Chocolate Molten Cupcakes-SC #3

This recipe is from the section in the bake book commonly known as the Chocolate Box, my favorite place in the world.

I made this as I was watching Miss America because, let's face it, those girls do not enjoy baked goods.  Clearly I do, and so, as I watched them parade around in bikinis and high heels, I treated myself to these chocolate cupcakes with a warm molten center; it was much more gratifying.

Don't they just look delightful?

Trust me, they were.

A couple notes about the recipe:

• Put more batter in the bottom before placing the chocolate to keep it from sinking and burning the bottom.
• Dove works very well with the flavor of the cake.
• They will be done in exactly 20 minutes ( at least with my oven) so watch them carefully

 










Warm Molten-Centered Chocolate Cupcakes
makes 6

4 Tbsp butter, softened, or soft margarine
1/4 cup superfine sugar
1 large egg
2/3 cup self-rising flour
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
2 oz semisweet chocolate ( I used a Dove chocolate instead )
confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line a muffin pan with 6 liners.

Place butter, sugar, egg, flour, and cocoa in a large bowl and beat until just smooth.  DO NOT OVER BEAT.  Spoon half of the batter into the paper liners.  Using a spoon, make an indentation in the center of each cake.  Place a piece of chocolate in the center, and then spoon the remaining batter on top.

Bake for 20 minutes or until we risen.  Let the cupcakes stand in the pan for 2-3 minutes before serving warm, dusted with sifted confectioners' sugar.

Recipe courtsey of Parragon Books Ltd.

Oatmeal Cupcakes-SC #2

I know what you're probably thinking.

Eww, oatmeal in a cupcake?

Believe me, that's what I thought too, until I actually made them and tasted them.

This cupcake could be considered a muffin in some cultures, however the cake-like texture proves it to be a cupcake in my book.  Also, the oat topping is surprisingly sweet as well as a healthy alternative to icing.  I really enjoyed this recipe and so did my parents who ate them up!

This recipe is also from the Scrumptious Cupcakes book I mentioned in this post, and I have taken it upon myself to bake my way through this book.  It shouldn't take too long, as it is only 95 pages.

Two notes about this recipe:

• The recipe states that it yields 8, however my cupcake tins might have been filled too high because I only got 6 cupcakes out of it.

• Make sure you set out the butter early enough to soften because otherwise it becomes very difficult to beat and cream the sugar into it, and then when you add the egg, its becomes a mess and separates.  

Chewy Oatmeal Cupcakes
makes 8

3 Tbsp soft margarine
3Tbsp raw brown sugar
1 Tbsp dark corn syrup
2/3 cup rolled oats
4 Tbsp butter, softened
1/4 cup superfine sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
generous 1/3 cup self-rising flour

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line a 12-hole muffin pan with 8 (or 6) paper liners.

Place the margarine, raw brown sugar, and corn syrup in a small saucepan and heat gently until the margarine has melted.  Stir in the oats and set aside.

Put the butter and superfine sugar in a bowl and beat together until light and fluffy.  Gradually beat in the egg.  Sift in the flour and fold gently into the mixture.  Spoon the oatmeal mixture over the top.

Bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe courtesy of Parragon Books Ltd.

Banana Toffee Cupcakes and Grey's Anatomy-SC #1

Every Thursday night, my good friend Michelle and I get together and watch Grey's Anatomy together.  We are both pretty busy but its really nice to set aside this time every week to hang out and watch a show that we both are addicted to.

This past Christmas, we also exchanged presents, and she got me a bakebook!!!! I would call it a cookbook, but its all desserts and dishes that you bake so that term would not be accurate.
It's called Scrumptious Cupcakes; For the perfect indulgence.

So last night, in honor of our weekly time together, I decided to break it in and give us something sweet to munch on during the show.

It's been very snowy recently in southwestern Michigan, so I was very restricted on what recipes I could actually pull off.  I came across this recipe for Banana Toffee Cupcakes.  It looked simple enough, although it yielded just four cakes, which I suppose is perfect for Michelle and I.  I tweaked the topping a tad bit because I didn't have any heavy whipping cream or toffee sauce, but I did have Cool Whip and crushed Heath Bars.  The cakes turned out very moist because of the banana, however the picture in the book showed the cake a lot darker than mine, but both were cooked throughly.  These cakes are the perfect thing to enjoy by themselves, with the whipped cream and toffee bits, or with a bit of yogurt for a healthy morning breakfast.  Enjoy!


Banana Toffee Cupcakes
makes 4

Cupcakes
5 tbsp butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup self-rising flour
1 small ripe banana, peeled and mashed

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Grease four glass, oven-proof ramekins with butter.

Place the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat together until light and fluffy.  Gradually beat in the eggs. Sift the flour in a separate bowl, and fold in to the mixture.  Add the mashed banana.  (It will look like this isn't enough batter for the ramekins, but the rises considerably) Spoon the mixture evenly into the bowls.

Put the dishes on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until well risen and springy to the touch.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.



Topping
2/3 cup heavy cream
    (or one 8 oz pkg of Cool Whip)
1/2 banana peeled and sliced (optional)
2 Tbsp dulce de leche sauce
    (or Heath Bars)
1 Tbsp grated chocolate
    (or 6 oz chocolate)

For the topping, whisk the cream in a bowl until soft peaks form. (Use stand mixer) Spoon the whipped cream on top of each cupcake, then arrange 3-4 banana slices on top.  Drizzle over the dulce de leche and sprinkle grated chocolate.  Store the cupcakes in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

I sprinkled the crushed Heath Bars on top of the cupcakes right after they came out of the oven, that way, the chocolate pieces melted and the caramel bits softened creating a sweet, slightly crunchy topping.  Then I put a dollop of Cool Whip on top and sprinkled a couple more toffee bits on top.  then, just for fun, I drizzled some melted chocolate on top.

This is the picture that was in the book,

and this is mine.

Not too shabby.

Recipe courtesy of Parragon Books Ltd.

Happy New Year!

I have a good feeling about 2012.  It is so bright a shiny, like a penny, or a new candy thermometer i got for Christmas.  I couldn't wait to try it out! First, I used it to make this hot cocoa.

Looks good right? That's because its from the famous Max Brenner's Chocolates in New York.

Over the holidays, my family and I trekked through the snow-less highways all the way to the East coast.  We stopped in Pennsylvania for a night to visit Grandma and Grandpa, and then headed to Baltimore to celebrate Christmas with my newest baby cousin!  After the presents had been opened and our tummys full of crab cakes and delicious almond raspberry cake, we started our journey again, this time to the big apple. 

So anyway, once we finally got to the city, we didn't know where to start!! As much as I would like to go on and on about all of our adventures, I don't want to bore you, but the will be in future posts.  The second day we were there, we walked down the block from our hotel on 5th avenue to Bryant Park.

Isn't it lovely?  I loved this tree that they had set up near the temporary shops.  And they had an ice rink!  I really wanted to skate, but there was a humongous line and the wait was over 2 hours.  Not exactly worth it to stand in the cold just so you can skate in the cold.  So we opted to explore the little shops.  Lo and behold, we stumbled across one of the Max Brenner's Chocolate shops.

If you haven't heard of Max Brenner, you must live under a rock.  His chocolate is amazing!! He has an actual permanent store on Broadway, but this store was just enough for our family.  It was tiny inside, but the smell was heavenly!  I spotted this adorable Hug Mug and yummy European Hot coco and I thought to myself, why not? We are in New York!  And so I bought it.  And my parents bought us a box of chocolates to sample as well as one of the giant chocolate chip cookies showcased in the window.  They also had a very interesting way for you to taste the pure decadence of the chocolate; by placing it inside a syringe.  Weird, right? But surprisingly good!! It was warm and made it simple to add the yummy chocolate to the giant cookie we got, and it was no mess to eat!

The hot cocoa was fabulous as well!

The top picture is my brother, (he wouldn't share his syringe) and the bottom picture is of my dad who loves hot cocoa!  We had a really great time in New York and the food there was amazing!  Happy New Year everyone!