Hi-Hats!

This is absolutely one of my favorite cupcake recipes OF ALL TIME. Pretty strong statement, don't cha' think? Most people have never heard of a Hi-Hat.....but once you've had one, you'll never forget it. It's an incredibly rich combination of chocolate and marshmallow cream. (slurp) Sorry...I just drooled on the keyboard..........again. I hate when I do that.

I made them for my niece Brenna's Kindergarten Graduation yesterday. Because these were "little people" we are talking about, I made Mini Hi-Hats as they're much easier for little hands to wrap around. My sister Kathy wanted to be sure to get to the school early to get a good seat.

Nice call on that one Kath.

Anyway, these Hi-Hat cupcakes were a total hit with the kids.....I even saw a few parents jumping over kids to scoff them down. They are insane! Not the parents....the cupcakes. They are a huge crowd pleaser and people will bow down to you forever if you make them. I got the recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks called appropriately, "Cupcakes!" by Elinor Klivans.

You know I have about a thousand cookbooks, right? Well my other favorite cupcake book is called "Crazy about Cupcakes" by Krystina Castella. Do you have it?? What do you mean you don't have it? You're kidding, right??

Well it just so happens, that I have two of them, so I'm giving one away. All you have to do is leave me a comment at the end of this post and tell me what your favorite cupcake is. That's it. Contest ends this Friday, June 26th at 9pm eastern standard time. The winner will be selected (via Random.org) then posted on Saturday before noon.

So, where were we? Ah yes, so you wanna learn how to make the Hi-Hats?? Then pull up a chair and "batter up" your bowls.

Chocolate Hi-Hat Cupcakes

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup water

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl or the top of a double boiler and place over simmering water (don't let the bottom of the bowl touch the water...or all hell will break loose) Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from water and set aside to cool. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. (I said scrape not lick). Then, with the mixer on low speed, mix in the melted chocolate. Then add the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla and beat until the mixture is creamy. Mix in the sour cream. Now add half of the flour mixture and mix it up. Add the water and continue to mix. Now add the remainder of the flour mixture. Pour into a cupcake lined cupcake or muffin pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes (depending on your oven).

Use a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the cupcakes to test for doneness. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cupcakes are ready.

Now for the oooey, gooey stuff that goes on the top.....

Marshmallow Filling

1 and 3/4 cups sugar

1/4 cup water

3 large egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put the sugar, water, egg whites and cream of tartar in a double boiler and beat with a handheld electric mixer over simmering water on high speed FOR 12 MINUTES. You heard me. You can sing for 12 minutes, or hum or recite the Declaration of Independence. (No, I'm sorry, I don't know it either.....I was just trying to be helpful) Remember......beat the living daylights out of it for 12 minutes. Trust me, it will be worth it. Oh and one more important thing. Be careful that the electric cord from the mixer isn't too close to the burner...because that would be bad. So very, very bad.

After 12 minutes, add the vanilla and beat it again for another 2 minutes. The filling should form a stiff peak when you remove the beater. If it does that.....than yahoo......it's ready.

See?? 12 minutes. Stiff peaks. Isn't it pretty??

Now, just fill a large pastry bag fitted with a number 804 tip and pipe large swirls on top of each cooled cupcake. Okay, so if you don't have a#804 tip, you can use a zip-lock bag and cut about a 1/4 inch hole in one corner. So important that the cupcakes are completely cool (or cold) before you do this because if they're not, the filling will melt off the cupcake and hit the floor. Then your dog will lick it up and probably get sick, then they'll be a vet bill somewhere......the whole thing will be a mess...I'll feel guilty, etc. So please, please make sure your cupcakes are cold first.

Once you have piped all the filling, put the cupcakes into the refrigerator to firm up. I usually wait a couple of hours before dipping them into their chocolate bath or leave them in the fridge (with a guard dog next to them) overnight.

Chocolate Dip

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

Put the chips in the top of a double boiler over simmering water and let them melt.

Stir in oil until mixture is smooth. Turn off the burner and remove the top portion of the double boiler (the portion with the chocolate in it). Put it aside to cool down. I let it sit for a good 30 minutes. Then, holding each cupcake by its bottom, dip the top of the mound of filling in the chocolate coating, letting the excess drip off. Let the cupcakes sit at room temp for about 15 minutes, then return them to the fridge in a covered container. They are at their best when they are served cold..........but between you and me, they'd taste pretty good melted on a spoon too....or scraped up from the sidewalk even. Kidding! I'm just kidding.

or am I?

Since I transport so many cupcakes, it only made sense to invest in pretty pink bakery boxes with these special cupcake inserts in them. They are invaluable!

Now, when you've finished making your Hi-Hats, you can cut one in two and sit and stare at it. And marvel at its beauty and chocolateness. (Is that a word?) Well if it isn't, it should be. Somebody get on that....but remember, you heard it here first.

My niece Brenna is one of my taste-testers.

I think she likes them.

Don't forget to tell me about your favorite cupcake!

This is my favorite cupcake.

The Baking Vortex

It all started innocently enough.


I have always been a lover of cookbooks, so in July of 2008 I decided to go all out for my nephew Cam's 13th birthday by baking these monsterous double chocolate covered cupcakes. I got the idea as well as the recipe from one of my beautiful cookbooks. I literally have about fifty of them in all shapes and sizes. The topics range from Cupcakes to Cake Decorating, from Baking to Fondant. I'll admit it. I'm a pushover for a great looking cookbook.

Now I think it's important for me to mention that I come from a large family of chronic chocoholics, including my parents and their parents and their parents before them.......and my sister and brother-in-law....and my niece and two nephews, and all of my aunts, cousins and uncles too. I am convinced that we have chocolate running through our veins, not blood. I'm serious. Growing up in my family, if someone dropped a dish and said, "Oh Fudge", everyone came running into the kitchen yelling, "Where?"

My many visits to South Carolina to see my Aunt Grace and her family always ended by baking something that contained chocolate. On one of my trips, after experimenting with several recipes from one of my aunt's well-worn and highly coveted cookbooks, I found it stashed away in my suitcase when I arrived home. The inscription says it all.....

Growing up, I avoided cooking or baking anything alongside my mother, unless you want to count a Creme Brule that had to be made for me to receive my Girl Scout Cooking Badge. My mother, being a bit of a control freak perfectionist, found it difficult to allow me to make mistakes, so she almost always did it herself. Actually, the Cooking Badge should have gone to her instead. I have always wondered, just how important is it to stir a sauce clockwise instead of counterclockwise?? Is it true that it can actually reverse the earth's rotation? Well according to my mother forty years ago, if I didn't stir it the "correct" way, yes....it could. So, for the most part my cooking and baking skills were honed while my parents were out of the house. Fudge was my specialty. Still is.

I recently took an Adult Education Course in Cake Decorating at a local high school. It was a very basic course, but enticed me with just enough information to whet my appetite for more. I got "the bug". I gathered up all of my cookbooks and researched the internet. I spent hours and hours looking at pictures of cakes, cupcakes, frostings and fondant. I have taped every episode of Ace of Cakes, Amazing Wedding Cakes and Food Network Challenge and I continue to soak it all in. I frequent web sites and baking blogs to study techniques. And while I constantly test recipes and attempt to mimic even the most difficult designs, my ultimate goal is to create my own original "niche". My co-workers are my taste testers. They tell me what tastes good and what tastes great. The best preparation for me in this new venture was to purchase this book at Barnes & Nobles on the science of baking.

Looks so easy, right? Mix ingredients together, bake it, take it out of the oven and presto.......magically it's done....but how does it happen?? What makes the cake rise?? What makes a cake fall flat??? I always wondered why so many recipes instruct you to cream the butter and sugar together first. Well, now I know. Do you?? This book explains the science behind it. I'm hopeful that each explanation will help me to become a better baker.

So now I am in this up to my neck. But I am enjoying it. It has provided me with another creative outlet and I am finding it quite challenging. It started with one person ordering cupcakes from me and now, it has almost taken on a life of its own. I work from referrals and since I already have a full-time job, I can usually only handle one or two orders a week.

For my sister Kathy's birthday this year, I surprised her by making a Purse Cake. This entire cake is edible. I read books, I looked at hundreds of online photos.......

I started by sketching it out....




then baking and stacking ...



...and frosting them .



...then I hand-carved it,



...and covered it with white fondant.






The "leather" bands are fondant which was stained with brown food coloring and vodka. I used the same technique for the "handles" which are made of gumpaste. I used a fork tine to punch "stitch holes".




I made a paste of gold dust food coloring and vodka and painted the purse "hardware".


Voila.

She loved it.