Snicker's Cupcakes

It has been a few weeks since I have had a chance to get into my kitchen and try out something new.  My house has been put up for sale so that has meant it has to look like no one lives in it during the open houses and showings.  Hide the knife block, the cupcake tins, the mixmaster, the dogs and the kids!

So during this time of exile how did I pass the hours?  Why, by looking at more and more food porn everyday.  I must say you do get a little tired of the 'same old' day after day.  I don't get the same tingle from the candy sprinkled chocolate iced cupcake that I used to.  Show me more, show me something I haven't seen before. Luckily I was saved from going to far by the return of my kitchen.

And people tell me I need to get out more!!

These 'cheater' recipes I keep coming across all seem to have one element in common...the cupcake or cake starts from a mix.  And they are raved about.  I think most of us are used to store bought cakes and cupcakes and want that light, airy texture that is not quite there in a scratch cake.  Although I think a cake from scratch is more flavourful it usually is a little denser and people just don't understand all the real ingredients make it this way.  Well, that is my opinion.  But as most of us are in a rush these recipes are pretty much fool-proof and do get great reviews!

In these quick, easy recipes it seems to not matter what type of cake mix you use, vanilla, devil's, chocolate (I have noticed the American's use Devil's food and call them chocolate yet chocolate mix does exist...not sure why they do this) you just add the same ingredients: 1 cup buttermilk, 1/2 cup oil, 3 eggs, 1/2 cup sour cream and 1-2 tsp. of vanilla.

What sets these little darlings apart is the icing and the embellishments.  So here are some pictures and the recipe for Snicker's Cupcakes.  Easy, peasy, really!  You only need a mixer for the icing!

Peanut butter icing atop Devils Food Cupcakes

You will need 1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix (or chocolate)
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sour cream
3 eggs
1-2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line 18 muffin tins with liners.

Whisk together all the ingredients except the cake mix until well combined.  Stir in cake mix and mix until combined.

Fill prepared muffin tins about 3/4 full and bake 20-25 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched.  Set aside and cool.

Peanute Butter Icing - I WOULD DOUBLE THIS IF YOU LIKE TO HAVE NICE FULL PILLOWS OF FROSTING!

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter, smooth
3-4 cups icing sugar, possibly more
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons milk or cream (as needed to get spreading consistency)

Snickers bar or 2, cut into pieces to garnish tops
Peanuts, whole or chopped to garnish tops

In a medium bowl using electric mixer beat the butter and peanut butter until smooth and combined well.  Add in the vanilla and mix together.  Add in icing sugar a cup or two at a time and beat until smooth.  Add in milk as needed to get nice smooth spreadable consistency.

Use a knife or an icing bag with a star tip to ice these moist, yummy little cakes and top each with a piece of the chocolate bar and a sprinkle of peanuts.

Want even more....chop another couple of Snickers bars and fold into the cupcake batter.

These are certainly sweet enuf for this Thanksgiving's dessert table.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Icing & Crispy Peanut Chicken

I have been 'Pinning'!  No, not finally hemming pants that have been dragging on the ground because they are too long to wear with my flats or fixing the sweater that has unravelled with a large darning needle.  I mean the pinning where you click on colourful, enticing photos, mostly of food items, sweet food items, for me anyway...and that you save to a board.  Why would you spend time pinning, you ask??  I'm not really sure.  Maybe I am supposed to have some 'Oprah' moments where I gaze longingly at these images and say I WILL GO there, or I WILL do that.  Mostly I'm depressed since I won't look like those people, ever afford to travel to those exotic locals or....but wait...there is one thing I can do!  I will re-create cupcakes and other food items I see just because I can and somehow this will make me feel better about sitting and clicking on assorted photos on the computer.

Believe me this tastes better than my photo makes it look! 
Crispy Peanut Chicken with Dipping Sauce - well I had to make a relatively healthy main course before I could indulge in the cupcakes.  This in some way makes me feel better about my cupcake side dish, my cupcake dessert and my cupcake snack!

Now for the cupcakes.  According to reports on Pinterest from those in the 'know', whoever they may be, these cupcakes are the BEST EVER.  Although made using a box cake mix, yes, truly a box of good old Devil's Food Cake Mix as the base they passed the good friend/neighbour test and I was asked for the recipes of the chicken and the cupcakes. So here you go.

Crispy Peanut Chicken w. Dipping Sauce

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup finely chopped unslated peanuts
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander or parsley
1 tsp grated lime rind
Pinch salt & pepper
1 egg
3 tbsp vegetable oil

Flatten chicken pieces to an even thickness.  In a shallow dish, stir together flour, peanuts, parsley/coriander (if using), lime rind, salt and pepper.  (Note:  I forgot lime once and it still turned out yummy.)  In another shallow dish, lightly beat egg.  Dip chicken into egg and let excess drip off then dip chicken into flour mixture, turning to coat and shaking off excess.

Heat oil in non-stick fry pan over medium-high heat.  Fry chicken, turning once, until cooked through, about 8-10 minutes depending on thickness.

Meanwhile for dipping sauce:  whisk together 2 tablespoons minced green onions, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar and 1 teaspoon brown sugar.  Serve with the chicken as dipping sauce or drizzle over chicken before serving.

Chocolate Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line 24 muffin cups with liners.

1 Box Devil's Food Cake Mix
3 eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup buttermilk

Whisk together the eggs, sour cream, vegetable oil, vanilla, cinnamon and buttermilk.  (I added 1/4 cup cocoa powder to up the chocolate factor.)  Add in the cake mix and just stir until everything is all mixed together.

Fill muffin cups about three-quarters full and bake until tops spring back lightly when touched or a tooth pick inserted in centre comes out clean.  Cool completely before frosting.

My easy icing is just approx. 1/2 cup room temperature butter, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 4-6 cups icing sugar and 2-6 tablespoons cream or milk.  Mix together with mixer until well combined and a spreadable consistency. 

Hope you find these recipes Sweet Enuf!  Happy baking.

Toffee Meltaway Shortbread

Looking for a melt in your mouth cookie that will satisfy your sweet tooth.  Even those of you whose go-to cookie of choice normally contains chocolate may be converted to a chocolate free treat.

These little mounds of whipped shortbread peppered with toffee bits will melt in your mouth and are the perfect few bites at the end of a meal or just because. 

Melt in Your Mouth Shortbread!

One of the best things about these cookies is the fact you just scoop and bake.  No chilling in the fridge first, no patting or rolling out and then cutting into shapes.  Just a few minutes spent mixing the butter, sugar and vanilla really well then adding the dry ingredients then the toffee bits and voila! a delicious cookie that will get rave reviews.

As always, make sure your butter is at room temperature and use pure vanilla extract not artifical vanilla extract.  I use toffee bits but chocolate toffee bits would work just as well if you must have your chocolate hit.  Give them a try and I bet they become one of your favourites! 

Toffee Meltaway Shortbread

Preheat oven to 350F.  Parchment line 2 cookie sheets.

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup corn starch
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup toffee bits

Beat the butter, icing sugar and vanilla in the large mixing bowl of a stand mixer for several minutes until mixture is creamy.   In a separate bowl mix the flour, corn starch, baking powder and salt together.  Add to creamed mixture in 2 batches and mix.  Add in toffee bits and mix in well...this will only take a few seconds.

The dough will come together nicely! 

Roll heaping tablespoons of dough into balls and place about 2-inches apart on lined baking sheets.  I use a medium or small icecream scoop and just plop the dough onto the baking sheets.

Bake about 15 minutes until bottoms are nicely browned.  Let cool slightly and remove from sheets.  Enjoy!

Coming Soon....Experimenting with Cupcake Bouquets...

 

I am an Addict...

Nestled between the articles showing how to Eat Smart, with beautiful, artful pictures of healthy, brightly coloured food items and more articles than you can shake a stick at on how to get fit, lose weight and even more photos of delicious food I saw it....the FOOD PORN PROBLEM.

I didn't even know I was an addict, although I'm sure every addict denies it, isn't that the premise of those addictin shows.  I wonder if Dr. Drew will have food porn addicts in his next season.  Maybe I should apply...but I do have a double addiction really, shoes and food.

Back to the food addiction.  Apparently I am not alone.  You too may be an addict and not know it.  I don't really see this as a concern but it seems women must have a constant source of issues to worry about so we never really feel in control of our lives or ourselves so I guess looking at pictures of food is not such a bad addiction to have.  It's free and doesn't cause harm to anyone, does it.

But according to the article in Women's Health this month we food porn addicts are rampant.  On Pinterst alone there are 50% more photos of desserts pinned than fashion or style.  We don't want the recipes we just want to look at the pretty pictures of the over-the-top cakes, squares, cupcakes, etc.  A simple brownie photo is not enough for us, we want chocolate syrup dripping down the edges, fluffy clouds of whipped cream atop the sauce and sprinkles of chopped nuts or colourful candy bits and then to take us over the edge with delight the single bright red cherry to top it all of! 

There is even a sight, again no recipes, just illict photos of food items called FoodPornDaily.com.  No joke!

So what to do?  Well, it seems looking at all these desserts increases our appetites and causes us to crave these sugar and fat laden items even more than normal.  But there is any easy fix...just do a little exercise and it seems if we make our own food we control our portions more than eating out and then we can have room for dessert.  Actually, the article didn't say anything about making room for dessert but I think there is always room for dessert.

So after reading this article I decided a nice Butter Cake with a nice layer of butter laden vanilla frosting would help me over my depression about my addiction.  I enjoyed a nice slice while looking at the cakes on Pinterst!  I added in about 3/4 of a cup of mini chocolate chips just because.  If you now feel depressed about your addiction the recipe follows and believe me a cup of tea and a little slice of homemade cake will make it all better! 

Butter Cake

Preheat oven to 350F.  Parchment line the bottoms and spray 2 8-inch round pans with cooking spray.

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

In large bowl of electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high for about 3-5 minutes until mixture is pale and creamy.  Scrap sides of bowl as needed.  Turn mixer down to medium and add in eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each.  Add the vanilla and mix.

With mixer on low, alternately add the flour and the milk, mixing just until evenly blended.  You add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/2 of the milk, then another 1/3 of the flour mix, then the remainder of the milk and then the remainder of the flour.

If you wish stir in some chocolate chips using a spatula so you don't over mix the batter and toughen up your finished product.

Divide the batter evenly between your prepared pans and bake on the middle rack for about 25-35 minutes.

This batter works well as cupcakes.  Just reduce your baking time to about 20 minutes.

Cake is done when the top springs back when lightly touched or a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Ice with your favourite icing! 

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cake ...

The Finished Product covered in a White Chocolate Buttercream!

 Today a friend asked if I would again make a white chocolate macadamia nut cake I had done for her some time ago as well as an Orzo Walnut Pesto salad (you gotta balance the carbs with the carbs & sugar, right!).   I had totally forgot about this delicious impressive, or at I least think, impressive looking cake and after looking in all my recipe drawers and files came across it in a 2009 Fine Cooking Magazine.


Butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and macadamia nuts

 The point of this is if you are like me and aspire to bake or cook all these great recipes you see, take heart.  After keeping the recipe for years I finally had a reason to make it several times in the last year.  So it was worth keeping for 4 years.

I have been looking at more and more baking/cooking blogs and I realize even though no one may read this or really care it is a great way to sort of journal about my own experience in the kitchen trying different things or finally having the chance to hopefully recreate all those beautiful creations I see in blogs and now Pinterest.  Hey maybe someday someone will Pin one of my pictures and I can be part of the 'in' group which I never was in school.  Maybe that's why we love this Pinterest stuff so much...we can be part of someone's group and they never realize we are really part of the 'uncool' group.  But I digress....this is about turning the staples of butter, sugar, eggs, etc. into a yummy cake.

The recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine has several steps to make and prepare the cake.  There is the cake recipe, steps for making white chocolate leaves, a buttercream recipe and a filling recipe.  When putting together my cake I just made the cake recipe, used a favourite buttercream recipe I had and folded in a couple ounces of good white chocolate that I melted and cooled and for the middle mashed up some raspberries, about 3/4 cup of frozen berries and pushed them through a sieze and mixed that with about 1 1/3 cups of buttercream for the filling.  No one need know we skipped a few things....

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Grease 3 9-inch pans and parchment line the bottoms of them.

You will need:
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
3 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
2 1/3 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, room temperature (I used sour milk as I never seem to have buttermilk when I need it)
1 1/3 cups chopped white chocolate
1 cup chopped, toasted macadamia nuts

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes.  Scrape down sides of bowl.  Add the vanilla and then the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until incorporated.  Add half of the buttermilk and mix until incorporated.  Continue adding the flour mixture and the buttermilk, alternating between the two and ending with the flour.  The batter will be thick and glossy.  Fold in the white chocolate and macadamia nuts.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cake pans.  Level the batter with a spatula and put into preheated oven.  Rotate pans halfway through baking.

Bake for about 28-35 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool on counter for about 10 minutes and remove from pans.  Let cool completely before icing.

Sweet Enuf comments from the kitchen...this cake freezes well and even with a buttercream made using egg whites, sugar, butter and vanilla freezes great to.  This is a little heavier cake so a small slice is filling and is a little pricey to make with the white chocolate and the macadamia nuts but worth it.

Hope you have a sweet enuf weekend.

4-Ingredient Artisan Bread - Is It as Easy as Zoe and Jeff Make it Look!

Absolutely! After discovering the You Tube video way back in January of this year showing how easy it is to have fresh bread on the table every day after virtually minutes of prep, I vowed to give it a try.



Alas, days and weeks went by and although I occasionally was motivated to give it the old college try some other cookie or cake would take precedence.



Finally in this past week I have made 2 batches of this bread and it truly is simple, tasty and quick! All you need for success is large container with a lid, unbleached all-purpose flour or regular all-purpose flour, salt, yeast and water.

Measure 1 1/2 tablespoons of yeast, 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt (regular table salt is fine), 6 1/2 cups flour and 3 cups lukewarm water together. It doesn't even matter what order you put the ingredients in. Use a wooden spoon to mix everything together and make sure to get the bits of flour that tend to adhere to the bottom. Once mixed the dough should have a wet consistency and look like the photo above.

Cover loosely with a lid or saran wrap making sure some of the gas can escape and leave it on counter for 2 hours. After 2 hours put it in the fridge..still with an opening for the gas to escape. Dough will keep for about 2 weeks in the fridge.

When you are ready for some fresh bread grab a portion of the dough, a large handful, and using a knife or scissors, cut if off. Flour your hands and sprinkle some on the sticky dough, and shape the dough into a smooth ball by gently smoothing the dough from the top to underneath. This step should take you all of about 45 seconds, yes only 45 seconds! Now place on a piece of parchment paper and leave it to rest for 40 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 450F and if you have a pizza stone preheat it in the oven as well. I just put a cookie sheet into preheat. As well have a cup of hot water ready to add to a metal pan for when you put dough in the oven.



The final step before baking, sprinkle with a little flour and using a bread knife cut several slits, about 1/4-inch thick, into top of bread. The bread expands a fair bit and this stops it from splitting and also adds to the look of the artisanal loaf. Now just transfer the loaf and parchment onto stone or cookie sheet in the oven, throw the cup of water into the waiting pan in the oven, close the door and set your timer for 30 minutes.

Voila, hot, crusty, fresh bread that will disappear as soon as you slice it up. Each batch of dough makes 4-5 smallish loaves.

Just how tasty is it...well I took 3 loaves over to a friends for dinner and as soon as I arrived the bread was cut into and disappeared within seconds. It was a hit with everyone wanting to know how to make it. Plus I bought a whole jar of yeast when grocery shopping this week instead of the little envelope as I know this will be one of my staple go-to recipes.

Sweet Enuf for me to make again soon.

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4-Ingredient Artisan Bread - Is It as Easy as Zoe and Jeff Make it Look!

Absolutely! After discovering the You Tube video way back in January of this year showing how easy it is to have fresh bread on the table every day after virtually minutes of prep, I vowed to give it a try.

 

Alas, days and weeks went by and although I occasionally was motivated to give it the old college try some other cookie or cake would take precedence.

 

Finally in this past week I have made 2 batches of this bread and it truly is simple, tasty and quick! All you need for success is large container with a lid, unbleached all-purpose flour or regular all-purpose flour, salt, yeast and water.

 

Measure 1 1/2 tablespoons of yeast, 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt (regular table salt is fine), 6 1/2 cups flour and 3 cups lukewarm water together. It doesn't even matter what order you put the ingredients in. Use a wooden spoon to mix everything together and make sure to get the bits of flour that tend to adhere to the bottom. Once mixed the dough should have a wet consistency and look like the photo above.

Cover loosely with a lid or saran wrap making sure some of the gas can escape and leave it on counter for 2 hours. After 2 hours put it in the fridge..still with an opening for the gas to escape. Dough will keep for about 2 weeks in the fridge.

When you are ready for some fresh bread grab a portion of the dough, a large handful, and using a knife or scissors, cut if off. Flour your hands and sprinkle some on the sticky dough, and shape the dough into a smooth ball by gently smoothing the dough from the top to underneath. This step should take you all of about 45 seconds, yes only 45 seconds! Now place on a piece of parchment paper and leave it to rest for 40 minutes.

 

Preheat your oven to 450F and if you have a pizza stone preheat it in the oven as well. I just put a cookie sheet into preheat. As well have a cup of hot water ready to add to a metal pan for when you put dough in the oven.

 

The final step before baking, sprinkle with a little flour and using a bread knife cut several slits, about 1/4-inch thick, into top of bread. The bread expands a fair bit and this stops it from splitting and also adds to the look of the artisanal loaf. Now just transfer the loaf and parchment onto stone or cookie sheet in the oven, throw the cup of water into the waiting pan in the oven, close the door and set your timer for 30 minutes.

 

Voila, hot, crusty, fresh bread that will disappear as soon as you slice it up. Each batch of dough makes 4-5 smallish loaves.

Just how tasty is it...well I took 3 loaves over to a friends for dinner and as soon as I arrived the bread was cut into and disappeared within seconds. It was a hit with everyone wanting to know how to make it. Plus I bought a whole jar of yeast when grocery shopping this week instead of the little envelope as I know this will be one of my staple go-to recipes.

Sweet Enuf for me to make again soon.

 

 

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I'm Back! Although I'm not sure anyone new I was gone!

As I scroll through yet another blog of an amateur baker it gives me the motivation to find the blog I set up last year and never followed through on.  Although I have kept up my baking I just never sat down to describe the delicious steps involved in the yummy and occasionally not so yummy recipes I have attempted.  

It would seem there are many of us looking for photos and ideas and tips on creating tasty treats to satisfy our desire for the perfect mix of butter, sugar and the occasional egg mixed with some dry ingredients and add-ins.

Isn't it amazing how so few ingredients can come together to create so many tempting items!  

Well I hope to record my successful and hopefully not to many unsuccessful attempts along with some photos to share.

First up....5-ingredient bread in the next couple of days.  Let's see if it is as easy as it looks.

Stay tuned!

Hope Your Day is Sweet Enuf!