Airy Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse

This week my friend passed his PhD preliminary exam in Molecular Plant Sciences! With the completion of such an incredible accomplishment I believed that the occasion required an incredible dessert. And since he belongs to the philosophy of "it isn't dessert if it isn't chocolate" I decided to bake up soft chocolate cupcakes with a chocolate peanut butter mousse and dark chocolate drizzle. So good. Here is how I did it. 

Airy Chocolate Cake:
(Makes 24 cupcakes or 2 9" round cakes)

1/2 cup + 3 T unsweetened cocoa 
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup + 2 T buttermilk
3 large eggs
2 1/4 t vanilla
2 1/4 cup sifted cake flour
1 1/2 c sugar
1 T baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 c softened unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350F. This recipe takes a lot of bowls but it is so worth it! Alright- in a small bowl whisk the water and cocoa powder together. This will form a thick paste. Set aside and allow to cool. In another bowl, combine the eggs, one-quarter of the cocoa paste, buttermilk and vanilla. In yet another bowl...combine the dry ingredients. Mix the dry ingredients for 30 seconds just to make sure that they are well incorporated. Now add the butter and the remaining cocoa mixture. Mix on low until the ingredients are moistened. Add the egg mixture in increments, scraping down the bowl between each addition. Finally, once all ingredients are mixed together, continue to mix for an additional minute or so to fully aerate the batter. Spoon 1/8 cup batter into each cupcake paper. Cook at 350 for 10 minutes. Set out to cool before frosting. 

As this cake is very light and fluffy but it will not keep its texture for more than a day or two. I think that it tastes best within one day of baking.


Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse:
(Makes approximately 6 cups of frosting)

5 T flour

1/2 cup milk

1 1/4 cup butter, soften

1/3 cup Peanut Butter

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup baker's sugar (super fine)

2 t vanilla 

1/4 t salt

Blend 5 T four and ½ cup milk over low heat until it get thick. (It will look like very thick, old time, school paste. Basically a blob) Set aside to cool. I am not very patient, so I spread the blob over wax paper to cool quicker.

Cream the butter, sugar and peanut butter. Add the vanilla. Sift the cocoa powder over and mix in. Add thickened flour mixture and beat well. The frosting should be light and fluffy. Set aside. this can be made ahead of time and stored covered on the counter for up to 2 days. 

To garnish, melt some dark chocolate chips and use as a drizzle. The best way that I like to do this is to put some baking chips into a sandwich bag and dunk the bag into a mug of hot (not boiling) water. Gently massage the bag to make sure that it has all melted. Then, use the sandwich bag as the piping bag by snipping a little tip off a corner and drizzle over the frosted cupcake. This is a wonderful trick that works 100 percent of the time! 

Thank you for visiting! I hope that you have a wonderful weekend filled with chocolate bliss and delicious desserts. 

Until next time, Happy Eating.

 

Things I found in Pennsylvania

Well, I suppose that it is now obvious that I have been on a blogging hiatis. Over the past two weeks I have traveled from Pullman to Puyallup to Portland to Pennsylvania back to Pullman. I don't know why exactly I gravitate towards cities that begin with a "P" but I enjoyed every visit that I shared with my family and friends.

This past weekend I met my brother Brady and his fiancee Heather in Pennsylvania. The goal of the weekend was to veg out as much as possible while eating incredible food. While enjoying a spectacular time with Brady and Heather I happened to run across two incredible culinary finds that I just had to share with you. The first being fresh raw milk from local grass fed Jersey cows! In case you did not know- raw milk is illegal in many states - so I snatched it up and made a batch of ricotta cheese with it. It was so rich and creamy- unlike any other milk that I have ever tried. Here is a picture that documents that I actually purchased it!

Another awesome find was my 5" x 2" round cake pans at a wonderful kitchen store in the Italian Market in downtown Philadelphia. Since moving out to the Palouse, I have realized that it is nearly impossible for Matt and myself to eat an entire 9" three layer cake- nor should we try! So with this spectacular find I am sure that my layered cake making will increase exponentially!

Thank you again for visiting my blog. Although I haven't posted in a while I have been baking up a storm. Hopefully soon I will be able to get my act together and create some more posts!

Until then, Happy Eating!

Sunday Brunch with Katie

This past weekend my best friend Katie came and visited me and my husband. I was so thrilled that when she and her fiance rolled into the parking lot I started to cry and, of course, I didn't want to stop hugging her. It has been especially hard being away from someone that I have been near to since second grade! After a weekend of good eating, Farkle, and some fine microbrews from my favorite city, I wanted to send them off to Sonoma Valley with a good meal in their tummies. For Sunday brunch we shared ricotta pancakes topped with fried bananas and a fresh blackberry compote and a dollop of whipped cream. Here are the recipes from this weekend's brunch. I hope that this weekend or the next you can create some wonderful memories with the people that you love, perhaps over some fine fluffy pancakes, and a great cup of coffee.

Ricotta Pancakes

2 cups all purpose flour

1 T sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs, separated

2 cups of milk

1/2 cup ricotta

Mix all dry ingredients through a sifter onto a piece of wax paper or a plate. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. In a large bowl mix the egg yolks, milk, and ricotta until it is well blended. Add the flour mixture gently with a large spoon. Stir in a spoonful of whites into the batter to lighten it up, then fold the remaining mixture. At this point, be sure not to over mix, this will ensure that the pancakes will cook up light and fluffy. Cook on a pan (I prefer nonstick) over medium low heat until desired colored is achieved.

Fried Bananas

3 under ripe bananas cut into 1/2 inch pieces

4 T butter

A little whiskey if you like

In a large sauce pan melt the butter over medium heat. Once the butter is bubbling a little bit, gently place the bananas into the pan. I like to make sure that the bananas aren't too crowded- giving them a little bit of room allows them to brown evenly. When the bottoms are nice and brown, flip the slices over and fry the other side. If you are feeling especially celebratory, you can splash some whiskey into the pan when it is all said and done. These are truly buttery, sweet and surprisingly crunchy!

Blackberry Compote

6 oz fresh Blackberries

1 T sugar

1/8 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

Heat over medium low heat until the berries juice themselves. Squish the berries against the side of the pan to achieve the desired consistency of the sauce.

The wonderful thing about being with someone that has known you since childhood is that funny memories come up in conversation. Over this meal, Katie reminded me about the time when we managed to catch pancakes on fire! We were about eight and of course at my house, where a bit more culinary freedom was permitted! I guess we got distracted and went off to watch cartoons. After our culinary mishap, we didn't try to recreate the scenario and decided to stick to Bill's famous mickey mouse pancakes instead. Luckily we didn't catch the house on fire, we didn't get grounded, and we both figured out how to make delicious pancakes after the fact.

Thank you again for visiting my blog. Until next time, Happy Eating food friends!

Sweet Mouthful... sort of.

When I first started this blog I asked a few friends what my first dessert should be. I had many wonderful suggestions including: cheesecake, pavlova, and Baccone Dolce. We now know that I didn't choose any of these and instead opted for a cupcake with a cookie on top. But, for this week, I attempted to make the Baccone Dolce. If you are unfamiliar with this dessert, it is hands down the most heavenly experience you will ever have on planet Earth. So, naturally I wanted to make one. The problem is that I have never even tried to make crisp French meringue which is the foundation of Baccone Dolce. But how hard can it be?

Well, it wasn't very hard to make, but proved to be rather difficult to take off the paper. So my plans to make this incredible layered meringue dessert crumbled in a matter of minutes! AHHHH - Utter despair. Immediately I started scoping the internet for what I could have done wrong, and I have boiled it down to three possible reasons:

1. I did not use parchment paper, I used waxed paper. As a graduate student- I try to skimp on certain luxuries, including parchment paper. I should have known that parchment paper is always superior. If parchment paper and wax paper were players of a feudal system- parchment paper would be the king and wax paper would be the peasant. Needless to say, parchment paper is on this week's grocery list.

2. I did not allow the meringue to fully dry before trying to remove from the paper. Rose Levy Beranbaum suggests to actually cook the meringue for 1 hour at 200 F in the evening and allow the meringue to sit in the oven overnight with the pilot light on to allow it to fully dry. Okay "Cake Bible" writer- you have me on this one. Must learn patience.

3. Possible entry of water somehow in some step. Water is the ultimate enemy of meringue. Not sure where this could be entered into the equation, but I am assuming that having a boiling kettle next to the meringues
 when they were sitting wasn't a good thing.

Alas, I was able to pry the goodies off the pan and still plopped whipped cream, melted dark chocolate, and sliced strawberries on top. It made for a delightful pre-dinner snack even though it wasn't the real thing.

For now, the Dolce may have won the battle, but I will eventually win the war! Hopefully you will be seeing the real thing shortly, layered goodness and all. If you have any suggestions for future crisp French meringue success, please leave me a comment!

Thank you for visiting. Until next time - Happy Eating!

A compromise was reached between a person who wanted cookies and another who wanted cake.

After a very eventful weekend of running, stretching, eating, sleeping and cheering on others running- my husband and I were a little at a loss on deciding what dessert would satisfy our cravings. He wanted cookies and I wanted to make a cake! So after careful deliberation...I came up with a new cupcake flavor combination! Snicker Doodle Cupcakes anyone? How could you not like a cupcake made with a cinnamon laced golden butter cream cake batter, topped with simple whipped cream, and a tiny Snicker Doodle cookie on top? I thought it sounded pretty good. I hope that you enjoy the following recipe.

Golden Butter Cream Cake

If you love butter as much as I do, this may turn out to be your favorite cake!

Makes 16 cupcakes

Adapted from The Cake Bible

3 large egg yolks at room temperature

1/2 c heavy cream

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 1/2 c sifted cake flour

3/4 c sugar

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

10.5 T unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium bowl, combine the egg yolks, 2 T heavy cream, and vanilla and almond extracts. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients a mix on low for 30 minutes to blend. Add the softened butter and the remaining cream until the dry ingredients are moistened. Aerate the dough by mixing at high speed for approximately 1 minute. Gradually add the egg mixture, mixing between each addition. Be sure to scrap the sides! Voila! The batter is done! Fill the cupcake cups with about 1/4 c batter and put in the oven for approximately 15 minutes. They will be very slightly browned on top when done. Set aside to cool completely. 

Snicker Doodle Cookies

Makes about 24 normal sized cookies

1/4 c softened butter

1/4 c shortening

3/4 c sugar

1 egg at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Cream the butter, shortening, and sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Add the vanilla and almond extract as well as the egg. Scrap the sides and make sure that the dough is well aerated. In a separate small mixing bowl, combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Slowly add the ingredients to the medium mixing bowl, scraping the sides with each addition of dry ingredient. Mix the remaining cinnamon and sugar in a shallow bowl to use later.

I prefer to chill the dough for a bit but you can blaze through this step if you are in a severe cookie need. Roll the cookies between your hands and dip the rolled cookie in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll the cookies to your desired sized. For garnish, you will need to roll approximately 1/2 tsp batter per cookie. Enjoy the rest of the batter and bake as normal size cookies! For the tiny cookies bake for approximately 4-5 minutes. For normal sized cookies, bake for 12 minutes.

Whipping Cream

1 pint of heavy whipping cream
2 T powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

I find that chilling the bowl and the beaters help a lot when it comes to making a whipping cream. Combine all of the ingredients and whip until firm peaks form. Chill until ready for use.

To assemble, I topped the cupcake with fresh whipped cream and one tiny cookie! Be sure to do this right before you are ready to serve. Garnish with cinnamon if desired. You, of course, have poetic license when it comes to frosting choice. I chose whipped cream because balances the buttery richness of the cake and cookie.

Thank you for visiting my blog, I hope that you have a very decadent week ahead! Happy Eating!

Hello, my name is Kara

And I like to bake. After receiving a lot of support from my friends near and far, I have decided to start my own baking blog. I often find myself day dreaming about what cake flavor combinations would go well together and I can't walk by the baking aisle without taking a detour. I routinely gawk at the rainbow display of beautiful 600 watt Kitchenaid stand mixers. And I love to waste time on Wilton's website and think about making roses out of frosting. And the day that my big sissy sent me The Cake Bible- it was the end all and be all. I am totally hooked.

While I am no baker I find it so wonderfully interesting! I generally prefer to make cupcakes but I am hoping that through this blog I will learn more techniques and in the end of it- be a better baker! So here we go... off to the kitchen to have a cup of tea, watch my husband make me dinner, and look through the cake bible while dreaming about persimmon colored kitchenaid mixers.