Light my Fire!

So it has been soooooo long since I posted a blog. I apologize, but I was so busy with boring ol' everyday life. I started a new semester of school, my husband started school, my son started full time pre-school. Not to mention we moved!

I no longer live in a teeny tiny kitchen. In fact, I feel weird for having my blog named as thus. BUT, it's to late to change that.

So before I make with the cupcake (har har), let me show off some. If you would like the story of how I got my new kitchen, just pop by at Leigh's Landing to take a peek see.

Here she is:

Gorgeous.


Okay, on to the sweets!

Valentine's Day is around the corner (really, it's in 3 1/2 days?!?).

It may or may not be the day where chocolate is not only acceptable, but required.

And strawberries may or may not be included.

My husband doesn't like chocolate (gasp), so I usually make do with getting it all to myself (like I complain about that). But on this day, I can make tons of chocolate stuff and give it away to people and not take no for an answer (teehee).

This would be a great cupcake to give to your chocolate and strawberry loving ADULT. It'll really light a fire! This recipe includes alcohol (woohoo!).

Chocolate Cupcakes with Flaming Strawberries.

I would love to say that this idea just came to me and I whipped it up by myself, but I found it on Sprinkle Bakes and her cupcakes look prettier than mine (see above). I am just a real person cooking at home.


Before I go on, here is a cut and paste quick reference and warning:

Any alcohol below 80 proof will not ignite well. I used 80 proof which makes a small blue flame. Note: some have had trouble getting 80 proof to ignite - lots of people are recommending Bacardi 151 as a fail-safe. 

You can add a little sugar to the inside of the strawberry to sweeten things up. However, the flame seems to last longer without the addition of sugar.

Make sure to use a liquor that you like. Vodka is a good choice if you want very little flavor.

Alcohol evaporates, so light the strawberry soon after you spoon the liquor in. 

Room temperature alcohol ignites better than refrigerated.

Do I have to say it? Probably not, but my conscience will not let me go without. Do not attempt to eat a flaming strawberry. It has a relatively short burn time, lasting about 30 seconds to 1 minute. So, enjoy but be careful. Use your noodle.

Alright, onto the fun part. The recipe is at the bottom!

First get all your ingredients:

And don't forget the strawberries. Cut off the tops and hollow them out, making sure there are no holes in them.

Pre heat your oven, mix all your dry stuff in your bowl, then add the wet ingredients, and line your cupcake tray:

Pour your batter 3/4 way full and bake them for about 15-18 minuets:

Pipe the icing on, add sprinkles (if you wish), and put the strawberry bowl on top:

Add the liqueur and light! I used a cheap vodka and it didn't work as well as I wanted, that stuff evaporates FAST, so next time I will put out and get the better stuff.

Enjoy! Oh, and if you wanna share with the kiddo, just take that strawberry off!

Cupcakes:

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup hot water
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line muffin tin with cupcake papers and set aside.

Sift together cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, water, heavy cream, oil and vanilla. Mix with a hand held mixer until smooth.
Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each half full. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool before frosting.


Frosting:2 sticks softened butter
4 cups confectioners' sugar
4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
Heavy Whipping Cream to taste.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, cream together sugar, cocoa and butter; beginning on low speed then increase to high. Add cream a tablespoon at at time and beat until fluffy and lightened in color. Transfer mixture to a piping bag fitted with a decorative tip. Frost cupcakes.



Strawberries:
18-24 Strawberries - you'll need as many as you have cupcakes
Vodka, rum, or your choice of liquor 80 proof or higher (use Bacardi 151 for fail-proof results).

Hollow the strawberries carefully. If you pierce the side of the strawberry accidentally, start with a new one. Since you'll be setting the liquor aflame, it is important that the strawberry is leak-proof.

Set one strawberry atop each frosted cupcake. Fill strawberries with liquor just before lighting (see tips). If you need to light them all at once, (say, for a party) use a turkey baster to quickly fill all the strawberries and a grill lighter in lieu of matches.

Whiskey Cream Sauce

Ok, the focus in this post is simply the sauce.

It's something that can go on any type of beef steak.

I used rib eye, because I love the way I can pan cook them.

And the marble of fat makes for some major 'Mmmmms'.

I have never made a sauce to put on my steaks. I usually just eat mine sans a sauce and my husband likes just A1. But when I came across this in Pioneer Woman's Cookbook I decided to give it a try.

What you need:

First melt 2 tablespoons butter and cook the onions til they are nice and brown.

I would have used a white onion, but all I had were purple and I was feeling a little lazy.

Purple ones don't brown as well as the other onions.

Next your going to add the whiskey. I took my pan off the burner, cause I didn't want to catch fire.

Once it evaporates, add the broth and salt and pepper.

Whisk in another tablespoon of butter and let the mixture bubble for 30 seconds.

Turn the heat low and add the cream. Whisk, and add more cream if it looks to thin or brothy.

Allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, while you cook your steaks.

When they are done, just spoon some sauce onto the steaks and enjoy!

Here's what you need (make two servings):

•  3 tablespoons of butter
• 3 table spoons of diced onion
• 1/4 cup of whiskey
• 1/4 cup beef broth
• salt
• pepper
• 1/4 cup cream
• 2 steaks of your choice



Something Sweet and Just a Little bit Saucy.

So here we go. Sweet potatoes and bourbon. Something I know very little about. Especially bourbon.

But Bakerella had a recipe for Sweet Potato Bourbon Cupcakes and I decided to totally try something new. The recipes are on the bottom. She also topped them off with a Bourbon Glaze over the Vanilla glaze, but I omitted that. You can find the recipe for that on her page.

Here is what you'll need for the cupcakes.

 

 Butter, Sugar, Egg

 Sweet potato, vanilla. I used a caned pre-cooked sweet potato because I was not interested in waiting on cooking one myself, but you can cook one or two if you want. Bake it or boil it.

They came out nice and rounded, perfect for dipping them in the vanilla glaze I used as the icing. 

 Top them off with some pecans to make them look less boring.

 I am not going to lie to you, these were not as good as I thought they would be. (I prefer chocolate though.)

My husband on the other hand LOVED them. He liked them more than most of the desserts I have made. He even put some on a plate and brought them to my neighbors. Weirdest. Thing. Ever.

So they are good, just not MY favorites.

And the sweet potato makes them very moist.

Bourbon Sweet Potato Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup whole milk
1 cup cooked sweet potatoes
1/3 cup bourbon

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Line cupcake trays with 24 baking cups.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a large bowl.
• In another large mixing bowl, mix brown sugar, butter and eggs until fluffy.
• Add sweet potatoes and vanilla. Mix well.
• Add 1/3 of flour mixture to sugar mixture until combined. Add bourbon. Add second 1/3 of flour mixture. Add milk. Add final 1/3 flour mixture.
• Mix well with each addition.
• Fill baking cups.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes or until done.
• Cool completely.

Vanilla Glaze
2 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 Tbsp butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
3-4 Tbsps milk

• In a medium bowl, mix sugar and butter. Add vanilla.
• Add milk 1 Tbsp at a time until you get the desired consistency. (Adding more milk will make it thinner.) Mix until smooth.
• Transfer glaze to a small, deep bowl and you can just dip the tops of your cupcakes in it.

Candied Pecans
sugar
water
pecan halves
spices of choice (like nutmeg or cinnamon)

• Add 2.5 time the amount of sugar to water in a pot. (I used 1/4 cup water for 1/2 cup pecans.)
• Add spices and bring to a boil.
• Add pecans. Simmer for about six minutes. Drain syrup off.
• Lay on parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
• Bake at 350 for between 8 to 10 minutes. 
• Sprinkle some extra sugar on top to make them prettier.
• Allow to dry completely.
• Note: These rocked! They can be made by themselves and served as a sweet snack