Tag: Coffee

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

I am so excited that pumpkin season is back, and to share this recipe for Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting! I eat/drink pumpkin flavored things all year, but September through December are when I can truly indulge in my pumpkin obsession.

To kick off the season in style, I decided to make pumpkin cupcakes.

The cupcake recipe is adapted slightly from Annie’s Eats recipe for Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes and the icing is an adaptation of a Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting from Kraft.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes:

  • 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2  teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice
  • 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 Green Mountain Pumpkin Spice K-Cups (about 3 tablespoons?)
  • 1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 cup canola oil
  • 4 large eggs, at room temperature

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 1 8 oz. package of Cream Cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon  vanilla extract
  • 1 16 oz package of powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Continue reading Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Salted Caramel Brownies

Hurricane Irene has forced me to stay indoors for most of today, which means I’ve resorted to cooking/baking to keep me occupied. Today’s creation is another Cooking Light recipe for Salted Caramel Brownies.

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon bakery emulsion
  • Cooking spray

Topping:

  •  1/4 cup butter
  •  1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  •  3 1/2 tablespoons evaporated fat-free milk, divided
  •  1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  •  1/2 cup powdered sugar
  •  1 ounce dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
  •  1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
  •  1/8 teaspoon coarse sea salt
Continue reading Salted Caramel Brownies

Dark Chocolate ROOT Cake

I have wanted to try to incorporate ROOT into my cooking for a while now. ROOT is basically the alcoholic version of root beer. For the history/back-story, check out their website. Here is also a video on the stuff:

The spirit contains birch bark, smoked black tea, cinnamon, wintergreen, spearmint, clove, anise, orange, lemon, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom and pure cane sugar so I thought it would go really well in a chocolate cake. I used this rum cake recipeas a starting point, and substituted in ROOT and dark chocolate, as well as a little instant espresso coffee to enhance the chocolate flavor.

Ingredients for the cake:
6 ounces coarsely chopped dark chocolate
1/2 teaspoon instant espresso coffee
5 ounces (1-1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
2/3 cup ROOT
4 large eggs, separated
1-1/4 cups sugar
1 cup flour
Pinch saltIngredients for the chocolate glaze:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
8 ounces roughly chopped dark chocolate
1/2 teaspoon espresso powderIngredients for Chantilly cream (optional):
1/2 cup plus 1 Tablespoon heavy whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon sugar or to taste
Small pinch salt
Continue reading Dark Chocolate ROOT Cake

Yellow Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache

My little sister is graduating college and her party is next weekend. She asked me to make a cake for her and I couldn’t say no. So I decided to do a test batch this week to make sure I like the recipe (she asked for yellow cake with chocolate icing). I naturally can’t just buy cake in a box, so I’m going to make yellow cake with dark chocolate ganache with raspberries.
Ingredients for cake (this makes enough for 2 9-inch cake pans):
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 2 ½  cups white sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 ½ cups buttermilk
  • 3 ¾ cups cake flour (you can use all-purpose flour as a substitute)
  • 2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • Cooking spray
Ingredients for ganache:
  • 16 ounces chocolate, finely chopped (I used dark chocolate)
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
This is a double layer cake, so I also needed icing for in between the two layers. You can just buy chocolate icing in the store and use that, but I only want to deliver the best for the little sister.
Ingredients for chocolate frosting:
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch pieces
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • ¼ cup water
  • 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 16 oz chocolate, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Continue reading Yellow Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache

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