Saturday, March 23, 2013

Peanut Butter Fudge

If you know someone that loves peanut butter AND fudge, then make this as a surprise for them. Or make them for yourself. I mean. Come on. Who doesn't love peanut butter? Well, besides people who are allergic and have a sensitivity? This looks sooo good! I'm excited to give this a try!



1/2 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups confectioners’ sugar

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and milk. Bring to a boil and boil until your thermometer reaches 234 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 4 minutes), stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla. Pour over confectioners’ sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat until smooth; pour into an 8x8 inch dish. Chill until firm and cut into squares.


Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Cannoli Cupcakes

Cupcakes are awesome! Everyone loves them. But what if you want to put an Italian twist on them? Well. Cannoli cupcakes do just that. Cannolis are amazing if you have tried them. If you live in Canada, then just think about one of those donuts that have the cream stuff in the middle at Tim Hortons in them. It's kind of like that. Anyways... Cannoli cupcakes look so good! I have yet to make them. These look like a good thing to have for a picnic or at a party! It's making me hungry just by looking at the picture!

Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup salted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
Cannoli Topping
  • 2/3 cup Mascarpone cheese
  • 2/3 cup Ricotta cheese, strained slightly*
  • 5 Tbsp powdered sugar
Sweetened Chocalate Whipped Cream
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 Tbsp mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, for garnish
Directions
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together butter and sugar on medium high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 - 4 minutes, occasionally scrapping down the sides of the bowl. Stir in eggs one at a time mixing until combine after each addition. Mix in sour cream and vanilla. With mixer set at low speed, slowly add dry ingredients and mix just until combine, scraping down sides and bottom of bowl as needed. Divide batter among 12 paper lined muffin cups, filling each cup about 2/3 full (about 1/4 cup batter per each). Bake in preheated oven 21 - 24 minutes until lightly golden and toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean. Allow to cool several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool. Cool cupcakes completely.
For the cannoli topping
  • In a small mixing bowl, using a rubber or silicone spatula, blend together Mascarpone and Ricotta cheese while running and pressing mixture along bottom of bowl to create a smooth texture while removing any lumps. Add in 5 Tbsp powdered sugar and mix until well blended.
For sweetened chocolate whipped cream
  • In a mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer set on low speed, blend together heavy cream, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, cocoa and vanilla until combine. Increase mixer to medium-high speed and whip until stiff peaks form.
To assemble cupcakes
  • Spread about 1 1/2 Tbsp cannoli filling over the top of each cupcake, then pipe sweetened chocolate whipped cream over cupcakes. Garnish with mini chocolate chips. Serve within the next 3 hours (as the whipped cream will begin to break down after that). Store in refrigerator in an airtight container.
  • *Measurement taken before straining. To strain, I just placed the ricotta onto a layer of clean paper towels then wrapped it up and squeezed to strain out the liquids, then did this same step once more with a new batch of paper towels. You don’t need all of the liquid removed just some of it. I used part skim Ricotta but whole milk Ricotta works too.