It's Fat Tuesday - Have a cupcake

Happy Mardi Gras! I may not be in New Orleans, but I am all about a good party. When I mentioned to my husband that I wanted to do a Mardi Gras themed cupcake he immediately said I had to make a King Cake cupcake. I did some research and found that a traditional King Cake is more pastry, than cake. Luckily, he has experienced a real King Cake while in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, so he was able to guide me in the necessary flavors.

This cupcake was prepared very similarly to a cinnamon roll. The dough came together like a cinnamon roll, but the additional flavors of nutmeg and lemon gave it a crazy twist....THEN instead of being topped with a normal cream cheese frosting, it is used as filling. Umm...YUM!

The finished product was topped with a basic powdered sugar glaze, then covered in the traditional Mardi Gras colors: Purple, representing Justice, Green, representing Faith & Gold, representing Power.

In New Orleans, many King Cakes are baked with a small trinket inside. This trinket is usually a small plastic baby, to represent Baby Jesus. The person who finds the baby in their piece is granted various privileges, or obligations for next year's party. Since the baby was not much smaller than the cupcake, I decided to not bake him inside.....as you can see, he's hanging out under a wine glass, surrounded by beads.

This was a more complicated cupcake, due to the usage of yeast (which always scares me) but it was all worth the extra effort.

Enjoy your Fat Tuesday, everyone. With the help of these cupcakes, I know I will!


KING cupCAKE

The Recipe
adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride

For the dough
1 c water at 115 degrees
1/4 c sugar, divided
1 pkg (2 1/4 tsp) dry active yeast
1 egg
1 egg yolk
4 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp nutmeg
3 1/4 c flour, divided + extra for dusting work surface
1 tsp kosher salt
oil, for coating bowl

For Filling
1 8oz pkg cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 c + 2 tbsp sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 rounded tsp cinnamon
Raisins (optional)
2 tbsp melted butter

For glaze
1 c confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp water
Decorating sugar - Purple, Green, & Yellow
Plastic baby (optional)

Pour 1 tbsp sugar and water into mixer bowl. Sprinkle yeast over top aand let stand for 10 minutes. If yeast gets puffy, you may continue. If your yeast does nothing, it may be dead and you may want to get some more. While your yeast is activating, lightly oil a large bowl and prep your muffin trays with cupcake liners.
Attach dough hook to mixer. Add melted butter, egg, egg yolk, remaining sugar, nutmeg, lemon zest, 3 c flour, and salt to bowl. Turn mixer on to low. Add only enough extra flour to bowl to allow dough to pull away from bowl, but still stay stuck to bottom. (I used almost the whole 1/4 cup) Your dough should be slightly sticky to the touch. Dump into oiled bowl. Cover and place in warm, dry place. Allow to double in size. It took my dough about an hour to double. While dough rises, prep your filling.

Put all filling ingredients, except for melted butter, in mixer bowl. Mix for 1-2 minutes, or until very smooth.

Dump dough onto lightly floured surface and kneed a few times. Starting from the center, push dough outwards, then stretch into an 18" x 12" rectangle. Brush melted butter all over flattened dough, sparing 1" at top. Leave that dry. Spread filling all over dough, except for that 1" at the top. If you want, sprinkle raisins across dough.

Starting with the long side of the dough, closest to you, roll upwards, jellyroll style, and pinch last inch of dough into roll. Place seam down on counter. Lightly tug on roll, in order to ensure entire thing is fairly even in diameter. Using a serrated knife, cut off ends, then begin to cut roll into 3/4" - 1" pieces. Do not make them any larger. If they are bigger than this, they will overflow your muffin pan. Transfer rounds into prepared cupcake pan and allow to rest while oven finishes preheating.

Bake for approximately 20 min, or until tops are a light gold brown. Do not overbake! They will be hard little King Cake rocks if you bake them too long. Remove pans from oven, and allow to cool on cooling rack for 10 minutes. Transfer to cooling racks, and allow to cool completely.

To make your glaze, dump all ingredients into a small bowl and whisk until smooth. You want it to be a bit runny, so it will run down the tops of the cakes (and look pretty.) Spoon glaze over completely cooled cakes, then sprinkle all 3 colors on each cake.

Try to eat these the same day, or even the next day. If you let them sit to long, they won't be as pretty. Enjoy!

Isn't it romantic?

Champagne and chocolate covered strawberries - a perfect addition to Valentine's Day. I wanted to make something special, in honor of Valentine's Day, but I didn't want to give into the cliché Red Velvet cupcakes (at least for the blog...I made those for my family last week!) These caught my eye immediately, and I knew they would be perfect for the lover's holiday. I remember a few years ago I was surprised by my husband at my place of employment with a platter of chocolate covered strawberries that he had made all by himself. It was so sweet, and something I like to brag about to my friends. As for the champagne, I had never opened a bottle of the stuff by myself, until it was time to use it as a cupcake ingredients. I'm not going to lie....I sat there and stared at the cork for a few minutes, trying to figure out what to do! Eventually I gave the little metal thingie a twist and ta-da! The cork flew off! It was exciting, too bad I was alone at the time. 

Anyway, these cupcake are a spongy change from the previous cupcakes. They are definitely an adult cake, due to their lack of overpowering sweetness, and the content of champagne.  What I noticed was not the immediate flavor of the champagne, but the aftertaste of it. It was quite nice just getting a small hint of that in the back of your throat. I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Strawberries & Champagne Cupcakes:

The Recipe:
adapted from Annie's Eats

Chocolate covered strawberries

24-28 strawberries

4-5 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped

2-3 oz white chocolate, chopped

Batter:

2 1/4 cake flour, sifted

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

7 large egg whites

7 large egg yolks

1 1/2 c sugar

5 tbsp vegetable oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 c champagne

Ganache

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 c + 1 tbsp heavy cream

2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 8 piecee

Champagne syrup (optional)
To boost the champagne flavor, soak this into the cupcakes while they cool
3/4 c water
1 c sugar
1 c champagne

Directions:

Wash and rinse strawberries. Place on a paper towel to dry, while you prep your chocolate. Put the chopped semisweet chocolate in a bowl and microwave in 15 second increments, stirring after each time. Once completely smooth, dip strawberries in chocolate, one at a time, letting excess drip off. Place them on a tray lined with a sheet of wax paper or parchment, to let set. Next, melt white chocolate in same manner as semisweet. Once smooth, pour into a decorating bag, or a small plastic baggie. I used a baggie, because I wanted something small to work with. Snip off the corner, or tip of bag, then drizzle over your strawberries. Place them in refrigerator to allow to set entirely.

Set your oven to 350 degrees, and prep your cupcake trays. Combine dry ingredients, and set aside. Put egg whites in a clean, dry bowl, fitted with a whisk attachment. beat egg whites until foamy. Add 2 tbsp of sugar, and increase speed to medium high. Continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Remove mixer bowl and pour whipped whites into a separate bowl, and set aside. 

Wash and dry your mixer bowl and replace in mixer. Combine yolks, remaining sugar (1 c plus 6 tbsp), oil, and vanilla. Mix with paddle attachment until combined. Add half of the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add champagne, mix until combined, then add remaining dry ingredients.

Using a rubber spatula, fold 1/3 of whites into batter. This is to lighten it up. Add remaining whites and fold in gently, being careful not to deflate batter. 

Fill your cupcake liners about 3/4 full, then bake for 14 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean,  and cupcakes are golden brown. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then cool on wire rack. While cupcakes cool, prepare your syrup, if desired. 

For syrup, bring water and sugar to rolling boil, whisking constantly. Boil for 3 minutes, then remove from heat and add champagne. Use silicone basting brush to brush syrup over cupcakes. If desired, repeat the basting about 5 minutes later.

Remove your strawberries from the refrigerator, then prepare your ganache.  Put chopped chocolate in small glass bowl, and set aside. In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil, then pour over chocolate. Let sit for 30 seconds, then whisk in small circles, starting in the middle of bowl, and working towards the outside. Add butter, one 1 piece at a time and continue to whisk until combined. 

Take your cooled cupcake and dip only the top into the ganache. Let excess drip off, then put back on cooling rack. Grab a chocolate covered strawberry and place on cupcake. After a few minutes the strawberry's chocolate will meld into the ganache and you are all set!!

Enjoy!

Have you ever been to Sonic®?

Well, I have. The most delicious item on the menu: Cherry Limeade. Seriously, it is delicious! When I stumbled upon this recipe I just KNEW that we had to give it a whirl.

What is so crazy, is that it totally has the tart limey taste that you would fine in limeade, but then the cherry's sweetness kicks in. Overall, it is a yummy cupcake, which is also REALLY pretty!

The Recipe:

adapted from Annie's Eats

Batter:

3 c cake flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 c unsalted butter, room temperature

1 c sugar

1/2 c + 2 Tbsp frozen limeade concentrate, unthawed

3 eggs

3/4 c whole milk

Lime syrup:

1/2 c limeade concentrate, unthawed

1/2 c confectioners sugar

Frosting:

4 c confectioners sugar

1/2 c unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 c shortening

4 Tbsp maraschino cherry juice

1 tsp grenadine (optional)

Garnish (optional):

Lime slices

Maraschino cherries, with stems (because it's prettier)

Directions:

Prehead oven to 350 degrees, and prep your cupcake pan with paper liners. Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl and set aside. Cream butter and sugar together, then add limeade concentrate.
Now, after I added the limeade I got a little freaked out because it looked all curdled & weird. sorta like this:

Don't panic. It will all work out in the end.

After you add limeade, scrape down bowl, then add your eggs, one at a time, making sure that they are mixed in well. Scrape down your bowl again.

Add 1/3 of your flour mixture, and blend until just mixed in. Add 1/2 of your milk. Repeat this, ending with flour. Make sure that once flour is mixed in to turn off your mixer. Even though the batter is a bit lumpy, you don't want to over mix. Remove from mixer, then give it a stir with a spoon or spatula 2 or 3 times, mainly to check that all the flour has been distributed properly. Batter will look pancakey, kinda like this:

Grab your cupcake pans, and fill each cup about 2/3 full. I used my trusty ice cream scoop to ensure that they would come out approximately the same. 

Bake these puppies for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked in the center. Let them sit in the pan for about 5 minutes, then remove them onto a wire rack and cool completely. 

While they cool, prep your syrup. Easy peasy, whisk the confectioners sugar with the limeade until it's smooth. Once your cupcakes are almost completely cool, poke some holes in them, so when you brush your syrup over the top, it will also leak into the cupcake. I used a kabob skewer because it makes bigger holes. If you don't have one, just poke each cupcake a hundred times with a toothpick. (Had you had a kabob skewer you'd get away with poking it like 10 times)  About 10 min after I brushed the syrup over the cupcakes, I repeated the process. I wanted to make extra sure that they were limey enough.

Once the limeade syrup is brushed over the cakes, prepare your frosting. Put shortening and butter in a mixing bowl. Cream together, then add cherry juice. Slowly add confectioners sugar, 1 cup at a time. Once blended, check your consistency and flavor. I thought frosting lacked cherry flavor so I sent my husband to the store to pick up some grenadine. I added about 1 tsp, to give is an extra cherry boost. If you want to enhance the pink color, you can add a bit of food coloring to the frosting. Make sure that you are aware of the consistency of your frosting. If you add too much liquid it will be too runny.

Pipe frosting on cupcakes and garnish with a lime and cherry, if desired. If you are garnishing them immediately, I would suggest serving these the same day. I put some in the refrigerator and tried them the next day and the texture changed quite a bit. The cupcakes were wonderfully moist soon after completion, but after sitting in a refrigerator overnight, they became a bit too dry for my liking.

All in all, the cupcakes were great. They were light, unlike last week's super rich cupcake, and they helped satisfy my craving for my favorite Sonic beverage!