Anyone Out There?

It's become more and more difficult to get my posts completed for Sunday. Although, I'm not entirely sure anyone besides me has noticed....anyone out there? I have been frantically working on the first half of my thesis. It's due in a couple of weeks...I think I can, I think I can.

I can not wait to be done with taking classes and writing papers. It's almost June, right? I'm all for being a lifelong learner, but does it have to involve papers every week?

This week I made a special birthday dessert for my dad. He requested Devil's food and cream. We had a large Italian dinner with family and then enjoyed the dessert for this week. I have to say these were beautiful cupcakes and probably the best ones I've made so far!
(If you are reading this, hello!)







Devil's Food Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
adapted from insanitytheory.net
Oven 355
Makes about 30 cupcakes
Cupcakes
1 cup good quality dark chocolate, melted
2 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
4 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 stick 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, diced and at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar


Cream Filling
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 vanilla pod or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp sugar

Chocolate Buttercream
2 sticks 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced and at room temperature
1/3 cup dark chocolate, melted
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1/3 cup milk
6 cups confectioners sugar

For cupcakes:
Mix together melted chocolate, buttermilk, vanilla, and cocoa powder. Set aside.

















Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, making sure to thoroughly mix between each one. Set aside.











Sift together the flour and the baking soda. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the chocolate mixture to the butter mixture. Mix until the texture of barely whipped cream.










Fill cupcake liners 1/3 of the way with batter (I used a large cookie scoop for each).












Bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.












For the cream filling: Beat the cream with the vanilla and sugar until soft peaks form.












Fill a piping bag with the cream, push the tip right to the bottom of the cupcake and slowly fill the cupcake while pulling upward.











For the chocolate buttercream:
Mix the melted chocolate  together with the cocoa powder and milk till it forms a smooth paste.










Beat the butter till light and fluffy, then add the chocolate paste and 2 cups of icing sugar and beat at high speed till it is well mixed in and fluffy again.










Add the icing sugar, 1 cup at a time, and make sure that you beat the icing at high speed for 5 minutes after each addition. Fill a piping bag with buttercream and frost cupcakes as desired.

Importance of Surprise

I was talking with my grandmother yesterday about birthdays. She told me that she always believed that everyone should be celebrated on their birthday. I couldn't agree more. I think that's why I always at least try to make a cake or cupcakes for the special people in my life. I hope in that way they see that I have thought about them and I care about them.

This weekend we celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday with a surprise fiesta party. She was very surprised! We decorated the back porch with sombreros, pinatas, and margaritas! I made lime margaritas and blackberry margaritas. My sister-in-law made sangria.










We had a taco bar for dinner and dessert was this "cake." It's rich, so only a little is needed. The actual cake is really brownie like in texture, just as the name suggests.

Toffee Bar Brownie Torte Cake
from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather
Oven 350

For the brownies:
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
16 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 cups sugar
8 large eggs
2 tbsp. vanilla extract
2½ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt

For the frosting:
3 cups chilled heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. instant espresso powder dissolved in 2 tsp. boiling water, chilled

For the filling:
16 oz. mascarpone cheese
2 tbsp. instant espresso powder dissolved in 2 tsp. boiling water
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 cup reserved frosting (above)

For garnish:
2 cups chopped toffee bits or finely chopped toffee bars


To make the brownie layers, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Grease and flour the edges of three 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Combine the butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over a few inches of simmering water. Continue heating until the butter and chocolate are melted and smooth, stirring occasionally with a spatula. Remove the bowl from the heat and set aside. Transfer the chocolate mixture to a large mixing bowl.


Whisk in the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth and glossy, about 1 minute. Stir in the flour and salt, and mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared baking pans. Gently smooth the batter in the pans. Bake 20-25 minutes, until the brownies are just firm to the touch. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pans 30 minutes. Then run a knife around the edge of each pan and invert the brownies onto the rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, add the chilled heavy cream to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on medium-high speed until medium-soft peaks form. Blend in the sugar, vanilla and espresso mixture, whipping just until combine. Continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Reserve and refrigerate 1 cup of the frosting for use in the filling. Set aside the rest of the frosting.

To make the filling, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the mascarpone, espresso liquid, sugar, vanilla and salt. Beat on medium speed until well blended and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gently fold in the reserved 1 cup of frosting with a spatula.

To assemble the torte, lay 1 of the brownie rounds to a large serving platter. Spread half of the filling mixture evenly over the top. Layer with another brownie round, and the remainder of the filling. Top with the final brownie layer. Cover the top and sides of the cake with the frosting. Garnish with the toffee bits to cover the top and sides of the cake. Use any remaining frosting to pipe decorative swirls around the top edge of the cake, if desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
 

The Orchard in Your Room

Our puppy, Ms. Bailey, has been quite busy this week. She discovered that her Aunt Kelley keeps apples in her bags in her bedroom (not quite sure what that's all about). She's proven that she can sniff out almost anything, after taking one away she quickly returned to the room to find another. My mother-in-law managed to get a video of her eating one, notice how she doesn't scold her or take it away! We joke that you can't correct her she's too cute! Don't worry, she was eventually corrected and my sister-in-law removed any additional apples from her room.

We'll be celebrating my mother's birthday tomorrow and I was asked to make dessert. My mother requested something with lemon. I picked these lemon coconut cupcakes with lemon buttercream and toasted coconut. They can easily be made dairy free by substituting margarine for the butter.

Lemon Coconut Cupcakes
adapted from goodlifeeats.com
Oven 350
 Cupcakes:
4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 large eggs
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1 1/2 cups sugar
zest of 2 extra large lemons
3/4 cup butter, softened 
2 1/2 cups coconut milk

 Lemon Buttercream:
4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
juice of one extra large lemon
2 pounds powdered sugar, sifted

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Zest the lemons. Add to a bowl with the sugar and rub with your fingers to release the aromas from the lemon skin. Set aside.









In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat for 2 minutes, scraping the sides as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, and the coconut extract. Beat for 3 minutes.










Slowly pour half of the coconut milk into the batter. Beat until well incorporated.
Add half of the flour mixture, beating until incorporated.







Then, add the remaining coconut milk, beating until smooth, followed by the remaining flour mixture. Scrape the sides and give it one last beating so it is mixed well.
Divide batter into cupcake tins. Makes 30 standard sized cupcakes. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool before frosting.








For the Lemon Buttercream:
Cream the butter in the large mixing bowl of a stand mixture. Slowly incorporate the powdered sugar as you continue to cream. Add the lemon juice.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat on high speed until fluffy and smooth.
I topped my cupcakes with toasted coconut!

Seven Minutes

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! We celebrated with brunch with my mother and grandmother and a picnic with my mother-in-law. Bailey woke me up with a lot of puppy kisses and a very nice card. She also decided to lay in front of the oven and "help" me make the frosting today!
  
My mother-in-law requested a chocolate layer cake with Seven Minute Frosting. I made my usual Chocolate Cake and used a whipped cream filling. Then I had to find the right recipe for the frosting. I found that this frosting has many different names (boiled icing, royal baking icing, meringue frosting). I found one that seems to be the best for mixing with a kitchenaid mixer. It tastes like a cross between whipped cream and marshmallow fluff.


Seven Minute Frosting

from bakedbree.com

1 1/2 cups sugar

2/3 cup water

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

3 egg whites

pinch salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a saucepan combine the sugar and water with a pinch of cream of tartar.Make sure that when you are cooking the sugar that you do not stir the sugar mixture. It will cause the sugar to crystallize and you don’t want that to happen.Boil the sugar until it reaches 245 degrees.

Meanwhile, put the egg whites and a pinch of salt in the bowl of a mixer with the whisk attachment. Beat until the egg whites are peaked.

Slowly pour the sugar syrup into the egg whites. I mean slowly, this sugar mixture is 245 degrees, you do not want it to splash.











Beat the frosting on high speed for about 7 minutes (hence the name seven minute frosting) or until the sides of the bowl cool down. The frosting will be light and fluffy.

Add the vanilla extract.















Once mixed frost cake as desired. *Somewhat messy to cut!