I was asked a very big favor a month ago and was very excited. I was asked to make cupcakes for a five-year-old's birthday and not just any kind of cupcakes (why be boring?), super hero cupcakes.
I found out he likes chocolate so I obviously had to make a chocolate cake but I didn't stop there. I added cream cheese and Nutella in the center. It definitely broke up the chocolate without losing too much of the chocolate flavor. Different textures usually help.
My original intention was to put a hot chocolate mousse in the middle, but that didn't go so well.
Now onto the decorating. I made a normal buttercream frosting and divvied it up to make different colors per super hero. Spiderman obviously got red, Superman was red, blue and yellow (I bought the appropriate cupcake paper too) and Batman was blue. I found some toothpicks with the characters and decided to add M&M's on top, for another different texture.
Needless it say it was a success and I'm really excited for more themed cupcakes. Shoot me an email if you're looking for something sweet for your next event! In the meantime, I can't wait for October...
Well, it's been awhile since I've pulled out the oven mitts but now that life has settled down a little, I'm back in business. It also helps that I've basically turned my boyfriend's kitchen into a bakery. I may have taken over three or four cabinets but I don't think he and his roommate mind getting cupcakes for cabinet space.
I've had this idea for awhile, thanks to some help from Pillsbury and finally made it happen. It's super simple but super cute. Pick your favorite cupcake recipe and grab some Teddy Grahams.
Make the cupcakes like normal and your favorite frosting (I chose vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting) and smash up some graham crackers or some Teddy Grahams to use as 'sand'. This is where the fun stuff comes in. Find some drink umbrellas at the grocery store, plant a Teddy Graham belly-up and give him some shade.
Be warned: I tried using some red icing to draw a beach towel underneath the Teddy Graham. Sounded like a cute idea until the icing ran off the cupcake and it looked like a Teddy Graham murder scene and less like a beach scene.
Not only are they cute but the cinnamon Teddy Grahams added an extra kick to the vanilla cupcake, just enough cinnamon crunch to make it more than just a normal cupcake.
Super simple, super cute and just in time to finally get some nice weather out here.
Hallmark Holidays are good excuses to bake and Valentine's Day is no exception when it comes to themed sweets. I admit, I fall victim to the cliches but what can I say, they're tasty.
First what every cupcake tends to be in the month of February: Red Velvet.
I added chocolate chips to the batter for a surprise but the frosting is what I'm most proud of... I took the leftover red chocolate chips and chopped them up with some white chocolate chips to mix into the frosting.
And it's pretty epic... The white chocolate balances out the dark and the dark chocolate balances out the sweetness of the cream cheese in the frosting. And that combo balances out the richness of the cake.
I'm not finished yet! I'm on a constant quest to jazz up sugar cookies and the Valentine's theme was easy to go with. Found some red food coloring, made some white icing with heart sprinkles and voila!
Whether you're a fan of Valentine's Day or not, it's always a good excuse for a cookie or a cupcake ;). I should also apologize to my neighbors if I freaked them out by leaving cupcakes and cookies outside their doors.. I had too many!
Okay maybe not thaaat bad but Mondays are usually baking days which brings the pumpkin bars I've been talking about. It's not too late for pumpkin, it IS still fall! No skipping Thanksgiving.
Crunchy, cookie-esque bars complete with pumpkin and complimenting flavors like nutmeg and cinnamon. Not to mention the cream cheese frosting I made with little dashes of cloves and cinnamon, giving it that chai-like flavor.
Of course I didn't stop there. Couldn't decide if I wanted to make cookies or brownies, sooo I combined them!
Chocolate chip brownie meets chocolate chip cookie. What's even better is eating them warm with vanilla ice cream on top. Or just eating them warm with your favorite cup of coffee (again, Verona's cocoa flavor notes go perfectly with all the chocolate madness going on) or a hot chocolate. Just feels right now that it's snowing in November.
In preparation for that I picked up stuff to make gingerbread cakes. Still think it's too early to tackle that, I'm not a fan of skipping holidays. But, speaking of gingerbread and spices, what the end of Thanksgiving means is the return of Christmas Blend to Starbucks! Also known as Holiday Blend (yes, they really are the SAME thing)
Starbucks has managed to throw you for even another loop by creating Christmas Blend Espresso roast.
What's the difference?
Well first, people automatically assume that espresso roast can only be used for espresso machines and espresso beverages. Nope! It's just a stronger roasted coffee that yes, is used in espresso machines but can be made in your coffee pot at home.
Back to the Christmas Blend. The normal blend is sweet, spicy and herbal and will go perfectly with all your gingerbread and nutmeg treats.
The Christmas espresso roast is basically the same thing, but has a little more kick. Not in caffeine, but in flavor. Remember, the darker the roast the LESS caffeine there is.
It's deeper and darker with that the help of the rich espresso roast but still holds the spicy and sweet and a smooth-like carmel feel to it.
Getting waaay ahead of myself. Even though Starbucks already has the red cups, it's only fair to let Thanksgiving Blend finish it's course.
Since I was up all hours of the night baking, this is my situation:
Iced Venti sub lemonade Cool Lime Refresher.. aka liquid speed. Why? It's made with caffeine extract. They take caffeine out of un-roasted arabica beans and un-roasted beans have a ton of caffeine!
Still trying to find something to pair it with, obviously in the lime variety, key lime bars?? A new twist on the lemon square? Although I don't think I can touch the lemon square idea.. not after experiencing Aunt Donna's lemon squares - I'm usually not a fan of the tart lemon thing but my boyfriend's aunt uses some sort of magic on the baked goodness underneath that powdered sugar.
Anyway, until I figure that out, the refresher just wasn't cuttin' it. Welcome to the caffeine drawer:
While I was able to stock up on my Cafe Verona, which usually wakes me up, I needed an extra caffeinated smack in the face.
Don't worry, I still love that gorgeous espresso machine and the cafe I set up in my kitchen..
But I'm not so sure I can bring this to the office.
But, now that I have my stash back - including Pumpkin Spice Via - in the on-deck circle (or square for this place) is a pumpkin bar with cream cheese frosting and hot chocolate cakes with yes, marshmallow frosting. Perfect with Verona. ;) Maybe I'll tackle lemon squares, but it'll take a lot of convincing.
