cupcakes

January 6, 2016

The Best Chocolate Cupcakes [With Cocoa Buttercream].

I have made quite a few chocolate cupcakes in my baking days, but I think this recipe takes the cake {pun totally intended}. While I’ve never really met a chocolate cake that I totally hated, there are, of course, several requirements for my ideal chocolate cake. Those requirements are as follows:

It has to be moist. Dry cake is just…Ugh. No one has time for that.
It must have a sinfully rich chocolate flavor. I don’t want a mere hint of chocolate; I want to be hit IN THE FACE with the chocolatey goodness.
It should have a nice balance of being light ‘n fluffy but also a tiny bit dense.
It should almost always be topped with some kind of chocolate frosting [I’ll accept vanilla bean frosting, though].

cupcakestopviewchoc — {Obligatory aerial view!}

Yup. Just like the ultimate vanilla cupcakes recipe from The Cupcake Project, this recipe was also tirelessly tested by tons of bakers all over the Interwebs. Obviously, I had to test out the recipe myself, and of course I was pleased with the end results. I can’t even recall for whom I made these cupcakes, but I’m pretty sure I ate at least two or three in one sitting regardless. I’d say that this is definitely my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe at this point in my baking life. The cupcakes hold up really well, and they’re super rich, moist, and perfectly chocolatey. No doubt, they satisfy my crazy chocolate cravings. If you’re craving some chocolate cupcakes, you should definitely make these. I’m salivating just thinking about them right now…. I guess that means I need to make them again soon. 😉

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The Best Chocolate Cupcakes with Cocoa Buttercream Frosting.

Yield: Sixteen (16) regular-sized cupcakes.

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:
– 1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
– 1 cup granulated sugar
– 2 ounces of your favorite chocolate [I like semi-sweet Ghirardelli for this, but you can use whatever as long as it’s pure chocolate and doesn’t contain any add-ins.]
– 2 large eggs, at room temperature
– 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
– 1/2 cup + 1 TBSP. (4 1/2 fluid ounces) vegetable or canola oil, measured in a liquid measuring cup
– 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
– 1/3 cup full-fat sour cream
– 1 cup all-purpose flour
– 1/2 tsp. salt
– 1/2 tsp. baking soda
– 1/2 cup cocoa powder [I prefer dutch-processed for this, but regular unsweetened cocoa powder will work as well.]
– 1 tsp. espresso powder [This is optional, but I prefer to add it for more caffeine and a deeper chocolate flavor!]
– 1/2 cup room temperature water, measured in a liquid measuring cup

Instructions:
For the cupcakes:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 F. Line two muffin tins with sixteen liners; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix butter and sugar until completely combined; it will look like wet sand.
3. Melt the chocolate in the microwave according to instructions, or over a double boiler. Allow the chocolate to cool to touch. Once cooled, add it to the butter/sugar mixture, and mix until it’s just combined.
4. Add in the eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, and mix until just combined.
5. Next, add in the oil, vanilla, and sour cream. Mix until just combined.
6. In a separate, medium-sized bowl, sift together the dry ingredients [flour, salt, baking soda, cocoa powder, and espresso powder]. Use a whisk to ensure that the dry ingredients are all well-incorporated after sifting.
7. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in three additions, mixing until just combined after each addition.
8. Add in the water, and mix until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed to ensure that everything is properly incorporated.
9. Fill prepared cupcake liners about 2/3rds of the way full, and bake for about 18 minutes. Check for doneness at the 18 minute mark; a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake should come out clean (or with a few moist crumbs is also fine). If not done, bake for another minute or two until done.
10. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely on a wire rack, then frost as desired once they’re completely cooled.

*For the frosting: I used The Cupcake Project’s Vanilla Frosting Recipe. I simply doubled the recipe, and added probably about 1/3 cup of cocoa powder, plus some heavy cream to make it extra creamy. Feel free to play around with any frosting recipe that you like!

+ Chocolate cupcake recipe via The Cupcake Project.

cupcakesammich — {A cupcake sammich! Yaaaassss.}

September 21, 2015

Small-Batch Pumpkin Chai Cupcakes.

It’s September, and I’m on the pumpkin train. Truth be told, I have been on the pumpkin train since about August. I’m one of those people who wishes fall would hurry up and get here. Yeah, I even wish away summer at times. I get why some of you summer lovers probably hate people like me, but that’s okay. Fall is the best season, and pumpkin is so delicious in every form. These cupcakes are no exception to that pumpkin rule.

This recipe is one of those small-batch baking recipes, of which I am a huge fan. The recipe claims to make four cupcakes, but I got five. I’m okay with that. The pumpkin flavor shines through superbly in these; often, I find that some pumpkin baked goods are not pumpkin-y enough. But these were really, really good. I took one bite of my “cupcake sandwich” [the only way to eat cupcakes, obvz], and I was immediately impressed. Me being immediately impressed with baked goods does not happen often, as my roommate can attest. The texture of the cake is perfect, super pumpkin-y, and the chai spices shine through beautifully.

The chai buttercream is also really tasty. I love chai flavors, and they pair so well with pumpkin! I gave one of these cupcakes to a friend, and he exclaimed, “Wow, these taste like they were made by a professional, like at a professional bakery!” I just looked at him nonchalantly, and said, “I am a professional.” 😉

Yes, they’re that good. And the small quantity means you can make them for yourself. Or you could be nice and share them with your friends and/or significant other. Just make ’em if you’re on the pumpkin train, because they’re delicious. Thanks to Christina from Dessert for Two for her awesome recipes. I always know that her recipes will turn out fantastic; this woman is legit. And I’m also really excited to be meeting her in about a month!

PS: I also think these would make great muffins. Then you have an excuse for eating them for breakfast (sans frosting)… Or just eat cupcakes for breakfast, buttercream and all. I’m not telling anyone. 😀

cupcakesammich1 — {Cupcake sandwiches are the best kinds of sandwiches.}

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Small-Batch Pumpkin Chai Cupcakes.
Yield: According to the recipe, it makes four cupcakes. I got five, which was fine by me! 😉

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:
– 7 TBSP. all-purpose flour
– ½ tsp. baking powder
– ⅛ tsp. baking soda
– ¼ tsp. salt
– ½ tsp. cinnamon
– ¼ tsp. ground ginger
– ¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg [I used ground.]
– 1 large egg
– ½ cup pumpkin puree [NOT pumpkin pie mix. Plain pumpkin puree.]
– ¼ cup brown sugar
– 3 TBSP. granulated sugar
– 3 TBSP. vegetable oil

For the chai buttercream:
– 1⅓ cups powdered sugar
– 4 TBSP. softened, unsalted butter
– 1 chai tea bag + 2 TBSP. boiling water [Or 2 tsp. chai concentrate syrup.]

Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, and line a muffin tin with four (or five) cupcake liners. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together the egg, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, sugar, and vegetable oil. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir until combined, being careful to not overmix.
4. Divide the batter between the cupcake liners, and bake for 28-32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. {Note: Mine only needed to bake for about 25 minutes.} Remove the cupcakes from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
5. While the cupcakes are cooling, pour the boiling water over the chai tea bag and let it steep for about ten minutes. Meanwhile, beat together the butter and powdered sugar until it’s light and fluffy, or for about 3-4 minutes. Add the (cooled) steeped tea (or chai concentrate syrup), and mix well. Frost the cupcakes when they are cool, and serve. Enjoy!

+ Recipe via Dessert for Two.

August 26, 2015

Vanilla Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting.

This here is one of those less fancy, photos from Instagram posts.

You see, full-blown food blog posts are – believe it or not – a lot of work. You have to first test the recipe, hope that it turns out if it’s a new-to-you recipe. Then you have to hope that your food looks aesthetically pleasing. After that, you need to plan when to take photos of the food. Edit said photos, upload them, rewrite the recipe in your own words, format things accordingly, and add some writing to the post to make it into that special blog post.

Yeah. It’s a ton of fun; really. I always have a blast when I work on these posts, and I [like most bloggers] truly pour my heart and soul (what soul?) into them. But they are a lot of work. And sometimes with a full-time job, some semblance of a social life, other extra-curricular activities, and the need for sleep/general hygiene/self-care, well… I fall behind. In these times, I find it useful to take photos from my Instagram account of food that I’ve posted before, but hadn’t yet gotten around to blogging about. As I said, this is one of those posts: vanilla cupcakes with Nutella frosting.

To kinda change the subject on you real fast: Did you know that European Nutella is better than American Nutella? Some might disagree, and I haven’t done a side-by-side taste test to be absolutely certain, but I’m pretty sure. When I was in Germany back in June, I consumed massive quantities of Nutella, mostly on flaky croissants. [I’m still dreaming about them.]

I’m not sure what the exact differences are, but I believe that the European Nutella is made with less sugar. It just tastes slightly less sweet, and different… and better. It’s not surprising, though, as mostly everything European is a lot less sweet than what we Americans are used to. And that’s probably a good thing, but I did find it a slight adjustment when I ordered a vanilla latte, for example. I found that I always had to add a tad bit of sugar, because the lattes in Germany aren’t nearly as sweet as ours seem to be by default.

Anyway, Nutella ramblings aside, I unfortunately didn’t make these cupcakes with European Nutella. I made them a month or two before I left for Germany, so I didn’t have access to any. But rest assured, even with our inferior American Nutella, they still turned out tasty! I took them to a work potluck, and people gobbled them up. The cupcakes are made with a simple vanilla cake, but the frosting is where it’s at. The Nutella adds a lovely subtly hazelnut/chocolate flavor to a typical buttercream, and that’s what makes these special. I find that the vanilla/chocolate/hazelnut flavor combination is the bomb.com. Make these with any kind of Nutella (if you’re lucky enough to get your hands on the real deal, then do yourself a favor and use it!), and enjoy!

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Vanilla Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream Frosting.
Yield: Eighteen regular sized cupcakes. I made both miniature and regular, so I’m not sure how many I got in total!

Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
– 2 cups cake flour {I typically use the cake flour substitute of cornstarch and regular AP flour; Google it for more information.}
– 2 tsp. baking powder
– 1/8 tsp. baking soda
– ¼ tsp. salt
– 1 ¼ sticks (10 TBSP.) unsalted butter, softened
– 1 cup granulated sugar
– 3 large eggs
– 1 large egg yolk
– 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
– ¾ cup whole milk (I used 2%)

Nutella Frosting:
– ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
– 1/2 cup Nutella
– 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
– 1 TBSP. milk
– 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions:

For the cupcakes:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line eighteen muffin cups with cupcake liners. Set aside.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a hand mixer), beat the butter until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat it for about three minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add in the vanilla extract.
4. Keeping the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternating with the milk. Begin and end on the dry mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed, and be sure to mix just until the ingredients are combined.
5. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin tins, filling each cavity about 2/3rds of the way full. Bake for about 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven, and let cool for ten minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pan and let them cool on a wire rack.

For the frosting:
1. Beat together the butter and Nutella in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the remaining ingrdients, and beat until the powdered sugar is incorporated.
2. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is smooth, fluffy, and stable. Frost completely cooled cupcakes as desired, and enjoy!

+ Recipe from Handle the Heat, who adapted from Koko Cooks, who adapted from Dorie Greenspan.

PS: This is my 100th post! Woohoo! 🙂

July 10, 2015

Rainbow Cupcakes.

This is not the post for you if you hate and/or are weirded out by artificial coloring and/or sprinkles.

This is most definitely the post for you if you: a) love colorful things, and b) you aren’t afraid of ingesting the occasional fake food coloring/chemicals/whatever evil stuff they’re warning us about now.*

*[Obviously, moderation is key. You won’t see me gulping down buckets of food coloring… That’s just nasty. *Cleveland voice* But I don’t think that some artificial colors in my system on occasion is gonna hurt my body any more than life already does. It’ll be aight. Also, #YOLO.]

That’s right. Today I’m talking about rainbow cupcakes! Just look at how pretty they are!

I made these beauties for Pride week in St. Louis. It just so happened that Pride weekend occurred right after the Supreme Court ruling for same-sex marriage was passed. That was a cause for celebration in my book, and no celebration is complete without some kind of sweets. I might be biased, but I think that these rainbow cupcakes were perfect for the celebration.

We’ve got a long way to go in regard to civil issues in this country. I don’t want to get into my personal beliefs too much on here, and I’m not here to shove my “agenda” (for the record, the only “agenda” I have is to bake a lot of tasty sweets and try to be a happy, decent human being!) down anyone’s throat. But the Supreme Court ruling was a big step toward improvement and more open-mindedness and understanding. And I’m thrilled that we’re starting to make some more progress as humans. I hope that we can continue to move forward to work on the myriad of issues involving equality (with sexual orientation, race, gender, etc.). In the meantime, I’ll continue with my attempt to make the world a better place with pretty, homemade baked goods.

For these rainbow cupcakes, I decided to try a new-to-me recipe for vanilla cupcakes. The recipe comes from another fellow STL redhead, Stef. She’s tirelessly tested the “ultimate vanilla cupcake” recipe along with many other bakers. After reading about all of their cupcake testing, I was confident that these cupcakes would turn out great as far as the taste and texture were concerned. Turns out that my confidence was justified, because these cupcakes ended up being 100% amazing!

rainbowinside — {Gorgeous cupcake interior!}

The cupcakes hold up well; the cake is sturdy, but still soft and moist. The vanilla flavor is perfect. I don’t know if my taste buds are just whack, but I swear that I can taste the egg in some vanilla cake recipes [which is a huge turn-off to me]. These aren’t like that at all; they just taste like pure, unadulterated vanilla cake.

To give them that gorgeous, tie-dye/rainbow effect, I got my ideas from this post on Dessert Now, Dinner Later’s blog. Then I topped them with a simple vanilla buttercream, and obviously I had to add lots of rainbow sprinkles, plus some hearts. Yay for pretty rainbow cupcakes, marriage equality, and making progress on some of our issues.

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Vanilla Rainbow Cupcakes.
Yield: About sixteen cupcakes.

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:
– 1 cup granulated sugar
– 1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise, and seeds scraped out
– 1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising [I used this cake flour substitute from Joy the Baker.]
– 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
– 1/2 tsp. baking soda
– 1/2 tsp. salt
– 1/4 cup (half stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
– 2 large eggs, at room temperature
– 1/3 cup full-fat sour cream
– 1/4 cup canola oil or vegetable oil
– 1 TBSP. pure (not imitation) vanilla extract
– 2/3 cup whole milk [I used 2%.]
– High-quality gel food coloring [I used the Spectrum brand, but the Americolor brand is great too. Wilton is also fine. I wouldn’t use liquid food coloring for this project.], in red, orange (or make your own orange, which is what I did), yellow, green, blue, and purple.

For the frosting: (Note: You may double this recipe, depending on how piled-high you like your frosting.)
– 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar [Add more until it reaches your preferred consistency.]
– 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
– 2 tsp. vanilla bean paste [Add more to taste.]
– 1 TBSP. milk

Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with sixteen liners and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and seeds from the vanilla bean. Using the back of a spoon, apply pressure to break up any clumps of seeds to infuse the vanilla flavor into the sugar. Set aside.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, or bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the vanilla bean sugar and mix until combined.
4. Add the butter and mix on medium-low speed for three minutes. You’ll end up with a fine, crumb-like texture.
5. In a small, separate mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, oil, and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth.
6. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, and beat on medium speed until they’re just combined.
7. Slowly add the milk, and mix on low speed. Mix until just combined. The batter will be very liquid-y; this is okay.
8. To create the rainbow effect, evenly divide the batter into six small bowls. Add the desired amount of food coloring to each bowl and gently mix to get your six colors. Be careful to not overdo it with the food coloring; too much and it can make the final product taste bitter.
9. Carefully spoon each color in layers into the cupcake liners, filling until they’re about halfway full. [Alternatively, you can put each batter color into a small Ziplock bag, snip the corner of the bags, and pipe the colors in… That will make the layers more even, but I was too lazy to do that.]
10. Bake the cupcakes for 14 minutes, then test to see if they’re done. They are done when a toothpick comes out clean. The cupcakes won’t be super dark (although they won’t brown much anyway with the colors). Bake a bit longer for a minute to two minute increments until they’re done. Cool on a wire cooling rack.
11. To make the frosting: beat the butter for a few minutes until it’s light and fluffy. Carefully add the powdered sugar and vanilla bean paste (or extract), and beat until light and fluffy. Add milk to thin out the frosting to the desired consistency. Pipe or spread the frosting on the cupcakes as desired, and top with lots of colorful sprinkles! Enjoy.

Recipe Sources:
– Vanilla cupcake recipe from The Cupcake Project.
– Vanilla bean buttercream frosting recipe from The Cupcake Project.
– Rainbow cupcake tutorial from Dessert Now, Dinner Later.

June 7, 2015

Vanilla Funfetti Cupcakes.

Funfetti is just one of those things that everybody likes. It’s just fun, you know? {I’m punny today. Haha.} When it comes to baking, I often like to poll people on their favorite baked goods. When I ask people what their favorite cake is, most people always respond “funfetti.” I began to wonder why, as it’s just vanilla cake loaded with sprinkles. However, I think I get what all the fuss is about now. It really does look cool. And it’s fun (sorry) to eat. One of my friends said that it’s “the most moist cake of all,” but I’m not sure that’s a scientifically sound explanation. 😉

These funfetti cupcakes in particular are from a recipe for just plain old vanilla cupcakes. I decided to add sprinkles to them because I had made them for the cupcake decorating class that I taught several weeks back. I thought that the students would enjoy the pretty colors in the cakes. Anyway, these cupcakes turned out pretty great, in my humble opinion. 🙂 The cake is so vanilla-y and just rich enough. The frosting is your standard buttercream frosting. And of course, adding the sprinkles to the batter gives the cupcakes a fantastic burst of color.

These cupcakes would be super fun to make for a birthday party. Or just make them because sprinkles are awesome.

PS: I’m in Germany at the moment, and I’m having a blast. That’s why posts are a bit sporadic right now; I didn’t have time to schedule as many posts ahead of time as I would have liked. Whoops. Oh well. More updates to come soon! <3

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Funfetti Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream.
Yield: 12-14 regular sized cupcakes.

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
– 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
– 1 cup granulated sugar
– 1/4 tsp. baking soda
– 1 tsp. baking powder
– 3/4 cup salted butter, at room temperature
– 3 large egg whites
– 3 tsp. pure vanilla extract
– 1/2 cup sour cream
– 1/2 cup milk
– 1/2 cup of multicolored sprinkles [Jimmies work best for this.]

For the frosting:

– 1 cup [two sticks] unsalted butter

– 4 cups powdered sugar

– 2-3 TBSP. milk or cream

– 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners, and set aside.
2. Whisk together the dry ingredients [flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder] in a large mixing bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer).
3. Add the butter, egg whites, vanilla, sour cream, and milk, and mix on medium speed until smooth. Be careful to not over mix. Fold in sprinkles until evenly incorporated in the batter.
4. Fill the prepared liners a bit more than halfway, and bake cupcakes for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (or with a few moist crumbs). Allow the cupcakes to cool completely.
5. For the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until it’s lighter in color and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, and beat until combined. Add the vanilla extract, and one or two tablespoons of the milk. Continue beating until light and fluffy; adding more milk as needed. Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired!

– Cupcake recipe from Life, Love, and Sugar.
– Buttercream recipe barely adapted, also from Life, Love, and Sugar.

May 9, 2015

{Vegan} Vanilla Cupcakes.

I feel the need to preface this blog post with a statement: I’m pretty much all for the real butter, y’all. *Paula Deen voice.*

Rarely will I buy shortening, and I’m not a fan of most vegan “butter.” Real butter is where it’s at.

That being said, I do like to experiment with recipes from time to time. I’ve been messing with a few different vegan cupcake recipes every now and then. While I have found one delicious chocolate one, I hadn’t yet settled on a vegan vanilla cake recipe.

So, while I’ll always be partial to real butter… I gotta say that, for being vegan, these cupcakes are pretty good. I *think* I’m finally starting to get used to vegan “buttercream.” But I’m always going to want real butter over vegan butter. That being said, if you’re a vegan, or you know some vegans, then try out these cupcakes. They’re definitely good, especially for experimenting. They are especially tasty when you just want some plain vanilla dessert. I think that vanilla is actually pretty underrated. Sometimes I just crave vanilla, despite the fact that I’m a chocoholic. Enjoy!

cupcakeandplant — {Just a cupcake and its succulent plant buddy.}

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Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes with Vegan Vanilla “Buttercream” Frosting.

Yield: About 10-12 regular sized cupcakes.

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:
– 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
– ½ cup plus ⅓ cup granulated sugar
– 1 tsp. baking soda
– ½ tsp. salt
– ⅔ cup unsweetened almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
– ⅓ cup canola oil
– 2 TBSP. apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
– 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

For the frosting:
– 1/2 cup (1 stick) vegan butter [such as Earth Balance “vegan buttery sticks”], softened
– 2 1/2 – 3 cups powdered sugar
– 1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
– Splash non-dairy milk [I used almond milk]

Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin with 12 paper liners, and set aside.
2. In a big bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. In another smaller bowl, mix the wet ingredients together.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. Do not over mix, or your cupcakes will fall flat, and nobody wants that!
4. Evenly divide batter among the liners, and bake 18-20 minutes until the tops are slightly golden. Set cupcake pan on a wire cooling rack, and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Once they’re somewhat cooled, remove the cupcakes from the pan, and allow to cool completely on the rack.
5. To make the frosting, beat the vegan butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until it’s light and fluffy, for about 3 minutes. Gradually add the powdered sugar, and slowly beat it in with the vegan butter. Add the vanilla extract, and continue to beat until it’s light and fluffy. Add almond milk as needed until you reach the desired consistency. Pipe or spread the frosting on completely cooled cupcakes, then top with sprinkles!

– Vanilla cupcake recipe from It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken.
– Vegan frosting recipe from Minimalist Baker.

May 1, 2015

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes with Mint Buttercream Frosting.

Working for a huge corporation is a funny thing. It takes a while to adapt to that kind of environment [*cough* bureaucracy *cough*], especially straight out of college.*

One of the things that has probably helped me the most when adapting to the “real world” – especially in a huge company – has been mentors. My company is pretty big on mentoring anyway, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have about five great mentors [some formal and others informal] thus far. Some people might find it silly, but I find mentoring to be one of the best tools out there for those who are pursuing any career – regardless of your field.

There’s just nothing that can compare to establishing a relationship with another person in your field. A person that you can pretty much call your friend – but who’s also an expert in the same field. I am able to go to my mentors for help needed, advice in general, to rant… Or to just talk about baked goods. And for all of my mentors, I am very grateful. So this post is dedicated to all y’all: Thanks for being there for me. Thanks for teaching me. Thank you for putting up with my crap. And thanks for simply being awesome; you all know who you are!

mintchoccupcakesonstand1 — {I LOVE mint green. Best color ever. If you don’t agree, you’re just plain wrong.} 😛

I’m dedicating this post to all of my IT career mentors because well, I’m pretty sure you all love mint and chocolate, so it just seems fitting. And who can blame ya? Now, I will fully admit that mint + chocolate is actually not my favorite combination. I love chocolate, obvz. But mint hasn’t ever been my favorite. {Of course, that won’t stop me from shoving it in my face when it’s put in front of me. Especially in the form of cupcakes!} However, I really enjoy these cupcakes. I love making them for my mint fiend buddies, and of course, I always have to sample at least one.

The cake is rich and chocolatey, and it has a subtle mint flavor. The frosting is creamy, sweet, and has a hint of mint. I had to add a bit of green food coloring to it, just to give it that pretty mint green hue! So yeah. Enough said. Make these, and enjoy!

carryingcontainer — {Yes, I own a cupcake carrying container. #BakingNerd} 😛

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Mint Chocolate Cupcakes with Mint Buttercream.
Yield: The original recipe says 18 cupcakes, but I got more like thirteen… So your mileage may vary!

Ingredients:
For the mint chocolate cupcakes:
– 1 cup plus 1 TBSP. granulated sugar
– 3/4 cup plus 2 TBSP. all-purpose flour
– 7 TBSP. unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
– 3/4 tsp. baking powder
– 3/4 tsp. baking soda
– 1/2 tsp. salt
– 1 large egg, at room temperature
– 1/2 cup milk [I used 2%.]
– 1/4 cup vegetable oil [I used canola oil.]
– 3/4 tsp. peppermint extract
– 1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
– 1/2 cup boiling water

For the mint frosting:
– 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
– 4 TBSP. unsalted butter, at room temperature
– 3 TBSP. heavy cream
– 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
– 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
– 1/2 tsp. salt
– Green food coloring, if desired
– About 5-9 Andes chocolate mints, halved

Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line two standard muffin pans with 18 paper cupcake liners. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer [or small bowl], mix together the egg, milk, oil, peppermint, and vanilla extracts. Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet, and beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and then continue to beat on medium speed for a minute or two. Add the boiling water, and stir to combine. {Note: The batter will be pretty liquid-y… That’s normal.}

4. Fill each cupcake liner about 3/4ths of the way full with the batter. Bake until the tops are firm, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for ten minutes. Remove cupcakes from the pans and allow to cool completely.

5. To make the frosting, beat the powdered sugar and butter until the mixture is crumbly, for about one minute. Add the heavy cream, vanilla and mint extracts, salt, and food coloring [if you’re using it], and beat on high until smooth, for about three minutes. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a decorative tip, and pipe frosting onto each cooled cupcake. Top each cupcake with half of an Andes mint.

– Recipe from Handle the Heat.

*You’ve probably noticed that I don’t discuss my day job too much on this blog. I do that for a reason, and that reason is twofold: 1) I have no desire to think about my 9-5 job on this blog – this is my creative, personal space that has absolutely nothing to do with my IT career; and 2) I want to be as professional as possible, so while I do enjoy my day job, I don’t feel the need to discuss it in depth on here. 🙂

March 22, 2015

Small Batch Vanilla Bean Cupcakes.

Have I mentioned how much I freaking love small batch recipes? Especially these days. As I have mentioned before on the ol’ blog, most of the time, my coworkers and friends reap the benefits of my baking shenanigans. However, there are times in which one of the following scenarios occur: a) I’m not in the mood to share; b) I just have a sweet tooth and need a quick but homemade fix [I’m pretentious like that, I guess]; c) I want sweets but do not need to eat ten cookies; d) I have no desire to frost more than four cupcakes; or e) all of the above.

Small batch recipes come in handy for all of the aforementioned situations. Now, I’m no recipe expert, so I generally don’t like to screw around with baked good recipes very often. Once I have made something a few times, I’ll make my own alterations, of course. And, I usually have no issue with cutting recipes in half. However, I am not quite brave enough to scale recipes way down. But that’s where the Dessert for Two blog comes to save the day. Christina – the blog’s author – has experimented with recipes enough to scale them down to make just enough tasty baked goods for herself and her man. Then she shares them with the world. I’m telling you, she’s a genius. Every recipe of Christina’s that I’ve ever tried has always impressed me, and I’m kind of hard to please when it comes to baked goods.

singlecupcake — [Do you see those little flecks of vanilla bean?! Love it.]

I have ~~stalked~~ followed Christina’s blog for quite awhile now, but I just recently purchased her new cookbook. These vanilla cupcakes are the first treat I decided to make from the book. As expected, they turned out awesome! Also, her cookbook is just lovely. It never really occurred to me until recently that no other such book really exists for small batch baking. And I think that it’s a really awesome concept, especially for bakeaholics such as myself. Sometimes it’s just really nice to bake only a few treats, and then enjoy them by myself [or I share with Brian when I really feel like it… hehe].

The cake is really tasty; it’s simple, which I love, and it’s just plain good. I whipped them up on my lunch break while I was working from home last week, and I just love how quick they are to make. These cupcakes get a bit more browned on the tops than I was expecting, but they are really good. I added vanilla bean paste to mine in lieu of the extract, just because I love those little vanilla bean flecks. I have a feeling that these cupcakes would do well with a few little adaptations, such as making small batch chai cupcakes, or perhaps small batch snickerdoodle cupcakes! Let’s just say that I’ve got some inspiration up my sleeve. 😉

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Small Batch Vanilla Bean Cupcakes.
Yield: Four regular-sized cupcakes.

Ingredients:
– 4 TBS. unsalted butter, at room temperature
– 1/4 cup granulated sugar
– 1 large egg white
– 1/2 tsp. vanilla bean paste [You can use vanilla extract in lieu of the paste, but I love using vanilla bean paste whenever I can! Note: The quantities of both are interchangeable.]
– 2 TBS. sour cream [I use whole fat sour cream. I’m just not about that non-fat stuff.]
– 6 TBS. all-purpose flour
– 1/2 tsp. baking soda
– Pinch of salt

Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard muffin tin with four cupcake liners [Note: Use the cups on the outside of the pan}, and set aside.
2. Using an electric hand mixer [Note: You can use a stand mixer; I did, because I’m lazy, but that’s kind of overkill for such a small amount of batter], cream together the butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy.
3. Add the egg white, vanilla bean paste, and sour cream to the butter/sugar, and beat until combined.
4. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt into the wet ingredients, and mix until combined. Divide the batter among the four prepared cupcake liners. Bake the cupcakes for about 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean [or with a few moist crumbs]. Cool the cupcakes on a wire rack, then once they’re totally cooled, frost as desired. Enjoy!

Recipe Source(s):
– Vanilla cupcake recipe barely adapted from Dessert for Two: Small Batch Cookies, Brownies, Pies, and Cakes, by Christina Lane. She’s also the author of the lovely blog, Dessert for Two. I would highly recommend buying this cookbook, though. It’s totally worth it!
– Vanilla bean frosting recipe was basically just made up by me, but here’s an actual recipe that’s similar to what I did for the frosting.

March 19, 2015

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes.

As usual, I am a day late – or more like four days late – and a dollar short.

I know St. Patty’s [or is it Paddy’s? I don’t really know…] Day has already passed, but I wanted to share the Irish car bomb cupcakes that I made for the occasion anyway. I guess I’m a rebel like that.

cupcakeinsides — {I just had to show you the insides of these cupcakes. Ohhhh yeahhhh!}

This recipe is pretty much the same as the previous chocolate stout cupcakes with whiskey ganache filling and Bailey’s buttercream frosting that I have shared here before. I just cut this recipe in half so that it only makes twelve cupcakes. And then I topped them with pretty green sprinkles and cute little St. Patrick’s Day cupcake toppers from Bake it Pretty. Aren’t the cupcakes just so adorably festive?! I am happy with how they turned out, and of course, as always, this is a solid cupcake recipe. I loooove using stout beer in chocolate cakes, as I’ve mentioned before. And these are just my favorite boozy cupcakes. ‘Nuff said.

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Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes.
Yield: I reduced the recipe in half to make just twelve cupcakes!

Ingredients:
For the Cupcakes:
– 1/2 cup stout beer [I used 4 Hands’ Chocolate Milk Stout, as usual]
– 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
– 6 TBS. Dutch-process cocoa powder
– 1 cup all-purpose flour
– 1 cup granulated sugar
– 3/4 tsp. baking soda
– 1/4 tsp. salt
– 1 large egg
– 1/3 cup sour cream

For the Whiskey Ganache Filling:
– 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate [I used a Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate bar]
– 1/3 cup heavy cream
– 1 TBS. unsalted butter, at room temperature
– 1 tsp. Irish whiskey, such as Jameson

For the Bailey’s Frosting:
– 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
– 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
– 3 TBS. Bailey’s Irish Cream

Instructions:
1. For the cupcakes: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line twelve cupcake cups with liners and set aside. Bring the stout and butter to a simmer over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until it’s smooth; remove from heat. Allow to cool slightly.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt until combined. Using an electric mixer [or in the bowl of a stand mixer]. beat the eggs and sour cream on medium speed until they’re combined. Add the cooled stout/chocolate/butter mixture to the egg mixture, and beat until just combined. Reduce the mixer speed to low, and add the flour mixture. Beat briefly, then fold the batter with a spatula until completely combined.

3. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners, and bake the cupcakes for about 15-17 minutes, or until a thin knife/toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool completely on a wire rack.

4. For the whiskey ganache filling: Chop up the chocolate, and place it in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until it’s just starting to simmer, then pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute, then using a rubber spatula, stir it from the center toward the outside until it’s smooth. Add the butter and whiskey, then stir until combined. Allow the ganache to cool until thick but still soft enough to pipe.

5. To fill the cupcakes: Using a 1-inch round cookie cutter or a knife, cut the centers – about two thirds of the way down – out of the cooled cupcakes. Set the small pieces of cake aside. Spoon or pipe the whiskey ganache into the cupcakes, then top them with the little cake pieces that were removed.

6. For the Bailey’s Frosting: Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer [or with an electric mixer], whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Reduce speed to medium-low, then gradually add the powdered sugar until it’s completely incorporated. Add in the Bailey’s, then beat at medium-high speed for another 2-3 minutes, or until the frosting is light and fluffy. Pipe or spread the frosting onto the filled cupcakes and top with sprinkles as desired.

– Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker.

March 5, 2015

Chocolate Cupcakes // From the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook.

Lately, I’ve been drawn toward simplicity – with regard to both life and baking. I have abandoned my pastry bags and tips. I’ve been longing for simple, not-too-sweet desserts. Also, I’ve been yearning for simple, sunny spring days [read: go away, winter].

These chocolate cupcakes come from The Hummingbird Bakery cookbook, which was gifted to me by my brother this past Christmas. I have been coveting this cookbook for awhile now, so I’m glad I finally received it [thanks, Nathan!]. The book has all kinds of different cupcake recipes, but these simple chocolate cupcakes are what first caught my eye and thus got added to “the baking queue.”

The cupcakes are chocolatey – but not overly so. There is actually not a lot of cocoa powder in them, so the cupcakes are almost like a German chocolate cake. Normally, I’m not a huge fan of cakes with less chocolate, but I’m also a chocolate fiend. Still, I did enjoy these cupcakes. They’re also not quite as sweet [Perhaps that’s a British baking thing? I’m not sure.], but the frosting adds a nice, creamy sweetness. I topped mine with simple chocolate sprinkles and used pretty, pastel liners for spring! So if you are also craving a simple, chocolatey treat that’s not too sweet, try out these chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream!

Oh yeah, and let’s continue to cross our fingers for spring’s arrival!

cupcakes_afar — {I’m a huge fan of windowsill photos these days, as you may have noticed. I just love that light!}

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The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook’s Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe

Yield: Makes about twelve regular-sized cupcakes.

Ingredients:
For the Chocolate Cupcakes:
– 3/4 cup plus 2 TBS. all-purpose flour
– 2 1/2 TBS. unsweetened cocoa powder
– Scant 3/4 cup granulated sugar
– 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
– Pinch of salt
– 3 TBS. unsalted butter, at room temperature
– 1/2 cup whole milk [I used 2%, which works fine], at room temperature
– 1 egg, at room temperature
– 1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
– 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
– 6 1/2 TBS. unsalted butter, at room temperature
– 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
– 2 TBS. whole milk [again, 2% is okay too]

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare muffin tins with twelve liners and set aside. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, add the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter. Using a paddle attachment, beat on slow speed until a sandy consistency is achieved, and everything is combined.
2. In a small bowl or pitcher, whisk together the milk, egg, and vanilla. Then slowly pour about half of this mixture into the flour mixture. Mix to combine and then turn the mixer up to high speed to beat until lumps disappear.
3. Next, turn the mixer back to slow speed and slowly pour in the remainder of the milk mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed, to ensure that all of the unmixed ingredients are incorporated. Continue mixing the batter for a few more minutes until it’s smooth, but be careful to not over mix it.
4. Divide the batter among the liners until they’re about 2/3rds full, then bake in preheated oven for about 22-26 minutes, or until the tops of the cakes bounce back when touched. Or, a toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean when they’re done.
5. Allow the cupcakes to cool for a few minutes in the muffin pan, then place them on a wire rack to cool completely.
6. To make the buttercream frosting, beat the butter until light and fluffy, and add in the cocoa powder and powdered sugar. Beat until fluffy, and add in milk as necessary to smooth it out.
7. Once cupcakes are totally cooled, spread frosting on and decorate as desired. Enjoy!