Favorite Shots: Depth of Film

 

I discovered the film grain filter in CS4. Maybe I should just buy a film camera. What’s the best one?

L

Pipe Dream #154: To Laud Notoriety – Oreo Brownie Earthquake Cupcakes

My sister is somewhat of a legend in our family. She is breathtakingly beautiful, ultra-smart and brilliant at playing cello. I am not even a little exaggerating on any of those points, but these are not why she is notorious.

Wades can eat an entire Oreo Brownie Earthquake from DQ. By herself. All at once. And she could do it at age 7. And she was real teeny when she was 7. She claimed she was full, but I guess her “dessert stomach” was still empty for a massive, brownie-fortified sundae with whipped cream, Oreos, hot fudge and marshmallow sauce. I mean, let’s be real, if you wanted to, you could eat an entire OBE, but probably not at such a tender age, after eating a whole meal.

These cupcakes are inspired by and dedicated to Wades. They are over the top. They are far too much. And they are probably everything you ever wished for this Wednesday.

I used the stand by one bowl chocolate cupcake recipe for these. No need for frivolity. Plenty of that to come later. Please do not be like me and forget to add the sugar, lick your finger, realize you didn’t add the sugar, and then stir it in to the individual cupcake liners. It is totally unnecessary to do that. I figured since it was a one bowl recipe, I could get away with this method. Heh.

This is a mixture of cream cheese, marshmallow fluff and Oreo crumbles otherwise known as “all you’ve ever loved.” I used it to fill the cupcakes using the cone method. Scoop out, scoop in, frost. It was good, but I thought that the cream cheese was a bit tangy. There is no tanginess in a true OBE, so I might nix it next time in favor of butter and powdered sugar. Girl isn’t afraid of going oversweet.

For the frosting, I used a 7-Minute frosting recipe, which I am still trying to get right. Each time I’ve tried it, my bowl hasn’t been clean enough, which I well knew, but I have high hopes for its eventual awesomeness. Will someone please have a birthday soon, so I can make you some marshmallow frosting?

To serve, top each cupcakes with Oreo crumbles and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. Hot fudge if you’re an OBE purist and Hershey’s if you’re me. Since I was little, my family always has had a bottle of Hershey’s syrup on hand. I have no idea why. Kind of like I have no idea how my sister is capable of ingesting OBEs.

Still puzzling,

L

Oreo Brownie Earthquake Cupcakes

You can find the recipe for the cupcakes here.

You can find the recipe for the marshmallow frosting here.

Other ingredients needed:

Oreo cookies, maybe 12, crumbled

1 ounce cream cheese, softened

4 ounces marshmallow cream

Chocolate syrup or sauce

To assemble:

Combine cream cheese, marshmallow cream and 3/4 of the Oreo cookie crumbles. Mix well. If the mixture is too soft for your taste, you can add some powdered sugar to thicken it up.

Cut a hole in the top of each cupcake. Use a spoon to fill each divet with marshmallow/Oreo mixture.

Frost cupcakes with marshmallow frosting. It’s ok if it looks a little messy, what with a cupcake based on a sundae. Sprinkle frosted cupcakes with Oreo crumbles, then drizzle chocolate syrup over the top. Serve.

Pipe Dream #153: To De-Frag – Creamy Peanut Butter Desert Fudge

I had a few concerns about posting this recipe. Ok, I had just one concern.

I felt that the visuals were below par. You may note the extremely fragged top of these fudge squares. FraggED due to my impatience and disinterest in being perfect.

But here’s the thing. I got over my concern pretty quickly, given the fact that this recipe is  a must-make for your next holiday gathering. Must. 1) It is super simple and no-fail. 2) It is highly, highly addictive, which means that you have to make it for an occasion or you will be eating all of it alone. I took mine to work, and people kept shooting me nasty emails like, “Lauren, why did you bring this in??? I’m on my third piece. I’m dying.” Or something like that.

Besides, I figured posting it would be good for my humility.

These are a few of my favorite things. White on white on white, which I hear is “fresh” these days.

And of course, my most favorite things. Combined. I am smiling just looking at those two together. Everyone knows they are such a great couple. Made for each other, probably.

Wonk-esque.

Now, all you have to do in order to make vast improvements on my fail of this recipe is to wait until the fudge is all the way set before you cut it. Just wait! Unless you are somewhat attracted to the arty cracks. You could, like, build a food landscape or something. Ooh! You could also dress up this fudge a little bit, sprinkling the tops with pralines or chocolate or drizzling with peanut butter before it is set. Wild.

Humbled ever and anon,

L

Creamy Peanut Butter Fudge

Adapted from Shugary Sweets

3 cups white sugar
¾ cups unsalted butter
1 pinch salt
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups white chocolate chips
7 ounces marshmallow cream
¾ cups creamy peanut butter

Line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang of foil/paper on two sides of the pan to use as a handle later. Set aside.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, heat the sugar, butter, salt and heavy cream until combined. Bring to a rolling boil and stir continuously for 4 minutes.

While that mixture is heating, mix the white chocolate, marshmallow cream and peanut butter until well-blended.

After four minutes, immediately remove boiling mixture from heat.  Whisk in white chocolate/marshmallow cream/peanut butter mixture. Pour fudge into prepared pan and refrigerate for 3 hours. Do not be like me and become impatient, or you will have desert fudge on your hands.

Remove fudge from pan using the paper handles. Cut into pieces and store in an airtight container between wax paper layers.