One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Cloud Frosting

Gah, I love that it takes me roughly three months to write a new blog post. I know, I'm just #thatawesome. Actually it's legit been crazy busy around here. Since my last post this has happened: 

• Josh moved back from his internship stint in Virginia
• Josh graduated from Chiropractic School
• I visited San Francisco
• Holiday Inn hit 100,000 fans on Facebook
• Josh completed his last board exam! #woot
• My cousin's 1st Holy Communion

We've had family & friends in and out of town to celebrate the various goings on so we've been taking time to really hang back and enjoy life. Too often we, get caught up in trying to stick to a strict schedule, or participate in EVERYTHING going on around us. But lately it's been nice to sit back and relax for a little while. 

So these cupcakes were a celebration of all the things that we've accomplished as of late.

Oddly, this was the smallest batch of cupcakes that I've ever baked. The recipe made a grand total of nine. That's right...nine cupcakes. I should have known when I was reading through the recipe that the dimensions were all really small, but of course I didn't. The great thing is that the recipe can be easily multiplied without having to do "higher" math. Or you could just keep the recipe small and simple, as is.

I made these cupcakes to celebrate the Holiday Inn Facebook wall milestone of 100k fans. Which may seem odd, but seeing as I know the gal that manages the page, I think it's quite appropriate!

The great thing about these cupcakes is that they're beyond easy to make, and you can keep your dirty dishes down to a max of two mixing bowls. #score

The cake is super chocolate-y and moist thanks to the addition of brewed espresso in the batter and the frosting is exactly as it sounds. Nutella cloud goodness. You must try some. today.

One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes

Adapted from: Sweetapolita

3/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour

3/4 Cup White Sugar

1/4 Cup Dark Cocoa Powder

3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder

3/4 teaspoon Cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 Cup Buttermilk

1/4 Cup Brewed Espresso (hot)

3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

1 Egg, room temp

2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract

Preheat the oven to 350 and line cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

Sift all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl (if using a KitchenAid, use the paddle attachment) and stir together.

Add all remaining ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix for 2 minutes on medium speed.

Pour batter into cupcake molds and bake for 15-17 minutes (I found 15 minutes to be the perfect time). Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then let them completely cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes.

Nutella Cloud Frosting

1 Cup Unsalted Butter, softened

1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar

2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract

3/4 Cup Premium Bittersweet Chocolate, melted but cool (I used Scharffen Berger)

1/3 Cup Nutella

1 Tablespoon Milk

Pinch of Salt

Beat the powdered sugar and butter on low speed for 1 minute (if using a KitchenAid, use the paddle attachment).

Add vanilla, and beat on low until combined. Then slowly pour in the melted and cooled chocolate and beat on medium speed until smooth (about two minutes).

Add the Nutella, milk and salt and beat on medium-high for another minute.

Taste the frosting...you know, just to make sure it's cupcake worth :)

Read more...

True or False

True: It's been a while since I hung out here on the bloggie.


False: It's not because I'm lazy, it's because I'm a procrastinator. wait a minute...


True: This happened today in my kitschy-kitchen.

False: I lost 20 lbs by eating the contents in the above photo.

True: I'm obsessed with sprinkles. It *might* be a problem

False: I did all the laundry today

True: I've been on a diet detox for the past week and a half.

False: I've enjoyed the diet detox this past week and a half.

True: I went to Asheville for the first time. And it totally rocked my socks off.

False: I tried all of the restaurants on my Asheville wish list.

True: I'm totally on the edge of my seat waiting for the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Finale.

False: My husband is also on the edge of his seat waiting on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Finale.

True: I'm snuggling with this guy right now.

False: He's totally not on the couch right now.

True: I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw these beauties and I knew I had to make them immediately.

False: I'm utterly shocked by Paula Deen's recent Diabetes diagnosis.

True: I'm driving a rental car because my car is in the stupid body shop getting fixed after my stupid wreck.

False: This is a really short blog post

Ok - enough of that. Let's get to the good stuff! I kid you not when I say that I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw these cupcakes.

Funfetti Cupcakes

Adapted From: How Sweet It Is

Makes 12 Cuppycakes

1/2 Cup Butter, softened

1 Cup Sugar

2 Whole Eggs

1 TBS Vanilla Extract (use clear to keep the batter white)

1 1/2 Cup Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

1/3 Cup Milk

1/4 Cup Sprinkles + more for frosting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Cream the butter and sugar together for 5 - 6 minutes until the mixture reaches a pale yellow color. Add the eggs one at a time until combined, then add the vanilla.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small mixing bowl and stir to combine. Add half of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture and mix until combined. Add the milk, and mix unti combined, Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until combined.

Gently fold the sprinkles into the cake batter, but make sure they're well distributed throughout the batter.

Pour batter into prepared cupcake pan, fill each cup 2/3 of the way. Bake for 15 - 18 minutes. Let the cupcakes completely cool before frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream 

1 Cup Butter, at room temperature

2 1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla extract

1 TBS Milk

Cream the butter in a mixer fitted with a wire whisk for 6 minutes, until the butter is a pale yellow color. 

Add the powdered sugar into the creamed butter a 1/2 cup at a time. Mix each addition of sugar until completely incorporated before adding the next 1/2 cup.

Add the vanilla and milk, and mix until the frosting is completely whipped. If the frosting is too thick, feel free to add milk in small amounts until you reach the desired consistency. Frost the cupcakes and top with the remaining sprinkles.

Read more...

Icebox Cake

Would you like to have a dessert that tastes like a perfectly milk laden oreo? In cake form? Oh, you would? Perfect – c’mon follow me! I’ll show you what bliss tastes like!

I was super excited when I ran across this recipe for the first time, and even more excited when my bestie harbored the same emotions for this super simple, super easy dessert that I did. What was our next step you ask? Why we had an icebox cupcake making party – that’s what!

After creating fantastic cupcakes, I decided to make the whole shah-bang for a dinner party that I was attending. It makes the perfect dessert for a summertime dinner party because its super easy and quick to make and to say it’s a crowd pleaser would be a bit of an understatement.

The entire dessert is encompassed by layering paper thin chocolate wafers with delicately whipped (sometimes flavored) whipped cream. After marinating in the refrigerator for about an hour – the cake will emerge to be what icebox dreams are made of.

Icebox Cake
3 cups of heavy cream
2 tbs. of sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 – 9oz packages of chocolate wafer cookies**

Pre-chill a metal or glass mixing bowl, and electric mixer beaters in the freezer for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes in the freezer, pull out the bowl and beaters and whip the cream, sugar, and extract on high until soft peaks form.

On a cake plate, or large flat serving platter – arrange cookies side by side in a circle while keeping one cookie in the middle.

Spread ½ cup of whipped cream on top of the cookies and spread all the way to the outer edge of the wafers. Repeat with the remaining cookies and cream until all are used.

**you can find the chocolate wafers at various super markets, but they're usually in the ice cream or candy section. Not the cookie section...which would actually make more sense, but who am I?

Read more...

lions, tigers, and...zebras? oh my!

So these past few months have been crazy ridiculous! I mean the last time I was here it was July – I’ve barely looked up at the calendar long enough to realize that September is officially on its way out! I mean where did my summer go?

We’ve been super packed this summer, what with chasing Josh around his triathlons, visiting my parents, business trips, visiting Josh’s parents, wine parties, getting a new job (score!), school, work, dogs, and the rest of life I’ve clearly not found the time to update! Gah – I hate it when I do that!

Either way, I think this is the perfect opportunity to jump back into the swing of things. A few weeks ago a friend of ours mentioned that she was going to be having a birthday shindig. About a week before the party, we found out that she had planned to make her own birthday cake for the party – and well we all know that can’t happen. So I decided to embark on an endeavor to make her 25th birthday cake and my first ever fondant covered, tiered cake!

After researching the heck out of fondant and anything else involving sugar, flour, eggs, and butter I decided to make a two tiered red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting covered in my very own marshmallow fondant.

I was super nervous about working with fondant – but it truly wasn’t as difficult as I thought it was going to be. Sure there were hang-ups, er I guess wrinkles, but all in all I felt pretty good about the final product! I’m definitely excited about my next go-round with the stuff – now I just have to decide what to make next!!

So, without further adieu - I give you my first fondant experience!

Red Velvet Cake

Adapted from Magnolia Bakery

3 1/3 c. cake flour
¾ c. unsalted butter, softened
2 ¼ c. sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
3 tbs red food coloring**
3 tbs unsweetened cocoa
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ tsp salt
1 ½ c. buttermilk
1 ½ tsp cider vinegar
1 ½ tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and lightly flour three 9x2 in round cake pans, then line the bottoms with wax paper (I used parchment paper because I had it on hand, and it’s what I generally use for baking).

To make the cake: in a small bowl, sift the cake flour and set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until they are very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping the bowl after each addition.

In a small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring, cocoa, and vanilla. Add to the batter and beat well.

In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in the three parts, alternating with the flour – make sure to begin and end with liquid. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overbeat.

In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda (watch for bubbles!). Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.

Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes (mine baked for closer to 40), or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the layers cool in the pans for 1 hour. Remove from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting

from Smitten Kitchen

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
½ c butter, at room temperature
3 c confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Place cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl. With a mixer, beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar and vanilla. Beat, on low speed to combine.

Read more...