Bourbon Brownies

Let's start this day off right, shall we?  Let's celebrate a day of revelries with two of my favorite ingredients: chocolate and booze!

In addition to celebrating St. Patrick's Day, let's also celebrate my triumphant return, with a little piece of love, originally called the Bourbon-Brownie Petit Four by Better Home and Garden magazine's test kitchen.  They say you can cut out about 64 brownies from this recipe (being that they're petit fours), but I doubled the recipe and struggled to get that since you don't want them to crumble away to nothing.  Let's say one recipe easily makes 2 dozen, and then you can be pleasantly surprised at anything above and beyond that!

Ingredients (brownie):
1/2 C butter
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 C bourbon
3 T instant coffee granules (I always use a bold roast)
1 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 C all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
Ingredients (glaze and frosting):
1 C whipping cream
6 oz milk chocolate chips
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. In a medium saucepan, melt and stir the butter and unsweetened chocolate until smooth.  Remove and cool.
2. Preheat your oven to 350.  Line an 8"x8" pan with foil that hangs over the edge for easy brownie removal. Grease the foil and then set it aside.   In a small cup/bowl, combine the bourbon and coffee granules and set aside as well.
3. Stir sugar into your chocolate mixture.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined.  Then, stir in your vanilla and the coffee bourbon mixture.
4. In a separate bowl, stir together flour and baking soda.  Add to the chocolate mixture, stirring until just combined.  Spread batter evenly into your prepped pan.
5. Bake for 30 minutes, then cool on a wire rack. Lift brownies out of the pan.  You can cut off the edges at this point, or leave them if you'd prefer.  I cut mine off (as recommended), but the edges weren't so crusty that I think they would've ruined my squares.
6. Cut brownies into 1" or 1 1/2" squares.  Coat with Semisweet chocolate glaze (see following recipe).
7. Top each glazed brownie with piped Milk Chocolate Frosting rosette (see following recipe).

Glaze and Frosting Directions:
1. In a medium saucepan, bring whipping cream just to boiling over medium high heat. Remove.
2. For Milk Chocolate Frosting, transfer 1/2 C of the cream to a small bowl and add milk chocolate chips - DO NOT STIR.  Let stand for five minutes, and then stir until smooth.  Cover loosely, then chill for about 2 hours, beat with an electric mixer until fluffy, then bag and pipe.
3. For Semisweet Chocolate Glaze, take warm cream and stir semisweet chips in until smooth (helps if you're doing this in the hot saucepan, then glaze over cut brownies.

For whatever reason, I was super annoyed with the frosting and chose not to use it.  The brownies were still amazing and no one would've ever guessed you needed frosting to enjoy these.  So rich and decadent, and while you could detect the hint of bourbon, it wasn't overwhelming.  More people noticed the hint of coffee than the liquor in the brownie.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites

Holy AMAZING, Batman!

If you're looking for a simple dessert that is both sweet and salty, I've found your kryptonite.  Or your salvation.  I guess it depends on which comic we're reading because now I'm confused!  ;)

Ingredients:
2 C creamy peanut butter, divided
3/4 C butter, softened
2 C powdered sugar, divided
4 C broken pretzel twists, divided,
2 C semi sweet chocolate chips, divided
Directions:
1. Line a 9"x13" baking pan with foil and a little overlay.  Lightly spray with a non-stick cooking spray.
2. Beat 1 1/4 C peanut butter in and butter in a large bowl until creamy.  Gradually beat in 1 C powdered sugar.
3. Stir in remaining 1 C of powdered sugar, 3 C of pretzel pieces, and 1/2 C of chocolate chips.  Press evenly into prepared baking pan.

4. Microwave remaining 1 1/2 C chocolate chips and 3/4 C peanut butter on medium, uncovered, in a microwave safe bowl for 45 seconds.  Stir. If necessary, return for 10-15 second intervals until completely melted.
5. Spread chocolate peanut butter evenly over pb/pretzel/powdered sugar layer.
6. Top with remaining pretzel pieces, pressing down gently into the chocolate layer.
7. Refrigerate at least three hours, or until firm.  Lift out of pan and peel off foil, then cut and serve.

Grown Up Ice Cream Cake

 I've made ice cream cakes before, from ice cream sandwiches.  They're super simple, and everyone loves them.

However, when I saw this recipe, I knew I needed to try it.

Ingredients: (Bottom Layer)
Your favorite brownie mix and its ingredients
Andes Candies (or their baking chips)

Directions:(bottom layer)
Mix as the box directs, adding about 1/2 bag of Andes to the mix. (or chop about 15 Andes candies)
Bake at the appropriate temperature, but use a 9x13 pan so you get a thin layer of brownie.
This will take about half of the time that an 8x8 or 9x9 would take, so make sure you watch your brownies.
*A little underdone is best, so you get a fudgy layer in your cake.*
Let completely cool in the freezer.

 Ingredients: (Ice Cream Layer)
1.5 quart of mint chocolate chip ice cream
Directions:(ice cream layer) 
Completely soften ice cream until it can be stirred with a spoon without resistance.
Spread ice cream evenly over brownie layer.
Put back into the freezer to re-harden.

 Ingredients: (Ganache Layer)
1 C dark/semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 C heavy cream
1/4-1/2 tsp mint/peppermint extract
15-20 Oreos, crushed

Directions: (Ganache Layer)
Combine chips and cream in microwave safe container.
Heat until soft

Whisk smooth, adding in the mint extract to taste.
Let cool to room temperature.
Spread over ice cream layer.  Add crushed Oreos across the entire layer.
Place back in freezer.

Ingredients: (Whipped Layer)
8 oz whipped topping, thawed
Green food coloring/gel (optional)
Remaining Andes candies bites (or 15-20 Andes shaved or chopped into pieces)

Directions: (Whipped Layer)
Add a hint of food coloring to the whipped topping. Spread over ganache/Oreo layer.
Sprinkle remaining Andes candies pieces across the top.
Place back in the freezer until ready to serve.

Before serving, it's best to take it out of the freezer to soften for about 5-10 minutes to help with cutting.  As you can see by the above picture, I didn't completely freeze each layer before adding the next one, so it's not as clean and crisp as it could be.

Know what?

Didn't matter.  Still amazing, and my ten guests easily plowed through most of it without issue.

Awesome summer treat, or specialty cake for special occasions.

S'mores Cookie Bars

"More s'mores!"  You seemingly exclaim at me as I sit to write this post.

"Of course," I reply, calmly.  "It's summer, is it not?!"

There really is an entire conversation that I'm participating in that goes along these lines.

Unfortunately, I'm the only one talking.

On both sides of the conversation.

sometimes you run out of chocolate bars and make due with the chips from the cupboard...

 I can't help it.  I just love s'mores.  I have about 5 more recipes that are vaguely s'morish that I want to still try.  Maybe I'll space them out.  Maybe tomorrow I'll make another one.  There's no way to know for sure what I'm capable of.

Here's my original recipe from Crepes of Wrath, who, of course gets bonus credits for the reference.

The nice thing about this recipe is that there's really not much to it, other than the assembly.

 Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 8 graham crackers - I just crushed mine in a zip lock bag)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 king-sized milk chocolate bars +
2 (7 oz) jars of marshmallow Fluff (not melted marshmallows because they harden when cooled)

1. Preheat your oven to 350, and grease your container.  I used a disposable half pan (11.75"x9.5").

2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. (Don’t worry if it seems thin; the baking powder will allow it to rise.)

4. Place chocolate bars in a single layer over dough, then spread the marshmallow Fluff over the chocolate bars. Finally, top the Fluff with the remaining dough by forming the dough into sheets with the palm of your hands and laying it down. When you get tired of just palming the dough into flat sheets, just spread the rest of the dough sprinkles over your gaps and press it down.  It doesn't have to be perfect, it'll rise and do it's own thing once you start baking it.

5. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Let it cool before cutting.  Or don't, it'll just be crumbly/flaky if it's still warm.

so melt in your mouth, buttery, and gooey...AMAZING!

Taste of Sweetness Saturday: Exploding Pound Cake {of Doom}!

I LOVE pound cake!  It reminds me of happy summers with my grandma and my mom, strawberry shortcake, and other first loves as well.

I found this recipe a few months ago (via Pinterest, of course), for a cream cheese pound cake and I had to try it.

I didn't even realize that people made pound cakes in bunt pans.  My mom didn't either.  But, that's what the original did, so I borrowed a pan and gave it a try.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Make sure you grease and flour your pan.  I used the baking spray with flour included, and that worked just fine.

Directions

1. Beat the butter and cream cheese until just creamy (don't over beat).
2. Gradually add in the sugar.
3. Add eggs one at a time.
4. Sift the flour and combine with the salt.  Then slowly add the powder mixture to your batter, blending well after each addition.
5. Add in the vanilla.

Smooth the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake at 300 for 1 hour and 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool for 10+ minutes before removing from the pan.

Mine rose about three inches above the original batter line.

This didn't bother me, because more to enjoy, right?

Unfortunately, the part that rose cracked, so when I flipped it, it was a glaring mistake.

oops!

 Luckily, I was planning on slicing and serving, so no one really cared too much.

I honestly don't think anyone noticed it.

AND, it was such a wonderful flavor and texture that people were eating it quicker than they bothered to look at it, so it was a win-win all around.

So maybe I didn't mean to call this the Exploding Pound Cake {of Doom}.  It just sounds cooler that way, though, don't you think?!

Strawberry Meringue Butter Cream Cupcakes

Welcome to heaven, population: you.

Too corny?  Oh well.  It was difficult for me to share these cupcakes with my family, so I really do believe I've found my favorite recipe.

But it's not just the cupcakes, trust me.

I was planning on using an angel food recipe for the cake, but then found this handy dandy box of strawberry cake mix at the store and quickly ditched my preliminary efforts.

 I followed the box mix directions, with one minor exception.

I added about 1 cup of diced strawberries to the mix.  This way it really reinforced the strawberriness of the cupcake.

And it wasn't over powering.  It was still the light and fluffy that I was looking for, just with little chunks of love added!

 Where I really wanted to spend my time was with the Strawberry Meringue Butter Cream frosting.  I know I try to avoid Martha Stewart, but I think she really nailed this one.

Ingredients:
4 large egg whites
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into tablespoons
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) strawberry jam, pureed in a food processor

I started off by using my PC Batter Bowl over a sauce pan of simmering water.  I combined the egg whites and sugar until dissolved and warm to the touch.

You're supposed to use your free standing mixer bowl, but since my KitchenAid is shoved back in the corner of a deep cabinet, this was a close second.

 Next, I added my whisk attachment to my hand mixer (again, I was supposed to use the free standing mixer), and whisked until there were stiff, wet peaks, which felt like forever.  Martha claims it's 6 minutes, but with a hand held, it certainly felt longer.

Finally, I'll let Martha take it from here...

With mixer on medium-low speed, add butter several tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. (If frosting appears to separate after all the butter has been added, beat on medium-high speed until smooth again, 3 to 5 minutes more.) Beat in vanilla. Beat on lowest speed to eliminate any air bubbles, about 2 minutes. Stir in strawberry jam with a rubber spatula until frosting is smooth.

 

 Here's where I added my own trick...
You know I love to can, right?  Well, I didn't have a plain strawberry jam in the house, but I did have one better: I had a strawberry jam with Thai herbs that I made about a month ago.  It's sweet like strawberry jam, but the basil, mint, and cilantro add just a bit more.  I processed it, as per directed, and then used my hand mixer to blend the entire thing together.  (It was much quicker than doing it by hand.  I tried that first and got extremely frustrated.)

By the time I was done, none of my frosting tips were wide enough for my chunks.  So, I just took a spoon and smeared the frosting on.  For the topper, I just took a quarter of a strawberry and made two cuts along the length of the strawberry from the hull, leaving the tip connected.  With the little bit of left over frosting, I just dipped in the leftover strawberries.  I had to force myself not to eat it all.  SO GOOD!

Taste of Sweetness Saturday: Mini Cannoli Cups

For every St. Patrick's day, there's a St. Joseph's day...

Whatever the reason for making them, this is a really easy recipe that people (who like cannolis) enjoy.  I am not one of those people, but from a multitude of people who tried them, I can say they're nice.

 The recipe can be found at this link.  There's also a video if you're lost.

Simple and relatively quick!

 I made up the cups on a Friday, made and filled them on Monday.  Served them through Wednesday.

They preserve well, surprisingly, in the fridge, in an airtight container.

Yeah, check out that doily action!

Nutella Banana Bread

Banana bread kick, still?

*sigh*

Yes.  It's not my fault.  Stores always seem to have really ripe bananas that call out to me.

And I only enjoy green bananas, so mine also get to that point fairly quickly.

 Whatever.  The idea of adding Nutella to my banana bread really appealed to me.

Here's the recipe, please go to see the Six Sisters' for their easy to follow instructions.

 I really enjoy swirling.

The whole concept is fun.

And it's just so pretty!

Just a note - this takes a LONG time to bake.  even at an hour, the middle was liquidy.  Plan for longer, much longer if you want it to stay together when you cut it!

World's Most Expensive Cupcakes? Totally worth it!

Happy 2012!  I have spent the last two weeks enjoying the presence of my family and luxuriating in going out and having others cook for me.  Ultimately?  I'm behind on cooking and blogging.  However, I did make the world's most expensive cupcakes and lived to tell the tale.  True story!


It started back the week before Christmas.  We were planning our menu, and there was a variety of cakes and desserts to be made.  However, time ran short and desserts were in abundance, so I put my dessert on the back burner until the New Year, when we could all properly enjoy it!

Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes
Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup hazelnut liqueur
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 24 chocolate-hazelnut truffles (Ferrero Rocher®)

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners. Sift together the flour, cocoa, and baking powder; set aside. Combine the milk, liqueur, and vanilla in a small bowl.
2. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Pour in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing until just incorporated, ending with the flour. Pour the batter into prepared cups, about 1/2 cup each.

3. Press an unwrapped truffle into the bottom of each cupcake and spread the batter over the top of each truffle. (I put some batter in first so they weren't resting on the bottom of the pan, then I placed the FR, then I finished filling the cup.) Bake in a preheated oven until the tops spring back to the touch, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool cupcakes in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Just a note: it's okay if you don't completely fill the cups.  I covered the Ferrero Rochers and then filled each cup 1/2-2/3 of the way.  They rose incredibly, as you can see from the cooling picture, and once you frost it, no one will ever know!

Now, for the frosting...

I had a hard time just spreading Nutella as a frosting.  Thomas loves it, as do many others, I'm sure, but I just can't do the straight up Nutella.  My cupcakes, my rules.  So, I found another recipe that seemed like a great compromise.

Nutella Frosting Ingredients:

1 (16oz) can of pre-made dark chocolate frosting

1 tspVanilla Extract

3/4 cup Nutella spread

3/4 cup Powdered Sugar

Directions:Blend well and pipe on.

* Side note: once you put chocolate frosting on a chocolate cupcake, it looks pretty bland (at best) and like an unmentionable body function (at worst).  I sprinkled some powdered sugar on top to break up the monotony, but I'm sure you'll be clever enough to figure something out.

The sweetness is all in the frosting.  The cupcake itself is very mellow, especially without a lot of sugar.