MERINGUE LOLLIPOPS

Posted in Desserts, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

These could easily fit into the Incredibly Simple category, but the outcome will make you seem like the most accomplished baker ever!

MERINGUE LOLLIPOPS
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

2 large egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar (100g)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pink and turquoise gel color

Position two oven racks towards the center of the oven and heat the oven to 200ºF. Cover a large baking sheets with parchment paper aside.

To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt. Begin mixing on low speed gradually increasing to medium. Once the egg whites start to become frothy, about 30 seconds, slowly add the granulated sugar in three portions, continuing to whisk. Once all the sugar is incorporated, add the vanilla.

The meringue is done once the sugar has fully dissolved and it has a thick texture that holds a nice peak, about 10 to 15 minutes. Separate the batter in three portions, dye 1/3 pink, 1/3 turquoise, leave 1/3 plain. You are aiming for a pastel tone, so use just a small amount, preferably adding the color with the tip of a toothpick.

Transfer the meringue as three lines side by side on a plastic wrap. Roll the wrap like a sausage and insert into a large piping bag fitted with 1M tip. Lay small sticks (oven-safe) on the parchment paper and pipe swirls over the sticks. Immediately add decorative sprinkles.

Bake for 1 hour to 1h and 30 minutes. Turn the heat off and leave the lollipops in the oven for another hour to fully dry. They will lift easily from the paper once they are fully cool.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Meringue recipes are a lot more forgiving than many people imagine. The ratio of sugar to egg whites will determine how dry the meringue will turn out, but also the amount of time you bake it influences that outcome. You can start – if you want to do it by weight – with 1 part of egg whites to 2 parts of sugar – although my version used slightly higher amount of sugar. It all works in the end. If you prefer a softer bite, use less sugar and bake for a shorter amount of time. It is important to dry them fully so that they can be handled without any sticky moisture on the surface.

And the cuteness level of meringue on a stick? Impossible to beat!

1 YEAR AGO: Happy Mother’s Day!

2 YEARS AGO: Mini-Turkey Loaves with Mushrooms

3 YEARS AGO: Baking Through the Blogosphere

4 YEARS AGO: Oriental Style Sesame Slaw

5 YEARS AGO: Revelation Veggie-or-Not Egg-Roll Bowl

6 YEARS AGO: Covid Update and Stayin’ Alive

7 YEARS AGO: A Brazilian Hummingbird

8 YEARS AGO: A Cookbook Review

9 YEARS AGO: Air-Fried Carrots, Two Ways

10 YEARS AGO: Sweet Potato Crust Quiche

11 YEARS AGO: Chicken Thighs with Artichokes and Capers

12 YEARS AGO: Pea Pancakes with Herbed Yogurt

13 YEARS AGO: Mushroom Stroganoff

14 YEARS AGO: Tomato Sourdough

15 YEARS AGO: Gamberetti con rucola e pomodori

16 YEARS AGO: Flirting with Orzo

13Feb2026

BAKING WITH LOVE

Posted in Cake, Cookies by sallybr

Valentine’s Day is just about here! Today I share a few ideas to sweeten up this special weekend… Make sure to visit my cookie blog tomorrow for a series of cookies that celebrate love. And now, let’s get started, shall we?

I open this post with a Vanilla Pound Cake with Hibiscus Glaze

VANILLA POUND CAKE WITH HIBISCUS GLAZE
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

for the cake:
3 sticks (339g) unsalted butter, softened (room temperature)
8 oz Cream Cheese, at room temperature (one regular package)
2 + 1/2 cups (500g) sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla paste or extract
6 Eggs, at room temperature
3 cups (375g) flour

for the glaze:
3 tablespoons hibiscus tea
200g powdered sugar
squeeze of lemon juice

Heat oven to 325F.

Cream butter, cream cheese and sugar with hand mixer until light and fluffy. Pound cakes do not contain leavening agent, so make sure to work the butter until fluffy. Add salt and vanilla, beat well.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Gradually mix in the three cups of flour.

Pour into well greased bundt pan. Bake for about 90 minutes, covering with foil if the top gets too brown before a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Wait for 15 minutes before un-molding over a rack. Let the cake cool completely, then make a glaze whisking all the ingredients. Pour the glaze over the cake, decorate with sprinkles, if desired.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe click here

Comments: The Bundt pan I used is this one. Any cake will look good with a simple dusting of powdered sugar, but I decided to go with a light glaze and sprinkles.

CHOCOLATE-COVERED
BROWNIE HEARTS

If your heart is set on chocolate, but you don’t feel like a simple tray of brownies, here is a very cute idea… Bake the brownies in a heart-shape silicone mold, then use the same mold to coat each piece in chocolate (I went with compound chocolate dyed red). I used these molds to bake and coat the brownies. And my favorite recipe for the little cakes (check here).

When you bake the brownies, the bottom side, that touches the mold, will be super flat. You can flip them when you coat and place the non-flat side touching the chocolate. That will end up smooth, so both sides of your little cakes will be nice and flat.

So the process goes like this: bake the brownies, cool them completely in the mold. Freeze for 10 minutes to make sure the brownie will be nice and firm. Remove cakes. Wash the mold, dry well. Melt compound chocolate in the color of your choice, add a layer to the bottom of the mold and immediately insert the cake back. Push gently all the way down. Make sure you see the chocolate coming up a bit around the edges, no need to come all the way to the top. Freeze for 15 minutes. Un-mold, and decorate.

Once they are coated, you can pipe a drizzle of melted chocolate and add sprinkles.

CHOCOLATE-COVERED OREOS

No need for recipe, just a little festive decoration, made with Royal icing and sanding sugar. Leftover melted chocolate was used to form little hearts using this mold.

VALENTINE’S SQUARE CAKE

I cannot share the recipe, as it is copyrighted. Published as Sunny Sprinkle Layer Cake, it is in a great book by Molly Gilbert called Sheet Pan Sweets. I baked it in a half-sheet pan, then cut 4 squares to make the layers, used a simple American Buttercream to frost it. It was not easy to frost smoothly a square cake, but oh, well. What does not kill you, makes you stronger.

I wish you a wonderful weekend, no matter where you stand on the festivities of February 14th!

ONE YEAR AGO: Baking with the Heart

TWO YEARS AGO: Baking with the Heart

THREE YEARS AGO: Roasted Cauliflower with Chickpeas and Quinoa

FOUR YEARS AGO: A Savory Phyllo Pie

FIVE YEARS AGO: Nut-Free Lady Grey Macarons

SIX YEARS AGO: Mini-Heart Cakes for your Valentine

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Blue Moon Milk

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Slow-Cooked Chicken Meatballs

NINE YEARS AGO: Zesty Flourless Chocolate Cake

TEN YEARS AGO: Maple Pumpkin Pecan Snacking Cake

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Silky Gingered Zucchini Soup

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Sweet Fifteen!

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Sesame and Flaxseed Sourdough

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Green Beans with Miso and Almonds

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Saturday Morning Scones

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO: White Bread

20Sep2025

CAMPFIRE CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Posted in Cake by sallybr

I cannot take credit for the design, it is from a cookbook I highly recommend: Cupcakes for Any Occasion, by Rachel Lindsay (click here to order it). She used lemon cupcakes for her version, I opted for chocolate, going for a reverse creaming method that is so simple and easy to bake.

CAMPFIRE CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES
(inspired by Rachel Lindsay)

for 10 cupcakes:
100g all-purpose flour
25g unsweetened cocoa powder
140g white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
50g unsalted butter, room temperature, soft
1 large egg
120ml milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 + ½ tsp baking powder

for the buttercream:
226g butter, very soft
452g powdered sugar
1 tablespoon heavy cream (or more to adjust consistency)
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
6 Oreo cookies, crushed fine
orange, red and yellow food gel coloring
Pretzel sticks (four per cupcake)
mini marshmallows (1 to 2 per cupcake)

Heat oven to 350F. Prepare a muffin type pan with cupcake liners.

Whisk the milk, egg and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Reserve.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, salt, butter and sugar into the stand mixer
bowl with the paddle attachment. Mix on a medium speed until all the butter looks like small pieces of sand. Add half the milk mixture, mix to incorporate until smooth. Give it a final minute mixing in high-speed. Add the rest of the milk, and whisk until fully smooth.

Add to the lined pan, a little more than half full. These cupcakes rise a lot. Bake until a toothpick comes clean, about 16 minutes. Let cool completely before icing.

Make the buttercream. Whisk the butter in high speed for five minutes. Add half the powdered sugar, mix at medium-speed until fully smooth. Increase speed to high for 30 seconds. Add the other half of the sugar, pinch of salt, vanilla and heavy cream. Whisk in medium to high-speed until smooth. Adjust consistency if needed.

Keep half of the buttercream in the mixer. Add to it the Oreo crumbs. Transfer that to a piping bag fitted with a round tip. Divide the rest of the buttercream (around 110g portions) to smaller bowls. Dye each portion red, yellow and orange. Place them over plastic wrap as straight lines side by side. Make a sausage with that plastic wrap and insert into a piping bag fitted with a medium size leaf tip.

Decorate the cold cupcakes first with “stones”, using the Oreo buttercream. Add “flames”, stick Pretzels to make the decorations, using small marshmallows for additional touch.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I love the way the addition of Oreo cookies make the buttercream perfect to mimic stones. That could come in handy for Halloween designs in the future. I made a little mistake and used Pretzel sticks to insert the marshmallows, but in the cookbook she advises using toothpicks, and they will work a lot better, so keep that in mind if you want to try these. I am so happy with the way they turned out!

One extra bit of advice: when you pipe the “rocks”, smooth the surface with a brush to make them more round and smooth. I did not do that to some of them, and wish I had. Once the buttercream hardens you cannot quite smooth things out.

ONE YEAR AGO: La Couronne Lyonnaise, Two Ways

TWO YEARS AGO: Have a Heart

THREE YEARS AGO: Chocolate-Hazelnut Tartlets

FOUR YEARS AGO: Turkey Taco Salad

FIVE YEARS AGO: Cheese and Pesto Emmer Roll-ups and Elaine’s Cookbook Review

SIX YEARS AGO: Mango-Hazelnut Entremet Cake

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Lebanese Lentil Salad and a Cookbook Review

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Cottage Loaf

NINE YEARS AGO: Sourdough Loaf with Cranberries and Walnuts

TEN YEARS AGO: Sichuan Pork Stir-Fry in Garlic Sauce

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Our Green Trip to Colorado

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Ditalini Pasta Salad

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Celebrate Wednesday with a Thai Seafood Curry

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Post-workout Breakfast

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Semolina Barbecue Buns

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO: Lavash Crackers

16Jan2025

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING

Posted in Cake by sallybr

Such a classic bake, and so simple!

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

120 grams (1 cup) all-purpose flour
50 grams (1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons) natural cocoa powder
225 grams (1 + 1/8 cups) granulated sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
85 grams (about 1/2 cup) grapeseed oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
75 grams (1/3 cup) milk, room temperature
170 grams (3/4 cup) very hot water

Makes 12 cupcakes. Use paper liners in your pan.

Heat oven to 350F.

In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk very well to fully combine the dry ingredients.

Add the oil into the mixing bowl and mix on medium speed with a hand mixer until well combined. Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the bowl and continue mixing until smooth.

With the mixer still running, slowly pour in the milk and then the hot water. Continue mixing until everything is evenly incorporated, the batter will be super thin, do not worry about it. Place the batter in cupcake pan and bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes clean. This will take 20 to 25 minutes, but check a couple of minutes earlier. Cool completely before frosting.

PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING

113 grams (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
175 grams (1/2 cup) smooth peanut butter (Jiffy works great)
210 grams (1 + 3/4 cup) powdered sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 to 3 tablespoons of milk to adjust consistency

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and peanut butter on medium speed for about a few minutes, until fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Add the powdered sugar and salt into the mixing bowl and start mixing on low until the sugar starts to combine with the butter. Turn the mixing speed up to medium-high and beat for about 3 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla extract. Add milk to adjust the consistency. If not using immediately you can refrigerate for several days. Bring back to room temperature and whip again before using to frost the cakes.

Use a piping tip like Wilton 1M if you like to make a rose pattern on top. Spraying gold is optional but nice…

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I love this cake recipe so much because it is simple, straightforward and always works. You can use hot coffee instead of hot water, but I tend to simplify it and just grab water from the tap, as hot as I can get it. I know many people prefer Swiss buttercream frosting but I donate the cupcakes and not knowing how long they will sit waiting, I rather use a sturdier buttercream, which is also much simpler to prepare. If you are a peanut butter/chocolate lover, this cupcake is for you!

ONE YEAR AGO: Incredibly Simple, Times Four

TWO YEARS AGO: Zucchini-Prosciuto Parcels

THREE YEARS AGO: Double Peanut Sourdough Loaf

FOUR YEARS AGO: Fennel-Rubbed Shrimp in Light Coconut Sauce

FIVE YEARS AGO: Puff Bread Balls, Two Salads and a Cookbook Review

SIX YEARS AGO: Pistachio-Caramel and Apple Mousse Cakes

SEVEN YEARS AGO: La Couronne Bordelaise

EIGHT YEARS AGO: A Special Birthday Dinner

NINE YEARS AGO: Duck Confit for a Special Occasion

TEN YEARS AGO: Tuscan Grilled Chicken and Sausage Skewers

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Celebrate Wednesday with Pork Tenderloin & Apples

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Salmon Wellington

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: The Green Chip Alternative

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Weekend Pita Project

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Let it snow, let it snow, eggs in snow

20Jul2024

PIE POPS

Posted in Desserts, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

What a completely fun concept! Bake a pie, but make it small. Really small. And don’t forget to get a stick going, for that pop experience… The idea comes from Cook’s Desserts Illustrated (available at amazon.com), which is a must-have for any baker out there. I cannot publish the exact recipe and method from the book, but let me share the overall process.

Get your favorite, preferably all-butter pie crust recipe, roll it out thin, and cut 3 inch rounds…

Transfer half of the rounds to a large rimmed baking sheet, add a stick to it, and one tablespoon of the filling of your choice (I used apple butter + cream cheese, as suggested in the book).

Freeze that for 10 minutes, then brush egg wash on the edges and add the second set of pie rounds on top. Crimp the edges, cut small slits with a sharp knife, brush with more egg wash…

and bake them at 375F for about 25 minutes…

You can conceivably use any filling but make sure it is not too wet. Keep in mind these are to be enjoyed just holding on the stick, no plate, nothing. You don’t want to have filling running all over the place. It is such a cute concept, and perfect to share! I hope you’ll give this method a try soon…