ICE: Music Ebony and Ivory Cupcakes

Iron Cupcake is back!

I was very excited to see that Iron Cupcake was back after its few months hiatus. And this month's theme was music. We were to create a cupcake centered around or inspired by music.

I decided to go with a song and take my inspiration from that. I played around with a lot of ideas...

• Making a mountain of a cupcake for "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"
• Making banana cupcakes for " Day-Oh"
• Making a cupcake look wet for "Someone Left the Cake Out in the Rain"
• Making a spicy cupcake for "Feeling Hot Hot Hot"
• Making a sugar and spice cupcake for "I Feel Good"
• Making a blue cupcake for "I'm Blue..ah bo di ah bu di"
• Making a exlax cupcake for "Dare You to Move"
• I had more...I know a lot of songs :)

But in the end, I went with a fairly straight forward cupcake, inspired by "Ebony and Ivory."

Why is it that every time I say those words, I start singing the song. It's inevitable. And not only that, but I totally sing it and imagine it like the "Psych" commercial where the two main guys are singing, pushing each other around, and playing the "pyano" keyboard...why can't we?

So for these cupcakes, I knew I wanted to do a dual layer cupcake but not in the traditional style of horizontal layers. I wanted vertical layers. So my first task was trying to figure out how I could pull that off. My first idea was trying to make a divider in the cupcake tin, but then my genius husband suggested that I squirt them in simultaneously. What a great idea...and it totally worked! I knew I married him for some reason. :)

So here you can see me using my completely classy ketchup and mustard squirt bottles to fill the cupcake molds. Look at that amazing division, but yet they are together...in harmony...okay, I'll stop...eventually...if I can...I've been singing this for three weeks now...someone please help me...

I went with a black velvet cake recipe that I actually found on Smithfield farms recipe. I halved it for the ebony side, and then modified it for the coconut ivory side. I thought that if the two halves were from the same recipe they would bake at the same temperature and for the same amount of time. I think this would have worked out perfectly if I had tweaked my modifications a little bit. As it was, the ivory side was a little thicker (I think I overcompensated for the lack of cocoa too much) and so it rose slower and sank more than the ebony side. So I got a little lopsided cupcakes, but they were still good. In the future, I think I will only add an extra 1/4 cup of  flour instead of a 1/2 a cup.

And here's how I made them.

Ebony and Ivory Cupcakes

adapted from Paula Deen's Black Velvet Cake

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups + 2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder (divided)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup cold espresso

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil (divided)

1/4 cup chopped shredded sweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with liners.
For the ebony side:
In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, 1 cup and 1 tablespoon of sugar, cocoa, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Make a well in the center and pour in one egg, coffee, buttermilk and 1/4 cup oil. Mix until smooth, batter will be thin.
For the ivory side:
In a large bowl, combine 1 1/4 cup flour, 1 cup and 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and chopped coconut. Make a well in the center and pour in one egg, coconut milk, and 1/4 cup oil. Mix until smooth.
Put into squeeze bottles and squeeze into prepared liners evenly. Bake in the preheated oven for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.
Frost with your favorite white or chocolate icing or a mix of the two.

Our Generous IronCupcake:Earth Prize Providers:

• The Demy™ by Key Ingredient
• Hello, Cupcake by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson
• Bella Cupcake Couture
• Cupcake Stackers by Gourmac
• The Cake Mix Doctor Returns! by Anne Byrne

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