Cupcakes!

I realize that I made cookies for my husband for his birthday. And he didn't ask for cake. But the dog ate all the cookies, and I've been craving cake. So hubby got some cupcakes too! I have had my eye on a couple of yellow cake recipes. I never think of making yellow cake because I'm such a chocolate cake lover. But Rob loves yellow cake with chocolate frosting, so I decided to try a from-scratch recipe for the first time. I looked through blogs and cookbooks and finally settled on the Cook's Illustrated's recipe for Fluffy Yellow Layer Cake. But decided that I'd make cupcakes instead of one big cake. Cupcakes are just so much fun and I don't make them nearly enough. It's also a really great way to control portion size :-)

This cake is absolutely amazing. It wasn't too hard to pull together and it turned out fantastically. The recipe calls for cake flour, which I didn't have. And I didn't want to have to go buy any. So I searched around the web and found a substitution for cake flour using all purpose flour and cornstarch. It worked perfectly. Here's a link to the substitution on Recipezaar. The substitution worked out perfectly for me. The cake really was light and fluffy.

I used the Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting. This is really some of the best frosting I have ever made and it complimented the light, fluffy yellow cake perfectly.

Fluffy Yellow Layer Cake (source: Cook's Illustrated)

2 1/2 cups cake flour (see link above for cake flour substitute)
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp table salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
10 tbsp (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks, room temperature
3 large egg whites, room temperature

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 9x2 round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper. Grease paper rounds, dust pans with flour, and knock out excess. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soad, salt and 1 1/2 cups sugar together in a large bowl. In a 4 cup liquid measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and yolks.

2. In clean bowl of stand mixer with whisk attachment, beat egg whites at medium-high speed until foamy, about 30 seconds. With machine running, gradually add remaining 1/4 sugar; continue to beat until stiff peaks just form, 30 to 60 seconds (whites should hold peak but mixture should appear moist). Transfer to bowl and set aside.

3. Add flour mixture to now-empty mixing bowl fittes with whisk attachment. With mixer running at low speed, gradually pour in butter mixture and mix until almost incorporated (a few streaks of dry flour will remain), about 15 seconds. Stop mixer and scrape whisk and sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium-low speed and beat until smooth and fully incorporated, 10 to 15 seconds.

4. Using rubber spatula, stir 1/3 of whites into batter to lighten, then add remaining whites and gently fold into batter until no white streaks remain. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Lightly tap pans against counter 2 or 3 times to dislodge any large air bubbles.

5. Bake until cake layers begin to pull away from sides of pans and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen cakes from sides of pans with a small knife, then invert onto greased wire rack and peel off parchment. Invert cakes again and cool completely on rack, about 1 1/2 hours.

This recipe can easily be turned into 24 cupcakes. Line 2 12 cup muffin pans with paper liners. Decrease bake time to 18-20 minutes.

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting (source: Hersheys.com)

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. Makes about 2 cups of frosting.

Cheesecake Swirled Brownies

I have seen so many variations of this wonderful treat and have never made them before. Which is odd since they are 2 of my favorite desserts all wrapped up in one delicious little treat. But there's a reason for this. You see, neither my daughter nor my husband will eat anything even remotely related to cheesecake. So I have chosen not to make them up until this point because it would be extremely dangerous for me to have something like this in my house and be the only one to consume them.

I knew that we would be spending Easter with my family and I had planned on making a Blueberry Pie. But those plans fell through due to time constraints, and I needed a dessert that would come together a little more quickly. So I realized that I had a perfect opportunity to make my beloved Cheesecake Brownies and not have them staring at me from my kitchen!

My next job was to find a recipe. I decided that I wanted to use my Deep Dish Brownie recipe, since they're my absolute fave and the only brownies I ever make. So I surfed over to bakingblonde's blog, knowing that I'd find a great cheesecake component for my yummy brownies. So I just took the cheesecake part of her Cheesecake Brownies recipe, added it to my Deep Dish Brownie recipe, and VOILA! Cheesecake Brownies! Unfortunately, my aunt made me bring home the leftover brownies and I'm not going to embarrass myself by telling how many I've had since yesterday...

Cheesecake Swirled Brownies

Brownie Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt

Cheesecake Ingredients:
7 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp pure Vanilla
1 egg

Directions:
To make the brownies:
~Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8 inch square pan.
~In a large bowl, blend melted butter, sugar and vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time. Combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt in a separate bowl. Gradually blend dry mixture into the egg mixture.
For the cheesecake mixture:
~In bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, flour and vanilla beat until smooth. Add egg and beat just until combined.

Spread 2/3 of the brownies batter into prepared pan. Dollop cheesecake mixture on top of brownie batter and dollop remaining brownie batter on top of cheesecake mixture. Run a knife through the batters, creating a swirl pattern. Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a tester comes out with a few crumbs on it.

Molten Lava Cakes

I have been meaning to make this dessert since the beginning of the year. I promised Rob and Maura that I would make them for New Year's Eve. But for whatever reason, I didn't end up making them. Then I told them I would make them for Valentine's Day, but I didn't make them then either. So when Rob asked for them tonight, I made sure I got whatever ingredients I was missing when I went to the store and I finally made them.

I have made these once before, so I knew how easy they would be to throw together. I love how it's so simple. Just one big bowl and a wire whisk. My pictures didn't turn out so great though. Mostly because I think I have the worst camera known to man. Also, the top of the cake cracked open a bit. I think it sort of resembles an outie bellybutton. But anyway, they were really yummy and really easy and the nice big scoop of French Vanilla ice cream was the perfect compliment :)

Dark Molten Chocolate Cakes (source: kraftfoods.com)

~1 package (6 squares) BAKERS Bittersweet Baking Chocolate (I used Nestle Chocolatier 62% Cocoa Bittersweet Baking Bars)
~10 tbsp butter
~ 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
~1/2 cup flour
~3 eggs
~3 egg yolks

Preheat oven to 425. Grease six 6oz ramekins and place on a baking sheet.

Microwave chocolate and butter in a large microwaveable bowl on Medium for 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir with wire whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Add sugar and flour; mix well. Add eggs and egg yolks and beat until well blended. Divide batter evenly into prepared ramekins

Bake 14-15 minutes or until cakes are firm around the edges but still soft in the centers. Let stand one minute. Run a small knife along cakes to loosen. Invert cakes onto dessert dishes and sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Serve warm.

I took my cakes out at 14.5 minutes and I thought they were still too runny. I will leave them in another minute or so next time to firm them up just a bit more.

Ina's Chocolate Cupcakes

I had an itch to bake the other day and I wanted to try something new. I searched my cookbooks and landed on a recipe in my Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook for Chocolate Cupcakes. The recipe sounded wonderful and I was sure that I would fall in love with them. Ina's recipe in the cookbook comes with a recipe for "Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing." Which I thought was another good sign since Kathleen is my full name and I love peanut butter icing :-) I decided to skip the icing though, since my husband and daughter aren't fans of peanut butter icing.

Unfortunately, we were less than impressed. The cupcakes came out dry and with very little chocolate flavor. I'm not sure if it's because i didn't have buttermilk and substituted with a combination of skim milk and vinegar. Or it could be that I used Hershey's cocoa powder when Ina called for "good" cocoa powder. I'm not sure if Ina would consider the Hershey's brand "good." ;-) Anyway, they weren't bad. I mean, they were chocolate cupcakes after all! But I probably won't be making them again :-(

Chocolate Cupcakes (source: Barefoot Contessa at Home)
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temp
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 extra large eggs, at room temp
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temp
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temp
2 tbsp brewed coffee
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup good cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and two sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it is completely blended.
Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (one rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount). Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Ina says this recipe make 14-15 cupcakes but i got 19 cupcakes using about 1/4 cup of batter for each cup.

Happy Birthday to me!

I decided I was going to make my own birthday cake this year. I made the Hershey's Chocolate Cake for Maura for her birthday back in August and it was awesome. But this time I wanted to make it with the rich chocolate frosting instead of the light cool whip frosting I used in August. Plans changed, however, when someone pointed out that Nestle had a chocolate cake on their website that looked like it would be a pretty good contender against the Hershey's recipe.

Nestie living_insanity posted the recipe one day, and I decided that I had to try it. She recommended maybe doing a taste test to see which one is better. That would be fun and all, but I wasn't up to making 2 seperate cakes. It was my birthday after all. So I decided to just make the Nestle recipe and try hard to remember what the Hershey's cake tasted like.

I was blown away. This cake is so moist and rich and delicious. There are a few things that I did "wrong"/differently though. When I lined the baking pans with wax paper, I didn't grease/spray the wax paper. Big mistake. It doesn't say to do that in the recipe, but do it! The wax paper was a pain to get off. It was really stuck to the cake and it took me about 10 minutes to get it off without tearing my cake apart. Also, I used 2 9" cake pans, since thats what I have. I just reduced the baking time to 30 minutes and it turned out great.

Honestly, I don't remember the exact taste of the Hershey's recipe. So I don't think I can make a fair comparison. I will say that I know that this recipe is atleast just as good as the other. But I would need to taste them both at the same time to make a fair judgement. Anyone want to make me a Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Ckae so I can compare it to the leftover cake in my fridge???

Here is a link to the recipe on Nestle's website.

Hershey's Best Brownies

These really are the best brownies. I have been making the Deep Dish Brownies recipe from allrecipes, with some adjustments, for a while now and they had been my favorite. But I think they have been replaced. [EDIT: After making my Deep Dish Brownie recipe several more times, as well as this one, it has been decided that my Deep Dish Brownie recipe reigns supreme. Althought these are pretty yummy too :-)] I found the Hershey's recipe on Jessica's blog and I made them exactly the way she did. They were chewy and fudgy and wonderful. I made a second batch to take to my aunt's house yesterday and they were a big hit there as well. So here's the recipe the way Jessica (and I) made them.
Hershey's Best Brownie
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa (I used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts(optional) (I did not add these)
  
• CREAMY BROWNIE FROSTING(recipe follows) (I did not use the frosting)
• as per Jessica's alterations, I also added about 2 tbsp of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup and about 1/3 cup of semisweet chocolate chips
  

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch square baking pan.

2. Stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in bowl. Add eggs; beat well with spoon. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to egg mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in nuts, if desired. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan.

3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Prepare CREAMY BROWNIE FROSTING; spread over brownies. Cut into squares. About 16 brownies.

Jessica used a 9" round pan. I did this as well, since I didn't have a 9" square pan

Oh, and here's a link to the original.

Oh Kitchen, how I missed thee!!

I missed my kitchen so much while I was on vacation. I got to cook dinner for everyone (meaning about 24 people) only once. It was quite the experience. But I loved it. I made shredded BBQ chicken, breaded zucchini, and corn on the cob. The whole dinner was a huge hit. It was a ton of work though. Imagine shredding enough chicken for 24 people. Not a quick meal! But anyway, I missed my kitchen and did not get any chances to bake at all.

So tonight, I got back in the kitchen and threw together a dinner with what I had on hand. I made some BBQ chicken in the oven and roasted some potatoes. I was going to make a veggie side, like roasted zucchini. But I forgot to pick up veggies at the store yesterday, and all the veggies leftover from before we left for vacation looked questionable. So no veggies with dinner tonight.

For the BBQ chicken, I just let the chicken pieces soak/marinade in some BBQ sauce for about 15 minutes(Hunts' Hickory and Brown Sugar...sooooo good!) I lined a baking sheet with foil, placed the chicken pieces on the baking sheet and baked them at 425 for about 25 minutes. I took them out about basted them, then put then back in the oven for another 15 minutes, basting with the sauce one more time before they were done cooking. It was super easy and super yummy.

To roast the potatoes, I just cut them into chunks, laid them on a baking sheet (which i sprayed with olive oil first), sprayed the potatoes with olive oil, and then sprinkled some salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning on them. I threw the potatoes in the oven at the same time as the chicken, and they were done before the chicken, so i probably should have waited.

I also decided to bake tonight, since I haven't baked in over a week, and I loooove to bake. Also, tomorrow is Maura's first day of 3rd grade and I wanted to bake some goodies for her to have in her lunches for her first week of school. I used a recipe I have used over and over again for Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies. But I made it differently. This time I used Dark Chocolate cocoa powder and White Chocolate Chips. This is by far my favorite cookie recipe. I am not a huge fan of white chocolate, so I was hesitant to try it this way. They were very tasty, but next time I will stick to other add-ins. I have made them with semisweet chips, and with chopped up dark chocolate and milk chocolate bars. The original recipe comes from foodnetwork.com and can be found here.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup Hershey's Special Dark cocoa
2 cups white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl stir together flour, salt, and baking soda. In another large bowl stir together butter, both sugars, eggs, vanilla and cocoa. Gradually stir flour mixture into butter mixture and mix until combined. Add white chocolate chips and stir to distribute evenly.
For cookies: Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets and bake about 10 minutes. Cool on a baking rack.
For bars: Pat dough into a greased 9 inch square baking pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cut into squares when cooled

Oh, and here's a picture of the beach for you :-) We went to Bethany Beach, Delaware last week and had a blast with my entire family.

Mmmmmm, Chocolate!

I love chocolate. And as far as I'm concerned, the darker the better. So when I was at the store getting some cocoa, since I had run out, I decided to buy the Hershey's Special Dark Dutch Processed Cocoa instead of the Hershey's Unsweetened Cocoa I usually buy. Rob was wanting brownies tonight and I was really excited to crack open my container of dark chocolate yumminess. I opened the container and was shocked by how dark it looked. And at that point, I had already realized that I did not have quite enough sugar to make the brownies. So I panicked. But the butter was already melted, so I decided to keep going and see how it turned out.

I was definitely worried that the brownies would come out bitter. The original recipe calls for 1.5 cups of sugar and I had a little more than 1 cup. I had maybe 1 and 1/8 cup. So I was definitely concerned. But they turned out super yummy. I will say though, they would benefit from some extra sugar, but as a dark chocolate lover, they are more than delicious to me :-)

The original recipe can be found on allrecipes.com here. I never follow this recipe exactly the way it is on allrecipes. I always cut out the baking powder completely and only use 2 eggs. I learned these little tips from the reviewers on allrecipes and the changes make for a really gooey, fudgy brownie. This is the only brownie recipe I ever use. Even though I linked to the original recipe, and mentioned how I change it up, I'll go ahead and type up the way I make them here.

Deep Dish Brownies

3/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used the Special Dark cocoa powder tonight)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8 inch square pan.
2. In a large bowl, blend melted butter, sugar and vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time. Combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt in a separate bowl. Gradually blend dry mixture into the egg mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let brownies cool, then cut into squares. Enjoy!