Pre-Valentines Day Party

Helloooo!
Sorry it's been so long! I'm been a busy busy bee during the past month and a half. Anyways, here are some pictures and recipes from the Valentine's Day celebration.

Photos by © Natalie Jahr-briten

These are my all time favorite cupcakes. Not only are they moist but when you bite into their middle you get a plesent suprise burst of raspberry jam. The frosting is think like buttercream, but light and fluffy all at the same time. I would reccomend these to anyone would loves simple yet unique and chocolatey cupcakes.

Jam Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting  (Makes 12)

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup superfine baker's sugar  granulated is ok as well
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract  I always about 1/2 teaspoons more, it intensifies the flavor
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup raspberry jam    I prefer the jam with seeds, but seedless will work just as well
12 raspberries, for garnish   (optional)


Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 12-cup muffin pan with liners. Combine flour, baking powder, and use 3/4 teaspoon salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat superfine sugar and 1/2 cup butter until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla. With mixer on low, beat in flour mixture in two parts, alternating with 1/2 cup milk.

2. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in ther center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

3. Meanwhile, whisk together confectioners' sugar, cocoa, and 1/3 teaspoon salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat 1/2 cup butter until light and fluffy. With mixer on low, gradually add cocoa mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Gradually beat in 2 tablespoons milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Beat frosting until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds.

4. Using a paring knife, cut a 1-inch-deep piece from the top of each cupcake (do not discard). Fill each hole with 1 teaspoon of jam and replace cutout pieces. Frost cupcakes and decorate with raspberries and/or sprinkles.


(Adapted from MarthaStewart . com)

 Photos by © Natalie Jahr-briten

Chocolate layer cake with Tangerine buttercream

Another soon-to-be favorite, with a suttle hint of tangerine, this frosting is to die for. As buttercream always is, it was light, fluffy, and incredibly rich and creamy. The cake was tastey and crumbly and just pure yum.

Chocolate Chocolate Cake   (Makes two 9 inch cake layers or 16 cupcakes)

Ingredients
2 ounces chocolate
1/2 cup plus 2 table spoons cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
16 tablespoons (8 ounces) butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar
3 whole eggs, at room temperature
1 egg yolk, at room temperature
2 cups plus 1 tablespoon flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
frosting
10 ounces milk chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup powdered sugar
16 tablespoons (8 ounces) butter, slightly chilled


Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ and position rack in the middle of the oven. Grease and lightly flour tow 9 inch cake pans or 16 muffin tins.


2. Make the chocolate and cocoa syrup. Chop the chocolate into 1/2 inch pieces and combine with the cocoa in a medium sized bowl. Bring 1 cup of water to a boil and gently whisk half of the hot water into the chopped chocolate. Whisk in the remaining hot water and continue whisking until you have a shiny, thick, smooth chocolate syrup, 2 minutes. Add the vanilla 
extract. Set the syrup aside and allow it to come to room temperature.


3. Cream the butter and incorporate the eggs. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for one minute. Add the sugar and beat on medium-high speed until the mixture becomes fluffy and almost white in color, 6-8 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrap down the sides of the bowl. Add the whole eggs one at a time, and continue to beat until they are fully incorporated. Add the egg yolk and beat until the batter looks smooth and glossy, 30 seconds.


4. In a dry bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.


5. With the mixer on slow speed, add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until the flour is just incorporated. Add all the chocolate syrup and continue mixing on slow speed. Add the second half of the dry ingredients and beat until batter is thoroughly combined. Scrap down the sides with a spatula and beat the batter on medium speed for 20 seconds.


6. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans, evening out the batter with a rubber spatula. Run a pairing knife in a single circular motion through the batter, 1 inch from the edge of the pan. This will help the cake rise evenly (not too sure this worked very well for me, my cakes still domed a little). Bake the cakes until the center set and and a tester comes out clean, approximately 25-30 minutes. If you are making cupcakes, bake them for 20-25 minutes.


7. Allow the cakes to cool on wire racks for about 20 minutes. Run a paring knife around the outer sides of the pan and invert the cakes onto cooling racks. Allow the cake layers to cool to room temperature.


8. To make the frosting, melt chocolate in a double broiler. Remove the bowl from heat. Heat the cream in a small saucepan. Add the hot cream to the melted chocolate, whisking continuously, to make a shiny, smooth ganache. Place the bowl of ganache in the refrigerator, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula every 5 minutes, until the ganche is slightly chilled, around 60˚F.


9. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the slightly chilled ganche together with the salt, powdered sugar, and the slightly chilled butter on medium speed for 4-6 minutes. The icing should hold the lines of a whisk, increase in volume, and become a much lighter shade of brown.


10. Fill and ice the cake. If the cake layers domed a bit too much, use a long serrated knife to trim the peaked tops to even out the tops. Place the bottom layer on a decorative serving plate. Cut a 12-inch long piece of wax paper into 4 equal strips. Place each strip under an edge of the cake to cover the rim of the plate, to prevent it from becoming coated with icing. Using an off set spatula, smear a generous layer of icing over the bottom cake layer, making sure to smear an equal amount of icing around the outer edge of the layer. Place the second cake layer on top. Evenly ice the whole cake with the remaining icing. Once you have smoothed out all the rough edges, remove the wax paper strips from underneath the cake to reveal a spotless serving platter beneath your finished cake.


Serve the cake at room temperature. The cake will keep, covered at room temperature, for 4 days. If it's very hot in your kitchen, store the cake, covered, in the refrigerator but serve at room temperature.


Adapted from The Sweet Life

Sunday afternoon procrastination

Think back on all those days when you have something, like an assignment, you knew had to be done by the end of the day. But every time you went to work on it, you became distracted... maybe by how dirty the kitchen seemed, then you continued on to clean it and ended up forgetting your entire assignment. Or by the realization that there's been a jar of oil sitting out on the counter for months just waiting to be used for popcorn. Just then, your stomach grumbles, out of hunger or boredom, nobody knows. But you then decide to make that popcorn you've been meaning to make all along because at the moment, it seems to be the perfect time to do it! Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my day.

This is the perfect popcorn recipe. It's been so long since I've made popcorn on the stovetop, most days I automatically go to the cupboard, and pop a bag of microwavable popcorn in the microwave thinking nothing about it. When popping popcorn over the stovetop what usually comes to mind is how long it would take, but to my surprise it only took about two minutes to make, and even less time for my family and I to consume.

The rosemary gave it a sophisticated feeling. As though I wasn't eating popcorn, but fancy popcorn, possibly purchased from a modern chic store or restaurant. The dried lavender adds a hint of airy sweetness, almost like you can smell the mild sweetness instead of the tasting it.

Rosemary Popcorn
Fills a very large bowl
about 3-4 servings

Ingredients
3 tablespoons dried rosemary (use fresh if available)
3/4 cup plain popcorn kernels
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons dried lavender flowers (optional)
Salt

Directions
1. Combine the rosemary, kernels, and olive oil in a closable container, such as a plastic bag, or . tupperware.
2. Shake the container until the popcorn kernels are covered in oil. For best results, let it sit overnight.
3. After the mixture has sat for some time, poor the contents into a pan. Make sure the kernels cover the bottom of the pan. If the mixture isn't enough, add a little more kernels to the pan. (If desired, add in dried lavender flowers)
4. Turn heat on stove to medium high. Look and listen for the first popcorn kernel to pop.
5. Put the lid on the pot and using oven mitts, begin to shake the pan
6. Continue to shake the pan until you no longer hear the kernels popping. Remove pan from heat.
7. Remove the lid and put popcorn into a bowl
8. Salt, and enjoy! :)