Week 5 (Baking) - Orange Mini-Chocolate Chip Muffins

The original plan for week five's breakfast baking challenge was scones. Then I got lazy/ran out of time/didn't have the ingredients I needed in the house. So I did the next best thing and worked on, and I'd say finally perfected, a muffin recipe I have been fretting over for some time.

I love muffins. What's not to love? It's like a sweet crumbly bread that tastes like dessert but is socially accepted as breakfast. However, every time I try to make muffins from scratch they just never come out quite as delicious as the store bought or box mix muffins I'm accustomed to. Some people will argue well that's because true baking blah blah blah... Whatever, I want soft delicious muffins, is that really a crime?

No.

Good.

I've had some version of this recipe around for a while and I've been slowly refining, tweaking, and adapting it to better suit my desires. Hold onto your hats folks, because this is it! This is the mother of all muffin recipes! Your search is over! Other such sentiments to show extreme excitement and joy! I am a bit overwhelmed with my happiness, you'll have to excuse me.

Orange Mini-Chocolate Chip Muffins

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4-1 c mini-chocolate chips (optional)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp orange extract OR 1 tbsp orange zest (optional)
• 1/2 c milk
• 1/2 c orange juice (optional)
  If not making orange muffins use 1 cup milk and no orange juice
• 2 tbsp sour cream OR unflavored greek yogurt
• 1/4 c oil
• 1/2 c sugar

1. Preheat your oven to 375°
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Stir in all but a small handful of the mini-chocolate chips (if using.)
4. Mix the eggs, vanilla, orange extract/zest (if using) milk, orange juice (if using), sour cream, and oil.
   
   

   

   Mmm, doesn't think look tasty?

5. Add the sugar to the egg mix and stir just until combined. Do not beat/whip, just stir.
   
   

   

   
   

   
   
6. Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingrdients.
   
   

   

   
   

7. Using a fork gently stir just until combined, do not over mix here!
8. Spray with cooking spray/line either:
          * 12 standard muffin cups
          * 6 large muffin cups
   
   

   

   I love giant muffins!

   
   
9. Spoon mixture into each cup, filling each 2/3s full.
   
   

   

   I was solo this weekend, so I figured a 1/2 batch was more than enough for  just me.

   
   
10. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chip muffins across the tops of each muffin.
11. Place on the center rack in the oven for 25-30 minutes. 
12. Muffins are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean of crumbs. Melted chocolate is okay.

The magic of this recipe is that is can be tweaked and adjusted endlessly to customize to your palate.
Don't like orange? Don't use the extract or juice.
Want blueberry muffins? Add a cup of blueberries, cut out the chocolate chips and orange juice...

I hope you love these as much as I do. 

Tell me what you think:

Do you have a favorite muffin? What is it?

Have a recipe you love? Feel free to share it!
Questions? Leave a comment or email me at BakeMeUpButtercup@gmail.com

Checkmate - Orange Flavored Checkerboard Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Last week marked a milestone for me, I am officially a quarter of a century. Now because many of the people I socialize with are a few (or many) years older than I am I often get guffaws for worry about age, but really this one kind of hurt. I felt old for the first time in my life.

I spent the weeks prior ramping up for reaching this peculiar peek. I started stock piling Depends and TiVoing Matlock reruns. I practiced my angry fist in the mirror for hours on end. And then I decided that what I really needed was a good old fashioned birthday party. With pretty dresses. And grown up treats. And cake. Oh, yeah, and uh, mustaches.

So I threw myself a fancy dress and mustache party that was a smash hit. It was exactly what I needed to breath life into these old bones ;)

The only real party shot I have, look at all the mustaches

Down to business, the cake. My favorite dessert combinations are by far chocolate and orange. Well, and coconut, but I didn't want to overwhelm the cake, or my guests. So chocolate and orange it is. I started with the cake recipe on the back of the Swan's Down cake flour box and tweaked it to my liking.

Ingridients
For the cake

• 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature 
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 cups sifted cake flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 c heavy cream
• 1/2 c orange juice - preferably not from concentrate and with pulp
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp orange extract
• 2 tsp orange zest
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract (It totally jazzes up the citrusy flavor)

For the Filling

Mmm candied orange peel

• Mandarin Orange Marmalade with Candied Orange Peel 

For the Frosting (double batch)

• 2 pkgs neufchatel softened
• 1 c unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 c unsalted butter softened 
• 3 tsp vanilla
• 12 c powdered sugar
• 6 tbs milk

The Steps
Mixing up the cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350°
2. First cream the butter. 
3. Add sugar and mix until light and fluffy. 
4. Add eggs one at a time, incorporating each fully before adding the next.
5. Combine the sifted flour, baking powder, & salt in a separate bowl. Use a big bowl and save an extra dish later on. 
6. Combine orange juice, heavy cream, extracts, and zest in a separate bowl.
7. Alternate mixing in dry and wet ingredients, mixing well after each addition.
8. Stir until smooth.

Preparing the checkerboard batter

How to wow your friends and earn mad cake props.

This stuff is the boss.





1. Acquire this set, or some close equivolent. Kind of hard to checkerboard a cake with out it.
2. Spray pans with non-stick cooking spray - I use Pam for baking and I have to say I'm in love. As someone who usually goes generic as much as possible, this is worth the extra money. Plus, it totally smells amazing!
3. Spray divider (the circley bit that the above set shows)
   with cooking spray. MOAR Pam!
   Sniff that fake bakery smell and weep at it's vanilla goodness.
4. Insert divider into the first pan with the edge bits facing up.
5. Divide batter evenly into two separate bowls.
   Go ahead and use the bowl you mixed everything in and 

   

   The center ring complete, starting the middle ring. 

   the bowl you used for the flour.
   Less dishes = happy baker.
6. Add food coloring to desired shade.
   I use gel colors to avoid adding extra liquids.
   They are my color-cooking BFFs.
7. Now the fun begins. Starting with the center ring, and holding the dividing ring in place, spoon batter into the middle circle.
   Next using your other color spoon the mixture into middle ring.  This is where it starts to get tricky, I added batter at each of the four openings and smoothed it out using the back of a spoon. 
   Try your best to make the batter in all of the pans/rings roughly the same height. 
8. Then spoon the first color of batter into the outer ring using the same steps as above.  
9. Gently pull the divider straight up and out of the batter.
   Try to do this quickly and with as little movement as possible to preserve the circles.
10. Wipe off excessive batter, but the ring doesn't need to be perfectly clean going into the next pan.
11. Repeat this exact process for the second pan. 
12. Completely wipe the batter off of the divider ring this time, reapplying non-stick cooking spray as needed.
13. For the third pan use the same steps only switch 

    

    A completed pan

    the colors. Center & outer ring should be the color used for the middle ring in the other two pans.
14. Discard any remaining batter. Seriously, don't try to spoon it in anywhere now that the divider is gone. It's not worth it man.
15. Bake cakes for 25-35 minutes, checking regularly for doneness.
16. Cakes are finished baking when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
17. Let the cakes cool.

Assembling the cake
I totally spaced when it came time to assembly and forgot to take picture, but you'll get the idea.

1. Gently run a butter knife along the edges of each cake to loosen them from the pan.
2. Flip pan over onto plate, or hand if lazy, and flip back face up onto platter or cake board. Your bottom layer should be one of the cakes that you have two of. 
3. Trim any severe crowning from cake. 
4. Spread a thin layer of marmalade over the first cake, trying to kick up as few crumbs as possible.
5. Repeat flip & trim steps for the second cake and position on top of the bottom layer. This should be the cake you have only one of.
6. Spread another layer of delicious orange love over the cake.
7. Again flip & trim your third cake and position on top of the second. 
8. Frost away. I prefer to frost in three steps: a crumb coat, a finishing coat, and decorations as desired.

Making the frosting
Original recipe came from BHG 

1. Beat cream cheese, cocoa powder, butter, & vanilla on medium speed until smooth. 
2. Gradually add four cups of powdered sugar, incorporating completely.
3. Beat in the milk mixing until smooth.
4. Gradually beat in additional sugar until desired consistency is reached.

I tossed together blue, purple, and pink sparkling sugar. Then I titled the cake on my positionable turntable and just sort of sprinkled/threw them along the outer edge trying to avoiding hitting the top.  I finished off the cake with some large tip rosettes.  Then I put a cadelabre on top.

That's right, my cake has a candelabra, I am that classy.

In my slightly inebriated celebratory state I forgot to take pictures of the cake while we were cutting and serving. I assure you they would have been awesome though; so, in their stead is a picture of the remaining cake from the morning after. Not quite as pretty, but at least the checkered awesomosity is visible. The important part is that it was delicious. And it was delicious.

Yay cake!

Mad about Macroonis

Why I'm here.
In order to push myself to write a blog about cooking/baking I decided I needed to expand my horizons; I needed to reach out to these types of communities for inspiration. That first oomph of inspiration came from The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. 


The gist was that I sign up to send out 3 packages of 1 dozen cookies to 3 fellow food bloggers, and in return receive 3 packages of cookies myself from secret santas. Then I have to blog the recipe. Read that again. I HAD to blog. Thus forcing myself to do something that, though I quite enjoy it, I keepfalling short in completing the task.


Now that the details are out of the way let me tell you about the cookies. I chose to make my (grand?)mother's macroonis. I don't know exactly where in the family tree this recipe came from, but I do know that from a very young age these have been my favorite cookies. And that is saying a lot from a girl who loves cookies.


What is a macrooni?
Every single time I get asked this question I kind of freeze up during my response. 
Q: "What exactly is a macrooni?"
A: "Awesome. Next question."
Really though, macroonis are coconut, chocolatey, orange bliss. And lucky for you I am obligated herein to provide you with the recipe.

The recipe.

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 2 tsp orange zest
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp orange extract (optional)
• 4 cups sweetened coconut
• 1 1/2 cup flour
•  12 oz. chocolate chips

Be careful to not overmix the cookies otherwise they will spread out and lose their shape.

1. Preheat your oven to 375°.
2. Quickly mix the eggs, sugar, melted butter, zest vanilla, and orange extract.
3. Fold in the coconut.
4. Fold in the flour.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Drop by rounded tbsp onto a greased (or lined with parchment paper) cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 11-14 minutes. The edges of the coconut should be lightly browned but the centers should still look soft.
8. Cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes.
9. Eat warm, or allow to cool the rest of the way and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

I know I said I'd post a Thanksgiving post, but my life has been very...chaotic as of late, and I was unable to devote the proper time to get together a post worth reading. Attempting to actually have totally put together posts each week(ish) instead of constant half-assery.