Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

I stumbled upon this recipe for chocolate cupcakes with peppermint cupcakes and I just knew I had to make them. They were the perfect thing to bring to our Christmas gathering for my husband's side of the family. I only followed the icing recipe because I love the chocolate cake recipe that I make so much that I just don't gamble with trying a new one that may not be as good.

Use Beatty's Chocolate Cake recipe for the cupcakes. The recipe will me 24 cupcakes. Reduce the baking time to 20-25 minutes.

Ingredients

• 2 C butter, softened
• 5-7 C powdered sugar, divided
• 3-4 T milk
• 4 t peppermint extract

6 peppermint candy canes (or a couples handfuls of small peppermint candies)

Directions

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the butter and beat until fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar one cup at a time and beat until smooth. Add the milk and peppermint extract and beat on high until the frosting is very smooth.

Place 3 of the candy canes in a food processor and process until the candy becomes a fine powder. Fold the candy cane dust into the icing.

Once the cupcakes are cooled, pipe large swirls of frosting on top of the cupcakes.

Take the 3 remaining candy canes and put them in a plastic baggy and crush into medium sized chunks. Finally sprinkle candy chunks on top of the frosted cupcakes.

Recipe adapted from Pip & Ebby.

Russian Tea Cakes

These are one of the easiest and tastiest cookies I make around the Holidays. They are buttery and just melt in your mouth. I love that there are very few ingredients and it really is a no fuss cookie. There is no chilling or shaping or frosting. The most difficult task asked in this recipe is sifting the powder sugar and flour but if I am using my awesome beater blade I honestly don't even bother with any sifting. So if you are in the mood to make some Holiday cookies but want something fast and easy, I highly recommended Russian Tea Cakes or Mexican Weddings Cakes as they are also called. They also keep well so they are great to put in goody baskets.

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar, plus more for rolling cookies
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts (I like pecans)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Cream butter in a large mixing bowl. Add the vanilla then gradually add the 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Sift the flour, measure, then sift again with the salt. Add gradually to the butter mixture. Add the pecans and mix well.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 20 minutes, or until edges are very lightly browned. Remove the cookies from the baking sheets and roll in powdered sugar while still hot. Cool on wire racks and roll cookies again in powdered sugar before serving.

Once they are completely cooled, cookies may be stored in airtight containers for up to 1 week.

Recipe by Emeril Lagasse of the Food Network

Roasted Lemon & Herb Chicken

Roasted chicken is one of my favorite things to do for a simple dinner party. Roasting a whole chicken is really easy but looks impressive. It also looks like you have spent a lot of time when in all actuality the oven is the only one that put in the time.

Ryan often puts the chicken on the rotisserie of the BBQ during the summer and we have that often for dinner. When it is just the two of us we can usually get a few meals out of one bird. After dinner I will strip the rest of the meat off and usually make some sort of chicken salad for lunch. I then take the picked-clean bird, add some vegetables and herbs and boil it to make some good stock for use in a future soup.

Ingredients

1 4-5 pound free-range chicken

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 lemons

3 cloves garlic, smashed

1 handful fresh rosemary

1 handful fresh thyme

2 tables spoons butter

olive oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Rinse the chicken with cool water, inside and out, then pat it dry with paper towels. Season the cavity with salt and pepper.

Zest one of the lemons and reserve the zest. Pierce a couple of holes in the zested lemon and then stuff the lemon, garlic, and a half of the herbs inside. Place the chicken, breast-side up, in a roasting pan.

Finely chop the reaming rosemary and thyme (about 2-3 tables spoons each). In a small bowl, add the chopped herbs, reserved lemon zest, butter, salt and pepper. Mix together until well combined.

Gently separate the skin from the meat of the breast and top of drumsticks. Take the herb-butter mixture and smear it in the pocket made between the skin and meat.

Take the remaining lemon and cut 6, 1/4 slices. Place the 4 lemon slices in between the skin and the breast meat and 1 slice in the pocket of each drumstick where the herb-butter mixture was spread.

Fold the wings under and tie the legs of the chicken together with kitchen twine to help hold its shape. Season the whole thing with a fair amount of salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.

Roast the chicken for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. The chicken is done when an instant-read thermometer says 165 degrees F when inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (the legs of the chicken should wiggle easily from the sockets too.) Remove the chicken to a platter and let stand for 10 minutes, so the juices settle back into the meat before carving. You can deglaze the pan and make a sauce if you like but I usually just remove the lemon and squeeze it over the meat.

Recipe by me.

Apple-Spice Layer Cake with Caramel Swirl Icing

It was once again time for me to bake something to be auctioned off at our Church's annual auction for the local food bank. Because the auction was in late October, I wanted something that screamed fall. At first I was just going to make a pumpkin cheesecake. I LOVE pumpkin cheesecake but I have made that many times before so I decide to look around a bit and see what new yummy fall dessert I could find. Boy did I find one. I of course had to test the recipe out before making it for the auction so I made it and brought it over to my parents' house and had my family sample and give me their opinion. We all loved it so I knew Apple-Spice Layer Cake with Caramel Swirl Icing was the one. The apples make the cake so moist and it has just the right amount of spice. The cake is also very impressive with the caramel and pecans not to mention it is huge. I unfortunately was not able to attend the auction so I don't know how much money the cake raised but I did hear from many at the table that purchase it and it got nothing but good reviews.

Ingredients

• 3 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 Tbs molasses
• 6 large eggs
• 3 cups cake flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 2 Tbs ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3 granny smith apples, peeled and shredded (1 1/2-2 cups)
• 1 Tbs vanilla extract
• 1 Tbs fresh minced ginger (optional)

Icing

• 1 1/2-2 cups caramel topping (I used Hershey's brand)
• 3 sticks butter, at room temperature
• 2 Tbs heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup (8 ounces) cream cheese (original recipe called for mascarpone)
• 2 cups pecan pieces, toasted (optional)

Directions

Place one oven rack in the bottom third of the oven and place a second in the top third. Preheat the oven to 350. Grease 3 9-inch cake pans, then line each one with a parchment paper round and grease the rounds.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the molasses, and scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl. Add the eggs one at at a time, beating well after each egg. In a medium bowl, sift together the four, baking soda, salt, and ground spices. Add the sour cream and flour mixture alternately to the batter, starting and ending with the flour mixture (flour in 3 increments, sour cream in 2 increments). Stir in the shredded apples, vanilla, and fresh ginger.

The batter will be thick, so use a spoon to transfer evenly into the three pans. Place 2 of the pans side by side on one rack, and the third on the other rack. Make sure they are staggered so that no layer is directly under or above another. Bake 35-40 minutes, rearranging the layers about halfway through, until firm to the touch. Monitor the layers carefully, as they may be ready at different times.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges and carefully unmold the cakes to a cooling rack. Cool completely before icing.

To make the icing, cream the butter on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes, until fluffy and pale. Add the powdered sugar over low speed until combined, then add the cream cheese, cream and vanilla. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Reserve about 1/4-1/3 cup of the caramel, then stir the remaining caramel into the frosting, using large strokes to create swirls throughout.

Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate or decorating stand, and spread a layer of icing on top. Top with the second cake, then repeat with more icing, then the final layer. Cover the cake with an even layer of frosting. Pat the toasted pecans onto the sides of the cake, then decorate the top as you desire. Drizzle the remaining caramel over the top.

Original recipe from Rebecca Rather, The Pastry Queen Christmas. Recipe adapted from Pink Parsley.

Single Serving Pear-Maple Cobbler

Sometimes you just need something sweet. For me, this often happens when Ryan is at work and it is just me home alone for the evening. Why?? Because I'm bored. I don't keep ice cream or cookies in the house so when I want a treat I have to make it from scratch. So instead of making a big batch of something sinful, I have started coming up with some single serving desserts that will satisfy my craving but not totally wreck my whole week of healthy eating.

This pear-maple cobbler is a perfect dessert on a fall evening and is a very generous serving so one could share, but I don't recommended it! And if you wanted to make it even more indulgent, I'm sure ice cream or whipped cream would make this even better.

Ingredients

Cobbler Filling

• 1 pear, peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1/8 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 Tbs all-purpose flour
• pinch salt
• dash vanilla extract
• pinch ground nutmeg
• pinch ground cinnamon
• 1 pat butter

Cobbler Topping

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• a little less that 1/2 tsp baking powder
• pinch salt
• pinch ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 Tbs chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 1 Tbs whole milk
• 1 Tbs maple syrup
• dash vanilla extract
• 1 tsp sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425. Combine the pear, maple syrup, four, salt, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir well place in a ramekin and top with one pat of butter. Bake until heated through and bubbly, about 18-20 minutes.

To make the topping, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and chilled butter into a bowl and using a fork, cut the butter into the mixture until well combined. Combine cinnamon, and sugar in a small bowl and set aside. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and set aside. Add the milk, maple syrup, and vanilla, and stir until just combined. Drop by spoonfuls over the warm pear filling and sprinkle with the reserved sugar mixture.

Bake 14 minutes, until golden-brown and firm to the touch. Serve warm.

Recipe by me.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Well the school bus is yet again holding me up in the mornings....yep fall is here. I just adore fall but I would have liked a little more summer. I recently saw on the news that every holiday weekend this summer was rainy!! Boo! Oh well, I'm burning my pumpkin spice candles, already made an apple pie from my parents' orchard and starting to make some nice hearty dishes for dinner. Bring on fall.

This is just the perfect soup to welcome fall. It is thick, rich, healthy and will keep everyone full. If I liked mushrooms I would have added them to this soup. They would probably go perfectly, so if you like the fungi toss them in. I make my soups really nice and thick so beware that the next day I usually have to add a little extra water or broth to loosen this up again. Give this soup a try when fall calls you to make some comfort food.

Ingredients

Makes 8 servings

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup flour

6 cups chicken broth (homemade if you have it)

1 1/2 cups uncooked wild rice

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup orzo (I tossed this in on a whim, optional)

2 cups shredded or cubed cooked chicken ( I used the left over chicken off a roasted whole chicken, then made homemade broth from the carcass.)

1 cup whole milk

Directions

1. Add olive oil to large, heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion, celery, carrots and garlic and saute for about 5 minutes. Then add the the flour and stir well. Let the flour cook for a minute or two. Slowly add the chicken broth a cup at a time, stirring constantly. Bring just to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer to let the soup thicken up.
2. Next, add the rice, salt, curry powder, mustard powder, thyme and ground black pepper. Simmer on low for about 30 minutes then add the orzo (if using) and simmer for another 25 minutes until rice is tender. When rice and orzo is tender, add the chicken and milk and allow to heat through. Serve with fresh parsley if desired.

Recipe by me.

Jungle Animal Cupcakes

I don't have a recipe to share but thought I would post these fun jungle animal cupcakes my sister and I made for my brother's baby shower. We used this tutorial I found on YouTube but changed the monkey up a bit, made some fun owls just because and I did one special butterfly cupcake for my Grandma's 80th birthday (which was also the day of the shower). The cupcakes

were a lot of fun to make and they were liked by all.