CCC: Butterscotch cupcakes

I was excited when this month's Cooking Club Challenge was chosen to be Riccardo's Butterscotch cupcakes.  I was excited to have the opportunity to make real butterscotch from scratch, something I may not have tackled otherwise.  While I love chocolate cake and icing, it's something I naturally gravitate towards while baking, so this recipe gave me the chance to try something completely new.  Plus after the rich German Chocolate Cake I made last week, as much as I wasn't hankering for cupcakes, there was something about these little bites that I was excited to make.

Judging Iron Cupcake Toronto

If you are friends with me or Piccante Dolce on Facebook or follow me on Twitter you may have seen me rabidly campaigning last week, with help from the Boy and my brother, to win a spot as a judge in the Iron Cupcake Toronto Competition.  Redpath Sugar was running a contest to get two judges for the competition where the secret ingredient was Chocolate.

I arrived to For the Love of Cake's Liberty Village location on Sunday afternoon and was directed across the hall and upstairs to a snazzy common room that was teeming with contestants and supporters.  I met Genevieve the Head Deisgner & Owner of the cupcake shop and the person running the competition.

Unprocessed: Chocolate Beet Cupcakes

As a part of Unprocessed October I really wanted to come up with a cupcake recipe that was delicious and satisfying.  One of my favorite cupcakes is the red velvet.  Let's be honest the amount of food coloring that goes into those puppies makes it far from unprocessed.  Since there are all kinds of recipes out there for beet cakes and I figured I could use beets as a natural food coloring. Add in some honey and whole wheat flour and we have the makings of an unprocessed sweet.

Upon looking for cream cheese for this recipe I learned that most commercial cream cheeses list their first ingredient as "milk ingredients."  What are "milk ingredients"?  I'm not sure I really want to know.  Since I really wanted to make this completely unprocessed, I went for the organic cream cheese, which actually listed ingredients I could pronounce and knew what they were. I am generally pro-organic especially when it comes to buying at farmers markets and directly from producers.  But am a bit skeptical about more commercially produced organic ingredients, there is such conflicting information out there as to how organic something commercially processed can be.   The unfortunate thing is that by labeling something organic it automatically jacks up the price, at least in my grocery story.  I spent twice as much on my organic cream cheese, making it it an unfortunate reality that I won't be purchasing it in the future at least not for my baking projects.

All that being said I think this is a pretty great alternative to your average sugary cupcake.  Based on a calorie counter I used over at Spark Recipes, it clocks in a just over 200 calories per cupcake, with the icing without it's at 150.  Not too shabby, especially considering I think the icing recipe made far too much. 

Strawberry Cupcakes

I think it's safe to say that I've gone out of control with the whole cupcake thing. I've probably got more cupcake posts than pie posts and I LOVE pie. I think it's the cute little individual size, how easy they are to give to people. I'm not sure. Recently it was the boy's friend's 40th bday (trying saying that five times fast). Well, with these guys you just know that any party they throw will have tons of beer and beef but little by way of birthday cheer. So to combat that I texted the Birthday Buddy (as he will now be referred to) to see find out his favorite flavor. After a ridiculous response of "blue!" I got him to own up to liking strawberry. So 40 Strawberry cupcakes it was, the boy was pulling for a cake in the shape of the number 40 but a cake sculptor I am not and we couldn't find number cake pans on such short notice.

I remembered reading somewhere about how Candace from Sprinkles Cupcakes (one of the best cupcake shops in LA) shared her strawberry cupcake recipe with Martha Stewart. I found the recipe online and set about to quadruple it for the necessary amount of cupcakes. I decided to do 2 double batches as it was much more manageable. The first batch turned out great, nice and soft with the perfect strawberry flavor. As I set out to make the second double batch I realized that in my first go I doubled everything but the eggs! But the cake worked and I really liked it so I decided to just keep going with it.

Strawberry Cupcakes
adapted from Sprinkles Bakery recipe
makes 20-24 cupcakes

1 1/3 cup whole fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed
3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup whole milk, room temperature
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 large egg whites, room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.
2. Place strawberries in a small food processor; process until pureed. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree, add a few more strawberries if necessary or save any extra puree for frosting; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree; set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.
5. With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.
6. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in tin before icing.


Strawberry Frosting
adapted from Sprinkles Bakery recipe
enough frosting to pipe 20-24 cupcakes

1/2 cup whole frozen strawberries, thawed
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold
Pinch of coarse salt
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners' sugar; beat until well combined. Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended. Do not overmix or frosting will incorporate too much air. Frosting consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice cream.


The one word I have for these cupcakes is "ice cream." The batter tastes like strawberry ice cream, the frosting tastes like strawberry ice cream and the whole thing put together tastes like strawberry ice cream. I have to say while it wasn't my favorite cupcake, it was pretty tasty and a hit with the boy and Birthday Buddy which is who mattered most. Even if it wasn't my favorite, I do think it's one of the prettiest cupcakes I've ever made and extremely feminine. Probably too feminine for a macho Special Effects guy, but no one complained once they tried them which is always a good sign. Enjoy!

Uma Cupcakes

First off Happy Birthday to my good friend Uma! Her birthday was on Saturday and to celebrate I made her some Piccante Dolce cupcakes. About a week ago, I asked her for her favorite flavors without telling her why I wanted them. After first saying she would try anything I made, I love how she just assumed it was for me to make something which of course was correct, I got her to own up to liking white chocolate and raspberry. I made a white chocolate cake back in February that was good, but not perfect so I was excited at the prospect of a challenge to improve upon a recipe. I also knew I wanted to do a filled cupcake because they are just more special and give the opportunity to add another flavor component. I settled upon White Chocolate Cake filled with Raspberry Curd topped with White Chocolate Buttercream and a fresh raspberry. Thus the Uma cupcake was born! My friends and co-workers have been on me to name my cupcakes so this first one will be named after my friend who inspired it. Follow me on Twitter (@piccantedolce) as I may ask for some help in naming the cupcakes from time to time.

White Chocolate Cupcakes
makes 24 cupcakes

12 oz imported white chocolate
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
4 egg whites
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Using a double boiler melt the white chocolate, stirring until it is all melted and smooth. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar. Beat in egg whites 1 at a time. In a medium bowl mix together dry ingredients. Mix the vanilla in with the milk.
3. Add the dry ingredients and the milk into the butter, alternating the dry with the wet, beginning and ending with the dry. Fill cupcake liners 1/2-2/3 full.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before moving onto next steps.

Raspberry Curd

I used this recipe from my Resolution Breaker Tart, the full recipe makes enough to fill 20-24 cupcakes.


White Chocolate Buttercream

1 lb of butter - at room temperature
1 lb or more icing sugar
24 oz white chocolate
1 tsp vanilla

1. Melt white chocolate in a double boiler over a pot of simmering water. Set aside to cool, but not set.
2. Using a mixer, mix butter until it is light and fluffy. Add in icing sugar 1-2 Tbsp at a time until stiff.
3. Mix in melted white chocolate and vanilla until just combined. Icing will be soft. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set-up.

Assembly

1. Once cupcakes are cooled, cut a cone shape deep into each cake. Remove cone and fill hole with raspberry curd.
2. Cut almost all of the pointy part of the cone off to make a top and place it on top of the raspberry curd filled hole. Repeat with all cakes.
3. Ice with cooled icing and garnish with a fresh raspberry.


These cupcakes were a hit with the birthday girl, the boy and everyone the birthday girl shared them with. The boy at two full sized, iced cakes which he rarely does, so that tells me they were really good! I was really pleased with how they turned out and really enjoyed just the cake on it's own, my first real attempt at my own cake recipe. I really liked being able to give someone something that I made as a gift, especially if I am able to incorporate their favorite flavors. Enjoy!

Almost Churro Cupcakes with Mexican Chocolate Frosting

With Cinco de Mayo tomorrow I knew I wanted to make something Mexican in flavor. I've posted quite a few recipes on here of different savory Mexican dishes and decided for this I wanted to make something sweet. The boy and I recently ate a Cava, a restaurant here in Toronto and in addition from a completely wonderful meal we had a wonderful dessert of Churros and Chocolate. Ever since I moved to Southern California 4 years ago I fell in love with churros and loved them even more dipped in a fabulously thick and rich Mexican hot chocolate. The churros and choclate at Cava were fabulous! This was my attempt to recreate this fabulous treat. I call them Almost Churro Cupcakes, because they are good but not exactly what I was going for when I started this. The cupcakes taste a bit too cinnamony and the chocolate icing isn't exactly what I was going for, not rich enough. That being said we had some friends over to watch hockey last night and they thought they were fabulous. With that kind of a criticism, I figured I'd still share the recipe. Plus I think the photos cam out pretty well.


Churro Cupcakes
makes 12-16 cupcakes

2 cups flour
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup room temperature milk
1/2 cup room temperature butter
1 room temperature egg
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until well combined and fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla.
3. Mix together flour, baking powder salt and cinnamon. Add flour and milk alternately to the butter and sugar mixture, beginning and ending with the flour.
4. For regular cupcakes, place 2 heaping Tbsp of mix into paper lined cupcake tin. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove to a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.



Mexican Chocolate Frosting

2 sticks butter - room temperature
1/4 sour cream
pinch of sea salt
3 cups icing sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder

1. Mix butter and salt until fluffy. Add icing sugar a few Tbsps at a time until frosting is stiff enough for piping.
2. Beat in sour cream and add a few extra Tbsp of icing sugar if it loosens up too much. Add in cocoa powder and spices mixing until well combined.

My problem with these cupcakes is they taste too much like the Cinnamon Brown Sugar ones. I think I'd like more of a white cake with cinnamon swirl, but I still consider myself a fairly novice baker and am not quite sure how to get that. The chocolate icing was close but would have been better if I had remembered to pick up dark chocolate. They taste very good, just aren't exactly what I was hoping for. Does any one have any thoughts or tips? If so I'd love if you'd post them in the comments or shoot me an email or tweet me @piccantedolce.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Cupcakes with Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting

A few weeks ago I promised two of my co-workers cupcakes if they help me finish the New York Times Crossword Puzzle. I was working days and they were here much later into the night, so it was something to when things got slow. I had left about 10 answers blank and they were able to get all but one. I figured that was pretty good for the Times Puzzle and set about to come up with a fun and special cupcake. I got some requests, but ultimately went with something I was excited about. Although I'm still thinking about a candy bar inspired cupcake, I went with my most recent inspiration. I'm not sure where this one came from, but I was at my desk the other day and the idea of a cinnamon brown sugar cupcake came to me and rather than do just a basic cream cheese frosting I thought blueberries would make it just a bit more special and a bit more springlike.

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Cupcakes
makes 16-18 cupcakes or 32-34 minis

2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup room temperature butter
1 room temperature egg
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Place milk and cinnamon stick in a small saucepan. Bring milk just to a boil and remove from heat cover and let cinnamon stick steep in milk for 3o minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until well combined and fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla.
3. Mix together flour, baking powder salt and cinnamon. Add flour and milk alternately to the butter and sugar mixture, beginning and ending with the flour.
4. For mini cupcakes, place 1 Tbsp of mix into paper-lined cupcake tin. For regular cupcakes, place 2-3 Tbsp of mix into paper lined cupcake tin. Note: due to the baking powder the cupcakes rise, so fill each cup 1/2-2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove to a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting

1 4.4 oz container of blueberries
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp water
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 8 oz package of cream cheese - room temperature
1 stick butter - room temperature
2 lbs icing sugar

1. Place blueberries, lemon juice, water and cinnamon in a small saucepan and cook over medium low heat until blueberries start to break down to form a sauce. Cook until liquid reduces to a syrupy consistency. Set aside to cool completely.
2. In a large bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter. Add icing sugar 2 Tbsp at a time until extremely stiff (more stiff that you'd normally like since the blueberries will thin out the icing a bit) you may not need all the icing sugar.
3. Gently fold in the blueberry mixture. If the icing have loosed up too much, beat in a few more Tbsp of icing sugar. Ice cupcakes with an offset spatula or piping bag and tip.

I have to say these are my most favorite cupcakes that I've made to date. Just the right amount of cinnamon flavor with the fresh burst of blueberries and cream cheese. Yum! My co-workers agreed and really seemed to like them. Although they like when I bring anything in so I am beginning to wonder if they would tell me if something was bad. The litmus test was the boy, a professed hater of cream cheese frosting and something that was nearly our demise a few months ago due to my love of cream cheese frosting, but he LOVED these. When I was leaving for work, he asked that I just leave him one mini cupcake to taste and ended up being bummed I didn't leave more. These will definitely be my new go-to cupcake, until of I come up with something else of course. Enjoy!

If you feel like being festive this St. Patty's Day

While St. Patrick's Day is definitely about the beer it's also about the food for me. Corned beef and Cabbage is coming up tomorrow, but for today we have some fun cupcakes to get you in the mood. While I have brought many sweets into my office, I had yet to send the boy to work with any. Something that I heard the guys had begun to grumble about since he has mentioned my blog and my affinity for making treats more than once. I figured what better time to send something but right around St. Patty's day. They obviously can't drink on the job so I made cupcakes with the beer baked in to keep things in the spirit. I made Guinness Chocolate mini cupcakes and Green Velvet minis both iced with Bailey's Buttercream icing. The green velvet are my own little twist on red velvet, using green food coloring in place of red.


Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
makes 24 regular or 48+ mini
from Culinography

1 cup Guinness or other stout beer, room temperature
1 stick butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
3/4 cup sour cream (light works fine)
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine Guinness, melted butter, vanilla, eggs, sour cream, cocoa and sugars. Mix on low speed until combined. Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add to wet ingredients and mix until combined, stopping once to scrape down the bowl.

3. Line a muffin tin with paper liners and fill 2/3 full with batter.

4. Bake for 10-13 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for five minutes in the tin, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Green Velvet Cupcakes
makes 12 regular or 24 mini
adapted from I Heart Cuppycakes

1-1/2 cups cake flour
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp vinegar
5 drops green food coloring (I used 1/4 tsp of Wilton leaf green gel coloring)
3/4 cup sugar
4 tbsp butter
1 egg, room temperature

1. Preheat oven 350F. Prepare cupcake pan with liners.

2. Sift together cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into a bowl. In a large Pyrex measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk, vanilla, vinegar and red food coloring; set aside. In a stand mixer with flat beater, beat the sugar and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg. Mix to combine. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions alternating with buttermilk mixture, ending with the flour mixture.

3. Fill each liner about 2/3-3/4 full. Bake about 22-25 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool before frosting.

Bailey's Buttercream Icing
Enough for 96 mini cupcakes
adapted from Smitten Kitchen

6-8 or more cups confections sugar
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup Baileys (or for non-alcoholic milk, or heavy cream, or a combination thereof)

1. Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.

2. When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin, beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.



These were definitely a hit with the guys at the boy's work (and my office too). This was my first time using a proper piping bag and tip and I think I did a pretty good job! I was amazed at how easy it was to get all the cakes iced once I found my rhythm and doubt I'll ever use a knife or spatula again!

I loved the Bailey's buttercream. Just the right amount of Bailey's. The measure of sugar is vague as I literally added only a few Tbsp at a time and didn't keep track of the final measure. The Guinness chocolate cake was my favorite, so perfectly moist and delish! The Green Velvet was very dense, almost too dense for me, although the boy said it's denseness paired really well with the icing. All in all everything worked together quite nicely, although I think I'll go with a cream cheese icing on the Guinness cake next time I make it.

Hope all my friends in Southie had a great time at the parade yesterday! Enjoy!

"Hostess" Cupcakes

I woke up yesterday morning, my first day home after a nice trip back to New England, with and itch to bake something. My parents are both fabulous cooks so when I am visiting, I don't spend much time in the kitchen. Plus we were going to a family get together at the Boy's cousins house that evening and I can't help myself, I just need top bring some sort of sweet treat! I had a recipe from my grandmother for a Black Chocolate Cake and Fluff Icing. I don't remember this cake but when I took the recipe my father raved about it. I don't have a good cake pan and if I am making something new to bring to someone's home I like cupcakes because I can try them and make sure they turned out ok before giving them to anyone else! Rather that make a straight chocolate cupcake, I decided to make a version of a Hostess Cupcake, using the fluff icing as the filling and to pipe a little "H" on each cake (the "H" is for my and Grandma's last name since it is a creation from the 2 of us, her recipe and my method of assembly) and making a chocolate ganche to top each cake.

Black Chocolate Cake
makes 12 cupcakes

1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 heaping Tbsps unsweetend cocoa powder
1 1/2 Tbsp butter (this is the amount I used, on the recipe card it says butter the size of the walnut)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Line cupcake tin with papers or butter and flour each cup. Evenly divide the cake batter among the 12 cups. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 17-20 minutes, until a cake tester comes our clean.
3. Let cool completely before assembling.


Fluff Icing

1 cup granulated sugar
2 egg whites
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla

1. Beat first 4 ingredients together in a small mixing bowl for 5-8 minutes. Add vanilla when mixture begins to thicken.


Chocolate Ganache

4.5 oz semisweet chocolate - chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Heat cream over medium high heat until just boiling. Pour over chocolate (In a nonreactive bowl) let sit for 30 seconds and then whisk until smooth.


Assembling cupcakes
1. Using the cone method (cut out a cone shape from the top, cut off the pointy cone part, stuff the whole with filling, then put the top back on) fill the cakes with fluff icing (you can spoon it or I used a ziploc bag that I just cut the corner off of to pipe the icing).
2. Spoon the chocolate ganache on top of each cake, use the back of the spoon to coax the ganache in an even layer over the top of the cake.
3. Using a piping bag with the smallest tip (or a ziploc bag with a very tiny cut in the corner) pipe on whatever letter or doodle you'd like.


I loved making these, first because it's my grandmother's recipe and second because I got to dunk the pointy part of the cone in the fluff icing and eat it as I assembled the cupcakes. They were a total hit at the family get together too!

Banana Cupcakes

My new office doesn't go through bananas nearly as quickly as we buy them. They get all brown and unappealing looking before they're all eaten, so I decided to take the brownest ones home and make a nice treat for the office. I was going to make a banana bread, but thought cupcakes would be more fun. I googled "banana cake" and the first link that came up was "Best Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Ever." I, of course, had to try something that was claiming to be the best and I love cream cheese frosting, so I was sold. I had to tweak the baking times slightly for cupcakes and any other comments are below in red.

Best Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Ever
from Recipe Zaar

CAKE
1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed, ripe
2 teaspoon lemon juice
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter softened
2 1/8 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

FROSTING
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups icing sugar (I only used 3 cups)

GARNISH
chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan (Place cupcake papers in muffin tin for cupcakes).
2. In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with lemon juice; set aside
3. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
4. In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Stir in banana mixture.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan (fill each cupcake 2/3-3/4 full, I find that the 1/8 measuring cup is perfect for this) and bake in a preheated oven for one hour (25 mins for cupcakes) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
6. Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 mins. This will make the cake very moist (I completely omitted this step. I just didn't read far enough ahead in the process and had never done this before. Regardless the cupcakes were incredibly moist.)
7. For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add icing sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed until frosting is smooth.
8. Spread on cooled cake(s). Sprinkle chopped walnuts over top of the frosting, if desired.

The boy and I had these right out of the oven and they were great. He loved the cake, but isn't a huge fan of cream cheese frosting. I love it and think it perfectly complemented these cakes.

They have been a hit in the office, luckily! I still have some bananas leftover and am looking for ideas for what to do with them. Please post your favorite banana recipe, sweet or savory!

Boston Cream Cupcake

About a month ago one of my co-workers brought cupcakes into the office from a well-known bakery. I was less than impressed by the majority of the cupcakes from this bakery, but she bought a Boston Cream Cupcake that was amazing! I've always loved Boston Cream pie and donuts, basically anything along those lines and ever since having the tasty cupcake I've been wanting to try to recreate it. There are all kinda of recipes online but sifting through which pastry cream filling would be the best and which cake recipe would be the best is something I don't have time for right now. In an impulsive moment at the grocery store I decided to make a Boston Cream cupcake with cake and pudding mixes. See how I did it below:

Boston Cream Cupcakes

1 box Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Classic Yellow Cake Mix (including the ingredients necessary for cake)
1 box Jell-o cook & serve putting (including the ingredients necessary for pudding)
9 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream

1. Prepare the cake mix according to the directions on the box - should make approximately 24 cupcake. Make sure to fill each cup 2/3- 3/4 full with cake mix (i filled each about 3/4 full which is probably why I only got 21)
2. As the cupcakes bake, cook the pudding on the stovetop per the directions on the package. Once it's cooked, remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
3. Boil heavy cream in a sauce pan over medium high heat. Once it boils pour over chocolate chips and whisk together until chips have melted and everything is combined and smooth.
4. When cupcakes are done baking remove to a wire rack and allow to cool for at least 30 mins.
5. Once they have cooled you can begin assembling the cupcakes. Using a sharp knife cut a cone shape out of the top of the cupcake, cut most of the pointy part off and fill the hole with pudding, replacing the top on the cake.
6. Carefully ice the cupcakes with a thin layer of chocolate ganache. I found that a normal spoon worked best, to pour some ganache onto the cakes and use the back of the spoon to gently spread the ganache in an even layer.
7. These can be eaten right away, but if you let the cupcakes sit for a few hours to let the ganache set-up they are even better.



Making these with cake and pudding mix was so easy and they were quite satisfying. I will still try to make them again with cake and pastry cream from scratch, but this is a quick and easy method for a cupcake that's a little bit more special than the average store bought cupcake. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Today I went to a Pie Festival in Malibu with some friends (one of which is as obsessed with pies as I am). It was a church sponsored festival with a judged pie contest and a pie eating contest and of course plenty of pies to try. While the festival itself was quite nice we were somewhat disappointed with the caliber of pies. I think we were hoping for some more in the way of inspiration for our own pie recipes. Anyway, it was a nice was to spend a Saturday but it made me want to bake something when I got home. In the spirit of fall I decided to try to make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes, inspired by the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies that my brother and sister LOVE from our local grocery store. I used a recipe I found for Pumpkin Cupcakes that had walnuts and just subbed in mini chocolate chips for the walnuts. Check it out below.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
from About.com

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sift before measuring
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 eggs, beaten until frothy
1 cup mashed cooked or canned pumpkin
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (I used 3/4 cup of mini semisweet chocolate chips instead of walnuts)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a bowl.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy; beat in eggs. Blend in mashed pumpkin.
3. Stir in the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the milk, blending until batter is smooth after each addition; stir in chopped walnuts or pecans (mini chocolate chips).
4. Spoon batter into well-greased and floured or paper-lined muffin pan cups. Fill about 2/3 full.
5. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.
6. Let cool for approximately 2 hours and frost with Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting (recipe below). Makes 18-24 cupcakes (I got 18 cupcakes. Remember, if you don't fill every cup in a cupcake tin to fill the empty cups 1/2 with water to allow for even baking)


Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
from The Cupcake Project

1 8 oz package cream cheese at room temperature
1/4 C butter (1/2 stick) at room temperature
5 C sifted powdered sugar (You can decrease this amount if you don't care about it being as stiff for piping) (I used 3 1/2 cups and found that it was stiff enough for piping)
1/2 C cocoa powder

1. Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy.
2. Mix in powdered sugar, one cup at a time.
3. Mix in cocoa powder.

These cupcakes got the seal of approval from the sis and now I need to figure out a way to adapt them into tasty, cakey cookies. I have some ideas and will post about them when I figure it out.

These are pretty perfect for fall and with the orange and brown/black they actually would make a great Halloween cupcake.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

These delicious cupcakes are completely courtesy of my sister. She had the craving and desire to try making them. We enjoyed them so much that I decided to post the recipe. I'm fairly certain she followed it exactly, with the only substitution being Splenda Sugar Blend for the sugar.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting
from Paula Deen.com
makes approx 24 cupcakes

2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoon red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.
3. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer.
4. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.
5. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled.
6. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness.
7. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.


Cream Cheese Frosting

1 pound cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
Chopped pecans and fresh raspberries or strawberries, for garnish (These were garnished with just some red decorating sugar)

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth.
2. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.
Cook's Note: Frost the cupcakes with a butter knife or pipe it on with a big star tip. Garnish with chopped pecans and a fresh raspberry or strawberry.

This frosting had the same light and fluffy consistency of the Champagne Frosting for the Mimosa Cupcakes. The flavor was different, but I found it interesting that Mascarpone & Whipped Cream make a frosting that is the same consistency as Butter & Cream Cheese. Because is was so light I might have put a bit more frosting on each cake, but that depends on your preference.

Mimosa Cupcakes

Right around when I started reading food & cooking blogs, I happened upon a blog I've mentioned alot in my recent baking posts, The Cupcake Project. She does the most inventive things with cupcakes, it's great. This recipe for Mimosa cupcakes is what drew me in, first for my love of champagne and second for my love of brunch, this is the perfect brunch cupcake. I was nervous in attempting this, as is sounds quite involved, which ti is, but the recipe is very well-written and straightforward making it easy to execute. That being said I don't think my cupcakes are perfect, mainly because I used whole-grain cake flour which i think really affected the flavor and texture of the cupcake. I will be trying this recipe again with straight cake flour and will let you know how it goes. Even with the slight modification, I liked these cupcakes and the 2 dozen the recipe made didn't last long between brunch with my girlfriends and what I brought into the office on Monday. Reviews were positive although many people didn't quite get Mimosa when they ate them. I think I needed to use more of the Champagne syrup (I had quite a bit leftover) and may try putting orange zest in the batter next time.

Mimosa Cupcakes

from The Cupcake Project

Cake Batter
makes 24 cupcakes

3 cups cake flour (I used whole grain pastry flour)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp frozen orange concentrate
3 eggs
3/4 cup plain yogurt

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Mix together the flour, salt, baking soda and powder and set aside.
3. In a medium sized bowl, cream the butter until smooth then add the sugar and cream together.
4. Once the butter and sugar are creamed add in the orange juice concentrate.
5. Mix in one egg at a time.
6. Add in flour mixture 1/3 at a time.
7. When flour is thoroughly mixed, mix in the yogurt. Batter will be slightly lumpy, but should be smooth kind of like pancake batter.
8. Divide the batter evenly into lined cupcake tins and bake for about 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool.

Champagne Syrup

2 cups champagne
1 cup powdered sugar

1. Bring the champagne and powdered sugar to a boil and let them reduce about half way.
2. Don't expect it to get thick. It will still be very liquidy when you are done.
3. Poke holes in the cupcakes and drizzle in the syrup. Let it absorb into the cupcake and add more. Keep adding to taste.

Champagne Frosting

1 cup chilled whipping cream
8 oz mascarpone
2 to 3 cups confectioner's sugar (depending upon how thick you prefer frosting)
8 drops of champagne flavor (use an eye dropper)

1. Whip up whipping cream in mixer until soft peaks begin to form.
2. Fold in mascarpone.
3. While mixing over low speed, slowly add the confectioner's sugar one cup at a time, being careful not to over whip frosting.
4. Mix in the champagne flavor.

I had a good amount or frosting leftover, which leads me to believe I could put more frosting on. Stef, the Cupcake Project's blogger, made her cupcakes look so pretty and obviously had the tools to pipe on frosting. I think that's more effective and aesthetically pleasing way to get more frosting on the cakes. Overall, I am happy with the way these turned out and can't wait for an excuse to try them again.