Tres Leches Cake

 

For this past Cinco de Mayo I thought what better cake to make than a Tres Leches? I had never made it before and thought the new experience would be fun and enlightening. This cake was definitely different, in terms of preparation and the final product. It was shockingly moist and just sweet enough to feel like a dessert but wasn't overwhelming. It was on the other hand incredibly rich, as I'm sure you can guess, from the cups upon cups of heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, and whole milk poured on, and subsequently absorbed in to the cake. But the richness is what makes this cake stand out. It's absolutely like no cake I've ever made or eaten before. It's wonderfully decadent and such a treat. And even the tiniest sliver is satisfying, so a little goes a long way with this one. I can't wait to make this cake again and am thinking this would be a perfect summer treat considering that I chilled it before serving, making it refreshingly cool and satisfying.

Frosted with simply unsweetened whipped cream

Prepping the ingredients

Begin with a rather stiff cake

Letting the cake absorb all the cream and milk making it

sublimely tender and moist

**Recipe from Rose's Heavenly Cakes. Will post soon.

Photos by Collin Monda

S'mores Cupcakes and Baby Jesuses

I finally did it. I made Collin's fantasy dessert: S'mores cupcakes. Whether or not they remain so is the question. They were good to be sure. But somehow seemed more like a chocolate cupcake with fixings to me. However, I must say, like pie, s'mores are not my favorite thing. Sure, while camping they are delicious and a must-have treat, but I'm not sure I would choose them otherwise.

This particular group meeting happened to fall on Mardi Gras and for the longest time, I've wanted to make a cake with a baby Jesus inside. Traditionally they are baked in king's cakes and whoever gets a slice with the baby Jesus means various different in things in different cultures. I like the version that it means good luck so I told my coworkers that whoever found it would have good luck for the rest of the year. Oleks was the victor after quickly downing two cupcakes to try and find it. Good luck for him in 2011!

Hiding the Baby Jesus

What could be more fun than a baby Jesus? I had just as much fun baking it and not knowing which one it went in to as I had eating them and hoping for the Jesus in my cake. It would have been a little too suspicious if I found it. The people would have revolted no doubt. So I'm glad I can share the luck with another.

If you're a s'mores fanatic like Collin, these would most definitely appeal to you. They aren't too difficult to make but the frosting in a little labor intensive and messy considering it is a meringue. Looking back, a marshmallow fluff would have been much better as a topper for these and much more appropriate. This is common though to many of the s'mores recipes out there and I wonder, why? You certainly don't whip up a meringue around the campfire to enjoy with graham cracker and chocolate, where did the marshamallow go?? Nary a marshmallow in sight. So sad. Perhaps this was the reason for it's downfall (at least for Collin and myself). I did love that the graham cracker was mixed with a bit of melted butter and packed in to the bottom of each cupcake. So so great. I doubt Martha could do any better with her recipe. Off Martha for awhile. Too hit and miss. Why do I always go back to her?

S'mores Cupcakes (adapted from Annie's Eats)

Crust ingredients

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

5 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

8 oz  finely chopped dark chocolate

Cupcake ingredients

2 cups + 2 Tablespoons of sugar

1 3/4 cups of all purpose flour

3/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon of cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 eggs, at room temperature

1 cup of whole milk (I used buttermilk)

1/2 cup of vegetable oil

2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract

1 cup of Boiling water

Marshmallow ingredients

8 egg whites, at room temperature

2 cups of sugar

1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar

2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract

Method

Prepare the crust: Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 2 muffin tins (24 muffins all together.) In a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Mix until well combined. Drop about 1 tablespoon of the graham cracker mixture in the bottom of each cupcake liner and press down to line the bottom. I used the back of a measuring Tablespoon to so this. Sprinkle a small amount of the chopped chocolate on top of the graham cracker crusts. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven. Leave the oven at 350F.

Prepare the cupcakes: Sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine, set aside. In the bowl of your stand mixer, or any large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract; whisk together. Add to the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the boiling water and stir just to combine (the batter will be thin, don't panic.)

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about 3/4 of the way full. Return the pans to the oven and bake about 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Rotate the pans halfway through baking. Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Prepare the marshmallow topping: Combine the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in the top of a double boiler. Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it reaches 160° F with an instant-read thermometer. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk starting at low speed and gradually increasing to medium-high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form. Mix in the vanilla until combined. Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired.

If you have a blow torch, you can use it to carefully toast the marshmallow frosting. If you don't have one, slide the frosted cupcakes under your oven's broiler. (Note: I placed my cupcakes on a cookie sheet while doing this.) Keep moving the cookie sheet around while the cupcakes are under the broiler. They burn very fast, so don't wander around while they're toasting.

Remove and serve immediately

Makes 24 cupcakes.

Oatmeal Cream Pies

What could be better right? In my book, nothing. Sure, I'm a chocolate fan. And yes, I love coconut, and carmel, and even crispies, but if I had the option of choosing any of those over an oatmeal creme pie? I'd go for it every time. Delicious and sweet and a touch healthy. Never stomach-ache inducing (unless you eat your body weight in them, not uncommon, but none the less), and always so satisfying.

I took my time selecting a recipe. Anyone can write an oatmeal cookie recipe but it takes a very special recipe indeed to make the right filling. It's oreo-like. Flaky and buttery, yet light and not too sweet. It's an enigma. And in searching for such fillings I discovered it's true secret. Nay, the secret to anything good. And no, it's not butter, but rather it's evil and alluring cousin, shortening. Oh yes, this is the key. Make it and forget you added it. It's incredible and the best frosting ever. You can find the cookie recipe here (but really use whatever recipe you like, just something soft and chewy.

I scoured the internet looking for the perfect cream filling and the most common recipe involved "very hot" water and lots of work. This frosting recipe killed it. Hands down best I've had/made. LOVE it. I found it here, along with another, I'm sure equally as delicious cookie recipe.

Cream Filling

• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening (I imagine butter would work just fine)
• 1 1/2 cups marshmallow cream
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1-2 tbsp milk, as needed

Cream together the shortening and marshmallow cream. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla, beat well. Thin with milk until you get the right consistency. The mixture should be thick and creamy, but easily spreadable.

These cookies turned out amazing. I had many of them and they were all worth it. I love me an oatmeal cream pie. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Another Martha-inspired recipe. I've been on a cookie kick lately, mainly because they seem infinitely easier to tackle at the end of a day than say, a cake. The thought of them being completed the moment they are baked has been quite appealing lately. Plus, there are SO many delicious looking cookies in the Martha Cookies book that I feel compelled to make them all every time I browse through it. And you know the funny thing? They've all been pretty good. Surprisingly good. Unlike some of her other creations. If you click on the link above and go to "Look Inside" you can scroll through tons of recipes without actually having to buy the book! Best part? The chocolate chip cookie recipe is included in that preview under "Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies" (from the name alone I knew they would be good. This is my favorite kind of choc. chip).

These cookies turned out amazingly and honestly, I think they are the best I've ever made. My new cookie scoop has helped out immensely since I've made these. Mine doesn't happen to be a Martha, but it works just the same. Makes the process SO much easier and they turn out perfectly with a pre-measured scoop. Never going back to the spooning method (I was never very good at it anyway!). If you're in need/want of some choc. chip cookies, look no further. These are best (that I've found anyway).

Everything Good in One Bar (i.e. Peanut Butter Chocolate Crispies)

In general, I will usually go for anything that includes chocolate, peanut butter, caramel, coconut, and crispies (puffed rice etc. etc.). When I found these bars on Oh She Glows, I knew I had to make them ASAP. They contained more than half of my required allurements for sweets and knew that they would be incredible. They were.

Do you like chocolate (hopefully this is a yes)? Do you like peanut butter (again, yes)? And do you like crispies? Good, these are the sweet for you. If you don't enjoy or abstain from any of these items, this probably isn't the treat for you, or really, the blog for you. This is the kind of treat I could eat all day long everyday. Surprisingly light and yet incredibly satisfying. Also, they are a sinch to whip up. Requires one bowl, a pot, and a baking dish.

Oh and to make it a little healthier I found some organic kids cereal that fit the bill. It was delicious and I felt so much better about eating these without the thousands of ingredients and preservatives and flavorings added. They were not needed (or wanted).

Mom's Apple Crisp

I have been making this dessert like crazy for the past few months. Although I'm slowing down considerably now (thank God) because the honeycrisps (my beloved) are not really in season any more. I pretty much refuse to use/consume any other apple besides the honeycrisp. I use my mom's recipe and it is amazing! No sugar added, except for brown sugar in the topping. It's one of, if not the healthiest desserts I've made and is really pretty good for you considering that there isn't much else in it besides apples.....

That is, until it gets into my hands and I add some flare (and in doing so, make it extremely unhealthy, but SO WORTH IT). I made some homemade vanilla ice cream to go along. I don't think I can adequately express how $%^* good homemade ice cream is. The recipe I use is pretty much entirely whipping cream, a bit of whole milk (why even add this?), a bunch of sugar, and vanilla beans (I like to buy the pods in the bulk spice section, split them, and scrap out the seeds myself. SO much cheaper and fun). I don't care how unhealthy this ice cream may be, it's incredible and even better along side apple crisp. I now can't imagine one without the other. They are perfect for each other. I miss you already honeycrisps.

beauties

Meringue & Raspberry Cupcakes

Even though my updates have been a little sporadic lately, I have in fact been baking a fair bit. Last month for Collin's birthday it seemed I had been baking a lot and tried to suggest options for his birthday that selfishly looked easy to make. He resisted all my attempts to trick him into accepting chocolate chip cookies or a simple pie and insisted on these Raspberry Jam Meringue Cupcakes (similar recipe) that I foolishly showed him right off the bat. When it got down to making them I was dreading the meringues. I had never made them before and anything with eggs whites just seems fussy and likely to fail. They didn't in fact and were to my surprise, not too hard. Messy for sure, but not too difficult. I used Martha again. I'm in a Martha kick right now, not sure why. Her recipe called for making the entire cupcake/top a meringue then slicing it in half and filling with jam and whipped cream. This seemed odd to me. How would you possibly go about eating two hard things stuck together by glob of something smooshy? I made a simple vanilla cupcake instead and made the meringues not in a muffin tin like suggested, but on a baking sheet like normal. I can't for the life of me remember what cake recipe I used but rest assured it was something simple. Most vanilla cake recipes will work here. As long as it tastes good, you're good to go. Once the cakes were ready, I topped with a dollop of raspberry jam and whipped cream and finished with a baked meringue. The end result was good but a bit too sweet. Probably not something I will make again. Martha has fooled me yet again. Why do I still go back?? They weren't terrible by any means, but for me? Not my favorite. Although, who are we kidding, I love chocolate and peanut butter and frosting. My idea of a great dessert doesn't involve jam or fresh fruit of any kind really. But to each their own and this kind of dessert happens to be Collin's favorite so who am to say it isn't good?

A lot of left over yolks

Photos by Me and my new camera

Valentine's Day Tuxedo Cupcakes

For Valentine's Day (gasp, almost a month away now....) I made Jamie's Black Tie Cupcakes from My Baking Addiction. A recently discovered her blog after trying to fill the gap of another blog I read that, much like this one, is too infrequent to keep my interest. Hopefully you haven't all given up on me! So, I found her blog and was instantly impressed and wanted to try one of her recipe's out and since it was V-day, chocolate was in order. The cupcakes were delicious but the frosting really was incredible. It was just the right amount of sweet and was amazingly creamy and didn't at all taste like cream cheese. To me this is a huge deal. I'm not adverse to cream cheese frosting but let's just say it would be my favorite. I love a buttercream but am finding them to be waaaay too sweet for most things that you wouldn't just take a tiny bite of. What I do love about a standard cream cheese frosting is that they are rarely ever too sweet because the bite from the cream cheese cuts the sugar nicely. I enjoy them from time to time but to have a cream cheese frosting that gets away with tasting not cream cheesy? Now that's a winner in my book (insert Charlie Sheen reference here). I'm sorry if I offend the cream cheese lovers of there. Never the less, you'll know it has cream cheese even if you can't taste it so you'll probably enjoy it just the same. Anyway, the end result was a decadent, creamy, not too sweet (or sour), frosting that perfectly paired with a rich chocolate cake. The cake on the other hand wasn't very good. The coffee proportions were all wrong which may have been my fault (I used fresh espresso and diluted a bit instead of instant espresso). I've had many other chocolate cakes that use instant espresso and they are wonderful (i.e. Ina Garten's) but this one just didn't work. I would highly recommend sticking to Rose's Heavely Devil's Food Cake for that one. See previous post for the recipe here. There is NO comparison as far as I'm concerned. Best chocolate cake ever. But maybe that's why all other chocolate cake's pale in comparison?

Oh! AND these cupcakes were filled with chocolate ganache. So if you're a chocolate fanatic I'm sure you will enjoy this little detail. For me? It was a bit much. But there are a few chocolate fanatics (and some not as much) of my acquaintance that loved this part especially.

I topped them with a little more of the frosting mixed with a TON of red food coloring. I couldn't believe how much it took to make it a true red! I was using gel as well and it took so much! So be prepared for that. I'll blame it on the cream cheese. It must absorb food coloring into a black hole of some sorts. Only explanation.

Photos by Collin Monda

VEGAN Chocolate Cupcakes

I am no vegan but appreciate and admire its cause. The reason I made these cupcakes was not due to environmental reasons or animal rights, although those are HUGE pluses, I made them because they were easy. When it's 9PM, I'm laying on the couch watching the fifth Sopranos episode in a row (and possibly a few glasses of champagne deep) one of the last things I want to do is bake (and also clean up the inevitable giant mess I will create....due to champagne consumption). So I glanced through the Martha Stewart "Cupcakes" book and spotted these babies. Another huge reason I made these was because I was out of milk and whipping cream. So that means no frosting. Nearly every recipe contains milk or buttermilk, and inevitably has some sort of cream-related frosting recipe. When I happened upon a recipe with neither frosting nor milk involved in the cakes that's all I needed to whip them up. And the fact that they took like 5 minutes to prepare. I realized half way through (champagne) that the recipe only makes 12, so I had to go back and make another batch. Wasn't a problem though because it didn't require that much of any one ingredient. Thank God I had enough of everything because I was not about to go up to the store and I think I've used up all my favors long ago with Collin running that errand for me.

The batter was incredibly thin and I questioned whether they were going to turn out, but since they were chocolate I figured my lab-mates couldn't complain too much. Also, I decided to omit the vegan part until they had all consumed at least half before dropping that on them, figuring if they knew before hand they would say "oh yea, I know what you mean, they are dry" or "yea, butter would have really been nice here" or "where the hell is the frosting?". But instead of any of these comments, they were quite pleased they were vegan and requested more in the future. I was surprised but also agreed with them entirely. They were delicious cupcakes and certainly take no backseat to any dairy-ridden treat. I confess, I did use a tiiiiiny bit of butter in the ganache on top. What? It's ganache what am I supposed to do? I was confounded by the veganess and broke down and used some butter. In the book they have you dust cocoa powder on top which is a lovely version. So if you really want to be strictly vegan, use the cocoa powder or just have them plain. I promise they are good enough without any extras. 

I'm happy to add this to my repetoir and my fear of offering a vegan treat has subsided a bit. I no longer fear that the people will rebel if they don't get their weekly rations of butter and frosting from me and are perfectly happy with a sweet non-dairy alternative. We can all feel a little better about ourselves for it. Which reminds me....

A wonderful charity that I donate too frequently is the Human Farming Association which rescues animals from industrial farms in this country. Please check it out. They do great work for such a worthy cause. If you can, please buy your dairy products from a local/organic farm. They are usually much smaller farms (non-industrial) and treat the animals humanely. Happy cows = good milk and butter (happy body). Yum. 

In the case of these cupcakes at least, you will not miss the dairy. Promise. 

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes (makes 12)

From Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self rising, sifted)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for dusting

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups water

confectioners' sugar, for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C). Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners. Sift together cake flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, mix together oil, vinegar, vanilla, and the water until well combined. Add flour mixture and mix until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed (batter will be very thin).
3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tin halfway through, until a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Turn out cupcakes onto a wire rack and let cool completely.
4. Cupcakes can be stored up to 3 days at room temperature, or frozen up to 1 month, in airtight containers. Dust cupcakes with cocoa and confectioners' sugar just before serving.

Photos by ME this time (new camera).