Hazelnut Cake

    This week it was my sisters birthday so I assisted my mom in making a birthday cake! We decided to make a chocolate hazelnut cake with a whipped cream like frosting as opposed to the usual vanilla frosting. We started off with a basic chocolate cake recipe (the one used in my previous chocolate cupcake recipe), then added in roughly a cup and a half of chopped up hazelnuts. Once the cake had come out if the oven, we allowed for it too cool while making the whip cream frosting. The whip cream frosting consisted of 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, 1-2 teaspoons of white sugar and 2 teaspoons of chocolate hazelnut extract. After mixing all ingredients together, it is best to allow the frosting to chill and set in the refrigerator. After a few hours it is time to frost the cake, when doing so it is best to use a flat spatula in order to ensure an even spread along the cake. After we had a smooth even cover of frosting on the cake we took the extra frosting and piped it though a piping bag along the top of the cake and then topped it with cherries and crushed hazelnuts, as well as shaved chocolate pieces along the bottom. This cake was a great hit and loved by all, it's safe to say that it will be made and enjoyed again!

Valentine's Day Chocolate Cupcakes

     As Valentine's Day is tomorrow I thought that even though last week I made red velvet cupcakes in honor of the holiday, some more baked goods wouldn't hurt...Well anything more than the waist line. Seeing as chocolate is a token goodie for Valentine's Day, what better to make than chocolate cupcakes! I found this simple recipe online through a population recipe site of allrecipes.com, I enjoy using recipes off this site as they also provide nutritional information. The recipe is as follows:
Ingredients
1 1/3 Cups all purpose flour
1/4 Teaspoons baking soda
2 Teaspoons baking powder
3/4 Cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 Teaspoons salt
3 Tablespoons butter
1 1/2 Cups white sugar
2 eggs
3/4 Teaspoons vanilla extract
1 Cup milk

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line/grease muffin pan.
2) Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.
3) In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs followed by vanilla extract. Add flour mixture alternatively with milk; beat well.
4) Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.
5) Bake for roughly 15 minutes, allow to cool and frost.
6) Enjoy!

Once the cupcakes had cooled off, I proceeded to frost them using as basic frosting recipe that contains of 2 cups of powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 tablespoons of milk and 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla extract. I split this up into two bowls, one was to remain white and the other I added a small amount of red food colouring to make pink, then topped with sprinkles as everything is better with sprinkles on it. This is a very simple recipe for all to enjoy!


http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-cupcakes/

Red Velvet

     Seeing as Valentines Day is just a week away, I figured it would be a perfect time to make some festive cupcakes and whats better than red velvet with cream cheese icing. Yum yum. I actually received this recipe from a friend of mine, I've taken a few of her recipes before and they all turned out well so though this one would be good as well, and I was quite right as they turned out perfectly. The recipe is from an online site and I often try to not use cake mixes but this one was very simple and called for a box of white cake mix so I decided to give it a go. This particular recipe calls for 15 minutes of prep time and a baking time of 25 minutes, therefore a total of 40 simple minutes to make these cupcakes. The required ingredients and directions are as follows:
Ingredients:
1 Package of white cake mix
1 Package of non-instant pudding mix
Red food colouring as desired

1/2 Cup of buttermilk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Prepare cake mix according to given directions, substituting half of the water called for buttermilk (approx 1/2 cup).
Stir in pudding mix and food colouring.
Pour into muffin tray and bake according to cake mix.

These were very simple cupcakes to make and tasted amazing, perfect for valentines day coming up or any time of the year.
Hope you try it out and enjoy as well as provide your feedback!


http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-red-velvet-cake/