Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

February 21, 2021November 5, 2020 ~ Max ~ Leave a comment

I’m not sure if this is considered a muffin or cupcake, but we’ll call it a muffin so it sounds healthier. I based this recipe on The Best Blueberry Muffins but turned it into a pumpkin muffin that was delicious.

Ingredients:

For the Muffin:

1 stick and 2 tbsp butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup toffuti sour cream
1.5 cup pure pureed pumpkin
2 eggs
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
turbinado sugar

For the Icing:

1 cup icing sugar
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

For the Muffins:

Heat oven to 375˚ F and line muffin tin with 12 liners

Combine melted margarine, sugars, sour cream, eggs, and pumpkin in mixer.

Add baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, salt, flour and oats. Mix well.

Transfer to muffin tin and top with turbinado sugar.

Bake for 30-35 mins.

For the Icing:

Mix sugar, cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract in mixer. Combine well.

Transfer to piping bag with round tip. Cut slice into top of muffin and inject icing into muffin.

Cheesy Pull-Apart Loaf

December 27, 2020 ~ Max ~ Leave a comment

Ingredients:

For the Bread:

3/4 cup milk, warmed in microwave
1/4 cup warm water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp yeast
3 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 egg
Block Cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
Shredded mozzarella to top
Optional – add parmesan on top

For the Topping:

1/4 cup butter, melted
2 gloves garlic minced
1/2 tsp oregano

Directions:

Combine warm water and milk in a bowl. Add sugar and yeast and mix. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.

In a stand mixer with paddle attachment combine 2 cups of flour and salt, add butter and egg and mix well until crumbly.

Add yeast mixture, mix well and add remaining flour.

Switch to dough hook and knead for 6-8 minutes.

Transfer to oiled bowl and allow to rise for 1 hour covered (until doubled)

In a parchment lined and greased pan alternate between placing torn pieces of dough and cheese. Cover and allow to rise for 1 hour (I proofed in the oven on bread proof for 30 minutes). I also topped with additional shredded mozzarella on top.

Mix topping ingredients in a bowl

Brush dough with topping.

Bake at 400˚F for 10 minutes, and then lower to 350˚ (remove lid of dutch oven if using – see below) and bake for an additional 25 minutes.

Alternatively bake at 375˚F for 40 minutes

Optional: bake for the first 10 minutes in a dutch oven to help contain the moisture and give it a crispy top. I preheated my dutch oven prior to putting the bread in.

Cold Brew Cheesecake with Espresso Ganache

October 18, 2020April 11, 2020 ~ Marvin ~ 1 Comment

Adapted from kitchen-tested.com, this cheesecake has multiple layers of coffee and is covered with a rich chocolate ganache topping.

Ingredients:

For the crust:

2 ½ cups chocolate baking or graham cracker crumbs
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
For the cold brew cheesecake:
24 oz. (three 8 oz. bricks) light cream cheese, room temperature
1 ½ cups light sour cream
3 large eggs, room temperature
¾ cup pure maple syrup
½ cup cold brew concentrate
½ tsp. kosher salt
¼ cup espresso liqueur

For the coffee liqueur ganache:

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup whipping/heavy cream
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 tbsp. espresso liqueur

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350F and line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper sprayed with nonstick spray.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the “s” blade, pulse together the baking/graham crumbs with the melted butter until moistened.

Transfer the mixture to the baking pan and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 325F.

While the crust is cooling, in a cleaned food processor bowl fitted with the “s” blade, combine the cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, maple syrup, cold brew, and salt until smooth.

Transfer all but ½ cup of the batter to the baking pan.

Add the espresso liqueur to the ½ cup batter and combine until smooth.

Drizzle the mixture over the cake and swirl with a toothpick.

Place a small bowl of boiling water beside the baking pan in the oven and bake for 35 minutes. Turn the oven off but leave the door closed for 15 minutes. Prop the oven door open for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

Place the pan in the fridge for 4-24 hours. To make the ganache, in a double boiler combine the chocolate chips and heavy cream until smooth.

Add the butter and espresso liqueur and stir until melted.

Pour the ganache over the top of the cheesecake and allow it to set for 30 minutes in the fridge before serving. The ganache will cover any cracks in the cheesecake.

Apple Pear Galette

September 6, 2020June 21, 2020 ~ Max ~ Leave a comment

This recipe was based on a previous apple pie I made. I modified it to turn it into a galette which was simple and quick.

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour
6 tbsp. ice water.
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) butter or margarine
1 egg, beaten + 1 tsp water (can replace with melted margarine to be vegan)

For the Filling:

2 apples, thinly sliced
2 pears, thinly sliced
0.5 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar
1.5 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
a pinch of salt

Directions:

Combine 1/2 cup flour, water and vinegar in a small bowl.

In a large bowl, combine remaining flour, powdered sugar and salt.

Add margarine (cut into small pea sized balls). Cut into flour mixture with a pastry cutter or fork.

Add wet ingredients to this mixture.

Wrap dough in saran wrap and refrigerate for 30mins – 1 hour.

Mix filling ingredients in a bowl.

Preheat oven to 400˚F

Roll out to approximately 1/8 of an inch.

Transfer to a cookie sheet.

Place filling on dough with approximately 2 inches of crust around the edge.

Fold crust over top.

Brush crust with egg wash. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake for 35-45 minutes.

Elaborate Vanilla Birthday Cake

July 12, 2020April 4, 2020 ~ Max ~ Leave a comment

This is a vanilla cake that I threw together for a birthday that looked perfect for instagram. It was quite laborious but made during quarantine when we had all the time in the world (which is hopefully over by the time this is being posted, but we’ll see).

Give this a shot to try and impress a crowd.

The cake base is slightly modified from Earl Grey Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla “Buttercream”

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

1/2 cup strained and cooled tea concentrate (I used a vanilla oolong tea – 2-3 tbsp tea + 1/2 cup boiling water)
1 3/4 cup cake flour
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4 eggs
1 cup 1% milk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the Icing:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter (softened)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons milk or cream

For the Ganache:

1/2 cup heavy cream
4 oz chocolate chips or dark chocolate

Directions:

For the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350° and spray 2-3 cake pans (depending on layers).

1) Steep tea (in filter) with 1/2 cup boiling water. Allow to cool

2) In a mixer combine flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix on medium speed until well combined (about a minute).

3) Add butter, a few cubes at a time until the mixture becomes like coarse sand.

4) Add eggs one at a time

5) Add milk, vanilla and tea concentrate and beat well. Scrape down as necessary

6) Transfer to prepared cake pans and bake for 35-45 minutes (depending on 2 or 3 layers).

Allow to cool for 1 hour before preparing icing.

For the icing

1) Cream butter. Add vanilla extract and mix well.

2) Add sugar 1 cup at a time, adding milk or cream if not combining

Ice in between layers and assemble the cake. Trim off excess on the top to ensure layers are even. Use a spatula to smooth out the edges.

I used fondant to cover the cake as well so I only put a “crumb coat of icing” however, you can also transfer the cake the fridge or freezer to cool before adding a top coat of icing.

For the Ganache:

Before putting ganache on top, make sure cake is cold (in fridge or freezer for > 1 hour.

Melt chocolate and heavy cream over a double boiler until combined. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes to cool.

Transfer to piping bag or ziplock and cut a small hole at the bottom.

Pipe along the edges, pausing to allow ganache to drip down the sides of the cake. Cover the top in ganache and smooth out with knife.

For Decorations:

Top with anything you can find, laying it out in an organized manner. I used a mix of sprinkles, chocolate covered pretzels, candy canes, peanut butter cups, chocolate covered espresso beans and mini eggs. I also used icing to attach crushed mini eggs (using a cast iron skillet and a ziplock) around the edge.

Sourdough Cinnamon Buns

June 14, 2020March 26, 2020 ~ Max ~ Leave a comment

I know, you’re over the sourdough trend – but I was out of yeast and have been trying to come up with other uses of my starter. I settled on sourdough cinnamon buns and they were delicious. If you’ve mastered the starter I highly recommend this recipe.

The base recipe comes from the Clever Carrot and the icing comes from Gimme Some Oven.

If you have a cast iron skillet I highly suggest you use it for this. otherwise use a spring form pan or pyrex.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

2/3 cup milk (skim, 1% or 2%)
2 tbsp/28g unsalted butter (+ 2 tbsp/28 g additional)
1 large egg
1/2 cup/100 g bubbly active starter (fed the night before)
2 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 cup/300g all purpose flour
1/2 tsp fine sea salt

For the filling:

1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp cinnamon

For the icing:

:
1/2 cup/4 oz cream cheese, softened
3 tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Melt butter. Add milk.

Put egg, starter and sugar in stand mixer. Add milk mixture and mix wiht paddle.

Add flour and salt and continue mixing until combined. Cover with towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

Use dough hook and mix for 5 minutes. Add more flour if dough is sticking to sides.

Transfer dough to bowl coated in oil or butter and cover with towel.

Allow to rest for 30 minutes, perform a single stretch and fold. Cover and let rise overnight (8-12 hours).

Stretch and fold edges toward the centre to deflate dough. turn over and allow to rest for 15 minutes

Melt 2 tbsp butter. Combine sugar and cinnamon in bowl.

Roll out dough out to approx. 16 x 12 inches on a floured surface. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture overtop.

Roll tightly along the long end. I chose to cut them into smaller buns, approximately 1 inch each. I used a serrated knife. You can also use unflavoured floss.

Place dough in greased or sprayed pan. Allow to rise for 2 hours.

Bake for 25 minutes at 350˚F.

Allow to cool.

Mix all icing ingredients in mixmaster with paddle attachment.

Transfer icing to a ziplock and piped onto the cinnamon buns once cooled.

Banana Bread with Buttercream Frosting

February 23, 2020December 14, 2019 ~ Max ~ Leave a comment

This banana bread uses an interesting ingredient to make it super moist. Not one you would expect, but with a little explanation it makes sense. Mayonnaise. Yes it sounds weird, but mayonnaise is made up of oil and eggs, two ingredients that make this banana bread super moist.

Make sure to use super ripe bananas because they are sweeter and have a better texture. Some grocery stores sell their over-ripe bananas at a great deal so look out of them- I got a massive bag of bananas for 99 cents.

Ingredients:

For the Banana Bread:

6 Medium Bananas
1 cup mayonnaise
2 egg
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup chocolate chips

For the Icing:

1 cup butter, softened
3 cups icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tbsp milk (depending how thick you want the icing)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line and spray a 9×13 pan.

Mash bananas in a large bowl (or mixmaster). Add mayo and egg and mix well.

Add flour, baking soda, salt and sugar. Mix until combined.

Add chocolate chips and mix briefly.

Pour batter into prepared 9×13 pan.

Bake for 40-55 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool. Remove from pan.

While cooling prepare icing. Cream butter on medium speed for 3-4 minutes.

Add icing sugar 1 cup at a time, alternating with milk. Add vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.

Ice the banana bread and cut into individual slices. I piped the icing on for the pattern here. These can be wrapped individually in Saran Wrap. Store in an airtight container.

The Momofuku Milk Bar Cake

November 3, 2019August 6, 2019 ~ Max ~ Leave a comment

This post isn’t an original or modified recipe, but instead an experience with a recipe. I’ve included a link to the recipe I followed from Bon Appétit. I didn’t make any changes, but altered the proportions to make the cake larger. I made three times the cake batter from the proportions in the recipe and double the crumb and frosting. In hindsight I would have made triple the frosting as well (I ran a little short when assembling the cake).

I’ve included pictures of the process and a photo of the final product however you can follow the instructions and ingredients in the Bon Appétit recipe.

As for equipment, I bought a 10 inch cake pan for assembly at Michaels, and some sheets of acetate paper.

Mixed Dry Ingredients.