Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes with Sea Salt

Tomorrow we are having a big BBQ at the house. Of course I'm making cupcakes for the party, but I wanted to do the chocolate ones today because the ones I am making tomorrow are going to be more time consuming, you'll see. (I'm hoping they come out as planned...) I made a Chocolate espresso cupcake topped with a dark chocolate ganache (that I had already made from my sundae cupcakes) and a sprinkling of coarse sea salt. 
For the cake:
I melted two ounces (2 squares) of unsweetened chocolate over a double boiler
1 1/2 sticks of butter, softened
3 tbsp instant espresso powder
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups of AP flour
1 tsp each of baking powder and soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup dark cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups milk
I whipped the butter, sugar, and espresso powder together, then added the eggs and slightly cooled chocolate. I added the vanilla, salt baking powder and soda. Then I alternated the milk, flour, and cocoa. Beat everything till well blended. I baked them at 350 for 16 minutes.
For the ganache- Melt 4 ounces dark chocolate with 4 ounces warmed heavy cream. Whisk till melted and smooth. 
If you have it left over, like I did, all you do is cover it, keep it in the fridge. When you are ready to use it again, just put back over a double boiler and stir till fully melted.
I dipped the cooled cakes into the bowl of ganache until tops were covered. Let them stand for an hour so the chocolate sets and then I topped with a little coarse sea salt! Super yummy cupcakes! 

Vanilla Fudge Sundae Cupcakes

The last two days have been awesome! Even though we've had some thunderstorms here and there and today is a little cloudy, it's been so warm and so inviting to be outside. I even let Charlotte play with her brand new water-table toy from Aunt Katie, which she is totally obsessed with! 
Tell me that isn't the cutest bathing suit EVER!

 So the warm weather has me thinking of yummy summer treats, like hot fudge sundaes. So, I made my cupcake version of one! Bean got in on the action today too when it came to making the batter!  We made a vanilla cupcake, topped with dark chocolate ganache and a vanilla whipped cream. Here is what we did:
3/4 cups butter, softened
3 eggs
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cups milk
The batter made 20 cupcakes which I baked @ 350 for 17 minutes.
Here are some shots of my big girl helping me out!

OOH she looks so serious with that mixer! I love it!
SO by then Charlotte was bored and tired so it was nap time for her. I had to do all the icing myself :(
For the dark chocolate ganache all I did was rough chop four ounces of dark chocolate, and pour 4 ounces of heavy cream that I had warmed in a saucepan, over it. I also added 1/4 tsp of sea salt. I whisked it until it was all melted and smooth. To be honest, I should have done half that (2and2) because it was too much ganache but I can melt it down again and use it later for something else. I frosted the cooled cupcakes with a thin layer of ganache and let it set up a bit.

For the whipped cream I beat 3 tbsp of softened butter with about 2/3 cup of vegetable shortening. I added in about 2 cups of powdered sugar, 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream and 1 heaping tbsp of clear vanilla extract. I beat it all together until it was smooth and a good consistency. Then I put it in a little sandwich baggie, snipped the end and piped it on top of the ganache. They look adorable. I was hoping that I'd have some red sugar or sprinkles to top with, but I didn't so I just added a little more ganache on the top for decoration. They are so sweet and delicious! I'm sure they'd be even better with a scoop of ice cream along with one!

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

Today it's raining. AGAIN!!! It's been raining for days and I keep telling myself it's just because it's April, but it really is a downer. Anyway, this morning when I went to get Charlotte out of her crib, she was wide eyed and bushy tailed and asked me - "Mommy, can we make the upcakes today? I want chocolatey." That's what she calls them- upcakes and she says chocolate in spanish. It's adorable. So of course I said yes! What I didn't tell her is that I had a big surprise for her today. Her cousin was coming over! I didn't tell her 'till he got here and she was beyond PSYCHED! They love each other, he is 5 and she is 2 so everything he does is just fantastic in her eyes. They didn't wanna help me bake, they were too busy chasing each other around the house and then snuggling. I still made them for them though because I knew they'd want a sweet treat after lunch.  


I made them chocolate mint cupcakes with chocolate icing. Here's what I did:
2 cups AP flour
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 tsp mint extract
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cups cocoa
Beat butter and sugar together. Add each egg, beating afterwards and then beat until very fluffy. Add in extract, baking soda, powder, salt and cocoa. Then alternate the milk and flour until fully mixed. I baked these for 17 minutes at 350. You could smell the mint - I was nervous they'd be too minty, but no, it was delicious. I frosted these cakes with a Chocolate Whipped Icing that I added a hint of mint extract into.
3 tbsp of softened butter
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup cocoa
3 1/3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp mint extract
1/3 cup heavy cream- Beat together till smooth and fluffy. This chocolate icing came out so much better than the last one I did. I think the shortening really helps instead of using all butter. I did a bit of filing in the center and then iced the tops. The kids absolutely loved them and from what John told me, so did all the guys at work!

** I found my camera charger!! Now I can have real pictures instead of the camera on my phone. I'm so excited!

Coconut Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting HAPPY EASTER!

In the spirit of Easter I made Coconut Carrot cupcakes yesterday. I love carrot cake. I love the warm cinnamon in them and the texture. I added coconut because, well I love coconut too. It added another level of texture to the cakes along with the shredded carrots.  

I could have eaten these with no icing but as you can see, I didn't. It wouldn't have been as Easter-y. Here is what I did- 

4 beaten eggs

2 cups sugar

2 cups AP flour

2 tbsp baking powder

1 heaping tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 cups shredded carrots

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cooking oil

1/4 cup coco lopez

1 cup shredded coconut

Mix the eggs, carrots,vanilla, oil and coco lopez. In a separate bowl, combine, sugar, flour,salt, baking soda and powder and cinnamon. Add dry mixture in slowly and whisk all together. Finally, fold in the coconut., Its a very thick batter. I made 18 cupcakes with it. Baked for 20 minutes @ 350- cooled on wire racks. 

I made a cream cheese frosting which consisted of 1/4 cup vegetable shortening, 6 ounces of light cream cheese, 3 cups powdered sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla. I split the frosting into two bowls and dyed them - one bright pink, one yellow. Then in another little bowl, I took about 1/2 cup of shredded coconut and added about 3 drops of green food coloring and mixed it up with a fork. I frosted the cupcakes and topped with a little coconut to make it look like grass. Topped with a few Easter colored M&M's. These were moist and rich. Like I said earlier, they'd be good even without any frosting. 

Peanut Butter n' Chocolate Cupcakes (trial #1)

Since my "almond joy-ish" cupcakes came out so delicious, I thought I'd take a stab at another candy fave- the peanut butter cup. Peanut butter is weird for me. Sometimes I absolutely can't even stand the thought of it, let alone eat it, and other times I can't get enough of it. However, there is something about the PB inside of a Reeses Peanut Cup that is just different and always better than any other jar of PB I've ever purchased. Probably the ridiculous amount of sugar in it.

So today I made a cupcake out of this idea. I have to say both the cake and frosting are a trial. The cake actually came out very yummy and I probably won't change the way I made it- but I  got distracted doing some potty training and I didn't get the cupcakes out in time. So, I think if they were in maybe, 3 minutes less, they'd be much better. The icing though- that def needs improvement. Although it tastes great, it doesn't look great..
Here's what I did:
for the cakes-
1 stick of butter, softened
1 cup of smooth peanut butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups AP sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
I beat the butter and PB together, then added the sugar, then the eggs, vanilla,baking powder, and then once that was nice and smooth, I alternated the milk and flour till fully mixed. This made a ton of batter- enough for 20 cupcakes. I baked them at 350 for 18 minutes but it should have been about 15 I think. Cooled on wire racks.
Now, the frosting-
I went with a chocolate butter cream-
1 stick of butter softened
2/3 cup dark cocoa
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
I beat all this together until smooth- what I think went wrong, b/c it seems to be separating slightly, is that I used too much cream. Next time I'm going to try no milk or cream and then if needed use it very sparingly.

After everything was cooled I pressed a mini reeses PB cup into the center of the cake- They have these new loose ones in a bag now that are smaller and don't have the foil like the other minis. Then I piped the chocolate butter cream onto them and topped with another lil' PB cup. These are very heavy but not overly sweet like I thought. The flavor is great, I just have to work on the look!

Coconut Almond Chocolate Cupcakes

This is my play on an Almond Joy candy bar, one of my favorites.  I made an almond chocolate cake, that I filled and topped with coconut cream. Here's what I did:
for the cake- 
1/3 cup butter softened
2 tsp of almond extract
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp each of baking soda and powder
2 small eggs
1/2 strong cold black coffee
1/4 cup milk
1/2 dark cocoa
This batter was so freaking good, I swear I licked the bowl and every spoon & spatula I used to make it. The combination of chocolate with the almond and bit of coffee was phenomenal!  It made 12 cupcakes- I used the cutest liners too, they are zebra but you can't tell in the pic b/c they don't stay bright. I wish they made more foil stay brite liners in patterns like this :(
I baked these at 350 for 20 minutes. Removed from pan and let cool on a wire rack.


For the coconut cream:
1/3 cup softened butter
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup of powdered sugar
6 tbsp of coco lopez
1/3 cup whipping cream
I beat everything together till smooth.

If you don't know what coco lopez is, it's a cream of coconut that you find in your mixers/drinks section in the grocery store. It's used to make pina coladas and its very thick and creamy. It gives amazing coconut flavor and you can find it in every grocery store. 


Once the cupcakes were cooled- I took about 1/4 cup of my icing and put it into a small piping bag with a small tip. I inserted it to the top of the cupcake in the middle and filled it. You could sort of see the cupcake swell and that's how I knew to stop filling.
Then I piped the rest of the icing onto each cake using a larger tip. I garnished them each with an almond and a little but of coconut flakes that I toasted in a pan.
I don't want to give these away, they are awesome. But, summers coming so I must behave!



Also wanted to take this time to show off Charlotte in her awesome new apron she got for her bday. It's beyond adorable! My house looks so messy in this pic but it was early and I hadn't straightened up yet. 

S'mores Cupcakes

I sit and think all the time of different flavor combinations and desserts that I like. That's how I came to do the Bananas Foster cupcakes. It's getting to be barbecue season, and I thought.. what about s'mores? S'mores are such a delicious treat that everyone loves. It reminds people of being young and having a good time just sitting by a campfire or having an awesome bbq with friends and family.  This afternoon I put this confection into a cupcake. There are three elements, well actually four, to a s'more. Graham cracker, chocolate, marshmallow, and fire. What I did is this:
I made a graham cracker crust like I would if I were making a cheesecake. I crumbled about 10 full graham crackers and mixed it with 1/2 stick of melted butter. I didn't add sugar b/c I felt the crackers were sweet enough. I lined my cupcake pan with little papers and took a tbsp of the cracker mixture and pressed it into the bottom of each cup. I then baked these mini crusts in an oven for 4 minutes at 375 degrees. Took them out and knocked the temp back to 350.
Next came the chocolate- I just did a very basic chocolate cake- 
1 cup AP flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cold strong brewed coffee
2/3 cup of milk
1 egg
Whisk all together in a bowl- it's a very thin batter. I used my ice cream scoop and poured the batter on top of each cup that already had the cooked crust in it. Bake these cupcakes at 350 for 19 minutes.
Next- onto the marshmallow.
I really didn't know what to do with this part. I knew i didn't want to melt down marshmallows and I did not want to use Fluff. I wanted it homemade all the way. So I found a recipe online for no bake marshmallow icing.
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup light karo syrup
Beat the egg whites,salt and cream of tartar on high till they form peaks. Add the sugar in a little at a time till it's stiff and glossy. Then slowly beat in the corn syrup. 
I then decided to add in a dash of vanilla extract for some more flavor. The marshmallow icing is thick but not thick enough to just pipe onto a cake. I spooned about a tbsp of the icing onto each cake and then placed the caked onto a silpat lined baking sheet. I put my broiler on high and moved the rack up close to the heat. I put the frosted cakes in for about 3 minutes. Keep an eye on it b/c it's sugar and will burn FAST! They come out looking like a toasted marshmallow on top! These were rich and very tasty still slightly warm. The crust stayed intact and the cake was just gooey enough to remind me of melted chocolate!

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY CHARLOTTE!

My daughter turned two on Wednesday. TWO!!! I can't believe it's been two years, it's no joke when they say that time flies by too fast when they are this young. She's 2 going on about 10 though because she thinks she's so cool. I'm not gonna lie, she's pretty effing cool. For her first bday John and I really did it up. We had a huge party and invited everyone. It was outside and it was freezing and so windy. April is so unpredictable. So, this year we decided to go low key and just have a little something at the house for her. Just a few friends and family. Of course I still went ape when it came to baking for this shindig. I was just gonna make a cake- but then I realized I gave all the cupcakes in the house away and didn't have one for her in the morning. John and I like to wake her up with a cupcake with a candle and let her open her presents. Since I gave all the cupcakes away I had to bake some more. I went with a simple Coconut Angel Cake- 

2 cups AP flour

4 egg whites

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/3 cups buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cups shredded coconut

Bakes at 350 for 20 minutes- I used my whipped frosting recipe and dyed it some fun colors!

Charlotte was so cute with the candle.  She really understood it was her birthday- 2 is awesome! She also tore it up with her gifts which we loved watching. Christmas will be hilarious this year. After she shredded her gifts open and had half a cupcake for breakfast, we had a really fun day. She got all dressed up and I took her to the jumpy castle- I don't think that's what it's really called. It's in our mall and it has all these air castles and play areas for kids. It was a really nasty, rainy day, so I figured that'd be perfect for her. She ran around and then we came home for lunch and then she napped for about 3 1/2 hours! That's crazy long for her. It was sort of great though b/c it gave me time to work on her birthday cake.

She is OBSESSED with Dora the Explorer! So my mission was to make her a Dora cake. I dyed my frosting purple and used like a jungle green to write on it. I also picked up little sugar Dora decals to put on the cake.  I went with a Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake. Sounds weird right? It's one of the most moist cakes I've ever made.- Here is the recipe:

2 cups AP flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

3/4 cups mayonnaise

1 cup water

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream together the water, sugar and mayo, add in the rest of the ingredients and beat till well blended- Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

I ended up having to make 2 cakes b/c after the first one was done, it just wasn't big enough so I ended up doing a layered cake. It was so delicious and was devoured at her party!

I also made a Charlotte Russe. This is a really old fashioned dessert. It's like a Mouse with Lady Fingers. Technically it should be done in a spring form pan I think but I love my triffle dish and its so much easier this way. I decided that b/c my daughter's name is Charlotte, she deserves a dessert with her name every year on her birthday so this is my little tradition that I want to have every year. I had a little trouble with this one, not gonna lie. I don't remember it being that difficult when I made it last year. then again, last year I made it at night in my kitchen with Morgan and we were tipsy just chatting away so maybe it was difficult and I was just too tipsy to care. You have to cook eggs and sugar over a double boiler and make a custard- it's pretty time consuming- It's a lengthy process so I'm not gonna post the recipe but if any one would like it, please let me know.

The birthday party was a success! Bean had a blast and her friends did too. I think my favorite part of the nite was after singing happy birthday, I went in the kitchen to cut the cake and Charlotte and her two besties came running after me to get some- absolutely adorable. I can't wait for more birthday parties and get together's like this. Having everyone together to celebrate such an important day meant so much and makes you realize what's important in life. Cheers to our sweet little girl, Charlotte Grace. Mom and Pop love you!! XO

Key Lime Avocado Cupcakes

Anyone who knows me, knows that I have an extreme love for Spanish cuisine. I cook it all the time at home, once, maybe even twice a week. Avocados and lime are a staple as a garnish or part of what ever dish I happen to be making. Now that I've begun this cupcake challenge against myself, I thought I'd put those ingredients into a cupcake. John looked at me like I was nuts when I said I was going to make these today. Gave me a sort of, "ugh I'm gonna have to eat this and it's gonna be gross" kinda look. But I swore to him that it was going to come out good. How could it not, right? We love both those ingredients. How can adding sugar and baking them make it bad?! What's even cooler, I subscribe to the Food Network Magazine and this month they had a feature page on avocados! A whole list on how to use an avocado a day and in many cases it said to substitute avocado for where you'd use butter instead. I had been wanting to try this cupcake for a week now and after reading that article, it finally pulled it together for me on how I'd actually do it. Here is what I did:
1 whole ripe avocado, pitted 
2 tbsp butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 tsp key lime juice
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 cups AP flour
1/2 cup milk
I beat together the butter, avocado and sugar until smooth (it was seriously a gorgeous texture and color, the mixture reminded me of a custard)
Then I beat in 3 eggs, the vanilla and the lime juice, then the baking powder and flour. I added the milk at the end. It came out such a pretty green color, almost pistachio-like. I was really surprised about this b/c secretly, I was expecting a gross puke-like color. But no it was really pretty. This batter made 12 cupcakes
I baked them at 350 for 21 minutes. They came out gorgeous and fluffy- kinda looked like muffins actually.

(I recognize that I really need a camera and that my cell phone is not taking the best pics)


To top these cakes I made a Key Lime Whipped Topping:
3 tbsp softened butter
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup key lime juice
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
I wish I had fresh limes at home b/c I'd of liked to use their zest as a garnish on these too, but I used a lil' bottle of pre-squeezed key lime juice instead. So I opted to top with green sugar. Still pretty cute and the icing is sweet but definitely has that tartness from the lime- exactly what I wanted!

Bananas Foster Cupcakes

I love bananas. They are so awesome for you and they have so much flavor. I always have them in my house and every once in a while there will be one or two that get a little brown or soft and are better suited for baking. Banana bread is definitely a favorite but I also really love bananas foster. The brown butter sauce and rum all sauteed up with bananas and maybe some vanilla ice cream, is def a winner. This afternoon I decided to pull those flavors into a cupcake. Here is what I did:
2 bananas sliced up, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 stick of butter, pinch of cinnamon, pinch of salt and 4 tbsp of Captain Morgans Spiced Rum- I melted the better and sugar together in the pan and added in the bananas, salt and cinnamon, cook for about 4 minutes and then added in rum- stand back, it may flame up. Cook additional minute or so. Set aside in a bowl to cool.


1 1/2 stick butter, softened
1 1/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs (in this case it may have been 2 1/2 eggs b/c Charlotte was helping mix and she sorta spilled some egg, oh oops)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 cups AP flour 
1 cup milk
I beat together the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt, baking powder- then I quick beat the banana mixture i had set aside until it was smooth. Alternated that mixture with the flour until fully combined and then slowly added the milk. I used the whole cup but you may want to use more or less depending on how much you get from your banana mixture depending on size of the bananas- i didn't want the batter to thick.  I poured the batter with my ice cream scooper into the tins- his made 20 cakes.
Bake at 350 for 17 minutes and cool.

They come out like mini banana breads almost, but not too sweet and you can still taste that bit of rum. To frost them I went with a new whipped cream topping i'm trying out. 
2/3 cups vegetable shortening
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp banana extract
3 cups powdered sugar- to taste, go a sweet or not sweet as you like
This came out so light and fluffy! I love it! I do think these would be awesome if they were filled with caramel or some of the sauce the bananas are cooked in- I will try that next time.

Cupcakes for Charlotte & Rose

Yesterday I had a fantastic day! I went down with Charlotte to visit my best friend Morgan and her beautiful new daughter, my niece, Rose. Rose is only 7 weeks old but as you can see, her and Charlotte are all ready becoming great friends!

We took the kids to the park and to lunch. It was so gorgeous out. Bean had so much fun running around and Rose was happy as a clam in the sunshine!! It was great to see Morgan too b/c we live pretty far from each other and don't get to see each other as often as we'd like. 

I got home and decided that our sweet little princesses had inspired me to make some sweet little cakes. I made a strawberry swirl cake with whipped cream topping and vanilla cakes with hot pink butter cream.

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2 1/2 cups AP flour

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

3 eggs

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 14/ cups milk

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup strawberry preserves

2 tbsp strawberry syrup

3 drops red food dye

Cream butter and sugar together, add eggs and vanilla. Then alternate dry ingredients and milk till fully mixed. Take 1 1/2 cups of batter out and then add in preserves, syrup and dye- mix all together

Set oven to 350 - take a tbsp of strawberry batter and put into each cupcake tin , then 2 tbsp of vanilla batter  and then top with another tbsp of strawberry batter- (makes 12 of these) swirl together with a toothpick-

Vanilla batter left over should make another 12 vanilla cupcakes. Bake cakes for 16 minutes- cool and then frost!!!! 

The strawberry cakes were so delicious and with the whipped cream it was like having a little shortcake. The butter cream I made wasn't too sweet either so it was perfect with the sweetness of the vanilla cake! I love our little princesses and I can't wait to make these cupcakes and many more with both of them in my kitchen helping out and having fun!!

Hazelnut Flourless Chocolate Cupkakes with Hazelnut Cream

Flourless chocolate cake... who doesn't like that? I think it's one of the most decadent desserts and so I had to try it in a miniature version.  Let me back up a bit. The other day was Sunday. Sunday is family day. John, myself and Charlotte always spend the day doing some sort of adventure, even if it's just hitting up a new local store. We get up, we get coffee, bagels and the newspaper, have a big breakfast and then venture out for the day. I love Sundays! I was sort of slow this Sunday b/c I drank a few too many beers and stayed up too late with John and some friends playing PlayStation3 Move- which is so fun, try it! So John had to take the reigns on getting the coffee Sunday ritual together, thanks baby. Anyway- so this Sunday we hit up this new store called Ollie's (once i came out of my pathetic hangover, 6 beers, that's shameful). Basically this store is a discount warehouse that has a little bit of everything. They buy up left over product from stores that have bought too much or have some sort of situation where they cant carry their merchandise anymore, like a fire or closeout.  Ok, so we bought some new books for Bean, and then hit up the food section. It's all dried and bottled goods. I had an effing field day! Their extract were ridiculously cheap, coconut so much cheaper than my usual grocery trip and all kinds of other little things I can use for my baking. Not to mention Dora fruit snacks for Charlotte, less than half the usual price, SCORE!  After i filled our cart, we then headed over to Michael's next door. I half to say when ever our Sunday adventures end up being a shopping trip, I end up with way more stuff than John.(Love u babe) I wanted to pick up gel food coloring b.c I wanted to be able to dye my cakes and icings more vibrant colors than what you can do with just regular McCormick Easter egg dye. I grabbed that, some new sugar crystals, piping bags and some new cupcake papers,tins, whatever.  OK so then we headed home and we get started in another Sunday tradition, pasta night,. That's not for this blog tho. I'll save that for a guest post on Miss Gina Truhe's blog, foodismyporn.blogspot.com


Monday morning- I wake up with the itch to bake, I didn't bake all day Sunday so now I have the shakes.  I grab my new hazelnut extract, some chocolate and get to work with my flourless chocolate cakes.

I decided to go with hazelnut to mirror the flavors of nutella, another favorite in my house. These cakes don't look the prettiest b/c i didn't wait long enough for my whipped cream to set before i topped my cakes. I also used the wrong tip for my piping bag, but they taste awesome. Here's what I did:
8 ounces melted semi sweet chocolate
2 ounces melted unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup butter melted (melt choc & butter 2gether)
6 large eggs separated
12 tbsp sugar divided
2 tsp hazelnut extract
1 tsp dark cocoa powder
Beat the 6 eggs yolks with 6 tbsp of the sugar. Beat it for at least 3 minutes. You want it super  airy and to turn a lighter color. 
Fold the egg mixture in with the chocolate & butter mixture.
In a separate bowl whip the 6 egg whites while gradually adding the remaining 6 tbsp of sugar. Beat till you have stiff peaks. It should about triple in size. Fold egg whites into chocolate mixture. Fill cupcake tins 3/4 full. Bake @350 for 10 minutes , then rotate pans and bake additional 10 minutes. My batter made 2 dozen cakes. 
For the cream I beat 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, with 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 2 tsp hazelnut extract and 1 pkg non-flavored gelatin that had been dissolved in 4 tbsp of cold water. I also dyed my whipped cream with a copper color so it'd emulate that hazelnut color. Again, I should have waited to frost, but I think I just got too excited. 
These cakes are a little messy but they are so soft and rich. I'll definitely make them any time I'm in the mood for something rich and chocolatey.

Lemon Ricotta Pound Cake with Citrus Cream

Normally I don't care much for lemon flavored food. That goes for both sweet and savory. I had a pound cake recipe though and I also has some fresh lemon and grapefruit so i thought I'd try it out and see how it was. John and I both agreed that it's not our favorite but for those who liked lemon, it was a hit. John always brings my cupcakes into work for the guys. It's pretty great having some extra taste testers! I think for me though the cream was my favorite part of these. Here's what I did:
for the cakes: 
1/2 cup butter softened
3 eggs
heaping 1/2 cup of ricotta
1 1/2 cups of AP flour
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 tsp lemon juice
Beat butter until all creamy then add in sugar, vanilla, then the eggs. beat until fluffy then add in ricotta and the rest of your dry ingredients. Add the lemon juice last. Beat until all is combined then pour into cupcake tins. This should make 18 cakes. Bake @ 325 for 32 minutes


For the citrus cream I beat 1 1/2 cups whipping cream and 3/4 cups powdered sugar and then added in 1 tsp lemon juice and 2 tsp grapefruit juice. I also use non flavored gelatin to stabilize my whipped cream so that it doesn't run. (dissolve 1 pkg into 3 tbsp cold water. put over low heat in a pot until dissolved, cool slightly before beating into cream). I topped the cakes with the whipped cream and then zested the grapefruit for some added zing! Even though this was a pound cake, the citrus made it light and refreshing! 

Almond Pecan Cupcakes with Maple Butter Cream Frosting

This was a cupcake I made out of stuff I had in my freezer. I had a lot of maple syrup and a package of pecans so i thought the flavors would come together well in a cake. I made a yellow cake :
3/4 cups butter softened
3 eggs
2 1/12 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/12 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 cups white sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 tsp almond extract
Beat the butter and add in the sugar, almond, and then eggs. Beat till fluffy. Then alternate your milk and dry ingredients and mix till incorporated.


Then I crushed 1/4 cup of pecans and toasted them in a skillet till I could smell them.
I poured the cake batter in until halfway up the tin. Sprinkled in some toasted, chopped pecans and then covered with more batter. I baked these at 375 for about 18 minutes and then let cool for about an hour. This made about 18 cupcakes.
For the butter cream:
I creamed together 1 1/2 sticks of softened butter with about 2 cups of powdered sugar. Slowly add the sugar and taste as you go so you get it to the sweetness you like. Then i added in 3 tbsp of really good maple syrup. Beat everything together till its all creamy. Then I piped the frosting onto the cakes and topped with more of my toasted pecans. They were delicious and the crunch in the center made them very good texture wise. I have to say too, I mentioned that this cupcake obsession started with me wanting to be able to make a good frosting. This butter cream was the best butter cream i had ever made!

Chocolate Chili with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Holy Shit! It's pretty much all I can say to describe these. I think they are my most favorite flavor that I've made so far. It may sound weird but anyone who has ever tried chocolate with some form of heat, as in spice, before will like these. Here is what I did: I used a basic chocolate cake recipe and tweaked it.

3/4 cup softened butter

3 eggs

2 cups AP flour

1 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups white sugar

1 1/2 cups milk * steeped with 1 tbsp dried chipotle peppers

2 tsp vanilla extract

* 2 tbsp chili powder

I put the tbsp of dried chilis into the milk and allowed the oils to steep into it. Mix all the dry ingredients together except the sugar, in a separate bowl. Beat the butter for 30 seconds and then add in sugar, vanilla, eggs- whip all together till fluffy. alternate the milk which has been strained (u dont want the actually chilis in the cupcake) with the flour and mix until fully combined. Pour into cupcake tins. This recipe made about 21 cupcakes.

I wasn't sure what kind of  icing I wanted for these and even though cream cheese frosting isn't my number one fave, I thought it'd go well with the chili flavor.- I beat 1 8 oz pkg of cream cheese with 3/4 stick of unsalted butter. After that was nice and cream i added in 1 tsp of vanilla and 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. Now, go slow with the sugar b/c you may want to alter how sweet this frosting gets. 

After I piped the icing on, I put a single red pepper flake on top and then shaved some dark chocolate on top.

These were delicious, at least I thought so. You can taste the chili but they are not SPICY. You aren't gonna sweat from eating them so even if you don't like spice, try these. The flavors go so well together! I'm super excited for summer time when our peppers really start growing and then i can play with different levels of heat!