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Category Archives: spices

Oct 23 2011

Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake

by Virginie

Today I tried something completely new and different. I’ve been wanting to try bread for a very long time, in fact I got myself a book that explains all about how to do your own yeast. Before I jump head first into that though, I thought I’d try out a few recipes that ask for active dry yeast, kneading and rises. Today, I tried my first one. I decided to try the Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake from Joy the Baker. It’s really appropriate for the season. I gotta say, this was so much fun! I can’t wait to try another and get a better grip on the techniques, especially kneading the dough!

Enjoy :)

Categories: Fruits, spices | 2 Comments »

Sep 19 2011

Red Hot Chilli Pepper

by Virginie

I’m back! I’ve been absent for a while, but I’m back with a strong, bold cupcake! May I introduce The Red Hot Chilli Pepper! A few weeks ago on my birthday, a couple of friends of mine, gave me some home made raspberry jam and a bunch of cards with cupcake ideas using their jam. So this week I’m using one of these ideas. Chilli chocolate cake with raspberry jam filling and chocolate icing. A note on chilli flavoured chocolate, make sure you get some with a very pronounced chilli pepper taste. I used one that was rather mild and in the cake the chocolate lost a lot of its hotness. Thanks to Heather and Jacob for the jam and the ideas!

I’ve also decided to experiment a bit this week. I’m taking a step away from my usual basic cake recipe and trying different ratios of ingredients, just to see what happens. Instead of using 2 eggs I put in 3 and instead of 1/3 cup of milk and a 1/3 cup of cream I went for only 3/4 cup of milk. I feel the extra egg made the cake heavier and denser. I prefer my usual recipe with only 2 eggs for a lighter, fluffier cake. Still here is the recipe I used this time (makes 18 cupcakes):

cake:
- 2 cups of flour
- 2 tsp of baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 100g of chili chocolate
- 3/4 cup of butter
- 1 1/4 cup of sugar
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup of milk
- raspberry jam

method:
- preheat the oven to 350
- sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a big bowl, set aside
- melt the chocolate on a double boiler, set aside
- beat the butter until it is light and fluffy
- add the sugar and beat thoroughly
- add the eggs one at a time and beat in between each addition, then beat on high for 30 seconds
- add the chocolate, flour and milk one at a time combining each ingredient well, but without over mixing
- line a cupcake pan with paper cups
- bake for 20 minutes
- let the cakes cool completely
- use a round cookie cutter to make holes in your cakes
- fill with jam and replace the top (you can cut a bit of cake off the part you took out with the cookie cutter before replacing it on the cake, it will then be even with the rest of the cake)

icing:
- 50g of chocolate
- 3 egg whites
- 140g of sugar
- 1 cup of butter cut in 1 inch cubes

method:
- melt the chocolate in a double boiler, set aside
- combine the egg whites and sugar in a double boiler
- whisk a little until all the sugar is melted away
- take off the double boiler and beat on high until cooled and turned into a firm meringue, touch the bottom of the bowl to make sure its at least body temperature
- add the butter one cube at a time while beating on a lower speed
- beat on high until you get a nice fluffy texture (it will turn to a cottage cheese kind of texture about half way through, just keep beating)
- add the melted chocolate

I’ve also baked Joy the Baker’s peanut butter banana bread last week. I added chocolate chip, just because. It was really good!

Enjoy :)

PS Thanks to Anna for the single cupcake stand!

Categories: Chocolate, Fruits, spices | 2 Comments »

Jun 13 2011

Maple cinnamon scones

by Virginie

This morning I was hit with a great idea: maple and cinnamon scones! Its perfect for breakfast and really easy to make. Try it out! Here is the recipe for 18 scones:

ingredients:
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup of cream
- 1/3 cup of milk
- 1/3 cup of maple syrup
- 4 1/4 cup of flour
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 2 tsp of baking powder
- 1 tbs cinnamon
- big pinch of salt
- 1 1/4 cup of butter, cold and cut into 1 small cubes
- 1/2 cup of maple sugar

method:
- preheat oven to 350
- whip the egg, cream, milk and maple syrup together and set aside
- sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and mix well
- add the cold butter cubes to the flour and break down the butter into the flour until its down to small pea size balls
- add the maple sugar and mix well
- add the egg mix, slowly and delicately form a ball of dough
- separate the dough into three balls on a floured surface
- flatten the balls and cut them into 6 wedges
- place the wedges on baking sheets covered with parchment paper
- brush the scones with milk and sprinkle sugar on top
- bake for 20 minutes

Enjoy :)

Categories: other sweet flavors, spices | 3 Comments »

Jun 5 2011

Espelette pepper chocolate cupcakes

by Virginie

There’s no denying it, it’s the playoffs. When you live in a city who’s team made it to the finals, its even harder to ignore. Everybody is following it. Some more forced then others. I gotta admit, I’m a bit of a bandwagon fan! To celebrate the playoffs, I’ve decided to make Canuck cupcakes, also know as canuckakes! I decided to use the chocolate my mom brought me back from Montreal. Its a very good Espelette pepper chocolate by the lovely Genevieve Grandbois. I thought the touch of spice would be good for the playoffs. I feel it reflects well the atmosphere that’s in the city right now, electrified, exhilarating, spicy. I decided to balance that with a simple vanilla buttercream. Here is the recipe for 18 cupcakes:

cake:
- 70g of Espelette pepper chocolate
- 1/3 cup of cream
- 2 tbs of milk
- 3/4 cup of butter
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups of flour
- 2 tsp of baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbs of cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup of cream
- 1/4 cup of milk

method:
- preheat the oven to 350
- break the Espelette pepper chocolate in small pieces and put in a heat proof bowl
- put the milk and the cream in a sauce pain and heat
- as soon as the milk and cream start to simmer pour on the chocolate chances
- let stand for five minutes and whisk together until smooth to create a ganache
- beat the butter until it is light and fluffy
- add the sugar and beat thoroughly
- add the eggs one at a time and beat in between each addition, then beat on high for 30 seconds
- add the chocolate ganache and combine
- sift the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder together and combine with the butter/sugar mix
- add the cream and milk and combine until smooth
- line a cupcake pan with paper cups
- bake for 20 minutes

icing:
- 3 egg whites
- 140g of sugar
- 1 1/4 cup of butter cut in 1 inch cubes
- 2 tsp of vanilla extract

method:
- combine the egg whites and sugar in a double boiler
- whisk a little until all the sugar is melted away
- take off the double boiler and beat on high until cooled and turned into a firm meringue, touch the bottom of the bowl to make sure its at least body temperature
- add the butter one cube at a time while beating on a lower speed
- beat on high until you get a nice fluffy texture (it will turn to a cottage cheese kind of texture about half way through, just keep beating)
- add the vanilla extract

Still on the playoffs front, a friend threw a big BBQ To watch Saturday’s game! Well I couldn’t let the opportunity to bake a dessert go by. I baked the root beer and chocolate bundt cake from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking. It was a great success! Everyone loved it!

Enjoy :)

Categories: Chocolate, spices | 3 Comments »

Dec 12 2010

Gingerbread man

by Virginie

Gingerbread man cookies. They are fun to make, fun to decorate and fun to eat. What’s not to like! This week I decided to transform the classic cookies into cupcakes. I obviously made little gingerbread man cookies as cupcake toppers. I used a yummy recipe from Slimply Recipes for the cookies and used it as a base for my cupcake adaptation. I skipped the finely ground black pepper though. Here is my cupcake recipe for 12 cupcakes:

cake:
- 1/2 cup of butter
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup of molasse
- 2 cups of flour
- 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
- 1 tsp of powdered ginger
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp of powdered cloves
- 1/2 tsp of nutmeg
- 1/4 cup of milk
- 1/4 cup of cream

method:
- preheat the oven to 350
- start by beating the butter until it is light and fluffy
- add the sugar and beat thoroughly
- add the eggs one at a time and beat in between each addition
- add the molasse
- sift the flour, baking powder and spices together and combine with the butter/sugar mix
- add the milk and cream and beat on low until smooth
- line a cupcake pan with paper cups
- bake for 20 minute

icing:
- 1 egg white
- 6 tbs of sugar
- 4 tbs of water
- 1/2 cup of butter
- 2 tsp of vanilla extract

method:
- beat the egg white up in snow adding 1 tbs of sugar midway
- put the rest of the sugar and the water together in a pot and bring to 116 degrees celsius (soft ball state)
- add the sugar syrup to the egg whites while still beating at slowest speed
- beat until cooled, touch the bottom of the bowl to make sure its at least body temperature
- add the butter a little bit at a time and beat a little in between each addition
- beat until you get a nice fluffy texture
- add the vanilla extract

Enjoy :)

Categories: spices | 2 Comments »