So I got an order for two dozen cupcakes for a holiday party about a week ago. I decided to make two kinds of cupcakes and these were the first. Both turned out pretty good if I may say so myself.
These were a little on the sweet side so if you want to cut back just add less sugar to the cupcake batter and test the frosting as you add the powdered sugar until you get the desired taste.
Cupcakes:
(this is the recipe off the back of the Hershey cocoa box)
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup veg oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup boiling water
(this makes about 30 cupcakes!)
1) preheat oven to 350. Get cupcake pans ready
2) Mix dry ingredients
3) add wet ingredients, boiling water last. Batter will be very thin.
4) mix until all ingredients are incorporated
5) fill cupcake holders about 2/3 of the way
6) bake about 20 min
These are super moist and go amazingly with the chocolate frosting on the back of the box as well.
Peppermint Buttercreme:
1/2 cup butter softened
Powdered sugar to taste (about 7 cups)
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp peppermint extract
1) beat together butter and half of the milk
2) slowly add about four cups of the powdered sugar
3) add the peppermint
4) keep alternating milk and powdered sugar until it reaches the desired taste and consistency
To put the cupcakes together:
Use an apple corer to take the center out of the cupcake if you want to. Pipe in some of the peppermint Buttercreme (I added some instant hot chocolate mix to about half a cup to do this to make the cupcakes extra hot chocolaty) I think since the cupcakes are so moist you don't need to fill them with anything though.
Pipe a generous amount of icing on the top of each cupcake. Top with a chunk of peppermint bark (recipe to come soon..or you can use store bought)
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Update on pumpkin pie...
So I posted earlier on a completely made from scratch pumpkin pie...and have come to the conclusion that it is much better and easier just to make pumpkin pie using the recipe on the back of the can.
This is why...
1: boiling (or roasting for that matter) doesn't give you the same pumpkin taste or consistency as the canned stuff.
2: molasses did not go well with the favors of the pie...and I cut what the recipe called for in half
3: it's a big pain
So in conclusion make the pie from the can, it is easier and much tastier.
This is why...
1: boiling (or roasting for that matter) doesn't give you the same pumpkin taste or consistency as the canned stuff.
2: molasses did not go well with the favors of the pie...and I cut what the recipe called for in half
3: it's a big pain
So in conclusion make the pie from the can, it is easier and much tastier.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Post Baby Blogging
It just hasn't happened yet. Having a baby is a lot of work. I won't go into all the details of t he last six weeks but I now have a wonderfully awesome baby boy named Dominic!
The last week or so I have slowly started to learn how to juggle baby and baking. The baking is needed to relax me and let me have some time to be a little creative.
First thing I baked some things for the church cookie and candy walk. I made some pumpkin and chocolate fudge. I also make some peppermint bark. The recipe for pumpkin fudge has already been put up on my blog...I made it earlier to rave reviews. I'm going to wait and post the peppermint bark recipe for when I have pictures to put with it. (I plan on making a few batches for Christmas presents soon.)
I was going to make peanut butter fudge and peppermint fudge but I learned quickly that baking with a baby takes a lot more time then baking on my own.
Here is the chocolate fudge recipe:
1 lb. milk chocolate
1 lb. semi-sweet chocolate
2 1/2 tbs. butter
2 cups marshmallow creme
12 oz evaporated milk
4 cups sugar
1. Line a 9x13 pan with wax paper (you can spray butter it too if you want)
2. Heat the butter, evaporated milk and sugar in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Continuously stir and let boil for four to five minutes.
3. Put chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and heat in the microwave until softened. (I just did two 30 sec. rounds)
4. Add the chocolate to the butter/milk mixture. (take it off the stove first) Mix until all the chocolate is melted.
5. Mix in the marshmallow creme and mix until smooth.
6. Pour the mixture into the pan and let it sit for a few hours (you can put it in the fridge to harden if you need to)
I only made this once and I made a few mistakes. One: I wasn't watching the mixture while it was boiling (even though you are supposed to stir it constantly) and it boiled over...made a terrible sticky mess and I lost about 1/3 of the mixture. Two: I didn't have good quality chocolate chips and you since it is just chocolate the quality of the chocolate is very very important. Three: 4 cups of sugar is probably way too much...the fudge was very sweet.
So if I had payed attention and shelled out for some more expensive chocolate it would have made all the difference. I also might have just used semi-sweet chocolate with all the sugar that was called for in the recipe.
Stay tuned for these recipes I have made recently:
Peppermint bark
Hot Chocolate cupcakes with peppermint buttercream icing
Gingerbread cupcakes with lemon cream cheese icing and
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with lemon cream cheese icing
The last week or so I have slowly started to learn how to juggle baby and baking. The baking is needed to relax me and let me have some time to be a little creative.
First thing I baked some things for the church cookie and candy walk. I made some pumpkin and chocolate fudge. I also make some peppermint bark. The recipe for pumpkin fudge has already been put up on my blog...I made it earlier to rave reviews. I'm going to wait and post the peppermint bark recipe for when I have pictures to put with it. (I plan on making a few batches for Christmas presents soon.)
I was going to make peanut butter fudge and peppermint fudge but I learned quickly that baking with a baby takes a lot more time then baking on my own.
Here is the chocolate fudge recipe:
1 lb. milk chocolate
1 lb. semi-sweet chocolate
2 1/2 tbs. butter
2 cups marshmallow creme
12 oz evaporated milk
4 cups sugar
1. Line a 9x13 pan with wax paper (you can spray butter it too if you want)
2. Heat the butter, evaporated milk and sugar in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Continuously stir and let boil for four to five minutes.
3. Put chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and heat in the microwave until softened. (I just did two 30 sec. rounds)
4. Add the chocolate to the butter/milk mixture. (take it off the stove first) Mix until all the chocolate is melted.
5. Mix in the marshmallow creme and mix until smooth.
6. Pour the mixture into the pan and let it sit for a few hours (you can put it in the fridge to harden if you need to)
I only made this once and I made a few mistakes. One: I wasn't watching the mixture while it was boiling (even though you are supposed to stir it constantly) and it boiled over...made a terrible sticky mess and I lost about 1/3 of the mixture. Two: I didn't have good quality chocolate chips and you since it is just chocolate the quality of the chocolate is very very important. Three: 4 cups of sugar is probably way too much...the fudge was very sweet.
So if I had payed attention and shelled out for some more expensive chocolate it would have made all the difference. I also might have just used semi-sweet chocolate with all the sugar that was called for in the recipe.
Stay tuned for these recipes I have made recently:
Peppermint bark
Hot Chocolate cupcakes with peppermint buttercream icing
Gingerbread cupcakes with lemon cream cheese icing and
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with lemon cream cheese icing
Made From Scratch Pumpkin Pie
The worst thing about cooking and baking right now...besides being four days overdue with this baby...is not having a dishwasher! Yeah, it sucks. I absolutely hate doing dishes. It's the worst. Anyway...
Pumpkin Pie time.
For a while I tried to find a pumpkin pie recipe online that told me how to make it completely from scratch. None of the ones I could find had rave reviews...they were all lacking something or other. Then I remembered a friend of mine who likes to bake, and had made a pumpkin pie from scratch last year. He graciously gave me the recipe. I made a few minor adjustments...just because I like my pumpkin pie spicy and will post my modified recipe below.
For the crust see my past recipe. I just took it out of the fridge for about 20 min. and then rolled it out and put it in my 9'' pie pan, cut of the excess and crinkled the edges. The crust does not have to be cooked before the pie.
Ingredients: (this makes one 9'' pie)
1 cup pumpkin puree*
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. molasses
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups (one 12oz can) evaporated milk
1 tsp. vanilla
*To make pumpkin puree: Take a small baking pumpkin, cut into quarters. Scrape out the innards. Put into a pot of boiling water. Boil until soft and mushy. Pull out the pumpkin and use a spoon to separate the skin of the pumpkin from the flesh. Put into a blender or food processor (I used my immersion blender...I never pass up the chance) and blend until smooth. If you have any extra, you can save it and use for later...It freezes fine. Note: Boiling pumpkin does not smell very good...make sure you have a way to ventilate the area! (It could just be the pregnant me talking, any strong smell turns my stomach.)1) Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2) Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. (It will be thinner than the pumpkin recipes you find on the cans, and darker in color)
3) Pour into unbaked pie shell.
4) Put in the oven for 15 min. Then reduce the heat to 300 degrees.
5) Cover the edges with foil so the crust doesn't burn (I just use a long sheet of foil and tent it over the pie.
5) Leave in the oven for 45-60 min. (until set in the middle)
6) Remove from oven, let cool completely and enjoy!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Pumpkin Pasties
A-la-Harry Potter! The book below is a MUST for all Harry Potter fans. I have only gotten through a few recipes (and there are a few in the book I would NEVER try-like blood pudding) but they all fuel my love for the books...and that is just the best. The only thing it is missing that I wish it had is Butterbeer...maybe I'll make my own recipe for that some day.
The dish at hand though: Pumpkin Pasties.
So easy to make, takes like ten minutes. I had made extra pie crust yesterday thinking I would just make two pumpkin pies, but pulling out this cookbook I remembered the Pumpkin Pasty recipe. So I chopped my pie dough in half and went for it. I also had some left over pumpkin from making the Pumpkin Fudge earlier in the week, so was able to use that instead of having to open up a whole new can! I love it when I can save stuff and find uses for it later.
In the book the author has her own recipe for the crust. You can use that or use my recipe on the previous post or just buy some from the store (no one is judging!) If you buy it from the store make sure to buy the kind you roll out and put in your own pan, not the kind already in the aluminum pan.
Ingredients:
Pie Crust
1 cup pumpkin puree (not the pie mix)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1) Preheat the oven to 400
2) Lay out the pie crust and use a rolling pin to roll out until thin (I even like to roll out the store bought kind just so it's a little thinner)
3) Use a 6'' diameter cup, bowl, cookie cutter, whatever to cut out circles of the pie crust. (In the book it says it makes about 6 Pasties, I'm thinking that is with two store bought crusts). With whatever crust you have left, reroll and make some more circles.
4) In a bowl mix together the pumpkin, sugar, and spices.
5) Put about two or three Tbs. of the pumpkin mixture on the crust circles.
6) Fold in half and pinch down the edges using a fork.
7) Cut slits in the top to vent.
8) Place on cookie sheet and put into the oven until the crusts are golden brown. (15 minutes or so)
9) Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve.
*I use a cookie cutter that is about 2 or 3 inches in diameter, so mine are much smaller then the ones in the book. I made mine with one homemade 9'' pie crust and came out with 16 or so pasties. I also had some extra dough that I didn't roll out again and just a little extra pumpkin mix (I thought I might try some pumpkin oatmeal in the morning with brown sugar and cinnamon!) You can make them any size you want, just make sure to vary the cooking time.*
They are great warm or cold. Add some ice cream or whipped cream for a real treat! These are nice because they are like mini pumpkin pies you can walk around with, but they are not quite as sweet.
My husband absolutely loves them. The first batch I made he ate them all...so I had to make two more to take to work with me the next day! They were gone pretty fast as well.
The dish at hand though: Pumpkin Pasties.
So easy to make, takes like ten minutes. I had made extra pie crust yesterday thinking I would just make two pumpkin pies, but pulling out this cookbook I remembered the Pumpkin Pasty recipe. So I chopped my pie dough in half and went for it. I also had some left over pumpkin from making the Pumpkin Fudge earlier in the week, so was able to use that instead of having to open up a whole new can! I love it when I can save stuff and find uses for it later.
In the book the author has her own recipe for the crust. You can use that or use my recipe on the previous post or just buy some from the store (no one is judging!) If you buy it from the store make sure to buy the kind you roll out and put in your own pan, not the kind already in the aluminum pan.
Ingredients:
Pie Crust
1 cup pumpkin puree (not the pie mix)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1) Preheat the oven to 400
2) Lay out the pie crust and use a rolling pin to roll out until thin (I even like to roll out the store bought kind just so it's a little thinner)
4) In a bowl mix together the pumpkin, sugar, and spices.
6) Fold in half and pinch down the edges using a fork.
8) Place on cookie sheet and put into the oven until the crusts are golden brown. (15 minutes or so)
9) Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve.
*I use a cookie cutter that is about 2 or 3 inches in diameter, so mine are much smaller then the ones in the book. I made mine with one homemade 9'' pie crust and came out with 16 or so pasties. I also had some extra dough that I didn't roll out again and just a little extra pumpkin mix (I thought I might try some pumpkin oatmeal in the morning with brown sugar and cinnamon!) You can make them any size you want, just make sure to vary the cooking time.*
My husband absolutely loves them. The first batch I made he ate them all...so I had to make two more to take to work with me the next day! They were gone pretty fast as well.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Pie Crust
So a few years ago (yes that is how tramatic an experience it was) I tried to make a Pumpkin Pie COMPLETELY from scratch. The best compliment I can give it...it was edible. So after this tramatic experience I am going to try again!
Still being pregnant my tolerence for work is slim. So today all I did was make the crust.
I love making my own crust (and I only have a small food processor...that cannot hold all the ingredients for pie crust). There I said it. I find it relaxing. I just gather up all my ingredients sit back and crumble in the butter. It is messy, but fun.
The recipe I use is from Vegitarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. It is a completely amazing cook book. Eventhough I am not a vegitarian, any more, there are so many awesome recipes that I use it quite often. I have adapted the recipe slightly for my needs.
Ingredients:
(makes ONE 9'' pie crust)
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 lb. butter (1 stick)-very cold
4-6 Tbs. ice water
salt or sugar to taste (about 1 Tbs. sugar or 1 tsp. salt)
1) Measure out flour and put in a medium bowl. Add the sugar or salt.
2) Cut butter (straight from the fridge or even freezer) into small squares and dump into flour.
3) Crumble with your fingers the butter into the flour. I just dig in and squeeze the butter into the flour.
4) When all the butter is incorporated the mixture should be flaky and powdery. Start adding the water (a little at a time)
5) After adding some water, kneed the dough. Keep adding and kneeding until the mixture comes together.
6) Press into a disk shape (for easier rolling) and wrap tightly. Put in the fridge for at least an hour.
*This is the way to make the pie crust if you do not have a food processor. If you do, it is a lot simpler: just cut up the butter, add it, the flour and sugar or salt to the food processor, pulse until crumbly, slowly add water while pulsing. It is ready when almost all of the ingredients are incorporated. You still have to dump it out and hand kneed it until it all comes together.*
Sugar or salt? It just depends on your taste. I used sugar because I knew I was going to use the pie crust for a sweet treat. If I'm making quiche or a savory tart, I'll use salt. (I've also been known to use salted butter just to cut out the step of measuring the salt...but doing that takes away the control you have of how much salt to add).
I doubled the above recipe because I figured if I'm going through enough trouble of making my own crust, I might as well make two of them. You should also double if you are making any pie that uses a crust for the top, like apple or blueberry.
Still being pregnant my tolerence for work is slim. So today all I did was make the crust.
I love making my own crust (and I only have a small food processor...that cannot hold all the ingredients for pie crust). There I said it. I find it relaxing. I just gather up all my ingredients sit back and crumble in the butter. It is messy, but fun.
The recipe I use is from Vegitarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. It is a completely amazing cook book. Eventhough I am not a vegitarian, any more, there are so many awesome recipes that I use it quite often. I have adapted the recipe slightly for my needs.
Ingredients:
(makes ONE 9'' pie crust)
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 lb. butter (1 stick)-very cold
4-6 Tbs. ice water
salt or sugar to taste (about 1 Tbs. sugar or 1 tsp. salt)
 |
| Measure out flour and sugar or salt. |
2) Cut butter (straight from the fridge or even freezer) into small squares and dump into flour.
 |
| Cut butter into small squares. |
4) When all the butter is incorporated the mixture should be flaky and powdery. Start adding the water (a little at a time)
 |
| After butter is added it should hold together like this, but still be crumbly. |
6) Press into a disk shape (for easier rolling) and wrap tightly. Put in the fridge for at least an hour.
 |
| Finished dough in disk shape, ready for the fridge. |
Sugar or salt? It just depends on your taste. I used sugar because I knew I was going to use the pie crust for a sweet treat. If I'm making quiche or a savory tart, I'll use salt. (I've also been known to use salted butter just to cut out the step of measuring the salt...but doing that takes away the control you have of how much salt to add).
I doubled the above recipe because I figured if I'm going through enough trouble of making my own crust, I might as well make two of them. You should also double if you are making any pie that uses a crust for the top, like apple or blueberry.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Pumpkin Fudge
I must admit that I had never made fudge before and was a little intimidated by the recipe. (Exact boiling times and temperatures...not for me) As much as I love baking, I have a tendency to measure however I feel like measuring. A dash of this and a pinch of that, instead of exactly one tablespoon. This is not always the best strategy for baking where very precise measurements are a must.
So lately I've been trying my hardest to measure everything exactly how the recipe says, and it's been going well so far.
From what I've gathered on other blogs and recipe sites is that fudge can go very wrong, very easily. So just follow the recipe and you'll be ok...I think!
Ingredients:
2 Cups sugar
1 Cup brown sugar (packed)
3/4 Cup butter (MUST be real butter)
2/3 Cup evaporated milk
1/2 Cup pumpkin puree
1 1/2 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice
12 oz. (one package) white chocolate chips
7 oz. (one small jar) Marshmallow Creme
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Cup nuts (pecans or macadamia) - optional
Special equipment: candy thermometer
1) Butter a 9x13 baking dish or line with wax paper and butter.2) In a heavy saucepan combine the first 6 ingredients. Cook over MEDIUM heat until boiling. Stir constantly.
3) Place the thermometer in the sugar mixture and boil until the 234-243 degrees F (the soft-ball stage). Note: be patient, this can take up to 30 minutes...don't rush it or the fudge can get grainy or very crumbly.
4) Remove from heat and stir in the white chocolate until they are all melted and mixture is smooth.5) Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
6) Pour into the prepared pan and let cool to room temperature.
7) Cut into squares and store in an air tight container.
As you can see by my first picture, the fudge is not very orange. I was expecting it to come out a little brighter. It also would have been nice because people wouldn't have to ask what kind of fudge it is.
To counter this, I figure you can just add some orange gel food coloring when you are adding the marshmallow fluff until it reaches the desired orange color.
Other than that, I had no problems with making the fudge...it turned out great!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
The Beginning with Chex Mix
My name is Erin and I am going to attempt to keep a blog of my amazing cooking adventures. They are not really amazing or adventures...but I can dream.
I love cooking (baking more than anything else). My family is not big on cooking, my dad did all of the real cooking growing up, my mom heated up the Stouffers. So I'm not really sure where the baking gene comes from.
The problem...I am nine months pregnant with my first baby(I'm due on Sunday!!). Not that this is really a problem but I have been wanting to start a cooking blog and now that I'm actually going to do it, I'm not going to have any time to cook.
Hopefully this will not be the first and final post!
Today I made Chex Mix. Not the most exciting thing but Homecoming for WVWC is this weekend and I thought we needed something in the house for people who were stopping by to hang out for a while and wanted something to munch on. Disclaimer: My husband and I live on the third floor of my Grandparents home. (They have a full apartment up there) So when I say people are stopping by it's usually to see my Grandparents and my Aunts, not me but I don't mind letting all the guests be my baking guinea pigs.
I made one recipe of the original Chex mix and then in the October spirit made a double batch of Pumpkin Pie Chex Mix.
It only took about half an hour all told...which seems to be my threshold of work these days (this baby thing really drains the energy out of me).
I don't have the pictures with me right now, but I will post them soon. For now you will have to deal with just the recipe:
(this is the single recipe initially pulled from the Chex website but modified to fit me)
2 Cups Honey Chex
2 Cups Cinnamon Chex
2 Cups whatever Chex you have left over from other stuff (I used a mix of Wheat, Corn and Rice that I had left over from the original Chex recipe)
1/4 Cup brown sugar
1 Tbs. Pumpkin Pie spice
1/4 Cup butter (unsalted)
1 Tsp. vanilla
1 Cup chopped pecans (optional)
1 Cup butterscotch chips (optional)
1 Cup roasted pumpkin seeds (optional)
1) In a small bowl mix together brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.
2) Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl (takes about 45 seconds).
3) While butter is melting in a very large microwavable bowl measure out your Chex, pecans and pumpkin seeds, mix well.
4) Once butter is melted add in vanilla and stir. Then pour over Chex mixture and mix until evenly distributed.
5) Then add the brown sugar mixture and mix well.
6) Microwave on high for about 5 minutes (mine only had to be in there for 4) stirring VERY well every minute. (If you don't stir, the Chex will burn.)
7) Once done, spread on paper towels or wax paper and let cool. After it has cooled, mix in the butterscotch chips. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
Chex mixes are so easy to make and are awesome for snacks just to have around the house. They are also super convenient because you can modify them to whatever you have on hand. Don't have pecans just add peanuts, don't have pumpkin seeds, just add some pretzels.
This recipe was even better since I haven't been able to get enough pumpkin stuff lately.
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