Funfetti Cupcakes

Did anyone else completely forget about leap day until, well, leap day? Story of my life.

Luckily, though, this week is spring break, so forgetting that February 29 was a thing this year didn't affect me in any huge way. So far break has been pretty laid back (except taxes, *sad face*), as I'm spending it with my crazy-but-awesome cousins. It's always fun to take a break from school and catch up with all of these special people that I missed out on while I've lived overseas, and now at college. They actually got a snow day today, which is pretty exciting--I haven't had one of those in years! So today there is extra time to spend together.

Usually when I visit, one of the girls bakes something with me. This time, Lydia picked to bake funfetti cupcakes. Funnily enough, funfetti perfectly describes her personality: filled with fun, colorful surprises, and always ready to put a smile on your face (case in point: she is shooting me with a fake machine gun as I type this).

Sadly, I don't get to bake cupcakes much anymore. Wait, scratch that, I don't get to bake much of anything anymore. Depressing, considering that baking is a large part of who I am. Want to know Maddie in a nutshell? Baking, and cats. Preferably together, please. Luckily this week I have gotten both, a sweet (haha) bonus to being with my family.

Funfetti cupcakes are perfect for birthday parties, but really, you don't need a special occasion to bake these cupcakes. They are fun, and that's all the reason you need! To be honest, I'm not really the biggest fan of "plain" flavors like vanilla, but I was pleasantly surprised when I bit into these sprinkle-loaded cupcakes and got a mouthful of cake that was sweet, moist, and lacking that telltale chemical-y flavor of box-mix funfetti cake. And as far as cupcakes go, these are pretty easy to make: a few basic ingredients + lotsa sprinkles + some time and love = funfetti cupcakes and happiness!

Make these cupcakes A.S.A.P. to brighten the gloomy end-of-winter days.

Funfetti Cupcakes
Makes: 16

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 Tbs. vanilla
3/4 cup buttermilk*
1/2 cup sprinkles (colorful, preferably jimmies or nonpareils)

Frosting:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/4 tsp. salt
5 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbs. vanilla
1-2 Tbs. heavy whipping cream*

Directions:

Cupcakes:
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line cupcake tins with 15-16 liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, put the melted butter, and mix in sugar with a hand or stand mixer for 30 seconds, until thick and combined.
4. To the butter mixture, add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
5. Alternately mix in the flour mixture and the buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour; do not overmix.
6. Stir in sprinkles.
7. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full (~1/4 batter per liner). Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks before frosting. Store in an airtight container.

Frosting:
1. In a large bowl, beat butter until creamy.
2. Beat in salt and powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time.
3. Beat in vanilla and 1 tablespoon whipping cream. Add more whipping cream if needed to obtain desired consistency.
4. Frost cupcakes using a pastry bag. This recipe makes plenty of frosting to pile it in high swirls.

*You can replace buttermilk by combining 3/4 cup milk + 1 tsp. white vinegar and letting sit for 5 minutes.
*You can replace heavy whipping cream for milk, but the consistency will not be as creamy.

Recipe from: http://www.crazyforcrust.com/2014/02/perfect-funfetti-cupcakes/

Fudgy Brownies

Dense or cakey?

Rich or mild?

Mix-ins or solid brownie?

Frosted or plain?

Chewy or crumbly?

Gooey or dry?

Warm or cool?

Fork or fingers?

Think. Carefully. Your answers could be life changing as they will determine whether or not you will like these brownies.

Dense, rich, gooey-chocolate-chippy, and oh-so-sweet, eat 'em with a fork or your fingers, they will melt in your mouth. Decide to make them, and they will satisfy every chocolate craving you have.
*sighs with delight*

It's been way too long since I made brownies. I mean, it's probably been years. *gasp* I know, too long. So, I decided to make the richest brownies I could find to make up for lost time.

Good decision, good decision.

Eaten a la mode with homemade cinnamon ice cream, I practically died. SO GOOD. They are exactly my idea of a perfect brownie (meaning they are as chocolatey as can be). So–long story short–this recipe is a keeper.

See ya when I wake up from dreaming about these brownies!

Fudgy Brownies
Makes: 12-16 brownies

Notes:
*Be very careful to measure the flour accurately.
*Use bittersweet chocolate for a darker flavor.
*Alternatively, you can bake the brownies in a 11x7" baking pan for 35-40 minutes.

Recipe from: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/04/30/chewy-fudgy-homemade-brownies/

Pai Cookery Class, Thailand

For Christmas break this year, my family visited Thailand. It sounds far away, but when you're already in Taiwan (where my parents and younger sister are currently living), it's actually only a few hours by plane. We split our time between Bangkok (the capitol city), and Koh Samui (an island).

By sampling different foods as we strolled the streets, we discovered that there is a fair amount of Thai food that we like. Since we have also learned that cooking classes and food tours are a lot of fun and a good way to experience a culture (note our Rome food tour and Chicago cooking classes), we decided to do a cooking class here.

We settled on a cooking class taught by a Thai lady, Pai, in Koh Samui. In typical Faber fashion, we embraced the local culture and rode three mopeds to the class.

As we approached, Pai waved at us, the only white people in sight. After cooling down in her dining room, we started cooking. There was a long table with little stations for each of us; we all had our own cutting board, mortar and pestle, and trays of ingredients for the three recipes. We were making stir fried vegetables, pad Thai, and either green or red curry.

First we prepped all of the ingredients. She explained what each one was and how to cut it. There were some interesting ones, like tamarind, tofu, and fish sauce. We cut the carrots into little flowers, unzipped the snow peas (I failed miserably on at least five snow peas before I understood what she meant), and ground a bunch of spices together with a mortar and pestle to make the curry sauce. Pai explained to us the difference between red, green and yellow curry: red curry (the least spicy) uses a large dried red pepper, green uses small fresh red and green peppers, and yellow curry uses  a small dried red pepper as well as some curry powder. I chose red curry and I removed all of the seeds from my chili—my curry was NOT going to burn my tongue off! My red curry turned out to be the least spicy of all of ours, which I was quite content with. Dad chose to make green chili, and it was way too spicy for me!

After prepping, we went out to the porch where there was a little stove and table for each of us. We used woks, sometimes cooking one half of a recipe then shoving that part up onto the side of the wok and cooking the rest of the recipe in the bottom of the wok before mixing it all together. It was certainly efficient! One thing that surprised me about this part was that we added sugar to all of the recipes. It makes the dishes have a sweeter flavor than I am used to in cooking. I really liked this part of the Thai food!

At the end, we sat down with our meal and ate up. I liked everything, but I think my favorite was the stir fried vegetables—the sauce was so good! Everyone had a different favorite, though. Although I wanted to, there was no way I could finish all of my food (except the vegetables, obvi).

As we left Pai gave us each a recipe book, and despite some of the strange ingredients, hopefully I will be able to recreate these dishes at home sometime! But probably not all at once, because the whole class took about two hours...and we didn't even do the preparations ourselves for some of the food, like the chicken. My whole family enjoyed this class, and when I recreate the dishes sometime, I will post the recipes here!

Here is the link to Pai's website: http://paicookerysamui.com

Buckeyes

These simple chocolate-covered peanut butter balls are a crowd pleaser for sure! Especially in Ohio...

Every year there is one Christmas cookie that we must make: pepparkakor, a.k.a. Swedish gingerbread. They're a tradition, they bring us back to our Swedish roots. Buuuuut this year there were no pepparkakor for us. None. We could find neither dark corn syrup nor cloves—two essential ingredients—in the stores in Taiwan, but since we still needed to make one more Christmas cookie, we decided try a new one.

Enter buckeyes.

We simply excluded the M&M's from the recipe on Sally's Baking Addiction, and the result was traditional buckeyes: creamy sweet peanut butter encased in a shell of rich crunchy chocolate.

(...ours aren't quite as chocolate-covered as they maybe should be to look like buckeye nuts, but we had a bit of chocolate trouble.)

A few notes on the recipe and process.

Use white, milk, semi-sweet, or dark chocolate to cover the buckeyes. Chocolate chips do not melt very well, and are not suggested—however, in a pinch, they do work. Whatever you do, do NOT add milk or water to the melted chocolate to 'loosen it up'. Trust me, it doesn't work. Instead, adding a little vegetable oil (about 1tsp. per 1 cup chocolate) to the chocolate before melting it will help it stay smoother. On the other hand, the chocolate will also take a little longer to firm up. There is no need to temper the chocolate if you are keeping the buckeyes chilled.

Making the peanut butter balls is super easy, but covering them in chocolate takes some time and practice. Use a toothpick or a dipping tool to dunk the buckeyes in the chocolate.

If you used toothpicks, after finishing chocolate-covering all of the balls, use your finger to rub over the tiny holes in the tops until they disappear.

How about a little buckeye background...

Buckeyes are made to look like horse chestnuts, also known as buckeyes. The buckeye tree is Ohio's state tree, and so it comes as no surprise that the buckeye candy is beloved in Ohio. Buckeyes are especially popular in the Christmas and football seasons.

Now, I don't really understand the Christmas part. Sure buckeyes are yummy, but are they Christmasy? Not really. I'm a strong believer in festive desserts at Christmas, especially those including peppermint or old traditions. So, I give you permission to make and eat these buckeyes whenever you want. Where does my authority come from, you may ask? Well, don't ask, just eat.

After all, don't you also think they would make a perfect cold snack on a warm day?

Buckeyes

Makes about 35 1-inch balls

Notes:

*Using chocolate chips for coating is not recommended, but works. A small amount of vegetable oil (about 1 tsp. per 1 cup chocolate) may be added to make the chocolate smoother. Using pure chocolate is best. Semi-sweet, milk, bittersweet, and white chocolate all taste good.

Recipe from: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2015/06/22/peanut-butter-mms-truffles/

Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes

Packed with flavor, you can't go wrong with these festive cupcakes!

I've been missing cupcakes a lot lately. Last year with the cupcake business, I had cupcakes coming out of my ears, but since starting college I haven't been able to make any. Cupcakes are a labor of love in time and ingredients! However, I do have all of my supplies with me, just in case.

Thus, my holiday baking list includes: church windows, buckeyes (coming soon!), and the delicious peppermint mocha cupcakes that I saw on Sally's Baking Addiction. I picked a morning, and whipped these cupcakes up. It actually took a really long time because I knew where nothing was in my mom's new kitchen... But a few hours and two sore feet later I had a nice row of fresh cupcakes with pretty swirls of pink and white frosting. Well, some swirls were pretty—it was my first time doing two-toned frosting.

The frosting was actually some of the best I have tasted. I don't know if it was the use of cream instead of milk, the type of butter I used (salted cream), or what, but it was SO good! I may have licked my frosting spatulas clean ;)

Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

Notes:

*Use instant coffee, not coffee granules.

*It is alright to use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour. Cake flour will make the cupcakes slightly softer.

*Buttermilk is essential. If you do not have real buttermilk, you can make a substitute:  mix 2 teaspoons white vinegar or lemon juice with 1/2 cup milk. Let sit for 5 minutes to curdle.

*Instead of heavy cream, milk or half-and-half can be used, but the frosting will not be as creamy.
*Immediately before serving, sprinkle on crushed candy canes; if done too far in advance, they will melt.

*To learn how to make swirled frosting: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/how-to-make-swirled-frosting/

Recipe from: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/11/24/peppermint-mocha-cupcakes/

Church Windows

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."

Wait...no it's not. I'm visiting my family in Taiwan right now, where it's 70ºF and Christmas isn't really celebrated, except for a few lights. However, inside our apartment, Christmas season is in full swing: tree, presents, decorations, music, movies, and, of course, baking.

First up on the baking list was church windows, my sisters' favorite Christmas cookie. Their namesake, stained glass windows, are one of my favorite parts of visiting big old churches. Those and the pipe organs. Unfortunately, these cookies are just about the only church windows I'll find in Taiwan. There are plenty of temples here (quite cool to see, but also a little creepy), and there are a few modern churches, but it's nothing compared to Europe. But these cookies appear on our Christmas cookie plate every year almost without fail.

However, sometimes getting these cookies onto the cookie plate is a bit of a struggle. To get the stained glass design, you need mini colorful marshmallows. Not a big deal, except that they are difficult to get ahold of overseas. Hence, we have to have visitors send them at Christmas, or we resort to cutting up large marshmallows into smaller pieces.

This year, the cutting-up method did not go very well. Elena and I dumped the marshmallow pieces into the very hot chocolate mixture, started to stir, and stood there in shock as we realized that the marshmallows were melting, ruining the church window effect. After panicking for a minute, we quickly rushed the pot over to the freezer and stuffed it in before any more marshmallows could melt. Luckily we saved them just in time, and we ended up with rich, delicious, marshmallow-stained glass church windows. Lesson learned!

This recipe from my grandma Faber is simple, quick, cute, and oh-so-tasty. Even the cat was curious to see what all the fuss was about!

Church Windows

Ingredients:
12 oz. chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter
1 pkg. colored mini marshmallows*
1 cup chopped nuts, such as walnuts (optional)

Directions:
In a medium pot, melt the chocolate chips and butter together.
Let cool for about 3 minutes before stirring in the marshmallows and nuts so that the marshmallows don't melt.
Pour the mixture onto two sheets of plastic wrap in a log shape. Roll the plastic wrap around the logs, set on a cookie sheet, and chill in the refrigerator. Cut into 1/2 inch slices.

*If you do not have mini marshmallows, cut colorful large marshmallows into small pieces, about 1 cm in length and width.

Recipe from: Janet Faber

Rainbow Ribbon Jello

This year for me was the first in four years of being in the States for Thanksgiving. It feels normal because it’s what I’ve done the majority of my life.
But.
But, it still feels weird because I’m not with my parents and sister. I’m missing them for sure, but I’m thankful that I still have family near enough to be with this Thanksgiving.

Overseas, we often have Thanksgiving dinner with a large group of friends and we all contribute our favorite dishes. Here we have it at my grandparents’ house with our huge family.

One thing that I’ve always felt was missing when we had Thanksgiving away from home was Grandma's rainbow jello, which she always serves at Thanksgiving. When I was younger, this was the dish all the kids waited for. (Now, besides dessert, it’s sweet potatoes for me. Sorry jello.) It’s colorful, jiggly, you can eat with your fingers…what’s not to like? Overseas, I was not able to have it, but now that I’m back in Michigan I actually get to learn to make it! It definitely has a lot more steps than I expected, but it’s still really simple.

Rainbow Ribbon Jello

Ingredients:
7 - 3 oz. packages gelatin
1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
Boiling water

Directions:
Layer 1: Black cherry jello and 1 1/2 cups boiling water.
Layer 2: Cherry jello, 1 cup boiling water, and 1/2 cup evaporated milk.
Layer 3: Lime jello and 1 1/2 cups boiling water.
Layer 4: Lemon, 1 cup boiling water, and 1/2 cup evaporated milk.
Layer 5: Orange jello and 1 1/2 cups boiling water.
Layer 6: Pineapple or apricot jello, 1 cup boiling water, and 1/2 cup evaporated milk.
Layer 7: Strawberry jello and 1 1/2 cups boiling water.

For layers containing only 1 packet of jello and 1 1/2 cups boiling water:
-Dissolve jello packet in boiling water. Let cool until lukewarm (except for the first layer). Pour into 9”x13” pan.

For layers containing 1 packet of jello, 1 cup boiling water, and 3/4 cup evaporated milk:
-Dissolve jello packet in boiling water. Let cool until lukewarm, then mix in evaporated milk. Pour into pan.

Pouring:
-If you are pouring a new layer onto an existing layer, make sure that the existing layer is completely cool and solidified before adding a new layer. Pour gently so that the new mixture does not rupture existing layer. Pop any large bubbles.

Setting:
-Set in a cool place for about 1 hour, until cool and solidified. It is important that the surface which the pan sits on is level, or you will have tilt-y jello.

Recipe from: Lois Nelson, Vancouver, Washington (Seven Layer Rainbow Molded Salad), Magazine