Chocolate Merlot Cupcakes

It was Alison's birthday a few weeks ago. Surprisingly, the Martha Stewart high was still going strong so I made a pot roast and for her birthday cake I combined her two great (food) loves: chocolate and red wine.

Total time: 30 minutes, including time to cool and frost cupcakes.

VERDICT: The merlot flavor is really subtle in the cake. I can see why other recipes recommend using a wine syrup instead of straight wine. Overall, a good dessert with a roast, very at-home/Sunday dinner-y flavor. Alison (and Ken!) liked it so that's all that counts really.

Chocolate Merlot Cupcakes

adapted from "Wine Tasting Cakes" recipe from Boozy Cakes, yields ~1 dozen cupcakes

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup merlot

1 1/4 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 oz melted dark chocolate/9 tablespoons cocoa powder

1. Preheat oven 350F. Line cupcake tin with liners.

2. Sift flour, baking powder, spices, and cocoa powder (if you're using it). Stir and set aside.

3. Cream butter and sugar together, make sure there are no lumps of butter or sugar.

4. Beat in eggs, one at a time, to butter mixture. Add melted chocolate (if you're using it) and stir..

5. Add flour mixture to batter, 1/2 cup at a time. Alternate with merlot. Mix well.

6. Fill cupcake tins 3/4 with batter and bake for 20-25 minutes or until just set. Cool before frosting.

Merlot Buttercream Frosting

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)

4 cups powdered sugar

3/4 cup merlot

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Soften butter and sift powdered sugar to remove clumps.

2. Add powdered sugar to butter, 1 cup at a time. Alternate with merlot in small batches. You may need more or less merlot to get your desired consistency.

Boozy Bears, Part I

No baking this last week I had a cold and the week was nuts. I've been on a bit of pantry cleaning kick lately and my latest experiment is boozy gummy bears.  I had a bunch of red gummy bears lying around and decided to get rid of them. Long story short, all red gummy bears taste like cough syrup to me...

Gummy Bears, Vodka, Done.

Vodka Gummy Bears

Shallow dish/tupperware

Vodka

Gummy bears

If this works, it will be the easiest boozy treat ever. I put the gummy bears in a single layer and poured enough vodka to just cover the bears; I wanted the vodka to diffuse into the bears and if memory of diffusion mechanics serves correctly, that means not having the bears swimming in vodka to begin with. *FINGERS CROSSED*

Yes, that is kale on my counter.  Sometimes, I'm healthy.

Before: 1.9 cm bear

Game Day Lemon Tea Cookies

Still high on the Martha Stewart crack that led to the New Year's cupcakes, I decided to make some Minnesota Vikings' themed snacks to eat while the game was on. No, I am not a Vikings' fan, but I live with one and I love any excuse for a theme party, even if it is only for 2 people. I'm far too lazy/frugal to buy food coloring so I thought I'd try to fashion appropriately colored snacks out of natural ingredients: blackberries (purple) and lemons (yellow).

Total time: ~1 hour, but that includes an icing mishap (blackberry juice looks more pink than purple), taking a break for a glass of Albariño, and making up a Vikings-inspired cocktail. Also, zesting lemons always takes longer than I think it will.

VERDICT: total self-call, but the cookies are AMAZING (and were an excellent way to continue the pantry clean out). So delicate and buttery. The lemon icing was surprisingly light and the Meyer lemons were not as cloying as I thought they would be. Definitely making these again for summer gatherings.

Lemon Tea Cookies (with icing)

adapted from What's Cooking America, yields 2-3 dozen cookies (depending on size).

2 sticks butter

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

4 teaspoons lemon zest

6 tablespoons lemon juice (strained please!)

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup corn starch

1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Combine butter, 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar, and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice.

2. Add flour, corn starch, salt, and lemon zest to butter mixture. Knead dough with hands to make sure that there are no lumps of butter.

3. Roll dough into 3/4 to 1-inch balls and space an inch apart on an un-greased cookie sheet.

4. For the icing: in a small bowl, whisk in powdered sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, to remaining lemon juice until icing has the consistency of thick glue. Add more powdered sugar if needed. For a boozy icing, use limoncello and lemon zest instead of juice.

5. Bake for 15 minutes. The tops will be pale, but the bottoms should be golden brown. Let cool completely before icing (the cookies are very delicate when they first come out of the oven; let them cool for a few minutes before moving to a cooling rack).

Minnesota Vikings' "Mojito" Cooler

frozen blackberries, muddled

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 oz lemon juice

1 oz vodka

mint-flavored sparkling water (I was too lazy to get mint so I substituted flavored sparkling water for the muddled mint and club soda.)

lemon twist (garnish)

ice

Added some yellow sugar to make the cookies pop.
The lemon 'V' was a complete accident.

Boozy Chocolate Peppermint Crinkles

I had a ton of peppermint candies and creme de menthe from making peppermint mocha cupcakes and obviously need to use them up. There was a serious lack of cookies in the apartment and making 2 cupcake batches in less than a week seemed excessive (I cannot have 2 tubs of leftover cake topping/frosting in the fridge), so I decided to make chocolate crinkle cookies with a minty and boozy twist.

Total time: ~45 minutes, includes letting cookies cool and drinking wine and catching up on T.I. and Tiny (best show on VH1 in my humble opinion).

VERDICT: the roommate was pleasantly surprised to see even more treats in the apartment and ate a good portion of them after dinner. She also agreed to share with her coworkers if there were leftovers. I assume it's a good sign that she thinks other people might want in on them. Sadly, the booze bakes out of the cookies, but making a cookie sandwich with some leftover boozy ganache would solve that problem or even a quick boozy buttercream.

Chocolate Peppermint Crinkles

adapted from Real Simple, yields 3-4 dozen cookies (depending on size).

1 1/4 cup flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 salt

1 stick butter

1 cup light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 shot creme de menthe

powdered sugar (for dusting)

crushed peppermint candies (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2. Cream butter and brown sugar. Beat eggs in, one at a time, then add creme de menthe.

3. Add flour mixture and mix well. The dough should be smooth and pliable, but not elastic like bread dough. Let the dough rest for ~10 minutes in the fridge to making shaping cookies easier. Optional: crush peppermint candies (see peppermint mocha cupcake post) and mix with powdered sugar.

4. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place on an un-greased cookie sheet. Roll dough in powdered sugar (or peppermint candy dust and powdered sugar). Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cracks form on cookie surface.

5. Let cookies cool and dust with more sugar.

Champagne Cupcakes

Low key dinner party with friends for New Year's Eve. The theme was "Pizza Party For Grown Ups." Boozy cupcakes for an adult pizza party seemed appropriate and well, there's nothing like champagne for New Year's boozing. I was definitely high on some Martha Stewart crack when I decided to make the cupcakes and the pizza from scratch.

Total time: ~1 hour, includes letting cakes cool and frosting cakes.

VERDICT: It's always a good sign when people go beyond the polite amount of cake to eat, isn't it? This cake also inspired the Llamaface to re-write Dolly Parton's "Jolene" in my honor.

Champagne Cupcakes

adapted from "Champagne Layer Cake" recipe taken from Boozy Cakes, yields 18 cupcakes

10 tablespoons butter

2 cups flour

1 1/4 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon whiskey vanilla

2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup champagne

1. Preheat oven 350F. Line cupcake tin with liners.

2. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir and set aside.

3. Cream butter and sugar together, make sure there are no lumps of butter or sugar.

4. Beat in eggs, one at a time, to butter mixture. Add vanilla and stir.

5. Add flour mixture to batter, 1/2 cup at a time. Alternate with champagne. Mix well.

6. Fill cupcake tins 3/4 with batter and bake for 20 minutes or until just golden brown.

Champagne Frosting

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)

4 cups powdered sugar

3/4 cup champagne

1 tablespoon whiskey vanilla

*optional: 2-3 drops food coloring, I dissolved a few heaping spoonfuls of pink sugar in the champagne

1. Soften butter and sift powdered sugar to remove clumps.

2. Add powdered sugar to butter, 1 cup at a time. Alternate with champagne in small batches. You may need more or less.

Boozy Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes

So I somehow convinced a friend to take me as her date to her work holiday party (free alcohol! yay, but no...) As a thank you, I made her these cupcakes, which were "christmas-y," as requested and as much as I hate to admit it, were inspired by the Starbucks holiday menu.

Total time: 2 hours --- 30 minutes to make the cakes and ganache, 30 minutes to let them cool, and an hour to let the ganache set/put on make up and blow out hair.

VERDICT: The friend/date really liked them or was nice enough to eat 3 for my benefit. Added bonus, the hardened ganache glaze keeps the cakes fresh for an extra couple of days.

Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes 

adapted from Mark Bittman's chocolate cake recipe in How to Cook Everything, yields 12 cupcakes.

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened (or melted if you're lazy like I am)
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
9 tablespoons coccoa powder
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 shot kahlua
1 shot creme de menthe


1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a cupcake tin with paper liners.
2. Cream the butter until smooth gradually add the sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy. Beat in the yolks one at a time, followed by the coccoa powder and vanilla.
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, soda and salt in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to mixture a bit at a time and stir in by hand alternating with the milk and liqueurs. Don’t overmix.
4. Beat egg whites until they are soft peaks and gently fold into the rest of mixture.
5. Fill cupcake liners ~3/4 the way full. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcakes comes out clean.
6. Cool on a wire rack before frosting.

Peppermint Ganache Glaze

12 oz dark/semisweet chocolate, chopped or in chips

1 cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons creme de menthe, or more if you like

1. Heat cream on medium-high heat, take off stove JUST BEFORE cream boils.

2. Pour heated cream over chocolate and stir until smooth and glossy.

3. Add creme de menthe and let cool before topping cupcakes. To top cupcakes, dip cooled cakes into ganache and let set at room temperature for ~1 hour. 

Confession: the ganache glaze was really me being too lazy
to cream butter and sift sugar to make frosting.

Red cupcake liners make the cupcakes really festive AND
compliment the crushed candy topping.

Easiest topping ever. 

Add crushed peppermint candy before ganache
sets for that extra Martha Stewart touch.

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

As a result of my pumpkin puree hoarding, I had a lot of pumpkin to experiment with. I thought about making a boozy pumpkin pie, but who has time on a Friday night to wait for dough to chill and then roll it out? Not me, I got happy hours to pre-game (kidding, kind of). I decided to compromise and make a pumpkin pie cupcake, with a graham cracker "crust" cake and a pumpkin pie "filling" frosting. This was originally a sober recipe, but I'm adding a boozy suggestion in parenthesis.

Total time: 45 minutes, includes letting cakes cool before frosting and drinking 2 glasses of sauvignon blanc.

VERDICT: The roommate liked it and has had multiple helpings. Flavor-wise, it captures the end of fall pretty well and pairs surprisingly well with red wine.

Pie "crust" cupcakes 

(adapted from s'mores cake, yields 12 cupcakes)

1 cup flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or whiskey vanilla extract)
1/2 cup milk (or cinnamon liqueur, I recommend Fireball)


1. Preheat oven to 400F. Take out butter, cream cheese, and eggs so that they come to room temperature.
2. Graham cracker crumbs: take out a bunch and blend into a fine powder by pulsing in a blender/food processor OR put in a ziploc bag and crush by hand.
3. Combine flour, cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt. Make sure there are no clumps and set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, mix the butter and sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla extract, then add the flour mixture and milk in alternate batches starting with the flour mixture.
5. Fill cupcake tin to about 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400F.
6. Prepare the frosting: combine powdered sugar and spices, set aside. Mix the butter, cream cheese, and pumpkin puree, then add the sugar mixture and liqueur (if using). Make sure everything is evenly incorporated.
7. Let the cupcakes cool for 10-20 minutes before frosting.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting 

adapted from chow.com

1 stick unsalted butter
1 (8oz) package cream cheese
4 cups powdered sugar (plus extra if adding liqueur)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 can pumpkin puree
1 oz Fireball liqueur (optional)