Are you hungry?: 3/1/11

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Almost S'mores Cupcakes

Even though I’m not a marshmallow fan, these S’more cupcakes looked and sounded so amazing I simply had to try them. Of course, mine were chocolate topped. Perhaps the S’more police would disqualify the cupcakes due to the lack of marshmallow. However in my humble, dessert loving opinion they were just a delicious as any marshmallow topped cupcake.

photo - Jonna Warnke

This recipe, originally from Foodista, was discovered over at BizChickBlogs.com as one of the weekend recipe features. Incidentally, if you have a recipe worthy of a weekend feature, contact Tia, editor in chief via twitter or email letters@bizchickblogs.com.

S’more Cupcakes
Ingredients

CAKE:
• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup Hershey’s Cocoa powder
• 1 cup Crisco Oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup Buttermilk
• 1 cup Hot tap water
• 2 teaspoons Soda
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla
• 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 20 squares)
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, or you can also use Milk chocolate

MARSHMALLOW FROSTING:
• 2 egg whites
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¾ cup light Karo Syrup
• 1 ½ teaspoons Vanilla

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners; set aside.
2. To make a sheet cake instead, simply grease and flour a large deep cookie sheet.
3. The amazing thing about this cake recipe is that you put all the ingredients in your bowl at the same time. Using a hand mixer, blend the ingredients until well mixed. Do not over blend; a few small lumps are fine.
4. Place graham cracker crumbs, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and melted butter in a large bowl; stir until well combined.
5. Place 1 tablespoon graham cracker mixture into the bottom of each prepared muffin cup. Use the bottom of a small glass to pack crumbs into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Reserve the remaining graham cracker mixture for topping.
6. Place 2 teaspoons chocolate in each muffin cup. Transfer muffin tins to oven and bake until the edges of the graham cracker mixture is golden, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and fill each muffin cup three-quarters full with cake batter. Sprinkle each with remaining chocolate and graham cracker mixture.
7. Return to oven and bake, rotating pans halfway through baking, until tops are firm and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer muffin tins to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely.

DIRECTIONS FOR FROSTING:
1. Beat together 2 egg whites & 1/4 tsp. salt with a mixer until very frothy. Add 1/4 cup sugar very SLOWLY, and beat until smooth & glossy. SLOWLY, add 3/4 Cup light Karo Syrup, & beat until it holds stiff peaks. Gently fold in 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla.
2. Transfer frosting to a large pastry bag fitted with a large plain round or French tip such as Ateco #867 or Ateco #809). Pipe frosting in a spiral motion on each cupcake.
3. Transfer cupcakes to a baking sheet. Using a kitchen torch, lightly brown the frosting, taking care not to burn the cupcake liners. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container, up to 2 days.

Obviuosly I didn't pipe the frosting, and truth be told it was Betty Crocker ready-made frosting. ** lazy** What can I say, it was the weekend :) Anyway, the graham cracker chocolate bottoms were really unusual, a crunchy S’more experience for sure. The cake was moist and very chocolaty, just the way I like it. My father really, really enjoyed them. He is rather fond of a sweet and crunchy combo. Thanks Tia for introducing this yummy cupcakes!

♥

Comments Recipe Tags: baking, cake, chocolate, dessert

Monday, March 21, 2011

Nutella Breakfast Ideas - Easy, Wholesome, Sweet

Being a longstanding fan of Nutella I naturally jumped at the opportunity to host a Mommy Party. When the party package arrived, I was even more impressed. In addition to a 25-ounce jar of Nutella, the box included enough beautiful Nutella tumbler mugs, Nutella spreaders, $1.00 coupons, sample packs, gift bags, recipe tip and idea cards for ten guests! What’s more, a Nutella breakfast tips and trivia activity was in there too.

Nutella Breakfast Menu

After clearing a date with my friends and family, which can oftentimes be a daunting feat by itself, the Nutella Brainstorming began. Easy, wholesome, and deliciously sweet were my Nutella Breakfast keywords.

1. Easy and Wholesome, Nutella Fruit Wraps derived from the recipe idea cards
2. Incredibly easy, Sweet Nutella Monkey Bread from frozen white bread dough
3. Wholesome Oatmeal Nutella Bread derived from one of my new muffin recipes

Nutella Fresh Fruit Wraps

Spread about 2-3 TBS of Nutella on a Flour Tortilla. Add sliced bananas, sliced fresh strawberries and start rolling. This one is so easy the kids can prepare their own using those cool Nutella spreaders. My great niece not only enjoyed making the wraps but also had fun spreading Nutella on those fresh strawberry slices, yummy!

The Monkey Bread recipe was relatively new to me; I prepared it only once, and without Nutella. For that reason, I prepared one in advance with the Nutella filling and hubby agreed to be the guinea pig! Hubby and I concurred while the bread was good, with the Nutella filling it needed to cook 5 minutes more. Not that the Monkey Bread was raw in the center it simply was not as light and airy as it should have been. For the party, I decided to go with extra nuts and a Nutella glaze. Below are directions for both methods.

Nutella Monkey Bread

Ingredients

1 loaf frozen bread dough
4 - 5 tablespoons butter or margarine
3/4 - 1 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Nutella Spread (to fill bread)

Nutella Glaze - Optional
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon Nutella

Directions
Preheat oven to 350

Remove dough from freezer and thaw in refrigerator.

Melt butter in medium size bowl.

Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in separate bowl.

Tear off enough dough to roll into balls just smaller than a golf ball.

Add a dab of Nutella on the tip of the dough piece and roll or wrap the dough into a ball surrounding the Nutella.

Roll the balls into the butter bowl, allowing excess to drain. Then roll in the cinnamon-sugar bowl and place in your choice of pan; loaf, cake, or bundt style. A tube pan is not recommended, they leak.

Pour remaining butter and cinnamon-sugar mixture over prepared dough balls and mix.

Let rise until doubled (about 30 minutes in a warm place).

Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. Nutella filled dough will require 5 additional minutes.
Let cool for approximately 2 minutes and invert onto plate.

Glaze
If desired, while bread is cooling prepare glaze. To a small bowl, add the confectioner’s sugar and milk; whisk together to combine. Add Nutella and continue whisking until smooth and creamy.

Somehow, I added a bit too much butter and the center of the bread fell. I made this Monkey Bread three times in one week and NEVER did it fall! Obviously it would not hold a glaze **sigh, head shake, sigh again** Perhaps baking at 1:00am had something to do with the falling, another sigh. I almost didn't serve it but hey my guests were family and close friends. Nutella would have to be spread on. Turns out that concept worked just fine because this one was a sweet bread. As I write there is not a morsel left tonight. It didn't look so pretty but it tasted mighty fine!

The oatmeal bread was delicious with a swipe of Nutella and coffee or milk to dunk. This bread was originally an oatmeal muffin recipe. It contains very little sugar and old fashioned oat. Of course I added some Nutella to the batter. I will be sharing the Oatmeal Nutella Bread recipe as part of my baking mix recipe ideas next week so stay tuned.

Nutella facts

1. calories are the same as peanut butter
2. does not contain peanuts, peanut ingredients, nor is it exposed to peanuts in manufacturing, a great option for those with peanut allergies
3. does not contain ingredients derived from gluten containing cereal, including wheat, barley, rye, oats, or triticale
4. does not contain hydrogenated oil or trans-fat

To learn more about Nutella hazelnut spread, visit NutellaUSA.com

About Mommy Parties
Mommy Parties is a powerful in home, word of mouth social media strategy, a division of BSM Media. They give moms everything they need to host a brand themed, in-home party with other moms who are eager to learn about products. Moms interested in hosting parties find more information at MomSelect.com.

My great niece was the star and just adored being part of the Mommy party. We had a great time and lots of Nutella! Thanks to Mommy Parties for affording me the supplies necessary to host a fun, delicious, and very successful party.

♥

Comments Recipe Tags: bread, breakfast, dessert, dough, Nutella, snack

Monday, March 14, 2011

St Patrick Day Minty Chocolate Pie

Courtesy Nestle & VeryBestBaking.com

Did y’all expect I would share a sweet treat for St Patrick’s Day? Aaah, you were right. This Lucky Mint Pie recipe comes from Very Best Baking.com. The minute I laid eyes on this refreshing mint and chocolate pie, my mind was set on serving it. A layer of rich chocolate ganache topped with a creamy mint layer, my family will be impressed.

Of course, I did make a few minor changes. To reduce calories and some fat I used light whipped topping and margarine instead of butter. In addition, the chocolate graham cracker crust was home made. Below is my standard recipe. Since I had chocolate grahams in the pantry, the cocoa was omitted. You’ll hear more about that later on.

Chocolate Graham Cracker Crust

9 – 11 Graham Crackers, crushed to 1 1/2 cups
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
6 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

Whirl crackers in a processor or place in zip lock bag and pound until crushed. Combine the crumbs, sugar, and baking cocoa in the pie dish; stir to mix. Add melted butter and mix well. Press into the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate. Bake at 350 for 5-10 minutes or chill to set before filling.

“Lucky You” Mint Pie

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Chilling Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
Makes 8 servings

1 cup (6 ounces) Nestlé Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Morsels
1 can (12 fluid ounces) Nestlé Carnation Evaporated Milk, divided
1 tablespoon butter
1 prepared 9-inch (6 ounces) chocolate crumb crust
1 pkg. (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix or 2 packages (1.5 ounces)
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
3 to 4 drops green food coloring (optional)
1 container (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided
Additional Nestlé Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Morsels, fresh mint sprigs (optional)

MICROWAVE 1 cup morsels and 1/3 cup evaporated milk in medium, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100%) power for 45 seconds; stir until smooth. Stir in butter; pour into crust. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or until cool to the touch.

MEANWHILE, BEAT remaining evaporated milk, pudding mix, water, peppermint extract, and 3 drops food coloring in medium bowl until combined. Gently stir in 2 cups whipped topping and additional drop of food coloring, if desired. Spoon over chocolate layer.

REFRIGERATE for 2 hours or until set. Sprinkle with additional morsels. Spoon remaining whipped topping in center of pie. Garnish with fresh mint.

The crust was just ok. Omitting the cocoa and using chocolate grahams was a bit disappointing. Cocoa adds deep, rich chocolaty goodness whereas the chocolate graham crackers were simply chocolate flavored. No one noticed this except for me but my opinion does count, I think.

Anyway, the rich dark chocolate ganache made up for the lack of depth in the crust. The filling was very minty, light, and quite refreshing. My father loved it and even boasted to my brother saying how scrumptious the St Patty’s Day Pie was.

My decorating skills need work I know. In actuality, planning is my problem. I was thinking clover but not until after I started piping the whipped cream. Without planning the pie ended up looking like one of my little nieces decorated it. *sigh*

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

♥

Comments Recipe Tags: dessert, entertaining, pie

Sunday, March 06, 2011

Cheater Chocolate Cinnamon Banana Cake

By some bakers standards, using a boxed cake mix qualifies as cheating. Others might say the cake is not truly homemade. Of course, the baking cheater label suits me just fine. Besides, pleasing my family is worth more than gold or a paycheck one of those pro-bakers could produce. This cake was without doubt a hit!

Adapted from Betty Crocker.com, this Banana Cake called for a yellow cake mix. You all know I used what I have on hand thus a chocolate fudge mix was the selection. The recipe called for 1 cup mashed banana but the two bananas I mashed made 3/4 cup. To that, I added natural, unsweetened applesauce to make the 1 cup. In addition, I reduced the amount of walnuts to suite our taste. This cake recipe also presented an opportunity to use that can of strawberry frosting leftover from the Victorian Tea Party cakes and brownies I baked for my great niece.

Banana Cinnamon CakePrep Time 15 Minutes
Total Time 3:20 Hrs:Mins
Makes 16 servings
1 package Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® yellow cake mix (chocolate fudge mix)
1/2 cup water
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (2 medium) (3/4 cup banana + 1/4 cup applesauce)
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (1/3 cup whole walnuts pulsed to minced)

Cinnamon Glaze
1/2 cup Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy cream cheese ready-to-spread frosting (strawberry)
2 to 3 teaspoons milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (omitted)

Heat oven to 350°. Grease 12-cup fluted tube cake pan with shortening; lightly flour (or spray with cooking spray; do not flour).
Beat cake mix, water, bananas, butter, cinnamon, and eggs in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in walnuts. Pour into pan.
Bake 43 to 53 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Turn pan upside down onto wire rack or heatproof serving plate; remove pan. Cool completely, about 2 hours. Stir all glaze ingredients in small bowl until thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle over cake.
Makes 16 servings
Original Betty Crocker Recipe

Hubby and my Dad both complimented the cake, each at different times yet with the same words, “That cake is beautiful.” This is a very moist and surprisingly light cake. The cinnamon and banana flavors were equally balanced, somewhat muting the too sweet chocolaty flavor some boxed cakes present. While I enjoyed the hint of strawberry flavor, I’m not a big frosting fan and thought the strawberry glaze was too sweet. My father on the other hand, thought it was perfect. Next time I will opt for the cream cheese glaze, bet that is a-maz-ing!