chocolate cupcake w/ peanut butter frosting and nutella ganache*

Say that fast 10 times! These cupcakes are nothing short of AMAZING. They are melt in your mouth peanut butter chocolate gooey goodness! We made these for parent conference this last weekend and they were a hit. I had a slight meltdown because the frosting started falling off some of the cupcakes, but with some quick thinking I stuck them in the freezer and they were good as new.

I was worried the recipe for the frosting didn't make enough, so I added some whipped topping to the frosting and it still tasted so yummy! The frosting alone I could literally eat for a week straight. This is my new favorite frosting recipe. I don't know what it is, but add flour and granulated sugar instead of powdered sugar to your frosting and you will have the lightest, fluffiest, most delicious frosting which strongly resembles whipped cream. There is a frosting that we have made before that said that after you cook your flour and milk to put it through a sifter. This recipe did not say to do that and it turned out just as good, maybe even better, than the sifted recipe. So you can skip that annoying step and get just as good results! Sign me up!

Also, the nutella ganache didn't thicken up like I thought it would, so I added some chocolate chips and covered it for 5 minutes while the nutella and cream was still hot, then uncovered and stirred. That thickened it up nicely so that I could coat my cupcakes more easily and not so runny and messy. If yours thickens up like a normal ganache, then don't fret about the chocolate chips.

Chocolate Cupcake w/ Peanut Butter Frosting and Nutella Ganache
from Made Famous By

Chocolate Cupcakes
**This recipe will also make an amazing cake**

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, eggs, vanilla and water. Beat for about two minutes on medium speed until well combined.

3. Using a large cookie scoop, distribute the batter between 24 muffin wells.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched. . Allow cupcakes to cool inside muffin tins for about 10 minutes.

5. Remove cupcakes from muffin tins and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once cupcakes are cool, take a little of the middle out to prepare them for the stuffing. 

Assemble them like this: Fill them with the peanut butter frosting with Reeses, put a layer of Nutella Ganache on the top of the cupcake (stay away from the edges), frost the cupcakes with the peanut butter frosting, drizzle with nutella ganache, then cut a reeses in half (I did fourths) to add it to the top.

Peanut Butter Frosting
*Adapted from the best frosting EVER!*

5 Tablespoons Flour
1 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Butter
1 cup Granulated Sugar (not Powdered Sugar!)

1/4 C Peanut Butter

6 Reeses Peanut Butter cups (chopped)

Directions

In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. You want it to be very thick, thicker than cake mix, more like a brownie mix is. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. (If I’m in a hurry, I place the saucepan over ice in the sink for about 10 minutes or so until the mixture cools.) It must be completely cool before you use it in the next step. Stir in vanilla.

While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. You don’t want any sugar graininess left. Then add the completely cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat the living daylights out of it. If it looks separated, you haven’t beaten it enough! Beat it until it all combines and resembles whipped cream.

** Reserve a cup of the frosting when you are done making it and add the chopped up Reese's Peanut Butter cups to it. Use this mixture to put in the hole you made in the cupcakes then frost the cup cakes with the regular frosting.

Nutella Ganache

2 C Nutella
2 C Heavy Cream

Put the Nutella and heavy cream in a bowl and heat it in the microwave for 1 minute. Take it out and stir it. If it is not melted enough heat it for another minute.

-alyssa*

parent conference snacks and treats*

Phew, I am so glad we made it through last weekend! We had several parents from all over to visit their kids and the teachers and staff at Heritage. With the help of my staff, we prepared 4 meals and 3 different snack bars for approx. 320-340 people! HOLY TOLIDO - that's a lot of people! But we survived and it was a great success!

On Thursday night we had a networking and mingle for all of the parents to meet each other and get to know each other a little bit. They had a workshop and then headed on over to the cafeteria for some goodies. On the menu we had meatball sliders, chicken salad croissant sandwiches, veggie tray, hummus w/ pita chips, chocolate chunk and macadamia nut cookies, rice krispy pops, cream puff and strawberry kabobs, and a fresh fruit bowl. My favorites were the chicken salad croissants, rice krispy pops, and cream puff and strawberry kabobs :).

Rice Krispy Pops

*Rice Krispy squares dipped in melted chocolate Candy Melts, drizzled with white chocolate and poked with a lollipop stick!*

Cream Puff and Strawberry Kabobs

from Get Off Your Butt and Bake

*Frozen cream puffs (thawed), drizzled in chocolate Candy Melts, then skewered with some deliciously sweet strawberries*

 

 Chicken Salad Croissant Sandwiches

*Shredded chicken, Miracle Whip, chopped onion, chopped celery, salt and pepper on a buttery croissant*

Meatball Slider
*Meatballs - cooked (I cheated and bought frozen), topped with marinara and shredded mozzarella on a slider bun*

The spread in all of it's glory :)

'Nother angle

Although we prepared WAY too much food, I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome! Everything looked delicious and tasted even better! Tomorrow - a chocolate peanut butter nutella ganache cupcake! Get ready - it's gonna be a doozy!

-alyssa*

red lobster cheddar bay biscuits*

Oh man, what a crazy week! I feel like I haven't blogged in weeks. This weekend is our parent conferences for the students and it is always a very busy week with so much to do that we don't know what to do with ourselves. Tomorrow night we are serving some goodies (chocolate rice krispy pops, chicken salad croissants, meatball sliders, cookies, strawberry and cream puff kabobs, hummus w/ pita chips and more) for about 85 parents while they network and meet other parents. Then the next two days (Friday and Saturday) we are serving about 130 parents, all of the students, and most of the staff around campus breakfast and lunch, with some goodies afterward to snack on. It's pretty insane, but I am excited about some of the stuff that we are planning on serving! Definitely blogging material. With that said, I apologize if you don't hear from me for a few days.


I am also planning a baby shower for my little sister that I am having next Saturday. I have so many cute and new recipes that I am dying to try and and share with all of you! This is what I have planned so far:


*Mini key lime cupcakes
*Mini cookies and cream cupcakes
*Chocolate lollipops (request from the mom-to-be)
*Cake pops
*Fruit kabobs


I can't decide if I want to do something savory, and here is my reasoning. First of all, everyone in attendance will be women. I don't know any woman that doesn't love sweets! The second being, my little sister has basically lived off chocolate her entire life (and has always been skinny as a twig) and I know that she could live without something savory. Give the girl some chocolate and she is good to go. And lastly, how do I make something savory that is blue? That doesn't even sound good...


Onto this amazing recipe. I made these biscuits tonight for dinner. I have only been to Red Lobster twice in my life. I probably would have never gone even once, except my husband was raving about how good it was (he eats their steak...no seafood....hmmmm..) and about their cheddar biscuits. I finally caved and one day we were off to Red Lobster. I ordered CHICKEN pasta. I crack myself up. This was before I realized that I actually like fried shrimp. That is basically the only seafood I am a fan of. Anyway, on this day I was introduced to the Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits. AMAZING!!! Those things are incredible! So when I decided that I wanted to try and replicate these biscuits today, I didn't want to get high hopes. First of all, the recipe was very simple and basic and seemed too good to be true. In the first bite I was in love! We may never go to Red Lobster again (sorry Red Lobster, we can get steak and chicken pasta elsewhere)!

Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits
from BigOven

2 1/2 cups Bisquick baking mix
1 cup Cheddar Cheese; finely grated
3/4 cup whole milk (I used 2%)
2 Tbsp. butter
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dried parsley flakes
1 dash salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine Bisquick with cheddar cheese, milk, 2 Tbsp. butter that has been melted in the microwave, and 1/8 tsp. garlic powder in a medium bowl. Mix until well-combined.

Drop approx. 1/4 cup portions of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Combine 1/4 cup butter with 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, parsley flakes and salt. Brush the mixture over the tops of each unbaked biscuit.

Bake for 14-16 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown. Serve warm.

-alyssa*

easy homemade ice cream without a machine*

Yes, you heard me right. Homemade ice cream WITHOUT a machine! Music to my ears. Ice cream is one of my favorite foods - maybe my favorite but I'm not ready to make it official. I dream about ice cream all day. I have not met an ice cream I didn't like. Well, I'm not a huge fan of the ice cream at Sizzler. And one time I got a cheap kind from the store that I didn't care for. However, did I eat them? Yes, of course I did! It's ice cream!

This ice cream is so easy to make! It has a different texture than your typical ice cream, but it still comes out creamy and delicious. I was pleased with it's simplicity and it's overall taste. I think I would still prefer ice cream that was made with a machine, but since I do not own a machine this is definitely a great alternative that I will be taking advantage of on a regular basis I am sure!

I made two different kinds of ice cream my first go round. My first ice cream was a Nutella chocolate chunk ice cream. The second was a Girl's Scout Thin Mint ice cream. Both very tasty. My favorite of the two would have to be the Nutella chocolate chunk, but I am a new found Nutella fanatic.

Easy Homemade Ice Cream Without a Machine
basic recipe from Kevin and Amanda

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 can sweetened condensed milk
any add in your little heart desires!

Whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks. Add your flavors, topping, and mix-ins to the sweetened condensed milk. Then fold this mixture into the whipping cream. Freeze and enjoy!*

Nutella Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

 Whip your whipping cream to stiff peaks.

Mix 1/4 cup nutella with 1/2 cup chocolate chunks (melted chocolate spread out on wax paper and chilled in the fridge until firm, then break into chunks) with the sweetened condensed milk.

Fold mixture into the whipping cream and freeze.

Eat up!

Thin Mint Ice Cream

 Beat whipping cream until stiff peaks.

Combine sweetened condensed milk with 1 cup Thin Mints or Grasshopper cookies.

Fold mixture into whipping cream until well combined.

Pour into container and freeze.

Enjoy!*

Sound too easy to be true? Well, it is definitely easy, but it is also true! Imagine the possibilities...

-alyssa*

key lime cupcakes w/ blackberry filling and blackberry frosting*

Happy Cinco de Mayo! On that note, this recipe has nothing to do with Cinco de Mayo. Sorry! However, I'm not going to let you down. These cupcakes are one of the most amazing things I have eaten to date. Seriously. They are AMAZING!

Before I get to the cupcakes, I have some great news! Our deck is complete, stain and all! When I got home from work today the husband was out getting all of our patio furniture out of the shed and my heart skipped a beat, I'm pretty sure! My backyard is by far my favorite part of my house, and we spend endless hours back there during the summer. When that patio furniture comes out, that brings hope that maybe we will enter Spring/Summer. So far it's been pure winter. Thank you 70 degrees for showing your lovely face today! You are more than welcome!

Now, it is time to introduce you to my new favorite kitchen gadget. Last week I entered my new favorite store for the first time. Williams Sonoma. If you have never been there, GO. Especially if you love to cook! Unless you are on a tight budget. Then don't go. Because you will not be able to stop thinking about the amazing things in that beautiful store. The things in that store make my mind go crazy thinking of all of the amazing and delicious things I can make with the help of their many gadgets! Including this one:

That's right folks. A gadget to core your cupcakes! Throw your pairing knife aside and go to Williams Sonoma right now and purchase this little guy! Or click here and purchase your next favorite gadget online. It will be the best $5.00 you ever spent - guaranteed! As you scroll down through this amazing cupcake recipe, please stop to admire the picture with the lovely cupcakes with a perfect little hole cut right out of them! That, my friends, is the result of the precise work of this little guy!

Before I get to this amazing cupcake recipe, I thought I should say something. If you are an avid blog reader of mine (thank you SO much by the way!), I promise I do not feed the students very sugary, unhealthy desserts everyday. It probably seems like it, because I post so many goodies on here. That is simply because I am obsessed with desserts and love to blog about them! I have about 20+ recipes that I have yet to put on here, but I just cannot wait to post the desserts first. The students actually get dessert once a week. Some recipes are from different activities we do around campus, or recipes I make at home. So in case you were wondering, my goal is not to make the students the size of elephants :).

Key Lime Cupcakes w/ Blackberry Filling and Blackberry Frosting
adapted from Baked Perfection

makes 30 cupcakes

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons key lime juice
zest of two limes
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease or paper-line 30 baking cups.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla, key lime juice and lime zest; mix well. Add the flour mixture to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream (batter will be thick).

Fill muffin cups with 1/4 cup of batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely and frost as desired.

Blackberry Filling
recipe from Baked Perfection

1 32oz container frozen blackberries
3 tablespoons sugar
Juice of one lemon
3 tablespoons cornstarch
pinch of salt

Place blackberries in a small bowl and sprinkle with sugar, let thaw. Drain blackberries, reserving liquid. Squish the blackberries and push through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds, set aside. Add enough water to the blackberry liquid to equal 1 cup. In a large saucepan, combine the blackberry liquid, lemon juice, cornstarch, and salt. Heat and stir until the mixture boils and thickens. Cool completely. Stir blackberries into the cooled mixture. Refrigerate until ready to use. (This can be made several days in advance and any leftovers works well on toast, on pancakes, or mixed in plain Greek Yogurt.)

*Note: I needed a little more filling for all my 180 cupcakes, so we folded in some pre-made whipped cream and it turned out DELICIOUS! I would HIGHLY recommend it!


Blackberry Buttercream
recipe from Baked Perfection

2 sticks butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup blackberry filling (seedless blackberry jam or preserves can be substituted)
pinch of salt
6 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk

Beat butter and vanilla until creamy. Mix in blackberry filling and salt. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating until combined. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach desired consistency.


To assemble the cupcakes, remove the middles (using the awesome cupcake corer above or a pairing knife will work, too).

Please take a second to admire the precision of these cupcake holes :)

Pipe your blackberry filling into the hole.

Then frost your cupcakes with the blackberry filling. I frosted them with a piping bag that had no tip and then swirled it on. Top with a fresh blackberry, if desired.

These cupcakes are TO DIE for! We had some leftover filling, frosting and then the middles out of the cupcakes, and I think I ate about 1/2 the middles (from 180 cupcakes keep in mind) and tons of the filling and frosting all to myself! And then I ate a cupcake! They are so fruity, and the key lime cupcakes have just the right amount of citrus, and together they create the most amazing, refreshing, tangy cupcake! Please make these. I beg you!!! Oh, and get out there and enjoy this warm weather!

-alyssa*

naan bread*

We made this yummy naan bread to go with our chicken tikka masala last Friday. I am telling you this recipe is easy easy easy! I have only made homemade bread...well, I can count on one hand how many times I have made homemade bread - so if you are a beginner bread maker, this recipe is for you! Plus, I made this for about 180 people on my first attempt, so I have total faith that you can make this for your family!

It is pretty good and definitely reminded me of the naan bread at Bombay House, although I am sure that if it were baked in a tandoori oven that it would taste even that much more authentic. But I was pretty pleased for our first go-round! We made the dough balls a little smaller than they needed to be, so next time we can almost double them and still have enough dough. It's always hard to estimate making that much bread we will need for that many people, but next time we will have it right on! Oh, and I would highly suggest that you add the garlic into the dough. It's pretty amazing!!

Naan Bread
from allrecipes.com

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

1/4 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 egg, beaten

2 teaspoons salt

4 1/2 cups bread flour

2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)

1/4 cup butter, melted

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.

Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.

At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

Yummy yummy in my tummy. This bread is excellent when trying to scoop up the extra sauce from the chicken tikka masala! I think I could possibly live off this meal for the rest of my life. As long as it was served with basmati rice. Seriously. It's good. Add ice cream of dessert and that would do it. My forever meal.

Speaking of ice cream for dessert, I found a recipe the other day where you can make homemade ice cream without an ice cream maker!! It has my name written all over it! And just in time because I told Landon that my next kitchen accessory would be an ice cream maker. However, my cupboard space is limited so if this recipe turns out to be as amazing as I hope it will be, I may have a new obsession in life. Imagine the mix-ins...! Nutella, hot fudge, chocolate chips, peanut butter, Oreos, fresh raspberries, caramel, Reese's Pieces, grasshopper cookies, Caramellos - ok ok I'm done. I am trying to be on a 30 day sugar fast because I seriously have a problem with sweet treats, but I told myself I can have some sugar on the weekends or I may die (why risk it?). This weekend - homemade ice cream w/out the maker. I am counting the days/hours/minutes. Stay tuned...

-alyssa*

chicken tikka masala*

Indian food entered my life a few short months ago. Landon's co-worker has raved about Bombay House for years, but my sweet husband has not been very adventurous with foods until lately. He finally decided that he dared try it, and now we are hooked. Our first trip we got the chicken tikka masala, chicken curry and some naan bread. AMAZING. We liked the chicken tikka masala more than the curry, but both were very tasty - which I was surprised with because I am not a curry fan. The second time we went we only got the chicken tikka masala and garlic naan bread. SOO good! If you have never tried Indian food, you HAVE to. Seriously. The rice alone is worth it.  

This recipe is pretty legit. It is pretty spicy, so next time I am going to cut back on the cayenne pepper in the marinade for the chicken. I could handle the heat, but I have an average tolerance for spicy foods. I know it was too spicy for some of the students and staff.  I LOVE the sauce. I could eat just the sauce on some basmati rice and be good to go. 

We actually cooked this chicken completely different than the recipe states. Because we were cooking for about 180, we actually cooked the chicken on the flat grill, then transferred it to the sauce. It worked perfectly and I really liked how it turned out. So if you don't want to go through the extra hassle, you can just cook your chicken in a pan just fine.

Chicken Tikka Masala
from Cook's Illustrated and as seen on Tracey's Culinary Adventures

Chicken

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon salt

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup plain yogurt (I used nonfat but the recipe suggests whole milk yogurt)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

Sauce

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium onion, diced fine (about 1 1/4 cups)

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

1 serrano chile, minced (ribs and seeds removed)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon garam masala

1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

To prep the chicken: Mix the cumin, coriander, cayenne, and salt together in a small bowl.  Sprinkle the mixture evenly over both sides of the chicken.  Put the chicken on a plate, cover with plastic and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.  Whisk the yogurt, vegetable oil, garlic and ginger together in a wide bowl.  You'll use this to coat the chicken later before cooking - set aside for now.

To make the sauce: Meanwhile, pour the oil into a large Dutch oven set over medium heat.  Once the oil is hot, add the onion and cook, stirring often, until golden, about 8 minutes.  Add the garlic, ginger, serrano chile, tomato paste and garam malasa.  Cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes, stirring almost constantly.  Stir in the crushed tomatoes, sugar and salt then bring the sauce to a boil.  Reduce the heat so your sauce is simmering and cover the pan.  Let simmer for 15 minutes, stirring a few times.  Add the heavy cream, stir to combine and bring the sauce back to a simmer (uncovered).  Take the pan off of the heat and cover to keep warm.  (You can also make the sauce ahead - just refrigerate it once it cools slightly then rewarm when you want to serve.)

To cook the chicken:  Position an oven rack about 6 inches from your broiler and preheat the broiler.  Set a wire rack inside of a foil-lined baking sheet.  Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and dip each piece in the yogurt mixture.  You want a relatively thick layer coating the chicken.  Transfer the chicken to the wire rack.  Broil the chicken until it is cooked through (to an internal temperature of 160 F), about 10-18 minutes, flipping the chicken over halfway through the cooking time.  (The cooking time will depend in large part on the thickness of your chicken pieces.)

Let the chicken rest for about 5 minutes, then cut it into 1-inch pieces and add to the warm sauce.  Add the cilantro to the sauce as well and season to taste before serving.

So amazing! We also made some garlic naan bread to go along with it. Stay tuned for the recipe!

-alyssa*