Nutella Buttercream

I had to make cupcakes the other day on sort of short notice with little time to do anything really fancy. I settled on the old go to - vanilla bean cupcakes and chocolate frosting - but decided to throw the chocolate icing a little twist.

I added nutella.

Is your mouth watering now?

There was enough of the stuff left over after piping it onto my cupcakes that I saved it in the fridge.  And, lucky for me, a little low blood sugar later and I was able to dive right into that frosting for a quick boost of glucose.

It tasted like fudge.  On ecstasy.

Absolutely divine I tell you.

Go ahead and make some for yourself today.  Just make a basic chocolate butter cream but add 1/2-3/4 nutella into the mix.

Fast and Easy Puff Pastry Dessert

Though I love to eat stuff that is decadent and insanely caloric, sometimes a treat that is a little bit lighter is in order.  That's where this puff pastry treat comes in.

Here's what you'll need:
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
nutella
egg wash (1 egg + 1 tbsp water)

First, thaw out the puff pastry sheets and cut each sheet into 6 equal rectangles.  On each square, add about a tablespoon of nutella.



Next, wet the edges of each square of pastry, fold it over and press the edges together with a fork.  Once ever rectangle has been folded and pressed and placed on a cookie sheet, pierce each piece a couple of times with a fork and brush on your egg wash.



Place in a 400 degree oven for about 16 minutes (start watching them at 10 minutes just incase your oven is a bit hotter than mine). Once golden brown on the top, take them out of the oven, dust with powdered sugar and eat.



I of course chose to fill my pastry with nutella, but I'm sure you could substitute a little bit of chocolate heaven for something else - jam, fruit, even something savory might be fun to try.

A little bit of baking

May was a big month for baking in our house. Here are a few of the tasty treats.

First up, pink lemonade cupcakes for a friends, daughters birthday. After a lot of tasty experiments, I ended up using a white cake mix, doctored up with my secret doctoring concoction, with an additional ingredient of almost an entire can of pink lemonade concentrate into the batter.

And the frosting, a basic butter cream with about 1/3 cup of thawed pink lemonade for extra pucker.

For my mother-in-law's birthday I went with a chocolate caramel cake. The trick to making this one absolutely delish....almost 24 hours in the refrigerator. There is just something about a chilled cake that makes it so much more dense and wonderful. Try it next time, you'll be absolutely amazed.

Next up, the husband's birthday. For this we went with a rich vanilla cake and milk chocolate frosting. Holy cow it was yummy.

The most fabulous creation was next, for my birthday. I wish that I would have taken a picture of the inside of this cake, it was gorgeous. I wanted a cake that tasted like a chocolate malt so that's just what I fixed. I started with a yellow cake mix and added about 4 tablespoons of malt powder. Then I divided the mix evenly and added about 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder to one half, making it chocolate. I cold have added some melted chocolate chips, too but I didn't think about that until later.

So, the cake was a decadent chocolate malt marble cake. And such a cake wouldn't be complete with out chocolate malted frosting as well. This was an absolute bomb of a cake and may have been the tastiest thing I've ever made or eaten. And, I made it really small, a 6" round which was perfect because once my guests and I were served, there wasn't anything left. This was not something that my waistline needed a second helping of, even though after several glasses of milk, my taste buds were craving more.

And finally, the baking ended this past weekend. My brother earned his Eagle Scout award and my mother commissioned me for 100 Eagle Scout cupcakes to serve as refreshments. I found an eagle scout candy mold and made the little cakes as patriotic as I could muster. They were vanilla with chocolate frosting, milk chocolate with chocolate frosting and chocolate chocolate chip with vanilla bean frosting.

Phew!

I gained 5 pounds just writing this post. If you want more details on cakes and recipes, just send me an e-mail.

Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Icing and Chocolate Ganache

This recipe called for a made from scratch chocolate cake that was sort of a mousse/souffle type thing.  I made that version and it didn't work so I ended up with just a basic chocolate cake.  No worries though because the joy of this cake is in the frosting.

Salted Caramel Butter cream Icing

1/2 cup sugar

4 tablespoons water

1/2 heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 sticks room temperature butter

3 + cups powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon good sea salt (or kosher salt, whatever you've got on hand)

First, you've got to make the caramel.  In a good and sturdy small sauce pot put the sugar and water over medium heat.  This is the base for your caramel.  You'll want to leave it alone (do not stir under penalty of law) and let it boil and bubble away until it is a nice medium amber color.  Remove from the heat and slowly whisk in the cream and vanilla.  Set the caramel aside and let it sit and cool at leas 30 minutes.

Once the caramel is cooled, you can make the icing.  Cream two sticks of butter with a hand mixer.  Next add the sea salt and half of the powdered sugar.  Mix until combined and then add the caramel and the rest of the powdered sugar.  Depending on the consistency you're going for you might need to add a little milk or some more powdered sugar.

Chocolate Ganache

6 oz bittersweet/milk chocolate combination (mix it however you'd like.  I went 4 oz bittersweet and 2 oz milk)

6 oz heavy cream

dash of vanilla

While the caramel is cooling, make your ganache.  Heat the heavy cream over the stove on medium low heat.  As soon as the cream starts to boil pour it over the chocolate (made sure your chocolate is in a heat proof container).  Let stand about three minutes and then whisk the mixture until the chocolate is all melted.  Set the ganache aside.  If it doesn't thicken up enough on the counter top then put it in the fridge for five minutes at a time.  Check it because you don't want it to thicken up into a truffle consistency.

**

When you put the cake together, layer some butter cream and ganache between the two layers of the cake and add another layer of ganache to the top of the cake once you do your basic icing job.  Then drizzle some remaining ganache over the cake once it's all iced and ready to serve.

You'll have enough ganache to eat out of the bowl in your fridge a spoonful at a time for about three days after the cake is devoured.  That is my present to you.

S'more on a stick

Elliott's birthday was last weekend.  I wanted something yummy and quick to go with his cake, just as another food option.  I'm sure that this idea isn't new, but I was pretty impressed that I came up with it.  I made them two days in a row and then were crowd pleasers to say the least. 

So easy and yummy and mess free, this might be one of my more brilliant food inventions.

You'll need:
popsicle sticks
giant marshmallows
melting chocolate
crushed up graham crackers

Put the marshmallows on the stick. Dip in melted chocoate. Coat in graham crackers.

Eat.

Sweet 16 Cake

Right before the new year, my brother turned 16.  He wanted a parade and gangster rappers, and a masquerade ball with some llamas. He settled for 6 hours of basketball, Litza's pizza, and a homemade birthday cake.

When planning his cake, he wanted an extravagant 4 layers of chocolate and cherry chip cake with as decadent of icing as I could manage.  Once the big day came, and the basketball games got moved up 3 hours, I had to hurry.  We settled on two layers - cherry cake with cherry icing on the inside and chocolate icing with a chocolate ganache to finish it off.

Oh, it rich.  I think it gave everyone who partook a bit of a tummy ache -but it was worth it.

The interior icing was cherry butter cream.
The exterior icing was milk chocolate.  It was a basic chocolate butter cream but right at the end, you add 3/4 cup of melted milk chocolate chips to the mix.  I made extra and enjoyed it with salty pretzels the next day.
On top of that, was a bittersweet chocolate ganache.  Ganache is so simple, it's a shame people don't make it more often.

Milk Chocolate Icing:
2 sticks butter - very soft
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
mix the butter and cocoa together
alternate between adding a bit of milk (2 tablespoons) and 4 cups powdered sugar.
add 3/4 cups melted (still warm but not hot) chocolate chips.


Chocolate Ganache:
There are a lot of ways to do it, but I've always learned that you do equal parts cream and chocolate and that you shouldn't use milk chocolate.  Not sure why - but I'm sure it's because the cocoa content isn't as significant in milk as in bittersweet.

8 oz heavy cream
8 oz bittersweet chocolate

heat the heavy cream on your stove top.  You know it's ready when the edges start to bubble and there is a visible film on the top.  Remove the cream from the heat and pour it over the chocolate.  Let the mixture sit a couple of minutes and then break out a whisk and mix the chocolate and cream together.  Then let it sit.  The longer it sits, the thicker it will get.  If you refrigerate the ganache for about 8 hours you can then make truffles.  If you leave it for 10-20 then it's perfect to pour over the top of a cake.

Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes

I made these quite a few times over the holidays. They were simple and oh so yummy. I love cherry cordials so it was a natural fit to find this recipe and make it my own.

To start - take a chocolate cake and doctor it up anyway you'd like. In addition to the normal changes I made (sour cream, buttermilk and pudding) I added a butt load of maraschino cherry juice to the mix.

Bake and let cool.

The icing - oh how divine is cherry icing? Pretty close to heaven if you ask me. The icing was a basic butter cream but without vanilla. Start with two sticks of very soft butter and at least two tablespoons of cherry juice. Mix well. Then start adding the powdered sugar and a little bit of milk. You'll need about 4 cups of sugar, give or take, depending on how much milk you've added to keep it creamy.

Then, once the icing is mixed, add your chopped up maraschino cherries. Incorporate those by hand and add as many or as few as you'd like.

Next, pipe the icing onto your cupcakes with a pretty big tip because the cherry chunks can mess you up if you're not careful. Once cupcakes are iced, stick the whole batch in the fridge and let the icing chill for about an hour. Once that time is up pull the cupcakes out of the fridge and get them ready to dip.

Melt your favorite brand of chocolate melts (or chocolate chips) in the microwave in a large bowl. Once melted, dip your cupcakes one at a time into the melted chocolate, just covering the top of the icing. Do this for all the cupcakes.

Then your finished. Box them up. Eat them up. Share them with neighbors.

The best, fast hot chocolate

I regularly crave hot chocolate in the winter time. Seriously. Like every day.

I like the real stuff. No powder and water mixed for me.

If you crave the H.C. like I do, here's a quicky that's sure to please.

You'll need:
milk (1 cup per person)
chocolate (nestle quick works, or Hershey's syrup, or if you were really indulgent, actual chocolate)
1-2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
vanilla ice cream (1 and 1/2 scoops per person)

Put a pan on the stove. Add your milk, chocolate, sugar and vanilla. Keep on the stove top until it's at the perfect temperature for you. Pour into cups. Add ice cream scoops on top.

Enjoy!

Cupcake Weekend

We had two parties this weekend.  That meant I got to get my bake on.

Two different kinds of cupcakes were in order.

The first - Lemon with Vanilla Bean Frosting
1 lemon cake mix (replace the water with buttermilk, but leave the rest of the ingredients the same)
1 package lemon instant pudding
1 cup sour cream

The icing was just a basic butter cream but I borrowed some Madagascar Vanilla Bean Paste from a friend and oh my!  Heaven on a cloud

2 sticks butter, room temperature
2 tbsp milk
2 and 1/2 teaspoons bean paste
4 cups powdered sugar (approximate)

The finished product was beautiful and I was completely in awe of the little vanilla bean flakes. Definitely gave the treats a gourmet feel.


The second cupcake I've made before, but it was yummy as well - chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting.
The cake was also from a mix with 1 cup of sour cream, 1 package of chocolate instant pudding and buttermilk instead of water.

Peanut Butter Frosting
2 sticks butter, soft
1 and 1/2 c. peanut butter
2 tbsp milk
4 cup powdered sugar

This is enough frosting for about 30 cupcakes so you'll have left over. You can just eat it with a spoon, a spatula, or like I did...straight out of the piping bag.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

First, there is a lot of sweet stuff on this blog. Second, I need to stop taking pictures with just my phone.

Noted.

Third, though - I had a little church party on Tuesday night and I wanted to make something yummy. The activity required that people bring pies. I don't like pie. I do however like cake.

I made these - they were delish.

For the cupcakes -
1 box chocolate cake mix, any brand you like. Follow the directions on the box except for the following:
add 1 cup sour cream
add 1 package instant chocolate pudding
use milk instead of water (or buttermilk if you have it)

Bake as directed

For the icing -
2 sticks butter - room temperature
1 cup peanut butter
a little bit of milk
a lot of powdered sugar, 4 cups or so.

cream the butter and peanut butter. Slowly add the powdered sugar until you get the icing consistency you'd like. If it gets to thick, add milk...or more milk.

Top with chopped up PB cups (store bought or home made) if you're so inclined.

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

When I was a little girl, my grandma would, on Easter and Christmas, make homemade peanut butter cups. I lived for the chocolate bunnies and trees and whatever else she would make. Seriously. Lived for them.

Now, I'm a fan of the store bought PB cups as well, and in my youth, was known to eat dozen upon dozen of the miniatures.

Nothing beats making your own though. Nothing is faster and tastier either.

What you'll need:
Peanut butter
Powdered sugar
Melting chocolate

In a mixing bowl, add equal parts peanut butter and powdered sugar. Mix thoroughly until incorporated. If the PB is still sticky to your touch, add a little bit more sugar. You don't want the PB stick at all.

Next, melt some chocolate.

While you're melting chocolate, get your molds, paper cups, whatever your going to use ready.

When the chocolate is melted, pour a little bit into the base of your container. next, add a hunk of PB sweetness then cover with chocolate.

Refrigerate to set.

Enjoy.

Chocolate Ganache

I'm an absolute chocoholic.  I actually really do each chocolate every single day.  The darker the better, but any chocolate will do on most days.

One of my best chocolate loves is ganache.  It's easy to make, decadent to indulge in, and pretty versatile, too. And, you can use it for a lot more than truffles.



I've used ganache to "frost' a cake. I love doing this because when it hardens it's so shiny and smooth. All you do is drizzle it over the cake after it's cooled for a bit. It will take a few layers (and I'm not a professional so it never looks that great even though it tastes divine) to cover an entire cake.

I've also whipped it up and used it as icing. That way, it's like a chocolate mousse - really light and airy on top of a cupcake or cake. This is great because then the cake can be absolutely rich without the icing being too heavy, too. Once the ganache has cooled at room temperature for a couple of hours, or sped up in the fridge for about 30 minutes start whipping, just as you would for whipped cream from scratch. It will take some time so be prepared to stand with your electric mixer (I prefer a hand held mixer to my kitchenaide for this.).



So, how do you make a chocolate ganache? It's so simply.

You need equal parts heavy cream (whipping cream) and chocolate (16 oz cream and 16 oz chocolate). For ganache, like a chocolate mousse, you don't want to use a semi-sweet and definitely not a milk chocolate. The consistency of the chocolate just isn't right. You need a bittersweet or even a dark chocolate to make it all work out well.

Go ahead and whip some up today.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

I found this recipie on a blog (vanillaandlace.blogspot.com) and printed it out immediately, just waiting for the right even to try out such a seemingly decadent treat.

My sister's baby shower two weekends ago was the perfect time for such absolute heaven wrapped in chocolate.

Here is the recipie:
Chocolate chip cookie dough truffles
makes 3-4 dozen, depending on size. (I got 50 truffles out of the batch I made)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup milk or soy milk
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, or small chocolate chunks.

14 oz dark chocolate candy coating, (i didnt have any so i used chocolate chips)

Directions

Beat butter and sugars and in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add soymilk and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt and mix on low speed (or by hand) until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.

Cover and chill dough for 1 hour.

When dough is firm enough to handle (it may help to lightly flour your hands), form dough into 1″ balls and arrange on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Place sheets in freezer and let chill for 30 minutes.

Melt chocolate candy coating in a double boiler or in microwave according to package directions. Using forks or a dipping tool, dip cookie balls into candy coating to cover. Tap fork on side of pan to remove any excess coating, and return to waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Chill until set. Store, chilled, in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Or freeze for frozen treats.