chocolate | Kitchenbelle

Brownie Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Posted on September 23, 2008 by kitchenbelle

I was asked to make pink frosted cupcakes for a shower and when I came across this brownie cupcake recipe I KNEW they would be just perfect for a group of gals! Who doesn’t love chewy brownie goodness?! And paired with cream cheese, I found these little treats 100% delectable!

Brownie Cupcakes:

2/3 cup (4 oz.) unsweetened chocolate
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 and 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 F. Insert cupcake liners into pan. In a saucepan, melt the chocolate and butter together until smooth. Transfer to a larger bowl. (This is important–if you mix your ingredients in the saucepan, the mini chips will melt!) Add the sugar, flour, and vanilla and mix to combine. Add the eggs one at a time and beat for about one minute after each. Stir in the chocolate chips. Fill cup cake liners 3/4 full with batter and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Cool completely before frosting with cream cheese frosting. (See recipe below.)

Look at the chewy brownie goodness!

Cream Cheese Frosting:

One 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Using an electric mixer, cream together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Slowly sift the confectioners’ sugar into the bowl. Continue beating until all lumps are gone. Add the vanilla (and a few drops of food coloring, if you’d like–I added red to make pink frosting!) and mix until fully incorporated. If mixture becomes too drippy, sift in additional confectioners’ sugar and continue to beat until you reach a spreadable texture.

Recipe adapted from Crazy About Cupcakes by Krystina Castella available for purchase here.

Filed under: chocolate, cream cheese, cupcakes, Dessert, frosting | 4 Comments »

Turtle Bars

Posted on September 2, 2008 by kitchenbelle

I really enjoyed these bars and I think others did too! They were very sweet–very much candy bars–and nice and portable and resilient, unlike many other desserts. I would advise against leaving them in the fridge to cool overnight like I did, as I had a very difficult time cutting them. (I actually bent a knife!)

Turtle Bars:

Crust

1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup almonds, crushed

Caramel Layer

2/3 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar

Chocolate Topping

1 cup milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Crust

Using a fork combine butter, brown sugar and flour until the mixture forms crumbs. Press this mixture firmly into an un-greased 9 x 13 glass dish. Sprinkle with nuts.

Caramel Layer

Combine butter and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly. Allow mixture to boil for one minute then pour over crust. Bake for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle evenly with chocolate chips. Let stand 5 minutes and then use a rubber spatula coated in cooking spray to spread evenly over the crust. Let the bars cool then cut.

Recipe adapted from recipe found here.

Filed under: chocolate, Dessert | Leave a comment »

Welcome Home, Little Guy

Posted on August 17, 2008 by kitchenbelle

There is a brand spanking new precious cuddly cub in our family and I am unable to articulate a sentence that would accurately express my excitement and joy! I wanted to make a special treat in honor of his coming home from the hospital. Teddy Bear cupcakes seemed appropriate!

I did some digging to find a trustworthy chocolate cupcake recipe and that is when I discovered that Joanne Chang, owner of the locally well-known and acclaimed Flour Bakery in Boston, had posted the recipe for her bakery’s chocolate cupcakes. I decided to give it a try and I am so glad I did! These cupcakes are so chocolatey and delicious and I am so thankful to Joanne for sharing! Not only are they wonderful, but the recipe is suspiciously easy.

Flour Bakery Chocolate Cupcakes:

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop chocolate and place it in a bowl with the cocoa powder. Mix butter, water and sugar in a pan over medium high heat. Whisk until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Pour hot buttervmixture over chocolate mixture and whisk until chocolate melted and ingredients are combined. Whisk the egg, milk, and vanilla extract together then whisk into the chocolate mixture until combined. Sift the dry ingredients together. Pour the dry ingredients onto the wet ingredients. Whisk until the dry ingredients are totally mixed into the chocolate mixture. Let stand about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, line muffin tin with liners and then pour the batter (or use an ice cream scoop) into the muffin cups, dividing batter evenly among the 12 cups. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 26-29 minutes. Cool in tin on rack for 15 minutes.

Remove cupcakes from pan and place on rack until completely cool. Frost with chocolate frosting (as I did) or frosting of your choice.

(Teddy Bears, pre-ears!)

I used white frosting and colored sprinkles for the eyes, black frosting for the nose and mouth, and chocolate melt candies for the ears.

(I apologize for the fact that several of the bear’s pupils are so constricted that the bears appear to be under the influence of opiates! These cupcakes were supposed to be kid-friendly!)

The design of the Teddy Bear cupcakes was inspired by the cupcakes found here on Wilton’s cupcakefun.com.

Cupcake recipe courtesy of Joanne Chang, Flour Bakery. Original recipe can be found here.

Filed under: chocolate, cupcakes, Dessert | 9 Comments »

Monkey See…

Posted on August 3, 2008 by kitchenbelle

It was a certain little guy’s first birthday, so I made a cake for his monkey party guests and a mini monkey cake just for him…

…I think it’s safe to say he had fun!

Inspired by Martha Stewart’s Monkey Cake found here.

Filed under: cake, chocolate, Dessert | 6 Comments »

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Posted on July 30, 2008 by kitchenbelle

My brother’s lush backyard garden, which sprouted the above mammoth zucchinis, inspired me to make something with the vegetable while it is at the peak of the season. While incorporating the zucchini into a nice fresh frittata would have been the healthy way to go, I was in the mood for baking and opted for something sweet. I halved Paula’s recipe in order to make a single loaf, and omitted the pecans and orange zest. Though it needed to bake much longer in my oven than Paula suggested, this was delicious!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread:

1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup zucchini, grated
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (this was a few too many–next time I would use only 1 cup)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Sift together flour, salt, spices, and baking soda.

In a large bowl beat eggs until fluffy. Add sugar and continue beating until blended. Stir in oil, vanilla, zucchini and chocolate chips. Stir in sifted ingredients. Pour into greased loaf pan.

Bake for 50-65 minutes. (Mine baked about 62 minutes.) Remove from pan and cool.