Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Our family's Thanksgiving always consisted of the typical turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables, but then there was dessert; pecan pies, pumpkin pies, apple pies, and even lemon meringue. (Obviously baking runs in my blood)  Although not as traditional as the pies, the flavor of these cupcakes scream Fall, and would make a great addition to my family's dessert buffet.
The cake was very light and moist, tasting a little like a spicy cinnamony carrot cake. (The apple flavor went missing.) The frosting, a delicious and ridiculously smooth buttercream, with a perfect caramel flavor that wasn't too rich or too sweet. I was so pleased with the texture of the frosting that I am thinking about trying it in other flavors as well. As for the reviews, it was unanimous everyone LOVED them, even that super picky co-worker who complains about everything, yeah that one, he ate two. (:

Caramel Apple Cupcakes
Adapted from Baked
Makes a boatload of cupcakes (about 45)

Apple Cake:
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground clove
1 ½ cups unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces
2 ½ cups sugar
2 large eggs
4 cups applesauce (I used 1/2 regular & 1/2 cinnamon)

Caramel Butter Cream:
1 ½ cups sugar
⅓ cup flour
1 ½ cups milk
⅓ cup heavy cream
1 ½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
⅓ cup plus 2 tablespoon Smuckers Caramel Sauce at room temperature (Mrs Richardson's would probably be better)

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Prepare cupcake pan with paper liners.
Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves together into a large bowl. Set aside.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until creamy, about 4 minutes. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and beat until combined.
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three parts, alternating with the applesauce, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape down the bowl, then mix on low speed for a few more seconds.
Divide the batter into cupcake pan. Turn the oven temperature down to 350 and bake 20-30 minutes,  until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let sit until cool enough to touch. Remove cupcakes from baking pan and let cool completely.

Caramel Buttercream:
In a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk the sugar and flour together. Add the milk and cream and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil and has thickened, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed until cool. Reduce speed to low and add the butter and vanilla. Mix until thoroughly incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy.
Add ⅓ cup of the caramel and continue mixing until combined. If the frosting is too soft, put the bowl in the refrigerator to chill slightly, then beat again until it is the proper consistency. If the frosting is to firm, set the bowl over a pot of simmering water and beat with a wooden spoon until it is the proper consistency.

Frost cooled cupcakes and drizzle with the remaining caramel. Place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm before serving.

A Box Of Chocolates....Cupcakes

Last week I got an email from Taste of Home with the subject of Box-of-Chocolates Cupcakes. That was all I needed, without even opening the email I started picturing making cupcakes that looked like a box of chocolates. (Now you know, many of my ideas are not original, just improved) :) The box of chocolates I envisioned was a box of 12 chocolates (cupcakes) in brown wrappers, filled with actual chocolates, then frosted to look like the chocolates that are inside.

I originally thought about baking the chocolates inside the cupcake, but the new devils food cake batter I tried was so thin I decided to play it safe, and just fill the cupcakes after they were done baking. Filling them after also helped me remember what chocolate was in what cupcake.

After the cupcakes were filled I frosted them according to the candies inside. Actually I'm lying, I started to do it that way but it looked boring, so I used artistic license to jazz up a few of them.

I think they turned out pretty cute. I could have taken more time on the frosting and made them look cleaner, but I was a little over extended, baking two different breads (4 loaves total) and making spaghetti for dinner, I am not Super Woman after all. :) (Don't tell my family that though.) Not only were they cute they were delicious, and because I hand picked the chocolates inside, there was no need to poke your finger through to see if raspberry filling was lurking inside, they were all Sugartarian approved.

 

Red Velevt Cupcakes

I have never been a fan of red velvet, in fact I have only tried it once not that long ago.(The cream cheese frosting has always kept me away.) I decided with Valentine's Day coming up, and my mild acceptance of a cream cheese frosting, it would be a good time try red velvet cupcakes. I was in for a surprise, as far as I knew the red in a red velvet came from the cocoa powder and vinegar and baking soda, apparently that is wrong. The first recipe I tried, Magnolia's Bakery Red Velvet,  shocked me when it called for 6 tablespoons of red food coloring. That couldn't be right, so I tried making the recipe with less. Well, I guess the recipe was right because using only a tablespoon made my red velvet cupcakes look sickly. Slightly brown, slightly pink.

This called for another attempt. This time I used Americas Test Kitchen Red Velvet recipe. I still didn't follow the directions completely, instead of using 4 tablespoons of red food coloring I used a tablespoons or so of red food gel.

They turned out beautiful, but I just don't get it. What is so special about red velvet cake? Why not just use your favorite vanilla cupcake recipe and add a little cocoa powder and red food gel to make it red? I won't be making Red Velvet Cupcakes anytime soon, but if you want the recipes I used here they are. Magnolia Red Velvet Cupcakes  or America's Test Kitchen Red Velvet Cupcakes, if I had to choose I would make the America's Test Kitchen recipe, it had a better texture and flavor.

Eating Healthier In 2011

After being lectured about my diet by everyone who has ever seen me eat, I have decided that this year my New Year's resolution will be to eat healthier in 2011. Starting with carrot cake. Did you really think I was serious? I hate New Year's resolutions as much as I hate asparagus. Just because it's a new year doesn't mean all of a sudden I am going to exercise more, eat better, or not bite my nails. This recipe is simply for all the people concerned about my diet, just think of Carrot Cake Cupcakes as my small step into the vegetable world.

This was my second recipe out of my Indulge cookbook. I had high hopes, even though it was carrot cake, since the shortbread recipe turned out so fantastic. The recipe was incredibly easy, and came together quickly. Typically I have an adverse reaction to vegetables in my sweets, but these cupcakes were really good. I would make minor changes next time, by adding more cinnamon and less coconut. It is shocking for someone like me to want less coconut in anything, but the reason wasn't because of the flavor, it was the texture. Carrots in typical carrot cake soften when baked so you can't really tell they are in it, but by adding coconut it adds a texture of uncooked carrots, and it kind of freaks me out. The frosting was surprisingly delicious. Among my long list of food I don't like cream cheese is right up there. You are probably asking why would I make cupcakes with vegetables in it and cream cheese frosting? I have no idea, but the planets aligned and I really did like them.  People who actually like vegetables will definitely love these. 

Carrot Cake Cupcakes
adapted from Indulge

2 cups whole wheat flour
9 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
? shredded coconut
5 eggs
1 cup plus 2 tbs packed brown sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 lb carrots, grated
4 1/2 oz raisins (Eww! I skipped this)

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare cupcake pan with baking cups.
Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg together, then stir in the coconut.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the eggs, sugar and oil on med-high speed for about 4 minutes, it should be pale and doubled in volume.
Gently fold in the dry ingredients, being careful not to over mix and deflate the egg mixture. Add the carrots, continuing to fold in carefully.
Pour into prepared pan and bake about 20 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 1/2 oz cream cheese
13 oz powdered sugar
9 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla

Beat all ingredients together until fluffy.
Pipe onto cupcakes.

The perfect way to add a food group to a sugartarians diet.

Celebrating With Pink Champagne Cupcakes

Happy New Year! I was inspired by one of my favorite shows I love to hate, Oprah. She is so out of touch, always interrupting her guests, and somehow turns every topic back to herself, yet I watch religiously.( I think I will start my own Oprah drinking game, every time she says me-mine-I you have to take a shot, by the time my husband gets home from work I will be passed out on the couch.) The other day she had the girls from DC Cupcakes on, an equally annoying TV show, and they were making champagne cupcakes for New Years. The dessert they made didn't sound that great, but it did make me think about making my own champagne cupcakes for New Year's Eve. Using a mix of recipes and a crazy idea I had, I made the perfect cupcakes to ring in the New Year. Pink Champagne Cupcakes topped with Strawberry Pop Rocks. The Pop Rocks were my idea to give the cupcakes the fizz of champagne. When I first started I was immediately worried, because when I opened the bottle of champagne, I poured the tiniest drop into a glass to taste it and thought I was going to die. I continued on, but in fear that I was poisoning the entire batch with champagne. It turns out champagne tastes great when you add a few cups of sugar to it. The cupcakes tasted the way I always hoped champagne would taste, sweet and fruity with just the slightest hint of alcohol. I would make these cupcakes again in a second, they were so perfect. I am thinking Valentine's Day, bridal showers, or just for something girly. Maybe now I will experiment with other types of alcohol. Do I see a real pina colada cupcake in 2011, I think so.

Vanilla Cupcakes
from Billy's Bakery

1 3/4 cups cake flour

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes

4 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cupcake tins with liners. Set aside. 

In a large measuring cup, add the milk and vanilla. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix on low speed until combined. 

Add butter one cube at a time until all the butter is coated with the flour.

With the mixer on medium speed add the eggs one at a time mixing until incorporated.

Add the milk in three parts, mixing for about 30 seconds between each addition.

Using a pastry bag (Just started doing it this way and love how clean it is.) fill each cup about 2/3 full.

Bake for 17-20 minutes.

Champagne Syrup

from Cupcake Project

2 cups champagne
1 cup powdered sugar

Bring the champagne and powdered sugar to a boil. Continue boiling for about 6 minutes, it will not be thick. Remove from the heat. Poke holes in the cupcakes with a toothpick or skewer. Using a spoon, drizzle the syrup over the cupcakes. When you have covered the last cupcake, start over drizzling more syrup on each cupcake.You may have to re-poke some of the holes to help the syrup get into the center of the cupcake. Let set while making the frosting.

Champagne Buttercream Frosting
adapted from DC Cupcakes 

1/2 cup good Champagne
16 Tbsp unsalted butter
6 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
red food coloring

In the bowl of a stand mixer add the butter and sugar, beat on medium until well incorporated.
Add the vanilla, milk, salt. On low speed, slowly add the Champagne. Turn to high speed and beat until light and fluffy. Add a tiny drop of red food coloring and mix well.

Pipe the frosting onto the cupcake using your favorite decorating tip.

Then add the piece de resistance, Strawberry Pop Rocks. As kids from the 80's all know, once Pop Rocks touch anything damp, your tongue, coke, the palm of your licked hand, they start exploding immediately, well that also includes frosting. So the trick is to sprinkle the Pop Rocks on the cupcakes as soon as you serve them, or you can do as I did and just have a bowl of Pop Rocks with a spoon sitting next to the cupcakes and let the guest put it on. It really does the trick of adding champagne fizz to the cupcake.

Cheers!

Christmas Tree Cupcakes

While scrolling through the Queen's website (Martha Stewart of coarse), I saw the prettiest Christmas cupcake idea. Using Thomas Keller's Devil's Food Cupcake recipe might have been a mistake though. I had reservations in using it because I wasn't thrilled with his cupcake when I got it at Bouchon Bakery in Las Vegas, but I wanted to still try it just to keep on the Thomas Keller kick I am on. The cupcake did taste just like the one in Vegas, but that wasn't a good thing, it is not very chocolaty and has an odd chewy texture. Well, I tried it and now I can go back to my trusty vegan recipe.
The Christmas tree cupcakes themselves came out very cute, and as I tease my daughter, when it comes to baking "it's whats on the outside that counts". It takes quite a bit of frosting, but the results are worth it. Martha says to use a waffle cone, but I used sugar cones and I think they came out just as nice as hers.

I frosted the cupcakes like I normally do with a ? tip. Then using a small tip and bag, ?, I frosted the cones leaving just enough room at the top to hold it by. Then I put the cone on the cupcake and finished frosting. I loved the way they turned out, I even made another forest of cupcakes using my favorite color, Pink.

Have fun with these.

Dia de los Muertos Cupcakes And Bread

I have always been drawn to the holiday Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). This year I made cupcakes inspired by the holiday, along with the traditional bread Pan de Muertos.

I searched everywhere for chocolate skull molds to use to replicate sugar skulls, but I couldn't find them anywhere. Luckily, while in Napa with a friend we stopped by my favorite chocolate shop, Woodhouse, and found the perfect chocolate skulls.(Well, almost perfect...they were around $8 each and tasted like horrible waxy grocery store chocolate.) I decorated the skulls with royal icing which turned out to be more difficult to do than I first thought. Once the skulls were decorated I made Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes by slightly adjusting my regular chocolate cupcake recipe. The cupcakes were delicious, with the perfect amount of spices not too subtle or too over powering. I did run into one problem though, there was a weird reaction with the cupcake liners. Every single liner peeled away from the cake which caused major issues with my presentation. I will be working on the issue of the cupcake liners the next time I make these, because there will definitely be a next time.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

1 cup prepared Abuelita refrigerated (Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup of oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
dash cayenne pepper

• Preheat oven to 350 and prepare cupcake tin.
• Stir together 1 cup of hot chocolate and 1 tsp vinegar in bowl of stand mixer, and let stand.

• In a separate bowl whisk 1 cup flour,  1/3 cup cocoa powder, 3/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon and dash of cayenne pepper. Set aside.

• Add to the bowl of hot chocolate 3/4 cup sugar, 1/3 cup oil, and 2 tsp vanilla beat until foamy.
• Add dry ingredients to the wet in two batches until no longer lumpy.
• Pour into prepared muffin tin and bake 18-20 minutes.

Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting:

1 cup shortening
1 cup butter softened
8 cups/1 bag powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup heavy cream or milk

• In a bowl of a stand mixer cream shortening and butter
• Add powdered sugar and beat until well blended.
• On low speed add salt vanilla and cream.
• Turn to high and beat until fluffy.

Never having traditional Pan de Muertos, I don't know if this is an authentic recipe, but it was the best sounding recipe I found http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pan-de-Muertos-Mexican-Bread-of-the-Dead/Detail.aspx. I only slightly modified the recipe and it turned out pretty delicious, and gave my daughter an extra 50 points in Spanish :)


Pan de Muertos


1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons anise seed
1/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons orange zest

Glaze
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest
2 tablespoons white sugar 

• Heat the 1/4 cup milk and the 1/4 cup butter together in a microwave safe bowl. Add 1/4 warm water, the mixture should be around 110 degrees. 
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 1 cup of the flour, 1 1/4 tsp yeast, 1/2 salt, 1/2 tsp anise seed and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Beat in the warm milk mixture then add the 2 eggs and 2 tsp orange zest and beat until well combined. Continue adding 1/2 cup of flour at a time until the dough is soft. 
• Using the dough hook,  knead dough for about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. 
• Lightly grease the mixing bowl and dough, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. About 2 hours. Punch the dough down, cut off enough dough to make a few ropes and small ball to decorate the top of the bread. Place dough onto a baking sheet, loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until just about doubled in size. 
• Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 35 to 45 minutes. 
• During the last 10 minutes in the oven, start preparing the glaze.
• I a small sauce pan combine 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup orange juice, and 1 tbs orange zest. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 2 minutes.
• Brush over warm bread and sprinkle with sugar.

Candyland Cupcakes, A Back To School Surprise

This is what my kids came home to after their first day of school. I am not sure who was more excited me or my kids. I love how everything turned out, I only wish my table would look like this everyday.

Candy Button Cupcakes were super easy to make and turned out pretty cute, I especially like them displayed in front of my apothecary jar full of Candy Buttons. I think I originally got the idea from a photo on flickr. The frosting was vanilla and was piped using the 1M tip. I cut the Candy Buttons into squares using scrapbook scissors. The only problem I had with these was the oil in the frosting seeped into the paper after a while.

The Candy Store Cupcakes were the most fun to make. For the last few days I was on a candy shopping spree. I love the mini jawbreakers and the Fruit Stripe Gum, awesome candies from my childhood. The baking cups I used were my newly purchased pink zebra print cups. The frosting was the same vanilla as before only using a 199 tip...I think. I "randomly" placed candy on the cupcakes, customizing one cupcake for each kid using their favorite candies.

The Cupcake Cupcakes came from a blog I love, Confessions of a Cookbook Queen. The idea of using Reese's Mini Peanut Butter Cups as cupcakes is genius. For the cherry on top I used Cherry Tic Tacs. I used the same vanilla frosting and I think the 199 tip again. I love these and might use the mini cupcakes on all of the cupcakes I make from now on, so cute and easy.

On of my all time favorite cupcakes I make are the Bubble Gum Ice Cream Cupcakes. I absolutely love bubble gum ice cream, and these taste exactly like it. The cake did take forever to cook in the cones. The first batch didn't turn out because I cook them with the other cupcakes, and were still raw by the time the regular cupcake were done. These I cooked at 350 for around 35 mins, I was afraid they would be dry but they turned out fabulous. The frosting was the same vanilla with a little blue coloring and a tiny drop of Lorann's Bubble Gum Oil.

The Cotton Candy Cupcakes I think are the prettiest of the cupcakes. I have made Cotton Candy Cupcakes before and they really don't taste much different than regular vanilla cupcakes, just a little sweeter, hence the cotton candy flavor. I added a few drops of Lorann's Cotton Candy Oil to the vanilla frosting, then separated it into two bowls, one pink and one blue. While filling the pipping bag I tried to keep the frosting colors separated as much as I could, the pink on one side and the blue on the other. I used the 1M tip again to decorate.


So who is going to eat all of this? Even I can't eat this much sugar.

These cupcake have to be the best tasting I have made so far. The cake recipe is the one I have been using with a minor but crucial change to the directions, and the frosting recipe I found on Confessions of a Cookbook Queen.


Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
Billy's Bakery Cupcakes

Makes about 30 cupcakes

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

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.
2. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated about 1 minute each, but do not overbeat.
3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.

By the way, I am so mad that my picture quality sucks. I don't know what my issue was, I tried adjusting the lighting and the camera settings but just could get it to turn out. Errr!