High Altitude Chocolate Cupcakes

I have made many tasty cupcakes since moving to Denver but they all seem to rise to fast and then dome. So I took a risk and made a high altitude cupcake recipe....what a disaster. They turned out beautiful, for a dry chocolate biscuit! They even won first prize for prettiest cupcake. Embarrassing way to say ga-rosss! So I had to put something completely different from anything, and to my luck ta-da yummy and pretty cute lil' fellas. Sorry I forgot a pic.

• 1 1/4 cups cake flour
• 1/2 cup Dutch processed unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 4 T milk
• 4 T sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup boiling water

Ganache Frosting:

• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 3 T half and half
• 1 T butter

Directions

Set rack in the middle of oven and preheat to 360 degrees F. Line a 24 slot muffin pan with large paper or foil cupcake liners.

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt together 3 times. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together at high speed for 15 seconds until combined. Add the eggs 1 at a time beating until each is incorporated. Continue beating until light and fluffy, about 6 minutes longer. With the mixer at its lowest speed, beat in 1/3 the flour mixture. Beat in the milk, sour crea and vanilla, then another third of the flour. Beat in the water and then the remaining flour. Fill the sections of the muffin tin 1/2 full and bake for 15 minutes or until the centers spring back when lightly pressed. Set pan on a rack to cool.

For ganache, bring half and half to simmer and pour over chocolate. Let sit for one minute. Drop in butter and whisk until smooth.

After cupcakes cool dip in ganache.(I also filled mine with peanut butter frosting.)

Covet

I am officially obsessed with Williams Sonoma Goldtouch bake pans and want them all! Well all the ones I use frequently at least. I want to buy nothing else because I am sosososo amazed by them. Must find a way to buy them now;) Time to start a bakesale or something considering it would only be 300 bucks to buy all the baking pans I want bahahah. So if you are in the mood for some good baking pans check those babies out!

A Few Favorite Treats

My sister in law is having a baby soon, but after that we have been planning to start a fun food blog together, hence my lack of posts. But in the mean time, I thought I would share a few favorite treats.
Hot Cocoa is a must have now that we have already had 2 big snow storms. I love this recipe because it is all natural, I have everything I need on hand and it's very easy to tweek for flavor.

1/3 cup cocoa-our favorite to use is scharffenberger, but you have to look hard to find it affordably!!!

3/4 C sugar

4 C milk

splash of vanilla

pinch of salt

Mix 1st three ingredients and put over low heat until smooth and hot. Add last 2 ingredients and enjoy. If serving for kiddos add a little extra milk to cool it and make it not so strong. We also like to add a spoonful of caramel sauce for fun. You could add a drop of mint instead of vanilla or a spoonful of seedless raspberry preserves too!
Doughnuts

Chocolate Glaze
Apple Challah Bread
Cheesecake recipe courtesy of Dorie Greenspan topped with a basic ganache, whipped cream and strawberries.

Corn Chowder

Couldn't find a recipe that had everything I wanted, so I combined a few and it turned out pretty good. So for a little lighter corn chowder, here we go:

3 large onions(sweet ones are my favorite), chopped

2 T olive oil

4 T butter

3 cloves garlic

8 T flour

1 heaping tsp dried thyme

1 heaping tsp dried parsley

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

12 C chicken broth

2 C whole milk(half and half or cream if you feel the need)

12 ears of corn cut off cob, or 2 lbs frozen corn(fresh makes a huge difference)

10 slices bacon, cooked and strained

Saute onion until it starts to become translucent. Add garlic and butter and saute for a few more minutes. Add flour and spices and cook for one more minute. Add broth and milk, bring to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Add corn and bring back to a boil then add bacon and turn off heat. Serve with cheese, chives and bread.

Black and White Brownies

I have an addiction. If I see a new kind of chocolate at the grocery store, I have to buy it. If I see an old favorite at the store, I must buy it. It's addicting I tell you, sales and chocolate. One day at target I took a stroll down the candy isle only to find Lindt bars two bucks a piece. One dark chocolate sea salt and one white chocolate coconut bar later I strolled away with a smile. After my white chocolate experience I decided I needed more so while in Atlanta I purchased myself a bar of Trader Joe's new white chocolate with 45% coco butter.

Then the white chocolate recipe search began and this recipe is what I found. Yum, yum, I could not stop eating these things. Neither could Jacob, he kept telling me what colors he wanting, thinking I would be so impressed I would keep giving him some....it worked, for two brownies at least.

Although irrelevant to the matter of chocolate, I kinda love my babies. They are beautiful inside and out. So since I look at them in the mirror all day, I feel beautiful. It's almost as though I feel I am looking at myself because I see them more than myself.

White Chocolate Brownies

adapted slightly from Smitten Kitchen

3 ounces white chocolate
1 stick butter
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 C white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch square baking pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over opposite sides of pan. Repeat with second piece of foil in opposite direction. Butter foil.

Melt white chocolate and butter together in a large bowl over a simmering pot of water (or in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring between each), remove from heat and stir the mixture until it is smooth. Whisk in sugar. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Add flour and salt together, stirring until just combined. Add chocolate chips. Spread into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Chocolate Brownies

adapted from Hershey's

1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Melt butter over stove or in microwave. Add sugar and mix until combined. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla. Slowly mix in cocoa be sure it doesn't make a mess. In a separate bowl combine flour, powder, and salt. Mix with wet ingredients until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

When both brownies are done, cool in pan on a rack until room temperature(I threw mine straight in the freezer). Once cooled put in freezer until brownies are slightly stiff. Cut into two inch squares. Using whatever shape you have cut the middles out of each brownie and perform a switcharoo.

Strawberry Crumb Cake

In hopes of finding high calorie foods I can pretend are not dessert, I came across this wonderful recipe. Coffee cake with strawberries in it, how unheard of, so I bolted to the grocery store. The early AM excursion was definitely worth it. Minus the part where I showed up home late and my very pregnant friend was waiting at my door. Did I mention she carried in my groceries, then held my baby while I made this cake? Bet you're just dying to be my friend now...

I'm sure the butter in this cake could be cut back by using applesauce in the actual cake part and possibly creating a smaller crumb layer. But you see nursing a child seems to make me a hungry monster(see above not of how I treat my friends when I'm hungry).

Strawberry Crumb Cake

1 C flour-I use white wheat, white is okay too

1/2 C white sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C milk

1 egg

2 T butter, melted

1 pint of strawberries, washed and sliced

4 T cold butter

1/2 C white flour

1/2 C sugar

1/4 C pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 375

Mix the first four(dry) ingredients. Add the milk, butter and egg and mix until just combines. Layer in a 8*8 square or a 9 inch springform(my preference for looks and convenience). Layer strawberries on top of the batter. Cut butter into the other 1/2 C sugar and 1/2 C flour, a food processor works great here. Add pecans to butter mixture. Layer on top of strawberries*. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until crumb is lightly brown.

*When I make crumb topping I like it to be cruncy, so I will grab a handful of the mixture and squeeze it into a ball before I sprinkle it on top, that way there are chunks;)

Sweets

I recently made a few cakes, with the help of my two year old for a charity fund raiser. My cakes seem to always place, but I think the judges are biased cuz my cakes taste good, cuz they aint always perty!
Both cakes are fabulously moist and fairly simple. The chocolate frosting is insanely rich, so you can only eat a small slice!

Italian Wedding Cake

source-Sandra Lee

1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix
1 stick butter, softened
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
3 egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup sweetened flake coconut, divided in half
2 cups chopped pecans, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Lightly coat 2 (8-inch) cake pans with cooking spray; set aside. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, butter, buttermilk, egg whites, and extracts. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Fold in crushed pineapple, coconut, and 1 cup pecans-to decorate like mine only add 2/3 cup. Divide batter into 2 prepared cake pans. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until tester inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes then turn out on to wire racks to cool completely.
In a small bowl, stir together remaining 1-(2/3 to decorate like mine) cup pecans and frosting. Frost the top of each layer stack on top of the next layer. Use remaining frosting to frost the entire outside of cake.

*To decorate cake toast the remaining 2/3 cup pecans(in their whole form) in a pan over medium until fragrant. Toast coconut in the same fashion until lightly brown. Bake a border on the top and fill middle with coconut.

*For my frosting I cream 8 oz softened cream cheese with a stick of butter. Then I added 2-4 cups powdered sugar, depending on the consistancy you like. Last, I added about half a teaspoon of vanilla.

Chocolate Cake

adapted from the blog Simply Recipes

3 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp salt
¾ tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp baking soda
2 2/3 cups sugar
1 cup + 2 Tbsp cocoa
1 cup + 2 Tbsp water
1 cup + 2 Tbsp canola oil
5 large or 4 extra large
¾ cup water
1 ½ tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl, sift or whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and cocoa.
Add 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of water and 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of canola oil. Mix for 1 minute. Add eggs, 3/4 cup of water, vanilla. Mix 5-6 minutes with a whisk, 3-4 minutes with a hand mixer, or 2 minutes with a KitchenAid mixer.
Pour into three 9" cake pans, bake at 350°F for 25 minutes. Test by placing and removing a toothpick through the center at 22 minutes. When toothpick comes out clean, loosen from pans cool on rack until almost cool. Once almost cool, wrap in plastic wrap, put back in pans(to hold shape) and freeze for an hour before frosting.

Chocolate Frosting

adapted from annies-eats.com

14 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped-I used ghiridelli chocolate chips

9 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

9 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

6 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

Pinch of salt

1 cup plus 2 tbsp. sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

To make the frosting, melt the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. You can also use the microwave on a low setting, stopping in intervals to mix. Set aside to cool until just barely warm. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Gradually mix in the confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Beat in the melted and cooled chocolate and vanilla. Then the sour cream. Continue beating until the mixture is smooth and well blended.

*To make the frosting raspberry, add 1/2 or seedless raspberry jam, or more to taste.

*This stores well in the fridge if covered tightly, but it takes time to come back to room temp.