Desserts

Wedding Cupcakes for all!

- Elspeth 3 Comments

This post is basically to highlight the awesome cupcakes I did for a wedding a few weeks ago for my friends Seth and Mia. They chose chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream and strawberry cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. All were topped with marzipan sweet peas.

Not only were the cupcakes fabulous (high-five, self!), but the wedding was gorgeous. I was so glad to be a part of it!

Here they are, in all their glory:

I had lots of help with these bad boys from my dear friend Lauren and her mom, Suzan. Thank you both!!

Nommy noms

Saltine Toffee

- Elspeth 1 Comment

It’s been too long, foodie friends! Let’s bring sexy back with a tasty treat:

Ritz-cracker Toffee! Huh?

Drop the naysayer attitude and chomp into this deeeeeericious munchie that will have you begging for more. The original recipe centers around saltines, but I had none at hand; instead, I improvised with Ritz, which proved to be a buttery, perfectly acceptable substitute. In fact, you could really put almost any cracker that strikes your fancy in here. Peanut butter? Noms! Shortbread cookie? Possibly excessive, but this is hardly a Weight-watchers friendly recipe as it is.

You will need:

2 sleeves Ritz
1 stick butter
1.5 c chocolate chips
1 cup brown sugar
Chopped nuts, if desired

Preheat the oven to 350. Cover a baking sheet with tin foil and spray a TON cooking oil on top. Anyone who has worked with sugar knows how impossibly impossible (I encourage the redundancy in this case, because it can be a royal pain to deal with harden sugar-syrup).

When it’s good and greasy, spread a single layer of crackers on it:

The gaps inbetween proved to be great recesses to catch the toffee, but if you prefer a more even layer of cracker then break some up into smaller pieces and put them in the gaps.

In a medium saucepan, place the butter and sugar over medium heat.

When it reaches a rolling boil, remove from heat. Do not let it boil for too long or else the sugar will burn:

And pour over the crackers as evenly as possible:

Place in the hot oven for about 5 minutes or until bubbly. Much longer than 5 minutes will cause the crackers to burn a tad, so keep an eye on it.

Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top:

And spread into an even, melty layer with an off-set spatula:

At this point you can sprinkle the top with crumbled crackers, a bit of sea salt, toasted/chopped nuts, or maybe even marshmallows. Hmmm

Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or until set. You could eat it when it’s soft, but it won’t be nearly as tasty. When it is hardened, break into smaller pieces and eat it all. You will look something like this:

Basically, guilty and full of shame, but oh so cute.

NOMS!

Peanut Butter Cookies…with a twist

- Elspeth 3 Comments

I know many people do not like peanut butter cookies, but hear me out. Not only is this recipe fabulously peanut butter-y and perfectly moist, it has….

AN OREO STUFFED INSIDE. And Oh. Holy. Moses…It is incredible. You simply must try it. Not only is it as super fabulous as a pair of red leather chaps in the Castro, it’s fast and easy to make.
My friend Lauren, who helps make this blog such a masterpiece, told me about her adventures with Oreo-stuffed cookies a few months ago. I had to jump on the bandwagon and now I have the chance to share this fantasmagorical treat with all of you.

She originally made chocolate chip cookies for her Oreo adventure, but we were on a peanut butter kick one day and had to give this a whirl. In case you’re wondering what a peanut butter kick looks like, this may give you an idea:

It’s heaven on a spoon, as you can clearly see. These three love monkeys were hanging around the mixing bowl, giving me looks of longing that were clearly not meant as a compliment to my figure. We caved and dished them up some lip-smacking calories, which took them about ten minutes to lick completely from their chops.

Here’s what you’ll need for the cookies, courtesy of Betty Crocker and a couple of tweaks by myself and Lolo:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter, Skippy recommended
1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
15-20 oreos, Double Stuffed recommended

Why are we insisting on Skippy? Because we’ve tried the organic, natural stuff (trying to be good) and it just didn’t pack the intense flavor or texture that Skippy did (trying to be tasty).

It is a little bit softer than the natural brands, so you may need to add a couple tablespoons of flour if your dough comes out too sticky.

Preheat your oven to 375. Cream the butter and shortening in a standing mixer.

Betty calls for all shortening, but Lauren and I agree that while shortening provides great texture, the taste is nothing compared to butter. We took a page out of Cook’s Illustrated and used 1/2 and 1/2.

Once it’s all creamy and delicious looking, add your sugars and beat until fluffy.

Beat in the egg and peanut butter, making sure to scrape down the sides so everything mixes together properly.

If you’re one of the cool kids you’ll use farm fresh eggs:

Add your dry ingredients

And mix on low until just blended and the dough sticks together:

Do not over-beat or your cookies will be terrible and everyone will hate you.

Forming the cookies around the oreos proved to be a little tricky, so I’ve provided a video for some tips:

Obviously it won’t be long before some Hollywood mogul picks me up and makes me the next Elizabeth Taylor, so enjoy my undivided attention while it’s available.
Once the cookies are rolled in sugar, place them on a baking sheet and pop them in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until crinkles start to form on the tops. They will be large and yummy looking.
They are best when they are a little underdone, so take them out when they are still pale and soft, but no longer “wet” looking.
Trust me: you need to make these cookies. History might be very different if Jesus had these at the Last Supper.
Nom….nomnomnom!