Strawberry Cheescake Cupcakes

My bestie-esty just turned 24! And despite being my bestest friend, she is not a huge dessert fan!! =O but...she does love a good cheesecake! And she loves strawberry cake! So I decided to combine her two favorite treats into one! A strawberry cake filled with a cheesecake filling and topped with a strawberry cheesecake frosting! It was soo delicious and cute :) a pretty pink color! Yum! She loved them! And I took them to my photography show as a treat and everyone enjoyed those as well! They are so delicious! :) 

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

2¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cake flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2¼ cups sugar
1½ tsp. vanilla extract
3 large eggs plus 1 large egg white
1 cup milk
2½ cups finely chopped fresh strawberries

Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

½ cup sour cream

1 tub thawed Cool Whip

2 tsp. vanilla

Frosting:

 8 oz. cream cheese

½ stick butter

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp. strawberry extract

¼ cup sour cream

Directions:

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, sugar and vanilla.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in the eggs and egg white one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions alternating with the milk, mixing each addition just until incorporated.  Gently fold in the chopped strawberries with a spatula.

Divide the batter between the paper liners, filling each about ¾-full.  Bake until light golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25-28 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  Allow to cool in the pans a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

 To make the filling, combine all the ingredients in a bowl except the cool whip and mix until combined. Fold in the whipped cream until its a bit fluffier. Cut out a small core from each cupcake and fill with the cheesecake.

To make the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese. Add in the sour cream and strawberry extract. Add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time until your frosting is smooth and delicious.

Frost your cupcakes and serve them up! They are so rich and delicious, they are a perfect treat for any occasion! 

Enjoy!

Luvyerguts<3

N&A

Lemon-Blueberry Cupcakes

Hello again!! I am done with school for this year! yay! So I have been making treats for my classmates on the last days of class! So I thought since it was the beginning of spring, I needed to make something fresh and delicious!  And I have made these cupcakes before, and received rave reviews! So I wanted to make them again! They are soooo flippin yummy! One of the best for spring and summertime! Plus the icing on top is pretty much the best thing EVER! Lemon cream cheese! Mmmmm...soooo good!! =D So here it is for ya'll! Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

¾ cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour, divided
¾ cup cake flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
Zest of  1 lemon
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. lemon juice
½ cup plus 2 tbsp. milk, at room temperature
1 cup fresh blueberries

Icing:

8 oz. cream cheese
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
  4 cups powdered sugar
  2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the ¾ cup all-purpose flour, the cake flour, baking powder and salt; whisk together and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, sugar and lemon zest. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and lemon juice. With the mixer on low speed, mix in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Blend in the milk. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated. In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. Using a spatula gently fold the berries into the cake batter. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared liners, filling each about ¾ full. Bake 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pans 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired. 

These cuppycakes are sooo yummy! I ate like 8! haha! I was a fat kid! :p Enjoy them while they last!!

Luvyerguts<3

N&A

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake

So! Since its been so long, I am ambushing you guys with treats galore!! Here is another delicious treat! It is one of my boyfriends favorite, and I tend to make it for his birthday every year! Since he is so dang picky, its hard to actually find a delicious treat he likes! So I make it a lot! I also make these in cupcake form! They are super delicious either way, but this is the cake version! Its really easy! Yay! Cookies and cake in one!!! (well kind of cookies....but the dough is the best part anyways!)

 (Adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients: 

Cake:

3 sticks salted butter, softened
1½ cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 2/3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup milk

Cookie Dough Filling:

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tbsp. light brown sugar, packed
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
7 oz. sweetened condensed milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Frosting:
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
3½ cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ tsp. salt
3 tbsp. milk
2½ tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

To make the cake, first preheat your oven to 350°! It has to be nice and toasty for the cake. Take your flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and sift together into a bowl and set aside. Then take your room temperature butter and cream it with the brown sugar.Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing until incorporated after each egg. Blend in the vanilla. Alternately add in your milk and dry ingredients, start and end with the dry ingredients. Separate the batter into two grease 9-inch pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean! Take out and let cool.

To make the filling, cream the butter and sugar together. Add in the flour, mix well. Use your sweetened condensed milk, sometimes this doesn't take the whole 7 oz. you may use less, just mix in the 'milk' until you get the consistency of cookie dough. It will be a little bit stickier than regular dough though! (ha, I rhymed :p)

Mix in the vanilla and the chocolate chips! And you're done! 

After your cake is cooled, and you have evened out the tops (if you want, its not totally necessary!), take the cookie dough and spread in the middle. Make sure its on nice and thick! The more the better! Yummy in everybody's tummy :) 

To make the frosting, beat together the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until creamy. Mix in the powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in the flour and salt. Mix in the milk and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended. Then ice your cake all pretty!

I used some wilton fondant and put that on top of the icing, just to try out using fondant. It didn't taste that bad! From what I heard the fondant would taste gross, but mine was ok! I also cut out circles and made it polka dot for mah boyfrand :p 

Sorry for the crappy picture though :(

Enjoy!!

Luvyerguts<3

N&A

White Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

So here's another recipe for you :) Considering these cupcakes are in our pictures on the top page, I figured it was about time I got around to posting the recipe for them! And I am super excited because I'm almost done with school (3 more days!!) and then I get to take a nice long drive with Mr. Martini back to Texas!!! And get to see my lovely seester!! Yayyy Seester!!! :D

Anyways, these delicious cupcakes, the white chocolate raspberry ones, are my all time favorite cupcakes. They are sooooo good! They cake is a rich flavor and it is filled with a raspberry mousse, then topped off with a delicious white chocolate buttercream! :) yuummmm. It's really easy to make too! I lovvveee them! And they are great for the 'fancier' parties! Enjoy!

 

Ingredients: 

White chocolate Cupcake:

1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

  1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt
  1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

White Chocolate Buttercream:

 1 stick butter

1/2 cup milk

6 oz. white chocolate (melted)

1 teaspoon vanilla

5 cups powdered sugar

Raspberry Mousse Filling:

1 8 oz package cream cheese, SOFTENED
1 15 oz jar seedless raspberry jam, all fruit
1 8 oz tub Cool Whip

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Beat the butter with the sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl between each addition. Stir together the milk, lemon juice, and the vanilla. On low speed, add half of the milk mixture. Mix until incorporated; scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients. Mix until combined and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the remaining milk mixture and the dry ingredients in the same manner. Divide the batter among the 14 cupcake molds. Bake on the middle oven rack for about 15-18 minutes 

To make the icing, blend the butter and milk together until creamy. Add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Mix for about 1 minute until it is light and fluffy! Then mix in the melted white chocolate. Make sure that you didn't burn your chocolate, otherwise it will make your icing chunky! Groossss. Blend in he vanilla last! 

To make the raspberry mousse, blend the cream cheese until soft, then mix in the raspberry jam. Fold in the cool whip. 

After your cupcakes are cooled, use a knife or corer and take out a portion of the center. Fill that hole with delicious raspberry mousse awesomeness then top it off with the white chocolate buttercream! If you'd like, garnish it with a raspberry rolled in sugar! YUM! 

Enjoy!

Luvyerguts<3

N&!A

Salted Caramel Banana Cupcakes

Hello! Sorry I haven't posted in well....forever...but school life has been heeccttiicc!!! But I promise to start up, and keep up! from now on! So for my first 'catch-up' post, I'm going to let you in on my recipe for the most delicious creation I've made! If of course, you like bananas! And I am a HUGE fan of banana cake. I decided to take some of my old bananas and use them up! And the best way...CUPCAKES! Yay!! My favorite! And I took these to my photography class, and everyone melted over how delicious they were! They do take awhile to make, so be wary of that!! Alrighty, here it is for ya'll!!

Ingredients:

Banana Cake:

2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2½ cups sugar
6 eggs
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. buttermilk
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe banana

Salted Caramel Buttercream:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup caramel
1/8-1/4 tsp salt

French Custard Filling:

1/3 c. sugar
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. milk
1 slightly beaten egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. whipping cream, whipped

 Instructions:

 Make the french custard filling first, since it has to cool. In saucepan, combine sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Gradually stir in milk. Cook and stir until mixture thickens and boils; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes longer. Stir a little hot mixture into egg yolk; return to hot mixture. Cook and stir until mixture just boils. Add vanilla; cool. Beat smooth and fold in whipped cream. Cool in the fridge while you are doing the rest!

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt; whisk together and set aside.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Reduce the mixer speed to medium low and add in eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Mix in the mashed banana until well combined.  With the mixer on low speed alternately add the dry ingredients and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing only until just incorporated. Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about 2/3 to ¾ full.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-22 minutes.  Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the caramel sauce, combine the butter, heavy cream and brown sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat.  Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.  Once it reaches a boil, lower the heat to medium and continue to boil until the mixture is thickened, about 8 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool.
To make the frosting, in a large mixing bowl, beat butter and vanilla on high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.  Turn mixer to low/medium and slowly add 1/2 cup powdered sugar at a time.  Beat until combined.  Add in caramel sauce and salt.  Beat until desired consistency is achieved.

After Your cupcakes have cooled, use a knife, or a corer if you have one, to cut out the center of the cupcake! Fill that with the delicious custard filling, and then top off with the salted caramel buttercream! If you have caramel on hand, drizzle some on top just for good measure, and dab a bit of salt on top too! Then eat them! Cuz they are AWESOME!!

Luvyerguts<3
N&A

The Daring Kitchen, Challenge #1

Hey guys! So earlier this August N&A decided to join this super duper website called The Daring Kitchen, which is basically a site for super enthusiastic bakers and cooks to join up and do a "challenge" in their perspective field of expertise, you know, cooking or baking. Being the baker, N decided to join these fancy escapades and do their fancy challenges!! She wanted to find new and exciting recipes and different types of desserts to make :) The first challenge, and so far only challenge, N&A got to attempt together! and it was........
Making Your Own Candy!!!!

Now neither N nor A had made candy before, minus the occasional fudge (which even then was a little bit iffy). So this challenge was going to be a bit hard for us. We first started out by coming up with what kind of candy, because one had to be a chocolate candy, and the second could be whatever kind of candy you wanted. So we decided to make chocolate truffles!! A little bit of a stretch for the non-candy makers, but we tried anyways. 

Flavor wise we went with dark chocolate-mint truffles, white chocolate with Grand Marnie, and dark chocolate with Kahlua and pecans. Sooo delicious in the flavor combinations!! So to do these truffles we made a chocolate ganache, flavored it with however much flavor we deemed the right amount (probably too much haha), let it sit out and set up (which it didn't really set up so they were very goopy), and then roll into balls and dip in chocolate coating! It sounds so simple! But really, we had some issues!! But they still tasted delicious, even if they weren't super pretty!!

Ingredients for Ganache:

1 ¾ cup (9 oz/250 gm) Dark/Bittersweet Chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup (5 oz / 160 ml) Double/Heavy Cream (36% - 48% butterfat)
OR
1 ¾ cup (9 oz/250 gm) Milk Chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup (4 oz / 120 ml) Double/Heavy Cream (36% - 48% butterfat)
OR
1 ¾ cup (9 oz/250 gm) White Chocolate, finely chopped
¼ cup (2 oz / 60 ml) Double/Heavy Cream (36% - 48% butterfat)

For flavoring, add about 2-4 TBS. of your choice!

Instructions:

1. Finely chop or grate the chocolate
2. Place in a heatproof bowl
3. In a saucepan, heat cream until just about to boil (it will start bubbling around the edges of the pot)
4. Pour the cream over the chocolate
5. Gently stir the mixture until all the chocolate has melted and it is smooth
Tip: If you end up with pieces of chocolate that won’t melt, put the bowl over simmering water (but not touching the water) and stir gently until it’s all melted
Tip: Be careful if you do need to heat it over simmering water, if the mixture gets too hot it will split and you’ll end up with gooey chocolate swimming in oil, so don’t overheat the ganache, steam from a gentle simmer is all you need.
6. Stir in your desired flavorings

Mixing the chocolate and the hot cream!

Kahlua dark chocolate pecan mixture!

dark chocolate mint!

white chocolate grand marnier mix!

All 3 delicious creations!!

Truffle Instructions:

1. Allow the ganache to firm up in a container of choice, preferably deep rather than shallow
2. Using a teaspoon or melon baller, scoop up room temperature ganache
3. With gloved hands, roll the balls between your palms to round them off
4. Dip in tempered chocolate or roll in various ingredients like cocoa or chopped nuts as desired
Tip: If dipping in chocolate, it’s best to refrigerate the ganache balls before dipping so that they’re firm and don’t melt from the warm chocolate
Tip: For a thicker chocolate shell, dip once in tempered chocolate and allow to set. Then do a second dipping or smear a small amount of chocolate over the truffle and roll in desired ingredients
5. Place on parchment paper until set

Dark-Chocolate Mint Truffles

Dark Chocolate Pecan and Kahlua Tuffles

 Now for our second candy we went ahead and made more chocolate, since we're both chocolate fanatics :) We decided to make chocolate 'bowls' and fill them with various flavored mousse's. We made 3 bowls, one chocolate, one white chocolate, and one marbled. We then made 2 types of mousse's, cinnamon and nutmeg mousse and a peanut butter mousse. We topped the cinnamon mousse bowls with fresh fruit and a chocolate design, then the peanut butter mousse with just a chocolate design! Now to make these we just used a template from Micheal's and heavy cream to make the mousse, so we don't have a recipe! But it's super easy! And super delicious!!! Enjoy! =D

All 3 bowls, peanut butter in the middle :)

Cinnamon Mousse Chocolate Bowls

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

Do N had to leave fantastic Texas last week =( But it wasn't all bad! When back in Indiana N's boyfriend surprised her with some super fantastic flowers! 

Lillies from N's boyrfiend :)

So of course she decided to pay him back with some DELICIOUS treats. And these aren't just normal treats, these are a combination of two of the most delicious desserts EVER!! And a special addition of N&A's favorite candy :) 

So brownies are N's boyfriend's favorite dessert, and he loves cookie dough! N has made cookie dough cake and cookie dough cupcakes and just plane cookies for him before! Now she discovered this recipe for the most amazing dessert ever. The Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough  Peanut Butter M&M Brownies. A combination of fantastic fudgy brownies, peanut butter M&M perfection, and the most delicious cookie dough ever slathered on top of it all!! so without further adieu, here's the recipe :)

 Apologies there aren't that many pictures! But the baking process was rushed! 

Brownie Ingredients:

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups light brown sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour

1 medium bag Peanut Butter M&M's

Cookie Dough Ingredients:

¾ cup unsalted butter
¾ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons whole milk
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ cups mini chocolate chips

Instructions:

Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees.

. Line a 9×13-inch pan with foil, with enough to hang over all four sides. Butter the foil. In a medium glass bowl, melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring after each, until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly. In a large mixing bowl, mix the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract, scraping the bowl as needed. Mix in the melted chocolate until combined. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour and mix just until combined (don’t over-mix). Stir in the m&m's with your spatula, try not to break them up too much! Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 25 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely.

To make the cookie dough, in a medium bowl, use an electric mixer on medium speed to combine the butter and both sugars. Add the milk and vanilla and mix until combined. Reduce the speed to low and mix in the flour just until combined. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips. 

Spread all this delicious mixture on top of the cooled cookie dough! Then put it in the fridge or freezer until the cookie dough is firm enough to cut with a knife. It makes the treat easier to cut if its colder and firmer! Then try not to eat all of it, although N couldn't resist having one....or 5....

<3Luvyerguts<3

N&A