Tag Archives: icing

Fudgy Double Crème de Menthe Brownies

April 22, 2012 Keep It Sweet 41 Comments

Saturday was a case of “I have a few hours in the kitchen to make non-KISD desserts, how much can I bake for the blog and how fast?”

Of course I had another reason to bake, other than for Matt to have three cupcakes as an afternoon snack. And the reason wasn’t to give me an excuse to eat the last three brownies sliver by sliver until they “magically” disappeared. But Matt was going to a birthday party and I was headed to a housewarming party and apparently when you run a bakery you are expected to bring baked goods. Who knew?

In fact, any time I show up empty handed I get some pretty disappointed faces. Even from our friends and family members on diets, they are always slyly trying to see if I have a plate/box/bag of goodies behind my back.

But I digress. These brownies went to the birthday party and they were a perfect case of “what do I have on hand that needs to be used up?” We had leftover mint buttercream in the freezer that has been taking up valuable real estate for a while and a bag of Andes pieces in the drawer from before the holidays.

Let me tell you, those two items did not go to waste. These brownies were a heavenly combination of fudgy, creamy, rich and minty all at the same time. A few hours after I finished the leftover brownies, I completely regretted not doubling the batch. Looks like the rest of those Andes candies won’t be around for long!

Fudgy Double Creme de Menthe Brownies

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Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Makes: 12 servings

Ingredients

Brownies

3 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, sliced
1⅓ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
⅔ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup Andes crème de menthe pieces or chopped Andes candies

Creme de Menthe Buttercream

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup creme de menthe

Instructions

Brownies

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Grease a 9x9 brownie pan or baking dish with cookie spray or butter; set aside
In a large microwavable bowl, melt chocolate and butter by microwaving in 30-second increments and stirring in-between
Whisk in sugar until well combined
Whisk in eggs and vanilla until well combined
Whisk in four just until combined
Fold in crème de menthe pieces
Pour batter into prepared baking dish and bake 25-30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean
Set brownies aside to cool and prepare buttercream

Creme de Menthe Buttercream

Beat butter in the large bowl of an electric mixer on high speed until light and creamy
Add powdered sugar and crème de Menthe and mix on low until incorporated
Increase speed to high and mix until filling is light and fluffy
Spread buttercream over cooled brownies; slice and serve

Notes

Brownies adapted from Baker’s

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Thick and Fudgy Peppermint Mocha Brownies

Mint Cookies and Cream Buttercream Cups

Thin Mint Cookie Cake

Blog, Recipes

Reese’s Pieces Cake Bars

January 31, 2012 Keep It Sweet 72 Comments

Sometimes you get busy. There is week-old laundry to put away, streaked kitchen counters that need to be scrubbed and recipes to test.

There are websites to be designed, photos to be edited, and post-dessert workouts to get done.

But there is also a blog to attend to and readers getting impatient. Those readers who hate you for ruining their New Year’s resolutions in January but love you for making delicious desserts come so easy. That has been the theme recently, hasn’t it? Easy cookies, easy truffles and now easy cake.

I know I’m not the only one around here that has a to-do list from one end of the apartment to the other. Email drafts, post-it notes, calendar reminders and the worst ones, those where you take a mental note and say, “yes, I will remember this” but three days later you are in the middle of your shower and you think, “oh crap.”

I am so thankful for easy desserts.

Reese’s Pieces Cake Bars
Makes 20 cake bars

Ingredients:
Reese’s Pieces Cake
1 chocolate cake mix plus ingredients called for on box, replacing oil with creamy peanut butter (my cake mix called for 1/3 cup of oil so I ignored that and used 1/3 cup of peanut butter)
3/4 cups Reese’s Mini Pieces or regular Reese’s Pieces lightly chopped
Fluffy Peanut Butter Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar

To make the cake
Pre-heat oven as directed on box
Spray a 13×9 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray
Follow directions on cake box, substituting peanut butter for oil; stir in Reese’s Pieces
Pour cake batter into prepared baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean
Allow cake to cool

To make Frosting
Beat butter with an electric mixer until light and creamy
Beat in peanut butter until well combined
Add sugar and stir until combined; then increase speed to high and beat until frosting is light and fluffy
Ice cooled cake with prepared frosting and serve

Where do you keep your to-do lists?

Blog, Recipes

Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes with Mascarpone Frosting

December 15, 2011 Keep It Sweet 46 Comments

A few months ago, I was offered the chance to review a cupcake magazine. Yes, a cupcake magazine! How could I say no to that?

Well, I finally got around to making some cupcakes weeks and weeks later. Not sure why I waited so long. Maybe because I’m just so obsessed with cookies I can’t help myself but forget the cupcakes. It is a shame, too, because cupcakes have a place in my love of desserts.

Well my reason surely was not for a lack of inspiration. Cupcake Heaven is a colorful magazine full of over 100 recipes and photos to accompany every one. Other than a little bit of confusion over some baking terms (the magazine is based out of the UK), I enjoyed baking from it. There are a ton of bookmarked pages for me to try in the future, but the first recipe I had to try was their red velvet cupcake.

Given my love of red velvets it is actually shocking that I’ve never made my own before. This recipe worked out nicely and I made them into minis which is always more fun. Also, rather than topping them with traditional cream cheese frosting, I went with mascarpone to give them a little bit of a more sophisticated touch. We served these cupcakes at our housewarming party and they added such a nice color to the dessert display. When Matt took leftovers to work, these were the first of a variety of desserts to disappear.

Oh, and want to know an embarrassing secret? I used to not like cake. As in really dislike it so much that I’d request a brownie, cookie cake or ice cream pie for every birthday as a kid. My poor icing-loving mother would be forced to concede. And if you can believe it, not only did I dislike birthday cake, but I hated icing. Not sure when things turned around, but these days whenever I eat cake I feel the need to make up for those lost years and eat extra frosting. It is my way of apologizing to my former self for that self-deprivation.

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Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes with Mascarpone Frosting

Makes 22-24 mini cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup buttermilk (low fat is fine)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon red food coloring

To Prepare Cupcakes:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Spray a mini-muffin pan with cooking spray or line it with paper cupcake liners

Sift together flour, baking soda and cocoa; set aside

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy

On low speed, beat in eggs and half of flour mixture

Beat in buttermilk, vanilla and food coloring

Stir in remaining flour mixture just until combined, do not overmix

Pour batter into prepared cupcake tin (I used a cookie dough scoop, one scoop per cup)

Bake cupcakes for 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean; set aside to cool

Frosting Ingredients:

8 ounces mascarpone cheese at room temperature

4 ounces reduced fat cream cheese at room temperature

1 cup confectioners sugar

To Prepare Frosting:

Beat mascarpone and cream cheese together on high speed until light and creamy

Beat in sugar until mixture is smooth

Spread or pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes and serve

Cupcake recipe from Cupcake Heaven Magazine

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Did you have any weird taste preferences as a kid?

Keep It Sweet Desserts