Spring is FINALLY here!

The year's at the spring
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hillside's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in His heaven -
All's right with the world!
~Robert Browning

I love the last line of this poem! It's exactly how I feel right now! These first few weeks of Spring are so refreshing and definitely needed after the nasty winter we just had. It's my favorite time of year!

When I was out running errands last week, enjoying the coat free weather, I found the cutest cookie cutter set that I just had to buy. It's a stackable set that includes a flower base, petals and the cutest little bumblebee! I made a few and gave them to the wonderful ladies who work with my mom. They turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself. Hope you enjoy!








I also made a few butterflies for a March of Dimes fundraiser at work. I love the idea for the wings (which I got from one of my favorite blogs Sweetopia) and the colors. You just can't beat the fresh pinks, sky blues, soft yellows and lilac purples of spring time.

Gotta love girls night!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of making the dessert for a much needed "Girls Night". There were a few old friends and some fabulous new faces. These girls were such a delight to spend the evening with! There's no better ending to a stressfull week than a night filled with laughter, wine and chocolate...of course! I found my latest recipe in "Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey" by Jill O'Connor. I bought this book on a whim about a year ago because the cover and pages were just too cute...boy, am I glad I did! Everything looked delicious, but I never really had a reason to make anything in it until now. These cupcakes are delish and have the perfect amount of chocolatey goodness.




BLACK BOTTOM CUPCAKES
(makes 12 standard cupcakes with the picture perfect mushroom top)

For the filling:
8 ounces mascarpone cheese (If you can't find it, you can use cream cheese as a substitute)
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 large egg
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

For the cake batter:
1 ½ cups bleached all-purpose flour
½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup natural cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup boiling water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the chocolate glaze:
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
¼ cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1.PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 350 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. Line a standard 12-cup tins with paper cupcake liners. (The cake ended up sticking to the paper, so foil liners will probably work better)

2.TO MAKE THE FILLING: In a medium bowl, cream together the mascarpone, confectioners’ sugar, egg, salt, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Stir in the chocolate chips.

3.TO MAKE THE CAKE BATTER: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a 2-cup measuring cup, combine the boiling water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid ingredients. Stir together until smooth.

4.FILL EACH CUPCAKE CUP ONE-FOURTH FULL OF BATTER AND TOP WITH A HEAPING TABLESPOON OR SO OF THE FILLING; divide it evenly and use it all. Top the filling with the remaining batter, dividing it evenly. Bake until cupcakes are puffed and firm, about 25 to 28 minutes.

5.MEANWHILE, MAKE THE GLAZE: Combine all the ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove from the microwave and stir until smooth. If the chocolate is not completely melted, continue to microwave for 30-second intervals and stir until smooth.

6.TRANSFER THE CUPCAKES IN THE PANS TO A WIRE RACK AND LET COOL COMPLETELY. When cool, dip the top of each cupcake in the chocolate glaze (feel free to double, triple, or quadruple dip, if you like!). Let the excess glaze drip from the cupcakes for a few seconds and then place the cupcake right-side up on the wire rack until the glaze firms before serving.












YUMMM!

I love Bakerella!!!

My whole motivation for starting this baking blog was initially sparked when I stumbled upon Bakerella.com. (Thank you Missi!) I LOVE THIS WEBSITE!!! She is sooo creative, talented and just plain fun! I've found tons of other sites just from reading her blog and oodles of inspiration for other projects. Her signature sweets are "Cake Pops", kind of like a cake lollipop. Her attention to detail is unbelievable! She also makes "Cake Balls" (Cake Pops without the stick). They looked fairly easy so I thought I'd give them a try! You can use any cake and icing combo that you want but I just did the one she had on the site.

Red Velvet Cake Balls
1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate)
wax paper

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.)
4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)

I had a little bit of chocolate left over so I made little designs on the tops. I placed the remaining chocolate in a sandwich baggy and cut the tip off one of the corners and Wah-la! An easy clean up piping bag!





My six year old niece, Aletha, helped mix the cake and icing together and roll them into balls. Her favorite one she made was the tiny one in the bottom right corner in the photo above. She kept calling it her baby. She was a fantastic little helper!

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas....."

Every "picture perfect" Christmas scenario includes a roaring fire, stockings hanging, a steamy mug of hot chocolate, family all around and the wind blowing swirls of snow outside. Whoever decided this was "picture perfect" neglected to show us the days after Christmas when the snow kept falling and falling and falling and falling. Welcome to Kansas' Christmas 2009! Needless to say, I have had nothing but time on my hands. After I saw our poor maintenance man shoveling everyone's steps and sidewalks I decided to give him a little thank you gift, little bite-sized snowflake cookies.

I found this sugar cookie recipe a few months ago (thank you Martha) and it is AMAZING if I do say so myself!








Basic Sugar-Cookie Dough

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons salt
5 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, vanilla, and salt; mix on medium speed until combined. With mixer on low speed, add flour in 2 batches, mixing just until incorporated.
3. Divide dough into 4 equal portions. Place each on a piece of plastic wrap; flatten into disks. Wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours or up to 1 week. (I put mine in the freezer for about 30 minutes and it worked just as well)
4. After the dough is chilled, unwrap and roll out to desired thickness. (I rolled mine to about 1/4 inch thick. The thicker the cookie, the easier it is to handle when you transfer it to the cookie sheet.)
5. Bake for 9-10 minutes.


Royal Icing

3 tablespoons meringue powder
4 cups sifted confectioners sugar
6 tablespoons water

Directions:
Beat all ingredients at low speed for 7 to 10 minutes, or until icing forms peaks. (This consistency works best for piping along edges to create a barrier.)
Add water 1 tablespoon at a time to achieve a thinner consistency for filling in the surface, also known as flooding.
Tip: Keep icing covered with a wet kitchen towel at all times, it can dry out quickly.