A Giant Valentine's Heart Shaped Triple Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie...for the one I love!

Do you know what my fantastic husband planned for us on Valentine's last year? 

Yes, we spent the afternoon parasailing on the magical island of Turks and Caicos, where we were lucky enough to be living.  It was amazing and will definitely go down as one of my best February 14th's ever!

So this year we find ourselves living in North Wales...how was I ever going to to top what Byron planned for me last year - the answer is I wasn't! So I stuck to what I do best and decided I would create the masterpiece of all sweet treats and that would be good enough.  I was ready to make the most extravagant layer cake I could dream up, but after quizzing Byron subtly one day last month about what his favourite dessert in the whole world would be...his answer was cookies!

Cookies? how boring can you get! I was not impressed! He said a triple chocolate cookie would be his favourite ever dessert.  So I started thinking of ways I could jazz up a triple chocolate cookie...and that's when I remembered the cookie I got him on our 2nd Valentine's together...

Excuse the very bad phone picture, but this was a giant heart cookie from Millie's.  I decided if I bought a giant heart cookie pan I could have a go at creating my own!



If you have good eyesight you will have noticed the message on that cookie from 6 years ago reads 'Wouldn't it be nice'.  I'm a huge Beach Boys fan and this used to be 'our song' whilst we were dating, the lyrics fit our state of mind perfectly - 'Wouldn't it be nice if we were older then we wouldn't have to wait to so long' etc.. we even had somebody play this song on the piano at our wedding, it was pretty awesome! So this time around I decided the message should read 'it's so nice' because we don't have to long for days of being together all the time because they are here now!

I was recently alerted by an American friend of mine that Asda have started selling mini Reese's peanut butter cups! This was exciting news and so as Byron is such a peanut butter lover I decided the cookie should involve them too, so I stuck them to the top of the cookie with a little melted chocolate and using edible glue I stuck a heart on each one too.  I also had a few leftover peanut butter chips that came in handy as well.

This is the chocolatey goodness that inspired me!

I used my good old chocolate and peanut butter cookie recipe that had impressed us recently, with a few adaptions to make it 'TRIPLE' chocolate as Byron had requested!

Giant Triple Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie:
Adapted from Bakerella

185g or 1 1/2 cups plain flour
60g or 1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
113g or 1/2 cup butter, slightly softened
335g or 1 1/2 cups caster sugar
130g or 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

100g milk chocolate chunks

100g white chocolate chunks

50g Reese's peanut butter chips

To decorate:

Reese's mini peanut butter cups

Red sugar hearts

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Grease your cookie pan with butter.

In a small bowl, mix flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt using a wire whisk and set aside.

In a free standing mixer, cream butter and sugar with peanut butter until light and fluffy.

Add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.

Add flour mixture into creamed mixture and mix until combined.

Stir in milk and white chocolate chunks, and peanut butter chips.

Transfer cookie mix into prepared pan and press it down ensuring there are no gaps.

Bake for 14-18 minutes.

Leave to cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Run a knife around the edge of the cookie and gently transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.

So the treat was well received by Byron, and we have been enjoying big chunks of it all week long! It is especially good if you warm it up in the microwave for about 20 seconds before eating because all the massive chunks of chocolate inside go incredibly gooey and delicious! 

I also made him a little slideshow of all our fun times together, accompanied by what else but The Beach Boys! If you want to check it out you can view it here. I even matched the pictures to the lyrics of the song, and as it was my first time using imovie I was pretty impressed with that! 

Hope you all had great Valentine's Day fun baking delicious treats for the ones you love too! 

Speaking of delicious treats, the previous winner of the cheesecake giveaway did not claim their prize! Sad for them, but great news for all of you who get another chance to win!

So the new winner is...no 119 

Emma Binning

Please email me or contact me via the facebook page a.s.a.p to give me your address and arrange delivery of your yummy prize! 

Chocolate Valentine's Day Cake Pops...and a Cheesecake Winner!

I shared with you a few weeks ago some of the baking goodies I got for Christmas.  I thought, seeing as how it's now February, it was time to share the rest! 

This is what your present stash looks like when Santa tells you he's not going to buy you much cupcake stuff this year because you have enough!! If you don't believe that this is a small amount of stash, check out the cupcake goodies of Christmas '10, and Christmas '09.

To be fair other than these cute cupcake cookie cutters, the cupcake calendar, car freshener, heart cases, socks, carriers and shopper most of the other prezzies were general baking related goodies.  My fave was the Jamie Oliver jelly mould set, I have big plans for that - I am a huge jelly lover! My KitchenAid earrings also went down well! I got a rather snazzy set of Nigella Christmas mixing bowls you can see peeking through at the back, and I got a cake pop machine with lots of cake pop paraphernalia! 

I've seen these machines around for a while now but I'd never been tempted to try them out.  To me, cake pops are cake crumbs mixed with frosting, rolled into balls and dipped in chocolate.  I didn't understand how you could 'bake' cake pops and I didn't think they would be too appealing, but after receiving my present I was interested to test them out! 

I became even more excited to make my first batch of cake pops with the machine after I got my monthly email from Squire's and fell in love with their coloured cake pop sticks they sell.  Up until now I had only ever been able to find white ones, and I used to be more than a little envious of all the amazing coloured sticks I see on American baking blogs.  So I snapped up some red sticks knowing they would be perfect for some Valentine's pops! 

Aren't they awesome! I love how vibrant they are, and they are also alot sturdier and more durable than white cake pop sticks I have bought in the past.  My ferrero rocher tray was the perfect size to hold the cake pops in once they had come out of the machine (although I had to cool them on a wire rack first otherwise they were so hot they melted the plastic!)

I was slightly dubious...while baking my first batch in the cake pop machine it smelt exactly like when you make cheese toasties in a toastie machine! I wasn't sure how they were going to taste! but I'm happy to report that the chocolate cake was actually really tasty and moist, and the fact that the machine made all my cake pops so perfectly round and uniform made me a happy baker.  I was pleasantly surprised! 

I dipped them in some milk chocolate and then decorated away with lots of super cute Valentine's sprinkles from Just Bake.  They have a great range of sprinkles, cupcake wrappers and cupcake cases.

My favourite product from their site has to be these adorable double sugar heart decorations. I have never seen anything like these before and they would look great on cupcakes too but I thought they looked especially striking on these cake pops, and they co-ordinated with the red sticks so perfectly! 

I finished off my last few cake pops with some toasted coconut just because I LOVE coconut.  They smelt soo good as we were photographing them, and it was pretty hard to resist taking a bite! 

I think they turned out much neater and more attractive then the last times I made cake pops and oreo pops! 

Here's how to make you own, in the cake pop machine:

Chocolate Cake Pops:

Makes 24

Recipe from Sweet Treats booklet

125g unsalted butter, softened

125g caster sugar

2 medium eggs

100g self raising flour

3 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tbsp milk

For decorating:

400g milk chocolate

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

sprinkles of your choice

toasted coconut

Beat together the butter and sugar in a mixer/bowl until light and fluffy.

Add one egg at a time, beating well after each addition.  Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the bowl and add the milk.  Beat until everything is fully incorporated and the mixture is smooth.

Plug the machine in.  Using a pastry brush, brush a small amount of vegetable oil on the top and bottom plates of the machine to assist with the removal of the cake pops.

When the green light illuminates the machine is ready to use.

Add one slightly heaped teaspoon of mixture to each hole in the machine, filling it to just below the line of the hole.

Close the lid and time them for 4 minutes.  Check them, if they feel spongy and firm they are done.

Leave them to cool for 1 minute in the machine with the lid open.

Remove them from the machine with a teaspoon, then leave them to cool on a wire rack.

Repeat until you have used up all your mixture, mine took 4 batches.

Transfer your cake balls into a ferrero rocher tray or egg box (something that will hold them stable).

Melt 200g milk chocolate with 1/2 tsp veg oil in a bowl in the microwave on low heat, for 20 second intervals until all chocolate is melted and smooth.  Keep a close eye on it as it can burn easily.

(I did mine in two batches as the chocolate can become too thick if it's left out for a long time)

Dip your sticks in the chocolate and then dip them into the cake balls.

Freeze them for about 15-20 minutes, this will help the chocolate to firm up quicker once dipped.  

Transfer the melted chocolate into a small container - you don't want to use a large bowl because you need a good depth to dip your cake pop.  I used a tall milkshake glass which was the perfect size.

Dip your cake pop into the chocolate so it is completely submerged, pull it out twirling it around to flick off excess chocolate.  

Sprinkle your favourite edible decorations on the chocolate quickly before it sets.

I poked holes in the styrofoam blocks that came in the cake pop machine box and then stood up the dipped cake pops in there so that they were upright and secure.

Leave to cool for about 2 hours until the chocolate has set completely.  

Eat and enjoy! 

and you may be here because I was hosting a little giveaway this week.  Thanks for all your entries, I was overwhelmed by your love of cheesecake!! and I'm happy to announce the winner of the Valentine's Cheesecake competition is....

Tammy Chambers! 

Congratulations, please contact me as soon as possible by sending me an email at cupcakecrazygem@gmail.com with your contact details - address and telephone number so that we can arrange for the English Cheesecake Company to send out your cheesecakes in time for Valentine's! 

Sorry to all of those who missed out, but thanks for joining along and hope you will enjoy all the recipes featured on my blog.  If you were some of the people who said you were going to have a go at the s'mores cheesecake do let me know how it turned out! 

Chocolate & Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Frosting & Love Baking Magazine

Last month I was contacted by a new baking magazine to see if I wanted to submit one of my cupcakes to be part of their bloggers gallery.

I was all ready to think up my most inventive and original Christmas cupcake when I was told that the issue I would be published in was actually going to be a Valentine's issue!! So right in the middle of all my Christmas baking, I whipped up these special Valentine's cupcakes! 

If you're visiting my blog for the first time or if you found me through the magazine then welcome! and if you liked the look of my chocolate and coconut cupcakes then you will find the recipe below! 

This is the first time I have baked from my Magnolia recipe book and I wasn't sure what to expect but I am pleased to tell you that these cupcakes were some of the fluffiest and most delicious I have baked in a while! 

Chocolate & Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Frosting:

Makes 14

Adapted from More from Magnolia

For the cupcakes:

185g plain flour

¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda

¾ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

90g unsalted butter, softened

125g light brown sugar

2 eggs, separated

125g plain chocolate, at least 60% cocoa solids

235ml coconut milk

¾ tsp vanilla extract

20g desiccated coconut

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees c.

Line the baking pan with cupcakes cases.

Separate the eggs when cold and then allow them to come to room temp before proceeding with the recipe.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in 30 minute bursts in the microwave.  Leave to cool for 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.  Set aside.

In a freestanding mixer on medium speed, cream the butter until smooth.  Add the sugar and beat for 3 minutes until fluffy.

In a separate bowl beat the egg yolks for 2 minutes until thick.  Add them to the mix and beat well.  Add the chocolate, mixing until incorporated.

Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the coconut milk and vanilla.  Scrape down with a spatula in between additions making sure everything is well blended.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form.  Gently fold them into the batter using a wooden spoon.  Stir in the desiccated coconut.

Fill cupcake cases 2/3 full and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Cool in pans for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.

For the frosting:

Adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

375g icing sugar

120g unsalted butter, softened

40ml coconut milk

Beat the icing sugar and butter together in a freestanding mixer on medium speed until the mixture comes together.

Add coconut milk and beat until it has been incorporated.

Turn up to high speed and beat for 5 minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy

To decorate:

Melted plain chocolate

Shredded coconut

Large red heart sprinkles

Melt chocolate in microwave or in a double boiler.  Leave to cool. Drizzle over the top of the frosting and sprinkle with shredded coconut.  Finish with a large heart sprinkle.

I was very excited to get my copy of the Love Baking Cupcakes & Sweet Treats magazine:

It is sold in WHSmith, Hobbycraft and most supermarkets and is in shops now.  If you turn to page 8 you can see a picture of my cupcakes, along with lots of other yummy looking cupcakes from The Baking Addict, I heart cupcakes, Apple and Spice, American Cupcake in London, The Nom Bakery, American Chop Suey and The Caked Crusader:

and not only that but with each issue of the magazine you always get tons of good freebies.  With this issue I got a free cupcake box, an individual heart cookie box, heart cupcake wrappers, and heart cookie cutters - all will come in handy when my official Valentine's baking begins! 

Not only that, but the magazine comes packed with tons of yummy recipes.  There are so many I want to try, and my favourite part of all is the awesome tab stickers you get! So as soon as I saw this coconut brownie recipe (being the coconut lover I am) I knew I wanted to bake it, and so I could peel off this little tab sticker and bookmark it for later! How cool!

They also do a good feature with each issue where they showcase some of the UK's best cupcakeries.  I was interested to see in this issue that I had reviewed 3 of the same cupcakeries they had here on my blog.  You can read about Dixie's Cupcakery in St.Albans, Sweet Tooth Cupcakery in Manchester and one of my all time favourites - Queenie's in Shropshire.

So what are you waiting for - if you're an avid baker or cupcake crazy like myself then pick up a copy, you won't be disappointed!