My Favorite Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe: The Cocoa Powder Makes a Difference I don’t like to play favorites with my recipes. I enjoy almost all of the cakes and frostings that I make. However, I will openly admit that my favorite frosting is chocolate cream cheese frosting. The chocolate cream cheese frosting recipe is at the bottom of this post, but first I want to talk about the key ingredient – cocoa powder. Which Cocoa Powder to Use in Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting? The best cocoa powder for you to chose for your chocolate cream cheese frosting entirely depends on your tastes and to whom you are serving your baked goods. One of the best blog posts I’ve read in a while was on the Evite blog. The blog author (there was no name cited) talks about an experiment where he/she served three different types of Toll House chocolate chip cookies: Homemade with high end ingredients (like real vanilla extract)Homemade with cheap ingredients (like imitation vanilla extract)A store bought log of dough Other Products Related to Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Salt water taffy Making taffy is super fun. I will warn you though, your arms will get quite the workout. Especially if you cook it to about 265. Mine got really tough after a few minutes and by the end of the 20 minutes of stretching I was starting to sweat and my arms were starting to shake. If the stretching part seems intimidating, don't let it! Salt water taffyYields approx. 50 pieces/1.5 poundsadapted from here. Prepare a heat safe dish by lightly buttering it. In a saucepan, sift together sugar and cornstarch. When cool enough to handle, grease hands and pull the warm candy with fingertips, pulling out to about 12 inches at first. p.s. the color of the taffy was identical to this pretty nail polish so i had to put them side by side.
Could macarons be the new cupcake? Part 3 French Macaron Tutorial As you all know, we are in LOVE with macarons!! We hope you had a chance to read our previous posts about the history of the French Macaron!Could macarons be the new cupcake? French Macarons1 cup confectioners sugar3/4 cup almond flour2 large egg whites (let eggs come to room temperature before you use them)pinch of cream of tartar1/4 cup superfine sugar Fillings can be seedless jam, buttercream or ganache Pre-heat your oven to 375 degreesLine your baking sheets with parchment paper Combine your almond flour and confectioners sugar then sift two times. This is what it should look like after the sugar and almond flour are combined correctly Whisk you egg whites with a mixer until foamy At this point you can add your cream of tartar and food coloring if you want to make them a certain color. Sift the flour mixture over the egg whites and fold in until the mixture is smooth and shiny. Let macarons cool for 2-3 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.
Homemade Chocolate Frosting photo credit: Frances Berriman Cupcake frosting comes in many different flavors but the staples remain vanilla and chocolate. Vanilla buttercream is probably the king of all frosting, but in a close second is chocolate frosting and there's nothing to wet the palate quite like a big bowl of homemade chocolate frosting. Chocolate frosting tops off any cupcake and tastes especially good atop vanilla cupcakes. Decorating chocolate frosting can also be a lot of fun. Makes enough for around 30 cupcakes. 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter14 oz semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled2.5 TBSP milk2 tsp vanilla extract5 cups confectioners sugar Beat butter until smooth. That recipe should suit your craving for chocolate. Another thing to be aware of with homemade chocolate frosting is that it creates an outer shell very quickly. If you want to add a little pizazz to your homemade chocolate frosting, I will suggest a few ways to go about it.
How To Make Delicious Caramel-Apple Jello Shots Metal Lids at Candle Soylutions Wholesale Supplies 8 oz Square Mason Jars AND Daisy Cut Pewter Lids - CASE of 12 THE JAR makes the cutest primitive candle and very popular now as drinking glasses at parties! 3 1/2 tall x 3" wide at sides about 3 5/16" across the corners and a 2 3/8" opening with Standard Mason jar threads. Candle wick testing suggestions...51-32-18 or HTP104 or HTP105 or 62-52-18. THE LID Use these for Smelly Jellies, Air Freshener Beads or Potpourri. NOTE: This lid has a variegated or slightly marbleized finish that may be hard to see in these pictures due to the Daisy Cut pattern. Lid Care: hand wash with mild dish soap, dry immediately Shipping- Candle Soylutions has a very modest $5 minimum order but we only ship within the United States and only ship UPS (on small orders your shipping is likely to cost more than your product) Please view our Shipping and Policies pages prior to ordering. 12 jars and 12 Daisy Cut Pewter lids per case1-9 Cases = $13.50/case 10-29 Cases = $12.75/case 30+ Cases = $12.50/case
Glorious Treats Classic Buttercream Frosting Recipe When I used to bake and decorate wedding and birthday cakes, I would use different types of frosting depending on who was eating the cake. Most wedding cakes were frosted in egg based recipes such as Italian or French meringue but for children’s cakes or cupcakes I usually frost cakes in American buttercream frosting. Made with powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and milk, this is a basic, easy recipe for classic vanilla buttercream frosting. It’s important to note that when preparing a batch of frosting you adjust the consistency of the buttercream for what you plan on using it for. This recipe is very forgiving. If you’re looking for a classic vanilla buttercream recipe, look no further. **I am also soliciting cake tutorial requests – just leave them in the comment section below** * Many of you have asked about how much frosting you need to make for cakes and cupcakes. **Someone emailed me wanting to know what tool I use to sift the powdered sugar. Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Homemade Mozzarella Cheese Mozzarella is one of the easiest cheeses to make, it only takes 30 minutes and the taste can't be beat! The ingredients are simple although a couple of them you may have to search a bit for, but the end result is worth it--especially when you can say "I made it myself!" Homemade Mozzarella Cheese 1 gallon whole milk (just be sure that it is not Ultra-pasteurized, any other kind will work, store bought, fresh from the cow (or goat)) 1 tsp. citric acid* 1/4 rennet tablet* 2 tsp. cheese salt* A big pot Thermometer Slotted spoon (please ignore the mess in the background, we still haven't finished putting things back together after our wall project) Place milk in large pot with thermometer. Sprinkle 1 tsp. citric acid over milk and stir. Turn heat on med-low and heat milk to 90 degrees, stirring occasionally. While you are heating the milk, dissolve 1/4 rennet tablet in 1/4 C. cool water. When milk has reached 90 degrees, turn off heat. Milk should be like a thick gelatin.
Cinnamon Brown Sugar Pop-tarts | The Baker Chick As I’ve mentioned before, my Mom didn’t let us have junk food in the house. And I mean EVER. I think once we were allowed Cinnamon Toast Crunch to have as dessert but that’s pretty much it. In hindsight, I’m so thankful for her diligence, but at the time I was pretty bummed about it. I remember diving for the junk food every time I was at a friend’s house to the point of probably looking underfed. All these years later, I still haven’t forgotten how good those Cinnamon Brown Sugar Pop-tarts were. These pop-tarts are widely adaptable, easy, and so satisfying. Cinnamon Brown Sugar Pop-tarts Ingredients 1 recipe pie crust 1/2 cup (3 3/4 ounces) brown sugar 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, to taste 4 teaspoons all-purpose flour 1 large egg, to brush on pastry before filling Instructions If the dough has been chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to soften and become workable, about 15 to 30 minutes.
How to make homemade LARA Bars I love LARA bars! I think they are the perfect mid-morning snack (or meal 2 if you are on any of the DAMY plans). My clients share my affection for these little bars of goodness as well. They are great for many reasons: They are easy to throw in your purse when you are in a hurry, you can pack them easily for the kids, and they satisfy the sweet tooth. NEW – If you love LARA Bars you will love these creative LARA Bar-like Recipes. How to make homemade LARA Bars Here I have included the recipes for some of my favorite flavours of LARA Bars. I have also included a “build your own LARA Bar section” for you to get creative and make your own LARA Bar flavor creations. *Some of the lara bars recipes included fall more under the “treat” category (the varieties that include chocolate) but these are defiantly a healthy treat option. Peanut Butter and Jam 1/4 cup cherries1/4 cup Seedless/Pitted whole Dates1/2 cup raw peanuts1 tbsp creamy natural peanut butterPinch of sea salt Blueberry Muffin