A Gooey Dessert

I had just stumbled upon this recipe a couple of days ago...literally, I was on Stumble Upon when I found this delicious treat! It came from the Betty Crocker website, and it is a grand prize-winning recipe of 2006. It's a very simple recipe, but a very mouth-watering dessert. Below you'll find the recipe for Betty Crocker's "Warm Toasted Marshmallow S'mores Bars".

Spreading the chocolate! YUM!

This photo is after the final step of broiling it so the marshmallows brown. But be careful! One rating on the website said the marshmallows caught on fire! : O

Final product...delicious, but this picture cannot even begin to explain how tasty it truly is. The website's picture is much better...

See? Now how could I compete with that? I just can't. It's not possible! Anyway, try out the recipe! It's quick, easy, and is oh-so tasty!

Warm Toasted Marshmallow S'mores Bars
1 pouch (1 lb. 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
1 c. graham cracker crumbs
1 c. butter or margarine, melted
3 c. milk chocolate chips (18 oz)
4 1/2 c. miniature marshmallows

1. Heat oven to 375F. In a large bowl, stir cookie mix and crumbs together. Stir in melted butter until soft dough forms. Press into ungreased 9x13'' pan

2. Bake 18-20 minutes or until set. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. Let stand 3-5 minutes or until chocolate begins to melt. Spread chocolate evenly over crust.

3. Set oven control to broil.  Sprinkle marshmallows over melted chocolate. Broil with top 5-6 inches from heat for 20-30 seconds or until marshmallows are toasted. (Watch closely; marshmallows will brown quickly). Cool 10 minutes. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Serve warm. Store remaining bars tightly covered.

*Makes 24 bars

Petite Cupcakes

With this being the last week of the quarter, I had to give one last speech for my speech class. The category was informational, so I decided to do an info/demo speech about Cupcakes! We had to have visuals, so I brought in some ingredients like extracts, cocoa powder, sprinkles, etc. I also brought in my pastry bag and a fancy little spatula. And of course, I just had to bring in some cupcakes for everyone! What would a speech about cupcakes be without cupcakes?!

Above are my posters, and as you can see I did one about the top 10 classic cupcakes flavors (courtesy of TLC), and of course some of the most unique cupcakes flavors I have heard. Some of these came off of the hit Food Network TV show Cupcake Wars, while others I had found off the web. Everyone thought my posters were very cute, and the teacher even kept them as examples for the future!

So, first in my speech I talked about the history of the cupcake. They first evolved because the hearth ovens they used back in the day would not properly bake regular size cakes; they would burn on the outside and not be cooked enough on the inside.  They also were created to save time in the kitchen, as they were much more convenient. They first started baking cupcakes in the 1800s, but their name wasn't "cupcakes." In fact, they were originally called Number Cakes or 1234 cakes. This was because it was easy to remember it by the ingredients (1c. butter, 2c. sugar, 3c. flour, etc.) Later they changed the name to cupcakes because of two theories: they were first baked in cups, or the ingredients were measured by the cup.

After that, I talked about the steps for baking a cupcake--mixing the batter, baking, frosting, etc.  For the frosting part, I did a little demo with my pastry bag. Then I ended with the evolution of modern cupcakes today, talking about "cupcakeries," and Candace Nelson, the first person to create a cupcakery. I also told them she was a judge on Cupcake Wars, so I told them a little bit about the show. This is where I used my posters to tell them about the different kinds of cupcakes, some more classic, and some not-so-classic. They all thought the "Thanksgiving Dinner" cupcake would be the grossest...at least, that's what I perceived--they all groaned when I read it off.

Of course I ended the speech with a final conclusion paragraph and a memorable last sentence: "So whether you would choose a classic vanilla cupcake or a tomato soup cupcake, this tiny dessert has something for everyone." And then I passed out the cupcakes! Woo!

Both cupcakes had the same base: chocolate cake with a classic vanilla buttercream frosting. However, I tried to make them represent the whole "classic vs weird/modern/quirky" cupcakes we have today, so for half the cupcakes, I did a caramel swirl on the top to represent the atypical cupcake (Ok, ok, I know it's not really that strange...but hey, I tried my best!) And for the "classic" representation, I just added some pearl-like sprinkles.

Of course, knowing High School kids, I knew the caramel cupcakes would go first. But, even so, everyone said they loved the cupcakes. Some said they were the best they've ever had (not to brag or anything...). And the teacher said (direct quote, by the way): "These are just darling!" I gave her two cupcakes. ; )

Photos before they were decorated.  The cupcakes did turn out fabulously! Actually, when I got home both of my parents texted me to see how my speech went. And both of them said the same thing in their second message: Are there any cupcakes left? Sadly, there weren't. They were pretty disappointed. But the good thing is, they are so quick and easy to make, so I could whip them up any time!

Moist Chocolate Cupcakes

(Cooks.com)

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1/3 c. cocoa powder

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1 c. water

1 tsp. vinegar

Mix all ingredients well with a mixer. It should be brown and smooth, free of lumps. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes. Cupcakes will turn out moist and delicious. For MINI cupcakes, turn down the oven 20-30 degrees and bake for half the time (approximately--just keep watching the oven to make sure they don't over bake.)

*Buttermilk or milk may be substituted for water. (I just used water)

*Melted butter may be substituted for oil. (I used oil--and voila, they're vegan!)

Snow-ed in Cake

Here in Minnesota, we never know what kind of weather to expect. Sure, we know winter=cold and summer=hot, but those are seasons. Day to day, we really have no clue what's going to come our way. So last Wednesday we were informed (quite late I might add) that we had no school because of the massive snow storm. Well, the notification was sent out so late that I actually drove to school. So yes, I drove in one of the worst snow storms in Minnesota's history. What should have been a 15-minute drive turned into half an hour. One way. So I reached school, realized no one was there, checked my phone to see that I had received about 8 messages just minutes after I left my house, and turned around to go back home. So it was a pretty bad start to my morning.

Luckily I had a lot of time on my hands that day, being home alone. We also had many ingredients to make a cake just sitting in our cupboards. So, that's what I did! Oh, and great news...we got a Kitchen aid mixer! YES, no more using our junky old hand-held mixer! It was a big deal for me. I even took a picture.

Oh, just look at it in all it's glory! Look at that mixer go! Now I truly feel like a real baker! (Ha. Ha.) Anyway, I used a simple vanilla cake recipe that came in the mixer booklet. However, I didn't just want to do a vanilla cake, so I added some almond extract (I know daring, huh? Going outside of the recipe--whoa!). Then I did a simple chocolate buttercream frosting in the middle layer and on the outside of the cake. 

The cake itself had a really nice flavor with the almond extract. It tasted kind of like almond pound cake, but not as dense. However, the cake was a little crumbly. I may have possibly over-cooked it? Otherwise, I like to blame it on the recipe. The frosting was just right for the cake though. And overall it was pretty delicious!

Yum, yum, yum!

Le Bread!

 That's right, I made bread! For me, this was out of the ordinary. My family has a bread machine, but the last time we used it was probably when I was 8 years old.  Since we just got a new mixer, my dad wanted me to make some pizza dough to make pizzas on the grill. However, I had a lot of homework that day and I didn't have time to make pizza dough. So, I decided to still make dough...but just not put that much work into it.

 After all, bread makers are for lazy people, no? I think so. I pulled out the machine, gathered some ingredients (I had to go buy some yeast, though), put them in the machine, and hit the button. Four hours later we had a little loaf of deliciously simple white bread.

Since I bring lunches to school, this morning I cut some slices of bread (although I cut them pretty unevenly, so I gave some to the dog...sshhh, don't tell anyone!) and made myself a PB&J sandwich.  It was a fantastic lunch. Now my mom thinks I should bake bread every weekend so we have some fresh bread for the week. I think it sounds pretty good, eh? Later I want to learn how to make bread sticks, braided bread, and even dinner rolls! If anyone has some good recipes, do share!

Past Creations: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I thought I'd start out with a brief look into my baking past...

This photo is from last fall when I baked cupcakes for the Cast and Crew of our schools' Fall Musical "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown!" These cupcakes were plain vanilla, topped with yellow buttercream frosting and Charlie Brown's signature zig-zag stripe. As a side note, I had quite some trouble getting the frosting dark enough. It's supposed to be black, so I kept adding food coloring, but the darkest I got to was a navy blue color. So I added some Cocoa Powder, and voila! Er...well, it wasn't black exactly. But it was a dark brown! So I called it "good enough!" And everyone loved them!

 

Next, we've got a vegan chocolate cupcake, filled with chocolate mousse, and topped with mint-flavored buttercream frosting. For decorations, I used some edible pearl type-things that are basically like sprinkles but more...fancy? Anyway, I brought them to my family's Christmas party, and they were a hit! For the mousse, I just used some Cool Whip and added pudding mix. I didn't actually make real mousse, but this was a quick, easy, and delicious simplified recipe. (Recipes: "Moist Chocolate Cupcakes" from Cooks.com, and "Easy Chocolate Mousse" from Allrecipes.com)

This next cupcake is called "Choco-nana Cupcakes," and it came from a book called Cupcake Heaven. It's just a simple banana cupcake filled with chocolate chips. The frosting is a plain cream cheese frosting, and it's topped with a freshly sliced banana. My 4-year-old cousin ate these and loved them. I have to say, the combination of chocolate, cream cheese, and banana was perfection. The only thing I did not care for was how the banana slice didn't quite stay fresh after a day or two.  It got chewy, and well...you know how bananas get after sitting out. So, if you want to use bananas on a cupcake, make sure they will get eaten up within a day.

First layer spread with ganache

This cake was...well, interesting to say the least. It was delicious, it was just a whole lot of work to get the layers just right. I made this two-layered cake a couple of weeks ago. It was the first time I had ever constructed a two-layer cake. The cake itself is a chocolate cake, the middle layer is ganache, and for the frosting, I went with the classic vanilla buttercream. Then on top, I drizzled some more ganache, and decorated it with a couple little blackberries.

The problem I had was that I didn't wait long enough for my ganache to firm up, so I ended up spreading still runny ganache as the middle layer. When I plopped the second layer on, it kept sliding about. To make matters worse, a piece of one cake decided to stick to the pan, so it ripped off when I went to take the cake out. So I had to try to hold that together with frosting, all the meanwhile, keep the second layer from sliding off completely.  In the end, the construction of the cake was a mess, but it turned out somewhat decent looking (to an amateur), and it tasted absolutely fabulous! The chocolate cake was rich, but it was complimented perfectly by the light, fluffy, and not-so-sweet vanilla buttercream frosting. And the layer of ganache in the middle? Well, once it finally firmed up, it was absolutely divine! Like a layer of fudge! I highly recommend these recipes to anyone. Even if you've never made a two layer cake before...well, this just goes to show that even if some things go horribly wrong, sometimes what matters in the end is just how it tastes. (Recipes: "Extreme Chocolate Cake" from Allrecipes.com, and "Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (from Sprinkles cupcakes)" from Food.com)

So, that's my story so far. There have been other cupcakes...if I find the pictures I'll post them...but for now, this is a pretty good summary.

(Oh, and as a side note, I don't have a fancy camera like many other baking/cooking blogs do. Bummer, I know. But I try my best with my little digital camera and Droid camera. So, in short, I'm sorry for poor camera quality. I'm sure there's more to come!)

Welcome to Le Petite Baker

What is the greatest thing about baking? Is it going through the steps of measuring, mixing, and making a mess? Is it seeing the final product, whether it's an astonishing success or a complete failure? Or, is it eating what you've just created, and being captivated by the utter deliciousness that you just can't resist from saying "mmmm..."?

Well, for me, it's all of these things. I love baking. And I love eating. So what could be better? Without further ado, or maybe a little teensy bit more ado, I hereby present "Le Petite Baker," a blog about my baking mishaps, failures, and adventures. Bon Appetit!