German chocolate cupcakes

This is Ina Garten's recipe for German chocolate cupcakes . As usually cupcakes were divine. Spongy, chocolate cake with lovely rich custard frosting packed with coconut, almonds and pecans. I truly recommend it to everybody.

Ingredients for 24 cupcakes:

• 170g butter
• 150g sugar
• 120g brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 250 ml buttermilk
• 125 ml sour cream
• 2 tbsp freshly brewed coffee
• 295g flour
• 41g coca powder (should be twice that much but I haven't got more in the cupboard)
• 1 1/2 tsp soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line muffin tin with paper cases.

Place the flour, cocoa powder, soda and salt in a bowl and whisk them together.  In a separate bowl whisk the buttermilk, sour cream and coffee.

Butter, sugar and brown sugar beat in an electric mixer until fluffy for about 5 minutes. Add one egg at a time. When egg are well incorporated add the vanilla extract. Then beating continuously add alternately the flour and buttermilk mixture in three additions. 

Spoon the batter into prepared paper cases, 2/3 full. Bake in preheated oven for 15 - 20 minutes.

Transfer baked cupcakes into a wire rack to cool down. In a meantime prepare the frosting.

Frosting ingredients:

• 170g butter
• 410g evaporated milk
• 230 g brown sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond essence
• 135g dessicated coconut
• 100g almond flakes
• 50g chopped pecans
• 1/4 tsp salt

 Melt the butter in a sauce pan. Stir in the milk, brown sugar and egg yolks. Heat this mixture up stirring continuously. Cook for 15 minutes until thickens. Set aside from the heat and add the vanilla extract and almond essence. Then stir in the coconut, almond, pecans and salt. Set aside for an hour to cool the mixture down.

Spread the mixture over each cupcake top.

 Enjoy !

Recipe in Polish

 

Date and pecan tartlets filled with chocolate cream, gluten - free

Easy to make, gluten free, perfect dessert for hot summer days. There is no need to bake. Mixed dates and pecans are very sticky and it's easy to make tartlets of this mixture. Although a few minutes of chilling is recommended. To make delicious, rich, chocolate cream melted chocolate and Mascarpone cream is enough. We loved them.

 Ingredients for 4 tartlets:

• 200g dates
• 70g pecans

 Put the dates and pecans into blender and mix them until finely blended. The mixture should resemble bread crumbs but when pressed small bits should stick to each other. 

Divide the mixture among four tartlets' tins. Press the bits with your fingers or back of the spoon  to the bottom and sides of the tins. Insert to the fridge to chill for a few minutes.

In a meantime prepare the filling.

Ingredients for chocolate cream:

• about 120g dark chocolate
• about 150g Mascarpone cream
• 4 pecan halves for decoration
• chopped pecans for decoration

 Melt the chocolate in a microwave or in a bowl placed over a pot with simmering water. Set the melted chocolate aside for a few minutes to cool down. Then add Mascarpone cheese. Using and electric mixer whisk until smooth. 

Remove the tartlets from the fridge. Divide the cream among all of them. Smooth the cream on the top. Place one pecan halve in the middle of each tartlets and sprinkle the edges with chopped pecans.

Put them back to the fridge and chill them for a few minutes.

Then gently remove from the tins and enjoy ! 

Recipe in Polish

Pecan butter tarts

The recipe for this Canadian sweet treat comes from Anna Olson (original recipe here). The tarts were just divine. Those who love flaky crust with sweet caramel filling and crunchy nuts will be delighted. It is one of my favourite puddings recently :)

Ingredients for 12 -14 tarts:

crust:

•  360g flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 150g cold, unsalted butter
• 6 tbsp cold water
• 1 tbsp lemon juice or white vinegar

Place the flour and salt into an eclectic mixer bowl.   Mix them with paddle attachment. Then add cut into a small pieces butter. When all the mixture will turn yellowish bread crumbs pour in water and lemon juice/white vinegar. Mix until the dough comes together. Form the dough into a log. Wrap into a cling film and chill in a fridge for at least two hours (mine was in the fridge overnight).

     

After that time remove from the fridge at least 20 minutes before  rolling.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Slightly grease the muffin tin.

Dust the worktop with a flour and place unwrapped dough in the middle. Slice the log into 12 pieces. Roll each of them 0,5 cm thin. Use an 11 cm round cookie cutter to cut each into a circle. Line each muffin cup with a pastry so it comes about 1 cm above muffin tin edge (mine were lower). Insert the muffin tin into a fridge to chill.

Meantime prepare the filling.

Ingredients for filling:

• 95g butter
• 185g demerara sugar
• 2 eggs
• 125 ml maple syrup 
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• about 40 pecan nuts

 Divide the pecans among all pastry shells. You can roast the pecans on dry pan before.

Place the butter and sugar into a sauce pan. Melt them  over medium heat, stirring until the mixture is bubbling. Remove the pot from the heat. 

In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, maple syrup, lemon juice, vanilla and salt. Slowly pour in the  hot sugar mixture while whisking constantly until incorporated. With  a ladle pour the mixture into prepared earlier tart shells.

Insert the muffin tin into preheated oven. Bake them in 200C for 10 minutes then reduce the temperature to 190C and bake another 10 - 15 minutes. bake until the filling is bubbling and crust edges are brown.

Remove the tin from the oven and set aside to cool down. After 5 minutes twist around in the pan to prevent sticking and keep the in the pan until completely cooled. 

     

Enjoy !

 

Pumpkin pecan muffins

Pumpkin again ! Today's recipe comes from Jan Siegrist  'Muffin sampler'. Those muffins are spongy, spicy, crunchy thanks to nut content with very nice nutty, sweet topping. 

Ingredients for 18 muffins:

• 320g flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 30g chopped pecans
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 285g pumpkin pure
• 70g canola oil
• 70g milk
• 40g dark Muscovado sugar

Topping:

• 3 tbsp oats
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp dark Muscovado sugar
• 3 tbsp chopped pecans
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tbsp butter

 Place all dry topping ingredients in a bowl and  stir them well. Then cut in the butter and mix with you fingers until crumbly. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line  muffin tin with paper cases.

In a  big bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and nuts. 

In a separate bowl mix the eggs, vanilla, pumpkin, oil, milk, sugar.  Pour the mixture into dry ingredients. Stir until just moist. 

Fill the muffin cases about 2/3 full with the batter. Sprinkle the topping over the batter in each cup.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 - 25 minutes. Cool on wire rack. 

  Enjoy !

Pumpkin and pecan microwave muffins

If I didn't know I wouldn't guess that those muffins were baked in microwave. Only 4 minutes !(for 900-watt microwave oven). Those muffins were moist, reasonably sweet and crunchy. The recipe comes from 'The Australian Women's Weekly'.

Ingredients for 12 muffins:

•  225g flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp mixed spice
• 75g Dark Muscovado sugar
• 80 ml grape seed oil
• 2 eggs
• 200g pumpkin pure
• 60 ml thick cream
• 75g pecans

Place 6 silicone muffin cases on microwave plate.

Chop the pecans into small chunks.

Put the flour, spices and sugar into a big bowl and combine all ingredients together. Add half of chopped pecans, save the rest to sprinkle on the muffins.

To the bowl with dry ingredients add the oil, whisked eggs, pumpkin pure and cream and combine. 

Spoon the batter into prepared muffin cases, abut 3/4 full. Sprinkle with pecans. 

Cook one 6 muffins batch at the time, uncovered, on Medium - High (70%) about 4 minutes or until just cooked. Stand 1 minute before turning muffins onto wire rack. 

Repeat with remaining batter.

Coffee and pecan muffins

Those muffins were soft but not fluffy, with gentle coffee flavor and crunchy, sweet pecans hidden inside. Decorated with delicious coffee cream on the top and another crunchy nut.  I think they belong to top ten favourite muffins/cupcake on this blog. What make those muffins especially delicious are the nuts which are dipped in toffee before added to the batter. 

The recipe comes from 'The Australian Women's Weekly. Muffins".

To make those muffins start with toffee nuts.

Ingredients for toffee nuts:

• 125g pecans
• 115g caster sugar
• 60 ml water  

Reserve 12 whole nuts. Chop remaining nuts finely.

Prepare silicone mat. Set aside.

Put the sugar and water into a saucepan. Stir the ingredients over a heat without boiling until sugar dissolves. Then simmer uncovered, without stirring, until toffee is golden brown (about 10 minutes). Dip whole nuts into a hot toffee and place them one by one on silicone mat. Then stir in the chopped nuts into a toffee, spread the mixture over the silicone mat. When set reserve the whole nuts and chop the remaining ones finely. Set aside.

Ingredients for 12 muffins:

• 215g caster sugar
• 375g flour
• 1 tsp soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 90g butter
• 310ml buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp instant coffee

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line muffin tin with paper cases.

Sift the flour, soda, baking powder into a bog bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles semolina. Stir in the sugar and chopped nuts.

In separate jug combine buttermilk, whisked egg and instant coffee. Pour the wet ingredients into a bowl with dry ones.  Stir until just combined.

Spoon the batter into baking cases about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes. Then remove from the oven and transfer to the wire rack to cool down.

When muffins are in the oven it is time to prepare the coffee cream.

Ingredients for coffee cream:

• 185g cream cheese
• 55g caster sugar
• 1 tsp instant coffee
• 2 tsp boiling water 

Put instant coffee in a small cup pour over the boiling water.

Place the cheese and sugar in a bowl, with electric mixer beat them together until sugar dissolves. Then add the coffee and whisk until smooth. 

When muffins are completely dry spoon the coffee cream on top of each one then put one whole nut to decorate. Enjoy !

 

Easy sticky buns

When I saw them for a first time in Ina Garten "Barefoot Contessa" show I immediately put them on my things  to bake list. I was not sure if I should present them on my blog, as they are not real muffins or cupcakes. But, you see,  they are baked in muffin tin and they are so good .. :) They were very easy to make and tasty to eat, too tasty to eat actually.  The recipe comes from this website.

Ingredients for 12 buns:

• 170g soft unstalted butter
• 60g light brown sugar
• 75g chopped pecans
• 1 package frozen puff pastry

For the filling:

• 2 tbsp  unsalted butter melted
• 100g light brown sugar
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 90g raisins

Preheat the oven to 200C. Place the muffin tin on a cupboard.

Melt the butter in microwave or in a sauce pan and leave to cool down. Combine 100g sugar and cinnamon set aside.  Chop the pecans.

In an electric mixer bowl combine 170g butter and 60g sugar. Divide this mixture evenly among muffin tin cups. Sprinkle sugar and butter tops with chopped pecans. Set aside.

Lightly flour wooden board. Unfold 1 sheet of pastry. Brush the whole sheet with half of melted butter. Sprinkle with half of the sugar and cinnamon mixture and raisins.

Roll the pastry like a jelly roll. Slice the roll in six equal pieces. Mine were a little bit to tall, so cut them no more then 2 inches wide. 

Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with remaining pastry to make 12 buns.

before baking

after baking

Bake for 30 minutes until brown. Remove from oven. Be careful - they are very hot.

Let them cool down for a while in a tin. In a meantime prepare parchment and invert the buns to the paper. Scrub remaining pecans whit a spoon and place on the top of buns. Let them cool down completly.

Do not worry about baking tin. It looks messy but caramel - the butter and sugar changed into, easily comes off.

 

Dulce de leche muffins

This recipe comes from Purple Cookie blog.  It was very easy to make these delicious muffins. I try not to count calories of these muffins, as I have already ate two of them. They  are very soft and spongy with crunch topping. Unfortunately mine turn out flat in comparison to the original. Probably because I used double cream instead of heavy one. And pecans, which should decorate muffins' tops, sank in the batter, luckily it did not change the taste of those divine muffins. And last but not least, I should have bake 15, not 12. When I divided the batter among 12 muffin cases it was too much of it and it leaked during baking. I have to remember all of this as I definitely will make them again. 

Ingredients for 12, or rather 15 muffins:

• 2 large eggs
• 160g sugar
• 250 ml heavy cream (I used double cream)
• 220g flour
• 1tsp baking powder
• 200g +12 tsp dulce de leche
• 100g chopped pecans or chocolate chips (I mixed 40g pecans and 60g chocolate chips )

Chop the pecans and set aside. Mix the flour with baking powder and set aside. 

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line muffin tin with large muffin cases.

With electric mixer beat the eggs and sugar until pale. Add half of the cream and all amount of dulce de leche mix until even in colour. Gently fold in the flour mix. At the end pour the remaining cream. The batter will have thick cream consistency. Spoon the batter evenly to the muffin cases. Sprinkle  each muffin top with pecans and chocolate and add one spoon of dulce de leche. Bake for 25-30 min. Check with toothpick if batter is baked in the middle. Cool them down on wire rack. Enjoy :D