From the Little Yellow Kitchen

February 26th, 2013

Fluffy Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

by Chrissy

These sweet little engagement party cupcakes were such a hit with our friends. And yes, they are as good as they look! Probably even better, since me + a pastry bag of frosting = a little bit sketchy.

My sister has already requested them for her baby shower, next month.

Apparently, we do catering now. Keep it rollin’. We take requests. We just need to work on the space issue. After all, we do reside in a very little…yellow…kitchen.

The great thing about these mini cupcakes, is that they are really much easier to make than you would think!

If we are being really honest here–which we will be–when it comes to baking cakes and cupcakes, Lauren and I tend to go the lazy route and buy a box of cake mix (gasp!).

I mean, we usually doctor them up, but it’s still slightly embarrassing to admit.

Now that I am confident in the end result for these tasty morsels of chocolatey, cream cheesy goodness, I’ll have to wave goodbye to that box of Duncan Hines.

Promise.

Fluffy Chocolate Cupcakes: recipe via Joy the Baker

*Little Yellow Note: this recipe makes a big batch, so halve the recipe if you don’t want to make a billion. For mini cupcakes, only fill the liner halfway with batter. You can also make regular-sized cupcakes, filling them 3/4 of the way full.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Print Recipe!

Makes 3 1/2 cups frosting (covers about 75 mini cupcakes, or about 2 dozen regular cupcakes)

Ingredients:

1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter, softened

2 ½ packages of cream cheese, softened (8 oz packages)

2 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted

2 tsps vanilla extract

small pinch of salt

decorations (I used, edible pearls, gold sprinkles, and yellow iridescent dust.)

Directions:

Cream the butter and cream cheese, both softened at room temperature, beating for about 1 minute on medium high speed. Slowly add the sifted powdered sugar, beating on a slow speed until incorporated. Add vanilla extract and a small pinch of salt and beat on medium-high speed until fully mixed and slightly fluffy and smooth. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes, before frosting your completely cooled cupcakes. Pipe or smooth on with a knife and add desired decorations. If making them ahead of time, keep in the fridge, and pull them out an hour before serving.

From the Little Yellow Kitchen,

Chrissy

Posted in Dessert, Recipes | 1 Comment »

Tags: baby shower, bridal shower, chocolate, cream cheese, cupcakes, decorating, easy, engagement party, entertaining, frosting, mini cupcake, party

December 13th, 2011

Easy Holiday Gifting: Candy Cane Bark

by Chrissy

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You know those times when you completely stop what your saying or doing and head off in another direction?

Well, this is one of those times. Literally. I went from warm, cozy bed, to Pearl’s kitchen in 2.5 seconds. Okay, so it was more like 2.5 minutes; give a girl a break for having to (unwillingly) remove the toasty onesie and put on some normal sweats to brave the freezing rain in.

Yes, I have a onesie. Yes, it is from the little girl’s section and has monkeys on it. No, I am not afraid to wear it. I have big plans for my new outfit. You’ll see…

Truly, as I was writing this post, our dear friend, Pearl was taking her hand at candy-cane bark-making. As she sheepishly asked me for a bag of chocolate chips, so that she could try for her 3rd round at it. I, then, marched right over there [at 11 pm, in the pouring So Cal rain and all] and helped a sista’ out.

So here are some tid-bits of knowledge that you might want to know if you are jimmy-rigging your own version of a double boiler.

1. Gather a medium-sized pot and a medium-sized metal or glass bowl–forget that miniature bowl you had in mind, you know the one that you never get to use. We aren’t looking for the chocolate chips to set sail amidst a turbulent sea of boiling water.

2. Only put enough water in the pot to submerse the bowl a few inches from the bottom–your flash flood reenactment can wait until another day.

3. Simmer on low heat; if you turn it up, chances are it will get too hot and start boiling over the sides and splashing into your now-ruined chocolate, while burning your precious hands. Yikes.

4. Simmer on low heat--yea, I said it again so that you didn’t already forget about it. It’s an important point so just have some patience. I promise you, the chocolate will eventually melt.

5. Have a towel or oven mit nearby–you never know when all hell will break loose because you didn’t listen to #3 or #4 and boiling water is jumping out of the pan and your bowl is starting to set sail or is bobbing dangerously close to capsizing.

The How:

Pour about a 1/3 bag in, to start if you have a small double boiler, or the whole bag if you have a set up big enough to handle it. Stir, regularly.

Keep it up and it will soon look like this! Shiny & silky smooth, this chocolate is ready to be poured.

Pour into lined baking pan and spread evenly.

Start spreading the love, aka candy canes.

Action photo.

Ready to set in the chiller (aka fridge)!

After at least 1 hour, remove the sheet of chocolate from pan, by grabbing the wax paper. Crack it up!

Mmmmm. Candy canes & chocolate…I live for you.

Seriously, despite Pearl’s double boiler mishap, this is by far one of the easiest and most fancy-looking holiday treats that will leave your co-workers, friends, and family enamored and wanting more!

Ingredients:

1 16 oz. bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 box candy canes (12 pack of canes)

White chocolate chips (optional for second layer or drizzling)

wax paper

(Yep, that’s it!)

Directions:

Using a 9 x 9 square baking pan, grease the bottom and sides and line it with a big piece of wax paper, pressing it into the edges and corners. Set aside.

Unwrap candy canes and place into a large ziploc bag and seal. Using a heavy object (hammer, mallet, bottom of a pan, etc…) crush until desired texture. Set aside.

Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate, stirring constantly and being sure not to splash water into the chocolate. If you have a larger double boiler set-up you can add all of the chips at once, but if you have a smaller set up, add the chips in a few stages, melting them as you go.

Pour the melted chocolate into the lined baking pan. Spread with a spatula, until evenly distributed. Sprinkle the crushed candy cane pieces over the top. Optional: you can add a melted white chocolate layer to the top and follow with crushed candy cane, or simply drizzle some white chocolate on the top for decoration.

Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Using the wax paper liner, lift the chococlate out of the pan. Break the candy cane bark into desired piece-size.

Wrap up in some cellophane and tie with a ribbon, or add to a tin of other baked goods for a perfect holiday gift!