Chow Mein Easter Nests

I cut this recipe out of a magazine in 1998. Truly. The Bagel Bites coupon on the back of the recipe expires 6/30/98. :) Hey, better late than never! These are so adorable, so simple, and pretty tasty too. It's basically Rice Krispie treats made with chow mein noodles!

Chow Mein Easter Nests
makes 12
2 c. miniature marshmallows
4 T. butter
one 6-oz. package (4 c.) chow mein noodles
jelly beans or other egg-shaped Easter candies

Butter or spray a 12-cup muffin tin.

In a 2-quart saucepan, combine marshmallows and butter; cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted (6 to 8 minutes). Add noodles and stir until very well coated.

With buttered fingers, press mixture on bottom and up sides of each cup of prepared muffin pan. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until firm.

Remove from cups; fill with candies. These would be adorable as place settings on each plate at your Easter brunch!

Brownie Pudding

I'm here. Nothing is wrong with your Google Reader. I haven't had time for baking let alone blogging, but this recipe is worth the wait—promise.

What I love about it is simple: the ingredients will be in your cupboard already, you throw it together in minutes, it feeds a crowd (or two adults... I'll say it took four nights to polish off, though only we know the truth...), and it's molten goo. It's perfect for Valentine's Day, but here are a few other suggestions to share with your sweetie.

Brownie Pudding
adapted from Ina Garten via Annie's Eats
- 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter—use the wrappers to grease the dish
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 c. sugar
- 3/4 c. cocoa powder
- 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- 1 T liqueur of your choosing, optional (chocolate, Irish cream, hazelnut, etc., would all be divine)
- Ice cream, for serving (mint chocolate chip went very well, but I'd otherwise choose vanilla)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly butter a 2-quart oval baking dish. In a small bowl, melt the 2 sticks of butter in the microwave and set aside to cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed until thick and light yellow in color, 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, sift or whisk the cocoa and flour together in a medium bowl and set aside.

When the egg/sugar mixture is ready, reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla, liqueur (if using), and the cocoa/flour mixture. Mix only until just combined. With the mixer still on low, slowly pour in the cooled butter and mix again until just combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. (Next time, I'll throw caution to the wind and not use a water bath... just stick it in the oven as usual.) Place it in a larger roasting or baking pan. Add enough very hot tap water to the pan to come halfway up the side of the dish and bake for 1 hour. The center will appear underbaked, but that's exactly how it's meant to be.

Serve with ice cream—I chose to serve it warm right out of the oven, but it's pretty dangerous cold straight out of the fridge for breakfast too. (Just being honest here.)

Buckeyes

Many, many moons ago, I was first introduced to this candy by my friend Jackie. I remember standing in her kitchen as her mom handed me my first one, always a part of her Christmas baking repertoire. I was probably 11 or 12, but a peanut butter chocoholic knows when her life has changed.

So tell me, if it's so memorable, why have I never made them?

I was recently inspired to finally try my hand at making them because of this beautiful post over at SK, but the thought of cream cheese diluting them made me sad inside (and to be perfectly honest, I could not handle yet another grocery store trip). So off to the Internet I went! While most buckeyes have gobs of powdered sugar involved, this recipe seemed to have a more reasonable amount; I just tweaked it to bittersweet chocolate and also tempered it per SK's instructions to have the perfect shiny result.

I won't lie—I had a bear of a time dipping them. The peanut butter "eye" was never perfectly round (more like a pentagon) and I could never properly cover the toothpick hole, and I may have even had a temper tantrum* when they wouldn't turn out perfectly and after finding my candy thermometer shattered in the drawer (and running to BB&B at 11:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve Eve only to find thermometers that started at 100 degrees when I needed 80s for tempering), but I promise you, this will soon be a favorite recipe. Next time, I'll freeze the peanut butter balls rather than refrigerate and I will also dip them in smaller batches, keeping enough in the fridge/freezer so they don't warm up too much before their chocolate bath.

Buckeyes
makes 2–3 dozen, depending on size
1/2 stick (4 T.) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2.5 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 c. smooth peanut butter
1/2 t. salt
1 c. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

In a mixing bowl, combine the softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, peanut butter, and salt.

Mix on medium speed for 1–2 minutes, until very smooth and well combined.

Using a teaspoon, form mixture into balls the size of a quarter. Place balls on cookie sheet covered with foil or parchment and chill in refrigerator (or perhaps I'll try the freezer next time) for 30 minutes.

While balls are chilling, melt the chocolate. Temper the chocolate if you desire. (The link above at Smitten Kitchen has perfect instructions.)

Once balls are firm, they can be dipped. Using a toothpick, skewer a ball and dip it halfway into the melted chocolate. You want to leave at least a dime-sized circle of undipped candy on top of the ball. *Or, you know, get so upset at your imperfect buckeyes that you angrily poke a hole in one. And then, shucks, I'll have to eat that deformity.

Don't do this.

Drag it along the lip of the bowl to remove excess chocolate, and place it back on the cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining peanut butter balls. Work in shifts so that not too many peanut butter balls are out of the fridge/freezer at once. They warm very quickly, which poses huge problems when dipping.

Return balls to fridge to set the chocolate. Serve once candies are firm. Or give as gifts—your friends and family will love you for it.

Andes Mint Chocolate Cookies

If I had to rank my favorite chocolate combinations, first would be peanut butter & chocolate, then perhaps coconut & chocolate, then mint & chocolate. (Nuts and caramel are on that list too, but they're sort of an obvious choice. Fruit & chocolate will never be on my favorites list. What a waste of good chocolate!)

Anyway, the hubby would definitely rank mint & chocolate first, whether Thin Mints, Trader Joe's UFOs, or mint chocolate chip ice cream. I saw this recipe referenced on a blog I read (much better pics of the cookies there, BTW) and immediately knew I had to make them! They're nice and chewy with a hard minty top. I particularly enjoy mint at Christmas, so thought I'd wait to share them until now.

Andes Mint Chocolate Cookies
makes 3–4 dozen
3/4 c. butter
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
2 T. water
2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
2 eggs
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 (4.5 ounce) packages chocolate covered thin mints (such as Andes)

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the butter, brown sugar, and water, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove from heat, stir in the chocolate chips until melted, and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

Pour the chocolate mixture into a large bowl, and beat in the eggs, one at a time. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl, and stir into the chocolate mixture. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets (or use a Silpat). Roll cookie dough into walnut-sized balls and place 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, being careful not to overbake. While cookies are baking, remove wrappers from mints. When cookies come out of the oven, immediately press one mint wafer into the top of each cookie and let sit for 1 minute.

When the mint is softened, swirl with the back of a spoon or toothpick to make a pattern with the green filling of the mint wafer. Remove cookies from sheet and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Happy Holidays!

Ginger Spice Cookies

December 13 is an important holiday for Swedes. St. Lucia Day goes hand in hand with Christmas, symbolizing light over darkness (Lucia/Lucy = light) in a country that can be very dark and very cold in winter. You may have seen an image of a girl in a white robe with a red sash and a crown of candles on her head before... that's Lucia!

The oldest daughter traditionally serves her parents saffron buns and black coffee (St. Lucia brought food during famine), and the traditional sweet is pepparkakor, or gingerbread cookies. The smell of these baking will warm you up this holiday season!

In full disclosure, the recipe is actually called "Chewy Ginger Spice Cookies" but they were only chewy when fresh out of the oven. They quickly became ginger snaps instead, which is ok by me, but it's worth mentioning—perhaps I made mine too thin.

Ginger Spice Cookies
Makes about 38 cookies, from RealSimple
2 c. all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
2 t. ground ginger
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. kosher salt
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1/8 t. ground cloves
3/4 c. vegetable shortening
2/3 c. packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 c. molasses
1 t. pure vanilla extract
1/4 c. granulated sugar, plus more for dusting

Heat oven to 350° F. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, pepper, and cloves.

Using an electric mixer, beat the shortening and sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and beat in the egg, molasses, and vanilla. Add the flour mixture, mixing just until combined (do not overmix).

Place the granulated sugar on a plate. Roll heaping tablespoonfuls of the dough into balls; roll in the sugar to coat. Place on parchment- or Silpat-lined baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Using a glass in a twisting motion (so they won't stick), press the balls to a ⅜-inch thickness (or thinner for crisp gingersnaps) and sprinkle with more granulated sugar.

Bake, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the edges are firm, 9 to 11 minutes. Cool slightly on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Dear all three of you,

I will not attempt an apology for being absent these many weeks. But I will offer a string of excuses.

I usually blog while at the beach. But a hurricane made us evacuate after two days and I was too grumpy to bake or do much of anything when we got home. Stupid Earl.

Then we spent three glorious weeks in France, Austria, and Germany, plus a few weeks prepping and a few weeks decompressing. No time for blogging.

Then I got sick. Then hubby got sick. Then I got sick again. Which means no baking.

But here I am! It's the best time of year for baking! Apples and pumpkin and chocolate, oh my!

I promise to make it up to you—again, all three of you. Let's start with this recipe... one promised to me for several years from my friend M, but it was oh so worth the wait. It was a "viral recipe" passed around her mom's elementary school with cute illustrations provided. If the kids can make it, so can you! They are simple but so moist—for the pumpkin lover. Sorry there are so few pictures... they got eaten quickly!

xoxo,
inkpadchocolate

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
2 c. sugar
2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 t. ground cinnamon
3/4 c. vegetable or canola oil
15-oz. can cooked pumpkin
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. Combine sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and beat 1 minute.

Fill lined muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake at 350 for 20–25 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly pressed. Cool slightly in the pans, then transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack.

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
8-oz. package cream cheese (reduced fat is fine), at room temperature
1/4 c. plus 2 T. butter, at room temperature
1 T. orange juice
1 t. vanilla extract
1 3/4 c. powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese and butter in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add orange juice and vanilla—mix well. Gradually add powdered sugar and mix until well combined.

Frost cupcakes when they are completely cool.

Crunchy Ice Cream "Casserole"

I asked for this recipe many moons ago at a choir potluck picnic. It's so simple, full of texture (crunchy! gooey! creamy!), and just screams summer... but melts quickly so beware!

Bring this to your next picnic or summer party and I can guarantee that your friends will be asking for the recipe just like I did 10 years ago. Enjoy!

Crunchy Ice Cream "Casserole"
1.5 c. flour
1 c. oats (uncooked, old-fashioned or quick oats will do)
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1.5 c. chopped walnuts or pecans
1 c. melted butter (2 sticks)
12-oz. jar caramel ice cream topping (calls for entire jar but I rarely use that much)
1/2 gallon ice cream of choice (butter pecan, vanilla, etc. are all good options)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, chopped nuts, and melted butter in a bowl with a spoon until evenly moistened. Spread in a thin layer on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes, or until brown. Cool and crumble. Try not to eat it all!

Spread half of the crunchies in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Spoon over top approximately half of the caramel topping, then top with an even layer of the full carton of ice cream (softened slightly). Spoon remaining half of caramel topping on top, then sprinkle with the remaining half of the crunchies. Cover with foil and freeze until set. Cut and serve!

My Birthday

I'm super late (although I started this post on 7/25 so at least there's the illusion of being posted in my birth month), but it's now become a tradition to share my birthday desserts every year.

We attended a wedding in NY on the Hudson the day before my birthday, so although my birthday was spent in a car, we did intentionally stop to get a peanut butter cup sundae (with "peanut butter puddles" ice cream) in Hershey, PA at one of my favorite ice cream establishments.

Yeah, so I'm sort of anti-Hershey, but the roads were paved brown so it made me happy.

On our way home, we stopped for dinner at Chef Geoff's downtown. Their Dark Chocolate Tart with Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream was divine! Sooooo rich though. Not for the quasi-chocoholics—only the hardcore ones. (And, as in previous years, I still had a birthday cake waiting for me at home... oof.)

The following day, M really REALLY outdid himself and took me to Restaurant Eve for dinner. We didn't do the tasting menu, but had a wonderful dinner in the bistro and the most faaaaabulous peanut butter chocolate dessert (see a theme?) imaginable: The Butterfinger.

Specifically, "'Butterfinger' Napoleon of Dark Chocolate and Peanut Butter Mousse with Vanilla Ice Cream."

Holy cow. HOLY COW. It was more salty than overly sweet and definitely the highlight of my entire meal (and birthday). It was so good that it needs a close-up shot.

Until next year...

A Triple-Layer Birthday

A certain hubby of mine recently turned 30 and I found it appropriate to raise (literally) his standard birthday cake to new levels. Three of them to be exact.

I almost considered this gorgeous cake (with chocolate frosting throughout, of course), but I chickened out at the last minute since it was a new recipe and an important birthday. I noticed when making the cream-filled chocolate cupcakes earlier in the week that the cupcakes didn't really "dome" much—which would be perfect for a layer cake. When the layers get too rounded at the top, they become difficult to stack unless you trim them (and I'm just not advanced enough for that).

I won't duplicate the recipe here (it's right below this one!) but since I only have two 9-inch round cake pans, I used one 24-cupcake recipe to evenly fill two pans (be sure to butter and flour the pans first!), baked that off, let cool, released from pans, etc., then made a half recipe of the cupcake recipe to fill one more cake pan. However, since you can't really halve three eggs, I did want to mention that I used just one egg in the halved recipe and everything turned out just fine.

Cooking time varied slightly as well, with two pans in the oven taking about 33 minutes to fully cook (but test on your own with a toothpick).

I doubled the chocolate buttercream frosting (rather than multiplying by 1.5) and that was a good idea since there's so much surface area on a triple-layer cake (and hubby is all about the frosting anyway).

Finally, to pipe on the lettering, I used a basic vanilla buttercream recipe—just a small batch. I'd double the following recipe if you wanted to use it to actually frost anything like a batch of cupcakes. This is the recipe given to us at the Sur La Table class and is used on the whoopie pies as the filling. You could add some food coloring if you'd like!

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
1/4 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1.5 c. powdered sugar
1.5 T. heavy whipping cream—milk will definitely do though
1/2 t. vanilla extract (or my new favorite paste if you want the flecks!)
pinch of salt

Cream butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, starting on low and increasing speed to medium, until mixture is crumbly, about 1 minute. Add the heavy cream, vanilla, and salt and beat on high until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scoop into piping bag or large zip-top bag with the corner snipped to pipe on details.

Happy birthday!

Retro Desserts: Cream-filled Chocolate Cupcakes

My friend M and I decided to take a class at our local Sur La Table recently. The title was "Retro Desserts" and the menu included cream-filled chocolate cupcakes (think Hostess cupcakes), chocolate whoopie pies, baked doughnuts, and strawberry chiffon pies. The hands-down favorites were the cupcakes and the whoopie pies (recipe to come at a later date!).

I was never a huge fan of the Hostess cupcake growing up, but I certainly had it in my lunch from time to time. I guess you could say that although I wanted processed lunches like every other elementary schooler, I was likely a dessert snob from day one. These cupcakes are a great update on a "classic"... can you see vanilla bean flecks (I adore this vanilla bean paste) in the original? Don't think so.

Also? They were fun to make, even if it does include a large chunk of time for cooling/filling/frosting/decorating... and dishes. It was only my second attempt at a filled cupcake (using the cone method), but the results were impressive. I'm making several dozen to bring into work this week (update: it was a huge, huge success)! Check back later too. The cake recipe was so incredibly moist and delicious that I turned this cupcake recipe into a triple-layer cake for my husband's 30th birthday. Details to come!

Cream-filled Chocolate Cupcakes
makes 24
1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temperature
2 c. sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 c. sour cream (low-fat or regular will do)
1 t. vanilla extract
2 c. flour
2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/4 c. cocoa powder
2 oz. dark chocolate (I used 1/3 c. bittersweet morsels)
1 cup water, boiling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line two 12-cup muffin tins (or one muffin tin in two batches!).

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by about half of the sour cream and all of the vanilla.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on, add about half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, followed by the remaining sour cream, followed by the remainder of the flour mixture, mixing well between additions. Mix just until no streaks of flour remain (overmixing flour = tough cupcakes).

Measure out 1 c. water in a glass measuring cup and microwave until boiling. Whisk cocoa powder and dark chocolate into the boiling water until well combined. Gradually pour "chocolate water" into the batter and stir (by hand—it will splatter if you use the mixer!) until uniform in color.

Evenly distribute batter into prepared baking cups. Bake for 15–17 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and the cakes spring back slightly when lightly pressed. Turn cupcakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely before filling or frosting.

Vanilla Cream Filling:
3 T. flour
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. unsalted butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla extract (or 1/2 scraped vanilla bean, etc.)

Whisk together the flour and milk and cook in a small saucepan over medium heat until thick. This will only take a few minutes. Stir continuously to avoid clumping and do not bring all the way to a boil. When thickened (consistency of a thin pudding), strain with a mesh strainer into a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let cool completely to room temperature.

When the milk mixture is cool, cream the butter and sugar together in a medium bowl until light. Add in the milk/flour mixture and the vanilla and beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 7 minutes, until light and very fluffy. Scrape into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (or a large zip-top plastic bag with the corner cut off) and set aside until ready to fill your cupcakes.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 c. cocoa powder
2–3 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. milk
1 t. vanilla extract

Cream butter well with an electric mixer. Add cocoa and powdered sugar alternately with milk. Add vanilla. Beat to smooth, thick (but still spreadable) consistency—add more milk a little at a time if needed. Taste often!

Assembly
Take a completely cooled cupcake and, using a small paring knife, cut a cone of cake (1 inch across by 1 inch deep) out of the top. Trim off pointy end of cone (you can eat that!), leaving a flat circle of cake. Set to the side and continue process for all cupcakes.

Take the cream filling and squeeze a tablespoon or so into each cupcake cavity. Top off with the flat circle of cake to plug up the hole and keep the filling in place.

Using a small offset spatula, frost each cupcake with a layer of chocolate buttercream. Spread from the center to the sides to evenly cover the cake plug and help prevent tearing/crumbs.

If you have leftover vanilla cream filling, transfer it to a fresh zip-top bag, cut off a very small opening in one corner of the bag, and pipe a decorative swirl down the center of each cupcake. Store cupcakes in an airtight container.

Here are Miss M's cute swirls!

Check back at another time for the other recipes (and by "other recipes" I mean the chocolate ones... so whoopie pies!).