Vanilla cupcakes

This is a nice, simple cupcake recipe. I love making mini cupcakes, this recipe makes 12 regular or 24 mini.

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well. Combine dry ingredients and add alternately with milk, beginning and ending with dry. Fill muffin cups (lined) 3/4 full and bake at 350F for 22-24 minutes for full size, 12-15 for mini.

You can make these chocolate by replacing 1/2 cup flour with cocoa powder. They aren't as rich as my chocolate cupcake recipe, but are still very tasty.

You can ice these with ganache, or a simple buttercream icing. I sometimes get all fancy and flavour and colour small amounts of icing to have a variety (like a fancy cupcake shop)

Ganache

I was reviewing older posts and saw that I said I would post a recipe for a ganache icing. Ganache, for those of you who haven't discovered its silky marvelousness, is simply cream and chocolate. The proportions vary, depending on what you want to do with it. And if you add butter, you have truffles.

You need to start with the best dark chocolate you can get your hands on, and use heavy (whipping) cream.

12 ounces dark chocolate
1 1/4 cups cream

chop the chocolate into small pieces (less than 1 inch). Melt in the microwave at 30-50% power, checking every minute or so (don't scorch it!),it doesn't have to be completely melted. Heat the cream in a saucepan just until it simmers. Pour the cream over the chocolate, let sit for 2-3 minutes, then stir gently. It will take some time for it to come together, just keep stirring. If there are still chunks of unmelted chocolate after 10 minutes, zap it for a minute (med low power). You can pour it over your cake at this time, or let it cool until it thickens and is of a spreadable consistency. You can do this over ice water, stirring constantly, or in the fridge, stirring occasionlly.

You can also make a whipped ganache that is a bit lighter by using:
8 ounces of chocolate
2 cups of cream.

Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, then whip until it starts to thicken. Once it starts to thicken, it sets up quickly, so have your cake ready to ice.

Both of these make enough to ice a 8 or 9 inch layer cake. You can use the first one for a chocolate fondue.

Wacky cake

The very first cake I baked was this so-called Wacky cake. It was from a recipe book for kids that someone had given my sister. It has no milk or eggs, so I guess it is vegan.

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
6 Tbsp cocoa
2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp vinegar
10 Tbsp oil
2 cups water

Mix dry ingredients together. Mix wet ingredients seperately, then combine with dry. Bake in 2 9-inch round pans (greased and floured) for 30 minutes at 350F.

You can make this recipe without a mixer, or you can make half of it right in the pan (but you have to serve it out of the pan because it will stick. And I would do it in a 8-inch square).

Valentine's Day

Want a quick and easy Valentine's dessert? How about Chocolate Fondue! All you have to do is melt some good quality chocolate (about 8 oz) with some whipping cream (about 3/4 cup). You can play around with the consistency of the sauce by using more or less cream. And you can use milk for a lower-fat version, but it isn't quite as rich and smooth. Dip firm fruit (strawberries, orange segments, apples, pineapple), cake, cookies, or marshmallows into the warm chocolate. And if there is any left over sauce, use your imagination!

Ultimate Brownies

This is a recipe I can claim as my own. I combined a couple of Brownie recipes, then tweaked it to develop the ultimate brownies. These are not your bake-sale brownies, not your quick-treat-for-the-kids brownies. These are a chocoholics delight, especially if you follow the instructions for the Million Dollar Brownies at the end.

3 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 oz dark chocolate
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp dark rum
1/3 cup flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp sour cream

Melt chocolates and butter. Whisk eggs with sugar and rum. Stir in chocolate. Mix dry ingredients separately, then fold into chocolate mixture. Fold in sour cream. Bake in 9 inch pan for 30 minutes at 325F. The edges should just be pulling away from sides of pan. Let cool in pan for an hour, then place in fridge for about an hour before cutting.

For Million Dollar Brownies, chop 4 oz each white, milk and dark chocolate. Add half to batter. Melt remaining chocolates separately. Drop spoonfuls on top of batter in pan, then swirl for a marbled effect. Bake as above.

Apple Crumble

One of the guys at work brought in a bag full of apples from his tree, so I was inspired to make Apple Crumble (or Crisp- what is the difference?). This is a simple recipe to scale up for a crowd, because the topping is made from equal amounts of the ingredients.

Topping
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 tbsp cinnamon (optional)

Filling
4-6 apples
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp sugar (white or brown)

Slice apples into pieces about 1/8 inch thick and toss with sugar and cinnamon. Pour into a medium sized casserole dish (the wider the dish, the more surface area for topping). In a large bowl, mix flour, oats, sugar and cinnamon. Cut in butter until it is the size of the oats. Sprinkle over the apples, and bake at 375 for 35-45 minutes. Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving. This is terrific with vanilla or cinnamon ice cream. And I've been known to have it for breakfast (oats are healthy, right? And apples are wonderfully healthy)