Bite Size Mint Chocolate Explosions

So remember the left over mint chocolate ganache from my Mint Chocolate Explosions? I used the left overs to make truffles last night!

This process was SO easy! I just left the ganache in the glass measuring cup in the fridge overnight...covered...and when I took it out last night after work, the consistency was splendid. It doesn't get super hard, but it doesn't stay soft. It's hard to explain the consistency but it's the PERFECT one for truffles. I've read that one should use a melon baller to scoop out the ganache before rolling the ball between your hands to make it round. However, I didn't like this whatsoever. I got rid of that and used a regular spoon instead. This made them bigger! Which is better in this situation...

The ball-rolling process took no more than five minutes. Once I had them on a plate, I put the plate back in the fridge for a few hours. When you roll the balls between your hands, the chocolate melts a bit so to harden them back up, place the balls in the fridge! Tick tock...tick tock...

Around 8pm I could remove the plate from the fridge, melt some semi-sweet chocolate chips, prepare my bowls of various toppings, and get to dipping!

As I rummaged through my storage of baking supplies, I found three opened bags of chocolate chips. This is ridiculous! Ask me why...I have no clue. One of the opened bags were actually semi-sweet chocolate MELTS which I don't really get. They are EXACTLY the same as chips but apparently they create "layers" in chocolate chip cookies. Hmmmm...I call bull! Anyways...I combined the bags which probably equaled almost a full, 12 oz. bag of chocolate chips and melted them in the microwave. Many would say they should go on a double broiler on the stove but I like the microwave method just the same. It gets the job done either way!

I rummaged again through my storage of baking supplies to find toppings I could roll the dipped truffles in. I went with slivered almonds, coconut flakes, and rainbow sprinkles. I placed each in its own bowl and got to work.

Tips: Along my first truffle making journey, I learned a few tips.
#1: When dipping the truffles into the chocolate, use a fork. Roll 'em around a bit, place them on the fork, and let the excess chocolate drip off back into the bowl. Be sure to scrape the fork against the edge of the bowl to remove any extra.

#2: When tossing the dipped truffle into its topping, cover it completely with garnish and let it sit in the bowl for a minute or two. It's less messy and gives it a bit to harden before using your fingers to place it in its permanent...or not so permanent...spot on a plate.

#3: I'm pretty sure you're supposed to place the finished truffles on parchment paper on a baking sheet (or somewhere else convenient) but I didn't have any of this. I did, however, have lots of mini cupcake liners so I used these instead to house the truffles. They work just as well and it saves ya a step once you go to serve them!

I then let the plate of finished truffles sit out on my dining room table for a while to harden. Many say you can let them sit at room temp for a while and serve them that way or you can place them in an airtight container and into the fridge. I personally like cooler truffles anyways. I divided them up into Tupperwares (I planned on handing them out to different people) and stuck 'em in the fridge.

Everyone at work loved my Bite Size Mint Chocolate Explosion truffles! One even said it was my best treat yet. I recommend trying this oh-so-easy delightful treat!

Less calories in a bite size dessert, right? Ha!

Bite Size Mint Chocolate Explosion Truffles (My left over ganache made about 20 truffles...the full amount of ganache I made is reflected in the recipe below which probably would have made about 30 truffles)

Ganache Center:
1 c. heavy whipping cream
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 tsp. any flavor extract you want (I used peppermint, obviously)

Let the cream come to a boil on the stove. Place chocolate chips in a glass, heat proof, measuring cup and pour boiling cream over it. Whisk it smooth. Place in the fridge over night. Scoop out with a spoon into bite size balls and roll between your hands. Place balls back in the fridge for at least a few hours.

Coating/Toppings:
About 12 oz. of semi-sweet chocolate chips (you could use white chocolate, milk, etc.)

Melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave for about a minute and half. Roll the ganache balls in the chocolate and cover in toppings of your choice.

Suggestions on Toppings:
Cocoa powder
Sprinkles (chocolate or rainbow)
Coconut flakes
Any sort of nuts chopped finely (my almonds were already slivered)
Powdered sugar

Enjoy and Cheers!

Mint Chocolate Explosion

I think that's what I'm calling these cupcakes I made last night.

I never use filling for my cupcakes so I thought I'd try this out last night. I know I had said I was making chocolate cupcakes filled with chocolate ganache and Creme de Menthe, but I just couldn't bring myself to make three stops last night after work in the hurricane. Well...there wasn't a hurricane but it was extremely windy and rainy! I was already stopping at Michael's to grab some colored fondant and Giant for a few ingredients I needed--I wasn't about to make another stop at the liquor store for a tiny bottle of Creme de Menthe! I had bought peppermint extract on Sunday night at Wegman's so I thought this would do the trick just fine.

I needed to experiment with fondant just ONCE. I always see cupcakes with smooth, colorful fondant designs on top and of course beautiful wedding cakes have caught my eye before. Fondant is definitely a beautiful thing. So perfect and smooth (if you do it right of course) and you can make WHATEVER you want out of it.

I had to try and last night was the night.

I wanted the most basic vanilla cupcake recipe that I could possibly find so I went with the recipe I've used and tweaked in the past from www.cooks.com. I made it my own and whipped up the following:

1/4 c. unsalted butter
3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1.5 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 c. canola oil
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1/4 c. nonfat cold milk

Mint Chocolate Ganache
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. heavy whipping cream
3/4 tsp. peppermint extract

And I used traditional vanilla butter cream for the topping. I lathered on a layer of this before covering four of the cupcakes with colored fondant so that it would stick. I had gotten a four-color pack of already prepared fondant from Michael's and since I had a 50% off coupon, it was only about $5! Woohoo!

Then...I winged it! If that's a word...

Next time...I will either add another egg yolk or SOMETHING to make the cupcake more moist. This always seems to be a challenge for me and I need to make this my focus from here on out. No one likes a dry cupcake!! I feel like the addition of cocoa powder may have dried it out a bit. I could have also used the full 2/3 c. of milk instead of only 1/4.

Tips...Use an apple corer when filling cupcakes! It's a quick and easy way to get the centers out...and into your fingers for you to eat :) Also, I placed the chocolate chips in a large, glass measuring cup and poured the boiling whipping cream right into that and whisked it all together for the ganache. This made it easy to pour into the centers of the cupcakes.

I suggest...if you have leftover ganache like I did, place it in the fridge for a few hours, use a melon baller to scoop out chunks of the ganache, place them on a baking tray, and make truffles the next day! That's what I plan on doing tonight fo' sho'!

Check out how my fondant covered cupcakes turned out below. I brought the regular frosted ones to work today and everyone had good reviews. The ganache filled centers are like lava! So delish!

Cheers!

Cinnamon Bun Gone Donut

Who doesn't like a fresh, warm, gooey cinnamon bun!? That's right...NO ONE!

At least I've never heard of anyone NOT liking one. I've heard Cinnabon is the best place to go. My CFO actually tried to make me drive there for him one afternoon because he was craving one so bad but I couldn't bring myself to do such a chore. Especially because I knew I shouldn't be eating one myself and if I went...well...we all know what would have happened. One day though...one day...

Well I've actually made homemade sticky cinnamon buns back when I first started this blog. And actually...it may have been before starting the blog. I just REALLY wanted to tackle this treat that EVERYONE loves. I knew it was going to be a long, challenging task but I had faith. I knew you had to let the dough rise...you had to roll it out...you had to then roll it back up...yada yada. Let me tell ya, it WAS indeed a long project. But challenging, eh, not too much! And the result was fantastic! It had nuts on the inside, a gooey center AND sauce on top...they were just all around delish!

Anyways, back on the topic of what Dominic and I made last Saturday night after having a splendid, healthy dinner at my parents. Everyone knows that cinnamon buns are so good so why not take that idea and turn it into a baked doughnut?! I actually was browsing baking blogs for a while and stumbled across Averie Cooks and her blog. She had a recipe on there for Baked Cinnamon Bun Donuts with Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze. I thought this was a great invention! They are SO much easier and quicker than making actual cinnamon buns. Now, don't get me wrong, everyone needs an actual cinnabun here and there and no one can EVER take away the flavor of the fresh, warm, gooey-ness that I mentioned in the beginning of this post. You also don' t get your fingers as messy eating a cinnamon bun donut. That's the child in me speaking...

Averie's recipe for these donuts was extremely easy and the whole process took no more than 30 minutes. This was convenient considering I was exhausted from drinking a few beers at the chili cook off that day and running around all day long! We even forgot to run to the store after my parents Saturday night to make sure we had everything we needed for this recipe (but somehow we remembered to get a donut pan before going to their house...) Luckily, Dominic had everything but cream cheese. I figured since glazes are normally just butter, powdered sugar, and any other flavor you want to add to it, leaving the cream cheese out wouldn't be that big of a deal. He also doesn't have a hand blender so thank goodness this recipe didn't really require a REAL blender...

We whipped up the glaze and through it in the fridge so we could add it to the donuts in the morning for breakfast.

What a delightful treat in the morning! These baked donuts are somewhat denser than donuts you will find at Dunkin or any other place, but they still capture the strong flavor of cinnamon sugar and that icing taste that everyone needs drenched on top of a real cinnamon bun!

Enjoy and Cheers!

Order From Liv Today!

Current Mood: Hopeful
Current Song: Weezer-Undone (Gotta love 90's Alternative on Pandora)

So the Valentine's Day order of 200 mini red velvet cupcakes for Peerce's Plantation was the last order that was scheduled in February. It was a good month for Liv's Bakery and I want that to continue throughout the upcoming months!

Dominic's mom said the Valentine's minis were a HUGE hit with the ladies that night and someone is looking to order some more for her birthday party in May! Yay!

As we approach another huge holiday for many people--St. Patrick's Day--I encourage you to order from Liv's Bakery! This weekend, I am going to be testing out a Bailey's Irish Cream cupcake with a green and white tinted vanilla butter cream. What do you think?! I will let you all know how it comes out this Sunday and it will then be featured on my blog for orders to be placed.

Have an upcoming baby shower? Bridal shower? St. Patrick's Day get together? ORDER TODAY!

Be sure to visit the page that features the cupcake flavors I currently have for sale and stay tuned in this weekend to hear about my holiday experiment :)

Cheers!

Biggest Order Yet!

...And it only took me about 4 hours!

Cute little liners I found

The boyfriend's mom ordered 200 mini red velvet cupcakes for Valentine's Day at Peerce's Plantation. She's the same person who ordered the 8 dozen minis for a bridal shower a few weeks ago. I am discovering that this mini business (literally...minis...) is working out well for me!

I'm coming to realize that many people would rather order mini cupcakes for parties and get togethers. It's easy for guests to hop on over to the dessert table at a party, pick up a mini cupcake, and eat it in one (or if you have a small mouth, maybe two) bites. Then, they don't feel guilty coming back for another! Not to mention, minis actually take less time to bake than regular sized cupcakes. It took me about 4 hours to finish the 200...and it would have taken me less had I had MORE than just TWO mini cupcake pans. I really need to invest in two more...

Minis also take less time to bake AND you can bake 48 minis at a time. They take less time to cool. They take one swirl of frosting with a pastry bag. Can't get much simpler than that!

I didn't get to try these red velvet...but I'm hoping that the ladies who went to dinner with their sweethearts on Valentine's Day at Peerce's enjoyed the cupcake and champagne :)

The icing, like always on red velvets, was divine  The cream cheese flavor really shines through and pairs nicely with the cupcake flavor. I would never recommend using a different icing for these!

I topped with a conversation heart and trekked out through the snow and massive amounts of deer on the side of the road to Peerce's to deliver them Wednesday night. Nothing better than receiving a free mini cupcake and glass of champagne on Love Day!

Cheers!

Tip of the Day: Minis only take about 9-11 minutes to bake at 350. If you have a regular sized cupcake recipe, and let's say it makes 12 cupcakes, it will make TRIPLE that amount of minis (about). So it would make about 36 minis. Start off at 9 minutes and if they are not done, increase by 1 minute at a time. They should never take longer than 11 minutes.

Baby Shower Airy Delights

So one of my sister's closest friends from when we were kids--and neighbor--is having a baby in the next four weeks. My sister was the first to get married and have a baby and now it's her turn!

A few weeks ago, my sister said how great it would be if I could bake the dessert for the baby shower. Of course! I said, why wouldn't I?! Then she went on to say they are on a budget...soooo....yeahhhh...is exactly how she put it. Oh well, a new life is being brought into the world, I can make a donation :)

My sister had mentioned that Cassandra would like something "fruity." I thought about it for a while...a fruit infused cupcake? A jam infused cupcake? A fruit tart? Since my specialty is cupcakes, this is what my mind was focused on. I thought about chocolate cupcakes with a raspberry filling and a light raspberry butter cream frosting. Alex said that was too much. I let my mind think completely simple and suggested a vanilla bean cupcake with whipped cream frosting and fruit on top! Alex liked the idea so I went with it.

This was simple enough and they turned out fantastic! I usually don't get to try my cupcakes but since I ended up attending the baby shower, I couldn't refuse to eat one when someone was passing them around, right?!

I was a bit worried...when I went to the store to pick up whipping cream and fruit Sunday morning. It's February...what fruit is good at this time of year!? My friend suggested berries...I didn't know berries were good in February...and they really aren't the best to be honest...I saw blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries in Walmart that day. I literally stood there for 5-10 minutes trying to find a good container of each. They turned out to be not all that bad!

I was then worried...when I poured the container of whipping cream into the mixing bowl and immediately thought it wasn't going to be enough to frost 24 cupcakes. I was already running behind and did not have time to go back to the store for more! Fortunately, it turned out to be JUST enough.

Tip: It's pretty sad that I can't remember the exact size carton of whipping cream I bought...but it's not the tiny pint...and it's not a large quart. It's the one RIGHT in between. This carton, plus about 3 tbsp of sugar, plus a touch of vanilla extract makes enough frosting to PIPE on two dozen cupcakes.

Everyone at the shower was satisfied with these light, vanilly, airy treats! They sort of reminded me of an Independence Day dessert with the fruit colors.

Cheers!

He was pooped after the party too!

Liv Cooked...Say What?!

That's right.

I actually COOKED on Friday. I always thought I was a baker and not so much a cook but Friday proved me wrong.

Now don't get me wrong...the tomato soup recipe I made the other day was a really simple one but it was my first time making soup and I think I should give myself some credit!

Dominic got his tonsils removed and his deviated septum re-structured it so I wanted to be a thoughtful girlfriend and make him some homemade soup. I didn't want to have anything chunky in there and I also didn't want to go over the top and make something really tasty/new since he can't taste anything. So I stuck with a simple, tomato basil soup.

It was so yummy! Next time, I am going to serve it with cheesy garlic bread. Here's the recipe:

2 tbsp basil flavored olive oil
3 tsp minced garlic
1, 14oz can of whole peeled tomatoes
1, 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 cups chicken or veggie stock
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp chopped basil
Parmesan cheese if you wish

If you have the basil infused olive oil, this adds some flavor to the soup. First, you heat the olive oil and garlic in a saucepan over medium heat for about 1 minute. Add the crushed tomatoes. Add the whole tomatoes one by one squeezing each to break them up. Pour in the liquid from the can as well. Add the salt, pepper, and stock and mix well. Heat this for about 10 minutes before adding the cream and basil.

So easy right?!

I then topped with some Parmesan cheese when I served it. I used chicken stock but I am going to try it with veggie stock next time. The perfect choice for a vegetarian! It's not too creamy either so if you don't like creamy soup, this would still be a great choice for you. Serve with grilled cheese or cheesy garlic bread and it will be the best meal ever!

Enjoy and cheers!

Ray-vens Cupcake Order

Black & Purple ruled everyone's house in Baltimore on Sunday so I was excited to incorporate these colors into my cupcake order for Mrs. Jo!

She wanted one dozen vanilla bean and one dozen s'mores so I decided to put my own twist on them. I iced the vanilla bean with vanilla original butter cream dyed purple and the s'mores with my special, graham cracker butter cream dyed black.

The s'mores cupcakes are iced with a butter cream that includes a "special" ingredient which is secret but it is gluten free and vegan. It literally tastes like graham crackers so it is PERFECT for these cupcakes! I usually bake mini marshmallows into the batter but this time, I iced with the special butter cream, dyed it black, and topped each cupcake with mini marshmallows and graham cracker crumbs. They were awesome!

I tried a new piping design...and it ended up looking great on the vanilla bean cupcakes. I have misplaced my 1M piping tip (but I'm buying a bigger and better one tomorrow!!) so I am stuck with a smaller star tip. When I piped the icing around the center of the cupcake, it didn't look like quite enough so I added an extra decoration around the edges that turned out pretty cool!

I started using my oven thermometer...and I actually found out that my oven is SPOT on. I suggest that everyone buy this tool! It was only $7 at Plastic Container City where I also bought a BUNCH of plastic cupcake containers to deliver my orders in. They are much easier than trying to fit them into cardboard boxes and so much easier to transport since each cupcake has it's own cavity to fit into. Visit their website!!

Raven's Super Bowl Sunday cupcake order=success!

Sunday I also made the mini version of Liv's Bakery's original recipe--Cinnamon Swirl Latte cupcakes. I used homemade whipped cream instead of vanilla butter cream and everyone at the boyfriend's party loved them. For ordering purposes, I will stick with butter cream since whipped cream cannot stay out in room temp as long. They are scrumptious either way.

Cheers!