Carrot Cake Cupcakes

For Easter, you have to have carrot cake. You just have to. Even in quarantine. Delicate spice cake riddled with carrots and topped with tangy cream cheese frosting. One of my favs. I didn't want to make a big three-layer cake when there are only three of us in the house, so I halved my regular recipe. This recipe makes about 18 cupcakes. These were possibly the softest cupcakes I have ever made in my life. I would have eaten the entire cake if I did make it... a little regret there, but not as much regret as I would have had eating an entire three-layer cake.

For the cupcakes:
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/4 c unsalted butter (1/2 stick), room temp
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c all-purpose flour

3/4 c cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Pinch of cloves
3/4 c buttermilk
About 8 oz grated carrots
*You can add additional fixins like nuts and/or raisins. I'm a purist. You do you, boo.

1.Preheat oven to 350F and prepare cupcake pans with liners. Grate carrots and set aside. *Can I also just say that the store only had baby carrots which are a bitch to grate. Perrin was happy that he got to have all the nubbins. Perrin is my dog. I feel like you should know this already. Are we even friends?
2. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together oil, butter, and sugars. Add in the yolks of the two eggs- keep the whites separate. Add in vanilla extract.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together egg whites until at stiff peaks. Set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients- flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.
5. Pour 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture and mix to combine.
6. Pour 1/2 of the buttermilk into sugar mixture and combine.
7. Pour another 1/3 of dry.
8. Pour second 1/2 of buttermilk.
9. Pour in the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients.
10. Slowly fold in the egg whites that were whipped up earlier. *This ensures that the batter will be light and fluffy.
11. Fold in the grated carrots.

12.Distribute into pans and bake for 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
13. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:
8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
8 tbsp (1 box) cream cheese, room temp
4 c (ish) powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt
*splash of milk to thin- this is optional, but I felt like it needed it so I could pipe. 

1. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter and cream cheese.
2. Add in powdered sugar slowly, a little at a time.
3. Add in vanilla and salt.
4. Whip until light and fluffy. Add milk if you need to thicken. Add more powdered sugar if it's too thin.
5. Slather on cooled cupcakes. I didn't pipe- I feel like carrot cakes should be rustic. 

Baklava

This is my first post that isn't part of my 2018 Baking Challenge! At this point, I am going to start

sharing some recipes that I have made that I just really loved.*This doesn't mean I haven't changed the recipe, but that even if I didn't completely follow the main recipe, I ended with something totally delicious.* Most will still be baking, but some might be savory meals as well! Anyway, baklava. I would put baklava in my top 5 desserts of all time. I can literally eat my weight in baklava. It's a dessert that I have to physically remove myself from in order to stop eating.
So. Much. Butter. Honey. Nuts. Flaky, flaky phyllo. Man I need some fucking baklava NOW! Okay, sidetracked there. It happens. So here's the recipe I used: https://hubpages.com/food/baklavarecipe
I will warn you that this is not a difficult recipe, but it does require some time. It is a bit cathartic though. So, if you are ready to slather butter on about 1 million paper-thin sheets of dough, then jump on in, folks!

First of all, you will need:
1 box Phyllo Dough *you can buy it frozen at the store, just make sure that you let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
1 pound of butter, melted

For the filling:
1 pound Walnuts (4 cups) *you don't have to use walnuts. You don't even have to use just one kind of nut. I literally went through my pantry of all my leftover nuts and kept pouring until I had enough. I used pecans, pistachios, and walnuts in mine.
1 c granulated sugar

1. Chop the nuts in the food processor until about pea sized or smaller. You can also chop these with a knife or hand chopper.
2. Once chopped, put in a bowl with the granulated sugar and mix to combine.
3. Set aside until assembly.

For the Syrup:
2 c granulated sugar
1 c water
4 tbsp honey

1. Combine sugar and water into a small saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil, and then add the honey.
3. Once the boil has returned, reduce the heat and keep simmering while you assemble the baklava. *The recipe doesn't tell you when to stop simmering. I just did it until I put the baklava into the oven, and then let it cool while the baklava was baking. It turned out fine for me. **Also, don't multi-task. I was like I'm gonna make this WHILE I am layering my butter and dough so I don't waste time. Just waste the 5 minutes and make this before you are doing the assembly. I have an electric stove, and so much sticky stuff had to be cleaned when I wasn't paying attention and the syrup overflowed.

Assembly and baking:
**This will take a little bit of time, and like I said above, this is not a multi-tasking moment. Put on some good music, and settle in.
1. Get your phyllo dough, melted butter, and filling in one place.
2. Take a baking sheet, and brush some of the melted butter on the sheet.
3. Place a sheet of phyllo on the baking sheet and brush with butter. *If your sheets are too long, you can fold over. If they're too short, you can cut them. It really doesn't matter, as long as you have butter between every overlap of dough.
4. Add another sheet, followed by butter. Repeat once more.

5. At this point, you have 3 sheets of phyllo with butter. Now, you can add 1/3 of the filling all over the dough.
6. Add three more phyllo sheets (each separated by butter), then another third of the filling.

7. Repeat this process again, and add the final 1/3 of filling.
8. Add three final sheets (each separated by butter) to the top of the baklava. *So you have dough ->filling ->dough ->filling->dough->filling->dough. Just so we are clear!
9. Preheat oven to 350F.
10. Take a sharp knife (I used serrated), and cut the baklava BEFORE it bakes. Cut diagonal lines one way, and then turn and repeat the process.

You will end up with diamond shapes that look like this: 

11. Bake in the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes. The color should be golden brown. 

12. While the baklava is baking, check on the syrup. It should have cooked down a bit and be a little thick and golden in color. 

13. Once the baklava is out of the oven, pour the syrup all over it WHILE IT'S HOT! All the syrup will soak into all the layers of phyllo, and HEAVEN!!! 

Difficulty: 2

Amount of Time: 3

Awesomeness: 5

Coconut Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

It's quarantine time, y'all, which means I want to bake, but there's only 3 of us in this house, and I'm not trying to gain 50 pounds, AND I have limited ingredients. It feels like an episode of chopped. Anyway, I wanted to make cupcakes, but I didn't have buttermilk which I always use in my cupcakes (if you've seen any of my other posts, you know), but I did have some coconut milk. It turns out I didn't even have enough coconut milk, so I also used sour cream. All of this to say, I'm gonna give you my recipe, but I am also gonna give you some alternatives because maybe you're like me, stuck at home, and have other ingredients that I don't have and don't have ones that I do!
Also, I tried to just make a dozen cupcakes, so I halved my usual ratios. I still ended up with about 15 cupcakes. If you need more, feel free to double the ingredients.

For the Cake:
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/4 c unsalted butter (1/2 stick), room temp
1 c granulated sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c all-purpose flour

3/4 c cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4  tsp baking soda
3/4 c coconut milk *I only ended up having 1/2 c left from making muffins earlier in the week, so I did 1/2 c coconut milk and 1/4 c sour cream; you could also just do 3/4 c buttermilk; another good option would be 1/2 c whole milk and 1/4 c sour cream*
**coconut extract - I did not have this. Again, hello shelter in place. IF you do have it, totally use some. Use it sparingly- it is very strong. The cake doesn't really taste like coconut just with the coconut milk - my husband who hates coconut can attest to that. If you don't have extract, that's okay; we are going to coat the buttercream in toasted coconut, so it'll be coconut-y, but if you do have it, use it.

1.Preheat oven to 350F and prepare cupcake pans with liners. Again, it's a little more than a dozen. You could make the remaining  batter into cupcakes or fill a small cake pan. Follow your heart. I did more cupcakes.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together oil, butter, and sugar. Add in the yolks of the two eggs- keep the whites separate. Add in vanilla extract.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together egg whites until at stiff peaks. Set aside.

4. In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients- flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
5. Pour 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture and mix to combine.
6. Pour 1/2 of the coconut milk (or whatever milk you had) into sugar mixture and combine.
7. Pour another 1/3 of dry.
8. Pour second 1/2 of coconut milk and sour cream (if you used it).
9. Pour in the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients.
10. Slowly fold in the egg whites that were whipped up earlier. *This ensures that the batter will be light and fluffy.
11. Distribute into pans and bake for 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
12. Allow to cool completely before filling with ganache.

For the Ganache:
1/2 c heavy whipping cream
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips *or any chocolate you like
2 tbsp unsalted butter
Pinch of salt
Splash of vanilla extract

1. Place the heavy cream in a small pan on the stove and heat until just at a simmer. You don't want this to boil.
2. While the cream is heating, put your chocolate and butter chopped into small cubes into a heat- safe bowl.
3. Once the cream has heated, pour over the chocolate and butter and cover bowl with plastic wrap for about 5 minutes. *This just ensures that your chocolate will melt and be easier to incorporate.
4. Stir the ingredients together. At first it will look like they aren't coming together. They will. Once it's smooth, I add some salt and vanilla to taste, and make sure to fully incorporate it.
5. Allow to cool a bit because it will look like this at first:

But it will start to thicken a bit more. You want it to be able to be piped into the cupcakes, but not too runny. If you let it harden too much, then you'll be a little sad when trying to get it into the cupcakes. 

For the Frosting (and topping):
1 c unsalted butter (2 sticks), room temp
3 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract *or again, if you have coconut extract, use here, but NOT a tsp; probably much less
Pinch of salt
3/4 c coconut flakes *I'm not gonna lie- I didn't measure this; I just put some in the pan. It feels like it was about this much, and it was plenty. You can use sweetened or unsweetened- I used sweetened because that's what I had.

1. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and slowly add powdered sugar until fully incorporated.
2. Add in vanilla and salt. Beat until fluffy.
3. If it feels too loose, add more powdered sugar. If it feels too stiff, add a splash of milk.
4. Put coconut flakes in a small, dry pan on low-medium heat. Stir frequently until they start to lightly toast. Pay attention here! This shit will burn real fast. Set aside in a bowl for assembly.

Assembly:
1. With a pairing knife, cut a hole in the center of the cooled cupcakes, being careful not to go all the way to the bottom. I cut off the top of the cone that I cut out so that I could put the little "hat" back on top of the ganache. This was just to help it from coming out when you pipe buttercream on top.
2. Put ganache into a piping bag (or a ziploc bag), and cut a hole to pipe ganache into center of each cupcake. Put the "hat" of cupcake back on top of the ganache.

3. Fill a piping bag (or again a ziploc bag) with buttercream frosting, and cut a large hole in the bag. Pipe in the center of the cupcake. You don't have to go to the very edges.
4. Take each frosted cupcake and push the frosting into the bowl of coconut flakes, moving the cupcake around to get it completely covered. I pushed straight down on the buttercream at first so that the cream would come to the edge of the cupcake and then went around the edges of the buttercream as well for full coverage.

5. Try to make people eat your cupcakes so that you don't eat all of them while sitting on your ass in quarantine.

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

These little guys are so delicious. It looks like a regular yellow cupcake with chocolate frosting, and then BAM- a sweet vanilla pastry cream is shoved inside! you could totally do this as a cake as well (obviously since that's the normal way to do it), but this recipe makes 24 cupcakes and a smidge more for a baker's treat! You do want to make the pastry cream in advance so that it has time to cool off before filling the cupcakes.

For the Pastry Cream:

1 2/3 c heavy whipping cream *I usually do half milk and half whipping cream, but I only had whipping cream at home, so I did all whipping cream, and it was delicious 

½ c granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

4 large egg yolks

½ c flour

4 tbsp unsalted butter, cold

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1. In a medium heat-proof mixing bowl, whisk together egg yolks, salt, and sugar until completely combined and a bit frothy. *If you're doing this alone, use your stand mixer bowl. This way you can stick it on the base so that it doesn't move later when you need to pour and whisk at the same time.

2. Add flour and set aside while heating cream.
3. Heat heavy cream and butter on the stove until simmering. Take off the heat when mixture starts to simmer *you don’t want it to boil.
4. Slowly add cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly. Whisk well. *Be gentle- you don’t want to cook the eggs, so baby steps here, folks.
5. Return the mixture to the pan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. The mixture will thicken within a few minutes. Take off heat once it’s thick and add in vanilla extract.  
6. Cool to room temperature and transfer into a bowl with a lid to be refrigerated. It needs to cool at least four hours or overnight.
**I actually had to do my pastry cream twice because I fucked it up the first time. I think I heated the mixture too hard and fast the first time, and then my pastry cream was all weepy (see left picture). The second time, I went slower, lifting the pan off the heat every once in a while so that my cream didn't get too hot too fast. See right picture for pretty pastry cream. 

 

For the Cupcakes:
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 c unsalted butter (1 stick), room temp
2 c granulated sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c cake flour

1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 c buttermilk


1.Preheat oven to 350F and prepare cupcake pans with liners and grease a small (I usually do 6 in) pan for the extra batter.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together oil, butter, and sugar. Add in the yolks of the three eggs- keep the whites separate. Add in vanilla extract.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together egg whites until at stiff peaks. Set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients- flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
5. Pour 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture and mix to combine.
6. Pour 1/2 of the buttermilk into sugar mixture and combine.
7. Pour another 1/3 of dry.
8. Pour second 1/2 of buttermilk.
9. Pour in the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients.
10. Slowly fold in the egg whites that were whipped up earlier. *This ensures that the batter will be light and fluffy.

11. Distribute into pans and bake for 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

12. Allow to cool completely before filling with pastry cream.  

For the Frosting: 
4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 c cocoa powder
1/8 c black cocoa powder *if you don't have this, it's fine- you can just add a bit more cocoa powder- this just makes it a little darker and richer.
4 c powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

1. Sift together powdered sugar 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.

Assembly:
1. Take a pairing knife and cut out the center of each cupcake, making sure to not go all the way to the bottom of the cupcake.
2. Place cooled pastry cream in a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner cut off. Fill each cupcake hole with pastry cream.

3. Place buttercream in a piping bag and snip the end off. Starting from the outside, pipe around until you have the cupcake and the cream covered. *You can also use a different tip if you want, but I just went for the straight swirl. I would say it's easier to do this with a piping bag instead of just an offset spatula because you have that pastry cream sticking out of the top of the cupcake.

4. Serve immediately- if you have leftovers or are making these ahead of time, put them in the fridge since they have the pastry cream in them. When you go to serve, just take out of the fridge about 30 minutes beforehand and they'll warm back up to room temp.

Smore's Pie

It's Pi(e) Day y'all! This is what we have all been waiting for.
An entire day devoted to eating one of my favorite things of all time. For this momentous occasion, I decided to make a smore's pie. Not just any smore's pie, but a pie with a homemade graham cracker crust- a giant crust of graham cookie. A pie filled with chocolate ganache. A pie topped with homemade  marshmallow. A pie torched to have a nice little campfire afterglow. Can you tell I'm excited? No? Well just you wait!

One side note, this is a bit time consuming- most of it is the amount of time you have to wait. This is NOT a make the same day you want to eat it pie- the marshmallows need like 8 - 24 hours to set up before eating, so there's that. Make it the day before and then try to wait patiently... It's hard.

For the Graham Crust:
Now, I have made homemade grahams before, and you can see that post here, but I also made a few modifications. I don't think I made these modifications because I was putting it in a pie, but because the grahams are kind of a bitch, and this is easier. So, here is the original recipe, and I will let you know the changes I made as we go.

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
3/4 c brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c unsalted butter, cold
1/3 c honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 tbsp (ish) heavy cream (or milk is fine) *Yes, this is still true, but I did like 6 or 7 tbsp to help hold it together a bit more. Did a lose a smidge of the flakiness? Yes. Was it so much easier that I really don't care? Also, yes.

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in large bowl. *You can also do this in a food processor, but mine is tiny, so here we are.
2. Grate in butter and combine until a coarse meal texture. *Grating makes the butter into smaller pieces, and it is easier to combine. **If you are using a food processor, just pulse in your cubed butter until coarse meal.

3. Add honey and vanilla into flour mixture and stir to combine.
4. Add in heavy cream. Start with 4 tbsp and see how it is. You are looking to have your mixture just come together. It is a little dry, but it should stick together when you press it in your hand. It may take more or less cream depending on the humidity. It takes me generally 5 tbsp (ish). *Again, I added more this time. Follow your heart.
5. Turn out dough onto a clean surface. Work the dough to combine (but try to work it as little as possible). Divide dough into two parts and pat into two rectangles. Wrap in plastic wrap and allow to cool in the fridge for at least two hours or overnight. *I DID NOT CHILL! I just divided dough into two parts (you only need about half the dough for this pie, but why wouldn't you also make some mini grahams? See pics below!)

6. Take out the dough and roll out one of the balls about 1/4 inch thick and large enough to be able to cover a pie pan. *See, it's so much easier to roll out if it's not cold. Sorry Past Jenna, but Present Jenna has won.
7. Take the rolled dough and place into a pie pan. The pan doesn't need to be greased. Crimp your edges to your liking and poke holes in the bottom with a fork to help prevent too much rising while it bakes. Now, you do chill. At least 30 minutes in the fridge before baking. If you're in a rush, freezer for 10 minutes. *I didn't blind bake this, but you can totally do that to help weight it down a bit.
8. Roll out second half of your dough and cut crackers into rectangles. *I also poked holes in them so they looked more graham cracker-y. Chill again for 30 minutes before baking.

9. While chilling, preheat oven to 350F.
10. Bake crackers for 12 - 15 minutes if they're small like mine. *Mine were about 1 1/2 in x 1 1/2 in.
If they're bigger, like my usuals, then about 15 - 22 minutes. Bake the pie crust for about 25 - 30 minutes or until golden and pretty firm to the touch.

10. Allow to cool completely before filling with ganache. At least you made little baby grahams to eat as a snack right now!

For the Chocolate Ganache:
This is the easiest step. Side note, this by itself, chilled in the fridge, rolled into balls and covered in your choice of toppings is a super easy truffle that everyone loves.

1 c heavy cream
12 oz chocolate *this is whatever chocolate you want. This can be fancy dark chocolate. For me, in this case, I did straight up a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
4 tbsp (half a stick) unsalted butter, room temp * I forgot to room temp my butter- it's fine- it may just take a few mins longer to melt.
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Place the heavy cream in a small pan on the stove and heat until just at a simmer. You don't want this to boil.
2. While the cream is heating, put your chocolate and butter chopped into small cubes into a heat safe bowl.
3. Once the cream has heated, pour over the chocolate and butter and cover bowl with plastic wrap for about 5 minutes. *This just ensures that your chocolate will melt and be easier to incorporate.
4. Stir the ingredients together. At first it will look like they aren't coming together. They will. Once it's smooth, I add some salt and vanilla to taste, and make sure to fully incorporate it.

5. Add all the chocolate into cooled pie crust. Allow to sit for several hours at room temp before adding the marshmallow. You can also put it in the fridge to speed up the process. I didn't do that because (1) I didn't want the crust to be in the fridge because I thought it might change the texture, and (2) I went shopping with my mom, so I had the time. On the counter, it took probably 3 hours or so to set up.

 

For the Marshmallows:
Again, this is not a new recipe. You can find the original post about marshmallows here. The only thing I have changed for this is really the vehicle into which you put the marshmallows. Again, this will make WAY more marshmallow than you need for the pie. Again, I say, great! You have extra grahams as well. Buy a chocolate bar, and you're good to go!

2 ½ tbsp unflavored gelatin

½ c cold water

1 ½ c granulated sugar

1 c corn syrup

¼ tsp salt

½ c water *yeah, separate from the other ½ c water. I know. It was confusing to me too. It’ll all make sense, I promise.

1. Generously grease the bottom and sides of an 8 x 8 glass baking dish. Dust pan with powdered sugar. This will be for the extra marshmallows. 

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, sprinkle gelatin over ½ c cold water to soften; set aside.

3. In 2-quart saucepan, heat granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt, and ½ c water *you see, the second water* over low heat, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Heat to boiling; cook without stirring about 30 minutes to 240F on a candy thermometer or until a small amount of mixture dropped into a cup of ice water forms a ball that holds its shape but is pliable. Remove from heat. *Okay, so I don’t know if it’s because I have an electric stove top, or what, but 30 minutes is insane. I got to soft ball stage at like 12 minutes. Trust your candy thermometer, and if you still aren’t sure, which I never am, do the water trick- have a small glass filled with water and ice by your station. When you think it's at the right temp, drop a spoonful of the mixture into the ice water. If it makes a soft ball that feels pliable in your fingers, you are good to go. 
4. Slowly pour syrup into softened gelatin while beating on low speed *I used the whisk attachment*. Increase speed to high; beat 8 to 10 minutes or until mixture is white and has almost tripled in volume. Add in salt and vanilla and mix to incorporate.

5. Slowly pour some of the marshmallow mixture onto the pie. Again, follow your heart- you know how much is enough. Then place the rest of the mixture into the prepared 8 x 8 pan. Place both pie and marshmallow pan somewhere safe from children, dogs, spouses, to set up overnight. 

6. When ready to serve the pie, cut up into small pieces (this part's a bitch- sorry) and torch marshmallows with a kitchen torch! Fun and interactive for a party as well. 

Here's a little bonus video of my dog eating fresh marshmallow fluff :)

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

Okay, so I have finally figured out the texture for cookies that I want. Thank you guys for following along with me as I stumble through this shit show of figuring out recipes! At least there's some deliciousness along the way. These cookies came about because I had cream cheese in the fridge and I wanted cream cheese frosting but wasn't feeling like committing to a cake or waiting like 8 hours for real cinnamon roll dough to rise. That's what happens. We call this inspiration. So, this recipe has a cinnamon cookie that is delightfully chewy with a swirl of cream cheese frosting, and it was exactly what I wanted it to be. This recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies.

For the Cookies:
1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars.
3. Add one egg at a time, mixing to incorporate. Add vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients- flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Slowly add to the wet ingredients and mix to combine.
5. Allow dough to chill in fridge for about 30 minutes.
6. Scoop out balls and place onto cookie sheet. Bake 8 - 12 minutes or until slightly golden around the edges. *mine took about 12, but my oven always tends to take longer*
7. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

For the Frosting:
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
4 tbsp (1/2 box) cream cheese, room temp
2 c (ish) powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt
*splash of milk to thin- this is optional, but I felt like it needed it so I could pipe. I actually used almond milk because that's all I had in my house at the time
*also optional, a pinch of cinnamon- I did this to boost the cinnamon roll vibe I was going for

1. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter and cream cheese.
2. Add in powdered sugar slowly, a little at a time.
3. Add in vanilla and salt.
4. If you want, add in cinnamon and the splash of milk.
5. Place in a piping bag and cut a small hole in the tip and pipe swirls on cookies starting from the center to resemble cinnamon rolls!

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

It's Valentine's week, bitches! Look alive! This week is dedicated to filling my face with sweets, and no one can stop me. No. One. On the list of must haves, of course, is red velvet. I made these in the form of whoopie pies because, you know, Valentine's day... I'm a child. Anyway, this recipe will make about 15 whoopie pies depending on how big you make them (that's 30 ish cookies- they're sandwiched together).

For the whoopies:
1 c unsalted butter, room temp
1 c granulated sugar
1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1/8 c cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp white vinegar
Red food coloring *if you have the liquid kind, use that. I did not; I had gel, and it was hard getting a color that I found suitable for these.

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and set to the side (flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt).
3. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar. At this point, I added my food coloring. You might be able to get away with adding it later if it's liquid, but not with gel. The first time I made these, I added the food coloring at the end (again, gel, not liquid), and the color was this:

Not quite the red velvet I was going for....

4. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing to combine.
5. Add in vanilla and vinegar to the mixture.
6. Slowly add in the dry ingredients.
7. Allow to firm up in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before scooping onto a baking sheet and baking for 10 - 12 minutes.

*If you're not baking them all at once, put dough back in the fridge so that it doesn't get too soft. If you don't some of the cookies lose their shape, like this:

8. Allow to cool completely before filling with the frosting.

For the filling:
4 oz (half a stick) unsalted butter, room temp
4 oz cream cheese, room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c powdered sugar
Milk for thinning (optional)

1. Cream together butter and cream cheese.
2. Slowly incorporate powdered sugar.
3. Add vanilla, and if needed, a splash or two of milk. I did use the milk both times I've made these.
4. Fill up a piping bag or ziploc bag and cut a big hole so that you can pipe the frosting onto one cookie. Squish another cookie on top just until the frosting almost reaches the sides.

Dreamsicle Cake

It's my friend Mary's birthday at work today, and it's freaking cold and rainy outside, and sometimes you just need a little sunshine. So, I made a dreamsicle cake! This is a vanilla cake with orange zest, soaked with an orange simple syrup, filled with orange marmalade, slathered with vanilla buttercream, and topped with candied oranges. Say all that in one breath! Nothing like a little vitamin C in cake form to help all your winter ailments.

This recipe makes three 8-inch round cakes OR 24 cupcakes plus a little extra batter.


For the candied oranges:
I used this recipe for the candied oranges with slight modifications.

1 1/2 navel oranges sliced into about 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick.
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups water
2 tbsp orange juice (from the other half of the second orange)

1. Put a pot of water on the stove to boil.
2. Make an ice bath in a large bowl and set by the boiling water.
3. Place orange slices in the boiling water for about one minute and then transfer them to the ice bath to cool. *The recipe said to drain them before the next step.... I didn't. I just kept them in the ice bath until my syrup was ready.
4. Bring the 2 cups water, granulated sugar, and orange juice to a boil on the stove. Once the sugar has dissolved, reduce to medium-low heat. Add orange slices in a single layer. *mine was not a single layer... It was still okay.
5. Simmer the orange slices for about 45 - 60 minutes, flipping every 15 minutes, until the rinds are slightly translucent.

6. Place orange slices on a cooling rack (preferably with something underneath to catch the drip) and allow to cool completely. *the recipe says at least an hour up to overnight. I did two hours, and it's fine, but I think next time I will do it overnight. For this cake application, two hours is fine. For like candy, overnight probably makes for a better chew. *Also, once they set up, I cut them in half to be able to place on the cake. Definitely wait until they have hardened!

7. Dust with additional granulated sugar to help with the stickiness.

8. RESERVE the syrup! That's your soak for the cake!

For the cake:
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 c unsalted butter (1 stick, room temp)
2 c granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c cake flour

1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 c buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of 1 orange

1. Preheat oven to 350F and prepare 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 one at a time 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. Put in the zest and whip to incorporate.
12. Divide the batter between the pans. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
13. Once slightly cooled, turn out onto wire wrack to finish cooling before assembly. 
14. Once cooled, you can level off the cakes with a serrated knife if need be.

For the buttercream:
4 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
5 1/2 (ish) c powdered sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tsp vanilla
Splash of heavy cream (optional)

1. Put butter into stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and start to mix.
2. Slowly incorporate the powdered sugar. *I did sift my 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.

Assembly:

1. For this, you will also need some orange marmalade. I did NOT make mine. I bought mine. You do you, boo. I used about half a jar (8ish oz in total, but buy a 15 oz jar in case you want more).
2. Take your cake stand and put a dollop of buttercream in the middle. Place your first cake layer on that dollop (this is just to ensure the cake doesn't move around while frosting). *If you didn't level your cakes, it may be best to flip them upside down because that side will allow the syrup to soak in better.
3. Take a pastry brush and brush the reserved syrup from the candied oranges onto the cake. *I still had extra syrup afterwards and put it in a mason jar to save for drinkie drinks!
4. Put some of your frosting into a piping bag and pipe a boarder on the top of the cake. This is a dam for the marmalade.
5. Scoop half of the marmalade onto the cake layer and smooth. *I am not here to tell you how to live your life. You do as much marmalade as you want. Just make sure that your dam keeps it in!
6. Place second layer on top. Repeat with the syrup and dam and marmalade.
7. Add third layer. Cover entire cake in buttercream. Add candied oranges on top!

Double Chocolate Pound Cake

I've been working with pound cake recently and wanted to do a chocolate version. I had planned to go
off of my other recipe that I did, but then I was looking at chocolate pound cake recipes, and a lot of them called for some kind of milk as well. Then I was like should I do that? Anyway, long story short, I said fuck it, and did my usual ratios, and I was not disappointed. This cake is dense in the best way, with a great crumb, and hidden chocolate chips scattered throughout. This is a pound cake, so you know the rules. Equal parts (by weight) butter, flour (and cocoa), sugar, and eggs. This amount of batter made 5 mini loaves, or it is great for a bundt pan. Next time, I may even put chocolate ganache on top for a triple threat.

For the Batter:
3 sticks unsalted butter, room temp (12 oz)
1 1/2 c granulated sugar (12 oz)
7 eggs (12 oz- my eggs were small, so it is best to weigh if you can)
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c cocoa powder (combined with flour for 12 oz)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips *I just decided to do the whole bag so that we would stay on the 12 oz train

1. Preheat oven to 325F and prepare your baking pan, whatever that may be. Goop is a good application here, especially if you're using a bundt pan.
2. In a stand mixer, combine sugar and butter and cream for about 2 minutes.
3. Incorporate the eggs one at a time until fully combined.
4. Add vanilla.
5. In a separate bowl, put all dry ingredients and mix to combine. Slowly add to the stand mixer of wet ingredients.
6. Stir in the chocolate chips with a rubber spatula so that the stand mixer doesn't kill them.
7. Pour into your prepared pan. If it's a mini loaf, mine took about 48 - 50 minutes. If it's in a bundt pan, it can take a little longer. Test with a toothpick, and take it out when it comes out clean- reminder that there's chocolate chips in here, so it won't be perfectly clean ever.
8. Once slightly cooled, you can turn them out onto a wire wrack to cool completely.

 

Apple Pie Cupcakes

Let's be honest here; these cupcakes were born out of the fact that I had to buy a whole bag of green apples from Aldi when I only needed one apple. What to do with extra apples? Cook them up and shove them inside a delicious cupcake, of course! These are pretty hearty cupcakes. They are moist and dense and spicy and the apple goes perfectly with them. I am still working on my non-chocolate batters, so this is similar to my other spice cake, but I have been playing with the ratios, and in this one, adding sour cream. I like the added tang and moisture that the sour cream brings.




For the Cupcakes:
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 c unsalted butter (1 stick, room temp)
2 c granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c cake flour

1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp apple pie spice (I didn't actually have any this go around, so I just used cinnamon, clove, ginger, and cardamom)
1 1/2 c buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350F and prepare 24 cupcake tins with liners (and an extra little cake pan for the extra batter. No batter left behind!)
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, baking powder, and spices.
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. Put in the sour cream and whip to incorporate.
12. Divide the batter between cupcakes liners. Bake for 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

For the Apple Pie Filling:
4 granny smith apples, peeled and chopped (rather small since it needs to fit into a cupcake)
1/2 c granulated sugar
Juice of half a lemon
1 tbsp corn starch
1/2 tsp salt
A pinch of the following: cinnamon, cloves, ginger, (and I put cardamom as well). I didn't measure these. I added a larger pinch of cinnamon than the others. I'm sorry. I'm the worst. I'll work on it.

 

1. Combine all ingredients into a pan on medium-low heat. Bring to a boil. Once it's boiling, it will start to thicken. At this point, taste it and see what you think about the flavors. I added a little extra lemon juice. Keep boiling until it gets to a fairly sticky filling- mine took about 7 minutes. This way it won't just soak into the cake. Allow to cool before putting inside the cupcakes.

For the Buttercream:
4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
5 1/2 c (ish) powdered sugar, sifted
1 tbsp vanilla
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon *I am gonna be honest here- I didn't measure. I rarely do with cinnamon. This is my best estimate. Put some in and taste it and add more if you need to. That's all I got. 
**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 and cinnamon. *I actually sifted these two together. 
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.

Assembly:
1. Take a cooled cupcake and hollow out a hole in the center, just make sure to not go all the way to the bottom. I also pull off the innards and keep the little top hat to put back on once I fill the cupcakes (see below).
2. With a spoon, put some of the apple pie filling into the cupcake and top with your "cake topper".

3. Pipe cinnamon buttercream all over.

Lemon Coconut Shortbread Cookies

Spoiler alert- these are dairy free! Yes, I said dairy free, and completely delicious. I wanted to play around with a vegan cookie option because I know several vegans, and my belly prefers vegan options as well (although I was told they're not completely vegan because my sugar isn't vegan.. so if that's something that is a deal breaker for you, buy your vegan sugar and still enjoy this recipe). These are still sandy shortbread that melt in your mouth with a punch of tropical flavor. They are also pretty easy. This recipe made 12 BIG cookies or 24 normal sized cookies. You could do smaller and thinner cookies, but I was lazy and no one is mad at a bigger cookie. I am going to give you the weights here because I was doing a shortbread ratio of 1-2-3 by weight. I will also try to give you the approximate cups, but it is really just easier to pour into a bowl and weigh it in my opinion.

For the cookies:
100 grams granulated sugar (1/2 c)
200 grams coconut oil (about 1 c), solid (so room temp)
300 grams all-purpose flour (2 1/2 c)- *I used less the second time and they were better- about 2 1/4 c flour; it was easier to roll out and work with. 
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c toasted coconut *I used sweetened coconut flakes and toasted on the stove in a dry skillet for about 2 mins- watch this because it'll burn real fast.*

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Put sugar and coconut oil into a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and mix to incorporate.
3. Add vanilla extract, lemon zest, and juice to bowl and mix.

4. Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt) into a small bowl and mix to combine. Slowly incorporate into the wet batter until course crumbles form.
5. Add coconut flakes.
6. Dust a clean surface with flour and turn the dough out onto the surface. Work until it forms a ball-  this is the hard part. *I have also tried to let it sit in the fridge after forming into a ball like a regular sugar cookie, and this was not the way to go. Keep it at room temp so that the coconut oil helps to keep these babies together.* See the cracking? Yeah- irritating, but the more you work it, the more it comes together. I promise. *And like I said, if you use a little less flour, it holds together MUCH better.

7. Flour a rolling pin and gently roll out to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness- mine were more like 1/2 inch. I wasn't mad at that though.
8. Take a spatula to transport onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
9. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes if they're thinner and 16 - 18 minutes if they're thicker. They are still going to be light in color when they come out of the oven. *mine took 18 minutes*
10. Allow to cool on a wire rack before topping with glaze. *Look at those flecks of lemon zest and coconut!

For the glaze:
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 2 lemons
1 c (ish) powdered sugar, sifted *If you are doing the drizzle, this is fine; if you want the full glaze, I put even more powdered sugar in to thicken it a bit. 

1. Put lemon zest and juice in a bowl.
2. Whisk in the sifted powdered sugar until you get the consistency you want. *Yes, you do really want to sift it* **This is not an exact science- I added sugar until it was thick but still pourable. ***You can't mess it up! If it isn't thick enough, add more sugar. If it's too thick, add more lemon juice. If you run out of lemons, add a bit of water.
3. Drizzle glaze on top of cooled cookies. You could also dunk them- they are super delicate though, so be careful!