Nuts Are Everywhere! (Delicious Nutty Cookies of Wonder)
8:35 am | 1 Comment » |
Nuts Are Everywhere.
Anyone who has a peanut allergy or a stalker knows that!
I mean, even watching the Video Music Awards this year you couldn’t escape nutty moments. Poor Taylor Swift had her moment taken away from her by that NUT. See? Nuts! I am positive you can still check that out on www.youtube.com if you like.
I guess nuts have been on my mind lately. Both the stalker-nutty kind and the delicious pecan kind. Walking through the aisles of the “Bulk Barn” tends to do that to me. It is hard not to dream up recipes when you are surrounded by delectable ingredients.
When my life is really nutty I tend to bake. No, I don’t eat everything I bake. It is the whole process I really love. It is soothing to create something and share it with others.
Lately life has been so nuts (and filled with nuts) that a fair amount of baking has been in order!
This recipe I sort of created by chance. It is my traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe without chocolate… but with nuts instead!
“Life is Nuts-So Are People-Nutty Cookies of Wonder”
1 cup butter or margarine (softened)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
2 large eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons hot water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped nuts of your choice (I love crushed almonds, pecans or walnuts!)
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and get a couple cookie sheets out.
Cream together your butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Make sure it is nice and smooth without any weird brown sugar lumps. Now beat your eggs in one at a time. In a little cup dissolve your baking soda with the hot water. Mix that up really well. Add the baking soda mixture, your vanilla and salt to the batter, mix well. Mix in your flour and your nuts.
Drop nice sized spoonfuls of the dough evenly places on cookie sheets. I bake these for about 9-10 minutes. REALLY watch them. You don’t want to overcook these. The best thing about these cookies is the fact that they stay chewy and delicious and slightly crispy on the outside! I tend to take them out around 9 minutes, leave them on the pan to harden slightly for a minute and I DO NOT LET THEM COOL ON A RACK. I immediately cover them in something, I know this goes against your normal baking rules but trust me with this one. I put them in a Tupperware container. They will stay chewy in there until they go bad. But trust me; none of your cookies are going to go bad because everyone will be eating them immediately!
Enjoy your cookies and try to stay away from nuts. (And no, I don’t mean the edible kind!)
(Side note: How many exclamation marks can a person really use…geeeze!)
Ciao!
-Megs
1 Comment »
July 6, 2009
I’m Back! – Sour Apple Veratini Cupcakes
11:10 am | 7 Comments » |
Life is about change.
Sometimes change feels slightly horrifying but I think it’s always good in the end.
It has been a really long time since I have written an article for The Gourmet Cupcake. When I go through previous editions it’s like viewing a time line of what was going on in my life. I’ve gone through so many changes since last October – everything has changed. The beauty of change is that things will be different. I know that sounds incredibly simplistic but it’s comforting.
They key is to work with the changes that exist now and not live in the past.
My close friend Vera just went through some major changes in her life. And instead of dwelling on the negatives – she is creating a positive future for herself. After going through a divorce she has now made the decision to move to Australia. We are so incredibly proud and excited for her.
My other friend Sarah decided it was fitting to hold a Suprise Spa and Martini going away party for Vera. Now we all know that her favourite drink is a well-made Sour Apple Martini. And with that – came my recipe idea.
It makes the most sense to use “Sourpuss” as the alcohol for this cupcake. But since I don’t like Sourpuss and didn’t want to spend $25.00 on a bottle of it- I purchased a box of sour apple vodka coolers. I made a syrup by boiling down a litle over ½ a bottle of the cooler with around ½ a cup of sugar and a some green food colouring. I let that reduce over medium heat (a simmer) until it thickened. I then put the syrup in the fridge to let it cool.
And with that little tip I give you:
Sour Apple Veratini Cupcakes (With SHORTCUTS!)
White Cakemix
(plus ingredients stated in the cakemix)
Good size green apple (chopped into small pieces around 2/3 a centimetre)
Green food colouring
Sout Apple Vodka Cooler
Lemon Juice
In a small bowl mix together the chopped apple pieces and enough lemon juice to make the apples wet with a little juice in the bottom of the bowl. Then add some green food colouring – enough to make the apple pieces a darker green colour. Mix this well and let it sit for a while.
Follow the instructions on the back of the cake mix box: however instead of water, measure out the same amount of the sour apple vodka cooler instead. Once the cake mix is blended add in the apple pieces and blend it in. The batter should turn a little green. Add a little more food colouring if you have to. But the batter should NOT be dark green – but a lighter green colour (like the drink!)
Bake according to the instruction on the cake mix box. But please test them to make sure they are ready. They may take a little longer because of the apple and lemon juice.
Sour Apple Frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
3-5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
¼ cup of the sour spple syrup.
Beat the butter until it is nice and creamy. Remember to keep scraping the bowl. Next, add the syrup to the butter and mix it in well. Slowly start adding the powdered sugar until the icing starts to develop the right consistency. You may have to add 3 cups – or you may end up using as much as 5! It truly depends on how humid it is etc. Sometimes I end up adding a little bit of heavy cream to the mixture if need be.
Once the cupcakes are COOLED then you can frost them any way you like. Sugaring a little pice of apple peel would be super cute. And usually sour apple martinis have cherries in them. So a little candied cherry piece might be nice as well.
The day I made these it was the one hot day we actually had here on the South Shore that month (haha) And I couldn’t seem to pipe the frosting on very neatly. I just swirled it on there with an icing knife and they were good to go!
I hope you enjoy these as they are a bit of a change but I think they are quiet worth it!
It’s always nice to make changes. Sometimes they end up being new recipes – and other times they end up being your life.
Ciao!
-Megs
P.S. As usual feel free to comment on anything you read here. If you have any baking questions please feel free to ask!
7 Comments »
October 26, 2008
Life is Stressful and I want to hide in bed all day but I will bake these instead Choco-Caramel Cupcakes of Wonder
11:22 am | 5 Comments » |
Just as the leaves are falling and the trees are becoming bare, I am finally back. Life just began to get in the way and I haven’t been baking as much. And you know, it’s a real shame considering baking for me is like a giant squishy stress ball. When I get stressed out, I bake. Not necessarily for me to eat, but to create something wonderful, and to share with others. I know it sounds incredibly dorky, but I really love sharing what I create with other people.
Now that the elections I worked on are over, life is returning to an unfamiliar slower pace. I like being really busy, so this lull right now is really unfamiliar and quite odd to me. However, this is an excellent time to be creative again. I actually have time to be creative, as strange as it feels.
I started this blog after creating the ‘Cosmopolitan Cupcake’ for my friend Erica. I am quite excited as next weekend I will be up in St. John’s visiting her. I am hoping to create a new cupcake when I am up there in celebration of our visit and her upcoming birthday. I have a feeling it will be alcohol themed like the last one and just as girlie!
So now that I have bored you with a little blurb on my current situation I should share a recipe with you. This one to me is an oldie but a real goodie. I am posting it just in time for Halloween, and you can decorate it any way you like.
Sometimes you just need a little bit of comfort to help you handle change, a constant if you may. I have made these cupcakes a thousand times (yes a wee bit of exaggeration I know, deal with it) and they always give you that comfort you sometimes desire. Do you have a comfort-baked good that you love? Feel free to send them to me through the comments section. I love trying out new recipes.
So without further delay I give you the:
“Life is Stressful and I want to hide in bed all day but I will bake these instead Choco-Caramel Cupcakes of Wonder”
These are rich chocolate cupcakes filled with delicious caramel filling topped with chocolate ganache or frosting (and then I drizzle them with caramel, chocolate, sometimes coconut, and score bar…whatever you like!)
The cupcakes themselves are my favourite chocolate cake recipe I have shared with you a few times. However, I will repeat it again. In addition, remember, I use all-purpose flour because these are filled cupcakes. You need the weight; they shouldn’t be light and airy.
Chocolate Cupcake Base Recipe
3 cups of packed brown sugar
1 cup of butter (or margarine), softened
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup baking cocoa (If I am making this for a special occasion I will use a really, really good cocoa. Or even cocoa and some melted high quality dark chocolate)
1 tablespoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups sour cream (Most of the time I use yogurt instead because I always have it on hand)
1 1/3 cups boiling water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, cream your butter and sugar. Then, beat the creamy mixture. Add in your eggs one at a time beating extremely well after each addition. Beat the batter on a high speed until light and quite fluffy. Next, blend in the vanilla. In a separate bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Now, add your dry ingredients while alternating with the sour cream into the wet ingredients. Mix this on low until combined. Don’t over beat. Stir in the boiling water until blended. Pour the batter into papered cupcake pans. This makes a billion cupcakes, feel free to scale down the recipe. I bake these for 20-28 minutes. You really need to test them, there is a lot of liquid in this recipe, and the time seems to vary. After 20 minutes just test them with a cake tester or a toothpick. If it comes out clean they are done, easy-peasy! After baking them once you will know how fast your specific oven cooks them. Please let them cool COMPLETELY before frosting them!
WARNING!
I am going to share with you the caramel filling. HOWEVER, please remember that making caramel is super dangerous. If you burn the heck out of yourself by not following directions or don’t use a deep enough pot… I am not liable 
Caramel Filling
1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon butter
½ cup heavy cream (whipping cream is good)
In a VERY deep saucepan combine water, sugar and corn syrup and cook over medium heat. Stir together with a wooden spoon or spatula until the sugar is really well mixed. Now cover the pan and let it cook over medium heat for approx. 3 minutes. After 3 minutes remove the lid, increase the heat to medium-high, and then bring it to a boil. Now you DO NOT STIR, you must gently shake the pan so that the caramel doesn’t burn. Keep cooking it until you get a glorious amber colour and then you remove it from the heat and let it stand for about 30 seconds.
WARNING, DANGEROUS PART AHEAD! (I am so not kidding…)
Now, WHILE WEARING OVEN MITTS pour the heavy cream into the mixture, stand away from the pan and be super careful please. The mixture is going to bubble up quite a lot, hence the need for a VERY deep pan. Whilst being incredibly careful stir the mixture. Now, add the butter until it is incorporated. Now transfer to a bowl and let it cool for later use.
So after reading my previous columns I am sure you now know how to fill your cupcakes Once the cupcakes and the filling is cool you can fill your cupcakes with the delicious caramel and replace the cupcake top pieces.
Now it is up to you, I have shared with you delicious frosting recipes that can be viewed on the Southshorenow.ca website. I like to use a simple chocolate ganache with crumbled score bits and toasted caramel with some caramel drizzled on top! You could also decorate these for Halloween any way that you like them.
As usual, if you have any questions feel free to send me a message. I would be glad to help you. However, that’s it for me this week. When I come back from Newfoundland, I should have a brand new super girlie cupcake recipe to share with you all.
Until then, Ciao!
-Megs
5 Comments »
May 24, 2008
Something so simple yet so ridiculously gratifying… bread.
1:09 pm | 5 Comments » |
Baking for me is like yoga or some other type of meditation. But there is something truly amazing about baking bread. Bread has been made for centuries, even before the Ancient Egyptians. There is definitely a reason, and isn’t all about nourishment.
Starting off with simple ingredients like flour, yeast, water and more.
Then taking these ingredients and making something that smells amazing and really soothes your soul.
Kneading the dough, ridding yourself of frustrations and negative thoughts.
Baking the bread and smelling its sweet scent of satisfaction.
Eating the wonderful fruits of your labour while nourishing others with what you have created. Who wouldn’t want to bake bread? I am going to share with you the first recipe I ever used to bake bread. It isn’t a family recipe; I didn’t start making that one until recently. This is a recipe that comes from the Amish. They are known for making the most beautiful breads, and this recipe also happens to be really easy.
So for today, put away your bread machine and make this one from scratch. No matter how awful you may be feeling about something, this is a great way to relieve stress.
Simple Amish White Bread
- 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C) (luke warm)
- 2/3 cup white sugar (I almost ALWAYS reduce this to ¼ cup)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast (make sure it is NOT expired!)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (regular table salt, not coarse salt, not kosher salt, just plain salt!)
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil (you can use another oil you prefer such as olive oil)
- 6 cups bread flour
Take a large bowl and dissolve the sugar in warm water. Make sure the temperature is correct and stir in yeast. Allow the yeast to proof (become foamy) for aprox 6-10 minutes. I tend to cover it mostly with saran wrap so it stays nice and warm. Do not use super hot water as your will kill the yeast.
Mix the salt and oil into the proofed yeast. Then, mix in the flour one cup at a time. Knead the dough onto a lightly floured surface until nice and smooth.
Oil a bowl very well and place the dough in a ball, in the bowl. Then turn the dough to coat it in the oil and cover it with a damp cloth. Allow this dough to rise until it has doubled. This should take around an hour depending on the temperature inside and drafts. I also turn the light on inside my oven and place the bowl in there. It is protected from drafts and the light seems to make it just warm enough in there.
Now for more fun! Punch down that dough! Knead it for a few minutes and then divide it into half. Shape the dough into loaves and place into two well-oiled 9×5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise again for 30 minutes. (Remember that oven light trick) The dough should rise an inch or so above the pans. Now bake the bread for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F. Enjoy the sweet smell of satisfaction it provides.
You can do a lot with this recipe. Sometimes I make it and put delicious herbs on top with some butter. Other times I have made cinnamon swirl bread out of it. This is an almost no-fail recipe. And a great recipe to learn on!
Use it the next time you are feeling stressed and need a break. We all have those days, hopefully this will help!
Ciao!
–Meg
5 Comments »
March 31, 2008
Bring Back Summer! I am going Coconutty for Summer Cupcakes!
10:49 am | 4 Comments » |
Winter won’t go away!
Is it just me, or does this seem like the longest winter in history? I know we are “technically” in Spring, but it certainly doesn’t feel like it. I think we all need some sort of reminder that Spring and Summer are actually on their way. Soon enough I will be out on the golf course and not hiding inside with two sweaters, three pairs of socks, slippers and four blankets around me.
I actually made these cupcakes just before Saint Patrick’s Day. However, they were so delicious and summery I have to share them. Each and every bite makes me remember that summer is on the way! I slowly forget that there is a foot of snow outside, and I dream I am in the topics. So, I hope that when you make these they do the same thing for you. I hope you too forget about the snow and the winter clothing. So put down your hot chocolate, grab a pina colada or a margarita and start baking! (And your apron if you have one, I am ALWAYS making a mess!)
These cupcakes start as a delicious vanilla, coconut infused cupcake. Then, they are filled with a creamy coconut-pie filling. Then, I top them off with a dreamy coconut-cream cheese frosting!
(Oh, and because I know a lot of you are pressed for time I have included “shortcuts” at the end of the recipe!)
Vanilla Cupcakes (with a kiss of coconut!)
¾ cup of butter or margarine
1 ¾ cups of white sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp of good vanilla extract
2 ½ tsp of baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
1 ¼ cups of milk
Optional – Coconut! (1/4 or so of sweetened, shredded coconut. Fresh or out of the bag)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and line cupcake tins with paper liners.
Cream the butter and the sugar well. Beat the two together and add the eggs, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix the baking powder, salt and flour together. Add some of the dry ingredients and then alternate with the milk. Keep doing this until you run out of ingredients. After you have everything combined, beat this well with an electric mixer. Beat in the coconut as well. I find that beating the coconut into the batter makes the coconut release its oils.
Fill the cups up ½ – 1/3 of the way full (to your personal preference) Bake them for 18-20 minutes. The tops should not be very golden, just a light yellow. I always test one with a cake tester or toothpick (make sure it comes out clean!) You should get around 24 cupcakes depending on how you pour your batter.
(For the cupcakes, you should really measure well. Silly things like not leveling off your baking cups can make a huge difference in some recipes!)
*Short cut alert!* – Instead of making your own cupcakes but a box of vanilla cake mix. Simply add some coconut to the batter!
Coconut Filling!
Okay, coconut pie filling on its own can be a bit of a pain to make. I made my own but you really don’t have too. Go out, buy the coconut pie filling in a box, and make it as per the directions. Make sure it is nice and cool. In addition, make sure your cupcakes are completely cooled as well. Now, like before we will use the “cone method” of filling cupcakes. Simple take your knife and cut a hole in the top of the cupcake forming a cone. Remove the top and make some room inside the cupcake for filling. Add a tsp or so of cooled filling and replace the top (which you have already flattened by removing the excess cupcake, which originally was on the inside) Voila, the cupcakes are filled. And this really doesn’t take very long!
Coconut-Cream Cheese Frosting
1 ½ packages of Cream Cheese
½ stick of butter
½ tsp vanilla
4+ cups of sifted powdered sugar
Package of sweetened, flaked/shredded coconut (Probably 1 ½ cups of coconut)
Let the butter and the cream cheese come to room temperature. I usually sift the powdered sugar as well. Beat the butter and cream cheese well, until creamy. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar until well combined. Keep adding some coconut until you have enough that it tastes good to you. You don’t have to measure the coconut for the frosting. Just keep adding it in small amounts until it seems about right. Start with ½ a cup and go from there. This frosting turns out well. Keep beating well, and add more sugar as needed. (Just until you have the right consistency for decorating your cupcakes)
(I always use my electric mixer for beating. It really does the trick! Also, hand beaters work really well for these recipes too!)
Liberally frost your cupcakes with the frosting.
I normally don’t suggest this, but these cupcakes seem to taste better once they have been in the fridge a little while. So, once they are filled and frosted pop them in there for a bit. Moreover, since they do contain perishable ingredients you should store them in an airtight container in the fridge.
Serve these delicious Summer-inspired cupcakes with a pina colada if you like! They really do make me forget about winter, and I hope that they do the same for you!
Ciao!
-Meg
4 Comments »
March 15, 2008
Woo, hoo! Irish for a day! (Mint Chocolate Cupcakes)
8:05 am | 1 Comment » |
Ah Saint Patrick’s Day!
Traditionally a day about partying, drinking and more partying… right? Okay, I do realize that it is actually about celebrating Saint Patrick. However, I don’t think I personally know anyone who celebrates it any other way. Traditionally, we either stake out a spot in an Irish pub in downtown Halifax around 11am. Or, we go to a party at a friend’s house. This year we are headed off to a party, as mentioned, at a friend’s house. Last year we made these dorky little shirts that all had our last names on them, except they “cleverly” had an O’ before them. So yes, we took my extremely un-Irish last name and “St. Patrified” it. So, on Saint Patrick’s day I am no longer Megan Blumenthal. I am now officially, Megan O’Blumenthal. Top of the mornin’ to ya! 
Ah yes, and it IS the morning. I was up all last night baking cupcakes for the party. We are expecting a nasty storm today, so I wanted everything done so I could take off early for Halifax. My Mother yesterday warned me that the storm was starting nice and early, so of course I intended on beating it! I woke up at 6am this morning to find that it was already snowing! I freaked out worrying that I had baked a billion cupcakes for nothing and threw on my clothes, grabbed my cupcakes and piled into my car. I think I was on the road by 6:15am. Once I got to Chester the snow had stopped, and dawn was beginning to break. And of course, no snow at all. And really, it is 10:30am right now and there still isn’t any snow here in Halifax. GREAT! So, I got up ridiculously early on a Saturday morning of a party. Lovely. Anyway, on to the cupcakes! I had a request from a friend for something minty and something with coconut. So I decided to bake delicious chocolate cupcakes with a fresh minty butter cream frosting. I also baked coconut cupcakes filled with a coconut pie-like filling. And I topped those with a really nice coconut, cream cheese frosting. The coconut ones sound like overkill, but they turned out surprisingly fresh-tasting. And after eating once I instantly was reminded of summer, a summer that seems so unbelievably far away! Remember that with any of these recipes you can mix and match them! The chocolate cupcakes would be fantastic with the coconut cream cheese frosting! (Which will be the next recipe I will share with you)And yet again I realize that some of you are really pressed for time! And I completely understand. So, for the chocolate cupcakes feel free to go out and grab a box of devil’s food cake mix.CHOCOLATE MINT CUPCAKES
3 cups of packed brown sugar
1 cup of butter (or margarine), softened
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup baking cocoa (If I am making this for a special occasion I will use a really, really good cocoa. Or even cocoa and some melted high quality dark chocolate)
1 tablespoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups sour cream (Most of the time I use yogurt instead because I always have it on hand)
1 1/3 cups boiling water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl cream your butter and sugar. Then, beat the creamy mixture. Add in your eggs one at a time beating extremely well after each addition. Beat the batter on a high speed until light and quite fluffy. Next, blend in the vanilla. In a separate bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Now, add your dry ingredients while alternating with the sour cream into the wet ingredients. Mix this on low until combined. Don’t over beat. Stir in the boiling water until blended. Pour the batter into papered cupcake pans. This makes a billion cupcakes, feel free to scale down the recipe. I bake these for 20-28 minutes. You really need to test them, there is a lot of liquid in this recipe, and the time seems to vary. After 20 minutes just test them with a cake tester or a tooth pick. If it comes out clean they are done, easy-peasy! After baking them once you will know how fast your specific oven cooks them. Please let them cool COMPLETELY before frosting them!
Deliciously Minty Butter cream Frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
3-5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
¼ cup milk
¼ teaspoon all natural peppermint extract
Optional: Green food colouring for St. Patrick’s Day!
Beat the butter with an electric mixer until very creamy. Remember to scrape the bowl. Next, add the milk, peppermint extract. Slowly add in the powdered sugar, beating well until combined. Keep adding powdered sugar until you have the right consistency for the type of decoration you require.
I just use enough food colouring to make the frosting a very pale green. I then pipe a rosette of frosting onto each cooled cupcake. If you are making them for kids feel free to make the frosting brighter green, and use more of it. There something strangely chic about the way the pale minty green looks on the centre of the dark chocolate cupcake. I think it makes it look more posh. So really, it is up to you! You could even decorate them with chocolate chips or something for the kids.
Good luck making the cupcakes! And let’s hope the power doesn’t go out while you bake them. Ciao!
-Meg
1 Comment »
February 28, 2008
It’s FREEZING! Time to get warm from the inside out with Chai Sugar Cookies!
12:21 pm | 2 Comments » |
So one of my friends has been begging me to go to Frenchy’s with her for a while. I love clothes, I love everything about them. I love brand new clothes, used clothes, refurbished clothes… ALL CLOTHES. Lately I have been really into taking my old clothing and making something new out of them. And really, this got me thinking, “what can I do with some of my old recipes?”
I love sugar cookies. I love them as drop cookies; rolled cookies… you name it! So why not take the basic sugar cookie and refurbish it a bit? Sugar cookies don’t have to be for kids anymore! So, instead of studying (as tends to be the case) I decided to dream up some creative sugar cookie recipes. Some are not brand new, but simply revisited.
After I’ve had a long day, it can be so nice just to relax with a cup of tea and some sort of sweet. Chai teas and coffees have been really popular lately, and the blend of spices is just so pleasing. So, I give to you relaxation in a cookie, the “Chai Sugar Cookie” And these cookies are guaranteed to warm you up from the inside out!
My favourite sugar cookie recipe, with a spicy kick of chai deliciousness:
CHAI SUGAR COOKIES
- 1 1/2 cups margarine or butter, softened
- 2.5 cups white sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 tsp chai spice mixture* (prepackaged or see below)
- (Optional additions I like: Sometimes I add ½ of the zest from a lemon. It is just divine.
In a nice large bowl, cream together the sugar and the butter until really smooth. Next, beat in the eggs and the vanilla. Mix the chai spices with the flour baking powder and salt, then add that to the large bowl of wet ingredients. I like to chill this overnight or at least a couple hours.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to ¼ to ½ an inch thick. Cut into pretty shapes with cookie cutters or into circles with a cup. Place them on ungreased cookie sheets and bake 6-8 minutes. Cool before frosting or decorating!
*Chai spice mix – Mix two teaspoons each of ground cloves, cinnamon, and ground cardamom and then add one teaspoon of white pepper and blend well.
I like to add a small rosette of frosting to these cookies to make them perfect. If you cut out specific patterns feel free to decorate them with royal icing. However, this frosting makes them perfect.
Chai Buttercream
2 sticks (one cup) of butter
4-5 cups of sifter powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons chai spice mix (which we made earlier!)
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger (Optional, it has quite a kick!)Beat the butter with a mixer until nice and creamy, and then scrape the bowl well. Now add 4 cups of sifted powdered sugar the milk, spices and ginger. Beat until nice and combined. Keep adding powdered sugar until you have a nice consistency ready to be piped onto a cookie.(If you are not a fan of spicy things, start with LESS chai spice and LESS ginger! You can always add more later, but you cannot take it back!) As I mentioned before, serve these with a nice cup of tea, or hot chocolate with chai spice mixed in. Yum!
Make sure you keep checking out the blog! Soon I will be featuring a cupcake that is just PERFECT for St. Patrick’s Day!
Ciao!
-Meg
2 Comments »
February 12, 2008
Valentine’s Day is all about the chocolate… right?
1:22 pm | 7 Comments » |
In the middle of dreaming up delicious cupcake recipes while I should have been studying, I realized, “WHOA IT’S ALMOST VALENTINE’S DAY!” Okay, this could have been some sort of disaster really, but I remembered in the end. So I realize Valentine’s Day can be a fantastic time for rekindling love, or even celebrating it. However, I think it is a fabulous excuse for indulging in sumptuous chocolate deserts. For me, I love chocolate and strawberries, chocolate and cherries, chocolate and bananas… really the list goes on and on. I really like chocolate with everything.
I know that at least one of you has asked for a really good, moist chocolate cake recipe. And I have a delicious, no fail chocolate cake that is just perfect. I have been using this recipe for quite some time now, and it really impresses. I use it for any recipe where a chocolate cake or cupcake is required. It is also rather versatile. You can change the liquids around if need be. Another great thing about this cake is the fact that it stands up weird shaped cake pans well. It is more of a dense chocolate cake, which is why it is fantastic for weird shaped pans. Wilton’s makes a great ball shaped cake pan. My friend was making a soccer ball cake, and I recommended this recipe to her. It held up fine! So never fear, the ultimate chocolate cake recipe is here! (I am rather embarrassed by how dorky that sounded… let me reiterate: This is a fantastic chocolate cake recipe that will make you the hero of any Valentines Day get-together)
Fantastic Chocolate Cake
3 cups of packed brown sugar
1 cup of butter (or margarine), softened
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup baking cocoa (If I am making this for a special occasion I will use a really, really good cocoa. Or even cocoa and some melted high quality dark chocolate)
1 tablespoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups sour cream (Most of the time I use yogurt instead because I always have it on hand)
1 1/3 cups boiling water
In a large mixing bowl cream your butter and sugar. Then, beat the creamy mixture. Add in your eggs one at a time beating extremely well after each addition. Beat the batter on a high speed until light and quite fluffy. Next, blend in the vanilla. In a separate bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Now, add your dry ingredients while alternating with the sour cream into the wet ingredients. Mix this on low until combined. Don’t over beat. Stir in the boiling water until blended. Pour the batter into three greased and floured 9-inch round pans. (For the longest time I only ever had two cake pans of this size. So, I would bake two pans at a time, and then bake the third afterward) Bake for 35-45 minutes. (I realize there is a 10 minute difference in the baking time. And different pans will also take different times. I recommend testing your cake with a toothpick or cake tester after 35 minutes. If it comes out clean then take it out, if not bake for an additional 7-10 minutes and test. All ovens are different!
Before you even attempt to fill or frost these you must let them cool completely. I know it is all good and fun to get this finished as soon as possible. But really, you shouldn’t take shortcuts with this. Let the cakes COOL (Away from the hands of sneaky children, boyfriends or husbands! It is amazing how little pieces can go missing)
Now you have your choice of filling and your frosting.
A perennial favourite of mine is to make a sweetened cream cheese and spread that on the cake, topped with cherry pie filling. And then the whole cake is covered in delicious chocolate frosting with decorative cherries on top.
I also like to do the same thing as above, but using fresh pureed strawberries instead.
But this Valentine’s Day I want to do something extra special and delicious. I want to fill this cake with fresh-tasting home made banana pudding. Chocolate and bananas were meant for each other, they have the perfect relationship. Chocolate and bananas will never break up. They will continue to live in harmony forever!
Here is a no-cook, no fail banana pudding recipe. It makes quite a lot, but I make the whole thing (because I love it!)
Banana pudding
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups cold milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed (or “Cool whip”)
4 bananas, sliced.
In a large bowl beat the cream cheese until nice and fluffy. Beat in the condensed milk, pudding mix and cold milk. Mix in the vanilla and beat until very smooth. Fold in ½ the whipped topping. (If you were making just the pudding you would like a nice glass bowl with wafers and place the pudding on top. And then put the whipped topping on top, and then top with sliced bananas)
However, for filling I do this:
Slice the bananas and put them in the bowl. Now with your beaters or stand mixer beat the pudding and the bananas well. Now, chill the pudding. If you find the texture isn’t thick enough for a filling, mix in more of the whipped topping. (This really should stay in the fridge overnight as the bananas will lend their flavour to the pudding, but you do not have to)
Spread the pudding over the layers of the cake. I put a nice amount of it in there, to make it really taste like bananas. You could also spread the pudding without the bananas mixed in, and then place the whole sliced bananas in the middle of the cake instead.
You can then top the cake with a cream cheese frosting covered in toasted coconut, or delicious chocolate frosting.
Chocolate Frosting
½ cup butter or margarine
3 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate.
3 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
5 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup sour cream (or yogurt)
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a saucepan melt the butter and chocolate over low heat. Cool this for at least 7-10 minutes. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, sour cream and vanilla. Now add the chocolate mixture and beat until really smooth. If this isn’t thick enough please continue to add more confectioner’s sugar. I will usually use the original recipe for most of the cake, and save some for piping (for the piping frosting I add a lot more confectioner’s sugar)
Top this with whatever you like! Make it beautiful, add your own finishing touches!
When serving this cake:
Serve a slice on a plate, drizzle the plate with chocolate sauce. Add a dollop of whipped topping or fresh whipped cream on the side. On the whipped topping add a slice of banana. Dust with confectioner’s sugar.
A Happy Ending
Now if this doesn’t make your Valentine’s Day I don’t know what will?! Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone! And to you single girls out there: Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be about celebrating love between two people. Make it about loving yourself! Treat yourself to the things you enjoy. Have the girls over or stay in with a fantastic bubble bath. The choice is yours, just have fun and enjoy it. Everyone needs a “me-day” Ciao!
-Meg
7 Comments »
February 1, 2008
Choco-Cherry Cupcakes (Or, the Steve-laboratory, birthday cupcake)
2:59 pm | 5 Comments » |
So as I mentioned before I’ve had a really, really busy week. For some crazy reason I had planned a party for last Saturday in the midst of it all. It was only supposed to be a small gathering, but magically as if out of nowhere the numbers grew…. grrrrrreat!
So, through it all, I promised that I would feature another “specialty” cupcake this week. Like I said, I had a little gathering of friends on the weekend, and it just so happened to be one of our guy-friend’s birthdays. This guy wants to go to med-school and works in a lab collecting and testing blood. So, I created a novelty cupcake to “represent” him.
This cupcake is made of a really nice chocolate cake and is filled with BLOOD! Okay, that would be disgusting… it isn’t REAL blood. I took cherry pie filling and pureed it to the consistency of blood. Really though, when you make them for yourself you will call it “cherry filling” and not blood. Unless you are strange like me, or are making them for Halloween. I topped them with a decadent and shiny ganache and then drew little “blood types” on them. You know; A+,B-,AB and so on. Yes, a dorky little novelty from one science student to another, but what can you do?
If I confused you, here is the short version of what these cupcakes are all about. A delectable, moist chocolate cake, filled with a pureed cherry filling, topped with a decadent chocolate ganache. Does it get any better than that? I really don’t think so.
The best thing about these cupcakes is the fact that they are REALLY easy. You have the ability to take many short cuts. And because I know a lot of you are so busy, I will post the “short” version of this recipe. The long version would be using your own cake recipe and making cherry pie filling from scratch (which really only nuts like me do on Saturdays right before they throw a party… dumb!) But seriously, make these. They are sinful and are to DIE for. And you do not have to decorate them with blood types, no decoration or just little “swirlies” will be fine. And will probably be more well-received… hahaha.
Without further ado, I give you:
CHOCO-CHERRY CUPCAKES!
Ingredients (short cut version only)
Box of “Devil’s Food” cake mix.
Can of cherry pie filling
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate (chopped)
1 cup of heavy cream
White chocolate for decorating (optional!)
Making the Cupcakes
Go out and buy a box of Duncan Hines Devil’s Food cake mix. This is your “short cut, cheating” week! Get a nice darker, fudgy one you like. Fill your cupcake tins 2/3 of the way and bake them!
Now, place the entire can of cherry pie filling into your blender. Puree the cherries until they are nice and smooth. HOLD ON TO THE LID. Do not let the cherries explode all over your kitchen. You will regret this as the cherry pie filling will try to stain EVERYTHING!!!
Filling Your Cupcakes
Now you are going to fill your cupcakes (once they are cooled of course) I don’t like the fill the cupcakes without removing part of the centre first. This is a hefty filling, and can’t just be piped in to the centre of the cupcake. Unfortunately, that would displace too much of the cake and cause it to leak out from somewhere else.
So, you must cut a “cone” out of the centre of the cupcake with a small yet sharp knife. This is really easy to do. Just put your knife in the off-centre of the cupcake and cut around in a circle, making a cone. Then you are obviously left with a little chocolate cone. You just cut off the inside bit, leaving the centre top whole. If you didn’t cut a large enough hole in the cupcake just move your finger around in there, or use your knife. Remove a little more of the cake if you need to. Now place a teaspoon or more of the filling in the cupcake right up to the top and replace the top centre piece of the cake. Easypeasy!
Now I usually make a chocolate ganache. However, if you like you can buy some nice chocolate frosting to top these with, or even cream cheese icing. A ganache is a shiny chocolaty coating that really makes your cupcake luxurious and decadent. And, you can actually whip the ganache to make a nice icing if you like. It is up to you!
Chocolate Ganache Coating
Take your chopped chocolate and place it in a decent sized bowl. Now on the stove heat the cream over medium heat. Bring it just to a boil, but don’t over boil it… you will regret the mess you cause! (Been there, done that!) Pour the heated cream over the chocolate and stir it up. Let it cool a bit before you use it to pour or frost on the cupcakes. I like it to be decently thick and cooled before I work with it. If you want it to be a “perfect” coating you wouldn’t let it cool as much. Once it has cooled a bit you can actually whip this with your beaters. It makes a lighter coloured chocolate frosting and is also to die for. This will make more of a traditional cupcake.
The Perfect Ending
Once the ganache is set and hard you can decorate with a melted white chocolate if you like. I find that white chocolate against dark is so appealing.
If you make this for any event people will be begging you for the recipe. And if you just make it with these short cuts it barely uses up any of your time! So really, why WOULDN’T you make these cupcakes? Clearly you would be insane. Chocolate and cherries were made for each other.
Also, if you have kids, these cupcakes would be PERFECT to send off to the class for Valentine’s Day! You could decorate them with little hearts. Just a little suggestion Enjoy your cupcakes, I know I did.. a few too many.
Ciao for now!
-Meg
5 Comments »
January 25, 2008
Sorry you’ve been dumped, but don’t give this recipe to Anna… Chocolate Chip Cookies!
5:40 am | 5 Comments » |
Okay, I know I am addicted to making intricate, gorgeous little deserts. But right now this week is packed. I’m Studying, somewhat sick, making curtains, throwing a party. You know, the “good” stuff. So, I don’t have a whole lot of time for a crazy desert. That will come next week!
I found this recipe after a friend of mine broke up with her boyfriend. She was clearly in need of a little pick me up. And what says “Sorry you were dumped, here is something to drown your sorrows in” like the perfect chocolate chip cookie?! I mean, she could have turned to a bottle of Riesling, however I felt that I must intervene and provide some non-alcoholic comfort instead. You know, we need to stick together and help each other out! We cannot allow our friends to get drunk and call their ex-boyfriends, that just doesn’t fly!
I think I found this recipe in a really old church cookbook. I guarantee, that you won’t find the best recipes from Martha or Rachael. If you want the perfect recipes, you need to search through those old cookbooks from churches, auxiliaries, schools etc. I am telling you, these cookbooks are easily worth their weight in gold. I search through yard sales for these babies. They are loaded with classic recipes and weird inventive ones too!
So like I mentioned, I am going to share with you the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. This is one of the only recipes I have that I never really liked to share with people. I think I just wanted one recipe that I knew was really good that was almost totally mine! Selfish I know! I would give people cookies as gifts and they would ask me for the recipe. I would just smile sweetly back at them… nasty I know. 
My boyfriend’s co-worker Anna has been begging me for the recipe as well. As it stands now, I haven’t given it up. Perhaps if she chooses to read this little column she will finally succeed
So, in honour of my “dumped” friend and Anna of course, I title this recipe:
Sorry you’ve been dumped, but don’t give this recipe to Anna… Chocolate Chip Cookies!
–
1 cup butter or margarine (softened)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
2 large eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons hot water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups chocolate chips (I prefer the President’s Choice chips, they are incredible!)
–
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and get a couple cookie sheets out.
Cream together your butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Make sure it is nice and smooth without any weird brown sugar lumps. Now beat your eggs in one at a time. In a little cup dissolve your baking soda with the hot water. Mix that up really well. Add the baking soda mixture, your vanilla and salt to the batter, mix well. Mix in your flour and your chocolate chips.
Drop nice sized spoonfuls of the dough evenly places on cookie sheets. I bake these for about 9-10 minutes. REALLY watch them. You don’t want to over cook these. The best thing about these cookies is the fact that they stay chewy and delicious and slightly crispy on the outside! I tend to take them out around 9 minutes, leave them on the pan to harden slightly for a minute and I DO NOT LET THEM COOL ON A RACK. I immediately cover them in something, I know this goes against your normal baking rules but trust me with this one. I put them in a Tupperware container. They will stay chewy in there until they go bad. But trust me, none of your cookies are going to go bad because everyone will be eating them immediately!
Remember that with most of these recipes you can play around with them. There are all kinds of “chips” out there you can use. Maybe you would like to try a mixture of white and chocolate. Or even caramel chips! You can also add nuts to this recipe, I just don’t like nuts in chocolate chip cookies.
So make these cookies and enjoy them with a cold glass of milk or some toasty hot chocolate (it has been freezing out eh?)
Talk to you again next week, when I will be featuring another new inventive cupcake recipe! Ciao!
-Meg
5 Comments »
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