2nd Birthday Treats!

If you're a follower of my blog, you may have noticed I have been MIA...I have a very decent alibi...I'm pregnant!

I had a nasty month of morning sickness (hah! what man invented that phrase, it's been all-day long sickness, thank you very much) that sentenced me to lots of downtime with little desire to bake...or even get out of bed for that matter.

But I'm back, and I'm hungry.

Before I get back into the kitchen I want to share a few treats with you that I made for my son's 2nd birthday last week.  There was no way I was going to let his special day go by without making one hell of a birthday cake, regardless of how I felt.

As you may know I pride myself on always sharing with you step-by-step photos of my creations, but I'm sorry lovely readers I just didn't have the energy with these ones to post photos along the way (except for the White Trash Monster Mix...that was pretty painless to throw together).  However thankfully I borrowed the recipes from two other amazing mom's and food bloggers who have excellent photos to show you how to get there.

Lemony Funfetti Cake with Vanilla Bean Buttercream

(covered with Smarties that I just could not get to angle properly...I should have just said I let my son decorate it!!!)

 

Lemony Funfetti Cupcakes (same recipe as the cake) with Marshmallow Buttercream

White Trash Monster Mix (shown lower left)

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

3 1/2 cups Cheerios

6 cups Chocolate Chex cereal (or any combination of your favorite Chex flavors)

16 ounces Plain M&M's

2 cups mini marshmallows

2 cups pretzels, broken into bite sized pieces

2 (11 ounce) packages white chocolate chips *(I used 2 white chocolate bars since I only had one bag of chips)

 

Directions

 

 

Find the largest bowl you have. Like a HUGE one. Mix all of the ingredients together, except for the white chocolate.  

 

Divide the mixture onto cookie sheets lined with waxed paper.  

 



Melt the white chocolate in the microwave or in a double broiler until smooth and no lumps remain. Melt slowly and stir often to avoid burning. Divide the white chocolate among the three pans, simply pour over and eye-ball the amount for each. 

 



 I used two spatulas, one in each hand to coat the cereal/candy mixture.

 

Allow to sit at room temperature until the chocolate has solidified again.  Break into pieces and try not to each the entire batch.  This stuff is deadly addictive.  A word of caution however, I stored mine in large zip-lock bags and I found on the second day it was starting to get soft.  Try storing in an air-tight container if you're not eating this right away.  Which is almost next to impossible.

 

I found myself nibbling on this in the mornings...I mean it's cereal, so it's okay. 

 

Recipe Links:

 

Lemony Funfetti Cake (and cupcakes) from Baked Bree

 

Vanilla Bean Buttercream from Glorious Treats

 

Marshmallow Buttercream also from Baked Bree

 

White Trash Monster Mix adapted from Alton Brown 



 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough stuffed Brownie Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

Whew what a mouthful!

With this post I really have nothing new to teach you.  There are no special techniques or instructions needed here.  The only reason I'm sharing this recipe is because these cupcakes are rich and decadent....and most importantly, EASY.  Isn't that reason enough?
 
Although this is supposed to be a 'learning' blog, sometimes I miss relaxing in the kitchen making something simple, stress-free, calorie-loaded, and oh-f-that's-good.
 
The kiddos would also enjoy helping out with this one.  Plus they can eat the cookie dough as it doesn't call for any eggs, whoop-whoop!
 
My only advice here would be to use a high quality chocolate and cocoa for the brownies as well as for the ganache.  We're only working with a few ingredients so whatever brand of chocolate and cocoa you're using will really shine through.
 
With that said, I do have a confession...do you ever go to Ikea and see those milk, dark, and white chocolate bars?  We were at the cash counter last week during Ramadan and there were LOADS of them stacked high-as-hell staring at you like neener-neener you can't touch this 
 
If you're not familiar with the holy month of Ramadan, you are not allowed to eat in public during the daytime.  So here we are stuck in line, lots of mouthy, noisy children about, chocolate in your face, and no chance to eat it. 
 
So I bought 5.    
 
If that was a marketing scheme by Ikea, damn it worked.
 
We arrive back home and I'm contemplating my new stash.  What in the hell am I going to do with Ikea chocolate?  BUT, let me tell you, it's not bad!  If fact I thought it was pretty darn good.  I only bought the dark chocolate but it had a good snap to it when I broke it into pieces (a good sign that it's not full of fat or additives) and melted like a dream!  With the amount of chocolate I go through each month, I will most definitely be purchasing some again soon.  And for 8dhs a pop, I'd say that's a good deal.
 
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough stuffed Brownie Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache
makes approx. 16 cupcakes
printable version
 
Ingredients
 
For the Cookie Dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup (8oz.) butter, melted
1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips
6 tablespoons whole milk

For the Cupcakes:
8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
 
For the Ganache:
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (chocolate chips are ok)
1cup heavy cream
 
Directions:
 
First you'll need to prepare the cookie dough as it needs to harden up in the freezer for a few hours prior to baking the cupcakes.  In the bowl of a stand-up mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, stir together the flour, salt, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Add butter and vanilla. Mix until a dry dough forms.
 

Add chocolate chips and mix on lowest speed.

Once the chips are thoroughly mixed into the dough, add the milk 1 tablespoon at a time with the machine on the lowest speed.

Roll the dough into balls, about 1 tablespoon each.  Continue rolling the dough until you have about 16 pieces.  Place balls onto a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil and freeze for two hours, or until firm.

Our freezer is too narrow to fit a cookie sheet so I had to take the shelf out, line with aluminum foil and place the balls of dough directly on top.

To prepare the brownie batter, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a muffin tin with paper liners. 

thank you Kristin I LOVE these liners, so cute!

Place chocolate and butter into a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water.  Be sure to not let the boiling water touch the bottom of the bowl.  Stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter are melted, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Remove bowl from heat.  Whisk in sugar and salt until mixture is smooth.  Add eggs and whisk to combine.  Gently whisk in flour and cocoa until smooth.  Do not over mix.

 

 

 

 

Using a tablespoon (or cookie scoop) fill lined tins about 2/3 full with the brownie batter.  Take the cookie dough balls from freezer and place one ball in the middle of each cupcake, pushing down slightly, but no need to fully submerge. 

 

Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the brownie portion of the cupcake comes out clean.  Do not test for doneness through the cookie dough.

Transfer muffin tins to a wire rack and let cool before removing the cupcakes from the pan.

To prepare the ganache, transfer chopped chocolate to a heat safe bowl.  Place heavy cream in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer.  Remove from heat and pour cream on top of the chopped chocolate.

Do not stir at this point.  Let the chocolate and cream sit for 10 minutes.  Using a whisk, combine the cream and chocolate until smooth and shiny.

Take the cupcakes and flip up-side-down and swirl in the ganache to achieve an even coating.  Turn right side up and place on a cookie sheet until the ganache hardens, about two hours.  To speed up the process cupcakes can also be transferred to the fridge.

*I find these are much better served cold as the cookie dough can become quite soft if let out too long.

Enjoy!

 Cookie dough recipe courtesy of Sprinkle Bakes

Brownie Cupcake recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart

 
 
 

Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling & Malted Chocolate Ganache

Happy early Easter!  I've got my son's first birthday around the corner so I thought I better hurry up and post an Easter treat for everyone while I still have my head on straight.

Just a heads up, I'll be making him a Cookie Monster Cake, C is for Cookie and don't you forget it.

But before we get into the world of cake decorating, let's talk malted milk balls aka Whoppers.

Oh God I have never been a fan of Whoppers.  Whoppers or Circus Peanuts.  Remember those orange, rubbery, why-the-hell-do-I-waste-my-calories on these horrible little door stops?  Ick.  So why am I making Malted Milk Cupcakes with Malted Milk Ganache?  Because they turned out DAMN good that's why!  And my husband likes these candies, so this is just a little love for him. 

Just a note, if you're here in the middle east or in Europe, you'll know Whoppers by their alter ego, the Malteser.  However I did find Whoppers at the Hershey's store in Dubai Mall.  During Easter time they're colored to look like Robin's Eggs:

Additionally this recipe calls for malted milk power.  If you're in the US you can find malted milk in the coffee isle along side the creamers and hot chocolate (Carnation brand).  Here in Dubai, ooh it was not that easy.  Those closest thing I could find was something called Horlicks:

I tried a bit before hand and it tasted exactly like the inside of a malted milk ball, so I assumed this would work.  Yum it did.

The texture the malted milk provided the cupcake was really quite interesting.  It was spongy yet still dense.  Like a happy marriage of a cookie and cake.  Fill 'em up with salted caramel and you've got yourself an Easter treat fit for any-bunny...hardy-har-har.

Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling & Malted Chocolate Ganache

for a printable version click here

For the cupcakes

Ingredients:
3/4 cup malted milk powder (or Horlicks)
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
Robin Eggs (Whoppers) or Maltesers for garnish

For the Salted Caramel

Click here for the recipe and directions.  You can also leave the caramel out if you prefer, the cupcakes will still be awesome.  But who doesn't like caramel?

For the Malted Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:
4.5 oz. (128 g) chopped chocolate (I used a mix of dark and milk, but it's your preference)
1/2 cup (218 ml) heavy cream
3 tablespoons malted milk powder (or Horlicks)

For the Dyed Coconut
1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened kind is ok)
1 teaspoon water
green food coloring (I used Wilton's Gel food coloring)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line 2 muffin tins with paper liners (I used a mini-muffin tin) and then spray the liners with non-stick spray and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl sift together the malted milk, brown sugar, flour, salt, and baking power.  Whisk to combine.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, melted butter, and vanilla.  It looks like Easter already! 

Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and add the wet ingredients.  Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.

Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.

If you are using a regular muffin tin, use a cookie scoop to portion out the batter into the liners.  Since I used a mini-tin I had to use a melon baller which worked perfect.  I'd say it was about 2 teaspoons per cupcake.  Bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

 

 

Move to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the colored grass,  place the coconut in a zip-lock bag.  Combine water and food coloring in a small bowl, stir till gel is diluted.  The amount of food coloring depends on the intensity of color you want to achieve.  Pour colored water into the bag of coconut and shake till thoroughly coated. 

If you prefer to not fill the cupcakes you can skip this part.

You may have your own way to fill a cupcake, but I found this trick pretty handy.  Take a piping tip and gently cut into the top of cupcake.

Pull out the cut piece.  Don't eat it, I know it's difficult.  Stick the piping tip back inside and dig out some more of the cupcake.  This part you can eat. 

Fill the hole with the salted caramel (I used a piping bag but a zip lock bag with the corner cut off will work fine too).

Stick the top back on.  If some of the caramel oozes out, wipe with a damp paper towel.  As you go along you'll know when to stop filling so this won't happen.  Took me about a dozen tries.  Refrigerate for a few hours so the caramel hardens up.  I found this step pretty necessary so the ganache goes on easy. 

To prepare the ganache, chop up your chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl.

In a small saucepan, whisk heavy cream and malted milk together.  Bring to a gentle boil, whisking to make sure all the malt powder dissolves completely.  Pour hot malted cream over the chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes.

Whisk until smooth.

I found the best way to cover the cupcake with the ganache was to dip it directly into the chocolate.  Swirl around slowly to make sure the top is evenly coated.

At this point you could leave the cupcakes as-is.  They are pretty sexy and elegant looking, but come on it's Easter.  We need fake grass and chocolate. 

Give a sprinkle of coconut to the ganache.  You'll want to do this immediately before the ganache sets.  I dipped the Robin Egg in the ganache (just a touch on the bottom) so it would stick well to the top of the cupcake.

Happy Easter Everyone, God Bless!

Cupcake recipe courtesy of The Purple Spoon

Salted Caramel courtesy of Erin's Food Files

Ganache recipe courtesy of Bakingdom