10 Easy Steps to Delicious Red Velvet Cupcakes

chaosinthekitchen.com

Red Velvet Cupcakes are sweet, delicious, and super easy to make.  The name comes from the fact that the actual cake is traditionally a deep red color.  The cake itself is mostly traditional yellow cake, but has a hint of chocolate in it giving it it's unique taste.  The color can be achieved by using beats or strawberries, however I usually just use the traditional red food dye.  It's easier and I don't love the idea of beats in cupcakes, just seems wrong. 

Despite it's wide spread adoration, the Red Velvet recipe is thought of as very Southern.  In fact it was a Texas company, Adams Extract, that spread the recipe throughout the rest of the country during the Great Depression.

lifesimplyfabulous.com

Luckily Red Velvet Cupcakes aren't actually that hard to make.  If you're feeling particularly lazy you can always run to the store and pick up a simple mix, but if you're feeling slightly more ambitious try these simple steps for some crazy good cupcakes. 

1. Pre Heat the oven to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit- make sure you do this because when you don't it's a major pain in the ass to wait later on

2. Mix 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 1 stick of butter until "frothy" - if you wanna be super fancy than you can use an official beater, I usually just use a fork

3. Once the sugar and butter looks good mix in 2 eggs and beat until also light and fluffy

4. For this next step you will need 2 bowls.  In one bowl mix: 2 and 1/3 cups of flour, 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, and a half teaspoon of salt.  In the other bowl mix: 1 cup of buttermilk, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of red food coloring, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. 

5. When both look ready mix the wet and dry ingredients together

6. Then add cupcake papers and fill each one about halfway- if you're like me and forgot to buy cupcake papers simply butter the shit out of each holder and you should be fine. 

7. Set timer for 15 minutes, and then check in after that. 

8. Now moving on to the frosting.  Mix one stick of butter and 8oz of Philly Cream Cheese until creamy and delicious looking.  Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl for ideal mixture.

9. Throw in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and mix.  When that's all set mix in 2-3 cups of sugar (I used 3 for good measure).

10.  After that just wait for the cakes to cool and then add the frosting.  If you're like me and new to decorating, that's ok, my cupcakes were far from beautiful but still pretty delicious. 

Maybe next time I'll strive for something a little more beautiful like:

cupcakesgarden.com

 

The Search For the Perfect Pancakes: Part One

I am obsessed with pancakes, especially ones with chocolate chips.  They're probably my favorite breakfast food.  Now that I am trying (hypothetically) to cook more in my life, I have decided to begin with something simple and delicious.  Also, making pancakes leads to eating them, which is the best. 

finecooking.com

To begin, I nerded out slightly, and researched some pancake recipes. Even though I've made pancakes on multiple occasions, most of those events involved a pre-made batch out of a box.  Thus, I decided that it might be better if I picked a recipe that wasn't too complicated.  I found it Pocket Change Gourmet, an amazing food blog that everyone should check out when they have the chance.  The recipe describes it's pancakes as classic and "Old Fashioned Homemade Pancakes."  So I'm seriously hoping that they'll be delicious. 

Prepping the Cakes

When prepping for the actual process of cooking and flipping the pancakes it's important to keep the wet and dry ingredients separate in the beginning. 

Wet Ingredients:

1 egg, 3/4 cup of milk, 2 tablespoons of cooking oil

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup of flower, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 3 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt  

Making the Cakes

Mix all of the dry ingredients together in some sort of bowl, or honestly whatever you can find is probably alright.  Then, in a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients.  If you want especially fluffy pancakes crack the eggs and separate the egg whites into a separate bowl.  Then, proceed to beat until frothy, and then mix in with the rest of the wet ingredients.  Mix until your batter isn't lumpy, because really who wants lumpy pancakes.   

Heat a pan on the stove, but make sure to spray it down with nonstick spray.  And take a few scoops of batter and toss it on the pan.  I personally like my pancakes big and fluffy, so this batch only made about four for me. 

Key: when you start to see the batter bubble it's time to flip the pancake.

My first pancake wasn't exactly so beautiful, so we're going to conveniently forget about that one and move onto my second pancake which looked pretty damn good. 

By the end I had a small (tiny in fact) stack of pretty dank pancakes.

While they may not have been quite as beautiful as some other pancakes in the world, they tasted pretty good and that's alright with me.  I would definitely try to take my own advice in the future- aka I gave up on separating the egg about two seconds into trying (it should be noted that it was before 8am and I had had only one cup of coffee.) 

Either way lather 'em in syrup and who cares if they taste like shit, they're covered in syrup which is sugary and delicious. 

15 Easy Sweet Treats to Make at Home

1. Chocolate Chip Cookies

yourcupofcake.com

Chocolate chip cookies are one of the go-to sweet treats for practically everyone.  They're super basic but always satisfying.  With chocolate chip cookies, you really can't go wrong.

2. Raspberry Ricotta Cake

bonappetit.com

I know it sounds a little weird, but trust me this little cake is seriously good.  You won't regret it as soon as you take that first bite. 

3. Strawberry Ice Cream Sandwiches

hummingbirdhigh.com

Strawberry Ice Cream Sandwiches are super quick and super easy.  All you need is some sugar cookies (homemade or store bought it really doesn't matter) and some strawberry ice cream.  They're super delicious, and you can whip 'em up easy for a quick midnight treat. 

4. Peanut Butter Cookies

wanismarket.com

If you're not allergic to peanuts, peanut butter cookies can be seriously dank.  Just add TONS of butter.  LOL, I'm kidding- sort of.  But in all seriousness, peanut butter cookies are another dessert classic.  They're delicious, and easy, what more could you possibly want? 

5. Peanut Butter and Nutella Sundae

wanista.com

This is a personal favorite of mine.  All you need is vanilla ice cream, peanut butter, and Nutella.  Take a few scoops of ice cream and dribble it with either one or both sauces.  This treat is perfect for a  quick midnight snack, if you're still hungry of course. 

6. Fudge

ecosalon.com

Believe it or not, but fudge can actually be really easy to make.  It only takes five minutes, and just a few simple ingredients.  If you need an easy recipe check out real mom kitchen, an amazing food blog. 

7. Chocolate Covered Strawberries

weediest.com

Possibly the easiest of these easy to make snacks, chocolate covered strawberries literally only take five minutes to make but are totally delicious.  Also, you can totally trick yourself into believing that they're actually healthy.   

8. Banana Bread

rustyzipper.com

Again, Banana Bread is an all around American classic.  It's tasty and super easy to make.  There are tons of variations, but for a simple easy recipe try this one.  It's absolutely scrumptious. 

9. Brownies

thefemalecelebrity.com

Brownies are an all around classic.  Yes they may take 40 minutes to bake in the oven, but once they're done they're always delicious.

Bonus, if you buy a pack at the store they really only take five minutes to prep.

10. Apple Crisp

recipes100.com

Who doesn't love apple crisp?  Luckily it's not too hard to make.  Check out this starter recipe for an easy sweet treat. 

11. Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting

apnachulah.com

It's easier than it sounds, I promise.  All you need is the basic cupcake making ingredients: flour, sugar, etc.  Then, mix up some delicious cream cheese frosting and you're good to go.  For a great recipe check out myrecipes.com, this one is particularly good. 

12. Rocky Road Parfaits

sheknows.com

All the things you love about a rocky road sundae in a glass.  It's loaded with chocolate, marshmallows, and peanuts.  Feel free to add in what you will and make it unique to you, because no matter what this parfait is going to be dank. 

13. Butterscotch Pretzel Bars

pinterest.com

Seriously dank and super easy to make.  They have a no bake bottom and the topping is just butterscotch pieces and whipped cream heated on a stove.  For a great recipe check out midewestliving.com. 

14. An Easy Strawberry Cheesecake

cookinfood.com

Impressing your friends has never been this easy.  All you have to do is mix brie with cream cheese and spread it over some strawberries and almonds.  It's fancier than it looks and tastes great!  For a great recipe check out midwestliving.com

15. Spiked Chocolate Fondue

chow.com

This fondue has a few simple ingredients but is ridiculously dank!  Strawberries are recommended for dipping, but I tend to choose marshmallows myself (damn sweet tooth). 

5 Reasons Why Dessert is the Best Course

1. A little chocolate each day keeps a stroke away 

popsugar.com

For those of you who love dark chocolate, you're in luck.  It's been proven that eating a bit of dark chocolate each day can actually help prevent strokes.  So now we all have a healthy excuse to eat a little bit of chocolate each day.  

Bonus: chocolate also helps lower blood pressure, but only a little.  

2. It's just f**king delicious

sallysbakingaddiction.com

Don't get me wrong, I love dinner.  But dinner will just never beat desserts, it's basically a fact.  Desserts are the course dedicated to pleasuring your sweet tooth, and who doesn't love that.  Chocolate, cakes, cupcakes, brownies, desserts have all the best treats.  Not to mention, leftover dessert is perfect for the midnight munchies.   

3.  Better sex

epicurious.com

It turns out that eating pumpkin can actually help improve your sex life.  The seeds are a natural libido booster, with tons of sex drive minerals and loads of zinc.  The seeds are supposed to increase testosterone levels, and simply the smell of pumpkin is supposed to have an aphrodisiacal effect.  And, even if it doesn't help turn you on pumpkin is crazy healthy for you anyways.  

4. Desserts make a great breakfast

huffingtonpost.com

Who doesn't love eating dessert for breakfast?  I mean seriously, there is nothing danker than eating chocolate cake with some dark coffee for breakfast.  It's  been shown that sometimes eating desserts for breakfast can actually help you lose weight.  Eating dessert early in the day can help fill you up, and lower your cravings throughout the day.  Either way it's amazing.  

Tip: chocolate chip pancakes are always a good idea! 

5. What you see is what you get 

chowhound.com

Unlike a lot of what we eat, we know that sweet treats aren't really that good for you.  When you eat dessert you are consciously making the decision to be, maybe, a little unhealthy.  But that's totally ok!  Desserts are good for the soul, and therefore good for you.  There's nothing wrong with treating yourself, and a little chocolate each day is the perfect sweet treat :)