A Tiramisu Triumph!

I'm excited to share this recipe with you.  Of all the desserts, cupcakes, and sweet treats I've made to date, these cupcakes absolutely received the most rave reviews.  They are both pretty and pretty easy to make!  If you like tiramisu, I cannot  recommend these enough.

To begin, mix up your favorite yellow cake recipe and bake it into cupcakes.

As they are cooling, make a cup of coffee.  Any flavor you like will do just fine.

Next, using a skewer, poke holes into the cupcakes.  Be sure to poke several holes so the coffee absorbs.  You can either use a pastry brush to apply the coffee to the cupcakes or a spoon to pour it on.  I found using a spoon worked better to achieve the sponge-soaked cake effect of tiramisu.  I poured a teaspoon sized spoon of coffee onto each cupcake, one at a time, and repeated the process until the cup of coffee was gone.  

This photo shows the three steps from bottom to top:

1.  Bake cupcakes

2.  Poke holes with skewer

3.  Apply coffee with pastry bush or spoon

While the cupcakes sit soaking up the coffee, prepare the icing (which is soooo delicious!).  One of the distinctive flavors of tiramisu is mascarpone cheese, a smooth and soft buttery cream mixture with a sweet, light flavor.  In the cupcake version it's used in the icing.  You can find it in the cheese section at most grocery stores.

Mascarpone Cheese Icing

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 8 oz. package of mascarpone cheese

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Using an electric mixer, beat heavy cream until it forms stiff peaks.  (To see the progression of stiffness as you beat the cream, click here for photos at one minute intervals).

In a separate bowl, beat together mascarpone cheese and sugar.  Once the mixture if fully creamed together, add the whipped cream in three increments, beating until completely incorporated at each interval.  The final product of icing will look like this:

To ice the cupcakes, I used a piping bag with the end snipped off.

After each cupcake is piled high with fluffy icing, dust the tops with cocoa powder.

Lastly, add some bittersweet chocolate shavings for garnish (if desired).

And there you have it! 

You can see the coffee soaked cake deliciousness after just one bite.  

Tiramisu is my Husband's favorite dessert so I'll be baking him these for Valentine's Day.  I hope you have an opportunity to make and enjoy them, too!

Spring Cupcakes with Two-Color Swirl Icing Tutorial

My last post came about from my need for something 

bright and cheery to offer relief from the constant rainy gloom.  It must have worked because the sun finally came out!  However, it's still freezing outside, so I'm going to try and will the temperatures to rise with another spring inspired treat.  :)

Since experimenting with color swirl icing by painting the icing bag and layering several colors at once to the piping bag, I've been wanting to try a third method I'd read about - using several piping bags filled with different colors fitted into one bag with one tip.  Does that sound a little complex?  It's not.  Check it out:

In two separate piping bags, fill with the colors you've chosen, careful to leave plenty of empty space at the top, as shown above.  Snip the ends  off about an inch high.

In a third empty piping bag, fit with your piping tip.  Make sure you cut the bag high enough  that the entire tip design is outside of the bag.  Don't cut so far above the design tip that it will pop out from the pressure of piping.  You can also use a coupler.

Place the two bags filled with icing on top of each other.  Very gently press them flat, as shown in the photo above.  Make sure the icing reaches the snipped edge of the bag, but don't press so firmly the icing will squeeze out.   Also,  leave empty space in the top of the bag to allow for twisting of the bag once inside the empty bag.

Gently slide the icing filled bags into the empty bag fitted with the  piping tip.  Hold the  empty bag upright when sliding the icing bags in and slowly shake up and down until both icing bags are inside of the tip.  You may need to remove the icing bags and start over if both of them don't reach the tip.  Once the bags are both snuggly sitting inside the tip, twist the top of the bag tightly to prevent icing from coming out of the ends when piping onto your cupcakes or cake.

Once you have placed the icing bags into the piping bag fitted with the tip, test to make sure both colors  pipe out.  Do this by squeezing gently but firmly with consistent pressure.  If only one color pipes out, that means both bags are not inside the piping tip so only one color is able to pipe out.  You will need to repeat the process of placing the icing bags into the empty bag with the piping tip.

And that's all there is to it!  It actually takes longer to read the steps than to do them.  I only had two glitches in my first attempt:  Initially, I did not cut the tips of the bags high enough, so the tip was partially covered and the icing didn't squeeze out evenly since it was blocked.  Also, I didn't flatten the bags at first, which resulted in only one bag reaching the piping tip so only one color came out.  Because it was not coming out of the bottom, the pressure of squeezing the icing from the second bag squeezed out of the top and made a mess!  So, snip about and inch off of the color filled bags, and flatten them.  The rest is a breeze.  I am looking forward to mixing it up with more than two colors at a time.  Of the three methods of multi-colored icing, this is my favorite.  The colors don't change from mixing together and there is plenty of color, not mostly white.  Here are examples of all three for comparison:

Swirl achieved by painting piping bag.

Swirl achieved by layering several colors on top of eachother in one bag.

Swirl achieved by two separate bags of color placed in one bag.

I'm glad I gave each method a try.  I think they can all be used nicely in different situations.  I tend to be a person who likes the last thing I tried best, which could be the reason I'm so fond of #3 at the moment!  Actually, though, I think I like the clean look it offers.  With the pink/white icing in the second photo the color mix worked out nicely.  With several different colors not of the same shade, the mixing can really change the colors, as in this photo:

The original icing colors I used were neon green, neon yellow, neon blue and neon pink.

Whatever way you choose to create icing color swirls they will look great.  Isn't it nice to have options?!  Until next time, here are my photo offerings to spring, sun, and warmth - my baked good version of a rain dance!!

Let's Get Irish - Guinness Extra Stout Brownies!

St. Patrick's Day is coming and I'm excited to do some Irish inspired baking!  I saw this recipe a few months ago and have been wanting to make it.  I'm not a fan of beer at all, but this just sounded and looked too good!  After all, I'm not one to discriminate against any type of Brownie...

So, all you need is some of this:

And some of that:

And you'll be ready to go!

I first saw this recipe here and was immediately intrigued.  I SO loved the champagne flavor in my Bellini Cupcakes and thought there really could be something to a chocolate and beer combination.  After all, there's a cupcake shop in Manhattan that specializes in beer and wine pairings with cupcakes.  It's called Sweet Revenge and it's genius!  My friends and I had a fantastic time eating and drinking, but I didn't indulge in beer, 'cause as I said, I don't like it.  But why not give beer a try with brownies?

Guinness Stout Brownies

recipe by Blondie's Cakes and Things

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes

8 ounces dark bittersweet chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup white chocolate

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 bottles Guinness Extra Stout beer

3/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a 9x13 inch pan with non-stick or regular foil, lightly greased. 

•  Pour both bottles of beer into a medium sauce pan and simmer down until it's reduced to 1 1/4 cups.  Leave beer on the side to cool down.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa and salt until combined.  Put to the side.
• Use a double boiler to melt butter, the chocolate and white chips over very low heat.  If you do not have a double boiler, place a heat-proof bowl over a pot of boiling water.  Place chocolate and butter in bowl and stir until melted, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and put to the side.

In a separate, large mixing bowl beat eggs and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy (approximately 3 minutes).  Add melted chocolate mixture and beat until combined.

• Beat the flour mixture into the melted chocolate mixture.  Whisk in the reduced beer and vanilla.  The batter will seem thin, which is fine.  

• Sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top of the batter.

• Pour batter into prepared 9x13 pan and place in oven on center rack for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean.

• Let brownies cool completely, uncovered.  Sprinkle powdered sugar on brownies if desired.

Voila! Guinness Extra Stout Beer Brownies...chocolatey goodness.  They are not overly sweet, and the texture is very dense, which I love.  I would really like them if I couldn't detect the taste of beer (which, I realize, is the actual point of this recipe!).  Even still, I would recommend them. I baked these as a trial run for the upcoming fundraiser I'm contributing treats to.  My two beer-appreciating taste testers said these are an unqualified success and will be a big hit.  I think they will be, too.  Cheers!

Raspberry Brownie Bites

These are hands-down my favorite "go-to" recipe for instances I need to provide a quick treat for any occasion.  They require minimal preparation and everyone loves them!  Brownie  Bites are extremely versatile.  You can substitute raspberries with mini peanut butter cups, Hershey Kisses, M&Ms, etc. However, I think that the Dark Chocolate/Raspberry combination can't be beat!

To begin you will need a box Dark Chocolate brownie mix.  I have tried these  bites with non-Dark Chocolate mixes, and the taste isn't quite as good.  After preparing the batter as directed, use a cookie scoop to fill the cavities of a greased mini muffin pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes.  Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan.  Place bites on a cooling rack set over waxed paper.

While the brownies continue to cool, prepare the chocolate ganache.

Chocolate Ganache for Brownie Bites

recipe by Betty Crocker

2/3 cup whipping cream

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

In a one quart saucepan heat whipping cream over low heat just to boiling.  Remove from heat; stir in chocolate chips until melted.  Let stand for 15 minutes or until mixture coats a spoon.  Pour 2 teaspoons of mixture over brownie bite.  Top with fresh raspberry if desired.

Really, these are the perfect sized treat and present wonderfully on a dessert table.  I've used them for just about any occasion imaginable and they are always a huge hit!  I'm sure you will love them, too.  :)

I have shared this recipe with: