Kahlua Cupcakes

Another Kulisek birthday, another booze cupcake! It was only appropriate for a 21st birthday. ;) My sister-in-law turned 21 and we celebrated on her birthday out in the city with my husband's band as the entertainment. It was lucky he was playing at a great place that night! I made these cupcakes that day - and they were amazing! I didn't want to do a buttercream icing like Annies-Eats' website called for, so I searched for a cream cheese icing recipe which I found at All Recipes. I added Kahlua to this recipe. The icing was a little watery and looked to be running off of the cupcakes, but that was fixed by keeping the cupcakes in the refrigerator. These were extremely rich and wonderful and definitely on my Must Make Again list!

CUPCAKES (makes 20 - 24)

Adapted from: www.annies-eats.com

INGREDIENTS

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tbsp. instant espresso powder (I used a dark roast instant coffee)

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1½ cups sugar

1½ tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp. baking powder

¾ tsp. salt

2 large eggs

¾ cup warm water

¾ cup buttermilk

3 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the brushing: KAHULA LIQUEUR

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line standard cupcake pans with paper liners. In a large mixing bowl combine the cocoa powder, espresso powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt; whisk well to blend. Add the eggs, warm water, buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract to the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix on medium-high speed until smooth, 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake until the tops spring back when pressed lightly, about 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Let cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Poke a few holes in the top of each cupcake with the tines of a fork and brush with Kahlua while still warm. Allow to cool completely.

KAHLUA CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Adapted from: www.allrecipes.com (minus the Kahlua)

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3-4 Tablespoons of Kahlua (to taste)

DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Mix in Kahlua. I'm not exactly sure how much Kahlua I mixed in...I started with one tablespoon and keep adding a few more teaspoons until I thought the taste was right. I'm guessing about 4 tablespoons, but that could be altered depending on how strong you want the Kahlua flavor. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Tiramisu Cupcakes

Wow, it's been a while since I updated my blog! I apologize! ;) I actually only have this recipe and one other cupcake recipe that I have baked in the past couple of months...it's been a busy summer! That and turning the oven on in our house makes our downstairs feel like 100 degrees....I've been avoiding it as much as possible! These cupcakes I made for a "Beer Around the World" Party. Yes, I did bring beer too! My country was Italy, so I brought a case of Peroni and also baked these Tiramsu Cupcakes to go along with the Italian theme. The icing was the best part of this cupcake! It was outstanding. There was a lot of icing left over and I ended up eating spoonfuls before dumping out the rest. (Which is awful since it consisted of heavy cream, marscapone cheese and powdered sugar!) The cake itself was alright...it seemed a little stiff for my liking if that makes any sense. Next time I may go with a different plain cupcake recipe for that!

Adpated from: http://www.marthastewart.com/

CUPCAKE (makes 18)

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 cup milk
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
3 large whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks, room temperature
1 cup sugar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Heat milk and vanilla-bean pod and seeds in a small saucepan over medium heat just until bubbles appear around the edge. Remove from heat. Whisk in butter until melted, and let stand 15 minutes. Strain milk mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, and discard vanilla-bean pod.
With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk together whole eggs, yolks, and sugar. Set mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water, and whisk by hand until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm, about 6 minutes. Remove bowl from heat. With an electric mixer on high speed, whisk until mixture is fluffy, pale yellow, and thick enough to hold a ribbon on the surface for several seconds when whisk is lifted.
Gently but thoroughly fold flour mixture into the egg mixture in three batches; stir 1/2 cup batter into the strained milk mixture to thicken, then fold milk mixture into the remaining batter until just combined.
Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until centers are completely set and edges are light golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.
To finish, brush tops of cupcakes evenly with coffee-marsala syrup; repeat until all syrup has been used. Allow cupcakes to absorb liquid 30 minutes. Dollop frosting onto cupcakes; refrigerate up to overnight in airtight containers. Dust generously with cocoa powder just before serving.



COFFEE-MARSALA SYRUP

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon freshly brewed very strong coffee (or espresso)
1 ounce marsala
1/4 cup sugar

DIRECTIONS

Stir together coffee, marsala, and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Let cool.



MARSCAPONE FROSTING

INGREDIENTS

1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

DIRECTIONS
With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk heavy cream until stiff peaks form (be careful not to overbeat, or cream will be grainy). In another bowl, whisk together mascarpone and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Gently fold whipped cream into mascarpone mixture until completely incorporated. Use immediately.

S'mores Cookies

So good and perfect for a summer barbecue! (And housewarming - don't worry Mike, you didn't get the leftovers!) I tasted one of these minutes after they came out of the oven and they were delicious. Definitely on my list of cookies to make again! Next time I will cut back on the semi-sweet chocolate chips, only because at the end of the bowl of dough it seemed like there were so many chips and they had to go to waste.

Adapted from: http://www.cookiemadness.net/

INGREDIENTS
6 oz unsalted butter, cool room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate (I think this was too much, 1 cup would've been fine)
1 cup miniature marshmallows
2 Hershey Bars, broken into pieces (or other favorite milk chocolate)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 C). Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Cream butter and both sugars with an electric mixer; beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in salt and baking soda making sure they are well distributed and free of lumps; stir in the flour, followed by graham cracker crumbs. Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheets, spacing about 3 inches apart. Bake for 9 minutes. Remove and quickly press marshmallows and chocolate into cookies. Return to oven and cook until done (about 3 minutes)
Makes about 3 dozen

Graham Cracker Chewy Bars

These were outstanding and so easy to make! I wasn't expecting much, but saw this simple recipe on a new blog I found and was looking for one more dessert to make for my sister's graduation party. I actually made these again a week later for a barbecue. I cut the recipe in half and made it in an 8x8 pan and cut the cooking time down to 17 minutes. When I first cut into the bars, I thought I severely undercooked them since the middle bars were very gooey. However, when I made them a second time I increased the time to 20 minutes and thought they tasted better undercooked. 17 minutes it is! (If I ever make the full recipe in a 13x9 pan, I'm not sure what it will be!)

Adapted from: http://www.erinsfoodfiles.com/

INGREDIENTS
CRUST

3 cups graham cracker crumbs

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour
TOPPING

2 1/2 cups brown sugar

4 extra-large eggs (I just used large)

2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup pecans, chopped (I omitted)

Powdered sugar, if desired

DIRECTIONS
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugar and flour until moist and well-blended. Press the mixture firmly and evenly over the bottom of a 13-inch by 9-inch baking pan. Bake until the crust is golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.
While the crust is baking, in a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and eggs to blend. Whisk in the graham cracker crumbs, vanilla, salt and baking powder until well-blended. Stir in the pecans.
Spread the mixture over the baked crust and return to the 350-degree oven until the filling is dark-golden on top and jiggles slightly when tapped, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and cool completely.
Sprinkle a light coating of sifted powdered sugar over the pan if desired, and cut into 24 bars. The bars can be made 1 day in advance. Wrap in plastic and keep at room temperature.

Peanut Butter Blondies

I was slightly disappointed with these....only because I expected to be the best thing I ever tasted! They were good, don't get me wrong, but I think I was expecting a more chewy blondie than the cookie-type that it actually was. I also cut back on some of the pb cups and pb chips because I thought it looked like a lot! However, if I try these again I would add the full amount. Actually, if I try these again I may use the "Blondies - Infinitely Adaptable" from Smitten Kitchen with PB cups, chocolate chips and pb chips....they had the buttery blondie taste I was looking for!

Adapted from: http://cookiesonfriday.blogspot.com/

INGREDIENTS
2 cup flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup smooth peanut butter
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups chopped peanut butter cups
1-1/2 cups peanut butter chips
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Additional peanut butter cups (about 20)

DIRECTIONS
Linea 9 x 13 inch pan with aluminum foil, allowing the foil to hang over the sides of the pan, and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir together the flours, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a sized mixer bowl, stir together the melted butter and peanut butter. Whisk in the brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Switching to a wooden spoon or a spatula, mix in the flour mixture. Stir in the chips and peanut butter cups. The dough will be thick and chunky. Scrape the dough into the prepared pan and spread it in evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes; the bars are done when the dough is set and golden. Immediately after removing the bars from the oven, press as many peanut butter cups as you want into the surface of the blondies. Let the pan and bars cool completely on a cooling rack. Lift the cookies from the pan remove the foil and cut into bars.

Crack Pie

This pie was named for its addictive qualities. However, I'm wasn't really addicted, but for good reason. I had one piece of this and my heart was racing. It was a little much for me, but others thought this was one good butter pie. I cooked it according to the directions but it seemed a little too gooey. I also halved the recipe and only made one pie - thank God! I would've gone into Diabetic shock if had eaten any more.


Adapted from: www.Momofukufor2.com

MAKES 2 PIES

Oatmeal Cookie for Crust
INGREDIENTS
2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup softened butter
1/3 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
Scant 1 cup rolled oats

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. Cream the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Whisk the egg into the butter mixture until fully incorporated.
5. Stir in the flour mixture until fully combined. Stir in the oats.
6. Spread the mixture onto a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking sheet and bake until golden brown and set, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to the touch on a rack. Crumble the cooled cookie to use in the crust.

Crust
INGREDIENTS
Crumbled cookie for crust
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
Combine the crumbled cookie, butter, brown sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse until evenly combined and blended (a little of the mixture clumped between your fingers should hold together). Divide the crust between 2 (10-inch) pie tins. Press the crust into each shell to form a thin, even layer along the bottom and sides of the tins. Set the prepared crusts aside while you prepare the filling.

Filling
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup plus a scant 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon milk powder
1 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup plus a scant 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 egg yolks
2 prepared crusts
Powdered sugar to garnish

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, salt and milk powder. Whisk in the melted butter, then whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla.
3. Gently whisk in the egg yolks, being careful not to add too much air.
4. Divide the filling evenly between the 2 prepared pie shells.
5. Bake the pies, one at a time, for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 degrees and bake until the filling is slightly jiggly and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove the pies and cool on a rack.6. Refrigerate the cooled pies until well chilled. Serve cold, and the filling will be gooey. Dust with powdered sugar before serving. (I served this room temperature.)

Pistachio White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I think these turned out better than the blondies, for a pistachio/white chocolate combination anyway. Very sweet and addictive! I made about 1/4 of the recipe since this makes a lot of cookies. I really didn't want 4 dozen cookies lying around the house!

Adapted from: www.CooksRecipes.com

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup dark brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon each baking soda, baking powder and salt

1 cup rolled oats

1 1/2 cups natural California pistachios, coarsely chopped - divided use

1 (10-ounce) package white chocolate chunk-sized chips* (I used white chips.)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

2. Cream butter and sugars together.

3. Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla.

4. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

5. Process oats in blender or food processor, leaving some texture. (I did not process the oats since I was being lazy.)

6. Gradually add flour mixture and chopped oats to butter mixture, mixing well. Stir in 1 cup pistachios and white chocolate chips.

7. Drop mixture by heaping teaspoons onto greased baking sheets, allowing for spreading. Press remaining pistachios on top of cookie dough.

8. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool slightly on sheet to set up.
Makes 3 to 4 dozen.
* A 12-ounce package of small white chocolate or semi-sweet chips may be substituted for white chocolate chunks.