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A St. Patrick’s Day Treat For You!

March 16, 2011 By 6 Comments

I realized just this afternoon that tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day.  I guess with all the delousing going on around here, it just slipped my mind.  But being the most amazing awesome mom ever, I thought quick of something special and green to make for the occasion.  I headed to my favorite baking blog and found a yummy looking vanilla cupcake recipe just calling my name.

Now, I don’t care for pistachio’s like the recipe calls for, instead, I tossed in a whole bunch of leaf green food color gel to make my cupcakes fit for a Leprechaun (or three).  I then topped them off with plain ole cream cheese frosting (which, let’s face it…nothing is “plain” about cream cheese frosting!).

This recipe makes a very dense, very sweet and very tasty yellow green cupcake.  I don’t usually like white/yellow/vanilla cake and I was pleasantly surprised at the deliciousness of it.  It’s not to late to whip this up for some St. Patrick’s Day fun!

Lucky Vanilla Cupcakes by Sprinkle Bakes (modified just a little by yours truly)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

6 Tbsp butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 vanilla bean, seeded and hull discarded**

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp milk

**I did not have a whole vanilla bean lying around, so I just doubled the vanilla extract to 2 tsp and left the actual vanilla bean out.  I also added 2 tsp of Wilton Leaf Green gel food color to make it GREEN!

Heat oven to 350 and line cupcake pan with papers.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.  In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until lightened in color and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between additions.  Beat in vanilla extract.

Add flour mixture and milk alternately.  When completely incorporated, divide batter evenly amongst liners, filling them 2/3 full (I used my 1/4 cup).  Bake for 15-20 minutes (check at 15).  Cool completely before frosting.

Once cool, I topped with Cream Cheese Frosting and tiny green ball sprinkles.

1 block cream cheese (8 oz) at room temp.

1 cube butter at room temp.

1 pound powdered sugar.

Cream the butter and cream cheese together until smooth.  Gradually add powdered sugar.

For more fun St. Patrick’s Day Recipes, check out my friend Kathleen’s blog.  She has a bunch of yummy stuff going on.

Such a sweet way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!  What kind of fun stuff do you have planned?

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A Very Sad Attempt At Pretty Cookies

March 3, 2011 By 13 Comments

I sure love my Stumble Button.  I’ve mentioned it before.  And one day, I came across a website full of beautiful sugar cookie creations.  Sugarbelle has the most amazingly adorable cookies I have ever seen.  I wanted one.  I needed one!  I wanted one to look at and hold and smell.  They were really too pretty to be edible!

I immediately shared the website with Cheryl because she loves it when I share sugar with her.  We decided that we could totally do that.  How hard could it possibly be?

Um…hard.

I started out excited and with high hopes that I could create something pretty.  I don’t generally love sugar cookies, so I used the recipe for Sugarbaker’s Chocolate Mini-Chip cookies that I found on Sugarbelle’s website.

Rolling sugar cookies sucks ass.  I destroyed an entire batch at Christmas.  I think I use too much flour or something, because they end up super dry and crumbly and utterly unusable.  With this batch of chocolate chips, I did the same thing.  About 1/4 of the dough just wasted.  It was a darn shame.

The ones I managed to cut out baked up nicely.  Tasty!

Then came the decorating.  I could not find meringue powder to make my royal icing (I kinda decided to try this on short notice).  So I had to make it with egg whites.  Hey, I’m not one of those that freak out of raw eggs.  I let my kids lick the batter bowls all the time.  I used this recipe for my icing.  It was not as delicious as I had hoped, but I guess it’s pretty normal that royal icing is not as yummy as buttercream.  The sacrifice you make for pretty.

I have to say that I think my icing came out pretty well.  It was a good consistency and I didn’t have a hard time with it.  My first round was a pretty blue.  My trouble came when I decided instead of leaving it a pretty blue, that I would try and make the flooding icing green.  I added green to my already pretty blue and ended up with this ugly sea foam barf color.

Flooding these cookies with icing was tedious but I made it through and after (what seemed like) many hours I finally finished my cookies.

When all is said and done, I’m not sure decorated cookies are up my alley.  They sure are beautiful to look at, but man, it was a lot of work!  I just don’t think I have the patience or creativity to make show stoppers like Sugarbelle.  Maybe I’ll try again and decided.

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Stumble is Bad For My Diet

February 18, 2011 By 17 Comments

I LOVE StumbleUpon.  It’s a fabulous way to find new and interesting websites and I spend an obscene amount of time doing it.  I have learned so many interesting things using Stumble and end up laughing out loud to where my husband is telling me to shush it.  I also love to share my stumbles with Cheryl, even though she doesn’t usually seem to appreciate my finds.  I’ve sent her out on many late night missions for ingredients when I’ve sent her a particularly delicious recipe.  But really, that’s not MY fault now, is it?  It’s just that in my stumbles I’ve come across some amazing recipes.  Ones that I just HAVE to try and HAVE to share.  I can’t help it…I’m a sharer.

You should see my recipe folder in my bookmarks list!  I think recipes outweigh any other topic.  Here I have chosen twelve of the most delicious recipes I’ve bookmarked from StumbleUpon.

You’re welcome.

  1. Guiness and Bailey’s Irish Cream Cupcakes by Annie’s Eats.  I have not made these…yet.  But don’t they look SO good?
  2. Chocolate Malt Krispie Bars by Dine and Dish.  I made and took these on our last camping trip.  They were a HUGE hit!
  3. Cake Batter Pancakes by How Sweet It Is.  These are Cheryl’s new obsession!
  4. Cookies N’ Cream Oreo Fudge Brownies by Kevin and Amanda.  Um, yeah.  ETA:  Cheryl informed me that she DID make these after I shared the recipe with her and they were amazing!
  5. Easy Homemade Ice Cream with no machine by Kevin and Amanda.  I DID make this ice cream and it was AMAZING!  I think I used cream, peanut butter and chocolate chips.  Best ice cream I ever had.
  6. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake by Culinary Concoctions by Peabody.  I actually got to meet Peabody in Arkansas and she was awesome.  I haven’t tried her “Stress Relief” cheesecake but doesn’t it look awesome??

  1. Kahlua Brownies with Browned Butter Kahlua Icing by Recipe Girl.  Recipe Girl is another fabulous foodie that I got to meet in Arkansas and as a bonus she lives here in San Diego.  We got to share a flight home.  Isn’t that special?  Anyhow.  Haven’t tried these brownies, but as soon as I remember to buy some Kahlua I will.
  2. Peanut Butter S’mores Turnovers by Recipe Girl.  Another delicious looking yummy by my local homie.
  3. Snickers Caramel Cheesecake Cookies by Picky Palate.  OMG!  I have been drooling over these for a couple weeks now.  I must get one of those muffin top cake pans that she uses so I can have these.  Did I say OMG?
  4. Sparkling Champagne Cupcakes by Sprinkle Bakes.  I actually HAVE made these and they are awesome.  I whipped some up for my mom’s birthday party and they were a huge hit.  So pretty and so good.
  5. Salted Caramel Bars by What’s Gaby Cooking.  This is a recent find and I can’t wait to make them.  I’m a total sucker for caramel and shortbread.  It’s the perfect combo.
  6. S’mores Stuffed Brownies by the Picky Palate.  I think I’ve bookmarked a lot of s’mores inspired recipes/

So.  There is my top twelve favorite stumbled upon recipes.  I’ve tried some, I definitely plan on trying more.  I could probably do ten more posts just like this with equally delicious looking sugar goodness.  It’s a weakness.  What are some good recipes you’ve come across on the web?  I always like to add more to my list!

All photos are copyright to their respective owner and creator.

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Recipe: Potato Taco’s

February 10, 2011 By 13 Comments

Potato Taco’s are probably one of my very favorite foods to eat.  They are so delicious, an ultimate comfort food (fried starch!) and it doesn’t hurt that they are mega cheap to make.  I almost always have potato’s and corn tortilla’s around and so I use this meal to deliciously stretch my low food budget.

Ingredients

  • 4-5 medium potato’s (it doesn’t really matter what kind you use, my favorites are russet but whites and reds are fine, too)
  • 1 small-medium onion
  • 12 corn tortillas
  • spices to taste:  1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp garlic, pepper, onion, seasoning salt.  Whatever you like.
  • oil
  • taco toppings (shredded cheese, salsa, sour cream & guacamole)

Method

I whirl my onion through my Ninja (or other food processor) to get it chopped up real fine.  I then cube my potato’s into small chunks.  You can leave the skins on or off, makes no difference.  I’m lazy, so I leave the skins on.  I add my chopped potato’s and onion into a microwave safe bowl and combine with whatever other spices I’m using.

Cover and microwave until potato’s are fork tender (about 10 minutes).

While my potato’s are microwaving, I heat my vegetable oil in my cast iron skillet over medium-high heat (it’s a #7 on my stove).

Once potato’s are tender and oil is hot, it’s time to fry!

Place 1 tortilla in hot oil (be careful!) and put a couple spoonful’s of potato mixture in the center of tortilla.  Fold the tortilla in half and fry till crisp-tender on each side.  This part should go quickly.

Once tortilla is light brown, I remove and place on paper towel to drain.

The real beauty of potato taco’s is that you really can’t mess them up.  Whatever spices you happen to have on hand will work.  Sometimes I don’t have an onion, so I use onion salt or onion powder.  No cumin?  Try chili powder.  Get creative.

Top with your favorite taco toppings.  Enjoy!

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Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

January 20, 2011 By 19 Comments

Can I get a “ooh, yeah! BABY!” ??

Chocolate and raspberry are probably my two favorite flavors, and when put together they spell D.I.V.I.N.E.

Last month was Bob’s birthday, and I spur of the moment decided to bake a cake with the boys for him.  So I went to my favorite recipe box, google and came across this “Black Magic Cake” recipe on Allrecipes.com.  It has 845 reviews and a full 5 star rating!  Lucky for me, I had all the needed ingredients.

O.M.G.  This is THE best chocolate cake recipe.  Ever.  I’ve gone about looking for valid excuses to make the cake just so I can eat it.  I invited guests over and while I had no idea what to make for dinner, I knew I was making this cake.  Any excuse to make it is a good one.  When it came time to start planning my mom’s birthday party, I knew without a doubt I would make this cake…only in cupcake form.  Because let’s face it…everything is better in a cupcake!

Because I love you all, here is my favorite chocolate cake recipe:

Moist Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup strong brewed coffee
  • 1 cup buttermilk*
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*I never have real buttermilk on hand.  But making your own is super easy.  Just fill a 1 cup measuring cup with regular milk (I happen to use 2%).  Take out one 1 TBS of the milk and replace it with 1 TBS white vinegar.  Let set for a few and viola!  Buttermilk.

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray two 9 inch round cake pans or one 9×13 inch pan with non stick spray, OR prepare 24 cupcakes with paper liners.
  2. In mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt and combine on low speed.
  3. Add eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Batter will be thin. Pour into prepared pans (fill cupcakes with 1/4 cup batter).
  4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes for 9×13 or 15 to 20 minutes for cupcakes, or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and finish cooling on a wire rack. Fill and frost as desired.

I found THE cutest cupcake papers at Michaels craft store.  I had a hard time deciding which papers to buy because they were all so cute!

The first time I made this cake, I frosted it with a white cream cheese frosting.  The next time, I tried this frosting from Pioneer Woman which was really tasty, but I messed up the cooking part and it ended up lumpy.  So for my mom’s birthday, I decided to pair it with a raspberry buttercream, and ooh la la!  It’s so good!  Definitely my new very favorite frosting, and so easy.

Raspberry Buttercream

  • 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
  • 16 oz powdered sugar

Beat butter and raspberry jam together till creamy.  Gradually add in powdered sugar until combined.  I ended up needing to add 1 TBS milk because it was a tad bit too thick to go through my decorating bag and I needed to thin it out.  You may or may not have to do this.  I also added some burgundy gel food color to make it really really raspberry colored (originally it seemed a little pale).

I piped the frosting onto my cupcakes with a big Wilton tip and a Ziplock bag.  Easiest clean up EVER.

This weekend I’ll be trying my hand at these champagne cupcakes.  I’ll let you know how they turn out!  I love cupcakes! LOL

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