Mini-Vanilli cupcakes

My first actual cupcake baking adventure in 5000+ elevation! I started with minis, since I figured they were harder to mess up. I did quite a bit of research, and found that I needed more moisture and less leavening to have recipes turn out great. So I estimated, and skimped on the baking powder, added about 1 tbsp more milk, and used jumbo eggs instead of regular. These turned out great! No problems whatsoever. I love making minis because they bake fast, are fast and easy to decorate, and you can eat more than one!

Featured on Cupcakes Take the Cake!

So daily, I check the blog Cupcakes Take the Cake for news from the world of cupcakes. Much to my surprise, this morning my very own blog was mentioned! It's about many bloggers baking their way through Martha's Cupcakes book. Let me tell you, this has made my day, possibly even my week :) It has certainly encouraged me to continue baking and posting for the world to see. Thanks to the girls at CTTC for including me in what I consider to be the bees knees of cupcake blogs :) Now to get back to baking!!!!

Martha Challenge #12- cookies and cream cup-cheesecakes

Cupcake Challenge #12: Oreo Cup-Cheesecakes!


It's been a while sine I've been able to bake, since we moved to Colorado! I finally got (most) of my kitchen stuff unpacked, so I was able to bake today! Today was National Cheesecake Day, and I've never made a cheesecake before, so I decided to tackle the challenge. I decided to make individual cheesecakes, in keeping with the cupcake theme, and Martha of course had the recipe for me.

These are cookies and cream mini cheesecakes, with an entire Oreo as the crust on the bottom.
These did not require a bain marie, which made it easier for me. I had no issues with altitude, since these had no leavening agent in them. They sunk a bit in the middle, which I'm guessing is due to overfilling. I wasn't sure how to tell if they were done. The recipe said to bake for 22 minutes, or until set. I checked them frequently, and they seemed ok at 22 minutes, but I probably could have let them bake a few more minutes. Then they had to cool in the fridge for 4 hours or more. My tast-tester said they were delicious, but maybe not firm enough in consistency. That's also perhaps why they sank. All in all, a good first attempt at cheesecake, and one more recipe down!

NKOTB cupcakes

So, in honor of the New Kids concert tomorrow night, I made cupcakes! I'm actually going to bring them to the concert and see if I can give them to the guys. I follow them on twitter, so maybe I can make contact! I'm also trying to use up the contents of my fridge and pantry before I move next week. So I made Choc-Guinness cupcakes with vanilla-Guinness frosting. I had leftover 2 bottles of Guinness, and tons of butter, so that's what I made. This is my recipe, not Martha's, although she does have a stout recipe in her cupcake book that I haven't tried yet.
The frosting turned out a bit too runny for my liking, hence the blobby shape of it on the cupcakes. I'm keeping these in the fridge in hopes the frosting will set better.
I tinted fondant and busted out the good ol' cookie cutters to make the shapes. It's fun to work with, but a bit messy. My fingers are now red from the food coloring. A professional would have used gloves, but this is me, after all!
So, that's all the baking from me for a while. The movers are coming next week, and then I'll have to try my recipes at a higher elevation! I'll continue with the Tania/Martha project once I have everything unpacked at the new place. Now, off to clean the kitchen!

Cupcake Challenge #11- Blueberries and cream cupcakes

Blueberry-Vanilla cupcakes topped with Whipped Cream and Blueberries. I made 24 minis and 24 regular sized.
These were simply vanilla cupcakes, with blueberries mixed in, topped with fluffy whipped cream and fresh blueberries. The recipe called for 2 cups of blueberries for the batter and more to put on top. I used a whole 2 pints in total, because I wanted to make sure each cupcake had enough blueberries. The regular ones had 3 or 4 a piece, but the minis had only 1 each.

Here they are right out of the oven, smelling fantastic!

I dug around my cupcake cabinet and found these blue striped liners. I love how you can see the blueberries through them, it lets you know what to expect when you take a bite! These would have been good also with just a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

Here's a finished cupcake all by itself.

This was a good recipe for the summertime, as blueberries are in all the markets. The whipped cream on top is light enough to not take away from the fresh taste of the fruit. The minis can be devoured in one bite!

Here's the inside, with the yummy blueberries.

I was concerned that they'd all fall to the bottom of the batter, but that didn't happen. I'm guessing it's because the blueberries are light enough, as opposed to a heavier fruit such as raspberries. In that case, most recipes recommend dusting the fruit (or whatever else) with flour before folding it in, so they will remain suspended in the batter and not fall to the bottom.

So, next recipe coming up is zucchini-spice, but I may hold off. When baking today, it got sooo hot in the kitchen, it was really unbearable, being 110 degrees outside. We'll have to wait for a day when it's only 105 before baking again :)

Cupcake Challenge #10- Banana pecan cupcakes with caramel buttercream

Banana-pecan cupcakes with caramel buttercream. A brand new experience for me! Never made banana cupcakes or caramel buttercream before. These smelled so warm and homey while baking. I used fresh bananas of course, and toasted pecans both in the batter and on top as a garnish. This recipe made 33, instead of the indicated 28, and cooked in under 15 minutes!

Here they are right out of the oven, smelling so fantastic. I don't actually like to eat bananas, but the smell is great.

These were so moist and delicious, almost like a muffin. They would be great eaten as-is, with no frosting, but Martha recommends frosting, so that's what I did!

This frosting recipe was complicated, a variation on Swiss Merengue Buttercream, which always gives me problems. Since there were multiple steps, I really could have used an extra mixer bowl so I didn't have to clean it out before each step. First I had to cream the butter, and then make the caramel, which I had never done before. I may have let it cook a bit too long, but it still tasted great. Caramel is made by boiling a sugar syrup until golden brown, then adding heavy cream. once cooled, it's a gooey sticky mess, but oh so good.

Here's the finished caramel in the pan.

It actually wasn't as hard as I thought, and easy enough to clean up. Although I did use a trick I'd seen somewhere before. The recipe says to wash down the sides of the bowl with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystallization. I had seen a trick, where you simply put the lid of the pot on top whil it's boiling, and the condensation will trickle down to prevent the sugar crystals from forming. It worked like a charm!

While the caramel was cooling, I made the Swiss Merengue. I have made this a few times before and screwed it up a few times too, so I knew what to look for. Although I was a bit disappointed that Martha did not include any descriptions or pictures of what it's supposed to look like during the process. Once you beat the egg whites and sugar, then you add the butter, and the mixture usually looks curdled and all wrong. I've learned from experience to chill the mix before beating the ever loving shit out of it. Then it turns out great!

Here is the finished frosting, with caramel added:

Swiss Merenge Buttercream is a lot lighter and less sweet than an American buttercream. Although it uses sometimes twice as much butter, there's also a lot less sugar. It relies on beaten egg whites for volume and stiffness, while the other relies on a pound of powdered sugar. My mom prefers the Swiss Merengue Buttercream for its taste, but I prefer the American buttercream for its ease to make and its durability.

Here's a finished frosted cupcake, sans pecan topper.

All in all, this was a very challenging recipe, and I feel more confident about making Swiss Merengue Buttercream now. This would be a great trest for the fall, and these cupcakes could even be eaten without frosting for breakfast.
Next up: Blueberry cupcakes with whipped cream. So summery!

Cupcake Challenge #9- Tiramisu cupcakes

Tiramisu cupcakes: vanilla sponge cake soaked in coffee syrup, topped with mascarpone frosting, sprinkled with cocoa powder. Deee-lish! I have made tiramisu cupcakes before, but I just used my regular vanilla cupcakes and topped them with mascarpone frosting. These are a little more involved. First of all, the cake itself is a sponge cake, very very light and airy. And this recipe called for infusing a vanilla bean in warm milk before adding it to the batter, which leaves little specks of vanilla in the baked cupcakes.

Here they are right out of the oven:

Then, I made a coffee syrup. The recipe called for adding marsala wine too, but I omitted that, mostly because I'd have to buy a whole bottle for only 1/4 cup worth. If I were making more than one batch of these, I'd do it, but not for just one use. The cupcakes were brushed with the coffee syrup multiple times. The recipe says to use 1/3 cup coffee and let it absorb into the cupcakes. I used maybe half of that, and they were soaked through.

Here are the cupcakes after brushing them with the coffee syrup:

They look a little messy and soggy, but they smelled wonderful! The mascarpone frosting was next, which was simply whipped cream folded into the cheese with a little bit of sugar. I also added a drop of vanilla, because it makes all frostings taste better :) I dolloped the frosting on top of the soaked cupcakes.

Here they are, so fluffy and mouth-watering!

The final step was to sprinkle cocoa powder on top, just like real tiramisu. These must be eaten the same day, because the coffee syrup makes the cupcakes too soggy to keep overnight. I like that the cake and frosting are both light and airy, it makes you feel not as bad when eating them! Although this recipe was a lotmore work than my own, I think it's better, and would definitely use it in the future.
Next up: Banana-Pecan cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream. Tasty!