desserts

February 20, 2015

Nanaimo Bars.

Have you ever heard of Nanaimo bars? Unless you’re Canadian, you probably haven’t. Personally, I had no clue what they were up until about four weeks ago. The dude I’m currently dating asked me to make them for him, and I’m pretty sure I gave him a blank stare when he said the word “Nanaimo.” His mother’s side of the family is Canadian, so he’s grown up having these tasty treats. I’m glad I finally learned what the heck they are, because they’re absolutely addicting!

Nanaimo bars – for those of you who don’t know – are a no-bake, triple-layered, Canadian bar type of dessert. They get their name from a city called Nanaimo, which is in British Columbia. There are quite a variety of ways to make Nanaimo bars, but the standard layers go as follows: bottom layer: chocolate with graham cracker or wafer cookie, and some kind of nuts (usually pecans or almonds). The middle layer is a creamy, custard type of filling. Finally, a chocolate ganache layer covers the top to complete the three layers.

These Nanaimo bars are very sweet, and quite rich. But the flavors of all of the ingredients balance out together quite nicely, I think. The graham cracker in the bottom layer mixed in with the chocolate and pecans just makes an absolutely delicious combination. I’m looking forward to making them again in the near future, and trying out some different varieties for each layer. The possibilities are endless!

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Nanaimo Bars.

Ingredients:
Bottom Layer:
– 1/2 cup salted butter, diced into pieces
– 1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
– 3 TBS. cocoa powder
– 1 large egg, lightly beaten
– 1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
– 1 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
– 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (I actually had unsweetened coconut on hand, so I used it.. and I’m glad I did. These do not need any additional sugar.)
– 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans or almonds (I used pecans.)

Filling:
– 1/3 cup salted butter, softened
– 1/4 cup heavy cream
– 2 TBS. custard powder or vanilla/white chocolate instant pudding mix (I used instant French vanilla pudding mix that I had leftover.)
– 2 cups powdered sugar

Top Layer:
– 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
– 2 TBS. salted butter

Instructions:

1. Grease an 8×8″ square baking dish and set aside. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Remove the pan from the heat, and add the brown sugar and cocoa powder into the pan. Whisk the ingredients well together until they are evenly combined. While continuing to whisk vigorously, slowly add the beaten egg.
2. Return this mixture to the heat and cook for about 1-2 more minutes, or until mixture has thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
3, Add to this mixture your graham cracker crumbs, coconut, and pecans, then toss until they’re evenly coated. Press the mixture into your greased pan. Cover with plastic wrap, then refrigerate for 40 minutes, or freeze for 20 minutes.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer [or using an electric hand mixer], whip the butter, heavy cream, and pudding mix until it’s smooth and fluffy. This should take approximately two minutes on medium speed. {Note: The mixture may seem dry and crumbly at first, but it will come together.} Spread the creamy mixture over the top of the chilled graham cracker base. Cover with plastic wrap again, and freeze for another 15 minutes (or refrigerate for 30 minutes).
5. Melt the semi-sweet chocolate and butter in a heat proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, or a double boiler. Once melted and smooth, spread an even layer over the chilled creamy layer. Cover the bars with plastic wrap again, and chill in the fridge for another 10 minutes, or until the chocolate has set. Cut into squares, and store in an airtight container.

+Recipe from Cooking Classy.

January 14, 2015

Homemade Fortune Cookies.

We’ve officially had another successful RBE {Roommate Baking Endeavor (or perhaps we should call it a challenge?)* for the books!

This time, the roomie and I decided to make homemade fortune cookies. Yeah, it can actually be done. It was – once again – a very interesting experience.

Making homemade fortune cookies was fun, and it wasn’t as scary as I thought it might be. However, I have to admit that there is definitely a slight learning curve with making them. [But of course, I will add our notes and lessons learned below the recipe just for you. That way you can make homemade fortune cookies and learn from Dani’s and my amateur blunders.]

Anyway. I hunted around online for some decent fortunes, and I came across some interesting ones [you can Google “fortune cookie fortunes/sayings,” and you’ll find several “fortune cookie message generators” online]. I printed out fortunes and cut them to fit in our cookies. After all, a fortune cookie is not a fortune cookie without some cool fortunes in them, amirite?

This one is my personal favorite; I would like to dedicate it to my brother, as he has a bottomless pit when it comes to food [and of course, he’s like 6’5″ and has great metabolism…]:

Seems about right. 😀

And here are some of my other favorite fortunes and messages:

We even made “monster” sized fortune cookies! Check out how big this mama cookie is compared to her baby cookie. Haha.

Overall, I’d say it was a worthwhile experience. I’m not sure I will ever make them again, but it was cool to see how simple they are to make [minus the first-timer blunders]. If you have a spare hour or two on a weekend and you’re making orange chicken or something, make these for dessert! It was also pretty awesome to know that I can now fold those glorious cookies so that they look like what you get at Asian restaurants! Another RBE crossed off the bucket list. 😀

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Homemade Fortune Cookies

Yield: Sixteen fortune cookies.

Ingredients:
– 2 egg whites from extra large eggs [see notes on this below]
– ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
– ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
– ½ cup all-purpose flour
– ½ cup sugar

Fortunes/Optional Decorations:
– Handwritten or typed fortunes [not optional, IMHO!]
– 1 cup chocolate chips
– Sprinkles, for garnish

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.

2. In a large bowl, whisk all of the ingredients together: egg whites, vanilla extract, cinnamon, flour, and sugar.

3. Scoop about one tablespoon of batter from the bowl, and place it onto the lined baking sheet. To smooth the batter, use the back of a spoon to flatten it into a very thin circle. The circle should be approximately ~3 inches in diameter.

4. Repeat step 3 a few more times until you have two or three circles of batter on the sheet. Bake for about 5 to 7 minutes. The edges of the cookie should just start to brown.

5. Once the cookies are done, place the fortunes in the center of the cookies. Using a flat spatula, carefully (so as not to tear the cookie) lift the cookie from the sheet.

6. To form the fortune cookie shape: fold the circle in half toward the top [over the fortune]. Then pinch the edges of the semi-circle inward to create the shape. [NOTE: I didn’t get photos of this part, but if you see the blog where I found this recipe (listed after the instructions), Kelly has better instructions/photos on the folding technique. I also have tips for folding them successfully below.] The cookies will harden quickly, so you must work fast to fold them into their signature shape.

7. If you want to dip some of them in chocolate (or all, I won’t judge), melt the chocolate chips in the microwave at 20-30 second intervals. Stir it to ensure that it’s properly melted, then dip the cooled cookies into the chocolate. Immediately decorate with sprinkles, if desired.

**Bonus: Darcie + Dani’s Lessons Learned:
– It’s best to bake and fold the cookies in batches. It probably seems tedious, but even with two people working on them at once, it’s just easier to work with a few at a time. They will harden quickly, thus ruining your chance to fold them nicely.

– We found that flipping the cookies over carefully ensured that their “pretty” side [the side against the cookie sheet that looks much smoother and shinier] would be on the outside once folding them.

– As Dani said, “If you’re not burning your fingers a bit, you’re not doing it right.” In order to work quickly and get that signature fortune cookie shape, you have to work fast, and you may burn your hands a bit. It’s nothing crazy or super painful, of course… Just a forewarning. 🙂

– You really do need “extra large” eggs. I didn’t even know this, because I always mindlessly buy “large” eggs at the store. Apparently, the amount of ounces per egg does vary [Don’t quote me on this, but there’s at least a ~0.5-1.0 oz. difference between egg sizes] significantly. So if you use large eggs – which you probably do – you will need more than two to have enough whites.

– Don’t put the fortune cookies in the fridge. I know this might seem goofy, but I packed a few cookies in my lunchbox for work the other day. I always put my lunchbox in the fridge to keep my more perishable food cold, obviously. Well, the fridge made the cookies extremely chewy… So I would advise against refrigerating them. 🙂

– Get creative with your fortunes! Make them funny. Make them inspiring. Whatever; it’s up to you. Just make them fun.

– Fortune cookie recipe from Kelly of Just a Taste.

*Our “Roommate Baking Endeavors [RBEs]” are a thing now. Just so ya know. 🙂

December 27, 2014

Tiramisu.

Tiramisu is one of those desserts that looks all fancy schmancy. It has intimidated me ever since I learned what it was.

Admittedly, it’s not one of my favorite desserts – despite the fact that I do enjoy coffee – so therefore, I’ve never had much motivation to make it for myself. However, it is one of my dad’s favorite desserts. I realized a few months ago that I have never bothered to make it for him. {I have baked all kinds of treats for my dad in the past, so I’m not a bad daughter, I swear!} Finally, this Christmas, I decided it was time to take the tiramisu plunge.

I started with a [simple enough] recipe from the Use Real Butter blog. And you know what? Making tiramisu really isn’t that difficult. Of course, I fumbled through a few steps, but overall, it’s not that difficult to make. The most difficult part of making the tiramisu is making the custard portion. And then it just takes some time to assemble. {Note: See my recipe notes after the recipe itself; I’ve shared several “first time lessons learned” below.}

This tiramisu is light, fluffy, and rich. But it’s not too sweet. It’s got a nice cocoa flavor and a subtle espresso flavor, but even for people who aren’t coffee fans, it’s not overwhelming. I’d give it an 8.5 out of 10; would make again. I only wish mine turned out a bit prettier – I wanted to pipe the top layer of filling on top, but alas, it still tastes great. 😉

tiramisuvertical Tiramisu makes a good post-Christmas dinner dessert.

Dem layers doe.

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Tiramisu!

Yield: I used an 8×8″ square glass pan and got about 8-10 servings. You can use an 8×8″ or 9×9″ pan and you should be fine.

Ingredients:
– Four [4] egg yolks
– 1/4 cup granulated sugar
– 1/4 cup Kahlua or other coffee liqueur
– Pinch of salt
– 8 oz. mascarpone cheese
– 1 cup heavy cream
– 3 packages lady fingers/savoiardi [I used three 5 oz. packages of lady fingers.]
– 2 cups hot brewed espresso [I used Medaglia D’Oro instant espresso powder brewed in hot water.]
– 2 TBS. unsweetened cocoa powder or grated bittersweet chocolate [I used cocoa powder this time.]

kahluaespresso Instructions:

Make the Filling:
1. In the top of a double boiler over simmering water, place the egg yolks, sugar, Kahlua, and salt. Whisk the ingredients constantly for about six minutes, or until the mixture becomes thick. When lifting the whisk out, you should be able to leave a “ribbon” on the surface. {Note: If you’re concerned about egg safety, check the temperature of the “custard” – the temperature should reach 160°F. I like to live life on the edge, so I didn’t bother checking it.}

2. Remove the custard mixture from the heat, and set the bowl on ice to cool. Be sure to stir it occasionally.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer [or in a bowl with an electric hand mixer], mix the mascarpone cheese and heavy cream together. Then beat the cheese/cream mixture together until heavy peaks form.

4. Once the egg custard mixture has cooled completely, fold it into the cream and cheese mix until it’s evenly combined. Set aside the filling until you’re ready to assemble.

tiramisufilling Dat filling doe.

Assemble the Tiramisu:
1. One at a time, dip each lady finger into [cooled] espresso. Arrange them in a single layer on the bottom of the pan. Spread about one third of the filling evenly over the lady fingers. Dust the top of the layer with cocoa powder.
2. Repeat step one for the second layer.
3. For the third layer, you can either spread the remaining filling on top, or pipe it all pretty over the lady fingers. Finally, dust with cocoa powder.
4. Place the tiramisu in the refrigerator for twenty-four hours so that it can firm up and allow all of the flavors to meld together. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes/”First Time” Lessons Learned:
– On lady fingers: Apparently, there are two different varieties of lady fingers at the store. There are softer ones, and crunchy ones. My dad could only find the soft ones at Kroger, so I took them out of the package and let them get a little dried out for a day or two. I think that was a good choice, because even after being dried out, they still got a bit too soggy in places from dipping them in the espresso. Next time, I’ll probably just make my own crunchy lady fingers. They seem fairly easy to make from scratch.
– On layering/dipping the lady fingers: Be careful not to get the lady fingers too saturated with espresso. If they become too soggy, they will make the final product a bit “soupy.” Soupy – in this case – is gross.
– Cooking the custard: To make the filling, I made a “makeshift” double boiler. A makeshift double boiler is just a sauce pan filled with simmering water, over high heat. Then I just place a heatproof bowl on top, and put the custard ingredients in to whisk/cook.
– On the cocoa powder: If I were in my own kitchen when I made this, I would have used a sieve or sifter to dust the cocoa powder on each layer. However, I didn’t have access to those tools, so I just used a strainer to sort of “sift” it over. It didn’t turn out as pretty, but it worked well enough.

Tiramisu recipe from Use Real Butter.

Tiramisu also makes a nice breakfast, along with a cup of hot, black coffee. 😛

PS: This blog post is dedicated to my dad. I’m glad you enjoyed my first ever homemade tiramisu! 🙂

December 23, 2014

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Bailey’s Buttercream.

I never knew that it was possible to love a boozy cupcake as much as I love these. Holy crap. I first had one that was made by a fellow baker/coworker – Kelley – at a party awhile back. And it was just love at first sight.

You might be wondering what it is about using a stout beer in cake that makes the cake so amazing. I don’t know the exact science behind it, but something about that stout added with the cocoa powder adds an extra depth of flavor and richness to the final product. It’s hard to explain; it’s just one of those things that is awesome.

I have made these cupcakes several times, but I recently made them again for an ugly sweater party with some friends. Usually I prefer to use one of St. Louis’ local brewery’s stouts in these cupcakes – 4Hands’ Chocolate Milk Stout – it’s seriously one of my favorite stouts. This time, however, I opted for another local brew: Schlafly’s Coffee Stout. I think that the coffee in the stout really added another nice depth of flavor to the cupcakes; coffee and chocolate are always a good pair. Of course, you could use a common stout, such as Guinness. I’m just a fan of using local products in my final baked goods wherever possible, and the 4Hands and Schlafly stouts are solid choices. 🙂

Since these cupcakes were for a Christmas party, I got pretty festive with them. I have an overabundance of sprinkles, so I used some of my Christmas-y sprinkles. I then added these cute little plastic pine tree cupcake toppers to several of them. I think they turned out pretty well, and that’s my absolute favorite part of baking: when treats turn out tasting delicious AND looking awesome. It’s just the bees knees.

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Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Irish Whiskey Chocolate Ganache Filling + Bailey’s Buttercream Frosting

Yield: 24 regular sized cupcakes. I actually cut the recipe in half for the Christmas party, which is easy to do with this recipe.

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes:
1 cup stout beer [such as Guinness, or opt for an awesome local stout if you can]
1 cup [2 sticks] unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder [preferably Dutch-process]
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

For the Ganache Filling:
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate [I used the Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate bars]
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 TBS. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 to 2 tsp. Irish whiskey [Optional – I used Jameson.]

For the Bailey’s Frosting:
3 1/2 cups (14 oz.) powdered sugar
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
6 to 8 TBS. Irish cream [I used Bailey’s… Creamy beige!]
8 oz. (1 block) full-fat cream cheese, COLD and cut into 6 to 8 chunks

Instructions:
Make the cupcakes!
1. Line 24 regular muffin tins with liners, and preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Over medium heat, bring the stout and butter to a simmer in a saucepan. Add the cocoa powder, then whisk the mixture until it’s smooth. Allow it to cool slightly.
3. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl: flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer [or with an electric hand mixer], beat the eggs and sour cream until blended. Add the stout-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture, and beat until it’s just combined.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and beat briefly on a low speed. After that, use a rubber spatula to fold the batter until it’s totally combined.
6. Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3rds to 3/4ths of the way full, and bake the cupcakes until a toothpick comes out clean, about 17 minutes [mine only took 15 minutes, but oven times vary]. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely on a rack.

Make the Filling + Fill the Cupcakes:
1. Chop the chocolate [or use chocolate chips], and transfer it to a heatproof bowl.
2. In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream until it’s simmering. Then pour the cream over the chopped chocolate. Allow it to sit for a minute, then stir it until it’s smooth. Add softened butter and the whiskey, if using, and stir until combined. Allow the ganache to cool until it’s thicker but still soft enough to pipe. [You can put it in the fridge to speed up the process, but you will need to stir it every 10 minutes.]
3. While the ganache is cooling, you have two options for preparing the cupcakes for filling: either use a Wilton No. 230 tip to fill them [it is a tip that kind of resembles a bird’s beak, used for filling cupcakes], or cut the centers out of the cupcakes and spoon ganache into them, then replace the tops with the cake you cut out of the top. For a more detailed post on filling cupcakes, this post on Annie’s Eats is a good one.
4. Fill the cooled cupcakes with the ganache, then prepare them for frosting!

Make the Frosting:
1. Into a small bowl, sift the powdered sugar. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter, 1 1/2 cups of the powdered sugar. Mix until it’s fluffy and thoroughly blended.
2. Next, add more of the powdered sugar along with 3 TBS. of the Irish cream, and mix again until combined. Add the rest of the powdered sugar, the remainder of the Irish cream, and the vanilla extract. Mix until evenly incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
3. Finally, turn the mixer up to medium high speed, and then add the cold cream cheese a chunk at a time. Wait about five seconds after each addition so that the mixer can incorporate each. Turn the mixer up to high speed and beat the frosting for about one minute, until it’s smooth. Be careful to not over beat.
4. Frost the cupcakes using a piping bag and tips or spread on with a knife. Be sure to use the frosting within 30 minutes or it may become too soft.

Recipe Source: This recipe was given to me by one of my former coworkers, Kelley. I think the chocolate stout cupcake + Irish whiskey ganache recipes are from Smitten Kitchen. I’m not sure where the Bailey’s buttercream recipe comes from, so if you know… please tell me!

lightscupcake One more photo for good measure: some bokeh from the Christmas tree in the background, plus my friend Katie being an awesome hand model!

December 1, 2014

Mini Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream.

There is a time for fancy, labor-intensive desserts. And then there are times for simple desserts. Prime example: A few weeks ago, I was really in the mood for some simple chocolate cupcakes.

I searched high and low for something that wasn’t overly complicated – which is harder than it sounds. There are times where I have no desire to melt chocolate, and sometimes I’m too lazy to even add boiling water to a batter for chocolate cake.

Luckily, I found these simple chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting, and the recipe is scaled down to make ten mini cupcakes. Brilliant. [I know they look fancy, but they’re actually quite simple and came together very quickly.]

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to take fancy pictures of these little guys, since they were for the photographer from my little photo shoot.

But I think these pictures will do for now.

Yo dawg, I herd u like pics of food, so I took pics of food AND someone taking pics of food. 😛

These little cupcakes are moist, rich, and chocolatey. They’re perfect when you need a little chocolate pick-me-up [which is at least once a day, every single day – if you’re me], but there aren’t too many of them, so no feeling guilty about indulging. They are also perfect to share with someone. Heck, if I had a special someone, I’d be baking them all the time for said someone. But until I find that elusive “special someone,” I’ll happily bake them for friends and for myself. These cupcakes are so easy to whip up, and I even piped the light, cocoa-y frosting on ’em in a jiffy. And of course, I had to add pretty sprinkles! Don’t they look just darling [can’t believe I just said that, haha] on my new jadeite cake stand? I love that cake stand. So pretty.

Okay, go on with yo bad self and make these cupcakes. They are a tasty little no-fuss treat. And that’s that sh*t I DO like. 😀

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Simple Mini Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Yield: About 10 MINI cupcakes.

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:
– ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
– 2 TBS. unsweetened cocoa powder
– ¼ tsp. baking soda
– ¼ tsp. baking powder
– ¼ tsp. instant espresso powder [Optional – but this does deepen the rich, chocolate flavor… I get that most people probably don’t have it on hand, but I do, so I used it!]
– 4 tsp. canola oil
– ½ tsp. vanilla extract
– ¼ cup lightly packed light brown sugar
– ⅓ cup low-fat buttermilk [Don’t have buttermilk? That’s cool, neither do I. I used an easy buttermilk substitute of 2% milk plus some white distilled vinegar. It works, yo.]

For the chocolate buttercream:
– 4 TBS. unsalted butter, at room temperature
– ¾ cup powdered sugar
– ¼ tsp. vanilla extract
– 2 TBS. unsweetened cocoa powder
– splash of milk, if necessary
– cute sprinkles [NOT optional! Haha.]

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a mini muffin tin with 10 mini cupcake liners [or just grease the cups real well if you don’t have mini liners].
2. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl [flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and espresso powder].
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the canola oil, vanilla extract, brown sugar, and buttermilk until they’re well combined.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. Don’t overmix!
5. Fill each cup with the batter, and bake the cupcakes for about 8-11 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out with moist crumbs. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for a minute or so, then move them to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
6. Make the frosting by beating the butter and powdered sugar with a hand mixer [or stand mixer if you have one]. Start out on low speed unless you want to be covered in powdered sugar.
7. Once the butter and powdered sugar are combined, add the cocoa powder and vanilla extract. Beat well until combined and fluffy; add a splash of milk if it seems too dry.
8. Frost the cooled cupcakes, then add pretty sprinkles and serve to a lucky someone [or yourself, I won’t judge]!

Recipe from Christina of Dessert for Two.

Me being super hipster-y with the cupcakes in a coffee shop in STL. Yup.

September 30, 2014

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting.

Confession: I am one of those people who is usually thinking about pumpkin-flavored everything, changing leaf colors, and fall fashion very early. And by “very early,” I mean as in at some point around the middle of July. [This is probably mostly due to the fact that Illinois/Missouri summers are typically humid and disgusting. And the sun isn’t exactly my friend. #gingerproblems]

I know it’s extremely cliché, and you can mock me if you want, but I don’t care. I LOVE fall. Fall is the best season ever, and that’s non-negotiable. If you don’t like fall, I don’t think we can be friends. Like, you can’t sit with us! That’s how much we can’t be friends. Because fall is SRS BZNS. {Five points for you if you got the “you can’t sit with us” reference; and ten points if you get the “serious business” reference.}

Anyway. In order to kick off my fall obsession, I decided that I needed to get on my fall baking grind. And what better way to start off my fall baking than with pumpkin? First I made some pumpkin muffins, and they were tasty. I’ll definitely share that recipe at some point. But then I made these pumpkin cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. And I knew immediately that it would be cruel to not share these with y’all. They were such a hit with coworkers and friends. These cupcakes are so awesome that I was asked to make them for my good friend Cassidy’s bachelorette party. Needless to say, the ladies in the party also approved of these.

What? You don’t put your cupcakes on your window sill outside?

The cake is moist [sorry for the usage of the word ‘moist,’ but there’s really no other good way to describe good quality cake] and bursting with all of the best fall flavors – nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and allspice. The pumpkin flavor is definitely noticeable, but it’s not overwhelming [then again, I love pumpkin so I might be biased]. And the cinnamon cream cheese butter cream frosting just takes everything to the next level.

Even if you’re not as opinionated about fall as I am, you should still make these cupcakes. They’re awesome. Enough said.

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Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Yield: I got a little over twenty regular sized cupcakes.

Cupcake Ingredients:

– 2 cups all-purpose flour
– 1 tsp. baking soda
– 1 tsp. baking powder
– 1 tsp. coarse salt
– 1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
– 1 tsp. ground ginger
– 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg [I used about 1/4 tsp. of dried, ground nutmeg.]
– 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice [I got my recipe for pumpkin pie spice from My Baking Addiction. You can buy it from the store, but it’s so easy to make.]
– 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
– 1 cup granulated sugar
– 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
– 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
– 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree [not pumpkin pie filling]

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:

– 2 (8) ounce packages cream cheese, softened
– 1 stick butter, softened
– 2 lbs. confectioners’ sugar [AKA an entire bag of powdered sugar.]
– 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
– 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Make the Cupcakes!

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners and set aside. Whisk together the dry ingredients [flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie spice] in a medium bowl. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl or stand mixer [fitted with the paddle attachment], mix in brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add the dry ingredients and and mix until smooth. Mix in pumpkin puree until just combined.

3. Fill each cupcake liner with batter about halfway full. Bake until the tops spring back when touched, and a toothpick comes out clean. Mine baked for about twenty minutes, but they may take 20-25 minutes. You may also rotate the pans if necessary. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack and let them cool completely.

Make the Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting!

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer [or with a hand mixer], beat the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.

2. Gradually add in the powdered sugar until it’s mixed in completely [keep the mixer on low speed at first unless you like being covered in powdered sugar].

3. Mix in vanilla and cinnamon.

4. Pipe or spread the frosting on the cupcakes. Add pretty fall sprinkles. Do it.

Recipe from Jamie at My Baking Addiction.

August 27, 2014

“Single Lady” Blueberry Cobbler.

As a self-proclaimed chocoholic, I sometimes forget how much I adore a simple, rustic fruit cobbler.

Please pardon the crappy iPhone photos. Right as I was about to start snapping pictures, my DSLR’s battery decided to die. And since I recently moved and am extremely disorganized, I can’t find my dang charger. Excuses, excuses, I know.

In fact, I think the last time I actually made a cobbler was probably several years ago. Then one fine evening back in February, I stumbled upon this recipe for single lady blueberry cobbler from my fellow ginger, Megan. I made the blueberry cobblers for a friend {shoutout to Chanel – these are for you, girl!} and myself for our “single ladies Valentine’s day” get-together. We were both amazed at how delicious the cobblers are.

Blueberries are so pretty.

You should most definitely make these a la mode with some vanilla ice cream. To quote Super Troopers, 1..2..3.. dooo iiitttt.

I was literally in awe – like, “OMG!!” – as to how good the cobbler tasted. {And I’m not really that easily impressed/excited. Okay, that’s debatable. But still.}

These cobblers are made up of tasty blueberry gooeyness [spellcheck informs me that “gooeyness” is not a word… whatevs.] combined with that deliciously sweet, drop biscuity cobbler topping. And the best part of all? There’s not too much of it, so it’s a perfect little dessert for one person. Or if you want to be kind and share, I suppose you could share it with another person. The recipe also easily doubles, which I’d advise that you do double it if you plan on being generous and sharing.
Getting all up in dat blueberry + ice cream action. <insert heart-eyed emoji here>

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“Single Lady” Blueberry Cobblers

Yield: Two small ramekins, or one larger ramekin. Either way, this cobbler is totes acceptable as a single serving. Let’s just put it that way.

Ingredients:

Berries:

– 2 tbsp. granulated sugar

– 3/4 tsp. cornstarch

– 1/4 tsp. lemon juice (or a little splash)

– 1 cup fresh blueberries

Cobbler Topping:

– 1/4 cup flour

– 3/4 tsp. granulated sugar

– heaping 1/4 tsp. baking powder

– tiny pinch of salt

– 1 tbsp. cold, unsalted butter

– 2 tbsp. milk

Make the Cobbler!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. To make the blueberry filling, add the berries, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Heat until the juices begin bubbling, and allow the mixture to boil for one minute. Stir to ensure that it doesn’t get scorched [I usually keep the heat at medium-high for this]. Spoon the hot berries into a small, oven-safe dish, two small ramekins, or one large ramekin.
To make the cobbler topping, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Mix in the butter – to do this, you can use a pastry cutter or a fork. Mix until you get a crumb-like consistency [think like a biscuit or scone]. Add the milk and mix until combined. Drop the cobbler mixture on top of the hot berries.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cobbler topping is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream, if desired. Enjoy!

Recipe from Megan at Take a Megabite.

One of my Instagram pics from when I made the cobbler back in February.

PS: I love cute ramekins.

December 23, 2013

Malted Milk Chocolate Cake Brownies.

I made [and attempted to photograph] these brownies just once in early 2013.

If I had a proper blog up and running back then, I would have written about them immediately. But I didn’t have a presentable blog back then, and time has sure gotten away from me.

While I do wish that I could have written about these long ago, I guess nearly a year later is better than never. Right? Right.

Anyway. I’m not usually one for cake-like brownies. As a general rule, I prefer rich, fudgy brownies. These brownies are the one exception to that rule, though.

I love all things malt. And I obviously love chocolate. So the combination of malt and chocolate is just magical. In fact, I think I’m gonna have to stop writing about these brownies, because now I’m craving them. And this is the type of craving you can’t get out of your head.

I think I know what I’m baking the moment I return from Nashville to STL. 😀

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Malted Milk Chocolate Cake Brownies

Ingredients:

For the malted milk chocolate cake brownies:

– 3/4 cup malted milk powder [I used the standard Carnation brand malted milk powder (all in the drink mix aisle), but you can also use Ovaltine powder.]

– 1 cup light brown sugar

– 1 cup all-purpose flour

– 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

– 1/4 tsp. kosher salt

– 1/4 tsp. baking powder

– 3 large eggs

– 2 tsp. vanilla extract

– 1/2 cup vegetable oil

– 3/4 cup chopped Whoppers or malted milk balls, divided

For the cocoa cream cheese frosting:

– 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

– 5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

– 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

– 2 Tbsp. malted milk powder

– 1 tsp. vanilla extract

– pinch of salt

– 5 oz. cream cheese, cold

Make the Brownies!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8×8” square baking dish (or 10×6”) with baking spray, or line with parchment paper and lightly coat the sides of the pan.
Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl [malt powder, brown sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder]. Set aside until ready to use.
In the bowl of a stand mixer [or larger, separate bowl], beat the eggs, vanilla, and oil until combined.
Carefully add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until combined and no dry patches are left. Fold in ¼ cup of chopped Whoppers, then pour into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle the top of the batter with another ¼ cup of the chopped Whoppers. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with no batter on it. Remove the pan and set it on a wire rack to cool for about 5-10 minutes, then remove the brownies from the pan and set on wire rack until completely cool.

Make the Frosting!

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment [or you can use a hand mixer for this – whatever you do, don’t try to mix it with a spoon!], add the butter, confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, malted milk powder, vanilla, and salt. Mix until thoroughly combined; it will be dry and crumbly at first. Add the cold cream cheese to the crumbly ingredients, and beat on medium speed for about five minutes. Once its color has lightened and it looks smooth, it is done. Be careful to not overbeat or it will become runny.
When the brownies are completely cool, frost with the cocoa cream cheese frosting, and top with the last ¼ cup of chopped Whoppers. Slice ‘em up and enjoy!

Recipe from the awesome Megan at Take A Megabite.