rose cake and salted caramel cupcakes...kinda. and stuff

First attempt at a rose cake. Next time I'll make a heavier frosting so the  roses will hold better. 

Hello! Anybody still here?

So I got into a blog reading mood this morning and signed onto my blog for the first time in a while--I hadn't updated in A YEAR according to the last post date I saw.

That's crazy.

This time last year I had a lot going on (traveling, moving, holidays) so I stopped posting with all intentions to resume blogging in the new year.

Well, the new year came and it didn't happen. Up until February 2012 I kept telling  myself that I would do it the next week...and then the next week. But, it didn't happen. I essentially just stopped baking for the year.

Yea.

Wish I could tell you that I was off doing fabulous things with my time, but I wasn't. Things have been normal and uneventful for me. Working, hanging out, taking little trips here and there and just trying to enjoy my life is all I've been up to. Like this trip with some of my girlfriends to Cape May, NJ in April 2012.
                     

Cape May Getaway <3 br="">

The only big thing this year is that I, of course, got a year older. I turned 26 on September 26, 2012 so it was my Golden Birthday!

My BFFs came to visit me in DC for the weekend and it was a blast. I was celebrated pretty well. :)

 

What else?

Umm, I was Miss Cleo for Halloween! LOL. My Sammie was a Smurf. :O)

                                           

That's pretty much all the updates. I have nothing else to add. :/

That rose cake pictured above is the only major thing I baked this year besides these salted caramel cupcakes that I baked for my birthday.

                         

Yummmm! Salted Caramel Cupcakes

The rose cake was for Sammie's birthday party last night. I baked her a chocolate peanut butter cake and it was pretty tasty.
                               

     

Well, this is the end of my quick update and hello. I'm going to commit to updating my beloved Sinful Sundays on a more frequent basis. I've missed chatting and talking to you all as well, so I'm excited to start "hanging out" again!

 'Til next time. Ciao! :))

better-than-crack brownies

For those days when you a need a strong pick me up, but aren't allowed to do crack because it's illegal, MAKE THESE BROWNIES!

Apparently, they are better than crack. 

I wholly agree.

I mean, they're fudgy brownies that are layered with peanut butter cups, peanuts, chocolate chips, and rice krispies cereal.

That HAS to be better than crack, no?

I have never had crack or anything related to it, (crack is whack, yo) but I am convinced that these are in fact better.

Yea! Proud D.A.R.E. graduate. =)

I saw these on Jessica's site a while back and have been DYING to try them. I'm glad I did because they really do taste incredible---a peanut butter lovers dream.

Make them!

Better Than Crack Brownies--From How Sweet it Is

• 1 batch of brownies
• 1/2 cup salted peanuts (if you don’t have salted, add sea salt)
• 1 cup chopped peanut butter cups
• 1 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 tablespoon butter
• 1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies Cereal

Mix brownies according to directions, and bake for 20-25 minutes in a 9 x 13 baking dish.
Remove and top them with peanuts and peanut butter cups and bake for an additional  4-6 more minutes.

While they are finishing baking, melt the chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter. Stir in cereal.
Remove brownies from oven and evenly pour chocolate mixture over top.

Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

**I had them both room  temperature and cold from the fridge---they are DEF better cold**

Chocolate Eclairs

What is my problem?

Who just decides to make eclairs on a random day?

I do! 

Pâte à Choux--fancy word for pastry dough

I had absolutely no social engagement to take these to---I just wanted to try and see if I could make them.

So, I looked for a recipe, bought some of the ingredients that I was missing and went to work.

It was rainy and dreary this past Sunday and I couldn't be happier baking these eclairs in my cozy apartment while listening to my newly rediscovered Spice Girls "SPICEWORLD" CD.

Ch'yea.

The pastry cream was delicious! Almost ate it all before I filled the eclairs.

Anyways, these eclairs are  not difficult at all to make--only time consuming.

You have to make the pastry and then bake the pastry. Cook the pudding, then chill the pudding. Fill the pastry then dip the pastry (in chocolate) ---all in the name of chocolate eclairs, but THEY ARE WORTH IT.

I was really happy with the way they turned out--too happy.

That could be dangerous for me, so I took the majority of them to work to get them out of my place.

I'm so nice.

I got the recipe from a great blog, Cupcakes with Sprinkles . I followed it exactly except that I added vanilla beans to the pastry cream.

All in all, these chocolate eclairs are superb!

Drizzled some with white chocolate!

Recipe--As seen on Cupcakes with Sprinkles Blog

Pastry

Recipe Adapted From: FoodNetwork.com

1 cup Water

1/2 cup Butter

1/2 teaspoon Salt

2 teaspoons Sugar

1 cup Flour

4 Eggs

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. 

2. In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter, salt and sugar to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. When it boils, take the pan off the heat. Stirring with a spoon, add the flour and stir hard until all the flour is incorporated. Return to the heat and cook, stirring constantly for 30 seconds.

3. Scrape the mixture into a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or you can use a hand mixer. Mix at medium speed. With the mixer running, add the 4 eggs, 1 at a time. Stop mixing after each addition and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix until the eggs are completely incorporated. The dough will be thick, but should fall slowly from the beaters when you lift them out of the bowl.

4. Use a Ziploc bag and cut a hole in the corner, pipe fat lengths of dough approx. 4" by 1 1/2" onto the lined baking sheet, leave about 2 inches of space between them. Use your fingers to smooth out any bumps of dough that remain on the surface. Bake for 35 minutes. Don't open the oven door too often during baking. Let cool on the baking sheet. 

5. Fit a medium-size plain pastry tip over your index finger and use it to make a hole in the end of each eclair (or you can just use your fingertip). Using a pastry bag fitted with a medium-size tip, gently pipe the custard into the eclairs, using only just enough to fill the inside, don’t stuff them full.

Vanilla Pudding

Recipe Source: BarbaraBakes.com

3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
1/3 cup Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt
2 cups Whole Milk
3 Egg Yolks, beaten
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 1/4 teaspoons Vanilla

1. In a saucepan combine the sugar, flour and salt. Gently stir in the milk. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture starts to boil. Cook for 2 minutes.

2. Remove saucepan from burner. Stir in a third of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks, and immediately add egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan. Cook for 2 more minutes on medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. 

3. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap placing it directly on the pudding so a film doesn't develop. Refrigerate until well chilled, about 3 hours.

Pastry Cream

Recipe Source: BarbaraBakes.com

Vanilla Pudding (above)
1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

When the vanilla pudding is chilled, whip the cream to form soft peaks and gently fold it into the vanilla pudding. Keep covered and refrigerated until ready to use.

Chocolate Frosting

Recipe Source: Taste of Home

2 oz Semisweet Chocolate

2 Tablespoons Butter

1 1/4 cups Powdered Sugar

3 Tablespoons Hot Water

Melt chocolate and butter in the microwave, stir until smooth. Stir in sugar and add water to make it smooth. Dip eclairs in chocolate.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

This past week was ANNOYING.

I had a ton of articles and paperwork to catch up on at work.

This week doesn't look like it will be any better.

I still have a mountain of stuff to finish.

It's my fault.

I'm going overseas for 10 days on Friday-- that means I have to cram about a month's work in  two weeks to meet all deadlines.

The batter looks weird, right?

It's making me irritable.

I had two hours to kill on Sunday, so to appease my bad mood, I of course baked something.

I made Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies.

They SUCKED.

They were dry and crunchy.

I think it was because the recipe I used didn't call for brown sugar.

Sigh.

I should have known better.

So, yucky week and crappy cookies.

No Bueno.


**I SHOULD HAVE USED THIS RECIPE.**

I'm not going to put up the recipe I used. If you feel like making these cookies, I think the above link is your best bet.

Halloweenie Cupcakes

I grew up in a very Catholic and Haitian household, so Halloween was never celebrated much.

We didn't go trick or treating, never bobbed for apples, didn't carve pumpkins, and only got costumes because Halloween coincided with our Christian schools Harvest Festival where you had to dress up as a character from a storybook.

Other than that? Nothing.

The batter is incredibly moist and rich.

I didn't really start celebrating Halloween and dressing up until I got to college.

It took me a while to get  into the swing of things, but I'm fully engaged now.

I've been wanting to try out a chocolate cupcake recipe that I've seen going around. It's heralded as "The BEST Chocolate Cake" and I got the recipe off of Kevin and Amanda's Blog .

I made the cakes for my friend's Halloween party, and while I thought the cakes were good but "regular", everyone else thought they were delicious. People kept commenting, so perhaps I was too hard on them?

I made them X-Large... =D

I dunno.

I suppose I expected some crazy deliciousness that made made feel as if a miracle just happened, but I didn't.

That's a lot to ask for out of a cupcake, right?

I really liked the frosting!

I'm crazy.

Anyways, the icing I used was this one. I actually liked it a lot. It was like a whipped cream consistency, but thicker.

It was uber good.

I did a sucky job decorating them. I know. I was too tired to think, so I smeared frosting on them and then threw on random sprinkles.

It was actually kind of fun.

Yea.

So, Happy Halloween!

Chocolate Cupcake Recipe--CLICK HERE!
Frosting Recipe--CLICK HERE!

Old-School Birthday Cake

My birthday was last week, September 26, and I wanted a birthday cake.
 
No, you don’t get it.

A BIRTHDAY CAKE.
 
I didn’t want a gourmet cake with almond or raspberry puree fillings, and I didn’t want a series of adorable cupcakes with toppings like mascarpone frosting and fleur de sels.
 
I wanted a regular yellow cake with chocolate icing and sprinkles.

Like an 8 year old.
 
I knew that I didn’t want to buy a cake because mine would probably taste better  there was a recipe I’ve been wanting to try out.

 
 
Yellow cake is one of those cakes that I typically don’t ever choose willingly. I much prefer chocolate and other flavored cakes because I find classic yellow cakes to be springy and dry. While looking through recipes, I came across The Fresh Loaf    where she makes yellow cake using a pound cake base. Her frosting wasn't something that I was interested in, but her cake sounded perfect.

 
 
This would be my birthday cake!
 
All week long I’ve been itching to make it, but I was stuck at a conference and had to put it off.
 
After three days of relentless presentations and chatting up academic snobs, I got to work on my cake on Sunday afternoon. 

I used a foil pan because I couldn't find my real ones. I think they're somewhere in a box...

It could be beginner's luck, but the cake came out perfectly. It was super buttery and dense and moist. I think this is my new go to yellow cake recipe. 
 
 
Now, unlike a lot of other chocolate lovers out there, I tend to not enjoy chocolate frosting. I find them to be too sweet, too bitter, and too stiff…all at the same time.

 
And please, don’t ever throw money away buying store bought chocolate frosting. It’s even worse. Yuck.
 
Unless of course you like it. Then it’s cool.
 
Nevertheless, I REALLY wanted chocolate frosting on this cake and thought that perhaps a  chocolate ganache frosting, which only includes chocolate and heavy cream, could be the winner.
 
It was! 

 
 
I will NEVER make any other kind of chocolate frosting again. The ganache tasted great, had the perfect consistency, and was super easy to make. I used semi-sweet chocolate and threw in a couple handfuls of milk chocolate chips in there too. You know, just 'cause.  ;)
 
After I finished the cake and it was all ready, I pretended that there was a candle on it and proceeded to sing “Happy Birthday” to myself. 

 
 
I had a GREAT birthday this year, so please don’t feel sorry for me if the aforementioned cake singing sounds pathetic. I just felt it was the appropriate thing to do.

I swear I used a cake leveler. I don't know why the layers came out all jacked up.

 
 
That is all. :)

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes

This past Sunday I made cupcakes for no particular reason.

I just wanted them.

I made flourless chocolate cupcakes.



Super duper rich, smooth, and intense cupcakes they were.


I made 3 different types of frosting to go with them as well.

Peanut Butter, Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese, and Chocolate Fudge.

Just ‘cause.


I stuck the chocolate frosting in the fridge for too long and it went bad.

It got all hard and junk.


I don’t know why I forgot it in there.

So, I only frosted with the other two .


I ate one cupcake. Then another. And then one more…on Sunday.

Today is Tuesday.

You figure it out.

They were really good. Like, for real.

They got even better as the days went by…well, the 2 days.


You should make these if you want to impress someone.

Or if you just feel like it.

I then went back into my bed and watched a marathon of “Snapped” on Oxygen.

It was a gluttonous and sloth filled day.


I judged myself a little.

But then I had another cupcake and felt a lot better.



Flourless Cupcake Recipe
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 oz) bittersweet chocolate chips
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp. Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted (I used a Dutch blend)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Place 12 paper baking cups in a muffin pan. Put the chocolate and butter in a double boiler, or medium bowl over a pan of simmering water, and stir until completely melted. Set aside to cool. In large bowl, cream the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and thick. Gently fold in the melted chocolate and remaining ingredients.

Spoon the batter into the cups. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Then remove the cupcakes and cool on a rack.

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

8 oz cream cheese, room temp
8 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean pod
3-4 cups powdered sugar

Slit your vanilla bean in half and use the tip of your knife to scrape the vanilla bean paste from each side of the pod.

Whip cream cheese in a mixing bowl until smooth.

Add butter and beat to combine.

Add vanilla and vanilla bean paste.

Beat in powdered sugar a little at a time until frosting is as thick and sweet as you’d like.

Peanut Butter Frosting Recipe

**The chocolate fudge frosting was a fail.