Ezra's BATMAN! Chocolate Cupcakes with Reese's Surprise!

Ezra recently had his 4th birthday party and with this came the usual choices like cake, cupcakes, or cookie cake. There's also deciding if I was going to make some spectacular creation like a previous Dinosaur Train Cake, Jake and the Neverland Pirate Cake, or this one I pulled off in Liberia West Africa Estevam Turns ONE! over 8 years ago. I thought the heat alone was going to melt the homemade marshmallow fondant off that cake!

We (wife and I) have had great cupcakes over the years and I thought it was time to go that route again. The theme was BATMAN! And we found some nice cupcake topper rings with the Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman logo. Even if the presentation is not going to be "spectacular" like previously mentioned cakes, we still want it to be special.

People always tell us, "You always bring great food to a party or dinner without being told what to bring! How do you do it?" Really its simple, we cook the food we want to eat! (And we trust our taste buds.)

I decided on a chocolate cupcake with a chocolate buttercream icing and a Reese's Mini Peanut Butter Cup surprise in the center! For this recipe I was hunting down something different, or better, when I ran across the Brown Eyed Baker's recipe for Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes!

With cooking and recipes I don't try to "re-invent the wheel". I find the "wheel" I like. If I can't find one I like, THEN I invent the "wheel" I want!

I found the "wheel" I wanted with BEB's chocolate cupcake! If you are in this culinary world as a hobby, or a career, hopefully you get to the point where you can just look at a recipe or list of ingredients and KNOW that's what you want. I was looking over BEB's recipe thinking...

• "chocolate & coffee, Mmmm" (good baking flavor combo even if u don't like coffee)
• "I like the technique for...creaming, melting, mixing..."
• "Vinegar? Hmmm...this is looking like a modified Red Velvet Cake recipe (without the food coloring) and I like THAT"

For my son's birthday party I wanted to make the cupcake more my own. Or maybe OUR own. So I tucked a frozen Reese's Mini Peanut Butter Cup in each cupcake before baking. Freezing it helps maintain its structure during the baking period.

I was very pleased with this cupcake. Chocolate flavor, moist, held together, baked properly, and it was a hit with both kids and adults. 

I made my own buttercream frosting and skipped the ganache in BEB's recipe. But I would encourage you to try her whole recipe. The only reason I changed other aspects of it was to get the "wheel" I wanted.

Here is the recipe again: Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes -- Brown Eyed Baker has a great site with more than just baking recipes. Go check it out.

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How to MacGyver a broken electric smoker!

I knew a month ago that my smoker was broken but being the Frugal Guru that I am (read: cheap) I couldn't throw it away! Using my culinary MacGyver skills I decided I could still use it to smoke the chicken I was doing for this July 4th weekend.

WOW! My smoker has faded over the years! I wonder if that is from a combination of heat and sun? 

 I realized that I could easily make this usable as a charcoal smoker. The bottom of my smoker has a round electric element with lava rocks. Otherwise there was plenty of room and a metal bowl as a base. I had my wife get a bag of Match Light Charcoal when she was at the store.
I read the directions (because it has been awhile) and piled my charcoal up on the lava rocks like an upside down cone and lit them. Later I spread the coals out and waited for the fire to die down. About ten minutes. Just like the directions said. Funny thing about directions, sometimes they work. I threw a couple handfuls of wood chips on top...time to get started.

You've probably heard, "I don't like using charcoal because I can taste the fuel on my food!". This is because of two things:
1. Not following directions and let the fire die out. And/Or...
2. Using entirely too much lighter fluid and not letting it burn off.

I kind of miss that "old school" smell of cooking with charcoal and wood. Once we started having kids I couldn't give up smoking or grilling so I went for convenience.

• Gas Grill - cooking from start to finish without wasting any time.
• Electric Smoker - set it, and forget it.

The thing about charcoal and wood, it's time consuming manipulating the nuances of fire and air to get the right temperature long term. We (my wife and I) both work and we have small kids...So, "NO!" to the days of finagling smokers and grills with "master techniques". But the smell was nostalgic if only for this weekend!

Wings & Breasts!

You can use a smoker as a grill to smoke meats like chicken wings, chicken breasts, thighs, burgers, hot-dogs...without going"low and slow". Low & Slow is for other cuts of meats like pork butt, ribs, brisket, and larger pieces/cuts of meat. -- Burgers, chicken wings, chicken breasts & thighs, stuff like that can be cooked at high temp over the coals with a handful of wood chips thrown in, it picks up plenty of the smoke flavor and they are done from 30 to 60 minutes start to finish.

My personal favorite is smoked wings, flash fried and buffalo sauced! (butter & hot sauce mixture, add garlic)

My "trick" worked out great for the weekend. Look, I know, I KNOW, that you have some experiences and stories like that yourself! Share them with us in the comments! Please, we would love to hear them!

PS. In my early college days we did this to a Gas Grill as well. We added an additional grate (read: food cooling rack) to help keep the charcoal in place where the gas burners used to be.

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Chile Coban Pecans (Pecan Crack)

This recipe, as most of my recipes, has a story behind it...

A Chef friend came to stay with me last summer for a few days because we both were attending the same conference in my town. We could catch up, show him around town, hang out...and of course attend the conference together. It just so happened that he brought me some gifts. One gift was several pounds of pecans.

A short time later another friend came back from a trip to Guatemala and gave me a package of Chile Coban, a very specific tasting dried pepper with a bit of smoke flavor. 

[Fast Forward a bit in time...]

Around the Fall holidays I was using a spiced nut recipe because I wanted to create some Christmas gifts and snacks that had a personal touch. But I was very unhappy with the results I was getting from a highly rated internet recipe. BAM! I had a stroke of genius, "Tyrone, why don't you just create your own recipe and use what you have on hand?!". [You won't ever convince me talking to yourself doesn't have its benefits!] And that's how this recipe came to be! 

A personal "Thanks!" goes out to Gary H. and PW. (aka - Pastor Will). This recipe has been tested by hundreds of palates by now with great reviews. The "heat" in this recipe is only noted in taste, not burn.

PS. To all my food service friends, this makes a full sheet pan (2 or 3 of the home cookie/sheet pans) These are best a couple days after making, they get a little crunchier and taste seems to "mature".

Ingredients

3 egg white
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon ground cloves
1 1/2 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Chile Coban

Or use cayenne, chipotle powder, something with some heat you like.

3 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 pounds pecan halves

Or walnuts, mixed nuts, BUT pecan is my favorite for this.

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray or parchment paper.

In a large bowl beat egg white until foamy. Stir in brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, salt, Chile Coban, (or substitute), and vanilla.

Whip to "melted marshmallow consistency" Add nuts, and stir to coat. Spread evenly onto prepared pan.

Bake for 30 minutes, until well toasted and golden brown. Remove from oven, and cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

The end result...

And it's delicious!

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