Mocha cupcakes with Baileys buttercream

Today is my birthday! And last night many many people came over to celebrate it with me! I know it seems a little sad/desperate to make my own birthday cake(s) but I enjoy baking for people so much that I needed to use it as an excuse. For Christmas, my aunt bought me a Martha Stewart cupcakes recipe book, and it's quickly becoming a new favourite reference. There are so many delicious recipes I have to try! To kick things off, I made mocha cupcakes. Then I thought the perfect addition to mocha would have to be baileys.... so I made baileys buttercream. Huge success. Here's the recipe:


Mocha cupcakes
Ingredients


2 1/4 cups cake flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter, room temp
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temp
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream, room temp
3/4 cup fresh brewed espresso (I just used very strong coffee)
1 tbsp instant espresso powder (I didn't use this, not sure where to find it)




Method
1. Preheat oven to 325. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cake flour and cocoa. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter until smooth and light. Add the brown sugar and eggs; beat until fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add the vanilla, baking soda, and salt; beat to combine thoroughly. 


2. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of sour cream, and beating until just combined after each. Mix together brewed espresso and espresso powder; add to batter, and beat until smooth.


3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three quarters full. Bake, orating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centres comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, about 22 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored up to 3 days at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months in airtight containers.

Baileys Buttercream
Ingredients


5 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups butter (3 sticks), room temp, cut into cubes
6 tbsp Baileys
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar




1. In a medium metal bowl add the egg whites and whisk with a pinch of salt to break up. Add the sugar to the egg whites and whisk till incorporated. Place bowl over a pan of simmering water. Continue to whisk until the sugar has melted into the egg whites. When you rub it between your fingers it should feel smooth not gritty.

2. Once it is smooth transfer to the bowl of an mixer and whisk on med high for 7-10 minutes until has almost tripled in volume and the bowl is cool to the touch. It should resemble marshmallow fluff in texture and have very stiff peaks.


3.  Add the butter gradually while continuously mixing on medium speed. It will look like it curdles after this (kinda like scrambled eggs) but continue to mix it and it will smooth out. Add the Baileys and vanilla, then gradually add the powdered sugar. Mix until just combined.


4. Spoon the frosting into piping bags and decorate your adorable cupcakes! (I used a 1M tip)

Starbucks ripoff's continued: Cranberry Bliss Bars.

I have this thing for coffee shop food, it's always so good. A couple years ago I became so addicted to raspberry white chocolate scones from second cup that after a few weeks of spending $4.00 a day on them, I decided it was probably time to find a recipe and give up the store-bought ones. And luckily I easily found one and they've been a staple recipe ever since. Upon thinking about what other Starbucks imitations I've had over the years, I've made a great lemon poppy seed loaf a couple times and my mom makes some damn good ginger molasses cookies (that my roommate & housemate can also attest to)


Skip forward a couple years and you'll see that two posts ago I whipped up some drink syrups to make gingerbread and toffee lattes, hot chocolate, or whatever else you'd like. Then I stumbled upon this recipe a week or two ago of Starbucks' cranberry bliss bars (recipe below).... and this makes me wonder how many other coffee-shop imitations I can make. My list so far of things I need to imitate?


Oatmeal maple scones from Bridgehead.
Mini vanilla bean scones from Starbucks.
Morning buns from Bridgehead. 




Any more suggestions?? Let me know! Here are the bliss bars :)


Cake/Blondie layer:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter, cubed
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Icing:

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened (I forgot to buy this, so I used a container of spreadable cream cheese that Rob had, and it worked just as well)
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 ounces white baking chocolate, melted
1/2 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray or line with parchment paper.
Prepare the blondie layer:

2. In a medium bowl, melt butter for one minute in the microwave or until melted; stir in brown sugar. Pour the butter and sugar into a large bowl and let cool to room temperature. Use an electric mixer to beat in the eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; gradually add the dry mixture to the butter mixture. Stir in the cranberries and chopped chocolate (batter will be thick).
3. Spread the blondie batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 18-21 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean (do not overbake). Cool completely on a wire rack.
Prepare the icing:

4. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar until combined. Gradually add half of the melted white chocolate; beat until blended. Frost brownies. Sprinkle with chopped cranberries. Drizzle with remaining melted white chocolate. Let the frosting set (speed this up by throwing them into the fridge) then cut into bars- square or triangle-shaped. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. (Adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything)

Vanilla coconut birthday cake

In honour of new years, and my friend Tara's birthday, I decided to make a cake! After researching a zillion different cake recipes, I came across one that didnt seem too simple nor too complex (the ridiculously simple ones scare me a bit, there has to be a catch...like it tastes like shit but looks great....i opted for quality & appearance)

In the end though it wasn't all that complicated, except between the cake and frosting i used 10...TEN egg whites. and i'm not about to eat all those leftover yolks, so you can see how cake making can be a bit pricey and sometimes pushing absurd (i came across some recipes that asked for 10 egg whites just for the cake alone...forget the frosting). On that note I also stumbled across one that had a full 5 cups of butter in it between the cake and frosting....needles to say I avoided that one.


But I am happy with my choice of recipe and with the icing! Which is the first time I've mean swiss meringue buttercream. I like that it looks so glossy, and tastes pretty great too. The link to the recipe I used for the cake is here, however I used a Martha Stewart frosting recipe, which is for you below:


**In the layer between the cakes I added shredded coconut in with the frosting.


Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar + 2 tbsp
• 5 large egg whites
• 2 cups unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

**I added a tsp of coconut extract as well, however in retrospect I probably would have done with 1/2 tsp. Too much extract and it tastes like sunscreen.

Directions

1. Place sugar and egg whites in the heat-proof bowl of an electric mixer. Set bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, and whisk until sugar has dissolved and egg whites are hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. Test by rubbing the mixture between your fingers; it should feel completely smooth.
2. Beat on high speed until mixture has cooled completely and formed stiff and glossy peaks, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the butter, one piece at a time, and beat until incorporated after each addition. Don't worry if the buttercream appears curdled after all the butter has been added; it will become smooth again with continued beating. Add vanilla, and beat just until combined. 
4. Beat on the lowest speed to eliminate any air pockets, about 5 minutes. If using buttercream within several hours, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature in a cool environment. Or transfer to an airtight container, and store in the refrigerator, up to 3 days. Before using, bring buttercream to room temperature, and beat on the lowest speed with the paddle attachment until smooth, about 5 minutes.

For the roses on the cake, it's a lot easier than it looks. You just use a 1M tip and pipe swirls starting in the middle and working your way out. After you've piped the roses, fill in the gaps in between with swipes of frosting using the same tip.

pink swirl peppermint sandwich cookies!

so i haven't posted anything in a bit, since i've been busy with christmas things and whatnot. but these deserved to be remembered. when i saw them i knew i had to make them, and i did.. and they were amazing. but it took a lot of effort. i mean not an insane amount, but more than i would usually spend on cookies. i'd make them again, but only for super special occasions :)


they are actually supposed to be red swirls, however i do not own any red food colouring...so pink it was. but i believe they look just as cute, if not more so... but possibly a tad less festive. these are cute on their own too, however i took two and sandwiched them with peppermint buttercream in between. at first they were crunchy and slightly difficult to eat, but they get better with age! after a day or two, the frosting softens up the cookies and they turn into soft sugary goodness.


here's the recipe!

Yields about 2 dozen cookie sandwiches

Vanilla Sugar Cookies
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Red gel food coloring, as needed

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt, mixing until well combined.

Remove 1/2 of the dough and add red/pink food coloring to the remaining dough, beating until well mixed. Gel food color will work best. Water based food colors will most likely leave you with a more faded colour, no matter how much coloring you add. Wrap each dough separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a half hour to an hour to firm up the dough.

Roll out one color of dough to 1/4-inch thick rectangle on a lightly floured non-stick baking mat or wax paper. Roll out the second color of dough to 1/4-inch thick rectangle of the same size on a lightly floured surface. Place the second rectangle on top of the first and trim the edges until even. Using the mat or wax paper, roll the dough into a log. Secure with rubber bands and place in the refrigerator for 4 hours to firm up.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for best cookie removal.

Remove rubber bands from cookie log and place on a lightly floured surface. Cut cookies to 1/8-inch thick and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake cookies for 7-8 minutes; do not allow the edges to brown. Cool completely on a cooling rack before frosting.

**note: i had a bit of extra dough left from cutting off the extra pieces around the outside of the rectangle, so i rolled the pieces out and made a mini roll as well, so i had some adorable mini cookie sandwiches... if i had of known they'd be so perfectly bite-sized, i'd have done them all like that!

Peppermint Frosting
8 tablespoon butter, room temperature
2-3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Pinch of salt

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter until smooth. Add 2 cups powdered sugar and continue beating on low until combined. Mix in peppermint extract, heavy cream, and salt. If frosting is too thick, add an additional teaspoon or two of heavy cream to smooth it out. If frosting is too thin, add additional cup of powdered sugar until desired texture is reached.

Using a pastry bag (or plastic bag with the corner cut out), pipe peppermint buttercream onto the bottom of a pinwheel cookie and sandwich with another cookie. Repeat this using all pinwheel cookies. Let buttercream dry before storing cookies in an airtight container.

the finished product, ready for the holiday party upstairs (along with Tara's chocolate raspberry thumbprint cookies!)

Christmas Drink Syrups

Ever wonder what starbucks/bridgehead/second cup/etc. puts into those christmas lattes to make them taste so good? flavoured syrups! :) i just happened to stumble upon a great page on making these easy syrups to add to your own coffee and/or hot chocolate and/or mixed drinks! (gingerbread & spiced rum anyone?) thus, here are the recipes and my photos of the steps!

 Gingerbread Syrup

Ingredients:
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground allspice
¼ tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. molasses
1 cup water
1 cup sugar

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is completely dissolved.  Let simmer gently for 10 minutes.  Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth ( i used a coffee filter).  Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Toffee Syrup
Ingredients:
¾ cup water
¾ cup sugar
½ cup toffee bits

Directions:
Combine the water, sugar, and toffee bits in a small saucepan.  Heat over medium-high, stirring occasionally, just until the sugar is dissolved.  Remove from the heat and pour through a fine mesh sieve into a liquid measuring cup.  Let stand at room temperature about 30 minutes.  Use a spoon to skim the solids off of the top.  Transfer to a storage container and refrigerate until ready to use.

I only made gingerbread and toffee flavours but you could essentially make any kind you wanted depending on the source of the flavour- i.e. candy canes for peppermint, eggnog, cinnamon, chocolate, etc.

Gingerbread cupcakes

These cupcakes are so good! instead of making the standard gingerbread cookie, i made... gingerbread cupcakes! complete with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. As long as you have all of the ingredients lying around (some rarer than others....i.e. molasses, cloves, etc), these cupcakes are really easy to make and taste super good. I made 24 with this recipe but some of them are pretty small, so I'd go for maybe about 15 big ones next time instead. but make them... you won't regret it. also, i'd like to add that the cinnamon cream cheese frosting is possibly the best icing i've ever... EVER had. here's the recipe: (I believe it's originally Martha Stewart, but i slightly altered it)

For the Cupcakes:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (3 sticks), room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 tablespoons molasses
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 22 3-inch gingerbread men (or in my case, snowflakes- these i didn't make myself, they are Pillsbury) 

For Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened (1 brick)
• 3 cups powdered sugar (I used 4)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pan with baking cup liners.
2. In a large bowl, sift together flour and spices; set aside.
3. In the bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light, about 3 minutes. Beat in the molasses until incorporated. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Add flour and mix on low speed until just combined.
4. Fill the cupcake papers three-quarters full, making sure that the batter is divided evenly. Bake cupcakes until a toothpick inserted in the center of them comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let cupcakes cool on a wire rack 10 minutes.
5. To make the cinnamon cream frosting: Combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Add cinnamon and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
6. Place frosting into a large decorators decorating bag fitted with the 1M tip and approximately 1/4″ above cupcake top at a 90° angle to cupcake surface,  pipe a spiral of icing, beginning at the outer edge and working inward. Top with a cookie (snowflake/man) 

Orange Cinnamon Muffins

Sunday calls for making.... something. These muffins have been a huge favourite for a while, and I make them pretty frequently. They're like a mixture between donut and muffin. And there's orange in them, so you can use that as an excuse to call them a breakfast food. Everyone loves them. 


Instead of the nutmeg I substituted cinnamon in (1 tsp) and I added zest of 1 orange. I can't imagine making them without the orange anymore, it just completes the muffin.


Recipe:


1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg 
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup milk (I've also used almond milk and soya milk- they all work.)
zest from 1 orange (use a zester, the fine side of a cheese grater or if all else fails, scrape the orange peel with a beer bottle cap...i know you have some lying around.)

Topping
1/2 cupsugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 tsp cinnamon


photos of the process:

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium-large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir until combined, but still a bit lumpy. Don't overmix. Scoop batter into muffin tins that have sprayed with cooking spray. Using a scoop, scoop batter into muffin tin. This only makes about 10 medium sized muffins. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until they just start to turn a bit golden at the edges.

For the topping, mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Place melted butter in another small bowl. Dip the warm muffins in melted butter, then in cinnamon sugar....




EAT.