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).

 

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.

7.21.10 Luscious Lemon Supreme Cupcakes

Last Wednesday I attempted my first modified lemon cupcake recipe (see below).  This cupcake is a lemon chiffon cake with a lemon curd filling (I cheated & used store-bought curd) and topped with a whipped lemon frosting.  The hubby (Steve) & I tried one Wednesday night.  I thought that the lemon curd may have been a little strong, but I figured it could have also been because I had eaten about a cupcake's worth of batter (better stop that or I'm either going to get sick or not fit through the front door anymore).  I was concerned that the lemon curd may alter the consistency of the cupcake if they were filled several hours before being eaten; so, I filled half that night and the other half on Thursday morning.

Luscious Lemon Supreme

I tried one of the pre-filled cupcakes in the morning (oh darn, dessert for breakfast).  Delicious!  I made the holes on top of the cupcakes a little smaller & therefore used a little less lemon curd (1-2 tsp).  I sent the rest with Steve to work & they received rave reviews.  Steve told them to be brutally honest...I hope they were.

Overall, I think this cupcake was a success.  The whipped frosting was my least favorite part, but I think it still needs to be something light...a lemon glaze perhaps?  A buttercream would be entirely too heavy combined with the lemon curd (in my opinion).  Below is a play-by-play of the cupcake progress & the recipes I used.

I modified the following cupcake recipe from Baking Bites (http://bakingbites.com/2009/02/lemon-cupcakes-filled-with-lemon-curd/).  I made about 22 cupcakes:

Lemon Cake
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1/4 tsp lemon extract
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk
~1 1/2 cups lemon curd (I just used store-bought to save time)

• Preheat oven to 350F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. 
• In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, lemon zest, & lemon extract until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs one at a time, followed by vanilla extract. Stir in 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by half of the milk. Add another 1/3 of the flour and the remaining milk, then stir in the remaining flour, mixing only until no streaks of flour remain. 
• Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups, filling each approx 2/3 full. 
• Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed. Cool completely on a wire rack. 
• To fill, use a melon baller, spoon, or knife to scoop a small hole in the top of each muffin. Fill the depression with ~1-2 tsp of lemon curd.

Whipped Lemon Frosting ~ This recipe is from Tender Crumb (http://tendercrumb.blogspot.com/2009/03/triple-lemon-chiffon-cake-cake-slice.html)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp lemon curd

• Whip the cream and sugar in a large chilled bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold in the lemon curd, forming a stiff frosting.