Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

April 24, 2016April 24, 20162 Comments

Miracles happen.

I’m back to blogging, and you’re going to hate me. I made cupcakes.

I know cupcakes are so 2008.

Since I’ve been wedding planning, (Side note: we’re 4 months away. Where did time go? We have a wedding website. This means it’s happening) I’ve become acutely aware of wedding trends. Cupcakes are no longer cool. Layer cakes are in (which I’ve loved probably since 2008).

BUT cupcakes are so handy for outdoor events. The weather up here in the Bay Area has been hit or miss recently, but today we’re heading outdoors for a bubble soccer birthday celebration. I’m always the person who volunteers to bring a cake, but sometimes don’t you just want a dang cupcake?

They’re cute. They’re simple. They’re delicious.

Eat a cupcake. Feel free to listen to the Buena Vista Social Club station on Pandora while you make and eat them. That’s what I’m doing and it’s amazing.

These cupcakes have become by go to recipe. They’re a crowdpleaser and the frosting isn’t sickeningly sweet.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

cupcakes from Hershey’s, Buttercream from Me?

For cupcakes:

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk (I used almond milk and it was a-okay!)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

For Vanilla Buttercream:

3 egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
3 sticks of butter (I know… seriously 3), softened
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Make your cupcakes. Preheat oven to 350F. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Lastly beat in boiling water. The batter is really runny but trust me, it’s delicious.

Line cupcake pan with liners of choice (the cuter the better). Fill each liner with 1/4 cup of batter. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test (note: 15 minutes is the perfect amount for me). Repeat until all batter is gone. I usually get 24-26 cupcakes out of this recipe.

Allow to cool completely. Then make frosting.

Whisk together egg whites and sugar in your stand mixer bowl. Place over a pot of boiling water (make sure water isn’t touching the bowl), stir it every so often until the egg whites become hot and you can no longer feel the sugar granules. There’s probably an appropriate temperature that it needs to reach but I have no idea what that is. I just touch it.

Transfer to the mixer and whip using the whisk attachment until they’ve formed stiff peaks.

Remove the whisk attachment and change to the paddle attachment for your mixer. Add vanilla. Then start to beat in butter until the butter is incorporated and it’s smooth. If you want here you can add any flavoring.

I’ve done peanut butter, dulce de leche, caramel, strawberry jam. They’re all magic. Or you can just stick with vanilla and be a happy camper.

I like to chill my frosting a little bit before frosting because I find it easier to work with. Just about 10 minutes. Give it a try.

Frost your cupcakes and decorate as you like. Sprinkles are encouraged.

Take them to a party and feed them to your friends.

Happy Sunday! Hope you’re enjoying the day Game of Thrones returns! (<—- ok read

Cheesecake with Strawberry Balsamic Sauce

July 25, 2015July 26, 20159 Comments

Nowadays, other people’s birthdays are far more exciting than my own. Does that happen to you too? I think that’s what happens when you pass the age of 21.

I love other people’s birthdays, because I love getting other people gifts and I love making them birthday cakes. Ok really, that last reason is the most important one.

Yesterday was Jesse’s birthday. In the past I’ve written an embarrassing post in his honor, but this year I’ll mostly spare him. I made him an epic cheesecake, because while I love layer cakes, I know he’s a fan of cheesecake.

On someone’s birthday, you should probably make what they like, not what you like. Remember, it’s the time to be giving.

Cheesecake with Strawberry Balsamic Sauce

cake adapted from All Recipes (strawberry sauce my own)

9 graham crackers, crushed
1/4 cup butter, melted
4 (8oz) packages of cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup flour

For Topping:

1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup whipped cream (sweetened with a few tbsp sugar), optional

For Sauce:

1lb fresh strawberries
1/2-3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease 9inch springform pan and wrap in aluminum foil (this is to keep water from getting in when you bake in a water bath). In a bowl, mix together graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Press into bottom of springform pan. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Using a mixer, beat together cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in milk and eggs, one at a time until just combined. Add in sour cream, vanilla and flour and beat until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Place pan in a larger baking dish, a roasting pan if you have one (I used a jelly roll pan because that’s all I had), and fill baking dish with hot water. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. After that time, turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in the oven for another hour, then crack the oven door and let it sit for another hour or two. The goal is to make sure the temperature doesn’t drop too quickly. That way you’ll get a smooth cheesecake with no cracks.

While you’re waiting for the cake to cool, is the perfect time to make the topping. Dice strawberries and place in a sauce pan with sugar and balsamic vinegar. With regards to the amount of sugar, start with half a cup, after it’s been cooking for a while, taste the sauce and add more if you’d like. I didn’t, but I could see where some would want it sweeter. Cook on medium heat about 10 minutes. Allow to cool. At this point, you can leave it with chunks of fruit or you can blend to get a smooth sauce. I blended it, but whole chunks of fruit could also be delicious and beautiful.

The topping can be made in advance and refrigerated. Feel free to serve it warm or cold.

Now back to the cake… Once the cake has cooled, refrigerate a few hours or overnight. A few hours before you’re ready to serve, prepare topping. Mix together sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Spread over top of cake. Pipe whipped cream around edges (this is optional, just for decoration). Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serve with strawberry balsamic sauce and enjoy!

I hope Jesse enjoyed it! His birthday was pretty low key. We had sushi, ate cheesecake and then proceeded to spend the rest of the night in a food coma.

That might be one of the most awesome ways to spend a birthday.

Happy Birthday, Jesse!

I know I said my other people’s birthdays are more exciting than my own, but next week is my birthday and let’s be honest, making a birthday cake for yourself is always exciting.

I have many ideas in mind and it involves lots of fresh fruit.

What’s more exciting: your birthday or someone else’s?

Macaron Making: I Promise It’s Not Scary

June 10, 2015June 10, 20154 Comments

I’ve started wedding planning and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that if the word wedding is attached, it’s automatically expensive.

Cakes. Flowers. Dessert tables. Photographers. Dresses. Shoes. Invitations.

All of it = $$$$

So with dollar signs looming over my head, I’m going through a phase where anything I buy seems outrageously expensive, and I want to make everything myself. While I don’t plan on having french macarons at my wedding, they’ve always been something I thought was ridiculously expensive. macarons1

$2+ a pop is too much for el cheap-o over here.

I was determined to make them myself but never got around to it. I had tried a few times before and failed. One time they turned out like meringues (with a little peak). Another time, they just crumbled and fell flat. After some research and reading, they turned out great.

These cookies are delicate and delicious. I can see why they’re so pricey, but honestly, you can make them at home on your own. They take some time, because they require a lot of sitting, but the active amount of work is actually minimal.

Basic French Macarons

from All Recipes

100g egg whites
50g white granulated sugar
100g powdered sugar
110g almond flour, finely ground
Food coloring of choice (optional)
Filling of choice*

Weigh out your egg whites and allow your eggs to get to room temperature. 100g of eggs was a tiny bit less than 3 egg whites. Yes, I was neurotic and weighed out exactly 100g. I think this was part of my success.

While your egg whites get to room temperature, weigh out your remaining ingredients and set aside. Sift together the powdered sugar and almond flour, set aside.

Using a stand mixer, beat the egg whites. Once they start to foam, slowly stream in the granulated. Continue to beat until they reach soft peaks. Try not to over mix and get firm peaks. Soft peaks are good! They tip of the peak will fall over to the side a bit.

Fold the almond flour and powdered sugar into the egg whites, along with a few drops of any food coloring you’d like (I used a few drops of red to get a bright pink). Keep turning/folding until it’s all incorporated, but you don’t want to overmix it. Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a round tip, then get your baking sheets ready.

Line your baking sheets with parchment paper. If you want you can draw circles using a bottle cap so that your cookies are all the same size, I did that at first, then I just eyeballed it and it turned out fine. You want the parchment paper to be fitted exactly to the baking sheet so it can be completely flat.

Then start piping. Pipe some frosting onto the baking sheet. They’ll spread a bit so leave an inch or two between each one. Once you’ve piped enough to fill your sheet, lift the baking sheet and lightly slam it on the counter a few times to get rid of any air bubbles. Then continue piping onto another baking sheet until you run out of batter (this recipe makes about 24 macarons, so for me that was 3 baking sheets full of cookies). Let the unbaked cookies sit out on the counter for an hour.

Then preheat the oven to 275F. Bake 10-14 minutes. This is where it might get tricky. My first batch was underbaked and completely stuck to the parchment paper. The second batch, I baked a few minutes longer (13 minutes) and they turned out great.

Once you take the macarons out of the oven, transfer the parchment paper with all the macarons on to a cooling rack so they can cool completely (you can put them in the freezer for a few minutes to speed up the process). After the cookies have cooled completely you can assemble them!

*For my filling, I used a simple chocolate frosting recipe, because I wanted to get the basics and I happened to have all the ingredients on hand. Later I’ll try experimenting with different fillings, but I wanted something quick and easy. And so, I used the Hershey’s Chocolate Frosting Recipe.

Chocolate Buttercream Filling

adapted from Hershey’s Chocolate Frosting

1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/6 cup coffee (or milk)
Melt butter and mix with cocoa powder. Using a mixer, beat in powdered sugar, a bit at a time, alternating with coffee until all ingredients are incorporated. Beat a few more minutes until fluffy, then set aside.

Now assemble the macarons by spreading some frosting (or other filling of choice) on one cookie then putting together like a sandwich.

Then ta-da! You have 24 beautiful macarons! That wasn’t too scary, right?

Overall, in the macaron-making process, I learned a few key things…

Tips for Making Macarons:

Sift the ingredients (and make sure you buy extra fine almond flour). I hate sifting ingredients but these cookies are so light that it’s a must. If you buy the almond flour at Sprouts in the bulk food section, it’s not fine enough. I’ve tried. Get the Bob’s Red Mill one.
Let the batter sit a bit before piping it. I found that my last batch turned out the best, so I’m chalking that up to the fact that it sat the longest in the piping bag (a few hours really) and sat for about an hour and a half on the counter before baking (because I was working and forgot about them).
You need to let them rest for 1 hour after you pipe them onto the baking sheet. When they sit, they smooth out and develop that nice coat. Let them chill.
If you underbake your macarons, they’ll stick to the parchment paper. It depends on your oven and the size of your cookies. Figuring out when the macarons were ready to come out of the over took some guess work. They have to look set, but not browned. If this is your first time, I recommending each baking sheet separately in case one gets messed up, there are still two others for you to try with. I ended up baking mine for 13 minutes, and that was the magic number. But remember, every oven is different and your macarons might be bigger than mine.

I’m excited to try to make different flavors now. I’m a big believer in mastering the basics before moving on to more extravagant things or tweaking recipes. I had a lemon macaron from Lette Macarons that basically changed my view of macarons. I must try to recreate it!

Have you tried making macarons? or are you just an eater? What’s your favorite macaron flavor?

Peanut Butter Goji Soda Bread

March 18, 20155 Comments

I missed the boat on St. Patrick’s Day. There was no green beer or corned beef and cabbage, but I did get a little inspiration from the Irish yesterday… Soda Bread.

I’ve never actually had soda bread, but a lot of people seem to like it. So given the Irish inspiration and some jars of peanut butter and a bag of goji berries sitting around, a great idea came. Let’s put the two together.

soda bread1 copy

The good news is my experiment was a success! Again, I’ve never had soda bread so I’m not entirely sure what’s it’s supposed to taste like but this one was good. Faintly sweet and with a hint of peanut butter.

I kind of think you could make an amazing PB&J with this soda bread, but it would be all sorts of dense and intense.

Feel free to give that a try.

Peanut Butter Goji Soda Bread

3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp butter, cold
1/2 cup The Bee’s Knees Peanut Butter
1/2 cup dried goji berries, rehydrated, liquid reserved
1/4 cup plain yogurt mixed with
3/4 cup water (1 cup total) or 1 cup buttermilk if you have it
1 tbsp melted butter

Take some hot water and pour it on the goji berries to rehydrate, set aside until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add butter and use your fingers to work it into small pieces. Add peanut butter and do the same. It’s ok if there are chunks of PB, you’ll work it in more later.
Strain goji berries and reserve the steeping water. You’ll need about 1-2 tbsp of it. Add yogurt mixture and goji berries to the flour mixture. Work into a ball. Add goji berry liquid as needed (I used about 2 tbsp).

Once you’ve got it into a ball. Transfer it onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and form into a round thick disc shape. Score the top in an X shape with a knife. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with additional sugar.

Bake 45-50 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test. Allow to cool completely, serve and enjoy!

This recipe makes one pretty big loaf. It’s a lot of soda bread, but worth it.

Anyone ever tried making bread pudding with soda bread? I think that could be amazing!

GIVEAWAY! Don’t forget to enter the Peanut Butter & Co Giveaway. It ends this Friday! To enter, go back to the Chocolate Peanut Butter Goji Berry Pie Post and leave a comment! Entering is easy, winning is awesome. Tell your friends!

Almond Joy Chocolate Chip Cookies and the Second #C2CCS

October 22, 2014October 21, 20144 Comments

Hi friends! I’ve been on the DL the past few weeks. I’m in a sort of blogging/life rut, so I had been taking a bit of a break. Luckily, I have some blogger friends to help get me out of the rut.

One of my favorite parts of blogging is getting to know people. I know it sounds silly and cliche, but I’ve made a few real life friends as a result of blogging. Real life friends are amazing (looking at you Allison and Samantha), but it’s also great to make friends online, especially when they motivate you to bake treats and send you some.

You might remember last year, I made some Molasses Ginger Apricot Cookies? Then I sent those cookies to some ladies and they sent me some cookies back and we called it the Coast to Coast Cookie Swap. Well here is the second installment of that! Because isn’t sending your friends cookies a good idea? It is!

Planning what kinds of cookies to send to other foodie/cookie lovers is hard. I brainstormed for a while and these cookies turned up by mistake. I wanted to make some cookies for a coworker who was doing an awesome job. I liked them so much I decided they needed to happen again. I’ve actually made these cookies three times in the past two weeks.

Trust me. They’re worth it.

In exchange for these cookies, I received a few goodies in the mail:

White Chip Cranberry Cookies from Natalie

Delicious Spiced Cookies from Coco

Take 5 Cookies from Jazzy

Additionally, Allison made some Grain Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies that I wish I got to try!

Let’s be honest, exchanging cookies (or all baked goods in general) is an amazing idea. You should try it. Start by making these and sharing them with your friends.

Almond Joy Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 stick of butter
1 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/4-1/2 cup roasted coconut chips
1/4-1/2 cup honey roasted sliced almonds

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add 1 egg, then vanilla and continue to be beat for about a minute. Add in flour mixture. Mix until almost combined. Fold in chocolate chips, coconut and almonds until dough is just combined. Be careful not to overmix the dough, if not you’ll get flat cookies!

Place dough in the freezer while oven preheats to 350F.

Once oven has pre-heated, form dough into walnut sized balls. Place on parchment paper-lined pan and bake for 8-12 minutes, or until golden around the edges.

After a few minutes, transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely then share with a friend and enjoy!

What’s your favorite cookie to share with a friend?

P.S. Sharing cookies is awesome, but baking with a friend is even more fun! Check out these Salted Caramel Eclairs I made with Sam at the Little Ferraro Kitchen!

Blueberry Lemon Thyme Pie in a Bourbon Crust

July 9, 2014July 9, 201413 Comments

Before this week, I hadn’t made a pie in a really long time. I had almost forgotten how fun it is to make a pie.

There’s something really special about making a pie. I think it has to do with all the steps. It’s a process, but almost always, it’s worth it.

With this pie, it’s totally worth it. I can honestly say, I thoroughly enjoy making pies. I love making the dough and using my fingers to break up the butter. I love rolling out the dough to fit the pie pan. I should also tell you that I’m a little bit in love with the crust. I decided bourbon was a good idea, so I used bourbon instead of water. Then I decided thyme goes great with blueberries and lemon. So why not? I won’t lie, the thyme gives the pie a really earthy flavor. I’m not sure it will be to everyone’s liking. If you aren’t into earthiness, omit the thyme and you will have one rockin’ pie.

The only part of pie-making that I’m not crazy about is chopping fruit. With this pie, this is a non-issue.

This is pretty much the pie for those who don’t like to chop things. There’s really zero chopping involved. Just rinse your blueberries, grate your lemon and pluck some thyme off the stem, then throw it all together with some sugar and flour. It all is pretty simple.

Of course with any pie, you can always get fancy. Lattice tops are always fancy. I tried to get even fancier by using a spoon to crimp the edge. Oh and the little heart adds a nice touch, right? All sorts of cute!

I’m a fan. If you’re in the mood for a fancy pants pie that is comforting and earthy (is earthy a bad thing?), this is the jam:

Blueberry Lemon Thyme Pie in a Bourbon Crust

For Crust:

350g all purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks butter, cold
1/4 cup bourbon

For Filling:

1.5lbs fresh blueberries (5 cups)
3/4-1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp fresh thyme

First make your crust. Mix together dry ingredients. Cut your butter into cubes, using your fingers work into your flour mixture until you get coarse crumbs. Add bourbon and work into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Resting is a critical part of pie dough making. If your pie dough is shrinking, it’s because it hasn’t rested enough. So let it chill in the fridge a few hours. Pour yourself a glass of bourbon while you wait.

When you’re ready to make your pie, make your filling. In a bowl, combine all ingredients Roll out the crust, half for the bottom and half for the top. Place one half in the bottom of the pan. Fill with fruit filling. Then make a lattice top (or just roll it out and cut a few slits in the top), crimp as desired.

If you want some cool pie crimping ideas, check this out. Put your pie in the freezer while you preheat your oven to 350F. Once heated, bake for about an hour or until the blueberries are bubbling all around. Allow to cool completely and serve.

Blueberry pie always looks like a mess when served. But that’s part of the fun of pies. Unlike layer cakes, pie aren’t perfect. They’re messy and chunky, but overall pretty great.

I’m really interested to try more herbs in pies. I’m thinking maybe strawberry basil might be a good combo.

Any other ideas? How do you feel about pies? Fan? Not so much?

Lemon Ricotta Cake

April 27, 2014April 30, 201410 Comments

I feel like Allison and I have been talking about lemon far too much lately. We’re obsessed ladies.

So I finally broke down and made a lemon cake. I’m continually on the search for a lemon cake, and this is finally THE ONE.

It’s amazing. Simple. Moist. Light. Delicious. I really couldn’t ask for more. This is my new go-to lemon cake recipe. Because let’s be honest, we all need a few go-to cake recipes. My go to Chocolate Cake recipe is the Hershey’s chocolate cake. My go to Banana Cake recipe is my Little Banana Cake. This recipe will make 1 (9-inch) round cake. So if you were looking to do a lemon layer cake, I would suggest doubling (or even tripling if you’re doing a 3 layer cake) then spreading each layer with lemon curd and frosting with a simple whipped cream icing or a cream cheese frosting. Those would be delightful. Don’t be surprised if you see the cake I just described on Foodologie soon.

Lemon Ricotta Cake

For Cake:

1/2 cup Canola Oil
3/4 cup Sugar
2 Lemons, zested
2 eggs
1/2 cup Ricotta
1 cup Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt

For Glaze:

2 tbsp Butter
1/2 cup sugar
Juice of 1 Lemon

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9 inch round baking pan and line with parchment paper.

In a mixer, combine oil, sugar and lemon zest. Beat until well combined. Beat in one egg at a time. Beating each a few minutes until fluffy. Beat in ricotta and juice of one lemon (reserve the other lemon for the glaze). Add flour, baking powder and salt. Beat until combined. Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Allow to cool.

Make glaze by heating butter, sugar and lemon juice in a sauce pan. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Allow to cool a bit. Then turn cake over onto serving dish. Pour glaze over cake. Garnish with lemon slices, slice and serve.

I’m biased because I love lemon, but this was seriously good. Perfect for a simple afternoon treat with tea, but also good for a simple dessert for your summer dinner party.

Do you love lemon desserts? What’s your favorite?

I love lemon tarts, like this one. But this lemon cake is giving lemon tarts a run for their money.

The Best Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

April 10, 2014April 9, 201411 Comments

I pretty much always wish I had a reason to make a cake. The more I think about it, it’s one of the reasons I love weddings, because I think wedding cakes are amazing. Tonight I had a conversation with some ladies about wedding media. Wedding sites, blogs, shows magazines are all geared at woman. The wedding is portrayed as entirely about the woman, which to me seems a little unfair, given that the woman is only one half of the equation.

But in the conversation, one of the things I pointed out is that part of my fascination with wedding media is the aesthetic. I think weddings are beautiful. I think cakes are beautiful. That’s probably why I love food blogs too, because I think the photography is pretty.

Most of the time when I see a beautiful cake my first thought is I want to make that, then second, I want to eat that. For me, making cakes is fun. I love making them look beautiful, but I also love making them taste good.

Because really, isn’t a layer cake just one of the prettiest things out there?

While I always want to make cakes, there isn’t always an occasion to make a cake. I originally made this cake for a birthday/going away party for friends. But it was so popular and pretty that I wanted to make it again and photograph it.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I think it just means I appreciate aesthetics. So if you want to make a cake for a special ocassion or no reason at all other than to please yourself… please do!

And as a bonus, it’s amazingly delicious and the perfect 6-inch cake.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

For Cake (adapted from Hershey’s Chocolate Cake):

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp flour
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water

For Filling:

2 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
7 oz sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup whipping cream

For Frosting:

2 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 big pinch of cream of tartar*
1 pinch of salt

For Chocolate Ganache:

3 oz bitter sweet chocolate chips
1/4 heavy cream
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Make Cake.

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and line with parchment paper 2 (6-inch) cake pans, set aside. In a stand mixer bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add eggs, oil, milk and vanilla. Beat together. Add boiling water and beat until combined. Pour batter evenly between both 6-inch cake pans. Bake 25-30 minutes (this might vary based on your oven so start checking for readiness after 20 minutes, especially if using a convection oven) or until cooked through (i.e. do the toothpick test: insert toothpick, once it comes out clean, it’s ready).

Allow to cool completely.

In the meantime, make the filling. Beat together cream cheese, condensed milk and peanut butter. In a separate bowl, whip heavy cream into firm peaks. Fold whipped cream into peanut butter mixture, refrigerate until ready to use.

Next make your frosting.

Place a glass bowl over a sauce pan that has about 1 inch of water in it, make sure the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl (aka build a double boiler). Add egg whites, sugar, vanilla extract, cream of tartar and salt. Mix together. Heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves and the egg whites are warm when you touch them.

Transfer egg white mixture to a stand mixer and attach whisk attachment. Stir on low and turn up the speed every 15 seconds or so until it’s on high speed. Beat 5-7 minutes or until glossy, stiff peaks form.

Now assemble the cake. Level your layers and slice in half, so you have 4 layers (you’ll notice in my photo I only had 3 layers, you can accidentally drop one on the floor and have 3 layers as well… that’s allowed, but not advised). Place your first layer on your cake circle or cake dish of choice. Lay some filling on top of the first layer and spread evenly, press on second layer, it’s ok if it overflows a bit. Repeat until all layers are complete.

Next, frost with a generous layer of frosting.

Place in the fridge while you make your ganache. Place chocolate chips in a bowl and set aside. In a small sauce pan, heat heavy cream and vanilla stirring constantly until it comes to a light boil. Pour cream over chocolate chips. Let sit for a minute, then stir until smooth. Pour over cake and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Allow to cool completely, then slice and serve.

I had hopes and dreams of making a beautiful vide to go along with this blog post, but I’m still working on perfect my video making skills… but in case you’re curious… here’s my first attempt:

Not the prettiest video, but I’ll take it for a first try! We can’t expect to make gorgeous creations the first time around, and I’m cool with that.

So tell me, are you a fan of layer cakes, weddings and pretty things? Are you overloaded with wedding stuff? Don’t even see it? Is a cake just a cake for you?

Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Hazelnut Buttercream Frosting

March 16, 2014March 13, 20147 Comments

I’ve been a little bit out of control with my sugar intake this week. But that’s totally ok. Monday will start a new week and we’ll be good to go with some more clean eating. But before that, let’s talk cupcakes.

A few weeks ago, Nocciolata sent me some samples of their tasty chocolate hazelnut spread to try. It’s seriously amazing and is certified organic, which cool! I really like that this has actual recognizable ingredients in it. Now, you might remember that I loooooove chocolate hazelnut spread (aka I went crazy with Nutella when I lived in Rome and gained 15lbs, no joke) and my favorite combo by far is chocolate/hazelnut + banana.

So with these samples sitting in my house, I tested out a few recipes for chocolate hazelnut frosting. I failed 3 times and finally went back to the basics: buttercream. Buttercream is delicious and always pleasing. And I knew that the frosting I created would go perfectly with banana cupcakes. So that brings us to these guys:

BananaCupcakeswchochazelnutfrosting1

Lately, the world has gotten ridiculous on the cupcake frosting front (myself included), but sometimes you just want to have a cupcake that looks homemade. You know, like spread with a knife. No fancy piping bags necessary.

Something familiar, comforting and tasty (like chocolate hazelnut spread). Let’s concentrate on flavor, not on looks, because that’s really what this spread is all about: Great Taste.

Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Hazelnut Buttercream Frosting

For Cupcakes:
1 cup + 1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp corn starch
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1/2 cup sugar, heaping
1 egg
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp whole milk
1/2 tsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla

Frosting:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup chocolate hazelnut spread
3-4 cups powdered sugar

Make cupcakes. Pre-heat oven to 350F. In a bowl combine flour, corn starch, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Using a mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add egg and beat for another minute. Add mashed bananas and beat for another minute. Add remaining wet ingredients then start to add dry ingredients. Beat until combined.

Fill lined cupcake pan with 1/4 cup of batter each (or until each cupcake slot is about 3/4 the way full). Bake 15-18 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Remove from oven and set aside to cool completely. This recipe will yield about 13-14 cupcakes.

Next make the frosting. Beat together butter and chocolate hazelnut spread. Gradually add powered sugar until it gets a thick spreadable consistency. If it’s too thick, thin out with a bit of milk. Spread frosting on cupcakes. Top with sprinkles if you like, then serve! (P.S. You can totally add more Chocolate Hazelnut spread to this frosting have it be even more flavorful, you just might have to adjust the powdered sugar amount. I would have added more but I ran out of samples with my many fails).

I’m definitely a fan of the chocolate-hazelnut + banana combo! What’s your favorite thing to combine with chocolate-hazelnut spread?

Thanks to Nocciolata for the samples! Be sure to check them out.

Fancy Pants Rice Crispy Squares

March 11, 2014March 13, 201410 Comments

I got into a Facebook fight today, and I’m only mildly ashamed.

With whom? Another blogger. She posted something about how the Ban Bossy campaign was ridiculous.

If you haven’t heard of Ban Bossy, it’s a campaign by Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In organization and the Girl Scouts. The whole idea is to stop using the word ‘Bossy’ to describe an assertive girl. An assertive little boy is a ‘leader,’ but an assertive little girl is ‘bossy,’ and this affects the way girls develop in leadership roles. The campaign really aims at developing leadership among girls and young women.

I don’t think this campaign is ridiculous. I actually think it’s a great idea.

That said, sure, the choice of marketing for this campaign is a bit silly (I love Beyonce, but she sort of sucks in the video). The word bossy is just dumb, but I recognize its power. Because of that, I was bothered by this bloggers comment and the subsequent comments to her post. Mostly, they were people saying that being called bossy is a good thing, or examples of when their little boys are bossier than their daughters and how the word doesn’t mean anything. Sure, I get all that. To an adult, being called bossy is fine, but when you’re little things are different. By the time we’re grown ass women, we know we’re more awesome than what some jerk says. But let’s not forget that words have power.

So, Facebook “fight” ensued. I argued that words are important and empowering girls is essential. She argued that the campaigns message was clouded by bad marketing.

The feminist in me took over (p.s. I hate that to so many the word feminist is negative). But then I just let it go, because if there’s one thing I hate more than people putting down people’s efforts to empower women, it’s women hating on other women. Can we get a little female solidarity?

Overall, I get it. Criticizing is easier than making a positive change, and as I emphasized in my comments: everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If you hate the Ban Bossy campaign, that’s fine. But can you give me another way that we can start empowering girls to be leaders?

Regardless of how you feel about the Ban Bossy campaign, I genuinely hope we can all agree that empowering girls to be leaders is a cause worth talking about. If only our Facebook interactions could be dialogues instead of arguments, we’d all be a tiny bit better off.

But in the meantime, before society progresses to that point, when someone tells you what you support is ridiculous, it’s my belief that you should kill them with kindness… the marshmallowy kind. So ladies keep your bossy pants on and make yourself some fancy pants rice crispy squares.

Fancy Pants Rice Crispy Squares

1/4 cup butter
4 cups mini marshmallows
3 cups puffed rice cereal
2 cups puffed millet
2 cups puffed quinoa
3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1-2 tsp canola oil

Grease a 9×13 baking dish and set aside. In a large pot, met together butter and mini marshmallows. Stir until well combined. Add rice cereal, millet, quinoa and coconut. Stir to combine. Press mixture into 9×13 dish and allow to cool for an hour or two (you can put it in the fridge to speed up the process). Once cooled, cut into squares using a large chef knife.

Place chocolate chips in a bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir and microwave another 30 seconds. Repeat until chocolate is melted. Stir in 1-2 tsp of oil or enough for the chocolate to be runny. Drizzle chocolate over squares and allow to harden. Once chocolate is firm, serve and enjoy!

Why are they fancy pants? Millet is fancy. Quinoa is like the black diamond of grains. Coconut makes everything a little more exotic. Also because I said so.

What are your thoughts on #BanBossy? Feel free to give your actual opinion (even if you disagree with me, that’s cool!).

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Tag: Sugar

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