Okay, so you want to make a cake or cupcakes with some chocolate frosting, but you're just not happy with the regular Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines chocolate frosting they sell by the can at the grocery store and you want to jazz it up a little? Well, I've got two ways to solve your chocolate icing dilemma! So you want to make a cake or some cupcakes with a Chocolate-ey, not overly sweet delicious icing but you don't know how? Try my Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing! Or, you want to make cupcakes and you want to ensure every bit as much chocolate without the big glob of fluffy icing that's really hard to make look professional and gets all over your mouth when you take a bite? Well, try my Dark Chocolate Ganache icing, it's like a delicious dark chocolate magic shell for your cupcakes! They'll look delicous and professionally done without much effort, and it's easier to eat than a 1/2 inch thick glob of frosting on your favorite cupcakes!
We'll start off with the Cream Cheese icing. Take your favorite cake mix (or make it from scratch if you're daring, but frankly without a lot of effort a cake mix can be awesome, so I'll just stick with that for now) and make and bake your cake/cupcakes as directed. This frosting goes particularly well with a dark chocolate or yellow cake mix, but hey, throw it on whatever cake you like with some delicious dark chocolate icing. Here's what you'll need!
Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 8 oz package Cream Cheese, room temperature
1/4 C butter, room temperature
3 to 4 C Confectioners (Powdered) Sugar
1/2 C Cocoa Powder (Ideally use a good brand here like Ghirardelli, though Hershey's will still make some good frosting, it's not quite the same)
Take the butter and cream cheese out of the fridge and let set out on the counter for 2 or 3 hours before you make the frosting so they can warm up to room temperature and soften up. Once the cake or cupcakes are cooling, start with the frosting. In a mixer, blend the butter and cream cheese together until smooth and completely mixed. Then, add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time and mix until completely smooth before adding in the next batch. Be sure to scrape the bowl with a spatula to get at any unmixed in sugar.
Add in 3 or 4 cups of powdered sugar until the consistency and sweetness is exactly how you want it (for example, if you're going to be piping this with a icing bag, then you probably want to put in less sugar so it is not quite as stiff). Once the sugar is completely blended in and the mixture is nice and smoothe, add in the Cocoa powder and blend again until completely mixed in and smoothe. Then spread/pipe onto your cake and/or cupcakes and enjoy! Be sure to save the bowl when you're done, you can't let any of this go to waste!
Now, say you want to impress your co-workers or your mother in law with a batch of professional looking cupcakes, and you want something deeply chocolate too? Go with a Dark Chocolate Ganache icing, it's easy, delicious, and looks like you bought the cupcakes from a cupcakery! Want to try it? Take your favorite dark chocolate cake batter and mix up some cupcakes according to the directions on the box. Once they're cooled, here's what you'll need for the ganache:
Dark Chocolate Ganache Icing:
1/2 C heavy cream
1 C Ghirardelli 60% Cocoa Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
In a double boiler (if you have it) or a heat-proof bowl (like steel or pyrex) combine the cream and chocolate chips. In a saucepan, place about 2 inches of water and put on the stove on medium-low heat. Make sure that the bowl isn't resting on the bottom of the sauce pan, and that the perimeter of the saucepan is covered by the bowl. This way the water will steam up and heat up the bowl without all the heat escaping. Place the bowl on top of the water and stir constantly until the chocolate melts and the cream and chocolate are completely mixed together. Make sure to scrape the bowl to get any unmelted chocolate melted and mixed into the cream.
Once the mixture is completely blended and melted, remove the bowl from the heat and let cool for 3-5 minutes. While it's cooling, stir occasionally with a spatula to test its consistency. Once the mixture has cooled and thickend almost to the point of hardening back up, quickly take the cupcakes and dip the tops into the bowl, spinning your wrist to make sure that the entire top of the cupcake is covered in icing and immediately set down on a cool cookie sheet or a piece of parchment paper (in case of drips).
If the ganache cools and hardens too much, simply put the bowl back onto the water and heat back up. Once all the cupcakes have been ganached, turn the burner off. Let the ganache cool on the cupcakes for at least 5 minutes before serving or packing so that it will harden appropriately. You should now have a delicious dark chocolate magic shell-like covering on your cupcakes, enjoy!
The Kitchen Bear: A diary of recipes that I create/borrow/adapt and make at home. . . and other ramblings
Monday, August 30, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Red Wine Goat Cheese Steak Sauce
So I had a few things in the fridge and thought I'd make a nice steak sauce to go with our NY Strips on the grill. I thought it'd be a good idea to combine some red wine, goat cheese and rosemary to make a delicious sauce, here's how:
5oz Goat Cheese
1/2 Cup Red Wine
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Red Wine Vinegar
2 Tbsp Crushed/Chopped Rosemary
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Freshly Cracked Pepper
Heat the Olive Oil, Red Wine and Vinegar on the stove on medium heat until a rolling boil to burn off the alcohol in the wine. Drop the temperature to low and add in the rosemary, salt, pepper and goat cheese. Use a whisk to break apart the goat cheese and stir it in until it's evenly mixed in. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes until it's thickened up considerably. Then douse on some steaks and enjoy!
5oz Goat Cheese
1/2 Cup Red Wine
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Red Wine Vinegar
2 Tbsp Crushed/Chopped Rosemary
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Freshly Cracked Pepper
Heat the Olive Oil, Red Wine and Vinegar on the stove on medium heat until a rolling boil to burn off the alcohol in the wine. Drop the temperature to low and add in the rosemary, salt, pepper and goat cheese. Use a whisk to break apart the goat cheese and stir it in until it's evenly mixed in. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes until it's thickened up considerably. Then douse on some steaks and enjoy!
4th of July Menu
Happy (Belated) 4th of July! So Caitlin and I had some people over on the 4th so we could show off the patio we built and as an excuse to make a bunch of stuff in my smoker. The smoker I got has pretty much turned into the best thing ever. I've only used it 3 or 4 times, and already, it's just awesome! So for our party I made a whole chicken and 2 racks of baby back ribs in the smoker. Let me tell you, my spice rub, combined with that smoker, made those two things unbelievably delicious! Here's what you'll need for each:
Whole Smoked Chicken
6 or 8 hours or so before you want to eat, take the chicken out of the fridge and brush it with about 1/4 cup each of apple cider vinegar (or red wine vinegar) and Olive oil. Set it on a broiler pan or a large plate and shake or rub the entire surface with spice rub and set in an unheated oven until 4 hours before dinner time. This is to allow the spices to soak in and flavor the skin and also to allow the chicken to warm up to room temperature. A little tip is that a chicken at room temperature is better for roasting than a cold chicken. Get your smoker going at about 275 degrees and set the chicken on the rack and let it go for about 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Check it with a meat thermometer, you want the internal temperature on the chicken to be at least 150 degrees in the smoker. Turn on the grill to medium or your oven broiler and put the chicken under the high heat for 10 or 15 minutes to crisp
Smoked Baby Back Ribs
Take your rib(s) the day before you want to cook them up and remove the white membrane along the back with your fingers and a paper towel (it helps you hold onto the membrane). Lay out a piece of heavy duty aluminum, enough to completely cover each rib rack. Then brush with a half and half mixture of apple cider vinegar and olive oil and then rub on a coating of rub my patented spice rub and wrap tightly in foil and put in the fridge overnight for the spices to work their way into the ribs.
The next day, get the smoker going to about 250-275 degrees and cut the rib racks in half (so they'll fit in the smoker better) and place into the smoker. Let it smoke for about 2 hours and then remove from the smoker and re-wrap in foil and let sit for about 20 or 30 minutes so the ribs will effectively braise. Then, about 15 minutes before you want to eat, throw the ribs bone side down on a grill on medium heat and brush with your favorite barbeque sauce and let them crisp up. Then right before serving, shake on another coating of rib rub and serve!
Whole Smoked Chicken
6 or 8 hours or so before you want to eat, take the chicken out of the fridge and brush it with about 1/4 cup each of apple cider vinegar (or red wine vinegar) and Olive oil. Set it on a broiler pan or a large plate and shake or rub the entire surface with spice rub and set in an unheated oven until 4 hours before dinner time. This is to allow the spices to soak in and flavor the skin and also to allow the chicken to warm up to room temperature. A little tip is that a chicken at room temperature is better for roasting than a cold chicken. Get your smoker going at about 275 degrees and set the chicken on the rack and let it go for about 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Check it with a meat thermometer, you want the internal temperature on the chicken to be at least 150 degrees in the smoker. Turn on the grill to medium or your oven broiler and put the chicken under the high heat for 10 or 15 minutes to crisp
Smoked Baby Back Ribs
Take your rib(s) the day before you want to cook them up and remove the white membrane along the back with your fingers and a paper towel (it helps you hold onto the membrane). Lay out a piece of heavy duty aluminum, enough to completely cover each rib rack. Then brush with a half and half mixture of apple cider vinegar and olive oil and then rub on a coating of rub my patented spice rub and wrap tightly in foil and put in the fridge overnight for the spices to work their way into the ribs.
The next day, get the smoker going to about 250-275 degrees and cut the rib racks in half (so they'll fit in the smoker better) and place into the smoker. Let it smoke for about 2 hours and then remove from the smoker and re-wrap in foil and let sit for about 20 or 30 minutes so the ribs will effectively braise. Then, about 15 minutes before you want to eat, throw the ribs bone side down on a grill on medium heat and brush with your favorite barbeque sauce and let them crisp up. Then right before serving, shake on another coating of rib rub and serve!
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