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>Red Velvet Cupcake Cones…Cuteness Overload

5 Nov

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Note to self: Do NOT eat coffee ice cream right before bed. Do NOT eat coffee ice cream right before bed when you have to wake up in the 6 o’clock hour the next morning.

Ok now that we have that taken care of, let’s talk ice cream. No, wait, let’s talk cupcakes. No, let’s talk cupcakes baked in ice cream cones. What? Gah. Help.

Cuties in a cone. Yep. Really cute cupcakes baked in ice cream cones. The perfect birthday gift.

**There is no actual ice cream in these cupcakes


They look like hearts don’t they?


The cupcake cone idea came from the KitchyKitchen (she has a really great tutorial video). The frosting recipe was from Annie’sEats and the cake part came from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook.


Red Velvet Cupcakes

recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook

makes about 9 ice cream sugar cones-full

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

2 1/2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

3 Tablespoons red food coloring (I used much less because I ran out; only about 1-1.5 Tbsp.)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Turn mixer to high and add the egg. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.

In a separate bowl mix together cocoa, vanilla and red food coloring to make a thick paste (mine did not get to that thick paste consistency because I added much less food coloring…it still worked fine even if it wasn’t a paste). Add to the batter, mixing thoroughly until completely combined. You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color.

Turn mixer to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk. Add half of the flour and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour. Beat on high until smooth.

Turn mixer to low and add baking soda and white vinegar. Turn to high and beat a few more minutes.

Spoon batter into flat-bottomed sugar cones set in a muffin pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center cupcake comes out clean.

Let rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then place them of a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

***NOTE: These are best eaten the day of otherwise the cones will get soggy. Sticking the cupcake cones in the refrigerator helps slow the sogginess slightly…


Cream Cheese Frosting

From Annie’s Eats

8 oz. cream cheese
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the vanilla extract. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired. (Like Annie, I used a large, unlabeled star tip to frost these cupcakes.)

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>Chocolate Cupcakes Big and Small with Assorted Frostings and Toppings

14 Jun

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Above you can see the traveling cupcakes. I carefully placed the little frosted cakes into a nice tupperware and boarded an airplane from Los Angeles to San Francisco. 5 twenty-something men and myself successfully gobbled these up by the next day.

Chocolate cupcakes. VEGAN chocolate cupcakes (one would never know they were vegan, especially with all that buttery frosting on top!).


Peanut butter frosting.

Peanut butter frosting atop of a chocolate cupcake with:

  • crushed oreo cookie crumbs **NOTE: I used mini oreos
  • with chopped candies (chocolate covered espresso beans and peanut butter cups and m&m’s…) **NOTE: Trader Joe’s sells mini peanut butter cups which are perfect for these cupcakes
  • with chocolate sprinkles
  • with a swirl of Nutella spread
  • with a dollop of jam


Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting and rainbow sprinkles.


The cake part makes a LOT of cupcakes. I got 14 big ones and 24 babies (remember, the babies will take less time to bake…think 10-12 minutes instead of 20-25).
***NOTE: click on the links above for the recipes…

>Crispy Chewy Ooey Gooey Chocolate Cupcakes

4 Jul

>

Once I start, I can’t stop.
I started making muffins (peanut butter and jelly muffins and banana crumb muffins) and cupcakes and now I’m on a roll.

Cupcakes are just so darn easy to make, they cook up real fast, and they are portion controlled (well, if you can eat just one)…

The kids go crazy over these little gems, too!

There are just so many options—traditional chocolate and vanilla, red velvet, filled cupcakes, coconut, banana, green tea…


And the frosting—cream cheese frosting, pink, purple, white, red, chocolate, vanilla, maple…

Don’t forget the decorations: sprinkles, a dusting of cocoa powder, crushed graham crackers, oreos, life savers, mints, chocolate chips, chopped nuts, fresh fruit, mint leaves…


I must say that today my cupcake of choice was the chocolate cupcake with brown sugar cream cheese frosting. The top of the cake has a melt-in-your-mouth texture with a slightly crispy yet delicate and chewy consistency. And these little treasures have just the right amount of chocolate to win a girl over!


Just for kicks, here is a picture of a vanilla bean cupcake with vanilla bean frosting that I made a few weeks ago…You can see the flecks of the bean which earn gold stars in my book!

Chocolate Cupcakes (makes 12, or less…) Adapted from Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 ½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

a scant ¾ cup sugar

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

a pinch of salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup of whole milk

1 egg

¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 recipe of brown sugar cream cheese frosting (or any frosting of your choice)

1. Preheat oven to 325° F.
2. Combine flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter in a bowl and whisk together until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined. (feel free to use an electric mixer if you have the luxury to do so).
3. Whisk the milk, egg, and vanilla together.
4. Slowly add half the milk mixture into the flour mixture. Mix until no lumps form. Add the rest of the milk mixture and mix until the batter is smooth (but do not overmix).
5. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes. (warning: they may collapse in the center a bit so do not over-fill the tins).
6. Cool completely and frost!

Brown sugar cream cheese frosting (this makes a LOT of frosting but hey, the more the merrier!) Adapted from Joythebaker

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

8oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

4-6 cups powdered sugar

2-4 tablespoons milk

Beat the cream cheese until really soft. Add the butter. Add the brown sugar, pinch of salt and vanilla extract, and beat until incorporated. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar. Slowly add more sugar alternately with the milk until you reach your desired consistency.