Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Today we had a snowday! I decided to spend my time off trying out a new recipe, Chocolate-Salted Caramel Cupcakes.

For this recipe, there were a few components to make. There was the chocolate cupcake, the caramel, and the dark chocolate frosting.

The cake was an easy recipe, and had a rich chocolate flavor.

This was the first time I've ever made caramel by myself, so I was a little worried about doing it wrong, but I think it came out really well.

Finally, there was the frosting. The frosting called for a lot of butter, but I ended up with way too much frosting. Next time I would recommend cutting the recipe in half.

I found the recipe on the blog 52 Cupcakes, but the recipe is from Martha Stewart. Here is the link for the whole recipe.

December

So, I haven't been updating recently. I've been busy on vacation and now I'm back at school doing work. 

However I never stopped baking. 

For Christmas, instead of buying everyone presents, I baked them a box of cookies. 

The three types of Christmas cookies. 

The three cookies I made were Jam Thumbprint Cookies, Salted Toffee Chocolate Squares, and Red Velvet Whoopie Pies.  

I have also been baking other things. I made a yellow cake with creamy vanilla buttercream frosting, peach-blueberry pie, and my brother's favorite, oatmeal raisin cookies. I've also been starting to cook dinner occasionally for my family.

I am going to try out more new recipes, and I will make an effort to share it on my blog. 

nom noms

One of my best friends from my Italy trip recently made her own food blog! It is still new, but her recipes that are already posted demonstrate her passion for cooking, and her ability to come up with her own delicious recipes. Check her out at http://bucatinilove.blogspot.com/

Cinnamon Rolls

Today, I made cinnamon rolls with my family. They turned out scrumptious, and everyone was addicted at first bite.

The dough, which we made from scratch (using yeast), took a little while to rise, but the fluffy result was well worth it.

The icing was something of my own creation, although the recipe did suggest confectioners sugar and milk. I used about 1/2 cup milk, and 2 cups (give or take) confectioners sugar, until it got a little thicker. Then I warmed up about 4 tablespoons of cream cheese and whisked it into the icing.

I got the idea from another blog, J's Kitchen.

Here is the recipe.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I have made these cupcakes before, but I have never put them up here. 

This is one of my favorite recipes, and I think it ties in well with Autumn. 

For the pumpkin flavor, the recipe called for one can of pure pumpkin puree.

The recipe had many spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and ginger.

For the recipe, click here.

Halloween Cupcakes

For Halloween, I made Marshmallow Ghost cupcakes. I used a chocolate cake mix, and made vanilla frosting, dyed orange.  

For the ghosts, I used two mini marshmallows. For the head marshmallow, I rolled the top between my fingers to create the peak shape. Then I used chocolate sprinkles as the eyes. 

I got this idea from Martha Stewart, here.

Homemade Samoas Bars

For my friend's birthday, I made him homemade somoas. 

Somethings went wrong when I was baking them, but these would be good with a little practice. 

The main ingredients were toasted coconut, caramel, chocolate, and a shortbread cookie base.

Here is the recipe.