Saturday, January 21, 2012

Beautiful Birthday Blitz in the form of a Cupcake

I would first and foremost like to say HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY to my beautiful doll and baby girl CHLOE RAE <3 or as most people hear me call her, my wonderful Chlobo (:

It just so happens that on this friday night, I had no plans. *Shocker* ;)

So of course, I bake.

I also am not able to skype with Chlobo to see her beautiful face because my sister's family doesn't have wifi :(  Very, very, very depressing. And as I'm sure we have all learned on this blog, the way I cope? I bake.

In the last week I have now made two different kinds of cupcakes (I didn't post about the other ones, woops) and also these AMAZING Peanut Butter Cookies with milk duds melted in the middle!

So, I dedicate these luscious cupcakes to my intelligent and quirky little 2  year old baby CHLOBO (:


I got the recipe here.  They are called Vanilla Bean Cupcakes.  Once again, (I think I posted about this before), I ommitted the bean!  They are so expensive, supposedly, and I have never ever come across them in the grocery store! Weird! But anyways, I compensated by adding extra vanilla, which you can read about later on (:

Here are some pictures of the processsssss;;


Delicious pink swirled vanilla cupcake covered in hearts (:


Riley, my friend, was SO pumped for a cupcake, as you can tell.


 Lindsey was pumped too.


Set up, ready for consumption.


Beautiful!


Okay, there was way too much frosting. May or may not have scraped a ton off. And I may or may not have just eaten it after I finished the cupcake anyways.


So anyways, firstly, here is the recipe:


Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients:


For the Cupcakes

2 1/4 cups cake flour (I used Swan’s Down brand) So did I.
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt I didn't use kosher, and I was fine.
1 1/4 cups whole milk, room temperature I went with whole milk, and I have to say that I do believe it makes a difference, in my opinion and with my experience.  I think its worth the investment.
4 large egg whites, room temperature
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
seeds scraped from one vanilla bean Didn't do it.
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract Doubled this.

For the Buttercream

3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
seeds scraped from one vanilla bean Nope.
2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract (this helps maintain the bright white color) I didn't add the vanilla cause I didn't have any clear vanilla and I wanted to keep the pure, innocent white of the frosting.
1 ½ pounds (24 ounces) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream or milk I used some of the whole milk I bought for the cupcakes.  I also think this is especially important in frosting, but if you don't have it, no stress.

Directions:


For the Cupcakes

1. Center a rack in the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk and egg whites.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla bean seeds at medium speed for 3 minutes, or until the butter and sugar are very light. Add in the vanilla extract and one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until well incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter fully incorporated and smooth, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
5. Once ingredients are thoroughly incorporated, give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Using a large scoop (about 3 tablespoons), distribute the batter between 18 muffin wells, filling each well 2/3 full.
6. Bake for 18-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centers come out clean. Cool on wire rack.

For the Buttercream

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and seeds from vanilla bean until fluffy. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in confectioners’ sugar, and continue beating until well blended.
2. Add in vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk. Blend on low speed until moistened.
3. Add an additional 1 to 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.


Some notes:

First confession: I halvsied the recipe!  We have had TOO many goodies in our house lately, so I decided we need to cut down.  Starting with baking less than normal, haha.

I am, honestly, not a huge VANILLA cupcake fan.  I normally stick to chocolate.  But I was really please with these ones! 

First thing I did different with this recipe, is I funfetti-atized them!  I added sprinkles into the batter, thought it would add a little spunk, ya know, a little hoo-hah.

Also, I personally love to put a ton of frosting on, I just think it looks better.  But because I did this, there were two unfrosted, lonely cupcakes.  But hey, that kinda makes them muffins right? And its totally acceptable to have muffins for breakfast right? #intelligent



I love you                                                                                                     this much.

Tamtam <3

Monday, January 16, 2012

Here in Your presence God I find my rest

I know this isn't about cupcakes, but its been on my heart lately.  So skip over if you so please, or take part in my random ramblings. (:

Lately, I've just been really thinking of and dwelling with the idea of peace.  The kind of peace that I can receive from God.  The peace that comes with the simple release of all control.  I guess I can't really say its "simple".  I am the biggest control freak probably ever.  I need everything to go according to plan and the way I want it to.  Do you know how much stress that can bring?!  Seeing as it normally doesn't work out for me, no duh.  Anyways, to metaphorically grab onto anything in sight that is causing me the slightest bit of worries or stress and empty it into God's hands has brought me peace so unfamiliar.  I feel like I've dealt with a lot of stress and worry all throughout my life, with what I've been through and all.  So to finally find peace within my life has been simply amazing.  Lying in bed at night with tons of thoughts running through my mind, I can tell myself to simply grab onto anything I'm thinking of and take it out of my mind.  Don't worry about it cause I have a sovereign God who will take care of it, take care of me, and protect me no matter what.

I was reading a devotional today that asked why we would want to run through scenarios over and over again experiencing a stressful situation before it even happens.  We are multiplying our stress unnecessarily  For what reason?  God has it taken care of either way.  Why practice what to say when we have the Holy Spirit with us at all times?  Why worry what will happen when either way, God's will will be done!  I want to live a life that is worry-free.  I am human, I know that, but I want to be constantly reminded that God has me.  He is holding me. And won't ever let go.

Where I Belong by Cory Asbury


Your presence is all I’m longing for here in the secret place
Your nearness is all I’m waiting for here in the quiet place,
Here in the secret place

My soul waits for you alone

Like the watchmen wait for dawn
Here I’ve finally found the place
Where we’ll meet, Lord, face to face

I’ve finally found where I belong,

I’ve finally found where I belong,
In Your presence
I’ve finally found where I belong,
To be with You, to be with You

I am my Beloved’s and He is mine,

So come into Your garden and take delight in me
Take delight in me


Here in Your presence God I find my rest

Here in Your presence God

Thursday, January 5, 2012

PB and Choco-leet, So Sweet

I strike again.  Have been so busy lately, I haven't had much time for baking.  But tis time I pull it together, and bake.  I have to admit, maybe I like to bake for fun, but it has to be one of the most stress-relieving things ever.  If I want to avoid any situation or avoid thinking about something (or someone), I bake!

So essentially, these cupcakes are filled with guilt, annoyance, frustration, and stress.  No wonder I didn't really like them.

Okay so about the cupcakes:  I made Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcakes.  The official site/recipe can be found here.

I LOVED the Peanut Butter frosting. It was phenominal.  And I also liked the cupcake batter, until it was baked.  The cupcakes probably should have been baked at a lower temperature because the outside was just a little too crispy for my taste while the inside was soft.  It also didn't have as popping of a flavor.  It was a mixture of peanut butter and chocolate, but they were so combined its like you couldn't pinpoint the chocolate or the peanut butter.  I digress... 

The frosting was deliciously peanut buttery and I could've been content eating just that for the rest of my life.  Or bathing in it.  But we all know that's not really socially acceptable.  Or hygienically...

Okay, so now introducing...
(:

Okay so dont lie.. it looks like there is a pile of poop on top of those suckers.

Well good news: its not poop!  It's actually the delicious peanut butter frosting!
(Don't judge a book by its cover, fool).

It looks like a pile of poop because I have all my cupcake frosting utensils back down in California and so I wasn't able to adequately and/or beautifully frost them :/ I know, FML.

So honestly, I didn't take many pictures this time, cause I'm home alone most of my days and I don't have yvette here to have her pose with them. Lol. Boo.

So here are a few more pictures...


seriously, the batter was SO tasty...


 artistic.. haha


Alrighty, well thats my life and my love.

Here's the recipe from the site!


Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake Recipe
Yield: 18 Cupcakes
 

Cupcake Ingredients:
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup peanut oil
  • 3/4 cup milk (I used 2%, but if you have another kind on hand, go ahead and use it) I used skim. Maybe that was a factor in them being too dry/terrible?
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
Cupcake Directions:
  1. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and cocoa powder.
  2. In another medium-sized bowl, mix sugar, peanut butter, and eggs until well combined.
  3. Mix oil, milk, and vanilla into the wet ingredients.
  4. Slowly add the flour mixture until fully incorporated. Slow is for hoes.
  5. Fold in chocolate chips. I forgot the chips.
  6. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
  7. Bake at 350 F for thirty minutes or until cupcakes bounce back when lightly touched.  I honestly think this could've been what screwed the cupcakes over!  Hmmm...
Frosting Ingredients:
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups smooth peanut butter
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons milk (I used 2%, but if you have another kind on hand, go ahead and use it)
Frosting Directions
  1. In a large mixing bowl, mix butter and peanut butter until fully combined.
  2. Mix in powdered sugar a little bit at a time until fully incorporated.
  3. Add milk a little bit at a time and keep mixing until the frosting becomes light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).
  4. Pipe a swirl of frosting onto each cupcake using a large round tip. I used a plastic baggie, which is fine, it just looked too much like poo for my taste.


Well, I hope this inspires you to never make these cupcakes. Ever. But the frosting was a winner.  I will most likely try the frosting recipe sometime with one of my favorite chocolate cupcake recipes.  That could be monumental, amazing, and fantastic.


Short and sweet.

I love you, TamTam.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Nutella and Sweet Dreamzzz

I might have accidentally wrote "Sweat Dreamzzz" first, I'm sorry and I corrected myself.

To begin, this is might first time blogging of my experiences baking, but I have been thinking about doing it for a long time!

I have to admit that I normally bake when I'm stressed out and avoiding doing homework, which is what inspired the cupcakes that were magically created today/tonight. But I figured since I do it so much and am such a critic of my baking, that I might as well document my experiences, for purposes of sharing with others and so I can always look back and reflect... (:

The cupcake of the day/night was a Vanilla Bean Cupcake with Nutella Buttercream Frosting.  These cupcakes actually inspired me to finally create by blog.  Within one bite, I created my blog.

You may ask why I crossed out Bean? Well let me tell you, there was no bean to be found in Target.  Sad day.


I found this recipe through Pinterest (DA BESTTT) which was pinned from a blog found here.

As I had a test earlier tonight, I baked these cupcakes a couple hours before the test (hence the bad grade to most likely follow, I'll keep you updated).  Because I had work though, I decided to let the cupcakes completely cool and have a little rest before I dressed them all up with the Nutella Buttercream!  Now you may think the Nutella Buttercream was the best part, because I mean, IT IS NUTELLA we're talking about. But actually, the Vanilla cupcake itself was PHENOMENAL.  Like crazy good.  Perfect moisture, perfect taste, just an all around great cupcake.  Maybe because the last time I made vanilla cupcakes, I overbaked them though.  This made up for it, BIG TIME YAH.


 Introducing...
 !!!!

This my roommate anxiously waiting for the arrival of the cupcakes..
I shouldn't bother inroducing her though because she's leaving me this spring for South Africa. Rude right?!?!

"Why are you taking so many pictures of your cupcakes!! I want a photoshoot!!!" YS


Laughing because smiling wasn't good enough, THAT good...


This is obviously what people do when they just bit into the best cupcake of their lives...


 Einstein spotted our mischief...


And then he wanted it.. I knew it.
 


With this blog I plan to post a little bit about my life/day, then some pix, then the recipe and a little bit of how I went about achieving the delicious result.

So here is the recipe I followed to a tee.




Vanilla Bean Buttermilk Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream
Makes: About 28 cupcakes * I halfsied the recipe because I could never let my household contain more than about a dozen cupcakes.

Vanilla Bean Buttermilk Cupcakes
4 Eggs
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Bean Paste (or 2 teaspoons of Pure Vanilla Extract) *Minus the bean :( I think it really would've added a nice effect!
1 ¼ cups Buttermilk *MOISTTTT
3 cups Cake Flour *This was my first time using cake flour, it might have been the best decision of my life! I think it really helped the cupcakes!  Well that and maybe the buttermilk too!
2 cups Sugar
3 ½ teaspoons Baking Powder
½ teaspoon Salt
1 cup (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, at Room Temperature

Nutella Buttercream
1 ½ cups (3 Sticks) Unsalted Butter (Softened)
3 cups Confectioners Sugar
1/8 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
1 cup Nutella

To make the vanilla bean buttermilk cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2-3 cupcake pans with baking cups.  This recipe makes a little bit more than 24 cupcakes, so you might need to have a third cupcake pan ready.

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla bean extract, and buttermilk.  Set aside until needed.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Add the butter and beat until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.  Add the egg mixture in 3 additions, beating well in-between in each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. 

Divide the batter among the prepared baking cups, ONLY FILLING UP THE CUPS HALF WAY.  This is important!  The first time I baked these I filled them 2/3 of the way (like usual) and they over-rose and baked over the edges. 

Place the cupcakes in the middle rack of the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into a few cupcakes comes out clean, about 25 minutes.  Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes.  Remove the cupcakes and place on a cooling rack to cool completely. 

While the cupcakes are cooling, make the nutella buttercream.  Cream the butter in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, about 5 minutes.  Add the confectioners sugar and salt and mix, gradually increasing in speed, until the sugar is fully incorporated.  Add the vanilla and whisk until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes – you may need to stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple times. 

When the buttercream is fluffy, add the nutella.  Whisk for another 5-8 minutes until the nutella is fully incorporated and the buttercream is light and fluffy again.

Frost the cupcakes as desired.  I placed the frosting in a piping bag fitted with a large closed star tip, and piped small circles on the top surface of each cupcake (starting from the middle of the cupcake working outwards).
 
I decided to do a few mini cupcakes and some normal sized ones.  I did this because I never do this and decided it would be a good time to try it! I can't wait to have a little craving for a little chocolate and just pop one of the little suckers into my mouth! lol..



Well I hope you enjoyed slash didn't fall asleep reading this.  That is if you even did read this.. Well since I have now consumed so much Nutella and it is past midnight, I shall give in to my yawns and sleep well with a comfy stomach full of chocolately hazelnut vanilla-y goodness!
 
I love you.
TamTam