Archive for the 'chocolate' Category

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Homemade Cannolis

June 2, 2011

As promised, here it is.  Homemade Cannolis.  Real, completely from scratch, everything homemade cannolis.  Let me be honest and say that it didn’t start out this way.  My cousin was celebrating her graduation and she wanted to treat herself to some cannolis.  I, of course, told her that I would make her some.  By “make,” I obviously meant, buy some premade cannoli shells, get some ricotta from the store, whip some sugar in it, fill the premade shells, and ta da: “homemade” cannolis.

But karma, I tell you.  It really comes back to bite you in the butt.  I said homemade, and karma made sure that homemade would happen.  Turns out that no one sells fresh ricotta these days.  (I’m not sure if any of these stores ever sold fresh ricotta, but that’s neither here nor there).  And on top of that, our Italian bakery was out of cannoli shells!  Has that ever happened?!

But no fear.  I turned to the Italian dessert cookbook that my cousin gave me (I think she was giving me a hint long ago to make cannolis), consulted other cannoli recipes,  bought all of the supplies I needed and got to work.

Let me start by saying that this was maybe one of the most delectable things to have every come out of my kitchen.  But, this is also time consuming.  And you need special equipment to make them.  But goodness, was I ever proud!  I mean, they’re so so delicious, which is why it was so gratifying.  And against the odds!  I overcame many obstacles to make these!  Pushing it?  Maybe.  But it’s all so tasty and worth it.  Good call, karma.

Homemade Cannolis

If you don’t feel like going out to buying your own cannoli equipment, you should buy the cannoli shells (after hoping that your local Italian bakery is not out), but don’t cheat yourself out of this filling.  It’s that good.  But if you do decide to go the completely homemade route, this is what cannoli forms look like.

Homemade Ricotta (recipe from 101 Cookbooks)

1/2 gallon whole milk

1/2 quart whole milk buttermilk

Coat the bottom of a large heavy-bottom pot with cold water.  Combine both milks in the pot.  Place over medium high heat.  Stir to make sure that it doesn’t set on the bottom.  While the milks are heating, place a very thin piece of cloth, or several layers of cheese cloth, on a large colander.  Place the colander over a pot.  As the milk heats, the curds will begin to separate.  Continue to stir and heat until the separated water is almost clear.  Take off heat and pour through the cloth, catching all of the curds.  Let it drain for several minutes until most of the water has come out.  Take both ends of the cloth and tie it on a faucet to let the remaining water drip out.  Take out of the cloth and place into a tight-fitted container.  Place into refrigerator until ready to use.

Ricotta Filling (adapted from Gale Gand)

2 cups fresh ricotta

2/3 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Whip everything except chocolate chips in a food processor until smooth.  Fold in chocolate chips and place in refrigerator until ready to use.

Cannoli Shells (adapted from The Italian Dish)

1 cup all purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cold butter

1 tablespoon distilled vinegar

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

Blend the dough in an electric mixer with dough hook attachment for about 10 minutes on medium low speed.  Take out and knead to form a ball.  Wrap in plastic wrap and let it chill for about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Take cannoli forms and grease with oil or cooking spray.

Take dough out and roll, using flour as needed, until it is at thin as possible: 1/8 inch thick or thinner.  Cut out round shapes, using a biscuit cutter or a glass.  Carefully wrap the shapes around the prepared cones until the ends meet.  Press the ends down.

Place the forms on the prepared baking sheet, seam side down.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the form starts pulling away from the dough and it is lightly browned.  Using oven mitts, pick up the forms and gently slide the cannoli shell off.  Set on a baking rack to cool completely.

To Assemble: Pipe prepared cannoli cream into the prepared shell.  Dip both ends into mini chocolate chips.

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Chocolate Biscuit Cake

May 5, 2011

Did you hear about the wedding last week??  It was pretty big, you might have seen.  Did you see the dress?  Did you see the kiss?  Did you hear about the cake?!

I do have a mild obsession with the British monarchy, it’s true.  But this is neither the time nor the place to discuss this.  This, my friends, is about another obsession of mine: no bake desserts (especially those involving biscuits).  It may be a pretty specific category, but they’re pretty awesome – creating a full-fledged delicious dessert, using nothing but a couple ingredients and never turning on the oven!  So easy, so simple, so delicious.  They are a wonder to me.

Which is why I was surprised to learn that the groom’s cake at the Royal Wedding was a chocolate biscuit cake – a no bake “cake” using simply British tea biscuits, chocolate and condensed milk.  Amazing.  And that was all that was needed to serve such a regal crowd!  You know you have to try this one.

So it turns out that  you don’t need to crash a royal wedding in order to eat like the royals!  No, no.  You just need a few ingredients and a refrigerator.  And a fancy hat.  But only if you feel like it.

Chocolate Biscuit Cake (adapted from Tea and Sympathy via Daily Candy)

14 oz (400 grams) digestive biscuits, rich tea biscuits or graham crackers, crumbled into pieces

1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts

1/2 cup dried cherries

1 stick butter

1 can condensed milk

5 oz. dark chocolate

5 oz. milk chocolate

1 cup dark chocolate chips

1. Grease a pie plate, 8 inch square dish, or any dish of a similar size.  Line with parchment paper and then grease the parchment paper.  Set aside.

2. Stir together the crushed biscuits with nuts and dried cherries in a large bowl.  Set aside.

3. Over medium heat, in a double boiler, melt together the 5 oz. of dark chocolate, 5 oz. milk chocolate, butter and condensed milk until completely melted and thick.

4. Pour chocolate mixture over the biscuits and stir together until everything is coated.  Pour into prepared dish and pat down to ensure that the cake will take the shape of the plate.  Refrigerate for 2 hours.

5. Melt the dark chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second intervals.  Stir after every interval until the chips are melted.

6. Unmold the cake and remove the parchment paper.  Pour the melted chocolate in the center of the cake and spread so it will run down the sides of the cake.  Let the chocolate set for about 15 minutes and then slice.

Posted in cake, chocolate, sweet, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Mini Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

March 8, 2011

Do you have peanut butter?  An egg?  How about sugarbakingsodavanillaminichocolatechips??  I knew you would have these things on hand!  Because that’s all it takes to make the most delicious peanut butter chocolate chip cookies ever.  I’m not kidding, people.

Here’s the kicker, though.  I didn’t have all of those ingredients on hand.  Well, I did, but not nearly enough.  So I decided to trick the mind and make these cookies miniature instead.  Friends, a lesson: if you decide to make cookies in bite size so it actually looks like you’ve made more than you have (thinking that they will last you longer), you actually end up with having to make cookies sooner than expected because people eat them so fast!  Fact.  Seriously, people were so drawn to these little cookie-lets.  They flew out of my cookies jar, handfuls at a time, just because they were so small!  There is apparently no guilt factor when eating a miniature cookie…or, apparently, 30 of them.

But it wasn’t just their size – these cookies were so appealing because they were just so…cute.  That’s exactly the appeal of these cookies.  They’re cute, and they’re small, and most importantly, they represent “portion control”.  But they’re also soft and crumbly and my goodness, so yummy.   Make them for their ease, make them for their cuteness, but please just make them and go crazy.  Everyone around you sure will.

Mini Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Joy the Baker)
Ingredients
1 cup natural peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.  Using a mixer combine peanut butter and sugar until well combined, about 2 minutes.  Add egg, baking soda, and vanilla and mix for another 2 minutes.  By hand, mix in mini chocolate chips.  Roll into teaspoon sized balls and place onto prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 7-8 minutes, until they look dry and lightened in color.  Let cook on baking sheet for a minute.  Carefully press each cookie down with a fork.  Continue to cool on baking sheet for an additional two minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Posted in chocolate, cookies, sweet, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
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Chocolate Bark with Almond Brittle

December 8, 2010

I don’t make candy.  I just can’t handle it.  It’s intimidating.  You need thermometers and huge oven mitts and to know terms like, “soft ball stage.”  And then, to top things off, the candy needs to look pretty at the end.  Inviting, even.  Talk about pressure.  It’s really not for me.

Do I even need to say it?  Of course I tried to make candy!  With the holidays just around the corner, I just figured that some homemade chocolates around the house would be nice to share.  So I picked the most no-brainer recipe I could think of: chocolate bark.  This isn’t really supposed to be that hard.  Mix melted chocolates with nuts or crushed mints or dried fruit, and ta da!  You have homemade chocolate bark!

I prepared myself for what I thought would be an easy candy making experience: I chopped the nuts, prepared my chocolate for the melting process, and lined my pan with foil.  Then.  I finally read the recipe.  This wasn’t a normal bark recipe.  It was a bark with homemade almond brittle!   As in…homemade candy.  What.  Was this really necessary?!

Of course it was necessary!  Who wouldn’t want a smooth chocolate with a crunchy, salty almond brittle to break it up.  What a tasty little (impressive) treat that would be!  The lucky part for me (and for all of you homebakers-that-do-not-make-any-kind-of-candy-at-all), this recipe did not have temperatures to follow, or “stages” to watch out for.  The only instruction was to cook the sugar and water until it reached a shade of  “dark amber”.  Colors!  Awesome – totally doable.  So I followed the color directions and suddenly had almond brittle!  And then I mixed it with the melted chocolate (what I was set out to do in the first place!), and I had the best tasting chocolate bark…ever.  It was like two candies in one!  Double the success!

A few words that are not intended to scare you off from making this: You don’t have a lot of time!  You might think you do, but, really, you don’t.  Don’t step away when making the caramel for the brittle.  It looks all pale and sad for the longest time, and then bam!  It’s dark amber in no time.  It will fool you.  And then, the trickiest part of all: the spreading of the brittle in order for it to cool.  Really, to be honest, the brittle does not at all need to be spread to be brittle-like.  It crystallizes instantly.  And then it will become impossible to spread.  Be as speedy as possible and try to get the brittle as thin as you can, which, as it turns out, will make the chopping of the brittle a lot easier…which will make the the mixing with the melted chocolate a smoother process.  It all comes full circle at the end.  Which is when you get to enjoy delicious homemade candy!

Chocolate Bark with Almond Brittle (from Fine Cooking magazine)

The recipe says that after breaking the brittle to eventually put in the chocolate, you should filter out the smaller pieces and the “dust” that falls from cutting the brittle, because it will make the bark too sweet overall.  Although I thought that this was an unnecessary step, I did follow it, and was glad that I did.  First of all, the bark was just the right amount of sweet at the end.  And second of all, more importantly, the ensuing leftover “dust” would be an incredibly delightful and welcome addition to any ice cream or yogurt, I would imagine.

Ingredients

1 cup + 2 tbsp. granulated sugar

1/4 cup water

9 oz. Marcona almonds, coarsely chopped

1 lb. bittersweet chocolate

Method

1. Line a baking sheet with foil.  Place the sugar and water in a 2 quart heavy saucepan.  Swirl (do not stir!) to moisten the sugar.  Heat on high until the mixture starts boiling, stirring occasionally.  Keep boiling until the mixture turns a dark amber color.  Turn off the heat and mix in half of the almonds.  Quickly spread the mixture on to the baking sheet to 1/8 inch thickness.  Cool completely, to room temperature.  This mixture will be quite hot for some time.  Break or chop into bite size pieces, saving only the pieces, and filtering out the sugar dust.  Put aside.

2. Heat about 2 inches of water in a saucepan.  Chop chocolate and place in a glass bowl that is bigger than the saucepan, in order to create a double boiler.  As the water simmers, place the bowl on top of the saucepan, stirring occasionally until the chocolate is melted. Be sure that none of the water gets into the bowl with the chocolate.

3. Turn off heat and mix in reserved almonds and almond brittle.

4. Line a 9×13 pan with foil.  Pour chocolate mixture into prepared pan, making sure that the chocolate covers all the almond pieces.  Shake the pan to level the chocolate and place the refrigerator.  Cool for 45-60 minutes.  Take out to break into pieces, and then place back into refrigerator until ready to serve.

Posted in chocolate, sweet, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
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Coconut Cake

September 2, 2010

Coconut cake with coconut extract.  Filled with coconut custard with coconut rum.  Drizzled with coconut syrup with shredded coconut.  All with…chocolate frosting.

My sister’s birthday just passed, and just like every other year, she got to pick the cake she wants me to make for her big day.  There were several years of requesting boxed yellow cake mix with the chocolate frosting in the tub, another year when I went in a different direction and made orange cake with cream cheese frosting (the chocolate lover in her did not appreciate that one), one year with a caramel cake with chocolate frosting that ended up on the floor by mistake, and last year’s chocolate cake with raspberry filling.  This year, she took a chance with coconut.

Despite the lack of coconut in the frosting (though I doused it with coconut on the frosting), this cake was coconut heaven.  It seems that so many coconut cakes are just a white cake with coconut sprinkled on top.  That is certainly not enough coconut flavor for me.  Not only is every part of this cake flavored with coconut, the key is in the custard.  Oh my goodness, the custard.  Make it.  Eat a bowl of it.  You’ll see.  And then make it again and fill the cake with it.  The end result is so light and barely sweet that the coconut flavor shines through.  Beyond delicious.

Coconut Cake (adapted from Bobby Flay)

This cake takes quite a bit of time.  But seriously worth every minute!  Mostly because it tastes better after it sits for a while – gives time for the coconut custard and coconut syrup to seep through the cake for a bit.  I made the cake, filling and the syrup the day before.  And made the frosting did the assembling the day of.

Components

Coconut Syrup

  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Coconut Filling

  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 tablepoon coconut rum (recommended: Malibu)
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon coconut extract
  • 1 cup very cold heavy cream

Coconut Cake

  • 2 tablespoons softened butter, for pans
  • 2 1/4 cups cake flour, plus more for pans
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 6 large egg whites, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons coconut extract
  • 1/2 cup dessicated coconut
  • 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces, slightly cold

For the Syrup:

Bring water and sugar to a boil. Stir in the coconut, remove from the heat and let sit for at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours. Strain the liquid into a clean saucepan, bring to a boil and let cook until the mixture is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Let cool.

For the Filling:

Combine the milks and vanilla bean and seeds in a medium nonreactive saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat.

Whisk together the yolks, sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl. Slowly whisk the warm milk into the egg mixture then return the mixture to the pot over medium heat and bring to a boil, whisking constantly, until thickened. Scrape the mixture into a bowl and whisk in the rum and vanilla extract. Let cool to room temperature then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours.

Combine the custard and cream in a bowl and whip until soft peaks form.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour 2 (9 by 2-inch) round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper.  Butter the parchment paper.

Whisk together the coconut milk, egg whites, vanilla extract and coconut extract in a medium bowl.

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. With mixer running at low speed, add the butter, one piece at a time and continue beating until mixture resembles moist crumbs. Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed until the mixture is pale and fluffy, about 1 1/2 minutes. With mixer on low speed, add remaining 1/2 cup of the milk mixture, increase speed to medium and beat 30 seconds more. Scrape sides of bowl and mix for 20 seconds longer.  Mix in the dessicated coconut.  Divide the batter evenly between the cakes pan and smooth the tops using a rubber spatula.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 22 to 24 minutes. Cool in the pan on baking rack for 10 minutes. Run a small knife around the side of the pan and invert cakes onto the baking rack, removing parchment paper, and let cool completely, about 45 minutes.

Chocolate Frosting (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

1 pound fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 stick unsalted butter

Finely chop chocolate. In a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan bring 1 cup of cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over moderately low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Cut butter into pieces and add to frosting, whisking until smooth.  Add rest of the cream.  Using an electric mixer, whip until frosting-like consistency is achieved.

To Assemble:

Using a long serrated knife, slice each cake horizontally into 2 layers. Reserve 1 of the flat bottom layers for the top of the cake. Place another layer on a cardboard round cut side up and brush with some of the coconut simple syrup. Spoon 1/3 of the coconut filling onto the cake and using a small offset metal spatula, spread it into an even layer, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge of the cake. Repeat with 2 more layers. Brush the cut side of the reserved cake layer with the remaining syrup. Place the layer cut side down on top of the cake.

Frost the sides and top of the cake with the chocolate frosting.

Posted in cake, chocolate, sweet, Uncategorized | 7 Comments »

Welcome! (and so many cupcakes!)

June 22, 2010

I’ve had this blog for 2 months now.  I keep thinking that I know what I want my first blog post to be about, but it’s either not interesting enough, or yummy enough, or not significant enough to be my first blog post.  I had so many reasons not to post.

But then.  Then something happened that basically screamed “1st blog post!!”  That something was cupcakepalooza.

Let me back up.  First of all, this is not the most typical food blog.  To really get the gist of what I’m trying to do, please go to the About Me section.  Any input would be tremendous.

Second of all, cupcakepalooza?  What is that?  Well, my wonderful cousin was having a pretty smashin huge birthday party and I (crazily, stupidly?) volunteered to make the cake.  For 200 people.  In New Jersey.

To try out the cupcake flavors beforehand, and to weed out the favorite flavors, I decided that I needed to have a cupcake party (i.e. cupcakepalooza) for some taste testing.  To get some Indian flavors in the mix, I made some chai latte cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream, vanilla buttermilk cupcakes with rose buttercream, pistachio cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream and mango cupcakes with vanilla cream cheese frosting in addition to the dark chocolate cupcakes with marshmallow frosting and lemon blueberry cupcakes with lemon buttercream.

I then asked about 30 of my closest friends to come over to try and comment on all of the flavors.  As it turned out, the chai cupcakes were a favorite.  No changes were necessary for that cake, and it made the cut for the party.  As for the others, the helpful comments included “couldn’t really taste the pistachio….or the white chocolate” for the surprisingly enough, pistachio white chocolate cupcakes, “tastes very rosy – but I don’t really know what rose is supposed to taste like,” for the vanilla buttermilk rose cupcakes, and “SO GOOD!” for the lemon blueberry cupcakes.

Taking these helpful and constructive comments into consideration, I decided to change the chocolate cupcakes to include a dark chocolate frosting for the chocolate lovers, and then take it completely in an Indian direction for the rest of the cupcakes – vanilla buttermilk cupcakes with rose syrup buttercream, mango cupcakes with mango cream cheese frosting, and chai cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream.

It seemed that most people thought that the light marshmallow frosting on top of the denser chocolate cupcake left a bit of an imbalance.  Though, overall, the chocolate cupcake was a winner – and every cupcake party should have at least one chocolate feature.  The mango cupcake was also well liked overall, but lacked some mango flavor.  To pump up the volume, I tripled the amount of mango that I put into the actual cake, while also adding some pureed mango into the cream cheese frosting.  The rose also needed a bit more punch.  I had a hard time deciding between using rose water and rose flavored syrup in the frosting, while keeping a vanilla buttermilk base.  The rose water was the only thing I used for the cupcake tasting, mostly because I thought that there would be a sweetness overload if I had used the syrup.  But even though it could be slightly detected, there wasn’t a strong enough rose flavor.  For the birthday party, I decided to use both.  Rose water in the actual cupcake batter and rose flavored syrup in the buttercream.

The party?  It was a success.  The transporting, the last minute frosting, the dependency on the arrival of a cupcake tier – all very stressful, but definitely worth it at the end.  And, if nothing else, it inspired my first of many blog posts.

I do hope that you come back here periodically to see what I’ve been cooking.  I look forward to having you.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes (adapted from Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” chocolate cake)

Yield: About 30 cupcakes

Ingredients

2 cups sugar

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

Method

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).

3. Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

Dark Chocolate Frosting (adapted from Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” chocolate frosting)

Yield: Enough to lightly frost 30 cupcakes

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup dark chocolate cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

1. Melt butter. Stir in cocoa.

2. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed.

3. Stir in vanilla.

Mango Cupcakes (adapted from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes)
Yield: A lot of cupcakes – 40, maybe?

Ingredients

4 1/2 cups cake flour
3 cups sugar
5 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups of pureed mangoes (I used fresh Alphonso mangoes – delish)
8 egg whites, room temperature
2/3 cup milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.

2. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixer bowl. With the electric mixer on low speed, blend for 30 seconds. Add the butter and mango puree and mix to blend the ingredients. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.

3. In another large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, milk to blend.  Blend until soft peaks form.  Add the whites to the batter in two or three additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl well and mixing only to incorporate after each addition. Scoop into liners – filling until about 2/3 of the way full.

4. Bake the cupcakes for about 25 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Take out of pans and let cool completely on wire rack.

Mango Cream Cheese Frosting (adapted from Food Network)

Yield: Lots o’ frosting.  We had quite a bit leftover after frosting the 40 cupcakes liberally

Ingredients

8 ounces unsalted butter, softened

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

3-4 cups powdered sugar, sifted (depending on how sweet the mangoes are)

¾ cup pureed mango

Method

1. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer.

2. With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until smooth and creamy.

3. Beat in pureed mango.

Vanilla Rose Buttermilk Cupcakes (adapted from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes)

Yield: About 48 cupcakes

Ingredients

3 3/4 cups cake flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon plus 2 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 sticks (10 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups plus 1/3 cup buttermilk
5 whole eggs
2 egg yolks

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons rose water

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.

2. Combine the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixer bowl. With the mixer on low speed, blend for 30 seconds. Add the butter and 1 1/4 cup of the buttermilk. Mix on low speed briefly to blend; then raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.

3. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, rose water and the remaining 1/3 cup buttermilk until well blended. Pour one-third of the egg mixture into the cake batter at a time, folding it in completely after each addition.

4. Fill each liner about half way (they really tend to rise).  Bake for 26 to 28 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

5. Take out of pans and let cool completely on wire rack.

Rose Syrup Buttercream (adapted from Food Network)

Yield: Enough to frost half of the vanilla rose buttermilk cupcakes

Ingredients

2 sticks butter, softened

3-4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 tsp. vanilla

3-4 tbsp. cream, as needed

1/4 cup rose flavored syrup

Method

1. Whip everything together until desired consistency has been reached.

Chai Latte Cupcakes (directly from Happiness in a Pot)

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

1 cup soy milk or rice milk

4 black tea bags (or 2 tablespoons loose black tea)

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup vanilla or plain soy yogurt

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Pinch to 1/8 teaspoon ground white or black pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line muffin pan with paper or foil liners
2. Heat soy milk in a small saucepan over medium till almost boiling. Add tea bags,
cover, and remove from heat. Let sit for 10 minutes. When ready, dunk teabags a few
times in soy milk and squeeze gently to extract any soy milk before removing.
Discard tea bags. Measure the soy milk and tea mixture and add more soy milk if it is
less than 1 cup.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together oil, yogurt, sugar, vanilla, and tea mixture until all
yogurt lumps disappear. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon,
cardamom, ginger, cloves, and pepper. Mix until large lumps disappear; some small
lumps are okay.
4. Pour into liners, filling ¾ of the way. Bake 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted
into the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely.

Cinnamon Buttercream (adapted from Food Network)

Yield: Enough to liberally frost 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

2 sticks butter, softened

3-4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 tsp. vanilla

3-4 tbsp. cream, as needed

1.5 tsp cinnamon

Method

1. Whip everything together until desired consistency has been reached.

Posted in cake, chocolate, fruit, sweet, Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
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