Tipsy treats!

Okay everyone. Are you ready for these tasty beauties. These are my tipsy treats and they are my succulent and edible cocktails. I was stumbling with eager intoxication just brainstorming their recipes. This collection was inspired by my love for white Russians and Kahlua specifically. One day while sipping on my drink, as i prepared another, i got lost watching the Kahlua stream down like molasses and I imagined how wickedly good this Kahlua would taste in a rich chocolate buttercream. Kahlua? Buttercream? Kahlua chocolate buttercream? The white Russian cupcake! Bam! But I wasn't so creative as i thought. No biggie. Not only are there dozens of white Russian cupcakes, this cupcake is also the 'dude's' cupcake according to many blogs i came across. You know, the dude!

 So i researched and found a full bar of cocktail cupcakes and it was just so inspiring and enticing. I went to work right away and went to Costco and Bevmo immediately to begin! Researching, comparing, and trying new recipes is so much fun when you're playing with tequila and rum and vodka and more!  But alcohol when baked evaporates. Hmmm... so my buttercreams are the key for a real fun dessert time. My frosting's for all these treats are quite lush and proud. These cupcakes were quite good but next time, I'm making it a black Russian. The vanilla cupcake flavored with vodka, Kahlua, and buttermilk, wasn't bold enough for me the way I like my drinks.  My future black Russian will have this white Russian frosting but over a rich and dark chocolate cupcake instead. It will still be shamelessly spiked  with Kahlua and vodka, maybe some buttermilk, and i think i should throw in that small stream of molasses! (I adore molasses) I learned much from making these white russians and so the next two cupcakes reaped the lessons. Make em stronger!

¡Ay, chihuahua!

¡Ay, que rico!

Did someone say stronger? Time for a fiesta! Fiesta, fiesta!  These cupcakes were voted the best among the tipsy treats. Even a friend who loathes tequila applauded it. I freshly squeeze several limes in the frosting to make it nice and zesty and to subdue the sharpness from the tequila. I also use fresh lime zest to compliment the tequila in the batter. I would like to thank Annie's Eats for this recipe inspiration. Her recipe was my favorite and with a few modification to fit my taste, this cupcake was so so good! I am a big fan of buttermilk and Annie's recipe included this so i looked closer. I didn't use her frosting  because i now prefer to make my buttercreams egg-free but I don't doubt her frosting's yummyiness. For health considerations, i now omit eggs but their absence is no flavor loss at all.  My own frosting is tequila, powdered sugar, more tequila, fresh lime juice, don't forget some more tequila, some butter, more tequila, and i forgot what i did after that last shot. But whatever i did, it was dam good! It is highly recommended to suck on the lime wedge in between bites, it's better than a cherry on top, much better! ¡Dame otra!

Rumple sweetskin

Now this sweet thing tells no lies. Our next buzz comes from the chocolate coconut rum cupcake. These cupcakes were failproof for my taste buds. I am an adamant rum drinker and i prefer my rum spiced when on the rocks so i used spiced rum for my cupcakes on the racks. Get it? On the rocks, on the racks. haahhaha. It's probably a good thing this is the last for the moment in the tipsy treat collection.

This recipe is inspired by the Cupcake Project's recipe. Her ingredients of coconut milk and molasses really impressed me compared to other recipes i was scanning. I made few modifications and difference of rum is the key change. I also used  a combination of coconut juice and buttermilk instead of the coconut milk. Her recipe or mine, these cupcakes are heavenly. Soft, moist, rich in chocolate and flavored with spiced rum you can really feel inside. :) The shredded coconut inside the batter, and out, ties the whole package together like a tropical parasol dunked in your drink. Next time, i want this cupcake to have a center surprise! What's that surprise? You should come back to find out because my treats only get better than the last batch. Toppers anyone! Me! You! Everyone!

I have many more tipsy treats coming soon to this collection and here are some teaser titles to wet your appetite: apple blondie with Carmel apple schnapps frosting, strawberry dream daiquiri cupcake,  spiced rum cake and a whiskey something. :)  Hope you can swig these sweets soon. xoxo

Classic favorites

*Ooodles of doodles slip away fast like noodles

The classic bakery collection would like to introduce cinnamon sugar cookies! (aka the snickerdoodle or snipdoodle. Why are they called those two silly names? i have no idea. I've asked around too) I love cinnamon so rolling around in cinnamon-sugar is always a pleasure. hahaha. i mean rolling the dough in  cinnamon-sugar  is always a pleasure, not me. Ummm....but rolling around in cinnamon-sugar does seem fun now that i picture myself doing it. Yippie! Cinnamon everywhere! But still. Instinct tells me i couldn't get those pretty speckled spiced spirals looking like that if i did that. I'll just stick to the dough then. This buttery dough flaunts those cinnamon swirls and spirals best.

twinkle twinkle sugar star, how i wonder how sweet you are, down below in the oven so hot, it's a treat that hits the spot, twinkle twinkle sugar star, how i wonder if Solstice is far

Since I'm imagining to be folded in with sugar like my butter, it's a perfect time to share now my sugar stars! These cookies are a delight. They're sweet and tender with crisp edges and although they can be heavily decorated with royal icing, I like to brush mine with melted butter,  then  sprinkle powdered sugar on top. It does look very pretty so i will show a frosted sugar cookie with my holiday collection, but these are how this baker likes these done.

Boats full of oats

 

  I would like to now profile the oatmeal raisin.     This cookie can be enjoyed without guilt! Yay! i love no guilt.  Sometimes i  remind myself about the differences between need and want when i enjoy my fudge anything but with this cookie, I need no excuses or reminders: its mostly just oats and raisins!  These sound like very healthy things to me, right?  It's mostly brown sugar too ! And brown is "healthier" than white sugar, kinda.  Um, ....its molasses has tiny amounts of iron, magnesium, and other things of that sort and although it's in minuscule amounts, brown sugar at least has these while white does not.  These are deep thoughts of the baker justifying her sweet intake.  But as i was trying to explain, these cookies are big because i like em big!  And it helps make them irresistible, and of course they're chewy because good oatmeal raisin cookies are just that. I too slip in small spice of nutmeg to keep taste buds alert. I have one special customer at Golden Gate park that orders these with walnuts and it's even extra scrumptious. That's how he floats his oats! How do you? Here's a teaser: raw sugar and butterscotch! Hop hop to the scotch!

Your Brownie

The one and only: classic brownie! Classic vs fudge vs fancy. I  swear that at the end of my edible rainbow is a bowl of all the magical brownies i can dream of: dulce de leche, white chocolate cheesecake, caramel, espresso, cognac, German chocolate,  this list feels endless. So the question is very personal: how do you brownie? The classic brownie has no interruptions. Nothing but  soft, rich chocolate to focus on and enjoy. Enjoyment without disruption! Sounds like my life's wishful thinking but really it's my classic brownie! xoxo

giving me memories i never had

 

The chocolate chip cookie is the first  of my classical favorites collection. This wonderful  cookie seems timeless. As well as age-less and occasion-less too. It's great at bridal showers, housewarmings, quinceañera's, teen dance pre-parties, my birthday party, your birthday party , and almost everyone's un-birthday party too! (i say almost to include, as i exclude, those that don't or can't eat chocolate) It's not so timeless though because it only dates back to the 30's. And dude, cookies go all the way back to the 7th century in what is now Iran. Regardless of the gap, this cookie still feels quite O.G to me and I  give great  applause to Ruth Wakenfield, past owner of the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts. She is the baker to thank. Nestle even bought her Inn's name soon after her sweet invention, which used Nestle chocolate chips, because it was an instant and fast growing success.

It's a  little strange because the first words that pop up when i see this cookie are: home, comfort, and tradition. But this cookie was sadly and rarely in my home. And never freshly baked! My mom wasn't a baker, only a wonderful cook. My dad was the one with the sweet tooth so he would buy that pink box of awful donuts on Sundays. Or, he would bring us those pre-packaged little cinnamon roles you could wind out to get to that gooey thick center. You know what I'm talking about? My sisters and I know what I'm talking about. 

My point: what a cookie! How am I making this point:  my immediate associations of this cookie show us just how strong of an impression this cookie can make. I did not grow up with this cookie, but every time I make and gobble them, I feel like I did! It could be wishful thinking running very deep in my psyche that shakes me up a bit as i shake the brown sugar because really I'm trying to shake away those bad bear claws away from me. Roar to you bad bear claw! Or, this cookie is giving me memories  I never actually had: wow! what a cookie!

Unhappy treat faces

Hello sweet lovers....sweets lovers i mean. :)   This blog is dedicated to the scrumptious goodies of my bakery. Let me first ask: Do these faces look familiar?  These are faces from experiencing unhappy treats! Unhappy treats? Sounds like an oxymoron. Wait, who's calling me a moron?  I am for not doing this blog  sooner because sharing is caring! I have dozens of bakery collections I'm aching to share, aching quite literally because of my lack of online savviness, but ambition can go a long way, and so can some time away from the kitchen. :)  Some of my bakery collections include the Oz collection where i build my Emerald city from mint and where I make lost Dorothy walk in red velvet cupcakes down the yellow cornmeal road. I also have my Pump up the kin collection which is dedicated to the wonders of the pumpkin king.  My goodies have been taxonomically organized to better smooth out my frenzy of wanting to show you everything at once. Not possible.  I am solo lonestar baker so i will share my treats, one batch at a time. All of the pretty pictures are taken by the even prettier Ms. Raychel Hessler and I have undying gratitude to her. Working with her has been so inspiring and at first i thought it was coincidence that our visions were parallel, but actually, its part of her formidable talent.  Now, let's get hungry! So what's the egg breaker going to be.... (pun intended)!

Cookoo for cocoa!

So let me begin with chocolate, or in chocolate to be more precise.   You ever find yourself covered in gooey chocoate all over and just loving every moment of it?  You  ever wake up in the middle of the night and find yourself sleepwalking to the cookie jar? You ever convince yourself that chocolate should be in every every meal? Ha ha ha ha, i do all the time! Yum yum, fun fun, chocolate is the day,  yay! (That's one of my baker cheers)  
 

Let me introduce the always satisfying Cocoa Skellingtons!  Here are some bodies to die for! : ) These treats are skele-tongue licking good. (another pun intended)    

                                                                                                                        

These cookies are a simple treat, not too rich or dense. Quite harmless to eat many many of , and even almost too many of.  Its buttery crispness and soft Guittard cocoa addition make this little plate of buttercream covered-bones a delight to enjoy one after the other.  I tend to have a fondness for darker things (dark chocoate vs vanilla, brown sugar vs white, vampires vs fairies, etc) which is why I used my gingerbread cookie cutter as a body cut-out, but this dough i use is perfect to roll out into any shape your hands or cookie-cutters desire. Would you like a cocoa Xmas tree or Cocoa heart for the party? No problem! It will all be a skele-ton of fun!

The next treat just hovering above these words like a dream bubble, we should enjoy with caution.   These are the very guilty triple fudge brownies. I shall repeat: the 3x fudge brownie. i like to garnish these brownies with walnuts or pecans over the top layer of creamy fudge frosting.  These brownies have three chocolates: Ghiradelli bittersweet choco, Ghiradeli semi-sweet choco , and Guittard cocoa powder. I sometimes throw in some whole chocolate or white chocolate chips in the creamy batter too so nice chucks of chocoalte accompany the nutty crunch. Another secret of these is  the cinnamon, which i have a great weakness for,  so i always slip  a few teaspoons in the cauldren when I 'm not loooking.   These treats are intense.  And I mean intense in a very rich and alluring way. It's goodness to the core kind of intense. I have yet to eat a whole one in one sitting, but i've seen it done. Confession: each tray of these brownies has close to two pounds of chocolate so i rest my case: Guilty for...being a pleasure.  : )    All pleasure!  So I sentence thee to life in the oven! (it's a joke, cuz i know they'll get burned) hahahaha. :)  

Okay, i'm still going cookoo for cocoa and i hope you are too. These next treats are a little more modest than that hotshot oh-i'm-just-perfect-and-so-fudgey brownie cousin. These treats are the very fine but only double chocolate cookie. These cookies are a perfect companion to that lonely ice cream scoop. Speaking of screams and creams, do you like to scream cookie a-la-mode? i do when i bake these. These cookies are so sweet and soft that i dont even wait til they've cooled completely to "test" them for the millionth time. Yum i always utter.  Their chocolate flavor is made subtly complex with a splash of pure vanilla and a sprinkle of espresso powder. And i personally prefer these nut-free so i can indugle in its fine tender and moist chocolate texture bite after bite, but just holla if you desire some almonds or even white chocolate chips in the mix. Sin problema!

 I like to call these next treats snowfudge. Snowfudge is just that:a soft fudge cookie coated in flakes of powdered sugar. Although not as bold in cocoa power as the brownie and double choc chip cookie, its only semi-sweet chocolate composition lacks no chocolate soul. This cookie has an unforgettably amazing texture. Its a fudge you can lightly chew or even let just melt away. Its fudge composition comes close to tasting like chocolate velvet.

                                                                                        
Last and with no yeast : ) the lonemarshmellow chocolate cupcake topped with buttercream chocolate love. I really love making and serving cupcakes. I make all kinds! Cupcakes are like a whole little cake just for you! Hooray for the personal cake.

       Reach out and touch cake!
Something that hears your cravings,
something that waits
something that is baked,
    your own
 personal
   cupcake!

I use again my beloved Guittard magic to get that elegant chocolate taste i demand and I too include whole chocolate chips in the batter, and these whole chips make these cupcakes failproof.

It's quite a blissful feeling to indulge in this kind of homage to Ixcacao. She was not only revered as the goddess of chocolate but aslo of abundance. And though my treats are not nearly as bountiful as i would like, i think I should take a small break from Cookoo for cocoa world. But there are many more chocolate wishes to be granted and this world will be visited again and again. 
Dios se bengiga Ixcacao!