Triple Chocolate Brownie-bars

How many of you have been craving chocolate today? i know i have!! Lately i just can't get enough of the stuff! so i decided to make brownies. The regular, plain, ordinary brownies don't cut it- so i have to make mine it 2 times as good as the original! No, wait! THREE times as good! That's why i call these brownies: Triple Chocolate Brownie-bars! Take a look:

I made the larger ones for the adults, and the tiny "bites" for the kids (i just took one adult bar and cut it in half, haha)! My brother and sister were arguing over which sprinkles should be added to my brownies, so i decided to add sparkly red ones and brown ones.
In my recipe there is a white chocolate cream cheese frosting, a thick deep, dark, rich chocolate filling, and an even darker chocolate crust. Sadly, i cant remember the recipe right now, so i can't post it.
anyways i hope you enjoyed the pictures <3

EDIT:

OK! I'm back with the recipe for those who asked!

Base:

• 3/4 cup flour, whisked
• 1/4 cup regular cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/3 cup grnulated sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons milk (whole or skim)
• 1 egg

Butter an 8 inch (or a 9 inch) square baking pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy, about 2-4 minutes, add egg beating consistently, until smooth.  Add cocoa powder through a sieve, mix until combined. Add flour and baking powder through sieve and mix until combined. Add milk, 1 tablespoon at the time, and stir after each one, you do not want it to be too liquid-y. Pour cake batter in the greased pan, make sure you spread it evenly with a spatula, a knife, or a spoon, whatever is easiest for you (i used a fork actually!). The recipe calls for you to bake the crust for 20 minutes-- when i did this, mine came out a bit burnt on the corners. Maybe because i used a 9 inch pan instead of the 8? Anyways if you are using a 9 inch pan, i suggest you leave it in for about 15-17 minutes. With an 8 inch, just keep your eye on it!

Filling:

• 1 stick and 6 tablespoons of butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup and 6 tablespoons sugar (prefferably superfine but granulated works well too!)
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 4 large eggs
• 1 shot Baileys Irish Cream (1/8th of a cup)
• 1/8th of a cup sour cream (or if you really have none, yogurt would do fine, as would cream cheese)

Place butter, milk, sugar, and cocoa in a medium saucepan over low-medium heat. Stir occasionally, for about 10-15 minutes, until the butter has melted. In a separate bowl mix corn starch together with 1 egg. Add the other eggs, 1 at the time, beating constantly until pale and creamy. Take the chocolate mixture and slowly, whisking constantly, add it (about 1/3 of it) to the egg mixture. Make sure you are whisking it all the time, quickly without stopping so it doesn't curdle ***. Slowly add in the rest of the chocolate mixture, whisking constantly (i repeat myself a lot, hehe), until combined. Add baileys and sour cream, and mix.
*** I have been in a situation (making vanilla ice cream) where my egg mixture curdled. What i did was i put it through a sieve (or strainer) and discarded the cooked egg yolks.

Pour your chocolate filling over your cooled chocolate crust. Bake until set, approximately 30-35 minutes (at 350 degrees), the top will be bubbly and lightly puffed. Let cool for about an hour on a wire rack. 

Frosting:

Now this one i made off the top of my mind. I'll try my best to remember what it was :)

• 2 cups confectioners sugar/icing sugar
• 1/4 cup cream cheese (4 tablespoons)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1-2 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream
• 1 ounce white chocolate, hot and melted

Beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth.About half a cup at the time add in confectioners sugar, and mix until combined. Add in white Chocolate and Baileys. Refrigerate for about 10-15 minutes before use. If runny add more confectioners sugar, if too thick add a bit of milk (be careful with the amounts because this frosting will thin out fast).

Pour frosting over baked brownies. Add sprinkles of your choice, and cut them into individual squares.The you freeze it! that way it stays fresh for a while. when you want to eat it, warm in in the microwave for about 20 seconds. that way it become warm and melty on the outside, but still icy on the inside. Also, enjoy its chocolaty goodness!

Cheese Cakes

MY family just goes CRAZY for cheesecakes (especially my little brother) so i decided to make them :) Personally im not a big fan, but that's just me! Anyways, i made vanilla streusel-topped cheesecakes. When i made the crust i didn't have graham crackers (or the crumbs), so i used the streusel to make the crust too, except i added some cocoa powder to make it chocolaty :)

For those of you who have never tasted streusel, i suggest you do ;). Its a buttery-floury taste, with a hint of sweetness. for those of you who like things sweeter, use more sugar. for those who like it more floury, use less sugar. It taste similar to shortbread, except its a bit lighter/less dense.

My homemade Streusel:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1/2 stick butter, creamed
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 (tip: for chocolate variation use HALF the recipe, add 2-3 tablespoons cocoa powder and the same amount of sugar. Use chocolate for the crust and vanilla for the topping.)

Cream butter and oil in a bowl until smooth, add vanilla extract. Add in flour, and sugar and mix until clumps are formed, do not over mix. Cool in freezer for about 5-10 minutes, or in your fridge for 1/2 an hour. Add 1 heaping tablespoon of chocolate streusel into each muffin tin (greased or with cupcake liners), press down using a round flat surface or a spoon of some sort. Bake at 350 degrees for about 6 minutes. Add cheesecake batter, and fill until muffin tins 2/3 full. For streusel topping, prior/before to putting the cupcakes in the oven, sprinkle 1/2 a tablespoon (or 2 teaspoons) of the white/vanilla part of the topping, and bake according to the instructions. 

Enjoy <3

Boston Cream Pies

Last weekend 2 of my three best friends came over. Guess what we did? We baked! At first we had a tough time deciding what to make, but then it hit us- Boston Cream Pie! Whats more enjoyable? so instead of making a big pie, we made 22 little ones, that way each person could have their own cute individual pie.

i also decided to add step-by-step instruction with pictures! this is what you need:

• muffin tins (for baking the pies)
• a heat proof bowl and a pot
• an offset spatula or a butter knife
• 1 recipe of pastry cream
• 1 recipe chocolate ganache (provided below)
• 1 recipe of mini Boston cream pies
• a sharp knife (for cutting)

Chocolate ganache recipe:

• 8 ounces semi sweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2/3 cup condensed milk
• 1 and a half tablespoons butter
• 2 ounces chopped white chocolate

Add chopped chocolate to a heatproof metal bowl. Bring condensed milk to a boil on medium high heat. Pour into chocolate slowly, whisking constantly. Pour the chocolate mixture back into the pot on low/medium heat. Add cornstarch and butter, whisking constantly until thickened approximately 5 minutes. Pour back into heat proof bowl and let stand for 5-10 minutes before use.

  1) After your Boston cream pies are finished baking and cooled, slice them in half. 

 

 

2) Layer the halved pie with pastry cream

 

 3) Add the top part of the pastry to the bottom part

4) Using a spool, drizzle the ganache over the Boston cream pies

Enjoy!!!!!

New Years cupcakes

I've been busy lately and i haven't had time to upload my new years cupcakes! But i guess its better late than never :)

The first picture is what the cupcakes looked like without the frosting (and the thin layer of "creme brulee")
The rest is what they looked like with the frosting!

I made Vanilla-creme brulee cupcakes and white chocolate/dark chocolate frosting.

While i was frosting the Cupcakes with white chocolate frosting, half way through i ran out of frosting. I was going tomake more, but i couldnt because i had used up all the white chocolate.
Instead i made dark chocolate. This was a great idea because it turns out not everybody loves white chocolate as much as me (haha), and some preferred the dark chocolate ones!
i made 28 cupcakes (some for me, and some for my cousins) and they were all gone within 3 days!