Sunday, May 16, 2010

Recipe Index

The recipe index is now here! I can't believe I actually cooked all these things...
How To:

Cupcakes:
 Guinness & Bailey's Irish Cream Cupcakes
Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes
Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes
Spooktacular Cupcakes
Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes
Black Magic Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream
 Coffee & Donut Cupcakes
Lemon Meringue Cupcakes
 Mint Chocolate Hi-Hat Cupcakes
 Samoa Cupcakes (Chocolate, Caramel & Coconut)
 Chocolate Marshmallow Cupcakes
 Chai Cupcakes with Cinnamon Honey Buttercream
 Mascarpone Cupcakes with Berry & Mango Glaze
 Ispahan Cupcakes (Rosewater, Lychee and Raspberry)
 Red Velvet Cupcakes
 Chocolate Cupcake Bites
 Mint Chocolate Cupcakes
 Chocolate Graham Cracker Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting (Smores)
 Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream
Earl Grey Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream
 Black Bottom Cupcakes
Rainbow Cupcakes
 Chocolate Oreo Cupcakes
 Pumpkin Cupcakes
 Toasted Coconut Cupcakes
 Wild Mulberry Cupcakes with Matcha Cream Cheese Frosting
 Strawberry Mochi Cupcake
 Blue Velvet Cupcakes
 Peach Cupcakes with Brown Sugar, Cream Cheese Frosting
Root Beer Float Cupcakes
Cinnamon Swirl Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes with Graham Cracker Crust
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes
Coconut & Mango Curd Cupcakes
Cakes:
Cheesecakes:
Pies/ Tarts:
Candy:

Drinks:
Spicy Chai Latte - My Favorite
Savory:

Vietnamese:
Salads:
Pastas:
Healthy:
With Love by Michelle at 10:45 PM 3 comments

Friday, May 14, 2010

Mulberry Cupcakes & Matcha Cream Cheese Frosting

Lessons. They are imperative to learning and I think imperative to growing as a human being. The day I made these gorgeous looking (but not gorgeous tasting) cupcakes, I learned a very valuable lesson.
So, to further spread the knowledge, here is the lesson I learned: do not, I repeat DO NOT, substitute fat free half and half for milk. Half and half should be a usable substitute for milk, after all half and half is made of half milk and half cream. With that logic, it should actually make the cupcake better, because when does a cupcake ever suffer from more fatty goodness? Well, fat free half and half was all I had on hand and I guess it being fat free and all... well, let's just say it did not work.
On the upside, this matcha cream cheese frosting was fantastic! It was uberly tangy, like cream cheese frosting always is, and it was delightfully green (my ultimate favorite color). Basically though the cupcakes themselves turned out to be weirdly spongy and awfully dry.

* CORRECTION: apparently the wild berries at my house are NOT blackberries but instead mulberries! How exciting, so therefore these are Mulberry cupcakes and not Blackberry cupcakes :)

Mulberry Cupcakes with Matcha Cream Cheese Frosting
Yields: 12 regular or 34 mini cupcakes
Original recipe can be found here.

For the cupcakes:
1 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
6 tbsn. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup mulberry coulis

For the mulberry coulis (makes 1/2 cup):
3 oz. mulberries
1 tbsn. sugar
1/8 tsp. vanilla
1/8 cup water

For the matcha cream cheese frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup or 1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted (more if needed)
2 tbsn. matcha powder

To make the blackberry coulis, combine everything in a medium pot. Bring the mixture to a boil and allow it to simmer for 5 minutes. Once cool, puree in a blender or food processor. Strain to remove the seeds.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line your cupcake tin with liners, set aside. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time, and mix again, remembering to scrape down the sides of the bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, vanilla and blackberry coulis. Add half of the dry ingredients into the mixer bowl on low speed until just combined. Pour in the coulis-milk mixture and mix. Then mix in the remaining dry ingredients until just incorporated. Divide the batter among the cupcake tin and bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. 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 and beat until smooth. Turn the mixer on low and add the powdered sugar, vanilla and matcha. Add more powdered sugar if needed until you get the right consistency. Beat on high until light and fluffy and everything is well incorporated. Frost the cupcakes when cooled completely.
With Love by Michelle at 8:20 AM 14 comments
Tags: , , ,

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Tailored Tuesdays

Perfectly edgy. Perfectly girly.
1. Steven Alan 'Julet striped cotton blazer'
2. Sandro 'Riva striped jersey dress'
3. Alexander Wang 'Tina suede shoulder bag'
4. Maje 'Studded leather sandals'
5. Giles & Brother 'Multi chain necklace'

all images can be found at net-a-porter.com
With Love by Michelle at 11:12 AM 1 comments
Tags: ,

Monday, May 10, 2010

Breakfast Cookies

As you can see, I am still on that 'health kick'. My pantry is nowfully stocked with all sorts of healthy things: steel cut oats, baby food, agave, whole wheat flour, flax seeds, you name it! Eating healthy has been an attempt I've been making for some time now, but now that I'm taking a Human Nutrition class, I'm even more hell bent on doing so!
Not much of the information applies much to my baking habits, but when I learned that white flour and white rice has almost ALL of its nutrients removed from it, I was pretty shocked! Plus, when baking with whole wheat flour doesn't make much difference in taste, what's the harm in making things healthier?
These cookies are just as good as everyone says they are in the reviews and are most appropriately the perfect breakfast as their name suggests. They are chock full of goodies that keep you fueled throughout the day and just for some fun, I added a little spiced glaze, which just gave it that perfect amount of sweetness to make it seem like dessert too :)


Breakfast Cookies

Yields: 12 large cookies

Adapted from this Ellie Krieger recipe.


1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup (1 small jar) strained carrot baby food

3 tbsn. apple sauce

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup bran cereal flakes (I used cornflakes)

1/3 cup raisins

1/3 cup walnut pieces, lightly toasted and chopped


Place rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 F. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt in a medium sized bowl. Combine the applesauce, oil and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on high speed, scraping down the sides if necessary, until sugars have dissolved and mixture is light in color, about 1 minute. Add egg, carrot puree and vanilla and beat for an additional 30 seconds. Add flour mixture and beat an additional 30 seconds. Add oats, flakes, raisins, and walnuts and mix on low until just incorporated. Dough will be slightly sticky and less cohesive than typical cookie dough. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and using 3 - 4 tbsn. of batter, form a ball and place on a cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining batter, leaving 3 inches between cookies. Wet hands and use palm of hand to flatten cookies until about 1/4 inch thick. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes until cookies are fragrant but still soft. Let cookies cool slightly, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.


With Love by Michelle at 12:06 PM 4 comments
Tags: , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)