Nutella Cupcakes

Who doesn’t like nutella? My mom. That’s who. But it doesn’t matter, because these cupcakes weren’t for her. It was Maneet’s birthday and I decided to make these cupcakes for her. I found the recipe on Ming Makes Cupcakes. As I was scrolling through, the word “nutella” caught my eye and I knew these babies would be in my future.

Since it was her birthday, I brought out my fancy cupcake liners.

Aren’t they schmancy?

This recipe was so easy to follow. Everything went straight in the bowl and I ended up with a whipped, silky batter. I’ve never seen anything like it.

I filled the cups about 2/3 full and they came out nice and flat. Well, I don’t know how nice that is, but let’s just go with it, shall we?

When they came out of the oven, I let them cool down while I prepared the frosting. When they were done, I just had to have one with a nice cold glass of milk.

I’m not sure how much Maneet liked them. She said she would have liked to see a white cake with this frosting, but one of my pickiest cousins took some home with him, so I’d say they were a success.

Nutella love <3

Apple Pie

Can we look at that flaky crust and that filling oozing out oh, so slightly?  I’m not a fan of apple pie. The apples chunks are always large and it kills the taste of the crust, which is  my favorite part. So when Maneet, my mom and I met for our next afternoon of baking, I wasn’t so sure about this pie business.

Maneet bought this Betty Crocker pie crust mix where you just add water and your dough is ready.  We followed the pie recipe right on the box.  You know, sometimes it pays to be simple.  This was by far the best apple pie I ever had.

We started with some apples (cut nice and small) which were mixed with cinnamon and some other things (I really wasn’t paying attention.)

..And a lil-bit-a-butta, as my friend Paula Deen likes to say.

We went for the basket weave on top and left the cutting to my mom. It was pretty simple to do, which surprised all of us.

And then the completed weave…

It took a bit longer in the oven than the recipe said, but it turned out incredibly. Nice flaky crust, warm insides. Simple and wonderful. What more could you ask for?

Baby Cakes!

Can I show you something? It’s really cute. I promise!

Here it is…

My cousin, Maneet, bought the baby cakes cupcake maker.  I wasn’t sure about it at first, but this little thing is awesome and I’ll tell you why.  Cupcakes are great because they are portable and there are plenty to go around.  My one problem with them is that the cake to frosting ratio is never right. There is always too much cake, unless you pile the frosting on nice and high, in which case you can’t take a bite without unhinging your jaw. That’s where this little machine comes in.  It makes the cutest little cupcakes in about 6 minutes.  And the frosting to cake ratio is right on point.

Maneet wanted to make German chocolate cupcakes because she saw them on my blog, but never got to try them because she moved away and left me.  We finally got together and tried out her little cupcake maker.

Yep. There she is, ready to pop. She also matches her mixing bowls, which match her brand new kitchen aid mixer. So cute!

We made some cupcakes the old fashioned way, and some in the cupcake maker.  The latter were so fun to eat. Perfect size to take a perfect bite!

And the best part? They are done in 6 minutes, which means my mouth and deliciousness meet oh so much faster.

Topsy Turvy Cake

Okay ladies and gentlemen, here it is. My big show stopper. Still on my cake high, feeling indestructible, I decided to experiment with fondant for the first time.  Now since it was my first time working with fondant, you would think that I would start small, but no. I’m a big believer in “go big or go home.” It was my brother’s birthday and we were having the regular 20+ family over plus some more. For my g-mom, I built outward, making the cake wider. This time, I decided to build upward and created a triple tier cake.  I did plentyyyyyyy of research before I started.  I decided to go with a marshmallow fondant, frosting from The Pioneer Woman, and three different types of cake.  The bottom was a pound cake. I decided on a pound cake because it is dense and I figured it could hold the weight of what was to come.  My middle tier was red velvet because I can’t make a cake without my beloved.  And top tier was a texas sheet cake, light an airy, perfect for the top.  Unfortunately, because I was knee deep in cake research, and batter, and frosting, etc I never saved the recipes that I decided to use.  This was partly because I was so overwhelmed and partly because it was nothing unforgettable.  I could always just google another recipe next time. I also don’t have many pictures because my hands were either caked (haha) with batter or fondant or  dyed from coloring the fondant.

I prepared the marshmallow fondant during the week, making three different batches.  I spent some of Friday and the WHOLE day Saturday baking and building this baby.  I got the directions for the topsy turvy construction here.  This site gives really detailed step-by-step directions that are easy to follow.

I had my cake built and now it was time to decorate.  I found a picture on google images that was my main inspiration for the design.  I chose typical boy colors and got to work.  It wasn’t too bad.  You just having to keep kneading the fondant to keep it soft and smooth. For the candles, I attached the candles to wooden dowels (okay, I’m not that fancy, they were chopsticks) and covered with fondant.  I think it was a nice touch to complete the cake.

Once I was finallllly finished, I left the cake in the coldest room in the house because they say you shouldn’t refrigerate fondant.  I went to sleep, sore from the day’s happenings and woke up even more sore.  I went to check on my baby and she (he?) was perfect (i.e. still standing)!

We ended up having way too much cake, but I was happy. Another good day

Pretzel, Kiss, M&M Things

The family was coming over for the Super Bowl as per my dad’s request.  My mom and I planned the menu, which included vegetarian strombolis, southwest egg rolls, baked pasta, chips and dip and these little pleasures.  I didn’t want to make a formal dessert because it was the Super Bowl and that’s supposed to be full of finger foods that are messy. These fit the bill.  Definitely the simplest recipe you will ever try. Just place Hershey kisses on these pretzels and put them in the oven for a few minutes and top them with an m&m on their way out. I used peanut butter m&m’s. Oh so nice.

You can find the recipe here. Enjoy!

L-O-V-E for the fam!

Hello blog world. Oh how I’ve missed you. Let’s see…what has happened since September? I finished my student teaching (yay!), got a DSLR as an early graduation present (yay!), and have been baking (yay!).  Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to update my blog because of my lovely professors who rather I write for them than for myself. But I have hit a new level of procrastination, so here I am.

During my hiatus, I realized that I never make cakes. Well, I know I don’t make cakes (because I don’t like cake), but I realized that I could make it for other people, especially the family.  Every time it’s someone’s birthday, we always have a Sunday night dinner for them and we always buy a cake. So for my grandmother’s birthday, I decided I would make the cake. I decided on red velvet, because well, it’s the best. I knew I needed a big cake because feeding my family is not a simple task.

I was nervous because I’m a novice to cake baking and I wanted it to look nice for the g-mom. I think it came out pretty nice considering it’s probably the third cake I’ve ever made.

Making the cake was the easy part. I decided to make a heart out of a square cake and a round cake cut in half. I used the same cake recipe from my red velvet cupcakes. I used a different cream cheese frosting that was shortening based because I needed it to be stiff for the roses.  The taste was pretty much the same (delicious).

The cake was two layers, and my, did it take a lot of batter to make! I had to double my original recipe.

Out of the oven, cut and frosted.

When it was time to decorate, I did some research on some decorating tips.  I found a ruffle design I liked to use on the sides. This was nice because I didn’t have to cover the sides first and then decorate. I was able to just do a left to right to left pattern which was easy and quick.

I then looked up some videos on how to make roses. It seemed a bit tricky, but I tried it.  It wasn’t too bad. The only problem was that the frosting was a bit soft so the rose would “wilt” right after I put it on the cake.  I ended up making room in the fridge for the ginormous cake and opening the door, placing a rose on the cake, closing the door, making the next rose, etc etc… Fun times.

For the rest of the cake, I didn’t know what to do. I was short on the lighter pink color, so I used the last of it doing another row of ruffle.  By this time, it was late, I was tired, the family was about to come and I still had to get ready.  I poured the remainder of the frosting on the cake and swirled it around with my finger.  I loved the effect and was so happy to be done!

I think the family was happy too….

All in all, a good day. What a happy family.

German Chocolate Cupcakes

With student teaching underway, I knew that pretty soon I would have no time to bake.  I decided to take advantage of the beautiful four day weekend.  I had seen these cupcakes on Susi’s blog.  They just looked heavenly.  The coconut and pecans on top looked unbelievable.  I have never had German chocolate cake before, so I did not know what to expect.  The recipe, adapted from Martha Stewart was pretty simple to follow.  The only part I had trouble with was the topping.  I couldn’t tell when it was done.  The recipe said to cook it for 10 minutes.  I think I did it for a bit longer because it just looked too soupy.  After I added the other ingredients, it wound up being the perfect consistency. Definitely a crowd pleaser!

German Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for tins
2 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted, plus more for tins
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
5 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
Coconut-Pecan Frosting (recipe to follow)
Chocolate Ganache, optional (recipe to follow)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Brush stand muffin tins with butter; dust with cake flour, tapping out excess. whisk together cake flour, baking soda, and salt.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and beating until combined after each. Beat in chocolate until combined.

Divide batter evenly among prepared cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes Run a small offset spatula of knife around the edges to loosen; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can stored up to 3 days at room temperature in airtight containers.

To finish, spread frosting on top of each cupcake. Drizzle with ganache.

Coconut-Pecan Frosting
(makes about 4 cups)

Ingredients:
3 large egg yolks
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 package (7 ounces) sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

Preparation:
Heat egg yolks, evaporated milk, brown sugar, and butter in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick, about 10 minutes (it should reach the consistency of sour cream). Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl.

Stir vanilla, salt, coconut, and pecans into frosting. Let cool completely, stirring occasionally, Frosting can be refrigerated up to 1 day in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature and stir with a flexible spatula until smooth.

Chocolate Ganache

3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted
3-5 tablespoons heavy cream

Stir heavy cream by the tablespoon into the melted chocolate until combined and it reaches desired “drizzle” consistency. Use immediately.

Enjoy!