Going to Cabo!

Click on the template to download the larger version

So I wish I could say that I have been waiting until the week of my friend Stephanie's wedding to post this but the truth is that I am so behind on my blogging that the fact that her wedding is this weekend is really a coincidence. With that said, I am still very excited to share these pictures and most importantly the template for the cupcake toppers I made. I made my chocolate Chambord ganache cupcakes as well as a chocolate whoopie pie with peanut butter filling (special request from the bride) for her wedding shower a few weeks ago. If you want to download the template for the cupcake toppers all you do is click on the image and then you can bring the file into photoshop or illustrator to add your own message. Or you can always just hand write on them. In this case her wedding is in Cabo, Mexico so I used the colors from her invitation designed by the talented Stamped Paper Co. and put "See you in Cabo" on the flags. Use a pair of sharp scissors and just glue a toothpick on the back to stick into the cake. Good luck!

Here is the recipe for the chocolate whoopie pie original recipe from Whoopie Pies:

• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flout
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons stick unsalted butter at room temp
• 4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup milk

1. Preheat the oven to 375 and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, shortening, and browns sugar on low speed until just combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat until fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for another 2 minutes.
3. Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk to the batter and beat on low until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the remaining flour mixter and milk and beat until completely combined (be careful not to over mix)
4. Use a spoon or a pipping bag and drop about 1 tablespoon of batter onto your baking sheets and repeat, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Bake for about 10 min each but keep on aye on them since smaller ones will cook faster.

*Let them cool completely before filling.

Baby Monkey Dessert Table

Whew! Finally doing another blog post with yet another baby shower dessert table. I realized it was time to sit down and post these images since the baby was born this weekend that this shower was held for. So exciting, and baby Avery is a beautiful healthy baby boy with two great parents.

Tracy (mommy) wanted a blue and brown monkey theme which I thought was great. Not only are monkeys cute they provide some great inspiration for banana themed desserts. I included the labels I made to show the full menu as well as to show the simple design. Just like the last dessert table I posted I hope to post some of the individual recipes but for now here are some images...

Color palate

labels - click to enlarge

Peanut butter chocolate layer cake

Mini Dirt Cakes

Chocolate and vanilla cake balls

Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies

Mini banana nut cupcakes

mini monkey breads

Supply sources:

Brown and white striped cups and blue and white polka dot cups, and blue and white striped straws: http://www.shopsweetlulu.com/

Blue and white polka dot platter: www.ikea.com

Ruffled edge platter: www.sweetandsaucysupply.com/

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Red velvet with cinnamon cream cheese frosting

The party was AARP themed since the birthday girl was turning 50... she took it like a champ!

Chocolate with peanut butter buttercream and chocolate peanut butter sauce

One of my favorite co-workers commissioned me to make 50 cupcakes for another awesome co-worker of ours and of course I was super excited. After talking it over we settled on three flavors:

1. Chocolate with peanut butter buttercream and peanut butter chocolate fudge sauce
2. Classic yellow cake with dark chocolate cream cheese frosting
3. Red velvet with cinnamon cream cheese frosting and red velvet crumb topping

I had made all of the icing and cakes on their own and some together over the past few years but I had never used the cinnamon cream cheese frosting in the past and it was so good that I had to share it with you all. This is crazy simple, and really nothing fancy but it ads a whole new delicious layer to a red velvet cake. It's so subtle that you can't really pinpoint what it is but when you do it is such a surprise that it makes everyone smile. Try it on you next red velvet cupcake and I promise you wont be disappointed.

-K

Ingredients:

• 4 cups powdered sugar sifted
• 1/2 cup butter, room temp
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (you can also use nutmeg)
• 1 tbl heavy whipping cream (this is optional but I find it helps the frosting to be extra fluffy)

1. Cream the butter in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Slowly add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, and heavy cream mix until well combined.
2. Add the cream cheese and beat on high for about 5 min or until the frosting is light and fluffy. Try not to over-beat.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I took Friday off of work to try and catch up on life. Fun stuff like dry cleaning, pharmacy, oh and let's not forget laundry and dishes. In the middle of all the fun I decided to take another stab at some Oatmeal cookies, I found this recipe on Pixie Baker and I thought it sounded and looked like one worth trying and I was right. These cookies in my opinion are better than the last batch. Rather than light and fluffy these are more thin and dense. Don't get me wrong, the last batch had it's perks but these are more my style. The addition of the peanut butter isn't overpowering, in fact you can hardly tell it's there. It does however add a level of gooey sweetness that really makes this cookie a winner. If you don't want to use chocolate chips raisins would work beautifully as well. I hope you guys try this one out this fall, I promise they will not disappoint.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I used reduced fat and it worked very nicely)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg at room temperature
• 3/4 cup oats
• 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (Ghiradelli's 60% cocoa chips are great here)

Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream together butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla on medium speed. Add the egg and beat to combine. On low speed gradually add the flour mixture until just combined. Using a wooden spoon stir in the oats and chocolate chips. Pour dough onto plastic wrap and form a disk, wrap tightly and chill for at least 3 hours, overnight is best.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Use a small ice cream scoop or your hands to form about 3 tbl of dough. Drop onto baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 min, or until the cookies are lightly golden. Cool completely on a wire rack. Note: The cookies should appear slightly under baked when you take them out of the oven, remember they will continue to cook as the cool and harden up on you.

Makes about 16 cookies.

Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Buttercream and Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache

I was inspired by Coco Cake and decided to make a cake last week. I am all about using what I have in the cupboard these days and since I had made Nigella's Peanut butter chocolate fudge sauce the day before and had a good amount left over I thought I would use that as inspiration for my cake. I decided to make a regular chocolate cake, you can use which ever recipe you like best here. I used my classic go to chocolate cake that for now remains my secret. To make it special I made peanut butter buttercream, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. It was so creamy and light I could eat an entire bowl. I used the chocolate peanut butter sauce in between one layer and then I topped the cake with the last little bit, this makes it look and taste extra special. It is a nice way to elevate a simple cake from the normal cake and icing to cake, icing, and ganache!

One thing I like to do is make sure my cakes are nice and high, I always double my cake recipe and in this case I used 8" cake pans and made 3 layers. It makes the cake look professional and the more cake the better, right?

Peanut Butter Buttercream: (I am giving you the doubled recipe since you will need almost all of this for the filing and to ice the cake, feel free to half it if you make a smaller cake)

• 2 cups butter softened (you can do 2 sticks salted and 2 sticks unsalted)
• 8 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup of peanut butter

1. Cream the butter until light and fluffy.
2. Add in the sugar slowly until well combined. Add in the vanilla and cream.
3. Beat in the peanut butter until creamy. That's it!

Click here to see my post on how to make the Chocolate Peanut Butter sauce...

To assemble:

• Place the first layer of the cake on a clean plate that is easy to ice on. I like to put a cardboard cake round down on a lazy susan so that I can spin it as I ice. Take about 3/4 cup of your buttercream and spread it evenly on the layer.
• Put the next layer of cake on top of that and pour the cooled chocolate sauce on top, just enough to cover the top of the layer and not drip out over the sides. Top that with the last layer of cake.
• Take a flat icing spatula and start your crumb coat - this is just a thin layer of your butter cream icing to cover the entire cake. Don't worry about the crumbs. Once your cake is completely covered put it in the fridge for 30 min.
• Now you have a nice layer of cooled icing so when you put the rest of your buttercream on you won't get any crumbs. Ice an even layer of Buttercream over the entire cake.
• Take the rest of your icing and put it in a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe large balls around the bottom of the cake and three layers of round balls on the top. Starting on the outside and working in.
• All that is left now is to drop about a quarter of a cup of your chocolate sauce right on top, use a small flat end spatula to spread it evenly or if you use a lazy susan you can just spin it and it will flow out evenly on its own.

first 2 layers of the chocolate cake - buttercream on bottom layer, chocolate sauce on middle layer

Crumb coat ready for the fridge for 30 min.

using a round tip on a pastry bag pipe three layers of round circles on the top and 1 layer around the bottom of the cake

drop the chocolate sauce in the middle and spread evenly (spinning the lazy susan will help a ton)

Voila, Enjoy!

Whoopie Pies for Elvis

Fresh out of the oven

sugar and butter mixture - should be crumbly before adding cream, honey, and lemon juice

Assembly line

Chocolate glaze

The Good, the Bad, and the Yummy states that "Elvis might have been horribly misguided about drugs and sequins, but he got one thing right—peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

I couldn't agree more. Elvis was a smart man with an even smarter mother. It is rumored that his mom used to prepare his favorite sandwich for him- a peanut butter and banana sandwich on hawaiian bread. My own father used to love to each peanut butter on ritz crackers, also very yummy and I love peanut butter and honey on wheat bread. How do you combine all three? Only in a whoopie pie of course!

My friend Taryn and I decided to tackle the idea of an Elvis whoopie pie. Banana Whoopie's with a layer of salted peanut butter spread and honey buttercream, to top it all off and really make it K Bakes style Taryn had the brilliant idea of dipping them in chocolate. It seems like a lot of hard work but they really weren't that difficult, and all the ingredients really make these amazing. By adding mashed bananas to the whoopie pies it makes for a ultra moist cake that isn't too sweet, once paired with the thick peanut butter spread and the light sweet honey buttercream you can't resist but to bite into these. I think even Elvis would be proud of the chocolate addition.

All recipes are adapted from the brilliant book "Whoopie Pies" by Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwell

Banana Whoopie:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole weat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
• 4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Sift together using a strainer or a sifter both flours, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. Set aside
3. In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a hand mixer if you don't have a stand mixer) beat together the butter, shortening, sugar, and vanilla until light and creamy. Add in the eggs and beat until combined.
4. slowly add in the dry ingredients, once combined add in the mashed bananas and mix on medium speed for about 2 min.
5. Using a spoon or a pastry bag with a large round tip drop about 1-2 tablespoons of batter depending on how large you want to make them onto the prepared baking sheets spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Bake on the sheets for about 10 min, or until the cakes begin to brown slightly. remove from the oven and let the cakes cool on the sheet for a few min before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

Fillings!!

Honey Buttercream:

• 3 cups of confectioners sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 to 4 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons of honey (I use Savannah Bee Company's Winter White Honey)
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• pinch of salt

In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the confectioners sugar and the butter, starting on low and increasing to medium speed, until the mixture is crumbly, about 1 minute. add the heavy cream, honey, lemon juice, and salt and beat on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.

Salty Peanut Butter:

• 3/4 cup of creamy or crunchy peanut butter (I used reduced fat creamy peanut butter at it was great)
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt (if you don't want it to be too salty you could just do a pinch of salt)

In the work bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the peanut butter and butter on low speed until smooth and creamy. add the confectioners sugar and the salt and beat on low to incorporate. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the filling is light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.

Chocolate glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter at room temperature

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream in a small, heavy saucepan over medium heat just until it bubbles. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate in the bowl and stir until smooth. add the butter and stir to blend.

TO ASSEMBLE:

Put both your fillings into pastry bags fitted with a large round tip or in a ziplock back with the tip cut off. Pipe the peanut butter filling on half of the whoopie pie's and the honey buttercream on the other half. Assemble by putting the honey buttercream whoopies on top of the peanut butter ones (so the heavier side doesn't crush the buttercream) Once they are assembled dip each one into the warm chocolate glaze, then cool on a rack. Place a sheet of parchment or waxed paper under the rack to catch the drippings.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Sauce

What I am experiencing right now should be illegal. I have been craving chocolate like it's going out of style the past few days but I haven't been able to bake much since my kitchen has been closed for a few weeks. I know sad, but hopefully it will be back in full swing soon. Back to my need for chocolate - I had chocolate chips, peanut butter, and a can of sweetened condensed milk. Who knew that just by mixing those three things together you could have the most amazing chocolate peanut butter topping to pour, yes pour over ice cream. Since I decided to make this at the last minute my camera is dead and I didn't get any photos, but good news! The lovely Nigella Lawson is here to show you exactly how to make it step by step. I could listen to her gorgeous english accent talk about chocolate all day. Make this. You will love it. There is nothing more to say.

All you need:

• Chocolate chips
• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
• Peanut butter
• Boiling water
• Crushed peanuts (optional)