Tres Leches Cupcakes & Mexican Brownies- Ole'

Happy Belated Cinco de Mayo or Happy Siete de Mayo! If you have been paying attention to this blog for the past year you may have noticed that my co-workers and I enjoy a good themed lunch from time to time. I think this is mostly forced by Natalie and I because we LOVE to order fabulous decor from Oriental Trading. Unfortunately we didn't plan this lunch far enough in advance to order any amazing party supplies, but it was a fun lunch anyway. We catered in some burritos, quesadillas, and chips and salsa, and I offered to make some mexican inspired treats. Ale also made some delicious guacamole, it disappeared almost immediately!

The cupcakes and the brownies both turned out great! I have a feeling I will be making the brownies again and again. Not only are they easy, but cinnamon cream cheese frosting....need I say more?! Thank  you Bridezilla Bakes for another amazing recipe!

The cupcakes are yet another recipe from the Martha Stewart Cupcakes book. Since the recipe is not on-line here is a link to the closest thing from her website, a Tres Leches Cake They were very tasty, but they were extremely time consuming and if I am to make them again I will definitely make at least a few more cupcakes. I made 20 (like the recipe stated) and a few of them ended up being a little too big,  making it very tricky to brush the tres leches mixture onto. It was messy! I ended up placing the cupcakes on wire racks over cookie sheets in order to catch the mixture that didn't soak in. This was also my first time making whipped cream since the kitchen aid mixer landed in my kitchen and it whipped up like a dream! I don't think I will ever again buy whipped cream.

Mexican Brownies with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
-1/2 C Flour
-1-1/2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
-3/4 teaspoon chili powder
-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
-10 tablespoons unsalted butter
-1-1/4 C sugar
-3/4C +2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
-2 large eggs

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 325°. Line an 8"x8" baking pan with aluminum foil. Spray foil with non-stick spray. Allow some foil to overhang for easy removal.
2. Whisk together flour and spices. Set aside.
3. Melt the butter in a double boiler and add sugar, cocoa, and salt until the mixture is hot to the touch. The mixture will be grainy, but everything should be fully incorporated.
4. Stir in the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time. When the batter looks shiny add the four and spice mixture and stir until just incorporated. Then beat vigorously for 40 strokes. Spread evenly in lined pan.
5. Bake 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out of the center just slightly moist with batter. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
-3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
-1/4 teaspoon vanilla
-1 cup confectioner's sugar
-2 teaspoons cinnamon

1. Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla at high speed until fluffy (about 3-4 minutes). Sift in confectioner's sugar and cinnamon and beat at medium speed until incorporated. If the frosting is too thin slowly add more confectioner's sugar 1/4 cup at a time; if it is too thick slowly add warm water 1 tablespoon at a time.

Happy Valentine's Day & the last of sweets for 28 days........

This post is slightly belated, but the treats within are appropriate for any occassion. Just fun for Valentine's because they are red & white. The first treat for a Valentine's/Chinese New Year work lunch was a hit, and was quick, perfect to whip up during a busy week. I had this strawberry pretzel dessert a few years ago and knew the recipe was not hard, but never found it until my co-worker, Natalie, was making a family recipe book and it was just what I had been looking for. We had also received some cupcakes from a rep the day before our lunch so we saved them and I created some paper conversation hearts to jazz them up. The words are heard throughout our group on a regular basis. The reason this post is also titled 'the last of sweets for 28 days' is because, althought I have suffered from migraines for the last 15 years, the past two months have been unbearable, so I have started a restrictive diet that slowly adds back in 'trigger' foods, so that means no sugar for about a month. It will be tough, but definitely worth it if I can figure out what is causing my migraines. And who knows, maybe I'll get creative and come up with some tastey sweets using things that are not restricted like agave nectar and pure maple syrup.

Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

Ingerdients:
2 Cups Crushed Pretzels
1 1/2 Sticks Melted Butter
2 Tablespoons Sugar
8 oz. Package Cream Cheese (I used 1/3 less fat cream cheese)
1 Cup Sugar
8 oz. Cool Whip (I used light cool whip)
2 Small Packages Strawberry Jello
2 Ten oz. Packages Frozen Strawberries (I used 1 16oz package of fresh strawberries, sliced)


Crust
Mix crushed pretzels, butter, and 2 tablespoons sugar to form crust. Spread across the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Let cool.


Bottom Layer
Mix together cream cheese and sugar until smooth then fold in cool whip. Spread over pretzel crust and refrigerate.


Top Layer
Mix 2 cups boiling water with jello powder in a bowl. Refrigerate until somewhat gelled and then add strawberries. Pour over cream cheese layer and put in the freezer until set.

I spent the rest of my Valentine's weekend in Wisconsin with Gregory, Dino, and my Mom. Dino made us delicious dolmates for dinner and Gregory and I made red velvet cupcakes for dessert. For now, these are definitely in my top 3 favorite cupcakes along with the strawberry dream cream cupcakes and the snickerdoodle cupcakes I made last year. I really love red velvet when it's done right (it's like tiramisu, if it's not amazing, I can't even be bothered with it) so I did a lot of research and landed on the combination of red velvet cupcake recipe from Magnolia Bakery in NYC and the cream cheese frosting recipe from Sprinkles Cupcakes originally out of California.  The cupcakes are so light and airy but still have a great flavor, just enough cocoa to actually taste it, and then paired with the cream cheese frosting, they are just to die for! Like most frosting recipes it makes more than enough, so we also had a bonus dessert of cream cheese frosting on graham crackers.....brought Gregory and I right back to our youth, the frosting was usually from a can though.
Magnolia's Red Velvet Cupcakes
Ingredients:
3½ cups cake flour (not self-rising)
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 ½ cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
6 tbsp red food coloring (I used one whole tube of the red gel coloring and it was just enough)
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1½ tsp vanilla extract
1½ tsp salt
1½ cups buttermilk
1½ tsp cider vinegar
1½ tsp baking soda
1.Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and lightly flour 2 cupcake pans (24 cupcakes), or use cupcake liners.

2.To make the batter: In a small bowl, sift the cake flour and set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring, cocoa, and vanilla. Add to the batter and beat well.


3.In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overbeat. In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.


4.Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Arrange the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and bake the cupcakes, switching positions of the pans halfway through baking, until a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pan 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool completely on a rack before icing. To ice, mound about ¼ cup of frosting on top of each cupcake and use an icing spatula to make a swirl on top. If desired, decorate with colored sprinkles.


Sprinkles Frosting
  Ingredients:
12 ounces cold cream cheese

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter, firm but not cold
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pounds (1 1/2 boxes) powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla

1.Combine butter, salt, and cream cheese in mixer and beat on medium speed 2-3 minutes.



2.Add sugar until just incorporated. Don’t over mix. It should be thick but not fluffy.


3.Add vanilla. If necessary, add milk to thin.

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Muffins

In the spirit of fall I have been on quite the pumpkin kick and just about everything pumpkin sounds appealing to me. I am never opposed to cream cheese, so when I came across this cream cheese pumpkin bread I was very excited to try it. The recipe makes two loaves of bread so I decided to make one loaf to bring to a party and use the remaining batter for muffins. They both turned out fantastic! I also made a honey butter to go along with them which was just delicious.

Pumpkin Bread (adapted from Joy of Baking ):

Ingredients
1 Cup Pecans- choppped and toasted
3-1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Baking Soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
4 Eggs
2 Cups Sugar
1 Cup Butter- unsalted, melted and cooled
1- 15oz can Pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 Cup Water
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

Cream Cheese Filling
Ingredients
8 oz Cream Cheese- softened
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
2 Tablespoons all purpose flour

Preheat Oven to 350°, grease and flour bread and/or muffin pans
1. Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add eggs one at a time and beat until incorporated. Stir in the flour until smooth and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
3. In another large bowl whisk the eggs. Stir in sugar and butter until blended. Stir in the pumpkin, water, vanilla extract, and pecans until blended.
4. Add the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture until just combined. Do not over stir or the bread will be tough.
5. Place a quarter of the batter in the bottom of a greased and floured bread pan and another quarter in a greased a floured muffin pan or another bread pan. Place a layer of the cream cheese filling into each. Top each off with the remaining batter.
6. Bake the bread 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. For muffins bake about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before removing from pans.

Honey Butter:
Ingredients
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter- room temperature
1-1/2 Tablespoons butter
3/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg

Stir all ingredients together until blended.

Happy Halloween! Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

I decided earlier in the week that I really wanted to make cream cheese sugar cookies for halloween and once I decide I want to bake something there is no stopping me.....Not only did I have to purchase a set of 100 cookie cutters to get the pumpkin I wanted, but since I was going to the symphony last night I was also up until 2 am baking and frosting these buggers. They sure are tasty though. It took me a bit to get the cooking time correct, the recipe said 8-10 minutes but each batch took about 12-15. I was also very excited to use my new food coloring gels that I have been hearing so much about, they really do seem to give a richer color and you don't need to use as much. Now I can't wait to make some Christmas cookies with all of my new cutouts!


Recipe's Adapted from Allrecipes.com
Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup white sugar
1 cup butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour


Directions
1.In a large bowl, combine the sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt, almond and vanilla extracts, and egg yolk. Beat until smooth.
2.Stir in flour until well blended.
3.Chill the dough for 8 hours, or overnight.
4.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).


On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough 1/3 at a time to 1/8 inch thickness (I prefer a little thicker cookie than this), refrigerating remaining dough until ready to use. Cut into desired shapes with lightly floured cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.


Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until light and golden brown. Cool cookies completely before frosting.

Icing
Ingredients
2 C Confectioner's Sugar
6 teaspoons milk
4 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
food coloring

Directions
1. In a small bowl mix together sugar and milk until smooth. Add additional milk 1/4 teaspoon at a time if needed.
2. Stir in corn syrup and almond extract and mix until smooth and glossy. Separate into smaller bowl and add food coloring.

Caramel Apple Cream Brownies

Fall is in the air and as much as I want to make some pumpkin goodies I still had some apples to use up from my apple picking adventure with Maria, so I decided to put all the delicious pumpkin recipes I found on Picky Palate and make these AWESOME fall brownies. With the apples and cream cheese in these brownies they are very moist and perfect for the bakers edge, because the one drawback I have found with this pan is that the cooking times are a little tricky and some of the brownies I have made have been slightly dry. These were the perfect treat to bring to CJ and Shelly and their adorable new baby Addison.

I made a few modifications to the Picky Palate Recipe:

1 Box Trader Joe's Truffle Brownie Mix (this is for an 8x8 pan or the baker's edge)

8 oz softened cream cheese
1/4 Cup granulated sugar
4 Tablespoons butter
3 small-medium baking apples, peeled and thinly sliced ( I used honey crisp and empire)
4 Tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 Cup chopped pecans (or other nut of choice)
14oz Sweetened condensed milk- for caramel sauce (or purchase caramel sauce and warm in microwave)

1. Preheat oven to 350° Prepare brownie mix according to package directions. Pour into a 8x8 inch pan that’s been sprayed with non stick spray

2. Place softened cream cheese and sugar into a mixing bowl, mix until smooth. Place dollops of cheese over brownie batter. Use a butter knife to carefully swirl without dragging against the bottom of dish.
3. Place butter into a large skillet over medium heat to melt. Add apples, brown sugar, cinnamon and chopped pecans. Cook and stir for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and pour evenly over brownies.

4. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until center of brownies are cooked through. Remove and let cool completely before cutting into squares.

5. While the brownies are baking place sweetened condensed milk in double boiler. Cook over medium heat for 60-90 minutes, stirring occasionally until milk thickens and turns a caramel color. Just before serving, drizzle caramel sauce over brownies

Cinnamon Rolls

I'm not exactly sure how the tradition started, but ever since Katy, Carrie, and I graduated from college, pretty much whenever we visit each other we have cinnamon rolls for breakfast. I whole heartedly love Pillsbury grands cinnamon rolls, but now that I have this fancy dancy blog I thought I would try my hand at making some from scratch. Katy bought be a 'Simple Old Fashioned Baking' book for my birthday that had just what I needed. So not only did we have cinnamon rolls for breakfast during Katy's last visit, but she got to reap the benefits of her gift. I did modify some of the recipe, by using brown sugar in addition to granulated sugar and whipping up a quick cream cheese glaze. Next time I would use even more brown sugar and invest in a rolling pin to make the process a little easier. They also didn't get quite as golden as I had hoped, but they did taste scrumptious. Maybe I just need to bake them in a different pan, metal perhaps. Any suggestions for that?

Recipe:

Dough:

2 C Flour

4 t Baking powder

1/4 C Butter, chilled

3/4 C Milk

Filling:

2 T Sugar

2 T Brown Sugar

1/2 t cinnamon

1/4 C chopped pecans

Cream Cheese Glaze:

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Sift flour, baking powder & 1/2 t salt in bowl.

2. Rub butter in with fingertips.

3. Add milk slowly & mix

4. Roll out on lightly floured surface to 1/2" thickness.

5. Spread with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll like jelly roll & cut 3/4"slices.

6. Bake 10-15 minutes.

7. In a small bowl cream together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Add in powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

8. Spread cream cheese glaze on top after removing from the oven. Enjoy!

Carrot Cupcakes >{ / / / >

This will most likely be the first of many posts about cupcakes now that I am the proud owner of the Martha Stewart Cupcake Book.

I was so happy that the carrot cupcakes were so early on in the book because they were perfect to bring in for my boss' b-day! Once I got past the first step of finely grating 1lb of carrots these cupcakes came together pretty quickly. The cream cheese frosting was simple as well. However, it made about double the amount that I needed, and you better believe that I go pretty heavy on the frosting. Next time I will halve the recipe. I certainly enjoyed a few heaping spoonfuls over the course of a few days, but I can't be trusted around mass quantities of frosting. The above link has lesser quantities of the ingredients for the frosting so it may be okay. I decided to substitute the golden raisins for toasted pecans, which I think added a great flavor and texture. I also got fancy with the frosting and used a pastry bag to pipe it on, it's all about the details!

Oreo Cream Cheese Brownies

This was quite an experiment for me, since I have never made regular brownies from scratch, let alone fancy'in it up with cream cheese and oreos, but I think I did a pretty swell job. I found this recipe on visions of sugar plum and the combination of dark cocoa and cream cheese made it a must try for me. Brownies from scratch is like anything else I have tried to make from scratch; just a couple extra ingredients and a couple extra steps, but a whole lot better than store bought. So that equals totally worth it for me! Hopefully my co-workers enjoy them, and the 2 that have wedding dresses to fit into this winter won't be too upset with me for bringing in yet another treat. I did substitute some of the full fat items for reduced fat and they still taste extremely rich and delicious, but I would still rather not know the nutrition facts of these!

Natalie about to enjoy brownie # ?, she does not have a wedding dress to fit into.

Ingredients:

-1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

-3/4 cup granulated sugar

-8 ounces (1 package) cream cheese, softened (i used 1/3 less fat version and it seemed to work well)

-3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

-1 cup all purpose flour

-1/2 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
-1/2 teaspoon salt

-2 large eggs
-1 1/3 cups coarsely chopped Oreo cookies (i used the reduced fat oreos and I can't tell a difference)

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8-inch square baking dish with foil; coat foil with cooking spray.

2.Melt the butter in a small saucepan, over medium heat. Whisk in sugar and bring to a boil, whisking frequently; boil 1 minute. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

3.In a small mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and vanilla extract, until well combined, about 1 minute.

4.In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder and salt; whisk until combined.

5.In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, until combined. Whisk in melted butter-sugar mixture until well combined.

6.Stir in flour mixture until just combined, followed by Oreo cookies.

7.Spread half of brownie batter into baking dish, followed by cream cheese layer; dot the top with remaining brownie batter, and spread evenly, as best as you can. Run a knife through batter to make "swirls".

8.Bake at 350 degrees F, for 25 minutes.Cool on a wire rack to room temperature before slicing. Lift foil out of baking dish, and slice. For easier slicing, try freezing the brownies for 30-60 minutes.

Oodles of Doodles Sandwich Cookies

Considering I am still thinking about the delicious cinnamon sugar crepe that I had while in Austin I decided to share the wealth and make some snicker doodle cookies inspired by the crepes. I made Betty Crocker's lighter recipe for the snicker doodles. That way I don't have to feel too bad about sandwiching 2 together and adhering with a delicious cream cheese frosting. I used Martha Stewart's cream cheese frosting recipe as an homage to my brother who has been going through the 'Martha Stewart Baking Book' page by page for over a year. As an added touch I sprinkled some toasted coconut into the frosting while making the cookies. I think it adds the perfect flavor to make these a little more special than your average cookie. I personally think that coconut is delicious, although I know plenty of people that beg to differ, so for those crazy folks I left some cookies without the addition.