Chocolate Guinness Cake Pops

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Since I haven't really done a lot of dessert decorating latetly, I knew I wanted to make something fun for the holiday. I was going to make cupcakes, but then decided on cake pops. I've never made them and I thought it would be fun. When making cake pops you definitely need something to hold them up. I bought a big block of styrofoam at Michael's and luckily the cashier gave me a coupon to use since styrofoam can be pretty expensive. I've also seen some cake pop holders before that you can buy.

These can be as simple or elaborate as you want. I just rolled mine in sprinkles and then decorated a few with clovers using some decorating tips (Wilton tip 252 to make hearts that resemble the leaves, and tip #4 for the stem). If you are making cake pops for a large party, the recipe below is great. But if you don't need to make a bunch, I would definitely half it. I wound up with way more than we needed, but we will be bringing some to my in-laws to share :)

Ingredients
1  11.2 fl oz bottle Guinness Beer
1/2 cup of butter cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
2 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup plain greek yogurt
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 pkgs of creamcheese
White chocolate chips or white baking chocolate
Green food coloring or a bag of the green melting chocolate (can get from Hobby Lobby or Michaels)
Lollipop/candy sticks (available at Hobby Lobby or Michaels)

Directions
1.Pre-heat oven to 350 and grease a 9 inch springform pan.
2. In a medium pot, heat the beer and butter until the butter has melted.
3. Remove pot from heat and whisk in the sugar and cocoa until fully combined.
4. In a small bowl (or glass measuring cup), mix together the eggs, yogurt, and vanilla then pour into the beer mixture and mix together.
5. In a small bowl, combine the flour and baking soda then add to beer mixture and whisk until smooth
6. Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
7. Let cake cool completely on a cooling rack
8. Once totally cool, crumble cake up into a large bowl
9. Mix in the creamcheese and combine until well mixed (I used my hands for this)
10. Roll mixture into equal sized cake balls and place on a plate. Use a kitchen scale for accuracy.
11. Melt a little bit of the chocolate and dip one end of the sticks into the chocolate and then press into each cake ball. Be careful not to use too much pressure or you'll flatten them. Also, make sure not to let the stick go all the way through the cake ball.
12. Refridgerate cake balls for about an hour or so

13. Melt some white chocolate and green chocolate in seperate bowls. Prepare a few other small bowls with whatever sprinkles you may want to use.
14. Roll the cake balls into the chocolate and then into sprinkles
15. Stick the cake pop into the styrofoam. You may have to use a little force. Be careful not to stick them too close together (I decorated my styrofoam and will use that to serve as well in addition to the champagne glasses.)

16. Once the cake pops have dried, enjoy!
17. Since these have creamcheese in them I like to keep them in the fridge.

Tip: Be creative and serve in something fun!



Recipe source: adapted from tasteofhome

Kahlua Whoopie Pies

This was my very first attempt at whoopie pies. These addicting little desserts are all over different food blogs and websites. I came across a Kahlua version from a blog called "Let's Make Whoopie....Pies" (lol!) and tweaked it just a little. You can't help but giggle when you hear or say the word "whoopie" (at least I can't).  Anyways, these were easier to make than I thought. Overall, they turned out well for my first attempt. They were just a tad too sweet for me, so next time I may reduce the sugar. The version I got this idea from used all-purpose flour but I decided to use cake flour. I did a little research and found that cake flour has less gluten and protein than all-purpose flour. Cake flour can be used when you want a more delicate texture. To substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour, use one cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour for every cup of all-purpose flour (my substitution might not be exact but it's pretty close and I was happy with the cake texture).To read more about the different types of flours and how they are used for baking you can check out Joy of Baking.

Ingredients
1 2/3 cup + 3 Tbsp of cake flour
1 1/2 tsp of baking soda
2/3 cup of cocoa
1/2 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp of espresso powder
1/2 cup of butter at room temp
1 cup of packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp of vanilla
1 cup of milk
2 1/2 Tbsp of Kahlua

Directions
1.Preheat the oven to 375.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper or spray with non-stick spray.
2.In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, espresso powder and salt.
3.Beat the butter and brown sugar together with a stand mixer or handheld mixer until fluffy and light.
4.Add in the egg and and vanilla and mix for another minute or two.
5 In a glass measuring cup, measure out the 1 cup of milk add the Kahlua and stir to combine.
6.With your stand mixer (or hand held mixer) running on low, add in the flour mixture and milk mixture alternately until combined (I have an awesome mixer attachment I got for Christmas from my parents which helps prevent flour from going everywhere).

7.Using a cookie scoop or a spoon, place about 1 1/2 -2 Tbsp of batter for each cake on cookie sheets depending on how big you want them.

8.Bake for about 10 minutes or until cakes spring back when touched. Don't overbake!

Filling
1 8oz block of cream cheese at room temp
2 tsp of espresso powder
2 Tbsp of cocoa powder
4 cups of powdered sugar
1 Tbsp of Kahlua
1 tsp of vanilla

Directions
1.Beat cream cheese until it starts to get fluffy.
2.Add in the espresso powder and cocoa powder.
3.Add in sugar a little at at time until combined
4.Add in the Kahlua and vanilla.

Assemble by spooning 1-2 Tbsp of filling onto flat side of one cake and topping with another.



Recipe source: Slightly adapted from Let's Make Whoopie...Pies

Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes

I knew I wanted to make something chocolate for Valentine's and I knew I wouldn't have a ton of time since it was a week night. I also knew I didn't want just plain chocolate.  So I ended up with chocolate and cherry.  These turned out just right.I 'm glad the hubby liked my Valentine's dessert too :) I've been wanting to come up with my own cake recipe, but have been kind of hesitant. Luckily, this was not an epic fail so I may continue to experiment some more.

Ingredients
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
½ cup  + 2 Tbsp cake flour
1/3 cup of cocoa powser
½ tsp of kosher salt
1 tsp of baking soda
½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup of granulated sugar
½ cup of vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla
8 maraschino cherries, finely chopped
¼ cup maraschino cherry juice

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350. Line pan with cupcake wrappers. Sift together the flours, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. Mix in the sugars. Add in vegetable oil and whisk until blended. Stir in vanilla, chopped cherries, and cherry juice. Fill cupcakes about 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 or until toothpick comes out clean. Do not overcook. Top with chocolate ganache and maraschino cherry.

Chocolate Cherry Ganache

12 ounces of chocolate, chopped into small pieces (I just used a whole bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips)
1 cup of heavy cream
1 Tbsp of Maraschino cherry juice
2 Tbsp of Kahula

Heat heavy cream over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil. Immediately pour over chocolate. Add in cherry juice and Kahula. Whisk by hand or with electric mixer until combined. . If you want more of a glaze, you can use the chocolate almost immediately. For a thicker frosting let sit for about an hour or chill in the fridge. Do not put in the freezer.

Recipe source:
cupcakes-Harper's Original
Chocolate Cherry Ganache-slightly adapted from Savory Sweet Life

Hazelnut Crepes

I can't think of anything to describe these except insanely good. Crepes sound intimidating but really aren't that complicated once you get the hang of it. They have only a few ingredients and hardly take any time at all to make. The recipe I used comes from Giada DeLaurentiis (Love her!). I decided to use Nutella Hazelnut spread instead of the Raspberry Jam she used in her recipe. I also cut the recipe down to 1/4 since it was just 2 of us eating them. The only thing I did different was use regular salt instead of sea salt since we had run out. And I usually make my own whipped cream, but just used a can this time. The recipe below makes 12 crepes.
Ingredients
4 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I use unbleached)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 12 cubes

Directions:
Preheat oven to 150 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I only made a few crepes so I didn't need the oven to keep them warm). In a blender, add the eggs, milk, flour, sugar, and salt. Blend until the mixture forms a smooth batter.  Pre-heat a 10 inch nonstick crepe pan or skillet over medium-low heat. Add 1 cube of butter to then. Once the butter has melted, add 1/4 cup of batter and quickly tilt the pan to form an even coating of batter on the bottom of the pan.

Cook for 1 minute until set and slightly browned. Using a heat-resistant spatula, carefully loosen the sides and gently flip the crepe over. Cook for 1 minute. Repeat with the remaining batter and butter.  Spread a spoonful of nutella over crepe and roll-up into a tube shape. Served with whipped cream. I also topped mine with chocolate chips.

Recipe source: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/raspberry-filled-crepes-recipe/index.html