Galaxy Cupcakes

These cupcakes will forever hold a very special place in my heart. It’s the first time I was able to bake with my nephew, Brooks. A few days before his trip I got a video of him asking me if we could make cupcakes and how can you say no to that?!?  Especially when it ends with a big smile and a “pwease”.  I love that little kid so much! We had a pretty good time mixing ingredients, mixing colors, but the best time was decorating time! This guy just cracks me up. I had all my ingredients out and I grabbed the cake mix. He asks me “What’s that?” “Cake mix” I respond. “Oh……I’ve never seen that before!” Me “😑” My sister “😂🤣😂” My 2 1/2 year old nephew cake box shamed me! Rude!

So much sass, I can only wonder where he gets it from 🤔. When it came to glitter and sprinkle time we stuck to a very strict regimen of one handful of sprinkles on the cupcake and one handful of sprinkles right into Brooks’ mouth.

I wanted to keep these cupcakes very bright and easy to make, so I went with 3 colors (white, teal, purple) in the cake and 4 colors (white, teal, purple and pink) for the frosting. I used Wilton neon colors, which give easy vibrant colors without having to use a whole bottle.

I hope that you get to make some magic baking memories with the kids in your life!

Makes 24

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

• 1 Box White Cake Mix
• 1 Package Ghirardelli White Chocolate Instant Pudding
• 1/2 Cup Milk
• 1/2 Cup Melted Butter
• 1 Cup Sour Cream
• 3 Eggs
• 2 tsp Vanilla
• 1 tsp Raspberry Emulsion
• Purple and teal neon Wilton Food Coloring

Frosting:

• 1 Cup Salted Butter, softened
• 8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 6 oz White Chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 tsp Lemon Emulsion
• 3 Cups Powdered Sugar
• Purple, teal, and pink neon Wilton Food Coloring
• Edible glitter, sprinkles and fun decorations

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make the cupcakes add the cake mix and pudding into a stand mixer and mix on low. Add butter and milk. Mix well. Add eggs, vanilla, raspberry emulsion and sour cream. Mix well for 2 minutes scraping down the sides of the bowl. It’s very important to make sure that the sides of the bowl are scraped down because if the batter isn’t evenly mixed your cupcakes will have inconsistent texture and bake.

Take 1/3 of the batter and move it into a small bowl, add 3 drops of the neon purple food coloring and mix well. Add more coloring to get desired color. Repeat with another 1/3 of the batter and the neon teal food coloring.  Add all the batter back into the mixing bowl with the white batter and using a spatula gently swirl the colors together.

Fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 full with batter. Bake for 20-22 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting:

In a medium bowl beat the butter and salt with a hand mixer until it lightens in color and becomes light and fluffy. Add 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar and the lemon emulsion, mix well. Slowly beat in the melted white chocolate. Slowly add 2 1/2 cups of the powdered sugar and beat well for 3-4 minutes until it’s light and fluffy.

Split the frosting into 4 small bowls, leave one white. Using the neon pink, purple and teal color the other three frostings. Fit a large piping bag with a Wilton 1M piping tip. Using a regular spoon alternate adding the different colors of frosting into the bag. Pipe rosettes onto the cooled cupcakes.

Add all the fun and beautiful space themed sprinkles and decorations that your little heart desires!

Jellybean Cheesecake

It feels like it’s been a million years since I’ve made a cheesecake! So of course I’ve over compensated by making 2 in one week! I made a yummy Key Lime Cheesecake and the perfect spring time cheesecake….lemon and jellybeans!! It’s also been a really long time since I’ve had a very spring themed recipe. So I was very excited about all the colors and flavors. Especially after watching the first episode of Spring Baking Championship I just had to make sure I added tons of color! So I made a jellybean flower to really bring it all together 🙂

I was incredibly curious about how the jellybean would work inside a baked element, it actually turned out really well. The texture of the jellybean remained and the colors bled out to create a very cool effect. I also made sure none of the jellybeans were exposed at the top to minimize the possibility of cracks.

The next thing I really thought about was balancing the flavors. Cheesecakes aren’t supposed to be overly sweet, so I wanted to balance the tart with just a little sweetness. The jellybeans and the mousse perfectly balance out the cheesecake and the lemon curd. You could also substitute a lemon oreo cookie crust for the graham cracker crust.

I took this cheesecake to work for a potluck and it disappeared so fast!! I was definitely expecting to take some home so I was pleasantly surprised how much everyone loved it. I think this would be a great idea for an Easter gathering!

Ingredients:

• 12 Graham Crackers, crushed
• 4 Tbsp Butter, softened
• 32 oz Cream Cheese, room temperature
• 1 Cup Sour Cream
• 1/3 Cup Sugar
• 1 Cup Ghiradelli White Chocolate Chips
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• Zest and juice of 2 Meyer Lemons
• 4 Eggs and 2 Egg Yolks, room temperature
• 1 1/2 Cups Starburst Jellybeans, tropical or regular flavor

Topping:

• Juice and zest of 2 Meyer lemons
• 1/3 Cup Sugar
• 2 Egg Yolks
• 3 Tbsp Butter, cubed
• 1 tsp Cornstarch

•  3/4 Cup Whipping Cream
• 4 Tbsp Powdered Sugar
• 4 oz Cream Cheese
• Optional- Jellybeans for decoration

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the crushed graham crackers and the 5 Tbsp butter. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan. Place in the oven for 5 minutes, remove and chill in the refrigerator while preparing the filling.

In a small microwave safe dish add the white chocolate chips. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Continue to microwave in 15 second increments and stirring in between until chocolate is completely melted. Set aside.

In a large bowl use a hand mixer or a stand mixer to beat the cream cheese until it is smooth. Add sugar and sour cream, beat well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the cooled chocolate, vanilla, lemon juice and zest. Mix well. Add the eggs one at a time, beat on low until eggs are just barely incorporated.

Pour 1/3 the batter over the prepared crust, add a layer of jellybeans. Another 1/3 of the batter followed by more jellybeans. Cover the jellybeans completely with the rest of the batter and smooth the top with a spatula. Wrap tinfoil around the outside of the springform pan. Place in a large roasting pan. Pour boiling water in until it’s halfway up the side of the cake pan. Bake the cheesecake for 60 minutes. Reduce heat to 300, bake an additional 20-30 minutes until the cheesecake doesn’t jiggle when gently shaken. Turn the oven off and let the cheesecake rest for 60 minutes. Move cheesecake to the refrigerator overnight.

To prepare the toppings:

In a small saucepan add the sugar, lemon juice, zest, butter, egg yolks and cornstarch. Over a medium-low heat gently whisk the ingredients together. Let it cook for 12-15 minutes whisking occasionally, adjust heat as necessary so that it doesn’t come to a full boil. Remove from heat and let it come to room temperature.

In a medium bowl beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer until it’s light and fluffy. In a large bowl beat the whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla for about 5-7 minutes until the cream can hold it’s own shape.

Using a spatula take 1/4 of the whipping cream and fold it into the cream cheese. Repeat with the remaining whipping cream until you have a smooth mousse. Transfer the mousse into a piping bag and pipe the mousse around the edge of the cheesecake, fill the center with lemon curd and gently pipe the rest of the mousse over the top of the cheesecake. Smooth with a frosting spatula. Decorate the top with a pretty jellybean design. Place back in the fridge for 15 minutes.

If you want to be super professional when slicing the cheesecake, run a long thin knife under hot water for a minute and wipe dry with a paper towel between each cut.

Raspberry and Chocolate Mousse Domes

For me baking is definitely one of the great loves of my life, and one of the ways I show love to others. I don’t know a whole lot about this craze of talking about love languages, but if preparing food for others is a love language that is definitely one that I use consistently. Making something decadent for a special holiday is one of my great joys. I wish I had more time regularly to practice recipes and share them with friends and family, but for now we’ll stick to the special occasions. This was a great opportunity to use my Christmas present of round silicone molds. Someday I am going to attempt tempered chocolate spheres, but today is not that day.

Who hasn’t been obsessed with mirror glazes lately?!?! They are so beautiful and picture perfect with so many possibilities. Surprisingly there are very few recipes on Pinterest and it was difficult to decide between a chocolate or colorful glaze. Since I always like to keep things festive I decided to go with the red which uses a white chocolate glaze and red food coloring. I was worried that it was going to make the cakes cloyingly sweet, but it didn’t end up affecting the taste which was a pleasant surprise.

The glaze is pretty easy to make and the only tool that is really necessary is an instant read thermometer. The temperature of the glaze is very important to get the right consistency for the pour. You want it to be thick enough that you won’t be able to see through it and not so thick that it’s gloopy and not smooth. That magic temperature is somewhere between 90-95 degrees. It was really hard to find a recipe for mirror glaze, I like this one from SugarHero, I just slightly modified it.

Also, I am shit at making cakes. So once again I have cheated and used boxed cake mix. I really need to work on that skill but for some reason they always turn out super dry and dense. I’m not sure where I go wrong, perhaps it’s over mixing and over baking. Someday I’ll try again, maybe I’ll even get it right and post a recipe someday. Maybe by next Valentine’s Day.

Makes 12 Mousse Domes

Ingredients:

Cake:

• Your favorite chocolate cake mix and ingredients called for on the package. Bake in a 9×13 pan lined with parchment paper. Sliced in half and use a 1 1/2 inch round cookie cutter to cut into 6 rounds.

Dark Chocolate and Milk Chocolate Mousse:

• 1 Egg
• 1/8 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Milk Chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 Cup Dark Chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/4 Cups Whipping Cream
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 Tbsp Amaretto

Raspberry Mousse:

• 1 Cup Raspberries
• 1/8 Cup Amaretto
• 1/2 Packet Unflavored Gelatin
• 1 1/2 Tbs Cold Water
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 3/4 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Red Mirror Glaze

• 2 Packets Unflavored Gelatin
• 6 oz water
• 1/2 Cup Granulated sugar
• 5 oz Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 8 oz Baker’s White Chocolate, chopped
• Red Wilton Gel Food Coloring
• Wilton Pearl Dust
• Valentines themed sprinkles

To prepare the Chocolate Mousses:

Using a hand held mixer beat the egg and sugar on a low speed for about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of cream into a medium sauce pan. Over medium heat bring the cream to just warm enough that you can still touch it, this should only take 1-2 minutes.
With your mixer on low, slowly add the warm cream to the eggs and sugar until all the ingredients are combined. Now add the mixture back into the saucepan and put it back on the stove top over a low heat. Stir consistently for about 5 minutes, do not let it boil!
Once it is done it will be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat.

Put the chocolates in separate bowls, split the warm mixture evenly into the bowls and stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Cover and chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours stirring occasionally.

Whip the remaining 3/4 cups of cream with the vanilla and amaretto using the whisk attachment for 5-8 minutes until stiff peaks form. Split the whipped cream in half, keeping half in the bowl and putting the other half in the fridge. Switch over to the paddle attachment and on a low speed add one of the chilled chocolates spoonfuls at a time until it completely mixed. Repeat with the other half of the whipped cream and second chocolate mixture.

Spoon into a large piping bag, secure the top with a rubber band and place in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the domes.

To make the Raspberry Mousse:

In a small bowl add the gelatin and water. Set aside.

In a small sauce pan add the raspberries, sugar and amaretto. Over a medium heat,, stir occasionally until the berries have completely broken down and it becomes a thin sauce.

Remove from heat and strain the mixture into a small bowl. Quickly add the gelatin and stir until smooth. Place in the fridge.

In a medium bowl add the whipping cream and vanilla. Using a hand mixer beat for 5-7 minutes on a medium speed until you have stiff peaks. Using a spatula slowly fold in the raspberry mixture until well combined. Spoon into a piping bag and close the top with a rubber band. Place in the fridge until you are ready to assemble the domes.

Assembling the domes:

Use a half sphere silicone mold, pipe the dark chocolate mousse 1/2 inch thick around the inside surface of the mold leaving some room around the top rim. Pipe in the raspberry mousse to fill in the center, still leaving some room at the top. Pipe the milk chocolate to finish filling in the dome. Use an offset spatula to smooth out the top and make it flush with the edge of the mold.

Place in the freezer for about 2 hours.

Red Mirror Glaze:

Make about 1 hour before you want to apply the glaze.

In a small bowl add the gelatin and 3 oz water. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan add the remaining water, sugar and condensed sweetened milk. Over a medium heat bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat, add the blob of gelatin and whisk until it’s dissolved. Add the white chocolate and let it sit for a few minutes. Gently whisk the mixture until all the chocolate is incorporated.  Add the food coloring until you get the desired tint.

Leave the glaze sitting at room temperature until it is at 90-95 degrees. If it gets too cool and doesn’t pour your can always pop it in the microwave for just 15 seconds to bring it back up. I used a 4 cup glass measuring cup to pour the glaze.

Now it’s time to assemble the cakes!!

Pop the mousse out of the silicone molds. We placed the mousse on top of the cake and then glazed. You could also glaze the mousse domes and then place on top of the cake.

Line a cookie sheet with tin foil, place a cooling rack onto the foil. Place your mousse and cake onto the rack. Slowly pour the glaze over the mousse. If it is too thin, let them sit for about 5 minutes and pour another layer.

Use a basting brush or unused makeup brush to lightly dust the pearl dust. To do this without touch the glaze use your finger to flick the bristles right over the top of the glaze. Add some sprinkles on or around and voila!

You can store them in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Hello friends! I feel like it’s time for some summer flavors! I’ve been doing a lot of chocolate cupcakes lately and I think it’s time for a change. Since I made the strawberry buttercream a few months ago I tried a raspberry buttercream, but I couldn’t get the natural raspberry flavor to come through. Weird right? I’ll keep working on that, but in the mean time here is a delightful treat to keep you satisfied 🙂 This strawberry buttercream has a great flavor and paired with the lemon cupcake it’s a classic combination! Guys….I am bound and determined to come up with a white chocolate sauce. White chocolate is notoriously difficult to work with in baking. I am still going to keep working on it, but this the best result I’ve had so far. Things got a little dicey there for a minute but I really like how it turned out.

I’m pretty excited because now I have a whole new audience for recipe testing. I very recently changed careers and employers and even though I am only 2 weeks in it has been great so far! Great people, great environment and the work is a refreshing change. When I started mentioning the blog my new co-workers seemed very interested and just talking about it so much sort of re-kindled my passion. Plus with the garden re-vamp finally being completed I think I can start posting regularly a couple times a month now!

These cupcakes were a huge hit in my new office so I hope you give them a try! Seriously you will not be disappointed!

Makes 24

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

• 1 Box Lemon Cake Mix
• 1 Package Jello Lemon Instant Pudding
• 1/2 Cup Milk
• 1/2 Cup Melted Butter
• 1 Cup Sour Cream
• 4 Eggs
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Filling:

• 1 Cup White Chocolate Chips
• 1/4 Cup Butter
• Zest of a medium lemon
• Juice of 1/2 lemon

Frosting:

• 1 Cup Salted Butter, softened
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 6 oz White Chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
• 1/4-1/3 cup Strawberry Puree (cut the tops off 8-10 strawberries and puree in a food blender)
• 2-3 Cups Powdered Sugar

Make the filling first. Fill a medium sauce pan with about 2 inches of water and place a metal bowl on the top so that it doesn’t touch the water. Bring the water to a boil, and then melt the butter with the lemon zest and juice in the bowl. Remove bowl from heat and slowly stir in the white chocolate.  As soon as all the chocolate has melted place the bowl in the fridge. Let chill in the fridge while you prepare the cupcakes.

*side note If your white chocolate starts breaking down then add 2 tbsp of powdered sugar and beat in with beaters and get it in the fridge. It will be ok….this happened to me and it still turned out great!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make the cupcakes add the cake mix and pudding into a stand mixer and mix on low. Add butter and milk. Mix well. Add eggs, vanilla and sour cream. Mix well for 2 minutes scraping down the sides of the bowl. It’s very important to make sure that the sides of the bowl are scraped down because if the batter isn’t evenly mixed your cupcakes will have inconsistent texture and bake.

Fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 full with batter. Bake for 20-22 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool completely before filling and frosting.

Remove the filling from the fridge. Use an electric hand mixer to beat it for about 2 minutes until it has become light and creamy. Use a piping bag and filling tip to fill the  cooled cupcakes with the lemon and white chocolate mixture.

To make the frosting:

In a medium bowl beat the butter and salt with a hand mixer until it lightens in color and becomes light and fluffy. Add 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar, mix well. Slowly beat in the melted white chocolate. Add 1/4 cup strawberry puree. Slowly add 1 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar and beat well for 3-4 minutes until it’s light and fluffy. Add more puree and sugar to taste. You will want the frosting to be stiff enough to hold it’s shape.

Ice Cream with Scotch and Coffee

We were having dinner with my parents, sister and nephew tonight. I just love having this family time. We only get together a few times a year and it’s usually only once a year when every single one of us gets together. So I really cherish these moments. When I’m in the kitchen pulling the last details together and Levi is helping with whatever I need. Mom is fussing over whatever is bugging her in that moment. Dad is trying to take professional photographs of the baby while he eats leftover Mac and cheese. The dogs are waiting ever hopeful for a dropped morsel. My sister is just trying to keep the kid alive and happy. I just look around and I am so grateful for these moments.

For dessert my mom decided to bring over some vanilla ice cream and of course my dad brought over the good Scotch. So after a wonderful dinner of French dip subs and potato salad we were hanging out and my mom went to get a bowl of ice cream and my dad, Levi and myself were pouring a bit of apres dinner scotch. My parents can’t quite remember when or where they heard about this, but the conversation turned to a dessert they read about and had to try: Ice cream with scotch and topped with coffee grounds. That’s right. Coffee grounds.

Sounds completely terrible right?!?! That’s what I thought, but curiosity got the best of me and I decided that it sounded so terrible I just to try it.

And now this one of my favorite desserts and we will be indulging on the regs. The smooth scotch with a creamy ice cream tastes so indulgent and the coffee grounds add a totally new layer of flavor that cuts through the sweetness. The grounds soften up a little bit so your aren’t just chewing on grainy ice cream.

Ready for this super complicated set up? Here we go:

Ingredients:

• 3 scoops French Vanilla Ice Cream
• 1 tsp Coffee grounds ( we used Folgers Vanilla Blend)
• 2 oz Scotch (we used Johnny Walker Black Label

Add your scoops into your favorite bowl, sprinkle coffee grounds on top and pour scotch around the edges.

I swear if you give this a try you will not regret it!

White Walker Cake

How ’bout that finale?!?! In case you haven’t noticed yet we are HUGE Game of Thrones fans! I am coming up on 10 recipes dedicated to this series. So far I have made cupcakes, cookies and this cake. Anything else you want me to try? Only one more season left for these fun experiments……how depressing is that?!?! I sure hope we don’t really have to wait until 2019 for the final season.

I must say….I was very satisfied by the way this season ended. Especially Sansa and Arya banding together and executing the character whom most people have wanted dead since the very beginning. That moment brought so much joy to my heart because I was seriously questioning whether or not they would end up killing each other. I felt like I had been losing the Arya that I have been rooting for for 6 years, and now I know that she is still the same fiercely loyal and determined girl I have grown to love. Sansa is finally taking control of her destiny and I love it! Maybe she will become the Queen of Winterfell if Jon Snow realizes that marrying his aunt is icky. Who knows…..isn’t that the whole point of this show,  some predictions come true but in the end…..you just never know.

I’ve been wanting to try a poke cake for awhile, they are quite the trend. I can tell why! The moist cake and light fluffy frosting make for an amazing combination! Most recipes call for Cool Whip Topping, but I am not all about that noise. Whipped cream frosting is definitely the way to go! The next question was….what flavor should a blue cake actually be? Blueberry is the natural answer, but that would turn out more purple than blue. Since it is the end of summer I wanted to go for a final tropical hurrah before heading into the holiday baking season. I went with a cream of coconut and lime drizzle. Perfect flavor and  easy to get a nice shade of blue. I generally prefer gel color, but you would probably be better off with a liquid dye for the coconut. Still use gel for the coconut flakes.

Ingredients:

• 1 Box Betty Crocker White Cake Mix (and ingredients to prepare-eggs and oil)
• 15 oz Cream of Coconut- usually found in the drink aisle
• 3 Limes- Juiced
• 8 oz Coconut Flakes
• Food Dye- black and light blue
• 4 oz Cream Cheese, softened
• 1/3 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 1 Cup Whipping Cream
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Prepare the cake according to box instructions.

In a small bowl combine the cream of coconut and a few drops of blue food dye until you get your desired hue. Use a fork to poke holes evenly across the top of the warm cake. Evenly and slowly pour the cream of coconut across the top of the cake. Place in the fridge for at least an hour.

In a stand mixer using the whisk attachment whip the whipping cream for 5 minutes until soft peaks form. In a medium bowl use a hand mixer to beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla. With the mixer on low add the cream cheese to the whipped cream 1/4th at a time,scraping down the bowl each time.  Mix for 1-2 minutes until it’s fully incorporated and thick stiff peaks form.

Take your cake out of the fridge and use a spatula to spread the frosting over the top. In a small bowl dye 1/3 of the coconut flakes black, and then dye 1/3 of the flakes blue. Layer the coconut over the frosting.

Store in a covered dish in the fridge.

Adapted from The Country Cooks Coconut Cream Poke Cake

Cookies of Fire and Ice

 

Who is ready for the Game of Thrones Finale on Sunday? I have been reading all the online theories and basically any article or post that I come across. Has there ever been a show that generated this much talk? I’ve never thought so much about a show or book before. I wish that I could pick up on all the subtle references and inferences that drives the conversation forward. I am just in awe of people who can pick up on these hidden gems and generate predictions. Amazing.

So for last year I made Cupcakes of Fire and Ice….click here for the recipe. And they have been really popular so far, but I’ve always felt back that they are just white chocolate flavored. I wanted to make a party desert that doesn’t just look cool it also tastes super amazing! So I decided to recreate my Lemon and White Chocolate cookie for the “Ice” and I came up with a whole new combination for the “Fire”. Red Velvet Raspberry with Chocolate Chips, these turned out so soft and chewy! I split the batch in half and dyed one half red and the other an orange-red and swirled them together to get a cool fire effect!

Check out the Dragon’s Breath Pulled Pork for the perfect GoT party dinner!

You can decorate these cookies with your favorite sprinkles for some extra shine! I hope your viewing parties are amazing and that you enjoy the finale!

Ingredients for Lemon Ice Cookies:

• 1/4 cup White Sugar
• 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 cup Butter, softened
• 1 package Whipped Meyer Lemon Instant Pudding Mix
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 tsp Lemon Emulsion
• 2 Eggs
• Freshly squeezed juice of one Meyer Lemon
• Finely grated rind of one Meyer Lemon
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 2 1/2 cups Flour
• 1 Cup White Chocolate Chips
• Light Blue Food Dye- I prefer gel dye
• Sprinkles (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a stand mixer mix the sugars and butter until it forms a grainy paste. Add the pudding, vanilla and lemon extracts, and eggs. Mix well. Add the fresh lemon juice and mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

Add the baking soda, salt and flour. Mix until you have a thick cookie dough. Add blue food coloring till you reach your desired shade. Use a big spoon to mix in the white chocolate chips and lemon rind.

Use a cookie scoop or a small spoon to measure out cookie dough into 1 inch balls on a cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the cookies are slightly browned on the bottom.  Add sprinkles. Cool on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Store in an air tight container.

Ingredients for Red Velvet Raspberry Cookies:

• 1/4 cup White Sugar
• 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 cup Butter, softened
• 1 package Red Velvet Instant Pudding Mix
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/8 tsp Raspberry Emulsion (optional)
• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 2 1/2 cups Flour
• 1 Cup Chocolate Chips
• 6 oz Fresh Raspberries
• Orange and Red Food Dye- I prefer gel dye
• Sprinkles (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a stand mixer mix the sugars and butter until it forms a grainy paste. Add the pudding, vanilla and raspberry extracts, and eggs. Mix well scraping down the sides of the bowl.

Add the baking soda, salt and flour. Mix until you have a thick cookie dough. In a small bowl crush the raspberries into a pulp. Use a big spoon to mix in the chocolate chips and raspberries. Separate the dough into two bowls. Add red dye to one and orange to the other until you’ve reached the desired shade.

Use a cookie scoop or a small spoon to measure out 1/2 red and 1/2 orange cookie dough into 1 inch balls on a cookie sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes until the cookies are no longer shiny on top under the oven light. Add sprinkles. Cool on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Store in an air tight container.

 

Chocolate and Amaretto Mousse Cake

This is the perfect dessert when you want to serve something decadent, but you don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen. This dessert has layers of chocolate fudge cake, chocolate mousse and white chocolate mousse with Amaretto. Topped off with some whipped cream and raspberries to make a dessert every chocolate lover will go crazy for!

So I know that it’s sort of cheating, but honestly I just use a box cake mix. I usually go for a Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge or Devils Food. They are rich and moist while maintaining a fluffy texture. It’s good to make a cake that doesn’t crumble too much because you want the rounds to stay in shape.

We went with 3 layers of cake on this one because we were feeling particularly naughty. That ended up being a bit much, I would stick with just 2 layers of cake. It was a fun stay-cation with some special visitors. My very good friend and her son stopped into town for a few days and stayed with us. It is so crazy how fast life passes you by. I remember when her son was just starting school and we used to all hang out and watch The Incredibles and other fun movies with the kids. Now he is just starting to drive and doing all sorts of great activities in high school. Where does all the time go? I miss those guys so much. They were our favorite couple to hang out with! Never found friends quite like that.

So while we had a few of them here we really went all out in food department. It was so much fun to just cook for 3 days in a row and have great drinks and play some fun games and watch a scary movie!!!

The very first time we made this cake we were inspired by the mousse cakes at our local Kneaders. The most difficult part of the conceptual process for us was trying to find plastic sheets to create the mold. After like an hour wandering around Hobby Lobby we stumbled on some computer printable transparent plastic sheets in the school supplies area. They worked perfectly!! If you can’t find something like this then you can definitely free pipe your mousse, just make sure that you have let it set for a few hours first.

We used this recipe to make our first ever how to video. Check out our YouTube Channel Here

Ingredients:

• 1 Betty Crocker Chocolate Cake Mix, prepared according to directions in a 9×13 pan. Cool to room temperature.

Chocolate Mousse

• 2 Eggs
• 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 2 1/2 Cups Whipping Cream
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

White Chocolate Amaretto Mousse

• 4 oz Cream Cheese
• 4 Tbsp Powdered Sugar
• 4 oz Ghiradelli White Chocolate
• 1/4 Cup Amaretto
• 3/4 Cup Whipping Cream

To prepare the Chocolate Mousse:

Using a stand mixer or a hand held mixer beat the eggs and sugar on a low speed for about 3 minutes. Add 1 cup of cream into a medium sauce pan. Over medium heat bring the cream to just warm enough that you can still touch it, this should only take 1-2 minutes.
With your mixer on low slowly add the warm cream to the eggs and sugar until all the ingredients are combined. Now add the mixture back into the saucepan and put it back on the stovetop over a low heat. Stir consistently for about 5 minutes, do not let it boil!
Once it is done it will be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Remove from heat and stir in  chocolate chips until completely melted. Cover and chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours stirring occasionally.

Whip the remaining 1 1/2 cups of cream with the vanilla using the whisk attachment for 5-8 minutes until stiff peaks form. Switch over to the paddle attachment and on a low speed add the chilled chocolate spoonfuls at a time until it completely mixed.

Spoon into a large piping bag, secure the top with a rubberband and place in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the cake.

To prepare White Chocolate Amaretto Mousse:

In a small microwave safe bowl melt the white chocolate in 15 second increments until smooth. Let it sit till it’s just warm to the touch. In a medium bowl beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer until it’s light and fluffy. Quickly mix in the white chocolate until smooth.

In a large bowl beat the whipping cream, powdered sugar and amaretto for about 5-7 minutes until stiff peaks form.

Using a spatula take 1/4 of the whipping cream and fold it into the cream cheese. Repeat with the remaining whipping cream until you have a smooth mousse. Transfer the mousse into a piping bag, secure the top with a rubberband and place in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the cake.

Assemble:
Using a 3-4 inch round cookie cutter cut 1 piece of cake per person. Using a thin knife, cake leveler or a cutting wire slice each cake piece into 2 even disks. Create molds by wrapping the plastic around the circumference of the cookie cutter and taping the edge down. Place the molds on a flat plate or a cookie sheet and start to layer with cake-mousse-cake-mousse and pop it in the fridge for at least 20-30 minutes or a few hours until you’re ready to serve!

Top it with whipped cream and fresh fruit and remove the mold and let the good times roll!

Orange and White Chocolate Chip Drop Cookies

These cookies are the perfect summer treat! The tangy orange with the sweet white chocolate is almost like a creamsicle! One of the best things about this recipe is that the orange flavor is all natural so you don’t have any of that funky extract after taste.

These cookies are also so soft and chewy, some people fall either into the crunchy cookie lover category or the chewy lovers. Which one are you? I can go either way!

I brought these to both jobs and only had a few leftover for us to enjoy! My favorite part was opening the tupperware and getting a burst of orange right in the olfactory sense! I just love making treats to share with my friends at work. I have one co-worker who doesn’t really like desserts and now whenever he hears I have treats is right at my desk curiously peeking in the box!

Ingredients:

• 2 Sticks Salted Butter, room temperature
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 Egg
• Zest of 2 Oranges
• 2 Tbsp Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 3/4 tsp Baking Soda
• 2 1/2 Cups Flour
• 16 oz White Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350.

In a stand mixer or large bowl beat the butter and sugars together until you have a grainy paste. Add the vanilla, egg, zest, juice, salt and baking soda. Mix until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Slowly add flour, mix until well combined. Finally add the white chocolate chips and mix for about 30 seconds until well distributed.

On a large baking sheet drop small spoonfuls of cookies I did 5 rows of 4 cookies. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are lightly browned. Do not over bake or else the citrus will burn the bottom of the cookie.

Cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and finish cooling. Store in a covered container if they last long enough 😉

Feel free to comment below and let me know how yours turned out or if you have any questions.

S’mores Cupcakes

It is certainly s’mores season! I love all the outdoor mountain summer activities. Camping, hiking, hanging out by the lake, campfires, tinfoil dinners and of course S’MORES!! I am not usually one for marshmallow, but when you toast it up and it gets all gooey and the perfect golden brown color. And then you add melty chocolate and crispy graham crackers and you have the perfect summer treat!

My first foray into s’mores baked goods were a few pans of s’mores brownies. This hit 2 birds with one stone. I have never made homemade brownies before so I wanted to give it a shot. And of course I had to elevate it and add some s’more elements. And as I was attempting to lightly toast them in the oven under the broiler they caught on FIRE……god I have never been so scared! Thankfully they were incredibly easy to extinguish.

Needless to say when I decided to make a cupcake version I went with a meringue frosting and lightly torched them with a handheld kitchen torch. I’ve had this torch for several years and I have only just barely mastered using it!

Once again I am back at it with my all time favorite cupcake recipe! If you haven’t tried this one yet you are missing out. They are both light and fluffy and incredibly moist! The filling for the cupcakes is the perfect Hershey Chocolate filling you would need to have a genuine s’more experience. I decided to go with a graham cracker crust instead of just crumbling some on top. Make sure that you don’t add too much butter otherwise you will end up with a greasy mess.

Well here we go!

Makes 24 Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

• 1 Box Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
• 1 Package Hersheys Instant Chocolate Pudding
• 3/4 Cup Milk
• 1/2 Cup Butter, melted
• 1 Cup Sour Cream
• 4 Eggs
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 6 oz Mini Chocolate Chips

Crust:

• 1 sleeve Graham Crackers (8 full crackers), crushed into fine crumbs
• 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 2 Tbsp Butter, softened

Filling:

• 3 oz Hershey’s Milk Chocolate
• 8 Tbsp Salted Butter

Frosting:

• 4 Egg Whites
• 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Make the filling first. In a small sauce pan melt the butter and chocolate over medium heat. As soon as all the chocolate has melted remove from heat. Mix well and let chill in the fridge while you prepare the cupcakes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter. Use your hands to mix all the ingredients together until you have well incorporated the butter and the crumbs slightly stick together when pressed.

Line your cupcake pan with paper liners. Press the graham crackers in the bottom of the liners. Bake for 5 minutes. Let cool while mixing the cupcake batter.

To make the cupcakes add the cake mix and pudding into a stand mixer and mix on low. Add oil and milk. Mix well. Add eggs, vanilla and sour cream. Mix well for 2 minutes scraping down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the chocolate chips. It’s very important to make sure that the sides of the bowl are scraped down because if the batter isn’t evenly mixed your cupcakes will have inconsistent texture and bake.

Fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 full with batter. Bake for 20-22 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool completely before filling and frosting.

Remove the filling from the fridge and scrape it out into a medium mixing bowl. Use an electric hand mixer to beat it for about 2 minutes until it has become light and creamy. Use a piping bag and filling tip to fill the cupcakes with the chocolate mixture.

To make the frosting.

In a double boiler or place your metal stand mixer bowl over a medium pot with a few inches of water. Add eggs, sugar, salt and cream of tartar into the bowl. Over a medium heat whisk together the ingredients. It will start to turn syrupy. Once your mixture reaches between 120 and 140 degrees remove from heat. Using a hand mixer or your stand mixer beat the frosting for 7-10 minutes until stiff peaks form. Make sure that your peaks don’t move at all. Occasionally scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla and beat for an extra 30 seconds.

Pick your favorite piping tip and move frosting into a piping bag. Pipe onto the cupcakes. Lightly toast with a kitchen torch.

Made again in 2018