Food: Box of Chocolates Mini Cupcakes

I know a lot of people out there have major hate for Valentine's Day, but I've always loved it, in a relationship or not. The candy, the colors, the little hearts, I'm a sucker. Plus I love doing Valentinesy stuff for my friends who don't enjoy singledom as much as they should. This year I was inspired by one of the ideas in the Hello, Cupcake! book I got for Christmas for mini cupcakes that look like truffles. The shirt box full went into the office and the small boxes are going to some friends and of course my boyfriend.

This was also my first chance to use my mini electric cupcake maker, which is awesome! The cupcakes cooked up in 7 min, cleanup was easy, and the kitchen didn't get scorching hot because the oven was on.

Box of Chocolate Mini Cupcakes
by Desiree Roughton

Ingredients:
Mini Cupcakes:
*1 box store bought cake mix (any favor) prepared according to package
 (I used the $.69 store brand from Fresh and Easy)

Ganache Frosting:
*16oz. milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips
*2 c. heavy creme

Decorations and wrapping:

What you could use:
*sprinkles
*colored sugar
*chocolate colored mini marshmallows
*melted white chocolate
*candy boxes
*anything else to make your cupcakes look like fun or gourmet chocolates

What I got:
*pink shirt box - Target - $1.50 (on-sale)
*dot sprinkles - $1 - (seasonal)
*pink and purple colored sugar sprinkles - $1 each (seasonal)
*mini cupcake liners - Wal-Mart - $2 (seasonal)
*small heart shaped boxes - $.99 - 99 Cent Only Store
*melted white chocolate chips (pantry raid)

*NOTE: this makes a lot of ganache but you might as well utilize all the chocolate and creme that comes in those predetermined sizes. This will give you a generous amount to glaze your cupcakes and leave some extra to make quick truffles or top ice cream or other desserts. You can also slowly reheat ganache after its been refrigerated.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Fill mini cupcake tins 2/3 full with cake batter (You want to fill them enough so that the tops will bake above the liners.)

Bake for 8-12 minutes, watching closely. (Smaller cupcakes burn more easily!)

Let cool and set aside.

For the ganache:

Pour chocolate chips in mixing bowl, set aside.

Bring creme to a boil. (Make sure to keep an eye on it!)

Pour hot creme over chocolate and let sit 30-60 seconds. Stir thoroughly with wisk until smooth and shiny. (At first it may seem like the creme and chocolate are not mixing well, keep going and they'll start to come together.)

Dip cupcake tops into glaze.

Decorate as you please. This can be time consuming but is what makes these little treats so special!

Tip: Use a toothpick dipped in water or a little bit of oil to pick up and place sprinkle shapes.

Enjoy!

Food: Christmas Cocktail Party

This year is my first Christmas season with my own apartment and real kitchen. I got inspired to invite over a few friends and throw a little Christmas cocktail party. I love to cook, bake, and entertain, but on a college student's budget I have to get creative. This post comes packed with not only. a couple recipes, but some great tips, decorations, and party ideas you can use for your next get together.

Decorations
Now that I'm on my own, I don't have the boxes and boxes of old Christmas decorations to pick through at home so I headed out to the Dollar Tree to pick up some wintery items for the apartment. I bought some ornaments to hang from the sealing, cheapy door hangers, a platter, entry mat, and some wrapping paper and ribbon for our door, all for about 10 bucks. I also strung up some mini lights (about $7) across the living room.

I also had the idea of creating a window like display in a cutout between my kitchen and living room. My roommate, boyfriend, and I took it back to 5th grade and made classic paper snowflakes to put up between plastic wrap for the space. It cost about $3 and became the focal point of the room.



Because we wanted to keep things classy, yet affordable, my roommate and I made a trip to Ikea and found glasses for $.69 each and some extremely cheap shot glasses that matched. We lined the rims with sugar and set them up on the table like a Christmas tree.



Food
My roommate and I both contributed 3 appetizers/treats for food which was the perfect amount. I made two and bought the third, which was a nice rule I learned from the lovely Barefoot Contessa about throwing cocktail parties.

Sour Cream Cookies
Original recipe courtesy of Karen Morales

These are some of my all time favorite cookies. You can color them for any occasion and they are easy and delicious.

Originally the mix calls for shortening, baking powder, and baking soda. I substituted margarine for shortening and eliminated the baking powder to create what I call a budget friend recipe remix. The cookies were just as good and a little cheaper to make.

Ingredients:

For the cookies:
*1/2 c. margarine (softened)
*1 1/2 c. sugar
*2 eggs
*1 c. sour cream
*1 tsp. vanilla
*2 3/4 flour
*1/2 tsp. baking soda
*1/2 tsp. salt

For the frosting:
*1 box powdered sugar
*1/4 tsp. salt
*1/4 c. milk
*1 tsp. vanilla
*3/4 c. margarine

Directions

Mix together margarine, sugar, and eggs.

Add sour cream and vanilla.

Shift together flour, baking soda, and salt and add to above mixture.

Preheat over to 400 degrees.

Freeze dough for 20 minutes to keep cool.

Place dough on cookie sheet in heaping teaspoon fulls.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Cookies will puff up in the middle and may not look done, do not overcook.

Set aside and let cool.

Beat together powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, and margarine. Gradually add milk.

Mix frosting with food coloring to match occasion and generously top cookies.



Cream Cheese Wontons
By Desiree Roughton

This is a quick and easy semi-homemade recipe inspired by Chinese fast food appetizer- cream cheese rangoons.

Ingredients:

*won ton wrappers
*green onion (chive) flavored cream cheese
*oil for pan frying
*water

Spoon a small amount of cream cheese into center of wonton wrappers.

Moisten edges with water and fold into triangle shape.

Use for to seal edges.

Fry until golden brown. Let cool on paper towel.

These were a HUGE hit, and the first item to go. I kept them warm in a super cute plastic tree container (see table pic above) that was a last minute $2 find at Food for Less.