Cocoa Cakes in a Cup

A couple months ago, a friend shared a simple and fun recipe with me...one I kept but hadn't yet tried with the kids. With Daddy's long absence, we needed something fun to do and something yummy to eat, so the other night I decided to give it a go.

Although I like the alliteration of Cocoa Cakes in a Cup, I should point out that the recipe is actually called Minute Chocolate Mug Cake, and it really did live up to my expectations of simple and fun!

First, get out one mug for each person. I collect mugs from our travels, so it was extra fun for me to get to use 5 of them.


Into each mug, add:
4 T. all-purpose flour
4 T. sugar
2 T. baking cocoa


Give them to the children to mix up the dry ingredients.


Add 1 egg and mix thoroughly.


Add 3 T. milk
3 T. oil
dash of vanilla and mix again.

Fold in 3 T. chocolate chips (the best part!) (I used mini-chocolate chips).


Now microwave on high for 3 minutes.

And here's the fun part: The cake will rise way above the top of the cup but not spill over - so much fun to watch!




And though it may fall just a little bit when you open the microwave and take it out,


it still tastes incredibly delicious, especially with a big dollop of whipped cream on top (ice cream would be good too!)!

Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

Yes, I've been watching Cupcake Wars again. Why do you ask?

I have made Cookies and Cream Cupcakes before, but I didn't like how they turned out last time. I wanted to give it another try. Then, when I saw the You Capture theme was Circles, I had to make them again.

First, you need to stock up on Oreos - regular ol' fashioned ones and mini ones. (You may have to sample a few to make sure they are OK. After all, the children will be eating these.)







For the cupcake, I used the Joy of Cooking's recipe for Chocolate Cake:

Whisk together thoroughly:
1 1/4 c. sifted flour (*Be sure to sift and then measure as this does make a difference in volume.)
1 T. baking powder
1/4 t. salt

Melt over hot water:
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate (I used semi-sweet.)

Add:
1/3 c. boiling water

In a large bowl, beat at high speed until creamy:
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter

Add and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes:
1 1/2 c. sugar

Beat in, one at a time:
4 large egg yolks

Add the cooled chocolate mixture. Beating at low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in 3 parts, alternating with:
1/2 c. milk
Beat the batter smooth after each addition.

Add:
1 t. vanilla

Beat 4 egg whites until stiff and fold into chocolate mixture.

I can't say I am all that impressed with this recipe. For one thing, the batter was so light there clearly was not enough chocolate in it. Next time I might double the chocolate and maybe add a little more flour. Too late this time, though, so I just dumped in a couple handfuls of mini chocolate chips. I'm glad I did because those chips are about the only chocolate I can taste.

I won't go into detail about my icing because mine got too soft. I should have added more powdered sugar, but frankly, I was too lazy. Just use any buttercream recipe for your icing. Here's the thing, though: When I made Cookies and Cream the first time, I put Oreos in my food processor and then mixed them in to the icing. My icing turned a sickly gray color. This time, I gently crushed the Oreos and then folded the crumbs into the icing. Much better this time.



Of course Cookies and Creme Cupcakes are enjoyed most by a circle of adorable, sweet children.



Don't forget to wash the dishes!

Christmas Cupcakes

The kids don't like FOX News; Mark and I tire of Phineas and Ferb. The one channel all 6 of us agree on? The Food Network. Among our favorite shows are The Food Network Challenge, Dinner: Impossible, The Worst Cooks in America, and The Next Food Network Star. And the kids actually learn something from shows like Unwrapped and The Secret Life Of.... But really our most favorite show is Cupcake Wars.

Now--in the middle of a new diet lifestyle--is not the time to watch the episode I have DVRed because whenever we sit down to watch one, I get up afterwards and go make cupcakes. After a December episode, I made this delicious cupcake:



Red Velvet with a light, fluffy cream cheese frosting. And that tree decoration? That is what I was doing when the Princess gave herself a new do.

I must share the recipe for these because they really were delicious on Christmas Day. The recipe comes from Rombauer's Joy of Cooking, though I added an extra egg yolk for moistness (it worked!).

The Cupcake
Whisk together until thoroughly blended:
2 1/3 c. flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 T. cocoa powder

Beat in large bowl until creamy:
3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

Gradually add and beat on high speed until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes:
1 1/3 c. sugar

Whisk together, then gradually beat in, taking about 2 minutes:
3 large eggs + 1 egg yolk
1 t. vanilla

Beating at low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with:
1 c. buttermilk + 1-3 T. red food coloring

The Icing
I did a little bit of playing around with this because I didn't want a typical heavy cream cheese icing, so this is approximately what I did:

Cream together:
5 oz. cream cheese
splash of vanilla
big splash of heavy whipping cream

Add:
1 box confectioners sugar

In separate bowl whip to stiff peaks:
The rest of a small carton of the heavy whipping cream (mine was a little less than a full carton to begin with because my personal chef (ie: Mark) had used a bit in something he was cooking up).

Gently mix the whipped cream into the cream cheese icing mixture.

Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and place chocolate Christmas tree on top. (For the chocolate Christmas trees, I melted green chocolate wafers in a piping bag, snipped off the bottom, and then just piped my little trees on to waxed paper.)

By the way, do you like the cupcake wrappers? I LOVE them! They weren't exactly the design I was expecting when I put them on my shopping list and then sent my personal chef out to the store, but they were his pick because they have a foil lining which means...they don't get all greasy and soggy during baking!!!

So I have some other cupcake flavoring pairings floating around in my head for after we finally sit down to watch the episode of Cupcake Wars that is patiently waiting. I won't list all 38 flavor combinations I would like to try one day, but here are a few of my top contenders:

Cookies and Cream (chocolate w/cookie crumb buttercream)
Margarita (strawberry w/lime icing)
Reeses PB Cup (peanut butter w/chocolate icing)
S'Mores (graham cracker crust, chocolate w/marshmallow creme icing)
Breakfast (maple spice w/bacon bits buttercream)
Breakfast II (oatmeal w/maple icing)
Caramel Apples (apple w/caramel icing)

Which one sounds like a winner to you?

Lunch Impossible

It's not like I've been otherwise occupied playing FarmVille. OK, so I have. As you know I decided when I first experimented with virtual farming that it's a ridiculous thing to be addicted to, but I suppose there are worse addictions.

Oh, and I've been busy too. Today was our typical crazy Tuesday with Bright Futures and homeschool co-op. And I spent most of yesterday in the kitchen. That's right, the kitchen. I've said before it's not like the kitchen and I are strangers or anything. But we're not exactly soulmates either. That's why as soon as my mouse hit the send button on an email to the Bright Futures director in which I volunteered to make a meal for 20 people, I wished it was the Olden Days and I could reach into the mailbox, retrieve my letter, and burn it. It didn't help that my Personal Chef would be away this week. At least if he's here I know I have a go-to consultant if I Flop something or if I Freak Out in an unreasonable sort of way about anything culinary.

But I was on my own. And I selected a recipe I have made enough times to know it works and is good. My personal chef has even given it his taste of approval, so I know it's good. This recipe of mine is actually courtesy of The Pampered Chef, and I will share it at the end of this post. It is called Pasta Roll-Ups, but I call it Fake Lasagna. It's pretty easy to make. Of course, I've never made 4 pans of it at one time.

First you make some spaghetti sauce. Or if you're cooking for 20, you take some frozen leftover spaghetti sauce out of the freezer and then add more to that.


Spread a layer of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of each pan.

Then you make two thousand three hundred and two lasagna noodles. And you make the ricotta cheese. Then spend hours rolling a tablespoon full of the ricotta cheese glob up in each lasagna noodle.

Place each rolled up, stuffed noodle in the one-layer-of-sauce-covered pan.

Spoon more sauce over the roll-ups. Then sprinkle cheese over top. (I had given up taking pictures by this point, plus my hands were covered in Pasta Sticky.)

My menu also included French bread, which I made which I bought at Kroger, and a salad, which I grew and harvested from my virtual FarmVille garden came in a big, giant bag from Sam's.

And for dessert--this is where the kitchen and I actually do have a love affair--I made Can't Leave Alone Bars (which may be its actual name, but is more likely the given name my friend from whom I got the recipe dubbed it). Very easy. So delicious. Recipe to follow the Fake Lasagna recipe.


So after I made all this stuff yesterday, I wrestled with both our interior kitchen fridge and our exterior garage fridge and finally fit it all in. Then I carted it downtown ATL in laundry baskets. Because I'm classy like that.

All of the kids were extremely grateful that I had brought lunch, but I wondered why they were not mid-breakfast like they usually are when I walk in the door. That's when the director asked, "Did you bring the muffins for breakfast?"

Suddenly I had a vague recollection of mentioning something crazy and off-the-wall like me not only bringing in lunch but also breakfast.

The kids learned a valuable lesson: One can survive without breakfast. And I learned that while I'm near-perfect in all other aspects of life, I really cannot always expect to live up to ALL of my overcommitments.

Pasta Roll-Ups (a.k.a. Fake Lasagna)

from The Pampered Chef's Stoneware Inspirations but made my way

12 uncooked lasagna noodles

spaghetti sauce

1/3 c. grated fresh Parmesan cheese (or mozzarella or a mixture of both)

2 T. snipped fresh parsley

1 container (15 oz. ) ricotta cheese

1 egg yolk

1/3 t. salt

1/8 t. ground black pepper

dash nutmeg (oops - never noticed this ingredient)

additional cheese & parsley (for topping and garnish)

1. Cook the noodles.

2. Spread layer of sauce in bottom of pan.

3. Mix the rest of the ingredients (except for the topping and garnish, of course).

4. Place 1 T. of the mixture from #3 in each lasagna noodle.

5. Roll up noodle.

6. Place each rolled up noodle in pan.

7. Top with topping (duh!) and garnish.

8. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

9. Uncover and bake for additional 15 minutes or so.

Can't Leave Alone Bars (or something like that)

1 pkg. (18 1/4 oz.) white cake mix (although yellow worked just fine too!)

2 eggs

1/3 c. oil

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

1 c. (6 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 c. butter or margarine, cubed (may I suggest butter?)

In a bowl, combine the dry cake mix, eggs, and oil. With floured hands, press two-thirds of the mixture into a greased 13x9 pan. Set remaining cake mixture aside.

In a microwave safe bowl, combine the milk, chocolate chips, and butter. Microwave, uncovered, on high for 45 seconds. Stir. Microwave additional time periods, stirring after each time, until chocolate and butter are melted and all blends together. Stir until smooth. Pour over crust.

Drop teaspoonfuls of remaining cake mixture over top.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool before cutting.

A Boy's Anticipation

Cinnamon rolls are tradition Christmas morning (recipe at the end of the post). Although I do the majority of the work Christmas Eve, they still require that I stumble out of bed earlier than I otherwise would like on a holiday so they can rise a bit before baking.

It was 6:30 when my alarm went off this Christmas morning. I was tempted to stay warm and snug under the covers for another half hour, but then I thought about my children and their excitement, their threats of waking up at "the crack of dawn" to tear into their gifts and discover what Santa had left them. So I rolled half-unwillingly out of bed, put on my slippers, and stumbled out my bedroom door toward the kitchen.

I didn't notice him on the way to the kitchen because I had just one task on my mind: get the rolls out and rising. But on the way back to bed where my place would still be warm and I could re-set my alarm for 7:00 when I had to start the baking, I saw him. He was sound asleep seated on the couch, the ottoman pulled up to support his legs, glasses on. He was snuggled under a blanket, the cat curled up beside him, his stocking loot scattered around him on the couch and on the floor beneath him.

He brought a smile to my face, and my heart melted. I started for the camera but then stopped. I hated to awaken him; I had no idea how long he had been up or how long ago he had ventured downstairs, the curiosity and excitement too much to keep him in bed a second longer. I started to turn quietly away, but just then his sister came down the stairs, laughing as she noticed her brother sound asleep there on the couch. Her laughter awakened him. He grinned, his eyes sparkling as they so often do.

"What time did you come down here, Michael?" I asked.

"One o'clock." He giggled.

"Silly boy," I said.

Clone of a Cinnabon
This recipe is a bread machine recipe. I'm going to give it to you in the order in which I place the ingredients in my bread maker. I'm sure it would be just fine by hand too--just be sure to dissolve the yeast in the warm milk, add the other ingredients, knead about 8 minutes and let rise for 45 the first time. Here are the ingredients:

1 c. warm milk (110 degrees F/45 C)
1/3 c. butter, melted (recipe calls for margarine; I use butter--I suppose it just depends where you stand on the butter/marg. issue)
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. salt
4 1/2 c. bread flour
2 1/2 t. yeast

After it rises, roll out. I use oil on the counter surface instead of flour with my dough--it keeps it moist.

Spread with 1/3 c. butter, softened, and a mixture of 1 c. brown sugar and 2 1/2 T. cinnamon

Cut rolls and place in greased pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400. Bake about 15 minutes.

While still warm, frost with 3 oz. cream cheese, 1/4 c. butter, softened, 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar, 1/2 t. vanilla, and 1/8 t. salt.

If you wish to make these the night before, complete recipe and then roll out dough, add butter/cinnamon/sugar, and form rolls. Place them in baking pan, cover, and put in fridge. In the morning, get the rolls out and put them on top rack of cold oven. Place a pan of boiling water in the bottom of the oven. Let rise in the steam for about a half hour. Then remove pan of water, take rolls out to preheat oven, and proceed with baking and frosting as instructed.