chocolate easter cupcakes - the birthday girl keeps getting gypped

Recall the decadent flourless chocolate cake my cousins and I created? Well as you know, the cake came out flawless and we were immensely satisfied. But what about the birthday girl who were originally going to bake the cake for? She, unknowingly, had just been denied the privilege of such a cake (or any birthday bakery for that matter). So while at the grocery store shopping for the ingredients in our indulgent flourless chocolate cake, we quickly grabbed a box of chocolate cake mix.


Anyone who knows me (even someone who is barely able to call me an acquaintance) will tell you how much I detest using anything boxed. With that said, this is not my friend's birthday cake, nor am I the one buying the ingredients.


Needless to say, I did not oppose to my cousin's choice of this box cake mix. I mean after all, I have found a great doctored recipe to use on box cake mix. Every time I've used it- the cake had been flawless and extremely delicious. Never any issues whatsoever.


Something I hadn't realized until after we placed the cupcakes in the oven was that this wasn't the typical Betty Crocker cake mix. I reread the box and it appeared to be one of those special fancy super-de-duper moist cakes. Well, I mean whatever. I guess the cake would be superly extremely moist then. No one ever complains when a cake is too moist, right?


Funny thing is that we had so much extra batter (from all my add-ins) that we could make a whole batch of cupcakes plus a little 8x8 tin. We figured my cousin could decorate and give the 8x8 cake to her friend, and we'd keep the cupcakes for ourselves (muaha). Shown here are the cupcakes my little cousins and I decorated. I commend them on their great decorating skills (I'm loving my little cousin's carrot here).


If you haven't got the hint by now, these cupcakes were specifically decorated with Easter themes in mind (given the date and all). This cute little bunny rabbit (don't forget the cute grass as well) was my creation.


Okay- I'll pat my own back on this one. I mean come on, given the circumstances and tools around me, I did an awesome job. We were given a can of vanilla icing, 4 shades of food coloring, a butter knife and a few ziplocks. Voila! Imagine what I could accomplish with fancy cake decorating tools.


After the mini photoshoot with my bunny, it was time for a taste test. We all sat there with our cupcakes in hand, ready to taste my supposedly awesome doctored-up box cake mix. Let's spare the details here. The cupcake tasted fine, nothing spectacular, however was more so on the moist side. Although not technically a fail, I do feel bad for the poor birthday girl who was given the 8x8 inch cake of this stuff. Because of its size, that cake must have undoubtedly been extra moist. Happy birthday to my cousin's friend! (Hehe).

---RECIPE---
Taken from multiple sources and mostly from experience.

1 box cake mix (for future reference, don't get anything already super moist)
1 box instant pudding mix (flavor depending on the type of cake, for this we used chocolate)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs

Bake as directed on box.

flourless chocolate cake - no cake for the birthday girl

After spending a few days with my family in California, I realized how much I've matured. Although I'll probably always remain slightly immature and silly (maybe more than just slightly), at least I can understand the importance of family and bonding time. Throughout our little "bonding moments", multiple stories had been exposed of my cooking/baking experiences. It must had been so strange for them to hear me baking huge layered cakes and cooking penne alla vodka. Among these food stories was the decadent flourless chocolate cake, which particularly excited one of my cousins.


Apparently she had been thinking of making this cake for her friend's birthday the following week. Goodie roo! Now that I am the baking expert (or so I'd like to think), I offered my assistance in this project.


While we gathered the ingredients in the grocery store, the thought hit us that if this were a cake to be given away, we would have no chance to eat it for ourselves. Destructed by the thought of not being able to taste the deliciousness ourselves, we opted to instead bake this cake for ourselves (selfish much?).


Moving along, the process went fairly smoothly. I had my two younger cousins following my every order while I watched over them carefully. The chocolate got properly melted and the egg whites were gently whipped. Once the two bowls were folded together (by the delicate hands of yours truly, of course), we poured it into our baking dish.


While I prepared the plating and slicing of the cake, my aunty whipped up a bowl of raspberry sauce to drizzle over. From what I recall it was frozen raspberries and sugar cooked over the stove.


Basically everything came out perfectly flawless. I couldn't have been more happy that we decided to make this cake for ourselves, rather than for some little girl's birthday.

---RECIPE---

Recipe found here.

chocolate & strawberry french macarons - am i ready for this?

So after my last bitch entry about how "french macarons are the hardest thing to make", you know what I did? I made another freakin' batch. I'm not going to let one horrible experience cramp my style. I'm going to conquer this recipe, if it's the last thing I do! Okay, just kidding. Apparently they were such a hit last time, that I was essentially begged to make another batch. Sure, whatever, why not. I seriously did want to try it again though; especially since this recipe completely requires practice. And, if practice makes perfect, why don't I just bang out two different types of macarons all at once? Sheesh, I even shocked myself!


Using the same recipe as last time, (seeing as how it included derivatives for other flavors), I began the first batch- chocolate. Basically it's exactly the same, just substituting some of the almond flour for cocoa powder.


I made a basic simple ganache, slathered it on one thin macaron, then placed another on top.


After my little procession line was finished, I took a second to stop and admire my little brown babies. Although they didn't completely replicate the french macarons found in fancy bakeries, they still looked damn cute.


One little bite caused the little air sandwiches to deflate and crack into the gooey chocolate ganache. I think we can all agree that I'm beginning the get the hang of this.


Next batch: Strawberry! This variation was slightly different. Only a tiny dash of strawberry flavor went into the meringue itself. The real strawberry flavor would come from the filling. On a side note: Notice the shape of these little babies. I have almost perfected the form of a french macaron. Look at it's little "legs"! It finally rose like how it was supposed to; yayy!


So why do these little sandwiches scream strawberry flavor? Ahh, a little food coloring does wonders! For some reason we subconsciously associate the physical with taste. Not sure why; but the few drops of red food dye sure did work.


Between the two pink pillows was a good slather of strawberry preserves. With each bite a drop of rich strawberry chunks oozed out the sides.


So was attempt #2 and #3 at french-macaron-creating a success or a failure? Let's just say that I am 100 times better than my last time, but still nowhere near those professional bakeries that I adore.


---RECIPE---
Taken from Martha Stewart.

ingredients:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup almond flour
2 large egg whites, room temperature
Pinch of cream of tartar
1/4 cup superfine sugar
3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam, for filling

variations:
Chocolate: Substitute 3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder for 1/4 cup of the almond flour.
Raspberry: Add 1 tablespoon fresh raspberry puree, strained, plus 3 to 4 drops dusty- rose gel-paste food coloring.

directions:
1. Pulse confectioners' sugar and almond flour in a food processor until combined. Sift mixture 2 times.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk whites with a mixer on medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar, and whisk until soft peaks form. Reduce speed to low, then add superfine sugar. Increase speed to high, and whisk until stiff peaks form, about 8 minutes. Sift flour mixture over whites, and fold until mixture is smooth and shiny.
3. Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip, and pipe 3/4-inch rounds 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets, dragging pastry tip to the side of rounds rather than forming peaks. Tap bottom of each sheet on work surface to release trapped air. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake 1 sheet at a time, rotating halfway through, until macaroons are crisp and firm, about 10 minutes. After each batch, increase oven temperature to 375 degrees, heat for 5 minutes, then reduce to 325 degrees.
4. Let macaroons cool on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. (If macaroons stick, spray water underneath parchment on hot sheet. The steam will help release macaroons.)
5. Sandwich 2 same-size macaroons with 1 teaspoon jam. Serve immediately, or stack between layers of parchment, wrap in plastic, and freeze for up to 3 months.

hint:
Piping the perfect macaroon takes a little practice. Treat it as you would a rosette, bringing the pastry tip to the side of the circle, rather than forming a peak, to finish.

amount:
Makes about 35 macaron sandwiches.

flourless chocolate cake - the microwave saves the day yet again

My boyfriend's mother's birthday was coming up, and so I absolutely had to bake something for her. What I love about birthdays (as in anyone's birthday other than my boyfriend's) is that I get to bake something out of the ordinary (opposed to my typical chocolate chip cookies). I knew that his mom loves chocolate (whereas my boyfriend claims to dislike chocolate), so why not bake a chocolate cake? Oh wait- yeah, I hate cake. I also wanted to be able to indulge in someone else's birthday cake too (I know, I'm so selfish). So I figured I'd try something new and intriguing- a flourless chocolate cake.


The main ingredient for such a cake was obviously chocolate. I used three different types of chocolate- Baker's Semi Sweet (54% cacao), Baker's Bittersweet (67% cacao), and Ghiradelli's Bittersweet (60% cacao). Tyler's recipe used 1 pound of bittersweet chocolate, but I generally feel it's not sweet enough for me, hence the addition of the semisweet chocolate.


Being that chocolate was the focal point of this dessert, I insisted on using quality chocolate (okay- I know these brands aren't the best, but they're much better than Nestle or Hershey's or all that crap). No chocolate morsels here; as every good baker should know they contain stabilizers and junk.


My boyfriend's muscles were thoroughly put to work, as I made him finely chop all the chocolate pieces.


While he manned the melting station, I beat the nine egg yolks and the sugar. Afterwards, both mixtures were whisked together into a beautiful creamy chocolate concoction.


The nine egg whites were not gone to waste, and were beaten into stiff peaks which were then folded majestically into the chocolate (credit given to my boyfriend).


Into my springform pan to bake.


There was a little timing issue with the cake. After reading all the reviews on the foodnetwork website, I was confused as to how long it should actually bake. People suggested it should be baked anywhere from 20-50 minutes (which is a very big difference). I went with the good ol' toothpick-in-the-center method.


Each time I would take the toothpick out, there would still be some chocolate goop and crumbs still clung to it. After about 30 or so minutes, and after my boyfriend hinting that I take it out, I apprehensively pulled the cake out of the oven even though the toothpick still was not clean.


We let the cake cool, then sprinkled some powdered sugar on top. I didn't have a chance to have a slice that day, being that his mother wasn't home yet and it was her birthday present. Imagine how rude it would have been if we had a slice before giving it to her?


I knew they would save me a slice though. After some discussion with my boyfriend, we conclusively decided that taking it out sooner probably would have been better.


Although the cake was somewhat dry and crumbly, a little quality time in the microwave did wonders. The cake immediately moistened up and probably tasted very similar to the moist dense chocolate cake it was intended to be.


Everyone claimed to have enjoyed it, even with my baking-mistake. At least I learned a valuable lesson in the realms of flourless-chocolate-cake-baking.

---RECIPE---
Taken from Tyler Florence.

ingredients:
1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces (We used half semisweet and half bittersweet- two different brands of semisweet though)
1 stick unsalted butter
9 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
2 cups heavy cream, cold (omitted)
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan.
2. Put the chocolate and butter into the top of a double boiler (or in a heatproof bowl) and heat over (but not touching) about 1 inch of simmering water until melted. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a mixing bowl until light yellow in color. Whisk a little of the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture to temper the eggs - this will keep the eggs from scrambling from the heat of the chocolate - then whisk in the rest of the chocolate mixture.
3. Beat the egg whites in a mixing bowl until stiff peaks form and fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until the cake is set, the top starts to crack and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, 20 to 25 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes, then remove sides of pan.
4. While the cake is cooking, whip the cream until it becomes light and fluffy. (We didn't add any whipped cream.)
5. Serve at room temperature dusted with confectioners' sugar and topped with whipped cream.