New Years Eve Cupakes

Happy New Years!! 

Honestly where did 2012 go? It seems like it just started, and now it's already a memory.

Wow time does fly...

But try not to think about it and make cupcakes instead!

 I used candy melts and a plastic bag with the corner cut to make these little sparklers!

Sparkler Cupcakes!

They just look like they're saying WooHoo!!

I got the idea for these cuties from Better Homes and Gardens 

 and used this recipe:

Simple Vanilla Cupcakes

from Joy the Baker Cookbook

makes 12 cupcakes

 Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out

1/2 cup whole milk

Directions:

1. Place rack in upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper or foil liners and set aside.

2. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and vanilla bean seeds until well incorporated.

4. Add half the flour mixture and beat on low speed until almost incorporated. Add the milk. Blend. Add the rest of the flour mixture and beat until almost incorporated. Remove the bowl from the mixer, and finish incorporating the ingredients with a spatula.

5. Divide the batter between the cupcake liners. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.

6. Remove from the oven and let rest in the pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

7. Frost with vanilla bean buttercream frosting.

Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting

from Joy the Baker Cookbook

makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened but still holding its shape

2 to 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 tablespoon milk

1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped (or 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract)

Directions:

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.

2. Scrape the butter from the sides of the bowl and add 1 and 1/2 cups of the powdered sugar. Beat on low, increasing to medium speed as the mixture combines. Add milk and vanilla bean or extract. Beat on high for 1 minute.

3. Stop the mixer, scrape down sides of bowl, and add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. If you'd like a thicker frosting, add up to a cup more powdered sugar, beating well. Frost completely cooked cupcakes.

4. Frosting will last, in airtight container, for 10 days in the refrigerator

Cranberry Orange Biscotti

Everyone knows the most important rule of Christmas...
The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.

That's actually not the most important. Although it is extremely important to remember.

Really the most important rule of Christmas is to make sure you do something nice for those who are most special to you.
Christmas is about spreading joy and making loved ones happy. With cookies. And chocolate.

Christmas is my most favorite holiday in the history of ever.
I love it.
And I take it very seriously.



What's better than snuggling around a warm fire listening to Christmas carols, drinking hot tea, next to a twinkling Christmas tree filled with homemade ornaments of your face on a snowman that you made when you were 4.
Ah yes, Christmas time. Who doesn't love it?! ...I guess Scrooge, but even he came around eventually!

(I realize Christmas is over and this post is late. sowhatwhocares?)

As always I make all my Christmas gifts for friends and neighbors. Homemade gifts are the best. People can tell you took the time to make them and wrap them in pretty packaging and deliver them to their house. It really is my favorite way to spread Christmas cheer. I usually personalize what I make for each friend to make it especially special. Doesn't everyone want to peer out their window to see me on their doorstep with a plate of cookies?! Probably no one actually. Get off my property. Leave the cookies. Kay bye.

Okay let's get down to the nitty gritty here. Biscotti.

It's crunchy, crispy, and best enjoyed with a warm beverage of coffee or tea.

They are delightful and just sweet enough

The biscotti are traditionally baked twice to reach their crunchy texture.

When they come out of the oven the first time, you let them cool for a few minutes, then carefully cut them into chunks, rearrange them on the mat and bake again.

 Extra time in the oven, means extra love goes in....I think...or we can just pretend? okay

Biscotti make perfect gifts for Christmas time. And they last forever in an airtight container so they're nice for shipping too!

Cranberry Orange Biscotti

from: The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter 

⅔ cup sugar

 ¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1½ teaspoons baking powder

2 large eggs

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons orange juice

1 tablespoon orange zest

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) a large (about 18 x 13-inch) baking sheet.

2. In a medium sized bowl, beat the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, and baking powder until mixture is smooth and creamy. Beat in the eggs; the batter may look slightly curdled. Add the orange juice and zest once the egg/sugar mixture is fully beaten. Lower the mixer speed, add the flour, cranberries, and walnuts, and mix until smooth. The dough will be quite soft and sticky, but should hold its shape when you drop it from a spoon.

3. Transfer dough to the prepared baking sheet, shaping it into a rough log about 14 inches long. It will be about 2½ inches wide and about ¾ inch thick.

4. Bake the dough for 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven and let cool on the pan anywhere from 5 to 25 minutes. Five minutes before cutting it, use a spray bottle filled with room-temperature water to lightly but thoroughly spritz the log (I used my hands and lightly sprinkled water on the biscotti), making sure to cover the sides as well as the top. This will help to soften the crust a little to make it easier to cut.

5. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Wait another 5 minutes, then cut the biscotti into ¾-inch slices. This part is kinda confusing to explain...Slice the biscotti diagonally, but when you're slicing be sure to cut straight up and down. So slice on the diagonal, but hold the knife straight.

6. Set biscotti upright on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer them to a rack to cool.

7. Store the biscotti in an airtight container to preserve their texture. If they aren't as crunchy as you'd like (and the weather is dry), store them uncovered, overnight, to continue drying. Biscotti can be stored at room temperature for 1 week; for longer storage, wrap airtight and freeze.

Chocolate Cream-Filled Vanilla Doughnuts

Today was a day for doughnuts.
These doughnuts are very special and were made with a very special person in mind.

I promised my sister I'd make these doughnuts for her, and I never break a promise!

Let me tell you, you can't just whip up some fresh doughnuts for your family for a quick breakfast.
Noo it is a process.
A delicious, beautiful process.
I absolutely loved spending the morning working on these guys, I've never deep fried anything before so it was a new experience for me. I will make make an exception for doughnuts.

Once you make homemade doughnuts, it's hard to even think about buying them ever again.
They are so amazingly fluffy, airy, and doughy and you feel like a pro because you totally just made your own doughnuts in your own kitchen. And you share them with neighbors and friends and parents and they all think you're so cool because you just made doughnuts! And they're flippin delicious too!

These doughnuts are perfect for making people happy and making the day a bit better.
They will cure all problems. I promise they are so yummy. I never break a promise.

The recipe can be found here at Joy the Baker

This chocolate pastry cream. Ooh man it is rich and creamy and I think I want to bathe in it. Or maybe just eat it instead.

 Let the little doughnuts rise for a bit on their pan

 The dough is so light and slightly sticky. It will soon become the most beautiful airy doughnut puff and it will be your new best friend.

 My version of deep frying: dutch oven, and a sauce whisk.

Boom. Homemade doughnuts, no fancy equipment needed

 The black hole of chocolate cream. Delicious yet deadly. Its like you can't look away no matter how hard you try.

These are best enjoyed warm, but will still be as wonderful after they've sat for a while.

Make these doughnuts part of your agenda.

It's like a mini challenge, and the prize is obviously awesome.

A Very Happy Turkey Day

Tis the season to be jolly!
and stuff ourselves til we're purple with cherpumple and turducken
Oh America...

Everybody loves Thanksgiving! And the fact that it only comes once a year makes people go a little coo-coo in the head.
A trip to the grocery store turns into a push-and-shove obstacle course of snarling people trying to get their hands on the best butterball turkey.
Don't underestimate the old ladies, they are small but mighty.

Thanksgiving makes you do things you wouldn't normally do.
Like waking up at the crack of dawn to start cooking dinner.
And making obscene amounts of food that you know no human being could ever finish, but we do it anyway.
And letting 25 family members come stay at your house and snore and use your bathroom.

Thanksgiving really is an American holiday, and although it seems a little silly when you think about it, it's still just an awesome feast of awesome food with awesome family...so don't think about it too hard okay

And it's not like its only one day and then it's over, because you get to have leftovers for the next week!
Unless you're like my family and make a ginormous pot of seafood gumbo the day after Thanksgiving. Yeah.
More leftovers!

We had a pretty big turnout for Thanksgiving this year, and I really wanted to make a big dessert presentation. So I ended up making 5 different desserts!
I had a lot of fun preparing everything and baking into the wee hours of the night. I turned my house into a pie factory, and it was glorious.

 Mom's beautiful table about to be set. Simple and homey, just like us

 

 Pecan Pie

 A Southern classic. Much loved by Grandpa!

Chocolate Caramel Walnut Tart

Very rich and smooth

Gotta have that Pumpkin Pie!

 (Partially burnt crust due to a good amount spilling over into the oven on its way in. oops.)

A mountainous beast of an Apple Pie

Pear Cranberry and Gingersnap Crumble

 It was a great Thanksgiving and I am so thankful for my family and friends. I would not be who I am without them!

I hope everyone is as stuffed as a turkey! Make those leftovers last because we got a long year ahead of us. Happy Thanksgiving :)

Everybody like Parfait!

 

"Have you ever met a person, you say, 'Let's get some parfait,' they say, 'Hell no, I don't like no parfait'? Parfaits are delicious!"

Classic. Shrek will never get old.

I've actually never had a parfait before. Crazy I know!
But this was my first and definitely not my last parfait-making endeavor.

These are basically everything you love about pumpkin pie...
 Except in layers! And in pretty dessert cups! 
And a lot more rum-y

I know, I know... pumpkin pie is a classic and shouldn't be messed with. But this takes it to a whole new, fancy, whipped-up level of awesome. It'll change your mind about the traditional pie and it could even be a new dessert for your Thanksgiving table!

 Fold the whipped cream into the pumpkin-rum mixture until super fluffy and wonderful

  

Layered with whipped cream and crunchy gingersnaps.

I put extra gingersnaps in the middle too just ya know, for extra deliciousness

Pumpkin Parfait Party! Woot

 

 Pumpkin Mousse Parfait

 From: Annie's Eats

Yield: 8-10 servings

 

Ingredients 

 

¼ cup dark rum

2 tsp. unflavored gelatin powder

1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup brown sugar

2 large egg yolks

Pinch of orange zest

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

½ tsp. salt

1½ cups heavy cream, chilled

1½ tsp. vanilla extract

1¼ cups heavy cream, chilled

3-4 tbsp. confectioners' sugar

chopped gingersnap cookies

 

Directions:

 

Place the rum in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin powder over the top. Let soften for 10 minutes.

 Meanwhile, combine the pumpkin, sugars, egg yolks, orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk to blend. Place the bowl with the gelatin over a pan of simmering water and heat just until the gelatin has dissolved. Immediately stir into the pumpkin mixture.

 In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Blend in the vanilla. Fold the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture until no streaks remain. Set aside.

To make the whipped cream, add the heavy cream and confectioners’ sugar to the now empty bowl of the mixer with the whisk attachment. Whip on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.

Layer the pumpkin mousse in serving dishes with the whipped cream and chopped gingersnaps. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
 

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween folks!

Unfortunately I've never been a big fan of Halloween.
I scare very easily and I'm not big on people covered in fake blood and scary men in masks jumping out of nowhere. Mmm, no thank you, I try to stay away from things that terrify me.
I'm more into the happy, joyful, Christmas and Thanksgiving, everybody-loves-each-other-and-there's-no-zombies holidays.

And I hate scary movies! The Shining pretty much scarred me for life... I'll never be the same. (just kidding Mom). I'm such a baby when it comes to scary movies though, I can't even watch the commercials for them. I just hate being scared, I'd rather be around nice, pretty things like sunshine, cake, and puppies.

But, this Halloween I was stuck inside studying anyways so I didn't have the choice to dress up. Hours of PreCalc homework was the scariest thing I saw all night.

Most Halloween confections really creep me out. The witches fingers especially. Not okay with feeling like I'm eating fingers okay.
Or cupcakes decorated like eyeballs or spiders. Ick.
I don't want to think about eating eyeballs, no thank you! 

Nevertheless, I did manage to squeeze in time to bake up some Halloween cupcakes a few nights before hand. I've made this same recipe as a chocolate cake and everybody raved about it, so I thought I'd try it in cupcake-form for some dark, deadly cupcakes! They are rich and moist, and incredibly chocolatey. Needless to say they were a big hit among my roommates!

Eek! Ghost in the batter! Spooky...

 Let the little monsters chill out in the pan for a few minutes

 Decorated in the least-scary way possible. No spider cupcakes for this girl

 Sprinkles. Get into it

Chocolate Cupcakes

from: MyBakingAddiction

Ingredients:

1¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar 

¾ cups good cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken

½ cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

 Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside.

2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl and mix until just combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. While mixing, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

3. Spoon batter into 24 muffin tins, filling each  2/3 full. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, switching positions halfway through, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Vanilla Buttercream

 from: Cook's Illustrated

**NOTE: This recipe makes about 1½ cups, enough to frost 12 cupcakes, I made one and a half recipes worth because I don't like to put a lot of frosting on cupcakes, but you'll probably want to double it.

Also, if you don't want to use a vanilla bean, omit it and increase the vanilla extract to 1½ teaspoons.

If you are using a handheld mixer, increase mixing times by at least 50 percent.

Ingredients:

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

½ vanilla bean, halved lengthwise

1¼ cups confectioners' sugar 

Pinch of table salt

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon heavy cream

Directions:

1. In standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds. Using paring knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into butter and beat mixture at medium-high speed to combine, about 15 seconds.

2. Add confectioners' sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds. Scrape down bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds; scrape bowl, add vanilla extract and heavy cream, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until light ans fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down side of bowl once or twice.