Seriously Good!

Today's offering is a recipe I borrowed from Mama B's Blog.  French Toast Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream and candied Bacon.  Yes, they are as good as they sound. I doubled the recipe and made 24 cupcakes.

 

 

French Toast and Bacon Cupakes

Author: Mama B

Recipe type: dessert

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 35 mins

 

Serves: 12 cupcakes

 

Ingredients

• French Toast Cupcakes: ¾ cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1½ cups cake flour, sifted
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup milk, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• Maple Buttercream Frosting: 2 Sticks butter, softened
• 2¾ cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons heavy cream, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon maple extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Fry (or bake) up some crispy bacon and set aside (I used 8 slices maple flavored bacon for a double batch).
3. In a standing mixer, combine the butter and sugar and mix.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Set aside.
5. Add the eggs to the creamed butter one at time, waiting for each one to be fully incorporated before adding the next. Then add the milk.
6. Stir in the dry ingredients.
7. Divide the batter evenly in the muffin tin. Bake at 375* for 25-27 minutes.
8. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and cool completely.
9. Take about 1/4 cup maple syrup and bring to boil in a small pan.  Once it get's foamy, add the bacon bits and stir until the mixture is sticky.  Watch carefully or the bacon will burn!  Spread the bacon bits on a nonstick sheet and let cool.
10. For the frosting: Mix all 4 ingredients together. Beat on high speed until fluffy.
11. Frost your cupcakes and cover them with crispy bacon pieces.

I'm Back!

After a little haitus, I'm back at it again.  Another tax season, another cake on Friday...

I didn't have time last week to post February 15th's cake so here it is now.

RASPBERRY COCONUT CAKE

I used one of my favorite baking pans, a Tiara Pan or Marianne Pan.  The pan bakes a cake with a depression in the center that you can then fill with all kinds of yummy stuff. 

I used a French Vanilla cake mix, following the directions on the box.  While the cake was warm, I brushed the depression in the center generiously with Chambord.  I then combined a cup of seedless raspberry jam with 1/2 cup coconut and a tablespoon of Chambord.  I smoothed this in the center.  Cream cheese frosting was piped around the edge and then a sprinkling of love on top!

A late Passover Goodie...

I saw Jeffrey Nathan make a Marscapone and Citrus Noodle Kugel on TV and have been wanting to try it for awhile.  This is NOT a low calorie treat.  The 2 sticks of butter would make Paula Dean proud :-)  The recipe is from "Jeffrey Nathan's Family Suppers".

Kugel:
1 (12-oz.) package medium egg noodles
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces and softened
5 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
24 oz. sour cream (2-1/2 cups)
8 oz. Mascarpone cheese (comes in small tubs)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Grated zest of 1 orange
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon

Topping:
1-1/4 cups crushed cornflakes
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), melted

Position rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350°F. Lightly butter a 13"x9" inch baking dish.

Make Kugel:
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat and add noodles. Cook until just tender (about 8 minutes). Drain well and return to pot. Add the butter and stir until butter melts and coats the noodles.

Whisk the eggs and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the sour cream, mascarpone, vanilla and zests and whisk until just combined. Do not overwhisk or the Mascarpone will separate. Pour over the noodles and mix to combine. Spread evenly in the baking dish.

Mix the cornflakes, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sprinkle evenly over the kugel and drizzle with the melted butter.

Bake until kugel feels set when pressed in the center, about 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. Cut into squares and serve warm.

Another Rerun

For the last Friday of tax season, Hubby requested this favorite from Halloween of 2010!

From BettyCrocker.com at: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/caramel-smore-cups/9916aa44-083c-4507-8db9-49d0a92f62f7

Caramel S’more Cups
Ingredients:

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® chocolate chip cookie mix
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
24 round chewy caramels in milk chocolate, from 3 (1.91-oz) rolls, unwrapped (Rolos)
72 mini marshmallows (about 3/4 cup)
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1.Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 24 mini muffin cups with cooking spray.

2.Make cookie dough as directed on package, using butter and egg. Shape dough into 24 (1 1/2-inch) balls. Place 1 ball into each muffin cup.

3.Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Remove from oven; firmly press 1 candy into center of each cookie until flush with cookie top. Top each with 3 marshmallows. Bake 2 to 4 minutes longer or until marshmallows are puffed. Cool 10 to 15 minutes. Loosen edges of cookie with small metal spatula and remove to cooling racks. Cool completely.

4.Place chocolate chips in small resealable freezer plastic bag. Microwave on High about 1 minute or until softened. Gently squeeze bag until chocolate is smooth; cut off tiny corner of bag. Squeeze bag to drizzle chocolate over marshmallows. Let stand until hardened, about 10 minutes.

Chocolate Sheet Cake with Cocoa/Nut Frosting

This is another recipe that I have been using for about 30 years.  It is from the Farm Journal's "Choice Chocolate Recipes" cookbook.  The Farm Journal put out a series of cookbooks back in the 60's and 70's.  Long out of print, you can find them at used book places and on Ebay.  Their cookie book is great, as is the canning book.

Cake:

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 cup water
1 tsp. soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Sift flour and sugar into mixing bowl.

Combine butter, shortening, cocoa and water in saucepan.  Stir over medium heat until butter and shortening are melted.  Pour into flour mixture.  Beat at medium speed until blended.  Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk.  Add to chocolate mixture with eggs and vanilla.  Beat until smooth.  Pour batter into greased 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 jelly roll pan.  Bake 20 minutes or until cake tests done.  Cool in pan on rack. 

Meanwhile, prepare Cocoa/Nut Frosting.

1/2 cup butter
3 Tbsp baking cocoa
1/3 cup milk
2 cups shifted powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)

Heat butter, cocoa and milk in a saucepan until butter melts.  Remove from heat.  Whisk in powdered sugar, vanilla and chopped nuts.  Pour warm frosting over warm cake.  Frosting will firm up as it cools.  Cool completely and cut into squares.  Makes 24 servings.

Strawberries and Cheese Cake

This recipe is a twist on strawberry cheesecake.  A Classic Yellow cake, layered with graham cracker crumbs and baked in a Maryann Pan. 

Cheesecake filling goes into the depression on top and it is garnished with fresh strawberries and a jam glaze.

1 Yellow cake mix

3 eggs

1 /13 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 Jello No Bake Cheesecake mix
2 Tbsp Sugar
3 Tbsp Melted Butter
1 1/2 cups cold milk
Fresh strawberries
2 Tbsp Seedless Raspberry Jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 10 in. Maryann Pan.

Take the graham cracker crumb packet from cheesecake mix and mix with sugar and melted butter.  Set aside.

Beat cake mix, eggs, water and oil until well blended.  Layer 1/3 of the crumb mixture on the bottom of the pan.  Add 1/3 of the cake mix.  Alternate crumb and cake mix ending with crumbs on top.  Bake for 35-40 minutes or until done.

Cool 10 minutes in pan, then turn out onto a serving plate.  Cool completely.

Once cake is cool, take packet of filling mix with beat in milk until thick.  Pour into the depression on top of the cake.  Refrigerate 1 hour until set.  Slice strawberries and place on top of filling.  Melt jam in microwave 30 seconds.  Brush melted jam over strawberries.

Last Friday was uninspired...

I had a long, long week and so the cake last Friday was a Red Velvet cake mix baked in a bundt pan with a simple glaze of powdered sugar mixed with cream. 

Today though, I decided to try a recipe from Betty Crocker using "Peanut Butter Pattie" Girl Scout Cookies.  As there were two fine young ladies outside the grocery store this morning selling cookies, they were not hard to procure.  The recipe is simple:

Peanut Butter Pattie Truffles

The ratio of cookie to cream cheese is 10 cookies to 2 oz. cream cheese.
I use 4 boxes which is 60 cookies to 12 oz. cream cheese.

Crush cookies in food processor.  Add cream cheese and mix well.  Roll into 1 inch balls and refrigerate until you are ready to dip.

Melt Chocolate in microwave.  I used 24 oz. milk chocolate candy coating and kept it warmed in my cute little chocolate pot.  Dip truffles in chocolate and let harden. 

Melt peanut butter chips and drizzle on top of truffles.  Store in fridge, waaaaayyyyy in the back to hide from husband!