Summertime and the living's easy. {Blueberry Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Frosting}

Hello cupcake lovers! I haven't blogged about baking cupcakes for a really long time. Life happened and things were busy. (Isn't that always how it goes?) But I'm finally in a place that I can bake again. During my time away, we had a baby and moved back to Arizona. Life has changed dramatically for us, but in a good way. I like where things are going right now...

Anyways! Enough about me and more about how much I love living in Arizona again! ;) The only downside to living in Arizona (and honestly this isn't even a downside) is that it's pretty much summer all year long! So, in order to make summer feel more summery, I decided to bake a cupcake that will help make it feel more like summer.

When we lived in Maryland we had the chance to try a bunch of different cupcake shops. From the most popular ones: Georgetown (DC) Cupcakes to Sprinkles Cupcakes. We even got to try a Cupcake Food Truck: Curbside Cupcakes. But my favorite cupcake shop in the DC area was Baked & Wired. Their cupcakes were so amazing, I wish I had gone there more than once! But they had a cupcake that I never got to try called the Smurfette, which was a vanilla cupcake with blueberries topped with a lemon buttercream. So since I never got to try theirs, I wanted to make my own version! And here it is...

{Blueberry Lemon Cupcake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting}

Blueberry Lemon Cupcakes: 

{makes 36 cupcakes}

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 sticks of butter (room temp)

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

zest of 1 lemon

fresh squeezed lemon juice (to taste)

2 cups sour cream

1 pint of blueberries

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with paper liners.

2. Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. Set aside. 

3. Mix the butter and sugar together in a stand up mixer until it's light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time and mix thoroughly. Add the vanilla and lemon zest, mix to combine.

4. Add the flour mixture in 3 parts alternating with the sour cream, ending with dry mixture. 

5. Stir in the blueberries by hand.

6. Give the batter a taste and if it isn't lemony enough for you, add a little of the lemon juice.

7. Fill the prepared tins two-thirds full and bake 16 to 20 minutes. 

 

Lemon Buttercream Frosting:

3 sticks of butter (room temp)

3 - 4 cups of confectioner's sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

1. Whip the butter until light and fluffy.

2. Slowly add in the confectioner's sugar. I normally add it one tablespoon at a time (8 tablespoons = 1 cup). It's a little tedious and you HAVE to pay attention, but it makes it mix smoother. Be sure to stop and scrape the sides periodically, too. If you lose track, just stop and do a taste test every so often to make sure it's sweet enough. And remember that you can always add more but you can't take any out, so make sure you don't add too much or it will be too sweet.

3. Add in the vanilla extract, mix well.

4. Lastly, add in the lemon juice. Start with a tablespoon and if that isn't lemony enough for you add more. But it should be enough.

5. Pipe on to the cupcakes once they are cool. (Or else it will melt the frosting.)

I am loving how these two flavors play with each other. The sweetness from the cupcake mixed with the tartness of the blueberry and then complimented nicely with the tang of the lemon. Even if you just leave off the frosting, you have an amazing breakfast cupcake! 

I am going to keep the summer fruit theme going for my next cupcake. I'm in the mood for rhubarb, how does that sound?... :)

Pumpkin + Beer + Cupcakes = Is it Fall yet?!

My absolute favorite season is right around the corner! The season of scarves, crunch leaves under your feet, warm coffee beverages, and pumpkin flavored everything... Yes, I am talking about FALL!

One of my favorite things about this season (besides the aforementioned items) is Dogfish Head Punkin Ale. Well, that was before I got pregnant. Now I just get to enjoy watching my hubby drink it. But that doesn't mean I can't bake with it! ;)

I created a heavenly delicious fall inspired cupcake using Punkin Ale. It may just be my new favorite cupcake.

The Punkin Ale Cupcake with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting! Last year I tried to make these and I put the pumpkin puree in the cupcake, but it completely took over the beer flavor. So I modified my recipe this season and it's a million times better. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

 
  Punkin Ale Cupcake (makes 24) 
1 cup Punkin Ale (this can be substituted with any pumpkin flavored beer you can find or like!)
1 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar (for beer/butter mixture)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup brown sugar (for finished cupcake batter)
ground cinnamon, to taste
ground nutmeg, to taste


1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line your cupcake trays. You can make normal or mini-sized cupcakes.
2. Chop the butter into squares, doesn't have to be perfect it just helps it melt faster, and throw them into a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the Punkin Ale and let it come to a simmer (this helps cook off the alcohol, but not the delicious beer flavor).
3. As the butter and beer are simmering, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt into a large mixing bowl.
4. After the butter and Beer have simmered, remove from heat and add the brown sugar. Let this cool for a minute.
5. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sour cream together with an electric mixer until smooth. Combine this mixture with the cooled butter and beer concoction.
6. Combine the butter/beer/brown sugar goodness into the bowl of dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt) you have set aside. Gently stir until all is combined.
7. To bring out the flavors in the beer, I added a touch of ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg to the batter.
8. Finally, I wanted my cupcakes a little sweeter, so I added another 1/4 cup brown sugar to the batter. This is optional and depends on how sweet you want them.
9. Fill your cupcake trays, each cup should be 3/4 of the way full.
10. Bake the cupcakes for 15 minutes.
11. Allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting them!


Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8oz package cream cheese (softened)
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1 tablespoon orange juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners sugar



1. In a mixer, beat the cream cheese, pumpkin puree, butter, orange juice, and vanilla extract together.
2. Add in the confectioners sugar one cup at a time.
3. Once everything is mixed together and thickened it is ready to go on top of your cupcakes!
4. I added a sprinkle of cinnamon on top of the cupcakes once they were frosted. Totally optional.

Pineapple Upside Down {Cup}Cake

Hello my dear, sweet, neglected cupcake fans! Long time, no see. I know, I know... But I'm baaack! And I have a brand new cupcake for you all to enjoy! Yay!

Me and my hubby have gotten really into eating fruits and veggies that are in season. Today we even went out and picked our own strawberries! They were soooo good too. This cupcake doesn't contain any strawberries.... It does, however, contain pineapple! Which are also in season! :)

Today, I introduce to you the Pineapple Upside Down {Cup}Cake! Okay, I need to be honest with you guys. I don't think that I have ever had an actual Pineapple Upside Down Cake before. Terrible, I know. But these cupcakes were delish, so I think you will like them!

Basic Vanilla Cupcake

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup granulated white sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup milk

12 pineapple slices (either fresh or canned, I found the canned ones fit on the cupcake perfectly!)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
3. Place the unsalted butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Add the sugar; beat on medium speed until well incorporated.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix.
5. Reduce the speed to low. Add a little of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, then gradually add some of the milk, beating until well incorporated. Continuing alternating the addition of the flour and milk until all the ingredients are included. (Always start and end with the dry ingredients!)
6. Scoop batter into baking cups.

7. Carefully place the a pineapple slice on top of each cupcake.

8. Bake for 15-19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely. (Some batter will come through the hole in the middle of the pineapple. That is totally fine, I just popped off the excess cupcake once they were cooled. It made for a nice snack while making the frosting! ;) )

Whipped Creme Frosting

1 cup Heavy Whipping Creme
5-6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a standing mixer, beat the whipping creme on a medium speed until thickened (about 2 minutes).
2. Slow the speed down on the mixer and add the sugar one tablespoon at a time until the whipped creme gets stiff peaks. You may have to stop the mixer to check the whipped creme peaks.
3. Mix in the vanilla extract, to taste.

4. Frost the cupcakes and top with a cherry.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup{cake}

We are a little short on cash and who knew that baking cupcakes would be an expensive hobby! Ha! So, I rummaged my pantry and realized that I had most of the ingredients to make one of my husband's favorite cupcake flavors: Chocolate & Peanut Butter. Naturally, I had to run to the store and get more butter and sugar. I seem to run out of those the fastest! 

I dedicate this cupcake to my husband: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup{cake}

Devil's Food Cupcake: (makes 32 cupcakes)

3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

3/4 cup hot water

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream, room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line the cupcake pan with paper liners.

2. Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled, 4 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture, and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, and beating until just combined after each.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three- quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 15 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

 

Chocolate Ganache Filling:
1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
8 oz Chocolate, chopped

1. In a small saucepan, bring the whipping cream up to a boil.
2. Put the chopped chocolate into a medium bowl.
3. Once the whipping cream is boiling, pour it on top of the chocolate.
4. Stir the chocolate until melted through.
5. Pop the bowl of chocolate into the freezer for about 15 minutes to thicken the consistency a bit.

Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting: 

6 ounces cream cheese

1/3 cup confectioners' sugar

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup heavy cream

 

1. With an electric mixer, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks are formed. Set aside.

2. With an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, and butter until fluffy.

3. Add in the salt, peanut butter, and vanilla, mix until incorporated.

4. Fold in the whipped heavy cream.

Putting together the cupcakes:

1. Punch out a hole in the center of your cupcakes.

2. Fill the hole with the chocolate ganache.

3. Frost your cupcakes with the peanut butter frosting.

4. Drizzle on some chocolate ganache.

5. CONSUME. (With milk, because that frosting is really rich.)

 

Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes! {Breakfast for Dessert!}

I have only tried to make homemade cinnamon rolls once in my life because it is a ridiculously long (and messy) process. Plus, me and dough reaaaallllyyy don't get along too well. So, I decided to turn this breakfast favorite into a delicious cupcake. :)

Cinnamon Cupcake:

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick of unsalted butter, room temp
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs, room temp
2 1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups whole milk, room temp
1 tsp cinnamon

Brown Sugar Filling:
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
3 tbsp unsalted butter, cold
sprinkle of cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line 2 cupcake pans with paper liners.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
3. Place the unsalted butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Add the sugar; beat on medium speed until well incorporated.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition.
5. Combine the vanilla extract, cinnamon and milk in a large liquid measuring cup.
6. Reduce the speed to low. Add a little of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, then gradually add some of the milk mixture, beating until well incorporated. Continuing alternating the addition of the flour and milk until all the ingredients are included. (Always start and end with the dry ingredients!)
7. For the filling, just mash all the ingredients together until well incorporated. The butter should be cold enough to have the sugar clump and then stick together.
8. Scoop batter into baking cups and then stick a small spoonful of the filling in the middle. (Now, in retrospect, I would probably put a bigger dollop in the middle, or try to swirl it around. Mine were just small in the middle, which saved the best bite for the center. But I guess that makes it the same as a real cinnamon roll, so it's personal preference really.)
9. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:
16 ounces cream cheese, room temp
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
3-4 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
cinnamon

1. Beat the cream cheese and butter together until nice and whipped.
2. Slowly beat in the confectioner's sugar one cup at a time until sweetened to your liking.
3. Beat the vanilla extract in and then add in some cinnamon. I just kept adding it until it tasted good to me, so have fun with it, but remember start with less because you can always add more. :)

Once the cupcakes are cooled, pipe on your frosting and sprinkle a little cinnamon on top for decoration.

Birthday Collaboration! {Triple Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes}

This past weekend I celebrated my 26th birthday! So for my birthday my dear friend Alyson (who is a crafty woman and also a lover of cupcakes) asked me if I wanted to bake cupcakes with her. Like I could say no to that! She picked out the recipes for what we decided to call the Triple Chocolate Truffle Cupcake. It consisted of a Devil's Food Cupcake with a White Chocolate Amaretto Ganache filling topped with a Chocolate Ganache Frosting. And let me tell you they were DIVINE. It was so much fun working with someone else who has a cupcake passion like myself! I can't wait for our next collab! :)

Also, she found these adorable cupcake decorations that we fell in love with! :)

Devil's Food Cupcake: (makes 32 cupcakes)

3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (Alyson's note: We used Penzy's natural high fat, NOT Dutch process)

3/4 cup hot water

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream, room temperature (Alyson's note: we substituted plain nonfat yogurt)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line the cupcake pan with paper liners.

2. Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled, 4 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture, and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream (or yogurt, in our case), and beating until just combined after each.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three- quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 15 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

White Chocolate Amaretto Ganache:

12 ounces white chocolate (chopped or in chip form)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut in half, softened

2 - 4 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur (depending on how strong a flavor you want, we did 4)

                 

1. Place the chopped white chocolate in a medium bowl, set aside.

2. In a small saucepan, heat the cream with the butter until the butter melts and the mixture comes to a gentle boil.

3. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let the mixture stand for 30 seconds to melt the chocolate. Whisk the mixture until smooth.

4. Stir in the liqueur.

5. Try not to eat this whole bowl of deliciousness. But seriously, dip some strawberries in it because that would be amazing. Nom...

6. Put the bowl in the freezer to harden the white chocolate a bit in preparation to put it into the cupcakes.

Chocolate Ganache Frosting:

9 ounces bittersweet chocolate like Valrhona 61% cocao

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla (Alyson's note: we scraped 1 vanilla bean instead)

1 tablespoon butter

3-4 cups powdered sugar

1. Chop chocolate and transfer into the bowl of your standing mixer.

2. Heat cream until bubbles form around the edge of the pan, pour cream over the chocolate.

3. Let sit for 1 minute then stir until combined.

4. Add vanilla and butter. Stir until butter is melted. Let cool to room temperature.

5. Sift the powdered sugar into the bowl and mix until fluffy.

Assembling Your Truffle Cupcakes:

Once your cupcakes are cooled and your white chocolate is hardened you can begin assembling your cupcakes.

1. Cut out a hole in the center of your cupcake, approximately 1/2 way into the cupcake and an inch across. This is where you are going to put your white chocolate ganache.

2. Roll a small bit of the white chocolate goodness in your hand to form a ball that will fit in the hole that you just made. Place in the cupcake.

3. After all the cupcakes are filled, pipe on your frosting.

4. And since these were for my birthday, we decorated them with some pearl candies and paper wrappers.

5. DEVOUR. :)

I want to thank Alyson for collabing with me on this! I hope that we can do it again one day soon! <3

{Chocolate Covered Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes}

I know I have been slacking in the cupcake department, but I got a little sad when my dentist told me to stop eating cupcakes. Pffft, what does she know anyways! So, today I bring you a Valentine's treat that I have been fantasizing over for the past month: Chocolate Covered Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes! I got the idea to make these when we kept neglecting a bottle of Champagne in our fridge. I finally said, "Fine! I'll put them in some cupcakes!" And I did!

I started off my baking by covering some strawberries in chocolate with my hubby. It was a fun way for us to cook and spend time together. So we just melted some white chocolate and some semi-sweet chocolate in a homemade double-broiler (which is just a heat resistant bowl sitting in a pot of boiling water, but not touching the water!). Then we carefully dipped the strawberries in chocolate and drizzled them with the other chocolate with a fork. We let them sit on cookies sheet covered with parchment paper. Easy peasy!

Next comes the cupcakes. I got the recipe from Georgetown Cupcakes (also known as DC Cupcakes if you watch their show on TLC) who made these Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes for New Year's Eve for Oprah. I was really stoked to find a recipe by them because I absolutely adore their shop and their cupcakes are delicious. We frequent their cupcake shop often because it's right by my work. (I truly think Georgetown Cupcake is the only perk to living here.)

Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes:
1/2 cup fresh strawberries, diced
1/2 cup good Champagne (the one I had on hand was really dry, but choose whichever champagne you like, sweet or dry)
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick of unsalted butter, room temp
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs, room temp
2 1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean
1 1/4 cups whole milk, room temp

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line 2 cupcake pans with paper liners.
2. Dice up 1/2 cup of fresh strawberries and soak in 1/2 cup of Champagne. Set aside.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
4. Place the unsalted butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Add the sugar; beat on medium speed until well incorporated.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition.
6. Combine the vanilla extract, vanilla bean seeds and milk in a large liquid measuring cup.
7. Reduce the speed to low. Add a little of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, then gradually add some of the milk mixture, beating until well incorporated. Continuing alternating the addition of the flour and milk until all the ingredients are included. (Always start and end with the dry ingredients!)
8. Gently fold in the diced Champagne-soaked strawberries, just until incorporated.
9. Scoop batter into baking cups and bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Since I really wanted to capture the chocolate covered strawberry aspect in this cupcake, I chose to do two different chocolate butter creme frostings that match my chocolate covered strawberries that I made earlier. I followed this recipe that I posted a few weeks ago and made a white chocolate and a semi sweet chocolate butter creme frosting.

Once my cupcakes were cooled, I covered 12 with the chocolate frosting and 12 with the white chocolate frosting. Then to make it look pretty I topped with opposite covered strawberries. They were so pretty I didn't even want to eat them... But I did! And they were DELICIOUS.

Now, go make these for your sweetie! Just because Valentine's Day is over doesn't mean you have to stop treating your loved ones to yummy baked goods! <3

Monday Funday = Banana Split Cupcake!

One of my New Year's Resolutions for 2011 was to eat healthier. (I know, a cupcake blog really kind of contradicts that. Haha.) Last weekend I bought a bunch of bananas that I planned on eating throughout the week. Well, I only ate one banana from the bunch and by Friday they were starting to get brown. Luckily, that is a baker's perfect banana! I just let them sit there in my fruit basket and get their brown on until I was ready to party! And what is the best thing to have at a party?! Well, a banana split, of course! :) So this week I decided to try out a Banana Split Cupcake, which is a banana cupcake (recipe from Martha Stewart), with a chocolate ganache filling, topped with a vanilla whipped creme frosting. Delicious!

Banana Cupcake: (makes 18)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe medium-sized bananas)
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line your cupcake pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture. In the well, mix together the melted butter, mashed bananas, eggs and vanilla extract.
4. Carefully incorporate the flour mixture with the banana mixture. Be sure not to over mix the batter.
5. Fill the cupcake pans, each cup about 3/4s of the way full.
6. Bake for 15 minutes.
7. Take them out and let them cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate Ganache Filling:
1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
8 oz Chocolate, chopped

1. In a small saucepan, bring the whipping cream up to a boil.
2. Put the chopped chocolate into a medium bowl.
3. Once the whipping cream is boiling, pour it on top of the chocolate.
4. Stir the chocolate until melted through.
5. Pop the bowl of chocolate into the freezer for about 15 minutes to thicken the consistency a bit.

Whipped Creme Frosting:
1 cup Heavy Whipping Creme
5-6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a standing mixer, beat the whipping creme on a medium speed until thickened (about 2 minutes).
2. Slow the speed down on the mixer and add the sugar one tablespoon at a time until the whipped creme gets stiff peaks. You may have to stop the mixer to check the whipped creme peaks.
3. Mix in the vanilla extract, to taste.

Building the cupcakes into Banana Splits:
1. Once your cupcakes are cooled, you will have to put a hole in them. I used a frosting tip that I had lying around. But you could even use a pearing knife (which may take a while) or a straw. Really, anything that will make a 1/2 inch hole in your cupcake.
2. Fill your cupcakes with the Chocolate Ganache Filling. Overfilling is totally acceptable.
3. Pipe on your Whipped Creme Frosting. (You can use a large ziplock bag to pipe on the frosting. Fill the bag and cut one the tips off the corner. Voila! You have a piping bag!)
4. Top with a Maraschino Cherry and Nuts, if desired.
5. PARTY!

Storage: I am storing these in the refrigerator due to the fact that the frosting is really fragile and will probably melt if they sat at room temp.

I'm not ready for the holiday season to end! {Gingerbread Cupcakes with White Chocolate Butter Creme Frosting}

 Happy New Year! It's 2011! I hope you all are as excited about 2011 as I am! :)

For one of my New Year's Resolutions, I told myself that I would do my best to blog at least once a week on both of my blogs. (Yes, I have TWO! Haha. I have considered starting a third blog about cooking, but decided against it.)

As I was scouring my brain and my cupboards for a cupcake to make today, I remembered that I (sadly) did not make anything Gingerbread this Christmas season. Normally, we make a homemade Gingerbread house. However, I did consume a LOT of Gingerbread Lattes. Yum! So, I decided to make a Gingerbread Cupcake. I got the recipe from Martha Stewart. And I have been craving White Chocolate all day, so I went with a White Chocolate Butter Creme Frosting.

AND OMG.... I finally just tried one and this is probably my new favorite cupcake. So delicious!

Gingerbread Cupcakes (makes about 24 cupcakes)
 2 teaspoons baking soda
 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
 2 teaspoons ground ginger
 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
 1/2 teaspoon salt
 2 teaspoons baking powder
 1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
 2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
 1 cup molasses
 2 large eggs, room temperature

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup water to a boil. In a bowl, combine boiling water and baking soda; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, sift together flour, ground spices, salt, and baking powder; set aside.
4. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until light.
5. Beat in the brown sugar until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.
6. Beat in the molasses, baking-soda mixture, and flour mixture.
7. Beat in the eggs.
8. Fill your cupcake trays that are lined with paper three-quarters full.
9. Bake for 15 minutes.
10. Let cool on a wire rack before frosting.

White Chocolate Butter Creme Frosting
1 bag White Chocolate Chips
2 sticks butter
3-4 cups confectioner's sugar


1. In a small saucepan, add about a cup of water. Get a glass bowl that can handle high temperatures and that can fit inside the small saucepan. Make sure that the water in the sauce pan does not touch the bottom of the bowl. Bowl the water in the saucepan and place the bowl on top. Fill the bowl with the White Chocolate Chips. You have just created a double boiler. With a spatchula, stir around the chips until all are melted. Try not to eat the entire bowl of melted white chocolate... ;)
2. Put the butter in a standing mixer and beat until whipped.
3. Slowly add in the melted White Chocolate. Beat until incorporated.
4. Add in the confectioner's sugar one cup at a time until it meets the correct consistency. Try not to eat the entire bowl of frosting...


Once your cupcakes are cooled, frost those babies. Then give them a try. Your taste buds are going to dance. Your house is going to smell like Christmas. It's going to be a really good day for you. Trust me.

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar

1 cup unsulphered molasses

2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Gingerbread Cupcakes - Martha Stewart Recipes

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar

1 cup unsulphered molasses

2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Gingerbread Cupcakes - Martha Stewart Recipes

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar

1 cup unsulphered molasses

2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Gingerbread Cupcakes - Martha Stewart Recipes

Everything is better with BACON!

We caught a few episodes of "Cupcake Wars" where some of the bakers incorporated bacon into cupcakes. I did a few Google searches and found an amazing recipe for Maple Bacon Cupcakes with Maple Frosting and I knew I had to try them.
I just want to reinstate that everything is better with bacon.

Maple Bacon Cupcakes:
4 1/2 tablespoons of butter, room temperature
1/2 tablespoon of bacon drippings (left in the fridge to become solid)
1 egg
5 tablespoons of brown sugar
4 tablespoons maple syrup
1 1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
pinch of kosher salt
1/4 cup of milk
1/4 cup of minced bacon, cooked and drained

1. Fry up about 6 thick strips of bacon. Reserve the drippings and place in the fridge to solidify. Chop 1/4 a cup of the bacon. Anything you have leftover, you can save and use a decoration on top of the cupcakes.
2. In a mixer, beat the butter and solidified bacon fat until light and creamy. Add the brown sugar and maple syrup and beat well until combined. Add the egg and beat until incorporated.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, salt, baking soda and powder together.
4. Now you will alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk into the mixing bowl. Always start with dry and end with dry.
5. Gently fold the chopped bacon into the batter.
6. Scoop the batter into the cupcake tray and bake at 350 degrees (F) for 15 minutes.

Maple Syrup Frosting:
4 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 cup of powdered sugar
turbinado sugar (optional, but recommended)
coarse grain sea salt (optional, but recommended)
chopped leftover bacon from the cupcakes (optional, but recommended)

1. Beat the maple syrup and butter together until combined.
2. Gradually add the powdered sugar at a low speed (to ensure that it doesn't fly out of the bowl and into your face) and be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to get all the sugar incorporated.
3. Do a taste test to make sure that you can taste the maple syrup, but that it is not too sweet.
4. Frost your cupcakes once they are cooled.
5. Sprinkle the frosting with a little sugar, salt, and bacon for decoration and extra flavor.
6. Enjoy! It's like breakfast in a cupcake!

My favorite chocolate cupcake recipe ever.

Earlier this year, I ran across this amazing (complete understatement) recipe for what the website called "Guinness Gasm" cupcakes. I made them for St. Patty's Day and my life has been a million times better ever since. The recipe, essentially, is a chocolate cake with a buttercream frosting, but the kick is that the cake has Guinness Stout in it and the frosting they use has Bailey's Irish Cream Liquor in it so it is like an Irish Car Bomb in cupcake form! To be honest, this is my "go-to" chocolate cake because it's delectable! I am going to put the recipe on here for you all, but I highly suggest going to the website itself and reading their recipe because whoever wrote it has an incredible sense of humor.
Cupcakes (makes 24):
1 cup Guinness
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line your cupcake trays. You can make normal or mini-sized cupcakes.
2. Chop the butter into squares, doesn't have to be perfect it just helps it melt faster, and throw them into a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the Guinness and let it come to a simmer (this helps cook off the alcohol, but not the stout flavor).
3. As the butter and beer are simmering, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt into a large mixing bowl.
4. After the butter and Guinness have simmered, remove from heat and add the cocoa powder. Let this cool for a minute.
5. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sour cream together with an electric mixer until smooth. Combine this mixture with the cooled butter and Guinness concoction.
6. Combine the creamy chocolate Guinness goodness into the bowl of dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt) you have set aside. Gently stir until all is combined.
7. Fill your cupcake trays, each cup should be 3/4 of the way full.
8. Bake the cupcakes for 15 minutes.
9. Allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting them!

Frosting:
3 to 4 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup room-temperature, unsalted butter
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream

1. Put the butter in a bowl (or your electric mixer) and beat it until it's some sort of fluffy.
2. Mix in the confectioner's sugar one cup at a time.
3. Finally, add in the Bailey's one tablespoon at a time until it has enough flavor for you.
4. Frost your delectable chocolate cupcakes once they are cooled.
5. DEVOUR.

You can also use a simple buttercreme frosting if you aren't a big drinker (which basically means, replace the Bailey's with 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract).

These cupcakes are always a big hit, so if you are making them for a party, make a lot. :)

Chocolate + Jalapeno + Lime = Yum

Last weekend, I was suppose to make a cupcake with jalapenos in them. However, I got stuck and frustrated making the jalapeno jelly that I was going to use as the filling so I gave up. I did follow through this weekend though!
I took the idea of jalapeno and decided to make a jelly to put inside a cupcake. For the cupcake flavor, I thought about this one time that I had a chili flavored chocolate and it was delicious, so I chose a chocolate cupcake to hold my jalapeno jelly. The frosting was the hard part for me to figure out. I was trying to stick to a theme that would taste good with jalapeno without turning it into a dinner muffin not a dessert cupcake. I went with a Cream Cheese Frosting with a little lime flavor. This sounds like a strange mixture of flavors, but it surprising turned out amazing!
Okay, so let's start with the hard part: the jalapeno jelly! If you have never made jelly before, let me tell you, it is quite the process. But now that I have done it once, I want to make jelly all the time!
I found this recipe via Google, but I couldn't get it right on the first try so I had to "re-jelly" the jelly. I think the problem was that I chose to use powder pectin and not liquid pectin, so use the liquid! It's a little pricier, but well worth it!
Jalapeno Jelly:
(Makes 6 Jelly Jars)
1 cup Red Bell Pepper chopped
1/2 cup Jalapeno chopped
5 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
1 (6 oz) Liquid Pectin
Crushed Red Peppers (optional)

Remove stems, veins and most of the seeds of the bell and jalapeno peppers. Mince peppers in a food processor. 
In a 5-quart pot over high heat, combine bell peppers, jalapenos, sugar and vinegar. Bring to a rolling boil; boil for 3 minutes. (For extra heat add a few dashes of crushed red peppers.)
Stirring constantly, add the pectin and let mixture cool for 2 minutes. Now stir for 1 minute. 
Pour into hot, sterilized jars and top with sterilized lids. Secure lids with bands and allow jars to cool slowly, creating a vacuum seal. (Sterilized jars are fresh and hot from the dishwasher or a hot pot of water.) 

Next, I just used a basic chocolate cupcake recipe.
Chocolate Cupcakes:
(Makes 20 cupcakes)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temp
2 large eggs, room temp
1-1/4 cups sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoons vanilla


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined. Measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into a small sized bowl and whisk to combine. Measure out the milk and vanilla and stir to combine
Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 2/3’s full. Turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake cupcakes for about 15-18 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

And finally, the yummy Limey Cream Cheese Frosting:
Frosting:
1 stick of butter (room temp)
1 8oz package of cream cheese (room temp)
3-4 cups of confectioner's sugar
1 lime

Put the butter and cream cheese in a bowl and zest some of the lime into the bowl. Cut the lime in half and squeeze the lime juice into the bowl. Whip up the ingredients until mixed well. Then start adding a the confectioner's sugar one cup at a time and continue blending until all has been combined. Then, naturally, taste to make sure you have the flavor of lime and cream cheese. Nom.
Now that you have all the ingredients made, it is time to put together this cupcake. If you have ever watched any of the cupcake shows that are on, you may have caught them with a contraption that helps them fill the cupcakes with a filling. Well, I don't have that so I had to improvise. I just used a funnel to make a hole in the center of the cupcakes and then just kind of used a knife to put the jelly in the cupcakes. It wasn't perfect, but it worked. Then I used a large ziplock bag and filled it with the frosting, cut off the tip, and then frosted the cupcakes.
As strange as this combination sounds, they actually turned out amazing. Now, if only I could figure out a name for them... Haha.

French Vanilla & Chocolate Marble Cupcakes

I don't want every cupcake I make to be from a recipe I found via Google because I feel that is the easy way out, but that doesn't mean that most of them won't be. ;)
This cupcake was an experimental, mix a few different recipes together to create the cupcake you want, kind of cupcake. My husband, Brad, wanted a French Vanilla Marble cupcake, which I thought sounded delectable! Naturally, I couldn't find a recipe for such a cupcake, so I had to get creative. I did a Google search for French Vanilla Cupcakes and another search for Marble Cupcakes. I combined the two of them to create my desired flavor. This was the recipe I used:

French Vanilla & Chocolate Marble Cupcakes:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups of sugar or vanilla sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 egg yolks, room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
pinch of salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup of cream
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 cup boiling water

Preheat your oven to 350. Beat butter on high until soft for 30 seconds. Add sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy. Add eggs and egg yolks one at a time, beat for 30 seconds between each. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda, in a bowl. Measure out milk and vanilla extract in another glass. Cut open the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds and add them to the milk. Mix in the flour mixture then the milk mixture, alternating between the two and ending with the flour. Mix thoroughly.
To make chocolate batter, measure out 1 cup batter, and transfer to another bowl. Combine cocoa and the boiling water in a bowl. Stir into reserved 1 cup batter.
Fill prepared cups with alternating spoonfuls of vanilla and chocolate batter, filling each three-quarters full. Run the tip of a paring knife or wooden skewer through batter in a figure-eight motion to make swirls. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until tops are golden and a cake tester (i.e. toothpick) inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

I had to do some searching for the Vanilla Sugar and Vanilla Beans, but I found them at a store called Penzey's, thanks to my friend Alyson who told me to go there. (I, then, fell deeply in love with Penzey's and I could easily spend my entire paycheck buying tons of spices from there. Swoon.)
Now, let me take this time to mention that I do not have a picture of these cupcakes because they did not come out exactly how I wanted. To be honest, I was really disappointed in how they came out. I blame this completely on my lack of actual baking skills and not the recipe itself, because the taste was perfect. The French Vanilla (which I learned isn't even really a flavor per-say, but it is the heavy use of vanilla in a recipe. Hence, the vanilla sugar and vanilla bean.) was very vanilla-y and had the perfect amount of sweetness to it. And the Chocolate was a great compliment to the French Vanilla. The problem was the consistency; the texture was much more like cornbread and not cupcake. So this will be a recipe that I will have to try again to get the consistency right, and I will definitely do an update. If you give this a try, let me know how they come out. :)
As for the frosting, I just used some leftover Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting to top them, since I had so much of it.

Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting (and LOTS of it!)

The first request I had from my husband was a Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting. I dove into this whole cupcake business with no experience at all, so this sounded like a really hard task. Luckily, I had a box of Funfetti cake mix that my Mother-in-Law sent me, so I didn't really have to worry about the cupcake itself.
For the frosting, I had to do a Google search for a recipe. I had NO IDEA where to begin with making a butter cream frosting, so naturally I needed help. I found this recipe and followed it pretty well, except I didn't have any espresso powder and I didn't use the rum. ;) And I didn't realize how much frosting this recipe actually made because I still have leftover frosting in my freezer, haha. But, I would say, for my first attempt at making a butter cream frosting, this turned out amazing. It was light and fluffy and tasted like heaven. What more could you ask for in a frosting, honestly?!
As for my piping skills, yeah... Still working on that! I am saving my pennies for an awesome piping set, but until then I guess I will keep using ziplock bags. :)

Cupcakes?!

In the past few months, I have fell head over heels in love with the new cupcake trend. I really blame TV Shows like "Cupcake Wars" and "DC Cupcakes". You can't HELP but want to whip up a batch of cupcakes after watching those shows. At first, the obsession was just that I wanted to learn how to make a delicious cupcake. But then my husband, Brad, started giving me ingredient challenges, much like they do on "Cupcake Wars".

So starts my addiction. I will be posting the cupcakes that I make here, along with pictures and the recipes. I will also be taking suggestions and challenges. If there is some flavor you would like to see in cupcake form, let me know. I am willing to try anything. And once I figure out how to ship cupcakes to people and have them get to the other end safely, I will be taking orders. :)