Chocolate Malt Cupcakes

Gerald turned 30 last month and I told him I would make whatever he wanted as a birthday treat. He loves chocolate malt balls. If we go to the movies he has to get Whoppers. If we go to get ice cream he gets a chocolate malt. Chocoalte + malt= heaven for Gerald. So naturally he wanted chocolate malt cupcakes. Challenge accepted.

I decided to do a nice moist chocolate cake with a chocolate malt buttercream. I have a fabulous chocoalte cake recipe from Baked: Baked Explorations. These guys have two cookbooks and two bakeries. I have both books, been to one of the bakeries, and have a Baked coffee cup that I adore. I trudged two miles in the pouring rain from a subway station in Brooklyn to visit their shop and it was so totally worth it. They make fantastic desserts and coffee. Whenever I am making a cake it is always from one of their books. Their cakes are moinst and delicious and the frostings are flavorful without being heavy. Oh and if you do have their books and you are wondering, yes I have made the brewer's blondies with malted milk balls for my husband (and they are freaking spectacular).

Anyways, you can tell if a chocolate cake is going to be moist and flavorful if the recipe calls for sour cream. Its just magical. And the dark brown sugar gives the cake depth. It wasn't hard for me to decide which chocolate cake recipe to use because this one is just amazing. Naturally I am too lazy to type it out, but go over here to find the cake recipe (and buy their books! Do it!). I have not made the coffee buttercream that is on the post I linked to, but I will. I love coffee in everything. I have a coffee brownie recipe that will knock your socks off. Mmmm...


Ok, so the recipe above is for a three layer cake. I think it made two and a half dozen cupcakes. Keep that in mind! I frosted these bad boys with a buttercream from the amazing Dorie Greenspan. I am dying to get her book: Baking from my Home to Yours. I haven't done it yet, so I grabbed this recipe off the internet (Okay okay I found it on Pinterest). Here is the recipe with some great instructions. There was enough to frost all of those darn cupcakes. I piped on the frosting and stuck a Whopper in the middle. Cute and delicious. Seriously one of the best cupcakes I have ever made. And I have made a loooootttttttt of cupcakes. Really. Enjoy!

Happy Mardi Gras Ya'll!

My first carnival season here in southern Louisiana is nearly over, and I have thoroughly enjoyed taking pictures, catching beads, drinking cans of Abita, and dancing on the sidewalk. So far we have been to two parades in the town we live in (Selene and Dionysus), and have gone to New Orleans for Endymion (which involved sitting in the pouring rain waiting for the parade to start. It was worth it though!), Thoth, Bacchus, and the Box of Wine parade.

We have TONS of beads and cups, and various other trinkets....

I even caught a few stuffed animals for Magnus. He deserved a special toy after I made him wear beads:

Throw me somethin' mister!

I have already been on Pinterest searching for craft ideas so I can upcycle all of these beads. I might make a few wreaths for friends and some bead trees. So far these are the crafts I have done:

Mardi Gras Wreath

Bruno helped me with my wreath...

Candle holder: leftover beads and vase and votive holder from Dollar Tree

We were invited to a party and were asked to bring something to eat. In addition to throwing together dip and a few other snacks, I of course decided to make cupcakes. I wanted to make a cupcake that would really capture the essence of the king cake. I think I came pretty close; I would just add a bit of nutmeg and maybe thin out the cinnamon and brown sugar swirl with more butter. Still, these cupcakes were pretty fabulous if I do say so myself.

KING CAKE CUPCAKES

For the cake I made a yellow cake (okay it wasn't quite yellow cake because I didn't go with all egg yokes and used whole eggs, but pretty close). I wanted something moist that I could swirl cinnamon filling throughout. FYI this recipe makes 18 cupcakes. I will try to change it so that it makes a more logical number at some point.

Cake:

2 sticks of unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar

4 eggs

3/4 cup milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour

2tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Filling: 

 1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tbs ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt

3 tbs unsalted butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line muffin pans. Stir together all ingredients for filling (brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, melted butter) until thoroughly mixed. Set aside.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated. Fill muffin cups a third of the way. Add tablespoon of cinnamon mixture and swirl with toothpick. Top with more batter until muffin cups are approximately 2/3 full. Top with additional cinnamon mixture and swirled (if desired--I like lots of cinnamon goodness!).

   

   Swirl Cinnamon into Batter

   
   

   

   Top with more batter until 2/3 full. Add more cinnamon filling if desired.

4.  Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Cool completely before frosting.

 

Vanilla Cream Cheese Buttercream

3 cups confectioners' sugar

3/4 cup butter

3 oz cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla extract

 2 tbs half and half

In a stand mixer, mix sugar, butter, and cream cheese until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Add half and half, a tablespoon at a time, until creamy and at the consistency you want.

Mmmm...frosting

Decorating note:

I am too cheap to spend $8 on a jar of colored sugar to decorate my cupcakes. It just ain't gonna happen. So, I whipped up some colored sugar. Its easy enough, especially if you have liquid food coloring. You just add a few drops and stir. If, however, you are like me and only use the Wilton gel colors, you might find that gel does not mix smoothly with sugar. Got vodka? Add a few drops and it will smooth those little lumps of color gel. And don't worry, your sprinkles won't taste like vodka and you won't get your kids drunk. But don't take my word for it...hell I don't even have any kids. 

Tada! Yummy.

Christmas Crafting and Baking Spectacular

Happy New Year Ya'll!!!

It has been a while since I have posted. The holidays and Pinterest have been taking up much of my spare time! Pinterest has caused me to spend a lot of time at my local Hobby Lobby and give out a lot of homemade gifts for Christmas.

It even helped me with my Halloween costume.

I was black swan for Halloween. I made the tutu myself!

I made hair bows and tutus for my nieces for Christmas, toy boxes for the nephews, cranberry liquor for my girlfriends, and lots of baked goods for everyone. 

And I do mean LOTS of baked goods. I was out of control. Ask my husband. Flour was flying, my mixer was trying to burn out, and the dog was scared to come in the kitchen. But I was determined to use up all of my chocolate, powdered sugar, and get the baking out of my system for a while because moving to Louisiana has made my pants smaller, and we have sworn to be extra careful until Gerald's 30th birthday (March 21) when we will relax the rules a bit and I will make him whatever he wants. So, here is what I made:

Grasshopper Cake (chocolate cake with chocolate mint ganache and mint buttercream)

The recipe comes from one of my Baked cookbooks (New Frontiers in Baking). The result was a moist flavorful cake that wasn't overwhelmingly sweet or rich. It was a hit!

Gingerbread Whoopies with Nutmeg Brown Butter Filling

I took the recipe for the whoopies from the McCormick spice website. Rather than using their recommended lemon creme filling, I made a basic brown butter frosting and added nutmeg to taste. I am sure cinnamon would also be good. The whoopies were more cookie-like than a traditional whoopie, but it was a great flavor--especially for people that don't like their gingerbread too spicy.

Nutella Cookies

The recipe for these can be found here. I have to admit, I am not a huge fan of hazelnut and therefore not big on Nutella, but these cookies are friggin' awesome. They are rich and brownie like. Great with milk!

The "Baked" Brownie

The recipe for this brownie comes from the same book as the grasshopper cake. Can you tell I love this book? There isn't a bad recipe in eitehr of their books. When I lived in Connecticut I even checked out their shop in Brooklyn. It involved a two mile walk in the pouring rain but it was totally worth it. They have the best coffee, brownies, blondies, and bars ever. Period.

These brownies are delicious. Can't you just see their fudgy goodness in the picture? This is definitely one of my favorite brownie recipes.

Soft Sugar Cookies

The recipe for these cookies can be found on this blog. I made these for my brothers' kids and they were a hit. These are soft and chewy just like the ones you buy at a bakery. I did make one change; I added the powdered sugar until the frosting was the desired consistency rather than using the recommended amount. I think this recipe uses too much powdered sugar.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Cream Cheese Buttercream

For the cake I use a Texas sheet cake recipe that belonged to a friend's family. The recipe for the frosting, however, can be found here. I already knew the cake would be good because I have made it several times, but this was my first time making this frosting. This frosting is SUPER yummy. I licked the bowl clean after I had frosted the cupcakes. Mmm mmm.

Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes

For this recipe I used the same Texas sheet cake recipe (I was going to make a vanilla cake but I was running out of time) and this Nutella swiss meringue buttercream recipe. Swiss meringue takes lots of patience. Lots and lots and loooottttss of patience. It didn't get quite as fluffy as I had hoped, but it was still light and airy and complemented the cupcakes nicely.

And finally...

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been on a quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie, so I tested out the classic Neiman Marcus recipe found here.  It was pretty good, but not as good as this recipe (my #1 so far). These are definitely a close second. I also made a peanut butter lovers cookie, but I forgot to take a picture of it. I am big on peanut butter but my husband isn't so I don't make sweets involving peanut butter very often. These peanut butter cookies have a fantastic texture. One of my friends described them as little pillows of heaven. =)

Well, that was all the baking I did in roughly two days. Pretty much everything was eaten, and it was all a hit. This was the first year in a long time that I could drive home for the holidays, so I really went all out with the homemade goodies!

A Southern AfFAIR

Fair season is nearly over, and Gerald and I decided to make the three hour trip to the Mississippi State Fair (because it was two hours closer than the the Louisiana State Fair). We were super excited for various reasons: free biscuits, beard growing contest, pig races, and how could there not be awesome food at a fair in the south?

As it turns out, this is one sad fair.

First, the biscuits were bland and rubbery. Well I guess you get what you pay for. They looked much better than they tasted.

This is not exactly a busy fair. I guess it is so dull that no one in Mississippi wants to bother going. The people were few and far between and for someone that doesn't like to be caught in a crowd that is great, but at the same time it makes you wonder how the fair makes any money...

They really didn't have any original southern foods either. Sure they had what a lot of fairs have: lemonade, funnel cake, fried crap (oreos, Kool Aid, etc) but they weren't pioneering any crazy new fair foods. I settled on brisket knowing that I could get better anywhere else. Hey, I was hungry.

The highlight of the trip was the pig races. The pigs were amusing and one of them decided mid-race to stop and take a dump on the track. Hey when you gotta go, you gotta go. All in all, it was one lame fair. I mean, the "daiquiris" had rum extract in them because they can't serve them legally. Why bother? Worse yet, I didn't get to do any proper mullet hunting because there weren't many people. And I noticed that the big prize in the game area was giant stuffed bananas. Some pirates, some Rastafarians. Interesting.

Piggies!

We did decide to hit Gretna Fest, a fair outside New Orleans that is more of a music festival than anything else. Crawfish nachos, dacquiris, boudin, giant glasses of wine and Lynyrd Skynyrd? Much better!

Bruno the Magnificent

I am not the type of person that would usually dedicate a page to one of my pets, but I think Bruno deserves a shout out. Bruno is a six year old long haired Persian cat. We bought him from a breeder because we couldn't find a young Persian cat to adopt, and I really loved the Persian cat personality (independent, charming, funny, lazy, and a bit stupid).

                           

So in 2005, shortly after purchasing our house in Oklahoma City, we we brought home this little guy from a breeder. I think it was more of a rescue situation, because the house was disgusting, there were two very angry, huge dogs chained up in the garage, and the cats seemed to be begging silently for rescue. There were two little fluffballs to choose from and Bruno immediately came up to me and rubbed against my leg. Good sign!

He spent the trip to Oklahoma City perched on my shoulder like a tiny furry parrot (because did we think to purchase a carrier...no). He spent the evening hiding under the spare bed. It took him a few days to get used to us. We decided that, given his serious little face, he needed a gangster name. We didn't really want to name him Al Capone, so we decided just to settle on something very obviously Italian: Bruno.

This cat has been with us from Oklahoma to Connecticut to Louisiana. He managed every trip quietly and without complaint (except for the time he decided to bolt out of a hotel room--and I can't blame him. We got the smoking room). He has been through dermatitis, herpes, and severe allergies. He was the one alone with our other cat when she passed away. And he is still the most loving, amusing little cat around. He snores when he sleeps, he sneaks onto the bed in the middle of the night to cuddle up with me, and often sits on my lap when I am on the laptop, forcing me to put the computer down. He paws at me when I walk past him, and sits in the kitchen and begs me for treats until I relent. And last night when I turned on my heating pad, left the bedroom for a minute, and came back to find him cuddled up on it, purring, I thought, I gotta give a shout out to this little guy. =)

Live to Eat!

There is a reason "We Live to Eat" is the motto for the Louisiana New Orleans Restaurant Association; it is the same reason I need to put elastic waistbands in all of my pants. There are just too many delightful, delicious, and unique foods here. In the six weeks since we moved to Slidell, I have already sampled enough local fare to blog about it! Unfortunately I have failed to take pictures of any of the magical food we have had, but I am going to tell you about some of it.

One of the first places we went was Copeland's. Copeland's is known for their cheesecake, among other things. How could we not go for one called "Killed by Chocolate"? Needless to say that evening ended with me wearing stretchy pants and lying around and groaning in misery. But it was worth it.

We also had to try gator. I was pessimistic at best. We actually went to a place in Slidell known for seafood called Vera's. I tried some of their seafood, and honestly I had better when I lived in Connecticut. Meh. BUT, we decided to get an alligator sausage appetizer and OH DEAR GOD it was tasty. Juicy, flavorful, and served with remoulade.

When making the trip to Metairie to check out some local stores, we decided to hit a place that I had been told about by a friend in Connecticut that used to do a lot of business in New Orleans. Dragos's is known for charbroiled oysters. That's right, charbroiled. These bad boys are covered in butter, cheese, and I think garlic, if I remember correctly. They were so good that I would have licked the shells if I didn't think I would get strange looks from the neighboring table. Gerald, who doesn't even like oysters, loved them. I could go for some right now...and it is is 9am. Mmm mm. I did snag a picture of the oysters, although my phone does not do them justice.

A few weeks ago we went to the French Market. Gerald was feeling nostalgic for a place he went to back when he had a friend at Tulane he would visit. There are a lot of friend chicken joints in NOLA, and the one we went to, Fiorella's, is nice because it is laid back and not touristy-y. We each got a couple of pieces and a side. The sides were decent but the chicken...ooooohhhh. Crispy, juicy, and not greasy. In short, heaven on a plate!

Recently, we also tried something called swamp fries at a local restaurant in Slidell. Chesterfield's is known for having a unique menu ( I hear their pb&j burger is good, but I am scared). I selected a small salad as my main course because there was just no way we weren't indulging in swamp fries prior to a our meal. Imagine a pile of salty fries covered in cheese and a meat based gravy. Ok, it sounds kind of gross. It is like southern style poutine (if you have not had poutine, you clearly have not been to Canada). But it was disgustingly addictive.

Last Saturday for Jamie's birthday we ended up at a gay bar in New Orleans, the 700 Club. Not only did they have one of the best Long Island iced teas I have ever had, but they had deep fried mashed potatoes. I was starving and intrigued, so I went for it. They were so good that I think Gerald and I devoured them in one minute flat. I could eat those damn things every day. It is a good thing we joined a gym a few weeks ago! 

And yesterday, I tried a snow ball. Oklahoma friends, don't call them snow cone because they will know you aren't from Louisiana. It is a snow BALL. I tried a nectar cream snow ball. I still am not quite sure what it was, exactly. I can't even describe the flavor. It was sweet and a little fruity, but not really. I don't know. But it was refreshing.

And lastly, last night I had gas station chicken from a place called Krispy Krunchy. It was close midnight and we had just left Midsummer Mardi Gras. We were hot, tired, and hungry (and my friend Jamie was druunk. yes, drunk with two u's!). He suggested we try the place and being open minded and hungry, we did. Now, Jamie doesn't exactly live in the nicest part of town. Not the worst either, but there was some interesting people watching at the gas station near his house. Although, he was equally good to watch after all the beer he drank during the parade! So after picking up more beverages (Gerald selected a fine gas station wine: Night train!) we grabbed some fried chicken and honey butter biscuits. Let me tell you, those biscuits were fabulous. Fabulous! Melt in your mouth delicious. I was shoving that biscuit in my mouth while driving because I couldn't wait. And the chicken was pretty good too. Better than KFC, and you can get gas and booze at the same time. WIN.

Here is Gerald enjoying some delicious Night Train. ;) Enjoy!

An Okie, a Yankee, and now a Cajun?

Hi Ya'll!

Let me tell you a little about me and why I am in Louisiana. I was married in 2006 to this guy:

Funnily enough, this picture was taken when we went to visit a friend of his in NOLA in early 2005.

Anyways, we got married in Negril, Jamaica and a year later, after working for two years at the local air force base and being bored out of his mind, my husband decided to post his resume on Careerbuilder. One day he got a call from a head hunter in Connecticut with an offer that was just too good to pass up: full moving package, sign on bonus, and a free masters degree at RPI. We had never in our wildest dreams thought we would move to Connecticut but in the summer of 2007, we packed up our big, affordable Oklahoma house and moved into a tiny apartment in Connecticut. That place sucked. But, we got to go on a lot of New England adventures, make new friends, and I had a good job where everyone liked me. But then...

Gerald (the husband), hated his job, I hated being so far away from my family, and we both hated the snow. he started looking for jobs near Oklahoma, and in places we thought would be cool to live (like New Mexico! I was really rooting for that one). He applied for a job in Bay St. Louis, MS (he thought it was St. Louis, MO) and not only did he get an interview that went really well, but I was happy it was not St. Louis, MO, because its friggin cold there in the winter, and I had a long time friend that lived in New Orleans, so it was nice to go into it knowing someone.

Long story short, we moved to Slidell, LA, over a month ago. I plan on chronicling our adventures on this blog for the benefit of my friends and family, and any one else interested in life in LA. I will put up posts about foods we try, festivals we visit, and whatever else I come up with.

 In summary, here is a picture of my cat enjoying a daiquiri. Well, this is Louisiana after all!