eat more cupcakes...

Rainbow Cake!!! (Whisk Kid)

2010-05-03T23:43:00.000-07:00

Yay!

This came out sooooooo cute!

A HUGE thanks to Kaitlin (aka Whisk Kid) for this wonderfully fabulous recipe and for her great help/advice with the frosting!

And a big Thank You to Dianne for forwarding this recipe to me!!! :)

******************

Made this for my lil neice's 10th Birthday and she loved it!

It was such a hit that I'm making it again next weekend for Mother's Day!!! :)

Used the Wilton's Gel Coloring for extra vibrant color!!!

Separated my batter into 6 bowls. (This, for me, ended up being about 1 cup each. ie- Six 1-cup bowls). And added the gel coloring!

ROY G BIV!

(Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet)

Assembling the layers...

Colorful candles for a colorful cake!

Mmmm... It was sooooo good!

When I make this again next weekend, I will definitely add thicker frosting between cake layers!

I really want those colors to Pop!

Fun Birthday Mustaches for the Birthday Girl and her silly Aunt!

Grrr... We're tough...

Tarte Tatin

2010-04-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

I did it!!!

Kinda...

Tarte Tatin is my foe... My "unicorn".

It's the thing that I just can't seem to master!

I've tried it several times now and, the last time was so bad, it left me a bit scarred... (emotionally and on my hands!). :)

Anyway, I got away from the Joy of Cooking recipe and followed a combo of these two recipes:

Table Notes

The French Food section of the About.com site

This tarte really is simple and easy to make. It's just time consuming and it requires patience!

I put 1/4 cup of butter in the the cast iron and on the sides... Let it melt down.

Then added 1/2 cup of sugar and tried to get it as thin and even as possible.

Then, added my Apples (a combo of Gala, Pink Lady & Braeburn)!

Arranged them as best I could. This, for me, is one of the hardest parts!

I let the apples cook on the stove for about 18 mins, then I put the whole thing in the oven (preheated to 425) for 20 mins.

After the 20 mins, took it out and put my pie crust on... which you can see, fell apart on me!

Put it back in the oven for another 20 mins.

Et voila!

It was done!

I know it's a mess... It's not beautiful.

But the fact that it's not charcoal-burnt and is actually edible is a huge accomplishment for me!

Had hubby help me flip it over, and...

Here it is!

Taste-wise, it's very good!

Looks-wise... so-so.

I want to keep trying it and this has given me hope that it is do-able!

Maybe someday, my Tarte Tatin and I will go from being foes to being friends!

Frozen Key Lime Pie - Barefoot Contessa

2009-09-18T19:49:00.000-07:00

Oh Lord...

Well, if I haven't learned by now to test/make something ahead of time before making it for a function...

Or in this case, a gorgeous afternoon lunch on a gorgeous Friday...

We were Ladies Lunching, with a very runny Key Lime Pie!!!

:-(

I have no idea where my wheels fell off...

You know I love my Barefoot, so when I was in charge of dessert, I thought, "Well, what else?! Ina's Key Lime Pie!"

It was incredibly easy to make. Super simple instructions.

Made my graham cracker crust (which did come out perfect) and then mixed the egg yolks, lime juice, condensed milk & sugar.

Poured it into crust, per instructions and threw it in the Freezer over night!

It was in the freezer from 10p Thursday night til noon Friday...

Then in the car for a quick drive over to lunch.

Then immediately back in the freezer!

Now I know it's been a Trillion degrees outside but it wouldn't have melted that much in the car, would it?

With the car A/C on full blast?!

Taste-wise, it was delicious (of course...)

But it was all melty and runny!

What the eff?!

So now I've been racking my brains... what did I do wrong?

Did I mix it too long?
Is it cause my pie dish is glass?

Is it really 'cause it's been a thousand degrees outside?

Any ideas?

My very very good friend D, who was also at lunch Fri afternoon has made this recipe herself a ton!

And it's always come out ok for her!

What did I do?!

:-(

Homemade Granola Bars - Barefoot Contessa

2009-09-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

Barefoot's Homemade Granola Bars

Well you know I love my Barefoot!

As you know, I'm not a fan of the granola, but I make it for hubby so he can have something to Grab-n-Go on his way out in search of good waves.

This was so easy to make and it came out so yummy!

Love the combo of Honey, Brown Sugar and Vanilla!

Didn't have Wheat Germ so thought Oat Bran would be a good sub.

Love these together!

Well... what can I say.

I was too lazy to cut them into bars.

So I just tore 'em into pieces and threw them in a ziplock.

This works well cause he just grabs handfuls on his way out!

The Cupcake Bubble...

2009-09-09T23:17:00.000-07:00

Bummer... This just in from Newsweek:

The Cupcake Bubble

Better enjoy that vanilla cupcake with espresso-ganache icing today. This sugar rush is going to end with a crash.

By Daniel Gross

Aug 14, 2009 | Updated: 5:46 p.m. ET Sep 3, 2009

In recent years, the response to a popped economic bubble has been to create a new one. The pierced dot-com/telecommunications bubble paved the way for the housing/credit bubble. That punctured bubble may be giving way to an alternative energy bubble. But I've got my eyes on a smaller, but no less revealing, one: the Cupcake Bubble.

The current recession, which started in late 2007, laid the groundwork for the recent proliferation of cupcake stores in American cities. Lots of people know how to make really tasty cupcakes, which are simple products with cheap basic ingredients. Baking cupcakes doesn't require a large amount of capital investment, and it's relatively easy to scale up without hiring lots of workers. It takes about as much labor to produce three dozen cupcakes as it does to make one dozen. Meanwhile, storefronts in heavily trafficked areas became cheaper with the decimation of local retail. And so in the past year, casual baking has turned into an urban industry.

The trend started, as most trends do, in Los Angeles and New York. In Los Angeles, Sprinkles, which bills itself as the first cupcake bakery, has expanded from its base in Beverly Hills to five locations in California, Texas, and Arizona—with 16 more outlets in the works. Crumbs, started six years ago on Manhattan's Upper West Side, is up to nearly two dozen locations: five in Los Angeles, and 18 in chi-chi zones of the New York metro area—New Canaan, Conn.; Westfield, N.J.; East Hampton, N.Y.—with three more on the way. Magnolia Bakery, immortalized in Sex and the City, has three locations in Manhattan. Washington, D.C., is getting in on the act, too. As the Washington Post notes, "at least half a dozen cupcake bakeries have opened around Washington in the past 20 months, and more are on the way," with Georgetown Cupcake and Red Velvet out front.

The cupcakeries are succeeding for a few reasons. They're peddling a product that is simple, obvious, and generally affordable. Most of the new joints charge about $3 for a cupcake. And they're certainly a useful rebuke to Starbucks, whose industrialized baked goods are barely edible. (I suspect that the coffee chain's practice of placing sausage and egg muffins in the glass cases and letting them sit there all day must depress sales of the adjacent muffins and scones.) And yet I'm suspicious of the cupcake trend for historical, financial, and, ultimately, gastronomic reasons.

In America, bubbles form because any good business idea gets funded a dozen times over. That's the American way. Cupcakes are now showing every sign of going through the bubble cycle. The first-movers get buzz and revenues, gain critical mass, and start to expand rapidly. This inspires less-well-capitalized second- and third-movers, who believe there's room enough for them, and encourages established firms in a related industry to jump in. In New York, the Crumbs is joined by a cupcake truck, Sweet Revenge, Babycakes, and Sugar Sweet Sunshine. The Post notes that in D.C., "established bakers such as CakeLove, Just Cakes, Furin's, Best Buns and Baked & Wired are all in on the act." Operating in what is essentially a commodity market, newcomers try to distinguish themselves by offering twists on the familiar formula. Hello Cupcake, conveniently located near Slate's D.C. office, specializes in organic, seasonal, and local ingredients. Babycakes offers vegan cupcakes. Coming soon to a precious storefront in a gentrifying neighborhood of Brooklyn: sustainable cupcakes made of flour ground from organic wheat raised in Prospect Park, served in wrappers recycled from old copies of the New York Review of Books.

I'm suspicious of the durability of the cupcake boomlet on economic grounds, too. One colleague says the cupcakes are "sort of the baked equivalent of Bush's tax cuts." Why? "Their economic rationale withstands any and all conditions. When the economy is going well, people can afford little extras like cupcakes. When the economy isn't going well, people can afford only cupcakes." Indeed, they are being pitched as affordable luxuries. In an age when discretionary, feel-good spending is at a nadir, cupcake bakeries are trying to persuade people to trade up from cheaper sugar-delivery vehicles (such as, say, a doughnut). It's telling, to me, that the Crumbs that just opened in Westport, Conn., is in the back of a Tiffany's that opened a few years ago. With employment rising and wages under pressure, the larger trend is for consumers to trade down—not up.

What's more, cupcakes aren't so cheap. With tax, many of these cupcakes run close to $4 a pop. Pair a high-end cupcake with a coffee and your snack costs the equivalent of a satisfying sandwich. Crucially, the sugar rush that $4 buys lasts only as long as it takes to walk back to the office. By contrast, an expensive latte can keep office drones humming for the whole afternoon. And while cupcakes doubtless offer good margins, a baker has to sell a lot of them to make real money. That will surely tempt many entrepreneurs to start mass production. But the minute you start baking at a central location and trucking to the goods over long distances, the value proposition inherent in the product can grow stale, as Krispy Kreme found.

The real problem, though, is that the cupcakes are essentially reactionary. In the last few years, as the dread foodie virus has spread, right-thinking Americans have been forced to become experts about a wider range of products: coffee, cured ham, cheese, and, most recently, chocolate. Chocolate has become more sophisticated, and, hence, more complex and less sweet. Urban chocolatiers have fled from the soothing milk chocolate of our youths to dark, bitter, confections combined with spices and chili peppers. Cupcakes, by contrast, are willfully uncomplex, familiar, and comforting, as the menus of Magnolia and Sprinkles show. But as reactionaries often do, they've gone too far. I've tried a bunch of these new cupcakes and find them to be way too sweet—sugar on top of sugar. This morning, a colleague came in with a dozen small cupcakes from Crumbs, each sweeter than the last. A diabetic would have gone into shock simply looking at the package.

Cupcakes are having their moment, no question, and many could make sweet profits. But remember what always happens after a sugar rush: a crash.

Find this article at http://www.newsweek.com/id/214866

Magnolia Bakery (6th Street) - NY

2009-08-29T21:17:00.000-07:00

And finally, Magnolia on 6th (Rockefeller Center).

This one was crazy busy nuts!

Literally, a line out the door.

So cute tho...

We were told to get the banana pudding, and it really was killer!

So cute...

Packed... completely nuts!

Of course, my Vanilla with Chocolate Frosting along with my Red Velvet.

A very happy hubby...

Magnolia Bakery (Bleecker) - NY

2009-08-26T21:06:00.000-07:00

Up next, Magnolia Bakery (Bleecker Street)

Unbelievable...

Quite possibly, my favorite of the three...

Part of it is that it's the cutest little shop ever!

It's just adorable.

Not to mention that everything looks delish!

So you just grab what you want (see above)...

A's Chocolate with Chocolate Frosting.

I'd say she approved... ;-)

My Vanilla with Chocolate Frosting.

I ate that thing right up. It was soooooo good!

Crumbs Bake Shop - Manhattan New York

2009-08-25T20:50:00.000-07:00

When I found out hubby had to go to New York on business, I knew I just HAD to go with him...

To make sure he was gonna be ok. ;-)

And I knew I had to go to the Cupcake shops of all cupcake shops!

First up...

Crumbs Bake Shop.

We went to the one on Lex.

OMG... A had the Fudge Chocolate Chip...

And then she almost fell outta her chair.

I, of course, had the classic Vanilla with Vanilla Frosting (Vanilla/Vanilla).

Swoon!

Um... and I also had the Vanilla with Chocolate Frosting (Vanilla/Chocolate).

Now... I've been to the Crumbs in Bev Hills on more than one occasion and all I can say is...

Still good in L.A.

And just as good in NY

Barefoot Contessa - Chocolate Cupcakes with Espresso Frosting

2009-08-09T22:17:00.000-07:00

What can I say...

My affair with Barefoot continues!

I can't even begin to tell you how yummy these turned out!

Made these for a party in my honor (celebrating the longest graduation in history!).

And since it was my party, I made what I wanted!

Everyone loved these, esp. hubby and BFF, both who love their coffee!

The Sour Cream & Buttermilk really give it a kick of moistness!

Yeah... I'd eat that just as it is...

Mixed this up and added it!

So, I went a lil crazy with the frosting...
Not only did I add coffee, but I also added Espresso powder.

Perfect! They're yum even without frosting!

Oh yeah... the frosting did call for Peanut Butter but I thought coffee and espresso would be better... ;-)

Happy Graduation to Me!!!

P.S. - I've been trying so many Barefoot Contessa recipes, I need a whole new/different blog for that!

Tonight, it was Tuscan Lemon Chicken and Roasted Tomatoes...

Both from Back to Basics and both deliciously fabulous!

AHA low fat, low cholesterol cookbook - oat bran muffins

2009-06-20T23:21:00.000-07:00

"Meh..."

That's about all that can be said about these poor guys...

Unfortunately, these were NOBODY's favorite.

I, myself have never been a 'bran' gal.

But I thought these would be good for hubby, since we're working on lowering his cholesterol.

This recipe came from the American Heart Association Low-Fat, Low-Cholesterol Cookbook, 3rd Edition: Delicious Recipes to Help Lower Your Cholesterol

Let's just say I'm still looking for the perfect Bran Muffin recipe.

Egg Whites only, of course!

These are just incredibly heavy and solid.

Having said that, tho...

The good thing is that they kept hubby full during surf sessions.

He'd grab one on his way out to the water and it kept him full for the hour
to hour and a half that he's out there!

I'd like to try these again with a recommendation from Sis-in-law,
who suggested adding a bit of Apple Sauce to give 'em some moisture.

Poor lil guys... so sad. I feel bad for them...

:-(

Banana Crunch Muffins - Barefoot Contessa

2009-06-09T09:48:00.000-07:00

Barefoot Contessa's Banana Crunch Muffins

OMG... these came out sooooooooooooo good, where do I even begin?!

It's no secret that I personally think there is no Banana Nut Muffin like the Whole Foods Banana Nut Muffin.

It's pretty much killer and I'd eat it every day if I could (If I could NOT gain a thousand pounds and NOT have a heart attack...).

It was my very good friend J who told me to check out Barefoot Contessa, who she is totally into for Barefoot's yumminess and easiness...

and cause J has two little one's at home + a hubby, a dog and a seriously full-time job!

She told me to check it out so I immediately went over to Food Network and one of the first things I found was this Video for the Banana Crunch Muffins.

They are so easy to make!

Smooth like Buttah...

YUM! I'd eat that just like that...

I was looking for a creative & healthy alternative for hubby's diet.

We're still working on getting his Cholesterol down so I thought this would be good for him!

(ahem... minus the eggs and buttah...)

Topped the batter with more yummy granola-goodness.

Added Cinnamon on top, as I'd add Cinnamon to EVERYTHING, if I could...

Ding! Fresh outta the oven!

These were sooooo good straight out of the oven and for the few days (that they lasted) after.

Stored 'em in an air-tight container and they stayed moist and fresh!

YAY!!!!!

I'd absolutely make these again.

A note on Barefoot Contessa...

I've tried a few of her recipes now and they have ALL been wonderful and easy!

There are so many recipes on the FoodNetwork site as well as her Barefoot site.

Here's some of the things I've made that came out Killer!!!

Lemon Chicken with Croutons (this came out KILLER!!!, btw...)

Tequila Lime Chicken

Chicken Piccata

Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

2009-06-08T15:01:00.000-07:00

Yay!!!

Martha Stewart's latest book Martha Stewart's Cupcakes by Martha Stewart Living Magazine is out now!!!

Flipped through this book at Costco the other day and there are some really cute cupcake ideas in there.

Given that I'm trying to be good these days, I didn't buy it.

But I wanted to! I can't imagine being a Cupcake Aficionado and not having this book!

What kind of Aficionado would that make me?! Not a very good one, I'd think...

Some of these ideas are on her site which is super helpful and they are organized in their own little section on her site.

I can't remember if this is in her new book but are these not the cutest ever!!!

Shark and Beach Cupcakes (from MarthaStewart.com):

amish friendship bread - day 10!!!

2009-06-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

Day 10 is here!!! Time to bake!

Added 1 c. sugar, 1 c. milk & 1 c. flour... Mixed and separated -

1 c. into a ziplock - four times... (ie four ziplock bags contain 1 cup of mix!)

Meanwhile... buttered bread pan and coated with sugar/cinnamon mixture!

yum! you all know I LUV my cinnamon!

To remaining mix, added the stuff... eggs, cinnamon, oil, vanilla puddin' mix, etc...

Used my wooden spoon (and plastic bowl) to mix it all together!

Into the oven it went!

A big guy and a lil' guy!

This came out soooooo moist! I was a bit worried that it would be dense and heavy...

But it came out so good!

Gave the lil' guy to my lil' niece, along with her own starter bag and instructions...

and asked her to invite us in 10 days to taste what she's baked!

And kept big guy for us!

:)

tres leches cake

2009-05-30T16:00:00.000-07:00

Tres Leches cake

This came out sooooooooooo good!!!!

Again, I know... not a cupcake.

But I'd been craving this recently (for some odd reason) so I decided to make it.

This recipe is super easy to follow.

Oh geez... FIVE eggs!

So, there aren't too many pics on this one as I was trying to work fast!

I wanted my eggs to stay light and fluffy...

Meanwhile, the milks...

Recipe calls for Rum, which we don't have, so I added Kahlua... I think it's even better!!!

Mmm...

Of the entire cake, this is all that was left!

2 pieces!

So, again... Thank God for the YouTubes (as my mom would call it...)

I learned:

make sure eggs are room temp (I had no idea it would matter!)
visually saw what 'soft peaks' look like vs. 'stiff peaks'
learned to add sugar, etc once soft peaks have formed

This video was really helpful:

as well as a video from Epicuriousdotcom (embedding disabled): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVcNDhwwFB8

bakerella... a blog post after my own heart!

2009-05-29T12:10:00.000-07:00

You have to go to the bakerella site!

Her current post is ALL about cupcakes!!!

A post I can relate with!

There are the cuuuuuuuutest cupcake-related things on there...

From etsy items to other baking related sites.

Adorable!!!!!!!

amish friendship bread - days gone by...

2009-05-28T11:41:00.000-07:00

Day 2

Rising!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 6

Added 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour & 1 cup milk!

And squished-squished-squished!

Happy Birthday Hubby!!!

2009-05-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

He loves his whipped cream! (Home made, of course)

From Joy of Cooking:

1 cup cold heavy cream
1-4 tbsp confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Remember to keep bowl and mixers cool in fridge for awhile before using!

amish friendship bread (starter)

2009-05-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

I thought this would be a fun project for my lil niece, who's all about the baking right now!

My plan is to make the bread on day 10 and give her some, along with her own bag, so she can taste it and make her own (after 10 days)!

I think she'll get a kick out of squish-squish-squishing the bag!Since I tossed the starter that my good friend Sho passed on to me, I had to make my own "starter"...

I got this starter recipe off Allrecipes.com.

It was the same as many other starters I'd found online (like momswhothink.com),

so I went with it.

Used a wooden spoon and plastic bowls (no metal allowed here!).

Put it in a Ziplock and wrote my days on there.

I goofed on that as, it's supposed to be Day 6 that I add stuff to the bag (not day 5).

I later scratched that out and wrote over it. ;-)

500 cupcakes - cone cakes (take 2)

2009-05-10T23:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!

Made these today for my MIL for Mother's Day...

And 'cause I knew the kids would get a kick outta them!

Finally got my little Silicone mini-muffin pan from Crate (it was on Sale, Ok!)

;-)

This particular batter is soooooo yum! It's so simple, too!

Not very many ingredients & you just mix them all together!

They're so cute and teeny-tiny! Mini!

Meanwhile, prepared my frosting.

I didn't have any heavy cream to make the frosting that this cone cake recipe calls for so I used the recipe from one of the 'Classic' cakes.

This frosting was sooooo good!

Just vanilla, butter & powdered sugar...

ahem, "Confectioner's sugar"... excuse me.

Like Buttah...

Sooooo cute!

Ok... So the only bummer -

The lil cakes make this top-heavy so they tip over easy!

Not sure how to solve that problem (other than just hurry & eat it)!

Other than that, they came out great and taste super yum!

The mini muffin pan works great and the lil guys fit into the cone perfectly!

The kids loved these!!! And I think MIL approved too...

:0)

martha stewart - yellow butter cake (with chocolate frosting)

2009-04-12T22:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

Ok... I know this isn't 'cupcakes' but think of it as one BIG cupcake!

We celebrated Easter at our place this year and since everyone was over, we also celebrated lil niece's b-day and my MIL's b-day!

~

I thought this Martha Stewart Yellow Butter Cake sounded good and seemed easy enough, and since I'm short on time these days... It was perfect!

Recipe was easy to follow. The ingredients are all the basics.

~

Buttered my 9 inch round pans. Cut a piece of parchment paper into circle-shape and put at the bottom of the pan. Buttered that too! Sprinkled with flour.

Was in a bit of a hurry that day so...

Fast forward to cakes are done!

Recipe called for 30-35 mins cook time but I started checking at 20 mins.

My main concern was that I had one dark pan (which bakes quicker) and one light pan (which bakes longer)!

Sure enough, the dark pan came out at about 20 mins and the light pan came out at about 30 mins.

Thank God for the cake tester!

Cooled 'em on the rack...

~
Meanwhile, made the frosting...

3 sticks of buttah... unbelievable!

Mmmm...

There's all that crazy butter...

Oh geez... this frosting came out soooooo good! Nice and creamy! I was worried since my frosting is a bit 'hit-or-miss' but this came out perfect!

Yay!!!

This cake came out sooooooooo yummy!

Everyone loved it, esp lil niece who loves the chocolate!

I really feel like all of the things I've learned so far really paid off with this cake...

Putting the stuff on the center rack to bake
spooning flour into measuring cup
checking cooking time consistently
not over-beating my eggs
thinking things thru 1st... I know this last one sounds silly but you wouldn't believe how easily I forget something once I start baking... (same goes for cooking... Thank God I don't cook as much!)

500 cupcakes - cone cakes

2009-04-04T20:42:00.000-07:00

Best laid plans...

I'd promised my lil niece I'd make her cupcakes as a "YAY!" for passing her GATE test...

And wanted to make her these cute Cone Cakes from the 500 book, but...

I needed a mini-muffin pan, which I didn't have!

So these ended up being just regular cupcakes... but still really yummy.

So basics for yellow cakes:

And butter frosting... It didn't call for chocolate but since lil niece LOVES the chocolate, I had to add it!

Mmm... This came out sooooo creamy and buttery (in consistency).
I could just eat spoonfuls of that.

Into the oven they go!

Meanwhile...

Made the frosting.

So here's the deal... I dunno why but my frosting is hit-or-miss, consistency-wise.

Taste-wise, the frosting is yum. But this frosting wasn't as thick as it probably should have been.

I'm learning that environmental temperature has a lot to do with a lot so I'm wondering if the house was too warm, therefore the frosting didn't thicken.

Or did I just not beat it long enough? I dunno...

Ding! Outta the oven... Mmmm...

So, again... here's my beef...

Cause our oven is a bit goofy, I've started setting the timer for shorter periods and then keeping a real close eye on 'em every 1-2 mins after that.

So, for example... Recipe calls for 20 mins baking time. I set it for 16 mins. Then, if they're not done yet, I just start watching it every min or so after.

Taking it out & checking it til the old toothpick comes out clean.

This is fine except that what's happeninig is that the four cupcakes in the center come out toothpick gooey... but the ones on the end come out toothpick clean!

I later learned (from my sis-in-law) that it's better to put the cupcakes on the middle rack in the oven, instead of on the top rack...

Duh! Totally makes sense (for more even baking).

I love that I learn somethin' new every week.

Needless to say, these came out totally yum. I cut this recipe in half so there was just enough for everyone plus a few extras for the Gate exam-passing niece!

Happy Campers all around!

500 cupcakes - chocolate mud cupcakes

2009-04-01T22:24:00.000-07:00

We love Molten Lava cakes... anything that has warm liquidy chocolate in the center is ok by us.

So hubby suggested these be my next cupcakes!

I usually follow the Martha Stewart Everyday Food recipe and it's sooooo good!

Easy and fast!

I usually make those in little ramekins from my favorite store and they come out so nice and gooey!

It never occurred to me that making these in silicone might not come out as ooey-gooey... :(

I dunno... but let's see...

The chocolate chips and butter go in a double-broiler (or in a pan set in a pan with simmering water, if you have no double-broiler).

The chocolate & butter melts so nicely without burning!

Um, just serve me a martini glass of that...

Meanwhile...

Eggs & sugar are beat til smooth (did I mention the full recipe calls for FIVE eggs...)
Don't forget your CholestOff!

Then, fold in the flour.

This is what I struggled with and as you can see, I don't think I folded very well... (I even watched a how-to on YouTube and everything!)

Poured the melted chocolate chips + butter into the Sugar, Egg, Flour mixture and combined.

Poured into silicone cups.

Yes, I licked the spoon. No, I'm not ashamed.

Yum! They're done!

Ok people, so here's the deal.

Recipe called for baking at 325 for 20 mins. I thought that just sounded too long (considering the one's I make from the MS Everyday Food book call for baking at 425 for 10 mins).

So I took them out at 17 mins (as a compromise).

I did my toothpick test and the center row of cupcakes were totally ooey-gooey inside!

And like a soft brownie on the outside!

Yum, right?

Bummer... by the time my taste-tester had one (about 10 mins later - 5 mins cooling on baking sheet & then 5 mins cooling on rack), the center was solid! :(

What's the deal?! Some were actually gooey, like they were supposed to be, but others were just like soft cupcake/brownies (which actually is still ok)! ;-)

Overall, taste-wise, they came out delicious! Super yum.

But presentation or texture-wise, they didn't really come out 'lava' or 'mud'-ish.

I'd like to make these again but not in the silicone cups (just in my regular baking cupcake pan).

And I'd like to take out earlier.

Definitely a redo...

but don't worry... they did all get eaten... ;-)

Definition: Folding

2009-03-29T22:36:00.000-07:00

Well... made another batch of cupcakes tonight (see next post) and these guys required folding!

Thank God for How-To videos!

Found some good descriptive and informative sites, like our old faithful Joy of Baking (my new favorite site) as well as WikiAnswers.

Someone once told me to think of it like folding sheets or towels. Yeah... I can see that.

I think I still took too long (it's supposed to go quick) and I think I ended up 'stirring' more than 'folding'.

I get the whole 'cut in half and fold over'. I know it sounds dumb but I think I need practice.

Cut. Fold. Turn.

K... I think I can do that. ;-)

(P.S. - there are some good videos for this on the ExpertVillage YouTube site but embedding has been disabled... Boooo! So here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuA8wYZHu1E&feature=related)

500 cupcakes - chocolate & chili cupcakes

2009-03-25T11:39:00.001-07:00

Who DOESN'T love the movie Chocolat...

(um, and who DOESN'T love Johnny Depp!) ;-)

This latest recipe from the 500 Cupcakes book calls for some teaspoons of Chipotle Chili Powder, which made me think of the movie and so I've been dying to try these...

Needless to say... they came out AWESOME!

So, I've been trying to apply some of the things that I've been learning as I go... and I think it's really helping! (I think it's contributed to the ultra-yumminess of these latest cakes).

One of the new things I tried:

Swans Down Cake Flour

This came per the recommendation from one of hubby's co-workers (who is a master baker).

Also, after reading up on Joy of Baking, it seems All Purpose or Cake Flour is the way to go (not Self-Rising). Good to know! :)

Frosting ingredients... recipe calls for "Tia Maria"... I had no idea what that was! After researching it, it seems Kahlua would also do the trick. ;-)

Yummy!

So other things I did:

Again, thanks to Joy of Baking, I spooned my cake flour into the measuring cup (as opposed to using measuring cup to scoop flour out of the box/bag...which is what I used to do!).

Since flour's already packed, no need to pack it again! Hence, spooning!

(Those 'lumps' are whole chocolate chips! YAY!)

And thanks to What's Cooking America, I used my unsweetened cocoa powder (since I can't find Dutch-Process ANYWHERE) and added a lil baking soda, per substitution chart!

While the guys were baking, I made the frosting.

The recipe called for putting all ingredients (just butter, Tia Maria (Kahlua), cocoa powder & confectioner's sugar) in food processor and processing...

It came out soooooooooo nice and thick and creamy and yummy!

Soooooo good (and it doesn't hurt that I added extra Kahlua) ;-)

Mmmm... I'd eat that just like that...

Ding! Outta the oven.

I ended up taking 'em out a couple of minutes early cause the toothpick test came out good.

Cute...

Oh geez... This is making me hungry for one...

These came out sooooooooo good and I'd absolutely make them again!

The Chipotle Chili Powder adds an interesting kick, which I really like!

The other yummy fabulousness is that the batter calls for adding whole chocolate chips before baking. Extra Yum!

These pics are courtesy of hubby who commandeered the camera...

Martha Stewart - Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

2009-03-12T23:30:00.000-07:00

Well...

Today is my mom's birthday! (as well as my little God Daughter)!

I usually make a spring time cake in a cute Daisy cake pan I bought years ago from Williams-Sonoma.

This year, I thought I'd try something different. And in the spirit of the cupcake blog, I thought this recipe would be perfect!

Oh yeah... and cause mom loves Boston Cream Pie.

This recipe is very easy... Just a bit more time consuming than I'd allowed for myself.

Someone said to me the other day that she wished she had a whole extra 8 hours in her night. Today, I totally understood what she meant (ie- don't start baking cupcakes at 4p, if you have to be at the party at 6:30p).

Anyway... easy ingredients. Just the basics.

Recipe makes 18 cupcakes. I only have a pan that holds 12 and only 12 silicone cups.
So decided to get a bit creative.

Flour (back to All-Purpose, Thank God...), Baking Powder, Salt whisked in one bowl.

Whole milk and butter melted in sauce pan on low heat.

Sugar and eggs beat in another bowl with mixer for 5 minutes!

Melting...

Whisked...

Working on it...

All mixed and into oven to bake for 15 mins!

Meanwhile,

Vanilla, Milk, Egg YOLK (not white), Sugar, Corn Starch & Salt to make Vanilla Cream (for center)!

Yay! These are done and they look (and smell) great!

And finally...

Corn Syrup, Heavy Cream & Chocolate for Frosting!

Cut the cupcakes in half (horizontally) and spread Vanilla Cream on bottom and top.

Put back together (put top back on). Yummy!

And poured a big spoonful of Chocolate-Ganache Glaze on top!

These were a huge hit!!!

And while, presentation-wise, they didn't come out as well as I'd like (or even close to the original picture), everyone still liked them and ate 'em up!

If I were to do these again, I'd focus on the Vanilla Cream some more.

The directions in the recipe kinda got me at #3 and I'm wondering if some of the directions are missing?

I've noticed that on some of the Martha Stewart recipes and people have posted comments about it.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Mom!

:)

500 cupcakes - classic chocolate buttercream cupcakes

2009-03-08T21:55:00.003-07:00

Well... last week's Vanilla Cupcakes came out soooooo yummy, I was really excited to try something new this week...

Hubby loves chocolate (as does our lil niece) so I thought I'd try the basic chocolate with chocolate frosting, to see if I can master that... Halved the recipe again since, if I'm gonna be making weekly cupcakes, I need to cut down on 'em since I'll literally eat them all!

Recipe is exactly the same as the Vanilla Cupcake recipe and in addition, calls for 4 tbsp. Dutch-process cocoa powder.

They didn't have Dutch-process cocoa powder at the store (or I didn't see it) so I thought Ghiradelli's would do.

I realize now that this may have contributed to this batch not coming out so good.... Will get into that later.Mixed it all up!
This batter came out creamier than vanilla cupcake batter.

Where that batter was thicker, this batter was creamier.

Not bad or good, just interesting.Kinda looks like frosting!

Put it in the oven for 20 mins and let 'em bake!

Meanwhile:

Prepared frosting...
Melted butter, chocolate chips in pan with some milk, on low heat.

Ding!

Cupcakes done!

They look good! They smell great! Whoa, nelly! That one rose a lot!

Chocolate chips, butter & milk melted and mixed!

Mmmm... I could just drink this as-is...
Once cooled, frosted my cupcakes!

Shiny!

I was worried that my frosting was a bit too runny... But it definitely thickened up as it cooled...

It almost looked like chocolate donut bar-frosting (um, which is fine with me, by the way...)!

;-)

So, the big bummer...

These didn't come out bad. They just didn't come out great.

The problem is... they aren't as light and airy as the Vanilla cupcakes!

These came out more bread-y... more muffin-ish.

At first I thought it was the switch from All-Purpose Flour (which I used last week in Vanilla cupcakes) vs. Self-Rising Flour, which these recipes actually really do call for, and which I used today.

I've read a few things online about Self-Rising vs. All-Purpose or even Cake Flour.

Self-Rising doesn't seem to get a good word.

But after reading up on Dutch-Process Cocoa, I think that's what did me in.

According to Joy of Baking, when the recipe calls for Dutch-Process, it really does mean use dutch-process!!!

Cause the:

"Dutch-Processed or Alkalized Unsweetened Cocoa Powder is treated with an alkali to neutralize its acids. Because it is neutral and does not react with baking soda, it must be used in recipes calling for baking powder, unless there are other acidic ingredients in sufficient quantities used. "

Anyway...

I was thinking of doing the Banana Cupcakes (p. 39) but I'm thinking I might try these again next week and go on the hunt for actual Dutch-Process Cocoa and also get my All-Purpose Flour back!

500 Cupcakes - Vanilla Cupcakes

2009-03-06T13:41:00.001-08:00

So, I decided to kick off the old baking blog with the basics. Basic vanilla cupcakes. Not only are they easy enough, and a good standard to master, but they really are my fav!

(I am a vanilla with vanilla frosting gal... I don't care who says it's boring!)

This recipe was pretty simple.

I was thrown for a bit of a loop when it called for "sweet butter". Since I am not the savviest baker, I wasn't sure if they really meant 'sweet butter' or if that's what they called regular butter!

Turns out, there really is such a thing! (right now, 2/$5.00 at Ralphs with club card!)

So, I learned from my days at Crate that spraying non-stick (like Pam) on non-stick bakeware/cookware (like Calphalon) is a huge No-No!

I am really liking the silicone baking cups. They still need to be sprayed, but that's ok. I like that they can be reused and used for quite a few different things (like chocolate cup molds, which I can't wait to try!).

Easy ingredients!

I ended up cutting this recipe in 1/2 cause I only had 1 cup of flour. The one thing I did leave the same (doubled) was Vanilla cause I truly believe you can never have enough vanilla!Batter came out thicker than it normally does with box cake.

Not bad or good... Just different...

20 minutes in the oven will do!

Yummy!

I was a bit worried cause my cupcakes didn't look like the picture (not that they need to look exactly the same)... but I was afraid they'd be as hard as a brick.

But they came out ok! They cooled on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then I transferred them to the cooling rack.

Threw a little powdered sugar on them...

Et Voila!

Hubby and I had one immediately after and they were yummy! He really liked them!

Took some to our Sis-in-Law and the kids and they really liked them too!

On the silicone cups, the cupcakes popped out easily and the cups were easy to clean!

It says you can throw them in the dishwasher (depending on how they are arranged) but I'd rather just wash by hand. I rinsed them with super hot water and they're all clean and ready to use again!

YAY! Success!

Next up: Classic Chocolate Buttercream Cupcakes (From 500 Cupcakes-p. 32)

:)