Go Big Or...

For me, and maybe for others, it just seems I have days when breakfast seems like the perfect meal, no matter what time of day. Waffles, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, biscuits, orange juice, you name it... it all seems to hit the right spot. Cinnamon rolls also always seem to be a staple at breakfast time. I have two great memories of cinnamon rolls. The first being my grandmother. Breakfast was always a grazing process at her house; as a feast was made with every meal and breakfast was no exception. With these breakfast feasts salt was always the main flavor then you ended with just a kiss of sweetness from the canned pillsbury cinnamon rolls, orange cinnamon rolls, those are my dad's favorite. Orange cinnamon rolls seemed to be the dessert of breakfast. My mom also has a version and uses my great grandmother, Ga-ga's, cinnamon roll recipe. These are different in that they are more of a cinnamon biscuit, light and airy with less sweetness, more spice and showed up around Sunday afternoon. These rolls were a meal all to their own. Each one of these rolls are unique to themselves but each one allows me to have a special memory with different family members. Growing up my mom always encouraged us to be creative, find ways to use our talents, and always be willing to be true to ourselves. Baking has always been a fun outlet for me, it allows me to be creative, think outside of the box and experiment with new ideas. I wanted to find/create a recipe that brought these two memories together, a marriage of flavors and textures. During this process my original thought was to make a cupcake that consisted of a cinnamon roll taste but in cake form. However, I could never settle on the right formula, the right dough, and I ended up with a recipe that put a cinnamon roll into a cupcake liner, creating the perfect sized roll to enjoy. I altered a Paula Deen recipe from her website for the rolls and she surely spares no expenses when it comes to baking. Every turn there is butter and sugar and these cinnamon rolls are a testament to the statement that sometimes bigger can be better. These orange cinnamon rolls are plump, gooy, delicious and make enough to share for weeks. These rolls gave me the feeling of homemade goodness combined with just the right amount of pillsbury's sticky sweetness.

ORANGE CINNAMON ROLLS

ROLL

2 cups 2% milk

1 tbs dry active yeast

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp salt

6 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 eggs

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

In a saucepan or microwave, warm milk to about 110 degree Fahrenheit.

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar into the milk.

Add salt and two cups of flour and beat for two minutes.

Beat in eggs and butter.

Next stir in the remaining flour at half cup each time, and beat until well incorporated each time.

Flour a large surface area and your hands and place dough on top.

Knead dough for about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.

Flour the bowl the dough came from and place dough back into bowl and cover with a towel.

Set the dough in a warm place and allow to rise for about 40 minutes - 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Once dough has risen, flour a LARGE surface area for dough to be rolled out on.

Flour the rolling pin and begin to roll out dough until it is approximately 1/4" thick.

Allow to rest while working on filling.

FILLING

1/2 cup unsalted butter, divided and melted into two separate 1/4 cups

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 tbs cinnamon

1 cup chopped pecans

1 orange

Fill two cup cake pans with cup cake liners (will make 24 rolls).

Zest 1 large orange into a large bowl and set aside.

Juice the zested orange into a small bowl and set side.

Melt only 1/4 cup butter and mix with the freshly juiced orange.

Using a pastry brush evenly spread the butter and orange mixture on top of the dough.

Next with the bowl the orange zest is in, mix in the sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Stir until all ingredients are well incorporated. 

Spread this mixture evenly on top of the dough (on top of the butter/orange mixture). Make sure there is     an empty one inch border left on all sides.

Tightly roll dough over itself, on the longest perimeter, back to front, so that a long log forms.

Slice the log into 24 even pieces.

Place each piece of log into a liner. You may have to work the log to fit into the liner, this can easily be done by folding the ends together to make a c and pushing into the liner. (Just channel Tim Gunn from Project Runway and think to yourself.. Make it work!)

Place cupcakes in a warm place and allow to rest for 30 - 40 minutes, they will continue to rise some.

While resting in a warm place, preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.

Remove from warm place and melt the remaining 1/4 cup and distribute evenly over each roll.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. 

ICING

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1 package 8 oz cream cheese

1 lb. confectioner's sugar

While rolls are baking make icing.

Using an electric mixer whip butter and cream cheese until one smooth mixture.

Once smooth, slowly incorporate confectioner's sugar, there should be no lumps.

Heavily ice (as if you were icing a cupcake) the cinnamon rolls while they are still hot so that the icing melts (or microwave later to help icing melt) and enjoy!

One Bite... Part II.

As a post Valentines Day date, Bryan and I visited The Melting Pot. We had both been there several times before but had never done the dessert course. This time we decided to go all out, we were going to try everything The Melting Pot had to offer. As a result, I must say it was one of the best decisions Bryan and I have ever made in our life, as little of a decision it might have been. We decided on the peanut butter and chocolate fondu and it did not disappoint. We had marshmallows rolled in chocolate cookie crumbles (Bryan's favorite), strawberries, cheesecake, brownies, you name it we were dipping it into chocolate. Each bite just melted in your mouth. After our visit I knew I needed to create something that rivaled the flavors we had that night. I needed to make something that was more readily available and didn't require a fondu set up every night. It needed to have the big bang but with out all the jazz. I decided that I would create those same flavors by further testing my cake pop skills. It would be one bite that gave you all the flavors we experienced. One bite that exploded with chocolate and peanut butter. 

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CAKE POPS

*Please see previous post Disaster Adverted for key tips on making cake pops.

CAKE 

1 box chocolate cake mix

1/2 cup peanut butter 

2 tbs vanilla frosting

Follow the baking instructions on the box.

Bake cake 3/4 of the way. 

Place the cake on a cooling rack and allow to partially cool.

After the cake has rested for about 5 minutes and is still relatively warm, using a knife trim off edges of cake and top and bottom of cake. 

After you have trimmed the cake, in a large bowl crumble up the remaining cake into very fine crumbles, no large pieces. 

Next using your hands mix peanut butter and frosting in with cake crumbles. 

Continue to mix with your hands until a dough forms.

Shape mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls and place them onto a baking sheet.

Freeze the cake balls for at least 2 hours.  

COOKIE CRUMBLES

6 oreos

Place Oreos in a plastic zip lock bag and crush into tiny crumbles.

Pour into bowl for easy access, and will be used later.

CHOCOLATE COATING

1 12oz package of chocolate candy melts

24 cake cop sticks

1 large piece of flat styrofoam

Take the styrofoam and stick all 24 sticks spaced out evenly into it. Make sure that each stick is at least an inch apart so that while the cake pops are drying they do not touch each other.

Remove sticks and set aside to be used later for cooling purposes.

Using a double boiler (or in medium sauce pan filled 1/2 way with water, bring water to a boil and place glass bowl over top) place in candy melts and occasionally stir allowing candy to melt.

Once chocolate is melted, turn burner off and begin working with each cake ball individually.

After allowed to freeze, working with one cake ball at a time, place a stick into the center of each cake ball.

Once a stick has been placed dip in chocolate.

Using the cookie crumbles, sprinkle crumbles onto warm chocolate coating on top of cake pops right after they have been dipped.

Once covered in chocolate and cookie crumbles place the cake pop in the hole you created earlier with the stick in the styrofoam. 

Continue with each cake pop until all are fully covered with chocolate and cookie crumbles.

Allow cake pops to cool in fridge for 1 hour or 20 minutes in freezer and enjoy. 

Disaster Averted.

This year for my birthday I received a gift from a friend that included cake pop making tools and cake pop recipes. I had never made cake pops before, they always seemed as if there were one of those "too good to be true" recipes, "deceptively hard" recipes, and besides Starbucks right up the road makes the best birthday cake pops and I could always run up there to get my fix when I needed it. Despite these odds I wanted to try to make them, I was in the mood to make something other than cupcakes. In the end I did end up being wrong, these little morsels of flavor are not THAT hard to make, just takes a little finesse, time and practice to result in a PERFECT creation. I stress that and perfect here, as in it will take a little patience and some trial and error but hopefully my tips I'll share below with you can help you skip a few of those missteps I encountered. Also to help cut back on the learning time and just dive in head first to a new recipe I decided to skip the part of making my own cake batter and went straight for the box mix, and store bought icing, semi-homemade is ok right? Plus I mentioned before that I love cake batter and I might have been needing a spoonful or two. No matter what happens with these cake pops, just remember that sometimes baking can take some practice, enjoy the process and be open to learning something new, after all, all the elements are sweet so you can always eat each little piece of disaster you might create. 

CHOCOLATE COVERED YELLOW CAKE POPS

CAKE

1 box yellow cake mix

1/2 cup + 2 tbs vanilla frosting

Follow the baking instructions on the box.

Bake cake 3/4 of the way. 

Most recipes I researched were calling for baking the cake for only 1/2 of the instructed baking time on the box. I found the cake to be too wet at this point and was most satisfied with 3/4 of the way. In actuality you could probably bake the cake fully, it's just that the cake balls will not compact as well and won't have a dense enough consistency.

Place the cake on a cooling rack and allow to partially cool.

After the cake has rested for about 5 minutes and is still relatively warm, using a knife trim off edges of cake and top and bottom of cake. 

You do not want any darker areas that are also more firm, you need only the moist, sponge like areas of the cake. Do not trim too much of cake though, only remove areas of discoloration and discard, or reuse/eat to your liking. WARNING: If you are doing this on cooling rack place a paper towel underneath to catch trimmings, as well since the cake is not fully baked and is still relatively warm the cake as a tendency to break apart easily and you want to be able to save as much as possible, plus have an easier clean up.

After you have trimmed the cake, in a large bowl crumble up the remaining cake into very fine crumbles, no large pieces. 

When the cake is crumbled properly it should resemble a consistency when graham crackers have been crumbled.

Next mix frosting in with cake crumbles. 

Dig in at this point. It's best you use your hands to squeeze together the cake and the frosting. 

Continue to mix with your hands until a dough forms.

Shape mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls and place them onto a baking sheet.

Freeze the cake balls for at least 2 hours. 

Most recipes I found again said to only freeze for 10 - 15 minutes, however I felt the cake balls had not firmed up enough yet and were still too easy to reshape and I worried how they might melt when covered in chocolate. 

CHOCOLATE COATING

1 12oz package of chocolate candy melts

24 cake cop sticks

1 large piece of flat styrofoam

Take the styrofoam and stick all 24 sticks spaced out evenly into it. Make sure that each stick is at least an inch apart so that while the cake pops are drying they do not touch each other.

Remove sticks and set aside to be used later for cooling purposes.

Using a double boiler (or in medium sauce pan filled 1/2 way with water, bring water to a boil and place glass bowl over top) place in candy melts and occasionally stir allowing candy to melt.

Once chocolate is melted, turn burner off and begin working with each cake ball individually.

If you leave the burner on the chocolate will stay too warm and will not hardened in an appropriate amount of time and will melt right off the cake ball.

After allowed to freeze, working with one cake ball at a time, place a stick into the center of each cake ball.

Once a stick has been placed dip in chocolate.

If you tilt the glass bowl up and allow the chocolate to accumulate in one area it will be easier to dip the cake ball. When you dip into chocolate start at top and roll towards bottom allowing a small amount of chocolate to get onto the stick, this will further help hold the cake ball in place and prevent from falling off stick. Continue this on each side of the cake ball, until it is full covered in chocolate. Dip quickly, as with each pass cake is rewarming and will expand and not stay on the stick very well.

Once covered in chocolate place the cake pop in the hole you created earlier with the stick in the styrofoam. 

If the chocolate is not drying fast enough and you can see chocolate melting off you can always place this entire piece of foam in the freezer and help with the cooling process.

Continue with each cake pop until all are fully covered with chocolate.

If you wish to add decoration to your cake pops, simply melt other colors of candy melts and drizzle on top of cake pops.

Allow cake pops to cool in fridge for 1 hour or 20 minutes in freezer and enjoy. 

Cake pops can be left at room temperature without melting or be kept in refrigerator.

A Little Bit of Indulgence.

2013 seems to be the year of births. This year has already been filled with much excitement of anticipated little ones and just as spring is arriving they are making their grand entrances into this world. A few months back, some fellow friends of mine and my husband's, decided to arrange a last minute get together. One of the couples is expecting a little baby, gender yet to be revealed, and the girls and I knew at the time that we would not be able to make the mom's upcoming baby shower. As a result, we decided to make this last minute get together a surprise shower for her and her family and that's how these cupcakes came into existence. No grand entrance worthy of telling your future grandchildren, no sparkles, no bows, no cute little baby blue suits.... just a plain chocolate chip cupcake. A cupcake that was indulgent and worthy of consuming while pregnant, worthy of putting on those few extra pounds. These cupcakes were light and airy with a tad bit of chocolate sweetness and just the right amount of raspberry jam to give them a little feeling of weight. Just the right amount of little girl or little boy sweetness to let you know it will be ok to have two... or more :)

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH RASPBERRY JAM FILLING 

AND CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

CAKES

3 tbs cocoa

1 stick butter

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners (12-14)

Heat up a sauce pan and slowly melt together the butter and cocoa on low heat.

When the butter and cocoa are smooth and well incorporated add the water then set aside off the burner to cool down (warm is ok, you are trying to avoid scrambling the eggs when mixing with remaining ingredients)

In a small bowl (to be set aside) dissolve the baking soda into the buttermilk.

In another bowl mix together the sugar, flour, and salt, set this aside as well.

Using your electric mixer, crack an egg into a large bowl and mix at low speed with the butter/cocoa/water mixture that has been cooling off the burner, continue to mix until well blended.

Slowly add in the sugar, flour, and salt while continue to mix at medium speed.

Next add the buttermilk/baking soda mixture and the vanilla.

Continue to mix until all ingredients are one smooth batter.

Poor into cupcake liners and bake for 20 minutes

RASPBERRY JAM

6oz carton of raspberries

1/2 stick butter

1/4 cup sugar

Place a sauce pan on medium heat and slowly melt the half stick of butter.

Add in raspberries and sugar.

Bring to a low boil and continually stir until raspberries have melted into a jam like consistency. 

Take mixture off heat and allow to cool.

Place mixture into a squeeze bottle so that the mixture can be injected into the cupcakes.

When the cupcakes have baked and allowed to cool for a few minutes, inject jam into cupcakes. This can be done by piercing the cupcake with the squeeze bottle and squeezing the jam right into the cupcake. Or by taking a straw, piercing and removing a small portion of the cupcake so that you are left with a small hole to fill with jam (you may need to make a few puncture sites with the straw in order to give the cupcake lots of filling)

CHOCOLATE FILLED RASPBERRIES

1/2 cup chocolate candy melts

12- 14 raspberries

Using a double boiler (or bring to boil water filled 1/2 way into a sauce pan and placing a glass bowl over top) melt the chocolate candy melts.

Once the candy has melted pour into a squeeze bottle (similar to red/yellow ketchup and mustard bottle).

Fill each raspberry with chocolate and place chocolate side facing up in a bowl (you don't want the chocolate to come running out that you just filled the raspberry with) and allow to rest in refrigerator until chocolate has cooled in each raspberry.

Top cupcakes after they have been iced.

FROSTING

1 stick unsalted butter

1 package 8 oz cream cheese

1 lb. confectioner's sugar

1 tbs of cocoa

Using an electric mixer whip butter and cream cheese until one smooth mixture.

Once smooth, slowly incorporate confectioner's sugar, there should be no lumps.

Add in the cocoa, sometimes the cocoa can thicken the icing too much, so if you desire a more creamy result add a small splash of milk to thin out the icing.

Ice the cupcakes and top with chocolate filled raspberries!