Can I come back to this question?
mmmmm watcha say
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Snickerdoodle Cupcakes
Another birthday has come and gone here at MTR…. and the next two belong to Moriah and I!! Anyway, for this birthday I decided to make snickerdoodle cupcakes. I have made them before in the form of mini cupcakes and they turned out well. This time I had a little mishap with filling them too full and the cake mix oozing out instead of rising and it looks like I had a sheet of cookies rather than cupcakes. That was problem #1. Problem #2 was the next day I left them in my car ALL DAY so that I could pass them off to someone to take to MTR the following evening. Needless to say they were not quite so delicious that evening. I threw away half of them :( But, the original recipe was good.
dooSo, here it goes:
Cupcakes
1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1-1/2 c. cake flour (not self- rising), sifted
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1-1/2 T. cinnamon
1 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1-3/4 c. sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla
1-1/4 c. milkPreheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together both flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
Then, using a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. After that, add in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Then mix in the vanilla.
Next, slowly add in the flour and milk in alternating batches.
DO NOT OVERFILL THESE CUPCAKES. I’m serious. Just fill them so that they are 2/3 full like recipes usually tell you. They will expand out not up and be a mess.
This will also get you about 2 1/2 dozen cupcakes :)
Bake for 18-20 minutes.
Frosting (my favorite cream cheese icing)
2 2/3 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp butter, room temp
4 oz cream cheese, cold
Mix together the powdered sugar and butter until well combined. Then add in the cream cheese in one chunk. Mix on medium-high until frosting reaches desired consistency. Will frost about 12 cupcakes
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Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
Alright, as promised earlier in the week I do have a recipe for y’all thanks to MTR birthdays :) The recipe comes from Martha Stewart. I have been slightly disappointed with how her cupcakes turn out. This is the second recipe I’ve used where they have not risen at all but instead spread out flat and had more of a cookie consistency on the top. However, they were enjoyed by the people who had birthdays this past week so I suppose that is what matters.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
Yield: about 18 cupcakes
Cupcake Ingredients
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
6 oz butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 1/3 cups sugar
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
3 larger eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Mix together flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Mix together the sour cream and vanilla extract in a second bowl. In a mixer, blend together the sugar and butter. Then, add in the peanut butter and the eggs, beating well after each addition. In alternating batches, add in the dry mixture and the sour cream mixture to your mixer. The batter will be thick. Put into lined muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Frosting
6 oz cream cheese
3/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar
Mix together powdered sugar and cream cheese. Then add in the peanut butter, salt, and vanilla extract. Lastly, whisk the whipping cream and then blend in to the other mixture.
**Note** These amounts are an estimate based on what I did. The original recipe can be found here. However, I found that to not be sweet enough for my liking. So, after following the original recipe I started pouring in more whipping cream and powdered sugar to improve the consistency and taste.
I used home-made strawberry jam and swirled it with the frosting rather than just placing a dollop on top. Then I topped each one off with a bitty Reese’s.
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Cookie Dough Cupcakes
Yes, I have made these before. I am not sure I have posted about them on my Tumblr though and I am 99% sure I did not use this same recipe. So here goes-
I will admit, I used a boxed cupcake recipe. In my experience you can get a much more moist cupcake working with some kind of boxed mix, so thats what I did. Plus after being home sick for 2 days I did not have the energy to do much more.
Find the link to the original recipe I used, with a suggestion for homemade cake mix here.
Cookie dough:
Make this ahead of time. Form into balls and freeze for at least a few hours before making the cupcake batter so that the dough will not cook when you bake the cupcakes. This made WAY more dough than I needed for 24 cupcakes.
2 sticks softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
4 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips
Cream together the butter and sugars. Then add in the milk and vanilla and mix well. Add in the flour and salt until blended. Lastly, stir in the chocolate chips. Follow instructions as seen above.
Then I made my cake batter a la Pillsbury :) Fill 24 cupcake liners with your frozen cookie dough balls. Then, fill each with about 3 tbsp of cake mix. Bake at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes.
Here comes the frosting. Now, I did not follow instructions and did not cream the brown sugar with the butter before adding the powdered sugar, that is the only thing that I can figure out that would have given my frosting the slightly gritty (sugary) texture that it did. However, I was under the influence of cough syrup while making this so apparently following a recipe in that condition is not my strong suit. OR it could be that brown sugar just does not incorporate well into frosting because of its courser texture. You decide if you want to use it. The taste was fine but the texture was off-putting for some who were expecting a smooth creamy frosting.
Frosting
3 sticks butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Cream together the butter and brown sugar. Then, slowly mix in the powdered sugar. Lastly add in salt milk and vanilla extract. Add more milk if you want it change the consistency to thinner. More powdered sugar if you want it thicker.
Frost your cupcakes then top with the mini chocolate chips.
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Cupcakes to bring you Holiday Cheer
So today is the day we celebrate the last 2 MTR birthdays of the semester (which actually happen on Christmas and Christmas Eve).
It is a joyous day because we are celebrating at selection weekend, where we have 54 applicants for the class of 2013! So we get to celebrate our two residents AND two applicants.
Anyway, lets get down to business, I’ll be real with y’all, I went with box mixes this week. After doing tours and events with the applicants yesterday until after 9, that was all I had in me. BUT, lets be honest, box cake mixes are pretty much fantastic, and I have rarely had a homemade cake turn out more moist and delicious. So, step #1, buy a chocolate cake mix. I bought Duncan Hines Devils Food because I’ve had it before and it was delicious, plus I thought it was on sale but found out later I was misled by them being in the wrong location. Whatevs.
So instead, today I will bring you two frosting recipes and link you to my original inspirations. I really wanted to do something Christmasy and I know that peppermint is big this time of year. PLUS if you do something “mint” you can color it green (or red if you actually say peppermint I suppose…) Anyway, I made some mint chocolate chip cupcakes :)
Mint Buttercream
4 tbsp butter softened
2 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp mint extract
1/2 tsp salt
green gel food coloring
chocolate chips to decorate
Mix together the butter and powdered sugar until well distributed and it is slightly flakey. Then, mix in the cream, vanilla extract, mint, and sugar. Mix until well combined, then add in green food coloring as desired.
When I frosted mine I put mini chocolate chips on the regular sized ones and jumbo chocolate chips on the large one.
Now on to recipe #2. We have a lover of marshmallows in our group so I thought what wintery treat would be good…. s’mores cupcakes.
I used a basic marshmallow frosting that does NOT require a double boiler, took me about 2 minutes of actually work time, and tasted phenomenal.
Marshmallow Icing
2 egg whites (I actually used egg white powder)
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. They should form a small mound but not peaks.
Meanwhile, in a sauce pan, mix together sugar, water cream of tartar, vanilla and salt. Bring to a boil and stir until the sugar is totally dissolved.
Pour the dissolved sugar mixture in a slow stream into the egg mixture while mixing. Turn mixer up to medium high and beat until peaks form.
These cupcakes I decorated with the marshmallow cream and then graham cracker pieces and mini hershey bars.
ENJOY!
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Chocolate Covered Cupcake Tops
Who doesn’t love cupcakes? (Don’t answer that because I do, in fact, know someone who hates cupcakes) And what is the best part of the cupcake? (Don’t answer this either if you aren’t going to answer the top) Exactly. So why bother making all of the cupcake when you can just stick to making only the tops so that you can eat as many as you want without “wasting” the bottom half. Okay, okay, I love the top AND the bottom of the cupcake but I am rationalizing the need to make these cupcake tops.
Well, I was baking with a friend who DOES just love the tops, and in high school used to take a second cupcake only to eat the top and then ask if anyone wanted the rest. So, we made these for a dinner the first full night I was home from Memphis :)
The recipe we followed came from here, at Katrina’s kitchen.
For the cupcake tops:
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. espresso powder
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract¾ cup buttermilk
For the frosting:
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp. sour cream
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, siftedDirections:
Preheat the oven to 375˚ F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder and set aside. Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and melt over a pot of simmering water (or in short intervals in the microwave) until smooth. Set aside and let cool until just barely warm.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Beat in the melted chocolate until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, add in half of the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated. Mix in the buttermilk and mix then mix in the remaining dry ingredients.
Drop the dough in spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1½ tablespoons per cookie. Bake 8-10 minutes, just until set, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Let cool on the baking sheet about 2 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
To make the frosting, place the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl. Melt over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave in short intervals, stirring until smooth. Stir in the sour cream. Whisk in the confectioners’ sugar until the mixture is smooth and glossy. If necessary adjust the consistency with additional confectioners’ sugar to thicken or sour cream to thin it out. Frost cookies as desired and decorate with sprinkles.** We actually made a double batch of frosting and it was just enough.
** We ended up making 27 cookies but I think they were a little larger than they should have been.
** We ended up not having much in terms of christmas sprinkles so they were more like “fall” cupcake tops/jewish cupcake tops/christmas cupcake tops.
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Frosting in February
Did you like my use of alliteration? That’s something I try to include in my morning message almost every single day… and my students get it every single day….. until the test comes. Womp womp. More practice on that skill I guess!
Anyway, we had only two MTR birthdays in February and they both happened to fall on the same day and it was even a Friday, the day we typically celebrate. I must admit, I cheated a little bit with these cupcakes. I found a recipe for homemade red velvet cupcakes that I planned to make, then at the bottom of the recipe it said “I also made these using a box mix and they turned out just as good.” So thats what I did.
Red Velvet Cupcakes
1 Box Duncan Hines Red Velvet cake mix
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Mix it all together and pour into muffin tins. I made 12 cupcakes, 2 ramekin mini cakes (for the birthday people… I figure this is equivalent to about 3 normal cupcakes), and 1 mini rectangular cake (I didn’t want to use a whole new cupcake pan for just 1 or 2).
Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.
Best Cream Cheese Frosting (ALA Hummingbird Bakery)
3 tbsp butter (room temp)
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Cream these ingredients together until well mixed
4 oz cream cheese (cold)
Add in the cream cheese in one chunk, mix on slow until it begins to incorporate, continue to speed up until mixer is on medium high. Beat for about 5 minutes until fluffy and creamy. Will get creamier the longer you beat, however, too long and it will start to become runny.
Frost and decorate!! I chose Valentine’s style given the holiday we have coming up and it goes so nicely with the red and white :)
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Cupcakes and Spring Break
After a long and tiring week we got to end our time before Spring Break at MTR celebrating a birthday and doing a seminar on stress and resiliency training… something that many of us needed months ago! Anyway, on Thursday night after doing all I could to make sure I was prepared for Friday’s teaching sample (more about this in a later post) I set out to make cupcakes for our first March birthday. I had known the weekend before that I would likely want to succumb to using a box mix, so luckily I had bought one. Also, let me just say, Duncan Hines Devil’s Food and Chocolate cake mixes are more delicious than any homemade cake I have ever made sooooo yes.
I knew that the nutella filling in these cupcakes and the coconut frosting would be enough to make these something special even if it was a box mixed. So, if you would like to make cupcakes from scratch, access the original recipe. Otherwise, make a boxed mix of chocolate or devil’s food cupcakes.
After that, allow the cupcakes to cool. Then, cut out a small chunk from the center of each cupcake (at this point you could simply throw these pieces away… or like me you could pile the extra frosting on top of them and eat away). Fill each cupcake with a teaspoon or so of nutella. After that, top each one with some of the coconut cream cheese frosting (see recipe below). Lastly, garnish each with some toasted coconut.
Frosting Ingredients
1 8 oz pkg of cream cheese (softened)2 sticks of butter (softened)
1 32 oz bag powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp coconut extract
2 cups shredded coconut
Beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Slowly incorporate the powdered sugar a cup or so at a time. After that, mix in the vanilla and coconut extracts. Lastly, stir in the coconut (because of how much I had on hand, I don’t think I use a full 2 cups. This allowed for the frosting to still be slightly coconutty but have a smoother consistency I think). In order to spread the frosting smoothly, you might add in a little splash of milk or cream because it is quite thick as is.
**This frosting recipe makes A LOT I felt like I put a good helping of frosting on each one and still could have frosted at least a dozen more cupcakes.
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Spring Birthdays
Get ready for a multitude of birthdays within the coming weeks. I believe there are 8 MTR birthdays in April? We just had a March birthday that was celebrated at…. Spring Selection Weekend!!! Yes, the very same weekend where I feel in love with MTR last March. It is so good to be a part of this weekends and get my sights set back on why I am here and being reminded of all the great things God is doing in Memphis with education right now.
Anyway, on to the cupcakes! The birthday boy is a lover of all things childish (I mean this in this nicest way possible) including playing outdoors, game nights, and laffy taffy. Especially the corny jokes that are a signature part of every piece of candy. So, when I discovered Laffy Taffy cupcakes earlier this semester I KNEW that I had to save these for his birthday. They were definitely a hit, and I think the laffy taffy flavor definitely came through in the icing. I wouldn’t say that I would take this recipe to Cupcake Wars or anything, but it was a winner with MTR :) If you want to check out the beautiful original cupcakes I would highly recommend it. Y’all know I bake, not decorate.
Cake: (Feel free to make one completely from scratch but with the doctoring of this cake mix, I thought it turned out fabulous.)
1 box of white cake mix ( I used duncan hines)
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 bottle Smuckers spreadable strawberry jam (or homemade strawberry jam if you want/have it!)
Mix all ingredients together well, aside from the jam. Preheat oven to 350 degress. Line baking tins with liners. For me, this made one giant cupcake and 17 smaller ones. Fill each cup 2/3 of the way full and bake for about 20 minutes.
Once cupcakes have cooled, cut out a piece from the top and fill each cupcake with about a tsp of the jam. The original recipe called for recovering the holes of the cupcakes, but I just filled them to the top with the jam and then covered it with the frosting.
Frosting
10 strawberry laffy taffy pieces
2 tbsp cream
2 sticks (1 cup) butter softened
2 cups powdered sugar
On the stove melt the laffy taffy and cream on low, stirring constantly. Allow this mixture to cool slightly. Cream the butter, then add in the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time. After that add in the laffy taffy syrup mixture 1 tbsp at a time. Beat the frosting on high after each incorporation so that it gets light and fluffy.
Frosting your cupcakes as desired and add sprinkles if you wish!
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Another week of birthdays!
Well, after finishing out the final full week before TCAP it was time to celebrate. Luckily, we had three birthdays this week, so we could do just that. For birthday girl #1, she had requested Funfetti… done and done. Birthday girl #2, I knew she loved brownies and ice cream, so I pulled out a new brownie/oreo recipe and went at it. They were a big hit and I would definitely use that recipe again. Check out the brownie recipe here. Birthday girl #3 loves all things sugary and sweet. I was specifically told that she LOVES Willy Wonka (I should have known since she was one of the main lovers of my laffy taffy cupcakes! I personally thought that these were way too sour. I won’t deny that I love the occasional sour skittle, warhead, shock tart etc… however, in my cupcakes I want sweet and rich. Anyway, though they did not turn out exactly like my original inspiration (when do they ever) they were still fun (and not too difficult!)
Cake Ingredients (Makes 2 dozen)
1 box white cake mix (and all ingredients called for on box)
1 box of multicolored nerds (full size boxes you will need about 1 cup of nerds)
Original recipe also called to create some of the cake mix with Kool-aid, I left this out and was glad I did due to the sourness it added.
Frosting Ingredients
4 sticks of butter, softened
7 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 tsp lemon extract (again, left this out, but I can’t imagine why it would be necessary, the frosting was already so sour!!)
2 tbsp each of whatever kool-aid flavor you desire (pick three that will give you different colors to work with)
food coloring that will enhance whatever colors of Kool-aid you picked
1 full size box of nerds
Mix cake mix and ingredients on box. Before pouring into cupcake liners, stir in the nerds. (see original instructions if adding in additional flavor to cake mix). Follow baking instructions on box. Allow to cool completely.
For frosting, mix together butter, lemon extract, and mix until smooth. Then, mix in powdered sugar on low until incorporated. Turn mixer up to medium high and beat for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy (the consistency really does change considerably).
Separate frosting into 3 bowls. Add in kool aid to each bowl, then add food coloring to reach desired flavor. Pipe onto cupcakes in layers. Or, decorate different cupcakes with different flavors. Garnish with nerds to finish.
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Caramel Frappuccinos…. we did it!
Well, yesterday was the last MTR birthday, as well as closing day for one of the craziest years ever. It is hard to believe that a year ago I was just moving in and meeting all of these people that are now basically my entire life. It is also crazy to believe that over the next 2 weeks a whole new group of us will show up to do it all again. Definitely a bittersweet time… but now the real challenge… getting through Union University’s graduation ceremony! Anyway, possibly more about all of the closing activities/last week of school shenanigans later. This post is about cupcakes.
So, the last birthday was for one of my best friends here, and someone who has consistently made treats fore every birthday… things had to be done right. I found these cupcakes back in January or February and saved them just for her (She is a lover of Starbucks!).
They kind of turned into a 2 1/2 day process with all of the things we had going on this week, but I would say the caramel sauce, swiss meringue butter cream, and caramel-coffee mousse all turned out fantastic… as per usual, I was a little disappointed with the dense/dryness of the cupcakes, all the ingredients melded together well though.
Cupcake Ingredients (This recipe makes about 2 dozen cupcakes)
3/4 cup whole or low-fat milk
1/4 cup sour cream
2 packages of Starbucks Via Instant Coffee (I used NesCafe)
1 tbsp vanilla
3 cups cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder
3/4 cup butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cup white sugar
4 eggs, yolks and whites separated
Heat the mix in the microwave until warm. Then, mix one package of the instant coffee in with the milk.
Meanwhile, mix together the cake flour, baking powder, soda, salt, other packet of coffee and cocoa.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment until creamed. It should be slightly fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time. Add 2/3 of the flour mixture and the sour cream. Add the remaining flour mixture and milk. Beat until smooth.
Scrape all the batter out into a separate bowl and wash the mixer bowl thoroughly.
Switch to the whisk attachment and beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. They will hold a stiff peak but they will still slip around a little in the bowl.
Fold the egg whites into the cake batter gently, folding the batter around until well combined.
Fill cupcake liners with batter and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.
After cupcakes have cooled, core out the center of each one. After making the mixtures below, drizzle some of the caramel sauce into each cupcake. After that, pour in some of the coffee mousse, then top with more caramel sauce. Lastly, pipe the swiss meringue buttercream onto the top of each cupcake. Drizzle with more caramel before serving.
Caramel Sauce Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
2 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extractCut butter into evenly sized cubes and melt over low heat in large 3-4 quart saucepan.
Once butter is fully melted, add brown sugar, being careful to avoid the sides of the pan. If any stray sugar crystals fall onto side of pan, carefully brush off with a wet pastry brush.
Once butter and sugar are fully combined, add corn syrup and condensed milk. Clip on candy thermometer to side of pan.
Cook mixture on low heat (still continually stirring) for about a minute or two. Increase heat to medium and continue to cook/ stir until mixture reaches 225 degrees. Once the mixture is removed from heat, stir in vanilla extract.Coffee Mousse Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
3 large egg yolks
2 1/2 tbsp water
1 package of Starbucks Via Caramel flavored coffee (I used Maxwell House Caramel latte mix)2 1/2 cups whipped cream
Whisk sugar, yolks, water and coffee in large metal bowl. Bring a pot of water to a simmer on the stove. Place the bowl with the mixture on top of it. Whisk for about 8 minutes. Remove bowl from over water.
Using electric mixer, beat egg mixture until cool and thick, about 5 minutes.
Beat cream in another large bowl until stiff peaks form.
Fold cream mixture into egg mixture.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
4 egg whites
3 sticks unsalted butter (at room temperature)
1 tbsp vanilla extractHeat sugar, egg whites, and salt in a heatproof mixer bowl set over a pan of simmering water, whisking until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer. (I didn’t have one of these so I just stirred until the mixture lost its grainy texture and was hot to the touch.)
Return bowl to mixer, and whisk, gradually increasing speed from low to medium-high, until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 10 minutes.
Reduce speed to medium. Add butter, a few pieces at a time, whisking well after each addition. Whisk in vanilla. Switch to a paddle attachment and beat until air bubbles are gone, 2 to 3 minutes more.
Eating, Baking, Teaching. It's my life. Follow along if you're interested.
