German Chocolate Cupcakes

Every year, for his birthday, my dad requests German Chocolate Cake to be made for his big day.  Normally this cake is a little time consuming (three layers, etc.) but because we were celebrating his birthday at the same time as a Mother's Day tea, I thought I'd make it fun by baking up a little cupcake version!

I followed along with the ol' reliable Baker's Chocolate version of German Chocolate Cake and Coconut-Pecan Frosting (see here for both recipes) and ended up with almost two dozen delicious cupcakes.

The ingredients alone suggest the richness of this delicious cake.

I absolutely love these muffin cup papers from Fancy Flours and think their pretty design are perfect for this cake.  I love that they are in the Panettone pattern and made of the same grease-proof paper so they do not require spraying. 

Heat your chocolate with your butter until almost melted.  Remove from heat and stir until completely melted.

This recipe calls for buttermilk and for that, I am so thankful for this great powdered buttermilk from Saco.  (I mean, come on - do you have buttermilk on hand right now? ha.)  I keep it protected in the refrigerator. When using it in baking, you add the appropriate amount of powder that is called for right with the other dry ingredients and then add the amount of water called for later. You can get this 12 oz. canister in most supermarkets now.

My handy scoop is just perfect...

...for consistenly even-sized cupcakes with little mess!

Now for the Coconut-Pecan Frosting (recipe here, mmmm)....

Evaporated milk gets added for deliciousness (not to be confused with sweetened condensed milk!)

Here's a nice trick - next time you're scraping a vanilla bean for a recipe, save the bean in your sugar bowl to keep your sugar deliciously vanilla-y (thanks, sissies for the great tip!  I think I'll be doing this forever!)  Such a yummy vanilla scent will await you every time you go for your sugar now.

Cook your mixture until it reaches a think custard consistency (it will thicken as it cools and you add all the other good stuff to it.)

I like to refrigerate the frosting for a while (~1 hr.+) once you finish making it.  For cupcakes, it helps to have this cooler, thicker consistency for spreading.

Smooth a nice little mound of frosting onto your cupcake.

I added some chocolate jimmy sprinkles for added texture/color/fun.  If you really want the good stuff, that is, real chocolate, check out these Guittard chocolate sprinkles from KA Flour.

Perfect for a birthday tea!

For giving away cupcakes as a gift, I love cupcake boxes.  These Wilton cupcake boxes hold 1/2 dozen regular sized cupcakes, or eight minis, and are, of course, wonderfully reusable.

A nice gift (or stick 'em in the freezer for a present to yourself for later, ha!) :P 

Derby Day Pie and Mint Juleps

Run For The Roses!

It's Derby time and I could not be more excited.  It's a tradition in our family to celebrate it right - and that means traditional "Derby Pie" and mint juleps!  Now "Derby Pie" does indeed need to

be in quotations because it is a *shhh* registered and secret recipe of the Kern Family of Kentucky (seriously...it's registered - see here,) but fear not, friends, I have tried many a knock-off recipe and this one is quite good.  Leave it to ol' Martha to get it right with her "Run for the Roses Pie."  Better yet, the original secret recipe (which calls for delicious walnuts, of which I am allergic to :( is often substituted with pecans, and so, I have done that here... with my own additional twists, too, of course!  I'm calling it...

Derby Day Pie

Makes one 9" pie

Pate Brisee recipe:

1 1/4 cups AP flour

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut up and chilled

1/8 to 1/4 cup ice water

Place the flour, salt and sugar in a food processor and pulse a few times to mix.  Add butter and pulse to mix.  Add ice water in a steady stream through the feeder and pulse until dough just barely sticks together when squeezed (see picture below).  Turn dough onto floured surface to work into crust, or lightly press into a disk encased in plastic wrap and chill until ready to use.

Pie Filling:

2 large eggs

1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped (or feel free to use walnuts, if you'd like! :)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 shot (~1/4 cup) traditional Kentucky bourbon whiskey (like Early Times or Maker's Mark)

On a lightly floured work surface, roll pate brisee into a 12-inch round.  With a dry pastry brush, sweep off the excess flour; fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate, pressing it into the edges, crimping edges as desired. Chill pie shell in refrigerator until firm, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prick bottom of dough all over with a fork. Fill shell with pie chain or line with parchment paper or fill with pie weights/dried beans to "blind bake" until crust is just beginning to turn golden, about 25-30 minutes. Remove chain. Transfer pie shell to a wire rack; let cool slightly.  Keep oven on.

In a large bowl, mix together eggs and butter (make sure to temper the eggs a bit if your butter is still hot - that is, slowly adding a little butter to the eggs to prevent cooked eggs.)  Add sugar and flour; mix until well combined. Stir in pecans, chocolate chips, and bourbon. Pour into prepared pie shell.

Bake the filled pie until filling is set, about 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer pie to a wire rack; let cool before serving or serve slightly warm.

The least amount of messing with your pie dough will create a flaky, non-tough, crust.  This texture and moistness is just right - holding together when squeezed.

To prepare your dough for making crust, simply pour your mixture from the food processor straight onto a sheet of plastic wrap and and squeeze into a disk shape.

Chill until ready for use (also freezes well this way!)

This deep dish glazed stoneware pie plate/pan from Pampered Chef is my all-time favorite for pies.  I have used this for dozens of pies and it bakes beautifully every time.  I can't rave enough about it!  :)

A marble rolling pin is my pin of choice - I love the weight of it and the idea of chilling it in the refrigerator to keep your pastry cool as you roll it out - it's the next best thing to having marble countertops!  You can get these anywhere - I frequently see them at thrift stores and Goodwill (I guess people who don't bake just buy it for the looks them realize how silly that is, ha.)

I just recently bought this pie chain from King Arthur Flour and it works well.  I like that you don't have to remove it half-way through the blind baking process like you do with parchment/pie weights in order to get the bottom of the crust to brown - you just leave it on until your crust looks browned enough.  This is a really easy fork crust that you can make easily to add a little flair.

Delicious pie filling ingredients.

Be careful not to "cook" you eggs if your melted butter is too hot or else slowly temper them by adding a bit of butter to the eggs before adding.

What a heavenly, nutty aroma!

Now, Derby Day just would not be complete without traditional mint juleps!  You can make the real stuff or virgin variety - either way, you'll just love it.

The refreshing ingredients.

It's so fantastic to see some decent, organic herbs showing up in our stores finally.

"Muddle" a few leaves of mint in the bottom of a silver or metallic glass (like these great Wilton Armetale goblets my family has always had and which I later scored on with finding a set of six vintage!)  Just make sure you are using some kind of metallic cup that holds cold well.  If you don't have a traditional muddler, a mortar and pestle (like my old reliable thai granite one here) works great.  I simply could not live without this wonderful tool and love the process of using it.

Fill your glass to the brim with crushed ice (grind in a blender or food processor to right consistency.) Right on top, add 1 T. of simple syrup (which is simply equal parts sugar and water that has been boiled together and allowed to cool. Sometimes I'll even infuse this with a little mint.)  Agave nectar is a wonderful alternative if you wish to keep down the sweetness!

Then add 1 T. of cold water.

Measure your shot of Kentucky bourbon (2 oz. or ~1/4 c.)...

...then add on top.

Garnish with a sprig of mint, then sprinkle with powdered sugar.  (This Pampered Chef Flour/Sugar Shaker is perfect for this.)

Awww... now you can see why you need a beautiful silver cup in which to serve this - is there anything more refreshing? :)

Now let's bring on the beautiful Thoroughbreads and hope for a Triple Crown winner this year - we're ready!!  :-D

Cashew Macadamia Butterscotch Bars

It's my Dad's birthday and I'm so excited... I have been itching to make this dessert ever since I first saw the recipe.  It originally called only for cashews, but I just happened to have those and some macs lying around (I know, that sounds nuts - pun intended - who the heck has such luxurious nuts just chilling in their pantry?) and so was excited to make this luxurious treat for my ever-nut-loving father.  I tweaked the recipe a bit - and next time will follow the recommendation of using toasted, salted cashews, but here is my adapted version:

CASHEW MACADAMIA BUTTERSCOTCH BARS

(Adapted from those by Amy Scherber, Amy’s Bread, NYC)

Simple Ingredients: 

1 cup (2 sticks) plus 3 T. unsalted butter, softened, divided, plus extra butter for greasing pan 

¾  cup packed light brown sugar 

1 ¾ tsp. kosher salt 

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour 

10 ounces butterscotch chips

½ cup light corn syrup

1 ¼ cups salted cashews pieces

1 ¼ cups macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

Center a rack in the oven; preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13-by-18-inch jellyroll pan, including sides, and line with buttered parchment paper.

To prepare the crust: Beat 1 cup butter and the brown sugar together until smooth. Stir salt into flour, then add flour to butter mixture. Mix until dough is well combined but still crumbly (if dough is mixed until a ball forms, crust will be tough.) 

Pat dough evenly along bottom of buttered pan, taking care not to pack dough down. Prick dough with a fork all over.  Bake about 12 minutes (until dough is lightly browned, dry and no longer soft to the touch.)  Transfer to a cooling rack and make sure to leave oven on. 

To prepare butterscotch topping: In a large saucepan, combine remaining 3 T. butter, butterscotch chips, corn syrup and 1 ½ T. water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until butter and butterscotch chips are melted, using a whisk as needed, about 5 minutes. Pour topping over crust, using a rubber spatula to spread evenly all the way to the corners. Sprinkle cashew pieces on top, pressing down lightly.

Bake until topping is bubbly and cashews are lightly browned, ~11 to 13 minutes. Transfer to a rack; let cool completely before cutting into 2-by-3-inch bars.

Yield: ~36 bars. 

As I always say: "mise en place" like the French say and pre-gather your ingredients.  (As you can see, I didn't mess around and made a double batch to cover for my sister's boyfriend's birthday, mother-in-law's birthday, and our own personal freezer for those sweet-tooth emergencies...)

I was so excited to break out my brand-new, sparkling, self-scraping beaterblade - this new design is specifically for KitchenAid mixers to finally get that pesky batter that sticks on the bottom and sides of the bowl.  This windshield wiper mechanism is pretty brilliant - (KitchenAid, where have you been for us all this time? ha).  I bought mine here, from the ever-wonderful Sur La Table.

(So. Cashews. Yeah...as scrumptious and these guys look...I am definitely using salted next time!)

Aww, macadamia nuttttts ...manna of the islands!

Make sure to use parchment paper and fork-prick your dough before cooking.

As your butterscotch starts to melt, you can use a nice whisk like this one (my favorite) to help smooth out the lumps without having to turn up the heat any higher.  Butterscotch chips can be a little bit touchy with heat (kind of like white chocolate.)

The butterscotch/butter mixture can then be poured right on top of the dough and nuts assembled right on top.

Done and baked!

The delicious butterscotchiness is like a caramel that hardens to the perfect consistency as it cools - slightly firm but not at all tooth busting (!)

For cutting bars evenly, you really can't beat a good bench scraper/chopper like this one. It works spendidly for fudge, divinity, RKsquares, marshmallows, etc. - anything that a knife or spatula just can't make quick enough work of for same-sized squares.  I love this one, too, because it has a handy measuring tool right on it.

When it comes to serving bar cookies/desserts right out of the pan, I always whip out this little mini-spatula - my very favorite from Pampered Chef.  (These make awesome gifts, too - to go along with your dessert, of course!)

Evenly sized bars fit perfect in little cupcake liners and a pretty box :)

Ready for gifting!  :-D