Showing posts with label cupcake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cupcake. Show all posts
Call me Opus: the return of the guest blogger
"I gotta make some changes. I'm not a woman. I'm a child. What kind of life is this?"
- Elaine Benes, Seinfeld, 1995
My thoughts mirrored Elaine's (substitute 'man' for 'woman' please) as I scooped mint chocolate chip ice cream into the middle of a split choc chip cupcake (recipe found here) in order to make a pseudo-ice cream sandwich. Are you kidding me? Doesn't this amount to playing with my food?! What's next, I'm gonna borrow an Easy Bake Oven?! Compounding my confliction was the fact that exactly one night previous, Steph and I both had already partaken in this same activity. But now, alone, deep in the shadows and still of the night, I found myself carving out delicate blades of minty green, gently layering onto cushions of chocolately goodness. Alas, in a matter of seconds, all that remained (after my final bit of self respect evaporated) was a longing for, to quote Billy Idol’s ‘Rebel Yell’, "more, more, more"...
I decided to distract myself with another ponderous point: is mint chocolate chip supposed to be white or green? As a rather husky youngster, I recall summer trips to the ice cream stand; but depending on which place we patronized, the color of said ice cream varied. It seemed the name changed too, the 'mint' alternately jumping (like Frogger) from the beginning to the end of the posted moniker, and back again… Does any of this even matter? Probably not (I am a realist), but interestingly, my rant is justified (albeit creepily) by IceCream.com: "as a Mint Chocolate Chip lover, you tend to be ambitious and confident… yet a little skeptical about life." Hmmmm… (By the way, to find out your Ice Cream Flavorology (is that a word?) check out this)
In the 80's (I have heard), a hilarious politically- and socially-minded cartoon strip named 'Bloom County' by Berkeley Breathed featured, among an array of motley characters, Opus the penguin. A gentle soul, Opus often found solace from the less-than-ideal world we inhabit by plopping himself into nature’s womb to refresh and renew his spirit. Maybe these ice cream sammies were just my version of Opus' 'dandelion break', seeing how it's never going to get warm enough here in Western NY for dandelions...
P.S. Maybe next time I'll actually cook… if you’re good!
Mocha Cake with Mocha Cream Cheese Frosting
Another Ellie, The Food You Crave! Page 282. Don't they just look delicious? If you are looking for a super sticky sweet dessert though... this isn't for you. It's described as the chocolate cupcake from your childhood all grown up. The frosting is really not sweet at all, it has a nice intense espresso flavor, almost a bit bitter, so if you like coffee, you'll like these... if you want total sweet... I'd skip the frosting for sure. The cupcake was ok... but nothing amazing, unfortunately, ... but they sure do look pretty :)
A scary cupcake tale
Ahh cupcake contests how I love you. Clara over at I heart cuppycakes obviously has an affinity for cupcakes hehe. She is constantly churning out amazing cupcakes and has a seriously awesome sense of humor! (ok it totally sounds like I'm sucking up to bribe her... hahahaha... wa-wah i'd never do that *bribe bribe bribe*) Plus I hear she prefers small unmarked bills ;)Anyway she rocks and is hosting a Halloween decorating cupcake contest!!! After seeing her amazing bat over a moon cupcake I was going to throw in the towel... I mean seriously how cool is this!! Clara convinced me that I should still submit something so off I went brainstorming...
Later in the week I went home and started making some chocolate cupcakes, knowing for sure they would be the base for my creation. After taking them out of the oven to cool I turned around to see a SPIDER crawling across the plate I was about to use...
GAHHHHHH!!!!!!!Why why must spiders always sneak up on you!?!? And it doesn't end there!! That little thing kept crawling towards me forcing me to run away from my cooling cupcakes and hide upstairs in my room!
After some time I decided to venture back downstairs (baseball bat in hand) to save my wonderful chocolate cupcakes from the big scary spider... alas what I found was even more horrifying!!!
spider eggs!!!!! BLEHHH!!!!!!Why oh why mister spider did you have to come and torment me tonight! So Clara with a sad heart I must say this is my scary creepy creation made not by me but by mr spider...
Chow!
So you're probably wonder what those "eggs" are huh... or maybe you are a super smarty pants and already know :) Tapioca pearls!! You can buy them dry at an Asian Market. Normally they go in things like bubble tea but they were too gross and eyeball/egg looking not to use for halloween! They are super easy to make
Tapioca Pearls (for use in bubble tea or to gross someone out!)
1/3 cup dry pearls
3 cups water
simple syrup (aka sugar water)
Bring 3 cups of water to boil. Add the tapioca pearls then turn down the heat to medium and cover. Cook for 25 minutes.
After the 25 minutes is up, remove from heat and let sit for an additional 25 minutes.
After that, drain and rinse. They are going to be slimy so don't let them sit in the colander for too long.
Put the tapioca into a jar and fill with sugar syrup until they are covered.
Simple syrup is two parts sugar to one part water, heat the mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved. (I totally remember learning about super saturating in science class, i loved science class!!)
Once pearls are cool and have soaked awhile add them into tea to make bubble tea or use in all types of places to creep people out!!
Chow!
Spaghetti Squash Muffins
This past weekend I made this super tasty squash, peanut, mushroom spring rolls... *so where's the recipe??* well I have the recipe right here... but you see the nice picture I took with John's camera... yeah it's still sitting in John's camera over at his house... so you'll have to wait for that one... but let me just tell you.. YUM!!!!
Anyway after making said spring rolls, I had a bunch of spaghetti squash left over. This was the first time I've ever made spaghetti squash and I had no clue what else to do with the leftovers... to the internet I go! I found this great recipe on Cooking Light. These things were super tasty (even though John refuses to try one since it has *gasp* vegetables in it) I then pointed out he loves the pumpkin muffins I make... he had no response to this... hehehe
So once I post the spring rolls, make those then with the extra squash make these! yum!
Spaghetti Squash Muffins
Ingredients
* Cooking spray
* 2.5 Tbs splenda blend
* 2 Tbs packed splenda brown sugar
* 1/4 cup stick margarine or butter, softened
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 2 tablespoons skim milk
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 large egg
* 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup chopped cooked spaghetti squash
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Place 12 cupcake holders into a muffin pan.
Beat sugars, margarine, ginger, and cinnamon at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended. Stir in milk, vanilla, and egg; beat at low speed of mixer until well-blended. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Stir in sugar mixture and squash. Spoon into prepared muffin pan, spreading evenly.
Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Chow!
Cupcake Hero - mix it up!
So this month for cupcake hero we got to mix things up and pick 2 ingredients from the last year in one cupcake! It's funny I've actually used more than 1 featured ingredient in things before... but I wanted to try something new this round!! I decided on jalapeno and lime... sounded like a mixed drink to me :) and had good potential. And so I present to you...
First lets make the cake
Chipotle Flourless Chocolate Cake
adapted from Simple Recipes
Ingredients
Skinny key lime pie
One 4-serving package (or half an 8-serving package) Jell-O Sugar Free Lime Gelatin
dessert mix
2 cups Cool Whip Free, thawed
1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 no-calorie sweetener packet
8 low-fat honey graham crackers (2 sheets)
Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup boiling water with gelatin mix and sweetener. Stir for at least 2 minutes (until completely dissolved). Then add 1 /2 cup cold water, the lemon juice, and the vanilla extract. Refrigerate for about 45 minutes, until slightly thickened but still mixable.
Next, stir in the Cool Whip. Mix until thoroughly blended (a wire whisk works best). Divide mixture among 5 dessert dishes. Refrigerate until firm (at least 3 hours).
Scoop key lime pie ontop of a cooled cupcake and serve immediately.
OK so I also want to submit the thing I made last month because I LOVED it THAT much. And I think it's better then the above recipe (which is good but this one is ... SO FREAKIN GOOD!!!!)
Gunpowder lime cupcakes
First lets make the cake
Chipotle Flourless Chocolate Cake
adapted from Simple Recipes
Ingredients
- 5 oz. of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon of chipotle chili powder
- Dash of cayenne pepper
- Pinch of salt
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Melt the chocolate and butter together over a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring occasionally until smooth.
- Whisk together the eggs and the sugar in a large bowl, and then slowly, a bit at a time, whisk in the melted chocolate. Add the salt and spices and taste, adjusting the spices if needed.
- Pour into 8 cupcake liner filled cupcake sheets (I didn't use the silicon ones this time but the paper cups) and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool completely on a wire rack.
Skinny key lime pie
One 4-serving package (or half an 8-serving package) Jell-O Sugar Free Lime Gelatin
dessert mix
2 cups Cool Whip Free, thawed
1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 no-calorie sweetener packet
8 low-fat honey graham crackers (2 sheets)
Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup boiling water with gelatin mix and sweetener. Stir for at least 2 minutes (until completely dissolved). Then add 1 /2 cup cold water, the lemon juice, and the vanilla extract. Refrigerate for about 45 minutes, until slightly thickened but still mixable.
Next, stir in the Cool Whip. Mix until thoroughly blended (a wire whisk works best). Divide mixture among 5 dessert dishes. Refrigerate until firm (at least 3 hours).
Scoop key lime pie ontop of a cooled cupcake and serve immediately.
OK so I also want to submit the thing I made last month because I LOVED it THAT much. And I think it's better then the above recipe (which is good but this one is ... SO FREAKIN GOOD!!!!)
Flourless chocolate jalapeno cake with espresso cream... mmmmm
Iron Cupcake Basil
It's Iron cupcake time again! This month the theme ingredient is Basil! I actually planted a bunch of basil in John's backyard... yeah he didn't know about it until after it was done :D and as John likes to say when I do things I'm not supposed to "it's a good thing you're cute" hahaha
Anyway I went out to my mini herb garden and to my surprise a little candied basil plant had started growing!
Ok not really... but it's a fun little story :)The sponsors for this month are: ETSY artist METAL SUGAR, her link is: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=14597777 as well as to our corporate sponsors HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS http://www.fiestaproducts.com , HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com , JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com ; CUPCAKE COURIER http://www.cupcakecourier.com and TASTE OF HOME http://www.tasteofhome.com.
Voting begins Sunday Sept 28th - and ends Thursday Oct 1st at noon. So make sure to vote for me!! please and thank you :)
Basil Flourless Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 5 oz. of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons fresh chopped basil
- Dash of cayenne pepper
- Pinch of salt
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Melt the chocolate and butter together over a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring occasionally until smooth.
- Whisk together the eggs and the sugar in a large bowl, and then slowly, a bit at a time, whisk in the melted chocolate. Add the salt and spices and taste, adjusting the spices if needed.
- Pour into 8 cupcake liner filled cupcake sheets and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool completely on a wire rack.
Chocolate Frosting
Mix equal parts melted semi sweet chocolate and fat free cool whip. Stir until blended and spoon onto cupcake tops
Candied Basil
Brush clean basil leaves lightly with water and place facedown into sugar. Dry on sheet pan, sugar-side-up, for 2 to 3 hours.
Decorate tops of cupcakes with leaves or pick a small flowering top of a basil plant and place into center of cupcake to make it look like a mini basil plant is growing.
Chow!
Iron Cupcake go vote!
Hey guys it's time to vote for Iron cupcake!!! Voting started yesterday at noon... so you can go vote now!!! Click on this LINK or the picture of the iron cupcake badge above or the one in the sidebar and head over and vote for my Cupcakes! Yum!!!
Here is my entry. To see my recipe click HERE!
Chipotle Flourless Chocolate Cake
Thanks guys!!! I hope you enjoy the recipe totally give it a try!!
Here is my entry. To see my recipe click HERE!
Chipotle Flourless Chocolate CakeThanks guys!!! I hope you enjoy the recipe totally give it a try!!
Iron Cupcake Earth - chili pepper
So I've joined another cupcake monthly challenge... IRON CUPCAKE!! Yes I know more cupcakes so tasty! Voting will begin on Sunday, August 31st at 12 noon at NO ONE PUTS CUPCAKE IN A CORNER, and will be open through Thursday, September 4 at 12 noon. So everyone you NEED to go vote for my cupcake please please please! :)
If I win I get all these cool prizes... provided by: ETSY artist CAKESPY, as well as to our corporate sponsors JESSIE STEELE APRONS; CUPCAKE COURIER and TASTE OF HOME
And the theme for Iron cupcake... a familiar one... Chili Peppers! We can use any kind of chili pepper, in any form... I chose the powder form... jalapeno powder (also known as chipotle powder) it isn't always easy to find, but wegmans being the best super market in the world carries it! I thought about what flavor combination would go well. I know the Aztecs are known for hot hot chocolate... so I started there. I found an interesting recipe for a chipotle flourless chocolate cake... mmmm. But I wanted to add something to cool off the taste buds after setting them on fire! This made me looking for some kind of liquid based milky cream to drizzle on top... hmm what else goes well with chocolate... coffee of course... ahhhh an espresso cream perhaps!? yes yes that is it! The best part is it uses silken tofu as the base of the cream, that means it's healthy right? Ehhh not so much, this recipe isn't really bad for you but it does have a good amount of chocolate and sugar... not that that is a bad thing! In this case it's a very very tasty good thing! I was able to reduce the amount of butter though :) and I used sugar not my normal splenda since I was baking these for some very special ladies I work with and one is pregnant and I wasn't sure if she's steering away from artificial products or not. OK ok I know you want to know the recipe! Here it is!!
Chipotle Flourless Chocolate Cake
adapted from Simple Recipes
Ingredients
- 5 oz. of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon of chipotle chili powder
- Dash of cayenne pepper
- Pinch of salt
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Melt the chocolate and butter together over a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring occasionally until smooth.
- Whisk together the eggs and the sugar in a large bowl, and then slowly, a bit at a time, whisk in the melted chocolate. Add the salt and spices and taste, adjusting the spices if needed.
- Pour into 8 cupcake liner filled cupcake sheets (I didn't use the silicon ones this time but the paper cups) and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool completely on a wire rack.
Espresso (French Vanilla) Cream
slightly adapted from myrecipes.com
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup firm silken tofu (about 1/2 [12.3-ounce] package)
- 6 tablespoons fat-free sweetened condensed milk
- 1/4 cup brewed espresso(I used strong browed french vanilla coffee), cooled
To prepare espresso cream, combine tofu, condensed milk, and 1/4 cup of brewed espresso in a blender; process until smooth. Chill.
Serve cream in a spoon or small dish next to the cupcake.
I love the idea of serving the cupcake unwrapped with a spoon full of the cream on the side... then your guests can pour as much cream as they want on top and chow!
The ladies I made these for had to say this...
"Yum with a Kick! Wow - I've never tasted anything like this before. Spicy and the espresso crème cools it down, just like you said. Thanks for the heavenly treat!"
"Amen to that! Definitely the highlight of my day. Thanks again for your thoughtfulness!"
"Amen to that! Definitely the highlight of my day. Thanks again for your thoughtfulness!"
Hope everyone loves this one as much as I do!!
Chow!!
Cupcake Hero - Jalapeno!!
Cupcake hero is being cohosted this month by Rachel of Tangerine Tart and Teri of the 90/10 rule and they made a very interesting choice this month... one you don't normally see in the sweet/dessert isle.. Jalapenos!
We can use the jalapeno in any form... I chose the powder form... jalapeno powder (also known as chipotle powder) it isn't always easy to find, but wegmans being the best super market in the world carries it! I thought about what flavor combination would go well. I know the Aztecs are known for hot hot chocolate... so I started there. I found an interesting recipe for a chipotle flourless chocolate cake... mmmm. But I wanted to add something to cool off the taste buds after setting them on fire! This made me looking for some kind of liquid based milky cream to drizzle on top... hmm what else goes well with chocolate... coffee of course... ahhhh an espresso cream perhaps!? yes yes that is it! The best part is it uses silken tofu as the base of the cream, that means it's healthy right? Ehhh not so much, this recipe isn't really bad for you but it does have a good amount of chocolate and sugar... not that that is a bad thing! In this case it's a very very tasty good thing! I was able to reduce the amount of butter though :) and I used sugar not my normal splenda since I was baking these for some very special ladies I work with and one is pregnant and I wasn't sure if she's stearing away from artificial products or not. OK ok I know you want to know the recipe! Here it is!!
Chipotle Flourless Chocolate Cake
adapted from Simple Recipes
Ingredients
- 5 oz. of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon of chipotle chili powder
- Dash of cayenne pepper
- Pinch of salt
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Melt the chocolate and butter together over a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring occasionally until smooth.
- Whisk together the eggs and the sugar in a large bowl, and then slowly, a bit at a time, whisk in the melted chocolate. Add the salt and spices and taste, adjusting the spices if needed.
- Pour into 8 cupcake liner filled cupcake sheets (I didn't use the silicon ones this time but the paper cups) and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool completely on a wire rack.
Espresso (French Vanilla) Cream
slightly adapted from myrecipes.com
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup firm silken tofu (about 1/2 [12.3-ounce] package)
- 6 tablespoons fat-free sweetened condensed milk
- 1/4 cup brewed espresso(I used strong browed french vanilla coffee), cooled
To prepare espresso cream, combine tofu, condensed milk, and 1/4 cup of brewed espresso in a blender; process until smooth. Chill.
Serve cream in a spoon or small dish next to the cupcake.
I love the idea of serving the cupcake unwrapped with a spoon full of the cream on the side... then your guests can pour as much cream as they want on top and chow!
The ladies I made these for had to say this...
"Yum with a Kick! Wow - I've never tasted anything like this before. Spicy and the espresso crème cools it down, just like you said. Thanks for the heavenly treat!"
"Amen to that! Definitely the highlight of my day. Thanks again for your thoughtfulness!"
"Amen to that! Definitely the highlight of my day. Thanks again for your thoughtfulness!"
Hope everyone loves this one as much as I do!!
Chow!!
Happy Birthday to me!
Yup I'm a year older today! How old am I... oh right 27... not too shabby if you ask me :) John and I are celebrating in Ithaca this week so I wont be as quick on the email but I have posts ready to go all week long so you wont miss me ;) Back to my birthday.. you have to have cake on your birthday!! So here is a little tease as to what will be posting here tomorrow... mmmmmmm and there is a secret...
it's spicy!! ohh so spicy and tasty! And that stuff in the spoon/ dripping down the sides... that will help cool you off and put a pep in your step... stay tuned!
Chow!!
it's spicy!! ohh so spicy and tasty! And that stuff in the spoon/ dripping down the sides... that will help cool you off and put a pep in your step... stay tuned!
Chow!!
Red White and Blue cupcakes
It's cupcake hero time again! This month is being hosted by I heart cuppycakes and Crazy Delicious, the theme is "Red White and Blue" I immediately thought of my blueberry muffins I made twice last week... and again this weekend... but this brought on an interesting discussion between John and myself...
steph: i made cupcakes want one!
john: they look like the muffins you made last week... those were yum
steph: actually they're blueberry "cupcakes" let me put the topping on so you can have one!
john: wait... is it the same recipe as last week? are they still healthy?
steph: well it's the same recipe but they are cupcakes now...
john: why are they cupcakes now if it's the same recipe
steph: because they are for cupcake hero... not muffin hero...
john: but what makes them cupcakes now???
steph: they have a topping and aren't naked... if it's naked it's a muffin, a topping makes it a cupcake...
john: you're a nut
steph: is true
john: can I have a muffin now...
steph: cupcake
So! Back to the cupcakes :D These are super moist and delicious. They have quickly become my favorite muffin or cupcake that involves fruit. These things are perfect for a nice hot summer day. Made with fresh blueberries and covered in a pile of cool whip and strawberries... it doesn't get any better then this!
Blueberry Cupcakes
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
2.5 Tb splenda blend (or 1/4 cup white sugar)
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1/2 cup apple sauce
2 6 oz containers ff lemon yogurt (so 12 oz total)
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 lemon
1.5 - 2 cups blueberries, rinsed and patted dry
1-2 cups fat free cool whip
12 strawberries
12 large blueberries
Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners, or in my case I just used silicon baking cups.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In another bowl blend apple sauce, yogurt, egg and vanilla thoroughly. Stir the wet mixture into the flour mixture just until combined. The batter will be very thick.
hot out of the ovenAdd the blueberries and stir gently. Divide the batter between the 12 silicon baking cups (or lined baking cups) (they will be very full cups) and bake for 6 minutes at 425, reduce heat to 350 and continue cooking for 12-14 minutes, or until tester inserted into center comes out mostly clean. Cool completely on wire rack.
Once completely cool use a spatula to pile on a healthy serving of cool whip. Quarter strawberries and add in a pinwheel pattern on top, add another little blob of cool whip and top with the largest blueberry you can find.
Chow!
Eating these things results in many giggles and faces covered in blueberries and cool whip. If you want to avoid such a fun mess you can do something my Nana taught me. Simply break (or cut) the top of the cupcake off, take the stump of a bottom and place it on top of the frosting, broken side facing the frosting, to make a nice little sandwich! No more frosting in your face :)
Peanut butter cupcakes
So yet again I need to apologize to Neva... because I'm using nuts again... I love a lot of nuts especially peanuts... which unfortunately Neva can't eat any of :( I really am a bad friend when it's coming to useful recipes for my allergy friends. Sorry Neva I still love you!!! And I wont bring you peanut laden goods!! (I know I did that first time in typography class years ago... but come on lets get past that hahahaaha I didn't realize!!) Man that seems like forever ago that we were in that class... Oh right I made ambrosia for that one class project too... coconut... man I suck... :D Ooooo and our final project was a cookbook!!! Ok I'll be posting later in the week some of the cook book pages, it was seriously fun and inventive use of typography!! Are you excited to see it?? Hope so!
Ok I should probably get onto the peanut butter cupcakes now huh? hehe Enough reminiscing for today! So I had seen these on Feeds my Obsession and knew I had to make them! I did tweak the butter out of it though... in my normal healthy way, don't you love apple sauce?? :) I also used a different chocolate frosting that I made up on the spot last night... Normally you can just add some cream or milk to melted chocoalte to make a nice ganache... but I had some cherry yogurt laying around and figured... why not!? Also this recipe calls for ZERO white sugar, it uses honey instead to sweeten which I think was a fun idea and was excited to try... the verdict... delicious!! The honey and peanutbutter went perfectly together. I really didn't have any doubt they would since I love to smear crepes with peanut butter and honey :)
Peanut Butter Cupcakes (makes 12)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup honey (i used clover honey)
1 egg
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
dash salt
1/3 cup skim milk
Directions:
Blend together peanut butter and honey.
Add vanilla and apple sauce, beating well. Beat in egg.
In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk.
Place 12 cupcake liners in muffin cups. Fill 1/2 full.
Bake at 375F for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
Chocolate Cherry Frosting
Ingredients:
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup fat free cherry yogurt
Directions:
Place chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and heat 1 minute, stir and if needed microwave an additional 20-30 seconds. Stir until chips are totally melted, then add yogurt, stir until totally incorporated. Spoon onto cupcakes and spread to cover with a spatula.
The verdict
Next time I'll add more peanut butter and toss in some chocolate chips in the mix. Also I realized if you don't let the cupcakes cool totally...they crazy stick to the holders... once they are fully cool they come off no issues :) darn waiting! Another idea is to use a mashed banana instead of the apple sauce, mmm then maybe some marshmallow fluff for the topping? fluffernutters! Yum! I'll have to try that... The frosting came out great though I'll totally make it again and try it with different flavors of yogurt!
PS in case you are wondering these have about 130 calories a piece as I prepared them with frosting divided among the 12 cupcakes. :D
Chow!
Ravioli and babies
This past weekend John and I had his childhood friend Paul, his wife Kim, and their beautiful daughter Nina over for dinner. Is there nothing cuter then two grown men playing with an adorable little girl??? I think not :)
Nina unfortunatly isn't old enough to take part in the ravioli yet :( but maybe next time Nina! As for the rest of us we enjoyed some made fresh that day ravioli from the Ravioli Shop here in Rochester. I know not homemade by me, shame on me. Dad and I make the best ravioli in the world anyway! This place is pretty good though, they say the dough is very thin (not really compared to how thin dad and I make it) but in comparison to other ravioli shops it is thinner then the average. I didn't take pictures that night but here are some of the sausage and 5 cheese ravioli reheated the next day.. still tasty! As for dessert I made some of the BEST chocolate cupcakes ever!!! Also very tasty, the entire batch was gone by the following morning, yum.
And YES that is the fantastic new bowl I found with Beth the other day that someone was throwing out! Seriously people around this area move and just leave half of their apartment on the curb for garbage pickup it's so sad I mean call Salvation Army and they will happily come pick it up and someone who needs it can have it!
Ok enough ranting about people wasting things... The ravioli shop is located over at 260 N Winton Road. Parking can be a challenge but it's worth it. Also worth it is the assortment of home made breads they carry. The semelina is to die for!!! Read about their bread making here.
On another side note Nina inspired me to learn crochet and I got to give her the blanket and little bird I made for her! Pretty good for a first crochet project I think :)
Nina unfortunatly isn't old enough to take part in the ravioli yet :( but maybe next time Nina! As for the rest of us we enjoyed some made fresh that day ravioli from the Ravioli Shop here in Rochester. I know not homemade by me, shame on me. Dad and I make the best ravioli in the world anyway! This place is pretty good though, they say the dough is very thin (not really compared to how thin dad and I make it) but in comparison to other ravioli shops it is thinner then the average. I didn't take pictures that night but here are some of the sausage and 5 cheese ravioli reheated the next day.. still tasty! As for dessert I made some of the BEST chocolate cupcakes ever!!! Also very tasty, the entire batch was gone by the following morning, yum.
And YES that is the fantastic new bowl I found with Beth the other day that someone was throwing out! Seriously people around this area move and just leave half of their apartment on the curb for garbage pickup it's so sad I mean call Salvation Army and they will happily come pick it up and someone who needs it can have it!
Ok enough ranting about people wasting things... The ravioli shop is located over at 260 N Winton Road. Parking can be a challenge but it's worth it. Also worth it is the assortment of home made breads they carry. The semelina is to die for!!! Read about their bread making here.On another side note Nina inspired me to learn crochet and I got to give her the blanket and little bird I made for her! Pretty good for a first crochet project I think :)
The BEST chocolate cupcakes EVER
I've found cupcake heaven... it's true. Please ignore any other cupcake recipe I've blogged about because these literally TAKE THE CAKE!! They are so amazingly moist ewey gooey delicious... I can't stop eating them... and... no joke... they are under 80 calories a piece... I think I've gone insane, this recipe is heaven. I am so happy this months cupcake hero is cocoa because it made me go back to try to figure out what was wrong with my chocolate cupcakes. And let me tell you, I don't think I'll ever be making another chocolate cupcake recipe ever again because seriously these are THAT AMAZING!!!
Ok back to the cupcakes. I found a recipe for vegan chocolate cupcakes in Health magazine and used that as a base with a few added tweaks (yeah they aren't vegan anymore... wooops!) Due to budgetary restraints I decided to go with the Hershey's 100% Cocoa Special Dark I already had instead of buying the very expensive recommended cocoa... sorry Laurie :( which I'm sure if you substituted would be great... but seriously the Hershey's dark cocoa is delicious. Ok here it goes and enjoy!! Oh and everyone have a fantastic memorial day! Make some of these to celebrate! :)
seriously the best chocolate cupcakes I've EVER eaten1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/4 cup splenda blend for baking
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup Hershey's 100% Cocoa Special Dark
2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chocolate chips (i used semi-sweet chips)
1 tsp cocoa and 1 tsp powdered sugar to dust cupcake tops
Preheat over to 350 F
Mix apple sauce, splenda, vanilla, beat in egg
In a separate bowl mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon.
Add flour mixture to wet mixture a little at a time, stir in chocolate chips.
Spoon batter into 12 silicon muffin cups (or lightly greased cupcake tins)
Bake for about 20 minutes or until tops are firm to touch.
Dust with cocoa/powdered sugar mixture.
Chow! Then have someone hide them so you don't eat them all :)
look how moist!!! and yes that is my 1950's style housewife apron (thanks mom!)... love it!Earth Day polar bear cuBcakes
Happy Earth Day everyone! It's absolutely beautiful here. AMAZING weather for april. It's been in the 70's and even 80's (normally it's in the 50's this time of year here).... yeahhhh so wonderful but kind of makes you stop and think... global warming much???? Ohh the irony of my earth day theme cupcakes!
Yes it's that time again cupcake hero time!! This is my third time competing and I must say it's wicked fun. The first month theme ingredient was liquor, the second marshmallow, and now... EARTH DAY!!! So immediately my mind went to dirt cupcakes with gummy worms (compost cupcakes love it!), then something vegan and all locally grown ingredients(excuse to hit the farmers market) Pistacio cupcakes (get it they are green haha)... perhaps a no bake to save on oven energy use??? I thought and thought and really wanted something different that hopefully no one else would think of.
Then my mind wandered to the cute pictures of penguins and polar bears on the reseeding ice caps... poor cute fluffy things sitting on a tiny little ice cube thinking "where'd all the ice go?" With that image in mind I decided to plead the case of the polar bears! So people stop global warming and save the polar bears!!
Those poor polar bears! There is no more ice in the arctic so they had to move into my refrigerator!
I also decided since my earth day was more about decorating I'd pay homage to my last two months of cupcake hero and make new versions of the theme ingredients... so we have a liquor based Amaretto cupcake, with a marshmallow seven minute frosting on top! See it's all about brining it full circle. Hope you guys love this one or at least get a laugh. I left the above image with sign in the refrigerator for my roommate (also named stephanie) and her boyfriend (also named John) to find. They were rolling hehe. And yes I know only I would live with someone with the same name who is also dating someone of the same name.. makes it super interesting when we are all there and someone is trying to call someone else ha!
Amaretto cupcakes
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup splenda blend for baking
1/4 cup finely chopped sliced almonds, toasted (about 1 ounce)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fat-free milk
2 Tbs butter or stick margarine, melted
1/4 cup amaretto (almond-flavored liqueur)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, almonds, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Combine milk, butter, amaretto, and eggs; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.
Spoon batter into 6 lightly greased and floured muffin tins and 10 mini muffin tins (we aren't using paper holders, come on we are being green!).
Bake mini's for 10 minutes, regular size cupcakes for 16-17 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool fully.
Assemble the polar bear cuBcakes
6 regular + 10 small cooled cupcakes
batch of frosting
coconut (amount will depend on how heavily you coat your bears! I used half a small bag)
11 large white gumdrops 5 small white gumdrops
chocolate chips (regular and mini) (I just cut a normal chip in half for the mini ones)
6 m&m
First, frost the top, sides, and bottoms of both a regular-size cupcake and a mini cupcake with white frosting. For each cupcake, frost the bottom first; then use a fork stuck into the bottom to hold the cupcake while you frost the rest of it.
Roll the cupcakes in shredded coconut; then, working on waxed paper, set the cupcakes on their sides with the top of the smaller cupcake stuck to the bottom of the larger one (use the icing like glue) to form the bear's head.
Add 2 horizontal slices from a large white gumdrop for ears, a m&m for a nose, and 2 chocolate chips for eyes. For each cub, frost a mini cupcake and a large gumdrop, then roll them in coconut and arrange them on their sides as shown. Add 2 horizontal slices from a small white gumdrop for ears, a chocolate chip nose, and 2 mini chocolate chip eyes.
seriously how freakin cute are these cupcakes!
Yes it's that time again cupcake hero time!! This is my third time competing and I must say it's wicked fun. The first month theme ingredient was liquor, the second marshmallow, and now... EARTH DAY!!! So immediately my mind went to dirt cupcakes with gummy worms (compost cupcakes love it!), then something vegan and all locally grown ingredients(excuse to hit the farmers market) Pistacio cupcakes (get it they are green haha)... perhaps a no bake to save on oven energy use??? I thought and thought and really wanted something different that hopefully no one else would think of.
Then my mind wandered to the cute pictures of penguins and polar bears on the reseeding ice caps... poor cute fluffy things sitting on a tiny little ice cube thinking "where'd all the ice go?" With that image in mind I decided to plead the case of the polar bears! So people stop global warming and save the polar bears!!
Those poor polar bears! There is no more ice in the arctic so they had to move into my refrigerator! I also decided since my earth day was more about decorating I'd pay homage to my last two months of cupcake hero and make new versions of the theme ingredients... so we have a liquor based Amaretto cupcake, with a marshmallow seven minute frosting on top! See it's all about brining it full circle. Hope you guys love this one or at least get a laugh. I left the above image with sign in the refrigerator for my roommate (also named stephanie) and her boyfriend (also named John) to find. They were rolling hehe. And yes I know only I would live with someone with the same name who is also dating someone of the same name.. makes it super interesting when we are all there and someone is trying to call someone else ha!
Amaretto cupcakes
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup splenda blend for baking
1/4 cup finely chopped sliced almonds, toasted (about 1 ounce)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fat-free milk
2 Tbs butter or stick margarine, melted
1/4 cup amaretto (almond-flavored liqueur)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, almonds, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Combine milk, butter, amaretto, and eggs; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.
Spoon batter into 6 lightly greased and floured muffin tins and 10 mini muffin tins (we aren't using paper holders, come on we are being green!).
Bake mini's for 10 minutes, regular size cupcakes for 16-17 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool fully.
Marshmallow, or Seven Minute Frosting
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Combine frosting ingredients with a pinch of salt in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and beat with a handheld electric mixer at high speed until frosting is thick and fluffy, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and continue to beat until slightly cooled.
Assemble the polar bear cuBcakes
6 regular + 10 small cooled cupcakes
batch of frosting
coconut (amount will depend on how heavily you coat your bears! I used half a small bag)
11 large white gumdrops 5 small white gumdrops
chocolate chips (regular and mini) (I just cut a normal chip in half for the mini ones)
6 m&m
First, frost the top, sides, and bottoms of both a regular-size cupcake and a mini cupcake with white frosting. For each cupcake, frost the bottom first; then use a fork stuck into the bottom to hold the cupcake while you frost the rest of it.Roll the cupcakes in shredded coconut; then, working on waxed paper, set the cupcakes on their sides with the top of the smaller cupcake stuck to the bottom of the larger one (use the icing like glue) to form the bear's head.
Add 2 horizontal slices from a large white gumdrop for ears, a m&m for a nose, and 2 chocolate chips for eyes. For each cub, frost a mini cupcake and a large gumdrop, then roll them in coconut and arrange them on their sides as shown. Add 2 horizontal slices from a small white gumdrop for ears, a chocolate chip nose, and 2 mini chocolate chip eyes.
seriously how freakin cute are these cupcakes!smore cupcakes flambe!
It's cupcake hero time again! This month is marshmallow!! When I think of marshmallow my mind immediately goes to campfires and smores. Thus came smore cupcakes flambe! It's a chocolate cupcake with a layer of graham cracker crumbs, mini marshmallows, that is then covered in melted marshmallows and torched to a nice crisp then covered in chocolate chips and more graham crumbles. Did someone say YUM!!!!!!???
smore cupcakes flambe!
Ingredients for cupcakes
Makes 2 dozen
Ingredients for frosting
Cover cupcakes with frosting, flambe with a creme brule torch (or if you are ghetto like me and don't have one on hand a long fire place lighter will do in a pinch HA), top with chocolate chips and some more graham cracker crumbs. Delicious!!
Before the frosting went on the cupcakes looked a bit sad... marshmallows fluffing out the tops to a nice crisp! But ohh so tasty.
smore cupcakes flambe!
Ingredients for cupcakes
Makes 2 dozen
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 96 mini marshmallows
Ingredients for frosting
- 1/2 of a 16 oz bag plain marshmallows (the small ones, not the jumbo ones)
- 1 Tbsp water
- shortening, for greasing bowls
- 2-4 cups confectioner’s sugar
- pinch of salt
Cover cupcakes with frosting, flambe with a creme brule torch (or if you are ghetto like me and don't have one on hand a long fire place lighter will do in a pinch HA), top with chocolate chips and some more graham cracker crumbs. Delicious!!
Before the frosting went on the cupcakes looked a bit sad... marshmallows fluffing out the tops to a nice crisp! But ohh so tasty.
Double chocolate cupcakes with amaretto sauce
Bring on the amaretto! Wendy came over to join in the cupcake making fun :) I had everything laid out and ready to go for my double chocolate cupcakes with amaretto sauce.
Here is the recipe for the cupcakes.
Double chocolate cupcakes
Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated splenda mix for baking
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 cup egg substitute or 4 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons skim milk
2 tablespoons half and half
2 ounces dark (70 percent cocoa) chocolate, finely chopped plus a little extra for shaving
Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir with a whisk.
Place splenda and apple sauce in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well combined. Add egg substitute and vanilla, beating well. Add flour mixture and milks alternately to granulated sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in chocolate. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups lined with muffin cup liners. Bake at 350° for 18 minutes tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean.
While the cupcakes are cooking it's time to make the amaretto sauce!
Amaretto chocolate sauce
Ingredients
1/3 cup half and half
2/3 cup milk chocolate chips
1/3 cup amaretto
Bring half and half to a boil in a saucepan, add chocolate chips and stir constantly until melted. Remove from heat and pour in amaretto, stir until incorporated. Place in the refrigerator to let it cool (about 20 minutes).
Once the cupcakes are cool enough so you don't burn yourself trying to eat one :) Poke a few holes in the center of them (I use a skewer) and pour the amaretto sauce into the holes letting it overflow and cover the cupcakes. Take some leftover dark chocolate squares and using a vegetable peeler shave some chocolate on top of the cupcakes.
Sit back and enjoy!
oh so tasty!!
the aftermath!
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