Showing posts with label cupcake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cupcake. Show all posts
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Sunday, October 25, 2009
ICE: Music Ebony and Ivory Cupcakes
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...
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Beet Chocolate Cupcakes
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Iron Cupcake: Herbs--and my way out
This month's Iron Cupcake Challenge was herbs. I decided to take the easy way out and use mint, because I like mint and you can't go wrong with mint and chocolate.
I wanted to do something a little different though, so I tried to do zebra cupcakes. However, the zebra stripes didn't quite turn out. I think this is due to the fact that my layers must have been too thin. Next time, I think I'll try for fewer stripes and use more batter in each dump.
Nevertheless, the cupcakes turned out yummy, which is always a good thing. So here they are!
Minty Zebra(ish) Cupcakes
inspired from here
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup heavy cream
Warm cream up in microwave and pour over chocolate chips. Stir until smooth. Dip or spread on cupcakes.
And here are the prizes.
Our June ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:
I wanted to do something a little different though, so I tried to do zebra cupcakes. However, the zebra stripes didn't quite turn out. I think this is due to the fact that my layers must have been too thin. Next time, I think I'll try for fewer stripes and use more batter in each dump.
Nevertheless, the cupcakes turned out yummy, which is always a good thing. So here they are!
Minty Zebra(ish) Cupcakes
inspired from here
2 c. of all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. of baking powder
1/2 tsp. of salt
4 large eggs
1 c. plus 1 tbsp. of white sugar
1 c. of milk
1 c. of vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. of mint extract
1 tsp. chopped mint (more if you want more mintiness)
1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Preheat the oven to 350oF.
Line muffin tin with paper liners.
Stir the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the eggs and sugar until smooth and light colored, about two minutes on high speed of a hand mixer. Add the oil and milk, and mix for another minute.
Add the flour mixture and mix just until blended. The batter will be of pouring consistency but not thin.
Pour half of the batter into another bowl. In one portion, add mint extract and chopped mint. Stir to blend. Add the vanilla and the cocoa powder to the other portion and stir lightly to blend.
Assemble the cake. Place the baking pan in front of you. Place the bowl of white cake batter to the left of the pan and the bowl of chocolate batter to the right of the pan. Take two small cups of equal sizes (I used two tablespoons; however, if you want to get stripes, you might want to try a bigger size, like a scant 1/4 cup). Pour a cupful of the white cake batter onto the center of the pan. Then, pour a cupful of the chocolate batter directly at the center of the cupful of white cake batter. Repeat until all the cake batter has been poured into the pan.
Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean. Mine took 20 minutes to bake.
Then frost with chocolate ganache. Garnish with mint leaf if desired.
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup heavy cream
Warm cream up in microwave and pour over chocolate chips. Stir until smooth. Dip or spread on cupcakes.
And here are the prizes.
Our June ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:
- A sweet cupcake ID bracelet by INSANEJELLYFISH, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5021935
- A delicious treat from CIRCLEMONKEY http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5335273
- a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery, http://www.acupcakery.com/
- PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
I've got a lot of catching up to do
I've finally gotten internet in our apartment. Who knew that it would take a week and a half from when our internet was supposed to be turned on to work out all the problems so that we could actually use the internet. It's been quite frustrating, but I survived...somehow.
So with the move, I have gotten a serious baking bug. I've been baking and baking and baking and baking. And I have so wanted to post about them, so I've been taking pictures waiting for the time when our internet would be working. And now it is.
Just before I left for Texas, my "lunch bunch" buddies got me a gift certificate to Barnes & Nobles, for they wanted to get me a cookbook, but didn't know what I already had. So I took the opportunity to get Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, since I had heard so many good things about it. So I've been doing a lot of my baking out of that book, since all I had were books to bake by when I got here.
I'm just going to look at two things I've made kind of recently.
First, is Caramel Crunch bars from the aforementioned cookbook. I'm not going to be including the recipe, but it's on page 112 if you have the book.
These were pretty good, but I wish they made a little more. I made these for Jacob's office, and although the recipe says it makes 54 bars, the are very very very small bars (2 in by 1 in). But here they are.
Next, here are some cupcake ball pops I tried making for the end of school. My last hurrah, so to speak. I made two different kinds of cake balls, one chocolate and cream cheese icing, the other red velvet and strawberry icing. I had originally wanted to do chocolate with strawberry and red velvet with cream cheese, but I mixed the wrong ones and didn't realize until it was waaay too late.
These pops were incredibly difficult to make, and very time consuming. I've made cake balls plenty of times before, but the double dipping, and shaping, and freezing, and sticking took soo long. I stayed up half the night and some of the morning finishing them. And in the end, they hardly looked like cupcakes. I have no idea how Bakerella does it. I think it'll be a while until I try again.
So with the move, I have gotten a serious baking bug. I've been baking and baking and baking and baking. And I have so wanted to post about them, so I've been taking pictures waiting for the time when our internet would be working. And now it is.
Just before I left for Texas, my "lunch bunch" buddies got me a gift certificate to Barnes & Nobles, for they wanted to get me a cookbook, but didn't know what I already had. So I took the opportunity to get Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, since I had heard so many good things about it. So I've been doing a lot of my baking out of that book, since all I had were books to bake by when I got here.
I'm just going to look at two things I've made kind of recently.
First, is Caramel Crunch bars from the aforementioned cookbook. I'm not going to be including the recipe, but it's on page 112 if you have the book.
These were pretty good, but I wish they made a little more. I made these for Jacob's office, and although the recipe says it makes 54 bars, the are very very very small bars (2 in by 1 in). But here they are.
Next, here are some cupcake ball pops I tried making for the end of school. My last hurrah, so to speak. I made two different kinds of cake balls, one chocolate and cream cheese icing, the other red velvet and strawberry icing. I had originally wanted to do chocolate with strawberry and red velvet with cream cheese, but I mixed the wrong ones and didn't realize until it was waaay too late.
These pops were incredibly difficult to make, and very time consuming. I've made cake balls plenty of times before, but the double dipping, and shaping, and freezing, and sticking took soo long. I stayed up half the night and some of the morning finishing them. And in the end, they hardly looked like cupcakes. I have no idea how Bakerella does it. I think it'll be a while until I try again.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Finally, a post...and an Iron Cupcake
So it has been one crazy month. We've moved to LA, and I'm trying to get our apartment set up and find a job. And bake and keep up with this blog. All of which is difficult without internet. I don't get it until Friday! Argh! Anywho, I'm using Jacob's work computer to get this post done, so here goes. My submission to Iron Cupcake: Blueberry Lemon Cupcakes.
And here's how I did it.
Blueberry Cupcakes
adapted from Baking from My Home to Yours
1 pint blueberries
2 cups plus 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2/3 cup sugar
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon plus more for garnish
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon curd (recipe below)
scant 1/2 cup milk
1. Using your fingertips, toss the blueberries and 2 teaspoons of flour together in a small bowl just to coat the berries. In another bowl, whisk the rest of the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. In a measuring cup with a spout, mix the milk and lemon curd.
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, rub the zest into the sugar until incorporated and fragrant. Beat the butter in until light. Add the eggs one by one, mixing 1 minute after each. Add the vanilla and mix. Add the flour in three parts and the milk in two parts, alternating beginning with the flour. Gently stir in the berries.
3. Fill lined muffin tin 3/4 the way full and bake in a 350 oven for about 20 minutes, until golden on top.
Lemon Whipped Cream
from New Southern Cooking1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
Grated rind and strained juice of 3 lemons
3 eggs, beaten well
1 cup heavy cream (to be folded in to the lemon curd)
1. Place the sugar, butter, lemon rind and juice, and eggs in a heavy saucepan, and cook gently ove low heat until the mixture is thick but still falls easily from a spoon. (do this with a whisk) Do not boil or let the mixture separate. (I strain my curd so it's silky smooth, especially if I get a little bit of scrambled eggs in it) Refrigerate.
2. Whip the cream to stiff peaks. Fold half of the lemon curd into the cream and top the cupcakes.
There it is. Enjoy!
And here are the prizes:
Our June ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:
A sweet cupcake ID bracelet by INSANEJELLYFISH, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5021935
A groovy linocut piece from BLOCKHEAD PRESS http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6108705
a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery, http://www.acupcakery.com/
PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!
A sweet cupcake ID bracelet by INSANEJELLYFISH, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5021935
A groovy linocut piece from BLOCKHEAD PRESS http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6108705
a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery, http://www.acupcakery.com/
PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!
Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com/, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com/, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com/; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com/; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com/ .
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
My Big Disappointment turned good!
I was so excited about entering the Iron Cupcake Challenge this month. I planned out an idea, and I set a day to make it, and I was certain I had one or two days extra, but....no....I missed it by two days. And I so thought my idea was creative and neat...I'm sooooooooooooooo disappointed. But wait...it's not too late. I made it! Vote for me!
Nevertheless, here's what I made. The challenge was savory cupcakes so I made an egg roll cupcake.
I started with an egg roll wrapper and made it into the form of a cupcake liner. I thought I might be able to bake the cakes in it, but the shells got burned, so I just ended up sticking the muffcake into the shell afterwards.
And here's what it looked like on the inside. I opted for a vegetarian egg roll filling. It really tasted like egg roll, and some corn.
And here's the recipe:
Adapted from two recipes on epicurious.com.
This one and this one.
Egg Roll Wrappers
1 (1-lb) package Asian egg roll or spring roll wrappers
Shortening
Egg Roll Filling
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
About 4 cups peanut or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
1 1/2 bunches scallions (about 10), white and pale green parts cut into 2-inch lengths, then cut lengthwise into very thin matchsticks (2 1/2 cups)
2 celery ribs, cut into very thin matchsticks (2 cups)
2 medium carrots, cut into very thin matchsticks (1 cup)
8 large fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps sliced 1/4 inch thick (3 cups)
Corn Muffin
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled
Prepared Sweet and Sour Sauce for a glaze
Egg Roll Wrapper
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Trim the egg roll wrapper to a slightly smaller square. Grease a muffin pan and the egg roll wrappers with shortening and fit into the cups of the muffin pan. Bake for 3 to 4 minutes until golden brown. Be careful...it burns easily.
Egg Roll Filling
Stir together oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and salt in a small bowl until sugar and salt are dissolved.
Nevertheless, here's what I made. The challenge was savory cupcakes so I made an egg roll cupcake.
I started with an egg roll wrapper and made it into the form of a cupcake liner. I thought I might be able to bake the cakes in it, but the shells got burned, so I just ended up sticking the muffcake into the shell afterwards.
And here's what it looked like on the inside. I opted for a vegetarian egg roll filling. It really tasted like egg roll, and some corn.
And here's the recipe:
Adapted from two recipes on epicurious.com.
This one and this one.
Egg Roll Wrappers
1 (1-lb) package Asian egg roll or spring roll wrappers
Shortening
Egg Roll Filling
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
About 4 cups peanut or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
1 1/2 bunches scallions (about 10), white and pale green parts cut into 2-inch lengths, then cut lengthwise into very thin matchsticks (2 1/2 cups)
2 celery ribs, cut into very thin matchsticks (2 cups)
2 medium carrots, cut into very thin matchsticks (1 cup)
8 large fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps sliced 1/4 inch thick (3 cups)
Corn Muffin
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled
Prepared Sweet and Sour Sauce for a glaze
Egg Roll Wrapper
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Trim the egg roll wrapper to a slightly smaller square. Grease a muffin pan and the egg roll wrappers with shortening and fit into the cups of the muffin pan. Bake for 3 to 4 minutes until golden brown. Be careful...it burns easily.
Egg Roll Filling
Stir together oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and salt in a small bowl until sugar and salt are dissolved.
Heat a dry 12-inch heavy skillet (not nonstick) over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then add 2 tablespoons peanut oil, swirling skillet to coat. Stir-fry ginger, garlic, and scallions until scallions are wilted, about 1 minute. Add celery, carrots, and mushrooms and stir-fry until vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes.
Muff-CakePreheat oven to 425°F. Grease twelve 1/3-cup muffin cups. Combine first 7 ingredients of corn muffin in large bowl. Whisk sour cream, eggs and melted butter in another bowl. Add sour cream mixture to dry ingedients and stir just until moistened (do not overmix). Fold in egg roll mixture.
Divide batter equally among muffin cups. Bake until golden and tester inserted into center of muffins comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool on rack.
Place one muffin into an egg roll wrapper, and glaze with sweet and sour sauce.
Here's the prizes:
Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com .
- A sweet cupcake ID bracelet by INSANEJELLYFISH, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5021935
- something sweet and dangly from CHERRYCREEKCHARMS at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6686445.
- a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery, http://www.acupcakery.com/
- PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Catching up with my baking
So this past week, I have been on a baking binge. I've just been baking away. First, I got a book from the library, so I wanted to try it out for my small group on Sunday. That's where the Banana-Caramel Cake came in. Then, it was Jacob and my 2nd anniversary, so naturally I wanted to make a cake for that. That's where the Black Magic Cake with Double Chocolate Frosting came in. And then I had a women's retreat that required a no-fridge dessert, where the Black Magic Cupcakes with Buttercream Dream Frosting came in. It was busy, busy, busy for me...and my kitchen was dirty, dirty, dirty.
Banana-Caramel Cake (although I will be omitting the caramel because I didn't like it)
From Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup sour cream or creme fraiche
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups sugar
4 large eggs
Preheat the over to 350 F. Butter two 9-by-2 inch round cake pans; line bottome sith parchment. Butter parchment and dust with four, tapping out excess; set aside. Into a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, stir together mashe bananas, sour cream, and vanilla; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. With mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in two parts, beating until combined after each, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the reserved banana mixture, being careful not to overmix.
Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until cakes are golden drown and a cake tester inserted in the centers comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 20 minutes. Invert cakes onto the rack; peel off the parchment. Reinvert cakes, and let them cool completely, top sides up.
Using a serrated knife, trim tops of layers to make level. (This is where the caramel, talked about below, would have come in, but I say, fill the layers with more of the mascarpone frosting.) Using a large offset spatual, spread Mascarpone Frosting (below) over entire cake, swirling to completely cover.
Mascarpone Frosting
From Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook
1 pound mascarpone cheese
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
In the bowl of an electric mixter fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the mascarpone, cream, and confectioners' sugar until medium-soft peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes. Be careful not to overbeat. (I was a little skeptical about this since it seemed really liquidy, but it worked out great and was sooo simple.)
This cake was a mix between a cake and banana bread. I made it at the request of Brother Frank. He's quite the character, and I wanted to make him something special. The only thing I would change is the filling. It's filled with caramelized banana slices, and I just didn't like it. I spent forever with my mandolin slicer getting the slices even, only to have them fall apart in the frying pan when I was coating them with the caramel. And the caramel did not have a very good flavor. It tasted burnt, which, I guess it could have been, but I just did not enjoy the middle at all, and it kind of ruined the flavor of the whole cake for me. I think next time I'm just put some of the mascarpone frosting in the middle. That was delicious and light.
Black Magic Cupcakes
Buttercream Dream Frosting from My Baking Addiction
I made these for the ladies retreat, and I tried this new frosting. I actually liked this frosting a lot. I was afraid to add too much milk since I had had so much trouble with soft frosting so far, so this actually ended up being a little stiff. But in the end, the stiffness made the frosting look a little more like roses, so I was pleased. Especially with me decorating it at 1 in the morning, I was glad they turned out so well.
So that takes care of what I've been baking. Some sucesses, some not so much. But they are all getting eaten just the same!
Banana-Caramel Cake (although I will be omitting the caramel because I didn't like it)
From Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup sour cream or creme fraiche
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups sugar
4 large eggs
Preheat the over to 350 F. Butter two 9-by-2 inch round cake pans; line bottome sith parchment. Butter parchment and dust with four, tapping out excess; set aside. Into a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, stir together mashe bananas, sour cream, and vanilla; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. With mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in two parts, beating until combined after each, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the reserved banana mixture, being careful not to overmix.
Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until cakes are golden drown and a cake tester inserted in the centers comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 20 minutes. Invert cakes onto the rack; peel off the parchment. Reinvert cakes, and let them cool completely, top sides up.
Using a serrated knife, trim tops of layers to make level. (This is where the caramel, talked about below, would have come in, but I say, fill the layers with more of the mascarpone frosting.) Using a large offset spatual, spread Mascarpone Frosting (below) over entire cake, swirling to completely cover.
Mascarpone Frosting
From Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook
1 pound mascarpone cheese
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
In the bowl of an electric mixter fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the mascarpone, cream, and confectioners' sugar until medium-soft peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes. Be careful not to overbeat. (I was a little skeptical about this since it seemed really liquidy, but it worked out great and was sooo simple.)
This cake was a mix between a cake and banana bread. I made it at the request of Brother Frank. He's quite the character, and I wanted to make him something special. The only thing I would change is the filling. It's filled with caramelized banana slices, and I just didn't like it. I spent forever with my mandolin slicer getting the slices even, only to have them fall apart in the frying pan when I was coating them with the caramel. And the caramel did not have a very good flavor. It tasted burnt, which, I guess it could have been, but I just did not enjoy the middle at all, and it kind of ruined the flavor of the whole cake for me. I think next time I'm just put some of the mascarpone frosting in the middle. That was delicious and light.
Black Magic Cake
From My Baking Addiction
Dark Chocolate Frosting
From Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook
1 pound best-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder
6 tablespoons boiling water
3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
Pinch of salt
Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over simmer water. Turn off the heat; stir occasionally until chocolate has melted completely, about 15 minutes. Set bowl on countertop, and let chocolate cool to room temperature, 25 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile, combine cocoa powder and boiling water in a small bowl; stir until cocoa is dissolved.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, confectioners' sugar, and salt on medium-high speed until light and fluff, 3 to 4 minutes. Add melted choclate; beat on low speed until combined, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as need. Beat in the cocoa mixture.
This was my anniversary cake. I tried to decorate it with some piping, but the frosting was a little soft. This frosting is very rich and heavy-tasting. It calls for a lot of butter, which gives you that butter feel in your mouth that kind of turns me off because it feels like I'm gaining weight. So I'm not in love with the frosting, but I am in love with the cake.
Black Magic Cupcakes
Buttercream Dream Frosting from My Baking Addiction
I made these for the ladies retreat, and I tried this new frosting. I actually liked this frosting a lot. I was afraid to add too much milk since I had had so much trouble with soft frosting so far, so this actually ended up being a little stiff. But in the end, the stiffness made the frosting look a little more like roses, so I was pleased. Especially with me decorating it at 1 in the morning, I was glad they turned out so well.
So that takes care of what I've been baking. Some sucesses, some not so much. But they are all getting eaten just the same!
Friday, May 1, 2009
Rainy Day = Lemon Cupcakes + Orange Chocolate Muffins
It rained all last Monday night. And I mean rained. There was thunder and lighting and really heavy, heavy rain. Our power even went out for an hour or so, but it came back on around 8. So the next morning, Tuesday, I got up and was getting ready to go to work when I received a phone call. It was my team leader, and she informed me that school was going to be closed for the day due to weather. I politely thanked her for the information and then proceeded to whoop with delight. I even ran around the apartment a few times out of joy. I know...I'm as bad as the kids. And I'm sure Jacob appreciated the celebration, since he still did have to go to work. Sorry, Jacob. :)
But I was glad.
Since my day unexpectedly opened up, I took the opportunity to do some baking I had actually wanted to to Monday night, but the power going out threw off my schedule. I decided to make some lemon cupcakes with lemon swiss meringue buttercream. And to make it a little more interesting, I filled them with raspberry whipped cream. Then I made some orange chocolate muffins. Both of these goodies, I got from other bloggers. I post the link and recipe below.
I am still working on finding how to make a really good frosting. I overwhipped this one, so it was a little disappointing for the final texture, but it did have a better flavor than my last attempt.
Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream
from The Humble Gourmand
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
zest of 2 lemons
2 large eggs
½ cup buttermilk
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Combine butter, sugar, and lemon zest in large mixing bowl. Using an electric stand mixer or a hand mixer, beat on medium-high speed until the mixture is fluffy and much lighter in color. (This is the key to moist and fluffy cupcakes, so make sure to beat well, at least 5-10 minutes.)
3. Combine the flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. In a third, small bowl, combine the buttermilk and lemon extract. (The recipe's ingredients didn't say anything about lemon extract, so when I got to this part on the recipe, I threw in a teaspoon of lemon extract.)
4. Add the eggs one at a time to the mixer, making sure to fully incorporate the first egg before adding the second.
5. Alternate adding the flour mixture and buttermilk in the following order: add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, 1/2 of the wet, another third of the dry, the rest of the wet, and the rest of the dry. Mix until just combined and finish with a spatula. (If you overmix after the dry ingredients are added, the cupcakes will not rise properly and the texture will be chewy and dense.)
6. Bake in the top third of the oven for about 20 minutes or until the tops are slightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
7. Let cool completely before topping with the lemon buttercream (recipe follows).
Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream
7 egg whites
Pinch cream of tartar
2 c. sugar
½ c. water
1 lb. unsalted butter at room temperature
2 tsp. lemon extract
1. Combine the egg whites, cream of tartar, and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Set over a water bath and heat to 110F, making sure to stir the sugar and egg whites with the whisk attachment. At 110F, the sugar should be somewhat dissolved and the mixture should feel hot to the touch but should not burn you. Remove from the water bath and whip on high speed to medium peak.
2. Add the butter in small clumps (about 1½” cubes) and whip until the mixture becomes light and fluffy, and holds together.
3. Add the lemon extract and whip to combine.
Orange Chocolate Muffins
from SeaSaltWithFood
Grated zest of 2 Oranges
Juice of 1 Orange
About 3/4 Cup Buttermilk
2 Large Eggs
3 Tbsp Honey
1 Stick (8 Tbsp) Unsalted Butter, melted and cooled
1/3 Cup Sugar
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate, coarsely chopped or
1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (I used chocolate chips, but if I do it again, I would chop the chocolate myself of use mini chocolate chips. Mine sunk to the bottom a lot.)
1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400˚F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. (I made 6 jumbo muffins.)
2. Pour the orange juice into a large glass measuring cup or a bowl and pour in enough buttermilk to make 1 cup. Whisk in the eggs, honey and melted butter.
3. In a large bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of orange strong. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough - the batter will be lumpy and bubbly, and that’s just the way it should be. Stir in the chocolates. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
4. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes. If you want to top the muffins with decorating sugar, sprinkle on the sugar after the muffins have baked for 10 minutes. When fully baked, the tops of the muffins will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins will come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.
These muffins didn't rise very much for me, and I was really trying to not over mix the batter. When I try it again, I will preheat the oven to 450, and then when I put it in, turn it down to 400. Also, I might add a little more baking powder to the mix and try even harder to not over mix it. Practice makes perfect, I guess. I just haven't practiced enough.
I am still working on finding how to make a really good frosting. I overwhipped this one, so it was a little disappointing for the final texture, but it did have a better flavor than my last attempt.
Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream
from The Humble Gourmand
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
zest of 2 lemons
2 large eggs
½ cup buttermilk
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Combine butter, sugar, and lemon zest in large mixing bowl. Using an electric stand mixer or a hand mixer, beat on medium-high speed until the mixture is fluffy and much lighter in color. (This is the key to moist and fluffy cupcakes, so make sure to beat well, at least 5-10 minutes.)
3. Combine the flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. In a third, small bowl, combine the buttermilk and lemon extract. (The recipe's ingredients didn't say anything about lemon extract, so when I got to this part on the recipe, I threw in a teaspoon of lemon extract.)
4. Add the eggs one at a time to the mixer, making sure to fully incorporate the first egg before adding the second.
5. Alternate adding the flour mixture and buttermilk in the following order: add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, 1/2 of the wet, another third of the dry, the rest of the wet, and the rest of the dry. Mix until just combined and finish with a spatula. (If you overmix after the dry ingredients are added, the cupcakes will not rise properly and the texture will be chewy and dense.)
6. Bake in the top third of the oven for about 20 minutes or until the tops are slightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
7. Let cool completely before topping with the lemon buttercream (recipe follows).
Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream
7 egg whites
Pinch cream of tartar
2 c. sugar
½ c. water
1 lb. unsalted butter at room temperature
2 tsp. lemon extract
1. Combine the egg whites, cream of tartar, and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Set over a water bath and heat to 110F, making sure to stir the sugar and egg whites with the whisk attachment. At 110F, the sugar should be somewhat dissolved and the mixture should feel hot to the touch but should not burn you. Remove from the water bath and whip on high speed to medium peak.
2. Add the butter in small clumps (about 1½” cubes) and whip until the mixture becomes light and fluffy, and holds together.
3. Add the lemon extract and whip to combine.
Orange Chocolate Muffinsfrom SeaSaltWithFood
Grated zest of 2 Oranges
Juice of 1 Orange
About 3/4 Cup Buttermilk
2 Large Eggs
3 Tbsp Honey
1 Stick (8 Tbsp) Unsalted Butter, melted and cooled
1/3 Cup Sugar
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate, coarsely chopped or
1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (I used chocolate chips, but if I do it again, I would chop the chocolate myself of use mini chocolate chips. Mine sunk to the bottom a lot.)
1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400˚F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. (I made 6 jumbo muffins.)
2. Pour the orange juice into a large glass measuring cup or a bowl and pour in enough buttermilk to make 1 cup. Whisk in the eggs, honey and melted butter.
3. In a large bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of orange strong. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough - the batter will be lumpy and bubbly, and that’s just the way it should be. Stir in the chocolates. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
4. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes. If you want to top the muffins with decorating sugar, sprinkle on the sugar after the muffins have baked for 10 minutes. When fully baked, the tops of the muffins will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins will come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.
These muffins didn't rise very much for me, and I was really trying to not over mix the batter. When I try it again, I will preheat the oven to 450, and then when I put it in, turn it down to 400. Also, I might add a little more baking powder to the mix and try even harder to not over mix it. Practice makes perfect, I guess. I just haven't practiced enough.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
I baked something!
Ever since I started this blog, which really wasn't that long ago, I have wanted to bake something so that I can post it here. Well, now I have. I made some cupcakes.
These are All-Occasion Downy Yellow Butter Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream, taken from The Cake Bible.
I actually made the raspberry puree myself to go into the buttercream, which was a labor intensive process, but I think it looks great. You can even see the little flecks of the raspberry in the icing...proof that it was homemade! My only problems with the icing was that it was softer than I was expecting. It held it's shape okay, but it was just very soft and very buttery tasting. I'm not sure if this is the best recipe for buttercream, but it was the one in the book. So I tried it.
I had to strain, puree, and sieve 24 ounces of raspberry, which left me with this nice paste of raspberry seeds. The fruits of my labor. Actually, that was trash, but I was pretty proud of how little I had left over after my time smushing it.
But alas, I didn't have enough icing to frost the whole batch, which was really my fault because I made a half batch of the buttercream. I guess I should always err on the side of having too much. Silly me. I don't think I ever realized just how much icing goes into frosting cupcakes in order to make a decent topping for the cupcake. But you live and learn.
So if anyone is interested, here's the recipe.
All-Occasion Downy Yellow Butter Cake
6 large egg yolks
1 cup milk
2 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened)
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare pans. (I was able to make 24 cupcakes out of this recipe; it's normally 2 9-in cakes.)
2. In a medium bowl, lightly combin the yolks, 1/4 cup milk, and vanilla.
3. In a larg mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend. Add the butter and remaining 3/4 cup milk. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed and beat for 1 1/2 minutes to aerate and develop the cake's structure. Scrape down the sides. Gradually add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating for 20 seconds afer each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down the sides.
4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surface with a spatula. The pans will be about 1/2 full. (I filled the cupcake liners 2/3 full.) Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until a tester inserted near the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center. (I baked the cupcakes for about 20 minutes.)
Raspberry Puree
2 12-oz bags frozen raspberries, no sugar added
2 teaspoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
2/3 cup sugar
1. In a strainer suspended over a deep bowl, thaw the raspberries completely. This will take several hours. (To speed thawing, place in a oven with a pilot light.) Press the berries to force out all the juice. There should be 1 cup. (I only ended up with about 3/4 a cup.)
2. In a saucepan (or in a microwave on high power) boil the jice until reduced to 1/4 cup. Pour it into a lightly oiled heatproof cup. (I used the microwave option, since this was later stated to be the preferred way. However, even though I used a four cup measuring cup to boil it in, I still had it boil over, so be wary and prepared for that.)
3. Puree the raspberries and sieve them witha food mill fitted with the fine disc. Our use a fine strainer to remove all seeds. You should have 1 liquid cup puree. Stir in the raspberry syrup and lemon juice. Measure again. There should be 1 1/3 liquid cups. (I had about 3/4 cup.) If you have less, add less sugar. The correct amount of sugar is 1/2 the volume of the puree. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
I am not including the buttercream recipe because I simply was not pleased with it. I was really soft and too butter flavored. It felt a little like you were eating straight butter. But with the recipe, you are supposed to add 1/2 cup of the raspberry puree to the finished buttercream which is supposed to cover 2 9-in layers. You can use that as a guide if you want to try with your own recipe.
Well, that's about it. A long one, but one I think I can be proud of. :)
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