So this weekend was a very busy weekend. First of all, my second parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary with 60 of their closest friends and I volunteered to make the cupcakes to accompany the event. In the weeks building up to this one, I had to have them test the flavors and as such, I baked four different flavors: Chocolate, Carrot, Vanilla, and Lemon Raspberry. Unfortunately, the vanilla was not such a hit, being that it was a bit dense and not as flavorful as I would have liked, but the others were delicious!
Friday morning I set off on Operation Cupcake, starting the baking at 7:30 AM so as not to warm the house up too much during the hot part of the day. I started with the easiest recipe, Chocolate. The chocolate was a variation on the Hershey's cocoa recipe and I used the extra from the Carrot Cake's cream cheese frosting. A delightful pairing, if I do say so myself!
The Carrot Cake was none other than Uncle Sigrid's Carrot Cake off of Pioneer Woman, one that I've made before and gets good reviews. I double the frosting because that's what she suggests, and so I do. I always have leftover and even after the chocolate cupcakes, I had extra frosting this time too! Not one to waste, I set it aside in the fridge.
And finally, the last Anniversary cupcake: Lemon Raspberry. This little piece of heaven was brought to me by Jamie at My Baking Addiction. I happened upon this jewel of a recipe while searching for a lighter cupcake- and that's exactly what was delivered. This is a recipe to try, for sure. I cannot even describe how soft and moist and delicious these were. The texture was almost angel food cake status and the frosting was tangy and light. Overall, make these cupcakes!
This morning, my darling niece turned 11 and to celebrate, she was having friends over. She requested chocolate and so I searched my printed recipe collection and happened upon a cake I had wanted to try from The Tasty Kitchen: The Moistest, Yummiest, Most Delicious Chocolate Cake EVER! I have to say, Karly was not lying. This will likely be my new go-to chocolate cake recipe because it wasn't even a challenge to prepare. I used it with a chocolate buttercream recipe made with marshmallow fluff and what a hit! People loved the cake. It was all gone! The whole thing. I was bummed to not get a second piece. :(
Finally, knowing this was going to be a party with plenty of people, I decided to make a second recipe of red velvet, because I can. It was a recipe from Bakerella and it's pretty quick and easy, so I made it and- get this- used the last of the cream cheese frosting from Friday! Ridiculously tempting frosting- out of the house! Yeah! Also, very little waste involved in today, which is fabulous!
Overall, it was a delightful weekend! The cakes were good to me and I managed to not OD on them.
Happy baking!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
The Cake that Started it ALL!!!
So this hobby of mine is relatively new. I mean, I suppose I've been baking since I was a little kid, but never with the voracity that I've had as of recent. Well, for Christmas this year, my sister got me the Cake Wrecks book that is a compilation of all of the best (worst?) cake wrecks ever posted on that blog. Blogger Jen of Cake Wrecks classifies a Wreck as: "any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places." So there you have it!
In this book, there is a baby shower cake that made me laugh so hard for being so wildly inappropriate for a traditional baby shower cake that I had to do it. Sister was pregnant and receiving this book as a present was a sign that I needed to make this cake. I should mention that I had never dabbled in fondant before nor had I ever carved a cake, but I sure LOVED this cake and figured that with as many cake shows as I've seen (I'm talking to YOU Ace of Cakes!), I could figure it out as I went.
I started at the local Michael's and grabbed a tub of fondant and a jar of peach dye to make the delightful skin. Then I went home and baked three full cake recipes, one red velvet and two chocolate. I used the chocolate for the belly and the red velvet for the boobs. The carving and crumb coat were pretty uneventful. The boobs were even and pretty proportionate to the belly, so that was about as good as it gets for a newbie (although in retrospect, it would have been nice to have used a denser cake than I used to make for easier carving and frosting)!
Finally, after letting the crumb coated cake rest overnight, I got to the fondant portion and jumped right in with the dye. Little did I know, peach means peach like the fruit, not like my (oh so fair) family's skin tone. So, after like 15 minutes of kneading the fondant and trying to add more white to level out what had become a lovely tanorexic orange "skin," I gave up. I decided to hit up an actual cake store got a whole new, very expensive, tub of fondant and a new tube of dye more appropriately named "flesh." FINALLY! Something I could work with. I also got a suggestion to use the less is more approach to the dye and start small and add more color as needed. This worked beautifully! I had 5 lbs of fleshy fondant and I was on to the rolling out process.
I got it pretty thin, although I kind of wish I had gotten it thinner. Either way, I rolled it onto the rolling pin and with mom's help, transferred it onto the cake, rolling it out gently.
I even remembered the cute little belly button. Unfortunately, I forgot to color the background (cake board) before I put the cake on it- but lesson learned.
See? Flesh-colored! And anatomically correct-ish. The last step was to add the bubbles and I used royal icing for this one. Royal icing involves using egg whites and is excellent for piping, but the icing hardens when it dries so it is not very forgiving. I used two different sizes of tips and got very good at making bubbles, but had an absolute BLAST doing it.
Everyone should break out of the comfort zone every once in a while and try a new adventure- don't be afraid of failing, just be prepared to brag about how massively you failed! That means you learned at leas one massive lesson :)
Here's my completed cake:
And one more:
And next to the inspiration cake in the book:
I wish I knew how to not let the fondant dry out so much, but I suppose I'll learn that with time.
Here's to trying new things!
In this book, there is a baby shower cake that made me laugh so hard for being so wildly inappropriate for a traditional baby shower cake that I had to do it. Sister was pregnant and receiving this book as a present was a sign that I needed to make this cake. I should mention that I had never dabbled in fondant before nor had I ever carved a cake, but I sure LOVED this cake and figured that with as many cake shows as I've seen (I'm talking to YOU Ace of Cakes!), I could figure it out as I went.
I started at the local Michael's and grabbed a tub of fondant and a jar of peach dye to make the delightful skin. Then I went home and baked three full cake recipes, one red velvet and two chocolate. I used the chocolate for the belly and the red velvet for the boobs. The carving and crumb coat were pretty uneventful. The boobs were even and pretty proportionate to the belly, so that was about as good as it gets for a newbie (although in retrospect, it would have been nice to have used a denser cake than I used to make for easier carving and frosting)!
Finally, after letting the crumb coated cake rest overnight, I got to the fondant portion and jumped right in with the dye. Little did I know, peach means peach like the fruit, not like my (oh so fair) family's skin tone. So, after like 15 minutes of kneading the fondant and trying to add more white to level out what had become a lovely tanorexic orange "skin," I gave up. I decided to hit up an actual cake store got a whole new, very expensive, tub of fondant and a new tube of dye more appropriately named "flesh." FINALLY! Something I could work with. I also got a suggestion to use the less is more approach to the dye and start small and add more color as needed. This worked beautifully! I had 5 lbs of fleshy fondant and I was on to the rolling out process.
I got it pretty thin, although I kind of wish I had gotten it thinner. Either way, I rolled it onto the rolling pin and with mom's help, transferred it onto the cake, rolling it out gently.
I even remembered the cute little belly button. Unfortunately, I forgot to color the background (cake board) before I put the cake on it- but lesson learned.See? Flesh-colored! And anatomically correct-ish. The last step was to add the bubbles and I used royal icing for this one. Royal icing involves using egg whites and is excellent for piping, but the icing hardens when it dries so it is not very forgiving. I used two different sizes of tips and got very good at making bubbles, but had an absolute BLAST doing it.
Everyone should break out of the comfort zone every once in a while and try a new adventure- don't be afraid of failing, just be prepared to brag about how massively you failed! That means you learned at leas one massive lesson :)
Here's my completed cake:
And one more:
And next to the inspiration cake in the book:
I wish I knew how to not let the fondant dry out so much, but I suppose I'll learn that with time.
Here's to trying new things!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Peach Cobbler
For those of you who enjoy peaches, or peach cobbler, this recipe is a must try. It is one of Kelly's recipes from Evil Shenanigans. She's a great recipe giver! I really wish I could capture the smell in my house right now to go with the photo, but then I might just have a line at my apartment door.
Either way, as long as you have peaches that are ready to be sliced, this is an easy recipe. Mine decided to give me hassle and as such were not cut into pretty slices, but cut off the pit. Oh well, I figured as long as they're being cooked, it shouldn't matter. Last time I made this for co-workers and it was a smash hit (this recipe doubles very easily). So before the delicious treasure of summer known as the peach disappears for the next 8 months, make this cobbler and be prepared with plenty of ice cream!
You can't tell because this is a still photo, but those are bubbles on the side coming up from the bubbling peachy-goodness zone. See? Now you have to make this! Just to see what that zone tastes like! And to get the smell-o-vision direct to your own kitchen!
Enjoy friends!
Either way, as long as you have peaches that are ready to be sliced, this is an easy recipe. Mine decided to give me hassle and as such were not cut into pretty slices, but cut off the pit. Oh well, I figured as long as they're being cooked, it shouldn't matter. Last time I made this for co-workers and it was a smash hit (this recipe doubles very easily). So before the delicious treasure of summer known as the peach disappears for the next 8 months, make this cobbler and be prepared with plenty of ice cream!
You can't tell because this is a still photo, but those are bubbles on the side coming up from the bubbling peachy-goodness zone. See? Now you have to make this! Just to see what that zone tastes like! And to get the smell-o-vision direct to your own kitchen!Enjoy friends!
Chocolate Chipies
I can't believe that I haven't yet shared the recipe with which I have been having a love affair. Sorry Rick. I think he knows and he benefits from it, and doesn't care. It's an amazing and simple recipe. Be prepared to love me for sharing. Blogger Jamie from My Baking Addiction inspired my initial chocolate chip cookie-off and so when she mentioned a recipe that bumped her then-favorite down I had to try. Without further ado: Big Chocolate Chip Cookies.
I do make some slight changes. The dough is best eaten right away, but if you plan on actually getting to the baking phase, I would let the dough rest 24-36 hours. I didn't make full-on four ounce *gasp* cookies, but I get them large and in charge. It makes about 24 when I make these. I also use half salted and half unsalted butter. I use just over one bag of chocolate chips and at least HALF must be Ghiradelli 60% chocolate chips. At least half (the other 40-50% should be semi-sweet). I have also used Ghiradelli squares chopped up and they work just fine too. Either way, at least half people!!! Finally, I sprinkle sea salt on top to bring out all of that delicious Ghiradelli! Yum. you have no idea. I beg you all to make these and report back any changes you made and if you loved these bad boys as much as I do.
I do make some slight changes. The dough is best eaten right away, but if you plan on actually getting to the baking phase, I would let the dough rest 24-36 hours. I didn't make full-on four ounce *gasp* cookies, but I get them large and in charge. It makes about 24 when I make these. I also use half salted and half unsalted butter. I use just over one bag of chocolate chips and at least HALF must be Ghiradelli 60% chocolate chips. At least half (the other 40-50% should be semi-sweet). I have also used Ghiradelli squares chopped up and they work just fine too. Either way, at least half people!!! Finally, I sprinkle sea salt on top to bring out all of that delicious Ghiradelli! Yum. you have no idea. I beg you all to make these and report back any changes you made and if you loved these bad boys as much as I do.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Cheesecake!!!!!
Buenas Dias friends!!! In honor of Spain's victory of course :)
This last week Pioneer Woman posted a nummy looking Blackberry Cheesecake and since I trust her, I let Rick's family be my guinea pigs! Thanks guys! :)
Not quite sure what drove me to make this of all the yummy recipe's I saw this week, but I'm so glad I did. I decided to use blueberries since I'm not the hugest fan of blackberries with all those seeds in there. Anyhoodles. This cake was listed as easy, and she does not lie. It was SO simple. It retrospect, I am 99% sure I left out the vanilla- whoops! Still looks okay going into the oven...
The crust is interesting, because it's Nilla Wafers with Walnuts instead of graham crackers. I really liked the flavor and may just use less of it next time, the crust was a little thick for my taste. I was really hoping that I could be the magician who could make a non-cracking cheesecake, but alas, no. I had a giant whopping, San Andreas-style crack smack dab in the middle. I think it was because my oven is a little funky on the temperatures. Yeah, that sounds good. Either way, it was a fairly easy fix, I just poured the topping on it! I'm pretty sure it didn't get to cool as long as it should have, but I was on a time crunch-o-rama time! Once it had a chance to actually cool, we all tasted it and the verdict is- it's a hit!
I had to have Mike's family finish the rest so as to avoid adding more inches to the hips, but not before I got another piece of it myself :)
And now? It's all gone:
I think next time I would try subbing the cream cheese for low fat cream cheese and see if that makes a huge difference. Also? STRAWBERRIES! YUMMMM. Those would make an amazing addition to this cheesecake. Either way friends, please, for your own sake, make this one. You'll thank me (and Pioneer Woman) later.
This last week Pioneer Woman posted a nummy looking Blackberry Cheesecake and since I trust her, I let Rick's family be my guinea pigs! Thanks guys! :)
Not quite sure what drove me to make this of all the yummy recipe's I saw this week, but I'm so glad I did. I decided to use blueberries since I'm not the hugest fan of blackberries with all those seeds in there. Anyhoodles. This cake was listed as easy, and she does not lie. It was SO simple. It retrospect, I am 99% sure I left out the vanilla- whoops! Still looks okay going into the oven...
The crust is interesting, because it's Nilla Wafers with Walnuts instead of graham crackers. I really liked the flavor and may just use less of it next time, the crust was a little thick for my taste. I was really hoping that I could be the magician who could make a non-cracking cheesecake, but alas, no. I had a giant whopping, San Andreas-style crack smack dab in the middle. I think it was because my oven is a little funky on the temperatures. Yeah, that sounds good. Either way, it was a fairly easy fix, I just poured the topping on it! I'm pretty sure it didn't get to cool as long as it should have, but I was on a time crunch-o-rama time! Once it had a chance to actually cool, we all tasted it and the verdict is- it's a hit!
I had to have Mike's family finish the rest so as to avoid adding more inches to the hips, but not before I got another piece of it myself :)
And now? It's all gone:
I think next time I would try subbing the cream cheese for low fat cream cheese and see if that makes a huge difference. Also? STRAWBERRIES! YUMMMM. Those would make an amazing addition to this cheesecake. Either way friends, please, for your own sake, make this one. You'll thank me (and Pioneer Woman) later.
Monday, June 21, 2010
In honor of the first day of summer: PEACHES!!!!
Good day to all! It's officially summer here and in honor of this wonderful and glorious season (or so I say until the 100+ temps get here), and mostly for Father's Day, I made Peach Upside Down cake!!! Holy smokes! I've been frequenting a new baking blogger recently, Evil Shenanigans, and she has some delicious looking recipes on her page. Last week I tried her Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Chips, and Sunday I tried this Peach Cake. Let me tell you- it turns out just as beautifully from an amateur (me) as it does in her photos. I forgot to actually take photos, but you'll just have to take my word for it.
The recipe is super easy, and more importantly, super delicious! Please, for your own good- make this cake.
Happy summer friends!
update: I re-made this cake JUST so I had photographic evidence of how beautiful it is. Or just so that I have to eat it again. You decide.
Now that I look at it I should have squeezed one more slice in, but still a feast for the eyes!
The recipe is super easy, and more importantly, super delicious! Please, for your own good- make this cake.
Happy summer friends!
update: I re-made this cake JUST so I had photographic evidence of how beautiful it is. Or just so that I have to eat it again. You decide.
Now that I look at it I should have squeezed one more slice in, but still a feast for the eyes!Thursday, June 10, 2010
A comedy of errors... AKA- Why I normally follow recipes!
Well hello there! It's been a while. I promise you I've been baking, but I always forget to take photos and my adventures have been rather uneventful- until last night. I've had two bananas ripening on my counter for about a week now, so last night was pretty much my last chance to use them in a recipe. Bakerella posted Blueberry Banana Muffin recipe a couple of weeks ago and I thought it sounded enticing so I've been kind of saving my two bananas to bake these delightful treats. Her blog makes them look SO perfect!
Everything started out just fine:
See? Just fine. Eggs, flour mixture, sugars, banana, buttermilk... Improvisation in baking is just not my strongest suit.
Her recipe calls for fresh blueberries, but I've been out of town and my fresh fruit selection is scant at best. I had some frozen blueberries- so I decided that any blueberries would do. It also calls for a cup of bananas smooshed up. Well my two bananas only made up 3/4 cup when smooshed, so I improvised with buttermilk for the remaining 1/4 cup. I really thought this would work! The strawberry bread (Make this bread. You will thank me. Oh, and make it withtwo cups of berries) I made last week was SO pretty. And SO delicious! And it had buttermilk- therefore, every quick bread must taste fine using buttermilk, right? That was my logic and I'm sticking to it.
So as I'm mixing, I'm just about to the last step, gently folding in the blueberries, and I look around to make sure I've gotten everything. I really did look, but apparently I have selective vision I missed the butter that was sitting in plain sight. After I folded in the blueberries (thanks to their frozen-ness, they made pretty purple swirls throughout the batter) and had the batter evenly distributed in the muffin cups, I realized my snafu. Well, poo. I proceeded to scoop the batter back into the mixing bowl once I decided that missing the butter completely would be worse than having completely purple batter. So I go the most gentle route possible and used a wooden spoon to "mix" in the butter. What a mess. The butter was not creamed and therefore never made it past the chunk phase. I did my best to at least distribute it through out the muffins, but it was a horrible result.
The muffins never even made it into my mouth. They felt game-y and tough (can quick breads be game-y???) so I didn't even try them. Unfortunately, because so many things went wrong, I can't even point out how to make this recipe usable, except to tell you to just do as Bakerella says. I'm sure she's right! :)
Everything started out just fine:
See? Just fine. Eggs, flour mixture, sugars, banana, buttermilk... Improvisation in baking is just not my strongest suit.
Her recipe calls for fresh blueberries, but I've been out of town and my fresh fruit selection is scant at best. I had some frozen blueberries- so I decided that any blueberries would do. It also calls for a cup of bananas smooshed up. Well my two bananas only made up 3/4 cup when smooshed, so I improvised with buttermilk for the remaining 1/4 cup. I really thought this would work! The strawberry bread (Make this bread. You will thank me. Oh, and make it withtwo cups of berries) I made last week was SO pretty. And SO delicious! And it had buttermilk- therefore, every quick bread must taste fine using buttermilk, right? That was my logic and I'm sticking to it.
So as I'm mixing, I'm just about to the last step, gently folding in the blueberries, and I look around to make sure I've gotten everything. I really did look, but apparently I have selective vision I missed the butter that was sitting in plain sight. After I folded in the blueberries (thanks to their frozen-ness, they made pretty purple swirls throughout the batter) and had the batter evenly distributed in the muffin cups, I realized my snafu. Well, poo. I proceeded to scoop the batter back into the mixing bowl once I decided that missing the butter completely would be worse than having completely purple batter. So I go the most gentle route possible and used a wooden spoon to "mix" in the butter. What a mess. The butter was not creamed and therefore never made it past the chunk phase. I did my best to at least distribute it through out the muffins, but it was a horrible result.
The muffins never even made it into my mouth. They felt game-y and tough (can quick breads be game-y???) so I didn't even try them. Unfortunately, because so many things went wrong, I can't even point out how to make this recipe usable, except to tell you to just do as Bakerella says. I'm sure she's right! :)
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Funfetti! YUM!
So Allie's birthday is coming up and she's weird. Like SUPER weird. She doesn't like chocolate. Who doesn't like chocolate?! (Well, Allie... but oh well. You have to love besties even if they're weird.) So her favorite cake is funfetti and she's a cake mix loyalist and eats them without frosting and I'm a-okay with that because I, too love funfetti. So I found a recipe online to try (because I love real homemade goodies) before I started recording where they came from, but if you want the recipe, please let me know!
Onward and upward. I started with the recipe and realized that I added a whole stick of butter when I was supposed to only add 6 T. Oiy. I could tell with the batter because it does this weird separating thing where you can tell there's too much butter. Frosting does the same thing and with frosting you can add powdered sugar to make it all better. So I added 1T more flour and tasted and I needed sugar so I added 2T of sugar. Ugh. So annoying. It didn't taste like the mix like I had hoped. I think maybe more or better vanilla flavor? Maybe there's another flavor in there I'm not familiar with? It just wasn't the same. Anyways, the batter ended up looking pretty because anything looks pretty with sprinkles. So I baked them and they looked okay, but flat and spread out a bit too much, but I did fill them higher then I should. ONE of these days I will master the art of filling cupcake liners without over doing it. I'm thinking the butter made them so flat and lifeless. (but pretty!)
Next the fun began because who doesn't love to decorate a cupcake?! So I frosted with Buttercream/cream cheese frosting and it's pretty tasty. I'm getting good at frosting finally. The key is mixing for a while so it gets nice and fluffy. I frosted these bad boys with the angled spatula instead of my favorite, the piping bag. I think these would look lovely piped and sprinkled too, but I really wanted to try a decorating thing I saw online:
Cute, no? It's a flat-top frost with angled edges then you roll the edges in non-pareils poured on a plate (don't pour them too fast- they are some BOUNCY little buggers. I now need to re-sweep my kitchen floor).
I ended up almost popping the cupcake top off because these were so light and fluffy and the frosting was weighing the muffin top down so much that it started separating from the bottom. So it's cute, but do it with a denser cake. I only did two like this and frosted and sprinkled the rest. The end result is just cute. Perfect for a party, but not a good replacement for funfetti from the box.
Trust me I know. I slaved over a cute cupcake.
And I did right by that cupcake! And wrong by my hips, but let's ignore that tiny detail and the extra 2T of butter...
The end result was tasty, especially with the icing, but as with the strawberry cupcakes, the frosting steals the show.
Overall, they're fun and cute, but if you're a loyalist this is one recipe i would (and it pains me to say this) use a box mix for your funfetti cakes. *sigh*
Enjoy folks!
Onward and upward. I started with the recipe and realized that I added a whole stick of butter when I was supposed to only add 6 T. Oiy. I could tell with the batter because it does this weird separating thing where you can tell there's too much butter. Frosting does the same thing and with frosting you can add powdered sugar to make it all better. So I added 1T more flour and tasted and I needed sugar so I added 2T of sugar. Ugh. So annoying. It didn't taste like the mix like I had hoped. I think maybe more or better vanilla flavor? Maybe there's another flavor in there I'm not familiar with? It just wasn't the same. Anyways, the batter ended up looking pretty because anything looks pretty with sprinkles. So I baked them and they looked okay, but flat and spread out a bit too much, but I did fill them higher then I should. ONE of these days I will master the art of filling cupcake liners without over doing it. I'm thinking the butter made them so flat and lifeless. (but pretty!)
Next the fun began because who doesn't love to decorate a cupcake?! So I frosted with Buttercream/cream cheese frosting and it's pretty tasty. I'm getting good at frosting finally. The key is mixing for a while so it gets nice and fluffy. I frosted these bad boys with the angled spatula instead of my favorite, the piping bag. I think these would look lovely piped and sprinkled too, but I really wanted to try a decorating thing I saw online:
Cute, no? It's a flat-top frost with angled edges then you roll the edges in non-pareils poured on a plate (don't pour them too fast- they are some BOUNCY little buggers. I now need to re-sweep my kitchen floor).
I ended up almost popping the cupcake top off because these were so light and fluffy and the frosting was weighing the muffin top down so much that it started separating from the bottom. So it's cute, but do it with a denser cake. I only did two like this and frosted and sprinkled the rest. The end result is just cute. Perfect for a party, but not a good replacement for funfetti from the box.
Trust me I know. I slaved over a cute cupcake.
And I did right by that cupcake! And wrong by my hips, but let's ignore that tiny detail and the extra 2T of butter...
The end result was tasty, especially with the icing, but as with the strawberry cupcakes, the frosting steals the show.
Overall, they're fun and cute, but if you're a loyalist this is one recipe i would (and it pains me to say this) use a box mix for your funfetti cakes. *sigh*
Enjoy folks!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Strawberries galore!
So I had two containers of strawberries that I bought this weekend and were like 5 seconds from going to the great strawberry field in the sky (aka my trash can). I hate to be wasteful, so I just had to figure out how to use them. First things first, strawberry muffins. Why not, right? Here's what they looked like going into the oven
Nothing too exciting, but I added the brown sugar because I felt like making them look pretty :)
This is how they looked after their trip into my oven.
Not too shabby! They look a little light, but the toothpick came out clean.
These muffins can be re-created with blueberries or raspberries or peaches I'd imagine would be good too. I would suggest adding a smidge more butter maybe? Maybe some oil? They are a hint too dry, but the flavor is just right.
P.S. If you want to do peach, add in some cinnamon to bring out the peachy-ness. Yum!
Next up: Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcakes a la Martha Stewart.
These are pretty easy considering they're from one of the most popular bake shops (Sprinkles). They'd better be good!!! :)
First things first- two recipes in one night means a messy kitchen...
Quite the whirlwind. It's all cleaned now and the cupcakes next went into the oven:
Not too tasty-looking from here but alas, we're not finished yet!
When the lovelies came out of the oven, they were PURPLE! Yay for purple cupcakes.
Here's hoping they taste better than a purple strawberry :) Although I'm not quite sure how that would taste. Anyhoodles. Since the reviews of the frosting said it was too buttery, I went with a slightly modified recipe of Strawberry cream cheese frosting and I can attest to its deliciousness.
Yay again for Strawberry cupcakes!!!! And not being wasteful!
Yum-OH!
Turns out these cupcakes were actually a little short on strawberry-ness, but the delightful frosting MORE than made up for any lack of fruit and the cupcakes were perfectly and deliciously moist.
Nothing too exciting, but I added the brown sugar because I felt like making them look pretty :)
This is how they looked after their trip into my oven.
Not too shabby! They look a little light, but the toothpick came out clean.
These muffins can be re-created with blueberries or raspberries or peaches I'd imagine would be good too. I would suggest adding a smidge more butter maybe? Maybe some oil? They are a hint too dry, but the flavor is just right.
P.S. If you want to do peach, add in some cinnamon to bring out the peachy-ness. Yum!
Next up: Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcakes a la Martha Stewart.
These are pretty easy considering they're from one of the most popular bake shops (Sprinkles). They'd better be good!!! :)
First things first- two recipes in one night means a messy kitchen...
Quite the whirlwind. It's all cleaned now and the cupcakes next went into the oven:
Not too tasty-looking from here but alas, we're not finished yet!
When the lovelies came out of the oven, they were PURPLE! Yay for purple cupcakes.
Here's hoping they taste better than a purple strawberry :) Although I'm not quite sure how that would taste. Anyhoodles. Since the reviews of the frosting said it was too buttery, I went with a slightly modified recipe of Strawberry cream cheese frosting and I can attest to its deliciousness.
Yay again for Strawberry cupcakes!!!! And not being wasteful!
Yum-OH!Turns out these cupcakes were actually a little short on strawberry-ness, but the delightful frosting MORE than made up for any lack of fruit and the cupcakes were perfectly and deliciously moist.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Continuing to venture out on my own! Brownie Bites to dies for!
This week I was low on groceries and too lazy to shop so I decided to modify the recipe for Rocky Road Brownies courtesy of Alice over at Sweet Savory Life because it requires two eggs and that's all I had on hand. I'm not a fan of nuts unless in a delightful salad, so I knew I couldn't just do this recipe without changing it, but her photos looked SO delicious that I just had to try it.
The first time I made these I tasted the batter and knew they would be winning brownies, but I had to bolt towards the end of the baking time and had to leave the removal of the brownies from the oven in the capable hands of my roommate. They ended up a bit too toasty to eat and i ended up digging out the middle and snacking on that part alone. In spite of this little snafu of a baking experience, I knew I had to redo this recipe to prove to myself that this delicious batter was worth tasting in baked form.
Last week I purchased a mini muffin baking pan because I've wanted one for about a month now and happened upon one at Target- so whammo! I bought it. My twist on the recipe was minor but oh so tasty. I omitted the nuts and the marshmallows this time around and (of course) used the muffin pan to make bites instead of regular brownies. The final alteration was to use the leftover cream cheese frosting from last weeks Carrot Cake to top some of these bites and holy smokes! That was the best idea in the world! On the frosted ones I also decorated them with one of the Ghirardelli 60% Chocolate Chips (which are larger than normal chocolate chips) and that too was a wonderful addition.
The bites ended up tasting delightful both with and without the frosting and were a big hit at the office. I really think that they were my favorite recipe that I've ever tasted for a brownie- just delightful. So please, take a look and try these! I promise you won't be disappointed:
Brownies Bites Recipe- Modified from Sweet Savory Life
BROWNIE INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chocolate chips (dark or semi-sweet)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine marshmallows, almonds, and chocolate chips then set aside. In a medium-large bowl, mix (by hand) melted butter, sugar, and vanilla until blended. Add one egg at a time mixing/beating well. Add flour, cocoa, and salt and stir the batter until fully incorporated making sure you scrape the sides of the bowl including the bottom.
Spray the mini muffin pan with non-stick spray. Scoop brownie batter inside the pan- about 1 tbsp per cup. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top of the brownie batter. Using the back of a clean spoon, gently press down the chips into the batter just enough so the chips are slightly packed down. Bake for 19 minutes or until done. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Brownies slice really nicely if completely cooled.
ICING (from Pioneer Woman's Sigrid's Carrot Cake):
1 stick Regular Butter, Softened
1 package (8 Oz) Cream Cheese at room temperature
1 pound Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons Vanilla
DIRECTIONS: In larger bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla and blend.
The first time I made these I tasted the batter and knew they would be winning brownies, but I had to bolt towards the end of the baking time and had to leave the removal of the brownies from the oven in the capable hands of my roommate. They ended up a bit too toasty to eat and i ended up digging out the middle and snacking on that part alone. In spite of this little snafu of a baking experience, I knew I had to redo this recipe to prove to myself that this delicious batter was worth tasting in baked form.
Last week I purchased a mini muffin baking pan because I've wanted one for about a month now and happened upon one at Target- so whammo! I bought it. My twist on the recipe was minor but oh so tasty. I omitted the nuts and the marshmallows this time around and (of course) used the muffin pan to make bites instead of regular brownies. The final alteration was to use the leftover cream cheese frosting from last weeks Carrot Cake to top some of these bites and holy smokes! That was the best idea in the world! On the frosted ones I also decorated them with one of the Ghirardelli 60% Chocolate Chips (which are larger than normal chocolate chips) and that too was a wonderful addition.
The bites ended up tasting delightful both with and without the frosting and were a big hit at the office. I really think that they were my favorite recipe that I've ever tasted for a brownie- just delightful. So please, take a look and try these! I promise you won't be disappointed:
Brownies Bites Recipe- Modified from Sweet Savory Life
BROWNIE INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chocolate chips (dark or semi-sweet)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine marshmallows, almonds, and chocolate chips then set aside. In a medium-large bowl, mix (by hand) melted butter, sugar, and vanilla until blended. Add one egg at a time mixing/beating well. Add flour, cocoa, and salt and stir the batter until fully incorporated making sure you scrape the sides of the bowl including the bottom.
Spray the mini muffin pan with non-stick spray. Scoop brownie batter inside the pan- about 1 tbsp per cup. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top of the brownie batter. Using the back of a clean spoon, gently press down the chips into the batter just enough so the chips are slightly packed down. Bake for 19 minutes or until done. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Brownies slice really nicely if completely cooled.
ICING (from Pioneer Woman's Sigrid's Carrot Cake):
1 stick Regular Butter, Softened
1 package (8 Oz) Cream Cheese at room temperature
1 pound Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons Vanilla
DIRECTIONS: In larger bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla and blend.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
This one's for you mom!
So since I made a Chocolate Bundt cake for Trissie for Easter, I had to deliver for mom too. That means a request for Carrot Cake because Pioneer Woman re-posted a recipe last week that included fainting in the instructions. You know that's going to be a good cake!!! Anyhoodles.
I forgot to grate the carrots first, but it was no biggie- even with the newly orange finger nails. I also actually sifted as instructed. Please pat me on the back for that. I hate sifting with a passion.
I can tell I'm getting more comfortable with this whole baking business and i ventured out and *gasp* added nutmeg! Sidenote: my sister is the cooking kid in the family because she is all about not actually following a recipe (which makes copying her delicious food THAT much harder). She loves to add fun spices and new ingredients and I love her (and her food) for that. She really kicks butt in the kitchen. Well that's why I am now the baker for the family because I like recipes. I like order and instructions and guidance. They're my best friends and the reason that baking works so well for me. Baking is like a science experiment- a sometimes very volatile science experiment (see macaroons), so it's usually important to do as little fudging of the recipe as possible to make sure you get a moist and delicious baked good. So now you will all understand that nutmeg is a big step for me :)
The cakes are cooling right now and I whipped up the frosting (sans chopped nuts because adding nuts to dessert is just WRONG) and it is to DIE for. I whipped up a double batch per Ree's instruction and will undoubtedly have extra. Guess I'll have to take care of that myself! Definitely a cream cheese frosting recipe worth holding onto! Until later my friends! I must go and frost.
The verdicts are in- the cream cheese frosting is delicious (my own input) and the cake is a perfectly dense, moist, not too carrot-y cake(everyone elses input)! All reviews so far have been amazing. I may even venture into adding more spices next time just to see what happens, but there will definitely be a next time! :)
I forgot to grate the carrots first, but it was no biggie- even with the newly orange finger nails. I also actually sifted as instructed. Please pat me on the back for that. I hate sifting with a passion.
I can tell I'm getting more comfortable with this whole baking business and i ventured out and *gasp* added nutmeg! Sidenote: my sister is the cooking kid in the family because she is all about not actually following a recipe (which makes copying her delicious food THAT much harder). She loves to add fun spices and new ingredients and I love her (and her food) for that. She really kicks butt in the kitchen. Well that's why I am now the baker for the family because I like recipes. I like order and instructions and guidance. They're my best friends and the reason that baking works so well for me. Baking is like a science experiment- a sometimes very volatile science experiment (see macaroons), so it's usually important to do as little fudging of the recipe as possible to make sure you get a moist and delicious baked good. So now you will all understand that nutmeg is a big step for me :)
The cakes are cooling right now and I whipped up the frosting (sans chopped nuts because adding nuts to dessert is just WRONG) and it is to DIE for. I whipped up a double batch per Ree's instruction and will undoubtedly have extra. Guess I'll have to take care of that myself! Definitely a cream cheese frosting recipe worth holding onto! Until later my friends! I must go and frost.
The verdicts are in- the cream cheese frosting is delicious (my own input) and the cake is a perfectly dense, moist, not too carrot-y cake(everyone elses input)! All reviews so far have been amazing. I may even venture into adding more spices next time just to see what happens, but there will definitely be a next time! :)
Monday, March 22, 2010
A Chocolate Chip Cookie-off!
With as much time I spend meandering about the baking blogs, I've come across about a gazillion recipes that all look good enough to eat right off the screen and it feels like I'll NEVER have time to try them all- so I decided to have a cookie off and compare two recipes in one night! Plus- TWICE the goodies! YAY! Amy was a wonderful baking compadre (and she has a Kitchenaid, I'm just sayin...). She came armed with her best recipe courtesy of Thomas Keller a al Ad Hoc at Home. The book had some DELICIOUS looking recipes in there and she had tried the recipe before with a smaller, less accomplished mixer. I came armed with a recipe from My Baking Addiction for the Extraordinary Chocolate Chip Cookies. Jamie did not disappoint!
So she graciously let me start with my recipe. Nothing too extravagant in the recipe. The strange thing about chocolate chip cookies is that no recipe is really that far off from any other. All of the recipes have the same basics- butter, brown sugar, flour, sugar, chocolate chips, eggs, you get the idea). The key is in the ratios of all of the wonderful ingredients. I followed the recipe to a T being that it was the first time I was preparing it. I came up with some changes that I would make after tasting them. First things first though- they came out looking like I DID grab them off of the computer screen! It was insane. The taste was also surreal! The only small change I would make is to use either all salted butter, or one stick (of the two). This time was all unsalted and I think I would have like a bit more salt in there. I also would have mixed the chips better, used all dark chocolate chips (or at least part), and maybe a tinge less brown sugar- like one or two tablespoons less. These are all factors of taste though, so give it a go and make the changes you see fit.
Also worth noting: Amy has a wonderfully developed kitchen. I feel like my kitchen is a pre-teen girl going through "the change" and she doesn't quite have all of her confidence or her umm, fully developed equipment :) Amy's kitchen, on the other hand, is a mid 20's woman who's got all of her equipment in check and knows how to use it- especially her mixer. Man oh man! We got to break it in that night and it was quite a treat! Also? She has a cookie scoop. I never knew I needed a cookie scoop having used my hands to form cookies for the past 25 years. What a TREAT! Almost as much as the Kitchenaid! (Who am I kidding- there was no comparison! But it's nice to know that such a small tool can make baking so much easier) Another treat in Amy's kitchen? Silpat FTW!
After a mouth-watering dinner (Thanks Chris!!!) Amy moved into the ring for round two. I was in charge of reading the recipe from the book and played director. Her recipe called for cold butter (not a normal thing for baking since it adds more crunch), and some more delectable dark chocolate (60% and 72%). Let me tell you, the taste was divine. Absolutely untouchable. I definitely felt like I was eating cookies from an upscale chef at an upscale restaurant. It was how chocolate cookies should taste when they grow up! It was as if in this grown-up cookie the flavors aged so gracefully, while the cookies looked like they needed a little face lift (quite literally as they didn't have much leavening to them), but it's what's on the inside that counts folks! And that's exactly where these cookies ended up- on my inside- YUM! Maybe it was the cold butter that left them a smidge flatter than we would have hoped, but upon consumption, there was no question that Thomas Keller knows what he is doing.
My conclusion: If you like a traditional cookie, try Jamie's from My Baking Addiction. If you have a more refined palate- go big or go home and check out Thomas Keller's wonderful cookbook from his restaurant Ad Hoc. Oh, and I am SO very sorry about the lack of photos. I guess I'll have to force my self to do this again! Any takers? I would love to test out some more recipes!
So she graciously let me start with my recipe. Nothing too extravagant in the recipe. The strange thing about chocolate chip cookies is that no recipe is really that far off from any other. All of the recipes have the same basics- butter, brown sugar, flour, sugar, chocolate chips, eggs, you get the idea). The key is in the ratios of all of the wonderful ingredients. I followed the recipe to a T being that it was the first time I was preparing it. I came up with some changes that I would make after tasting them. First things first though- they came out looking like I DID grab them off of the computer screen! It was insane. The taste was also surreal! The only small change I would make is to use either all salted butter, or one stick (of the two). This time was all unsalted and I think I would have like a bit more salt in there. I also would have mixed the chips better, used all dark chocolate chips (or at least part), and maybe a tinge less brown sugar- like one or two tablespoons less. These are all factors of taste though, so give it a go and make the changes you see fit.
Also worth noting: Amy has a wonderfully developed kitchen. I feel like my kitchen is a pre-teen girl going through "the change" and she doesn't quite have all of her confidence or her umm, fully developed equipment :) Amy's kitchen, on the other hand, is a mid 20's woman who's got all of her equipment in check and knows how to use it- especially her mixer. Man oh man! We got to break it in that night and it was quite a treat! Also? She has a cookie scoop. I never knew I needed a cookie scoop having used my hands to form cookies for the past 25 years. What a TREAT! Almost as much as the Kitchenaid! (Who am I kidding- there was no comparison! But it's nice to know that such a small tool can make baking so much easier) Another treat in Amy's kitchen? Silpat FTW!
After a mouth-watering dinner (Thanks Chris!!!) Amy moved into the ring for round two. I was in charge of reading the recipe from the book and played director. Her recipe called for cold butter (not a normal thing for baking since it adds more crunch), and some more delectable dark chocolate (60% and 72%). Let me tell you, the taste was divine. Absolutely untouchable. I definitely felt like I was eating cookies from an upscale chef at an upscale restaurant. It was how chocolate cookies should taste when they grow up! It was as if in this grown-up cookie the flavors aged so gracefully, while the cookies looked like they needed a little face lift (quite literally as they didn't have much leavening to them), but it's what's on the inside that counts folks! And that's exactly where these cookies ended up- on my inside- YUM! Maybe it was the cold butter that left them a smidge flatter than we would have hoped, but upon consumption, there was no question that Thomas Keller knows what he is doing.
My conclusion: If you like a traditional cookie, try Jamie's from My Baking Addiction. If you have a more refined palate- go big or go home and check out Thomas Keller's wonderful cookbook from his restaurant Ad Hoc. Oh, and I am SO very sorry about the lack of photos. I guess I'll have to force my self to do this again! Any takers? I would love to test out some more recipes!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Lemon cupcakes with Berry frosting
So today I decided to give it a go with something completely *gasp* chocolate free. It's obscene, I know. But if you're going without chocolate, why not Lemon with Raspberry and Blackberry frosting? So I used a recipe from my Cake Mix Doctor recipe for the cupcakes and decided to use the berry frosting recipes a la Patisserie Natalie via Cake Spy. Aren't her photos just delightful? I had to try the frostings if only because they were SO pink!
So I got started on the cupcakes and with little fan fare. I think (in hindsight, I KNOW) I filled the cups too high. Dang. They ended up spreading and it look practically like a cake. I then decided to break off all of the spread part just for fun. Also because I was really frustrated with myself that I filled them up so high. So annoying. Later on I realized that I completely forgot to add sour cream. How did I forget an entire CUP of sour cream?! I don't know. The cupcakes ended up tasting fine, but I would have liked to see how they would have tasted with the sour cream, more pound cake ish I think.
Anyways, while those cooled I moved on to frosting. I loved that I got to make the berry sauce from fresh berries. So I did that on the stove and left them in the fridge to cool while I moved on to sifting the powdered sugar. For the record, I hate sifting. I think I hate my sifter though because it's a squeeze sifter which is just means that I run out of patience about 30 seconds into the sifting and end up tapping the sifter until the job is done. Really- I have no patience for the darn thing and find myself longing for my mom's sifter- as old as it is. :)
So I sifted and mixed it with the butter and it was a lovely level of creamy. Then i split the butter and proceeded to split the mixture and make the blackberry portion. After mixing the right amount, I tasted and it tasted like it was practically ALL butter. I ended up adding the extra blackberry mixture that I had and about 2 extra cups of sugar just to minimize the butter enough to taste like frosting. I was pretty bummed.
I learned my lesson and for the raspberry portion I started by taking out about 1/3 of the butter mixture before adding the fruit and powdered sugar. I still ended up adding about 1/2 cup more sugar, just to thicken it up a bit. It tasted really berry-y and delicious and I would probably just use the raspberry frosting next time. I think would actually like to retry the blackberry frosting and cut the butter.
All's well that ends well, and I'm just glad that they ended up tasting fine. I would do both of these recipes again though and I had fun :) Ooo, funny sidenote: I ended up using a wide smooth frosting tip when I piped them and my brother said it looked like Care Bear poop. That's just a wonderful visual! Hah! Enjoy your Care Bear poop cupcakes! :)
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
This is where I can chronicle my adventures into baking- my new hobby. So far I've been baking 1-2 times a week and working with recipes I've found all over the web. For the most part I bake whatever sounds good- from cupcakes to cakes to cookies and to infinity and beyond. Mostly I've done cakes and had some pretty good luck. My goal is to find the best recipes from all of the sites for the classics like chocolate, red velvet, white, yellow, or funfetti. When I see a recipe that calls my name, I'll bake it.
Today I saw some Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies on Doughmessticated and couldn't help but wonder how that would change the flavor of the most classic cookie in the world! So I tried them out.
The recipe starts with melted butter- FINALLY. Most recipes call for room temperature butter. I'm a major last-minute baker and my butter is cold. As I saw in a baking book somewhere, cold butter makes for a more "cold" consistency- i.e. not as soft and squishy. Anyhoodles, the melted butter means I don't require planning. YAY!
There were more pretty basic ingredients: brown sugar, sugar, flour, baking soda, salt. It also had heavy cream, which I see a lot in cakes, but haven't seen in cookies, so I was intrigued. It called for bread flour and I used AP flour, so that may have something to do with my final product. Now, I don't know the difference between the two types, but I know that there is a difference and I thought it had something to do with leavening, so I added a bit more baking soda and salt, just for fun.
So I whipped these bad boys up and the dough is kinda sticky, but a good consistency. They baked to a pretty thick cookie, which looks amazing. These are easily the prettiest cookies I've made. I think it was the buttermilk that gave them this slightly matte sheen that cracks with the baking process. I swear- they're so pretty they look fake! I was pretty stoked to see them look so pretty, but the first dozen came out a little hard. The recommended timing was 12-17 minutes and I did 13:30 and it was too long. The next batch I did 12:30 and they were beautiful!!! Highly recommended.
Taste test has come through and the flavor is just divine. I just wish they actually were chewy. I haven't tasted the second two batches since they've cooled completely, but I am hoping for a softer result. Maybe it was the AP flour substitution for Bread flour- who knows? Even the well done cookies are just delightful with milk- trust me, I tried.
Best of luck should you try these lovelies! Let me know what works for you!
Original Recipe link
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