Monday, June 23, 2008
Sidebar on Raspberry Ricotta Cupcakes
That might be why quirky cupcakes photos are of them baked without liners and there is no mention of liners in her blog! Hmmmmmm......
Oh, well. Live and learn.
Love Big, Bake Often.
Raspberry Lemon Ricotta Cupcakes
Here’s the recipe for those that might be interested in trying them.
Ricotta and Raspberry Cupcakes
1 cup ricotta
3 eggs
1 1/3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 cup fresh raspberries
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Separate egg whites from yolks. Beat yolks with sugar then add ricotta. Beat until smooth. Add flour. Then add the lemon zest. In a separate bowl beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until they are stiff. When stiff, fold delicately into the ricotta batter. Fill cupcake pan 2/3 full. Push in 3 raspberries into each cupcake.
Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.
After pushing in the raspberries to be baked:

Don't they look pretty?

The finished product:

I am definitely going to make these again, and experiment with different fruit. And I am so going to have a couple for breakfast!
Have a good baking day!
Love Big, Bake Often.
Orange Cont'
So I had to make something else to fill the cupcakes. I made a yummy decadent mousse. Straight up semi sweet chocolate mousse. It was so delicious. And it turned out great. So I decided to add the orange flavour into the cake batter and frosting. Which was a very good idea.
So here are some pictures and recipes for you:
The cuppies being filled!

The finished product:

Chocolate cupcakes:
6oz semi sweet chocolate
¾ cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp orange extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl, stir to combine and set aside. Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler. Pour mixture into bowl of a mixer. Beat in sugar, vanilla, and orange extract until combined. Add the eggs one at a time. Scraping sides in between additions, alternating between the sour cream and flour mixture, ending with the flour mixture. Fill the liners 2/3 full and bake for 14 – 16 minutes.
We all liked the cake, they were rich and decadent. They held up well for holding the filling, too.
Chocolate Orange Cream Cheese Frosting: (adapted from quirky cupcake)
6 oz cream cheese
4 tbsp butter
¼ cup cocoa powder
3 ½ cups powdered sugar (approx.)
1 tbsp rehydrated orange peel
1 tsp orange oil or extract
Cream together cream cheese and butter.
Add cocoa powder
Add orange extract
Add powdered sugar until you reach the consistency you want to frost your cupcakes.
Fold in orange peel.
There you go. Yummy chocolate goodness.
Love Big, Bake Often
Friday, June 20, 2008
Orange!

Monday, June 16, 2008
Fudge Day!
Chocolate Fudge with Marshmallows
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups mini marshmallows
Line a 13x9 inch baking dish with plastic wrap and spray lightly with cooking spray.
Microwave chocolate chips and milk together til chips have melted (follow instructions on package to melt in a microwave) and mixture is smooth. Add vanilla. Pour over marshmallows and mix until marshmallows are fully coated. Press into pan, refridgerate until solid, then remove from pan and cut. And eat with a tall glass of milk.
I haven't downloaded the pics I took yet, but will post them when I do. It's pretty tasty, Jake and I had to try it.
Love Big, Bake Often
Father's Day Cupcakes and Breakfast

Caramel - Heat one can of sweetened condensed milk over a double boiler, stirring frequently until it thickens and takes on a caramel colour (1 hour, approx.). Simple and yummy. I have whipped in 1 cup of peanut butter to make a peanut butter caramel to fill chocolate cupcakes and it was divine!
Jakob and I also made pancakes for Daddy and topped them with fresh strawberries and freshly made whipped cream. Daddy was impressed and full! I then sent them off to work off breakfast at Bounce U. It was Jason's first time there and he had so much fun. They came home sweaty and tired - naps for both.

Thursday, June 12, 2008
Cupcake Hero
Onto this months challenge… MELON! Melon is not one of my favourite flavours. I am not a big watermelon eater in the summer. I do enjoy honeydew or cantelope in my fruit salad, but I wouldn’t say that I go out of my way to eat it. So this is going to be quite a challenge for me. Melon. Hmmm…. Any suggestions? Maybe bake a cupcake with a drink recipe? I just made some cosmo cupcakes which were really yummy, so what drinks use melon schnapps or liquor?
Please let me know what you think and what ideas you might have.
Love Big, Bake Often
Follow up on the Banana Oatmeal Cookies
I am going to ask for more detailed critique from the moms and see if there is anything that I should change in the recipe. I am hoping to fine tune some recipes and really make an effort to make GREAT baked goods. Might be a collection of recipes in the future.
Love Big, Bake Often
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
First Post - Play Groups

Here's the recipe (adapted and changed from Allrecipes)
Oatmeal Banana Cookies
Cream together 1/2 cup softened butter, 1/2 cup applesauce, 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar til light and fluffy. Add 2 eggs and 1 t vanilla and continue to cream together. In a separate bowl sift together 1 3/4 cups flour, 1 t baking soda and 1 t cinnamon. Mix the dry ingredients in with the wet. When fully encorporated, blend in 4 mashed bananas. When all this is nicely together, add 1 3/4 cups of oatmeal, 3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips and 3/4 cup raisins. That's it. Nice and simple. Place tablespoons of the quite wet (for a cookie) batter onto ungreased cookie sheets and bake in a 375 degree oven for 10 - 12 minutes or until the edges turn brown. Cool for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.
These taste yummy warm. Make sure to have a glass of milk handy too!
Will let you know what the Mommys and Kiddos think.
Love Big, Bake Often.