Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Red Velvet Cupcakes


Recipe from The Artful Cupcake by Marcianne Miller

When I first decided that I was going to make cupcakes more often, these were the first cupcakes I decided to make. With my Absolutely-Stellar-Hero-Man by my side, I figured "What could go wrong?" What ensued was the most aggravating 4 hours of trying to bake yummy cupcakes for people to enjoy. And my parents suggested that I use canned vanilla frosting on some of them. What?!? That's blasphemy! If I'm gonna bake, I'm gonna do it up right. So here's my favorite Red Velvet recipe so far.

Yields 24 cupcakes

Ingredients for Cupcakes
  • 4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter or shortening, room temp/softened (I used butter)
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 oz red food coloring (When I bought the food coloring at the store I opted to buy the red food coloring by itself, and not in one of those multi-packs. Best decision ever!)
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (Make sure it's unsweetened!)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon baking soda
Ingredients for Frosting
  • 8 oz cream cheese, room temp/softened
  • 4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp/softened
  • 1 lb confectioners' sugar, sifted (pssh, you know me and sifting... it doesn't happen unless it NEEDS to happen. But with the recipe, if I recall correctly, we did sift the sugar)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
So here's what you do:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line your muffin tins with cupcake papers.
  2. Cream together the butter/shortening & sugar until light and fluffy.
  3. Add the eggs, one at a time, and blend well after each addition.
  4. Make a paste with the food coloring and cocoa. Add the paste to the butter/shortening mixture and blend well.
  5. Add the salt and buttermilk to the mixture.
  6. Add the flour, vanilla, vinegar, and baking soda in that order, mixing after each addition.
  7. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins. (Be careful not to over fill!)
  8. Bake your cupcakes for about 20 - 25 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.) Make sure to keep an eye on them at about the 10 minute mark.
For the Frosting:
  1. Mix cream cheese and butter together until fully incorporated and looking a little light in color.
  2. Add powdered sugar. (I did 1/2 a cup at a time.)
  3. Add the vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
Wait until your cupcakes have completely cooled (aka room temperature) before you attempt to put frosting on them. Otherwise, your icing is going to melt and just run all over your cupcakes and become a huge mess.

And last, but not least, ENJOY!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

The Cupcakes without their frosting.
Frosting Recipe from 500 Cupcakes by Fergal Connolly

Cupcake Recipe from Crazy About Cupcakes by Krystina Castella

I'll admit, I don't normally use cupcake recipes from this book because the one time I did, the cupcakes didn't come out at ALL like I had hoped. So I'd been a little hesitant about using other recipes from the book. But my Absolutely-Stellar-Hero-Man had a craving for banana cupcakes and I told him the only way I'd make these is if they had chocolate in them. So we found this recipe and I decided to give it a go. The cupcakes will last about a week if you're not going to freeze them, but I suggest making sure they're eaten within three days. Just sayin'...

Also, when I made these, I doubled the recipe. So you won't need 5 bananas mashed. You can just use 1 cup.

Yields 24 cupcakes

Ingredients for Cupcakes
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp/softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar (That's regular sugar for you kids not really following along.)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (To make them super banana flavored I mashed up 5 decent sized bananas. And to mash them I just used a potato masher... it worked out fine... I promise.)
  • 1 3/4 cups All-Purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 5 tablespoons milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Ingredients for the frosting
  • 1 cup cream cheese, room temp/softened
  • Up to 3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted (I didn't sift mine. I'm lazy.)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice (again, I used the prepared lemon juice. I'm not going to juice a lemon just for one tablespoon. Lazy! Hello!)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • OPTIONAL: 1 banana thinly sliced for decoration (I didn't do this. For the third time, I'm lazy! I just want yummy cupcakes for people. I don't really care about decoration.)
So here's what you do:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line your muffin tins with cupcake papers.
  2. Beat sugar and butter together in large bowl until light and fluffy.
  3. In a separate bowl - sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set this mixture aside.
  4. Add the eggs to the mixture (ONE AT A TIME!!!) until completely incorporated.
  5. Add in the bananas to the butter/sugar/egg mixture and mix well. Mix like your life depended on it!
  6. Add in your flour mixture. To avoid lots of flour all over the place, I recommend (yet again) adding the mixture in 1/3 at a time. You really don't want to have to clean up flour out of your hair and the floor.
  7. Add in your milk and vanilla.
  8. Now stir in your chocolate chips by hand! ( Check out what I said in the Chocolate Chip Cupcake recipe about why you should do this by hand.)
  9. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins. (Be careful not to over fill!)
  10. Bake your cupcakes for about 20 - 25 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.) Make sure to keep an eye on them at about the 15 minute mark.
For the Frosting:
  1. Beat the cream cheese until soft and smooth.
  2. Add in the confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla. (I like adding the confectioners' sugar 1/2 a cup at a time just to make sure I don't have a huge cloud of sugar in my kitchen. Believe me, you only have to do it once to learn your lesson.)
  3. Beat all of it together until you get the consistency you want and it is nice and smooth.
Wait until your cupcakes have completely cooled (aka room temperature) before you attempt to put frosting on them. Otherwise, your icing is going to melt and just run all over your cupcakes and become a huge mess.

And last, but not least, ENJOY!

Champagne Pear Cupcakes


Recipe from Familia Bencomo

I tried this recipe and it is wonderfully moist and yummy. But be careful! The champagne tends to get a little messy when trying to incorporate it into the batter with an upright/standing mixer. I got batter and champagne/vanilla extract EVERYWHERE!

Yields about 30 cupcakes

Ingredients for Cupcakes
  • 2 3/4 cups of All-Purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 firm-ish but ripe pears, peeled, cored, and grated (I used 4 pears and just washed them off and grated them. No peeling or coring for me!)
  • 1 cup champagne
Ingredients for Frosting
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temp/softened
  • 8 oz cream cheese, room temp/softened
  • Up to 4 cups powdered sugar sifted (I didn't sift mine & it turned out fine)
  • 2 tablespoons champagne (I eyeballed it. The original recipe says you might want to up it but make sure it's not runny.)
So here's what you do:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line your muffin tins with cupcake papers.
  2. In a small bowl sift the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set this mixture aside.
  3. In a mixer (or a large bowl), cream the butter and sugar together until well mixed and airy.
  4. Add eggs, one at a time, making sure each one is fully incorporated before adding the next one.
  5. Slowly (and I do mean slowly!) add in the flour mixture. (When I followed the original recipe it suggested adding the mixture 1/3 at a time and it worked wonderfully.) Make sure all of this is fully incorporated!
  6. Stir in the vanilla and champagne (BUT watch out for spilling!)
  7. Stir in the pears. (I suppose you could puree the pears, but what is the fun in that?)
  8. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins. (Be careful not to over fill!)
  9. Bake your cupcakes for about 20 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on them at about the 10 minute mark.
For the Frosting:
  1. Mix cream cheese and butter together until fully incorporated and looking a little light in color.
  2. Add powdered sugar. (I did 1/2 a cup at a time.)
  3. Add champagne.
  4. Mix the rest of your confectioners' sugar into the frosting. Add as much of the sugar as you want to get the right consistency you're looking for.
Wait until your cupcakes have completely cooled (aka room temperature) before you attempt to put frosting on them. Otherwise, your icing is going to melt and just run all over your cupcakes and become a huge mess.

And last, but not least, ENJOY!

Lemondrop Cupcakes


These are by far my favorite. They are super fun to make with just a little more patience. So if you want to spend some time in the kitchen, these are pretty good. When I made these, I doubled the original recipe (which you might want to do too) and everyone was in love with them. Also, instead of making a lemon icing (I thought that might be lemon overload), I made a vanilla buttercream. So in this post, I'm including my favorite recipe for a vanilla buttercream.

Yields about 10 cupcakes

Ingredients for Cupcakes
  • 1 cup All purpose flour (Yes, all purpose. No, you cannot use another kind of flour)
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 a stick) unsalted butter, room temp.
  • 2 large eggs
  • 6 tablespoons buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (I used the prepared kind. I don't really think you need to use fresh in this recipe, but you can if you'd like. If you're using fresh, you'll need 1 lemon)
  • 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest (I used about three lemons for their zest and just grated the outside of the lemons. It worked great.)
  • OPTIONAL: Lemon candies for decoration. Heed my warning about using candies on this recipe! The warning is down a little bit.
Ingredients for Frosting
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp/softened (NOT MELTED!)
  • Up to 8 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1/2 cup milk (any kind will do. I use lactose free milk and it works just fine.)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
So here's what you do:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line your muffin tins with cupcake papers.
  2. Beat sugar and butter together in large bowl until light and fluffy.
  3. Beat in your eggs one at a time.
  4. Beat in dry ingredients in three additions alternating with buttermilk in two additions.
  5. Add in the lemon juice and lemon zest.
  6. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins. (Be careful not to over fill!)
  7. Bake your cupcakes for about 15 - 20 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on them at about the 15 minute mark.
For the frosting:
  1. Beat butter until light and airy.
  2. Add 4 cups of sugar, milk, and vanilla.
  3. Beat until smooth and creamy.
  4. Slowly add the remaining sugar 1 cup at a time until you reach the consistency you want.
Wait until your cupcakes have completely cooled (aka room temperature) before you attempt to put frosting on them. Otherwise, your icing is going to melt and just run all over your cupcakes and become a huge mess.

Frost your cupcakes using a spatula, a piping bag, or a freezer bag with the tip cut off. Here's my WARNING about the OPTIONAL lemon candies: once you're done frosting and if you're going to be decorating them with candies, make sure you wait to add the candies to the tops of your cupcakes until right before you're going to serve them! I didn't think about my candies melting from the moisture in the frosting so I added them as soon as I was done frosting. The candies ended up "running" and leaving a yellow melted trail. So unless you want your beautiful cupcake tops to look like runny eggs, wait until right before you're going to serve them to add the lemon candy.

And last, but not least, ENJOY!

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes


This cupcake is a little more like a muffin than a cupcake. When I made them, I didn't use frosting but I was pleasantly surprised with the fact that I could feel like I could eat them at any time. Think of this recipe as a mixture between muffin and cupcake. Best of both worlds!

Yields 24 cupcakes

Ingredients for Cupcakes
  • 2 cups flour (all-purpose if you've got it), sifted
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
So here's what you do:
  1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Line your muffin tins with cupcake papers.
  2. Beat butter until airy and light in color.
  3. Add sugar, beating until light and fluffy.
  4. In a separate bowl, add flour, salt, and baking powder together.
  5. Beat in eggs one at a time.
  6. Add in the flour mixture.
  7. Stir in the vanilla.
  8. If you're using a upright mixer, turn it off, clean off the edges of your mixing bowl, and stir in your chocolate chips. Always stir these in, don't mix them in with your attachment! You might break up the chips. And that's no good. And even if you're just using a regular mixer, pull out a spoon or a spatula to mix in your chocolate chips. Don't try beating them in!
  9. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins. (Be careful not to over fill!)
  10. Bake your cupcakes for about 20. Make sure to keep an eye on them at about the 15 minute mark.
Enjoy and have fun!

Monday, March 30, 2009

Key Lime Cupcakes

Yeah, I bake like crazy. So what?
These yummy cupcakes are great for a warm day. They're super refreshing and I've gotten tons of compliments on them! But I'll warn you now, zesting all of those limes was a pain in the ass. So get ready for a little frustration.

Ingredients for Cupcakes
  • 1 cup All-purpose flour (yes, there are different types of flour. Make sure you pick up the right kind!)
  • 3/4 cup self-rising flour
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
  • 1 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (doesn't have to be fresh, but I recommend it)
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel (I used more than 1 tablespoon but that's because I wanted to make sure that the cupcakes were SUPER limey.)
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • OPTIONAL: green food coloring
Ingredients for Frosting
  • 8 oz cream cheese at room temp
  • Up to 6 cups confectioners' sugar (yes, UP TO 6 CUPS!)
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temp
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel (I think I used more than that)
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
So here's what you do:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line your muffin tins with cupcake papers.
  2. Whisk both flours together in medium bowl.
  3. Beat butter in large bowl until smooth.
  4. Add sugar into the butter and beat together.
  5. Beat in your eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.
  6. Add in your lime juice and peel (and if you're using food coloring, add that in now too.) Make sure you're mixing it well! The batter may look like it's curdled, but don't worry about that. It's not.
  7. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions alternating between your flour mixture and the buttermilk. So you'll be adding flour, then buttermilk, flour, then buttermilk, and then the last of your flour.
  8. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins. (Be careful not to over fill!)
  9. Bake your cupcakes for about 20 to 25 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on them at about the 15 minute mark.
For the Frosting:
  1. Beat all of the ingredients together until smooth. That's right, just go ahead and put them in a bowl and mix them together all at once. It's okay. I promise. But remember what I said about the confectioners' sugar in the Southern-Style Strawberry Cream Cheese Cupcakes!
  2. Wait until your cupcakes have completely cooled (aka room temperature) before you attempt to put frosting on them. Otherwise, your icing is going to melt and just run all over your cupcakes and become a huge mess.
ENJOY!And remember, baking cupcakes takes time and patience. Your cupcakes aren't going to come out perfect the first time... or every time! But just keep trying! I still have a problem icing. No bueno.

Southern-Style Strawberry Cream Cheese Cupcakes


These super yummy cupcakes are wonderful and almost easy to make! It just takes a little effort. But these, by far, have been everyone's favorite!

Yields 36 cupcakes

Ingredients for the Cupcakes
  • 1 (18.25 oz) box white cake mix
  • 1 (3 oz) box strawberry flavored instant gelatin (I picked up the Jello brand and ended up using only half of the box)
  • 1 (15 oz) package of frozen strawberries IN SYRUP!, thawed & pureed (I actually picked up about 30 oz because you'll use some of the strawberry puree for your icing)
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup water
Ingredients for the Icing
  • 1/4 cup butter, room temp/softened
  • 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese room temp/softened
  • 1/4 cup strawberry puree (Remember the extra you saved from the cupcakes? Use it here!)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • Up to 7 cups confectioners' sugar (Yeah, I said up to 7. I'm not exaggerating.)
  • OPTIONAL: Strawberry slices for garnish (Pssh, who needs garnish? I don't!)
So here's what you do:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line your muffin tins with cupcake papers.
  2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and gelatin.
  3. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil and water; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.
  4. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins. (Be careful not to over fill!)
  5. Bake for 20 minutes but make sure to keep an eye on them at about the 15 minute mark.
For your frosting:
  1. In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with your electric mixer until creamy and sort of light looking.
  2. Beat in your leftover puree and the vanilla extract.
  3. Gradually add in confectioners' sugar, one cup at a time, until smooth. You're adding in the confectioners' sugar to thicken up your frosting. So if it's not thick enough for you, add confectioners' sugar until it is.
  4. I added a little bit of red food coloring to my frosting to get it that pink color. That is something that is also optional.
Wait until your cupcakes have completely cooled (aka room temperature) before you attempt to put frosting on them. Otherwise, your icing is going to melt and just run all over your cupcakes and become a huge mess.

ENJOY!