Chocolate Coconut Cream Cake (aka Dos Leches)

Months ago I went to a meet and greet for church, and at this little shindig was a cake that when I bit into it was so moist and dense and delicately flavored that I had to ask for the recipe.  Fast forward, cake forgotten, I ran into the maker of this cake at the grocery store last weekend.  I see her at least once a week, but that day I was "power shopping" because I had a cake in the oven, which spawned a conversation about her delicious cake from last summer, right there in the produce aisle.  She told me how insanely easy it was and then we talked about different variations, and now I've been waiting all week for the treats in the house to run out so I could make this. 

This recipe has been heavily altered from how I was told, but the method is the same.  The original cake was a boxed white cake mix, baked according to the directions, covered in sweetened condensed milk and coconut milk while hot, then frosted with cool whip and topped with shredded coconut.  I made a from-scratch chocolate cake, used a homemade whipped cream, and topped it with chocolate shavings and toasted coconut. 

Recipe adapted from allrecipes, method adapted from Machelle Kelly

Ingredients
Cake-
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream-
14 oz can coconut milk
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

Topping-
1 cup very cold heavy cream
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
shaved chocolate
2/3 cup shredded coconut, toasted*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour a 9x13 inch pan.  In a sauce pan over medium heat, melt butter, water, and cocoa powder together.  Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together flour and sugar.  Dissolve the baking soda into the buttermilk.  When the butter mixture is melted, add it to the flour and sugar, and whisk to combine.  Add buttermilk, eggs, salt, cinnamon and vanilla.  Whisk.  Add mayonnaise and whisk again.  Pour into your baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

About 5 minutes before your cake should be coming out of the oven, combine the sweetened condensed milk and coconut milk.  While the cake is still hot, use a drinking straw to make several small holes (about every inch and a half or so) in the cake.  Evenly drizzle the milk mixture over the hot cake.  Cool the cake for a minimum of 4 hours in the refrigerator.

After the cake has been cooling for a couple of hours, beat the cream on high speed until stiff peaks form, approximately 2-3 minutes. Add powdered sugar and vanilla, and beat another 15-30 seconds.  Spread the whipped cream over the cooled cake.  Sprinkle with chocolate shavings and coconut.


*To toast coconut, place a nonstick skillet over medium heat and add coconut.  When you can smell the coconut, gently stir it.  Keep the coconut moving every 30 to 60 seconds until it is golden and lightly toasted.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm one of those people who can never EVER get a cookie to turn out the same twice in a row.  I'll make them and they're chewy and delicious, then the next time they'll be flat and crispy.  In doing some market research (aka google), I discovered that adding corn starch to cookie dough may help them turn out a little chewier and more consistent.  So I started with a basic cookie recipe and added a little of this and a little of that and came up with this lovely, and they turn out great every single time!

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour*
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
nuts, if you're into bastardizing your desserts like that

*If you're at high altitude, which I am, add another 1/3 cup flour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine flour, cocoa powder, corn starch, salt, and baking soda and combine.  Set aside.  Cream the butter and sugars for 3-5 minutes, until it is light and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat to combine.  Add the dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.  Add the chocolate chips and combine. Scoop golf ball-sized balls of dough onto a cookie sheet and bake 10-12 minutes.  The cookies will still be fairly thick when you take them out of the oven.  Move immediately to a cooling rack in order to stop the cooking process.  Yield 24 cookies.

Oreo Cheesecake Brownies

Once upon a time my sister-in-law threw me a baby shower, and another sister-in-law brought these delectable cheesecake brownie squares that I couldn't get enough of.   When I asked for the recipe I was floored when she told me it was just a boxed German Chocolate Cake swirled with a 3-ingredient cheesecake mixture. 

Fast forward a couple of years. When I received last month's Food Network Magazine, there was an entire insert devoted to 50 (yes, FIFTY) brownie recipes.  Well, they had a recipe for a cheesecake brownie that brought back happy thoughts of those brownies served at my baby shower.  Of course, I had to make them.  Lately, however, I like chunky things in my desserts.  I keep lacing my desserts and baked goods with things like toasted coconut, chocolate chips, toffee bits, toasted nuts, etc.  This led to a frantic searching of my cupboards for something to put into these brownies.  Girl Scout Cookies?  I can't justify rationing any part of my limited supply of these delights for anything other than straight consumption.  Reese's eggs?  Same thing.  These seasonal sweets are best when eaten straight up.  Then I saw a half-eaten package of Oreos.  They're available year-round.  They're a delicious way to fancy up a dessert.  Done and done.  Some days my genius astounds even me.  These brownies are rich and decadent, but not overly sweet.  They. Are. Perfection.

Oreo Cheesecake Brownies
Recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine, February 2012

For the brownie:
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 stick butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup flour

For the Oreo cheesecake swirl
8 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
10 double-stuf Oreos, crushed

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line a 9x13 inch baking dish with either parchment paper or foil, and spray with cooking spray.  In a large saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate chips over low heat. 

While the chocolate mixture is melting, whip the cream cheese, sugar, and egg.  When it is well combined, fold in the crushed Oreos.  Set aside.

When the chocolate mixture is melted, remove it from the heat and add the sugars.  Whisk to combine.  Add eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.  Stir in vanilla.  Add salt and flour, and mix until combined.  Pour the batter into your prepared pan.  Drop large spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture on top of the batter and swirl.  Bake at 325 degrees for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.  Cool completely before cutting. 

Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake

Every week I listen to the Joy the Baker podcast (remember, I've mentioned her recipes a few times). She actually does the podcast with her friend Tracy.  I've visited her site a few times, but haven't ever made any of Tracy's recipes before seeing this post.  I immediately went through my fridge/cupboards and put this together. 

Things I love:

1. When I find an easy to throw together baked good
2. When that baked good is chocolate and moist and delicious
3. When that recipe calls for simple ingredients that I *always* have at my house

Admittedly, when I made this I may have garnished it in bittersweet chocolate, knowing full well that my kids loathe bittersweet chocolate and wouldn't touch it.  On the down side, Casey and I ate an entire bundt cake in a 48-hour period.  Also admittedly, I've made this cake 3 times in as many weeks.  The last two times I made it, I did so in mini-bundt form (thanks, mom!).  The full-sized version of this cake is so easy to put together, but the mini ones are fun because everyone can decorate their own and you can keep them in the freezer for easy midnight snacking...not that Casey and I ever do that.  In whatever form you make them, just be sure it happens, because you won't be disappointed.

Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake
Adapted from Tracy from Shutterbean.com

Ingredients

Cake:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup water
2 cups flour
1 3/4 sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream (I used mayonnaise the last time I made this recipe and it worked like a dream)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze:
4 oz bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp sweetened condensed milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour your bundt pan (if using a mini bundt pan, this process is time consuming and a little annoying, but I assure you it is all too necessary if you want the cakes to come out of the pan).  In a small saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa powder, salt, and water.  Cook over medium heat until the butter is melted and the cocoa powder is incorporated.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and baking soda. Pour half of the butter/cocoa mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk until combined (it will be thick and lumpy).  Pour the other half of the liquid in and mix again.  Add eggs, one at a time, stirring after each addition.  Add vanilla and sour cream, and mix again.

Pour into your prepared bundt pan.  Tap it on the counter a few times to get out any bubbles.  Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean (for mini bundts, fill the bundt molds 1/2 full and bake for 15-20 minutes, then repeat the process after the first set of cakes have been removed from the pan).  Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack (place the cooling rack on top of the cake pan then flip it over).  Cool completely (one hour or more).

Make the glaze by heating the cream and condensed milk until just below boiling, then pour the milk mixture over the chocolate.  Whisk until well combined.  Drizzle over the cooled cake and top with any other desired toppings (for the minis we did jimmies, mini chocolate chips, and bits of broken chocolate toffee bar).

Flaky Apple Pie

I'm not much of a pie person.  Growing up the only pie we had was my mom's banana cream pie (I'll post that one around Thanksgiving - it's pretty much insane), and it was only on Thanksgiving.  Clearly my mom isn't much of a pie person either.  Most of my friends are pie enthusiasts.  One of them is even the "Pie Expert".  I'm a subscribing member to Pie of the Month Club, but I've still never gotten into it (one time I was staying at the pie expert's house in Indiana and she asked if I liked pie.  I told her, "I like meat pies..."  A word to the wise?  Never say that to the pie expert).

Well, I married into a pie family.  My in-laws love pie, my husband loves pie, and my kids love pie. 

Since it's produce season I've been frequenting little farms and farm stands where I live.  Every time I've come home with peaches or apples the past month or two, Casey has jokingly asked if it was because I was making him a pie.  So a few days ago I decided to take the bull by the horns.  I did some research and found a crust in this book.  I figured that surely, if he's teaching me to cook EVERYTHING, there would be a stellar recipe for crust.  I did some more research and found a killer filling.  Since the caramelly sauce for the filling is poured in after the pie is already topped, it is baked with this sugary layer of goo which makes the crust delicately crisp and slightly sweet.  I had to refrain from breaking the entire top crust off the pie, putting it on a plate and taking a fork to it. 

Flaky Apple Pie
Crust by Mark Bittman, Filling adapted slightly from allrecipes.com

Crust
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt (if you use salted butter, omit the salt)
2 tsp sugar
16 tbsp (2 sticks) cold butter (the recipe calls for unsalted, but I always use salted)
6 tbsp cold water

Filling
8 apples, peeled, cored and sliced (the recipe called for Granny Smith, but I used Golden Delicious and Gala- fresh from the farm)
2 tsp corn starch
1/2 cup butter (again, the recipe calls for unsalted)
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup water

To make the crust, put the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of the food processor, fitted with the dough blade attachment and pulse once or twice.  Chop the cold butter and add it to the bowl.  Blend until the mixture looks like cornmeal (about 10-15 seconds).  Pour that into a large bowl and add the water.  Mix with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon (adding a tiny bit of water at a time if your dough isn't coming together) gradually gathering the mixture into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes (you can freeze it for 10 minutes if you are in a hurry). 

While your crust is chilling, peel, core and slice your apples.  Place them in a large bowl and sprinkle with corn starch.  Mix the apples so that the corn starch is no longer visible.  Set aside.  Melt 1/2 cup butter in a sauce pan over medium heat.  Add 3 tbsp flour to form a loose paste.  Add your sugars and water and bring to a boil.  Turn heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove crust from the refigerator, split into 2 parts (refrigerating the top crust until you are ready to roll it out) and roll on a lightly floured surface, starting in the middle and working your way to the sides until you have a disc of dough about 1-1 1/2 inches larger than your pie plate.  Roll your crust onto the rolling pin and place it in your pie plate.  Fill the crust with apples, slightly mounding them.  Cover with either a lattice crust or a crust that has been vented liberally (I used several mini shape cutters for mine).  Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the top, so that it does not run off. (*See note, below). Be sure to lightly coat your top crust.  (Also, be sure to do this while the liquid is hot.  Otherwise it will firm up and will not reheat to the same runny consistency). 

Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees, then lower the heat to 350 and bake for an additional 35-45 minutes until apples are soft.  Let the pie cool completely before slicing.

*If you're doing a full two crust pie, pour the sauce in (reserving a little extra for the top crust) before you top it.  If you're doing a lattice top pie or one with lots of holes (like the one pictured), top the pie before pouring the sauce.

Magnolia Brownies

I’ve been a fan of this video since it debuted in 2005.  I also decided in 2005 that the next time I went to NYC I would “hit up Magnolia and mack on some cupcakes!”  The next time I went to NYC was in July 2009 for my honeymoon.  Casey is a good husband and a good sport, and so we hoofed it to Greenwich Village and got some of the most expensive delicious cupcakes I’d ever had.  Fast forward a few months.  We were at Barnes and Noble one night and I spotted this book and that was what I got for Christmas that year.  I was so excited, but the recipe I’ve made most often out of the book is the Chocolate Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing.  I make them so much that Casey calls them “my brownies” (we also refer to them as “$20 brownies” because it’s a huge pan of brownies and they’re obviously a bit more pricey to make than say, a Betty Crocker boxed mix).  I’ve made these probably 20 different times and I have making them down to a science. It all starts with butter.  Lots of it.  And we all know butter is good.

I haven’t ever actually tried the cream cheese icing recipe that accompanies the brownie recipe because I have a recipe that is really good, and also because I like to switch up my frostings a bit (the last time I made them I made them with a chocolate mint butter cream – yum). 

Magnolia Brownies

Brownie Recipe from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook; Frosting Recipe from myself

Brownie

3 cups cake flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp salt

1 ½ cups (3 sticks) butter, room temperature (one of the tricks I’ve learned from making these probably 20 times is using VERY soft butter – you don’t want it melted but you do want it soft to the touch.  Also the recipe calls for unsalted, I use regular old salted butter because that’s what I keep in my freezer)

3 cups sugar

6 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

9 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted

Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup cocoa powder

5 cups powdered sugar

2-4 tablespoons milk (preferably whole)

Garnish

2 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, melted.

To make the brownies:  Place chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water on low heat.  Stir occasionally until completely smooth and no pieces of chocolate remain.  Remove from heat and let cool 10 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 12x18 inch jelly roll pan with foil or parchment paper, then coat with nonstick spray.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

In the large bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Lightly beat the eggs, then add to the creamed mixture and mix well, scraping down the sides of your bowl.  Add the vanilla.  Add the chocolate and mix until well incorporated.  Add the dry ingredients.  Pour the batter into prepared pan.  Bake 25-30 minutes (in my oven, it’s precisely 26) or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached.

Let brownies cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, cream the butter and vanilla, then add the powdered sugar.  Add milk one tablespoon at a time until a spreadable (but not too loose) consistency is reached.  You want the frosting to go on smoothly but hold its shape at room temperature.  Once the brownies have cooled, frost liberally.  To garnish, drizzle horizontal stripes of melted chocolate approximately 1 ½ inches apart (this part isn’t an exact science…you just want it to look pretty.  You may not need the entire 2 ounces).  With the tip of a butter knife, drag your knife vertically through the frosting.

 

Other variations I’ve tried that have been completely awesome:

Pecan Brownies - Add chopped nuts to the brownie batter, then top the frosting with some additional nuts and mini chocolate chips. (On a personal note, I think adding nuts to brownies is a form of blasphemy, but I did this for Casey and my dad, both of whom love brownies with nuts...that's love!)

Mint Brownies – Add 1 tsp mint extract (I prefer to use regular mint as opposed to peppermint because I don’t like the taste) to your frosting and garnish with some smashed Andes mints.

Cream Cheese Frosted Brownies.  Substitute one brick of cream cheese for one of the sticks of butter in the butter cream.  If you want straight cream cheese frosting simply omit the cocoa powder.

Strawberry Layer Cake

A few weeks ago, my sister-in-law, Janette had a princess party at my house for her two girls.  She asked me if I’d help her make this cake.  This cake is so simple yet so decadent and oh so very tasty.   So simple, in fact, that she sent me the instructions in their entirety (ingredient list included) in a single text message. 

The cake was good – so good that my 5-year-old changed her mind from wanting a Tinkerbell cake to wanting this same cake, “only with chocolate for the cake part on it”. 

I think the most important element in making this cake spectacular is KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!).  For my 5-year-old I decided I’d fancy it up by making homemade whipped cream, cake from scratch, etc.  BIG mistake.  The frosting was drippy and the cake didn’t hold up as well as the Betty Crocker variety.  I think the success of this cake lies in the pre-packaged ingredients.  I’m sure it has to do with the stabilization of pre-packaged ingredients.  Follow the instructions.  They’re idiot-proof and you will totally impress your friends.

Strawberry Layer Cake

(recipe from Janette Nussbaumer, who says this is a Louisiana staple)

1 cake mix – we used both yellow and devil’s food and both were very tasty (prepared according to the directions)

1 12-oz container Original Cool Whip

1 16-18-oz container buttercream or cream cheese frosting

2 pints strawberries, sliced

Prepare cake mix according to package directions and bake in 2 8- or 9-inch pans. Cool.  When cakes are cooled completely, slice each round horizontally into two pieces (thereby creating 4 even layers).  Place the first layer on a platter and slather a good amount of frosting, leaving a ½-1 inch border (the frosting squishes thinner with the weight of the additional layers).  Repeat with each layer, then frost the sides after all four layers are together.  Garnish with a couple of sliced strawberries (or with chopped/shaved chocolate if you choose devil’s food, which is also delicious).

(The cake was so awesome that we forgot to take a picture once we cut into it...so this picture was totally an afterthought.  The cake mix was dyed pink with a few drops of red food coloring.)

Lime Kisses

What is it with summer and citrus?  I know that citrus fruits aren’t typically in season in the summer, but summer seems to be when I want lemon, orange, and lime flavored things – from sorbet to beverages to bars, etc. 

I found this recipe on Our Best Bites for “Orange-Kissed Cookies”, and although I love a good orange flavored dessert, I’m cuckoo for lime.  I took everything orange-related in this recipe and made it limey (and doubled the recipe…with 5 kids you kind of have to double every recipe).  I will admit I haven’t actually tried the original recipe.  I’d like to, but I may never actually get around to it.

As an aside, my kids had their little friend from across the street over yesterday and since I had a bazillion of these I sent a plateful home with her.  Today her dad came by and told me something to the effect of she’s only allowed to play over here if I promise to send her home with more cookies (which he totally thought were too good to be homemade). 

Recipe adapted from Our Best Bites, who adapted it from AllRecipes.com

Cookie –  

2 cups white sugar

1 cup margarine
2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

5 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

6 oz (½ of a 12 oz can) limeade concentrate

1 tbsp lime zest (zest of 2 limes)

Frosting –

Zest of 1 lime

6 oz (½ of a 12 oz can) limeade concentrate

1 cup softened butter (I use salted.  If you don’t, add ½ - 1 tsp salt)

½ tsp vanilla extract

6 cups (maybe a cup shy of 2 lbs) powdered sugar

Green food coloring

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine.  Set aside.  In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the sugar and shortening until light and fluffy.  Add the sour cream and eggs and mix until everything is well incorporated.  Add the vanilla, limeade concentrate, and lime zest and mix again.  Add the flour mixture half at a time and mix until just combined.  Scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure all ingredients are incorporated and if needed, mix again until combined.

Your dough will be looser than a normal cookie dough.  Using a cookie scoop (or a tablespoon), drop rounded scoops onto a cookie sheet, spacing them appropriately (my cookie scoop fits about ¼ cup capacity, so I space them so I fit 12 to a sheet).  Bake 9-11 minutes or until the edges are beginning to turn golden and the cookies are set.  Allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 min then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

Sorry.  Just had to throw that in there because he's cute.

While your cookies are cooling, combine the wet ingredients for the frosting into your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Add 4 cups of powdered sugar and combine.  Keep adding flour ½ cup at a time until a desired consistency is reached.  Add green food coloring until you reach the color you want.  After cookies have cooled, pipe or frost your cookies.  My kids decorated the ones shown with green frosting and sprinkles.

This recipe yields 50-75 cookies, depending on the size.  If you give them away, people will like you.

Update:  my friend Roxanne is having a party for her baby girl, and we were talking about strawberry flavored desserts.  I was in Las Vegas last weekend and while there was helping my mom make 1200 cookies for this seminar thingy she's in charge of.  When I went to the store to get ingredients to make these cookies, I saw next to the frozen limeade concentrate STRAWBERRY DAQUIRI CONCENTRATE! I had a lightbulb moment and decided to transform these little lovelies into strawberry daquiri kisses and pina colada kisses.  So I did. 

What you do is sub the limeade concentrate for either pina colada or strawberry daquiri concentrate.  These concentrates come in 10 oz cans rather than 12 oz cans.  With the strawberry, add 6 oz to the cookie and only 4 oz to the frosting; otherwise you will have an overpowering strawberry frosting.  With the pina colada, split the concentrate equally (5 oz in the cookie and 5 oz in the frosting).  I also topped the pina colada with toasted coconut.  For the toasted coconut, put 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded or flaked coconut on a foil lined baking sheet into a 350 degree oven for about 5-7 minutes.  Cool the coconut completely before topping the cookies.  You'll want to top the cookies when the frosting is still fresh in order for the coconut to stick.

Birthdays and Cupcakes and Brownies, oh my!

For special occasions, I’ve recently started making my friends food instead of buying gifts.  Food tastes good.  Food always fits.  You don’t have to worry about a gift receipt when you give someone food.  Also, I don’t like the pressure of an occasion gift. If I see something *perfect* for you in August, I’ll buy it and give it to you just because I like you…I won’t wait till Christmas.  On the flip side, you probably won’t get a Christmas gift from me unless I happened to find that gem during the month of December.  As an added bonus, when you give someone food, they almost always share it with you. 

I have lots of friends with springtime birthdays.  I did a lot of baking in May.  For two of my friends, the inspiration (read: entire recipe) came from here and here.  (Thanks, Joy the Baker!) 

(I also made these cupcakes in their full-size glory for Cinco de Mayo – what can I say…when you’re a housewife you have to make your own party sometimes – and they were literally the best cupcakes I’ve ever made!)

Jodi turned 30, so I made her 30 mini cupcakes for her 30^th birthday.  I took them with me when I went to get my hair cut and colored (before we became friends she was my stylist).  She shared them with all her co-workers, and of course (coupled with the fact that I brought this guy) I was the most popular girl there.

Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

makes about 2 dozen cupcakes

Borrowed from Joy the Baker who adapted it from The Gourmet Cookbook

For the Cupcakes:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

For the Frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup dulce de leche, plus more for drizzling

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 to 3 cups powdered sugar

Place racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Line two cupcake pans with paper or foil liners.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add butter and sugars.  Beat on medium speed until fluffy and pale brown, about 3 minutes.   Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add one egg.  Beat on medium for one minute.  Add the remaining eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute between each addition.  Stop the bowl and scrape down the sides as necessary. Beat in vanilla extract.

Add half of the flour mixture to the egg and butter mixture.  Beat on low speed and slowly drizzle in the buttermilk.  Beat until just incorporated.  Stop the mixer, scrape down the bowl and add the rest of the dry ingredients.  Beat on low speed until just incorporated.  Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and finish incorporating with a spatula.  Try not to over mix the mixture.

Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake pans, filling each liner about two thirds full.  Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.  Let rest in the cupcake pans before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.  Cupcakes should be completely cooled before frosting.

To make the frosting:

Place cream cheese in the bowl of an electric stand mixer.  Beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds, until very soft and pliable.  Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the butter and dulce de leche.  Beat on medium speed until well incorporated.  Stop the mixer and add the salt and powdered sugar.  Beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until fluffy and lighter in color.  Generously spoon frosting on top of cupcakes, or use a large frosting tip to pipe on frosting.

For garnish, I heated a few spoonfuls of dulce de leche of a low flame until just pourable.  Then I drizzled it over the cupcakes and topped with a few sprinkles.  Add a few sprinkles of fine sea salt if you're feeling fancy.  I stored the cupcakes in the fridge for an hour to chill the frosting slightly.  

I like to enjoy my cupcakes within two days of preparing them.  Feel free to wrap and refrigerate them because of the cream cheese in the frosting.  Let come close to room temperature before serving.

*The first time I made the frosting I needed about 6 cups of powdered sugar (it was hot and kind of humid outside) to make it pipable.  The second time I only needed the 2-3 cups. 

I decided to make brownies for Steph for her birthday last week.  I decided she should get one moist, delicious brownie for every year we’ve been friends.  That’s a significant amount of years.  We’ve seen each other through some significant stuff.  And these were some significant brownies.

S’mores Brownies

Borrowed from Joy the Baker who adapted it from Bon Appetit, October 1991

1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

5 large eggs

1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup graham cracker, roughly crushed with your hands

12 big marshmallows  (I also diced 6 additional marshmallows and stirred them into the batter. These marshmallows dissolve when baked, so you can leave them out, or throw them in.  Up to you!)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9x13-inch baking pan with 2-inch-high sides. Combine first 3 ingredients in small bowl. Stir butter and chocolate in a medium sized bowl over a  heavy  saucepan of simmering water.  Stir chocolate and butter in this double boiler until melted and smooth.

Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Stir in warm chocolate mixture, then dry ingredients. Fold in graham crackers.  Pour batter into prepared pan. Dot with 12 large marshmallows.  Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 30- 40 minutes minutes.

Marshmallows will be browned and puffy but will deflate as the brownies cool.  Cool for at least 20 minutes than slice with a sharp knife, cleaning the knife with hot water if it gets too messy and sticky.  Serve or wrap individually in wax paper for storing.

*The only alteration I would make to this recipe is instead of broken graham crackers in the brownie, I would break off large chunks and put them on top (kind of slide them in under the gooey marshmallow) when there's about 5 minutes of baking time left.  The grahams inside the brownie went soft, and I would like to see them add some crunch.

Happy baking!

The Bomb Banana Shake!

Hey friends –

My cute little girl had to do a project for school and we decided it would be fun for her to be a guest on my new blog.  She’s totally adorable and is a superstar in the kitchen.  This is Emma.  Isn’t she cute?

Take it away, Emma!

Hello, my name is Emma.  I have two sisters and two brothers.  One of them is named Elliott.  He is so cute. My older sister is 11 years old and her name is Cassidy, and I have a little sister named Jane.  We call her Jane-Jane.  My like, brother, Corbin, is 6 years old. I’m 9.  I love cheesecake and mostly anything with potatoes.  My favorite type of cheesecake is plain with fresh strawberries.  And I can’t stand olives.  Not even a tiny bit.

For my class (I’m in 3^rd grade Spectrum) I had to read a cookbook for my non-fiction.  The cookbook I read was The Children’s Step-by-Step Cookbook by Angela Wilkes. 

Rachelle: Why did you choose to read this book?

Emma: Because I love to cook stuff.

Rachelle: How come out of all the fun recipes in this book, you chose to make this recipe?

Emma: It would be the yummiest and easiest thing.

Rachelle: So you’re into working smarter, not harder?

Emma: Yes. And plus, everyone loves milkshakes.

Rachelle: Well, let’s get to this then! J

Ingredients:

1 banana

1 Tbsp Honey

1/2 cup yogurt

1 scoop vanilla ice cream

1 cup milk

Wash your hands.  Make sure you have a grownup with you when you make this. Measure all ingredients and add them to a blender.  Mix it until it isn’t lumpy. Pour into a glass and enjoy the deliciousness of a homemade milk shake.  P.S. It works much better with whipped cream and sprinkles on top! And maybe a little cherry. But we didn’t have a cherry to try it out.

Rachelle:  So Emma, after trying this recipe, would you recommend this book to your friends?

Emma: Yes! Because if they read the book they could try new foods and plus maybe do it for their own genre project.  And they could make something new, too!

Triple Threat Chocolate Cheesecake!

One day my sister-in-law, Janette, and I had been talking cheesecake and I texted her this recipe.  She then asked if I was going to make said cheesecake.  I told her I wasn’t because I didn’t have a spring form pan.  Well, about 2 weeks before my 33^rd birthday I got a package with a spring form pan and a note that said, “May your cheesecake and your life turn out exactly the way you want it to”.  I love Janette.  And I set out to make my very first cheesecake for my birthday cake.  This is what it looked like when all was said and done.  Not too shabby for a first try, eh? (It tasted amazing too).

Well, then I got to reading cheesecake recipes and decided to get adventurous.  I sent this message to a couple of friends who I knew would appreciate it, “I’m making another cheesecake.  Chocolate Triple Threat.  Cookie crust, layer of chocolate cheesecake, vanilla with chocolate flakes, then the top layer is vanilla/chocolate marble.  Since this is only my second cheesecake I really hope it turns out.  It may have been too soon to improvise…”  And there you have it.  This is my Chocolate Triple Threat.  Please note that the filling needs some TLC but that it’s totally worth it in the end.  There may be an easier way to do this but I’m pretty new to the cheesecake realm.

Recipe adapted from a number of cheesecakes found on Mel’s Kitchen Café website, as well as a few I found on allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:

Crust:

½ stick butter, melted

15 (yes, exactly.  I counted) chocolate graham crackers (the whole graham – unseparated)

1 Tbsp granulated sugar

Filling:

4 bricks (8 oz. each) cream cheese – softened to room temperature (spreadable room temp)

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp flour

1 cup + 1/3 cup sugar (divided)

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream, at room temperature

4 oz unsweetened chocolate (I just use the Baker’s chocolate squares)

6 oz chocolate (I used semi-sweet, but you could use milk or bittersweet depending on how sweet you like it), chopped (so it’s kind of little chunks and flakes – or you could use chocolate chips, if you like a more uniform texture.  I liked the difference of just chopping the chocolate)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. (You’ll need a 9- or 10-inch spring form pan for this one)

For the crust: Break the graham crackers a bit before adding them to the bowl of your food processor.  Pulse with the sugar until you have fine crumbs.  Add butter and incorporate into the crumbs.  Press into your spring form pan (mine is non-stick so it needed no extra prep.  If you have a regular metal one, you may need to lightly grease it) going half to three-fourths they way up the pan.  Bake for 5 minutes (or less.  Just enough so your kitchen smells like chocolate cookies).

Remove from oven and let cool.

For the fillings:  While the crust is cooling, cream your cream cheese in the bowl of your stand mixer (fitted with the paddle attachment) for approx 30-60 seconds (or until it is no longer lumpy).  Add the 1 cup sugar.  Beat until creamy (approx 1 more minute).  Add flour, vanilla, and eggs, one at a time, and incorporate completely on lowest speed.  Finally, add the sour cream until incorporated.

Melt your baking chocolate by either putting it in a double boiler or a microwave-safe bowl (melting 1 minute at first, stirring, then checking/stirring it at 30-second intervals).  Heat until just melted, add and incorporate your 1/3 cup sugar, then let cool for 5-10 minutes.

**WARNING** It's about to get high maintenance up in here.  Separate batter into 3 bowls by pouring 3 cups into the first bowl and 2 cups into the second, then by leaving the remaining batter in the mixing bowl.  To the first bowl (3-cups), add your melted chocolate mixture.  Fold to incorporate, then pour only 2 cups of batter into the prepared crust (thus reserving 1 cup for later).  To the second bowl (2 cups), add the chopped chocolate and fold until incorporated. Pour on top of the bottom chocolate layer.  Gingerly spread the remaining plain batter (mixing bowl) on top.  Drop the remaining chocolate batter sporadically on top, then take a butter knife  and make swirls (inserting knife into batter no more than one inch).  If possible, work by folding the top layer so that the marble effect is deeper than just the surface.

Bake at 325 degrees for at least one hour, then check for proper doneness every 5 minutes after that first hour (I ended up doing 1 hour 20 min).  I got some valuable advice from a baker friend of mine who told me you want your cheesecake to look soft but not jiggly (so shake it a bit). When the cheesecake is soft, crack your oven door and turn off the heat.  Let it cool for 30-45 minutes in the oven, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Since a cheesecake takes a few hours to cool thoroughly, then a little longer to chill, you’ll want to cover it and refrigerate overnight in the pan.  Remove your outer pan when you’re ready to serve.  Slice, top with whipped cream and more shaved chocolate, and shove in your face.  Then go take a nap.

I didn't focus on the frills...I just dug in. :)