Now that I am a full fledged adult, I don’t eat candy bars all that often, but you can bet when I do indulge, those babies get frozen first. This recipe is a little homage to my frozen candy bar loving dad, Bill; although I like to call him Billiam for kicks.

These cupcakes consist of a moist doctored up cake mix recipe with a little surprise in the center, topped with creamy caramel buttercream and a finished with a little sprinkling of chopped Snickers and a caramel drizzle. Are you drooling yet? This recipe is rich, sweet, decadent and every candy bar lover’s dream!

This is definitely a semi-homemade type of dessert; if you’re opposed to doctored up box mixes, no worries, just sub in your favorite chocolate cake recipe. Personally, I think the cake recipe below is pretty rocking and I use it when I am in a hurry or need an incredibly moist cake. I hope you give this recipe a try because it’s definitely a crowd pleaser! Brian used the word incredible to describe these cupcakes and that is not an adjective he tosses around very often.

In other news, you will find my first vlog posted below. Yep, I busted out the video camera, put on my best campy voice and recorded a video detailing my favorite piping tips, and the super technical {note sarcasm} techniques that I use to frost the cupcakes you see on MBA. I promise when I venture into vlog land again, I will lose a little of the cheesiness, but hey, I was nervous! Enjoy watching; I hope my newly acquired Muppet voice gives you a little chuckle! Does anyone like the sound of their voice…mine sure makes me cringe!

Cupcake Piping How-To from My Baking Addiction on Vimeo.

His latest show, Kid in a Candy Store, debuted this past Monday and is centered around all things sweet {perfect for MBA}. Adam also has another gig called After Party on Food Network’s sister network, Cooking Channel. After Party will be hosted by Adam, Sunny Anderson and Kelsey Nixon and will feature interviews from the eliminated contestant and the show’s judges. After Party starts on July 18th at 11:00 pm on the Cooking Channel.

I had a great time on the conference call, Adam was super laid back and eager to answer all of our questions, plus he is pretty adorable! Here is my Q & A with Adam directly from the Food Network transcripts.

MBA: What’s the most unusual sweet you came across in your travels?

Adam: It’s kind of hard to top the vanilla wasabi milkshake at Big Top in Austin, Texas, that was pretty unusual. Big Top is like an old school candy shop and soda fountain, where they’ve got all different syrups and they make everything from scratch, old-fashioned sodas. One of the more modern twists was a wasabi milkshake, and that was just…confusing to me. It wasn’t terrible, but it was just the two flavors that I was like, ‘Am I eating sushi or am I having a milkshake?’ I couldn’t wrap my head around it. That was very unusual, I think.

MBA: What was your favorite childhood memory involving an indulgent sweet treat?

Adam: My mom is a great baker and she always baked, and still does bake. When we were at the Next Food Network Star finale, she brought brownies for the whole crew, which is pretty unusual. My favorite thing that she would make for me was a really classic chocolate pudding pie, with a graham cracker crust and whipped cream on top. That was probably my favorite thing, mixing whipped cream with chocolate pudding and crust – slightly salty, sweet graham cracker crust. Thinking about that now is awesome.

MBA: Do you think that you’ll stick with this kind of show? Or will you eventually transition into a cooking show?

Adam: I would never say no to something like that, to see if I could do it. I definitely feel more comfortable in this kind of show. I love talking to people and I’m kind of curious in general, I just always want to know why. As a child I was very annoying to my parents and brothers, it was always like, Why? Why? Why? I just wanted to know, and ‘Because’ was never a good enough answer. So that curiosity works in this kind of format. A cooking show would be a big challenge, but it would also be a lot fun to do. When I’m cooking, people are like, ‘You know there’s no camera here’. I’m always talking and explaining what I’m doing and I’m very into it. So I’d love to do something like that. I certainly wouldn’t say no to it, but it would be more challenging for me.

Adam’s favorite childhood treat is very similar to mine. It’s funny how sometimes the simplest recipes are the ones we remember most. When I was growing up, my mom was a great cook, but never baked much. However, if you were to ask my brother and I what are favorite dessert was as kids, we would both say my mom’s pistachio pudding pie.

Really, it couldn’t be easier with a store bought graham cracker crust, pistachio pudding and Cool Whip. Although this dessert would take minutes to whip up, it was our favorite and we would easily scarf down the entire pie in one day. I always keep pistachio pudding in my pantry because occasionally I will get a huge craving for this simple dessert.

In honor of Adam’s new show and both of our favorite childhood desserts I decided to replicate the pie Adam mentioned. I ended up making an easy and delicious Chocolate Pudding Pie. I added some Vanilla Fleur De Sel to the graham cracker crust which gave it the perfect sweet and salty balance that I am so fond of. Although I used boxed instant chocolate pudding, you can totally make homemade and use that instead. I then topped each piece with a huge dollop of freshly whipped cream and chocolate shavings. This is truly an old school pie that may just bring back some amazing memories.

So, now I want to know, what’s your favorite childhood dessert?

Remember, you can catch Adam on Kid in a Candy Store which airs Mondays at 8pm/7c and on After Party which premieres July 18th at 11:00 pm on Cooking Channel.

I tasted Nutella for the first time last year and I have not been without a jar since. This chocolate hazelnut spread is loved by many bakers and adds a delicious complexity to baked goods that chocolate alone cannot accomplish. Whether you smear it on toast, dip fresh fruit it, or drizzle it on ice cream…Nutella is a pretty fabulous accompaniment to many different foods.

I got inspiration for Mocha Shortbread while sipping a Mocha Frappuccino from Starbucks. Although I am not a huge chocolate lover or a regular coffee drinker, there is something about this pairing that makes me a very happy girl. The combination of chocolate and coffee combined very well in these shortbread cookies. The coffee flavor was quite subtle, so feel free to amp up the amount of espresso powder to kick up the flavor a notch. These cookies are buttery and crumbly just how how I like my shortbread. If you are not a Nutella fan (are there any out there) the cookies are simply delish on their own. If you are a Nutella fan, I highly suggest you spread this chocolatey goodness on these cookies, I promise you won’t be sorry. I hope you have a fantastic weekend and thanks so much for stopping by MBA.

I’m going to warn you, these Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars are heavy on the butter…you may feel your thighs expanding as you read the ingredient list. On the plus side, a little square is plenty to get your sweet fix!

Have you heard of Millionaire’s Shortbread? Well apparently it is another name for this type of recipe which consists of a shortbread crust, a caramel center and a top layer of chocolate. After doing a little research, I discovered you can take a little help from your grocery store and use premade Dulce de Leche. If you plan on checking your local market for the premade stuff, here is a little tip…I know Nestle makes it and I have found it in the ethnic food aisle, so start there first. Truly making my own was no big deal either, just be warned…this is not the time to multi-task; focus all your attention on the microwave or very bad things could happen. I may or may not have tried sending out tweets while mine was bubbling away and it may have left a huge puddle of oozing caramel lava all over my microwave. Just. Be. Careful.

These bars were a huge hit; I adore a salty/sweet combo, so the sprinkling of vanilla fluer de sel that was recommended by a Facebook fan really made the flavors stand out. Thanks for the idea, Jessie! I purchased my Vanilla Fleur De Sel from Beanilla, but I am sure plain fine sea salt would work just as well. These Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars reminded Brian and I of Twix Bars. In my family, the only way to eat any type of candy bar is to eat it cold. So, we stored the cut bars in the fridge and were in cold candy bar bliss! If you make these bars, definitely come back and let us know how you liked them! Have a fantastic and delicious week!

Since this post is all about cupcakes, I just had to whip up a batch to share with you. After browsing the amazing Sprinkles menu, I knew I wanted to create a chocolate on chocolate cupcake and drew inspiration from Candace’s Milk Chocolate flavor. The description of this selection is a Belgium dark chocolate cupcake with fudgy milk chocolate cream cheese frosting. How delish does that sound? Although my interpretation of this sweet treat is slightly different, it turned of to be quite delectable.

In case you are not familiar with Sprinkles, here is a little background info. Candace started Sprinkles in Beverly Hills in 2005, her sophisticated take on the classic American cupcake made Sprinkles an overnight bakery sensation. Candace’s business continues to grow with 5 more locations slated to open in the near future. If I have piqued your interest about Sprinkles and you’re drooling at the mere thought of entering a Sprinkles bakery, you can check our their list of locations here.

Candace was such a doll during the phone conference, she gave some participants great advice regarding their own business ventures and answered some great questions about branding, business partnerships and even shared some personal stories.

Curious what I asked Candace? Well here are my questions and her responses directly from the transcripts:
MBA: I’m pretty big on the whole presentation factor on my blog with all baked goods, I’m curious what your inspiration was behind your signature Sprinkles look.
Candace: Oh sure. Basically, decoration in general, presentation has to follow what you’re doing with the actual cupcake itself. So a lot of times on Cupcake Wars, if there was a garnish on top of the cupcake, it’s an indication, or should’ve been an indication as to what was going on with the cupcake flavor inside. At Sprinkles what we did, is we reinvented the cupcake. We modernized it, we made it more sophisticated, more elegant with more beautiful ingredients, and we wanted to do the same thing with the look. So, playing on the traditional with the color of the modern dot; having that element of fun, but then also making it more sophisticated and sleek.

MBA: Obviously you were inspired by cupcakes at some point or another, but I’m curious as to what your very first cupcake memory was as a kid.
Candace: Oh my gosh, you know what, no one’s ever asked me that question before! That’s amazing, that’s such a great question. I have so many pictures of myself as a kid eating cake, but I don’t have that many of me eating cupcakes, and one of the reasons why, is that I grew up overseas when I was very young. And it was until I came back to the States when I was more in grade school that I started eating cupcakes, and those were Hostess cupcakes in my lunch box.

If you are a Food Network junkie like I am, you may recognize Candace from the latest commercial promos because Candace’s latest venture is being a judge on Food Network’s new show, Cupcake Wars. Each week on Cupcake Wars, four of the country’s top cupcake bakers face off in three elimination challenges until only one decorator remains. The sweet prize: $10,000 and the opportunity to showcase their cupcakes at the winning gig. Whether a special Ace of Cakes anniversary celebration, a star-studded magazine party or an A-list celebrity golf tournament, these Cupcakes Wars really heat up. Candace Nelson (owner of Sprinkles Cupcakes) and Florian Bellanger (chef and co-owner of online macaroon company MadMac) serve as permanent judges with a third rotating judge each week, and Justin Willman hosts.

I watched the sneak peek of Cupcake Wars on Sunday. Although I like the concept of this Food Network show, it definitely has a flair for the dramatics. I will not proclaim this show to be a must watch, but if you are looking to burn an hour and be exposed to some odd cupcake flavor combinations, definitely check it out and judge it for yourself. Cupcake Wars airs Tuesdays at 9pm/8c…I will definitely be tuning in tonight to see if my opinion of the show changes before I set my DVR to record the season. If you happened to watch the show, let me know your thoughts!

Now let’s talk chocolate on chocolate cupcakes…the combination of the moist chocolate cake with the richness of the chocolate infused cream cheese frosting is a real stunner. These cupcakes were a big hit and I tell you what, I had to practice some serious will power in order to now eat this frosting by the spoonfull! If you have a favorite chocolate cake recipe, slather on this frosting and become a baking rock star! If you like to experiment, give the Martha Stewart cupcake recipe found below a whirl. I liked it, it’s a tad dense, but super moist. If you like cream cheese frosting, you will be smitten with this chocolate version.

However, this month’s issue of Food & Wine struck my fancy and I have since made three desserts from their delectable May recipe index. The first recipe that caught my eye were these Espresso-Shortbread Brownie Bars, so I decided to make them as a perfect ending to a family dinner of five-cheese manicotti.

The recipe is pretty straightforward and the espresso shortbread crust is a cinch to prepare in a food processor. When I first placed the shortbread crust into the pan, I thought there was no way I could get it to cover the entire bottom of pan. However, after a little patience and a lot of spreading, it worked out just fine. The only adjustment I made to this recipe was to use espresso powder as opposed to ground espresso beans, but my guess is they are pretty darn similar. I would definitely kick up the espresso powder amount as it was only slightly detectable in the finished product.

Although this recipe is not a new household fave, it is definitely a good recipe and a nice twist on traditional brownies. Brian prefers his brownies to be all ooey and gooey and these definitely do not fit that description. Personally, I was a big fan of the buttery espresso flecked shortbread crust.

Bottom Line? Are the decadent? Yes. Would I make them again? With so many other recipes out there to experiment with, I doubt I will give these a second try. I hope you have a delicious day and if you decide to give these a whirl, definitely come back and let me know your results!

Once I got home for the evening, I did a quick search for DebHouse and discovered that Deb is a local gal, retired from her global marketing career and is now a home baker. She sells her lovely baked goods online, at the Perrysburg Farmer’s Market and a local grocery store. A portion of Deb’s proceeds go directly to the Deborah House, a home where the shattered lives of young Romanian girls are being rebuilt through education, counseling, legal services and job training. Personally, I think it’s amazing that Deb’s passion for baking is making a direct impact on the lives of young women in need! People like Deb warm my heart and are truly an inspiration.

Deb has a delectable list of cookies available on her website, but her Buckeye Bars are what caught my eye. Being from Ohio, I have sampled many pieces of Buckeye Candy, but never thought of turning that peanut buttery goodness into a bar. I immediately did some internet searching and found an easy recipe for a layered Buckeye Bar that will definitely satisfy your sweet tooth. This recipe does utilize a boxed brownie mix, although I typically bake from scratch, I decided to try the recipe as written. If brownie mix is not your thing, simply sub in your favorite brownie recipe. These Buckeye Bars are simple, decadent and delicious…I am betting they’re even better with a homemade brownie base. We thoroughly enjoyed these at room temperature, but I adored them cold out the fridge! Now I must head back to the farmer’s market, meet Deb and try her version. Have a fabulous day and thanks so much for stopping by My Baking Addiction.

I headed back to Lisa’s blog and read through her Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie recipe. I used this as my base and tweaked it a bit, of course leaving out the walnuts for Brian. The results were absolutely amazing…especially after leaving the dough in the fridge overnight. These are now Brian’s favorite chocolate chip cookies, making the Extraordinary Chocolate Chip Cookies fall down a notch to second place.

Do they compare to Levain’s Chocolate Walnut Cookies? Again, I have no clue because I have never tasted one… maybe I need to order some Levain cookies so I have a baseline to compare to? Honestly this recipe is so impressive I really don’t care if they are an accurate copycat or not!
If you have a chocolate chip cookie connoisseur in your family, definitely give this recipe a try…they are huge, gooey and chocolatey, so really what’s not to love?

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

I certainly did not come up with these giant cookies on my own; they are a copycat recipe for one of Levain Bakery’s legendary 6 ounce cookies.  Levain Bakery has a fabulous reputation and is hot spot in Manhattan serving up a variety of baked goods from rustic breads to their signature 6 ounce Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies. These cookies get a lot of buzz,  if you don’t believe me, simply do a quick google search, you’ll be inundated with cookie chatter and many copycat attempts of their secret recipes.

If you watch the Food Network, Levain Bakery has been featured on numerous shows such as The Best Thing I Ever Ate, Throwdown with Bobby Flay and Roker on the Road. If you want more info on Levain Bakery, check out their website and bask in all things delicious!

A quick search for a Levain knock-off led me to Lisa’s blog, Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. Lisa’s site is full of delicious food and baseball. Lisa’s recipe looked fantastic, so I headed into the kitchen and got my bake on! I decided to tweak Lisa’s recipein an attempt to construct Levain’s Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies. I have been slightly obsessed with this cookie since I first laid my eyes upon it’s ooey gooey center on a recent episode of, The Best Thing I Ever Ate. When Rocco Dispirito broke one of the babies is half…I was immediately smitten!

I actually weighed out the cookie dough and ended up with 9 four ounce cookies. A scale definitely comes in handy, but you can totally eyeball it if you don’t have a scale. If your kitchen is lacking this essential tool, you should should check out the giveaway I am hosting for a brand spanking new EatSmart™ Precision Pro – Multifunction Digital Kitchen Scale.

How do they taste? Well, I have never experienced the pleasure of eating an actual Levain Bakery cookie; however, this knock-off was pretty tasty. I must admit we enjoyed them much more the day they were baked as opposed to the days that followed. Lisa recommends tossing these in the microwave for 5-10 seconds to refresh them…I can attest to this trick! I think I will attempt to make Lisa’s Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies next just sans the walnuts! Have a fabulous day and don’t forget to enter to win yourself a new scale!!

While doing my daily blog browsing, I came across a recipe developed by Jennie Perillo of the blog, In Jennie’s Kitchen. The cookie was posted on the fab blog, The Merry Gourmet and drew me in due to its puffy appearance; we like our cookies to be thick and chewy and Jennie’s recipe looked just perfect. Her recipe is not only quick and easy, but the results are truly delectable.

Jennie recommends an overnight “marinating” time to allow the flavors infuse and ensure ultimate cookie perfection. These cookies have quickly earned a place on my Chocolate Chip Cookie Top 5…in fact, I have another batch “marinating” as I type! Many thanks to Jennie for allowing me to share this great recipe with my readers!

Here is some info from Jennie’s post about the cookies; however, be sure to head over to her blog to read the informative postin its entirety! While you are there, definitely browse her fabulous original recipes, I guarantee you’ll be drooling in a matter of minutes!

Perhaps one of my favorite things about this cookie is they’re stress free. Rather than planning on time to make the dough and bake it right away, it’s done in stages. The dough takes all of 5 minutes to make—10 minutes if you decide to nix your stand mixer and do it all with a wooden spoon. Then just sit back and let the dough transform in the fridge, and bake as you need them.
You can even form the balls and freeze them on a lined cookie sheet. Once set, store them in an air-tight plastic bag and you’ll be ready for surprise company or a last-minute treat at a moment’s notice.

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On the other hand, Brian and my dad are chocolate lovers and drool at the thought or site of anything chocolate. For Easter, my dad had two requests; a Honey Baked Ham and chocolate mousse. My first instinct was to make the mousse that I had prepared back in February, but a twitter pal led me to a Julia Child recipe that had been tweaked by the ever-so amazing David Lebovitz.

David’s recipe seemed straight forward, but involved quite a few steps, so I decided to construct this dessert early Easter morning to allow an ample chilling time. This classic French recipe does contain raw eggs, so if that is something that concerns you, this may not be the mousse for you. David recommends using high quality chocolate, so I picked up a 9.7 ounce bar of Scharffen Berger. Although this chocolate is definitely pricey in comparison to your typical grocery store chocolate, the results are well worth the extra cost.

The result? This is one of the most decadent, rich desserts that I have ever made or tasted. The coffee added a great depth of flavor and the consistency was truly lovel. More importantly, the choco-holics enjoyed every last spoonful. I served this topped with fresh whipped cream and strawberries. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did!

However, I loathe those mid-week quick trips to pick up odds and ends and I HATE putting groceries away. Last week, I asked Brian to make a mid-week trip to pick up some pecans and oranges; he came home with walnuts and oranges.

Now, if you have read my blog for a while, you may remember that Brian claims to be “allergic” to walnuts. Is his world, being “allergic” means they bother his tongue and mouth, so they have been banished from my baking cupboard. Personally, I think this “allergy” is a bunch of malarkey. 

Did I just say malarkey? Yes, indeed I did. Hogwash also has a nice ring to it, but we’ll stick with malarkey for now.

Back to the walnuts…he bought them, so I used them {his fault, right?}; this made him exceedingly cranky. He likes to be the first to test my baked creations to make sure they are “up to standard” before he takes them to his ever-so picky coworkers…kidding, they eat ANYTHING!

To sum it up, Brian did not taste these Walnut Chocolate Chunk Blondies, so I had to. My verdict? They were good, not amazing…I thought they needed something, but could not put my finger on it. More butter? More Sugar? More vanilla? No walnuts…MORE walnuts? If you make them and figure it out, please enlighten me! If you have not checked out my facebook fan page, you may want to head over there and do so…something rad may just post there on Friday!

Looking for another Blondie recipe? Check these out!
Snickerdoodle Blondies from My Baking Addiction
Coconut Chocolate Blondies from My Baking Addiction
White Chocolate Coconut Blondies from GoodLife Eats
Caramel Chocolate Blondies from Two Peas and Their Pod

Although I do not like to drink beer, I do like to cook with it, especially when it’s Guinness. There is something about this dark, thick stout beer that enhances some dishes and really imparts a fabulous flavor. Up until recently, I have only used Guinness in savory dishes, so when I came across a recipe for Guinness cupcakes, I was all over it!

I had faith that these would just have a hint of Guinness and be heavy on the chocolate flavor due to all the cocoa powder. This recipe is very easy to whip together and although the batter reeks of Guinness, the finished product is a moist, light cupcake full of chocolaty goodness. I topped these with a nice dollop of vanilla bean frosting and a quick sprinkling of chocolate jimmies. Brian rated these an A and my co-worker Adam said, “This may be the best thing I have ever put in my mouth.” Now if that statement doesn’t make you want to rush into your kitchen and make these, I don’t know what will.

Thanks for checking out my newest post. In case you didn’t know, I have 2 giveaways running right now, one for a fabulous apron and one for a entire set of Wilton UltraGold Bakeware! Check them out and enter!