I'm calling this one The Haze

Cupcakes:

• 2 ¾ cups flour
• 2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup nearly boiling water
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer sift together dry ingredients. Add oil, hot water, and milk and mix for 1 minute at medium speed. Add eggs, vanilla extract and vanilla bean and beat for another minute. Batter will be thin.
3. Use a ¼ measuring cup or ice cream scoop to fill cupcake tins. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick poked into a cupcake comes out clean.
4. While cupcakes cool make the frosting.

Frosting:

• 3 sticks of butter
• 6 cups of powdered sugar
• Half a jar of Biscoff (or more or less to your liking)

Candy Topping:

• Vanilla wafers
• Reece's Pieces
• Black licorice
• M&M's
• Good & Plenty

Cotton Candy Cupcakes

Just like eating cotton candy at a summer fair!

Cupcakes:

• 2 ¾ cups flour
• 2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup nearly boiling water
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer sift together dry ingredients. Add oil, hot water, and milk and mix for 1 minute at medium speed. Add eggs, vanilla extract and vanilla bean and beat for another minute. Batter will be thin.
3. Use a ¼ measuring cup or ice cream scoop to fill cupcake tins. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick poked into a cupcake comes out clean.
4. While cupcakes cool make the frosting. 

 Frosting:

• 3 sticks of butter
• 6 cups of powdered sugar
• Cotton Candy syrup & a little milk until desired consistency and taste

S'mores Cupcakes

This year I went to visit a friend I hadn't seen in forever and during my visit I learned of this cookie spread called Biscoff.  I believe Trader Joe's calls it cookie butter but it's amazing!  So I tried to think of what I could make with it and came up with s'mores cupcakes - two of my favorite things!

 Chocolate Cupcakes:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Filling:

• Marshmallow fluff

Frosting:

• 3 sticks of butter
• 6 cups of powdered sugar
• Half a jar of Biscoff (or more or less to your liking)

  1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

4. Insert marshmallow fluff in the center

5. Make the frosting and frost the cooled cupcakes

Lemon Beer Cupcakes with Strawberry frosting

Lemon Beer Cupcakes

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

juice of 1 lemon

6 oz. ish of Shock Top's Lemon Shandy beer

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

 

Preheat oven to 350. Beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.  Add vanilla extract, fresh squeezed lemon juice, and lemon shandy beer

In a smaller bowl, mix together dry ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet in small batches.  The batter should be thick but not dry. 

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 18-22 min. Cupcakes should be a yellow golden color but not brown.

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

1 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3½ – 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup strawberries
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons half-and-half

Add strawberries to a food processor or blender and blend until they become a puree.  Add to a pan and boil for about 10-15 minutes.  Let puree cool.

Add butter to a bowl and slowly add in powdered sugar.  Alternatively add vanilla, half and half and strawberry puree until the frosting is the desired consistency.  Frost cooled lemon beer cupcakes with the finished frosting.  

**Mine were green because I added green dye to them for an Oakland A's game (green and gold cupcakes!)

Breakfast on the Go! Mini Quiches

It's almost my favorite time of year - Baseball season!  And with that comes tailgating!  I was trying to think of new ideas for tailgating - last year I perfected the make ahead breakfast burrito - and found mini quiches!  Easy to make ahead, freeze, and reheat!  Work was having a breakfast bake sale so I decided to test it out and they were a hit!

Ingredients:

1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Green Bell Pepper
1/2 White Onion
Bunch of Green Onions, chopped
Deli Ham, chopped (omit if you want a vegetarian option. I did both)
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
12 eggs
1/4 cup milk
Salt
Pepper
Parsley
Olive Oil

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Heat oil in a pan and saute bell peppers and onions until tender. Mix together in a large bowl eggs, milk and spices.  Grease a cupcake tin generously.  Add ham to the bottom of the pan, then layer bell pepper/onion mix, and cheese.  Then pour egg mix into the individual cups until about 2/3 full.  Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.  Let quiches remain in the pan for 10 minutes before removing.  Eat or freeze for later!

Coffee Cupcakes with Baileys filling & Jameson frosting

St. Patrick's Day cupcakes - Part Deux! 

So I made some Guinness cupcakes with Baileys and got a request to do a Jameson frosting so I did some research and realized there is nothing out there. So I put together my own.  I prefer chocolate but I can see those who prefer vanilla or coffee to prefer this!  I doubled this to make more for my friends and family.  This recipe yields ~24 cupcakes.



Batter Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 cups + 1 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. instant coffe
1/2 cup brewed strong coffee
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. milk

Bailey's Chocolate Filling:

1 1/4 cup heavy cream
1 bag of Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 tbsp. Baileys

Jameson Frosting:

1 1/2 sticks of butter, softened
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
4 tbsp. Jameson

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating until together.  Set aside.  Whisk flour, baking powder, salt & grounds together in a smaller bowl.  Set aside.  Mix coffee & milk together in a third bowl.  Gradually add flour mix and milk mix to the butter mix, alternatively.  Divide batter into cupcake trays at 2/3 full.  Bake for about 20-23 minutes.  (This batter smelled so amazing I wanted to eat the whole bowl and that never happens to me!)



Meanwhile make the Baileys filling.  Add 1 bag of chocolate chips in a heat proof bowl.  Heat 1 1/4 cup of heavy cream until just before boiling.  Pour the cream over the chocolate chips.  Stir until melted.  If need be, throw into the microwave for 30 seconds and stir again.  Once blended, slowly add Bailey's cream and stir until blended.  Set aside.




Put 1 1/2 sticks of softened butter in a bowl.  Add 4 1/2 cups of powdered sugar slowly, adding until just thicker than spreadable amount.  Add Jameson so that the frosting is smooth and spreadable.




After cupcakes have cooled, cut a hole in the middle with a pairing knife.  Add the Bailey's filling.  Then frost each cupcake with the Jameson frosting.  Top however you like if you feel inspires too! :)




Eat and Enjoy!!

Ghost Pepper Jelly

I bought a ghost pepper plant last summer and I really had my doubts of my green thumb but turns out, I can't stop them from producing.  After making two rounds of salsa, giving them away to my friends, and making chili with them, I finally needed to get creative and found a pepper jelly recipe.  I only had two ripe at the time so I substituted the third pepper with 4 habanero.

WARNING! Make sure to make this in a very well ventilated area!  I had all my fans going in my kitchen while doing so.

Ingredients:

2 ripe red ghost chili peppers

4 habanero peppers

3 red bell peppers, washed, drained, stems and seeds removed

2 cups cider vinegar, divided

6 cups sugar

3 ounces liquid pectin

Directions:

• Puree peppers and 1 cup vinegar in blender

• Combine puree 1 cup vinegar and sugar in a large saucepan.

• Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 10 minutes stirring constantly.

•  Stir in pectin and return to a rolling boil for 1 minute.

• Remove from stove and skim foam.

•  Ladle hot jelly into clean hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space.

• Can jars and let stand for a day.  Store for a year or eat any that didn't can within a couple months.