Tag Archives: baking

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

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Have you ever noticed that you can’t purchase a normal-sized muffin? How, if you’re at a bakery or a Starbucks, and you want to buy a muffin, you end up with a muffin roughly the size of your head that, while delicious, also has approximately 1728.45 calories (give or take)? I was thinking of this as I made these lovely and appropriate-sized muffins, and when they turned out deliciously, I decided: I’m never buying muffins somewhere again, not when I can make something so tasty as these at home.

For these lemon poppy seed muffins, I used a Food Network recipe for the muffin and a Picky Cook recipe for the glaze. I pretty much followed both recipes exactly and the muffins turned out perfectly, in my humble opinion. Even the baking time (25 minutes), which I’ve noticed is pretty hit or miss with recipes due to the variability of ovens, was spot on. These came out a perfect golden brown, and they tasted wonderful too – they’re definitely one of my new go-to recipes.

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Chocolate Raspberry Birthday Cake

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This post is something of a first for me, in that it’s the first time I’m posting about a homemade baked good…not baked by me. However, this cake was just too good not to share (and who makes their own birthday cake, anyway?). And so I present it, in all of its chocolatey goodness and glory, despite the fact that my birthday was almost a month ago. Better late than never, I say.

I am, hands down, a chocolate cake gal (it seems that most of my family and friends prefer vanilla cake. Who are these people?!). Anyway, that meant that in my search for the perfect birthday cake, I considered chocolate cakes almost exclusively. Ultimately, I went with this recipe I found on Champagne Bubbles (the cake is originally from Ina Garten and the frosting is Magnolia buttercream). And let me tell you: it is so good – super sweet, super delicious, and very rich. The perfect birthday cake in my book.

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My dog thought the cake looked delicious too, and stared at it the entire time it was on the table. Poor pup!

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In conclusion: please make this cake. The end.

2012 Holiday Baking Extravaganza

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I have been on my break from school for six days now, but I feel more exhausted than ever. Why, you ask? The 2012 Holiday Baking Extravaganza.

My family hosted the big family Christmas party this year, and I was in charge of desserts. Despite the fact that, by my estimation, I made about as much food as last year, somehow this year it just seemed like so much more – more work, more kitchen mishaps, and more leftovers. We sent family members home with plates of cookies and there’s still a ton left.

So I’m tired and in a sugar coma, but nevertheless I’m pretty proud of this year’s creations. Here’s what we served:

Grandma’s Chocolate Chip Cookies:holiday baking extravaganza2

I posted this recipe last year – it’s a family favorite, and was clearly the most popular dessert at the party. If there’s one treat I will make every year, it’s this one, hands down.

Salted Caramel Shortbread:holiday baking extravaganza4

I found this recipe via Erica’s Sweet Tooth. It was pretty simple but I messed it up (I forgot to add the heavy cream initially, and I added it very late in the game – so I think it was too late to save the caramels). The flavors were tasty, but the consistency was off – the caramel came out rock hard, and after sitting out for a day, it only softened slightly. Sadly, you can’t win them all.

Red Velvet Fudge:holiday baking extravaganza9

This fudge (recipe via I Am Baker) is the one treat on the list that I didn’t make myself. We realized (on Christmas Day) that we only had a meat thermometer on hand, and it wasn’t possible to get a candy thermometer at that point. I knew it would be tricky to get the fudge right without the thermometer and passed the task off to my dad, who’s a much (MUCH) better cook than I. This dessert turned out very well but, like all fudge, is crazy sweet (just a warning, if crazy sweet is not your thing).

Melting Moments and Peppermint Kisses: holiday baking extravaganza5

Melting Moments are another traditional family favorite (I couldn’t find the exact recipe I used online, but here’s a similar one). Peppermint Kisses (via The Recipe Critic) are a new find, but they turned out really well.

Chocolate & Peppermint Dipped Pretzels: holiday baking extravaganza7

These pretzels (via Sweet Savory Life) were a delicious snack, and super easy to make. I dipped them in white chocolate and garnished them with either red or green crushed candy canes.

Chocolate Pretzel Bites: holiday baking extravaganza8

Much like the white chocolate dipped pretzels, these are super easy to make. They also happen to be my sister’s favorite (and another repeat from last year’s baking extravaganza).

Gingerbread Cheesecake Bites:   holiday baking extravaganza10

These Gingerbread Cheesecake Bites (via Created by Diane) were pretty yummy – they reminded me of cinnamon rolls. I overbaked the first batch, which was disastrous (think massively overflowing cream cheese filling), but the second batch was a winner for sure.

Chocolate Peppermint Cake Pops: holiday baking extravaganza3

Peppermint cake pops were another repeat recipe from last Christmas. My recipe is based on this one from Food Coma, but I cut the frosting in half, only using about 1 cup for the filling – using much more frosting makes them mushy, in my experience.

Mini Peppermint Cheesecakes: holiday baking extravaganza6

This recipe (via Annie’s Eats) ended up being my favorite dessert of all, as it was both beautiful and extremely tasty. The mini cheesecakes looked intricate yet were relatively simple to make (the chocolate ganache topping was the trickiest part – and did test my patience – but it still turned out fine).

Pinterest Projects: Salted Caramel Cupcakes

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Pinterest Projects is an ongoing series wherein I attempt to justify hours wasted spent on Pinterest by making projects from some of the inspiration I find there.

A couple years ago, I visited my sister in New York and we had dinner at Butter. The only thing that I remember about that meal was the dessert: we shared a gigantic piece of cake with salted caramel frosting. It was amazing.

Ever since then, whenever I see salted caramel anything, I’m intrigued. Enter: these cupcakes, which I found via Pinterest (original recipe from Sugar Cooking) while I was searching for a cupcake recipe to make for a potluck. The verdict? I found the cupcake itself good but unremarkable, but the frosting…whoa. This frosting recipe is a culinary game changer, people. Just so, so delicious. The next time I make these, I’d probably experiment with a different cupcake but keep the frosting exactly the same. It needs no alterations.

(Pin here; original recipe via Sugar Cooking)

Pumpkin, Chocolate, and Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

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I would estimate that I went roughly the first 22 or 23 years of my life without eating pumpkin pie. I’m sure I had a taste here or there, but overall, I wasn’t a fan of the flavor. It’s only recently that I have realized the brilliance of a slice of pumpkin pie after your Thanksgiving dinner. And, with the magic of Pinterest, I’ve begun to realize that the brilliance isn’t limited to just pie; you can pretty much make pumpkin-flavored anything. After trying muffins a month ago, I decided I had to get in one more pumpkin recipe before the fall was over. Enter: these cookies.

I found the recipe via Your Cup of Cake and, let me tell you, it is a keeper. These came out very moist and soft, and the flavor combination was to die for. Seriously, peanut butter, pumpkin, and chocolate is like a party in your mouth. Okay, that sounds weird. But you get my point. (Right?)

(Recipe via Your Cup of Cake)

Maize + Blue Cake Pops

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As an alum, I’m probably biased, but I tend to think Michigan grads are slightly more loyal to their alma mater than your average college grad. Maybe it’s the tradition of football that heightens our loyalty to a level of crazy, but, whatever the case, loyal we are. I love how you can be on the street in any city in the world and see someone in Michigan gear (I once saw a man wearing a Michigan hat in Chefchaoeun, Morocco). And I love how when you are wearing Michigan gear, you’re fairly likely to have a random stranger shout “Go Blue!” at you.

The amount of Michigan memorabilia I own is astounding. I have enough Michigan tee shirts to avoid doing laundry for a month, if I felt inclined to wear maize & blue everyday. I have Michigan gnomes, keychains, and earrings. I even have a little Michigan sweater for my dog. Why not, then, branch out to Michigan-themed food?

These cake pops were actually a birthday request from my sister, who was in town for a football game and wanted to take them to a tailgate. I used the same method I always use for cake pops (described here, here, and here), but just added copious amounts of blue and yellow dye to the cake mix. I love how they turned out – very bright, very fun, and very Michigan.

Go blue!

Pinterest Projects: Nutella-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Pinterest Projects is an ongoing series wherein I attempt to justify hours wasted spent on Pinterest by making projects from some of the inspiration I find there.

Let’s talk about Nutella, shall we? When I was a young lady of 19 (eons ago), I did a summer study abroad program in Florence. I discovered many things in Italy that summer: Renaissance art, sketchy Florentine clubs, and the joys of gallon-sized wine jugs, to name a few. But the discovery my friends and I were happiest about? Nutella. The villa we lived at served it with breakfast. Every. Single. Day. As you can imagine, it was a glorious summer.

Suffice it to say, whenever I see a recipe on Pinterest that includes “Nutella” in the description, I take notice. And when I saw this recipe (pin here; original recipe from Ambitious Kitchen), it looked to die for. So I made it. And it was to die for.

The Nutella gives these cookies a wonderfully gooey center, and the sea salt is the perfect contrast to the cookie’s sweetness. These are delicious, and I’m certain I’m going to bust this recipe out again over the holidays; I need to expose as many of my family and friends to these as possible.

(Recipe via Ambitious Kitchen)

Funfetti Birthday Cake

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If, hypothetically, you were to make me a birthday cake, you should know – I am a chocolate cake kind of gal. Given the choice of cake flavors, I am not certain why anyone would choose anything else, unless they happened to choose red velvet cake. That, I could get on board with. My dad, however, is one of those strange people who does not like chocolate (uhhh, what?!). So, when it came time to bake him a birthday cake, I knew I had to go with another option.

I found this Funfetti Layer Cake on Sweetapolita and knew I had hit the jackpot – it was not chocolate, it looked delicious, and it was super cute (although, come to think of it, that last one probably was not high on my dad’s list of priorities when evaluating his ideal birthday cake). I’m not an experienced baker, so this recipe was a tad daunting for me: the cake and the frosting were from scratch, plus there was the whole business of piling layers atop each other and frosting them without the whole thing crumbling. But, I pulled it off – and I think my dad enjoyed it. I know I did. I mean, when there are that many brightly colored sprinkles involved, how can you say no?

(Recipe via Sweetapolita)

Pinterest Projects: Nutella Pumpkin Muffins

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Pinterest Projects is an ongoing series wherein I attempt to justify hours wasted spent on Pinterest by making projects from some of the inspiration I find there.

I don’t know about you, but I feel like it became fall overnight. One day it was hot, and the next, there was a chill in the air and the leaves had suddenly exploded into colors. I’m not complaining, though – autumn is my favorite time of year.

As the seasons change, I am totally wanting to cook meals that feel more like “fall” – think warm and hearty soups, apple pie, comfort dishes, and, of course, pumpkin-flavored anything. And that’s where these muffins come into the picture.

In the blog universe and on Pinterest, there have been a ton of pumpkin recipes popping up. I have bookmarked several, but the one I knew I had to try was this one (pin here; recipe via Reclaiming Provincial). The main draw here was obviously the Nutella. I mean, do you know what does not go well with Nutella? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

So, I made these muffins and loved them. Seriously, they just shot to the top of my all-important mental list of things I have made that I love. Pumpkin and Nutella is a delightful flavor combination, and these bad boys smelled like heaven when they came out of the oven. Heaven, I tell you.

What’s your favorite fall treat?

(Recipe via Reclaiming Provincial)

Pink Lemonade Bars

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I read a lot of blogs and, of those, a huge segment are cooking blogs. Reading these blogs always makes me feel slightly bad about my own culinary skills: good food bloggers make everything look so easy. Their food always comes out looking beautiful – their cakes are never crumbly, their chicken never gets burned, their sauces always thicken just as they’re supposed to. I’m sure if I actually knew any of these women in real life, they would tell me they have had many a cooking mishap. But I don’t know them, and so I go on feeling somewhat awed by all I still need to learn about cooking.

Take this recipe (via Smitten Kitchen), which, when it caught my eye, seemed so simple – yet I still messed it up. For example, I don’t think I mixed the batter well enough, so there were random flour chunks clearly visible when the bars came out of the oven (though these were conveniently covered with a liberal dousing of post-baking powdered sugar). I also had none of the fancy supplies that were needed: a fine mesh sieve (uh, what?), a food processor (okay, not that fancy, but I don’t have one), and parchment paper (again, not that fancy, but I didn’t have it on hand). You know those awesome food bloggers? Well, I’m almost certain they would never be caught dead without a fully-stocked pantry that included parchment paper.

But you know what I think? I’m never going to be a fancy food blogger. I enjoy cooking, but I just don’t think culinary greatness is in my cards. I will, inevitably, always be missing one item I need for a recipe. I will always have to Google certain food items before grocery shopping because I don’t know what they look like. I will always make a gigantic mess in the kitchen. And that’s okay. A few years ago, the only thing I could do in the kitchen was boil noodles for pasta. Now I can make (reasonably well) most things I set out to cook. I’m kind of proud of that. And you know what? These pink lemonade bars came out pretty tasty, even with all the stumbling through.

(Recipe via Smitten Kitchen)