If you didn’t read the ‘Sparkling White Wine Cupcakes’ post, you’re in luck because I am going to paste what I had written there, here! I know I mentioned before that my job loves potlucks. Having now moved to California … Continue reading
I know I mentioned before that my job loves potlucks. Having now moved to California from Florida (and continuing to work for the Mouse in my same role) I love that this team team I’m on loves potlucks as well because … Continue reading
Ganache seemed really complicated to me, until I found out the ingredients were chocolate and heavy cream. Simple enough. Suspiciously simple.
When I tell you I spent hours researching ganache, I am not lying. I eagerly searched recipes, watched videos, learned about the types of ganache (whipped, glaze, dipping, piped), it’s origins – basically I did more work looking into ganache than I did for most of my research papers.
While I make a lot of these fun recipes, I honestly make them once a month, and only eat one to try it to make sure it is edible before I pass it off to others. I definitely love to eat sweets, but know moderation is key. With that in mind, I began to look up alternatives to using heavy cream in a ganache without taking away from it’s deliciousness. Alternatives I’ve found contain milk + butter, sour cream, and some others I can’t think of at the moment.
This recipe below is adapted from the knowledge gathered in the links at the end of this post.
Ganache
Yields: ~24 cupcakes
Ingredients:
-1/2 cup sour cream
-1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
Directions:
-Combine sour cream and chocolate chips in a bowl on a double boiler.
-Heat and stir until smooth.
-Optional step: after well-blended and smooth, you can add a 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or any flavor you desire.
-Let cool for about 10 minutes to thicken to use as a glaze.
Before the melting and stirring
As described in the big BAKE theory‘s blog, the sour cream alternative is more for a glaze versus being able to whip it. I like the tangy-ness of the sour cream, and it is half the calories versus using heavy cream. I will play around with the milk+butter alternative and report back!
These links below are pages I came across during my research process that I found useful:
JoyofBaking.com – http://www.joyofbaking.com/ganache.html
Cakes and More! – http://sumarowjee.blogspot.com/2010/10/low-fat-ganache-cheat-to-indulge.html
the big BAKE theory – http://bigbaketheory.com/2012/02/24/ganache-101/
SAVORY SWEET LIFE – http://savorysweetlife.com/2009/08/simply-glorious-chocolate-ganache-recipe-3-ways/
Cooking with Sugar TV – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reem1MnMduU
Something that I didn’t mention earlier that might be important to know when when it comes to my frosting recipes I’ll list is that I don’t do buttercream. bleh. I prefer cream cheese and whipped frosting over buttercream, and I typically wipe frosting off my cake/cupcakes if they are buttercream. Crazy, I know. This cream cheese frosting is just a tad sweet (to my liking) but you can definitely sift in more confectioners’ sugar if you need the rush.
This recipe was adapted from AllRecipes.com (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cream-cheese-frosting-ii/).
Cream Cheese Frosting
Yields: ~3 cups
Ingredients:
-2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
-1/2 cup butter, softened
-2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy.
2. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar.
3. Store in the refrigerator after use.
Here is another safe alternative to eating cookie dough! Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Frosting Yield: About 2 cups of peanut butter cookie dough Ingredients: -1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature -1/4 cup granulated sugar -1/4 cup brown … Continue reading
You read right. Chocolate chip cookie dough you can eat without having your mom yell at you for contracting salmonella because of the raw eggs. It’s kinda like seeing your teacher outside of school or a dog walking on it’s hind legs (+10 points to whoever gets the movie reference).
There were a few things that inspired me to make this “frosting”. First, there is an amazing cupcake place called Frostings, etc. here in Tampa with the most incredibly decadent chocolate chip cupcake with cookie dough frosting. It is seriously amazing. Second, was the fact I made an eggless cookie but didn’t realize at the time that is probably what Frostings, etc. did to make their cupcake frosting. Durf.
Regarless of my brain being slow (let’s blame it on all the reading and writing I was doing… or not doing…), I figured there must be some stuff in an eggless cookie that didn’t need to be in frosting. I did some perusing on Google and Pinterest and came across a few different recipes, and narrowed them down to one that I had all the ingredients handy (for once).
The cupcake in the below picture is made from Pillsbury Moist Supreme Devil’s Food Cake Mix. I was lazy and the main purpose was to test the frosting 🙂
This recipe was adapted from sally’s baking addiction (http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2012/05/29/fudge-brownie-cupcakes-with-cookie-dough-frosting/), whom I am forever in debt to for her gift to us.
Cookie Dough Frosting
Yields: ~10 cupcakes (or less, depending on how much you eat).
Ingredients:
-1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temp
-3/4 cup light brown sugar
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 1/4 cup flour
-1/2 tsp salt
-4 Tbsp milk (I used vanilla almond milk)
-1 cup mini chocolate chips
Directions:
1. With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar at medium speed.
2. Add the vanilla and beat well.
3. Stir in the flour and salt until doughy.
4. Stir in the milk and beat until fluffy.
5. Gently fold in chocolate chips.
6. Frost cooled cupcakes. Or eat.
Please excuse the sloppy frosting job – this was best image I had but of course it was of the least pretty cupcake.
crumblyinmytumbly 