Chocolate Stout Cupcakes
I also added Mule and Elk Brewery’s Stout. Since it is March, stout is a huge hit during this time of year! I chose the chocolate cake recipe
For a while now I have always struggled with homemade cakes or cupcakes. I had really dense cupcakes or dry cupcakes. I was so frustrated with the thought of cupcakes that I just decided to steer away from it! I found it harder than making macarons. I finally found a chocolate cupcake recipe that adds a beautiful light, airy and moist texture. It gives all the happiness and joy you want in a chocolate cupcake!
I also added our local Mule and Elk Brewery’s Stout. Since it is March, stout is a huge hit during this time of year! I chose the chocolate cake recipe from the Pastry Chef’s Black Book. I recommend this book to anybody who loves to bake. The techniques and recipes are fool proof and consistent. You will need a weighing scale for this book or any recipe I post. I feel weighing ingredients is essential in baking and it is a small investment you can purchase here on amazon.
The recipe contains a total of about 36 cupcakes. Please feel free to divide the recipe in half according to your needs. Since I added the stout, I halved 180 grams of buttermilk to 90 grams of buttermilk and 90 grams of stout.
Chocolate Stout Cupcakes
ingredients:
- Cake Flour 285 grams
- Dark Cocoa Powder 90 grams
- Baking Powder1 1/2 tsp
- Baking Soda 1/2 tsp
- Salt 1 tsp
- Butter 210 grams
- Granulated Sugar 450 grams
- Whole Eggs 200 grams
- Egg Yolk 20 grams
- Buttermilk 90 grams
- Dark Stout 90 grams
- Coffee (cooled) 180 grams
- Vanilla Extract 1 1/2 tsp
- Please follow this Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe
- 1/4 cup of Dark Stout or until your taste liking
instructions:
How to cook Chocolate Stout Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Sift all dry ingredients together.
- In paddle fitted mixed, cream soften butter and sugar butter until fluffy.
- Add eggs slowly ( I whisked the eggs and egg yolk together and slowly poured it into the butter concoction).
- Alternatively add wet and dry ingredient to the mixture until all is combined.
- Add cupcake batter to lined cupcake tin ad bake for about 20-22 minutes.
NOTES:
Vanilla Polar Bear Macarons
It is such a beautiful day of the year to know that you can have a new beginning and a fresh start. I do have a couple of new year’s resolutions but I am trying to have mini-goals one month at a time. I have failed some of my new years
Happy New Year of 2020! (This post was supposed to be for the beginning of January but never got posted! So go back in time 2 months earlier!)
It is such a beautiful day of the year to know that you can have a new beginning and a fresh start. I do have a couple of new year’s resolutions but I am trying to have mini-goals one month at a time. I have failed some of my new years resolutions these past couple of years and intend to make 2020 the best year of accomplishment. I plan to be more active on my social media accounts, blog posts and more. I hope you can follow me on my foodie journey of 2020.
We are starting out the year with simple Vanilla Polar Bear Macarons. I wanted to see if i was able to teach a 10 year old girl how to follow a simple macaron recipe using a digital scale. Normally,I use Swiss Meringue Buttercream for my macaron filling but we just used American Buttercream for this recipe.
We ended up following Les Petits Macarons: Colorful French Confections to Make at Home
We used the French Method recipe of this book. I used this method because it seemed less overwhelming than the Italian Method for a 10 year old! We successfully made these polar macarons with an American buttercream recipe. We got these food writer pens and made cute polar bears!
I feel whatever age anybody can make macarons as long as you follow precise instructions and work carefully.
Crazy Fancy S'more Tart
I don’t know about you but I absolutely love s’mores! I can have any dessert in the form of a s’more. This tart comes with a smooth decadent chocolate ganache. The homemade marshmallow meringue is toasted to make the campfire feels for any season or any day.
Crazy Fancy S'more Tart
I was scared that the graham cracker crust would fall apart but due to science and butter, it came together beautifully. I just used this tart pan I purchased from amazon and pressed the butter mixed graham cracker crumbs in the middle and towards the sides of the pan.
I added left over macarons I had in my freezer and touches of gold on the graham crackers to make them “Crazy Fancy”. I also added a couple of Lindt chocolate pieces to add a special touch.
Crazy Fancy S'mores Tart
ingredients:
- 90 grams of melted butter
- 250 grams fine crushed graham crackers
- 1 tablespoon of dark brown sugar
- 300 grams chocolate chips
- 300 grams heavy cream
- 75 grams water
- 300 grams sugar
- 110 grams egg whites
instructions:
How to cook Crazy Fancy S'mores Tart
- Melt the butter and slightly cool. Mix the graham cracker crumbs , butter and brown sugar together until it's fully incorporated.
- Press graham cracker mixture into a tart pan and pressed toward the sides. Refrigerate while making chocolate ganache.
- In a saucepan heat heavy cream until it starts to boil. Place chocolate chips in a glass proof bowl. Add hot cream over the chocolate chips.
- Whisk together until smooth.
- Pour ganache into the graham cracker crust and refrigerate for about an hour.
- In a saucepan add sugar and water together over high heat.
- When sugar syrup reaches 100 C add egg whites to a mixing bowl and start whisking until egg whites are foamy.
- When sugar syrup reaches 118 C slowly pour into the whisking egg whites in the side of the bowl.
- Whisk until the egg whites have a stiff meringue consistency.
- Add Marshmallow Meringue to a piping bag with a round tip. Pipe meringue on top of the s'mores tart. Finish off with a hand held torch and toast marshmallow meringue.
NOTES:
5 Reasons To Shop At Your Local Farmers Market
graphic design : Wenz Creative
"The 23 million small businesses in America account for 54% of all U.S. business sales"
My husband moved me from the Bay Area to a little town in Central Washington (Roslyn, Washington). I honestly was not too thrilled about moving to a smaller town and smaller spaces. I am Miami, Florida native who lived in the Bay Area and then moved to a town of 900 people! I was in a state of deep depression trying to adjust my life, family, career choices, and culture shock. As you can see, that was a nuclear bomb in my life (the crazy things you do for love). I think over-time God had to constantly worked on my heart to show me this was His path for me.
"I live in the most beautiful tiny town in America"
As a year and a half went on, I grew more and more fond of living in Roslyn and can proudly say I live in the most beautiful tiny town in America. I felt every time I traveled to the "big cities", I longed to be back in Roslyn with peace, quietness and clean air. I wouldn't trade living anywhere else but Roslyn, Washington.
Anyways, now that you heard my life story, let's move on to the good stuff; The Roslyn Farmers Market. It is basically one of the highlights of our town. It is filled with so many bright souls all around. There is local vendors, music, food and historic charm. You explore the old cemetery, hike, camp, kayak, and bike nearby. The market is only opened in the summer from the middle of June thru September. Here are a couple of reasons why you should visit your any local farmers market.
1. Supporting the local economy.
"Buying produce directly from farmers helps them from the globalized economy"
The farmers market economy is a great way to support your local agriculture. This way you are supporting and protecting your local environment. Instead of wasting pollution, gasoline, packaging, and miles of traveling, we reduce that by shopping locally. Buying produce directly from farmers helps them from the globalized economy. I always have to remember when you are supporting a small business you are supporting a dream.
2. Seasonal Produce
The food you buy at the market is seasonal. Most grocery store produce isn't fresh, therefore it loses its taste, quality and it may be filled with chemicals. For example, the average apple at a grocery store is over a year old. Apples are usually in season from August thru September. Yuck! We want to take care of our bodies and consume the freshest ingredients we can consume.
"The average apple at a grocery store is over a year old"
I love coming into the market during summer and checking out cherries, raspberries, and blueberries throughout the summer months. There are some places in Eastern Washington I have been to where there are local strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and cherry picking. It is lovely to pick your own fruit from farmers who put love and time into their crop.
3. Know where your food comes from
It's nice to know where our food comes from. To be honest, I haven't really thought about this because I'm an average American just rhythmically going to the grocery store every week. I want to make a conscious decision to be aware of what produce and meat I buy and knowing I am supporting our local farmers close by. I can't imagine every day our produce is being dragged thousands of miles away losing its quality every time.
"I want to make a conscious decision to be aware of what produce and meat I buy and knowing I am supporting our local farmers close by."
For example, I am originally from Florida, so when they have Mangos or Star-fruit sitting at Fred Meyer in Washington State, I never buy it. I know for a fact, first of all, they are not in season. Second, it's definitely not local!
4. Ethical Choices
Now, we can't 100% know for sure if farmers treat their animals right. But shopping at your local farmers market can help you meet farmers that humanely treat animals in the right way. Many huge farmers mistreat their animals causing the animal in distress. When an animal is in distress, the quality of meat is lowered.
"Shopping at your local farmers market can help you meet farmers that humanely treat animals in the right way"
Now I am not vegetarian or vegan but I do believe in humane and ethical values in animal care. It breaks my heart to see animals tortured or being placed in very in closed areas. I don't believe we should be supporting this globalized economy with their poor choices in animal cruelty.
5. Connecting with the community
Michaela (makingmichaela.org), Jace and Rowyn
The farmers market for me is a fun way to socialize and connect with people. I am always meeting new people from other towns and cities. Farmers Markets are fun, festive and have so many positive vibes.
"The farmers market for me is a fun way to socialize and connect with people."
It is something to always look forward to every year during the summer months. I implore you to explore all of the different types of markets around your area. Supporting our small businesses, the local economy and connecting with people is a great way to make a small difference in our society today.
.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe
I must confess, I was a learning baker who didn't know there were other types of buttercream. The only buttercream…
"Fortunately, all it takes for us to be of one mind is some buttercream frosting"
I must confess, I was a learning baker who didn't know there were other types of buttercream. The only buttercream I knew of was American buttercream. When I first started my business, I used this method for my macarons. I can't believe for the first half of my business I made people eat my intensely sweet macarons! It is all a learning process and now I know better not to use this in my macarons.
The Swiss Meringue Buttercream may seem overwhelming but the end product is worth it! Once you get used to making it, you can do it in your sleep! Not only do I love the taste of this buttercream but I just LOVE the velvety texture. The recipe I use is just from Natasha's Kitchen and it fills about an estimate of 60 paired macarons. You can also use this in cakes, cupcakes and various macaron buttercream fillings.
Let's Begin!
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
ingredients:
Ingredients
- 7 large 210 grams or 7 oz egg whites
- 2 cups 400 grams granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups 3 sticks or 340 grams unsalted butter, softened*
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt we use non-iodized fine sea salt
instructions:
Instructions
- In a medium pot, add at least 1-inch of water and bring to simmer.
- Thoroughly wash and dry the stainless steel mixing bowl from your stand mixer* (you don't want grease touching meringue). Add 7 egg whites and 2 cups sugar and whisk together. Place mixing bowl over pot of barely simmering water, creating a seal over the pot (bowl should be over the steam, not touching water). Whisk constantly until mixture reaches 160˚F (takes about 3 min). Sugar should be fully dissolved (you should not feel any sugar granules when rubbing mixture between finger tips). Mixture will feel hot to the touch.
- Wipe water from bottom of mixing bowl and transfer bowl to stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until stiff glossy peaks form (about 15-20 min) and bottom of the bowl feels completely at room temp and not warm (important: warm meringue will melt the butter).
- Once bowl is at room temp, switch to paddle attachment, reduce to medium speed and add butter 1 Tbsp at a time, adding it just as fast as it is absorbed by meringue. Once all butter is in, scrape down the bowl and continue beating until it reaches a thick whipped consistency (3 min on med-high speed). If it looks lumpy or liquidy at all, keep beating until smooth, thick and whipped.
- Add 2 tsp vanilla extract and 1/4 tsp salt and mix on med-high until incorporated (about 1 min).
Charcoal Macarons
I have a lady in town that takes my macarons to the next level! I am always opened for fresh ideas especially when it comes to innovative macaron flavors. I live in a historic coal mining town (a.k.a. Hunger Games District 12.. any Hunger…
"Creativity is intelligence having fun"
Charcoal Macarons
I have a lady in town that takes my macarons to the next level! I am always opened for fresh ideas especially when it comes to innovative macaron flavors. I live in a historic coal mining town (a.k.a. Hunger Games District 12.. any Hunger Games fans out there?) in Central Washington. We just had a new restaurant opened called the Coal Chute Cafe and Pub just down the street from me. She wanted to give them coal mining them macarons! (how creative is that?) I took the challenge and incorporated a Swiss Meringue Chocolate Buttercream. I have posted a simple recipe for swiss meringue buttercream (for this recipe all you have to do is add cocoa powder). The only thing I added to the buttercream was cocoa powder, activated food grade charcoal and added Super Black food color.
This was honestly such a fun and unique macaron recipe. According to what I have heard, activated charcoal can whiten teeth, detoxify, alleviate gas, treats poisoning and more. I mean how awesome to have a sweet gluten-free confection with a detoxifying component! It can't get better than that!
Let's begin!
Charcoal Macarons
Charcoal Macarons
ingredients:
instructions:
NOTES:
*Macarons are better eaten the day after. Give at least 24 hours of maturing time to get the flavors to blend. *I prefer silpat mats for a more round shape *Do not over mix or else macarons will end up flat. They need to have a stable consistency for a more round shape
Basic French Macaron Guide
I've been baking french macarons a little over a year now. During the Spring of 2017, I decided to practice perfecting and getting to know
"There are no limits to what you can accomplish, except the limits you place on your own thinking"
I've been baking french macarons a little over a year now. During the Spring of 2017, I decided to practice perfecting and getting to know these fancy almond cookies. I feel anybody can make french macarons as long as they put time, love and patience. I constantly had cracked, hollow and flat macarons my first couple of tries. I had a mason jar filled of imperfect macarons for my husband to munch on! Below are a couple of tips and tricks I use for baking french macarons.
1. Weigh ALL your ingredients.
I can't stress enough how important this is. I have a lot of people ask me "Is there an easier way?" . I believe this is the easiest way in the long run. Everything needs to be precise while making these delicate cookies. Weighing scales are super inexpensive; I grabbed my weighing scale on Amazon for $10! Eventually, using weighing scale can be beneficial for using exact measurements every time leaving your recipe to be flawless.
2. Get to know your oven
This one was a hard one for me at the beginning of my macaron process. All ovens are different but typically most ovens go hotter than usual. My first year baking macarons, I had to figure out what temperature was right for me. I choose about 275-280 degrees F for my macarons. All ovens are different in terms of heat and circulation. Consider getting a oven thermometer ($6 on Amazon) to know exactly what temperature you oven is at.
3. Don't Give UP!
Yep! I had times I just thought to myself "Is this worth it?". Once you have accomplished something, it gives you inspiration to try new things! Just like any new hobby or craft it takes time and effort. Don't give up in something just because its "too hard" , face it as a new challenges or goals.
Let's Begin!
H
French Macarons
A basic french macaron recipe using the Italian French Method
ingredients:
instructions:
NOTES:
*Macarons are better eaten the day after. Give at least 24 hours of maturing time to get the flavors to blend. *I prefer silpat mats for a more round shape *Do not over mix or else macarons will end up flat. They need to have a stable consistency for a more round shape
Blog Thyme!
Hello lovelies,
I decided to do a fun food and experience blog to share around the internet. I have been wanting to do this for some time now, but I honestly couldn't find my niche in what I wanted to talk about.. until now! I am a self-ta
"Fill your life with ADVENTURES not things, have stories to tell, not stuff to show"
Hello lovelies,
I decided to do a fun food and experience blog to share around the internet. I have been wanting to do this for some time now, but I honestly couldn't find my niche in what I wanted to talk about.. until now! I am a self-taught baker and all my life I have always loved the art of baking. Every day I am learning about the science of baking (normally because I always make a ton of mistakes) and aspire to become better and better every day.
I am a Christian and thank God for saving me at the Cross. I thank God for every opportunity I have and how He uses me thru my skills and talents. I am humbled He has led me this far in my life with such powerful mercy and grace.
I hope you will enjoy this blog and what it has to offer. Feel free to comment and give suggestions. I am open to helping people in the best way I can! I am so excited to take you on an amazing journey in 2018! This year so far has been filled with ups, downs and memorable experiences.
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laughter-joy-blessings,
Charmaine