Turtle, Turtle!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY SHAWN!! Well it's been a week now, but I can still say it, right??

My nephew turned 1 last Tuesday and his birthday party was Saturday so of course, I was making the dessert! I've always wanted to make a cupcake cake. Ya know, when people arrange cupcakes in a shape and then spread the icing all over?? I LOVE these! They can be so fun. I was browsing the Internet looking for fun shapes or animals to make for his party and was torn between a monkey and a turtle. I decided to go with the turtle! (Hence the name of this blog)

Kids + chocolate PROBABLY isn't a good thing. The turtle cupcake cake used chocolate icing but I decided against that. That's what Wilton icing color is for!

My sister wanted a "healthier" cupcake for his first birthday...like a carrot cupcake. Carrots DO make things "healthier" but I don't think you could really call this recipe that I decided on "healthy" (Sorry Alex).

When searching for a recipe I ALWAYS look for ingredients that are going to make the final product moist and delicious. I've learned in the past that less ingredients is not always the way to go. Yes, it's more convenient if you have a recipe with very few ingredients, but in cupcakes or cake, you want to look for recipes that have ingredients that make the final product FLAWLESS.

Ingredients that make cupcakes/cake flawless: FATTY SUBSTANCES! These include canola/vegetable oil (I'm not sure that I've seen a recipe that uses olive oil, but there could be some out there), sour cream, Crisco, whole milk, or whipping cream. Apple sauce can also do the trick but this is used to make a recipe healthier instead of using any of the other ingredients above. Vegetables like zucchini or carrots will also make treats more moist because they are wet veggies.

I used this carrot cupcake recipe from one of my favorite websites, Joy of Baking. This recipe was like a spiced carrot cupcake recipe because it had cinnamon in it. It used oil AND applesauce which immediately told me this was going to be a flawless one. I've never baked with applesauce but I've heard so many good things about it. I left the nuts out of this recipe.

Dom was my big helper and grated the carrots for me. Thanks babe!

I one-and-a-halved the recipe so it would make about 18 since 15 people were coming to the party. Well..it actually made 24 so we had some extras :) I used Betty Crocker's design and put the cupcakes in the shape of a turtle. Instead of using chocolate icing though, I colored the icing brown for the turtle's body and then colored some green for his feet and head.

It turned out good! I could have improved the shape of the turtle had we not been almost an hour late getting to the party. Once we dug into the cupcakes though at the party, everyone was raving! So moist and tasty! The icing was divine and I couldn't have been more pleased with how they turned out :)

Shawn ate one in three bites and was looking for more!

I HIGHLY recommend this recipe!

Cheers!

Cheeseburger Cake...Not So Cheeseburger Cake

Current Mood: Wishful (I need to be outside on this beautiful day!)
Current Song: Ed Sheeran-Lego House

Soooooo Meg and I were going to make a Mario out of cupcakes for Dom for his 29th birthday since he is OBSESSED and it was pixelated which matches his tattoo on his arm. We had this planned for a long time and at the last minute, I decided to count the cupcakes to see how many we would need. Ummmm yeah...it was 143. Dom was having a 10 person dinner party for his birthday.

That was a definite no go.

From 10:30 to about 12:00 on Saturday, we sat there trying to figure out what to make. We had major ADD and we were major off that morning (not sure if this had to do with going to Hard Yacht Friday night after the Orioles' opening day or not).

Dom loves food. Period. We decided to go with a cheeseburger cake!! Looking at pictures on Google was VERY misleading (or we just suck). We didn't even take pictures because it looked too sloppy :(

Bottom line. Meg and I probably shouldn't attempt to bake together anymore. Hehe.

This is what we did: We made a chocolate and a vanilla cake in two 9 inch round pans. The chocolate cake came out FANTASTIC! The whole cake was good just pretty sloppy looking. We cut the vanilla cake in half so we could make the two buns. The chocolate cake was obviously the burger patty. In between of each layer, we put vanilla butter cream icing. This was the real messed up part that disappointed me very much. We didn't think to check on how much butter Dom had in his fridge and Meg had already gone out once to get a bag of powdered sugar for the icing. We decided to use margarine. WORST IDEA EVER!! DON'T DO THIS!! It's called butter cream for a reason! It ended up tasting like store-bought nasty @$$ Betty Crocker icing in a can. GROSS! Had to add some extra vanilla extract to make it taste decent.

Anyways...then we went out a second time to grab some fondant. I HIGHLY recommend using Satin Ice fondant. It is soft, doesn't dry out too too easily, and actually tastes good! We used icing color to knead in some red for tomatoes and yellow for cheese.

Important Note: Use gloves!! We had dye all over our hands :(

We stuck "tomatoes" and corners of "cheese" in between the top "bun" and "burger" and piped green icing in around the bottom bun layer to look like lettuce. We added some copper icing to the top of the cake, sprinkled real sesame seeds and VOILA! We had ourselves a lop-sided cheeseburger cake!

Meg rushed off to work and Dom walked in 2 hours later knowing EXACTLY what it was. He made a good point: When have you ever seen a perfect looking cheeseburger?!

Sorry...no pictures to provide as Meg forbid me.

We used this chocolate cake recipe--it was delicious! Used hazelnut coffee grounds instead of espresso powder. YUM! It is indeed the best chocolate cake recipe ever.

Cheers!

What to do...What to do...

Current Mood: Chipper and ready for the weekend!

Current Song: Broadway--Goo Goo Dolls on 90s Alternative Radio

So Meg and I are still pondering on what to make Dom for his birthday dessert for the dinner party tomorrow. My mini cheesecakes came out PRETTY good last Sunday, but this weekend's dessert needs to be FLAWLESS. Hmmm...

On a separate note, I've been searching blogs recently for desserts that I definitely want to try. Here are a few everyone should check out because they look DELISH! (I've already printed them!)

From the blog, Bake at 350:

Birthday Cake Oreo Stuffed Brownies  

From the blog, Life Made Simple:

Graham Cracker S'mores Bars 

Biscoff Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (Biscoff is a vegan spread that tastes like graham crackers and is totally worth baking with!)

Almond Joy Macaroons 

Some not so sweet recipes that I must try from Life Made Simple:

Potato Corn and Bacon Chowder

Pizza Muffins

The above blogs have AMAZING recipes--take a look!

Now back to thinking about what we're making tomorrow morning for the boyfriend. He's turning the big 29 on Monday--almost 30!!

Cheers!

Healthy Mini Cheesecakes

Well...I'm not sure they are HEALTHY but they are definitely HEALTHIER! Instead of the sour cream, POUNDS of cream cheese, and sugar, this recipe (thanks Mom!!) uses yogurt, honey, and just 2 blocks of cream cheese. Don't get me wrong, this is still plenty of cream cheese, but I've seen recipes that have literally a pound of cream cheese! No one needs that! 

My mom had this recipe from back in the day and she wrote it up in her little recipe book at home. However, she did not include any directions at all! The only instructions she included was the baking temperature and time which, in fact, is all ya really need for cheesecakes. She said everyone loved this recipe, so I decided to try it out for Easter Sunday! 

It's simple--cream cheese, honey, yogurt, eggs, and vanilla. There is a topping that is just yogurt, honey, and vanilla and I made this, but it wasn't really enough so there was just a tad on top of each mini. She also included almond extract in the main filling, but I left this out since I was planning on topping each mini with cherry pie filling and crushed Oreo cookies. Her recipe was also for a whole cheesecake but turning such into minis is so easy! Just reduce the cooking time (which I apparently forgot to do!), place cupcake liners in a cupcake pan (or 2), divide the graham cracker crust evenly among each, fill with cheesecake filling, then bake at 350! 

What I changed: Like I said, I made minis. I TOTALLY forgot to reduce the baking time (silly me) so the tops of each were a tad brown--this isn't a bad thing though! And they weren't burnt so that's good! I would reduce the baking time from 50 minutes to about 40 though next time. I made a homemade graham cracker crust from a recipe I found online--about 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 3 tbsp. sugar, 5 tbsp. unsalted melted butter, and a dash of salt--and placed a good amount in each cupcake liner. I baked for 5 minutes before putting the filling in each. I omitted the almond extract from the filling and used vanilla yogurt. This made the cheesecakes SUPER vanilla-y which was a different but yummy flavor. 

Once I made the topping (the little that it made for each cheesecake) I didn't put the cheesecakes back in the oven like my mother had said since they were already well done. I simply topped with cherry pie filling and crushed Oreo cookies and placed in the fridge until we left for Easter dinner! 

Everyone said they were scrumptious at dinner! 

Random Fact: Cheesecakes DO NOT have to always be cooked. Find a recipe that doesn't include eggs and you will discover that you can place it in the fridge without using your oven! 

Cheers!

Breaking the Ice

Current Mood: Loopy/Dancey
Current Song/Music Mood: Yellowcard- "Way Away"

Happy Monday!!

...Said no one ever....

Well okay, I mean SOME people may say "Happy Monday" but anyone who works Monday through Friday has to agree that Monday is probably the worst day ever. Especially if your boyfriend flies out every Monday morning for work! Boooooooo

You may be wondering why the title of this blog is "Breaking the Ice." And that's understandable. Whenever I think of Creme Brulee though, I think about the smooth, shiny, thin layer of caramelized sugar on top of each little, itty bitty, ramekin filled with the creamy goodness. Then, when you dive into it with your spoon, it's like you're falling through a frozen pond. Breaking the ice. Get it?

I tried baking Creme Brulee for the first time ever yesterday while the boyfriend was fixing the brakes on his monster Jeep. Surprisingly, I didn't burn his house down with the cheap blow torch he has!

This recipe made me think about the 5 ingredient vanilla custard that I made back when I first started this blog in May. That was my "Five Ingredients and Under" month when I actually had themes going on here. I think those themes have come to an end by the way. Now it's just "Whatever Liv feels like making and blogging about" months!

Anyways, Creme Brulee is literally vanilla custard with a thin layer of "ice" on top. Here's the scoop:

5 egg yolks
1/2 c. white sugar
2 c. whipping cream
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
brown sugar or white sugar for the "ice"

That is LIT-RALLY it.

I got this recipe from Lacey, author of "A Sweet Pea Chef" and it is so yummy. I cut this in half but it would have made about 5 or 6 individual ramekins (mine are small...about 3 oz each).

Whip up the egg yolks and the sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla extract. Fold in the cream slowly being careful not to add too many extra air bubbles. Place the ramekins in a glass baking dish (9 x 13 inch would fit about 6 ramekins just fine) and fill dish with hot water until about halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Pour custard into each ramekin and place whole dish in the oven on 325 for about an hour and 10 minutes.

Lacey had 45 minutes to an hour but I found mine weren't ready until about an hour and 10 minutes. A knife should come out relatively clean when done baking. Remove ramekins from water and let sit for 15 minutes on a dish towel. Let them cool off in the fridge for at least an hour.

Place a thin layer of white or brown sugar on top of each custard and use a blow torch to caramelize it. Or "ice" it. You can also place the ramekins back in the water bath and into the oven on "broil" for like 15 minutes if you don't have a torch.

Tip: this dessert is really yummy cold but you can also heat it up before "icing" and torching. I like it cold though (when I actually eat it!)

Cheers!

P.S. It's not burnt, it's caramelized and DELISH :)
 

No One Likes Being Sick!

This week mother nature got the best of me, unfortunately. And even more unfortunately, I am sitting at work right now sneezing my head off and still feeling sick. I need sweatpants, a couch, and cuddle time with Dom ASAP!

Being sick this week meant no baking for Liv. However, Sunday, I plan on making the boyfriend's favorite dessert--Creme Brulee! I found this odd recipe for peach creme brulee but it was made in a large dish instead of individual ramekins. I decided to pass on that recipe.

Creme Brulee is literally vanilla custard (unless you add a fun flavor like...pumpkin!) with torched brown sugar on top for that nice, crisp touch. I'm not a HUGE fan of this dessert but I've never used a blow torch before so I thought eh, why not give it a try! It's literally 5 ingredients and looks extremely easy to make. Come back Monday to hear about the experience!

Until then...I will be living off hot tea with honey, orange/pineapple juice, cough drops, and tissues :)

Cheers!

Irish Potato Cookies...More Like Candies!

These are SO addicting! It is LITERALLY cream cheese butter cream icing only thicker, rolled into potato shapes, and covered in cinnamon. Literally...

I didn't even notice when I was skimming the recipe that it would be icing. I started making it and thought wow...this is what goes on top of my red velvet cupcakes! Then the cinnamon ties it all in.

These are INCREDIBLY easy it's ridiculous. The only time consuming part is letting the "dough" sit in the fridge for about an hour before rolling them into silly potato shapes. Remember I said the taste, texture, and everything about these treats was SO familiar and I couldn't think of where I've had them before??? Well I think it was just that I couldn't put two and two together. It's super thick icing!!

This is the recipe from our dear friend at Bake at 350:

2 cups pecans
4 tbsp. salted butter, room temp
1/4 cup cream cheese, room temp
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 lb. powdered sugar
cinnamon
slivered almonds

What I changed: I doubled the recipe because I was bringing them to work and giving some to Dom. I don't remember how many exactly this made, but some of 'em were bigger potatoes then others. I'd say it made about 40, which was accurate because Bridgett said hers made 20.

I ALWAYS use unsalted butter no matter what and this is all I had, so that's what I went with! I left out the pecans because they are super expensive at the store. 1.5 cups of already chopped ones are $5! I would have had to spend $15 on just the pecans. I had sliced almonds at home so I dumped some of these in instead. But not TOO much. Many of the other recipes I compared this one to didn't even have nuts. They actually had coconut which would be delicious.

I also didn't put any of the slivered almonds in as "eyes." The amount of cinnamon wasn't provided so I went with 1 tbsp. and I had a little left over.

What was difficult: The "dough" gets EXTREMELY thick in the mixing bowl. I had to use a whole bag of powdered sugar and when I got down to about 1/6 of the bag, I had to remove the mixing bowl and try to "stir" the rest in. Now...when I say "stir" I mean that the spatula doesn't work and it comes down to the hands! I sort of "kneaded" the mixture and split it into two balls before placing them in the fridge.

I wrapped the balls of "dough" and placed 'em in the fridge for an hour. When you remove them, the "dough" is pretty hard. But then you shape into potatoes, roll 'em in cinnamon, dust the extra cinnamon off with a pastry brush and there ya go! You may be questioning why I keep putting "dough" in quotations. When I think of dough, I think of stuff ya bake. These are no bake mouth parties!!

IRISH POTATO CANDIES!

Beware: These are EXTREMELY sweet. You may become wired :)

Cheers!

Next Up! Irish Potatoes

Wait what?

These things are delish!! I CANNOT for the life of me remember where I had these a while back. The taste, texture, and just the treat itself seems SO familiar it's driving me NUTS. I had a sample of one of these at the Amish Market in Dundalk a few weekends back and that familiar taste came back to me. WHERE HAVE I HAD THESE BEFORE PEOPLE!? Grrrr...

Anyways, Thursday, I plan on making this recipe that I found on one of the blogs I follow on here. SO EASY! Anyone could make these. You don't even need to mess with the oven. These have nuts in them, but I'm even considering leaving those out. The one's I've tried did not have nuts. We will see what my little heart desires on Thursday!

As Bridget from "Bake at 350" says, "Never fear, no potatoes were harmed in the making of these cookies."

I plan on doubling this recipe...think the boyfriend and coworkers won't gobble 20 of these babies up in less than 5 minutes? 40 it is...

Stay tuned and cheers!

White Chocolate Almond Joy Cookies

Current Mood: Sorta sleepy but excited to go to dinner with the boyfriend tonight!

Current Song: Justin Bieber- "As Long As You Love Me"

Have you ever made cookies with browned butter? Well I just tried for the first time and I'm thinking I'd rather just use room-temp-softened butter. I'm not sure if this is what caused my cookies to come out biscotti-texture-like but they were not as soft as I wanted. Browning butter is so easy, just wondering if that was the problem...

I made my own version of Joy the Baker's "Brown Butter Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies" yesterday on my lunch break while we enjoyed the Blizzard of 2013...NOT. What are those weather people THINKING? Anyways...

The idea of white chocolate and almond joys popped into my head while I was thinking up a cookie recipe to concoct with the coconut and sliced almonds I had in my overflowing collection of baking ingredients at home. Immediately, someone thinks of an Almond Joy. WHO WOULDN'T? It's like the best chocolate candy ever...well...it's up there on my list...and for someone who doesn't eat lots of chocolate...that's pretty high up there. 

I don't even like white chocolate. Or dark chocolate. But I like chocolate chip cookies made with semi-sweet chocolate chips. Weird. Basically, I like baking with semi-sweet chocolate but I decided to go with the Baker's white chocolate baking squares that I found in my drawer. So...almonds, white chocolate, coconut...WHITE CHOCOLATE ALMOND JOYS! 

Joy's original ingredients were as followed:

1 c. butter, melted and browned

1 c. sugar 

3/4 c. brown sugar

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

2 1/2 c. flour

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2-3/4 tsp. salt

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1/4 c. toasted coconut (unsweetened or sweetened)

1 c. dark chocolate chunks

What I changed: Oh I browned the butter alright...almost browned it TOO much but caught it JUST in time! I actually reduced the white sugar to 3/4 c. because 2 cups of sugar altogether seemed like entirely way too much sugar. I also substituted ALMOND extract for vanilla and reduced the amount to 1/2 tbsp (almond extract is super strong...this was the PERFECT amount in these cookies). I used 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 c. UN-TOASTED sweetened coconut, 1 c. sliced almonds in place of the dark chocolate chunks, and 3 oz. of white chocolate baking squares. 

What worked awesomely: The almond extract. I LOVE the flavor of pure almond extract. Don't get ANY of that imitation stuff. NOT ANY FLAVOR. Don't even think about getting imitation vanilla extract. As much as any extract costs, please go with the good stuff. The pure stuff. No one likes cookies that lie :)

The almonds also worked well. They gave the cookie that extra crunch which, if you like nuts, is tasty. 

Not sure what went wrong...which made the cookies to turn out hard. The dough was VERY thick which Joy mentioned was supposed to happen...but after looking at her pictures, my dough looked even THICKER. Now...cookie dough is supposed to be relatively thick. But I don't think this was normal...I think the almonds and the coconut also made the dough thicker and more crumbly. Maybe I over-baked?? None of them came out dark in color though...Hmmm...

Overall the flavor is divine--I highly recommend purchasing and using almond extract. PURE. kthx :)

Random Tip of the Day: When your cookies (whatever flavor) come out of the oven, instead of placing them onto a cooling rack, let them cool in the pans for just a few minutes and then transfer them directly to your cookie jar or Tupperware. This keeps them nice and soft! This technique works with all my other cookies...don't know what happened with this recipe :( 

Thanks Mom for that tip growing up!!

Cheers!

Truffles Everywhere!

Okay well...they aren't everywhere right now...but I hope to be able to sell these in the near future! I just need to work on making them perfectly pretty and I will be set! I have so many ideas flowing in my head for truffles it's unbelievable.

A few include--white chocolate raspberry truffles, cherry almond truffles, and hazelnut coffee truffles.

Are you drooling yet??

If you haven't checked out my recipe for the mint chocolate truffles that I made last week, be sure to do so--it's featured in my last post!

They will be gone in NO TIME if you decide to make a batch and take them into your work or to any other event. They are bite sized--who doesn't want something so sweet and delicious that can be devoured in one bite!? ..............Couldn't think of any one, could ya?

Coming up tomorrow: White Chocolate Almond Joy cookies. Interesting idea, huh?

Stay tuned for the recipe and recap of my experience! Oh and don't forget to place your order NOW for St. Patty's Day!!

Cheers!

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!

Frozen Thinga-Ma-Bobbers From Last Sunday

Did I say how DELICIOUS, scrumptious, flavorful, delectable, fantastic, and just sooo not-in-the-diet these made up things were?!

NOW I DID!

The recipe that I literally threw together on Sunday out of boredom was a pure success. We already ALL know that peanut butter and chocolate are pretty much married to one another. When you add some white chocolate in there (which I'm not usually a huge fan of) and cinnamon struesel, it becomes a crunchy, rich, and perfect little sized treat!

I placed them in a container with a lid, wrapped foil around the whole container, and stuck them in the freezer on Sunday. I almost forgot about them until tonight! But who cares!? That's what the freezer is for! Well...we can say that about some things...I wouldn't recommend keeping these in the freezer much longer than a week because they may get freezer burned.

Anyways...I was trying to find something healthy to make for dinner tonight.

Liv cooking? WHAT? That's like hearing a cat bark. Wait what?

I had some frozen veggies in the freezer and I am trying out this "slow-carb" diet type deal where you only eat good carbs. Check it out! It's sort of interesting...I ended up cheating tonight by eating quinoa--the single most healthy grain and ultimate super food that has all your nutrients for the day. How is this not allowed on this diet? Who knows...but it's awesome.

When I was grabbing the green beans, I spotted my random treats from Sunday! I pulled one out to thaw while I cooked and ate my dinner and by the time I went to snatch it off the counter, it was the perfect temp!

I only ate half of this. My Fitness Pal told me that I had a good amount of calories left over after dinner for dessert, but I didn't want to eat the whole treat PLUS a Skinny Cow caramel truffle bar

I stood over the trash can taking bite after bite of the random, frozen, thinga-ma-bobber and chucked it in the trash after four bites. That sounds like the whole cupcake liner doesn't it!? Well I can tell ya it wasn't.

I then had my Skinny Cow caramel truffle bar.

I highly recommend freezing those things if ya make them! Check out the blog right below this one to find the recipe!

Cheers!!

Around the House

I want to get more into just throwing things together around my house to make a scrumptious treat.

This is exactly what I did Sunday!

Well...I didn't THROW just ANYTHING together.

But flavors that I know will taste delicious together all went into this random baking session of mine Sunday afternoon before heading over my parents for dinner.

I REALLY wanted to make low-fat white chocolate, chocolate puddin' pies but I didn't have enough milk. These would have consisted of using Truvia instead of sugar to sweeten, nonfat milk, unsweetened baking chocolate, some white chocolate morsels, and nonfat, sugar-free, whipped cream with a frozen raspberry on top. There would have been a graham cracker crust made with Truvia on the bottom of each mini pie too!

Sounds yummy huh!?

This will be put on the back burner until March probably when I don't have every weekend occupied with exciting things to do and bake!

Anyways...back to what I ACTUALLY made on Sunday.

I layered cinnamon streusel, peanut butter, semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, more streusel, and topped each cupcake thinga-ma-bobber with frozen raspberries.

Random enough for ya??

I layered the ingredients in cupcake liners and baked them for about 12 minutes on 350. Added the frozen raspberries after letting them cool for a bit.

Where are they now? In the freezer! I thought this would be a great frozen treat which I will be devouring tonight most likely.

Next time...I plan to add a dollop of homemade vanilla whipped cream and THEN the raspberries on top. I just didn't have any whipping cream to do so Sunday.

I tried one when it was still warm and the flavors compliment each other so well. We'll see how good it is frozen tonight!

"Everything Cupcake Thinga-Ma-Bobbers"

To make six

1/4 c. butter softened
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. light brown sugar
1/3 c. unbleached, all purpose flour
1 tsp. cinnamon (sometimes I like extra)
About 6 tbsp. peanut butter (I used all natural PB)
Semi-sweet chocolate chips
White chocolate chips
Homemade whipped cream and frozen raspberries (optional)

Directions:
1. Using a hand blender, beat the butter in a medium sized mixing bowl until fluffy
2. Add the sugar and brown sugar and blend well
3. Mix in the flour (slowly so it doesn't go everywhere!) and the cinnamon
4. Line a cupcake pan with six cupcake liners of your choice
5. Place a heaping tbsp of streusel into each liner. On top of that, about a tbsp. of peanut butter
6. Add a handful of each semi-sweet chocolate chips and then white chocolate chips
7. Completely cover each one with streusel again. You may have some left over in the bowl (I did)
8. Bake on 350 for 10-12 minutes
9. Let cool completely before topping with whipped cream/frozen or fresh raspberries (I only had frozen at the time but fresh would be ten times better!)

You could probably leave the toppings off, heat them before serving, and then top with the whipped cream/raspberries. Like a warm, gooey, to-die-for mini pie! I will let ya'll know how they are frozen when I eat one tonight!!

Cheers!