Day 38 - Black Bottom Cupcakes

Monday, January 16, 2012

Today I decided to do another little baking session. My Dad was away in LA for the long weekend visiting my sister, and is coming home later tonight. I decided to bake a little home coming treat for him to enjoy after dinner.

I found a recipe for Black Bottom Cupcakes on Pinterest.com [surprise, surprise] and it originated from a blog called "Bake Me More." The cupcake is a devils food cake base with a chocolate chip cream cheese mixture dolloped on top [in place of frosting]. They looked really cute and the cream cheese mixture actually looked like hearts in the pictures from the blog.

I decided to make it easy for myself and go with the store bought cake mix - Pillsbury Devils Food Cake [always delicious]. I whipped up the batter in minutes and then started on the cream cheese mixture which was just a bar of softened cream cheese, sugar, an egg and mini chocolate chips. It called for "softened cream cheese" but apparently mine wasn't soft enough [hello impatient] and so I had a hard time getting the mixture to be really smooth. I figured it wouldn't be a problem since it was just going to get baked anyways.

Prepared cake batter

Chocolate chip cream cheese batter

 I filled the cupcake liners with a little bit of the chocolate cake batter and then dolloped the cream cheese mixture on top. I started off really heavy handed and put a bit too much cream cheese on each one. As I progressed, I scaled back on the amount of cream cheese I put on each cupcake and it seemed to look better [and more like the blog].

Cupcakes ready to bake

The cupcakes baked for about 20 minutes and didn't exactly have the heart shape cream cheese top like I had hoped. The cream cheese [since I put way too much on some of them] spread out over the top of the cupcake and although it didn't look super pretty, I was sure it would still taste delicious.

Cupcakes [with a lot of cream cheese!]

A little less cream cheese :) 

My Dad and I each sampled one after dinner and they were delightful! The cake was moist and the cream cheese added a sweet and creamy touch, which is the reason why you don't need frosting on these cupcakes.

So good!

These were so easy and yummy - just think of the varieties you can make with these... red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese on top... yum!

Stay tuned until next time :)

Day 37 - Apple Tart

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Today I decided to try a recipe I saw on Pinterest.com which actually originated from the Food Network show "Pioneer Woman." The recipe is for an apple tart that looked super easy and delicious.

The recipe calls for very few ingredients which is always nice [especially when you are feeling a little lazy!] You only need apples [I used both red and green], puff pastry, brown sugar, a pinch of salt, and any garnishes you choose. The best part about making this recipe was having a friend to help me! My fabulous friend Claudia was over to lend a hand with this dessert. The first thing we did was take out the puff pastry to defrost [it takes about 40 minutes]. The next step is to peel and thinly slice the apples - which is probably the only "labor intensive" step. Lastly we sprinkled the brown sugar and pinch of salt over the apples and mixed it until all of the apples were evenly coated with the sugar.

We cut the puff pastry into three equal parts [where seams already exist] and layered the apples in a line over the dough, leaving a small border of dough on all sides. The tarts bake for about 20 minutes until the dough puffs up nicely and browns slightly.

Ready to bake

When the tarts come out of the oven, they are ready to garnish. We sprinkled one with powdered sugar, one with caramel, and left the third one plain.

Just out of the oven 

Garnished with powdered sugar

Garnished with caramel sauce

We sampled a piece of the tart with the powdered sugar and served it up with some vanilla ice cream. It was absolutely delicious - crispy on the outside and sweet and soft in the center… the perfect combination.

Finished product - ready to sample :) 

This dessert is too easy and too delicious not to try… can't wait to make these again!

Stay tuned for next time :) 

Day 36 - Mini Cinnamon Rolls

Day 36

Friday, December 30, 2011

Today I decided to make some mini cinnamon rolls for my family for breakfast. My plan was to make these on Christmas morning but after getting out of bed [a bit too early] to open presents, it kind of slipped my mind in the midst of all the excitement. I decided to make them today as a pre-new year's treat!

I have made cinnamon rolls before from scratch but as you can imagine it is quite a project. I have seen many recipes for "easy" cinnamon rolls on Pinterest.com [my new favorite website] and I decided to try one.. well actually two.

I found two different recipes that I wanted to try since both recipes seemed so easy. The dough I used for both versions was Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough. I started by rolling out half of the dough and pinching the seams in the dough together. The filling for the first recipe was a mixture of butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and flour. The mixture had the texture of a paste and was spread over the rolled out dough. I then rolled the dough into a log from the short end and cut it into pieces. What makes these rolls mini is that they are cut small and baked in mini muffin tins.

Cutting the log into mini rolls 

The second version was really simple as well. I rolled out the second half of the dough and brushed it with melted butter and sprinkled it with just cinnamon and white sugar. Again, I rolled the dough into a log and cut it into small pieces for the mini muffin tin.

First version on the bottom, second on the top

While the cinnamon rolls baked, I mixed together the glaze. I used the recipe from the last time I made cinnamon rolls which consists of powdered sugar, heavy cream and melted butter. I used it because it was easy to make and had a nice thick consistency. Both versions of the cinnamon rolls baked for about 14 minutes and they were ready to come out.

Version 1

Version 2

When the rolls were slightly cooled I drizzled the glaze over the top and they were ready to taste. I had a preference to one of the cinnamon buns as soon as they came out of the oven because the one with the brown sugar based filling looked ooey and gooey and delicious whereas the other ones with the white sugar looked very dry [as you can see in the pictures above].

Version 1 with the glaze! YUM!

I passed these around to the family and there was a clear winner as they all immediately reached for the oozing cinnamon rolls first. They agreed, there was really no comparison - I should have made the first recipe with all of the dough, not just half of it! These went like hot cakes!

This is a great, easy recipe for a brunch or holiday breakfast. I will definitely be making these again.

Stay tuned until next time…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Day 35 - Honey Cookies

Saturday, December 17, 2011

I cannot believe that Christmas is a week away!! A Christmas tradition on my Mom's side of the family is to make HONEY COOKIES. My Mom and her sisters all get together and make these cookies that their mother (my Grandmother) used to make every Christmas. My Grandmother passed away when I was a baby but I can remember going to my Grandfather's house at a young age where my mom and her sisters would gather (a few of us kids would tag along) to make the honey cookies.

The cookies are a bit of a project to make so there have been a few Christmases when the cookies didn't get made due to everyone's busy schedules. This year was one of those years and we decided we weren't going to get together to make the cookies; so my Dad and I decided to take it on ourselves. I had to make a few phone calls to figure out who had the recipe and when I finally did get it, it was very vague so I had to ask a bunch of questions to get the details on the step by step process. After all, I've only watched them get made, I never actually made them my self.

So my Dad and I started by making the dough which consists of flour, eggs, baking powder, sugar, and crisco. We made the dough directly on the counter (instead of in a bowl). I poured out all of the flour and made a round shape with a hole in the center (kind of like a volcano). The sugar and baking powder are sprinkled on the flour and the eggs (10 of them) are cracked right into the middle of the volcano along with the crisco. Slowly you begin to work the flour into the eggs in the center until the dough comes together.

Once the dough is kneaded, we each started with a small amount of dough to roll out. I was instructed to cover the dough that wasn't being used so it doesn't get hard. The dough has to be rolled out extremely thin. My Mom actually said to me "just when you think the dough is thin enough, roll it some more."

When the dough is as thin as it can get, we cut long skinny strips of dough which are then folded into "bows." The two shapes we make with the dough are bows and balls. The balls are just small rolled pieces of dough.

Happy camper rolling dough balls

Bows ready to be fried! 

When my Dad and I had all of our bows made and dough balls rolled, we started to fry them. They cook up really quickly in the oil and when they come out they are put on a rack to let the excess oil drip off.

In the meantime while my Dad was doing the frying, I put some honey over low heat to let it thin out. When the cookies are slightly cooled, I dip them in the honey, sprinkle them with nonpareil sprinkles, and set them on parchment paper to cool completely.

Finished Cookies! 

This whole process takes quite a while but it's totally worth it. The cookies are crisp, sweet and delicious. The only down side about making these cookies is that the kitchen becomes a total mess and somehow you become covered in honey and sprinkles!

I'm so glad I got to experience making these cookies first hand and I can't wait to share them with my family, especially my aunts - that will be the real test to see out how they came out!

Stay tuned for next week… I'll be making lots of Christmas cookies!

It's The Holiday Season!

Hello all!

It's that time of year again - the HOLIDAY SEASON! I know I haven't blogged lately but with the holidays here I have to believe that I will  have tons of baking to do! Thanksgiving was this past Thursday and I baked like there was no tomorrow! I asked everyone else in my family to please NOT bring dessert because I knew I could fill a table with treats myself [and I happen to enjoy baking, duh]! Below are the items I made.. most [if not all] I have blogged about:

• Ice Cream Cake [p.s. I made this 5 days in advanced and it was AWESOME.. held up perfectly out of the freezer and didn't melt too quickly! This is always a HUGE hit with the kids]
• Frozen Key Lime Pie
• Apple Crumb Pie [served with vanilla ice cream of course]
• Gram's Cheesecake [with fresh strawberries]
• Mini Cheesecakes [with caramel, chocolate, or cherry topping]
• Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Cream Puffs - Chocolate and Vanilla filling
• Vanilla Cupcakes
• Chocolate Oreo Cupcakes [actually these were for a family party right after thanksgiving]

I had a great time baking this Thanksgiving… I'm so grateful for all of the many blessings in my life at the moment… I have the BEST family and friends anyone could ask for, and of course I'm thankful for my blog for helping me discover so many wonderful treats that I now have in my back pocket and can whip up at any time!

Stay tuned - I hope to bake some more soon and then of course put out another crazy spread for Christmas :) Can't wait to try out some new Christmas Cookie recipes!

xoxoxo

Day 34 - Bite Size Apple Pies

Day 34

Friday, November 11, 2011 (11/11/11)

Even though its only Friday, I decided to do some baking. I was off of work so I had lots of time on my hands. A friend recently told me about a website called Pinterest.com, which is a site for people to share pictures and links - everything from clothes, shoes, recipes, home decor ideas, quotes, anything you can really think of. It's AWESOME and it's my obsession of the moment- I'm on the website at least twice a day!

Anyways, I have found some amazing looking recipes on the website and I cannot wait to try them. I think this may be just the first of many baking sessions this weekend. Tonight I wanted to try a recipe for bite size apple pies - I figured it went with my apple theme lately. The recipe looked really simple and so cute!

The only ingredients are apples, a frozen pie crust, sugar, cinnamon and butter - all things I happen to have at home except for the apples! I started by rolling out and preparing the pie crust (which I defrosted in the fridge before hand). Next, I melted some butter and mixed together the cinnamon and sugar - some of the butter gets brushed over the dough and then some of the cinnamon sugar gets sprinkled over the top of that. The dough is then cut into long strips and ready for the apples to be placed in them.

The apples just get peeled and cut into wedges and they are ready. I put 2 wedges in each strip of dough and rolled it up. Before these go into the oven, I brushed a little more butter and sprinkled a little more cinnamon sugar over the top.

These only bake for about 15 minutes until the dough is nice and golden brown. I was concerned because I wasn't sure that the apples were cooked through but when I tried a piece of one, they were perfect - it actually tasted like apple pie! The recommendation is to serve these warm with vanilla ice cream so I'll have to try that when I serve it to my Dad later :)

Stay tuned for next time… probably sooner rather than later!

Day 33 - Apple Crostata

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Today is the last Saturday in October and it is SNOWING! Not just flurrying either, there are a good few inches on the ground. Anyways, I decided I'm not going to let that stop me from making a delicious fall dessert! I am making an apple crostata [which is kind of like a free form tart] and fortunately I was able to get out to the farm to get some apples before the snow started.

I've seen crostata's made by some of my favorite Food Network chefs before but I have never tried one myself. While it is similar to an apple pie or apple crisp, the recipe calls for homemade dough so I was excited to try that.

I started out with the dough because it has to rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour. The dough consists of flour, sugar, salt, butter and ice water. The dough came together quickly in the food processor and I let it rest in the refrigerator while I prepared the rest of the ingredients.

I started by peeling and slicing 5 apples including a macintosh, a macun, a golden delicious and an empire [I'm a big believer in using a variety of apples when baking]. The apples are tossed with some orange zest and set aside. The next step is to make a little crumble [also in the food processor] using butter, flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt.

Finally, when the dough was ready, I rolled it out into a large circular shape [sort of] and started filling the center with the apples, making sure to leave a border of dough along the edges. I sprinkled the crumbs over the apples and folded in the extra dough to create a crostata.

The crostata baked for a good 45 minutes at 350 even though the recipe only called for about 20-25 minutes. It looked good though when it came out - the dough was nice and golden brown[and made the whole house smell amazing].

Can't wait to try this tonight! Stay tuned for next time!

***Ok I just looked at the recipe again and I realized it should have baked at 450!! NOT 350!! Still haven't tried this yet but I wonder if that changes the taste at all…. yikes! This might have to be a re-do!