Carrot and Pineapple Cupcakes

I have already done this recipe and made it again because it is oh so yummeh!  I made this to give it to a family friend who left for Qatar last week.

This is my version of Ina Garten's Carrot and Pineapple Cake!  This recipe is AWESOME! Found it at Foodnetwork.com .  Try it for yourself too and you will be amazed of how delicious and moist this recipe is.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

For the cake:

2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 pound carrots, grated
1/2 cup diced fresh pineapple
For the frosting:
3/4 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted
For the decoration:
1/2 cup diced fresh pineapple

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.
For the cake:

Beat the sugar, oil, and eggs together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light yellow. Add the vanilla. In another bowl, sift together 2 1/2 cups flour, the cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Toss the raisins and walnuts with 1 tablespoon flour. Fold in the carrots and pineapple. Add to the batter and mix well.

Divide the batter equally between the 2 pans. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely in the pans set over a wire rack.
For the frosting:

Mix the cream cheese, butter and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until just combined. Add the sugar and mix until smooth.

Place 1 layer, flat-side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake. Decorate with diced pineapple.

about to be baked

Sorry I was so overwhelmed that I forgot to toss the pineapple, shheezzz .  Just made it as toppings LOL

lovely brown color

I did not try making the frost because the cake itself was superb!

I enjoyed doing this and eating it too.

Till next time!

Elsa

Monday: Crazy Hair Day

Happy Monday everyone!  Took pictures of moi for today wearing my uncombed hair, shhhesssshhh!  I don't call it a bad hair day, it's because I love how my hair turned bruhaha.  I called it AIR DRY!

Well too much of the excuses and here is my air dried hair!  

 I used nothing to tame that,  isn't it crazy! I love it!

That's Joepep, my every bubbly officemate!

Have a nice day to y'all!

Elsa

Chocolate Banana Cupcakes

I am really getting the hang of baking cupcakes. Today I made Chocolate Banana Cupcakes adapted from Stephanie Jaworski of joyofbaking.com. 

Aside from chocolate cravings, I have these bananas that are too ripe and are not nice to eat anymore and that's why I made these cupcakes.

straight right out of the oven

yummy looking cupcakes!

Bananas plus chocolate is love. 

So here's the recipe for the cupcakes:

Banana Chocolate Cupcakes:

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour

1/3 cup (35 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (regular or Dutch-processed)

3/4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas(about 1 medium sized banana)

1/2 cup (120 ml) warm water

1/4 cup (60 ml) milk

1/4 cup (60 ml) canola, corn, or vegetable oil

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Banana Chocolate Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Line 12 regular-sized muffin cups with paper liners or spray each cup with a non stick vegetable spray.

In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In another large bowl, whisk together the egg, mashed banana, water, milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir, or whisk, until combined. (The batter is quite thin.) Pour or scoop the batter into the muffin cups, about 3/4 full, and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. 

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

I used different frosting for this one. I still have left over icing from the Chocolate Tablea Cake I made last Mother's day and used it here.

I made 22 regular sized cupcakes with this recipe and I don't know why, hahahaha! The cakes are moist and just the right sweetness I love.

Happy Mother's Day

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO YOU, NANAY! and my only sister MHILAY! and ALL THE MOTHERS AND SINGLE DADS OUT THERE!

I miss her a lot, she'll be having their 3rd child (it's a boy, at last)!
Her whole family is now living in Calgary, Canada.  

My ever dearest Nanay!  The best NANAY for me!  She's been there with me through all my ups and downs!
I'm gonna miss her though if in case she'll be with my sister in Canada!

For this mother's day, I made the Chocolate Tablea Cake from Yummy.  I made this with the help of the hubby.  The recipe says that I bake it in 2 9-inch pan, to make it a double layer cake but I only have one.  What I did was I baked the second batch in a square pan and I had trouble how in the world would I make it two layers ahahaha! I am happy with the turn out of the cake itself but the icing seemed runny for me, just like a ganache.  I think it's because of the humidity in my place  that when I put it in the fridge it hardened though.  But all in all it was a success!

cooling down!

i can't get it rotated boohoo!

Here's the recipe for the cake:

Makes 1 (9-inch) double layer cake Prep Time 15 minutes Baking Time 30 to 35 minutes

1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup tablea chocolate, chopped finely
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup butter, cubed and softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanila extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

For the icing
20 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped finely
3 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons corn syrup

1 Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 2 (9-inch) round baking pans. Line bottoms with wax paper; grease and flour paper.
2 In a bowl, mix cocoa powder and tablea with boiling water; stir until smooth. Set aside to cool.
3 In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until fluffy.

4 Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla.
5 Gradually add cocoa mixture, beating well.
6 In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
7 Add flour mixture alternately with milk, beating until blended. Pour batter into prepared pans.
8 Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from pans and turn out onto wire racks; carefully peel off wax paper. Cool completely.
9 Make the icing: Place chocolate and cream in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until thick, for about 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in corn syrup. Transfer to a large, wide metal bowl. Refrigerate until frosting is cool enough to spread, about 2 hours, checking and stirring every 15 minutes. Use immediately to frost the double layer cake.

Choc-chopping tip: Instead of chopping tablea finely, you can also chop the tablea roughly and whiz in a food processor until it resembles fine crumbs.

This is a must try and easy to make. Thanks Yummy!

almost gone!

Till next time.

Elsa

Cob webs on my blogs...

Really... I am growing cobwebs on this blog.  Sorry, hope I could catch up really soon.

Elsa