My German Husbands Favorite

For a while my husband has stated the fact that I have been baking all these delouse treats for others, making him eating little to none of his wife's sweets. I promised him that this week I would make his favorite German chocolate cupcakes. I thought it would be a nice gesture, especially because our anniversary next week. Adding to this reason, a fellow teacher had a birthday and i found out that she likes German chocolate too. I made enough for her, my husband, and for our church picnic. I don't care for coconut, but the kind people who devoured the cupcakes seemed to have enjoyed them. 

Kirsten

German Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients 

Cake:
1 4-ounce package of sweet German baking chocolate chopped
1 1/2 cups of milk
3/4 cups of butter
3 eggs
2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
3/4 teaspoon of baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 3/4 cups of sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla 

Frosting:
1 egg
2/3 cup or 5-ounce of evaporated milk
2/3 sugar
1/4 cup of butter


Directions

Cake: 

1. In a double boiler, combine chocolate and milk. Cook and stir over low heat until melted; set aside to cool. 
2. Have butter and eggs reach room temperature (about 30 minutes). Meanwhile place cupcake liners in your cupcake tin. In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside. 
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl beat butter for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar 1/4 cup at a time until well combined (about 3 minutes). Scrape sides and continue for 2 more minutes. 
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in vanilla. 
5. Alternately add flour mixture and chocolate mixture to the butter mixture, beating on a low speed. Spoon cake mix into the cupcake pan. 
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Cool thoroughly on racks. 

Frosting:

1.  In a medium sauce pan slightly beat the egg. Stir in the evaporated milk, the sugar, and the butter. 
2. Cook and stir over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. 
3. Remove from heat; stir in coconut flakes and chopped pecans. Cover and cool before frosting cupcakes. 

Adopted and adjusted this recipe from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book 14th Edition copy right in 2006. 

Kirsten

Time Crunch

Stressed out with the regular routine of your everyday life, and then to top it off you must bake cupcakes this week. This out of the ordinary situation could be looked at from the glass half-full instead of half-empty.  

This week I have been really tired. I was not up to par with my posting last week, and this week I am cat and house sitting for a friend. Needless to say, I have things on my plate that I am definitely not used to. 

My tip of today is if you know that you need to bake cupcakes, bake the cake a couple nights before and then make the frosting and frost them the night before. Doing this two step process may take more planning and time; however, for me it took a weight load off. Tuesdays are always the most difficult. I bake Tuesday nights, and post my tips. I was still able to enjoy my Tuesday evening without the worry on if the cupcakes and frosting will be done in time before I go to bed. 

If you apply this tip, tell me your thoughts in the comments. 

Kirsten

Something About Cheesecake Needing Water

Dear Blogosphere, 

Sorry I know I dropped the ball this week with giving you the Tuesday Tips and Wednesday Recipes. Something about working on Christmas presents in August. Yes, I'm "that" crazy person. 

This tip comes from the wife of one of my work friends. 

You may have recalled in an earlier post how I have a horrible time baking cheesecake. The first time making it, the cheesecake didn't bake through. The second time, I put it in a water bath and I was so nervous about it not baking through that it was burned on the top.

I made the No-Bake Cheesecake with my students this week and a fellow teacher told me that his wife was having difficulty with baking cheesecake until she figured out the following tip:

Instead of putting the pan in a bath, place a cookie sheet of water on the bottom rack and have the cake on the top rake. This helps regulate the temperature through the baking process. Also, do not open the oven (when baking anything! Period.) because you will let the heat out. 

I personally can't wait to try this Tuesday (really Thursday) Tip for myself.

Kirsten

Rhubarb Macaroons

So, I posted on my Facebook page what my next creation should be, because I was out of ideas. Correction, I had too many ideas on what to do next. The first comment was from a lovely lady who said to make macaroons. 

I watched episodes on American Baker and Master Chief that had their contestants make macaroons. I thought that if chefs and bakers are tested in this culinary creation, I should try it out. 

Now I have only tasted macaroons once, and they were made by my amazing cousin for a wedding present. She had stayed in France as a foreign exchange student, and she made them with her host family. I remember her saying to wait till our wedding night to open them and eat. Macaroons are a very special gift. 

How did I do? Well, Gordon Ramsy said on Master Chief that every gram counts. The recipe I had was in grams, and I don't own a scale (maybe i should invest in one soon), so I used a converter on the internet at make approximations on how many cups to use. The converted recipe is on Wednesday's Recipes. 

Ramsy might be right. They came out very tasty, but they were not as puffy as I have seen them. 

However, for my first time making them, I must say I think I did a good job. (First time making homemade jam too).

My advice for this week, don't have the fear of never making something hold you back. When you fail, you learn more then if you succeed. 

Kirsten

Mandarin & Rhubarb Macarons

Ingredients 

• 1/3 plus 1/8 cup of egg whites (was about 3 medium eggs  for me. Make sure the eggs are fresh and at room temperature). 
• 3/4 plus 1/16 cup of powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup of Almond meal
• 2 teaspoons of lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon of egg white powder (optional)
• 1 Rhubarb Jam Recipe (I handmade mine from the recipe I adopted this recipe from)

Directions 

1. Line the baking sheets with baking paper. Place powdered sugar in a food processor and pulse for a minute to remove any lumps. Stir in almond meal and pulse a few times to combine (I used a sifter). Place in a large mixing bowl with lemon zest.
2. Beat egg whites and egg white powder in a medium mixing bowl until the egg white powder dissolves and reaches soft peaks. With the mixer on high speed, gradually add sugar and beat until it reaches stiff peaks.
3. Add meringue to your dry mixture and mix, quickly at first to break down the bubbles in the egg white, then fold carefully. The mixture will become stringy again. Try not to over mix, the mixture should flow. 
4. Pipe circles about 3 cm in diameter. Have it set for an hour. During this wait, preheat oven to 300 degrees F, and bake for 13 to 15 minutes. 
5. Take them out, and have them completely cool. 
6. Take them off of the baking paper and spoon in about a teaspoon of jam. (Will change depending on how wide you made them).

The recipe I had was in grams, and I don't have a scale. I roughly converted all the ingredients. Here is the lovely website that I got this recipe from: http://www.raspberricupcakes.com/2010/06/mandarin-rhubarb-macarons.html

Stay Sweet,

Kirsten

What an Egg Does

Chemistry Lesson for you all. This is something that I learned in high school.

Have you ever craved cookies, but you look in your fridge and you don't have an egg. Never fear, soap is here.

http://www.tiphero.com/tips_4355_uses-for-empty-dish-soap-bottles.html

I know it sound weird, "why would I put soap in my cookies?"

In the baking process, an egg combines water and oil to allow the cookie to hold together. Dish soap does the same thing. When you wash your dishes the soap combines the oil on your pans and the water to wash them. 

Now don't go putting a bottle of soap in your batter, but if you put a small drop of dish soap (one for every egg needed) and dilute it with water, which you will need to do, it will work. We consume small amounts of soap off our dishes every day. This is to assure you that you won't get sick from eating the soap. 

http://urbanherbalist.blog.hu/2013/07/24/tikkaszto_toredezo_szaraz_hajparak

Hope you enjoy learning about what an egg does.

Stay Sweet,

Kirsten 

No-Bake Cheesecake

Cheesecakes are so hard to bake. I know that it helps if you put the cake pan in water while you bake it, but the first time I baked one it came out SUPER undone in the middle. The other times I've made cheesecake I baked it for as long as possible, meaning until it the knife was clean. This lead to burn bubbles on the top that I scraped off. When I came across No-Bake Cheesecake, words could not describe how happy I was. Not only did I not have to bake the cheesecake, I didn't have to bake in 80ish degree weather. Needless to say, the cheesecake came out tangy, and great! Look under Wednesday Recipes for the Recipe.

Stay Sweet,
Kirsten

No-Bake Cheesecake Recipe

Ingredients

Crust:
• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
Filling
• 12 oz cream cheese, softened.
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Sauce
• 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (I used Raspberries)
• 1/2 cup water
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 3 tablespoons corn starch dissolved in 1/4 cup water.
• 1 tablespoons lemon zest

Directions

For the Cheesecake:
1. Combine graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and melted butter together in a medium sized bowl and mix. Press into the bottom and sides of a 6 or 7 inch spring form pan. Chill until ready to use.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and lemon juice until smooth and creamy.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.
4. Transfer the filling into the prepared crust, using an off-set spatula to gently smooth the top.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for several hours or overnight.
For the sauce:
6. In a small saucepan combine the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, and water. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring gently until boiling.
7. Add the cornstarch/water mixture and without breaking the berries- carefully stir it in. Cook for 2-3 minutes over low heat, stirring until sauce is thick. Fold in lemon zest.
8. Sauce will last in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. 

I can't take credit for making this up, so here is the lovely blog I adopted this recipe from:

http://www.the-baker-chick.com/2013/06/10/no-bake-cheesecake-with-quick-blueberry-sauce/

Stay Sweet,

Kirsten

Frosting

My Husband fell asleep on my lap, meaning that it is quite a talent typing with out waking him. I'll make this short and sweet. Frosting always contains some sort of fat (milk, butter, lard) and powdered sugar. Want to make the frosting thicker? Add more powdered sugar. Want to make into a glaze? Heat up the frosting, and don't use as much powdered sugar. I personally hate buttercream frosting. I usually use whipped or cream cheese frosting. Problem is, I have issues with the consistency. But never fear, hopefully if you have the same issues as me, this Tuesday tip will help clear up some unknowns. 

Stay Sweet,
Kirsten

Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting

This week I made these awesome cupcakes.

These Fudge Salted Caramel cupcakes were made for one of my really close friends. She had a dream about eating chocolate cupcakes with salted caramel frosting. She texted me the next morning saying that she woke up disappointed that it wasn't true. Well Ms. Chickaddie (aka Heather), dreams do come true.

(Check out my friends crafting blog @ http://chickaddiesnest.blogspot.com)

 

In other news, my other really good friend, Courtney, is working on my logo. It's looking amazing! I can't wait until she finishes it. This means that the blog will get a new look soon, so expected great changes.

Stay Sweet,

Kirsten