Pain Au Chocolats: 2011

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Hey Baby! Cupcakes holiday cupcake orders

Last year as many of you may know, I started a small cupcake catering business called

Hey Baby! Cupcakes.

This holiday season I'm offering a

chocolate cupcake with peppermint candy cane swirled buttercream

for the same price as a dozen of my classic flavors,

$20!

Chocolate with Vanilla Bean Buttercream $20 a dozen

Vanilla with Vanilla Bean Buttercream $20 a dozen

Red Velvet with Vanilla Bean Buttercream $20 a dozen

Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Buttercream $25 a dozen

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream $25 a dozen

Chocolate Mocha with Espresso Buttercream $25 a dozen

$30 a dozen for customized specialty flavors

I'm accepting orders now for December if you live in the Bloomington/Normal area.

Simply email me at heybabycupcakes@gmail.com

to place your cupcake order :)

Friday, November 11, 2011

Notre petit homme! The best baking adventure ever!

April 30th 2011 our little man decided it was time to bust outta the joint :)

A whole month early!

And he is the best most amazing thing I have ever "baked" up!

Mommy and daddy love you sooooo much bubba bear baby meatloaf!!!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Stay tuned for my next baking adventure :)

Yum! Juicy lucys!

So if you're obsessed like me with the Cooking Channel or Food Network or the Travel channel, especially Man v. Food, you'll know exactly what these yummy gooey cheese filled burgers are.

Juicy lucys!

Back in March during my second trimester, I was craving a nice juicy cheeseburger or maybe Little Man was the one craving it :) Either way I was wanting a burger, but I still couldn't stand the smell of raw meat, so my BSM told me to stand aside because he was going to make some juicy lucys like on MvF. Yea!!

And let me tell you, it was AMAZING!

They were packed full of sharp cheddar cheese and we piled on lettuce and onion.
Yum yum :)

This really was super easy to make. Just take whatever kind of hamburger you'd normally make and add your favorite cheese to the middle. Seal it up and throw it in a pan on the stove or the grill. Then put it on a bun and dress it up with lettuce or onion or pickles or avacado or more cheese or bacon or a fried egg with a slightly runny yolk OR

ALL OF THE ABOVE! LOL

Our Burger Recipe

12 ounces ground chuck

1 egg

1 packet Lipton soup mix

salt & pepper

4-5 Tbsp. worchestershire sauce

1. Heat your pan over medium heat.

2. In a bowl combine your beef, egg, soup mix, worchestershire sauce, and

a few dashes of salt & pepper.
3. Form 6-8 patties depending on how big you like your burgers. Make a little indent in the middle of half the patties. Fill with cheese and top with the other patty. Seal and place in your pan or on the grill.

4. Cook for about 6-8 minutes on each side.

5. Serve on toasted buns with your favorite condiments and toppings.

6. Dig in and enjoy :)

Stay tuned for my next baking adventure :)

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Thursday, November 10, 2011

PB Cookie & Red Velvet Love Cups

Our Valentine's Day this past February was a bit low key. No sushi or saki this year :(

Being 6 months pregnant kinda puts the kabosh on raw fish and alcohol. Our little man was totally worth it though :) Plus my BSM made us juicy lucys instead! YUM! (post to follow soon)

AND we had cookie cups AND red velvet cupcakes!

AND those delicious red chewy gummy hearts! Sugar overload!

Peanut Butter Cookie Cups with PB M&Ms

makes 2 dozen mini cookie cups

1 cup peanut butter (whatever your favorite kind is)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 bag peanut butter m&ms

1. Preheat your oven to 350. Line your mini cupcake pan with mini liners or if you don't want to use liners just spray it with some non-stick spray.

2. In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer or a good ol' spoon, mix all ingredients together. Since these are mini cookie cups, feel free to cut the m&ms in half before adding them to the cookie dough.

3. Once everything is combined, start pinching off small pieces of dough and press into your liners.

4. Bake at 350 for about 8 minutes. Cookies should look light golden brown.

5. Let cool on a rack and enjoy :)

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

*makes 3 dozen cupcakes

Adapted from Annie's Eats

2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
*1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. distilled vinegar
*1 oz jar of red gel food coloring

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line your cupcake pans with liners or if you'd rather not use liners spray with non-stick spray. Set aside.
2. Combine your flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. In a stand mixer or with a large bowl and hand mixer, beat your eggs, oil, buttermilk, vanilla, vinegar, and food coloring. Beat on medium speed until they're well blended.
4. On low speed, slowly add the dry ingredient mixture until the batter is smooth.
5. Fill each liner halfway. (I only fill them halfway because I like my cupcake tops to be even with the top of the liners.)
6. Bake for about 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Then place on a wire rack to cool.
7. Once cupcakes have cooled frost with cream cheese frosting or buttercream. Or whatever frosting your little heart desires. I love cream cheese so that's what I use. Recipe can be found in this post.

*Notes: If you don't have buttermilk you can use regular milk with a tablespoon of vinegar added. Stir and let sit for about 10 minutes.
You can use any kind of gel food coloring you like to make pink or green or blue velvet. I've found that the gel coloring works the best.

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting found HERE.

Stay tuned for my next baking adventure :)

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Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Ho Ho Ho! Nutmeg Logs!

We had finally made it out of the first trimester. Yea!
The nausea had disappeared. Yea!
Shared our baby news with family and friends. Yea!
Office Christmas cookie exchange. Yea!

I actually made three, maybe four, different cookies.
But for some reason these were the only ones I took a picture of :(
We'll just blame it on all the crazy pregnancy hormones back then :)
This December though I'll be a cookie bakin', photo takin' machine! lol

Nutmeg Logs
Adapted from my mom's recipe :)

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean
5 teaspoons rum
6 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat your oven to 350 and line baking sheets with parchment or silpats.
2. In a large bowl, sift together your flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
3. In another large bowl or stand mixer, cream together your butter and sugar. Add your eggs one at a time. Then add your vanilla and rum.
4. Gradually add your dry mixture.
5. Pull off small chunks of dough to form into little 2-3 inch long logs.
(you could also roll out your dough and cut into little logs)
6. Place logs about an inch apart on your lined baking sheets.
7. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until logs start to turn a light golden brown around the edges.
8. Let cool completely on cookie racks.

Rum Frosting

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 - 2 cups of powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp rum

1. Cream your butter, vanilla, and rum together.
2. Slowly add your powdered sugar. Gotta avoid that sugar cloud :)
3. Frosting should be smooth, but not runny. If it's looking a little thin add a couple tablespoons of powdered sugar until it thickens up.
4. Take a spoon (or your finger hehehe) to make sure it has that slight rum flavor.
5. Once your cookies have cooled, frost and sprinkle with nutmeg.
These cookies should have that eggnog holiday flavor to them. Yum!

Stay tuned for my next baking adventure :)

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Monday, August 22, 2011

Giving Thanks for the END of the First Trimester with some Chocolate Crinkles!

*sigh with relief*

As my first trimester ended that is what I felt. Relief. Followed quickly by "mmm where's a cheeseburger?"

LOL :)

Quite frankly I'm not sure what I would have done if there had been all day puking instead of all day nausea. Probably would've walked around with one of those grain feed bags attached to me just in case there wasn't a garbage can near.

You know, like the kind that horses use.

And so now that you have that glorious image in your head, here are the delicious chocolate crinkles I made to celebrate the end of nausea. Yea!!

Chocolate Crinkles

(adapted from Babble)

makes about 2 dozen

1 1/3 cups of flour (I used white whole wheat pastry flour)

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup of cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark)

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup softened butter (I've used plain non-fat yogurt)

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

powdered sugar for rolling

1. Preheat your oven to 350. Line your cookie sheets with non-stick foil or silpats, if you have them. And put some powdered sugar in a small shallow dish, set aside.

2. Mix together the flour, sugars, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

3. Add your softened butter (or yogurt) and mix until combined.

4. Add your eggs and vanilla. After this point I use my hands to mix it the rest of the way.

5. Roll your dough into balls about the size of a ping pong ball. Roll each one in the powdered sugar and place on the baking sheets.

6. Bake for about 10-12 mins. You want the cookie to be set around the edges, but still soft and fudgy in the middle. Yum :)

7. Cool on cookie racks and enjoy! Or if you're like me you'll grab a glass of cold milk and eat them fresh out of the oven :)

Stay tuned for my next baking adventure :)

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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Peanut Butter Buttercream

I LOVE cake! I LOVE cookies!
Hmmm, I'm thinkin' whoopie pies! With peanut butter buttercream of course. Duh :p

During my first trimester I was incredibly nauseous all day every day. Ugh :(
And to make matters worse (you may want to sit down for this) I didn't crave or want ANY sweets! The whole 8 months (our lil man came 4 weeks early, cuz that's how he rolls) if someone offered me anything sweet like cookies or candy, I would almost always pass on the offer. Sacrilege, I know. And on the rare occasion that I felt good enough to do anything, that anything always was baking. Oh and I probably consumed about half a dozen of the large jars of Jif while I was with child :) Because peanut butter was the one thing I could eat every day.

Chocolate Whoopie Pies
makes 2 dozen sandwiches
(adapted from Martha Stewart)

3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
1 Tbsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. baking powder
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar (I used 1 cup brown sugar & 1 cup regular sugar)
2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk (I used skim milk mixed with 2 Tbsp vinegar)
2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 400. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper, non-stick foil, or if you have them, Silpats.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together your dry ingredients. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl or your stand mixer, cream your butter and sugar until fluffy. Then add your eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat until everything is combined.
4. Add your dry ingredients slowly, but try not to over beat.
5. With a cookie dough scoop or two big spoons, place batter on your lined baking sheets. Remember they will spread a little as they bake so place about 2 inches apart.
6. Bake for about 10-12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on a rack before filling.

Peanut Butter Buttercream aka Heaven
recipe by Me :)

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups peanut butter (any brand you prefer)
3-4 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
4 Tbsp. milk

1. With the paddle attachment on your stand mixer or a hand mixer, cream together your butter and peanut butter until lump free.
2. Add your vanilla and milk.
3. Slowly add your sifted powdered sugar and beat until smooth and deliciously creamy. Yummy :)
4. Now fill your whoopie pies!
5. Lick the bowl :)

Stay tuned for my next baking adventure :)

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Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

The next couple of posts are going to be recipes from my previous post of pictures from the last year. Yea! First up are the vanilla bean cupcakes I made last August. These were test cupcakes for my sister's wedding celebration for when her and my brother-in-law get back from Afghanistan in December. And since she wasn't here to taste them I got to frost them with cream cheese frosting! My favorite! Because let's be honest, everything is better with cream cheese frosting. My sister, Rose, is one of those weirdos who does not like cream cheese frosting. She is also one of those weirdos that used to sit under our kitchen table as a toddler and eat butter. Ewwww!

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

(Adapted from The Comfort of Cooking)

1 1/3 cups of flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup of butter (I used non-fat plain yogurt)

1 cup of sugar (I used 1/2 cup)

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla (I used 1 tsp + 2 vanilla bean pods)

1 cup buttermilk (I used skim milk w/ 1 Tbsp. vinegar)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line your cupcake pans with liners or grease and flour them.

2. Sift together your dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

3. With a mixer or by hand, combine the yogurt and sugar. Add in your egg, the vanilla, and the vanilla beans until nice and smooth :)

4. Alternate adding your dry ingredients and milk to your wet mixture.

5. Fill your cupcake liners 1/2 to 3/4 full, depending on how big of a top you like your cupcakes to have. I prefer mine to come exactly even with the top of the liner, so I only fill mine 1/2 full.

6. Bake for about 12-15 mins. Check with a toothpick at 12 mins. They should have a slight golden color to them. Yum :)

7. Let them cool for about an hour or so before frosting.

*Recipe says it makes 12 cupcakes, but if you fill your liners only half ways you can get about 18.

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

Recipe by Me :)

12 ounces of 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened (or you can be bad and use regular. I won't tell :)

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

4-5 cups of powdered sugar

2-3 vanilla beans (I love vanilla so I used 3)

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

*2 Tbsp. milk or half/half if the frosting seems a little dry

1. With a paddle attachment or regular hand mixer, whip your cream cheese and butter together. Add you vanilla extract and the seeds from your vanilla beans.

2. Mix in your powdered sugar about a cup at a time to avoid the powdered sugar cloud :)

3. Once all your powdered sugar has been added, if the frosting seems a little too stiff to pipe go ahead and add the milk or half/half. I've made my frosting with and without it and both ways are delicious!

4. Now frost away!