ADDICTING CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE WITH CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

I have tried more or less 10 recipes to satisfy my craving for a moist and delectable cupcake. Some came out as epic fails; burnt and awful; some came out bland, some came out too cake-y for my taste and some almost hit the spot. Hopeful, I continue my quest for the ultimate chocolate cupcake recipe. I found this recipe on Cupcake Project,  I think last January  but was just too busy (or lazy) to hit the kitchen and whip it up. NOW, I decided to give it a try because I finally found a cool baking supplies store -- Bakers Nook -- here in our city which caters goods and tools for wanna-be and professional bakers. No excuses for me so yeah, I baked some heavenly cupcakes this afternoon!

With Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting!

Prepared for my Tita Ecar.

No sprinkles yet looks so good!

This one is for my Tita Fe

Just a note, I tweaked this recipe a little because I cannot find sour cream, I used homemade buttermilk as a substitute. Came out perfect for me anyways. :)

But if you want the original recipe click this link -- Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake

Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake (with a tweak)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup ( 2 oz)  unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup ( 7 oz) sugar

2 oz  (57 grams) dark chocolate, chopped (I used Colatta Compound Dark Chocolate Bars)

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 large egg yolks, room temperature

1/2 cup + 1 tbsp vegetable or canola oil

2 tsp vanilla extract ( pls. use the real thing, makes a difference)

1/3 cup homemade buttermilk ( 1/3 cup milk then add 1/3 tbsp. vinegar or lemon)

1 cup all-purpose flour

Lovely Twins!

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup cocoa powder 

1/2 cup room temp. water

Way to whip it:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter with fork then add sugar and mix. 

3. Melt the chocolate in a double-boiler or microwave. Now if you don't have any of these, you can improvise. Just don't let the bowl of chocolate touch the boiling water.

4. Once the melted chocolate is cool enough to touch, add it to the butter/sugar mixture. Mix well.

5. Add eggs one at a time. Mix until well combined.

6. Add the oil, vanilla and buttermilk into the mixture. Mix, mix, mix.

7. In another bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and cocoa powder. Use a fork or whisk to combine.

8. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture in three (3) parts. Make sure to mix well every addition to avoid lumps.

9. Mix in the water until combined.

9. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and pop it in the oven for 18 minutes.

10. When your timer rings, check the cupcakes by inserting a toothpick in the middle. Should come out clean. If there is just an insy, tinsy bit of chocolate in the toothpick, it's ok to take the cups out, it will still cook itself for a few minutes.

11. Immediately remove the cupcakes from the muffin pan and let cool in a wire rack. 

12. Design your cupcakes or just eat them when cool already. I put chocolate cream cheese frosting in mine. 

Savor your chocolate success friends! And don't forget to visit my blog for more yummy eats. Mmwwahhh!!!

First Day of Baking... COCONUT MACAROONS!!!

August 9, 2013

My sister came home to spend her long weekend with us!(Yipee!!!) And of course if she's home, we get to bake something together, and this time we decided to bake three goodies! First of, we made this aromatic coconut macaroons that my husband requested. This is our first time to bake macaroons and we were kind of afraid that it might turn out disgusting, half-baked or over-baked. Fortunately, it turned out to be fantastic golden brown macaroons with the right amount of sweetness and soft inner texture!

We got the ingredients from Panlasang Pinoy website but we altered it a little to satisfy our taste buds.

So, for those who are craving for coconut macaroons, let us start by preparing these ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
400 grams or 14 oz condensed milk
250-300 grams desiccated or shredded coconut
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Now let us start whippin' and bakin'!

Directions:
1. Cream the butter with fork.
2. Add the 1/2 cup butter gradually and mix well.
3. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.
4. Add the condensed milk, whisk again until you reach a thin creamy consistency.
5. Gradually add the desiccated coconut and evenly spread it till the mixture is thick but still creamy.
6. In a mold (we prefer the ones with paper liners), place 1 tbsp. of the mixture on each cup.
7. Pre-heat the oven to 370°F for 10 minutes.
8.  Bake those babies for 20-30 minutes or until color turns golden brown.
9. Let it sit in the mold for 5 more minutes then take it out and put it on a wire rack to cool.
10. Enjoy your macaroons!

CLASSIC CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIPS COOKIES

I know it's been quite long but I'm back!!!

Let me start with this, my 4-year old has a sweet tooth just like his Tatay (father) and so I decided to bake something that he will truly enjoy. I started searching for a chocolate chips cookies recipe and I got one from Pinterest. 

These classic chocolate chips cookies  are fun to do and so yummy and chewy that I think it is a waste not to share it with you. The batch I made yielded 11 large cookies  (almost the size of a saucer) but my son and I  cannot keep our hands off this sinful snacks that we ended up with just three cookies come night time!!! Just tellin',  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!! 

Now I know you cannot wait to try this one out so here's the link to Emily's blog where I got the recipe --- www.nourishem.com

Enjoy the oven heat!!! Mwwaaahhh!!!