Straight from Dan and Misono’s kitchen.
Photos are from a couple weeks ago, when I bought this flowerpot cupcake kit that I found at Cost Plus World Market. They were so cute, I couldn’t resist! The chocolate cupcakes and frosting were made from the mixes that were provided in the kit. It tasted okay, and the presentation came out a little messy…Â looking forward to making some cupcakes from scratch in these cute little silicon pots!
I swear I don’t just eat cupcakes all the time, even though my blog posts may suggest otherwise….
A couple days ago, I made whoopie pies for the first time. I’ve always loved stuffing my face with this New England treat, but this was my first attempt at making them. I found a random recipe online at Epicurious, but instead of using the filling recipe listed there, I opted to use the frosting recipe from my s’mores cupcakes. I also put my own twist on them by making them heart-shaped! (Everything is heart-shaped these days….) What I really wanted to make were these lovely red velvet whoopie pies, but I visited three grocery stores and red food coloring was sold out everywhere. I blame Valentine’s Day.
The results were satisfactory. They came out cute and the filling was delicious, but I felt like the chocolate cake portions could have been sweeter. But this may be because I have an extra-sweet tooth. What was good about them was that they were not too rich — light enough to eat a few without feeling guilty afterwards. If anyone has a whoopie pie recipe they swear by, please share! 🙂 We love this stuff.
We both brought some back to our companies to share with coworkers. Dan took about two dozen to his workplace and they were all gone within an afternoon. I’m glad his coworkers liked them! We even got a request for seconds… maybe when we improve the recipe. 😉
And a bonus! Dan tried making some quiche! (Once again heart-shaped.) It ended up tasting more like a pizza pie but it was still pretty yummy. Good job hubby! 😀
For Valentine’s dinner on Sunday, I made spinach artichoke ravioli and for the special occasion, I made them heart-shaped! 🙂 They were large, but turned out pretty well!
They’re actually quite easy to make. Just follow the steps below:
It’s Valentine’s Day! Dan surprised me with a bouquet of tulips (he caught on recently that I actually prefer tulip bouquets to rose ones) and although the day started out overcast and dreary, it brightened up with the lovely California sunshine by noon.
We spent yesterday baking and decorating these red velvet cupcakes for a Valentines potluck dinner party with friends:
We spent Valentine’s Day low-key this year with a quiet dinner at home, and then we walked over to the movie theater in downtown Berkeley to watch the movie Valentine’s Day. With an all-star cast and connected stories (Ã la Love Actually), it was a really cute romantic comedy. (Dan enjoyed it, too!) We recommend it.
Hope everyone had a lovely Valentine’s Day with their loved ones! 😀
After having that s’mores cupcake from Cupkates Truck last weekend, I became sort of obsessed. I kept having cravings for more of them the whole week for more. It’s like once my taste buds were awakened to the divine concept of s’mores in the form of a cupcake, they desperately needed to have more. I kept talking about them with Dan, and we then decided that instead of hunting that darned cupcake truck down again, we’d try making those delicious morsels ourselves.
We were a little apprehensive about the mission ending in disaster, but it turned into a fun collaborative project for the two of us. 🙂 And the results were not too shabby, if I do say so myself:
As I usually try to do here, I’m going to post the recipe, but I’m also going to try something new. My friend Luice recently introduced me to The Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond’s site. If you’re not familiar with her, she’s a woman who used to live an urban lifestyle (growing up in Chicago and then attending college in Los Angeles) who then fell in love with a cowboy (yes, a cowboy) and lives out in the countryside now. She calls her cowboy husband “The Marlboro Man” and her four adorable kids her “punks,” and despite the fact that her life is 180 degrees different from her previous city life, she actually fell in love with the country life. She has a huge online presence, with her site featuring extensive topics — everything from recipes to a personal blog and sections dedicated to photography, home & gardening and homeschooling. (I especially loved reading “Black Heels to Tractor Wheels,” her love story about how she met The Marlboro Man and how their whirlwind romance took off… although I confess I haven’t read all of it yet — it’s a series of blog posts.)Â Aside from being a funny personality and a really good writer, her recipes are awesome in that she uses step-by-step photos in them. I really love how she does this, because I’m a very visual learner and it really helps for me to see each of the steps as photographs (really pretty ones, too!) — when I buy cookbooks, I go out of my way to find ones that have lots of pictures in them. So I decided to try out this clever idea and do this post “The Pioneer Woman”-style. I’m not sure if it’s something I’ll be trying again anytime soon, though — taking step-by-step photos is actually pretty tiring and it’s difficult to get the shots to look good. Nevertheless, here goes my pathetic attempt.
The actual recipe is at the bottom of the post, for those who just want to skip the photos or want the detailed ingredients and directions.
Here’s the recipe without all the photos for anyone who’d like to print it out and try it themselves!
(Note: I based my cupcakes on a recipe from Glory Albin of Glorious Treats, featured on Food Magazine. There are some slight variations and tweaks I made on mine, so feel free to follow either.)
The Chocolate Cupcakes:
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
Directions:
1. Line the cupcake cups with paper or aluminum liners. Heat oven to 350° F.
2. Stir together the dry ingredients – mix sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
3. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, and beat on medium speed with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be watery but that is how it should be).
4. Fill liners approximately 2/3 – 3/4 full with batter.
5. Bake regular cupcakes for approximately. 22-24 minutes. Mini cupcakes for 13-16 minutes.
6. Cool completely on wire rack before frosting. (Makes approximately 24 standard size cupcakes.)
Marshmallow Frosting:
Ingredients:
2 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
pinch of salt
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
1. In a large heat-proof bowl, combine the egg whites, sugar, water, corn syrup, cream of tartar and salt.
2. Set the bowl over (but not touching) simmering water in a saucepan and heat mixture, stirring constantly, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is very warm to the touch (about 160° F), about 3 minutes.
3. Remove the bowl from the saucepan. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the mixture until soft peaks form, and it is still very warm, about 2 minutes.
4. Reduce mixer speed to low and add the marshmallows and vanilla. Continue beating until the marshmallows are melted and the frosting is completely smooth, about 3-4 minutes. Use frosting right away.
The Final Touches:
Ingredients:
2-3 large graham crackers
1 large chocolate candy bar (the ones that come in squares are easier to use): milk chocolate or dark chocolate, depending on your preference.
Directions:
1. Frost chocolate cupcakes with marshmallow frosting.
2. Top frosted cupcakes with a piece of graham cracker and a piece of chocolate.
3. Use a culinary butane torch (the kind typically used on crème brûlée) and lightly sweep the flame across the frosting, approximately one inch away, to slightly toast the marshmallow frosting.
4. Devour immediately.