Strawberry Ricotta Cupcakes

I love holidays and even holidays that I don’t celebrate because there always is an excuse to bake something delicious!

I wanted to make cupcakes and try something new, but not too new because I’ve never messed up cupcakes before and didn’t want to start now! Trust me, I have a never-ending baking bucket list that includes all kinds of crazy cupcake ideas, but after reading so much of Mark Bittman’s books, I think his “simple is better” edict is starting to sink in and I chose not to make the crazy stuffed cupcakes I had in mind originally.

The BEST Thumbprint Cookies

I need to practice “filling” the thumbprints. Badly.

For my family Pre-Passover dinner, I volunteered to make dessert. My mom makes the best Matzah ball soup that I’ve ever had and a mean brisket so I was glad to leave the cooking to her and stick to baking cookies!

I wanted to try something from How to Eat Everything but ended up getting stuck on the idea of thumbprint cookies. So too Google I went to find out how Mr. Bittman makes them. This is his cookie recipe, but the fillings he suggested were way beyond my family’s comprehension. Most of them like good old fashioned chocolate with nothing fancy added. But I was feeling a little daring and made a few salted caramel cookies, too (which were MORE of a hit than the plain chocolate–it was a shocker, trust me).

Pignoli Cookies

Making pignoli cookies for your Valentine…not the quintessential Valentine’s Day dessert, but I think that makes it even more special! I could have whipped up a red velvet cake no problem,  but this was a true baking challenge and was more than worth it when he couldn’t stop eating them throughout the night!

I don’t know from a pignoli cookie. I’ve only tried them one time and it was at one of the best bakeries in Philadelphia: Isgro’s, so I knew mine wouldn’t be nearly as good as their’s. But I’m told by my pignoli cookie lover that they were amazing nonetheless. So in my mind, this was a success, even if they didn’t turn out quite like the traditional Italian cookie.

Chocolate Pudding Cake

I love chocolate but chocolate cake is not my favorite thing on the dessert menu. I find it to be too dry and prefer a yellow cake with chocolate ganche instead of a ordinary chocolate cake. Well, if all chocolate cakes were as rich and good as this one I might change my mind. But then again, I wouldn’t call this a cake in the traditional sense–it’s more like a souffle because it’s super light and airy but dense with rich, chocolate flavor at the same time.

I’ve made a few chocolate cakes/cupcakes and I have never really been thrilled with them. I think I can nail a good chocolate ganche frosting but the cakes, while good, are just never really the home run I’ve been hoping for. But this one I was really, really pleased with. It came out just like I imagined it would! It was super simple and straightforward and I’m proud to say I did not have one kitchen related meltdown or even feel a tinge of baking stress while working on this cake. And from someone who stresses out wayyyy too much in the kitchen, that means this recipe is sure to be a complete no-brainer to all the mellow Martha Stewart-like bakers out there.

I think I lost my mind with this one: Deep fried cookie dough Oreos

This is the most insane, ridiculous, but also dangerously delicious idea that I have ever had.

I was trying to think of something out-of-the-box to make as a Super Bowl snack. I had stashed away something I saw on Chrissy Tiegen’s blog: Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies. I thought that sounded like the coolest, most novel dessert idea ever! But it still seemed too safe for the dangerous food I had envisioned making.

So I was thinking…what’s like a crazy dessert people go nuts for? And since I had Oreo cookies on the mind, I thought of the Jersey Shore boardwalk and how you can’t walk a foot without seeing a few food stands selling deep fried Oreos. I could make my own deep fried oreos!

But don’t worry, I wasn’t about to nix the cookie dough part of the idea. I instead, just decided to do it all. Make the Oreo-stuffed cookies and then deep fry them.

Cue brain explosion.

Cheesecake Brownies

If you want to see what these brownies should have looked like, click here. I messed this one up. Bad. They still tasted OK in the end, but when you forget to add half of the ingredients and only realize it midway through, “ok” tasting brownies are better than nothing…

I was really excited about this recipe since The Food Network website lauded these as a healthier dessert option and it got great reviews. If I hadn’t forgotten to add the melted chocolate, butter and canola oil that was sitting in a bowl on the other side of the kitchen then maybe I’d be able to agree with the reviewers!

Fig Spice Cupcakes with the Best Buttercream Ever!

I love using lots of spices during the colder months. It just feels good to enjoy some good spices–cinnamon, nutmeg, etc on a chilly day, whether it be in your coffee or in your dessert. I made these cupcakes as a Christmas gift and they are great–albeit the texture wasn’t what I was planning on. It was more like a scone-consistency, which wasn’t bad, just not what I had anticipated. But the flavors were all there!

I used fresh whole figs, diced up and…yummm. I forgot how much I loved figs!  Their grittiness and sweetness made the cakes so much more pleasing than I could have hoped!

FIGS

But what I really want to talk about is the buttercream frosting. I am going to try to use this anywhere I can in the future. I’m a sucker for cinnamon so if a recipe calls for a 1/4 tsp of it, I double or triple it. Honey cinnamon buttercream. How could it be bad? But how could it be soooooooo good!?

The recipe is from Love and Olive Oil. This is a good one, guys. Promise!

I didn’t use the almond meal as stated in the ingredients–because it was like $13 for a bag of the stuff and I just couldn’t spend that much on something that required only 1/4 cup for the recipe. I just added flour in it’s place–I think I used 1 cup of flour in lieu of it. I’m sure the almond meal would really add some amazing depth of flavor to the cakes if you happen to have some or are willing to shell out the money for it.

Ingredients: 

Cupcakes
1 1/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup almond meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup finely diced fresh figs (about 2 whole figs), or 1/3 cup chopped dried figs

Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, room temperature
3-3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons raw dark honey
pinch cinnamon
2-3 tablespoons milk or cream, as needed

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt.Whisk together coconut milk sugar, oil, and extracts. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until relatively smooth. Fold in fig. Fill cupcake liners with about 3 tablespoons of batter (cups should be just under 2/3 of the way full). Bake for 22-25 minutes or until set, and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

For frosting, cream butter in electric mixer for 1-2 minutes until fluffy. Slowly add 1 cup sugar and beat until smooth. Add honey and cinnamon and mix until combined. Add remaining confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, and beat until well incorporated. Add 1 tablespoon of cream at a time, and mix at medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add more cream or sugar as necessary to achieve proper consistency. Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes.

I’m back…with Carrot Cake Cupcakes

HOLY HIATUS! Sorry to my dedicated readers…which is my mom, and my sister…hey guys! I got really busy and didn’t have time to cook or bake for a while so this blog really fell by the wayside. OK not totally true. I have blogging ADD and got totally bored! I bet everyone’s dyingggg to hear how Around the World in 80 Plates turned out right? Me neither. I stopped watching along with the rest of America.

In my blogging absence I may have whipped up a thing or two. The only thing of note honestly was Carrot Cake Cupcakes. They were banging. I know everyone’s afraid of carrot cake (or at least I was) until I had the epiphany that it just takes like a reallllyyyy good spice cake. Don’t be afraid, veggie haters! Look to the carrot-y light!

Recipe here from my girl Ina Garten. I used my go-to cream cheese frosting from Paula Deen….because this is carrot cake aka healthy cake right? I can use some Paula lovin’ here… Just go with it. I’m really out of my blogging groove.

Ingredients 

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 extra-large eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3 cups grated carrots (less than 1 pound)
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
  (Sorry, I know real foodies love extra crap, but no thanks)

Directions 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat the sugar, oil, and vanilla together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the eggs, 1 at a time. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add the grated carrots to the remaining flour, mix well, and add to the batter. Mix until just combined.

Line cupcake pans with paper liners. Add batter into 22 muffin cups until each is 3/4 full. I always bake cupcakes at 325 for 22 minutes, turning them midway through baking. Cool on a rack.

For the frosting, cream the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the sugar and beat until smooth.

Frost the cupcakes and enjoy!

Double Chocolate Fudge Cake

First of all, I have to say that I am not a big chocolate cake fan. I love chocolate anything except cake. I would rather have a good red velvet or even vanilla cake before I’d want a chocolate cake. Chocolate in the form of a cake just doesn’t do it for me the way a good old-fashioned chocolate bar does. It’s probably the same reason why I love grapes but hate grape flavored anything or why I hate cherries but love anything cherry flavored.

So now that you know that this cake wasn’t my favorite thing that I’ve ever made, I have to say it was pretty darn good for a chocolate cake. All of the chocolate lovers in my family loved it and they are some tough chocolate critics.

Making the frosting!

I got the recipe from Ina Garten who always seems to know what she’s doing with a cake. Or anything. Ina’s always so cool and calm in the kitchen–the complete opposite of me. She talks about how Jeffrey lovesssssss everything she makes. How is that possible? Does he not have any opinions? Or taste buds? I’m sorry–either Jeffrey is a freak or he is terrified of pissing off Ina…who knows what’s below her tranquil cooking exterior. I’m probably just a little bit jealous that people I make food for, have a plethora of things they won’t eat, can’t eat, hate, really hate, etc.

ANYWAY. The cake. Once again, excuse the photos. This cake is huuuuuuge. You can cut the recipe in half and still have enough to feed all of the Kardashians. It was fairly simple and the end result was amazing.

I think a big reason for this cake’s success was using the fresh cocoa powder from Whole Foods. It made such a huge difference compared to other chocolate baked goods I’ve made with run-of-the mill cocoa powder. I can never go back to my old cocoa powder ways after this…

Would it be wrong to have a slice now for breakfast!?

Cake Pops

With my first post, I think this is as good a place to start as any. My name is Lauren, and I am a wannabe chef/baker and as you will learn, growing into the cook I want to be has been challenging. If the first step in this process is admitting my talents are limited, then look no further than the picture posted here: the cake pop cemetery. I recently made a second batch of cake pops and they turned out a thousand times better but of course, I chose not to document my masterpieces and photograph only my horrific failure

With this first attempt, I did EVERYTHING wrong.

1. The cake did not bake properly. I’m blaming that one on the oven. And maybe the cake mix. I used Duncan Hines red velvet cake mix. I know, I knowwww.

2. I put way too much cream cheese icing in the mix. So much so that I couldn’t even form the cake into balls!

3. I should have never used chocolate. I used candy melt the second time around and found it worked way better. (It’s also harder to over-cook the candy melt like I did the chocolate bark.)

You can find the recipe for cake pops all over the internet. I kinda just did my own thing and hoped it would work out. Obviously it did not. I am planning on taking a crack at this for a third time soon and will attempt some pretty designs or something. I will definitely document this one so let’s hope they are not a complete embarrassment.