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That little mickey on the right is my mom! Super cute, right? Anyway normally, this time of year, I do a kind of list of awesome baking/cooking/whatever-related presents, sorta like a (very brief) gift guide. But this year I just didn’t feel like it. Mainly because I had no ideas, but also because I just wasn’t digging it. So I’m sorry… but on the plus side, you get an extra recipe post out of it. And it just so happens to be jelly.

This jelly might frighten some of you. Or at least the mention of Red Hot candies that go in it might frighten you. But I assure you that it’s nowhere near as frightening as you think. The heat from the candy literally disappears & leaves a bright red, beautiful jelly that’s got an amazing cinnamon-apple flavor that kinda reminds me of not only candy apples but Apple Jacks cereal. And of course, it’s perfect for Christmas.

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I love Red Hots. But then again, I’m a big fan of anything spicy or “hot.” While I was making this jelly, I ate the entire rest of the bag of Red Hots, standing at the stove stirring the pot. Seriously.

But like I said above- what happens in that pot is magical. The “hot” of the Red Hots just goes away. You’re left with a fantastic cinnamon-apple jelly that’s sweet & not spicy. And of course, perfect for gift-giving. The color is just so beautiful. Really ‘candy apple red‘ and definitely has that candy apple taste.

Candy apple is made by coating an apple with a sugar layer.

The most common sugar coating is made from sugar, corn syrup, water, cinnamon and red food coloring. The sugar syrup is created by boiling the ingredients in a saucepan. The liquid should reach about 300 °F (150 °C) on a candy thermometer. Dip the apple with the sugar in the “hard crack” stage. The sugar will harden within an hour.

Humid weather prevents the sugar from hardening.^[3]

Jelly apples, found in New York’s Coney Island area, are related but have a soft candy (“jelly“) coating and a cherry flavor, not cinnamon. Some have sprinkles on them or coconut.

It’s stupid easy to make this, too. If you’ve got any canning experience at all, you can do it blindfolded. Maybe not literally, we don’t want any hot sugar accidents. Of course, as usual, I write this assuming you have full knowledge of home-canning procedures & safety measures, etc. If you don’t, or if you’re new to it, then please take a minute to read through the USDA’s National Center for Home Food Preservation’s website on it before starting. This happens to be incredibly easy to make, and there’s no concern about the acid/sugar levels in it, but if you’re a newbie it’s always good to do your research first.

CANDY APPLE JELLY (Betsy Porter’s recipe from AllRecipes.com)

Makes about 6 half-pint jars

Ingredients:

• 4 cups apple juice
• ½ cup red-hot candies
• 1 (1.75 ounce) package powdered fruit pectin
• 4 ½ cups sugar

Directions:

1. In a large kettle, combine apple juice, candies and pectin.
2. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar; return to a full rolling boil. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
3. Remove from the heat; skim off any foam and undissolved candies. Pour hot liquid into hot jars, leaving ¼-in. headspace. Adjust caps. Process for 5 minutes in a boiling-water bath.

Gorgeous & simple. All of my candies dissolved so I didn’t need to skim any off. I will say though that my jelly took a day or two to set because I used liquid pectin (at least I think that’s why), but ultimately it did set beautifully. I suggest using the powdered as the recipe asks for, just to simplify your life. I like to make things difficult for myself. Life is hard when you’re a rebel.

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Once they were set, sealed & cooled, I made the cutest little ‘jar cozies’ out of red polka dot wool. Kinda like the jelly jar’s version of a Christmas sweater, haha. Then I tied ribbons & Christmas charms on it, printed up pretty labels for the top and safety-pinned a label to it describing what’s inside. I think they look perfectly suited to this time of year. I can’t wait to give them as gifts. But for now, maybe I’ll have some on toast… and I heard using it as the jelly in a PB&J is delightful, if you’re into that kinda thing. I am not. Speaking of pimping my preserves, Pimp That Preserve 2011 is officially on! So if you’re so inclined, get your booty over to the Well Preserved FB page, go to the album for Pimp That Preserve 2011 & vote for my jars! I entered two- my amaretto cranberry sauce & a champagne jelly (that won’t be posted for some time yet, sorry!), so go take a peek. It’s super easy, just click ‘like’ to vote for a particular jars’ decorations *ahem*mine*ahem* No seriously, you can vote for whoever you like, there are some awesome entries!

I decided this year would be a practically 100% homemade gift year for me. Meaning very few people will get anything bought, if any. I myself, while having tons of ‘wants’ & things I lust for, most of which is totally unnecessary or extravagant… I don’t need anything. And I know that I’ll get some things that I don’t need anyway, & I’ll love them. It’s just part of my attempt to try & be simpler & more noble, I guess. Eh. Whatever. I wouldn’t be turning down any Le Creuset or Tiffany’s, you can bet on that.

Are you hoping for anything special from the big guy in the red suit on Christmas Day?

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Boo hoo. So sad. And treat number one? Well, treat one is much more fun than the trick… it’s cupcakes made from leftover Halloween candy! I didn’t get much more than 5 or 6 trick or treaters this year, so I had a lot of candy left.

The spread… pre-trick-or-treaters.. looked basically the same after

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Yes, it’s been done. Numerous times. In the form of brownies & cookies, too. But please, give me this much. I love this holiday & I have trouble letting go. I know it’s November now, & everyone is preparing for Thanksgiving already. But let me have my one last Halloween post, okay? Thank you. I’ll miss all my decorations, my Halloween tree & all my table settings. *sad face* No more ghosts & goblins for another year. But I’d like to thank the ladies from Georgetown Cupcakes- you may know them from the TLC TV show, DC Cupcakes- for the video that got me wanting to make these. It also used up some (notice how I said some) of that delicious leftover Halloween candy that I managed to not shove into my face while waiting for the doorbell to ring. You can find the recipe on their TLC page, but I listed it below as well. I ended up with some Reese’s, some Whoppers, Snickers, Butterfinger, Nestle Crunch and Hershey bar mini’s to play with, not to mention candy corn, so I made cupcakes with them. Oh, and some Dots, but I didn’t think they’d work well in cupcakes. Yes. Cupcakes stuffed with Halloween candy. I can’t really imagine anything more fattening & root-canal inducing, can you?

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Oh, but so cute. And so good. And since we got SNOW on Saturday, I think I deserve it. Snow. In October. That’s just not right, you know? It goes against all things I know & love about New York, like (usually) no snow until after Thanksgiving. For me to properly deal with snow in October, I need freshly made baked goods daily, tons of Netflix & copious amounts of liquor. Okay, okay, so it was like an inch or two of slushy snow. But that’s after a whole day of freezing rain & sleet! That sucks. Anyway back to these here cupcakes. Like I said I got this idea from a video posted by Katherine & Sophie of the now famous Georgetown Cupcakes. Oh, and let me just say I wouldn’t mind having a KitchenAid mixer or two that coordinated with every holiday, like these ladies’ black & orange ones. Let’s get on that, shall we? All donations gratefully accepted.…

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TRICK OR TREAT CUPCAKES (adapted very slightly from Georgetown Cupcakes)

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups of flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking powder, sifted
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
• 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 2 ¼ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ cups whole milk at room temperature
• 12 different bite-sized mini candy bars, chopped into small pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° degrees F.
2. Line a cupcake pan with baking cups; depending on how big your cupcakes are, you can make between 12 and 18. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Place the unsalted butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the sugar; beat on medium speed until well incorporated. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition. Combine the vanilla extract and milk in a large liquid measuring cup.
4. Reduce the mixer speed to low, and add ⅓ of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, then gradually add ⅓ of the milk mixture, beating until well incorporated. Add another third of the flour mixture, followed by a third of the milk mixture. Stop to scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the remaining flour mixture, followed by the remaining milk mixture, and beat just until combined.
5. Spoon batter into baking cups, filling each about halfway. Add one type of chopped-up candy bar to each baking cup and press into the batter. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Clockwise from top left: Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, Hershey, Reese’s, Kit Kat & Whopper cupcakes, post-baking

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Better view of my superawesometotallycool skeleton plate!

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I upped the baking powder by a half teaspoon because I felt that with the candies in them they needed an extra bit of oomph to rise nicely. The orange & black liners and the little sprinkles (or are they jimmies?) are by Wilton. I topped them with a thick swirl of vanilla-flavored orangey-colored buttercream, although a dark chocolate frosting would be sweet. But if you wanted to get all crazy fancy-pants, you could color the batter too. I like to keep it simple (yeah right). Oh, I should also state that I got 2 dozen cupcakes from this recipe. My pans must be from an alternate universe.

Hurray! Delicious, overly sweet, totally over-the-top tooth rotting goodness in a cupcake. Amazing. I love it. They really put me back in a 9-year old trick-or-treater mood. Which is hard to do given I’m now 30 years old & nobody gives me candy, not to mention the fact I didn’t even dress up this year. Poopsticks. Anyway… I ate them with a big ol’ mug of this:

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Yes, I ate them with green hot cocoa. What of it? I made some green hot cocoa, ate some trick or treat cupcakes & snuggled up under my leopard print blankie to watch The Bride of Frankenstein. Awesomesauce. The hot cocoa wasn’t really that spectacular; it tasted sorta how it looks. But worth a shot anyway… or I should say, the packaging was worth it. I’m a sucker for packaging. That’s probably why I fell for that tall, dark, handsome chunk of manhood I’ve got. Give me a death metal t-shirt wearing, guitar-playing, Wu-Tang-Clan-lyric-knowing, food loving, hysterically funny dude that’s taller than me (I’m 5’9″ & that’s not an easy task believe it or not) with a shaved head & even if I didn’t like him, I’d probably still go for it. Kidding, kidding. It’s the candy- the candy makes me crazy.

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So anyway, yes, Halloween is over for this year. Another 361 days or so until it rolls around again. But there’s plenty to keep us occupied until then, what with Thanksgiving looming & Christmas right around the corner (52 days!) we’ve got plenty to do, and cook, and bake…

But right now, I’m just gonna enjoy what remains of All Hallows Eve. Before I wrap this up, I want to make sure you crafty types check out my friends’ new site: All Crafts on Deck. Each Friday they giveaway a fat quarter & they’re gonna be featuring all sorts of awesome & amazing crafts & tutorials (I even wrote one up for them!). So go!

Indy does not understand Halloween, why he has to dress up & why he can’t have any chocolate.

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Yeah, pit bull mixes are really dangerous. He’s totally about to rip my face off in that picture…

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Part of the charm & intrigue of Halloween is the fright factor. That things-that-go-bump-in-the-night-”what-was-that-sound” factor that gives you the chills- but you love it. The reason why people go on scary roller coasters or watch horror movies. That same feeling, that’s the best part of Halloween. I try to make that a part of everything I make around this time of year, not to mention I try to include the fall flavors that everyone loves. Of course, I’m biased. Like I said, this is my favorite holiday. I think some of my favorite things about it, in addition to the “scary” aspect, are all the traditions & symbols. It has such strong Celtic roots, I find the origins of the things we do today to be really interesting. Some of which I’ll be sharing with you over the next few weeks in detail… for now:

Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time. For instance, the carving of jack-o’-lanterns springs from the souling custom of carving turnips into lanterns as a way of remembering the souls held in purgatory.^[5] The turnip has traditionally been used in Ireland and Scotland at Halloween,^[6][7] but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin, which are both readily available and much larger – making them easier to carve than turnips.^[6] The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837^[8] and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.^[9]

The imagery of Halloween is derived from many sources, including national customs, works of Gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein and Dracula), and classic horror films (such as Frankenstein and The Mummy).^[10] Among the earliest works on the subject of Halloween is from Scottish poet John Mayne in 1780, who made note of pranks at Halloween; “What fearfu’ pranks ensue!”, as well as the supernatural associated with the night, “Bogies” (ghosts), influencing Robert Burns‘ Halloween 1785.^[11] Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween.

Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, the occult, or mythical monsters.^[12] Black and orange are the holiday’s traditional colors.

I’m aware not everyone enjoys this day as much as I do, and I guess my personal opinion that they’re a bunch of boring, humorless stick-in-the-mud’s is irrelevant, but either way I think it’s fun & harmless. What could be more fun than dressing up as something you aren’t & getting free candy? I don’t know. It sounds pretty friggin’ amazing to me. So being it’s my favorite holiday, I have lots of treats for you to choose from for your spooky fall baking needs. I’ve done compilation posts before, as a matter of fact this past year, 2010-2011, I did one for every holiday, Halloween being the first. But being I did it early on each season, I excluded all the new ideas I had & implemented afterward. So this year it’s a truer compilation: all (or most) of my muffins, cupcakes & other treats; all with a Halloween or fall theme. Some are slightly more complex than others, but all of them are pretty simple when you get down to it & they really don’t take a lot of time or effort (or money, or experience really) to execute.

If you have any questions about where I bought supplies, etc, or just about the cupcakes/treats in general, feel free to comment or e-mail me.

CHOCOLATE STOUT CUPCAKES WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE BONES TRUE BLOOD ORANGE CUPCAKES WITH CANDIED BLOOD ORANGES

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DEVIL’S FOOD CUPCAKES WITH CINNAMON RED-HOTS FROSTING DOUBLE CHOCOLATE PUMPKIN CUPCAKES

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CHOCOLATE MALT CUPCAKES WITH FUDGE FILLING EERIE MONSTER CUPCAKES WITH SWEETMELT EYES

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TRUE BLOOD VELVET CUPCAKES & CREAM CHEESE FROSTING BLACK LICORICE CUPCAKES & ORANGE MARSHMALLOW FROSTING

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JACK-O-LANTERN PUMPKIN MUFFINS PUMPKIN STREUSEL MUFFINS WITH CREAM CHEESE ICING

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MARSHMALLOW BONES APPLE MUFFINS

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CINNAMON VANILLA CUPCAKES & MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE FROSTING TRES LECHES COCONUT CUPCAKES

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S’MORES CUPCAKES WITH MARSHMALLOW BUTTERCREAM SPICE CUPCAKES WITH BROWN SUGAR FROSTING

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And of course, if you’re looking for something in particular, you can always go through the archives, specifically the seasonal ones, like the pumpkin or apple categories. Another particular favorite of mine not pictured are the infamous apple cider donuts, they’re perfect for Halloween shenanigans. You could go bobbing for apple cider donuts! And if you’re into pumpkin seeds, I have two recipes, both plain & brown sugar/spice versions. And the two recipes second to last on the list, the cinnamon/vanilla & tres leches coconut, would both be perfect for Dia de los Muertos as well (which is what I used the latter for myself).

Almost any cupcake recipe or cookie recipe can be altered or decorated to fit in with Halloween. Use your imagination… you never know what you may come up with. If worse comes to worse, and you’re stuck for ideas, ask a kid! Kids have the best imaginations and come up with the best stuff, especially for Halloween. A kid’s brain works on a totally different level, they’re practically un-offended by everything, which is perfect.

And stay tuned this month for many more creepy (& not so creepy) fall-appropriate recipes & ideas.

I’ve done one of these little compilation posts for Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas, Valentine’s Day & St. Patrick’s Day, so here’s my springtime/Easter version. I don’t really do “Easter”, I like bunnies, baby chicks, lilies & chocolate… so I celebrate those things & call it Easter. I’m not one of those Wiccans or “Pagans” either. I’m Agnostic, but I do love me some holidays. I can’t help it. I love to decorate and bake and cook and that’s the best part of life, in my opinion. So why not celebrate everything!?

The real meaning of Easter:

Easter (Old English: Ēostre; Greek: Πάσχα, Paskha; Hebrew: פֶּסַח‎, Pesakh, “Passover“) is the central religious feast in the Christian liturgical year.^[1] According to Christian scripture, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. Some Christians celebrate this resurrection on Easter Day or Easter Sunday^[2] (also Resurrection Day or Resurrection Sunday), two days after Good Friday and three days after Maundy Thursday. The chronology of his death and resurrection is variously interpreted to be between AD 26 and 36, traditionally 33. Easter also refers to the season of the church year called Eastertide or the Easter Season. Traditionally the Easter Season lasted for the forty days from Easter Day until Ascension Day. The first week of the Easter Season is known as Easter Week or the Octave of Easter. Easter also marks the end of Lent, a season of fasting, prayer, and penance.

Easter is a moveable feast, meaning it is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar. The First Council of Nicaea (325) established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon (the Paschal Full Moon) following the northern hemisphere’s vernal equinox.^[3] Ecclesiastically, the equinox is reckoned to be on March 21 (even though the equinox occurs, astronomically speaking, on March 20 in most years), and the “Full Moon” is not necessarily the astronomically correct date. The date of Easter therefore varies between March 22 and April 25. Eastern Christianity bases its calculations on the Julian Calendar whose March 21 corresponds, during the 21st century, to April 3 in the Gregorian Calendar, in which calendar their celebration of Easter therefore varies between April 4 and May 8.

Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover by much of its symbolism, as well as by its position in the calendar. In most European languages the feast called Easter in English is termed by the words for passover in those languages and in the older English versions of the Bible the term Easter was the term used to translate passover.^[4][5]

Relatively newer^{[citation needed]} elements such as the Easter Bunny and Easter egg hunts have become part of the holiday’s modern celebrations, and those aspects are often celebrated by many Christians and non-Christians alike. There are also some Christian denominations who do not celebrate Easter.

Yeah so that last part applies to me. Delicious chocolate bunnies and chocolate eggs filled with creamy fondant? Yes please. I guess, though, I more celebrate just the coming of spring itself, which is more like Ostara:

Old English Ēostre (also Ēastre) and Old High German Ôstarâ are the names of a putative Germanic goddess whose Anglo-Saxon month, Ēostur-monath, has given its name to the festival of Easter. Eostre is attested only by Bede, in his 8th century work De temporum ratione, where he states that Ēostur-monath was the equivalent to the month of April, and that feasts held in her honour during Ēostur-monath had died out by the time of his writing, replaced by the “Paschal month“. The possibility of a Common Germanic goddess called *Austrōn- was examined in detail in 19th century Germanic philology, by Jacob Grimm and others, without coming to a definite conclusion.

Linguists have identified the goddess as a Germanic form of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European goddess of the dawn, *Hausos, some scholars have debated whether or not Eostre is an invention of Bede’s, and theories connecting Eostre with records of Germanic Easter customs (including hares and eggs) have been proposed.

Notice the spelling similarities between Eostre and Easter? Hmm. Food for thought. I’ll let ya chew on that one.

So in short, I like to eat and make stuff, and that’s what holidays are all about, really. I don’t think you have to believe in a God to celebrate the coming of spring, especially after a winter where here in New York we got a whopping 60.9″ of snow total. At any rate… here are some delectable cupcake confections that celebrate this time of year, and can be adapted/used whether your celebrations are referred to as Ostara, Easter, Passover or just plain spring.

One of my favorite Easter cupcakes; lemon-vanilla cakes with a lemon-vanilla buttercream, topped with toasted coconut “nests” and Cadbury mini-eggs. Super cute and so easy! These were a humongous hit with everyone who ate them, I highly recommend trying them. Recipe here: Nest Eggs.

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I grouped these two together because they’re in the same post from last Easter. The top ones are Creamsicle mini-cupcakes topped with a thick marshmallow Fluff buttercream, and the bottom ones are carrot cupcakes topped with a lavender-tinted cream cheese frosting. Check both recipes out here: Easter?

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I didn’t actually make these for Easter, I made them for my grandmother’s 92nd birthday… however they’re a perfect springtime cupcake idea. A light chocolate cake topped with an Earl Grey/lemon icing and candied lemon peel garnish (which is deceptively easy). Very sophisticated & delicious. Find the recipes for the cake, icing and lemon peel here: Earl Grey with lemon “tea party” cupcakes.

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Another one I didn’t make for Easter, I made them for Cupcake Rehab’s 1st birthday, but yet they would be totally appropriate for spring. Neapolitan cupcakes- vanilla cake, strawberry Kool-Aid frosting and chocolate sauce drizzled on top. Extremely delicious. Recipes: Neapolitan “happy 1st birthday Cupcake Rehab” cupcakes.

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These I definitely didn’t make for Easter. But being that they’re almond cupcakes with a white chocolate buttercream, they’d be so cute with marzipan fruits or hand-rolled marzipan Easter eggs on top for Easter, wouldn’t they? This is one of my favorite cupcakes ever. Try them yourself: Frau Marilla’s Alpenblume Weiße Schokolade Kleine Kuchen!

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So that’s that. If you’re not drooling by now, there’s something wrong with you. Also, I also have a recipe for chocolate hi-hat cupcakes that I made for Easter a few years back that I didn’t include above. So knock yourself out!  And If you’re looking for something more Passover-y, I have a recipe for sweet noodle kugel. I also have TONS of other cupcake and cookie recipes that can be adapted or used for this time of year, with just a little creativity.

As usual, I’ll be posting more spring-y things in the weeks to come so stay tuned... and tomorrow I’ll be guest posting over at Frosting 4 the Cause, so please come and check that out. I promise you’ll like it.

Well, a while back I decided that I wanted to do something green for St. Patrick’s Day. I wanted to do something REALLY green. Yes, it’s cliched, but whatever. So I saw all these blue velvet and green velvet cupcakes out there and thought, “That’s it!” I found some recipes, but the best one seemed to be Bakerella‘s. So I made ‘em, and I put ‘em in super cute green gingham cupcake liners from Cupcake Social. I usually use Wilton gel food coloring, but this time I used regular old green liquid food coloring that comes in the box from the supermarket. Mainly because I can’t be bothered measuring out an ounce of green gel or paste food coloring, but also because it works better.

What an amazing color these have! Perfection. So bright and gorgeous. Absolutely amazing. Remember when I said I squealed about the color of the pink cupcakes that time? Well, I did the same thing with these. I’m always skeptical when trying a new red velvet recipe and since these are an adapted red velvet recipe, I was unsure. My fingers were crossed though, and that must’ve done the trick. That, and the Luck O’ the Irish.

I have to credit these and these and these cuties from Retro Bakery as my inspiration for this batch of St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes this year.

GREEN VELVET CUPCAKES (from Bakerella)

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon cocoa
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 oz. green liquid food coloring

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans, or prepare muffin tins with liners.
3. Lightly stir eggs in a medium bowl with a wire whisk. Add remaining liquid ingredients and stir together with whisk until blended. Set aside.
4. Place all the dry ingredients in your mixing bowl and stir together really good with another wire whisk.
5. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on medium-high for about a minute or until completely combined.
6. Pour into muffin tins about halfway full and then drop the pans on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.
7. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
8. Wait, and after about ten minutes, remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack.

Look at that gorgeous green batter!

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VANILLA CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Ingredients:

• 8 oz cream cheese, room temp
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Whip the cream cheese and butter in a mixing bowl until smooth.
2. Add vanilla until combined, and beat in powdered sugar a little at a time until frosting is as thick as you’d like.

I used this large round tip to frost them, in case you’re wondering

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I wouldn’t use the Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder for these, I think that would overwhelm the color. I used regular Hershey’s  unsweetened cocoa powder. I should also state that I halved this recipe, because I didn’t feel as though I needed two dozen or close to two dozen cupcakes. Also, I’ve been making tons of cupcakes lately and I will be for the next few weeks so I really couldn’t face that many. However, while I got 14, I could’ve gotten more by just filling the liners less. I had a few that overflowed just a wee bit. For the frosting, I used a vanilla cream cheese buttercream and this tip. And of course, the wee little shamrocks. Those are made from green candy melts made in mini-shamrock molds, brushed with green pearl dust when dry. Adorbs, I know. Is there anything better than an edible topper? And just as an added note, I made these yesterday while dealing with a wicked cold/weak flu and fighting off a fever. So if I can do that, there’s no excuse for you shitty half-assed bakers out there!

Remember: if you want to make this recipe into a red velvet, double the amount of food coloring. This recipe can also be made into a cake by putting the batter into two greased and floured 8-inch cake pans and baking for 30 minutes.

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And yes- they might make your mouth a little green. But that’s part of the fun, right? So have a happy St. Patty’s Day, whether you’re Irish or not… speaking of, here’s my mother’s St. Patrick’s Day tree (you may remember her winter tree & Valentine’s tree). Éire go Brách!!

Most people think of peppermint bark as a Christmas-y treat, however, I think it’s also a great way to use up all your leftover candy canes after Christmas. Although, to me & my family, Christmas lasts until tomorrow which is Little Christmas, so it’s still appropriate to make it with those. You’ll never catch us taking our tree down before tomorrow! If anything, it’s up another week or two. The outside decorations, that’s a bit different. They had to come down before we’re hit with another blizzard.

Peppermint bark is a chocolate confection. Generally it consists of peppermint candy pieces in white chocolate on top of dark chocolate, but peppermint bark can refer to any chocolate with peppermint candy pieces in it.

It is especially popular around the Christmas season. Companies known for selling it seasonally include Williams-Sonoma, Ghirardelli, and Dove. Though they do not label it as peppermint bark, Hershey’s also sells peppermint Hershey’s kisses.

Peppermint + chocolate = wonderful. Funny story; Jay never liked the mint/chocolate combo until eating these. He’ll probably still deny liking it, though. I saw him smile when he ate a piece on Christmas- he can’t fool me.

Needless to say, I did indeed make mine for Christmas, and I put it in Martha Stewart treat bags and used them as place settings for the table on Christmas Day. This way, everyone could take theirs home with them and enjoy it. Although like I said, I think it’s a sweet way to use up your candy canes when the holiday is over, and I think it’d be equally sweet for Valentine’s Day, perhaps using white chocolate colored pink? Or even better: use white chocolate & pink Candy Melts with dried cherries. Or try making it with all white chocolate and crushed starlight mints, then drizzling melted pink candy melts over the top? Or for St. Patrick’s Day; white chocolate with crushed spearmint starlight mints or crushed green candies. You can do it in any way you like, for any holiday, even with cherry or blueberry or fruit-flavored candy canes.

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My recipe is just a basic one, very simple. There are tons of them out there, and there are also commercially made pre-packaged ones that usually cost a pretty penny. Williams-Sonoma makes a fantastic one, but buying it really takes the fun out of it to me. This is a project kids would love- it takes no time at all, lots of smashing (the candy canes), very little cooking, no baking, and the end result is delicious.

PEPPERMINT BARK

Ingredients:

Speaking of candy.. er, candy canes:

A candy cane is a hard cane-shaped candy stick. It is traditionally white with red stripes and flavored with peppermint or cinnamon (also known respectively as a peppermint stick or cinnamon stick);^{[citation needed]} however, it is also made in a variety of other flavors and may be decorated with stripes of different colors and thicknesses. The candy cane is available year-round, but traditionally surrounds the Christmas holiday, particularly in the Western world.

In its early form, the candy cane began as a simple white stick of sugar for children to enjoy – there was no “cane” shape or stripes to speak of. While it is uncertain where the first canes originated, it is clear that by the mid-17th century, if not earlier, its use had already become widespread across Europe.^[1] These were made by confectioners who had to pull, cut, twist, and (in later years) bend the sugar sticks by hand, making it a time-intensive process. Candy cane production had to be done locally, since they were easily damaged and vulnerable to moisture.^[3] The labour required, and difficulty of storage, combined to make these candies relatively hard to get, although popular.^[4]

The distinctive “hook” shape associated with candy canes is traditionally credited to a choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral in Germany, who, legend has it, in 1670 bent straight candy sticks into canes to represent a shepherd‘s crook, and gave them to children at church services.^[5] The shepherd’s staff is often used in Christianity as a metaphor for The Good Shepherd Jesus Christ. It is also possible that, as people decorated their Yule trees with food, the bent candy cane was invented as a functional solution.^[6]

The stripes are made similar in fashion to a barber’s pole, with the red stripes twisting around the white stick of sugar.^[9] These signature stripes did not become part of the candy cane until the 20th century.^[10][11] It is uncertain who first started using the stripes, but evidence of their use only appears after the turn of the century. At around this time, candy makers began using peppermint as a flavor.^[12]

Nowadays, candy canes come in just about every color and flavor you can imagine. I’m still a big fan of the original but I enjoy the spearmint ones, Jay loved this Hawaiian Punch kind I bought him a few years ago (but sadly haven’t found ever again), and I know someone from High School who used to like the Sweettart ones. However, I happen to think the more Christmas-y of the lot are the red & white OG canes. This recipe is from the book 125 Best Cupcake Recipes by Julie Hasson, which some people look at as a kind of cupcake bible. She calls them Peppermint Candy Cupcakes, but for our purposes, and the season, let’s go with Candy Cane cupcakes, shall we?

As I mentioned once before, I’m playing with the settings on my camera so bear with me if the quality of the pictures vary in each post. I can’t seem to find the perfect setting…

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And do you see the adorable big Christmas cupcake there!? Isn’t that cute? It’s weird, I hate Kohl’s, but every time my mother gets me a cute cupcake item it’s usually from there. That just so happens to be a candle- you take off the “frosting” and light it. So cute. Maybe I judge them too harshly? It’s just that every time I’ve been in there, the clothing has been horrendous, the shoes were a joke, and the only thing worthwhile was the housewares department. Oh, and the decorations. They have cute holiday stuff. Remember my Halloween cupcake cookie jar?

You can also make these with starlight mints, either the spearmint or the plain peppermint ones. But it’s more fun to use candy canes, especially now. So this is the kickoff to my holiday 2010 cupcakes & confections! Aren’t you excited?

CANDY CANE CUPCAKES

Get yourself this here stuff:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp  baking soda
• Pinch salt
• 1/3 cup finely chopped candy canes (about 4 medium)
• ½ cup coarsely chopped white chocolate
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 egg whites
• ½ cup  buttermilk

And then:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners.
2. In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in chopped candy canes and chocolate.
3. In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together sugar and butter until well combined. Add egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately beat in flour mixture and buttermilk, making three additions of flour mixture and two of buttermilk, beating until smooth.
4. Scoop batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on rack. Top cooled cupcakes with frosting.

Okay so, these are sticky. Well, no, not sticky exactly. They were just very… moist? Alright, yeah, who am I kidding. They’re friggin’ sticky. The candy canes make them pretty hard to eat in one piece. They taste wonderful, I loved them and so did everyone else, but they’re tricky to eat. I topped them with a peppermint Italian meringue buttercream (Martha’s recipe, I halved it and got more than enough for the 16 cupcakes the cupcake recipe made) and more crushed candy canes. red & white sparkling sugar and peppermint candy toppers. The liners have peppermint candies and candy canes on them too…  totally cute, right?

Let me say that Italian meringue, for some, can be an even bigger pain in the ass than Swiss meringue. But keep at it, it will eventually come together. If not, chill it for a while and try again. You can use any flavor extract in it, or even preserves for a fruit frosting. It’s delicious. I have to say, and I’m not being snooty here, I promise: I’ve never had a problem with it. Swiss meringue, yes, but only because I’ve attempted it on humid days (it just doesn’t happen). But Italian, no. Mainly because I only ever made it on dry days in the fall or winter. Both meringue buttercreams are the same amount of work, and yeah, the cooking takes time and so does the beating. But when it comes together it is so delicious you’ll be hesitant to make a confectioner’s sugar frosting ever again. Or at least until the humidity rises. If you have trouble with either of those buttercreams, or just have questions on storage, etc… this site is a great informational tool.

I went to the first Christmas party of the season last night at the Garden City Hotel, so that really means that the season has started! I didn’t really get into it despite seeing all the houses decorated right after Halloween- that turns me off. But now it’s December, and it’s time. So as hard as it is for me to believe that it’s Christmas-time,  my tree is up, my lights are lit, it’s snowing on the blog and I can’t wait to start making some more holiday treats.

This year for Halloween (a.k.a. thebestholidayevar), I decided to actually make two batches of different cupcakes for the big day, mainly because my dad’s birthday is tomorrow, the 29th, so I needed more than just Halloween cupcakes. I had this chocolate stout cake recipe for a long time (thanks to Bon Appétit), and I’d been wondering what to do with it, I mean, I knew I’d probably convert it to cupcakes but I wasn’t sure what or when I’d make it for. It seemed perfect for my dad’s birthday because it has beer in it so it’s a manly cupcake (sorta), but yet  I needed to think about my Halloween cakery plans. So I thought maybe I could incorporate the remainder of the cakes in with my Halloween treats. It was when I was trying to figure out how to make them spooky that my mother showed me a recipe she found online for “Funny Bones.” Funny bones are basically mini-marshmallows stuck on the ends of pretzel sticks, then dunked in melted white chocolate to create little bones. Genius!

(By the way, if you haven’t seen my first batch, it was these ghost cupcakes)

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So I made the cupcakes, and while they were cooling I made the bones. When I was making the bones I realized if I didn’t let the white chocolate get too liquidy, I could just mold the chocolate by hand instead of coating the pretzels and marshmallows, so that’s what I did. I’m gonna give the recipe for the funny bones here but I didn’t use it for mine. So I made those, popped them in the freezer to harden, and then put the little candy bones on half the cupcakes, along with my skeleton toppers that came with the liners. This way, I can use the other half as Birthday Beer Cupcakes for my dad (I just stuck some chocolate chips on top of those). This cake is made with stout, specifically chocolate stout, but I used cream stout. I used Samuel Adams Cream Stout, which is my new favorite (yes, more so than Guinness now). According to the website:

Samuel Adams® Cream Stout is a true cream stout, balancing body and sweetness with the natural spiciness of grain and hand selected English hops. Our Brewers use generous portions of roasted chocolate and caramel malts as well as unroasted barley to impart a fullness of body, a roasty malt character and rich, creamy head. Its dark mahogany color make it almost as easy on the eyes as it is on the palate.

It really is delicious.

So this cake recipe makes way more than two dozen cupcakes. I halved it, and half the recipe made 18 (I used 2 eggs).  I’m going to give the full recipe here. It’s absolutely delicious, but I seriously recommend buying the Samuel Adams Cream Stout to use for this, or another chocolate or cream stout. Guinness would totally work, as would any stout, but the cream/chocolate sweetness of the Sam Adams really makes the cake. Having a glass of the stout while eating the cake is amazing too. It’s great how they work together. Although I do really enjoy a few other stouts me & Jay have tried, like Rogue chocolate stout & Samuel Smith Imperial Stout, I just was able to get my hands on the Sam Adams stout. Otherwise, you can also use Sierra Nevada Porter or Sam Adams Honey Porter in this, and Brooklyn Brewery‘s Black Chocolate Stout would probably also be amazing.

It’d be really cute to drizzle some red food coloring on the tops, like blood. I didn’t have any left or else I would have. I used plain old chocolate buttercream, but vanilla would work well too. Especially a vanilla bean buttercream. Or, if you really wanna go all out with the stout theme, make a chocolate stout buttercream: instead of milk, add stout.

CHOCOLATE STOUT CAKE/CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped*
• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 ¼ cups plus 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 large eggs, separated
• ¾ cup chocolate stout
• 2/3 cup freshly brewed strong coffee

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line muffin tins with liners and set aside.
2. Placed chopped chocolate in a medium metal or heatproof bowl. Set bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water and stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water and set aside.
3. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Set aside.
4. Using electric mixer, beat butter and 1 ¼ cups sugar until fluffy and pale yellow, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in lukewarm melted chocolate, then stout and coffee. Beat flour mixture into chocolate mixture in two additions, just until incorporated.
5. Using clean and dry beaters and a new clean bowl, beat egg whites and 3 tablespoons sugar in another medium bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold 1/3 of egg whites into cake batter to lighten, then fold in remaining egg whites in two additions.
6. Divide batter between prepared muffin tins, filling each up about halfway. If making a cake, fill two buttered and floured 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 ½-inch-high sides with about 3 cups each, then smooth tops.
7. Bake cupcakes for 20-25 minutes or until cake tester inserted comes out clean and tops spring back. Bake cakes for 30 minutes or until cake tester inserted comes out clean.

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FUNNY BONES

Ingredients:

• 36 pretzel sticks
• 1 (12-ounce) package white chocolate chips
• 72 mini marshmallows

Directions:

1. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.
2. Place the chips in a double boiler over just simmering water and melt, stirring frequently. As soon as the chips are just melted (there may even be a few solid ones left), remove the pan from the heat and remove the top section of the double  boiler so the chocolate’s temperature doesn’t keep rising.
3. Stick marshmallows onto both ends of the pretzels, with the marshmallow’s flat sides parallel to the pretzel.
4. Dip each pretzel in the chocolate and lift out with a fork, letting the excess drip back into the bowl. Lay the bones on the baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes to harden the chocolate. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or at a cool room temperature.

* I’d recommend using dark chocolate. I didn’t, but sorta wish I did. They’d have been more dramatic and Halloween-y looking.

For the half I used as my dad’s birthday cupcakes, I just put some chocolate chips on top.

Happy birthday, dad

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I highly recommend this recipe, it’s phenomenal. And make sure you crack open a stout to drink with them, like I said it’s awesome. The liners and skull toppers are Wilton for Target.

If you’re looking for some other Halloween cupcake or treat inspiration, check out my Halloween archives here.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

What is “vegan“, exactly?

Veganism is a diet and lifestyle that seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose.^[1][2] Vegans endeavor not to use or consume animal products of any kind.^[3] The most common reasons for becoming a vegan are an ethical commitment or moral conviction concerning animal rights, the environment, human health, and spiritual or religious concerns.^[4][5][2] Of particular concern to many vegans are the practices involved in factory farming and animal testing, and the intensive use of land and other resources required for animal farming.

As daunting as baking without eggs and milk seems, its really not bad. Once you have apple cider vinegar, soymilk and shortening, you can pretty much make any kind of cupcake vegan, including frosting.

Now, as far as I know there are two Queen of Hearts’; one, the card from a deck of playing cards, and two, the evil Queen written by Lewis Carroll and popularized by Disney. For those of you not familiar with that Queen of Hearts, she’s a character from Alice in Wonderland. Famous for uttering the words “Off with her head!”

I decided that these would just be my Valentine’s cupcakes, since the Queen of Hearts idea was so perfect. I had had another idea planned but these were cuter and Lyns specifically asked for them so I figured I’d leave it at these. I made fluffy white (vegan) cupcakes and topped them with thick white (faux) “buttercream.” To top that off,  I rolled the sides of the frosting and tops of some in red sugar and topped them with conversation hearts. Cupcake liners are courtesy of Martha Stewart’s collection for Michael’s. If you’re looking for this kind of frosting look, its best to pipe it on with a large round tip and then spread it with an offset spatula, keeping the roundness on the sides but just “flattening” the top and adding a little swirl.

If you want to check these out on Lyn’s blog,  click here.

FLUFFY WHITE VEGAN CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• roughly 1 ½ cups vanilla soymilk
• 2 1/8 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. kosher salt
• 1 1/8 cups sugar
• ½ cup oil
• 1 ¼ tsp. vanilla extract
• ½ tsp. coconut extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350º. Line 20 muffin cups with paper cupcake liners. Set aside.
2. Place the apple cider vinegar in the bottom of a liquid measuring cup and fill the cup with soymilk to equal 1 ½ cups. Stir well and set aside (the mixture will curdle).
3. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another mixing bowl whisk together the soymilk mixture, canola oil, vanilla, and coconut extract. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and beat until smooth using a hand-held mixer, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl when needed.
4. Fill each muffin cup with ¼ cup of batter. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.
5. Let cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then remove cupcakes from the pan and place on a wire rack. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

THICK & CREAMY FAUX “BUTTER”CREAM

Ingredients:

MARSHMALLOW BONES

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup cold water
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ ounce unflavored gelatin (1 tablespoon)
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Directions:

1. Line 2 baking sheets with waxed paper. Combine ½ cup cold water and the vanilla in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over top, and let stand until softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Bring granulated sugar, corn syrup, and remaining ¼ cup cold water to a boil in a small saucepan. Cook, washing down sides of saucepan with a wet pastry brush, until mixture registers 234 °degrees to 240° degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat.
3. Whisk gelatin mixture with a mixer on high speed for 30 seconds. With the machine running, carefully pour hot sugar mixture down the side of bowl in a slow, steady stream. Whisk mixture until very fluffy and almost stiff, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a ½-inch round tip.
4. To form the bones: In a continuous motion, pipe a small figure 8, then a straight 5-inch line, then another small figure 8. Repeat. Let bones stand, uncovered, for 10 to 12 hours in a cool, dry place.
5. Generously sift confectioners’ sugar over bones, turning to coat. Shake off excess. (The marshmallow bones will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

I highly recommend using a stand mixer for this. I did not read the recipe in full before starting, and used a hand mixer, and my arm almost fell off. Also, if possible, use a disposable pastry bag. This stuff is fucking crazy.. like edible glue. If you use a good pastry bag- you’ll never use it again, trust me. I practically glued my hands together making these. In total, I made roughly almost 40 bones; 20 something mini-ones, 18 larger ones and I also filled a waxed-paper-lined brownie pan with the rest and made square marshmallows.

These have possiblities coming out the yin-yang. You could make ‘em flesh colored, shape them long, stick fake nails on ‘em and make fingers, make them round, draw red squiggly lines on them and put eyeball candies in the middle and float them in hot cocoa or punch like eyeballs… make them black and make spiders, etc, etc, etc. I could go on but I think you get it by now. I was even thinking it’d be cool to make an entire skeleton- just print one out, slide it under the waxed paper, and trace it in different parts. Then when they’re ready, reassemble them on a long black tray as a Halloween (or medical student graduation) party novelty.

Oh- and contrary to what you may think, don’t worry about using clear vanilla extract, the brown stuff disappears and it all turns white anyway.

Happy haunting!

“Thats a mint car, dude.”

“That jacket is mint!”

I don’t remember when it stopped exactly, but probably around the same time as ‘radical.’ Now I’m sure people somewhere still do use ‘mint’ in that way, as is shown by the Urban Dictionary. Just not around here. But I’m going to singlehandedly bring it back. THESE MINTS ARE MINT!

Thanks to my new mixer’s manual for the recipe. It was 600 degrees in the York of New today and I was not about to bake anything. So ‘whoo hoo!’ to refrigerated no-cook minty fresh goodness to cool us off.

CREAMY NO-COOK MINTS

Ingredients:

• 3 ounces light cream cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon mint extract (I used peppermint extract)
• 2 drops green food coloring (or color of choice)
• 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• superfine sugar

Directions:

1. Place cream cheese, extract and food coloring in bowl. Mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, or until smooth.
2. Continuing on that speed, gradually add powdered sugar and mix about 1 1/2 minutes, or until mixture becomes very stiff.
3. To make mints, shape mixture into 3/4 inch balls. Roll in superfine sugar and place on waxed paper coated in superfine sugar.
4. Press slightly with thumb to form 1/4 inch thick patties. If desired, press back of fork lightly on them to form ridges.
5. Store mints tightly covered in the fridge. They also freeze well.

When they say the mixture gets thick- they mean it. My KitchenAid actually slowed down and shook a bit while mixing it.

Also, the original recipe called for 1/4 teaspoon mint extract but it wasn’t minty enough. Try the 1/4 tsp and if it works for you, leave it. If you want more mint, then add the extra 1/4. I also used regular cream cheese and I didn’t use superfine sugar, just regular old granulated.

This is supposed to make 7 dozen… HA! No way. I got maybe two and a half dozen, maybe three IF that.

These would be really cute in pink and blue, for a baby shower or bridal shower. Or, if you left them white and sprinkled them with red sugar for Christmas.