Christmas, Cupcakes, Holidays

Snowball {Coconut} Cupcakes

December 2, 2008

Tis the season! I had a white party this weekend to kick off the holiday season, with a little pre christmas rush get together to eat drink & be merry. I wanted to make coconut cupcakes for a while now! And of course, they fit the white theme! I tried my hand at meringues but they didn’t quite work out (hence the reason I didn’t take a picture of them!) So here’s my recipe for coconut cupcakes. My friends liked them so much they left with a few for the road!

First off I’d like to say that Box is not a four letter word (in fact its three, but it doesn’t have to be a bad word!)

Vanilla Cupcakes:

As I was running around Saturday I needed a quick and easy way to make these, so I started from a {box} and went from there. I made French Vanilla cake mix and I added some extra vanilla (mexican vanilla that my brother brought me back from cancun) and added about 1/2 cup of low fat vanilla yogurt to it. Bake for the time it says, about 17-20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool in pan for a few mintues, so they can set before lifting and you wont smoosh them!

Let cool completely on rack.  While they are cooling, you can make the frosting!

Creamy Coconut Frosting:

  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 3/4 cup butter, softened
  • Icing Sugar, Sifted ( approx. 4 cups)
  • 1-2 tbsp. Coconut milk (Sweetened)
  • 1 Tsp. Vanilla
  • Shredded Sweetened Coconut for Decorating

Directions:

Cream butter and shortening together in mixer on medium speed until creamy and fluffy.

Add 1/2 cup of icing sugar, and then add a tablespoon at a time of the milk, and rest of icing sugar alternating. Mix in vanilla and rest of sugar until you reach the consistency you want. Since you are just going to use these to frost with a spatula, you dont need to worry about it’s consitency for piping.

Once you’ve gotten it to the texture you want, using a small spatula (or back of a spoon) frost the tops of your cupcakes.

After you have all the peaks frosted add about 2 cups of shredded coconut to a small bowl. Dip/Roll the tops of the cupcakes into the coconut, try not to press too hard so they keep their shape. You can also set them on the wire racks with parchment underneath, and sprinkle it on top. Reserve the droppings from the cupcakes and re-use them on the other ones.

& Voila! Some pretty yummy and pretty looking cupcakes for your holiday party! These cute little ones resemble snow balls, but I’m sure you’d rather eat them, than throw them at someone..or maybe youd like to do both! You can make the tops/peaks rounder or bigger depending on the size you want your balls (snow balls that is.)

Happy Holiday Baking!

Enjoy!

Cakes

Sticky Toffee Pudding

November 16, 2008

This dessert is all the craze right now! I’ve seen it popping up on numerous dessert menus at restaurants like Moxies and now White Spot! It’s a British dessert, and it’s not actually pudding. Pudding literally just  means dessert. So this sticky toffee dessert is exactly what it sounds like! I’ve been wanting to make this one for a while now, and since I’m having a dinner tonight with my cousins I thought it would be a great time to try it out! I looked for an appealing recipe, but a lot of them called for making them in ramekins, which I didn’t really want to do. So I got this recipe from the Joy Of Cooking 75th Anniversary edition cookbook. This would make a great holiday cake for Christmas or Thanksgiving! Its warm and comforting, and best of all it has butterscotch toffee sauce!

Sticky Toffee Pudding

8 servings

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour eight 6-ounce ramekins or a 9×2 inch square baking pan. (I used a fluted cake pan)

Combine in a small saucepan:

  • 1 1/2 cups pitted dates, coarsely chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups water

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in:

  • 1 1/4 tsp. baking soda   ( i know this isn’t the greatest picture, but it just shows you how the mixture will puff up once you add the baking soda, it will be really airy and spongy.

Set aside. Whisk together in a small bowl:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder

Beat in large bowl on high speed until lightened in color and fluffy:

  • 1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
  • 6 tablespoons  ( 3/4 stick) butter, unsalted, softened

Beat in one at a time:

  • 3 large eggs

Beat in:

  • 1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla

Gradually add the flour mixture, beating on low just until mixed. Stir in the date mixture, until just combined. Pour into the prepared dish(es).

If using ramekins, put them on a baking sheet. Bake until the pudding is a deep golden brown and a skewer inserted in comes out moist but clean, 20-25 minutes. About 35 minutes for a single larger dish. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the dish(es), then turn out the pudding and invert onto the rack, right side up, to cool slightly. Serve warm, each serving covered generously with warm Butterscotch Sauce.

 Warm Butterscotch Sauce:

Cook, stirring over medium-low heat in a medium heavy saucepan:

  • 2/3 cup light corn syrup
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter ( 1/2 stick)
  • 1/8 tsp. salt

Stir to dissolve sugar. Increase heat to medium-high and without sitrring, boil until as thick as corn syrup. about 3 minutes. Let cool slightly. Add:

  • 2/3 cup heavy cream

Allow sauce to thicken on the countertop at room temperature for a while before serving. It makes it nice and gooey and delicious!!

 

I made this earlier in the day, and made the sauce earlier as well. The sauce needs to sit a while at room temperature to thicken up, i scooped a little on the cake at first and poked holes into it so it seeped in. I waited til the sauce was a little thicker to really pour it over the cake. I kept about 1/2 of it to pour over the individual pieces, with whipped cream. I suggest microwaving the cake slices and then putting a dollop of whipped cream and then drizzling even more butterscotch sauce! This was incredibly delicious!

Enjoy!

Cookie Of The Day, Cookies

Cowboy Roundup! Cookie of the Day

November 4, 2008

I love the Martha website, and I visit it often for ideas and inspiration. I love checking out the cookie of the day! I found this weeks cookie of the day, Nov. 2nd, “Cowboy Cookies” and it looked de-licous! I have been wanting to make it since Sunday!..But I thought I would wait a day or so after eating so many chocolates leftover from Halloween! I also happened to have all the ingredients on hand..so that was a plus! These weren’t too sweet so they were just right after the weekend. I would recommend you whip up a batch for your cowboys! (and cowgirls!)


The little cowboy hat was the added touch! Jordan bought me a necklace that came in this little cowboy hat jewelry box for a Christmas present when we first stared dating! I added some ribbon to it for the photo =)

Try these! And you’ll be sure to roundup a group of hungry people!

From the Martha Stewart Living: Cookie of the Day

Makes about 5 dozen ( I didn’t even come close to 5 dozen..so unless you make them really tiny don’t think it will get this many cookies!)

Ingredients

  • Vegetable oil cooking spray
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup light-brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
  • 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch chunks (1 cup)
  • 3 ounces (3/4 cup) pecan halves
  • 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

I also added some Raisins.. to trick me into thinking their healthy! I also used about 2 tbsp. apple sauce as I didn’t have quite enough butter. These are yummy!

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat baking sheets with cooking spray, line with parchment, and spray parchment. Sift flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder into a medium bowl.
  2. Beat butter and sugars with a mixer on medium-high until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
  3. Reduce speed to low, and slowly add flour mixture, beating until just incorporated. Beat in oats, chocolate, pecans, and coconut until combined. (Dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.)
  4. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or a small spoon, drop dough onto baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart.
  5. Bake until edges of cookies begin to brown, 11 to 13 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire rack, and let cool for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks. Let cool. (Cookies can be stored up to 3 days.)