Tag Archives: chocolate

Heellllooo out there!  Long time no see!  I’m so excited that I finally have the chance to create a brand new post for all of you.  This one is a pretty sweet one… literally!

When Daniel’s birthday comes around, I always love to bake him a delicious and unique treat.  In the past I’ve made him cheesecake, as that’s one of his favorite desserts.  This year, however, I was very inspired by all the boozy cupcake recipes I had been seeing on Pinterest.  After hinting a little at some possible ideas, Daniel told me he’d rather have a cake over cupcakes.  So I looked at various recipes for some ideas, and eventually created this Chocolate and Salted Caramel Whiskey Cake recipe!  Then I found a Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting to top it with.  Excited?  Check it out!

The Cake – Here’s what you need:

• 1 box of chocolate cake mix
• 2 TBSP of whiskey
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• Milk
• Butter
• Eggs
• 1 jar of salted caramel sauce

Ok, I know some people believe using a cake mix is blasphemous, but I was running on limited time and needed that little bit of extra help (did I mention I was also making Daniel a birthday dinner?).  I obviously wanted to serve a delicious cake, so I looked up some tips on how to make cake mix taste homemade.

Here’s what you do:

Follow the directions for the cake mix, BUT replace water with milk and vegetable oil with softened butter.  Also, add in one extra egg than the cake mix calls for.  Also add 1 tsp of vanilla extract and 2 TBSP of whiskey.  Mix until combined.

Divide batter into two, lightly oiled 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans.  Swirl about 1 TBSP of salted caramel sauce into each pan.

Bake as directed, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Allow cakes to cool completely on cooling racks.

While your cakes are cooling you can make the Salted Caramel Frosting!  I followed this recipe, except I doubled it so I would have enough to frost a two-layer cake and add decorative piping.

The Frosting – Here’s what you need:

• 2 cups of butter (room temperature)
• 2/3 cup salted caramel sauce
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups of powdered sugar
• 2 pinches of salt

Here’s what you do:

1. In a large bowl, beat butter for 1 minute with an electric mixer.
2. Add salted caramel and vanilla extract, beat for 2 minutes, occasionally scraping the sides of your bowl.
3. On a low speed, beat in powdered sugar and salt until incorporated.
4. Increase speed and beat for an additional 2-3 minutes, or until frosting is creamy and well-combined.

If you prefer desserts that aren’t too sweet, you will probably want to find a different frosting, as this one is pretty sugary!

Once your cakes have cooled, use a serrated knife to slice off the rounded top layer of each cake, making cakes flat on both sides.

Spread about a 1/4-1/2 in. layer of frosting on one cake and top with the other.  Then all that’s left is to frost the whole cake and add some decorative piping.  I also drizzled more salted caramel sauce on top and sprinkled a little coarse salt for garnish.  Take a look at the finished cake below!

I’m happy to say Daniel loved the cake (can you tell?), as did I!  I hope all of you will enjoy it as well!

Note:  The whiskey flavor is subtle.  If you want more pronounced flavor, I suggest sprinkling whiskey on the cakes as soon as they come out of the oven, allowing the cakes to absorb the liquid while they cool.

As always, let me know in the comments section if you make the cake and how it turns out!  Can’t wait to hear from you.  Happy Eating!

Bonus!  You all know how I love to share gift wrapping that I’ve done.  For Daniel’s birthday I decided to focus on a modern color scheme – check it out!

[The “To My Human” card is from our cat!]

The very first Valentine’s Day Daniel and I celebrated together I made him cupcakes as one of his presents.  Not just any cupcakes though… Daniel has a love affair with spicy foods, and when I was looking for sweets to make, I was specifically looking for HOT recipes.

In my search I came across this recipe for Chocolate Chipotle Cupcakes, and I thought, “This is perfect!”  It’s got spicy, it’s got chocolate (who doesn’t love chocolate?), and it’s definitely more unique than other cupcake flavors I could of made.  I was sold and decided to make the recipe, and I was super impressed with how delicious they turned out!

Now I’d like to share the recipe with my changes and suggestions with you!

Here’s what you need:

• 1 box of chocolate cake mix
• Any ingredients the cake mix calls for (usually water, oil, and eggs)
• 2 TBSP pureed chipotle peppers in adobo
• 1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/4-1 tsp of cayenne pepper (depending on heat preference)

Here’s what you do:

At first glance, what I loved about this recipe was how simple and quick it was.  It would be really great for anyone running short on time, or for a novice baker!

Preheat oven to temperature indicated on your cake mix.  Then puree your chipotle peppers.

Next, in a large bowl mix all of your ingredients until blended.  In a prepared cupcake pan, fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full.  Then bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack and you’re done!

This recipe made 20 cupcakes for me.  Now, the cayenne pepper is my suggestion if you actually want these cupcakes to have a kick.  While the chipotle peppers give a delicious flavor, it really didn’t give off any heat to us.  While you may be thinking, well, why don’t I just add more chipotle… that’s what I thought too.

The second time I made these cupcakes that’s exactly what I did, I doubled the amount of pureed chipotle pepper, and it was WEIRD.  I’m not sure if it had to do with something in the adobo sauce, but it completely changed the texture of the cake and made it way too salty.  I would definitely recommend learning from my mistake!

The original recipe suggests sprinkling the cupcakes with powdered sugar and cinnamon, but a cupcake isn’t a cupcake to me without icing.  I wanted these cupcakes to take decadent, so I knew I wanted to use a buttercream frosting.

I found this delicious recipe that is apparently from a Sprinkles cupcake mix.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 TBSP cinnamon (I added this)

Here’s what you do:

1. In a medium bowl, combine butter, sugar, salt and cinnamon.  Beat until blended.
2. Add the milk and vanilla, and beat until smooth and creamy.

This frosting is amazing!  I added in cinnamon because I wanted to play up that flavor in the cupcakes, and I was not disappointed.  One heads up though, the recipe states that the serving size is 12 cupcakes… well, I frosted 20 and had tons left over.  The second time I made them I even used some to pipe extra decorations, but still had maybe 3/4 of a cup leftover.  Maybe I don’t add as much frosting as other people though, this buttercream is also very sweet so you don’t need a whole lot either.  While it’s better to have more frosting than too little, you might want to adjust the measurements depending on how much you need.

As for decorations, I kept it pretty simple, and rimmed the sides with chocolate sprinkles and chili powder.

I remember Daniel absolutely loved them, and I know it made our first Valentine’s Day very memorable.  They also freeze really well too!  Since Daniel had a whole box of cupcakes to himself, this Valentine’s Day gift lasted for the next few months!  What a sweet reminder for your man (of their girlfriend or wife that made them)!