Today's Moral: Do Your Own

I was all excited to post a new recipe.  This is what the recipe promised:     (and this is a QUOTE from the recipe blog)      "This was the one recipe that surprised us, not only because it tasted AMAZING, but also because the cupcakes were perfectly...and we actually mean perfectly...spherical..... and...so fluffy, so creamy, so light!"  At right is what they say the finished product will look like.

I followed the recipe EXACTLY (something I almost NEVER do) because I wanted to see the "perfectly (and we mean perfectly) spherical" cupcakes.  Not even close.  They were dense, dry,  flat and pale.  They were more like a muffin than a cupcake.   And this was NOT a simple recipe.  It involved whisking an egg mixture for 7 minutes, boiling the milk and streaming it into the batter, etc.  

 I followed their recipe for the custard, which turned out....... OK, but  eeehhh.  I would rather use my own recipe for custard.  They did not include a recipe for the chocolate, so I just made chocolate ganache... which by the way did not make as big a mess as shown above.  Here is my final product:

We have not tasted yet  (they are for "Tea Time" this afternoon), but I threw the recipe into the trash.  If I decide to make Mini Boston Cream Pies again,  I will use a basic yellow cake recipe (or even a mix would have been better), a basic custard recipe, and plain ganache.  I promise once I have perfected the recipe, I will share.  (Note to Christopher:  I have gone back to the Sunday exceptions so I can try some new recipes.)

Cream Cheese Filling

So we wanted Cream cheese filling for our Crepes, so we called our favorite recipe book- (mommy-in-law).

So we mixed:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 to 2 dash of vanilla, and almond powder flavoring

1 tsp of lemon juice

Mixed it well and eat it with Raspberries on our Dessert Crepes.... Hopefully you enjoy it as much as we did!!!

We liked them so much, we want to make them tomorrow for Breakfast!!!!

Yummy Crepes

Our friends had us over a couple weekends ago, and they feed us crepes. Since then we have wanted more, so we decided to make them!! So we looked all over the Internet and we finally found one that we liked and wanted to try

Dessert Crepes:

Ingredients

• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/3 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, melted butter, flour sugar and salt until smooth.
2. Heat a medium-sized skillet or crepe pan over medium heat. Grease pan with a small amount of butter or oil applied with a brush or paper towel. Using a serving spoon or small ladle, spoon about 3 tablespoons crepe batter into hot pan, tilting the pan so that bottom surface is evenly coated. Cook over medium heat, 1 to 2 minutes on a side, or until golden brown. Serve immediately. 

Recipe for Baked Cinnamon Apple Donuts

Ingredients:
2 packets dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup applesauce
3 TBS butter or margarine, melted
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
5 1/2 to 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Topping:
1/2 cup butter melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 TBS cinnamon

Directions:
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a large bowl, allowing it to sit 5 to 10 minutes.
Then add the sugar, applesauce, melted butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, beaten eggs, and 3 cups of the flour. Beat it at low speed with an electric mixer or by hand until mixture is moistened throughout, then beat at medium speed for another minute.
Stir in 2 1/4 cups of flour, 1/2 cup at a time, adding it until you've formed a soft dough. The consistency of the dough is more important than the exact amount of flour you use. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead it about 5 minutes, until it's smooth and elastic.
Place the dough in a bowl coasted with cooking spray, then lightly spray the top. cover it with a clean cloth and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, for about 1 hour. It will have almost doubled in size bu then. Punch dough down, and then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.
Roll the dough to 1/2- inch thickness, and then cut it with your donut cutter.
Place the donuts and holes on greased baking sheets, then brush the tops of the donuts with some of the melted butter. Let the donuts rise, uncovered, in a warm, draft-free place for 30 minutes.
Bake the donuts at 425 degrees for 11 minutes or until they are golden. Immediately brush melted butter over baked donuts as soon as you take them out, and then dip the donuts into the sugar-cinnamon mix.

Then Enjoy!!!

I found this recipe when I was reading Glazed Murder by Jessica Beck. I love mystery books that deal with food and recipes. This book was from part of a series called the Donut Shop Mysteries. If you like cupcakes you should try the series Cupcake Bakery Mystery by Jennifer McKinlay. Those books have some awesome recipes that I have tried and my family loves. Happy Reading and Baking!!! 

Autumn Delight

Made some Baked Cinnamon Apple Donuts. Found this recipe a while a go, but finally made them. Reminds me of Autumn with the smell of apples and cinnamon. Plus I loved how they are baked, so less fat than frying them. :) or at least I hope so because I ate a lot of them!!!

I promised to show how to make Igor and his buddies

Here is what you are going to need: 

For the eyeballs:  Whoppers, empty gelatin capsules,

 You can buy these at a drug store or go here:  http://www.capsuline.com/index.php?app=ecom&ns=catshow&ref=gelatin_capsules

We used size 00.  (It would NOT be a good idea to go empty some old medicine out of capsules if you intend to eat these things)

You also need nerds or some other small candy that will fit into the gelatin capsule.  Large sprinkles would work if they are round and dark colored.  Also those Hersheys ice cream toppers... but we cannot find them anymore.  Maybe they quit making them.

For the cookie:  You need 2 bags of chips-- semi-sweet chocolate and butterscotch  (a bag of each) and 2 cans of chow mein noodles or about 10 to 12 oz. total.

You need to make the eyeballs one day and let them set up before making the cookies the next day.  Start by carefully shaving about a third of a whopper off with a sharp knife.  Keep your fingers out of the way. 

Make a good flat surface on it.

Then take a gelatin capsule apart and use the longer end as a tool to carve a circle into the whopper.  This works better if the whoppers are really fresh.  

Set aside this part of the gelatin capsule to use as a tool for all of your eyeballs. 

  Use a screwing, motion to make the cut.

The cut should be deep enough to hold the gelatin capsule in.

Now you need to take a different capsule.  You will only be using the long side because the short side is just a fraction bigger than the long side (that is how it slips over the top of the long one).  You need to cut the long one down until it is about 1/4 inch long.  Make a slit up the length of the capsule then cut around it.  If you try to just cut across both sides at once, it will mash and break the capsule.

Put a nerd into the capsule and push into the slit you made in the whopper.  Be sure it is pushed in really good.

Make plenty of eyeballs for all your cookies.  When you have a bunch done, line them up and take funny pictures of them.. 3;o)

Melt about a quarter cup of the chocolate chips in a little bowl in the microwave.  Put them into a ziplock baggie to melt them.  Be careful not to get them too hot.  Cut off a corner of the bag and make a little blob of chocolate on a piece of waxed paper.  Stick a long chow mein noodle (pick out the coolest ones from the package) into the blob of chocolate and set an eyeball on top.  Arrange it so it will stay the way you want it to look.  Do this with all the eyeballs and put them in the freezer for several minutes.  Melt some more of the chocolate in a small bowl and holding the eyeball part, dip the noodle in the chocolate coating the entire stick.  Set back onto the waxed paper and allow to stay in the freezer for several hours or overnight.  Keep your leftover chocolate to add to the chips when you make the cookies.

After several hours, or the next day, melt the 2 bags of chips (and any leftovers from all the foolishness with the eyes)  in a large bowl in the microwave.  Heat them on high for 30 seconds at a time, then stir and repeat until they are creamy.  Throw in the chow mein noodles and stir to coat them all.  Working with a friend, make blobs of cookies on a waxed paper and arrange the eyes into the mound so they stay upright.  When you get tired of doing that, just put the eyeballs on the blobs and forget the stems.  That is what we did because we ended up with 36 eyeballs and not that much patience. 

It takes a little practice, but after a while, you will get the hang of it and make some really cute little aliens.  They will need to set up in a cool room or the fridge if there is room in there.  You can put them out on the porch if it is cool outside and there are no neighborhood cats, squirrels, or bobcats running around who will disturb them.  They will keep in a cool room for several days if you can keep them that long without devouring them all.  Oh yeah-- we discovered that although the capsules are edible (That is what they put your medicine in) they are not pleasant to eat.  It is like chewing a piece of plastic.  So we actually threw the capsule part away.  If you like chewing plastic, go for it-- it won't hurt you...................

OK. Here is who the eyeballs belong to



Presenting.....  the Blob!



Watch out behind you, Igor.
  Those eyes seem to be glowing in the dark.

Focus, Herman, Focus!





I think I scared myself a little!  Oh, that was my shadow....

Recipe tomorrow  (and instructions on how to make those eyeballs......)