Ghoulish Halloween Treats

I love how people go all out during Halloween, decorating their homes, with creative and out of the box costumes, and of course... Halloween treats! A couple of days ago, I started looking for Halloween inspirations for sweet treats, and I found amazing things! I don't have anything specific going on for Halloween yet, but I don't think we really need a reason to have fun with cupcakes or whatever you want to bake! I'm obsessed with the two pictures of the cupcakes above, and I'm definitely going to try and recreate the witch cupcake, it's genius! I looked for all types of ideas, simpler ones, like the meringue ghosts, classier options like the beautiful cupcakes with the little pumpkins on top, to more creepy ones, like the voodoo gingerbread cookies! Hope you find inspiration for your own ghoulish treats!

Let me know!

Xo,

Flor

Me encanta como la gente se goza Halloween, decorado sus casas, haciendo disfraces súper creativos, y pues claro... decorando sus postres. Hace unos días comencé a buscar inspiración de como decorar postres con motivos de Halloween, encontré maravillas. Hasta el momento no tengo nada específico planeado para este día, pero creo que no necesitamos una razón para gozarnos este día. Estoy obsesionada con la imagen y decoración de los cupcakes de arriba, definitivamente voy a tratar de recrear el de la bruja... está genial. Busqué todo tipo de inspiración, desde ideas más simples como los fantasmas de merengue, otras ideas más clásicas, como los cupcakes con la calabaza pequeña, a ideas más asustadiza, como las galletas de voodoo. ¡Espero que encuentren inspiración!

Me dejan saber que les parece.

Xo,

Flor

More classic and less crazy ideas! 

Images from Pinterest, Martha Stewart & Food Network

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffin

There's nothing I enjoy more than weekend mornings when you wake up early and go out for a run, to the farmers market or prepare a nice breakfast. I know that week day mornings are usually a rush and some of us are lucky to even squeeze in a bowl of cereal or a pair of toast, so I treasure those easy weekend mornings where you can indulge. I tried out these delicious Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins, they have a soft cakelike interior, similar to one of a doughnut, with a mix of pumpkin and spices, a perfect way to welcome fall into your home. They make the ideal companion to a warm coffee or to take to a friend's house for brunch. Hope you enjoy the recipe & have a great weekend!

Let me know what you think!

Xo,
Flor

No hay nada como las mañanas de los fin de semanas, levantarse temprano y salir a correr, ir al mercado o hacer un desayuno especial. Ya sé que las mañanas en los días de semana son muy ajetreados y dichosos somos algunos en poder comernos un cereal o unas tostadas, por lo cual adoro las mañanas tranquilas del fin de semana. Intenté esta receta de "Pumpkin Doughnut Muffin" y el resultado fue espectacular, su interior es suave parecido al de una dona, y la combinación entre calabaza y las especias son la manera ideal para recibir el otoño. Hacen la pareja perfecta para un café o para llevar a brunch con unas amigas. Espero que les guste la receta y tengan un buen fin de semana.

Me dejan saber que les parece.

Xo,

Flor

Ingredients:

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 1/4 cups pure pumpkin puree (from a 15-ounce can)

3/4 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs

**I added about a lid of vanilla extract

Sugar Coating

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Steps

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 12 standard muffin cups. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and allspice. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions of pumpkin mixture, and beat to combine.

Spoon 1/3 cup batter into each muffin cup and bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine granulated sugar and cinnamon. Let muffins cool for about 10 minutes. Working with one at a time, remove muffins from pan, brush all over with butter, then toss to coat in sugar mixture. Let muffins cool completely on a wire rack.

Recipe from Marthastewart.com

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Flourless Chocolate Cake

With the weekend almost at our grip, I think I couldn't share a better recipe than this Flourless Chocolate Cake. If you love chocolate mousse, then you'll definitely love this recipe, it's like a super light and moist chocolate mousse, but in a cake. It's a really simple recipe and quite quick, the only down side are the dishes, but it'll be well worth it. You can serve it with whipped cream, ice-cream or any type of sauce you like, I went for homemade whipped cream. Hope you try this recipe & love it!

Let me know!

Xo, 

Flor 

Con el fin de semana casi en nuestras manos, no creo que podría compartir una mejor receta que esta. Si te gusta el mousse de chocolate, te encantara esta receta, es como un mousse súper light y decadente, pero en bizcocho. Es una receta súper simple y bastante rápida, lo único malo son los trastes, pero créeme que vale la pena! Lo puedes servir con helado, whipped cream o con cualquier salsa; yo lo serví con whipped cream hecho en casa. ¡Espero que intenten esta receta y que les encante! 

Me dejan saber.

Xo,

Flor

Flourless Chocolate Cake

6 tablespoons unsalted butter,
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 large eggs, separated
1/2 granulated sugar

Steps:
Preheat oven to 275 degrees with the rack in the center. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan.
Place butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl and microwave in 30 seconds increments, stirring each time, until completely melted. Let cool slightly and whisk in egg yolks.
In a large bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add granulated sugar, and continue beating until glossy stiff peaks form. 
Whisk in 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture; then gently fold in remaining egg whites.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan, 45-50 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack; remove sides. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Steps:
Refrigerate a mixing bowl until cold. Combine heavy cream, confectioners' sugar and vanilla in the bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Refrigerate for up to 30  mins.

Recipe from Martha Stewart

Snickerdoodles

I have the fondest childhood memories of these delicious cookies, which I used to eat at a friends house. With time the idea of Snickerdoodles had escaped my mind and I had forgotten all about them, I don't know if it's because they're really not common in Puerto Rico or because other cookies are more prominent, but I just couldn't remember them. I found them again one day at Quiznos and couldn't believe it, the taste and smell of them filled my mind, but they didn't taste the same... So, yesterday while I was searching different recipes I found them again and decided that I would try and make them and here it is! This recipe makes pretty thin cookies, which would be the perfect compliment for ice-cream, and even more so if they're warm or right out of the oven! All I can say is that traditional baking rules do apply, I burnt my first batch by leaving it unattended for like 5 minutes, so be very watchful, besides that the results are great! Hope you try this recipe!

Let me know what you think!

Xo

Flor

Snickerdoodles

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs

2 3/4 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Steps

Heat oven to 400F. Mix 1 1/2 cups sugar, butter, shortening and eggs in a large bowl. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.

Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Mix 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 mins or until set. Remove from cookie sheet and let cool.

Cinnamon Scones

The first time I tried to make scones was a total and complete disaster, so I was super determined to try them again and hopefully succeed. I tried scones for the very first time about a year ago, and I instantly loved them and obviously wanted to try and make them myself. I'm really not sure what went wrong on the first attempt, possibly the butter was to warm, but I'm extremely happy with today's results. Scones are a great coffee break snack or just to have them at your house for when you need those little sweet moments or impromptu get-togethers . Hope you try & like these scones!

Let me know what you think!

Xo

Flor

Cinnamon Scones

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, chilled and cut into chunks

1 egg, separated

3/4 cup buttermilk 

Steps

Preheat oven to 375F. 

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.

Add the butter chunks and use your hands to work the pieces into the flour. Keep breaking it down until  the butter pieces are small.

Whisk the buttermilk & egg yolk together and gradually add it to the flour mixture. You probably won't need the entire mixture.

Place dough on a floured surface and knead with your hands until it becomes a ball.

Flatten dough and cut into wedges or desired shape and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush with egg whites.

Bake for 18-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Cinnamon Glaze

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons milk

Steps

Combine powdered sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, add milk one teaspoon at a time and stir together. Drizzle over cooled scones

Puff Pastry & Natilla

I've definitely been on a pastry mood lately when it comes to desserts, so here's another recipe to add to those quick and easy ones. For this recipe I used store bought puff pastry and filled them up with a very traditional Puerto Rican treat. Natilla is really similar to custard, and you can serve it alone in little ramekins or use it to fill up pastries. These sweets match perfectly with coffee for a "light" breakfast or midday snack over a conversation. Im sure that if we could actually eat a cloud it would taste exactly like these pastries, super airy and buttery texture with a really smooth and decadent center. I don't know if my subconsciousness is trying to say something related to France, but I'm truly obsessing over pastries. This is a must try recipe! Hope you do try it and enjoy it!

Let me know what you think.

Xo

Flor 

Filling 

1/3 cup cornstarch

2 cups milk

2 egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Half a lemons' rind

Place the cornstarch in a saucepan, add a little milk and stir until the cornstarch has completely diluted into the milk. 

Add the egg yolks, and stir well, then add the remaining milk and ingredients. Cook on a moderate heat (if using gas stove a 3 would be perfect), stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until it begins to curdle a little or starts to boil. 

Remove from heat immediately and stir until it reaches a custard like consistency, and fill pastries or pour into little ramekins and refrigerate. 

***Note: I skipped the lemon rind and instead added 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla paste. 

Midnight Snack

I have always wanted to make homemade doughnuts, but the process of frying them always stops me from making them, so when I stumbled upon this oven baked recipe I knew I had to try it. These doughnuts were literally my midnight snack, and what helped me stay up to wright this post! They're shockingly light and airy, which makes them perfect for a quick snack, and they would be even more ideal with a delicious cup of hot chocolate (it just occurred to me). It's definitely a great healthier option for substituting doughnuts, obviously keeping in mind that they won't taste exactly like everyday doughnuts. The best part of this recipe is that you can really personalize it, you can make a glaze, dust them in confectioner sugar and cinnamon like I did, make a delicious filling or  even prepare a hazelnut dipping sauce... so decadent! I used a mini muffin pan because I didn't have a doughnut pan, but you can use either one. I still have making traditional doughnuts in my bucket list, but for now this is a great recipe. Hope you try them! 

Let me know what you think.

Xo

Flor   

Photos by RaRod

Ingredients:
5 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Steps:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly butter a mini muffin pan or doughnut pan and set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add the egg, milk and vanilla, mix until combined. Mix in the baking powder and salt, then mix the flour just until combined. Fill mini muffin pan or doughnut pan half full. Bake for 8-10 minutes. 
I combined confectioner sugar with cinnamon and rolled the doughnuts in it. 

Baking Post for the Busy Girl

Women are busier than ever, many of us juggling work and school or work and family life, so we don't always have time to bake delicious goods. Imagine yourself preparing for that monthly dinner date with your friends or for that special someone, but you just got out of work and you still have to tidy up, finish cooking and prepare yourself, do you really want to be about 2 hours preparing the dessert? I can surely answer that for you.... NO! So this is the post for that busy girl on the go. Chocolate Cupcakes with Salty Caramel Frosting have never been easier to bake.

Heres the trick, choose your favorite brownie mix and prepare as directed, but instead of pouring it on a brownie pan use a cupcake tray lined with baking cups. Once ready and cool, top them with Salty Caramel, to take them up a notch. Making this caramel is much easier than what it seems and you'll only use a fraction of the time of what it would take you to make everything from scratch. So go ahead and mix half homemade with completely from scratch and I promise you the results will be sheer perfection!


Let me know what you think

Xo
Flor

*I used Ghirardelli Brownie Mix for the Chocolate Cupcakes

Salty Caramel Frosting from New York bakery, Baked

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon fleur de sel

1/4 cup sour cream 

Combine 1/4 cup water, sugar, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan; stir to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until the mixture reaches 350 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 10 mins.

Meanwhile, in another small saucepan, mix together cream and salt. Bring cream to a boil and cook until salt has dissolved, 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

When the caramel mixture has reached 350 degrees, remove from heat and allow to cool for 1 minute. Carefully add the hot cream to the caramel; stir to combine. Whisk in sour cream. Cool, and store in an airtight container, it can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

***Notes:

- You can make mini brownies for a lighter desserts or drizzle the Salty Caramel instead of frosting

- After adding the cream and sour cream the caramel may be too liquid, just heat it up again until it reaches a thicker consistency or the one you desire, but always being careful not to burn the caramel

- I dusted some cocoa powder over them for styling purposes

Coffee & Hazelnut Cake

This Coffee and Hazelnut Cake tastes like heaven! Super moist with just the right amount of buttercream to hazelnut ratio. I won't say it's super easy to make just because it's pretty time consuming, but if you have skinned hazelnuts then it's not so time consuming. You can swap the hazelnuts for some delicious macadamia nuts or go for something that you probably already have in your pantry, like some walnuts. This is a nice twist to the more usual chocolate or vanilla cakes, it's always nice to change things up! If you really like a lot of frosting on your cake or you're baking it for someone who does, you'd probably would like to double the frosting recipe, I personally love the look of just frosting the top and the center of the cake, it looks really effortless and homey, Hope you enjoy the recipe!

Let me know what you think!

Xo

Flor

Coffee & Hazelnut Cake

1 cup skinned hazelnuts

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons very strong brewed coffee, cooled

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter two 8x2" round cake pans, then line the bottom with parchment paper.

Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet. Bake for 5-1o minutes until lightly roasted, shaking sheet once and watching carefully to make sure they don't burn. Let cool. Finely chop 2/3 cup of the hazelnuts and set aside for the cake. Coarsely chop the remaining hazelnuts and reserve for the garnish.

Sift together flour and baking powder into a bowl and set aside. In an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, until very light and fluffy.

Add eggs very slowly,with the electric mixer running, adding 1 tablespoon of flour during the process to prevent curdling. Using a large rubber spatula, fold in the remaining flour, finely chopped hazelnuts, milk, and coffee until well blended.

Spread evenly between the pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cakes spring back to the touch or wooden toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool slightly in the pans. Turn out on wire racks and remove paper and let cool completely. 

Buttercream

7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

2 tablespoons very strong brewed coffee, cooled

Directions

Cream butter and sugar together for at least 5 minutes or until really light and airy, then add the coffee. Mix well. 

Spread half the buttercream on to the base of one cake, lay the other on top and finish with remaining buttercream. Sprinkle the coarsely chopped hazelnuts and voilá! 

Lemon on Lemon Cookies

I've just added a new favorite recipe to the list, these lemon cookies with lemon filling are amazing! The cookie itself is a great recipe, with a really buttery texture and the filling is the finishing touch, you could definitely mix this recipe up and switch the lemon zest & juice and instead use orange. This is the first time I tried to make sandwich cookies and I must say that I felt like a pro baker, I had always stayed away from them thinking that they were too complicated, but these are really easy and fun. Note to self would be to make the cookies thinner and add lemon zest to the filling, but if you're not too crazy  over a very lemony taste the original lemon filling recipe works just fine. These cookies would be the perfect companion for a coffee or tea brake! Hope you like them!

Let me know!

Xo

Flor

Lemon Cookies

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (about 1 lemon)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

2 tablespoons granulated sugar, for sprinkling

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl using an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter, confectioners' sugar, lemon zest, and salt until combined. With mixer on low, add flour, finishing mixing with a wooden spoon.

Turn dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap, pat into a disk about 1/2 inch thick. Wrap, and chill until firm, about 1 hour and up to 3 days.

Place dough on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough about 1/8 inch thick. (If dough cracks, let it warm up slightly).

Cut cookies with a 1 1/2 inch round cutter. Place 1 inch apart; sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake until bare beginning to brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely.

Lemon Filling

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Steps:

Combine sugar and lemon zest until smooth but not runny, add more confectioners' sugar to thicken.

Source: Martha Stewart 

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Miniature Lemon Delights

There's something about lemon sweets that just makes them perfect for summer. I usually wouldn't put Butter Cream Frosting and the word light in the same sentence, but this one is particularly light and refreshing tasting. I used a basic vanilla cupcake recipe, super easy to make, because I wanted it to be about the lemon frosting. I thought of maybe doing lemon cupcakes, but the vanilla ones were really the perfect canvas for the frosting and gave for a more light tasting sweet and not an overpowering lemon taste. I went for miniature cupcakes instead of the regular ones, to keep them bite sized and in the same line of simple and light. This recipe works perfectly for a summer get together, they're petite and refreshing, which is really important in hot summer days. I'll be posting more recipes about lemon treats during the next couple of weeks, I personally think lemon is the way to go during summer, plus I saw a lemon and honey tart that's just calling my name! Hope you like the recipe!

Let me know!

Xo

Flor

Vanilla Cupcakes

1 1/3 cups sifted flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

2/3 cup milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together into a large mixing bowl. Add shortening and milk, stir to blend, then beat slowly about 1 1/2 minutes with an electric mixer. 

Add egg and vanilla and beat slowly 1 1/2 minutes. Bake 20-25 minutes until cakes are golden brown and springy to the touch. Let cool.

Butter Cream Frosting

1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened to room temp

1 (1-pound) box confectioners' sugar, sifted

4-5 tablespoons lemon juice

3-4 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Cream butter until fluffily; beat in sugar, a little at a time, adding alternately with lemon juice. Mix in finely grated lemon rind and salt and beat until satiny and of good spreading consistency.

Banana Oatmeal Loaf

I must admit that I'm a huge bread fan, I usually go for whole wheat breads, but I'll really taste any type of bread I find. I tend to use bananas only in my post workout frappes, but I had a couple of them left and didn't want them to go to waste, so I decided to try out this recipe from a new book I bought. It's a super moist bread that has a bit of a crunch from the crust and texture from the oatmeal. I used and recommend regular oats, because they have more of the nutrients than instant oats have, but if you find oats that have been processed even less those will be healthier, but it really depends on what you prefer. I can see this bread working perfectly for a light weekend brunch, or packing it as a nice snack during a hiking trip or a day at the beach. Hope you like this recipe!

Let me know

Xo

Flor

Banana Oatmeal Loaf Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup regular oats

1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 large)

1/3 cup low-fat buttermilk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in oats

3. Combine bananas, buttermilk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and eggs. Add to flour mixture, stir until moist

4. Spoon batter into an 8 x 4 inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray and bake at 350 degrees F for 55 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean

*Source: Cooking Light Way to Cook