Mousse Mountain Cupcakes!

Sorry, this is another post on my latest food creation. I just couldn't resist this one! I got the idea for the cupcakes when researching cupcake recipes for our monthly cupcake Sunday in Young Women. I brought cupcakes last month and found cupcakes like these on Martha Stewart's website. Hers are called Hi-Hat cupcakes with a seven-minute type frosting for the filling. I changed mine to chocolate mousse and named them Mousse Mountain Cupcakes! They are wonderful and messy and you need a huge glass of milk when eating them. Three wonderful types of chocolate all combined make this divine, rich dessert. ENJOY!

(Mr. Cupcake got a little smashed when I tried cutting him in half)

Cupcake: I use my favorite kind of cake for the cupcakes, Duncan Hines devil's food cake mix. I love cake mixes so haven't often bothered with making cake from scratch. I have learned that if you beat the cake batter too long it turns out more fluffy and goes dry easier. I like mine a tiny bit more moist and dense so I only beat the cake batter for about a 1min 30 sec - 1 min 40 sec instead of the two minutes it says. Might not make a huge difference but in my mind it does.

Chocolate Mousse:

4 egg yolks

1/4 c sugar

1 cup whipping cream (heavy)

1 c good quality chocolate, chopped (I use 1/2 - 2/3 c milk chocolate and the rest dark)

1 1/2 c whipping cream (heavy)

1. Beat egg yolks in small bowl with electric mixer on high speed about 3 minutes or until thick and lemon colored. Gradually beat in sugar.

2. Heat 1 c whipping cream in 2-quart saucepan over medium heat until hot. Gradually stir at least half of the hot whipping cream into egg yolk mixture; stir back into hot cream in saucepan. Cook over low hear about 5 minutes, stirring constatnly, until mixture thickens (do not boil). I use wire whisk for this. Stir in chocolate until melted. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours, stirring occasionally, just until chilled.

3. Beat 1 1/2 cups whipping cream in chilled medium bowl with electric mixer on high speed until stiff. Fold chocolate mixture into whipped cream. Sometimes I need to use the electric mixer for 10 seconds to mix everything thoroughly. In piping bag or large plastic bag with corner tip cut off (1/2 inch opening), pipe 2 inch swirl on top of cooled cupcakes leaving an 1/8 inch border. It will look like the top of a swirled ice cream cone. If you don't use too much or too little then you should have enough chocolate mousse for about 20-22 cupcakesRefrigerate cupcakes until mousse is set (about 2 hours). I have refrigerated them overnight and they are just fine. However, make sure they are covered somehow in a container or make sure there are NO strong odors in your fridge. The chocolate mousse (and chocolate coating) can take on the flavor of the smell.

Chocolate coating:

2 cups good quality chocolate, chopped

3 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil

In double boiler on low heat (water barely simmering), melt the chocolate and oil until smooth. Remove from simmering water to cool for about 15 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl or I use a glass one cup measuring cup. It is easier with a glass one cup measuring cup to dip because it is deep and more narrow. Hold each of the cupcakes by the bottom and gently dip into the chocolate thoroughly covering the chocolate mousse. Let as much excess chocolate drip off then set on a aluminum foil lined cookie sheet with cooling rack on it so the extra chocolate will drip through the cooling racks and onto the cookie sheet. Refrigerate these yummy cucakes until the chocolate is set or until ready to serve. Store extra cupcakes in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days.

Good quality chocolate: I use Cadbury's milk chocolate and royal dark when making both the mousse and chocolate coating. It is less expensive than other high quality brands and still works great in the recipes. I have found the milk chocolate at Walmart but you will probably have to go to another grocery store to find the royal dark.

Happy chocolate eating!!!

Pumpkin Pancakes!

So, I have been wanting to try and make pumpkin pancakes ever since fall came around and I finally did it today for Sunday dinner...yes, dinner. I looked at some different recipes, then tried my own version of several of them. They were really yummy! I also made a caramel apple butter sauce and real whipped cream to go on top. This would be a great Thanksgiving morning breakfast! In my opinion, it's not even too much pumpkin to make you not want pumpkin pie later. Of course, I had to take some pictures to display my creation and make you all drool and want to try them too. I included the recipes at the bottom if you want to try them. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pancakes

2 c Pancake Mix

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp allspice

1/2 c solid Libby pumpkin

1 1/2 c milk

2 eggs (whites separated in a different bowl)

2 Tbsp melted butter

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks (but not overdone) and set aside. Mix dry ingredients in large bowl. Add pumpkin, milk, egg yolks, and melted butter and whisk together. You may need more milk (up to 2 cups) depending on the pancake mix you use. Pancake batter will be slightly thick. Fold in egg whites. Cook on hot griddle and serve with caramel apple butter, syrup, or whipped cream.

Caramel Apple Butter

3/4 c apple butter

2-4 Tbsp good caramel ice cream topping (Mrs Richard's butterscotch is my favorite)

1/4 c half & half

2-4 Tbsp water

1 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients in small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until blended. Serve warm over pancakes.

*The caramel topping makes the sauce sweet so you might want to add it a tablespoon at a time and taste a bit to see how sweet you like it. It is apple butter so it will be a thick sauce but I didn't want to spread a paste on my pancakes so I added the full 4 tablespoons (1/4 c) of water. If you like it a little thicker you can do less by only adding 2 or 3 tablespoons.

Whipped cream: I'm sure you all know how to make whipped cream on your own so I'm not going to list a recipe. Since the caramel apple butter is so sweet you probably will not want to add much sugar to the whipped cream when making it. A touch of vanilla will give it a good flavor too!

Beautiful Bouquet!

My wonderful husband did the sweetest thing! He had a beautiful bouquet of flowers delivered to my door this morning. It definitely made my day! I've had a hard time this last week because I didn't get to talk to Jaren at all and I've been trying not to think about how much time apart we still have left. This has lifted my spirit and given me a boost to keep going. We can make it, even if he doesn't get to come home for his two weeks R&R (Rest and Recovery). I absolutely LOVE the flowers and they are being displayed very proudly in the livingroom for all to see and enjoy. However, I think I might just take them up to my room with me at night so I can look over in the morning and see them. What a great husband I have! I love you Jaren!

Stress relief/Happy Holloween

I drove down to Ogden, UT this last week to take the majority of my belongings to the storage unit that Jaren and I have there. I would never have been able to get everything packed and cleaned at my apartment on time had my mom not come over and help me. She cleaned while I packed! Then on Monday morning (Oct 27th), we packed everything up into the back of my truck and a 5'x9' ramp trailer from Uhaul. The trailer was piled so high it was nearly another trailer size on top of the trailer itself. Thanks to the help of my mom, my home teacher, and his wife we were able to get things loaded up within a couple of hours. I checked out of my apartment and my mom and I left to Boise a little after noon that same day. My truck didn't really like pulling that much weight. It took us a little over 8 hours to get to Melisa and Eric's house (my sister and brother-in-law) in Boise where it would only take about 7 without a trailer. It also took a lot of gas. I was averaging 13 miles to the gallon. NOT GOOD! We stayed the night then left the next morning to head the rest of the way to Ogden. It took us about 6 hours where on the way back it only took us 4 1/2. We arrived just in enough time to rearrange the stuff already in the storage unit to make room for the stuff I had brought down. We unloaded everything and got it packed in with just enough room for it all. It took us about 2-3 hours and just in time for it to get dark while driving to Jaren's parents house in Brigham City where we stayed two nights. Wednesday was a day of running around doing some errands in Logan, visiting some stores we like to visit every time we're up there, and visiting friends and family. Thursday was back up to Boise for another two nights with Melisa, Eric, Logan, and Lily. We got to take Lily and Logan (my adorable niece and nephew) trick-or-treating Holloween night. Lily was "Boo" from Monster's Inc. and Logan was the Nascar Cheerio race car driver. Melisa even made him a paper mache race car box with sponsers and everything. Lily was great at saying "trick-or-treat" while walking everywhere but would get too distracted to say it when the people came to the door because she knew she was about to get candy. She was always very polite at saying "thank you", though. This morning mom and I were back on the road again to come home. At least without the trailer the gas mileage was back up to 20 miles to the gallon. What a whirl-wind trip it was! It was such a stress relief to get it all taken care of so I don't have to worry about it anymore. It was also nice to see our friends the Shelley's in Logan along with Tyson, Whitney, Teresa, and Blake (Jaren's younger brother, sister, mom, and dad). Thanks again Melisa & Eric and Glover's for letting us stay with you! Happy November 1st everyone!

Logan & Lily trick-or-treating