Grocery Store Finds – Boomchicapop!

January 19 is National Popcorn Day, and I’m a serious fiend for some good popcorn.

Prepackaged popcorn is something that I would generally flee from for many reasons, but with a funny name and striking packaging like this, how can you not look twice?

Boomchicapop is hands down the best pre-popped, packaged popcorn I’ve ever tasted for the simple reason that it DOESN’T taste like was packaged at all. Somehow, the people at Angie’s, the company behind Boomchicapop, have figured out how to pop the kernels and keep them tasting super fresh inside those brightly colored bags. If you don’t have time or patience to pop your own corn, this is the next best thing.

With only 35 calories per cup and a short, easy-to-pronounce ingredients list, Boomchickapop fits in with my 2013 goals of eating more healthfully, and the bag is actually a pretty good read, on par with any cereal box I perused over breakfast as a kid.

Boomchicapop is also available lightly sweetened, and Angie’s sells a few other packaged flavors, too. Look for it in your local grocery store!

*I wasn’t paid for this post. I paid for the popcorn myself and told you about it because I really, really liked it. No hidden motives here!

One-Word Wednesdays – Stoup

Lentil Stoup

Awesome Stuff For Your Kitchen – Decorative Measuring Spoons

A consultant who I work regularly with gifted me these pretty measuring spoons made by Ganz . I love all of the intricacies molded into the metal and the contrast between the shiny silver and black details.

I’d be lying if the “test kitchen” in me didn’t wonder if the spoon sizes were actually accurate. For a brief moment, I considered testing them to see if the teaspoon actually held one teaspoon, or if perhaps it was “walloping.”

But then I decided to just enjoy them for what they are – something really pretty to look at. Sometimes it’s just nice to appreciate beautiful things and forget about functionality.

2012 – The Year of the Cupcake

In the future, when I look back at 2012, I’ll remember it as my personal year of the cupcake. Because Milette and I dominated Cupcake Wars, Cupcake Wars in turn dominated several months of my life, and many of the conversations I had after our win. It was truly an awesome experience and I am unbelievably grateful to all of the people who cheered us on. You make a girl feel really loved!

Tomorrow night I’m ringing in the new year with some great friends. Really great friends. The kind of friends who come to your Cupcake Wars viewing party in a bar on a stormy night, and when the satellite television at the bar craps out, don’t hesitate to invite the whole lot of the party (half of whom they’ve never met) over to their place to catch the second half of the show. Great friends, indeed!

Since we’re busting into 2013 in the same place where we watched Cupcake Wars thanks to their generosity, what could be more appropriate than the champagne cupcakes from the competition?  Mexicans and Spaniards eat grapes for good luck in the new year, so the cupcakes are filled with a homemade grape and champagne compote. To gussy them to New Year’s Eve standards, I topped each one with a rosette of the winning champagne frosting, added a few sugar-crusted grapes and hit them with just a bit of gold pearl dust. If there is such a thing as a shabby-chic cupcake, this is it!

These are perfect celebration cupcakes. Make them for New Year’s Eve, or New Year’s Day, or bookmark this and come back to it for all of your 2013 celebrations – let’s hope that there are many!

Champagne Cupcakes

3 cups sifted cake flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup champagne or sparkling wine
1/4 cup whole milk
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pans with baking cups.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder; stir in salt and set aside. In another bowl, combine wine and milk. Mixture may curdle, but that that is okay.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add eggs one at a time, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl after each. Alternately add the flour mixture and the wine mixture in 3 additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Fill baking cups 2/3 full. Bake for 19-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan; remove to a cooling rack to cool completely before filling.

Champagne Buttercream

3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 – 2-1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, divided
Pinch kosher salt
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup champagne or sparkling wine
3-4 drops champagne flavoring (optional)

In a large bowl, beat butter until smooth and creamy, about 1 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of confectioners’ sugar and a pinch of kosher salt, and beat on low speed until nearly incorporated. With the mixer still running, slowly stream in half of the evaporated milk. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl. Repeat, alternating confectioners’ sugar with sparkling wine and remaining evaporated milk. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl as necessary. Add champagne flavoring and beat until well combined.

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Easy Holiday Cupcake Ideas

Last Saturday was National Cupcake Day, and I spent a few minutes at NBC showing some fun and easy cupcake decorating tricks. There are a few holiday ideas, including a two-tiered Christmas tree cupcake topped with a sparkling star cookie and some gorgeous poinsettia cupcakes that you’ll never believe were made with store-bought red gumdrops. Happy baking and happy holidays!

National Cupcake Day on NBC

Pumpkin Caramel Torte

From time to time, I write for the Wilton.com blog, A Piece of Cake.

And from time to time, I make something so tempting, something so ooey-good, something so delicious that I feel the need to share it twice.

That’s exactly how I feel about this Pumpkin Caramel Torte, which is nothing short of fall decadence on a plate. Swooooooon over all of that lovely caramel! Head over to Wilton.com and check out my beautiful baby. And please, if you make it, let me know how it turns out for you!

Homemade Caramels

Homemade Caramels

My little sister Colleen is getting married.

Since I’m making her wedding cake, I’ll save the sap for future posts, but I can assure you that the sap will come. Today is Col’s bridal shower and I’m excited to celebrate her with friends and family.

As a small favor to our guests, I cooked up a batch of homemade caramels. I love caramel, in all of it’s sweet, chewy glory. It’s a perfect fall flavor, and if you have a candy thermometer, they’re easy to make at home. For me, the hardest part about making caramels is cutting them into uniform shapes and sizes after they have cooled. Mine always turn out all wonky and diagonal, which can be lovely and homey in its own right, but for a bridal shower, I wanted caramels that looked perfect. Instead of pouring all of the caramel into a baking dish to harden, I poured it into square silicone molds. After they had firmed up, they popped right out of the mold, 90-degree angles and all!

Caramels in Silicone Mold

Homemade Caramels

3/4 cup heavy cream
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 walloping teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or more if you want salted caramels)
3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2/3 cup water

In a sauce pan, combine the cream, butter, vanilla, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat and allow to boil for one full minute, watching carefully that it does not boil over the top of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat.

Spray silicone molds with cooking spray.

In a large pot, combine the granulated sugar, corn syrup, and water. Stir gently until all of the sugar is moistened, but be careful no to splash the sides of the pan. If sugar granules get stuck to the side, they can cause your caramel syrup to crystallize. Cook over medium heat, occasionally brushing down the sides of the pan with water and a pastry brush to dissolve sugar granules, until the caramel is deep amber in color. If your pan colored and you cannot clearly make out the color of the caramel, dip a spoon in it and drizzle on a white plate. It should be brown, not golden. Don’t be afraid of cooking caramel – the darker the color, the more flavor it will have, so let it cook until you think you’ve gone too far.

Slowly stream the hot cream mixture to the caramel. Be careful – as soon as the cream hits it, the mixture will bubble up wildly. Stir to combine. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the caramel reaches 250°F. Turn off the heat.

To mold caramels, pour the hot caramel into a glass measuring cup with a spout. Carefully pour into prepared silicone molds. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours, or until completely set before unmolding. Wrap caramels in parchment paper while they are still cold. Let caramels come to room temperature before serving.

Makes 48 1-1/2 in. x 1-1/2 in. caramels.