....and we'll all float on, okay

I'm not a big soda drinker. It is pretty rare to open up our fridge and see a soda. Juice? Milk? Water? Tea? Oh yeah....soda? Almost never. If we do buy soda, it's usually because we are planning on having pizza, and nothing goes better with pizza than a cherry flavored soda. Usually we go with W.C. (my and my husband's code for Wild Cherry Pepsi.) If W.C. isn't available, then 2nd choice will be Cherry Coke. Anyway, when I first decided to do this 52 week challenge,  a Cherry Coke Float cupcake was one of the first recipes I promised I'd make. Almost completely finished with the challenge, I still hadn't made this one!! (It was probably because I didn't have any coke on hand!) Well, almost 1 year later, I am finally proud to say that the Cherry Coke Float has been done....and it was worth the wait!! The cupcake itself is my chocolate cake, slightly amended. Inside each cupcake there is a cherry surprise, which is topped with a coke glaze, and some slightly sweetened whipped topping. This is a super yummy cupcake that could really be featured any time, but with Valentine's Day coming up, why not make some then?!?!?

Cherry Coke Float Cupcake

Chocolate Cupcake
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c baking cocoa (Valrhona)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c whole milk
1/2 c coke


For the filling:
1 can cherry pie filling

For the coke glaze
Inspired by Pass the Sushi
1 1/2 c confectioners' sugar
1/4 c coke

For the frosting:
Inspired by Pass the Sushi
1 1/2 c whipping cream
6 Tbsp confectioners' sugar


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your muffin pan with cupcake liners. In a medium bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together, then set aside. In a large measuring cup combine milk and coke, and set aside.

In your mixer bowl cream together butter and sugar, for about 2 minutes. Once it's nice and fluffy add your eggs, one at a time, and continue to beat for another minute until mixture is smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and mix until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low, then slowly add 1/3 of your flour mixture, followed by 1/2 of your milk mixture. Repeat this, then finish by adding last bit of flour mixture. Mix only until just combined. Remove mixer bowl, and stir a few times through with spatula, to ensure everything is incorporated well.

Grab your scooper and scoop batter into cupcake liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until tops bounce back when touched. Cool in pans for about 5 min, then remove to cooling racks.

** Place your clean mixer bowl in the fridge and chill for 15 minutes, while you fill cupcakes **

Once cupcakes cool, core them out and fill each with 1 cherry from the pie filling can, and fill the rest of the hole up with the cherry pie filling glaze. Set cupcakes aside. Prepare your glaze by whisking together confectioners' sugar and coke. Whisk until sugar dissolves completely. Spoon over cored/filled cupcakes.

Pull your chilled mixer bowl out of fridge and pour whipping cream in it. Using whisk attachment, whip on medium speed until froamy. Increase mixer speed to medium high, and slowly add sugar, 1 Tbsp at a time. Whip together until stiff peaks form. Fill piping bag with frosting, then pipe over cupcakes. top with a stemmed maraschino cherry, then dig IN!

Ode to Almond Joy

There is no denying the fact that I love sweets. I'm a sucker for the candy display in the grocery store checkout lines. Of all the different candy selections, my most likely go-to is an Almond Joy. As I previously mentioned, my husband doesn't like coconut, so this is pretty much the only candy bar that I am not obligated to give him a bite of. The worst part about an Almond Joy is the fact that it isn't very big, and before I know it, it's gone.

I've had my eye on this recipe for a while, but finally was able to make it. Can you believe that I had to talk my husband into actually eating one? I don't think he actually ate one until the day after they had been prepared. Weirdo.

The chocolate cupcake is my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe. The filling is an attempt to recreate the filling of the actual Almond Joy candy bar - a combination of cream of coconut and actual shaved coconut. The frosting recipe I actually found on another blog, and it was A-maaaazing! It wasn't too coconutty, nor was it too rich. It was light, and smooth, with just enough coconut flavor to bring the cupcake together.

Almond Joy Cupcake

Chocolate Cupcake:
Recipe available here on my blog

For the filling: 
Inspired from A Cup of Sugar A Pinch of Salt
1 c shredded coconut, sweetened
3/4 c creme of coconut

For the frosting:
Inspired from A Cup of Sugar A Pinch of Salt
1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c shortening
3 c confectioners' sugar
1 can coconut milk, reduced to about 1/2 c
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the garnish:
Chocolate ganache (My recipe listed here)
Whole almonds

Prepare cupcake recipe according to my blog entry:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your muffin pan with cupcake liners. In a medium bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together, then set aside. In a large measuring cup combine milk and water, and set aside.

In your mixer bowl cream together butter and sugar, for about 2 minutes. Once it's nice and fluffy add your eggs, one at a time, and continue to beat for another minute until mixture is smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and mix until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low, then slowly add 1/3 of your flour mixture, followed by 1/2 of your milk mixture. Repeat this, then finish by adding last bit of flour mixture. Mix only until just combined. Remove mixer bowl, and stir a few times through with spatula, to ensure everything is incorporated well.

Grab your scooper and scoop batter into cupcake liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until tops bounce back when touched. Cool in pans for about 5 min, then remove to cooling racks.
While cupcakes cool, prepare your filling and frosting.

Start by reducing your coconut milk. Pour can of coconut milk in 2 qt saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce temperature to medium-low. Keep on low boil/simmer, stirring often, until it's reduced down to about 1/2 a cup. This took me about 35-40 minutes. Pour about 1/3 c into measuring cup, and allow to cool completely. While this cools, prepare your coconut filling.

Combine cream of coconut (found in liquor stores, or in alcoholic beverage area of grocery store) and shaved coconut. Stir together until nice and thick. Add more coconut, if needed. Core out cooled cupcakes and use a pastry bag (with no tip) to fill insides with cream. Set these aside, and finish preparing your frosting.

Cream together butter, shortening, vanilla, and 1/3 c coconut milk. Once smooth, add confectioners' sugar, until completely combined. If frosting is too stiff, go ahead and add a bit more of the cooled milk, until desired consistency is reached. Pipe or spread frosting over cupcakes, and drizzle with ganache, if desired...then top with an almond!

Enjoy!!

From Germany with Love

I. Love. German. Chocolate.Cake. It's as simple as that. My mom didn't bake much when I was young, and when she did the cakes usually started from a cake mix. Nothing compared to when she baked a Devil's Food cake and topped it with that Pecan-Coconut frosting from the plastic tub. Mmmmmm......so good! That was always one of my favorite cakes she made and probably still is. I bake all my cupcakes from scratch, but there's nothing wrong with the occasional cake mix, right? Especially when you top said cake with that frosting. 

Anyway, I've known that I've wanted to make a German Choc cupcake for a while, but I didn't because my husband doesn't like coconut. (I KNOW! How bizzare!) I've actually put off making quite a few different coconutty cupcakes because of that. Well NO MORE! Don't be surprised if you see some cupcakes popping up soon that consist of coconut. He may take the amazing pics that you get to see on this site, but I'm the baker, right? Right. These chocolate cupcakes were my go-to chocolate cupcake, which consist of Valrhona cocoa. I then topped them with a delish pecan-coconut frosting I found here. Of course, we needed a nice fudge frosting to hold in the coconutty goodness, which was also found here.

German Chocolate Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c baking cocoa (Valrhona)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c whole milk
1/2 c water

Pecan-Coconut Frosting:
Inspired by Barefoot and Baking
1 can evaporated milk (12 oz)
1 c granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
1 stick unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 c shredded, sweetened coconut
3/4 c chopped pecans

Fudge Buttercream Frosting:
Inspired by Barefoot and Baking
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted then cooled
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3 c confectioners' sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa powder (Valrhona)
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp water
3 1/2 Tbsp milk

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your muffin pan with cupcake liners. In a medium bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together, then set aside. In a large measuring cup combine milk and water, and set aside.

In your mixer bowl cream together butter and sugar, for about 2 minutes. Once it's nice and fluffy add your eggs, one at a time, and continue to beat for another minute until mixture is smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and mix until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low, then slowly add 1/3 of your flour mixture, followed by 1/2 of your milk mixture. Repeat this, then finish by adding last bit of flour mixture. Mix only until just combined. Remove mixer bowl, and stir a few times through with spatula, to ensure everything is incorporated well.

Grab your scooper and scoop batter into cupcake liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until tops bounce back when touched. Cool in pans for about 5 min, then remove to cooling racks.
While cupcakes cool, prepare your pecan-coconut mixture.

Combine evaporated milk, sugar, yolks, butter, and vanilla in a 2 qt saucepan. Stir constantly until everything is melted together, and is thick. Make sure that this does not boil. You'll know it's ready when it coats the back of a wooden spoon. This took me about 30 minutes. Once thick enough, stir in coconut and pecans. Set aside to cool.

While this is cooling, prepare your frosting. Place chocolate chips in microwave safe dish and melt for 30 seconds. Remove, stir, and repeat until chips are melted. Allow to cool. Pour melted chips into mixer bowl, along with butter, sugar, cocoa, and vanilla. Add about 2 Tbsp milk and whip together, add more milk/water until desired consistency is reached. (My exact measurements are above)

Pipe boarder around top of each cupcake which will act as your barrier for your pecan-coconut topping. Once you've done this, use a spoon to scoop pecan-coconut frosting within barrier.

Ta-DA! German Chocolate cupcake -- delish!

Choc full of pumpkin loooooove

I live in a little town, not far from where I grew up - in another little town. I actually attended Elementary school in the school that my kids currently attend. It's funny, because I always swore that once I could get out of here, I would. Interestingly enough, I've ended up back where I started. Granted, I'd move to Seattle at the drop of a hat, if I could, but currently I can't. Fingers crossed, I'll be able to go sooner than later.

Anyway, every year the local fire department sponsors a chili supper so they can raise money for the department, and the EMT's. I was asked if I would be willing to donate baked goods for the bake sale, and of course, I did! Since I wasn't over my pumpkin love yet, I wanted to make something pumpkiny, yet unique. These Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes seemed like the way to go. Not only was I satisfying my pumpkin craving, I was also making something kinda off the wall. I wouldn't have thought these flavors would have melted together as well as they did, until I tasted one. Big thumbs up over here!!

Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes

pired by Phemomenon.com

For the cupcakes:

2 c all-purpose flour

3 Tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1 1/4 c dark brown sugar

2/3 c granulated sugar

3/4 c canola oil

3 large egs

1 can (15oz) pumpkin puree

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 c sour cream

For Salted Caramel Sauce

3/4 c granulated sugar

2 tsp light corn sugar

1 stick salted butter, cubed

2 Tbsp heavy cream

1/4 tsp sea salt

For the Cream Cheese Buttercream

1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened

1 stick unsatled butter, softened

6 c confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp vanilla

For the ganache

4 oz semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 c heavy cream

2 Tbsp confectioners' sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prep your cupcake pans with liners. Combine all your dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Whisk until blended, and set aside.

In your mixer bowl, beat together oil and sugars until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, and blend for about 2 minutes until smooth. Add pumpkin, vanilla, then sour cream to bowl. Mix for about 1 minute, scraping bowl down as necessary. Turn mixer down to low, and slowly add dry ingredients.

Scoop batter into cupcake pans and bake for 15-17 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 7 minutes, then remove to cooling rack.

For your carmel sauce, place sugar and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Set heat to medium low and melt sugar crystals. You don't want to stir this, directly. If you need to shift the sugar a bit, simply swirl your pan around a few times. After about 5 minutes or so, grab a spatula and stir the contents gently, to make sure everything is melting, and nothing is burning. Once all the sugar is melted, add cream and watch it bubble! Stir the cream, then add the butter pieces and salt. Continue stirring until it thickens. Make sure that as soon as it begins to thicken up, remove from heat! It took me twice to do this right. The first time, I totally burnt my caramel. How did I know? It got REALLY dark REALLY fast, and when it was cool enough for me to taste, it tasted awful. My 2nd go at it was delish. Here are a few pics of my carmel making process (the 2nd time around) Allow this to cool completely before you prepare your frosting with it.

Sugar melting

Butter & Salt Added

Beginning to go Amber

Perfect!!

For your frosting whip together cream cheese and butter. Add your vanilla, and half of your sugar. Continue adding your sugar, until it's a nice consistency (about 5 1/2 c sugar for me!) Increase mixer speed to medium and pour carmel sauce into bowl, along inside of mixer bowl. Once desired amount of sauce is in, increase mixer speed to medium high and mix for another minute or so, until it's nice and smooth. Once frosting is complete, remove from mixer and chill in the fridge. This will make it a lot easier to pipe or spread on cupcakes. Fill piping bag (if using) with frosting and pipe your cakes.

Last, but not least, the ganache! Put all the ganache ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and heat on high for 30 seconds, or until warm to the touch (not HOT....waaaarm!) Remove from micro and whisk together until sugar is completely dissolved. Place in the refrigerator and chill for about 20-25 minutes, until cool. Not COLD....cooooool! Once ganache is cooled, spoon over our frosted cupcakes.

You may want these to set for a few seconds before you dig in, to allow ganache to set up....then again, maybe not. Enjoy!

Livin' la vida Mocha

I think I've mentioned that I'm addicted to Pinterest (look me up! I pin my cupcakes) Anyway, One of the very first cupcakes I pinned was a Peppermint Mocha one. I love Peppermint Mocha's from Starbucks, and I await their arrival every winter. When I saw a cupcake variety, I knew I HAD to try them. Well, over the course of the past few months I've basically been taking ideas from other cupcakers and then putting my spin on them. Christmas time finally arrived, which granted me permission to bake the Peppermint Mocha cupcakes. Instead of adapting someone else's cupcake, I adapted my own! Yeah....I went back to my mochaccino cupcake and I added some peppermint extract, to give is a minty kick. This cake was then topped with a whipped buttercream frosting, flavored with peppemint. The result - a DELISH rendition of one of my favorite coffee beverages. I used a medium blend of coffee in the cupcake, which helped decrease the coffee's intensity, making it more kid friendly. My kids LOVED them, and my daughter has requested this cupcake to be the one that we take into school for her Christmas party. She makes me proud that I'm baking cupcakes. Call me cheesey, but I adore the pride on her face when she talkes about my cupcake creations.

Anyway, bake these - take them to your holiday party. Become everyone's hero.

Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes with Peppermint Buttercream

For the cupcake:
3/4 c unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs
1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 c dutch processed cocoa (I used Valrhona, purchased at Sur La Table)
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 c whole milk
1/3 c medium-blend brewed coffee, cooled
2 c granulated sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsp peppermint extract
3 oz mini semisweet chocolate chips


For the frosting:
1/2 c shortening
1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
3 tsp peppermint extract
3 Tbsp water
4 c confectioners' sugar
3 Tbsp whipping cream

For the ganache:
2 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 c heavy cream
1 Tbsp confectioners' sugar


Prepare your cupcake pans by lining them with cupcake papers. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together and set aside. In a large measuring cup combine milk and coffee.

In your mixing bowl beat butter at high speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, about 1/4 c at a time, beating until light and fluffy. Scrape down your bowl and continue to beat for 2 minutes. Decrease your mixer speed to low and add your eggs, one at a time. Beat in extracts. Scrape down your bowl, then set at low speed. Slowly alternate addition of flour mixture and coffee mixture, ending with the flour mixture. Remove bowl from mixer stand and stir in chocolate chips. Scoop into prepared cupcake liners and bake at 350 for 18 minutes. Cool cupcakes for 5 minutes in the pan, then remove to wire rack to finish cooling.

While cupcakes cool, prepare your frosting. Cream butter, shortening, extract, and about 2 Tbsp water together in mixer bowl. Slowly add confectioners' sugar. If needed, add more water, until you are almost to perfect consistency for piping and spreading. Add whipping cream to mixer and increase speed to medium. Beat frosting until light cloudy. Pipe or spread on cupcakes.

For the ganache, place all ingredients in microwave safe glass bowl and heat on medium heat for 30 seconds, until warm. NOT hot...warm. Remove from  micro, then whisk all ingredients together. Once everything is combined and smooth, place in fridge. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes, then remove and drizzle over cupcakes. Garnish with peppermint pieces, or candies, if desired.

The Noggin' Toboggan

I like eggnog. There's something about the milkshaky nutmegy cinnamony beverage that appeals to me during the Christmas holiday. I'm not a milk person, by ANY means, but I am enjoying being able to grab a glass of eggnog at any moment during the day. A month or so, ago I came across a recipe for eggnog french toast, which I just HAD to try (thank you Pinterest!) It was delish. Ever since, the 'nog has been readily available in the fridge.

**So funny - As I type this, my 6 yr old son is requesting a glass of eggnog. Classic!

Anyway, the french toast was delish (kid approved.) Once that was established, I knew that the next experiment would be to incorporate it into a cupcake. I'd seen a few different recipes online for eggnog cupcakes, but many of them started with a cake mix base. Don't get me wrong, I have a couple of these recipes, but not for cupcakes. Since this cupcake thing is my THING I want to be as "from scratch" as possible. This cupcake was YUMMY! The cake itself was borderline muffin consistency (I thought) but yet super moist....then once it was filled, it took the eggnog flavor over the top. I am definitely going to make these again before the holidays are over!

Eggnog Cupcakes

For the cupcake:

1 1/2 c granulated sugar

1/2 c unsalted butter, softened

3 eggs

1 c eggnog

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 tsp rum extract

2 1/4 c flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

For the filling:

1 3oz box french vanilla pudding

2 c cold milk

2-3 tsp rum extract, to taste

For the frosting:

1 8oz pkg cream cheese

1/2 c butter, softened

2 tsp rum extract

1 1/2 Tbsp eggnog

5 c confectioners' sugar

Nutmeg - for garnish

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and prep your cupcake pans. Put butter and sugar in mixer bowl, and mix at medium speed until combined, which was about 3 minutes for me. While this is mixing, combine your dry ingredients in a medium bowl, and set aside. (flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg) Combine your eggnog and extracts in a large measuring cup, and set aside. 

Once butter and sugar are well combined, add your eggs, one at a time. Scrape down your  mixer bowl, then set to low speed and alternate adding dry and wet ingredients, starting and ending with the dry's. Mix until completely incorporated. Remove from mixer, and scoop into cupcake liners. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until tops bounce back when touched.

While cupcakes bake, prepare your pudding, as directed. Add 2-3 tsp rum extract, to taste. Pop into the fridge, while you wait for cupcakes to bake and cool. Once cupcakes are fully cooled, core them, then pipe custard into center.

For your frosting, combine butter and cream cheese in mixer. Mix at medium speed, until incorporated, then add extracts and eggnog. Slowly add confectioners' sugar, about 1/2 a cup at a time. Mix until light and fluffy. Pipe or spread onto cupcakes, then sprinkle with nutmeg, if desired.

That's the way...(uh huh, uh huh) Chai Like it!

No joke - my first experience with Chai was about 8 months ago. Earlier this year I was selling Tastefully Simple products, and one of the samples we had was a Chai frozen beverage. I had never had anything Chai flavored, before that. I think, in my head, I had decided I didn't like it. Well, that changed pretty quickly! Don't get my wrong, I'm not ordering Chai Latte's all the time, or anything, but the flavor, itself, was delish!!

When I saw this recipe I knew it was a must, but I didn't know when to squeeze it in. I figured that before Thanksgiving would be the perfect time. I like to associate cinnamon and nutmeg with Fall, so this seemed like a fitting flavor. This recipe only made 1 dozen, so only a select few had the opportunity to taste them. Those who did get to have one, were fans!! This recipe is a keeper.

Vanilla Chai Cupcakes
adapted from the Culinary Enthusiest

For the Chai spice blend:

1 1/2 tsp ground cardemom
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg

For the cupcakes:

1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
1 c sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 eggs
2 tsp chai spice blend
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

For the frosting:

1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c shortening
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 c confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 tsp chai spice blend
2-3 dashes cinnamon
1-2 tsp water

Preheat your oven to 350, and line your muffin tray with cupcake liners. Set aside

Cream butter and sugar together, at medium speed, for 2-3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add scraped vanilla bean seeds to mixer, followed by eggs and 2 tsp of chai spice blend. Once all is combined, remove mixer bowl from mixer, and stir in 1/2 of your flour, followed by buttermilk, then followed by remaining half of flour. Mix only until combined. In a small bowl, mix baking soda and vinegar together, until foamy. Pour over batter, then fold in.

Scoop batter into prepared pan and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until edges become brown, and tops are slightly firm when touched.

While cupcakes bake, prepare your frosting. Place shortening and butter in bowl, and cream together with vanilla. Add powdered sugar, a 1/2 cup at a time. Add water, if needed to thin consistency. Mix in desired amount of remaining chai spice blend (I used 1 1/2 tsp). If desired, add some extra cinnamon, to taste. Once cupcakes are completely cool, frost and enjoy!

A sip of cider

Have you ever been at the grocery store with your kids, and have them beg you for something that you're pretty sure they won't eat or drink? That happened to me this week. We were at the store, walking through the produce, when the kids spotted apple cider. I'm a big fan of cider, but I didn't think my kids were. Once they spotted it the 'pleeeaaaase mom's' started. I threw out the infamous "Ok, but you'd better drink it" line. Lucky for them, when we got home, they were both ready for a glass. On Thursday, I was pleased to see that 1/2 of the jug was empty, so I decided to put the rest to a more interesting use. Originally I was going to top these with a salted caramel frosting, but I managed to kill my caramel, so I went with a brown sugar/cinnamon frosting. I used some extra cider to even out the consistency, which worked perfectly. I delivered a few of these baked cupcakes to my kids at school, as a surprise, and they were big fans. I hope you enjoy as much as we did!

Apple Cider Cupcakes
Adapted from Faith, Family, & French Fries

For the cupcakes:

1 c unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 c sugar
4 eggs
3 1/3 c flour
4 tsp baking soda
2 heaping tsp cinnamon
1 tsp kosher salt
2 c apple cider

For the frosting:


1/2 c light brown sugar
1 c unsalted butter, divided
1/2 c shortening
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tsp apple cider
4-5 c confectioners' sugar
2 Tbsp heavy whipping cream

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your muffin pans with cupcake liners. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. In your mixer bowl, cream sugar and butter together, at medium speed, until smooth. Add your eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly combined. Decrease mixer speed to low, and add 1/3 of your flour mixture, followed by 1/2 of the cider. Repeat this, ending with dry's.

Scoop your batter into your cupcake liners, filling 2/3 full. Bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes, or until tops bounce back when touched. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then place on wire racks.

For frosting, melt 1/2 a cup of butter with brown sugar in small saucepan. Once melted, remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, cream remaining 1/2 c of butter with shortening, vanilla, apple cider, and cinnamon. Add brown sugar mixture to mixer bowl, followed by confectioners' sugar, one cup at a time, until desired consistency is met. Increase mixer speed to medium-high and slowly pour in whipping cream, against inside of mixer bowl. Whip frosting for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Pipe or spread on cupcakes.

Time to Mallow Out, Cause We Got It!... Hot Chocolate

One of my Fall highlights is going to my parents house for our annual bonfire. I love the Fall, anyway, but nothing beats sitting around a big fire with the entire family, roasting hot dogs, marshmallows, and having some of mom's AMAZING chili. Last weekend the family was together and the announcement was made that the bonfire was on for this weekend immediately I started to brainstorm a cupcake recipe to premier at the bonfire. By the time that I decided on this cupcake, the bonfire was canceled. What a BUMMER! I am hoping that it will be rescheduled, because it's one of my favorite family get-togethers. The only good thing that came of this emotional roller-coaster is the creation of this recipe. I took my already delish chocolate cupcake recipe and shook it up a little bit, giving a delicious spin on one of Fall and Winters' favorite beverages : HOT CHOCOLATE

The results were yummy. I hope you enjoy as much as all of us did!!

Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

For the cupcakes:
1 2/3 c flour
1 1/2 c granulated sugar
3/4 c Unsweetened Cocoa (I used Hershey's Special Dark - for the first time EVER. Big win here)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/3 c vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c buttermilk
1/2 c prepared hot chocolate (made with water) and slightly cooled

For the ganache:
4 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c heavy cream
2 Tbsp confectioners' sugar

For the frosting:
1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c shortening
10 oz marshmallow fluff
1-2 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp whipping cream
2-3 Tbsp water

For Garnish:
Jet Puffed Mallow Bits
Hot cocoa powder, sprinkled on top

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees, and line your muffin tins with baking cups.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and soda.
In your mixer bowl, combine oil, eggs, and vanilla. Mix on low until combined. Once well mixed, add half of your dry ingredients to mixer bowl, beating on medium for about 30 seconds. Add buttermilk to mixer bowl, and beat until incorporated. Add the rest of your dry's, followed by the hot chocolate. Mix until well combined, about 1 minute.

Scoop batter into prepared cupcake pans, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until tops bounce back when touched. Let cupcakes cool in pans for 7 minutes, then allow to cool on racks the rest of the way.

Once cupcakes cool, make your ganache. Put all ganache ingredients in microwave safe bowl, and heat on high for 30 seconds, or until warm to touch (not blazing hot - W.A.R.M.) Remove from micro, then whisk chocolate, until it is smooth and lump-free. Place bowl in refrigeratore, for 20-25 minutes, or until cool to the touch. Not cold - C.O.O.L.
While this is cooling, core out your cupcakes, and munch on cupcake nubs while you wait on the ganache. Once ganache is cool, fill your cupcakes. I used a pastry bag with no tip. When you are about ready to cut the tip off the bag, make sure you are prepared, because ganache is still pretty thin. If you have extra ganache, like I did, save it, so you can drizzle your frosted cupcakes with it.

Once your cupcakes are filled, prepare frosting, while you allow ganache to set. Place butter, shortening, marshmallow fluff, and vanilla in mixer bowl. Beat at medium speed for about 2 minues, until thoroughly combined. Slowly add sugar, about 1/2 a cup at a time. Add water, as needed, to get to desired consistency. I ended up using about 2 1/2 Tbsp water. Once smooth, add your whipping cream, and increase speed to high, and whip frosting until light and cloud-like. Pipe onto your cooled, ganached cupcakes, then drizzle with extra ganache, if desired.

The Great Pumpkin

I LOVE Charlie Brown. Once upon a time, someone gave me the box set of the main 3 Charlie Brown Specials - The Christmas one, the Thanksgiving one, and the Great Pumpkin one. I watch them every year, and I don't get sick of them. I can't get over seeing Charlie Brown dressed up as a ghost, with 5,000 holes cut in his sheet, due to him having issues with the installation of the eye-holes. Linus' situation always makes me sad....it tears me up to see him so disappointed after missing the appearnace of the Great Pumpkin. "Maybe next year, Linus!"
Oh, and who can forget Snoop's costume - A WW1 flying ace! Classic!!!
I'd been hunting for a Pumpkin cupcake recipe for a little while, and came across this one on Sweetopia.net I had to double it, in order to get more than 12 cupcakes out of the deal, because they were SOOOO yum! These cupcakes were super moist, and very pumpkin-y. After just one bite, I promised myself that I'd have to bake more pumpkin-inspired things before the season was over. I always forget how much I love pumpkin until my first bite of pumpkin pie, or my mom's Pumpkin Bars (mmmm....) Looks like I'll be hitting up the store to stock up on some more pumpkin soon!!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

For the cupcakes:

2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 heaping tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
4 large eggs
1 15oz can pumpkin
1 c granulated sugar
1 c light brown sugar, packed
1 c vegetable oil

For the frosting:
1 8oz block cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 c unsalted butter, room temperature
2-3 Tbsp good quality maple syrup
5 c confectioners' sugar
1-2 Tbsp water

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and line muffin pan with cupcake liners.
In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the rest of your cupcake ingredients, and whisk together, to make sure all is thoroughly incorporated, and smooth. Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients, and stir, with a spoon, until batter is blended well.

Scoop batter into cupcake liners, then bake for about 20-25 minutes, until centers bounce back, when touched. Allow to cool in pan for about 7 minutes, then cool completely on wire rack.

For frosting, cream together butter, cream cheese, and 2 Tbsp syrup. Add half of your confectioners' sugar. Mix to combine, then add remainder of sugar. Add water, as necessary, to reach desired consistency. Taste frosting, and if you want more maple flavor, add more syrup.
Pipe, or spread onto cupcakes - enjoy!!

The Hostess with the Mostest

When I first started entertaining the idea of this "cupcake of the week" project, I came across a recipe for a mock-Hostess cupcake. I knew I would eventually make these, mainly for my kids amusement. I mean, seriously, are there any parents who's kids do not ask for these when they walk by them in a store? Heck, even I find myself eyeballing them!

Well, I finally worked them into my schedule and the reaction was worth the many steps required to prepare them! The kids think I'm the best mom/baker EVER and those taste testers lucky enough to get one indicated that they were "better than Hostess" Woo hoo! These were winners!

Chocolate Cupcake with Cream filling

Inspired by Babble.com

For the cupcake:

1 1/2 c sugar

2 c all purpose flour

3/4 c Dutch processed cocoa (E. Guittard Cocoa Rouge I purchased at Sur La Table)

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 c oil

3/4 c buttermilk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 c medium roast coffee (I used Starbucks Pike's Place blend), warm

For the filling:

4 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 c confectioners' sugar

2 tsp vanilla

8 oz marshmallow creme

For the ganache:

3/4 c whipping cream

7 oz semisweet chocolate

For the icing:

4 oz unsalted butter

1 1/2 c confectioners' sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1-2 tsp water

Preheat oven to 325, and line your muffin pans with cupcake liners. 

In your mixer bowl, combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix together for about 30 seconds, on low, to get everything blended. In a large liquid measuring cup, combine eggs, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Whisk together, to incorporate, then slowly pour into your mixer, against the inner wall. Bring mixer to medium speed, and mix for about 2 minutes, until everything is completely incorporated. Batter will look like brownie batter, very thick. Remove bowl from mixer, the add your coffee. Whisk in, by hand, until absorbed into batter.

Scoop batter into cupcake liners, filling about 3/4 full. Bake at 325 for 22 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes to a wire rack, and allow to cool completely. 

While cupcakes cool, prepare your filling. In your mixer bowl, combine all of your filling ingredients, and whip until fluffy, which will be about 2 minutes. Scoop into piping bag, and fill each cupcake, using a long filling tip.

Once cupcakes are filled, prepare your ganache. Place cream in a small saucepan, over medium heat. Meanwhile, coarsely chop up chocolate, and place in a heat resistant bowl. When cream comes to a boil, pour over chocolate, and begin whisking, until chocolate has completely melted. Once this happens, stop whisking. Dip cupcakes, upside-down, into ganache, making sure to coat each top evenly. Allow excess to drip off, then return to wire rack, to allow ganache to set.

Prepare frosting while cupcakes set up. Whip together all of the icing ingredients with 1 tsp water. Add more water, until desired consistency is reached. You want icing to be semi-thin, so it is easily pipe-able. Using a #3 tip, pipe squiggles on tops of cupcakes. 

Once cupcakes are set up, dig in! You'll be your kids hero when they open up their lunch boxes the next day!

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezey

I've been busy, lately. Like...mega-busy. I feel like September disappeared almost as fast as it began. For this reason, I am going to try and play "catch-up" with my blog. I do have some exciting news, though. I officially launched my cupcake business the first week of September. I am officially a home-based vendor, and my business is called 'Sweet Little Affair.' Cute, huh? I thought so. Basically, I'll be baking cupcakes and selling from my home. I am hoping to drum up some business during the holidays, so you'll probably see quite a few Fall & Winter themed cupcakes within the next few weeks, in preparation of Thanksgiving and Christmas.

This cupcake came together really quickly, and it really wasn't planned. My friend had mentioned she wanted a lemon cupcake, so I picked up a bag of lemons and head home, hoping I could throw something together. This cupcake was very dense, but delicious. The lemon flavor came through the cake wonderfully, and the frosting did a great job of highlighting it as well. The recipe only made a dozen cupcakes, but the frosting could have possibly frosted 2 dozen, if you decide to double it.

Lemon Cream Cupcakes
inspired by The Baker Chick

For the Cupcake:
1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese
2 Tbsp lemon zest (about 2 small medium lemons)
2/3 c sugar
1 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt

For the frosting:
5 oz pkg cream cheese
2 c confectioners' sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla
1-2 tsp lemon

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees, and prepare your cupcake pans, by lining them with cupcake papers.
In your mixer bowl, cream together the cream cheese, lemon zest, and sugar. Beat for 2-3 minutes, or until smooth, then add eggs, one at a time. Combine flour, baking powder, and sugar in a separate bowl. Reduce mixer speed to low, and slowly add flour mixture. Mix for about minute, or until  just combined.

Scoop batter into cupcake pan, and bake at 325 for 20 minutes, or until tops are firm. Make sure you touch the tops, as these cupcakes are very pale, and they really won't brown on top, like others do.
Allow to cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then cool on wire rack.

While cupcakes cool, prepare your frosting. Combine cream cheese, zest, juice, and vanilla in mixer bowl. Beat until creamy, then add confectioners' sugar. Beat until smooth. You can add more sugar, if frosting is too soft, or more juice if too stiff.

Pipe, or spread on completely cooled cupcakes, then ENJOY!

Lemon and Raaaazz-berry Beret....

I have a confession. I don't love raspberries. I barely like them. I'm not a super huge fan of the taste, and I am FAR from a fan of the seediness. (Is that a word, 'seediness'? I'm sure you catch my drift) So why would I make a raspberry cupcake, you ask? Well, it's a lemon cupcake and I *heart* lemon anything. Plus, I like raspberry filling in donuts. Maybe it would be like a raspberry filled lemon donut...? 

The result was surprisingly delicious. The homemade raspberry curd concerned me, initially, because it was pretty tart, but when it was combined with the sweetness of the lemon cupcake and the frosting, everything evened out. How awesome was it to see the shock an awe on the faces of my coworkers when they bit into it, just to find a raspberry treat inside?!? These were great - a real hit for both raspberry loves, and non-lovers. I think these would make perfect wedding or baby shower treats due to their sweetness and semi-fanciness! 

Raspberry filled Lemon Cupcakes

Inspired by Smells Like Home

For the raspberry curd:

8 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1 pint fresh raspberries, rinsed and dried

5 large egg yolks, lightly beaten

1 c granulated sugar

pinch of salt

For the Cupcakes:

2 1/3 c cake flour

2 3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp kosher salt

5 large egg whites, room temperature

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 1/2 c granulated sugar

5 Tbsp lemon zest

12 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1 c whole milk

For the Lemon Buttercream

1/2 c unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 c shortening

2 Tbsp lemon zest

3 c confectioners' sugar

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 Tbsp heavy whipping cream

Let's start with the raspberry curd. 

Melt butter in medium saucepan, then add raspberries, egg yolks, sugar, and salt. Cook at medium heat, while mashing berries. Make sure you stir constantly, because you don't want your eggs to scramble! Continue to stir until mixture is nice and thick, about 15 minutes. Set a mesh sieve over a bowl, and pour mixture into it, working it through with a wooden spoon. Once you've extracted as much juice as you can, discard of solids, and set aside to cool. Curd will thicken as it cools, but to help it along you can put it in the fridge until you are ready for it. 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare your cupcake tins with cupcake liners. Set aside. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl - set aside. In a clean mixer bowl, whip egg whites at medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar and increase mixer speed to high. Whip until stiff peaks form. Transfer meringue to clean bowl and set aside. Rinse out your mixer bowl,  and replace whisk attachment with paddle attachment. Beat butter until smooth, then gradually add sugar. Add lemon zest, then beat mixture until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Alternate adding flour mixture and milk, starting and ending with flour. Once incorporated, remove bowl from mixer and mix in about 1/4 of the whites with a spatula. Once blended in, fold in the rest of the whites, gently. Continue folding until you see no more white streaks. 

Scoop batter into cupcake lined pan, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until tops bounce back when touched. Remove from oven, cool in pan for 5 minutes, then cool the rest of the way on a rack. 

While cupcakes cool, and curd continues to thicken, make your frosting! In your mixer, beat butter, shortening, and zest until light and fluffy. Begin adding sugar, about 1/2 a cup at a time, and add lemon juice as needed to reach a semi firm consistency. Add whipping cream and whip for about 2 minutes until it's very light and cloud-like. 

To assemble, core out the center of your cupcake with a cupcake corer (or a paring knife - the corer is easier and more fun!) Use a piping back to fill each core. The curd will seem almost too thin to be a filling, but it will continue to thicken within cupcake (I know -- weird!) 

Once cupcakes are filled, pipe frosting on top, garnish with a fresh raspberry, then dig in!!

Strawberry cheesecake forever......

I love cheesecake, but I'm always nervous about baking it. I've prepared a few cheesecakes, and almost all of them turned out great. Every once in a while I have a flop. For some reason their process just intimidates me! That's crazy, right? Why would a type of food be intimidating? Well...it just IS. You know what else is intimidating? Pie crust. Yup....I have a billion of those "no fail" pie crust recipes in my kitchen, but I'm afraid of them. My husband loves pie, but I am scared of the crust, so I don't make it...then he gets no pie. That makes him sad. What else scares me? FRYING. Yeah....hot oil scares the heebie jeebies out of me. Well, it's not that I'm afraid of the oil (unless it splatters and burns me) it's the actual frying part. I mean, if the oil is too hot, the outside burns, the inside is raw....if the oil is to cool, then the stuff doesn't cook right. I'm just not comfortable enough with myself to successfully fry something.

Okay....getting back to the point I initially started on....cheesecake. It's good, and intimidating....so how about we make a cupcake version instead? There are a few different cupcake-cheesecake recipes I'd like to try, but this one was the first. It wasn't tough..and really, the cheesecake part of it is the frosting, so actually, it was easy.

PLUS to take this baby over the top, I filled it with some strawberry-rhubarb jam. Mmmm....delish!

Strawberry-Rhubarb Cheesecake Cupcakes
Inspired by Doughmesstic

For the cupcake:
3 c cake flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 c unsalted butter, room temperature
2 c sugar
5 eggs
1 1/4 c buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract

For the frosting:
1 c unsalted butter, room temperature

8 oz cream cheese, softened

4 1/2 c powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1-2 tsp water, if needed

For filling:

Strawberry-Rhubarb jam (I found this at my local farmers market, but if you can't find this, I'm sure that just Strawberry jam will work, too)

For the garnish:
Strawberries, halved

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and line cupcake pans with liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Scrape your vanilla bean into your mixer, and cream seeds and butter together, for about 4 minutes, until light and creamy. Scrape down your bowl, and mix for another 2 minutes, or so. Slowly add sugar to butter, about 1/4 c at a time, scraping bowl as needed. Add eggs, one at a time to mixer bowl, making sure that they incorporate well. Once eggs are mixed in, add vanilla and beat for another minute, until everything looks incorporated. Set mixer to low, and begin alternately adding dry's and buttermilk into mixer bowl....starting and ending with the drys. Once mixed in, switch off mixer and mix with a spatula, to ensure all is blended in.

Grab your scooper, and scoop batter into your cupcake pans, filling about 2/3 full. Bake for 18 minutes, or until tops bounce back when touched. Cool in the pans for about 7 minutes, then remove to rack to finish cooling.

While they cool, make your frosting!

Combine butter, cream cheese, and vanilla in mixer, and beat with paddle attachment, until smooth, which for me was about 2 minutes. Making sure mixer is on low, add powdered sugar, about 1/4 c at a time. If frosting is too stiff, add a few drops of water.

To assemble these beauties, I cored them out, and filled them with the jam. If you don't have a corer, you can use one of the filling frosting tips, and squeeze some filling in center of each cupcake. If you are squeezing it in, squeeze until cupcake looks like it's cracking and going to explode. If coring, then just fill the hole. Once your cupcakes are filled, pipe your cheesecake frosting to cover hole, and garnish with a strawberry.

A Chocolate Sombrero

Shame on me....for real. I am sitting at my computer for the first time in about 2 and a half weeks. With the Holiday, and other random things happening, it's been difficult to dedicate 30 minutes to typing. Isn't that sad? 30 minutes doesn't sound like much time, until you realize how many other things you do all day, every day.

Anyhoo....I'm back and was COMPLETELY shocked to see that my page views increased by like 2000 views in the past couple weeks. That is freaking amazing!! I'm not one to pat myself on the back, but geez louise! Who would have thought that there were people out there actually looking at this blog? Thanks to you!!

**Funny enough, as soon as I typed the above couple of paragraphs my 1 yr old woke up from his nap.  So much for having 30 minutes at the computer! An hour later...I'm back, hoping to get a few lines in before the older kids get home from school. Eeeek!*

I had some family members visit during Labor Day weekend, and they are from Mexico. Since I received rave reviews from my Tres Leches cupcakes, I decided to set aside some time (lots of time) to prepare a batch of these. After I prepared them, I had left over Dulce de Leche frosting that I felt awful about wasting. Instead of breaking my heart and throwing away hours of work, I looked around for some type of cupcake I could make that would go well with it, and found an idea for a Mexican Chocolate cake. It wasn't too difficult, especially since the frosting was already prepared. They were a hit....even more so than I expected.

Have fun...and enjoy!!

Mexican Chocolate cupcakes

For the cupcake:
1/2 c unsalted butter
1 1/2 c granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c all purpose flour
1/2 c Dutch processed  cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c whole milk
1/2 c water

For frosting:
Dulce de Leche frosting recipe
(make sure you set aside some time to make this frosting because it will take you at least 2 1/2 hours to complete)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and line your cupcake pans with cupcake papers.
Cream butter and sugar, until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Beat in vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, soda, salt, and cinnamon together, then set aside.. In a large liquid measuring cup, combine milk and water, and set aside.
Set your mixer to low, and add 1/3 of dry ingredients, followed by half of your liquid. Repeat this, ending with dry's. Mix for another 30 seconds, or until batter is thoroughly combined.
Scrape down your bowl, then scoop batter into cupcake liners, filling 2/3 full.
Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until tops bounce back when touched.

Prepare frosting, as link above indicates. Spread or pipe on cupcakes, then keep in a very cook place and serve immediately, or refrigerate until 30 minutes before serving. Frosting is very soft, so if it is warm outside, it will melt into a puddle if you're not careful.