Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

In honor of St. Patrick's day, I decided to make some cupcakes. The green and white grocery store cupcakes just were NOT looking appealing to me, and I figured I could make something a bit more authentic. I browsed through my bookmarked recipes and found one that really stood out.

The recipe I found was from The Cupcakery. Her recipe was for Chocolate Guinness Stout Cupcakes With Chocolate Ganache and Bailey's Buttercream Swirl. Her recipe looked pretty good as it was, so I only made minor changes. I figured that we already had the beginnings of a good Irish Car Bomb with the Guinness and the Bailey's, so why not take it all the way? I decided to add the third ingredient.

Here is the original recipe, with my changes in green!

Chocolate Guinness Stout Cupcake
(I halved this part of the recipe, and still came out with 27 cupcakes.)

2 cups Guinness Extra Stout
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
4 cups all purpose flour
4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups sour cream
1 pkg. Hershey's mini-morsel semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350° degrees. Line baking cups with paper liners and set aside.
2. Bring 2 cups stout and 2 cups butter to simmer in large saucepan over medium heat. Do not boil.
3. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
(Once the cocoa powder is added, your mixture should look steamy like this.)
4. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in large bowl to blend.
5. Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend.
6. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine.
7. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed.
8. Using a rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Gently fold in mini-morsel semi-sweet chocolate chips.
(Mixture will appear robust and lumpy.)
9. Divide batter among paper liners and bake 17 - 22 minutes. Cupcakes are done when tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean. Let cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack.
10. VERY IMPORTANT: Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting!


Chocolate Ganache
(I also halved this portion of the recipe, and still had some ganache left over.)

12 ounce pakage Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips (or milk chocolate)
1/2 cup heavy cream (I used Jameson's Irish Whiskey instead of cream.)

1. Combine both ingredients in a double boiler.
2. Continue to mix thoroughly over boiling water until ingredients are smooth and chocolate is completely melted.
3. Layer this ganache on completely cooled cupcakes and allow to harden.


Bailey's Buttercream Swirl
(I doubled this part of the recipe.)

4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. whole milk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 (2 1/2 Tbsp. Bailey's Irish Cream)

1. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and salt for about 30 seconds.
2. Add half of the powdered sugar and the milk to the butter and beat again until combined. Scrape down the bowl.
3. Add the remainder of the powdered sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice. Beat until combined. Scrape down the bowl again.
4. Add Bailey's Irish Cream and beat on high speed for 5-6 minutes or until the frosting is fluffy.
5. It is preferable to use the frosting on the same day you make it, but it can keep in the refrigerator for 3 days if tightly wrapped. Make sure and stir the buttercream well before using to get the air bubbles out of the frosting and then pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes.


I just took the recipe from my Google Reader, so I didn't have her pictures to use as reference. Mine came out decorated a little different, and I love it that way! :) I had some green fondant on hand, so I rolled it out and used some mini cookie cutters to cut out the shapes.

Turkish Delight Cupcakes

First of all, can anyone tell my why my cupcakes ALWAYS fall in the center? I can't figure it out! Someone suggested that my oven temp might not be right, so I went out and bought an oven thermometer. I am positive that my oven is set to the right temperature now. I am always very gentle when removing the pan from the oven so as not to jiggle them and cause them to fall. They are not undercooked or overfilled. I cannot figure out for the life of me why I have not once been able to get a cupcake to have a nice, smooth, rounded top. Am I destined to always win the ugly cupcake contest, or does anyone have any advice for me as to how to fix my problem? Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!!!

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Anyway, back to topic! This cupcake idea came from some Turkish candies my Father-In-Law's girlfriend brought back from Turkey for us. They aren't ACTUALLY Turkish Delight...apparently those are more like nougat, but the name "Bolgi" (or is it "Bolci"?) just doesn't sound as fun. So, I am going to call them Turkish Delight anyway. These candies are made of hazelnuts and pistachios (my two favorites!) in a caramel crunch filling, coated in chocolate. Since I am SO fond of my hazelnut cupcake recipe, I figured it would be fairly easy to modify it to create a cupcake with the flavors of the Turkish candy.

I searched high and low for a pistachio liqueur to use along with the Frangelico, but apparently it doesn't exist. It sounds like at one time, in Italy, it did exist, but it is no longer made. So, I decided to just go with a chopped pistachio topping. I actually liked how it turned out, since the little bit of crunch made it even more like the candy!
I used my original recipe for the Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur) cupcakes, and drizzled caramel topping over them while they were still hot out of the oven. I poked holes in the cupcakes, but the topping didn't melt into the cupcakes as much as I had expected it to. Maybe if I hadn't cheated with store-bought topping *gasp!* and actually made my own caramel syrup, it would have soaked in a bit more.

I topped them with chocolate frosting, and sprinkled the chopped pistachios on top. Yum! Mike couldn't wait to try them. He thought they were awesome! I liked them - the cupcake wasn't too sweet, which is how I like them. The chocolate was a bit sweet though, and since I'm not a big chocolate fan, I could have done without that part. But, they were still yummy!!! Not quite the same flavor as the candy, but still a great flavor combination!!!

(I halved this recipe since the two of us can't even get through a dozen cupcakes, much less two dozen!)

Turkish Delight Cupcakes
created by Alanna!
Yield: 24 cupcakes

Cupcakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter or margarine (I used butter)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup Frangelico
1/4 chopped pistachios for topping
caramel topping (I used store-bought, but a home-made version would probably be better)

Frosting:
2 3/4 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (I used more since I don't like my chocolate too sweet - and it STILL turned out super sweet)
6 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cupcakes:
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and brown sugar until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately, add 1/3 of the flour mixture and all of the buttermilk, then 1/3 of the flour mixture and all of the Frangelico, beating well after each addition. Add remaining flour; mix until smooth.

Line muffin cups with baking papers. Fill each 2/3 full. Bake at 375 degrees for 14-16 minutes or until cupcakes test done. Poke holes in cupcakes and drizzle caramel topping over the top. Cool in pans for 5 minutes. Remove and cool completely.


Frosting:
In a medium bowl, sift together the powdered sugar and cocoa; set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth, then gradually beat in sugar mixture alternately with the evaporated milk. Blend in vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. If necessary, adjust consistency with more milk or sugar.

Lightly frost cupcakes and sprinkle with chopped pistachios.

Girls' Night In! - Tiramisu Cupcakes!

Naturally, for dessert, I made cupcakes! Since I was going with an Italian theme, I chose tiramisu (and it might have a little something to do with the fact that it is my FAVORITE dessert!!!) I found a few recipes online, and then asked my good friend CB if she knew of any good recipes, and what do you know...the ones she showed me are the ones I had been eyeing!

The two recipes in question are:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12266682@N00/370089996/
http://beantownbaker.blogspot.com/2008/09/tiramisu-cupcakes-cupcake-hero.html

I decided to go with the first one (which I actually found on a different website, but the recipe and photo were identical!) because it sounded a bit more like real tiramisu.

Tiramisu Cupcakes

Ingredients:
6 eggs, separated (separate when cold; allow to come to room temp)
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup sugar, divided
3 tablespoon water, room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup sifted, all-purpose flour (measure after sifted)

In large mixing bowl at high speed, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add half of the sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating constantly until sugar is dissolved and whites are glossy and stand in soft peaks. Rub just a bit of meringue between thumb and forefinger to feel if sugar has dissolved.
In small mixing bowl at high speed, beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored, about 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually beat in remaining sugar, water, vanilla and salt (if desired) until blended.
With a sifter or sprinkle flour with a sieve over whites. Add beaten yolk mixture. Gently, but thoroughly, fold yolk mixture and flour into whites.
Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 10-15 min or until done.

****Okay, so GET THIS. I had baked something just a few minutes earlier at the same temperature, so I figured I was all set to start baking cupcakes, right? Well, 10 minutes goes by. The cupcakes are definitely warm, but didn't seem to be setting. So, I put them in for 5 more minutes. Still nothing. I got this sinking feeling and it dawned on me....I just might have turned off the oven after baking earlier! Sure enough...I did. The cupcakes barely got a dose of warmth, and then just sat there for 15 minutes! I turned on the oven again and left them in there and set the timer for 10 minutes. I think maybe I should have baked them for a bit less, since they DID get all that extra time in the warm oven - but since they were drenched in the espresso syrup, I got lucky with these! Anyway, I had to share...I cannot believe I did that!!!****

Espresso Syrup

½ cup confectioner’s sugar
2/3 cup water
5 teaspoons espresso powder (I have an espresso maker, so I just made 1/3 cup of espresso and mixed it with 1/3 cup of brandy instead of using water and espresso powder)

In a small, heavy saucepan over high heat, combine the water, the remaining 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar and the espresso or coffee powder. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool. (I just boiled my espresso/brandy combo with the sugar)

Use a fork to poke a few holes into cupcakes so that they will absorb liquid. Pour approximately ½-1 teaspoon of syrup onto each cupcake.

Frosting

3 c mascarpone
1 c confectioner’s sugar
¼ c marsala wine (I didn't have marsala wine, but I learned that you can mix 1/4 c of dry white wine with 1 tsp brandy, and it essentially tastes the same.)
¾ c heavy cream, chilled

In a medium bowl using an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat together the mascarpone cheese, confectioner’s sugar and marsala until well blended. Add the cream and beat until fluffy, about 1 minute. Frost cupcakes with mascarpone/whipped cream mixture. Dust tops with cocoa powder (I used unsweetened) and then sprinkle with dark chocolate shavings.

This recipe was adapted from the recipes “Classic Sponge Cake” and “Espresso Tiramisu”, both found on www.baking911.com.

Cupcakes AND Orchids!!!

I know....you are all in shock - Alanna is actually blogging - and WITH PICTURES, too!!! What may you ask brought this about?

Superbowl! I love football, and I love baking cupcakes, so naturally, I had to back cupcakes for the Superbowl! I decided to cheer on the Cardinals, since the Steelers are the ones to knock my Chargers out of the playoffs, and seriously....I didn't think they really NEEDED another win. I'm all for the underdogs! Anyway, while my cupcakes may not have brought that extra bit of luck that the Cards needed, I sure had fun making these little birdies!

I decided to make Coconut Cupcakes (courtesy of Made by Melissa!). I think I have oven temperature issues, so I set the temperature a bit higher than called for. They were a WEE bit dry for my taste, but still DELICIOUS. And, I frosted them with my most favoritest Vanilla Bean Icing! I added a bit of almond extract to enhance the coconut cupcakes. Mmmmm....

I gave my first attempt at using fondant, and loved it! I just used the store-bought stuff, and it was pretty easy. I printed out the Cardinals logo and separated it into colors, then cut out a stencil with my exacto knife. I used the exacto to cut out the fondant as well. I drew in the black details with a little tube of black gel. Easy peasy!

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On another note, my mystery orchid, one of the ones that Mike rescued from the garbage, is about to bloom! Here it is in bud. I am guessing it will be purple, but I don't know anything other than that. I am excited! The other 4 plants are in various stages of growth, but no blooms yet!

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Anyway, that's all for now. I'm having a bunch of girls over on Saturday, so I'll be doing a lot of cooking for that. Till then....

Cherry Vanilla Coffee Cupcakes

The other day I had a moment of pure flavor delight. I had just finished drinking my fresh cup of Kona coffee, and began to eat my breakfast of granola and cherry vanilla yogurt. I was suddenly overcome with awe at the mingling of flavors in my mouth. I couldn't let it slip away, so I decided to try to capture it in cupcake form. I browsed several recipes and came up with my own crazy concoction incorporating all of the ingredients I listed above.

I apologize for the crappy picture...I did a poor job of decorating, so I didn't bother taking any cupcake glamor shots.

I started with a simple recipe for coffee cupcakes, adapted from several different Kahlua cupcake and coffee cupcake recipes. I specifically wanted to include yogurt in my cupcake recipe. Once baked, I started the cherry vanilla filling. The filling didn't thicken enough, so I had to add more cornstarch and cook it again. It sure tasted good though! I filled the cupcakes using the cone method, which was a first for me. The cupcakes were hideous...they looked like surgery had been performed on them. Yikes! But, that's what frosting is for! I used my own personal recipe for vanilla bean icing. Unfortunately I didn't have enough icing to cover all the cuppys, but the ones that got frosted looked much better. :)

Overall, they were really good! I served them at my Labor Day party, and they were eaten up in a mad grab. I usually am NOT a fan of fruit-filled things, but these worked well. It was an interesting flavor combo. Not quite what I remembered from my moment of epiphany, but good just the same! I even heard a couple people say that these were my best cupcakes yet! I tell you, that vanilla icing will melt anyone's heart! :)

Cherry Vanilla Coffee Cupcakes
Cupcake Batter: (serves 12 to 15)

2 cups flour (448 grams)
2 cups sugar (448 grams)
¼ teaspoon salt (1 gram)
1 tablespoon dark roast coffee grounds
¼ cup water (120 ml)
¼ cup coffee or coffee liqueur (120 ml)
½ cup butter (112 grams)
1 cup Greek yogurt, at room temperature (240 ml)
1 teaspoon vanilla (5 ml)
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda (6 grams)
2 beaten eggs

Grease or line two cupcake pans. Preheat oven to 350° F. In mixer, combine flour, sugar and salt.
Mix butter, coffee and grounds, and water. Add to flour mixture and mix lightly. Add yogurt, vanilla, baking soda and eggs and mix well for 2 minutes.
Pour batter into pans. Bake until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool on rack 10 minutes and unmold cakes to cake rack to cool completely before frosting.

Cherry Filling

2 cups cherries, pitted, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch

1. Add cherries, water, and vanilla to a pot. Cook for 10 minutes over medium-high heat.
2. Stir together sugar and cornstarch then stir into the cherries.
3. Cook until thick, about 20 minutes. (I had to add more cornstarch and cook it again, so I would recommend adding the cornstarch before you take it off the heat and letting it cook for a while longer so it can thicken a bit while cooking.)

Assemble
1. Fill each cupcake with filling. I used the “cone method”, but many methods will do.
2. Frost filled cupcakes with Vanilla Bean icing:
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine
5 T whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
vanilla bean

Beat powdered sugar and butter in a small mixing bowl. Scrape out vanilla beans and stir in into sugar mixture until they're evenly distributed. Add whipping cream and vanilla, beat until smooth. Add remaining cream if needed to reach spreading consistency. Spread over cooled cupcakes.

Obama Bake Sale

Last month, MoveOn members across the country organized over 3,000 bake sales to raise money for the Obama campain. See here for photos. http://www.flickr.com/photos/44124466908@N01/2605539884/

I wanted to help out, so naturally, I baked my Vanilla Nut cupcakes that everyone seems to think are to die for! I figured I would deck them out in a political theme, and took them up to the bake sale at the Cardiff Seaside Market.Don't they look patriotic? :)

More cupcakes!

Now, huge jump to almost present. I didn't take photos for a long time...I apologize. I did cook the rest of my homemade pasta...SO good. Wow. I also made some AMAZING Tres Leches cupcakes for Cinco de Mayo. I arranged a little fiesta that night. I made crab enchiladas and margaritas, and played mariachi music. Oh yes. Party at my house! I don't have any pics, but if you are interested, here is the cuppy recipe. OMG. These are melt-in-your-mouth gooey sticky incredible cupcakes. I HIGHLY recommend them!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tres Leches Coconut Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream Recipe courtesy Lorie Roach, Buckatunna, MS Show: Ultimate Recipe Showdown Episode: Ultimate Recipe Showdown: Cakes

1/4 cup shortening 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 1 cup sugar 3 eggs, separated 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup buttermilk 1/2 cup evaporated milk 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk 1/2 cup coconut milk 1 cup lightly toasted flaked coconut (Mounds or Angel Flake brand) Dulce de Leche Buttercream: 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (Eagle brand) 2 egg yolks 3/4 cup sugar 3 tablespoons cornstarch 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup water 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature 1 cup powdered sugar Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortening, butter, and sugar until light and fluffy on medium speed; add egg yolks 1 at a time, beating until all the yellow disappears. Add the vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add alternately with the buttermilk to the creamed mixture beginning and ending with the flour. In a small bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold into cake batter. Fill standard paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to wire rack that has been placed over a baking sheet to cool. While cupcakes are still warm, stir together the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and the coconut milk. Using a meat injector needle, inject each cupcake in several different spots with about 1/2 to 3/4-ounce of the mixture. Or, poke several holes in the top of each of the cupcakes with a 1/4-inch wooden skewer. Pour the milk mixture over each cupcake while they are still warm, filling each hole. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight before icing. For the Buttercream:Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. To make the dulce de leche, pour the sweetened condensed milk into a glass pie plate and cover with foil. Place in a larger roasting pan where pie plate can sit flat. Pour hot water into the roasting pan to a depth of about halfway up the pie plate. Place in oven and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Stir until smooth. Place egg yolks in a medium mixing bowl. Stir the sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a small, heavy saucepan. Whisk in the water first, then the dulce de leche and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute, whisking constantly. Remove from heat. Gradually whisk the dulce de leche mixture into the 2 egg yolks. Stir in the vanilla. Strain through a wire mesh strainer into a small bowl and set aside to cool completely. Beat the butter on high speed in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the cooled dulce de leche mixture. Beat in the 1 cup powdered sugar until smooth and spreadable. Frost each cupcake with a generous amount of dulce de leche buttercream. Refrigerate any remaining buttercream for another use. Sprinkle each cupcake with toasted coconut.

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And then...last weekend, my coworker had a birthday party, and asked everyone to bring food. When I asked around, everyone told me I MUST make my Vanilla Nut Martini Cupcakes. My friend's name is Liz, and her nickname is Lizard, so I decided to decorate the cuppys with a little candy lizard! After advice from friends, I melted some white chocolate with green food coloring and put it in a pastry bag. I enlisted my husband to help me trace some little lizards. As you can see, he went a bit wild.

But, I chose the best ones, and put them on top of my cuppys (frosted with Vanilla Bean Frosting, of course!) and they were a hit!

Liz loved the lizard reference, and everyone else was in awe of the cupcakes. I really had no idea the effect they were having on people! As my boss said, "it was like a ray of sunbeam bursting through the clouds." Wow. Seriously, people!

Cupcake Hero: Marshmallow Almond Butter Cupcakes

This month's Cupcake Hero challenge proved to be a fun one! I wasn't sure how things would go when I found out that the ingredient of the month was marshmallow. I mean, I love S'mores, but beyond that, I really don't eat the sticky, gooey, sugary confection. I was definitely up for the challenge though, since I had a half-used jar of marshmallow creme sitting in my cupboard. I began to think of all the things I could do with marshmallow. I quickly crossed the idea of a S'more cupcake off my list, since I figure ANYONE could come up with that, and I was sure it would be done by at least a few of my fellow cupcake-ers.

As I was making my grocery list and perusing the ad for Trader Joe's, I came across an ad for creamy, smooth almond butter. I suddenly had a thought. Would almond and marshmallow go well together? I thought they might...better than almond and peanut butter, I thought. I bought my first jar ever of almond butter, and started devising a plan. My first thought was to make almond butter cupcakes with marshmallow frosting, but I'm not really a fan of the idea of just using the ingredient of the month in my frosting - I really wanted to incorporate it through and through into my recipe.

After reading Tempered Woman's recipe for Peanut Butter cupcakes, I decided to adapt it for my needs. Thanks, girl, you're the best! :) (wink, wink)

I only made some minor changes to the recipe, such as changing the peanut butter to almond butter. I also did some other minor experimentation, which I'll get into later.

Like I said, I didn't want to exclude marshmallow from the cupcakes themselves, so I decided I would try to give them a marshmallow filling. I wasn't sure if I wanted to try to pipe thick, gooey marshmallow cream into the finished cuppys, or just put a marshmallow in them before baking. Since I was unsure, I decided to give making my own marshmallow cream a try, and decide from that point. Until researching for these cupcakes, I had no idea you could make your own marshmallows! How fun is that?

Sweet, sticky goodness.

I let this sit in the refrigerator overnight. Turns out this pretty much blew my chance of piping it in the next morning! It was set nice and thick...like a very sticky marshmallow. Oh well. That made up my mind for me...I would be plopping a drop of this ooey gooey stickiness into the middle of my cupcakes.

Just like TW, I did my first batch by swirling the nut butter into the batter, already in the tin.
I then attempted to drop a dollop of marshmallow into the cupcake and press down. It didn't want to go. Who would have thought that something so light and full of air would want to float on top of the batter? Sheesh. So, I baked them anyway.

OMG...don't they look yummy?

For round two, I decided to swirl the almond butter directly into the batter before placing it into the tins, since it was rather difficult the first time around.

I also decided to put the marshmallow in the cup first, and put the batter over the top. Not sure that was such a great idea.

They still look yummy, but they didn't rise nearly as much, and the stickiness in the bottom made them pretty near impossible to get out of the wrapper.
See, CB, I scraped my bowl out very well...just for you!

I think that next time I would combine my two experiments, and mix the almond butter in with the batter before placing it in the cupcake liners, but I would still put the marshmallow on top of the batter.

I made Fluffernutter frosting to top the cuppys with. Again, it includes both marshmallow and almond butter! My whole intent for these cupcakes was to use my jar of marshmallow creme, but since I had so much of my homemade marshmallow left, I decided to use it for my frosting as well.

See how cute these babies are? Wow...so yummy. They are good naked too...but more like a muffin. The frosting definitely upgrades their status!!! The husband couldn't wait to sink his teeth into one. His words? "These are bad ass." He rated them as some of my better cupcakes. :) I have to say, I am pretty prouf of them myself. :) They are going to a party tonight....let's see if any of them survive!


Now....for the recipes!

Almond Butter Cupcakes

Made 22 cupcakes
Cupcakes:
3/4 cup (12 T) Butter
3/4 cup Sugar
4 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
1/3 cup Buttermilk
1 3/4 cups sifted AP Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking Powder
16 oz. Almond Butter (some for cupcakes and some for frosting)

Cream together butter and sugar until light, 2 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time, until fully incorporated. Add buttermilk. Add vanilla. Stir in flour, salt and baking powder on low just until flour is incorporated. Fill cupcake liner with batter about 2/3 full.
Scoop 1 T of almond butter onto cupcake batter and gently swirl in to marble somewhat. Drop marshmallow cream into center of cupcake and gently push down. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Marshmallows for filling:
3 packages unflavored gelatin
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Combine the gelatin and 1/2 cup of cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and allow to sit while you make the syrup.

Meanwhile, combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to high and cook until the syrup reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat. With the mixer on low speed slowly pour the sugar syrup into the dissolved gelatin. Put the mixer on high speed and whip until the mixture is very thick, about 15 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly.

Fluffernutter Frosting
1 cup marshmallow creme
1/2 cup almond butter
1/3 cup butter or margarine -- softened
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

In small bowl with mixer at low speed, combine marshmallow creme, almond butter and butter until blended. Increase speed to medium. Beat in salt and confectioners' sugar alternately with milk, adding just enough milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable. Beat in vanilla.

Fierce and Ferosh Ferocity.

These cupcakes are some bad mamma jammas, that is for sure. They really pack a punch. In fact, you could say they are the fiercest cupcakes I have ever eaten.

I had decided that I would NOT make any more cupcakes until the next Cupcake Hero challenge, in fear that my waistline would expand exponentially if I kept baking. But when my dear friend CB posted a challenge for this week, inspired by Project Runway, I couldn't resist. Fierce and ferocious cupcakes? How can you turn down that challenge? (It also helped that the in-laws are in town, so I had help in eating these cuppys!)

I spent several days agonizing about what exactly the word fierce means, especially in cupcake terms. I felt that in order to be fierce, it really has to have a bite to it.

Grr, baby, grr!

The word fierce also made me think of a badass warrior. Carefully, I began devising a plan. What would pack a punch to the palate, and be fashionably fierce as well? I chose to make Mexican Chili Chocolate Cupcakes. I found a cake recipe and altered it slightly to fit my tastes. It ended up making exactly 12 cupcakes - perfecto!!!

The decorating of these cuppys was a little harder than I expected. I had such great aspirations. I figured that if my cupcakes were fierce in Mexican flavor, they should be fierce in Aztec warrior glory. See my inspiration?I decided to decorate them as Aztec warrior headdresses. My future sister-in-law (maybe) and I went off to the grocery store and Michaels to see what we could find. It was harder than I expected to find supplies to recreate these glorious works of art. I ended up just buying some Ghiradelli chocolate squares and a few sprinkles and candies, and hoped for the best.

These cupcakes were great to bake. The recipe was fun and pretty easy. I toasted up almonds and ground them in my coffee grinder, and it ended up making a fine almond flour. How cool is that? I couldn't taste the chili powder in my batter, so I kept adding cayenne until I could. These cupcakes baked up so nicely! I love it when they get all dome-y in the oven.

On to the decorating. The frosting was easy to make as well. Once again, I couldn't taste the chili powder, so I just kept adding cayenne. In the end, it came out PERFECT. So rich and chocolatey. You could taste the cinnamon, and afterwards came the fierce punch of cayenne. MMMMMmmmmm..... I piled that frosting on as high as I could. I think the frosting was as tall as the cupcake. FIERCE, baby, fierce!!!!

By this time, my friend Keziah was totally into this with me. We were having a ball decorating these cupcakes. Things were going well. I stuck the chocolates onto the frosting, and got ready to use color to create the feathered headdresses. I used some leftover white chocolate frosting from my last cupcakes. BAD IDEA. The frosting was SO soft. It totally gooshed all over and made my feathers look like leaves, and then eventually melt into blobbiness. :( But, seriously, I think it just made them look even more ferocious. We added toothpicks to the headdresses to make them look still more intimidating. Really. Dangerous. Ferosh.
This is one army of warriors you would not want to stumble across unprepared. They are fully lined up for battle, and they will kick yo' ass!

See them dressed in full battle gear? Seriously fierce. There is no denying it. Swords and shields are drawn and ready.
The captain is preparing to give the battle cry.

Ayiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The lookout is keeping watch on the sidelines.

This ugly, scary mofo is in the rear, watching for any attacks from behind. You don't want to mess with this fierce cupcake.


In the end, however, I won the battle. I ate those cupcakes, ferosh as they were. But wow, they sure did let me have it on the way down! I could feel the burn as I savored every bite.


These cupcakes are YUMMY. They are hardcore. They are fierce on so many levels. As Mike said, "it was a very complex dessert." They have a deep, dark chocolate flavor, with a hint of cinnamon. As the flavor travels across your taste buds, you begin to feel the subtly delightful burn of the chili and cayenne. OMG, yum. The frosting is rich, the cake is somewhat dense but oh so moist and yummy.

For those of you brave enough to attempt to take on this fierce recipe, see below.

Mexican Chile-Chocolate Cupcakes

10 ounces Mexican chocolate, or semisweet chocolate, plus 1 teaspoon cinnamon (I used dark chocolate)
2 tablespoons strong hot coffee (I used espresso)
1 stick ( 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla or other premium vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons ancho chile powder, lightly toasted (for a hotter chile hit, use guajillo or New Mexican red) (I did this, and added cayenne until it looked good.)
1/3 cup toasted almonds, finely ground
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt chocolate in coffee.

Cream the butter with a mixer until fluffy; add 1/2 cup sugar and continue beating for 1 minute. Beat in egg yolks one at a time until well incorporated. Beat egg whites on high with salt until soft peaks form, gradually add 2 tablespoons sugar, and beat until stiff peaks are formed and the whites are shiny.

Blend the warm melted chocolate mixture, extracts, chile powder and almonds into egg yolk mixture and then fold into egg whites alternating with the flour. Continue gently folding until all is incorporated.

Place batter in a well-buttered and floured 8-inch cake pan and bake for 35 minutes, or in individual souffle cups and bake for 25 minutes. (I used a cupcake pan, of course! I baked them for 25 minutes.) Cake will still move slightly in the center when done. (Mine didn't move. They sprung back nicely when I poked them.) Garnish with powdered sugar and cinnamon or more chile powder or whipped cream along with toasted almonds or shaved chocolate. (I frosted them with the recipe below.)

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Per serving (based on 8 servings): 407 calories, 6 grams protein, 22 grams fat, 11 grams saturated fat, 51 grams carbohydrate, 2 grams fiber, 107 milligrams cholesterol, 67 milligrams sodium.

Chile Chocolate Frosting

1 stick softened butter
2/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder
3 1/2 C powdered sugar
1/3 C + whole milk
1 T vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
cinnamon and chili powder to taste (I probably used about a teaspon of cinnamon, a teaspoon of chili powder, and a 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne.)

Mix butter, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Slowly add milk and extract. Add more milk, a tablespoon at a time until desired texture and volume is reached.

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with White Chocolate or Rose Frosting

Cuppys with White Chocolate Mascarpone Frosting

Cuppy with Rose Frosting

I have been really excited to make these cupcakes. As you might have noticed, I have a thing for vanilla beans and cupcakes lately. Since my vanilla bean frosting turned out so well, I wanted to try a vanilla bean cupcake! My friend CB shared this recipe with me. You can find it at Leite's Culinaria. I followed the recipe as-is (other than halving the frosting recipe), so I won't repost it here. I'm not a huge white chocolate fan, so I wanted to try another type of frosting as well. I've been really curious about rosewater as a flavoring lately, and I thought it might go well with a vanilla-flavored cupcake. It is definitely different, but I like the originality of it.

Rose Frosting
3 oz cream cheese
2 1/2 C confectioner's sugar
1 T milk
1 t rosewater

Here's me slicing open my vanilla bean, preparing to scrape out the seeds.

Holy crap...look how much batter is left after filling my cupcake tray! It says it makes 12 cupcakes....I ended up with 32!!!



Look how nice and poofy they got this time! :)

Getting ready to chop the chocolate.

Chocolate milk in a bowl...I was supposed to let this chill for at least 4 hours, but seriously, who has that kind of time when cupcakes are on the line? I let it chill for 2...It worked fine. I don't know if the flavor would have changed or not.

Overall, these cupcakes were delicious. I was really not that impressed by the vanilla bean flavor though, unfortunately. They really just kind of taste like white cake. They are really moist and tasty though, so I can't complain! They are good with the rose frosting - it is subtle, but definitely is the highlight of these cuppys. For the white chocolate frosting, while I didn't care for the flavor so much on it's own, when I piled it on top of the cupcake, OMG...it was heavenly! So light and fluffy and airy. I don't like the fact that the cupcakes need to be stored in the fridge because of the milk content in the frosting, but hey, I'm not going to complain. :)

The boys loved these cupcakes, so all in all, they were a success!

Cupcake Hero: Vanilla Nut Martini Cupcakes

This month's Cupcake Hero challenge was to make cupcakes that included liquor in the cupcakes and/or the frosting. The wheels in my head started quickly turning, and I decided to use the flavors from my favorite martini of all time - the Vanilla Nut Martini. The martini is made with Frangelico and vanilla vodka. Frangelico is such a delicacy...I love the sweet hazelnut flavor. It's an expensive bottle, but OH so worth the money. I adapted a recipe for Amaretto Dream Cupcakes, replacing the Amaretto with Frangelico, and omitting the slivered almonds. I also used the frosting recipe, but omitted the Amaretto, and used 1 t vanilla extract, and a vanilla bean. Every day I kept thinking about how I wanted to do these cupcakes. I decided that the vanilla bean would add a more distinctive vanilla flavor than just plain vanilla. I also wanted to keep my hazelnut and vanilla flavors separate by making the cupcake one flavor, and the frosting the other, rather than combining them.

OH. MY. GOSH.

You would not believe how heavenly these cupcakes are. I was licking the bowl like crazy. It was seriously the yummiest batter I have ever tasted!!!! The cupcakes baked nicely, although my oven is whack. (We got new knobs that don't seem to align properly, and the temperature is never right. It took me an hour to bake my last cupcakes, so I set the temp for 100 degrees hotter this time. They still took 10 extra minutes to bake this time, but whatevs.)


The frosting turned out very nice. I had to use 5 T whipping cream, because I didn't take into account the liquid I was missing from the Amaretto.

I served these cupcakes at our housewarming party, and people were seriously freaking out about how good the cupcakes were. The cupcakes themselves were perfectly moist and soft. The flavor of the Frangelico had baked out a little more than I had hoped, so in the future, I might add just a little bit more. They had a really nice, mellow flavor though. I think it was everyone's opinion that the frosting TOTALLY made the cupcakes. It was SO good. The natural vanilla flavor was so good! I heard someone say it almost tasted like Breyer's vanilla ice cream.

I cannot wait to make these again...they were AWESOME!!!! Everyone at the party asked for the recipe. So, with no more ado...here is the recipe after I made my modifications to it.

Vanilla Nut Martini Cupcakes

Cupcakes:

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter or margarine
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup Frangelico

Icing:
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine
5 T whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
vanilla bean

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and brown sugar until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add 1/3 of the flour and all of the buttermilk, then 1/3 of the flour and all of the Frangelico, beating well after each addition. Add remaining flour; mix until smooth.

Line regular or mini muffin cups with baking papers. Fill each 2/3 full. Bake at 375ºF for 14-16 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool in pans for 5 minutes. Remove and cool completely.

For frosting, beat powdered sugar and butter in a small mixing bowl. Scrape out vanilla beans and stir in into sugar mixture until they're evenly distributed. Add whipping cream and vanilla, beat until smooth. Add remaining cream if needed to reach spreading consistency. Spread over cooled cupcakes.

Yield: 24 regular or 48 mini cupcakes.

I made cupcakes! Hot Chocolate & Bailey's

Last night I had a craving. A craving for sweets. And since I've had nothing on the brain other than cupcakes lately, naturally I looked for a cupcake recipe. I was hoping to find something to use up my leftover mascarpone, and possibly some of the little bits of liquor left in the cabinet. I settled on Kahlua cupcakes from How to Eat a Cupcake. I knew I was VERY low on Kahlua, so I decided to use Bailey's instead. The batter was so perfect - thick but light. I think it was the most perfect batter I've ever made. The Bailey's flavor sure was strong though! I went ahead and put it in the cupcake cups. Unfortunately, I filled them way too full, and instead of baking in 25 minutes, it took closer to an hour to bake them all the way through!!! I had intended to frost them with Tiramisu Cream, but by the time the cupcakes were done, it was almost 11:00 pm, and I didn't want to disturb the neighbors with my mixer. I just stirred together some Cool Whip and the leftover mascarpone and smeared it all over my warm cupcake. Mmm...heavenly. Just like hot chocolate with Bailey's with whipped cream on top. :) The Bailey's flavor was still really strong after baking. I like it, but I think I might tone it down if I tried it again. And of course, I wouldn't fill my cupcake liners so full! :)

No pictures, sorry...roomie still has the camera and won't be back til later today. :(

Kahlúa Cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup Kahlúa
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Insert 24 liners into a medium cupcake pan.
2. In a large bowl cream together the butter, cocoa, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and creamy, 3-5 minutes. Add egg yolks and beat for 4 minutes.
3. In a small bowl mix water and Kahlúa.
4. In another large bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternating with the Kahlua mixture. Mix on medium speed until ingredients are completely combined.
6. With clean beaters and a large bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed until they form soft peaks. With a rubber spatula, fold the meringue into the batter.
7. Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcake comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan.

Superbowl Cupcakes

Well, I'm a little embarrassed to post my cupcakes after seeing the incredibly cute ones CB made, but since I have pictures, I suppose I might as well go for it.

I finally decided to install Picasa on my computer at work so I can resize pictures. Thus, I will be able to BU from work!

I used the recipe from Hungry Girl for Red Velvet Insanity Cupcakes. I liked them because of the beautiful red color! I felt like I was cheating a bit, since I was using box mixes, but I only used a cup of each, and then used my own ingredients. Still, not my favorite way to do things. I used regular sugar rather than Splenda, because I HATE the taste of fake sugar. The frosting was delicious!!! And the cupcakes were SO moist, and very chocolatey and red. I was a little disappointed because the minute I took them out of the oven, the nice smooth tops settled a bit and got wrinkly. :( Fortunately, the frosting covered that up, but I was still kind of sad.

I think they looked pretty cute...superbowl colors (I liked the powder blue...I still had to represent my Chargers!) They were VERY popular at the party. I was watching...several people at 3 of them! Mike said they were MUCH better than the blue velvet cupcakes I made 2 weeks ago.



HG's Red Velvet Insanity Cupcakes

Red HOT!

These cupcakes are so moist, so delicious, so RED, and so completely guilt-free, that writing extra words to introduce this recipe would be a complete and total waste of everyone's time. So here ya go... HG's Red Velvet Insanity Cupcakes!

Ingredients:

For Frosting
6 tbsp. Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme
6 tbsp. Cool Whip Free, thawed
1/4 cup fat-free cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp. Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated) (I used regular sugar)
(I added blue food coloring)

For Cupcakes
1 cup Pillsbury Moist Supreme Reduced Sugar Cake Mix, Devil's Food**
1 cup Pillsbury Moist Supreme Reduced Sugar Cake Mix, Classic Yellow**
Two 25-calorie diet hot cocoa mix packets
1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters) (I used 2 eggs)
1/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided (I overdid the chips...more chocolate!)
1/2 oz. red food coloring
1 tsp. Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated) (I used regular sugar)
1/8 tsp. salt

Directions:
Place half of your chocolate chips (2 tbsp.) and the contents of both cocoa packets in a tall glass. Add 12 ounces of boiling water, and stir until chips and cocoa mix have dissolved. Place glass in the freezer until mixture is cold (about 30 minutes). Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix together marshmallow creme, cream cheese, and 1 tbsp. Splenda until smooth. Fold in Cool Whip. Place bowl in the fridge to chill until cupcakes are ready to be frosted. Once the cocoa in the freezer has chilled, give it a stir, and pour it into a large mixing bowl. Add the cake mixes, egg substitute, remaining chocolate chips, red food coloring, 1 tsp. Splenda, and salt. Using a whisk or fork, mix batter for about 2 minutes (until smooth and blended). Batter will be thin, but don't worry, your cupcakes will puff up once baked! Line a 12-cup muffin pan with baking cups, and spray lightly with nonstick spray (or simply spray the pan with nonstick spray). Evenly spoon batter into the pan. Place pan in the oven, and bake for 15 - 20 minutes. Cupcakes will look shiny when done. Once cupcakes have cooled completely, evenly spread the frosting over them. Enjoy! MAKES 12 SERVINGS


Serving Size: 1 frosted cupcake
Calories: 134
Fat: 3g
Sodium: 266mg
Carbs: 25g
Fiber: 0.75g
Sugars: 11g
Protein: 3g

POINTS® value 3*