Chocolate Italian Cream Cupcakes

Last Christmas, I received a card from a friend with a cake on the front.
The cake looked ABSOLUTELY amazing and I knew I wanted to try it.
Lucky for me - inside the card was the recipe for the cake!

My birthday is about a month after Christmas
and I had plans to celebrate with some friends and family.
When my aunt asked me what kind of cake I wanted, I knew immediately!

Not only did the cake look amazing,
but it tasted even better than I'd imagined!
I made a mental note to make the recipe myself soon.

"Soon" was actually quite a few months later,
but I finally did make the recipe recently!
And instead of a whole cake... made cupcakes!!!

Wow, wow, wow!!!
They were just as amazing as I remembered,
so now let me show you how they're made!

The Goods:

Butter

Canola Oil

Sugar

Eggs

Flour

Cocoa Powder

Baking Soad

Milk

Vinegar

Vanilla Extract

Coconut Extract

Pecans

Flaked Coconut

Cream Cheese

Powdered Sugar

Cinnamon

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and oil.

Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

Add 2 egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition.

Combine the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda in another bowl.

Add half of the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and mix.

Next add the homemade buttermilk and mix.

Then add the remaining flour mixture and mix.

Now add the vanilla and coconut extracts and mix.

Lastly, add the flaked coconut and chopped pecans and mix again. 

Set the batter aside.

In another mixing bowl, add six egg whites.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

This site is very helpful if you're unsure exactly what stiff peaks are!

Add the egg whites to the batter bowl and fold in carefully.

Scoop the batter (I used an ice cream scoop) into lined muffin pans.

You can use whatever size pan you'd like,

just make sure to keep an eye on your baking time!

I chose to make mine BIG and used jumbo muffin pans!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Pop those babies in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes.

You'll know they're done with you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean!

Cool the cupcakes in the pan for a few minutes.

Remove from pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.

While they're cooling, it's time to make the frosting.

And if I'm being honest - this is where I ran into a snag...

Keep reading and you'll see what happened!

Bring butter and cream cheese to room temperature...

And then beat together until smooth.

Mix together the powdered sugar, cocoa powder and cinnamon.

Add half of the mixture to the beaten butter and cream cheese.

Mix well and then gradually add remaining half.

Finally blend in the vanilla.

Where was the snag that I ran into you ask???

I've made different types of homemade frosting many times.

But this frosting turned out NOTHING like any frosting I'd made before.

I was confused and didn't really know where I'd messed up.

Then a light bulb went off - I should have been using my whisk beater!!!!

The chocolate cream cheese frosting tasted amazing,

but the consistency just wasn't right.

When I tried to pipe it on the cupcakes, it wasn't holding it's "shape".

So what'd I do?

I did what any logical person with zero extra time would do!

I bought some pre-made cream cheese frosting, that's what!

After piping both kinds of frosting,

 I added a little toasted coconut to the top of each one.

Chocolate Italian Cream Cupcakes Recipe

For the Cupcakes:

1/2 Cup Butter

1/4 Cup Canola Oil

2 Cups Sugar

2 Large Eggs, Separated

2 Cups Flour

1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1 Cup Homemade Buttermilk*

1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

1 Teaspoon Coconut Extract

1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans

4 Egg Whites

For the Frosting:

1 (8 ounce) Package Cream Cheese

3 Tablespoons Butter

1 (16 ounce) Box Powdered Sugar

1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder

1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and oil.
3. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
4. Add 2 egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition.
5. Combine the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda in another bowl.
6. Add half of the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and mix.
7. Add the homemade buttermilk and mix.
8. Add the remaining flour mixture and mix.
9. Add the vanilla and coconut extracts and mix.
10. Add the flaked coconut and chopped pecans and mix again. Set batter mixture aside.
11. In another mixing bowl, add six egg whites and beat until stiff peaks form.
12. Add the egg whites to the batter bowl and fold in carefully.
13. Scoop the batter into lined muffin pans and bake for about 20 minutes.
14. Insert a toothpick to make sure they're done. A clean toothpick means they're ready!
15. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for a few minutes, then remove from pan and finish cooling on wire rack.
16. In another mixing bowl, bring butter and cream cheese to room temperature, then beat until smooth.
17. In a smaller bowl, mix together the powdered sugar, cocoa powder and cinnamon.
18. Add half of the above mixture to the beaten butter and cream cheese and mix well.gradually 
19. Add the remaining half and beat until light.
20. Lastly, blend in the vanilla.
21. Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes and top with toasted coconut for garnish.

*Homemade Buttermilk is a mixture of Milk and Vinegar. Find more info here!

Homemade Pesto: Take 2!

My herb garden is doing really well

and I have a TON of basil.

So what's someone with so much basil do?

They decide to make a yummy pesto

and of course, then blog about it!

Years ago, I blogged about making Sunflower Seed Pesto.

It is really good and a great option for someone allergic to tree nuts.

I didn't need to omit tree nuts, so I used pecans in today's recipe!

Like most recipes I make,

this is pretty simple to whip up.

It tastes AMAZING,
and can even be made a few days before!

Now let me show you how easy it really is!!!

The Goods:

2 Cup Fresh Basil

2 Cloves Garlic

1/4 Cup Pecans

1/2 Cup Fresh Parmesan

2/3 Cup Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Add basil, pecans and garlic to food processor and chop.

Drizzle in 1/2 Cup oil and process until incorporated and smooth.

If using immediately, add remaining oil and cheese.

If using later (or even to freeze), drizzle remaining oil on top.

When ready to use, thaw and then incorporate cheese.

The finished product!

It was so so SO good!!!

I like to use my pesto on pasta of course,

but it's also great on a sandwich or even fries too!

Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

I've tried to make Granola a couple times, but for some reason I cannot get it to come out right! Because of that I was a little reluctant to make these granola bars, but they sounded AMAZING and I'd discussed it with my brother so I decided I'd give it a go. Plus - I already had almost everything I needed on hand so I wasn't going to be spending that much!

I won't say anymore before I show you how to make these homemade treats!

The Goods:

Oats

Sugar

Butter

Raisins

Craisins

Pecans

Almonds

Shredded Coconut

Peanut Butter

Honey

Corn Syrup

Vanilla

Cinnamon

Salt

aka 

The Kitchen Sink!

Combine ALL the dry ingredients including the fruit, 

nuts and chocolate. 

Mix together the melted butter, corn syrup, 

honey and peanut butter.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and combine. 

It'll look something like this!

Dump into a parchment lined square baking dish.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

When done, it should still be a little soft to the touch!

Once cool, cut into individual bars.

I wrapped them in plastic wrap and 

kept them in a zipper baggie.

I'm happy to report that my track record with regular granola did NOT follow me and these came out amazing! I am, without a doubt, going to be making them again and I cannot wait to try other fun combinations!!

Adventures In Pie Making: Pecan Pie

A few weeks ago my aunt, who's hosting Thanksgiving this year, called to ask if I wanted to bring anything, Of course I said I'd make something - in fact I said I'd make multiple things! :) But this post is really only about one of the things we decided I'd make: 

Homemade Pecan Pie!

Shortly after agreeing - I realized what I did...agree to make a hard pie to make and I'd never made it before!!!

This wasn't going to be a pie seen and eaten by just a few people.  I was going to be making a pie for multiple people without ever making or trying the recipe before.

I mean how hard can it really be...?

Well after more thought, I realized I needed to give the pie a trial run and Westgivingston was the PERFECT time!

I was really excited that I was going to be able to try it out to make sure the pie would be a success.

So a few Saturdays ago I went to town makin' a Pecan Pie.

The Goods

1 whole Unbaked Pie Crust
1 cup White Sugar
3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Corn Syrup
3/4 teaspoons Vanilla
1/3 cup Melted Butter 
3 whole Eggs Beaten
1 cup (heaping) Chopped Pecans

Pie Crust Crimped By Yours Truly!

 Sugar, Brown Sugar and Salt Chillin' in the Bowl.

Add Corn Syrup...

And Melted Butter...

Then give it a stir - making sure all ingredients are combined.

Next - add beaten eggs.

And stir until combined.

Now time for the vanilla!

Place chopped pecans in pie crust and spread out evenly.

Pour mixture over pecans.

With all the mixture and nuts.

The nuts will rise to the top almost immediately!!!

And after baking.

It LOOKED amazing.

It wasn't burned on top AT ALL.

But sadly, it didn't set up correctly and was a little runny/syrupy mess. BOO!

It still tasted good, but didn't hold the shape I'd hoped for.

So after failing, I did a little more research and decided I wouldn't be making Pecan Pie for Thanksgiving after all.

I'd be making something else yummy. What? You'll find out soon! :)

Happy Westgivingston!

Westgivingston!?!?!

What is this Westgivingston stuff?

Does she mean Thanksgiving?!?!?!

Is Robyn CRAZY???

No - no I'm not!

Well maybe a little...

But that's another story for another time! :)

So let me explain before I confuse everyone! 

Alison, one of my best friends, has been doing a Thanksgiving dinner with close friends for years and this year I was lucky enough to be included. The tradition started in New York when she and her husband were in college.  Instead of of calling it Thanksgiving, they called it “Thanksgivingston” because it was a play on the name of the street he lived on at the time. Since they now live on the West Coast, they modified the name a bit and we officially celebrated the first EVER Westgivingston last night!

Just like a normal Thanksgiving, Westgivingston was not lacking on amazing food. It was a FEAST and I'm pretty sure everyone was stuffed!

Since I love to bake and cook, you better bet that I contributed to the meal by making my own goodies! I just can't help myself and I look forward to cooking for things like this.

So what did I make exactly?

Well I'll show ya!

"Restaurant Salad" Ingredients

(Minus a Granny Smith Apple...)

And you can't have a "Restaurant Salad" without a

GIANT bowl from a Restaurant Supply Store!

Lots and lots of spring mix with added extra spinach!

Everything minus the dressing!

I was planning on just making a "Restaurant Salad"...

...

Buuuuuuuuut since it IS Pie Month on my blog...

...

I figured it only made sense to make a pie too!!!

My FIRST Pecan Pie

(See a more detailed post on this coming soon.)

Westgivingston was tons and tons of fun and I'm looking to celebrating it in the coming years. For now though, it's time to start planning for the REAL Thanksgiving! It's gonna be here in no time. Get your stretchy pants ready people! :)