of the above mentioned items. Melt the butter over medium heat and add the epic amount of onions, garlic, bay leaves, fresh thyme, and salt and pepper. Let the onions cook down and caramelize (the original recipe says 25 minutes, but mine took at least 40). 

Start your croutons by cutting thick slices of bread and then cubing them. You can either toast them as is in an oven at 350 for about 10 minutes, flip and bake for another 10 OR you can throw them in a bowl, add a good drizzle of olive oil, some oregano, salt, and pepper and then bake them on a cookie sheet for about 10 minutes, flip and bake for another 10 minutes. I suggest option number 2. Just set those bad boys to the side once baked and return to the onions.

Once everything is golden and soft, add the wine (I went with a Burgundy) bring it to a boil, drop the temp to a simmer and cook until all the wine is gone. 

Florence says the onions will be dry, but just try to get most of the wine cooked out and toss out the bay leaves. Next, dust the onions with some flour. I used less than 3 Tbsp and sifted it over the onions with a fork while my roommate stirred. Cook for another 10 minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste. If your pan is big enough, go ahead and add the beef broth. If not, quickly transfer all of it to a larger pan and add your broth. If you notice, I use less broth than the Florence recipe but it is just because I really enjoy a stoupy consistency vs brothy in some of my soup. Let the soup rest on a low heat for about 10 minutes before taking on the final steps of the dish. 

I used 5 10oz ramekins for this. You may use whatever you like, just make sure it is oven safe. first, ladle the soup into the dish, top with homemade croutons (enough to make a layer of bread on the top of the soup) and finish with the cheese (get all fancy and set the swiss slice like a diamond and the Gruyere slice like a square). Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet and pop them into the oven at 400 for about 5-10 minutes.

I wanted my cheese to really melt, not just burn on the top so I might have given it a bit more time. Finally, right before serving, crank the oven to broil and watch your cheese till it is brown and bubbly. Turn off the oven, use tongs to transfer the dishes onto a room temp place and remember that dish is hot.

We had an awesome Caesar salad, along with a great bottle of red wine and a nice fire. 

Until Next Time

Fallen Chocolate Cake

Today I took my Mother to get her wisdom tooth removed. We walked into the dentist office and what better to be on television than Food Network. And who better to be on in a dentist office (or any medical office for that matter) than Paula Dean. Deep Fried banana foster french toast...okay not exactly deep fried, but I've never seen my french toast float in that much butter (and if it happens at Cracker Barrel I don't want to know). After that, Ina Garten comes on. As much as I dislike her warm and sunny disposition I can't help but love her food. Today was plum tart. Then I progressed to an Bon Appetit magazine and stumbled on the motherload. I think my mouth even dropped open as I gawked at the food porn. It was wonderful.
When I saw this cake recipe, I instantly thought of my friend/old roommate Mark. About halfway though our summer, he discovered he could no longer enjoy the world of gluten (and then some). So, Mark, if you are reading this you should make this cake. It is amazing. Seriously.

To everyone else, this cake is epic and completely worth every ounce of work put into it. I am still in shock at how flippin delicious this was. I would have paid $5.95 for this and tipped the crap outta the server that recommended it.

This is the recipe right out of the magazine. My tweak was toppings and making individual cakes. I took a large cupcake tin and placed a piece of buttered parchment paper in each. I tried my best to shove the paper down that it lie smoothly, but it was difficult. Also, make sure the batter touches the side with the butter.

Cake
1/2 C unsalted butter (softened) plus a little extra for greasing pan
3/4 C plus 2 Tbls Sugar (separated) along with extra for dusting
10 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
6 eggs
2 Tbls coco powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp salt

Topping
1 C chilled heavy cream
1/2 C mascarpone (room temp)
3 Tbls powdered sugar

9"- diameter springform pan

Start, as always, by preheating your oven to 350 F. Lightly butter the springform pan and dust with sugar, tapping out the excess.
  Combine chocolate, oil, and 1/2 C butter in a large heatproof bowl. Set over a saucepan of simmering water and heat, stirring often, until melted. Remove from heat.
  Separate 4 eggs, putting whites in yolks in separate medium bowls. Add coco powder, vanilla, salt, 1/4 C sugar, and remaining 2 eggs to bowl with yolks. Whisk till smooth. Gradually whisk yolk mixture into chocolate mixture, blending well.
  Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites on high until frothy. With mixer running slowly add 1/2 C sugar and beat till firm peaks form. (You can test peaks by turning off mixer, putting beater into egg whites, and lifting. If a peak forms and stays then your firm. If it starts to sag, it is soft.)
GENTLY fold egg whites into chocolate mixture in 2 batches, folding until incorporated between additions.

It should look something like this.

 

Scrape batter into pan, smooth the top and sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbls sugar. Put in the oven and bake till the top is puffed and starting to crack. The cake should be pulling away from the edge of the pan (about 35-45 minutes). If your having doubts, use the toothpick test. When done, transfer to a wire rack and let cake cool completely in the pan (sadly, the cake will collapse in the center and crack further).

 

The rise

 

And fall

 

If you put the in the muffin tins like me, let the cake cool for about 10 minutes. CAREFULLY lift the cakes from the tin, lifting from the parchment paper. Let those cool on the wire rack COMPLETELY. Very slowly and carefully peel the parchment paper from each cake (if you are serving and not saving them).

 

The naked cake

 

Topping is pretty simple. Using an electric mixer on Med-high speed, beat the chilled cream, mascarpone, and powdered sugar in a medium bowl until soft peaks form. Remove sides of springform pan from cake. Mound whipped cream mixture in center of cake.

 

I suggest adding some fruit. I used raspberries but strawberries would be good too. It is a nice contrast for such a rich cake.

I got real fancy and whipped up a chocolate sauce to drizzle over top. Chocolate syrup would do just as well.

 

Epic goodness. No joke.

 

Until Next Time



 

Firecracker cupcakes

In Northern Michigan there used to be a small cafe that served sandwiches, salads, all that good stuff, but they also made their own ice cream. I vividly remember one ice cream flavor in particular, chocolate chili. It was wonderful, cool, rich, chocolaty, and finished with a suprising kick. I've been trying to recreate this combination since and although it is St. Patrick's Day, I figured my last post sufficed for my Irish (along with my red curl and pale skin).

So we start with the cake, which is from the base of the Guinness cakes.

Firecracker Cupcake

1 C milk (buttermilk is a good option too)
1 C butter (room temp)
3/4 C coco powder
2 C flour (all-purpose)
2 C granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
2/3 C sour cream1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 Tbls chili powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3 grinds of pepper

This is literally the exact recipe from last post (with a few tweaks).
Preheat your oven to 350 F and line out 24 cupcake tins with liners. Bring your milk and butter to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk and add your coco powder until combine and smooth. Set aside and get to work on the dry ingredients.
Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, all the spices, and salt in a bowl and set aside. In a large bowl beat eggs and sour cream until they are combine. Slowly add the chocolate/butter/milk mixture and beat until incorporated. SLOWLY start to add the flour mixture. Once everything looks decently incorporated, switch to a spatula and start to fold. Once everything looks well folded and spicy fill your cupcakes and bake for about 15 minutes, but as always, know your oven and keep your eyes peeled.

Overcooked cupcake suck.

 

Red Hot Frosting
8 oz cream cheese (softened)
1/2 C butter (room temp)
2 C powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbls Red Hot candies (any HARD cinnamon candy will work)
   I'm guessing a bit here, I had a small box of candies left over from Halloween but it was an individual packet and I just used the whole thing.

First, chop your red hot candies in a food processor until powdered or as close to powder as you can get. I still had some small bits but lacked further patience. Set that to the side. Beat your butter and cream cheese until loosely combined, then add the vanilla. Slowly add your powdered sugar and your pulverized candies, whipping the frosting until your reach the consistency you desire.

Frost and consume. This is not a cake I recommend for anyone that doesn't like spicy food. It has a nice bite to the end, and the cupcake goes really well with ice cream or some red wine.

 

Until Next Time

Irish Car Bomb pubcakes

Irish Car Bomb Pub-cakes

I originally found this cupcake recipe online and jumped at the opportunity to turn my Irish boyfriend's favorite beverage into an equally yummy cake. It was a slam dunk to say the least. I'm gonna digress for a minute and take you back to a fat kid day in the past. I could consume some sweets and cake was one of my favorites. My mom was going to school so often the Bill Cosby "cake for breakfast" thing was easy to pull off. Point is, I have had my fair share of cake. And this cake is easily the most moist and lush combination of sweet malt, smooth chocolate, and bite of hops that has graced my tongue. Yeah, that good.

There are three essential parts to this cake: Guinness cake, Jameson Irish Whiskey, and Baileys Irish Cream frosting. You can definitely take this recipe and conquer the greatest sweet tooth in the world.

Guinness cake
1 C Guinness stout
1 C butter (room temp)
3/4 C coco powder
2 C flour (all-purpose)
2 C granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
2/3 C sour cream

Whiskey Ganache
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 C heavy cream
2 Tbls butter (room temperature)
2 tsp Irish whiskey

For the Baileys Frosting:
2 C unsalted butter (room temperature)
5 C powdered sugar
6 Tbls Bailey's Irish Cream

Start with your cake. Now, in my picture you can clearly see that these are NOT cupcake papers, but in fact pub glasses. I really wanted to make his something cool (which probably turned out to be more for myself that him but oh well) so I figured why not toss them into glasses. Here was the trick. But we will get to that.

Guinness Cake:
Preheat your oven to 350 F and line out 24 cupcake tins with liners. If your feeling more adventurous and want to put them into glasses, then hold off on preheating. Bring your Guinness and butter to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk and add your coco powder until combine and smooth. Set aside and get to work on the dry ingredients.
Combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside. In a large bowl beat eggs and sour cream (or if your poor like me whisk ferociously) until they are combine. Slowly add the Guinness/chocolate mixture and beat until incorporated. SLOWLY start to add the flour mixture. Once everything looks decently incorporated, switch to a spatula and start to fold. If you are working quickly the batter should still feel warm which is awesome for the glass method. If your using cupcake liners, well then I scoff at your lack of adventure. Either way, divide the batter evenly into whichever baking vessel you prefer. TIP! If you are using glasses, remember to leave room for your cake to grow.

• Bake in paper liners like you normally would for any cupcake. Roughly 15-17 minutes. Check it out with a toothpick or knife.
• Baking in glasses: Place each glass on a cookie sheet, spaced enough that the glasses are not touching. Put them into a cool oven and allow the cake to preheat with the oven to avoid breaking the glass. This, along with the shape of your glass, will alter your bake time so go for around 12 and check out your progress. I think mine baked around 15.

After the bake, remove and cool.

Whiskey Ganache:
If you bought an 8oz bar of chocolate, chop it finely and put it in a heatproof bowl. I cheat and buy the Ghiradellia bittersweet chips (10 oz bar = left over chocolate) so no chopping here. Heat the cream to a simmer and carefully pour the white magma over the chocolate. Let it set for a minute and slowly stir until the chocolate is melted into a smooth creamy mixture. Add your room temp. butter and whiskey, stirring until combine. Let the ganache cool until thick, but not so thick it cannot be piped.
Find something tubular and hollow. You can use a piping tip to cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes (for the glasses I used a metal straw) and go down about 2/3 of the way down. Fill a piping bag (or use a Ziploc and cut a corner) with the ganache and fill the holes in each cupcake all the way to the top.

Baileys Frosting:
This is really a basic frosting recipe so it is pretty straight forward. Whip the butter until it seems airy/fluffy. Slow your mixer down and begin to add the powdered sugar until it is all incorporated. Add the Baileys and whip it until the frosting is fluffy. I always buy the mini bottles if I don't have any of the booze hanging around and there is a little bit more than 6 Tbls in the bottle. Don't be scared, use it all.

Frost your cupcakes however you desire and enjoy.

Until Next Time!

Samoa Cupcakes

      Can you just dive into a blog without doing an intro post? Yes, yes you can.

I love Samoas. As a kid, I could successfully eat an entire box of those sinfully delecious treats if my parents hadn’t already noticed my fat kid tendencies. 20 years later, I’m in the living room with a bunch of friends drinking wine and playing a board game when out came the Samoas. Girl Scout season was upon us and the cookies were devoured in haste. So I dug up some recipies and devised a plan for for a cupcake that could attempt to reach the supreme excellence of those damn cookies.
I settled for a white chocolate cake from The Fig Tree and got my “coconut salsa” from Katrina’s Kitchen and her homemade cookies.

Samoa cupcakes

White Chocolate Cake

• 1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1/2tsp salt
• 1/3 C unsalted butter (room temp)
• 3/4 C granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 6 oz good quality white chocolate, chopped and melted
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 1 C + 1 TBLS milk

First, set the oven to 325 degrees and line your cupcake tins (I made about 21 cupcakes). Basic cake drill, combine the dry (flour, baking powder, and salt) and set to the side. Prep your chocolate to be melted whichever way you choose (double boiler, microwavy, heat vision) and get to work. Next time I make these, I’ll try heating my milk and using THAT to melt down the chocolate but I figured first time I make them, I better follow my instructions. While that is working, cream your butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy. One at a time, add the eggs until incorporated. Then add the melted chocolate (the original recipie calls for 4, but I like to live on the edge).

Here is a hint for those of you who, like myself, find half used bags of chocolate chips around the house. Don’t.Use.The.Chips. Seriously. Invest in some good white chocolate because trying to melt old white chocolate “morsals” will not only make you gag as they shine in the heat, but will also make you wonder how much of this chip is actually wax. It’s enough to ruin Toll House for anyone.

 

After your chocolate is added, toss in the vanilla and mix at a medium speed for about 2 minutes. After, start to add your flour and milk, alternated and scraping the sides to ensure maxium batter production. With everything combine, fill your tins. I like to use an old ice cream scooper so I don’t have an array of baking times. Bake until a toothpick or knife inserted into the center comes out clean (about 22 minutes). Let them cool and toast your coconut.

Coconut “Frosting”

• 2 C shredded coconut (packed)
• 12-oz chewy caramels
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp milk
• 4 oz. chocolate

What do I mean by 2 C packed? You know how you would pack brown sugar into a measuring cup? Similar to that but, this time, with shredded coconut. I chose to toast my coconut in a pan since the last time I attempted to toast something in the oven (almonds) it ended in a pan full of ashes. Toast (a little over low heat) and toss often and eventually, you’ll get a nice brown pan coconut disguised as hasbrowns.
Remove from heat and let it cool. In a sauce pan add your milk, salt, and unwrapped caramels, stirring occasionally over low heat. I went from wooden spoon to whisk until it was melted. I also added more milk to thin down the sauce (personal preference) so use some judgement here. Once all the caramels are melted into sauce form, fold in the coconut (about 1/2 C at a time) till you are satisfied with the caramel to coconut ratio. I ended up using all the coconut and had I toasted more, I might have used that as well.

Here comes the fun part. Remember those cupcakes you let cool? Now you get to spoon hot magma coconut salsa onto them. Let the frosting cool for a minute, then use about a spoonfull on each. Try to work quickly cause the caramel mess is easier to manipulate while warm.

In a microwave safe bowl, add your chocolate and a spash of milk. Microwave at 10 second intervals, stiring in between, until chocolate is melted and smooth enough to drizzel. Once again, I found old chocolate bars in the pantry and decided to put them to good use (about 3oz milk chocolate and 1oz semisweet).

 

 Once melted, drizzel chocolate over the tops of each cupcake.

 

Until Next Time