Cupcakes vs. Muffins

I'm one of those people who has a fantastic memory for unimportant, trivial data. Need the name of an actor from a bad action movie you saw two years ago? Got it. How does the chorus go for that random song from the early 90s? No problem.

So there's this one scene from Shrek where the Gingerbread Man is being questioned on what he knows,

and for some reason, this was all I could think about while making these...muffins? Cupcakes? Are they automatically cupcakes because they have frosting? Muffins, because of the gingerbread?

THE WORLD MAY NEVER KNOW.

The point is, these gingerbread muffins/cupcakes with the white chocolate cream cheese glaze/frosting turned out epically better than the horror of the citrus bars. (Yes, "horror" is a bit strong, but you didn't see what was left after straining the mixture through a fine mesh sieve. AND MAY YOU NEVER HAVE TO.)

I used a Trader Joe's gingerbread mix that had been lurking at the back of my shelf since December or so, and it was spectacular. I think making a loaf of gingerbread would have actually been too much of a flavor punch - too intimidating to consume. After a judicious batter tasting (there might have been a warning on the box to not eat raw batter. I don't know - I make it a point to disregard/deliberately not search for these types of cautions), I poured them out. The mix exactly filled out the 12 cups in my silicone muffin...contraption.  I hate this thing, by the way. I CAN NEVER GET IT CLEAN. It remains spitefully oily, no matter what I do.

I topped the muffins off with a white-chocolate cream cheese glaze/frosting from Vanilla Sugar Blog. It was pretty straightforward, but oddly the cream cheese so exactly countered the sweetness of the white chocolate that I ended up needing to add some vanilla to bring it home.

Honestly, the only way these could have been better were if the glaze had come out pure white instead of the erm, softly dingy eggshell.

PRETTY TASTY THOUGH!

Mix Battle - Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Luscious Cream Cheese Frosting

Let me start by saying, I know I'm one of the lucky ones.  I grew up on home-made cookies, many times getting to help with the process, not to mention lick the bowl and I just can't get over it.

And so we begin  round two - the 'Mixes' Batch Battle which means I'm already not happy.  I started with a bag of "Betty Crocker Pumpkin Spice Cookie Mix" that my OTT (official taste tester) threw into the shopping cart during an adventure to the grocery store while hungry (I'll never learn).

I knew I was going to struggle when the bag clearly stated two things I in general disagree with:
1. "Natural and Artificial flavors"
2. "Do Not Eat Raw Dough"

But alas, I persevered and tried to think of something rather than just boring cookies.  I started dreaming of frosting options, and then it struck me - CREAM CHEESE.  Every Thanksgiving we beg (BEG) my mom to bake a pumpkin pie cheese cake which thankfully she does, but god forbid you're there a minute late because it WILL be gone.

With this new hope for cookie mix I dug in starting with my favorite ingredient, a stick of butter.

I tried to stay true to the directions and mixed by hand. Luckily, this was not too difficult, but yikes, I totally forgot how lucky I am to have a fabulous mixer.  

Cookies were deposited on the cookie sheet in 1" balls and baked for about 9 minutes.  Super quick!

While these little darlings were baking, I got on to the real show.  Frosting!

Two packets of cream cheese to one stick of butter makes this version of cream cheese frosting simply decedent and almost indecent; in other words I can't get enough of it.  This picture simply doesn't do it justice - it is creamy and rich with just a hint of sweetness.  

The cookies came out of the oven surprisingly well.  Flat bottoms, puffy tops, and somewhat of a cake-like texture.  Betty Crocker - you shocked me!

Overall, I'm still not a huge fan of mixes, but this did open my eyes.

Happy Eating!
-L

ROUND TWO

DING DING DING

I was going to call this post "Celebrity Death Match" but I didn't want to peak too soon (which apparently, someone asked Jennifer Lawrence last night after she won the Academy Award...harsh).

ANYWAY.

I had the brilliant idea this morning to base this week's challenge around a store-bought mix of some kind. Handily, this helps me clear out a totally random Trader Joe's gingerbread mix from my cupboard before it gets to be, y'know, June.

Lauren was down, like a champion, so here we are!

Wish us luck! Well, wish me luck. Lauren doesn't appear to need it.

LOVE,
FRANCES

PS. Here's a CDM gif, because every baking blog should have one. Obviously.

In which Frances fails, but not at alliteration.

Ok so, let's break it down:

1) In the future, we'll have more than, like, 5 hours to figure this out. I'll have an idea so that I can go to the store on my way home from work. A recipe selected from the PANTHEON of cookbooks arrayed on my shelf. NOT scrambling to select one from my Pinterest food board. Leading me to my second point.

2) What is this, amateur hour? Not reading the comments?! Come ON, Frances. You're better than this. I'm sorry, Lauren/Internet. I assumed the zest of 6 oranges would correlate to the exact amount of juice I needed (it didn't). I also assumed that blood oranges would overpower the virulent yellow yolks (nope).

What does this mean? Basically, it means that for this first round anyway, I did not put my best food forward. I need to pull myself together.




Damn. I just put it back in the oven, with the curd and made a GIANT mess. BUT ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS.

 And after a brief, encouraging (HA) call from my noble competitor, here is the final shot. That flap you see are the remnants of a tumah (cue like 3 minutes of 4 people saying IT'S NOT A TUMAH) SO.

What do we have. We have a disaster in the kitchen which, folks, is unusual for me...The Midnight Baker. (Whatever, it's not like a cool nickname or anything). And by disaster, I mean the bars, which look nothing like what they are supposed to. Head on over to the geniuses at White on Rice to be impressed, but team, I got nothing.

Sorry.

HUMILIATED,

F.

Butter Baby wins with Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars

Let me start by saying, I've been DYING to make peanut butter and jelly bars. 

Peanut butter may in fact be my kryptonite - I would consider giving up bacon for it (don't tell my 'Official Taste Tester').  

So this challenge finally gave me an excuse to indulge in this blissful treat.  I started with "Cookies & Cups" recipe (February 5, 2013) and barely made any alterations. 

I may have added a BIT more peanut butter (consider it a calculation error) and I chose to use Raspberry jelly... well OTT chose raspberry, but since he went to the store, who am I to disagree.  Other than that, presto - even her baking times were spot on.

This is a four layer bar

The first being a relatively simple shortbread.  But by baking it twice, it really gives a nice snap when you bite in.  

There are no words to describe the second layer of this cookie.  Raw or baked - it is as if angels are having a tea party in your mouth.  Seriously though, if I offered up spoonfuls of the raw peanut butter, butter, sugar mixture there would be a line from Walnut Creek to Kalamazoo - yum.  Did I mention it's thick and creamy?

Then the seemingly boring layers of jam and crumble.  Pretty normal stuff here.  

A little butter here, a bit of oats there. 

Here's the kicker though - after you pull it out of the oven, you get to test your will power by letting the whole pan cool.  Seriously, don't touch it! Just let it be; if I can do it... you can.  

And here's why.  Snappy, gooey, creamy, tangy and just a hint of salty goodness.  Now go make yourself a cup of tea.

Belly up to the Bar

Challenge 1:  The Bar Cookie

The  flat, easy to pack for picnics, may-be-slightly-gooey bar cookie. Lemon bars, 7 layers bars, you know, those cute squares of joy that always look so delicious.

But the question is, who will reign supreme in this first endeavor?  What will it take to bring home the first prize of  Batch Battles?

Only time and the gentle folding of ingredients will tell...

Let the mixing begin

2 babes
2 bay area kitchens
2 Kitchen Aid mixers

The ground rules:

1. The recipe must never have been made before
2. The entire process must be documented in photos
3. Any changes/modifications to the recipe must be indicated
4. Photos must be posted by midnight

Introducing the competitors:

In one corner; baking in Walnut Creek, CA: Lauren 'Butter Baby' Rodgers

And her opponent; from Cole Valley, San Francisco, CA: Frances 'Kiss my Pie' Sink

let the battle begin...