Birthday Bouquet

After seeing this idea on Pinterest, I knew I had to make one for someone's birthday. For Mel's birthday cupcake bouquet I made the Ultimate Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (I subbed vanilla extract for the vanilla paste). I bought a plain terra cotta pot and painted it purple to match the cupcakes. I followed the tutorial pretty closely, and ended up with 9 cupcakes on the bouquet. It took a lot of green tissue paper (and a lot of help from Ryan) to make all the leaves, but I think it was worth it!

Coconut Macaroons

Coconut Macaroons

Last October Birthday! I made these for Sarah's birthday and I was happy to hear that both her and Wilmar really liked them!

Madeleines for Madeline

Orange Scented Madeleines Dipped in Chocolate

These cookies (also referred to as cakes because of their consistency) were for Madi's birthday in October, as well. I think I used the recipe from Joy Of Baking but I'm not positive. I added orange zest because I really like the combination of chocolate and orange (like the chocolate oranges you break open!).

White Chocolate Macademia Nut Cookies

White Chocolate Macademia Nut Cookies

I'm super behind on posts. These cookies are from Melissa's birthday in October. It was so long ago, I can't remember what recipe I used. Oops!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

In celebration of a friend's birthday, I made Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. Learning that he had a love for the classic combination of chocolate and peanut butter, I thought this recipe would be perfect. These thin, peanut buttery cookies are splattered with bits of chopped chocolate, creating a new twist on the chocolate chip cookie.

This recipe in particular seems to be used in various adaptations because I also saw the same recipe on another website swapping nutella for the peanut butter (now a cookie that is high up on the my list to bake). When I was making this recipe I upped the amount of chocolate by quite a bit and ended up using two types of chocolate because that was what I had on hand. I roughly chopped both a 63% cacao bar chocolate and semisweet chocolate chips and mixed them together.

Even though I don't love peanut butter cookies in general, especially the traditional fork smashed variety, these came out pretty tasty. While some came out a little more done/crispy than I would like, the ones that were crisp and chewy at the same time were yummy. It's important not to bake them too long because they will continue to crisp up while they cool. Also, the recipe says it yields 24 cookies, but I used about a tablespoon per cookie and I ended up with 55 good-sized cookies!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup creamy peanut butter

10 oz chocolate, roughly chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper.
2. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and both sugars together until fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. Add vanilla and peanut butter and beat until just incorporated.
4. On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
5. Remove bowl from mixer, and use a spatula to fold in chocolate. 
6. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets, at least 2 inches apart. With your fingers gently press each cookie down so it's flat.
7. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time, until cookies are slightly brown. Do not overbake.
8. Remove pan from oven and cool cookies on baking sheet for 2 minutes then transfer individual cookies to a wire rack to cool.
9. The cookies are best the day of, but can be stored, in an airtight container, for up to 3 days. They will get slightly crunchier, but perfect for dunking in a glass of milk.

Adapted from Food Gal

Happy Birthday, Ryan!

For Ryan's birthday I made him chocolate molten lava cake...ooey, gooey and chocolate-y. I had bought a special pan for making molten cakes, but I didn't use the recipe that came with the pan. This turned out to be a mistake, because the method for the recipe I used just did not work with the pan. I ended up following the recipe and putting the batter into a ramekin, which definitely worked a lot better. Next time, I will use the recipe that goes with the pan and see how that comes out and so the pan doesn't go to waste!

I bought a giant box of Scharfenberger chocolate bars so look forward to many more chocolate recipes...hopefully soon!

P.S. Excuse the grainy picture it's from my iPhone...not that my other pictures are all that great though.

MY Birthday Jelly Roll Cake

Happy Birthday to Me

For my birthday Ryan and I made a Strawberry Jelly Roll Cake. It was a light airy sponge cake with a strawberry whipped cream filling. It was really yummy and a nice light cake overall.

The recipe is from Joy of Baking (again!). We used strawberries instead of raspberries. The strawberries came in a 16 oz package so we just added the puree to the whipped cream until it tasted right. 

Birthday Heath Bar Brownie Bites

Basket of Brownie Bites

For Jeff's birthday I made him Heath Bar Brownie Bites. It was pretty much a basic brownie recipe with the addition of Heath bars (although I would have preferred Skor bars, but my store didn't have them!) and baked in mini muffin tins. I chopped the Heath bars up but some of the pieces were too small which resulted in not so pretty brownie tops. The brownies with some bigger pieces sticking out looked better and probably tasted better, too.

The recipe can be found here.

Birthday Strawberry Jam Bars

Gooey Jam Bars

To celebrate Kevin's birthday I made him Strawberry Jam Bars because I remembered him liking raspberry ones I made a long time ago. I followed the recipe pretty closely but I think I used the whole jar of jam (the recipe calls for one cup of jam, but my jar of jam was a little bit more than that).

I think this recipe is quick and easy and a crowd pleaser...who doesn't love jam? You can change up the jam to whatever you have on hand or whatever you like best. Also, they have a good amount of rolled oats in them so they trick you into thinking they are healthy (with a stick of butter plus all that jam they really aren't that healthy...).

Once again the recipe comes from Joy of Baking!

Too Cute Tassies for Two Cute Twins

Little Pecan Tassies

For Stacy and Steph's birthday I made them Pecan Tassies. They are basically pecan pie made miniature in mini muffin tins. I made a pecan pie for Thanksgiving a few weeks later and I actually prefer these mini versions more. It might be the recipe or it might just be because tassies are just so darn cute!

The recipe comes from one of my favorite baking websites Joy of Baking. I followed the recipe exactly and they came out pretty well. I don't think mine are quite as pretty or uniform as the original recipe but tasty nonetheless. It was a little difficult to push the dough into the mini muffin tins and I realized later that it is important to make sure to push the dough all the way down to avoid air pockets in the finished tassies.

Pecan Tassies are a great alternative to baking a whole pie as they are quick and easy to make and taste just as good (if not better) than a pie. 

Birthday Key Lime Bars

Pretty, Pretty Birthday Lime Bars!

For Madi's birthday I decided to make Martha Stewart's Key Lime Bars. They have a graham cracker crust which I think really complimented the creamy key lime filling. I think I like the graham cracker crust more than a shortbread crust usually found on lemon bars so I might try using this with a lemon bar filling on top. 

This recipe was quite simple, but for me one measurement was really off. The recipe calls for 2/3 cup of key lime juice and says it will take over 20 key limes, but it only took be about 10. I'm not sure if my limes were just extra big or extra juicy, but I would buy extra limes just in case. Also, I'm not sure how necessary the extra 2 1/2 tablespoons of graham cracker crumbs are, but I put it in. I only garnished a couple of the bars with limes because they were being transported but I wouldn't eat the lime garnish anyway so it isn't necessary.

Here is the recipe!

Birthday Macarons

Pink Macarons with Chocolate Ganache

I made more macarons for Melissa's birthday last week. This time I made plain cookies, colored pink, and again filled them with chocolate ganache. They are pink because I was originally going to fill them with strawberry buttercream but it didn't turn out =( Luckily, I think the macarons taste pretty good with chocolate filling. At Berkeley Bowl I found almond meal - already ground almonds, which was lot finer than my mini food processor can get the almonds, resulting in a better texture. I used a different recipe this time and I think I like the results better. Also, I used silpats this time (it helped a lot!) plus I baked them slightly longer, which I think helped the cookies come off the baking sheets more easily.

I found some boxes at a baking supply store and bought a few different ones to see which would work. I think they look really cute in the box, although this isn't a very good picture of them. I added a bow before I gave them to Mel.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
225g powdered sugar
125g almond meal/flour
25g sugar
100g egg whites (about 4), aged

red food coloring (7-8 drops)

chocolate ganache to fill cookies

Directions:

1. DO AHEAD: Separate eggs and place egg whites in a container and cover with plastic wrap. Leave at room temperature for 12-24 hours. 
2. COOKIES: Add a drop of food coloring at a time to the granulated sugar and whisk together until evenly colored (the sugar will be darker than the final macaron). Set aside and let dry (a few minutes).
3. In the meantime, grind the almond meal and powdered sugar in a food processor until thoroughly mixed. 
4. Whip egg whites until foamy, slowly add the granulated sugar and continue to whip until they reach soft peaks and are glossy. Don’t overbeat the whites (some recipes say to beat to stiff peaks but I think that it would be better to beat to soft-medium peaks).
5. Carefully, fold the almond and powdered sugar mixture into the whites with a wide spatula. The mixture should remain shiny and flow easily. 
6. Fill a pastry bag, fitted with a plain round tip (I think mine is about 3/4-in in diameter) with the batter and pipe small rounds baking sheets lined with silpats or parchment paper. Let the macarons rest for 1 hour. 
7. Preheat the oven to 315°F and bake for 13-15 minutes.
8. Let cool completely on baking sheet/silpat then remove from the paper.
9. Match up by size and fill with your choice of filling.

I Couldn't Even Take a Picture Before They Were Gone!

For Karen's birthday bonfire celebration I decided to make Nutella Sandwich Cookies. Everyone I know loves Nutella and these cookies were really yummy! I didn't get a chance to take a picture before the bonfire, which turned out to be a big mistake because they were all gone before I could snap a picture! So, I have the recipe and I will just have to make them again soon....I don't think anyone will mind =)

Mine turned out pretty similar to the original recipe so to see a picture visit Living Eventfully.

Nutella Sandwich Cookie

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt (I might reduce this to 1/2 tsp)
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup Nutella
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Sugar for rolling cookies in
Nutella-Chocolate Ganache (see below)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In your stand mixer bowl place the butter, Nutella and both sugars. On medium low speed, cream together mixture for about 3 minutes.
4. Add the egg and vanilla and blend until combined.
5. Mix in the dry ingredients until just incorporated.
6. Chill dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
7. Shape the cookie dough into 1 inch, about 1 teaspoon sized round balls.
8. Rolls the cookie balls in sugar and place the cookies on a heavy cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
9. Place in oven and bake for 6 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and allow to cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes.
11. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
12. Spoon a small amount of the ganache on to the bottom of one cookie.
13. Top off with another cookie and allow to set.

Nutella-Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:
1/3 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup Nutella

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, heat heavy cream.
2. Put chocolate chips into a medium sized bowl.
3. Remove cream from heat and pour over chocolate chips.
4. Allow to stand for 2 minutes then whisk until smooth.
5. Add in Nutella and mix to combine.

More Brownies!

Brownies (on my CMM plate!)

I made brownies for a couple of friends because it was their birthdays! I used the King Arthur Flour recipe to start with but I reduced the amount of chocolate (the original recipe has A LOT) and I tried using a half sheet pan to bake them. Next time I will use 1.5x the recipe because the brownies came out a little thin because of the size of the pan.

These brownies are pretty chocolate-y even with the reduced amount of chocolate. The recipe has both cocoa powder and chocolate chips. I used Hershey's cocoa and semi-sweet chocolate chips. The recipe here is the one with the alterations I made. You can find the original King Arthur Flour recipe here.

Fudge Brownies

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a half sheet pan (18x13x1).
2. In a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter. Add the sugar and heat the mixture until it is hot, but not bubbling and stir until the some of the sugar as dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
3. Crack the 4 eggs into a bowl and beat with your stand or hand mixer with the cocoa, salt, baking powder and vanilla until smooth.
4. Put your mixture on low and gradually add the butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.
5. Add the flour gradually and mix until just combined.
6. Let the mixture cool for a few minutes, then using a spatula, stir in the chocolate chips.
7. Transfer the batter into the pan and smooth out the top with a spatula.
8. Bake the brownies for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
9. Let the brownies cool before cutting them into pieces.

Enjoy!