Melissa's Evil Minis

A coworker told me about a new cupcake place that opened a couple of blocks from the office. I wish I was never told. Baked by Melissa is a new - soon to be chain - popping up around Manhattan. They only sell mini's and they're about two dainty bites worth of cupcake. They come in crazy fun flavors and are very moist and delish.

Unfortunately they are in between my office and Penn Station. Now I can't make the walk without picking up 3 for $3 of this stinkin evil minis.

See below for a picture of today's indulgence. Smores ~ Red Velvet ~ PB&J

Curse you Melissa. Curse you.

Chillin with Cake Boss

My firm held an event and Cake Boss came to visit! He made a massive EY themed cake and gave out autographed copies of his new book.
The cake was chocolate with chocolate and vanilla frosting. The cake was good, but not mind blowing - I'd pay a bazillion dollars for more of this cake. I certainly wouldn't wait in line for hours in front of his hoboken shop for this cake. However, i'd gladly accept another piece!

Buddy himself was super sweet. He gave a very nice speech and put up with all of the requests for photos and autographs with a smile. Its nice to meet someone where stardom hasn't ruined their personality. Go Buddy!

Revew: Cupcakes & More - Detroit, MI

Imagine my excitement as I walk through the Detroit Ren Cen is a new cupcake bakery opening only a short elevator ride away from my desk at my client. Sa-weet!

Walking up there are a ton of flavors and these could be some of the biggest cupcakes I've ever seen. They look like giant muffins. They also have what they call mini-cupcakes which are regular sized cupcakes.

They are also very reasonably priced with the giant cupcakes at 4 for $8. Being from NY/NJ - this is a steal. Most cupcakeries charge $2.50-$4.00 for a single small cupcake.

We purchased four of their mega sized cupcakes: Cherry Cheesecake, Red Velvet, Peanut Butter Cup and Chocolate Bomb. All four cupcakes had a nice moist cake.

Cherry Cheesecake was my clear favorite. The cake had good flavor and the cream cheese icing was very smooth, similar to a cheesecake. The cherry preserves on top were a nice touch.

The Red Velvet was so-so. The cheesecakey cream cheese icing needed some tweaks instead of using the same for the red velvet. Also, I think this was just vanilla cake with red food coloring and not a legit red velvet.

Peanut Butter Cup- You forgot the peanut butter, I'm so confused. This was a chocolate cupcake with vanilla icing and a peanut butter cup crushed on top. There was no peanut butter filling, no peanut butter in the icing. I'd say this one was a flop.

Chocolate Bomb - Ganache is a beautiful thing. Don't tell me your topping is ganache if its just watery chocolate icing. Ganache is like a smooth dark chocolate bar. This was not. Flop numero dos.

My advice would be quality over quantity. Go back to the kitchen, really question some of your recipes and then come back out. You'll have better long term business. But thats just my two cents.

Bake Sale Cupcakes - Part 2

On March 20th we held our 2nd IHSA horse show of the season and therefore our 2nd Alumni bake sale. This bake sale raked in $80! We had brownies, cookies, cupcakes and set up in the perfect spot right outside the ring. I’d be craving to make Rocky Road and Thin Mint cupcakes for a while, and this was the perfect occasion to test my recipes. As with everything, they’re pretty easy because of my short cuts. Both started with a base of chocolate box cake.

Rocky Road Bake Chocolate Box cake as directed. Once cool, fill a piping bag with marshmallow fluff. Push icing tip into the center of cupcakes and fill with fluff. Next top with Dark Chocolate Icing (recipe below – mind blowingly amazing). Then garnish with mini marshmallows and crushed peanuts. These sold out so quick, I didn’t even have a leftover to buy to bring home to my husband.

Thin Mint Prepare chocolate box cake mix as directed. Fill each cupcake ¼ way, place an Andes mint in each cup and then top with more cake batter. Bake as directed. Once cooled, prepare Mint Buttercream – recipe from Tracey’s Culinary Adventures . I modified a bit because I thought it was too minty for my taste and it turned out terrific. Lastly, I topped the cupcake with a thin mint cookie.

Mint Buttercream

2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted - I doubled this to 4 cups 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature - I doubled this to a full stick 3 tablespoons heavy cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon mint extract 1/2 teaspoon saltgreen gel food coloring (optional)

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the confectioners' sugar and butter (first on low and then increasing the speed to medium) until evenly distributed and crumbly, about 1-2 minutes. Add the cream, extracts, and salt and beat on high speed until light, fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes. If you want green buttercream, beat in a little bit of food coloring at a time until you achieve your desired color.

Happy 40th Starbucks

Anyone who knows me, knows I am a sucker for free stuff. Starbucks is celebrating its 40 years in business and I'm helping them celebrate too! With any drink purchase between 2-5pm you get a free petite - they're new bakery items under 200 calories.

The promotion is March 10, 11, and 12th. On the 10th, I tried the red velvet whoopie pies. Eh, a bit dry and not enough cream cheesy taste. Today I tried the rocky road cupcake pop. It was a perfect three small bites of moist cupcake covered in chocolate with marshmallows. There is still one more day to celebrate!!!! Enjoy!

Bake Sale Cupcakes

At our IHSA horse show this past weekend, we had a bake sale to try and recoup some of the losses we were going to incur putting on the show. A ton of girls chipped in and we made around $60.

I personally made red velvet and carrot cake cupcakes. Since it was also my birthday, I took some short cuts since I had a bazillion things going on - riding 3 horses, getting into the city for dinner with the girls, etc.

Red Velvet - I used a yellow box cake and added a teaspoon of cocoa and red food coloring.

Carrot Cake - I used a box spice cake and added 3/4 cup of shaved carrot.

Icing:

I have the hardest time finding good cream cheese icing recipies that aren't either too buttery or too runny. This one was pretty good.

1 pound cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

I decorated the red velvet with a little red sugar and made little carrots on the others.

NYC Cupcake Review - Cupcake Crew

Cupcake Crew is a cupcake truck that sometimes parks outside my current client's office. This is not good for my thighs as I can't really resist cupcakes. Right around Christmas I gave in and bought a red velvet cupcake. It came with a cute (however plastic) holly on top. I thought the decoration was nice, and the cupcake had a perfect amount of icing. I thought the icing had a nice balance of cream cheese and sweet and the cake was cooked nicely as well. Also the cupcake came in this cute single cupcake carrier so it wouldn't get smooshed on the way back to my desk. To top it all off, they gave me a card for a free mini cupcake if I return...score! (um not for the thighs though).

If you ever see this black and pink truck around, don't hesistate to stop!

Formal Christmas Strawberries

I'm baaaaack. I took some time off baking and blogging while I explored Chile, Peru and Brazil during Oct & Nov. Arriving back December 2nd and not having completed any Christmas shopping was quite fun.

My niece is obsessed with strawberries. In a perfect world, she'd skip dinner and go straight to the strawberries, chocolate covered or not! Just for her, I made these cute tuxedo'd strawberries to brighten Christmas morning.

I washed strawberries and dipped them completely in white chocolate. After about an hour or two in the fridge, I dipped the sides in dark chocolate. Another hour or two in the fridge and I piped on the buttons and bow ties. These were surprisingly easy.

I also made chocolate covered pineapple. This was more difficult since pineapple is so wet. I toweled dried and then dipped in dark chocolate. They came out ugly but were a clear crowd favorite. Then again, anything submersed in chocolate generally tastes amazing.

Happy Birthday Pumpkins

It was two of my friends birthday this week and i've been craving pumpkin cupcakes. I saw a great comparison of recipies on the way the cookie crumbles blog. I followed their recommendation and made the David Leite (via Smitten Kitchen) recipe. No box cake this time! Go me!

They came out great and were a huge hit at the party last night. I decorated them with cream cheese icing making them look like they had little pumpkins on top.
I always love how 52 Cupcakes showcases her baked goods with her adorable pup, so Port got a cupcake too!

Vote for Me!

I entered a contest for a Palm Plates review, see in older posts. They were great.

Now you can vote for me to win 25 free plates because you liked my review.


Please vote here: Marx Foods

What makes a rainy Sunday better?

Homemade chocolate chip cookies of course! Football doesn't hurt either. Go Eagles!

I use the Tollhouse recipe minus 1/2 stick of butter (I think it makes them fluffier - and healthier).

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened (I use 1.5 sticks)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Chocolate Chips

Directions
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Another - On the road review

I heard about a cupcake truck in Albany at the very begining of the summer. I FINALLY got to go last week and it was worth the wait. The woman who runs the truck posts on facebook and twitter where she'll be and forecasts how long and what flavors she has on the truck. We tracked her down at a mall outside of Albany with PB cup, PB and Jelly, Lemon Raz, Shirley temple, Strawberry Supreme (strawberry cupcake and vanilla BC) and Orange cream. She must bake all day and night! The cupcakes are $2-$2.50 and they are soooo good. We had the (clockwise from the cherry) Shirley Temple, mocha, PB&J and PB Cup.

My favorite was the PB&J ~ to die for! Shirley temple was creative and delish, mocha was tasty and PB Cup was good but tasted closer to a mocha than a PB Cup.

Seriously how cute is this truck?

Good thing for my thighs I'm not in Albany too much anymore. Hee Hee. If you find yourself in Albany or close by - check out Fluffalicious!

Crowd Pleasers

We hosted a BBQ with two other couples on Sunday, and in typical fashion, we made way too much food. I, of course, was in charge of dessert. I wanted to make something light and "healthy." I decided on a white chocolate mouse parfaits. I remember having this 'to die for' white chocolate mousse from a restaurant in my home town and called them up to see if they'd give the me the recipe, and to my surprise the chef got on the phone and walked me through it. So nice of them. I won't betray their trust and give out the details but it was a combination of white chocolate, egg whites, sugar and heavy cream. So easy!

I layered the mousse with marble pound cake, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries in pretty Stella glasses. Voila!

White Chocolate Curls of Bliss!

At a recent wedding, I noticed the absense of a cake, because well....I'm obsessed with wedding cakes. However, shortly after the meal they plopped this gorgeous massive cupcake in front of me. It fit the brides style and was oh so chic. It tasted amazing too. It was a vanilla cupcake with a vanilla buttercream with white chocolate shavings on top.

As usual I had no problem devouring it either! The adorable couple took turns feeding each other cupcakes but they were gentle and sweet. My personal preference, I'm not a cake smashing kind of gal.

No trees were harmed in the forming of this blog post…

What is one of the greatest perks of blogging? Trying amazing samples! I received a generous sample of Palm Plates from Marx Foods and need to share how great they are. The plates are made from freshly fallen (never picked!) leaves that fall from Adaka palm trees. They are then washed, dried and heated into their chic shapes. Then they are used by stylish entertainers like you and me. I’d like to focus on three aspects of these plate: style, durability and price.

Style – What’s more stylish than a homemade blueberry cupcake with gooey white chocolate cream cheese frosting sitting pretty atop rectangular palm plate? I dare you to think of something! These plates inspired me to bake from scratch (if you read my blog you know I’m more semi-homemade) and here are the results and recipies:

Portobello ~ Can I please eat my cupcake, Oh please let me eat my cupcake...
BLUEBERRY CUPCAKES ~ from cooks.com

1/3 c. butter
2/3 c. white sugar
1 egg
1 1/3 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 c. milk
1 c. blueberries

Cream butter and sugar, beat in egg. Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with the milk. Gently fold in berries.
Can be frozen. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

Yield: 10 cupcakes.

WHITE CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE ICING ~ from fabulousfoods.com

3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, at room temperature
6 ounces good quality white chocolate (Lindt is Cheri's favorite brand)
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Stir white chocolate in the top of a double boiler set over simmering water until just melted. Cool to lukewarm. Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. beat in cooled, melted white chocolate and vanilla, gradually beat in sugar and continue beating until smooth. Frosting should be light and spreadable. It is helpful to chill a bit before piping.

Yield: Makes about 3 1/2 Cups (I cut this recipe into three to icing the 10 cupcakes from the recipe above.)
Durability: What sets this plate above and beyond a paper plate? Besides the obvious environmental benefits, this plate can hang homey! Now, I’m a baker – plain and simple, but you can’t test the durability of the plates with cupcakes alone! There is only recipe I make that my husband actually enjoys. It’s a hearty pasta dish from Rachael Ray that I modified to put a lighter (healthier) summer twist. I piled the plate high and went to town. Clearing my plate, I felt like I could have washed it and reused it, it held up so well. Kudos palm plate…kudos.

CREAMY PASTA WITH SPINACH AND FRIED CAPERS ~ Rachael’s original recipe here
Salt
1 pound gemelli
3 tbsp cup extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1/4 cup capers, drained
1 large clove garlic, smashed
2 packed cups spinach, stemmed and chopped
1 ear fresh yellow corn, boiled and kernels cut off the cob
1 cup low fat ricotta cheese
1/2 cup skim milk
3 tablespoons fresh basil leaves
Pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving the pot.

While the pasta is working, in a medium skillet, heat the EVOO, 8 turns of the pan, over medium heat. Add the capers and fry until they open, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Add the garlic to the skillet and cook until lightly golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the spinach and cook until wilted, 1 minute.

In the pasta pot, whisk the ricotta and milk over low heat until warmed through, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with the basil, and a dash of pepper. Add the pasta and toss to coat.

Discard some of the garlic and stir the spinach, capers and corn into the pasta.

Price: I wish wish wish these plates were more affordable. Generic paper plates are about $7 for a pack of 20 at a party supply store, the palm plates average about $33 for a pack of 25. I'm not sure I would order and use these for your run of the mill backyard BBQ but if I was throwing an annual family get together and shelling out $600 for a pig and knew I'd have tons of heavy slaws and salads, then what is and additional $50 for some Aunt Sally pleasing, earth friendly, durable, discussion starter palm plates? Who knows, maybe their like flat screen tv's - they're new and jet setting, so they're expensive. When they catch on and everyone wants one on their wall to impress the neighbors, supply and demand will win over and the price will drop.

All in all, I think these plates have a definite place in society amongst the green crowd, the chic and stylish crowd and the eh whats another $50 crowd. I would definitely recommend these palm plates to give a high style flair to your next cocktail, garden, or anything else party.