Cream Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

I am going to let ya'll in on a little secret.  I have always hated chocolate cake.  There I said it...  Growing up, my mother was the world's biggest chocoholic.  She loved all things chocolate but my sister and I just couldn't get on board.  At least not on board with chocolate cake or ice cream...  Brownies were okay, as was candy. 

These days, I have found that I like GOOD chocolate cake.  I've shared that one of my favorites is from Barefoot Contessa -- who's surprised that Ina can make anything delicious???  But today I want to share my favorite chocolate CUPcake recipe.  And how I made it even better :)

Aren't they pretty?  Wait till you see what I did to these...

I filled them up with CREAM!  I was baking these cupcakes for a friend the other day.  She only needed a dozen but if I'm baking, I might as well make two dozen and have some for my family, right?  I'm sure you would do the same...  I was also baking a key lime pie for her and I had some left over whipped cream from that.  Inspiration struck!  And now I'm sharing it with you!

I sifted together cake flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

I creamed butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Then I added the eggs and vanilla and beat it until it was a beautiful golden batter.

To this I added about a third of the dry ingredients I had sifted together.

And mixed it until it was just blended.  Then I added half of the water.

I continued alternating until everything was mixed together into this gorgeous batter.



I divided it between the cupcake liners and placed them into the oven to bake until done.

I iced these with a basic vanilla buttercream.  And threw a few sprinkles on some.  These were the dozen packed up for delivery.

And these were all for me...  I mean, my family...  :)  I filled them with whipped cream that I had blended with gelatin to make sure it would hold up well.  I made it just like my Bourbon Whipped Cream but I replaced the bourbon with water.

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My Favorite Chocolate Cupcakes, adapted from Betty Crocker

2 1/2 c cake flour, sifted
2/3 c cocoa
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 2/3 c sugar
3/4 c butter, softened
1 1/4 c water
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line muffin tins with cupcake liners for 24-30 cupcakes.

Sift together the dry ingredients other than sugar -- the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt -- set aside.  In the bowl of your mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and eggs and mix until well incorporated.  Alternate mixing in the dry ingredients and the water, mixing until just blended after each addition.

Divide batter evenly between the liners.  Bake for 17-20 minutes or until the tops spring back when pressed.  Place on cooling rack to cool.

I'm linking up!!!  Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Recipe Sharing Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Too Cute Tuesday, Tip Me Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, These Chicks Cooked, Works for Me Wednesday, Cast Party Wednesday, What I Whipped Up Wednesday, Foodie Wednesday, Whisking Wednesday, Show & Share, {Wow Me} Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, Sweet Treats Thursday, Turning the Table Thursday, Sweet Tooth Friday, Chic & Crafty Party, I'm Lovin It, Tasty Thursday, Bake with Bizzy, Friday Favorites, Friday Flair, Sweets for a Saturday, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Sweet Indulgences Sunday, My Inner Baker, Simply Delish

S'mores Truffles

I love s'mores!  I mean, for real, I love them.  I have tried to perfect a way to enjoy them without having to build a fire in the back yard for as long as I can remember.  I have tried to heat them over candle light and an oven burner.  My sister stacks chocolate and a marshmallow on a graham cracker and sticks it in the microwave.  It works for her and it's okay...  But it's not as good as a freshly roasted marshmallow -- golden brown and never burned -- and chocolate that isn't melted.

When I saw several S'mores Truffles recipes floating around, I got a little excited.  (I tried not to.)  The recipes sounded like they could be ok but could they really satisfy my cravings for the real thing?  My daughter and I started playing around and...

This was the result!  They were beyond good!!!  And so pretty!  They tasted just like a s'more from around the campfire.  I can't wait to make these for my sister to see what she thinks about them.

Here's how we made them --

I used a small circle fondant cutter and cut out graham cracker circles.  We crushed the left over cracker pieces up for the topping.

I did the same thing with Hershey's bars.  That is a requirement for me -- it must be Hershey's chocolate to taste like a proper s'mores treat.

Yum!

We started with Marshmallow Fluff as the base of our filling for the truffle.  We added in a little whipping cream, vanilla and powdered sugar.

Once it was mixed well and stiff, we rolled it into small balls.

Then we placed the filling between a piece of chocolate and a piece of cracker.  I think we could have eaten them just like this.  Instead, we refrigerated them for about half an hour.  Then, we melted the leftover chocolate pieces along with a few more Hershey's bars in a double boiler and dipped the beauties in.  We put them on wax paper to harden and topped them with the cracker crumbs.

After an hour or so in the frig, they were ready to eat.  Then I promptly packed them up to take to work the next day as I knew I could not be trusted in the same house as them much longer.

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S'mores Truffles

6 Hersheys bars, full size

3 graham crackers

1 c marshmallow fluff

1 tbsp heavy whipping cream

1 tsp double strength vanilla extract

2 1/2 c powdered sugar

Cut 3 Hersheys bars and the graham crackers into same size pieces -- I cut 4 small circles from each cracker and chocolate bar.  Save leftover bits of chocolate bar for chocolate coating.  Save leftover graham cracker bits for crumbling over top of the truffles. 

For the filling, mix marshmallow fluff, cream and vanilla with an electric mixer until well blended.  Start adding the sugar a little at a time.  Mix until combined and stiffened. 

Roll into balls and place between a piece of chocolate and a graham cracker*.  Chill these for at least a half hour.  Melt remaining chocolate in double boiler and dip truffles.  Place them on wax paper to harden and top with crushed graham crackers.  Allow the truffles to harden in the refrigerater for about an hour.

*If you have leftover filling, it can be rolled into balls to be chilled, dipped and topped just like the other truffles.

I'm linking up!!!  Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Recipe Sharing Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Too Cute Tuesday, Tip Me Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, These Chicks Cooked, Works for Me Wednesday, Cast Party Wednesday, What I Whipped Up Wednesday, Foodie Wednesday, Whisking Wednesday, Show & Share, {Wow Me} Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, Sweet Treats Thursday, Turning the Table Thursday, Sweet Tooth Friday, Chic & Crafty Party, I'm Lovin It, Tasty Thursday, Bake with Bizzy, Friday Favorites, Friday Flair, Sweets for a Saturday, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Sweet Indulgences Sunday, My Inner Baker, Simply Delish

Pie in a Jar Thank You Gifts

My kiddos are on a year round school schedule.  That means that I was searching for an end of the year gift for their teachers about a month ago.  I prefer to make something, if I can, to let our teachers know how important they are to our family.  It seems everyone has made something in a jar lately so I decided to give it a try!  I searched through my kitchen and craft dresser and came up with the following materials to use..



The crazy thing is that I bought all of this for different reasons and had no idea that there was coordinating craft paper and ribbon lurking in my drawers...  But lucky for me as I had everything I needed on hand and didn't need to spend a thing on making our gifts cute!  These are not the jars I would have chosen, but I had them on hand, so they are what I used.

I used Pioneer Woman's Key Lime Pie recipe, again.  It is my all time favorite!  I divided the graham cracker crust between the jars.  I placed the jars on a cookie sheet and baked the crusts while I whipped up the filling.

I divided the filling between the jars and placed them back into the oven to bake.

While they baked and cooled, I whipped up some fresh sweetened whipped cream.  I piped the whipped cream onto the cooled pie.

And I topped each one with a blueberry.  It took all of my willpower not to dig into these myself!

I had to get our decorated lids on these quickly!

Then we added some ribbon and spoons to make sure they could be enjoyed as soon as their teachers wanted them.  I sent these to school with the kiddos in small gift bags with reminders that they should be refrigerated and notes of appreciation.

I'm linking up!!!  Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Recipe Sharing Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Too Cute Tuesday, Tip Me Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, These Chicks Cooked, Works for Me Wednesday, Cast Party Wednesday, What I Whipped Up Wednesday, Foodie Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, Sweet Treats Thursday, Turning the Table Thursday, Sweet Tooth Friday, Chic & Crafty Party, I'm Lovin It, Tasty Thursday, Bake with Bizzy, Friday Favorites, Friday Flair, Sweets for a Saturday, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Sweet Indulgences Sunday, My Inner Baker, Simply Delish

Peach Cobbler with Bourbon Whipped Cream

This is what came in my Produce Box this week...

Fresh picked NC peaches -- and we actually had two of these containers!  I was beyond thrilled with these and really in the mood for a great peach cobbler.  And I wanted to top it with the Bourbon Whipped Cream from my Bourbon Spice Cupcakes.  There is just something about peaches and bourbon that just goes together like peas and carrots.  Run, Forest, run.

I have a go-to cobbler recipe that I was going to use to make one for a dinner party this weekend.  But then I stumbled upon Paula Deen's recipe...  and sometimes, you know you have to do it Paula's way.  I mean, I may choose my recipe over hers for a tossed salad or something.  But for peach cobbler, I thought Paula deserved a try! 

This was the hardest part of making this cobbler.  Peeling and slicing 4 cups of peaches.  And, to tell you the truth, next time I will peel and slice more.  I definitely felt like there needed to be more fruit in the cobbler.  Don't get me wrong, it was DELICIOUS, but who ever turned down extra peaches???

These get put into a saucepan with some water and part of the sugar.  This mixture needs to simmer for around 10 minutes to get a little thick and bubbly.

Are you getting excited yet?  I could stop right here and eat this up!  But I didn't!  I put the stick of butter in my casserole dish (Am I the only one who is surprised that there is only one stick in Paula's recipe?) and sat that in the oven while my peaches cooked and the oven pre-heated so it could melt.

While I was waiting, I mixed my dry ingredients together.  The recipe called for self rising flour but I only had all purpose.  No problem!  I just mixed in 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder and a teaspoon of salt to my flour. 

I added the milk to the dry ingredients and whisked everything together.

By the time the batter was ready, the butter was melted.

So I poured the batter over the melted butter and had. to. resist. stirring...

Then I spooned the fruit and syrup gently over the top of the butter-batter layers.  You can stick it in the oven just like this.  Or...

You can sprinkle it with cinnamon first, as Paula suggests.  Next time, I'll add a cinnamon-sugar mixture mixture to the top.  Then I baked it for about 30 minutes.

It came out so wonderful!  While it was baking, I whipped up some Bourbon Whipped Cream to slather onto my cobbler!

This dish is one that I will make again!  And soon!

I'm linking up!!!  Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Recipe Sharing Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Too Cute Tuesday, Tip Me Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, These Chicks Cooked, Works for Me Wednesday, Cast Party Wednesday, What I Whipped Up Wednesday, Foodie Wednesday, Thrilling Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Sweet Treats Thursday, Turning the Table Thursday, Sweet Tooth Friday, Chic & Crafty Party, I'm Lovin It, Tasty Thursday, Bake with Bizzy, Friday Favorites, Fun with Food Friday, Foodie Friday, Friday Flair, Sweets for a Saturday, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Sweet Indulgences Sunday, My Inner Baker, Simply Delish