Tree to Table

When I was younger my mom and I used to make a three hour drive south every fall to gather apples for the holiday baking season. When the Mister and I moved back to NY last summer I was disappointed to learn that due to the early thaw followed by a cold spell, there were fewer apples available and no local orchards were letting people pick their own. Luckily, this summer was better for apples and all the orchards were back open for picking! So, off we went.

We came home with an entire bushel of apples, close to 30 pounds, which looks like a lot more in my pantry than it did when we were standing in the middle of the orchard.

For my first apple dish I went with the ever popular apple pie. I love making it and the Mister loves eating it!

Next up is a nod to my German heritage with some apfelpfannkuchen, followed eventually by some baked apple oatmeal, and then probably another pie. Not to mention the apple a day that each of us are eating. I'm thinking that 30 pounds may have been too many apples for two people...anyone interested in some delicious baked goods?

As an aside, I'll share this photo to hopefully put a smile on your face. A while back someone that lives in this house and is not me got in a small fight with the container and then put it back in the drawer like nothing happened. Each time I grab for the cling wrap I have to giggle just a little as I imagine how the box came to look this way. Enjoy =)

Honey Bourbon Cupcakes

Sometimes hobbies can be conflicting. In the past couple of years I have fallen in love with being more active. I also love to bake, and have since I was small. These two hobbies don't generally go hand in hand. Last summer I baked something nearly every weekend, this year I have focused more on fitness and have hardly baked at all. Last week I decided that I would whip up a batch of cupcakes over the weekend. No reason, just to bake.

The Mister and I sat down to decide what kind I should make, him on tapiture, me on pinterest (This, just one more example of how geeky our love is). He came upon these tasty little treats at Creative Culinary. So, off to the store we went to retrieve some Honey Burbon.

Both the Mister and myself are night owls, we always have been. We decided to bake these cupcakes at midnight on a Saturday. Baking is usually my thing, but this time the Mister played the role of my Sous Chef and measured out all the ingredients so all I had to do was combine them. He also took on the bourbon drizzle because he is in charge of sauces in this household. It was a wonderful evening!

The recipe we used made delicious cupcakes, but there are a few edits that might make the process a bit easier for the next time. Primarily much smaller batches of bourbon drizzle and buttercream.

For the Cupcakes:

3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp Honey Bourbon (there are a number of options to choose from)
3 Tbsp Milk

For the Bourbon Drizzle:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Honey Bourbon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

For the Buttercream Frosting:
3/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract 1 Tbsp Honey Bourbon

Heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350. Line 12 muffin cups with cupcake liners.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs and vanilla and mix just to incorporate.

Whisk together flour, salt and baking powder. Add to the wet mixture and beat until just combined.

Add the whiskey and milk until just combined.

Divide batter evenly into cups filling each approximately 2/3 full.

Bake for 16 to 20 minutes; test with a toothpick; the top will be firm so make sure the inside is cooked through.

Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

To Make the Bourbon Drizzle

Add all ingredients together in a small pan, bring to a boil and boil for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool before drizzling on cupcakes.

To Make the Buttercream Frosting

Cream butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar.

Add the vanilla and Honey Bourbon and combine thoroughly.

Add the cream 1 Tbsp at a time until your frosting is very light and fluffy and the correct consistency, continue to beat on high for 3-5 minutes until very fluffy.

Pipe the frosting onto cupcakes. Garnish with the Bourbon Drizzle. 

Enjoy =)

Chocolate!

One of the best parts of being on vacation is getting to reconnect with friends that me and the mister don't get to spend a lot of time with on a regular basis. Among all the crafting and Diablo playing, I made sure to fit in a few visits. 

Yesterday, we headed west to visit some friends of ours for dinner. They graciously offered to cook, so I agreed to bring the dessert. Upon asking if there were any requests, I got a response of "chocolate!" nearly instantly. So I hopped on Pinterest to see what I could make that was chocolate. I settled on these little insulin shockers from Beantown Baker.

They are called "quintuple" chocolate cupcakes, but if two layers are the same can you count them separately? Your call. I'm going to refer to them as quadruple chocolate cupcakes. Either way they are delicious, but very, very rich. I was the only one at dinner that made my way through an entire cupcake. (Maybe I should have kept that little secret to myself...nah, I'm ok with it.)

These beauties start with a dark chocolate cake. Then a layer of chocolate cream cheese frosting. Followed by chocolate glaze and chocolate sprinkles. Finally, top them off with another small dollop of cream cheese frosting.

I made a few variations with this batch. I tried a few without the sprinkles, and some with just the cream cheese frosting.

If four different layers of chocolate are too many for you, but you're looking for a great chocolate cake recipe, I would highly recommend this one. I don't make a lot of chocolate cakes or cupcakes, but this recipe may change that. It was an easy recipe and the cake comes out rich and moist. It really doesn't need anything else, it is wonderful on its own. As an added bonus the chocolate is melted from the heat of other ingredients, away from the stove top, so no worries about burnt chocolate. This recipe calls for the batter to sit for an hour at room temperature though, so make sure you aren't in a rush to get it in the oven.

Tonight, we'll head north to visit some of my family. Tomorrow, we'll be going to dinner at another friend's house. Same plan as before...they will be cooking a delicious dinner and I'll bring the dessert (it's kind of my thing). And same as before, when I asked for requests I was met almost instantly with "chocolate!" as the response. So back to Pinterest to find more chocolate masterpieces for me to recreate.