Cupcake Fit For a Princess July 19, 2010

Chocolate Devil’s Food Cup Cake with Mocha Butter Cream Frosting

My dad’s office is having a bake sale/baking contest tomorrow and he asked if I wanted to send something it. Duh. Any chance to show off my baking abilities. I decided to make my own interpretation of a recipe from my favorite cup cake cook book.

Ingredients:

• 1 package plain devil’s food cake mix
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup veggie oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla or almond extract
• Fancy topping: chopped hazelnuts dipped in Nutella and put in freezer to harden.

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F
• Place cake mix, cocoa powder, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and extract in large mixing bowl. Blend with mixer on low until ingredients are blended.
• Scrape down sides of bowl, then adjust power to medium and blend for about 2 minutes.
• Spoon batter into cup cake tins with liners about 3/4 way full.
• Bake for about 22 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, then remove from pan to fully cool.

Frosting Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 heaping teaspoon instant coffee granules
• 1 stick butter at room temperature
• 2 ounces German’s sweet chocolate grated
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tablespoon water, if needed

Directions:

• Place milk and instant coffee in measuring cup, heat about 30 seconds in microwave, stir until dissolved. Let cool.
• Place butter, chocolate, and coffe mixture in large mixing bowl. Blend until soft.
• Add confectioners’ sugar, blend on low speed until well incorporated. Increase speed and blend for another minute until fluffy. Add water if too stiff.

Recipe courtest of the Cake Mix Doctor: Cupcakes

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The Ultimate Summer Treat: Fudge Pops July 10, 2010

These Popscicles are one of my favorite summer memories from when I was young. We would always have them on hand for when kids were out playing in the neighborhood.

The recipe is really simple, the hard part of making them though is whisking the mix together. I hope you have a strong arm, or else you’ll be getting a major work out. Otherwise, I’d recommend an electric mixer.

Ingredients:

• 1 box chocolate Jell-O pudding
• 3 cups milk

Directions:

• Mix together until pudding-ish consistancy.
• Pour into Popscicle molds and put in freezer.

Salsa Fiesta Chicken July 8, 2010

My mom and dad took my little brother to the movies this afternoon and before she left, she said, “Here is the recipe for dinner.” Luckily for her, I didn’t mind making dinner, and I needed something new to post. What i really liked about this recipe though was how easy it was. It was a different kind of Mexican dish instead of just tacos.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup Original Bisquick mix
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (recipe says cheddar, I used Mexican Four Cheese Mix)
• 2 tsp. Veggie Oil
• 3 boneless chicken breast halves, cut into pieces
• 1 1/4 cups Old El Paso thick’n Chunky Salsa (my family prefers medium spiciness)

Directions:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray square pan with Pam. Stir together Bisquick, water, and egg. Spread in pan; sprinkle with 1 1/4 cups of the cheese.
• Cook and stir chicken in oil over medium-high heat until outsides turn white; drain. Stir in salsa; heat until hot. Spoon over batter in pan to within 1/2 inch of edges. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of cheese on top.
• Bake for 22-25 minutes. Makes about 6 servings.

It is really yummy with Spanish rice and Pento beans.

Firecracker cupcakes July 5, 2010

Happy Fourth of July!! I was very patriotic today, wearing red, white and blue all day. I felt that the patriotism needed to continue so I decided to make confetti cupcakes. I attempted to make the frosting fire cracker looking, as seen above, but it took longer than I expected so not all the cupcakes look like that. Anyway, this was a fun recipe for the holiday.

Ingredients:

1 package white cake mix with pudding

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup veggie oil

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

red and blue sprinkles

Frosting:

1 stick butter

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

3-4 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line or grease cup cake pans

2. place cake mix, flour, milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in bowl. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop scrape down sides of bowl. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Add desired amount of sprinkles and stir in. pour about 1/4 cup of batter into cupcake pans bake for about 20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes on wire rack, take out of pans and let cool about 15 minutes then frost.

Frosting:

1. Place room temperature butter in bowl and mix until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Add confectioners’ sugar, milk and vanilla. Blend on low speed  for 1 minute. Increase speed to medium and blend for another minute.

recipe adapted from Cupcakes by the cake mix doctor.

Colin’s Chex Mix! June 14, 2010

While talking to a friend the other night discussing delicious snack food. He told me about his favorite home made chex mix. I promised him I would learn how to make it so that I can send it to him when he studies abroad in Spain next Spring. It is so delicious with a kick that is unforgettable.

Ingredients:
6ish cups of Crispix
6ish cups of Wheat Chex
3ish cups of Pretzels
3ish cups of Cheez-Itz
A Jar of Honey Roasted Peanuts (sprinkle desired amount)

Put all of the above in a roasting pan.

1/4 cup of butter/margarine (melted)
1 tsp. of Seasoning Salt
3+ Tbsp. of Hot Saucel  6
3+ Tbsp. of Worcestershire Sauce

2 Tbsp. light brown sugar (I added this ingredient to add a sweet bite and mellow out some of the spiciness)
A little cayenne pepper

Mix all this separate and pour evenly on top and mix

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F
cook 60 minutes taking it out every 15 minutes to stir.
Pour it out on paper towels to cool.

Thanks Colin Drumwright for the delicious snack idea!!

Late Night Snack: Cinnfully Delicious French Toast June 12, 2010

So it was about 11 o’clock and I was hungry. I have a knack for making breakfast at random hours of the night like pancakes or cereal, but I have been craving french toast and luckily we had the ingredients so I whipped some up real fast. Here is the quick, but delicious recipe.

Ingredients

• Oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 thick slices break, cut in half (I used cinnamon bread)
• Powdered Sugar

Directions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
• Place a little oil in skillet. Beat eggs, cream and pinch of salt in bowl.
• Dip bread into the batter and allow to soak
• Fry bread in skillet until brown on both sides. Put on baking sheet, then put in oven for about 4 minutes until they puff up. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
• Serves 2

Adapted from 1001 community Recipes: Easy Everyday Favorites

Melt In Your Mouth Chocolate Surprise: Molten Cupcakes June 10, 2010

Ingredients

• Basic Chocolate Ganache
  • ¾ heavy (whipping) cream
  • 8 ounces (1 1/3 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 tablespoon liqueur of your choice or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Cinnamon Crème Anglaise
    • 2 cups whole milk
    • 5 tablespoons sugar
    • Pinch of salt
    • 4 large egg yolks
    • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • Vegetable oil/Pam/Olive Oil
    • All-purpose flour
    • 1 package plain devil’s food cake mix
    • 1 cup water
    • ½ cup vegetable oil
    • 3 large eggs
    • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar

Directions

• Prepare the Basic Chocolate Ganache, cover it with plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator to chill.
  • Place cream in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat. Bring it to a boil stirring
  • Place chocolate chips in a large bowl, remove the cream from the heat and pour over the chocolate.
  • Stir with a wooden spoon until the chocolate is melted.
  • Stir in the liqueur or vanilla
  • Prepare the Cinnamon Crème Anglaise, cover it with plastic wrap right on the surface, and place in the refrigerator to chill
    • Place the milk, sugar, and salt in a heavy-bottomed, medium-size saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the sugar dissolves.
    • Place the egg yolks in a medium-size mixing bowl and beat with a fork until lemon-colored.
    • Remove saucepan from the heat and ladle a large spoonful of the hot milk mixture over the egg yolks, stirring gently.
    • Transfer the yolks to the milk mixture to combine. Place pan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens.
    • Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla and cinnamon
    • Place rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400°F. Lightly mist cupcake tin with oil and dust with flour, shake out excess flour and set aside
    • Place cake mix, water, oil, eggs, vanilla, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop mixer and scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase speed of mixer to medium and blend 1 ½ to 2 minutes more. The batter should look well combined and thickened.
    • Spoon 1/3 cup batter into each prepared cup, filling it about ¾ way full.
    • Drop a heaping teaspoonful of ganache onto the top of the batter.
    • Place in oven and bake for about 12-14 minutes. Remove pan from oven, let cool 1 minute.
    • Use knife to cut around edges then use fork to place warm cup cakes on serving place with crème anglaise. Shake powder sugar on top for garnesh.

~ Store cupcakes, in a cake saver or under glass dome, at room temperature up to one day. To reheat so centers are molten, place on microwave safe plate with paper towel on top for 10 seconds on high.

• Adapted from: Cupcakes! From the Cake mix Doctor by Anne Byrn