Cinco de Bake-o!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

Once again, I was feeling overly ambitious in the kitchen this weekend. For Lani & Chad's Cinco de Drinko festivities on Saturday, I had decided to make cupcakes and brownies, both from scratch. I should probably stick to one thing at a time from now on. If it could go wrong, it probably did...but I did manage to come out with two edible desserts so I guess it could have been worse. Right?

I baked the cupcakes on Friday after work so they could cool and then I would ice them on Saturday morning. I found the recipe at Cooking Light.com, which was for a 9x13 cake. So, it said to bake for 45 minutes. Well, I cut that down to 20 minutes for the cupcakes. I probably should have cooked them for about 16-17 minutes though. Oh well, a little dry but totally edible. First up on Saturday was the brownies. Got them mixed up and in the oven ... no mishaps there. Baking time was for 35-45 minutes. I checked in on mine after about 25 mins and the toothpick came out clean so I took them out. Didn't want to burn them. After letting them cool and cutting them, I realized they could have baked a little longer. They weren't runny but they were definitely nice and soft inside. No one complained though! Ok, now comes the cream cheese frosting. Disaster! It was too bitter and too runny. I cut the bitterness down by adding more vanilla extract and more confectioner's sugar. I never did get the flavor or consistency I was after, but once I ran out of confectioner's sugar, I gave up. Because it was thin, I could only do a thin layer on the cupcakes because it was just run right off...needless to say, the piping I had intended on doing was definitely a no-go. Out of time and out of sanity, it was time to put these on pretty platters and at least pretend they were perfect. So, off we went...baking fiascos and all...I have to say that they were both good though.

Chocolate Chipotle Brownies
Source: Emeril/Food Network

1 tsp plus 1 cup butter

1 tbsp plus 1 cup all-purpose flour

4 oz unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped

1 1/2 cups of sugar

1 tsp of ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp ground chipotle chile pepper (I used about 1 1/2 tsp)

4 eggs

1 cup chopped Mexican chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate morsels (I used morsels)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Grease and flour an 11x7 inch baking pan or dish with 1 tsp of the butter and 1 tbsp of the flour. Heat the remaining butter and the unsweetened chocolate in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until melted. In a medium bowl, stir together remaining flour, sugar, cinnamon, and ground chipotle. Add sugar mixture to melted chocolate mixture, stirring to combine. Add eggs, mixing until smooth. Stir in chopped chocolate or chocolate morsels.

Pour mixture into the prepared baking dish. Bake until the center is set, 35-40 minutes (I only baked for 25 mins-should've done 30). Cool completely and then cut into small squares. I sprinkled with powdered sugar!

Next up.... Cinco de Mayo themed cupcakes

Applesauce Spice Cupcakes

Source: Cooking Light

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 cup chilled light butter

1 1/2 cups chunky applesauce (I used non-chunky)

1/4 cup apple butter

2 large egg whites

1 large egg

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup raisins (I omitted)

cream cheese icing (see below)

1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted (I omitted)

Preheat oven to 350. Beat sugar and butter at medium speed until well-blended (4-5 minutes). Add applesauce, apple butter, egg whites and egg; beat well. Add flour and next 4 ingredients (flour through salt); beat well. Stir in raisins, if using. Pour batter into muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Frost and sprinkle with pecans, if using.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Source: Cooking Light

1 1/2 teaspoons chilled light butter

1/2 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese

2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat butter and cheese at high speed of a mixer until fluffy. Add sugar; beat at low speed until well-blended. Add vanilla; beat well. Yield: 1 cup (I doubled it and made enough for 2 cups)