I'm back! My apologies for the November hiatus. Work was busy as ever, and since that pays the bills, sometimes blogging ends up getting pushed aside.

But back to the good stuff -- and by good stuff I mean more chocolate. In particular, this amazing chocolate cake. I've been holding out on you with this one. I actually made it this summer (hence the summer platter you can see in the pictures). I don't know why I haven't posted it. I already have one cake on here that I declared the "best-ever" chocolate cake, so it seems like if I say the same about this one I'm just throwing out that award left and right. 

But really--I don't know what else to say about it. Maybe they can be tied? Given that I posted that old one almost a year ago it's hard to say which is actually better. At the time I made that one, I thought it couldn't be knocked from its top spot. Then I made this one and thought the same thing. I may have to do a bake-off and eat both of them at the same time so I can declare a winner. Such a hard task, but I'd do it.

This cake is rich, chocolaty, moist and delicious. The espresso powder adds an extra level of richness the same way that the coffee does in the other recipe. Coffee or espresso powder are always great additions to chocolate baked goods. Either one brings out the chocolate flavors and gives the recipe a depth that you wouldn't be able to achieve without it. I kept this cake in the refrigerator, and it got better every day. That said, I don't think it made it past the morning of day three, so the timeline is short. 

This is a perfect cake for making for family for the holidays. You could decorate it with red and green accents or top it with fun holiday sprinkles.

Enjoy!

The Best Chocolate Cake

Recipe from Robyn Stone,  Add a Pinch

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon espresso powder
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by spraying with baking spray or buttering and lightly flouring.
2. Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk through to combine or, using your paddle attachment, stir through flour mixture until combined well.
3. Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to flour mixture and mix together on medium speed until well combined. Reduce speed and carefully add boiling water to the cake batter. Beat on high speed for about 1 minute to add air to the batter.
4. Distribute cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, remove from the pan and cool completely.
6. Frost cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.

Chocolate  Buttercream Frosting
Recipe from Robyn Stone, Add a Pinch

Ingredients

• 1½ cups butter (3 sticks), softened
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 5 cups confectioner’s sugar
• ½ cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon espresso powder

Instructions

1. Add cocoa to a large bowl or bowl of stand mixer. Whisk through to remove any lumps.
2. Cream together butter and cocoa powder until well-combined.
3. Add sugar and milk to cocoa mixture by adding 1 cup of sugar followed by about a tablespoon of milk. After each addition has been combined, turn mixer onto a high speed for about a minute. Repeat until all sugar and milk have been added.
4. Add vanilla extract and espresso powder and combine well.
5. If frosting appears too dry, add more milk, a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency. If it appears to wet and does not hold its form, add more confectioner’s sugar, a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency.

Sometimes it shocks me that I've filled three years of blog posts with my thoughts on food. But then I think about it a little more and realize I could fill 10 years of blog posts with my thoughts on food. I was once told in seventh grade that my brain was like an encyclopedia of food. I took that as a compliment. Somehow I think that wouldn't have gone over as well with the majority of seventh grade girls. To me Encyclopedia suggests some great knowledge. I may know more than some people, but mainly I think I just have a lot of opinions on food. Every food. Most ingredients. I've got something for ya.

For example, after a great deal of thought, I've come to the conclusion that icing makes the average cookie 10x better. Think about it: cookie cakes, Oreos, whoopie pies, Oatmeal cream pies, those cookies you get at Mrs. Fields with a 3:1 frosting to cookie ratio... you get the picture. Now, I'm not one to throw icing on just any old cookie. Sometimes I don't want icing. Most of the time I don't need icing. However, I'm fairly certain it almost always makes a cookie better (in moderation, Mrs. Fields).

Case in point, these little cookie cups. This is the kind of dessert you could make and have an entire room unanimously agree on. It's not just the cookie. It's that each bite delivers the perfect combination of cookie and icing. The recipe also makes about 65 cookies (I didn't count, that's entirely an estimate). This massive serving has been going strong since Thursday, and we even had friends over this weekend to help make a dent. I rely on the weekends to rid me of all extra baked goods. Why are these delicious things still in my kitchen?

Frosted Cookie Cups
Recipe from What Megan's Making

Cookie Cups:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter flavored shortening
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp water
2 cups mini chocolate chips

Frosting:
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
2-4 Tbsp milk or cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

For the cookie cups: Preheat oven to 325. Spray 40-48 mini muffin tins with nonstick spray and set aside.

In a medium bowl stir together the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside. In a large bowl, beat together the shortening, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then beat in the water. Add the flour mixture gradually, beating to combine. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spoon the dough into the mini muffin tins until 2/3 full. Bake 6-8 minutes, or until the tops just turn golden brown. Cool in tins for 5 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.

For the frosting: In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla. Beat in the milk or cream, a little at a time, until the frosting is the desired consistency. Spoon frosting on top of cookie cups.

This is one of those desserts I feel guilty just looking at. It's got everything you could ever want in a cookie (minus chocolate), and on top of that you get two for one because it's a whoopie pie! I've had the recipe bookmarked for a month or two now, but I was contemplating whether I wanted to make the filling. Not surprisingly, I opted to add the buttercream. Why I ever thought I'd be able to resist is beyond me.

I found this mini cake stand while browsing through the plates/cookware section of TJ Maxx the other day. It was sitting right next to a shelf of Kate Spade kitchenware (our TJ Maxx is a goldmine). I'm sure it's meant for a six-year-old girl's birthday party or something of the sort, but it was the last nudge I needed to finally make the whoopie pies. I gave myself a little pat on the back for resisting the Kate Spade items, and off I went with my pink polka-dotted stand.

I'll admit that these took me the better part of an afternoon to make. I made them in mini cookie sizes, so it took forever to get through all the dough. The cookies on their own are amazing. If you don't feel like making frosting, just stick with the cookies. No one will complain. That being said, if you're ok with using a total of four sticks of butter and spending a little more time on these, fill 'em up. My brother, who is not really a sweets person, said these were one of the best things I've made yet. My mom, not one to ever have more than one cookie in a sitting, had three over the course of a roadtrip drive (I chose not to mention to her that is basically six cookies).

Point is: funfetti never disappoints and these are amazing. Bring on the sprinkles. And the butter.

Funfetti Whoopie Pies
Recipe from Yammie's Noshery

Cookies:
2 sticks softened butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon imitation butter flavor
1 egg
2 cups cake flour
2/3 all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup colored sprinkles
More sprinkles for rolling (I used the little round kind)

Beat the butter and sugar on high speed for about 5 minutes or until fluffy. Add the vanilla, butter flavor, and egg. Beat until well combined. Sift in the flours, soda, and salt. Mix to combine. Stir in the sprinkles. Chill the dough. If you're in a hurry, throw in in the freezer. I put it in a gallon ziploc bag and pounded it down flat so it would get cold faster. Preheat the oven to 375º. Take a small piece of the dough, dip in the sprinkles and roll into a ball and place on the baking sheet. Repeat until the sheet is filled. Bake about 7 minutes. Keep the remaining dough in the freezer while the other are baking. They will flatten out as the bake and puff up a little when they're done. Sandwich cooled cookies together with filling if desired (recipe below).

Filling:

1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
2 sticks cold butter, chopped into small cubes
2 tablespoons sprinkles (I used the little round ones)

Beat the cream and vanilla until slightly thickened. Beat in the powdered sugar until thick and smooth. Beat in about one fourth of the cold butter cubes at a time on high speed. Beat for about 10 minutes on high speed in your stand mixer until smooth. Don't be afraid if it looks weird at first. Just keep beating! Fold in the sprinkles. Use to fill cooled cookies.

 

Every time I see a recipe I like online I bookmark it and it goes into the long long list of online recipes I want to make. I once tried to put all of these recipes onto a word document and print it out, but it was over 125 pages long (way too much ink for my budget!). There's a problem with this method of doing things, however, and that is that I forget about them once they go into that folder.  But, every once in a while I come across a recipe that I bookmark, but then can't get out of my mind. I'll often go back to these recipes on occasion just to look at the ingredient list and make sure I'm stocked for whenever I want to make it. These cupcakes fall into that category.
I turned 20 Sunday, so I decided to make these to help celebrate my birthday. With all the alcohol in these they seem more appropriate for a 21st birthday, but why wait for that?  There are 3 possible additions of alcohol with these cupcakes: Bailey's in the frosting, Guinness in the cupcakes, and Irish whiskey in the ganache. Whoever created these must've been trying to clear out their liquor cabinet. I added all three, just to see how it tasted, but I liked the addition of Guinness to the cupcakes the best. The other two I could've gone without, though I'd recommend making these with at least the Bailey's for the first time around. The Guinness bakes out of the cupcakes but leaves them really rich and moist. My favorite thing was the chocolate filling in the middle of the cupcakes. I've never filled cupcakes before, but after seeing how easy it was and how amazing the results were, I think I'm hooked. I subbed out the buttercream recipe used on  Smitten Kitchen and instead made a few adjustments to the Magnolia Bakery buttercream recipe since I like that one so much. These are definitely a twist on the basic cupcakes and would be fun for any occasion.

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
Recipe from Smitten Kitchen
1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Ganache Filling
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (optional)

Bailey's Buttercream

Recipe adapted from Magnolia Bakery

2 sticks of butter,  soft

6-8 cups of confectioners sugar

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup Bailey's

2 tsp vanilla extract

Special equipment: 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer and a piping bag (though a plastic bag with the corner snipped off will also work)
Make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.
Make the filling: Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. (If this has not sufficiently melted the chocolate, you can return it to a double-boiler to gently melt what remains. 20 seconds in the microwave, watching carefully, will also work.) Add the butter and whiskey (if you’re using it) and stir until combined.
Fill the cupcakes: Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped (the fridge will speed this along but you must stir it every 10 minutes). Meanwhile, using your 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. You want to go most of the way down the cupcake but not cut through the bottom — aim for 2/3 of the way. A slim spoon or grapefruit knife will help you get the center out. Those are your “tasters”. Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.
For the Buttercream : Cream  butter and 4 cups of sugar.

Add in the vanilla, baileys and milk. Beat 3-5 minutes. 

Add 1 cup of remaining confectioners sugar at a time, till you achieve required consistency and sweetness. 

 (I used a little over 6 cups)

The other day I decided I wanted to make cupcakes and they turned out to be a complete fail. A delicious fail, but I had this perfect image in my mind of what they would turn out like and it was quite the opposite. They all stuck to the pan and so I ended up just throwing them in a bowl and making cake balls (just one more reason to love cake balls, they turn even a botched cake into a good thing). Other than the cake balls, though, one other good thing came out of this cupcake failure, I found the most delicious plain buttercream icing. So ever since then I've been meaning to make more cupcakes so I can put the buttercream to good use. Today, I was procrastinating writing a paper by making chocolate cookies and cupcakes. The cupcakes were good. They were very simple, by no means the best cupcakes I've ever had but the goal was simplicity so I was happy. I might try experimenting in the future by putting cinnamon or cocoa powder in the buttercream or changing up the cupcake type. There are so many different ways you can go with cupcakes, that's why I love them.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Magnolia Buttercream

Makes 24+

Vanilla Cupcakes

Recipe from Martha Stewart

1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.

In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.

Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining batter.

Buttercream

Recipe from Magnolia Bakery

2 sticks of butter,  soft

6-8 cups of confectioners sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

Cream  butter and 4 cups of sugar. 

Add in the vanilla and milk. Beat 3-5 minutes. 

Add 1 cup of remaining confectioners sugar at a time, till you achieve required consistency and sweetness. 

 (I used a little over 6 cups)

For Valentine's Day this year instead of going out to dinner the boyfriend and I decided on a nice homecooked meal. I love dressing up and going to restaurants but with the prices most places charge Valentine's weekend, it's nearly impossible to go on a college student's budget. I also had an exam this morning worth 25% of my grade so a low-key night was in order. We went to Fresh Market and bought two bacon-wrapped filet mignons which he cooked in french onion soup with portabello mushrooms, my favorites.  I'm really pretty awful at cooking meat, something about the risks involved with undercooking always leaves me feeling the need to completely overcook anything I attempt to make. The odd part about this is that I always like things undercooked anyways, anything above medium rare is going to disappoint me so I'm not sure why I worry so much about the cooking process. Anyway, he made the filets wonderfully and they tasted amazing. Filet mignon by itself is great, the soup and mushrooms bumped it up a giant notch. I made homemade mashed potatoes with caramelized onions and garlic, asparagus wrapped in phyllo dough, and french bread brushed with an olive oil and herb blend. 
For dessert I wasn't sure what I would make. He's got lots of favorites but I always like to try new recipes so I picked this chocolate cake with espresso buttercream. Like I've said before, you can tell a lot about a recipe by the way the person cooking describes it. Jamie from My Baking Addiction raved about this cake even saying, "it may seriously be the absolute best cake I have ever made." The cake did turn out really well. Although mine didn't look quite as pretty as hers, it was delicious. I loved the espresso buttercream and the basic ganache was tasty as always. I will definitely be making this cake again, it's not "the best cake I've ever made" but it's pretty darn good and was a perfect Valentine's Day dessert.

Chocolate Cake with Espresso Buttercream
Recipe from My Baking Addiction 
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
6 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup very hot water
4 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter , softened
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
1 teaspoon very hot water
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate , chopped (I used semisweet)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened and diced
1 cup heavy or whipping cream 
1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a 15 1/2″ x 10 1/2″ jelly-roll pan with parchment paper; spray paper with nonstick cooking spray.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt at medium speed until blended. In another bowl, whisk eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Gradually beat egg mixture into flour mixture, about 5 minutes. Shift mixer to low speed; add hot water until blended. Pour batter into pan. Bake until toothpick comes out of the center clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool cake completely.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat egg yolks at medium speed until they become lemon colored and ribbon like when beaters are lifted, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine sugar and 1/4 cup water. Cook over medium-low heat, swirling pan occasionally, until sugar completely dissolves and syrup just comes to a boil. Increase heat to high; boil syrup until it registers 238°F on a candy thermometer. With the mixer on medium speed, immediately add syrup to beaten egg yolks in a thin, steady stream. Beat mixture until it cools to room temperature and is light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Gradually add butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until completely incorporated. In a cup, dissolve espresso powder in hot water; beat into buttercream.
In a large bowl, combine chocolate and butter. In a small saucepan, heat cream and sugar over medium-high flame, stirring occasionally, until small bubbles appear around edge of pan. Pour hot cream over chocolate; stir until chocolate and butter melt and mixture is completely smooth. Cool, stirring occasionally, until thickened but not pasty, about 15 minutes.
Invert cake onto a large wire rack; peel off parchment paper. Invert cake again onto a large cutting board. With a serrated knife, cut cake into equal thirds.
Set a large wire rack over a sheet of waxed paper. Arrange one cake layer on rack; spread half of buttercream evenly over top. Add another cake layer; spread top with remaining buttercream. Place remaining cake layer on top.
Pour ganache over top of cake, spreading with a spatula so it coats the sides. If ganache does not cover sides completely, pour any excess that has collected on the waxed paper back into bowl and spread again. Refrigerate cake until ganache sets, about 1 hour. Use two large spatulas to transfer cake onto a serving plate.

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