happy mother's day to all the great mums out there like mine!

no help

the kids were bugging to help make something after school today and when it came down to it, if it wasn't cupcakes, they weren't as interested. so they made mini marshmallow and toothpick structures and i made "grammy's chocolate cookies". i first made these cookies a couple christmases ago and made the "wild" addition of peppermint extract to it. some people don't like the combo, but me- i love the combination of chocolate and mint, and these cookies are beautifully dark chocolate and chewy... as long as you don't leave them in the oven too long. like i did. oops. the second batch turned out great though! grammy's chocolate cookies

adapted from martha stewart's cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Dutch cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups (2 sticks plus 4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar, plus more for dipping
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, 2 cups sugar, and eggs on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla, and mix to combine. Gradually add dry ingredients, and combine with mixer on low speed. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and chill until dough is firm, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with Silpat baking mats. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Dip top of each ball into sugar. Place on prepared baking sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until set, about 8 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

of course, they were more than happy to eat the cookies...

welcome home cupcake!

our 8 year old daughter, ella, went away this weekend to girl guide camp. she's a first year brownie. she'd been on many weekend trips to my parents' but never so far away, and never without talking to her at least once each day, if only to say goodnight. i think the whole weekend was harder on me letting her go than her actually going.

while she was away i got to thinking it'd be nice for her to come home and there'd be a special treat for her. i'm always calling her sweet pea or honey buns, but i didn't really feel like making anything that was decorated with sweet peas or made with honey. and then i saw a new favourite blog of mine, bakerella. she made these awesome cupcakes with candy melt flowers on top. brownies are orange and brown. i had orange and brown candy melts. i was too lazy to make the pattern for the flowers so i just free handed them and they're definitely not as pretty as bakerella's but still...the recipe i used was from one of my newish books, "cupcakes!" by elinor klivans. it was very straightforward and very easy to follow. i didn't use her recipe for the sticky fudge frosting, i just felt like making a whipped ganache frosting instead. i think the cake itself could definitely use a little more something... i'm just not sure what, i mean, it is a butter cake. maybe some lemon zest. the frosting i just kinda winged it- and it wasn't perfect, but sure was tasty.
butter cake cupcakes with whipped ganache frosting
by elinor kilvans

cupcakes:
1 1/4 cups cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup whole milk

position a rack in the middle of the oven. preheat the oven to 350F. line 12 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.

sift the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. in a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until smoothly blended and creamy, about 2 minutes. stop the mixer and scrape the side of the bowl as needed during the mixing. add the eggs one at a time, mixing until each is blended into the batter. add the vanilla and beat for 2 more minutes. on low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and mixing just until the flour is incorporated and the batter looks smooth.

fill each paper liner with 1/4 cup of batter, to about 1/2" below the top of the liner. bake until just the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 22 minutes. cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. turn out the cupcakes and cool completely before frosting.

frosting:

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup whipping cream

(i think you're supposed to add 1 tbsp of butter but i didn't)

place the chocolate chips in the bowl of your mixer and scald the whipping cream in a small saucepan on the stove. pour over chocolate and rest for 5 minutes. whisk until blended. (this is probably where you'd add the butter) cool in the fridge for about an hour before beating the mixture to the desired consistancy, shove it into your piping bag and go to town!. top with candy flower.

i picked up these awesome cupcake carriers from my maiden trip to williams-sonoma on south granville. one for my brownie for her school lunch and one for my handyman!

freakin brilliant idea