Peanut Butter Cup-Cakes

You see what I did there? That's a hard name, but let it marinate for a minute. Peanut butter cup.... cupcakes! When you're an adult, you can make candy cupcakes on a Tuesday and no one will stop you! I mean yes, but I also have a potluck at work tomorrow, and someone was like what are you going to make? I was like, oh, chocolate cupcakes. She was like just chocolate cupcakes? That seems kind of boring for you.
I see what you're doing, and it's working damnit. So here we are, on a Tuesday, upping the ante. This is a chocolate cake, stuffed with a mini Reese's cup, topped with a peanut butter frosting, and a few Reese's pieces because I can.
This batter is my go-to chocolate cake recipe (makes three 8-inch cake rounds or 24 cupcakes with a little extra for a baker's snack- you're welcome).

For the chocolate cake:
2 c granulated sugar
2 1/2 c flour
1 c cocoa powder
3 eggs
3/4 c vegetable oil
2 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c boiling water *I just put mine in a clean coffee pot.
1/2 c buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 bag of Reese's mini's (the individually wrapped ones) * I didn't do this the first time, and now this is the only way I do it, so I wanted to tell you that here as well as an option for you. 

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare 24 cupcake tins with cupcake liners (or tin holes? Two tins, 24 cupcake slots- you get it).
2. Combine sugar and vegetable oil in stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.
3. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated. Add in vanilla extract as well.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
5. Alternate dry ingredients and buttermilk, incorporating each into the batter before adding more. Start and end with the dry ingredients.
6. Add the hot water *make sure your speed is on the lowest!* to the batter a little at a time. Once all incorporated, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and then turn to medium-high speed and whip for one minute. This batter will look really loose (see below), but that's how it should be.

7. Fill up the cupcake tins to about 2/3 full. *Place one unwrapped reese's mini into the batter of each cupcake.* Also take the extra batter and put in a 6 inch cake round that has been sprayed or prepared with goop. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. (Mine took 20 minutes). *Keep in mind that if you are baking your reese's in the cupcakes, you will want to take that into consideration when putting a toothpick in to check doneness*. The extra cake takes about 26 - 28 minutes.

For the Peanut Butter Frosting:
1 1/2 c (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
1 1/2 c creamy peanut butter
4 c (ish) powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

1. Put butter and peanut butter in stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and mix to combine.
2. Start SLOWLY adding the powdered sugar until incorporated.
3. Add salt and vanilla. Continue to whip until fluffy (about 2 minutes).

Assembly:
If you didn't do my baked in option, then you have an additional step. 

For the assembly, you will also need 1 bag of mini Reese's peanut butter cups. **Buy the bag with the unwrapped ones- they are smaller and will fit better into a cupcake AND you don't have to unwrap all the candies!** Yo- I lied. Like I said I made changes. I mean these are fine, but I like the bigger mini cups- the individually wrapped ones. AND I just put them in the batter and baked them inside saving time, and I think I like it better anyway! 

You will also need (or want) 1 bag of Reese's pieces for topping.

1. Take the cooled cupcakes and take a piping tip (or I have also used a pairing knife) to make a small hole in the center of each cupcake.
2. Insert a mini peanut butter cup. *Again, if you baked it in, we are saving time, folks!

3. Add a little bit of the top that you just made a hole with back in so that the cupcake top is level again.
4. Put the frosting in a piping bag (or just a large ziploc bag with a large hole cut into one corner). Pipe onto each cupcake.

5. Top with a few Reese's pieces for curb appeal.

6. Then top your extra cake and eat it in a dark room with a spoon and let no one judge you. You do you, butter cup!

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Banana Muffins

This is one of my favorite recipes. I am not sure who I got it from originally- maybe my friend Liz? I've made a few minor adjustments to the recipe throughout the years, but it's a great easy recipe that requires zero heavy equipment and is great for breakfast or a dessert! It's also a good one to do with your little ones. Let's jump right in!

For the batter:
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
3 ripe bananas (more ripe, more better)
3/4 c granulated sugar
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1/3 c unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
*1/2 c walnuts optional (my husband doesn't like nuts, so I don't usually do it, but it is delicious)

1. Preheat oven to 375F and line one muffin tin with 12 liners. (you can totally make this into a bread in a loaf pan as well- I have done this many times. I just find that muffins are easier for taking somewhere and sharing.)
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, mash up bananas and add sugar, egg, butter, and vanilla.
4. Stir banana mix into dry ingredients until just combined. Don't over mix!
5. Go ahead and make the streusel BEFORE you put the batter into the muffin tin- we are layering, folks.

For the streusel topping:
1/3 c packed brown sugar
1 tbsp unsalted butter, cold
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Combine all ingredients into a small bowl and mix with fingers until you get the butter about the size of peas.
2. Using a small cookie scoop, put one scoop of batter into each muffin liner.
3. Sprinkle some of the streusel topping on the batter.
4. Add another scoop of batter to the liners. (you will be about 2/3 or a little more full).
5. Sprinkle the remaining streusel topping on the batter.
6. Put in the oven and bake for 18 - 20 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.

Rating (Scale of 1 - 5):
Difficulty- 1
Amount of Time- 1
Awesomeness- 5 (maybe one extra point for nostalgia)

Lemon Pound Cake

It is the last weekend in August, and I am not ready to give up summer flavors. Summer is over when
I say it is, so stop, you pumpkin sluts. It's not time yet. Maybe next week though lol. Anyway, we had our low country boil which just happens to be the social event of the season, and a cake that holds up to the heat is the way to go. I did use exactly the proportions of a pound cake, although I just did half a pound of everything because I thought it would make too much cake (said no one ever), and I'm still a little sad about it, so feel free to double or triple this recipe! A pound cake is just equal parts butter, sugar, flour, and eggs. I added a couple extra flavors and a bit of salt and baking powder (just to help with leavening).

For the Pound Cake:
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp (8 oz)
1 c granulated sugar (8 oz)
1 1/2 c flour (ish) (8 oz- I did go by weight and it was a little less than 1 1/2 c)
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
zest and juice of 1 lemon

1. Prepare a bundt pan with goop and preheat oven to 325F. *You can also do this in a loaf pan or really any pan that it'll fit into, although the bundt does work especially well with this because you are gonna soak the bottom and then ice the top. This is more difficult when you have a pan that doesn't innately make you bake your cake upside down.*
2. Cream together butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment until the mixture becomes a pale yellow and is slightly fluffy. This will take about 2 - 3 minutes.
3. Slowly incorporate eggs, making sure mixture is combined between each addition.
4. Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl. Then add them to the wet ingredients slowly until incorporated.
5. Add the vanilla, lemon juice, and zest.
6. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about one hour, but check at about 50 minutes. When a toothpick inserted comes out clean, you are good.
7. Once it's out of the oven, you can prepare the soak.

For the Soak:
1/3 c unsalted butter
3/4 c granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
zest and juice of 1 lemon

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium low heat until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Do not bring to a boil.
2. Poke holes all over the cake-  I used a toothpick - while it's still in the pan- ie the bottom of the cake and pour the soak all over the cake. It will look like a lot of soak, but trust me, it WILL all soak in. Allow the cake to cool completely before turning it out. Another tip- as it's cooling, take a toothpick and run it around the edges including around the middle ring of the bundt pan because this soak will harden and that sugar will try to ruin your life, but if you do this step, it should still pop right out when you turn it over.

For the Glaze:
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 2 lemons *my lemons were hard AF, so I needed a second one, but let's be honest, when making a glaze, measurements are pretty much made up*
1/2 c powdered sugar

1. Combine juice and powdered sugar until you get a pourable but thick glaze. If it's too loose, add more powdered sugar. If it's too stiff, you can add more lemon juice or just a bit of water.
2. Pour over the top of the cooled and plated cake.

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

I am on a kick of changing pie flavors into cupcakes, and if that's wrong, I don't wanna be right. These sweet little babies have a graham cracker crust, a lemon cake filled with lemon curd, and a 7 minute frosting lightly torched. Curb. Appeal. For. Days. 

This recipe makes 24 cupcakes (with a little extra) or three 8-inch cake rounds. 

For the Lemon Curd
I am still using Ina Garten's lemon curd recipe because it's delicious. This is also good to make in advance- at least a few hours or even the night before.

3 lemons *bullshit, Ina.

1 ½ c granulated sugar

¼ pound unsalted butter, room temp (that’s 1 stick)

4 extra-large eggs

½ c lemon juice (3 – 4 lemons) *Really, it depends so much on how juicy your lemons are. Sometimes it takes me 6 lemons, and sometimes 4. So what I'm saying is buy more lemons than you think you will need. 

1/8 tsp salt

1. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest of 3 lemons, being careful to avoid the white pith. Put the zest in a food processor. Add the sugar and pulse until zest is very finely minced into the sugar.

2. Cream the butter and beat in the sugar and lemon mixture.

3. Add one egg at a time, and then add the lemon juice and salt. Mix until combined.

4. Pour mixture into a 2-quart saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened, about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. The lemon curd will thicken at about 170F, or just below a simmer. For this recipe, I kept cooking it for about 10 more minutes because I wanted it to be thicker so that it would not squish out of the cake layers.
5. Remove from heat and run through a strainer to get any lumps or bigger pieces of zest out of it. Cool or refrigerate. I put it in mason jar and let it cool slightly before putting the lid on and putting it in the fridge. 

For the Graham Cracker Crust
2 c graham cracker crumbs *I just bought the box because I couldn't be bothered, but if you have a little pent up anger that you wanna take out on some grahams, you do you boo.*
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 stick (4 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
Pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 350F and prepare 24 cupcake tins with liners (and I also did a 6-inch pan because, like I said, extra batter- ie snackies for baker if you have to take these cupcakes to an event and can't eat them all by yourself in a dark room like you want to).
2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix. Test with your hand- squeeze it in your hand and see if it lightly packs together.
3. Take about an 1/8 c or so of the graham cracker mixture and put it in the bottom of each lined tin.
4. Take a 1/4 c measuring cup and use the back of it to pack the crust down into the bottom of the tins.
5. Cover with the batter that follows (no need to bake beforehand).
*Side note- I did not put graham cracker crust in the bottom of my extra cake pan. I just sprinkled the crumbs on top of the cake later*

For the Lemon Cake
1/3 c vegetable oil
One stick unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
2 c granulated sugar
3 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 c buttermilk
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
Zest and juice of 1 lemon (although more wouldn't really hurt)

1. Combine oil, butter, and granulated sugar and cream together in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.
2. Add eggs one at a time, incorporating each before adding another.
3. Add vanilla.
4. Combine flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together in a separate bowl.
5. Alternate dry ingredients and buttermilk, incorporating each into the batter before adding more. Start and end with the dry ingredients.
6. Incorporate the lemon zest and juice into the batter and mix.
7. Divide batter into cupcake tins and bake for 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

For the 7 Minute Frosting

I used Smitten Kitchen's recipe for the frosting- it is also known as a marshmallow frosting. Light and fluffy and perfect for a torch!

4 large egg whites

1 c granulated sugar

1/2 c light corn syrup

4 tbsp water

2 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1. Combine all ingredients into a metal bowl (I used my bowl of my stand mixer, and you will see why in a minute). 

2. Place metal bowl over a pot of simmering water- it should just barely be touching the bottom of the bowl. (For a stand mixer, you can have it go past the part that connects to your mixer and touch the bottom of the actual bowl part- you get what I mean). 

3. Beat with a handheld mixer until light and fluffy- about 7 minutes (hence the name). Mine took a little longer because I didn't let the water start simmering beforehand. 

4. Take the bowl off the simmering water and put it on your stand mixer. Mix until it gets suuuuuuuper fluffy and is cooler. 

Assembly

1. Once the cupcakes have cooled, take a piping tip to make a small hole in the center of the cupcake. 

2. Take the cooled lemon curd and put it in a piping bag (or just a ziploc bag) and cut the tip off to fill in the holes in the cupcakes. 

3. Put your frosting in a big piping bag and cut a BIG hole. Pipe fluffy mcflufferson clouds on top of your cupcakes. 

4. If you have a kitchen torch, go to town on your frosting for a nice little sun tan on the cupcakes. 

Peach Pie Cake (and/or Cupcakes)

It was my friend Elizabeth Carter's birthday, and this cake was in celebration! I asked her what she wanted, and she was like anything, and I was like give me a flavor at least, and she said peach. My first thought was peach pie, but then I was like, wait... what about if peach pie and peach cake had a baby! This is a 3 layer cake with peach preserves and pie crumble topping between the layers, topped with a cinnamon buttercream, and really from start to finish, I think it was just a little over two hours, so not bad at all. I have also done this as cupcakes- cut a little hole in the cupcakes and fill with peach preserves. Add the buttercream on top and crumbles!!  This recipe makes three 8-inch round cakes OR 24 cupcakes (with a little extra).

For the Cake:
This is pretty much my same pineapple cake recipe subbed with peaches instead.
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
3 eggs
2 c granulated sugar
2 c all purpose flour
1 1/2 c cake flour

1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 c buttermilk
8 oz by weight of canned peaches, chopped into small chunks *this was about the whole amount of a 15oz can of peaches also SAVE THE JUICE*
1/2 c peach juice *see, told you to save the juice- this was pretty much all the juice in my can of peaches*

1. Preheat oven to 350F and prepare three 8-inch round cake pans with goop.
2. Combine vegetable oil and butter in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.
3. Gradually add in the granulated sugar and whip until light and fluffy.
4. Add in eggs and vanilla to the sugar mixture.
5. In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
6. Pour 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture and mix to combine.
7. Pour the buttermilk into sugar mixture and combine.
8. Pour another 1/3 of dry.
9. Pour the peach juice in and mix to combine.
10. Pour in the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients.
11. Add the peach chunks and stir to incorporate.
12. Divide the batter between the three cake pans. Bake for 22 - 27 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
13. Allow to cool slightly before turning out on a cooling rack to cool completely before assembly.

For the Crumble:
2/3 c brown sugar
2/3 c unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1 c all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon (I measure with my heart, so this is an estimate)
Pinch of salt

1. Turn oven up to 375F. Prepare a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and squish together with hands (or a pastry cutter) until you have small chunks of butter throughout, about the size of peas.
3. Turn it out onto the baking sheet and bake for 15 - 20 minutes until golden brown, mixing every 5 minutes or so. *It will look melty in the oven, but it'll come together. Don't worry.
4. Allow to cool completely- it will get crunchy as it cools. *Also, this made more crumble than I used, so you could make less, or you could make this amount and have the best yogurt topping for your breakfast or a delicious snacky snack whenever you want. I always opt for snacks.

For the Cinnamon Buttercream:
4 sticks of unsalted butter, room-temp
5 c (ish) powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 tsp cinnamon (again, measure with your heart)
1 tsp vanilla (saaaaame)
1/4 tsp salt
*Optional to add a splash of milk or cream- I did this (actually a splash of buttermilk because that's what I had)

1. Put butter in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Start mixing.
2. Slowly add powdered sugar until incorporated.
3. Add in cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Whip until fluffy.

Assembly:
1. Place a dollop of frosting on your cake stand. Add first layer of cooled cake (if you need to level your cakes, do so before assembly with a serrated knife).
2. Put about 1/3 of the buttercream into a pastry bag equipped with a large round tip (or you can just use a ziplock bag if you don't have a pastry bag. Just fill and cut a hole in the corner of the bag).
3.. Take your peach preserves and put a layer of preserves on the cake layer, leaving a little space at the edges.
4. Pipe a dam of buttercream around the peach preserves.
5. Add a layer of crumble topping on the peach preserves.

6. Add second cake layer and continue process. 

7. Add last layer and cover the whole cake in buttercream. (I didn't add peach preserves to that last layer because it's on top.)
8. Add more crumble topping on top of your cake for decoration.

Here's the Cupcakes:
1. Pour the same batter into cupcake tins with liners. Bake for about 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
2. Take a piping tip (or I used a pairing knife) to make a small hole in the center of each cupcake.
3. Put peach preserves in a piping bag (or a ziploc bag with the tip cut off) and pipe into the center of each cupcake.

4. Top each cupcake with a dollop of buttercream. I tried to make a dip in the middle of my buttercream so that it's easier to top with crumbles! 

Funfetti Cupcakes

These cupcakes are the epitome of childhood. I will say that these guys are a slightly different texture than those fluffy store-bought cupcakes. They have more chew to them, and I'm down with that. They are slathered with a vanilla buttercream and sprinkles and no child (or adult) has ever turned that away! My five-year-old niece ate two in one sitting! (Don't tell her mother.) This makes 24 cupcakes (with a little extra batter- which I just pour into a small cake pan and that's my baker snack- you know if you're taking cupcakes somewhere and so you don't get to eat any of them because they're for a party? Well, problem solved.) This also can make three 8-inch round cakes.

For the Cake:
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
3 eggs
2 c granulated sugar
2 c all purpose flour
1 1/2 c cake flour

1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c buttermilk
Zest of 1 lemon *optional*
Sprinkles- measure these with your heart. I probably put like 1/3 cup, but I literally poured them in until I got the amount that I wanted.

1. Preheat oven to 350F and prepare 24 cupcake tins with liners.
2. Combine vegetable oil and butter in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.
3. Gradually add in the granulated sugar and whip until light and fluffy.
4. Add in eggs and vanilla to the sugar mixture.
5. In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
6. Pour 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture and mix to combine.
7. Pour 1/2 of the buttermilk into sugar mixture and combine.
8. Pour another 1/3 of dry.
9. Pour second 1/2 of buttermilk.
10. Pour in the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients.
11. Add in lemon zest and sprinkles and stir to incorporate.
12. Divide the batter between cupcakes liners. Bake for 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

For the Buttercream:
4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
5 c (ish) powdered sugar, sifted
1 tbsp vanilla
Pinch of salt
*Again, you could put a bit of lemon zest in here. I did.*
**You could also add a splash of heavy cream to loosen it up if you like. I did not.*

1. Put butter into stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and start to mix.
2. Slowly incorporate the powdered sugar.
3. Add vanilla and salt.
4. Whip until light and fluffy. If you feel like it's too loose, add more sugar. If it feels too tight, add a splash of cream or milk.
5. Slather on everything. Everything.

Assembly:
1. I don't feel like this really requires explanation, but here you are.
2. Take cooled cupcake. Put on buttercream. Add sprinkles on top.
3. Here's a bonus picture of my niece with her funfetti smash cake on her first birthday!

Bonus:
I have also used excess cake and buttercream and made some cake balls. (I made too much cake for the party. I don't know what happened....)
1. Take leftover cake (that is not "dressed with buttercream yet"- although honestly, I bet you could do this just with leftover cake and cupcakes in general as well- let's try that and reconvene.) and crumble with your hands in a bowl.

2. Add leftover buttercream (mine was pink for this last round of funfetti cakes- it's whatever). You are looking for a consistency that can stay together when you ball some of it up in your hand.

3. Scoop out mixture with a cookie scoop and place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet (or you could just use a spoon- although the scoop does allow for more consistency).
4. Once you have scooped them, gently roll them in your hands to create a ball shape. Allow to cool in fridge for about 45 minutes to an hour. (That pink color kinda makes them look like meatballs lol).

5. Melt candy melts (or white chocolate- I did both because I didn't buy enough candy melts) in microwave at 15 second intervals. Be careful not to overheat. Stir after each interval. Take out of microwave when there's still just a few lumps in the chocolate. Stir til completely smooth.
6. Take cool cake balls and dunk in chocolate with a fork, knocking excess chocolate off before landing it back on the parchment. Immediately put sprinkles on top- the chocolate hardens faster than you would think.

 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yeah, we are gonna go straight up chocolate chip cookies. No frills. No fuss. 100% delicious. These are an old friends' recipe that I have used for many years and have never found another recipe that exceeds this (IMO). They have a little chew, a little crunch around the edges, and that perfect hint of salt at the end. This recipe makes like 4 dozen cookies, so prepare yourself for a lot of them and for the fact that they will still only last like 20 minutes. 

For the Cookies:
2/3 c unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 c vegetable shortening
1 c granulated sugar
1 c brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla *measure with your heart*
3 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips *or whatever chips you want; you do you, boo*

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Combine butter and shortening and both sugars into a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and beat for a few minutes to cream together. The mixture will look a little fluffy.
3. Add eggs one at a time, incorporating after each one. Add the vanilla and mix.
4. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet, scraping down the bowl occasionally, until fully incorporated.
5. Mix in the chocolate chips. *I just do this by hand so that the mixer doesn't destroy my chocolate*
6. With a small ice cream scoop (or just spoons) drop 12 cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet, leaving a little space for them to spread.
7. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until golden brown. If you want them softer, take them out sooner; if you want them crunchier, you can bake a little longer.

8. Enjoy straight out of the oven, huddled in a corner so that no one can see you as you shovel them in.

Oreo Buttercream

This will be a pretty quick post because we are just gonna talk about buttercream. I will also link this to the black cocoa cake if  you aren't wanting to just eat straight up buttercream with a spoon. No judgement if that IS what you want. I've done it a time or two myself.

For the Buttercream
3 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
Innards of 12 regular Oreos
4 c powdered sugar
Crushed Oreo shells
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
*optional, a splash of heavy cream

1. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and Oreo innards.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together powdered sugar and crushed Oreo shells.
3. Slowly start to incorporate powdered sugar mixture into the butter mixture.
4. Add vanilla and salt and mix to incorporate.
5. At this point, you can add a little heavy cream if you want to loosen it up a bit, but I didn't.

These are what the cupcakes look like with the black cocoa recipe. Pure Oreo cookie bliss!

Black Cocoa Cake

You know how Oreos are not a normal chocolate color? That's because they use black cocoa powder! This stuff is hella dark and earthy. You can buy it on Amazon (surprise; you can buy everything on Amazon), and it will change up some of your favorite recipes. This cake was made for my friend Peter's birthday. It is a black cocoa cake with black cocoa frosting and a white chocolate ganache dyed green to look like slime. This is just a slight departure from my regular chocolate cake, but it does take on a personality of its own. It is a banging cake that would perfect for any monsters in your life. This recipe is enough for three 8-inch round cakes or 24 cupcakes (with a little extra).

For the Cake
2 c granulated sugar
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
3/4 c cocoa powder
1/4 c black cocoa powder (this cocoa powder doesn't have as much chocolate-y flavor, so  you want to use just a little bit of it)
3/4 c vegetable oil
3 large eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c buttermilk
1 c hot water

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease three 8-inch round pans using goop.
2. Combine sugar and vegetable oil in stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.
3. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated. Add in vanilla extract as well.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
5. Alternate dry ingredients and buttermilk, incorporating each into the batter before adding more. Start and end with the dry ingredients.
6. Add the hot water *make sure your speed is on the lowest!* to the batter a little at a time. Once all incorporated, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and then turn to medium-high speed and whip for one minute. This batter will look pretty loose, but that's how it should be, so don't worry!
7. Pour batter evenly into cake pans and bake for 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
8. Let cool slightly before turning out on a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.

For the Buttercream
3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 c cocoa powder
1/4 c black cocoa powder
3 c powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

1. Sift together powdered sugars and cocoa powders in a large bowl.
2. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter.
3. Slowly add powdered sugar and cocoa powders to the butter.
4. Add salt and vanilla and mix to incorporate.
5. If it seems too loose, add a bit more cocoa powder; if it seems really tight, you can add a bit of heavy cream or buttermilk to it.
**I did NOT add any food coloring to this, and it was pretty dark. It also gets darker as the buttercream sits.You can add black food coloring if you want to make it midnight black, but I don't really think it's necessary.

For the Ganache
10 oz white chocolate
2/3 c heavy cream
1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
A pinch of salt
*optional food coloring of your choice*

1. In a small saucepan, heat heavy cream. *You aren't looking for it to boil; you just want to warm it.
2. In a heat-safe bowl, combine white chocolate and butter (cut your butter into small cubes).
3. Once the heavy cream is warm, pour it on top of your chocolate and cover with plastic wrap for five minutes to help the melting process.
4. Once it's melted, stir to combine. You can add food coloring at this point if you like. The mixture will be pretty runny at first. Give it time to firm up a bit. You want it to still be pourable, but you also don't want it to just slide off the cake.

Assembly
1. Level off your cake layers if needed.
2. Put a dollop of buttercream on your cake stand, and then add your first layer of cake.
3. Cover top of first layer with buttercream and then add second cake layer.
4. Repeat process until all three cake layers are stacked. Cover entire cake in the black buttercream.
5. Once the ganache is cooled to a good consistency, start by pouring in the middle of the top of the cake. I just take a spoon and carefully start to push it to the edge of the cake at various spots to let it drip over the edge. The ganache will continue to harden as the cake sits.

I also want to link you to some Oreo buttercream that is a good alternative to the black cocoa with white chocolate ganache. Full circle, back to the Oreos!

Lemon Blueberry Bombshell Cake

This is the lemoniest (and possibly sweetest) cake ever. There's lemon in everything. EVERY. THING. And it's glorious. I feel like Will Farrell- MORE COW BELL! MORE LEMOOOON! Okay, sorry, I don't know what happened there. Anyway, I'm gonna just say when you go to make this cake, just buy a bag of lemons and plan on using most of them. This is the perfect spring or summer cake. I'd recommend making the lemon curd the night before- this just makes it easier when you go to make the cake because it requires some cooling.
Side note, this was a cake for our two year birthday of our book club because we are adorable! I will post a pic of our group at the bottom so that you can look if you want and can just stop reading by then if you don't ;)

This recipe makes three 8-inch round cakes OR 24 cupcakes (with a little extra).

For the Lemon Simple Syrup
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/4 c water
Zest and juice of one lemon

1. Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce to a simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture thickens to a syrup.
3. Remove from heat and cool.
**You will have extra syrup left over from the cake. KEEP IT! Put it in your cocktails! Pairs great with cucumber gin. Just saying.

For the Lemon Curd
I am still using Ina Garten's lemon curd recipe because it's delicious.

3 lemons *bullshit, Ina.

1 ½ c granulated sugar

¼ pound unsalted butter, room temp (that’s 1 stick)

4 extra-large eggs

½ c lemon juice (3 – 4 lemons) *Really, it depends so much on how juicy your lemons are. Sometimes it takes me 6 lemons, and sometimes 4. So what I'm saying is buy more lemons than you think you will need. 

1/8 tsp salt

1. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest of 3 lemons, being careful to avoid the white pith. Put the zest in a food processor. Add the sugar and pulse until zest is very finely minced into the sugar.

2. Cream the butter and beat in the sugar and lemon mixture.

3. Add one egg at a time, and then add the lemon juice and salt. Mix until combined.

4. Pour mixture into a 2-quart saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened, about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. The lemon curd will thicken at about 170F, or just below a simmer. For this recipe, I kept cooking it for about 10 more minutes because I wanted it to be thicker so that it would not squish out of the cake layers.
5. Remove from heat and run through a strainer to get any lumps or bigger pieces of zest out of it. Cool or refrigerate. I put it in mason jar and let it cool slightly before putting the lid on and putting it in the fridge. 

For the Lemon Blueberry Cake
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 c (One stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs, separated
2 c granulated sugar
2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c cake flour

1 1/2 c buttermilk
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 pint blueberries
Zest and juice of 1 lemon (although more wouldn't really hurt)

1. Preheat oven to 350F and prepare three 8-inch round cake pans with goop.
2. Combine oil, butter, and granulated sugar and cream together in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.

3. In a small bowl, whip up the egg whites to soft peaks. Set aside.
4. Add egg yolks one at a time, into the butter and sugar mixture, incorporating each before adding another.
5. Add vanilla.
6. Combine flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together in a separate bowl.
7. Alternate dry ingredients and buttermilk, incorporating each into the batter before adding more. Start and end with the dry ingredients. **SAVE a little of the dry ingredients at the end.
8. Take your last bit of dry ingredients and toss your blueberries around in there. This will help the blueberries to be coated in flour and not sink to the bottom of the cakes.

9. Throw in your egg whites and fold them in to incorporate.
10. Incorporate the blueberries, lemon zest, and juice into the batter and mix by hand. You don't want to use the electric mixer for this part because you don't want to break the blueberries apart.
9. Divide batter into pans and bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

For the Lemon Buttercream 
4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
5 1/2 c powdered sugar (sifted)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
Zest of one lemon

1. Cream butter in a stand mixer with paddle attachment.
2. Slowly (in batches) add powdered sugar until incorporated. *You can add more powdered sugar if you feel it needs it. Sometimes I add more if it's a humid day.
3. Add vanilla, salt, and lemon zest and mix until incorporated.

Assembly
1.  Place a dollop of frosting on your cake board to hold layers in place.
2. If the cake layers are a bit uneven, level off tops with a serrated knife.
3. Put some buttercream in one piping bag and the lemon curd in another piping bag.
3. Place your first layer on the cake board. Take the simple syrup and brush the top of the cake with the syrup.

4. Take the buttercream and first make a circle of buttercream all around the edge of the top of the cake. This will create a dam to make sure that no lemon curd escapes! Continue to make a spiral of with the buttercream all the way into the middle of the cake.

4. Take the lemon curd and fill in the buttercream spiral with the lemon curd. (See video below)

5. Add next layer and then repeat.

6. Once the final layer has been put on, soak that layer with the simple syrup, and then cover the cake in buttercream.
7. If you want to do the cute little lemon drops on top, put some lemon curd in a ziploc bag and cut a TINY hole in the corner of the bag. Make little drops of lemon curd in a spiral on top of the cake. Take a toothpick and run it through each dot of curd to create a dragging pattern. You may need to wipe off your toothpick every once in a while as you go.

 

Strawberry Shortbread Bars

It's July, and tomorrow I am meeting some friends for a late birthday celebration of our friend Lucy, and I wanted to bring a little treat, but I also have to work all day, so wanted something that would travel well and be able to sit in my car all day, which is a big task in July heat in the Midwest! Second reason why I made these bars is because my friend Nina, who will also be at dinner, had left a full jar of strawberry preserves at my house, so here we are. These bars have a shortbread crust that just dissolves in your mouth, gooey strawberry preserves, and a crumble topping because everything should have a crumble topping. This recipe will make a batch of 12 bars, but they are thick little babies, so a little goes a long way. You could maybe even cut them into smaller pieces, but I didn't because I love myself and my friends. Another option that I'm not quite as offended by is putting this in a larger pan so that your shortbread is thinner, thus making this go a bit further, but you'd definitely want more preserves. You probably don't need more crumble topping lol. It's a lot of crumble.
Also, these do have a long bake time AND need to cool, so maybe make them a day before you need them. Just saying.

For the shortbread:
Shortbread is a 1-2-3 ratio. One part sugar, two butter, three flour by weight. It made more sense for me to just do my two ratio of butter first since it's in sticks and then do my measurements off of that.

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp (226 grams)
1/2 c granulated sugar *a heaping half cup* (113 g)
2 3/4 c all-purpose flour (339 g)
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cardamom *I know I use it a lot. Come at me*
Zest of 1 lemon

1. Preheat oven to 350F and put parchment into a square 8x8 inch pan (with some overhang to help you pull these out later) and spray with cooking spray.
2. Put butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and cream for a few minutes.
3. Add flour, salt, cardamom, and lemon zest, mixing until you get a crumble texture.

4. Press into the prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes. This is just to get the shortbread to set a bit before adding the rest. While that's baking, you can get your crumble topping together.

Before the Bake

For the crumble topping:
This is the crumble topping I use for every pie. I did have a little extra that I didn't put on these bars, but after baking them, I feel like it would have been alright to throw all that shit on there. Also, can we talk about how easy these recipes are? First the shortbread, and now this:

1/2 c butter, unsalted, cold (one stick)
1/2 c rolled oats
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c all purpose flour
*I also put another pinch of salt and cinnamon in there*

1. Cut butter into cubes and combine with the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Squish with your hands until butter is the size of peas.

Assembly:
1. After shortbread has done the par-bake, take it out of the oven and spread the whole 13 oz jar of preserves on the shortbread. *just a reminder that your pan is hot, so be careful!*

2. Sprinkle the crumb topping over until it covers. If a little strawberry preserve is poking out, that's okay. She can show a little skin.

3. Return to the oven until golden brown and set. It took me about an hour.

4. Allow to cool COMPLETELY before lifting the parchment out and cutting into squares.

5. Someone please take these on a picnic because they are dying to go.