A close encounter with a Creamcicle Cupcake.

Ok, so most of you remember what it's like to eat those yummy orange ice cream bars with the creamy white filling. Well I tired to combine this into a cup cake. Yes, a cupcake. Although it doesn't taste EXACTLY like one, it's still pretty darn good and it has some of the exact flavorings. It's a new media for the standard cup cake. I took three recipes and combined it into one because all three either needed help or improvement. And Viola! We have the Creamcicle Cupcake!




Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

1 box of Duncan Hines Orange Supreme cake mix
1 small box of instant pudding
1 cup milk
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup orange juice

1 small box of orange jello
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup cold water

For the frosting*:
2 cups or one pint of whipping cream
1 table spoon of vanilla
1/2 to 3/4 cup of powdered sugar

*You can freeze or refrigerate your bowl in advance to help speed up the process. I didn't.

Directions:
1- In your bowl add the cake mix, eggs, oil, milk, pudding and oj. Mix well. Add about 1 to 1/2 tablespoons of batter into each cupcake liner and bake at 325 degrees until done about 16-20 minutes.

2- While cupcakes are baking, in a clean cold bowl add in the whipping cream and 1/2 cup powdered sugar and slowly mix with your mixture. Then increase the speed and keep whisking until the cream is thick and fluffy. You may add in more sugar depending on how sweet you want it. I felt it needed more sugar. Store in fridge until needed.

3- When cupcakes are cool, poke holes into the top of each cupcake. Then in a small bowl place the orange jello, hot and cold water and mix until dissolved. Then spoon a small amount into the holes, being careful not to overflow the cupcake.

4- Top with a dollop of the whip cream and there you go, the closest form of a creamcicle cup cake you'll ever get.

Final note- These are made with homemade whipped cream. There is a BIG difference in taste. Do not take the easy route out and buy the frozen or canned junk. Once you have homemade, you never go back!

Also the topping will melt, so don't top these until you need them but they will last about an hour or so. What I do is make the cupcakes, place them in a ziplock bag and then top them as needed with the topping that I keep in the fridge.

I hope you enjoy these!

Death by cupcake.

If I am going to return from the dead, might as well do it with a cupcake, not just any ol' cup cake will revive me. Better make it a triple hitter. Chocolate cupcake with a chocolate ganache filling, topped with a chocolate frosting and dusted with coco powdered, then sprinkled with chocolate shavings.







This is partially home made. I wasn't feeling up to making the cake batter from scratch. I'll repent later.

Who says chocolate doesn't make everything better?

Ingredients:

1 box cake mix, chocolate fudge (make sure you have eggs and oil as the box call for.)
1 bottle of coke.
8 oz of good baking chocolate
1 cup cream
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temp.
4 sticks unsalted butter, room temp.
9 cup confectioners' sugar
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk
2 1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup of shaved chocolate (optional)



Directions

For the cupcakes:

1.) Pick a box of chocolate cake mix, which ever flavor or brand you like. Add in the eggs and oil as recommended BUT use the coke in EXCHANGE for the WATER.

2.) Put about 2 tablespoons of batter in each cup cake paper. Cook until done and let cool.

3.) While cupcakes are cooling, in a microwave bowl break up the chocolate and place in microwave. Cooking ONE minute at a time and stirring until evenly melted.

For the Ganache:

1.) In a microwave bowl cook the cream until very hot about two to three minutes.

2.) Pour the cream over the melted chocolate and stir until well incorporated. Add in the butter one table spoon at a time and mix until well incorporated.

3.) Cover ganache mixture and place in fridge to cool, stirring every five minutes.

4.) Once no longer runny and slightly thickened, take the ganache and place into a piping bag with a thin writing tip. Then poke and fill each cup cake until some start to come out.
-Or-
Cut a small circle out and put some of the ganache into the hole. Then remove some of the cut cake top and replace.

For the frosting:

1.) Cream the butter, add in vanilla and rotate the con sugar and cocoa powder. Adding in milk until you get the texture you desire.

2.) Then frost your cupcakes and top with cocoa powder and chocolate shavings.

Enjoy!

Ham and provolone with savory spiced pears reduced in clarified honey butter.

I hope you'll forgive me for my absence. Mommyhood was calling and I had to heed the call. This weekend was meant to be a catch up on my blogging and cooking, etc. Well Ally put a big kaboosh on these plans. She is having some really bad stomach pain as of late and so bad that I had to take her into the ER. I have next weekend to myself so I am def planning on catching up!

I do have a lovely Key Lime Pie baking in the oven as I type. That will be up tomorrow, the time depends on if I am able to make the whipped cream in time before classes.

This sandwich was a pure experiment, I had no idea how it'd turn out and I was surprised at how good it was and how the flavor melded so well. I knew that citrus pairs well with ham but I felt that in a sandwich it would over power the ham. Apples seemed to be an easy pair and I didn't want easy. Ha! So I picked out a lovely D'Janour pear. When it was nearly ripped and softened, I thought about how I was going to meld the ham and pears together. I got to thinking about what spices were typically used with ham and baked pears, they had a common thread. Spices. Cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon! I felt that these were key to this sandwich but I knew it'd be missing something, a slight sweetness to pair with the salty-ness of the ham. Brown sugar and white sugars, too sweet. Honey! Perfect. I melted some pre-made clarified butter (look in the Indian section of your store) and it lead to this spectacular arrangement of flavors!

Ingredients:

Sliced ham lunch meat. Don't skimp, get the good stuff.

Provolone cheese. Only get the good stuff.

1 tsp honey

1 tsp water

1 tsp of clarified butter

1/8 ground cloves

1/8 ground nutmeg

1/8 ground cinnamon

1/2 of a palm sized nearly ripe pear, peeled and sliced.

Vienna bread

Butter

Directions:

1- In a small frying pan, melt butter and add in honey, water and spices, let this cook for about five minutes. Making sure not to burn your spices. Let mixture reduce and thicken. Shouldn't take very long.

2- Add in pears and cook until still slightly firm, you do not want to cook for too long or you will have mushed pears instead of sliced pears. Remove from heat and allow to thicken some.

3- Slice your bread about an inch thick(thicker = less soggy bread) with a serrated knife and butter your slices on one side. Place into another pan. As the bread is browning and toasting, take your ham and place it in the pan to warm up. This allows some of the fluids in the ham to cook off and helps speed up the cheese melting process.

4- Take the ham and place it on top of your bread. Followed by a couple slices of pears (make sure most of the liquids are drained off) and then top with a slice provolone, top with remaining slice of buttered bread and flip.

5- Allow to stand for a minute or two and then cut and serve!

6- Enjoy!

French Onion Soup.

They say this is a poor man's soup. History states that this was common in the Roman Empire and then became more popular in the 18th century and was upgrade with the addition of toasted bread and cheese. It then again became popular in the 60's when French cooking became trendy. I say that this soup is well worth the effort! It was cheap but a bit time consuming. Most of all, I was surprised my two year old Leta loved it! She just couldn't get enough!

There isn't a whole lot of ingredients and you can always sub what you like. I made mine vegetarian. But you are welcome to use beef or veal broth. The only thing I didn't have on hand was the Vienna bread and Thyme. Not too bad on the wallet.

Ingredients:

Three large yellow or Spanish onions, peeled and sliced

1 stick of unsalted butter

1 teaspoon of salt

2 tablespoons of EVOO

1 1/2 quarts of broth (veg, chicken, beef or veal.)

2 teaspoons of minced garlic

1 teaspoon of dried parsley

1 teaspoon of dried thyme (or one sprig of fresh thyme)

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

Vienna bread toasted

Provolone or swiss cheese (If you buy the prepackage by the faux cheeses, I swear I will hunt your ISP down and slap you silly! Get the real stuff!)

Directions:

1) In your pan melt the butter and add in the oil, garlic, thyme, parsley and bay leaf.

2) Watch this video, it will explain caramelized onions far better then I could. Just add the onions to the melted butter in step one.

3) After the onions are done, add into a larger pan the broth, onions, worcestershire sauce and balsamic vinegar. Cook on medium high for twenty to thirty minutes. This would be the time to taste and add seasons as needed.

4) Cut your bread to fit what your cooking in, butter and toast like you would grilled cheese. Until it's golden brown.

5) Ladle soup into a oven proof bowl, cup or ramekin. Leave enough room for the bread, top with cheese and place cheese on top.

6) Place on a pan and under your broiler until golden brown.

7) Enjoy!