Cupid's Arrows

Hello my lovely readers! Thank you for being so patient with me during this hectic time. I thought I'd take a break from the "real world" and jump on in here to share with you a sweet Valentine's recipe. I don't know about you, but I love the idea of Valentine's Day… and I hate the nasty candy that comes with it. I think those yucky chocolates and conversation hearts are just the worst! Nothing tastes fresh to me and maybe I'm just a candy snob, but I have politely asked that no one give me any Valentine's candy.

So in my midst of Vday prepping, I got the idea to make something sweet and salty! My Halloween version was a hit, so I figured I'd remake these delicious chocolate covered pretzel rods into something a little more cutesy.

The process is easy peasy! I think making these particular pretzels took all of 15 minutes, and I was baking two other recipes at the same time! Phew!

I'll also post that I am selling these locally. Since I'm taking a hiatus from Facebook, I will not be updating my page. If you are in the Norman, Oklahoma area, feel free to order from my menu!

INGREDIENTS
Optional toppings:
1 bag of pretzel rods
1/2 a brick (12 net wt oz) white almond bark
Festive sprinkles

DIRECTIONS
1. In a saucepan on medium-low heat, slowly melt the almond bark. Do not melt too quickly or it will burn. Lay out wax paper on a counter or a few large cookie sheets. Set aside.

2. Once the almond bark is fully melted, dipped/roll/coat the pretzel rods in the bark and gently tap the excess off. To decorate with sprinkles, coat the wand while the bark is still wet. Place on the wax paper and let dry completely.​

Coffee Break #4

Hello all and welcome to Coffee Break #4! Please, grab a cup of coffee and join me for a bit!

It's been a few months since my last Coffee Break, but it feels like it's been forever! I also haven't been posting as much (read: I haven't posted since Christmas) because of some very exciting things going on in my world!

Drumroll, please…

I have been incorporated! Which means…

I am opening a bakery!

That's right ladies and gentlemen, I am in the process of opening up a bakery. I have spent the last two weeks baking my buns off, recipe developing, perfecting the sweets I'll be selling, writing out a business plan, and doing everything else I can to get this project off the ground.

It is a lot of hard work. I spend a lot of my spare time (read: not spare time anymore) working on the business plan, pricing, inventory, and looking for the best gadgets to use in my kitchen. I will be working with a good friend (plus a few more good friends) of mine to run this business in small town Norman, Oklahoma. I am super excited and I can't wait to get to the next big step… Leasing out a business!

I'll definitely keep you readers updated, and I'll be posting some sweet treats for Valentine's Day as well! Thank you for your support! If you feel like you can help, even the smallest amount, please donate via the PayPal link to the right!

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

There comes a day when you are just really proud of what you made and how amazing it looks, tastes, how easy it was for you to make, and you shine with pride and confidence.

The day I made this cake was that day.

I am always hesitant when making chocolate desserts. I hate dry, crumbly chocolate anything. Chocolate cake, brownies, and chocolate cookies are meant to be thick, fudgy, moist, and full of the richest flavor imagineable. You might understand when I say I am the pickiest chocolate cake connoisseur of all my friends and family. I try to explain to people that they shouldn't be offended if I take one bite and make a face then put the cake down without finishing it. Baker's Problems, amiright?

When I was putting this cake in the oven, I was extremely nervous. The batter didn't have the rich fudgy taste like brownies do, and I was worried that I made another bad cake. When I pulled it out of the oven, oh my lands it was like I pulled it out of heaven. The smell was wonderful and the batter I was worried about turned into a dark, moist chocolate cake that was to die for.

I don't think I can explain in words how good this cake is. I had people telling me it was better than any cake they had ever had in their life. Those are some strong words!

Don't worry, though! This is quite an easy recipe. Everything you need is already in your kitchen, especially if you drink… coffee. That's right! One of the secret ingredients is coffee! You can't taste it at all; it just adds a dimension of flavor. Do not leave it out!

Here are some tips on making this cake easily and stress free.

1. Made your coffee strong. You're going to make 1 + 1/2 cups of coffee. This is around a normal size coffee cup (16 oz). I have a brew 'n go, so I make one cup at a time. If you're using one of these, add about double what you normally drink unless what you normally drink is super strong. You want this coffee black black black.

2. Cool your coffee. You don't want to give yourself second degree burns on accident, so cool your coffee before you use it. It won't change the taste and it's not as scary.

3. Completely cool your cakes before frosting. If you don't, your frosting is going to slide right off. If you put it in the fridge, your cake is going to get hard and lose its flavor. Just plan ahead and cool your cakes completely before you frost it.

Another great thing about this cake is the frosting. Oh my word, this is the best frosting ever. Check out my How-To Tuesday post on this Dark Chocolate Buttercream so you get the fluffiest and smoothest buttercream. You won't regret it!

So here's to all my chocolate fans. The most indulgent chocolate cake you could ever hope for!

INGREDIENTS
For the cake-
3 C all-purpose flour
2 + 1/2 C granulated sugar
4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1 + 1/3 C vegetable oil
1 + 1/2 C buttermilk
3 large eggs
1 + 1/2 C rich coffee
1 tsp vanilla extract
Dark Chocolate Buttercream -
5 + 1/2 C powdered sugar
1 + 1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder
12 tbsp butter, room temperature
12 tbsp heavy cream or whole milk
2 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or line 2 - 9" baking pans and set aside.

2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.

3. Add in the vegetable oil, buttermilk, and eggs. Stirring until well combined.

4. Slowly pour in the coffee down the side of the bowl while stirring it into the mixture. Stir in vanilla.

5. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the cake pans for 20 minutes before turning out.

6. For the frosting - Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa powder in a small bowl. Make sure there are no lumps before continuing. Beat in the butter and cream until a smooth frosting forms. Add in vanilla.

7. To make the cake - Place one of the cooled cakes on a server or platter. If you want a flat cake, trim off the top of both cakes. Crumb coat the top. Place the second cake on. Frost using a plastic spatula or an off hand spatula.

How-To Tuesday: The Best Dark Chocolate Buttercream

Welcome to another How-To Tuesday post! I'm really enjoying these posts and have noticed more traffic on them than I expected. These how-to posts really give me the opportunity to explore the effectiveness and the success of very simple and very popular methods that are in many many recipes.

My first one was the Perfect Mixture of Cinnamon-Sugar. You don't realize how often you use cinnamon-sugar until you think to yourself one day, "Geez, I need a cinnamon-sugar shaker next to my salt and pepper." Or maybe I just have a cinnamon-sugar addiction. ;)

Today I will teach you how to make the best dark chocolate buttercream. I used this particular buttercream on a chocolate buttermilk cake that I posted today as well. I was skeptical, as I always am with chocolate recipes, because they usual come out bland and not the right texture. To me, chocolate anything (cake, brownies, cookies, frosting) needs to be rich, thick, moist, soft, and full of flavor. I can't stand it when I take a bite into a slice of cake and it's crumbly. Ugh.

Sorry about that… Back to the buttercream. This how-to is so simple it's silly, but I'm going to give you some tips to make it easier for you to whip up a batch without worrying about it going awry.

1. Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa. This will prevent any lumps in your frosting. If you don't sift your powdered sugar and cocoa, you're going to end up with little balls of powdered sugar all over your frosting and cake.

2. Make sure your butter is at room temperature. It makes the mixing of the buttercream a lot easier. If you try to beat the butter while it's cold you'll get lumpy frosting, the flavor won't blend as much, and you'll curse the day you thought you should try making buttercream.

3. Be patient. If you think you've been beating that durn frosting for what seems like hours, go just a little bit longer. If you follow all three steps, you'll get a beautiful and tasty frosting you'll be glad you waited for. For me, personally, I have to beat the butter for 4-5 minutes before it's fully creamed. I have to use a hand mixer, too.

So there you have it! A few tips to help you get the best buttercream there is. Oh, and this can easily replace a frosting in another recipe, or you can top it on vanilla cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, pumpkin cupcakes, chocolate cake, or make it a filling for whoopie pies.

INGREDIENTS
5 + 1/2 C powdered sugar
1 + 1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder
12 tbsp butter, room temperature
12 tbsp heavy cream or whole milk
2 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS
Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa powder in a small bowl. Make sure there are no lumps before continuing. Beat in the butter and cream until a smooth frosting forms. Add in vanilla.

Perfect Sugar Cookies

** This post was modified on December 22, 2013 to add the royal icing recipe **

So these last few weeks have been all about finding the perfect sugar cookie. I wanted one that wasn't too sweet, wasn't crunchy, and didn't go flat. I happened upon this MakeBakeCelebrate post and decided, after many sugar cookie attempts, to give it a try. On the first try, I didn't use any royal icing. I just wanted a sugar cookie that I liked!

The second try (8 months later, haha) I decided I wanted some Christmas cookies. It was a tradition in my house to make a batch of cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve! Well, it's been a long time since I did that, but this year I wanted to make some. With my time being limited, I had to make them a couple of days ahead of time, but I'm sure Santa won't mind one bit. :)

Ingredients:

3 C all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 C unsalted butter, room temperature

1 C white sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. In a separate bowl whisk together flour and baking powder.

2. Beat together unsalted butter and sugar. Once mixed well, add in egg. Mix again, then add in vanilla.

3. Slowly add in flour mixture about a cup at a time. Mix until dough forms and begins to clump together.

4. Gather up dough and knead it with hands until it's nice and smooth. Roll it into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap, and place in fridge to chill for 20-40 minutes, until it's semi-hard.

5. Roll out the dough on a floured surface, and using your desired cookie cutter cut out shapes and place onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet. 

6. Bake at 350 degrees between 7-11 minutes (baking time will vary depending on thickness of dough).

Royal Icing Recipe

I got this recipe from Wilton's website, then I modified it to my liking. What I got was a nice, smooth royal icing that sets well. You can add an oil-free extract/flavor you like, just make sure it is oil free! In this recipe, I used almond extract, vanilla extract would have been my second choice. 

Ingredients:

3 tbsp Meringue Powder

4 C powdered sugar

6 tbsp warm water, plus extra

1/4 tsp almond extract (optional)

Food coloring (optional)

Directions:

In a bowl, mix together meringue powder and powdered sugar. Add the warm water and flavoring. Beat on medium speed for several minutes until you get a thick consistency. If it's too thick, add a bit more warm water, only a tablespoon at a time. Add in your food coloring, and beat until fully incorporated. 

To decorate the cookies:

Using a piping bag with a tip, or a large ziploc baggie with the corner cut off, ice the cookies to your aesthetic pleasing.