Christmas Party

We just recently had our Christmas Party and my co-worker requested my cupcakes.  I made carrot spice cupcakes and chocolate chocolate chip cupcakes both with vanilla buttercream frosting.  There were also some other store bought and franchise desserts there as well.  Let's just say my cupcakes were the first to go.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake with vanilla butter cream frosting.  As you can see it was a hit for Thanksgiving.  Little fingers tasting frosting and a missing piece before Thanksgiving dinner.  With a scoop of ice-cream, you can image how long the rest of the cake lasted.

Gingerbread Cheesecake

Christmas Gingerbread Cheesecake

I made a Gingerbread Cheesecake and my husband described it as, "It's not a cheesecake its' heaven"   My daughter began turning flips after she tasted it. I really enjoyed making this cheesecake because I added several rich ingredients such as, molasses, ginger, nutmeg, cloves , and vanilla extract.  The crust was made from gingerbread melted butter and sugar that I mixed together to form a crust at the bottom of the springform pan.  I top the cheesecake with a cute pair of Christmas Gingerbread men.  As usual I enjoyed this with my favorite pumpkin spice coffee.  

Spice Pumpkin Cake

                                                                       

Some of my favorite spices are cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.  I love the smell of these spices by themselves and especially while they are baking in the oven. Below is a recipe that contains all four of my favorite spices.  Enjoy! Oh and don't forget a cup of coffee to go along with it. 

Spice Pumpkin Cake

Makes two 9-inch layers

For the cake:

• 3cups flour
• 1teaspoon salt
• 1/4teaspoon ground cloves
• 3/4teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1teaspoon ground ginger
• 3teaspoons baking powder
• 1teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2cups sugar
• 3eggs
• 1 1/2cups canned pumpkin
• 1/2cup evaporated milk
• 1/4cup water
• 2teaspoons vanilla extract

For the frosting:

• 3 1/2cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1/3cup butter, softened
• 11ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2teaspoons maple syrup

1. Preheat the oven to 325° F. Butter and flour two round 9-inch cake pans (I used a sheet cake pan and punched out my layers using a ring mold, hence the many layers in the photo).
2. Whisk together the flour, salt, spices, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl or in a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. 
4. Add the pumpkin, evaporated milk, water, and vanilla, mixing after each addition.
5. Add the dry ingredients and beat until just combined.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the cake springs back to the touch and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack to cool fully. It's best to chill the cakes in the refrigerators before frosting them.
7. For the frosting: Beat together all the ingredients in a large bowl until smooth and fluffy. 
8. If you want a cake with more layers, slice your two layers in half horizontally. Frost between each layer and top with more frosting. Leave the sides unfrosted if you like, or cover them with a thin layer of frosting.

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Wonderful Memories

Every morning I start my morning off with a cup of coffee.  My mother was a coffee
lover and a true coffee drinker, she could drink coffee all day.  Since she has passed away I often think about her when I am having my cup of coffee and the conversations we would have while drinking coffee together.  Here's to the best part of my day, with my mom and my coffee!!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting

You can have fun with pumpkin by making cute

pumpkin cupcakes with a delicious caramel frosting.  I came

across a recipe that you may enjoy making for or

with your family and friends. Enjoy!!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting

Makes 12 cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups loosely packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

To make the cupcake batter, whisk the egg and sugar together in a large bowl until combined and no lumps remain. Add in vanilla extract and butter, then whisk in pumpkin puree. Add in flour, baking soda, powder, salt and pumpkin spice, then add in milk and stir until combined and smooth. Fill the liners 3/4 of the way full with batter. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until cupcakes are set and spring back at the touch. Let cool completely.

Salted Caramel Buttercream Ingredients

• ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup salted caramel sauce (recipe below)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon milk, if needed

Beat the butter in the bowl of your electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add in the sugar until it mixes in, then stream in the caramel sauce and vanilla extra. Beat the icing on medium speed until combined and creamy, scraping down the sides if needed. Frost the cupcakes once cooled, then drizzle with caramel sauce. Sprinkle with flaked salt.

Easy Caramel Sauce Ingredients

• ½ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients together in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly until the mixture thickens, about six to seven minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes or so before stirring into the buttercream. 

Blueberry Cheesecake Muffins

Blueberry Cheesecake Muffins

It was a beautiful Sunday evening to make these Blueberry Cheesecake Muffins.  The house

smelled wonderful while they were baking in the oven.  My husband and son enjoyed them with a 

tall glass of milk.  I'm going to enjoy mine with a cup of pumpkin spice coffee.  

White Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

White Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cupcakes.  Fresh from my kitchen and displayed on one of my mother's favorite china plates.  These cupcakes are your basic chocolate cupcake recipe with white chocolate and chocolate chip added to the batter.  The icing is a vanilla buttercream icing.  Beautiful to look at and delicious to eat.

Gingerbread Cookies

The holidays are right around the corner and one of my favorite things to eat is gingerbread.
Below is a recipe for a quick batch of gingerbread for you to prepare with or for your family and friends.  





Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

3 cups AP Flour

2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 TBSP ground Ginger

2 tsp ground Cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground Cloves

1/4 tsp ground All Spice

1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, softened

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1 Egg

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup Molasses

2 TBSP Maple Syrup

Your favorite White Icing, for decorating

Directions:

Beat together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla extract, molasses, and maple syrup.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Mix dry ingredients into butter mixture until just incorporated.  With your hand, knead dough until smooth. Divide into 2 balls and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

When ready to bake, let dough come to room temperature before rolling out. Roll to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out cookies and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. Let cool completely.

Once cool, decorate cookies with icing.

The Day I Will Never Forget

October 21, 2015 was a bitter sweet day for me.  My mother, Hazel Holmes passed away.

She was a wonderful lady with a very kind heart who enjoyed life and spending time with her grandchildren.  My inspiration for this blog comes from my love for baking and my mother's love for sweets.  

When my mother was living and when I would visit her I would always bring her something sweet to eat, I knew this would make her smile and make her day.  My mother enjoyed any type of pastry or sweets, but her favorites were blueberry muffins and banana flavored breads or muffins.  When my mother begin refusing to eat her favorite things I felt in my heart that it was nearing the end for her.

October 21st was the end of her beautiful life, but the beginning of the wonderful memories I will continue to create by sharing recipes, inspirational quotes, and conversations about baking ideas.