#56: Chocolate Waffles for the Holidays

For some of you, these chocolate waffle cookies may look quite familiar - that's because I made them for 2 different cookie exchanges! They were such a big hit the first time that I decided to replicate for my second exchange. The recipe was adapted from a Martha Stewart cookie magazine and super simple. After making the batter (filled with eggs, flour, sugar, chocolate, milk, etc.), I took a spoonful and set it in the waffle iron. A set of 2 took about 3 minutes to cook. I made my waffle cookies pretty large and it made about 30 cookies. After letting them cool, I dipped one side into a chocolate/powdered sugar/milk mixture and then dusted with powdered sugar. This is a fun twist on the waffle - good for any time of day!

#55: Chicken & Waffle for Cupcake Camp

After 2 years being absent, SF Cupcake Camp returned this year! I had a hard time deciding what to bake because I was eager to come up with something creative, unique, and most importantly, delicious! I brainstormed a few ideas including chocolate potato chip cupcakes, chinese 5 spice cupcakes, green tea and chai...and ultimately I decided on a Chicken & waffle cupcake. I had no idea how I would pull this off but I was ready to commit. After a week of researching recipes and prototyping, I came up with my Chicken & waffle game plan.

The cupcake itself was a pancake cupcake that I "seared" under a waffle iron to get the waffle marks. I then made a maple buttercream to fill, sweeten, and moisten the inside of the cupcake. After days of contemplation, I ultimately decided to use crispy chicken skin and stay away from the chicken meat. I bought some raw chicken, peeled the skin, and cut into small pieces to deep fry. Think of it as chicken cracklings...or pork rinds. After assembling the cupcake with the crispy skin garnish, I decided to add some cayenne pepper for color.

I was really happy with this cupcake and I got a lot of great feedback from people. I didn't win this year, but I had a lot of fun creating this cupcake. Sometimes I get so caught up in baking that I forget to really get involved in the creative process - which is sometimes the best part :)

Special thanks to Fred and Sarah for helping ideate and sous chef. Thanks to all my friends who joined at cupcake camp: Sarah, Vic, Ashleigh, Annaliese, Karen, Kim, Grace, and Dru.

#54: Birthday Cupcakes for my Big Sis

Of course I had to bake some cupcakes to celebrate my big sister's 29th birthday. She is a big fruit fan so I searched for a recipe that featured summer berries. I stumbled upon some beautiful cupcake photos and I decided to take a stab at recreating the cupcakes. I started off with sugarcoating the fresh raspberries, blackberries, and organic mint leaves. The blackberries had a slight bitter taste so the sugar helped to balance out the tartness. I chose my go-to magnolia bakery vanilla cupcakes recipe and then made a simple vanilla buttercream for the topping. I was incredibly happy with how the cupcakes turned out. Sugared berries can really be a work of art. Happy Birthday Sarah!

#53: 2-Layer Cake

i decided to make a cake for elaine's birthday a week ago. when i heard she liked chocolate, i decided to go with a flourless chocolate cake - the same one i made for fred's birthday last year. this cake is dense and rich. after i made the flourless chocolate cake, i was suddenly inspired to make a layered cake. i had the afternoon free so i decided to go for it. i found a regular chocolate cake recipe and made one cake layer. I then whipped up some heavy whipping cream and spread the cream on top of the flourless chocolate cake base. i added the second chocolate cake layer on top and then spread the remaining cream on top and around the side of the cake. the cake looked a little sparse so i grabbed some sliced almonds and set them along the side of the cake. to finish off, i added some homemade raspberry sauce and chocolate on top.

this is the final cake. it was certainly rich and heavy with the flourless chocolate cake as the base. next time i'll probably stick with layers of regular cake but now i'm inspired to try my luck with making cakes!

#52: Blueberry Mochi Cake

i absolutely loooove mochi. so when fred sent me a blueberry mochi cake recipe i knew i had to try it out. since i only seem to bake for special occasions these days, it seemed natural to try out this recipe for my friend kim's birthday. i was really happy with how these turned out - they were soft yet chewy and the blueberries added great flavor to the cake. here's the recipe in case you want to check it out! the mochi texture seems to be a bit polarizing for people...but if you like mochi...then i think you'll really enjoy this cake.

#51: Oreo Rice Krispie Treats

i had some leftover s'mores stuff from my yosemite trip so i decided to repurpose the ingredients for another dessert. what could i do with chocolate and marshmallows? how about rice krispie treats with chocolate bits! well, i did some research and decided to jazz up the treats a bit. i found a good looking recipe for oreo rice krispie treats. what else could be better than marshmallow treats? well, marshmallow treats covered with oreo cookie crumbs! this recipe was incredibly easy and requires no baking at all. here's the recipe in case you feel inspired to try it yourself...the results are quite tasty!

#50: Throwdown Sticky Buns

after nearly 4 months, i finally made it to #50! to commemorate the occasion, i baked something that has been on my list for a few months now...Sticky Buns! during a Borders clearance sale, i was eager to spend my $20 gift card on a cookbook before all of the stores shut down. i lucked out and found a baking book from Joanne Chang. i recognized her from an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay. i flipped through the pages and i was really impressed with the book (plus i love how it has so many photos & stories).

the sticky buns looked so amazing on Throwdown so I decided to give it a shot. it was a random sunday and i didn't have much to do so i decided to make the sticky buns (which took about 10 hours total including rise time). you can't see in the photo, but below the buns is a pool of "goo" which is comprised of sugar, butter, cream, and pecans. i was really happy with how the sticky buns turned out. this one is a keeper but i will probably only make these for very special occasions or on a rainy day.