Nellie Cakes

    22 Nov 2010

    Brownies!

    They’re not pretty because I didn’t realize I ran out of meringue powder until after I already baked them. They were going to have peppermint royal icing on top, all swirled with green and red but honestly, these didn’t need anything extra. They’re decadent. They’re super chocolaty, and they’re the first brownies I ever made, unless you count the ones that come out of a box. Even Eric said he was impressed, and since he’s used to eating all the yummy things I make, that says a lot. He’s used to some pretty good stuff. (If I do say so myself!)

    I did decorate the top a little, if only to break up the brown monotony. It’s just powdered sugar dusted on top with spray food coloring. I think it gives it a poinsettia feel to it, but I might be grasping at straws on that one. See?

    Oh! And one more thing! The brownies are way better the next day. I don’t know why, but I think it has to do with the chocolate soaking into everything (or the fact that I watched Bones the day I made these…  The Babe in the Chocolate kind of grossed me out.)

    I baked these around 8pm and after they cooled, I tried one and I wasn’t impressed so I covered them and left them there until morning. When I woke up and ate one for breakfast, they were to die for! Go forth and make awesome brownies!

    Ultimate Brownies

    Ingredients:

    • 2 sticks of butter, room temperature (plus more for greasing if you don’t want to use the cake release- I recommend it though)
    • 1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
    • 8 ounces unsweetened chocolate
    • 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
    • 5 large eggs
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    • 3 1/4 cups sugar (That’s a lot of sugar!)
    • 1/4 teaspoon salt

    Heat the oven to 425 degrees and line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment. It’s easier to line the pan if you coat the pan in the cake release first and stick it to the pan. Then spread some more cake release on the parchment you’re going to pour the brownies in. (Doing this will make it super easy to pull the brownies out of the pan later, instead of destroying a few trying to dig them out with a knife.)

    Chop the unsweetened chocolate and the semi-sweet chocolate, which I will freely admit, is a pain in the butt:

    My hand hurt after chopping both bars. I prefer Baker’s chocolate. It’s pretty inexpensive and it’s SO good. Both bars cost me a total of five bucks.

    Put the butter and the unsweetened chocolate in a double boiler, or rig something up like this:

    That’s a pyrex bowl on top of a pot with simmering water. And I swear there’s butter under all that chocolate!

    Melt all that together, mixing it from time to time until it’s nice and smooth, with no lumps. Make sure you don’t accidentally melt the semi-sweet chocolate instead!

    Once it’s melted, take it off the heat and set it aside. In another bowl, pour in the massive amount of sugar, the eggs and the vanilla and beat it with an electric mixer for about 10 minutes, or until it’s light yellow, fluffy and creamy looking.

    After the egg mixture is full of bubbles, slowly pour in the melted chocolate mixture, stopping to mix it (with the electric mixer) every so often before you add more. You’ll probably have to scrape down the sides of the bowl while you’re at it too.

    Now add the flour and salt -very slowly-. If you add the flour too fast, it will clump up and you’ll have chunks of flour in the brownies, which doesn’t sound very appetizing. When I made them, I only poured enough flour in at one time to dust the top of the chocolate-egg-sugar mixture before I mixed it in. Just keep doing that and you won’t have to worry about it clumping up. It’s going to get really thick, so if the motor on your electric mixer has a hard time with thick stuff, I’d mix it by hand. Use the electric one if you can get away with it though.

    When you’re done mixing in the flour, add the semi-sweet chopped chocolate and mix it in by hand. It’s going to look delicious, but try not to eat it because I’d hate to hear that someone got sick from all the raw eggs in there. How yummy does this look?!

    The batter in the picture isn’t totally mixed, of course. You shouldn’t have chocolate not covered in batter.

    Pour all that gooey goodness in the parchement lined pan and spread it as evenly as you can. It won’t level out like cake does which I didn’t realize this until I pulled it out of the oven and it still looked like I had just poured it.

    That’s what it looked like when I took it out of the oven!

    Bake it for 25 to 30 minutes. It’s hard to tell when it’s done just by looking at it, but if you stick a toothpick in there, you’ll be able to tell how firm it is. If it’s still liquidy, it’s not done.

    Let it cool on a wire rack. It takes a really long time to cool, so don’t get too excited when you pull it out. You still won’t be able to eat it for an hour or so. (After it cools, you can frost it if you want too. I’ll post the royal icing recipe after this one, probably later today.)

    Cut it into bars once it’s cool and then lift one side of the parchment until you can get your fingers around the first bar. (Or you can pull the whole thing out and stack them on a plate, all pretty like.) They are way better the next day so feel free to cut them up and then cover them with plastic wrap for the morning. Who said brownies aren’t a breakfast food?!

    These would be awesome for any holiday parties you plan on going to! They’re a nice change from all the pie everyone’s going to be eating and this recipe makes a pretty large amount so everyone should get one. (Check out my newest additions to the Nellie Cakes store too! They’re the perfect addition to any dessert you bring to the party!)

    And since I slacked on the give-away I promised, I’ll be sending the first twenty people who email me one of these or 2 cupcake toppers of your choice. Drop me a line (here) with your address and which item you’d like and I’ll get them out as soon as I can. They probably won’t get to you in time for Thanksgiving, but you’ll have them for the next big holiday!

    13 Nov 2010

    Remember how I promised the frosting recipe yesterday? Guess what! I’m actually making good on it. Here it is: Fluffy Frosting (with zero butter) Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar 2/3 cup plus 12 tablespoons water 2 tablespoons corn syrup 12 teaspoons powdered egg whites (or meringue powder) 1 teaspoon strawberry extract (or any other flavor. If you want to use vanilla, use the clear vanilla you find at Michael’s so the frosting stays a perfect white.) In a heat-proof bowl, put the meringue powder and the 12 tablespoons of water. Pull out the electric hand mixer and start to whip the mixture. Once it’s decently fluffy, slowly pour in the two tablespoons of sugar, while the mixer is still doing it’s stuff. Continue beating it until soft peaks form. Set the bowl aside. Dump 1 1/2 cups of sugar, 3/4 cup of water and the corn syrup in a saucepan. Clip a candy thermometer on the side of the pot and bring the mixture to a boil, over medium heat. Stir it occasionally until the sugar dissolves. Once it starts to boil, stop stirring and allow it to reach 230 degress. As soon as the sugar mixture reaches 230 degrees, remove it from the heat. Grab the bowl with the whipped meringue powder and turn the hand mixer back on. Slowly pour the hot sugar syrup into the bowl, mixing it in as you go. Don’t pour it in all at once! Make it a very gradual process. Keep beating the mixture until the sides of the bowl are back to room temperature. This took me about 10 minutes, but it may take a little longer depending on how insulating your bowl is. As you mix it, the frosting will become thicker and thicker as it cools. It may also shrink a little, but not too much. You have to use this icing right away… or in an hour or so. The outside of the frosting will set slightly if it’s left out, which isn’t a problem if it’s already on the cupcakes. Seriously guys… this icing is to die for. It’s sweet and light and amazing. If you try anything from my site, this has to be it… So yummy. The turkey on top of this cupcake was super easy to make, and it didn’t involve any fondant or marzipan. Do you guys want me to post a tutorial on how to make it?

    Remember how I promised the frosting recipe yesterday? Guess what! I’m actually making good on it.

    Here it is:

    Fluffy Frosting (with zero butter)

    Ingredients:

    • 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
    • 2/3 cup plus 12 tablespoons water
    • 2 tablespoons corn syrup
    • 12 teaspoons powdered egg whites (or meringue powder)
    • 1 teaspoon strawberry extract (or any other flavor. If you want to use vanilla, use the clear vanilla you find at Michael’s so the frosting stays a perfect white.)

    In a heat-proof bowl, put the meringue powder and the 12 tablespoons of water. Pull out the electric hand mixer and start to whip the mixture. Once it’s decently fluffy, slowly pour in the two tablespoons of sugar, while the mixer is still doing it’s stuff. Continue beating it until soft peaks form.

    Set the bowl aside.

    Dump 1 1/2 cups of sugar, 3/4 cup of water and the corn syrup in a saucepan. Clip a candy thermometer on the side of the pot and bring the mixture to a boil, over medium heat. Stir it occasionally until the sugar dissolves.

    Once it starts to boil, stop stirring and allow it to reach 230 degress.

    As soon as the sugar mixture reaches 230 degrees, remove it from the heat. Grab the bowl with the whipped meringue powder and turn the hand mixer back on. Slowly pour the hot sugar syrup into the bowl, mixing it in as you go. Don’t pour it in all at once! Make it a very gradual process.

    Keep beating the mixture until the sides of the bowl are back to room temperature. This took me about 10 minutes, but it may take a little longer depending on how insulating your bowl is.

    As you mix it, the frosting will become thicker and thicker as it cools. It may also shrink a little, but not too much.

    You have to use this icing right away… or in an hour or so. The outside of the frosting will set slightly if it’s left out, which isn’t a problem if it’s already on the cupcakes.

    Seriously guys… this icing is to die for. It’s sweet and light and amazing. If you try anything from my site, this has to be it… So yummy.

    The turkey on top of this cupcake was super easy to make, and it didn’t involve any fondant or marzipan. Do you guys want me to post a tutorial on how to make it?

    12 Nov 2010

    I’m back, and I’m bringing the good stuff with me. That lovely picture up there? Yeah, that’s a strawberry cupcake and it’s so good it’s like a punch in the face. But a good punch in the face, like if a carebear did it. Out of love. I know strawberries aren’t in season right now, but that’s the best part about these cupcakes. You don’t need fresh strawberries to make them. (Of course, you could use fresh ones if you want to.) I plan on whipping up a batch of these as soon as I get sick of all the holiday flavors because they’re red enough to work with Christmas colors, but they taste fresh and spring-like. They’re the perfect balance to all the heavy spice-filled confections that come out this time of year. No matter how much I love gingerbread (And I really love gingerbread), I can only take it for so long before my tastebuds start to throw a coup. Here’s the recipe to these awesome Strawberry Dreams: Ingredients: 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour 1/2 cup cake flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature 2 1/4 cups sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 3 large eggs plus one egg white 1 cup whole milk 2 cups finely chopped frozen strawberries, thawed red gel food coloring Preheat the oven to a standard 350 degrees and line the cupcake tins. Sift both flours, the baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set it aside. Cream the butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and mix it in well. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure to incorperate each one completely before adding the next. Add the flour mixture in two batches, alternating with one addition of milk. Make sure to thoroughly mix everything in before dumping in the next addition. Add the red gel food coloring. I added a glob about the size of a pencil eraser, but you can mess with the amount depending on how pink you want the cupcakes to be. Carefully mix in the strawberries. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins, filling each cupcake 3/4 full. Bake them until the tops turn a golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. (If the strawberries are still cold when you mix them in, allow for a little extra time when you bake them.) Allow them to cool completely on a wire rack. Frost with your favorite icing. (I used a new recipe for the frosting on these, which I’ll post tomorrow. It’s very light, and it doesn’t have any butter/shortening in it, so it goes very well with the fresh strawberry taste!) You could probably use any fruit with this recipe, but depending on which one you choose, I might take out the vanilla. The idea of canteloupe flavored cupcakes in the summer makes me almost giddy.

    I’m back, and I’m bringing the good stuff with me. That lovely picture up there? Yeah, that’s a strawberry cupcake and it’s so good it’s like a punch in the face. But a good punch in the face, like if a carebear did it. Out of love.

    I know strawberries aren’t in season right now, but that’s the best part about these cupcakes. You don’t need fresh strawberries to make them. (Of course, you could use fresh ones if you want to.) I plan on whipping up a batch of these as soon as I get sick of all the holiday flavors because they’re red enough to work with Christmas colors, but they taste fresh and spring-like. They’re the perfect balance to all the heavy spice-filled confections that come out this time of year. No matter how much I love gingerbread (And I really love gingerbread), I can only take it for so long before my tastebuds start to throw a coup.

    Here’s the recipe to these awesome Strawberry Dreams:

    Ingredients:

    • 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
    • 1/2 cup cake flour
    • 1 tablespoon baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
    • 2 1/4 cups sugar
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
    • 3 large eggs plus one egg white
    • 1 cup whole milk
    • 2 cups finely chopped frozen strawberries, thawed
    • red gel food coloring

    Preheat the oven to a standard 350 degrees and line the cupcake tins. Sift both flours, the baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set it aside.

    Cream the butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and mix it in well. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure to incorperate each one completely before adding the next.

    Add the flour mixture in two batches, alternating with one addition of milk. Make sure to thoroughly mix everything in before dumping in the next addition. Add the red gel food coloring. I added a glob about the size of a pencil eraser, but you can mess with the amount depending on how pink you want the cupcakes to be.

    Carefully mix in the strawberries.

    Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins, filling each cupcake 3/4 full.

    Bake them until the tops turn a golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. (If the strawberries are still cold when you mix them in, allow for a little extra time when you bake them.)

    Allow them to cool completely on a wire rack.

    Frost with your favorite icing. (I used a new recipe for the frosting on these, which I’ll post tomorrow. It’s very light, and it doesn’t have any butter/shortening in it, so it goes very well with the fresh strawberry taste!)

    You could probably use any fruit with this recipe, but depending on which one you choose, I might take out the vanilla. The idea of canteloupe flavored cupcakes in the summer makes me almost giddy.

    9 Nov 2010

    Not the best picture, I know. I took it around 7 last night, and the lighting in my house is atrocious. I’m sorry about the absence lately too. I’ve been sick as a dog, and I haven’t been doing much of anything, let alone baking. I did come up with the rest of the things for my store, so as soon as I photograph them and put them up, I’ll pick the winner of the give-away. Any-who, so yeah, last night I made awesome milkshakes, and I thought I’d share the recipe with you. I know it’s starting to get cold, and ice cream usually isn’t the first thing on your mind in November, but I was missing summer hard. Also? I really don’t think there’s ever a bad time for ice cream. Ingredients: 3 scoops chocolate ice cream 1/2 cup cold milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or peppermint extract if you want to make it Christmasy) 3 1/2 tablespoons malted milk powder (If you live in the Buffalo area, I found this in Wegmans. It’s carried in most grocery stores, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find, unlike the graham flour I’ve been trying to hunt down.) Throw it all in a blender and blend it until it’s smooth. I like my milkshakes thick, but if you don’t, add a little more milk. I couldn’t get mine up the straw, which was awesome. I love when a milkshake is so thick it collapses the straw. I laughed as I watched Evie trying to suck it up the straw too. I thought she was going to burst a blood vessel! It was awesome. Eventually she got aggravated enough that she asked me for a spoon.

    Not the best picture, I know. I took it around 7 last night, and the lighting in my house is atrocious.

    I’m sorry about the absence lately too. I’ve been sick as a dog, and I haven’t been doing much of anything, let alone baking. I did come up with the rest of the things for my store, so as soon as I photograph them and put them up, I’ll pick the winner of the give-away.

    Any-who, so yeah, last night I made awesome milkshakes, and I thought I’d share the recipe with you. I know it’s starting to get cold, and ice cream usually isn’t the first thing on your mind in November, but I was missing summer hard. Also? I really don’t think there’s ever a bad time for ice cream.

    Ingredients:

    • 3 scoops chocolate ice cream
    • 1/2 cup cold milk
    • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or peppermint extract if you want to make it Christmasy)
    • 3 1/2 tablespoons malted milk powder (If you live in the Buffalo area, I found this in Wegmans. It’s carried in most grocery stores, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find, unlike the graham flour I’ve been trying to hunt down.)

    Throw it all in a blender and blend it until it’s smooth. I like my milkshakes thick, but if you don’t, add a little more milk. I couldn’t get mine up the straw, which was awesome. I love when a milkshake is so thick it collapses the straw.

    I laughed as I watched Evie trying to suck it up the straw too. I thought she was going to burst a blood vessel! It was awesome. Eventually she got aggravated enough that she asked me for a spoon.

    24 Oct 2010

    The Cake that Ugly Built

    A couple days ago I decided to try out a new autumn-y flavored cake with a new flavor of buttercream, keeping with my promise of fall time tastes. I also decided to bake it in my new Wilton Heart Tasty-Fill pan, because I’m impatient and wanted to see how well it worked.

    When I baked it, I did not plan on posting it here because I put zero effort into decorating it. I just wanted to see how well the heart inside came out, and how good the icing and cake recipes were. Seriously, look at how ugly it is:

    I also didn’t want to give a certain someone who’s been leaving me nasty comments ammunition, but I will not be bullied just because my readers are fantastically awesome and decided to vote for my cake in the contest I entered. (Also, voting opens tomorrow at 10am, eastern time and I’d really appreciate the votes! I’ll plan to use part of the money for a give away on here, so if I win, you guys win too!)

    Really though, I couldn’t help myself. The caramel buttercream and the applesauce-spice cake was just too good not to mention. I’m a really good procratinator too, so I knew I’d never post it if I waited until I made something cute with it.

    I did find out a couple things though. First, these two recipes in combination with each other would work out much better in cupcake form because eating too much of it will give you a flavor overload. Second, the tasty-fill heart pan would work much better if the colors used contrasted each other. See?

    It looks like a heart, but since the colors are so close, I noticed it kind of lost its effect. I figured the heart would look more like a pumpkin (and it probably would have if I’d dyed the buttercream inside), but instead it just looked a little blah. This is what I was going for:

    Ok, maybe not exactly that, but you know what I mean.

    The buttercream was awesome. It had a sophisticated flavor that got better and better every time you tried it. Pairing it with the applesauce-spice cake was a wonderful idea. The cake had just enough spice to add a little something to the cake, without overpowering it and it left just enough room for the apple to show through. Like I said though, this would be much better in cupcake form. If you add too much of this icing, it taked over the cake completely. Want the recipe? Of course you do!

    The frosting is a little bit more involved than my usual Swiss Meringue Buttercream, but it’s totally worth the trouble.

    Caramel Buttercream

    Ingredients:

    • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar (I added 1/4 more in with the butter, which gave it a sweeter taste. It’s not necessary thought.)
    • 1/4 cup water
    • 1/4 cup heavy cream
    • 3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
    • 4 large egg whites (or the equivalent in meringue powder)
    • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

    Combine 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of sugar and the water in a heavy saucepan. Heat it over a medium flame, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup is clear. Stop stirring and cook until the syrup comes to a boil. Using a wet pastry brush, wash down the sides of the pot to prevent crystals from forming. Continue to boil, swirrling occasionally to color evenly until the mixture is a very dark amber. Remove it from the heat and add the heavy cream in a slow, steady stream (it will spatter), stirring with a wooden spoon until combines. Let cool.

    Cream the butter until it’s pale and fluffy. In a heat-proof bowl, combine the other 1/2 (or 1 cup) of sugar and the egg whites (or meringue powder and water). Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water, whisking constantly by hand until the mixture is warm to the touch and is smooth when rubbed between your fingertips.

    Remove the bowl and, using and electric mixer, whisk on low and slowly increase the speed to medium-high. Continue whisking until the egg mixture is fluffy and glossy and completely cool (test the temperature by touching the bottom of the bowl), about 10 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add the beaten butter, about 1/4 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla. (If the egg and butter mixture looks like it’s separating, don’t worry. Just keep mixing. It will smooth out.)

    Switch to a paddle attachment (or you arm, like me). Very slowly pour in the caramel mixture and beat for 5 minutes. (If your caramel is too thick to pour, heat it on the stove on low heat until it liquifies again. I had to do this with mine, but I’m not sure if I added the right amout of heavy cream the first time. I was making a double batch and I couldn’t remember if I double the cream amount.)

    Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat until the caramel is totally incorporated. Keep the buttercream at room temperature if you plan on using it the same day. If you want to use it the next day, put it in an air-tight container and refrigerate. Before you use it, make sure it’s back to room temperature, and then beat it with a paddle “atachment” until smooth again.

    Now for the cake recipe!

    Applesauce-Spice Cupcakes

    Ingredients:

    • 2 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 3/4 teaspoon salt
    • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
    • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
    • 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
    • 1 cup granulated sugar
    • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
    • 4 large eggs, room temperature
    • 1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce

    Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Line about 18 cupcake cups. Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmkeg and cloves. (Now smell it, because it smells awesome.)

    Cream butter and both sugars until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next one and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

    Add applesauce and mix well. Slowly add in the flour mixture, mixing well after that too.

    Divide the batter evenly among the cups, filling each three-quarters full.

    Bake, rotating tins halfway through, for about 20 minutes and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. Transfer the tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing them from the cupcake tins.

    I hope you guys like this recipe as much as I did!

    (Both recipes were adapted from Martha Stewart recipes.)

    19 Oct 2010

    Before I get to the cupcakes, I wanted to let you know about those cool balloon cupcake toppers I put on them. Nellie Cakes now has a store and those are on sale! I also have a few more styles, so go check ‘em out! I have a few more things coming soon, so keep checking back. I putting a link to the store on my side bar just in case you want to come back to it later. (This is just an experiment. I hope people like my stuff… We’ll see I guess!) Here’s the recipe from the last post, as promised! Pumpkin Brown-Butter Cupcakes Ingredients: 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (I used the regular, ground kind) 1/8 teaspoon cloves 1 cup canned pumpkin puree 1 cup packed light brown sugar 1/2 cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake tins with cupcake liners (this recipe makes about 16). In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Continue to cook, swirling occasionally, until butter turns golden brown. Skim the foam off the top and remove from heat. Pour the butter into a bowl to stop the cooking, leaving the burned bits behind. Allow it to cool to room temperature. While you wait for the butter to cool, whisk together the flour, spices, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together both sugars, the pumpkin puree, the eggs, and the cooled brown-butter mixture. Add the flour mixture and whisk until combines. (The whisking broke my whisk, but it was over-due.) Divide the batter evenly among the cups, scooping 1/4 cup of batter into each. Bake, rotating the tins half way through the 20 minute baking time. Once they’re done baking (and a toothpick comes out clean) transfer them to wire racks to cool. Allow them to cool completely before removing them from the tins. These cupcakes are amazing. I think they’re my new favorite actually. They have an awesome pumpkin flavor and the tops have a great texture; kind of crunchy, but only on the top eighth of an inch. Paired with vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream, it’s like having a cupcake version of pumpkin pie! Martha Stewart knows her cupcakes.

    Before I get to the cupcakes, I wanted to let you know about those cool balloon cupcake toppers I put on them. Nellie Cakes now has a store and those are on sale! I also have a few more styles, so go check ‘em out! I have a few more things coming soon, so keep checking back. I putting a link to the store on my side bar just in case you want to come back to it later. (This is just an experiment. I hope people like my stuff… We’ll see I guess!)

    Here’s the recipe from the last post, as promised!

    Pumpkin Brown-Butter Cupcakes

    Ingredients:

    • 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
    • 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
    • 2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (I used the regular, ground kind)
    • 1/8 teaspoon cloves
    • 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
    • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
    • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
    • 2 large eggs

    Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake tins with cupcake liners (this recipe makes about 16).

    In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Continue to cook, swirling occasionally, until butter turns golden brown. Skim the foam off the top and remove from heat. Pour the butter into a bowl to stop the cooking, leaving the burned bits behind. Allow it to cool to room temperature.

    While you wait for the butter to cool, whisk together the flour, spices, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together both sugars, the pumpkin puree, the eggs, and the cooled brown-butter mixture. Add the flour mixture and whisk until combines. (The whisking broke my whisk, but it was over-due.)

    Divide the batter evenly among the cups, scooping 1/4 cup of batter into each.

    Bake, rotating the tins half way through the 20 minute baking time.

    Once they’re done baking (and a toothpick comes out clean) transfer them to wire racks to cool. Allow them to cool completely before removing them from the tins.

    These cupcakes are amazing. I think they’re my new favorite actually. They have an awesome pumpkin flavor and the tops have a great texture; kind of crunchy, but only on the top eighth of an inch. Paired with vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream, it’s like having a cupcake version of pumpkin pie! Martha Stewart knows her cupcakes.

    15 Oct 2010

    Lately I’ve been working on a few things so I haven’t had a ton of time to bake, but the whole family was dying for something sweet, so I had to make something. (I think I may have created a sugar addiction in the Legos house.)

    So instead of making cupcakes or a cake, I made Golden Graham Mashmallow Treats, which I think took all of 15 minutes.

    Here’s how you make ‘em:

    Ingredients:

    • 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
    • 1 10.5 ounce bag of mini-marshmallows
    • 6 cups of golden grahams
    • 2 ounces of chocolate chips
    • non-stick cooking spray
    • 9 x 11 inch rectangular cake pan (or something equivalent)

    Before you start doing anything, spray the cake pan with the non-stick cooking spray so you’re not running around looking for the can while your mass of marshmallow is slowly hardening in the pot. Not that I’d know from experience or anything…

    Then get a giant pot and melt the butter on a low to medium flame. Make sure to coat the sides of the pot with the butter too.

    Once it’s all melted, throw in the entire bag of marshmallows. Stir them around continuously until they’re completely melted, making sure to pull the marshmallows off the bottom often.

    When they’re nice and smooth, turn the heat to low and start mixing in the golden grahams, a cup at a time, mixing them in thoroughly after each addition until you’ve put in all 6 cups. It’s going to get kind of hard to mix towards the end, but it’s totally worth it. (And the threads of marshmallow look like spider webs, so there’s a dose of Halloween for you!)

    Once the golden grahams are nicely coated, dump them into the cake pan. Spray a spoon with the cooking spray and squish the chunk of yum into all the corners, flattening it out as you go. When it’s decently level, pour the chocolate chips over the top and squish them down into the treats so they get nice and stuck in there.

    To cool, I threw mine in the fridge but you can leave it out too. I just happen to be impatient. Once it’s room temperature, take a sharp knife and saw it into squares.

    Feel free to eat half the pan at this point. It’s ok, I understand.

    I am not responsible for any lost fillings!

    4 Oct 2010

    Since I can’t bake anything at the moment…

    I figured I’d answer a few questions that keep popping up on my Google Analytics report. Here we go!



    Can I spread cake release with a paper towel?

    Yes, you can!



    What can I use as a mold for a “pregnant” cake?

    I have a set of pans I bought that create a sphere shaped cake. Looking back on it now, I probably didn’t need that pan set because I could have easily used a stainless steel bowl to create the rounded top to the cake I was working on. You could use the same thing, but you have to make sure it doesn’t have any non-slip rubber on the bottom. Make sure you grease it up well too. May I suggest home-made cake release?



    Why does my cake have hard edges?

    A cake usually ends up with hard edges because it bakes slightly too long. The hard edges are the beginning of the cake burning. I’d reduce the baking time by 10 minutes and check if it’s done with a toothpick.



    What is a good cookie dough recipe to use with an intricate cookie cutter?

    I’m partial to this one.



    How do you lift sugar cookies after you cut them, without ruining them?

    The most important thing you can do to aviod screwing up your cookies when you try to put them on the cookie sheet is to make sure the dough never gets too warm. If your dough starts to get too pliable, throw it back in the fridge for 10 minutes and then reroll it. If you’re still having trouble, you may have too much flour in the mix. If the dough gets too dried out, it’s more likely to crack. To prevent this, use as little flour as you can get away with when you roll it out and dust off the scraps before you squish it into a ball to reroll it.

    When you try to put your super thin spatula under the cookies to lift them, scrape a little flour along the table as you push the spatula along. Then, instead of pushing straight under, move your spatula is a circular motion, pushing it farther under the cookie each time. This usually prevents my cookies from getting squished from the force of the spatula.



    How do you keep fondant from being too sticky?

    Cornstarch. Use it liberally! I usually cover my table with it like it’s flour. A lot of sites say to cover your work area with powdered sugar, but that won’t make it any less sticky. (Because sugar is sticky. Always has been, always will be.) Roll out the fondant like you’d roll out sugar cookies, dusting everything with cornstarch. Once you have your design all cut out, gently brush the cornstarch off with a soft paint brush. Make sure to dust off any fondant you plan to reroll as well, otherwise it will dry out fairly quickly. If this happens, add a little shortening. If it gets to this point though, the fondant will be harder to work with, no matter how much shortening you add. You want to prevent it from drying out as much as possible by dusting the cornstarch off and by limiting the time it’s in contact with the air.



    What do you do if your fondant gets wet?

    Throw it away. Fondant is 90% powdered sugar and sugar does not do well when it comes in contact with water. It’s going to melt like the wicked witch.



    Why is my fondant ripping and greasy?

    It’s greasy because you probably added too much shortening when the fondant started to dry out. When fondant gets to the point where you have to add a ton of shortening to make it pliable, it’s time to make new fondant. It will never roll out nicely after that.



    If you have a question that I haven’t answered, let me know! I’d love to help you out, if I can.

    25 Sep 2010

    Linzer Cookie Recipe

    Just for the record, I don’t know where I found the recipe, so if anyone ever comes across it on the internet, please let me know so I can credit them.

    Ingredients:

    • 1 cup unsalted butter
    • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
    • 1 egg
    • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 2 1/2 cups sifted flour
    • 1/3 cup powdered sugar (optional)
    • 10 oz jar (I didn’t use the entire thing. Maybe half.) of your favorite jam, warm (I used strawberry. Make sure you use seedless jam.)

    Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in egg. Add vanilla, flour and salt. Mix until ingredients are well blended (I had to use my hands to squish it around towards the end). Chill for 2 hours.

    Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out the dough a quarter of an inch thick and cut into shapes, half having the centers cut out, the other half without. (I got this cool linzer cookie cutter at Michaels for $5. It has interchangeable centers so you don’t have to worry about centering the shapes… not that centering is hard.)

    Chill and reroll scraps. (Make sure to keep the dough chilled or the cookies will warp when you try to pick them up off the table with your spatula.)

    Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until slightly golden. (I have a stupid oven that takes longer than usual, but even when I compensated for that, the cookies never really got golden. They were really good even kind of soft. They reminded my husband of butter cookies.)

    Remove from cookie sheets and cool on wire racks. Spinkle hollow cookies with powdered sugar (optional).

    To assemble, spread 1 teaspoon of jam on whole cookies and top it with the hollow cookie. Store in an air tight container with wax paper between the cookies so they don’t stick together.

    Ta-da! Cookies.

    Also, how cute is this one?

    I know it’s not Halloween-y, but still. If I would have had orange marmalade, it would have been awesome, looking like an orange and all. Or lemony filling. Or you could use it for those burger cupcakes everyone makes if you tint the dough red. Perfect tomato. (I meant to tint the dough orange, but I forgot to. I think Evie distracted me at some point. If you’d like to do that, add the food coloring when you cream the butter and sugar together.)

    I made that cookie with a teeny tiny cookie cutter I have, shaped like a tear drop. I found a whole set of tiny shapes in the clay section of the craft store. Check out that area next time you’re looking for fondant cutters. They’re usually cheaper and better made!

    21 Sep 2010

    Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes! They were divine. I made 30 of them three days ago and they’re already gone. Of course, some of them ended up in the garbage because Evie only licks the frosting off, but I won’t hold that against her. Wanna know how to make ‘em? Sure you do! Here’s the recipe! Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes Ingredients (for the cupcakes): 1 cup all purpose flour 1/2 cup cake flour 3/4 cup cocoa powder 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 large eggs 3/4 cup whole milk 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/2 to 3/4 cup warm water Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line the tins with cupcake liners. (It makes between 18 and 21. I think it depends on how much I fill the cups on whatever day I make them.) Throw all the ingredients in a big bowl and mix it by hand until it’s a little wet everywhere. (You don’t want to hit dry ingredients with an electric mixer. It’s messy!) Once everything is moist, pull out the electric hand mixer and mix everything until the batter is nice and smooth. It’s going to be watery, so I usually pour the batter into a pitcher with a lip and fill the cupcake tins with that. Fill them until they’re about half full and put them in the oven. Bake them for about 20 minutes, rotating them half way through so they bake evenly. Make sure to test them with a toothpick before you take them out. If the toothpick comes out clean, you’re good. Allow them to cool completely on wire racks before you try to ice them, otherwise your icing will melt all over the place. Ok, time for the icing recipe. Feel free to make this while you’re waiting for the cupcakes to bake and/or cool. Chocolate Buttercream Ingredients : 4 cups powdered sugar 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 - 3 tablespoons milk Cream the butter until it’s nice and… well, creamy looking. Mix in the vanilla thoroughly. Melt the chocolate in the microwave, 10 seconds or so at a time and stirring in between, until it’s completely melted. Pour the chocolate into the butter mixture and completely combine. Mix in the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup to a cup at a time, making sure it’s completely mixed in before adding the next bit. Keep doing that until all four cups are mixed in. If it gets too stiff to work with, add a little milk, a tablespoon at a time, until it’s easier to mix. Don’t add too much though! Add just enough so your arm doesn’t fall off as you’re stirring. Once all of the powdered sugar is mixed in, you can add more milk until you reach the desired consistency. Mine only required two milk caps full. (I pour it into the cap that’s on the gallon of milk and measure it that way. There’s no reason to be dirtying more dishes that I’ll have to wash later!) Just as a side note, I bet these cupcakes would be even better with chocolate chips in them. If you’re going to do that (and obviously report back, because I’d love to hear how good they were), make sure you toss them in a little cake flour before adding them to the batter. Doing that will prevent the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom. Happy baking!

    Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes!

    They were divine. I made 30 of them three days ago and they’re already gone. Of course, some of them ended up in the garbage because Evie only licks the frosting off, but I won’t hold that against her.

    Wanna know how to make ‘em? Sure you do! Here’s the recipe!

    Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes

    Ingredients (for the cupcakes):

    • 1 cup all purpose flour
    • 1/2 cup cake flour
    • 3/4 cup cocoa powder
    • 1 1/2 cups sugar
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 2 large eggs
    • 3/4 cup whole milk
    • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
    • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • 1/2 to 3/4 cup warm water

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line the tins with cupcake liners. (It makes between 18 and 21. I think it depends on how much I fill the cups on whatever day I make them.)

    Throw all the ingredients in a big bowl and mix it by hand until it’s a little wet everywhere. (You don’t want to hit dry ingredients with an electric mixer. It’s messy!) Once everything is moist, pull out the electric hand mixer and mix everything until the batter is nice and smooth.

    It’s going to be watery, so I usually pour the batter into a pitcher with a lip and fill the cupcake tins with that. Fill them until they’re about half full and put them in the oven.

    Bake them for about 20 minutes, rotating them half way through so they bake evenly. Make sure to test them with a toothpick before you take them out. If the toothpick comes out clean, you’re good.

    Allow them to cool completely on wire racks before you try to ice them, otherwise your icing will melt all over the place.

    Ok, time for the icing recipe. Feel free to make this while you’re waiting for the cupcakes to bake and/or cool.

    Chocolate Buttercream

    Ingredients :

    • 4 cups powdered sugar
    • 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
    • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1 - 3 tablespoons milk

    Cream the butter until it’s nice and… well, creamy looking. Mix in the vanilla thoroughly.

    Melt the chocolate in the microwave, 10 seconds or so at a time and stirring in between, until it’s completely melted. Pour the chocolate into the butter mixture and completely combine.

    Mix in the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup to a cup at a time, making sure it’s completely mixed in before adding the next bit. Keep doing that until all four cups are mixed in. If it gets too stiff to work with, add a little milk, a tablespoon at a time, until it’s easier to mix. Don’t add too much though! Add just enough so your arm doesn’t fall off as you’re stirring.

    Once all of the powdered sugar is mixed in, you can add more milk until you reach the desired consistency. Mine only required two milk caps full. (I pour it into the cap that’s on the gallon of milk and measure it that way. There’s no reason to be dirtying more dishes that I’ll have to wash later!)

    Just as a side note, I bet these cupcakes would be even better with chocolate chips in them. If you’re going to do that (and obviously report back, because I’d love to hear how good they were), make sure you toss them in a little cake flour before adding them to the batter. Doing that will prevent the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom.

    Happy baking!

    7 Sep 2010

    Let me just get this out of the way here: I can’t take a good picture of a cheesecake. Aparently, it’s impossible. The lactose concentration does something to the camera’s light sensor, rendering the photos gross looking. Or something like that. I don’t know. I’m not a scientist.

    Also, while these photos make the cheesecake look like a standard 9 inch slab of yum, they are in fact, only 4 inches across. I don’t have a 9 inch springform pan (which is hopefully going to change later tonight) so I decided to make a bunch of tiny cheesecakes.

    They were awesome. We ate the first one without putting a layer of chocolate ganache on top, and while it was still amazing, I made a huge mistake in waiting. The chocolate on top just does something that I can’t explain. It makes the cheesecake… incredible.

    I haven’t had cheesecake (or at least any measurable amount) since I was pregnant with my now, 2 1/2 year old daughter. The only person I know that makes cheesecake is my grandmother, and if my memory serves me right, she hasn’t made one for quite some time. I never made one before this, because I didn’t want to step on any toes at family functions by bringing another cheesecake, but you better believe I’ll be bringing one to Thanksgiving dinner. I have to let others taste the goodness. (It’s either the cheesecake or a cake made with the turkey pan I have. I’m not sure I’ll be able to pass up the opportunity to use it. It’s just too silly.)

    So, I guess I’m pretty good at making cheesecake. Who knew?! You know what else? I think the cheesecake is trying to kill me. I may or may not have become lactose intolerant in the past 3 years, but that’s not going to stop me. I’ll show my insides who’s boss! No one tells me I can’t eat cheesecake. No one. Not even myself.

    Here’s the recipe I used. I couldn’t find chocolate wafer cookies at the store, which doesn’t make sense to me, so I used two stacks of chocolate graham crackers instead. I don’t think I’ll ever use anything else! The crust had just enough crunch, and it stayed together very well. I highly recommend using them instead!

    I know I use a lot of Martha Stewart’s recipes, but I’ll stop when I find a bad one. (Besides her ‘Marble Cupcakes’. Those were terrible.) I believe I’ll be making her Parisian Macaroons next. My husband is at the store, hunting for the right almonds as we speak.

    It would be cool if you recommended me too. You know, ‘cause I’m amazing. (Sorry. I like to pretend I’m arrogant sometimes. I’m really not.) Actually, the hubs bought another sticker for me on there. It’s cute… go see! (Which will be much easier if I’m on the front page.) ;)

    6 Sep 2010

    Ehhh… I should probably stop calling them ‘Sunday Secrets’

    I just realized I forgot to do a Sunday Secret. Again. Sorry about that.

    Here’s this weeks secret!

    When I first started making sugar cookies, I remember thinking that overly intricate cookie cutters didn’t make any sense because once they baked, they puffed up and out, rendering the cute little designs useless.

    That was before I learned this tip.

    In most recipes, it says to refrigerate the cookie dough for X amount of time before you roll out the dough. I believe this is so the dough stays together better, but I also think it was originally meant to circumvent this little tip (or at least this is where the tip came from).

    If you want your cookies to stay as clean and detailed as possible, follow the recipe, including the fridge time. Roll out the dough and cut out whatever shapes you like and lay them on parchment covered cookie sheets. Once the pan if full, put the whole tray in the freezer for at least 10 minutes. When it’s time to bake them, take them out of the freezer and put them directly into the oven. For some reason, this keeps the cookies from spreading as much as they normally would. (I don’t really know why… the butter/shortening is going to melt super fast in that hot oven either way. Maybe it crisps the edges just enough during that small window of time to keep them from expanding.)

    The recipe I use always provides prefect cookies. They’re a little more dense than other recipes I’ve tried, but I’ve never had any complaints! (Actually, they’re delicious. My husband is crazy for them.)

    If you’re curious, here’s the recipe!

    Nellie’s Vanilla Almond Sugar Cookies

    Ingredients

    • 3 cups all purpose flour (plus more for the table)
    • 2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1 1/3 cups sugar
    • 2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
    • 1 egg
    • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour and baking powder.

    In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar until completely combined. Mix in the egg and both extracts.

    Gradually add the flour mixture, making sure it’s totally incorporated.

    Mold the dough into a balland cover with plastic wrap. Refigerate for 30 minutes.

    Roll out the dough on a floured surface and cut into shapes. Place cut outs on a parchment lines cookie sheet and freeze for at least 10 minutes.

    Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Allow the cookies to completely cool before removing them from the pan.

    Ice with royal icing or dust with powdered sugar.

    6 Sep 2010

    Coconut Lime Cupcakes with Lime Curd

    Ok, here’s the recipe I promised! (And here’s a photo of the finished product in case you come back to this recipe later.)

    Coconut Lime Cupcakes with Lime Curd

    Ingredients (cupcakes)

    • 2 cups all purpose flour
    • 1 cup cake flour
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1 tablespoon baking powder
    • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
    • 2 cups sugar
    • 4 large eggs, room temperature
    • 3 tablespoons lime zest (about 6 limes)
    • 2 tablespoons lime juice
    • 1 teaspoon coconut extract
    • 1 cup buttermilk

    Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a standard cupcake tin with liners. Whisk together both flours, baking powder and salt.

    Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in zest and coconut extract. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk and lemon juice, and beat until just combined after each.

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    18 Aug 2010

    I love when the days get cooler. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some summer, but after a while, cooler days end up being a nice change of pace because I can finally bake again.

    These are Mini Chai-Tea cupcakes with a sweet glaze that adds just enough sweetness to them.

    I decorated them with a few tiny hearts, some with little flowers. I like how simple they look. Once you take a bite of them, you’ll know they’re anything but simple though. They have a distinct autumn taste that reminds me of pumpkin pie and sitting outside the student union, drinking coffee when the year started up again. Of new books and organized folders. Fall feels like new beginnings to me.

    Here’s the recipe, taken from Martha Stewarts Cupakes:

    Ingredients:

    • 3/4 cup milk
    • 2 bags black tea
    • 1 cup all-purpose flour
    • 1 cup cake flour, not self-rising
    • 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
    • 1/2 tsp. coarse salt
    • 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper (I used regular pepper and it worked fine)
    • 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
    • 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
    • 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom (I omitted this because I didn’t have any.)
    • Pinch of ground cloves
    • Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (I used the stuff in a jar)
    • 1/2 stick of unsalted butter
    • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
    • 2 large eggs, room temperature
    • Condensed Milk Icing (recipe follows) or vanilla buttercream

    Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Line mini muffin tins with paper liners (It made 48 for me.) Bring milk to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat; add tea bags, and let steep, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove tea bags, squeezing the bags over the pan and discard. Allow milk to cool completely. Whisk together both flours, baking powder, salt, pepper and spices.

    With an electric mixer on medium-high, (I used a rubber spatula and my tired arm), cream butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with 2 additions of the tea-infused milk and beating until just combined after each.

    Divide batter evenly among lines cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake, rotating tins half way through, until tops spring back when lightly touched and are pale golden, 10-12 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

    To finish, dip the top of each cupcake in icing, then turn over quickly and let set. Cupcakes are best eaten the same day they are glazed; keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

    Condensed Milk Icing

    Ingredients:

    • 1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
    • 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. sweetened condensed milk
    • Pinch of coarse salt
    • 3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

    With an electric mixer on medium-high (I used a whisk and my exhausted arm), whisk together butter, condensed milk and salt until smooth. Whisk in powdered sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, until combined, then whisk on high speed until thick and smooth. Use immediately.