Black Forest Cupcakes

I used to think I didn’t like cherries. I wouldn’t eat anything that was cherry flavored, or had cherries in it. Especially cherry pie, the texture scares me (but I love the filling part of cherry pie filling). Except fresh cherries.

But lately I have discovered that I’m a bit obsessed with chocolate cherry shakes from Brahms. Not a huge fan of the chunks in the bottom, but I live with them because the rest of the shake is marvelous.

To celebrate the fact that I got to dance at a party, I decided to make chocolate cherry cupcakes, and I knew the perfect place to find them: Annie’s Eats and her Black Forest Cupcakes. She has never failed me in having an intriguing recipe when I’m at a loss.

Here is my modified version.

Black Forest Cupcakes

Cake:
1 2/3 c Flour
2/3 c Cocoa Powder, sifted
1 1/2 t Baking Soda
1 t Salt
1 t Instant Coffee
8 T Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 c Sugar
2 Eggs
1 t Vanilla
1 1/2 c Cream, soured (or Buttermilk)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line the sections of two cupcake pans. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and coffee powder together. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time until incorporated. Mix in the vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients in three additions alternately with the cream, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about ¾ of the way full. Bake 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (check these early, they were slightly dry at 18 minutes for me). Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Filling:
1 package Dried Cherries
1 1/2 c Water, to cover cherries
2 T Sugar
Maraschino cherry juice or cherry liqueur

Directions:
To make the filling, add dried cherries to a sauce pan and add enough water to cover them. Mix in the sugar. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat. When most of the water has been soaked up, mash with a wooden spoon or potato masher until the cherries are no longer completely intact. When only a thick syrup is left of the liquid add the liqueur or cherry juice. (I used both)

To fill the cupcakes, remove a portion from the center of each cupcake. (I used a strawberry huller, but a paring knife will work just as well) Spoon in about 2-3 teaspoons of the cherry compote. Brush cherry juice or liqueur over the cupcakes, be generous.

Frosting:

1 1/4 c Whipping Cream

6-7 T Powdered Sugar

1 t Vanilla

Directions:

Pour the cream into a large bowl. Add in the powdered sugar and the vanilla. Using a hand mixer, start beating on medium speed, slowly increasing as the cream begins to thicken up to high speed. Whip the cream until stiff peaks form.

Frost the filled cupcakes with the whipped cream. Garnish as desired with a cherry and chocolate shavings. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Pizza Dough

While visiting my family, in my mountains, I made a pizza. It was a beautiful pizza. Until I tried to move it from the cutting board to the pizza stone. Then it got a little mushed, but it turned out looking alright and it tasted amazing.


I used a new recipe for the dough. I found it on Annie’s Eats. Pretty much anything that she posts will be amazing, so I wasn’t too worried. And following my normal pattern of reading the recipe and discarding half the instructions, I made some changes. But it turned out quite well. And it worked for breadsticks. Mmmm… pizza.

Pizza Dough

½ c Warm Water (about 110° from the tap should be fine)
1 envelope (2 ¼ tsp.) Instant Yeast
1 ¼ c Water (room temperature)
2 T Olive Oil
4 c Flour, plus more for dusting
1 ½ t Salt
1-2 T Basil
1-2 cloves Garlic, minced
olive oil or non-stick cooking spray for greasing the bowl

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let it set while combining room temperature water, oil, salt, basil and garlic in the bowl of a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment. After about 5 minutes add the yeast mixture.

Add the flour 1-2 cups at a time until the dough gets thick and sticky. Switch to the hook attachment and start adding flour more slowly. When the dough is barely sticky place it in a greased bowl and cover with plastic or a damp cloth. Allow to rise in a warm place until it doubles.

Roll out into the desired crust shape, cover with your favorite pizza toppings and bake until golden.

Enjoy!

Pesto Pasta with Poached Chicken

To go with the Mushroom Bundles I made some pasta with pesto sauce and vegetables and poached chicken. I finally found some wagonwheel pasta. I have been looking for it for ages. It has been pretty elusive.


I found the inspiration for my pasta on Food.com. It used to be Recipezaar.com.

True to my usual lack of discipline I only used the recipe as a basis of what I actually did. Here’s my version of this pasta.

Pesto Pasta with Poached Chicken

2 c Wagonwheel Pasta, uncooked
1 lb Chicken Breast. I use boneless, skinless
1/2 c White Wine
1 c Fresh Basil Leaves
1/2 c Pine Nuts, toasted
1/4 c Olive Oil
1 c Bell Pepper, chopped. I used a package of baby bell peppers with red, orange, and yellow and sliced them into rings
1 c Broccoli Florettes
1 Tomato, chopped

Cook pasta as directed.

When the pasta is cooking poach the chicken in about a tablespoon of olive oil and white wine. I put it in the pan, put the lid on and leave it for 10-15 minutes.

While the chicken cooks puree the basil and pine nuts in a food processor. Slowly drizzle the olive oil over the mixture until it forms the desired pesto consistency.

When the chicken is cooked through cut it into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces and return to the pan. Add the pesto, peppers, broccoli and tomato. Mix well. Add the pasta, mix and garnish with the remaining pine nuts.

Mushroom Phyllo Bundles

I made some dinners for my parents while on vacay. One of them included some mushrooms bundled into some phyllo sheets. They were pretty tasty. I found them on The Pioneer Woman. She has lots of good recipes on her blog.

The mushroom bundles were relatively easy to make, the most difficult part was working with the thinner-than-paper phyllo sheets. They are so fragile, and rip at the slightest provocation.

To make it easier I pulled five sheets at a time, and didn’t butter between each. I also used olive oil for most of them, on just the last layer. I did put it on pretty generously.

Also, I forgot the parmesan and used about a tablespoon of minced garlic.

Mushroom Phyllo Bundles

1 pkg Phyllo Dough, thawed
4 T (1/2 stick) Unsalted Butter
4 c Mushrooms, chopped
4 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 c Dry White Wine
Salt
1/3 c Parmesan, grated

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until it begins to brown. Add the mushrooms and cook for about a minute, until they begin to soften. Add the wine and cook until the liquid is reduced, 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat.

Prepare the phyllo sheets. Brush olive oil or melted butter over 5 sheets, individually or all together. (Be sure to cover unused sheets with a damp cloth so they don’t dry out.) Cut into 4 or 6 rectangles. I did 6 because I had large sheets. Place about a tablespoon of the mushroom mixture in the center of each piece. Sprinkle parmesan over the mushrooms, and then bunch the sheets together to make a little packet around the mushrooms. Place on a greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 375*F for 15 minutes, or until the tops of the wrappers are lightly golden. Serve hot.

Creme Brulee

Today I made Crème Brulee and Chocolate Mousse. But I’ll post the mousse later, when I remember to take pictures. It was light and creamy and nothing like I imagined. PS it was an experiment. Cupcake has been harassing me for ages to make it for her. And then she didn’t even come to dinner to try it.

My parents say they’re having it for breakfast tomorrow.

I even didn’t think it was too bad and I’m not a custard fan. It was probably the vanilla bean that I used. It was a first for me. They smell pretty amazing.

I did cheat and not add the crack. If you want to do that, after the cups have chilled, sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar over the top and melt it with a hand torch, or very carefully in the oven, set to broil.

Crème Brulee


4 c Whipping Cream
1 whole Vanilla Bean, split lengthwise (or 1 T Vanilla Extract)
10 Egg Yolks
¾ c Sugar
6 T Powdered Sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Pour cream into a saucepan. Add vanilla and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. While cream is simmering whip egg yolks with the sugar until pale yellow and thick.

Strain cream using a fine mesh strainer.

Whip yolks while very slowly drizzling in warm cream. Go slow so the eggs don't cook!

Place ramekins onto a rimmed baking sheet. Pour custard mixture into ramekins (I had 11 small custard cups). Pour water in bottom of baking sheet until it comes halfway up the ramekins. Bake for 24 minutes, or until just set. Do not allow to get brown.

Cool ramekins on countertop, and chill for at least 2-3 hours. Cover in plastic wrap to prevent a layer to form on top.

Recipe from Pioneer Woman

Peanut Butter Chocolate High Hats

I saw these on Jamie’s Green Kitchen a long time ago. I’ve always been intrigued with the way they look, but was hesitant to make them. I thought that the peanut butter would be overwhelming.

It’s not, and they’re pretty fantastic. Although, naturally, I didn’t follow the entire recipe. I’ve given up on the Swiss Meringue Buttercream combination. The eggs and butter never stay stiff enough. And I don’t like the way it tastes. What I did turned out quite well. The cake recipe came from the cookbook Baking easy-to-make great home bakes by Carole Clements

Best-Ever Chocolate Cake

1/2 c Unsalted Butter

1 c Cake Flour

1/2 c Cocoa Powder

1 t Baking Powder

1/8 t Salt

6 Eggs

1 c Sugar

2 t Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper liners in cupcake pan.

Melt the butter over low heat; skim off any foam that rises to the surface. Set aside

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt together three times. Set aside

Place eggs and sugar in a large heatproof bowl set over a pan of hot water. Beat with an electric mixer until the eggs double in volume and are thick enough to leave a ribbon trail, about 10 minutes. Add the vanilla.

Sift over the dry ingredients in three batches, folding carefully after each addition. Fold in the butter.

Divide the batter between the cups and bake about 18 minutes, until done. The cake will spring back when pressed, or a toothpick inserted will come out clean.

Frosting/Filling
2 tubs Cool Whip
8 oz Cream Cheese
1 c Peanut Butter

Combine the peanut butter and cream cheese. Fold in the Cool Whip.

When the cupcakes have cooled cut a small slit into each one. Using a large tip for a piping bag, insert into the slit and fill each cupcake with the Cool Whip mixture. Then top the cupcakes with a generous portion of the frosting.

Chill the cupcakes until the frosting is set.

Topping
12 oz Semisweet Chocolate Chips
3 T Vegetable Oil

Melt chocolate over double boiler. Add the oil and stir until smooth. Pour into a deep container, such as a 2 c liquid measuring cup. Dip each cupcake in the chocolate so that the frosting is coated. Chill until ready to serve.

Oreo Cupcakes

I finally remembered to take a picture so that I can post! 

Today I made Cookies and Cream Cupcakes, a recipe I found on Annie's Eats.  I didn't eat any because I was too stuffed to even think about trying one, but the roughnecks seem to like them.

They involve a lot of Oreos. I used nearly a full package, and I just used the wafers for garnish. Annie prefers using a sandwich.


One of the company men just stopped in to comment on them.

Co Man: Hi

Me: Hi

Co Man: I just wanted to say thank you for the cupcakes. I really like the Oreo things, they’re really good.

*Well, I’m glad you like the “Oreo things”, kid.

Here’s my modified recipe:

Oreo Cupcakes

Cupcakes
24 Oreo halves, with cream filling attached
2¼ c Flour
1 t Baking Powder
½ t Salt
½ c Butter, room temperature
1 2/3 c Sugar
3 Egg Whites, at room temperature
2 t Almond Extract
1 c milk
20 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped

Frosting
8 oz. Cream Cheese, at room temperature

4 c Powdered Sugar, sifted
2 T Heavy Cream

In a small bowl mix the flour, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl, mix the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg whites and mix well. Next add the almond extract. Alternate adding, and mixing, the flour mixture and the milk. When well combined add the cookie pieces.

Place a cookie half in the bottom of each lined well of a cupcake pan. Add batter over the cookies, filling the wells nearly to the top. Bake at 350 degF for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

While the cupcakes cool, combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar and cream. Beat until smooth. Pipe over cupcakes and garnish with a cookie half and/or crumbs.