3 desserts and 2 hotpots

My friends and I gathered for a holiday hot pot last night and it was quite the event. 2 hours of eating a seemingly endless amount of beef, pork, lamb, mushrooms, noodles, vegetables, tofu, etc etc all around one extended table! Winter is definitely the best season for hotpot :) Of course, I made desserts to go with the hotpot. Sticking with the Asian theme of the evening, I made almond jelly and a jasmine panna cotta. I also brought chocolate souffle cupcakes from a recipe I got from smitten kitchen I fell in love with the panna cotta and most loved the cupcakes as well so all was good :) Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos once again but I'm sure I will make these desserts again in the future!

Black Bottom Cupcakes

I came across this recipe, and had to try them. I never saw, heard, or even knew black bottom cupcakes existed before this! I was definitely missing out :( The combination of the chocolate cupcake and the cream cheese filling is amazing. Amazing. I love the mini chocolate chips in the filling too! I think the only thing I need to be careful of in the future is not over filling the cupcakes..some of mine turned out with a very tiny "black bottom" when cut open. Oops. (^^;)



Black Bottom Cupcakes
from Baking Bites

Ingredients:

Cream Cheese Filling
16-oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 large egg whites, room temperature
2 tbsp sour cream, room temperature
1/3 cup miniature chocolate chips (not full size*)

Cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/3 cups water
1/2 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl, make filling. Beat together cream cheese, sugar and salt until smooth.

3. Beat in egg whites and sour cream. Stir in chocolate chips and set aside.

4. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, salt, flour, cocoa powder and baking soda.

5. Make a well in the center and add in sour cream, water, butter and vanilla. Stir together until just combined and no streaks of flour remain.

6. Divide cake batter evenly among 24 cupcake liners. Top each portion of batter with 1 rounded tablespoon cream cheese mixture (It is ok to have a little left over).

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the side (cake only part) should come out with a few moist crumbs on it. Rotate pans halfway through baking if you are using two racks.

8. Cool in pans for 5 minutes. Cream cheese filling should sink slightly in this time. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 24 cupcakes.

*Full-sized chocolate chips will sink to the bottom of the cupcakes, while miniature chips will remain suspended in the cream cheese center.

Buttermilk Chocolate Cupcakes

Mmm and here's another Friday update with an old recipe :) This was from February of 2008. I think I had tons of leftover buttermilk from making scones so I looked for other recipes that called for buttermilk. I remember these being tasty, but I guess they didn't really have a lasting impression if I don't recall them being spectacular now... but you can never go wrong with chocolate cake :D I wasn't too careful with the icing so it's .. um.. bumpy..but still ok! lol. I also made these into cupcakes but I don't remember what adjustments I made for time and temp, so I've reproduced the recipe as is from the allrecipes site ^_^;;



Buttermilk Chocolate Cake
from allrecipes

Ingredients

Cake:

1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
2 cups all-purpose flour

Icing:

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. In a medium bowl, combine the buttermilk and baking soda. Set aside in a warm place.

2. In a large bowl, mix together 2 cups sugar, eggs, 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, oil and 2 teaspoons vanilla until blended. Stir in the boiling water, then gradually beat in the flour. Stir in the buttermilk mixture.

3. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

4. To make the Fudge Icing: In a saucepan, combine 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, milk, butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Bring to a boil, and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Using an electric mixer, beat icing for 3 minutes, or until it thickens to spreading consistency. Pour over completely cooled cake.

Carrot Cupcakes!

I've always loved carrot cake..since when I was growing up, my mom only made carrot cake or cheesecake. That was the extent of my mom's baking repertoire lol. I don't make carrot cake often and I think I was really craving some when I baked these. They turned out quite well, the only fumble I had was with the white chocolate in the frosting..I didn't work fast enough and there were some tiny white chocolate bits in there..oops :X I also found the frosting rather sweet, but that might just be because my mom never frosted her cake, so I'm used to eating carrot cake unfrosted lol. Mmm but looking at these photos makes me want to make carrot cake all over again :)


before frosting


after frosting


...and inside!

Carrot Cupcakes
from allrecipes

Ingredients

Frosting

2 ounces white chocolate
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Cake

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/8 cups white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup crushed pineapple
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 12 muffin cups.

2. In small saucepan, melt white chocolate over low heat. Stir until smooth, and allow to cool to room temperature.

3. In a bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in white chocolate, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and orange extract. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Mix in heavy cream.

4. Beat together the eggs, white sugar, and brown sugar in a bowl, and mix in the oil and vanilla. Fold in carrots and pineapple. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Mix flour mixture into the carrot mixture until evenly moist. Fold in 1/2 cup walnuts. Transfer to the prepared muffin cups.

5. Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks before topping with the icing and sprinkling with remaining walnuts.

When you run out of eggs...

...make eggless chocolate cupcakes!

Ok, so I'm just lazy :X I ran out of eggs and I've been meaning to go grocery shopping but I just haven't really had the drive to leave my apartment and now it's a foggy and slightly rainy day which just lends itself to be one of those stay inside days. All would be fine except the nagging chocolate craving I've been having and so when I stumbled upon an eggless chocolate cupcake recipe on Taste and Tell, I felt like I struck gold :D I guess as a bonus, this is also the first vegan recipe I've tried as well. Yay? lol.

I liked how they turned out, although this probably won't be my go to chocolate cake recipe. It has a very nice, tight crumb, but there feels like there's something missing when I eat it. I guess maybe a combination of moisture and lightness? But then again I accidentally overbaked them by a minute or two :X




frosted with a simple vanilla buttercream



Recipe here: Eggless Chocolate Cupcake