27 Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes

A friend of mine requested cupcakes for her son's birthday (in addition to a regular sized cake she asked me to bake). So, since these cupcakes were on my poll and I needed something kid friendly to bake, these were the natural choice.

The only thing I had to buy to make these cupcakes were the pre-made cookie dough. I've read a lot of recipes where you need to freeze the cookie dough first. Although for this particular recipe, you don't have to. The recipe calls for a tube of cookie dough. I bought the ready-to-bake dough that's already cut into little squares. The stuff that you just pull apart and place onto a cookie sheet and just throw into the oven. The pull apart stuff worked just fine, if not better, but the option is up to you.

This recipe was awesome. It had everything that my ideal chocolate cake recipe had: sour cream, coffee and pudding. Instead of using the instant coffee, I just used 1/2 of coffee we had left over from the morning. You could tell that the pudding was mixed in. The cake batter looked really pudding-y. I would not filling these as much as the recipe said, because most of mine baked over. If you divide the batter between only 24 cupcakes, they're already pretty full and then you're supposed to add a ball of cookie dough into that, they end up super full. I made 27 cupcakes, but you could probably manage 2 more cupcakes.

 

Since I used the pull apart cookie dough, it turned out pretty simple. I cut one square of dough in half, then I rolled it in between my hands into a ball. I just dropped it into the middle of the cupcake batter and used a spoon to cover it up completely and voila! That was that. I put them into the oven to bake. It took a little longer than the minimum 18 minutes, but if you make your cupcakes a little less full, it might just be enough time.

Oh No! The Cupcakes Baked Over!!

 

After this, I rolled the remaining cookie dough into little cookies. The recipe warns to stick the cookies on top before the icing hardens so I figured this would be the next appropriate step. It takes just as long to bake little cookies as it does big cookies... go figure.

Mini Cookies All Ready

I didn't particularly care for this icing. I followed the directions and it was a huge powdered sugar mess. And no matter what I did, it stayed super thick. I was afraid that it would be difficult to pipe. It was easier than I anticipated, but not how I would normally like my icing. After all that work, it just tasted like a normal butter cream icing. The cream cheese gets lost in all the powdered sugar and butter. Next time I would just stick with mixing the fail safe butter cream (2 sticks of butter, 4 cups powdered sugar, a capful of vanilla, and hot water to thin it out).

Weird Icing

These cupcakes were awesome. Because the chocolate cake had all the secret-y ingredients that I love, it was super moist. The cookie dough settled to the bottom and was a crunchy surprise after sinking your teeth through the soft cupcake. The icing went well with the cupcakes, not necessarily worth all the work though. And the tiny cookie on top of everything was adorable and an extra little treat. This cupcake was two very tasty desserts all kept together in a simple, white paper cupcake liner.

Chocolate Chip Cupcake Ingredients
1 package Devil's food cake mix
1 package chocolate pudding mix
1 c sour cream
1 c vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp instant espresso
1/2 c warm water

How to
1. Preheat 350. Line muffin tine with paper liners or spray with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, mix cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, and vanilla in a small bowl. Combine espresso granules and warm water, stirring until dissolved. Add to cake batter and stir until fully incorporated.
3. Using a large cookie scoop, distribute batter between 24 muffin wells; about 3 tablespoons of batter per well.
4. Measure .4 oz balls of cookie dough (about 1 tsp) and drop a ball of dough into each cupcakes. Be sure to use a spoon to completely cover the ball with batter.
5. Bake in oven for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick entered into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
6. Remove cupcake from muffin tin and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once cupcakes are cool, prepare your frosting.

Frosting Ingredients
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
pinch of salt
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 pounds powdered sugar
4-6 c heavy cream or milk

How to
1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Slowly add in sugar and continue until well blended.
2. Add salt, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk. Blend on low until moistened. Add on additional 1-3 tablespoon of heavy cream or milk until you reach desired consistency. eat at high until frosting is smooth and fluffy.

For the Garnish
1. Garnish your cupcakes with mini chocolate chips and a mini cookie.
2. To make mini cookies, measure out 24 .4 oz (about 1 tsp) balls of dough and baked them according to the package direction (about 8-10 minutes). Allow mini cookies to cool completely before adding them to the cupcakes.

**NOTES**

• If you are choosing to garnish cupcakes, make sure you do this immediately after you frost your cupcakes. Once the top layer of butter cream hardens, nothing will stick to the frosting.
• If you do not have instant espresso powder, you can simply omit it from the recipe. You can typically find this in the coffee aisle of most supermarkets

from mybakingaddiction.com

27 Pumpkin and Spiced Rum Cupcakes

'Tis the season for baking, baking, and more baking. For the past few years, my mom has been baking and selling trays of baked goods and every year at Christmas time the orders pour in. She gets a bunch of cookie orders for this one, some variety trays for that one, and cupcakes for someone else. My mom asked me for some help with some cupcakes, telling me that I'd be able to put them on my blog as incentive. I'm not really sure who they're for or what the occasion is, but I'll take the opportunity to bake cupcakes.

Luckily for me, my mom has made these before and also did all her shopping for her baking marathon so everything was already here to whip these cupcakes together. If you need to go out and buy some spiced rum because you don't have any on hand, don't spend the money on buying good booze if it's only for cupcakes. The recipe suggests using Cruzan 9. If you're going to drink it, then go ahead and spend the extra bucks on something nice for yourself, but otherwise, save a little money and buy whatever is cheap. Now, my mom needed 2 dozen and the recipe only make 12 cupcakes, so I obviously just doubled all the amounts.

After I had mixed the ingredients as the recipe instructed me, I realized a much easier way to do it all. So to save you the hassle, I'll give you the foresight. First, I would mix the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl to the stand mixer. Obviously, don't use the beater to mix them. I normally use a fork. Next, I would mix the pumpkin and other wet ingredients in a large liquid measuring cup. Then, I put just a little of the wet ingredients and turned the mixer on low just so the dry ingredients didn't fly everywhere. Then, I added the rest.

All the Wet Ingredients
and my Bunny Whisk!

I get a little weary when the recipe says to fill the cupcakes 3/4 full. I'm always afraid that they'll bake over. Only one did really bad and 2 baked over just a little. But overall, they all turned out nice.

Since I made the icing a few days ago, it was a breeze this time around. For a double batch it made a ton of icing. I might make a batch and a half next time I need to make that much.

These cupcakes would be really good for around Thanksgiving time. The rum flavor isn't too strong, so you could bring them to share with all your family at all kinds of holiday events. The cake is moist because of the pumpkin in it and the cinnamon in the icing with the cinnamon in the cupcakes is just right. It isn't overwhelming at all. The taste of these cupcakes will evoke memories of pumpkin pie and family get-togethers from the past and maybe become a tradition.

Pumpkin and Spiced Rum Cupcakes Ingredients

1 1/2 c flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c sugar
3/4 c canned pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 c canola oil
1/4 c spiced rum

Cupcake How to

All the Dry Ingredients

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, spices, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Stir to combine.
2. In a separate smaller bowl, whisk pumpkin, eggs, canola oil, and rum.
3. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir just until combined. 
4. Spoon batter into greased muffin tin. (You'll fill each cup a slid 3/4 of the way full to make 12 cupcakes.)
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to let cool completely before frosting.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese
1/4 c butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Frosting How to

1. Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth.
2. Add powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. beating well after each addition. Fold in vanilla and cinnamon with last 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.
3. Beat until smooth.
**Refrigerate any leftover frosting

20 Gingerbread Cupcakes

 

A few things went into the decision to make these cupcakes. First, it's some one's birthday again! Go figure. A certain manager who has recently been harping about how I haven't baked him cupcakes in ages. Second, the Christmas season is upon us and what could be more fitting than gingerbread. I remember the first time I had gingerbread. I was visiting my grandmother's house, after literally travelling over the river (well... stream) and through the woods, to get to her house. It was after Christmas, but she offered my sister and I some gingerbread. We were sitting in the living room in her old, old farmhouse, in the squishiest chairs and my grandma brought us each a pretty plate with a square piece of gingerbread on it with a blob of Cool Whip on top. It was so delicious. If Christmas had a taste, that's exactly what it would taste like. That was easily over 10 years ago but it's crazy how you remember stuff like that. That was my first and last experience with gingerbread, until I picked out a recipe from the vast expanses of the Internet to make it myself.

Since my mom doesn't like gingerbread, I had to pick up a few things for these cupcakes. I grabbed some ground ginger and allspice. And since it's the holidays, there was a big display with all kinds of baking essentials for Christmas baking. I picked up everything in one spot.

As soon as I started this recipe, you could smell Christmas. I opened up the new spices and it put me back in my grandma's living room. It came together really easily, like all cupcakes normally do. The allspice, the ginger, and the molasses, coming together perfectly to make perfect cupcakes. For the boiling water, I just put a mug of water into the microwave for 2 minutes until it boiled and added it to the baking soda in a 2 cup measuring cup. I didn't fill them up the 3/4 of  the way full because the recipe said that it only made 18 cupcakes, and since I'm bringing them to work on a Saturday night, I need a few more than that. If you do though, they come out so pretty. Perfectly domed and perfectly beautiful.

Remember to Leave an Empty
Space to Make It Easier to
Pull the Cupcake Tins Out.

For the icing, I borrowed a recipe from these pumpkin spice cupcakes that my mom had made. When I got the request for the cupcakes, the only specific thing about the request was cream cheese icing.  As soon as I had my heart set on making gingerbread cupcakes, this icing immediately came to mind. I paged through my mom's one recipe binder, searching for these pumpkin cupcakes. I looked and looked and insisted to her that I thoroughly searched every page. I handed her the book and went back into the kitchen. When she called me back into the living room and told me that she found the recipe, she told me then that it was not in the binder like she originally told me, it was on the end table. Thanks for all the help Mom. When all was said and done, I had the perfect amount of icing to top each cupcake off with a big blob.

These cupcakes were surely a hit! Just a few minutes after the initial cupcake feeding frenzy ensued, all of them were gone. I'd say 3 minutes max.

These turned out exactly how I wanted them to. Just as I remember having that first nibble of gingerbread at Grandma's house. The cupcakes were just what I want my cupcakes to be like: not too dense and not too airy. The cinnamon in the icing complimented the spices in the cupcakes. It all came together in a combination that I hope would make my grandmother proud. Maybe I'll leave a few of these out for Santa this Christmas instead of cookies.

Gingerbread Cupcake Ingredients

2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c butter
1/4 c canola oil
1 c sugar
1/2 c dark molasses
2 eggs
2 tsp baking soda

Gingerbread Cupcake How to

1. Preheat the oven to 350
2. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, oil, and sugar until pale tallow and fluffy. Beat in eggs and molasses until smooth.
4. Put the baking soda into a small bowl or liquid measuring cup (you'll need extra room- it bubbles up), and add 3/4 c boiling water
5. Add a third of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, beating on low speed just until blended. Add half the water mixture in the same way, then another third of the dry ingredients, the rest of the water mixture, and the rest of the dry ingredients, blending just until combined.
6. Fill paper-lined muffin tins 3/4 full and bake for 25 minutes or until tops are springy to the touch.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese
1/4 c butter
2 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing How to

1. Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth.
2. Add powdered sugar, 1/2 c at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Fold in vanilla and cinnamon with last 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.
4. Beat until smooth.

28 Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes

I'm such a slacker as a blogger and I apologize. Since it's too early for New Year's resolutions just yet, I'm making it my December resolution to get back in the swing of things and start baking all the time like I used to. And surprise! It's taken a birthday of a coworker to twist my arm back into making cupcakes. I'm finally getting to use the baking appropriate things that I got for my birthday about a month ago. Thanks Mom for my apron covered in cupcakes... how perfect! Anyway... enough about me, let's get to the cupcakes.

Everything was easy to get for these cupcakes. You can get cheap tequila and margarita mix at the liquor store. Not hard to find at all. Now I did sort of drop the ball when it came to a few other ingredients. I forgot to get a lime, so there wasn't any lime zest in my cupcakes. No big deal really. And I used strawberry jelly instead of preserves, until I ran out of that and then I got the rest of the remaining 1/2 tablespoon out of the strawberry ice cream topping. My problem was that I had already been to the grocery store in town once that morning. I already feel like I live there so I wasn't running back.

So despite my lack of preparation, I feel like it all came together alright. The batter looked gross and curdled just like the recipe warned. After I had all the ingredients mixed in, it was still a little clumpy, but I still went on. I filled the liners up the standard 2/3 full. The recipe says to divide it between 24 cupcakes, that would work. I'm just always nervous that they'll bake over. I had a few really full ones, and they ended up beautifully domed and perfect. So don't be afraid to fill them up! You'll have very pretty cupcakes. I kept them in for the full 20 minutes. They looked a little dense, but knowing that I'd be pouring glaze all over them, I figured it would be okay.

I'm going to start talking about the glaze by mentioning that you shouldn't ignore all the red flags when you don't have everything. I had to run to the store to make the glaze even though I fought it earlier when I needed stuff. I had to run to the store so I could get more strawberry preserves and powdered sugar (a staple of my kitchen). Oh well. When I finally started making the glaze, I added the powdered sugar to the liquids in a measuring cup, so I could just pour the glaze over the cupcakes instead of spooning it on. I left the cupcakes in the pans to add the glaze just in case the paper liners wouldn't hold it. I didn't really have a problem, but I would recommend doing it that way just to be safe. I used a chop stick to poke the holes. Although the recipe says that you might have glaze over, I had the perfect amount, but I also made 4 extra cupcakes.

The frosting was as easy to make as frosting always is. I made a few changes. Instead of adding 3 tablespoons of margarita mix, I substituted one tablespoon with tequila, since everyone I work with likes to taste the alcohol in their cupcakes. After everything was mixed together, I didn't think that the icing tasted lime-y enough, so I threw in a dash of lime juice. Well after the taste test, my mom said the icing tasted too much like lime. So, in the end, I put a little scoop of strawberry topping on the top of the cupcake to bring it all together.

I'm on the fence about these cupcakes. Of course everyone at work went crazy for them and told me they were amazing and all that. Maybe I'm just my toughest critic. For me, the cupcakes were a little dense, but that helped a lot with letting the glaze soak in. The cream cheese icing was great, like cream cheese icing always is. I would make these cupcakes again for sure though.


Cupcake Ingredients
3 c cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 c unsalted butter
1 c sugar
1/2 c margarita mix
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp lime zest
5 Tbsp strawberry preserves
1/3 tequila
3 eggs
1/2 c milk

Cupcake How to
1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line 24 muffin cups.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small mixing bowl and set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add margarita mix, lime juice, lime zest, strawberry preserves, and tequila and mix on low speed to incorporate. (Mix may appear slightly curdled at this point, but don't worry, it will come back together with flour)
5. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.
6. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/2 the milk, and repeat mixing after each addition until just incorporated, ending with the flour mixture.
7. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners and bake approximately 20 minutes. Cool approximately 10 minutes.

Curled Looking Batter

Glaze Ingredients
1/2 c margarita mix
2 Tbsp tequila
1/2 c powdered sugar
Red food coloring

Glaze How to
1. Put powdered sugar in a small bowl, whisk in margarita mix and tequila to make a tick liquid glaze. Add a few drops of red food coloring to desired color.
2. Poke 4-5 holes in each cooled cupcake with a wooden skewer.
3. Spoon glaze over cupcakes, about a tablespoon at a time, giving the glaze a chance to absorb before adding more. You may have glaze left over.

Frosting Ingredients
1/2 c unsalted butter
8 oz cream cheese
4-6 c powdered sugar
3 Tbsp margarita mix
2 Tbsp strawberry preserves
Red food coloring

Frosting How to
1. Beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy.
2. Add margarita mix and preserves and beat until will incorporated.
3. Add sugar one cup at a time until frosting is desired consistency.
4. Add a few drops of red food coloring to tin frosting.
5. Pipe frosting on cupcakes as desired. Top with sliced strawberries for garnish.

24 Tirimisu Cupcakes

I'm baaack. After a lapse in baking, I finally jumped back in. Two months late on a birthday for a co-worker, these were long overdue. She asked for one of her favorite desserts all contained in a single cupcake. After telling her time and time again, I made the time to bake, which was something I, personally, needed to do for myself as well.

A little while back, when I initially intended on baking these cupcakes, I was on an intensive search for one, single ingredient... marscapone cheese. After obviously checking all the stores I normally frequent, my search came up empty. I finally found it at this Amish-y buffet/store place that I am in love with (even more now that I found this elusive cheese). For weeks, I told my friend that I would bake her cupcakes, while keeping the October expiration date in mind.

The cupcakes came together a little easier than some of the other cupcakes I've made, considering part of it was from a box. It would probably be smart to make the mix in a big measuring cup, or a bowl with measured markings, since you have to use half the batter. I'm always worried about these kinds of things. I get nervous that I'll use too much of the first half, then not have enough for making the second half. I didn't use a measuring cup, and, of course, I used too much plain batter. I'd would say just put in enough to cover the bottom of the paper initially. Then, if you used a measuring cup and still have some left til you've used the half that was called for, go back and add a little more. I had to add a little bit of flour to the part that you mix the coffee into, like the recipe says. I'd say about 2 tablespoons. So since I used too much of the plain white cake mix, I came up 5 cupcakes short with the coffee mixture. The baked for about 18 minutes.

Next, after the cupcakes cool, I used an apple corer to cut cones into the top of each of the cupcakes. I probably could have used the cupcake corer, since after making the filling, there was a lot. The filling didn't really taste that good on its' own, and it kind of looked like mashed potatoes. Suddenly I had a stroke of genius! To solve the problem of the 5 plain vanilla cupcakes, I put the filling on top of each of the plain cupcakes, then I used the crumbs left over from coring the cupcakes and sprinkled them on top.It made the cupcakes a little messier but it worked.

This icing is one that I will never forget. It's a hybrid. It's somewhere between a whipped cream and a cream cheese icing. A match made in heaven. It has that delicious cream cheese taste, but it's so light from whipping it. Don't be afraid to load the icing on. The recipe makes plenty.

These cupcakes were worth the wait. A few people said that they don't like coffee but that they liked these cupcakes. They were amazing. The cake was very light and not dense at all. I love fluffy cupcakes. The filling wasn't so weird once it was inside the cupcakes. The odd cheese-like quality that made it kind of gross was sweetened up with the other elements of the cupcake. And that icing.... oh the icing. You have to make it! There are no words to describe the delicious marriage between cream cheese and heavy cream and cranking the blender all the way to 10. I've been asked to make these cupcakes again. My only stipulation was: find me marscapone cheese.

Messy Version of Very Delicious Cupcakes

Cake Ingredients
1 box white cake mix
2 egg whites
1 egg
1/3 c oil
3/4 c buttermilk
3/4 c sour cream
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 c strong coffee


Cake How to
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line cupcake pan.
2. Sift cake mix into a small bowl and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, gently whisk egg whites, egg, oil, buttermilk, sour cream, and vanilla.
4. Stir in cake mix into wet ingredients.
5. Using half of the batter, fill liner 1/3 full.
6. With remaining cake batter, add the strong coffee and mix (You may need to add 1 or 2 tablespoons of flour to thicken the batter)
7. Scoop coffee cake batter over the regular batter so that each cupcake liner is 3/4 full. (So you have a later of vanilla cake and a top layer of coffee cake)
8. Bake for 16-20 minutes


Marscapone Cheese: Kind of Like a
Thicker Version of Cream Cheese.
More Like Cheese, Less Like Cream.

Filling Ingredients
8 oz marscapone cheese
1 Tbsp strong coffee
1/2 c powdered sugar

Whipped Topping
8 oz cream cheese
1 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 pt heavy cream

How to
1. Filling: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl using a spoon.
2. Topping: Using a whisk attachment on your stand mixer, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Add vanilla. Slowly add in heavy cream and beat until stiff peaks form.
3. To assemble: Cut a cone shaped piece of cake out of the top of each cupcake (make sure cakes are cooled). Generously spoon in your filling. Pipe your whipped topping over the hole with the filling and top with chocolate shavings and cocoa powder.

59 Homemade and Not-So-Homemade Vanilla Cupcakes

More goodbye cupcakes. At work, we had a manager in training. He was a really cool dude. Really swell. When his training came to end, I asked him what kind of cupcakes he would like and the answer I got back was kind of a shocking request for me. Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla icing. Weird. After asking him to reconsider a few times, I kept being told vanilla. There had to be a way to give a twist to these oddly simple cupcakes. Since I always strive for all kinds of feedback. Since I love being told how delicious the cupcakes I make are. Since I love being told about how not as delicious the occasion store bought cupcakes that get brought in are... It had to be a taste test.

My sister and I had picked up some cupcakes mixes with filling. When I came up with this taste test idea, I picked up a tub of icing. Just follow the directions on the box and these are done in no time. Exactly what someone who uses a boxed cupcake mix wants more than anything. Barely any work that takes barely any time. Bunch of lazy people!

For my homemade version of these cupcakes, I quick looked up a vanilla cake recipe. Shouldn't be that hard to find a good one. I figured any old recipe would do. I wen with the first one I found on the Internet. Next, I needed a vanilla filling recipe. I went with the same first-recipe-I-find-is-good-enough method. Finally, I knew I had the same vanilla butter cream icing recipe that we always use well committed to memory. Unfortunately, it was kinda like recipe Russian roulette. Everyone knows that there are a few bad recipes out there. It's just a matter of how lucky you are. On this one my luck ran out. And too bad this was the one time I wanted to prove something. The recipes were easy as always. I don't recall any problems. I made the cupcakes. I whipped up the filling. I put the tip to fill cupcakes on a piping bag. I poked the tip into the top of each cupcake and squeezed until the filling just came out around the tip. Be careful though. Hold the cupcakes when you fill them. You can overfill them and the filling will squirt through the bottom of the cupcake, through the paper. As for the icing, I've made it a zillion times before. Naturally, no problems.

So I topped each cupcake with it's own distinct color of sprinkles. Homemade cupcakes with one color and boxed cupcakes with a different cupcakes. I packed them up and brought them into work. All night I heard a mix of both. "You made the red ones" "I know that you made the blue ones" It was entertaining to hear the opinions on both. It didn't hurt my feelings to hear that the ones that I actually made "weren't as good as your cupcakes normally are" or that the ones from the box are "just as perfect as always".

When it came down to it, for me, the homemade cupcakes were not good. The cupcakes themselves were really dense. Not as fluffy as I would normally like. The filling was awesome though! Just like the vanilla filling in the Hostess cupcakes. The boxed cupcakes were good, but the filling was disgusting. It tasted like cement and looked like glue. I think the dead give away in the taste test was just the general appearance. The boxed cupcakes were very yellow and the store bought icing was an unattainable white compared to homemade icing. If you try it, color the icing. It wouldn't be as obvious. I will definitely try this again.

Cupcake Ingredients

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 pinch salt

5 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

2/3 cup milk

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cupcake How to

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a standard muffin tin with 12 paper cupcake liners. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; set aside.

2. Heat the butter and milk in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter has melted. Beat the sugar, eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla with an electric mixer in a large bowl until it has thickened slightly and is lighter in color. Gradually beat in the flour mixture on low speed until just incorporated. Slowly pour in the hot milk, beating until just combined.

3. Divide batter evenly between cupcake liners. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan for 10 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

Vanilla Filling Ingredients

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup shortening

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 pinch salt

3 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling How to

1. In a large bowl, beat butter and shortening together until smooth.

2. Blend in confectioners' sugar and pinch of salt. Gradually beat in 3 tablespoons milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy.

3. Fill a pastry bag with a small tip. Push tip through bottom of paper liner to fill each cupcake.

A Brief Apology

I know... it's been like 2 months and I'm sure that there are a few of you that are a little upset or annoyed with me. I want to apologize. First, for my lack of baking. And second, for the lapse in posting about what little baking I have done. As I sit here, watching late night TV, waiting for a load of laundry to get done, while Ozzie gets a chance to play past his bed time, I vow not to be such a bum again. I'm not saying that I don't put a lot of time into my blog, but it's not like it takes forever to whip together a post.  Finally, I apologize for my next few posts. Since it's been a while since I've baked some of these cupcakes, they might not be as awesome as they normally are. Thank you so much for being patient with me! Happy Baking

48 Cosmopolitan Cupcakes

Another birthday cupcake request. Nothing says a girl's 21st birthday like a Cosmo! To make the drink, you need vodka, triple sec, lime, and cranberry juice. All things that are neccessary for these cupcakes, and all things that you can easily get your hands on.

These cupcakes have been the most productive cupcakes I've made in a long time. I started in the morning, and my deadline was later that same afternoon to have them ready to bring to work. I already had gotten all the stuff I needed. I had to pick up apple sauce, a lime, cranberry juice, and the required alcohol. I didn't need to buy anything that was weird or hard to find. For the amount of cupcakes I made, they turned out being relatively cheap cupcakes.

So Many Cupcakes!

I was interested in making these cupcakes because they have apple sauce in them. I've never made any cupcakes like this, but the rumor was that they make for really moist cupcakes. I used the zest from half of a lime and saved the lime itself for later in the icing. I kind of expected the batter to turn out pinker since the cranberry juice is in it. Well, not so much. I added a few drops of red food coloring to make it slightly pink. Since I baked these in the dark and un-tapered cupcake pans, the cupcakes came out a little dark for my liking, but not dark enough for me to have to rebake them. The other issue I have with these pans is that every time I use them, the papers come away from the cupcakes. It's annoying. I hate those pans.

The icing for these cupcakes was, for lack of a more appropriate word starting with the same letter, bologna. Maybe it was the disgusting heat and humidity of that day, maybe it was me rushing to get them done before I had to go to work. Whatever it was, it killed this icing, and with my mother there for moral support and some input, I did all I could to save it.  As far I'm aware of, I followed the recipe like I always do. The icing never thickened, it never got whippy, and it was never going to turn into icing. If this happens to you, there are a few things you can do. First, you need to diagnose the problem. If it's too runny, add more powdered sugar. Too thick? Add more liquid. For these cupcakes, I added more cranberry juice. My problem was it wasn't really whippy or icing-y. I added more butter. This still didn't fix my problem. Next, I added more sugar and cranberry juice. Going into this icing, I knew I wanted to add more cranberry juice anyway, since there wasn't a lot of juice in the cupcakes and I definitely wanted a big cranberry flavor, because it's a major component of the drink itself. After all this, my problem wasn't resolved. I added heavy cream in hopes of making it like a hybrid cosmopolitan whipped cream icing. I cranked the speed up on the mixer and it never turned into whipped cream. I decided at this point to add a ton of powdered sugar and make it as icing-like as I could. I quick piped it on the cupcakes and put them in the fridge, on account of the roughly 1/2 cup of heavy cream I added.

These cupcakes were generally good. Obviously the icing was really really REALLY sweet. You can taste the triple sec in the icing too, which surprised me. I was expecting it to be a more subtle flavor. The apple sauce did its job and the rumors are confirmed. The cupcakes were moist. The cake brought more of the lime flavor to create the whole experience of a cosmopolitan. With the right amount of cranberry juice and food coloring, it completed the flavor of the drink and brought it all together.

Cosmopolitan Cupcake Ingredients



Lime Zest in the Cupcake Batter

1 c unsalted butter
2 c sugar
3/4 c apple sauce
1 tsp lime zest
2 Tbsp cranberry juice cocktail
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 c milk, room temperature
2 Tbsp triple sec
1 tsp vanilla
3 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
food coloring (optional)

Cupcake How to

1. Preheat to 350. Line a muffin pan with liners
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
4. Beat in the apple sauce, then stir in the lime zest.
5. Add the cranberry juice, lime juice, triple sec, and vanilla. Stir until combined.
6. Sprinkle half of the flour ixture over the batter and mix until just combined. Stir in half of the milk, add the remaining flour, and then stir until combined. Stir in the remaining milk (add food coloring if desired) until just incorporated. (Do not overmix!)
7. Scoop 2 Tbsp of batter into each cupcakes liner. Bake 15-18 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

Cosmopolitan Icing Ingredients  (how it's supposed to be, my additions not included)
1/4 c butter
4 c powdered sugar
1 Tbsp cranberry juice
2 tsp triple sec
1 Tbsp vodka
2  1/2 tsp lime juice
food coloring (optional)

Icing How to
1. In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth. Add 1 c of sugar and beat until combined.
2. Stir in creanberry juice until compined. Then add another cup of sugar and mix until combined.
3. Stir in the vodka and lime juice until ocmbined. Add another cup of sugar and mix well.
4. Finally, stir in the triple sec (and food coloring if desired) and then add remaining cup of sugar and beat until well combined and light and fluffy.
5. Frost cupcakes.

30 Jack Daniels Cupcakes

Another birthday. Another reason to place my cupcakes in the loving hands of the United States Postal Service. And finally a reason to use the recipe for Dark Chocolate and Jack Daniels Cupcakes that I found ages ago on pinterest. The way it works is, upon request, I will bake cupcakes for any one's birthday. My only response is "what kind do you want?" This birthday is a little different. I knew it was coming up and that this particular person is a big fan of Jack Daniels. Knowing that I had this recipe hiding away, and despite that he doesn't particularly care for sweets, just like every other oncoming birthday, I was determined to bake. Who doesn't love getting packages in the mail? Who doesn't love birthday cakes... in miniature?! NOBODY... that's who.

I didn't have any real hold ups at the grocery store. My shopping list consisted of the required dark chocolate, heavy cream, your choice of three puddings, and Jack Daniels, of course. For the dark chocolate I got 4 bars of Ghirardelli 72% Dark Chocolate. They were only 3.5 oz, but I figured it would be close enough, and it didn't cause any real problems later, anyway. As for my choice of pudding, I went with white chocolate. I wanted to stick with the whole general chocolate flavor. After a quick, and more expensive than I was expecting, trip to the liquor store, I was the proud owner of an average sized bottle of Jack Daniels. You can probably get one of the smaller sized bottles that they keep behind the counter.

The morning you plan on baking these cupcakes, skip the second cup of coffee at home, you'll need it. Sometimes, you need that second cup (like I did). I just used some instant coffee we happened to have and it worked just as well. I love making chocolate cupcakes recipes with coffee in them. If you don't like coffee, don't pass over these kinds of recipes. You don't taste the coffee at all. I'm not sure how it works, but the coffee works its magic (I'm pretty sure it's the same magic that wakes you up in the morning) and makes the chocolate super chocolaty and rich. I would recommend mixing these up in a large measuring cup. The batter turns out really runny. You'll be able to just pour the batter right into the cups instead of scooping it out and risk making an even bigger mess than the one that just naturally happens while you're baking. The recipe says to fill the liner half full. This worked perfectly. None of my cupcakes baked over. I think that's a new record.

When it came to the ganache, this was where I thought we might run into problems. When I read through the steps, it just seemed like where the recipe might hit a bump. It was super easy and super problem-less. The icing was simple too, like icing usually is. It was soo whippy. I loved it! I added a little extra Jack to the icing, since my friend requested they taste boozy. After I took the 2 cups of ganache out for the icing, there wasn't very much left over. I was afraid it wouldn't be enough to fill the cupcakes with. When I cored them, I didn't want to make it too deep. But, the cupcakes were super moist, so they stuck to the corer. I would recommend using a knife to cut a divot out of them instead. I had enough ganache to fill them without having to scrape the bowl for every little bit. Since the icing got really fluffy, I had plenty to do all the cupcakes.

Super Whippy Icing

These cupcakes turned out awesome. The super dark chocolate was the perfect compliment to the Jack Daniels. Even people who aren't fans of dark chocolate should give these a try. I was nervous the taste of the whiskey would get lost in the chocolate, but you could taste it in every element of the cupcake. The only negative thing about these cupcakes is that since the icing should be refrigerated, the ganache gets hard. They're best served at room temperature. Whether you love Jack Daniels or not, these cupcakes are worth a shot.

All Packed Up!!

A Few Days Later...

These cupcakes got mailed a little further than the outskirts of Pennsylvania and into New Jersey. With the super hot weather we had the 2 days it took the cupakes to arrive, I was a little nervous that the icing wouldn't hold up so well. As reported, the icing was just really melty, since it's mostly butter, that made sense. After a little time in the fridge, everything was fine and the cupcakes were assembled and enjoyed.





Jack Daniels Cupcakes Ingredients
2 c flour
3/4 c cocoa powder
2 c sugar
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 c super strong coffee
1 c buttermilk
1/2 c Jack Daniels
1/2 c vegetable oil

How to
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In a large bowl, stir flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, coffee, whiskey, buttermilk, and oil
4. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until smooth
5. Fill cupcake cup 1/2 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Cool completely.

Dark Chocolate Whiskey Ganache Ingredients
16 oz good quality dark chocolate 65-72%, cut into small pieces, 1/4 in or less

Ganache

3/4 c heavy cream
1/4 c Jack Daniels
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

How to
1. Place chocolate in a heat proof bowl, set aside
2. Heat heavy cream until just boiling. Pour over chocolate.
3. Cover chocolate and cream for 2 minutes to allow chocolate to soften. Uncover and stir with whisk until smooth and silky. Stir in butter until fully incorporated. Stir in whiskey until incorporated. Cool completely.

Ganache Filled Cupcakes

Icing
1 lb unsalted butter, softened
1 3 oz package white chocolate, vanilla, or cheesecake instant pudding mix
2 c Dark Chocolate Whiskey Ganache
1/2 c sifted dark cocoa powder
1/2 c heavy cream
1/2 c powdered sugar
more whiskey to taste

How to
1. In a stand mixer beat the butter and pudding mix together on medium high speed for 5 minutes.
2. Turn off, add ganache, cocoa, and heavy cream. Beat another 5 minutes.
3. Add powdered sugar a little at a time, tasting as you go until it is sweet enough, then beat on medium high for 5 minutes.
4.If it isn't a strong enough whiskey taste for you, add tablespoon by tablespoon of whiskey until it is your liking.