Tis’ the Season!

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I am obsessed with any holiday food. Something about the warm spices and bold flavors of seasonal holiday food that really gets me excited! One of my favorite types of cake is gingerbread. It is so intensely flavored, and if made correctly, decadently moist. Growing up I’ve always loved a company called Gingerbread Construction Company’s gingerbread muffins with cream cheese frosting. I have taken a recipe from a friend and molded it to remind of my childhood favorite. Here’s what’s in it…

Ingredients

1 cup Guiness Stout (helps with the rich flavor)
1 cup Molasses
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 cups AP Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
2 tablespoons ground ginger (this seems like a lot but its necessary!)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (you can used freshly grated)
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1 cup Light Brown Sugar
3/4 cup Vegetable Oil

Step 1:
Boil molasses and Guiness for one minute, take off heat and whisk in the baking soda. Cool.

Step 2:
In a separate bowl whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and spices. Set aside.

Step 3:
Whisk together sugar, oil and eggs. Slowly add in the room temperature molasses/stout mixture. Fold the dry ingredients to the wet. Bake at 350 degrees until done.

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I topped mine with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting and Homemade Candied Ginger!

 

Frosting

1 8 oz. Package Cream Cheese Frosting, softened
1 Stick Butter, softened
1 Tablespoon Orange Zest
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Powdered Sugar To Taste (Some like it sweeter, I like the tang of the cream cheese to be in tact)

Beat all ingredients until smooth and creamy. Top with candied ginger or any other garnish you may want…Try candied orange peel or sprinkle with cinnamon :-)

 

Thank you, Thank you very much

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Did you know Marshmallow Fluff was created in Lynn, MA? Me either..and if you did..Good for you!

Every year there is a ‘Fluff Festival’ with a recipe contest in which the product must feature Marshmallow Fluff. I came up with three ideas almost instantly…1.) Sweet Potato Casserole Cupcake 2.) S’mores Cupcake and 3.) Elvis Cupcake.

 

All three of these cupcakes would obviously incorporate Fluff…The tricky part was how? I wanted the Marshmallow Fluff to come through without overpowering the rest of the product. I tested all three out and to say the least my favorite was the Elvis Cupcake. Elvis loved a peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwich…so this is my take on his favorite. This cake starts with a brown sugar banana cupcake, peanut butter- Fluff filling and a browned butter Fluff buttercream topped with crispy bacon, home made peanut brittle and dried banana chips! Here is the recipe…roughly…can’t give away all my secrets :-)

 

Brown Sugar Banana Cake

1 1/2 Cups Mashed, ripe bananas (I cannot stand the texture and taste of an unripened banana!)
3 Cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/8 Cups Light brown sugar
1 Cup Dark brown sugar
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 Large Eggs
1 1/2 Cups Buttermilk
3/4 Cup Vegetable Oil

In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder. Whisk until incorporated.

In a separate bowl whisk together sugars, vegetable oil, vanilla and eggs until incorporated.

Fold in the mashed bananas to the wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet a little at a time until just incorporated…do not over mix! (This will make for a tough texture in your ending product)

Peanut Butter-Fluff Filling

This stuff is rich and each cupcake only needs about 1 Tablespoon each.

1/2 Cup Smooth Peanut Butter
1/2 Cup Marshmallow Fluff
Half and Half to thin it out

Browned Butter Frosting

1 Stick butter, browned and cooled
1 8 oz. Package Greek Cream Cheese (This product has a great tang that cuts through the sweetness of the filling)
1 Tsp. Pure vanilla extract
1/2 Cup Marshmallow Fluff
Pinch Salt
Powdered sugar to desired sweetness
Half and Half to thin out to desired consistency

 

The garnishes on mine were crushed banana chips, peanut brittle and crispy bacon bits :-) the saltiness from the bacon, crunch from the chips and the extra nuttiness from the brittle really round out this cupcake perfectly…Elvis would be proud!

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Obsession

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I have NEVER been so invested in creating different desserts that are convenient and easy as I have lately! I am obsessed!

The clients at my current job are in love with desserts and always appreciate when I create desserts or breakfast sweets they can eat on the go. This next recipe is for a lemon poppy seed cupcake that I filled with lemon curd. The curd really takes these muffins over the top! Yum! I may be partial to my own cooking (aren’t we all?! haha) but these are damn good.

 

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup white sugar
1 cup buttermilk
3 eggs
1 1/2 sticks salted butter, melted (I REALLY enjoy baking with salted butter)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons poppy seeds (try with sesame seeds for a unique twist!)
Zest of two lemons

This batter comes out thick, not to fear the result is delicious regardless :-)
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl whisk together  butter, sugar, vanilla, eggs, lemon zest, poppy seeds and butter milk. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix till JUST combined.

You can make muffins out of these or make a loaf!
Fill with curd in a piping bag and glaze generously by dipping muffin upsidedown and turning over to drip off any extra glaze.

Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar
Juice of 2 lemons

Whisk the two together until smooth. Add more or less of each ingredient until you have a desired consistency. (I say more or less because some people like a real pungent lemon flavor)

Curd (always sounds daunting but its painless I promise!)

4 egg yolks
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 stick butter
pinch of salt

Whisk yolks, sugar, lemon zest and juice in a bowl. Pour into a pot and cook on low-medium heat constantly stirring until mixture thickens. This could take up to 10 minutes. Once the mixture has thickened, remove from heat, add butter a pat at a time until  it is all incorporated. Finish by adding a pinch of salt. Place on a sheet tray (allows to cool faster with more surface area) and let cool in the fridge for at least 2 hours.