Food Time: Kahlua Coffee Cupcake with Kahlua Infused Buttercream with Espresso

Alright! I've been promising and promising and promising for new food post and HERE IT IS! *fist in the air* Excuse me while I indulge myself with bread filled with Cookie Butter, Nutella and these fine bits.

Seriously, who doesn't LOVE Trader Joe's? That grinder full of awesomeness is soooo good on top of your cream cheese & toasted bagels. I can have breakfast anytime now. 

Well, tonight I'll be sharing you one of my favorite cupcakes (and a fav for my alcoholic friends... JK), The Kahlua Cupcake!!!

As I whip open my handy dandy recipe book, I realized I need to organize it better. It's so messy, full of flour and powdered sugar, it smells sweet.

got this at borders. oh how i miss that bookstore.

Let's get started! Get your bottle of Kahlua and party on.

Kahlua Coffee Cupcake with Kahlua Infused Buttercream with Espresso

adapted from multiple sources. I combined and recreate it to my own version. Woopah.

Thou shall need:

Cupcakes

• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cool
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, at room temp
• 1 3/4 + 3 tbsp cake flour
• 3/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder (I'm a fan of Van Houten)
• 1 whoopin' tbsp of Espresso powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup of Hot Coffee (start with 1/4 cup first)

Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees. And line your cupcake pans with fun and pretty liners. This makes about 24 cupcakes.

In mixer bowl, with the paddle attachment, mix together butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs until completely combined for about 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder & salt in a large bowl.

Alternating flour and buttermilk, add the flours in thirds, beginning and ending with flour, mix in medium - low speed. Scrape the sides and only mix until combined. 

Fold in 1/4 cup of the hot coffee and mix until combined.

Fill in the liners 3/4 full and bake for 18 minutes.

Let them cool in the pans for 5 minutes then transfer those lovelies to a wire rack for about another 5 - 10 minutes.

While still warm, poke holes onto the cupcakes with a toothpick and using a brush, smother those babies with Kahlua, 2 to 3 to 4 to 5 times. Haha. A friend of mine actually told me I should just soaked them in Kahlua. Then let them cool completely and they should be ready to get frosted.

Frosting

• 1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, room temp
• 3 - 5 cups of powdered sugar, sifted (I usually end up using 4 cups)
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 1 tsp Kahlua (in my case, I substituted the Vanilla with an extra teaspoon of Kahlua. Yay)
• 1 tsp Hot Coffee (or, if you really love Kahlua, opt this out and add another teaspoon of Kahlua)
• 1 tbsp of instant coffee granules/espresso powder

In a mixer bowl, whip the butter until light and fluffy. One cup at a time, add the powdered sugar. Scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition & mixing until combined. Between the addition of sugar, alternate between adding the Kahlua, coffee and Vanilla (or the full 3 tsp Kahlua haha). Then mix in the coffee granules/espresso powder and whip for about another 2 - 3 minutes. If you notice your frosting is pretty thin, you may add 1/4 cup of powdered sugar at a time until you find the consistency you like. 

You may chill the frosting in the fridge until you're ready to use. Whip for a minute or two, and frost away. 

I usually garnish it with chocolate covered espresso beans, BUT that Trader Joe's Grinder above would be perfect as well.

Let's me know if any of you decided to make this. I would love some feedback :)

moonbeams & bunny kisses,

I did it... (and yes, I cheated)

it's not even my birthdayyy

I have finally made a decent cake. It was delicious. Yes, my goal this year was to make a cake and be able to frost it in at least a presentable way. I was obsessed with Ombre Cakes because they just look so awesome, so hence that's what I made. And it came out pretty decent.

Yet, I cheated. Haha. I made the Chocolate cake from scratch, but I cheated on the Vanilla cake. Yes, I used a box mix. But at least it was an all natural box mix from Fresh & Easy. I did compare their mix with like Betty Crocker's, and they don't have any weird chemicals in their mix. Super. My goal was to get the hang of frosting the cake, plus I was suppressed on time, I had to make one of the cake layers from a box. 

6 hours in the kitchen = tired.

So for the chocolate cake, I used the recipe from Sprinkle Bakes' book and it came out excellent. The cake was super moist. It really tasted like Devil's Food Cake from a box without being from a box. Super impressed. I, of course, did some tweaked to the recipe, instead of using buttercream liquid, I used the powdered version and substituted the fluid with, wait for it, Chocolate Lovers Creme de Coco Wine. It came out divine.

The original recipe makes 2 9" round cakes, but I only made one, so the rest of the batter was divided in the cupcakes. And that even made 18 cupcakes... so pretty much I recipe of the cake makes 36 cupcakes. Dank! As for the Vanilla cake mix, I split the batter in half and colored one half with chocolate paste to create a mocha like color. 

As for frosting, since my friends who came over requested chocolate cake, I decided to make Whipped Chocolate Ganache, also from Sprinkle Bakes's book. It's soo rich, it's awesome

Another cheat that I did was I had some frostings left from the graduation cupcakes, I decided to use them for the chocolate cupcakes from the cake batter. It came out pretty darn good.

Whipped Cream Cheese, Strawberry Lambrusco Buttercream & Whipped Chocolate Ganache

Hard work paid off because both friends & my brother loved the cake. There's a lot of learning to do regarding frosting technique & how to move the cake from the turning stand to the cake stand (I damaged some parts of the cake haha), but other than that, the cake was delish.

On the other hand, my friends and I were talking over cake about New York City, and we did a secret handshake and devoted ourselves to live in NYC one day all together. Haha... We're crazy. Heather will be in NYC in July and begged to make a trip there with her. Gabz & I started dreaming and planning and got excited and decided to join too. Unfortunately my schedule didn't fit with Heather's trip, but we both booked an NYC trip (just like seconds ago) a couple of days after Heather goes back to Cali (SORRY MY LOVE!!!). I love that city so much, I wanna marry it. Kidding.

This is one spontaneous purchase/trip, but I'm so excited. I can't wait to explore New York again. Haha, 3 times the charm (this will be 3 years in a row!!)

My goal in NYC is to explore more, especially West Village, East Village, SoHo & Chelsea/Meatpacking District, and also Brooklyn (where we'll be staying). And try as much as possible foods from this list. Aaaaa, forget dieting. 

moonbeams & exciting bunny kisses,

It is Official

And y'all were like? Huh? Official? What's official?

As you can see, there's not more "blogspot" on my web address. Yes, it's just straight up, www.bolubyrima.com!! I registered my domain last night (godaddy.com! no sexy chick convinced me though)... So BoluByRima is MINE! Yeaaaaa boi. 

And today I made my first official order. My beloved friend, Gaby, wanted to order some Chocolate Soufflé, and also a coffee flavor cupcake, which I took as a challenge, so I made Kahlua Coffee cupcakes for her (I made one batch before, but this one was a little bit different). 

Also, I've also have some orders that are coming up, but I haven't confirmed them yet. I'm also working on making a stamp for me & probably a business card. 

Excuse the lame green tag with my hand writting on it. Haha... I was in a hurry, in between baking, while stamping the bolu name. 

Chocolate Sufflé and Kahlua Coffee Cupcakes

So I am excited on baking more. The only drawback for now is time (I'm only off on Tuesdays & Weekends, and disregard those days when I'm on call) and how small my kitchen is. Haha. So sad. 

A couple of my friends have been asking me about flavors that I do, I will work on a page about that soon. I have to write down the stuffs that I've made and will post them up as soon as I can. Meanwhile, if you want to order (woo!), please don't hesitate to email me bolubyrima@gmail.com

I'm super stoked!

- Rima

Things I Love Monday week 9 & 10

Hi Bunz.

Can't you believe it? It's March already? Second week of March? Damn, time flies like nobody's business. Beh. 

Anyways, I would like to share you some fun times I've been doing in the past 2 weeks, especially this past weekend!

Week 9, as usual I was busy with work. Not only that, I had to work during the weekend too because I was on call. Awesome thing was that the Pillow was patient enough to wait for me and we had dinner together. Love this man. I also did this after my Sunday case (just in case you didn't read about it)

Now on to the exciting thing of week 10!!!!!!

See those dresses? They were my outfit for this photo shoot that I did with my "new" bff, Ollie. Yes, BoluByRima collaborated with A Sight of Love. We've known each other from my sister, where he was the photographer for her wedding. (I'm in it. And there's a sappy ugly picture of me there, tee hee). Not only this guy is brilliant, he is hilarious. I had so much fun doing pictures with him & his wife, Christina, who will soon to give birth to a unknown-sex baby (haha for now). 

I've been prepping Rob's kitchen for the shoot, and I guess it paid off. It's such a bachelor pad, I told him from the get go that the kitchen is my territory hehe (seriously, you open the front door, you are greeted with Sports Memorabilia). Luckily his patio was pretty rustic, which Ollie favors a lot (he loves rustic). 

Anyhoo, both Rob & I are not model status, so it was pretty awkward at first. I immediately popped a bottle of beer (on an empty stomach!), and after some shots, I got used to it. Twas weird when I was posing, Rob was just watching me while eating Chinese food. Not cool, haha. Also, my sister & her husband with his siblings came to indulge on the main thing of the photo shoot: CUPCAKES!

For this event, I made Red Wine Velvet Cupcakes and my Chocolate Soufflé Cupcakes. Both was topped with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting. Chocolate galore. I was surprised when I heard that my sister's husband ate like, 9. Hahahaha... Rob ate like 5. Wow. I was child-approved, because Ollie's little boy, Gabby, ate a whole cupcake. 

So it was like a foodie/couple photo shoot type of thing. I can't wait for the shots to be up. 

After having "dessert" for lunch, we ended up having dinner at the Capital in Irvine, where we secretly surprised Ollie with the servers & us singing Happy Birthday to him. Haha. And actually today is his birthday. Happy Bday, friend!

Happy Birthday!

So I had a great week (or two). 

Honorable mentions:

spending the Sat of week 10 with the Pillow, had french food for lunch, followed with some Reflexology massage at Westminster (it was ok for me. My regular is way better), and dinner at this Viet restaurant and I had this weird beef soup, called Bun Bo Hue. It was good, but in it there was a bone that had a ligament attached to it and I kept on staring at it while I eat my noodle; I love Cost Plus World Market; I LOVE SCHMIDT from New Girl; Purchased $300 worth of medical stuff for my Honduras trip (so EXCITED!); had a very smelly call-back case (Abscess Drain Placement. Ugh); Chimmy's hair is getting longer, but he gets smelly easy; Chimmy whining while getting locked out from the staircase. Super cute; I dislike losing 1 hour of sleep but loving the light staying longer. 

my cute boyfriend; ground sirloin & mushroom crepes, & he had lamb; CUTE BUNNIES; Bun Bo Hue

I hope you guys have a great week!

moonbeams & bunny kisses,

Rima

Things I Love Monday Week 8 & Great Things To Happen in March

Hello Friends!

It's time for TiLM again (I know, I am late!) Yes I do realized now that I'm doing TiLM on  Tuesdays now, since it's my day of. I don't feel like changing the name, because I like it. Hah.

Anyways, it's been a busy week. I worked in my old department, ER, on Tuesday, and it was insane (like usual). Man, the flow of patients never stopped. Unbelievable! But it was nice to work with my old friends again! 

My church, UNISDAC, celebrated its 2nd anniversary. I'm proud of my church. Lots of other churches doubted that my church will still be together until now because we're a multi-tribal church, with 2 of the biggest being Bataknese & Manadonese (both are known to be hard-headed & strong in rivalry when it comes to being officers at church. Seriously!) We even went through multiple pastoral changes, yet we're still strong. I'm very happy with my youth! We're a group of fun people! Love them! Happy 2nd Bday, UNISDAC :)

After the celebration, I headed home right away to bake for my Sister & Bro-In-Law. They placed an order for cupcakes (and donated the money for my Honduras trip), and Vino (bro-in-law) drooled for the Chocolate Soufflé Cupcakes ever since he saw the posting on facebook. Also I've always wanted to make Strawberry Cupcakes so I made them as well. 

Cupcakes! So fluffy!

We met up with them at Dave and Buster's, along with the Pillow, my brother, Otin & his girlfriend, Kat. We had so much fun, especially at the end where we were getting our tickets exchanged. Vino played this random game while we were waiting in line and he hit the bonus, 250 tickets. Haha. We ended up exchanging them with an Angry Bird doll (for me) and Vino wanted the doll of the dog from Family Guy. Even though secretly, I know Vino wants the Justin Bieber Barbie Doll. Hahaha...

They sent me this text the next morning!

Sunday was the wedding of my dear friend Naldy, who I've known since 2nd grade. It was great because it was like a reunion for Menteng (our elementary school) & Salemba (our jr. high). Unfortunately, our friend Nia, Naldy's cousin, couldn't make it to the wedding, so my sisters, JJ & Icha and I became text-reporters for her through out the ceremony. Haha. Epic. 

The Pillow trying to make a sexy face

So cute!

one of my favorite drinks ever: Avocado Slush with Chocolate Syrup & Boba.

So Monday was work day, as usual. And I got a call back 1 hour after I left work. Haha! But luckily it was an easy case. Twas a weird day though, weather wise? If you live in the Inland Empire, I'm pretty sure we were all weirded out by having snow/hail in the flat lands of Fontana, Beaumont, etc. I even saw pictures of snow in West Covina. WTH. Low elevation snow? Weird. Cool, but weird. And it was freezing (for SoCal standards). 

Got this awesome bag that I'm going to use for me trip. Super excited. It was so many pockets, it's perfect for traveling. It's made by Ecote, called Around The World Backpack (is this a sign?) and available at Urban Outfitters.

my ice cream saying bye bye to its home

Today my parents & I headed to LA to take care of my mum's passport, and on the way home we stopped by Handel's Ice Cream in Upland. Claimed to be #1 ice cream in the world, it was great. I had Pistachio Ice Cream. So delish. I should stop by on Wednesdays, where it's $1 Cone. WHAT? In California they only have 2 branches, with a new one opening in my home town, Rancho Cucamonga. OMG. Super excited. Never too Cold for Ice Cream. That's my motto. Hahaha, I'm a dork.

Now, as for great things in March, lot's of things are going to happen in March, and I am very stoke about them!

• 3 birthdays of 3 girls that I love: Mother, baby sister Ocha, and preggo sister Icha.
• this upcoming weird interview on Friday. Nervous, but must go through it.
• Cupcake photo shoot with my friend, A Sight of Love, at the Pillow's apartment. Theme is Vintage/70s, so it'll be me with my cupcakes, doing dirty things. I've never done a professional photo shoot, except for this one time for free with Chimmy @ Anthropologie, and that one was super quick. 
• Honduras trip! I'm very excited for this!

I hope you guys have a great week(end). I'm on call, so we'll see how this week goes. More $$$? Haha.

moonbeams & bunny kisses,

Rima

Deck the Boxes

!!!

My sister placed orders from me for her to give as Christmas gifts.

I am tired now, but such a delightful thing to do! I just love being in the kitchen (minus cleaning)

moonbeams and bunny kisses,

Rima

Food Time: Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Such a mouthful name.

So this is it. My first Recipe entry. I had so much fun making this, to the point that I forgot to get my camera and used my iPhone 4 instead. So forgive for my picture taking skills.

Anyways, it was during the Halloween-going-to-Thanksgiving weeks where I decided to browse around like a maniac (for about 2 weeks!) to find some Pumpkin Cupcake recipes and incorporated to my version of it. I always have fun in the kitchen by myself, I felt like I was in my Zen Mode. I love Yoga, but screw that, the Kitchen is my Zen. I probably will need a Bonsai Tree in my Kitchen.

The smell of all the spices as the cupcakes were in the making was so awesomely delicious, I kept on staring at my oven window like a hungry cat waiting for the mouse to come out (mkay, Tom & Jerry?). After I got the cakes out of the oven, I was literally like Homer Simpson when he thinks about beer and donuts.

The cupcake was pretty dense, but the combination of the frosting and cake in your mouth, yum-fest.

First of all, as a novice baker, I recommend a good & solid mixer. Mine is the KitchenAid 5 qt one. It's my mum's but lately I've been using it a lot. For this kick, I used the Paddle attachement.