Irish Cream Espresso Cakes (with whiskey cream filling)

Who they are made for:

What a better way to have Irish cream then in an espresso cake at work! A friends office is the inspiration for these yummy cakes. I love to bake for other people and these folks are a great bunch.

How it's made:

Makes Aprox. 15

The cupcake

2 Cups of flour (Gluten free Bisquick) (or reg flour for others)

1 Tsp of baking powder

1/4 Teaspoons of baking soda

1/4 Teaspoon of salt

1/2 Cup of boiling water

2Tablespoons of instant espresso powder

1/4 Cup of whole milk

1/2 cup of unsalted butter (1stick)

1/2 Cup of granulated sugar

1/2 Cup of packed brown sugar

2 Large Eggs

Filling

1 Cup of heavy cream

5Tablespoons of confectioners sugar

1 tablespoon of whiskey

Butter Cream/ Irish cream Frosting

1 Cup of butter (2sticks), at room temp.

3 Cups of powder

4 Tablespoons of Baileys Irish Cream

2 Teaspoons of vanilla extract

Espresso powder for sprikles

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the cupcakes: Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Pour water over espresso powder then combine milk; let cool.  Beat butter and granulated and brown sugars with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with espresso-milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour.

                 2.Fill muffin tins three-quarters full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool; turn out cupcakes from tins. Cool cakes.

Filling:

            Make the filling: Whisk together (with beaters that have been in the freezer) cream and confectioners' sugar (in a bowl that has been in the freezer) until medium peaks form. Add whiskey; whisk until slightly stiff peaks form. Fill already cooled cakes.

Frosting:

Place all ingredients together and use electric mixer to blend together. Mix until smooth and creamy. After placed on frosting sprinkle with espresso powder.

Info.:
 Is Whiskey gluten free? It depends on whom you ask.
Most experts in celiac disease have concluded that distilled alcoholic beverages made from gluten grains — including whiskey, commonly made from barley — are gluten-free to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's proposed standard of 20 parts per million, because distillation removes the harmful gluten proteins.

                                                                     How they Taste:

When you bite into them you can taste the sweet and irishcreamy frosting then you get the flavour of the espresso coffee in the cake blended together in the bite. You then get the yummy taste of the whipped slightly sweet whiskey filling. These are yummy. If you ask me they taste better the second day.

Babycake Testers day:

Yummy! Add more whisky ;-)

These are fun cakes.

Happy Dough lucky cookies (butterscotch, walnut, oatmeal)

Who it's made for:

These delicious soft and chewy cookies are made for my cousin Bradley and Sarah's children Kylie and Cody. Big Cuties!! This is something I would make for them at a family get together.

How It's Made:

1 Cup of white sugar

1 cup of packed brown sugar

1 cup of butter (2 sticks)

4 Teaspoons of vanilla

2 Beaten eggs

2 tablespoons of milk

2 cups of gluten free Bisquick's flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt

2 cups of organic oatmeal

1 package of butterscotch chips (12oz)

1 1/2 cups of walnuts (slightly chopped)

1. Cream together butter and sugars. Add vanilla, milk, and eggs. Mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir dry ingredients into the batter, mix together well. Add the oatmeal, butterscotch chips, and nuts. Stir well. Put in the fridge (trust me ALLOT better this way) to keep it fluffy and from coming out to flat.

2. Roll into balls and bake on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until slightly golden brown.

I like to keep the dough in the fridge and bake only a few cookies at a time, so that every time you have a cookie it's warm and fresh. The dough should stay fresh in the refrigerator for about a week, or in the freezer for several months. 

Information:

Some celiacs can not handle oats. They do sell gluten free oatmeal. Even though they are gluten free some celiacs continue to have a sensitivity to oats. If you are a new celiac I would make sure you are not sensitive before making these cookies.

How do they taste:

They are some of the best cookies I have ever tasted (even if they were gluteness). When you bite into the cookie you get the sweet, buttery, slightly salty flavour of the  butterscotch that blends well with the chewy oatmeal taste. Very soft, fluffy, and chewy. I'll be making these again for sure.

babycake testers say:

Their favorite cookie ever.

I give these a 10 out of 10

 

Homemade Chicken soup (gluten free)

Chicken Noodle soup for your soul

Who it's made for:

Normally I'd make something sweet that pleases the palate but today my post is about making something that soothes the delicate body and soul. This is made for our grandpa Dal-Gallo whose body and soul is very delicate at this moment.

How it's made:

*1 (approx three pound) whole chicken (left over)

* Two large carrots halved and cut in chunks

* Four stalks of celery sliced about an inch or so thick (chunkier)

*One onion sliced into chunks

* approx.1 Cup (or a little less) of rice elbow noodles (I like the purple package)

*Salt and pepper to taste

1. I put my left over whole chicken in a dutch oven and add just enough water to cover.

I add a bit of salt and all the veggies.

I place a lid over and bring to a boil.

I then turn it to a simmer for a few hours (about 3).  

2. I taste the broth to see if it has the strong enough flavour I'm looking for. 

If not you can continue to cook or just add two tablespoons of Better Then Broth: Chicken Broth.

In a separate pot I start boiling the noodles. 

I then carefully take the chicken out of the pot with a large slotted spoon and onto a Pyrex (careful its very hot).

I take all of the chicken off of the bone making sure it's somewhat shredded and none of the bone gets into the soup.

I drain and rinse the noodles (otherwise rice noodles have too much starch) then add to soup.

Mix all together.

Give it the ole taste test (enough salt, right flavours) and if all is well  I serve.

Information about chicken noodle soup:

They say chicken noodle soup is not only good for comforting the soul but a great soup for colds and flu's. First, it acts as an anti-inflammatory by inhibiting the movement of neutrophils — immune system cells that participate in the body's inflammatory response. Second, it temporarily speeds up the movement of mucus through the nose, helping relieve congestion and limiting the amount of time viruses are in contact with the nose lining.

As Ella would say:

Moustacherifics (Mustash-er-ifics)

Ahh the ever loved Charlie Chaplin and his famed Stache!

Happy New Year

Who they were made for:

These Moustacherifics were made for me! I have always wanted to have a moustache party and with the help of my friend Charlene (Candybarcupcakes.blogspot.com) we made it happen. We all added a fun stache to our dillied up hairdos and laughed the night away into the new year. Sick and all.

The cake was made:

 By Charlene -yeah she did all the actual hard work :-). She used the boxed white cake mix (followed instructions) then topped it off with a white whipped frosting. These are actually not gluten free but can easily be made Gluten free with just a regular cake of your favourite flavour. I would recommend a white frosting to make the moustaches stand out.

The topping:

Then I got to do the fun part and add the moustaches with black glitter gel that we picked up at our local Safeway. I tried my best to make them look like all sorts of cartoon moustaches.

Supplies needed for a moustache party:

*Black plates and napkins

*Moustache decorated cupcakes

*Fake stick on Mustaches (got ours at Urban outfitters)

*you can make paper staches tape or glue them to a stick and hold it up.

*We decorated white cups with a black felt tip marker

and drew on a few staches

*Any decor in black and white

To help give it a vintage feel:

you can dress as an old barber

dress as a vintage carnie

Add red stripes to your black and white decor

make sure your mustaches are vintage in shape (handle bar, Chaplin, etc.)