Owl Cupcakes

I forgot about these. Whoops. I made owl cupcakes (with the help of Gabe, my mom, and Nick... The first two had a couple of drinks in them. Whoops.)

All I did was made a boxed cupcake, topped them with frosting, then used the frosting halves of Oreos for eyes, other broken bits of Oreos for eyebrows (?) and Reese's Pieces for the eyes and beak.

My helpers. 

Some of the more "normal" looking ones.

Super Fudgey Brownie Cupcakes

Okay this is the end of me getting caught up and being a lazy a-hole. I made these yesterday. I was really in the mood for chocolate and a cupcake, but I wanted it to be as fudgey as possible (God, why won't Google Chrome recognize 'fudgey' as a word? It should totally be one). We were going to an old family friend's house for dinner and needed a dessert that would be kid friendly. What kid doesn't like a brownie? Well, what person doesn't like a brownie?

Deliciousness. That's all I've got.

What you'll need:

• 1 stick of butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 oz milk chocolate, melted
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

To make:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin tin with 12 liners

-In a large bowl whisk together the melted butter, sugar and vanilla extract. Add one egg at a time and whisk. Mix in melted chocolate and oil. 

-Add flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda to wet mixture and whisk until combined.

-Fill liners and bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool. I topped mine with cocoa infused whipped cream. 

Coconut Cream Cupcakes

This is the last of my Thanksgiving baking. I promise. I didn't post anything for Christmas, because you guys already have the recipes (apparently I'm getting less creative).

Or am I? I made these babies after my failure of a coconut cream pie. The pie wouldn't set and it was a disaster, but I felt compelled to make sure my family had a coconut-y dessert. So this is what happened.

What you'll need:

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 shredded, sweetened coconut
• 1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
• 2 eggs and 2 egg whites
• 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• The frosting found here
• toasted coconut for topping

To make:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin tin with liners.

- In a mixing bowl, mix together butter, sugar, then add eggs, egg whites, coconut milk, and vanilla extract.

-In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and coconut then add to wet mixture and mix until combined.

-Fill cupcake liners, bake for 20 minutes, let cool, then frost and top with toasted coconut. 

French Silk Pie

Yeah. I'm still working on posting my Thanksgiving recipes. I've only been on winter break for a month... I have no clue how I haven't found the time to post them, but I swear. I'm finishing them today! Better late than never, right?

Let me entice you with chocolate curls and whipped cream. Is it working? If it isn't, you're clearly a Communist (If you're a Communist, good for you. Thanks for reading my blog).

French Silk Pie is probably my favorite treat on Thanksgiving. My mom has been making this recipe for years, so there's a bit of nostalgia attached to it.  


What you'll need:

• 1 graham cracker crust
• 1 jar marshmallow fluff (7 oz.)
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 2 oz unsweetened baker's chocolate
• 2 tablespoons strongly brewed coffee
• 1 cup heavy cream, whipped

(topping)

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• chocolate shavings to top

To make:

-In a heavy saucepan, combine marshmallow fluff, chocolate chips, butter, unsweetened chocolate, and coffee; cook and stir often on low heat until everything is melted and the mixture is smooth. Cool. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into crust.

- Prepare whipping cream by beating heavy cream and powdered sugar together until stiff peaks form. Top the pie then add chocolate shavings, if desired.

Pumpkin Pie

I don't even have anything clever to start this one off with. My brain is fried after finishing finals.
I guess I can tell you that I've never eaten pumpkin pie and probably never will. But I made it for my family!

What you'll need:

• one pre-made pie crust
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups, canned, pureed pumpkin
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg plus two egg yolks, beaten
• 1 cup cream
• 1/2 stick melted butter 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

To make:

-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

-Place a piece of pre-made (whether store-bought or homemade) pie crust on the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate. Pinch and crimp ends to make a pattern, or really do whatever you can. (I'm not exactly good at this part...) Put the pie shell in the freezer for an hour to form shape, then cover in foil and bake for ten minutes. Remove foil.

-To make the filling, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the pumpkin then beat until combined. Mix in the sugar salt, then the eggs (one at a time). Add the cream, melted butter, vanilla, then pumpkin pie spice. Beat until combined.

-Pour mixture into the pre-baked pie shell. Bake for 50 minutes, then let cool completely before serving.