Current Mood: Awake
Current Favorite Song: Cash Cash-Take Me Home
Countdown Until Wedding Day=261 days!
It's going to come super quick, let me tell you. I've heard this before and it's definitely starting to take a toll on me now! We are way ahead of the game though the only other vendor we really need to book is the flower company! I've got my dress ordered, the photographer booked, the caterer (obviously) booked, the DJ and Irish band booked, and the cake ALMOST booked. I'm really not too picky when it comes to all this stuff which is a good thing. Next up...bridesmaids dresses!
Back on track...
It's been a few weeks since I've blogged about my scrumptious Mounds cupcakes that were a huge hit by the family! Shawn, my 20 month old nephew, face planted into it. Yes...that's how good it was!
But then again, put chocolate in front of a child and it's an automatic trigger. He sure has his family's sweet tooth already!
Anywaysssssssss...geez do I sure get off track.
Next up: 10 dozen mini red velvet cupcakes with beautiful pink cream cheese buttercream for The Grille at Peerce's Plantation for Valentine's Day. I did this last year for Kelly and she said everyone loved 'em at dinner that night. Keep them coming, Kel!
I also have another order in March for a bridal shower. Four dozen, all different flavors including the lime margarita ones I did last spring for Erica's birthday. With the added tequila in the batter, on top of the cupcakes after baking, AND in the frosting, it makes this flavor a huge hit. Keeps them so moist. Awesome flavor for the spring and summer for sure!
Tip of the day: When using alcohol in cupcakes, it's a good idea to bake the liquor into the batter and then brush more of whatever liquor you're using on top of each cupcake right when they come out of the oven. This really make the flavor more prominent (it also makes them still okay for those under 21 to eat as it's still not a great amount!).
*Have a baby or bridal shower coming up? Need something special for Valentine's Day? Birthday party or just a get together happening soon? ORDER FROM LIV TODAY!*
Oh Hey...Chocolate Mounds Cupcake, you say?
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Current Mood: Happy that I'm going into work later tomorrow
Current Song: Katy Perry-Dark Horse (I'm OBSESSED!)
9 MORE MONTHS UNTIL THE BIG DAY!
I saw on Facebook a moment ago that my mother posted a photo of my cupcake that I made tonight for her birthday celebration...and then she liked her own photo...but that's besides the point. They were DELISH. Probably the best ones yet. I think I say that about all of my cupcakes, however, this time it is no lie. Mom was raving about them. Nothing is better than a chocolate cupcake after a salty, salmon and Greek lemon potato dinner (thanks Dad, it was great!)
My mom has a maj....birthday on Wednesday. Yes, I stopped in the middle of that word. She doesn't like anyone to know what number it is. So my dad decided to make scrumptious salmon with mango puree on top, Greek lemon potatoes, and spinach salad for dinner. He asked if I could make cupcakes for dessert and of course I couldn't turn that down! So Friday night after work I had at it in my baking world. Which is my tiny kitchen. Dom was out working so it was the perfect baking opportunity. I also had to make 6 dozen minis for his mom--3 dozen vanilla with chocolate butter cream and 3 dozen chocolate with PB butter cream. This whole entire batch of cupcakes have been my best yet (including my mom's).
Moist, airy, tasty. The three best words to describe them all. Best of all, the butter cream stayed soft since Friday night!
Tip of the Day: When you take the cupcakes out of the oven, do not wait too long to remove them from the pans. They can cook longer while sitting in the pans. Take them out right away, put them in some sort of container until you frost them. After you frost them, put them right back into the container (Tupperware, cupcake carrier, etc.) and shut the lid. This not only keeps the cupcake moist, it keeps that butter cream soft (if you make butter cream with butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla, it tends to get hard on the cupcakes).
I hope all of the baby shower guests enjoyed their mini and I KNOW that my mom enjoyed her Mounds cupcakes. The coconut was a great addition to the batter as well as the finishing touch on the tops. Next time, I want to try making an Almond Joy cupcake!
Use the tip, it will change your taste tester for life.
Cheers!
Current Song: Katy Perry-Dark Horse (I'm OBSESSED!)
9 MORE MONTHS UNTIL THE BIG DAY!
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| Chocolate with PB butter cream |
My mom has a maj....birthday on Wednesday. Yes, I stopped in the middle of that word. She doesn't like anyone to know what number it is. So my dad decided to make scrumptious salmon with mango puree on top, Greek lemon potatoes, and spinach salad for dinner. He asked if I could make cupcakes for dessert and of course I couldn't turn that down! So Friday night after work I had at it in my baking world. Which is my tiny kitchen. Dom was out working so it was the perfect baking opportunity. I also had to make 6 dozen minis for his mom--3 dozen vanilla with chocolate butter cream and 3 dozen chocolate with PB butter cream. This whole entire batch of cupcakes have been my best yet (including my mom's).
Moist, airy, tasty. The three best words to describe them all. Best of all, the butter cream stayed soft since Friday night!
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| Vanilla bean with chocolate frosting |
I hope all of the baby shower guests enjoyed their mini and I KNOW that my mom enjoyed her Mounds cupcakes. The coconut was a great addition to the batter as well as the finishing touch on the tops. Next time, I want to try making an Almond Joy cupcake!
Use the tip, it will change your taste tester for life.
Cheers!
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| Mounds Cupcake |
New Cupcake Added to the Menu!
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THAT'S RIGHT!
I made a Peppermint Mocha cupcake with chocolate whipped cream for our holiday party at our house last Saturday and let me tell you, these are GOOD. They were moist, had just the right amount of mint flavor to balance out with the chocolate, and were topped with what a real Peppermint Mocha drink at Starbucks would be topped with. Except this was CHOCOLATE whipped cream. Talk about fancy.
I made these in minis and I added a TOUCH...literally...of peppermint extract. 1/8 of a teaspoon goes a LONG way. I also added peppermint crunchies (Andes brand) to the chocolate batter. You don't even NEED frosting on these babies. The hubby-to-be almost keeled over when he tried one after pulling them out of the oven.
And that's the moment...when someone is about to keel over after tasting your desserts...that you realize baking is your passion.
I slapped on (actually, I piped) some homemade chocolate whipped cream, topped with a few peppermint crunchies, and VOILA. These gems were supreme.
Delectible.
Parties in the mouths.
Cupcakes-that-make-me-drool-when-I-think-about-them.
Get the point?
These are now available in minis or regular sized cupcakes.
Order them today!!
Cheers!
I made a Peppermint Mocha cupcake with chocolate whipped cream for our holiday party at our house last Saturday and let me tell you, these are GOOD. They were moist, had just the right amount of mint flavor to balance out with the chocolate, and were topped with what a real Peppermint Mocha drink at Starbucks would be topped with. Except this was CHOCOLATE whipped cream. Talk about fancy.
I made these in minis and I added a TOUCH...literally...of peppermint extract. 1/8 of a teaspoon goes a LONG way. I also added peppermint crunchies (Andes brand) to the chocolate batter. You don't even NEED frosting on these babies. The hubby-to-be almost keeled over when he tried one after pulling them out of the oven.
And that's the moment...when someone is about to keel over after tasting your desserts...that you realize baking is your passion.
I slapped on (actually, I piped) some homemade chocolate whipped cream, topped with a few peppermint crunchies, and VOILA. These gems were supreme.
Delectible.
Parties in the mouths.
Cupcakes-that-make-me-drool-when-I-think-about-them.
Get the point?
These are now available in minis or regular sized cupcakes.
Order them today!!
Cheers!
Petit Order of Minis
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Current Mood: content and chipper!
Why you ask? I just had a satisfying lunch and am finally going places
Where you ask? Not literally, but I think I am going to really like and feel rewarded with my new position at my job. I am the HR guru!
Current song: Silent Night-Lady Antebellum...gotta love those Christmas tunes around this time of year!
I CAN'T BELIEVE CHRISTMAS IS NEXT WEEK. Holy cow...where has the time gone!? 2014 is going to be the best year ever...I am marrying my best friend, moving up within my job (including moving to a new office), and getting two weeks off to experience the west coast (again) with my (to be) husband! WOWZERS. That is weird to say. Seriously.
So I'm on my lunch break right now, with my head phones on, listening to Christmas tunes waiting patiently for next week. Is it the weekend yet!?
Back to the baking side of my life--last week on my off day, I baked six dozen minis for Kelly. Three dozen chocolate with PB frosting and three dozen vanilla with chocolate frosting. I am not the BIGGEST chocolate fan, but I really liked those chocolate PB ones. After all, who DOESN'T like chocolate and PB together!? The frosting stayed soft in the containers so when I went to eat the leftovers a few days later, they were just right. Normally butter cream icing gets hard, but this kind stayed so soft! Perhaps the fat in the PB??? Who knows, but I know I will be recommending that flavor frosting from now on.
Oh and of course the vanilla were delish because that recipe will forever stay with me. I don't think I'll ever use another vanilla recipe. This is the ULTIMATE vanilla cupcake and it is great. The recipe is here. Sometimes I leave the vanilla bean out of it and put extra extract...depending on how much of a rush I'm in.
The trick to this recipe: WEIGH out your ingredients instead of measuring them. This recipe uses cake flour and I've noticed that if I just measure, not weigh, I tend to use more. Weighing gives you the fluffier texture instead of the flat, muffin top finish.I know weighing can be a pain, but it's actually pretty easy and I even weigh the wet ingredients in this recipe (at least the sour cream). Try it out!
And!!!!...don't over bake them! They are going to be white in color...not your traditional yellow. This cupcake is VANILLA. Not YELLOW :)
I put light blue beads on top of the cupcakes which, sadly, I will probably not do very often. Those little buggers just do not ever want to stay on. If you do use decorations like that, make you to put them on right after piping the icing.
You may even try throwing them at the cupcakes.
No lie.
I've been obsessed...with the new piping technique that I discovered. Okay, I've tried it before. But I'm really getting good at it. It's the "rose" technique--Start at the middle and move outwards and do not come back to the center with a peak. It will give you that inverted look that looks like a rose if you're using the 1M tip. Like this:
Sadly, I did not get a photo of this particular order for Kelly.
Why you ask? I just had a satisfying lunch and am finally going places
Where you ask? Not literally, but I think I am going to really like and feel rewarded with my new position at my job. I am the HR guru!
Current song: Silent Night-Lady Antebellum...gotta love those Christmas tunes around this time of year!
I CAN'T BELIEVE CHRISTMAS IS NEXT WEEK. Holy cow...where has the time gone!? 2014 is going to be the best year ever...I am marrying my best friend, moving up within my job (including moving to a new office), and getting two weeks off to experience the west coast (again) with my (to be) husband! WOWZERS. That is weird to say. Seriously.
So I'm on my lunch break right now, with my head phones on, listening to Christmas tunes waiting patiently for next week. Is it the weekend yet!?
Back to the baking side of my life--last week on my off day, I baked six dozen minis for Kelly. Three dozen chocolate with PB frosting and three dozen vanilla with chocolate frosting. I am not the BIGGEST chocolate fan, but I really liked those chocolate PB ones. After all, who DOESN'T like chocolate and PB together!? The frosting stayed soft in the containers so when I went to eat the leftovers a few days later, they were just right. Normally butter cream icing gets hard, but this kind stayed so soft! Perhaps the fat in the PB??? Who knows, but I know I will be recommending that flavor frosting from now on.
Oh and of course the vanilla were delish because that recipe will forever stay with me. I don't think I'll ever use another vanilla recipe. This is the ULTIMATE vanilla cupcake and it is great. The recipe is here. Sometimes I leave the vanilla bean out of it and put extra extract...depending on how much of a rush I'm in.
The trick to this recipe: WEIGH out your ingredients instead of measuring them. This recipe uses cake flour and I've noticed that if I just measure, not weigh, I tend to use more. Weighing gives you the fluffier texture instead of the flat, muffin top finish.I know weighing can be a pain, but it's actually pretty easy and I even weigh the wet ingredients in this recipe (at least the sour cream). Try it out!
And!!!!...don't over bake them! They are going to be white in color...not your traditional yellow. This cupcake is VANILLA. Not YELLOW :)
I put light blue beads on top of the cupcakes which, sadly, I will probably not do very often. Those little buggers just do not ever want to stay on. If you do use decorations like that, make you to put them on right after piping the icing.
You may even try throwing them at the cupcakes.
No lie.
I've been obsessed...with the new piping technique that I discovered. Okay, I've tried it before. But I'm really getting good at it. It's the "rose" technique--Start at the middle and move outwards and do not come back to the center with a peak. It will give you that inverted look that looks like a rose if you're using the 1M tip. Like this:
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| These were from a previous order for Kelly |
Sadly, I did not get a photo of this particular order for Kelly.
Tip of the Day: I've already told you to weigh your dry ingredients. This is the better technique in ALL cake/cupcake recipes. You really get that exact amount. We all know that if you put too much flour in a cupcake, it will be dense and could dry out. Another tip...take cupcakes out of the pan RIGHT after pulling them from the oven. If they stay in the pans longer, they will bake longer. No one likes an over baked, dry cupcake!
Cheers!
Biggest Order Yet!!!...I say that a lot, don't I??...
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Current Mood: Tired with a headache but pumped for the holidays
Current Song: Calvin Harris-Feel So Close
So I keep saying "This has been my biggest order so far!" to every order I do for Kelly. They just seem to be getting bigger and bigger! No complaints here WHATSOEVER. However, I am still contemplating whether or not this WAS my biggest order yet.
The one time I made 16 dozen regular sized cupcakes for her, 4 dozen of 4 different flavors, I had thought that may be the biggest order yet. I think it may be a tie now though!
I'm definitely contemplating the sale of cheesecakes. They are actually sort of stressful! They are SUPER easy to put together and just throw in the oven for 90 minutes, however, the worrying THEN begins at that very moment.
Will it crack!?
Should I reduce the oven temp after 80 min...open the oven door...put a water bath in the bottom of the oven?
Or should boiling water go into a cookie sheet and then the cheesecake placed IN that!?
I was so proud of them!
Now onto my minis...I had 10 dozen red velvet and 10 dozen pumpkin. The pumpkin ALWAYS turn out good. And the whipped topping is so easy to make in five minutes and pipe that stuff on.
I decided to make one batch of cream cheese butter cream the night before so it was ready for me to pipe on the morning after before taking them over to Peerce's. I was in a time pinch and it should have sat out longer to get softer. It was a bit thick which put some pains in my hands after piping...but I'd rather it be thicker than too thin!!! That's ALWAYS a nightmare...
I piped the red velvet like roses and the pumpkin regularly. Ended up with lots of leftovers so my wonderful fiance could eat them all in one sitting...no joke.
So I think it's a tie. Still contemplating the whole cheesecake thing. Maybe only sell one at a time...yep.
Fun fact: Going back to the cheesecake stresses...definitely use a water bath in the bottom of your oven. I almost filled a glass casserole dish with water. It definitely prevents cracking. When you remove the cheesecake from the oven, run a knife around the edges almost immediately. Cover the pan loosely with foil and let cool slowly. This is the key to success!
Now carry on. Cheers!
Current Song: Calvin Harris-Feel So Close
So I keep saying "This has been my biggest order so far!" to every order I do for Kelly. They just seem to be getting bigger and bigger! No complaints here WHATSOEVER. However, I am still contemplating whether or not this WAS my biggest order yet.
The one time I made 16 dozen regular sized cupcakes for her, 4 dozen of 4 different flavors, I had thought that may be the biggest order yet. I think it may be a tie now though!
I'm definitely contemplating the sale of cheesecakes. They are actually sort of stressful! They are SUPER easy to put together and just throw in the oven for 90 minutes, however, the worrying THEN begins at that very moment.
Will it crack!?
Will it be all the way done in the center!?
Should I reduce the oven temp after 80 min...open the oven door...put a water bath in the bottom of the oven?
Or should boiling water go into a cookie sheet and then the cheesecake placed IN that!?
So many questions!!!
All of these thoughts were running through my head while they were baking. However, I knew that I had a back up plan. I was adding the sour cream topping to them once cooled! Perfect!
And this worked awesomely. The cheesecakes actually came out better than my test round. The sides were flawless. I was lucky enough to have 4 spring form pans so I could just leave the bottoms on them. Put those babies in some boxes and DONE. Look how purty :)
I was so proud of them!
Now onto my minis...I had 10 dozen red velvet and 10 dozen pumpkin. The pumpkin ALWAYS turn out good. And the whipped topping is so easy to make in five minutes and pipe that stuff on.
I decided to make one batch of cream cheese butter cream the night before so it was ready for me to pipe on the morning after before taking them over to Peerce's. I was in a time pinch and it should have sat out longer to get softer. It was a bit thick which put some pains in my hands after piping...but I'd rather it be thicker than too thin!!! That's ALWAYS a nightmare...
I piped the red velvet like roses and the pumpkin regularly. Ended up with lots of leftovers so my wonderful fiance could eat them all in one sitting...no joke.
So I think it's a tie. Still contemplating the whole cheesecake thing. Maybe only sell one at a time...yep.
Fun fact: Going back to the cheesecake stresses...definitely use a water bath in the bottom of your oven. I almost filled a glass casserole dish with water. It definitely prevents cracking. When you remove the cheesecake from the oven, run a knife around the edges almost immediately. Cover the pan loosely with foil and let cool slowly. This is the key to success!
Now carry on. Cheers!
Punkin' Cheesecake
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Current Mood: excited!!!!!
Current Song: Monster-Eminem/Rihanna LOVE THIS SONG
Christmas spirit is in the air!!
This weekend we will cut down our first Christmas tree and decorate our house for our real first Christmas together! And our last before we are married. Woop Woop! Okay enough with the mushiness...is that a word?
Ready...set...GO! That's what I'll be saying tomorrow to myself when I get off work and head home to start making four pumpkin cheesecakes for Kelly! And then again to myself on Wedn when I head home from work and start making 20 dozen minis for Kelly! Talk about busy, huh!? But I am pumped.
I tested my pumpkin cheesecake rendition over the weekend for our "Friendsgiving." I keep seeing this on Facebook and I didn't get it at first. But DUH, we had one of these Saturday night when we had 3 other couples over for an early Thanksgiving dinner. Dom made the fried turkey laced with bacon (literally laced across the top of the turkey...no...not drugs) and I made the cheesecake. One couple brought stuffing and mouth-burning jalapeno mashed taters (they burned but damn were they good) and the other couple brought semi-mashed sweet potatoes. These were also very delish and something completely new to me. Thanks for the leftovers, guys!
Of course then we had cranberry "sauce" sliced at the can indents and rolls that were apparently sweet potato rolls.
We had a family style dinner and some drinks (well some had too many drinks) and fun!
My pumpkin cheesecake was divine. It was extremely close to pumpkin pie (I may, in fact, leave out a bit of pumpkin puree for the order) and had the delectible tang of sour cream topping to give it a kick. The cinnamon graham crust was a splendid addition to the cake and I topped it with three pumpkin Hershey kisses (I didn't have pecans at the time).
No cracks. No issues. No problems.
Can't wait to bake four of them tomorrow night! What a busy, busy week ahead of me.
Random Tip of the Day: Use your food processor for EVERYTHING! Well...not everything. But I've never used it to make crust before and it was soooo much easier. I threw in the grahams, sugar, and cinnamon. Blended for 1 minute to get all chunks out. Added the melted butter, pulsed it a few times until it started to clump together and poured into the spring form pan. Easy as cake! (No pun intended)
Cheers!
Current Song: Monster-Eminem/Rihanna LOVE THIS SONG
Christmas spirit is in the air!!
This weekend we will cut down our first Christmas tree and decorate our house for our real first Christmas together! And our last before we are married. Woop Woop! Okay enough with the mushiness...is that a word?
Ready...set...GO! That's what I'll be saying tomorrow to myself when I get off work and head home to start making four pumpkin cheesecakes for Kelly! And then again to myself on Wedn when I head home from work and start making 20 dozen minis for Kelly! Talk about busy, huh!? But I am pumped.
I tested my pumpkin cheesecake rendition over the weekend for our "Friendsgiving." I keep seeing this on Facebook and I didn't get it at first. But DUH, we had one of these Saturday night when we had 3 other couples over for an early Thanksgiving dinner. Dom made the fried turkey laced with bacon (literally laced across the top of the turkey...no...not drugs) and I made the cheesecake. One couple brought stuffing and mouth-burning jalapeno mashed taters (they burned but damn were they good) and the other couple brought semi-mashed sweet potatoes. These were also very delish and something completely new to me. Thanks for the leftovers, guys!
Of course then we had cranberry "sauce" sliced at the can indents and rolls that were apparently sweet potato rolls.
We had a family style dinner and some drinks (well some had too many drinks) and fun!
My pumpkin cheesecake was divine. It was extremely close to pumpkin pie (I may, in fact, leave out a bit of pumpkin puree for the order) and had the delectible tang of sour cream topping to give it a kick. The cinnamon graham crust was a splendid addition to the cake and I topped it with three pumpkin Hershey kisses (I didn't have pecans at the time).
No cracks. No issues. No problems.
Can't wait to bake four of them tomorrow night! What a busy, busy week ahead of me.
Random Tip of the Day: Use your food processor for EVERYTHING! Well...not everything. But I've never used it to make crust before and it was soooo much easier. I threw in the grahams, sugar, and cinnamon. Blended for 1 minute to get all chunks out. Added the melted butter, pulsed it a few times until it started to clump together and poured into the spring form pan. Easy as cake! (No pun intended)
Cheers!
Cinnamon Swirl Latte COMPLETE!
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Current Mood: Ready to go home!
Current Radio Station on Pandora: N'sync Radio (don't laugh)
So I'm pretty pumped for this weekend's Pre-Thanksgiving dinner at our house. Dom's making a FRIED turkey covered in BACON.
Is everything really better with bacon????
The real concern here is the frying of the whole 13 lb turkey. We bought 2 gallons of canola oil for our new turkey fryer. 2 GALLONS. Heart attack just waiting to happen.
I will try it though.
I am making a test round of the pumpkin cheesecake that I will be making 4 of for Kelly for delivery on Thanksgiving morning. I stocked up on pumpkin puree too because I just know all the crazies will be out buying it all out of stock.
Yes, I am a crazy.
Anyways, back to what I am really blogging about. I'm also REALLY excited for its future--The Cinnamon Swirl Latte cupcake!!! I completed round 5 of this recipe Sunday night. In fact, this was only after I threw together my VERY first crock pot meal EVER. That's hard to believe to some, but to others, it's not because they know I DON'T COOK. I am a baker. There's a difference.
So Sunday I basically slaved in the kitchen while we waited for that tornado to blow over during the Raven's game. Crock pot meal turned out GREAT according to the hubby-to-be. I found a recipe on Pinterest for turkey quinoa mini meatballs in crushed tomatoes. I literally shocked myself! I may have to make a crock pot meal EVERY Sunday!
That night, I decided to call it quits on my very own recipe. Calling it quits meaning put an end to the experimentation and put it up for sale finally!!!
Round 5 is the winner indeed. Removed the butter, added 1/4 cup more oil and 1 tsp of cinnamon to the batter. Kept everything else the same and it was perfectly moist and perfectly delish with homemade cinnamon whipped on top.
Get yours today!!
Random Tip of the Day: If you're running low, or completely out of, powdered sugar, you can make your own by running some granulated sugar through a coffee grinder or food processor. Now THAT is amazing.
Cheers!
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| It's mustache-y delightful! |
Pumpkin, Pumpkin, and MORE Pumpkin!
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Current Mood: Very awake (more than usual) and relaxed
Current Song: The Script-Breakeven
Plans for the Evening: Bowling for a friend's birthday
So the fall/Holiday season is my favorite simply because of the flavors and scents. Right now, you walk into my house, you'll smell an aroma of maple bacon, hazelnut coffee, and buttered rum. Now, these are your usual autumn scents, but they are cozy scents and I think of autumn a cozy season! I think of warm blankets, snuggies, hot tea, pies, pumpkins, and many other things when I think of autumn. It is my all-time favorite time of year!
Then you also have the best Starbucks flavors during fall. You have pumpkin spice lattes, peppermint mochas, and caramel brulees. As you move toward the Holidays you have gingerbread lattes and eggnog lattes. MMMMMMM...drooling just thinking about it!
What I'm getting at here is that you can never make enough baked goods that involve pumpkin or fall flavors in the fall. You just can't. Impossible.
I've made three batches of mini pumpkin cupcakes so far this season, and I'm making 3 more batches in less than two weeks! They have been a huge hit at all events that I've made them for. I first made them for Dom's parent's football party about a month ago when we played the Steelers (and lost ugh). Dom and our other friend Dom sat there and literally ate 10 in a row. Just peeling away at the liners and stuffing them into their mouths. At one point, Dom tried to encourage me to use no liners in the future. I'm way too afraid of them sticking to the pans for this though!
Then I made them for Allie's Halloween party the week after that. Another huge hit there. After that, I made them for our very own Halloween party. Instead of regular whipped cream this time, I added some (well... a lot) Rum Chata to the frosting. I added a bit too much and I don't think Rum Chata whips as well as the cream. Needless to say, the icing sunk a bit. But not too much! It stayed on the cupcake it just wasn't as pretty.
There was one left on the plate the next morning.
That's it. I'm keeping this recipe forever.
Now I have an order of 10 dozen pumpkin minis, 10 dozen red velvet minis, and 4 pumpkin cheesecakes for Kelly for Thanksgiving. Pumpkin cheesecake is literally my favorite thing on Thanksgiving. I'm not a big pumpkin pie gal so this fills that gap PERFECTLY.
There are two Thanksgiving dinners that day at Peerce's and Kelly's going to put these delectibles out on the buffets at each. Good choices!!!
Who else wants some pumpkin minis for their Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas dinners, Kwanzaa dinners, Hanukkah dinners, or any other Holiday get together!?
Order today!
Cheers
Current Song: The Script-Breakeven
Plans for the Evening: Bowling for a friend's birthday
So the fall/Holiday season is my favorite simply because of the flavors and scents. Right now, you walk into my house, you'll smell an aroma of maple bacon, hazelnut coffee, and buttered rum. Now, these are your usual autumn scents, but they are cozy scents and I think of autumn a cozy season! I think of warm blankets, snuggies, hot tea, pies, pumpkins, and many other things when I think of autumn. It is my all-time favorite time of year!
Then you also have the best Starbucks flavors during fall. You have pumpkin spice lattes, peppermint mochas, and caramel brulees. As you move toward the Holidays you have gingerbread lattes and eggnog lattes. MMMMMMM...drooling just thinking about it!
What I'm getting at here is that you can never make enough baked goods that involve pumpkin or fall flavors in the fall. You just can't. Impossible.
I've made three batches of mini pumpkin cupcakes so far this season, and I'm making 3 more batches in less than two weeks! They have been a huge hit at all events that I've made them for. I first made them for Dom's parent's football party about a month ago when we played the Steelers (and lost ugh). Dom and our other friend Dom sat there and literally ate 10 in a row. Just peeling away at the liners and stuffing them into their mouths. At one point, Dom tried to encourage me to use no liners in the future. I'm way too afraid of them sticking to the pans for this though!
Then I made them for Allie's Halloween party the week after that. Another huge hit there. After that, I made them for our very own Halloween party. Instead of regular whipped cream this time, I added some (well... a lot) Rum Chata to the frosting. I added a bit too much and I don't think Rum Chata whips as well as the cream. Needless to say, the icing sunk a bit. But not too much! It stayed on the cupcake it just wasn't as pretty.
There was one left on the plate the next morning.
That's it. I'm keeping this recipe forever.
Now I have an order of 10 dozen pumpkin minis, 10 dozen red velvet minis, and 4 pumpkin cheesecakes for Kelly for Thanksgiving. Pumpkin cheesecake is literally my favorite thing on Thanksgiving. I'm not a big pumpkin pie gal so this fills that gap PERFECTLY.There are two Thanksgiving dinners that day at Peerce's and Kelly's going to put these delectibles out on the buffets at each. Good choices!!!
Who else wants some pumpkin minis for their Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas dinners, Kwanzaa dinners, Hanukkah dinners, or any other Holiday get together!?
Order today!
Cheers
Pumpkin Cupcakes for the Halloween Partayyyy!
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Current Mood: Sleepy but joyful
Current Song: Icona Pop-All Night
So since the mini pumpkin cupcakes with homemade cinnamon whipped cream were SUCH a huge hit at Dom's parents football party last Sunday, I am going to make even more for Allie's Halloween party tomorrow night!
I know I said this already, but they are LITERALLY pumpkin pie in cupcake form. This is how moist they are. It's unbelievable. This recipe is SUCH a freakin' keeper.
Anyways, we're going to Allie's Halloween party tomorrow night at her boyfriend's house and I offered to bring some deliciousness since EVERYONE likes bite size things and why not bring the most impeccable pumpkin flavored cupcakes?!
I will be making these tonight while the hubby is at his kickball double header.
Alone time-check
Current Song: Icona Pop-All Night
So since the mini pumpkin cupcakes with homemade cinnamon whipped cream were SUCH a huge hit at Dom's parents football party last Sunday, I am going to make even more for Allie's Halloween party tomorrow night!
I know I said this already, but they are LITERALLY pumpkin pie in cupcake form. This is how moist they are. It's unbelievable. This recipe is SUCH a freakin' keeper.
Anyways, we're going to Allie's Halloween party tomorrow night at her boyfriend's house and I offered to bring some deliciousness since EVERYONE likes bite size things and why not bring the most impeccable pumpkin flavored cupcakes?!
I will be making these tonight while the hubby is at his kickball double header.
Alone time-check
Some white wine-check
Some cereal for dinner-check
Why do I eat cereal for dinner you ask? Because this girl hates cooking but loves baking :)
Can't wait to party tomorrow night in our most awesomest costumes ever.
Fun Fact: Do you know the three spices that make up ALLSPICE? You would think ALL spices, eh? It's actually nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves! How much of each you ask? Equal amounts. Voila!
Cheers!
Punkin' Everythang
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Current Mood: Monday Blues
Current Song: Travie McCoy/Jason Mraz-Rough Waters (obsessed with this song!)
MANIC MONDAY IN FULL EFFECT!
Monday's are always our super busiest day at the office; however, I've taken time away on this beautiful autumn day to tell you how amazing my pumpkin minis were yesterday!
Dom's parents had a Ravens/Squealers game day cookout yesterday (don't want to talk about our loss) and we all watched the game outside on two screens with a bunch of excellent food and some brews. Ever heard of Cinge?? You should try it. Cinnamon Tequila. End of story.
Dom made some AWESOME homemade cookies (his first time!!!) with the leftover spent grain from his beer making shenanigans. How creative he is--I would have never thought about reusing them! But after they get drained from the homemade beer, they really just go to waste. So he looked up some recipes online for what he could use them in.
He chose to make some chocolate cranberry cookies and pumpkin cinnamon chip cookies. The pumpkin ones were definitely my favorite of the two. They both turned out so good, so proud of you babe!!
We planned to just take them to the Ravens cookout since we were going camping over the weekend and I wouldn't really have had time to bake anything before we had to head over their house. However, our second night of camping got rained out at Rausch Creek so we decided to come home Saturday night. That meant I had time to bake some scrumptious mini pumpkin cupcakes with homemade cinnamon whipped cream. Talk about YUM.
These tasted like pumpkin pie in your mouth. No joke. Except I don't really like pumpkin pie so they were even better than a pie-act-alike! The whipped cream really made it seem like pie. And they were so moist to the touch it was incredible.
I used to hate that word--moist. Extremely hard to leave it out of a baker's vocab though, trust me!
Anyways, I plan to make some substitutions to this recipe and make it my very own. I definitely won't change the frosting though. The whipped cream was perfecto.
Fun Tip: Dom said that he wished I didn't have to put cupcake liners in the pans before making these so that he could just pop 'em in his mouth one after the other (they were that good). Fact--you can make them without papers! Just make sure you spray the pan VERY well before pouring the batter in. This will make them even more convenient for your guests! Avoids random wrappers laying around too from the kiddos :)
Fall favorite--try it out! Cheers!
Current Song: Travie McCoy/Jason Mraz-Rough Waters (obsessed with this song!)
MANIC MONDAY IN FULL EFFECT!
Monday's are always our super busiest day at the office; however, I've taken time away on this beautiful autumn day to tell you how amazing my pumpkin minis were yesterday!
Dom's parents had a Ravens/Squealers game day cookout yesterday (don't want to talk about our loss) and we all watched the game outside on two screens with a bunch of excellent food and some brews. Ever heard of Cinge?? You should try it. Cinnamon Tequila. End of story.
Dom made some AWESOME homemade cookies (his first time!!!) with the leftover spent grain from his beer making shenanigans. How creative he is--I would have never thought about reusing them! But after they get drained from the homemade beer, they really just go to waste. So he looked up some recipes online for what he could use them in.
He chose to make some chocolate cranberry cookies and pumpkin cinnamon chip cookies. The pumpkin ones were definitely my favorite of the two. They both turned out so good, so proud of you babe!!
We planned to just take them to the Ravens cookout since we were going camping over the weekend and I wouldn't really have had time to bake anything before we had to head over their house. However, our second night of camping got rained out at Rausch Creek so we decided to come home Saturday night. That meant I had time to bake some scrumptious mini pumpkin cupcakes with homemade cinnamon whipped cream. Talk about YUM.
These tasted like pumpkin pie in your mouth. No joke. Except I don't really like pumpkin pie so they were even better than a pie-act-alike! The whipped cream really made it seem like pie. And they were so moist to the touch it was incredible.
I used to hate that word--moist. Extremely hard to leave it out of a baker's vocab though, trust me!
Anyways, I plan to make some substitutions to this recipe and make it my very own. I definitely won't change the frosting though. The whipped cream was perfecto.
Fun Tip: Dom said that he wished I didn't have to put cupcake liners in the pans before making these so that he could just pop 'em in his mouth one after the other (they were that good). Fact--you can make them without papers! Just make sure you spray the pan VERY well before pouring the batter in. This will make them even more convenient for your guests! Avoids random wrappers laying around too from the kiddos :)
Fall favorite--try it out! Cheers!
My Red Velvet Seem to Be an All-Time-Fave!
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Current Mood: Happy, happy, joy, joy! (Not really sure why)
Current Song: Armin Van Buuren-This is What it Feels Like
SO apparently, my red velvet cupcakes have been a huge hit lately and they are everyone's favorite! Well, at least in the Heath family!
Meg's bridal shower was last Sunday and she was SUPER surprised. It was so beautifully decorated at Peerce's that day. Had I brought my broken high heel cupcakes in, it would have ruined the beauty!
That's right...they all broke :(
Kelly had wanted me to make high heel red velvet cupcakes for the shower. This was SUCH a cute idea, but here is my tip for the week...and for baking life:
If you're baking/preparing something so so SO delicate, be sure to assemble it all once you arrive to the place that you will be serving your creations!!! I can't stress that enough after my horrible experience Sunday.
Thank GOODNESS I only made one dozen high heels and the other two dozen were just regular red velvet!
A quick recap of what happened to the high heels:
1. Liv buys the expensive cookies that are involved in making the high heel cupcakes. You need some pirouette cookies and some Milanos.
2. Liv assembles the super cute high heel cupcakes with diligence.
3. Liv decides not to use super glue to hold the pieces together (she thought the guests at the shower wouldn't think they tasted too good)
4. Liv attempts to move them onto trays for transportation and succeeds with this part!
5. Liv drives from Duluth Ave. to German Hill (.1 of a mile, if that)
6. Liv turns around briefly and notices that at least 5 are already broken
7. Liv arrives at Peerce's with one high heel standing, YES!!!
8. Liv leaves all of the heels in the car because she's pretty late as it is.
That's basically how it went folks. Oh well, next time I will DEFINITELY assemble the high heel cupcakes at their final destination. They were just so cute and I was so disappointed :(
Here is what they looked like before transportation! Thank goodness I got a photo before the storm
Current Song: Armin Van Buuren-This is What it Feels Like
SO apparently, my red velvet cupcakes have been a huge hit lately and they are everyone's favorite! Well, at least in the Heath family!
Meg's bridal shower was last Sunday and she was SUPER surprised. It was so beautifully decorated at Peerce's that day. Had I brought my broken high heel cupcakes in, it would have ruined the beauty!
That's right...they all broke :(
Kelly had wanted me to make high heel red velvet cupcakes for the shower. This was SUCH a cute idea, but here is my tip for the week...and for baking life:
If you're baking/preparing something so so SO delicate, be sure to assemble it all once you arrive to the place that you will be serving your creations!!! I can't stress that enough after my horrible experience Sunday.
Thank GOODNESS I only made one dozen high heels and the other two dozen were just regular red velvet!
A quick recap of what happened to the high heels:
1. Liv buys the expensive cookies that are involved in making the high heel cupcakes. You need some pirouette cookies and some Milanos.
2. Liv assembles the super cute high heel cupcakes with diligence.
3. Liv decides not to use super glue to hold the pieces together (she thought the guests at the shower wouldn't think they tasted too good)
4. Liv attempts to move them onto trays for transportation and succeeds with this part!
5. Liv drives from Duluth Ave. to German Hill (.1 of a mile, if that)
6. Liv turns around briefly and notices that at least 5 are already broken
7. Liv arrives at Peerce's with one high heel standing, YES!!!
8. Liv leaves all of the heels in the car because she's pretty late as it is.
That's basically how it went folks. Oh well, next time I will DEFINITELY assemble the high heel cupcakes at their final destination. They were just so cute and I was so disappointed :(
Here is what they looked like before transportation! Thank goodness I got a photo before the storm
At least they had other cakes/cupcakes there! My red velvet were still a hit as always :)
Cheers!
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| She was so surprised! |
20 Dozen Were a Success!
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Current Mood: Not feelin' too hot this afternoon...
Current Song: 'Round Here - Florida Georgia Line
So remember that HUGE order I had last week of 20 dozen cupcakes!? Yes, I finished it and no, it didn't cause me any problems! Phew!
As a reminder I had 2 orders--one for my mother for a baby shower at her work and one for Kelly for a Greek wedding. My mom needed four dozen, 2 chocolate, 2 vanilla. The chocolate had blue vanilla icing and the vanilla had yummy chocolate butter cream. I LOVE chocolate butter cream. I strongly believe it's my favorite icing EVER. Sometimes I find myself squeezing the extra into my mouth from the pastry bag....
I mean....what??
You'll just have to try it for yourself, huh?
Kelly needed 16 dozen--four chocolate with chocolate icing, four vanilla with vanilla icing, four carrot with Rum Chata icing, and four red velvet with cream cheese icing. Yes...I said Rum Chata.
That is probably my SECOND favorite icing EVER. With a touch of cinnamon, it was pleasing to the eye and pleasing to the pallet. I was worried that having to add a decent amount of alcohol to the icing would make it runny. However, I just had to add a tiny bit more powdered sugar than normal and it was the perfect consistency!
On Thursday, it took me about 9 hours to complete most of the order. I worked from about 9am until 6pm and until I literally couldn't stand on my heels any longer in just socks. I finished all but the frosting on 8 dozen of the cupcakes. This was going to be easy peasy though to finish up Friday night.
What worked well: Prepping the dry ingredients a few days in advance REALLY cut down the mixing time. It took me half the time to mix up the batter by preparing the large zip lock baggies of dry ingredients. I strongly recommend everyone to do this if you have a large order! Also, having a bowl with a pour spout helped me out a lot. The metal bowl that goes with my Kitchen Aid mixer does not have one of these so I found that it worked well (and saved time) to transfer the batter into one of my plastic bowls that has a pour spout so that I could fill the pans easily and quickly. Now, of course, this works well only for those batters that are super thin. When you have a thicker batter, you should use your ice cream scooper.
My whole dining room table was covered in cupcakes...and I mean covered. But once packed away for delivery in my nifty plastic containers, I was so proud of myself for completing my biggest order ever. It didn't take an ungodly amount of time and I learned a few tips to reduce the time even more in the future.
Go me!!!
Now, I just need to hear how they all tasted from Kelly!
Bring on my next order! Cheers!
Tip of the day: Wear comfortable tennis shoes when baking for more than 6 hours straight. Don't go shoe-less, that's for sure!
Current Song: 'Round Here - Florida Georgia Line
So remember that HUGE order I had last week of 20 dozen cupcakes!? Yes, I finished it and no, it didn't cause me any problems! Phew!
.jpg) |
| Before frosting most of them |
I mean....what??
You'll just have to try it for yourself, huh?
Kelly needed 16 dozen--four chocolate with chocolate icing, four vanilla with vanilla icing, four carrot with Rum Chata icing, and four red velvet with cream cheese icing. Yes...I said Rum Chata.On Thursday, it took me about 9 hours to complete most of the order. I worked from about 9am until 6pm and until I literally couldn't stand on my heels any longer in just socks. I finished all but the frosting on 8 dozen of the cupcakes. This was going to be easy peasy though to finish up Friday night.
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| Mom's order-it's a boy! |
My whole dining room table was covered in cupcakes...and I mean covered. But once packed away for delivery in my nifty plastic containers, I was so proud of myself for completing my biggest order ever. It didn't take an ungodly amount of time and I learned a few tips to reduce the time even more in the future.
Go me!!!
Now, I just need to hear how they all tasted from Kelly!
Bring on my next order! Cheers!
Tip of the day: Wear comfortable tennis shoes when baking for more than 6 hours straight. Don't go shoe-less, that's for sure!
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| Carrot cupcakes with Rum Chata frosting and Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting |
.jpg) |
| Kelly's order all ready to be delivered! |
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!
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So today is what I like to call my "special" birthday. 25 on the 25th! It started off great this morning considering I had my very own chauffer :) Thanks to my awesome fiance!
Anywho...
I am getting super excited about my HUGE cupcake order tomorrow! 16 dozen for Kelly and 4 dozen to my mama. I'm using some of my most favorite recipes--carrot cake with Rum Chata frosting, my ultimate vanilla cupcake with vanilla frosting, double chocolate with chocolate frosting, and red velvet with cream cheese frosting! I think the carrot cake are going to turn out SUPER--they were extremely moist the last time I made them for my nephew on his 1st birthday. I was trying to keep it healthy, okay???
For my mom tomorrow, I am making just two dozen double chocolate and two dozen vanilla for her coworker's baby shower. The vanilla are going to have chocolate icing and the chocolate will have blue vanilla icing...it's a boy if you couldn't tell :)
I've got everything prepared for my long day of baking tomorrow. I've already gone ahead and prepped the dry ingredients in large plastic bags for each batch. I'm hoping that will cut down a great amount of my time.
I'll let you know how everything turns out! Good thing the 16 dozen aren't due until Saturday morning because I can always finish them up Friday. It will be a long and hopefully successful journey of cupcake making tomorrow!
Tip of the day: I learned the difference between cake flour and all-purpose flour the other night as I stood there in my kitchen hitting myself because the only thing I forgot at the store was FLOUR.
I had cake flour because that's what the vanilla cupcake recipe calls for. I figured you couldn't just simply substitute this for all-purpose though so I decided to look up the difference.
Most of the time, you should use cake flour when you're not expecting (or needing) your product to rise. This explains why my vanilla cupcake recipe calls for a large amount of baking powder and then some baking soda as well. I suppose I could have added more baking powder in the other recipes had I not felt like going out to get more all-purpose flour. But I just didn't want to risk it!
Enjoy that tip!
Anywho...
I am getting super excited about my HUGE cupcake order tomorrow! 16 dozen for Kelly and 4 dozen to my mama. I'm using some of my most favorite recipes--carrot cake with Rum Chata frosting, my ultimate vanilla cupcake with vanilla frosting, double chocolate with chocolate frosting, and red velvet with cream cheese frosting! I think the carrot cake are going to turn out SUPER--they were extremely moist the last time I made them for my nephew on his 1st birthday. I was trying to keep it healthy, okay???For my mom tomorrow, I am making just two dozen double chocolate and two dozen vanilla for her coworker's baby shower. The vanilla are going to have chocolate icing and the chocolate will have blue vanilla icing...it's a boy if you couldn't tell :)
I've got everything prepared for my long day of baking tomorrow. I've already gone ahead and prepped the dry ingredients in large plastic bags for each batch. I'm hoping that will cut down a great amount of my time.
I'll let you know how everything turns out! Good thing the 16 dozen aren't due until Saturday morning because I can always finish them up Friday. It will be a long and hopefully successful journey of cupcake making tomorrow!
Tip of the day: I learned the difference between cake flour and all-purpose flour the other night as I stood there in my kitchen hitting myself because the only thing I forgot at the store was FLOUR.I had cake flour because that's what the vanilla cupcake recipe calls for. I figured you couldn't just simply substitute this for all-purpose though so I decided to look up the difference.
Most of the time, you should use cake flour when you're not expecting (or needing) your product to rise. This explains why my vanilla cupcake recipe calls for a large amount of baking powder and then some baking soda as well. I suppose I could have added more baking powder in the other recipes had I not felt like going out to get more all-purpose flour. But I just didn't want to risk it!
Enjoy that tip!
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| See, even Shawn wanted more of the carrot cake cupcakes! |
Cheers!
New Vanilla Beans!
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YAY! I just ordered new vanilla beans to make more extract. I'm almost out of extract (I think I started using it last August??) so that definitely lasted me a good amount of time.
I found out a fun fact today about what KIND of vanilla beans to use for extract.
There are Grade A beans and then there are Grade B beans. Grade A beans are often called gourmet or prime beans which are more oily and they "look better" than Grade B. They also have a 30%-35% moisture content. Grade B beans are BETTER for making extract and they have a 15%-25% moisture content. They are often called extract beans.
Since they have less water weight, less water will end up in the extract. They are also cheaper.
Needless to say, I made sure that I ordered Grade B beans for the purpose of making my second batch of extract. Also, always get the ones that come right from Madagascar!
Half pound for $30 is a GREAT deal. I think I paid $27 for them the first time around. You get almost 50 beans in the vacuum sealed pack and they last A WHILE.
Make sure you keep them in an air tight container and in a dark place if you have left over...which you definitely will after making extract (if you get a 1/2 pound). I made the mistake of leaving my leftovers at the old apartment :( You want to make sure they don't dry out.
Can't wait to get started on a new batch this weekend!!!
Cheers!
Facts and picture: Courtesy of Instructables
I found out a fun fact today about what KIND of vanilla beans to use for extract.
There are Grade A beans and then there are Grade B beans. Grade A beans are often called gourmet or prime beans which are more oily and they "look better" than Grade B. They also have a 30%-35% moisture content. Grade B beans are BETTER for making extract and they have a 15%-25% moisture content. They are often called extract beans.
Since they have less water weight, less water will end up in the extract. They are also cheaper.
Needless to say, I made sure that I ordered Grade B beans for the purpose of making my second batch of extract. Also, always get the ones that come right from Madagascar!
Half pound for $30 is a GREAT deal. I think I paid $27 for them the first time around. You get almost 50 beans in the vacuum sealed pack and they last A WHILE.
Make sure you keep them in an air tight container and in a dark place if you have left over...which you definitely will after making extract (if you get a 1/2 pound). I made the mistake of leaving my leftovers at the old apartment :( You want to make sure they don't dry out.
Can't wait to get started on a new batch this weekend!!!
Cheers!
Facts and picture: Courtesy of Instructables
Double Chocolate Pretzel Espres...Just Read Below!
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I am trying to bake more and more, but it just seems like my newly busy lifestyle doesn't support the baking schedule I used to have! It really blows considering baking is my TRUE passion. So far, September has been yet another busy month on the weekends for us AND it's now football season again. I'm hoping life will slow down in the next month or so so I can get more of my passion in!
Anyways...I decided to make double chocolate pretzel espresso brownies with caramel drizzle for our Labor Day cookout at my parents. Now you know why I left out the rest of the name in the title of this post. It's just too dang long.
I decided to use the brownie recipe that I have used in the past for our "girls night" party back in July. The recipe is from Epicurious, one of my favorite websites! When I made it in July, I followed the recipe and once cooled, I drizzled a homemade raspberry sauce on top of each and added a few raspberries for decoration. They were yummy! However, I don't know that I'd make them again with the raspberry sauce. Very, very sweet.
This time around, I used the same brownie recipe because it was absolutely amazing (All of Epicurious' recipes get GREAT reviews so how could you pass them up??) but I decided to put another twist on it.
I added pretzels and caramel.
Caramel is the best topping on a dessert. Period.
So basically, I laid out mini pretzels in the bottom of a sprayed glass baking dish. I poured the brownie batter on top, and baked for almost 30 minutes. This recipe says 20, but I found that both times more time was needed.
The hardest part of this recipe: Cutting the brownies! The addition of pretzels sure does make these brownies extremely hard to cut and keep pretty. I actually only let them cool for a short amount of time and cut them while they were still a bit warm. I placed them upside down on my dish and used my fingers to re-shape them. This made them pretty :)
HOMEMADE CARAMEL!
Super easy! I don't care what anyone else says! I used a simple recipe that incorporated brown sugar instead of regular, whipping cream, some butter, little bit of salt, and a dash of vanilla. I can't find the recipe that I used, but after bringing everything BUT the cream to a boil, I mixed for 6 minutes, removed it from the stove, and then added the cream. It didn't get thick enough, so I put it back on the stove later on and added some corn starch. This did the trick!
Random Tip: When using corn starch to thicken something, ALWAYS make sure you dissolve the corn starch in water first before adding to the substance. Use the same amount of water as corn starch. Be sure to add the corn starch slowly to the water while stirring.
I drizzled the caramel over each already cut brownie and they were AWESOME! Everyone enjoyed them at the cookout (besides my mother...she said there was too much going on with them!)
I want to try s'mores brownies next! MMMMM
Cheers!
Anyways...I decided to make double chocolate pretzel espresso brownies with caramel drizzle for our Labor Day cookout at my parents. Now you know why I left out the rest of the name in the title of this post. It's just too dang long.
I decided to use the brownie recipe that I have used in the past for our "girls night" party back in July. The recipe is from Epicurious, one of my favorite websites! When I made it in July, I followed the recipe and once cooled, I drizzled a homemade raspberry sauce on top of each and added a few raspberries for decoration. They were yummy! However, I don't know that I'd make them again with the raspberry sauce. Very, very sweet.
This time around, I used the same brownie recipe because it was absolutely amazing (All of Epicurious' recipes get GREAT reviews so how could you pass them up??) but I decided to put another twist on it.
I added pretzels and caramel.Caramel is the best topping on a dessert. Period.
So basically, I laid out mini pretzels in the bottom of a sprayed glass baking dish. I poured the brownie batter on top, and baked for almost 30 minutes. This recipe says 20, but I found that both times more time was needed.
The hardest part of this recipe: Cutting the brownies! The addition of pretzels sure does make these brownies extremely hard to cut and keep pretty. I actually only let them cool for a short amount of time and cut them while they were still a bit warm. I placed them upside down on my dish and used my fingers to re-shape them. This made them pretty :)
HOMEMADE CARAMEL!
Super easy! I don't care what anyone else says! I used a simple recipe that incorporated brown sugar instead of regular, whipping cream, some butter, little bit of salt, and a dash of vanilla. I can't find the recipe that I used, but after bringing everything BUT the cream to a boil, I mixed for 6 minutes, removed it from the stove, and then added the cream. It didn't get thick enough, so I put it back on the stove later on and added some corn starch. This did the trick!
Random Tip: When using corn starch to thicken something, ALWAYS make sure you dissolve the corn starch in water first before adding to the substance. Use the same amount of water as corn starch. Be sure to add the corn starch slowly to the water while stirring.
I drizzled the caramel over each already cut brownie and they were AWESOME! Everyone enjoyed them at the cookout (besides my mother...she said there was too much going on with them!)
I want to try s'mores brownies next! MMMMM
Cheers!
Long Time No Speak!
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Hey Everyone!
Phew...I haven't been on here in FOREVER. I've been a real slacker for sure. Between getting engaged to my other half and starting, and then leaving, a part time bakery job, I haven't had a chance to relax and blog.
I no longer work at the bakery which is quite a relief for me since it was just WAY too much working a full timer and then a part timer when they part timer involved me waking up at 3am. Talk about exhausted! I also had to give up my Saturdays. No thank you! I came to the conclusion that the only bakery I want to work in will be my own. So that is that.
As for what I'm doing now...I'm still workin' at the good ol' CallRevu executive assisting and office managing. I'm also planning my wedding for next October 11, 2014! Well...we haven't done any planning in a month or so since we are pretty much caught up with what we needed to do. Next up is looking at dresses! AHHH. But we have our venue (The Mansion at Valley Country Club), our photographer, our guest list, and our colors picked out. It's a great start considering we still have over 13 months!
Dom and I have also had a very busy summer. I'm looking forward to relaxing for most of the fall and spending less money. We have a few camping trips planned and little things here and there (and of course my birthday!) but other than that, I can't wait to relax on cool nights in a hoodie and sweats!
So where am I with baking you ask?
Well I haven't had a chance to really bake EVERY Sunday like I used to :( due to boating and other fun summer festivities. However, I did bake a double layer, red velvet cake for Kelly's surprise "30th" birthday party on August 3rd. It got raving reviews so that recipe is DEFINITELY a keeper! Who woulda thought that blazing hot, black coffee in a red velvet recipe would do the trick!?
What I have coming up: 16 dozen regular sized cupcakes for Kelly! Talk about the biggest order I've ever gotten! (So far...)
On the menu for this order are 4 dozen chocolate on chocolate, 4 dozen vanilla on vanilla, 4 dozen red velvet with cream cheese butter cream, and 4 dozen carrot cake with Rumchata butter cream. These are due on Sept. 28th.
THEN I have four dozen to make for my momma! 2 dozen chocolate and 2 dozen vanilla. These are due on the 27th. Basically, I am dedicating ALL DAY on the 26th to baking. It works out well because it's the day after my 25th birthday...PERFECTO!
I am excited for these upcoming orders especially since it's been so long! KEEP 'EM COMING PEOPLE! The fall is coming so that means pumpkin flavors!!! My fav!!!!
Important Update!!!! I now take credit cards!
ORDER AWAY EVERYONE!
Cheers :)
Phew...I haven't been on here in FOREVER. I've been a real slacker for sure. Between getting engaged to my other half and starting, and then leaving, a part time bakery job, I haven't had a chance to relax and blog.
I no longer work at the bakery which is quite a relief for me since it was just WAY too much working a full timer and then a part timer when they part timer involved me waking up at 3am. Talk about exhausted! I also had to give up my Saturdays. No thank you! I came to the conclusion that the only bakery I want to work in will be my own. So that is that.
As for what I'm doing now...I'm still workin' at the good ol' CallRevu executive assisting and office managing. I'm also planning my wedding for next October 11, 2014! Well...we haven't done any planning in a month or so since we are pretty much caught up with what we needed to do. Next up is looking at dresses! AHHH. But we have our venue (The Mansion at Valley Country Club), our photographer, our guest list, and our colors picked out. It's a great start considering we still have over 13 months!
Dom and I have also had a very busy summer. I'm looking forward to relaxing for most of the fall and spending less money. We have a few camping trips planned and little things here and there (and of course my birthday!) but other than that, I can't wait to relax on cool nights in a hoodie and sweats!
So where am I with baking you ask?
Well I haven't had a chance to really bake EVERY Sunday like I used to :( due to boating and other fun summer festivities. However, I did bake a double layer, red velvet cake for Kelly's surprise "30th" birthday party on August 3rd. It got raving reviews so that recipe is DEFINITELY a keeper! Who woulda thought that blazing hot, black coffee in a red velvet recipe would do the trick!?
What I have coming up: 16 dozen regular sized cupcakes for Kelly! Talk about the biggest order I've ever gotten! (So far...)
On the menu for this order are 4 dozen chocolate on chocolate, 4 dozen vanilla on vanilla, 4 dozen red velvet with cream cheese butter cream, and 4 dozen carrot cake with Rumchata butter cream. These are due on Sept. 28th.
THEN I have four dozen to make for my momma! 2 dozen chocolate and 2 dozen vanilla. These are due on the 27th. Basically, I am dedicating ALL DAY on the 26th to baking. It works out well because it's the day after my 25th birthday...PERFECTO!
I am excited for these upcoming orders especially since it's been so long! KEEP 'EM COMING PEOPLE! The fall is coming so that means pumpkin flavors!!! My fav!!!!
Important Update!!!! I now take credit cards!
ORDER AWAY EVERYONE!
Cheers :)
Long Time No Post, Friends!
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Helloooooo there!
Seems like I haven't been on here in AGES. Now, it really hasn't been THAT long, however, it seems like I haven't shared my home-baking experiences in a loooooong time.
I've baked at least a few things since I've been gone. Cherry Apple pie and Double Chocolate Raspberry brownies. MMMMMM you say......
The last Sunday in June my sister, Mike, Dom, and my dad (and of course, Shawn) decided to go out cherry picking! Unfortunately, sweet cherries weren't in season anymore. But sour cherries were. I knew that sour cherries were probably more useful to bake with so I was still excited to go. Sour cherries were soooo plentiful that day at Baugher's Farm and it was only $25 a bucket! And let me tell ya, that bucket was more than enough. We still have half the bucket left! Which we should probably throw out at this point...however, we got a whole pie out of it and like 6 or 7 jars of cherry apple jam.
The pie was great! It was funny, my sister decided to bake the same recipe that I chose that night! Epicurious is one of the best websites to grab desserts from. The awesome thing is that there are usually SO many reviews from people who use their recipes so you can get opinions super quick.
I pretty much followed the recipe but I added a tad bit more corn starch to ensure that the filling was thick enough and I added sliced up gala apples in the filling. We now have about 3/4 of the pie still in the fridge which is most likely not going to last another day. Makes me sad to waste my home made baked goods.... :( But I was super proud of my crust making abilities as well as my ability to weave the top!
The pie was a tad tart from the cherries but the apple sweetened it up and this would be GREAT paired with some vanilla ice cream or some home made whipped cream. Yum!
Dom made some cherry apple jam...cherry sangria for 4th of July...and now we still have cherries...he's making wine next! (As long as we can throw them in the freezer)
Onto the next dessert...
DOUBLE CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY BROWNIES!
I had girls night last Saturday and needed to make the dessert (of course!). After working 13.5 hours on Friday, I came home to begin baking some snickerdoodle cookies. That is, after eating pizza rolls and curly fries for dinner (Dom wasn't here to make me dinner!). Look, I bake not cook! Ha
So I started getting the dry ingredients ready for the cookies. Then I thought about the scrumptious brownies we made at work and since I hadn't made homemade brownies in SUCH a long time (my mom used to make them ALL the time when we were younger and they were awesome) I thought I'd scratch the cookies and find a fantastic brownie recipe!
I used Epicurious this time too. I LOVE nice, chewy, soft brownies so that was my goal this round. I didn't even know if I had all the ingredients at home for these.
It turned out I had ALMOST everything except for one, single egg. I decided to use 3 tablespoons of mayo to substitute. **TIP: the fat in the mayo makes up for the fat in the yolk. Eggs are used as a moistening product in baked goods!**
And boy were these brownies moist.
I recommend using a smaller dish than what this recipe says though. I didn't even have the right size dish and they were still thin and only got 20 brownies out of it.
I went out to buy some raspberries the next morning, threw three containers of them onto the stove with a few tablespoons of sugar AND honey and VOILA you have a nice, tart raspberry puree/glaze to add to your brownies!
They were sooooo yum!
Cheers!
Seems like I haven't been on here in AGES. Now, it really hasn't been THAT long, however, it seems like I haven't shared my home-baking experiences in a loooooong time.
I've baked at least a few things since I've been gone. Cherry Apple pie and Double Chocolate Raspberry brownies. MMMMMM you say......
The last Sunday in June my sister, Mike, Dom, and my dad (and of course, Shawn) decided to go out cherry picking! Unfortunately, sweet cherries weren't in season anymore. But sour cherries were. I knew that sour cherries were probably more useful to bake with so I was still excited to go. Sour cherries were soooo plentiful that day at Baugher's Farm and it was only $25 a bucket! And let me tell ya, that bucket was more than enough. We still have half the bucket left! Which we should probably throw out at this point...however, we got a whole pie out of it and like 6 or 7 jars of cherry apple jam.
The pie was great! It was funny, my sister decided to bake the same recipe that I chose that night! Epicurious is one of the best websites to grab desserts from. The awesome thing is that there are usually SO many reviews from people who use their recipes so you can get opinions super quick.
I pretty much followed the recipe but I added a tad bit more corn starch to ensure that the filling was thick enough and I added sliced up gala apples in the filling. We now have about 3/4 of the pie still in the fridge which is most likely not going to last another day. Makes me sad to waste my home made baked goods.... :( But I was super proud of my crust making abilities as well as my ability to weave the top!
The pie was a tad tart from the cherries but the apple sweetened it up and this would be GREAT paired with some vanilla ice cream or some home made whipped cream. Yum!
Dom made some cherry apple jam...cherry sangria for 4th of July...and now we still have cherries...he's making wine next! (As long as we can throw them in the freezer)
Onto the next dessert...
DOUBLE CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY BROWNIES!
I had girls night last Saturday and needed to make the dessert (of course!). After working 13.5 hours on Friday, I came home to begin baking some snickerdoodle cookies. That is, after eating pizza rolls and curly fries for dinner (Dom wasn't here to make me dinner!). Look, I bake not cook! Ha
So I started getting the dry ingredients ready for the cookies. Then I thought about the scrumptious brownies we made at work and since I hadn't made homemade brownies in SUCH a long time (my mom used to make them ALL the time when we were younger and they were awesome) I thought I'd scratch the cookies and find a fantastic brownie recipe!
I used Epicurious this time too. I LOVE nice, chewy, soft brownies so that was my goal this round. I didn't even know if I had all the ingredients at home for these.
It turned out I had ALMOST everything except for one, single egg. I decided to use 3 tablespoons of mayo to substitute. **TIP: the fat in the mayo makes up for the fat in the yolk. Eggs are used as a moistening product in baked goods!**
And boy were these brownies moist.
I recommend using a smaller dish than what this recipe says though. I didn't even have the right size dish and they were still thin and only got 20 brownies out of it.
I went out to buy some raspberries the next morning, threw three containers of them onto the stove with a few tablespoons of sugar AND honey and VOILA you have a nice, tart raspberry puree/glaze to add to your brownies!
They were sooooo yum!
Cheers!
Double Chocolate Baked Donuts
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Current Mood: excited
Current Song: Jennifer Lopez ft. Pitbull - Live it up
Happy Tuesday! I feel like I"m sort of brain dead today and I have a headache so I'm keeping it short and simple this morning! I'm thinking I'm a bit dehydrated...but I'm not completely sure...I think it all started Saturday when I didn't have a sip of water until 9:30pm and drank beer all day on the boat at Aquapalooza. Hmmm...that can't be good!!
Anyways...I had to think of a dessert to make for Father's Day for brunch at the parents. I REALLY wanted to make buns, but I knew that would take up a good amount of time since you have to let the dough rise and whatnot. I knew I was going to be in the sun all day Saturday and brunch was at 11am Sunday. Buns ain't happenin'!
I decided to make donuts! Ya know, I really wanna try fried donuts ("real" donuts) one day, but I just can't bring myself to do something like that. For now, I'll stick to my donut pan and pretend they aren't muffins...or cupcakes...or anything of that type (they really are, just in a different shape and form :))
I made double chocolate baked donuts for Sunday. The recipe was extremely simple as there was no butter involved. I didn't even have to use my Kitchen Aid! Folding in ingredients is actually better for the dough anyways because it reduces air bubbles and makes the finished product less dense. So once you have your wet ingredients prepared in one bowl, and your dry ingredients prepared in the other, simply take a spatula and fold the dry ingredients into the wet!
Once they were done baking for about 10 minutes, They plopped right out of the pan and were ALMOST ready for the chocolate ganache. Once completely cooled, I whipped up some ganache using semi-sweet chocolate chips and heavy whipping cream and poured it over each donut.
What everyone really liked about these donuts: They weren't EXTREMELY sweet since there was only a half cup of sugar in the batter. The semi-sweet cocoa powder in the donut and the semi-sweet ganache made this dessert a perfect one for dark chocolate lovers (like my entire family). It sort of cancelled out the small amount of sugar in the donut. If you love dark chocolate, this recipe is for you!!
I, on the other hand, love milk chocolate. But I still really enjoyed these donuts and I recommend eating one with vanilla ice cream.
Tip of the Day: Ganache seems terrifying to some people, but it's actually one of the easiest things to make if you're in a time pinch. I used to think making whipped cream was the quickest and easiest, but you have to dirty up a whole mixer and it takes more time to whip it than it does to boil heavy whipping cream.
For ganache, you literally just bring the cream to a boil, pour it directly over chocolate chips, stir, and let cool a bit before pouring over, under, or inside your dessert of choice.
Cheers!
Current Song: Jennifer Lopez ft. Pitbull - Live it up
Happy Tuesday! I feel like I"m sort of brain dead today and I have a headache so I'm keeping it short and simple this morning! I'm thinking I'm a bit dehydrated...but I'm not completely sure...I think it all started Saturday when I didn't have a sip of water until 9:30pm and drank beer all day on the boat at Aquapalooza. Hmmm...that can't be good!!
Anyways...I had to think of a dessert to make for Father's Day for brunch at the parents. I REALLY wanted to make buns, but I knew that would take up a good amount of time since you have to let the dough rise and whatnot. I knew I was going to be in the sun all day Saturday and brunch was at 11am Sunday. Buns ain't happenin'!
I decided to make donuts! Ya know, I really wanna try fried donuts ("real" donuts) one day, but I just can't bring myself to do something like that. For now, I'll stick to my donut pan and pretend they aren't muffins...or cupcakes...or anything of that type (they really are, just in a different shape and form :))
I made double chocolate baked donuts for Sunday. The recipe was extremely simple as there was no butter involved. I didn't even have to use my Kitchen Aid! Folding in ingredients is actually better for the dough anyways because it reduces air bubbles and makes the finished product less dense. So once you have your wet ingredients prepared in one bowl, and your dry ingredients prepared in the other, simply take a spatula and fold the dry ingredients into the wet!
Once they were done baking for about 10 minutes, They plopped right out of the pan and were ALMOST ready for the chocolate ganache. Once completely cooled, I whipped up some ganache using semi-sweet chocolate chips and heavy whipping cream and poured it over each donut.
What everyone really liked about these donuts: They weren't EXTREMELY sweet since there was only a half cup of sugar in the batter. The semi-sweet cocoa powder in the donut and the semi-sweet ganache made this dessert a perfect one for dark chocolate lovers (like my entire family). It sort of cancelled out the small amount of sugar in the donut. If you love dark chocolate, this recipe is for you!!
I, on the other hand, love milk chocolate. But I still really enjoyed these donuts and I recommend eating one with vanilla ice cream.
Tip of the Day: Ganache seems terrifying to some people, but it's actually one of the easiest things to make if you're in a time pinch. I used to think making whipped cream was the quickest and easiest, but you have to dirty up a whole mixer and it takes more time to whip it than it does to boil heavy whipping cream.
For ganache, you literally just bring the cream to a boil, pour it directly over chocolate chips, stir, and let cool a bit before pouring over, under, or inside your dessert of choice.
Cheers!
Bridal Shower Minis
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Current Mood: relaxed
Current TV Show: Supernatural-season 2 (need to catch up to 8!!!)
Happy Hump Day!!!
I'm a little late on this blog post considering I made the cupcakes last Thursday for a bridal shower that was taking place on Saturday. But hey, I'm a busy person! And soon, I am going to be even MORE busier working two jobs!
That's right!!
LIV GOT A BAKING JOB!!!
For everyone that follows my page on FB, they would have seen that last Monday I was offered a part time baking position at a new bakery opening on 6/22 called KoDee Cakes. It's in Hampden, so everyone come on by that day! They already own a catering company and have for seven years. I'm going Friday to meet the staff and get my final schedule worked out. It's kind of cool because EVERYONE is new. I usually hate starting new jobs when I'm the "New Girl" around the place. I'm SUPER excited!! Wish me luck on my first day next Wednesday :)
Anyways...back to my bridal shower cupcakes for Genese. Genese and I went to college together and she's getting married soon! Saturday was her bridal shower and her mom contacted me to order some minis. I really appreciate your business ladies!
I really felt honored when Clare contacted me earlier last week. She originally asked if I made cookie trays. She said she was already going to have the cake there and someone was making another dessert. When I told her cookies just weren't one of the desserts I sell, I mentioned that I have been concentrating on cupcakes and minis. Even though she was already having (I'm sure) plenty of desserts on the table, she still ordered 3 dozen minis. Thanks again!! I'm glad I could make Genese's shower just a tad more special.
Clare mentioned Genese's favorite was red velvet but she didn't like the cream cheese butter cream. I topped them with regular vanilla butter cream and VOILA! Genese was surprised at her shower!
Happy Wedding Days!!
Random tip of the day: If your cupcakes "overflow" from the liners a bit after baking and the tops seem to be "sticking" to the pan, don't leave them in the pans for too long. They are much easier to remove from the pans when still a bit hot.
Cheers!
Current TV Show: Supernatural-season 2 (need to catch up to 8!!!)
Happy Hump Day!!!
I'm a little late on this blog post considering I made the cupcakes last Thursday for a bridal shower that was taking place on Saturday. But hey, I'm a busy person! And soon, I am going to be even MORE busier working two jobs!
That's right!!
LIV GOT A BAKING JOB!!!
For everyone that follows my page on FB, they would have seen that last Monday I was offered a part time baking position at a new bakery opening on 6/22 called KoDee Cakes. It's in Hampden, so everyone come on by that day! They already own a catering company and have for seven years. I'm going Friday to meet the staff and get my final schedule worked out. It's kind of cool because EVERYONE is new. I usually hate starting new jobs when I'm the "New Girl" around the place. I'm SUPER excited!! Wish me luck on my first day next Wednesday :)
Anyways...back to my bridal shower cupcakes for Genese. Genese and I went to college together and she's getting married soon! Saturday was her bridal shower and her mom contacted me to order some minis. I really appreciate your business ladies!
I really felt honored when Clare contacted me earlier last week. She originally asked if I made cookie trays. She said she was already going to have the cake there and someone was making another dessert. When I told her cookies just weren't one of the desserts I sell, I mentioned that I have been concentrating on cupcakes and minis. Even though she was already having (I'm sure) plenty of desserts on the table, she still ordered 3 dozen minis. Thanks again!! I'm glad I could make Genese's shower just a tad more special.
Clare mentioned Genese's favorite was red velvet but she didn't like the cream cheese butter cream. I topped them with regular vanilla butter cream and VOILA! Genese was surprised at her shower!
Happy Wedding Days!!
Random tip of the day: If your cupcakes "overflow" from the liners a bit after baking and the tops seem to be "sticking" to the pan, don't leave them in the pans for too long. They are much easier to remove from the pans when still a bit hot.
Cheers!
Black Bottoms You Say?
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Current Mood - Motivated
Current Song - Capital Cities-Safe and Sound
I made black bottoms for the first time on Saturday and I'm actually very proud of them! I wanted to take a treat on the boat when we went out for the first time yesterday but I didn't know what to make. Someone suggested black bottoms and it sounded like a good idea. As long as there was a cooler on the boat, we'd be good!
My mom made black bottoms a few times when us kids were younger. I thought I was never a huge fan but I wanted to give these "cupcakes" a try. I didn't even know people labeled these things as cupcakes. I always think of a cupcake as a muffin with icing (which is essentially what it is!) and black bottoms don't have icing so I never really knew WHAT they were classified as. Not sure they'd pass as cupcakes. What do you think?
At first I was going to do mini black bottoms but the recipe would have made about 36 and I wasn't sure I really needed that many. I also wasn't sure if you'd get the best of both flavors by eating a mini. It's important to capture the cream cheese portion AND the chocolate cupcake portion successfully. I thought this would be most possible in a regular sized cupcake.
So it was.
This is the recipe I used. It happens to be from one of my FAVORITE websites--Joy of Baking. She never disappoints me!
What I changed: I used honey instead of sugar in the cream cheese mixture. I simply used the same amount of honey as sugar. Some say that honey is sweeter than sugar. I don't really think so SO I used an equivalent amount. I decided to keep the sugar in the cupcake mixture though.
I used about 1/2 cup of Nestle cocoa powder (recipe called for 1/3 cup) to capture a more chocolatey flavor in the cupcake mixture. 1/3 cup just didn't seem like enough! Sometimes...I like to use baking chocolate squares in addition to cocoa powder when making chocolate cupcakes. Many times combining the two makes for a great, rich, chocolate flavor.
I used brewed coffee instead of water in the cupcake part of the black bottom. I've seen this done many times in chocolate cupcake recipes so I just had to try it out. I simply brewed a Keurig k-cup (which I thought would only be a 1/2 c. of coffee, but it turned out to be a full cup) and it was ready in half a minute!
Next time...I might add mini chocolate chips to the recipe. Cupcakes with chocolate chips in them are always extra tasty. I will also add more of the cream cheese mixture in each cupcake. A bit of sour cream added to the cupcake part would also be beneficial to add to the moistness--don't get me wrong though, the cupcakes were delish!
Random Fact: Recipes that call for oil and NO butter do not require an electric mixer at all! So if you don't have one, I recommend finding cupcake/cake recipes that use no butter so that there is nothing to cream. So, if you don't have an electric mixer, try this recipe out :)
Cheers!
Current Song - Capital Cities-Safe and Sound
I made black bottoms for the first time on Saturday and I'm actually very proud of them! I wanted to take a treat on the boat when we went out for the first time yesterday but I didn't know what to make. Someone suggested black bottoms and it sounded like a good idea. As long as there was a cooler on the boat, we'd be good!
My mom made black bottoms a few times when us kids were younger. I thought I was never a huge fan but I wanted to give these "cupcakes" a try. I didn't even know people labeled these things as cupcakes. I always think of a cupcake as a muffin with icing (which is essentially what it is!) and black bottoms don't have icing so I never really knew WHAT they were classified as. Not sure they'd pass as cupcakes. What do you think?
At first I was going to do mini black bottoms but the recipe would have made about 36 and I wasn't sure I really needed that many. I also wasn't sure if you'd get the best of both flavors by eating a mini. It's important to capture the cream cheese portion AND the chocolate cupcake portion successfully. I thought this would be most possible in a regular sized cupcake.
So it was.
This is the recipe I used. It happens to be from one of my FAVORITE websites--Joy of Baking. She never disappoints me!
What I changed: I used honey instead of sugar in the cream cheese mixture. I simply used the same amount of honey as sugar. Some say that honey is sweeter than sugar. I don't really think so SO I used an equivalent amount. I decided to keep the sugar in the cupcake mixture though.
I used about 1/2 cup of Nestle cocoa powder (recipe called for 1/3 cup) to capture a more chocolatey flavor in the cupcake mixture. 1/3 cup just didn't seem like enough! Sometimes...I like to use baking chocolate squares in addition to cocoa powder when making chocolate cupcakes. Many times combining the two makes for a great, rich, chocolate flavor.
I used brewed coffee instead of water in the cupcake part of the black bottom. I've seen this done many times in chocolate cupcake recipes so I just had to try it out. I simply brewed a Keurig k-cup (which I thought would only be a 1/2 c. of coffee, but it turned out to be a full cup) and it was ready in half a minute!
Next time...I might add mini chocolate chips to the recipe. Cupcakes with chocolate chips in them are always extra tasty. I will also add more of the cream cheese mixture in each cupcake. A bit of sour cream added to the cupcake part would also be beneficial to add to the moistness--don't get me wrong though, the cupcakes were delish!
Random Fact: Recipes that call for oil and NO butter do not require an electric mixer at all! So if you don't have one, I recommend finding cupcake/cake recipes that use no butter so that there is nothing to cream. So, if you don't have an electric mixer, try this recipe out :)
Cheers!
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