To whom it may concern -- namely, my grandmother, who is my biggest blog groupie and perhaps my only follower,
I'm moving my blog to http://hannahbakes.wordpress.com/. Why?
I think it looks cooler.
Check it out! It's pretty fab.
See you on the other side!
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Friday, June 29, 2012
The Ultimate High Altitude Cupcake Recipe
The ONE thing I don't love about living in the mountains is the frequent baking failures. My house is at 6000 feet above sea level, and I've seen about 7 or 8 spectacular baking failures as a result. The thinner air provides less support for the cake as it rises, leading to very sick-looking cupcakes.
Secret: I've been using boxed mixes as a foolproof base for some of my cupcakes. I jazz them up with some pudding, or sour cream, or buttermilk, but I still feel guilty about using anything from a box.
But TODAY! Today, I found a from-scratch ALTITUDE-PROOF vanilla cupcake recipe! It rises beautifully, cooks for the right amount of time, tastes yummy and fluffy. I'm sure it would work at sea level, too... But you guys could make any cupcake from any recipe so whatever.
I topped it with some spiced honey buttercream, a delicate flavor for the more mature cupcake consumer.
Altitude-Proof Vanilla Cupcake
Adapted from How Sweet It Is
Makes 12 cupcakes
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 whole eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add the milk. Once mixed, add remaining dry ingredients.
Line muffin tins with cupcake liners and fill about 2/3 with cupcake batter. Bake cupcakes for 18-20 minutes, or until tops of cupcakes spring back when touched.
Spiced Honey Buttercream
Frosts 12 cupcakes
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
Milk, if needed
Beat butter with electric mixer until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, and beat until smooth. Add honey, vanilla and cinnamon, adjusting to taste. If too thick, add milk one tsp at a time until desired consistency is reached.
Secret: I've been using boxed mixes as a foolproof base for some of my cupcakes. I jazz them up with some pudding, or sour cream, or buttermilk, but I still feel guilty about using anything from a box.
But TODAY! Today, I found a from-scratch ALTITUDE-PROOF vanilla cupcake recipe! It rises beautifully, cooks for the right amount of time, tastes yummy and fluffy. I'm sure it would work at sea level, too... But you guys could make any cupcake from any recipe so whatever.
I topped it with some spiced honey buttercream, a delicate flavor for the more mature cupcake consumer.
Altitude-Proof Vanilla Cupcake
Adapted from How Sweet It Is
Makes 12 cupcakes
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 whole eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add the milk. Once mixed, add remaining dry ingredients.
Line muffin tins with cupcake liners and fill about 2/3 with cupcake batter. Bake cupcakes for 18-20 minutes, or until tops of cupcakes spring back when touched.
Spiced Honey Buttercream
Frosts 12 cupcakes
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
Milk, if needed
Beat butter with electric mixer until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, and beat until smooth. Add honey, vanilla and cinnamon, adjusting to taste. If too thick, add milk one tsp at a time until desired consistency is reached.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Snickerdoodle Cookie Cupcakes
I'M GOING PRO.
This is my big moment as a baker -- I'm getting paid to make treatssss. I'm making a dessert spread for a neighbor's party, and I'm starting to test recipes to make sure they're perfect.
This recipe is a crowd-pleaser; the cookie crust at the bottom really brings out the snickerdoodle vibe. I'm still working on the texture of the cake itself, because altitude can seriously cause some problems. But the taste of this recipe is excellent, excellent.
These cupcakes are lovely. We've really come a long way from this, huh... Those cupcakes prompted my mother to say, "Hannah, people are expecting those to taste bad."
DON'T MAKE THAT DISGUSTED FACE
ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME
#YOLO
Recipe:
Slightly adapted from How Sweet Eats.
Snickerdoodle Cookie Cupcakes
makes 12-14 cupcakes
cookie layer
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon milk, if needed
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Beat butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, mixing well until combine, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Mix until dough comes together. Add in milk 1 tsp at a time until dough comes together.
Refrigerate dough while you make cupcake batter.
cake layer
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 whole eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add the milk. Once mixed, add remaining dry ingredients.
Line muffin tins with cupcake liners and add about 1 1/2 tablespoons of cookie dough in the bottom of the liner. Even out the dough with the back of a non-stick sprayed spoon. Using an ice cream scoop, drop batter (about 2 heaping tablespoons worth) on top of cookie dough mixture. Bake cupcakes for 15-18 minutes.
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
Add butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until fluffy and combined. Gradually add in powdered sugar and vanilla, mixing on medium speed and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add cinnamon and mix until combined.
I amped up the cinnamon in the frosting from the original recipe for a nice kick of flavor. For me, frosting is a preference kind of thing -- add ingredients until the texture and taste are just right. Be careful not to add too much cinnamon, however, or it'll get chalky.
This is my big moment as a baker -- I'm getting paid to make treatssss. I'm making a dessert spread for a neighbor's party, and I'm starting to test recipes to make sure they're perfect.
This recipe is a crowd-pleaser; the cookie crust at the bottom really brings out the snickerdoodle vibe. I'm still working on the texture of the cake itself, because altitude can seriously cause some problems. But the taste of this recipe is excellent, excellent.
These cupcakes are lovely. We've really come a long way from this, huh... Those cupcakes prompted my mother to say, "Hannah, people are expecting those to taste bad."
DON'T MAKE THAT DISGUSTED FACE
ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME
#YOLO
Recipe:
Slightly adapted from How Sweet Eats.
Snickerdoodle Cookie Cupcakes
makes 12-14 cupcakes
cookie layer
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon milk, if needed
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Beat butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, mixing well until combine, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Mix until dough comes together. Add in milk 1 tsp at a time until dough comes together.
Refrigerate dough while you make cupcake batter.
cake layer
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 whole eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add the milk. Once mixed, add remaining dry ingredients.
Line muffin tins with cupcake liners and add about 1 1/2 tablespoons of cookie dough in the bottom of the liner. Even out the dough with the back of a non-stick sprayed spoon. Using an ice cream scoop, drop batter (about 2 heaping tablespoons worth) on top of cookie dough mixture. Bake cupcakes for 15-18 minutes.
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
Add butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until fluffy and combined. Gradually add in powdered sugar and vanilla, mixing on medium speed and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add cinnamon and mix until combined.
I amped up the cinnamon in the frosting from the original recipe for a nice kick of flavor. For me, frosting is a preference kind of thing -- add ingredients until the texture and taste are just right. Be careful not to add too much cinnamon, however, or it'll get chalky.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Key Lime Pie Cupcakes
These cupcakes are outrageously good.
Buttery, crumbly graham cracker crust on the bottom, light vanilla cake, and a dollop of tart key lime cream cheese frosting to top it off.
How good are they?
I once watched a friend eat six of these cupcakes. In 45 minutes.
I ate two of these, right out of the oven, even before the frosting.
My dad's coworker sent him a lengthy e-mail extolling the virtues of these cupcakes.
SERIOUSLY JUST MAKE THESE ALREADY OKAY
Key Lime Pie Cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Graham crust:
10 graham cracker sheets
10 oz butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
Finely crush 10 graham cracker sheets in a ziploc bag. A round glass or rolling pin works well for this.
Melt butter and combine with graham cracker crumbs and sugar in medium bowl until well-mixed.
Press about 2 tbsp crumbs into bottom of cupcake liners.
Vanilla cupcake:
Use boxed mix or preferred basic vanilla cupcake. I haven't found a fool-proof vanilla cupcake recipe yet, so for now, I always choose Duncan Hines mix.
On top of the graham crust, fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full with batter.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 18-20 minutes.
Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting
16 oz cream cheese, softened
8 oz butter, softened
2-3 tbsp key lime juice
3-4 cups powdered sugar
Beat cream cheese and butter with electric mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Mix in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until you reach your desired consistency.
Add key lime juice, 1 tbsp at a time, until desired flavor is reached. If the frosting becomes thinner with the addition of the juice, add 1 more cup of powdered sugar.
Buttery, crumbly graham cracker crust on the bottom, light vanilla cake, and a dollop of tart key lime cream cheese frosting to top it off.
How good are they?
I once watched a friend eat six of these cupcakes. In 45 minutes.
I ate two of these, right out of the oven, even before the frosting.
My dad's coworker sent him a lengthy e-mail extolling the virtues of these cupcakes.
SERIOUSLY JUST MAKE THESE ALREADY OKAY
Key Lime Pie Cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Graham crust:
10 graham cracker sheets
10 oz butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
Finely crush 10 graham cracker sheets in a ziploc bag. A round glass or rolling pin works well for this.
Melt butter and combine with graham cracker crumbs and sugar in medium bowl until well-mixed.
Press about 2 tbsp crumbs into bottom of cupcake liners.
Vanilla cupcake:
Use boxed mix or preferred basic vanilla cupcake. I haven't found a fool-proof vanilla cupcake recipe yet, so for now, I always choose Duncan Hines mix.
On top of the graham crust, fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full with batter.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 18-20 minutes.
Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting
16 oz cream cheese, softened
8 oz butter, softened
2-3 tbsp key lime juice
3-4 cups powdered sugar
Beat cream cheese and butter with electric mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Mix in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until you reach your desired consistency.
Add key lime juice, 1 tbsp at a time, until desired flavor is reached. If the frosting becomes thinner with the addition of the juice, add 1 more cup of powdered sugar.
Pudding shots
This may be the pinnacle of my baking experience:
Alcoholic pudding.
And it's not just a hint of alcohol; you'll definitely feel the effects of these babies.
I made vanilla, chocolate fudge, and cookies-and-cream pudding shots using cake-flavored vodka. I think my favorite was the cookies and cream, but maybe that's because I put less vodka in that one. I topped these cuties with a dollop of whipped cream and some sprinkles (of course).
These are easiest to eat with a spoon, because the pudding itself is pretty thick.
Recipe:
Adapted from Endless Simmer
Alcoholic pudding.
And it's not just a hint of alcohol; you'll definitely feel the effects of these babies.
I made vanilla, chocolate fudge, and cookies-and-cream pudding shots using cake-flavored vodka. I think my favorite was the cookies and cream, but maybe that's because I put less vodka in that one. I topped these cuties with a dollop of whipped cream and some sprinkles (of course).
Recipe:
Adapted from Endless Simmer
- 1 3.9oz Instant Vanilla (or any flavor) Pudding
- ¾ cup milk, cold
- 2/3 cup Cake Vodka
- 12 oz Cool Whip
Two Pies
Re: Blog theory
Let's get a little philosophical here.
Turns out I'm not naturally one of those once-daily bloggers, or even a biweekly blogger. Turns out that I'm more of a unimonthly blogger. This strategy works only moderately well, because I'll have four or five new baking adventures to discuss in every post, which isn't quite the most exciting way to present information. Blogs provide single servings of information, the perfect size for quick consumption (a la Fight Club's single-serving friends.) Blogs aren't cookbooks with discrete chapters of recipes, and I've undertaken the responsibility of contributing to the entropy of the food blog world.
So, instead of recipe conglomerates, we'll move into single-serving posts, with single topics.
In the meantime, here's a single serving of a very cute dog.
Turns out I'm not naturally one of those once-daily bloggers, or even a biweekly blogger. Turns out that I'm more of a unimonthly blogger. This strategy works only moderately well, because I'll have four or five new baking adventures to discuss in every post, which isn't quite the most exciting way to present information. Blogs provide single servings of information, the perfect size for quick consumption (a la Fight Club's single-serving friends.) Blogs aren't cookbooks with discrete chapters of recipes, and I've undertaken the responsibility of contributing to the entropy of the food blog world.
So, instead of recipe conglomerates, we'll move into single-serving posts, with single topics.
In the meantime, here's a single serving of a very cute dog.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Very Berry Birthday Cake
I decided to give this post a very innocent-sounding name, because the festivities surrounding this cake were not exactly innocent.
This is a great "healthy" cake for those people in your life who DON'T want a double-fudge peanut-butter-cookie-dough ice cream cake for their birthdays. Not that I'd be interested in a cake like that.
For this cake, I used a standard yellow cake mix (my favorite is Duncan Hines.) I whipped up my signature cream cheese frosting -- super simple and delicious. Although boxed cake mix can usually pass for homemade, I think homemade frosting tastes SO much better than the can. I'll always take the time to make my own frosting.
I baked two 9-inch yellow cakes and layered frosting, blueberries, and raspberries between them. I think the cake turned out gorgeously -- and tasted pretty fantastic as well.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
16 oz cream cheese, room temperature
8 oz butter, room temperature
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Blend together cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add in vanilla, then powdered sugar one cup at a time, until desired consistency is reached.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
cakes on cakes
I don't know why I haven't been motivated to blog my most recent baking exploits this spring. It's not that I've stopped baking; I'm loving my studio apartment and its little kitchen. I suppose this blog slump could be attributed to the fact that I've discovered that baking with a glass or two of wine and listening to some catchy tunes (like Justin Bieber -- judge me, go ahead) is an excellent Friday night activity. However, post-baking and wine, I'm not too disposed to blog. I usually text various friends and ask if I can bring over some freshly baked mini pies, or salted caramel cupcakes, and the answer's usually yes. I'm often repaid in libations of some sort, so it's certainly a fair trade.
Anyway, here are some treats that I've concocted over the past few months.
Making a 21st birthday cake this weekend. I'm really looking forward to it, because I'll make sure the festivities are WELL underway before anyone tries the cake. Because then everyone loves it. When you pregame a cake, it always tastes delicious.
So now you know.
Anyway, here are some treats that I've concocted over the past few months.
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| Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcakes -- the classic combo. I made these for a Cupcakes and Cocktails party at my apartment. |
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| Samoas cupcake. It's absolutely as good as you'd imagine. Chocolate cake, caramel buttercream, caramel drizzle, toasted coconut and chopped Samoas to top it off. Decadent, baby. |
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| I'm SO PROUD of THIS CAKE! My very first layer cake, frosted and everything. I wanted to tackle the layer cake thing, and only afterwards found out that my friend Emily's roommate's boyfriend was having a birthday party that night. I showed up with a cake in hand and presented the birthday boy with his cake. Although we'd never met before, I would argue that starting a friendship by giving someone a cake is a great strategy. He says hi to me in the library like all the time. |
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| Blurry times in a moving car. So sue me. These are St. Patty's Day cookies with royal frosting... suuuper time-consuming, but they're yummy and visually pretty impressive. And I'm always looking to impress people. |
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| SO professional. These are PB and Chocolate cupcakes, and Cookies & Cream cupcakes, that I made for a bake sale at my school. They went pretty fast, and I was very flattered. I know this because I was creepily skulking at the side of the bake sale table staring down the treat-seekers. Whatever. It's not a big deal. |
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| These messy lil things are mini pies! I bought a frozen pie crust, mushed it up, and pressed it into a cupcake pan. I tossed some chopped apples with cinnamon and sugar and poured them into the mini crusts and BAKED THEM. They were hella yummy. I do need to work on my presentation, though. |
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| I made these little guys last night! Chocolate cake with salted caramel frosting and caramel drizzle. Again, I brought these over to a friend's apartment and got first dibs at the pong table. WATER PONG, okay? What kind of girl do you think I am? |
So now you know.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Cheeseburger Pie
Continuing the "dips on dips" theme of this football season (chips&salsa -----> buffalo chicken dip ----> reuben dip ----> sausage and cream cheese dip), I made my darling father some yummy noms for the Broncos game today. Cheeseburger pie. Yes. Cheese, and burger. And also the pie part too.
http://family.go.com/food/pkg-family-approved-recipes/recipe-633078-cheeseburger-pie-t/
(sans pickles)
MM MM DEE LICIOUS
Friday, January 6, 2012
The most magical cookies of all
This little compliation has got to be the greatest Hannukah present I've ever received:
I wonder if he learned that in Construction Management school. Maybe there's a Working with Wire Cookie Cutters adjunct or something.
Anyway.
So we proceeded to make cutout cookies out of dough that was not even remotely designed to be shaped. Surprisingly, this worked pretty well! I would advise chilling the dough and using a sharp cold knife to make shapes sans cookie cutters.
This perfectly combines my literophilia with my sugarophilia. LOVE THIS BOOK. My father knows me too well. When we first started flipping through this book, the first thing that caught my eye was the black sausage. Then I realized that the recipe called for two cups of blood.
Moving on.
My dad immediately was drawn to the Chewy Ginger Biscuits recipe, which is completely unsurprising. And when my dad wants a specific food, he becomes fixated to the point of obsession. It runs in the family. (Frozen yogurt? Reuben dip? Pigs in a blanket? The great ongoing cheesesteak pilgrimage of 2012? You get the point.)
So my dear friend Kyle Krueger and I decided to make these ginger biscuits. According to the cookbook, these biscuits make an appearance in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Harry pisses off Dolores Umbridge, the great pink-clad villain of our time. She sends him to Professor McGonagall, the great old-lady bad-ass of our time. Instead of scolding Harry for his transgressions, McGonagall offers him a cuppa (I'M SO AUTHENTIC) and a newt-shaped ginger biscuit. The cookbook doesn't call for the biscuits to resemble the aforementioned lizard; however, everything tastes better as an amphibian. Kyle and I decided to make our own newt-shaped cookie cutter, and although I am an AWFUL handiperson, Kyle has a knack for construction of any physical object:
Anyway.
So we proceeded to make cutout cookies out of dough that was not even remotely designed to be shaped. Surprisingly, this worked pretty well! I would advise chilling the dough and using a sharp cold knife to make shapes sans cookie cutters.
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| The newt |
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| Nearly headless Nick |
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| Aragog, the fluffy spiderfriend |
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| THE DEATHLY HALLOWS What an excellent batch of cookies. With a little sugar and magic, anything is possible. |
Except maybe a hippogriff.
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