Cookie Dough Cupcake Fail

So, as I said before, I was entering a baking competition with one of my friends. I did most of the baking, while she did most of the decorating. It was a perfect team. Except for one thing, I failed miserably at making our star cupcakes. I was inspired to make these cupcakes by a variety of cookie dough filled cupcakes I found on Pinterest. In fact, Cupcake Project's cookie dough cupcakes were my first pin on Pinterest. More inspiration came from Chef in Training's cookie dough cupcakes with cookie dough buttercream frosting. The recipe I ended up choosing, however, came from Frosted Bake Shop's chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes. In hindsight, I should have followed the recipe exactly as it was given, but I got carried away making substitutions. I ran out of eggs so I did a little research and saw that you can replace eggs with a combination of baking soda and water. This was wrong. Especially when making cookie dough cupcakes, since cookie dough already has baking soda. The cupcakes ended up exploding, made quite a mess, and tasted disgusting.

Since this isn't exactly what anyone wants to eat, I recommend following the directions given by Frosted Bakeshop, adapted slightly in order to accommodate dorm baking.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cups softened butter
1/4 cup regular sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup mini chocolate chips (regular chocolate chips will work if you don't have mini ones)
1 box white cake mix (yellow cake would work, too)
1 1/3 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs

Recipe:
The first step is to prepare the cookie dough. Beat the butter, sugar, and brown sugar until smooth (you can use a manual mixer, if you have one, but if you're only using a spoon, it will be much harder). Then, add in the egg and the vanilla, mixing well until blended.
Next, slowly mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt until it is doughy.
Then, fold in the chocolate chips. Form the dough into small balls and place on a baking sheet (covered in parchment paper if at all possible). Freeze the dough balls for at least 2 hours.
After at least 2 hours have past, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl (the one you previously used will work fine), mix together the box of cake mix, water, vegetable oil, and eggs. Do not make any substitutions for the eggs.
Next, pour batter into a cupcake pan lined with baking cups, as you would any other cupcakes. Place frozen dough balls in the center of each unbaked cupcake.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes, then allow to cool before removing from the pan and frosting the cupcakes.
Finally, clean up your mess and enjoy your cupcakes.

I wish I had followed these instructions more precisely, as I'd been looking forward to these cupcakes for so long. Next time I try these cupcakes, I'll be more precise. And, just like the other cupcakes I made, I have learned that I need to test recipes well in advance. Because a mess like this the night before a competition is the LAST thing I needed.
But, when life gives you extra cookie dough, make extra cookies. Homemade chocolate chip cookies fix every problem in life.

Dorm Food

 Subscribe in a reader

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes with Chocolate Hazelnut Frosting

Well, that's a mouthful, isn't it? I made cupcakes with one of my friends for our school's baking competition. Our original plan was to make two types of cupcakes, but as you will see in my next post, that didn't work out too well. But these ones were successful enough to enter into the competition. We did learn a lesson, however. Always test your recipe well in advance of entering them into a competition or using it for an important event. Also, using a boxed cake mix is not the best plan when entering cupcakes into a baking competition.
These cupcakes were inspired by the Dangerously Decadent Cupcakes on The Something Shiny Blog. We did, however, make quite a few alterations.

Ingredients:
1 package of Betty Crocker chocolate cake mix
1 1/3 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
24 of mini Reese's cups

Recipe:
First, unwrap about 24 mini Reese's cups and place them onto a baking sheet. Put the sheet into the freezer and freeze the Reese's cups for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven, following the directions on the box for the chocolate cake mix.
Shortly before removing the Reese's cups from the freezer, prepare the chocolate cake mix as directed on the box (by mixing water, vegetable oil, and eggs).
Next, scoop the batter into a cupcake pan lined with baking cups. I did not use baking cups because I was out of them. This was my first mistake.
Just before placing the pan into the oven, place frozen Reese's cups in the center of each unbaked cupcake. Do not press them all the way down into the pan. This is where ours went wrong. The cupcake batter is very thin if it comes from a box, so the cups would have sunk a lot on their own. But, I pushed them all the way down, which meant that the peanut butter cups were touching the pan. Bad idea.

Next, bake according to the instructions on the side of the box apx 20-25 minutes.. After baking, allow to cool before removing from the pan and frosting using Chocolate Hazelnut Frosting. Decorate as you please.

As you can see from the pictures, the cupcakes turned out beautifully. My baking companion is a fondant genius and created those beautiful roses you see on top, as well as a little banner that says "City of Roses," which is accurate since Portland is, in fact, the city of roses. Plus, she taught me a better and much cleaner way of frosting cupcakes, which I appreciate.
These cupcakes didn't win any awards, but they were still pretty good and I'm proud of how they turned out. Take the lessons I have learned from this, though. Try a new recipe well in advance of using it for a competition or large event. And always use baking cups when making cupcakes like these.


Dorm Food

 Subscribe in a reader

Chocolate Hazelnut Frosting

This recipe was shared with me by a lovely friend, my partner in crime at our school's baking competition. It's actually a really simple recipe, using only two ingredients, but the combination of tastes is so perfect. It's a perfect balance between rich and sweet.

Ingredients:
1 tub of Betty Crocker/Hershey's milk chocolate frosting (any milk chocolate frosting will work well)
1 cup of Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread

Recipe:
In a small bowl, mix together milk chocolate frosting with Nutella spread.
Then, whip well until it is slightly fluffy.
Finally, you can take the frosting and spread it on cake or cupcakes.

I absolutely loved this simple recipe. I usually hate the taste of premade chocolate frosting because it tastes too chalky. But this frosting was delicious. I'll definitely be using this recipe in the future.


Dorm Food

 Subscribe in a reader

Mardi Gras!

Today is Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday. Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent. I'm at a Catholic school now, so I wonder what all of this will mean. I guess tomorrow I will find out. Most likely, it'll mean absolutely nothing to me personally, since I do not participate in Lent. But, I'm curious to see if there are any noticeable changes, especially in the cafeteria.
Anyway, back to Mardi Gras. It's a pretty big deal, especially in the Cajun culture of Louisiana. You probably already know all of this...and I am probably boring you. I apologize. Anyway, to celebrate, the cafeteria was serving Cajun food. Feeling adventurous, I gave it a try. I ordered Bourbon Saute, which was supposed to be prawns and crawfish over dirty rice, but ended up being sans prawns (which was saddening because I love prawns). For dessert, I got a bignet, fried dough covered in powdered sugar, similar in taste to an old fashion doughnut. The entire meal turned into a round of Bad News, Good News.

Bad News: The dumb cafeteria worker put my bignet on top of the crawfish. Nothing tastier than a fishy dessert...or crawfish covered in powdered sugar.

Good News: I got it to turn out looking pretty ok anyway. Thank goodness I have plates.

Bad News: It turns out I don't like crawfish.Or bourbon. Or dirty rice. Which is a shame, because I like other Cajun food. And, when I edit the picture enough, it actually looks delicious.
Also, it was very, very, very messy (partially because the cafeteria worker just dumped rice all over everything). I can't complain too much about the cafeteria worker, though, because I had a class with him last semester and he seems like a pretty nice guy.

Good News: I still like bignets. What am I saying. I love bignets. Some year I will learn to make them myself. And I will be just like Tiana in Princess and the Frog. Boy, I cannot wait for that day. Until then, I must say, this was delicious. Even with the awful taste from the crawfish stuck in my mouth, and the crawfish juices and dirty rice stuck to the bottom, this was SUPER TASTY. 

There is good and bad in everything, I guess, even Mardi Gras.
Oh, and no, I do not have any beads. This is a Catholic university. Come on, guys. We don't party. We study. Or at least, that's what I do...


Dorm Food

 Subscribe in a reader

Knock You Naked Brownies

I didn't name these. Or invent them. Or do very much in making them. But I did eat one (but no, I did not get naked for these).
Seriously, though....my friends were making brownies Friday afternoon, and I thought I would join them because, well, brownies. And also friends. And, most importantly, one of them happens to be a really great baker...like an AMAZING baker. She was the one who found the recipe by The Pioneer Woman.
The recipe was altered, slightly, but tasted delicious anyway.

Ingredients:
Chocolate Cake Mix
Evaporated milk (2/3 cup and 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup of melted butter
30 Riesen caramels (unwrapped)

Recipe:
First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Then, mix together cake mix, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and melted butter. Stir, stir, stir!
Divide the mixture in half and press half of it into a square baking pan (make sure to grease it pretty well). Be sure to make edges with the dough, so that when you add the caramel, it won't leak.
Next, bake it for about 8 to 10 minutes.
Then, melt the Riesen caramels with 1/2 cup evaporated milk (you're supposed t do this in a double boiler, but it worked just melting it in a pot over the stove). Stir constantly, in effort to avoid burning any of it.
Next, pour this sauce over the cooked brownie in the baking pan.
Then, take the second (unbaked) half of the brownie dough and shape it into a large square about the size of (or a little smaller than) the pan. Then, find a way to get this on top of the caramel and brownie in the pan, without causing the hot caramel to splash. Good luck!
Now, bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Allow it to cool to room temperature. Then cut it, cover it and refrigerate for several hours.
Then, finally, you're done. You have some delicious brownies. Like, seriously, amazing brownies. SOOOOO good. You'd be crazy not to try these.

What else would you be crazy not to try that my dear friend Sarah has shown me? Inbox Dollars. It's great for anyone who checks their e-mail everyday...like me. I just got an account and I totally recommend you to do the same. In fact, just for making an account, you'll get $5! (And for every dollar that you make, they will send me an additional 10 cents...just a little perk that I'll be getting from this). Check it out, if you want. If not, I won't be offended. But do try the brownies...that's a necessity.

Dorm Food

 Subscribe in a reader

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

So, I have this favorite drink at Starbucks. But it's a seasonal drink, and one that is not offered at the Starbucks-brand coffee stands on campus. This makes me a really sad panda. That is, it did until I came up with a brilliant idea today. I can hack my way towards a Starbucks salted caramel hot chocolate. It's really easy and I'm not sure why I didn't think of it before.
Step 1: Order a caramel hot chocolate. On its own, this is nothing special. I really actually hate normal caramel hot chocolate.
Step 2: Add salt. Not just any salt will do. It's got to be coarse sea salt. Which my cafeteria happens to have in the spice section by the taco station. I didn't add to much (about half a spoon full for my 12 oz hot chocolate).
Step 3: Stir like no other. This way, there won't be any suddenly super salty bits in the drink. Also, since they tend to make everything at our coffee stands super foamy, this will help get rid of some of the foam so that by the time I made it back to my room, there wasn't any foam at all (which usually isn't true unless I stir it first).
And that's it.
Delicious slated caramel hot chocolate just like Starbucks, that I hardly had to work for. I'm going to be doing this from now on.


Dorm Food

 Subscribe in a reader

Topped Ramen: Number 2

I decided to get a little adventurous. So, I tried Oriental flavored Top Ramen...apparently I don't really like it as much as the chicken or beef flavors. It wasn't bad tasting, it just wasn't great...I also ended up feeling sick afterwards, but that is probably mostly my body's fault, not the recipe.
This time, I included a lot more ingredients than I did last time. In addition to my Oriental flavored Top Ramen, I added some canned chicken, sweet peas, and some black olives. The peas and olives especially added some tastiness to this meal. The chicken was a little odd since I'm not used to canned chicken, and possibly added to the fact that I felt too sick to even finish my meal. However, it did add some much needed protein. I think it's one of those food items that I'll get used to over time. I think, too, if I start using my own sauce, I might be able to add flavor to the entire dish, instead of having flavored noodles with bland meat stirred in later. I'm still experimenting with everything...obviously.

I'd suggest trying this one out if you're a fan of oriental flavored Top Ramen and if you are already used to eating canned chicken. It really isn't all that bad, it just made me sick... (yeah, I'm probably not selling this one too well, am I?)


Dorm Food

 Subscribe in a reader