Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope that you will be spending your day surrounded by love, the love of family, friends, your animals and your significant other. 

There is still time to whip up a sweet treat for your loved one, or even to celebrate yourself! This moist chocolate cake, with fudge filling and white buttercream frosting is easy and delicious. 

As for decorating the tops of your cakes or cupcakes, it doesn't get any easier than some cookie cutters and colored sugar.

Have a wonderful day and enjoy something sweet to celebrate.

If you would like to make this cake the recipe is HERE.

Note: This post contains affiliate links.

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Stone Gable

Chocolate Cupcakes with Marshmallow Buttercream

If you follow me here or at my other blog Pine Cones and Acorns than you know I love chocolate and sugar, and that is not listed in any particular order. I also love to bake and I really LOVE to give the things I make to people who either no longer bake or people who would never bake. It makes me so happy to see a smile from a cupcake or a brownie.

I frequently make cupcakes because they are easy to make and are easy to transport. Lately I have been meaning to try something new in the way of frosting and I think this cupcake fits the bill. The frosting is basically butter cream but it is taken to a new level with the addition of Marshmallow Fluff! 

I cannot even begin to tell you how good this frosting is. I ate a few spoons fulls to make sure that it tasted great and that the consistency was as it should be. In fact I ate so much I did not even try a cupcake frosted!

For the cupcakes, you can use whatever chocolate cake recipe you like. I used the old standby, which is my favorite, from the back of the Hershey's Cocoa can, which you can find Here. But if you are in a hurry by all means use a mix. Any cupcake or cake is going to be fabulous with the addition of this frosting, I promise!

Marshmallow Cream Frosting:

Adapted from: Kraft Recipes

1 cup of softened butter (2 sticks)

1 7oz jar of  Marshmallow cream of marshmallow fluff

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

2 cups of powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)

2-4 Tablespoons of heavy cream

In your stand mixer, place softened butter and beat for one minute until creamy. Add vanilla and marshmallow fluff, beat until mixed. Make sure to scrape the sides. Add the powdered sugar, mix on LOW! Slowly add the cream and then mix on high for 3-5 minutes. When you add the cream only add enough so that the frosting is at the consistency that you like.

I hope you try this out! I would love to know what you think!

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Stone Gable

Joy the Baker Chocolate Brownies with Whipped Butter Cream Frosting

Yes, another brownie recipe. I have been frantically pinning on Pinterest and I have noticed a disturbing trend, all of my recipes are either filled with sugar or cheese. Obviously this one is filled with chocolate and sugar.



I have been a follower of Joy the Baker for some time now and see her beautiful recipes and creations all over blog land and Pinterest. After seeing these brownies countless times I decided to order her beautiful cookbook and then to make a few things, these brownies are the first recipe I tried.

If you like chocolate, and I think you might because otherwise you would not be reading a blog called Once Upon a Chocolate Life, you will LOVE these brownies. They are chocolaty, filled with chocolate chips and then over the top with whipped chocolate butter cream frosting.

Chocolate Brownies
adapted from Joy the Baker

Ingredients:

3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup of butter
3 oz unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Buttercream Frosting:

3/4 cup of butter softened
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
21/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup malted milk powder (Kraft, Ovaltine, etc)

Directions:

Grease a 8x8 inch baking pan. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt.

In a over a double boiler, melt the butter and the chocolate. Once melted stir to incorporate. Remove from heat, add brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Mix. Add eggs, and yolk and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture and FOLD together until well incorporated. Do not over mix. Then fold in chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes until skewer in center comes out clean. Cool completely and then frost.

Frosting:

In a stand mixer, cream together butter, cocoa powder and sugar. Mix for 3 minutes on medium.

Turn off the mixture and add the powdered sugar, turn mixer on slow otherwise you will have the powdered sugar everywhere. Add milk and vanilla. Scrape down side and continue to mix. In separate cup, add your malt powder or Ovaltine to the heavy whipping cream. Add slowly to the mixture to desired consistency. I did not use all of the cream.

Use 1/2 of the frosting to frost the brownies. Save the rest for another project.

These brownies are scrumptious! I loved them, and the frosting is creamy, rich and has a hint of malt. If you do not like malt than leave it out.

Do you have a favorite brownie recipe? I would love to hear it. I am always looking for new recipes. Thank you to all of those who send me emails to say they have tried the recipes. I am not the source of the recipes, and I always site the place I found the recipe, but I love when you come back and tell me you made something you saw here or on my other blog Pine Cones and Acorns or what changes you made.

I hope you have a great day! Enjoy a little chocolate!

P.S: Joy's cookbook is available on Amazon and her BLOG is beautiful. I am in awe of her wonderful photographs and her sunny personality.

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DIY by Design
Savvy Southern Style
Stone Gable
No Minimalist

Chocolate Butter Cream Frosted Cupcake Recipe

Happy Friday!

 I do not know about you but the weekend is when I love to  try out new recipes, mostly baked goods but also savory eats too. I thought I would share an easy and delicious recipe for chocolate cupcakes with chocolate butter cream frosting that I made last weekend. These cupcakes are delicious! My favorite part was liking the spatula for the frosting, it is some of the best I have ever made. 

The recipe for Chocolate Butter Cream frosting came from a great blog I found while perusing Pinterest, called Savory Sweet Life. The recipe for the cupcakes is the one I always use, you can find it on the back of the Hershey's cocoa can or go here where I wrote about it.

Sweet Savory Life

Butter Cream Frosting Recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
2 sticks of softened butter (Must be SOFT not melted)
31/2 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cup of cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp of vanilla
4 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream

DIRECTIONS:

Cream softened butter in an electric mixer for a few minutes. Turn off mixer and add the cocoa powder and the powdered sugar, start mixing on low speed otherwise you will have a huge mess. Mix ingredients until incorporated and then add the salt, vanilla and the heavy whipping cream. Mix on high for 4 minutes or until light and fluffy.

I hope you try this delicious recipe! If you do let me know how it turned out and how you liked it. If you have a recipe I should try send it to me, I love learning new things.

Have a fabulous, relaxing weekend.

Linking to:

Faded Charm White Wednesday

Savvy Southern Style Wow Us Wednesday

Ivy and Elephants What's It Wednesday

Primp Your Stuff Wednesday

Designs by Gollum

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Inspiration Friday at the Picket Fence

Friday Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense

Potpourri Friday at 2805

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

What Have You Redone at Redoux

Common Ground