Devil's Food Cupcakes with Strawberry Fluff Frosting

I made these for my son's Valentine's playdate for the kids to decorate.  I had wanted to try out the raspberry fluff frosting from Martha.  It has marshmallow creme in it, and that might just be one of my favorite things in the world.  It's so wrong it's right.  I had no raspberry jam on hand so I used strawberry flavoring and a bit of pink food coloring.  It was glorious.  I have a thing for super fluffy desserts, and this frosting is as fluffy as it gets.

I liked the devil's food cupcakes, but my husband said it tastes too much like cake mix (and why go to the effort then) and didn't have enough moist chocolate flavor.  I'll stick to my usual chocolate recipe next time, but this frosting will definitely making a repeat appearance soon.

Devil's Food Cupcakes
slightly adapted from Martha Stewart


3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 cup hot water
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup low fat Greek yogurt, room temperature


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled, 4 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture, and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, and beating until just combined after each.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three- quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 15 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

Strawberry Fluff Frosting
adapted from Martha Stewart

1 cup butter, softened
a few drops strawberry flavoring

3 cups marshmallow creme

1/3 cup confectioners sugar

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat 1 cup butter on medium-high until smooth. Add marshmallow topping and confectioners' sugar and beat until fluffy and smooth, 3 minutes. Add flavoring and food coloring and beat until well combined.  Frost as desired. 


Linked to:
Mrs Fox's Sweet Party 
 Sweet Treats Thursday

Eggnog Cupcakes

If you adore eggnog as I do, you must must MUST make these!  I got the recipe from Bake and Destroy, and quite simply, they rule.  Bursting with eggnog flavor, I made these for my Iron Cupcake Challenge this month.  The cupcakes are moist and buttery rich, and the frosting is to die for.

Do make sure to use freshly ground nutmeg for these.  I never used to get whole nutmeg, but it's so worth the little bit of extra effort to grate it yourself (I use my microplane).  I have pre-ground nutmeg and it doesn't even smell like nutmeg now that I use the fresh stuff.

I added a snowflake sugar cookie on top to go with the winter/holiday theme, and made some cupcake wrappers to finish them off.   Cute, festive, and oh so yummy!

Eggnog Cupcakes
from Bake and Destroy


1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup eggnog
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Preheat your oven to 325 and line two cupcake pans with paper liners. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix all the dry ingredients together. Mix butter pieces in until they’re coated with the flour mixture.
Mix eggs, eggnog and vanilla together in a large glass measuring cup. Add to dry ingredients gradually until mixed. Don’t over mix!
Fill cups 2/3 full and bake 17-22 minutes or until golden brown and the tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool in pans about 5 minutes then cool completely on wire rack.

Eggnog frosting:

2 sticks butter, room temperature
4-6 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup – 1/2 cup eggnog (I used about 1/3 cup to get it to piping consistency)
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch salt


Mix butter and sugar on medium speed. Add nutmeg and salt. Pour in eggnog gradually until frosting is spreadable. Add eggnog and sugar to taste and to desired consistency. Add less eggnog if you plan on piping the frosting on.

Linked to:
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Mrs Foxs' Sweet Party 
Seasonal Inspirations 
Strut Your Stuff Saturday

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Okay, time to get back into blogging.  So Fall has yet to really hit us in the Bay Area.  We're still wearing shorts and t-shirts during the days, and summer berries are still making a weekly appearance at our farmer's markets.  I grew up in British Columbia, where I took the change of seasons for granted, and I totally miss it.  Most of the food blogs I follow are in the full swing of Fall baking, and even though it's still summer here I can't resist making all these lovely treats.

I had the idea to make these cupcakes for our first Iron Cupcake Challenge here in the East Bay (more on that later!!).  I wanted to make an apple cupcake with a caramel center, topped with caramel frosting, and finished with a mini caramel apple on top.  I don't know why but I thought other than crab apples that there was such thing as mini apples, but alas I couldn't find any.  Then my Sunset magazine arrived with the most adorable mini caramel apples made using a melon baller.  Brilliant!

Well, making the caramel apples was a bit of a debacle.  The caramel recipe wouldn't really adhere to the apple since it was so damp.  So I gave up and found a similar recipe online using melted butterscotch chips.  Not quite the authentic effect I was going for but cute enough. 

One thing I have to mention is that the caramel sauce I usually make for cupcake fillings didn't quite work out this time.  I trusted my candy thermometer (which broke shortly thereafter) instead of my gut and I ended up with gritty caramel sauce.  I was really annoyed until it hardened up and my husband told me what I made was the center of our favorite See's candy, which is a fudgy textured caramel covered in milk chocolate.  Yay!  I'm going to try and recreate my mistake and hopefully you'll be seeing a caramel candy post soon. :)


Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Caramel Cupcakes
from Magnolia Bakery

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, at room temp
1 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups coarsely chopped, peeled, crisp tart apples

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line 24 muffin tins with liners (note: this makes more than 24 cupcakes, but most people I know don't have an oven large enough to fit more than two 12 muffin tins so you may need to do this in batches).
In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, on med speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth.  Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with milk and vanilla.  With each addition, beat until ingredients are incorporated, but do not over beat.  Using a rubber spatula, scrape down sides making sure ingredients are well blended.  Stir in apples.
Divide the batter into tins, filling each about 3/4 full.  Using a large ice cream scoop makes this easy peasy.  Bake for 22 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.  After about 5 minutes remove to a wire rack to cool.

Caramel Sauce for Filling
from Martha Stewart

2 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon salt (if you like salted caramel increase this to at least 1 1/2 teaspoons)

Heat sugar with the water and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan over high, stirring occasionally, until syrup is clear; clip a candy thermometer to side of pan and stop stirring.

Cook until syrup comes to a boil, washing down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush as needed. Boil, gently swirling pan occasionally, until mixture is caramelized and just reaches 360°F. Remove from heat and slowly pour in cream; stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in sea salt.

Use immediately; if caramel begins to harden reheat gently until pourable.

Caramel Buttercream Frosting
from Bakers Royale  (this website is all kinds of awesome)

½ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons of heavy cream
½ teaspoons of kosher salt
1 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
11/2 cup powdered sugar


To make the caramel portion: Add sugar and water into a saucepan over medium low heat. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Use a wet brush to remove any crystals that form on the side. Once sugar has dissolved increase heat to high. Now and then, using the handle give the pot a swirl to keep the mixture moving. Do not stir the mixture directly. The mixture will start to bubble after a minute. As the mixture darkens to a medium amber color, approximately 5-7 minutes add the 2 tablespoons of  butter and cream to saucepan. The mixture will bubble wildly. Whisk to combine (bubbles will subside upon cooling). Add salt and stir to combine. Set aside to cool completely before adding it to the next step.
Finishing the caramel buttercream frosting: Place butter and vanilla in a bowl and beat on high until butter is pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Turn mixer speed down to medium and add powdered sugar ½ cup at a time. Beat until combined. 3. Add in  caramel sauce and beat until combined.


Mini Caramel Apples
from Sunset Magazine 

3/4 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
About 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream, divided
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup decorative mini orange candies
2 large red apples

About 20 slender but sturdy food-safe twigs, such as magnolia twigs, or craft sticks
1. Heat corn syrup, sugar, butter, and 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. cream in a 3-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat until mixture reaches 275° on a candy thermometer*, about 15 minutes, stirring often with the thermometer or a wooden spoon once it starts to brown. While caramel boils, prepare the remaining ingredients (you'll need to have everything ready before beginning step 3).
2. Grease a baking sheet and set aside. Put nuts, chocolate chips, and candies on individual plates and set aside. Using a 1-in. melon baller, cut apples into balls (you should get 8 to 10 from each apple). Push thickest end of a twig into each apple ball through skin side to center. Set on paper towels to absorb moisture.
3. Remove caramel from heat when at 275° and pour in remaining 1/4 cup cream, stirring until very smooth (it will come together after about 1 minute) and being careful of any splattering caramel.
4. Dip apple balls into caramel, making sure caramel comes over edges of skin and letting excess drip off. Dip bottom of each ball into either nuts, chocolate chips, or candies, then set on the baking sheet to cool.
*You'll need an accurate candy thermometer. Check it by immersing in boiling water; it should read 212°. If it's a few degrees too high or low, cook the caramel to a corresponding few degrees more or less. If it's way off, get a new thermometer.
Make ahead: Chill until ready to serve, up to 3 hours ahead. Serve at room temperature.

Linked to:
Sweet Treats Thursday

Peach Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Frosting

Sorry for my lack of posts lately, I have a lot of stuff going on right now.  I still have loads of posts from the summer so here's an old one that I never got around to posting.  Peaches may not be in season for most of us anymore, but you could easily use canned peaches.

I made these luscious peach cupcakes for my birthday back at the end of August.  I used the pineapple cupcake recipe from Glorious Treats and subbed diced peaches in for the pineapple.  These were super moist and had a lovely fresh taste.  I had no idea what kind of frosting to use and my husband suggested brown sugar.  Brilliant!  The frosting was a little crunchy from the brown sugar and was a nice contrast to the ultra moist cupcakes.  A quick disclaimer:  I can't remember the exact measurements I used for the frosting so the recipe below might not be precise.  Frosting is one of the easiest things to make and fix so just adjust either the confectioner's sugar or heavy cream to get the consistency you're looking for.

I served these at my birthday potluck with a bunch of old friends, and they were a hit.  I actually got so many lovely compliments on them, I was truly flattered.  Maybe the idea of one day opening a bakery isn't so crazy after all. :)

Peach Cupcakes
adapted from Glorious Treats

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups diced peaches, the juicier the better

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.  In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar until slightly thickened and a light cream color (about 2 minutes).

On low speed, mix in the oil and vanilla until blended.  Add in the peaches and sour cream and mix until fully incorporated.  Add the flour mixture and blend until just combined and smooth.

Line a 2 cupcake pans with paper liners and fill about 2/3 full. I find that using a large ice cream scoop is the ticket to perfectly portioned cupcakes

Bake cupcakes in a pre-heated 350*F oven for about 22 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Brown Sugar Frosting

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
4 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar


Cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the confectioners' sugar 1/2 cup at a time, alternating with the cream.  Beat until light and fluffy.  If it isn't the consistency you want, add more cream to make it runnier, and more confectioner's sugar to firm it up.

Chocolate Banana Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

My darling husband bought me a huge Wilton cake decorating caddy for my birthday this year.  I have no idea what half of the tools are for, but I love to experiment.  I made these cupcakes for my friend's baby shower that I co-hosted a few weeks ago.  I usually use a large star tip to pipe frosting onto cupcakes but I wanted to try something a little different (these are made with the small petal tip).  I had seen this on another blog and thought they looked so pretty.  Not bad for a first attempt, right?

The cupcakes were delicious, I got the recipe from Joy of Baking, and they were moist and had lots of cocoa flavor.  There isn't a lot of banana in the recipe so it wasn't too overpowering.  The frosting was awesome, and even better the next day when each petal had gotten that crisp sugar texture.  I made the cupcake wrappers from a tutorial on Cupcake Project, it was super easy and I thought they looked quite pretty.  Thanks for visiting!

Chocolate Banana Cupcakes
from Joy of Baking.com 

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour

1/3 cup (35 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (regular or Dutch-processed)

3/4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 1 medium sized banana)

1/2 cup (120 ml) warm water

1/4 cup (60 ml) milk

1/4 cup (60 ml) canola, corn, or vegetable oil

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Line 12 regular-sized muffin cups with paper liners or spray each cup with a non stick vegetable spray.

In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In another large bowl, whisk together the egg, mashed banana, water, milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir, or whisk, until combined. (The batter is quite thin.) Pour or scoop the batter into the muffin cups, about 3/4 full, and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.  

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Strawberry Frosting

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
1- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons pureed strawberries (approximately ½ cup whole)


Combine butter and confectioner’s sugar in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Beat on low speed for about 1 minute, or until the butter and sugar come together (it will start off quite crumbly).  Add the whipping cream and beat on high speed until the frosting becomes light and fluffy, approximately 2 minutes.  Add the strawberries and beat until combined.

Caramel Filled Caramel Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

I had the pleasure of making cupcakes for our friends/neighbor's son's third birthday.  I love when people request cupcakes above and beyond vanilla and chocolate, they're so much fun to make and eat.  I'm all about tasty cupcake fillings, and what better filling for caramel cupcakes than more caramel.  Seriously, can you ever have too much caramel?

I had some trouble finding an actual recipe for caramel cake, most of the cakes just use brown sugar instead of white, or a mixture.  Finally I found this recipe from Shuna fish Lydon which uses a caramel syrup in the batter.  The cake didn't have the strongest caramel flavor and would have been completely overpowered by the chocolate frosting, so the filling definitely added to the caramel deliciousness.  I used a standard chocolate frosting recipe, and it came out nice and fluffy, perfect for piping.  Some colored sprinkles were a must for this sweet boy's birthday celebration!

Caramel Cake
from Shuna fish Lydon
(adapted to make cupcakes)
 
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup caramel syrup (recipe follows)
2  large eggs, room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners.  Sift together flour and baking powder.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth.
Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.  Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl.  Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.

Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time.  Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dries.

Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds. making sure batter is uniform.
Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 of the way full.  I actually found the recipe made about 18 cupcakes per batch, but you could probably fill the tins a bit less full and get more.  Bake for approximately 22 minutes.  Let cool for about 5 minutes and then remove cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.


Caramel Syrup

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water for "stopping"

In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand.  Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush.  Turn heat on high.  Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.

When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter, it is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and prepared to step back.  Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly (about 5 minutes).

Caramel Sauce for Filling
from Martha Stewart

2 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon salt (if you like salted caramel increase this to at least 1 1/2 teaspoons)

Heat sugar with the water and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan over high, stirring occasionally, until syrup is clear; clip a candy thermometer to side of pan and stop stirring.

Cook until syrup comes to a boil, washing down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush as needed. Boil, gently swirling pan occasionally, until mixture is caramelized and just reaches 360°F. Remove from heat and slowly pour in cream; stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in sea salt.

Use immediately; if caramel begins to harden reheat gently until pourable.

Chocolate Frosting

2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tablespoons butter, softened to room temp
5 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, sift together the confectioners' sugar and cocoa, and set aside.
In a large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth, then gradually beat in sugar mixture alternately with whipping cream. Blend in vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. 

Assembly

To finish, use a paring knife to cut a cone-shaped piece (about 1/2 inch deep) from the center of each cupcake and throw away the pieces (or eat them). Spoon 1 to 2 teaspoons warm Salted Caramel Filling into each hollowed-out cupcake. You will notice the caramel will sink into the cupcake a little, just fill it up a bit more.  Make sure the caramel is completely cool before you pipe over your frosting or it will probably start to melt your frosting.

Use a pastry bag with a medium open-star tip and pipe chocolate frosting onto each cupcake, swirling tip and releasing as you pull up to form a peak. Garnish each cupcake with a pinch of sea salt. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are filled and frosted. Store at room temperature in airtight containers - do NOT refrigerate.

Linked to:
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Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Samoas Cupcakes

I'll be honest here, I don't really like Girl Scout cookies.  But the flavor combinations are brilliant.  Especially Samoas.  Chocolate, caramel, and coconut, what could be better?  I had seen different versions on the samoas cupcake on several blogs, and while on vacation in August I had plenty of time for baking and plenty of people to bake for so I thought I would finally give these a go.

If you love the three main flavors in samoas you will ADORE these cupcakes.  They were simply scrumptious, and looked pretty impressive to if I do say so myself.  I used my favorite chocolate cake recipe, and the salted caramel buttercream frosting from Bakers Royale.  I topped the cupcakes off with some toasted coconut and drizzled chocolate (wonderful ideas also from Bakers Royale).  Much better than the cookies. ;)

Samoas Cupcakes

Chocolate Cake
from allrecipes.com

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 cup butter
1 cup water
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 cupcake tins with liners.
Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Beat in the sour cream and eggs. Set aside. Melt the butter on low in a saucepan, add the water and 5 tablespoons cocoa. Bring mixture to a boil then remove from heat. Allow to cool slightly, then stir cocoa mixture into the egg mixture, mixing until blended.
Scoop batter into lined cupcake tins, about 3/4 full. Bake in the preheated oven for about 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Let cool for about 5 minutes and then remove each cupcake to a wire rack to cool completely.  

Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting
from Bakers Royale

½ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons of heavy cream
½ teaspoons of kosher salt
1 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
11/2 cup powdered sugar


To make the caramel portion: Add sugar and water into a saucepan over medium low heat. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Use a wet brush to remove any crystals that form on the side. Once sugar has dissolved increase heat to high. Now and then, using the handle give the pot a swirl to keep the mixture moving. Do not stir the mixture directly. The mixture will start to bubble after a minute. As the mixture darkens to a medium amber color, approximately 5-7 minutes add the 2 tablespoons of  butter and cream to saucepan. The mixture will bubble wildly. Whisk to combine (bubbles will subside upon cooling). Add salt and stir to combine. Set aside to cool completely before adding it to the next step.
Finishing the caramel buttercream frosting: Place butter and vanilla in a bowl and beat on high until butter is pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Turn mixer speed down to medium and add powdered sugar ½ cup at a time. Beat until combined. 3. Add in  caramel sauce and beat until combined.
Toasted Coconuts
½ cup of sweetened coconut

Spread coconut on baking pan and place in an oven set to 350 degrees F for 5-7 minutes or until shreds start to turn light brown.  Stir coconut around once to ensure even toasting.

Chocolate Drizzle
¼ cup milk chocolate
Melt chocolate carefully in the microwave or in a pot set over simmering water.  To drizzle I pour the melted chocolate into a zip lock bag and cut a tiny hole in the bottom.

Assembly

Pipe the frosting onto each cooled cupcake.  Top with cooled toasted coconut and drizzle with milk chocolate.  Enjoy!  

Linked to:
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Melt in Your Mouth Monday

Pina Colada Cupcakes

O.M.G.  These are probably the best cupcakes I have ever had.  Moist flavorful pineapple cake topped with decadent creamy coconut cream cheese frosting and toasted coconut.  Mmmmm, pure heaven.  I found this recipe over at Glorious Treats, which is a fabulous blog full of gorgeous desserts and fabulous party ideas.  This is Glory's own recipe and it is perfect in every way.  Not only are they delicious, but seriously, how cute!  If these hadn't been for a kid's birthday party I would have put cocktail umbrellas in them.  Love.

The cupcake recipe uses sour cream, which I have recently discovered is the secret to an ultra moist crumb.  There is plenty of crushed pineapple in it so it has a wonderful tropical flavor.  The frosting is literally to die for.  Much lighter and fluffier then most cream cheese frostings I have made, it's perfect for piping.  I seriously can't get over how good these are.

Pina Colada Cupcakes
from Glory Albin (glorioustreats.blogspot.com) 

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups canned crushed pineapple (drained slightly)

Directions-
1.  Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
2.  In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar until slightly thickened and a light cream color (about 2 minutes).
3.  On low speed, mix in the oil and vanilla until blended.
4.  Add in the pineapple and sour cream and mix until fully incorporated.
5.  Add the flour mixture and blend until just combined and smooth.
6.  Line a cupcake pan with 12 paper liners and fill about 2/3 full.
7.  Bake cupcakes in a pre-heated 350*F oven for about 22 minutes.
8.  Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.
9.  Frost with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below)

Recipe yields 24-28 cupcakes.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

½ cup (1 stick/8 Tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (always use pure vanilla extract if possible)
2 teaspoons coconut extract (I think this largely depends on the type of coconut extract you use, I use the alcohol free kind and it requires quite a bit)
4 cups powdered confectioners sugar
1 Tablespoon heavy cream, heavy whipping cream or milk


Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend until smooth. Add cream cheese and blend until well combined, about 30 seconds.
Add vanilla extract, coconut extract and powdered sugar (1 cup at a time) and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.
Slowly add the heavy cream.  Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.
Use at once or keep refrigerated. (This frosting will keep well in the refrigerator for several days, but you may need to re-beat it for the best texture.)

Linked to:
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These Chicks Cooked Link Party 
Sweet Treats Thursday 
Sweet Tooth Friday 
Sweets for a Saturday

Yellow Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

I have a few upcoming birthday cake orders next month and I wanted to try out a new yellow cake recipe.  I love the Nick Maglieri one that I usually use, but I wanted to find one that was a bit fluffier.  I tried the Joanne Chang recipe from her Flour book, and it's bang on.  Super moist and ultra fluffy, this is what birthday cakes are made of.

I actually made them into cupcakes and they got rave reviews from my lucky taste testers.  That said I still think that Nick's has a lot more vanilla flavor, so I plan to use his recipe but Chang's technique and see what I end up with next time.

The buttercream is super silky and has great strawberry flavor.  I used be quite on the fence with meringue buttercreams, a few recipes were like literally eating a stick of sweet butter.  But then I realized my problem was the temperature.  If Swiss meringue buttercream is even slightly cold it has a rather unpleasant consistency, this frosting must be served at room temp.  Then it's a smooth silky dream.  Enjoy!

 

Yellow Cake
from Flour

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks/342 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups (360 grams) cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (240 grams) buttermilk

Adapted for making 24 cupcakes:

Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachement (or a handheld mixer), cream together the butter and granulated sugar on medium speed for 3–4 minutes, or until light and fluffy. (This step will take 8–10 minutes if using a handheld mixer.) Stop the mixer a few times and use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and the paddle to release any clinging butter or sugar.
in a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla just until combined. On low speed, slowly pour the egg mixture into the butter mixture and mix just until incorporated. Scrape the bowl and paddle again, then beat on medium speed for 20–30 seconds, or until the mixture is homogeneous.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. On the lowest speed, add about one-third of the flour mixture to the egg-butter mixture and mix just until barely combined. Immediately pour in about half of the buttermilk and continue to mix on the lowest speed until the buttermilk is almost thoroughly incorporated. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl well. Again on the lowest speed, add about half of the remaining flour mixture and mix just until barely combined. Add the rest of the buttermilk and mix just until combined. Be careful not to overmix.
At this point, it is best to finish the mixing by hand. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand and, using the rubber spatula, fold in the remaining flour mixture just until the batter is homogeneous. As you fold, be sure to incorporate any batter clinging to the sides and bottom of the bowl. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.  (The cooled cupcakes can be tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the freezer for up to 1 week. Thaw at room temperature, still wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.)

Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream
adapted from Martha Stewart

4 large egg whites
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into tablespoons
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup strawberries pureed in a food processor

In the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a saucepan of simmering water, combine egg whites and sugar. Cook, whisking constantly, until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch (about 160 degrees).
Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat the egg-white mixture on high speed until it holds stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until the mixture is fluffy and cooled, about 6 minutes.

Switch to the paddle attachment. With mixer on medium-low speed, add butter several tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. (If frosting appears to separate after all the butter has been added, beat on medium-high speed until smooth again, 3 to 5 minutes more.) Beat in vanilla. Beat on lowest speed to eliminate any air bubbles, about 2 minutes. 

Beat in strawberry puree, adding a few spoonfulls at a time until desired strawberry flavor and consistency is achieved.

Linked to:
Sweet Treats Thursday
This Chick Cooks Link Party 
Sweet Tooth Friday 
Sweets for a Saturday 
Melt in Your Mouth Monday

Meyer Lemon Cupcakes

When we first moved to California I wanted nothing more than a house that had a nice yard with a palm tree and a citrus tree in it.  Several years later I have a town house with two enormous queen palms and a sweet little Meyer lemon tree that we just planted and hasn't bore any fruit yet.

My husband is a total plant/garden guy and he insisted we get a Meyer lemon tree.  The fruits are sweeter than normal lemons, making them ideal for baking since they don't require so much sugar and still pack some serious lemon flavor.  If you're wondering where to find Meyers you might luck out, sometimes our chain grocery store carries them, but a farmer's market is more likely to have some.

This is my first recipe using Meyers (stay tuned for Meyer lemon curd crepe cake!), and I LOVE these lemons.  They are indeed a little sweeter and add the perfect lemon flavor.  I served these cupcakes with a dollop of whipped cream and some fresh blueberries, but they were also delicious just on their own.

Meyer Lemon Buttermilk Cupcakes
from Martha Stewart

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
Finely grated zest of 3 Meyer lemons (about 3 tablespoons), plus 2 tablespoons fresh Meyer lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in zest and vanilla. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk and lemon juice, and beating until just combined after each.
Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

Whipped Cream

2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

Whisk heavy cream until soft peaks form.  Add sugar and whisk until combined.

Linked to:
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets for a Saturday 
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
A Themed Baker's Sunday 

Pink Vanilla Cupcakes

I made these for my little girl's recent 1st birthday party.  The cupcake is a yellow cake recipe from Nick Malgieri that I always use when making cupcakes for kids.  It's light and moist, super flavorful, and really easy to make.

The frosting is from Sweetapolita.  I love her blog, it's beautiful.  Her pictures are gorgeous and recipes are to die for.  This frosting for American style buttercream rules.  It is seriously the best frosting recipe I've tried.  It's light, fluffy, and perfect for piping.  I topped the cupcakes with some pearly pink nonpareils. 

These cupcakes turned out exactly how I had been picturing in my mind for the last few months since I decided to do a pink party for my sweet girly.  

Basic Yellow Cake
from Nick Malgieri

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, at room temp
3/4 cup milk
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract


Set a rack at the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.  Butter and line the bottom of two 9x2-inch round cake pans.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.  Whisk eggs and milk together, set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.  Beat in vanilla extract.  Scrape down sides with rubber spatula.
On low speed add 1/4 of the flour mixture until it is absorbed.  Increase speed to medium low and beat in 1/3 of milk mixture.  Repeat this, including change of speed 2 more times. Scrape bowl and beat in remaining 1/4 of flour mixture.  Scrape again, increase speed to medium and continuously beat the batter for 3 minutes. Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and smooth top. Bake cake(s) about 20 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean. Cool in pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack, remove paper and let cool completely.

Sugary Birthday Buttercream Frosting
from Sweetapolita

1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, softened

6 cups icing sugar (confectioners’)

120 ml whipping cream

2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon water

pinch of salt

Beat the butter and icing sugar in an electric mixer on low with the paddle attachment for about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla, water, whipping cream, and salt, and whip on high speed until fluffy and smooth–about 4 minutes. If consistency is too thick, add more water 1 teaspoon at a time, then whip again for 30 seconds or so.

Makes enough to fill & frost a 3-layer, 8″ cake.

Linked to:
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Muffin Monday 
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets for a Saturday 

Ellis' Pretty and Pink 1st Birthday Party

I recently posted about my darling baby girl Ellis' 1st birthday and her first taste of cupcakes.  That weekend we had a bigger birthday party for her complete with a cake smash, and I was lucky to have my dear friend Jamie from Jamie Lacey Photography there to capture the whole event.

Everything was in pink.  Pink drinks, pink cupcakes, pink party favors, pink napkins, pink balloons, pink everything.  For all I know Ellis is going to grow up to hate pink, but for now Mommy gets to choose the party themes.

Ellis doesn't really have any friends her own age but her older brother Liam's friends just love her.  The kids all talk about her and ask if she'll be at playdates.  So they all came to help us celebrate our gorgeous, hilarious, sweet little Ellis' first birthday.

This was my first attempt at making a banner, and I'm super happy with the way it turned out!

Photo by Jamie Lacey Photography

The cupcakes were pink of course, I also made some cupcake toppers

Photo by Jamie Lacey Photography

You can never have too many pink desserts so I made strawberry coconut Lamingtons and sugar cookies

Photo by Jamie Lacey Photography

Photo by Jamie Lacey Photography

Pink M&Ms and coneflower kits were favors for the kids

Photo by Jamie Lacey Photography

Ellis' cake was almost too pretty to let her smash.  Almost

Photo by Jamie Lacey Photography

And the birthday girl had her beatuiful pink cake all to herself

Photo by Jamie Lacey Photography

Carrot Cupcakes for My Sweet Little Birthday Girl

One year ago today I held my sweet little Ellis Lily in my arms for the first time.  She was so perfect, everything so tiny and still covered in soft tufts of hair.  We spent the first week of her life in the hospital, waiting not so patiently for her jaundice to improve so we could take her to her new home.  I could only spend a few minutes with her every 2-3 hours and I cherished every one of them.  She would snuggle so closely to me and I would marvel that  this little girl was mine.  How could I have gotten so lucky to have two gorgeous children is still beyond me.

Ready for her cupcake

During the first two months of Ellis' life, she did what most babies do; she ate and slept.  Sure she fussed a little in the evenings, but she was such an easy baby.  I would constantly brag that having two small children wasn't that hard, what was all the fuss about?  I would soon come to eat my words.  At two months colic hit Ellis and our family like a ton of bricks.  For the next two months the soundtrack to our lives was Ellis screaming.  If she was my first I would have holed up in my apartment until it passed, but I had my son Liam to think about so we tried to go about our lives as best we could.  Ellis screamed at the park.  She screamed bloody murder in the car.  She screamed at playdates, and everywhere in between.  And then finally at four months the fog started to lift and I finally started get to know and understand this little person.

Ellis is a little cuddler, when I ask her for a hug she puts her arms around my neck and squeezes tightly.  She loves to curl up against me at night, and when she wakes I can see her big eyes looking up at me to make sure I'm still there before settling back in.  Ellis loves music.  'Music' was her first sign and she loves to dance at her music table.  She adores her big brother, her eyes light up when she sees him and she follows him around all day.  She always wants to be a part of what he's doing, and bless him for the most part lets her.  She laughs at all his antics.  Watching them play and laugh together is one my most favourite things in the world.

Hmmm, what is this lovely thing?

Ellis is a mama's girl.  She wants to be in my arms all day long.  This can get a bit annoying when I'm trying to make dinner, but when she crawls towards me at top speed with a huge toothy smile on her face I can barely stand the cuteness.  She loves her Daddy to bits too, and smiles from ear to ear when he walks through the door at the end of the day.

Yup, she's her mother's daughter

Ellis is a sensitive girl.  The slightest thing not going her way will bring forth the most sorrowful cries you've ever heard.  She has so many moods which are written all over her face, she has the most expressive eyes (and eyebrows, haha) I've ever seen.  Everyday I am thankful that she is part of my life and that I get to watch this gorgeous creature grow up.

For her first birthday I made her some yummy carrot cupcakes, which she, and the rest of the family, thoroughly enjoyed.

Best and Easiest Carrot Cake
from Nick Malgieri

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
4 large eggs, at room temp
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1 pound carrots, rinsed, trimmed, peeled, and grated
3/4 cup walnut or pecan pieces, coarsely chopped (I left these out)

24 prepared muffin tins

Set rack in middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. 

Combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl and whisk to mix.  Set aside. 

Place brown sugar in mixing bow and use large rubber spatula to work in eggs one at a time.  Whisk in the oil. 

Whisk in the dry ingredients about 1/3 at a time.  Use a large rubber spatula to mix in carrots and nuts.

Divide batter into prepared muffin tins, bake until risen and firm, about 20 minutes.

After about 5 minutes remove from muffin pans and let cool completely on wire racks.  Once they are cool, frost!


Cream Cheese Frosting
From Baked Explorations

3 cups confectioners' sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Sift the confectioners' sugar into a medium bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until is completely smooth.  Add the cream cheese and beat until combined.

Add the confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and salt and beat until smooth.  Be careful not to overbeat the filling, or it will lose structure.  (The filling can be made 1 day ahead. Cover the bowl tightly and put it in the refrigerator.  Let the filling soften at room temperature before using.) 

Guava Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

The February challenge over at Have the Cake was to make a Romeo and Juliet cake.  Romeo and Juliet refers to the pairing of guava paste and cheese, so I thought a guava cake with cream cheese frosting sounded delicious.  I did cupcakes because, well, I love cupcakes and they're easier to share.

Most recipes I could find for guava cakes used guava nectar, but I did find one that uses guava paste as a layer in the middle of the cupcakes.  I used my go-to cream cheese frosting from Baked Explorations, I decorated some with a swirl of guava paste and some just piped with frosting.  The cupcakes turned out pretty good, the cake is quite dense, like a pound cake which isn't my favourite (I'm more of a sponge cake type of girl), but my husband loved it.  I don't think I cut the guava paste thin enough so it didn't quite melt into the ribbons I had envisioned, but it tasted great nonetheless.  Next time I'll use a more standard yellow cake recipe and slice the guava paste as thin as I possibly can.

Guava Cupcakes
from Food.com

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
10 ounces guava paste, sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.  Sift flour and baking powder together in a separate bowl, set aside.
In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add eggs, one by one, beating thoroughly.
Add applesauce and vanilla, and mix well.
Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture until fully blended.
Place a scoop of the batter (I used a small ice cream scoop) in each lined cup and smooth it to fill the bottom.
Top each with a few slices of guava paste
Top with another scoop of cake batter and smooth out over the guava paste, so the cups are about 3/4 full
Bake for 23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (except for the guava paste).



For the Cream Cheese Filling:
From Baked Explorations

3 cups confectioners' sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Sift the confectioners' sugar into a medium bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until is completely smooth.  Add the cream cheese and beat until combined.

Add the confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and salt and beat until smooth.  Be careful not to overbeat the filling, or it will lose structure.  (The filling can be made 1 day ahead. Cover the bowl tightly and put it in the refrigerator.  Let the filling soften at room temperature before using.) 

Linked to
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Vanilla Cupcakes

I posted about this fantastically delicious yellow cake recipe in my recent Cake Pops post but I had to share it again.  I love a nice simple yellow cake, but a good recipe seems hard to come by.  They often turn out really dense and tough.  I admit to loving yellow boxed cake, but I really wanted to find a good go-to- from scratch recipe.

I found this recipe in Nick Malgieri's Bake which is a fantastic book.  His yellow cake is moist and buttery, just perfect.  I made the recipe into cupcakes for the kid's to decorate for Valentine's Day, but of course snuck plenty for myself.  :)

The frosting I used was from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen's blog, she adds corn syrup to her basic buttercream and it was delicious and very easy to spread. And my little boy helped me with decorating. :)

Basic Yellow Cake
from Nick Malgieri

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, at room temp
3/4 cup milk
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract


Set a rack at the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.  Prepare 2 muffin pans with either 24 liners or butter them generously.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.  Whisk eggs and milk together, set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.  Beat in vanilla extract.  Scrape down sides with rubber spatula.
On low speed add 1/4 of the flour mixture until it is absorbed.  Increase speed to medium low and beat in 1/3 of milk mixture.  Repeat this, including change of speed 2 more times. Scrape bowl and beat in remaining 1/4 of flour mixture.  Scrape again, increase speed to medium and continuously beat the batter for 3 minutes. Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and smooth top. Bake cupcake about 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean. Cool completely before frosting.


Vanilla Buttercream
from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen
(she has a great tutorial of making this buttercream, go check it out!)

1 cup salted butter, softened to room temperature
2 tablespoons milk (2% or whole)
1 teaspoon vanilla 2 or more tablespoons corn syrup
4 cups powdered sugar

Put butter, milk, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Mix on low speed until it just starts to come together, about a minute. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Increase to medium low speed and beat for about another minute. 

Add 4 cups powdered sugar. Beat on low speed until sugar is just barely incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and increase speed slowly to medium. Beat for about a minute.
At this point, you want to check your consistency. This is very important because if your frosting is too thick, it will not spread well. If your spatula does not glide through the frosting, add about a tablespoon of corn syrup and beat on medium for about 30 seconds.

Add another tablespoon of corn syrup and beat on medium for 30 seconds. Repeat until the frosting seems to be of a good spreadable consistency. 
Once you get your frosting to a good, spreadable consistency, increase mixer speed to medium high and beat for one minute. This will get your frosting nice and fluffy. 

Linked to:
Sweets for a Saturday
Sweet Tooth Friday

Mocha Cupcakes

I have wanted to make these mocha cupcakes from Martha's Cupcakes book for a while now, and have never really had a good reason to (I know, does one really need a reason to make cupcakes?).  I didn't want to make them just for my family since there is quite a bit of espresso powder in them, and while I'm sure each cupcake probably doesn't have that much the last thing I need is a toddler hopped up on sugar and caffeine.

We were hosting a Valentine's Day party for my kid's playgroup last week and I thought here is a good opportunity to make these since the kids have their own cupcakes for decorating and the Moms should appreciate a fancier cupcake.

The cupcake itself is delightful.  I'm not sure it actually has that much coffee flavour, but in terms of a good, moist chocolate cupcake it's bang on.  The coffee really seemed to bring out the chocolate flavours.  I had a major fail with the seven minute frosting for some reason.  I tried it twice and it failed twice.  No idea why, I've made seven minute successfully plenty of times, but whatever.  I did a coffee Swiss meringue buttercream instead.

Mocha Cupcakes
from Martha Stewart’s Cupcake Book

For the cupcakes:

2 1/4 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
3/4 cup freshly brewed espresso
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder (not instant coffee)

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.
Whisk together cake flour and cocoa. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter until smooth and light. Add the brown sugar and eggs; beat until fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add the vanilla, baking soda, and salt; beat to combine thoroughly.
Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of sour cream, and beating until just combined after each. Mix together brewed espresso and espresso powder; add to batter, and beat until smooth.
Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, about 22 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely be¬fore removing cupcakes.


For the frosting: (this didn't work out for me but I'm sure it would have tasted delightful)
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
6 large egg whites, room temperature
2 tablespoons pure coffee extract

Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar with the water and corn syrup in a small saucepan; clip a candy thermometer to side of pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Continue boiling, without stirring, until syrup reaches 230°F (110°C).
Meanwhile, in the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk egg whites on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. With mixer running, add remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, beating to combine.
As soon as sugar syrup reaches 230°F (110°C), remove from the heat. With mixer on medium-low speed, pour syrup down side of bowl in a slow, steady stream. Raise speed to medium-high; whisk until mixture is completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl) and stiff (but not dry) peaks form, about 7 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons coffee extract, whisking to combine. Use immediately.

The Frosting I used:

Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream

 from thefoodnetwork.com

• 4 large egg whites (1/2 cup)
• 1 cup sugar
• Pinch salt
• 12 ounces (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp espresso 

Place egg whites, sugar and salt in medium-sized heatproof mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk gently and constantly until egg whites are hot (about 140 degrees) and sugar is dissolved, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and whip by machine until thick and cooled, about 5 minutes. Beat in butter and continue beating until buttercream is smooth and spreadable. Use immediately or refrigerate, covered, for up to 5 days. Before using, bring buttercream to room temperature and beat smooth by machine. Beat in vanilla and espresso, a little at a time, and continue beating until buttercream is smooth, about 2 minutes longer.

Linked to Sweet Tooth Friday
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