What I Ate Wednesday: Up in the Air

by on May 22, 2013, 2 comments

I’m off on vacation, and today was spent in transit! I took the 15 hour Cathay Pacific flight 881 business class from Los Angeles to Hong Kong, so almost all my meals were up in the air. I thought it would be fun to do a WIAW of what I ate up in the air.

cathay pacific lax

The flight departed around 2:00 am, so my day began at midnight with snacks in the One World lounge: herby mac and cheese; digestives and dips; cookies and milk.

one world lax lounge lala-2

 

Once aboard, the flight began with my third dinner of the night.

cathay pacific business class meal IMG_1907-2 IMG_1914-3 IMG_1916-4

The meal was mediocre for a business class flight in my opinion; everything was overcooked, and my favorite parts were the bread and cheese.

And just want to say I love the Cathay Pacific amenity kits – cute Agnes B. bags and mini Murad cosmetics I would actually use!

cathay pacific amenity bag

I’m an insomniac, so I spent the rest of the flight lying in the comfy bed watching movies with ice-cream:

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By the way, Oz the Great and Powerful and Silver Linings Playbook are both excellent movies to watch on a plane!

A couple hours before landing, I had a “breakfast” meal:

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I have a day of more eating in Hong Kong, and then I’m off to Beijing!

Chocolate Crunch Salted Caramel Cupcakes

by on May 14, 2013, 2 comments

Chocolate. Salted Caramel. Crunch. Cupcakes.

chocolate caramel cupcake

Need I say more?

These scrumptious cupcakes were Cupcake & Cookie’s contribution to Nestle Crunch’s 75th Birthday celebration. Nestle invited 15 bakeries around the country to create a sweet treat inspired by the Crunch bar, and I was so honored to be included!

chocolate caramel cake recipe

I was raised off pizza and chocolate, so the Crunch bar has always been a friend. Now that we’re both a little older and wiser, I wanted to create something that was fun, sweet, and grown-up. Enter the Chocolate Crunch Salted Caramel Cupcake.

chocolate caramel cupcake recipe

This is a melt in your mouth chocolate cupcake infused with pieces of Crunch candy bars, filled with salted caramel, topped with caramel frosting, dipped in chocolate ganache, and then topped with a dollop of salted caramel frosting. It make sound like a lot, but the components come together simply, and it is absolutely worth the little bit of extra effort.

best cupcake recipe

Print
Chocolate Crunch Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1 ¾ cups cake flour, sifted
  • 1 ¾ cups white granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup high quality cocoa
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
  • ½ cup chopped regular or fun size Nestlé® Crunch® candy bars
  • Caramel Crunch Frosting
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened (leaves a slight indent of your finger when pressed)
  • 1½ - 2 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar, sifted very very well
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup dulce de leche (no substitutions)
  • 1 cup regular or fun size Nestlé® Crunch® candy bars, finely chopped
  • Chocolate Ganache
  • 6 oz high quality chocolate, chopped
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 1 tbsp corn syrup (optional; for shine)
  • Salted Caramel Frosting
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, slightly softened (leaves a slight indent of your finger when pressed)
  • 1 1/2 cup confectioners (powdered) sugar, sifted very very well
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt flakes
  • 1 cup dulce de leche (no substitutions)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. And line your cupcake pans for 24 cupcakes.
  2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a mixing bowl until combined.
  3. In a separate bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla extract, and vegetable oil. Gradually add in the dry ingredients. Then slowly stir in the coffee. Fold in the candy pieces.
  4. Fill cupcake pans with batter until 2/3 full.
  5. Bake for 18 – 20 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
  6. Let cool, then top with Caramel Crunch frosting.
  7. Dip frosted cupcakes into chocolate ganache and roll in birthday sprinkles. Top with a dollop of salted caramel frosting.
  8. For frosting:
  9. Beat softened butter in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until smooth and creamy.
  10. Gradually add powdered sugar and blend on medium speed until smooth, about a minute. Blend in vanilla extract and salt. Blend in dulce de leche. Make sure you really beat it for a few minutes on medium high (at least 3) so you get that super smooth and fluffy frosting texture. Fold in chopped candy bars.
  11. For ganache:
  12. Place chopped chocolate in a glass bowl. Boil heavy cream in a saucepan. Pour over chopped chocolate, and stir until completely melted and combined.
  13. For salted caramel frosting:
  14. Beat softened butter in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until smooth and creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar and blend on medium speed until smooth, about a minute. Blend in vanilla extract and salt. Blend in dulce de leche.
  15. Make sure you really beat it for a few minutes on medium high (at least 3) so you get that super smooth and fluffy frosting texture. Frost cupcakes, then sprinkle the tops of each cupcake with a pinch of sea salt flakes.
http://www.thecupcakeprincess.com/2013/05/chocolate-crunch-salted-caramel-cupcakes/

The celebration may be over, but I don’t think I will ever get enough of these cupcakes!

best cupcake ever

White Chocolate Caramel Macadamia Nut Blondies

by on April 25, 2013, 0 comments

chewy blondies recipe

One of my life goals is to try every Cheesecake Factory cheesecake flavor ever, but I’m having trouble reaching that life goal since every time I go to Cheesecake Factory I end up ordering my favorite one – White Chocolate Caramel Macadamia Nut.

white chocolate caramel cheesecake

In order to move on in life and make progress on this life goal, I created these White Chocolate Caramel Macadamia Nut Blondies.  Now I just have a couple before I head over to Cheesecake Factory so I won’t be tempted to order the same cheesecake again. These are actually so good, that I just want to skip going out to the restaurant altogether and just eat these for dinner and dessert…

chewy blondies recipe

What makes the cheesecake so amazing is the thick ribbon of dulce de leche mixed with chunks of white chocolate and macadamia nuts that runs through the cake.  Likewise, these blondies are dense and chewy and full of dulce de leche.  The sweet white chocolate, salty macadamia nuts, and creamy dulce de leche in this chewy bar make this recipe one of my favorites.

Print
White Chocolate Caramel Macadamia Nut Blondies

Ingredients

  • 1 c + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1c dark brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 stick (1/2 c) butter, melted
  • 3/4 c white chocolate chips
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 of a 14 oz can of dulce de leche
  • 1/2 c salted chopped macadamia nuts

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven 350 degrees.
  2. Spray an 8×8 glass baking pan with cooking spray.
  3. Cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract together.
  4. Beat in egg until fluffy.
  5. Sift flour, salt, and baking soda into sugar mixture.
  6. Fold in white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.
  7. Pour batter into baking pan.
  8. Stir in the dulce de leche so there is a thick swirl running throughout the batter.
  9. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until set.
  10. Enjoy!
http://www.thecupcakeprincess.com/2013/04/white-chocolate-caramel-macadamia-nut-blondies/

Help Me Win a Year’s Supply of Candy!

by on March 29, 2013, 2 comments

nestle crunch birthday

I am so excited and honored to be part of Nestle Crunch’s 75th Birthday Showdown! Nestle selected fifteen of the nation’s best bakeries, including yours truly, and asked each of us to create a birthday dessert inspired by the Crunch bar. Head over to the contest page to check out the other bakeries and our creations and recipes.

And don’t forget to click ‘Vote’ for Cupcake & Cookie’s Salted Caramel Chocolate Crunch birthday cupcake! (PS – the recipe for the salted caramel frosting is here) We need your help – we are up against some serious competition! And winner gets a year’s supply of candy *teehee* I promise to share!

chocolate caramel cupcake

Sanrio Puroland, Revisited

by on March 20, 2013, 0 comments

I went to Sanrio Puroland again, YAY!  Puroland is hands down, one of my favorite places in the entire world.  Its just so literally full of happiness!  I don’t know how to describe it, but being there just makes me so happy, and every single other person there is so happy, and then we’re just all feeding off each other’s happiness, and it just becomes one contained magical tree of happiness!

We started off the trip by going to Shinjuku to purchase discounted tickets, which are about 50% cheaper than ticket prices at the door.  (Adult tickets retail for 4400 yen.  But in Tokyo, there are lots of little shops that sell discounted tickets  – they’re not hard to find; you’ll most likely walk past one on a main street and find a long line in front.  They sell discounted tickets for everything – subway, shinkansen, theater, concerts, Disneyland, Puroland, etc.  The amount of the discount depends on which location you purchase them from.)

I even spotted the Hello Kitty tour bus while getting our tickets in Shinjuku! Sure sign for a Hello Kitty filled day :)

hello kitty tour bus

on the train to Tama City with our tickets!

puroland tickets

Inside, Puroland is a fairy tale world.

sanrio puroland

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And there are gifts if its your birthday!

hello kitty birthday

This time, we caught the character parade.

hello kitty parade puroland parade puroland parade hello kitty parade

Unfortunately Kitty Lab, my favorite part of Puroland, is not there anymore.  Instead, there is now Club Kitty, where DJ Kitty teaches you to dance to Japanese pop music.

And the Sanrio Character Boat Ride is always happy fun.

little twin stars puroland

I had to make a couple stops during our day for the french fries. Puroland makes the best french fries on the entire continent of Asia, and possibly the entire world!  The fries are so super crispy on the outside and comfortingly soft on the inside.

hello kitty food

hello kitty cafeteria

There are abundant photo ops with characters throughout the park floor, but you can only meet Hello Kitty in her house.

puroland characters

Kitty’s House is now my favorite attraction in the park, since Kitty Lab is gone – Kitty Lab was a Hello Kitty 35th anniversary special attraction for Puroland, which is now gone. Maybe I’ll do a separate post on Kitty Lab later to share…

hello kitty house

The purse I’ve been searching for! Unfortunately, its not available for sale in Kitty’s closethello kitty bow purse

Kitty’s dining room (love the fireplace!)

hello kitty house

hot pink Britney waiting room before meeting Kitty
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Check out my previous post for more Puroland details, photos, more about the games and Kitty Lab!

Its a small park and lines are short, so you could get through it pretty quickly. Its the photos, games, and shopping that takes up the bulk of my time there. But Puroland usually closes pretty early, so I would recommend getting there early.

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