Give this recipe a shot for cupcakes too. The only difference is that I would watch the baking time as I suspect it will take half the time to bake. Also, the cake freezes beautifully.

- 2 eggs
- 250ml (1 cup) whole milk plain unsweetened yogurt
- 200g (1 cup) sugar
- 80ml (1/3 cup) vegetable oil (or a bit less than 1 yogurt tub)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (or 4 yogurt tubs)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- a good pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla paste/extract
- 1 tablespoon light rum…if you want to.

Preheat the oven to 180° C (350° F), line the bottom of a round 25-cm (10-inch) cake pan with parchment paper and grease the sides. In a large mixing-bowl, gently combine the yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla, oil, and rum. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture, and blend together — don’t overwork the dough. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean. Let stand for ten minutes, and transfer onto a rack to cool.

8 oz crushed Abuelitas chocolate

3/4 cup-1 cup heavy whipping cream

Pinch of salt

In a double boiler heat heavy cream until it is steaming. Add chocolate and stir until it begins to melt. Remove from heat and continue stirring until it has completely melted. Sprinkle in salt and stir.

Because my energy was low and I just couldn’t be bothered with making sugar decorations for the cake. I did reverse swirls all around it, creating variety only in the size of the swirl. The effect was unique and memorable. People loved it and it took me only about 10 minutes to do the whole cake. I highly recommend it if your cake isn’t perfect and/or you need to decorate a cake quickly.

Recipe for cake:

4 Sticks of unsalted butter, room temp.

2 cups sugar

8 eggs

4 cups flour

1 cup buttermilk

2 tsps vanilla extract

4 tsps baking powder

Set oven at 325 degrees. Butter and flour two or three round cake pans.

In a large bowl whip up butter. Add sugar and whip again until nice and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and make sure they are fully combined.

Add buttermilk and vanilla and mix well. Add flour and baking powder. Mix well. The mixture should be thick.

Pour into your two round (or three if they are small) pans. Bake for about an hour to an hour and 20 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean from the center). Let the cakes cool completely. Run a knife around the edges and flip them over. Cut each one in half (you may also need to cut the tops off if they domed). Pipe buttercream in between each layer. Cover your cake in a thin layer of buttercream (your crumb coat). Then, using a star tip, reverse swirl the remaining buttercream to cover your cake completely. Vary the sizes of the swirls to create a unique look.

Enjoy!

PREHEAT OVEN TO 425 degrees.

Pate Brisee:
5 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 sticks unsalted COLD butter cut into pieces
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
****Note: you may need to split this recipe in half and do it twice as most food processors cannot process large batches***
In a food processor, add your sugar, salt and flour, blitz to combine. As the machine is running start adding the butter bit by bit. Once your mixture looks like breadcrumbs (about 1-2 minutes after finishing adding the butter), add your water slowly. Your mixture will suddenly grab and you will end up with a dense dough. Dump the dough onto a your counter and form it into a disc or two discs if you made two batches. Wrap the disc(s) in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

Apple Filling:
6-8 Granny Smith Apples peeled, cored and cut into wedges
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons cinnamon

Directions:
Toss apple wedges, flour and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside

Caramel Sauce:
2 Stick of Butter
4 Tablespoons Flour
1 Cup White Sugar
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Water

Have a glass next to you with cold water. In a sauce pan melt your butter under medium flame. Add flour and mix. Add sugars (both white and brown) and water. Mix until combined. Keep stirring for about 10 minutes. The caramel will start to bubble. Reduce heat to medium-low if it is bubbling too much. You want a nice rolling boil. You will notice that the caramel will start to get darker and thicker. At this point you want to start testing it. With a spoon take some of the caramel and drop it into the glass. Scoop it back up with the spoon and roll it in between your fingers. If you can’t feel the grains of the sugar…it’s done.
Turn heat off.

Assembly:
Roll out half of your disc (or one of the discs) of Pate Brisee until it is about 1/2-1/4 inch thick and place it into your pie plate. I use a deep dish 10″ pan. If yours is smaller, cut the edges off as you will have quite a bit hanging off. Pour in your apples. Then pour on 2-3 cups of your caramel on top. Roll out the rest of your dough and cover the pie. Crimp the edges of the pie, cut a vent at the top to let the steam out and if you want, brush on some cream or egg white allover. I rolled out some dough I had leftover and using a cookie cutter I cut out some maple leaves and placed on top of the pie and brushed those with cream. Place in the oven for 15 minutes then reduce the heat to 350 and let it bake for 45 minutes-1 hour (until the pie starts to bubble over or caramel/juice bubbles through the vent)

Remove from heat and serve warm.

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons (packed) grated orange peel
1 teaspoon orange juice
1 large egg yolk
3 tablespoons whipping cream or whole milk
4 ounces double chocolate chips (such as Ghiradelli)

DIRECTIONS:
Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°F.
Cover baking sheets with parchment paper or non-stick aluminum sheets. Whisk first 3 ingredients in medium bowl. Beat butter, sugar, orange peel, and orange juice in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in yolk, then cream. Add flour mixture; beat until dough comes together in moist clumps. Mix in chocolate chips.
Drop dough by using a soup spoon onto baking sheet, spacing 3/4 inch apart. Flatten each to 1/2-inch-thick round. Bake cookies until golden, about 18 minutes.

GLAZE:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
2-4 teaspoons orange juice
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together to form a thick glaze (so you may need to add more sugar or more juice). Brush glaze on the tops of the cooled cookies. Let them rest and set for 30 minutes. Can be stored for up to 2 weeks. You can also freeze them for later cravings.

Here’s the recipe:

PREHEAT OVN TO 350 degrees
Cake:
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup maple syrup (NOT AUNT JEMIMA’S…REAL MAPLE SYRUP)

In a bowl using a hand held mixer whip butter and sugar until fluffy and pale. Add one egg at a time and whip so each one is whipped into the butter mixture fully before adding the next egg. Add buttermilk and whip until smooth. Add flour and baking powder and beat until you get a thick batter. Scoop batter into baking cups so they are 3/4 full with batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Buttercream:

4-5 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
2-3 sticks unsalted butter (room temp)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Place all ingredients in a bowl and whip using a hand held mixer until buttercream is smooth.

Bacon: prepare either in a microwave, pan or oven….just make sure it is cooked until crispy.

To assemble pipe buttercream on each cupcake, break up bacon and sprinkle on top and drizzle some maple syrup over the bacon and buttercream

Please send all entries to: Goddess@couturecupcakes.com

Recipe:
I used a mayonnaise chocolate cake recipe I love. I also didn’t have regular mayonnaise so I used the one I did have that was made with olive oil. You cannot taste the difference and it’s lighter and I guess a bit less fattening….yey. Once the batter is ready, add one can of drained chopped cherries and 1 cup of chocolate chips to it…mix well.
Here’s the link for the cake: Mayonnaise Cake

Pate Brisee:
2 1/2 cups flour
2 sticks unsalted chilled butter
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of salt
1/4-1/2 cup of ice water

Pie Crust Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
In a food processor, add flour, salt and sugar. Give it a spin. While the food processor is on, add butter piece by piece until you see small crumb clusters forming. Add you water a little at a time until your dough forms into a solid ball (or balls). Dump dough onto a clean surface and shape into a disc. Wrap disc in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Roll out dough and cut out 5 inch discs to place in your cupcake pans. Push centers of dough discs into the baking molds and pinch the edges for a decorative touch. Chill in fridge for 20 minutes. Place baking beans or baking weights in the centers of each mold so your dough doesn’t puff up. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until little golden brown.

Filling:
8 oz dark bittersweet chocolate melted and cooled
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 cups heavy whipped cream (forming stiff peaks)

In a double boiler (bain marie) over simmering water, mix eggs, sugar and water. Stir until mixture until it reaches 160 degrees. Remove from heat and using a handheld electric mixer, whip the mixture until it has completely cooled and is light and fluffy. Add the cooled melted chocolate and mix until fully incorporated. Prepare whipped heave cream (place cream in a bowl and whip with a handheld mixer until stiff peaks form). Fold in the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture…I know…divine!
Pour filling into cooled pie crust and place in the fridge for 20-30 minutes until it have set.

DIVINE!