Chocolate Irish Cream Cupcakes...a (post) pregnancy craving

It is weird.  I didn't really have any cravings while I was pregnant, but over the past 6 months I have found myself craving things I never really HAD TO HAVE before.  I'm mostly talking about chocolate and other sweet things.  Sure, sure I have a bit of a reputation for loving all things cake...and YES most (all) of my new friends in Edinburgh are foodies and cake lovers but I really didn't crave sweet before I was pregnant.  I do now...that's for sure. 

Last night while shushhhing The Babe to sleep I had a sudden urge for chocolate cupcakes...chocolate cupcakes with Mocha buttercream.  Why I NEEDED that combination? I have no idea.  

I haven't made cupcakes in yonks and while I knew I had butter in the house, I knew I didn't have enough for cupcakes AND buttercream.  Dilemma, dilemma.  

Fear not! A quick google search took me straight to this recipe on the Add a Pinch Blog.  Decadent chocolate cupcakes made with vegetable oil.  Perfect! These cupcakes took about 15 minutes to whip up (in fact I had to go and calm The Babe at one point) and bake AND COOL very quickly.  In her recipe Robyn says that you can totally make these after everyone has gone to bed or first thing in the morning. They really are that simple.  Dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in the other...bish bash bosh SIMPLES. 

Last year at some point BTB (Before The Babe) I made some to.die.for buttercream icing where I creamed about 150grams of unsalted butter in a bowl with a wooden spoon and just gradually beat in sifted icing sugar and a drop of milk at a time until it was...perfect.  Since then I have never looked at recipes for icing....I go with 150grams of butter for a single layer or 12 cupcakes and just double it for a layer cake.  

I've been obsessed with the Beanies Flavoured Coffees I bought over Christmas so I mixed up a little bit of instant Irish Cream Coffee (extra strong for a deep flavour) and added that instead of milk into the buttercream.  Total indulgence. 

Cravings satisfied...until next time. 

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Milk and Cookies

I've not made cookies in ages.  Mostly because they take a while going back and forth to the oven putting tray after tray in to bake (not ideal with an infant), they use a lot of butter, and SOMEONE's got to the eat them all.  However, in the run up to Christmas I do like to rustle up a few batches of some family favourites to give out as gifts and to have in the house for visitors (oh and to leave out for SANTA obviously).  

This past weekend I made a small batch of Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies.  They are an old family favourite.  The recipe in my recipe book was copied off the package of tollhouse chips yonks ago... it is conveniently now on the web for all to use (with or without legit Tollhouse chips.)

It is near impossible to find Nestle chocolate chips here in the UK so I've settled for Sainsburys own milk chocolate chips...I couldn't tell the difference after all these years.  I halved the recipe and made them slightly smaller than suggested (perfect for little hands) so managed to squeeze 3 dozen cookies out of the mixture.  

That was Sunday, yesterday I HAD TO make another batch...

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Peanut butter cups and a little pumpkin

I love peanut butter... FACT.  In fact I not only LOVE peanut butter I have become a bit of a peanut butter snob.  It is sad, it is horrible, but it is the disgusting truth.  I can't help myself, and every time I open my big fat peanut buttery mouth to spout off why I prefer smooth over crunchy and KRAFT above all other brands I feel a small part of me cringe.  I love it so much, but I rarely bake with it.  Mostly because peanut butter is pretty expensive here in the UK, and also because the jars are so darn dinky.  Seriously, it is near impossible to find anything larger than 500grams...I just can't bring myself to spend money on buying multiple jars of peanut butter to make cookies, or brownies or whatever.  Actually, when I think about it I am a little bit of a peanut butter hoarder.  My parents bring jars of Kraft over when they come a visit and I squirrel it away, rationing out each jar and slyly watching David out of the corner of my eye when he slathers it on his toast...tut tut.  

Anyway, I suppose MOTHERHOOD has softened me and I am more willing to share and indulge and...well...use my luscious, creamy, oh so delicious peanut butter to make something other than peanut butter and banana sandwiches and when Sue over at The View From Great Island shared a link on her facebook page for Homemade Peanut Butter Cups from the gorgeous Food52 I couldn't resist going out to the shops to buy milk chocolate and having a go.  

Reese Peanut Butter Cups are one of my all time favourite chocolate treats.  They are the one treat I would trade any amount of halloween candy for...they are my ultimate.  And now that I have tried making my own at home, I know that I can easily satisfy the cravings that always seem to appear at this time of year. 

I only made half the recipe (I wasn't about to sacrifice A CUP of my cherished Kraft PB) and it really did make plenty.  I used Kraft Smooth peanut butter and didn't add the extra salt suggested...oh and I used milk chocolate to make them as close to the real deal as possible.  BUT I would totally suggest making them with dark chocolate and the added salt flaked on top for a more adult treat...totally decadent! 

Happy Halloween xx

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Chocolate Connoisseur Class at Coco

On Friday night my mum and I became Chocolate Connoisseurs...seriously.  We were very kindly given a voucher for a tasting evening at the gorgeous Coco of Bruntsfield (but at the Broughton Street location).  

The evening was designed to demonstrate the process of making proper chocolate from the cocoa bean right through to it's finished form.  We learnt the history of the cocoa bean, the introduction of cocoa to Europe and the process of industrialisation that makes chocolate what we know it today. 

We started the evening with a warming shot of hot chocolate...the proper stuff...and then went on to sample chocolate in various forms of production.  

I am not a big chocolate lover.  After my evening at Coco I might be converted...unfortunately my conversion will come at a cost.  I can now appreciate why people love GOOD chocolate.  It is smooth, it is silky and it tastes like chocolate (not sugar).  

So good.

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