Fancy Ube Cake

A family friend called the other day and asked if I had time to make a cake for his friend.  He said he had been singing my praises and his friend wanted a cake!  He was lucky because the day before, a holiday was announced!  A holiday meant I had an extra day!  Perfect for baking!

And because I had a little more time, I gussied the cake a bit more than usual - fancy!

And off it goes...

Minion Cupcakes!

Minions are the rage these days... blame it on the recently released Minion movie!  Even McDonald's is into it - their happy meal features a minion toy!

So here's our "contribution" -

They are really just our signature chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and topped with minion toppers!

Mocha Latte

Mocha cupcakes plus whipped cream and cocoa...

equals one delicious treat!

This is inspired by my favorite coffee drink!

Suzies stuffed with Reese

Suzy is the name we gave to our chocolate cupcake which is double frosted with chocolate buttercream and peanut butter frosting. 

As an extra-special treat, we stuffed our Suzy with Reese' peanut butter cups...  It quickly became one of the most sought-after variants!

Choco Almond Cupcakes

A new chocolate cupcake variant!  Our super yummy chocolate fudge cupcake frosted with almond whipped cream and garnished with almond slivers and grated chocolate.

Yum!

Strawberry Short(cup)cake

This is our cupcake version of a strawberry shortcake!

Of course we use real strawberries... which means this is a limited offering.

Once strawberry season ends, we'll have to wait until next year!

Extreme Cookie Butter Cupcakes

Cookie butter is all the rage even in our part of the world.  It used to be difficult to find (and costly too) but these days, certain supermarkets already carry them.  The one I bought was Biscoff brand.

For some reason, the little girl (or hubby) was not so fond of it, preferring instead a homemade one.  So I had almost the whole bottle to use up... I decided on cookie butter cupcakes, stuffed with cookie butter and frosted with cookie butter frosting!  How's that for a cookie butter overload?!

I didn't have a recipe for cookie butter cupcakes, though.  What I did was use my go-to peanut butter cupcake recipe and simply swapped the peanut butter with the cookie butter!

Here they are just before going into the oven...

Right out of the oven -

Frosted with cookie butter buttercream -

The cross-section of the cupcake -

Guess what?  The cupcakes were a big hit! 

Wheeee!

Castle and Princesses Birthday Cake

Here is another Disney Princess-themed birthday cake (kindly ignore the background?!?)

And in case anyone is wondering... we rarely, if ever, use fondant...

Queen's Favorite

It is wonder that these cupcakes made an appearance only now... seeing as I love peanut butter!  But I guess my only excuse is that I often indulged by eating peanut butter... cookies!

What's even more amazing is the overwhelmingly wonderful response by everyone who took a bite out of these cupcakes!!!

The tops look like cookies, right?

The dark chocolate buttercream is the perfect frosting to complement the cupcake!!!

Super duper yummy!!!

I could eat this the whole day!

Bouchon au Chocolat

This was dessert for Valentine's Day dinner...  Yes, bouchons!

These were baked not in bouchon or timbale molds, but in Ikea's DRÖMMAR muffin pan!

A bouchon, by the way, based on what I've read, is so named because it is shaped like a cork.  The word "bouchon" is French for cork!


The recipe is from Bouchon Bakery by Keller and Rouxiel.

Take a look inside -

Oops.  We forgot to dust the bouchons with powdered sugar!

Apple Cake

When I was a little girl, I loved apples.  I remember eating at least one each day.  And I loved the tart green apple best of all.

But my love for apples were only for the fresh chilled fruit.  I distinctly disliked apples in any other form except fresh, chilled and without the skin!  So while my mom's apple pie was possibly the best, I ate little of it (although to be fair, it was the only apple pie I would eat).    I did not like apple cake at all, except (recently) this apple upside-down cake.  

As I grew older, I grew less fond of apples.  But this did not mean that I did not try to use them for baking!  Especially since I (usually) get a lot of apples in December, so I baked a lot of apple desserts... mommy's apple pie (at least trying it), apple tarts, apple muffins, apple cakes... all of which everyone else would eat.

Then last week, as I was browsing Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table, I discovered her recipe for Marie-Helene's Apple Cake.

And, as usual I made little changes... like using a mandolin to slice the apples instead of slicing them into chunks (it was really faster to use the mandolin!)... adding apple pie spice...  reducing the sugar (just a bit) and using light brown sugar (and then sprinkling the top with more light brown sugar and more apple pie spice)... and finally, using 2 6-inch Springform pans instead of a single 9-inch.

I used a mix of Fuji apples and Gala apples, although I think I might have overdone the apples.  Dorie Greenspan's recipe called for 4 apples (varying kinds).  What I had was 1 medium Fuji apple and about 6 small Gala apples.  I thought 2 small apples would be equivalent to a medium one...

I love, love, love this cake!!!  It's more apple than cake, I would say, and I really like the the apple slices still have a crunch to it!

Hubby had his cake with vanilla ice cream and he was so happy with the cake that he got a second and a third helping!

More Fruit than Cake Fruitcake

Yup, one could say that my focus this season is ... yet again... fruitcake.  Considering that I am NOT a fan of fruitcake, I keep making them!  Well, first of all because hubby is such a fruitcake lover, and then, I am (still) on a quest to find a fruitcake that I really like, if not love.

This particular recipe, I have to admit, is pretty close.  I like it, to be honest.  But what I really, really like about this recipe is its fast and easy procedure!

There's no overnight soaking, no simmering, no waiting!  It's almost a one-bowl recipe!

And the best part?  It is loaded, really loaded, with fruits, nuts and chocolate chips!

It has... dates, kiwi, pineapple, blueberries, cranberries, cherries, mangoes, sultanas, apricots, citron, cashews, walnuts and bittersweet chocolate chips!

Food for the Gods Cookies

I made Date Walnut Rum Truffles and had some dates and walnuts left over.  It was not enough for a batch of Food for the Gods, but it could be good enough for a small batch of cookies. 

"Food for the Gods" is the popular name, at least in our country, for the super delicious dates and walnuts bars, so called because they are said to be food fit for gods' consumption.  

The "real" food for the gods are bar cookies, but with a bit of imagination, I came up with these cookies which are yummy and heavenly too!

Date Walnut Rum Truffles

I needed something quick, easy and delicious for Christmas.  I had a difficult time picking a product until someone made a request for these -

Date Walnut Rum Truffles...

Yes, in a heart-shaped candy box!

I remember making these 2 decades ago!  Although those were simple balls (and no rum, at that time!), like these -

But I thought it would be more elegant rolled in cocoa powder. 

Or maybe dipped in melted bittersweet chocolate (next time, I think!)?

Tropical Christmas Fruitcake Bites

It's nearing Christmas!!!  Where we are from, the season has started and is beginning to go full swing!

Christmas means fruitcake!  And no, not the kind that's almost like a brick.  Fruitcake that has real fruits, dried fruits.  But this time, we decided to make some using tropical fruits!  Coconut, papaya, mango, pineapple.  And yes, cacao is a tropical fruit so chocolate chips count!

In another twist, these fruitcakes are bite-sized, not in loaves...

Immediately after taking the fruitcake "bites" out of the oven, I poked holes all over and brushed rum on top several times.  The smell in the kitchen was just heavenly! 

Here's a peek inside...

Yummy!

Noir Amer Moelleux au Chocolat (Bitter, Dark Chocolate Cake, French-style)

We'd been quite busy, almost to the point when there is little time to indulge in baking.  But a birthday cannot be celebrated without cake.  So, because of time constraints the cake had to be fast and easy, and of course, utterly delicious!

Answer?  French-style Chocolate Cake - dense, rich, flourless (or almost flourless) chocolate cake, meant to be served warm and without icing, except maybe to be garnished (or accompanied) with/by whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.  

A slice of cake, with a scoop of ice cream on the side.  Due to the richness of the cake, it is better enjoyed in thin slices.

It is fast and easy to make, especially with a stand mixer.  And with no icing or frosting, it was a breeze to serve.  It was simply fantastic with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, or both!

Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes

I have about 2 liters of buttermilk to use up.  I've done buttermilk pancakes and buttermilk scrambled eggs.  Now it's vanilla buttermilk cupcakes... with chocolate chips and frosted with peanut butter frosting.

I've always considered my vanilla cupcake recipe to be the best, and never thought that I could find one that I could like more.  But this vanilla buttermilk cupcake is really better!  The texture is better, and the taste superb! 

The downside?  This cupcake is more expensive to make because of the buttermilk.

Chocolate Fluffernutter Cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes, stuffed with peanut butter filling and frosted with marshmallow buttercream!!!

A peek at the cupcake and the filling...

Now topped with minions...

Happy Birthday friend M!

Mmmmmm....

Angels & Demons Cupcakes

What better way could these cupcakes be named for being sinful and heavenly at the same time?

Chocolate Cupcakes, filled with custard cream and frosted with Triple Chocolate Ganache!

Here's a box of 6...

A peek inside...

Super duper delicious!

Vanilla Cupcakes, with Mild Strawberry Buttercream

When the little girl is bored, she gets really "makulit".  When I get bored, I read... or go to the kitchen.

This time, I was craving vanilla cupcakes.  But I didn't want any ordinary vanilla cupcakes... I wanted one with a hint of... strawberry... not in the cupcake but in the frosting...

So here are my cupcakes out of the oven... I think they look gorgeous!

And here's the cupcakes with vanilla buttercream with a hint of strawberry... (though you wouldn't know by seeing it because the frosting looks a bit orange-y but trust me I loved the hint... yes, just a hint... of strawberry in the icing!)

Yummmmyyyy!