First Cupcake Hero Entry!

Sooo this is my very first Cupcake Hero Entry!

I was verrry excited to join just cause I love cupcakes...DUH! 

Who doesnt?..Any one who doesn't like cupcakes, is absolutely insane, if you ask me.

When I saw this months "theme" was anything including Red,White, and Blue, I got a little scared. There were SOO many ideas flying through my head..I didnt know what to chose from?!

So I finally decided on a Raspberry Swirl cake, for the base, then topped it off with a little white "fluffy" frosting, and finished it with a blue heart, made out of fondant. 

I got the recipes from this book called Cupcakes by Pamela Clark, and tweaked them a bit.

They came out sooo good!...that raspberry swirl added such a great flavor to the cake, and the fluffy frosting tasted EXACTLY like plain, old marshmellow fluff!

I'm going to call these "Sweetheart Cupcakes"...

adapted from "Cupcakes" by Pamela Clark

1 stick butter, softened

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 cup self-rising flour

1/3 cup milk

pink food coloring (i used red)

3 tblsp. raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 350F Degrees. Line 6-hole oversize or 12-hole standard muffin pan with paper baking cups.

Beat butter, vanilla, sugar, and eggs in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in sifted flour and milk in 2 batches.

Divide mixture evenly between 2 bowls. Tint one mixture pink(red); leave other mixture plain. Drop alternate spoonfuls of the 2 mixtures into baking cups.

Divide jam among cakes, pull skewer backwards and forwards through mixtures for a swirling effect; smooth surface.

Bake large cakes about 30 minutes, small cakes about 20 minutes. Turn cakes onto wire rack to cool.

"Fluffy Frosting":

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

2 egg whites

Combine sugar and water in a small pot; stir over medium heat, without boiling, until sugar is dissolved. Boil, uncovered, without stirring about 5 minutes or until syrup reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. Syrup should be thick but not colored. Remove from heat, allow bubbles to subside. Beat egg whites in a small bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form. While mixer is running, add hot syrup in thin stream; beat on high speed about 10 minutes or until mixture is thick and cool.

Spread cakes with frosting, top with fondant heart!

Hope I did it right!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

Yes, you read that right! CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH BROWNIE.

Just the name screamsssss SIN...well, that's what that wonderful baker over at Genesis of a Cook says.

When I first saw this recipe, I knew I just HAD to make it...I mean, come on, it's a BROWNIE, then on top of that, a nice, thick, chewy layer of a chocolate chip cookie! YUM!!

So far, i've made this recipe I think more than 3 times in one month...i'm constantly bringing them over for pot-lucks, parties, etc. And no matter where I bring them, I have not once got a bad review! These are really the ultimate brownie/cookie delight!

Ohhh, a little tip, these can be verrrrrry rich, so I suggest cutting them into smaller squares.

The recipe also makes a lot, so these are GREAT to bring for parties and what not.

PLEASSSE make these...they are absolutely amazing!

TWD: Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler

This weeks TWD was picked by Amanda of Like Sprinkles on a Cupcake.

I absolutely LOVE cobblers, that yummmy, delicious fruit filling hidden underneath the ever so flakey topping. Everything about them just screams "YUMMMMMM!"

I've never had rhubarb before, but i've been meaning to taste one, so this gave me an excuse to try some.

In the recipe, it said after you lay out the biscuit dough, to separate it into 20 individual "puffs", and to make 4 rows of 5, of the circles. Now, I must have done something wrong cause as you can see, the circles didn't really spread, and or cover the fruit filling...? That kind of stumped me as I was pulling the cobbler out of the oven...SOOO, there was obviously a mistake there.

(...Hmm?)

Regardless of that minor error, the cobbler turned out verrrrrry good!

Although, I think the ginger in the biscuits gave them sort of a weird-ish flavor...I could definitely taste that spice in it...I was thinking of adding a different type of spice to the dough like cinnamon, or nutmeg, but decided to let it go...Maybe next time i'll change that.

I of course served it with some vanilla ice cream, which personally, is the BEST topping for ANY dessert in my book. And it added that extra deliciousness!

Putting those little set-backs aside, this was a greatt dessert!

(I need to learn how to take better pictures, I think...I have the Nikon D40, which I think is a pretty good camera, but i've got to learn how to do all that confusing lighting stuff and all those "professional" camera thingss...it's a work in progress I guess.)

Giving Krispy Kream a run for their Money

Sadly, I no longer can drive those quick 5 minutes over to Krispy Kream after dinner, on any random weeknight, and pick up a fresh,piping hot, original doughnut...=/ Mostly cause ALL the krispy kreams near me had to close down, and move ALL the way over to the East Coast!

They freaking have EVERYTHING up there!

Anyway, I havn't had a doughnut in a very long time, I mostly think of doughnuts as an every once in a while decadent treat, that I get to reward myself with sometimes. So you could imagine, when I get a doughnut, it's got to be a pretty good one.

I've been wanting to make my own homemade doughnuts ever since I started to see other bloggers make them...but I was always very skeptical on if I wanted to go through all that trouble frying them.

Then I saw this recipe over at The Sweet Pea Patisserie, for "Baked" doughnuts, and knew I HAD to try it. And let me tell you, I was really surprised at how easy these were to make!

Sure, they do take some time for all that dough to rise(they have active dry yeast) but it is SO extremely worth it at the end. She did 3 different toppings; cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar, and chocolate ganche...but since my FAVORITE type of doughnuts are just the plain, regular glazed, I found a recipe on the Food Network website for a simple glaze. I also did cinnamon sugar ones as well.

Also, make sure you eat these RIGHT out of the oven, after you glaze them of course! They really need to be HOT to get that right, doughnut taste!

Delicious Baked Doughnuts

Adapted from The Sweet Pea Patisserie 

1 1/3 cups warm milk, 95-105 degrees

1 packet active dry yeast(2 1/4 tsp.)

2 tblsp. butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

5 cups all purpose flour

A pinch or 2 of nutmeg, freshly grated( I used a few shakes of pumpkin pie spice)

1 tsp. fine grain sea salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tblsp. cinnamon

Place 1/3 cup of the warm milk in the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the yeast and set aside for 5 min. or so. Be sure your milk isn't too hot or it will kill the yeast. Stir the butter and sugar into the remaining cup of warm milk and add it to the milk mixture. With a fork, stir in the eggs, flour, nutmeg, and salt-just until the flour is incorporated. With the dough hook attachment of your mixer beat the dough for a few minutes at medium speed. This is where you are going to need to make adjustments- if your dough is overly sticky, add flour a few tablespoons at a time. Too dry? Add more milk a bit at a time. You want the dough to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and eventually become supple and smooth.

Turn it out onto a floured counter top, knead for a few times(the dough should be barely sticky), and shape into a ball.

Transfer the dough to a buttered(or oiled) bowl, cover, put in a warm place, and let rise for an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Punch down the dough and roll it out 1/2 inch thick on your floured countertop. Most people(like me) dont have a doughnut cutter, instead I used a 2-3 inch cookie cutter to stamp out circles. Transfer the circles to a parchment paper lined baking sheet and stamp out the smaller inner circles using a smaller cutter. If you cut the inner holes out any earlier, they become distorted when you attempt to move them. Cover with a clean cloth, and let rise for another 45 minutes.

Bake in a 375 degree oven until the bottoms are just golden, 8-10 minutes- start checking around 8. While the doughnuts are baking, place the butter in a medium bowl. Place the sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.( I had pre-made cinnamon sugar, so I used that)

Remove doughnuts from the oven and let cool for literally 1 minute. Dip each one in the melted butter, and a quick toss in the sugar bowl. (Or dip in the glaze)

EAT IMMEDIATELY IF NOT SOONER!

Doughnut glaze

from Alton Brown, The Food Network Website, 2004

1/4 cup whole milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups confectioners sugar

Combine milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan and heat over low heat until warm. Sift confectioners sugar into milk mixture. Whisk slowly, until well combined. Remove the glaze from the heat and set over a bowl of warm water. Dip doughnuts into the glaze, 1 at a time, and set on a draining rack placed in a half sheet pan.

TWD: Black and White Banana Loaf

"This sh*t is bananas...B-A-N-A-N-A-S!!"

Come on, it's not like you don't use that song to help you remember how to spell the word "BANANA"...or maybe that's just me...

Kay, onto the food.

One of my top 5 FAVORITE quick breads to eat, and bake is banana bread. I think it's also cause i'm a big banana freak. ANYTHING with banana in it, i'll eat. I grew up eating banana breads, mostly cause my grandma had a great banana bread recipe that she gave to my mom, and my mom gave to me...buttt today's recipe isn't from my grandma. It's from, of course, Dorie. This weeks tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Ashlee from A Year in the Kitchen.

I loved how it included both the chocolate and banana flavors together. Such a great pairing if you ask me. Annnnd, it has just a little bit of rum added to the bananas, that just gives it that nice touch.

Black and White Banana Loaf

from Baking from my home to yours

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1 1/2 ripe bananas, peeled

squirt of fresh lemon juice

grated zest of 1/2 lemon

1 tblsp. dark rum

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 stick plus 2 tblsp. unsalted butter, room temp.(10 tblsp.)

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

4 large eggs

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup whole milk

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.

Butter an 8 1/2-x-4 1/2-x-2 1/2-inch loaf pan, dust the inside with flour and tap out the excess. Place the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on 2 regular baking sheets stacked one on top of the other.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with the lemon juice and zest, then stir in the rum.

 Melt the chocolate and 2 tblsp. of the butter in a microwave oven, or in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water.

Working with a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the remaining stick of butter(8 tblsp.) at medium speed until creamy, about 3 min. Add the sugars and beat for another 2-3 minutes, until light and smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. The batter will look curdled, and it will continue to look curdled as you add the ingredients. Reduce the mixer to low and add half the flour mixture, mixing only until it is just incorporated. With the mixer running, pour in the milk, and when it is blended, add the remaining dry ingredients. Scrape down the bowl and mix in the mashed bananas. The batter will look even lumpier.

Pour a little less than half the batter into the bowl with the melted chocolate and stir to blend. Drop alternating spoonfuls of both batters into the prepared pan, then, using a table knife, swirl the batters together, taking care not to over do it.

Bake for 1 hour and 20-30 minutes, or until a knife inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean. Check after 30 minutes and if the cake starts to brown too much, cover it loosely with a foil tent. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it rest for about 15 min. before unmolding, then cool the cake to room temp. right side up on the rack.

MAKE THIS...you WON'T be disappointed at all.