- When you think of making additions to cupcakes, candy bars might not spring to mind as a strong candidate for a good add on, but when you think of them as being huge chocolate chips with lots of extra flavors, it starts to sound like a good idea. The Novice Chef Blog tried out some 100 Grand Cupcakes with great success, adding chopped up 100 Grand bars – which have chocolate, caramel and crispy rice in them – to moist chocolate cupcakes. A salted caramel frosting brings out the caramel from the candy bars in the finished cakes.
- Treat cooked up a batch of Coconut Cupcakes with Mango Curd as a tropical treat. The cupcakes have a fine-textured coconut cake at their base that use coconut extract and lots of shredded coconut. The homemade mango curd is made with whole mangoes and can be prepared well in advance. A spoonful or so of curd inside of the coconutty cupcakes, then a thick layer of buttercream and shredded coconut to finish things off, and you’ll have a cupcake that will definitely remind you of a tropical holiday. Try using the cone method when filling your cupcakes to maximize the amount of curd in each one.
- It never hurts to have another brownie recipe on hand in case you get a bit tired of a simple classic. The Balsamic Vinegar Strawberry Fudge Brownies from Eat The Love are definitely a change from the usual! These brownies call for making a homemade strawberry balsamic vinegar jam and swirling it into fudgy brownie batter before baking. The acidity of the vinegar goes well with the sweet strawberries, and both highlight the darker notes of the chocolate. They’re grown up, but they’re brownies that you’ll go back for.
- I don’t usually take the time to make piped cookies, but Cook and Be Merry‘s Twirly Lemon Cookies are so beautiful that I’m inspired to do a batch myself soon. Looks aside, these are cookies for lemon lovers. The cookie dough features lemon zest, juice and extract, and the icing on the cookies has both lemon juice and zest. They’re bright, sweet and addictive.
- How could you go wrong with a batch of 4 Ingredient Nutella Brownies, like those that Seet Savory Life recently baked. With only 4 ingredients – Nutella, eggs, flour and chopped hazelnuts – the brownies couldn’t be any easier and are the perfect, simple dessert to make when you need a last minute snack for a party or as a gift. The brownies are rich and gooey, with a lot of Nutella flavor. If you’re a nutalla fanatic and worried that you might go through the whole batch of bite-sized brownies yourself, don’t worry because this recipe makes a nice, small batch, too.
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Jane
August 25, 2010I like your reviews they are excellent. I love cooking so your website makes sense-Love it!
Jessica
August 25, 2010Thank you so much for featuring my cupcakes! 🙂
Grace
August 26, 2010I recently tried it with peanut butter cups and it was delicious. Cupcakes are a big hit in our home but when I added the peanut butter cups they disappeared amazingly quick!
Great reviews!
Lynne @ CookandBeMerry
September 14, 2010Thank you so much for featuring my Twirly Lemon Cookies. I’m so glad you liked them. I now have how to make some cute little Buttercream Bees in a post that you also might like. Thanks again!