Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

I never cease to be amused by transforming things into cupcake flavors. I am actually rather backlogged in showing off some of the things I baked lately, but long story short, I made a cupcake a couple weeks ago that was an homage to cheesecake, and it made me think that it could really go one step further.
Utilizing the always dependable Smitten Kitchen's epic recipe stash, I incorporated her black bottom cupcake cream cheese filling (with some adaptation) into a honey and graham flour cupcake base, and then topped with freshly sliced strawberries and a homemade strawberry glaze, with a decorative cream cheese frosting border (intended to add structural support in case the glaze decided to get slippery). I am happy to report that everything seemed to work out swimmingly, even for a first experimental try. Love it when that happens.

Honey and Graham Cupcake
- 6 tbs butter, room temp
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 egg and 1 egg yolk
- 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup graham flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup milk

Preheat over to 350˚. Line baking tins. This recipe should make just over a dozen regular sized cupcakes.
Whisk together flours, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
With electric mixer on high, beat butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add in honey until incorporated, followed by eggs. Beat until the point of being fluffy again, then turn mixer down low and in batches, mix in flour and then milk until incorporated. Do not over mix.
Dollop mix into cupcake tins to just about half full (aren't we so optimistic). Set aside while making cream cheese filling.

Baked-in Cream Cheese Filling
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tbs cornstarch

Beat cream cheese and sugar together until smooth, then add in egg and beat until smooth, then add in vanilla and cornstarch until smooth. This is more filling than you will need (go ahead and double the cupcake recipe then!)

Dollop a spoonful of filling into the cake battered cupcake tins. Since the batter is actually kind of thick, I took a spoon and sort of hollowed out the inside of each cup before adding the cream cheese filling. I think it helped keep the filling mor or less in the middle versus resulting in being a top layer of the cupcake.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Cupcakes and filling will rise very nicely, but will fall a little when you take out of the oven. The filling may seem a little giggly while it's still warm, but once they get to room temperature, everything solidifies nicely. Sort of a typical cheese cake reaction, so don't freak out and over bake them.

Strawberry Glaze
So I happened to have about a half a cup of strawberry puree in my freezer from some previous strawberry project, so used that. If I had to guess, I'd say it was about the equivalent of a dozen large strawberries. Maybe 6-8oz. Give or take. To it, I added some undetermined amount of water... let's say 1/2 a cup, and 1/3 cup of sugar. I let that boil until it started foaming up, then strained out the chunks and seeds and put back over low heat and added a surrey of about 1 tablespoon water and 2 teaspoons of cornstarch. Once that started boiling again, I just whisked it all together to make sure it was incorporated and removed from the heat and let set for a couple minutes.  Should coat the back of a wooden spoon easily. And yes, another case of having too much glaze for the number of cupcakes I made. This made a lot of glaze... Enough for maybe 3-4 dozen cupcakes. I will find out how well it freezes and report back in a few months.

Cream Cheese Frosting
This (again) will make way more frosting than you need for this project, but I'm sure you can think of other things to do with leftover cream cheese frosting. You own a spoon, right?
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 8 oz butter, room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth. 1 cup at a time, add in powdered sugar until mix is fluffy. Add in vanilla and continue to beat (scraping down the sides as needed), until the whole thing is fluffy and elastic.

Once things have cooled down a bit, gently wash off as many strawberries as there are cupcakes (1 per cupcake for medium sized berries - if they are particularly large, 1 strawberry can top 2 cupcakes). When presenting berries, I typically don't drown them under running water, but instead dab them with a moist paper towel to clean them. Otherwise, I guess you could rinse them off earlier in the process so they're are dry again once you're ready to slice them - basically, you just don't need a bunch of excess water ruining your set up at this point.

You then top each cupcake with a splayed strawberry, then using a pastry brush, dollop and spread glaze over it.

With a small tip on a pastry bag, pipe frosting around edges. You can be as decorative as you please, my only goal was to encase the strawberries in an attempt to contain them. The glaze wasn't runny though, so in the end, the frosting ended up being purely decorative (oh, and tasty). 

Spring Basket and Carrot Cake Recipe

On the eve of Spring I made this basket of goodies for a customer. I'm not one to typically create baskets for orders, but occasionally I make it happen. This basket was filled with hazelnut truffle "eggs," carrot cake pop "bunnies," and homemade lemon marshmallow "flowers." Take that, Peeps.

The hazelnut eggs were a simple mix of semi sweet chocolate, a spoonful of nutella, cream, and a drop of frangelico that I coated in semi-sweet chocolate and decorated with colored white chocolate and decorating pearls. I'm not one to use white chocolate very often either, and when buying the chips found that some brands of white chocolate don't even contain cocoa butter! I believe a friend of mine had pointed this out once before, but because I rarely shop for the stuff, it didn't really sink in until this time.
The lemon marshmallows were just my basic marshmallow recipe that I added yellow food color and lemon extract to. I admit, the lemon extract tasted a little bit too fake to me, so if I make them again, I will probably just add zest to the recipe instead. I sprinkled them with yellow sanding sugar on one side, and powdered sugar on the rest of the sides once I cut them with the flower cookie cutters. There were scraps to be consumed after cutting. :)

The carrot cake pop bunnies were pretty cute, but super fragile. I melted white chocolate and using a paint brush (one that I use only for baking/decorating, btw, not a used paint brush or anything) to lay out the ears on some parchment paper and let them cool in the fridge until firm. White chocolate, however, is hardly ever that firm, and found that even the warmth of my fingers was melting them when I tried to stick them onto the white chocolate cake pops. As well, any tipping of the pops onto their side would snap the ears off, so I had to be very careful about keeping them upright the entire time. I don't think I would make these again just because they were cumbersome and fragile.

But, if you're feeling daring, below is my favorite carrot cake recipe which is what I used to make the filling. It's great as a cupcake or a full cake anyway. I made a 9x13 cake for this recipe since I was simply destroying it to make cake pops with anyway. Here's a picture of them when I made cupcakes though, just cuz it's cute.

Carrot Cake
(unknown source, but thanks for it!)

Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Trying not to make a mess, gently add in powdered sugar. After about 2 cups of sugar, add the vanilla and continue to add more sugar. I find that cream cheese frosting usually holds its own without any other liquid, but if it really seems too stiff, go ahead and add a smidgen of milk to smooth it out. But be careful, as it can get runny all too quickly.


- 12 ounces, approximately 2 1/2 cups, all-purpose flour, plus extra for pan

- 12 ounces grated carrots, medium grate, approximately 6 medium
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 10 ounces sugar, approximately 1 1/3 cups
- 2 ounces dark brown sugar, approximately 1/4 cup firmly packed
- 3 large eggs
- 6 ounces plain yogurt
- 6 ounces vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour a 9x13" cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

Put the carrots into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt together, and then add the carrots to this mixture until they are well-coated with the flour.

In a separate bowl combine the sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and yogurt & oil. Mix wet ingredients into dry until just mixed (don't over mix).

Pour batter into the prepared cake pan and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45-55 minutes or until top is golden, cake is pulling away from the sides, and your finger springs back when you tap the top of the cake.

Remove the pan from the oven and allow cake to cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
8 oz cream cheese
2-1/2 - 3 C powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Trying not to make a mess, gently add in powdered sugar. After about 2 cups of sugar, add the vanilla and continue to add more sugar if needed (taste test). I find that cream cheese frosting usually holds its own without any other liquid, but if it really seems too stiff, go ahead and add a smidgen of milk to smooth it out. But be careful, as it can get runny all too quickly.

At this point, you can destroy the carrot cake to make cake pops. Smash together some cake with some frosting until it holds together easily, then roll into 1" sized balls. Add popsicle sticks to the center of them and put them in the freezer for at least 10 minutes, or until you're sure they are stuck to the sticks pretty well.

Melt white chocolate and add a bit of vegetable oil, and dip each pop into the chocolate. I thought that the white chocolate was a little harder to work with (maybe it got solid quicker than chocolate, so was harder to spread a thin layer on the pops) so had to keep microwaving the chocolate to keep it spreading consistency. I put the pops on a piece of styrofoam to keep them upright while they cooled. I then added the ears to the tops of each pop. Do it quickly as the white chocolate gets too firm if you wait too long.

I didn't even bother adding a cute little face to the bunnies, but if you're up for it and like decorating, it could be a cute addition.

Orange 'n' Cream Cupcakes

With summer officially here, I am definitely feeling nostalgic for the summer flavors I enjoyed as a kid. I'm sure most American kids can recall the wonderous taste of an orange creamsicle pop or Orange Julius drink. There's something delightfully tart, creamy, and sweet about it that embodies the taste of lazy summers.

Making that flavor into a cupcakes was a no brainer. This flavor has been one of my top sellers since I started offering it back in 2009. I was surprised to find that I had never blogged about it before, so figured it was about time I did. And speaking of blogging, I was very delighted to receive an email last week regarding my blog. Apparently, people are reading, and someone decided I qualified for the "Top 50 Cutest Cupcake Blogs." Thanks! You can find the complete list here. While I am very honored to make anyone's "top" list, I will say, if there is a top 50 list... exactly how many cupcake blogs are out there? Yikes. In any case, I definitely enjoy making new and different flavors, and am glad you enjoy reading the recipes I've come up with, so thanks for checking it out.

PastrySchools.net

Orange 'n' Cream Cupcakes
I use a yogurt cake base for this cupcake as it is extremely moist and delicious and has served me well for this recipe. Easily replace orange with lemon, grapefruit, ugli fruit, or any other citrus you want. Sadly, I found the base for this recipe so long ago, I don't even remember its source. Blogger fail.

• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons grated orange zest
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350˚.
Line cupcake tins. Makes approximately 18.

In small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, & salt.
In medium bowl, whisk together yogurt, sugar, eggs, zest, vanilla, and oil.
Gently blend the wet into the dry mix, until incorporated. Do not over mix.
Fill cupcake lines 3/4 way full and bake for 20 minutes. Cool.

Orange 'n' Cream Frosting

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1/4 butter, room temperature
• 1-1/2 c powdered sugar
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

In stand mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until incorporated. Gradually add in powdered sugar, scraping down sides of bowl to fully incorporate. Add zest and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Pipe half the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. I make a swirled pattern on top, leaving space for another round of "orange" swirl. Add a little bit of food coloring to the remaining frosting, making it orange. Pipe the remaining frosting onto the cupcakes, completing the swirls.

Banana Caramel Cake in Phyllo Cups

In January this year, I was challenged to make a cupcake combining the 3 flavors of banana, caramel and phyllo dough. Certainly not a bad combo of flavors to be coerced into working with. The reason for the delay being the challenger of this flavor combo is not someone I see often, so am only now getting the opportunity to accept the request.

On another side note of importance, I have succumbed to the pressures of the many food bloggers out there, all with their pretty food pictures, and finally invested in a DSLR. And if the absolute joy in I felt in taking this evening's pictures is evidence, I think it may have been a good decision. If you're keeping tabs, it is a Canon Rebel T2i. I'd take a picture of it, but that would not only be tricky, requiring mirrors or something, but also a little "chicken or the egg" for me.

Anyway, back to cupcakes. Aside from them looking rather dashing, I wasn't wrong about the flavor combo being delectable. I tried a new banana cupcake batter this time (which, oh by the way has rum in it - yum), and whipped up some homemade caramel sauce for the occasion. Which if I haven't mentioned before, is pretty freaking easy and completely delicious, so why would you ever bother buying it?

Caramel Sauce
I've tried many variations of this before, and think I've landed on my favorite. Taken mostly from Simply Recipes (frankly, you might as well check out her instructions because she goes into way more detail and includes safety tips - I just leave you to your own devices!):

• 1 cup sugar
• 6 tbs butter, but into pieces
• 1/2 cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

First off, do have all your ingredients ready to go before you start. In a heavy 2-3 quart pot, melt sugar over low to medium heat, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Once sugar has melted, it will be begin to darken into an amber color. This is where you get to choose how rich you want your sauce. Be careful to not let it burn though. Once it reaches the optimal caramel color, removed from heat and add in butter. It will foam up a bit. Whisk until smoother, then add in cream. This will really bubble up, and seize. Just work through it and keep whisking until it comes together. Let cool for a bit, then transfer to a glass jar or container to continue cooling.

Phyllo Cups
Melt 1/2 cup of butter in a small dish. Unroll one log of phyllo dough, placing one sheet upon a work surface (cutting board or cookie sheet will do), and brushing it all over with some of the melted butter. Add another sheet on top, and repeat the process so that you have about 5-6 layers of phyllo. Cut dough into squares that are roughly 2-3 inches wider than the cavities of a muffin tin. Or bigger, or smaller, or wider, or longer - whatever you think will look good. mold each square patch of phyllo into the cavities of every other hole of the muffin tin. Mine was overlapping a bit, so I didn't want to have issues with the phyllo getting stuck in cake batter or something like that, so just kept the spacing between them to be safe. I did have to repeat with another batch of 6 sheets of phyllo, but didn't end up using the entire log of dough.

Once the tins are prepped (I made 3 tins based on the amount of batter and layout mentioned above), make cupcake batter.

Banana Cupcakes
Stolen almost completely from Baking Obsession
2 cups flour

¾ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups banana puree (about 3 large bananas)
½ cup sour cream (I forgot to buy some, so used milk with a 1/2 tsp of white vinegar mixed in)
2 tbsp dark rum
1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
½ cup butter, room temperature
½ cup sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350˚

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, soda, powder and salt and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream (or milk), rum and vanilla and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter until smooth. Add in both sugars and beat until creamy, scraping down sides of the bowl at least once. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated.

In batches, mix in 1/3 flour mixture, then 1/2 liquid, flour, then liquid then flour until incorporated. Fold in banana puree.

Using a 1/4 cup measure, fill phyllo cups with dough and bake for 20 minutes. Phyllo should get nice a crispy in that time. Rotate pans halfway through if one side is getting browner than the other.

Let cupcakes cool while you make the frosting.

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
Can't have Banana cupcakes without some kind of cream cheese frosting.

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 2-1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2-3 tbs caramel sauce

Beat butter until creamy, then add in cream cheese and beat together, scraping down sides of the bowl at least once. Gradually add powdered sugar until mix gets thick and creamy, scraping down sides of the bowl still. Beat in caramel until smooth. Texture will probably be on the softer side, but isn't exactly runny. If you want a firmer frosting, reduce cream cheese quantity and bump up the butter a bit.

Top cupcakes with frosting, then swirl in caramel sauce on top. I attempted to fill a cupcake with caramel too, but it seemed like a bit too much. Maybe I was wrong and it would be insanely delicious. Give it a shot. Surely you could garnish these cupcakes with slices of ripe banana as well. I was too in love with the swirly pattern to let it be obstructed by anything.



I hope I win the challenge!

Easter Baskets

For a special Easter treat, I will be making cupcake Easter baskets, available to order. A baker’s dozen of 3 mini cupcake varieties: Carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting decorated as Easter eggs, Zesty lemon cupcakes with homemade marshmallow chicks, and Chocolate malt cupcakes with ganache chocolate bunnies, all arranged in a decorative basket. 

$45, plus tax. 

Please order by this Friday, April 22. No early orders can be filled. Pick up Saturday afternoon (local orders only).

Guinness Cupcakes with Whiskey Mascarpone Frosting

Yeah, it's that time of year again. Guinness cupcakes are all over the place. And for good reason: they're tasty. The subtly bitter beer flavor pairs well with chocolate. But unlike the standard Irish Cream or plain cream cheese frosting, I thought I'd go over board this time.
Taking a tip from the Tiramisu cupcakes I make, (which I realize now I haven't actually posted), I opted for a whiskey "curd" that is then mixed with cream cheese and mascarpone to make a soft, rich and flavorful frosting that kicks buttercream's butt any day. Not that there's anything wrong with buttercream, but did you hear me say mascarpone? Can you ever beat that, really? Besides, you can pack in a lot more alcohol flavor in this way. ;-)

So here goes:

Whiskey Curd
Best to make this first as it needs time to cool.

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup Whiskey of choice

In a heat proof bowl, whisk together egg and sugar until creamy. Heat over a saucepan of boiling water (don't let the bottom of the bowl touch the boiling water), whisking constantly for about 15-20 minutes (should get a little thick). Pour in whiskey and whisk until mixture is thick like pudding). Remove from heat (be careful of the steam) and pour into a cool dish. I just let mine sit out until I was ready to make the frosting, but you could cover closely with saran wrap and let cool in the fridge. It keeps for a couple days too, if you want to make it ahead.

Guinness Cupcakes 
(I stole this recipe a while ago so am not even sure where from any more. Sorry blogosphere!)
Makes Approx. 12-15 cupcakes

• 1/2 cup Guinness
• 1/4 cup butter, sliced
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1 cups superfine sugar
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 eggs
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 + teaspoons baking soda

Preheat over to 350˚. Line cupcake tins.
Heat Guinness and butter in a saucepan until butter has melted. Whisk in cocoa and then sugar. In a separate bowl, mix sour cream, egg, and vanilla. In a bigger bowl whisk together flour and baking soda. Gradually pour the Guinness mixture into flour bowl until just incorporated, then add sour cream mixture. (This is totally backwards from how the instructions were written, but it seemed to work fine).
Fill cupcake liners 3/4 way full (exactly 1/4 cup measure will do, btw, which is my preferred method for filling tins).
Bake for 20 minutes. Cool.

Whiskey Mascarpone Frosting
Once curd and cupcakes have cooled, make frosting. This will make more frosting than you have cupcakes for, but not quite twice as much (if you were to double the cupcake recipe).

• 4 oz. cream cheese
• 4 oz. mascarpone
• Whiskey curd 
• 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar

Whip cream cheese and mascarpone together until smooth. Scrape sides of bowl, then add in curd gradually, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl as you go. Once incorporated and fluffy, add in the powdered sugar, and whip until the mixture has firmed up slightly. It's going to be a pretty soft frosting, so don't try anything too fancy as far as decorating or piping. A dollop on top of the cupcake works nicely for me. You can add a more firm buttercream frosting on top if you want to get fancy with the St. Patty's Day pride.

Don't eat cupcakes and drive!
Just kidding, they're not that strong. But do enjoy!

Pumpkin Cupcakes

My favorite time of year: Pumpkin season! Mostly because it means I can bust out this recipe again, but also because everywhere I go I can order some pumpkin flavored something or other. Thai pumpkin curry is high on my list of tasty treats I look forward to.

But I digress. We're here for cupcakes, and I intend to fulfill my baker's duty by sharing this beloved recipe with you. I confess, I've already sort of posted this once before, in one of its many versatile forms.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350˚

Line 2 cupcakes tins (approx. 24 cupcakes)

Whisk together dry ingredients in large bowl and make a well in the center:
3-1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cloves

Mix together liquid ingredients in a medium sized bowl:
3 cups sugar
¾ cup oil
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
2 cups pumpkin puree

Add liquid ingredients to dry and whisk together until combined. Scoop out 1/4 cups at a time into prepared baking tins. Bake 20 minutes.

Once cooled, top with cream cheese frosting:

1 8 oz bar cream cheese

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

Whip together until smooth. Add:

~3 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Whip on hight until fluffy. Pipe on to cupcakes.

This is always a crowd pleaser, and one of the easier cupcake recipes around (probably because it's a muffin recipe in a cream cheese frosting disguise). It always helps to have fresh spices on hand though; it can make such a difference in flavor.

Tropical Carrot Cupcakes

Easter came a bit early this month, but I figured it was ok to accommodate the flavor of the month to it anyway. And who doesn't love carrot cupcakes? Ok, I know one person. She discriminates against vegetables in her desserts, and as much as I love carrot cupcakes and cannot be swayed against them, in a way I can see her point.

But she's missing out on these ones! A nice little variation on the original, this one boasts a variety of tropical flavors. It has pineapple, coconut, macadamia nuts, and ginger, as well as the usual carrot and cinnamon. Topped with a lightly vanilla flavored cream cheese frosting that is loaded up with toasted coconut flakes.

I was inspired by the recipe posted on epicurious but cut out the candied ginger and put a dash of powdered ginger instead. I also did my own cream cheese frosting and just added the toasted coconut on top.

Preheat oven to 350˚. Line cupcake tins with wrappers. Will make approximately 36 cupcakes.
Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl:

• 2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
  
• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 1 cup dry-roasted macadamia nuts, chopped
  
• 1 tsp ginger
  
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Mix wet ingredients together in medium bowl

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups finely grated, peeled carrots
• 16 oz canned crushed pineapple in its own juice (I actually used 20 oz.)
  

Gently stir wet ingredients into dry until incorporated. Spoon into cupcake tins and bake 20 minutes.

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
8 oz cream cheese
2-1/2 - 3 C powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Trying not to make a mess, gently add in powdered sugar. After about 2 cups of sugar, add the vanilla and continue to add more sugar. I find that cream cheese frosting usually holds its own without any other liquid, but if it really seems too stiff, go ahead and add a smidgen of milk to smooth it out. But be careful, as it can get runny all too quickly.

To toast coconut, spread about 1-1/2-2 cups of flaked coconut evenly on a baking sheet. Toast in 5 minute increments on the higher rack of a 300˚ oven. I think 15 minutes total does just the trick, and 20 minutes is pushing too far, so keep an eye on it. At each 5 minutes, mix the coconut around to get the best distribution of browning.

Once the cupcakes have cooled, frost them. I had the pleasure of making mine look like little birdie baskets with robin's eggs (um, I really just was looking for an excuse to finally buy the robin's eggs, which I'd been eying all season but couldn't bring myself to indulge in). So, if you don't need to make them look seasonal, just sprinkle the coconut generously on top of the frosting.

Enjoy!

Apple Cider Cupcakes

Ah. Fall. How I love thee.

This time it's tasty Apple Cider Cupcakes with a delectable spicy cream cheese glaze and apple cutout. My friend Kristy sent me this recipe a year ago and I made it then, before I really jumped on the cupcake bandwagon. They were SO delicious and I remembered them a year later just as I saw the apple cider hitting the supermarket aisles.

I did do a little research on some other apple cider cupcake recipes posted online, and I modified the original slightly and was very please with the results. There's really nothing better, in my opinion, than having a spicy cupcake loaded with chunks of juicy apples. I also liked having the apple cider reduction ready to go for the cupcakes as well as the frosting. It really intensified the flavor. I actually used Trader Joe's "spicy cider" which already has a lot of flavor in it.

• 2 eggs, at room temperature*
• 1 2/3 cup flour
• 1 cup apple cider**
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 -1 granny smith apple, cored, peeled and cut into 1/4-1/2 inch chunks

Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease or line 12-16 cupcake wells. In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, beat well. Combine the baking powder, cinnamon and salt to the flour and add to the butter mixture alternately with the apple cider until thoroughly combined. Mix in apple chunks. Pour into prepared cupcake pan, filling each cup 3/4 way full. Bake 20 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly touched.

Cider Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 cup apple cider

• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened but still cool

• 1 - 2 cups powdered sugar

• a pinch of salt

Put the apple cider in a small pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Continue to boil until the cider is reduced to about 2 tablespoons (it will be slightly syrupy). Set aside to cool completely.

With an electric mixer, beat together cooled reduced cider, cream cheese, pinch of salt, and 1 cup of the powdered sugar. Add enough additional powdered sugar for desired frosting texture.

* I learned a neato trick with room temperature eggs. If I don't have enough time ahead to get them to room temperature, you can place your refrigerated eggs into a small glass of warm water for about 30 seconds-minute to bring them to room temperature. The science of eggs is that cold eggs separate more easily, and room temperature eggs will fluff and incorporate air more easily than cold ones which is good for a lighter cupcake.

** I read a recipe online that suggested using 2-3 cups of cider and boiling it down to the approximately 1 cup you'd need for the the cupcakes. If you have enough time ahead, I recommend it because it really packs in a whole lot more flavor. And you can just make enough for the frosting at the same time while you're at it.

My little added touch was the apple cutout on top. I took a granny smith and used a handy little apple shaped cookie cutter that happened to be the right size, and was able to pop out the shapes from the apple slices. I actually just used the remnants of that apple as the chunks in the cake, which worked out to be about half an apple's worth. I recommend peeling the apple before hand though, something I didn't do.

While I made the cupcakes, I let the apple shapes rest in a bowl of water with a splash of lemon in it to keep them from browning. When the cupcakes were done and cooling, I pan fried the slices with a touch of butter and cinnamon and let them go until they were slightly browned, but not mushy. I did lose a couple in the process, so it's best to have a couple more than you think you'll need.

When the cupcakes were cooled, I made the frosting. It was pretty runny because I was trying to pack in a lot of flavor with the cider syrup, but it was good. I frosted and then placed a nicely browned apple slice on the tops of each of them. Make sure your apple slices have had a chance to cool though, because they will slide around on the cream cheese frosting and melt it if they're not.

A delightfully rich, tangy treat. Enjoy!

Wine Cupcakes with Brie-Cream Cheese Frosting

A commissioned cupcake: Red Wine. We brainstormed out how to make this flavor cupcake, and this is what we came up with:

Chocolate cupcake with Zinfandel cream filling, topped with Brie-cream cheese frosting and a drizzle of Zinfandel reduction glaze. It was quite an amazing combination, and definitely a multi-step process.

First, I reduced a couple cups of the Zinfandel so it was more concentrated in flavor. I'd say, turn 2 cups into 1 and you'll have a good amount to work with. You'll need this for the drizzle on top, but also for dipping the cupcake into before you add the filling.

Second, I made the zinfandel cream filling. Using a basic Bavarian cream recipe, I replaced the water with wine and reduced the amount of whip cream needed by about half. Unfortunately, this was REALLY good - so good, I kept having to taste it... you know, to make SURE it was good. Luckily I still had enough (more than enough) left to fill 15 or so cupcakes.

Zinfandel Cream:
In a small bowl, set 1 tbs gelatin in 1/4 c wine (supposed to be cold, but mine was room temp). Let set for at least 10 minutes. In a separate bowl, cream 2 egg yolks, 1/4 C sugar and a pinch of salt. In a saucepan, bring to a boil 1 cup milk and 1 tsp vanilla. Once it has reached a boil, remove from heat. Temper egg solution by scooping about 1/4 C of the milk and whisking it quickly into the egg. Once tempered, slowly pour all egg mixture into the milk and whisk until combined. Whisk in gelatin mixture. Strain, then let cool. Whip in 1/2 C whipped cream once it is set.

Next phase of prep was the brie cream cheese frosting. So, I didn't take the most precise measurements when doing this, but I think I used about 1 cup of brie, 1 8 oz bar of cream cheese and 1/4 C of butter. Whipped those up with about 1 - 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, a tablespoon or so of honey, and was happy with the consistency. You can add more sugar, but I felt like it would be better a little more savory. I did trim most of the rind off the brie before mixing it up, but might actually let more of it slip in if I did it next time because it does add that distinctly brie flavor. Just make sure to crumble it finely because chunks of rind will look funny in your frosting.

Last prep, make the reduction glaze by setting aside about 1/4 cup of the reduction and whisking powdered sugar into it until desired consistency.

Ok, now you're ready to make cupcakes. I used my basic Devil's food cake recipe as the base of this flavor combo. Once cooled, I scooped out the centers with a melon baller (and tried not to gobble all the discarded cupcake holes up in one bite!). Then dipped all the cupcakes in the remaining reduction and used a pastry brush to get some in on the inside of the cupcake orifices. Then I used my fancy schmancy pastry gun to fill the cupcakes with the Zinfandel cream. Try not to overfill.

Then I piped little swirls of the brie-cream cheese frosting on top of each cupcake, followed by a swirled drizzle of the reduction glaze.

The overall flavor was not too sweet, creamy, and with a kick of wine flavoring that was super satisfying. And it made a pretty cross section too!

Words of improvement might include using a reduction to set the gelatin, that way the cream has an even more potent wine flavor. Once you add all the other cream ingredients, it gets a little over-powered.
Also, the reduction drizzle didn't stay pretty the whole time. It never quite hardened, so the top half and the bottom half of each line got misshapen. I am not 100% sure what my solution is, but it would probably be a cooked glaze. Only experimentation will tell though.

Also, unlike most cupcakes I make, I felt these ones need to be refrigerated due to the high dairy content and the gelatin.

And please, don't eat these cupcakes and drive ;)

Gooey Butter Cake

It is what it sounds like!

The idea was brought to me directly from St. Louis via my boyfriend's parents who were visiting over Memorial Day weekend. Having never heard of it, the name was a quick selling point. Apparently a very St. Louis kind of thing, I figured the west coast needed to be introduced (including myself) so ventured to try it.

Not sure if she was the founder of said Gooey Butter Cake or simply the one who made it popular, but it appears we have Paula Dean to thank for it. So saying, I believe the confection holds up to the Southerner stereotype that if it's going to be good, it's going to be clogging your arteries. Yum. Luckily it's pretty rich, so unlike some of those scorpion-style confections that you find you can eat tons of, but are extremely bad for you, this treat should and really can only be consumed in small portions.*

So the original recipe calls for a box of cake mix. Once we look past that minor indiscretion, we can get excited about the recipe that is the "gooey". I find it's a close relative to that cream cheese filling you can optionally put into brownies, which is also a close relative to cream cheese frosting. Yeah, I said cream cheese frosting. But it's BAKED in. Genius.

For experiment's sake, I made what you would consider half a batch. Please double at your own discretion.

So I started with a variation on yellow cake. My variation went something like this:

sift together and set aside:

• 1 C flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 C sugar

mix together:

• 1/2 C butter, melted
• 3/4 cup milk, curdled with a tsp of vinegar (aka buttermilk - I didn't happen to have any, hence the substitute)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg

Add dry ingredients to wet.
Yeah, that's it.

Pour this mix into the bottom of a 9x13 pan (I line mine with parchment to keep things easier to clean/cut). You could also do a 9x9 with the final product being a bit taller (could be good).

Next, make the gooey:

• 1/2 package cream cheese (4 oz.)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 box powdered sugar (approx. 8 oz.) (if I had to guess, which I did have to, I'd say that's somewhere between 2-3 cups)
• 1/4 C melted butter

Blend cream cheese until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla. Then add the sugar (I dare you not to make a mess of it) and make sure it's smooth. Then pour in the melted butter.

Pour that mixture over the cake batter evenly. I smoothed mine out and made pretty swirly designs which ended up being visible after baking, so I recommend it (if you care).

Bake for 30-40 minutes (and add more time if you double the recipe). But I guess this is where you just do what you think is best because if you insert a toothpick in the center, well... it's going to be gooey. So I just make sure the cake looked pretty well browned on top (where it was popping through the filling) and made sure it cooled completely before digging in.

Cut, and enjoy!

I also tried one variation with chocolate cake and peanut butter gooey, but we ate it before it cooled so the photos would have been discouraging. They were adored by the consumers, nonetheless.

*That is totally an opinion. I'm sure there are those who would challenge my position. At their own risk, of course.

Neopolitan Cupcakes

Can't decide what flavor you want? Why not have them all-in-one!?

I made cupcakes for a birthday at the office tomorrow and was given liberty to choose the flavor.
*drunk with power*

I saw an image for a Neopolitan Cupcake recipe in one of the many cupcake cookbooks out there, and was disappointed in how the cupcake itself was merely a marble cake that completely disregarded the strawberry flavor altogether. Feeling like it was an issue I should fix, I created the complete Neopolitan Cupcake, from batter to frosting - through and through.

I decided to use my standard "off-white" cake recipe (not quite white, not quite yellow) and double it. I creamed the butter and sugar all together, then separated it into 3 bowls. I then specialized each batch by adding cocoa powder to one and a couple tablespoons of strawberry jam to another and finished mixing the batters. (Admission of guilt: I wanted to leave my cupcakes all natural, and as nature intended and all that, but couldn't help the marketing person inside me who was not convinced that the strawberry looked very flavorful, so did add a dab of good ol' red concentrate to liven the batter up).

To prepare them, I actually ended up cupping each liner in my hand and quickly dropped a spoonful of each flavor into the liner, while carefully using gravity to keep the strawberry batter on the far edge of the liner while I hurried to fill the rest with chocolate and then vanilla. The vanilla in many instances ended up more or less resting on top of the chocolate scoop, but once I put the liner into the pan, it seemed to smooth out and look more even.

I baked them for just under 20 minutes, and made a cream cheese based frosting for them. I did similar to the batters by simply adding cocoa powder and jam to make the second and third flavors. The only thing I would do differently next time is create each batch of frosting completely separate (instead of creaming the butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar altogether and then separating them into 3 bowls at that point). I think the differences will be that the cocoa powder will be sifted in with the powdered sugar from the start, making it smoother, and the jam to frosting ratio will be better proportioned, as this time, I felt like the strawberry frosting was a bit runnier than the others.

But all that considered, I think it worked out well. It was a bit more labor intensive than most cupcakes simply because I decided to frost them all by spatula in 3 separate batches as opposed to using 3 separate pastry bags. But I thought it would have a nice effect to look more like ice cream than to have some fancy decorative tip.

I'm ready for another taste-test right now :)