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Entries by Nancy Kohler (118)

Thursday
Apr222010

Spiced Up Chocolate Cupcakes

 

I cheated. I admit it.

There are just some times in life when one thing after another happens, when people are pulling at you from all directions, when you don’t have a minute to do all the things you need to do—let alone all the things you want to do. That’s when you say, “What the hell!”

Yep, people. That’s when it happens. That’s when you cut corners.

Wait a minute. I have some pretty good excuses. 1) My stove  exploded—not literally, but almost literally…well, my husband exploded some kind of experiment all over it. Two burners…totally fried. I didn’t even kill or maim him. 2) My refrigerator is so tired it’s coughing air just cold enough to keep it from being called a heater. The vegetable drawer, on the other hand, will freeze a tray of ice cubes in 10 minutes flat. And, 3) The dishwasher. Oh, the dishwasher. It wants to burn my house down. Yeah, that’s right. I can only run it when I’ve got time to sit there and make sure it runs through all the cycles and doesn’t skip the water spraying part.

Needless to say my kitchen is not a happy place. And, work is keeping me pretty busy. My life is a food blogger’s nightmare—no time and a dysfunctional kitchen.

That’s why I did it. That’s why I used a cake mix for this recipe. That’s it, right out in the open. I cheated. I cut a few corners. And, I’m not sorry I did. Thank you, Gluten-Free Betty Crocker. 

I didn’t exactly make the cake as directed on the box. I spiced it up a bit. I’m hoping that redeems me in your eyes.

My Aunt Rose’s Italian chocolate spice cookies inspired me. If you’re Italian you may have an Aunt Rose (we almost all do!) and maybe your Aunt Rose baked these cookies around the holidays. They’re like a dry chocolate rock with a drizzle of confectioners’ sugar glaze topped by a sprinkle of colored jimmies. They’re more than chocolate cookies though. They’ve got spices—cinnamon, cloves, maybe nutmeg—in them.

These cupcakes are not dry chocolate rocks…they’re light and airy. They’re chocolate with a hint of spice topped with cinnamon glaze. They’re what I imagine Aunt Rose would bake if she made cupcakes—which she didn’t. These are grown up cupcakes for the big kid in all of us.

Many thanks to the Gluten-Free Goddess for linking to TSP’s Spiced Up Chocolate Cupcakes on her Gluten-Free Brownie Cupcakes post!

 

Spiced Up Chocolate Cupcakes

Cake

1 box (15 oz) Betty Crocker® Gluten Free Devil’s Food Cake Mix

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

Pinch cayenne pepper (more or less/optional)

¾ cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 flax eggs

½ cup Earth Balance® Natural Buttery Spread, softened

½ cup So Delicious® Coconut Milk Yogurt

 

Glaze

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

2 or 3 teaspoons rice (or other non-dairy) milk

¼ teaspoon vanilla

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Colored or chocolate jimmies or sprinkles

 

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Make the flax eggs: whisk 2 tablespoons ground flax with 6 tablespoons warm water. Set aside.

Place the cake mix, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and pepper into the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk together.  

Add the remaining ingredients—water, vanilla, flax eggs, Earth Balance, and coconut milk yogurt. Mix with a regular beater (not a whisk attachment) on low until just mixed. Scrape down the bowl and then mix on medium speed for two minutes.

Line a cupcake pan with liners and fill each 2/3 full.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Once the cupcakes are cool enough to handle remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cookies are cooling make the glaze. Whisk the confectioners’ sugar & cinnamon together. Add the vanilla and then whisk in the rice milk a teaspoonful at a time until you have a thick glaze.

When the cupcakes are cool drizzle the glaze over top and sprinkle with the jimmies.

Note: I used plain coconut yogurt. If you decide to use vanilla coconut yogurt you may want to omit the vanilla extract from the recipe.

PRINT RECIPE

Friday
Apr092010

A Year of Living Dangerously

The very first TSP Recipe - Dense Chocolate Yogurt Loaf Cake. Fitting since I’m a known chocoholic.Making it through an entire year of food blogging is my idea of living dangerously. Clearly I’m not the adventurous type because blogging is more like a virtual adventure than an out-there-in-the-wilds kind of adventure. Still, the blogisphere can be a jungle.

I had no idea what I was getting into when I jumped into food blogging a year ago. There’s so much I didn’t know. What made me think I could hold my own? Food blogging is not your “lay it all out there” or “what’s on my mind” kind of blogging.  Oh, no. It’s a bit more complex. I was naive.

First, a big applause for all food bloggers. The commitment, the work, the creativity required is phenomenal. I don’t mean to scare anyone…it’s certainly doable. Just look at how many food blogs exist. But, please, let’s be honest. It’s complex, demanding, hard work and it takes a monumental commitment—not to mention skill, creativity and passion.

Yes, it’s fun. It is. You get to create recipes, share your enthusiasm about food, your successes and failures, and meet new people. And, those people are interested in what interests you. That’s way cool.

But, you gotta work it baby. Let’s see - come up with the idea for the recipe, make it 2, 3, 4 times until it’s just right, photograph it (ugh-that in and of itself is at least an entire post worth of ranting), write about it (and be interesitng, funny, provocative), post it, proofread it, and tell the world about it via as many social networking sites as you can maintain (again, another whole post). Then do it over again, maybe twice a week? Oh, did I mention you have to master the creation of a blog space—how many columns, type faces, a logo, a header? Let’s not even discuss HTML.

It’s my second job. (oh, did I really say “job”?) …um, adventure. But, it’s one that I love. One that I daydream about doing full time. Sigh. For now it’s just going to have to stay a very time consuming and gratifying hobby.

So, will I attempt year number two?  You betcha!

One more thing—thanks to all of you for sharing this year with me. It’s been a great adventure and I’ve loved meeting each and every one of you.

Join me for a bit of a TSP Year of Living Dangerously retrospective.

 

Your favorite TSP recipes from year one…

Tiny Turkey Meatballs Atop Penne and Escarole

Red Velvet Smoothie

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Very Chocolate Gelato

Blondies

And, a few of my favorites…

Maple Corn Fritters

Buffalo Chicken Wings

Rosemary Lime Cookies

Orange Olive Oil MiniCakes

Veggie Breakfast Bake