Pink Squirrel Cupcakes

I don't make a lot of cupcakes anymore. I'm more more of a cake lady these days. Maybe because it seems fussy to have to portion all those little cups out, I dunno. Maybe because I've been too busy this past year making Milk Bar layer cakes, which do not translate at all to cupcake form. 

I saw a recipe for Pink Squirrel cupcakes on Sprinkle Bakes back in December, and have been dreaming about them ever since. I've been fascinated by the Pink Squirrel cocktail, but it's kind of out of fashion these days, and I fear that if I ever tried to order one, bartenders would laugh/stare at me. A Pink Squirrel is Creme de Cacao, Creme de Noyaux (or Creme de Almond) and heavy cream. It is bright pink and looks kind of like Pepto Bismol. 

I got my Creme de Noyaux from a creepy liquor store attached to a gas station, but my Creme de Cacao is some Tattersall, a local distillery. I'd love to go on one of their tours because...well, I'm a food/beverage nerd I guess. I like to know how stuff works, okay? Anyway, they make awesome spirits. Naturally, my cupcakes were not as beautiful as Heather's. But they have a light texture and mild almond flavor. Very nice in my book. The "American" style buttercream is a bit sweet for my tastes, but hey, it's a Pink Squirrel, and you're supposed to go over the top. 

Pink Squirrel Cupcakes 

from Sprinkle Bakes 

Cakes
1/2 cup butter softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup crème de noyaux liqueur (also called crème de almond)
1/4 cup clear or white crème de cocoa liqueur
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Pink gel food color, optional

Crème de noyaux frosting
2 sticks of butter softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup crème de noyaux liqueur
Pink gel food color
White nonpareils for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Make the cakes: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, crème noyaux, crème do cocoa and almond extract. Add flour and sour cream mixture alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Beat in a drop of pink food color, if using. Batter will be thick.
Fill cupcake papers with 1/4 cup level measures of batter. Bake for 17-22 minutes. Set aside.

Make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream softened butter and powdered sugar together. Once the frosting is thick, add the crème de noyaux one tablespoon at a time while beating on medium-low speed until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add a drop of pink gel food color; mix well.
Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle with nonpareils. Garnish the cupcakes with a glittering squirrel topper (recipe follows). You may also choose to top the cupcakes with maraschino cherries with stems, as this is the usual Pink Squirrel Cocktail garnish.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Working in a bakery has its perks, such as being able to eat all the imperfect treats, access really nice ingredients, and wear jeans and t-shirts everyday. But lately my body has been getting irritated with me. I have scoliosis, and while it hasn't ever acted up much in the past, spending all day on my feet, as well as bending over to lift large bags of flour and pulling things out of the oven makes my spine very upset.

No way I'm going to let my body limit my passions though. It just means I need to take better care of myself. More exercise to strengthen my spine. Better shoes (time for some ugly kitchen clogs...). And, if necessary, seeing a doctor. But I'm trying not to let myself be too concerned. 

 

Having days off to rest helps, even if I'm still baking at home! I've been making a decent amount of black bottom cupcakes recently. I'd never had them before, and they're crazy easy to make. No mixer required! Or frosting, since they've got a cheesecake center. Nom. The recipe I prefer is from a cookbook called Wintersweet, which I unfortunately returned to the library already, but David Leibovitz's recipe is pretty solid as well. 

Black Bottom Cupcakes 
from David Leibovitz
(Mine made like, 15 cupcakes. Dunno how you'd get 12 out of this)

 

For the filling
8 ounces regular or reduced fat cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
 
For the cupcakes
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup unflavored vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white or cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions 

Beat together the cream cheese, granulated sugar, and egg until smooth. Stir in the chopped chocolate pieces. Put in the freezer for like an hour. 

Adjust the rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F (175°C). Butter a 12-cup muffin tin, or line the tin with paper muffin cups. In a medium bowl sift together the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients, stirring until just smooth. Stir any longer and you will over mix the batter and end up with less-than-tender cupcakes. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Spoon a few tablespoons of the filling into the center of each cupcake, dividing the filling evenly. This will fill the cups almost completely, which is fine. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the tops are slightly golden brown and the cupcakes feel springy when gently pressed. These moist treats will keep well unrefrigerated for 2 to 3 days if stored in an airtight container.

Applesauce Spice Cupcakes

Blogging when I should be working on my final papers. And blogging something that's probably considered autumnal for that matter. Breakin' alllll the rules. I get the apple thing, apple season is September/October. But I have no idea why cinnamon is considered a fall flavor. Is the growing season for cinnamon in the fall? Whatever. These are the great mysteries of my life (just kidding. Kind of). 

Pretty flowers from a friend !

I have not started freaking out about the fact that I'm graduating. Maybe I will when it's actually happening, but I've never been the kind of person to publicly flip out over big events. Appreciate the moment. There will be plenty of time for the future when the future is the present. And yes, many things will be new, but the most important friends and family will be by your side to make everything less scary. And maybe that's why I'm not afraid. 

These little cupcakes are plain and unassuming looking, but they have a lovely cinnamon and nutmeg flavor, and the texture of something like banana bread (perhaps due to the applesauce, which you can't taste at all). Top them off with cream cheese frosting (the PERFECT amount for this number of cupcakes, which was awesome!) and you've got something that will pretty much please anyone.

Enjoy the rest of today. You'll never get it back! 

Applesauce Spice Cupcakes + Cream Cheese Frosting
from Cooking Classy

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce
1 Recipe Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe follows 

Cream Cheese Frosting
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg, set aside. In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, whip together butter, granulated sugar and light-brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 - 4 minutes. Add in eggs, mixing after each addition. With mixer on low speed, add in applesauce. Stir in flour mixture and mix just until combined. Divide batter evenly among 20 paper lined muffin cups, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake in preheated oven, rotating pan once halfway through baking, for about 19 - 20 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool several minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Cool completely then frost with Cream Cheese Frosting. Store cupcakes in an airtight container.
 
 Cream Cheese Frosting
Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer whip ingredients together until smooth and fluffy about 1 - 2 minutes.

350 Cupcakes

The masses have been getting antsy with my lack of posting. I apologize. This has been a weird summer for blogging. I came into it all inspired and motivated from my time abroad, only to find that I just...didn't have time for everything I had hoped to accomplish. Blogging got pushed to the side as I spent most of my weekdays working, too tired to blog by the time I got home. And my weekend baking aspirations had to be put on hold; instead I spent that time being shuttled back and forth from the Mayo Clinic (family health issues, I won't go into details). Now the summer is almost over and my posting level is at all all time low. Honestly? It scares me. I don't want the drudgeries of everyday life sucking out my will to bake and write. When life simply becomes a routine, it's time to stop and reassess. 

I won't say that I haven't accomplished anything. Some of you may know that two weekends ago I made 350 cupcakes for a wedding. It was one of the most fulfilling (and yeah, stressful) things I have ever done. I'm still a little in shock that I did it all by myself without any major disasters. The kitchen was coated in a fine layer of sugar for a few days after, but that was easily remedied. Would you like to see some pictures of my work? 

After all the cupcakes were made. Oy vey.

I am so happy that nothing collapsed, melted or got crushed on the car ride over or in the heat!

Looking much calmer than how I felt. Kind of a fake smile though.

So there you go. Keep your eyes open for more wedding cake, and more posts in general (I hope) in the future.

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Oh my gosh guys, I'm almost there. Almost in Dublin. And alternating between incredibly nervous and incredibly excited. Hopefully the nerves will subside. It's just that...having to say those last goodbyes to friends, packing up all my clothes into two gallon ziploc bags (and body-slamming all the air out of them), looking around my kitchen and knowing that soon enough, I will have none of the convenience I'm used to...things are real. 

What if I get to Ireland and my kitchen is a disaster? What if I'm suuuuuuper awkward around new people and everyone is like "Nah, I'll pass on talking to that one". What if I get sad and I want to talk to someone from home but it's the middle of the night there? Breathe. It will be okay. Hopefully it will be not just okay, but fantastic. 

 I made these for a get together my sister had a few days after Christmas. I was not present (I was at Les Mis with my parents, and did not shed a single tear. Perhaps there is something wrong with me) for their reception, but I think it was a positive one. I've been wanting to try this recipe forever, and well, this seemed like as good an occasion as any. Sweet, buttery caramel is paired with sea salt to create an intriguing and incredibly awesome cupcake. I decided to go without the filling and the caramel halos cause I was running low on sugar and time, but feel free to go for it if you're feeling brave :) 




Salted Caramel Cupcakes
from Sprinkle Bakes

Cupcakes

 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 stick of unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line muffin tins with papers. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until pale fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated.  Add vanilla.  Mix and scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and beating until combined after each.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each about halfway full.  Bake for about 25 minutes. When done, transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.

Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting:

1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick salted butter
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

In a saucepan, stir together granulated sugar and water.  Bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Cook without stirring until mixture turns a deep amber color.  Remove from heat and slowly add in cream and vanilla, stirring until very smooth.  Let caramel cool for about 20 minutes, until it is just barely warm and still pourable.

In a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and salt together until lightened and fluffy.  Reduce speed to low and add powdered sugar.  Mix until thoroughly combined.

Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the caramel.  Beat on medium high speed until light and airy, and completely mixed (about 2 minutes).  Mixture should be ready to use without refrigeration.  If your caramel was too hot when added, it will cause your icing to be runny.  If this happens refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.

I dislike red velvet.

There, I said it. I find that darling of the cake world, red velvet, vastly overrated and a little bit perturbing. Maybe it's because the first time I ever recall having it was at summer camp (an incredibly traumatic experience. I cried every day until they let me leave early.), where red velvet was talked up beyond belief but turned to taste just like a dried out grocery store sheet cake that happened to be red. Maybe it's because there's too much cocoa in it to taste like a yellow cake but not enough for me to consider it chocolate cake. Or maybe it's the food coloring. 

I am inherently suspicious of too much artificial food coloring. Especially red. Probably because as recently as 1982, scientists discovered that certain food dyes cause cancer and other health problems. I mean, it's worrisome to me that it's taken us until red dye #40 to find something that's safe, and it's still been known to cause allergic reactions in some people. The almost fluorescent quality of red velvet batter invoked this perverse fascination in me.

Sorry for being so negative! It's not going to kill you to have some red velvet cake once in a while. And I'm not the kind of baker who will refuse to make someone's absolute favorite just because it's not something I enjoy very much. Just to make sure I wasn't going to be feeding anyone poison, I tried one. It had a wonderful, slightly crunchy top and moist, but somehow airy texture. If I could find a way to harness the power of beets (next time I'm trying this recipe!) I think I might actually enjoy red velvet!

Red Velvet Cupcakes 

by McCormick

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 (1 ounce) Red Food Color
2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.
Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, food color and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat. Spoon batter into 30 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

My Other Blog - Sriracha Cupcakes/Sorry for my long absence

Hey everyone! Hope you've been taking care of yourselves. I'll blame part of my disappearance from the blog world on my vacation to San Francisco, but the other part was just me being busy. And playing with gluten free flours (results not quite worth posting. Yet). Anyway, the latest issue of the magazine where I work contains an article on Sriracha, and I decided to do a companion blog post. My discovery? Well....head on over there and see for yourself!

Secret Recipe Club - Carrot Cupcakes + Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

Hello from San Francisco! I've only been here one day so far, but I find it to be a lovely place and already had a delicious meal. I'll be sure to post about my adventures upon my return. Now, down to business. I will be honest, cause that's how I roll. I neglected this Secret Recipe Club post for far too long. Life got busy and there were so many recipes to choose from that I was paralyzed by indecision!

Instacarrots. Don't judge me. 

Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks (a name which always made me giggle ^_^) was the name of my supersecret blog this month. Man, this girl bakes so much, I dunno how she finds time for it. Anyway, there I was, last minute, paralyzed by indecision, when I remembered the pretty carrots in the fridge from the farmer's market (not the same carrots as these, that would be kind of gross). Luckily, Heather had a recipe for carrot cake, huzzah! Problem solved. 

Carrot cake is awesome. I made a couple adaptations to Heather's recipe, since I consider raisins to be the bane of my existence, and besides, I prefer my carrot cake pure and unadulterated. I employed some Milk Bar whippin' techniques in the cake process, and upped the vanilla in the frosting with scraped vanilla bean. Let me tell you, they were dabomb.com (which, unfortunately, is not a real website or I would link to it). The cake was SO moist, and the frosting, just barely sweet, was perfect for it. Definitely will be coming back to this one. If you have the time, grate your own carrots (or throw them in the food processor if you're lazy like me). I added some purple carrots for color variation! 

Carrot Cupcakes + Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

adapted from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks 

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 1/2 cups shredded peeled carrots

4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar (I think I used a bit less...I didn't really measure!)
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped and pod set aside for future use 

 Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake pan with 12 wrappers. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl.

Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs, and mix on medium-high for 2-3 more minutes. Scrape down the sides again.

On low speed, stream in the oil. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and paddle for 4-6 minutes, until the mixture is practically white, twice the size of your original fluffy butter and sugar mixture, and completely homogenous, with no streaks of fat. Don’t rush the process. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

On low speed, add the flour mixture. Mix for 45-60 seconds, just until your batter comes together and any remnants of dry ingredients have been incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add carrots on low speed, only mixing until just incorporated. Remove the bowl, grab a spatula, and run it through the batter, making extra sure everything is combined. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 22-27 minutes, checking at the 20-minute mark for doneness. I find with cakes, baking time depends not only on how hot your oven cooks, but also on what type of pan you’re using (nonstick, dark, light, etc). Check early and as often as you need to. You want your cake to be done, but you also want it to retain its moisture and not be dry.

When it’s done, it will have risen and puffed, doubling in size, but will remain buttery and dense. At your 20-minute checkpoint, poke the cake edge gently with your finger; the cake should bounce back slightly and the center should not be jiggly. If it’s jiggly, put back in the oven, checking every 3 minutes or so. Cool, and then frost.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer. With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until smooth and creamy. Beat in the vanilla. Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes

Secret Recipe Club - Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream

My 15 year old brother is a walking contradiction. He loves nothing more than a perfect lobster tail with drawn butter, a roasted beet salad, creamy tiramisu. But he equally loves instant ramen, Flamin' Hot Cheetos and Little Debbie Swiss rolls. He's skinny as a twig but eats a massive bowl of ice cream each night. 

Every time I come home he asks me to make him a cake. I say "Sure, what do you want?" "A box cake," he replies. I scowl, disgusted. "Ian, I'm not wasting my time making a box cake. You can make that yourself." This happens pretty frequently. Why doesn't he like real cake? Because I'm a people pleaser, I set out to make him something from scratch that he'd approve of. 

Since it happened to be Secret Recipe Club time, I found a great vanilla cake recipe on Jo-Anna's blog, A Pretty Life in the Suburbs. This is perhaps the best vanilla cake recipe I have found thus far. It's not dense and overly crumbly. Perhaps it has something to do with the procedure, which I haven't seen before (adding chunks of butter to the dry mixture instead of creaming it with the sugar). Instead of the cherry buttercream she made, I did raspberry. So, what did Ian think of the cupcakes? "Taste like a box cake." Mission accomplished. 

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream

adapted from A Pretty Life in the Suburbs

1 cup cake flour

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup milk

1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out, save the pod for something!

3 eggs

• Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
• Add the butter in chunks, to the flour mix, then add 3/4 cup milk.  Beat on low for 1 minute.
• Add eggs, and the remaining milk and vanilla.
• Beat until smooth.
• Pour the batter into approximately 20 muffin cups.
• Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.
• Cool before frosting.

1/4 cup fresh raspberries

1 cup unsalted butter

3 1/2 cups icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

• Sift icing sugar.
• In a mixer, beat butter until soft and fluffy.
• Add sifted icing sugar, and mix until well combined.
• Add vanilla and raspberries.
• Then frost your cupcakes after they have cooled.

Secret Recipe Club - Vegan Chocolate Mini Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting!

Guys, the Secret Recipe Club is back! Yay! This month my assignment was Biking and Baking by the very cool Sarah Bligh. She's a road biking, vegan resident physician. Is that intense or what? Since Sarah's a vegan but her husband is not (as far as I can tell from the blog) she has tons of recipes that are easily adaptable to fit any dietary needs. 

I think she has a bulldog as well. This is not a bulldog, but still. I consider us kindred spirits :) 

This recipe is coming at you right in time for Valentine's Day. Decorate these tiny cupcakes with hearts and stuff and give them to your dashing gentleman caller. Or put them in your friends' mailboxes (not anonymously. I wouldn't eat a mystery cupcake).

I used my homemade vanilla!

This recipe is definitely a keeper. There's nothing weird or inaccessible in the cakes, and they're SO moist. The frosting is not vegan, but it's amazing, just for eating off a spoon, haha. I adapted the original recipe a bit in that I made them mini, cut the recipe in half (and I still got 30 minis) and didn't fill the cupcakes with peanut butter like Sarah did. If (more like when) I make them again, I think I'll try them out with the filling. It's like a peanut butter cup, in cake form! 

Vegan Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
adapted from Biking and Baking

1 1/2 cups flour
3 Tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon vinegar (use something like and plain like white wine or good old white distilled)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup coconut milk

Preheat oven to 350. Line or grease mini cupcake tins.
Mix flour, cocoa, soda, and sugar.  In another bowl mix oil, vinegar, vanilla, and coconut milk. Beat the wet and dry ingredients together (you totally don't need a mixer). Fill cupcake tins.  Bake 9-12, or when a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool and frost with peanut butter frosting (below) 

Peanut Butter Frosting


1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
4 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup heavy cream

Beat butter and sugar until combined, then add the rest of the ingredients. Beat until frosting has a smooth, fluffy consistency.

Chocolate Tea Cakes

Uff da. I'm beat. So much going on in the school world. On the plus side, I get to go home for Thanksgiving break in a few days. I can do it! Home stretch!

I used Thai Chai tea from Adagio. Yum.

My birthday is on Monday, and I wanted to make something innovative...and I do like tea...so...tea cake? Whenever I try to brew tea into a dessert, the flavor doesn't come through very strongly. But I read on Cupcake Project that if you infuse the tea in butter, it'll come across really strongly. It...kind of didn't work for me. This could perhaps be due to the fact that instead of a strainer, I was using a slotted spoon, so I couldn't squeeze all the juices out of the leaves.

Overall they were pretty good. Smelled amazing, but were a little drier than I like in a cake. I think this had something to do with using butter instead of oil, which is what is in my favorite chocolate cake recipe. But brewing tea in boiling oil seemed dangerous. Also, chocolate cream cheese frosting. Where have you been all my life? Favorite part, hands down.

Tea Infused Chocolate Cakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups boiling water
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups and 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup butter, melted and infused with strong tea (probably a flavored black)
• 1-2/3 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 cupcake pans. In medium bowl, pour boiling water over cocoa, and whisk until smooth. Let mixture cool. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; set aside. 
2. After tea has visibly tinted the melted butter, strain the leaves out and discard them.
3. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at time, then stir in vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture. Spoon batter into pans, each cup about 2/3s full.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 4 tablespoons strong tea
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

In a bowl, beat together the cream cheese, 3 tablespoons tea, confectioner's sugar, butter, vanilla and cocoa to a spreadable consistency. Beat in additional tea if necessary. For a darker frosting add more cocoa or up to 4 ounces melted chocolate. Spread onto cooled cake. 

Pumpkin Curry Cupcakes + Chocolate Ganache Frosting

I take so many little things for granted. This is kind of a recurring theme in my life if you haven't noticed. I mean, a cabinet full of ingredients and utensils sure beats lugging a crate of stuff down seven flights of stairs, realizing you forgot something crucial, and having to go ALL THE WAY BACK UP. And I will never stop singing songs of praise to air conditioning. Man, an oven makes a room really hot! Somehow, this is news to me. 

Don't open cans like this.

So my cupcakes were a little uglier than usual, big deal, right? So I had to stab my can of pumpkin open with a knife instead of a nice, safe can opener (I wouldn't recommend doing that.) When I finally finished the cupcakes (and trust me, it took forever. At one point I was joined in the kitchen by a guy cooking a weeks worth of chicken) they tasted like success. Or sweat maybe. Just kidding! 

This is chocolate. Chocolate does not taste like sweat.

They tasted like pumpkin curry cake with chocolate ganache, nommmm. Don't knock the curry til you try it, it adds a great warmth to the flavor. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some leftover frosting that's just begging to be eaten ^_^

Pumpkin Curry Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Frosting

from Vanilla Garlic 

2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
2 1/2 teaspoons of curry powder
pinch of cayanne
1/2 cup of packed borwn sugar
1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cool
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
15 ounces pumpkin puree

1) Preheat over to 350 degrees F.

2) Whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.

3) Whisk together the sugars, butter, and eggs. The add the dry ingredients and whisk them in. Whish in pumpkin puree. Taste and adjust spices.

4) Put into cupcakes papers about halfway. Bake until they spring back to touch and a cake tester comes out clean. About 18-22 minutes. Rotate pan after 15 minutes if your oven is sketchy for even baking. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.



Chocolate Ganache

What You'll Need...
14 ounces of chocolate (use your discretion and taste as to what kind)
1 1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of whole milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla

What You'll Do...
1) Chop chocolates and transfer into a heat proof bowl.

2) Heat cream until bubbles form around the edge of the pan, pour cream over the chocolate.

3) Let sit for 1 minute then stir until combined.

4) Add butter to the chocolate (make sure its soft and at room temp) and stir until combined.

5) Whisk together sugar, salt, milk, and vanilla in another bowl until combined.

6) Pour the sugar mixture onto the chocolate mixture, then stir until combined and smooth.

7) Let sit at room temperature until thickened. (I popped it in the freezer with a towel over it since it was late. Don't worry if it looks too runny.)

8) Beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. Pipe or spread onto cupcakes.

Coconut Cupcakes

I love me some coconut. Many people are not of the same opinion. Especially younger people (someone explain to me why the incredibly delicious almond joy candy bar is considered "old people candy"?) I think it's the texture that throws them off. Shredded coconut just sort of...feels like something that isn't exactly food. But I enjoy that sort of thing. Food that seems more like a non food. Like these things.

I've been wanting to bake with coconut oil for a while now. It's quite versatile, and can also be used to pop popcorn, saute things, and it's good for your skin and hair ^_^. But it's so darn expensive. I finally splurged, so I knew I had to make something super good with it. I think I succeeded. These cupcakes have an awesome, delicate crumb and a very subtle coconut flavor. Even my coconut hating siblings liked them! It's the frosting that packs more of the coconut flavor punch. The recipe can easily be adapted for a killer yellow cupcake with vanilla frosting.

Coconut Cupcakes
(makes 17-20)
adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes



1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup coconut oil (I imagine butter would be fine as well)
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cream oil and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add extracts and eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.

Reduce speed to low. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk and ending with flour mixture. Scrape sides of bowl. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 1/2 full.

Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks. 

Coconut Frosting 

6 Tbsp butter
2 tablespoon coconut milk 

3 cups Powdered Sugar
1 tsp coconut extract 

shredded coconut for garnish

Cream butter and powdered sugar, and salt. Add milk and extract and beat until desired consistency is reached. Top with shredded coconut.