Brownie Cupcakes!

I recently watched an episode of Paula Deen's, from Food Network. She and her guest were making something called Turtle Trifle. basically was brownie, layered with a sugary pecan mixture, whipped cream and caramel syrup. Fucking Fantastic! I absolutely have to make it one of these days. I looked the recipe up today and decided it was too much work and I didn't exactly have all the ingredients for it so I opted to make a brownie cupcake to satisfy the craving. John has a recipe for brownies that is super delicious, I had never really had homemade brownies until I tried his. They have such a different taste. In fact, at this point, with all the baking from scratch I do, nothing that comes boxed, jarred or canned already really tastes right to me anymore. I can taste the preservatives I think. So here is my homage to Paula Dean, and my sexy fiance! Brownie cupcakes with chocolate chips and toasted pecans, with a butter cream frosting. 
3 squares (ounces) unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup pecans, chopped and toasted in a sautee pan
First, melt the chocolate and butter together, add in the sugar, salt, baking powder and flour, then the eggs. Whisk it all together till smooth then fold in the chocolate chips and chopped pecans. I baked these at 350 for 22 minutes. It made 10 cupcakes. They didn't fall either, thank God, because that was beginning to really drive me nuts!

For a kid who was so pumped to bake chocolate cupcakes today, she didn't do much to help. She basically set up shop with her blankie, pillow and duck and lay down and watched. She's still cute tho! She did make the call on what color to make the frosting. Huge surprise, she picked pink!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting and Chocolate Chips

I have been SOOO off my cupcake game lately. I haven't been baking and there are two reasons for that. okay three. One, it's summer and we've had some gorgeous days and I've been outside and not near my oven. Two- I'm getting married in November (AHHH SO EXCITED) and I need to not be eating cupcakes, not to mention, my time is constrained with all the planning. And finally, three, I'm plain lazy and have not felt like baking. However, I have baked a few times and not written about it b/c I did not take pictures. I have one post to come after this one about a cake I did though. Today I baked cupcakes for Charlotte's great grandparents and there weekend guests. I thought I'd just stay simple and due chocolate and vanilla. So here goes:

1 1/2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp each of baking powder and baking soda
tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup AP flour/1 cup cake flour
1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips melted
3 eggs
I beat every thing together and baked them for 15 minutes at 350. They made 2 dozen cakes. I don't know if it was the weather or what, but they fell and did not stay round. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but that happens a lot to me lately and I have to look up how to stop that. Anyway, once you cover it with icing you can't really tell.

To make the frosting, i took 2 tbsp soft butter, 3/4 cup vegetable shortening, 1 1/2 tbsp clear vanilla extract, 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, and 1/2 cup heavy cream. I frosted the cooled cupcakes and then topped them with chocolate chips. Voila- very simple, but delicious, cupcakes. MMMM

Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake Cupcakes

It felt like a chocolate kind of day! Here are my chocolate pound cakes made with sour cream. 

1 stick of butter, softened
1 heaping cup of sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
heaping 1/2 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1/4 cup milk
The batter made 15 cupcakes that I baked for 30 minutes @ 325 degrees
I really think that using the cake flour lightened it up, which I liked. They came out very fluffy and not as dense as a traditional pound cake. I frosted them with my usual whipped topping only I added more sugar then usual. I wanted the icing super sweet today for some reason. 
3 tbsp softened butter
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
3 1/2 cups powders sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Charlotte couldn't wait to try one! She was running around the house yelling "Azul, Azul!" She always says her colors in Spanish. She was covered in icing when she was done and butter and shortening are a bitch to clean! Watching her enjoy it is so worth it though!

Happy Mother's Day! Raspberry Laced Chocolate Mini Cakes and Almond Butter Cream

Yesterday was Mother's Day! It was my 3rd mother's day and it was a fantastic one! John and Charlotte surprised me with beautiful flowers and some awesome new baking tools! I've been eyeing up this mini cake pan for a while and was super excited to see that John had gotten it for me. He also got me a set of piping tips, new bags, 2 off-set spatulas (which I wanted so bad) and a new silicone cake pan. I don't even wanna talk about how pathetic my round cake pan is. It's beyond old and just bent and awful. I definitely needed this new one.  We got up and made breakfast, read the paper and just relaxed for a bit then decided to head out for a while. John and I always have some random thing that we are into for the moment. Right now, it's treasure hunting. I'm not kidding. John bought a metal detector- the kind you see people on the beach with, and we are determined to find something worth millions. We asked Charlotte if she'd like to treasure hunt and she was so effing excited it was hilarious. She really likes pirates and treasure- Thanks dora the explorer! So this was a ton of fun for her. She packed up her back pack with snacks, and then got a little bucket, her garden shovel and garden gloves. She was set to go. So we took her over to the farm so she could run and explore while John and I worked on finding our jackpot! It was a gorgeous day. We didn't find anything great but it was still fun! Hearing Charlotte shout "what'd you find POPPA!?" every time she heard the beep go off, was too funny!

Then we got home, all took naps and then had a little BBQ, just us 3. It was a perfect day. However, I never ended up getting to use my new presents. Today I got up and got started. Here is the thing- I am no professional when it comes to baking and I really didn't know what I was doing. I had no clue how to ice these shaped mini cakes so they came out not looking good at all but I'll learn eventually. Here is what the looked like when they came out:

Cute right?! The cake is delicious, I actually made 10 of them, that's how much my batter made. Here is what I did:
1 1/2 sticks softened butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
5 egg whites
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
3/4 cups dark cocoa powder
1 ounce of melted unsweetened chocolate, melted with 1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 cups AP flour
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cups raspberry jam
I beat everything together and then filled my cake pan- I baked them at 350 for 24 minutes. 
I really wanted the raspberry flavor to come through, so I piped about 1 tsp of the raspberry jam into the cakes once they were cooled. 


For the icing, I wish I had raspberry extract but I didn't at the moment so I went with Almond Butter cream. 
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Like I said- they didn't come out like I wanted as far as the icing went- But they tasted amazing!!! Raspberry and chocolate are so good together and the chocolate is so rich in these. I can't wait to actually learn how to decorate these mini cakes correctly so you can see how pretty the really are but for now we are just gonna have to take taste over looks! 

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! 

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!

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!

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.