Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Irish Cream Buttercream…..Slainte!!

Posted in Desserts/Pastries by The Culinary Chronicles

It’s that time of the year again. When you see tons of postings in honor of St. Paddy’s Day.

Green colored beer and desserts, shamrocks galore, corn beef recipes, Guinness braised meats, and more! As for me, I went all out last year with our Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with a Baileys Ganache.

I kind of went overboard with them. They literally SCREAMED St. Paddy’s Day with a decadent Guinness Beer cupcake, filled with a chocolate truffle, with spirals of green Baileys buttercream, topped with shamrock sprinkles and wrapped up in a bright green striped cupcake liner. PHEW! Now that is St. Paddy’s!

Those cuppies were decadently delicious and I wanted to bring them back for this year’s St. Paddy’s Day — but a little more “understated”.

I went for the same moist, stout beer cupcakes and Irish cream flavored buttercream—-however, this time around I opted out of the truffle centers and put away my green food coloring. No need….their yumminess speaks for itself.

I chose a simple large round tip to pipe the frosting this time– a Wilton 1A. But as “understated” as I was trying to keep things, I could not resist breaking out the shamrock sprinkles. After all, I don’t get to use them very often — and who couldn’t use a little more luck?

As for the end results……they were delicious! The dark stout beer adds such a subtle nuttiness to the chocolate cupcakes while the Irish Cream buttercream perfectly rounds out the flavors. And if done correctly, the buttercream is so smooth and rich— a dream to pipe out

So whether you want to go BIG with the GREEN theme or be a little more subtle, Chocolate Stout Cupcakes are definitely the way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!

And with that dear Friends, SLAINTE!!!

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Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Irish Cream Buttercream
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:
1 Cup Stout Beer
1 Cup Unsalted Butter
¾ Cup Quality Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Cups Granulated Sugar
1½ Teaspoons Baking Soda
¾ Teaspoon Salt
2 Large Eggs
⅔ Cup Sour Cream

Irish Cream Buttercream:
4 to 5 Cups Confections Sugar
2 Cups Unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 to 5 Tablespoons Irish Cream Liqueur

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake cups with paper liners.

Prepare the cupcakes: Put the butter with the stout beer in a sauce pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Whisk in cocoa powder until smooth. Cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In a mixer bowl, beat the eggs and the sour cream together. Add the beer/butter/cocoa mixture and beat to combine. Add the flour mixture and beat briefly just to combine. Using a rubber spatula, fold the batter until completely combined, making sure to incorporate little pockets of flour on the bottom so that the batter is of equal consistency everywhere.

Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 of the way if you want flatter cupcakes and 3/4 if you want domed. Bake for about 17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely to room temperature.

Prepare the frosting: In a large mixer bowl, whip the butter for several minutes until very light and fluffy. Slowly add about half of the powdered sugar a few spoonfuls at a time until incorporated. Slowly drizzle the Irish Cream and whip until combined. Add the rest of the powdered sugar until your desired consistency has been achieved.

Assemble: Fill a pastry bag and pipe buttercream on top of cooled cupcakes. Garnish with sprinkles or other adornments. Enjoy!

Note: This makes a lot of buttercream so that you can pipe large mounds on the cupcakes. If you prefer less on your cuppies, halve the amounts.

2Mar2011

Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes with Mocha Buttercream

Posted in Desserts/Pastries by The Culinary Chronicles

It’s rare for to bake/cook something these days without sharing with you all my Foodventures.

Therefore, you can imagine my surprise when an old neighbor contacted me looking for my Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes. She blames me for getting her hooked on fresh baked goods and then leaving her without her weekly sugar fixes After apologizing profusely, I began referring her to the site when I realized I never posted a recipe for them. DOH!

So without any other further delay—Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes with Mocha Buttercream. Extremely moist cuppies with light accents of espresso flavor. I paired these with a Mocha Buttercream and since its on the sweeter side, I suggest piping minimal amounts of frosting on these cupcakes.

Top these bad boys with chocolate covered espresso beans and a dust of cocoa powder and you won’t be in need for any extra caffeine for the day!

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Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes with Mocha Buttercream
Makes approximately 24-26 Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:
2¼ Cups All Purpose Flour
1½ Cups Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2½ Cups Granulated Sugar
1¼ Teaspoon Baking Powder
2½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Whole Eggs
1¼ Cups Buttermilk
2/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Freshly Brewed Strong Coffee
1 Tablespoon Instant Espresso Powder

Mocha Buttercream:
10 Tablespoons of Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
3 Tablespoons Espresso, at room temperature
½ Tablespoon Cocoa Powder
3-4 Cups Confectioner Sugar (varies due to preferred frosting consistency)

Garnish:
Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans
2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with paper cups.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Dissolve the espresso powder in the coffee. In a mixing stand, add the eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Beat on low speed until well combined. Add the coffee/espresso liquid and beat for an additional minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Slowly add in the dry ingredients. Mix until all items are incorporated.

Fill paper cups 2/3 full. Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave cupcakes in pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

While cupcakes are cooling, prepare the frosting. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter until fluffy. Add the cocoa powder and continue whipping until combined. Slowly add the espresso. It may look a bit curdled but don’t worry as it will come together once the sugar is added. Gradually add in the confectioners’ sugar, ½ cup at a time. Continue adding sugar to desire consistency. (I typically lean towards the full 4 cups for a firmer consistency to pipe the frosting). Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes before use.

Once cupcakes are completely cooled and frosting is ready, pipe/frost cupcakes. Top with each with a chocolate covered espresso bean and dust with cocoa powder.

21Feb2011

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

Posted in Desserts/Pastries by The Culinary Chronicles

It’s been a minute since I’ve baked Cupcakes. In fact, I gave up baking for the entire month of January. The holidays just wiped me out and I needed some reprieve.

But lately when I open up my cabinets, I see my little muffin/cupcake pans looking at me sadly. You know what I’m talking about. It’s the “why have you abandoned us” kind of look.

These little pans have been good and loyal….. and they were in need of some TLC.

So when I made plans to reconnect with some old friends the other day, I thought it was high time to whip them out, blow off the dust, and get Cupcakin‘!

I managed to pull together a rich chocolate cupcake, filled them with a raspberry sauce, and topped them off with a whipped chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries.

Easy, simple, and pretty.

Perfect to get my Cupcake Baking Love going again.

Note: I used a Wilton 4B Tip to pipe the ganache.

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Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
Makes approximately 24 Cupcakes (depending on size)

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cake:

½ Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1½ Teaspoons Baking Soda
¾ Teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Cups Granulated Sugar
5 Ounces Dark Chocolate, finely chopped
1 Cup Buttermilk
1 Cup Strong Brewed Hot Coffee
½ Cup Vegetable Oil
2 Large Eggs
2 Teaspoons Raspberry Extract

Chocolate Ganache:
12 Ounces Quality Dark Chocolate, finely chopped
1 Cup Heavy Cream
1 Tablespoon Framboise Liqueur

Raspberry Filling:
2 Cups Frozen Raspberries
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Tablespoon Framboise Liqueur
1 Teaspoon Fresh Lemon Zest

Prepare Cakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper cup liners in cupcake pans. Place finely chopped chocolate in a bowl and pour hot coffee over it. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to sit for a few minutes. Remove plastic and stir until smooth. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, and salt into a large bowl. In a mixing stand, beat eggs for a few minutes until they become a pale yellow. Beat in oil, buttermilk, and raspberry extract . Scrape down the sides of the bowl and slowly add the chocolate. Slowly add dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Pour batter into the lined cups–about 3/4 way. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cooling racks.

Prepare Raspberry Filling: Place all raspberry sauce ingredients in a medium sized, heavy saucepan. Simmer on medium-low until berries have broken down and the sauce has thickened. Approximately 10-15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. *If you don’t want seeds in your filling, puree the raspberries in a blender and strain before cooking.

Prepare Chocolate Ganache: Place chocolate pieces in a large bowl. Heat heavy cream on medium high until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and immediately pour cream over chocolate. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to sit for a few minutes. Remove plastic and add framboise—stir until smooth and glossy. Allow ganache to cool completely before frosting. *If you wish a fluffier “whipped” frosting, allow ganache to cool completely before transferring to a stand mixer. On medium-high speed, whip until you reach the desired consistency.

Assemble Cupcakes: Once all items have been prepared, fill a piping bag with a small round tip with the raspberry filling. Fill another piping bag with the ganache. Taking one cupcake, place the tip of the raspberry filled bag into the cake and squeeze in a few teaspoons of the filling. Be careful not to “inject” too much or your cupcakes will implode Finally with the piping bag filled with ganache, pipe/decorate swirls on top of the cupcake. Garnish with fresh raspberries.

8Dec2010

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Spiced Molasses Frosting

Posted in Desserts/Pastries by The Culinary Chronicles

I think one of my biggest challenges if I ever became a professional cook would be consistency. One day I’ll make something and it’ll turn out quite yummy. But to my disappointment, the next time I make the exact same thing, it’s a flop. Same conditions, no additions, no edits……just different results. Bummer, right?

Unfortunately that was the case when I made these Gingerbread Cupcakes. Last year I made them for the holidays and I was smitten! They had a wonderful flavor and were super fluffy—-I just couldn’t wait to whip some out for this winter season.

I happily volunteered to make these cupcakes for a holiday party my sister recently hosted. I was true to the cupcake recipe and didn’t change a thing. But I did however take some liberties and switched the Cardamom Frosting for my take on a Spiced Molasses Cream Cheese Frosting.

As they were baking, the cuppies emitted a spicy, rich aroma and I just knew the frosting would be a wonderful match for them. Needless to say, expectations were high. But alas, this batch just fell short. The cake did have a great flavor–just as I remembered it but the texture was quite dry and dense. Yeah….I was bummed. The good news is the saving grace was the new frosting—slightly tangy from the cream cheese and deeply fragrant from the spices and molasses.

Golden cuppies before getting their frosting swirls…

Did you happen to catch the cute little gingerbread men sprinkles on top?? Courtesy of Barbara of Pauline’s Cake Decorating Supplies in San Jose, CA

This rendition of Gingerbread Cupcakes is definitely worth a “Do-Over“—especially since I know that they can be deliciously moist. But if for some strange reason I get the same “dry” results, I’ll just turn them into Gingerbread Cake Pops. Shhh! It’ll be our little secret.

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Gingerbread Cupcakes with Spiced Molasses Frosting
Makes 12 Cupcakes

Gingerbread Cupcakes (from The Spice Kitchen: Everyday Cooking with Organic Spices)
8 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
½ Cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
½ Cup Molasses
1 Egg
½ Teaspoon Vanilla
½ Cup Boiling Water
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1½ Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
1 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
1 Teaspoon Dried Lemon Zest
¼ Teaspoon Salt

Spiced Molasses Frosting
10 Ounces Cream Cheese, at room temperature
4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
¼ Cup Molasses
1/8 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
1/8 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
3-4 Cups Confectioner Sugar, sifted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line muffin tin with paper cups.

Cream the butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the molasses, egg, and vanilla. In a small bowl, stir together the boiling water and baking soda until dissolved. Stir the baking soda water into the molasses mixture.

Sift together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, lemon zest, and salt into a small bowl. Whisk the flour mixture into the molasses mixture until the batter is combined.

Spoon the gingerbread batter into the prepared muffin cups. Bake the cupcakes until a toothpick inserted in the center of one or two of the cupcakes comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before removing them from the pan. Place the gingerbread cupcakes on a rack to cool for 30 minutes.

While cupcakes are cooling, prepare frosting. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Mix in molasses, cinnamon, and cloves. Gradually add in the confectioners’ sugar, ½ cup at a time. Continue adding sugar to desire consistency. Fill a piping bag with the frosting and pipe large swirls on top of the cupcakes.

5Nov2010

“Chocolate Malt” Cupcakes

Posted in Desserts/Pastries by The Culinary Chronicles

Growing up I used to love going to Thrifty’s Drugstore (now known as Rite Aid in California) to get ice cream. At 35 cents a scoop you couldn’t beat the price and it was darn good! I usually rotated between two flavors, either Mint Chocolate Chip or their infamous Chocolate Malted Crunch. And yes, to this day I have been known to pick up a 1/2 gallon of it or so. You really can’t blame me—chocolate flecks with little malt balls enrobed in malt ice cream…..Who can resist??? My sibs also love Chocolate Malted Milk Shakes–YUM!

Thus was my inspiration to give these “Chocolate Malt” cuppies a try. I turned to Martha Stewart’s recipe and was happy to find that my sister had a jar of Horlicks Malt Powder on hand. I did make two minor tweaks to her recipe as I read that folks found that the cake didn’t have enough malt flavor. As a result, I increased the malt powder amount by an additional 1/4 cup and folded in a 1/2 cup of chocolate covered malt balls into the batter. As for the recipe, it was quite easy to follow–pretty much a one bowl situation. And when I pulled the cuppies out of the oven, I was pleased to see beautiful even domes on the tops.

The Chocolate Malt Buttercream was a great pairing for the cuppies, too–giving it that extra oompf of malt flavor. Of course, it didn’t hurt that I topped them each with chocolate covered malt balls. Hey, I never said this was low-calorie

Chocolate Malt Cupcakes…..same great flavors as a Chocolate Malted Milk Shake without the potential brain freezes

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“Chocolate Malt” Cupcakes
Cupcakes adapted from Martha Stewart Cupcakes
Buttercream adapted from Oh My! Sugar High
Makes approximately 28 Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:
2¼ Cups All-Purpose Flour
¾ Cup Unsweetened Dutch-Process Cocoa Powder
½ Cup Granulated Sugar
¾ Cup Packed Brown Sugar
1½ Teaspoons Baking Soda
½ Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Milk
1½ Cups Malted Milk Powder
1 Cup Vegetable Oil
3 Large Eggs, at room temperature
1 Cup Sour Cream, at room temperature
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
½ Cup Chocolate Covered Malt Balls, chopped

Chocolate Malt Buttercream:
1 Cup Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
1 Cup Vegetable Shortening, at room temperature
½ Cup Malted Milk Powder
2-4 Tablespoons Unsweetened Dutch-Process Cocoa Powder
2 Teaspoons Instant Espresso Powder
3 Tablespoons Milk
4 Cups Confectioner Sugar, sifted
*Chocolate Covered Malt Balls and Straws to garnish (Optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, cocoa, both sugars, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk together milk and malted milk powder until powder is dissolved.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat flour mixture, milk mixture and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add sour cream and vanilla, and beat just until combined. Fold in crushed chocolate covered malt balls.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each halfway. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

While cupcakes are cooling, prepare frosting. In a large mixer bowl, whip the butter and shorting for several minutes until very light and fluffy. Sprinkle in malted milk powder, espresso powder and cocoa powder. Whip for 1 minute. Slowly add the powdered sugar a few spoonful at a time, letting it incorporate until the frosting becomes thicker and stiff. Add milk, one tablespoon at a time and whip until combined.

Fill bag with the frosting and pipe large swirls on top of cupcakes. Top with candies and straw garnish.

Enjoy!

**Note: I was able to make these cuppies extra special by using the wonderfully decadent Valrhona Cocoa Powder for both the cake and the buttercream. Valrhona is quite arguably one of the best chocolates/cocoa to bake with and adds a lovely intense/pure flavor. With that said, I was able to get away with only using 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder in the buttercream where I may have needed more had I used another brand.**

25Oct2010

“Mango-licious” Mango Cupcakes

Posted in Desserts/Pastries by The Culinary Chronicles

Mangoes are my favorite fruit.

And when you get one that’s perfectly ripe, nothing can beat a bite of that fragrant, sweet, juicy, and downright luscious goodness. In fact, I have so many memories of my grandma slicing up ripened mangoes and handing me the seed to gnaw on—my favorite part. We even used to snack on green mangoes dipped in a little salt with chili—mmm!

With that said, I have had some difficulties translating my favorite fruit into cupcake form. Too often the end product came out too “bread-like” with only faint traces of mango flavor. When I came across the Cupcake Project’s Mango Cupcakes post, I found that she too had the same challenges but had good results when using pure mango extract. I took a try at her recipe with a few tweaks and am happy to report that this was my best attempt yet—though I think there’s still room for some improvement. Although the cake itself yielded MUCH more of the mango flavor than I was able to achieve before, it still didn’t have as much as I wanted. (Even though I used fresh mango puree, mango extract, AND mango yogurt in the batter.) So to heighten the flavor, I went for mango overkill by topping the cuppies with a mango buttercream, mango coulis and fresh mango slices.

And that did the trick. “Mango-liciousness” achieved.

Taking a big bite of the cuppie with all of its components put a smile on this gal’s face. The buttercream offered the fragrant mango profile that I was looking for while the coulis added the concentrated mango flavor. I had originally considered using dried mangoes to top the cuppies but settled on fresh mango slices as it gave a wonderful texture contrast.

Overall, I was pretty happy but if you’re going to give this one a try, you’ve GOT to have mango extract (BIG thanks to my sis who ordered mine for me online). I also suggest using fresh mango puree as opposed to mango nectar as it offers a deeper flavor.

With some minor tweaks, this little number could be a keeper!

Mango Extract was REALLY hard to find. My advise, order it online!

Mango Cupcake platter for my niece Maya’s art class.

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“Mango-licious” Mango Cupcakes
Adapted from Cupcake Project
Makes approximately 16 Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Mango Cupcakes
2 Cups Cake Flour
2½ Teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ Teaspoon Salt
¾ Cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
2/3 Cup Sugar
2 Large Eggs
2/3 Cups Mango Yogurt
2 Teaspoons Pure Mango Extract
1 Cup Fresh Mango Puree

Mango Buttercream Frosting
2 to 3 Cups Confectioners Sugar, sifted
1½ Cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1/3 Cup Fresh Mango Puree
1 Teaspoon Pure Mango Extract
1-2 Tablespoons Sour Cream (can substitute with milk)

Mango Coulis
1½ Cups Fresh Mango, cubed
1 Teaspoon Fresh Lemon Juice
¼ Cup Water
½ Cup Sugar

Mango Coulis: In a saucepot, combine the chopped mango, lemon juice, water and sugar together. Bring the mixture up to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes or until the fruit is very tender. Pour the mixture into a food processor and puree until smooth. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Mango Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tin with paper liners. Into a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each, then beat in yogurt and mango extract. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with mango puree and beginning and ending with flour. Be careful to not over mix. Pour batter into cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. While cupcakes are cooling, prepare frosting.

Mango Buttercream: In a large mixer bowl, whip the butter for several minutes until very light and fluffy. Add mango puree and mango extract. Whip until combined. Slowly add the confectioners sugar until the frosting becomes thicker and stiff. Add sour cream and whip until desired piping consistency.

Fill piping bag with the frosting and pipe large swirls on top of cooled cupcakes. Drizzle mango coulis over the cupcakes and top with fresh slices of mangoes.

20Sep2010

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting

Posted in Desserts/Pastries by The Culinary Chronicles

Alas dear Friends, life has had its way with me. And as much as I’ve wanted to, I haven’t had much time for many “foodventures”–let alone write about them. But I’ve missed “this space” and like all great relationships, we’ve got to make the time

So allow me to share my last cupcake adventure that happened just a few week’s ago when the bf’s family made a spontaneous and fun-filled visit. It also happened to be right around his mom’s birthday—so sweet treats were a must! (Happy Bday, Mrs. M!)

I knew I wanted to use a Nutella Cream Cheese frosting that I had played around with earlier this year but couldn’t decide what the cake base should be. With “decadence” in mind, I came across “My Baking Addiction’s” version of the Chocolate Chip Cupcake—BINGO!

Fairly simple to make, I pulled together the cuppies, put a quick swirl of frosting on top, and sprinkled them with crushed hazelnuts.

How did they turn out? SUPER RICH! Borderline, too rich (if that’s possible!). The cuppies were quite yummy—moist and full of chocolate flavor. The frosting was rich with accents of hazelnut. Great on their own but it may have been a tad too much combined. My suggestion if you do make these cuppies—pair them with a tall glass of cold milk.

And although the photos I snapped, weren’t my fav (BOO on lighting and exposure issues!), I was quite happy to have made them. You never know unless you try, right? After all, experimenting is half the fun!

Until next Friends!

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Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes approximately 14 Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes (From My Baking Addiction)
¾ Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
¾ Cup All-Purpose Flour
½ Teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ Teaspoon Salt
¾ Cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1 Cup Sugar
3 Large Eggs
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
½ Cup Sour Cream
¾ Cup Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting
3 to 4 Cups Confectioners Sugar, sifted
½ Cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
¾ Cups Cream Cheese, room temperature
½ Nutella
1-2 Tablespoons Sour Cream (can substitute with milk)
½ Cup Crushed Hazelnuts to top
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners.

Into a medium bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each, then beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with sour cream and beginning and ending with flour. Gently fold in chocolate chips.

Pour batter into cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

While cupcakes are cooling, prepare frosting. In a large mixer bowl, whip the butter and cream cheese for several minutes until very light and fluffy. Add Nutella and whip until combined. Slowly add the confectioners sugar until the frosting becomes thicker and stiff. Add sour cream and whip until desired piping consistency.

Fill piping bag with the frosting and pipe large swirls on top of cupcakes. Sprinkle crushed hazelnuts on top. Enjoy!

19Jul2010

Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Curd & Guava Buttercream Frosting

Posted in Desserts/Pastries by The Culinary Chronicles

Confession: Sometimes when I’m testing out a new component to a recipe, I’ll use shortcuts in other areas. For example, when I thought of creating Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Curd & Guava Buttercream Frosting, I wanted to focus my time on getting the right flavor profile down for the Guava Buttercream and defaulted to using a packaged Lemon Curd from Trader Joe’s (which, incidentally, is delicious!). And although I love Lemon Curd and would have been able to find many uses for it, I didn’t want to whip up an entire batch for such a small amount. Trader Joe’s to the rescue!

The Guava Buttercream was inspired through one of my other ongoing projects—attempting to make the elusive Hawaiian Guava Chiffon Cake. And although I have been quite unsuccessful with that particular Island pastry, it has left my pantries well stocked with guava products such as jams, syrups and nectar. If you can’t find Guava concentrated Nectar (I used the Hawaiian Sun brand), you can use regular Guava juice—though I suspect the flavor won’t pack as much punch.

As for the cuppies, I turned to one of my standard vanilla cupcakes to offer a subtle but tasty canvas for the Guava Buttercream. It also paired nicely with the lemon curd though I think the buttecream had such a nice tropical flavor that it could stand on its own. Perhaps a Mango Cupcake with Guava Buttercream sprinkled with Li Hing powder? Mmmmm!!!

And with that, here’s my question to you all….

What type of cuppie do you think will pair well with a Guava Buttercream?

CHEERS!

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Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Curd & Guava Buttercream Frosting
Makes 12 Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Vanilla Cupcakes
1½ Cups All Purpose Flour
1½ Teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ Teaspoon Salt
3 Large Eggs (room temperature)
1 Cup Vanilla Sugar* (or plain granulated sugar)
½ Cup Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
1 Tablespoon Good Quality Vanilla Extract
¼ Cup Milk
¾ Cup Lemon Curd

*Vanilla Sugar
Take the scraped Vanilla Bean Pod and bury into one cup of granulated sugar. Cover for a minimum of 5 days, stirring every other day.

Guava Buttercream Frosting
3 to 4 Cups Confectioners Sugar (sifted)
½ Cup Unsalted butter (room temperature)
½ Cup Guava Jam
2-3 Tablespoons Guava Concentrated Nectar

Preheat oven to 350°degrees and place paper liners in pans. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a standing mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together until light and creamy for about 2 minutes. Add the butter, and vanilla extract. Mix until well incorporated. Add milk and mix until smooth. Slowly incorporate dry ingredients until well blended.

Fill each lined cup 2/3 full with cupcake batter. Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes, rotating halfway between baking time. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes clean. Cool completely in pans on top of a wire rack.

While cupcakes are cooling, prepare Guava Buttercream. In a large mixer bowl, whip the butter for several minutes until very light and fluffy. Slowly add the confectioners sugar until the butter becomes thicker and stiff. Add Guava Jam and Nectar and whip until combined. If needed, add a few more spoons of confectioners sugar until desired consistency is reached.

When cupcakes are thoroughly cooled, fill a piping bag with a small tip and the Lemon Curd. Carefully insert the tip into the cupcake and slowly fill each cake with desired amount. You can also cut a small hole in the cupcake using a pairing knife and fill in with the lemon curd.

Fill another piping bag with the prepared Guava Buttercream. Frost and decorate the cupcakes.

ENJOY!

2Jul2010

Red Velvet Cupcakes…Just in Time for the 4th of July!

Posted in Desserts/Pastries by The Culinary Chronicles

When the Cupcake Craze emerged, it resurrected the huge following of Red Velvet Cupcake goers. People just love them—and in fact, it’s my most requested cupcake.

There’s just something about that bright red color of the cake and mounds of frosting that really draw people in. I’m not sure if it’s more the flavor or the coloring that is the attraction—though I’m partial to the hue. Heck—I’m also the gal who can’t eat Mint Chip Ice Cream that isn’t the brightly colored green type!

Traditionally dyed with beet juice, Red Velvet Cake has come along way and is produced in variety of incarnations. Some prefer oil to butter, cake flour to all-purpose, buttermilk to regular milk, a ton of cocoa powder to a few spoonfuls……it can go on and on. The particular version I gravitate towards uses a butter base in combination with sour cream. I find that this leaves the cake with a more rich and moist profile. I also love a deep intense color and tend to use more food coloring than others. This is also affected by the low amount of cocoa powder in this particular recipe. Whereas some prefer to use more cocoa powder, I am under the belief that it’s there just for a light flavoring.

These classic Red Velvet Cuppies have been a fav among my family and friends. Top them off with a few blueberries and they will be the perfect addition to any 4th of July Celebration!!!

Have a safe and HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!

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Red Velvet Cupcakes
Makes approximately 18 Regular Sized Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Batter
1¼ Cups All Purpose Flour
½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
¼ Teaspoon Salt
1½ Tablespoons High Quality Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
½ Cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 Large Eggs, room temperature
½ Cup Sour Cream
½ Cup Lowfat Milk
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2-3 Tablespoons Red Food Color, depending on desired intensity of color

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 Ounces of Cream Cheese, room temperature
4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, room temperature
2-3 Cups Confectioner Sugar, varies due to preferred frosting consistency
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Preheat the oven to 350°degrees and place paper liners in pans.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a standing mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy for about 3-4 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add milk, sour cream, vanilla, and food color. Slowly incorporate dry ingredients until well blended.

Fill each lined cup 2/3 full. Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes, rotating halfway between baking time. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes clean. Cool completely in pans on top of a wire rack.

While cupcakes are baking, prepare the frosting. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add vanilla extract and gradually add in the confectioners’ sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. Continue adding sugar to desire consistency. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes before use.

When cupcakes are thoroughly cooled either frost or pipe decorate swirls on top.

Enjoy!

23Jun2010

“I’m a Big Boy” Cupcakes

Posted in Desserts/Pastries by The Culinary Chronicles

Last month my friend Ashley put in a unique cupcake request to celebrate a momentous occasion in her eldest son’s life—Potty Training! In an effort to get him excited about this new phase in his life, she was throwing him a “Bye-Bye Diapers” celebration and wanted cuppies with some undies on them

I was intrigued and quickly accepted the challenge. Instead of worrying about cake flavors and frosting types (like I usually do when filling orders), I was consumed with how to best illustrate these whimsical cuppies and enlisted the help of the BF. Isaiah is quite artsy and always is able to create some beautiful work. And yes, I realize that I’m a lucky gal for dragging in the BF to not only decorate cupcakes but make BVDs!

For the cake, I settled on a simple Vanilla batter as I find that kids “J’s” age gravitate more to the classics–chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry. Amy Sedaris’ Vanilla Cupcakes were just the trick to a quick and tasty Vanilla cuppie. As for the frosting, kids typically like frosting better than the cake–and usually the sweeter the better! My standard quick-vanilla-butter cream-frosting was in order.

And finally, the decorations—which turned out to be the most difficult decision. I knew I would be happier with the overall look if I used Fondant for it’s smooth, clean lines and it would be much easier to cut shapes out of it. However, if you’re anything like me, I really am not a fan of the taste or texture of eating fondant. And if I don’t like it, I can’t expect the kiddies to either. After much deliberation, I settled on a diplomatic compromise. For the “flavor”, half the cupcakes would have a big mound of butter cream frosting and be topped with a “BVD” fondant decoration. For the “look”, the other half of the cupcakes would be covered in all fondant.

The process with the fondant was actually quite fun! One just needs a bit of cornstarch to ensure it doesn’t stick while rolling it out and you need to be sure to store the unused fondant in airtight containers to prevent it from drying out. Isaiah and I got a pretty nice assembly line pumping them out, too. I’d primarily roll out the fondant and cut the “BVD” shapes and he would pipe the red accents using colored royal icing. For these cuppies, I used Martha Stewart’s Royal Icing recipe as it uses meringue powder instead of egg whites. This is particular nice since some folks are wary of using/eating raw eggs.

We were quite happy with the end result of our “I’m a Big Boy Cupcakes”. It had a great playfulness from the bright colors we chose and of course, because of the “BVDs”. The Big Guy also seemed to enjoy them as he took a big whomping bite directly from the top–frosting, fondant, and all!

Just goes to show–No decoration is too silly. And in fact, the more silly–the better!!!

Wishing you tons of Luck, “J”! You’re a BIG BOY, now!

Cupcakes packed and ready to go!

“J” Approved Pic courtesy of his proud, Mama.

The Culinary Chronicles

Tag Archives: Cupcakes

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Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Spiced Molasses Frosting

“Chocolate Malt” Cupcakes

“Mango-licious” Mango Cupcakes

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting

Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Curd & Guava Buttercream Frosting

Red Velvet Cupcakes…Just in Time for the 4th of July!

“I’m a Big Boy” Cupcakes

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