Oh no, it’s already January 2016 and I had meant to post this back in December. Oh well, I have the perfect excuse, right? I mean, it’s hard to get things done with a six-week-old baby in the house. Most days, I don’t even have time to brush my hair, let alone write blog posts!
So this is going to be a short one 🙂
1. Chocolate Cupcakes with Candy Cane Buttercream
I love these cupcakes. And I’m pretty proud of the recipe, too! The chocolate cupcakes are amazing. You could even serve them plain, because they are super chocolatey and moist and just perfect in every way. Buuuuut… If you happen to have leftover candy canes from Christmas, make sure to make the buttercream too, because it’s what makes the cupcakes to die for!
The buttercream is made by melting actual candy canes with sugar, and using the resulting syrup to make an Italian meringue, to which butter is added to make buttercream. It’s delicious! Just make sure to use candy canes that you actually like. I personally don’t like chocolate paired with peppermint, so I used strawberry-flavored ones. Yum yum!
2. Easy Vanilla Buttercreams for Christmas
Up until about a year ago, I thought that the only way to serve buttercream was at room temperature, because you can’t really appreciate its luxuriously velvety mouthfeel when it’s fridge-cold. However, after I posted about buttercream on Serious Eats, one of my readers left me this family recipe in the comments section. Obviously, I had to give it a go. And I loved it!
Best thing? It’s hardly a recipe. You just take some leftover buttercream (I happened to have vanilla buttercream on hand, but I’ve since made a chocolate version with this delicious chocolate buttercream), plop it in a piping bag, pipe little dollops onto baking parchment, chill in the fridge and decorate with melted chocolate and nuts, or whatever topping you like. Easy, right? And super cute, too!
3. Caramel Apple Peanut Butter Loaf Cake with Salted Peanuts and a Caramel Drizzle
Okay, I didn’t really made this loaf cake a year ago. I actually included it in a post about my favorite holiday recipes. But it’s so good that I thought I’d include it here, too. I mean, look at those apples, and that generous drizzle of caramel. Oh, and have I mentioned the salted peanuts? This cake is the best!
I wish I had some right now…
4. Champagne Cake Roll with Champagne Buttercream and White Chocolate
I developed this impressive champagne cake roll recipe for Serious Eats last year. Oh, have you heard, by the way? I no longer post for Serious Eats. When I found out I was pregnant I decided that it was just too much. I had a thesis to write, my own blog to maintain, a life to lead, a baby to build… But anyway, this cake was one of my first recipes for Serious Eats. It’s crazy and it has an intense champagne flavor, even though there’s not a drop of the stuff in it. If you want to find out more, you’re just going to have to check out the actual post, because Baby Boy just woke up and needs to be fed 😉
Enjoy these recipes, guys!
New favorite food quote:
