Pipe, Decorate, Fill and Sanwich.

Although I had no interest in the Super Bowl Game itself and really needed to be home taking out my hair in preparation for my trip this week, I did attend a party at our friends’ house. (I’m not telling yall where we’re going because I am surprising Greg and some of y’all can’t hold water so you’ll get the kool-aid when he gets it. Lol) Anyway, because I’d prematurely made the whoopie pies, they were murdered before the party so I had to make more. In the last post, I made Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Swiss Meringue Buttercream, but at hubby’s request, I made the second batch with a Peanut Butter Filling. The Swiss Meringue Buttercream yields a flavor that is similar to an ice-cream sandwich while the Peanut Butter Buttercream makes you think of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. I mean, they are BOTH great but the peanut butter….there are no words.

The game was cool, I guess. I seriously kept forgetting which team I was rooting for because they were both wearing blue and it was really confusing for some reason. Other than their 10 month old Lab’s COMPLETE OBSESSION with licking my toes and my almost falling out of my chair trying to reach my phn (curse these short arms) nothing was out of the ordinary. Actually, me falling is pretty standard too…. But we had big laughs and good food. What more do you need at a Super Bowl party? Oh yeah, I guess it would help if your team wins. Lol Sorry Greg. :(  wanted the blue team to win too.   

The recipe below is for making standard pies in the traditional circular dome shape. If you are making footballs, trace 12  2-inch ovals onto each piece of parchment paper with a pencil and flip paper over so you don’t die of lead poisoning, lol. Pipe within that pattern. Otherwise, a small ice-cream scoop will ensure uniformity. I used a squeeze bottle to pipe some leftover white icing I had onto the footballs for the decor. (I have a ketchup and mustard combo pack in red and yellow from the dollar store that worked perfectly) You may choose to add more laces since mine start to look like Chinese letters after a while. lol  

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

from Whoopie Pies

For me, this made 31 halves, so 15.5 whoopies  o_O 
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Ghirardelli)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (Kerry Gold)
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk

Position baking racks in the upper and lower 2/3’s of the oven.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a bowl, sift together, flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
In another bowl, beat butter, shortening and sugar with a mixer on low until just combined. Increase speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes.
Add egg and vanilla and beat for two more minutes.
Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk and beat on low until incorporated. Repeat with remaining flour and milk and beat until combined.
Using a small ice cream scoop (or if making footballs, pipe in an oval shape), drop batter on baking sheet two inches apart. Bake for about 10-12 minutes each or until pies spring back when pressed gently.
Remove from oven and cool for about five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Filling

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (or crunchy if you’re feeling frisky)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature*
3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

*use regular American butter; here is not where you want a rich buttery taste to me. Save it for the baking.

Beat peanut butter and butter on low until creamy using a mixer.
Add sugar and salt and beat on low to incorporate. Increase speed to medium and beat for about four minutes until the filling is light and fluffy.
Spread filling on flat side on one cooled cake. Top it with a second cake and press gently.
Store whoopie pies in an airtight container in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

The first time I made these I was scared to add the filling until I need it on the cakes. I stored the whoopie pie shells in an airtight container and kept the filling in a Ziploc bag until the next day.

As you can see, we had waaaaaay more fun than adults should have playing with our food. lol

Nick Going Long - Rochelle Fakes and Eats it - Hiking the Whoopie

This recipe comes from my two new boos, Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. They are the authors of my baking bible, Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented. Enjoy!

Chocolate Whoopie Pies
Yields 10-12 large whoopie pies, 15-17 small pies

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups (17.5 oz) All Purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup (2.18 oz) dark cocoa powder, sifted
2 tsp instant espresso powder
1/2 cup (4 fl oz) hot coffee
1/2 cup (4 fl oz) hot water
2 cups (15.32 oz) light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup (6 fl oz) canola oil
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (4 fl oz) buttermilk, shaken
Swiss vanilla filling (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line four baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine the AP flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and espresso powder. Pour the hot coffee and hot water over the cocoa mixture and whisk until the mixture is completely smooth.

In another medium bowl, combine the canola oil and light brown sugar. Add this to the cocoa mixture and whisk until combined. Add the egg, vanilla, and buttermilk and whisk until smooth.

Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture.

Spoon into a piping bag and pipe into 2 inch rounds on prepared baking sheets, 1 inch apart (or scoop onto sheets with a small scoop).

Bake 10-15 minutes, until the cookies crack slightly on top and spring back in the center when gently pressed. Let cool completely, then remove from sheet with an offset spatula. Pipe or scoop half of the rounds with the filling. Top each piped round with another cookie and serve.

Swiss vanilla filling
5 egg whites
1 1/2 cups (10.5 oz) sugar
2 cups (1 pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together egg whites and sugar. Place over a pan of simmering water and gently whisk until the sugar dissolves (test this by dipping your finger into the mixture – when you can no longer feel grains of sugar when you rub the mixture between your fingers, then the sugar has dissolved) – the mixture will be slightly warmer than body temperature.

Transfer bowl to mixer and beat with the paddle attachment until the mixture is smooth, white, and fluffy – about 5 minutes. Add the butter, one piece at a time. Add sea salt and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Beat until the filling is smooth and glossy (it may look curdled, but just continue to beat – eventually the mixture will come together).

We spent our Halloweens at the church for “Hallelujah Night” so while I don’t have much first-hand experience, candy apple say Fall and incidentally, Halloween. I’ve made caramel apples as a kid with the premade caramel discs found in the produce section. They never really worked out though. The problem was, caramel never stuck properly and it never produced the smooth polished finish it promised. After making homemade caramel for my Banana Pudding Pie with Salted Caramel, I knew I could do it! I did a little research and found out that supermarket apples have a wax coating that needed to be removed prior to dipping. To do this I dipped them in boiling water for 1 minute. You can actually see the wax that remains once you remove them from the water. Take a paper towel and wipe the rest off.

On to the recipe:

Caramel Apples:

6 small to medium, firm, blemish-free, apples*

4 Tablespoons butter (not margarine + more for parchment paper)

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 can (7 oz) of Sweetened Condensed Milk

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*The favs are Granny Smith (extra tart) and Honeycrisp (sweet and tart)

Materials Needed:

6 skewers

Heavy bottomed pot

Cookie sheet

Parchment paper

Candy Thermometer

Remove stems, allow apples to dry completely and put them in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes and until you are ready to dip them. Chilled apples help the caramel set better.

First melt the butter in a saucepan until it browns. This will give you the nice dark caramel color. Stir constantly to avoid getting little brown bits of butter. Be careful because I had to throw out my first brown butter attempt. L (I hate waste)

Add all other ingredients except vanilla.

Stirring constantly over medium heat, bring to a boil and let boil until thermometer reaches soft ball stage (235°F–240°F).

After it reaches soft ball, remove from heat, add vanilla, then allow to sit for about 5 minutes.

Dip apple in caramel and swirl to cover. Twist apple to remove some of the excess but the excess is fantastic for that thick rimmed bottom that acts as a stand for the apples!

Working quickly, place onto buttered parchment paper.

You can stop here but if you want to dip them in chocolate, pop them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to make sure the caramel is properly set. Recipe adapted from Grandma Betty’s Caramel Apples.

On to the chocolate…

 10oz – 60% cacoa Ghirardelli Chocolate chips

2 Tbsp shortening (vegetable oil)

Crushed candy, sprinkles, nuts, whatever!

 Lay out all of your fixings because you have a small window of time before the chocolate begins to cool and I like to use a 4 cup measuring cup when I melt chocolate because it is deep and I can fully submerge the apples with little effort.  Put the chips in the glass, add the oil and heat on 40% power (depending on your microwave wattage), for about 45 seconds. Stir and keep heating in 30 second increments until melted.

You can fully dip or partially dip and immediately add your preferred toppings.

Allow to harden and enjoy!

I was recently in Miami and the prize for going to early morning service (on top of being closer to God o_O ) was a trip to the Grand Luxe Cafe. lol I have to say that instead of making my little joke  about being rewarded by man or my pancakes in heaven (IDK…I hadn’t worked it out completely which way I wanted to go with it lol) I decided NOT to piss my mom off and be happy that I finally had the opportunity to try their famed Red Velvet pancakes. (Meanwhile, my mom is on the cell phone inviting all of my sisters and cousins who DID NOT attend church with us but not  without a small scolding about eternal damnation. (Trust me, you rather just get up and go with her than hear it, lol) 

Of course the non-churchgoers beat us there but we didn’t hold them up because I’d heard too much about the pancakes and was sticking to it. Once they were served, I noticed they had actual chocolate chips in them and while that wasn’t  my idea of a “traditional” red velvet cake, they were goooood. They serve them with fried chicken but I did it with bacon. Maybe later. 

I took a basic buttermilk pancake recipe and made it velvety. That simple!

Buttermilk Pancakes

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons white sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

3 eggs

1/3 cup butter, melted

oil or butter for pan

Milk (just under one cup)

1 Tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice

Buttermilk Red Velvet Pancakes

Buttermilk Pancake recipe (above)

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Bag of Ghiradelli Bittersweet Chocolate chips 70% cocao (10-12 per pancakes)

2-3 tablespoon red food coloring  (see if that is enough to get the color you want, if not red enough, continue to add)

1 ½  teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting
 

8 oz softened cream cheese (1 package)
2 oz softened butter (1/2 stick)
1/2  teaspoon vanilla extract + more to taste
1 1/3 cups of powdered sugar + more to taste

With a mixer on medium speed, mix cream cheese and butter together. Add vanilla. Mix in sugar gradually.

Directions

In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt).

In a separate bowl, beat together the wet ingredients (buttermilk, milk, eggs, red coloring, vanilla extract and melted butter).

Keep the two mixtures separate until you are ready to cook.

Heat a griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. The pan is ready when you can flick water across the surface and it instantly beads up and sizzles.  Lightly grease it.

Once that is hot, pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, using a wooden spoon or fork to blend. Stir until it’s just blended together. Don’t over stir it. (A little lumpy is ok.)

Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/2 cup for each pancake. Immediately add 10-12 chocolate chips. Wait for the pancakes to bubble (2 – 3 minutes) before flipping and continue to cook for a minute or two. Serve hot with a dollop of cream cheese frosting (recipe follows).

Options:

Top with toasted walnuts or pecans

Top with chocolate chips

Make your own buttermilk (recipe above)

Top with maple syrup

Chocolate Cupcakes with Ganache Filling

You all know I am a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE fan of America’s Test Kitchen/Cook’s Magazine so it should come as no surprise to you that when I found this “free” posting of their recipe for “Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes with Ganache Filling” I HAD to try it. Like the original poster said, they are recipe hoarders and while I do subscribe to one or two publications I am always looking for more.

The cupcakes themselves were the best I’d ever had. They were moist, soft, rich and velvety. The depth of chocolate flavor really exceeded my expectations. A grown up cupcake, if you will. I profess to be a chocolate gurl. But the icing they provided coupled with the cupcake was a little toooooo chocolaty, even for me. I couldn’t handle it. It scared me. lol. (The kids seemed to not care but they aren’t known round these parts for their discriminating palates….except when it comes to veggies. o_O)

So, I sought out for something else to partner with the scrumptious cake and found this much lighter (and much less involved) frosting. (It’s FROSTING for heaven’s sake. It shouldn’t take longer than the cupcakes to prepare if you ask me… but who am I? #shrug) It has a taste similar to a cool whip but you can tell it is more substantial and more akin to icing.

This recipe makes 12 cupcakes and for 12 very happy people.

Ingredients

Ganache Filling:

• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine (I used the Ghiradeli chocolate brick. It’s 60% cacao and premeasured into 1/2 oz. pieces. each square represents a 1oz portion so measuring shouldn’t be a problem…for my slow friends, that is 4 pieces.)
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar

Chocolate Cupcakes:

• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate (6 pieces of the Ghiradeli block ), chopped fine
• 1/3 cup (1 ounce) Dutch-processed cocoa
• ¾ cup hot coffee
• ¾ cup (4 1/8 ounces) bread flour (While I usually use cake flour for baking, if they say use “bread flour” I am using it. I trust them.)
• ¾ cup (5¼ ounces) granulated sugar (regular table sugar)
• ½ teaspoon table salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs (room temperature) 
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:

• 5 Tablespoons Flour
• 1 cup Milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 cup Butter
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar (not Powdered Sugar!)

Preparation

Ganache Filling:

Place-chocolate, cream, and confectioners’ sugar in medium -microwave-safe bowl. Heat
in microwave on high power until mixture is warm to touch, 20 to 30 seconds.
Whisk until smooth; transfer bowl to refrigerator and let stand until just
chilled, no longer than 30 minutes.

Chocolate Cupcakes:

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard-sized muffin pan(cups have ½-cup capacity) with baking-cup liners. Place chocolate and cocoa in medium bowl. Pour hot coffee over mixture and whisk until smooth. Set in refrigerator to cool completely, about 20 minutes. Whisk flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

Whisk oil, eggs, vinegar, and vanilla into cooled chocolate-cocoa mixture until smooth. Add flour mixture and whisk until smooth.

Divide batter evenly among muffin pan cups. Place one slightly rounded teaspoon ganache filling on top of each cupcake. Bake until cupcakes are set and just firm to touch, 17 to 19 minutes. Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack until cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes. Carefully lift each cupcake from muffin pan and set on wire rack. Cool to room temperature before frosting, about 1 hour.

Frosting:

In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. It should look like a thick, wet paste of sorts. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. (You can also place the saucepan over ice in the sink for about 10 minutes or so until the mixture cools.) Once it is completely cooled, stir in the vanilla. 

While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. You don’t want any sugar graininess left. Then add the completely cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and whip it on medium high for about 4 to 5 minutes.  If it looks separated, you haven’t beaten it enough! Beat it until it all combines and resembles whipped cream.

To frost, mound 2 to 3 tablespoons frosting on center of each cupcake. Using small icing spatula or butter knife, spread frosting to edge of cupcake, leaving slight mound in center.

Now eat! Told you they were good!!!!

Super Super Easy!!

I made these bars for my job the other day. I was watching Paula Deen and she made them and I was really amazed at how quickly and easily it was done. Literally, all you have to do is pour the ingredients into the dish and bake. THEY LOVED THEM!! AND ANOTHER PLUS (and perhaps the greatest) IS THAT IT WAS CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP! ENJOY!!!

Combine:
2 sticks of butter, melted (microwave at 50% power for a few minutes)
1 pack of graham crackers, crushed (I did it in a Ziploc bag)
Press into bottom of 9×9 pan (Can use a 13×9 as well but lessen cooking time)

Layer:
1 c. Butterscotch chips
2 c. Semi sweet chocolate chips
1 c. Pecan Halves, roughly chopped (I like varied sizes and jagged pieces)
1 c. Sweetened Coconut Flakes

Drizzle:
1 Can sweetened condensed milk

Bake:
350 degrees for 40 mins.

Serve:
Allow to cool because they will fall apart otherwise. Top with a little more coconut flakes (so people can know it’s in there and to add a little color. : )