Twilight Cupcakes

As you have probably heard (unless you have been living in a cave somewhere), the Twilight Saga continues to dazzle the world with the new movie “Eclipse” coming out in theaters in the United States this week. I must admit I was very skeptical to read the series because, well, it’s just a vampire book for crying out loud! But you know what? From high recommendations from the girls I work with, I picked up the first book and started reading. Yes, the book does have vampires in it, and yes, it is a love story, but it captivated me and made me a fan. J I started my Twilight journey by reading all four books first, then I just finished watching the first two movies this last week, making me ready to watch Eclipse in the theaters with the whole staff (a nice girl’s night out).

To commemorate the release of this new movie, I made these cupcakes that I found from Annie's Eats and Baking Bites. The cupcake is a white cake (like vampires) with a red cherry pie filling (simulating blood), and to seal the deal we add a pair of bite marks with more pie filling oozing out. Cute and gory huh? Hope you enjoy the cupcakes and the movie!

Twilight Cupcakes
Yield: 18 cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cake:
2 cups cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

For the filling:
1 can cherry pie filling

For the frosting:
7 oz. pure white chocolate, coarsely chopped
6 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces

Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line 18 cups of muffin tins with paper liners.

In a small bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Stir together with a fork.  Set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar and butter and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Mix in the egg whites one at a time, scraping down the bowl between additions.  Stir in the vanilla extract.  Add in the dry ingredients in three additions alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Stir just until combined, being careful not to overmix.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups.  Bake for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pans for 5 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

To prepare the filling, puree the can of cherry pie filling using an immersion blender, blender, or food processor.

Once the cupcakes are completely cooled, cut a cone out of the center of each using a small paring knife.  Cut off the point side of each cone, leaving a thin disc of cake to replace over the filling.  Spoon just enough of the cherry filling into the hole to fill it, and cover by replacing the disc of cake on top.  Repeat with remaining cupcakes.

To prepare the frosting, in a double boiler, melt the white chocolate, stirring constantly, until smooth and creamy.  Let stand until just warm to the touch.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until smooth and blended.  Add the melted chocolate and beat again until smooth.

Frost the cupcakes immediately.  Using a bamboo skewer dipped in the left over cherry filling, poke two holes into the top of each cupcake to resemble bite marks.  Trace a line of cherry filling from each hole to the edge of the cupcake to resemble dripping blood.  Repeat with remaining cupcakes.

If stored in the refrigerator, allow to come to room temperature before serving.

Source: cake adapted from (and inspiration from) Baking Bites and Annie’s Eats, frosting adapted from Williams Sonoma

Dark Chocolate Mousse

For some reason, I recently purchased A LOT of cocoa powder… I usually have my handy-dandy grocery list, but then I end up with double that amount of groceries in my cart! And one of those things may have been cocoa powder… well, I guess I’ll just have to make a whole bunch of chocolate yummies! (maybe it was my unconscious mind telling me to get all that chocolate…)

In hopes to find ways to use this extra amount of cocoa powder crowding my pantry, I sifted through the packaging recipes.  I usually am not sure on what to think of recipes that come on the outside of food packages. “Are the recipes any good? Is this recipe just a way for me to buy this product??” I guess you can call me a pessimist in these situations, but I tend to read between the lines (of food packages) every now and then. J  I saw this recipe on the outside of my Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa by Hershey's and gave it a go, mainly because I wanted something quick and I had all the ingredients in hand. This mousse turned out DELISH! It was very rich, but smooth and velvety. Hope you enjoy it!

Dark Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:

·         1 envelope unflavored gelatin

·         ¼ cup cold water

·         1/3 cup boiling water

·         1 cup sugar

·         2/3 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa

·         2 cup (1 pint) cold whipping cream

·         1 tsp. vanilla extract

Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in small bowl; let stand 2 minutes to soften. Add boiling water; stir until gelatin is completely dissolved and mixture is clear. Cool slightly. Beat whipping cream and vanilla on medium speed of mixer; add combination of sugar and cocoa while scraping the bottom of bowl occasionally until mixture is stiff. Pour in gelatin mixture; beat until well blended. Spoon into dessert dishes. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Garnish as desired. Store covered in refrigerator.

8 servings.
Source: Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa packaging.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

My latest cupcake adventure started when I came across this very promising recipe from Annie's Eats. I have been eyeing an opportunity to try to recipe, and finally got my wish when my husband picked it for his special treat for Father’s Day. Let me just say that I just ABSOLUTELY L-O-V-E the icing from this recipe! It is soooooooo good: creamy, smooth and sweet, with a nice peanut butter flavor!

I made a couple of modifications from the original recipe: I decreased the amount of confectioner’s sugar used in the frosting, and since I did not have any frozen whipped topping at home, I whipped heavy cream and added that. It worked out great! Enjoy the recipe!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the filling:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
¾ cup creamy peanut butter
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ tsp. vanilla extract

For the cake:
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 cup sour cream
2 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
2 large eggs

For the frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
½ cup creamy peanut butter 2-2.5 cups confectioners' sugar (changed from 3 1/4)

¾ cup heavy cream, whipped, or 1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.

To make the filling, combine the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter and vanilla extract in a bowl.  Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined.  Roll the mixture into 1-inch balls (at least 24) and set aside on a baking sheet.

To make the cake batter, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; whisk together and set aside.  In a liquid measuring cup, stir together the sour cream, milk and vanilla extract.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar, and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed.  With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the sour cream mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Mix just until incorporated.

Spoon a tablespoon or two of batter into the bottom of each cupcake liner.  Place a ball of the peanut butter filling in each cupcake well and top with the remaining batter so that all the cups are filled.  Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, butter and peanut butter until smooth.  Slowly mix in the confectioners' sugar, beating until smooth and well blended.  Mix in the whipped topping until smooth and fluffy.  Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.

Adapted from Annie's Eats

Yummy Fudge!

During my pregnancy months, I had a lot of down-time to watch TV. I became a big fan of the Food Network show “Good Eats” by Alton Brown. Alton Brown is my favorite FN star; he is a great chef but also is able to portray the science behind the cooking (yeah, I’m a big science nerd at heart…). Anyways, in one of his episodes, he described the science of making fudge. Ah, fudge... when done right, I think that fudge can brighten anyone's day! This recipe delivers the perfect fudge: smooth, sweet, melts-in-your-mouth kind of fudge. One thing that Alton Brown always talks about in his shows is this: measure ingredients by weight. He reasons that measuring ingredients by weight gives more precise outcomes, which I tend to agree after seeing the results in my baking/cooking. This means that investing in a good kitchen scale is a necessity... 
Also, another kitchen utensil you will need to successfully complete this recipe is a good kitchen thermometer! Taking precise temperature readings during the heating part is key! For a nice, smooth, non-grainy fudge you need to control the crystallization process of sugar. Another note: it took the heated mixture (once it reached 234F) to cool down to 110F a LONG time! So don’t be in a rush to go anywhere soon while you are making this since you need to keep watching the thermometer. Enjoy!

FUDGE

2 ¾ cup sugar

4oz unsweetened chocolate (chips or chunks)

2 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp butter (separated)

1 tbsp corn syrup (or ¼ tsp cream of tartar)

1 cup half & half milk

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 cups of roasted nuts (optional) – walnuts, pecans

DIRECTIONS: Add sugar, chocolate, butter (2tbsp), corn syrup and milk into sauce pan and heat on medium heat until sugar and chocolate dissolve completely. Once dissolved, increase heat and boil mixture. Once boiling, reduce heat and put lid for 3 minutes. Heat until temperature of mixture reaches 234F, then turn off pot (remove from heat, but DON’T TOUCH THE MIXTURE!). Place remaining 1tbsp of butter on top of mixture and let it melt on its own. Cool mixture until 110F. Once at 110F, using a wooden spoon, mix it very fast until the mixture has a matte texture to it. Add vanilla extract and (optional) roasted nuts. Place mixture onto a buttered 8x8 glass container with parchment paper, and let it cool down to room temperature.

MINT TOPPING
3 tablespoons softened butter or margarine
1 tablespoon water
1/4 teaspoon mint extract
1 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 drops green or red food color

DIRECTIONS: In small mixer bowl beat 3 tablespoons softened butter or margarine, 1 tablespoon water and 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon mint extract until blended. Gradually add 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar and 2 drops green or red food color. Beat until smooth.


Source: "Good Eats" episode - Alton Brown

Oatmeal Pancakes & Mix

Last winter season, I came across this recipe in our local REMC seasonal magazine. I thought it was such a good idea that I made this mix as Christmas gifts for my family and friends! So I am including the recipe for the pancake mix, and also what you need to add to the mix to make the pancakes. If giving the mix as a gift, I would print the directions for the actual pancakes in a card and attach it to the gift. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Pancakes

2 eggs

1/3 cup canola oil

2 cups pancake mix

1 cup water

To make pancakes, beat eggs in a large bowl. Gradually beat in oil. Alternately, add water and pancake mix. Blend well. Preheat griddle. Pour 1/3 cup batter on griddle.

Oatmeal Pancake Mix

4 cups old-fashioned oats

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup instant dry nonfat milk

3 tbsp baking powder

2 tbsp cinnamon

5 tsp salt

½ tsp cream of tartar

Mix all ingredients well. Store in a sealed container. Recipe makes 5 batches or 10 cups. Attach above pancake recipe to mix when giving it as a gift.


Source: "Electric Consumer" December 2009 issue, Bartholomew County REMC