Things are just getting out of control here!

I started this blog with full intent of blogging about cupcakes with unique flavors. But in the world of baking, sometimes I just have to talk about some of my other creations. This is definitely something that needs to be shared with all of you! Please, be seated when you read about what I have baking in my oven right now. Are you ready? (I doubt it...) But okay....

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Try and wrap your head around that! I feel the diabetes kicking in just by typing that! Haha. The reason I am making these is because they were requested by my friend Niku as a going away gift. Obviously, I couldn't say no! I got the recipe from Picky Palate, and I followed it to a tee.

What you need:
2 sticks softened butter
3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar
1 Cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla
3 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 oz bag chocolate chips
1 bag Double Stuf Oreo Cookies

What you do:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.   In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars until well combined.  Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.
2.  In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda.  Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined.
3. Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie.  Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo Cookie.  Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo Cookie is enclosed with dough.
4. Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking.  Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
5. Share with friends. Or not. Either way, make sure you have some milk.

Birthday Collaboration! {Triple Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes}

This past weekend I celebrated my 26th birthday! So for my birthday my dear friend Alyson (who is a crafty woman and also a lover of cupcakes) asked me if I wanted to bake cupcakes with her. Like I could say no to that! She picked out the recipes for what we decided to call the Triple Chocolate Truffle Cupcake. It consisted of a Devil's Food Cupcake with a White Chocolate Amaretto Ganache filling topped with a Chocolate Ganache Frosting. And let me tell you they were DIVINE. It was so much fun working with someone else who has a cupcake passion like myself! I can't wait for our next collab! :)

Also, she found these adorable cupcake decorations that we fell in love with! :)

Devil's Food Cupcake: (makes 32 cupcakes)

3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (Alyson's note: We used Penzy's natural high fat, NOT Dutch process)

3/4 cup hot water

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream, room temperature (Alyson's note: we substituted plain nonfat yogurt)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line the cupcake pan with paper liners.

2. Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled, 4 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture, and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream (or yogurt, in our case), and beating until just combined after each.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three- quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 15 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

White Chocolate Amaretto Ganache:

12 ounces white chocolate (chopped or in chip form)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut in half, softened

2 - 4 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur (depending on how strong a flavor you want, we did 4)

                 

1. Place the chopped white chocolate in a medium bowl, set aside.

2. In a small saucepan, heat the cream with the butter until the butter melts and the mixture comes to a gentle boil.

3. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let the mixture stand for 30 seconds to melt the chocolate. Whisk the mixture until smooth.

4. Stir in the liqueur.

5. Try not to eat this whole bowl of deliciousness. But seriously, dip some strawberries in it because that would be amazing. Nom...

6. Put the bowl in the freezer to harden the white chocolate a bit in preparation to put it into the cupcakes.

Chocolate Ganache Frosting:

9 ounces bittersweet chocolate like Valrhona 61% cocao

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla (Alyson's note: we scraped 1 vanilla bean instead)

1 tablespoon butter

3-4 cups powdered sugar

1. Chop chocolate and transfer into the bowl of your standing mixer.

2. Heat cream until bubbles form around the edge of the pan, pour cream over the chocolate.

3. Let sit for 1 minute then stir until combined.

4. Add vanilla and butter. Stir until butter is melted. Let cool to room temperature.

5. Sift the powdered sugar into the bowl and mix until fluffy.

Assembling Your Truffle Cupcakes:

Once your cupcakes are cooled and your white chocolate is hardened you can begin assembling your cupcakes.

1. Cut out a hole in the center of your cupcake, approximately 1/2 way into the cupcake and an inch across. This is where you are going to put your white chocolate ganache.

2. Roll a small bit of the white chocolate goodness in your hand to form a ball that will fit in the hole that you just made. Place in the cupcake.

3. After all the cupcakes are filled, pipe on your frosting.

4. And since these were for my birthday, we decorated them with some pearl candies and paper wrappers.

5. DEVOUR. :)

I want to thank Alyson for collabing with me on this! I hope that we can do it again one day soon! <3

{Chocolate Covered Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes}

I know I have been slacking in the cupcake department, but I got a little sad when my dentist told me to stop eating cupcakes. Pffft, what does she know anyways! So, today I bring you a Valentine's treat that I have been fantasizing over for the past month: Chocolate Covered Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes! I got the idea to make these when we kept neglecting a bottle of Champagne in our fridge. I finally said, "Fine! I'll put them in some cupcakes!" And I did!

I started off my baking by covering some strawberries in chocolate with my hubby. It was a fun way for us to cook and spend time together. So we just melted some white chocolate and some semi-sweet chocolate in a homemade double-broiler (which is just a heat resistant bowl sitting in a pot of boiling water, but not touching the water!). Then we carefully dipped the strawberries in chocolate and drizzled them with the other chocolate with a fork. We let them sit on cookies sheet covered with parchment paper. Easy peasy!

Next comes the cupcakes. I got the recipe from Georgetown Cupcakes (also known as DC Cupcakes if you watch their show on TLC) who made these Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes for New Year's Eve for Oprah. I was really stoked to find a recipe by them because I absolutely adore their shop and their cupcakes are delicious. We frequent their cupcake shop often because it's right by my work. (I truly think Georgetown Cupcake is the only perk to living here.)

Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes:
1/2 cup fresh strawberries, diced
1/2 cup good Champagne (the one I had on hand was really dry, but choose whichever champagne you like, sweet or dry)
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick of unsalted butter, room temp
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs, room temp
2 1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean
1 1/4 cups whole milk, room temp

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line 2 cupcake pans with paper liners.
2. Dice up 1/2 cup of fresh strawberries and soak in 1/2 cup of Champagne. Set aside.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
4. Place the unsalted butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Add the sugar; beat on medium speed until well incorporated.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition.
6. Combine the vanilla extract, vanilla bean seeds and milk in a large liquid measuring cup.
7. Reduce the speed to low. Add a little of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, then gradually add some of the milk mixture, beating until well incorporated. Continuing alternating the addition of the flour and milk until all the ingredients are included. (Always start and end with the dry ingredients!)
8. Gently fold in the diced Champagne-soaked strawberries, just until incorporated.
9. Scoop batter into baking cups and bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Since I really wanted to capture the chocolate covered strawberry aspect in this cupcake, I chose to do two different chocolate butter creme frostings that match my chocolate covered strawberries that I made earlier. I followed this recipe that I posted a few weeks ago and made a white chocolate and a semi sweet chocolate butter creme frosting.

Once my cupcakes were cooled, I covered 12 with the chocolate frosting and 12 with the white chocolate frosting. Then to make it look pretty I topped with opposite covered strawberries. They were so pretty I didn't even want to eat them... But I did! And they were DELICIOUS.

Now, go make these for your sweetie! Just because Valentine's Day is over doesn't mean you have to stop treating your loved ones to yummy baked goods! <3

Monday Funday = Banana Split Cupcake!

One of my New Year's Resolutions for 2011 was to eat healthier. (I know, a cupcake blog really kind of contradicts that. Haha.) Last weekend I bought a bunch of bananas that I planned on eating throughout the week. Well, I only ate one banana from the bunch and by Friday they were starting to get brown. Luckily, that is a baker's perfect banana! I just let them sit there in my fruit basket and get their brown on until I was ready to party! And what is the best thing to have at a party?! Well, a banana split, of course! :) So this week I decided to try out a Banana Split Cupcake, which is a banana cupcake (recipe from Martha Stewart), with a chocolate ganache filling, topped with a vanilla whipped creme frosting. Delicious!

Banana Cupcake: (makes 18)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe medium-sized bananas)
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line your cupcake pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture. In the well, mix together the melted butter, mashed bananas, eggs and vanilla extract.
4. Carefully incorporate the flour mixture with the banana mixture. Be sure not to over mix the batter.
5. Fill the cupcake pans, each cup about 3/4s of the way full.
6. Bake for 15 minutes.
7. Take them out and let them cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate Ganache Filling:
1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
8 oz Chocolate, chopped

1. In a small saucepan, bring the whipping cream up to a boil.
2. Put the chopped chocolate into a medium bowl.
3. Once the whipping cream is boiling, pour it on top of the chocolate.
4. Stir the chocolate until melted through.
5. Pop the bowl of chocolate into the freezer for about 15 minutes to thicken the consistency a bit.

Whipped Creme Frosting:
1 cup Heavy Whipping Creme
5-6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a standing mixer, beat the whipping creme on a medium speed until thickened (about 2 minutes).
2. Slow the speed down on the mixer and add the sugar one tablespoon at a time until the whipped creme gets stiff peaks. You may have to stop the mixer to check the whipped creme peaks.
3. Mix in the vanilla extract, to taste.

Building the cupcakes into Banana Splits:
1. Once your cupcakes are cooled, you will have to put a hole in them. I used a frosting tip that I had lying around. But you could even use a pearing knife (which may take a while) or a straw. Really, anything that will make a 1/2 inch hole in your cupcake.
2. Fill your cupcakes with the Chocolate Ganache Filling. Overfilling is totally acceptable.
3. Pipe on your Whipped Creme Frosting. (You can use a large ziplock bag to pipe on the frosting. Fill the bag and cut one the tips off the corner. Voila! You have a piping bag!)
4. Top with a Maraschino Cherry and Nuts, if desired.
5. PARTY!

Storage: I am storing these in the refrigerator due to the fact that the frosting is really fragile and will probably melt if they sat at room temp.

I'm not ready for the holiday season to end! {Gingerbread Cupcakes with White Chocolate Butter Creme Frosting}

 Happy New Year! It's 2011! I hope you all are as excited about 2011 as I am! :)

For one of my New Year's Resolutions, I told myself that I would do my best to blog at least once a week on both of my blogs. (Yes, I have TWO! Haha. I have considered starting a third blog about cooking, but decided against it.)

As I was scouring my brain and my cupboards for a cupcake to make today, I remembered that I (sadly) did not make anything Gingerbread this Christmas season. Normally, we make a homemade Gingerbread house. However, I did consume a LOT of Gingerbread Lattes. Yum! So, I decided to make a Gingerbread Cupcake. I got the recipe from Martha Stewart. And I have been craving White Chocolate all day, so I went with a White Chocolate Butter Creme Frosting.

AND OMG.... I finally just tried one and this is probably my new favorite cupcake. So delicious!

Gingerbread Cupcakes (makes about 24 cupcakes)
 2 teaspoons baking soda
 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
 2 teaspoons ground ginger
 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
 1/2 teaspoon salt
 2 teaspoons baking powder
 1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
 2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
 1 cup molasses
 2 large eggs, room temperature

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup water to a boil. In a bowl, combine boiling water and baking soda; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, sift together flour, ground spices, salt, and baking powder; set aside.
4. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until light.
5. Beat in the brown sugar until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.
6. Beat in the molasses, baking-soda mixture, and flour mixture.
7. Beat in the eggs.
8. Fill your cupcake trays that are lined with paper three-quarters full.
9. Bake for 15 minutes.
10. Let cool on a wire rack before frosting.

White Chocolate Butter Creme Frosting
1 bag White Chocolate Chips
2 sticks butter
3-4 cups confectioner's sugar


1. In a small saucepan, add about a cup of water. Get a glass bowl that can handle high temperatures and that can fit inside the small saucepan. Make sure that the water in the sauce pan does not touch the bottom of the bowl. Bowl the water in the saucepan and place the bowl on top. Fill the bowl with the White Chocolate Chips. You have just created a double boiler. With a spatchula, stir around the chips until all are melted. Try not to eat the entire bowl of melted white chocolate... ;)
2. Put the butter in a standing mixer and beat until whipped.
3. Slowly add in the melted White Chocolate. Beat until incorporated.
4. Add in the confectioner's sugar one cup at a time until it meets the correct consistency. Try not to eat the entire bowl of frosting...


Once your cupcakes are cooled, frost those babies. Then give them a try. Your taste buds are going to dance. Your house is going to smell like Christmas. It's going to be a really good day for you. Trust me.

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar

1 cup unsulphered molasses

2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Gingerbread Cupcakes - Martha Stewart Recipes

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar

1 cup unsulphered molasses

2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Gingerbread Cupcakes - Martha Stewart Recipes

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar

1 cup unsulphered molasses

2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Gingerbread Cupcakes - Martha Stewart Recipes

Everything is better with BACON!

We caught a few episodes of "Cupcake Wars" where some of the bakers incorporated bacon into cupcakes. I did a few Google searches and found an amazing recipe for Maple Bacon Cupcakes with Maple Frosting and I knew I had to try them.
I just want to reinstate that everything is better with bacon.

Maple Bacon Cupcakes:
4 1/2 tablespoons of butter, room temperature
1/2 tablespoon of bacon drippings (left in the fridge to become solid)
1 egg
5 tablespoons of brown sugar
4 tablespoons maple syrup
1 1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
pinch of kosher salt
1/4 cup of milk
1/4 cup of minced bacon, cooked and drained

1. Fry up about 6 thick strips of bacon. Reserve the drippings and place in the fridge to solidify. Chop 1/4 a cup of the bacon. Anything you have leftover, you can save and use a decoration on top of the cupcakes.
2. In a mixer, beat the butter and solidified bacon fat until light and creamy. Add the brown sugar and maple syrup and beat well until combined. Add the egg and beat until incorporated.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, salt, baking soda and powder together.
4. Now you will alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk into the mixing bowl. Always start with dry and end with dry.
5. Gently fold the chopped bacon into the batter.
6. Scoop the batter into the cupcake tray and bake at 350 degrees (F) for 15 minutes.

Maple Syrup Frosting:
4 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 cup of powdered sugar
turbinado sugar (optional, but recommended)
coarse grain sea salt (optional, but recommended)
chopped leftover bacon from the cupcakes (optional, but recommended)

1. Beat the maple syrup and butter together until combined.
2. Gradually add the powdered sugar at a low speed (to ensure that it doesn't fly out of the bowl and into your face) and be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to get all the sugar incorporated.
3. Do a taste test to make sure that you can taste the maple syrup, but that it is not too sweet.
4. Frost your cupcakes once they are cooled.
5. Sprinkle the frosting with a little sugar, salt, and bacon for decoration and extra flavor.
6. Enjoy! It's like breakfast in a cupcake!

My favorite chocolate cupcake recipe ever.

Earlier this year, I ran across this amazing (complete understatement) recipe for what the website called "Guinness Gasm" cupcakes. I made them for St. Patty's Day and my life has been a million times better ever since. The recipe, essentially, is a chocolate cake with a buttercream frosting, but the kick is that the cake has Guinness Stout in it and the frosting they use has Bailey's Irish Cream Liquor in it so it is like an Irish Car Bomb in cupcake form! To be honest, this is my "go-to" chocolate cake because it's delectable! I am going to put the recipe on here for you all, but I highly suggest going to the website itself and reading their recipe because whoever wrote it has an incredible sense of humor.
Cupcakes (makes 24):
1 cup Guinness
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line your cupcake trays. You can make normal or mini-sized cupcakes.
2. Chop the butter into squares, doesn't have to be perfect it just helps it melt faster, and throw them into a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the Guinness and let it come to a simmer (this helps cook off the alcohol, but not the stout flavor).
3. As the butter and beer are simmering, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt into a large mixing bowl.
4. After the butter and Guinness have simmered, remove from heat and add the cocoa powder. Let this cool for a minute.
5. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sour cream together with an electric mixer until smooth. Combine this mixture with the cooled butter and Guinness concoction.
6. Combine the creamy chocolate Guinness goodness into the bowl of dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt) you have set aside. Gently stir until all is combined.
7. Fill your cupcake trays, each cup should be 3/4 of the way full.
8. Bake the cupcakes for 15 minutes.
9. Allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting them!

Frosting:
3 to 4 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup room-temperature, unsalted butter
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream

1. Put the butter in a bowl (or your electric mixer) and beat it until it's some sort of fluffy.
2. Mix in the confectioner's sugar one cup at a time.
3. Finally, add in the Bailey's one tablespoon at a time until it has enough flavor for you.
4. Frost your delectable chocolate cupcakes once they are cooled.
5. DEVOUR.

You can also use a simple buttercreme frosting if you aren't a big drinker (which basically means, replace the Bailey's with 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract).

These cupcakes are always a big hit, so if you are making them for a party, make a lot. :)