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Reduce The Amount Of Cupcake Clean Up

partysugar — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 07:56:31 -0700

What I hate about making cupcakes is having to scrape and scrub the muffin tin afterwards. Removing the caked on batter hurts my arm and ruins my nails. So I developed a system: I cover the muffin tin tightly with aluminum foil. Next, I slice a hole where the cupcake batter is supposed to go and press the foil into each indentation. I place the cupcake paper liners in the hole and fill with batter. If any of the batter spills it gets on the foil and not on the pan! After the cupcakes or muffins are finished baking & cooling, simply peel off the dirty foil and dispose.

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Muffin Top Tin: Love It or Hate It?

partysugar — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 04:00:11 -0700

Ever since I saw this muffin top pan ($19.95) on Serious Eats the other day, I can't seem to get it out of my head. The author of the story, a self-professed muffin-bottom lover, employs the pan to make other things, like individual quiches, gratins, and tarts. I, too, have never really understood the allure of the muffin top, but after reading the descriptive uses for the pan, I kind of want one. What do you think of it?

Persimmon Bread Is a Generous Gift

YumSugar — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 08:00:51 -0800

Last weekend, I had an abundance of persimmons and decided I would make something for a friend who helped me organize an event. Luckily, I came across an enticing recipe for dessert bread made with persimmons, brandy, walnuts, and dates.

Because the recipe yields a huge batch, I altered it to make some muffins as well. The simple modification was as easy as pouring batter into muffin tins and baking for a shorter period of time. In one hour, I had muffins for the next week's breakfast, as well as a nutty dessert for my friend. To see how I did it all, read more.

Persimmon Bread
Adapted from Divine Caroline

Ingredients

3-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2-1/4 cups sugar
1 cup melted butter
Four eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup Cognac
2 cups puree of very ripe persimmons
2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts
2 cups chopped dates

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° F.
Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Slowly add in melted butter, eggs, Cognac, and persimmon puree, and stir until combined. Add in walnuts and dates.
Butter and flour four bread molds, fill them about three-quarters full, and bake for about one hour. Cool the loaves in the molds and turn out on a rack. Alternately, fill a muffin tin until three-quarters full and bake 20 to 25 minutes.
Cool and wrap in foil.

Makes 4 loaves, or 1 loaf and 12 muffins. Keeps for 1 to 2 weeks.

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Treat Your Valentine to Triple-Chocolate Bread Bites

YumSugar — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:15:33 -0800

With Valentine's Day around the corner, I wanted to get a head start on finding the perfect recipe for my sweetie. Looking through my cookbooks, one caught my eye as the ideal place to start - The Wine Lover's Dessert Cookbook. This book is dedicated to creating delicious desserts that accompany a variety of different wines. While I drooled over many, I decided to experiment with the triple-chocolate buttermilk loaf cake. After seeing the Bites of Love series on lilsugar, instead of baking a loaf, I divided the batter into mini muffin tins to create a dainty two-bite dessert. Chocoholics will be in heaven with the complex and rich flavor of three different types of chocolate: dark chocolate, semisweet chips, and cocoa powder. These moist bread bites would be superb with a bold red wine or ruby port. If you and your honey don't drink wine, these minicakes would be romantic at breakfast with a cup of coffee. To get started on these irresistible triple-chocolate bread bites, read more.

Triple Chocolate Bread Bites
Adapted from The Wine Lover's Dessert Cookbook

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
2 ounces dark chocolate melted and cooled to room temperature
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously butter and flour mini muffin tin
Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Set aside.
Beat together the butter, sugar, and vanilla at medium speed using a standing mixer or electric mixer until very creamy, about 4 minutes.
Add the eggs, one at time, incorporating each completely before adding the next and scraping down the bowl between additions. Add the melted dark chocolate and beat to combine.
Beat in half of the flour mixture, then the buttermilk, then the remaining flour, mixing each time just until all ingredients are incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.
Fill each mini muffin 3/4 full. Bake for 12-15 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean. Wait a couple minutes before removing. Once removed, allow to cool on a cooling rack.

Makes one loaf or approximately 72 mini muffins.

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52 Weeks of Baking: Cheese Popovers

YumSugar — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 16:48:17 -0800

Yes, I know, that is not a picture of a gigantic espresso cake, but here's what happened. I went to the store, bought all of my ingredients, got home and realized that it wasn't just a 4 layer cake with two normal layers each cut in half, but it was actually a 4 layer cake - as in 4 cake pans! Since my kitchen is rather urban (aka small), I don't have the luxury of having the space for 4 cake pans. I'm borrowing two more so that I can make the cake on Saturday (which actually works out better, because this creation is going to take more than an hour or so after work), but this meant there would be no baking for this week! When I realized that, I looked through the pantry and discovered that I had all the ingredients for the Cheese Popovers (the second place choice) and went with them instead. To see how my popover adventure went (and I'll fess up now and say it was a bit flat), read more

Okay, let me just get this off of my chest, I MESSED UP. I broke the number one rule in popovers. Even though I knew I shouldn't do it, I opened the oven when they were cooking (I wanted a prettier picture for you guys!) and poof! Instead of popover, I got pop-ish (the end result was still great for breakfast the next day, but nothing to write home about). Also, I'm not really sure I love this recipe, the middles were a bit doughy in places (I think they needed longer at the higher temp), and I was only able to make FIVE popovers.

If you try it, let me know how they turned out. I'm actually going to make them again and have a 52 weeks of baking revisited, because let's face it, I did not make popovers, these are whacked out muffins.

Oh and you don't need a special pan to make popovers, a plain ol' muffin tin will work too.

Basic & Cheese Popovers
From Recipes a Collection for the Modern Cook by Susan Spungen

1 cup all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting tin)
1 tsp kosher salt
2 large eggs, at room temp
1 cup warm milk
1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted (plus more for greasing tin)
1 tbsp chopped fresh herbs (optional)
2 ounces cheese of your choice (optional)

Whisk together the flour and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk in the milk and butter.
Pour the flour mixture into the egg mixture and whisk until smooth.
Add the cheese and fresh herbs, if using. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 6 hours or overnight (the batter rises best when chilled, but they can be baked right away, too).
Preheat the oven to 450F and position a rack in the middle of the oven. Brush a muffin or popover pan with melted butter and dust with flour.
Stir the batter well. Fill each cup three-quarters full with batter; fill unused cups one-third full with water.
Immediately transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes.This picture ruined EVERYTHING.
Reduce temperature to 350F and bake until well browned and crusty, about 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

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Super Easy but Super Scrumptious Dessert

partysugar — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:15:51 -0800

If there is only one recipe you try from this website, I suggest you make these molten chocolate cakes. The recipe is incredibly simple; a novice cook could make it successfully. I've made them several times at dinner parties, and they always get rave reviews. Who doesn't love warm, gooey chocolate? Although the recipe doesn't specify it, I usually make the batter before dinner and let the cakes sit in the muffin tins on the counter. About 20 minutes before dessert, I place them in the oven for baking. To take a look at the recipe, read more.

Molten Chocolate Cakes
From Martha Stewart

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for muffin tins
1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for muffin tins
3 large eggs
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Whipped cream, for serving

Preheat oven to 400°F. Generously butter 6 cups of a standard muffin tin. Dust with granulated sugar, and tap out excess. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, beat in flour and salt until just combined. Beat in chocolate until just combined. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups.
Place muffin tin on a baking sheet; bake just until tops of the cakes no longer jiggle when the pan is lightly shaken, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes.
To serve, turn out cakes, and place on serving plates, bottom sides up. Dust with confectioners' sugar, and serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Serves 6.

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Delicious Last-Minute Dessert

partysugar — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:18:39 -0800

I eat a banana for breakfast every morning, so I almost always have them on hand. They're my secret weapon for an easy, fast dessert: chocolate-banana bread pudding. I've made this dessert tons of times and it's a real crowd pleaser. The bananas are lightly caramelized before they're added and the puddings are cooked in a muffin tin making for fun, individual portions. The final dessert is comforting and each bite melts in your mouth. For the delightful recipe, read more

Chocolate-Banana Bread Puddings
From Silvana Nardone

1 tsp. unsalted butter
2 tbsp. brown sugar
3 bananas, sliced 1/3-inch thick
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
10 slices of white bread, lightly toasted
Six 1.55-oz. milk chocolate bars, broken into small pieces (they melt better than chocolate morsels)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper or foil liners.
In a nonstick skillet, melt the butter with the brown sugar over moderately high heat. Add the banana slices and cook, turning once, until caramelized, about 3 minutes. The bananas should be softened and sticky. Remove from the heat and let cool.
In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, and vanilla.
Stack the toasted bread, slice off the crusts, and cut the bread into 4 triangles.
Add the bread to the custard and let soak until the custard is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Stir in the cooled caramelized bananas and the chocolate.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin cups (they'll be full). Bake the puddings until puffy and golden, about 25 minutes.

Makes 12.

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Come Party With Me: Engagement Party - Menu (Part 2)

partysugar — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 09:51:47 -0700

I'm planning an engagement party to kickoff Wedding Season, so fill your heads (and hearts) with fabulous ideas and tips (homemade invitations, anyone?) on how to host your own. Mine will be an after dinner dessert party with champagne and a to die for dessert buffet. Taking help from your local bakery is an easy way to round out a menu of homemade mini baked goods. Store bought cookies and tiny candies can fill silver platters and sparkling bowls. Since an engagement party should really be all about the couple, be sure to include their favorite desserts (and don't forget something chocolate for all of those chocoholics!). In my case, Julie loves cheesecake and Scott is mad for strawberry shortcake so those two dishes must be on the menu, for the recipes read more

Individual Cheesecakes can be made in mini muffin tins for individual servings that guests can pop right into their mouths. Strawberry Shortcakes With White Chocolate Whipped Cream can be prepared in martini glasses, small tumblers, or mousse cups with a spoon ready and waiting in each one for the invitees.

Individual Cheesecakes
From Joy of Baking

Crust:
1 cup (100 grams) graham wafer crumbs or crushed digestive cookies
1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated white sugar
4 tablespoons (55 grams) unsalted butter, melted
Filling:
2 - 8 ounce (454 grams) packages of cream cheese, room temperature (use full fat, not reduced or fat free cream cheese)
2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
Strawberry puree and/or fresh berries, optional garnish

Line 12 - 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inch muffin cups with one - 2 inch (5 cm) wide x 6 inch (15 cm) long strip of parchment paper. (The ends will hang over the sides of the cups to be used as handles to lift out the baked cheesecakes.) Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.
For Crust: in a small bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter.
Press about a tablespoon of crumbs on the bottoms of the 12 muffin cups lined with parchment paper. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.
For Filling: in the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the cream cheese on low speed until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until combined.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating about 30 seconds. Add the vanilla extract and sour cream and beat until incorporated.
Remove the crusts from the refrigerator and evenly divide the filling among the 12 muffin cups.
Bake for about 18 - 20 minutes or until firm but the centers of the cheesecakes still wobble a little. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Let cool and then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (a few hours or even overnight).
Remove cheesecakes by first running a sharp knife around the inside edge of the muffin cups to loosen the cheesecakes. Then, taking hold of the two strips of parchment paper, carefully lift each cheesecake from the muffin cups. Gently peel off the parchment paper and place on your serving plate. If desired, top with strawberry sauce and/or fresh berries.

Makes 12 individual cheesecakes.

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Strawberry Shortcakes With White Chocolate Whipped Cream
From Bon Appetit magazine

White chocolate cream
2 ounces high-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina), chopped
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
2 1/2 cups chilled whipping cream, divided
3 tablespoons sugar
Biscuits
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes, chilled
1 cup whipping cream, plus additional for brushing biscuits
2 tablespoons raw sugar
Strawberries
4 cups halved hulled strawberries (about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

For white chocolate cream: Place white chocolate in medium bowl.
Place 1 tablespoon water in very small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over; let stand until gelatin softens, about 15 minutes.
Bring 1/2 cup cream and 3 tablespoons sugar to simmer in small saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves.
Remove from heat; add gelatin and stir until dissolved.
Pour gelatin mixture over white chocolate, whisking until melted and smooth. Cool to room temperature.
Beat remaining 2 cups cream in large bowl until peaks form. Fold 1/2 cup cream into white chocolate mixture to lighten.
Fold chocolate mixture into remaining cream in bowl. Refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours.
For biscuits: Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl; whisk to blend. Add butter.
Using fingertips, rub in until coarse meal forms.
Gradually add 1 cup cream, tossing until moist clumps form.
Gather dough into ball; shape into 8 1/2-inch round on parchment or foil. Chill 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cut dough into eight 3-inch rounds, gathering scraps and reshaping as needed.
Place rounds on prepared sheet, spacing 2 inches apart. Brush tops with cream and sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool completely. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. If desired, rewarm in 350°F oven 5 minutes before using.)
For strawberries: Combine strawberries, 1/4 cup sugar, lemon juice, lemon peel, and mint in medium bowl; toss to blend. Let stand at room temperature until juices form, at least 10 minutes, or refrigerate until ready to use, up to 2 hours.
Cut biscuits in half horizontally or crumble into pieces. Place in pretty cups and mound strawberries with syrup on each, dividing equally.
Cover with white chocolate cream and more biscuit.

Serves 8.

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What dessert makes your sweetheart weak in the knees? Tell me about it below. And be sure to check back this afternoon for the final and third piece of this menu.