Ingredient: egg

Strawberry Sweetheart Brownies

Strawberry Sweetheart Brownies

At the Brownie Mischief website, all types of brownies are welcome. We all know and love chocolate brownies. But there are other less common brownies in the universe, that deserve to shine too. Let me introduce you to Strawberry Sweetheart Brownies. These lovely pink creations aren’t strawberry cake or strawberry blondies. They contain white chocolate and they’re made with the same baking method as brownies. When you bake chocolate brownies, you want to be careful not to over bake them, to achieve the rich, fudgy texture. The same is true for these strawberry brownies. When you test for doneness, the toothpick should have a few moist crumbs attached to it. If the toothpick is clean, the brownies have baked too long and will likely be a little dry and cakey, although still edible. So make sure to test for doneness well before the end of the baking time!

The baking temperature for this recipe is 325ºF. I noticed that when baking in a heart shaped cake pan, things tend to bake unevenly because of the shape. So I used a lower temperature to help with even baking. If you don’t have an 8-inch heart shaped cake pan, you can also use an 8-inch round cake pan. To find the cake pan I used, click here.

Strawberry Sweetheart Brownies

To watch the Strawberry Sweetheart Brownies Instagram video, click here.

Print Recipe
 Strawberry Sweetheart Brownies
A heart shaped strawberry brownie made with fresh strawberries topped with strawberry icing.
Course Dessert
Keyword brownies, strawberry
Servings
Ingredients
Strawberry Brownies
Strawberry Icing
Course Dessert
Keyword brownies, strawberry
Servings
Ingredients
Strawberry Brownies
Strawberry Icing
Instructions
Strawberry Brownies
  1. Preheat oven to 325ºF. Line the bottom of an 8-inch heart shaped cake pan*** with parchment paper. Spray the insides with nonstick spray.
  2. In a large heat safe bowl, melt butter and white chocolate together on the stovetop over a pan of barely simmering water or in the microwave for 20 seconds at time, stirring at each interval. White chocolate overheats easily, so be vigilant.
  3. Add the sugar and salt to the butter mixture and mix until well combined.
  4. Add egg and egg yolks. Whisk until smooth.
  5. Pass strawberry purée through a sieve to remove seeds. Set aside 2 tablespoons of strawberry purée for icing. Add remaining purée to batter. Mix until well combined.
  6. Add extracts and food color. Mix until combined.
  7. Stir in flour until combined, scraping bowl as needed.
  8. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until toothpick inserted in center has a few moist crumbs on it, (not batter), about 25-30 minutes. Do not over bake. Let cool in pan. Remove from pan and top with strawberry icing.
Strawberry Icing
  1. Whisk all icing ingredients together until smooth and well combined.
Recipe Notes

*To make strawberry purée:   Purée clean, hulled and quartered strawberries in a blender or food processor. **To find the food color I used, click here. **To find the heart cake pan I used, click here.

This recipe was updated on January 24th, 2023

Chocolate Raspberry Cookie Tartlets

Chocolate Raspberry Cookie Tartlets

My fascination with Christmas cookies started as a child when my elderly neighbor used to bring over a tray of her homemade Christmas cookies every year. I loved the moment where I got to choose a cookie from the beautiful, interesting selection. In my humble opinion, I think a holiday cookie should be something special. It should be something that you don’t eat on a regular basis, maybe because it seems fancy or requires a little extra work to make. Or maybe it has a special meaning or a fond memory. These Chocolate Raspberry Cookie Tartlets check all the boxes for me. They have that something special a cookie needs to be the star of the holiday cookie tray…tender jam-filled chocolate dough, dipped in shiny chocolate with a pretty pop of red.

Print Recipe
 Chocolate Raspberry Cookie Tartlets
Keyword chocolate raspberry, cookies
Servings
cookies
Ingredients
Keyword chocolate raspberry, cookies
Servings
cookies
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a medium bowl, sift together powdered sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
  2. In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese, with an electric mixer on medium speed, until smooth.
  3. Add powdered sugar mixture and beat until well combined.
  4. Beat in egg and vanilla until well combined.
  5. On low speed, beat in flour just until combined.
  6. Divide dough into two equal portions. Wrap with plastic wrap and form into disks. Refrigerate at least two hours or overnight.
  7. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  8. Roll dough between two sheets of wax paper to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut dough into 3-inch rounds, re-rolling scraps as necessary. If dough becomes too soft at any point, chill in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes then continue with recipe.
  9. Place rounds on prepared baking sheets. Top each round with a teaspoon of jam.
  10. With a small food safe brush or with your finger, apply a small amount of water to the edge of half of each round. Fold over and press edges to seal.
  11. Bake until tops of cookies look set, about 9-11 minutes. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
  12. In a small bowl, mix melted chocolate with coconut oil until smooth.
  13. Dip cookies about 1/3 of the way into melted chocolate. Top with freeze dried fruit or sprinkles.
Recipe Notes

*To find freeze dried raspberries, click here.

To find the cookie cutter I used, click here.

To find food safe brushes, click here.

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwiches

Soft Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

I never imagined that I’d ever be posting a peanut butter cookie recipe. There are already crunchy peanut butter cookies, soft ones, chewy ones, and those peanut shaped store bought ones out there. I mean, do we even need another peanut butter cookie recipe? After I tasted this one, it’s a resounding YES! These soft, tender cookies combined with a silky, smooth filling are a new peanut butter experience that I had to share.

The key to getting the soft texture in the cookie, without being dry, is cake flour. So don’t substitute it, because it’s vital to achieve the correct texture. Make sure to weigh your flour for the most accurate results. The second important ingredient is heavy whipping cream. Just a little added to the filling gives it a luxurious, silky texture.

This recipe makes sixteen medium size peanut butter cookies, which will give you eight sandwiches. If you want more, you can double the recipe or make the cookies smaller. Smaller cookies will have a shorter baking time.

Print Recipe
 Melt-in-Your-Mouth Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwiches
Course Dessert
Keyword cookies, peanut butter
Servings
cookie sandwiches
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Cookies
Peanut Butter Filling
Course Dessert
Keyword cookies, peanut butter
Servings
cookie sandwiches
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Cookies
Peanut Butter Filling
Instructions
Peanut Butter Cookies
  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, cake flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, beat the peanut butter, butter and shortening until smooth.
  4. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined.
  5. Set aside 1/4 cup (50g) of the granulated sugar. Beat the peanut butter mixture with brown sugar and remaining granulated sugar, with an electric mixer at medium speed, until light and fluffy.
  6. Add the flour mixture and beat just until combined.
  7. Roll the dough into 1 1/2-inch (3.8cm) diameter balls (about 1 1/4 oz or 35g each). Roll the dough balls in the reserved granulated sugar.
  8. Place the dough balls 3 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Flatten with a fork, making a criss cross pattern.
  9. Bake until the cookies are puffy and start to crack around the edges, about 9-11 minutes.
  10. Let the cookies cool on baking sheet for 1 minute, then carefully transfer them to a cooling rack. The cookies will be fragile, but they will firm up as they cool.
  11. Place a spoonful of filling on the bottoms of half of the cooled cookies. Top with remaining the remaining cookies.
Peanut Butter Filling
  1. In medium bowl, beat the peanut butter and butter together until smooth.
  2. Beat in the powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla and salt until smooth.
Recipe Notes

To find my favorite cookie sheet, click here.

Harry Potter Inspired Pumpkin Pasties

Pumpkin Pasties

Even though the weather is warm where I live at the moment, I’m dreaming about all the delicious fall treats I’ll be baking this year. Let’s look forward to cool, crisp weather, the smell of pumpkin or apples baking, and sipping a warm mug of something spicy while we wait for our bakes to come out of the oven.

Inevitably, every fall, the Harry Potter movies come on at my house and it’s nice to have some popcorn and sweet treats to enjoy while watching the movies. And these Harry Potter Inspired Pumpkin Pasties are perfect for that! If you’ve read the Harry Potter books, you may remember the Pumpkin Pasties being mentioned. There are many interpretations out there, but I imagined them to be crispy and flaky on the outside with a sweet pumpkin filling. I included a delicious flaky pie crust recipe here, but feel free to use store bought pie dough if you want to streamline the process. I sprinkled mine with raw turbinado sugar before baking which provides a sweet delicious crunch. You can also use maple sugar or sparkling sugar. To find the sugar I used, click here. And as a magical touch, I added some edible gold star glitter. To find the edible gold stars, click here.

Print Recipe
 Pumpkin Pasties
Harry Potter inspired sweet pumpkin filled hand pies
Course Dessert
Keyword pastry
Servings
hand pies
Ingredients
Pie Crust
Pumpkin Filling
Assembly
Course Dessert
Keyword pastry
Servings
hand pies
Ingredients
Pie Crust
Pumpkin Filling
Assembly
Instructions
Pie Crust
  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Work the shortening into the flour mixture with your fingertips until evenly dispersed throughout.
  2. Work the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips, creating flat dime size pieces.
  3. Mix the ice water and vinegar together. Sprinkle over the flour mixture a little at a time, stirring until dough comes together. You may not need all of the water depending on your climate.
  4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Fold the dough over onto itself a few times. Do not overwork the dough! Form the dough into two disks. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least two hours or up to overnight.
Pumpkin Filling
  1. In a medium-size bowl, mix together the pumpkin purée, sugar, egg, heavy cream, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg until well combined.
Assembly
  1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut the dough into twelve 5-inch* rounds, re-rolling the scraps as needed. Place the dough rounds a couple of inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets.
  3. Place about 2 tablespoons of filling on each round, leaving a half-inch border. Apply egg wash to the edges of the rounds.
  4. Fold the dough over and press the edges together. Crimp the edges with a fork. If any filling oozes out, wipe it up with a paper towel or it will burn.
  5. Brush the pasties with egg wash. Cut a half-inch slit into the top of each pastie. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
  6. Bake until golden brown, about 18-20 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.
Recipe Notes

*To find a 5-inch round cutter, click here.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Mini Muffins

Pumpkin Cinnamon Mini Muffins

My mom had a cupboard in the kitchen containing a few old cookbooks that she rarely used. As a child, I used to enjoy perusing them and looking at the baked treats. Some of the cookbooks were so old, they had black and white photos or even just drawings of the food. The ones with drawings interested me because they often depicted smiling children enjoying the treats.

When I started learning to bake, I found a recipe for French Breakfast Puffs in one of those old books. The title sounded so fancy, but they were really just simple muffins dunked in butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar. I have no idea what the name of the cookbook was or what happened to it, but the delicious muffin recipe stuck around for a while. I’ve tweaked the recipe so many times over the years, and most recently, I added pumpkin to it. These Pumpkin Cinnamon Mini Muffins are one of the best versions I’ve created. The inside texture of the muffins is soft and moist and it contrasts nicely with the slight crunch you get from the cinnamon sugar on the outside. They look so cute too, like little pumpkins, and they definitely make children smile!

To watch the Instagram video of these mini muffins being made, click here.

Print Recipe
 Pumpkin Cinnamon Mini Muffins
Soft, tender pumpkin mini muffins rolled in cinnamon sugar
Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert
Keyword muffins, pumpkin, pumpkin spice
Servings
mini muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
Topping
Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert
Keyword muffins, pumpkin, pumpkin spice
Servings
mini muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
Topping
Instructions
Muffins
  1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Grease and flour a 24-serving mini muffin pan.* Do not use muffin liners. (The muffins need to form an outer crust. This prevents them from absorbing too much melted butter later in the recipe.)
  2. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg until well combined.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, egg and pumpkin purée until smooth and well combined. Stir in the flour mixture just until combined. The batter will be thick.
  4. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, filling the muffin cups about 2/3 full. (I ended up with 22 muffins.)
  5. Bake until toothpick inserted into the muffins comes out clean, about 10-13 minutes. Do not over bake! Be diligent, since over baking can happen very quickly with mini muffins. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Turn the muffins out and place on a cooling rack.
Topping
  1. Whisk the sugar and cinnamon together in a shallow bowl until well combined.
  2. Briefly dunk the warm muffins in melted butter, then roll in cinnamon sugar.
Recipe Notes

To find the mini muffin pan I used, click here.

Strawberry Rose Pancakes


Print Recipe


Strawberry Rose Pancakes

Pink pancakes made with strawberry purée and rose petals, topped with strawberry syrup and pink whipped cream

Course Breakfast, Brunch
Keyword pancakes, strawberry

Servings


Ingredients
Strawberry Syrup

Pink Whipped Cream

Strawberry Rose Pancakes

Course Breakfast, Brunch
Keyword pancakes, strawberry

Servings


Ingredients
Strawberry Syrup

Pink Whipped Cream

Strawberry Rose Pancakes


Instructions
Strawberry Syrup
  1. Purée the strawberries in a blender or small food processor. Pass the purée through a mesh sieve into a small saucepan. Stir in the sugar and 1/2 cup (118ml) of water. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Turn the heat down to low and simmer until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup thickens, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Pink Whipped Cream
  1. In a large bowl, beat the whipped cream to soft peaks with an electric mixer at high speed. Add the powdered sugar, strawberry extract and food coloring in 3 separate additions. Continue beating just until stiff peaks are formed. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Strawberry Rose Pancakes
  1. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together until well combined. Set aside.

  2. Purée the strawberries in a blender or small food processor. Pass the purée through a mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Add the egg, milk, melted butter, vanilla extract and food coloring (if using) and whisk until well combined. Stir this mixture into the flour mixture just until combined. A few lumps are okay. Stir in the rose petals.

  3. For each pancake, scoop 3-4 tablespoons of batter onto a hot oiled griddle. Flip the pancakes when bubbles form on the surface. Continue cooking until the pancakes puff and are lightly browned.


Recipe Notes

*To find the gel food coloring I used, click here.

**To find culinary dried rose petals, click here.

 

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Lemon Crinkle Cookies by Brownie Mischief
Click here to watch the video

Crinkle cookies, also known as crackle cookies, have been around for a very long time. The pretty, crispy, cracked exterior and the soft, moist interior are what we love about them! There’s definitely no shortage of recipes for crinkles out there, everything from chocolate to red velvet. I even saw an audacious cookie company selling lemon crinkles for twelve dollars each, more money than it will cost for this entire batch! So many of the recipes I tried were disappointing, especially the ones made with cake mix. So I created my own version and I’m sharing it with you. Here’s to making sure delicious lemon crinkle cookies are available for all to enjoy, not just a select few.

This recipe requires a bit of chilling, which I know many people don’t like because they’re impatient. I happen to be one of those people. Old fashioned crinkle cookies require about 3 hours of chilling. My recipe has the addition of cornstarch, which helps prevent spreading and allows for a shorter chilling time. As an added bonus, cornstarch makes the cookies more tender. Win win!

Fresh lemon zest and lemon juice in these cookies is crucial to the best lemon flavor. A bit of pure lemon extract is added to enhance that flavor. Don’t be tempted to use imitation extracts. The flavor will disappoint you. I added two drops of lemon yellow food color, which made them so pretty they look like pure sunshine!

Print Recipe
 Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Lemon cookies with a crackled, crispy exterior and a soft, tender interior
Course Dessert
Servings
cookies
Ingredients
Course Dessert
Servings
cookies
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
  2. In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest together until light and fluffy.
  3. Beat in the egg until well combined.
  4. Mix in the lemon juice, extracts and food coloring until well combined.
  5. Add the flour mixture and mix just until combined.
  6. Refrigerate the cookie dough for 30 minutes to one hour.
  7. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  8. Roll the dough into balls, about 2 tablespoons each. **I used a #30 portion scoop.
  9. Roll the dough balls generously in powdered sugar.
  10. Place two inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets.
  11. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet for one minute then transfer to a cooling rack.
Recipe Notes

*To find Americolor lemon yellow gel food color, click here.

**To find a #30 cookie scoop, click here.

To find the striped wax paper pictured above, click here.

 

Strawberries and Cream Profiteroles

Strawberries & Cream Profiteroles

Imagine you’re in a beautiful room, reclining on a plush velvet chaise lounge. There’s a dainty table nearby. On the table is a cake pedestal with a little pyramid of small, perfectly plump, pink pastries. They’re filled with sweet, luscious strawberry cream. And they’re all yours. This Strawberries & Cream Profiteroles recipe can make that dream come true. Maybe not the velvet chaise lounge, but really any comfortable chair will do while you indulge in these delicious little gems. Profiteroles have a way of making you feel regal and majestic. I think princesses and princes snack on them. Most of us don’t have a personal pastry chef or the budget to order from a French bakery every day, but we can certainly follow a recipe and make one of the easiest pastry doughs there is. Choux pastry or pate à choux is used to make profiteroles, cream puffs, eclairs, churros and other pastries. Once you get the hang of it, the possibilities are endless.

This recipe features fresh strawberries, but frozen strawberries will work too. You can also substitute raspberries or peaches. To find the recipe for Peaches & Cream Profiteroles, click here. The strawberry purée can be made a day or two ahead and stored in the refrigerator. To make it easy on myself, I like to make the strawberry purée on day one, the pastry cream on day two, then make the profiteroles and strawberry icing and assemble on day three. It’s also helpful to practice the French culinary style of prep, mise en place, which means to have all of your ingredients and equipment in place before you begin. Everything will go much smoother and prevent you from feeling overwhelmed.

Print Recipe
 Strawberries and Cream Profiteroles
Bite sized choux pastry puffs filled with fresh strawberries and cream filling and topped with fresh strawberry icing
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Keyword profiteroles, strawberry
Servings
profiteroles
Ingredients
Strawberry Pureé
Strawberries and Cream Filling
Profiteroles
Strawberry Icing
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Keyword profiteroles, strawberry
Servings
profiteroles
Ingredients
Strawberry Pureé
Strawberries and Cream Filling
Profiteroles
Strawberry Icing
Instructions
Strawberry Purée
  1. Purée strawberries in a blender or food processor. Strain puréed strawberries through a sieve.
  2. Transfer strawberry purée to a small saucepan. Stir in lemon juice.
  3. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer until strawberry purée is reduced by half.
  4. Remove from heat. Stir in strawberry extract. Set aside to cool completey.
Strawberries and Cream Filling
  1. Bring milk to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat.
  2. Meanwhile, whisk sugar, cornstarch and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the egg and whisk until smooth.
  3. When milk starts to boil, remove from heat and pour 1/3 of the hot milk into the egg mixture and whisk to combine.
  4. Pour the egg mixture back into the remaining hot milk and cook over medium heat, whisking continuously, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens.
  5. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla extract.
  6. Pour mixture through a sieve placed over a bowl. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and let cool completely.
  7. Set aside 2 tablespoons of strawberry purée. Add remaining strawberry purée to cooled pastry cream and stir to combine. Cover strawberry pastry cream and chill in refrigerator.
  8. In a medium bowl, whip heavy cream to stiff peaks with an electric mixer at high speed. Fold whipped cream into cooled strawberry pastry cream. Set aside in refrigerator.
Profiteroles
  1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper,
  2. Combine water, butter and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
  3. Reduce heat. Add flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until mixture pulls away from sides of pan and forms a ball.
  4. Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed until steam dissipates and mixture cools to lukewarm.
  5. Add eggs one at a time and beat on medium speed until smooth, stopping to scrape down bowl.
  6. Transfer mixture to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. (I used *Ateco tip 808)
  7. Pipe 1 1/4-inch mounds, about 2 inches apart, on prepared baking sheets. Smooth tops with a wet finger.
  8. Bake 15 minutes, then turn down the oven heat to 350ºF and continue baking until golden brown, about 8-10 more minutes. Using a toothpick or skewer, prick a small hole in each profiterole to allow steam to escape. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.
  9. Use the tip of a paring knife to make a pilot hole in the bottom of each profiterole.
  10. Place strawberries and cream filling into a piping bag fitted with a medium round piping tip. (I used **Wilton tip 12)
  11. Place tip into the pilot holes and fill each profiterole with filling.
Strawberry Icing
  1. In a medium bowl, whisk all icing ingredients together until smooth. Spoon over filled profiteroles. Refrigerate profiteroles until ready to serve.
Recipe Notes

*To find Ateco tip 808 click here.

**To find Wilton tip 12 click here.

Vintage Chocolate Cake

Dark Chocolate Cake with the Best Chocolate Frosting

If you love chocolate cake, this is the post for you! Chocolate cake is one of the best comfort foods there is. I’ve tasted many over the years, but my all time favorite was one I had growing up. I’ve spent years trying to duplicate the moist, nostalgic cake from my childhood. I noticed that nearly every chocolate cake recipe on the internet is a variation of the century-old recipe from the Hershey’s Cocoa tin. I think many people have passed it down as a family recipe, each grandmother adding her own personal touch. Even some celebrity chefs have claimed it as their own. It’s an easy, delicious, moist recipe and its popularity is well deserved. You can tweak the flavor additions a bit to make it your own too. It’s a recipe that’s hard to mess up.

This cake is topped with the ultimate silky, smooth, deeply chocolate frosting. I developed this recipe mostly because I couldn’t find a chocolate frosting recipe that didn’t taste gritty and/or look speckled from the cocoa powder. Swiss meringue buttercream with melted chocolate added is one alternative. But, while it is smooth, silky and perfect for piping, it’s missing that deep chocolate richness. Another option is chocolate ganache. It looks rich and creamy in those viral videos, but it’s a little too rich and overpowering to use as frosting in my opinion.

I think this frosting is the one! It has the best of both worlds, velvety but not too rich. You’ll notice that this frosting contains maple syrup. The syrup gives it a very subtle maple flavor in the background, but mostly, it helps to make the frosting silky and gives it shine. You can adjust the sweetness level of the frosting by choosing the chocolate you prefer. I used bittersweet chocolate, which I think is just right. This recipe makes enough frosting to frost a 2-layer 6-inch cake. You can easily double the recipe for larger cakes.

Print Recipe
 Vintage Chocolate Cake
Course Dessert
Keyword cake, chocolate
Servings
2 layer 6-inch cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Course Dessert
Keyword cake, chocolate
Servings
2 layer 6-inch cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
  1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the bottoms of two 6-inch cake pans with parchment paper. Grease the insides and dust with a mixture of equal parts flour and cocoa powder. Wrap the cake pans with damp cake strips if you have them.
  2. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the sugar and stir util well combined.
  3. Combine the the egg, egg yolk, buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Whisk lightly to combine.
  4. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix on low speed with an electric mixer, until combined. Stop the mixer. Scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl with a spatula. Turn the mixer up to medium speed and beat for 30 seconds.
  5. Add the hot coffee and stir until well combined.
  6. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans, dividing batter evenly between the pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 25-28 minutes without cake strips or about 28-32 minutes with cake strips.
  7. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes then remove the cakes from the pans and transfer to a cooling rack.
  8. Trim the cake layers to your desired thickness, from 1-inch to 1 1/2-inches thick. Fill and frost with chocolate buttercream frosting.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
  1. In a small saucepan over low heat, whisk together the maple syrup, water, cocoa powder and espresso powder until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
  2. Melt the chocolate in a medium bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to lukewarm.
  3. In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer at medium speed, until smooth and light in color. Add the powdered sugar and salt and continue beating until smooth and well combined.
  4. Gradually add the the cooled maple syrup mixture and beat on low speed until combined.
  5. Stir in the melted chocolate until well combined. Smooth out any air bubbles by stirring gently with a rubber spatula.
Recipe Notes

*For smoothest results, use chopped bar chocolate and make sure chocolate is completely melted.  Do not use chocolate chips. Chocolate chips do not melt completely and can make your frosting lumpy.

 

The Nutcracker Land of Sweets Cupcakes

Nutcracker Land of Sweets Cupcakes

The tradition of enjoying the Nutcracker Ballet at Christmastime has been in my family for over 20 years. The Nutcracker Land of Sweets is a magical theme that has me mesmerized. Gingerbread, candy canes, gumdrops and billowy clouds of pink frosting are what dreams are made of. And that’s exactly what these dreamy cupcakes are made of. The cupcake flavor is a subtle spice cake. The recipe is adapted from a Martha Stewart cake recipe I made last summer. The original cake was paired with blackberry jam, but I knew plum jam would be perfect for these cupcakes. I topped them with a mildly sweet, fluffy Swiss meringue buttercream.

Part of the fun of making these cupcakes began at the store as I collected the sweets to decorate the cupcakes. Another perk of the job is taste testing the candy. I discovered that purple spice drops are licorice flavored and red spice drops are cinnamon. Who knew?

You might also like my Nutcracker Land of Sweets inspired candy bark. It’s a delightful holiday bark I designed that is often imitated. To view it, click here.

Print Recipe
 The Nutcracker Land of Sweets Cupcakes
Spice cupcakes filled with plum jam, topped with fluffy pink frosting, gingerbread men and Christmas candy, and dusted with sugar snow
Course Dessert
Keyword cupcakes
Servings
cupcakes
Ingredients
Spice cupcakes
Pink Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Decorations
Course Dessert
Keyword cupcakes
Servings
cupcakes
Ingredients
Spice cupcakes
Pink Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Decorations
Instructions
Spice Cupcakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a 12 serving muffin pan with disposable baking cups. (I used silver foil liners.)
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, spices and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
  4. Add egg, egg white, and vanilla, one at a time, mixing until well combined.
  5. Add flour mixture in two additions, alternating with milk. Mix until combined.
  6. Divide batter evenly into wells of prepared muffin pan, filling about 2/3 full.
  7. Bake until light golden and toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 16-18 minutes.
  8. Let cool in muffin pan for 5 minutes. Gently transfer cupcakes to cooling rack to cool completely.
  9. Core the center of each cupcake, removing a 3/4-inch deep circle. Fill with jam and replace the circle top.
  10. Frost cupcakes with pink Swiss meringue buttercream. Decorate with cookies and candies. Lightly sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Pink Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercreamgue Buttercream
  1. Combine egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl. Set over a pan of gently simmering water.
  2. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and temperature of 160ºF is reached.
  3. Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixture with a whisk attachment. Whisk on low speed, gradually increasing to medium-high speed. Whisk until glossy, stiff peaks form and mixture reaches room temperature.
  4. Turn mixer to medium-low speed. Add butter, a few pieces at a time, allowing the butter to fully incorporate each time before adding more.
  5. Switch to paddle attachment. On low speed, mix in vanilla, salt and food color. Continue mixing on low speed for a few minutes until smooth.
Recipe Notes

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Spice Cake

Maple Pecan Brownies

maple pecan brownies

Pecan pie was my mom’s favorite, but she didn’t bake pies, so I always used to bake her one for Thanksgiving. One year, I made a chocolate version. It was delicious, but let’s just say it wasn’t user friendly. It was gooey and hard to serve. Over the years, it eventually morphed into these Maple Pecan Brownies. The brownie version is still delicious, rich and gooey with toasty pecans, but much more user friendly.

Enjoying Maple Pecan Brownies with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee is a must. Thinking of it brings back memories. I can practically smell my dad brewing the coffee to go with these brownies.

Print Recipe
 Maple Pecan Brownies
Rich, gooey brownies topped with pecan pie filling
Course Dessert
Keyword brownies, chocolate, maple pecan
Servings
brownies
Ingredients
Brownies
Pecan Topping
Course Dessert
Keyword brownies, chocolate, maple pecan
Servings
brownies
Ingredients
Brownies
Pecan Topping
Instructions
Brownies
  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, overlapping the sides an inch or two. Spray parchment paper with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. In a large bowl, stir together melted butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until well combined.
  3. Mix in eggs and vanilla, one at a time, until well combined.
  4. Mix in cocoa powder, baking soda and salt until well combined.
  5. Stir in flour just until combined.
  6. Spread batter into prepared baking pan. Bake just until top is set, about 25 minutes.
  7. Meanwhile, prepare pecan topping.
  8. When brownie top is set, remove from oven. Gently pour pecan topping around the outer perimeter of brownies, to avoid making brownies sink in the middle. Evenly distribute the pecan topping over the top gently with a spoon.
  9. Return the brownies to the oven and continue baking until the topping is set, about 20-25 minutes. Brownies will stop jiggling and topping will look deep golden brown. Toothpick inserted inside will have a few moist crumbs on it. (If your topping starts to brown too much on the edges before the inside is done, apply aluminum foil around the edges as you would with a pie.)
  10. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting, about 2- 2 1/2 hours.
  11. Cut into squares, wiping knife between cuts.
Pecan Topping
  1. In a medium bowl, stir together maple syrup, butter, brown sugar, egg, maple extract and salt until well combined.
  2. Stir in pecans until well coated with maple syrup mixture.
  3. Set aside until brownies are partially baked.

Apple Spice Cookies with Brown Butter Icing

Apple Spice Cookies with Brown Butter Icing

These Apple Spice Cookies were one of my most popular cookies last fall so I decided to bring them back a little early this year. The combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla in this cookie dough will remind you of cinnamon rolls and apple pie and inspire you look forward to fall.

The apples in this recipe are cooked briefly on the stovetop to bring out the flavor and create the perfect texture. Dropping raw apple chunks into cookie dough or cake batter is usually not a good idea. If you’ve ever baked an apple pie, you know that apples release liquid as they cook and that liquid will end up in your baked cookies, creating soggy spots. So definitely don’t skip this step!

These gorgeous, golden brown cookies are perfectly delicious on their own, but extra credit goes to the Brown Butter Icing for taking them over the top!

apple spice cookies with brown butter icing

Make sure to head over to Instagram to watch the video of these Apple Spice Cookies being created: Click here

Print Recipe
 Apple Spice Cookies with Brown Butter Icing
Spice cookies with fresh apples and brown butter icing
Course Dessert
Keyword cookies, holiday, thanksgiving
Servings
cookies
Ingredients
Cooked Apples
Apple Spice Cookie Dough
Brown Butter Icing
Course Dessert
Keyword cookies, holiday, thanksgiving
Servings
cookies
Ingredients
Cooked Apples
Apple Spice Cookie Dough
Brown Butter Icing
Instructions
Cooked Apples
  1. Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add apples, sugar and cinnamon to the skillet.
  2. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are tender, about 4-5 minutes.
  3. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Drain any excess liquid from the cooled apples.
Apple Spice Cookies
  1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy.
  4. Beat in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract, one at a time, until well combined
  5. Stir in the flour mixture, just until combined.
  6. Fold the the cooled apples into the cookie dough.
  7. Divide the dough into 12 equal golf ball size portions and place them 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
  8. Bake until golden brown, about 11-13 minutes. Let cool 1 minute on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Brown Butter Icing
  1. In a small saucepan, cook the butter over medium heat until golden brown and fragrant. When brown specks start to form in the bottom of the pan, remove from heat.
  2. Immediately transfer the browned butter to a small bowl. Whisk in the the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, salt and 1 tablespoon milk. Add more milk as needed to reach desired consistency.
  3. Drizzle the icing over the cooled cookies.
Recipe Notes

NOTE:  If your cookies spread too much when baking, refrigerate dough for 30 minutes, then bake as directed.