Oreo Cookies

These homemade oreo cookies are sooooo good and surpass box oreos by leaps and bounds. They are also fairly simple to make and they impressed all of my co workers. The recipe can be found http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/05/my-kingdom-for-a-glass-of-milk/. Only thing I changed was to roll out the dough and use a round fluted cookie cutter to make uniform cookies.

These are a must make.

Spice Cupcakes With Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Spice Cupcakes

1 2/4 c brown sugar
1 c margarine, softened
3 eggs
2 1/4 c flour
1 c sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp baking soda

Blend margarine and sugar together, add eggs and vanilla. Sift flour, baking soda and spices together. Alternate adding flour and sour cream. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

I improvised with the chocolate cream cheese frosting by using 1/2 c margarine, about 1/4 c cream cheese, about 1/4 c cocoa and enough icing sugar to get desired texture.

These cupcakes are nicely spiced and paired well with the chocolate frosting...even if it looks like dog poopy.

Black Magic Cake with Orange Flavor and Blueberry-Strawberry Glaze

I found this recipe on mybakingaddiction.com and the picture was so inviting and the name so intriguing I chose to bake this delicious cake this morning. Once the cake was in the oven and half way baked, I remembered that I had forgotten the oil. Oops. But amazingly it turned out amazing. And I suppose healthier. So I will write what recipe I used, but one can go to mybakingaddiction.com for a recipe that includes oil.

Black Magic Cake

1 1/2 c sugar
1 3/4 c flour
3/4 c cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 c sour milk (1 tbs vinegar in a measuring cup, then fill the rest to a cup with milk and let stand 5 minutes)
1 c black coffee
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp orange extract
1/2 tsp orange zest

Pre heat oven to 350. Mix all dry ingredients together. Add in wet ones. Blend, mix will be very runny. Bake for 20-30 minutes.
Cake is thin...dense...chewy....dark....all things I enjoy in a cake. I'm not sure what the missing oil will produce. I chose to use a glaze as oppose to a frosting since a) I am out of icing sugar and b)trying to be healthy by incorporating some fruit into the cake.

Blueberry-Strawberry Glaze
1 c sugar
1 c water
2 tbs cornstarch
1 1/2 c frozen blueberries
1/2 c frozen strawberries
1/2 tsp vanilla

blend all together over stovetop for 10 min on med high until bubbly and thickening. Cool and pour onto cooled cake, if sheet cake and if a two-layer cake, place some in between layers and the rest on top so it oozes down the sides. I think that one could find a much better recipe fo glaze but this is what I found and what I used.

Reese's Pieces Cookies

Chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips....yummy. These cookies have THE BEST texture, I also use this recipe for plain ol' regular chocolate chip cookies and it is the recipe I have been searching high and low for.

1/2 c margarine
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp hot water
1 oz chocolate
1/2 c peanut butter chips
1/4 c chocolate chips

Cream margarine and sugars together in eclectric mixer, add egg and vanilla. Dissolve baking soda into hot water and add to mixture. Melt chocolate and add to mixture. Add flour and chips. Shape into balls and bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 for 8-12 minutes.

Iron Cupcake: Winter Warm Up.....WARM LAYERS

This is the first cupcake challenge I will be competing in and hopefully not the last....if I can get all the technical stuff figured out.

The theme is 'winter warm up'...which they state can be soup, hot chocolate...slippers???
I have a few ideas but they need work.

The prize providers include:
http://http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com/
http://http://www.mydemy.com/
http://http://www.bellacupcakecouture.com/
http://http://www.gourmac.com/custset.html
http://http://www.workman.com/products/9780761129615/
http://http://www.acupcakery.com/info.html
http://http://www.vestlihouse.us/

The Demy™ by Key Ingredient
Hello, Cupcake by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson
Bella Cupcake Couture
Cupcake Stackers by Gourmac
The Cake Mix Doctor Returns! by Anne Byrne
Beautiful Baking Liners by Vestli House
Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Bakery & Cupcakey Supply

"Voting will begin no later than Thursday, January 28th at 8 p.m. at NO ONE PUTS CUPCAKE IN A CORNER, http://http://www.ironcupcakemilwaukee.com/ and will be open through Wednesday, February 3rd at 12 noon. Send your readers to that address to vote.
Winner will be posted the night of February 4th, before 11:59 p.m.
Please refer your readers to the IronCupcake:Earth cuphub at http://http://www.ironcupcakeearth.com/ to become a part of the excitement. "-ironcupcakeearth

Update:

I decided to use a 'layer' idea as in 'warm layers'....like blankets, sweaters....whatever.

So I decided to make a 4 layer cupcake, not including the frosting.

I used this base recipe that I just made up as I went along:

Vanilla Base Recipe

1 c margerine, softened

1 1/2 c sugar

2 c flour

1/2 c milk
1/2 c cream

2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Blend marg, sugar, flour, baking soda and powder together in electric mixer until mixture is crumbs. In separate bowl whisk eggs, vanilla, milk and cream together. Add to electric mixer and blend until smooth and liquid fully incorporated.
Then I seperated the batter into 4 separate bowls. #1 bowl i added 2 tbs bailys, #2 Bowl I added 1 tbs spiced rum and 1/2 c chopped white chocolate, #3 bowl I added 1 tbs cocoa, #4 1 tsp almond extract and 1 tim tam bar chopped up. Then I layered the 4 batters into muffin tins and baked for 15-20 minutes. For the topping I used an almond extract plus bailys whipped cream plus 1/4 c sugar.

I don't expect a win or anything but competition is healthy and fun and I enjoyed the challenge....although I cant wait for next month, hopefully the ingredient is actually an ingredient and not something so general and non edible!

Black Russian Brownies

When I get home today I am going to make these, they sound very unique with ingredients like black pepper and kahlua and vodka. I found the recipe in a 'favorite brand name recipes, homemade holiday cookies' booklet from 1992. I think they'll be good.

Black Russian Brownies

4 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 c butter
3/4 tsp black pepper
4 eggs lightly beaten
1 1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 c kahlua
2 tbs vodka
1 1/3 c flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 c chopped walnuts

line bottom of 13x9 inch pan with waxed paper
melt chocolate and butter with pepper in small sauce pan over low heat. remove from heat.
combine eggs sugar and vanilla in large bowl, beat well. stir in cooled chocolate mixture, vodka and kahlua. combine baking powder and flour and add to large bowl. stir until blended. add walnuts. bake at 350 until toothpick inserted comes out clean (25 min about) DO NOT OVER BAKE (says the recipe).

Rating: 8.5/10

very dense and fudgy, good flavour will definitely make again. black pepper was not tasted at all, which I am not sure saddens me or is a good thing. I didn't have a pan at boyfriends house so I used my silicone muffin tray (which is truly amazing and handy).