Chocolate Whiskey Cupcakes

So my previous post did not have a recipe, but there was a picture there, and in that picture are some cupcakes.  My grandfather's birthday is in March, and we usually celebrate at my parents' house by having dinner and cutting a little cake. Since I now actually enjoy being in the kitchen, I offered to make his birthday treat.  While perusing the plethora of cupcake recipes out there on the blogosphere, I came across the recipe for Chocolate Whiskey cupcakes.  You see, my grandfather loves his daily drink. He's usually a Chivas man, but will really take whatever whiskey is around. ;)  Every day, he has his drink. Sundays before lunch he sits with my dad, my hubby, and sometimes my brother, and they talk and all enjoy their whiskey together.  (Cue Anchorman: Scotch, Scotch, Scotch, Scotchety Scotch... in my belly... lol)

Naturally, when I saw this recipe, I knew that it would be absolutely the perfect thing to make for my darling little grandpa.  I didn't even care if anyone else cared for the flavors - I knew he was going to LOVE them! And he did!

I made the cupcakes the way the recipe originally said, except without espresso powder (I had none on hand).  I made a simple buttercream frosting and mixed in the whiskey syrup. I'm not a huge fan of whiskey, and I'm really not a huge fan of chocolate cake (I know - I'm nuts).  However, this combination was absolutely incredible.  They were delicious without being overly decadent.  They were pretty, and they had a surprising kick.  Of all the cupcakes I've made, these might actually be one of my favorites. Everything just came together perfectly, and the combination was definitely a winner!

P.S. I used Johnnie Walker Black Label for these.

Chocolate Whiskey Cupcakes

You have to admit, the do look pretty, right? ;)

Yield: About 24 cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes: 
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
16 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs

For the whiskey syrup:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp whiskey

For the frosting: 
12 tbsp unsalted butter
4 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
7-8 tbsp whiskey
2 tbsp heavy cream

Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cupcake pans with paper liners (24 total).  In a small bowl, pour the cocoa powder. Pour in the boiling water and whisk until the mixture is smooth.  Set aside and cool to room temperature. Once cool, whisk in the sour cream and vanilla extract.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Stir together to combine; set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the bowl as necessary.

With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients in three additions, alternately with the cocoa-sour cream mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Beat each addition until just incorporated. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then trandfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the simple syrup, combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is warm and the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the whiskey. Set aside and let cool until ready to use.

To make the frosting, beat the butter in the bowl of a mixer until smooth and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Mix in the confectioner's sugar until incorporated. Add in the whiskey and beat on medium speed until well blended. Add in the heavy cream and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (about 4 minutes).

To assemble the cupcakes, brush the cooled cupcakes with the whiskey syrup (You can also inject some into the center of the cupcake, which will give it more of the flavor). Pipe the frosting on the cupcakes using a pastry bag. *Refrigerate until ready to serve.

*Remember, this recipe has sour cream and heavy cream in it - it NEEDS to be refrigerated - you don't want those going bad.

Cupcake recipe adapted from Annie's Eats.
Frosting adapted from Annie's Eats.

Amazing, Ginormous Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'M SOOOOO SOOOOOORRRRYYYYYY!  I know some of my loyal readers have been asking me why the heck I haven't been posting recipes... so before the recipe for today - here's the sad, painful explanation.

So two weeks ago, my computer decided that it no longer gets along with me... after a wonderful 4 year relationship, my most faithful, favorite techie gadget has decided that it has had enough of me and my photography and all my shenanigans.  Monday was fine. Tuesday, Safari would not open. Not "it wouldn't load the webpages" - no. It wouldn't open. Period. I'd click on it, it'd bounce around some, and go right back to being stagnant on the dock at the bottom of my homepage. So THANK GOODNESS I had backed up my hard drive the week prior. Otherwise I might have been in VERY big trouble and might have lost a large number of photos and information. Anyway, to make a long story short, I basically could not use the photos I had taken of anything, therefore making a recipe blog completely useless since recipes are absolutely no good without photos (IMHO).

On to today's recipe... my whole life, I loved to bake cookies. But I liked to bake cookies that were made with store bought dough. I'd add my own stuff to the dough - cinnamon and sugar, chocolate chips, sprinkles, etc.  They would taste great, they really would. But I was kind of scared to try and make my own. And I have no idea why. This was about the easiest thing I could have done. I promised my brother-in-law something for his birthday, and I didn't have the ingredients I needed for cupcakes on hand, but I did have everything for cookies, so I decided to go ahead and try my hand at them. Boy were they good.

However, I wasn't altogether completely happy with them.  I misread the instructions and mixed up a few of the steps (duh, first rule of baking) and they were a little grainier than I would have liked them to be. So last week, because the hubby was craving cookies, I decided to try again, following the steps correctly, and making one teeny weeny little addition to them.  The original recipe didn't call for almond extract.  But lately, I've been craving almond... so I snuck some in!  And they were AMAZING!  If you aren't a huge fan of almond, cut it out, no problem.  The taste is not prominent, but it's definitely there. :)  I hope you and yours enjoy them as much as we did!

Another tip - make the dough and freeze it for later use. I tossed about half the dough in a ziploc and used it a couple days later. All you have to do it let it thaw, scoop it out, and bake it! Cookies in a jiffy!!!!

Ginormous Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups + 2 tbsp all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

12 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg + 1 egg yolk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I found some for Ghirardelli that are toooooo diiiieeeee for!)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. 

In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly combined. Beat in egg, yolk, vanilla, and almond until combined. Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. 

Scoop out approximately 2 tbsp of dough and place on cookie sheet, leaving room between each scoop. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until the cookies are light golden brown. The outer edges should harden, while the centers should be soft and puffy. (Approximately 12-15 minutes)

Cool the cookies on the sheets until you can lift them without breaking. Enjoy!!!

Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats

Happy Valentine's Day... Chocolate Truffles

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  What are your plans for tonight? I WAS going to cook for Eddie, but on Friday I found out that I have to attend a funeral for a childhood friend today, and I spent the whole rest of the weekend in the kitchen, so we decided to make reservations at a yummy steak house near our home. As much as I enjoy being in my kitchen, I really needed a break for today.

What's Valentine's Day without some chocolate?
This past weekend was a marathon in the kitchen. I cleaned up on Saturday, and Sunday it was a mess AGAIN. But of all the things I made this weekend, these might just be my favorite. I never thought they'd be this easy to make... goodness gracious. They were a little messy, but so worth it in the end. They are delicious, and they literally just melt in your mouth.
I rolled them in cocoa powder AND confectioner's sugar, which made them taste amazing - the sugar gave them a little sweetness, but it wasn't overpowering. You can flavor them with any kind of liquer you have on hand or like. I wanted to do Amaretto (my absolute favorite), but didn't have any on hand, so I went with the Grand Marnier. I only used a little bit, and it gave it a nice hint of orange.
Again, these were a great, fairly easy thing to make. While they chilled, I was able to do several other things.  I definitely recommend making them to keep on hand if you know you are going to have people over, or you can make them as gifts - wrap up a few of them and you have a delicious homemade gift!


Chocolate Truffles
Yield: about 25 truffles

Ingredients
8 oz dark chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
Grand Marnier or liquer of choice (optional, to taste)
Unsweetened cocoa powder, for rolling
Confectioner's sugar, for rolling

Directions
Place chopped chocolate in a bowl. Heat heavy cream and Grand Marnier to just boiling in a small saucepan.
Pour cream over the chocolate. Let stand for a minute or two, so chocolate melts. Whisk until completely smooth. Refrigerate for 1 hour, or until chocolate hardens (I actually put the chocolate into the freezer for about 45 minutes.
When chocolate has hardened, scoop out using a teaspoon, melon baller, small ice cream scoop, or other rounded tool (I used a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon that was rounded). Roll in cocoa powder and sugar until fully coated. Dust off excess.
I kept them in the fridge - they taste so good when they are cold. :)

As always, Enjoy!

xoxo,

Jen 

A Little Valentine Something

I want to post these so that anyone who decides that they want to bake something for Valentine's Day has something to go by.

The first time I ever baked from scratch (I had definitely used boxed mixes before), I decided that I was going to make cupcakes. Specifically, red velvet cupcakes.  So I got my researching on, and I decided I was going to follow the recipe from Annie's Eats.
Her stuff always looks so good, and I am constantly finding myself jotting down things I want to try. When she posted the recipe for the red velvet cupcakes, and I decided to stop jotting and immediately get to doing.

I made them, they disappeared. I made a batch for Thanksgiving, and I've made a few more since then, and each time, they disappear more quickly than the last.

The first time, I followed the recipe to perfection, and got rave reviews.  The next time, however, I strayed a little bit from the original recipe - I like my red velvet to be a little more chocolate-ey, and these only had a little bit of cocoa powder, so I added in chocolate chips. I crossed my fingers when I saw people bite into them, and the look on my brother-in-law's face was priceless. He actually apologized to his mother and mine for voting my cupcakes the top dessert of the evening. lol

The cream cheese frosting is amazing - that I follow exactly. (Except I make a little more than the recipe calls for - which Annie tells you to do - because you can never have enough cream cheese frosting).

Red Velvet Cupcakes
Makes about 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the cake:
2½ cups cake flour
1½ cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. cocoa powder

½ cup of semi sweet chocolate morsels (I use the mini kind) 

1 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1½ cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp. (1 oz.) liquid red food coloring
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. distilled white vinegar

For the frosting:*
8 oz. cream cheese
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt; whisk to blend.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar.  Beat on medium speed until well blended.  Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared liners.  Bake, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes.  Let cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.  Mix in the vanilla extract.  Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth.  Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.

Recipe adapted from: Annie's Eats.