Giveaway!

Earlier this week, I mentioned that I would have a giveaway, so here we go!

It came to happen that I have one too many copies of the following book:

Yes, the Cake Pops book by the famous Bakerella. I remember first learning about cake pops and being totally enthralled with the whole idea. Cut to me making them a few times and two friends gifting me the book, and here we are.

I have yet to really venture into the more complicated designs shown in this book - I just haven't found an occasion yet - but it includes the basic 'recipe' of creating these cute pops. Maybe in the spirit of giving this book away, I'll try my hand at one of the Christmas varieties and post about it!

Anyway, since I'm not up-to-date on all the fancy schmancy giveaway plugins, we're keeping it simple. You get one entry for commenting on this post and one entry for tweeting about it - just include my Twitter handle (@princesscait) and post the link here, preferably in a separate comment. That's it! I'll pick and post a winner next Wednesday, so all entries should be in by 11:59EST on Tuesday, December 10.

I was not compensated in any way for this post/giveaway, I honestly just had an extra copy and felt like giving you guys a special treat for the holiday season.

Blue Moon Cupcakes.

Back in October, I had a party at my place to celebrate Erik’s birthday. Being the Martha Stewart wanna-be that I am, I wanted to bake something, but I wanted it to be cool. Erik and his friends didn’t want frilly color-coordinated cupcakes or any type of fancy dessert.

Thanks to the power of Pinterest and the internet in general, I found a few cupcake recipes that mimicked alcoholic beverages and knew that was what I was going to make. Finding the recipe for Blue Moon Cupcakes (link to the actual recipe here) was just pure luck, considering most people like Blue Moon and it’s one of Erik’s faves.

Today (yes, only three months late) I’ll be sharing my experience making these. Spoiler alert: they’re AMAZING.

You’ll need to grab the following ingredients: unsalted butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, vanilla extract, red and yellow food coloring, orange zest, milk, and of course, a bottle of Blue Moon.

Perfect! Okay, the first step is to mix the dry ingredients in one bowl. That’ll be the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Next, I zested the orange, which proved to be a more difficult feat than expected. You’re looking for about a half a teaspoon; I don’t know if I managed to get that much, but I don’t think it really mattered.

After that are a series of steps I didn’t photograph. You beat the softened butter first, then add the sugar slowly, making sure it gets incorporated as you go along. Next, add the eggs one at a time – again, you’re making sure they fully mix in before adding the next one. Finally, add the food coloring, vanilla extract, and orange zest, and you’ll have the prettiest batter I ever did see:

Now it’s time to open that Blue Moon! Mix the beer and milk in a measuring cup. (Note: when I did this, the consistency was off-putting because I think the beer curdled the milk, or at least did something weird to it. However! Everything turned out fine in the end, so if this happens to you, don’t panic… like I may or may not have done.)

You’re going to alternate between adding the beer/milk mixture and the flour mixture. There’s no exact science here, but make sure the last thing you add is the remainder of the dry ingredients. Now the batter will look a little less orange, but still fun.

 

Scoop the batter into cups – about 2/3 of the way full – and bake. Let them cool completely, then decorate! The original recipe calls for homemade frosting, but I cheated and went with store-bought vanilla. You can garnish with little orange slices, but like I mentioned earlier, Erik and his friends likely wouldn’t, erm, appreciate my decorative skills; instead, I went with blue sugar.

These are so delicious and moist. The Blue Moon flavor is definitely there, but it’s not overwhelming. I couldn’t really say if non-beer drinkers would enjoy these – the Blue Moon/beer flavor may be subtle enough to not be too strange – so just be aware of that if you’re making these for a mixed crowd.

~*~*~*~

Blue Moon Cupcakes

 

Ingredients

3/4 c unsalted butter, softened

1 3/4 c sugar

2 1/2 c flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

2 drops red food coloring

10 drops yellow food coloring

1/2 tsp orange zest

1 c Blue Moon beer

1/4 c milk

Frothy White Frosting [recipe here], or any homemade/store-bought vanilla frosting

small orange slices, for garnish

Directions
1. Line 24 cupcake trays with liners. [Use white liners if you can, they become translucent during baking and really sell the mini Blue Moon image]. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking power and salt.
2. In a large bowl beat butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar a little bit at a time, beating well. Once it's all added beat for 2 more minutes.
3. Add eggs, beating after each.
4. Add vanilla, food coloring and orange zest and beat.
5. Mix beer and milk in a measuring cup. Alternatively add beer / milk mixture and flour mixture to butter mixture in the large bowl, beating after each. End on the flour mixture.
6. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake for 18 minutes at 375 degrees F until cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Once cool, frost each cupcake with a generous amount of frosting. Just before serving, garnish each with a small orange slice.

Cookie Week: Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Time for my second contribution to Erin's Christmas Cookie Week! I may have a third recipe in store for you - I'm baking tonight & we'll just have to see how it goes. Click over to The Speckled Palate every day this week to see some awesome recipes!

It's not Christmas in my house without chocolate chip cookies. My mom did the bulk of the work when I was a kid - we just got to measure things and then put the cookies on trays. We use the recipe right off the bag of Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet chocolate chips, and I probably always will. Even if I try out new chocolate chip recipes, I'll always come back to the yellow bag. It's what I know and it tastes good, so why mess with it?

Let's get started! Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and grab the following items: flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, brown sugar (I've found little difference between light or dark, so go with what you have!), eggs, butter, vanilla extract, and of course, chocolate chips. This year I've also added some Nestle Mini Toppers, which are teeny-tiny white chocolate chips that are colored red and green.

The butter needs to be softened before you start. In one bowl, mix your dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt).

In your mixer bowl (or a second bowl), cream together your wet ingredients except the eggs (sugar, brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract). Add the eggs one at a time, making sure they get mixed in well in between.

Add the dry ingredients gradually, in about three or four parts. When your done, the dough will look delicious and be stuck to the paddle.

 

At this point, add the chocolate chips. Sometimes I use the mixer to distribute them in the batter, but sometimes my mixer thinks that's too much work. This time, I tossed in the chocolate chips (and the Toppers) and mixed with a spatula. It was a good arm work out!

Drop the dough onto ungreased baking sheets. The size is up to you. I go with heaping teaspoons - not the measuring spoon, but an actual teaspoon. (Does that make sense? I hope so.)

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes. I find that 9 usually works, though occasionally I wait another minute. They're done once the edges are golden brown, but sometimes I like to leave them until they're almost all brown.

Cool for a minute before taking them off the tray, then cool them on wire racks (or your kitchen table, like I do). Feel free to eat them immediately because just-baked chocolate cookies are the best - just don't burn yourself! Otherwise, I've found that you can leave these out and they stay soft and chewy for a day or two. Past that point, put them away or else they'll start to taste a bit stale.

Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies (recipe copied straight from their website)
Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

Directions
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Cookie Week: Snickerdoodles!

When I heard that Erin would be hosting a feature about cookies this week, I knew right away I'd be participating. It's the week before Christmas, which means that I go into Baking Overload. Hop on over to Erin's blog, The Speckled Palate, today and every day this week to find a collection of awesome cookie recipes!

Today I'll be sharing a recipe for snickerdoodles, which is a new favorite of mine. Here's the recipe card (I'll also be typing it up for you at the end of this post).

This recipe is from my ex-boyfriend's siblings. They all loved to bake in that house, which meant in that aspect, I fit right in. Here's what you'll need... and preheat your oven to 375 while you find everything.

You don't need a stand mixer; a hand mixer will also suffice. I don't know if you can swing mixing it by hand because the dough gets a little thick at the end. But, you can try! Otherwise you need flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, ground cinnamon, an egg, a stick of butter, vanilla extract, and sugar.

I like to mix dry ingredients first. That'll be the flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda.

Oh, and the cinnamon. It's my secret ingredient - I just add a few dashes in with the dry ingredient mix.

In another bowl (or your stand mixer bowl), combine the wet ingredients: butter, egg, sugar, and vanilla extract. You'll want the butter to be softened - if you think of it ahead of time, leave it out for a while before you start. Otherwise, my trick is to nuke it in the microwave for 10 or 15 seconds on a 50% power level. (If your microwave doesn't have 50% power level, I'd suggest nuking it for 5 second intervals, checking on it in between. You don't want it melted, just soft and mixable.)

Mix those up until they're kinda creamy - it won't be completely smooth, but don't worry, it's supposed to look that way. Here's a reference.

After that, add the dry ingredients slowly. Dump a little bit in at a time and mix slowly so that flour doesn't fly everywhere. Once you've added it all, mix until everything's completely combined. The dough will be pretty thick - it should stick together and to your mixer.

One more thing you'll need before you put these on baking sheets: cinnamon sugar. The ratio is two parts sugar, one part cinnamon; make more or less depending on how many batches you're making. Usually a teaspoon of cinnamon and two of sugar suffices. Blend them together with your fingers.

Almost time for baking! Roll the dough into quarter-sized balls (I used to make them bigger but tried this size for this year and loved the size of the final product!).

Roll the dough balls around the plate of cinnamon sugar until their coated on all sides. Sometimes the dough is too soft or your hands are too warm, resulting in the dough sticking to your hands. If this is happening, pop the dough in the fridge for fifteen minutes and come back to it.

Put them on ungreased baking sheets about an inch apart. Be careful when you go to pick up the baking sheets - since they're coated in the sugar mixture, they'll slide out of position if the tray is tilted. Pop them in the oven and bake them for 10 to 12 minutes. (I find that 11 minutes is the perfect number for me, but our oven is small and yours may vary.)

You'll know their done when the tops have crackled a bit (it was hard to get a picture of that) and the bottom edges just start to brown. In the oven and when you first take them out, they'll be a bit puffed up...

...but once they cool, they should flatten out and look completely delicious.

(Although sometimes, because my oven is small, the batch on the lower rack doesn't flatten out as nicely. They're a bit lumpier, but just as delicious, I promise.)

So there you have it! This should make about two dozen cookies, though it really depends on how big you make them. Once they've completely cooled, eat them or store in an air-tight container so they stay soft. If you don't, they'll get harder and crisper... of course, if you prefer that to soft cookies, go right ahead and leave them out on a plate!

Kim & Steven's Snickerdoodle Recipe
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of butter, softened (1 stick)
1 cup of sugar, plus 2 tsp. for coating
1 egg
1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup of flour
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. baking soda
A few dashes of ground cinnamon, plus 1 tsp. for coating

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In one bowl, mix together dry ingredients (flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon).
3. In another bowl (or mixer bowl), combine wet ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, vanilla extract). Beat until combined and somewhat creamy.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones slowly, in about three or four parts.
5. On a small plate, combine the sugar and cinnamon set aside for the coating; mix together thoroughly.
6. Roll dough into quarter-sized balls and roll in cinnamon-sugar mix.
7. Place on ungreased baking sheets, about 1 inch apart.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool for a minute or two before removing them from the tray.

Weekend Recap + BEDS Day 19.

This weekend was really wonderful. I ended up spending the majority of my time with E after we decided last-minute to hang out and watch a movie on Friday night. We already had plans to spend Saturday and Sunday together, so it was fun to have a whole weekend together.

There were several games of Mario Party (in which I won once and lost horribly once), a free Neon Trees concert at the local music festival, walking around hand-in-hand weighing our options for greasy overpriced fair food (we went with a cheesesteak, hot pretzel, funnel cake, and fried Oreos between the two of us), lounging around in bed all Sunday morning, and fulfilling the Taco Bell craving I had by getting it for lunch.

And now, time for a BEDS prompt since I need a little ego boost anyway and this topic definitely does that.

Day 19 → A talent of yours

It's your lucky day, because I'm going to share a few with you - four to be exact.

First is baking. I'm not the greatest at cooking, but I have yet to have a truly epic baking fail.

Second is dancing. The following video is from a few years ago when I danced solo in a shopping mall for a charity event.




Finally, I'm particularly good at picking out good gifts and finding the positive in any situation. I talked about these a bit more during VEDA:

he ran into my knife ten times.

Things that happened this weekend:

• I battled a Mysterious Illness (I tested negative for strep and mono) that made me feel like my throat was being ripped to shreds.
• We celebrated a belated Christmas on my dad's side of the family for my cousin and his girlfriend.
• A new (albeit incredibly second-hand-embarrassing) family joke was developed.
• I traveled to all the drugstores and dollar stores in the area and could not find a police badge for E's costume.
  
• I baked two batches of cookies and a couple dozen red velvet cupcakes.
• Target had colorful tights on clearance and I had to stop myself from buying a pair in every single color.
• Melissa hosted a kick-ass Oscar Watching-slash-Costume Party. See her recap here.
• My hooker boots made their return and were actually appropriate for the occasion - my costume (we had to dress from a previously-awarded Best Picture film):
  
  
  
  One of the six merry murderesses of Cook County Jail (from Chicago).
  {picture stolen from Melissa}
  
  
• I won the ballot contest, which is kind of a miracle because I hadn't seen any of the movies on the list and guessed (pretty hastily) on most things. I also beat E by just one point; he's not happy about it.
• Wine consumption.
• I had the ever-awkward "oh hey I have a blog" conversation with E. Doubly awkward? He'd already been reading without my knowledge. I wanted to melt into the floor.
• E and I stayed up way too late talking, which was good and bad - good because of the conversations we were having, bad because they were happening at four in the morning.

So, how was your weekend?

chocolatey goodness.

Folks, it's almost Valentine's Day. That can only mean one thing: time to go all Martha Stewart on random people in my life. Last night I spent some quality time with my (mom's) stand mixer, our finicky oven, and two bags of Dove chocolate. Don't worry if these pictures give you a crazy chocolate craving - the recipe's at the bottom, and they were totally easy to make.

The willpower it took not to eat half of these is really indescribable.

Any batter that includes melted chocolate as a key component is a-okay in my book.

More chocolate!

Confession: I make huge messes when I bake.

Final product in it's perfect form - cool enough to eat, warm enough that the chocolate bits are still melty.

I also made a batch of snickerdoodles, since they were all the rage at my birthday party last month. These are destined to be packed up and sent away to a few lucky folks - half will be in a care package to Lynds and the other half are off to Mark's place, since he's got a humongous test coming up at the end of this week.

Of course, this is just phase one. Phase two has yet to be dreamed up, but will include yummy treats for both my family and my Valentine. And then in a week, I have to figure out what to make for my mom's birthday! I love having so many excuses to bake.

---

Original recipe, found in a magazine (can also be found here, but they use Snickers instead of dark chocolate bits).

Chocolate Fudge Chunky Cookies

Prep time: 25 min.
Baking time: 10-12 min.
Difficulty: Easy

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
• 1 bag DOVE® PROMISES® Milk Chocolate
• 1 bag chopped DOVE® PROMISES® Dark Chocolate
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

WHAT TO DO:

1. Coarsely chop the DOVE® PROMISES® Milk Chocolate and melt them either in a bowl on top of a double boiler or in the microwave for 1 to 1-1/2 minutes.
2. Stir the chocolate until smooth. Add the sugar, butter, eggs and almond extract.
3. Stir in the flour and baking powder.
4. Add 1 cup of chopped DOVE® PROMISES® Dark Chocolate.
5. Drop heaping tablespoons of batter on an ungreased cookie sheet.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.
7. Cool on the cookie sheet.

Makes 2 dozen cookies.

whirlwind end of summer (including tons of baking).

I have been running nonstop for the past couple of weeks. First it was the Labor Day weekend block party, then I was sick as a dog for the entire week. The following weekend was MusicFest and I spent most of the two days out of the house. On Monday might my mom headed over to my aunt's house to play nurse because my aunt was having surgery, not returning home until Thursday afternoon.

Apricot bars my mom and I made for my aunt.

For those four days, I had to play house - clean, grocery shop, prepare my own meals and make sure my dad and brother were taken care of, and other random chores. Not that I minded, because I adore doing all those things, but keeping tabs on my brother is handful and both he and my dad get needy when my mom's not around. My dad likes to talk to me more, bug me about random things... basically, he acts like a lost puppy with nobody to bother. My brother gets the same way, though he's less annoying and is someone who I can go to and gripe about my dad. Still, it's a big energy drain.

Banana muffins I made while mom was gone to use up our uber-ripe bananas.

I should also mention that at the same time, towards the end of the week, I was putting things together for Mark's birthday party, which was that Friday. Since he and his housemates are busy with school, he left it up to me to provide most of the food, which I was happy to do. I baked cookies and cupcakes, made a berry trifle, and brought over chips and paper goods. The party was an absolute blast - Mark's friends are so fun and his roommates actually got him to play beer pong (which, if you knew him, you'd understand what a big deal that is).

Chocolate chip cookies!

Sprinkle cupcakes, which were really good. I ate about six leftovers in one day. Oops.

After the party, I crashed. Aside from going to work and running errands on Tuesday, I have mostly been completely useless and unproductive since Saturday. I have gotten around to more leisurely things, like catching up on Glee, watching Up and The Bucket List using our new Netflix subscription, starting back up on my cross-stitch, and cracking open the first Harry Potter book in hopes of making my way through the series before Deathly Hallows Part 1 comes out (and realizing now that I only have two months to get through seven books... but I'm challenging myself to do it).

So that, along with copious amounts of baking, is what I've been up to. This weekend I'm visiting a friend at her apartment at grad school and hopefully getting a chance to catch up on everyone's lives, either in person or via e-mail. I can't believe it's officially fall - that totally snuck up on me - but I can't wait to start wearing scarves and indulging in Pumpkin Spice Lattes, as well as figuring out if I'll have any plans for Halloween and if so, what I should be! Oh fall, I love you so.