Oreo Balls

Alright, I'll admit - the name is not very glamorous. Nor are these, in fact, cupcakes. However, they have become a house favorite ever since my mother-in-law tasted them at an office party almost two years ago, and we attempted to make them for a New Year's party. They are relatively simple, and absolutely delicious! This recipe makes a lot of them, but they'll be gone before you know it, guaranteed!

1 package Oreos (or generics; don't use double-stuffed though!)
1 8-oz package of cream cheese, softened
Melting/coating/dipping chocolate

Crush the cookies into indiscernible bits. If you have a food processor, this is easy. However, if you don't, there are many creative ways to crush up the cookies. Here a few pictures of my nephews helping me last year with their various creative methods:

Isaac went for the foot-stomping method (don't worry; they're double-bagged!) while Nathan watches, confused.

Ezra decided to crush them with the corner of a lid. He eventually just placed the entire lid on top and jumped up and down on them.

And sweet Joel, after discovering that his hands didn't crush well enough, decided to use a broom. Only, he used the wrong part and just ended up "sweeping" the bag of cookies instead of crushing them.

(Warning: when crushing cookies in ziplocs, especially with children, always double-bag, and let as much air out as possible or you will have a cookie explosion!)

Now, thanks to my KitchenAid food processor, the cookie-crushing process goes much faster, but is slightly less entertaining.

Anyway, crush up almost the entire bag of cookies (save a few out for eating - about five or six - because Oreos rock).

Soften the package of cream cheese, and then mix the crushed cookies and the cream cheese together very well. Form into 1-2 inch balls, put on wax paper, and refrigerate for about an hour.

Using a variety of melting chocolate, dip each ball into the melted chocolate and set on wax paper to cool. I usually use dark chocolate, but this week I also added milk chocolate and white chocolate to the mix. Refrigerate until ready to serve (best when served cool, although can be enjoyed without cooling!)

The chocolate dipping part can get kind of messy, and if you're doing it in a warm kitchen, your cookie balls will start to soften before you dip them. In these situations, I recommend getting out a few at a time, and letting the rest stay in the fridge until you're ready for them.

Once the chocolate has hardened, they are ready to eat! Enjoy!

Just be careful about getting cookie all over your face;-)

Butterfly Garden Cupcakes

This week, my husband came home with two new cupcake books for me to explore. One, "What's New, Cupcake?" is the follow-up to a book my mom got me, "Hello, Cupcake." These books show fun ways to decorate cupcakes for all sorts of occasions - baby showers, birthdays, holidays, pranks, etc. While they contain a few basic recipes, they're mainly full of edible decorative schemes. I realized, upon receiving the follow-up book, that I haven't made a lot of the designs form the first book. I found this awesome cookie dough cupcake recipe (to be posted soon), and decided to top these new cupcakes with a butterfly design found in "Hello, Cupcake." This turned out to be quite the endeavor. 

First, I had to make the wings of the butterfly. This involved lots of melting chocolate. Using an outline from the book, I piped the outline of the wings in dark chocolate melting wafers (which apparently work better than regular/"real" dark chocolate because it hardens faster and maintains its consistency pretty well when melted). Then, I filled in the wings with the color of my choice. The book recommended orange, so the butterflies would look like monarchs, but all I had was white and green. Once the outline was filled in (a technique I learned is called "flooding"), I took a toothpick and gently tried to bring some of the dark chocolate into the center to create the wing look. This took some practice - especially learning how long I had before the outline began to set. The first few looked a little "chunky" in the middle, because the melted chocolate had already started to harden by the time I started mixing. And while the wings are still melted and just beginning to set, I sprinkled some colored sugar and nonpareils on the tips for added effect (again, in the book, these are white to assist with the monarch look, but I just went with what I had). I then piped some chocolate antenna.

Once the cupcakes were cool, I frosted them in several colors (vanilla frosting tinted with my coloring gels), and then attempted to apply the wings. Placing a chocolate chip about 1/4 inch apart on the top, I propped the wings against the chocolate chips and piped a chocolate frosting body down the center. I didn't have much luck with the antenna turning out well, so a few of the butterflies have the antenna and most don't. Also, some of the wings oozed together during the cooling process, so for those the "complete" butterfly is just lying flat on top of the cupcake, instead of with its wings pointed up.

But most of them are flapping. Of course, there was the occasional casualty:

But in the end, most of the cupcakes turned out... well, if not perfect, then at least passable. 

I learned, in the end, that the thick chocolate fudgy frosting does a much better job at holding the wings in an upright position - but since I didn't discover this until the last four or five cupcakes, I guess I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed to see if they all survive the ride to work in the morning!

("Hello, Cupcake" is written by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson, and published by Houghton Mifflin. It, as well as "What's New, Cupcake" contain many playful ideas that are supposed to be "easy," but it would appear that my patience level and/or skill level are rather sub-par. I'm hoping to overcome that soon!)

Snickers Cupcakes

Pictured above are my attempts at making "peanut cupcakes with nougat-chocolate frosting" - basically, cupcakes that are supposed to taste like Snickers. Again using a recipe from the Food Network magazine, this was a messy and time-consuming recipe, but hopefully worth it!

CUPCAKES:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, room temp
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cups whole milk
2 cups chopped salted roasted peanuts, plus more for garnish

NOUGAT FROSTING:
2-13 ounce jars marshmallow creme (about 4 cups)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
pinch of salt

CHOCOLATE FROSTING:
6 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup whole milk
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

CUPCAKES:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 cupcake tins with paper liners.
2) Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
3) In another bowl, beat eggs and both sugars with a mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
4) Gradually beat in the melted butter and vanilla.
5) With mixer on low speed, add half of the flour mixture, the milk, and then the remaining flour.
6) Fold in peanuts but don't overmix.
7) Divide batter evenly among prepared cups, filling each about halfway. Bake about 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean. Let cool in pans 10 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

NOUGAT:
1) Beat the marshmallow creme, peanut butter, and salt with a mixer until smooth. Set aside.

CHOCOLATE FROSTING:
1) Put both chocolates in a large microwave safe bowl and microwave on 50 percent power until soft, about  minute. Stir, then continue to microwave until melted, 1-2 more minutes.
2) Add the confectioner's sugar, milk, butter, vanilla and salt and beat with a mixer until smooth and creamy.

Spread nougat frosting over each cupcakes, then top with chocolate frosting, leaving some of the nougat exposed. Garnish with peanuts.

Just a word of caution - once on the cupcake, the nougat spreads out and takes over everything. Trust me, I made a nice big mess! Use a little less nougat topping than you think you should, because no matter how sturdy it looks in the bowl, once it's on the cupcakes it's going to spread out like The Blob. Well, a very tasty Blob. :-) Happy eating!

York Peppermint Patty Cupcakes

A few months ago, Food Network magazine published some recipes for cupcakes that were supposed to taste exactly like your favorite candy bar. Today, I tried out the Mint Patty Cakes, which are supposed to taste just like York Patties. Here's the recipe:

CUPCAKES:
3 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
3 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs, at room temp
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

TOPPING:
1 pound confectioner's sugar (about 4 cups)
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup vegetable shortening or cocoa butter, softened
2 teaspoons peppermint extract

GLAZE:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

CUPCAKES:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees & line 2-12 cup muffin tins with paper liners.
2) Put the butter, cocoa powder, and 3/4 cup water in a medium microwave safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap and microwave until the butter melts (about 2 minutes). Whisk to combine, then whisk in the brown sugar.
3) Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Whisk in the warm cocoa mixture.
4) In another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla; stir into the batter until just combined (don't overmix).
5) Divide the batter into the prepared cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Baking about 30-35 minutes, until cupcakes spring back when touches. Let cool in the pan about 10 minutes, then cool completely on a rack.

TOPPING:
1) Beat the confectioner's sugar, corn syrup, shortening and peppermint extract with a mixer until the tight paste forms.
2) Gather into a ball, place between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out to 1/4 inch thick (microwave 15 seconds to soften, if necessary).
3) Use a 2-1/2 inch round cutter or juice glass to cut into disks; reroll scraps. Place a peppermint disk on top of each cupcake.

GLAZE:
1) Put the chocolate, corn syrup, butter, and 1/4 cup water in a microwave safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap and microwave on 50 percent power until the chocolate melts, about 2 minutes.
2) Whisk to combine, then cool slightly.

Spread the glaze over the peppermint topping, leaving some peppermint exposed. Refrigerate until set, about 20 minutes. Serve cold.

Here are some pictures from my first attempt at these cupcakes:

S'more Cupcakes

In honor of the official beginning of S'more season here at work, I made these wonderful S'more cupcakes. My friend Sherry, one of my favorite foodies, came in to the office with a mouthful of cupcake to proclaim them the best cupcake she's ever eaten. That was enough validation for me to pass this recipe along! But first, here are some pictures:

S'MORE CUPCAKES - makes ~24 (recipe courtesy of Woman's Day magazine)

Crumbs:

6 graham cracker boards (oblongs)

2 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp melted butter

1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Cupcakes:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

2 large eggs

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup water

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Marshmallow Topping:

6 large egg whites

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Small butane torch (or, if you're me, a candle and a lot of patience)

1) Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

2) Crumbs: process graham crackers in food processor until fine crumbs. Add sugar and butter. Pulse until blended. Spoon about 2 tsp into each muffin cup. Top with 1 tsp mini chocolate chips.

3) Cupcakes: In large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt until blended. In medium bowl, whisk buttermilk, eggs, oil, water and vanilla until blended, whisk into flour mixture until smooth.

4) Spoon about 1/4 cup batter into each muffin cup. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool completely.

5) Marshmallow Topping: Put egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in a large metal bowl. Set over a saucepan of simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and whites are warm to the touch, about 3-4 minutes.

6) Transfer to a large bowl of an electric stand mixer. Beat 5-7 minutes, starting on low speed and gradually increasing to high, until stiff, glossy peaks form. Beat in vanilla. Spoon into a large ziptop freezer bag.

7) Snip a 1-inch opening off one tip, pipe topping onto each cupcake. (It will be helpful to have several peaks in the topping). Using handheld torch*, lightly brown the topping, taking care not to burn the cupcake liners. 

Serve immediately, or store in airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

*If you don't have a handheld torch, you can always hold the cupcakes upside down over a candle. It takes about 1 minute per candle, depending on how many peaks you put in the frosting. It works just as well - just be careful to blow out the cupcakes liners if they catch!

Enjoy & happy eating! :-)

Easter Cupcakes!

A while back, my mom gave me this wonderful book called "Hello, Cupcake!" It contains recipes for cupcakes and various kinds of frosting, but most importantly it gives step-by-step instructions for creating themed cupcakes. There are butterfly cupcakes, shark cupcakes, baby shower cupcakes, Christmas ornament cupcakes, cupcakes that look like aliens or penguins or alligators... the list goes on and on. This Easter, I decided to attempt to make the book's featured Easter egg cupcakes. Keep in mind, the book is more about decoration than recipes for flavors (although I did use the vanilla cupcake recipe in the back to make the cupcakes themselves). All of the decorations are edible. So to start, with the help of my wonderful mother, I had to cut out honey graham crackers to look like Easter eggs.

Then began the tedious process of attaching the graham crackers to the cupcakes. Needless to say, cupcake tops aren't flat. And I learned that cream cheese frosting is not thick enough to really hold well, but we made it work. My friend Rachel, who works in food service for a living, graciously came over to assist with this part. We attached the grahams to the top of the cupcakes, and then began decorating.

We used pink & green colored sugar on the tops of some graham crackers. On others, we tinted dye using food-safe gel to make light purple, light blue, light pink, yellow, and green. We coated each graham in various pastel shades (except the hot pink sugar - it looked a little less vibrant in the package but shocked us with its intensity once on a cupcake), and then got to work decorating with an assortment of Easter-egg-esque designs. I ran into the same problem that I always run into when dying eggs - I only have so many patterns that I can do well. So some of the eggs ended up being a bit funky looking, while others actually turned out decently well. (That is, as long as I don't compare them to the picture in the book!) For the finishing touch, I piped light green frosting around the edges for grass, as if the Easter egg was lying in the grass (hmm... doesn't that sound so yummy?) Anyway, here is the end result:

And just for good measure, here's the picture from the book as to what they're actually supposed to look like:

Okay, so my grass looks more like monster hair than a sign of spring, but maybe by next Easter I'll have it all figured out:-)

Happy Easter!

Pirate Ship Birthday Cake

My in-laws decided it would just wouldn't be right for me to make my own birthday cake, so last weekend they had me bring up the awesome pirate ship cake mold I got as a wedding shower gift. Risa, my cousin-in-law who is amazingly talented with cakes, made this fantastic chocolate pirate cake to celebrate my birthday. It was pretty delicious and adorable, so here are the pictures:

Notice the mini cannons, complete with red hots?