Homemade Peppermint Patties

Right now I am obsessed with the following:

the natural waves in my hair

my venti iced white chocolate mocha with 2 pumps of toffee nut

finding the perfect black cardigan before the season is over

and making m favorite candy bars at home without the 15 letter chemical additives

It can be done, I promise.

Joy has already conquered the Almond Joy. Nancy was talking about some Milky Way tart. And me, well I conquered the peppermint patty.

And being the true romantic that I am, I made them Valentines Day appropriate so that you can make it for your honey. I’m so thoughtful sometimes

The original recipe called for rolling these into small balls and squishing them into the traditional patty shape. So for regular patties, just follow the recipe below. For heart shaped ones, follow my notes after the recipe.

Homemade Peppermint Patties
Adapted from Sweet Savory Life
Makes roughly 50 patties

Ingredients:

1 can of condensed milk
5 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon peppermint extract
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used red and pink candy melts and bittersweet chocolate)
3 tablespoons shortening

Directions:

1. Combine condensed milk, 2 cups of powdered sugar, and peppermint extract in a large mixing bowl. Mix everything on medium speed using the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer) until all the ingredients are well incorporated.

2. Add more powdered sugar to your mixture, a half cup at a time, until the dough is pliable like firm modeling clay. I had to add all 3 1/2 cups.

3. Roll 3/4″ balls of dough between the palms of the hands. *

4. Press each ball down slowly and set the flattened disk on a flat cutting board or plate. Transfer peppermint disks to the freezer for no longer than 30 minutes (I ran out of time and ended up chilling these overnight and they were just fine to work with the next day.) While the dough is chilling, temper the chocolate coating.

5. Place chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl. Melt the chocolate in 30 second increments, making sure to stir after each time until chocolate is smooth. Stir in shortening to thin the chocolate. Remove patties from the freezer.

6. Place a patty on the tongs of the fork and dip in the chocolate until completely covered. Allow excess chocolate to drip off the patty before setting each one on top of wax or parchment paper.

7. Allow the chocolate coated peppermint patties to completely set up. This can be done quicker by placing the patties in the refrigerator. The peppermint patties are ready when they are dry to the touch. Enjoy!

* To make these heart shaped: gently but quickly roll the dough out to about 1/2″ thick then stick it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes until it is firm enough to cut out shapes. Once it’s firm, cut out the shapes and place them on a sheet of wax paper and once you’ve finished all the dough pop it into the freezer while you melt your chocolate and proceed with the recipe.

TWD Rewind – Midnight Crackles

Sometimes I wonder how I can let so many things slip right through my fingers: glasses filled with cranberry juice, workouts, and blog posts are just among the many things to elude me.

Althought there isn’t much I can do about spilled cranberry juice, I can start to get caught up on some blog posts.

Starting with these cookies that I missed posting about three weeks ago.

I had to have a little fun with these so I glammed them up a bit to give them some personality and texture. I coated some in powdered sugar, raw sugar, valentines themed sprinkles, and left some plain.

My cookies didn’t spread as much as I thought they would but that might be my fault as I added a scant 1/2 cup of flour because my dough was very sticky,  adhering to the sides of the bowl rather than pulling away from it. The extra flour gave them sturdiness which made them perfect to work with and thankfully didn’t take away from flavor. Who knew that cloves, cinnamon and chocolate would yield such amazing flavor? I’ll definitely be making these again!

I’d like to extend my thanks to Laurie of Slush and Julie of Someone’s In the Kitchen for choosing these as I probably never would have tried these this soon. You can find the recipe here.

Also, happy belated 3 year anniversary to Tuesdays with Dorie!! Thank you to Laurie and Julie for keeping this crazy lovely thing going strong. And thank you to Dorie for giving us a great book to bake from like the mad maniacs we are!

SMS – Speakeasy! My pick, dang!!

STOP THE PRESS!!! I’m here, I’m here!!

No I haven’t forgotten you. Yes I’ve been a bad blog mommy. Yes, I’m here to make it up to you… with cake!!

When I got the email about me hosting an SMS post the first thing that popped into mind was “Dang! it’s about TIME!” *jumps for joy* Then it was intermittently followed by “Gosh, what do I choose?!” *panic*

I did want to pick something tasty, simple with seasonal/staple ingredients and no allergens. Did I succeed? I’m not sure, you tell me

With the national day of looooove (read: Valentine’s Day) just around the corner, I felt the need to gussy this bad boy up. And tweak it, cus that’s how I roll.

I halved the recipe and made it in three 4″x4″ heart shaped springform pans, subbed Bailey’s for the Brandy and baked for 35 minutes. My cakes were about as temperamental as a teen during that time of the month… you see, they would rise beautifully and then I would discover a HUGE space between the top of the cake and where the cake actually was. I think I either over mixed the egg whites or over mixed the batter when adding the egg whites. Either way, my quick fix was cutting off the empty top shell and flipping the cake (which yielded in a pretty thin cake). I double drenched the cake in the ganache topping to make sure I had a nice thick and shiny coat. Topped with some lightly sweetened whipped cream (the cake provides plenty sweet) and a sprinkle of orange zest, this cake makes a wonderful V-Day dessert for that special someone. Or heck, make it for yourself. You deserve it!!

This cake is indulgent in every sense of the word: tender, moist, rich and chocolatey. So grab a fork, close your eyes and sigh with happiness.

Speakeasy
Adapted from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book

Yields one 8″ cake

FOR THE CAKE:
6 ounces best-quality semisweet (58%) chocolate (I used 50% German chocolate, yum!!)
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup Brandy (I subbed Bailey’s. Rum works too!)
4 large eggs
1-1/3 cups sugar
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

FOR THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE:
6 ounces best-quality semisweet (58%) chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon light corn syrup

BEFORE YOU START:
Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat your oven to 350F. Lightly butter an 8×2-inch round cake pan (springform works nicely here). Line the bottom with an 8-inch round of parchment paper.

TO MAKE THE CAKE:
1. In a medium bowl set over a pot of simmering, not boiling, hot water, melt the chocolate with the butter and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the brandy until smooth. Set aside to cool.
2. Separate the eggs. Place the yolks in a large mixing bowl, and the whites in an electric mixer bowl.
3. Add half of the sugar to the bowl with the yolks and whisk until thick. Add the chocolate mixture to the yolks and whisk to combine. Sift the flour, cinnamon, and salt over the chocolate batter and stir to combine.
4. In the bowl of the electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, make a meringue by whipping the egg whites until foamy. In a slow steady stream, add the remaining sugar. Whip until the whites hold stiff but not dry peaks.
5. Briskly stir one-third of the meringue into the chocolate mixture to lighten the batter. Gently fold the remaining two-thirds of the meringue into the batter until no streaks remain.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. Spin the pan to level the batter. bake for 80 to 90 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. (Do not do the skewer test until the cake has ben baking for at least 70 minutes or you will deflate the batter!) Remove to a wire rack (I used a cookie rack over a baking sheet lined with foil) to cool before glazing.

TO MAKE THE GLAZE:
1. When the cake is cool enough to glaze, coarsely chop the chocolate and place it in a medium bowl.
2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the heavy cream until scalding, or until the cream is steaming and tiny bubbles have formed along the edges. Do not boil.
3. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let stand for 5 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Stir in the corn syrup.

TO COMPLETE THE CAKE:
1. Place the cake upside down on a rack set over the prepared cookie sheet.
2. Pour the glaze over the cake, letting the glaze spread itself. You may have to push it over the sides a bit, and use a small metal spatula or butter knife to smooth the sides. Try not to touch the top though, so it will be glossy and unmarred. Let the glaze set at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Once the glaze is set, transfer the cake to a serving plate.

PRO TIP FROM MELISSA: Whenever I have a batter that uses a meringue or whipped egg whites for leavening, I am not all that gentle with the first addition. The base, in this case the chocolate-yolk mixture, tends to be heavy, and the first addition of the meringue acts as a liaison, lightening the batter enough so that the rest of the meringue is accepted into the batter more easily, and can therefore retain maximum volume. So just get that first addition in however you can, then be gentle and fold the remaining meringue in properly.

Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Cake with Bailey’s Buttercream Frosting

Birthday cakes should be something special. Something that the birthday girl really loves. And most importantly, something that tastes phenomenal.

And in this case, the birthday girl was my mother in-law so I knew JUST the flavor profile I’d be working with!

A simple moist chocolate cake that is sure to please and my favorite buttercream frosting ramped up with a bit of Bailey’s Irish Cream.

The result: a moist chocolate cake, delicious frosting, and a happy birthday girl.

Mission Accomplished!

I made this cake as the cake for our wedding reception and a certain birthday girl chose this as her cake. (Happy Birthday Adriana!!) I hope she loves it as much as I loved making it for her

HERSHEY’S “PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE” Chocolate Cake
makes 2-6″ layers

Ingredients:
1 cups sugar
7/8 cups all-purpose flour (1/2c + 1/4c + 2 TBSP)
1/4 cup + 2 TBSP HERSHEY’S Cocoa
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 6-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Sift cocoa powder into dry ingredients to prevent lumps. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 25-30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

4. Frost and decorate as desired.

5. If you will not frost and decorate the same day, wrap layers separately in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or 1 week in the freezer.

My Favorite Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:
1 stick salted butter – room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter – room temperature
1 cup shortening
1 tablespoon Clear Vanilla extract (or regular, frosting will be off-white)
2 pounds confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar, 10x)
1 tablespoon of Bailey’s Irish Cream
3-5 tablespoons very cold milk

Directions:
Cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the clear vanilla extract and combine well. Begin adding in the sugar (roughly) 1/4 of the bag at a time mixing on low speed to generally incorporate then back to med-high to mix thoroughly. Repeat until the bag is empty, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, add the Bailey’s Irish Cream and combine very well. Then begin adding the very cold milk… one tablespoon at a time, combining very well after each addition (mixer on medium-high to high speed) until you reach your desired consistency. Then whip the heck out of that buttercream for 30 seconds for a beautifully smooth texture.

*REMEMBER: working slowly when adding the milk is KEY. You can always add more to thin the frosting, but you can’t take it away leaving your frosting thin. The goal is for a frosting that is thick enough to set up well but not so thick that you can’t pipe it out of a pastry bag or spread it easily with a spatula.

**This recipe yields a whopping amount of frosting. Use what you need and place the rest in a tightly sealed container and either refrigerate it or freeze it (letting it come to room temperature before using it.)

***Scrape out the seeds of 2 vanilla beans and add them in place of the vanilla extract.

I also made this cake and frosting combo for my little brothers 6th birthday… minus the Bailey’s in the frosting, of course. I used the vanilla beans in the frosting instead of vanilla extract and topped with slivers of chocolate. He certainly enjoyed it

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from The Whimsical Cupcake!!

I hope you all make this a great year.

Strive for your goals, accomplish your resolutions.

Most importantly, be happy!!

<3 J