I'm
not much of a sweets kind of person. My husband, on the hand, could
eat a piece of cake for breakfast and wash it down with a bowl of ice
cream every day if he could.
But when I do have
dessert, I like it to be light and tasty. That's where this vanilla
souffle comes in. It's delicate, but complex in flavor. Simple, but a
show stopper. Obviously, I waited a little too long to take pictures
because it started to deflate after a bit. But it still tasted
wonderful, and in the end, that's what really matters, right? Right. Ingredients:
3 tablespoons flour 3/4 cup milk 1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon 4 egg yolks 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 4 egg whites 1/8 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons vanilla powdered sugar, for dusting
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Grease the inside of 4 small ramekins with butter.
In
a small saucepan, combine the flour, milk, and 1/3 cup sugar. Slowly
bring the mixture to a boil, whisking frequently to prevent lumps. When
the mixture begins to thicken, remove from heat and let cool.
Whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time and continue until all yolks are incorporated. Beat in the 2 tablespoons of butter.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites, salt, and remaining tablespoon of sugar until stiff peaks form.
Fold the meringue into the egg yolk mixture and then stir in vanilla.
Divide the mixture between the ramekins, filling them about 3/4 of the way full.
Place
the ramekins carefully on a baking sheet and transfer to the oven.
Turn heat down to 375 F and bake for 25-30 minutes or until souffle has
risen and is golden brown.
Carefully remove from the oven and dust with powdered sugar. Serve immediately.
It seems that Christmas gets thrown in our faces earlier and earlier every year. I remember when I didn't see a single Christmas decoration or hear a note of a single Christmas song until the day after Thanksgiving. This year, I pretty much woke up the day after Halloween to aisles flooded with Christmas candy and knick knacks - the alarm set to a horrible country radio station (sorry for all you country music fans) unforgivably playing Christmas tunes. I mean, can't we give Thanksgiving a chance, first?
Well, I guess if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
My husband loves the taste of peppermint-anything. Throw chocolate in the mix and he's in heaven. So since it's pretty close to the big guy's birthday, I decided to whip up a little dessert to put a smile on his cute face. Ingredients:
4 egg yolks 3/4 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon 1/4 cup Peppermint Schnapps 6 oz. semi-sweet or dark chocolate 1/4 cup coffee 6 oz. unsalted butter, softened 4 egg whites 1/8 teaspoon salt whipped cream for topping, optional
Combine the egg yolks and 3/4 cup sugar in a medium, stainless steel bowl. Beat with a hand mixer until pale yellow and the mixture allows ribbons to form.
Beat in the Peppermint Schnapps until combined.
Set up a double boiler on the stove, being careful not to let the bottom of the bowl touch any water (you only need about an inch of water in the pot). Beat the mixture until it starts to thicken and slightly foams up. The mixture should be warm to the touch. Set mixture aside while you melt the chocolate.
In another medium, stainless steel bowl, combine the chocolate and coffee. Set the bowl over the double boiler and stir until chocolate is completely melted. Remove from heat and stir in the butter.
Slowly pour the chocolate mixture in with the egg mixture and beat until all the chocolate is incorporated.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand mixer with the whisk attachment, combine the egg whites, salt, and remaining tablespoon of sugar. Whisk until stiff peaks form.
Fold the meringue in with the chocolate mixture until all is incorporated. Divide the mixture into serving dishes and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
When ready to serve, top with whipped cream and sprinkles.
This is definitely a tasty treat. The peppermint doesn't over power the chocolate at all, but instead, it accentuates it to create quite the delicious bite!
So if you're looking for something to serve at one of the many holiday dinner parties this year, look no further! Enjoy the rest of the week, guys!
Happy Thursday guys! I'm absolutely exhausted from this week already! And I've got to work through Saturday before I get to have my "weekend"! Hopefully I'll make it.
I'm pretty stoked that tonight - in about 30 minutes, the official NFL regular season starts! Football season is probably my favorite time of year. Go Eagles! And as an avid Peyton Manning-hater... I'm glad the sad little puppy dog is sitting out for a couple of months, but I digress.
Let's talk peanut butter. I've found a new love. Move over JIF (I keep it old school), I've got a new favorite. And I'm pretty sure I'm late on this bandwagon, too. But better late than never! Peanut Butter & Co. Bee's Knees is the SHIZ! I find myself just eating spoonfuls throughout the day because it's so good. So I knew that using up the last bit of it in this bread was bittersweet because I'd be using up the last of it (I can always restock right?!), but also genius, because when you use good ingredients, good things happen right? Right!
Ingredients: Adapted from the 1945 Edition of The Boston Cooking School Cook Book
2 cups flour 1/3 cup sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup peanut butter (I highly recommend using PB&Co!) 1 egg, beaten 1 cup milk
Glaze:
1 tablespoon heavy cream 2/3 cup powdered sugar 1 tablespoon peanut butter
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a fork, incorporate peanut butter and beaten egg. Stir in milk until a smooth batter is formed.
Grease a loaf pan and pour in batter. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
Let rest on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes, or until cool enough to handle.
To make glaze, combine cream, powdered sugar, and peanut butter until smooth.
Remove bread from pan and pour glaze over top.
This was pretty tasty. If you're a peanut butter lover, you'd definitely love this! It's something I don't see a lot of - especially when zucchini breads are so popular right now! Hey... zucchini peanut butter bread - I think I may be on to something. I'll experiment and get back to you guys!
I always joke that this is my day... well, because my last name is "Labor". I know, I'm a dork.
I thought I'd celebrate the day by sharing a special treat with you guys!
This was the first time I had busted out my ice cream maker all season long. And I had to make it perfect if I was going to get Andy to like it - he's got this crazy belief that "dessert should not include fruit" - so if I was going to make this, and make him like it - it had to be incredible.
And you know what? He LOVED it! Albeit... he did mix it with a crumbled up brownie and drizzle it with chocolate syrup - but hey, I'll still take it as a win! Me? I enjoy the simple flavors of the peaches, and interesting addition of the cloves. I like to savor every bite of this one, because it truly is one of my favorites!
1-1/3 lbs ripe peaches (about 6), peeled, pitted and coarsely chopped 1/2 cup water 1 tablespoon Triple Sec 1 teaspoon ground cloves 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup Greek yogurt 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/2 cup milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla juice from 1 lime Combine peaches, water, cloves, and Triple Sec in medium nonreactive saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until peaches are soft and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Mix in sugar, and set aside to cool to room temperature.
Add peach mixture to food processor with Greek yogurt, heavy cream, milk, vanilla, and lime juice. Process until smooth. Chill thoroughly in refrigerator, about 6-8 hours. Once chilled, transfer to ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.
Happy Labor Day guys - I'll be spending the day relaxing and not thinking about having to return to work tomorrow!
I'm so glad the weekend is upon us! I've still got to work tomorrow, but I've got Sunday and Monday off, so it's not too bad.
Any plans for the weekend? We're probably going to be lazy - I know I'm going to be catching up on some sleep!
Anyway, I thought I would end the week with a sweet treat! It won the last bi-weekly poll and was a winner in our house too! The original recipe had some Caramel Frosting to go with it - but I wasn't in the mood to fool with frosting and just kept them simple with some chocolate ganache and toffee bits.
And don't forget to vote in this week's bi-weekly poll - I'm obviously in the mood for something chocolately!
1 cup flour 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 stick unsalted butter, melted 2 large eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 tablespoons hot coffee 1/2 cup Heath toffee bits
Chocolate Ganache:
2/3 cups dark chocolate 2 tablespoons whole milk
In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
Add the butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat on medium speed for one minute. Stir in hot coffee.
Beat for 20-30 seconds until the batter is smooth. The batter will be slightly on the thin side.
Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Divide the batter evenly among the liners. Bake 18-22 minutes just until a toothpick inserted into a few of the cupcakes comes out clean. Set the pan on a rack to cool completely.
To make the ganache, place the dark chocolate and milk in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds. Stir until combined and smooth (you can heat again in 15 second intervals if chocolate isn't completely melted).
Once cupcakes are cooled, dip the tops into the ganache and sprinkle desired amound of toffee bits on top!
These were delicious! So simple and just enough of that toffee crunch to bring these to another level! I think Andy had one of these for breakfast everyday for the past week - so we know he liked them!
So I ran a mile yesterday. At 12:30 in the afternoon. It was 85 F. Needless to say, it was pretty brutal. I managed to finish it in 9:39, so I guess that's not bad for starters, right? It's a tad bit cooler today so maybe I won't feel like death afterwards.
I feel like such a baby complaining about 1 measly mile! I know a lot of you run on a constant basis and are probably laughing at my pathetic complaints, so I'll try to keep them at a minimum =)
Anyway, this isn't the best picture ever, but frankly. I couldn't not share this with you. I should have been more patient and let the brownies firm up a bit more in the fridge (so that they would actually be photogenic - but nothing a scoop of vanilla ice cream can't fix), but instead, they were a big gloopy mess. The tastiest pile of gloop I've ever eaten. So yeah, make the brownies, let them set in the fridge (or not), and come and thank me.
The only thing I changed about it was that I didn't use pecans. Instead, I topped my brownies with rainbow sprinkles, crushed walnuts, and a mixture of white & dark chocolate chips. I was feeling a little gluttonous with the toppings.
But anyway, have a great Wednesday guys! And don't forget, tomorrow is the CSA round-up so if you feel like joining in, e-mail me at mtlabor85@yahoo.com! Thanks again for stopping by =)
Happy Friday guys! Boy am I glad! Because after my 8-hour work shift tonight, I'll be on vacation for the next 9 days - and it's much needed!
It's another "stay"-cation, but I won't be working, so it'll be a stress relief, that's for sure.
In other good news, I signed up to do my first half-marathon at the end of October. I'm setting my main goal to just finishing (with minimal/no walking), so I'm pretty sure I can do it. Meaning, I'll probably be starting my training next week too. I figure, if I can get into the hang of this running business early, I can amp myself up for later on. Make sense?
Anyway, I figured since it was Friday, I might as well leave you all with a sweet treat. As well as a sweet poll! My Great American Bake Sale is next Saturday, so I need some inspiration for what to make - so pick a treat and I'll make sure to sell it!
3/4 cup dark brown sugar 1/2 cup butter, melted 1 & 1/8 cup flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 egg 1/2 teaspoon vanila 3/4 cup sweet potato puree 1/4 cup chocolate chips 10-12 large marshmallows, optional
Preheat oven to 375 F and grease a small (around 8x10 or so) baking dish with flour and butter.
In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar and butter. Beat until smooth.
In another medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
In bowl with sugar and butter, beat in eggs (one at a time) and vanilla.
Slowly add in flour mixture until a thick batter forms. Fold in sweet potato puree and chocolate chips.
Pour batter into baking dish and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If you wanted to kick it up a notch, like I did, you could top the batter with marshmallows about halfway through the baking time to get them all toasty. After all, marshmallows and sweet potatoes were just meant for eachother!
Hope you guys have a great weekend! Ours will be filled with sushi, Father's Day, and relaxing! Oh... and a HAIRCUT!
Phew! It has been a day, let me tell you! I worked until 4:30. Picked up our CSA share. Rushed home to take pictures of the haul and split it among it's recipients (we share our share with 2 other people). And barely made it to my volleyball game at 6!
Now it's nearly 9 and I still haven't finished today's post! But don't you worry - I just couldn't resist sharing these fritters with you!
Andy had a night class on Monday night and I was left bored and alone at home. But I spotted some over-ripe bananas on the counter that begged to be used. So perusing through one of my vintage cookbooks, I found the perfect fritter recipe that could satisfy my craving!
Ingredients: Adapted from the 1947 edition of The Boston Cooking School Cook Book
3 over-ripe bananas juice from 1 lemon 1 cup flour 1/2 traspoon salt 2/3 cup milk 2 eggs 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted vegetable oil, for frying powdered sugar, optional
In a heavy-bottomed pan, add about an inch tall worth of vegetable oil. Heat under medium high heat, until temperature is around 370 F.
In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, milk, butter. Stir in the flour and salt until batter is just combined.
Peel bananas and push through a metal sieve to rid of seeds. If you don't care about the seeds, you could just go right ahead and mash the bananas if you wanted. Stir mashed bananas with the lemon juice and mix well.
Add the mashed bananas to the batter and mix well.
Working in batches, spoon about 2 tablespoons of batter into the hot vegetable oil to make each fritter. I did about 4 fritters per batch. Fry for about 2-3 minutes per side, or until golden brown.
Top fritters with powdered sugar, if desired.
These were so good. I could have taken the easy route and just sliced the bananas, dipped them in the batter, and fried them that way, but I didn't. I love how the banana flavor is incorporated throughout the dough and it lends to a custard-like filling. Andy came home that night and made work of a few of them too!
One of my favorite parts of our wedding planning is the fact that we'll be having an ice cream bar. Yeah. Ice. Cream. Bar. Need I say more?
And the Comfy Cow here in town will be providing said ice cream bar. The Comfy Cow is known for it's unique flavors like Cookie Monster Dough (jam packed with cookies galore!), Cake Batter Up, Red Velvet (we both swear you can distinctly taste the cake AND icing separately, it's amazing), and Banana Nana Fofana.
But on a recent trip to the Cow, and after a recent blog search (and not to mention this was last week's poll winner), I was after one thing - Freshly Brewed Coffee. Ice Cream. This is definitely one of the best coffee flavored ice creams I've ever had, and I could totally eat the whole quart by myself... but I decided to share and put that sucker in an ice cream pie! So enjoy!
10 Oreos 10 Golden Oreos Pack of Chocolate Graham Crackers (about 10-12) 10 Grasshopper Cookies (they're the Keebler version of Thin Mints) 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Filling:
1 quart coffee-flavored ice cream
Chocolate Ganache Topping:
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the oreos, golden oreos, graham crackers, and grasshopper cookies. Pulse until cookies are crumbled finely. Obviously, I was cleaning out all of the cookies from the pantry. Feel free to just stick with one cookie for the crust if you'd like, but I thought the crust was pretty awesome with all of the different types - or maybe I just had that Cookie Monster Dough ice cream on the brain and decided to implement it into the crust.
Add the melted butter to the cookies and pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand.
Pat the mixture into a 9 inch spring-form pan, going along the sides, as well.
Bake the crust for about 10 minutes or until slightly hard. Place on a cooling rack to cool completely. Then place in freezer for 30 minutes to harden up.
Meanwhile, remove ice cream from freezer and sit at room temperature to soften.
You can also make the ganache during this time, as well. Place heavy whipping cream in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips. Let sit for about 5 minutes. Stir in tablespoon of butter until mixture is smooth. Let cool slightly.
Remove crust from freezer. Dump ice cream into a large bowl and stir until it becomes smooth and spreadable. Spread the ice cream on the chilled crust. Top with ganache and chill for at least 3 hours.
Andy and I both loved this pie! The jam-packed cookie crust went perfectly with the awesome coffee ice cream. And it's not just limited to coffee ice cream. The possibilities are endless with this one! As the days get hotter, this is the best way to end the day and cool off =)
Hope you guys have a great Wednesday and see you all tomorrow!
Okay, I'm a couple weeks late with this, but seriously - is there really not a good time for fudge? Don't lie. I know you guys like some chocolate.
Now, I don't know if Kern's Derby Pie is available to people outside of Kentucky, but I know that it's available year-round to us, and we are quite fortunate. Because really, this is the quintessential pie to have during the horse-racing season! Now, if you don't have this readily available to you, don't fret. A quick Google search produces tons of Derby pie recipes that you could use.
But if you Google search "Derby Pie Fudge", on the other hand - you're pickin's are slim! Google has never heard of such a thing. I told a co-worker this, and she immediately told me I needed to patent this. Hehe, good idea, but really, I totally want to share this amazing goodness with all of you! Trust me. The guests at the Derby party we brought this to were overjoyed with happiness once they saw this. It wasn't like they were saying "hey, that fudge stuff is good"... they were saying things like "Oh my God, I don't even like fudge and I love this!" No joke.
Oh, and don't forget to vote in this week's poll. I'm feeling like something sweet once again...
So what are you waiting for? Make this fudge pronto! (And if you're in the Louisville area on June 25th, I'll be selling this at a Great American Bake Sale site! - I'll get you the info if you want it!).
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 cup evaporated milk 1 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 cups marshmallows 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3/4 Derby Pie (I had to save a slice to eat, of course - but you could always use the whole pie), chopped
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and slowly add sugar. Stir in evaporated milk and salt until sugar is dissolved.
Bring mixture to a boil and stir constantly for about 5 minutes, until mixture thickens.
Remove from heat and add marshmallows, milk chocolate, and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Stir until chocolate and marshmallows are melted.
Stir in vanilla and chopped Derby Pie pieces.
Line a 1-inch tall pan (8x8) with parchment paper. Pour in chocolate mixture and chill in the fridge until set, about 30 minutes.
Cut fudge into squares and try to stop yourself from eating the whole pan. It's going to be really hard!
Well, you guys sure do like Chocolate Cake don't you?! I hear you people, and I have no idea why I didn't just make it into a post, but the recipe I used for the chocolate cake is from the blog Foodess - recipe titled "Moist Chocolate Cake". And it ain't no lie! I pretty much followed that one to a tee (I made it into a rectangle cake, instead of a circular one), so it's no-fail. I was a little worried, because you add the hot coffee at the end and it made the batter look like a big mud puddle (but I think that's what makes this cake so moist, so don't fret!). I also used this Buttercream Frosting recipe from Wilton.com, and the only change I made was to only use 2 cups of powdered sugar instead of 4 (I just have trouble using that much sugar sometimes) and it made just enough frosting to frost the whole cake.
Anyway, to today's recipe (which won the poll from a couple weeks ago) is Sweet Potato Donuts. Seriously, these are a must try. And to have it with the cinnamon marshmallow cream just puts them over the top! A-d-d-i-c-t-i-n-g.
Don't forget to vote for the new poll (which I'll try not to be too late on, again) down below!
1 large sweet potato 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 1/2 cup milk 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup dark brown sugar 1 & 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped pinch of nutmeg 1 tablespoon bourbon (c'mon, I live in Kentucky, had to replace the rum with this, hehe) 1 egg 2 egg yolks 3 & 1/4 to 5 cups flour, plus more for rolling out dough
Cinnamon Marshmallow Cream:
1 & 1/2 cups marshmallows 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream, plus more if desired 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Prick your sweet potato all over with a fork and cook in the microwave for 10 minutes, or until softened. Let cool to room temperature and carefully peel.
Place sweet potato in a high rimmed bowl and puree with an immersion blender (or an actual blender - but I was going for getting less contraptions dirty) until smooth. I had about 1 & 1/2 cups of puree.
In a small skillet, brown butter under medium high heat until nutty in flavor, about 5-6 minutes.
Scrape butter and any solids into a medium sized bowl and let cool.
Using the same skillet used for butter, add milk and heat until it is just warm (about 105 F). Pour milk into a large bowl and add yeast. Let sit for about 5 minutes. Slowly mix in white sugar, dark brown sugar, salt, vanilla seeds, nutmeg, and bourbon. Stir in sweet potato puree, browned butter & solids, egg, and egg yolks. Beat mixture until combined. Add the flour and beat at a medium speed (I used a wooden spoon for this - nothing like an old-fashioned workout) until pliable dough forms. I think I added about 1 to 1 & 1/2 more cups of flour to get the desired dough consistency for mine (but I think this all depends on how big your actual sweet potato is, and how much puree you end up with). Knead dough for a few minutes and place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise for about 1 hour.
Punch down the dough and let sit for about 5 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thickness. Use a floured rim of a glass (or round cookie cutters) and cut out as many rounds as you can. Use a smaller round cookie cutter (or in my case, the bourbon cap) to cut out the centers of the donuts for donut holes. Nothing goes to waste here! Roll out dough one or two more times to cut out as many donuts as possible. I think I ended up with a little over 2 dozen.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and transfer cut out dough to each sheet. Cover baking sheets with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400 F and place oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven. Bake the donut holes for about 10 minutes, and the donuts for 20 minutes, or until risen and golden. You can have the holes and donuts on the same sheet, just remember to remove the donut holes first. Let donuts cool to room temperature before dipping in cream.
To make the marshmallow cream, heat a small saucepan under medium low to medium heat. Add marshmallows, heavy cream, and cinnamon. Stir slowly until marshmallows have melted. You can add more cream if you want a thinner sauce.
Dip the donuts in cream and let any excess drip off (into your mouth, if you wish).
The original recipe had a cinnamon sugar topping, which is all well and fine, but seriously, the marshmallow cream here is where it's at. There's a restaurant here in Louisville, the Village Anchor, that serves sweet potato fries with this cream (I was lucky enough to obtain this VERY simple recipe from our waiter last time we were there), and I just thought it would be perfect for these donuts! I could really just drink that cream by itself, it's that good.
I love that these donuts were baked, instead of fried, too. It makes them actually somewhat healthy, right? They were absolutely delicious, unique, and perfect with a cup of coffee!
And don't forget to vote for next time's dessert in this week's poll! I'm in a chocolate mood - and when I'm in a chocolate mood, Andy is very very happy.
Well, this post would have come sooner if a certain somebody didn't mistakenly take the USB cable for my camera with him to work instead of his own camera's cable. But... I'm not complaining. I've let go of that grudge. Hehe. But trust me, I wasn't a happy camper earlier.
Anyway, it's been a pretty cruddy day. It hasn't stopped raining since this morning and the sky is a depressing shade of gray. Days like these I just want to stay home and bake. Bake things that brighten up my day and my mood. Like these cupcakes. Guaranteed to turn any depressing, gray day into something bright and beautiful!
I brought these into work earlier this week and they practically vanished in no time! And funny conversation, I told them I used Meyer Lemons and kind of educated them on the difference between it and a regular old lemon, and the whole time I was saying Meyer lemons, my coworkers were thinking I was talking about the grocery store we have around here, Meijer (pronounced the same way), and so they were a bit puzzled why those lemons were so special. Silly, silly coworkers. I really have to give them some more citrus education soon.
Anyway, without further ado (I mean, you've waited long enough), one of the best cupcakes I've ever had...
Ingredients: Adapted from Cooking on the Side's recipe
They're just waiting to be eaten.
For cupcakes:
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened 3 cups sugar 6 eggs 2 & 3/4 cups flour 1/4 cup cornstarch 1 cup heavy whipping cream 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract juice from 1 Meyer lemon zest from 1 Meyer lemon
For glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar juice from 1 Meyer lemon
I'm tellin' ya, they go quick!
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, combine flour and corn starch.
In a large bowl, beat sugar and butter until fluffy and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternate adding the flour and heavy whipping cream to sugar and eggs. Stir in vanilla, lemon juice and zest.
Fill each paper liner about 3/4 full with batter. I had enough batter to make 18 cupcakes and a whole loaf in a bread pan.
Bake cupcakes for about 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake come out clean. If you decide to make a loaf as well, bake for about 1 hour, or until toothpick comes out clean.
Remove cupcakes from muffin tin and cool on a cooling rack until at room temperature.
To make the glaze, in a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Using a whisk attachment, beat until glaze is smooth and free of lumps from sugar. Add more lemon juice, if desired. Top cupcakes with glaze.
Seriously, these were amazing. The pound cake was perfectly dense and had just the slightest lemon tinge, which was perfect for me - and apparently Andy also, who ate like 5 in one sitting. Whether you make a loaf or a cupcake, you'll have a hard time keeping these around because I've noticed they have a tendency to just disappear! Enjoy guys!
I made it through my 5k! I'm still alive and kickin'! I gave myself 36 minutes to do the 5k (about 12 minute miles - I was pretty lax on myself), and I finished in 33:51! Not bad for only going on one practice run in a month and a half.
It was actually an exhilarating race. Over 10,000 participants and I finished 5610 out of them! So heck, I had to just give myself a pat on the back. And I guess I have something to work towards for next year!
And another awesome surprise, when I got home on Friday night from work, I came home to a big package from Foodbuzz sitting on my desk. Puzzled, I had to quickly open it up. And to my astonishment was a Flip Video Camera and a variety of Newman's Own Salad Dressings and Tomato Sauces. So thanks to Foodbuzz and Newman's Own, I get to make a 5 minute video on a recipe using one or more of the products that takes 30 minutes or less. So watch out for it soon, because it'll be the first video on the blog! And I'm sure not the last!
Anyway, what won the poll last Friday? Well it was a 3 way tie! I couldn't just pick one over the other, so I decided to do all 3 over the course of the next 2 weeks. I'm not going to reveal all of the winners at once, that way it's a little bit of surprise! So obviously, the first revealed winner was in the "Girl Scout Cookie" category, and being that Samoas are my absolute favorite Girl Scout cookie, I had to give them a shot!
1/2 cup sugar 1 & 1/2 sticks unsalted butter 1 egg 1/2 teaspoon clear vanilla 2 cups flour large pinch of salt
Topping:
3 cup sweetened shredded coconut, lightly toasted 12 oz. chewy caramels large pinch of salt 3 tablespoons whole milk 8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350F.
Line a 9 x 13 pan with aluminum foil.
For shortbread, in a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract.
Slowly add in flour and salt until mixture is combined. The dough will be really sticky.
Using hands, press dough into an even layer in pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Carefully lift foil from pan and place on wire rack to cool.
While waiting for shortbread to cool, you can prepare the topping. Unwrap caramel candies and place in microwave safe bowl along with milk and salt. Heat in microwave for about 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir occasionally. Watch it carefully so that the caramel does not burn. Allow caramel to slightly cool and then fold in toasted coconut. Mix well.
Once shortbread is cooled, spread caramel and coconut mixture atop shortbread in an even layer. Place in freezer to cool, about 10 minutes. Once cooled, cut into evenly sized bars.
Place chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and heat, in 30 second intervals, until chocolate is completely melted. Dip the bottom of each bar in chocolate and place on wax paper lined baking sheet (a small enough sheet that can fit into the freezer/fridge)
I chose the "abstract" way of decorating the top of the bars, just use a fork and quickly drizzle over bars for a nice effect. Alternatively, you can place the melted chocolate into a piping bag and decorate as you wish.
I dare you to have just one. It's damn near impossible. Wanna bet? I'll win every time, I know it! =)
Andy absolutely loved these. I asked him whether they were better than the actual Girl Scout cookie version, and he put it nicely - "You can't really compare them to the actual Samoa because they're different. These are more like a cookie bar." So then of course (I just had to ask), I replied to that by saying "Well what would you rather have?" You bet your ass he said that he'd rather have these! So go on... try them for yourself! See you guys tomorrow!
P.S. - details about my first giveaway get unveiled tomorrow too!
TGIF! I've got the weekend off of work and I'm ready for it! I'm not so ready to wake up super early tomorrow morning and fun 3.1 miles at 8am. In the cold. But, it's my own doing. I freely signed up for the race knowing what I was getting myself into. And so if I'm to be punished, so be it.
Bold statements are usually made in our house. Usually those involving death threats (in a loving manner, of course. like I tell everyone who looks seemingly shocked after I threaten to kill Andy - this is how we talk, hehe) or, heaven forbid, threats to take away chocolate cupcakes to one's co-workers instead of leaving them at home. Yes. Andy looked at me with disgust as I loaded these up last week to take to work. Hey. I left him 3. And he had already eaten 3 the night before too. So seriously. He had his fill, it was time to give them to a more deserving crowd.
I know it took me a while to post these, but hey, I wanted to save the best for the end of the week. And there's a new poll at the end of this post, so don't forget to vote for my next little treat (I promise it won't take me as long to post this time!).
Obviously, they were still a tad warm when I frosted them - but it's hard to resist =)
Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup cocoa powder 2 teaspoons espresso powder 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup milk 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 teaspoon white/clear vanilla extract 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar chopped hazelnuts (optional)
1 & 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 1 13-ounce jar of Nutella pinch of salt 1 tablespoon white/clear vanilla extract 2-3 cups powdered sugar (original recipe called for a full lb., and by all means, go ahead with that if you'd like, but I just couldn't see using that much sugar) 6-8 tablespoons heavy cream
For the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Line muffin pans with paper liners.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well and set aside.
In a separate, medium-sized bowl, combine the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar, and mix well.
Slowly add wet mixture to dry ingredients and stir until just incorporated.
Fill muffin liners about halfway to 3/4 full.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove cupcakes from oven and let cool in tin for about 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from tin and transfer to a wire rack to let cool to room temperature before frosting.
For the frosting:
This makes a TON of frosting, so you could definitely save some for later or half the recipe if you're not doing too many cupcakes. (I made about 18 cupcakes, and still had a bunch leftover)
In a large bowl, beat butter and Nutella until well combined.
Slowly add in powdered sugar and continue beating until incorporated.
Add salt, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream. Beat on low speed until moistened. Add heavy cream, one tablespoon at a time, until you reach your preferred consistency.
Beat frosting on high until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
Fill a piping bag with a little bit of frosting and pierce the cooled cupcakes in the center to fill and then decoratively frost the tops. Sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts, if desired.
Remember those bold statements I was talking about earlier? Well, Andy mocked me when I told him I was buying Nutella. He's somewhat sheltered in the Nutella area, and jokingly made faces at me as I put it in our cart at the grocery.
So to his surprise, he actually loved these cupcakes. So much so, that he made the boldest statement ever, saying that these were the best cupcakes I'd ever made. Ever. So seriously, if Andy can make such a statement, I think these are definitely worth a go. And as for my coworkers, they loved them too. So they're definitely a crowd pleaser. =)
And to the poll! I'm in a vague and random sort of mood, so I'll leave it somewhat open. I'll definitely need something to replenish me after I'm done with my race tomorrow morning! Enjoy your weekend guys!
