Stacey Makes It

I made these for a potluck. Three people asked me for the recipe. Now you can be part of the three!  Ingredients: 3 large ripe bananas, mashed 3 tbs butter 3 tbs oil 2 eggs 1/3 c buttermilk 1 tsp vanilla 3/4 c sugar 1/2 tsp salt 2 c flour 3/4 c baking soda 1/2 c cocoa powder 2 tbs butter 1/2 c milk chocolate chips (but you can use any kind) Chocolate dipped banana chips and decorating sugar (optional) Preheat oven to 350F. Mix all the first set of ingredients together (all the wet + sugar and salt). Mix in the flour and baking soda. Split the batter in half and add the cocoa powder, 2 tbs butter, and chocolate chips to 1 half. You might have to use a mixer because the cocoa powder gets clumpy. Fill muffin cups with half of each kind of batter. Bake for 20-22 minutes. Makes about 18 muffins. Cream cheese frosting ingredients: 1 – 8oz pkg cream cheese 5 tbs butter 1 tbs sour cream 1 tsp vanilla (I used vanilla bean paste) 1...

I'd been wanting to try out a recipe with chocolate chunks instead of regular chips and thought I'd give this one a shot. Result: rave reviews from the BBQ I went to at my friend's house. Ingredients (weight not volume) 10.1 oz flour 0.5 oz cornstarch 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 12 tbs (1.5 sticks) butter 7 oz light brown sugar 3 oz granulated sugar 1 egg 2 tsp vanilla bean paste (you can use regular vanilla extract if you want) 9 oz dark and white chocolate chunks (I chopped up a 70% bar and used white chocolate disks 6oz:3oz dark:white - you can use whatever mixture you like, or use chocolate chips) 1/3 c dried cranberries Preheat oven to 350F. Soften butter in the microwave. Beat sugar, egg, vanilla, and butter until fluffy.  Add dry ingredients and mix. Drop about 2 tbs of dough at a time on the cookie sheets,  about 2" apart (I used a 1 oz scooper). Bake for 10-12 min, rotating the pan once after 6 minutes until edges are starting to bro...

I think that the buttercream turned out kind of heavy, so I would probably add more half & half and powdered sugar and beat it a bit longer next time. Cupcake Ingredients 5.5 oz flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 stick butter, melted 45 ml (by weight) sunflower oil 6.1 oz granulated sugar 2 eggs 1.5 tsp vanilla extract 3/4 cup buttermilk Buttercream Ingredients 1/2 stick butter  1/4 cup brown sugar 2 tbs half & half  1.5 sticks butter 1-2 cups of powdered sugar 2-3 tbs half & half Chocolate sprinkles (optional)  Preheat oven to 350F. Whisk all the wet ingredients together. Add the dry ingredients and stir gently until just incorporated (don't overmix or it will build up too much gluten).  Pour batter into cupcake tins lined with cupcake liners (about 3/4 to 4/5 full).  Bake for 15-20 minutes rotating once at the halfway point. When cake springs back from the middle of the cupcake, it's done....

Ombre Flowers So I wanted to try that new ombre cake frosting trend.  I used whip cream here on an eggless chocolate cake I made for a potluck at work (for those egg-free individuals on my team).  Everyone was sufficiently impressed.  I was a little disappointed at the messiness of the blue/purple end, and I kinda ran out of cream, but it tasted good. Anyway... Eggless Chocolate Cake 2 c sugar 1 3/4 c flour 3/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder 1.5 tsp baking powder 1.5 tsp baking soda 1/2 c sunflower oil, organic 1 c whole milk, organic 1 c boiling water 1 tsp salt 3 tbs flax seeds Roses 2 c heavy cream 1/4c sour cream 1 tsp vanilla ½ c powdered sugar food coloring (if desired) Pre-heat oven to 350F. Soak flax seeds in milk for an hour or overnight (or use flax meal). Blend (I used a stick blender).  Mix dry ingredients. Mix in wet ingredients, with boiling water being last. Pour into cake pan (9x13).  Bake for 30 min, rotatin...

So I was experimenting with another recipe from  The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book .  It ended up tasty enough that I was asked for the recipe. These brownies ended up fudgy in the middle with a kind of crunchy shell on top. I ended up with this: Stacey's Fudgy Brownie with Crunchy Shell Ingredients 4 oz semi-sweet 62% Scharffen Berger chocolate 2 oz unsweetened 99% Scharffen Berger chocolate 8 tbs (1 stick) unsalted organic butter 1/3c unsweetened cocoa powder, organic (Dagoba) 1 1/2c granulated sugar, organic 3 eggs, organic 2 tsp vanilla extract 3/4 tsp salt 1c flour, organic 3/4c milk chocolate chips (Guittard) 9x9" baking pan Adjust oven rack to higher middle position and preheat to 350F.  Line a 9x9" baking pan with foil and grease it - leave enough foil on the edges so that you can use it to lift the brownies out later.  I used olive oil, but you can use butter or any other type of oil you like. Put the chocolate (not the chi...

Recently, I decided to go on a diet, but I was going to let myself have a free day here and there.  This seems to have changed my outlook on what to make for events since I wanted to make things that only I cared about eating, and didn't care as much about my audience.  However, it appears that this recipe was a me-pleaser as well as a crowd-pleaser. Stacey's Super 4x Chocolate Chip Cookie Ingredients 1 1/4c granulated sugar, organic 1c brown sugar, organic 2.5 sticks of butter 1 oz 99% unsweetened chocolate (I used Scharffen-Berger) 2/3c unsweetened cocoa powder, organic (I used Dagoba) 2 eggs, organic 2 tsp vanilla bean paste 1/4c cornstarch 2 1/2c all purpose unbleached flour, organic 1 1/4 tsp baking powder 1 1/4 tsp baking soda 1 1/2 tsp salt 2/3-1c white chocolate chips (Guittard) 2/3-1c milk chocolate chips (Guittard) 2/3-1c semi-sweet chocolate chips (Guittard) Microwave the butter, unsweetened chocolate and cocoa powder in a heat safe bo...

I've been doing a lot of yeast experimenting lately on my waffle questing. In this recipe, I wanted to find out if I could use yeast as a leavener for a sweet cake (not quite like panettone, more like a regular cake and less like a sweet bread).  I have not found out the chemical reason for it yet, but yeast doesn't like having too much sugar and it under-rises.  I read this on another website, but there was no explanation for why.  If I had to guess non-scientifically?  I'd say that since yeast uses the sugar for food, which later makes it expel gas, perhaps having way too much food turns them into gluttons and then they kill themselves overindulging before they ever get to make enough gas.  All you food scientists out there, feel free to correct me and tell me I'm a moron.  :) At least then I'll get my answer. In any case, here was my experiment. Stacey's Chocolate Yeast Cupcake Experiment Ingredients: 1 3/4c unbleached all-purpose flour, organic 1/...

I know, it's been a really long time.  In my defense, I work for Yahoo! and things have been weird so I've been doing a lot more work type stuff.  But, this Memorial Day weekend, I've been visiting a lot of family and friends and have been making some goodies. I decided to use the chocolate cake recipe from Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate and edit it into cupcakes.  So here's my version: Stacey's That Chocolate Cupcake with Strawberry Fan Ingredients: 2c granulated sugar, organic 1c unbleached white flour, organic 3/4c whole wheat flour, organic 3/4c dagoba unsweetened cocoa powder, organic 1 tsp salt 1.5 tsp baking powder 1.5 tsp baking soda 2 eggs 1/2 c sunflower oil, organic 1 c lowfat milk, organic 1/4c boiling water Frosting / Ganache Ingredients: 6 oz heavy cream, organic 1c granulated sugar, organic 1 tsp vanilla bean paste 5 oz Scharffen-Berger 99% unsweetened chocolate 1 stick unsalted butter,...

My friend asked me to make something St. Patrick's Dayish for today even though St. Patrick's Day was Saturday. Stacey's Bailey's Brownies Ingredients: 1 stick unsalted butter, organic 2 oz unsweetened 99% chocolate, Scharffen-Berger 1c sugar, organic 1/3c brown sugar, organic 2 eggs 1/4c Bailey's Irish Creme Liqueur 2/3c unbleached white flour, organic 1 tbs whole wheat flour, organic (you can use regular flour) 1/4c cocoa powder, organic, Dagoba 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/3c semisweet chocolate chips, Guittard Stacey's Bailey's Ganache Ingredients: 3/4c mix of 64% dark / 38% milk Guittard couverture chocolate Organic Heavy Cream (enough to cover the chocolate in a measuring cup - probably 1/3c?) 1/4c Bailey's Irish Creme Liqueur 9x9" baking pan or cake pan, lined with foil and buttered Preheat oven to 350F.  Melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate together.  Then add the sugars, eggs and 1/4c liqueur.  Mix the d...

So, one of my boyfriend's co-workers "can't eat anything that comes from a cow," meaning no milk products.  I'd think that would mean no dairy, but he can eat eggs.  Anyway, he likes brownies and I thought I'd try and come up with a brownie recipe. Stacey's Cow-Free Brownie Ingredients: 1/4c coconut oil, organic 3/4c cooking oil 3 eggs, organic 1 oz 99% unsweetened chocolate (Scharffen-Berger) 2 tsp vanilla bean paste 2c sugar, organic 1c unbleached white flour, organic 2/3c unsweetened cocoa powder, organic (Dagoba) 3/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking powder 1c semi-sweet chocolate chips (make sure there are no milk products in here) Preheat the oven to 350F. Melt the coconut oil in the microwave with the unsweetened chocolate.  Add the cooking oil and mix.  Add the eggs and vanilla bean paste and whisk with a fork. Then mix in the sugar. I wish I mixed all the rest of the dry ingredients separately and then put it in, but I didn't - I threw ...

I wanted to make some cupcakes for my grandfather's 96th birthday this weekend so I made these. I was more interested in the frosting so I just made the Yellow Cupcake recipe from The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book . I did a half batch and used lowfat milk instead. Stacey's Altered Yellow Cupcake Ingredients: 1 1/3c unbleached white flour, organic 2 tbs cornstarch 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1 stick softened butter, unsalted, organic 3/4 + 2 tbs sugar, organic 2 eggs, organic 2 tsp vanilla bean paste 3/4c lowfat (2% milk), organic 15 cupcake liners cupcake pan Preheat the oven to 350F. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer until fluffy.  Beat in the eggs, then the vanilla. Beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/2 of the milk. Beat in 1/2 of the remaining flour, then the rest of the milk.  Beat in the last portion of the flour mixture.  Using a cupcake scooper or spoons, fill the cupcake liners in the pan about 2/3 full.  Bake cupcakes f...

I made these the first time where I completely coated the chips, like I'd seen them do in some chocolate shops.  I really felt like it was too much chocolate so that I couldn't enjoy the chips.  And I really love chips almost more than chocolate.  I know, I know, calm down. Anyway, so I felt this was a much better way of enjoying both. Stacey's Chocolate Drizzled Potato Chip Ingredients: 1 bag Sea Salt Kettle Chips (not the giant bag, and not the snack bag - the regular bag?) Mix of Milk and Dark Guittard Chocolate couverture I just tempered about maybe 12 ounces of chocolate to do this and also dip some TJ's jo-jos for a party I went to.  I spread the chips out evenly on a cookie sheet lined with plastic wrap and then using a fork, I drizzled the tempered chocolate over the chips.  After the chocolate on the chips cooled for a bit and hardened (maybe 5-10 minutes), I turned the chips over and drizzled the other side. I liked this version much better t...

Typically when I'm dipping things in chocolate, I have a little bit of chocolate left over which I save for random projects.  This is one of those. I love coconut haystacks, but I often think they are too sweet and kind of ugly.  In this version, I was going for something more light and flaky... elegant, if you will. ;) These are guestimates since I was using ingredients that I just had around. 4-6oz chocolate couverture (mix of milk, dark) 1 to 1 1/2c coconut chips, unsweetened, organic ( NutsOnline.com's version is my favorite) First I toasted the coconut - you have to watch it in the toaster and be really careful when you do this.  Coconut is like tissue paper and burns REALLY fast. What you want is for it to be a nice golden brown and crunchy.  I usually put my toaster oven on 300F and do 5 minute increments, stirring it in between so that it browns evenly.  Somewhere around 10 minutes mine is done, but it might take longer depending on your tray size,...

For those few of you who have gotten to try these caramels, yes, this is THE caramel recipe. I had debated publishing this recipe, but then I decided that I'm never going to make money via my food creations, and really I want to be an author instead, thus exchanging one impossible dream for another. :)  So, without further ado... Stacey's Caramel Recipe : 1.5c heavy cream, organic 2.25c whole milk, organic 3c sugar, organic 1 vanilla bean 1.5c glucose 3/4 stick (6 tbs) of butter, organic Oiled parchment paper in 7x7" and 10x10" cake pans Candy thermometer First, a WARNING : Caramel takes forever to make.  So be ready to have at least 2 hours to do the first part.  Since I needed extra caramel, this is 1.5x my normal recipe where I would only fill the 10x10" cake pan.  I should also note that you need the really sturdy cake pans that won't warp.  If you use cake pans or jelly roll pans that warp, your caramel is going to be all different thickne...

Okay, my first attempt at red velvet cake without using food coloring failed.  It ended up just looking like a light chocolate cake.  It tasted pretty good though.  More varied flavors than a regular chocolate cake since I tried to use some berries to bring out more red.  I forgot... berries tend to turn brown when you cook them. Stacey's Brown Velvet Cake Ingredients: The Light Chocolate Cake 2 1/3c unbleached white flour, organic 1/4c cornstarch 1.5c sugar, organic 1 tsp salt 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1/4c Scharffen Berger cocoa powder 1/2c canola oil, organic 2 eggs, organic 1 1/2c buttermilk, heated with cooked beets 1c pureed strawberries and raspberries (frozen, thawed) 1 tsp white vinegar 2 - 9" round cake pans, lined with parchment paper The Maple Cream Cheese Frosting 2 packages cream cheese, organic 2 sticks butter, salted, organic 1 tbs vanilla bean paste 1/3c maple syrup 4c confectioners sugar First, the cake. ...

AKA my new favoritest cake ever.  I bulked up the recipe for  That Chocolate Cake (added a bit more of all the ingredients except for the eggs - probably 1/8 extra since I was using two 9" square pans instead of two 9" rounds). Cake came out pretty big though, so you probably don't have to bulk it up, and just have thinner layers. Stacey's Chocolate Mint "Favoritest Cake Ever" Ingredients: That Minty Chocolate Cake 2c + 2 tbs sugar, organic 1c unbleached white flour, organic 1c whole wheat flour, organic 2 tbs cornstarch 3/4c + 1 tbs Scharffen-Berger unsweetened cocoa powder 1 1/8 tsp salt 1 3/4 tsp baking powder 1 3/4 tsp baking soda 2 eggs, organic 1/2c + 1 tbs sunflower oil, organic 1c + 2 tbs whole milk 1c + 2tbs boiling water 2 tsp peppermint extract That Amazing Mint Ganache Frosting  10 oz El Rey white chocolate couverture 16 oz heavy cream, organic 1 oz Creme de Menthe liqueur, green Few drops of peppermint oil Chopped white...

I think most people don't recognize there is a difference between buttercrunch and toffee.  I blame See's.  See's Victoria Toffee is actually buttercrunch, at least, according to  Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner , which says that toffee has to have milk proteins in it.  As a result, "real" toffee sticks to your teeth, which is why I love buttercrunch.  It's crunchy, sweet, and rich, but doesn't hurt my old lady sensitive teeth.  I started with a recipe from the book, scaled it back a bit, and then added nuts to the buttercrunch portion.  The book recipe says to put the nuts on the chocolate, but I thought it would give the nuts a better chance at staying crunchy if they were inside the candy. Stacey's Chocolate Nutty Buttercrunch Ingredients : 2 sticks (8 oz) salted butter, organic 1c sugar, organic 1.5 oz water 2 tsp vanilla bean paste ~1.5c mix of raw (untoasted) peanuts and pepitos (pumpkin s...

Thought I'd do a variation of That Chocolate Cake... Stacey's That Almond Cake Ingredients: 2c sugar, organic 1c unbleached white flour, organic 3/4c whole wheat flour, organic 2 tbs cornstarch 3/4c almond flour 1 tsp salt 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 2 eggs, organic 1/2c sesame oil 2 tsp vanilla bean paste 1.5c whole milk (cream top organic) 1/2c boiling water 10x10" cake pan Parchment paper First, I preheated the oven to 350F and lined the cake pan with the parchment paper.  Then, I mixed all the dry ingredients together.  I slightly beat the eggs with the oil, and heated the milk with the vanilla in the microwave for about a minute - temp gun said it was about 90F.  I added the wet ingredients (minus the boiling water) into the dry ingredients and mixed.  Once it was mixed, I added the boiling water and stirred until it was combined.  It was really soupy, but I figured I'd just give it a try.  I poured it into the p...

My boyfriend's sisters invited us over for dinner last week, so I wanted to bring a yummy dessert over.  Usually I make a 9x13" tray of brownies to bring to work, but this was a much smaller audience so I opted for the 8x8" and scaled back my usual brownie recipes.  I've been working on brownie recipes for a long time, and I still haven't quite found one that I'm in love with.  This one was decent, but I think I would have liked to cook it a bit longer for next time. Stacey's Mint Brownie Ingredients : 1 stick butter, organic, salted 3 oz 99% unsweetened Guittard chocolate 1c dark brown sugar, organic 1c white sugar, organic 2 eggs 2 tsp vanilla bean paste 1 tsp peppermint extract 1/2c whole wheat flour, organic 2 tbs Scharffen Berger cocoa powder 1/2 tsp salt 2 tbs cornstarch 1/3c Guittard semisweet chocolate chips Stacey's Creme de Menthe Frosting Ingredient s 3 tbs heavy cream, organic 2 tsp Creme de Menthe liqueur 1.5c powdered ...