Banana Chocolate Cupcakes

So today is my friend Mike's 22nd birthday (little baby, aww) and since he doesn't get the opportunity to have much of my baked goods, for whatever reason, I made cupcakes especially for the occasion. I gave him two choices and he decided to go with Banana Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting. I found the recipe on Tidy Mom but I used my own recipe for the frosting because, to be honest, I haven't been able to master the whole egg white thing and it frustrates me completely.

Banana Chocolate Cupcakes:
1 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pan with cupcake liners. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt until combined. In another bowl, mix egg, banana, water, milk, canola oil and vanilla extract until completely mixed. Whisk together wet and dry ingredients.

Scoop batter into cupcake liners until 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes and cool completely.

Peanut Butter Buttercream:
1 1/3 cups creamy peanut butter
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

Cream peanut butter and butter in a bowl with an electric mixer on high speed. Once mixed, add the sugar on low speed until combined and then mix on high until fluffy and smooth. Put frosting in pastry bag and frost cupcakes immediately.

I topped these delicious treats with a mini Nutter Butter cookie (my favorite cookie as a child) and they are absolutely picture perfect. I can't wait to give him these tonight when we celebrate his birthday with everyone. My boyfriend wanted one last night, but I told him he'd have to wait until Mike gets one!

Caramel Apple Cheesecake

One of my favorite desserts has to be any kind of cheesecake, but unfortunately as of 2 years ago, I became lactose intolerant and cannot indulge. This makes me a very sad panda, but that doesn't mean that no one else I know can't have some cheesecake made by me! So for Mothers Day, I chose to try out a recipe that I had found on The Girl Who Ate Everything which combines three things that everyone should love: Cheesecake, Apples, and Caramel... Mmm!

Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 sticks butter (softened)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar until mixed. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two forks until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into a 9" x 13" baking pan lined with heavy duty foil. Bake 15 minutes or until light golden brown.

Cheesecake Filling:

3 packages cream cheese (8oz)
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsps vanilla extract

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time, and then vanilla. Pour over warm crust.

Apple Mixture:

3 Granny Smith apples (peeled, cored, and finely chopped)
2 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

In a small bowl, stir chopped apples, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg until mixed evenly. Spoon over cream cheese filling.

Streusel Topping:

1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1 stick butter (softened)

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients together. (If you're okay with getting a little messy, you can use your hands so the butter is evenly mixed in.) Sprinkle evenly over apple mixture. Bake for 40 minutes or until filling is set. Drizzle with caramel sauce and let cool.

These Caramel Apple Cheesecake bars were absolutely amazing! Even though I'm lactose intolerant, I stole a small bite and almost melted into a cheesecake-induced coma... My friend even rode her bike (she thought it would help burn the calories of the cheesecake) to my house to pick some up! And I brought a "dessert delivery" over to my boyfriend's house while he was studying for finals... He appreciated the sweet break completely!

Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies

My boyfriend decided that he was going to cook dinner for me on Saturday, and so I thought I'd make a dessert that he would love to bring over. Now he absolutely loved the Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes that I had made a few weeks ago, so I wanted to definitely bake something with peanut butter involved. I found this amazing recipe for Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies while perusing The Girl Who Ate Everything and thought they would be absolutely perfect. It called for just a melted chocolate & butter topping but I thought I'd go a step further and put a Chambord chocolate ganache topping instead. Mmm.

Fudge Brownie:

1 stick butter (melted)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips/peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan with cooking spray or shortening. In large mixing bowl, blend butter, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs and beat well. In a small bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Gradually blend dry ingredients into wet mixture until well combined. Stir in chocolate and peanut butter chips. Spread batter in 13" x 9" pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely.

Peanut Butter Truffle Filling:

1/2 cup butter (softened)
3/4 cup peanut butter
2 cups confectioners sugar
2 tsps milk

In medium bowl, mix filling ingredients together with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spread mixture evenly over cooled brownie.

Chambord Chocolate Ganache:

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
6 tbsp Chambord liqueur (or to taste)

Place chocolate and Chambord into a medium to large bowl. Heat heavy cream on stove on medium heat until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and immediately pour over chocolate and Chambord mixture. Stir constantly until mixture is mixed and glossy. Allow ganache to cool a little so it thickens a little before pouring on top of brownie/truffle. Pour and spread evenly over peanut butter truffle filling and put in refrigerator to set.

If you choose to, you can sprinkle or if you're obsessive like me, you can decorate the top of the brownie with the leftover chocolate and peanut butter chips after 10 minutes. Once the ganache sets completely, cut, serve, and enjoy!

After dinner, we took these out and they were absolutely decadent. These brownies contain everything that I love in a dessert... Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Chambord! I must say that I am in LOVE with how these babies turned out!

Blueberry, Raspberry & Blackberry Crumb Bars

In addition to the Carrot Cake Cupcakes and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles, I also made these delights for the Easter holiday. My mother had requested that I also make something with "fruit" for the family for the holiday, so I found these little delights at Smitten Kitchen. Originally, the recipe only called for blueberries, but I decided to mix it up when I saw the beautiful raspberries and blackberries at the supermarket. 

Blueberry, Raspberry & Blackberry Crumb Bars:

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 sticks unsalted butter (cold)

1 egg

1/4 tsp salt

1 lemon (zest and juice needed)

2 cups fresh blueberries

1 cup fresh raspberries

1 cup fresh blackberries

1/2 cup sugar

4 tsps cornstarch

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of a 9" x 13" pan. In a medium bowl, mix sugar (1 cup), flour and baking powder. Stir in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in butter and egg - Dough will be crumbly. Pour half of the dough into baking pan and pat down.

In another bowl, stir together sugar (1/2 cup), cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. Sprinkle the berry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

Bake in preheated oven for approximately 45 minutes or until top is golden brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

These came out absolutely delicious... The lemon zest and juice added just the right amount of tartness. They were an absolute hit with family and friends for the holiday. I can always argue with myself that since they have fruit in them that they are healthier than my cupcakes, cakes, truffles and other desserts that I prepare! Add a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on top if you're feeling a little dangerous! Mmm!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

After careful consideration on what desserts I would be baking for the Easter holiday, I came across an amazing recipe for carrot cake cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting at Smitten Kitchen.  What would be a better Easter dessert than carrot cake cupcakes?? After all, I hear rabbits and bunnies love carrots... I adapted the recipe a little because I'm not a fan of raisins in my carrot cake and for my sweet tooth, more maple in the cream cheese frosting was completely necessary!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsps baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsps ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups canola oil
4 large eggs
3 cups grated peeled carrots
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger in a medium bowl to blend. Whisk sugar and oil in large bow until well blended and whisk in eggs 1 at a time. Add flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in carrots and walnuts.

Fill cupcake pans until 3/4 full.  Bake cupcakes 14 - 18 minutes (I found 18 minutes was more accurate) or until a tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Let cool in pans and transfer to a cooling rack.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 packages cream cheese, softened (8 oz)
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioners sugar
3/4 cup pure maple syrup

Beat all ingredients on medium until fluffy using an electric mixer. Chill frosting for 10 - 20 minutes until it has set enough to spread smoothly. Fill pastry bag and frost cooled cupcakes.

I used decorating pearls, sanding sugar, and cupcake decorations (bunny toothpicks) from Williams Sonoma to make these cupcakes as cute as can be for our Easter celebration. These cupcakes are absolutely fabulous and are delectably moist! Hope everyone had a great holiday with family and friends!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

I don't really know anyone who doesn't eat the cookie dough when making chocolate chip cookies, so when I saw this recipe on Recipe Girl, I knew I had to make them! And for all you cookie dough lovers out there, they don't contain any raw egg, so they are completely safe to munch on... Mmmm!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles:

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar (packed)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chunks (melt for dipping)

In a large bowl, use electric mixer to cream together butter and brown sugar. Add vanilla, Beat in flour, 1 cup at a time, until it is incorporated and you don't see any chunks of brown sugar. Beat in sweetened condensed milk and mix until well combined. Stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips.

Cover bowl and refrigerate until dough is firm (at least 1 hour). Use a teaspoon to scoop out dough, roll into balls and place on a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet. Place all the rolled balls back into the refrigerator until you are ready to dip them in chocolate.
Melt chocolate chunks in a glass bowl in microwave (or melt using a double boiler) until smooth.  Use a spoon to help dip the chilled dough ball into the chocolate and roll until completely covered. Place it on a waxed paper-lined platter. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

These are rich, delicious, and taste just like cookie dough! You'll have a hard time getting people to stop eating them (unless you eat them all yourself!!)

Samoa Cupcakes

So my absolute favorite cookies are Girl Scout Samoa cookies... so needless to say, Girl Scout cookie season is one of my favorite times of the year. I was inspired by the ingredients that combine to make a Samoa cookie and decided to make a Samoa-inspired cupcake. And let me say, they came out really great!

Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cups sugar

3/4 cups cocoa powder

2 tsps baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 extra large eggs (room temperature)

1 1/2 tsps vanilla extract

1/2 cup strong hot coffee

1/2 cup hot water

Graham Cracker Bottom:

1/2 stick salted butter

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup graham crackers (crushed)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with cupcake liners.

Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. Then, slowly stir in the coffee and water.

Mix brown sugar and graham crackers in bowl.  Add melted butter and mix until completely combined. (You will need to repeat this recipe depending on how many cupcakes you need)

Put a thin layer of graham cracker mixture into each cup and fill the cupcake pans about 2/3 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean - 9-11 minutes. Cool completely before frosting. Core out (with an apple corer or I used the large end of a pastry tip) the middle of the cupcake to fill with frosting.

Caramel Buttercream Frosting:

1/3 cup caramel topping

8 tbsp unsalted butter (softened)

3/4 cup confectioners sugar

Cream caramel topping and butter in bowl with an electric mixer on high speed. On low speed, add in sugar until combined and then beat on high until fluffy and smooth. Put in pastry bag and frost cupcakes (in middle and on top) immediately.

Toasted Coconut:

Spread coconut in an oven safe dish/baking sheet.  Toast in oven for 5-7 minutes at 350 degrees. 

I topped the cupcakes with the toasted coconut as well as sprinkled it over the graham cracker bottoms before putting the cake mixture on top. Also, once I filled the cupcakes with the caramel buttercream, I also put a little on top around the hole before frosting the tops of the cupcakes.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

Welcome to my blog. I have a love for baking cakes, cookies, and especially cupcakes! I am starting my own private cupcake business here in New York. Above are my "Peanut Buttercup Cupcakes": The first picture shows Yellow Cake Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting and topped with a Peanut Buttercup. The second picture shows Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes with a Peanut Buttercup inside and topped with Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting. I love peanut butter and chocolate and you absolutely cannot go wrong with these little morsels of goodness.

Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cups cocoa powder
2 tsps baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra large eggs (room temperature)
1 1/2 tsps vanilla extract
1/2 cup strong hot coffee
1/2 cup hot water
Peanut butter cups

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with cupcake liners.
Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. Then, slowly stir in the coffee and water.
Put 1 peanut butter cup in each cup and fill the cupcake pans about 2/3 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean - 9-11 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Yellow Cake Cupcakes:
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 tsps vanilla extract
4 eggs
3 cups cake flour (sifted)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with cupcake liners.
In a mixer with a whip attachment, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and continue to cream. Gradually add the vanilla and eggs, and mix well.  Sift together the dry ingredients and mix into the butter mixture alternating with the milk.
Pour batter into cupcake pans about 3/4 full. Bake until puffed and firm in the center and light golden brown on top - 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely.

Peanut Butter Buttercream:
2/3 cup natural creamy peanut butter
8 tbsp unsalted butter (softened)
3/4 cup confectioners sugar

Cream peanut butter and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed. On low speed, mix in sugar until combined then beat mixture on high until fluffy and smooth. Put in pastry bag and frost cupcakes immediately.