Gooey Butter CUPcakes!

Ok I'm jumping onto the gooey-butter-cake bandwagon and
I'm kind of obsessed. Since the last gooey butter cake I made was such a success, I decided to try Paula Deen's famous recipe. There are hundreds of different variations that can be done to the basic backbone recipe. The recipe uses a box cake as a "crust" that turns out being a soft cake layer, and then is covered in gooey topping that consists of cream cheese, powdered sugar and of course, butter.

This version was a chocolate peanut butter combo gooey butter cake. It's best to bake the cake in a 9x12 glass pyrex dish but since I only had an 8x8 pyrex, I put dollops of the extra crust and extra gooey topping into cupcake liners and made mini cakes. I baked the cupcakes for about 18 minutes (until edges are set and middle is still jiggly and gooey looking) and the 8x8 cake for 40 minutes.

I absolutely LOVE the gooey butter cupcakes because it makes this recipe so much easier to share with friends and family! No more cutting up messy squares of cake when everyone can have their own individual cake with their own individual crunchy, sweet edges and warm gooey center. And they are cuter. These cupcakes can be made with any combo of cake mix and gooey butter topping...any at all....ooohh the calorific possibilities!!!

Paula Deen's Gooey Butter Cake (Chocolate Peanut Butter variation!)

Ingredients:

Cake:
1 18 1/4-ounce chocolate cake mix
1 egg
1/2 c (1 stick) butter, melted

Filling:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 c (1 stick) butter, melted

1 16-ounce box powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the 3/4 mixture into the bottom of an 8x8 inch pan. Divide the rest of the mixture among 6 cupcake liners and pat down into mini crusts.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, peanut butter, butter and beat together.

Next, add the powdered sugar and mix well. Spread 3/4 of the mixture over cake batter in 8x8 inch pan and divide the rest among the 6 cupcake liners. Bake cupcakes for 15-18 minutes and 8x8 inch cake for 40-45 minutes. Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey.

Cake

Dark Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting, Peanut Butter Ganache and Peanut Brittle Cake.

The dark chocolate cake isn't that dark- it's just moist and delicious. I've never been super happy with from-scratch cakes but this recipe is amazing!

Dark Chocolate Cake

from Allrecipes.com

• 2 cups boiling water or coffee
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 3 - 9 inch round cake pans. In medium bowl, pour boiling water over cocoa, and whisk until smooth. Let mixture cool. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at time, then stir in vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture. Spread batter evenly between the 3 prepared pans.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Adapted from Sky High: Irresistable Triple-Layer Cakes

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 cup smooth peanut butter, preferably a commercial brand (because oil doesn’t separate out)

1. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Continue to beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Add the peanut butter and beat until thoroughly blended.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze
Makes about 1 1/2 cups

8 ounces seimsweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup half-and-half or milk

1. Melt chocolate in microwave in intervals until melted and smooth. Whisk in peanut butter and liquid until desired consistency. Use warm.

Peanut Brittle

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup (or use homemade, cheaper substitute like)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 cups peanuts
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Grease a large cookie sheet or use a silpat. Set aside.
2. In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, over medium heat, bring to a boil sugar, corn syrup, salt, and water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Set candy thermometer in place, and continue cooking. Stir frequently until temperature reaches 250 degrees F and add peanuts. Keep cooking until mixture reaches 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), or until a small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water separates into hard and brittle threads.
3. Remove from heat; immediately stir in butter or margarine and baking soda; pour at once onto cookie sheet or silpat. Cool. Snap candy into pieces.

To Assemble Cake:

Fill layers of dark chocolate cake with peanut butter cream cheese frosting. Stack and frost entire cake. Let sit in fridge until the frosting hardens a bit then pour on glaze and let it drip down the sides. Decorate with chopped peanuts and peanut brittle.

Daring Baker's July Challenge

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

I used to make these cookies called choco-mallow cookies that had a chewy brownie cookie base, marshmallow on top, and was finished off with chocolate frosting. The Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies remind me of those cookies I used to make and are equally if not more delicious. I put a little strawberry jam underneath the marshmallow of a third of the cookies, a little peanut butter for the other third, and the rest i made normal. I dipped most of them in dark chocolate until i ran out and had to use milk. I brought them over to my relatives and everyone enjoyed them- kids and adults! The adults said it reminded them of choco-pies, a confection that used to be more common in supermarkets and concists of marshmallow sandwiched between two biscuits all covered in chocolate. The kids like them because they had chocolate and marshmallow all in one of course!

Prep Time: 10 min
Inactive Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Serves: about 2 dozen cookies

• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter
• 3 eggs, whisked together
• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows
• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.
2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.
3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.
4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.
8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.
9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.
10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.
11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.
12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.
13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.

Homemade marshmallows:
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 egg whites , room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.
3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.
5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.
6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate glaze:
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

1. Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.

Daring Baker's Flourless Chocolate Cake

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge. The Chocolate Valentino was a flourless chocolate cake made of only three ingredients, paired with either the vanilla ice cream or an ice cream of your choice. I'm pretty sure most of the daring bakers tried to make this for valentine's day because it's the epitome of a valentines day dessert- deep dark melt-in-your-mouth chocolatey cake paired with a sweet creamy ice cream...mmmm. I chose to make a dark chocolate cake with coconut ice cream. I halved the recipe and cooked it for 15 minutes which turned out to be too little so the center of my cake was not fully cooked, which turned out to be not so disastrous because of how rich this cake was. I used the cooked parts to make a flourless chocolate cake and coconut ice cream parfait which turned out to be a nice combination- the only thing that went badly was how big it was. All anyone needs is probably about two or three bites of the cake and you'll be set...it's more intense than fudge, but also a million times more amazing! The ice cream was also fantastic, creamy and perfect for anyone who likes coconut.


Chocolate Valentino
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.
Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Dharm's Ice Cream Recipe
Classic Vanilla Ice Cream
Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Recipe comes from the Ice Cream Book by Joanna Farrow and Sara Lewis (tested modifications and notes in parentheses by Dharm)

Ingredients
1 Vanilla Pod (or substitute with vanilla extract)
300ml / ½ pint / 1 ¼ cups Semi Skimmed Milk – in the U.S. this is 2% fat (or use fresh full fat milk that is pasteurised and homogenised {as opposed to canned or powdered}). Dharm used whole milk.
4 large egg yolks
75g / 3oz / 6 tbsp caster sugar {superfine sugar can be achieved in a food processor or use regular granulated sugar}
5ml / 1 tsp corn flour {cornstarch}
300ml / ½ pint / 1 ¼ cups Double Cream (48% butter fat) {in the U.S. heavy cream is 37% fat)
{you can easily increase your cream's fat content by heating 1/4 cup of heavy cream with 3 Tbs of butter until melted - cool to room temperature and add to the heavy cream as soon as whisk marks appear in the cream, in a slow steady stream, with the mixer on low speed. Raise speed and continue whipping the cream) or use heavy cream the difference will be in the creaminess of the ice cream.

1. Using a small knife slit the vanilla pod lengthways. Pour the milk into a heavy based saucepan, add the vanilla pod and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and leave for 15 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse
Lift the vanilla pod up. Holding it over the pan, scrape the black seeds out of the pod with a small knife so that they fall back into the milk. SET the vanilla pod aside and bring the milk back to the boil.
2. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and corn-flour in a bowl until the mixture is thick and foamy. 3. Gradually pour in the hot milk, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the pan and cook over a gentle hear, stirring all the time
4. When the custard thickens and is smooth, pour it back into the bowl. Cool it then chill.
5. By Hand: Whip the cream until it has thickened but still falls from a spoon. Fold it into the custard and pour into a plastic tub or similar freeze-proof container. Freeze for 6 hours or until firm enough to scoop, beating it twice (during the freezing process – to get smoother ice cream or else the ice cream will be icy and coarse)
By Using and Ice Cream Maker: Stir the cream into the custard and churn the mixture until thick (follow instructions on your ice cream maker)

Wendy's Ice Cream Recipe
Vanilla Philadelphia Style Recipe
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
2 cups (473 ml) of half and half (1 cup of heavy cream and 1 cup of whole, full fat milk)
1 cup (237 ml) heavy cream
2/3 (128 grams) cup sugar
Dash of salt
1 (12 grams) tablespoon of vanilla

Mix all ingredients together (we do this in a plastic pitcher and mix with an emulsifier hand blender-whisking works too).
Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer
Mix in your ice cream maker as directed.

David Lebovitz link for making ice cream if you do not have an ice cream freezer.

Links to helpful tips:
Folding video demonstration.
Egg Whipping video demonstration.

Coconut Ice Cream

• 1 cup milk
• 1 (14 ounce) can cream of coconut
  
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut (optional)

Note:( cream of coconut can be found in the mixed drinks aisle, it is NOT coconut milk. It is sweet and a brand you can probably find is coco lopez

1. Combine the milk and cream of coconut in the container of a food processor or blender, and mix thoroughly. Stir in cream and flaked coconut.
2. Pour into the container of an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.