Fantastic Peppermint Chocolate Cupcakes

Finally! A recipe that is still up on my iPad browser so I can share the actual ingredients with you. Yay! Catching up is incentive to not get behind again.

But more exciting news: THESE WERE DELICIOUS. Like, everyone loved them. I loved them. I ran out of confectioner's sugar, so they were more cream cheese savory than super sweet, and that, I think, is the difference. Also, I added cinnamon to the cupcakes because I think all desserts taste better with cinnamon (or cardamon, or something).

So make these. Even if it isn't holiday time. They are super, extra, definitively worth it. Yumtown, population: these guys.

Cupcakes

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (best quality available) [I just used Trader Joe's]

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon [my addition]

2 eggs

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (best quality available)

1 cup boiling water

Line muffin tin with paper liners. Heat oven to 350*F.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for one minute.

Stir in boiling water (the batter will be thin, don’t worry, this is right).

Fill liners 2/3 full with batter. (I usually put the batter into a large measuring cup with a pour spout, and then pour the batter into the liners.)

Bake cupcakes for approximately 22-24 minutes.

Cool completely on wire rack before frosting.

Frosting

1/2 cup (1 stick, 8 Tablespoons) butter, at room temperature

6 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature (about 3/4 of a regular block of cream cheese)

4 cups powdered confectioners sugar [I probably only used 3 cups]

1 teaspoon pure peppermint extract [didn't have this, I mixed in 4 crushed candy canes]

1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 to 3 Tablespoons heavy cream, heavy whipping cream (or milk- although I do like the richness that cream adds)

Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend slightly. Add cream cheese and blend until combined, about 30 seconds.

Add powdered sugar (a little at a time) and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy. 

Add vanilla and peppermint extracts. 

Slowly add the heavy cream, a little bit at a time until desired consistency is met. (Don’t add too much if you want the frosting to stay in place when piped on cupcakes.)

Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.

[I put 4 or 5 candy canes in a bag and beat it pretty much to dust using my rolling pin {you're welcome, neighbors} and then mixed that in at the end with a spoon, not the mixer.]

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.) [I took these to work and transported the cupcakes and frosting separately so it wasn't a hot mess. I'm learning!]

To achieve the red stripe in the frosting:  Before filling a large piping bag with frosting, add some red gel food coloring to a toothpick, and draw two (vertical) lines with the red dye on the inside of the piping bag. Then carefully fill the piping bag with frosting.  Squeeze some frosting into a bowl until you begin to see the red stripe, then frost the cupcakes.

[I mostly failed at this because I was lazy and just swirled in red food coloring to the frosting and then frosted. Whatever, pink is still festive and communicates the point.]

Top cupcakes with some crushed candy canes (they will ”melt” after a bit, so they need to be served right away) or a small piece of peppermint bark (I used a little peppermint Andes candy).

Christmas Cupcakes

Super simple, just wanted to make some cupcakes to take to work that were Christmas-y. Plus I love using food coloring (ask my mom - I used to make awfully colored pancakes as a kid, you're welcome for helping with brunch) and seem to always have a lot of holiday sprinkles in stock.

Trader Joe's cocoa powder provided the recipe for this one, and then I just made basic frosting to go with. I think I did a basic butter and powdered sugar frosting, but must have added a bit of milk and vanilla to have the consistency (less stiff). But potentially that's just an effect of my proportions and/or food coloring.

Trader Joe's "The Greatest and Easiest Chocolate Cake"
3 1/3 cup flour
1 1/3 cup cocoa
3 cups sugar
1 tbsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
12 oz butter
3 cups buttermilk (I likely used regular milk)
5 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease and flour two 9" round baking pans or line cupcake cups with liners

Place all ingredients in electric mixer bowl and beat on high speed for 3 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl once during mixing. Pour into prepared pans or cupcake cups [I like to pour into a measuring cup with spout to make this easier to use a measuring cup to scoop and pour - mostly for neatness sake].  Bake cakes for about 55 min or cupcakes for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool before frosting; otherwise, they will make the frosting melty and make a mess.


[I usually don't use all the frosting, so perhaps use half the recipe for starters]

2 sticks butter, at room temperature
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons whole milk

In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter, confectioners’ sugar, and salt. Beat on low speed until combined, about 2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then increase speed to medium high and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Stop mixer, add the vanilla and milk, then continue beating 3 minutes on medium high on a stand mixer, or 5 minutes on a handheld mixer.

honey cinnamon banana cupcakes

I was thinking about using some riper bananas to make banana bread (do they serve another purpose?), but I also had gotten two different icing decorating kits for Christmas, so I also wanted to make cupcakes and attempt my decorating skills again. Luckily for me, google showed that Ms. Martha Stewart herself had a recipe for a banana cupcake with honey cinnamon icing. Sounded good to me. As I was making them and tasting the batter, I thought it didn't quite have the pizzaz that I liked, so I added some cinnamon and brown sugar to the cupcake batter. I also mixed some chocolate chips in to the batter for the last 6 cupcakes, just cause why wouldn't chocolate make it more delicious?

I also recently kind of effed up my mixer. My sister was over making some chocolate chip cookies (we used the recipe off the chocolate chip bag) and it was getting really thick and sticking to the spatula. I tried to help her out by scraping it off with a knife. Then I thought I'd just mix it back it by scraping the knife on the mixing attachments while they were spinning. Well, this works with the spatula, but it is NOT a good idea with a metal knife, at all. Luckily, it wasn't totally horrific, but the knife ripped out of my hand and got jammed in the mixer. So we turned it off and pulled it out, and then we noticed that it twerked the stem of one of the mixers (why do I not know the actual terms for any of these parts?). I was pretty upset, but some wrangling with it and I was able to get it into a good enough position that it still works with the other one. PHEW! What would I do without my stand mixer? I guess I'd buy a hand mixer, but I'd feel pretty bad for breaking my grandmother's old mixer that I inherited.

Also, I love the smell of cooked bananas. Bananas foster is one of my favorite desserts, and I dragged my parents and sister across downtown Austin to find a place that makes real bananas foster for my birthday dessert. My dad makes amazing banana pancakes. Just one more reason to try this recipe out.

I saw a woman at work [more on that later] getting ready to ice a cake,

and she put the (much larger) icing bag in a pitcher and then used a spatula to fill the bag.

This wasn't quite as effective as I had much less icing and a smaller bag, but still way easier 

and more efficient than the other ways I've tried. It also gave me a free hand, which helped.

 The icing kit my boyfriend gave me - you can see the tip #s that I now have.

I like that this is a washable icing bag and the tips are metal and screw on to the bag,

which helps make it easy to switch tips while using one bag of icing.

 Just experimenting with icing decorations...

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon [my addition]
3 tbsp brown sugar [my addition]
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas), plus 1 whole banana, for garnish (optional) [I had enough with 2 large bananas]
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Honey-Cinnamon Frosting

1 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon honey
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
[I think the ratio was a bit off here - I would add a bit more confectioners' sugar to get the right taste and consistency; it tasted a bit too buttery]
[I also added a bit of yellow food coloring to it after it was mixed]


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Make a well in center of flour mixture. In well, mix together butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Stir to incorporate flour mixture (do not overmix).

Dividing evenly, spoon batter into muffin cups.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on a wire rack.

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat confectioners' sugar, unsalted butter, honey, and ground cinnamon until smooth, 4 to 5 minutes.

Spread tops with frosting. Just before serving, peel and slice banana into rounds, and place one on each cupcake, if desired.

Nutritional Information (for 1/12 of cupcake recipe) [no choc chips]
198 total calories
8g total fat
29g total carbs
3g protein

Nutritional Information (for 1/12 of icing recipe)
119 total calories
7g total fat
13g total carbs
0g protein

coconut cupcakes

I saw this coconut cake recipe in my Ina Garten book, barefoot contessa at home, and I wanted to try it out. Of course, I made it into cupcakes, what else? I also used unsweetened instead of sweetened coconut because that was all I could find. It seemed to work fine, but I guess I don't have much to compare it to. I'm sure sweetened would be better, though.

I made 1/2 the cake recipe for my 12 cupcakes and 1/2 the icing recipe, but it should have been 1/3 the icing recipe because I still had a lot leftover. But who can't find uses for cream cheese frosting? Not I.

cake/cupcakes [original recipe makes 2 layer cakes, 1/2 recipe makes 12 cupcakes]
3 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
2 cups sugar
6 extra large eggs, at room temperature
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 tsp almond extract [I didn't have this so I just used vanilla]
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup milk
4 oz sweetened shredded coconut

frosting [original recipe is for a 2 layer cake, 1/3 recipe decorates 12 cupcakes]
1 pound cream cheese at room temperature
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract [again, I just used vanilla]
1 pound confectioner's sugar [I used 2 cups]
6 oz sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. For cakes, grease pans and line with parchment paper. For cupcakes, put in cupcake liners.

With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar for 3-5 minutes until light yellow and fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time, scraping down bowl during mixing. The mixture may look curdled; don't be concerned.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With mixer on low, alternate adding dry ingredients and milk in increments to batter. Mix until just combined. Fold in coconut.

Pour batter evenly into pans and smooth top with a knife. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes [less for cupcakes] until tester comes out clean. Cook on baking rack for 30 minutes and then turn it over to finish cooling.

For frosting, combine cream cheese, butter, and extracts on low speed in a mixer. Add the confectioner's sugar and mix until just smooth (don't whip).

Nutritional Information for cake [for 1/24 of original recipe or 1 cupcake]
258 calories
14g total fat
30g total carbs
4g protein

Nutritional Information for frosting [for 1/36 of original recipe or 1 cupcake icing]
122 calories
8g total fat
13g total carbs
1g protein

strawberry cupcakes

This was the cake recipe I had picked out to make my sister (but as seen in prior entry, she had a requested favorite) for her birthday, and I just got around to it yesterday as some much needed relief and change of pace after a week of pretty intense studying for my classes and Kaplan training (and another week to follow, oof). The kitchen and this recipe were just what I needed. As SK warns on her website, be careful when you try this batter because it tastes absolutely amazing. I really could have sat down with the whole bowl and gone to town without ever needing the oven. That said, I held back and baked them, and it was worth it as well. The batter may have ruined me a bit because it was so delectable, but the cupcakes were really yummy. I didn't have any food coloring so they turned out pretty white and don't have a strong strawberry taste, but it worked well. SK recommended a cream cheese frosting that was really creamy and did work well in a thin layer, but I think I like the whipped cream cheese frosting that I used for Ebe's cake.

For the cake
4 1/2 cups cake flour
3 cups sugar
5 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups pureed frozen strawberries*
8 egg whites
2/3 cup milk
1 to 2 drops red food dye, if using (to make the pink color pop more)

For the cream cheese frosting
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks; 6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350»F. Butter three 9-inch round or 8-inch square cake pans [I used a cupcake tin with cupcake paper cups]. Line with parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.

2. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixer bowl. With the electric mixer on low speed, blend for 30 seconds. Add the butter and strawberry puree and mix to blend the ingredients. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes; the batter will resemble strawberry ice cream at this point. (Deb note: I must warn you not to try the batter at this point. Not even a smear of it. How unbearably good it is will shock you, and lead to more dipping. Only you can stop this from coming to pass.)

3. In another large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, milk and red food dye, if using, to blend. Add the whites to the batter in two or three additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl well and mixing only to incorporate after each addition. Divide the batter among the three prepared pans.

4. Bake the cakes for 30 to 34 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the layers to cool in the pans for 10 to 15 minutes. Invert and turn out onto wire racks and peel off the paper liners. Let stand until completely cooled before assembling the cake, at least an hour.

Make the cream cheese frosting
5. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

chocolate cupcakes with whipped cream cheese frosting

Yesterday I made my sister's strawberry birthday cake, and because I only made one cake (vs. two layers), I ended up having about 1/4 of the whipped cream cheese frosting over. My friend's birthday is tomorrow but we are going out two steppin tonight (!!!!love it), so I thought I would make her some birthday cupcakes. I decided to use the leftover icing, make the rest of the whipping cream into whipped cream, mix the two together to make more and lighter icing, and then make chocolate cupcakes. I also bought a decorating kit, and by kit I mean a set of icing bags and three tips. Nonetheless, decorating the cakes was the highlight of my day... so far. Until I go dancing! Anyway, I used a recipe from my Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook for chocolate cake. I was a little surprised at how they rose a bit and the spread out all over the tin, causing me to just cut them out so that they would be normal cupcake shapes. Then again, Ina made the recipe as cakes, so maybe that has something to do with it. Regardless, it worked out all right and is pretty tasty.

 I learned from one of my roommates to put the batter in a big measuring cup so that you can neatly pour it into the cupcake pan. Genius!

 Woot! First attempts at decorative icing. 

I made a half recipe so that it would yield less cupcakes - I ended up with about 11, but I think it would be better if I had divided it into 12. Below is the full recipe, which makes 2 8-inch layers.

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed coffee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I sprayed my pans with Pam baking spray, but truly I'm sad that I forgot to use my really cute polka dot cupcake papers.

Sift flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into bowl and mix.

In another bowl, mix buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.

On low speed of electric mixer, pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Mix until combined. Then add coffee and stir just until combined.

Pour into pans and bake for 35-40 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes on rack. To ice, it may be easier to put them in the fridge or freezer for a while first to firm them up. I've learned that for icing, using thin metal surfaces work best for crumb-free spreading. I used my icing bag and flower tip (I'm making up names since they weren't labeled) and attempted some decorating skills on the cupcakes. 

oreo cheesecake cupcakes

For my friend Kate's birthday, she specifically requested cupcakes with oreos. Now, Kate is not someone that you don't follow their directions. So, I looked up recipes for oreo cupcakes. I could have sworn that I saw one on SK, but nothing came up in the search, so I turned to google. I found a couple recipes that looked good and similar, but then I decided I wanted to do something a little different and make cheesecake cupcakes. Part of the motivation here is because my roommate is trying to clean out her pantry (as we are all soon leaving the country), and she has been on a baking spree. I mean, three batches of brownies in one night, two types of chocolate cookies another, and now chocolate cupcakes. I knew that my cupcakes would be presented alongside several dozen chocolate chocolate-chip cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate cupcakes. Instead of forgoing the baking route altogether, I decided to opt for something a little unusual to vary it up a little. Thus, I was drawn to the oreo cheesecake recipe on a blog previously unknown to me (as I'm sure mine is to her).

22 Oreos, 16 left whole, and 6 coarsely chopped
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature (Neufchatel is fine) [I used the local Bulgarian version]
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 275 F. Line 12 standard muffin tins and 4 ramekins (or 16 muffin tins, if you have them) with paper liners. Place 1 whole Oreo in the bottom of each lined cup.

Beat the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium. Gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Pour in the beaten eggs, a little at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

Pour the batter into the prepared tins, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, 22-25 minutes.

Cool in the pans for about 15 minutes, on a wire rack, then transfer to a plate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

gratuitous cupcake photos

I can't help but take a lot of photos when I cook now. I have already posted this recipe, though, so I don't really need to do it again. This weekend was Arts Fest at school, and I volunteered to bring something for the PTA's bake sale. I decided that chocolate cupcakes never let anyone down, so I made 24 to bring. I also got to play with food coloring in the icing, and we know I always love adding some color to make food look just a bit unnatural. Plus, I knew my teenagers would be more excited by bright colors than not.

I also did quite a bit of baking today, making chocolate souffle cupcakes again for my advisory picnic tomorrow and committee meeting after school as well as strawberry summer cake for dessert after dinner tonight. The chocolate souffle cupcakes are also a repeat of a recipe that I made back at the end of March and just really adored.

So basically, here are a lot of pictures!

 Souffle cupcakes:

 The result of my efforts (not including dinner) from 3 hours in the kitchen today: