Hi everyone! To anyone still following this blog, I really appreciate your patience and dedication. :)

Please check out the new blog I created with my friend/roommate: Muggle Food! It chronicles our cooking adventures in our new home, an actual castle! Harry Potter fans will love it, but so will any foodie! Especially those on a budget or with limited equipment/resources, like us college students.

I will be posting all of my new recipes on Muggle Food from now on, although I may return to this blog next year or when we stop posting on the other one.

Thanks and enjoy!

Amaretto Cherry Brownie Ice Cream Cupcakes (with Salted Caramel!)

Cherry Amaretto Ice Cream.

Roasted cherries.

Dark chocolate brownie.

Salted Caramel.

If any of those made you drool, make these cupcakes.

If they didn't, make the cupcakes anyway. You will drool.

You might also enter an ecstatic trance, moan in pleasure, and/or cry tears of joy.  You've been warned.

A Bit of Better Batter -- with Browned Butter!

My world has been changed.

Two words:
Browned. Butter.

If you've ever smelled it cooking, or eaten anything made with this stuff, you know that it truly makes everything better.

Hurricane Irene and Aftermath Cookies

Perfectly timed with a certain turbulent weather event, I have just entered a rather tumultuous time in my life. Although I usually avoid discussing my life with the blogging community because I would prefer not to be judged by my age, I must admit: I just entered college. Two days ago, in fact. It was supposed to be three days ago, but our dear friend Irene delayed the move-in day at my school and several others. Since I was stuck in the house for an extra unplanned day and my state of mind was rather turbulent itself, I, of course, decided to bake. Besides, I figured that bringing some homemade cookies to share at college could only be a positive thing when meeting people... and so far, it has in fact helped me meet some friendly students.

Terrible cell phone photos, sorry.

As I watched and listened to the storm outside, I was inspired to concoct two types of cookies: Hurricane Irene Cookies and Aftermath Cookies.  Click on "Read more" to view the recipes for these delightful cookies -- don't worry, despite their destructive namesakes the only things these cookies will stir up are your tastebuds.

Coconut Nutella Cupcakes

One of my best friends had a birthday a week ago.
She LOVES coconut. Coconut-flavored anything, coconut-scented anything, thai curries with coconut milk... all coconut, all the time. She also adores Nutella (she introduced me to the brilliant idea of peanut butter, jelly, and Nutella sandwiches). So when I saw this recipe on Tasty Kitchen, I bookmarked it and waited (im)patiently for her birthday to arrive so I could make these for her.

Next, I did some research to find what I hoped would be the BEST coconut cupcake, filling, and nutella frosting for her special day. Here is what I came up with...

Chemistry (Tiramisu and Tiramisu Bars)

These photos are probably not what most people would imagine when they think of a chemistry experiment.

I wasn't expecting a chemistry lesson, either. But that's exactly what I got when I made this tiramisu and these tiramisu bars.

One of my friends requested more of the tiramisu bars I had made a few months ago (cream filling adapted from this recipe, with a sugar cookie crust on the bottom and whipped cream on top). Since I, in an attempt to expand my culinary horizons, was determined to try making authentic tiramisu by the end of the summer, I decided to make a tiramisu and use half of the filling for bars for my friend. It seemed like a perfect plan.

Like most of my "perfect plans", this turned into an extensive ordeal that I only barely salvaged from complete failure. I managed to ruin what Brown Eyed Baker called the "spot-on and foolproof", "perfected" recipe from Cooks Illustrated. In an attempt to explain what happened, I will go through the recipe and comment (with photos) on my progress at various points.

Meringue Gelato Cupcakes (for the 2011 Ice Cream Cupcake Contest)

This, my friends, is a very light cupcake with a darkly seductive taste. Two fluffy angel food cupcakes with meringue gelato in the middle and a smooth, swiss meringue buttercream on top, with a sweet little meringue cookie to cap it off.

I created these cupcakes for the 2011 Ice Cream Cupcake Contest created by Cupcake Project and Scoopalicious. These were a treat for my brother, since his birthday is coming up. If you remember from my chocolate hazelnut meringue cupcakes, he absolutely loves meringue. We went to Europe about 10 years ago and he has never forgotten the meringue gelato he tried one day in Italy. To this day, he lists it as his favorite dessert. I decided to recreate this flavor for him and incorporate it into a cupcake.

A Spring Feast

I made a Spring feast. It was months ago (back in March, erp!), but I didn't get around to posting about it until now... and I wouldn't have thought to take pictures or post this at all without a request from my best friend. It took up my entire weekend (12 hours on Saturday and most of Sunday), but it was definitely worth it. I served all of this food at a potluck get-together at my house on that Sunday evening.

Click "Read More" to see pictures and links to recipes...

Yellow (Lemon Blueberry Cake)

Spring is here, summer is well on its way. This is what my town looks like right now (this was on one of the very rare rainy days here):

Everything is in sunny yellow bloom. So it was only fitting that I made a sunny yellow cake for my grandma's birthday.

My grandma's dietary restrictions (no chocolate or nuts) have inspired me to branch out into new territories, since I have always believed that desserts with chocolate and/or nuts are always the best. I have begun to make exceptions to this rule, and while I will always be a die-hard chocolate lover and choose chocolate cake (especially with my mom's signature mocha glaze and blackberry filling) for my own birthday, I have a newfound appreciation for fruit-based cakes.

I adapted this recipe from Sweetapolita and replaced the lemon curd with an all-fruit blackberry jam. Don't look at her photos, they are far too beautiful in comparison to my amateur shots!

Just kidding. Please do look at her photos. They will convince you to make this cake just as they convinced me.

Banana Split Cake

When I asked my mom what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday, she said, half joking, "How about a banana split cake?"I accepted the challenge, and began drawing up my plans. It would be a magnificent bundt cake, with ice cream and banana slices in the middle, whipped cream frosting, and beautiful pieces of strawberry and pineapple overflowing from the center. A strawberry syrup drizzle, a split banana, and a maraschino cherry topped it off perfectly.

Little did I know that this cake would live up to its name and become a true Banana Split Cake...

All was going well. I had baked and cooled the cake, cut it in half, and cut out a bit of the center to make room for bananas and ice cream. I carefully placed my banana slices and spread the ice cream onto each half of the cake. I tried to move the bottom half of the cake (the hollowed out half) onto a glass pie plate. I picked it up and placed it on the pie dish... which was too small for the cake. It broke into three pieces, and ice cream leaked everywhere (by now it was starting to melt, which was why I had tried to move it as quickly as possible so I could get it back in the freezer). After a brief meltdown on my part (get it, meltdown? okay, bad joke), during which my mom saved the day by putting the cake on a plate that was actually big enough for it, I pushed the three pieces together, fixed the ice cream, and quickly put it in the freezer. By the time it came out of the freezer the next morning, the ice cream had melted into the cracks and acted as a glue, and it was like a whole cake again. By the time I frosted and decorated it, it was almost unnoticeable (until trying to cut it) that it had broken.

This would be just as good (maybe even better) made with banana cake, but my mother requested a plain ol' vanilla cake instead. I went with a pound cake from Allrecipes that seemed light, but not too spongy to hold the ice cream, and said it freezes well. It was a great cake for this purpose, although I should have decreased the temperature and baked it longer to avoid the dark, crispy crust that formed on the outside.

Gingerbread Popcorn Cupcakes - for Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge #7

When I looked at this month's Mystery Box challenge and saw the familiar red and white striped box, I was stunned at the fortuitous timing. I am not usually a popcorn fan, but I had just (the day before) experienced popcorn nirvana for the first time: Gingerbread Popcorn. That's right. Sweet, spicy, crunchy, tooth-rotting goodness. A dentist's worst nightmare, but the hit of the New Year's party I brought it to. Now this is some popcorn I can truly love.

Obviously, this had to inspire a cupcake. Although I thought my holiday cooking spree had finally ended, I decided to welcome a new year of baking with these Gingerbread Popcorn Cupcakes. They are gingerbread cupcakes with a butterscotch swirl (for just a hint of buttery popcorn-like flavor) and topped with cream cheese frosting and, of course, gingerbread popcorn. The butterscotch may sound like an odd thing to add to a gingerbread cupcake, but it makes them richer and adds a complexity that really highlights the gingerbread flavor quite well.

Brotherly Love: Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge #6

This month's Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge, in true holiday spirit, challenged us to create a cupcake "for someone special." Well, my brother just came home from college for the holidays, and I knew just what to make for him. His favorite thing in the world is meringue, and he also loves chocolate and nutella, so when I came across this cake I knew he would love it. It also fits his personality - he may have a rather scruffy exterior, but inside he's a softie and very sweet.

Now the challenge was to make it into cupcake form! After some trial and error (I could only bake 12 at a time, and the second batch turned out much better after I learned from the first one) I made some darn good cupcakes, if I do say so myself. (Sorry for the not-so-great pictures. It was rather late by the time I finished them so the lighting was bad and I didn't have time to make a good setup before everyone demanded cupcakes!)

For the first batch, I didn't bake them long enough because I was too afraid to overcook the cupcakes, so to brown the meringue I broiled them for 1-2 minutes, which led to sunken brown meringue (on the right). For the 2nd batch, I baked them a few minutes longer. The meringue sank less and was a better texture, and the cupcakes were still moist and delicious.

I should also mention that my aunt flew in from Switzerland yesterday, and she loves hazelnuts, so these are really for two special people. Or three, because I showed my dad the cake and he was thrilled that I would be making such a rich chocolatey dessert. I added whipped cream because my brother loves whipped cream almost as much as meringue, and what's a cupcake without some sort of frosting? I must say, the vanilla whipped cream complements these rich cupcakes extremely well.

The final product was a rich, moist, flourless chocolate cupcake topped with a light, crispy meringue full of hazelnut and chocolate pieces, topped with a dollop of lightly sweetened vanilla whipped cream.

My brother was pretty happy.

Cupcake Hero October is up!

To all cupcake enthusiasts:

The ingredient for Cupcake Hero: October is up! Go check it out at I Dream in Buttercream!

http://www.idreaminbuttercream.com/?p=168

Cupcake Hero: September WINNER!

After a very close race (the votes were evenly split and I had to find more taste-testers to break the tie!) the September Cupcake Hero has been chosen!

Drum roll please...

Cupcake Hero September: THE FINAL BATTLE

The results are in!

We have two cupcakes... but only one can become a HERO.

The worthy contenders:

Rocio's Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes    vs.    Melissa's Pear-anormal Energy Cupcakes

  Congratulations to both finalists!

It was a very close vote, as you can see from the poll results on the right side of the page.

I will do a bakeoff on Saturday, and report the winner (according to my taste-testing committee) by Sunday.

Cupcake Hero: September ROUNDUP!

 
Hi everyone! The Caffeinated Cupcakes are in, and it's time to vote! All of this month's entries are so creative and tasty-looking, it will be hard to choose just one.  But only one can win, so it's time to crown this month's Cupcake Hero!

Click "Read more" to see the roundup. The poll is on the right side of my blog.

Waffle "Whoops!" Cupcakes (for Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge #3)

Please vote for me at http://www.sweetestkitchen.com/!

I saw this Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge and racked my brain for cupcake-able memories. The first thing I thought of was the birthday cake that my mom made each year, but that seemed too boring (it's made with a chocolate cake mix and a simple chocolate glaze and I wanted to be more creative than that). So I began racking my brain to think of other food-related childhood memories, and I thought of the waffles that my dad made almost every Sunday when I was growing up. Then I remembered one of my favorite memories...

My mother, who is equally if not more of an insomniac than I am, is also even more addicted to caffeine than I am. Before her morning coffee, she is unable to function properly. Literally unable to function properly, as we discovered a few times...
One fine Sunday morning, we were just sitting down to our delicious waffle breakfast, with real Vermont maple syrup (yummm). My brother and I were still quite little, so our parents would help us with pouring and other such tasks. My brother asked my mom to pour some maple syrup onto his waffle for him. My mom, still woozy before drinking her coffee, proceeded to pick up her full coffee cup and pour it onto my brother's waffle! We laughed and laughed, and retold this story every chance we had. It was especially funny after similar incidents occurred a few more times, such as the time she poured orange juice into her coffee instead of milk.

I knew that I had to find a way to make this story into a cupcake. I desperately searched the internet for waffle cupcakes, and discovered that someone had actually made them before! Thus the Waffle "Whoops!" Cupcakes were born.

IMPORTANT CUPCAKE HERO ANNOUNCEMENT!

Hello to all contestants and followers of Cupcake Hero: September!

Since I only have 6 submissions at the moment, and because of schedule changes in my personal life, I am going to push all of the Cupcake Hero: September deadlines back one week. The new dates are:

Entry Deadline: Friday, September 24th, 11:59 PM Pacific Time

Roundup posted by Sunday, September 26th
Voting until Thursday, September 30th
I will make the cupcakes that weekend and post a winner by Sunday, October 3rd.

So if you were thinking about entering but didn't think you had the time... Now you do!
I hope to see several more entries by next Friday.

Good luck, and happy baking!

Cupcake Hero: September!

Hello everyone! Welcome to Cupcake Hero: September, a new month of the exciting cupcake-creating competition!

I decided to personalize this month's competition by using an ingredient to which I am very addicted devoted..........

(image from http://pw0nd.com/2008/07/19/caffeine/)

In this month's competition, we're courageously creating

CAFFEINATED CUPCAKES!

(How's that for alliteration?)

This could include coffee, espresso, tea, caffeinated soda, or even energy drinks for the truly adventurous... (or anything else caffeinated --use your imagination!) 

However, chocolate doesn't count as a caffeine ingredient for this contest.

If you are not a caffeinated person, you may use the caffeine-free version of your ingredient, but please note in your recipe and/or email whether I should make the test cupcakes with caffeine or decaf.

*Note: Although my previous cupcake was made with matcha (green tea), I have no bias toward or against any of these ingredients. Do not think that using matcha will automatically make your cupcake my favorite. I do not discriminate! =)

Here are the rules…

• Anyone can enter but international shipping addresses may not be able to receive the prize package from Clara.
• Create a cupcake using CAFFEINE in at least one component be it the cake itself, frosting, filling, garnish etc. Get creative, people!
• Post the recipe for your entry on your blog (you must have a blog so that you can host the next month if you win) and then email your name, the link, and the name of the cupcake to me at a.part170@yahoo.com with Cupcake Hero in the subject.
• Also join the Flickr group and upload 1-2 pictures per entry.
• Multiple entries welcome but separate email per entry.
• Deadline will be September 17th September 24th* at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. I will post the roundup on the 20th by the 26th*, followed by voting until September 23rd September 30th*.
• Readers will pick Finalist #1. I pick Finalist #2.
• I bake both Finalist cupcakes and assemble a focus group to help me decide the winner to be announced between September 26th and 28th by October 3rd*.
• Any questions? Email a.part170@yahoo.com
• For information on prizes, check out http://iheartcuppycakes.com/cupcake-hero/.

*Wondering why the dates are crossed out? See http://insomniacbaker.blogspot.com/2010/09/important-cupcake-hero-announcement.html.

Raspberry Almond Matcha Cupcakes -- for Cupcake Hero: August

These matcha (green tea powder) cupcakes are rich in flavor, yet light in texture, and not as sweet as most other cupcakes. They have a delicate but very noticeable flavor. The almonds on top bring the flavors of the earthy cupcake and the sweet & tart frosting together very nicely.
If you like a sweeter cupcake, you will probably want to increase the sugar in the batter to 1 cup and/or decrease the amount of matcha slightly.