Category: Vanilla

Cookies, Desserts, Disney, Holidays, Macarons, Parties, Star Wars, Vanilla

Christmas Wreath Macarons

by thebusyspatula8 Comments on Christmas Wreath Macarons

Christmas Wreath Macarons 1Am I the only person that thinks that Christmas snuck upon us this year? I feel like I was waiting forever for Thanksgiving and then BAM! Christmas is right around the corner. (Did anyone else think of this Friends’ scene when they read BAM?) I’ve been dreaming of these macarons since December started and I finally had a chance to bake them earlier this week.
Christmas Wreath Macarons 2Is it cold where you live? It’s been freezing in NJ and I am not used to working in a cooler kitchen. The weather must’ve been super dry because my macaron shells set before I was able to place my sprinkles, hence the little cracks in the shell where I tried to force each sprinkle in with a pair of tweezers (kitchen-use-only-tweezers). I have to admit I was getting quite frustrated with making them and then this happened:
Christmas Wreath Macarons 4Here are my attempts at his mug shots.
Christmas Wreath Macarons 5The thing is, Bear, my cat loves to watch me bake and prep food on the kitchen table. He demands to sit on his own chair and Petey (my other cat) was occupying Bear’s usual space. Fed up with watching from the floor, he decided to get up close and onto the table where the trays of macarons were drying. If you don’t know already, macaron batter is sticky and it took forever to get the green goo out of his tiny paws. Not to mention the trail of green batter on the floor he left when he ran away from me.
Christmas Wreath Macarons 3Despite my frustrations making this particular recipe, I think the macarons would make a cute addition to any cookie platter and add a bit of holiday flair. You can also change up the look of the macaron with different sprinkles. Just make sure you put them on before the shells dry out. If you don’t, they’ll just bounce off like hail on cement pavement.

Christmas Wreath Macarons

Ingredients:

212 g. almond meal
212 g. powdered sugar
172 g. egg whites, divided to 82 g. and 90 g (aged, if possible)
236 g. sugar
158 g. water
green gel food color
various sprinkles

Instructions:

  1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
  2. In the bowl of a food processor, add the almond meal and powdered sugar and pulse until thoroughly combined.
  3. Sift the mixture over a large mixing bowl, throwing out the lumps as they appear. Add 82 g. of the egg whites and stir until you get a thick mixture.
  4. In a small pot attached with a candy thermometer, combine the sugar and water over medium heat and boil until the syrup reaches 200˚F.
  5. Once the syrup reaches 200˚F, start whipping the remaining 90 g. in the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment on medium speed until soft peaks are reached.
  6. Once the syrup reaches 248 degrees, remove the pot off the burner and slowly pour the syrup down the side of the mixing bowl with the egg whites on medium speed.
  7. Once the egg whites are fully incorporated, increase the speed to medium high until egg whites form glossy, stiff peaks. Add two drops of the green gel food color and mix until batter turns a bright shade of green.
  8. Mix a ⅓ of the egg white mix to the almond mixture and stir together until the batter is slightly lighter and less pasty. From then on, fold in ⅓ of the egg white mixture at a time until the mixture “flows like magma”.  The mixture should be smooth and run thick ribbons off the spatula.
  9. With a pastry bag fitted with a ¼ in. plain tip, pipe a ring of macaron batter leaving the hole in the center as wide as possible. (If you do not, it will close up when the macaron bakes.)
  10. Before the batter dries, place your sprinkles in the desired area.
  11. The piped batter may have peaks but should smooth away in a minute or two. Let the batter stand until the tops of the macaron batter are dry to the touch, about 30 mins to 1 hour.
  12. Preheat the oven to 275-325˚F. If your oven tends to run hot go for 275˚, if not then 325˚.
  13. Bake 10-13 minutes, until the feet are formed and the tops are smooth. The batter is done when you slightly wiggle it and it starts to come off of the parchment paper / silicone mat.
  14. Let cool and fill.

Basic Vanilla Frosting

Ingredients:
2 c. whole milk
½ c. flour
¼ tsp. salt
1 1b. (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 c. sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

  1. In a saucier pan, put milk, salt and flour and whisk until combined on medium heat.
  2. Continuously whisk mixture until thickened to a pudding like consistency.
  3. Once thickened, strain through a mesh strainer into a bowl with a spatula to remove lumps.
  4. Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the flour mixture and put into the fridge until fully cool.
  5. In a mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, mix the sugar and butter on high speed until fluffy and pale about, 5-10 minutes.
  6. Add the chilled flour mixture and continue to whip on high speed until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is no longer gritty, about 5-10 minutes.
  7. Add the vanilla extract and mix until combined.

*Basic macarons adapted from Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller, Sebastien Rouxel.

Cake Balls, Chocolate, cupcakes, Desserts, Halloween, Holidays, Vanilla

Cute Halloween Bat Cupcakes

by thebusyspatula3 Comments on Cute Halloween Bat Cupcakes

Cute Halloween Bat CupcakesI know I said I would post about my Rebels Party next, but today is Halloween. And if I don’t share this with you now, I would have to wait a whole year to post this! I have a little cousin, J (wait, can I call her “Little J” from now on? A la Gossip girl??), who asks me to make cupcakes for her classroom parties every year. Last year I made these cauldron cupcakes, but it wasn’t an original idea of mine. This year I was bent on doing something unique, and of course every time I thought something was new, Google told me I was wrong. After a solid week of thinking about spiders, cats, ghosts, graveyards, pumpkins, candy corn, witches and other Halloween themed items, I came up with these really cute bat cupcakes.
Cute Halloween Bat Cupcakes 3Start by tinting vanilla frosting to a blue that is similar to the night sky and add some edible gold stars. The bats are made with Oreo truffles which are one of the easiest desserts you can make. You basically mix Oreos and cream cheese and you get these tasty nuggets of goodness. Plus, I used cookie dough Oreos which made them that much more awesome. Stick on some candy eyes, chocolate wings and chocolate covered candy pearls and you’ve got a bat. The moon in the background is made with yellow candy melts sprinkled with sanding sugar to make it glitter. By the way, I hurried my butt to get a few shots of these before the sun went down and that’s the reason I’m lacking more photo content. I love me some fall, but I do not love the short days… no siree.

Halloween Bat Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 ¾ c. all-purpose flour
2 c. sugar
¼ c. natural unsweetened cocoa powder
½ c. Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1. tsp. kosher salt
½ c. vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. strong, hot coffee

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 muffin pans with cupcake liners (24 cups in total).
  2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar, both cocoa powders, baking soda, baking powder and salt until fully combined.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract until combined.
  4. With the mixer speed on low, add the egg mixture to the flour mixture until combined.
  5. Turn off the mixer. With a spatula, scrape the sides of the bowl to fully incorporate the two mixtures.
  6. Turn the mixer on low and slowly add the hot coffee to the batter. Once added, raise the speed to medium until completely homogenous.
  7. Fill cupcake liners with 2/3 full with batter and bake about 15-20 minutes. Checking at 13 minutes for doneness with a toothpick.
  8. Let stand for 5-10 minutes when done, then put onto a cooling rack to fully cool.

Night Sky Frosting

Ingredients:

2 c. whole milk
½ c. flour
¼ tsp. salt
1 1b. (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 c. sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
royal blue gel food color
violet gel food color

Instructions:

  1. In a saucier pan, put milk, salt and flour and whisk until combined on medium heat.
  2. Continuously whisk mixture until thickened to a pudding like consistency.
  3. Once thickened, strain through a mesh strainer into a bowl with a spatula to remove lumps.
  4. Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the flour mixture and put into the fridge until fully cool.
  5. In a mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, mix the sugar and butter on high speed until fluffy and pale about, 5-10 minutes.
  6. Add the chilled flour mixture and continue to whip on high speed until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is no longer gritty, about 5-10 minutes.
  7. Add the vanilla extract and mix until combined.
  8. Add blue and violet gel colors until desired color is reached.

Yellow Moons

Ingredients:

yellow candy melts
yellow sanding sugar

Instructions:

  1. Melt yellow candy melts and pour into a squeeze bottle.
  2. On a sheet pan lined with wax paper, draw and fill in 1 inch wide circles with the squeeze bottle.
  3. Sprinkle yellow sanding sugar while candy melt is still melted.
  4. Let set until use.

Oreo Truffle Bats

Ingredients:

36 Oreos
8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
black candy melts
black candy pearls
small candy eyeballs

Instructions:

  1. Put Oreos in a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs form.
  2. Add softened cream cheese and vanilla extract, and pulse until blended.
  3. Shape into 40 small balls onto a wax paper lined sheet pan and chill until firm.*
  4. Melt the black chocolate candy melt in a tall and narrow bowl or cup and dip chilled truffles using a fork. Let excess drip back into the bowl/cup.
  5. Let the chocolate on the truffle set until firm.
  6. Pour melted chocolate candy melt into a squeeze bottle.
  7. On a separate sheet pan lined with wax paper, draw wings with squeeze bottle. Set aside.
  8. While the wings set, use the black candy melt to adhere candy eyeballs onto the chocolate truffle.
  9. Take a black candy pearl, dip it into melted black candy melt and adhere onto top of the bat’s head. Let set.

Assembly

You will need:

chocolate cupcakes, baked and cooled
night sky frosting
yellow moons
truffle bats
edible gold star glitter
large open star decorating tip

Instructions:

  1. In a pastry bag fitted with a large open star decorating tip, fill with night sky frosting and frost a tall swirl on a chocolate cupcake.
  2. Sprinkle edible gold star glitter all around the sides.
  3. Add a yellow moon towards the back of the cupcake and place a truffle bat (without its wings) onto the center of the cupcake.
  4. Take two wings and position it next to the truffle bat.
  5. Enjoy!

*If mixture is too soft to shape into balls, spoon 40 small separate mounds on a wax paper lined sheet pan and chill.  Once chilled, you should be able to form them into balls.

Chocolate cake recipe adapted from Ina Garten.
Oreo truffle recipe adapted from Kraft.

Cakes, Crepes, Desserts, Fruit, Vanilla

Peaches and Cream Crêpe Cake

by thebusyspatula8 Comments on Peaches and Cream Crêpe Cake

Crêpe Cake 6It’s been a while. Residency was kicking my butt and I ate too well for my birthday week and decided to go on a diet. Two weeks later, residency is still kicking my butt and the diet was a disaster. What happens when a food blogger decides to go on a diet? They lose content. Lesson learned. I won’t do it again. I promise.
Crêpe Cake 3Several weeks ago my good friend, H, brought two slices of crêpe cake from Lady M Confections. If you don’t know already, Lady M is a chain of cake boutiques that specialize in crêpe cakes. I never tried a crêpe cake before and was pleasantly surprised by the delicate layers and the light taste. But when H told me how much she paid, I was shocked at the price tag. $8 for a slice of cake?? As delicious it was, I could not justify that kind of cost and said I would never pay that that much for a slice of cake, ever.
Peaches and Cream Crêpe Cake 1Fast forward two weeks and as my birthday approached closer, I couldn’t help but think of that ridiculously expensive crêpe cake. Do I just bite the bullet and buy it or should I try it on my own? I’ve never attempted at making crêpes at home but it was my birthday, and I decided I would make one if I wanted to.
Crêpe Cake 2I know some people think making your own birthday cake is sad or depressing and until this year, I’ve been blessed with significant others that would buy me the cake of my desire. But you know what, making your own cake is better because you get exactly what you want and how you want it. Plus, if you make a mistake or mess up, you don’t feel guilty or pressured about ruining someone’s special day.
Crêpe Cake 4I had some fresh picked peaches when I went peach picking in August, so I decided to incorporate it into the cake. If I could redo this cake, I would make the crêpes thinner. As a novice, I was worried about it tearing and made them on the thicker side. In hindsight, it wasn’t necessary. So go thin if you decide to make it.
Crêpe Cake 5In the end, it was worth the effort and I suggest eating it immediately after caramelizing the sugar.  Because when you take a bite of the crisp bits of sugar with the light cake, you will be in heaven. Plus when you refrigerate it, the sugar melts and you get an odd syrup that may or may not pool all over your refrigerator shelf. (Yes, this happened. No, I was not fun cleaning it up.)

Peaches and Cream Crêpe Cake

For the Crêpes

Ingredients:
6 tbsp. butter
3 c. milk
6 large eggs
1 ½ c. all-purpose flour
7 tbsp. sugar
pinch kosher salt

Instructions

  1. Prepare the batter a day before you want to serve the cake.
  2. In a small saucepan, melt and brown the butter.
  3. In a separate saucepan, heat the milk and cool for 10 minutes. (Do not boil milk.)
  4. In a food processor, pulse eggs, flour, sugar and salt until fully combined.
  5. Add milk and butter and pulse until fully combined.
  6. Refrigerate batter for 8-24 hours.
  7. On the day of, bring the batter to room temperature.
  8. Heat a 6” nonstick pan and spray the pan with nonstick spray and wipe off.
  9. Spread 3 tbsp. of batter and swirl to cover the pan.
  10. Cook until the bottom begins to brown and flip the crêpe cook the other side until it sets.
  11. Repeat until all of the batter is used.

For the Pastry Cream

Ingredients:
2 c. milk
¼ c. sugar
2 egg yolks
1 egg
¼ c. cornstarch
¼ c. sugar
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

  1. Prepare the pastry cream a day before you want to serve the cake.
  2. In a medium saucepan, bring milk and ¼ c. sugar to a boil.
  3. In another medium bowl, mix egg yolks, egg, cornstarch and ¼ c. sugar until a paste forms.
  4. Using a ladle, drizzle a ladleful of milk while continuously whisking the egg mixture. Continue to drizzle in hot milk a little at a time until you mix in ¾ of the milk.
  5. Take the egg milk mixture and pour it into the saucepan with the remaining milk.
  6. Cook the mixture while stirring constantly over medium heat until mixture is thickened and pudding like.
  7. Remove saucepan from heat and mix in butter and vanilla extract. Set aside.

To Assemble

Ingredients:
1 ½ c. heavy cream
3 tbsp. powdered sugar
2 tbsp. Kirsch
3 large very ripe peaches, cut into small bits
granulated or powdered sugar for garnish (optional)
sliced peaches for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

  1. Whip the heavy cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form.
  2. Fold in prepared pastry cream, Kirsch and peaches.
  3. Lay two crêpes on a cake plate. Using an offset spatula, spread a thin layer of peach pastry cream. Cover with a crêpe and repeat until all the crêpes are used. Save the best looking crêpe for the top.
  4. Chill for at least 2 hours to set.
  5. When ready to serve, you can:
    1. Dust the top with powdered sugar.
    2. Sprinkle the top with granulated sugar and caramelize with a blowtorch.
    3. Garnish the top with sliced peaches, sprinkle the top with granulated sugar and caramelize with a blowtorch.

Crepe Cake recipe adapted from NY Times.

Chocolate, Cookies, Desserts, Macarons, Vanilla

Chocolate Frosted Flake Macarons

by thebusyspatula13 Comments on Chocolate Frosted Flake Macarons

Chocolate Frosted Flake Macarons 2I tend to pair certain foods with particular people.  Frosted Flakes is one of them.  My grandmother started every morning with a bowl of frosted flakes while doing her daily Bible reading with her red pen.  I woke up particularly early yesterday morning and that certain memory came to mind.  Plus, the weather was unusually cool and dry and perfect for macarons.   Call it fate, but that’s how this macaron flavor was born.Chocolate Frosted Flake Macarons 7I know, I know.  Frosted Flake macarons?  It sounds odd, but it’s really good!  I even brought them out with me yesterday and someone noted that it might’ve been the best macaron he ever had.
Chocolate Frosted Flake Macarons 3It starts with a vanilla macaron base.  (The speckles are from the almond skins my almond flour had.)  Then, it’s filled with a salted milk jam* filling, to mimic that sweet milk you get when you eat Frosted Flakes.  The tops are dipped into melted sweet chocolate and garnished with a few Frosted Flakes.  Chocolate Frosted Flake Macarons 1I really love how the Frosted Flakes stand up and add an architectural look to them.  They’re pretty to look at and they’re grrrreat to eat.
Chocolate Frosted Flake Macarons 5

Chocolate Frosted Flake Macarons

You will need:
yellow vanilla macaron shells
salted milk jam filling
semi-sweet chocolate, melted
frosted flakes

Basic French Macarons

Ingredients:
212 g. almond meal
212 g. powdered sugar
172 g. egg whites, divided to 82 g. and 90 g (aged, if possible)
236 g. sugar
158 g. water
yellow gel food color

Instructions:

  1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
  2. In the bowl of a food processor, add the almond meal and powdered sugar and pulse until thoroughly combined.
  3. Sift the mixture over a large mixing bowl, throwing out the lumps as they appear.  Add 82 g. of the egg whites and stir until you get a thick mixture.
  4. In a small pot attached with a candy thermometer, combine the sugar and water over medium heat and boil until the syrup reaches 200˚F.
  5. Once the syrup reaches 200˚F, start whipping the remaining 90 g. in the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment on medium speed until soft peaks are reached.
  6. Once the syrup reaches 248 degrees, remove the pot off the burner and slowly pour the syrup down the side of the mixing bowl with the egg whites on medium speed.
  7. Once the egg whites are fully incorporated, increase the speed to medium high until egg whites form glossy, stiff peaks.  Add two drops of the yellow gel food color and mix until batter turns a light shade of yellow.
  8. Mix a ⅓ of the egg white mix to the almond mixture and stir together until the batter is slightly lighter and less pasty.  From then on, fold in ⅓ of the egg white mixture at a time until the mixture “flows like magma”.  The mixture should be smooth and run thick ribbons off the spatula.
  9. With a pastry bag fitted with a ½ in. plain tip, pipe 1¼ – 1½ in. rounds.
  10. The piped batter may have peaks but should smooth away in a minute or two.  Let the batter stand until the tops of the macaron batter are dry to the touch, about 30 mins to 1 hour.
  11. Preheat the oven to 275-325˚F.  If your oven tends to run hot go for 275˚, if not then 325˚.
  12. Bake 10-13 minutes, until the feet are formed and the tops are smooth.  The batter is done when you slightly wiggle it and it starts to come off of the parchment paper / silicone mat.
  13. Let cool and fill.

Salted Milk Jam Filling

Ingredients:
1 c. dulce de leche (either from a jar or homemade)
1 batch of vanilla frosting (recipe below)
a generous pinch of Maldon salt

Instructions:

  1. Mix dulce de leche, vanilla frosting and Maldon salt until combined.  If the filling is too soft to pipe, chill in the freezer for about 5-10 minutes.  Checking every 3 minutes for the correct consistency.

Basic Vanilla Frosting

Ingredients:
½ c. whole milk
3tbsp. flour
⅛ tsp. salt
4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

  1. In a saucier pan, put milk, salt and flour and whisk until combined on medium heat.
  2. Continuously whisk mixture until thickened to a pudding like consistency.
  3. Once thickened, strain through a mesh strainer into a bowl with a spatula to remove lumps.
  4. Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the flour mixture and put into the fridge until fully cool.
  5. In a mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, mix the sugar and butter on high speed until fluffy and pale about, 5-10 minutes.
  6. Add the chilled flour mixture and continue to whip on high speed until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is no longer gritty, about 5-10 minutes.
  7. Add the vanilla extract and mix until combined.

Assembly

  1. Dip half of the macaron shells into the melted semi sweet chocolate.
  2. Place about 3 Frosted Flakes on top of each chocolate dipped macaron shell.
  3. Let set in freezer for about 5 minutes.
  4. While the chocolate macaron shells are chilling, fill the other half of the macaron shells with the salted milk jam.
  5. Top the milk jam macaron shell with chocolate macaron shell and enjoy!

*I always thought that milk jam was a lighter, less caramel version of dulce de leche.  But after searching the internet, it turns out they’re the same thing.
**Basic macarons adapted from Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller, Sebastien Rouxel

Caramel, Chocolate, Cookies, Desserts, Ice Cream, Macarons, Vanilla

Karamel Sutra Macarons (Chocolate Caramel Macarons)

by thebusyspatula6 Comments on Karamel Sutra Macarons (Chocolate Caramel Macarons)

Ice Cream MacaronsI love ice cream.  In high school, I used to eat an entire pint of ice cream in one sitting without blinking an eye.  It was a habit that quickly stopped once I started counting calories in college.  Yes the number of calories scared me, but I didn’t love it any less.
Ice Cream MacaronOne of my favorite ice cream is Karamel Sutra from Ben and Jerry’s.  Featuring “a core of soft caramel encircled by chocolate & caramel ice creams & fudge chips”, it is a sinfully indulgent treat.  I’ve been haunted by the idea of putting macarons on mini ice cream cones for the longest time. So, I decided to take the plunge with one of my all-time favorites.
Ice Cream MacaronsIce Cream MacaronsSitting on top of a caramel filled cone and chocolate frosting, this macaron has a chewy caramel center that is encased by chocolate frosting.  It is delightfully charming and insanely delicious.  So delicious in fact, the entire batch disappeared within one night! (FYI This is pretty rare.)
Ice Cream Macarons

Karamel Sutra Macarons
(Chocolate Caramel Mini Ice Cream Macarons)

You will need:
Mini Ice Cream Cones
Macarons
Chocolate Frosting
Salted Caramel Filling
Whipped Cream (Optional)
Sprinkles (Optional)
Maldon Salt (Optional)

Basic French Macarons
Adapted from Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller, Sebastien Rouxel

Ingredients:
212 g. almond meal
212 g. powdered sugar
172 g. egg whites, divided to 82 g. and 90 g (aged, if possible)
236 g. sugar
158 g. water

Instructions:

  1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
  2. In the bowl of a food processor, add the almond meal and powdered sugar and pulse until thoroughly combined.
  3. Sift the mixture over a large mixing bowl, throwing out the lumps as they appear.  Add 82 g. of the egg whites and stir until you get a thick mixture.
  4. In a small pot attached with a candy thermometer, combine the sugar and water over medium heat and boil until the syrup reaches 200˚F.
  5. Once the syrup reaches 200˚F, start whipping the remaining 90 g. in the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment on medium speed until soft peaks are reached.
  6. Once the syrup reaches 248 degrees, remove the pot off the burner and slowly pour the syrup down the side of the mixing bowl with the egg whites on medium speed.
  7. Once the egg whites are fully incorporated, increase the speed to medium high until egg whites form glossy, stiff peaks.  Add two drops of the pink gel food color and mix until batter turns a light shade of pink.
  8. Mix a ⅓ of the egg white mix to the almond mixture and stir together until the batter is slightly lighter and less pasty.  From then on, fold in ⅓ of the egg white mixture at a time until the mixture “flows like magma”.  The mixture should be smooth and run thick ribbons off the spatula.
  9. With a pastry bag fitted with a ½ in. plain tip, pipe 1¼ – 1½ in. rounds.
  10. The piped batter may have peaks but should smooth away in a minute or two.  Let the batter stand until the tops of the macaron batter are dry to the touch, about 30 mins to 1 hour.
  11. Preheat the oven to 275-325˚F.  If your oven tends to run hot go for 275˚, if not then 325˚.
  12. Bake 10-13 minutes, until the feet are formed and the tops are smooth.  The batter is done when you slightly wiggle it and it starts to come off of the parchment paper / silicone mat.
  13. Let cool and fill.

Salted Caramel Filling

Ingredients:
1 c. sugar
3 tbsp. light corn syrup
3 tbsp. water
¾ c. heavy cream
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temp
½ tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

  1. In a small pot, mix and boil sugar, corn syrup and water until a golden amber color forms.
  2. While the sugar mixture is boiling, mix the heavy cream, unsalted butter, kosher salt, and vanilla in a separate bowl.
  3. When the sugar mixture turns amber, add the cream mixture.  Be careful!  It will bubble up and create a lot of steam.
  4. Attach a candy thermometer and cook sugar mixture until the mixture reaches 235 degrees.
  5. Promptly remove to a large glass spout cup and cool.
  6. Once cooled, transfer into a squeeze bottle.

Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:
⅔ c. all-purpose flour
⅓ c. cocoa powder
1 c. milk
⅛ tsp. salt
8 oz. butter
⅔ c. sugar
8 oz. chocolate, melted and cooled
½ tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

  1. In a saucier pan, put milk, salt, cocoa powder and flour and whisk until combined on medium heat.
  2. Continuously whisk mixture until thickened to a pudding like consistency.
  3. Once thickened, strain through a mesh strainer into a bowl with a spatula to remove lumps.
  4. Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the flour mixture and put into the refrigerator until fully cool.
  5. In a mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, mix the sugar and butter on high speed until fluffy and pale about, 5-10 minutes.
  6. Add the chilled flour mixture and continue to whip on high speed until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is no longer gritty, about 5-10 minutes.
  7. Add the vanilla extract and melted chocolate and mix until combined.
  8. Fill frosting in a piping bag fitted with a ¼ or ½ in. plain piping tip.

Assembly:

If the filling has cooled too much at any point of the assembly, rewarm in the microwave for 15-20 seconds until fluid once more.

  1. On one cooled macaron shell, frost a round dam around the edge of the cookie.
  2. Put into freezer to set frosting for 5 minutes.
  3. Fill the inside of the macaron with caramel filling. Top with another macaron shell.
  4. In a mini ice cream cone, fill about 1/3 of the way with caramel filling.  Pipe a round of chocolate frosting onto the lip of the ice cream cone.  It should look somewhat like a doughnut. (As shown in the above photo.)
  5. Put an assembled macaron on top of the chocolate frosting on the ice cream cone and set in the freezer for about 5 minutes.
  6. From here you can enjoy as is or go further with your decorations:
    1. Top your macaron with another macaron for a double scoop effect. (As shown in the above photo.)
    2. Top your macaron with reserved caramel filling and sprinkle with maldon sea salt (or any other flaky sea salt you have on hand). (As shown in the above photo.)
    3. Top your macaron with reserved caramel filling and top with whipped cream and sprinkes. (As shown in the above photo.)
Cakes, Chocolate, Desserts, Holidays, Vanilla

Easter Bunny Surprise Cake

by thebusyspatula1 Comment on Easter Bunny Surprise Cake

Easter bunny cake 1Here comes Peter Cottontail, Hoppin’ down the bunny trail… was the song that was running through my head when I thought of this cake.  Can you imagine the look of surprise people will give you when you cut into this?  Unfortunately for me, my family saw every step of the assembly and expected it when I cut into this cake.  Learn from my mistake, and keep it secret when you give it a try.
Easter bunny cake 2The great thing about this technique is that it is adaptable to many holidays and special occasions.  Off the top of my head, you could do tulips for Mother’s Day, a bat for Halloween, and even alternating red, white, and blue stars for Independence Day.  I think I may be giving away future blog posts so I’ll just stop here.
Easter bunny cake 3My only caveat to you is: 1) measure to make sure your cutouts will fit into the loaf pan (both horizontally and vertically) and 2) to keep your cutout design simple because you will lose the finer details when the cake bakes.  Other than that, I hope you have fun trying this cake!  Don’t worry, at this point I’m so tired of bunnies and Easter eggs, you will probably not see any more posts of them until next spring. 😀

Easter bunny cake 4

Easter Bunny Surprise Cake

You will need:
1 Batch of Pink Sheet Cake
1 Batch of Yellow Cake
1 Batch of Green Frosting
1 Batch of Chocolate Frosting
Bunny Cookie Cutter
Mini Chocolate Eggs
Grass Frosting Tip (Optional)

Pink Sheet Cake

Ingredients:
1 ½ c. all purpose flour
1 c. sugar
½ tbsp. baking powder
⅛ tsp. salt
¾ buttermilk, divided
4 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature
2 eggs,  room temperature
1 egg yolk
¼ tsp. vanilla extract
Pink gel food coloring

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
  2. In a bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, add flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix until combined.
  3. On low speed, add ½ c. buttermilk and butter and mix until combined.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, egg yolk, ¼ c. buttermilk, and vanilla extract until homogenous.
  5. On low speed, slowly add the egg mixture to the flour mixture.
  6. Increase speed to medium, and mix until combined.
  7. On low speed, add pink food coloring until desired color is reached.
  8. Spread batter onto the sheet pan until fully covered.
  9. Bake 10-12 minutes until cake is set.
  10. Let cool.
  11. Cut out bunny shapes. (as shown above)
  12. Chill in freezer.

Yellow Cake

Ingredients:
1 c. cake flour
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 ⅓  c. sugar
¾ tbsp. baking powder
⅛ tsp. salt
1 c. buttermilk, divided
6 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature
3 eggs, room temperature
1 egg yolk
½ tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F and line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
  2. In a bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, add flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix until combined.
  3. On low speed, add ¾ c. buttermilk and butter and mix until combined.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, egg yolk, ¼ c. buttermilk, and vanilla extract until homogenous.
  5. On low speed, slowly add the egg mixture to the flour mixture.
  6. Increase speed to medium, and mix until combined.
  7. Spread batter until ¼-½ in. up the loaf pan.
  8. Stack the chilled cake cutouts side by side, horizontally, without any spaces in between.
  9. Place the stacked cake cutouts into the center of the cake pan, carefully making sure no gaps form in between.
  10. Spread rest of the batter into cake pan.
  11. Bake 30-45 minutes until cake is done or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  12. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, and then flip onto a cooling rack until completely cool.

Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:
⅔ c. all-purpose flour
⅓ c. cocoa powder
1 c. milk
⅛ tsp. salt
8 oz. butter
⅔ c. sugar
8 oz. chocolate, melted and cooled
½ tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

  1. In a saucier pan, put milk, salt, cocoa powder and flour and whisk until combined on medium heat.
  2. Continuously whisk mixture until thickened to a pudding like consistency.
  3. Once thickened, strain through a mesh strainer into a bowl with a spatula to remove lumps.
  4. Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the flour mixture and put into the refrigerator until fully cool.
  5. In a mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, mix the sugar and butter on high speed until fluffy and pale about, 5-10 minutes.
  6. Add the chilled flour mixture and continue to whip on high speed until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is no longer gritty, about 5-10 minutes.
  7. Add the vanilla extract and melted chocolate and mix until combined.
  8. Smooth chocolate frosting over the loaf cake, and place in the freezer

Green Frosting:

Ingredients:
½ c. whole milk
¼ c. flour
⅛ tsp. salt
2 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature
½ c. sugar
¼ tsp. vanilla extract
green gel food coloring

Instructions:

  1. In a saucier pan, put milk, salt and flour and whisk until combined on medium heat.
  2. Continuously whisk mixture until thickened to a pudding like consistency.
  3. Once thickened, strain through a mesh strainer into a bowl with a spatula to remove lumps.
  4. Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the flour mixture and put into the fridge until fully cool.
  5. In a mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, mix the sugar and butter on high speed until fluffy and pale about, 5-10 minutes.
  6. Add the chilled flour mixture and continue to whip on high speed until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is no longer gritty, about 5-10 minutes.
  7. Add the vanilla extract and mix until combined.
  8. Add green frosting until desire colored is reached.
  9. Add a thin layer of green frosting to top of cake.
  10. Chill cake in freezer for 3-5 minutes.
  11. Optional: Put the green frosting into a piping bag fitted with the grass frosting tip and pipe grass all over top of chilled cake.
  12.  Garnish top of cake with mini chocolate eggs.
Chocolate, cupcakes, Desserts, Fruit, Vanilla

Neapolitan Cupcakes

by thebusyspatula3 Comments on Neapolitan Cupcakes

Neapolitan Cupcakes 1I believe that most of the world is split between two factions: chocolate and vanilla.  You love one more than the other. 
Neapolitan Cupcakes 2But then there is a small cluster of us who like them all: chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.  We stand in front of grocery freezers and ice cream parlors for minutes on end trying to choose.  “They all sound good!”  “I can go for all of them!”  We secretly like having to share with someone who is in the chocolate or vanilla faction just to avoid making a final decision.

Neapolitan Cupcakes 4This cupcake is for us.  You get the fruity tart strawberry with the sweet lightness of vanilla and dark richness of chocolate.  All rolled into one.  No more time wasted on your preference.  Think of the time you’ll save!

Neapolitan Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes
Recipe Adapted from Ina Garten

Ingredients:
1 ¾ c. all-purpose flour
2 c. sugar
¼ c. natural unsweetened cocoa powder
½ c. Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1. tsp. kosher salt
½ c. vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. strong, hot coffee

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 muffin pans with cupcake liners (24 cups in total).
  2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar, both cocoa powders, baking soda, baking powder and salt until fully combined.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract until combined.
  4. With the mixer speed on low, add the egg mixture to the flour mixture until combined.
  5. Turn off the mixer.  With a spatula, scrape the sides of the bowl to fully incorporate the two mixtures.
  6. Turn the mixer on low and slowly add the hot coffee to the batter.  Once added, raise the speed to medium until completely homogenous.
  7. Fill cupcake liners with 2/3 full with batter and bake about 15-20 minutes. Checking at 13 minutes for doneness with a toothpick test.*
  8. Let stand for 5-10 minutes when done, then put onto a cooling rack to fully cool.

Strawberry Puree

Ingredients:
3 cups of strawberries, smashed
1 tsp. lemon juice

Instructions:

  1. In a small pot, cook strawberries and lemon juice on medium heat until mixture thickens and reduces 1/3-1/2 of the original volume, about 5-10 minutes.
  2. Once thickened, put in a bowl to cool and refrigerate.

Basic Vanilla Frosting

Ingredients:
2 c. whole milk
½ c. flour
¼ tsp. salt
1 1b. (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 c. sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

  1. In a saucier pan, put milk, salt and flour and whisk until combined on medium heat.
  2. Continuously whisk mixture until thickened to a pudding like consistency.
  3. Once thickened, strain through a mesh strainer into a bowl with a spatula to remove lumps.
  4. Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the flour mixture and put into the fridge until fully cool.
  5. In a mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, mix the sugar and butter on high speed until fluffy and pale about, 5-10 minutes.
  6. Add the chilled flour mixture and continue to whip on high speed until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is no longer gritty, about 5-10 minutes.
  7. Add the vanilla extract and mix until combined.

Strawberry Frosting

Ingredients:
1 batch of strawberry puree
⅔ batch of vanilla frosting

Instructions:

  1. Mix vanilla frosting with ½ of strawberry puree until the mixture turns strawberry pink and fluffy.
  2. Give mix a taste and if not flavored enough, add puree ¼ at a time until desired flavor is reached.

* The toothpick test: insert a toothpick into a cupcake and if the toothpick comes out clean or with a few crumbs clinging to it, it is done.