In search of summer: Tropical Mango Cheesecake

You may not be able to achieve warm temperatures during this time of year, but you can always find a taste of the tropics in your kitchen.

Enter mini mango cheesecakes.  Sitting on a crust of coconut and graham cracker, these creamy little treats are topped with blueberry coulis and are guaranteed to bring a taste of the beach with each bite.
Click "read more" for the recipe and more.

S'mores Cupcakes

An old campfire classic brought back as a cupcake.A honey-tinged graham cracker cupcake, topped with a dollop of chocolate ganache, and finished with billowy marshmallow frosting--torched to perfection.
For more pictures and the recipe, click on "read more" below.

Ultimate Brownies: Candied Pecans and Ganache and Caramel ... Oh My!

Think it doesn't get much better than super fudgy chocolate brownies?Think again.Think fudgy brownie beneath a layer of white chocolate caramel, topped with rich chocolate ganache and finished with a sprinkling of candied pecans.
Click on "read more" below to see more pictures and to get the recipe!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pockets ("The Risa")

This week I teamed up with the always-awesome Risa of Baked Perfection.  The result?  A cinnamon cream cheese filling hidden between a top layer of chewy peanut butter cookie and a bottom layer of crunchy chocolate cookie.  Heaven in your mouth. 

Click "read more" below for more pictures, step by step instructions, and the recipe.

Whoopie for Thanksgiving!

As we count down the hours to Thanksgiving, I’m sure many of you are already revving your Kitchenaid mixers and rearing to get basting!  Because of my exam schedule this year, Todd and I are missing out on my family’s Thanksgiving feast.  However, we were lucky enough to celebrate Thanksgiving this past Saturday with a few of our close friends.

Because I had to work on Friday, I was forced to do all of my Thanksgiving grocery shopping, cooking, and baking on Saturday.  Lucky for me, I had my awesome friend Grace around, who was willing to trek with me to Whole Foods at 8am.  One large cup of coffee and a few aisles later, we were back home, and I was cooking/baking away.

Grace started the night off with a fabulously bubbly hot crab dip.  The main menu included roasted turkey with a butter-chive rub, diced brussel sprouts sauteed with bacon, cornbread stuffing, pecan streusel-topped sweet potato casserole, and pineapple cheddar casserole.  For dessert, we enjoyed the cinnamon caramel ganache layer cake from my previous post and a chocolate bourbon pecan pie (as modeled by the lovely Allison below).

If you’d like any of the above recipes that don’t have links, send me a quick email at belleofthebakery@gmail.com, and I’ll make sure to get you the recipe.  And now, get a look at these babies:

Just because I’ve already stuffed myself silly at my pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving doesn’t mean that I’m going to leave you hanging.  Never!  I have a great pumpkin cookie recipe for you!

These pumpkin cookies are both chewy and cakey—and wonderfully spicy.  They puff up nicely in the oven.  I bet you can’t eat just one.

Of course, if you’re me, and you want more than just a cookie—you could easily glaze these cookies or turn them into whoopie pies--with any frosting of your choosing.  A cream cheese frosting would taste delicious.  I wanted to try something a bit more complex, so I made a pomegranate-caramel white chocolate filling.  A few months back, the POM Wonderful people were wonderful enough to send me some POM samples.  Not only does POM have major health benefits—talk about some antioxidant power—but it tastes delicious.  For this recipe, I used the POM-Cherry drink.  If you can manage not to chug the entire POM, then use your leftovers to make this filling!  Tart, tangy, and sweet—it’s a wonderful burst of flavor in your mouth.

 

Have a great Thanksgiving!

 

Pumpkin Cookies

by Elyse

3 cups AP flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 TBS corn starch

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp salt

1 stick butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup pumpkin puree

2 large eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Prepare 2 cookie sheets.

(1) Whisk the dry ingredients together, and set aside.  Whisk the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla together.

(2) Cream the butter and the sugars together.  Add the pumpkin puree and cream until completely combined.

(3) Alternately add the flour and egg mixtures—starting and ending with the flour mixture, adding the flour in three additions.  Make sure that each addition is fully incorporated before adding the next.

(4) Spoon heaping teaspoons of batter onto the cookie sheets.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the surface of the cookies is “springy.”

(5) Frost of glaze, if desired.

 

Pomegranate-Caramel White Chocolate Filling

1 cup heavy cream

Zest of 1/2 lime

1/2 cup POM Cherry or POM Juice

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup white chocolate

 

(1) Combine heavy cream and lime zest in a small pot.  Heat over medium heat until cream is warmed through and bubbles are beginning to form around the edge of the pot.  Set aside and cover to keep warm.

(2) Combine POM and sugar in heavy saucepan.  Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.  Continue to boil until mixture hits approximately 300 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer—right around the time the mixture turns thick and starts to smoke.  Remove from heat.

(3) Pour the cream mixture over the POM-caramel.  Turn the heat back on low, and whisk until the caramel is fully dissolved.

(4) Place white chocolate in a bowl.  Place a strainer over the bowl.  Pour the caramel-cream mixture through the strainer and onto the chocolate—this will remove the pieces of lime zest, which have already infused into the cream.  Vigorously whisk the white chocolate and POM-caramel cream together until smooth.  Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate until cool—approximately 2 1/2 – 3 hours.  The mixture will only thicken slightly.

(5) When cool, whip the POM-caramel filling on medium-high speed with your paddle attachment, until the mixture becomes thick and creamy.  Use as a filling for your pumpkin whoopie pies.

Inaugural cake...

Welcome to the new blog design!  What was formerly Elyse's Confectionary Creations is now Belle of the Bakery.  Many thanks to Hannah of Sherbet Blossom Designs for cooking up this awesome design!

Why Belle of the Bakery?  Well, I'm a southern girl at heart--and I imagine belles to be quite southern.  I may be a current west coaster, but I was born and raised in Atlanta, did my undergrad at Chapel Thrill, and have nothing but love for the always efficient phrase "y'all."  You might say that the blog name was a little homage to my roots.

I don't know about you, but when I think about special occasions--ahem, like the unveiling of a new blog design--I immediately think of cake.  So, it's only fitting that I share with you one heck of a cake.

This cinnamon-caramel-ganache layer cake is light yet decadent, a chocolate lover's dream (I kid you not).  The filling is a cinnamon caramel ganache.  Because of the high ratio of cream to chocolate, the whipped ganache makes for a light--almost mousse-like--filling for the cake.  It's certainly not your typical, dense ganache, but man oh man, talk about delicious!  I could eat an entire bowl of this stuff.

The cake itself is a basic chocolate cake.  It's somewhat spongey, certainly moist, and oh so delicious.  It is somewhat delicate and pairs nicely with the fluffiness of the moussey ganache.  To top it all of, there's a rich and shiny chocolate frosting.  This frosting is simple to make and delicious to eat.  It takes all of three minutes to make (aside from waiting for it to cool), and for your minimal effort, you are rewarded with finger-looking good frosting.

Make this cake for your special occasions.  I guarantee you that everyone around you will be thrilled to get their hands (mouths?) on a slice!

Recipe after the jump...

A caffeine-inspired comeback…

Once again, it’s been too long. This whole law school thing can be quite time consuming! Suffice it to say, the MPRE happened. (That is, the Multi-state Professional Responsibility Examination—part of the Bar.) Yep, studying for—and taking—the examination has consumed quite a chunk of my time. Not to mention, Todd and I have had multiple guests over the past weekends.

Anyway, excuses, excuses. The point is, I’m back!

I don’t know about you, but when I feel “behind” or “sluggish,” I count on caffeine to give me a mental boost. I know, I know: not the healthiest boost, but a (delicious) boost nonetheless. And a boost is just what I needed to get back on the blogging train!

Caffeine for me means my morning cup of coffee. My morning ritual involves waking up around 5:30am, working for three hours, and then indulging in a warm mug o’ joe around 8:30am. (It’s always mid-morning when the sleep deprivation starts to tug on my eyelids.)

In honor of my beloved “wake up call” coffee, I’ve made some deliciously moist—and oh so light—coffee-flavored cupcakes. These cupcakes are sure to pack a double punch: if the sugar and caffeine can’t get you going, then I don’t know what will. The cupcakes get their coffee flavor from strong brewed coffee as well as some instant coffee. I’ve also added a full teaspoon of cinnamon to play with the coffee flavor—it adds a wonderful hint of spiciness.

To give these delicate cuppies a bit of heartiness, I’ve frosted them with a thick, coffee-flavored ganache. (Again, there’s a dash of cinnamon in the frosting.) I could I did eat this ganache with a spoon, straight from the bowl. All I have to say is that chocolate, coffee, and heavy cream make for one dangerously, heady and addictive frosting.

To decorate these cupcakes, I used this week’s SMS recipe for chocolate-covered almond toffee. Buttery and sinful, this toffee pairs nicely with the tang of the coffee cupcakes. Plus, you’ve got the added bonus of soft and crunchy textures. It’s an amusement park for your mouth! (To get this week’s SMS recipe, check out Kaitlin’s blog, Kait’s Plate. Also, check out the other SMS’ers!)

Enjoy! (And of course, feel free to use decaf if you’re all about coffee flavor but not so much about the jitters.)

Coffee Cupcakes

Adapted from Baking for All Occasions

Makes 12 cupcakes

1 cup cake flour (spooned and swept)

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup warm coffee, strongly brewed

3 TBS instant coffee

(1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare cupcake pan.

(2) Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

(3) Stir together sour cream and vanilla. Set aside.

(4) Beat butter on medium speed until it is light and creamy. Add in the sugar and cream until light and fluffy—approximately 3-4 minutes.

(5) One medium-low speed, add the eggs, a little at a time, making sure to beat well after each addition until the egg is fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat for 3-4 minutes until the mixture is lighter in color and texture.

(6) On the lowest speed, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the sour cream in two additions. Make sure to begin and end with the flour mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition.

(7) Mix the three tablespoons of instant coffee into the 1/2 cup of coffee. Add the coffee to the batter in a slow stream.

(8) Fill each cup 2/3 to 3/4 full. Bake the cupcakes for 25-30 minutes. Allow the muffins to cool in their pan for 5 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

(9) Frost with coffee ganache (recipe below).

Coffee Ganache

by Elyse

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 TBS instant coffee

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

(1) Combine cream, instant coffee, and cinnamon. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Immediately remove from heat—avoid scalding the cream—and add the chocolate chips. Allow the chocolate chips to sit for 2 minutes.

(2) Whisk the mixture until smooth.

(3) Place the mixture in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat with paddle attachment until the bowl feels cool to the touch.

(4) Frost the cupcakes. (Do this quickly as the ganache will harden somewhat as it cools completely.)

SMS: Pumpkin . . . Cupcakes?

Nothing signals fall like a good pumpkin recipe!  These recipes remind me of heavy blankets and cracking leaves—and of course, good eats.  So, of course, I was very excited to see that this week’s SMS recipe involved pumpkin!

This week’s SMS recipe was chosen by Debbie of Everyday Blessings of the Five Dees.  The original recipe was for pumpkin cookie cakes with cream cheese frosting, but I decided to make pumpkin cupcakes instead!  Be sure to check out her scrumptious blog for the pumpkin recipe!  And don’t forget to go drool over all the other SMS’ers mouthwatering creations.

I usually buy canned pumpkin, but I thought I’d be adventurous and make my own pumpkin puree.  It’s too simple!  Buy yourself a nice 5-6 pound sugar pie pumpkin, cut it in half and get to work de-seeding!  Once you’ve scooped out all that gunk, lay your pumpkin halves cut-side down and roast for 1.5 hours at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Once you’ve roasted the pumpkin, flip the halves over onto a cooling rack to cool completely.  Once cool, scrape the pumpkin “innards” into a food processor and puree away!  You’ll have about 2 cups of pumpkin puree to show for your efforts!

*If you save the pumpkin seeds (after you’ve cleaned them), toss them into the 400 degree Fahrenheit oven to bake for the last 10 minutes, while your pumpkin roasts.  Set the seeds aside to cool and use them for a pumpkin seed brittle (recipe below).

These cupcakes are divine!  We’re talking moist, fluffy spice cake with a wonderfully orange hue.  A subtle hint of molasses adds depth of flavor, while cinnamon and nutmeg give the cupcakes that “homey” feel.  To top it all off: a sweet and spicy cream cheese frosting.  And, of course, add a little texture with a sprinkling of pumpkin seed brittle.  Delicious!

For the cupcake recipe, follow the recipe for “cookie cakes” posted on Debbie’s blog.

 

Top the cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting:

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

1 oz package cream cheese, softened

1 stick butter, softened

1 1/2 – 2 cups loosely packed powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cream cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy.  Add the powdered sugar and cinnamon and mix until a smooth frosting forms.  (Add more or less powdered sugar to suit your sweet tooth.)

Top each cupcake with a piece of pumpkin seed brittle.

Pumpkin Seed Brittle

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 TBS water

1 TBS corn syrup

Pumpkin Seeds, roasted for 10 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit

Mix sugar, water, and corn syrup together in heavy sauce pan.  Bring mixture to a boil and allow to boil until the mixture turns amber in color (approximately 8 minutes).  Remove the sugar mixture from the heat and toss in the pumpkin seeds.  Stir to coat each pumpkin seed and then spread the mixture onto a greased baking pan to cool.  Crack the brittle into pieces and use to top each cupcake.

SMS: Sticky Buns

I could write an ode to sticky buns.  They’re just that good.  So, really, I owe a HUGE thank you to Jen of Not Microwave Safe for selecting Sticky Buns for this week’s SMS.  You have made me a very, very happy camper, Jen.  Jen has a fabulous blog, filled with wonderful treats, so it’s really not surprising that she picked such an awesome recipe for our weekly bake-along.

Yeast-a-phobes, fear not: these yeasty buns are super easy (though time consuming) to make.  Jump on over to Jen’s post to get the recipe.  And, be sure to check out all of the wonderful SMS’ers’ creations!

Interestingly, the sticky bun recipe does not call for dissolving or proofing the yeast before incorporating it into the dough.  Rather, you mix the yeast with your flour and incorporate it in its “dry” form.  To err on the safe side (because that’s how I like to err when it comes to yeast), I warmed my milk to 110 degrees Fahrenheit before making my dough.  I also placed my dough in a previously warmed oven for its first rise.  And, man, does this dough rise!

Some of the SMS’ers reported that their dough was very sticky—the quick fix was to add about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of flour to the dough.  I found that, though my dough was sticky, after beating it for 15 minutes with the dough hook of my Kitchen Aid mixer, it formed a nice, elastic ball (sticky, but workable).

The original “sticky sauce” recipe calls for making a sauce by bringing maple syrup, butter, brown sugar and cinnamon to a boil.  Because I didn’t have any maple syrup on hand, I made a caramel sauce for my sticky buns.  I’ve included my recipe below.

Caramel Sauce

by Elyse

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup water

2 TBS corn syrup

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup brown sugar

(1) Combine granulated sugar, water, and corn syrup in a medium-sized saucepan.  Boil the mixture until it turns a deep amber color, approximately 6-8 minutes, or until it reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

(2) Remove the mixture from the heat and pour the cream over it.  Whisk the cream in.  (The mixture will bubble vigorously.  Be careful!)

(3) Place the mixture back over medium heat and stir in the butter and brown sugar.  Continue stirring until the butter and brown sugar are dissolved.  Make sure to scrape all caramel bits from the bottom of the pan (continue heating the mixture until the bits are dissolved).

(4) Pour the caramel mixture into the bottom of prepared 9X13 pan, as directed by the Sticky Bun Recipe (see Jen’s Blog for full recipe).

Instead of doing a cinnamon sugar filling in my sticky buns, I did a combination of granulated sugar, brown sugar, and allspice.  It was delicious!

My buns were done after about 22 minutes in the oven!  Flip these bad boys over (caramel-side up), and see how long anyone in your house can resist the deliciousness that is these sticky buns!

Boy oh boy, were they delicious.  My advice to you?  Get in the kitchen and get this dough started!!

Root Beer Buddies…

I’ve bragged about Risa before.  Yes, she has an awesome blog, and yes, she bakes awesome goodies.  But, have we talked about what an awesome friend she is?  Getting to finally meet Risa this past Labor Day was uber-exciting—it was like we’d known each other forever.  In fact, chances are, you can find us chatting at various times throughout the day—everyday—on gchat.

Risa and I recently invested in similar baking books so that we could inspire each other to “make the most” of each book.  We’ll be having our own bake-alongs a couple of times per month.  This week, we needed something quick, easy, and of course, dee-licious.  (Side note: if it takes us as long to decide upon recipes as it did this week, we won’t be able to label any recipe as “quick.”)

Our book choice: the ever-trusty Baked: New Frontiers in Baking.  Our cake choice: the Root Beer Bundt Cake.  You simply must make this cake…um, NOW.  While the root beer flavor isn’t pronounced, there’s a certain “je ne sais quoi” about the cake—an extra tang, a kooky bite that is both surprising and enticing.  Yes, enticing.  Todd and I have been devouring this cake since Friday night, and there’s only one measly piece left in the kitchen right now.  That’s right: an entire bundt cake consumed in almost four nights flat.

The cake is rich and oh-so moist, dense without being too heavy, perfectly chocolatey and indulgent.  And the root beer fudge frosting—amazing.  I want to go for a swim in this frosting; it’s a small wonder that I didn’t scrape the frosting off the cake to eat it by itself—it’s that good, and that easy!

Make sure to go check out Risa’s blog to see how her Root Beer Bundt turned out!

Without further ado, the recipe:

 

Root Beer Bundt Cake

from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

 

For the bundt cake:

2 cups root beer (not diet)

1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar (*I used light, and it worked just fine…)

2 cups AP flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 large eggs

(1) Preheat the oven to 350F.  Spray a 10-inch bundt pan with nonstick spray, or butter and flour it.

(2) In a small saucepan, heat the root beer, cocoa powder, and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted.  Add the sugars and whisk until dissolved.  Remove from heat and let cool.

(3) In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.

(4) In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until just beaten, then whisk them into the cooled cocoa mixture until combined.  Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture.  The batter will be slightly lumpy—do not overbeat, as it could cause the cake to be tough.

(5) Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a small knife (or toothpick) comes out clean.

(6) Transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool completely.  Gently loosen the sides of the cake from the pan and turn it out onto the rack.

 

Root Beer Fudge Frosting

2 oz dark chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup root beer

2/3 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder

2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

(1) Put all the ingredients in a food processor.  Pulse in short bursts until the frosting is shiny and smooth.

(2) Use a spatula to spread the fudge frosting over the crown of the bundt in a thick layer.

(3) Let the frosting set before serving.  Serve with ice cream on the side.

*For a looser frosting that you can pour over the cake, decrease the amount of powdered sugar.