Maple bacon cupcakes

I used to be a vegetarian. Then every time I saw chicken, my mouth watered. So I started eating organic, grass-fed chicken. So I ate it. Then in a drunken late-night food run, my friends and I went to Burger King. There in the glow of the backlit drive-through menu, the chicken nuggets called out my name. It was all downhill from there. I eat chicken all the time now. I can't help it, it's just so tasty and nutritious.

Then how did I start eating bacon again? I have to say, it was a moral challenge to abandon my previous eating habits, as I've always been very conscious of the origins of my food, especially meat. Coupled with the fact that I want to have a pet pig when I grow up, the transition to bacon was pretty hard for me.

OK, so it wasn't that hard. I was at my friend's house and her mother brought out a plate of bacon with our breakfast. As it sat there on the table, I thought to myself, "So you've done chicken, turkey... you may as well go all the way. Eat the bacon." And with that, I picked up a piece and ate it. And it was fucking phenomenal. Nearly five minutes later I was concocting bacon recipes in my head. I had seen a few recipes out there for bacon cupcakes, but none that seemed to use enough bacon fat. A tablespoon? Come on. How are you supposed to taste that?

So today I achieved culinary excellence. I put that delicious bacon in a cupcake, and not only did it come out well, but I want to say it's the best recipe I've ever made up.

If this doesn't get me a husband, I don't know what will.

For the cupcakes:

12 strips high-quality uncured bacon, and reserve 1/2 cup bacon drippings
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup maple syrup (REAL maple syrup. None of that Aunt Jemima crap)
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

For the frosting:

1/2 cup butter
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup maple syrup (see note above)

Begin by cooking the bacon in a frying pan to desired level of crispiness. Reserve all drippings from cooking, and put to solidify in the fridge. Allow bacon to cool on a plate, then, using cooking scissors, cut 7 of the strips into small bits, about the size of small peas (I cut the strips in half, then snipped them up from there). Cut the remaining 5 strips into quarters (these will go on the top of the cupcakes). Set everything aside.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. In a large bowl, cream the butter, solidified bacon drippings, sugar, and maple syrup. Then add the egg and milk. In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in thirds. Finally, using a spatula, fold in the reserved bacon bits.

Pour the batter into lined cupcake molds. Bake for ~30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

While the cupcakes are baking, make the frosting. Cream the butter, then add the vanilla and maple syrup. Lastly add in the confectioner's sugar. Beat on medium speed until the frosting looks light and airy, about 2 minutes.

Once the cupcakes are cooled, spoon the frosting into a ziplock bag. Cut a 1 centimeter slit in the corner of the bag. Starting in the center of the cupcake, pipe the frosting in a spiral out to the edge of the cupcakes. Top each cupcake with a quarter strip of bacon. Enjoy!

Recipe by me.

Peppermint bark brownies

 

zomgwow. Rebe and I are dying over these brownies. It's definitely the peppermint layer, it's so light and airy and delicious. I cannot recommend these enough. So perfect for the holidays.

Apologies for being on a brownie kick, they're just SO AWESOME.

For the brownie bit:

8 Tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 extra large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

For the peppermint layer:

2 cups confectioners' sugar
8 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
2 Tablespoons whole milk
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the chocolate layer:

4 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 candy canes, crushed

IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with parchment paper leaving overhang for easy removal; lightly spray with non-stick baking spray. In a bowl set over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave, melt the butter and chocolate; set aside. In a medium bowl beat the eggs and sugar with a hand-held mixer until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the flour, extracts, espresso powder, and salt. Add the melted chocolate mixture and stir just until blended. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and sprinkle the top with the chocolate chips. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat together the confectioners' sugar, butter, milk, and extracts until smooth and creamy using a hand-held mixer. Spread the mixture over the cooled brownies and chill in the refrigerator until set, about 1 hour.

One the peppermint layer and brownies are cooled, start with the chocolate layer. In a bowl set over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave, melt the butter and chocolate; cool slightly. Pour the chocolate over the peppermint layer and sprinkle with the crushed candy canes. Chill in the refrigerator until set, about 1 hour. Cut into 20 squares. Serve the brownies chilled or at room temperature. Enjoy!

Recipe from The Galley Gourmet

Pumpkin pillow cookies with brown butter frosting

Meet Dwight Eisenhower. He's our new pet. We call him Ike for short (or Craig, or Randy, depending on who you ask...). He enjoys apples, being scratched, and sitting in people's laps. Deighton and I just adopted him yesterday, and he's been an absolute joy to have so far. I can't wait to have guinea pig adventures with him, dressing him in felt hats, dinosaur costumes, etc! Slightly joking but mostly serious.

And he matches these fantastic pumpkin pillow cookies, which pretty much taste like clouds of pumpkin spice with a slightly nutty brown butter frosting. Which are so delicious that I may have to make a second batch.

For the cookies:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (14 ounces)
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the icing:

4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon evaporated milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside.

Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low. Add pumpkin, evaporated milk, and vanilla; mix until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture; mix until combined.

Transfer 1 1/2 cups batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip (such as Ateco #806). Pipe 1 1/2-inch rounds onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until tops spring back, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely.

While the cookies are baking, put confectioners' sugar in a large bowl; set aside. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling pan occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Immediately add butter to confectioners' sugar, scraping any browned bits from sides and bottom of pan. Add evaporated milk and vanilla; stir until smooth. Spread about 1 teaspoon icing onto each cookie. If icing stiffens, stir in more evaporated milk, a little at a time.

Recipe from Martha Stewart

Beaches, yoga, and cake pops

This week we're up at our family house in Nova Scotia, Canada. Our house is situated on a northward-facing cove on Bell's Island, one of the LaHave islands. It's my favorite place ever. And so far the weather couldn't be better, considering the islands have been getting a lot of bad weather prior to this week. We've been going to the beach every day, and the water is surprisingly warm for up here! The other day Rebe and I journeyed with our grandmother/Noni into town to do errands, and we stopped at a magical place called the Bulk Barn. It's a store full of every single food item you can think of in these bulk containers, making it easy to buy as little or as much of something as you'd like. Down the first aisle I found chocolate of every which sort. The second aisle, piping supplies. The third, cake mix (by this point my head was full of ideas for what I could bake with all this stuff). The last aisle was full of sprinkles in different colors and sizes. I looked to Rebe and said, "Wait, but... I'm in love with bulk barn."

We finally decided on cake pops on account of their general awesomeness. Everyone loves cake (or at least those who matter...). And everyone loves finger-food. Then what better way to enjoy cake than in a bite-sized morsel with sprinkles on top? So we gathered our supplies (lollipop sticks, cake mix, white chocolate wafers, $0.06 worth of pink, blue, yellow, and rainbow sprinkles), and headed for the checkout.

Now back on the island with Friend Simone, swapping music and going out to the wharf to do some sunset yoga.  Lovely, lovely day.

Makes 40-50 cakepops

For the cake bit:

1 box vanilla cake mix, prepared according to directions
1 16 ounce can of vanilla frosting

For the frosting:

1 pound white chocolate wafers

Additional: 

Lollipop sticks

Sprinkles!

After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.

Mix thoroughly with 1 can frosting. (I use the back of a large spoon, but it may be easier to use fingers to mix together. But, be warned, it will get messy. Also, you may not need the entire can of frosting, so start out by using almost the entire can and add more if you need to.)

Roll mixture into quarter size balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. 

Melt 90% of the chocolate in a double boiler on medium heat. Once melted, turn the heat down to low and add the other 10% of the chocolate. Using a whisk, stir until dissolved completely. Turn up the temperature to medium for about 2 minutes. The chocolate should now be tempered and ready to use! If it starts to harden, just turn on the heat for a minute until it re-melts.

Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in a little of the melted chocolate and insert into the cake balls. (Insert a little less than halfway.)

Place them in the freezer for no more than 10 minutes to firm up.

Once firm, carefully insert the cake ball into the chocolate coating by holding the lollipop stick and rotating until covered. Once covered remove and softly tap and rotate until the excess chocolate falls off.

Don’t tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off, too.

Place in a styrofoam block to dry.

Once chocolate is pretty much dry, decorate however you'd like with sprinkles!

Recipe adapted from Bakerella.

hershey's chocolate frosting meets david leibovitz's banana cake

Let's have a party.

Makes one, two-tired 9-inch cake

For the cake:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
6 tablespoons buttermilk, yogurt, or sour cream, room temperature

2 cups banana puree (3 to 4 large bananas)

For the frosting:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup cocoa powder

3 cups confectioner's sugar

1/8 teaspoon instant coffee powder

1/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter the bottom and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper.

Using a fine-mesh sieve, sift the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium-sized bowl. Using a large whisk, whisk to combine.

In a stand mixer with with the paddle attachment on medium speed, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and espresso powder (or coffee powder) and beat to just combine. Add the eggs one-at-a-time, beating well until completely incorporated.

Mix in half of the flour mixture, followed by the sour cream (or buttermilk or yogurt) and banana puree. Reduce speed to stir, stir in the remaining flour mixture, then stir in the pecans (or walnuts) just until combined. Do not over mix.

Divide the batter evenly among the 2 prepared baking pans. Bake until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the centres of the cakes comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

In a large bowl, mix together butter, sugar, cocoa powder, coffee powder, and milk until there are no lumps. Once the cake is cooled, frost and serve! 

Low-fat organic chocolate beet cupcakes

 

I am sitting in my kitchen eating a Katharine Canfield Cookie, waiting for my cupcakes to finish baking. Pure joy? Yuh-huh. Ok, so about the recipe: I was introduced to this recipe by a friend in New York when she made them for a Harvest Party. The idea was to make delicious food using all or mostly all local ingredients. The cupcakes used beets, butter and eggs from the Union Square Market, and the dry ingredients came from Whole Foods' organic section. So not only was it healthy, it was also organic! I remember gawking over their unique flavor- it's a cross between chocolate and zucchini flavors- so I tweaked the recipe and came up with this baby. And best of all, these cupcakes prove it is totally possible to make a delicious dessert while also being both sustainable and nutritious. The cupcakes themselves have virtually no fat aside from the fat from the two eggs and teensy bit a chocolate. This being said, I need a little butter-lovin' in my life, so I opted for a full-fat frosting recipe ;)

For the cupcakes:

3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee powder
1 cup beet puree

For the frosting:

3 cups confectioner's sugar

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon instant coffee powder

1/3 cup whole milk

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a double broiler, heat the chocolate over low heat, stirring until melted. Then, in a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set both aside.

In a large bowl combine the eggs and sugar, beating until the mixture doubles in size, about two minutes. In two batches, beat in the dry ingredients, then the beat puree and melted chocolate.

Using an ice cream scoop, dollop the batter into paper cupcake-cup lined cupcake tins (woah tongue twister) so the batter is spread evenly into 16 molds. Bake for roughly 25 minutes, until knife comes out clean when inserted into the cupcakes. Let cool completely.

While the cupcakes are baking, make the frosting. In a large bowl combine the butter, sugar, cocoa powder, coffee powder, and milk. Mix at first with a spoon as to prevent the dry ingredients from poofing up in your face, then switch to a beater. Beat on medium-high speed for a minute or so, until the frosting is just whipped. 

Frost the cooled cupcakes as you wish. I chose to use a butter knife to spread around my frosting, but if you have a piping mold, that would work wonders here!

Frosting recipe from Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Frosting.

Rainbow cake

With the weather so chilly and all, I’ve been looking for a little warmth and brightness in my life. So imagine my delight when I remembered I had once seen the most happy-making cake ever: a rainbow cake. It is the first Broma recipe I have not wanted to eat due to its sheer beautiful-ness. Yeee! I can’t get over it. It’s so pretty.

For the cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs
1 tablespoons vanilla extract
red, yellow, green, and blue dye

For the frosting:

6 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a smaller bowl, mix butter, milk, eggs, and vanilla extract. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients, and stir only until mixed (There will be lumps, but you’ll stir more later on). Using a 3/4 cup measuring cup, separate the mixture into 7 small bowls. To make each color, use the following table:

Red: 12 drops red
Pink: 2 drops red
Yellow: 5 drops yellow
Green: 3 drops green ,1 drops yellow
Light Blue: 2 drops blue
Dark Blue: 6 drops blue
Purple: 5 drops red, 2 drops blue

Grease 2 8 inch diameter cake pans, the line them with parchment paper. Pour the two colors into the pans, respectively. Place in oven for roughly 10 minutes, until knife comes out clean when inserted into pan. Let cake cool completely before removing from pan. Repeat 3 more times until all mixtures get baked.

In another large bowl, using a mixer, combine butter, sugar, milk, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Set aside.

Once everything is cooled, place purple cake right side up on a cake plate. Lightly frost the top, then add the dark blue layer. Frost, then add the light blue layer. Continue process until all layers are frosted. Finally, frost the outside of the cake with the remaining frosting. At last, cut a slice and see the wonder that is rainbow cake.

Basic vanilla cake recipe adapted from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook