apple-cheddar muffins w/ apple cider glaze

Sweet Charlotte these were so moist, so delicate and so darn tasty.
A little bit of apple, a little bit of buttermilk and some sharp cheddar all make for a truly tasty muffin.

These apple muffins came about from a recent trip to a local farmers market where I got my first (of the season) homemade batch of apple cider.
I'm a huge apple cider lover. I love that cold, crisp taste of it. This batch was organic too. There are some things that do taste better organic and some other things I can't even tell the difference. But I did notice a more "apple-ly" flavor in the organic cider.
So many things you can bake with fresh apple cider.
Apple & cheddar scones, cookies, pies, endless....
Apple muffins with a hint of cheese inside a nice warm muffin...this sounds good.
I hope there are a few of you die hard New Englanders out there that love homemade apple pies with some sharp cheddar? I know the Canadians love this too as I have a lot of relatives in Canada who wouldn't have it any other way.
Adding the cheese to the muffins gave it a bit of flavor, it was worth it. The pecans, well, you all know I can never get enough pecans; you could also use walnuts in here. But the real winner, the real deal closer for these apple muffins was the apple cider glaze frosting. Really good. The apple cider glaze came from that organic apple cider I purchased mixed with some cream cheese and confectioners sugar. The cream cheese and the apple cider mesh so perfectly together; reminds me of a good pairing of wine & cheese. It has a tart bite to it with a creamy cheese undertone all wrapped up in sugar.
In my opinion, use McCoun apples if you can, they are the best for baking.




apple-cheddar muffins w/ apple cider glaze
from vanillasugarblog.com
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3/4 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ts baking soda
1 ts baking powder
1/2 ts nutmeg
½ ts allspice
½ ts cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
4 TB buttermilk
½ cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 medium McCoun apples: peeled, cored and cut into 3/4 -inch chunks

Preheat the oven to 325°. Butter 12 regular-size muffin cups. Spread the pecans on a baking sheet and toast for about 8 minutes, or until fragrant. Transfer to a plate and let cool.
In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon and salt.
In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy. Beat in the egg and buttermilk. Stir in the dry ingredients until fully incorporated. Recipe by dawn finicane of vanillakitchen.blogspot.com Fold in the apples, pecans, and cheddar cheese.
Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and bake for about 30 - 40 minutes (depending on oven temp and muffin pans) or until the apples are tender and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. (while these are baking I like to get my cider glaze done and into the fridge to chill for a while).
Let muffins cool before glazing.

apple cider glaze

1/2 package cream cheese (4 ounces), softened
1 package of confectioners' sugar
½ ts cinnamon
3 TB apple cider (not apple juice)

I melted the cider and cream cheese over very low heat, very slowly while constantly stirring. There will be lumps. When it was cooled a bit I added in the cinnamon. In a separate bowl put the confectioner’s sugar in there and slowly add the melted cider mix to the confectioners sugar. Don’t add all the liquid in, only add in a bit at a time until you reach the glaze thickness you desire. (I only used about ¾ of the liquid mixture, use less for a frosting). Keep mixing till fully incorporated and there are no lumps.
Make sure to chill this in the fridge for a while before using.

Cook Notes: I only like to use McCoun apples for baking. I know they are in season for a couple months (oct & nov). I have no idea what else to use instead of these. Whatever apple is sweet, juicy, crispy with a little bit of tart to it would be good. I do not recommend Granny Smith apples for this recipe.
If you want to use muffin liners you can. These are very moist muffins, almost delicate.

pecan pie cupcakes w/ cinnamon mascarpone frosting

For those on a diet, pass this post on by.....


This cupcake is pure fattening decadence. It has a ton of fat, sugar, calories, butter, etc..., but you know what? It's so totally worth it.

I love pecan pie, but I'm sorry I'm already bored with how boring it is. I mean the crust is good, but I want to kick that up a notch by adding something to it, be it heat, cheese or something. And then I saw these little pecan cupcakes over at Bake or Break.


I thought how perfect a little flavor combination in a cupcake? But I was dying to add a frosting to it--a cheese frosting on there, but didn't want cream cheese because it's way too heavy for this type of cupcake, so I settled on something lighter like mascarpone cheese. And it worked, perfectly. You seriously must try these. They are easy as pecan pie to make. And try this frosting on some of your other creations: be it breads, carrot cakes, pancakes, pound cakes, cake cookies, etc... It really is that good. The only down side is mascarpone cheese is expensive.

pecan pie cupcakes with cinnamon mascarpone frosting
recipe adapted from Bake or Break
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1 ½ cups toasted & chopped pecans
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 ¾ cup packed brown sugar
2 sticks salted butter, melted
1 ts salt
1 ½ ts of good quality vanilla extract
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all ingredients and mix well. (I added all ingredients, mixed then added the butter in, mixed, then added in the eggs and mixed again)
Spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.
Fill each 3/4 full. (I filled them to the top)
Bake in preheated oven for approx. 30 – 40 minutes
(start to watch them after 30 minutes as this cooks all depending on your oven and type of cupcake pans).
You can tell they are done when a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean, just like a cake does. Cool before frosting.
To make the frosting see below.

cinnamon mascarpone frosting

8 ounces mascarpone cheese
1 - 2 TB of confectioner’s sugar
1 TB ground cinnamon

Mix the mascarpone with the icing sugar and cinnamon to taste.
Frost cupcakes have they cooled completely.
Makes 12 regular size cupcakes

Cook Notes:
I added in way more pecans, about 2 cups. I did not chop the pecans too small, but rather big chunks. The original recipe was half of what I have up there; I assume it was for mini cupcakes. I made regular sized cupcakes, but you can try the mini’s and tell me how they were. These cupcakes do not rise, so how I went ahead and filled them to the top. The batter will be liquidly, that’s ok. The original recipe did not add in vanilla; I simply had too.
The frosting should not be too sweet as the cupcake already is. So adjust the amount of sugar you put in there. I didn’t want it too sweet, but more of a mild taste with some cinnamon so I used about 1 ½ TB of confectioners sugar. I’ve also seen these cupcakes with no frosting and a good drizzle of melted milk chocolate over the tops.

Notes: Keep in mind this frosting does not have the same type of consistency as regular frosting this is thinner, and will not poof up high. So it's best to chill this first before spreading. If you put the frosting on a warm cupcake it will dribble down the sides in no time. The next time I make these I will only fill the muffin tins up halfway so the muffins aren't as thick. And I will only add in 1 cup of flour instead of 1 1/4 cup as I want more of a pie like batter.

mint glazed brownies

I am always in the mood for a brownie. And I love a good mint brownie too. I love mint anything, but what's really wierd is I do not like the herb mint at all. I do not like cooking with it, because it tastes very strange to me. I guess I only like the fabricated mint taste. ha ha. So nothing fancy on this post, just some classic brownies but I wanted to use up a bag of Andes Thin Mint baking chips up, so I decided to make a glaze/ganache/frosting with them to put on top of the brownies. I guess you could put them inside the brownie, but for whatever reason I wanted to see the green color of the Andes mints on top. You can use whatever brownie recipe you like, I thought I'd share what one I love most (plus I love Ina's brownie recipe too).

What I did differently: I did not use any nuts in the brownie mix since mint and nuts really don't go together. I did not make the frosting , but made the glaze and then on top of the glaze I sprinkled it with the baking Andes Mints.

mint glazed brownies
brownie base from cook’s illustrated

Classic Brownies
1 cup pecans or walnuts (4 ounces), chopped medium (optional)
1 ¼ cups plain cake flour (5 ounces)
½ teaspoon table salt
¾ teaspoon baking powder
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks), cut into six 1-inch pieces
2 ¼ cups sugar (15 ¾ ounces)
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon peppermint extract (I added this)

Mint Frosting
1 stick unsalted butter (8 tablespoons), softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar (8 ounces)
1-2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon mint-flavored extract

Chocolate Glaze
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped, or 4 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 325 degrees. Cut 18-inch length foil and fold lengthwise to 8-inch width. Fit foil into length of 13- by 9-inch baking dish, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhang pan edges. Cut 14-inch length foil and, if using extra-wide foil, fold lengthwise to 12-inch width; fit into width of baking pan in same manner, perpendicular to first sheet. Spray foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Spread nuts (if using) evenly on rimmed baking sheet and toast in oven until fragrant, 5 to 8 minutes. Set aside to cool. Whisk to combine flour, salt, and baking powder in medium bowl; set aside.

Melt chocolate and butter in large heatproof bowl set over saucepan of almost–simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. (Alternatively, in microwave, heat butter and chocolate in large microwave-safe bowl on high for 45 seconds, then stir and heat for 30 seconds more. Stir again, and, if necessary, repeat in 15-second increments; do not let chocolate burn.) When chocolate mixture is completely smooth, remove bowl from saucepan and gradually whisk in sugar. Add eggs one at time, whisking after each addition until thoroughly combined. Whisk in vanilla. Add flour mixture in three additions, folding with rubber spatula until batter is completely smooth and homogeneous.

Transfer batter to prepared pan; using spatula, spread batter into corners of pan and smooth surface. Sprinkle toasted nuts (if using) evenly over batter and bake until toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into center of brownies comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours. When the brownies are cool, leave them in the pan.

FOR MINT FROSTING: In the bowl of a standing mixer or with a handheld mixer, beat butter and confectioners’ sugar at low speed until just incorporated, then increase the speed to medium and beat until smooth and fluffy, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon milk and mint extract and continue to beat until combined, about 30 seconds, adding up to 1 additional tablespoon milk if necessary to achieve a soft spreadable consistency. Using an offset spatula, spread the mint frosting evenly onto the cooled brownies, cover with foil, and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour

FOR CHOCOLATE GLAZE: Melt chocolate and butter in a medium heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth; set aside to cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

Pour the chocolate glaze on the frosted brownies; using an offset spatula, spread the glaze into an even layer. Cover with foil and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Remove the brownies from the pan by lifting the foil overhang, cut into 2-inch squares, and serve. (Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.)

spicy chocolate fudge w/ pecans

Something about chocolate and a bit of heat that when combined together just right sounds so good. There is a homemade candy shop in Chatham, MA that I went to a couple summers back that had spicy milk chocolate bark with pecans in it and some peanut butter. Good Charlotte it was so good! It wasn't that spicy, just enough heat & salt to really meld perfectly with the deep milk chocolate taste. Ever since that last bite of the spicy bark I've wanted to re-create it at home. As of lately I've been wanting to try my hand at fudge, and I am NOT a huge fudge eater. So why not add some heat to a good nutty batch of fudge? Seriously there are some really bad fudges out there that taste like a sugar block, ick. I'll definitely eat fudge if it has a nice butter to cream to salt to chocolate ratio, you know like a really good danish that has the perfect balance/ratio of cheese to fruit to crust. Another important point is a good fudge should have nuts in it, without a doubt. I mean what's the point of eating fudge without nuts in it to balance off the milk chocolate flavor? And I do like a good peanut butter fudge, but I have to really taste the peanut butter through the thick dense fudge in order to love it. My latest creation is nothing more than a kicked up creamy version of fudge; a smoother more creamier version of chocolate fudge with some added spicy pecans. Remember a few posts ago I told you of my love for those Sweet & Spicy Pecans from Trader Joe's and how I vowed to make something really cool with them? I did, I put them in the fudge, along with a pinch extra of heat.

This my friends, was so friggin good. I gave most of it away as I didn't want it sitting at home in my fridge staring at me to nibble on. You know how that goes. It all starts out with you going to the fridge, see the candy, the cake, the moist brownies or the buttery cookies sitting in their little tupperware container; you take a small piece out, walk away, eat it. Then you realize it tastes so good that you're just going to have one more piece: a small piece, and that's it. You take the piece back over to your desk or upstairs to your room, or back to whatever it was you were doing and eat it, realizing 'hey this is good'. And now, of course, you're craving more, and tell yourself 'one more piece and I won't have dessert tonight'. This seems rational to you at the time, so you go get another piece from the fridge, making sure to close the tupperware top all the way around as if this is going to help stop you from coming back again because the top is on tighter now. You walk back to whatever it was your were doing and by this time you've devoured the piece of goodness already. You instantly walk over to the fridge because you've already told yourself that you're not eating dessert so it's ok to go for one more little piece. you get to the fridge and take a bigger piece than last time and realize you shouldn't do it, put it back in the container and then it hits you 'I just won't have that much dinner and I will walk more tomorrow at the gym'. You go back to the fridge and get an even bigger piece....

Sound familiar? Yeah, that's why I send a lot of the goodies I make off to hubbys' work in Boston; they go on a field trip without me. (they had a blast on their field trip though!!)


spicy chocolate fudge w/ pecans

1 c. salted butter (2 sticks)
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
2 lbs. of confectioners sugar
¾ cup good quality unsweetened cocoa powder
3 ts good quality vanilla extract
A pinch or two of cayenne pepper (add as much or as little as you like)
A good sized pinch of sea salt
1 ½ cup of sweet & spicy pecans* (I used 2 cups, I love a lot of nuts. Make sure to leave them whole, not chopped up)

In a separate bowl sift together powdered sugar and cocoa; set aside. Butter a 9 x 12 non-stick pan. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and cream cheese, stirring often. Do not boil! Remove from heat add in the pinch of salt, vanilla extract and pepper, mix again. Add the sifted sugar & cocoa to the cheese mixture, mixing well.
Stir in the nuts. Pour into buttered 9"x12" pan. Chill at least 3 hours or until really firm.
My fudge came out easily from the pan. Recipe by Dawn Finicane of vanillakitchen.blogspot.com If you don’t have a non-stick pan use parchment paper. Don’t spray it with Pam….that will taste horrible.
Makes 3 pounds.

*the sweet & spicy pecans can be found at Trader Joe’s. If you can’t find them try your local grocery store or nut shop. If you're going to add in your own nuts, make sure to toast them first. You want that crispy, flavorful nut in this fudge, and toasting helps bring out the flavor of all nuts.

vanilla poundcake w/ creamsicle frosting

Creamsicle.
Remember that flavor as a kid? I can't tell you how many creamsicles I ate as a kid. That creamy flavor combo of orange and milk. I remember biting into the first creamsicle of the summer season with the hard orange crust that would break with just enough force to open up the creamy middle milky center.
Lately I've been craving a creamsicle type frosting. Since I could just make the frosting and eat it on it's own...but no, I'll make a cake to go with.
I realize poundcake doesn't always come to mind when you think of frosting something new, but I have wanted to dress up a poundcake, so here is the perfect opportunity.

 I started my search for frostings or glazes of the creamsicle variety, but most of them were just butter, milk and some orange zest. Not very creamsicle-like. So, I set out to try and find my own recipe that would hit the creamsicle flavor mark right on the head. After a few experiments I finally found one I liked and it closely resembled that of a creamsicle. I would also love to try this frosting on a carrot cake; for some reason I just think it would be awesome melding all those flavors together.
Of course you don't have to put this frosting on poundcake, any vanilla cake or cupcake will do.




vanilla pound cake w/ creamsicle frosting
pound cake recipe from America's Test Kitchen
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pound cake:
16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks), cold, plus extra for greasing pan
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract + some vanilla beans about 1 ts (optional)
1¾ cups cake flour (7 ounces), plus extra for dusting pan
½ teaspoon table salt
1¼ cups sugar (8 3/4 ounces)

Cut butter into 1-tablespoon pieces and place in bowl of standing mixer; let stand at room temperature 20 to 30 minutes to soften slightly (butter should reach no more than 60 degrees). Using dinner fork, beat eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla in liquid measuring cup until combined. Let egg mixture stand at room temperature until ready to use.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Generously butter 9 by 5-inch loaf pan; dust pan liberally with flour and knock out excess.
In standing mixer fitted with flat beater, beat butter and salt at medium-high speed until shiny, smooth, and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes, scraping bottom and sides of bowl once with rubber spatula.
Reduce speed to medium; with mixer running, gradually pour in sugar (this should take about 60 seconds). Once all sugar is added, increase speed to medium-high and beat until mixture is fluffy and almost white in color, 5 to 8 minutes, scraping bottom and sides of bowl once.
With mixer running at medium speed, gradually add egg mixture in slow, steady stream; this should take 60 to 90 seconds. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl; beat mixture at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes (mixture may look slightly broken). Remove bowl from mixer; scrape bottom and sides.
In 3 additions, sift flour over butter/egg mixture; after each addition, fold gently with rubber spatula until combined. Scrape along bottom of bowl to ensure that batter is consistent.
Transfer batter to prepared loaf pan and smooth surface with rubber spatula. Bake until golden brown and wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 70 to 80 minutes. Cool cake in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes; invert cake onto wire rack, then turn cake right side up. Cool cake on rack to room temperature, about 2 hours.

creamsicle frosting
(this frosting was created off the top of my head, so I might be off a bit on measurements, but taste it as you go along to find your own desired taste)

1 stick+ unsalted butter, room temp (might need 1-2 TB more)
2+ cups confectioners sugar (might need 1-2 TB more)
4 TB cream cheese, softened
Pinch or two of sea salt
1-3 dashes of half & half (or milk)
2 ts of orange zest, plus more for garnish (if desired)
1 or 2 TB of the juice from same orange

Mix all ingredients into large bowl and using an electric mixer beat until a nice creamy frosting is achieved. If you like a thicker frosting use less of the half & half, for thinner frosting add more half & half. Frost cooled pound cake, decorate with orange zest as a garnish, slice and serve.