"Love Hurts" Cupcakes

The typical Valentine's Day is full of unexpected surprises and open declarations of love, but not in my world! This much loved greeting card holiday holds both good and bad memories, but mostly they tend toward the negative. So, in my mind love should come with a jolt of something different and mysterious, all while being disguised as innocent and unassuming...Chocolate is most often the flavor associated with love so why not turn that idea on its head and add a spicy Mexican flair to it. Most people are familiar with the 'Abuelita's' brand of Mexican hot chocolate, it has a peppery cinnamon undertone and truly brings out the deep flavor of chocolate. Considering my delicate palate and not wanting to easily offend my primary tasting audience I opted to use a recipe that wouldn't set our mouths ablaze. To abate the heat from the cake itself I decided to top the cupcakes in chocolate ganache and a sweet and light whipped cream frosting. This provides both a subtle hint of passion which can be easily tempted away by the marked sweetness of the frosting. In the end it both tantalizes you with its appearance and then knocks you off your feet with its flavor, much like love! <3

Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes

1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup hot water
1/3 cup cocoa powder
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a microwave safe measuring cup heat the water and whisk in the cocoa powder until it dissolves completely. Put this aside and in a medium bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar, adding the egg, vanilla extract, and vegetable oil mixing until smooth. Alternately add the flour mixture and the cocoa mixture into the large bowl. Spoon the batter into your cupcake liners and bake for 15-18 minutes. For the chocolate ganache simply temper a bag of semi sweet chocolate chips in the microwave for thirty second intervals until it is smooth and creamy. The easiest and most effective way to fully cover the cupcakes is to wait until they are cooled and swirl them in the melted deliciousness. Be sure and save enough for yourself, ganache should never go to waste after all...

Whipped Cream Frosting

3 cups heavy whipping cream
6 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Now this one requires some patience, but the end result is worth it, trust me. Add all the ingredients to a large bowl and find a comfortable standing position and ready your hand beaters, you are in for some quality time in your kitchen. But the look of surprise and delight on your friend's faces is all worth it. After all, love isn't love without a little elbow grease and a pinch of pain...

Champagne Cupcakes with Lemon Filling and Buttercream

Nothing labels something a true celebration of life and love like champagne, it's that light bubbly concoction that can bring a feeling of effervescence to your soul. Not only do you feel the slight elation and buzz of alcohol, but there is a sense of decadence that comes with it. Baking with alcohol can at times, be tricky, it can leave an unusual and unappetizing "twang" to your goods, or the flavor can disappear all together. But after seeing it done numerous times with spectacular results on Cupcake Wars, one of this baker's many muses, cupcakes baked with a bit of champagne sounded grand! I will warn you that this particular recipe turns out a rather runny batter, but the small sacrifice of a dirty kitchen counter is easy to bear when your house becomes full of the intoxicating smell of these special cakes. Not only was this cupcake idea one that I have been itching to try, but it happened to coincide with the birthday of a very special friend. She is beautiful inside and out, and the sweet, simple taste of champagne would compliment her personality and her party splendidly. Enjoy!

Champagne Cupcakes with Lemon Filling and Buttercream

Champagne Cupcakes

4 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups sugar
5 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 2/3 cup milk
1 cup shortening
1/2 to 2/3 cup champagne
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
8 egg whites

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the milk, shortening, champagne, and vanilla; beat until well incorporated. Add the egg whites and mix for 2 - 4 minutes, it will have a pretty runny consistency. Fill your desired cupcake liners with the batter, and bake for 12 - 14 minutes, or until edges have browned slightly.

Now, because you have no doubt learned by now that I just can't leave my cakes plain and lifeless, what better filling to add than lemon. It is just as light as the champagne flavor, but has enough of a punch to stand out on its own. I cheated and used a store bought can of lemon pie filling, don't tell, but homemade lemon curd would taste just as good. Simply use a spoon and remove the center of the cooled cupcake and fill it with a small spoonful of the filling.

Buttercream

3/4 cup of unsalted butter
8 cups of powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Food Coloring (optional)

Cream the butter, gradually adding two cups of powdered sugar, until it is smooth. Add in the milk, vanilla, and food coloring. Once it is all combined, with the mixer still on, add the remaining cups of powdered sugar one at a time. This recipe makes roughly 4 cups of buttercream.

I decided to make my cakes more festive for the party by adding a white chocolate "M" to represent the first name of the birthday girl.

Peppermint Bark

Don't say that I didn't warn you! I have become slightly obsessed with the beautiful presentation and ease of chocolate bark, but now it takes a Christmas-y turn. Peppermint bark makes a great, inexpensive gift for all of those people who you are constantly adding to your gift list during the holidays. Don't you dare darken the dreaded aisle of cheap hot cocoa mix sets and poorly made stuffed animals clutching holiday themed tins full of peanut brittle. Instead, get in your kitchen and make something that truly comes from the heart, homemade gifts show that you actually thought about what would please your friends. Once again, this recipe requires very little output for maximum gain. All you need is two flavors of chocolate, peppermint starlight discs, and your favorite bludgeoning tool!

Peppermint Bark

• 12oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 12oz. bag of white chocolate chips
• 10 - 15 unwrapped peppermint starlight discs, pulverized

Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl, three to four minutes should do the trick, be sure and stir after every one minute interval to ensure there are no lumps. Spread the chocolate into a parchment paper lined baking dish. Place it in the freezer for 10 - 20 minutes or until frozen. While you wait, unwrap the peppermints and put them into a sealed sandwich bag, wrap it in a kitchen towel to muffle the noise. My father decided to assist me in the crushing process, and his tool of choice was a hammer. This stage in the bark making can be the most cathartic and worthwhile, depending on how much pent up anger you have. 

Repeat the same melting process for the white chocolate, and quickly spread it over the frozen dark chocolate, then sprinkle the crushed candy all over the top and push it in gingerly with your hands, to make sure it stays on the bark. Freeze it overnight, and I have found that the best way to break it apart is to take a sharp knife and insert it vertically into the bark, it will break up into perfectly shaped pieces. Package it in holiday themed take-out containers with tissue paper and a loving note and your friends are sure to appreciate the thought you put into their gift this year!

Nutella Cookies

Let me preface this post by saying that if you have not yet tasted the chocolate-y hazelnut bliss that is Nutella, then you just don't know what you are missing. Shoved unceremoniously in the back of the cupboard was half a jar of Nutella just begging to be used in some form. With an upcoming weekend trip to visit my best friend, a simple treat that was easily transportable sprang to mind. Cookies! Considering that the spread contains more oil than peanut butter does, some changes must be made to the recipe to ensure that it retains the proper "cookie consistency." It is close to Christmas, so the excuse to make treats in our house was largely uncontested. Besides, once the New Year comes around and resolutions are made, that lone jar of Nutella would be yet another shameless victim in my quest to purge all sugars from my life. For a few weeks at least!

Nutella Cookies

• 3 cups of AP flour
• 2 Tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 Tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 cups Nutella 
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tsp. instant espresso powder
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside. With an electric mixer cream together the butter, sugar, and Nutella until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and espresso powder and blend together. Reduce the speed of the Nutella mixture and alternately add the milk and flour mixture until it comes together and the smell of the batter makes you light headed, that is when you know it's going to be good! Line the baking sheets with parchment paper and spoon the doughy goodness onto the sheets, dust them with powdered sugar and bake for 8 - 10 minutes. They will still be rather gooey in the center, but with adequate time to cool, they will come out being perfectly chewy! 

Pretzel Caramel Chocolate Bark

Now that I have been schooled in the ease of making chocolate bark, I will probably become rather obsessed with all the different variations. Just to warn you. The simple recipe and mess-free cleanup gives me time to broach different subjects for this post...like the relationship of food and family. Since it is Thanksgiving weekend I suppose I should say something profound and touching detailing how thankful I am for all of my blessings in life. Don't get me wrong, my life thus far has been filled with beautiful memories and wonderful family....but let's all just say what we really feel about this holiday. It's an excuse to bring all of your dysfunctional family members together and buffer their feuds and fights with copious amounts of rich and fatty foods. Nothing can simmer down a bad temper like sleep-inducing turkey and sweet pumpkin pie. This chocolate bark was an easy way to use up some pantry staples, like half a bag of crushed pretzel pieces and a bit of leftover caramel sauce. The recipe is so simple that my 3 year old niece was able to help me make the whole thing, and the rustic look of the broken bark helped to hide the obvious fingerprints where she decided to dip her finger in the melted ingredients, "Just to check it, Auntie."

Pretzel Caramel Chocolate Bark

• 1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 to 1 cup of caramel sauce, the fruit dip variety works best
• A few handfuls of crushed pretzels

Melt the chocolate chips by tempering them in the microwave, heat for 30 seconds and stir after each stint in the microwave. Spread the melted chocolate on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Allow it to set for 10 - 15 minutes in the freezer or until hard. Then spread the caramel sauce evenly over the top of the chocolate and top with the crushed pretzels, I like to use a meat tenderizer, it allows for maximum satisfaction when crushing your enemies....I mean the pretzels. I set my bark to freeze overnight just to ensure that the caramel set up sufficiently. Break it up with a small sharp knife or your fingers and enjoy!

Drunken Salted Caramel Apples

In the spirit of being traditional this Halloween season, I embarked on an endeavor, to turn the classic caramel apple on its head and turn up the flavor. In my mind, nothing enhances flavor better than a good dark spiced rum, it gives it just the right amount of, how shall I put this....."alcoholic-goodness?" Two weeks ago I made a delicious salted caramel sauce, the kind you dream of bathing in, courtesy of Brown Eyed Baker. The tempting amount that has taken up refuge in the fridge, and the surplus of apples have forced me to make them into something delicious. The only way to make this salted caramel apple even better is to drizzle it with rum infused vanilla glaze, right? The resulting concoction has helped to give me new appreciation for Halloween traditions, now to conquer other various holiday treats! Stay tuned.

Drunken Salted Caramel Apples

Salted Caramel Sauce (recipe follows)
Rum Infused Vanilla Drizzle (recipe follows)
Gala Apples, I find that they work best for this, not too sweet and not too tart!

Salted Caramel Sauce

• 2 cups sugar
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon Fleur de Sel, French flaked sea salt found in specialty stores

Heat the sugar over medium heat, stirring often with a whisk, any clumps that form will melt back into the sauce. Continue cooking until the sugar has reached 350 degrees when tested with a candy thermometer and the sugar has turned a deep amber color. Here is where the kitchen pyrotechnics begin, add the butter all at once and quickly whisk as it will boil up. Remove the pan from the heat and carefully add the cream, it will try and kill you again with awesomely sweet bubbles of sugar, so beware! Mix slowly until the cream has created a smooth sauce, add in the flaked sea salt and you have survived making caramel. Easier than you thought, huh? This can be saved in a sealed Mason jar for up to two weeks, or however long your midnight cravings last.

Rum Infused Vanilla Drizzle

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 capful of Capt. Morgan's Dark Spiced Rum
• Food coloring, if desired

This is quite possibly the most foolproof recipe I have ever found for vanilla glaze, God bless you, Betty Crocker. Simply mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, adding food coloring if you wish. I suggest one capful of rum, but everyone's different, sometimes the occasion just calls for more...

Now the simplest instructions ever:

Ladle warm caramel sauce over apple until evenly coated

Place in freezer for 10 minutes, then repeat the previous step

Drizzle with vanilla glaze and place in freezer for 10 minutes again

Set it out to thaw and enjoy!

Petit Fours

I took a much needed hiatus from working on the food blog to cultivate some of my other writing, I was met with both success and failure. But the one event that was able to roust me from the ever-growing pile of research material and crumpled failed attempts at poetry was the first birthday of my youngest niece, Sadie aka Sadie-bug. While I can side with those who believe that a birthday party for a one year old is bordering on the ridiculous, (It's not like they will remember it, right?) it wasn't for her benefit but ours. So there. In honor of our vivacious little girl we decided to throw a traditional English tea party. There were peanut butter and jelly tea sandwiches, sparkling white grape juice, and the "be-all-to-end-all" petit fours. Now, for the sake of ease and the fact that when my mother and I plan anything we go all out with lace tablecloths and china tea cups; we used a boxed pound cake mix and canned frosting. But the end result was fantastic! They were the hit of the party and made for a darling centerpiece.

Petit Fours

• 1 Box of Pound Cake Mix
• 1 - 2 Tubs of Vanilla Frosting, depending on the desired cake to sugar ratio
• Royal Icing (recipe follows)

Mix the cake as per the instructions, but be sure and use a half sheet pan, spread the batter evenly with a rubber spatula and bake as directed. We found, after trial and error, that placing the cake in the freezer for a few hours helped with both the cutting and frosting later. After you have the desired shapes set out on a wire rack with plenty of wax paper beneath for catching any strays, the fun part, I mean the frosting, can begin. The frosting can be easily heated up in the microwave until it reaches the right pouring consistency. Place the cakes on a small spatula and slowly spoon frosting over the top, ensuring that all sides are equally covered. Allow them to set up for 4 hours or overnight. 

Royal Icing

• 4-6 Tablespoons of cold water
• 3 Tablespoons of Meringue Powder
• 4 cups Powdered Sugar

Whip the meringue powder and sugar together, when they have been sufficiently whipped add the cold water one tablespoon at a time until it reaches the desired consistency. We divided our icing and added artificial coloring for decorating, just be sure that you go pastel with your colors and not neon. This is a proper English dessert after all...

After the decorating has concluded they may look something like these!

Bear in mind, my piping skills still leave something to be desired, but it was for little girls who were just going to eat them for the sheer fact that they were cake covered in sugary icing.