Baileys cupcakes

I would like to share an awesome recipe with you guys that I made for my annual  halloween party. (there of the yellow foodcoloring, skip it if you’d like more ‘normal’ cupcakes!)
These are Baileys cupcakes, vanilla cupcake filled with Baileys cream and topped with Baileys buttercream. YUM, a real grownup treat! Even my mum loved these cupcakes ;-)

BAILEYS CUPCAKES
the cupcake
1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup cold milk

METHOD
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in vanilla.
In a separate bowl, stir together all dry ingredients. Add to butter mixture; stir in milk.
Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a stick comes out clean! meanwhile they are in the oven, make the
bailey’s cream!

BEILEYS CREAM
100g  white chocolate
2 tbsp Baileys Irish cream
2 tbsp hot cream

METHOD
Heat the cream and Baileys together, break the white chocolate down in chunks and melt it into the mixture.
Let  cool and thicken up – this will take about 3hours.

When the cupcakes has cooled and the cream has thickened, insert a pipe into the cupcake and fill it with the cream.

Then top it of with the Baileys buttercream.

BAILEYS BUTTERCREAM
2 sticks of butter (150g), at room temperature
3 cups icing sugar
2 tbsp baileys ,  or more if you like ;-)

Cream the butter until soft, add the icing sugar a little at the time and then add the baileys to thin it out a bit.

ENJOY!

Peppermint red velvet

Hello everyone, I hope you all have not died during christmastime due to the food overload. I bearley survived, before the holidays
I stopped eating sugars and fats and other carbs (ironic since I have a food blog, isn’t it?) -and then: the holidays hit me.
Anyway I made an awesome cake for christmas! Peppermint red velvet, inspired by Southern Living‘s magazine.
I started out with a classic red velvet sponge and added peppermints to the frosting on one layer.

CLASSIC RED VELVET SPONGE 8″ pan, Serves 6-8.

the sponge
2 1/2 cup (250 grams) sifted flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cup buttermilk *see note*
2-4 ounces liquid red food coloring (depending on desired amount of brightness)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

preheat oven to 350 F/ 175C

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, the sugar and stir it together. Add the canola oil, buttermilk, food coloring and slowly add the eggs – one at a time. Whisk, preferably with an electric hand mixer.Pour into an 8″ pan, and cook for 25-30 minutes or until a stick comes out clean.

Let cool, preferably over night.

TIP: For a clean cut layering and easier frosting, put the whole cake in the freezer for about 30-60 minutes before frosting

*NOTE* If you’re in Sweden and don’t have buttermilk, you can use a high-fat milk and add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to the milk and let set for 15 minutes. Otherwise, use “filmjölk” or Soured Cream.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
4 sticks (300g) unsalted butter, at room temprature
3 cup icing sugar
16 ounces cream cheese !! refrigerated !!
2 handfuls of peppermint candies, ground into a powder
peppermint extract

Cream the butter until it’s soft, and slowly add icing sugar. Then add the cold cream cheese, little at the time. The Cream cheese frosting will stiffen up in the fridge later on.
Add 2 drops of peppermint extract and taste. It is VERY important that you taste, because peppermint extract is STRONG, and not in a good way.
When you’ve done that, take out  3/4 cup  of the icing and add the smashed peppermint candies. Put this icing of the bottomlayer as you frost the cake.

by the way, ther are GREAT as cupcakes too! ;-)

Bolognese

Today my boyfriend is going on holiday to Turkey, leaving me alone in the apartment. I’m happy for him though, to go on holiday and relax, but to be honest, I’d much rather see him at home….Enough about me and my problems!

What’s for dinner tonight?  Maybe this delicous, rich and rustic bolognese with spaghetti. Adults and kids love this! A perfectly delicous pasta meal. (And a good way to sneek veggies into the food. If your kid is picky, simply puré all the veggies and add them to the bolognese.)

BOLOGNESE SAUCE
1 pound ground beef
1 can of crushed italian tomatoes
1 green bell pepper
1 yellow onion
3 tablespoons ketchup (preferably Heinz)
1 cup vegetable stock
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar
pinch of pepper
splash of white dry wine
handful of fresh basil

METHOD

Finely chop the onion and sweat it in a frying pan with a knob of butter and some olive oil for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, chop the bell pepper and add it to the frying pan with ground beef. Fry for an additional 5 minutes.
Transfer the ground beef to a large casserole and add ketchup, tomatoes, vegetable stock, salt, suga, pepper and a splash of white dry wine.
Let the sauce cook and become friends for about 15 minutes on low-medium heat.  (meanwhile… cook spaghetti. Come on, you KNOW how to do that right?)
the last five minutes, add the basil and serve!

Vegan Carrot Soup

I love carrots and I just love soup. Though I just love it, I don’t eat it very often –mostly never, but there’s something with just soup that’s special. A cozy feeling, you know? Since my boyfriend likes carrot soup, I made it for the first time yesterday, improvising, but it turned out so nice! Perfect for an autumn chilly evening and fits a student wallet and it’s also VEGAN! yum!

CARROT SOUP  serves2
1 lbs Carrots
1/2 an onion
3 cups vegetable stock
1/4 cup dairy-free cream (I use oat cream)
pinch of salt
pinch of rosemary
pinch of thyme
pinch of freshly ground blackpepper

METHOD

Rinse and peel the carrots well. Chop the carrots into 1/3″ thick slices and set aside. Chop the onion finely and in a large casserole, sweat the onions for 5-8 minutes on medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil. Add the carrots, thyme, rosemary, black pepper and the vegetable stock. Allow it to boil under lid on medium heat for 20 minutes or until the carrots are soft.
Once the carrots has softened place them in a large mixer/food processor or use a hand mixer to mix the soup silky smooth, when that’s done, add the soup back into the casserole and add the cream and salt to taste, slightly warm it up on the stove top, do not boil!

Serve with a nice bread with slices of cheese. Enjoy!

Sorry for not blogging

I am sorry I haven’t been posting regularly, I have been busy and haven’t had access to the computer for a while, but now I am back! I am on summer holidays and spending my day alone at my boyfriend’s and pretty much just playing computer games such as Sims3 and stupid facebook games. I have a lot of pictures though, from Midsummer and all the dinners we have had here for a week, and I will be showing you! Tonight I am cooking Speedy Moroccan Meatballs with dried apricots, almonds and served with couscous, It’s going to be a feast!
That’s little of what I’ve bought today for dinner, (and chips for snacks, because it’s friday ;-))

edit: for those who wonder about the language on the products in the picture – I live in Sweden, so it’s Swedish!