smore cupcakes flambe!

It's cupcake hero time again! This month is marshmallow!! When I think of marshmallow my mind immediately goes to campfires and smores. Thus came smore cupcakes flambe! It's a chocolate cupcake with a layer of graham cracker crumbs, mini marshmallows, that is then covered in melted marshmallows and torched to a nice crisp then covered in chocolate chips and more graham crumbles. Did someone say YUM!!!!!!???



smore cupcakes flambe!
Ingredients for cupcakes
Makes 2 dozen

• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 96 mini marshmallows
  

Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with liners; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla; mix batter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed. 2. Put 1 Tbs of batter into each cupcake liner, then add 1 tsp graham cracker crumbs and 4 mini marshmallows. Divide remaining batter to cover marshmallows, filling each about one-third full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Ingredients for frosting

• 1/2 of a 16 oz bag plain marshmallows (the small ones, not the jumbo ones)
• 1 Tbsp water
• shortening, for greasing bowls
• 2-4 cups confectioner’s sugar
  
• pinch of salt

Place the marshmallows and water in the greased microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 60 seconds. Stir in confectioners sugar a little at a time until desired "gooiness" is reached.

Cover cupcakes with frosting, flambe with a creme brule torch (or if you are ghetto like me and don't have one on hand a long fire place lighter will do in a pinch HA), top with chocolate chips and some more graham cracker crumbs. Delicious!!



Before the frosting went on the cupcakes looked a bit sad... marshmallows fluffing out the tops to a nice crisp! But ohh so tasty.

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Spring petit fours variation

Sorry for the lack of postings recently I went home for Easter this weekend and had lots of fun baking and cooking up a storm! On Easter Sunday my mom and I made these to bring to our family's house for dessert. As you'll notice theses are NOT healthy! I was going to health them up but mom said no no no. :) I was bargaining and tried to use splenda but she reminded me Ann is allergic to it... Well scratch that one! So here are some very very tasty bad for you little cakes.

Oh and check out how fun and old this food coloring is! We couldn't find a date on it but I suspect it's from before I was born :) Go mom go! :)

We used a 12 cup shaped cupcake pan, you'll see there are stars and other shapes, along with a 6 cup normal cupcake pan. The recipe is adapted from Cake on the Brain.

Spring petit fours variation
For the Cakes:
1 1/3 cups (170g) cake flour
3/4 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
6 T unsalted butter
3/4 cup (185 g) granulated sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
1/3 cup (80 ml) milk
1/2 cup (155 g) seedless raspberry jam

For the Glaze:
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 T meringue powder
1/4 cup milk
1/2 T vanilla extract
Food colouring as desired (pastel pink, green or yellow)

• Have all the ingredients at room temperature
• Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 350degrees F. Using a stiff brush, grease and flour the 20-well petits fours pan; tap out the excess flour.
• To make the cakes, over a sheet of waxed paper, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy and smooth, about 30 seconds. Add the granulated sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla just until incorporated, about 1 minute.
• Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour. Beat each addition just until incorporated, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Spoon batter into each well of the prepared pan. Gently tap the pan on a flat surface to eliminate any air bubbles. Bake just until the cakes are no longer sticky on top and slightly browned, about 15 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cakes cool upright in the pan for 1 to 2 minutes.
• Set the rack over a sheet of waxed paper, invert the pan onto the rack and lift off the pan. Let the cakes cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Using a serrated knife cut the cakes in half horizontally. Place about 1-to- 2 t jam on the bottom half of each cake, then replace the tops. (our cakes were a bit dome like so I cut the bottoms off to get a flat surface and then pieces all the domes together to make smaller cakes)

• To make the glaze, in a a large bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder, milk and vanilla until smooth, about 1 minute. Whisk in the food coloring.
• Using a rubber spatula, transfer the glaze to a bowl with a pouring spout. Slowly drizzle the glaze over each cake, allowing it to completely cover the top and sides before glazing the next cake. Gently tap the wire rack on a flat surface to remove excess glaze. Let the glaze dry completely, about 1 hour, before serving.

Makes 18 petits fours. We had a lot of fun with these and used the glaze more drizzled then completely covering the cakes. We also added some yummy toppings. Enjoy!

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Everyone is jumping on the free stuff train

Jerry of Cooking by the seat of my pants is giving away an ipod touch!?

Check it out here to find out more!

He has some very tasty looking recipes, I'm going to have to give some a try :)

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TCHO chocolate = best chocolate EVER!

ok all I have to say is wow, WOW, WOW!!!

This chocolate is AMAZING!!! I thought I'd be baking something with it but after cracking open the package tonight it somehow disappeared into oblivion. The first bite of chocolate went down so smooth it had to be followed by another.. and yet another. I then put it to the ultimate test and had my house mate give it a try. (side note: my house mate doesn't like dark chocolate, she's strictly a milk chocolate kinda girl) she took one bite and her eyes opened real wide and she said "WOW, that's the best dark chocolate I've ever had, it's really good, not bitter at all!" We then proceeded to devour the remainder of the package.

Seriously go RIGHT NOW and order some. It's amazing!!!

mmmmmm chocolate coma...

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TCHO chocolate!!

So last week Blake from Blake Makes was giving away TCHO chocolate and I won some!!! It came in the mail yesterday and I can't wait to try it and also use it to make some chocolate cupcakes. I'll post more once I get to try the TCHO. Read more about them here.

Also Blake has made some serious news with his giveaways! Congrats Blake!!
http://www.blakemakes.com/omg-omg-omg-big-news/

:)

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Harvest Sweet Potato Pecan Pie Tarts

My mom and I have made these a few times and they are delicious! They work great as an appetizer for thanksgiving or as an addition to the dessert table!

Harvest Sweet Potato Pecan Pie Tarts

Pierce each sweet potato a few times with a fork, place in a pie plate with two tablespoons water, cover loosely with wax paper, and microwave at high five minutes or until tender.

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Ingredients

1 cup mashed cooked sweet potato*
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chopped toasted pecans
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon dark corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg white
2 (2.1-ounce) packages mini phyllo shells (such as Athens)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine sweet potato, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt, stirring well.

Combine pecans, brown sugar, syrup, vanilla, and egg white, stirring well.

Spoon about 1 teaspoon sweet potato mixture into each phyllo shell, spreading to edges. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon pecan mixture over sweet potato mixture. Place filled shells on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Yield

15 servings (serving size: 2 tarts)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 89(39% from fat); FAT 3.9g (sat 0.2g,mono 2.2g,poly 0.9g); PROTEIN 0.6g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 9mg; SODIUM 55mg; FIBER 0.5g; IRON 0.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 13.1g

* as a side note you can substitute canned pumpkin for the sweet potato, it tastes almost the same and is a quicker solution :)

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Chicken with Asparagus

Asparagus is on sale for crazy cheep at Wegmans this week so that means lots of asparagus dishes! This one is another quick and easy weeknight recipe.

Chicken with Asparagus Pesto and Whole Wheat Pasta
1.5 lbs skinless chicken breasts trimmed of fat
thyme to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/2 box whole wheat rigatoni or other pasta
1 large bunch asparagus
2-3 Tbs basil pesto

Bring large pot of water to boil, boil pasta according to box directions.
Meanwhile heat George Forman grill.
Lightly spray chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle on thyme and black pepper. Once grill is hot cook chicken breasts for 7 minutes or until cooked through. Remove and cut into 1" chunks.
While chicken is cooking cut asparagus into 2" long pieces and steam in a microwave vegetable steamer for 5 minutes.
Add pasta, asparagus and pesto to a large bowl and toss to coat.
Top with cut chicken.

Enjoy!

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Crepes oh how I love you!

When I moved into my first apartment in college the first cooking items given to me by my parents were a crepe pan and a spatula... and I still have them!

As a kid, Saturdays were dads day to cook breakfast, the only catch was we had to let him sleep (at least until 6) or we only got cereal. Good plotting on his part! He's the best short order cook around. My sister would want pancakes, me crepes, mom french toast and he'd whip it all up in 5 minutes not batting an eyelash! Still to this day when I go home to visit I look forward to dad's breakfasts :) Below are dad's crepes, slightly modified to be made a little healthier :) sorry dad!














Simple Crepes
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbs sugar
3 eggs
1.5 cups milk
1 tbs oil or melted butter
1 tsp vanilla

Mix flour and sugar, pour milk over top, add eggs, oil and vanilla, whisk together. Pour a 1/4 cup at a time into a buttered crepe pan (having a crepe pan is very important trying to make these in a frying pan is awful!!) tip pan around to let batter coat the pan. These cook very quickly so keep an eye on it! When it starts to bubble flip to cook the other side.

I made PB and jelly crepes last night. Jelly was always my favorite breakfast time filling. But you really can add anything in, eggs, cheese, salad, chicken! Literally anything you can think up just roll it up like a burrito and enjoy!

Mom just suggested filling them with cottage cheese mixed with some sugar and cinnamon! yum! Then she went on to say "Nana would wrap them around the cottage cheese filling, or the jam. Then line them up seem side down in a buttered baing dish. Making sure they had butter on them so they wouldn't dry out. And bake them for a little bit to serve as a dessert. You can make them ahead of time. Then pop them in the oven as you finish eating dinner."

I think I'll have to make some more crepes!

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Oven Fried Chicken

Fried chicken is one of those tasty things that just isn't worth the fat and calories. That's why I love making oven fried chicken. I add cayenne pepper to spice it up and imitate buffalo wings! I found this recipe on Hungry-Girl. This recipe is for a single serving so just double triple or times however many people you have! I also love this recipe served with some good quality BBQ sauce to dip them in. YUM!

Crunchy Oven Fried Chicken
Ingredients:
6 oz. Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (raw); cut lengthwise into 5 strips
1/2 cup Fiber One cereal
1/4 cup Egg Beaters, Original (or egg whites)
1/4 tsp. Lawry's Garlic Salt
black pepper (to taste)
(I add 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper as well)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Using a blender or food processor, grind Fiber One cereal to a breadcrumb-like consistency. Add Garlic Salt and pepper to crumbs. Place crumbs in one small dish and Egg Beaters in another. Next, coat raw chicken strips with Egg Beaters and then with crumb mixture. Place strips on a baking pan sprayed with nonstick spray. Spray a light mist of nonstick spray on top of strips and place in oven. Cook for 10 minutes, and then turn strips over. Add another light mist of nonstick spray and cook for an additional 8 - 10 minutes (until chicken is fully cooked and Fiber One looks crispy).

Enjoy! Serves 1.

Serving Size: 5 pieces (entire recipe)
Calories: 240
Fat: 3.25g
Sodium: 805mg
Carbs: 26g
Fiber: 14g
Sugars: 0.5g
Protein: 42.5g

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Lentil Burgers

I have an eating compulsion, I can't help it I LOVE TO CHOW!! There is an amazing eatery here in Rochester called Orange Glory and they make a mean lentil burger. I keep saying I'm going to try to make it at home and never do. No longer! I used a can of lentils instead of the dried kind (who knew they came in cans??) so it was crazy fast to make.


lentil burger
1 can lentils
1/4 cup whole what flour
1 tbs worcestershire sauce
1 egg
5 saltine crackers crumbled
garlic powder
black pepper

for garnish:
lettuce
roasted red peppers or salsa
shredded cheddar cheese

Open can of lentils and rinse well to get rid of some of the sodium. Place in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients and stir up. Form into 4 burger patties and cook in a frying pan sprayed with olive oil. Cook until browned on both sides 4-5 minutes total. Serve on a whole wheat english muffin, or some of that thyme bread I made yesterday yum!

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Thyme/Rosemary bread - vegan friendly

I must say the Kitchen Aid my mom and dad bought me is one of the best gifts ever. I love this thing. It makes bread making so easy. No need for trying to get the bread machine off the top shelf, pfff too much work! I have decided bread machines may be great but this new bread recipe I found is where it's at!

As you know I had a bad bread experience the other weekend :) What's that you say? The birds liked it so it must have been ok? Well ok then :) So I wasn't going to let it get me down! So last night I prepared to have a second battle with bread and I won! Instead of going for the hardest bread to make (whole wheat) I decided to start small with a delicious thyme olive oil bread... and oh my lord it was sooo goooood!!!! I ate 1/2 of it last night hot out of the oven dipped in some extra virgin olive oil with fresh ground pepper mixed in. DELICIOUS!

The best part about this bread is how FAST and EASY it was. Mix it all up, let it rise an hour then pop it in the oven, done and done that's it! I highly HIGHLY suggest you give it a try. I'll be making this again for sure!

Thyme/Rosemary Bread

ingredients

1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons dried thyme or rosemary
2 1/2 cups bread flour (i used king arthur bread flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (one package)
1 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil

Add dry ingredients (salt through yeast) to a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and combine.

Create a well in the dry ingredients and add oil.

Warm milk or water to 100-130 degrees and add to bowl. (30 seconds in the microwave works perfectly)

Mix dough until it cleans the sides of the bowl. Allow dough to knead on the hook in the bowl for 1-2 minutes.

Coat bowl with olive oil. Add dough to bowl, turn to coat, and allow to rise in covered bowl for
1 hour.

Shape dough into square or round loaf (your choice). Brush top of dough with oil.

Heat oven to 375 and bake for 25 minutes.

Serve with olive oil seasoned with herbs or cracked black pepper.

yum yum yum yum yum!!!!

By the way, don't you just love the orange counter tops I have in my apt?? They are just so classic and modern all at once hahahaha

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Poose Cookies (the best healthy chocolate chip cookies ever)

No joke I have made these every week for John since we started dating. He doesn't eat cookies but these are the exception because they aren't bad for you :) They are a staple in his house and can always be found... except when he eats them all before the weekend comes... that is a sad week indeed. (and sometimes requires an extra batch being made to last till the weekend) hehe


Poose Cookies

ingredients
1.5 cups King Arthur whole wheat flour
1 cup Quaker oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbs Splenda brown sugar blend
2 Tbs Splenda sugar blend
1 package (7 ounces) Gerber Prunes with Apples baby food (NOT plums and apples) (contains 2 – 3.5oz containers)
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 large egg plus 2 egg whites
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1.25 cups semisweet chocolate chips
.25 cup walnuts (optional)
pam cooking spray

instructions
preheat oven to 350
In a small bowl whisk together flour, oats, and baking soda. Set aside.
In a large bowl stir together splenda brown sugar and splenda sugar blend, stir in applesauce and prunes with apples containers.
Beat in egg.
Stir in vanilla. (if you want add a little more, mom always said a little extra vanilla never hurt anyone!)
Gradually stir flour mixture into wet mixture. Adding 1/2 cup at a time and stirring until incorporated.
Once flour mixture is almost incorporated, fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.
Drop heaping tablespoons onto a silicon baking pad on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until browned and cooked through. Will vary with oven used.

Serve warm or for a summer treat transfer into the freezer and eat frozen a few hours later!

(to make these even healthier, take out some of the chocolate chips and sub in dried fruit and nuts - delicious)

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Are we lost again?

So we got some snow this weekend... Or i should say we got A LOT of snow this weekend. So we powered up with some homemade pizza before taking to the trails to snow shoe! It's a good thing we chowed up since what started out as a well marked easy to follow trail turned into a never ending saga that lasted over 2 hours and many miles... But in the end we found our way home!! hooray!!


Back to the pizza... This is what I call Pizza in a hurry because it's all said done and on your plate within 15 minutes of starting.

Pizza in a hurry
4 flat out style wraps (we use the low carb originals)
1 cup diavola (spicy) tomato sauce
4 tsp basil pesto
1.5 - 2 cups part skim mozzarella
turkey pepperoni (however much you feel like!)
sundried tomatoes
1 can sliced mushrooms (we were out so none on this one booo!)
oregano
black pepper

Heat oven to 350.
Lightly spray cookies sheets with olive oil and place flat out wraps on them.
Spread lightly the pesto onto the wraps then spread on the spicy diavola sauce (1/4 cup each wrap)
Sprinkle mozzarella over sauce
Add pepperoni, sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, and whatever else you have on hand.
Sprinkle with oregano and black pepper.
Cook for 8 minutes, or until nicely browned and crispy.

Enjoy some deliciously crisp thin crust pizza in a hurry!

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Big soft ginger cookies

These cookies are hands down one of my new favorites. The issue with most gingerbread recipes is the amount of butter needed to roll them out and do cutouts. Since you are just making cute little gingerballs rolled in snow there is no need to add all that butter. These cookies were so super moist and decadent I wouldn't have believed they didn't have any butter in them, except for the fact that I made them :)



I mean just look how tasty those look!!



All dressed up and ready to go in the oven. yum

Big Soft Ginger Cookies

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
  
• 1/4 cup splenda for baking blend (or 1/2 cup white sugar)
  
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup molasses
• 2 tablespoons sugar for rolling
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
1. In a large bowl, cream together the apple sauce and 1/4 cup splenda. Beat in the egg, then stir in the water and molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto a silicon baking mat on a cookie sheet.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

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A weekend of baking

John always asks me what I need to get done over the weekend, a normal person may say, get to the bank, do laundry... etc. I on the other hand say. "I want to bake like a mad woman... and read about how to learn to crochet, oh and maybe we can go snow shoeing!" All of which I accomplished, hooray! I must say though the baking started out great but ended a bit like a brick :(

First came the ginger soft cookies I adapted from a posting by Batter Splattered. This woman is my hero I love love LOVE reading her blog everyday. She's fantastic and I'm a total blog stalker of her. My recipe involves no butter and splenda instead of sugar and a few other tweaks, I'll post it up later I promise (with pictures!!) These came out DELICIOUS!! John and I inhaled them and not a one saw Sunday night.

Next on the list was banana bread to get rid of those brown bananas that were sitting on John's counter... They were calling to me I tell you. "make me into banana bread!!" In reality I think John purposefully does not eat two of the bananas each week in the hope I will see them and make them into banana bread on the weekend :) He's a sly one and I love him for it! :) You can find the recipe for this one below. So tasty!

I tried multitasking and made the weekly batch of poosta cookies (john's favorite chocolate chip cookies ever) at the same time as the banana bread. However the bread was sucking up too much of the oven heat and I under baked the poosta cookies a little :( such a blow!! I've made these literally every week for the last year and a half and something goes wrong??? How can this happen.) I was so saddened but then a bigger blow was yet to come!

What you may ask could be worse then messing up a recipe you make weekly for years??? Why I shall tell you! Attempting to bake bread for the first time and creating some pretty looking wheat stalks and a solid dense BRICK of a loaf of bread. hahahaha. Yes indeed it was very sad a day in the kitchen. I'll also post the recipe and pictures from this catastrophe, I'm sure you will enjoy and laugh in my defeat ;) OR you can write and tell me what on earth I did wrong???

More to come...

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