Chocolate cupcake

I just wanted to share something simple and clean.

If you want to make it fancy, you can add some frosting like I previously did. This cake is not sweet, great for people who enjoys the taste of cocoa or people who like the combination of frosting. My recommendation is to have it with a dark espresso -- no milk and sugar.

Alright, less talk.

Timeline: 

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20-25 minutes

Ready time: about an hour

Ingredients: approx. 12 servings

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup cocoa powder

a pinch of salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup milk

1/2 cup half and half cream

1. Preheat the oven at 350°F. 

2. In a mixer, blend the vegetable oil with sugar.

3. Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder, and mix with the all-purpose flour, salt and baking powder. 

4. Add the eggs to the vegetable oil and sugar mix. When it all looks smooth, add milk, cream and vanilla extract. 

5. Incorporate the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients at once. When the batter looks smooth, transfer it in a cupcake pan. 

6. Bake it for 20-25 minutes. It is ready when you stick a skewer or toothpick in the cake and it comes out clean. Make sure to tap the bottom of the pan so that the hot air can escape from the cakes, which would prevent them from flattening and shrinking.

7. Let it sit for about half an hour. It is now ready to serve. 

If you want to add frosting, it would be ideal to wait for an hour, so that the cake is completely cooled. 

I decorated it in celebration of Spring, simply click on the image to learn how to do it! 

Good luck and enjoy! 

Spring cupcakes decorations (improvisation)

At last, we can see the green green grass! It is too bad that buds have not bloom yet, but I can already imagine butterflies flapping their wings to the sound of fresh breezes.

I've made cupcakes and I wanted to find a way to use the cream cheese, confetti candies and chocolate chip that I had at home. After thinking through and looking around, I came up with the idea of using them as decorations, in addition to using whatever I have at home. I usually don't enjoy frosting much due to the rich buttery texture, but this time, I find that it is pleasurable to the taste buds and palate. I have simply replaced butter with something lighter and healthier!

You will find below two recipes, one for the chocolate decoration and the other one is for the cream cheese frosting. They are both improvised recipes, meaning that I roughly measured everything.

Alright, less talk.

Chocolate butterflies
Timeline:
Preparation time: 2-5 minutes
Cooking time: 3-5 minutes
Ready time: 1 hours

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chocolate chips
2 tbsp milk
Confetti candies (optional and to your taste)

1. Draw a butterfly on a piece of paper and prepare parchment paper to imprint your decorations.
2. In a bain-marie, melt the chocolate with milk. If you want to get it done quicker, you can melt the chocolate in the microwave. To my experience, bain-marie has a better outcome.
3. Mix and when the chocolate and milk are well blended, transfer the mixture in a plastic sandwich bag. Cut a corner of the bag. Depending on how precise you want to draw, you can adjust the size of the hole.
4. While it is still very warm, draw your butterfly. Put the drawing underneath the parchment paper and squeeze the chocolate on the parchment paper. In order to reduce mistakes, it is better to draw the edges and fill the inside. This process would need some quick hands, as the chocolate becomes less malleable once slightly cooled down. I simply drew the wings and the antennae.
5. Sprinkle some confetti candies while it is still soft. You may press gently to have the confetti engraved in the decorations.
6. Let it sit in the freezer for 45 minutes and it should be ready to decorate.

Cream cheese frosting
Timeline:
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Ready time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
4 tbsp cream cheese
2 tbsp greek yogurt
2 tbsp sugar
tiny splash of vanilla extract

1. In a mixer, blend the cream cheese with greek yogurt.
2. When the dairy products are blended into one another, add the sugar and vanilla extract. Whip until everything looks smooth. It is now ready to serve.

How to decorate? 
1. Make sure that the cupcake is cooled to room temperature. With a spatula, spread the frosting on top of your cupcake.
2. Take the butterfly wings and position them as desired. Add the antenna.
3. Let them sit in the fridge for an hour so that the decorations can settle. They are now ready to serve.

There are many ways of drawing your butterfly wings, here is an alternative of method!

Want to know how to make a bitter-sweet cupcake? Simply click on the image below!

Good luck and enjoy! 

Maple Walnut Squares

The ground hog has long woken up, it means Spring is at our door. And when one says "Spring," I think "Maple."

At last, it is now maple season! Whether you have already been to the sugar shack or not, you should not hold yourself from this treat! Thinking that it might be too sweet? Try it yourself and let me know!


Alright, less talk.

Timeline:
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 32-35 minutes
Time ready: 2 hours

Ingredients:
(base)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup butter (soften to room temperature)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

(top filling)
1 egg
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven at 350°F.
2. In a mixer, combine the soft butter and brown sugar. Beat to maximum speed until it becomes fluffy, and then add milk to the combination. This step should take 6 to 8 minutes.
3. When the mix is combined to the butter and milk, add the oatmeal and all-purpose flour and beat at medium speed. This will be the cookie base dough.
4. In a 8"x8" baking pan, place a baking sheet and work the cookie base dough on. Evenly spread the dough and gently press to make it firm and not hard. Then use a fork to pierce the dough.
5. Bake the dough for 20 minutes.
6. While waiting for the cookie base to bake, chop the walnut and mix it with egg, brown sugar and maple syrup.
7. When the cookie base is ready, spread the maple walnut filling on top and spread it evenly. Put it back to the oven and bake it for 12-15 minutes or until the filling looks dry on the surface.
8. After taking the maple walnut bakery out, use a knife to run around the base so that it will be easy to remove later. While it is still hot, it is the right time to cut the bakery -- either squares or diamond (like I did in the picture). Let it sit for an hour and it will be ready to serve.

Good luck and enjoy!