From Scratch

Coffee Cake

I made coffee cake yesterday for two reasons:

1. It was mother's day and I thought a cake was called for. I landed on coffee cake because I was serving it in the morning (and frosting before noon just seems a little much sometimes. Not that I've never eaten frosting before noon, don't get me wrong).

2. I had coffee on the brain as this week I am having a little coffee fast in preparation for my sister's wedding this Sunday. You see, I'm doing the whole teeth whitening thing and the whitening strips box told me to avoid black coffee and red wine while using the product as my teeth will be more sensitive to stains.

After reading this I cried a little.

Ok, not really. But I drink coffee every day so I was a  little bummed.

But then I also figured I could just drink iced coffee through a straw.

Like Madonna.

And then I could have coffee AND not stain my teeth.

Can you tell I've given this WAAAAAAY more thought than the whole thing deserves? I'm a weirdo.

The Best Coffee Cake. Ever. That's what this cake is called, literally, recipe found here. I didn't make any changes to the original recipe and it came out amazing so I don't suggest it.

Unless you just want to.

It's your life to live. Do what you've got to do. ;)

xo. Emma

Random Idea // Left over Egg Roll Wrappers

A few weeks ago I found myself with an excess amount of egg roll wrappers. Sure, I could have bought items to make the the egg roll filling again, but instead I decided to make something up.

Why not?

So instead I filled some of the wrappers with cream cheese + dark chocolate, and some with cream cheese + honey. I folded them 'crab rangoon style' and fried them up. Then I sprinkled the tops with sugar, hoping to make them look more... uh... dessert like. ;)

They were a hit!

I personally favor the chocolate ones.

Have you ever made anything random with unexpected leftovers?

xo. Emma

Citrus Bars

I love citrus: lemons, limes, oranges, tangerines, grapefruit, etc. So when I saw this recipe in an issue of Everyday Food I had to try it out.

I am SUCH a sucker for magazine photoshoped, high gloss images of tasty treats. I really am. If you show me a really cool picture of food I immediately want to make it. And I read quite a few food magazines.

I was getting my oil changed at a Wal-mart the other day and so I had time to kill, in Wal-mart (I swear they planned it all this way). So I wandered over the magazine/book section. It dawned on me that most gals my age will probably pick up a Glamour or a People magazine first. And I'm not saying I don't like fashion magazines or occasionally glance at gossip columns (come on-admit it, we all do). But I immediately gravitate toward the food magazine section.

The Katy Perry of my world is Paula Deen.

Bobby Flay is my Justin Beiber.

I could go on. I know that many. Knowledge is power. Obviously.

Citrus Bars, makes around 18 (depending how you slice it).

For the crust: 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter, 1/3 cup cold water.

Mix together the flours, sugar and salt. Slice up the butter and using your (clean) hands mix up the batter until it is very crumbly. Stir in the water and mix to form a ball (you may need to add slightly more water if your dough doesn't stick together). Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator over night or in the freezer for 30 min to an hour.

For the filling: juice and zest of 1 grapefruit, juice and zest from 1 orange, juice and 2 tablespoons zest from 3-4 lemons, 1 1/2 cup sugar and 5 eggs.

Whisk together all the ingredients and set aside until ready.

Roll out the dough and place in a well greased rectangle baking pan. Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes (if you have parchment paper and pie weights use them-I found I was out so I didn't and it turned out just fine). Remove crust from oven and fill with custard filling. Bake for 20 more minutes until the center is set. Allow to cool for 30 minutes to and hour before serving. Dust with powder sugar if you're feeling fancy.

Blackberry Blueberry Buckle

A "buckle" is a variation on the ever classic cobbler. This is also sometimes referred to as "spoon cake."

In fact as far as cobbler variations go there is: crumble, crisp, buckle, betty, spoon cake, etc.

Weird, right? And as far as my academic research took me (aka-I googled it) it seemed like each term had a pretty loose definition of which was which... so I went with alliteration. Always.

But if you are making this for mixed company and they ask what the heck a buckle is-just tell them its a cobbler. This will put everyone's mind at ease.

Another thing that will put everyone's mind at ease: serving this warm with vanilla ice cream.

Watching the white ice cream melt into the dark berry buckle is a summer-time pleasure not to be missed.

Some people would say that about roller-coasters. But I'm a foodie, not a dare devil.

(As you obviously have to be a dare devil to enjoy roller-coasters... or maybe I'm just a wuss.)

Blackberry Blueberry Buckle, makes 6-8 servings. Adapted from this cookbook.

Ingredients: 16 oz blackberries*, 12 oz blueberries*, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons corn starch, 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional), 3/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 egg, 1/4 cup milk, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and 3/4 cup melted butter.

For the filling*: mix together the fresh (or frozen and thawed) berries, 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons corn starch. I did this right in my baking dish as the berry mix will be on the bottom anyway, and I hate washing extra dishes. Win, win.

For the batter: Whisk together flour, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder and salt. Then mix in the egg, milk and vanilla until just combined. Pour in the melted (and slightly cooled) butter and mix until you have a cohesive batter.

Spoon the batter over the berries in your baking dish. The batter will not perfectly cover the whole dish, don't worry it will spread out a bit while cooking. Bake at 350 F for 45-60 minutes (I believe mine was done around 50 minutes).

*As you can see in my photos I used a uniquely shaped vintage pyrex to bake my buckle in. If you use a traditional square pan you may want to use a few less berries but the same batter measurements. If you use a traditional rectangle dish (9x13) then you may want to use a few more berries and double the batter measurements.

Peanut Butter and Honey Cupcakes // Recipe

Over the weekend I hosted a Honey themed bridal shower for Elsie. It was a lot of fun and I thought honey, vanilla and caramel were the perfect compliments to this lovely spring weather we've been having.

Here's what was served: Peanut Butter and Honey Cupcakes, Caramel Cakelettes and Toasted Coconut Mini Donuts. On the beverage side of things we had: bottled Root Beer, bottled Cream Soda and milk. Plus there's a great coffee shop located next door to the Red Velvet shop, so some of us took advantage of that.

The cupcakes and cakelettes were made from my vanilla cake recipe. It's totally top secret as I'm a professional and never ever share the important details, like recipes...

Emma's Vanilla Cake, makes 24 cupcakes. (This recipe also happens to be vegan.)

Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 2 cups sugar, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract, 2/3 cup oil (vegetable, canola or peanut), 2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar and 2 cups water.

In a large bowl whisk together all the wet ingredients. In a smaller bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients. Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk until just combined, repeat with the second half.

*Note: This batter will be very wet, a pourable liquid.

Fill lined cupcake pan with batter so cups are 2/3 full. I find it is easiest to pour the batter from a small pitcher or glass measuring cup instead of spooning it into the pan. Bake in a preheated oven to 350 F. Bake for 22-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

This recipes makes very moist cupcakes that can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before consumed. Although they are best the first day. ;)

Later this week I'll share my recipe for peanut butter butter-cream frosting... if I feel like it.

xo. Emma

Flavor of the Month: Peanut Butter and Honey

In honor of Spring (and my sister's honey themed bridal shower next weekend!) we will be serving up Peanut Butter and Honey cupcakes every Friday and Saturday at the Red Velvet Sweet Shoppe.

The "look" of these cupcakes might be a little on the messy side, but I love how the honey sort of seeps into the vanilla cake. And I just adore the combination of honey and peanut butter.

Hope you have a happy weekend!

xo. Emma

Charlotte's Web: An Edible Book

My local library asked me to be a part of a special event they were hosting this week! Our challenge was to create an edible book. I choose to make a design based on the classic book Charlotte's Web.

I had a lot of fun making these little piggy cupcakes: they had a pink strawberry frosting, pink strawberry jumbo marshmallows (cut in half), mini chocolate chip "eyes" and pink sugar wafer cookies cut into triangles for the ears.

I also got the chance to practice doing a little spun sugar design for the spiders web. I used a tutorial from Sprinkle Bakes. I did a practice "web" earlier this week, so that this morning I would have confidence as I made one for the big show. Luckily it turned out even better than the first time.

Also, my dad helped me transport the entire thing to the library-because the sugar web was SUPER fragile. Thanks dad!

xo. Emma

Mint Whipped Cream

I love grapefruit, but only in the spring and summer months. If I could think of a good way to... um, heat up citrus I would love it in winter too. But I just think citrus fruits are so good served cold and raw. So I like them best in the warmer months.

If you live where all your months are warm-I am jealous of you. This morning I woke up to snow on my car. Not a lot, and there was none on the ground. Just on my car and the porch.

Fickle midwest spring weather. Geez.

In other news, did you know that making your own whipped cream is suuuuuuuper easy? It's true. Simply fill a large mixing bowl with heavy whipping cream (I used 1 quart last night and it was plenty), 1/4 cup (or less) or sugar and beat with an electric mixer until it gets fluffy (3-5 minutes). I stirred in a drop of mint flavor, I love a little mint taste here and there. It's refreshing.

This whipped cream could top fruits, cakes, pies-or the ever classic: just eat it right out of the bowl.

xo. Emma

Tiramisu Cupcakes

I generally try and keep my coffee/espresso drink intake to one beverage a day.

I tend to stick to coffee, but I love a good americano now and again too. :)

I find that too much caffeine makes me angry. Like the hulk. But without the cool green muscles.

So just the manic anger for no apparent (good) reason.

Which is not very attractive or fun to be around. Surprise.

So I try and have a little moderation with my caffeine love affair.

I do not count cupcakes made with coffee. Nope.

Yes, these cupcakes are a subtle mix of coffee and chocolate flavor with a creamy mascarpone frosting.

I did not find a way to incorporate any marsala wine or brandy, but I don't think these really need it.

Tiramisu Cupcakes, makes 12 standard size

You will need: 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour, 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract, 1/3 cup oil (I used vegetable but canola or peanut oil would be good too) 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar, 1 cup brewed coffee (cooled).

Whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl whisk together vanilla, oil, vinegar and coffee. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. This batter will be very wet-that's normal. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake at 350 F for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Trust the toothpick.

Mascarpone frosting, makes enough to frost 2 dozen. (This is how I made it, so if you are only frosting a dozen you can try and half this recipe. I would have done this for you, but I haven't really tested it that way so I thought I'd just tell you what I really did. Yo.)

You will need: 8 ounces mascarpone cheese, 2-3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream, 1/2 cup powered sugar.

Cream together the softened mascarpone and cream. Add in half the powdered sugar and cream just until smooth then add in the other half and repeat. After I frosted my cupcakes I sifted on a little cocoa powder-trying for that "tiramisu" look.

Thin Mint Cookies

It's that time of year... girl scout cookie time. I see those cute little girls peddling their sweets everywhere.

They are outside my grocery store. They are smiling and selling at a little kiosk at the mall.

I try to avoid direct eye contact with them for two reasons:

1. The goods they are selling are delicious and addictive. I love thin mints, the shortbread, the samoas... they are so so good.

2. Cute little polite girls selling cookies are REALLY REALLY hard to say no to. They are just too cute.

That being said, of course there have been girl scout cookies at the house lately. But I saw this recipe to make homemade thin mint cookies and I decided to give it a try, just for fun.

I will warn you that the dough is pretty dry and you should definitely freeze it in a cylinder shape wrapped in plastic wrap for an hour or so before attempting to slice it to bake it.

I will also warn you that just because a batter happens to be egg less, this does not necessarily mean you should eat your weight in it.

It is still cookie dough batter. So have some self-respect. Geez.

I finally took the plunge and bought a Silpat and and I am happy to report that the rumors are true: It is awesome. I am excited to use it while attempting macaroons sometime in the future...

Also, you will be needing dark chocolate to coat these little cookies with. I highly recommend using some very dark high quality chocolate, like Askinosie or other brand you like.

Makes it more gourmet.

And gourmet cookies is totally what we are going for here. :)

xo. Emma