Milk Stout Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I may have eaten a bowl of icing out of the fridge this morning. Last night I made a basil chocolate cake (which was actually very good!) and made a big batch of homemade buttercream frosting. This  morning it was calling for me to eat a bite, and then another, and before I knew it the bowl of leftover frosting seemed to have disappeared. This afternoon I made a batch of cream cheese frosting and had the same problem. There is something about frosting that makes me have to eat it, I can go without cake, but frosting is a completely different story.

So now that I have babbled on about frosting, it's time for a cupcake (and frosting) recipe. My husband loves trying new kinds of beer and our fridge normally has a variety of brands and types. For the last six months my husband has been nagging me to try a cupcake recipe that he found using Milk Stout online. So I finally gave in and made them today for my mother-in-law's birthday. The recipe is as follows.

Adapted from Left Hand Brewing.

Milk Stout Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Milk Stout Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Recipe Type: Dessert

Summary:

A delicious combination of chocolate and beer (yes beer). Great for parties!

Preparation Time: 0h, 15m

Cooking Time: 0h, 25m

Total Time: 0h, 40m

Yield: Serves 24

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 bottle Milk Stout
• 1 stick melted unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 8 ounces softened cream cheese
• 1 pound confectioners sugar

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small bowl mix together dry ingredients (sugar, flour, baking soda, cocoa, and salt).
3. In another bowl combine the stout, melted butter, and vanilla.
4. One at a time add eggs.
5. Add sour cream and mix until combined.
6. Add dry ingredients and stir until mixture come together (do not over mix or your cake will be less fluffy).
7. Pour batter into 24 muffin cups (greased or with liners).
8. Bake for 12 minutes, rotate pan and then bake for another 8-12 minutes.
9. Combine the cream cheese and confectioners sugar to make the frosting.
10. After the cupcakes have cooled frost with the frosting.
11. Store in the refrigerator.

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July today! These cupcakes were a great dessert for the steak, mashed potatoes, and salad that we had for dinner tonight. For a party they would be a nice way to have a dessert that both beer and chocolate lovers would like. Plus according to my family they are pretty yummy! 

Moist Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake Made Using Yogurt

I have been eating spicy foods all day today. They seem to be the only things that I can taste due to the unfortunate luck of catching a cold yesterday. I am such a baby that I would almost rather go through another c-section recovery than have a bad cold. Part of it has to do with having pneumonia and being hospitalized last winter. Now every time I get a cold it feels as if someone is sitting literally on my chest. Before having pneumonia this never happened. I was warned that this would happen, but it still doesn't make the experience any more pleasant. So I have been taking zinc lozenges, drinking tea with honey and trying not to be too pathetic. My husband was super sweet and brought me home a bag of spicy chips, spicy peanuts and chocolate. I knew there was a reason I married that man, sometimes he is just plain awesome. Since I have been feeling under the weather I am glad that I baked a number of snacks earlier in the week. One of my favorite ingredients to bake with is blueberries, whether fresh or frozen they are delicious. This week I tried a new recipe from the February/March 2013 issue of Taste of Home Magazine for Lemon-Blueberry Pound Cake.

This recipe has 13 ingredients in the cake and 2 in the glaze. It takes an hour and 20 minutes of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 12 servings. I did make a number of changes to the original recipe. First since I eat gluten free I used brown rice flour to replace the all-purpose flour. I have also been trying to cut down on the amount of granulated sugar that my family consumes so I substituted honey for the two cups of sugar. Since less honey is needed in recipes I reduced the total amount to 1 1/2 cups and used 6 ounces instead of 8 ounces of lemon yogurt. Finally, instead of butter I used canola oil and low-fat cream cheese instead of regular. I found that my baking time was slightly longer due to the changes, approximately 5 minutes total. While the frosting looked yummy, I left it off to reduce the amount of sugar. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My two boys loved this pound cake. Even with all the substitutions the cake came out very well. It wasn't as sweet as the original recipe would have been, which I liked. Using two cups of sugar would make for a very sweet cake and I prefer a cake that is a little less sweet to serve to my kids, plus it was great with a cup of tea as a snack in the afternoon.

For the recipe go to Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake.

Orecchiette with Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I have a confession to make, I love Brussels Sprouts. I know to most people they are on the bottom of their list of delicious vegetables, but that is in great part due to over cooking and bad recipes. Growing up I was always the only kid that would take seconds on the buttered Brussels sprouts that my mother made, they were yummy! I was fine when everyone else turned up their noses at my beloved vegetable, it just made more for me to enjoy. When my two sons were old enough for solid foods I was pretty sure that they would follow the suit of most kids and absolutely hate Brussels sprouts. So I didn't make a fuss, tossed some Brussels sprouts with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted them in the oven. Much to my surprise my kids loved them! I have also been able to convince both my husband and father-in-law that Brussels sprouts can be part of a great meal when roasted and tossed with pasta. Roasting makes all the difference in the world, if you haven't tried preparing your vegetables this way, you really should. Given my love of roasted Brussels sprouts I was interested when the February/March issue of Taste of Home magazine had a recipe for Orecchiette with Roasted Brussels Sprouts, which sounded perfect for my family.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 45 minutes of prep and 10 minutes of cooking and makes 6 servings. I had no problems finding any of these ingredients at my local grocery store. I did chose to leave out the minced fresh parsley, my two boys aren't fans. Instead of white wine I used the dry sherry I already had in my fridge. The recipe doesn't specify whether to use salted or unsalted butter, but I almost always use unsalted, which is what I used in this recipe. The recipe calls for 3 3/4 cups of pasta, instead I used the full pound of pasta which I had purchased. Most important for success with this recipe is to make sure to turn the Brussels sprouts often to promote even roasting. It really does make a difference! I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I served this recipe when my in-laws were in town. I wasn't sure if my father-in-law would eat this dish since he pretty much hates Brussels sprouts. Luckily he ate the recipes without complaints (yay!). I loved the taste of the roasted Brussels sprouts, they were delicious! The leftovers heated up well the next day and this recipe made more than enough for a dinner for 6 people plus leftovers the next day. Overall, a very easy pasta recipe full of vegetables.

For the recipe go to Orecchiette with Roasted Brussels Sprouts.

Woman's Day Candy Corn Fudge

Sweets are my downfall. If there is something sweet in the house, I will find it and eat it. I'm lucky that I was given my dad's metabolism and have two very active kids that I am always chasing after to keep my weight down. It seems that my two sons have inherited my love of all things sweet and will literally dig around looking until they find the last cookie or piece of candy. This time of year is especially bad, I bake at least twice a week and every last bite is devoured by my family. We absolutely love baked goods. I make fudge frequently during the holiday months and I was interested when the October issue of Woman's Day magazine had a recipe for Candy Corn Fudge, which looked easy and a great way to use leftover candy corn from Halloween.

This recipe has 7 ingredients. It makes 64 servings and takes a total of 2 hours and 25 minutes, 25 minutes of which is active. The ingredients are all basic and I already had or was easily able to find at my local grocery store. I made a few modifications to the recipe. Most importantly I chose to use a 13 x 9 inch pan instead of the 8 inch suggested by the recipe. Using the 8 inch pan the fudge would have been way too thick, instead of making 64 very small thick pieces of fudge I made 60 pieces of larger, thinner fudge. A word of caution, after the fudge had sat in the fridge for a day the pretzels became too soft. I would recommend eating this fudge soon after it is made. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

The week after Halloween I was able to buy a bunch of bags of candy corn for less than a quarter. I had this recipe torn out for a while before Halloween and had never got around to making it. When I bought the clearance candy corn, I figured it was a perfect fit. Since this fudge is best soon after it's made in order for the pretzels to stay crisp, this fudge would be great for a fall or Halloween party. My two boys loved the candy corn idea, I actually thought the fudge was better without the candy corn topping. I found the addition of the candy a little too sweet. However, the fudge itself was delicious, I loved the combination of dried cranberries and white chocolate chips. Overall, a great basic fudge recipe with a twist.

For the recipe go to Candy Corn Fudge.
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Better Homes and Gardens Carrot Bread with Cream Cheese Icing and Candied Carrots

My two boys have a serious sweet tooth. They are good about eating a variety of foods, but still come back to wanting sweets. I think they must get it from me, I can go about three days before I start adding sugar to my cheerios. I just can't give up sweets, I've tried unsuccessfully many times. So instead of giving up on making sweets I have been trying to find ways to incorporate fruits and veggies into the sweets I bake. The April issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine had a recipe for Carrot Bread with Cream Cheese Icing and Candied Carrots that looked like a great way to get more vegetables into my family's diet, while still having the sweets we love.

From start to finish this recipe takes approximately an hour and 15 minutes, 55 minutes of which is baking time. There are 11 ingredients in the cake (not including ingredients for the frosting and candied carrots). All of the ingredients I either had in my pantry or I was able to find at my local grocery store. I used ground nutmeg, instead of the cardamon, since I already had it on hand. Additionally, I currently don't own any mini loaf pans, so I just made one large loaf.

Everyone in my house agreed that the best part of this bread was the icing and candied carrots. My two boys preferred the cream cheese icing and my husband really enjoyed the candied carrots. The actual carrot bread tasted like a basic sweet bread recipe. I like that it uses 2 cups of carrots, but doesn't taste overally vegetable based. This loaf of bread only lasted about a day, so was well received by everyone in my house and is a great way to get extra vegetables into my sweet oriented family's diet.

For the recipe go to Better Homes and Gardens Carrot Bread with Cream Cheese Icing .