Chocolate Overdose Cake

Long time no blog! Today's snow day (which, for most of Connecticut, was due to wildly overblown blizzard predictions - not that I'm complaining) let us have a nice lazy day, so now I'm trying to do something productive to make up for it. And I'm quite happy to share this cake with anyone who hasn't seen it yet. I've had it high on my to-try list for awhile but knew I'd need a special occasion. So a couple weeks ago I made it for our friend Rich in honor of a signed contract on his first house!



Not the prettiest picture (how often have I said that?) - I think it may have been better to refrigerate it after putting the ganache on, to let it solidify a bit before cutting, but we couldn't wait that long!



This was so incredibly good. From top to bottom that's a brownie layer, chocolate mousse, chocolate cake, and ganache. And I almost never say this about desserts, but even for a chocolate lover like me, this was almost too rich! I think I might recommend scaling down the ganache amount, or trying a lighter chocolate frosting and then drizzling a little ganache on top. There are a lot of steps involved, but trust me, the end result is worth it.



Chocolate Overdose Cake (from Annie's Eats)

For the brownie base:
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. cake flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
1 1/8 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the chocolate mousse filling:
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, broken into 1/2-oz. pieces
1 7/8 cups heavy cream
1 tbsp. sugar

For the chocolate cake:
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/8 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
1/4 cup hot water
7/8 cup sugar, divided
7/8 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, soft

For the ganache:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
18 oz. semisweet chocolate, broken into 1/2-oz. pieces

To make the brownie base, line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with a round of parchment paper and spray the sides with nonstick cooking spray. Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, salt and baking powder. Stir with a fork to mix. Melt the chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of almost-simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth.

When the chocolate mixture is completely smooth, remove the bowl from the saucepan and gradually whisk in the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition until thoroughly combined. Whisk in vanilla. Add in the flour mixture in two additions, folding with a rubber spatula until completely homogeneous.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula. Set aside, prepare the cake batter, and bake the two layers at the same time.

To make the cake, line the bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan with a round of parchment paper. Grease and flour the sides of the pan. Combine the chocolate, cocoa and hot water in a medium heatproof bowl; set the bowl over a saucepan containing 1-inch of simmering water and stir with a rubber spatula until chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes. (Note: at this point, my mixture was pretty thick and I thought I had ruined it, but mixing in the sugar was like magic and it made it smooth and liquidy again.) Add 1/4 cup of sugar to the chocolate mixture and stir until thick and glossy, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and set aside to cool.

Whisk flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Combine buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the eggs and yolks on medium-low speed until combined, about 10 seconds. Add remaining sugar, increase speed to high, and whisk until fluffy and lightened in color, 2 to 3 minutes. Replace whisk with paddle attachment.

Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the egg/sugar mixture and mix on medium speed until thoroughly incorporated, 30-45 seconds, pausing to scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add softened butter one tablespoon at a time, mixing about 10 seconds after each addition. Add about one third of the flour mixture followed by half of the buttermilk mixture, mixing until incorporated after each addition (about 15 seconds). Repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining buttermilk mixture (batter may appear separated). Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add remaining flour mixture; mix at medium-low speed until batter is thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer and fold batter once or twice with rubber spatula to incorporate any remaining flour. Pour into prepared pan; smooth batter to edges of pan with an offset spatula.

Bake the brownie and cake layers at the same time: the brownie for 25-30 minutes and the cake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each comes out clean. Transfer the pans to a wire cooling rack. Allow the brownie to cool completely in the pan. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto the wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Once the brownie layer has cooled, run a knife around the edges to separate it from the pan. Remove the sides of the springform but leave the brownie layer on the springform base. Form a ring of parchment paper around the brownie layer and extending up the sides of the springform pan – reclose the springform so that the parchment is fitted tightly to the sides.

To make the chocolate mousse filling, place a stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer or fridge. Heat 1-inch of water in the bottom half of a double boiler over medium heat. Place the semisweet chocolate in the top half of the double boiler. Tightly cover the top with plastic wrap and allow to heat for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir until smooth. Transfer the melted chocolate to a stainless steel bowl and set aside until needed.

Place heavy cream and sugar in the well-chilled bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the chilled whisk attachment. Whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 1 1/2 minutes. Remove the bowl from the mixer. By hand, whisk to combine 1/4 of the whipped cream into the melted chocolate until smooth and completely incorporated. Add the combined whipped cream and chocolate to the remaining whipped cream and use a rubber spatula to fold together.

Spread the mousse over the top of the brownie base evenly. Use an offset spatula to smooth the top. Place the cooled cake round over the mousse, pressing down lightly. Chill for at least 1 hour.

To make the ganache, heat the heavy cream and the butter in a saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil. Place the semisweet chocolate in a 3-quart stainless steel bowl. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Chill 1 cup of ganache for 1 hour. Allow the remaining ganache to come to room temperature (about 40 minutes).

Remove the springform ring and parchment collar from the assembled cake. Carefully transfer the cake to a serving platter, removing the springform base and parchment round. Use a spatula to smooth the room temperature ganache over the cake top and sides, covering evenly.

Place the chilled ganache in a pastry bag fitted with a shell tip and pipe a shell border around the base of the cake. Pipe 12-16 rosettes around the top of the cake to indicate servings. Serve chilled and store leftovers in the fridge. Cut the cake with a hot, dry knife.

Stupid Snowstorm

If all had gone as planned today, I would be on a plane right now. Shaun and I were supposed to fly out of White Plains this evening, connect in Atlanta, and then fly to the Quad Cities. I have a LASIK follow-up appointment there on Monday, and then we're driving up to Minnesota to spend the rest of the week with my family. But when we got up this morning, we discovered that our flight had been preemptively canceled due to the huge storm making its way up the East Coast. At first it didn't look like there would be any flights going out this weekend, which meant we couldn't rebook online, because Delta's rebooking form only lets you pick from today and the next day. Fortunately, after an hour of hearing busy signals from their 800 number, we tried online again and found an available flight going out of Hartford tomorrow afternoon. So at least we'll get there...in theory. The snow was supposed to start here this afternoon and we are just now getting our first dusting. Figures! I just hope this doesn't mean the storm is super slow and we'll end up with another canceled flight tomorrow.

I told Shaun that December 19 is now dead to me...I will not make plans for this day next year. Last year on Friday, December 19, there was a big snowstorm here that started mid-morning. In hindsight I should have left work at noon, but I was let out at 2:00. Apparently that's when everyone else in the whole area was let out of work, and the roads were jam-packed. That in combination with the snow turned my normally 40-minute commute into an almost 3-hour commute...I was not a happy camper. To top it off, the next day when I went to do errands, my car wouldn't start - turned out I needed a new battery. I should have figured, when I was sitting in traffic and my radio wouldn't play if I was running the fan higher than the first level. I guess I'm lucky I got home at all that day!

Anyway, the upside about today's canceled flight is that I got a free day with my hubby to just do whatever, since we obviously had zero plans. We had to join everyone and their mother at the grocery store for a few things since we also had zero food left in the house, but it wasn't too bad. We went to our favorite pizza place for lunch since they were having a "snow day special" for buy one/get one free individual pizzas. Since then we've just been relaxing at home and waiting for the snow. I'd hoped to do a Christmas baking post, but I never think to take pictures when it's light out so I'd have nothing pretty to show. I haven't done much new stuff though - I have my usual pie crust cookies, chocolate covered Oreos, and peanut butter fudge, and the new recipe I tried this year for a cookie exchange was M&Ms Minis Chocolate Cookies with Icing. They're all tasty, though the M&M one involved way too many steps for the dozens of cookies I made!

Well, hopefully in just over 24 hours we'll be landing in Moline. I hope that the snow isn't causing too many problems for anyone else out there! Stay safe, and Merry Christmas!

Decadent Peanut Butter Pie

While it's not a traditional Thanksgiving pie, my in-laws are starting to rely on me bringing this pie to the feast every other year, anyway, when we're here in CT for Thanksgiving). And the good thing is that in addition to being super tasty, it's really easy to make! I don't know if it helps nutrition-wise that I used reduced-fat peanut butter and cream cheese...probably doesn't matter when the pie includes an Oreo crust and a whole jar of hot fudge. Oh well.



I didn't get a picture of the inside, but the Jif site with the original recipe shows a slice of the peanut-buttery goodness.

Decadent Peanut Butter Pie (from Jif)

1 prepared chocolate cookie pie crust
1 cup creamy peanut butter
8 oz cream cheese (at room temp)
1/2 cup sugar
12 oz container Cool Whip
1 (11.75 oz) jar hot fudge, divided

Drizzle: 2 tbsp hot fudge and 2 tbsp peanut butter

In a medium bowl, beat together the peanut butter, cream cheese, and sugar. Gently fold in 3 cups Cool Whip. Spoon mixture into the pie shell. Using a spatula, spoon mixture to edges of pie. Reserving 2 tbsp hot fudge, place remaining hot fudge into microwave-safe bowl or glass measuring cup. Microwave for 1 minute. Stir. Spread hot fudge over pie to cover the peanut butter layer. Refrigerate until serving time.

Just before serving, spread the remaining Cool Whip over hot fudge layer, being careful not to mix the two layers. Place the 2 tbsp hot fudge in a small baggie and knead for a few seconds. Cut a tiny hole in the corner of the bag and drizzle over pie. Do the same with 2 tbsp peanut butter, going in the opposite direction of the hot fudge.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sheila's Famous Brownies

I'll be honest: I'm not sure who Sheila is, and I'm not sure where this recipe came from. It's another one that my mom made while I was growing up, and my Googling to attempt to find the source provided no answers. So, I will just say to Sheila, whoever she is, thanks for making these. With layers of brownie, buttercream, and chocolate glaze, they're the perfect treat for a sugar - and specifically chocolate - addict like me. I think in the future I'll try to find a from-scratch brownie recipe with the right texture to make it that much better - but they're still plenty tasty this way!



Sorry the picture's not great...the pan was almost all gone by the time I got a chance to take one...plus I neglected to recruit Shaun as photographer again!

Sheila's Famous Brownies

1 - 20 to 24 oz package brownie mix, plus ingredients needed for baking
2 sticks butter (1 at room temp)
1 lb powdered sugar (about 3 3/4 cups)
2-3 tablespoons milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips

For brownies: Mix and bake the brownies according to package directions for cakelike brownies. Bake in a 13 x 9 inch pan. Cool on wire rack.
For frosting: In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened stick of butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups of the powdered sugar, beating well. Mix in 2 tablespoons of the milk and the vanilla. Slowly beat in remaining powdered sugar. Beat in additional milk, if needed, to make a spreadable mixture. Spread over cooled brownies.
For glaze: In a small saucepan (or microwave-safe bowl), combine chocolate pieces and remaining butter. Cook and stir over low heat until melted and combined. Slowly pour over frosting.
Refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes or until chocolate is set.
The recipe says to store at room temperature, but I think refrigerated is fine too - just depends on what kind of texture you prefer.

*Completely unrelated to the rest of this post...we are leaving for Notre Dame tomorrow afternoon for the first football game of the season! So excited for the weekend - I'll be back with pictures next week!*

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is my go-to chocolate chip cookie, my ultimate comfort food - yet another recipe that my mom has been making for years. I think she found it in a local newspaper...I like to credit sources when I can, but a quick online search for "chocolate chip cookie recipe" quickly showed me that there was no way I was going to be able to find this exact recipe.

But anyway, I highly recommend you try these. I brought the first couple dozen to family game night last Friday and they disappeared! The funny thing is I tried the Cook's Illustrated Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe last year since everyone was raving about it, and I didn't think they was worth the hype because to me, they were just bigger versions of my mom's. (And these involve fewer steps!)


Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 eggs
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
12 oz package chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugars, butter, vanilla and eggs thoroughly; stir together flour, soda and salt into sugar mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoons (or smaller) about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake about 10 to 12 minutes.

Note: I just made these with rounded tablespoonfuls of dough and it came out to around 5 dozen cookies. Also, I'd recommend taking these out of the oven when they look not quite done and letting them rest on the cookie sheet for another minute or so - that seems to yield the best texture.

Memorial Day Food!

For all the food we made (and ate) over Memorial Day weekend, it didn't feel like I spent all that much time in the kitchen - which is a good thing! Of course it helped that much of the work was on the grill, and Shaun took care of that. We got our grill as a wedding present from Shaun's parents and mostly stuck to pre-made burgers and hot dogs last summer, so we're really excited about learning and trying out all sorts of new grill recipes this summer. We started with basic burgers this time, trying out two different recipes for "The Perfect Hamburger" - one from Taste of Home and one from Williams Sonoma (via Annie's Eats). And no, we didn't reach a conclusion as to which was the true perfect burger - they were both pretty good!

On Sunday we had our friend Rich over for the second round of burgers. Since Rich is a chocolate lover like me, I knew I had to make an appropriate dessert. These brownies were one of my family's dessert standbys while I was growing up. I like the soft, fudgy texture and of course the sweet and creamy frosting - though I'm sure they're good plain as well.

Best Brownies (adapted from Hershey's)

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch square (or 7 x 11) pan.

2. Stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in bowl. Add eggs; beat well with spoon. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to egg mixture, beating until well blended. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.

3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Prepare Creamy Brownie Frosting; spread over brownies.

Creamy Brownie Frosting

3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 tablespoon light corn syrup or honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Beat butter, cocoa, corn syrup and vanilla in small bowl until blended. Add powdered sugar and milk; beat to spreading consistency. About 1 cup frosting.

I'd also had my eye on a cupcake recipe from Annie's Eats since she posted it back in February - I thought it looked like the perfect summer treat, and Shaun thought it sounded good when I mentioned it to him. I halved the recipe below and brought a dozen to the in-laws' family barbecue on Monday, and everyone who tried a cupcake seemed to like it. I definitely did! And usually when there are dessert leftovers I end up eating them myself (not good), but Shaun helped me out and ate a few of these, so that must mean something!

It was my first experience with Wilton gel icing color, since I wanted to get a bright pink shade like Annie did, and obviously it worked! Still not as pretty as hers, but I'm learning. :-)

Cherry Limeade Cupcakes
Yield: 24

For the cupcakes:
3 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. limeade concentrate
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk

For the lime syrup:
3/4 cup limeade concentrate
1/2 cup powdered sugar sugar

For the frosting:
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 tbsp. (or more) maraschino cherry juice
Red food coloring (optional)

For decorating (optional):
Fresh lime slices
Maraschino cherries

To make the cupcakes, preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl combine the cake flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Stir together and set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter with electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and beat on medium-high speed until creamed. Add in the limeade concentrate and mix to incorporate. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl between additions. Add in the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix ingredients just long enough to incorporate but no longer.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans for 5-10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack over wax paper to cool completely.

Once the cupcakes have cooled, whisk together the limeade concentrate and confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl to make the lime syrup. Poke several holes in the top of each cupcake with a skewer and pour the syrup over the cupcakes, allowing it to soak in.

To make the frosting, combine the confectioners’ sugar, butter and maraschino cherry juice in a large bowl. Mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated, then increase to medium-high speed and beat until smooth. Add more maraschino cherry juice as needed to achieve desired texture. Add red food coloring if desired.

Frost cooled cupcakes. Garnish with lime slices and maraschino cherries, if desired.

Yellow Cupcakes

As I mentioned on Monday, I made yet another dessert for this month's family game night. Even before I knew it was going to be a warm weekend, I wanted to make something light to celebrate the fact that it's finally spring. I'd made Marjorie Johnson's Chocolate Cupcakes several times before but had never tried the yellow ones. They were wonderfully soft and fluffy, as I expected, though they looked much more white than yellow to me - at least on the inside. In the cookbook they're paired with a lemon buttercream frosting, which was also quite tasty, but I'm also thinking I might experiment with different frostings on these in the future.

I sorta like that shadow because it was from the glorious sun shining through our window!

One funny moment - while telling the gang what I'd made, I added that I'd wanted to prove I could bake something that didn't involve chocolate. My father-in-law gave a simple and perfect response: "Why?" :-)

Oops, I got distracted.

Yellow Cupcakes (From The Road to Blue Ribbon Baking with Marjorie)

Batter:
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup shortening
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk
3 eggs

In a large bowl stir together cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add shortening, butter, vanilla and 2/3 cup of the milk. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Add remaining milk and eggs and beat for 2 more minutes. Pour batter into 24 paper-lined muffin cups and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 20 minutes.

Lemon Buttercream Frosting:
1/3 cup butter
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp grated orange zest
1 tbsp whipping cream

Mix together butter, lemon juice, and half of the powdered sugar. Add orange zest, cream, and the rest of the powdered sugar. Beat together until spreading consistency. Frost cupcakes.

A Few Spring Desserts

I tried to make a variety of cute, festive, but relatively easy desserts to take to Easter dinner at the in-laws':

This one's a strawberry creme bar - it has layers of graham cracker crust, cream cheese, strawberry pudding, and Cool Whip. I honestly wasn't impressed with the taste, which is why I didn't post the recipe, but I loved the flowers made out of cut up strawberry marshmallows! I think other people liked the bars though, so maybe I'm just overly critical of my stuff. One of our friends looked at these just after I made them on Saturday and said I should open a bakery. I know my skill level is nowhere near that of other bloggers I see out there, much less professional bakers, but it was a nice compliment! (And to be fair, I got the recipe and flower idea from Kraft!)

I also made my first attempt at the infamous cake balls, with chocolate cake and buttercream frosting. I dipped them in melted baking chocolate and drizzled with some springy-colored white chocolate. They were good, but again being critical, I'm not sure they were worth the hype or work. Part of it was the texture - I didn't even mix in all the recommended frosting and they were still a bit too mushy for my taste. They seemed more like truffles than cake...in which case I'd rather have an actual truffle! They were pretty popular with the crowd though.

Ah, now this one is what I look forward to every year. Hershey's Easy Easter Pie is indeed easy, and if you like Hershey's Kisses and peanut butter cups, you'll pretty much love this. I tried it with a homemade graham cracker crust this year which makes it even better. Obviously I associate this pie with Easter, but with different decoration it could really be used for anything. Lent is over - go crazy! ;-)

Brownie Pie with Homemade Fudge Sauce

This is another one of those nostalgic recipes - something that my mom would make for our family as a special treat, back when we all lived under the same roof. I think she originally got it from an M&Ms calendar. There's now an updated version on the M&Ms website, but I have a few preferences that differ from theirs. First, I'm still partial to the chopped regular-sized M&Ms rather than the Minis, even though the latter would require less effort. I think I like seeing the chocolate insides melt when I drop them on the warm brownie and fudge (I'm sorry, am I drooling?). Second, even though I'm a whipped cream lover, the recipe seems to call for way more than needed. I halved it below and added my favorite mix-ins - vanilla and granulated sugar. Third, to further enhance the yummy-ness, I've also included the fudge sauce recipe my mom gave me (unfortunately, I've got no clue where this came from). I halved the amounts shown below, used the 1/4 cup called for in the Brownie Pie, and still had some left over for sundaes!

Colors just make things more fun to eat, don't they?

Brownie Pie

1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1/4 cup fudge topping
1/4 cup chopped M&Ms

1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
Additional whole M&Ms for garnish

Heat oven to 325. Grease pie plate or round pan (9 x 1 1/2 inches). Mix sugar, butter, vanilla, salt, eggs, flour, and cocoa in medium bowl. Pour into pan. Bake until wooden pick inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Immediately prick holes in pie with wooden pick; spread fudge sauce over top. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup chopped candy. Cool completely.
Beat whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla in chilled bowl on high speed until stiff; spread over fudge sauce. Drizzle with additional fudge sauce if desired and top with candy just before serving. Refrigerate any remaining pie. (6-8 servings)

Some day I just need to break the rules, not wait for the pie to "cool completely" as instructed, and dig into the warm, chocolaty goodness.

Fudge Sauce

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tsp vanilla

In a small bowl, mix brown sugar and cocoa. In a heavy small saucepan, melt butter with whipping cream over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Cook and stir over medium heat 5-6 minutes or until mixture just boils around edges. Add the sugar-cocoa mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes more or until sugar is dissolved and mixture is smooth and thickened. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Serve immediately for sundaes or other desserts, or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 week. Reheat in the microwave or on stove top. Makes 1 2/3 cups.

P.S. I made this over the weekend for a movie night with the in-laws. We finally got to see Slumdog Millionaire on Netflix - it was well worth the wait! We loved it! Definitely see it if you haven't already.

Mint Brownie Cupcakes

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I made these cupcakes over the weekend to bring to the in-laws' family game night and annual corned beef and cabbage dinner. This recipe is from Taste of Home - I first made these for St. Patrick's Day last year and my mother-in-law loved them, so I think it's going to become a tradition!

As you might have guessed from the name, these treats look like cupcakes, but the texture is more like a brownie. The topping is very light, with marshmallow and whipped cream as the main ingredients. In my opinion you can't go wrong with mint and chocolate at any time of year, but I thought these would make for a fun and festive post for the holiday.


Mint Brownie Cupcakes

1 cup mint chocolate chips (I couldn't find these at our store so I chopped up a couple of Lindt bars)
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Topping:
4 cups miniature marshmallows
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract
Green or red food coloring, optional
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped
Additional chocolate chips, optional

In a heavy saucepan, melt chips and butter; stir until smooth. Remove from the heat.
Stir in sugar and eggs. Combine flour and baking powder; gradually stir into chocolate mixture until smooth.
Fill paper-lined muffin cups half full. (The recipe says it makes 16, but I only came out with 14 this time.) Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (cupcakes may fall in center). Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool.
In a large saucepan, cook and stir marshmallows and milk over low heat until smooth. Remove from the heat; stir in extract and food coloring if desired.
Cover and refrigerate for about 15 minutes or until cooled. (Make sure you cool long enough - last year I was rushing and my topping came out a bit soupy.) Fold in whipped cream. Spread over cupcakes or top each with a dollop of topping. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Sprinkle with additional chocolate chips if desired. Store in the refrigerator.

Marjorie Johnson's Chocolate Cupcakes

If you've watched the Tonight Show within the last several years, you may be familiar with Marjorie Johnson. She's a baker from Minnesota who has won tons of awards, especially at the state fair. In addition to other local and national shows she's been on, she became an occasional correspondent for Leno after having several baking segments on his show. She always wears red and always talks a mile a minute.

Marjorie came out with a cookbook, and a couple Christmases ago my dad got signed copies for my mom, my sister and me:


I've only tried a few recipes, just because I have SO many recipes bookmarked from all sorts of sources, but these cupcakes have become a favorite. In fact, our friend Rich (a fellow chocolate lover), was quoted as saying, "If I could die for anything, it would be one of these." I guess that means he likes them! They're very soft and crumbly - I tried to show the inside, which resulted in a mess of crumbs surrounding the cupcake, so I apologize for the ugly picture. But just trust me...they're tasty.


Chocolate Cupcakes

Batter:
2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup Crisco
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place all ingredients in a large electric mixer bowl. Blend together on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Pour into 24 paper-lined muffin cups, filling half full, and bake for about 20 minutes.

Frosting:
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
6 ounce package chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

In a microwaveable bowl, place milk, butter, and chocolate chips. Microwave for 1 minute, stir; if chocolate and butter are not melted, microwave for another minute. Stir until smooth. Add vanilla and powdered sugar and beat to a spreading consistency. Frost cupcakes.

On another chocolate note: I made Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Sheet Cake recently and served it warm...wow. She was right in saying that it causes moans and groans when you take a bite. Even Shaun, who is not nearly the chocolate freak that I am, thought it was really good!

Happy Valentine's Day!

First, let me start off by apologizing to anyone who may have watched Important Things at my suggestion. It wasn't horrible, but definitely wasn't as good as I had hoped...just kinda weird. I'll probably keep watching for awhile to see if the show finds a groove, because I know how funny he can be.

I was busy in the kitchen this week - I sent a belated birthday gift to my dad consisting of Homemade Samoas Bars, which I found on Baking Bites and knew I had to make since my dad loves coconut...and "Spreads", which I saw on Pioneer Woman and thought would make a nice, easy addition to the package. Obviously the bars were a little more time consuming than the spreads, but they were both incredibly tasty. Then I had a night of baking and a night of frosting sugar cookies. Once a month we have a Friday game night with Shaun's family and it gives me a great excuse to make a full batch of treats. Plus he had a work potluck on the 13th, so I doubled the recipe to make plenty for everyone. They were a success - the tray came back empty both times! Maybe not the most professional-looking cookies in the world, but they tasted good.


The recipe, funnily enough, came from a Minnie Mouse Valentine book we had when we were kids. I think in the story she was baking cookies for Mickey, and at the end they had this recipe. We tried it and it became the household favorite (and I apparently have the original plastic cookie cutter that came with it, as shown by my few undecorated "Be My Valentine" cookies).

Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

Cream the butter and sugar. Then beat in the egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt, then mix with the butter/egg/sugar mixture. Chill the dough for 3 hours. Preheat oven to 350.

On a flour-covered surface, roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thickness and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Bake cookies on a greased cookie sheet for about 8 minutes.

The number of cookies obviously depends on the size of the cookie cutters you use, but if they're all average size, I would estimate 3-4 dozen. In my opinion, they taste the best with a thin layer of buttercream.

For the frosting, I started with 1/4 cup butter and gradually dumped in powdered sugar - I would estimate around 2 cups - enough that when that's all mixed it's still crumbly and powdery. Then I just added milk about a tablespoon at a time until it was at a consistency I liked, and mixed in 1 tsp vanilla (and of course food coloring as desired).

So, back to Valentine's Day - Shaun and I aren't big on the holiday, but we got each other cards and ended up going out to breakfast since we had to get up early to drop his car off for maintenance. We're not usually morning people on weekends, but it was kind of a nice break from routine. We're just having a low-key day, watching a couple movies - even having leftovers for dinner. For dessert we're at least going to attempt our first fondue, a recipe I saw on Shauna's blog. And of course, we'll be watching SNL hosted by Alec Baldwin...that's sure to have some amusing moments! Enjoy the evening, however you do (or don't) celebrate!

Chocolate Covered Oreos

I promise this will be the last of my overdue Christmas goodies posts. Just like the PB fudge, these Oreos are something I make every year at Christmas, and our family and friends who are chocolate fans go nuts over them. My mother-in-law even brought me a package of mint Oreos before Christmas just to make sure I had them ready to dip. ;-) And, just like the PB fudge, this is one of the easiest things to make!

I just melt one bag (I think 12 oz) each of dark (semisweet) and milk chocolate chips in the microwave or on the stove - I generally use Ghirardelli. With the thickness shown below, that amount will cover somewhere around 3 dozen of the double stuf Oreos - which the seasonal and mint Oreos are. One other tip: After dipping (and decorating if you desire), place the Oreos on a baking sheet lined with wax paper and pop them in the freezer for a bit - they'll harden quickly and be much easier to peel off the sheet and store without damage.


From L to R: Holiday Oreo with red filling (regular flavor); Cool Mint Creme Oreo; Limited Edition Candy Cane Creme Oreo (not anything special, to be honest); Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe-Joes - I thought these had the strongest mint flavor, with little candy cane bits in the filling. I tried to help out the non-mint fans with a coding system on the outside. Yum! Okay, I'll try not to make any more Christmas posts until after Thanksgiving. Back to watching the last college football game for awhile...

Peanut Butter Fudge

This is another of my "must-make"s for Christmas. Since I had plenty of extra sweets in the freezer, I put together a tray of cookies and fudge to take to a small New Year's gathering (picture below), and the fudge was the only thing that completely disappeared. And it's so easy to make! The one thing I can't remember from year to year is whether the M&Ms on top are chopped in half or kept whole. It tastes good either way though!

Peanut Butter Fudge

2/3 c butter
2/3 c peanut butter
6 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tbsp vanilla
3/4 cup red and green M&Ms, divided (at least 1/2 cup chopped)

Measure butter and peanut butter into large microwaveable bowl. Microwave until butter melts (1 1/2 - 2 minutes). Stir until blended.
Stir in powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth. Microwave until softened but not bubbly (1 - 1 1/2 minutes). Stir. Quickly stir in 1/2 cup chopped M&Ms.
Pour into buttered 9x9 pan. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup M&Ms on top, press in lightly. Refrigerate, covered, at least 1 hour before cutting. Store in refrigerator.
(Chocolate chips can be substituted for M&Ms).
*I'm not sure of the source of this recipe...I got it from my mom who's made it for years.

Pie Crust Cookies

I'm not sure where this recipe originated...I just know that my mom has always made these every year at Christmas, and since I've been living on my own in (2004), these cookies have been a "must-bake" every year. It's just not Christmas until I have a pie crust cookie!

Pie Crust Cookies

Cookies:
1 cup butter
1/3 cup whipping cream
2 cups flour
Sugar (separate, roughly ½ cup)

Filling:
¼ cup softened butter
About 3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Milk
Red and green coloring

For cookies: Mix butter, cream, and flour. Chill. Divide into thirds. Roll 1/3 to 1/8 inch thickness on floured board. Cut with 1½ inch round cutter. Place cookies on waxed paper heavily covered with sugar and flip. Place on ungreased sheet. Prick each 4 times with fork. Bake at 350-375 for 7-9 minutes, depending on how crisp you want the cookies. Cool for 1 minute and then remove from sheet (too soon and they will fall apart, too late and they will stick to sheet). Fill 2 cookies with filling.
For filling: Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla; add milk until desired consistency. (You can use less powdered sugar if you want a thinner filling, but we’ve always made them with a generous amount of frosting.) Divide and add coloring. Makes approximately 4 dozen.


They're so incredibly sugary, buttery, and GOOD. I'm normally a chocolate fiend, but these are definitely one of my favorites. Give 'em a try!