Beat the butter in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer for minimum 5 minutes until it has lightened in colour.

Add in vanilla and salt, mix until combined.

Add in powdered sugar one cup at a time mixing in between.

If buttercream is very stiff at this point you can add in a tablespoon of milk at a time until smooth.

Add in cocoa powder and mix until fully combined and smooth. You may need to add another tablespoon of milk at this point if the buttercream is not the consistency you like.

Beat for another 5 minutes to smooth out.

Chocolate Buttercream

1 tbsp unsalted butter

Shortbread cookie

Lemon Filling: In a medium size pot, stir together sugar, cornstarch, flour and salt. Add in water and lemon juice and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly.

When you start to see steam, take about 1/4 cup of liquid from the pot and stir together with the egg yolks in a small bowl. Add the egg yolks into the pot to thicken.

Continue to stir constantly. Once the filling has thickened and bubbles start surfacing, remove from heat and stir in butter.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes, stirring twice.

Pour lemon filling into a bowl and cover in cling wrap. It should touch the surface level of the filling to prevent a film. 

Leave to cool on counter until ready to use.


Cookie dough: In a stand mixer or a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, beat butter for about 5 minutes or until lightened in colour. 

Add powdered sugar and mix until combined

Add flour and cornstarch, mix until combined and dough is smooth

Form into a ball and wrap in cling wrap. Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. 


Take the cookie dough out of the fridge and form tablespoon size balls. 

Place dough about 2 inches apart on the parchment paper. 

Gently flatten the balls with your palm and then use the bottom of a tablespoon to create divets in the centre.

Remove baking sheet from the oven and let cookies cool for 1-2 minutes before transferring to wire rack. While the cookies are still hot, use the tablespoon to reshape the centres.

When cookies have slightly cooled, spoon lemon filling into the centre of the cookie. 

Allow to cool fully before enjoying. Can chill in fridge.

Lemon Thumbprint Cookies

Cupcakes
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil

Buttercream
1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
4-4 1/2 cups icing sugar
2-4 tbsp whole milk
2 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt

Optional spinkles to decorate

Cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare your cupcake pan with liners.
2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. Place milk and butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 2 minutes to melt the butter but not to boil the milk.
4. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the eggs for 30 seconds then slowly add the sugar while still beating. Beat eggs and sugar together on high for 5 minutes. The eggs should triple in volume and lighten to be a cream colour.
5. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined. 
6. Pour the warm milk and butter into the bowl that had the flour. Add in vanilla and vegetable oil. Whisk together.
7. Take about 1/2 cup of batter and add to the bowl with milk. This will help bring the temperature of the milk down. Whisk together until smooth.
8. Pour the milk mixture into the large bowl with the rest of the batter. Beat until combined and smooth.
9. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake for 16-20 minutes or until golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
10. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before making frosting and decorating. 

Buttercream
1. Beat butter for 5 minutes until lightened in colour and smooth.
2. Mix in vanilla and salt.
3. Gradually add in icing sugar a cup at a time. Beating in between. Adding a tablespoon of milk at a time when frosting starts to get to thick.
4. Beat for 5 minutes to smooth out.

I used a 1M piping tip and sprinkles to decorate.

Vanilla Cupcakes

6 tbsp unsalted butter softened, cut into cubes

Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare your cupcake pan with liners.

In a medium size bowl, combine cocoa powders and boiling water. Set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk together milk, oil, egg and vanilla. Add in the cocoa powder mixture.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until done. Allow to cool completely before filling and frosting.

Caramel

Make caramel while the cupcakes are baking so that it has time too cool.

Add sugar to a large pot and cook over medium heat. Stir often, at least every minute. After about 8-10 minutes the sugar will start to clump and then melt into a golden colour.

Once the sugar is all melted into a liquid, remove from heat and add butter. The sugar is going to bubble rapidly so be careful. Keep stirring until the butter has melted.

When butter has melted into the sugar, add the cream. Again, this will boil rapidly but keep stirring until combined.

Transfer caramel to a bowl to cool until ready to use.

Frosting

Beat butter with an electric hand mixer or stand mixer for 5 minutes minimum.

Add in icing sugar 1 cup at a time, scrapping the bowl down in between.

Beat in caramel and mix until fully combined.

Assembly

Cut a circle about an inch wide/deep out of the centre of the cupcake.

Pipe frosting onto the top of the cupcake. My go to tip is 1M.

Drizzle any extra caramel over top and lightly sprinkle with ground sea salt.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes

Prepare a 9x13 pan with parchment paper to help lift rice krispies out of the pan later. The parchment paper should hang over the ends of the pan. Set aside.

Add the butter to a large pot and cook over low/medium heat until the butter is melted. Add vanilla and stir.

Add 11 cups of marshmallows into the butter and stir until melted. Remove from heat.

Add the rice krispies and remaining 2 cups of marshmallows. Stir until fully coated by 12 the melted marshmallows.

Press into prepared pan with a lightly buttered spatula. Let sit for 1 hour.

Using the excess parchment paper, lift the rice krispies out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Cut into equal squares and enjoy!

Rice Krispie Squares

Peel and slice apples into 1 inch pieces. Put sliced apples into a large bowl.

To the large bowl, add lemon juice, sugar, flour and cinnamon. Stir until apples are fully coated.

Spoon apples into ramekins, about 3/4 full, and set aside.

Topping

In a large bowl, stir together flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. 

Once fully combined, pour in melted butter and stir until all the dry ingredients are well saturated and mixture is crumbly.

Evenly diving the crumble mixture on top of the apples.

Place ramekins on a baking sheet and then into the oven.

Allow too cool for 5 minutes before topping with ice cream and serving.

Individual Apple Crumble

Vegetable oil as required by box instructions

Milk instead of water as required by box instructions

1 Hershey's cookies n cream chocolate bar

Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare a cupcake pan with liners.

Make cake mix according to the box instructions. After mixed, stir in Oreo crumbs.

Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full with the batter.

Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

Beat butter with an electric hand mixer or in a stand mixer for 5 minutes minimum.

Add in icing sugar, one cup at a time, beating in between. If frosting gets too thick you can add a tablespoon of milk at a time until smooth.

Top cupcakes with an Oreo and a piece of the cookies n cream chocolate.



Cookies n Cream Cupcakes

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Optional Filling

Kinder bueno bars to decorate, either split in half or in pieces

If you are making the filling, start here. If not, skip to making the cupcakes

Filling

Place white chocolate chips and 2 tbsp cream in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring in between until smooth. Stir in nutella and set aside.

In a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer, whip the rest of the cream, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt for 6-8 minutes or until stiff peaks form.

Fold in the white chocolate mixture until combined.

Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for at least an hour or until ready to fill the cooled cupcakes.

Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare your cupcake pan with liners.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until done. Allow to cool completely before frosting. 

Buttercream

Start by melting the kinder bars in a bowl in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring in between until smooth. Set aside.

Beat butter in a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer for 5 minutes until lightened in colour and smooth.

Add in icing sugar 1 cup at a time. If the buttercream starts to get thick, add in 1 tbsp of milk at a time until smooth.

Add in the melted kinder bars and beat for 5 minutes, scraping the bowl down a couple times.

If you made the filling, core and fill the cupcakes.

Pipe buttercream onto the cupcakes and top with a piece of kinder bueno. 

Kinder Cupcakes

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whipped cream

Preheat oven to 350° F and get out tart pans.

In a medium-sized bowl stir together Oreo crumbs and melted butter until Oreos are fully saturated with the butter.

Equally divide Oreo mix to the tart pans and press down on the bottom and the sides to create the crust.

Bake for 10 minutes and then remove from oven. Use the back of a spoon to press down the crust if it puffed up. Allow to cool while the filling is made.

In a pot, stir together sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt.

Add the milk and whisk. Then add eggs. Whisk until smooth and then turn the heat up to medium. 

Keep whisking continuously while chocolate filling is cooking. When it thickens and you see bubbles break the surface, remove from heat and stir in the chocolate, butter and vanilla.

When the chocolate and butter have melted and the mix is smooth, divide chocolate filling evenly between the shells, filling almost to the top.

Transfer tarts to the fridge and chill for 2 hours minimum.

Right before you take the tarts out, make the whipped cream.  In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the cream and icing sugar for 6-8 minutes. You will need to scrape the sides of the bowl down after a few minutes.

After 2 hours, tarts can be taken out of the pans and can be topped with whipped cream and sprinkled with Oreo crumbs.

Chocolate Cream Pie Tarts

1 1/2 packages (12oz) of brick cream cheese softened

2 large eggs at room temperature 

Optional Whipped Cream

Preheat oven to 325°F and prepare a cupcake pan with liners.

Start with making the crust. In a bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Use a tablespoon to equally distribute the mix into the liners and press down.

Bake for 5 minutes then remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Next step is to make the filling. In a large bowl with a hand mixer, or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cream cheese and sugar on low speed. Add the sour cream, vanilla and salt. When combined, add in flour. Once flour is mixed in, add the eggs and mix until combined.

Divide the mixture equally into the cupcake liners, filling them almost to the top.

Bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn off the oven and keep the cheesecakes inside for another 15 minutes but crack the oven door open. You can then take the pan out of the oven and allow to cool on the counter for about 20 minutes or until fully cooled. At this point you can either leave the cheesecakes in the pan and cover with plastic wrap or transfer to an air tight container (with the liners still on).

Chill in fridge for 2 hours minimum before removing liners and serving. If you are adding a topping, do this right before serving.

To make whipped cream, whisk whipping cream and icing sugar on high speed for 6-8 minutes.

Mini Vanilla Cheesecakes

1 1/2 cups (250g bag) chocolate chips (I use milk chocolate)

Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Add all ingredients to a large bowl and stir to combine.

Scoop large spoonfuls and roll into balls. Place the balls on the parchment paper and then put in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until chocolate is all melted and smooth.

Using two forks, to roll each ball in the chocolate until fully coated. Rest the ball on one of the forks to let the excess chocolate drip off. Place ball back on the parchment paper and repeat this process for all peanut butter balls.

Place tray back in freezer until the chocolate has frozen. 

Transfer to an air tight container to store in the freezer and eat whenever!


Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

Add in icing sugar 1 cup at a time. If the buttercream starts to get thick add in 1 tbsp of milk at a time until smooth.

Nutella Buttercream

In another large bowl, whisk together milk, oil, egg and vanilla. Add in the cocoa powder mixture. 

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until done. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Cupcake

1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature but still cool)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment paper.

In a large bowl beat butter and sugar for 3-5 minutes until smooth and lightened in colour.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until just combined.

Stir in sprinkles. An alternative option to stirring in sprinkles is to roll the dough balls in sugar.

Roll dough into 1 inch size balls and place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 7-9 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

Allow cookies to cook for several minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Chewy Sugar Cookie

In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside

In a separate bowl, stir together oil and sugar. Add in cocoa powder; stir. Add in eggs and vanilla. Stir to combine.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place powdered sugar in a small bowl. Scoop tablespoon size balls, roll and coat with icing sugar. Place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool for several minutes on the baking sheet before eating.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookie

Get out all required ingredients now to help move quicker during baking. Even separate the egg yolks and place in a small bowl.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Prepare a 9x13 pan with parchment paper. Have excess paper over the edges to help lift the bars out later. Parchment paper can be difficult to form to the sides of the pan. To help with this, cut your piece of paper and soak it with water. Pat dry with a towel and then you will be able to fit it perfectly into the pan.

Melt butter in the microwave. Stir in vanilla.

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, icing sugar and salt.

Pour the melted butter into the dry ingredients.

Press dough into the bottom of the pan. I start with using my hands and then switch to a flat surface like the bottom of the measuring cup. 

When the dough is evenly distributed, use a fork to poke holes into the dough. This will help it to not puff up.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.

While the crust is in the oven, prepare the lemon topping.

In a pot, stir together granulated sugar, cornstarch, flour and salt. 

Add water and lemon juice. When all combined turn the stove to medium high to start boiling. Stir continuously.

When you start to see steam, take about 1/4 cup of the hot mixture and add it to the bowl with the egg yolks. Stir together quickly and then add the egg yolks to the pot.

When the mixture starts to boil, remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Allow to sit for a few minutes then pour over the crust.

Bake for 15 minutes. If you doubled the lemon recipe bake for 20 minutes.

Allow to cool on the counter for 20 minutes before transferring to the fridge. After the pan has cooled, transfer to the fridge to chill for 2 hours minimum.

After 2 hours, use the parchment to help lift the bars out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Cut with a long knife and dust with icing sugar if you like. This is mostly for aesthetic though as the icing sugar will likely melt into the lemon soon after.

Lemon Bars

Take chocolate ice cream out of the freezer about 15 minutes before you plan to start. Have your cups ready. I bought the ones in the picture from the dollar store (they are plastic).

Put a scoop of chocolate ice cream in the bottom of each cup and push it down with a spoon. Use a paper towel or cloth to wipe the inside of the cup so that it is a clean layer. This will help the other layers show though.

Place all cups in the freezer for about half an hour or until the ice cream has frozen again.

To make the fudge, place chocolate chips, corn syrup and vanilla in a bowl. heat the cream in the microwave for 2 minutes until hot. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips and whisk until smooth. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, stir together the Oreo crumbs and melted butter. Set aside.

Take the cups out of the freezer. Add a layer of fudge over the chocolate ice cream. You can either spoon this in or put the fudge into a piping bag (or ziplock bag) and add the layer this way. I use the bag because I find it cleaner.

After adding the layer of fudge, place a large spoonful of the oreo mix on top. Make sure the top is levelled out.

Place cups back in the freezer for about half an hour until firm.

Take the vanilla ice cream out of the freezer about 15 minutes before you will be using it.

Place a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of the oreo layer. Use a spoon to push it down and even out the top. You can use a cloth or paper towel to wipe the excess vanilla ice cream off the top of the inside of the cup. 

Place back in the freezer for at least a couple hours to allow both chocolate and vanilla ice cream freeze. 

After a couple hours you can add any decoration on top, like sprinkles. If you will not be eating right away, cover the tops with plastic wrap and store in the freezer. Take out about 5 minutes before serving.

DQ Style Ice Cream Cake

Cookies and cream or vanilla Meltables/Candy Melts

Crumble hot cakes with a stand mixer or an electric hand mixed. If using your hands to crumble the cake wait until the cake has cooled.

Add in a tablespoon of buttercream at a time until dough sticks together. You want enough buttercream so that the cake balls don't fall apart when you roll them but you don't want to much buttercream that the cake becomes overly sweet.

Roll dough into about tablespoon size balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place the sheet in the freezer while you melt the candy melts.

Melt just a small handful of chocolate in a bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir until consistent.

Take cake out of the freezer, placing the tray on the counter. Dip about 1 cm of the cake pop stick into the chocolate and then into the centre of the cake ball at the top. Repeat with all cake pops and put back in the freezer for 15 minutes.

If you have a cake pop stand, have this out to be able to use immediately after dipping. If not, just use the same baking sheet.

Melt the rest of the chocolate in the same bowl according to the packaging.

Pour the melted chocolate into a tall glass to dip the cake pops. Take the cake pops out of the freezer.

One by one dip each cake pop into the melted chocolate and then setting in your cake pop stand or back on the baking sheet. After a few, sprinkle Oreo crumbs over the cake pop. Keep repeating this process until all cake pops are covered with chocolate.

Allow chocolate to set and then they are ready to eat.

Oreo Cakepops

Milk (substituted for water as required on the box)

1 cup chocolate, either chips or chopped bars

Preheat oven to 350° and prepare cake pans.

Set aside 8 full Oreos. With the rest, seperate the cookie from the cream. Place the cookie in a large ziplock bag and crush into small pieces but not so small that they will get lost in the cake batter.

Prepare cake mix according to the box instructions, substituting the water for milk.

Divide batter equally into cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until done.

When done, allow cakes to cool in the pan for 2-3 minutes before removing to finish cooling on a wire rack.

Prepare vanilla buttercream, including the Oreo baking crumbs.

Assemble cakes with a layer of buttercream in between each cake layer. Crumb coat the cake and then place in freezer for 20 minutes to set.

Complete final coat of frosting, saving some for piping on the top, and put back in the freezer for 20 minutes to set.

When the cake is almost ready to be decorated make the drip.

Place chocolate in a bowl. Heat cream in the microwave for 2-2.5 minutes. Pour hot cream over chocolate and whisk to combine. Allow too cool for a few minutes before dripping on the cake.

Finish decorating with the remaining full Oreos and piping buttercream on the top of the cake as shown in the picture or however you like.

Hayle Tenjo

Chocolate Buttercream

Chocolate Buttercream

Nutella Buttercream

Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Vanilla Buttercream