Smores Cupcakes!

Scott's birthday is upon us. He doesn't like cake that much, he does however like marshmallows. I just couldn't let the whole "he needs a birthday cake!" thing go. We are having a birthday party for him and I just feel like cake needs to be present. So I decided to try to make the kind of cake he'd like the most and I knew it had to involve marshmallows.

Smores naturally! Who doesn't like smores! I used Martha Stewarts recipe but tweeked it a little (I prefer milk chocolate) and some random marshmallow frosting recipe. I used those powdered egg whites in place of actual egg whites because I have serious issues with food safety and I will not eat, or serve raw egg white to anyone I love. You can risk it if you want but the powdered ones work fine.

I also don't own a kitchen torch (though I would like one) so instead of torching them, I put them under the broiler and watched them carefully. It worked fine, it's not as precise as if I got to torch them but whatever, you just chew them up and swallow them anyway.

Martha's Cupcake Recipe
(Say what you will about Martha but I always end up using her cupcake recipes. She's good like that)

2 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 20 squares)
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners; set aside.

2. Sift 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix ingredients together on low speed.

3. In a large bowl, mix together eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Add to flour mixture and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl and continue mixing on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add boiling water and stir to combine; set cake batter aside.

4. Place graham cracker crumbs, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and melted butter in a large bowl; stir until well combined.

5. Place 1 tablespoon graham cracker mixture into the bottom of each prepared muffin cup. Use the bottom of a small glass to pack crumbs into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Reserve remaining graham cracker mixture for topping.

6. Place 2 teaspoons chocolate in each muffin cup. Transfer muffin tins to oven and bake until the edges of the graham cracker mixture is golden, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and fill each muffin cup three-quarters full with cake batter. Sprinkle each with remaining chocolate and graham cracker mixture. Return to oven and bake, rotating pans halfway through baking, until tops are firm and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer muffin tins to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely.

Random Marshmallow Recipe

2 egg whites

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 Cups light Karo Syrup

1-1/2 tsp. Vanilla

Directions:

Beat together 2 egg whites & 1/4 tsp. salt with a mixer until very frothy. Add 1/4 cup sugar very slowly, and beat until smooth & glossy. Slowly, add 3/4 Cup light Karo Syrup, & beat until it holds stiff peaks. Gently fold in 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla.

7. Transfer frosting to a large pastry bag fitted with a large plain round or French tip (such as Ateco #867 or Ateco #809)**. Pipe frosting in a spiral motion on each cupcake. Transfer cupcakes to a baking sheet. Using a kitchen torch, lightly brown the frosting, taking care not to burn the cupcake liners. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container, up to 2 days.

***I have 3 plastic tips. I need better cupcake gear I have no idea what those numbers mean I just used the one that was most like a star, because I always use that one.

Whipped cream filled Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes with Ganache frosting

Lately my motivation for cooking and baking has been "meh". As I was searching for dinner inspiration in the new issue of eating well I saw their Chocolate-Cherry cupcake recipe. http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/chocolate_cherry_cupcakes.html


"Hmm" I thought..."That sounds good but it would be better filled with whipped cream and dipped in ganache instead of that cream cheese frosting."

Actually I'm quite sure the eating well recipe done exactly as it says is wonderful. Most everything I make that magazine rocks. This is just my preference, I am not a huge frosting fan in general, so I usually prefer ganache. I also belong to the church of "whipped cream makes everything taste better" so filling that bad larry with sweetened whipped cream is only natural.

So here is the recipe just how I made it...

Cupcakes (this section copied and pasted from eating well)

• 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
  
• 3/4 cup cake flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup nonfat buttermilk
  
• 1 1/2 cups chopped pitted cherries, fresh or frozen (thawed and drained), plus 12 fresh cherries with stems for garnish

1. To prepare cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups with paper liners.
2. Whisk whole-wheat flour, cake flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Beat granulated sugar and oil in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla until well combined. With the mixer on low, alternately mix in the dry ingredients and buttermilk, starting and ending with dry ingredients and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed, until just combined. Fold in chopped cherries until just combined. Divide the batter among the prepared cups (they will be full).
4. Bake the cupcakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 22 to 26 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

From here on out you will be subjected to my bad instructions. Good luck!

Whipped Cream Filling

1 cup heaving whipping cream
some confectioners sugar ( I don't know how much just dump some in)
some vanilla (again just shake some in) it probably ended up being like a tsp.

Ganache
I used 9 oz of semi sweet chocolate chips and 1 cup of heavy whipping cream but if I were you I'd cut that in half because I had *way* too much ganache left over. Ganche is pretty much the easiest thing in the world to make. You just throw the chocolate chips in a bowl, then heat the cream up until almost boiling. Pour the hot cream over the chips and let sit about 10 minutes (cover the bowl). Come back and then whisk it all together. Hooray! You have ganache and it sounds FANCY!

All right so you can probably figure out how to do this but I'll just write it down anyway. So you've got your cooled cupcakes. Now you hollow them out. Don't go too crazy so that they fall apart but don't take out to little either. You can save the hollowed out parts for...I don't know what. Or you can just eat them all like I did.

Then get a pastry bag and fill it with your extra whipped, whipped cream. Make sure it's really stiff so that it will hold up a few days. Fill each cupcakes with whipped cream right up to the top.

After this step I froze my cupcakes. I did this because I thought it would just be easier and make less of a mess when dipping. You can probably skip this step if you want but I am not responsible for what happens.

Ok now I have my frozen cupcakes and my freshly made ganache (make the ganache right before you want to do the dipping. Or if you make it ahead of time microwave it so it's nice and melty). Dip the tops of the cupcake in the ganache and then top with a cherry.



tadah!






Store in the fridge obviously.

Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream icing and PB drizzle

I've been neglecting this blog. Truth be told I haven't been in much of a baking/cooking/blogging sort of mood. This week I made a conscious effort to try to snap myself out of it. I made a nice pork chop dish, roasted a chicken and root vegetables, made heart shaped sour cream and cheddar biscuits. They all turned out well but the thing that was missing was dessert.

For our saturday project I decided Sierra and I would make peanut butter stuffed cupcakes with peanut buttercream icing. As it turned out, we didn't have enough peanut butter to make the icing and I was not about to go out in the freezing rain to get more so I improvised and made a chocolate butter cream and drizzled the last of the peanut butter over the tops of the cakes.

You can tell which of them Sierra decorated above because she is obsessed with those little white sprinkles. At any rate I like how these turned out so I decided to share the recipe with you all. Enjoy!

First prepare the filling: In bowl, with mixer on medium speed, mix confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, 2 tablespoons butter, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla until blended. Shape mixture into 24 balls using heaping measuring teaspoons. (Balls will be sticky and don't need to be perfectly shaped.) Place balls on waxed paper-lined cookie sheet; set aside.

Next prepare the cupcakes. I use Martha Stuarts one bowl cupcake recipe but if you have a chocolate cupcake recipe you really like use that one. Especially if it's a bit thick. Martha's is tasty but very liquid so the peanut butter filling can sink to the bottom. It didn't end up being a problem for us but I might experiment with different cupcake recipes if I make these again.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups cocoa powder

2 1/2 cups sugar

2 1/2 tsps. baking soda

1 1/4 tsps. baking powder

1 1/4 tsps. salt

2 large whole eggs, plus 1 large YOLK

1 1/4 cups milk

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsps. vegetable oil

1 1/4 tsps. vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups warm water

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line your muffin pans with paper liners or spray your cake pans with cooking spray.

Sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Add the eggs and yolk, milk, oil, vanilla and water, and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until smooth and combined (about 3 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Fill each cup up 1/3 of the way. Put a peanut butter ball in each and then fill up another 1/3 of the way.

Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until a knife/toothpick inserted in the middle, comes out clean. My cupcakes took about 25 minutes.

Chocolate ButterCream Icing

• 1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
• 4-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1-1/4 cups baking cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar, cocoa and vanilla. Add enough milk until frosting reaches spreading consistency.

When cupcakes have cooled completely frost them obviously ;) As for the drizzle I just melted peanut butter and thinned it with a bit of oil.

Bananas Foster Bread Pudding

Where I work there is a little tag that says "Bananas Foster Bread Pudding $6.00 a LB" I've been waiting since I started for them to make some, and 3 months later still nothing. So I decided tonight that I'd just make some myself.

I got this recipe off of another blog www.browneyedbaker.com. And I have to say it's pretty damn good (and easy which is always excellent!) So I figured I should pass it on.

Bananas Foster Bread Pudding

3 eggs
2 egg yolks
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup ripe bananas, pureed or finely mashed (about 2 medium bananas)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1¾ cups heavy cream
1 large French bread loaf (about 5-6 cups torn up)

Bananas Foster Sauce (recipe follows)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.

2. In a large bowl combine the eggs and egg yolks and whisk until frothy.

3. Add in nutmeg, cinnamon, banana puree, and vanilla extract. Whisk until fully incorporated.

4. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar, whisking until fully incorporated.

5. Add in cream and whisk until incorporated.

6. Add bread pieces to egg mixture. Miix with a spoon or spatula until the bread has absorbed most of the custard mixture.

7. Pour the mixture into an 8×8 baking dish. Let sit for 30 minutes.

8. Place bread pudding in a slightly larger pan and add about 1 inch of hot water to the larger pan to make a water bath.

9. Bake uncovered for approximately 1 hour, or until the custard is no longer runny. Serve warm with Bananas Foster Sauce.

Bananas Foster Sauce

½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 bananas, sliced
3 tablespoons rum

1. Heat a large skillet over low heat.

2. Add butter and brown sugar and cook, stirring constantly, just until sugar begins to melt into butter.

3. Add banana slices. Moving the skillet back and forth, cook for 1 minute.

4. Remove skillet from heat and add the rum. Return the pan to the stove and tilt the pan to ignite the rum.

5. After the alcohol burns off add the cream. Whisk to make sure it is fully incorporated.

Mini Broccoli Quiches

A little over a month ago, my boyfriend and I moved in together. In doing so he made a pretty significant sacrifice. His commute went from a 2 minute walk, to a 45 minute (on a good day) drive. We are not morning people and he was skipping breakfast and just running out the door. So I started making muffins that he could just grab on his way out. I'm tired of making muffins every sunday, and he's probably tired of eating them for breakfast all week. This week I decided to try my hand at making some grab & go mini quiches he can just throw in the microwave for 30 seconds and run out the door with. They didn't turn out half bad....

Tara's Mini Broccoli and Cheese Quiche cups

1 Tbl butter
1/2 an onion chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
2 cups fresh chopped (small) broccoli
2 9 inch pie crusts
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
1/2 cup shredded mozzerella
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400
Cook the onion, garlic and broccoli in the tbl of butter until soft
mix together the cheddar & mozz cheese. Set aside
mix together eggs and milk with some salt and pepper set aside
Cut circles out of the dough and line 10 muffin cups with dough
Press a bit of the cheese mixture into the bottom of each cup (you will have about 1/2 the mixture left when you are finished with this step, it's ok we are going to use it)
Then distribute the broccoli mixture evenly between the 10 cups
Use a turkey baster to suck up the egg mixture and distribute egg mixture evenly
Then use the rest of the cheese to sprinkle on the top of each cup.
Bake at 400 for about 18-20 minutes.

Nana's Kale Soup

A lot of people have asked me for this recipe recently so I've decided I might as well post it here. One of the really clear memories I have from when I was a little girl was of the day my Papa taught me to dip my portuguese bread in my kale soup. My advice to you when making this is to go get yourself a good loaf if you have access to one, rip on a giant hunk, butter it, and dip it into this soup. The soup alone is good, but when you dip your bread in it....it's next level.


1 lb Kale washed & Chopped
1 lb Chorizo sliced
4 medium potatoes cubed
3 medium onions chopped
3 cans chicken broth
1/2 cup tomato juice (or V8 I use V8 more frequently)
16 oz water
19 oz can kidney beans
1/4 tsp each of salt, pepper, garlic powder, celery salt & crushed red pepper

In a large pot add oil chorizo & spices. Brown the chorizo and then all everything except for the beans. Bring to a boil & simmer 2 hours. Add beans and simmer another 1/2 an hour

Plum Tart

Tonight I had my Mom and Grammy over for Shepherds pie. I almost made pumpkin pie again and then I remember my Grandmother saying not too long ago how she really wanted to make a Plum Tart. Since we just consumed an entire pumpkin pie in 24 hours I figured a Plum Tart might be a better idea.

I found an easy recipe on allrecipes.com and lessened the amount of sugar used (my plums were quite sweet on their own) and added a few spices to it. Here is the recipe as I made it.


Plum Tart recipe

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter flavored shortening
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• FILLING:
• 2 cups sliced plums
• 4 Tablespoons of sugar, divided
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

DIRECTIONS

1. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt; cut in the shortening until crumbly. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until a ball forms. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1-1/2 hours. On a lightly floured surface, roll pastry into a 9-in. circle. Transfer to a foil-lined 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan.
2. In a bowl, combine the plums, 3 tablespoons sugar, ginger, cinnamon and flour. Place on the center of pastry. Bring edges of pastry over filling, leaving 3-1/2 in. of filling uncovered. Brush crust with egg, then sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake at 375 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until bubbly and crust is golden brown.