Shmoooore Please!

This weekend my kitchen hand torch finally made its way to my home...!!

So the first thing I did make, was a couple ramekins of creme'brule but that'll make for another blog....So I pondered and wondered what I could set on fire, and what better way to start off a Monday morning by torching some marshmallows!

So I started with a nice decadent chocolate base and a graham cracker crust

Note: you can either crush you're own or buy the already crushed graham cracker crumbs.

About a cup of graham crumbs and 2-3 tbsp of melted butter, mixed, and pressed into each cup.

For the Chocolate Cake:
(note: not sure where the base recipe is from...I've seen lots of people post similar recipes, but I've altered it a bit to fit my liking)

2 cups of Flour
1 cup of cocoa powder
2 and a half cups of sugar
1 and half tsp of baking soda
1 and a half tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of salt
3 large eggs + 1 egg white
1 cup WHOlE milk
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1 and 1/2 tsp of vanilla
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1 tbsp of instant espresso
1 cup of hot water
bag of marshmallows
box of graham crackers
box of chocolate bars--only because you can eat the rest later....hahah : )

Chocolate Frosting
2 sticks of butter
1 cup of cocoa powder
6 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cup of heavy cream
2 tsp of Vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 350...
• sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and soda , salt and cinnamon...
• Now whisk together all the wet ingrediants -minus the hot water
  
• Gradually add in the dry ingrediants and mix till combined
• at last add in espresso and hot water...the hot water will set the batter
• As the batter sets- will still be a bit watery- bake the graham cracker crust for about five minutes
• Pull them out after they've turned golden brown and fill the cups with batter 3/4 full
• bake for 20-25 min...till cake springs back
• FOR FROSTING: beat the butter [should be at room temp please] with the cocoa powder. (this can cause the butter to become really rich and hard to beat)
• start adding in the powdered sugar and heavy cream.
• then add the vanilla and beat till smooth...or to the consistency that you want.
• Next----the most important part of the process-- frost and decorate any way you want.
  
• SINCE I had my torch I just went pyro and started setting all the marshmallows on fire...(its fun this way..hehe BECAREFUL THOUGH!-I don't have a thumbprint anymore)
  

1st clean attempt [FRONT]--or is there even a front?















quarter turn...


It was too clean...too simple...

















So I just went a little overboard and placed more marshmallow and chocolates where needed...



The fam bam...

Some cupcakes had 2 marshmallows--mind that I am using jumbo ones--and some cupcakes had extra chocolate...



This is my 'messy' version: I set the marshmallow on fire and left it burning till it was about to explode...also it was hand frosted


Good times! Happy Monday and enjoi

FULLY loAded!

Nobody likes humpday....BOO!!

So it's Wednesday and what better way to start off the middle of the week with a fully loaded coffee cake. Thanks to Smitten Kitchen everyone can have a better day....Follow LINK HERE:

Any who, the cake goes very well with coffee or tea obviously but can be enjoyed during any time of the day.

A little bit of the layering action....Sugar.cinnamon.chocolate.toffee...


Not only did I add toffee and a sh*t ton of jumbo chocolate chips, I also added a cup of butterscotch chips to the middle layer---thus making this fully loaded


I ended up with a pretty big batch of about 20 LARGE pieces. ---bigger the better right?

What's great is that the cinnamon-sugar mixture allowed for a nice crunchy topping to form.---very nice*


Super simple and easy to make! Enjoi*

Zeh GehrmEns are Coming!

Back in action after a week or two....

I brain-stormed with my sugarplum and we decided that I should try to make German chocolate based cupcake....

So I've been following David Lebovitz HERE :

He has an amazinggggg German Chocolate cake....so why not turn it into a cupcake!?

The chocolate base smelled like heaven...
.just the right mixture of semi sweet and unsweetened chocolate for the right taste.

Eventually the cupcakes came out super moist, light, and fluffy....Just the way German Cake was intended to be made like. The trick was to fold in some whipped egg whites and sugar. Kept the consistency of the batter to be fluffy.

An Hour later all prepped and assembled...
(cupcakes can be cooked for about 20 min)



So first I made a cavity on the top of the cupcakes then rimmed them with the chocolate frosting. (Make sure everything is at room temp or nothing will assemble properly!)



After rimming the cupcakes, I filled them with the coconut-pecan mixture.
and voi-la!----German Chocoalte Cupcakes!

LUPICIA and Matcha

Today's blog will be featuring LUPICIA fresh tea: Matcha Green Tea Powder

Growing up and still to this day, I've always seen my mother drinking green tea which was an everyday thing. It's part of our cuture, but then as time has passed you have probably seen more and more venues carrying products such as "green tea lattes" "green tea smoothies" and other similar foods and drinks. I tried my first green tea latte a few years ago and it is delicious! THEN good ole Pink berry came out with a green tea frozen yogurt treat which is my favorite dessert ever......So why not bake with it? It's good for you...right? ---yup, endorphins and antioxidants!

Matcha Tea – A Nutritious Beverage

• Rich in Antioxidants and Chlorophyll
• Contains Catechins Only Found in Green Tea
  
• Naturally Mood Enhancing
  
• Zero on the Glycemic Index - will not raise insulin levels
• Sugar-free, High in Fiber

Matcha Tea – For Antioxidants
Exponentially Higher in Antioxidants than Blueberries and Spinach

Green teas contain a high amount of antioxidants, chemically compounds known to forestall aging. Antioxidants are found in many fruits and vegetables – even chocolate. A testing method known as ORAC – short for oxygen radical absorbance capacity, evaluates the antioxidant levels found in food. According to research done by Tufts University, the ORAC capacity of matcha green tea is exponentially higher than other foods known for their high antioxidants levels such as blueberries and spinach.

-Pulled from here

Note: I've had other matcha powder before, but the Lupicia has the best quality of tea by far. The green color is so vibrant it's screaming antioxidants!

The Recipe

Muffin Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2tsp Lupicia Matcha Green Tea Powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 egg white
  
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
  
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 cup sweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 2 to 2 1/2 cups blueberries (dusted with flour)

Cinnamon Topping

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 unsalted butter

1. preheat the oven to 350.
2. Now assemble your cinnamon topping. You want to soften the butter so you can cut it into the rest of the ingrediants.
3. mix all the dry ingrediants together and with a fork cut in the softened butter...set aside
4. Now in your mixer beat the butter, sugar and 1 tsp of the matcha power till a light fluffy green powder.
   

5. As your butter is beating, Sift all your dry ingredients and set aside.
6. Now add each egg one at a time. I recommend them to be room temp but it's okay if they're not.
7. After all eggs are mixed in add in your extracts and sour cream. Once again mix till blended in.
8. Now add the milk and dry ingredients last. A nice vibrant green batter should appear.
9. After everything is well combined...FOLD in blueberries, coconut, and white chocolate chips.


Finally, just distribute into either 12 large muffins or 24 smaller muffins. The bigger muffins are perfect for breakfast to compliment your choice of a delicious Lupicia tea.

Then generously top them with the cinnamon topping and pop them in the oven for about 30-35 min. Let the cool completely then enjoy!

Before the oven

After!!...Also I topped them with slivered almonds, but that is just my preference : )

Inside: Still that vibrant color with a subtle taste of matcha. Not bitter at all...just a delicious blueberry muffin on matcha-roids!

I reccomend any of the Lupicia teas. At the moment I'm drinking the Banane Chocolat (which smells like a chocolate covered banana! It's delicious!)

Visit the store HERE
or if you're here in LA
Visit Charles @
The Century City Mall: Lupicia
10250 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90067

Classique'

[Back to work it is]

So started with a new team and working on some C-h-i-p-m-u-n-k-s, but what better way to end a great week with a sugar induced seizure?...kidding....
Since palettes may vary, I'm easing everyone in with a classic vanilla cupcakes with a few blueberry flavored ones to mix it up.

Started with some pre-molded muffin cups...thought they'd nice with the bigger cupcakes. Also the recipe calls for self rising cake flour....this will do
Pure Cupcakes
by Sweet Revenge Bakery

Makes 24 cupcakes

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 extra-large eggs
• 3 cups self-rising cake flour
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons Mexican vanilla
  

[Note: I didn't obviously have Mexican vanilla so regular will do.]

As for the blueberry cupcakes I added these HUGE blueberries to them!

-So you want to beat the butter till its nice and fluffy

-Next and in the sugar till well incorprated and the butter lightens in color.

-add all the eggs, yes all 5 of them, one by one please...make sure each is incorporated before adding the next.

-now alternate adding in the buttermilk with the flour....but make sure you end with flour

- then add the vanilla last....smell it...and take it all in....there you go

-I divided the batter into two different mixing bowls and just added my awesome blueberries into one batch. half and half you see ; )

Classic Pure Vanilla

Blueberry Awesomeness

A better up close shot

For the frosting I used a basic buttercream recipe: for the blueberry frosting I puree'd a cup of blueberries and added them in. More sugar will be needed for the same consistency.

Packaged and ready to go....Enjoy!