10.26.12 Apple Cider Cupcakes with Caramel Icing

Oh Fall, how do I love thee?  The cool breeze & longer nights allow me to wear my cozy sweaters and have a fire going in the living room; there is always the smell of cinnamon and apples in my house; I get to decorate the inside & outside of our home with pumpkins, gourds, & fall leaf garland; and the stores & farmers' markets are now selling APPLE CIDER! 

Enter Apple Cider Cupcakes with Caramel Icing.

Oh. My. God.  These are delicious.  I've actually made these a number of times, as they are a favorite of my friends and coworkers.  I've modified the recipe from Coconut & Lime because I thought it needed more spices & some brown sugar.  Sometimes I add chunks of apples, other times I keep them plain.  Either way, they taste delicious, they are easy to make, and they do NOT taste like apple juice (I love cider, but hate juice).  Apple Cider Cupcakes are everything fall...enjoy.

 

Apple Cider Cupcakes
makes approximately 24 standard

4 eggs, room temperature
3 1/3 cup flour
2 cups apple cider
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temperature
4 teaspoons baking powder
3 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350. Line 24 cupcake wells. In large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs, beat well. Add the baking powder, spices, and salt. Stir. Add the flour alternately with the apple cider until thoroughly combined. Pour into prepared cupcake pan, filling each cup 3/4 way full. Bake 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the center cupcake comes out clean.  Frost with caramel icing when cool.

 

Caramel Icing

I use my grandmother's caramel icing recipe, but my sisters & I agreed that I should not publicly share that family recipe.  So, while I've not tried this recipe, it does come from the same site as the cupcakes & it looks pretty good (for 12 cupcakes): http://coconutlime.blogspot.com/2006/10/caramel-frosting.html).

 

9.23.12 French Toast Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream Icing

I'm super-duper in the fall mood right now.  Anything with cinnamon, maple, pumpkin, apple, or with a Halloween-theme will do.  So, last week I put the cupcake-of-the-week up for a vote on FaceBook.  Butterbeer squeaked by with the win, but French Toast Cupcakes were a very close second.  (I'll be honest, Steve's vote for Butterbeer cupcakes counted for about 5 votes, since he is the one who is my primary taste tester).

So here we are a couple of weeks later, and I finally have a moment to make these delicious breakfast-in-a-wrapper goodies.  These cupcakes will make your house smell AMAZING, and, like many of my recipes, these are very rich.  So, have your glass of milk ready.

I modified the Streusel Topped French Toast Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream from Bakingdom.  Any recipe that uses sour cream in the cake is worth a shot in my book; it keeps the cake so moist.  The icing just wasn't maple-y enough for me, so I upped it with maple extract, which you can find in the baking section of your grocery store with the other extracts.

 

French Toast Cupcakes 
Makes approximately 24 standard cupcakes

Streusel Ingredients
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

Cupcake Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

To make the streusel: In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Mix the cold butter into the mixture by hand, squeezing the pieces in to mix it. Cover and freeze while you prepare the cupcakes.

To make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 C). Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add the butter, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla and mix well, until the mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds. Fill baking cups about 1/2 way.*  Divide the streusel evenly among the cupcakes, and sprinkle it on each one. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

*Do not fill up to 2/3 like you normally would.  I did with the 1st batch and they grew out of the pan!

FYI: these baking cups are WAY too full.

 
Maple Buttercream Icing
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 lb. (about 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 tsp maple extract
2-3 tablespoons heavy cream

Beat the butter on high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the sugar until combined. Stir in the vanilla, salt, syrup, & extract. Add the heavy cream and whisk on high for 4 minutes until desired consistency is reached.

Let's face it, these are breakfast cupcakes with maple syrup-y goodness. So go ahead and enjoy one with coffee. I did & they were AMAZING. The coffee seems to cut some of the sugary-ness & gives the cupcakes a nice balance.

9.9.12 I'm baaaaaaaack!!! (and I brought Butterbeer Cupcakes with me)

Hello again!  I've been gone from the Blogosphere almost 2 years to the day.  A lot has happened since my last entry: I now teach Biology part-time at a community college and Science at a high school full-time; Steve & I have bought & moved into a new house; we have a new dog, Molly; and MOST exciting, we have a new baby boy, Mr. H! 

I have still been baking and trying out new recipes; I just haven't been posting about them.  Well, if I'm going to get better at this, I need some feedback, right?  Right.  Also, truth be told, I am sick of trying to find a recipe that I used months earlier, but forgot to bookmark.  I could save myself a heck of a lot of time if I just had this online cookbook of sorts up-to-date.

Tonight is "Going Back to Work Full Time" Eve.  I'm a little sad and very nervous to leave Mr. H at daycare for a full week.  So what better way to unwind and settle the nerves than creaming butter and sugar together!  Since it felt so (relatively) cool today, I decided to give a nod to fall and Harry Potter (cooler weather always make me want to watch the movies again) by making some Butterbeer Cupcakes (adapted from Tennessee Sugar).  These are yummy cupcakes with cream soda in the batter (yum), a butterscotch ganache filling (double yum), and a butterscotch buttercream icing (YUM!!!).

Butterbeer Cupcakes (makes approximately 18 cupcakes)

• 2 cups flour
• 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1-1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp butter flavoring
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup cream soda 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake tins with liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffly, about 2-3 minutes. 

4. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl between each.

     5.  Add in vanilla and butter flavoring.
     6.  Combine buttermilk* and cream soda in a small bowl and alternate adding that combination with the flour mixture with the mixer on low, starting and ending with the flour.
 

7. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks.

*You don't have to buy buttermilk, unless you're like my grandfather and actually like to drink sour milk - EW!  Just pour 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice into a measuring cup and then add milk to make 1 cup.  Use what you need!

Butterscotch Ganache

• 1 11-oz package butterscotch chips
• 3/4 cup heavy cream 

1. While the cupcakes are baking, make the ganache: melt butterscotch chips and heavy cream together using a double boiler (or on low heat, stirring constantly) until completely smooth. Cool to room temperature to allow the ganache to slightly thicken.
2. Fill an decorating bag or plastic squeeze bottle with the ganache and once cupcakes are cool insert tip into each cupcake, filling until the ganache starts to slightly overflow.

Butterscotch Buttercream

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup butterscotch ganache
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp butter flavoring
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 lb powdered sugar (3 /12 - 4 cups)
• Splash of cream (as needed) 

1. Cream butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

     2.  Add ganache, vanilla, butter flavoring, and salt and mix until well combined.
     3.  Beat in powdered sugar and allow it to come together for about 2 minutes.
     4.  Add cream a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.

     5.  Pipe frosting onto cupcakes and drizzle leftover butterscotch ganache over each.

Do you have some extra butterscotch ganache left over?  Don't throw it out.  Use it as a topping on ice cream or brownies - DELICIOUS!!!

9.10.10 Wedding Business

No new recipes were attempted this week.  Instead, I filled an order for 100 cupcakes for a wedding: 50 Red Carpet Glamour and 50 Mimosas.  I've never made that many and it turned out to be even more work than I expected, especially since I was working from my smaller-than-average apartment kitchen.  The only (sort of) new recipe that was used was for the red velvet.  As I mentioned on my Red Carpet Glamour post, I thought that they lacked flavor.  So, I got new recipe from a friend that has a chocolate cake base instead of white.  Wow!  So much better.  Unfortunately, I can't post that one since it is a family secret.  However, I will give one of the secrets away...pudding!  Adding instant chocolate pudding mix to the dry ingredients made such a difference in the moistness of the cake.  I guess this is pretty common knowledge in the baking world...but I didn't know!

   




On top of the actual baking of the cupcakes, Steve & I built the stand for the cupcakes.  Again, more time spent than expected, but it turned out nicely.  On the plus side, I now have a stand that I can use for other events if necessary.

Back to baking new recipes...Steve's birthday was this week, but he was out of town and won't get back until this Wednesday.  So, I was thinking that I would try a new recipe for his birthday dessert: Chocolate Butterscotch.  (Hopefully) Yum!

8.29.10 Chocolate Peanut Butter Bliss

Is there a better combination than chocolate and peanut butter?  There are some other fantastic flavors like chocolate with raspberry and lemon with blueberry, but chocolate and peanut butter is one of my favorites.  Seeing as how I've been craving some chocolate and peanut butter, I decided to whip up a batch of chocolate cupcakes with a peanut butter ball center (similar to a buckeye) and topped with a peanut butter buttercream.  The results were delicious!  In fact, the chocolate cake recipe is so good that I'll be using it for all of my recipes that involve a chocolate cake.  Tastiness aside, there were some issues as well. 

First, the pb balls sank to the bottom of the batter.  I've read that you can roll the pb ball in flour before placing it in the batter, and the flour will help keep the filling suspended.  However, I don't think that would have helped since the cake batter is so liquid-y.  The result was the pb sinking to the bottom and baking into a peanut butter bottom.  It still tasted good, but the peanut butter stuck to the paper a bit which made eating it with the cake a little difficult.  Next time I'll add the pb ball after the cupcakes are baked (which is how the recipe is written below).

The peanut butter baked to the bottom

Second, the peanut butter frosting needed a little more milk.  It tasted great, but it was a little too stiff to work with and ended up looking a little dry on the finished product.  The original recipe for the frosting calls for 3 tablespoons of milk, but I'd probably add around 1-2 more tablespoons of milk to make it a bit more creamy.

Aside from the issues, though, I will definitely make this recipe again!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bliss
Make the chocolate cupcakes first, and while they are cooling prepare the peanut butter ball filling and the peanut butter buttercream.

Dark Chocolate Cake from Le Petite Brioche

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line standard muffin cups with paper baking cups.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Fill cups 2/3 full with batter (use a measuring cup with a spout since it is so thin).
3. Bake 22 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely.
4. Once cool, cut out a core from the top of the cupcake using a small knife or melon baller.  Keep scraps.

 

Peanut Butter Filling from Good Housekeeping

• 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 Tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In bowl, with mixer on medium speed, mix confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, and vanilla until blended. 
2. Shape mixture into 24 balls using heaping measuring teaspoons. (Balls will be sticky and don't need to be perfectly shaped).
3. Place one ball inside each chocolate cupcake.
4. Cover the peanut butter with a cake scrap, if desired.

Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting from All Recipes

• 1/2 cup creamy butter, softened
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 Tablespoons milk, or as needed (I would probably add 1-2 Tablespoons)
• 2 cups confectioners sugar

1. Place the butter and peanut butter into a medium bowl, and beat with an electric mixer.
2. Gradually mix in the sugar, and when it starts to get thick, incorporate milk one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable. 
3. Beat for at least 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy. 
4. Ice and garnish cupcakes as desired.  I dusted mine with dark cocoa.

8.14.10 Raspberry Chocolate Cupcakes

 Warning: very rich cupcakes ahead!

I must say that as I made these beautiful cupcakes, I was very happy that my two sisters were not around.  I love them very much, but they are incomplete-cake-hounds.  Sarah is a "cake crumber."  She steals pieces of cake that have been trimmed.  Anyone who has made shaped cakes knows that you use icing to spackle those crumbs & pieces on with to fix & shape.  Sarah will also go after the batter.  Erin, on the other hand, is an "undercooked thief," and seems to stick with the cake batter & the icing.  Erin is much sneakier.  Where Sarah will ask as soon as I start filling the cake pan if she can have some, Erin just waits until my back is turned and swoops in for a finger-full of icing.  I've caught her plenty of times...it's just that I wonder how many times she's gotten away with it.  I will give bowls, spatulas, beaters, & crumbs up...at the end...and with this recipe, I feel that fingers would have been constantly dipping into the chocolate batter that has coffee in it, the raspberry buttercream icing, and the rich, chocolate raspberry ganache.  There are just too many good components to this one!

If you decide to make this recipe, be prepared for a super rich, & flavorful cupcake.  You'll be able to taste all of the powerful flavors: chocolate, coffee, raspberry, & buttercream.  Don't say I didn't warn you. 

Raspberry Chocolate Cupcake Recipe (Adapted from The Doctor's Dishes, Desserts, & Decor)

Cupcakes:
9 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup strong coffee
1/2 cup skim milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. 
2. In a small bowl sift together the cocoa powder, cake flour, baking soda, and baking powder. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions. 
3. Add half of the dry ingredients to the mixer and mix on low speed just until incorporated. Stir in the coffee and milk, and mix until combined. Add in the remaining dry ingredients, again mixing just until incorporated. 
4. Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners, filling the cups about 2/3-3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Raspberry Filling:
1 (12 oz.) bag frozen raspberries, thawed
¼ cup sugar
1 tbsp. cornstarch

1. Puree the raspberries in a blender or food processor. Place in a saucepan. Whisk in the sugar and cornstarch, and heat, stirring frequently until the mixture boils. Once it has thickened, remove the pan from the heat. Cool to room temperature before using.
2. I removed the seeds from the puree.  This isn't as difficult as it sounds!  Pour small amounts of the puree into a strainer (I used a small one that fits over a coffee mug).  Use a rubber spatula to press the puree against the screen.  The pulp drops through to the mug & the seeds stay behind.  You'll need to scoop out excess seeds from time-to-time to keep the puree moving.

 

         3. Once cupcakes & filling are cool, inject 1-2 tsp of filling into the cupcakes. I used a long cake decorating tip to inject into the cupcakes.

Raspberry Chocolate Ganache:
5 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the chocolate and jam in a small heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate and jam. Let stand for about 3 minutes. Whisk together gently until smooth. If any unmelted lumps remain, microwave a few seconds and whisk again. Let the ganache cool a bit until it has thickened slightly. Spread a small amount onto each filled cupcake.

Raspberry Buttercream Frosting:
2 sticks (16 T) unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar (I actually used a little less than 5 cups; the original recipe calls for 6)
3/4+ cup seedless raspberry jam

Place the butter and jam in the bowl of a stand mixer. Cream on medium-high speed until well incorporated. Add the powdered sugar in 1-2 cup increments and mix until smooth after each addition.

Raspberry Buttercream

For Sarah & Erin  =)

 Garnish cupcakes as desired.  I used fresh raspberries, but chocolate chips or sprinkles would be cute, too.

8.12.10 Beach Cupcakes

In my search to find a Key Lime Pie Cupcake to make this week, I came across a recipe for a "Beach Cupcake" from The Cupcake Project.  This is a graham cracker and lime cake with lime cream cheese frosting.  Overall, I'm disappointed with this recipe.  The texture is the main problem; it is incredibly dense & lacks flavor.  You catch the graham cracker taste only as an after-taste.  The icing, however (recipe below), is phenomenal.  I added lots of lime zest so that you could see green speckles.  I'm not making this recipe again, but I've posted it just in case anyone wants to try it.  Who knows, maybe it was operator error & not a bad recipe.

You'll see below that you will have 5 egg whites left over.  I hate to throw that much egg away, so I made myself an egg white scramble with feta cheese & Italian seasoning for lunch.  YUMMY!  I still had to toss some of the egg whites away, but it was a little better.

Beach Cupcakes (click to follow link)                      

1/2 C butter (room temperature)
1 C sugar
3 eggs
1 C milk
1 C flour
1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs (about 1 package inside a box)
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/8 t salt
5 egg yolks
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 C lime or key lime juice

1. Beat the butter for about 30 seconds until creamed.
2. Add the sugar and mix for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, being sure to beat for 30 seconds for each egg.
4. Use food processor or a potato masher or whatever you have on hand to grind the graham crackers into tiny crumbs and powder.
5. Sift the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda and powder, and salt. (I didn't actually sift the graham cracker crumbs. While mine were small, I don't think they would have fit through the sifter.)
6. Add about 1/4 of the mixture to the butter mixture.
7. Add some of the milk.
8. Continue to add the ingredients in a dry - wet - dry method, ending with the dry.
9. Mix until just combined.
10. In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, and lime juice. (FYI - If you want to make an amazing key lime pie, just mix the ingredients in this step, dump it into a pie shell and bake at 375 for 15 minutes. It's the easiest recipe ever! The pie won't be green and it shouldn't be. Lime juice isn't green.)
11. Dump the key lime mixture into the graham batter and lightly stir. Do NOT fully integrate the key lime and graham batter. You should have clumps of batter in a key lime soup.
12. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. Make sure each liner has a nice distribution of key lime liquid and graham clumps.
13. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until top bounces back when touched. 

Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick (8T) of unsalted butter, room temp
1 8oz. package of cream cheese, room temp (I used reduced fat)
2+ T lime juice
2+ tsp lime zest (I used almost an entire medium lime)
4-5C powdered sugar


Cream butter and cream cheese together.  Add lime zest and juice and mix well.  Add powdered sugar 1C at a time and mix until blended; the amount you use will depend on the texture and taste you desire.  I only used 4C because I wanted to taste the lime more.