White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes

I'm one of those types that will buy holiday-related food items a month before the holiday is to arrive. This includes muffin cups, dish towels, cookie cutters, candies - whatever stands out when I'm shopping around. Over the weekend, I realized that I still had a bag of cherry-flavored heart candies and mini Valentine muffin cups. While I COULD have just eaten the bag of heart candies, it probably wouldn't have been that great of an idea. Had it been chocolate...

So I had a mini brainstorm standing in the middle of my kitchen. I could make red velvet cupcakes, but my mom had just made us some chocolate peanut butter cupcakes the other day - so we were cupcaked out. Mini brownies? Meh. Cheesecake sounded way better. I typically use mascarpone for everything, I can't help it, I work for a company that makes mascarpone - but I didn't have any around. Gasp! But I did have a package of cream cheese. So - if you're curious about using mascarpone instead, use about 12oz mascarpone and 4oz cream cheese, instead of what I use listed in the recipe below. They will be much creamier and smoother with the mascarpone than all cream cheese - but both versions are good. You can also substitute the white chocolate for a dark (or any variety of) chocolate - your choice! This recipe sort of mimics one that we use at work all the time, so it was easy to manipulate to what I was craving for. These are so easy and quick that you won't know what to do with your free time.

White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes

1 cup graham crackers, crushed

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

12 oz white chocolate chips

2 Tablespoons orange flavored liqueur

24 heart-shaped candies

24 mini cupcake liners

Directions

Prepare a double boiler by placing a stainless steel bowl on top of a sauce pan with simmering water. Pour white chocolate chips into the stainless steel bowl and allow to melt.

In the mean time, lay out the 24 cupcake liners in a 9x13 pan.

In a bowl, combine melted butter with the crushed graham crackers. Evenly disperse the cracker/butter mixture amongst the 24 cupcake liners. Pack the crumbs to form a crust with your fingers.

Check back to the white chocolate chips and stir to encourage them to all melt. Once the white chocolate is melted, mix in the cream cheese and stir until incorporated, followed by the orange flavored liqueur.

Once all ingredients are combined and have created a smooth texture, evenly spoon filling into each of the cupcake liners. A small cookie scoop works perfect for this job.

Cover the 9x13 pan and place in the refrigerator for about 1 hour or until cooled. Top each cheesecake with a candy heart. Enjoy!

A Trick for your Treats - Cupcake Edition

I recently visited a fun little candy shop and bought those cute little sugared pumpkins seen in the photo above. I mean, is it really that obvious that I love pumpkin? I only have three different varieties of pumpkin flavored coffee in my freezer and maybe, just maybe a 6-pack of pumpkin ale. Oh, and let's not forget the pumpkin ice cream in the freezer - thanks to Edy's. I would LOVE for Haagen Dazs to come up with a pumpkin flavored icecream. Because we all know that it would be THE best.

So, since I had these pumpkin 'gum drops', I had to make something with them right? Of course right! (Fiddler, anyone?)  So, I decided to whip out my Martha Stewart Cupcakes book and whip up a few wonderful creations. After looking through that book, I tag about 10 different cupcake recipes that I want to make. Now. I honestly convinced myself to make three different kinds until I got the first one made and thought - what am I thinking?  So I stuck with the two. Pumpkin Patch and Mint-Filled Brownie. C'mon folks, wipe the drool off of your face, it's embarrassing.

Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart Cupcakes

Ingredients
4 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbls plus 1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbls ground ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin puree

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two muffin tins with paper liners.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves; pulse to combine. With machine running, add milk and eggs; process until smooth, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Add pumpkin; pulse to combine.

Spoon about 1/3 cup batter into each cupcake liner. Bake until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Mint-Filled Brownie Cupcakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart Cupcakes


Ingredients
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
12 small chocolate covered mints (Peppermint Patties or Andes Mints)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350*F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.  Place chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water. Stir occasionally just until melted, 4-5 minutes.

Remove bowl from heat. Whisk in sugar and salt until mixture is smooth; whisk in eggs to combine. Gently whisk in flour and cocoa just until smooth (do not overmix).

Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of batter into each lined cup. Place 1 mint on top, gently pressing into batter.  Top with 2 tablespoons batter, covering mint completely.  Bake, rotating tin halfway through, until a cake tester inserted halfway in centers (above mint) comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, about 35 minutes. Transfer tin to a wire rack to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored up to 3 days at room temperature in airtight containers.

Cream Cheese Frosting
from Martha Stewart Cupcakes


Makes about 2 cups

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions

Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, soften cream cheese. Gradually add butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended. Sift in confectioners' sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla, and stir to combine.

*For the green frosting, I used neon food coloring. The orange color is simply a mixture of red and yellow. I never count the drops, I just keep adding until I like the color. 

Cupcakes for Dinner

I made these with my sister, Emily in mind. She LOVES mashed potatoes. I guess I could say that I love them too, but not nearly as much as her. In fact, I was able to find a mashed potato scented candle for her once - that was the prize of the year, let me tell you. I was dreaming up an innovative cupcake one day. Simply because... well, I was bored. I wanted to create a cupcake that could be eaten for a meal, rather than a snack... so this is what I came up with.

Baked Potato Cupcake

5 potatoes, boiled, mashed
3 eggs, beaten
1 T. butter, melted
1 c. cubed cheese
salt & pepper to taste


Directions:

Combine all ingredients and divide evenly amongst 12 muffin tins.

Fill them as full as you would like them to look when baked, because they won't rise.

Bake at 350* for 45 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Once baked, take out and place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes.

Top with your favorite baked potato toppings... bacon, sour cream, chives, the works.

Eat the whole thing.

Another Really Good Dream

I said I would make them all at one point right? It just might take me a while. Last night I whipped some carrot cupcakes together from Martha's Cupcakes cookbook. These are delicious. Scrumptious. Wonderful. Ok, I'll stop. The cream cheese frosting is the bomb too - if you've never made a carrot cake, but love them (this is a hint to my sister) - make them! They're super easy. Here we go:


Makes 24

Ingredients
1 pound carrots, peeled and finely grated
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup milk
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c. golden raisins
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves


Cream Cheese Frosting
1 cup butter, room temperature
12 oz cream cheese, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1| Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Oil two standard 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper liners.
2| Whisk together carrots, eggs, milk, sugar, oil, vanilla and raisins.
3| In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.
4| Stir flour mixture into carrot mixture until well combined.
5| Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake (rotate halfway through) until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 25 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.
6| Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
7| Frost cupcakes.
8| Devour.

Dreaming lately? Stop. It's come true.

Imagine a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup, only warm and moist in the middle. Now get a napkin and wipe the drool from your face. I know, I don't blame you - it sounds delicious and that's because it is.
I splurged and bought the Martha Stewart Cupcakes cookbook. I instantly wanted to make every single cupcake in the book once I got home. Luckily for my co-workers, I probably will make as many as I can eventually - just not in one day.
The first kind I made were these Peanut Butter-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes. I let my husband choose between these and the Brown Sugar Pound Cakes (those will be next). Too bad for him, we were out of powdered sugar - so he had to drive to the store quick to pick some up - he knew it was worth it.
I ended up using milk chocolate instead of semi-sweet, only because it's what I had in the house - it didn't matter. Here's the recipe:

2/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 oz milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Filling
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Stir ingredients until smooth. Use immediately.

Directions.

1| Preheat oven to 325*F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Put butter and chocolates in a double boiler. Stir until melted. Remove from heat, and let cool slightly.
2| Whisk sugar into cooled chocolate mixture. Add eggs, and whisk until mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla. Add flour mixture; stir until well incorporated.
3| Spoon 2 tablespoons chocolate batter into each lined cup, followed by 1 tablespoon peanut butter filling (doesn't need to be exact). Repeat with another tablespoon of batter, and top with 1 teaspoon filling. Swirl top of cupcake batter and filling with a wooden skewer or toothpick.
4| Bake, rotating tin halfway through, until a cake tester (or toothpick) inserted in center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, about 40 minutes (yes, it really takes this long). Transfer tin to a wire rack to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored up to 3 days at room temperature in airtight containers.

This will make 12 cupcakes.