White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Hey there everyone!

This icing/frosting is seriously good. I'm not usually the biggest white chocolate fan, but for some reason this combination really rounds everything out and is dangerously good :) Let's go!

Cream your cream cheese, butter, and vanilla- well.

Until it looks like this!

Then add your melted white chocolate- it's hard to see because it's all shades of white, but the white chocolate is on the lower right part of the bowl.

And again, beat well.

Until you have a nice consistency for spreading and you're done!

We (the BF and I) used the recipe found here, but only made a half-batch, which was plenty for 24 cupcakes and a loaf cake (the whole cake recipe).

And here are some lovely red velvet (recipe coming soon!!) cupcakes iced with this frosting. Yum!

Savor it!
love, rue

Glazed Shredded Wheat

Hey everyone, I'm back to work and back to the blog :)

I accidentally bought non-frosted, plain shredded wheat a couple of weeks ago, much to my unpleasant surprise when I went to eat it. I was going to give it away but I thought, perhaps I can get a glaze on there myself and it'll be like frosted shredded wheat, or sweetened at least!
I took the idea from the cracker toffee that I love so much, but I didn't want it so sweet, so I cut down on that. Let me show you!

All of your ingredients! Cereal, butter, sugar- how much easier can you get?

Heat up that butter and sugar for a few minutes in the microwave or on the stovetop- and keep an eye on it!

Then spoon the butter/sugar over the cereal.

Then bake for 12-14 minutes! This is how it should come out looking, or somewhere about here.

 Glazed Shredded Wheat
-6 cups cereal, single layer on greased baking sheet(s)
-1/2 cup butter (you can use less butter if you'd like, perhaps 6 tablespoons)
-1/2 cup white sugar
Microwave butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes. Stir well and spoon over cereal.
Bake at 350 F for 12-14 minutes.
Let cool, store in an airtight container or bag.
(Keep in the fridge if you have it for a while- no preservatives for that glaze, remember?)

Store in an airtight container and eat like, well, cereal! Enjoy!

Savor it!
love, rue

Maple Bacon Cupcakes

Hey everyone!

For The BF's birthday, I had him pick out a cake recipe for me to make for him for the celebration with his friends. He picked a recipe very similar to this, and I just took the idea and changed the method a bit to make it more user-friendly and simpler to follow. These cupcakes got rave reviews- they're delish. Below are the results!

Cream your fats, then add in the sugars. 

Beat in the egg and vanilla.

Add your dry ingredients and the milk, alternating halves (see recipe).

Fold in your bacon (I used at least 1/3 cup or more, not 1/4 cup- however you want it!).

Your beautiful finished batter.

Spoon into about 9 greased cupcake liners.

Maple Bacon Cupcakes

-4 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened

-1/2-1 tablespoon solidified bacon drippings/fat

-5 tablespoons brown sugar

-1/4 cup maple syrup

-1 egg

-1 teaspoon vanilla

-1 1/4 cups flour

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-2 teaspoons baking powder

-1/4 teaspoon salt

-1/4 cup milk

-1/4 cup crispy fried minced bacon + more for topping (I used 8-10 strips total)

Cream the butter and bacon fat, then cream in the sugar and syrup. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients and the milk, alternating (add 1/2 the dry ingredients, then mix, then 1/2 the milk, then mix, then the other 1/2 etc.).

Fold in the minced bacon.

Spoon into greased cupcake liners/muffin tin, about 2/3 full. Makes about 9 cupcakes.

Bake at 350 F for 18-22 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Rotate the pan after 10 minutes.

Maple Icing

-1 tablespoon butter, softened

-approximately 1 cup powdered/confectioner's sugar

-1 tablespoon+ maple syrup

Cream together ingredients, adding more syrup or sugar until it is a spreadable consistency.

Ice the cupcakes fairly thinly- it's sweet icing. Then sprinkle or press more minced crispy bacon into the icing while still wet so that it sets in place when it dries.

Your baked cupcakes, finished icing (usual icing making process, I did not feel it needed pictures- just see another one of my posts with icing- all confectioner's sugar icings are pretty similar), and minced bacon.

Your finished cupcakes- YUM! Everyone loved these- go make them soon!

Savor it!
love, rue

Two Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes

Hi everyone!

This recipe is right up my alley. I came across the original recipe here, and had to try it, because a recipe for just two cupcakes is perfect when you live alone- none of the danger of a big batch of something sitting around! This post might be a bit picture-heavy, but I wanted to show just how easy this is to whip up.

The original recipe uses veggie oil, but mine was all bad, so I adjusted for butter. I also increased the baking time, and ultimately reduced the liquid just slightly. For the icing, I added a pinch of salt and tried to reduce the overall amount made, which could ice 2-3 cupcakes- I had leftovers from the original recipe and I like a lot of icing, so I cut it down. Let's get started- these are sumer yummy and totally customizable with sprinkles, chocolate chips, caramel, whatever!!

Your arsenal for your cupcakes- and don't get out your measuring cups, you just need your little measuring spoons for this! (on the right there are mini chocolate chips and caramel bits which I added)

The original recipe called for mixing the dry and wet ingredients separately, the mixing, but I played it fast and loose and just dumped it all in one and it worked great- and faster and fewer dishes- win win win!

Here's your batter ready to go into the cupcakes- nice and chocolatey!

Here are your two- just two- cupcakes, topped with chocolate chips and caramel bits. Have fun with this part!

Here are the cupcakes out of the oven. The caramel bits sinking caused the holes you can see in the tops.

Your arsenal for the icing- pretty standard ingredients here.

Again, just dump all of your ingredients in over the melted butter, and mix with your fork...

Here's the icing just made- nice and glossy, now it goes in the fridge.

Here's the icing after 15 minutes in the fridge- stiff and hard a little, but give it a stir, then let it sit and soon enough...

It will be the perfect consistency for icing those cupcakes.

Two Chocolate Cupcakes
(original recipe from BrettBara.com, I made several changes in my version below)
-1 scant tablespoon butter
-1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons hot water
-splash of vanilla
-3 tablespoons flour
-2 tablespoons sugar
-1 1/2 teaspoons cocoa
-1/8 teaspoon baking soda (just eyeball 1/2 of a quarter teaspoon)
-pinch of salt
-a few chocolate chips, cut up candy bar, caramel bits, etc. for topping the cupcakes before baking. (optional)
In a 1 cup glass measure, melt the butter, then add the water and vanilla, Mix real quick with a fork.
Add the dry ingredients, and mix with your fork until mostly mixed (a few small lumps may remain- that's ok).
Pour the batter evenly into two cupcake liners. Sprinkle your chocolate chips on top. Bake at 325 F for 20-28 minutes, or until tester comes out clean.

Chocolate Icing for Two Cupcakes
-1 scant tablespoon butter
-1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons coca
-3 scant tablespoons confectioner's sugar
-1 scant teaspoon milk/cream/half and half
-pinch of salt
Melt the butter, then stir in the rest of the ingredients. Refrigerate briefly to set up. Take out after 15 minutes or so to let come to room temp. Mix after refrigerating and before icing.
If you start this when the cupcakes go in the oven, it should be done about the time the cupcakes have cooled.

And the two beautiful cupcakes all iced and ready to be devoured. These things pack quite a chocolatey punch, and it would be super fun to decorate these with a few sprinkles or something like that to add a little fun!

Savor it!
love, rue

Gingerbread Cake

Hi everyone!

Fall is here, or almost, all over the country, so I'm getting into those spicy flavors (like cloves, ginger, not red pepper spicy!), root vegetables, etc. that are all over this season.

This gingerbread cake has a nice delicate tender crumb, and is not too sweet, so is great to snack on and goes perfectly with it's cream cheese icing. The flavor is similar to a molasses cookie, and you're using a lot of the same ingredients, just a little differently. Let's get to it, this loaf cake I made was delish- my mom and sister and I gobbled it up within hours of baking!

Your arsenal- basic baking ingredients- you should have all of this in your cupboard already probably! (fresh ginger not in this picture)

Butter-sugar-molasses mixture and water-baking soda mixture.

Here's what is looks like when you mix the above two together- beautiful color!

And now we've added the eggs and vanilla to make it take on this richer color. Now would be a good time to add in your fresh ginger (none in this pic, I apologize).

Dump all your dry ingredients on top, and whisk them in!

The finished batter and prepared loaf pan.

And the loaf about to go into the oven at 350 F for about 25 minutes.

And then it comes out looking like this- beautiful! It helps a lot to use parchment paper to avoid any sticking

Gingerbread Cake
(notes: the more and fresher your spices, the spicier your gingerbread, you could intensify the flavors with a darker molasses, and also feel free to substitute light brown sugar for the dark. Adding grated carrot or zucchini would also be great in this cake- give it your own twist!)
-1/2 cup butter
-1 cup dark brown sugar
-1 cup boiling water
-2 teaspoons baking soda
-2 eggs
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-2 1/2 cups flour
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-2 teaspoons ginger
-1/2 teaspoon allspice
-1/4 teaspoon cloves
-1 teaspoon grated and chopped fresh ginger
Cream the butter and the sugar together. Stir in the molasses. Boil the water and add the baking soda to it, stir. Add this mixture to the butter/sugar/molasses mix.
Temper the eggs in if your mixture is still hot (gradually adding a little more of the molasses mix to the eggs to raise the temperature so you're eggs don't cook upon adding to the batter), add the vanilla, and stir well.
Stir in the dry ingredients and grated ginger.
Bake in a greased or parchment-lined loaf pan (what I did), 13x9'' pan, layer cake pans, cupcakes, etc. at 350 F until a tester comes out clean (my loaf took 25-30 minutes).
Cool completely before icing.

Your (much smaller) arsenal for the icing (which you could use on anything you like)- butter, cream cheese, vanilla, sugar, salt, milk (not pictured). Easy!

The finished icing- just whip all that together and here you are!

Gingerbread Cake Cream Cheese Icing
(note: this is probably enough icing for a 9x13'' or layer cake- I only used about a 1/3 of this in icing my loaf cake, so use your discretion)
-1 (8 oz) package cream cheese (or neufchâtel), softened
-1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
-2 teaspoons vanilla
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-4 cups confectioner's sugar
-a few teaspoons milk to adjust the spreadability of the icing
Cream butter and cream cheese. Beat in salt, vanilla, then add the sugar and beat in. Add milk to adjust until it is the thickness you desire.

And here's my finished loaf cake- a little rustic, but it served our purposes just fine- it was delicous! I can't wait to try it again with some of the suggestions I included above- can't wait to add carrot to this or zucchini!

Savor it!
love, rue

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

This frosting is what I iced the Pumpkin Spice Cake with that I told you about last week. This frosting is divine and is less intimidating than it looks. Let me walk you through it!

Here's the caramel, just finished.

And here's the finished icing, just try not to eat it all with your fingers!!

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
-1 lb powdered sugar, divided
-1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon whipping cream
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1 8oz. package cream cheese, softened
-1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup), softened
Heat 1/2 cup of sugar for two minutes on medium heat, until melty and starting to turn amber. Stir in 1/2 cup cream, vanilla, and salt, and then stir in the last of the cream. When you stir in the cream, the caramel may seem like it is seizing up, getting grainy, and being ruined- just keep stirring and it will come out beautiful and smooth! Let the caramel cool completely before using.
Beat the butter and cream cheese together, and beat in the remaining powdered sugar. Then beat in the cooled caramel! Adjust for texture by adding little bits of powdered sugar and milk or cream.

And here are the iced cupcakes!! I really hope you try them, they're delicious for any time of year!

Savor it!
love, rue

One Bowl Cupcakes for 2-3

I whipped up these cupcakes the other night when I was having a bit of a low point, and boy were they exactly what I needed! These are fluffy and delicious cupcakes, and they only make 2 or 3, so you can't eat too many! I made these exactly by the recipe below, but I'll also put in notes as to how to increase the recipe slightly. Feel free to frost these as you like, or to put in chocolate chips or anything you can think of to make these even more yummy. I made my cupcakes plain vanilla and I frosted them with caramel frosting- delicious!



Here's the batter for the cupcakes...



And here's the batter ready to be baked (mine were a tad overfilled)



And here are the cupcakes all baked up


One Bowl Cupcakes for 2-3
-1 egg white
-2 tablespoons white sugar
-2 tablespoons butter, melted
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
-1/4 cup flour
-heaping 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
-1/8 teaspoon salt
-1 1/2 tablespoons milk
Mix all ingredients in order. Pour into 2 or three muffin tin liners.
Bake at 350 F for 10-12 minutes. Then frost and decorate as desired!

NOTES: I think this recipe could be increased slightly to make 3-4 or so cupcakes if you used the whole egg (white and yolk), and increased the flour by a tablespoon or two. I'll be sure to let you know when I give it a shot!




Here are the ingredients I used for the frosting- I pretty much just mixed it up and added bits of sugar or caramel syrup until I got the right consistency.


And here's the frosting ready to be used!

 And here are the finished cupcakes, ready to eat! What a perfectly sized treat for when you're feeling a little low!


I hope you try this recipe- It's super simple and could be taken in so many directions. Give it a shot!

Savor it!
love, rue


p.s. The next post will be a guest post courtesy of my wonderful Mom, who is in Mexico at the moment, so get excited!!