Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting for a friend.  I made my go to chocolate cake recipe with coffee instead of water and my go to buttercream frosting with 1/4 cup of strawberry puree.  It reminded me of a thick and creamy milkshake!  Frosting was piped on with a 2D piping tip. The last time I made this combination of flavors was back in 2009!

Alton Brown's The Chewy Recipe

I have seen this cookie on other blogs as the "best" chocolate chip cookie, so I had to see how it would hold up against the Cook Illustrated's Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie which I recently discovered.  It was chewy but was missing that wow factor for me.

Alton Brown's The Chewy Recipe
from The Food Network
Makes About 2 Dozen Cookies


Ingredients
8 ounces unsalted butter
12 ounces bread flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 ounces granulated sugar
8 ounces light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 ounce whole milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup of walnuts


Directions
Melt the butter in a 2-quart saucepan over low heat. Set aside to cool slightly.


Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda into a medium bowl.

Pour the butter into your stand mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar and beat with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the whole egg, the egg yolk, milk and vanilla extract in a measuring cup. Reduce the mixer speed and slowly add the egg mixture. Mix until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds.

Gradually integrate the dry ingredients, stopping a couple of times to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Once the flour is worked in, drop the speed to "stir" and add the chocolate chips and nuts.

Chill the dough for 1 hour. 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and place racks in the top third and bottom third of the oven. Scoop the dough into 1 1/2-ounce portions (size of a golf ball) onto parchment-lined half sheet pans, 6 cookies per sheet.

Bake 2 sheets at a time for 15 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. Remove from the oven, let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing the cookies to cool on a wire rack.

Easter Treats

I can't decide what to make this weekend; so I rounded up a few ideas just in case you're looking for some baking inspiration for Easter as well.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake  

Lemon Bars  

Carrot Cupcakes

Lemon Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Lemon Chiffon Cake

Mexican Chocolate Fudge Pecan Bundt Cake

Recipe from The Pastry Queen's cookbook

I am so disappointed that I misplaced the picture I took of this bundt cake with the chocolate pecan glaze!  The cake was delicious; moist and dense with a nice subtle kick from the cinnamon.  But, it was the glaze that set it apart from all the other bundt cakes I have made to date.  Once glazed, it closely resembled a giant cake donut!  I couldn't stop taking a whiff of it as I waited to present it to my sister's boyfriend for his birthday.