Chocolate-Cherry Pie cupcakes

I made these about two weeks ago for my own birthday.  We won't talk about how old I am.  Instead let's focus on the cake

 See? A much better topic of conversation.  To start, use any chocolate cake recipe you happen to have a devotion to.  Personally, I use this one, adapted from the Food and Wine Magazine Cookbook 2009. It makes a dozen.  I usually triple:
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
Mix together in a large bowl.  Then on the stove over very low heat, melt:
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1/4 vegetable oil
1/2 cup black coffee
Add that to the dry ingredients.  Then beat in:
1/4 cup of buttermilk
1 large egg
vanilla extract

In addition, you will need: A can or jar of cherry pie filling, 2 sticks of salted butter (softened), a box of confectioner's sugar, some tart cherry juice (optional) and a jar of cherry preserves (or thawed frozen cherries)

Pour the cake batter into lined muffin tins, and drop some cherry pie filling into the center, like so (a good teaspoon should do):

Bake at 350 until they are done, about 20 minutes.  Then, make the frosting:
Beat the softened butter until it's whippy, then add confectioner's sugar in batches until its the texture/sweetness you want (I wound up using about 3/4 of a box)
Add 4 tablespoons of the cherry juice, if you're using it. 
Beat in cherry preserves or frozen cherries (with the juice) until it's cherry-ish enough for you.  (I used almost all of the pint jar of preserves)

To decorate, plop a spoon full of frosting in the center of each cupcake

 Then, using a pastry bag and whatever tip you would like (I went with a star shaped tip, in a sandwich baggie with a hole cut in the corner because I was out of pastry bags. And it's cheaper) pipe in a circle from the outside in.  This will get you the nice soft-serve ice cream effect seen in the first picture.

A christmas tradition- 3 layer cookies

These cookies, (also known as rainbow cookies, flag cookies, and a variety of other things) are a bit of a Christmas tradition in my family.  And by "a bit of" I mean if they are not there, several grown men weep like small children and it's just not Christmas.  While these are possibly my favorite cookie of all time, they are also a giant pain in the ass, which is why I only make them once a year.  My mother handed the responsibility for these over to me at 16, and this is the first year that no step of the process has left me in tears on the kitchen floor declaring them ruined.  Should this happen to you, don't worry.  It is a time-honored part of making these and I promise, the more convinced you are that they're completely screwed, the better they will taste in the end. 
Note: the pictures in this post are from a double batch, so don't worry if your batter does not look quite so voluminous
You will need:
1/2 can of almond paste (5 ounces total)
1/2 can of Solo almond pastry filling- this is my mom's secret ingredient.  If you can't find it, use 10 ounces of almond paste, but do your best, it really makes the dough more workable.
3 sticks of butter
1 cup of sugar
4 egg whites- do NOT use the kind from a carton
2 cups of flour
Red and green food coloring (or whatever you want, go crazy)
1jar of raspberry jam, seedless
1 jar of apricot jam
bag of dark chocolate chips
3 jelly roll pans- 13x9 and 1/4 deep- you cannot use another size with this recipe.

Start by creaming the almond paste and almond filling together in a large bowl.  When they are as mixed as you can make them, add the softened butter

Next add the sugar, and then the flour
Then, in a second bowl, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, like this:

CAREFULLY fold the egg whites into the rest of the batter, adding the egg whites in 4-5 batches, scraping down the sides as you go. 

Divide the batter up between 3 bowls.  If you are one of those fancy people with a kitchen scale, you can do this by weight.  If you're like me, you can use the "one for you, one for you, and one for you" method-dropping spoonfuls into each in turn and hoping it winds up about equal

Then add your food coloring. 

Now for the annoying part.  My mom swears by using parchment paper on each pan, but I find it gets in the way, and only use it on the bottom pan to protect it when cutting the cookies.  If you're using parchment paper, I suggest buttering the pan, and using the butter to stick the paper to the pan.  This keeps it from slipping around while you're spreading.
Now, grease the ever-loving crap out of the pans you are not using paper on.  I don't care how good you think your non-stick is, just do it.  The carefully spread the batter along each pan.  You will wind up with a very, verrry thin layer of batter, but try not to have any spots of pan showing through

Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes.  You don't wan it getting golden, so if you see brown around the edges pull them out asap.  Let cool completely.

Spread a thin layer of apricot jam along the layer you intend to be the base

VERY VERY CAREFULLY pick up the middle layer and, moving quickly, invert it over the bottom layer.  Bang the bottom a few times to loosen things up, and remove.  Then spread a thin layer of raspberry jam on this layer

Top with the top layer.  Cover in plastic wrap, place one of the baking sheets back on top, and refrigerate overnight
The next day, top with the melted chocolate, let cool completely.  For best results, refrigerate overnight a second time before cutting, with something on top to weigh it down and compress the layers so they don't fall apart.  With a very, very sharp knife, cut into small rectangles. Serve. Bask in the praise and adoration

Super easy truffles- mocha and peppermint

Note: There is practically nothing to these.  The wow factor is really going to come from the quality of the chocolate you use, and the flavoring.  Ideally, you want to go with a really good, 60-70% dark chocolate.  Because I am an extremely broke student, and the likelihood that the recipients of these will be drunk when they eat them is high, I used semi-sweet chocolate chips.  Do as I say, not as I do! If, however, you must cheat like I did, stick with Hershey's. Nestle just does not melt right and your truffles will be oddly lumpy and not pretty.  Trust me on this one.

Ingredients: 8 ounces chopped dark chocolate, 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, 1 tablespoon of butter (all of these are per batch
Flavorings: I used instant espresso for the mocha and peppermint oil for the mint.  2 tablespoons of a fruit liquer like Chambord, Grand Marnier, or any brandy works nicely also
Toppings: More dark chocolate, nuts, coco powder, powdered sugar, sprinkles-whatever you want.  Go crazy here kids!
How to make them
In a small saucepan, melt the butter into the cream over extremely low heat.  We're talking barely able to see the flame here
(If you're making mocha, add in the instant espresso now.  Start with two big heaping teaspoons and add more to taste.  When you think it tastes just right, add another nice big scoop.  You want to flavor to come through the chocolate)
Heat the cream and butter mixture until it just bubbles slightly around the edges
In a small heatproof bowl, pour the cream over the chocolate.  Cover the bowl with a plate or something and let it sit a few minutes.
Whisk it gently until it all comes together in a smooth, even, shiny bowl of delicious.  To avoid a huge mess, put your whisk right in the center of the bowl and beat in small circles.  It will take a while, but it will all come together without any lumps and without splashing.  Think of it as a workout.
If you are making a flavor other than mocha, whisk the flavoring in now.  Put it in the fridge, covered, for at least 4 hours
When you're ready to finish them, take them out of the fridge.  Make sure your hands are super clean and preferable cold.  Scoop out bits of the ganache and dip into your topping of choice.  If chocolate dipping them, melt the chocolate in a double boiler and stir really well.  Get the truffles in and out of the chocolate as fast as possible to avoid melting. Drop them onto a parchment lined baking sheet and put them back in the fridge to set

That's it! Easiest thing in the world.  However, it is also quite possibly the messiest.  If you are anything like me your entire kitchen, and yourself, will be covered in chocolate.  And your sponges will be ruined.

For my first post- a happy accident

People often say that baking (or in this case, candy making) is a science.  I usually ignore those people, and you should too.  Here's just one example of why:

 Disclaimer: When I made these last night, I was not planning a blog. In the future, there will be pictures of all important steps for easier following
With the holidays coming up, I was looking for some things to make that could be given out as presents.  I decided to start out with salted caramels, the most recent candy craze.  Never having made caramel before, I decided to play it on the safe side and actually use the candy thermometer that's been sitting, unopened, in my kitchen drawer since I bought it. The recipe  (which was actually cobbled together from several) called for cooking the sugar to 310 degrees.  Well, it turns out, the thermometer was faulty, and when it read 310 degrees the sugar didn't look nearly brown enough.  I made the mistake of trusting it over my instincts, and the result was a runny (but tasty!) mess.  Not one to be easily deterred (that's a lie-I was crushed and called my mother, who told me not to be an idiot), I threw it in an empty jam jar for future use as ice cream topping and settled back in for round 2, going by sight this time.  This time the results looked good, but when I took the tray from the refrigerator to cut them, they were still a bit too soft.  The solution? Chocolate dipping! That would make them hold their shape, I was sure!
...Or it would cause them to melt on contact with the warm chocolate. Whichever.  But. That is when the magic happened.  Deciding just to say screw it and toss the whole thing, I licked the spoon I had dropped the caramel in with.  And stopped dead in my tracks.  I scraped the whole tray into the bowl of chocolate, whisked it up, and waited.  The result? The most perfectly textured, well-balanced confection I have ever had the joy of putting in my mouth.  Salted caramel fudge! Here is what you have to do:
1)Prepare an 8x8 (or 9x9) baking dish
line it with parchment paper or tinfoil. Spray it with cooking spray
2)In a small pan, mix together:
6 tablespoons of butter
1 cup of heavy cream
some vanilla (I didn't measure, probably about 2 teaspoons)
a sprinkle of kosher salt or fine sea salt
Cook it over low heat until it starts to bubble a bit around the edges, then turn the burner off. Leave it there while you
3)In a large, heavy saucepan (glass is best-trust me-its much easier to clean) mix:
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1/4 cup of light corn syrup
1/4 cup of water
Stir them up really well.  Then turn the heat up to medium-high.  Watch it, but don't touch it until it turns a nice, even, golden color (think of a jar of light-colored honey).
4)VERY carefully and slowly, pour the cream mixture into the sugar
Now you can stir (and should, quickly!), but be warned, it's going to bubble up like crazy and you may think it is trying to kill you.  It will be fine.  Let it cook another minute or two, until the whole mix looks like the color you generally associate with soft caramels
5)Pour the caramel into the pan. Sprinkle it lightly with sea salt. Let it sit in the fridge until fully cool
6)In a double-boiler (personally, I use a bowl on top of a pot of water) melt about 2/3 of a bag of mini dark chocolate chips
7)Scrape the caramels into the bowl of chocolate. Stir it until it's completely mixed together. It should have the texture of a soft dough and form into a ball while you stir it
8) Spray the pan you used for the caramels with cooking spray. Pour the mixture into it and spread it around
9)Put it back into the fridge to set.  When it's nice and cold, invert it onto a cutting board and cut it into 1-inch pieces with a greased knife.
You can put the pieces in candy cups or wrap them in bits of parchment paper.  Store them in a tupperware container in the fridge.  They'll stay fresh for around 10 days.  But don't worry, they won't last that long.