S'more Cupcakes

This is a sweet, soft, and moist chocolatey treat filled with a gooey marshmallow creme filling and chocolate chips, and topped with a smooth and creamy chocolate glaze. The recipe has been taken from 125 Best Cupcake Recipes by Julie Hasson.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. You will need a muffin pan lined with paper liners.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  

Filling:

• 1 cup marshmallow creme

Chocolate Glaze:

• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (about 3 oz of chocolate)
• 1/3 cup whipping cream

1. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla until smooth.

3. Alternately beat in flour mixture and buttermilk, making three additions of flour mixture and two of buttermilk, beating until smooth.

4. Stir in chocolate chips.

5. Scoop batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 22 to 27 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched.

6. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on rack. When cupcakes are completely cool, remove paper liners and slice cupcakes in half horizontally.

7. For the filling, working with one cupcake at a time, spread a layer of marshmallow creme on cut side of bottom half. (Be careful...marshmallow creme is VERY gooey and sticky.) Replace the top half of cupcake, sandwiching the two halves together. Repeat with remaining cupcakes and marshmallow creme.

8. For the chocolate glaze, in a microwave-safe bowl, combine chopped chocolate and whipping cream. Microwave uncovered, on High for 20-30 seconds or until cream is hot and chocolate is soft and almost melted. Stir until smooth. Let stand for 5 minutes to cool slightly. (I prefer to melt the chocolate in a double boiler on the stove.)

9. Spread tops of cupcakes with chocolate glaze. Place cupcakes on a platter or baking sheet and refrigerate until glaze is firm.

Note from author, Julie Hasson: Although these cupcakes are best served the day that they're made, you can store them for 1 day, as long as they're covered and refrigerated.

Pina Colada Cupcakes

This recipe produces soft, moist, and flavorful cupcakes with a combination of both coconut and pineapple. The recipe is from 125 Best Cupcake Recipes, and the author, Julie Hasson, provided a tip to "use unsweetened canned crushed pineapple that is packed in juice."

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. This recipe also makes 12 cupcakes, so in order to prepare, you will need one muffin pan and line it with paper cupcake liners.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup loosely packed sweetened flaked coconut
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• A pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, undrained

Note: For the frosting, I will provide a couple of recipes below. For these cupcakes, I used a Vanilla Cream Frosting. Also, because the frostings are perishable (they contain ingredients such as butter, whipping cream, and cream cheese, the frosings have to be stored in the refrigerator. If you've frosted the cupcakes, any leftover cupcakes should also be stored in the refrigerator. If you want to eat the frosted cupcakes later, I suggest letting them stand at room temperature or warming them up in the microwave after taking them out of the fridge to soften the frosting before eating them.

1. In a small bowl, mix together flour, coconut, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

2. In a bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, and egg until smooth.

3. Alternately whisk in flour mixture and buttermilk, making three additions of flour mixture and two of buttermilk, beating until smooth. Stir in pineapple.

4. Scoop batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched.

5. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on a cooling rack. Top cooled cupcakes with frosting.

Vanilla Cream Frosting

Note: Makes 1 1/2 cups, enough to frost 12-18 cupcakes. It is easy to make, it assembles quickly, and it is light and creamy. It is best made just before you're ready to use it. You can also tint the frosting whatever color you like using food coloring. (I used a yellow food coloring for these cupcakes.)

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups confectioner's (icing) sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
A pinch of salt
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. In a small bowl, using an electric mixer (I find it easier to use a hand mixer) on low speed, beat together sugar, butter, and salt until creamy. Increase speed to high and beat unil light and fluffy. Add cream, vanilla, and food coloring if using. Beat until frosting is smooth.

2. Spread icing on cooled cupcakes with a knife or transfer to a pastry bag and pipe decoratively over cupcakes. (For cupcakes, I prefer to use a star shaped tip.)

Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
A pinch of salt
2 1/4 cups confectioner's (icing) sugar, sifted

1. In a bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat together cream cheese, butter, and salt until creamy. With mixer on low speed, beat in icing sugar, 1/2 cup at a time so that the sugar doesn't fly all over the place. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy.
2. Spread frosting over cooled cupcakes, and refrigerate until ready to serve or for up to 1 day.

Cappuccino Cheesecake

I love coffee...and I love cheesecake. So one day I decided that I needed to combine the two and create a delectable cheesecake. My family LOVES this cheesecake - whenever I ask them what kind of cheesecake I should make, it's the first flavor that pops into their mind. I adapted the basic cheesecake recipe from Dorie Greenspan's book Baking: from my home to yours. You can use the graham crust or even a chocolate crust using chocolate grahams or Oreo sandwich cookies. (See my Oreo Cheesecake recipe for how to make the Oreo crust.) This recipe produces a creamy and rich cheesecake that will leave people asking for seconds and thirds. I like to serve it with a drizzle of caramel syrup/sauce, a dollop of whipped cream, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. You can even serve it with chocolate sauce, especially if you've made it with a chocolate crust. It's totally up to you!

Ingredients:

Crust-

• 1 ¾ cups of graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tbsp sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  

Cheesecake-

• 4 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 4-5 large eggs
• 1 1/3 cups sour cream or heavy, or a combination of both3 tbsp flour (optional)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
• About 2 tbsp instant coffee (you can add more according to taste)
  
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
  

1. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. To make the crust, stir graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour melted butter into the dry ingredients and mix until all of the crumbs are moist. (Do the same if using Oreo cookies or vanilla wafers.)

2. Turn the ingredients into springform pan and pat an even layer of crumbs over the bottom and about halfway up the sides.

3. Put the pan in the freezer while preheating the oven at 350 degrees F. After preheating the oven, place the springform pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a cooling rack while making the cheesecake.

4. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. To make the cheesecake, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until soft and creamy, about 4 minutes.

5. With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt and continue to beat for another 4 minutes or so, until the mixture is light. Beat in the vanilla.

6. Dissolve coffee granules and cinnamon in warm water. Cool; gradually add to cream cheese mixture, mixing until well blended

7. Add the egg one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition.

8. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the sour cream and/or heavy cream.

9. Turn off mixer, and stir in chocolate chips if using.

10. Put the foil-wrapped springform pan in a roasting pan that is large enough to hold the springform pan with some space around it.

11. Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula, just to make sure there is nothing left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape the batter into the springform pan.

12. Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into it so the water comes halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

13. Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, at which point the top should be browned (and perhaps cracked) and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. Turn off the oven and prop the door open. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another 1 hour.

14. After 1 hour, carefully pull the whole setup out of the oven, lift the springform pan out of the roaster pan – be careful, there may be some hot water in the aluminum foil- and remove the foil.

15. Let the cheesecake come to room temperature. When it is cool, refrigerate for at least 4 hours (overnight is better) before serving.

Note: The bottom two pictures are the same slice drizzled with caramel syrup and topped with whipped cream and a sprinkle of powdered cinnamon. It is delicious!

For a Chocolate Graham Crust, substitute the graham cracker crumbs with chocolate graham crumbs. Or, for an Oreo Crust, use 30 crushed Oreo Cookies and 4 tbsp (1/2 stick) of butter:

Chocolate Souffle

Soufflés are elegant desserts, perfect to make for a dinner party. However, they can be a bit tricky...particularly because of the way you have to prepare the egg whites for the batter. The eggs have to be at room temperature before they are used, and the egg whites have to be beaten until they form into stiff, upright, and glossy peaks. The reason being, the soufflé will expand to its maximum in the oven.
Soufflés are also most often baked in individual or large white porcelain ramekins. But they can be baked in almost any straight-sided, relatively deep ceramic vessel. If you do use another dish other than what is specified in the recipe, make sure that it has the same volume. (Taken from Williams-Sonoma: The Essentials of Baking)


Ingredients:

• Unsalted butter and sugar for preparing dish
• 8 oz (250 g) bittersweet or semisweet (plain) chocolate, chopped
• 6 large eggs, separated
• 1/8 tsp salt
• ½ tsp cream of tartar
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Whipped cream, crème anglaise, vanilla ice cream (optional)
  

Note: The recipes for whipped cream and crème anglaise below.

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven, and preheat to 375 degrees F for a large soufflé or 400 degrees F for individual soufflés. Butter a 1 ½-qt (1.5-l) soufflé dish, or six 1-cup ramekins and dust the bottom and sides with sugar.

Note: I used 1 large soufflé dish instead of the individual ramekins.

2. Place the chocolate in the top of a double boiler placed over (not touching) barely simmering water. Heat, stirring often, until the chocolate melts. Remove from over the water and set aside to cool slightly.

3. By mixer, in a large bowl, using a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment or a hand mixer, beat the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Slowly add ¼ cup sugar and beat until stiff, glossy peaks form.

4. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks until thick and pale in color. Whisk in the remaining ½ cup of the sugar and the vanilla. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the melted chocolate.

5. Fold one-fourth of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Then gently fold in the remaining whites just until no white streaks remain. Spoon into the prepared dish(es).

6. Bake the soufflé until set, puffed, and the center still jiggles when the dish is gently shaken, 25-30 minutes for the large soufflé, or 8-10 minutes for the individual soufflés. Sprinkle some icing sugar over the top (through a sieve). Serve immediately with whipped cream, crème anglaise, or ice cream, if desired.

Whipped Cream Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup heavy (double) cream
• 2 tbsp icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
  

In a large bowl, combine the cream, icing sugar, and vanilla. Using a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment or a hand mixer, beat on medium-high speed until medium peaks form. Makes about 2 cups.

Crème Anglaise Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 ½ cups half-and-half (half cream) or whole milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
  

1. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until blended and thick.

2. In the top of a double boiler over (not touching) simmering water, heat the half-and-half until it is steaming. Pour the hot half-and-half into the egg mixture while whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the top of the double boiler over (not touching) simmering water. Cook, stirring, until the mixture thickly coats the back of the spoon, about 3 minutes.

3. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Let cool, then stir in the vanilla. Serve at room temperature or chill before using. Makes about 1 ½ cups.

Black and White Marbled Cheesecake

YAY! I'm finally back...I finished another semester and got back to baking the next day because I missed it so much.
This post is dedicated to one of the best cheesecake recipes ever! When I made this cheesecake...the texture was so creamy and smooth...and the cheesecake DID NOT crack a SINGLE BIT when it was done baking in the oven. I urge all of you to try it!

In case you're wondering, I got this recipe from the book Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. I have only tried this one recipe so far...but it seems like a great book. So if you're an avid baker...go ahead and add this book to your collection as I did, or get it as a present for someone who is!

Ingredients:

(For the crust)

• 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tbsp sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 (or 4 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
  

(For the cheesecake)

• 2 lbs (4 8-oz boxes) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups sour cream or heavy cream, or a combination of the two (I used a combination of both)
• 4 oz bittersweet chocolate
  

1. To make the crust, butter a 9-inch springform pan- choose one that has sides that are 2 3/4 inches high (if the sides are lower, you will have cheesecake batter left over)- and wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil.

2. Stir the graham cracker crumbs (I crushed the graham crackers in a food processor), sugar,and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. (I did it with my fingers so I can get a feel for the moistness and texture.)

3. Turn the ingredients into the springform pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of graham cracker crumbs over the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. (Don't worry if the sides are not perfectly even or if the crumbs reach slightly above or below the midway point on the sides.)

4. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven (about 10-15 minutes). (The crust can be covered and frozen for up to 2 months.)

5. Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place the springform pan on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degreesF.

6. To make the cheesecake, put a kettle of water on to boil. Working with a stand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until soft and creamy, about 4 minutes.

7. With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt and continue beating for another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Then, beat in the vanilla.

8. Add the eggs one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition- you want a well-aerated batter.

9. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the sour cream and/or heavy cream.

10. Put the foil-wrapped springform pan in a roasting pan that is large enough to hold the springform pan with some space around it.

11. Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula, just to make sure that there is nothing left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape two-thirds of the batter into the springform pan.

12. Melt the 4 oz of bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler (or you can melt in a saucepan placed over a pot of simmering water).

13. After the chocolate is melted and cooled, add it to the remaining one-third of the batter still in the mixing bowl. Mix it all up with a rubber spatula until the chocolate is fully incoporated and the mixture takes on a brown color.

14. Pour the chocolate batter into the top of the vanilla batter, then use a tableknife to swirl the chocolate batter through the vanilla batter to create a marbled effect. (Altogether, the batter will reach the rim of the pan. If you have a pan with lower sides and have leftover batter, you can bake the batter in a buttered ramekin or small souffle mold.)

15. Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into it to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

16. Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, at which point the top should be browned (and perhaps cracked...but mine didn't) and may have risen just a little bit above the rim of the pan.

17. Turn off the oven and prop the oven door open. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.

18. After 1 hour, carefully pull the setup out of the oven, lift the springform pan out of the roaster pan (be careful, there may be some hot water in the aluminum foil) and remove the foil.

19. Let the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack. When the cake is cool, cover the top lightly and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (although letting it refrigerate overnight is better).

20. At serving time, remove the sides of the springform pan (and if you wish, set the cake on a serving platter).

21. The cheesecake will taste great served with a drizzle of chocolate sauce and I personally also add a serving of whipped cream...yummmm.
(The recipe for the chocolate sauce can be found below.)

Note: If you don't want to make the black and white cheesecake, the recipe for "The Basic Cheesecake" is the same as the one above, except you take out steps 12 and 13, and for step 11, instead of putting only two-thirds of the vanilla batter in the springform pan, you put ALL of the mixture into the sprinform pan. Very simple

Some tips on making cheesecake from Dorie Greenspan:

1. Use a springform pan with removable sides!!!
2. Prebake the crust.
3. Mix like mad!!! (Make sure to blend the batter until it is not just lump-free but satiny- any lumps in the batter will NOT disappear during baking. This is to ensure the "flawlessly smooth texture that is the hallmark of a great cheesecake."
4. Cool the cake.
5. Unmold it with care.

Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce Recipe

Note: This is a "deeply flavorful sauce"...it has a strong (and slightly bitter, hence "bittersweet") taste and it is rich in texture, so pour only a little bit on top of each individual cheesecake slice when serving.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 6 tbsp sugar
  

1. Put all of the ingredients in a saucepan, and put the saucepan over medium-low heat and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring ocassionally to blend.

2. Lower the heat and let the sauce simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until it is thick enough to coat a metal spoon: if you run your finger down the back of the spoon, the sauce should not run into the track you've created.

3. If you want to use the sauce in its pourable state, let it cool for about 10 minutes and then use immediately.

4. If you want to save it for later, pack it into an airtight container and refrigerate until needed.

5. The sauce can be stored by being kept in the refrigerator in an air-tight container for up to 3 weeks. If you want to use the sauce warm, heat it gently in a microwave oven or in a bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water. (In its chilled state, this sauce can be spread over cookies.)