Red Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Frosting

I am so excited...why you might ask, well it's because I'm the host of this month's "what's baking challenge! And seeing that it's Valentine's time again, I wanted to try a new cupcake recipe so I figured why not make a red velvet cupcake to stay with the holiday color theme.

Since Valentine's day lands on a night that I have to work later, I decided that we would celebrate the weekend before. This year I asked my three year old what he wanted to dessert and his response was "I want cupcakes!" Seeing that it was Jonathan's Valentine's Day Dinner as well, how could I say no.

I couldn't have been happier with the way the cupcakes turned out and I can not wait to make them again. Please make sure to come back and check out my what's baking round up and I've already gotten some amazing submission.

Like always happy baking!

Source for Cupcake Paula Deen
Source for Vanilla Bean Frosting http://www.browneyedbaker.com

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

WHAT YOU'LL NEED FOR THE FROSTING:

2½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
2½ cups confectioners’ sugar (10 ounces)
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons heavy cream

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pans with cupcake papers.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.

In another bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla in stand mixer.

Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled.

Bake in oven for about 20 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through.

Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness.

Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

While the cupcakes cool start making your vanilla bean frosting.

In your stand mixer whisk butter at medium-high speed until smooth.

With the edge of a knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into butter and beat mixture at medium-high speed to combine, about 15 seconds.

Once incorporated, add confectioners’ sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moiste.

Scrape down the bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully incorporated, continue scraping the bowl, add vanilla and heavy cream, and beat at medium speed.

Once everything has come together, increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.

Once cupcakes are completely cooled, frost cupcakes and Garnish with raspberry, strawberries or even red candies.

Like always, Happy Baking!

Skillet Rosemary Chicken

Have I told you all how much I love Pinterest? Well if I haven't let it be known that It's my new love. I love that fact that I'm able to "pin" (book mark) just about anything and I can come back to it at a later date.

I think that over the past 3-4 months most of my pins have been either decor or food related. Which for me is great because I love the fact that I could get meal ideas from other people. I think that it's so great that I could look at someone's else recipe and it can inspire me to make something new when I find myself in a food funk!

This such a great dish and has made it's way into our meal rotation. If you're looking for sides to go with this, it pairs well with roasted potatoes and a side of veggie such as mushrooms, or green beans. I hope you all enjoy this as much we did.

Like always happy cooking!

Adapted from chimeraobscura.com

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

2-3 Sprigs fresh rosemary, plus 1 1/2 tablespoons leaves
2 Cloves garlic, minced
Red pepper flakes to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Juice of 2 lemons (squeezed halves reserved)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 skin-on, chicken thighs
1/8 Cup of chicken stock
1 Cup of plum tomatoes

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO

Preheat the oven to 450.

Using rosemary leaves, garlic, salt and the red pepper flakes and mash ingredients together to make a paste.

Transfer the paste to a bowl. Stir in the juice of 1 lemon and the olive oil. Add the chicken and turn to coat, and let chicken marinate over night.

30 minutes before starting your meal, take chicken out of frig and set aside.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.

Add the chicken, skin-side down, and cook until the skin browns.

Once chicken has browned, drizzle chicken with any marinade remaining in the bowl and the juice of the remaining lemon.

Add the rosemary sprigs, chicken stock, tomatoes, and the squeezed lemon halves to the skillet.

Transfer to the oven and roast, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is crisp, 20 to 25 minutes.

Twix Bars

I admit it, I'm addicted to Pinterest! I love the fact that I'm able to pin anything and everything thing that I like and or would like to try. I came across this recipe for homemade twix bars about 2 months ago, and I knew that I had to try them. Only thing is I just needed the right time to make them. Lucky for me the right time just happened to be when I needed something for my What's Baking submission this month.

Mellisa from iwasborntocook.blogspot.com pick this month's theme as "YOUR FAVORITE SNOWY DAY TREAT". Last weekend we had a snow storm which dumped about 8 inches of snow on the ground. As you can see from the picture above, I wasn't going anywhere in this weather, which gave me the perfect opportunity to try this recipe. Thanks Melissa for hosting this month and I can't wait to see everyone submission for February, as I'll be hosting!

This recipe does take a while from start to finish, but it was so worth it! I even ended up make a second batch because they were just that good. My family and I loved them so much that they disappeared within a matter of a few days.

I hope that you all enjoy them as much as we did. Like always happy baking.

Recipe source: King Arthur Flour

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

Shortbread layer

1 cup salted butter, at room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups of Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Caramel layer

2 cups caramel, cut into small chunks
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Chocolate layer

3 cups chopped milk chocolate or dark chocolate, melted
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening (optional)

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

Preheat your oven to 300°F. Spray a 9" x 13" pan lightly with cooking spray, and line with parchment paper, and set aside.
FOR THE COOKIE LAYER:

In a stand mixer, beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla.

Add the flour.

The mixture may seem dry, but will come together as you continue to beat at medium speed.

Once combined take the dough and press it evenly into the pan.

Prick the crust all over with a fork. The holes will allow steam to escape and the crust will bake evenly with fewer bubbles.

Bake the crust until it's lightly golden brown on top and the edges are deeper golden brown, about 35 to 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven and immediately run a knife around the edges to loosen the crust.

Set it aside to cool completely.

FOR THE CARAMEL LAYER:

Melt the caramel and cream over low heat in a small saucepan.

Pour the caramel over the cooled crust and put it in your freezer while you prep the chocolate layer as it makes it easier to cut the into bars once it's harden up.

FOR THE CHOCOLATE LAYER:

Melt the milk chocolate slowly in a double boiler.

If it seems very thick, add a tablespoon of shortening to thin it.

Once melted take off the heat and set aside while you cut the cookie/carmel layer.

After the caramel layer has chilled firm, cut down the length of the pan, splitting the bars into two long, narrow bars.

Then cut each long strip into "fingers".

Dip the chilled bars into melted chocolate and place on parchment paper to set for several hours.

Pour yourself a tall glass of milk and enjoy!

Mini Carrot Cakes

One of my husband's favorite cakes is carrot cake. So when I bake him any type of sweet, I tend to find myself going to a carrot cake or his second favorite, apple cake. He would much rather have a piece of cake over something as sweet as a brownie or ice cream.

Seeing as my husband was on call this during Chinese New Years my in-laws came up and did all the cooking. Since wanted to do all the cooking I decided that I would bake something for dessert. The down side was because they were doing all the cooking, I was in a time crunch and couldn't spend an hour to baking the cake so I decided that I would use this recipe and just bake mini cakes. I have to say that the mini carrot cakes were a huge hit. Not only were the cute, but they also were the perfect size.


WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

6oz Unsalted butter
1 egg at room temperature
1 Tablespoon of water
2 Cups of grated carrots http://tipnut.com/recipes-canning/
1/2 Cup of flour
1 Teaspoon of baking soda
1 Teaspoon of Baking powder
2 Tablespoon of cinnamon
1 Teaspoon of pumpkin spice
1/2 Teaspoon of salt
1 Teaspoon of Vanilla

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease muffin tin and set aside

In stand mixed, cream the butter, vanilla, and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in the egg and water.

Add in carrots, once combined, add in flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and salt.

Once combined, spoon in the mixture to prepared muffin tin.

Fill to top....as the carrot cakes do not lift a lot.

Bake until the tops spring back when touched lightly for about 35 minutes.

Let stand for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Once cool frost with your favorite cream cheese frosting.

Low- fat Mocha Coffee Chocolate Chip Muffins

I don't know about you, but I can not start the day without a cup of coffee. Unfortunately some morning I have to skip that fresh brewed cup of coffee, because I spent an extra 30 minutes trying to get my 3 year old out the door in the morning. You parents know what I'm talking about =)So sometimes our morning start with a grab and go. Well this this grab and go muffin, not only do I get that coffee flavor, but I also get a healthy start to the morning.

We are very big on breakfast,and because of that I'm always looking for something to make on Sundays for the following work week. It has to be easy and something that we can eat on the move. Therefore each week it's either a new twist on pancakes, french toast, croissants, and of course this week's breakfast is MUFFINS!

I have to say that this is such a great recipe and I know it's going to be one that I turn to for years to come. These muffins are so good that half the batch was gone the same day I baked them. I hope you all enjoy it as much as we have.

Recipe: Adapted from Cooking Light Jan 2012 issue

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

2/3 Cup of 1% milk
4oz of melted butter
1/4 Cup of black coffee
2 Teaspoons of vanilla
1 Egg
2 1/4 Cups of AP flour
2/3 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips
2 Teaspoons of baking powder
1 Teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 Teaspoon of salt

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine the first five ingredients in stand mixer.

Add sugar and then spoon in Flour into wet mixture until combined.

Add baking powder, baking soda, and salt and beat until combined.

Fold in chocolate chips until just combined.

Spoon batter into greased muffin pan and bake at 400 degrees for about 18-20 minutes, until done.

Remove muffins from pan and let cool on wire rack.

Calories 160, Fat 5.9g Protein 3.6g, Carbs 28g, Fiber 1g,

Tyler Floreance's Chicken Marsala with Mashed Potatoes

By now you all know of my secret love for Tyler Florance. I swear if he were to cook for me my butt would be 2-3 time bigger. Over the passed 3 years I've have tried many of his recipes and I've always been impressed. This time around he has taken it all to a new level. This chicken Marsala recipe is so good and I was amazed on how good it turned out, just when you think it can't better it really does.

The only added a half cup of cream, to make it a little thicker and smooth it. Another thing I did was double the ingredients to make the sauce, this because I knew I wanted to pair it up with mashed potatoes and I would like to have extra sauce. I'm happy that I did that because even having had doubled the sauce...it was just enough. So this recipe has been modified just in the liquid portions.

I highly recommend this recipe, my husband who loved chicken Marsala states that this was the best he has ever had!


SOURCE OF RECIPE: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chicken-marsala-recipe/index.html

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

4 chicken breasts cut into thin cutlets (about 1 1/2 pounds)
AP flour, for dredging
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced
8 ounces mushrooms, stemmed and halved
1 cup sweet Marsala wine
1 cup chicken stock
3 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cream


WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

Cut chicken breasts into thin cutlets about 1/4-inch thick.

Put some flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper.

Heat the oil over medium-high flame in a large skillet.

When the oil is nice and hot, dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, and shake off the excess.

Put cutlets into the pan and fry for 5 minutes on each side until golden.

To avoid over crowding, do this in batches if the pieces to insure even cooking.

Once chicken is done transfer to a platter and keep them warm.

Lower the heat to medium and add the prosciutto to the drippings in the pan, saute for 1 minute to render out some of the fat.

Then add the mushrooms and saute until they are nicely browned and their moisture has evaporated.

Pour the Marsala in the pan and boil down for a few seconds to cook out the alcohol.

Add the chicken stock and simmer for a minute to reduce the sauce slightly.

Stir in the butter, cream and then return the chicken to the pan.

Simmer for 1 minute to heat the chicken through.

Serve over pasta or mashed potatoes.

Italian Sausage with Broccoli Rabe and Pasta

Is it just me, our does everyone fall into a food rut every once in awhile? I love food and trying new dishes. This that said...working long days, and then coming home to a three year year old, sometimes is easier to go to your staple recipes. You know what I'm talking about... the recipes that you don't need to think about it, you just go into auto pilot and before you know it dinner is served.

Yeah, I too am guilty of this, more so when winter rolls around because it get darker earlier, and I associate darker with later, which means make something fast. Now that the holiday are right around the corner I came up with the idea of keeping a food log. This is where I write what plan on making each day, giving me the opportunity add something new into the rotation. This has helped me a lot and I've worked it out so that on nights that I know I'll be coming home early, I plan on trying something new. And tonight was one of those nights...here is my spin on the traditional sausage and broccoli.

Hope you enjoy! And like always, Happy Cooking!


WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

1 package of whole wheat pasta
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 pound bulk Sweet Italian sausage (I like to use a turkey sausage)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup of white wine
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 bunch broccoli rabe, trimmed
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon of sugar

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat.

Add in pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes, once done drain pasta.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Stir in the sausage until crumbly and no longer pink, this will take about 5 minutes.

Stir in the garlic, and continue cooking until the sausage begins to brown, for another 5 minutes.

Pour off the excess grease, then add chicken broth, white wine, and red pepper flakes.

Bring to a boil over high heat, then add the broccoli rabe, and cover. Cook until the broccoli rabe almost done about 2 minutes.

When the broccoli rabe almost done, stir in the butter, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, a sugar until sauce has thickened.

Add everything in with the pasta and and serve hot.