Port Wine and Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes

It was my birthday several weeks ago which I decided to use as an excuse to throw a party and get all my friends together.  The theme of the party was to be Portuguese/Spanish because I was in Lisbon on my birthday last year (on a trip while studying abroad in Spain) and I wanted to replicate the awesomeness of that birthday.  The theme was twofold also because of my inability to find many Portuguese foods.  So some of the things I offered were Spanish.  The menu for the party had 3 sections, tapas, drinks, and desserts.  The tapas consisted of toasted baguette slices, Spanish cheese triangles, stuffed olives, and Spanish bar nut mix.  The drinks were varied but stayed mostly within the theme only varying with regards to the homemade limoncello (which my coworker gave me).  Other than that it was all port wine, Portuguese vinho verde, and Spanish wine.  The desserts strayed from the theme entirely, however.  They consisted of flourless chocolate cake with ganache frosting (which my parents ordered me for my birthday), Ferrer Roche chocolates in 3 flavors (which my aunt had given me as a birthday gift), fresh strawberries, fresh blackberries, and these Port Wine and Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes with Mascarpone Frosting.

After seeing these on Ming Makes Cupcakes (aka the link that ruined my life for a week because of my desire to make these Chocolate Chambord Cupcakes instead of doing work) I knew that I had to make them at some point.   However, I wasn't quite ready to randomly splurge on the specialty ingredients required such as, port wine, cherries, and mascarpone.  Then my birthday rolled around and I decided to ignore costs (for the most part) and make these cupcakes.  The response to them was well worth it. Though I made around 22 cupcakes (and there were not that many people at my party), I still ended up with just a few cupcakes leftover and tons of compliments.

As good as these were, it took a bit of tweaking the original recipe to produce the exact cupcakes I wanted. Instead of making chocolate cupcakes with chunks of cherries inside (I didn't like the idea of having chunky cupcakes) I decided to make plain chocolate cupcakes and soak them in cherry port wine sauce before frosting them. Next time, I also think I'll add more cream to the frosting recipe and double it because I ran out, and I hate skimping on frosting!

Chocolate Cupcakes (adapted from Nosh With Me)
Yield: About 30 cupcakes (but I ended up with just 22 because I made enormous cupcakes)

Ingredients: 
2 cups sugar
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
 ½ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Directions: 
1) Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350 F.
2) Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
3) Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).
4) Fill muffin tins about 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22-25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
5) Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

Cherry and Port Wine Reduction Sauce (adapted from Ming Makes Cupcakes)
Ingredients:
1 cup port wine
¾ cup jarred Morello cherries (I couldn't find these so I just used jarred bing cherries)
Directions:
1) While the cupcakes are baking, simmer port and drained cherries in a saucepan for 5 to 10 minutes.
2) Using a toothpick, poke holes into each cupcake before carefully spooning port wine liquid over top.  3) Reserve cherries to use as decoration after frosting with Mascarpone Frosting.

Mascarpone Frosting (adapted from Ming Makes Cupcakes)
Ingredients:
8 oz. mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
½ - ¾ cup heavy cream
½ cup confectioners sugar
Directions:
1) Beat ingredients together at high speed for 2-3 minutes or until soft peaks form.
2) Spread on cupcakes and top with port wine soaked cherries.

Almond Lovers Chocolate Chip Cookies

Another of the cookies that my sister and I made on our marathon day of cookie making were these Almond Lovers Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I had wanted to try them for some time and even tried to make them for my co-op but unfortunately, we couldn't get any almond paste.  My guess is they don't sell it in bulk.  Fortunately, my sister found it at the grocery store and were able to make these tasty cookies, plus a batch of them for her to freeze.  In any case, I wanted to try them because I love almond flavored things, especially marzipan, which is essentially what the almond paste tastes like.  Tearing the almond paste into chunks, we added it to these cookies. They were very good, but perhaps not as almondy as I had hoped.  But, that doesn't mean you shouldn't try them.  I would still make them again, just with a few alterations to make them have a stronger almond flavor.  However, if you're alright with a very subtle almond flavor, make them as is without my following corrections.  Maybe next time I'll add more almond paste, or almond extract instead of vanilla extract.  I will also probably get some raw almonds and cut them into chunks to add to the cookies instead of the almond slices we had.

Almond Lovers Chocolate Chip Cookies (lightly adapted from Picky Palate) 

Yield: 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients 
2 sticks softened butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 oz Odense Pure Almond Paste (package is 6 oz, can just be cut in half)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 oz bag chocolate chips
3/4 cup roughly chopped almonds

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) In a stand or electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars until well combined, light and fluffy. Add the almond paste in pieces until well combined. Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.
3) In a large bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips. Mix until just combined.
4) Drop by rounded tablespoon onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until just golden crisp on the outside. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of the days I was visiting my sister in Georgia for Spring Break, we had a marathon cookie day. We made two different kinds of cookies and contemplated a third. The reason we decided to make so many was so my sister could freeze some dough for later. She's nine months pregnant now and due any day so likely, after her baby is born, she won't have much time for cookie making. But, with the frozen dough we made, she can just unfreeze and bake. In fact, cookie dough for just about any type of cookie (except madelines) can be frozen for between three to six months. What we ended up doing was separating the dough into equal portions, then we flattened it and wrapped it once in wax paper (so it wouldn't stick) and then wrapped it twice in plastic wrap. We then labeled the cookies with the name, date made, date good until, and baking instructions to make it super easy to just pull out a disk and bake up some cookies.

I thought her idea to do this was a pretty good one and I had some cookies in mind which I had been dying to bake. First on the list were Olive Oil Chocolate Chip cookies. While searching through food blogs some time ago, I somehow ran across this recipe and was really curious to try it. I was especially interested in these because they replace butter with olive oil, sounds healthier to me. As curious as I was though, I admit I was a bit wary about how these cookies would taste, especially when I was tasting the dough before baking. It had a slightly grassy flavor like the olive oil which my sister enjoys so much. At that point I sort of wished we had just used some plainer olive oil, like that “light in flavor” olive oil that I don't know why anyone would buy. However, I was pleasantly surprised when these cookies came out of the oven tasting nothing like olive oil. They were just like regular chocolate chip cookies, maybe even better. They were slightly puffy yet crunchy on the outside and pleasantly chewy on the inside. Perfect. I'll definitely be making these again. I say try them, besides, they're healthy for you!

Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies (Lightly adapted from Culinary Couture)

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2) In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt and baking soda.
3) In a larger mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add olive oil and beat until completely mixed with eggs.
4) Add sugars, vanilla and mix until combined. Beat in dry ingredients slowly. Fold in chocolate chips, if using.
5) Drop by rounded teaspoon onto ungreased baking sheets using a tablespoon. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes until bottom of cookies are golden brown and the tops are pale blonde. Let stand for 2 minutes, then place on wire racks to cool.

Meyer Lemon Pudding Cake

I can't believe it's been more than a month since I last posted a recipe!  Eek!  I guess I've just been super busy with finals for this quarter and searching for jobs.  The nice thing is, next quarter I should have more time for posts and I'm going to make a promise to myself to post at least once weekly.  Hopefully this post, which I finally had time for over Spring Break, (though I have the nagging feeling I should be applying for more jobs right now...) will be the start of my weekly posting promise.

I made this cake with the help of my brother-in-law Carlos, who suggested we use up the Meyer lemons he and my sister had just sitting in the fridge.  Knowing it was a tragedy to let them go to waste, we decided to put them to use to make this light yet rich cake which Carlos has made before.  You serve it in slices with heavy cream and top it with fresh berries.  The perfect and easy summery treat to go along with the recent warm weather!

Meyer Lemon Pudding Cake (lightly adapted from Epicurious)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 cup sugar, divided
4 large egg yolks
1/3 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 large egg whites

Whipping cream
Assorted fresh berries

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish.
2) Blend buttermilk, 1/2 cup sugar, egg yolks, lemon juice, flour, butter, and salt in blender until smooth.
3) Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup sugar and beat until stiff but not dry. Gently fold buttermilk mixture into whites in 3 additions (batter will be runny). Pour batter into prepared dish.
4) Place dish in larger roasting pan. Then place dish and roasting pan in oven.  Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of dish.
5) Bake until entire top is evenly browned and cake moves very slightly in center but feels slightly springy to touch, about 45 minutes. Remove dish from roasting pan. Cool cake completely in baking dish on rack.
6) Refrigerate until cold, at least 3 hours and up to 6 hours.
7) Spoon pudding cake out into shallow bowls. Pour cream around cake. Top with berries.

Nearly Flourless Chocolate Cake

It's been weeks since I made this cake, and I was meaning to put it up as an easy thing to make for Valentine's Day, (yes, that's how long I've been holding onto this gem) but unfortunately, life intervened.   I know, it has basically been forever since I last posted, but I guess it's for a good cause. Most of the time, instead of writing, I've been trying to get a job.  I still haven't gotten a job, but I'm working on it, and since I was so diligent this weekend (more or less) I've finally decided to let myself write this post.

I've made this cake a few times and I really like it because it's simple, it's nearly flourless, and it's super versatile.  And by versatile I mean that you can serve it in many different ways.  For instance, one time I made this I topped it with some lightly sweetened, homemade whipped cream (as the recipe suggests to). Another time, I filled in the dent in the middle with blackberry and raspberry jam.  This time, I made it for a house cook (I made four of them actually) and we topped them with homemade caramel, made by my co-cook, Juan Pablo.  I think I'll need to make it again with JP's recipe, because the caramel was absolutely to die for.  But actually, because there is quite a lot of butter in this and the caramel.  Oh well, still delicious and totally worth it if you ever need to quickly whip up a cake.

Nearly Flourless Chocolate Cake (recipe lightly adapted from Orangette)

Ingredients:
7 ounces (200 grams) best-quality dark chocolate
7 ounces (200 grams) unsalted butter (this recipe calls for European style butter so you could try it with that, but we didn't have any and it turned out just fine)
1 1/3 cup (250 grams) granulated sugar
5 large eggs
1 Tbs unbleached all-purpose flour

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 375ºF, and butter an 8-inch round cake pan. Line the base of the pan with parchment, and butter the parchment too.
2) Finely chop the chocolate (a serrated bread knife does an outstanding job of this) or use high-quality chocolate chips, and melt it gently with the butter in a double boiler, stirring regularly to combine.
3) Add the sugar to the chocolate-butter mixture, stirring well, and set aside to cool for a few moments.
4) Then add the eggs one by one, stirring well after each addition, and then add the flour. The batter should be smooth and dark.
5) Pour batter into the buttered cake pan and bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until the center of the cake looks set and the top is shiny and a bit crackly-looking. (You’ll know it’s done when it jiggles only slightly, if at all.)
6) Let the cake cool in its pan on a rack for 10 minutes; then carefully turn the cake out of the pan and revert it, so that the crackly side is facing upward. Allow to cool completely. The cake will deflate slightly as it cools. (I used this little deflated part in the middle for raspberry or blackberry jam)
7) Serve in wedges at room temperature with a dollop lightly sweetened whipped cream, jam, caramel or any other fun topping.

Note: The recipe says that this cake is better the day after it's made so try making it the night before serving it.  That is, if you can stand to wait that long....

Chocolate Chambord Cupcakes

All this week I have been dying to bake.  A fact that I blame on my friend Dan and his cruel decision to send me this link on Tuesday night.  After all, how was I supposed to work after going through an endless page of cupcakes with names such as Coconut Rum Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting or Port Wine and Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes with Mascarpone Frosting?  Swoon.  And please just tell me how I was supposed to continue working with the knowledge that we have chambord and Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Chambord Frosting were just waiting to be made.  

It was tough.  I needed a lot of self control to make it through the week without making these cupcakes. But Friday, I broke, and fortunately my friends, Dan and Micah, were willing to help me make these cupcakes which received so many compliments throughout my house.  The frosting was the best part though (In part, I think, because of how beautiful it looked as a result of my new frosting piping bags! Thank you Mamá).  I think I may swap out the cake next time since it was just so-so in my opinion, but my edits to the frosting definitely resulted in one of the most delicious frostings I've ever had.  The key was just extra cocoa powder instead of using the pound of confectioner's sugar it called for.  So, even if you don't make the cupcakes, make some kind of cake or something to spread this frosting on because it is so good.

Chocolate Chambord Cupcakes (lightly adapted from Ming Makes Cupcakes)

Cupcake Ingredients:
1 cup flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ cup butter (1 stick)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
¾ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp berry jam
1 Tbsp Chambord liqueur

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 350ºF
2) Mix flour, unsweetened cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl
3) In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy
4) Reduce speed to low and add vanilla and egg
5) Add milk and dry ingredients alternately while still mixing
6) Mix in jam and liqueur
7) Pour batter into lined cupcake pans, fill about ¾ full
8) Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out almost clean

Frosting Ingredients:
½ cup butter (1 stick)
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla
¼ cup milk
1/8 cup Chambord liqueur

Directions:
1) In a saucepan or in the microwave soften the butter until almost melted
2) Using a hand mixer, mix in cocoa and confectioner's sugar
3) Add milk and vanilla and continue mixing on low speed
4) Add in Chambord and mix until frosting is smooth
5) Frost cupcakes and top with a dollop of jam (or fill cupcakes with jam before frosting).

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

Making dinner for forty people is always an ordeal and this first cook of the quarter, was no exception. It took some time but I think the result was pretty darn good based on the reviews we received afterwards. We ended up with reviews like “this was my favorite meal of the quarter so far” and “dinner tonight was awesome!” and “Your food is always so good!” I even got demands for this recipe. But it was a close one, dinner could have gone either way, especially after a couple of emails telling us we wouldn't be able to get all the ingredients we wanted (no asparagus, no zucchini, pine nuts were outrageously expensive, no tahini etc) So a change of plans was called for. The risotto recipe had to change, we added in caramelized butternut squash (I will never do that for forty people again, peeling and cutting butternut squash, not fun) and these cookies. I'd say we ended up with a pretty delicious meal which consisted of barley risotto with broccoli and hazelnuts, caramelized butternut squash, hummus, salad, and these chocolate chip shortbread cookies.

I learned how to make them from my godmother a while back and they've been my go to cookie every since. They are literally the easiest cookies you could ever make (okay, almost). You don't need a mixer, you only need a few ingredients, and they're pretty difficult to mess up. I made them in Spain with less than ideal ingredients (try a bar of 1 dollar grocery store chocolate) for my co-workers at my internship, and lets just say the reviews were awesome. My co-worker raving about them was enough to send over a co-worker from the office next door saying he and all his office mates were drooling over the description. With that and the simplicity of the cookies, I knew that I would be making these for my co-op sometime this year. So after the difficulty of getting ingredients for the cookies we wanted to make, I turned to this simple recipe. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies (credit to my godmother, Monica, for this recipe)

Ingredients:
2 sticks of butter, softened (226 gr de mantequilla)*
1 cup of confectioner's sugar (125 gr de azúcar glas)
1 teaspoon of vanilla (1 cucharadita de vainilla)
½ teaspoon of salt (½ cucharadita de sal)
2 ¼ cups of flour (225+ gr de harina)
1 cup of chocolate chips (175 gr de gotas de chocolate)

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375°F/190ºC.
2) Simply using a wooden spoon, cream together butter, confectioner's sugar, vanilla and salt in a large mixing bowl.
3) Mix in flour then add chocolate chips. Note that you may need to use your hands to thoroughly combine this dough since it tends to be crumbly
4) Roll dough into 1 inch balls, place on a cookie sheet, and press down about halfway with a fork. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies are just barely golden

*Note: This recipe comes with ingredient conversions from when I was baking in Spain.