I know it’s been a while but I’m finally back :) I upgraded to the latest version of WordPress and it unfortunately didn’t like my blog template. That needed to be fixed… and it took a lot longer than I ever expected. In the interim, I was afraid to try and publish any new content so I (im)patiently waited it out :) But yes, I’m back and happy to bring you these super tasty vanilla cupcakes! Recently I was contacted by Singing Dog Vanilla asking me to try their vanilla extract. My first response was a resounding “sure thing!” and was even more pleased when they agreed to sponsor a giveaway for one of my blog readers! A giveaway in which the winner will have a choice between two different Singing Dog Vanilla products! A giveaway that will tap your creativity! A giveaway that is not limited to “US Residents Only”… this time it’s open to those of you in Canada as well so this giveaway really is a good thing!
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Posted in buttercream icing, cake, giveaways, vanilla | 61 Comments »
This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie hostess was Carol of the blog Mix, Mix, Stir, Stir and she chose Dorie’s recipe for the Perfect Party Cake. Having made this cake at least ten times since first being introduced to it in the Daring Bakers challenge back in February of 2008, I do agree this is the perfect party cake. Dress it up… Dress it down… even plain-ol nekkid… this cake is my hands-down favorite! Having made it so many times as a full-sized cake… and not wanting all that leftover cake in my house… for this week’s TwD I chose to go the mini-sized route and do cupcakes:)
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Posted in Dorie Greenspan, Tuesdays with Dorie, buttercream icing, cake | 18 Comments »
I made these cupcakes a few weeks back. They’re extremely tasty… especially if you’re a fan of almond since the cherry adds a nice variation. I never quite got around to posting them perhaps because I thought the pictures really didn’t turn out well. They’re not hideous, but they’re not “good”. I was reading another baking/food blog the other day and she posted something she didn’t feel was gorgeously photographed but shared it anyway because the recipe was worth it. Well, that sums up my feelings today… the photography isn’t stellar but the cupcakes are so tasty that I simply have to share!
Cherry Almond Cupcakes
Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup milk
20 fresh cherries, pitted and halved (divided use)
optional crushed almonds for garnish and melted chocolate for decorating
Directions
Preheat oven to 300F
Line 18 muffin tins with paper liners
Set aside 18 cherry halves
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine butter and sugar and beat until fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add eggs and extracts, beating well after each addition. Add one-third of the dry ingredients, then half the milk; repeat and mix until well combined. Add in the remaining cherries that were not set aside and mix only until cherries are well distributed. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins about 3/4 full. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in tins for 10 minutes, then remove and let cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
For the frosting make a half-batch of the buttercreme icing recipe found here and mix in a few fresh cherries (about a half-dozen to a dozen depending on personal preference), pitted and chopped very small (almost to the point of being mashed).
Once the cupcakes have been frosted, garnish each with a half-cherry, some crushed almonds and a drizzle of melted chocolate.
Enjoy!
Posted in almond, buttercream icing, cupcakes, recipes | 6 Comments »
Here’s another raspberry recipe… just cuz :) This really comes together quickly and without a lot of effort. Really. I’ll show you how. And the best part isn’t how it tastes (although it does taste amazing), no, the best part is how it’ll impress your friends!!
The hubs and I “took the afternoon off” and went to see the musical WICKED. Oh my – fantastic. Better than I’d hoped for. We arrived more than an hour ahead of time since, well, this is Los Angeles and heaven’s knows there’ll be a traffic tie up somewhere along your route – especially on a day when you have theater tickets. So we got there reeeeeeeeally early and had plenty of time to walk around down Hollywood Blvd. We came upon a Farmer’s Market of sorts on the corner of Hollywood and Ivar… and although it was about a billion degrees fahrenheit, and I was dressed for anything BUT perusing an outdoor marketplace, we strolled thru. I’m sure at this point of the story you’re asking “yeah Em, sure, nice, but what does this have to do with the raspberry cream cake?”… and the answer is, pretty much nothing :) Nothing except for the fact that the Farmer’s Market had raspberries and THERE’S the tie in :) They had red raspberries… and yellow raspberries… and even orange raspberries. I’d never seen those before! Pretty interesting – to me at least :) But I couldn’t buy any since we were soon to be heading into the theater. But I would’ve liked to :)
For this cake, yes, I used the end of some pints of raspberries I’d recently bought. I really love raspberries… but hate hate hate HATE the seeds. Oh gawd, can I just tell ya. A single one of those raspberry seeds getting in my teeth just irritates me so. Do they make a variety of seedless raspberry? Please tell me if they do. I’ll buy them! Sure, I’ve had seedless raspberry jam or preserves… but I’d love seedless raspberries. I mean, there’s seedless watermelon… there’s seedless grapes… how about seedless raspberries? I’d reeeeeeeeeally like that :)
The cake part itself is the butter cake recipe found in this post here with absolutely no variations. The buttercream icing is the recipe from this post here with the following modifications: increase the vanilla extract to one teaspoon, omit the rose extract altogether and add cocoa powder to taste. I seem to get into all sorts of hot water when I post about making chocolate buttercream from “plain” buttercream because I don’t say exactly how much cocoa powder to add. I do that on purpose and yanno why? It’s because there’s no right or wrong answer. Use as much cocoa powder as ya like to make it the right amount of chocolatey taste in your opinion. It’s not rocket science. In fact, it’s not science at all. Start adding cocoa powder one tablespoon at a time… mix it all in… taste it… and if it’s not chocolatey enough, then add another teaspoon and repeat. It’s just that simple. Repeat until you feel it is chocolately enough :)
The raspberry cream is simple as well. A few choices here… either use your favorite pastry cream recipe… or use vanilla pudding… or use whipped cream. Whatever rocks your world :) And toss in some fresh raspberries. I like to use the hand-mixer in the finished cream to “pulverize” the raspberries into the cream. Guess “pulverize” isn’t the best word… maybe I should say to “infuse” the cream with the raspberries. Yeah, okay, uh huh… but you get the picture :)
There are lots of “professional” ways to create a layer cake but here’s my quick-&-dirty cheater’s way :) Make the cake as directed and cool it completely. Slice both layers in half. Place the bottom layer on a cardboard form (or sheet of waxed paper) and spread 1/3 of your raspberry cream on top of it. Place the next layer on top of the first and spread another 1/3 of the raspberry cream on top. Place the next layer on top of the last layer and spread the remaining raspberry cream. Finally place the last cake layer **cut side down** on top. At this point I chill the assembled cake for about 30 minutes or so. Remove the cake from the fridge and apply a thin layer of buttercream icing all over it. This is your crumb-coat. Return the cake to the fridge for another 30 minutes or so. Remove the cake from the fridge and slather it in a generous amount of buttercream… decoratively or plainly – whatever ya like :)
That’s it. Really. You can do this – it really is just that simple.
Have a delicious day :)
Posted in Chocolate, alton brown, buttercream icing, cake, recipes | 10 Comments »
