Tag Archives: Cupcakes

Dessert Three Ways

Posted on December 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

I really enjoy being a part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program.  I was recently picked to try out Duncan Hines and Comstock products for this go round.  I was given some coupons for myself and to share with others for free products.  All my friends and family were very happy!  I chose several products to try:  Duncan Hines Decadent Triple Chocolate Cake with the Amazing Chocolate Glaze, Duncan Hines Brownie Mix and the Comstock Lemon Pie filling.

I made the Decadent Triple Chocolate Cake with the Amazing Chocolate Glaze as- is for my mother’s birthday party.  This cake was to die for!  We all really enjoyed it.  I made it as a bundt cake and it was so moist and rich.  The Glaze was so, so easy to use and I personally think it is much more yummy than regular frosting.  This is definitely a must-try, even if you are partial to scratch baking.

I used the Brownie mix to make a peppermint mocha brownie by just adding one tablespoon of instant espresso powder and 1 cup of chopped white chocolate peppermint bark.  I based this around popular holiday drinks as I thought the brownie would lend really well to the flavors.  I used a lot more instant espresso than I normally would as I really wanted to drive the mocha flavor home and it worked!  The brownies were very easy and turned out just as I had planned so I was really happy with them.

For the Comstock Lemon Pie filling, I made a bread pudding.  It was my first time making bread pudding but I really thought that lemon would go well with the texture and mild flavor.  Again, I was really happy with the result!  It came out creamy with a mild lemon flavor, our family really enjoyed it!

I really urge you to try any of these products, whether to bake as-is or to experiment with putting your own twist on them!  Thank you to Foodbuzz, Duncan Hines and Comstock for giving me the opportunity to try these great products!

LEMON BREAD PUDDING

Ingredients:

12 Cups of Croissant or Butterflake Rolls, cubed

6 Eggs

1 Cup Sugar

2 Cups Whole Milk

1 Tsp Pure Maple Syrup

1 Cup All Purpose Flour

1 Can of Comstock Lemon Pie Filling

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Generously grease a 9×13 pan.

2.  In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and maple syrup together.  Gradually mix in the milk and the flour until well blended.

3.  Add bread cubes to the mixture and stir until all bread cubes have soaked up the liquid.  Add half the can of lemon pie filling to the bread mixture and mix well.

4.  Add half of the bread cubes to the baking dish.  Spread half the can of the lemon pie filling over the entire the layer.

5.  Add the remaining bread mixture on top of the lemon pie filling.

6.  Bake for 45 minutes, toothpick inserted should come out clean.

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Shortcut Chocolate Guinness Cake

Posted on April 8, 2011 | Leave a comment
In an effort to use up some of our St. Patrick’s Day Guinness stash so Mr. Foodie did not drink it all, I thought I would make one of my most favorite cakes – a chocolate Guinness cake.  Pictured above is one of my best gal pals at a Girls Night Out Baby Shower.  She requested a post baby shower so she could have a beer  -  the cake went well with the theme.  (Excuse the beautiful iPhone photo!)  You can make this cake from scratch or from a box mix.  Honestly, it is good either way and people will gobble it up.  I’m including the recipe for a doctored cake mix because, well, it’s that kind of day around here…
CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CAKE – THE SHORT CUT WAY
Ingredients:
For Cake

1 Box of Dark Chocolate Cake Mix (extra moist with pudding preffered)
1 Bottle of Guinness Stout
1/2 Cup Canola Oil
3 Eggs
1/2 Cup Bittersweet (or Semi-Sweet if you prefer) Chocolate, chopped
For Ganache
6 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate
6 TBS Heavy Cream
3/4 Tsp Instant Espresso
Directions:
1.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and coat a bundt pan with cooking spray.
2.  Combine cake mix, stout, oil and eggs in a large mixing bowl and use electric mixer on medium to beat until combined.  Pour evenly into bundt pan.
3.  Bake 35-40 minutes until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
4.  Remove from oven and allow cake to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
5.  To make ganache, heat chocolate, cream and espresso in a double broiler and combine until smooth.
6.  Drizzle ganache over cooled cake.

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Cupcake Bites

Posted on November 18, 2010 | 1 Comment

I recently made an adapted version of Bakerella’s Cupcake Bites for Foodie Jr.’s school bake sale.  I have to admit that I wanted to make these purely because of aesthetics.  I thought they were adorable but I wasn’t sure how they were going to taste.  I did not think they would taste bad because really, how can you go wrong with cake, frosting and chocolate?  But, I was unsure how it would all come together.  They are actually really yummy – Foodie Jr. and Mr. Foodie both really liked them a lot.  Mr. Foodie thought they tasted like a Ding Dong or Ho Ho.  These really are easy to make and cute, I highly recommend trying them out – your guests will be impressed!

CUPCAKE BITES

Ingredients:

1 Box Devil’s Food Cake Mix, cooked as directed on box in a 9×13 pan

1 Can of Fluffy White Frosting

1 Package of Milk Chocolate Bark

1 Package of White Chocolate Bark

Candy Coloring, any color(s) you desire

Candy Sprinkles

Candy Cup Mold (I used the Wilton one)

Directions:

1.  After your cake is cooked and cool, crumble the entire cake very finely into a large bowl.

2.  Mix the cake crumbles with the entire jar of frosting thoroughly.

3.  Roll the cake/frosting mixture into balls – they should not be larger than your candy molds diameter.

4.  Melt the chocolate barks in microwave or per package directions.  Add your desired coloring to the melted white chocolate.

5.  Fill each cavity of your mold with the milk chocolate.  Push a cake ball into each cavity, the chocolate will come up the side of the ball a bit.

6.  Set molds in the freezer for several minutes to let the chocolate set – this does not take long at all!

7.  Carefully pop the balls out of the mold and dip the tops into the colored white chocolate mixture.

8.  Decorate colored tops with sprinkles and let balls sit for a few minutes as topping sets.

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Coconut Cream Cupcakes

Posted on October 11, 2010 | 3 Comments

I love to bake cupcakes, not necessarily because of the cupcake trend but because I like the idea that they are easy to share. As a family, we don’t eat a lot of sweets. I love all things chocolate and Mr. Foodie does not. So cupcakes provide me a versatile way to share with others while not scarfing down an entire cake by myself (or worse yet, wasting one) – I think it is much better to receive a small batch of cupcakes than a half-eaten cake!  I ate a few and sent the rest to work with Mr. Foodie.  His official report is that the staff liked them.

This was somewhat inspired by a recipe I had seen on Paula Deen’s show a while back.  For the cake, I used a modified 1-2-3-4 basic cake recipe.  The cupcake filling is made with my homemade yogurt cheese but you could substitute sour cream or Greek Yogurt and I think it would come out just fine.  The frosting, a basic 7 minute type frosting that I’ve used for years, was done using the microwave because I did not have  inclination to deal with a double boiler!

COCONUT CREAM CUPCAKES

Ingredients for Cake:

1 Cup of Butter, at room temperature

2 Cup Sugar

4 Eggs

3 1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour

1 1/2 Cup Coconut Milk

1 Tsp Vanilla

Ingredients for the Filling:

3/4 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Yogurt Cheese

3-4 TBS Milk (I eyeballed this for the consistency I wanted)

1/2 Cup Flaked Coconut (sweetened)

Ingredients for the Frosting:

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/4 Cup Corn Syrup (light)

2 TBS Water

2 Egg Whites

1 Tsp Vanilla

Extra flaked coconut for garnish, if desired.

Directions:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, line cupcake pan with paper or silicone liners.

2.  Start the cake by creaming butter and sugar with electric mixer.

3.  Add one egg at a time, beating in between each addition.

4.  Alternate adding flour and coconut milk – start and end with flour.

5.  Add vanilla and combine.

6.  Pour batter into cupcake liners, about 2/3 full and bake about 20 minutes, ovens will vary.  When inserted toothpick comes out clean, the cupcakes are done.  Allow cupcakes to cool completely before filling and frosting.

7.  While the cupcakes are baking, prepare the filling by stirring all filling ingredients in a medium bowl until well blended.

8.  Fill a pastry bag with filling.  Insert tip into the top of cooled cupcakes and fill.  Let cupcakes stand while you make the frosting.

9.  In a small microwave-safe bowl, mix sugar, corn syrup and water and microwave for 3 1/2 minutes.  While that is cooking, beat egg whites until stiff in a separate bowl.  Once microwave mixture is done, pour on top of the egg whites, add vanilla and continue to beat until you reach desired consistency.

10.  Frost cooled and filled cupcakes, garnish with extra flaked coconut, if desired.

This recipe yielded 2 dozen cupcakes.

 

 

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Mocha Marshmallow Cupcakes

Posted on September 29, 2010 | Leave a comment

It is amazing how many things I learn on Facebook.  For instance, today is National Coffee Day.  Instead of boring you with a picture of me in the kitchen with my Keurig or in line at Starbucks, I thought I’d spin this post a little bit differently.  Being the foo-foo coffee drinker that I am, my brew of choice is usually a mocha or some derivative of one.  I don’t think I’ve ever had straight black coffee in all my life and I don’t really plan to.

I do, however,  love eating and making cupcakes!  A few years ago, I had one of Sprinkles’ chocolate marshmallow cupcakes and loved it.   Naturally, I wanted to change it up a bit.  I thought that a mocha cupcake with the marshmallow filling would be wonderful.  The cake and frosting recipes are not my own, I pieced it together to create what I thought would be a yummy cupcake.  The Mocha Madness Cupcake comes from The Ultimate Cupcake Manual and the Marshmallow Frosting comes from Dozen Flours.

I served these at an Easter Brunch and they went over well.  They were really rich so everyone was happy.  They didn’t have an overly mocha taste in the cake but overall, it came together and was very decadent.  Even if you are not a big coffee fan and just a lover of good old chocolate, you would be very happy with these!

MOCHA MARSHMALLOW CUPCAKES

Ingredients For the Cupcakes:

6 TBS Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour

1/4 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

3/4 Tsp Baking Soda

1/4 Tsp Salt

1 Egg

1/3 Cup Espresso, Chilled

1/2 Cup Buttermilk

2 TBS Vegetable Oil

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

For the Filling:

1 Jar of Jet Puffed Marshmallow Fluff

For the Frosting:

2 Cup Confectioner’s Sugar

1/2 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

6 Large Marshmallows or 3/4 Cup Marshmallow Fluff

4 TBS Butter

1/4 Cup Whole Milk or Whipping Cream

1 Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions

1.  Pre-heat Oven to 350 degrees and line your cupcake pan with liners.

2.  Sift together the cocoa, flour, sugars, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and set aside.

3.  Combine the espresso, buttermilk, egg, vegetable oil and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth, then add to the dry mixture.

4.  Stir mixtures together until smooth and pour into cupcake liners.  (I fill mine about 2/3 full.)

5.  Bake for 18-20 mins, ovens will vary.  Cake will spring back to the touch.  Cool cupcakes in pan and then transfer to a wire rack.

6.  Fill a piping bag with the marshmallow fluff.  Insert tip into the top of the cupcake and fill.  Let stand while you make the frosting.

7.  To make the frosting, sift the sugar and cocoa powder together in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

8.  In a medium sauce pan, over low heat, add marshmallows (or fluff), butter and milk/cream.  Stir until melted, about 3 minutes.

9.  Remove pan from heat.

10.  Add the sugar/cocoa powder mixture and vanilla into the marshmallow mixture.  Stir until smooth, it should have a satin finish.

11.  Frost the cooled cupcakes with warm frosting and let sit.  (Note:  I prefer to dip the tops of the cupcakes into the frosting than use a frosting knife.)

12.  Once the frosting is set, I put a dollop of marshmallow fluff in the middle and garnish with a chocolate covered espresso bean.

Makes approximately a dozen cupcakes.

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