Rainbow Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

I'm home! That means I get to work in a fully equipped, big, bright, great kitchen (my mom's). On Saturday I hosted a birthday party for my friend Kerri, and she asked for rainbow cupcakes. She also asked for frosting to resemble Hydrangeas (as found here) but I failed miserably at that...didn't have the right tip, and the frosting wouldn't get stiff enough. But I thought the rainbow turned out wonderfully. The cupcakes weren't as moist as I'd have liked but I think that's because I kept them out a bit too long...oops. And the frosting wasn't my favorite, but it wasn't too bad. Overall I don't think I'd reuse these recipes, but definitely try the rainbow cupcakes out, they're beautiful!

Rainbow Cupcakes
Adapted from Simple White Cake from Allrecipes
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
red, green, yellow, and blue food coloring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth.

Split batter equally into 6 bowls.
Drop count (from bakedbree.com)
Purple: 9 red + 6 blue
Blue: 12 blue
Green: 12 green
Yellow: 12 yellow
Orange: 12 yellow + 4 red
Red: 18 red
Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan in layers, smoothing the layer with the spoon after each addition: purple, then blue, then green, then yellow, then orange, then red. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe from Glorious Treats

½ cup butter, at room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered confectioners sugar
1-4 tbsp heavy cream, heavy whipping cream (I used 1 tbsp)
Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend slightly. Add cream cheese and blend until combined, about 30 seconds.
Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.

Slowly add the heavy cream, a little bit at a time until desired consistency is met. (Don't add too much if you want the frosting to stay in place when piped on cupcakes.)
Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.

Use at once or keep refrigerated. (This frosting will keep well in the refrigerator for several days, but you may need to re-beat it for the best texture.)

Rum Cream Pie 2

Ok, so for my friend Jimmy's birthday in late April, I was planning on making a Rum Cream Pie. Unfortunately, the unmarked package that I thought was unflavored gelatin was actually vanilla pudding, and I mixed it in the pie & did everything and it wasn't enough so I put another cup of whipped cream on top. Other changes are reflected below. Anyway, I had it frozen and then took it over and then it took long enough and then the pie melted and people put it in the freezer again and I thought they forgot about it. I was so embarrassed about the pie forever and then when at Steven's birthday party last week, one of my friends who lives with Jimmy reminded me about the pie and told me it was DELICOUS.

Wow, phew. I thought it was a huge crap on my reputation as a baker, because nobody ever mentioned it or thanked me and I didn't bring it up again. Good to know it was actually a success!

For this, I used the recipe for Rum Cream Pie in Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table that I also used here, but made a few changes. I used a store-bought crust (which was fine), used 1 1/4 teaspoons of vanilla pudding instead of unflavored gelatin, used another cup of heavy cream & some sugar & vanilla for whipped cream on top, and sprinkled mini semi-sweet chocolate chips on top instead of bittersweet. I froze the pie since the pudding didn't harden like gelatin.

Moist Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

Last year for my friend Steven's birthday, I made him a Chocolate Panda Cake with White Chocolate Frosting. This year, he wanted a reverse panda--more chocolate. Later, someone remarked that it was just a bear. Whatever, I tried!! It wasn't as cute as it could have been but it was still pretty cute. And good! I actually found a mayonnaise cake recipe for this one and didn't tell anyone and people still liked it...I had leftover mayo that I wanted to use up, haha. Most people loved it, though one person thought the texture was like bread. It was just dense but also moist! And the frosting I chose was the perfect sweetness. I chose the frosting I made for Jimmy's birthday cake last year, found here. I used store-bought icing for the white cuz I was lazy. I sprinkled some mini chocolate chips on the frosting between the layers.

Moist Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake
Recipe found here

2 cups flour
2/3 cup cocoa
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup mayonnaise
1 1/3 cups water

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Grease and flour 2 – 9″ round cake pans.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder.

Mix well and set aside.

Beat together eggs, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl for 3 minutes, using the high speed of an electric mixer. Mixture should be smooth and creamy. Reduce speed to low and beat in mayonnaise until blended.

Add flour mixture in batches, alternating with water, in 4 equal additions (1/4 of the flour, then 1/4 of the water etc). Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the center of the cake springs back when lightly touched or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake is clean when removed.

Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pans and allow to cool completely before frosting with your favorite frosting.

Mocha Chip Cookies

Sorry for the lack of a post last week, and for an old recipe this week! I made these cookies over a year ago. I'm pretty sure I found the recipe I used...hopefully. I've been pretty busy because we were finishing up with my Junior Year of classes, and now finals are coming! I have a lot of projects due on Thursday, and then a couple exams I actually have to study for next week, but it's just overall pretty busy. I should have a new recipe (or at least a new item, I may reuse recipes) next weekend.

Also, Happy Mother's Day!!

Mocha Chip Cookies
Recipe by Nestle Toll House

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons Baking Cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 tablespoons Instant Coffee Granules
2 tablespoons warm water
1 cup (6 oz.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease baking sheets.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until light and creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract.

Combine Instant Coffee Granules and water in small bowl; stir until coffee is dissolved. Add to sugar mixture; mix well. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by rounded teaspoon onto prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are crisp. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Supermarket Sugar Cookies

I haven't had time to bake lately, so here are some cookies I made over a year ago. Which, by the way, were EXCELLENT, and the only reason I haven't made them since is because they are so delicious and packed with way too many calories. BUT they were really great, and not only great, but they taste SO. CLOSE. To those frosted sugar cookies you can find in supermarkets.

Supermarket Sugar Cookies
Recipe by Carrie

1 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
4 1/2 - 5 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
Mix the shortening, sugar, sour cream, vanilla, and eggs together. Stir 4 1/2 cups flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder together in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix. Now, the dough works best if cooled, so refrigerate the dough (in the bowl no need to cover the bowl) for 45 minutes. Generously flour your counter top and roll out the cookies. I had to flour the dough as well to keep it from sticking to my rolling pin. Cut the cookies, I used the rim of a drinking glass to cut my cookies. I was able to roll and cut 48 cookies total. Make sure you use non-stick foil or butter/flour your pan and bake them at 400 degrees until just barely light golden brown on the bottom, for me this was 9-10 minutes. After cookies have cooled you can frost and decorate.

Buttercream Frosting
2 pound bag powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
Food coloring, if desired

Beat all ingredients together until smooth. Generously frost the sugar cookies! Top with sprinkles for extra fun.

Chocolate Cupcakes with AWESOME FROSTING

A few weeks ago was my friend David's birthday, but I was so busy with schoolwork that I didn't have time to bake him anything. So finally, a week belated, I had time to not only make him his favorite chocolate-something, but I got to make CUPCAKES which I've been dying to make in forever, and got to FINALLY TRY FLOUR FROSTING oh my god it was so good. You have to try it, and it's super easy. For the cupcakes I used the same recipe that I used for my chocolate cake with coconut frosting, found here. I think from now on, that's my go-to for chocolate cakes: it's always the perfect taste. However, the cupcakes tended to overflow and didn't poof very well, so make sure you're filling them only barely over halfway.

Amazing Flour Frosting
Recipe from The Pioneer Woman
Recipe found on The Girl who Ate Everything

5 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 cup granulated white sugar (not powdered sugar)

In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. It took me around 5 minutes. Be careful not to burn it. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. You can place the saucepan over ice in the sink for about 10 minutes or so until the mixture cools if you are in a hurry. Stir in vanilla. This mixture must be completely cooled in order for the frosting to work.

While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Then add the cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat until it all combines and resembles whipped cream. Make sure you scrape down the sides every so often so that it all gets incorporated and whipped. If it's not looking like whipped cream, keep on whipping. This frosting is great for piping. Best served the same day.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

So I've been back at school for 2 weeks. That means, 2 weeks ago when I came back from spring break, I made these cookies for my friend Peijie's birthday (technically belated since his birthday was during spring break). They were SO GOOD. They made a lot more than I expected, too, so not only did I give Peijie a huge plateful, but I gave some to my friend Sophie too. And I had one...and it was so good...if I ever make white chocolate macadamia nut cookies again (which may happen maybe once more in my life, since the nuts are expensive) then I'm definitely using this trustworthy recipe. I used unsalted macadamia nuts. Peijie said the white chocolate was a little sweet, so maybe I'd use a higher quality than just the chips that I used.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Adapted from Field Guide to Cookies by Tessa

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted & cooled
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Adjust an oven rack to lower-middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl, beat the melted butter and sugars together with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until combined.

Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until combined. Mix in the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts until incorporated.

Working with 2 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll the dough into even balls and lay them on the baking sheets, spaced about 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies until the edges are set and beginning to brown but the centers are still soft and puffy, about 16 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Fresh Fruit Asian Sponge Cake

The week before spring break was one of my good friend's, Philip's, birthdays. He told me he liked ice cream cakes and I shot that idea down (because I couldn't make homemade ice cream so it wouldn't be challenging enough? I have noo idea why...) and then he said he also liked those Chinese Fruit Cakes that I also have experience with (I loved having them for my birthdays in high school). So I searched for a recipe. This recipe was reallllly good. I think I could have put more frosting in there because I was stingy but it made a LOT, and it would have been nicer if I could have gotten the layers a little thinner, but I didn't want to risk it. Also, if I could have gotten melon, it would have been better too. BUT it was really really delicious and turned out beautifully!





Fresh Fruit Cake
Recipe adapted from here

8 eggs
1 cup sugar, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup flour + 1/8 cup cornstarch
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vinegar/lemon juice
1/2 cup milk
fresh fruits – strawberries, cantaloupe, kiwi fruit
1 cup whipping cream
3 tablespoons icing sugar

Preheat oven to 350F.

Sift the cake flour together with the baking powder twice to airate the flour.

Separate the egg yolk from the white and put in two different bowls.

In the bowl with the egg white, add the cream of tartar and vinegar and beat until thicken. Add 1/4 cup of sugar and beat further until the mixture shines.

In another bowl, beat the egg yolk with the remainder 1/4 cup of sugar until the sugar dissolve.

Add milk and vegetable oil into the egg yolk mixture and stir to mix well.

Gently fold in the cake flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture.

Gently fold in 1/3 of the egg yolk flour mixture into the egg white until blend. Repeat with the remainder of the egg yolk in 1/3 portions.

Pour the mixture into two greased 8″ circular cake pans. Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove the oven and invert the cake to cool. It is very important to let the cake to cool completely before frosting.

Cut the kiwi into thin slices.
Cut the strawberries into thin slices, reserving a few whole strawberries to decorate the center part.

Beat the whipping cream and the icing sugar together until thicken.

Spread the whipping cream on the surface of the bottom layer and top with strawberries slices (or your desired fruit).

Spread whipping cream on a second layer and place it on top of the first layer.

Decorate the top of the cake with more nicely cut slices of fruit. Place the cake in the refrigerator for at least half an hour before serving.

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake

I made this cake for my friend Brian's birthday a while ago. The frosting was definitely amazing. I didn't get a big piece, but I think the cake on it's own definitely needed that frosting, because it was a little thicker. I also think the flavor could have done with a little more espresso but it was still really good and everyone really liked it!







Old-Fashioned Layer Cake
Recipe adapted from Baking Illustrated, found here

For the cake:
1 and 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting pans
12 tablespoons (1 and 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 and 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup nonalkalized cocoa, such as Hershey’s, sifted
2 teaspoons instant espresso or coffee powder
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the frosting:
10 ounces chocolate, chopped fine
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 and 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, cut into chunks and softened

For the cake: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Generously grease two 8-inch round cake pans and cover the pan bottoms with rounds of parchment paper. Grease the parchment rounds and dust the pans with flour, tapping out the excess.

Beat the butter on the bowl of a standing mixer at medium-high speed until smooth and shiny, about 30 seconds.

Gradually sprinkle in the sugar; beat until the mixture is fluffy and almost white, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating 1 full minute after each addition.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa, and instant espresso powder in a medium bowl.

Combine the milk and vanilla in a liquid measuring cup.

With the mixer at the lowest speed, add about a third of the dry ingredients to the batter, followed immediately by about a third of the milk mixture; mix until the ingredients are almost incorporated into the batter.

Repeat the process twice more.

When the batter appears blended, stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Return the mixer to low speed; beat until the butter looks satiny, about 15 seconds longer.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.

With a rubber spatula, spread the batter to the pan sides and smooth the tops.

Bake the cakes until they feel firm in the center when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 23 to 30 minutes.

Run a knife around the perimenter of each pan, invert the cakes on a wire rack, and peel off the paper liners.

Reinvert the cakes onto the racks and cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting: Place the chocolate in a food processor,

Bring the cream, corn syrup, and salt to a boil in a liquid measuring cup in the microwave. Stir the mixture to combine.

Pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate and process until the mixture is smooth, about 1 minute.

If your food processor is big enough (mine is not), continue with the following instructions, combining everything in your food processor. I actually switched everything over to my stand mixer at this point. Be careful-the mixture is hot.

Add the sugar and vanilla and continue to process (or mix) until combined, about 30 seconds.

With the machine running, add the softened butter, one piece at a time. Continue to process until the frosting is smooth and no butter chunks remain, about 2 minutes.

Transfer the butter to a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until thick and spreadable, 1 to 1 and 1/2 hours.

Kahlua Brownies

I really loved these brownies...one friend said that the Kahlua wasn't strong enough, but I could definitely tell it apart from other brownies. Another friend, who has never tried Kahlua so didn't know, thought these brownies were the best I've made (though I think he's only tried one other recipe...but oh well, compliment none the less!). Though I am still searching for my favorite plain brownie recipe, these Kahlua brownies are excellent!







Kahlua Brownies
Recipe by Mary Kennedy, found here

Ingredients:
3/4 cup cocoa, unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup melted butter, divided
1/4 cup boiling water, 1/4 cup Kahlua
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation:
Directions for chocolate brownies
In a large bowl, combine cocoa and baking soda; blend in 1/3 cup melted butter. Add boiling water and Kahlua; stir until well blended. Stir in sugar, beaten eggs and remaining 1/3 cup butter. Stir in flour and salt. Stir nuts and the chocolate chips into chocolate brownies batter. Pour chocolate brownie batter into a greased 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Bake at 350° for 35 to 40 minutes or until chocolate brownies are firm and begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool before cutting into squares.