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Chocolate Pumpkin Stout Cupcakes

For all you beer lovers out there, this fall inspired chocolate pumpkin stout cupcake recipe is perfect for you! The cupcakes are made with pumpkin stout, which gives it that extra kick. It's then topped with an ooey gooey caramel buttercream frosting that will make your taste buds scream for more!

Chocolate stout cupcakes topped with salted caramel frosting and a drizzle of caramel.

It's that time of year again, my favorite quarter. Fall is coming, and pumpkin is everywhere. We figured we might as well make an adult themed cupcake with all the pumpkin beer and ale that I have seen everywhere. Even if you aren't a beer lover, you are going to appreciate the flavor it adds!

Using Beer in Cupcakes

Testing stout cupcakes took a little while. I don't cook with beer very often, and there was somewhat of a learning curve in understanding what the beer did to the batter. When used correctly, adding beer in baking applications can:

  • Give flavor
  • Add texture
  • Add Moisture
  • Act as a leavening agent

The Stout Cupcake Testing Process

On the first go-round, we made 16 different cupcakes with a variety of 8 different beers and ales. Our two base cupcakes were chocolate and a spice yellow cupcake. It was interesting to see the results.  We used a base dough and just put in the 8 different beers. Some were dry, and some were chewy; some were just not even tolerable. The beer that we liked the best ended up being a pumpkin stout by Crown Valley Brewing.  It just worked great with the cupcakes. The texture was not too delicate nor too crumbly,  and the flavor was decadent.

Beer Choices for Pumpkin Stout Cupcake

When To Use the Ganache

Once we narrowed down the stout, we then decided that it paired the best with the chocolate base cupcake.  We then tested two other chocolate recipes to determine which one yielded the moistest cupcake. Once we determined the base chocolate, we wanted to find a way to get a little bit more of the stout flavor into the cupcake. What other way than to add some more chocolate, right? So we started testing a stout ganache. Once we narrowed that down with a blend of two different chocolates, we came up with the idea of adding the ganache to the cupcake before baking. What we ended up with was a moist, delicious cupcake that had melted ganache flowing through the entire cupcake once it melted during the cooking process.

Chocolate Ganache as a cupcake filling

Interestingly, the cupcake right out of the oven was like a molten lava cake. The ganache was just hot molten goodness at the bottom of the cupcake, which is great but not practical for picking up a cupcake and biting into it. But after a few hours of resting, we then saw that the ganache ended up soaking up into the cupcake during the cooling. We were then left with a cupcake with a hole in the middle. Well, heck... why not just make more ganache and fill the hole. And that's how this yummy little creation came about.

Ingredients In This Pumpkin Stout Recipe

Ingredients for Chocolate Cupcakes made with Pumpkin Stout
  • Bittersweet chocolate
  • Heavy whipping cream
  • Beer
  • Butter
  • Dutch processed cocoa powder
  • Bread flour
  • Sugar
  • Salt
  • Baking soda
  • Pumpkin pie spice
  • Nutmeg
  • Vegetable oil
  • Pumpkin puree
  • Eggs
  • Egg whites
  • Cider vinegar
  • Vanilla
  • Kosher salt

How To Make the Chocolate Stout Cupcake

Baking Process For Pumpkin Stout Cupcakes
  1. Make the ganache filling and allow it to cool in the fridge.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350° and prepare a cupcake pan.
  3. Pour hot beer over cocoa and chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth and refrigerate until cool.
  4. Prepare the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
  5. Whisk oil, eggs, vinegar, pumpkin puree and vanilla into the cooled beer and chocolate mixture.
  6. Whisk in dry ingredients.
  7. Fill muffin tins with batter and top each with 1 teaspoon of the ganache.
  8. Bake until set and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
  9. Remove to a wire rack and cool for 2 hours.
  10. Make the buttercream frosting and top the cupcakes before serving.

Frosting Testing

The pumpkin beer cupcake was now created. What could we possibly put on top to meld with the richness of the cake? Salted caramel seems to be everywhere, so we figured why not make it a little decadent and go with a salted caramel swiss buttercream frosting. After 20 different cupcakes, we have finally finished this recipe.

We have maximized the chocolate flavor, blended it with a great pumpkin stout, and came up with a rich, yummy dessert. Give these chocolate pumpkin stout cupcakes a try. We would love to hear how you do with them or your thoughts on this pumpkin stout recipe's flavor.

Chocolate Pumpkin Stout Cupcake

Chocolate Pumpkin Stout Cupcakes

Chocolate Pumpkin Stout Cupcakes are topped with Salted Caramel Swiss Buttercream. Pumpkin Beer lovers will love this full flavored cupcake.
No ratings yet
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 12 cupcakes
Calories: 513kcal
Author: Serena

Ingredients

Ganache

  • 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate
  • ½ cup heavy whipping cream
  • 2 ounces beer
  • 1 tablespoon butter

Cupcake

  • 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped fine
  • 1 ounce dutch processed cocoa powder
  • ¾ cup hot beer
  • 4 ⅛ ounce bread flour
  • 5 ¼ ounce sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoon pumpkin puree
  • 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Salted Caramel Buttercream

  • 1 cup sugar
  • ½ cup water
  • ⅔ cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 5 egg whites
  • 5 ounce sugar
  • 16 ounce butter
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

Ganache

  • In a small saucepan heat cream to a boil.
  • Put the chopped chocolate in a separate bowl.
  • Once cream boils, pour over the chocolate. Let it sit and melt for about 30 seconds then stir to combine.
  • Slowly add beer and stir.
  • Then add butter, stir and place in refrigerator to cool.

Cupcakes

  • Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350°.
  • Line 12 cup muffin tin with paper or foil liners.
  • Place chocolate and cocoa in medium heatproof bowl.
  • Heat the beer to boil in a small saucepan. Once hot, pour over mixture and let sit, covered for five minutes.
  • Whisk mixture until smooth, then transfer to refrigerator to cool completely. About 30 minutes.
  • Whisk flour, sugar, salt, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg and baking soda together in a medium bowl.
  • Whisk oil, eggs, vinegar, pumpkin puree and vanilla into cooled chocolate until smooth.
  • Add flour mixture and whisk until smooth.
  • Using an ice cream scoop, divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Place 1 slightly rounded teaspoon ganache on top of each portion of batter.
  • Bake cupcakes until set and just firm to touch, 18 to 20 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking.
  • Let cupcakes cool in muffin tin on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from tin and let cool completely on a wire rack, about 2 hours.
  • Once cool, pipe remaining ganache into the cupcakes.

Salted Caramel Swiss Buttercream

  • Combine 1 cup sugar and ½ cup water in a small saucepan and cook to a deep amber.
  • Remove from heat and add heavy whipping cream. Being careful not to splash.
  • Add butter and salt and set aside to cool.
  • In a kitchenaid bowl add 5 egg whites and 5 ounces sugar. Place over a double boiler and let it heat until it reaches 160°. Remove from heat and transfer to stand mixer.
  • Using the whisk attachment, whip mixture on high until it holds stiff peaks (About 6-7 minutes).
  • Continue beating and add the butter a few pieces at a time. Add salted caramel sauce. Continue beating until buttercream is thick, smooth, and glossy (about 3-5 minutes)
  • Frost the cupcakes.

Notes

Recipe Source: SerenaLissy.com
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database via Spoonacular API, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators. While this information can be helpful in estimating the nutritional information of a recipe, it is by no means accurate or official and is not evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
All images and content are copyright protected. Do not use our images without prior permission.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Cup | Calories: 513kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 59mg | Sodium: 323mg | Potassium: 285mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 52g | Vitamin A: 848IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 90mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this Recipe? Pin it Today!Mention @SerenaLissy or tag #serenalissy!

Now if pumpkin in your thing we have a few more pumpkin recipes on the website. You could try a Pumpkin Spice Pull Apart Bread or a Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffin or even a Pumpkin Cheesecake.

Pumpkin Stout Chocolate Cupcake

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. What that means is if you click on one of our affiliate links they may toss a few pennies our way for a commission. 

Banana Mille-Feuille with Coconut Snow

We are back to the Nailed it or Failed it recipe of the week, and I must say it is one of my favorite days. Not only do I get to make beautiful stuff, but I always learn something. This week we are making a Banana Mille-Feuille with coconut snow and banana caramel from the book Bachour. If you have missed any of the other weeks you can always catch up here. This weeks recipe is really quite easy, just a lot of components.

Banana Mille-Feuille

This Banana Mille-Feuille consists of flaky layers of puff pastry alternated with banana cream and topped with coconut snow. I started this recipe with a love hate feeling. I was expecting to hate it because I really don't like phyllo dough. It can be a crumbly mess. But with enough caramel, it's amazing how yummy one stack of that crumbly dough can become. The original recipe made 24 servings and I cut it in half to make 12 servings.

What is the difference between Mille-Feuille and Napoleon?

A Mille-Feuille is a French pastry dessert made up of thin layers of puff pastry alternated with layers of cream filling with a ganache topping. The word Mille-Feuille translated to English means one thousand sheets or layers which refers to the decadent layering in this dessert. 

Mille-Feuille is very similar to a Napoleon, an Italian dessert. One of the main differences is that a Napoleon will use almond paste instead of cream. A Napoleon is always sweet, but a Mille-Feuille can either be sweet or savory. 

Traditionally a Mille-Feuille will consist of three layers of puff pastry alternated with two layers of cream. You might see Mille-Feuille topped with a dusting of icing sugar and crushed nuts or pastry crumbs. A glazed chocolate, icing or fondant is another common topping for Mille-Feuille. 

What makes a Mille-Feuille special is the combination of airy, flaky layers with the right amount of crisp with creamy layers in between creating a dessert with a decadent texture.

Banana Mille Feuille Ingredients

Ingredients

  • Phyllo Dough
  • Unsalted Butter
  • Caramel Sauce
  • Heavy Whipping Cream
  • Sugar
  • Tapioca Maltodextrin
  • Coconut Oil
  • Powdered Sugar
  • Gelatin Sheets
  • Milk
  • Cornstarch
  • Eggs
  • Bananas

Where To Get Coconut Snow?

There is one component, the coconut snow, that most home kitchens won't have the ingredients for. I kept it in the recipe because I like it and it was by far the most fun component of the dish. The snow calls for tapioca maltodextrin, which some people call maltodextrin snow. You most likely don't have this laying around in your kitchen, but it is easily obtained, through Amazon for about $10. Best $10 you will have spent! If you love coconut, it's a must. If you don't feel like spending the bucks at Amazon, then you could easily brown up coconut flakes for the top. Definitely a different texture and look, but will give you the coconut flavor.

How To Make Banana Mille-Feuille

Banana Napoleon Process Collage

The Caramel Sauce

First, prepare the caramel sauce. In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil and set aside. Next, in a medium saucepan over medium heat sprinkle sugar evenly over the bottom of the pan. Cook slowly until it turns an amber color shaking the pan periodically so it doesn’t burn. Gradually add the hot cream in small batches continuing to whisk ingredients. As with any caramel, there is always a danger of spatter and burn, so be careful when adding the cream. Stir in bananas. Cook for one minute, stirring occasionally, then remove from heat and transfer to a blender. Blend until smooth. Set aside to cool. 

Phyllo Dough

Next, prepare the phyllo dough. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place one sheet of phyllo on a parchment lined sheet pan. Brush the phyllo with butter and drizzle with the caramel sauce you prepared earlier. Repeat the process with six more sheets. Add a final layer of dough and only brush with butter. Use a pairing knife to trim edges of the dough to toss and cut dough into 2 x 4 rectangles. Cover your rectangles with parchment paper and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Let them cool and remove from pan. Store in an airtight container.

Coconut Snow

To make coconut snow combine all ingredients (tapioca maltodextrin, coconut oil, and powdered sugar) in a food processor. Process until crumbly and occasionally scrape down sides with a rubber spatula. Set aside until ready to assemble everything.

Banana Pastry Cream

To make the banana pastry cream, soak gelatin in ice water until softened; squeeze out excess water and set aside. In a heavy bottomed pot, bring milk and sugar to a boil. In a small bowl whisk together cornstarch and egg yolks. Pour hot liquid into yolk mixture to temper. Return mixture to the heavy bottomed pot and cook over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbling. Remove from heat and stir in gelatin until dissolved. Add butter and banana. Stir until butter melts. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Remember you are going to be piping the pastry cream, so when they say chopped, they mean really small. They will need to get through the tip of the piping bag.

The banana pastry cream is my favorite component of this dessert. I am a pastry cream lover to start with, and then you add delicious ripe bananas...It's a match made in heaven. If you aren't up for making all the pieces of this, you could only make the banana pastry cream and use it for so many other things. It's a delicious, rich, creamy custard. Think cream puffs or eclairs or even donuts. This would make a fabulous filling for any of those. It would also be great for individual bite sized tarts and top it with Chantilly cream or even strawberries.

Banana Caramel Sauce

To make the banana caramel sauce, bring cream to a boil in a small pot. In a medium saucepan slowly heat sugar until it reaches a golden amber color. Slowly add hot cream and whisk to combine. Stir in the banana. Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth.

Putting Together the Mille-Feuille

Spread a layer of banana caramel sauce onto the center of a plate. Top with one rectangle of prepared phyllo. Using a piping bag, top the layer of phyllo with banana pastry cream and repeat to make three total layers. Dust the top layer with coconut snow and any other garnishes.

comparison_Image

How do you eat Mille-Feuille?

So now you have this beautifully layered and delicate Mille-Feuille, but now the real challenge begins. How do you actually eat it?

First, to properly serve a Mille-Feuille and prevent the cream from oozing out of the sides, use a serrated knife to delicately cut through the layers. Traditionally, Mille-Feuille is served in 4 to 6 inch long slices. Alternatively, you can cut your Mille-Feuille into bite sized chunks and serve 4 to 6 on one plate.

When it comes to eating the Mille-Feuille, here are a few recommended ways:

  • Using a fork, point the tines straight down and cut out bite sized pieces. 
  • Use a fork and a knife to delicately cut bite size pieces. 
  • Lay the dessert on its side and use your fork or spoon to cut through the layers. 

Most importantly what makes a Mille-Feuille special is the alternating layers of crispy and creamy texture. To get the full Mille-Feuille experience be sure to cut bites that include both of the pastry and banana cream.

Oh and did we mention...Nailed It! Go ahead and give this a try. We would love to see how you do with the recipe!

Looking For More Recipes?

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Banana Napoleon

Banana Mille-Feuille with Coconut Snow

An easy recipe for a homemade Banana Mille-Feuille. A dessert made of puff pastry layers alternated with banana cream and topped with coconut snow.
No ratings yet
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 982kcal
Author: Serena

Ingredients

Caramel Sauce

  • 114 gram heavy cream
  • 90 gram granulated sugar

Phyllo Sheets

  • 8 sheets phyllo dough
  • ½ cup unsalted butter melted
  • ½ cup caramel Sauce

Coconut Snow

  • 40 gram tapioca maltodextrin
  • 60 gram coconut oil
  • 15 gram confectioner's sugar

Banana Pastry Cream

  • 2 gelatin sheets
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 55 gram cornstarch
  • 100 gram egg yolks
  • 1 ½ ripe bananas chopped
  • 50 gram unsalted butter

Banana Caramel Sauce

  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 3 oz granulated sugar
  • 1 ripe banana

Instructions

Caramel Sauce

  • In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil and set aside.
  • Heat a medium sized saucepan over medium-high heat and sprinkle sugar evenly over bottom of the pan.
  • Cook slowly to an amber caramel, shaking pan periodically to prevent burning.
  • Very gradually, add hot cream in small batches and continue to whisk ingredients. Stir In bananas.
  • Cook for 1 minute, stirring occasionally, then remove from heat and transfer to a blender.
  • Blend until smooth. Set aside to cool.

Phyllo Sheets

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Place a sheet of phyllo on a parchment lined sheet pan.
  • Brush phyllo with butter and then drizzle with the caramel sauce. Repeat process with six more sheets and top with a final sheet of dough. Complete final layer by brushing only with butter.
  • Use a pairing knife to trim the edges of phyllo and cut into 2 by 4 rectangles. Discard the edges.
  • Cover with parchment paper and top with a sheet tray.
  • Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
  • Cool, then remove from pan and store in an airtight container.

Coconut Snow

  • Combine all ingredients in a food processor.
  • Process, occasionally scraping down sides with a rubber spatula and crumbly. Set aside until ready to assemble.

Banana Pastry Cream

  • Soak gelatin in ice water until softened; squeeze out excess water and set aside.
  • In a heavy bottomed pot, bring milk and sugar to boil.
  • Whisk to combine cornstarch and yolks in a small bowl. Pour hot liquid into yolk mixture to temper.
  • Return mixture to pot and cook over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbling.
  • Remove from heat and stir in gelatin to dissolve. Add butter and banana and stir until butter has melted.
  • Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Banana Caramel Sauce

  • Bring cream to a boil in a small pot.
  • Slowly heat sugar in a medium sized saucepan to reach a golden amber color.
  • Slowly add hot cream, whisking to combine.
  • Stir in banana and transfer to a blender. Blend until it is smooth.

Assembly

  • Spread banana caramel sauce onto the center of a plate and top with one rectangle of prepared phyllo.
  • Top with banana pastry cream and repeat for a total of three layers
  • Dust the top layer with coconut snow and garnish.

Notes

Recipe Source: SerenaLissy.com
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database via Spoonacular API, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators. While this information can be helpful in estimating the nutritional information of a recipe, it is by no means accurate or official and is not evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
All images and content are copyright protected. Do not use our images without prior permission.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Serving | Calories: 982kcal | Carbohydrates: 141g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 146mg | Sodium: 971mg | Potassium: 326mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 836IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 104mg | Iron: 6mg
Tried this Recipe? Pin it Today!Mention @SerenaLissy or tag #serenalissy!

Here are a few of our favorite decadent dessert recipes:

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. What that means is if you click on one of our affiliate links, they may toss a few pennies our way for a commission.

Nailed It! Strawberry Mousse Cake

We have made it to week five in the nailed it or failed it series, and I'm almost too afraid to go anywhere near a scale! We are giving the Strawberry Mousse Cake a try this week. It's a basic sponge cake topped with layers of strawberry deliciousness. If you haven't been following along, you can catch up on week numbers one through four. In a nutshell, we are working our way through the cookbook by Chef Antonio Bachour, and enjoying every delicious moment of it.

Plated Strawberry Mousse Cake

Strawberry Mousse Cake

We had so much strawberry puree leftover from the Berry Brazo Gitano recipe, I figured we might as well stick with the berry recipes until we run out. This strawberry mousse cake has a lot of pieces to it. With so much cooling time between layers it can seem intimidating. But not one piece of this cake was difficult to make. If I were to make this for a home function, I'd plan for a Sunday Funday type of day. It's football season and between each layer I could hang out in front of the TV and enjoy the games.

After learning my lesson last week on my oven size I knew I had to at least cut the recipe in half. Even at a half sheet pan size, this recipe yields 48 small pieces (2x2 size). I'm also testing how well this freezes. I'm hoping I can do all the work upfront and reap the benefits later as I keep pulling out pieces of this over the next month. Yes, it was that good!

Ingredients

Strawberry Mousse Cake Ingredients
  • Sugar
  • Cake flour
  • Baking powder
  • Vegetable oil
  • Eggs
  • Milk
  • Strawberry puree
  • Heavy Cream
  • White Chocolate
  • Unsalted Butter
  • Gelatin
  • Powdered sugar

How to Make Strawberry Mousse Cake

Strawberry Mousse Cake Process Collage

This recipe has several pieces to it and involves time for the layers to freeze and set.

  1. First, make the Sponge Cake. Next, make the Strawberry Ganache and pour evenly over the Strawberry Sponge Cake. Let it freeze until set.
  2. Next, make the Strawberry Mousse. Pour evenly over the layer of Strawberry Ganache. Freeze again until set.
  3. Next is the Strawberry Jelly. Pour the Strawberry Jelly over the layer of Strawberry Mousse and freeze again until set.
  4. Once that final layer is set, you can cut as desired.
  5. Add a garnish of strawberry foam and mini macarons! Chantilly cream is also a great option for a topping.

The Sponge Cake

If you don't want to spend so much time making all the components of this dessert, I'd recommend you start with the Sponge Cake. You can easily cut the baked cake in half, layer one half with Chantilly Cream and strawberries. Top that layer with the second half and do a quick piped decoration on top with the Chantilly cream. Each one of these components was delicious by themselves. That is what makes this recipe really flexible.

What is Invert Sugar?

It's a liquid sweetener made from table sugar, water and a small amount of acid from cream of tarter or citric acid. Invert sugar gives a more uniform sweetness. It also mitigates any problem of sugar crystals not dissolving. It's used in this ganache for the texture. We want it to be smooth and creamy without any sugar crystal textures. You can buy Invert Sugar from places like Amazon, but it will be hard to find in your local grocery store.

How to Make Strawberry Puree?

You’ll need 1lb of strawberries, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. 

  1. Wash, dry and stem the strawberries.
  2. In a food processor, mix strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice until liquid with pulp. 
  3. Press through a fine mesh sieve to remove any seeds.

Now you have a strawberry puree!

Can I Use Powdered Gelatin Instead of Sheets?

Yes, you can. I see all kinds of conversions on the internet for this. I've found that one envelope of powdered gelatin is the equivalent of 3.5 sheets of gelatin. Both powdered gelatin and gelatin sheets should be dissolved in cold water.

Try out this Strawberry Mousse Cake and let us know how it turns out!

Comparison Image

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Strawberry Mousse Cake

Strawberry Mousse Cake

A light strawberry sponge cake layered with strawberry ganache, strawberry mousse, and topped with a layer of strawberry jelly.
5 from 6 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 48 Servings
Calories: 236kcal
Author: Serena

Ingredients

Strawberry Mousse Sponge Cake

  • 13.25 oz granulated sugar
  • 10.75 oz cake flour
  • 3 ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 5 oz vegetable oil
  • 17.65 oz egg (approximately 9 large eggs)
  • 7.25 oz milk

Strawberry Mousse Ganache

  • 6 oz strawberry puree
  • 1.75 oz inverted sugar
  • 4.75 oz cream
  • 21.25 oz Valrhona white chocolate melted
  • 4 tablespoon unsalted butter cubed

Strawberry Mousse

  • .55 oz gelatin sheets approximately 5 sheets
  • 17.75 oz strawberry puree
  • 4.25 oz confectioner's sugar
  • 17.75 oz heavy cream whipped to soft peaks

Strawberry Jelly

  • 4 gelatin sheets
  • 17.65 oz strawberry puree
  • 3.5 oz granulated sugar

Instructions

Strawberry Mousse Sponge Cake

  • Preheat oven to 360° F.
  • Combine dry ingredients with oil and eggs in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, and mix for six minutes on high speed.
  • Add milk and mix for two more minutes on medium speed.
  • Pour onto a ½ sheet tray lined with parchment paper and bake for 19-22 minutes.

Strawberry Ganache

  • Bring puree, inverted sugar and cream to a boil in a small pot.
  • Slowly pour hot liquid over white chocolate and whisk until it is smooth.
  • Continue mixing until the ganache reaches 95°F.
  • Add cubed butter and blend with a hand blender to emulsify.

Strawberry Mousse

  • Soak gelatin in ice water until softened; squeeze out excess water and set aside.
  • Bring puree and sugar to a simmer in a small pot.
  • Stir in gelatin to dissolve and set aside to cool before folding in whipped cream.

Strawberry Jelly

  • Soak gelatin in ice water until softened; squeeze out excess water and set aside.
  • Bring juice and sugar to a simmer in a small pot.
  • Stir in gelatin to dissolve and set aside to cool.

Assembly

  • Place half sheet of Sponge Cake into a half sheet pan frame. Pour a thin layer of Strawberry Ganache evenly over cake and freeze until set.
  • Spread Strawberry Mousse evenly over ganache and freeze again until set.
  • Pour Strawberry Jelly over mousse and freeze again until set before cutting as desired.
  • Garnish with mini macarons and strawberry foam. You could easily top with a Chantilly cream if you aren't up for making the foam.

Notes

Recipe Source: SerenaLissy.com
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database via Spoonacular API, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators. While this information can be helpful in estimating the nutritional information of a recipe, it is by no means accurate or official and is not evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
All images and content are copyright protected. Do not use our images without prior permission.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Serving | Calories: 236kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 59mg | Sodium: 63mg | Potassium: 114mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 295IU | Vitamin C: 15mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this Recipe? Pin it Today!Mention @SerenaLissy or tag #serenalissy!

Here are a few of our favorite berry flavored recipes:

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. What that means is if you click on one of our affiliate links, they may toss a few pennies our way for a commission.

Nailed It! Berry Brazo Gitano

Here we are at week #4 in the Nailed it or Failed it blog series and this little dessert was nothing short of delicious. I'd definitely give this Berry Brazo Gitano a try. After four weeks, I am still on the supersizing of the pastries. This time not with the plating, but with that yummy berry compote.

Four Berry Brazo Gitano

What Is Berry Brazo Gitano

I love Brazo de Gitano, or Rolled Cake with Cream Filling. It is one of my favorite Spanish desserts and it's just irresistibly good to eat! The dessert is very popular in Spain and many regions have their own versions. Even with multiple iterations, they all seem to follow the basic assembly steps. A soft sponge cake, filled with some jelly, rolled and dusted with powdered sugar.

Even the Best Laid Plans Can Go Awry

What had happened with this recipe from Bachour, was that I made the cake, got it in the sheet pan, and was ready to put it in the oven, and this was the moment that I finally learned a full sheet pan will not fit in my home oven. Dang. Short by a couple of inches. So now what? I have to scramble to find two half sheet pans and pour the batter into those for baking. It's a very delicate cake batter and I was now worried about it falling due to all the movement. But it ended up working out ok.

So I now have half the cake but the full amount of the berry compote. Which as you can see from the comparison images, is quite a bit. And at first I liked it. Strawberries, raspberries, sugar, what's not to like?  But what happened over night was the pectin thickened it up so much that the next day it was just a little too thick for my liking. I would have never thought I had a limit to my berry love. So I have scaled down his recipe to work with the home kitchen and just making a standard half sheet pan size of cake. You can also notice that with the smaller pan, we have less cake to work with so I am short about one full wrap of the cake layer. So given the circumstances of working with a home oven, I'll still declare Nailed It!

Ingredients

Berry Brazo Gitano Ingredients
  • Eggs
  • All Purpose Flour
  • Sugar
  • Pectin
  • Salt
  • Strawberry Puree
  • Raspberry Puree

How to Make Fruit Purees

  • 1 lb berries, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • Wash, dry and stem the strawberries. Wash and dry the raspberries.
  • In food processor, mix strawberries, sugar and lemon juice until liquid with pulp.
  • To remove the seeds, press through a fine mesh sieve.
  • Do the same for the raspberries.
Berry Brazo Gitano Process Collage

How to Make the Cake Roll

  1. Whip egg yolks until double in size (2-4 minutes)
  2. Whip egg whites with sugar to medium peaks (2-4 minutes)
  3. Fold yolks into the whites, along with salt and flour until smooth
  4. Spread into the baking pan, and bake for 6-9 minutes. This is a very thin cake.
  5. Invert the warm cake onto parchment paper dusted with powdered sugar. No time to wait here, you want the cake to still be warm so it doesn't crack when rolling.
  6. Spread the berry compote over the cake, leaving a 1" border all around.
  7. Start with the long end and gently roll the cake.
  8. Freeze the Brazo Gitano until firm.
comparison_Image

Go ahead and give this a try. It's a very easy recipe and we would love to see how you do.

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Berry Brazo Gitano

Berry Brazo Gitano

A soft rolled sponge cake with a berry compote filling.
No ratings yet
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 12 Servings
Calories: 157kcal
Author: Serena

Ingredients

Cake

  • 5 large eggs separated
  • 5.65 oz sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2.85 oz all purpose flour

Berry Compote

  • 4.25 oz strawberry puree
  • 1.75 oz raspberry puree
  • 2.25 oz sugar
  • 4 gram pectin

Raspberry Gel

  • 250 gram raspberry puree
  • 2.5 gram agar agar
  • ¼ cup sugar

Instructions

Cake

  • Preheat oven to 375° F.
  • In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, separtely whip egg yolks until doubled in size.
  • Then separately whip egg whites, along with sugar to medium peaks.
  • Fold yolks into the whites, along with salt and flour until smooth.
  • Pour evenly into a half size sheet pan lined with parchment paper and bake for 6-9 minutes until golden.

Berry Compote

  • Heat purees in a small pot to 105° F.
  • Stir to combine sugar and pectin in a small bowl and then add to purees.
  • Bring to a boil and then set aside to cool completely.

Raspberry Gel

  • Bring puree, agar agar and sugar to a boil in a small pot. Refrigerate until cool before processing in a blender until creamy.

Assembly

  • Invert cake onto a sheet of parchment paper dusted with confectioner's sugar.
  • Peel off top parchment layer and discard.
  • Trim any uneven edges with a sharp knife.
  • Spread berry compote evenly over the cake, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides.
  • Start with the long end, and gently roll cake from one end to the other.
  • Freeze until firm before slicing.
  • Dust with confectioner's sugar and dot with the raspberry gel before serving.

Notes

Recipe Source: SerenaLissy.com
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database via Spoonacular API, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators. While this information can be helpful in estimating the nutritional information of a recipe, it is by no means accurate or official and is not evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
All images and content are copyright protected. Do not use our images without prior permission.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Ser | Calories: 157kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 76mg | Potassium: 88mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 108IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this Recipe? Pin it Today!Mention @SerenaLissy or tag #serenalissy!

Check out a few of our favorite berry flavored recipes:

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. What that means is if you click on one of our affiliate links, they may toss a few pennies our way for a commission.

Hand Painted Chocolate Masterpieces

Red Wine and BerryOver the last few months I have been watching Kate Weiser from afar. Well, as afar as the distance of Austin to Dallas. I’ve been following her social media posts anxiously awaiting the opening of her new chocolate shop. The Annual Dallas Chocolate fest was just enough reason to finally get in the car and head to Dallas. I’m not sure if I was more excited about trying so many different chocolates in one day, or going to the Kate Weiser Chocolate Shop.

After two hours of tasting and carefully managing my portions at the fest, (let’s be serious…it is chocolate…which as we all know portion control is hard to manage) I headed straight to Kate Weiser’s shop.

Immediately when you walk in you see the hand painted masterpieces. Each confection takes four days to make. Yes, four days. In that time she paints, shells, fills and finishes each piece.

With names like lavender apricot, champagne, and mango habanero, building a box of chocolate was one of the hardest tasks I had this weekend. So we ended up with two boxes. One for home, and one smaller one for enjoying at the shop with a cappuccino. With flavor combos like Buttery Popcorn; white chocolate, sweet corn, fleur de sel or Hazelnut Latte; creamy hazelnut ganache and coffee ganache, our first box of six pieces was devoured within minutes. And we were not disappointed.

What’s that Forest Gump saying? Life is like a box of chocolates. Well, if life is like a box of chocolates, I'm hoping mine will be as beautiful and creative as the one I picked up this weekend.  Beautiful work, with surprisingly wonderful flavor combinations.

If you find yourself looking for something to do the next time you are in Dallas, definitely head on over to Trinity Groves and stop by her shop.

toasted_Coconut

Caramel Apple Chocolate Mousse Cake

Week 3 of the Nailed It or Failed it posts features a Caramel Apple Chocolate Mousse Cake. I hesitate to fully say I "Nailed” this recipe, but it wasn’t a total failure. This recipe is based on the Apple Valrhona Jivara Milk Chocolate Mousse Cake from the“Bachour”cookbook. You can find the other Nailed It posts here. 

This is a multi step recipe that is great for a baking day with lots of time to kill. This recipe is challenging, but is perfect for winding down and getting into the baking zone. You get out of baking what you put in. With time and practice even the most complicated recipes get easier!

Caramel Apple Mousse Cake on Counter

Caramel Apple Chocolate Mousse Cake

The original recipe in the Bachour book was entitled, Apple Valrhona Jivara Milk Chocolate Mousse Cake. There are three pieces to this pastry: Valrhona Jivara Milk Chocolate Mousse, Almond Cake and the Apple Caramel Jelly. It’s simple in theory. Whip up all three pieces, stack and refrigerate. Cake is done! However, this recipe presented more of a challenge than I anticipated.

Almond Cake

The almond cake recipe is straightforward from Bachour’s cookbook. I only made modifications for creating smaller portions. This is a simple recipe for a moist, tender basic almond cake. Note that the recipe calls for cake flour which is important to use!

Caramel Apple Jelly 

The caramel apple jelly was a butt kicker. A couple of things going on with this for me. One, I don’t like apple juice. Second, I’m not a big fan of apples. In my first attempt I was hoping the caramel would overpower the apples in the jelly. Didn’t happen. Instead I  whipped up my own version of Caramel Apple Jelly. More caramel, less apples, makes Serena a happy gal.

Chocolate Mousse

The Chocolate Mousse recipe is straight from the book, with modifications for smaller portions. I must add that if you’ve never tried the Valrhona Jivara Chocolate, you should. It’s a delicious milk chocolate.  One could easily substitute other chocolate for this recipe, but when a Chef like Antonio Bachour says to use Valrhona Jivara, I’m inclined to believe in his expertise and go with his suggestion. And he was right, delish!

Tips for Making Chocolate Mousse

  • Plan to make the mousse a few hours before you plan to eat it. This helps the flavors develop.
  • When you cut up the chocolate, save the fine pieces as decorative pieces if you are choosing to just make the mousse. A dollop of whipped cream and some chocolate sprinkles would be a great pairing for the mousse.
  • Gently fold in the whipped cream into the mousse. This helps create the smoothness you love with mousse

Take What You Need

The great thing about this recipe is that you can take any of these pieces like the almond cake, caramel apple jelly, or the chocolate mousse and make them to serve on their own. 

Even though chocolate is the perfect pairing for this buttery almond cake, it will still shine just as bright when paired with fresh peaches or other fruits and berries that are in season. I've served it successfully with poached pears before! And if you're looking for something to go great for tea time, try splitting the cake horizontally and spread a thin layer of your favorite jams or jellies in between the layer, reassemble and dust with powdered sugar. 

The caramel apple jelly would be perfect to serve with breakfast as a topping for toast or biscuits during fall. It would also pair nicely as a spread on the Apple Cinnamon Muffins. 

Chocolate mousse is a classic light dessert. You can whip up a batch of whipped cream and serve the mousse with a spoonful of whipped cream on top.

Caramel Apple Mousse Cake on Counter

FAQ

Is almond paste the same as marzipan?

No, almond paste has a courser texture, but is much softer than marzipan which allows it to be spread as a filling.

Can I use marzipan if I don't have almond paste?

No, the two are different enough that you can't replace one for the other.

Where can I buy almond paste?

You should be able to find it in your local market. If not, Odense will let you know where a market is that sells it.

Pay attention to the assembly instructions on this recipe. You can see that the cake should be made first, then the caramel apple jelly. While this is setting in freezer, I then make the chocolate mousse. So go ahead and give this a try, we would love to see how it turns out for you.

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Caramel Apple Mousse Cake on Counter

Caramel Apple Chocolate Mousse Cake

This Caramel Apple Chocolate Mousse Cake features a light almond cake layered with caramel apple jelly and topped with a creamy layer of chocolate mousse on top.
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 12
Calories: 604kcal
Author: Serena

Ingredients

Caramel Apple Jelly

  • 17 oz sugar
  • 1 ¼ cup apple juice
  • 3 lb granny smith apples peeled and diced small
  • 1 vanilla bean split and scraped
  • 3 sheets gelatin

Basic Custard

  • 5.25 oz heavy cream
  • 2 large egg yolk
  • 15 gram sugar

Valrhona Jivara Chocolate Mousse

  • 1 gelatin sheet
  • 150 gram basic custard
  • 245 gram Valrhona Jivara chocolate chopped
  • 225 gram heavy cream whipped to medium peaks

Almond Cake

  • 95 gram almond paste
  • 85 gram unsalted butter softened
  • 77.5 gram sugar
  • 1 vanilla bean split and scraped
  • 1 ½ large egg
  • 63.5 gram cake flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 77.5 gram sour cream

Instructions

Almond Cake

  • Preheat oven to 325° F.
  • Beat almond paste, butter, sugar and vanilla in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until smooth.
  • Add eggs slowly, mixing between each addition.
  • Sift cake flour, baking powder and salt together over egg mixture.
  • Add sour cream and beat to combine.
  • Pour onto a quarter sheet pan lined with parchment paper and spread evenly over surface.
  • Bake 20 minutes until golden.

Caramel Apple Jelly

  • Soak gelatin in ice water until softened; squeeze out excess water and set aside.
  • In a large nonstick skillet slowly heat diced apples and ¾ cup apple juice and the vanilla bean.
  • In a small saucepan, slowly heat 10 oz sugar and ½ cup apple juice to reach a light amber color caramel. Should take 10-15 minutes. Once color reached add to the saucepan with apples and continue to cook on low heat until apples are soft.
  • In a second small saucepan, add 7 oz sugar, and cook on medium heat until you achieve a dark brown caramel. Once color achieved, carefully add to the skillet. This will bubble and splash a lot. Keep stirring to incorporate.
  • Stir in gelatin to dissolve.

Basic Custard

  • Bring heavy cream to a simmer in a medium sized pot.
  • Whisk to combine egg yolks and sugar in a small bowl and slowly pour hot liquid to temper.
  • Return mixture to pot and cook to 82-84°C.

Valrhona Jivara Chocolate Mousse

  • Soak gelatin in ice water until softened; squeeze out excess water and set aside.
  • Stir gelatin into hot Basic Custard to dissolve.
  • Pour mixture over chocolate and process with a hand blender until smooth.
  • Cool before folding in whipped cream.

Assembly

  • Place almond cake in quarter sheet pan frame.
  • Pour Caramel Apple Jelly evenly over cake. Transfer to freezer to set.
  • Pour mousse on top of caramel apple jelly and spread evenly to coat. Set in freezer again before cutting into small rectangles.
  • Garnish with freshly diced green apples, dulce de leche and a chocolate garnish before serving.

Notes

Recipe Source: SerenaLissy.com
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database via Spoonacular API, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators. While this information can be helpful in estimating the nutritional information of a recipe, it is by no means accurate or official and is not evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
All images and content are copyright protected. Do not use our images without prior permission.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Ser | Calories: 604kcal | Carbohydrates: 88g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 107mg | Sodium: 46mg | Potassium: 288mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 77g | Vitamin A: 810IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 75mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this Recipe? Pin it Today!Mention @SerenaLissy or tag #serenalissy!
Mousse_Cake_Comparison

Here are a few of our favorite fall flavored recipes!

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. What that means is if you click on one of our affiliate links, they may toss a few pennies our way for a commission.

Nailed It! Key Lime Tarts

For week #2 of my Nailed It or Failed It blog series, I’m declaring“Nailed It" on this Key Lime Tart recipe. These Key Lime Tarts feature a buttery crust filled with a Key Lime filling that is just the right amount of tart and sweet.  These mini Key Lime Tarts are the perfect dessert for a warm, sunny day. 

For this series I recreate recipes from the Bachour cookbook. You can find the rest of the Nailed It series here. I made a few changes to this Key Lime Tart recipe to keep it accessible for an everyday home cook using equipment you have in your kitchen.

Key_Lime_Tart_On_Plate

Key Lime Tarts

This is a really simple mini Key Lime Tart recipe. Majority of your time will be spent letting the tarts cool. You could easily whip up these tarts in the early afternoon and they would be ready to go for dinner that night. 

My favorite thing about these Key Lime Tarts is the size! The mini Key Lime Tart is an easy, pre-portioned dessert choice for people wanting a light, but sweet and tasty dessert without going overboard. P.S. No judgement here if you have more than one! I know one wouldn’t be enough for me. 

If you’re looking for a dessert that will fill your taste buds with delight and surprise, then this Key Lime Tart Recipe is perfect. It tastes like sunshine in every bite! Enjoy!

Why You Will Love These Key Lime Tarts

  • Quick and simple to make.
  • Buttery, sweet with just the right amount of tartness.
  • Cool and refreshing.
  • Perfect dessert for summer.

Ingredients

Ingredients for key lime tart
  • Butter
  • Powdered Sugar
  • Eggs
  • Almonds
  • Salt
  • All Purpose Flour
  • Cake Flour
  • Sweetened Condensed Milk
  • Key Lime Juice

Two Parts to Key Lime Tarts

  1. Crust: Buttery crust, with a bit of crisp texture. This crust is very easy to make and the almond flavor really shines through in this key lime tart.
  2. Key Lime Filling: The Key Lime filling is tart, sweet and creamy. The way a filling should be! The combination of egg yolks and condensed milk make this filling so sweet and creamy. For the best flavor use fresh lime juice, not bottled juice.

How to Make Key Lime Tarts

Key lime tart process collage

First, make the almond tart dough.

  1. Preheat oven to 325° F.
  2. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, in a bowl cream the butter and confectioners sugar until smooth.
  3. Slowly add 1 ½ eggs in and continue to mix.
  4. Add ground almonds, salt and all-purpose flour until combined.
  5. Add cake flour and mix until smooth.
  6. Roll dough into ⅛ inch thickness, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold.
  7. Butter 12 small tart molds and cut dough to fit.
  8. Line and trim the molds and chill for an additional 30 minutes.
  9. Before baking, fill your tarts with pie weights to keep the pastry from puffing up in the oven.
  10. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Next, make the Key Lime filling.

  1. Preheat oven to 300° F.
  2. Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, mix  condensed milk and egg on low speed until blended and smooth.
  3. Add lime juice and continue to blend until smooth.
  4. Pour mixture evenly into the prepared tart shell.
  5. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until slightly jiggly in the center.
  6. Cool in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before garnishing.

Garnish the tarts.

  1. Top each tart with fresh raspberries and brush with simple syrup.

Making the Tart

I used a small silicone 3″ tart mold for these instead of a ring mold.

Decorating the Tart

The original recipe called for a brush of Valrhona Cristal Absolute neutral glaze for the raspberries. I went with a simple syrup for a lower cost option. One could easily add a small amount of liquor to the simple syrup if they were wanting that flavor.Don’t have any raspberries on hand? You can also garnish with a few small key limes slices and some lime zest! Add a dollop of whipped cream too.

FAQ

Can I use regular limes instead of key limes?

Yes you can! There are a few differences between key limes and regular grocery store limes. Key lime juice is slightly less tangy, with an aroma you can’t get from the green round citrus you see at your local supermarket. Regular grocery-store limes have more juice than their lighter counterparts; they also tend to be greener and have thicker skin.

Can I use bottled lime juice instead of fresh?

No! Fresh lime juice is so much better for the flavor than the bottled juice.

How long will the tart last?

The tarts will keep for 3 - 4 days in the refrigerator. Keep them covered to avoid drying out.

What if I don't have pie weights?

You can easily replace pie weights with common pantry items. Dried beans or uncooked rice are a great choice. Keep in mind that you can’t cook the beans or rice if you use them for pie weights.

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Key lime tart on plate

Nailed It, Key Lime Tarts

A quick and easy Key Lime Tart recipe that is buttery and sweet with the perfect amount of tartness!
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 12 Tarts
Calories: 147kcal
Author: Serena

Ingredients

Almond Tart Dough:

  • 13 tablespoon butter
  • 1 ¼ cup confectioner's sugar
  • 1 ½ egg
  • ⅓ cup ground almonds
  • Pinch of salt
  • ½ cup plus 2 tablespoon AP Flour
  • 2 cup cake flour

Key Lime Filling:

  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • ½ cup key lime juice

Instructions

For the Almond Tart Dough:

  • Preheat oven to 325° F.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and confectioners sugar until smooth.
  • Slowly add 1 ½ eggs in and continue to mix.
  • Add ground almonds, salt and all-purpose flour until combined.
  • Add cake flour and mix until smooth.
  • Roll dough into ⅛ inch thickness, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold.
  • Butter 12 small tart molds and cut dough to fit. Line and trim the molds and chill for an additional 30 minutes before baking for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Before baking, fill your tarts with pie weights to keep the pastry from puffing up in the oven.

For the Key Lime Filling:

  • Preheat oven to 300° F.
  • Put condensed milk and egg into a stand mixer, use paddle attachment to mix on low speed until blended and smooth.
  • Add juice and continue to blend until smooth.
  • Pour mixture evenly into prepared tart shell and bake for 12-15 minutes or until slightly jiggly in the center.
  • Cool in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before assembling.

To Assemble:

  • Top each tart with fresh raspberries and brush with simple syrup.

Notes

Recipe Source: SerenaLissy.com
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database via Spoonacular API, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators. While this information can be helpful in estimating the nutritional information of a recipe, it is by no means accurate or official and is not evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
All images and content are copyright protected. Do not use our images without prior permission.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Ser | Calories: 147kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 28mg | Potassium: 73mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 127IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this Recipe? Pin it Today!Mention @SerenaLissy or tag #serenalissy!
Tart Comparison

Here are a few of our favorite citrus flavored recipes:

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. What that means is if you click on one of our affiliate links, they may toss a few pennies our way for a commission.

The Best Homemade Brownies

In less than 10 minutes and with ingredients you likely have on hand, you can whip up the best homemade brownies you’ve ever had. One weekend I cleaned out my pantry and had just enough ingredients to make a batch of chocolate brownies. Once I had a bite of these rich, chocolate filled brownies I knew I had to share the recipe. 

Sometimes you need a dessert recipe that is quick and easy to make. If you’re running short on time these homemade brownies are a great go-to! Pair these fudgy chocolate brownies with a scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream on the side and you’ll have a dessert your family can’t get enough of.

Chocolate Brownies

The Best Homemade Brownies

With only 7 ingredients, you’ll have these brownies mixed and in the oven in 10 minutes. You’ll never think to buy boxed brownie mix again because this recipe will be your go-to homemade brownie recipe. These homemade chocolate brownies are rich, dense, with just enough crisp on top. I’d be impressed if these brownies last longer than a day!

Brownie Ingredients

The Best Homemade Brownies Ingredients

This brownie recipe uses only 7 ingredients.  We use lots of butter and eggs for the richness they bring to the brownies. I feel like I say this in every recipe, but chocolate matters. Using good quality chocolate will result in even better brownies.

  • Bittersweet Chocolate
  • Butter
  • Eggs
  • Sugar
  • Salt Vanilla
  • Bread Flour
  • Walnuts (Optional)

How to Make Homemade Brownies

Process Collage For Making Brownies
  1. In a double boiler melt the chocolate and butter. Let it cool.
  2. In a separate bowl mix eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla
  3. Blend your chocolate and butter mixture into the egg mixture.
  4. Sift your flour and fold it into the batter until combined.
  5. If you’re adding nuts, fold them into the batter.
  6. Pour the batter into your prepared quarter sheet pan.
  7. Bake for about 30 minutes or until done.

Best Brownie Tips

  • Better chocolate creates better brownies. We used El Rey 70% Dark Chocolate for this recipe. Any good quality bittersweet chocolate will work for this. I’d suggest Valrhona or even Guittard.
  • It’s better to take brownies out of the oven a little early rather than over bake. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs.
  • Wait until the brownies cool before cutting them. I know it’s hard to wait, at least it was for me. Letting your brownies cool helps them firm up a bit. Plus, and they won’t crumble when you cut them.

FAQ

What kind of chocolate should I use?

We used El Rey 70% chocolate. Go with your favorite quality bittersweet chocolate. Anything with a chocolate percentage higher than 60% would make a rich flavorful brownie.

Can I add nuts?

Absolutely, we added walnuts. You could easily use pecans as well.

Can I use a glass pan instead?

Yes, definitely. Metal pans will give your edges a bit more crisper crust. If you use a glass pan, add about 5 more minutes to the baking time. All ovens are different, so keep watch to make sure you don’t over bake the brownies..

How long will homemade brownies last?

Store your brownies in an airtight container for 1-2 days at room temperature.

Can I freeze the brownies?

Yes! Wrap well in plastic and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Looking For More Recipes?

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Chcolate Brownies on a plate

The Best Homemade Brownies

 The best homemade brownies!  Fudgy, chewy, and chocolate filled brownies made with only seven ingredients you already have in your pantry.
No ratings yet
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 12 brownies
Calories: 291kcal
Author: Serena

Ingredients

  • 4 oz El Rey Rio Caribe Macuro 70% Dark Chocolate. Or any other bittersweet chocolate will work
  • 6 oz Butter
  • 6 oz Eggs
  • 12 oz Sugar
  • .06 oz Salt
  • .25 oz Vanilla
  • 4 oz Bread Flour
  • 4 oz Walnut (optional)

Instructions

  • Heat oven to 325° F.
  • Spray and line a ¼ sheet pan with parchment paper.
  • Melt chocolate and butter together using a double boiler to melt chocolate gently, and then let mixture cool before using.
  • Mix eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla in separate bowl.
  • Blend chocolate mixture into egg mixture.
  • Sift flour and fold in.
  • Fold in nuts.
  • Pour mixture into prepared ¼ sheet pan and bake for about 30 minutes
  • Let the brownies cool before cutting into them.

Notes

Recipe Source: SerenaLissy.com
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database via Spoonacular API, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators. While this information can be helpful in estimating the nutritional information of a recipe, it is by no means accurate or official and is not evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
All images and content are copyright protected. Do not use our images without prior permission.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Serving | Calories: 291kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 55mg | Sodium: 38mg | Potassium: 158mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 106IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 2mg
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Here are a few of our best chocolate recipes and tips:

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. What that means is if you click on one of our affiliate links, they may toss a few pennies our way for a commission.

Uchi, The Little Red House

After many, many visits, to the little red house (AKA, Uchi), in the heart of South Lamar, this was my first trip during happy hour. The first time I have ever walked up to the reception hostess and got seated within 5 minutes of arrival. I was lucky enough to grab one of the last remaining tables. Clearly the Uchi happy hour is no secret in this town and I was just late to the party.

The happy hour menu was full of delicious tastings. Mostly priced around $6 per dish. There was no shortage of the creative Uchi menu items I have known to grow and love. Things like uchiviche, some of the best ceviche around. There was an abundance of yellowtail dishes. And the bacon steakie is melt in your mouth delicious pork belly.

Uchi is one of the best restaurants in town that does a great job of incorporating the sense of taste, smell and site in each dish they present. And in case you missed any one of these, the knowledgeable servers that run the dishes out make sure you know every detail of the presentation and ingredients before you dig in. Three words come to mind when I think of Uchi: Top notch service.

This is definitely my go to place when seeking out food cooked to perfection served up with a great atmosphere. Now if I could just get a teeny tiny bit of window lighting to help with a few photographs, I’d be one happy photog. Oh, and don’t forget, save room for dessert!

Machi Cure
Machi Cure
Pitchfork Roll
Pitchfork Roll
Uchi Chopsticks
Uchi Chopsticks
Bacon Steakie
Bacon Steakie

Nailed It! Chocolate Dulce de Leche Tart

This Chocolate Dulce de Leche Tart is the first recipe of a weekly "Nailed It" or "Failed It" challenge. After seeing other articles of baking projects gone wrong, I knew this idea would make a great blog series!

Chocolate Dulce de Leche Tart

Seeing photos from those projects gone wrong brought tears to my eyes from laughing so hard! It reminded me of my time in pastry school and all the things that went wrong when learning different techniques I had never tried before. 

For this challenge I decided to use the same cookbook from week to week. I wanted a cookbook that would be friendly for most home cooks, meaning that most people would have access to the ingredients and the specialty bakeware. I settled on this“Bachour" by Pastry Chef, Antonio Bachour. Bachour is currently the Pastry Chef of the St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort in Florida. He is well known for his pastry art and delicious recipes.

His recipe book, "Bachour", has about fifty-five recipes which is perfect for a weekly series. This book is designed for professional chefs, so I modified these recipes slightly for an average home cook. The goal is to create the recipe and still present them as beautifully as in the book.

Chocolate Dulce de Leche Tart

For this first challenge I definitely“Nailed It”on Bachour’s Chocolate Dulce de Leche Tart. These easy chocolate tarts have a gooey Dulce de Leche filling topped with a creamy layer of chocolate neatly nestled in a chocolate flavored tart. The recipe's not difficult to make; all it takes is good quality chocolate and heavy cream and milk. You probably have most of the ingredients in your refrigerator or pantry already.

I love a good tart, and I really feel like it's something that everyone should try. You know what I'm talking about? That rich chocolate flavor is just perfect with the crispy crust - not to mention the gooey goodness inside.

Ingredients For the Dark Chocolate Tart

Chocolate Dulce De Leche Tart Ingredients
  • Butter: Make sure to use unsalted butter. We want to be the ones to determine the amount of salt in the recipe.
  • Sugar
  • Pinch of Salt
  • Eggs
  • All purpose flour
  • Cocoa Powder: Make sure to use a great quality cocoa powder.
  • Baking Powder
  • Can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
  • Milk: Use whole milk.
  • Heavy whipping cream
  • 64% and 70% Chocolate
Process Collage for Chocolate Dulce De Leche Tart

Tips to Make the Tart Dough

The biggest challenge I encountered was with the tart dough. The recipes called for a 3”in. ring mold. A 3" ring mold isn’t common to have in a general home kitchen, so I tried this recipe a few times with a standard 3" tart pan. Most of the molds were standard fluted molds which worked perfectly for the recipe. Silicone baking tart pans are another option that could work with the right size. You want to make sure the mold is deep enough to allow room for the filling. For my final attempt, I went with the 3” ring molds for the presentation of the final tarts. 

The original recipe yielded 24 servings. I scaled down the recipe to make 6 Chocolate Dulce de Leche Tarts. I made a few minor modifications to the recipe to adjust for the reduction of some key ingredients. Overall, it was an easy chocolate tart recipe!

This recipe has a lot of waiting and cooling going on. So you definitely want to plan your time if you are looking to make this for a special occasion. If I needed this for Saturday, I’d plan to make this on Friday and then on Saturday you need to take it out of the refrigerator about 20 minutes before you want to eat it.

Steps to Make The Tart Dough

  1. In your stand mixer, cream the butter, sugar and salt.
  2. Slowly add the eggs, be sure to scrape down the sides
  3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Slowly add to the butter mixture.
  4. Don’t overmix the dough. Remove from the mixer, flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill the  dough for at least 3 hours in the refrigerator.
  5. Once cool, roll the dough out, and line your tart pan or ring molds. And put back in the refrigerator to cool for another hour.
  6. Remove from the refrigerator and bake. Let these cool for about an hour before filling with the dulce de leche and chocolate.

The Chocolate Filling

For the chocolate filling, I always advise people to use the best chocolate you can. It truly can make a difference in the flavor. I use Valhrona for almost all of my chocolate needs. Don’t use chocolate chips for this recipe. Head to the market and find the best chocolate bar your budget allows. Trust me on this one, you won’t regret it.

This recipe calls for 64% and 70% chocolate. The percentage tells me the cacao content. This is the weight of the bar that comes from cocoa butter and cocoa liquor. Which combined is cocoa mass. For example, if we are using 64% chocolate, then 36% percent of the chocolate comes from non-chocolate items like cane sugar, milk powder, and vanilla. Most chocolate bars will tell you the percentage of chocolate on the wrapper right on the front label. Anything above 60% would make a great chocolate filling for this recipe.

What is Dulce de Leche?

Dulce de Leche is a South American confection made by heating a can of sweetened condensed milk into a creamy caramel sauce. Condensed milk has a higher sugar content, so when the can is heated it turns into a thick, sweet caramel like sauce. It’s easier to make than caramel and the texture is just right for the filling in these tarts. You’ll see how perfectly it pairs with the chocolate flavors!

Decorating the Chocolate Tart

For the decorative top, you could easily use a piece of chocolate from your favorite local candy maker. For my decorative toppings, I tempered chocolate and cut it into squares. I used leftover Dulce de Leche to secure the chocolate square to the top of the tart. I topped it off with a drop of Dulce de Leche and a few pieces of sea salt.

Chocolate Dulce De Leche Tarts on Table

 Expert Tips:

  • Use high quality bittersweet chocolate. Scharffen Berger or Valhrona would be a great ingredient for this recipe.
  • There are many ways to decorate this chocolate tart. You could go with the method we used, or if that just seems like too much, you could easily serve without a topping or fruit could be a nice addition. Even a simple scoop of whipped cream would be nice.
  • Remove the tart from the refrigerator 15-20 minutes prior to serving.
  • To cut the tart: Dip your knife in hot water, wipe it off to dry, and then cut the tart. Wipe the knife clean between cuts and keep dipping into hot water as it cools.
Chocolate Tart Comparison

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Chocolate Dulce De Leche Tart

Chocolate Dulce de Leche Tart

This decadent tart features dulce de leche topped with a rich chocolate filling. If you're looking for an easy recipe to fulfill your chocolate cravings with a French flair then this is just for you.
5 from 17 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American, French
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 5 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 6 Tarts
Calories: 537kcal
Author: Serena

Ingredients

Dulce De Leche

  • 1 can condensed milk

Tart Crust

  • 1 ⅓ oz butter
  • 2 ½ tablespoon sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • ½ large egg
  • ½ cup all purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoon cocoa powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder

The Chocolate Filling

  • 3 ½ oz milk
  • 7 oz heavy whipping cream
  • 3 ½ oz sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 ½ large egg
  • 6 oz 64% chocolate chopped
  • 3 oz 70% chocolate chopped

Instructions

For the Dulce de Leche

  • Take the label off the can of sweetened condensed milk and place the can into a large pot. Fill the pot with water until the water is about 1 inch above the top of the can.
  • Bring water to a simmer and continue to cook over low heat for about 4 hours. Continue to refill the water level as necessary.
  • Once done, set aside to cool.

Tart Crust

  • Cream butter, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer.
  • Slowly add the eggs, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
  • Sift flour, cocoa and baking powder and add to the butter mixture and beat lightly until combined. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before rolling into ⅛-inch thickness.
  • Cut dough into rounds and place in 3-inch ring molds.
  • Preheat oven to 325°
  • Refrigerate the finished shells for an hour to let the dough rest, then bake for 20 minutes at 325° F.

For the Chocolate Filling

  • Bring milk, cream and sugar to a scald in a medium sized pot.
  • Whisk yolks and eggs to combine in a small bowl.
  • Once the milk is at a scald, pour it over the egg mixture to temper. Be sure to constantly be whisking this so you don’t scramble the eggs.
  • Stir and return the mixture to the pot to continue to cook over low heat until it reaches 160°F, stirring constantly.
  • Remove from heat, pour over the chocolate, and whisk until smooth. Chill.

To assemble tart

  • Preheat oven to 300°F.
  • Fill half of each tart shell with dulce de leche and top with chocolate filling. Bake for 7 minutes.
  • Chill for about 2 hours once done baking.

    Notes

    Recipe Source: SerenaLissy.com
    This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database via Spoonacular API, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators. While this information can be helpful in estimating the nutritional information of a recipe, it is by no means accurate or official and is not evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
    All images and content are copyright protected. Do not use our images without prior permission.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1Servi | Calories: 537kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 128mg | Sodium: 89mg | Potassium: 430mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 663IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 117mg | Iron: 6mg
    Tried this Recipe? Pin it Today!Mention @SerenaLissy or tag #serenalissy!

    Here are a few of our best chocolate recipes and tips:

    As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. What that means is if you click on one of our affiliate links, they may toss a few pennies our way for a commission.

    Easy Pull Apart Monkey Bread

    Monkey bread is one of my favorite easy and sweet breakfast recipes. This Easy Pull Apart Monkey Bread recipe uses canned biscuits. It’s a quick recipe you can have in the oven in less than 10 minutes! 35 minutes later you’ll pull out this morning breakfast treat.

    For this recipe I used Bailey’s Sweet Italian Biscotti Cream to coat the dough in before baking. I knew it would make a fabulous Sweet Italian Biscotti Monkey Bread. I used to mix that creamer with iced coffee all day long! It’s addicting! P.S. This creamer is non-alcoholic. Using this creamer in the monkey bread recipe results in an even sweeter breakfast bread.

    Monkey Bread

    Easy Pull Apart Monkey Bread

    Monkey Bread is basically a big bundt pan of gooey cinnamon rolls. Do I need to say more? The dough balls are coated in vanilla, nutmeg, and creamer and then a brown sugar butter sauce is poured on top. This creates the sweet and sticky pull apart bites monkey bread is known for. You can top your monkey bread with vanilla icing and serve pull apart style for easy sharing among friends at brunch..

    Ingredients for Easy Pull Apart Monkey Bread

    Ingredients for Sweet Italian Biscotti Monkey Bread
    • Baileys Sweet Italian Biscotti Cream
    • Eggs
    • Ground Cinnamon
    • Vanilla
    • Nutmeg
    • Canned Biscuits
    • Butter
    • Brown Sugar
    • Powdered Sugar

    Four Parts to Monkey Bread

    • Monkey Bread Dough: For this recipe we are using simple canned biscuits. If you have a favorite biscuit dough, you could easily replace the canned biscuits with it.
    • Monkey Bread Dough Coating: This is the creamer, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.
    • Brown Sugar Butter Sauce for Monkey Bread: This gets poured onto the bread right before placing in the oven.
    • Monkey Bread Icing: This recipe just uses a simple sprinkle of powdered sugar, but you could easily whip up a confectioners sugar milk combo for icing to drizzle on top.

    So I gathered some ingredients and went to work. This entire recipe took under ten minutes to put together then baked in the oven for about 35 minutes. But wow! What a great snack or an even better morning breakfast treat. 

    Process Collage to Make Sweet Cream Italian Biscotti Monkey Bread

    How to Make Monkey Bread

    1. Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 12-cup fluted tube pan with cooking spray.
    2. Whisk together cream, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.
    3. Cut each biscuit into quarters. Dip each biscuit in the cream mixture and place in the tube pan. Continue until all biscuits are coated and distributed in the pan.
    4. Combine the butter and brown sugar and pour evenly over biscuit pieces.
    5. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and no longer doughy in the center.
    6. Let monkey bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
    1. Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 12-cup fluted tube pan with cooking spray.
    2. Whisk together cream, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.
    3. Cut each biscuit into quarters. Dip each biscuit in the cream mixture and place in the tube pan. Continue until all biscuits are coated and distributed in the pan.
    4. Combine the butter and brown sugar and pour evenly over biscuit pieces.
    5. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and no longer doughy in the center.
    6. Let monkey bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
    7. Pull apart to serve!

    Expert Tips

    • Work quickly with the dough. You will get a better rise with cold dough than room temperature
    • Make sure your Bundt pan can hold about 12 cups of ingredients. You don't want your dough to rise over the edge and spill out into the oven.
    • Grease the inside of your Bundt pan really well. Be sure to get in all the cracks.
    • You can make the monkey bread dough ahead of time and store in the refrigerator for up to an hour before baking.
    • Don’t have Bailey’s creamer? You can replace it with your favorite flavored coffee creamer. Or you can leave out the creamer and coat the biscuit pieces in the same egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla mixture. It will still turn out gooey and sweet!
    Easy Pull Apart Bread

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    Monkey Bread with Baileys Cream

    Easy Pull Apart Monkey Bread

    Easy Pull Apart Monkey Bread. This recipe uses canned biscuits rolled in cinnamon, sugar, and your favorite coffee creamer. It’s the perfect recipe for a quick morning breakfast treat!
    5 from 8 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Cook Time: 35 minutes
    Total Time: 50 minutes
    Servings: 10 Servings
    Calories: 529kcal
    Author: Serena

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup Baileys Sweet Italian Biscotti Cream
    • 2 eggs beaten
    • 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
    • 2 tablespoons vanilla
    • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
    • 2 cans Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits
    • ½ cup butter melted
    • 1 cup brown sugar
    • Powdered Sugar

    Instructions

    • Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 12-cup fluted tube pan with cooking spray.
    • Whisk together cream, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.
    • Cut each biscuit into quarters. Dip each biscuit in the cream mixture and place in the tube pan. Continue until all biscuits are coated and distributed in the pan.
    • Combine the butter and brown sugar and pour evenly over biscuit pieces.
    • Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and no longer doughy in center.
    • Cool in pan 10 minutes.
    • Turn upside down onto serving plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Pull apart to serve.

    Notes

    Recipe Source: SerenaLissy.com
    This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database via Spoonacular API, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators. While this information can be helpful in estimating the nutritional information of a recipe, it is by no means accurate or official and is not evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
    All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our images without prior permission.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1Serving | Calories: 529kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 57mg | Sodium: 100mg | Potassium: 56mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 336IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 1mg
    Tried this Recipe? Pin it Today!Mention @SerenaLissy or tag #serenalissy!
    Monkey Bread with Baileys Cream

    Here are a few of our favorite sweet breakfast recipes:

    As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. What that means is if you click on one of our affiliate links, they may toss a few pennies our way for a commission.

    Easy Pull Apart Bread

    Simple And Easy Corn Muffins

    After testing a half dozen different corn muffin recipes, I found myself noticing quite a difference between Northern corn muffin recipes and Southern corn muffin recipes.  No muffin was particularly bad, nor amazingly wonderful. But the real distinction was the amount of corn meal and texture, and the savory or sweetness in the flavor, which was definitely noticeable by region. So I decided to create my own simple and easy corn muffin recipe.

    Simple And Easy Corn Muffins In Bowl

    I decided if I was going to make a corn muffin, I wanted the best qualities of each regions take on the muffin. I didn’t love the overly sweet of a Northern region muffin, but I did like the texture. From the Southern version, I liked the savory flavors but did not like the dry crumbly texture. What I was looking for was a slightly sweet muffin, with a balanced corn flavor, that was moist and tender in texture that would let me add in some jalapeno, corn and cheese that was so prevalent in the Southern style muffins. A perfect savory, sweet blend to conquer the great corn divide.

    Bare Essentials

    To start the process I knew I needed a solid basic quick bread batter that would allow me to incorporate additional ingredients at a later time. A few of my variables were buttermilk or milk, which provided a better flavor?  Do I want to add sour cream or yogurt, is there a taste or texture benefit? White or yellow cornmeal, does one result in a sweeter muffin flavor?

    Off I went to test the variables. The first was to determine if I liked the tangy flavor from the buttermilk or just the flavor from the milk. After testing, I  decided there was a time and a place for the tangy flavor, but this basic corn muffin wasn’t it. Whole milk was my final decision. I still wanted just a little bit more richness to the flavor but also needed to keep the texture at a moist and tender state, and decided sour cream was an easy add in. Once that was combined with the milk and butter, it helped in keeping with the original goal of moist and tender.

    The final test was to determine if yellow or white corn meal would be used. The yellow corn meal provided just the right amount of sweetness without it being overpowering. The white cornmeal produced a corny flavor that was going to need a lot of sugar to get the right balance of savory and sweet.

    Supporting Players

    With the basics in place, now came the add ins. Corn had so many options. Cream style corn, whole corn kernels, I could also puree the corn. The only downside I had to all these options was the amount of dirty dishes I created. Once I went back to my original goal of a nice sweet savory muffin, I decided that this muffin could be eaten anytime of the day. It could easily work with breakfast as a toast substitute, or dinner with a hearty soup or chili. With that in mind, simplicity was the direction that I went for. Frozen corn worked great, or if you are lucky enough to have fresh in season corn, cut it straight off the cob and use in the recipe.

    Now For The Spice

    This then led to the jalapeno selections. I tested the recipe with fresh jalapenos, pickled jalapenos, and even just jalapeno juice from the bottle. I roasted the jalapenos to see if a better flavor was driven from the process.

    After all these tests, I again went back to keeping it simple. I didn’t like the idea of getting up in the morning to roast my jalapenos before I could even begin to make a muffin. The fresh jalapenos provided a beautiful color in the muffin and a little textural contrast.  But I also learned that not all fresh jalapenos are created equally. Some were spicy and some were not. The real heat is found in the pith, not so much in the flesh. The bottled jalapenos definitely provided the most consistent spice punch, but didn’t provide the beautiful green colors from the fresh jalapenos, and the texture was a little mushy.

    Last But Certainly Not Least, The Cheese

    The only thing left to tackle was the decision of cheese. Did I want cheese just inside the muffin, or was there a benefit to also topping the muffin with it. And I thought, hey it’s cheese, there is always a benefit to topping the muffin with it. A little bit of shredded parmesan added some really beautiful color to the top of the muffin. I shredded the cheese with a microplane for the top instead of a box grater. What I discovered was that the smaller shredded cheese provided a beautiful browning on the top of the muffin that wasn’t as present with larger box grated pieces. And there is something about the look of the browning that lets me know that muffin has something savory going on. The parmesan also worked well with the sharp cheddar flavor inside the muffin.

    Finally I had created the muffin I set out to make. Both my Northern friends and my Southern friends could agree that this was a great blending of the two.

    Corn Muffin Process Collage

    Not too sweet, but a nice savory flavor. A wonderful moist texture, not too cakey or too dry. They liked that they could change peppers. They didn’t just have to go with a jalapeno. If it was a little too spicy for them, they could switch and go with an anaheim or more spice they could use the serrano pepper instead and still get the beautiful color and texture. They could use either frozen or fresh corn depending on season and availability. I also added a little bit of cilantro, but they could change to scallions if they wanted. It was a flexible, easy to make muffin that could be enjoyed anytime of the day with a large variety of foods. The great corn divide no longer existed.

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    Corn Muffin

    Simple & Easy Corn Muffins

    A wonderful blend of Northern and Southern Styles
    No ratings yet
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Breakfast, Side Dish
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 20 minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes
    Total Time: 40 minutes
    Servings: 12 muffins
    Calories: 266kcal
    Author: Serena

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups all-purpose flour (10 ounces)
    • 1 cup yellow corn meal (4 ⅜ ounces)
    • 1 tablespoon baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1 teaspoon sugar
    • ⅛ teaspoon chili powder
    • 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese shredded (4 ounces)
    • 1 ¼ cup whole corn kernels
    • 2 small jalapeno finely diced seeds removed (1 ½ ounces)
    • 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
    • 1 ¼ cup whole milk
    • ¾ cup sour cream
    • 1 tablespoon honey
    • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled
    • 1 large egg
    • ¼ cup Parmesan cheese finely grated (¾ ounce)

    Instructions

    • Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat over to 400°. Grease 12-cup muffin tin.
    • Whisk flour, corn meal, baking powder, salt, sugar, and chili powder together in large bowl. Stir in cheddar, corn jalapeno and cilantro, breaking up any clumps, until coated with flour. In separate bowl, whisk milk, sour cream, honey, melted butter and egg together until smooth.
    • Gently fold milk mixture into flour mixture with rubber spatula until just combined. Batter will be heavy and thick; do not over mix.
    • Using greased ⅓ cup measure, portion batter into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle Parmesan over top of muffins. Bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. 20-22 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Let muffins cool slightly in pan before removing. Serve warm or at room temperature.

    Jalapeno Butter

    • 1 Stick unsalted butter, softened
    • 1 fresh jalapeño, finely chopped, including seeds.
    • Stir together, butter, jalapeño and ¼ teaspoon salt. Serve with muffins

    Notes

    Recipe Source: SerenaLissy.com
    This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database via Spoonacular API, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators. While this information can be helpful in estimating the nutritional information of a recipe, it is by no means accurate or official and is not evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
    All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our images without prior permission.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1Muffin | Calories: 266kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 42mg | Sodium: 447mg | Potassium: 162mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 384IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 204mg | Iron: 2mg
    Tried this Recipe? Pin it Today!Mention @SerenaLissy or tag #serenalissy!

    Other Muffin Recipes

    As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. What that means is if you click on one of our affiliate links, they may toss a few pennies our way for a commission.