Hostess Inspired Cupcakes & a Great Cupcake Find!

In Canada, Hostess isn't as popular as Vachon and their deliciously addictive Jos. Louis cakes, but if you've ever had a Hostess Cupcake you'll know they're pretty much the same thing, minus the chocolate glaze.

After gobbling up all the S'mores Cookie Bars in less than 12 hours my nephew requested some cupcakes. It's a good thing the kid practically lives in the gym or else he'd be well on his way to needing to be cut out of the side of the house! I saw these Hostess inspired cupcakes on the My Baking Addiction blog and figured since he inhaled a box of Ah Caramel's last week (ooo, I'm gonna have to try to figure out how to make those from scratch sometime soon!) he would appreciate these.



I changed the recipe slightly using my Grandma's recipe for One Bowl Chocolate Cake as it's my favourite cake recipe although I'm sure any cake recipe would be fabulous including a box cake mix.

The cupcakes with the white frosting aren't filled, I was pressed for time so I filled half and then just piled on the frosting for the other half, equally tasty if you ask me!


Hostess Inspired Cupcakes adapted from mybakingaddiction

Gran's One Bowl Chocolate Cake
1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. shortening (or butter)
1 1/4 c. milk
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Filling (Seven Minute Frosting):
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Ganache
1/4 cup cream
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

Instructions:

1. Combine ingredients for cake in the order they're written one ingredient at a time with a hand or stand mixer.
2. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake at 350˚ for 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely.
3. While the cupcakes are cooling, combine filling ingredients in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water and beat with a hand mixer at high speed until frosting is thick and fluffy, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat and continue to beat until slightly cooled. Reserve 1/2 cup of the filling to use for piping the swirls on top of the cupcakes at the end.
4. Once the cupcakes are cool, use the cone method to fill them with frosting. (click here for a description on this technique)
5. Once they are filled, make the ganache. In a small pot, heat cream until steaming. Remove from the heat, add chocolate and let stand for 5 minutes. Add the butter and stir until smooth. (This can also be done in the microwave by heating up the cream and then adding the chopped chocolate and butter and stirring until melted.) Transfer the frosting to a small bowl and dip the top of each cupcake to thoroughly coat. Spoon the reserved filling into a pastry bag fitted with a very small plain tip and pipe swirls across the center of each cupcake. Refrigerate the cupcakes for 10 minutes to set the frosting.

Now for the great Cupcake Find!

I was at my local Home Hardware picking out paint colours for my kitchen and family room and I happened to wander over to the kitchenware department on my way out and immediately spied these little gems.


Cupcake travelers called Cupcake-on-the-go containers. Made by FoxRun Craftsmen they have a lid that screws off and they securely hold a standard size cupcake or muffin without squishing it. The dome is high enough to accommodate even the most liberal application of frosting. I found them online at Golda's Kitchen for $4 a piece (couldn't find them on FoxRun's website) which is what I paid and seems pretty reasonable to me. I can't wait for my girls to go to school so I can send them in their lunches!

S'mores Cookie Bars

I have already professed my love for all things S'mores in my very first blog post so it should come as no surprise that I'm at it again. My mom, aunt and cousin were visiting last week and we had some chocolate fondue one night that turned into traditional S'mores (well, as traditional as they get out of the microwave). My nephew saw pictures and was quite peeved he missed out so I went on the hunt for a treat for him that would deliver all that s'mores deliciousness.

A quick google search led me to Baked Perfection and an amazing baked version of a S'more. Warm and chocolately and incredibly gooey, these are everything a S'more should be... minus the campfire songs and spooky stories.

Please excuse the poor presentation, I literally had to shoot these hot out of the oven as they were disappearing pretty fast, only 3 lasted the night and those were gone in the wee light of morning!

the pan about 10 minutes out of the oven!

S'more Cookie Bars taken from Baked Perfection

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (approximately 7 full graham crackers)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 super-sized (5 oz.) dark chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)
1 1/2 cups Kraft marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. Two 5 oz. Hershey’s bars (or 4 regular sized ones) should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread marshmallow fluff evenly over the chocolate layer.

Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff. This is most easily done by putting the second half of the dough in a gallon size freezer bag. Use your palms to flatten it out, and then use scissors to cut down both long sides of the bag, so it will open up book-style. Open it up carefully, and the dough will stick on one side of the bag. Then place the bag, dough side down, on the other three layers. From there peel the bag up ad spread the dough where it is uneven.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars

Makes 16 cookie bars.

Rocky Road Brownies

My mom buys the same woman's magazine weekly, and has for years. When I was about 14 I saw an ad for Baker's Chocolate that had me ripping the page out and stuffing into my mom's recipe binder in hopes I'd make it one day (mom was never much of a baker). The recipe was for Rocky Road Brownies. A rich fudgey brownie with nuts and topped with roasted miniature marshmallows and chocolate drizzle. I made them once and loved them!

A few days ago I stumbled upon the ad tucked into an old folder with my gazillion recipe books and I knew it was time to make these again. My memory of these hadn't faded, they were just as good the second time as the first. I sent them into work with my hubby and his co-workers loved them too. Give them a try and let me know if you think they're the yummiest brownies ever!

Baker's Best Fudgey Rocky Road Brownies

4 squares Baker's semi-sweet chocolate
1/3 c. butter
2/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. chopped almonds
2 c. miniature marshmallows
1 square Baker's semi-sweet chocolate

Instructions:

1. Melt 4 squares chocolate with butter over hot water, and cool.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Beat eggs and blend in sugar, chocolate/butter mixture and vanilla.
4. Stir in flour mixture.
5. Fold in nuts.
6. Spread into greased and floured 8 x 8 inch pan and bake at 350ºF for 25 minutes or until brownies pull away from the sides.
7. Sprinkle warm brownies wit marshmallows and broil under pre-heated broiler until golden brown.
8. Drizzle with 1 square melted chocolate. Let cool and cut with wet knife.

* Please excuse my pictures not doing the brownie justice, I was too eager to try one and cut them while still hot. They were delicious though!

Creamy Raspberry Squares

It was a hot spring-almost-summer day and I woke up with a craving for raspberries. I had raspberry jam on toast for breakfast, some frozen raspberries stirred into vanilla yogurt for a snack and I'd even popped a few fresh ones in my mouth throughout the day. Nothing says summer's here like berries! When my husband told me my in-laws were coming for dinner I went looking for a raspberry dessert and found this in a copy of "What's Cooking", the Kraft magazine.

Cool whip, graham crumbs, cream cheese, jell-o and frozen raspberries come together to make a not-too-sweet, cool, fruity dessert that's great for after a BBQ on a hot day. My in-laws liked it so much they took 2 tupperware containers of it home!


Creamy Raspberry Squares from Kraft What's Cooking

2 c. graham crumbs
1/2 c. margarine or butter, melted
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 pkg. Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. icing sugar
3 c. Light Cool Whip, thawed
1 c. boiling water
2 pkg. sugar free Raspberry Jell-O
3 c. frozen raspberries

Instructions:

1. Mix together crumbs, cinnamon and melted margarine/butter.
2. Reserve 2 tbsp. Press remainder into a 13" x 9" pan.
3. Beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy and then fold in 1 c. Cool Whip.
4. Spread mixture onto crust and refrigerate.
5. Add boiling water to Jell-O powder and stir for 2 minutes.
6. Add berries to Jell-O and stir until slightly thickened.
7. Pour over cream cheese mixture layer. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
8. Cover with remaining Cool Whip and reserved crumb mixture. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hello, my name is Amanda, and I'm addicted to Peanut Butter. It feels good to admit it.

There aren't many days that I don't indulge in the nutty goodness that is peanut butter. I'll even eat it right out the jar with a spoon (no double dipping though!) so needless to say I love peanut butter desserts. I was fixing my oldest some toast with peanut butter today and got some on my finger and the second I licked it off (paper towel? pffft!) I knew cookies were in my very near future.

This cookie recipe is ridiculously easy and doesn't require a lot of time or effort, perfect!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c. smooth peanut butter (chunky would probably rock too)
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
3 tsp. flour
1/2 c. mini chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Mix together peanut butter, sugar and egg to combine.
2. Mix in flour 1 tsp at a time.
3. Add chips and mix.
4. Drop by teaspoonful onto baking sheet. (I used a 1 1/2" scoop)
5. Bake at 325 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

yields 24 cookies.

Cinnamon Roll Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze

We were heading over to my in-law's and I wanted to take a dessert (go figure) but I wanted to bring something more "grown-up", meaning something that didn't have sprinkles, mini-chocolate chips or a gooey layer. A dessert that went well with their after-dinner tea. That's when I remembered this recipe from mybakingaddiction.com. Cinnamon rolls crossed with cake is a beautiful thing. This recipe uses a box cake mix which feels like cheating but really, what's a cake mix ? It's just pre-measured ingredients, great for a busy mom whose toddler has run off with all her measuring cups. Doctoring up cake mixes (or making them exactly how you're told to on the box) is a perfectly acceptable baking practice, and totally yummy in my opinion.


Cinnamon Roll Cake

1 Boxed Yellow Cake Mix
4 eggs
¾ cup oil
1 cup sour cream
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Mix the first 4 ingredients together and pour into a 11 x 9 greased baking pan.
2. Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over top of the batter and using a knife swirl the sugar mixture into the cake batter.
3. Bake at 325 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Let cake cool 10 – 15 minutes before icing.

Cream Cheese Glaze

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
4-5 tablespoons of milk

Instructions:

1. Beat ingredients together until smooth.
2. Pour over warm cake and serve.

Juicy Roast Chicken

There are so many recipes out there that claim to be the juiciest roast chicken recipe that it'll make your head spin. I've tried most of them and they were all lying! So when I found this recipe on allrecipes.com I was skeptical, but ever the optimist I decided it was to be last night's dinner. It totally exceeded my expectations. I have never seen a more juicy, succulent chicken come out of an oven. The white meat was so moist and tender I had to wipe up drips on the table transferring slices from the bird to our plates. My husband, who only ever eats dark meat cause white meat is too dry, actually ate white meat and loved it! I encourage you to try this recipe, you'll never have to eat another dry bird again.

seriously, look at that, that's one juicy chicken!

Juicy Roast Chicken allrecipes.com

1 (3 pound) whole chicken, giblets removed
salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon onion powder, or to taste
1/2 cup margarine, divided
1 stalk celery, leaves removed (I actually used the leafy part as I find ti has a great deal of flavour)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place chicken in a roasting pan, and season generously inside and out with salt and pepper.
3. Sprinkle inside and out with onion powder.
4. Place 3 tablespoons margarine in the chicken cavity. Arrange dollops of the remaining margarine around the chicken's exterior.
5. Cut the celery into 3 or 4 pieces, and place in the chicken cavity.
6. Bake uncovered (approx.) 1 hour and 15 minutes in the preheated oven, to a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees F (82 degrees C).
7. Remove from heat, and baste with melted margarine and drippings. Cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest about 30 minutes before serving.

This method would also work with your Thanksgiving Turkey!

Caramel Bars

My third favourite flavour combination, after chocolate and peanut butter, and chocolate and mint, is chocolate and caramel. I love the rich buttery flavour of caramel, and the smell reminds me of my grandma's kitchen. I read the ingredients for this recipe and decided I had to try it. Oatmeal, caramel, chocolate, what's not to love?

The original recipe called for chopped walnuts but since my husband will be taking most of these into work, as he does with all my baking, I thought I would leave them out in case there are any allergies. I don't think it hurts the taste at all. I gobbled down 3 of these wonderfully rich bars while photographing them and I have to say they were pretty darn tasty, although I think next time I make them I'm going to double the chocolate chips but that's just cause I'm a chocolate junkie.


Caramel Bars adapted from allrecipes.com

50 individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
7 tbsp heavy cream
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. rolled oats
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt together the caramels and heavy cream, stirring occasionally until smooth.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda and salt.
3. Stir in the melted butter until well blended.
4. Press Half of the mixture into the bottom of a 8x8 inch baking pan. Reserve the rest.
5. Bake the crust for 8 minutes in the preheated oven.
6. Remove and sprinkle with chocolate chips (and walnuts).
7. Pour the caramel mixture over the top and then crumble the remaining crust mixture over everything.
8. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 12 minutes, or until the top is lightly toasted.
Cut into squares while it is still warm.

Taco Bake

We are koo-koo for Mexican food. Even our (almost) 3 year old loves taco night. It's one of the foods my husband refers to as 'Fun Dinner Night' along with pizza, wings and hamburgers, basically anything you east with your hands.

Although I'm usually a purest when it comes to favourite dishes (whole wheat pasta for spaghetti night? blasphemy!) I decided to try a recipe I stumbled upon on allrecipes.com when I did a search for Mexican. This is what I found, originally called Taco Pie, I changed the name only because I made it in a square dish and it looked nothing like a pie and I added some refried beans cause it ain't mexican without'em!

I really enjoyed it, my husband prefers another dish I make where I layer tortillas with con queso and taco meat. Like most Mexican food is far from low-fat, but definitely worth a try.

Taco Bake adapted from allrecipes.com

1 pkg. Pillsbury Cresent Rolls
1 lb. Ground Beef
1 pkt. Taco Seasoning
1/2 c. Sour Cream (I used Light)
1/2 can of Refried Beans
2 c. Tex Mex Shredded Cheese
10-12 tortilla chips, crushed

Instructions

1. Roll out cresent rolls into a square cake pan pressing together to cover bottom. Bake according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the taco seasoning and stir together well.
3. Mix together the sour cream and beans and set aside.
4. When dough is done, remove from oven and spread out the sour cream& bean mixture over top, then layer with meat, and top with the cheese, and then with the crushed tortilla chips.
5. Return to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted and it is heated through.
6. Serve with sliced scallions, salsa and sour cream. Olé!

Hashbrown Quiche

Happy Mother's Day! I have been M.I.A. for the past two weeks and I apologize for that. I went to visit my parents for a week and the second week was spent building a patio in our backyard. I did very little actual cooking in that time and the vacation was nice but I've been itching to get back in the kitchen.

My parents came to help build the patio and while they were here I made my favourite quiche for breakfast. It's Paula Deen's recipe and instead of the heavy pastry crust this recipe uses shredded hashbrowns and it's so completely yummy. With a slice of hot buttered toast and a cup of coffee this is an amazing way to start the day!


Hashbrown Quiche by Paula Deen
3 cups, shredded frozen hash browns, thawed and drained
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup half-and-half
3/4 cup diced cooked ham
1/2 cup diced green onions
1 cup shredded Cheddar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450˚F.
2. Gently press the drained hash browns between paper towels to dry them as best as possible.
3. Lightly coat a 9" pie plate with cooking spray. Toss the hash browns with the melted butter and press them into the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate to form a crust.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and starting to crisp.
5. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. When the hash brown crust is ready pour the egg mixture into it and return to the oven.
6. Lower the oven temperature to 350˚F and bake for about 30 minutes until the quiche is light golden brown on top and is cooked through and puffed up Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

yum!

look at that cheesey goodness!

enjoy!