Valentine's Day.. or not

They say Valentine's day is a day for lovers. Lies. This is a baker's holiday. When you're a baker, this day is AMAZING. In reality, it's no different than any other day, except that it gives you an excuse to bake profusely, eat excessively, and adorn your treats with obnoxious pink and red hearts -- something you can't get away with any other time of year.

I know this post is a bit late for Valentine's day, but I wanted to share my experience making Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream frosting with you because it's something you can make all year round, not just on Valentine's day. Nevertheless, since I was making these for a special someone on this special day, I added a few simple touches that gave it some Valentine's flair.

For the chocolate espresso cupcakes, I used Ina Garten's chocolate cake recipe as a base. I love this recipe and use it all the time, including in one of my previous posts. Except this time, in addition to the 1 cup of brewed hot coffee, I also added a table spoon of finely ground espresso. The addition of coffee really brings out the rich chocolate flavour and the coffee grounds give just a hint of dark mocha. 

To make the caramel buttercream, I first made caramel sauce (or you can just buy caramel sauce!):

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon water
4 tablespoons unsalted buter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon sea salt

Combine water and sugar in a sauce pan on medium-high heat. If you're wondering if one tablespoon water is enough, trust me, it is! Incorporate the water into the sugar but then leave alone and bring to boil - do not stir! Let the mixture turn a medium-dark brown colour before removing from heat. Then, add the butter, heavy cream, and salt and stir until all is well-incorporated. Let the mixture cool completely before using, or save it for later use.

To make the buttercream, use the cooled caramel sauce mixture and beat it with 1 1/2 sticks room-temperature butter in a standing mixture. Then, add four cups confectioners' sugar one cup at a time until all ingredients come together into a deliciously salted caramel frosting!

To make these cupcakes more Valentine's-y, I wanted to make rice krispy treats in the shape of a heart to put on top of the salted caramel buttercream. Surprisingly, the most difficult part of this whole endeavour was finding heart shaped cookie cutters to use for the treats! I went to multiple grocery stores and even a speciality cooking store to no avail. I finally found what I was looking for at the Dollar Store (the mecca of all things random). I also picked up some heart-shaped sprinkles to make the treats extra sweet :) (feel free to gag here...).

 Rice krispy treats are by far the easiest dessert and really yummy, too! No matter what age you are!

 The cookie cutter worked perfectly; and the best part is you get to eat the scraps while you make them. 

 Here's what they looked like all put together! 

My boyfriend was studying for most of the day on Valentine's day so I thought I'd take these cupcakes over to him in the mid-morning so he can have brain fuel while he studies. Look how happy he is!! Trust me, this type genuine smile doesn't come out very often for men on Valentine's day, where men are supposed to empty out their pockets on dinner, flowers, and candy to make their women happy. So seeing Matt smile like this, you know these cupcakes must have been good! :) 

To all you Valentine's day lovers... or not.. happy eating!! 

-Talia

Chocoholism and a long Birthday Weekend

Apparently, the fourth weekend in july is birthday weekend in Northern Virginia. Over two days, I had three different birthday occasions to bake for. The first was for my boss at work. Okay, I realize this makes me a huge brown-noser, but hey -- if you want brownie points with your superiors, why not bake brownies?!  

The second occasion was for my friend's birthday, for whom it is a tradition that I bake each year. This year was particularly special as it was his 21st birthday. I typically do some sort of fun and colorful cake, but this year I wanted to go dark -- a rich chocolate cake with an oreo whipped cream cheese frosting.

To be honest, in previous years I took the easy way out when baking for my friend Todd and used Betty Crocker cake mix. I'm not ashamed to admit that I think Betty is fantastic -- her cake mixes have yet to fail me. However, I feel that in the past year I have become significantly more confident in my baking capabilities, and therefore more adventurous in cake-making. This year, I wanted to make a cake from scratch, but I didn't want to risk the cake coming out too dry or lackluster in flavor. As such, I turned to my favourite contessa to hand-hold me through this endeavor -- Ina Garten. I used her wonderful chocolate cake recipe.

For the frosting, instead of a traditional buttercream, I wanted something lighter that would help counteract the richness of the chocolate cake and the heavy oreos. As such, I adapted a whipped cream cheese frosting recipe from this website:

Oreo Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
8-oz cream cheese
1 cup sugar
16 oreo cookies (crushed)

Beat cream cheese and sugar on medium-high speed until well blended. In a separate bowl, whip heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the whipped cream into the well-blended cream cheese until well incorporated. Fold in crushed oreo cookies.

Since it was for a 21st birthday, I thought I'd use the extra oreo cookies I had to decorate the cake a bit. This may not have been the most beautiful cake I've ever made, but the taste is what matters, right?

The third occasion I baked for was a family friend's birthday who is a total chocoholic. He requested that I make a cake for his birthday, for which I was quite nervous because I had never baked for him or his family before. I knew he wanted a chocolate cake, but I also knew that he LOVES coffee. So for this cake, I once again Ina's recipe above, but for the frosting, I made an espresso buttercream frosting that was simply out of this world, if I do say so myself.

Espresso Buttercream Frosting
2 sticks butter (room temperature)
2 cups confectioner's sugar
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon coffee liqueur
2 tablespoons finely ground espresso beans
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

In a small bowl, mix together extract, liqueur, cream, and espresso. Microwave for 20 seconds to allow the espresso to steep into the mixture. Refrigerate to let cool and set aside. In a standing mixer, cream butter until light and fluffy. Slowly mix in the sugar and a pinch of salt until all is well incorporated. Once the coffee/extract mixture is room temperature, add to butter mixture and beat until evenly mixed together. This buttercream may be made ahead of time and refrigerated until use.

To garnish, I added a bit of crushed Cadbury Flake on top with a few blueberries for a splash of color.

This was truly a chocolate-crazed birthday weekend for me -- I'm definitely going to need a bit of chocolate-free detox! It may have been a crazy few days of birthdays and baking, but I must admit that all of this was worth it, as this weekend had two of my favourite things in the whole world: chocolate and celebrating with friends.

Happy eating!
-Talia