Cupcake a Week: Chocolate with Snickers

I hope everyone is off to a great start in 2010! Well as I promised in my Blog Resolutions the other day, I am going to start a new theme on my blog for the new year called "Cupcake a Week". My plan is to try and bake and decorate a wide variety of cupcake recipes this year and share a new idea with you each week. My inspiration for all the cupcakes I post, will be inspired by some of my favorite flavors and ingredients, recipes I haven't tried before but have always wanted too, seasonal or holiday themes, or events that are going on in my life. So get ready to go on a cupcake journey that will last for the next 52 weeks! I'm super excited to see how creative I can get with CUPCAKES! So let's not waste any more time...drum roll please....the first batch of cupcakes for the new year is.............CHOCOLATE with SNICKERS!



Snickers are one of my all time favorite candy bars! My husband had given me a bag of the Snickers Minis in my stocking so I figured why not try and incorporate them into a cupcake recipe. I made the chocolate cupcake batter first and then cut up the Snickers into little chunks and mixed them in the batter. When the cakes baked the Snickers melted, as you can see from the picture above...all of that ooey gooeyness peaking through.


So basically this cupcake is a triple does of chocolate...chocolate cake, chocolate in the Snickers...and you can't forget about adding some chocolate icing on top!



And then crumbling a few more Snickers bits on top of the icing. Simply delicious and a Snicker lovers dream! I only made 6 of these since we are just coming down off a sugar overload from my 24 days of Christmas baking and lets just say I'm trying to get all of those sweets out of my house still. So the last thing I needed was a full batch of 24 cupcakes lingering around for me to eat because I would have eaten every single one of them myself. However, now I am wishing that I would have made more than 6 because these didn't last too long! One of my husband's friends was over for dinner so I wanted to make him a dessert. So the three of us all ate one after dinner...leaving 3 cupcakes left. I sent one away with him when he left...leaving 2, so I'm thinking ok, I'll eat one and Randolph will eat one. However, that is not what happened at all. Randolph eats half of one right before bed...and then next thing I know he is back in the kitchen eating the other half along with the last remaining cupcake. And just like that the cupcakes were gone. Piggy Piggy!

Chocolate Snickers Cupcakes

This recipe makes 6 cupcakes. So just double the ingredients for a dozen.

Ingredients:

Cupcake:
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup sour cream

Chocolate Frosting:
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon cocoa
1 - 2 cups powdered sugar
milk for consistency

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put 6 paper liners in cupcake pan.
• Put the butter, brown sugar, egg, flour, baking soda and cocoa in a large bowl and using a hand held electric mixer, beat together until smooth. Using a spoon, fold in the sour cream. Spoon the batter into the paper liners.
• Bake the cupcakes for 18 minutes.
• To make the frosting, melt the butter in a saucepan on low heat. Stir in vanilla, cocoa and powdered sugar. Add milk until you reach desired consistency.

HINT FOR NEXT WEEK'S CUPCAKE...let's just say I'm heading to Disney World tomorrow for the weekend to coach the Alabama Team in Training participants in the half and full marathons on Saturday & Sunday! Disney is a pretty magical place with lots of fun characters roaming around...I'm envisioning some pretty cute cupcakes for next week. Have a guess of what you think they could be, leave me a comment below and we shall see if you are right when I return from my trip!

ENJOY!

Marathoner's Breakfast!

This weekend I had our current Team in Training marathon participants over for breakfast after our long run! After our long runs we love to go out for a big breakfast to local restaurants and replenish with carbs and protein for all of the calories we burned. This weekend I wanted to host everyone over to my house for a celebratory feast! People ran anywhere from 8-20 miles so I knew they were going to be HUNGRY afterward! It was a COLD COLD morning starting out at 5:00AM, temps in the low 30s! But we all survived and loaded up on some carbs once we finished! Here are 3 of the recipes that I made for breakfast, the Blueberry Baked Oatmeal was the favorite by all!

Blueberry Baked Oatmeal (recipe from Southern Living Feb 2007)

Ingredients

2 cups frozen blueberries
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
1 (18 oz) container regular oats
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter

• Toss 2 cups blueberries in 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and spread evenly on bottom of lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
• Combine oats, next 9 ingredients, and remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a large bowl, stirring until well blended. Pour oat mixture evenly over blueberries.
• Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes; uncover and bake 20 more minutes or until golden brown and set.

Praline French Toast Casserole (recipe from Paula Deen & Friends cookbook)

Ingredients

8 eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
10 to 12 slices soft bread, 1 inch thick

Topping:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup maple syrup
2 cups chopped pecans

• Generously butter a 13 x 9 inch casserole dish.
• Mix the eggs, half-and-half, maple syrup, and sugar in a large bowl. Place the bread slices in the prepared casserole dish and cover with the egg mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and let soak overnight in the refrigerator.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the casserole from the refrigerator.
• Make the topping: Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the sugar and maple syrup and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the pecans. Pour the mixture over the bread and bake for 45 to 55 minutes. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake (Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking Cookbook)

Ingredients

For the streusel filling:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup firmly packed golden brown sugar
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the batter:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sour cream

• Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan.
• To make the streusel filling, in a small bowl, combine the butter, flour, brown sugar, nuts and cinnamon. Using a pastry blender or fork, mix until crumbly. Set the streusel aside.
• To make the batter, in a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• Using a mixer, in a large bowl, beat together the butter and granulated sugar on medium-low speed until creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients in 3 batches alternately with the sour cream and mix on low speed just until the batter is blended and almost smooth.
• Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with the rubber spatula. Sprinkle evenly with half the streusel filling. Cover with the remaining batter and sprinkle with the remaining streusel.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 40-45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out of the pan and let cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.

Hope you ENJOY these 3 yummy recipes!

New Stuff for the New Year!

Happy New Year! I can't believe it is already 2010, where did 2009 go? This past year was filled with some great memories and experiences that I will never forget, and I hope 2010 will be even better! One of the things I am most excited about from 2009 was starting my baking blog....I can't believe I didn't explore the world of blogging sooner! I have had so much fun the last 5 months baking and sharing recipes and photos with you all and I am definitely ready to turn it up a notch in 2010! For Christmas all I wanted was to get some fun baking goodies from my family...and I think I definitely racked up in the baking department. Check out all these fun aprons, cake pedestals, cake books and gadgets I got above...THANK YOU to my wonderful family I love absolutely all of my new baking collection!


Check out this fun stash of stuff I got from my husband, Randolph! On our drive home to KY for Christmas we stopped in Nashville and I got to visit a cupcake shop called, The Painted Cupcake. The shop had only been open since the summer and it was decorated so cute, had fabulous cupcakes, and adorable aprons. How cute is this pink floral and green & white polka dot skirt apron? I am so EXCITED about these new cake decorating books he got me too...I hope to explore the world of more elaborate cake decorating and sculpting in the new year and these two books are full of all kinds of unique cake ideas. And of course you can't forget about my cupcake obsession...I love this cupcake pot holder and the fun silly feet cupcake holders!


I absolutely LOVE this aprons! Sorry ladies, you won't find these in any retail store, these were handmade by my stepmom, Ruth....she can work wonders with the sewing machine! The pink and floral apron on the left, I knew I was getting because I picked out the fabric and the apron pattern. It turned out even cuter than I imagined. The cupcake apron on the right however, was a complete surprise! I had never seen any cupcake patterns before in the fabric stores but Ruth was able to find this extremely cute print and combined it with a solid chocolate brown fabric...I'm in LOVE! I tried the apron on as soon as I unwrapped it and didn't want to take it off, I felt like I needed to go straight to the kitchen and make a batch of cupcakes!



And the cupcake maddness continues with some cute finds from my sister, Emily. She got me a set of cupcake shaped cookie cutters and a cupcake metal cake tester from Crate and Barrel. And to go with the cookie cutters, a fun Christmas cookie decorating book. Look at those adorable snowflake ceramic prep bowls from Target...they always have the cutest seasonal items in their stores! Thanks sis!


And finally, I got some fun cake pedestals from my mom! Both pedestals were found from Target...the red one in the store and then the yellow & white polka dot one had to be ordered online...it is Pauala Deen brand. I am already envisioning so many uses for both of these. The red one can be used for Valentines day (only a few months away), a 4th of July Celebration or Christmas and the yellow & white polka dot one would be so cute for a baby shower or an Easter celebration. Thanks MOM!

So as I start out the NEW YEAR with all of my NEW BAKING STUFF I want to make you all aware of some of the "NEW ACCOMPLISHMENTS" I want commit to and follow through with in 2010. Instead of making resolutions like most of us do and are good at keeping for about a week like working out everyday, not eating french fries, losing weight, no sugar (that would never happen in my world)...ya da ya da ya da...the list could go on and on. I always try to make a "to do" list of things that I want to accomplish each year. That way I know I have a goal in mind and something to look forward to, and once I complete the task there is a sense of accomplishment and it is very rewarding!

So for 2010 here are my "list of accomplishments" that pertain to my blog and baking adventures:

1.Create a more eye catching blog design! I have been brainstorming on some colors and ideas so hopefully within the next few months you will see a face lift on my blog!

2.Take a fondant & gumpaste decorating class

3.Read baking and cake decorating books and start creating my own "from scratch" cake recipes!

4.Learn to sculpt and decorate multi layered themed cakes for parties, birthdays, weddings, etc.

5.Create a "Cupcake a Week" post. You know what that means...52 weeks in a year, means 52 fun cupcake recipes or ideas. How fun is that? Any flavor ideas start sending them my way!

6.Increase the readership and followers on my blog.

7.Have "giveaways" on my blog! Some of the other blogs I follow have giveaways every now and then where one lucky reader will get a cook book, baking supplies, a giftcard, etc. and I think this is a super fun idea. But before I start doing giveaways I need to increase my readership...so if you all like my blog start posting comments and hopefully soon I will be able to provide you all with a fun contest!

8.Get a new camera, that will take more professional, better quality, higher resolution photos. This will make all of my baked goods look like they are right out of a magazine! I see a new camera in my very near future, as I have been saving my pennies for a few months now!

So you get the idea! I hope you will continue to follow my baking adventures and see what the new year brings to my blog!

Merry Christmas! - Gingerbread House

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone has had a wonderful day celebrating with family and friends and remembering the true meaning for the season! Thanks to all of you for checking out my blog the last 24 days as I counted down to Christmas with some holiday goodies. Maybe you even tried out some of my recipes for your holiday parties! Today, was not about baking for the blog (although I did make another one of those Peppermint Cakes to take to Christmas at my dad's side tomorrow) but it was about getting to have some fun and decorate a Gingerbread House with my sister!


I bought one of those pre-made Wilton gingerbread kits from Michaels and brought home so my sister, Emily and I could act like we were kids again and get creative. The kit came with the pieces of the gingerbread house already cut and ready to assemble, the icing mix and an assortment of candy to decorate.


Here's a picture of me and Emily with our finished gingerbread masterpiece!


Pictures of our gingerbread making process....





Emily was in charge of piping on most of the icing...she did a pretty good job considering she had never used a piping bag before! Maybe I could use her help as my cake decorating assistant...too bad we live so far away!




The back of our house.


Side view.

Now the question is what to do with the gingerbread house...eat it, keep it as decoration for a few days, or take it to our next Christmas party tomorrow!

Countdown to Christmas Day 24: Charlotte Russe

Happy Christmas Eve! Today we spent time with my mom's side of the family. Since my family lives in KY and Randolph's family lives in SC it is not possible for us to spend every holiday with both of our families since we live in AL...the driving between these 3 states would be insane! So since we spent Thanksgiving with his family we are spending Christmas with my family. I wanted to do something special for Randolph since he wasn't going to see his family for Christmas and that was to make him one of the traditional desserts his family has every year...Charlotte Russe. His grandmother, Gana who just passed away in October, always made this dessert for his family every year at Christmas. This way he could be reminded of his family and I would be able to share a new dessert with my family that they had never had before since this is a southern dessert. Randolph has been enjoying this dessert on his mom's side of the family for as long as he can remember. I was able to taste it for the first time about 4 years ago when we spent Christmas with his family and it was really good!


The dessert starts off with some lady fingers....


Then it gets topped off with this gelatin, egg, sugar and whipping cream mixture.


Assembly of the Charlotte Russe...lady fingers + creamy mixture + cherry = YUM!


Garnish with some homemade whipped cream and a cherry on top!


Randolph trying a bite of my first attempt at making Charlotte Russe! I think I passed the test, it tasted really yummy and all of my family members really enjoyed it too!

Charlotte Russe

Ingredients

3 cups milk
1 quart whipping cream
4 egg yolks
4 egg whites
10 tablespoons sugar
pinch salt
4 tbsp gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
1 tablespoon vanilla
lady fingers

• Soften the gelatin in a bowl with the water.
  
• Bring the milk to a boil.
• Combine egg yolks, sugar, salt and softened gelatin in a bowl. Pour milk overtop of mixture and stir like crazy (in the words of Randolph's Uncle Ted).
• Strain the mixture and cool.
• Beat egg whites until stiff and add to custard mixture.
• Beat whipping cream until stiff and fold into custard mixture.
• Place creamy mixture into fridge to chill for several hours.
• To serve, place a few lady fingers in a bowl, place a dollop of the cream mixture on top and then add a cherry!
• Makes enough for about 15 servings!
  

ENJOY!

Countdown to Christmas Day 23: Sour Cream Cake

Happy Dec 23rd! I just arrived back home in KY only a few hours ago for Christmas and have already accomplished so many things in such a short amount of time, one of which included baking this oh so yummy Sour Cream Cake! But before I baked this cake, I visited my friend Andrea and her newborn baby Drew, went to the Hofbrahaus which is a German beer garden so my husband could get some beer...this is his absolute favorite place in KY, then off to the Montgomery Inn Boathouse on the Ohio River in Cincinnati for a plate full of the best BBQ ribs for dinner! Then it was time to get down and dirty and get this cake made! This is one of my absolute favorite cakes because it is so moist yet the bottom of the cake has a crispy yet gooeyness to the crust...that is the BEST part! Today's baking adventure was fun because I got to bake with my mom in her kitchen! Well I guess she ended up doing most of the mixing of the ingredients with her hand held mixer...I'm a wimp when it comes to mixing by hand because I have a KitchenAid Standmixer that does all the hard work for me!


Here's a picture of me and my mom! She is mixing away and I'm sitting back relaxing!


Great job mom...this cake batter looks pretty tasty!


Sour cream cake is ready to enter oven in greased and floured bundt pan.


The cake is done! Look at how nice and fluffy the bottom of the cake baked up! This is my favorite part I was telling you about. Just look at the golden brown crispy edges that are cracked with the ooey gooey center peaking through. I can't wait to sink my teeth into a piece of this! Too bad I'll have to wait until tomorrow night...this cake is going with us to my grandparents house for Christmas Eve! This cake is a traditional dessert every year and I always have to eat at least two pieces, I just can't help myself!


Once the cake has cooled in pan for a few minutes, invert onto serving plate.


Sour Cream Cake

Ingredients

3 cups flour
3 cups sugar
6 eggs beaten separately
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 pint sour cream

• Cream butter until soft, add sugar gradually.
• Add egg yolks one at a time, beating after each one is added.
• Add sour cream, flour and baking soda.
• Beat egg whites until stiff, then fold into dough with spatula.
• Grease and flour 10-inch bundt pan. Pour dough in pan.
  
• Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes.
• Let cake sit in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool.

ENJOY!

Countdown to Christmas Day 22: Sparkling Fruit Punch

Happy Dec 23rd! Only 3 more days until Christmas! This is going to be the simpliest recipe yet! I didn't have time to bake today because I worked a half day and now I'm making last minute preparations to get on the road to start my 725 mile journey to KY within the next few hours! But before I head out I wanted to be sure and leave you all with a fun, festive and super easy holiday drink! Sparkling Fruit Punch is such a fun way to celebrate the holiday with friends and family. This is a kid friendly drink too because it uses sparkling grape juice. But for those of you that want some alcohol you could substitute some champagne instead!



You only need three things...sprarkling grape juice, Cran Pomegranate juice and OJ. How easy is that?



Any my favorite part, getting to pick out my festive red and pink polka dot champagne flutes out of my china cabinet that only come out on special occassions! I think this calls for a celebration! CHEERS!

Sprakling Fruit Punch

Welch's Sparkling White Grape Juice (or substitute champagne)
Ocean Spray Cran Pomegranate Juice
Tropicana Orange Juice

• Buy one container of each type of juice at the store.
• To make punch, combine equal parts of sparkling grape juice and cran pomegranate juice.
• Add a splash of orange juice.

ENJOY!