The Voice of Joyce

Care for a cup of hot coco?

2012-02-08T21:05:00.001-05:00

The problem with hot chocolate is that it can spill everywhere.

My solution: turn it into a cookie.

Yeah... I pretty much turn everything into cookie form. I like cookies.

They were pretty good. Nice and chewy. No spillage.

Recipe for Hot Coco Cookies
1 cup margarine, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup marshmallows
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the margarine, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Sift in the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder; mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips.
3. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls and place them one inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from here.

Meringue Cookies

2011-12-22T22:26:00.000-05:00

I had to use up a few egg whites so I made Meringues.

I had a minor freak out because I thought I had messed up.

The egg whites weren't whipping up/holding their shape.

But everything worked out. It just took a while.... LIKE FOREVER.

Luckily, I have a stand mixture so I walked around the kitchen as the egg mixture whipped, and whipped and... whipped some more.

I got fancy and added skor bits on top.

I also didn't leave them in the oven over night (like the recipe says to) so it wasn't "airy" through out the cookie. I baked them for the 20 minutes and then took them out. They were chewy and more fun to eat.

WOOOOT!!

Recipe for Meringue Cookies:

3 large egg whites (3 ounces or 90 grams)

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 cup (150 grams) superfine or caster sugar (if you don't have superfine sugar simply take granulated white sugar and process it for about 30-60 seconds in a food processor)

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. You can form the cookies with a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) plain tip, or I often just use two spoons to make the cookies.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on low-medium speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat the whites until they hold soft peaks. Add the sugar, a little at a time, and continue to beat, on medium-high speed, until the meringue holds very stiff peaks. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Note: The meringue is done when it holds stiff peaks and when you rub a little between your thumb and index finger it does not feel gritty. If it feels gritty the sugar has not fully dissolved so keep beating until it feels smooth between your fingers.

Before placing the cookies on the cookie sheet, place a little of the meringue on the underside of each corner of the parchment paper. This will prevent the paper from sliding. Transfer the meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) tip. Pipe 2 1/2 inch (6 cm) rounds of meringue in rows on the prepared baking sheet. Alternatively, spoon mounds of meringue, using two spoons, onto the prepared sheets. Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with a few shaved almonds, if desired.

Bake the meringues for approximately 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours, rotating the baking sheet from front to back (about half way through) to ensure even baking. The meringues are done when they are pale in color and fairly crisp. (The meringues will release easily from the parchment paper.) Turn off the oven, open the door a crack, and leave the meringues in the oven to finish drying several hours or overnight. The meringues can be covered and stored at room temperature for several days.

Makes about 10 - 2 1/2 inch (6 cm) meringues (or more if they are smaller...)

Recipe from Joy of Baking

Revamping

2011-12-11T17:45:00.001-05:00

It's hard not to notice, but just in case you didn't... I'm revamping the site. :)

Piña Colada Egg Tarts.

2011-12-11T16:30:00.000-05:00

I just realized that I forgot to post this a long time ago. Ooops.

I modified a recipe to make some Piña Colada Egg Tarts.

I didn't actually modify a recipe. I think I just made it up. At least they looked like the egg tarts that I made previously.

The Piña Colada flavor was noticeable but the texture was runny. Maybe it was because I used fewer eggs (although I can't even remember how many I used so that's not very helpful) and Piña Colada liquid drink mix, instead of powdered sugar. I should have added corn starch or something.

I guess I can't post the recipe because I don't remember the proportions. Besides the liquid drink mix and eggs, I think I added some milk too. Or was it cream? Maybe I did add some corn starch to thicken it up. I think this blog post should win an award like "Most uninformative" or something.

Chocolate Cupcakes

2011-11-18T20:26:00.001-05:00

Ellen, one of my baking buds, and I made some cupcakes for Guts on Ice, a fundraiser for crohn's and colitis.

They were having a bake sale. It was for a good cause and who could say no to skating with hockey players?

We topped the cupcakes with stuff in attempt to make them look cute and irresistible.

I must say that we were successful in making a mess of Ellen's kitchen.

I took a few pictures with my phone. It's proof that I'm not making this up.

Chocolate cupcakes with a Jackson Pollock inspired caramel drizzle.
Total art.

These ones were topped with crushed candy cane.
We have to get people in the festive mood.

Only 36 days til Christmas.

Gum balls. Plenty of balls. Red, yellow, green, blue too...

Another picture of the caramel ones. We also put caramel inside.
Caramel to the max? Yes, I think so.

Cinnamon Rolls

2011-10-14T00:15:00.001-04:00

I've never made cinnamon buns before... until now.

It's not too difficult.

It just takes time... and love.

Mostly just time... and maybe some cinnamon.

Cinnamon rolls

And yes, I took a picture of the ugly one that doesn't look like a roll.

Just use your imagination and pretend it looks pretty.

At least it was very tasty.

Remember, "looks aren't everything".

I read that the longer you let the bread buns rise.. the higher and fluffier they will be...

So I left them alone and they just did their thing...

Got very high. Got very twisty.

Added a little bit of icing to top it off.

Recipe for Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients for Dough:
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 4 cups all-purpose flour

Ingredients for Filling:
- 3/4 cup brown sugar (I used 1/2 cup)
- 2 tablespoon ground cinnamon (I used 4 teaspoons)
- 1/4 cup melted butter (I used 1/8 cup room temp butter... maybe less)

Topping:
- Use whatever icing you want... cream cheese frosting? my fav...

Directions:

- In a small bowl, dissolve 1 teaspoon sugar and yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter and salt; stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.

- In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture, milk mixture, eggs and 1 1/2 cup flour; stir well to combine. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.

- Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

- Combine remaining 3/4 cup brown sugar and cinnamon; set aside.

- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, roll into an 18x14 inch rectangle. Spread butter over the dough, leaving 1/2 inch border uncovered; sprinkle with brown sugar cinnamon mixture.

- Starting at long side, tightly roll up, pinching seam to seal. Brush with remaining 2 tablespoons butter (I skipped this step).

- With serrated knife, cut into 15 pieces; place cut side down, in prepared pan. OR... Do this trick for cutting the rolls without mashing the dough: take a piece of thread, slide it under the roll, cross the thread and pull quickly.

- Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in volume. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

- Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool in pan for 3 minutes, then invert onto serving platter. Cover with icing.

Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies

2011-10-09T01:00:00.000-04:00

What should I do with left over cream cheese frosting?

Make cookies.

But what if I can't find a recipe...

So make one up.

Ok.

Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies

I had a ton of frosting left over and I was too lazy to bake a cake.

I wanted to make cookies. The only problem was that I couldn't find a recipe to convert frosting into cookies.

So I tried to think of other uses for frosting.

I even googled it.

Someone thought that spreading frosting on toast constituted as a creative way to use up extra frosting. Um, I beg to differ.

Frosting isn't very versatile because it is very sweet.

I was afraid that if I made cookies, they would be too sweet and would give people an intense sugar rush.

Sometimes people need that feeling, but most people end up with headaches from consuming a lot of sugar.

To avoid that, I decided to add in a sour element, like lemon zest or lemon juice. I used both.

And... voila, Lemon Cookies!

They turned out. Love when that happens.

Recipe for Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies

Ingredients:
- Some left over cream cheese frosting (perhaps 2 cups...), here are some measurements, but they are total guesses:
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 (3 ounces) package cream cheese, softened
2 cup powdered sugar (maybe... it was more?)
1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- Lemon zest from 1 lemon
- 2 teaspoons of lemon juice
- 1 egg
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoons baking powder

Instructions:
In a large bowl, combine the powdered sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt.

Add in egg, almond extract, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Beat until smooth.

Stir in flour, baking soda, and baking powder until well blended.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Refrigerate dough.

Form balls and place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 7 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until light and golden brown.

Egg muffins.

2011-10-01T17:59:00.002-04:00

Eggs. Plenty of ways to cook them.

I got this idea from here.

Not sure if I can call these muffins.

They don't even look like muffins, but they were made in a muffin pan.

Egg "Muffins"

Very simple to make.

Just crack an egg into a muffin holder.

I didn't beat the eggs but I did poke the yolk. I've been told that they can explode, but that's when you cook 'em in the microwave oven.

I used the regular oven for these muffin things.

You can add whatever you want to each egg. Some people line the sides with bacon or use deli meat as "muffin" liners.

I added left overs. One was chicken. The other was pork.

Oh and don't forget the cheese. People like it.

I used a silicon non-stick muffin pan and I had no problems taking them out.

The picture, however, has some problems. It's blurry, but I'll just blame it on the extreme heat from the food. Distortion and whatnot.

Anyways, cooking eggs this way is very simple. Easy as pie... or muffin.

Maybe next time I'll wrap the sides in bacon or something.

Recipe for Egg Muffins

Preheat your oven to 400F.

Use a silicon pan or Spray your muffin tin with nonstick spray/oil.

Push one slice of turkey into each muffin hole or line sides with bacon.

Mix eggs, salt and pepper, and whatever else you want add.

Distribute evenly in each muffin cup. Then top with a small sprinkle of cheese.

Bake for 25-35 mins, depending on how brown you want the muffins.

Pop out and enjoy!!

Bacon, Bacon, Bacon.

2011-09-24T22:33:00.000-04:00

Today, my dad roasted a whole pig in the backyard.

I've only heard about pig roasting parties that have happened on farms.

I was concerned with city violations and bylaws.

My dad didn't break any. Yay...

To go along with this whole pig theme, I made Maple Bacon Cupcakes and Dark Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes.

Topped them with Candied Bacon and Cream Cheese Frosting.

Bacon three ways.

Maple Bacon Cupcakes and Dark Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes.

Very Epic Meal Time.

Bacon strips, bacon strips, bacon strips...

This bacon was from the butcher.

Dark Chocolate Bacon Cupcake

Don't shoot me, but I'm not a huge bacon fan.

I thought this cupcake was strange.

Tasted like a chocolate cupcake with weird bits.

I think bacon lovers would appreciate it more than I did.

I made 2 dozen of these ones.

Maple Bacon Cupcakes

I screwed up the conversions and the amounts in the recipe. Oops.

I ended up with 3 dozen of these cupcakes. So in total, I made 60 cupcakes today.

The first 2 dozen of the maple cupcakes were not as moist and the last dozen was perfect.

I baked them for the same amount of time... I guess the oven was acting up...

The maple cupcake was not a super sweet cupcake. More of a cornbread muffin thing.

Both cupcakes went well with the frosting.

The chocolate recipe seemed like less of a hassle.

Normal flour. No mixer needed. Win.

The maple recipe needed self-rising flour, which I tried to make. I think that is where I went wrong. I ended up with a ridiculous amount of baking powder in the recipe.

I also needed to use the mixer to beat the butter. I hate washing dishes so the Maple cupcake was the underdog from the start.

Recipe for Dark Chocolate Bacon Cupcake
makes 24/ 375F oven

12 slices bacon
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 eggs
1 cup cold, strong, brewed coffee
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, 3/4 cup cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Make a well in the center and pour in the eggs, coffee, buttermilk and oil. Stir just until blended. Mix in 3/4 of the bacon, reserving the rest for garnish. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, dividing evenly.

Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan set over a wire rack. When cool, arrange the cupcakes on a serving platter. Frost with your favorite chocolate frosting and sprinkle reserved bacon crumbles on top. Dust with additional cocoa powder.

Recipe from All recipes.

Recipe for Maple Bacon Cupcakes
Makes 6 / 350F oven

4 1/2 tablespoons of butter, room temperature
1/2 tablespoon of bacon drippings (left in the fridge to become solid)1 egg
5 tablespoons of brown sugar
4 tablespoons maple syrup
1 1/4 cup of self rising flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
tiny tiny pinch of kosher salt
1/4 cup of milk
1/4 cup of minced bacon, cooked and drained

Cook some bacon in a fry pan (about 6 thick strips). Reserve the drippings and place in the fridge to solidify. Mince 1/4 a cup of the bacon. The chef should eat whatever is left to assure that the bacon is tasty.Beat the crud out of the butter and solidified bacon fat 'till light and creamy. Add the brown sugar and maple syrup and beat well until combined.
Add the egg and beat until incorporated.Sift the flour, salt, baking soda and powder together.

Add some of the flour and mix, then some of the milk, then continue to alternate the dry and wet ingredients, ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in the bacon. Taste and add more maple syrup, flour, or milk if needed for desired taste. Keep in mind the maple frosting is very sweet, and to add in very small increments for alterations as maple syrup in large amounts can break a cake batter.

Scoop into cupcake papers and bake at 350 F for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Be sure to rotate the pan after the first 15 minutes for even baking.

Recipe from Vanilla Garlic

Peanut Butter Cookies, Again.

2011-09-20T23:01:00.001-04:00

I made some cookies for a friend.

This friend of mine had used my school desk as a food storage area for the entire year. It wasn't a big deal.

I didn't mind. I was just thankful it wasn't a pair of smelly old socks or something.

You are probably wondering, "Why would I make cookies for someone who was all up in my space?"

Yeah, I have no idea.

But recently, there was an office move so my friend had to do some spring cleaning. Or should I say fall cleaning?

Anyways, all that was left was a sad-looking-half-empty jar of peanut butter. So I decided to swipe it and make cookies.

I used this recipe almost a year ago and totally forgot.

They look smaller this time... because they are.

Some of them are also filled with a chocolatey goodness.

Oh, and I changed the baking temperature and time.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Chewy center, Crispy top = Win.

Stuffed with chocolate. These are like a reversed Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.

Don't worry, I didn't give them all away. I kept plenty for myself.

Recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup peanut butter (maybe I used closer to a cup)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoons baking soda

chocolate for stuffing (optional- I used dairy milk)

Cream together butter, peanut butter and sugars. Beat in the egg.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir into batter. Put batter in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Roll into 1 inch balls and put on baking sheets. Flatten each ball with a fork, making a criss-cross pattern. If you want to stuff the cookie... now would be the time to do it. Make sure the entire chocolate is covered in cookie batter.

Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F oven for about 8-9 minutes or until cookies begin to brown. Do not over-bake.

Piña Colada Cupcakes with Almond Buttercream Frosting.

2011-09-10T21:12:00.004-04:00

"If you like Piña Coladas, and getting caught in the rain..." then you might like these cupcakes.

Don't worry, you don't need to be into yoga but having a brain would be good.

Piña Colada Cupcakes with Almond Buttercream Frosting.

I have trouble sleeping in. I don't know why that is and today was no exception.

Maybe it's because my window blinds are filled with tiny holes/slots and don't actually block out the light in the morning. I'm also aware that it's possible for people to see into my room at night. Definitely creeps me out just thinking about it. And no, I didn't choose these window blinds, but I'm too lazy to change them now.

Or maybe it's because I wake up at the same time almost everyday. Circadian rhythms and whatnot.

Regardless, I was super tired this morning but all I wanted to do was bake something different.

Probably not the best idea to make substitutions for almost everything in the recipe so I'm not going to post it. I'm not even sure I can remember it.

Don't worry, the cupcake turned out fine. Very moist. Always a good thing.

I'm not sure why these cupcakes stuck to the cupcake liners, which of course made it difficult to take off the liner.

Maybe it was because I double layered the cupcakes. I've never done that before and I'm not sure why I did. Probably because I was so tired.

Maybe if I had baked them longer, they would have come off clean.

Whatever. So many maybes.

Update: Now that the cupcakes have cooled, they don't stick to the liners.

I also decided to post the recipe but just keep in mind that most of the measurements are approximate.

Recipe for Piña Colada Cupcakes with Almond Buttercream Frosting:
For the Cupcake:
1 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp each baking powder and baking soda
1/6 tsp salt
1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup pina colada drink mix (you can substitute honey, but then you won't have pina colada cupcakes... you would have honey cupcakes)
1 large egg

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line 9 muffin cups with paper liners.

2. Mix flour, baking powder,baking soda and salt in medium bowl to blend.

3. Beat butter and pina colada drink mix in large bowl with an electric mixer 3 or 4 minutes until well mixed. Beat in egg until blended.

4. With mixer on low speed, beat in half the flour mixture, then the milk. Beat in remaining flour mixture until just combined.

5. Spoon about 1/4 cup batter into each muffin cup. Bake 14 to 17 minutes until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove cupcakes from pan to wire rack to cool completely.

For Almond Buttercream Frosting:
1/2 cup of unsalted butter, softened
pinch of salt
2 cups of icing sugar
splash of pina colada drink mix (I want to say 1/4 cup but that might be too much)
another splash of almond extract (I think it might have been 1 Tbsp, maybe not)

1. Beat the butter and slowly add in the icing sugar.
2. Add in the salt.
3. Add in the liquid to desired taste and texture.
4. Just let the mixer beat and beat until light and fluffy.

Purple Yam Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

2011-08-12T19:30:00.006-04:00

Purple is a nice colour.

It's so nice that I only go to schools that have purple as a school colour.

I'm that serious about it.

Elementary school: burgundy, which is almost purple
High school: purple and gold
University: purple and white

Ha, I'm just kidding. It was coincidental, but it does mean that I have plenty of purple clothing to show my school spirit.

Anyways, here are some purple yam cupcakes.

Honestly, they are not that special and are made out of melted ice cream.

Purple Yam Cupcakes

Vibrant? Yes.

Strange? A little.

Easy? Yes.

I used purple yam ice cream and white box cake. You can use any type of ice cream or box cake.

Don't over bake or it will be dry. Ew, no one likes dry cake.

Recipe for Melted Ice Cream Cake

Cake ingredients:
vegetable oil spray for misting the pan
flour for dusting the pan
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix
2 cups melted ice cream, your choice of flavor
3 large eggs

Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting ingredients (I used cream cheese frosting instead):
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
6 large marshmallows
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Cake directions:

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly mist a 12-cup Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pan aside.

Place the cake mix, melted ice cream, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with the rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.

Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, 38 to 42 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a long, sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a small rack, then invert it again onto a second rack so that the cake is right side up to complete cooling, 30 minutes more.

Meanwhile prepare the Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting , or another frosting that would go well with the flavor of the ice cream in the cake. Place the cake on a serving platter and frost the top of the cake with clean, smooth strokes.

Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting directions:

Sift the sugar and cocoa powder together into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

Place the marshmallows, butter, and milk in a medium-size heavy saucepan over low heat. Stir until the marshmallows are melted, 3 to 4 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Pour the confectioners' sugar and cocoa mixture over the marshmallow mixture.

Add the vanilla and stir until the frosting is smooth and satiny.

Banana Muffins

2011-07-10T19:21:00.014-04:00

Tasty? Yeah.

Healthy? Borderline... Plenty of potassium, I guess.

Simple? Yeah.

Reliable? You would think so with recipe titled, "No Fail Banana Muffins".

This is the same recipe from February 2010 muffins. Back then, they had flat tops.

A few months have past and now we have different results. Actual muffin tops!

A blast from the past.

More recently.

Weird, right?

Maybe it was the walnuts. Probably not.

Recipe for No Fail Banana Muffins

Printer Friendly Version

Recipe for 1 dozen muffins:

1 cup mashed bananas (2-3 large)

2/3 cup white sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup melted margarine OR shortening OR oil

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

Beat the bananas and sugar together in a mixmaster bowl.

Add the egg and continue beating.

Slowly pour in margarine and continue beating.

With mixmaster at slow speed add the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

Pour into 12 lined muffin tins.

Bake in a 300 degree oven for 30 minutes or in 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

These muffins will turn hard if a hotter oven is used.

ALTERNATIVES:

- add 1.2 cup chopped nuts to batter and pour into a small loaf pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

- mix 2 tablespoons sugar with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle over the top of each muffin before baking.

- when muffins are cooled, spread a white cake icing over the top and serve as banana cupcakes.

- bake 3 batches at one time and freeze.

Recipe for 3 dozen:

3 cups of mashed bananas (8-9 large)

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 cup melted margarine

4 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

3 teaspoons baking soda

- Just Recipes by Kathryn Adams

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.

2011-06-22T20:02:00.007-04:00

My favorite cake is carrot cake.

It tastes so good and it's good for me.

Everyone knows that carrots are good for the eyes, especially for people with glasses... like me.

So if anyone gets 2 pieces, it should be me.

This cake had raisins. They sunk to the bottom.

The raisins weren't even that heavy so I don't know what the deal was with that.

Weird.

I added some decorations for fun.

Recipe for Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely/

To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.

I stole the recipe from here .

Hong Kong Style Egg Tarts.

2011-03-04T19:59:00.013-05:00

A little while ago, I made egg tarts with some friends.

Actually, it was more than "a little" while ago... it was over the Christmas break of 2010.

So I'm about three months late, but it's better late than never.

We made these little tarts from scratch. Yup, mini pie shells and all.

Luckily, my friend, Trish, is a pie pro. She knows the in's and out's of pie stuff.

I, on the other hand, am not a pie pro.

I like eating the bottom of pie crusts but making them is another story.

A disastrous story.

The recipe was fairly straight forward but straining the egg mixture got a little messy.

I'm not surprised because I'm usually messy in the kitchen anyways.

Recipe for Hong Kong Style Egg Tarts

1 cup confectioners' sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup butter
1 egg, beaten
1 dash vanilla extract

2/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups water
9 eggs, beaten
1 dash vanilla extract
1 cup evaporated milk

In a medium bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar and flour. Mix in butter with a fork until it is in small crumbs. Stir in the egg and vanilla until the mixture forms a dough. The texture should be slightly moist. Add more butter if it is too dry, or more flour, if the dough seems greasy. Shape dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and press the balls into tart molds so that it covers the bottom, and goes up higher than the sides. Use 2 fingers to shape the edge into an A shape.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Combine the white sugar and water in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Cook until the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Strain the eggs through a sieve, and whisk into the sugar mixture. Stir in the evaporated milk and vanilla. Strain the filling through a sieve, and fill the tart shells.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown, and the filling is puffed up a little bit.

Recipe adapted from here.

The oven is broken.

2011-02-10T21:48:00.002-05:00

Apparently ovens can break down.

It can be difficult to bake something without heat.

Thought I would just pass on this tasty tidbit of information.

Our oven has broken down but the microwave still works so maybe I'll just bake something in there.

Chocolate Butterscotch Cookies

2010-12-20T11:29:00.003-05:00

I found some butterscotch chips at the store. I thought they were cool so I bought them.

I also saw mini peanut butter cups too. I'll be going back for those.

I decided to make chocolate cookies with the butterscotch chips.

They turned out well. Very brownie-like and I like brownies.

Very tasty stuff.

Chewy insides if you only bake for 8-9 minutes.

I baked them for 8 minutes and they were really soft.

Recipe for Butterscotch Chocolate Cookies

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, then beat in eggs and vanilla until combined.

Whisk together dry ingredients in a medium bowl.

Add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix just until combined. Stir in butterscotch chips. I prefer to reserve a few butterscotch chips to press into the tops of the dough once it is on the baking sheets.

Drop level tablespoons of dough about 2 inches apart onto parchment paper or baking mat lined baking sheets and bake about 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.

Recipe from Cherry Tea Cakes

It's a boy!

2010-12-10T19:08:00.007-05:00

My friends, Ellen and Sara, and I baked some cookies for a baby boy shower.

Then we decorated them.

It was fun. And very messy.

I wish I had more than my phone camera to capture some pics.

Duckies, Baby Carriages, Dinos, Rocking Horses, Froggies... The works.

Ellen's perfect Blue Dino.

Sara's adorable Duckie.

We had an accident with the blue icing. Can you find the cookie covered in blue dots?

Totally did that on purpose...

I thought the Feet Cookies would be cute, but they were somewhat creepy-looking.

The only good looking froggie.

P.S. We got 95 cm of snow in 4 days = 3 snow days.
Too bad I was stuck inside studying for exams to play outside.

Banana Muffins with a Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting.

2010-12-03T19:44:00.004-05:00

Cupcakes are like mini cakes. Sweet and covered with frosting. More of a dessert.

Muffins are like mini bread things. Lighter and not as sweet. Not frowned upon to eat for breakfast.

So, is it a muffin or a cupcake when the muffin is covered with frosting?

Probably just a mupcake, since cuffin is already in the urban dictionary.

I made some Banana Mupcakes.

Banana Mupcakes with a Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting

I didn't use overly ripe bananas, just regular ones.

It made it harder to mush and I ended up with banana chunks. Totally fine.

I miss read the frosting recipe. Oops.

I made it work and I thought it tasted pretty good and I don't even like frosting.

I made these the night before and I was debating whether to put them in the fridge since I used a cream cheese frosting. I was particularly confused when I read that refrigeration causes cakes to dry out and that commercial bakeries refrigerate to prolong product life...

After I a long debate with myself, I decided that they should go in the fridge. I didn't want people to get sick from bad cream cheese. Now, I had to decide whether to cover or not to cover them. Of course, I found that the people of the internet support both sides.

GAH! I JUST WANTED NON-SOGGY, NON-SPOILED MUPCAKES!

Recipe for Banana Muffins
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat muffin pans with non-stick spray, or use paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Combine bananas, sugar, egg, and melted butter in a large bowl. Fold in flour mixture, and mix until smooth. Scoop into muffin pans.

Bake in preheated oven. Bake mini muffins for 10 to 15 minutes, and large muffins for 25 to 30 minutes (I baked mine for 13-14 minutes at 325 degrees C). Muffins will spring back when lightly tapped.
Recipe from All Recipes

Recipe for Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting
4 ounces cream cheese, softened (I used 1 box )
1 cup Nutella
1/4 cup shortening
2.5 cups powdered sugar

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cream cheese, Nutella, and shortening. Beat on high until smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Gradually add the powdered sugar, about one cup at a time, beating well after each addition.

Peach Pecan Sour Cream Muffins

2010-11-28T12:37:00.001-05:00

I wanted to make something using pecans and sour cream. Mainly because there was sour cream in the fridge and pecans in the cupboard.

The only problem was that I didn't have any butter or margarine or veggie oil. Slight problem when it comes to baking.

But I manage to crank out some muffins.

Peach Pecan Sour Cream Muffins

I topped some of the muffins with a granola oat mixture that I also found in the cupboard.

I liked the texture. A nice crunch.

I would have done it to all them but I wasn't sure if they would burn or taste over done since they were already toasted/ready to eat.

I made 12 muffins and had some batter left over.

I could have made 12 biggies but decided against it.

I made a mini cake with the left over muffin batter.

I topped this one with toffee bits and chopped pecans.

Yum.

Recipe for Peach Pecan Sour Cream Muffins:

1-3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream (can use reduced fat)
1/2 cup peach, apricot or similar flavored preserves
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400° F. Line 12 muffin cups with muffin papers.

Sift first five ingredients into a large bowl.

Whisk sour cream, preserves, egg and vanilla to blend in a medium bowl.

Add sour cream mixture and pecans to dry ingredients and stir just until combined; do not over mix.

Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until tester inserted into center of muffins comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool at least 15 minutes before serving warm or room temperature.

White Chocolate and Blueberry Cookies

2010-11-21T13:23:00.008-05:00

I like baking with new recipes so when I found a cookie recipe with chocolate and blueberries, I was quite excited.

So excited that I might have even dreamed about it.

Chocolate and Blueberry Cookies.

I had a few issues while making these cookies.

Not huge problems... more like little road blocks.

I had to make some detours.

Issue #1: I was 1/4 cup short of butter.

Solution: I topped it up with shortening.

Shortening lacks the big of a taste of butter but my version was still pretty good.
I'm 99% sure that people didn't even notice.

These cookies baked at 375 for 12 minutes. Notice the height?

Pretty high for a cookie...

Issue #2: I did not have a full cup of white chocolate.

Solution: I added in some semi sweet chocolate chips.

Issue #3: The high cookies dried out pretty quick.
On the second day, they were like rocks.
Those tough cookies were putting up quite the fight.
Solution: I baked these cookies at 350 for 10 minutes.

Flatter and chewy. More normal.

Epic win.

Recipe for Chocolate and Blueberry Cookies:
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup dried blueberries
1 cup white chocolate chips (or 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips + 1/2 cup white chocolate chips)

For cookies with height:
Preheat oven to 375.
Mix all wet ingredients in one bowl. Mix all dry in the other. Add dry to wet and add the fancy add-ins.
Roll into balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes, or until the tops start to turn golden.

For flatter and chewy cookies:
Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, or until the tops start to turn golden.

Peanut Butter Cookies.

2010-11-02T12:27:00.001-04:00

I'm addicted to peanut butter. I like it. It tastes good. It's good for me.

I have tons of open pb jars. The regular Kraft stuff, the natural organic stuff... you name it, I've probably got it.

It makes sense that I like peanut butter cookies as well.

Some Peanut Butter Cookies were plain,

others had some Cadbury Crunch chocolate bar added.

Yeah, I can get real fancy like that.

These cookies were soft.

I put the dough in plastic wrap. Made 2 cookie logs.

Now I can have fresh cookies whenever I want.

Just cut and bake.

This recipe makes a ridiculous number if cookies. Perhaps 4 dozen?

Would I use this recipe again?

Recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup + 1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter (or smooth pb)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
(2 chopped up Cadbury Crunch chocolate bars)

Cream together butter, peanut butter and sugars. Beat in eggs.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir into batter. (Then mix in the chocolate bars if you want). Put batter in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Roll into 1 inch balls and put on baking sheets. Flatten each ball with a fork, making a criss-cross pattern (or slice from the cookie log).

Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for about 9 minutes or until cookies begin to brown. Do not over-bake.

Bark!

2010-10-23T09:27:00.001-04:00

Want a quick snack?

Eat some bark.

Not tree bark, but chocolate bark!

Chocolate bark!

It's easy to make and fun to eat.

Melt some chocolate, add in whatever you want.

If you use semi-sweet, you might have to add in some sugar.

When your done, shove it in the fridge, then break it apart when its a solid piece.

Anything Goes...

2010-10-15T19:05:00.007-04:00

A while ago, I helped out at an event.

There was a show to watch and then there was food to eat.

Lots of different stuff donated by local restaurants.

It was pretty awesome.

There was this giant veggie bouquet.

Salmon-cream cheese-caper wraps from Blackfriars Catering.

Cute display, right?

Baklava from Mythic Grill.

Cake!!

P.s.The show was called "Anything Goes".

...another shot at the cake

This is not a Checkers board.

It's actually part of a wide selection of desserts.

This walnut butter tart tasted amazing.

That round thing was a blueberry lemon cake. That loaf thing was a pumpkin loaf.

You can see that the rest were cookies and bars. There was a little bit of fruit too.

I can't remember who donated this but it was tasty.

Just thought you should know...

Cinnamon-Apple Yogurt Bread

2010-10-09T09:52:00.005-04:00

It's Fall.

There are lots of apples around.

I'm not great at making apple pies so I thought I would make an apple loaf.

Cinnamon-Apple Yogurt Bread

I added an extra apple to the recipe. The loaf turned out alright, but if your not going finish it within a few days, you might end up with a moldy treat.

Turns out the apples have a lot moisture. A lot of moisture brings the threat of mold. Ewie.

So if you are going to make this, I would stick with the recipe and cut the apples into blueberry-sized pieces.

I skipped out on the cinnamon topping because I forgot about it.

I think it would have been a nice addition to the loaf.
So if you make this, don't forget.

The recipe is for muffins but I wanted to make loaves so I dropped the temperature to 350F and baked for about 50 minutes.

Would I make this again?

Cinnamon-Apple Yogurt Muffins
(makes 12)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon plus a pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 medium apples, peeled, cored, quartered, then diced
1/3 cup chopped, toasted walnuts
2 large eggs
1 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 tablespoons Calvados (optional)

For topping:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Place cupcake liners inside a 12-cup standard muffin tin.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Whisk together sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Add diced apples and walnuts, tossing to coat. Whisk together eggs, yogurt, butter and Calvados (if using) in a small bowl. Gently fold the liquid mixture into the flour mixture until just combined. Don’t overmix or muffins will be tough. Divide batter among muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix brown sugar with cinnamon. Sprinkle a little of the mixture over the top of each muffin.
Bake until muffins are brown around edges and spring back when touched, 16 to 18 minutes. Remove muffin pan to a rack to cool for about 5 minutes. Then, turn out muffins onto the wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Or freeze in a plastic container for longer storage.

From Carolyn Jung