This is probably not the best post to do during the Lent season because (depending on your beliefs) we’re supposed to be giving things up and whatnot. But it is Sunday, and Sunday is always a day of happiness, unless of course it’s Sunday night and you have to start preparing for Monday in which case Sunday kind of sucks. I have gone on a Facebook purge of Lent, which means 40 days without Facebook. I wanted to use this time to do something useful but instead I’ve gone and spent a lot of time on Pinterest. There are a lot of really delicious looking desserts on Pinterest and I really feel the need to make (and eat) all of them. Now I’m going to pass the gluttony on to you, enjoy!
1) Blow Pop Martinis: I love blow pops so having any excuse to make them “more adult” and therefore socially acceptable to buy in bulk is a good thing. And these just look so fantastically colorful how can you pass them up? And not to take credit for what isn’t mine I got the recipe from Tablespoon.com. What you need: 2/3 cup Frozen Lemonade, 1 1/3 cup water, 1 1/2 cup bubblegum flavored vodka, 4tbsp sour apple, sour watermelon, or berry blue sour liqueur, 12 blow pops (used as garnish). What you do: (1) combine liquids in pitcher and stir (2) refrigerate until you’re ready to serve (3) pour into martini glasses (4) garnish by putting blow pop in class, stick up (as shown in picture). Pretty easy, huh?
2) Guinness Cupcakes: This recipe is from Food.com. With St. Pat’s day coming up I thought these would be a nice, seasonal treat. (I promise my whole list is not designed around things that involve alcohol). What you need for cupcakes: 1 cup unsalted butter, 1 cup Guinness Stout, 2/3 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder sifted, 1 cup light brown sugar, 1 teaspoon table salt, 2 cups all purpose flour, 1 cup white sugar, 1 1/4 tblsp baking soda, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup sour cream. What you need for the frosting: 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 4 cups confectioners sugar, 1 pinch table salt, 3 tblsps irish cream (baileys or carolines depending on your preference), 1 tblsp milk, green sprinkles (if desired). What do you do with it: (1)Preheat oven to 350°F Grease 24-30 cupcake cups, or fill with paper liners. (2)In a saucepan, heat the butter, Guinness, cocoa and brown sugar, whisking often, until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. (3) Into the work bowl of a stand mixer (or into a large mixing bowl), sift together salt, flour, white sugar and baking soda. Add the cooled Guinness mixture and beat on medium for 1 minute. Add eggs and sour cream and beat on medium for 2 minutes or until smooth. (4) Divide the batter evenly amongst the cupcake cups. Bake in preheated oven 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean. Cool in pan 20 minutes, then remove and transfer to a cooling rack until completely cooled. (5) Meanwhile, in (cleaned) work bowl of stand mixer, cream butter until very light and fluffy. Add salt, and slowly add confectioners sugar. Do not run the mixer above low, or the sugar will spray all over your kitchen. Add a couple of spoonsful at a time until it has all been absorbed into the butter. Add Bailey’s and milk until spreadable consistency is achieved. (6) Frost cupcakes with Bailey’s frosting. Sprinkle with green jimmies.
3) Baked Hot Chocolate: Who doesn’t love hot chocolate? Since we’re heading out of hot chocolate weather and into spring in the coming weeks it might be nice to do something special to send off winter. And this looks delicious… Recipe from Sunday Nite Dinner. What you need: 9 ounces 62% semisweet chocolate-finely chopped, 6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter cut into cubes , 4 large eggs , 1/4 cup granulated sugar , whipped cream. What you do with it: (1) Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Arrange four 1-cup ovenproof coffee cups or mugs or 8-ounce ramekins in a baking or roasting pan. (2) Place the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler set over gently simmering water, and whisk occasionally until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and set aside. (3) Stir the eggs and sugar together in the bowl of stand mixer then set over the simmering water and stir until warm to the touch. (4) Place the bowl on the stand mixer and using the whisk attachment, beat for 3 to 5 minutes until light and fluffy. (5) Remove from the mixer, and fold the eggs into the chocolate mixture until it is light and smooth. (6) Spoon the batter into the cups. Add enough very hot water to the baking pan to come halfway up the side of the cups. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. The baked hot chocolate will be done when the tops lose their glossy finish. A wooden skewer inserted in the top will emerge clean, but batter toward the bottom of the cup will still be very moist. (7) Carefully remove the cups from the pan. The cakes can be served warm, at room temperature or covered and refrigerated for up to 1 day. To reheat, bring to room temperature and place in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 5 minutes, or until warm. (8)Serve topped with a dollop of cocoa whipped cream. Sounds pretty delicious…
4) Mint Chocolate Chip Cake: I love mint chocolate chip ice cream, and it’s always bothered me that not more things come in that mint-chocolate flavor with the perfect green coloring. Well…now we have cake. Recipe from Best Friends for Frosting. What you need for the cake: 9 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, 1½ cups cake flour (not self-rising), ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon baking powder, 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, 1½ cups granulated sugar, 2 large eggs, at room temperature, ½ cup strong coffee (or water), ½ cup whole or low-fat milk. How you use it: (1) Adjust the oven rack to the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. (2.) Butter two 9″ x 2″ cake pans and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper. (3.) To make the cake layers, sift together the cocoa powder, cake flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl. (4.) In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, or by hand, beat together the butter and sugar about 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. (If using a standing electric mixer, stop the mixer as necessary to scrape down the sides to be sure everything is getting mixed in.) (5.) Mix together the coffee and milk. Stir half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, the add the coffee and milk. Finally stir in the other half of the dry ingredients. (6.) Divide the batter into the two prepared cake pans and bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting. What you need for the frosting: 280g (2.5 sticks) unsalted (or slightly salted) butter, 500g icing sugar (about 4 cups), sifted, 2-3 tsp peppermint essence, adjust to taste, 150g dark chocolate, very finely chopped or pulsed through a food processor, green food coloring. What you do with it: (1) remove butter from fridge about half an hour before starting. (2) Cut up butter into smaller pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. (3) Beat with an electric mixer on high until fluffy and smooth. (4) Add sifted icing sugar one cup at a time, beating until combined. (5) Add peppermint essence to taste and green food colouring. (6) Gradually add chocolate chip pieces until you have a good distribution of chocolate bits.
5) Cake Batter Pancakes: These just sound fantastic. I never think about all the interesting things you can do with pancakes. You can do lots of cool things with pancakes. This is one of them. This is another recipe from Tablespoon.com. What you need: 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour, 1 cup Betty Crocker Supermoist yellow cake mix, 1 Tablespoon sugar, 3/4 teaspoon baking powder, pinch of salt, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1-2 cups milk, assorted sprinkles, For the Glaze:, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 Tablespoon milk, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, assorted sprinkles, 2 Tablespoons butter, softened. What you do with it: (1) Combine flour, cake mix, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix (2) Add 1 cup of milk, eggs, and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth. Add additional milk until batter has the consistency of pancake batter. You can also add more cake mix if you want your pancakes to have a stronger cake batter flavor (3) Preheat a skillet to low to medium heat. Fold desired amount of sprinkles into batter. Pour batter in 1/4 cup measurements onto skillet and let cook until bubbles form on top, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook for 1 minute more. Serve with vanilla glaze (recipe follows). (4) For vanilla glaze: mix powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla and milk until glaze forms. You may need to add a little more milk to reach desired consistency so that it can be drizzled. Mix into glaze and drizzle on pancakes
So here are you fantastic things to try this weekend, or during the week. All of which look fantastically delicious! Hope you enjoy! I’m really enjoying pinterest…be ready for more pinterest inspired posts coming your way soon.