Cupcakes are poppin' up everywhere

Hope you all had a great Christmas with your friends/family... ours was a nice and quiet one overall, and we enjoyed spending time together at home this year. But I have to share one magnificent gift that my amazing husband got for me as a complete surprise:

TA-DA!! A Kitchenaid Artisan mixer!!
No more hand mixing icing, cake batter, or cookie dough for me!
It's time to step into the 21st century... er, the 20th century.

Ahem.

Okay, so I know I've already featured a Bakerella recipe, but as a new follower I am continually inspired to try some of her recipes/ideas. So, when I started seeing more and more cupcake pops on her site... it was only a matter of time before I would make them. And since Christmas Eve sneaked up on me and I still needed to make gifts for our neighbors, I decided the time had come:


I was surprised at how much easier they were than the bon bons - the sticks really make them easier to dip (and that you're only dipping half of the bon bon at a time). The only thing to remember: make sure to insert sticks while the chocolate on the bottom is still unset - since your bon bons have been in the fridge prior to dipping, the melted chocolate doesn't take very long at all. But if you DO make the mistake of forgetting to insert sticks (or if you don't have any), you can just make little cupcake bites, like so:


Either way, you can finish them off by using small candy bags and ribbon to gussy them up and they are ready to give away (or eat them yourself, whatever). :)


Bakerella also has other incredibly cute designs for these cupcake pops (themed for holidays, like Thanksgiving turkeys and reindeer pops), so check them out and get popping!

Oh, Christmas wreath, Oh Christmas wreath...

Well, I finished my second official cake order last night: a cupcake Christmas wreath from Karen Tack and Alan Richardson's book "Hello, Cupcake!"

I was pretty pleased with the end result - I just hope my neighbor is too. The key to a realistic wreath? Chocolate coated mint leaves.




Yep, and it's surprisingly easy! Just melt candy wafers and paint with food grade, high quality paint brush onto fresh mint leaves.












Then let harden for a few minutes, and peel off mint leaves (they come off easily).

Add a few atomic fire balls for "holly" (the book recommends a kind of chocolate candy made by Cadbury, but I couldn't find them), and voila!

A few things I would probably change the next time: stick to mint leaves that are no longer than 1 1/2- 2 inches (I had a few mammoth ones 3-4 inches and they were too big). Also, the book recommends painting the top of the mint leaves, but I found that painting half of them on the underside allows for some of the leaves to be more textured or "veiny".

Karen Tack is my hero... a couple of my friends (thanks Rachel & Ang!) brought to my attention that more of her cupcake genius was featured on the cover of Taste of Home magazine.

Be sure to check it out - she has the how-tos of making beautiful blue poinsettia cupcakes and other adorable and DOABLE designs.

Have a very merry and bakeriffic Christmas!

Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake

Yes, you heard me. TRUFFLE CHEESECAKE. Anytime those two words are in the same sentence you know that happiness and world peace will soon follow.

I saw this recipe on Allrecipes and just HAD to try it. I'm going to be bringing it to the Tuckers' Christmas party tonight, so some of you can help taste test this recipe and let me know what you really think.

















Now, the original recipe calls for a vanilla wafer crust but I thought I would follow others' suggestions and make a chocolate cookie crust instead.

So, start with about 3 cups of crushed Oreos in a gallon freezer bag and a rolling pin to crush and follow up with some smashing by hand. Then add 3 tablespoons of melted butter directly into the bag (less cleanup) and smash again.

When sufficient smashing has commenced, simply pour contents into springform pan and press down to cover the entire bottom of the pan. I think I should have probably smashed a little more... the crust is still pretty chunky. Oh well.



Now it's time to melt the chocolate - 2 cups (one bag) of semi-sweet chocolate chips on a double boiler. A metal (or glass) mixing bowl over a saucepan of simmering water works great. Melt and mix until smooth.

And now it's time for the star of the show: the cream cheese.

A moment of silence. (Cue angelic choir.)

Cream 3 (8 oz) packages of said dreamy goodness with tender affection, words of love, and biceps of steel (I'm still in the dark ages so it's just me and the spoon).





Now gradually add a 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk... it's used in place of sugar, nice huh?






















And now add the melted chocolate... ohhh, yesss... (sorry, blurry picture - the chocolate was wooing me)

And now 2 teaspoons of vanilla and 4 eggs... and BLEND!

Now we pour that chocolately cream cheesy goodness into the pan.











Bake at 300 degrees F for 55 minutes.
When it's done baking for the allotted time, turn off the oven but DO NOT remove the cheesecake from the oven!

Two reasons:
1) it allows the cake to cool gradually in the oven to prevent cracking
2) it will allow the cake to continue to cook a little longer since the middle is still a little underdone.
I let mine sit in the oven for about 2-3 hours, but even 1 hour would be sufficient.

In the meantime, find something interesting to do
like listen to your husband practice his mandolin.

After the cake has cooled, feel free to decorate
with fruit, whipped cream, drizzled white chocolate, or...
Red ribbon, white chocolate leaves (ask me how), and "holly berries" (atomic fire balls)

And that was it! Pretty easy, huh? I thought so - only seven ingredients to make a delightfully creamy, super rich, but not overly sweet chocolate cheesecake.

Click here for the original recipe

Hope you enjoy it, and let me know how yours turns out!

Bakefully yours,
Donna

Red Velvet Bon Bons

So, I found a recipe for red velvet bon bons about a month ago on Bakerella's blog and had to make them. The results were quite satisfactory:


Here is Bakerella's directons to make them for yourself:

Bakerella's Red Velvet Cake Balls

The recipe will make about 5-6 boxes of about 10 a piece.

If you prefer, you can make your own cream cheese icing using real butter and cream cheese (little better for you - at least you know what's in it). Here is a good recipe:

Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 cups confectioner sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons milk

Cream together cream cheese and butter until blended. Add vanilla, milk, and confectioner sugar and mix well. If too thick, can add more milk one teaspoon at a time until desired consistency.

If you wanted to jazz them up a little more, you could use melted candy wafers to draw decorations on the outside, like hearts or initials and make them for any occasion (wedding favors, Valentine gifts, etc etc). I also used Wilton candy bags to store them and just drop them into little takeout boxes you can find at your local craft store.

Have a bakeriffic week!

Pioneer Woman, I salute you

As my first entry, I have nominated Pioneer Woman as the baker of honor. Her cinnamon roll recipe has forever changed Christmas in the Shaw household.

Behold, the majesty...

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Roll Recipe

These babies are very rich, gooey, and should be savored slowly with a glass of milk. And maybe an insulin shot. But don't take MY word for it - try the recipe yourself. Yeast novices, have no fear: if you follow the instructions entirely, you will be just fine. Oh, and please note: the recipe makes seven pans of rolls. SEVEN. That's 49 cinnamon rolls. Be sure to have people on speed dial to give these babies away. If you can.

A couple of personal modifications:

1) I found that I did NOT use as much melted butter (1 1/2 - 2 CUPS) as PW suggests to cover the dough before sprinkling/rolling. It just pours off of the dough and makes a pool on the table, which eventually moves to the chair, then to the floor... you get the idea. Try starting with just ONE stick of butter and see if you need more to cover the entire dough surface.

2) For the icing: if you don't want to spend the money on maple flavoring, you can substitute maple syrup. I started with 1/4 cup syrup, tasted it, and then added a little at a time until I got the desired flavor. And the coffee does add a nice subtle taste, so don't skip it!

Happy baking!