Category Archives: Baking and Sweets

Guinness Cupcakes with a fluffy Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting “Head”

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Oh my. OH MY. These are so frigging tasty. I already loved the Guinness chocolate cake recipe, as evidenced in this really early post, but this light, fluffy, erethreal frosting brings them to a new level. They are not weighed down by sweetness. Oh man, so delicious. Guinness brings a deep, dark, stouty note to the chocolate cake, and the whipped cream and mascarpone frosting is rich and lightly sweet, avoiding the too-tangy zip of cream cheese frostings. The fluffy, cloud of frosting becomes on the rich Guinness cupcake.
These cupcakes are part in honour of the Olympics in London… but truly they are in honour of my wonderful friend, Caelin who horribly left me to live in London, yesterday. She loves her a pint of Guinness, and I love me some Caelin. I think these would’ve been more appropriate an honour had I baked them in time for her to have one, but she can eyeball them from across the pond and weep at all the mistakes she’s made (ie. leaving me). Anyway, the cupcakes are the same that I used before, just halved, though it still made 22 (I made them smaller this time).

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 1/5 cup dark brown sugar, packed
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cup room-temperature Guinness

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place the rack in the middle, and prepare muffin tins by lining with papers.
  2. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  3. Beat together butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one and at time, beating well. Beat in vanilla.
  4. Add flour mixture and beer alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture, and mixing until just combined.
  5. Fill cups 2/3rds full and bake until the tops of the cupcakes are spongy to the touch, 18-20 minutes.
  6. Cool on a rack for at least 30 mins until cool before frosting.
  7. Feel free to eat one while still hot, sans frosting, these are DELICIOUS.

Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting

From justJENN.

INGREDIENTS

  • 8 ounces mascarpone cheese
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a medium bowl, combine mascarpone cheese, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Stir together until smooth, and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whip cream to stiff peaks. Fold the mascarpone mixture into the whipped cream until combined.
  3. Keep refrigerated, this isn’t a frosting to stay out overnight. That said, it keeps on the counter for a few hours if you are setting them out for people to munch on. Also, fold in some nuts and/or coconut for a funky, fun fruit/cookie dip!

Guinness, cocoa powder, and flour. Ready to go!

Poured and ready to bake!

DSCF4319

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

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These are different than my normal chocolate chip cookies. These are buttery, fluffy, light on the chocolate but not light on the richness. I added my favourite sweets spice, cardamon, and my ever-present nuts, walnuts. I made these cookies HUGE, mostly by accident (I have no smaller glasses), but also because I love me some big cookies. This recipe involves some fridge time, but don’t worry, totally worth it.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups salted butter
  • 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 2 cups packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 6 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cups semisweet mini chocolate chips
  • 1 cup walnuts (chopped into mini-chocolate-chip-sized pieces)

Directions

  1. Brown the butter! Just a note, because this is such a large amount, cut the butter into cubes before adding it to the pot to allow a more even melting/browning. Once browned, pour into a heat-proof bowl and allow it to come to room temperature. Once RT, throw it in the fridge for about 20 minutes, you want it to solidify a bit.
  2. Remove the partially-solidified brown butter from the fridge.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
  4. Scrape the brown butter into a large bowl, add both sugars and beat until light and fluffy.
  5. Add the eggs and well, again, until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat to combine.
  6. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
  7. Loosely cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  8. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper (or grease them).
  9. Remove the dough from fridge and turn out onto a lightly-floured surface. Section the dough into three parts and roll one section into a medium rectangle, about 1 1/2 inches thick.
  10. Sprinkle this first dough layer with a third of your chocolate chips and a third of your walnuts. Top with a second piece of dough, and sprinkle it another third of the chocolate and walnuts. Top with the final piece of dough and sprinkle the remaining chocolate and walnuts.
  11. Gently roll out your giant cookie sandwich, with a floured rolling pin. Roll it to about a 1 inch thick (I am terrible at rolling, so this ignore my rolling pictures).
  12. Cut the dough into circles with either a cookie cutter, or a glass. Dip your cutter in flour to prevent sticking. Move the rounds onto your prepared cookie sheets, space them about 1 inch apart. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
  13. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
  14. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the edges have just set.
  15. Remove the sheets from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Step-by-step

  1. Brown the butter! Just a note, because this is such a large amount, cut the butter into cubes before adding it to the pot to allow a more even melting/browning. Once browned, pour into a heat-proof bowl and allow it to come to room temperature. Once RT, throw it in the fridge for about 20 minutes, you want it to solidify a bit.
  2. Remove the partially-solidified brown butter from the fridge.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
  4. Scrape the brown butter into a large bowl, add both sugars and beat until light and fluffy.
  5. Add the eggs and well, again, until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat to combine.
  6. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
  7. Loosely cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  8. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper (or grease them).
  9. Remove the dough from fridge and turn out onto a lightly-floured surface. Section the dough into three parts and roll one section into a medium rectangle, about 1 1/2 inches thick.

    Stacked and ready to roll.

  10. Sprinkle this first dough layer with a third of your chocolate chips and a third of your walnuts. Top with a second piece of dough, and sprinkle it another third of the chocolate and walnuts. Top with the final piece of dough and sprinkle the remaining chocolate and walnuts.
  11. Gently roll out your giant cookie sandwich, with a floured rolling pin. Roll it to about a 1 inch thick (I am terrible at rolling, so this ignore my rolling pictures).

    A slight step-up from my sloppy hand forming.

  12. Cut the dough into circles with either a cookie cutter, or a glass. Dip your cutter in flour to prevent sticking. Move the rounds onto your prepared cookie sheets, space them about 1 inch apart. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
  13. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
  14. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the edges have just set.
  15. Remove the sheets from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Further ingredients: A glass of milk.

Oatmeal Cookies for Montero

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So, Genesis asked for oatmeal cookies in exchange for going to the store to buy me some milk and butter. It was a pretty great trade-off too because these cookies are so tasty that I’ve been gobbling them up as well. Neither of us really like raisins so that was out. Gen wanted them plain, so I set some dough aside for his boring ones, and I threw chocolate chips into mine, because why not. These are chewy and just sweet enough with a bit of spice and they can handle chocolate chips OR raisins… or both, I am sure.

A quick story about my journey to this recipe, I was looking for “the best” recipe but was having a hard time finding a recipe that really stood  out for me. I know how to add oats to my regular cookie recipes, swap out some flour, etc., but I wanted to make an outstanding oatmeal cookie. I found one good-looking recipe that said it was only good because of the soaked raisins… well that wasn’t going to work. So I thought why not soak the oats… well, googling “soaked oat cookies” results in lactation cookie recipes… something for later in life I guess. Anyway, finally came across this great recipe from Evil Chef Mom, and was thrilled to see that she felt the same about raisins as I. Anyway, these cookies are perfect oatmeal cookies. PERFECT. Well maybe not, but I haven’t had better, yet.

Oatmeal Cookies

Adapted from Evil Chef Mom

Ingredients

  • 2 cups rolled oats (I used whole oats… which worked… I don’t know the differences and I am alright with that)
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp cardamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chip cookies

Directions

  1. Place the oats in a large bowl and sprinkle with the water.
  2. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl and whisk together.
  3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Hell, brown it if you want,just add an extra 1/4 cup. Remove from heat and pour over oats.
  4. Stir the sugar and vanilla into the oats and butter. Add the egg and mix briskly.
  5. Add the flour mixture just until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in walnuts and chocolate chips. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour, up until over night.

    They look wet because I forgot to take a picture before putting them in the oven, so they are starting to cook here.

  6. Preheat oven to 350°F. Scoop dough onto parchment-papered baking sheets. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes (I had to cook mine for almost 20, and they were still chewy and moist) or until cookies are golden brown on top. Cool cookies completely before stacking or storing. May be kept in an air tight container for several days.

So delicious and because they have oats, you can pretend they are healthfood. Eat up!

Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes for my 25th!

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It was my 25th birthday on Tuesday (that’s right, mark your calendars!) and I decided on Monday night that I would bake up a batch of cupcakes to covertly celebrate. I didn’t mention the reason for my cupcake-offerings and none was asked (as they are used to weekly baking) but I was happy to see smiles all around. Gen took me out for a lovely jaunt to Granville Island and we had a romantic dinner up on The Sandbar’s patio.

 Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes

Made about 26 cupcakes.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • 6-8 cups whole cherries (to be pitted and chopped… I didn’t measure the post-pitting/chopping amounts)
  • 3/4 cup of raspberry port (or some other fruit liquor that would be lovely with cherries… Kirsch perhaps)

Directions

  1. Do the cherries first, if only to avoid the frustration in the midst of baking. If you have a cherry pitter, make use of it; if not, use a bobby pin! Really, it worked for me. Rip the stem off and jab the rounded end of the bobby pin into the centre, moving it around to loosen the pit, extract pit, place pit-free fruit in bowl, grab new cherry, repeat process. Be careful, cherries are squirt-y and the juice is stain-y.
  2. Once the pitting is complete roughly chop the cherries (set aside 26 or so whole cherries for popping in the top of the cupcakes before baking) and place back in the bowl, pour your port over your cherries and allow them to soak while you prepare the rest of the batter.
  3. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line your cupcake tin.
  4. In a medium bowl, whisk your flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cocoa powder. Set aside.
  5. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy, or at the very least, well combined.
  6. Pour off the port and cherry juice into the butter and sugar mixture. Add the eggs, coconut milk, and vanilla and combine.
  7. Slowly  add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined.
  8. Fold in your cherry pieces.
  9. Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 and push a pitted-whole cherry into the top.
  10. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, OR until the top springs back when poked.
  11. Cool on wire racks for 20 minutes and then frost. I frosted mine with Dreamy Buttercream that I doused with about 3/4 cup of port… not the brightest idea as it started to separate, but with some vigorous mixing it stayed together and tasted great. Wash a bunch of cherries with nice stems, pat dry, and plop into the icing for a fancy-looking treat.

Up close and personal with a classy cupcake.

Rum Cupkrakes (with Kraken Rum)

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So The Kraken rum is dark, smooth, and almost most importantly, comes in a gorgeous bottle. The design and the name inspired my purchase but the rum inspired my baking. I love rum cake. The first time I tried it was a few years ago when a colleague came back from some rum-producing nation and baked us a batch. It was heaven and I’ve made it a couple of times since then. But, baking for a large group means that cakes aren’t particularly fun to haul around, so I tend to cupcake things that might not normally be cupcaked. This is one of those times. Also, full pun-credit must go to Genesis, he is the one who masterminded the Kraken pun. He is also very handsome, this may or may not be unrelated.

Rum Cupkrakes

Adapted from this all-homemade recipe for Rum Cake.

Ingredients

Cupcake

  • 3/4 cup walnuts, crushed
  • 1 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 3 tbsp + 1/2 cup grapeseed or canola oil (low flavour), separated
  • 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 cup DIY vanilla instant pudding mix (or packaged mix)
  • 1/2 cup plain yogurt
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 4 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup dark rum (The Kraken)
  • 1 tbsp vanilla

Rum syrup

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup dark rum

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line your cupcake tin, and distribute a layer of crushed walnuts (making sure to keep enough for other rounds).
  2. Cupcakes: In a large bowl cream the sugar and the butter. Add the oil, flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt combining until evenly distributed. Mix in the pudding mix.
  3.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, water, rum, vanilla, and remaining oil. Add to the dry mixture and mix well. The batter will be smooth, thinnish, and will pour easily.
  4. Ladle (a new trick that I should’ve discovered years ago) into the prepared cupcake liners, about 3/4 full and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the cupcakes comes up clean.
  5. While the cupcakes cool on a rack, prepare the rum syrup.
  6. Rum syrup: In a small saucepan, combine the rum, butter, water, sugar, and salt. Cook over medium heat until the butter completely melts and the sugar dissolves. Let reduce slightly, keeping an eye on it so it doesn’t boil over, it will bubble a lot.
  7. Place copious amounts of wax paper under your cupcakes, or even better, a baking sheet (to catch the excess syrup). Spoon the hot rum syrup over the cupcakes and let soak for 8 hours (overnight).

Rummed and ready for the oven.

Release the KRAKEN! (into my belly!)