Friday, June 21, 2013

Chocolate Covered Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies


Recipe is here. Go look. And then make them. Just do it.

I think I probably did something wrong because my cookies ended up more crispy than soft.
Also sort of shaggy looking, whereas hers are quite smooth and roundy. ANYWAY. They were still amazing. I took the liberty of toasting my marshmallows with my handy-dandy kitchen torch. Which--why wouldn't you?!
And I'm planning to make these again IF ONLY so I can figure out a way to incorporate graham crackers and make them more s'more-like.

They're just so easy. And so yummy. Have you started on a batch yet?

P.S. This is what I look like when I'm baking. So, one might ask, why do I not do it ALL THE TIME? I wish I knew the answer to that question.

TGIP Rating--Chocolate Covered Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies--KEEPER. Graham cracker element yet to be figured out...

Next up: On our Baker Family (yes, I'm a Baker by blood) Facebook page, my baby sister put out a call for old family recipes. My amazing, crafty, and apparently incredibly organized Aunt Vickie (who just has these things at her fingertips!) answered by starting a new page which she is peopling with photographs of handwritten heirloom recipes from that side of the family. One of the recipes she posted is called Mystery Cake. And I'm letting it stay a mystery for now. Apparently it's a type of fruitcake with a secret ingredient. I KNOW it's the wrong time of year for a fruitcake, but this just came up and I'm DELICIOUSLY curious about it. So I'm trying it!

Friday, June 7, 2013

Recipe Roulette--Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes


Another easy one using pieces of various recipes--Frankencupcakes. I used this chocolate cake recipe (which incidentally, is the easiest and most reliable cake recipe I've EVER encountered--sometimes I wonder why I try any fancy new recipes). I dipped the tops in the ganache from this recipe (which is pretty much like any other ganache recipe you'll find out there). Then I made a batch of this buttercream (which, I've said before, is the best buttercream recipe around--even when problems happen (mine wasn't coming together so I put it in the fridge for 20-30 minutes and when I put it back on the mixer it came together perfectly)) and added a full jar of this (and just enough red food coloring):


I piped it on top of the ganache (you can see below I actually made a variety of combinations to accommodate different tastes in my family--some people don't like chocolate--I KNOW). Then I sprinkled on some black sugar BECAUSE IT'S BEAUTIFUL. Et voila.


The strawberry flavor wasn't quite as strong as I wanted it to be, but I couldn't find the freezer jam I used in the strawberry portion of this recipe. Nevertheless, it was delicious. The ganache adds a decadent touch to something that is otherwise incredibly simple. The buttercream didn't react adversely to so much jam being added, it really held up nicely. And in case you ever need to know, that full recipe frosted about 60 cupcakes.

TGIP Rating--Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes--KEEPER. I need to find that freezer jam if I'm going to do this again, though. Even though the chocolate flavor isn't SUPER rich, it needs a stronger strawberry flavor to match it.

Next up: Summertime. Hm. I think we need cookies in the house. Cookies that are almost like s'mores. Like these ones.