Chocolate Sugar Cookies

These cookies right above are my first attempt at royal icing. I think they turned out pretty good! Considering I had no practice with it before. They are also very delicious. My mom bought me a bag of this icing mix, and I initially thought I'd make some vanilla cut-out cookies to try it out with. Then, I saw this post by one of my favorite bloggers, and I knew it was meant to be! Dark chocolate sugar cookies... Yum :) They were so easy to make too! Seven ingredients is all it takes. I definitely recommend these cookies, and I also recommend the icing mix! It was a great alternative to me having to go out and buy a large canister of meringue powder that I would barely use. Enjoy!

The ice cream cones were my favorite!

Dark-Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for surface

1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 ounces (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Whisk together flour, cocoa, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture, beating to combine. Shape dough into 2 disks, wrap each in plastic, and freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.

Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Using a 1 1/2-inch biscuit cutter, cut out rounds. (Or whichever shapes you prefer.) Space cookies 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Brush off excess flour.

Bake cookies, rotating sheets once, until edges are firm, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer cookies, on parchment, to a wire rack, and let cool completely.

Makes about 30, but really depends on the shapes and sizes of your cookie cutters

Source: http://www.marthastewart.com/335250/dark-chocolate-cookies?backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/chocolate-cookie-recipes#slide_7 

Salted Caramel Popcorn Macarons

I love to try new things in the kitchen, but macarons are always a little scary. The first batch I ever tried were chocolate. I piped probably two dozen macarons onto the baking sheet, put it in the oven, and what I got in the end was not was I was hoping for. The were crackly on the top, and had no 'feet!' I was pretty sad to say the least... Before putting my second batch in though, I googled why they might've turned out that way, and apparently the fans in your oven and the heights of the oven racks make a large impact. Oh, is that true. So I piped one macaron on a small cookie tray and put it about two levels higher from the middle of my oven. IT WORKED! I was so ecstatic. Now I follow exactly that whenever I make macarons. They still taste good either way, but it's nice to have 'em look pretty :) 

These macarons were so good! They're very sweet, and the only popcorn in them is on the top, which surprised me, but it adds the perfect amount of flavor to earn their name. The filling was a easy caramel, but it turned out way too watery for my liking. I filled a few and it went all over them, so I figured it isn't worth the mess. I just whipped up a quick buttercream, about 4 tbsp. softened salted butter, 2 cups powdered sugar, and approx. 2-3 tbsp. milk, and whipped it up. I added the caramel and it was a good consistency for me! Thicker, which is what I like, and could hold up to the shells when you bite into them. I might've done something wrong with the caramel, so if you want to try it, go for it! Enjoy :)

Beautiful macaron feet!

Love this.

Salted Popcorn Caramel Macarons

Yield: about 20-24 sandwich cookies

Ingredients:

For the macarons:

110 grams almonds (blanched or slivered)

200 grams confectioners’ sugar

90 grams egg whites, aged at room temperature for 24 hours or 3-5 days in the refrigerator

25 grams granulated sugar

3/4 cup buttered and salted popcorn, pulsed or chopped into fine chunks

For the caramel filling: 

1/2 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 cup water

6 tablespoons heavy cream

Pinch of fleur de sel

Directions:

To make the macarons, pulse the almonds and confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor until finely ground and well blended. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium-high speed until foamy. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue beating until a smooth, shiny meringue with stiff peaks forms. Add the ground almond mixture to the bowl with the meringue and quickly but gently fold together using a wide rubber spatula until no streaks remain. You want to achieve a thick batter that ribbons or flows from the spatula when lifted.

Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a plain wide round tip. Pipe into small rounds on the prepared baking sheets (each round should be about 1-1½ inches in diameter), spaced about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle the rounds lightly with the chopped popcorn pieces (leave half plain if you want them to lie flat). Let sit at room temperature for about an hour to develop a hard shell.

Preheat the oven to 280˚F. Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on size. Transfer the pans to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely before moving the cookies.

To make the caramel filling, combine the sugar, cream of tartar and water in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat without stirring until the sugar begins to melt and turn golden at the edges. Continue cooking, swirling the pan to cover evenly, until the sugar turns golden amber. Carefully pour the cream down the side of the pan in a slow, steady stream, stirring constantly until combined. Stir in the fleur de sel. Transfer the caramel to a bowl and let cool. It will thicken as it cools.

Once the cookies are totally cooled, match them up by size. Pipe a small dollop of caramel on the flat side of one cookie of each pair. Sandwich together with the remaining cookie, pushing the caramel to the edges. Store in an airtight container.

Source: http://www.cooklikeachampionblog.com/2011/09/salted-popcorn-caramel-macarons/

Lemon Layer Cake with Mascarpone Filling And Vanilla Buttercream

This cake is a crazy one. Lemony cake, soft mascarpone filling, mMm the buttercream! So good. I made this for my brothers' birthdays. They were born within a week of eachother (a year apart) so we celebrate them together. Usually, I always make chocolate birthday cakes. Like, all the time. But my mom *insisted* that I make a fruity one! Well, I am glad I did. This isn't as fruity as other cakes may be, but it's far from chocolate. The cake is so much easier than I thought it would be to make. The icing is a simple buttercream and the filling is easy too. As long as you plan it out and give yourself enough time, it's done in a cinch. I love baking cakes, and this may be one of my top 5 favorites. I found the recipe here. Give it a try!

It's a tall cake! Ignore the mess :)

Before I put the rose

So tender yet rich... Enjoy!

Source: http://www.annies-eats.com/2011/08/19/lemon-layer-cake-with-vanilla-bean-frosting/

Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake

I miss this cheesecake... I actually made it last Easter, and it will probably make a reappearance for this one. It's so, so good. With an oreo crust, creamy cheesecake studded with fudgy brownies, and a perfect chocolate ganache, it's hard to imagine that anyone wouldn't love this! It may seem like a very time-consuming recipe but if you plan ahead, it'll go by very smoothly and quickly. 

I LOVED this recipe, but the only thing I would change next time is to cut the ganache recipe in half. It may not look like that much, but I think it overpowered the creamy, light cheesecake, which is something I do not want. It is a cheesecake recipe afterall. Also, when I made this I cut the brownie recipe in half since it makes twice what you need. Next time I will probably make the whole batch since they come together so easily, and they'll be nice to have in the freezer for when I make ice cream ;). 

Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake

For the Brownies:
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter
1¾ cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup flour

For the Crumb Crust:
1½ cups or 5 ounces (3 cups or 10 ounces to double) finely ground Oreos, or other chocolate cookie
5 tablespoons (10 tablespoons to double) unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup (2/3 cup to double) granulated sugar
1/8 teaspooon (¼ teaspoon to double) salt

For the Cheesecake:
3 (8-oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the Ganache Glaze:
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
¼ cup heavy cream
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Brownies: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 13×9-inch baking pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Grease foil.

2. Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and salt; mix well. Spread into prepared pan.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minute or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. Cool in pan on wire rack. Remove brownies from pan, using foil handles.

4. Cool brownies, then cut them into 3/4- to 1-inch squares for use in the cheesecake. You will have more than the two cups of cubes, loosely measured, than you will need. Add the other 2 cups of cubes to cake batter as directed below.

5. Crumb Crust: Stir together the Crumb Crust ingredients and press into bottom and 1 inch up side of a buttered 10" springform pan. Fill right away or chill for up to 2 hours.

6. Cheesecake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat together cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla, beating on low speed until each ingredient is incorporated and scraping down bowl between additions.

8. Fold brownie cubes in very gently and pour mixture into prepared pan. Put springform pan with crust in a shallow baking pan. Pour filling into crust and bake in baking pan (to catch drips) in middle of oven 45 minutes, or until cake is set 3 inches from edge but center is still slightly wobbly when pan is gently shaken.

9. When completely cool, top with following glaze.

10. For the glaze: Place finely chopped chocolate in a medium size mixing bowl. Scald the butter and cream together in a saucepan (or in the microwave on HIGH for 1 minute). Pour the cream mixture over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Whisk in vanilla and then whisk in powdered sugar until smooth. Spread over cheesecake while ganache is still warm. Chill until ready to serve.

Source: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2007/08/alexs-choice/

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Hi! This is my first blog post :) okay well these cupcakes...are just too good. They taste just like an oreo! The cream cheese frosting is not overpowering but just right. I love these and will definitely make them again. Only thing I changed was that I used the halves of the oreos without frosting in the batter, instead of chopping up 20 additional whole oreos for it. They were still amazing. 

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

For the cupcakes:
24 Oreo halves, with cream filling attached
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 2/3 cup sugar
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk
20 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped (I quarter them)

For the frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tbsp. heavy cream

For garnish:
Oreo cookie crumbs
24 Oreo cookie halves

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line the wells of two cupcake pans with 24 paper liners.  Place an Oreo halve in the bottom of each liner, cream side up.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir together with a fork to blend and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Blend in the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Blend in the vanilla extract.  With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated.  Add the milk and beat just until combined, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients.  Gently fold in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated, being careful not to over-mix.

Evenly divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to 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 and beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute.  Blend in the vanilla extract.  Beat in the confectioners’ sugar until incorporated and smooth, 1-2 minutes.  Add the heavy cream to the bowl and beat on medium-low speed just until incorporated, then increase the speed to medium-high and whip for 4 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired.  Sprinkle with Oreo crumbs and garnish with Oreo halves. Yield: 24 cupcakes.

I love how you can see the design of the oreo!

Delicious.