An Almond Joyous Anniversary

As of today, Steven and I have been dating for six whole months! We do something every month but for six months I wanted to make him something special. Steven's favorite candy bar is an Almond Joy... so I decided to start searching the internet for an Almond Joy-like cupcake.

I was inspired by this cupcake but I didn't like that the only part of the cupcake that resembled an almond joy was the topping. After much thought, this is what I came up with for the special occasion...





Almond Joy Cupcake (original recipe) Yields 18
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup boiling water
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix the cocoa and boiling water until smooth. Set aside to cool.
2. Combine eggs, water (3 tablespoons) and extracts.
3. Sift together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Mix in cocoa mixture and butter. Beat for one to two minutes until well combined.
4. Add egg mixture in two parts.
5. Fill 18 greased muffin tins 2/3 full with batter. Bake 16 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean.

Coconut Filling (inspiration)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 cup flaked coconut
1 dollop sour cream
1/2 cup of half and half or whole milk (the original calls for whipping cream but I never seem to have any...)

1. Stir cornstarch, 1 tablespoon water and almond extract together in a bowl.
2. Bring milk, butter and sugar to a boil over medium heat. Remove.
3. Add cornstarch. Stir in coconut and sour cream.
4. Cover and chill 8 hours.

* Ahem. This created a nice big mess. This mixture did not firm up at all like I was hoping it would with the cornstarch. I'm preeeetty sure that's because I added too much water to the cornstarch. But I worked with it regardless. It was soupier than I was hoping... but it was delicious.

Chocolate Buttercream (Wilton's)
1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
1/2 + 1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (or almond!) extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar 
2 tablespoons milk

1. Cream together shortening and butter. Add cocoa and vanilla. 
2. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time. Beat well at a medium speed until combined. ten.
3. The icing will look "dry". At this point, add the milk and beat at medium speed until fluffy. 
4. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. 
  
Chocolate Covered Almonds 
54 whole unsalted almonds (enough to put three on each cupcake)
3/4 cup chocolate chips
3 tablespoons margarine or butter


1. Melt chocolate chips and butter in microwave. If the mixture is not melting quick enough, or is chunky, add more butter and heat again. Stop and stir often.
2. Dunk almonds in chocolate and place on wax paper to dry.
3. Put in refrigerator to finish cooling.
 
NOW!!! That's a lot right? I know. It was. But sooo worth it, trust me. 
 
Like I said. Those Almond Joy cupcakes I saw online were a little lacking but I couldn't quite figure out what to do to make them even better. Then, as I was flipping through Martha Stewart's cupcake book, I realized that these cupcakes needed to be layered! Here is what I did:
 
1. Cut cooled cupcakes in half horizontally.  
2. Spoon almond/coconut filling onto bottom half. (These cupcakes were a little dry so I spooned some of the extra creamy bits of the mixture on the insides of the cupcake so it would absorb it and hopefully become more moist. It worked! Thank goodness for that soupy mixture, right?)
3. Pipe a circle of buttercream on top of the coconut layer and sandwich the cupcake,
4. Pipe more buttercream on top and garnish with chocolate covered almonds.
Voila!

These cupcakes got rave reviews. Steven thinks they're the best things ever. Which is exactly what I was hoping for! I was pretty impressed myself. Maybe I will make them again for seven months... :)


¡Feliz seis meses!

Morning Glory Mini Muffins

Breakfast is the best meal of the day. In my personal opinion, breakfast food is the best food too. Pancakes. Waffles. Muffins. Scones. Pastries. Eggs. Sausage. Grits. Oatmeal. Cereal. Fruit. Toast. Breads. Smoothies (I mean, I think that's a good breakfast food, right?). The list goes on!

It occurred to me that I had yet to bake a breakfast food!!! So naturally I wanted to rectify this situation ASAP and went about making "Morning Glory" muffins (adapted from Earthbound Farms). These muffins are also known as "kitchen sink" muffins... as in "everything-but-the-kitchen-sink" can be put in them. Yum. I used raisins, apples from the farm, carrots from our garden, coconut and nuts.

Morning Glory Mini Muffins (Yields 32 mini muffins)
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1/2 cup raisins
1 large apple, peeled and finely chopped
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup walnuts
1 large egg
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
2. Mix together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. Add coconut, raisins, apple, nuts and carrots and combine.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the oil and vanilla. Pour mixture into dry ingredients and blend well.
4. Fill each muffin tin almost to the top. Bake 13-16 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let stand for ten minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
5. Enjoy.

Hooray for breakfast!!!

The Mean Baker and Apple Walnut Cupcakes

This weekend I took a break from school and went home. My dad was out of town but I still got to see my mom and spend some quality time with Steven. Hooray! So we were at his house making granola (amazing) and blackberry lemon tea cakes (I didn't try one but they looked awesome) when I discovered I am not a nice baker.

I am very bossy and rude in the kitchen which is funny because in real life (aka life outside the kitchen) I'm a super nice person. Well, pretty nice. When I'm baking something though... Look out. I need everything to be done just so and measured and added exactly and I need to be the one doing it. I felt bad Saturday because I was so in the zone I didn't even notice until everything was in the oven how I had just completely taken over. Woops.

In conclusion, I work best baking alone. I am going to try and get better though :) Anger-baking management is just what I need. I went home that day and made Steven sorry-I'm-such-a-mean-baker-and-always-take-over apple walnut cupcakes with maple frosting.

Apple Walnut Cupcakes (adapted from Martha Stewart) Yields 18
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 + 1/8 cup of butter (3/4 stick), room temp
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
3/4 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups chopped apples (I used 3 medium sized apples from the orchard at our family farm)
1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tins with paper liners and set aside. Mix together flour, baking soda, nutmeg, salt and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.
2. Beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Mix in the egg, milk, lemon juice and banilla. Reduce speed and mix in apples and walnuts. Add the flour mixture just until combined.
3. Fill lined cups 2/3 full. This batter is thick so it's difficult to tell how it will spread out in the tins.
4. Bake for 15-18 minutes or tops are a deep golden brown. Let cool on wire racks.

Maple Frosting (inspired by And Then I Do the Dishes)
1/2 stick butter, softened
2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup

1. Whisk together ingredients until you find your desired concsistency.
Please note, I suck at making buttercream. My mom pointed out to me this weekend that I am not actually making buttercream. Just icing. It doesn't hold its shape. Luckily, she pulled out her Wilton's Cake Decorating book (okay that would have been useful about a month ago...) with buttercream directions inside. Next time, I will make the most amazing looking buttercream the world has seen. AND it will hold its shape when I pipe it out. YES!

These cupcakes were pretty awesome but the icing was too sweet in my opinion. If I make these again, I honestly wouldn't put anything on top... Except maybe try a crumb top??? Hmm... Interesting...

Fresh Peach Pie

Once again my parents bought more peaches than they knew what to do with. Not that anyone was complaining! We went to the farm for labor day weekend and my mom and I made a peach pie to take to my dad's aunt and uncle's house for dessert.

This pie is so easy and just... amazing. You bake the crust of course, but then you're done with the oven which I love. For my dad's birthday in April my mom uses the same recipe to make a strawberry pie and it is just as awesome as it is with peaches. Just add some ice cream and you will think you've died and gone to heaven. And this coming from someone who doesn't enjoy fruit.

Pie Crust (my mommy's recipe)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening
4-5 tablespoons cold water

1. Preheat oven to 450. Sift flour and salt together. Next cut in the shortening with a pastry blender until pieces are the size of small peas.
2. Sprinkle one tablespoon of water over part the mixture. Using a fork, gently mix the water into the mixture and push to one side of the bowl. Repeat this process until all the mixture has been moistened.
3. Form into a ball and flatten on a lightly floured surface. Roll out from the center until 1/8 inch thick.
4. To fit the pastry into the pie plate, lightly flour the surface of the your rolled out dough and fold carefully in half. Repeat this step again so that your pastry is in fourths. Then gently place the tip (or point or center fold or whatever you would like to call it) of the pastry in the center of a 9" pie dish. Unfold the pastry and press into place.
5. Next trim the edges that go over the pie dish to within 1/2 to 1 inch of the dish. Fold under and flute the edges. Be sure to prick the sides and bottom of the pastry with a fork or use pie weights if you have them.
6. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden.

I would just like to say, my first pie crust making adventure was rather impressive until I got to the edge fluting thing... That just did NOT go well at all. This time I made the most beautiful pie crust ever (it's true) and even my mom said it looked good! It was that legit. :)

We had shortening, but it wasn't butter-flavored and it turned out just as well. Personally, though, I think it tastes a little better with that extra buttery something going on, you know?

Fresh Peach Pie
Baked 9" pie shell (recipe above)
several cups fresh sliced peaches (I usually use between 5 and 6 medium sized peaches)
1 cup finely chopped peaches
3/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons cornstarch

1. Fill the cooled pie shell full of sliced fruit (until the fruit is level with the top of the crust).
2. In a saucepan, stir together crushed fruit, 1/2 cup water (1/4 at a time), and sugar. Let it come to a boil.
3. Mix together remaining water, cornstarch and lemon juice in a small bowl. Stir in to your saucepan (still boiling) slowly; let thicken.
4. Pour mixture over fruit and let cool for at least 3 hours.

I forgot to mention that my mom want me to save some of the pie shell and make leaves or something pretty for the top. To do this, you just save whatever amount of pastry you trim off the edges of the shell and roll it out again. She usually free hands her leaves, but I used some cookie cutters I found in my grandma's cabinet.  I baked them with the pie shell on a tiny cookie sheet. You have to keep checking these to be sure they don't burn though. Lovely, isn't it?

My Famous Food Injuries

You know that kid in your kindergarten class who would always manage to cut themselves with safety scissors? Yeah. I was that kid. It takes very, very little to cause an injury for me. For instance, I currently have a bruise on both hips from accidentally bumping into my door frame on the way out of my room, a collection of tiny cuts from the X-acto blade I was using in art the other day (I swear I thought I was being more careful than that!), a jammed toe from kicking the lane divide in the pool too many times (Honestly, they need to get rid of those things. Or I need to work on my over aggressive breaststroke... One of the two), and probably even more embarrassing injuries that I am forgetting.

Seriously. I would come home from school and see my mom and say "Maaa I got hurt today...." and before I could even explain how she would just say "Of course you did". I broke my big toe tripping down the stairs on my way to the kitchen for bacon. I am just that kind of person.

So naturally I have lots of kitchen related injuries too! And some odd food injuries you probably wouldn't believe possible. That's the "band-aid" part of this blog. (In case you're wondering, which I'm sure you're not, I always have a handy supply of Hello Kitty band-aids with me.) There will be some funny (for the reader at least) stories about my many, many injuries in this blog to fill the gaps when I cannot bake and post something new and delicious I just created.

Story #1 (and probably just the stupidest thing ever): One time, (I swear this is true) I was eating some Snyder's mini pretzels (possibly the best things ever. I have a bag in my dorm room at all times) in the cafeteria, and next thing I know - I'm bleeding! Okay, I thought, I just cut my hand in art class before I got here! Wrong. I had stabbed myself in the thumb with the edge of a pretzel that was broken. It's one of the weirdest injuries I think I've ever had but the worst part is the salt... Not only was it weird, it burned.

There are at least a hundred (or thousand) more injuries like this in my deep, dark past. I will (probably) only share the food related ones. Lots of interesting things happen when I bake...

Peach Cupcakes with Peach Buttercream

I hate fruit. Really. The texture is just... crunchy and watery and strange. It gets weirder. I love fruit juice, chocolate covered anything, apple pie, making smoothies with raw fruit... But for some reason I just cannot eat fruit by itself. This has always confused my friends and family and it continues to drive my parents crazy. The only fruit I would ever eat (and even then it was only occasional) were oranges. I am happy to say that at some point in the past few years I started eating oranges regularly and began liking pineapples too.

Then... Miracle of miracles! This summer I started eating more fruit. Strawberries, blueberries and peaches have joined the ranks of the select few fruits I will actually consume. I now eat fruit in moderation! Haha. Anyway. I'm getting there. And I will bake with anything. Some of my favorite cupcakes are banana cupcakes with peanut butter frosting and bananas are probably among my least favorite fruits.

So! Like the title says, this post is about peach cupcakes. My parents stopped at the farmer's market and bought an entire bucket full of peaches. Add those to the peaches we picked on the family farm and the fridge was packed. I took it upon myself to use as many peaches as possible in my baking. Sure, I could have made a peach pie (again) or peach cobbler... Peach crisp, peach crumble, peach upside down cake... But I have a special affinity for cupcakes, so peach cupcakes it was!

Sadly, this post will have no pictures. I made these cupcakes less than a week before I started this blog for my mother's birthday. Had I known that I was about to create a blog, I would have taken pictures. But alas! There are none. You will just have to take my word for it that they are delicious. Really. Here is the recipe I used, adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

Peach Cupcakes
Makes roughly 14
1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of cinnamon
6 tablespoons butter, room temp.
1/4 + 1/8 cups sugar
1/4 + 1/8 cups lightly packed brown sugar
1 large eaten, beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (I always add a little more than it says)
3/4 sour cream
2 medium (or large!) peaches, peeled, cored, and chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line tins with paper liners and set aside. Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.
2. Cream together butter and sugar, beating until fluffy. Add the egg, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Next add the vanilla, and slowly mix in the sour cream. Stir in dry ingredients and gently fold in the peaches.
3. Divide the batter evenly among cupcake tins, about 2/3 full. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Yum. Soo good. But what would peach cupcakes be without peach buttercream to go along with them?? I got this recipe from TasteofHome, but naturally I didn't follow it exactly...

Peach Buttercream
3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup peach puree (1-2 peaches)
vanilla extract (to taste)

1. Beat butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until well combined. Add peach puree and vanilla and mix until smooth. (You can add food coloring to make the color "peachier" but I didn't. It looked peachy enough to me!)

There you have it. Peach cupcakes. Peach frosting. It doesn't get any better than that!

Cake Mixes and Care Packages

GASP! From a BOX? I know, I know. Not very creative. But I had these boxes of cake mix and brownie mix just sitting neglected in the pantry and I felt bad for them. So what do you do with a box of Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme Cake Mix and a box of Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix when you don't want cake or brownies? I will tell you.

I was going to see one of my best friends at college and I wanted to bake something (of course) before I went to her dorm. My brother goes to the same school so I decided I would bake a couple things and take them both a plate of goodies to share with their roommates.
After a little web surfing I settled on some recipes from the Duncan Hines website itself. Lemon cake mix became lemon bars and chocolate brownie mix became coconut chocolate macaroons. The macaroons were (not surprisingly) very brownie-esque and absolutely delicious. The lemon bars were not light and citrus-y but rather thick. If you're looking for a fluffy, sticky lemon bar then these are not the ones for you.

These recipes are both from http://www.duncanhines.com/ (with some slight changes on my part to the chocolate coconut macaroon recipe).

Lemon Bars
1 box Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Lemon Supreme Cake Mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup buttered flavored shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 lemon juice (fresh squeezed is best)
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
confectioners sugar for topping

1. Preheat oven to 350. Combine cake mix, 1 egg and shortening in a mixing bowl. Beat until crumbs form. Save one cup for topping and lightly pat the remaining mixture into an ungreased 13x9 pan.
2. Bake for 15 minutes or until light brown. While it is in the oven, combine last 2 eggs, sugar, lemon juice, lemon peel, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Pour over the hot crust. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of crumb mixture over top and bake 15 more minutes or until lightly browned.
3. Let bars cool in the pan. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar and cut.

Chocolate Coconut Brownie Macaroons with White Chocolate Chips
1 box Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix
2 cups coconut
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons water
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla or coconut extract
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray. Combine the brownie mix and coconut in a large bowl.
2. Stir in the oil, water, egg and extract with a wooden spoon until all dray ingredients are moistened. This dough is very stiff. I added in the white chocolate chips at this point, but it would probably work better if they are thrown in with the brownie mix and coconut in the first step.
3. Roll dough into one inch balls and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Flatten the cookies slightly.
4. Bake 10-12 minutes or until the edges are set. The center will still be a little soft (and chewy like a brownie. Yum). Let cool for 2-3 minutes and transfer cookies to a rack to cool completely.

Next, I assembled my two care packages! Aka... two paper plates piled with cookies and lemon bars and then carefully covered with plastic wrap. Then I painstakingly finished with personalized post-it note name cards.