Week 28: Peanut Butter Surprises

One of Brett Jr's favorite foods is peanut butter.  He eats it with just about everything.  And he loves it even better when it's combined with chocolate.  So when I saw this recipe for peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate frosting, I knew I had to make them.

Brett's review: "Mmm...I'd like to eat these again someday."

My review: "Holy smokes, these are yummy!"

So you start with a super simple peanut butter cupcake dough (a yellow cake mix with peanut butter added to the list of usual ingredients).  Before popping it in the oven, you drop a Hershey's kiss on top of each cupcake like so:

After they've cooled, you top with a chocolate buttercream, and then chopped peanut butter cups:

The Hershey's kiss drops to the bottom of the cupcake and makes a lovely little chocolate surprise:

Lessons learned and recipe thoughts:

1. Super simple cupcake recipe.

2. A great one to make with kids (they can place the Hershey's kiss on top of each cupcake, and help decorate the tops with chopped peanut butter cups).

3. Did I mention this recipe is super simple and delicious?

Peanut Butter Surprises (from Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor)

Makes 22-24 cupcakes

24 Hershey's Kisses
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
1 1/3 cups water
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
8 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (.75 ounce each)

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set the pans aside. Unwrap 24 Hershey's Kisses and set them aside.

2. Place the cake mix, water, peanut but­ter, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until blended, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes longer, scraping down the sides again if necessary. The batter should be well blended. Spoon or scoop 1/4 cup batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it two-thirds of the way full. (You will get between 22 and 24 cupcakes; remove the empty liners, if any.) Gently place 1 Kiss on top of each cupcake. Do not press the Kiss into the batter. Place the pans in the oven. Meanwhile, place the Peanut Butter Cups in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

3. Bake the cupcakes until they are golden and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 18 to 20 min­utes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edges of the cupcake liners, lift the cup­cakes up from the bottoms of the cups using the end of the knife, and pick them out of the cups carefully with your finger­tips. Place them on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before frosting.

4. Meanwhile, prepare the Chocolate Buttercream. Remove the Peanut Butter Cups from the freezer and coarsely chop them.

5. Place a heaping tablespoon of frosting on each cupcake and swirl to spread it out with a short metal spatula or metal spoon, taking care to cover the tops. Garnish with chopped Peanut Butter Cups. The cupcakes are ready to serve.

Store these cupcakes in a cake saver or under a glass dome at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Or freeze them wrapped in aluminum foil or in a cake saver for up to 6 months. Thaw the cupcakes overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

Chocolate Buttercream

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter; at room temperature
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups confectioners' sugar; sifted
3 to 5 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place the butter and cocoa powder in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until the mixture is soft and well combined, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and add the confectioners sugar, 3 tablespoons of the milk, and the vanilla. Blend with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 1 minute more. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons more milk if the frost­ing is too stiff.

Week 27: Stout Cupcakes

I had a cold back in week 26, and Chuck suggested that my coworkers might appreciate it if I didn't bake that weekend.  He's a smart man.  On to week 27 and a recipe that I've been wanting to try for a while now - Martha Stewart's stout cupcakes.  Chuck's a fan of Guinness, so I thought this was a cupcake he'd enjoy.

True story: I hate beer.  And I'm not a huge molasses fan.  So I was a little worried about baking a cupcake for which both beer & molasses play key roles.  Now I know I shouldn't have worried...I love these cupcakes!

They're not especially pretty...but they sure taste good.

One step Martha recommends is placing a cookie sheet below the wire rack before spooning glaze over the cupcakes.  This is what happens if you fail to do that:

Lessons learned and recipe thoughts:

1. I've never tried Guinness, but Chuck says he never would have guessed it was in this cupcake if I hadn't told him.  So if you're hesitating to make these because of the whole Guinness thing...don't be.

2. This cupcake was the perfect texture - moist & delicate.

3. A relatively easy recipe to make.

4. Next time, I'll place cookie sheets under the wire rack.


Stout Cupcakes (from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes)


•3 3/4 cups flour
•1/2 t plus 1/8 t baking soda
•1 3/4 t baking powder
•1 1/4 t salt
•1 T cinnamon
•1 1/4 t freshly grated nutmeg
•1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
•1 1/4 cups unsulfered molasses
•1/2 cup plus 1 T light brown sugar
•2 whole eggs plus 1 egg yolk
•1 T plus 1 t orange zest
•1 1/4 cups (10 oz) Guinness, poured and settled

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350°. Line standard muffin tin with paper liners.

2.Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

3.With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat oil, molasses, brown sugar, whole eggs, yolk, zest, and stout until combined. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture, beating just until combined.

4.Pour batter, filling each 3/4 full. Bake, rotating tins half way through, for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Place onto wire racks to cool completely before adding glaze.

Glaze

•2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
•1/4 cup Guinness, poured and settled

Whisk together until combined.  Use immediately (spoon over cooled cupcakes and let set).

Week 25: Eggnog cake with spiced cream cheese frosting

I made this cake for the Falzone Christmas Eve gathering, and this moist, delicious cake was a huge hit there.  I have been craving it ever since.  Despite receiving several new baking cookbooks for Christmas, each of which is filled with new treats I could bake, I decided to make another triple-layer eggnog cake.  This time, I doubled up on the bourbon that I brushed on each layer.

This is a very easy cake & between the egg nog, bourbon, and nutmeg, it is full of holiday goodness.

Lessons learned and recipe thoughts:

1. The original recipe calls for apricot preserves as the filling, but that didn't sound good to me (though I might try it next year).  Instead, I made extra frosting & filled the layers with that.  But I didn't make quite enough extra.  Next time, I'll fully double the frosting recipe.

2. This is a really easy cake.  Seriously, you drop everything in a mixing bowl & mix it.  If you're intimidated by layer cakes, you can just as easily make this in a 9x13 pan.  Just increase the baking time to 35-45 minutes.

Recipe (from the Cake Mix Doctor Returns):

INGREDIENTS:

•1 package (18.25) yellow or vanilla cake mix, plain or with pudding
•1 1/4 cups eggnog
•1/4 cup vegetable oil
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (1 tsp if freshly ground)
•4 large eggs
•3 tablespoons bourbon (optional), for brushing the tops of the cake layers

Apricot filling:
•1 jar (10 ounces) apricot all-fruit spread
•1 tablespoon bourbon or water

Spiced cream cheese frosting:
•4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature
•4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
•3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
•Heaping 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (1/2 tsp if freshly ground)
•1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

PREPARATION: Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly mist three 9-inch round cake pans with vegetable oil spray, then dust them with flour. Shake out the excess flour; set pans aside.

Place the cake mix, eggnog, oil, vanilla, nutmeg and the eggs in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients are incorporated, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat for two minutes longer, scraping down the side of the bowl again, if needed. The batter should look well blended. Divide the cake batter evenly among the three prepared cake pans, about 11/2 cups of batter per pan, smoothing the tops with the rubber spatula. Place the pans in the oven. If your oven is not large enough to hold three pans on the center rack, place two pans on that rack and one in the center of the rack above.

Bake the cake layers until they are golden brown and the tops spring back when lightly pressed with a finger, 18 to 20 minutes. The cake layer on the higher rack may bake faster, so it for doneness first. Transfer to wire racks and let cool for 5 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edge of each cake layer and give the pans a good shake to loosen the cakes. Invert each layer onto a wire rack, then invert it again onto another rack so that the cakes are right side up. If desired, brush the cakes with the 3 tablespoons of bourbon, using 1 tablespoon for each; set aside to cool, 15 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, make the filling: Place the fruit spread and 1 tablespoon of bourbon or water in a small bowl and stir until well combined.

Make the spiced cream frosting: Place the butter and cream cheese in a medium-size bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until well combined, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the confectioners’ sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon and beat with the mixer on low speed until the ingredients are well incorporated and the frosting has a spreading consistency, 1 to 2 minutes.

To assemble cake, transfer one layer, right side up, to a cake plate. Spread half of the filling to the edge of the first layer, about 1/2 heaping cup. Place a second cake layer, right side up, on top of the first and spread the remaining filling over it. Place the third layer on top, right side up, and frost the top and side of cake, working with smooth, clean strokes. To make slicing easier, place the uncovered cake in the refrigerator until the frosting sets, 20 minutes.

Store in a cake saver or loosely covered with waxed paper in the refrigerator for up to one week. Freeze the cake, wrapped in aluminum foil, for up to six months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

Make 12-16 servings.

Weeks 23-24: Ekhardt Christmastime Again baking extravaganza

Brett Jr. usually spends Christmas day in Minneapolis with his stepmom's family.  Several years back, Chuck & I started a tradition of spending Christmas day baking cookies.  It's quickly become one of my favorite Christmas traditions.  Chuck & I both come from families for which massive amounts of Christmas cookie baking was an annual event.  Chuck's family made dozens & dozens of cookies that they shared with extended family members.  When I was a kid, my family had an open house every year on December 23 & invited the entire church over.  We usually had 150+ people come through our house for food & treats.  For a couple days beforehand, we baked non-stop.  Each year on Christmas, Chuck & I bake some of my favorites from the open house days. 

This year on Christmas day, Chuck & I made peanut blossoms, 7-layer bars, and lemon bars  (all three of which we had at every open house).  We also made Oreo bon bons (a new recipe that my friend Jon sent me) and cornflake clusters (a recipe we found in Chuck's mom's recipe box).

Our total for Christmas day: 19.25 dozen cookies.  Here's 14.25 dozen of them:

And here are some of the Oreo bon bons (you'll notice that I found good use for all those Christmas sprinkles I've been hoarding):

The day after Christmas, Chuck & I donned our aprons and made 21.5 dozen more cookies.  We pulled out another Falzone recipe - Italian pineapple cookies (yum!), made buckeyes for the first time (YUM), and made Chuck's mom's chocolate chip cookies (for half of them, we added in some peppermint bark).  Here's the chocolate chip & pineapple cookies - look, more sprinkles!

Here are the buckeyes pre-chocolate:

And here they are post-chocolate:

We took half these treats to the office for our co-workers, and packed up the other half for the Ekhardt Christmastime Again gathering.  Every year, we drive to Iowa to spend the week between Christmas & New Year's at my brother & sister-in-law's house.  And my parents fly in from California for the week as well.  Brett Jr. named this holiday "Christmastime Again" after the lesser-known Peanuts holiday special.

While in Iowa, my sister-in-law, Tracie, and I made cookie dough cupcakes with frowny faces.  She added a brilliant touch - one surprised/worried cupcake:

We also made sugar cookies, which we slathered buttercream frosting on & then handed them over to the kids to cover in sprinkles.  I was too busy applying frosting to take pictures, but good times and good cookies were had by all!

Weeks 20-22: Falzone Christmas baking extravaganza!

My sister-in-law, Tracy, told me that I'm falling behind in my blog.  I thought, "huh, it hasn't been that long since I posted, has it?"  Turns out she's right - it's been 5 weeks. Sheesh.  It's not that I haven't baked anything during the past 5 weeks...it's that I've been so busy baking that I didn't have time to stop & write about it.  Yes, that's it.  It's certainly not that I've been too lazy to write about it.

Here's a recap of the Falzone Christmas baking extravaganza that filled weeks 20-22:

Week 20: I took the weekend off baking because Chuck & Brett Jr. made a great yellow cake with chocolate frosting for my birthday.  Thanks, guys!

Week 21, part 1: Chuck's dad & Aunt Marie came into town to help us make traditional Italian Christmas cookies.  Aunt Marie has perfected these recipes over the years, resulting in delicious cookies.  Here's Aunt Marie, Chuck & Brett rolling the chocolate spice cookies (one of Aunt Marie's secrets for these - rub a little olive oil on your hands to prevent the dough from sticking):

Next up were fig cookies.  They're pretty labor intensive, but they are seriously good.  Here's a shot of Aunt Marie carefully placing the filling on dough she's just rolled:

I took over rolling and filling for a while, and Aunt Marie giggled and made fun of how big my cookies were.  She said it reminded her of the days when she'd bake these with her mom - the longer they spent rolling and filling cookies, the larger her mom's cookies would get (because her mom was getting tired of rolling).  Aunt Marie would then yell at her mom, "You're making them too big!"  Aunt Marie's cookie philosophy is that you should make them small so that people can eat several.  My philosophy is that you should make them large and still eat several.

In the end, we had 17 dozen cookies.  Whew! 

Week 21, part 2: Chuck & I made Giugiulena, an Italian sesame cookie. He's made these many, many times with his dad & Aunt Marie, but it was my first time.  Far less labor intensive than the fig cookies, for these you just dip them in egg & roll them in sesame seeds.  We made quite the mess while preparing these...perhaps it had something to do with those bottles of wine & the wine glasses in the background of this pic:

As was the case with the chocolate spice, these cookies spread more than when Aunt Marie makes them.  She smiled & told me they were 'Mericanu cookies (which, as you might guess, is a slur for American).  Still, they turned out delicious:

Week 21, part 3: my sister-in-law, Julie, asked us to bring a dessert to Christmas Eve dinner.  I have been wanting to try this recipe I found for a triple-layer eggnog cake, and this seemed to be the perfect opportunity.  It was a huge hit:

Many of the cookies in this post made their way to assorted Falzone families, some headed into the office for our co-workers to enjoy, and a few dozen made their way out to Iowa for the Ekhardt family gathering we refer to as "Christmastime Again" (more on that soon...).