When I first saw the Zoku Quick Pop Maker, I thought it was pretty neat.  I contemplated on purchasing one, but eventually I talked myself out of it.  My reasoning was that it wasn’t much different than the traditional way of making popsicles… in that, you still have to freeze the Zoku base for 24 hours, but you only have to freeze popsicles 8-12 hours or so.  Plus, after waiting the 24 hours to freeze the base, you still have to wait another 7-9 minutes to freeze the actual popsicles.  I could just place my traditional plastic popsicle molds in the freezer overnight and have my popsicles sooner.

I could still see some flaws in my reasoning, but I couldn’t really afford the Zoku anyway, so I let the idea slip away for a while.

Until my mom gave me a $50 gift certificate to shop at Kitchenware Direct.  I contemplated for a couple of weeks on what to buy, placing things in my online shopping cart to see the total price, then emptying the cart and starting again with another collection of goodies.  Then I found that Kitchenware Direct stocked the Zoku Quick Pop Maker.  Hm.

A few days later, I was opening my package from Kitchenware Direct and placing my new Zoku Quick Pop Maker in the freezer.

We made a strawberry and raspberry yoghurt-based popsicle after the Zoku’s initial 24-hour freeze.  It was just a simple concoction of frozen strawberries, raspberry yoghurt, milk and honey.  We poured the “smoothie” into the three popsicle molds, waited for 7 minutes and checked them.  Not frozen solid.  I left them in about 3 minutes longer and they were frozen enough to pull out.  We screwed the orange knobby thing into the popsicle handles and they lifted out easily.

They had a great texture and I was really pleased with them.  I couldn’t wait to make something more fun.  I went searching online for fudgesicle recipes and came across a mocha one.  It looked really tasty and was based on a recipe from David Lebovitz (so I knew it had to be good).

Before I begin with the recipes, I want you to know that you don’t need to have a Zoku to make these.  You can just as well use the traditional popsicle molds!

This is basically a Vietnamese iced coffee popsicle with some cocoa powder mixed in.  It is super easy to make and you should already have all the ingredients (coffee, sweetened condensed milk and cocoa powder) in your pantry.

It took over 7 minutes for these popsicles to freeze as well.  I figured out that it could be that the Zoku base was not completely frozen, as when I gently tilted it back and forth I could hear a slight sloshing sound inside, which indicates that it’s not entirely frozen and that it may take longer to freeze popsicles.

These popsicles were just beautiful and tasted simply amazing.  This is one recipe I’ll be using over and over again.  They have a super strong hit of coffee, but it’s a lovely mocha taste.

The next recipe I wanted to try comes from Zoku’s own blog and is a super tropical treat.  I’m sure this particular popsicle would cool off anyone on a hot day with the refreshing tastes of pineapple and coconut.

These were super delicious as well and I’ll definitely be making this recipe again and again!  I suppose the only thing I didn’t like was the fact that the stringy fibers of the pineapple gave these popsicles a slightly odd texture and with some bites, made the popsicle look like it had hair sticking out of it!  Other than that though, the taste of these popsicles deserve a 10 out of 10!

Yes, we were very cold when we were done enjoying our popsicles (it is winter here, after all), but it’s worth it.

But is the Zoku worth it?  I suppose it is, after all, especially if you enjoy popsicles.  Just keep the Zoku base in your freezer at all times, and yes, you really can have popsicles in under 10 minutes (if you don’t count the time it takes you to make whatever is you’re making to pour in the molds).  The drawback is, you can only make 6 before you have to refreeze the base.  But unless you’re trying to make popsicles for a crowd, 6 should be plenty (or at least it is for our family of 5!).

Do you have a Zoku?  What is your favorite popsicle recipe?

 

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Mocha Popsicles
Adapted from A Cozy Kitchen, who adapted it from David Lebovitz
Makes 5 Zoku popsicles

Ingredients
1 cup extra strong coffee or espresso, chilled or at room temp
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 1/4 teaspoons unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder

Method
Pour the sweetened condensed milk into the coffee and stir until thoroughly combined.  Sift cocoa powder over the top and stir until combined.  I found this part a bit tricky because the cocoa powder kept clumping up!  Taste the mixture and add more milk or cocoa, depending on your taste.  I didn’t need to add any extra.

Pour into molds, as per the instructions for the Zoku, and wait up to 10 minutes to freeze (or just simply pour into plain old popsicle molds and freeze overnight).

 

 

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Pineapple Coconut Popsicles
Adapted from Zoku’s blog
Makes 4 Zoku popsicles

Ingredients
4 ounces fresh pineapple (I used canned pineapple in natural juice)
1/4 cup pineapple juice (I used the juice from the can)
2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons sweetened shredded coconut

Method
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Pour into molds, as per the instructions for the Zoku, and wait up to 10 minutes to freeze (or just simply pour into plain old popsicle molds and freeze overnight).

I found two great posts about iced coffee recently on two separate blogs.  I combined them into one and the result is so much better than I had ever expected.  The recipe uses instant coffee and you don’t even have to boil water to make it.

Let’s start about a day ahead with our recipe though.  First you’ll need to freeze a tray or two of coffee ice cubes.  You can use regular ice cubes, sure, but I think the coffee ice cubes look neater (plus, they help to keep the strength of the coffee flavor in your drink).

I got the coffee ice cube idea from Food o’ del Mundo.  You can use whatever coffee you like to make these ice cubes – brew some coffee in your coffee machine, or use instant coffee, whichever you prefer.  For my ice cubes, since I don’t have a coffee machine at the moment, I dissolved two teaspoons of instant coffee in two cups of very hot (but not boiling) water.  I let it cool to room temperature then poured the coffee into two ice cube trays and froze them overnight.

On the next day your coffee ice cubes are ready to go.  Here’s how to make this super easy iced coffee – I got this recipe from Zoom Yummy.

In a cup/glass that you can fit a lid with, place 2 teaspoons of instant coffee and 2 teaspoons of sugar. Add 4 tablespoons of water. Cover the cup/glass with the lid and shake it vigorously until it gets super frothy. SUPER frothy*. The coffee and sugar will completely dissolve. Set the cup/glass aside for a minute while you fill a tall glass half full with ice cubes. Grab the frothy coffee mixture, pour it over the ice cubes, then fill the rest of the glass with cold milk. Then drink it!

How beautifully cold and yummy does that look!

*Okay, I shook my coffee mixture until my arm could shake it no more and that was as frothy as it was going to get, like you see in the photo above the recipe.  On the photo at Zoom Yummy, the froth filled the entire glass – she must have some super frothy coffee!  Maybe you get different amounts of froth with different brands of instant coffee?  Try it out yourself and let me know what happens with your froth!

Ballet class lasts only 30 minutes.  Luckily, if I practically run, I can make it over to the nearby Westfield shopping center for a special treat for myself.  I visit T2 Tea and sample all four of the teas they have on display that day and have a chat with the friendly ladies who work there.  And then I do a fast-walk to get back to ballet to pick up my daughter.

As it turns out, my daughter also likes to sample the teas at T2 Tea, so before the holidays I started going to T2 before ballet class so she could try the teas too, and I sat in the lobby area of the ballet studio and read magazines while she was in her class.  They only have a handful of magazines and always the same ones, but I did find an Australian Women’s Weekly magazine (from March 2009!) that I hadn’t seen before and flipped through the recipe section.  I found some beautiful mocha cupcakes and read the recipe for them.  I was immediately intrigued by it because it used real melted chocolate, almond meal and buttermilk.

When I got home, I searched the Australian Women’s Weekly website and found the recipe.  Within the next week I had made them and said that they were the best mocha cupcakes I have ever eaten.

I’m not happy with my photos, yet again.  But here we have the best mocha cupcakes ever, frosted with coffee buttercream and decorated with a chocolate covered espresso bean.  Let me tell you that these absolutely require a chocolate covered espresso bean, they taste amazing when you eat them along with a bite of the cupcake.

I ended up using hazelnut meal instead of the almond meal.  And you can sort of taste this in the cake.  As with any mocha cake I’ve ever had though, you cannot taste the coffee.  Remember my tip from my white chocolate mocha cupcakes though – if you want the actual cake to taste like coffee, a good idea would be to fill it with coffee flavored ganache.

I used Lindt 70% chocolate for the melted chocolate, and I had just enough Green & Black’s cocoa powder left to use in these cupcakes.

For the first time in ages, I also used real buttermilk instead of the vinegar + milk substitute.

For the coffee in this, I didn’t use regular instant coffee granules.  I chose a special espresso-style instant coffee from Nescafe.  I don’t know if this made the difference, but the coffee flavor in that buttercream is intense.  It seriously tastes like you’re drinking a cup of coffee when you eat these cupcakes.

Try to let these sit overnight before eating them, if you can, because I think the flavor is even better on the next day.

My final word, if you’re after some fantastic mocha cupcakes, this recipe is definitely the one to use.

Mocha Cupcakes
Adapted from Australian Women’s Weekly magazine, March 2009
Makes 12 cupcakes

Cupcakes
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
1/4 cup (60ml) hot water
125g butter, softened
3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 cup (150g) self-raising flour
2/3 cup (80g) almond meal (I used hazelnut meal)
125g dark chocolate, melted
3/4 cup (180ml) buttermilk, room temperature
coffee beans, to decorate, optional

Coffee Buttercream
3 teaspoons instant coffee granules
1 1/2 tablespoons hot water
185g unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4 cups (360g) icing sugar, sifted

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Line a 12-hole, 1/3-cup (80ml) capacity muffin pan with paper cases.

Combine coffee granules and hot water in a cup. Stir until dissolved.

Beat butter and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined between additions.

Fold in half of the combined sifted cocoa and flour, all the almond meal and then the chocolate. Fold in the buttermilk, remaining flour mixture and the coffee mixture.

Divide mixture among paper cases. Bake for about 20 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool cakes on a wire rack.

Coffee buttercream
Combine coffee granules and hot water in a cup. Stir until dissolved. Beat butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until as pale as possible. Gradually beat in half the icing sugar, all the coffee mixture, then the remaining icing sugar.

Using a piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle, decorate cakes with Coffee Buttercream. Top each cake with coffee beans, if desired.

Making my own macarons have always been on my to-do list anyhow, because I had never even eaten a macaron.  I guess that’s what I get for living in Indiana.  Soon after I moved back to Sydney with my family I visited a cupcake shop in Chatswood, Cupcakes On Pitt, and tried two of their macarons, a blueberry one and a chocolate one (my pictures here and here).  They were chewier than I had imagined they would be, but they didn’t taste like anything special.  I was quite disappointed.  Later, however, a friend told me that Cupcakes On Pitt’s macarons were a very poor example as to how macarons should taste.

And still I hadn’t made my own macarons.  I was just dying to, but was still too frightened.  A couple of weeks ago, Samantha of Sweet Remedy mentioned on Twitter that she was scared of making macarons as well.  I had earlier befriended Samantha when we were in a throwdown for October 2009′s Cupcake Hero competition.  So I casually mentioned to her that I was scared as well, and from this we decided to have our own macaron challenge; we would make them “together”.  Well, as “together” as we could anyway, with Samantha being on the other side of the world from me!

We decided on making coffee macarons with a Nutella ganache filling.  I used the coffee macaron recipe from My Tartelette, and the Nutella ganache filling from Italian Food Forever.  Samantha appears to have used both the coffee macaron recipe and Nutella ganache filling recipe from Italian Food Forever, but both coffee macaron recipes are basically the same, except one has more coffee powder than the other.

I didn’t do step-by-step photos, I’m not that kind of person and I’ve never done step-by-photos, but Samantha did and you can find that on her post about her macarons.  She did a wonderful job; although not all of hers turned out perfectly, she got a few very beautiful-looking macarons!

I didn’t think that making the batter was as hard as I had thought it would be.  I should note that my only substitution was that I couldn’t find espresso powder, so I finely ground some instant coffee granules into a powder instead.  I aged my egg whites in the refrigerator for 3 days and let them warm up to room temperature before whipping them.  I then followed My Tartelette’s directions on mixing the almond mixture into the egg whites, and was super careful not to overmix it.  I drew circles on the bottom of my parchment paper that were 1.5 inches in diameter and piped the batter into the shape of the circle.  I let them sit out for 60 minutes before placing them in the oven.

Samantha had told me that when I felt the macarons with my finger, none of the batter should stick to my finger, so I waited for that happen, which was 60 minutes.  I set the oven for 300F for 12 minutes.  After 4 minutes, feet started appearing!  I was so happy that I gave my two young children a multitude of hi-5s!  However, a few minutes later the tops of the shells started cracking.  I wonder if either I left the macarons sit too long, or if the oven was too hot.

The other thing I noticed was that at first the feet rose quite high, but by the end of their time in the oven, they seemed to sort of collapse.  I don’t know what was going on there.

I ended up leaving them in for 15 minutes.  When I took them out they were light in color, but after cooling, they seemed to get a little darker.  My macarons came off the parchment paper quite easily, but Samantha’s didn’t.  I noticed that some of my shells had an air pocket inside, as did Samantha’s and we’re not sure why this happened.

Taking a tip from Samantha, I refrigerated the shells for a while before filling them so that they would firm up a bit and not be quite so fragile to crack.  I piped on my filling to make sure the edges of the filling would look nice.  In the end, this is how they looked.

Although not anywhere near as perfect as you could find at My Tartelette, I think I did pretty well for my first go and am not disappointed.  They taste amazingly great too!

They were still surprisingly chewy, but I was very happy to find that they tasted much better than the macarons I had first had at Cupcakes On Pitt.

Now that I have finally tried making these, I have been encouraged to try again and again, and with different flavors.  I love matcha, so you can bet that you’ll eventually see a matcha-themed macaron appearing here soon.

Thanks for doing this with me, Samantha!

I’m leaving my family behind here in Indiana and moving to Sydney, Australia this weekend.  I have lived in Sydney before, from 2001-2006 and it was fabulous.  It’s definitely a place I feel happy spending my life in.  I know my kids will love it as well.

This will be my last post from the US; expect all future posts to be from Australia and upside down! 

Anyway, a friend of mine requested one last batch of cupcakes from me before we left.  She wanted cookie dough cupcakes and chocolate/white chocolate cupcakes.  Of course I’ve done cookie dough cupcakes before, so I won’t post about them again, but I made the chocolate/white chocolate cupcakes into white chocolate mocha cupcakes.  I was inspired to do this because my friend is a big fan of Starbucks’ white chocolate mochas.  These were the last cupcakes I made in the US.

I know, the photos aren’t that great because it was late afternoon and there wasn’t enough natural light from the sun so I didn’t even bother with my usual set up.

These are chocolate cupcakes, filled with chocolate coffee ganache and frosted with white chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream (SMBC).  I’m really proud of these because while most mocha cupcakes have coffee in the cake where it cannot be tasted, I put my coffee into the ganache and the coffee flavor is quite prominent.  This isn’t just any chocolate coffee ganache, by the way.  It was made using the brand new Starbucks VIA Italian Roast instant coffee.

The white chocolate really came through in the SMBC, as well.  SMBC is always an extra effort to make, but the results are so rewarding.  The texture was silky smooth and full of white chocolate flavor.

My main point of this post is to share the coffee ganache tip with you.  If you want coffee flavor in your cupcakes, don’t put the coffee in the cake (or well, you can, just be aware that the taste isn’t going to be very noticeable) – fill the cupcakes with coffee-flavored ganache!

If you’d like to try the ultimate white chocolate cupcake, the recipes are below.  Just choose your own favorite chocolate cupcake recipe (mine is Hershey’s or Martha’s Devil’s food cupcakes) and follow these recipes.

Chocolate Coffee Ganache Filling
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Makes enough to fill 12 cupcakes (with a little leftover)

Ingredients
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 packet Starbucks VIA Italian Roast
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature

Method
Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering then empty the packet of Starbucks VIA into the cream and stir until dissolved.  Remove from heat and pour the cream over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. (If this has not sufficiently melted the chocolate, you can return it to a double-boiler to gently melt what remains. 20 seconds in the microwave, watching carefully, will also work.) Add the butter and stir until combined.

White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Adapted from Whisk Kid
Makes enough to frost about 18 cupcakes

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
5 egg whites
18 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened slightly and sliced
1/4 cup white chocolate, melted and cooled

Method
Cook the egg whites and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the sugar is completely dissolved (test by rubbing some between your fingers. If it’s completely smooth, it’s done).

Pour into another bowl (a stand mixer is preferable) and whip on high speed until room temp.

Then, on a medium-slow speed, add the butter, waiting until each piece is completely incorporated before adding the next. The buttercream may turn into a soupy curdled mess, but I assure you it will be ok; just beat it for a few minutes longer. It’ll come together!

When the buttercream has reached the ideal consistency, add the melted and cooled white chocolate carefully. Try not to get any on the walls of the bowl as it will cool and harden there. Whip to incorporate.

Strawberry Watermelon Popsicles
Adapted from myself
Makes enough for 4-6 popsicles

Ingredients
About 1 cup chopped seedless watermelon
A handful of fresh hulled strawberries
A splash of lemon or lime juice
About 3-5 tablespoons powdered sugar, to taste

Method
Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.  Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for at least 5 hours.

Mocha Popsicles
Adapted from Eating Out Loud
Makes enough for about 8 popsicles

These were really yummy!  I never had thought about freezing coffee for popsicles, but I’m glad I came across this recipe.  The white tip is a mix of sweetened condensed milk, whole milk and vanilla extract, while the coffee part is strong brewed coffee, sweetened condensed milk and cocoa powder.  Everything was perfect with these, except I added about 1/2-1 teaspoon more cocoa powder.

Creamy Jello Popsicles
Adapted from SparkRecipes
Makes enough for 4 popsicles

Now these were really interesting.  I wasn’t sure what sort of texture these were going to have, knowing that Jello is supposed to be wobbly.  These popsicles are a mix of Jello (the small box), water and vanilla yogurt.  The texture was only barely wobbly and the popsicles do not freeze solid – you can bite straight into one.  I would recommend that you freeze these overnight and be careful when unmolding them, as the sticks can easily pop out of the popsicle itself, leaving the popsicle inside the mold (I know from experience!)!

The red popsicle picture above is raspberry, but we’ve also made an alien-green lime one!

Jello Pudding Pops
Adapted from Recipezaar
Makes enough for about 5 popsicles

These popsicles are very similar in texture to the regular Jello popsicles above, but much creamier.  You’ll need to be extra careful with unmolding these, and also I’d recommend freezing these overnight as well.  I’d love to try these with banana pudding, or with a vanilla-chocolate swirl!

Anyway, this post isn’t about coffee makers, it’s about a recipe for a cinnamon mocha that I adapted from my big Taste of Home cookbook.  The original recipe yields 6 cups, but I scaled it down to 1 cup.

The amounts of the ingredients can be changed according to your tastes, so feel free to experiment.

Cinnamon Spiced Mocha
Adapted from Taste of Home
Serves 1

Ingredients
3 tablespoons ground coffee
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
About 1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon light brown sugar, unpacked
1 tablespoon chocolate syrup

Mix nutmeg and cinnamon into coffee grounds and brew as usual.  In my coffee press, I brew this for 3 minutes.

While coffee is brewing, fill your coffee mug with the 1/2 cup milk, or about halfway.  Stir in brown sugar and chocolate syrup and warm in microwave for about 30-40 seconds.  Stir again.

When coffee is finished brewing, pour it into the milk in the mug and give it another stir.  Top with whipped cream and cocoa powder if desired.

My ice cream cupcake tastes sort of like a mocha covered with marshmallows and hot fudge.  It’s really tasty.

The idea for the frosting came from the latest issue of Taste of Home magazine (June/July 2009); it was the frosting for a coffee and chocolate pie.  I lessened the amount from the recipe a bit, since I wouldn’t be needing as much as the recipe made.  It is very light and would be a good frosting for regular cupcakes as well if you’re after something light and marshmallowy.

The cake recipe I used is the same from my s’mores cupcakes.  It is a recipe from Martha Stewart and Trophy Cupcakes in Seattle.  I chose this cake recipe because it was very soft and moist in the s’mores cupcakes.  For my ice cream cupcakes, I divided the cake recipe in half.

Keep in mind that you can use any cupcake flavor you wish to make ice cream cupcakes, as well as any ice cream flavor.  I won’t post the recipe for the cake, as you can find a link to that on my s’mores cupcakes post, but I will post the instructions for assembling the ice cream cupcakes, as well as instructions for making the frosting.

Marshmallow Whipped Cream Frosting
Adapted from the June/July 2009 issue of Taste of Home magazine
Makes enough to frost 10-12 cupcakes

Ingredients
1 cup whipped topping
1/2 cup marshmallow creme
Warmed hot fudge sauce
Mini chocolate chips

Method
Just before frosting cupcakes, gently stir together whipped topping and marshmallow creme until combined.  Spread onto cupcakes.  Drizzle warmed hot fudge sauce on top of cupcakes and sprinkle with mini chocolate chips.

To Assemble Cupcakes
Bake cupcakes as directed in recipe.  Cool completely.  Freeze cupcakes in freezer for 15-30 minutes, as this will help keep the cupcakes firm and manageable while slicing and spreading with ice cream.

Unwrap cupcakes from liners (do not discard the used liners) and slice each one horizontally.  Spread 1-2 tablespoons softened ice cream on the bottom half of each cupcake, then top each bottom half with a top half.  Place the cupcakes back into the used liners, and put each one back into the cupcake pan and return to freezer for at least one hour.  Putting them back into the liners and the cupcake pan will help keep everything in place.

When ready to frost, follow directions above for marshmallow whipped cream frosting.

After storing these cupcakes in the freezer, I would suggest letting them sit out at room temperature about 15 or 20 minutes before enjoying them.  This will let the cake soften back up again.  :)

Thank you to Cupcakes Take The Cake for posting my ice cream cupcakes on your blog!

The cupcake is a mocha cupcake, made with strong coffee and a scattering of ground coffee.  It is filled with straight Nutella.  The frosting is my Nutella coffee frosting that has been featured at Cupcakes Take The Cake.  The cupcake is finished off with a hazelnut, dipped in chocolate by my own self.

Do these taste like a hazelnut mocha?  They do.  A very rich hazelnut mocha!  The Nutella filling may have been a bit much.  The coffee taste isn’t very strong in the cupcake, and you cannot feel the crunchiness of the ground coffee.  The strongest coffee taste comes from the frosting, which smells absolutely gorgeous.  The cupcake itself is just a teensy bit dry, but very chocolatey.

Our February ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:

However, I could not find a regular buttercream that was coffee-flavored. It would be easy to create one myself (I presume I would just dissolve instant coffee in milk and add that to the frosting), but I did find one in one of my cookbooks, Chocolate, Coffee, Caramel: A Cook’s Book of Decadence.

I’m posting it here in case someone else is in need of a simple coffee buttercream.

Coffee Buttercream
adapted from Chocolate, Coffee, Caramel: A Cook’s Book of Decadence
Makes enough to frost 12-18 cupcakes

Ingredients
2 teaspoons instant coffee
1 tablespoon hot water
6.5 ounces unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
10 ounces sifted confectioners’ sugar

Method
Dissolve the coffee in the hot water, then set aside and let come to room temperature before using. Using an electric mixer, mix the butter, coffee mixture and vanilla in a bowl until well combined. Gradually add the icing sugar, beating until smooth.

Not the best photo, but just wanted to give you an idea of what it looks like. The frosting is pipeable, but I just used a knife to spread it on. Thank my daughter for the chocolate jimmies!