 Happy Friday Blog Friends! I don't know about you but I for one, am VERY excited that today is finally Friday.  And just to make sure that we start this weekend off right - I give you - a tiramisu cupcake --- recipe! I wish that I could send you each a tiramisu cupcake but since I can't - I'll just give you my recipe.  Trust me when I tell you --- these cupcakes are DELICIOUS! The perfect way to kick off a great weekend.  Tiramisu Cupcakes Ingredients
Coffee Marsala Syrup 2/3 cup coffee 1/2 cup sugar 4 Tablespoons marsala wine Marscapone Frosting 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream 1/4 cup powdered sugar 4 ounces softened marscapone cheese  Heat milk in saucepan but do not boil. Add butter and whisk until melted.  Add vanilla. Cool to room temperature.  Whisk together whole eggs, yolks, and sugar in bowl of standing mixer. Set mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water, and whisk by hand until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm, about 6 minutes. Remove bowl from heat.  Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Transfer to mixer and whisk until pale yellow and thick ribbons form.  Gently but thoroughly fold flour mixture into the egg mixture in three batches.  Fold in milk/butter mixture.  Scoop batter into paper lined jumbo cupcake tins.   Bake 19 minutes at 350. Cool on wire racks.   Prepare coffee marsala syrup while cupcakes cool. Combine hot coffee, sugar and marsala. Brush syrup over cupcakes.
 To prepare frosting, whisk together powdered sugar and marscapone.  Whip cream until soft peaks form.  Carefully whisk cheese mixture into cream.   Pipe onto cupcakes and dust with cocoa powder.   A cupcake that oozes with sweet coffee marsala syrup - irresistible. It might be cold outside this weekend but baking a batch of these yummy cupcakes is sure to warm you up. Enjoy.   Ciao!
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 Temperatures have been dipping into the teens this week and it's got me craving warm, hearty dinners. Nothing can warm me from the inside out better than a big bowl of steaming, hot soup or a plate of chicken and vegetables.  For all of my equally chilly friends out there - this recipe is for you. Braised chicken thighs with a side of wild rice pilaf. Roasted brussel sprouts and carrots and the crunch of toasted walnuts flavor this side dish perfectly.  Chicken with Wild Rice Pilaf 1/4 cup walnuts 1 Tablespoon olive oil 6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 cup uncooked wild rice 1 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup sliced carrot 1/4 cup celery, thinly sliced 1 teaspoon fresh thyme 1 1/2 cups chicken stock 1 cup water 8 ounces brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar  Add oil to pan. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and add to pan. Cook until browned on both sides. Transfer chicken to a platter. Heat walnuts in a skillet for 5 minutes until lightly toasted. Remove from pan.  Add rice, onion, carrot, celery and thyme to pan. Cook 3 minutes to coat rice.  Add water, stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 40 minutes.    Return chicken to pan top with brussel sprouts.  Cover and cook another 15 minutes.  Transfer chicken to a platter and stir vinegar and walnuts into rice.  Serve hot.   Thank you for letting me complain about the 17 degree temperature when I woke up this morning. The fact is that there are a lot of you reading this right now who would LOVE to have 17 degree days. It's all in your perspective I guess. Ciao!  I saw snow flurries today! Real - actual - authentic - snow. Flurries might be an exaggeration but there were definitely tiny white flakes blowing across the hood of my car this afternoon. I was excited and disappointed at the same time - thrilled to see the snow but sorry that there was absolutely no way for me to capture the almost microscopic white precipitation on my camera phone.  Just seeing the blowing flakes outside my car window made me shiver inside my nice warm car. As soon as I got home, I made a nice hot pot of coffee to warm myself up. So here I sit, working at my computer with a steaming cup of hot coffee in front of me to keep me warm. Oh, and there just might be a couple of biscotti beside that nice warm coffee too. (They totally aid in the warming process.)  Espresso Biscotti 2 cups flour 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon instant coffee ganules 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup cold butter 1 cup chocolate chips 3 eggs 2 Tablespoons coffee liqueur Combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, coffee granules, cinnamon and salt in food processor.  Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Beat in eggs and coffee liqueur.  Stir in chocolate chips.   Shape dough into 2 nine by two inch logs and place on a silpat lined baking sheet.  Bake 30 minutes at 350. Slice diagonally with a sharp knife.  Lay slices on baking sheet and bake 10 more minutes on each side.  Pour yourself a hot cup of coffee and start dipping your espresso biscotti. The most delicious way to stay warm on this chilly day.   Ciao!  Today was the first official "snow" day of 2015. I put snow in quotes because lets face it - there was no snow to be seen. There were however, icy conditions this morning which made for treacherous traveling and now that I am the parent of a child who drives herself to school, I was thrilled to keep her off of the icy roads this morning. I do propose that we rename these so-called "snow" days however - I'm thinking --- Ice Day or Hazard Day or even Too Cold To Get Out Of Bed Day.  I have to admit - I was so happy to get that phone call from the school at 5:30 this morning. I immediately turned off the alarm, rolled over and fell back to sleep. No school = sleep in for mom.   It was a great day to catch up on things at home. I'm happy to report that my laundry is clean, my dishwasher is empty (that hardly ever happens) and my living room is dusted. After I reached my cleaning threshold (which didn't take long) I spent my afternoon in the kitchen. I made chicken soup, 3 different kinds of biscotti AND some chocolate chip cookies. I can't think of a better way to spend a "snow day." Remove from heat. Transfer to a bowl and whisk in an ice cube. Transfer to refrigerator and allow to cool 20 minutes.   Melt butter in saucepan. Swirl until golden brown. Chocolate Chip Cookies 1 cup butter 1 ice cube 2 cups flour 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup sugar 2 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons brown sugar 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate sea salt for garnish  Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Place eggs, sugar and vanilla in bowl of standing mixer. Whisk on high until pate and thick - about 5 minutes. Transfer to paddle attachment and add cooled brown butter mixture.   Add flour mixture.  Stir in chocolate chips. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate overnight.   Scoop dough onto a silpat lined baking sheet.  Bake 13-16 minutes at 325.
Sprinkle lightly with coarse sea salt while cookies are still warm.       Snow days call for comfort food and what is more comforting than a chocolate chip cookie? Ciao!  Are you still looking for that special treat to make for your Valentine? I have 3 little words: Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes.  These cupcakes are easy to make - they're beautifully pink color makes them the perfect Valentine AND they are amazingly delicious. What could be more perfect? I will walk you through the baking process step by step. What could possibly go wrong? :)  Cherry Vanilla Cupcake
6 egg whites 1 1/2 cups sugar 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar 2 Tablespoons maraschino cherry juice 16 whole cherries for decoration  Combine flour, baking powder and salt.  Combine milk, egg whites, cherry juice and almond extract in a separate bowl.  Cream butter and sugar in bowl of standing mixer. Add dry ingredients in 3 separate batches, alternating with wet ingredients.   Chop cherries and fold into batter.   Scoop batter into muffin pan and bake 23 minutes at 350. Cool on a wire rack.
 To make cherry buttercream, make a batch of vanilla buttercream and add cherry juice and a drop of pink food coloring.  Pipe buttercream onto cooled cupcakes. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.
 There you go ... easy as pie ... uummmm ... I mean cupcakes. Super easy cupcakes that will melt your Valentine's heart. Ciao! |
