Chocolate Frosting

Sort of a chocolate buttercream without the cream... so good... but you need good quality dark chocolate!

Ingredients:
4 oz coarsely chopped dark chocolate
2/3 cup of unsalted butter
1 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup of sifted confectioners sugar

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

In the bowl of a electric mixer beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy(about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla. Add the chocolate and mix until incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until frosting is smooth and glossy.

If using a icing bag work quickly as the chocolate frosting will harden.

Chocolate Cupcakes

Tomorrow my baby turns 4! I can't believe how time passed so fast! We are throwing him a huge party next saturday which I'll be sharing recipes and photos on this blog , but since the birthday is tomorrow I decided to send cupcakes to preschool! He as any other child I know loves chocolate, so I'll be making chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting and very colored sprinkles he picked up at the grocery store.
Chocolate frosting recipe and more pictures in a separate post.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of dutch processed cocoa powder
1 cup of boiling hot water
1 1/3 cups of all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup of room temperature butter (1 stick)
1 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of baking powder
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Makes 12 large cupcakes.

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a small mixing bowl mix boiling water and chocolate until completely dissolved , set aside and let it cool.

In a small bowl mix the flour , salt and baking powder. In a large mixing bowl beat together butter and sugar until fluffly. add the eggs one at a time , and then add the flour mixture. Mix all well. Add the chocolate/water mix and slowly fold into it.

Fill 2/3 of cupcake fillers with mixture and bake for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from oven and let them cool down on a wire rack.

Sweet Dinner Rolls

It's Sunday , and we usually go to my father-in-law's for Sunday dinner. I always make fresh rolls and a dessert (which i made last night). I usually make sure i have the bread dough ready by 8, so i can have them baked by 10:30. Always make sure you have a few hours waiting around to make homemade bread , it's so easy and so tasty but it definitely takes time!

Ingredients:
1/3 cup of sugar
1 stick of butter separated in 1/3 cup melted and the rest for filling the rolls
1 package of active dry yeast
1/2 cup of warm water
1/2 cup of warm milk
1 egg beaten
1 teaspoon of salt
3 3/4 cups of sifted bread flour

Mix the package of yeast in 1/4 cup of warm water and wait till it rises, about 5 to 10 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl whisk milk, 1/4 cup of water, egg, melted butter, sugar and salt. Add 2 cups of sifted flour and mix it well .

Add the risen yeast and mix it well . Add the leftover flour and place it in your mixer with a dough hook. Knead it for about 5 minutes and if doing by hand it should take about 10 minutes .

Form a ball with the dough and put in a oiled bowl , cover with plastic film or a towel and set it in a warm place to rise till doubled, about 1 hour.
On a floured surface punch down the down and form it into a circle. With a knife or dough cutter cut the dough in 4 equal parts and then each quarter into 6 pieces .

Bring all 3 corners together and place a small piece of butter in the middle , form it into a small ball and place them on a cookie sheet with a little space in between them to give the dough room to rise again.

Cover with a towel and set aside in a warm place for about 1 hour or until about doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 380F and bake rolls for about 8 minutes , i use a convection oven and bake it for 5 minutes. Remove rolls from the oven and let them rest 10 minutes before serving.