Alice In Wonderland Cupcakes!

Just a quick little post today.  No recipes or instructions....just some more of the cuteness coming out of my kitchen!  :)

I had a client ask if I could make "Alice In Wonderland" themed cupcakes for her daughter's 14th Birthday party.  "Sure", I said....no problem!  I might just be a crazy woman, because I have very little experience with fondant.  But maybe I'm not so crazy....because I think these cupcake toppers turned out perfect!

Pretty adorable!  The Blue Caterpillar and the teapots are my favorites but I love the Tweedle Dee/Dum too!!

Chesire Cat is pretty cute too!

Baking and cooking can be such a fun adventure for me, hope that it is for all of you too!

 I hope that you enjoy looking at these adorable cupcakes!  Mostly I hope that you are inspired to step out of your comfort zone and try something new, even if you think you can't do it!

Happy Baking!

~Baker Becky

Black and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm sure that all of you know that "Friends" was the greatest show on television....EVER!  If you didn't know that before, now you do!  You also may not have known that they had a "Friends" cookbook, filled with recipes from dishes made on the show (they also have books, clothing and a trivia game that no one has been able to beat me at yet).  Yes, there was food on the show....Monica was a chef afterall and much of the show takes place in a cafe with cookies and other baked goods.  There are several good recipes but my favorite is the Black and White Chocolate Chip Cookies....really it's just a chocolate cookie with white chocolate chips.  Super yummy, super easy to make and.....it's from "Friends", so it's pretty much the coolest cookie around!  

Just a couple of weeks ago I took the boys to LA and we did the Warner Brother's Studio tour and I got to see the re-creation of the "Friends" set....I even got to sit on the couch from Central Perk!  Pretty cool stuff for a fan of the show (not an obsessed stalker, just a regular old fan....I promise).

Anyways....even if you didn't watch the show (who didn't watch "Friends"?), you will love these cookies!  I make them all the time because they are so quick and easy.  

The recipe makes really large cookies, which I love, but you can also make them smaller.  I have also made these with peanut butter chips instead of the white chocolate!

Make a batch of these cookies to enjoy while you are watching the old "Friends" re-runs!

Enjoy!  :)

Black and White Chocolate Chip Cookies via Friends
Cookbook

1 cup flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375.  Stir the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl and set it aside.  Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.  Beat in the egg and vanilla until smooth.  Slowly beat in the dry intredients.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

For each cookie, drop a little less than 1/4 cup batter onto baking sheet, flatten slightly.  Bake until edges and tops of cookies are set, 15-18 minutes.  Transfer to a rack to cool briefly.

Makes 12 oversized cookies

Recipe Shared On:

Foodie Friends Friday
Chocolate Chocolate and More - Thursday's Treasures

Cuteness, cuteness, cuteness.....

I am not a blogger that posts everyday (or even every week).  I really wish I was, but between school and work, I go through phases where I have no time to put posts together at all.  To my followers, it may appear that I am not baking, but I am ALWAYS baking!  Hee hee!!  

Part of my income comes from baking for customers.  I am mostly a custom order baker but sometimes I put out monthly specials for people to order from.  Sometimes I bake so much that I don't have the time to get the camera going or I do take pictures but they sit on the computer for months, waiting to be edited.  

Today I want to share with you all some of the baking projects that I have done for clients but that I never got around to blogging about.  This post is not about the recipes...it's about the creative cuteness!  

Hope you enjoy some of the cuteness I have to share with you and I hope you are inspired to create some cuteness yourselves!  :)

Minecraft Cupcakes made with fondant!

One of my favorites....

Engagement Ring Sugar Cookies!

Baseball Themed Cupcakes! 

Skull High Cupcakes!

Star Sugar Cookies!

Three Tiered Wedding Cake! (my first)

Football Cupcakes!

Hope you enjoyed and were inspired by the cuteness!  I absolutely LOVE baking and I love to create new baking masterpieces!  So much fun!

Keep on baking!  :)

Brown Butter Cookies with Rolos and Toffee

  
I'm still here!!!  I was so busy with school and working that I haven't completed any of my half written posts (I have about 5 of them).  School is out for the summer and I miss it already. I am part of the ASL and Deaf Studies department at Ohlone College.  My first college experience (500 years ago) was nothing like this.  The students here are like family to me (even with me being so much older than most of them), we all go to classes together, eat lunch together, get together away from school, etc.  Don't get me started on the teachers.....encouraging, sympathetic, loving, supportive....I could go on and on but then you would all want to transfer to my school and I would have to share all of these wonderful people with you!!!

I am very blessed to be part of this department and even more blessed that I was accepted into their Interpreter Preparation Program (one of ten students accepted each year).  I will spend the next two years following my dreams and studying to become a Sign Language Interpreter!  :)  :)  :)  

So....on to baking!  I actually baked these cookies for one of our lunchtime gatherings at school.  They are brown butter cookies with chopped up rolos and toffee and chocolate chips!

I have seen tons of recipes for brown butter this and brown butter that and I finally decided I needed to see what all of the fuss was all about.  They were all correct....brown butter ROCKS!!!!  

I am a big fan of all things caramel and nutty and rich; and browning your butter helps achieve those flavors.  The other plus, besides the fabulous flavor, is that it is very easy to brown butter and you can make this change to pretty much any recipe!

I used my regular chocolate chip cookies recipe and browned the butter, then I added some chopped up candy to make it even more special.  Seriously, who doesn't LOVE toffee?  The rolos were my whimsical addition, mostly because I haven't had a rolo in years and I really wanted to eat them!

This is a really easy recipe, but watch your butter closely!  It takes a while to brown but once it starts turning colors, it goes fast and if you aren't watching it can burn.

Enjoy!!!

Brown Butter Cookies with Rolos and Toffee

2 sticks butter (16 tablespoons)
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped rolos candies
1/2 cup chopped toffee candy bar

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Melt two stick butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. When the butter starts foaming, whisk vigorously, and continue whisking until the butter turns brown and there are little bits on the bottom of the saucepan. Remove the butter from heat and pour it into a large mixing bowl and allow it to cool completely.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

To the cooled brown butter, add in the sugars. Mix for several minutes until the butter and sugars are well combined.  Add in the eggs and vanilla, and mix well.

Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until combined. Fold in the chopped candies.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a heaping tablespoon of cookie dough for each cookie. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are just starting to brown.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for a couple of minutes before transfering the cookies to wire cooling racks.

Recipe shared on:
Tumbleweed Contessa - What'd You Do This Weekend
Food Frenzy
Chocolate, Chocolate and More - Thursday's Treasures
My Turn For Us - Freedom Fridays

Twinkie Cupcakes!

That's right....I did it....I made a cupcake that tastes like a twinkie!  Don't tell me you don't miss twinkies....maybe even just a little bit.  No?  It's just me?  I will admit it, I took the twinkie for granted.  Once a year I would buy that little package of Hostess Twinkies with those two golden twinkie logs.  I would open them up and lick all of that yummy marshmallow filling out and then, eat the empty halves!  Sounds gross?  Nope....it was heavenly.   But only once per year, any more than that and I probably would have gotten sick of them.

I never even bought that "last" twinkie before the company closed.  I figured it was no big deal.  But over time my mind has started to stray to the twinkie.  I'm kinda wishing I'd had just one last twinkie.  

Luckily....these twinkie cupcakes are all over the internet.  The Lady Behind the Curtain makes a pretty convincing twinkie cupcake....it's also really easy to make.  Shhhh....we don't need to tell anyone that we used a box....it can be our little secret!

If you are having a little twinkie craving...try these cupcakes.  Super yummy with that delicious marshmallow filling and the added bonus of a marshmallow buttercream on top!  :)

Enjoy!

Twinkie Cupcakes adapted from Lady Behind the Curtain

Cupcake:
1 yellow cupcake mix

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Follow directions on box but add 1 tablespoon of vanilla to the mix.  I usually get 18-20 cupcakes from one box.  

Cool completely and use a melon baller or sharp knife to core the center of the cupake.


Marshmallow Filling Recipe:
7 ounce jar marshmallow fluff

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


Beat together the marshmallow cream, butter, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla until fluffy. Mixture should be light but not as stiff as frosting.

Scoop filling into a zip top bag, seal tight, and snip off a corner of the bag.  Pipe the filling into each cupcake.  Filling just to the top.



Marshmallow Butter Cream Recipe:
7 ounces marshmallow fluff

1 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

32 ounce confectioners’ sugar

3 to 4 tablespoons water (if needed)

Beat together the fluff, butter, and vanilla until combined and creamy.  Gradually add confectioners’ sugar.  NOTE:  Frosting may be too thick.  If so add 3 to 4 tablespoons of water to frosting ONLY 1 tablespoon at a time until the frosting reaches piping consistency.  Pipe frosting onto cupcakes, careful to cover the filled center. 

Toffee Caramel Rice Krispies Treats Post #100!!!

I don't think I have ever been so absent from blogging as I have these last few weeks.  Between work and school I have hardly had time to sleep.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel...finals next week and then summer break!  But I have really missed blogging, I've missed all of you and I've missed all of my blogging friends.

This post is special to me.....it is #100!!!!!  I've been blogging for over a year now and I finally have my #100 post.  Wooo hooo!  So excited that I have made it this far (especially considering how crazy busy I am with full time work, school and kids).

To celebrate, I made some Caramel Toffee Rice Krispies Treats!  I am really just a kid inside...I love me some rice krispies treats!  Plus...you all know I am a fan of caramel and toffee.  What better combo could there be?

Super easy and yummy!  You could swap out any chopped candy to put in the middle of this gooey treat....pb cups, snickers, rolos, etc!!

Ok...enough blogging...I've gotta get back to work (shhhh....don't tell anyone.....I'm supposed to be working right now)!!

I hope you all have a great weekend and a fabulous Mother's Day to all of you Moms out there!!!!

~B

Toffee Caramel Rice Krispies Treats

Make Kelloggs recipe for rice krispies treats (x2) in two 9 x 13 inch pans.  Set aside to cool.

For the caramel filling:

14 oz. caramel candies, unwrapped

1/3 cup heavy cream

Combine the caramel candies and cream in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.  Heat, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth.   Immediately spread the caramel mixture over one pan of rice krispies treats.  

Assembly:

Take the pan with caramel spread over the treats and sprinkle chopped toffee (can sprinkle any other candy or chocolate chips if you prefer).  Loosen the second pan of treats and invert over the candy mixture, if the treats stick, help them out using a spatula.  Sandwich the two layers together and press down.  The caramel should still be soft, as this works as the glue to hold the two layers together.  Allow the treats to set until the caramel has hardened.  Cut into squares.

ENJOY!!!

Shared on:
Foodie Friends Friday

Lemon Bars

I don't like to brag, but I'm a pretty good baker. Ok....fine....I'm an excellent baker!  Not everything I bake is perfect but I tend to be pretty successful more times than not.  I say all of this because I think you should know......lemon bars do not like me!

I absolutely LOVE lemon bars!  I especially love them when they are on the tart side and when the lemony custard is still creamy while the shortbread crust is flaky.  

Lemon bars are the perfect thing to make when your friends bring over bags of lemons from their trees.  They are yummy and pretty and classy and everyone loves them.  AND....everyone seems to be able to make them...except for me!

I'm sure I'm exaggerating a little too much, I mean....I've probably made them perfectly fine before.  But all I can remember is that the last three times I tried to make them, they didn't turn out.  One time, the crust wasn't done enough.  The next two times, I over baked the filling.  Everyone said they were good, but I wanted creamy perfection!

DONE!  This time, I tried Ina Garten's recipe.  Perfection!  I love that she pre bakes the crust a little bit before adding the filling.  Makes for a flakier crust.  Her recipe calls for a lot of sugar in the filling (3 cups) but I decreased it a bit (used 2 1/2 cups).  Feel free to modify the sugar in the custard to suit your taste.

This recipe is a keeper!  It probably helps that I watched that timer closely to make sure I didn't over bake them.  Success....look at that creamy custard!  I guess the lemon bars like me after all!  :)

Lemon Bars Via Ina Garten
makes 24 squares


For the crust:
1/2 pound butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling:
6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup flour

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.

Cut into squares and dust with confectioners' sugar.

Recipe shared on:
Tumbleweed Contessa - What'd You Do This Weekend
Foodie Friends Friday
Esskunst Food Coaching - Cake Friday Coffee Klatch