Whoopie Pies and Fluffy Marshmallow Frosting

Thursday, September 23, 2010

I recently checked out this book from the library, and although it has some great ideas- a lot of the ingredients are too fussy for me. I have no idea where I would find expeller-pressed oil or spelt flour or many of the other ingredients. So, I used what I had on hand and probably took every bit of wholesome-ness out of it.

One Pan Eggless Chocolate Cake (these are the ingredients I used, not necessarily what the book recommends)

1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
4 tbsp baking cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in 8-inch square pan. Pour vegetable oil, vinegar, vanilla, and water over it, and mix until combined. Bake for 30-35 minutes. For 14 whoopie pies- double everything but water and drop 1/4 cup of batter on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Bake for 20 minutes.

*Note- I would use a much smaller scoop next time (like a tablespoon). Mine turned out huge and too big for a sandwich-style cookie.


I covered them with blue-tinted fluffy marshmallow frosting, also from the book.


Marshmallow Frosting
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 egg whites (I used meringue powder), stiffly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Boil the maple syrup in a saucepan for 5 minutes, without stirring. Begin testing it by stirring occasionally, until it "spins a thread 5-6 inches long." Pour the syrup in a little stream over the egg whites, while beating constantly. Add vanilla and salt.Beat for 5 minutes, or until frosting is a spreadable consistency.

Yum.

Fashion Week Inspiration

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Alice + Olivia



Kate Spade

Lela Rose

Marc by Marc Jacobs

"Cam's Ribs"

Sunday, September 12, 2010

I've been trying out recipes right and left here lately, and one of my favorite cookbooks has been Fix, Freeze, and Feast. I wish I would photograph more of my cooking, but I never think about it until after dinner is devoured and dirty plates are in the sink. Not super aesthetically pleasing. But, here's what we had a few nights ago.

ribs
This was my first attempt at ribs, but it was much easier than I expected. A little time consuming, but worth it. This recipe is meant to be prepared in large quantities and frozen, but here it is divided into one meal and prepared right away:

Cam's Ribs
1 "rack" of boneless country-style ribs (about 3lbs)
1  cup of ketchup
1/2 cup red wine vinegar (I used balsamic vinegar instead)
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tbsp minced onion
1/2 tbsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp black pepper

Place ribs in a large stockpot and cover with water. Mix other ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Simmer ribs about 1 hour, or until tender. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

yummy right?
It gets better.

Drain the ribs and place in an ungreased baking dish. Pour sauce over ribs. Bake, uncovered, basting ribs every 10 minutes (honestly, I forgot and only did this a couple of times) for 1 hour.

And devour.

Cupcakes...

Friday, September 10, 2010

Cupcakes are probably my favorite dessert. They're not only delicious, but cute. What more could you ask for? The only challenger to cupcakes would be tiramisu. Soo....enter these delicious cupcakes (a combo of recipes from Ming Makes Cupcakes):

Tiramisu Cupcake


 
Coffee Chocolate Cupcakes (Cupcake 24 from Ming's)
+
Chocolate Espresso Buttercream (Cupcake 20 from Ming's- with some changes)


I changed up the buttercream frosting a bit. I left out the chocolate, used 2 shots of espresso from our machine, and WAY more powdered sugar. I thought chocolate-coffee frosting on chocolate-coffee cupcakes was a bit too much, even for me. This turned out well, as the coffee didn't show up as much in the cupcakes, and perfectly in the frosting. So good.

Fall Wardrobe Inspiration Pt. 1

Friday, September 3, 2010

For the momma:



for a date


for shopping


for game day


for sunday dinner

Tonight

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Tonight I will:

will watch this movie.



snack on this.

and browse this site for inspiration and patterns.
All while "at work." Life is good.