Carrot Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

So, I usually start these things off with a little song and dance about what I made and how I love it so much but today I thought I'd get right down to business. Today I made Carrot Cupcakes, I am a huge fan of Fall colors and flavors and since it's pretty obvious that summer in Georgia is over, this is a perfect recipe to start the season with. This recipe makes 24 cupcakes and without further ado.....

Cupcakes:

2          cups all purpose flour

2          tsp baking soda

1          tsp salt

2          tsp ground cinnamon

½         tsp ground nutmeg

1          tsp ground ginger

2          cups sugar

1¼       cups extra light olive oil

4          large eggs

3          cups grated peeled carrots 

Frosting:

2          (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1          stick unsalted butter, room temperature

2          cups confectioners’ sugar

2          tbsp dark brown sugar

¼         cup pure maple syrup

Note: For the grated carrots, I usually buy a bag of shredded carrots and then I run those through my Ninja food processor. I never buy whole carrots, peel them and then run them across a grater...takes way too much time for me personally.

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line 24 cupcake molds with papers.
2. Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in medium bowl to blend. 
3. Whisk sugar and oil in large bowl until well blended. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time. 
4. Add flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in carrots and then divide batter among cupcake molds, filling 3/4 of each.
5. Bake cupcakes for 15 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean because oven times do vary! Cool in pans for five minutes or so and then transfer to a cooling rack. Make sure that the cupcakes are completely cooled before icing, else the icing will just slide right off.
6. **While the cupcakes are baking**:  In a medium, deep bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese together using an electric mixer until fluffy.
7. Gradually add in the confectioners' sugar and continue mixing.
8. Add in the brown sugar and maple syrup and chill the frosting for 10 to 20 minutes, until it has set up enough to spread smoothly

Lemon Souffle with Blackberries and Raspberries

Hi there! It's that time of the week again where I post another recipe from The Cookbook and this week I decided to adapt the Lemon Souffle with Boysenberries recipe. I pretty much love every single berry on Earth except blueberries and I love making desserts that use berries. Sadly the hubby doesn't really like berries so that's mean more desserts for me!

Souffles can be tricky little beasts because a successful souffle is one that rises in the oven and stays risen as you serve it. I've had my ups and downs with these things but there are two tricks that will lead to awesome souffles most of the time if not all of the time. Trick #1 is to really whip the egg whites well. Don't overwhip them into super stiff and dry peaks but whip them until they form soft peaks and you can tip the bowl over without the egg whites spilling out. Trick #2 when mixing the egg whites in with the custard, gently fold them into each other with a rubber spatula. Do not stir them and do not use a mixer. I must admit....I had to make these twice because the first time, I underwhipped my egg whites and my souffles sunk faster than the Titanic.
   

Before Baking(top) and After Baking(bottom)

6     tsp seedless blackberry preserves

12   frozen blackberries

12   frozen raspberries

2     tbsp finely grated lemon peel

¾    cup sugar, divided

1     tbsp cornstarch

¾    cup whole milk

3     large eggs, separated

2     tbsp butter

4     tbsp fresh lemon juice

       Powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Butter six 3/4-cup ramekins; coat with sugar. Spoon 1 teaspoon of preserves, 2 frozen blackberries and 2 frozen raspberries into bottom of each ramekin. Place on baking sheet. 
2. Mash lemon peel and 1/2 cup sugar in heavy medium saucepan; whisk in cornstarch, then milk and yolks. Add 2 tablespoons butter. Bring to boil over medium heat, whisking constantly. Boil until thick pudding forms, whisking constantly, about 1 minute. Transfer to large bowl; mix in lemon juice. 
3. Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in medium bowl to soft peaks. Gradually beat in 1/4 cup sugar; beat until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into warm lemon pudding. Spoon mixture atop berries; fill to top. 
4. Bake until puffed, set, and golden around edges, about 14 minutes. Sift powdered sugar on top if desired and serve immediately.

Sooooo delicious....

Note: If you plan on making these for a dinner party or something then you can make these up to 4 hours in advance. Just follow steps 1-3 and then place the ramekins in the fridge until you are ready to bake them.

Enjoy!

-DJ

Apple Cake with Maple-Walnut Cream Cheese Frosting

Hola lovelies! I'm back with a new recipe from The Cookbook! I decided to make the Apple Cake with Maple-Walnut Cream Cheese Frosting and to be honest it came out just okay. Don't get me wrong, the taste was great and I highly recommend that you try this recipe. However my cake sunk in the middle :( I'm a great froster so I was able to cleverly disguise it. The reason why it sank was because the currants and the walnuts went straight to the bottom of the pan while it was baking. I may not have used enough flour to coat the currants and I may have overfilled my pans a bit too. But like I said before this cake was amazing and my hubby who hates "stuff in cakes" couldn't even tell there were currant and walnuts in the cake and he loved it. No bias.... But on to the cake!

Isn't it beautiful lol? It has a slight lean to it because of my sinkage issues but a little extra frosting helped me to mask the majority of the lean. The recipe instructions say to use three 9-inch diameter pans but I only had 2 hence my cake only being two layers. *This also might be why my cake sank in the middle so take heed*

For the cake

1    lb. Golden Delicious apples (about 2 medium), peeled, cored, diced

¼   cup water

2½ cups plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour

2    tsp baking soda

1½ tsp ground cinnamon

½   tsp salt

¼   tsp ground nutmeg

¼   tsp ground cloves

1    cup dried currants

1    cup walnuts toasted, chopped

2    cups sugar

1    cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1    tbsp brandy

1½ tsp vanilla extract

4    large eggs

For the frosting

1    cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1    cup (packed) dark brown sugar

2    8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature

½   cup pure maple syrup

¼   tsp maple flavoring

2    cups walnuts, toasted, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Combine apples and water in small saucepan. Cover; simmer over medium-low heat until apples are tender, about 20 minutes. Place in processor; purée until smooth. Cool purée. Sift 2 1/2 cups flour and next 5 ingredients into medium bowl. Toss currants with remaining 1 tablespoon flour in small bowl to coat; mix in walnuts.
2. Using electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, brandy and vanilla in large bowl until blended. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Beat in half of flour mixture and 1 1/4 cups apple purée, then remaining flour mixture (re-serve any remaining puree for another use). Stir in currants and walnuts. Divide batter among prepared pans.
3. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cut around pan sides to loosen cakes; turn out onto racks and cool.
4. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until blended. Beat in cream cheese, then maple syrup and flavoring. Chill until beginning to firm, about 20 minutes.
5. Place 1 cake layer on platter. Spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with second layer; spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with third layer. Spread 1 cup frosting in thin layer over cake. Chill 15 minutes. Spread remaining frosting over cake. Press 2 cups walnuts halfway up sides of cake. Chill until frosting is set, at least 30 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; keep chilled. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.)

Enjoy!

-DJ