Arrr! Pirate Booty Cupcakes (with hidden treasure inside!)

There is secret buried treasure in this Pirate Booty! 

 So September 19th is "Talk like a Pirate Day" and it is also my Hubby's birthday! So I celebrated two things yesterday. If you are wondering how to talk correctly to a pirate might I suggest this site. It will get even us landlubbers to talk like a proper pirate!

   When I asked my husband what he wanted me to make him he said cupcakes. I said, "are you sure?" He said, "Yeah I want cupcakes, Reese Peanut Butter cups and Nutella." Or he said something like that... I have to say something. I do not have a lot experience with cupcakes nor do I have decorating skills! When I say cupcakes are epic fails with me, I mean it either they are too dry or too wet! I also have yet to learn to pipe frosting as well. I cannot do more than dipping into warm ganache.  So I saw that Pillsbury cake mixes and canned frosting were on sale (on Monday...) I decided to have a back up plan.

  I know, I know I usually do things from scratch but I did not want to put in a lot of effort and have an epic fail! This still took me about 1.5 hours! But I have to say it was confusing how easy the cake mix was and I took a lot of pictures. I decided to spare you the step by step process of a from a box cake (yeah I do actually have pictures of that).

 But I figured that I have never use the Chicago Metallic "Surprise pan" cupcake pan and I am not good with cupcakes. I decided to make it easier on myself. Now that I have experience with both one batch of cupcakes in the 'surprise pan" cupcake pan I understand what needs to be done.

  Am I going to try to do it from scratch another day...yes! I even bought the buttermilk for the William Sonoma Chocolate Cake Recipe. Also I got the instant coffee to make the coffee syrup for the same recipe. I made it at least once for my mother in law who wanted cupcakes as well but I made a cupcake,cake. So really I just assembled this cupcake.

  The box cake mix saved a lot of mess. I just mixed the cake mix in one bowl and I also got to exercise my arms as I mixed it like a grandma. I also used the Wilton Pirate Combo pack which was $2.29 vs the prettier packaging of the Pirate Meri Meri cupcakes which retails for $12.95. But I have to say that Meri Meri's so beyond cute but for $2.29 and all that savings you can upgrade to a big jar of Nutella ($8.00) and not feel so bad!

Ingredients:

• Classic Yellow Cake mix (follow the recipe on the box)

1. 3 eggs 
2. 1/3 cup vegetable oil
3. 1 cup water

• 20 Mini Reese Peanut Butter cups (half a package of an 8 oz bag)
• 16-24 oz of Nutella
• 8 oz Whipped Canned Chocolate Frosting
• Sprinkles 

Equipment 

• Chicago Metallic "surprise pan'

Decorating items:

• Wilton Pirate combo pack

The Assembled Recipe:

• Follow the directions on the box. I recommend Pillsbury Moist Supreme Classic Yellow Cake because it has pudding in the mix. I think perhaps the pudding made the cupcake more fool proof because it makes the cake mix moist. 

• For this cupcake mix I got 20 cupcakes and the perfect time was 19 mins.

• Punch the cupcake liners over the post in the surprise pan. I found that it was aiming the post through the  pirate's nose made it centered.

• Fill the batter with a cookie scoop 1/4 of the way of the "Surprise pan." 

• Use a knife to smooth down the cake batter.

• Add one unwrapped mini Reese's peanut butter cup and slide down the post of the "surprise pan" cupcake pan. For this recipe you need 20.

• Fill up each cup with more batter so that it covers the cup 3/4 of the way and it covers the Reese's Peanut Butter cup.

• Use a knife to smooth down the cake batter.

• Bake according to the package's directions but for Pillsbury I got 20 cupcakes and I baked it at 350 degrees for 19 mins. 

• Make the Frosting while the cupcakes are baking.

• I have not perfected this combo but I suggest next time I use a whipped frosting with the Nutella. I think either 2:1 ratio or 3:1 ratio. Mix together with a spoon 16 oz Nutella with 8 oz of Chocolate whipped frosting. This Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Chocolate was tasty but was the texture of clay! I would just use the Nutella except it is too runny! 

• Cool the cupcakes for 5 minutes on top of the stove. In order to further cool down the cupcakes put the cupcakes in the freezer. I did this for about 15 minutes so that I could frost the cupcakes. 

• When the cupcakes are cooled down take the cupcakes off of the posts and add the frosting mix to the cupcake. I tried piping it but it was too thick and I used a spatula but it did not come out smooth. It was the texture of clay so with clean hands I smoothed down the cupcake. So once again it was time for the old sprinkles and topper to make it look better. 

• I used the confetti sprinkles and I just rolled the cupcakes in the sprinkles in the lid of the frosting can. 

• Then add a Pirate flag topper and it already looks better! 

 In the end the cupcakes came out really well! So I am going to experiment with making a better non-buttercream Nutella frosting and I plan to bake more cakes/cupcakes from scratch. My husband will be happy to know that there are more cakes/cupcakes to come! 

  For the ride to a party I recommend taking two cupcakes for yourself and put nine in two of the Sistema Klip it Bakery box. It is much less bulky and the cupcakes with the Pirate flags were able to fit in and be stacked! Also much easier to store than a cupcake carrier (which I got on my Wedding Shower list but I never use because it only works in theory!). All my cupcakes arrived to the party without being ruined which  has never happened! 

ARRR! HAPPY TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY! SEPTEMBER 19, 2013!

Dessert For A Hot Day! And A Movie!

Yes this HUGE jar of Nutella I got today
 and the Heat inspired this post

  Currently it is 92 Degrees here. I am working on a Nutella Stuffed Cookie Recipe post but then my husband handed me this 26.5 oz bottle of Nutella. I got distracted. I thought of a good idea for a Dessert platter for those days it is too hot to bake but you still want something sweet. Nutella is great for dipping because at room temperature it is a bit runny making it great for a dip. This dessert is more of a lazy assembled dessert platter.

  I am pretty sure that everyone knows that you can put chocolate on Pretzels, Strawberries,cantaloupe and so the idea of putting Nutella on it is not so original. But I fell hard for this new vehicle for Nutella and that is The Kettle Cooked Lays Potato chip.

I actually do not recommend the 40% less fat
potato chip but that is what my hubby got!

Here is my idea: 

  Get a chip and dip serving piece that is separated like the one I have below. The center part you want to fill with Nutella Spread. You are going to want enough dessert plates and cocktail spreaders for you and your guests. Or you could always just give everyone a martini glass of Nutella (yum!), plates and use what you have for the "dipper" items items. 26.5 oz of Nutella will be enough for 4-5 people that like Nutella. So plan accordingly for parties over 5.

  I recommend getting some skim milk because Nutella goes well with skim milk, some grapes for a palate cleanser and I am not sure which fruits taste good dipped in Nutella. I have friend who likes Apples and Nutella so that might be a nice refreshing treat. I would get two types of apples: a sweet Gala apple and a tart Granny Smith and experiment with which tastes better with Nutella.

White Chip and Dip from Crate And Barrel

Suggestions For Dippers:

• 8.5 oz of Kettle Cooked Original Flavored Chips (has to be this flavor and brand style trust me)
• 12 oz bag of Snyders Sourdough Nibblers (so no one will double dip) or Snyders Pretzel rods
• 14.4 oz box of Cinnamon Sugar Honey Maid Graham Crackers
• 16 oz of Nabisco Animal Crackers 
• 10 oz Kraft Jet-Puff Giant Marshmallows 
• 4 Gala Apples
• 4 Granny Smith Apples 

  Do not get the Stauffers animal crackers because they are gross and they are the cheapest ones that I could find. I give them to my dog to eat because it is low in sugar and there are no recalled animal products in it. After all the food recalls for dogs this is the brand that I use. The only off brand Animal crackers that I like is the Stop and Shop which is not badly priced.

  I recommend pairing this with a good cooking movie like Julie & Julia or a binge with your friends and the FoodNetwork. Maybe if you have really good friends a Julia Child Marathon.

Julie & Julie (2009) it will make you hungry!

Here are other good movies about cooking that would pair well with this Dessert Platter:

Chocolat (2000)

Like Water for Chocolate (1992)

 What do you like to dip Nutella in? And what is your favorite movie about cooking?

Giant Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chips

If you love Nutella and you know it clap your hands

  This cookie is not for the faint of heart. I saw a post on FB about Nutella Stuffed Cookies and I wanted to add it to my amazing chocolate chip cookie recipe. The Nutella Stuffed Cookies was from "Not Your Momma's Cookies" and it was Oatmeal Peanut Butter cookie with a gooey Nutella Center. Let me just say that I probably will be making that another time! I also decided because I did not have a lot of time that I would do it in my Giant Cookie Pan. I imagine that although these cookies that I baked were AMAZING! that if I made small cookies that were wrapped around the Nutella balls that it would have been CRA-CRAY!

You can see the Nutella gooeyness in this cookie slice

 Nutella is pretty amazing but I recommend you always get more than the recipe calls for because it is hard to work with. You need extra Nutella because it always gets on your hands then you taste what is on your hands, then take another spoon for just a taste then you are out of Nutella before you began. Before I saw this recipe I did not know how to make a cookie with a gooey center. Normally I would just add Nutella to the batter but when you do that it loses the Nutella punch. This idea of forming the Nutella into drops and then freezing Nutella to make it into a big chip form is a great idea. It really makes a difference especially if you have worked with Nutella

  I cannot believe I did not grow up eating Nutella since it has been around since 1944 but I fell in love with it when I went abroad to Italy in 1999! But it was not easy to get in the States until 25 years ago when it was introduce here. But I think maybe it was not available because it was always eaten up by those who knew the power of Nutella. I think I should invest in the Nutella Spreader to get all of the Nutella out of the jar!  Here is the History of Nutella.

  Let me first start with what not to do and that the obstacle for this recipe is Nutella.It does not freeze like the recipe on "Not Your Momma's Cookie" says. It also should not be put on saran wrap like I did and then stacked. And if you can freeze the Nutella leave it frozen until right before you are putting it into the cookie. 

This is my failed attempt to freeze Nutella 

it just melted quickly and was on both sides 

of the saran wrap that is a no, no!

   Bless me Julia Child because I have Sinned! What happened was that I took out the Nutella to take pictures and left it out. The Nutella was frozen for at least 12 hours instead of the recommended 20 minutes and I thought it would not melt so fast . When I was ready to add the Nutella to the cookie Nutella was stuck on both sides of the Saran Wrap BUT was not able to come off easily. It was frozen but stuck and yet runny at the same time. It was just a streaky mess and I wasted some of the Nutella. 

  At that moment I wanted to shout out "Nutella! Nutella!" just like Marlon Brando in "A Street Car Named Desire." Except I yelled "Nutella!" instead of "Stella!" It was hard to put up with the Nutella but it tastes so good! 

   Also getting the Nutella onto the parchment paper (I am going to pretend like I had a huge freezer so I could put a jelly roll/cookie sheet lined with parchment paper in the freezer)  is a job! It was nice if I was just for some reason just making them for myself then licking the spoon would be okay. However it was not it was messy, I did lick my hands but I made sure to wash my hands and restart. I suggest putting the Nutella in a Ziploc bag and cut a hole to pip it. But I think it was too much of a mess still and I am not sure how to do this without a mess. I also thought about maybe freezing the whole bottle and just spooning it in? I will have to do some further research on this. Luckily I think Nutella is worth it! And if I have to work more with Nutella in the name of baking science I must take the pathway to enlightenment! 

  What I propose is just that Ferrero and Ghirardelli get together to make a Nutella chip and to make them in normal chip size, mini chip size and BIG chip size! I would want the BIg chip size for this recipe. So Ferrerro and Ghirardelli get started on that Italian-San-Francisco-Baby! If they will not Ferrero needs to just make a new recipe for the chips. I actually wrote to them the other day, Please start a campaign and write them here. Just ask them to make sure they make them in normal chip size, mini chips size and BIG chip size. I am serious! I want a Nutella chip for baking! 

  

Ingredients minus the Vanilla Extract

Ingredients with the Vanilla extract

I really like the Pure Vanilla extract from McCormick
there is a difference.

Ingredients:

• 13 oz jar Nutella (that has been divided into teaspoon amount, frozen, and put onto parchment lined cookie sheets in the freezer for 20 minutes).
• 2.25 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder (I used baking powder instead of baking soda)
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 sticks of butter softened (I used with salt so if you use with salt do not add the teaspoon of salt)
• 0.75 cups of granulated sugar
• 0.75 cups of packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2 eggs 
• 2 bags of Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Sift together: flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium sized batter bowl. Put aside.

• Cut up room temperature butter into small pats of butter and place in the mixing bowl. Using the flat blade attachment in mixer cream the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar together.

• Add the vanilla and then beat the egg mixture with a fork to break up the egg. 

• Alternate between adding in one eggs to the mixture of creamed butter/vanilla/brown sugar/sugar and adding in the dry ingredients. Make sure in between the additions to beat the mixture well.

•  Run until the dough is mixed thoroughly.

• Stir in the chocolate chips into the mixture. Make sure that the stand mixer has the chips through out the mixture by taking using a flat spatula to scrap down the sides.

Tips: If the mixture is uneven: fold the mixture by hand if necessary to mix the bottom part of the dough with the top layer. If you find it necessary run the mixer again.

• Spray the Giant Cookie Pan with Baking Pam

• Add a thin layer of cookie dough to the pan. Not going all the way to the the side

• Add the Nutella frozen "chips" to the cookie.

• Cover the Nutella Chips with cookie dough. Do not go all the way to the end. This cookie is going to be thicker than the cookies I normal bake. Normally one chocolate chip cookie recipe yields two Giant cookies. 

• This cookie yielded one Giant Cookie and one large cookie. 

• I had some extra Nutella left so I swirled some Nutella onto the Giant Cookie.

• You know when it is done with there is a nice golden color to the cookie.The Large cookie was in the oven for around 10-15 minutes to bake and the Giant cookie took 20-23 minutes to bake. 

• Then you cut it up in pie wedges or you could cut them like cookie bars. I like the pie shape if you are going to have a plated dessert with maybe french vanilla ice cream. But if you are having a casual get together cutting them in brownies squares really show off the gooeyness of the cookie. 

  This cookie recipe post is being post dated because I originally made it September 2, 2013. It was I think the beginning of my stuffed cookies and working more professionally with Nutella. It has inspired an idea for a cake for my husband. I have actually only done one other cake which came out well despite a lot of issues making it. But when you have good ingredients and you can bake it might not look good but it will always taste good! I definetly improvised a lot of the cake for my mother in law.

  

  I am thinking of mixing Nutella with a Duncan Hines Frosting to make it easier to apply to a cake. I will also use finely chopped peanut butter cups for the outside coating and inside filling. I was thinking of actually using the Ferrero Rocher chocolates instead but my husband really likes Peanut Butter cups. Ferrero Rocher are expensive and hard to find in a big volume without buying expensive hostess boxes of them. 

  Another way to do this recipe is that I could use Perugina's Baci chocolates as the stuffed part of the cookies as they are Hazelnuts wrapped in chocolate. Maybe they will work better and be easier than the frozen Nutella fiasco. But I am not sure if it will be gooey enough but it would be like a chip. And I do kind of want the Nutella chip because that would be smooth unlike the Baci candy. Not your Momma's cookies recipe has inspired me! So thank you!

What is your favorite Nutella Recipe?