Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

January 31, 2012 36 Comments

Valentine’s Day is one loved filled day I actually don’t despise even though I don’t have an insanely hot boyfriend or at least a stinkin’ date. And I actually don’t mind one of my least favorite colors (pink) being plastered on everything in sight. (I like green and blue) Weird considering it looks like my blog threw up a bottle of Pepto Bismol.  I like to think of Valentine’s Day as a day that gives me a million excuses to do things I never would. You know, like really pathetic G-rated things…
Like buying myself a box of Godiva chocolates and pretending my boyfriend Zak (uh hunky Zak Bagans from Ghost Adventures) gave them to me. No wait, I like the name Massimiliano better. It totally screams hot Italian lover and I actually knew two Massimilianos so that wouldn’t be a complete lie. Oh and by the way, while on the topic of Godiva (and I am totally going off topic)….I saw this man buying his wife chocolates (good idea..chocolate is tasty especially overpriced chocolates) and a teddy bear from Godiva. Dude, no woman wants a freakin’ stuffed animal, especially a Godiva teddy bear. We want…nevermind. I’m starting to sound like the X-Rated blogger again. You know what? I’m done. This is depressing. If you need me, I’ll be in the corner shoving mini red velvet cupcakes in my mouth.

First you’ll need to make the mini red velvet cupcakes. You know what I like about mini desserts? You can stuff more in your face than regular sized cupcakes. Sift together 2 1/2 cups cake flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder. Set it aside. I really need to get some kind of cool looking bowl so I can take a photo of it.

In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together 1 1/4 cups canola oil, 1 1/4 cups buttermilk, 2 large eggs, 1 ounce red food coloring (that’s 2 Tablespoons), 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar. Mix mix mix on medium speed for 3 minutes.

Ooooh red! And yes I got red dye on my face, hands and the carpet….yeah the carpet. Don’t ask.

Slowly add the dry ingredients on low speed until almost combined. Take a brightly colored spatula (I like blue…) and gently fold the ingredients together. Red, white, blue…looks so patriotic. Wrong holiday.


Line a mini cupcake pan with mini cupcake liners. I tried to use these cheesy heart ones but then you can’t even see the freakin’ hearts on the outside once the cupcakes are done baking. Whatever. Screw hearts and love and heart cupcake liners. Really I’m not bitter.

To fill the cupcakes I use a Tablespoon so I don’t make a massive mess (because I always make some sort of mess…hello red carpet) and it always makes the cupcakes even. Because who likes uneven cupcakes? Not me. I’m the one who’s completely anal about how I bake.

Bake the cupcakes at 350 degree F for 10 minutes. Don’t over bake them or you’ll end up like me…alone with no one but your imaginary boyfriend named Massimiliano. Wait I want him to be named Zak. I changed my mind.

Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 10 minutes on a cooling rack. (Ok so I take them out after 5 minutes and risk burning my hands. But burnt hands are nothing compared to burnt boobs.) Then carefully remove the cupcakes from the pan and cool them completely on a cooling rack before frosting them.

Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, make the whipped cream cheese frosting. I love all kinds of frosting on my red velvet cupcakes. Chocolate cream cheese, regular cream cheese, vanilla buttercream and for these cupcakes…whipped cream cheese frosting. Frosting is pretty much my life next to highway robbery cherry cordials from Godiva and coffee.

Sift 3/4 cup powdered sugar into a really cool bright blue bowl or whatever kind of bowl. Set it aside.

Pour 1 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream in a bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Mix mix mix on high speed until stiff peaks form.

Whipped cream!!!! Sort of…don’t eat it. Put it in a bright red bowl with pink hearts and set it aside.

In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together 8 ounces of softened cream cheese, 3/4 cup powdered sugar (that you sifted earlier), 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt. Mix it on medium speed for about 4 minutes until smooth. I don’t bother cleaning out bowl that I used to whip the heavy whipping cream and neither should you.

I love my blue spatula and this cream cheese mixture. Taste it. Makes me drool almost as much as hunky Zak Bagans.

Add 1/3 of the whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture.

And gently fold it in. Add in another 1/3 of the whipped cream and gently fold it in. Then add in the remaining whipped cream and once again….very gently fold it in.  Take your time and don’t rush making the whipped cream cheese frosting or no one will want to eat your cupcakes. Not even Adam Richman and he eats everything. (Adam Richman, I love you too.)

Mmmm whipped cream cheese frosting. This stuff is so freakin’ delicious.

And because I’m piping bag obsessed, I put the frosting in a piping bag fitted with a closed star decorating tip (Ateco #846) and pipe it onto the cute mini red velvet cupcakes that I’m going to shovel into my mouth…alone. Oh and I highly recommend putting sprinkles on them. Sprinkles are cool and festive.

Enjoy! Happy Valentine’s Day (which will be coming up soon…) xoxo

Mini Cream Filled Red Velvet Cupcakes
(cupcake recipe adapted from CakeMan Raven)
(makes 48 cupcakes)

Red Velvet Cupcakes
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups canola oil
1 1/4 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 ounce red food coloring (2 Tablespoons)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F

Sift together cake flour, sugar, baking soda, kosher salt and unsweetened cocoa powder.

In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the canola oil, buttermilk, eggs, red food coloring, vanilla extract and white distilled vinegar on medium speed for 3 minutes.
Slowly add in the dry ingredients on low speed until almost combined. Take a spatula and fold the ingredients together.

Line a mini cupcake pan with mini cupcake liners. Using a Tablespoon, scoop the cake batter into each cupcake liner.
Bake the cupcakes at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Do not over bake the cupcakes.

Cool the cupcakes in the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes.
Take the cupcakes out of the pan and let them cool on a cooling rack. Cool them completely before frosting.

Once the cupcakes have cooled, make the whipped cream cheese frosting:

Sift the powdered sugar in a bowl. Set aside.

In a bowl of stand mixer with the whisk attachment, mix the heavy whipping cream on high speed until stiff peaks form.
Put the whipped cream in another bowl and set aside.
You don’t have to clean out the bowl that you used to whip the heavy whipping cream.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, add in the powdered sugar (that you sifted earlier), cream cheese, vanilla extract and kosher salt and mix on medium speed for about 4 minutes until smooth.
Add 1/3 of the whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture and gently fold it in. Add in another 1/3 of the whipped cream and fold it in. Add in the remaining whipped cream and fold it in.
Take your time folding the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.

Frost the cooled cupcakes with the whipped cream cheese frosting and decorate with sprinkles! Enjoy!
If you want to pipe the cupcakes: put the frosting in a piping bag fitted with a closed star decorating tip. I use Ateco #846 but Wilton #1M will work well too.

Filed Under: Cupcakes, Dessert, Mini Desserts Tagged With: , , ,

Frosted Chocolate Cookie Bars

January 28, 2012 37 Comments

If you walk into my kitchen and open up this one drawer (Ok, it’s actually a rolling cart full of decorating supplies. Yeah, I’m hardcore when it comes to cake decorating), you’ll notice that it’s full of sprinkles. Only sprinkles. Well occasionally I’ll lose my Blackberry and find it in there? But anyway, I’m so not kidding about the sprinkles. It’s this weird obsession I have. Kind of like my obsession with eating the frosting flowers off the tops of cakes and my obsession with breaking my bagel into pieces and putting cream cheese on each single piece. It’s the many quirks that make me the weirdo that I am. Thank you. But really, it looks like the freakin’ Crayola box threw up a bunch of sprinkles in my kitchen. They’re brightly colored and whimsical. Rainbow sprinkles, star sprinkles, Mickey Mouse sprinkles (oh yes!) and I could name them all but then my list would longer than Fabio’s hair. You know the romance novel dude/model guy who rode the roller coaster and a bird came flying at his nose and broke it? Not the Italian guy (uh celebrity chef) who unfollowed me on twitter..whatever. I’m not bitter. By the way, he totally doesn’t get any of these Frosted Chocolate Cookie Bars with Rainbow Sprinkles.

First you’ll need to make the chocolate cookie dough! I could just stop after making the cookie dough and be happy with chowing down on chocolate cookie dough especially since there’s chocolate chips in this cookie dough. But I’ll continue since I pretty much live for frosting, especially day-glo pink frosting. Oh and sprinkles….

Sift together 2 cups all purpose flour, 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder. 3/4 teaspoon baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and set it aside. I wish I had a really cool bright green glass bowl.

In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together 3/4 cup softened unsalted butter, 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar on medium speed for 4 minutes until light and fluffy. As I’m working on this…the sun is coming out. Too bad it’s a freakin’ tundra outside.
Then add in 2 large eggs, one at a time and mix! Oh how I hate eggs…except when they’re in cakes and brownies and every dessert except angel food cake.

Scrape the bowl down and then add in 1 Tablespoon of vanilla extract. Mix again!

Slowly add in the dry ingredients until they’re almost combined. Basically once all of the ingredients are added, stop the mixer unless you’re into cookie bars that are so hard they could break Fabio’s nose….again. Poor Fabio.

Take a brightly colored spatula, one that matches your frosting and fold the ingredients together. I love bright colors but I always wear black by the way. Random fact for you. I think I look like a clown in colors. Another random fact: when I was 17, I had the same color hair as this spatula.

Throw in 1 1/2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips and fold them in.

I love chocolate cookie dough…like you didn’t already know that.

Press the cookie dough evenly into a lightly greased 9 by 13 inch baking pan. Now this pan looks like it’s floating in the air because the sun is really coming out now, the sun is blinding me…and it’s still freezing? I need coffee.  Bake the cookie bars at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Do not over bake them for the love of day-glo frosting and rainbow sprinkles.

Oooh naked cookie bars! Ok cool the cookie bars in the pan on a cooling rack. Don’t frost them while they’re warm! Go to Starbucks, get an americano, sit outside in the sunny tundra and drool on yourself when the hot barista walks outside. Then go home. Really this happened yesterday.

Frosting time! Well buttercream, whatever. Sift 2 cups of powdered sugar. Set it aside.

Then in a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together 1/4 cup softened shortening and 1/4 cup softened unsalted butter for a couple of minutes on medium speed.

Add in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and a pinch of kosher salt. Mix mix!

Slowly add in the powdered sugar and mix on low speed. Then increase the speed to medium high and mix mix mix until everything comes together. At first, it’ll seem like the powdered sugar will never combine with the other ingredients but they will. Swear. Promise. Would I lie to you? Of course not.

Then pour in 1 1/2 ounces of heavy whipping cream. Mix on low speed at first and then increase the speed to high and mix for 5 minutes. Mmmm buttercream. Look blue spatula! The same color as my hands…don’t ask. That’s another story.

Add in some pink gel food coloring. You can buy it at Michael (you know the craft store)…it’s on the cake decorating aisle. The aisle where I live. Mix!!

Pink frosting!!!

Because I’m totally anal about how I do things, I cut the edges off the cookie bars. (I do this with all bars…most people like brownie edges. I think they’re weirder than me.) Oh and yes I took the bars out of the pan and flipped them back over with my hands. Yes I have mad cookie bar flipping skills. Uh but you don’t need to do that unless you’re into your bars falling into a million pieces. Don’t do what I did.

Spread the frosting on the cooled cookie bars and sprinkle the sprinkles! Rainbow, Mickey Mouse, pink, chocolate sprinkles, whatever floats your boat and makes you happier than a bagel cut into tiny pieces with cream cheese on each piece. Then cut into squares, giant pieces, hearts, whatever and enjoy!

 

Frosted Chocolate Cookie Bars
(cookie recipe adapted from allrecipes)

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (that’s 1 1/2 sticks)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Vanilla Buttercream
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup shortening, softened
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/16 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 ounces heavy whipping cream
pink gel food coloring (add however much you like, you don’t need a lot though)

Decoration
Rainbow Sprinkles!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift the flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda and kosher salt. Set aside.

In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter, brown sugar and sugar on medium speed for 4 minutes until light and fluffy.
Scrape the bowl down and add in the eggs, one at a time. Mix
Then add in the vanilla extract and mix.

Slowly add in the dry ingredients on low speed until just combined. (Once all of the dry ingredients are added, stop the mixer) Take a spatula and fold the ingredients together.
Add in the chocolate chips and fold them in.

Lightly grease a 9 by 13 inch metal baking pan. Press the chocolate cookie dough evenly into the pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Do not over bake the bars.

Completely cool the bars in the pan on a cooling rack. This will take a while but you want the bars to be completely cool before frosting them or you’ll have a mess.

Once the bars have cooled, make the vanilla buttercream:

Sift the powdered sugar. Set it aside.
In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the shortening and butter for a couple of minutes on medium speed until smooth.
Add in the vanilla extract and salt and mix.

Slowly add in the powdered sugar on low speed. It will look like the powdered sugar isn’t combining with the other ingredients but it will. Increase the speed to medium high and keep mixing until the ingredients come together. You may need to scrape the bottom of the bowl while doing this.

Slowly add in the heavy whipping cream on low speed. The mixture will look lumpy, don’t worry. Then increase the speed to high and mix for 5 minutes.

Spread the buttercream on the cooled bars and decorate with sprinkles. Cut into pieces and enjoy!

Filed Under: Bars, Chocolate, Cookies, Dessert Tagged With: , , ,

Biscoff Spread Giveaway (Giveaway Closed)

January 27, 2012 287 Comments

Image courtesy Lotus Bakeries

 

Because I left my dough in the oven to rise (with the oven turned off, the oven was slightly warm for it to rise), then accidentally turned the oven on and destroyed my dough…

Because I still don’t have a hot Italian boyfriend or a hot barista…

Because I still have to finish this one post. Sorry for the lack of posts by the way.

Because this man is humming, singing and driving me up the freakin’ wall

Because this singing man won’t stop staring at me (weirdo) and is seriously creeping me out

Because I still have a hot cake pan scar on my chest

And most importantly because I really like Biscoff Spread, giving away things and giving away things to you…

 

I’m giving away a jar of Biscoff Spread. It’s made from Biscoff cookies but has the consistency of peanut butter. There’s no peanuts though!

To enter 

  • Leave a comment. If all you can say is hi, that’s fine with me

For additional entries (please leave a separate comment for each additional entry)

The giveaway will end on Tuesday, January 31st at midnight (PST)

The giveaway is open to everyone, that means everyone in the world.

Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: , ,

Mini Chocolate Truffle Pies

January 22, 2012 38 Comments

I’m sure everyone who reads my blog thinks I take some magic happy pills or that I eat magic brownies because I always seem overly happy/loony. But really, there are times when I get ticked off and it seems like I lost my magic happy pills or someone else ate my magic brownies. Like when this man at Starbucks is talking SO LOUDLY on his cell phone (at a table without a drink) that he’s going to bust out my eardrums at any moment. Excuse me, but don’t you know I want to write about Mini Chocolate Truffle Pies on my laptop and eat my bagel at a table? Where do you except me to sit Mr. Loud Talker, on the barista’s lap? Although that’s not a bad idea, actually that’s an incredible idea…forget the table. But really, would you please move and talk outside on your phone before I throw my americano at your head. I’m really thinking about bringing in some Christmas Lights (you know the motion ones) and wrapping it around my seat. Oh and maybe I’ll put some bumper stickers on the chair? And I can’t forget to plaster a big sign that says, “Please do not take this table or I’ll smack you with my americano. Thank you, Lindsey” By the way, thank goodness he’s about to leave. Perhaps I can ask him to pick me up some Christmas lights, a poster board and some Sharpies?

First put 6 ounces of semi sweet chocolate chips and 6 ounces of milk chocolate into a large bowl. Set it aside. Do you know how much I like chocolate chips? I love using chocolate chips in recipes because then I get to eat them. Totally makes sense….just like going to Starbucks to sit at a table without a drink and talk forever on your cell phone. Total. complete. sense.

Pour 3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream into a small saucepan. Sift 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and add it to the heavy whipping cream and mix it in.
Heat the heavy whipping cream mixture over medium low heat until it’s very hot but not boiling. For the love of bagels and hot baristas, do not boil the heavy whipping cream.

Then pour it over the chocolate chips.

Whisk whisk whisk and whisk it together really well. Now this whisking job isn’t for wimps so use your muscles. (or pretend you have muscles, whatever) Oh and don’t use a flimsy but super cool looking whisk from Anthropologie like the in the photo abovve. It’s colorful and all but it seriously blows. Hey at least I’m being honest?!

Ooooh chocolate and heavy whipping cream. Now let it cool for an hour. Yeah I know what you’re thinking, a freakin’ hour Lindsey? Did you find your magical mushrooms? Trust me people, I’ve made these more times than you could possibly count. Basically during the hour of torturous waiting, the chocolate mixture will cool and it will thicken up a bit.

Ok time to be productive, sort of. While the chocolate is cooling, make the mini Oreo crusts. You’ll of course need Oreos. Throw 15 Oreos in the food processor and grind them into fine crumbs.

Put the Oreo crumbs into a large bowl and add in 3/4 Tablespoon of sugar. Blah blah blah why are you adding sugar to Oreos? Isn’t there sugar in the cookies? Yes duh but I like sugar and the way it tastes in the Oreo crusts so add it. Stir it up with a bright blue spatula or whatever color spatula floats your boat.

Pour in 3 Tablespoons of melted unsalted butter and mix mix! Mmmm I love Oreos + Sugar + Butter.

YUM!

Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners. This recipe makes about 16 mini chocolate truffle pies so you’ll actually need two cupcake pans. Using a Tablespoon, scoop the Oreo crust mixture into each cupcake liner.

Press the Oreo mixture firmly down with your fingers.

Bake the crusts at 350 degrees F for 5 minutes.

Then completely cool the Oreo crusts. Do not fill them until they’ve cooled completely or you’ll have a mess and you’ll probably cry and want to throw your americano at me.

 

Now that the melted chocolate has been cooling for an hour….

First things first, make the whipped cream to add into the melted chocolate. Yes even more heavy whipping cream, oh yeah!! In a bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whip 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream on high speed until stiff peaks form. Now for the love of  DO NOT over whip the heavy whipping cream. If you over whip the heavy whipping cream, it will be very difficult to fold the whipped cream into the melted chocolate. Basically if the whipped cream is over whipped, you’ll have lumps of whipped cream that won’t get incorporated into the chocolate. The whipped cream will deflate and your filling will be a soupy runny mess.

See light fluffy whipped cream!

Before adding the whipped cream, whisk the chocolate mixture so that it’s smooth.

Now add 1/3 of the whipped cream to the melted chocolate and gently fold it in. It will take some time to incorporate the whipped cream into the chocolate. Be patient.

And add in another 1/3 of the whipped cream and gently fold it in…

And add in the final 1/3 of whipped cream and very carefully fold it into the chocolate…

I could eat this stuff straight from the bowl but I kind of love my piping bag even more…

Yes I love my piping bag and I love piping stuff even more. Yeah stuff. Fit a piping bag with a closed star decorating tip. I use Ateco #846 but Wilton #1M works fine too. And fill the piping bag with the chocolate truffle filling and pipe it into your mouth…kidding!

Pipe!

Pretty yes? And of course tasty. Now the even more torturous part comes. Refrigerate the mini chocolate truffle pies for 8 hours. While you’re waiting go get some coffee, a bagel and chill out on the barista’s lap. Then enjoy!



Mini Chocolate Truffle Pies
(filling adapted from allrecipes)
(makes 16 mini pies)

15 Oreos
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 Tablespoon sugar

6 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips
6 ounces milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided

To make the filling:

Put the semi sweet chocolate chips and mix chocolate chips in a large bowl. Set it aside.

Pour 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream into a small saucepan. Sift 1/4 cup powdered sugar and add it to the heavy whipping cream. Stir it in.
Slowly heat the heavy whipping cream mixture over medium low heat.
Once the heavy whipping cream is very hot (do not let it come to a boil), pour it over the chocolate chips.
Whisk and continue whisking until the chocolate chips have completely melted. (this may take a couple of minutes and some effort!)
If you’re having some trouble melting the chocolate chips, put the chocolate chip/heavy whipping cream mixture in the microwave for about 10 seconds. Then continue whisking.

Set the chocolate mixture aside and let it cool for 1 hour. Yes 1 hour. It will cool and thicken a bit.

While the chocolate mixture cools, make the mini Oreo crusts:

In a food processor, grind up the Oreos.
Put the Oreos crumbs in a large bowl. Add in the sugar and mix. Then add in the melted butter and mix to combine.

Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Using a Tablespoon, scoop the Oreo mixture into each cupcake liner. Press it down firmly with your hands. You should have about 16 mini Oreo crusts.

Bake the mini Oreo crusts at 350 degrees F for 5 minutes.

Completely cool the mini Oreo crusts in the cupcake pan on a cooling rack. It may take a while to cool but be patient. Do not fill it until it has completely cooled.

Once the chocolate mixture has cooled for 1 hour, make the whipped cream for the chocolate mixture:

In a bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whip 3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream on high speed until stiff peaks form.
DO NOT over whip the heavy whipping cream. If you over whip the heavy whipping cream, it will be very difficult to incorporate it into the melted chocolate. There will be lumps of whipped cream which will not get folded into the melted chocolate. The whipped cream will deflate resulting in a runny mess.

Before adding the whipped cream, whisk the chocolate mixture to make it smooth.
Add 1/3 of the whipped cream to the chocolate mixture. Very gently fold it in with a spatula. Make sure the first portion is completely incorporated before you add the next portion. It may take a while to become incorporated so don’t worry!
Add the next 1/3 portion of whipped cream and gently fold it in. Add the final 1/3 portion of whipped cream and gently fold it in.

Then take a piping bag fitted with a closed star decorating tip (I use Ateco #846 but Wilton #1M will work too) and fill the piping bag with the chocolate truffle mixture.

Pipe the chocolate truffle mixture on top of the cooled mini Oreo crusts.

Refrigerate the mini truffles pies for at least 8 hours. I just refrigerate it overnight.
Enjoy!

Filed Under: Chocolate, Dessert, Mini Desserts, Pie Tagged With: , , ,

Chocolate Orange Brownies

January 19, 2012 47 Comments

Confession: I hate fruit more than Anthony Kiedis’ 1970′s creeper mustache. And dear people, that’s more than you can even imagine. You will never see me in a billion years eating a piece of fruit. Apples? No thank you, I prefer caramel apples minus the apple. Kiwi? Heck no, that stuff has gnarly fur. Strawberries? Not unless they’re chocolate covered strawberries from Godiva. But wait, I’ll just eat the chocolate and give the strawberry to the birds. Raspberries? If you put some raspberry jam inside of a deep fried donut, then I’ll all for it. Especially if it’s covered in powdered sugar. Pineapple? Um how about pineapple frozen yogurt with extra rainbow sprinkles and hot fudge. Oranges? Help me. Least favorite fruit ever. It’s this texture thing.
But there is one exception to my no fruit rule. I am all for fruit (well kind of…kiwi is still the spawn of the devil) if I throw the fruit into a dessert. Lemon cupcakes, glazed orange rolls, apple pie (it needs crumbs on top)…yes please! Well yes with hesitation. I’d much rather have a massive slice of chocolate cake covered in chocolate buttercream. And no raspberry decorations on top!

First sift together 3/4 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt into a bowl. Use your super amazing imagination and pretend there’s a bowl of sifted ingredients. See it? Ok cool.

In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar, 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter on medium speed for 3 minutes. Is there anything better than sugar and butter? Yes, chocolate cake without raspberries on top.

Zest an orange. Ok confession part 2: I get nauseous zesting oranges. I hate the smell but love the way it tastes in desserts. So weird I know.

Throw 1 Tablespoon into the bowl. Mix!!!

Add in 1 Tablespoon of vanilla extract and totally ignore the orange zest on the Tablespoon. Mix mix!

Add in 2 large eggs, one at a time. Mix them in!

And slowly add in the sifted ingredients on low speed and mix until just combined. Then take a red spatula (ok whatever color) and gently fold the ingredients together.

Throw in 1/2 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips because chocolate chips make everything better. (except alien fur kiwi) And fold them in. Mmmm I love brownie batter with chocolate chips. It’s like love in a bowl.

Spread the brownie batter into a lightly greased 8 by 8 inch baking pan. Then eat the brownie batter off the mixing spoon.

And why does the brownie batter look darker now? It’s some kind of super cosmic mystery. Bake the brownies at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Do not overbake. These brownies are fudgy. If you overbake them, I’m throwing a giant mango at your head.

Ok let’s pretend 30 minute have gone by. Cool the brownies on a cooling rack. Don’t frost them until they’ve cooled completely.

Sift 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and set it aside. Let’s use our imagination again, there’s a photo of a bowl with sifted powdered sugar.

In a bowl of a stand mixer, mix together 1/4 cup softened unsalted butter and 4 ounces of softened cream cheese on medium low speed for 3 minutes.  Then add in 1 teaspoon of freshly squeezed orange juice and mix on medium low speed.

Add in 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and mix.

Add in 1/2 teaspoon of orange zest. Mix mix! Then slowly add in the powdered sugar and mix on medium low speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.  Mmmm orange cream cheese frosting, I love you.

Once the brownies have cooled completely, spread the orange cream cheese frosting on top of the brownies. (I put the frosting in the refrigerator in an airtight container for about 10 minutes to firm up the frosting before spreading it on the brownies) Cut into pieces and enjoy! And because I’m totally sprinkle obsessed, I had to put orange sprinkles on my brownies.

Chocolate Orange Brownies

Brownies
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 Tablespoon orange zest
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon orange zest

Sift the flour, unsweetened cocoa powder and kosher salt. Set aside.

In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the brown sugar, sugar and melted unsalted butter on medium speed for about 3 minutes.

Add in the orange zest and mix. Then add in the vanilla extract and mix.
Add in the eggs, one at a time. Mix until the eggs are completely incorporated.

Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until almost combined. Take a spatula and fold the ingredients together.
Add in the chocolate chips and fold them in.
Spread the batter into a lightly greased 8 by 8 inch metal baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Cool the brownies in the pan on a cooling rack. Do not frost them until the brownies have completely cooled.

To make the orange cream cheese frosting:
Sift the powdered sugar and set it aside.

In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter and cream cheese for 3 minutes on medium low speed.
Add in the orange juice and vanilla extract. Mix.
Add in the orange zest and mix again.

Slowly add in the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time on low speed. Once the powdered sugar is all added, increase the speed to medium low and mix for about 2-3 minutes until the frosting is smooth.

If the frosting is too thin, place it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes until somewhat firm. (I always do this before frosting the brownies and recommend it)

Frost the cooled brownies with orange cream cheese frosting.
If you’re feeling super festive, decorate the brownies with orange sprinkles.

Cut into squares and enjoy!

Filed Under: Bars, Brownies, Dessert Tagged With: ,

Maple Chocolate Chip Cookies

January 15, 2012 32 Comments

Whenever I chow down on a chocolate chip cookie, it looks like a raccoon attacked it. I break the cookie into a billion pieces, pick out the chocolate chips and then throw away the rest of the cookie. Yeah I’m wasteful. I leave cupcakes outside and throw away cookies, so sue me. But anyway…I swear chocolate chips taste so much better when there’s a little bit of cookie surrounding the chocolate chips and they’ve been baked in a cookie. I sound completely loony but don’t I always? So this time I was determined to actually eat a chocolate chip cookie without it looking like a ton of seagulls attacked the cookie or a raccoon, whatever. As I was meandering through my kitchen, I came across some maple syrup and tried that out. Uh yeah the cookies didn’t turn out so incredibly awesome, I could barely taste the maple syrup and I just blew a ton of money on maple syrup that costs more than my Burberry purse (well not really). And not to mention I already spent my money on new cake pans (don’t even go there with the hot cake pan jokes…). Well screw it, I’m making maple chocolate chip cookies with maple extract because maple extract smells delicious and doesn’t cost as much as maple syrup or a Starbucks Venti 168 1/2 degree non fat 2 pump mocha 2 pump peppermint extra whip no sprinkles latte. (How in the world did that crazy order ever enter my mind?), whatever. By the way I totally love Starbucks and no way is that my order.

Ok cookie time. Sift together 2 cups all purpose flour (by the way, I am in love with King Arthur Flour and if you’re not in love yet. Go buy some from Target. It’s so much cheaper), 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt into a bowl. Set it aside.

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together 1 cup packed light brown sugar, 1/2 cup sugar and 3/4 cup melted butter. Oh yes I love butter and so should you. Mix it for about 3 minutes on medium low speed.

Then add in 1 large egg yolk. Mix mix. And 1 large egg. Mix mix.

Add in 1 Tablespoon of maple extract and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix! Don’t ask me why there’s only a photo of me adding the vanilla extract. It probably was the evil snow outside that distracted me.  Hey at least the maple extract’s in the bowl.

Slowly add in the dry ingredients on low speed. Mix until just combined.

And then with a super colorful spatula, fold the ingredients together.

I LOVE COOKIE DOUGH!

Add in 1 1/2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips.

And fold them in! Yum yum yum. For some odd reason, the cookie dough looks lighter in color here. It’s actually much darker.

Cover the cookie dough and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours. Yes 2 hours. Don’t you be all rebellious and try and bake them after 1 hour. Trust me on this people. 2 hours (at least!)

Once 2 hours have gone by and you ate the rest of the chocolate chips out of the bag, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a 1 1/2 inch cookie dough scoop, scoop the chocolate dough and then roll each cookie dough piece into a ball.

Place the cookie dough balls onto the parchment paper.

Then slightly flatten them with the palm of your hand. Bake the cookies at 325 degrees F for 12-13 minutes.

Cool them on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes on a cooling rack and then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool. Enjoy!

Maple Chocolate Chip Cookies
(adapted from allrecipes)

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon maple extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Sift the flour, baking soda and kosher salt into a bowl. Set side.

In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the brown sugar, sugar and melted butter on medium low speed for 3 minutes.

Add in the egg yolk and mix. Add in the egg and mix. Then add in the maple extract and vanilla extract and mix to combine.

Slowly add in the dry ingredients on low speed and mix until just combined. Take a spatula and fold the ingredients together.

Add in the chocolate chips and fold them in with a spatula. Cover the cookie dough and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Using a cookie dough scoop, scoop out the cookie dough. Then roll each cookie dough piece into a ball and place the cookie dough balls onto the parchment paper.
Flatten the cookie dough balls slightly with the palm of your hand.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 12-13 minutes.
Cool the cookies on the baking sheet on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes. Then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool.

Enjoy!

Filed Under: Chocolate, Cookies, Dessert, Maple Tagged With: , ,

Sweet and Salty Chocolate Caramel Bark

January 11, 2012 40 Comments

I’m one of those lone weirdos (I think I’m the only one in the universe) who doesn’t like salted caramel. Please don’t hate me, remember I’m the injured one? Have pity on me. I have to walk around looking like Steven Tyler attacked my chest. (because the burn now looks like a well you know..) Oh and no I can’t eat a lemon cupcake to make me feel better because I accidentally left them all outside while taking photos and I’m sure they’re hard as rocks now.  Seriously. But back to the story…I wasn’t about to give up on this sweet and salty combination that I think is the spawn of the devil. I thought, “hey I’m somewhat insane to have written that last post (and hit publish) and perhaps I should just go with the flow of my insanity and make something salted caramel, sort of.” Because salty caramel is insane to me…well almost as insane as burning yourself on hot cake pans.

First get all of the toppings for the chocolate bark ready. You’ll need some chocolate covered pretzels!
I’m using the dark chocolate covered pretzels from Trader Joe’s because 1) they’re tasty 2) I wanted an excuse to go to Trader Joe’s 3) I love pretzels (you know you want to click on that, do it) and I love chocolate.

Chop them in half and set aside 1 cup of chopped pretzels. Then eat the crumbs.

Next you’ll need some chocolate covered almonds. Well these are dark chocolate almonds to be exact. If you’ve never had chocolate covered almonds, I feel for you. I especially like them in my frozen yogurt with my rainbow sprinkles and red gummy bear. Yes one gummy bear. It’s this obsessive compulsive numbers things, seriously.

Chop them in half. Eat the pieces that crumbled off. Set aside 1/2 cup of chopped chocolate covered almonds.

Now it’s chocolate time. Well first set down a big piece of parchment paper. Then in a large microwavable bowl, melt 8 ounces of semi sweet chocolate chips and 8 ounces milk chocolate chips. If you just want to use all semi sweet or all milk chocolate, that’s cool. I don’t judge. Just do not, I repeat, do not use Nestles. It will not harden. I recommend Ghirardelli or Guittard.

Mmmm melted chocolate!

Pour the melted chocolate onto the parchment paper and spread it out with a spatula into a large rectangle. (about 9 by 12 inches)

For the caramel part of the chocolate caramel bark, I like using caramel bits. Why? They’re easy, tasty and I’m not chancing burning myself while making caramel.

Put 1/2 cup of caramel bits in a bowl with 1/2 Tablespoon of whole milk. Melt it in the microwave. Be careful not to burn the caramel in the microwave. Don’t ask me why the caramel bits sort of look like chickpeas in this photo…

Mmm melted caramel bits.

Time it get all artistic (sort of), drizzle the melted caramel over the melted chocolate.

Place the chopped chocolate covered pretzels and chopped chocolate covered almonds on top of the melted chocolate and melted caramel.

Put another 1/2 cup of caramel bits in a bowl with 1/2 Tablespoon of whole milk. I use a clean bowl, not the same bowl I melted the other caramel bits in. And where is the photo? I have no idea. Pretend I just melted some more caramel bits ok?

Drizzle it all over. Mmmmm caramel drizzle! I suppose if you’re feeling super insane (or maybe sane?) you could put some sea salt on the chocolate caramel bark. But I however just can’t handle that. Baby steps people. Baby steps to salted caramel.

And you know what’s even harder than getting into the whole throwing salt on your caramel…letting the chocolate caramel bark dry for about 4 hours. Yes we must wait abut 4 hours.

Cut into massive size pieces and enjoy!

 Sweet and Salty Chocolate Caramel Bark

8 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips
8 ounces milk chocolate chips
1 cup caramel bits, divided
1 Tablespoon whole milk, divided
1 cup chopped dark chocolate covered pretzels
1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate covered almonds (I chop them in half)

Chop the chocolate covered pretzels in half and measure out 1 cup.
Chop the chocolate covered almonds in half and measure out 1/2 cup. Set both the chopped pretzels and chopped almonds aside.

Place a large piece of parchment paper down.
Melt the semi sweet chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips in a large bowl.
Pour the melted chocolate onto the parchment paper. Spread the melted chocolate into a large rectangle. (about 9 by 12 inches)

In another bowl, melt 1/2 cup of caramel bits with 1/2 Tablespoon of milk.
Drizzle the melted caramel over the melted chocolate.

Press the chopped pretzels and chopped almonds into the melted chocolate and melted caramel.

In another bowl (I like to use a separate clean bowl), melt the remaining 1/2 cup caramel bits with 1/2 Tablespoon of milk.
Drizzle the melted caramel over the chocolate bark.

Let the bark dry for at least 4 hours. Then cut into large pieces and enjoy!

Store the chocolate bark in an airtight container.

Filed Under: Candy, Chocolate Tagged With: , , ,

Doughnut Pan Giveaway Winner

January 10, 2012 1 Comment

Thank you all so much for entering the giveaway and your comments. You are all so sweet and amazing. :)

 

The winner is: Angela from Seasonal and Savory

Congrats! Please email me at: gingerbreadbagels@gmail.com and I’ll send you the doughnut pan asap. :)

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Lemon Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream

January 8, 2012 48 Comments

I’m naturally a super clumsy person but when I step inside of my kitchen to bake, my clumsiness seems to disappear (thank goodness) and I pretty much have my act together. Well that’s if you don’t count the flour tornadoes and frosting that sometimes flies in my face when I accidentally set the mixer on high. Like I actually get upset about frosting flying in my face? But to the point…So rarely do I ever have kitchen accidents such as setting the oven on fire (uh that’s happened once). But last week I had most painful yet most hilarious kitchen accident and if you already follow me on twitter, you probably know all about it. I’m sorry for my crazy tweets and X-ratedness by the way. I decided to make a lemon cake for my blog which obviously turned into cupcakes later because I never wanted to look at cake pans again, especially 350 degree F cake pans. I took the super hot cake pans out of the oven and went to set the pans onto the cooling rack. But then all of a sudden, the cake pan slipped out of my hands and fell on my boobs chest. (I am very short by the way) Yes I burnt my chest on hot cake pans. (I’m sorry I just can’t use the word on my blog unless I pretend like I never wrote it by crossing it out…) Seriously, who in the world burns their uhh chest on hot cake pans but me? No one. Ok maybe Pamela Anderson when she’s whipping up some Funfetti cake for whoever her boyfriend is at the moment but I think that’s about it. Now I have a huge hot cake pan battle wound and I hope to bagels that no one asks me what happened or notices. Can you imagine? Everyone probably thinks I bake without a shirt on and I’m some kind of X-rated food blogger.

First things first. Put a protective shirt on. Kidding, kidding. Sift together 2 cups all purpose flour, 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1 teaspoon kosher salt into a bowl. Set it aside.

Zest some lemons. You’ll need 2 Tablespoons. Set it also aside.

In a large bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup whole milk, 1/3 cup canola oil, 3 large eggs (at room temperature), 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and the 2 Tablespoons of lemon zest on medium speed for about 3 minutes.

Then add in 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice and mix for a couple of minutes.

Slowly add in the dry ingredients on low speed and mix until the ingredients are almost combined. Basically once all of the ingredients are combined, stop the mixer. Totally off topic but I really wish I had a yellow spatula. Actually wait I do but I kind of want a different one that’s all sparkly.

Take a spatula and fold the ingredients together.

Yum! Lemon cake batter. I love cake batter.

Line a cupcake pan with liners and using an ice cream scoop, scoop the batter into the cupcake liners. Don’t fill the cupcake liners up too much, fill them up about 2/3 of the way.

Bake the cupcakes for 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Once the cupcakes are done baking (please be careful…), cool them in the pan on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes. Then transfer them to a cooling rack and cool the cupcakes completely.

While the cupcakes are cooling, make the white chocolate buttercream. Now if you don’t like white chocolate, I promise you will still loooooveee this buttercream. Like want to lick it off your shoe love. Ok that’s weird but you get the point. You’ll love it.

Sift 2 cups of powdered sugar into a bowl. Pretend there’s a photo of a glass bowl from Sur La Table.

You’ll need some white chocolate of course. 4.4 ounces of it to be exact. This is the bar I used, Lindt white chocolate because well it looked tasty.

Chop it up and throw it into a microwavable bowl.

Now go and melt the white chocolate. Don’t burn it (Don’t even think about making a joke…actually go ahead.) Mmmm melted white chocolate. Let it cool for about 5 minutes. (it doesn’t have to be cool when you add it though) Set the melted white chocolate aside. Don’t add it just yet!

In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together 1/4 cup softened unsalted butter and 1/4 cup softened shortening on medium speed for about 3 minutes. Add in a pinch of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix mix.

Pour the melted chocolate into the bowl with the mixer on low speed. Mix mix mix. Butter + melted white chocolate = love.

Slowly add in the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. Add it on low speed unless you’re into having powdered sugar all over you. Then increase the speed to medium high and mix for a couple of minutes.

On low speed add in 1 1/2 ounces of heavy whipping cream (that’s about 1/8 of a cup…maybe a little more). Once you start mixing it, the frosting will look weird. Don’t you worry.

Then increase the speed to high and mix the buttercream for 5 minutes. And it’s white chocolate buttercream! If the buttercream is too thin, put it in the refrigerator in an airtight container for about 5 minutes or so.

Because I’m fancy. Ok I just wanted the photos of the cupcakes to look cool, I piped the frosting onto the cupcakes. I put the frosting in a piping bag fitted with a closed star decorating tip. It’s Ateco #846.

But you can just spread it on the cupcakes. Whatever floats your boat and makes you happy. Star sprinkles are obviously totally optional but amazing. And eat the cupcakes up and enjoy!

Lemon Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream
makes 18 cupcakes

2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons lemon zest
1/2 cup lemon juice

2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup shortening, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of kosher salt (about 1/16th teaspoon)
1 (4.4 ounces) white chocolate bar, finely chopped (I used a Lindt white chocolate bar)
1 1/2 ounces heavy whipping cream

For the lemon cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift the flour, baking powder and kosher salt into a bowl. Set aside.

In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the sugar, eggs, canola oil, milk, vanilla extract and lemon zest on medium speed for 3 minutes.
Add the lemon juice and mix on medium speed until the ingredients are completely combined, about 2 minutes.

Slowly add in the dry ingredients on low speed and mix until the ingredients are almost combined.
Then take a spatula and fold the ingredients together.

Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop the batter into each cupcake liner. Fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 of the way.
Bake the cupcakes at 350 degrees F for 18-20 minutes.

Once the cupcakes are done, cool them in the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Then transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack to cool completely.

While the cupcakes are cooling, make the white chocolate buttercream:

Sift the powdered sugar and set it aside.
Finely chop up the white chocolate bar and put the white chocolate in a microwavable bowl. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave. Let it cool for about 5 minutes. (The white chocolate does not have to be completely cool when you add it, it can still be slightly warm.) Set the melted white chocolate aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and shortening on medium speed for a couple of minutes.
Add in kosher salt and vanilla extract and mix.

Turn the mixer on low speed and add the melted white chocolate. Continue mixing until the white chocolate is mixed into the other ingredients.

Slowly add in the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. Once all of the powdered sugar is added, increase the speed to medium high and mix for 3 minutes.
Add in the heavy whipping cream on low speed. Then increase the speed to high and mix for 5 minutes.

To decorate the cupcakes:
If you want to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes, put the frosting in a piping bag fitted with a closed star tip. I use Ateco #846.
Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes and if you like, top with star sprinkles.

Or you can simply frost the cupcakes using a knife or small spatula.

Enjoy!

Filed Under: Cake, Cupcakes, Dessert, Lemon Tagged With: , , ,

Doughnut Pan Giveaway (Closed)

January 5, 2012 431 Comments

I really love doughnut contraptions…ok doughnut pans and I think everyone in the world needs a doughnut pan.

So I’m giving away a doughnut pan to one reader because I like giving away doughnut pans, I like eating doughnuts (or donuts) and I really like you.

To enter:

  • Leave a comment. Don’t be shy. If all you can say is hi, that’s fine with me. :)

 

 For additional entries (Please leave a separate comment for each entry. If you don’t leave separate comments, the entries won’t count!)

  • Subscribe to Gingerbread Bagels email subscription/RSS feed (buttons on the right side)

 

The giveaway is open to everyone. That means everyone in the world.

The giveaway will end on Monday, January 9th at midnight (PST).

 

Filed Under: Giveaways, I Love Free Stuff Tagged With: ,
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