Cookies n Cream Cupcakes Round 2

I know I haven't blogged since leaving Japan but I've never stopped wanting to continue sharing my passion for baking and creating delicious treats to put a smile on someones face.  Some big changes occurred in those two years.  The biggest, we moved to Germany and we had a baby! She was born in late December of 2015 and I absolutely adore her.  Lately I've had that itch again to resume my blog and decided to give it a go.  Though I needed to make some minor changes to help me not only be able to blog, but work full time, take online classes, earn my next rank and of course spend as much time as possible with my daughter.

Thanks everyone for stopping by and checking out my blog!

Heres the latest Cupcake, for some reason just this month alone everyone in my work center has a birthday in September.  I have literally made 4 different kinds of Oreo Cupcakes in 3 weeks.  I look like I'm the one with an Oreo addiction.  These are pretty awesome though, by the way did you know they make Cinnamon Bun Oreos??  I had a friend give me a package of them and hinted (not very subtlety) that I should make cupcakes.  Well I did and will be sharing those soon as well.

This is the site and link for the recipe I used to make the cake portion of the cupcake.

http://www.baked-in.com/2014/06/16/cookies-n-cream-cupcakes/

I just lessen the sugar from 2 cups to 1.5 cups.


Oishii Treats Original 

Cookies n Cream Buttercream 

1 cup milk, with 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
5 tablespoons flour
1 cup butter, at room temp
1 cup sugar (not powdered)
leftover cookie wafers, crushed (from recipe above)

Directions

- Using a small stove top pot add in your milk and place heat on high, add in your flour and whisk until the mixture starts to thicken, about 2-3 minutes.

- Keep whisking the mixture for another 1-2 minutes until its thick and has the consistency of pancake batter or cake batter. Remove from heat and immediately transfer the mixture to a ramekin or bowl and let cool to room temp. 

- In a electric mixture beat the butter and sugar together for 7-8 minutes on high, the mixture should be white and fluffy. Beating the butter and sugar together for this amount of time will help the sugar dissolve better.

- Add in your cooled milk mixture and whip on high for another 4-5 minutes, the sugar should almost if not be basically dissolved. If it is still slightly grainy the sugar should still dissolve the rest of the way when you pipe it on the cupcake.

- Fold in your crushed cookies and use a pipping bag and a large tip to pipe onto your cupcakes 

Kabocha Squash Coffee Cake

Squash is an awesome versatile vegetable, wouldn't you agree? It can sit on your counter for weeks and wont go bad, it can be added to everything from soups, casseroles, and even baked goods.  I even used squash as the sauce in mac n cheese and it was a-ma-zing!  I don't know why it took me this long to start using squash....oh ya maybe because the commissary charges over $6 bucks for any type of squash, it wasn't till I ventured off base and started shopping for my produce at the local Japanese farmers market that I realize how cheap squash really is.  The same sized squash I buy on base for over $6 dollars I can get off base for under $2 bucks, crazy right.  

I've been stocking up on squash and searching for a wide variety of recipes to start using it, not only is it cheap, its super hearty for vegetarians, full of fiber and vitamins and it can be added to every dish.   I recently used the Kabocha squash (Japanese pumpkin squash) in a chickpea stew, mac n cheese and now this delicious coffee cake.  Whats great about Japanese pumpkin squash is that it taste a lot like the normal orange pumpkin you can buy for Halloween.  Its slightly sweet, a pain in the ass to cut though and orange in color.  I've been making a lot of dishes lately with pumpkin and have turned a pumpkin hater co-worker into a pumpkin lover now, especially after she tried this coffee cake, her mom even wanted to recipe :) When a mom wants your recipe you know you got something special.

Next time, I'll be doubling the crumb mixture because you can never had enough added to the top.

Kabocha Squash Coffee Cake
Servings: 10-12 

Ingredients

Crumb Mixture

1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cooking oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons cold un salted butter

Directions

1.  Add all the dry ingrentins into a bowl and mix until combined,
2.  Cut in your cold butter and mix until the mixture is crumbly. I find that using a fork helps or just my hands. Set the bowl aside when finished.

Cake

1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed cooked kabocha squash (or any othre sweet squash like pumpkin or butternut)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
A pinch of ground cloves
1/2 cup unsweetned applesauce

Directions

1.  Preheat your oven at 350 degrees and grease a 9-in springform pan. 
2.  In a medium bowl combined your dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg,   and clove. whisk until combined and set aside.
3.   In an electric mixer cream together the shortening and sugar on high until light and fluffy, about 3 min.
4.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5.  Beat in the squash and vanilla.
6.  Gradually add in your dry ingredients into the creamed mixture until fully combined.
7.  Spoon half of your batter into the greased sprinform pan, using the back of a spoon to help spread it evenly.
8.  Spread your appleasauce over the batter in the pan and sprinkle with half of the crumb mixture.
9.  Spread the remaming batter over the applesauce/crumb mixture, using the back of a spoon again to help spread it evenly.  Add the remaining crumb mixture to the top.
10.  Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. (FYI my oven bakes fast so it was done early. around the 40-45 min mark. so test your cake early.)
11.  Cool for 10 minutes before removing the sides of the pan. Makes about 10-12 servings.

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home

Candy Corn M&M Blondies

Its been a few weeks, I know I can give every excuse in the book, I'll spare you from coming up with a few, like my dog ate my computer....yeah that one diffidently sounds plausible.  I haven't been neglecting my kitchen, trust me I have piles and piles of dishes in the sink to prove it.  I've just been neglecting my little blog.   Yes I've been busy, work is constant but still, I could have taken a few photos of something, but then I get home late and I sit on the couch for 2 seconds and it turns into 2 hours before I have to peel myself off and go to bed.  

 

But no more! fall is just right around the corner and there are too many awesome apple, squash, pumpkin recipes to share.  I love baking and cooking with fall flavors its part of the reason I love this season so much, its not just for the gorgeous foliage changing and the crisp cool sweater weather its also for all that delicious food.  Kinda like these blondies I wanted to share, I happen to discover candy corn m&m's at the store and immediately added a bag to my basket, didn't even have to think about buying them because I know I was going to make something tasty with these m&ms. 

Hot Fudge! Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Hot Fudge

You know what goes great with every scoop of ice cream?  A huge dollop of homemade hot fudge.  I like to think of myself as a pro when it comes to ice cream.  I know ice cream is awesome by itself but when paired with toppings of all kind it just gets better.  So tonight I'm going to have me a nice big bowl of ice cream with dark chocolate peanut butter hot fudge, oh yeah you betta believe it peanut butter hot fudge.  This will for sure help ease the pain of tomorrow, cause I'm already prepared for a hell of a day at work, the life of an AF paralegal is diffidently not a boring job.  

Now hot fudge is pretty spectacular, but when I decided to raid my pantry and found reeses peanut butter chips and incorporate them into the mix it totally blew my mind. Who doesn't like chocolate and peanut butter together, they wear meant to be.  This fudge recipe is a keeper in our fridge, I try to come up with ideas to use this sauce on anything and everything...cookies done, fruit dip yes! mixed into coffee sure why not. 

 By the way I wont judge if you want to eat this hot fudge by the spoonful cause secretly if there is no ice cream around who's to say you can't eat this straight from the jar..I do :)

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Hot Fudge
Adapted from Averie Cooks

Yields about 16 ounces

Ingredients

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder (I used Hersey's special Dark)
pinch of salt
4 ounces bittersweet dark chocolate
1/3 cup reeses peanut butter chips
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Using a medium heavy sauce pan over medium heat bring together the cream, corn syrup, brown sugar, cocoa powder and half of the dark chocolate to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon until the chocolate is melted and all the ingredients are combined, Reduce the heat and continue cooking at a low boil for 5 minutes, keep stirring with your wooden spoon to avoid burning the chocolate.

2. Remove from heat and add the butter and the rest of the dark chocolate, peanut butter chips, vanilla and salt. Stir until smooth. Let cool for a couple of minutes and drizzle over ice cream.

3.  This keeps very well in the fridge with a tight fitting lid for a few weeks, but will harden, just stick in the microwave for 20 second intervals until melted again. Warning, super addicting and easy to eat by the spoonful.

Crumb Coffee Cake

Its good to be home and back in my kitchen ~ But I think I'm going to need another vacation from my recent vacation.

When we set out for our trip 3 weeks ago to the states to visit family I had not fully prepared myself with the amount of traveling we decided to cram into 3 weeks.  I'm still in disbelief on how many miles we drove, walked and even rowed.  We easily covered over 1500 miles, traveling to 4 different states and another country (Canada).

The best highlights of the trip were starting off in New York City for 2 nights where we walked  10 miles of Manhattan to eat at the "first" pizza place Lombardi's, checked out the Empire State Building, visited the Space Shuttle Enterprise at the Intrepid Museum, by the way free for active duty :) and hitched a ferry ride to Staten Island to catch a glimpse of the statue of Liberty.  After leaving NYC we picked up our car in Syracuse and headed south to Pennsylvania to Hersey Park and went to a Dave Matthews Concert (totally awesome!), then headed up towards Scranton to visit my brother in-law, his gf and our niece for the first time.  (This was the first 5 days)

The best bagel cream cheese in Lox in all of NY

Intrepid Museum 

Biggest Ladder Back Chair in the world

Dave Matthews 

After our time in PA we drove to Vermont to visit family, play some disc golf and had fish in chips in 

Massachusetts with Grandma.  Took a detour to Lake George and camped out for 3 nights on a island in the middle of the lake, did a little kayaking, cliff jumping (small cliff), tubing, watched an amazing electric storm on the lake..oh and was savagely attacked by mosquitos.  We kept traveling north for  a reunion in Plattsburg NY later that evening went even further north to Montreal Canada where we stayed in the historic part of downtown in a cute little hotel watching fireworks from the bridge, walking the entire city checking out local shops and restaurants and trying putine for the first time, which by the way is fries smothered in gravy and topped with cheese curds...delicious!! (All this in week 2)

Putine

Cliff Jumping Lake George 

Birds eye view of Montreal 

After our stay in Canada we left to meet up with my father in-law at his camp in the Andirondacks where we stayed a couple of nights, went canoeing, boating and thrift shopping. the last leg of our journey we headed back to Syracuse to catch up on sleep, laundry and more sleep before leaving to go back to Japan.

 All in all it was a very successfully trip, we saw a lot of family that we haven't seen an a couple of years, our rental car never gave us issues and for the most part we didn't get lost when driving all over the northeastern side of the country.

Now to the food, I made this coffee cake before I left on vacation, some co-workers were craving it, this recipe came out amazing, very light, sweet and the huge brown sugar crumbles are delicious, they were my favorite part.  Place this cake soaks up coffee like a sponge.

Crumb Coffee Cake

Adapted from Sally's baking addiction

1 Tablespoon Flour, to coat the pan
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons cold butter, lightly softened in the microwave for 20 seconds
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, spray a 9 inch springform pan with cooking spray and sprinkle the bottom of the pan with flour, tapping out excess flour.

2. Whisk the flour, sugar, salt together in a large bowl until combined.  Cut the butter into 1 tablespoon sized pieces and using your hands or a fork mix/mash together the butter and dry ingredients until it resembles a crumbly mixture. scoop out 1 cup of the mixture and set it aside.

3. Transfer the rest of the ingredients from the large mixing bowl into an electric mixer (the batter is going to be very thick and the mixer helps a lot) Add in the baking soda and powder and mix together for 1 minute. Add in the buttermilk, egg, vanilla and mix everything together on medium high speed for about 2 minutes until smooth and fluffy, the batter will look kinda of like frosting, pour the batter into the springform pan and using a spatula smooth the top of the batter until even in the pan.

4. Using your empty large mixing bowl add in the reserved 1 cup of flour mixture and add in the brown sugar and cinnamon, using a fork or your hands crumble up the ingredients together making course crumbs. Sprinkle the crumbs over the batter, pressing lightly so the crumbs stick to the batter.

5.  Bake for 50-55 minutes (mine took 50) or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, allow to cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, remove the side of the springform pan and cool completely to room temp.