Posts tagged ‘chocolate’

Feb 4

Cherry Swirl Brownies

I found this recipe on the back of a Betty Crocker Ultimate Fudge brownie box mix. It looked extremely tempting, so I cut out the recipe to give it a try later on. Yesterday I pulled out the recipe again and ended up with this…

Betty Crocker Ultimate Fudge brownie box mix with a layer of cherry cream cheese in the middle.

They are very yummy and gooey. Some problems I had with the recipe was that if I had had a 9×9-inch pan, I would have used it so that the brownies wouldn’t have been so thick. As it was, I used an 8×8-inch pan and had to bake over the recommended time by a little less than 10 minutes. The top of the brownies became quite crunchy, which I wasn’t too fond of.

Another problem I had was that of mixing an egg with the cream cheese mixture. I presume this was to make the cream cheese layer puff up a bit, but while it tastes just fine and cream cheesey, the close-up texture looks like that of a baked egg, which sort of puts me off a little bit!

The recipe can be found at the Betty Crocker website.

The only thing I did differently with the recipe was with the cream cheese mixture – I mixed the chopped cherries into the cream cheese mixture last so that I wouldn’t squash and smoosh the cherries.

I personally think that the brownies taste best straight from the refrigerator, rather than straight from the oven or at room temperature. But try it out, and see what you think!

Jan 2

2 Comments

No Bake Cookies

Due to our recent oven failure, I cannot bake anything at all until the heating element is replaced. But I needed something sweet to eat, so I chose the chocolate peanut butter no-bake cookie. I hadn’t eaten one of these since I was in about third grade at my babysitter’s house, so I was thinking that the taste of these would bring back many memories, and they did!

The chewy, chocolatey, peanut buttery taste of these cookies instantly brought back memories with the very first bite. They were super easy to make too, so I’m not sure why I’ve never made these before. Definitely these were the quickest cookies I’ve ever made!

I halved the recipe from the original and ended up with about 2 dozen, maybe a few more.

No Bake Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups old fashioned or quick cooking oats

Method:
In a heavy saucepan bring to a boil, the sugar, cocoa, butter and milk. Let boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly, then add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal. On a sheet of waxed paper, drop mixture by the tablespoonfuls, until cooled and hardened, about an hour.

They, of course, remain soft and pliable and chewy; which is not exactly like a normal baked cookie. But they are quite tasty and I would make these again say, if I wanted a super quick sweet treat or if the oven didn’t work…

Dec 29

Chocolate Cupcakes With Instant Pudding Frosting

It’s been a while since I made a great cupcake, with the exception of the gingerbread cupcakes I made for Christmas – I made gingerbread cupcakes, frosted them with Bakerella’s buttercream (with a dash of salt added), and topped them all with a mini gingerbread man from Martha Stewart’s gingerbread cookie recipe. They tasted great.

But the chocolate ones I made for Christmas, like so many of my previous batches of cupcakes in the past weeks, were flat, short, tasteless and sort of rubbery-like. It’s really been a huge disappointment; even the red velvet cupcakes I made for my husband’s work were flat, short and rubbery.

I think the reason I have been baking cupcakes like this is that my baking powder expired 3 months ago. I only found this out within the past few days, and I encourage everyone to take note of their baking powder expiry dates! I did do a test by putting a teaspoon of baking powder in some tepid water, and it did fizz, hinting that it is still active, but I really think that it is not. There’s no other explanation to my recent string of cupcake failures.

Well, I still have no new baking powder, but I needed to bake cupcakes today because there are no other sweets in the house! I chose the chocolate mayonnaise cupcake, which uses baking soda, not powder. They rose just fine, have a nice soft texture and are very chocolatey. This is my second time baking this cupcake.

I intended on making blueberry frosting for these cupcakes, but realized that I was about 1.5 cups short of confectioners’ sugar. I did have French vanilla instant pudding, however, and knew I could make frosting out of this:

Instant Pudding Frosting

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup milk
1 package Jello instant pudding, any flavor

Pour all ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix with whisk attachment on high speed until the frosting is thick and spreadable.

It won’t be pipeable, though. It’s airy and light and will thicken somewhat after a time in the refrigerator. Be sure to keep any cupcakes frosted with this frosting in the refrigerator.

I know, it’s a strange combination – mayonnaise, chocolate and French vanilla pudding, but as I have done before, I assure you that you cannot taste the mayonnaise in the cupcakes.

The matching liner and frosting was a total fluke, by the way.

Dec 2

14 Comments

Matcha Cocoa Cupcakes

I made this cupcake intending to enter it into December’s Iron Cupcake Earth challenge Chocolate With A Twist. Then after I made it I thought it wasn’t good enough. It tasted great, but I didn’t think it was the worthiest contender. Then as I keep looking at them sitting there in the kitchen I thought, what the hay, I’ll enter them! Here is the matcha cocoa cupcake.

Yes, I need to work on my piping skills, I know!

I call it the matcha cocoa cupcake, because it does taste similar to the matcha hot cocoa recipe I enjoy. The chocolate cake in these cupcakes are very chocolatey, and the matcha is very matcha-y. The cake is dense and heavy and quite filling.

The dark chocolate ganache is a nice touch, and the matcha Swiss meringue buttercream is to die for. This is my second attempt at making SMBC (my first attempt failed) and it went really well. The texture is amazing, almost mousse-like. It pipes really well. The matcha taste in the SMBC is not overpowering and adds an extra light matcha flavor.

Thank you to Cupcakes Take The Cake for posting my matcha cocoa cupcakes on your blog!

Our December ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:
* BETTY TURBO
* as well as a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES
* PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice -sweet!

As an added bonus for December we have adorable cupcake pincushions complements of SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY.

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: FIESTA PRODUCTS; HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, JESSIE STEELE APRONS; the CUPCAKE COURIER; TASTE OF HOME books. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers.com.

Recipes:

Chocolate & Matcha Marbled Cupcakes
(adapted from La Tartine Gourmande)
makes 10-12 regular sized cupcakes

Ingredients
8 Tbsp butter, melted (1 stick)
3 oz dark chocolate, melted
3 eggs, large
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 + 2/3 cups flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1.5 tsp sifted unsweetened cocoa, diluted with 2 Tbsp whole milk
1.5 tsp Matcha powder

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the butter and set aside. Melt the chocolate using a double-boiler.
Beat the eggs with the sugar until blended. Add the melted the butter and vanill extract and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and add to the butter/egg mixture. Beat until blended, but do not overbeat.

Divide the batter in two halves. In the first half, add the Matcha tea, in the second the chocolate and cocoa diluted in milk. Stir each half until thorougly incorporated.

Spoon chocolate mixture into cupcake liners, and spoon matcha mixture on top of the chocolate. Fill liners about 1/2 – 2/3 full. You can use a toothpick or knife to gently stir the colors together for a marbled effect, or you can leave as is.

Bake in a preheated oven for 20-22 minutes. Test with a toothpick to make sure they are done.

Chocolate ganache

Ingredients
3oz dark chocolate
3oz heavy whipping cream

Method
Heat the whipping cream and chocolate in a small pan over low heat unti melted. Do not boil. Remove from heat and sit aside until cooler. Dip tops of cupcakes into the ganache and sit aside to let ganache harden, or put into the refrigerator to harden it quicker.

Matcha Swiss Meringue Buttercream
(method adapted from How To Eat A Cupcake)

2.4oz egg whites
4.8oz sugar
5.3oz unsalted butter, room temperature
1.5 tablespoons matcha (use more or less to suit your taste)

Method
Put egg whites and sugar into the top of a double boiler over a pan of simmering water. Whisking constantly, cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm (about 160 degrees).

Pour heated egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg white mixture on high speed until it forms stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until fluffy and cooled, about 7 minutes.

Switch to the paddle attachment. With mixer on medium-low, add butter two tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Increase speed to medium-high; continue beating until frosting appears thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low; add matcha powder and continue beating 2 minutes to eliminate air bubbles.

Nov 25

4 Comments

Review: Marsh Supermarket Bundt Cake

Last night my husband stopped at our local Marsh Supermarket to pick up some things we needed and he surprised me with a special treat – a bundt cake. Because I think that our local Marsh makes some excellent sweet baked goods, I was looking forward to trying this cake.

The cake was officially called a “Rocky Road Creme Bundt Cake”. I have no idea why it would be called Rocky Road, though; the only resemblence it has to Rocky Road is the walnuts scattered on top. Nor do I understand why it’s a “Creme” cake. Anyway, the cake itself is nicely zebra-striped inside. The cake is super moist and soft. In fact, the cake itself is so nice that I prefer to eat it without the chocolate glaze.

Oh yes, the chocolate glaze. It is terrible. It’s sort of stretchy, too, which is an odd texture for a glaze to have, I think. It’s not too sweet, but it is definitely chocolately-tasting. It’s just not a great taste.

Overall, it is a nice cake and it will not be going to waste. Marsh needs to work on that chocolate glaze recipe, though!

Nov 24

4 Comments

Chocolate & PB Cupcakes

I will start this particular post by noting that I am not of those cakers who vehemently abhor box cake mixes. While it is true that I would much rather bake a cake from scratch, I have no problem with a box cake mix.

And I did have a box cake mix sitting in the cabinet, due to expire on December 8. I couldn’t think what to do with it, so I decided I’d bake cupcakes with it, frost six of them and freeze the rest for when I need a quick cupcake fix. Let me tell you that I needed a quick cupcake fix on Saturday, the day I baked these cupcakes. I caught the cold that my daughter, son and and husband had last week and I could barely manage to eat anything; the only thing that sounded good was a cupcake.

So, I quickly mixed and baked two dozen chocolate fudge cupcakes. On top of the six cupcakes I planned to eat, I evenly placed about 10 semisweet chocolate chips the very second I took the cupcakes out of the oven. After a minute or so, the chips were melted and I took a knife to spread them into a thin layer on top of the cupcake.

After the cupcakes were cooled, I froze the leftovers and frosted my six with my favorite peanut butter frosting, which can be found in this post (except I made a little creamier with a little more milk). Then I melted a small palmful of the semisweet chocolate chips, spooned the melted chocolate into a ziploc bag, cut off the corner of the bottom of the bag, leaving a very small opening, and piped a swirly chocolate circle on top of the six cupcakes.

As a note, of course you can make any type of chocolate cupcakes for these, it doesn’t have to be a box cake mix. The melted chocolate chip layer gives a nice sublte crunch to the cupcake, which I liked. I used Ghirardelli chocolate chips – I think that they are softer than the average chocolate chip. Another brand might give a harder crunch to these cupcakes.

Nov 19

3 Comments

Super Easy Fudge

When I was pregnant with my second child I had a huge fudge craving. I looked up recipes but only found ones that required candy thermometers and I began rumors that fudge is temperamental, so I began to look in the grocery store for fudge and couldn’t find any. Too bad I didn’t come across the following recipe back then, or I would have been eating fudge for breakfast, lunch and dinner (and midnight snacks!).

I found the recipe at Dozen Flours, and used Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate chips. However, I noticed in the comments of that post that someone replaces the chocolate chips for peanut butter chips, which is something I also have to try!

This fudge is super delicious! I’m keeping it in the refrigerator for a firmer texture; it’s all I can do to keep away from it! I think that this fudge, cut up into tiny squares, would make a great Christmas favor or treat, especially placed in individual mini treat bags (since it’s getting to be that time, I am thinking of all kinds of things I can make for Christmas!).

A very similar version of this fudge recipe is listed on a mini recipe pamphlet that came on the can of sweetened condensed milk – marbled chocolate fudge. There is a local cookie exchange happening early in December, where we can take cookies, bars, fudge, etc. and I think I’ll be making this marbled fudge. Stay tuned for that!

Nov 17

Earth Cupcakes

My second, and final, entry into the solar system cupcake contest is one dozen Earth cupcakes.

A section of our beautiful home planet is represented in cupcake form. This edible Earth is a brown sugar cupcake, filled with two layers – a layer of chocolate ganache to represent Earth’s solid rocky core and a layer of caramel cream to represent Earth’s molten core. The cupcake is then coated in a layer of chocolate ganche to represent Earth’s crust. On top of the “crust” on half of the cupcakes is a layer of ocean blue-tinted vanilla frosting to resemble Earth’s oceans. The other half of the cupcakes have been frosted in caramel cream and sprinkled with finely ground golden Oreos and green sprinkles to resemble Earth’s land and vegetation. The mountains, as well as the volcano, have been structured with the caramel cream and coated in regular chocolate Oreos and the snowcaps are made from melted white chocolate; a few orange sprinkles sit inside the volcano to resemble molten lava. Marshmallows have been hand-formed to resemble clouds hanging above this section of Earth.

Recipes:

Brown Sugar Cupcakes
Makes 12-16

Ingredients
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds. Add sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beat for 30 seconds after each.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Measure out milk and vanilla together.

Add about a fourth of the flour to the butter/sugar mixture and beat to combine. Add about one third the milk/vanilla mixture and beat until combined. Repeat above, alternating flour and milk and ending with the flour mixture.

Bake for 20-22 minutes until golden and the cake springs back when lightly touched.

Chocolate ganache
Makes enough to fill and frost 16 cupcakes with a thin layer

Ingredients
4 oz semisweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
4 oz heavy whipping cream

Method
Place chocolate and cream into a saucepan and heat on low heat. Stir until all the chocolate is melted and the chocolate and cream are fully combined. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature for 2 hours or until a spreadable consistency.

Fill the cupcakes by cutting a cone shape out of the top of the cupcake, and place a small amount (1/4 tsp, approx.) of ganache inside.

Caramel cream
Makes about 3 cups

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
Pinch of coarse salt
2 cups heavy cream

Method
Prepare an ice bath; set aside. Cook sugar, water, and salt in saucepan over medium heat, stirring once, until sugar is dissolved. Continue cooking, without stirring, until sugar turns golden amber. Remove pan from heat; slowly pour cream down sides of pan in a slow, steady stream (it will spatter). Return pan to medium heat, and stir with a wooden spoon until combined.

Transfer caramel cream to a mixing bowl set in ice bath; let sit until very cold, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Mixture can be refrigerated overnight. Before serving, whip the caramel cream until stiff peaks form. Use immediately.

Place a small amount (1/4 tsp approx.) on top of chocolate ganache layer inside of cupcake, then place the top of the cone shape back on top of the cupcake. Use the rest of the cream to frost the “land” cupcakes and sculpt mountains.

Vanilla whipped frosting
Makes enough to generously frost about 16 cupcakes

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method
Put cream, sugar, and vanilla into the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until medium peaks form. Use blue food coloring to turn the frosting an ocean-blue color and use a knife to kick up some waves.

Notes
*Use golden Oreos and chocolate Oreos with the cream fillings removed to sprinkle the “land” cupcakes – simply place them in a food processor until finely ground, or place them into a strong ziploc bag and roll a rolling pin over the bag until the cookies are finely ground.

*Use green sprinkles to resemble vegetation on the “land” cupcakes and a few blue sprinkles on the “ocean” cupcakes.

*For white chocolate mountain snowcaps, simply melt a couple squares of white chocolate for 20-30 seconds in a microwave, then use a spoon to place a small amount on the mountaintops.

Nov 12

4 Comments

Jupiter Cupcakes

These are Jupiter cupcakes for the solar system cupcake contest!

The cake is chocolate with a kick of cayenne pepper to represent the heat of Jupiter’s core, and the center of the cupcake is filled with a soft whipped cream to represent the many layers of clouds on Jupiter. The frosting is a cream cheese/chocolate buttercream swirl in colors similar to Jupiter’s. Hanging above the Jupiter cupcakes are the 4 Galilean moons of Europa, Ganymede, Io and Callisto, formed from homemade playdough.

Thank you Cupcakes Take The Cake for posting my Jupiter cupcakes on your blog!

Recipes:

Chocolate cupcakes
Makes 12

Ingredients
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (use more or less to suit your taste)
1 large eggs
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons warm water
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with liners; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cayenne pepper and salt. Add the eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla; mix batter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.

Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about one-third full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Whipped cream filling
Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
Chill stainless steel bowl and whisk attachment of an electric mixer in freezer for about 10-20 minutes. Combine all ingredients in steel bowl and use whisk attachment at high speed until stiff peaks form. Fill cupcakes when the cupcakes are completely cool.

Cream cheese frosting
Makes enough for 1-2 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients
8 ounches cream cheese, softened and cut into small pieces
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cut into small pieces
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

Method
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat well. Gradually add the sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating continously until smooth and creamy. Cover and refrigerate frosting for 2-3 hours, but no longer, to thicken before using.

Chocolate buttercream
Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
Melt butter. Stir in cocoa powder. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount of additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla.

To make swirled frosting, spoon an amount of each color individually into a piping bag so that the colors are side by side. Squeeze out the frosting over a bowl first until all the colors start coming out, then start swirling!