Candy Cane Cupcakes

Perfect Chocolate Cupcakes

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (best quality available)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (best quality available)
1 cup boiling water

~ Directions ~
*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.

Ganache Filling~

8 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

Melt the chocolate on your stove. Heat the cream with the melted chocolate and then add butter. Let it simmer for a few minutes. Let the chocolate cool to room temperature. While I was waiting for the chocolate to cool I took a apple corer and cut the center of the cupcakes out. Then you want to poor the chocolate into the middle and let sit for about an hour before icing.


Peppermint Cream Cheese 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
1 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
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)

~ Directions ~
*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.
*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.)

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 incorporated this recipe from http://glorioustreats.blogspot.com/

Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Brown Butter Cream-Cheese Frosting

It’s almost Thanksgiving and I haven’t put a new post up since Halloween. I know I’m a bad blogger! Let cross our fingers now that were done having company for a while, and I can get things back in order with my blog. Not that I don't LOVE having company. I think I’m also just about ready to post some pictures of our house up. Don’t mind the fact that we still have not really put pictures on the wall. It’s much more difficult to find places for things now then ever before. Who knows maybe it’s because we bought this house, or maybe because it’s sort of on the back burner as far as priority. This posting is dedicated to the fact that my husband Jake hates pie, which is almost un-American if you ask me. I have decided that I’m still making a pumpkin pie for me to eat on Thanksgiving, but the nice wife that I am that I will also be making some yummy sweet potato cupcakes for the hubby that are topped with brown-butter cream cheese frosting. These are both something new for me. I have searched the internet and do what I do best take bits and pieces of things and come up with my own recipe. I have walked you through the process and below you will find the recipe for these yummy cupcakes. I hope that everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving and don’t forget to be THANKFUL!

I’m thankful for so many things in my life. I’m thankful for having my little family all together, healthy and strong. I’m thankful for the food in our bellies, the roof over our head and clothes on our back. I’m thankful for great friends and family. I’m thankful for the new experiences that we have been given, but most of all I’m thankful for the love I’m shown everyday by my amazing husband and daughter.

Sweet Potatoes cupcakes~

2 cups & 4 tablespoons baking flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1.5 tsp. ground cinnamon
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1½ cups sugar
3 large eggs
17 oz. sweet potato puree
½ tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; stir together with a fork and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Mix in the sweet potatoes and vanilla extract, beating just until combined. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting~

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, browned and cooled
1 block (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups powdered sugar

What you do is put a stick of butter in a sauce pan and let it get brown, but not dark. It should be a nice golden color. Make sure that you let your butter cool before mixing it with the cream cheese. In a medium bowl cream together the cream cheese and browned butter until well combined. The mixture may look slightly curdled. Add the vanilla, cinnamon and powdered sugar and mix until smooth. I’m sure that your wondering how you make brown butter.

She is so cute I couldn't help, but put a picture of her from today having some toast with breakfast.

Banoffee Cupcake

I was at it once again last night, I made some more cupcakes. This time around it was Banoffee. I had Banoffee pie a few weeks ago, which anyone who is British will know. I have to say it was amazing, and I wanted to recreate it into a cupcake. Jake and I thought it turned out great and so did many people at Jake’s work. I called him at 9am and he said that they were all gone, which was surprising because he had only been at work for an hour and a half. He looked a little scared last night when I told him that I had some cupcakes for him to take to work. The reason being that he said they had sweets all week. I very happy when a few of his co-workers said they were their favorite, and they just had to have the recipe. I have to say that I love to bake and the reason being that with just a few ingredients you’re able to create something different. It’s just having the foundation: butter, sugar, eggs & flour. Then it’s all the other stuff that makes them so different. When it comes to cooking a new dinner you always seem to need so many different ingredients, but not with cupcakes. I also feel that cupcakes are sort of my therapy from life. This whole move thing stresses me out a bit, and I’m able to escape from it with baking. When Reagan goes down for her nap I bake away. I try and create something different and yummy. I also just enjoy reactions from other people. I don’t want to hear, “They are great.” I want to know what is good, bad or different. You know the saying, “Practice makes perfect.”

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I love St. Patrick’s Day, even though I’m pretty sure that I have zero Irish in me. I think that it doesn’t matter if you’re Irish, or not because on St. Patty’s everyone gets to be Irish. I continued my cooking madness with some cupcakes for the neighbors, and Jake’s co-workers. I made three kinds of cupcakes: Irish Car-bomb, Guinness & Bailey’s and Guinness & coconut. I have some pictures and the recipes below. While Reagan and I were eating breakfast I played some Flogging Molly. Reagan and I both danced in our chairs as we ate our breakfast! I put a video with some Flogging Molly for everyone’s enjoyment below! I also dressed Reagan and me both in green for the holiday. I figure that we both have to be festive! I put Reagan’s hair in a full blown pony tail today, which means with a rubber band. She cried a little when I was wrapping the rubber band in her hair. I started thinking that this is just the beginning. I know that for many years she’ll probably cry and get upset when I do her hair. I remember when my Mom used to do my hair and I would cry and says she was pulling my hair. I also remember when I was little that at night after I had taken a bath and put my pajamas on that my Dad would brush my hair, and it never hurt. I’m sure one day Reagan will want her Dad to brush her hair because it doesn’t hurt when he does it! I have to wrap this up because Reagan is fighting her nap and I have to go rescue her. I hope that everyone has a wonderful St. Patty’s Day! Jake and I will be at home doing a little celebrating on our own, which really means just drinking one Guinness each!














Chocolate Guinness Cupcake with Bailey’s Cream Cheese Frosting~

(If you’re looking at the picture this is the cupcake on the left )

I wanted to be creative and try 2 different Guinness cupcake recipes. This cupcake is just a chocolate Guinness cake with a Bailey’s cream cheese frosting. The frosting is the same as the cake below, but the cake is different. I also changed this recipe to what I think works better.

1 C Guinness
1 C (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
2 C all purpose flour
2 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs

2/3 C sour cream
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake cups with liners. Mix butter, sugar until fluffy. Then add each egg one by one. Then add sour cream to mixture. Then slowly add in the Guinness. Add in the cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and flour. I mixed with the mixer for about 2 minutes. The batter was light and fluffy and looked more like chocolate mousse then cake batter.

Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey’s Cream Cheese Frosting~

(If you’re looking at the cupcake picture this is the one in the middle!)
I found this recipe online and decided to change it because I didn’t think it had enough Guinness in it! I think the results turned out amazing and everyone seems to love it!

2 C unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 C Coco-Powder Unsweetened
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 1/2 C granulated sugar
1/2 C dark brown sugar
4 oz./1/2 C unsalted softened butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 egg
1/2 C sour cream
1 14.9 fl. oz. bottle Guinness

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter or line with paper cups 2 12 count muffin tins.

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

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

Add one egg and beat until evenly mixed and fluffy, make sure to scrape down the mixer bowl once in a while. Add the second egg and vanilla extract and beat again until light and fluffy.

Add the sour cream and beat in, then with the mixer running, slowly pour in the Guinness.

Sift the dry ingredients into the batter and slowly stir the batter until it is evenly mixed and there are no streaks of flour. Make sure to stop the mixer frequently to scrape down the sides and make sure to mix up any flour pockets hidden on the bottom of the bowl.

Divide 1/4 C of batter into each muffin cup, you’ll get about 20 – 24 cupcakes.

Bake at 350 degrees F on the middle rack for 20 – 25 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake in the middle of the pan should come out clean. Make sure to rotate the pans halfway through baking. Set on a rack to cool to room temperature before frosting.

Jamison Ganache Filling~

8 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
10 teaspoons Irish whiskey (I put a bit more then most recipes called for, but I think it’s important to taste the Jamison)

Melt the chocolate on your stove. Heat the cream with the melted chocolate and then add butter. Let it simmer for a few minutes. The final step is to turn off the burner and add the Jamison. Let the chocolate cool to room temperature. While I was waiting for the chocolate to cool I took a apple corer and cut the center of the cupcakes out. Then you want to poor the chocolate into the middle and let sit for about an hour before icing.

Bailey’s Cream Cheese Frosting~

1 8oz. bar of cream cheese, softened
1 4oz. stick of unsalted butter, softened
2 C confectioner’s sugar
10 Tablespoons of Bailey’s Irish Cream ( I once again put more. Just add what you like)

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, add the cream cheese, butter, and confectioner’s sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Slowly drizzle in the Bailey’s, more or less depending on how boozey you want the frosting, and beat until completely incorporated into the frosting. I had some extra ganacheand decided to drizzle it over the top.

Chocolate Guinness Cupcake with Butter-Cream Frosting & Green Coconut Flakes ~

(If you’re looking at the picture this is the one on the far right)

I once again had to do something a bit different. This cupcake is the same cake as the first cake, but has different frosting. The frosting is a butter cream and I colored the coconut to be green for St. Patty’s Day.

Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

1 C (1 sticks) unsalted butter and (1 stick) salted butter, at room temperature
2½ C powdered sugar
1½ tsp vanilla extract
Mix the butter until it becomes light and fluffy. Then add your vanilla extract and finally slowly add in the powdered sugar.

Coconut Flakes~

2 C Sweetened Coconut Flakes
8 tsp green food coloring

All you need to do is put the coconut into a container that has a lid. Add the food coloring in the dish, put on the lid and shake. You can add as much food coloring until it’s the green you want.

Then frost your cupcakes and dip them into the bowl that holds the coconut flakes. I then at the end added more coconut to each cupcake by hand.

More Cupcakes ~

I can’t stop myself. I have this baking addiction right now, but thankfully I’m not eating a TON. I limit myself to one cupcake a day while they last. It was 2 today, but hey it’s the weekend. I think our neighbors are going to think I’m pregnant again because the last time that I cooked like this was when I was pregnant with Reagan, but no I’m not pregnant. I try to hand out as many cupcakes as I can and limit just a few for Jake and I. So, I whipped up these snicker doodle cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and a snicker doodle cookie on top. I realized that as I was baking the cookies that I didn’t have any cream of tarter, but I found a recipe that didn’t call for one. So thankfully it all worked out!

I hope that everyone likes the cupcakes!




Snickerdoodle Cupcakes~

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup milk, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line regular and miniature cupcake trays with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Set aside.
In a mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium for about 2 minutes.
Add eggs, one at a time and mix until combined.
Add vanilla and mix until combined.
Add flour mixture to creamed butter and sugar in three additions. Alternate with milk in two additions.
Fill baking cups about 3/4 full.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes.
Remove cupcakes from trays and let cool.

Snickerdoodles~
(from Martha's Holiday Cookies 2005)

makes about 20 (or 40, if you make the balls very small)

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs

2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Put butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.

2. Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into 20 (1 3/4-inch) balls; roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

3. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes.

Sources:

Cake: http://www.bakerella.com/snickerdoodle-duo/

Cupcakes~

Reagan was really wishing she could be eating some of the cupcakes and not cauliflower.

I'm sharing my recipes. I just cooked these yummy cupcakes this week, and everyone loved them. I guess they have never tasted the salted Caramel from Cupcake Royal in Seattle Washington. I have to say the cupcakes turned out really well, and for my first time piping not so bad. Who knows maybe my future is in the cupcake business! I hope that everyone enjoys.





"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

From Hershey's

Includes:
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Heat oven to 350°F. Line 24 muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups OR about 24 mini muffin cups sitting on a jelly pan or cookie sheet.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Fill cups 2/3 full with batter.

Bake 20 to 23 minutes for regular muffin cups OR 17-20 for mini cups or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean (Do not overbake!). Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans and place on wire rack. Cool completely.

Salted Caramel Buttercream~

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
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.

My sources are:

Cake: http://vegsf.blogspot.com/2009/01/salted-caramel-and-chocolate-cupcakes.html
Frosting: http://www.madeinmelskitchen.com/2010/10/pumpkin-cupcakes-with-salted-caramel-buttercrea/