Team spirit cupcakes

Well, when I made these I didn't know for sure that the Giants would win Super Bowl XLVI... although Bella had her paws crossed!  However, in light of yesterday's result, perhaps I should call them Giants Victory Cupcakes instead?

The great thing about this recipe is that you can use any colors to salute your team of choice.  Although football season is over, March Madness is just around the corner.  These would be the perfect dessert to enjoy while watching the tournament.

It's super easy to achieve this effect.  You just layer the batter in the pans before baking, like so...

(My layering was a bit messy, but I think that just added to the charm. Or so I told myself, anyway.)  Then they turn out like this...

Once they're frosted, your friends will be in for a surprise when they bite into this vanilla cupcake.

Team Spirit Cupcakes
adapted from YumSugar

For the cupcakes:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups self-rising flour
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
Food coloring

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cupcake pans with paper liners.
2. Chop the butter into small cubes.
3. Whisk eggs in small bowl.
4. Combine milk and vanilla in small bowl or measuring cup.
5. Mix flours and sugar on low speed for 2 minutes.
6. With mixer on low speed, add butter in small amounts until fully incorporated.
7. Add half of the milk/vanilla mixture.  Mix on medium speed for 1 minute.
8. Add eggs and remaining milk/vanilla mixture.  Continue mixing for 1-2 minutes until batter is smooth.
9. Divide batter into two bowls.
10. Color each half of the batter.  (I used 24 drops each of red and blue.)
11. Drop one spoonful of the first color into each cupcake liner, then drop one spoonful of the alternate color batter on top of that.  Alternate until cupcake liners are approximately 2/3 full
12. Bake for 23 minutes.  Allow to cool completely before frosting.   

For the frosting:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 cups confectioner's sugar
2-3 tbsp. milk

Cream butter in mixer.  Add vanilla, then add sugar one cup at a time.  Add milk as needed for desired consistency.  Beat on medium speed for 2-4 minutes until light and fluffy.

I sprinkled edible glitter on top of the cupcakes as well.  Makes 24 cupcakes.

Enjoy!

Christmas candy cane cupcakes

I love the holidays.  After all, more parties means more reasons to bake.  For example, this past weekend I baked some candy cane cupcakes to take to a party. They were pretty darn tasty, if I do say so myself.  Want to make your own?  Well, luckily for you, that's the whole point of this blogging thing.  Read on for details...

For the cupcake itself, I kept it simple.  I used my favorite vanilla cupcake recipe (it may be familiar to you).  However, in keeping with the candy cane theme, I decided to take my inspiration from Bake It In a Cake and stuck a Candy Cane Kiss inside before baking.

All you need to do is fill the cupcake liner with batter, plop a Kiss in there, and then cover the Kiss with batter.

You want the liner to be about two-thirds to three-quarters full when you're done. Much more than that, and they'll be a little too big.  I'd also recommend that you put most of the batter in the cup before you add the Kiss - it has a tendency to sink towards the bottom.

While those were baking and cooling, I whipped up the icing.  I decided to make two types to add some variety.

First, I made a peppermint buttercream, topped off with crushed candy canes.  (I attempted to do two colors and swirl it... as you can see, the results were... not that great.)

Then, I made a cheater's chocolate candy cane frosting.  Instead of making buttercream from scratch, I doctored a can of prepared dark chocolate frosting.  (I ran out of powdered sugar, so I had to improvise.  Forgive me!)

I decorated these in three different ways - with crushed candy canes, with a Candy Cane Kiss, and with red and green M&Ms.  I think it made for a pretty fun assortment.

Here's a shot of the finished product...

Finally, the recipes - each makes enough to frost approximately 12 cupcakes:

Peppermint Buttercream Frosting

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 lb. powdered sugar
1 1/2 tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. peppermint extract
24 drops red food coloring (optional)

Combine butter, powdered sugar, milk and extracts in mixer.  Once combined, increase speed and whip on medium speed until creamy.  For two colors of frosting, divide in half.  Set aside one half, and stir food coloring into remaining half


Cheater's Chocolate Candy Cane Frosting

1 container prepared dark chocolate frosting
1 tsp. peppermint extract
Crushed candy canes

Beat frosting in mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Add peppermint extract and candy canes.  Mix at low speed until full incorporated.


Enjoy!

Cinnamon Caramel Apple Trifle

Today, I'm excited to take part in my first Improv Cooking Challenge from Lady Behind the Curtain!  (It's kind of like Iron Chef meets Chopped meets blogging.) This month, the challenge ingredients are apple and caramel - can't go wrong with that combo.

I thought about doing a cupcake, but I recently hosted a dinner party and decided to go with something a little different.  I had a trifle dish that I'd never used, and I wanted a dessert I could make in advance and not have to worry about.  Thus, I decided on a caramel apple trifle.  (Recipe appears at the bottom of this post.)

Vanilla M&M cupcakes with chocolate buttercream

Never fear, I'll be featuring some more cupcakes inspired by ice cream soon.  First, however, I wanted to share a simple and tasty cupcake I whipped up the same night that I made those lemon-blackberry cupcakes.  I was obviously in a Bake It in a Cake mood that night (as you can tell, I'm more than a little obsessed with that  blog).  I wanted to do a kid-friendly batch of cupcakes, and I had some extra M&Ms on hand (meaning I purchased a bulk bag of them at Costco for some reason and seriously needed to start using them).  Feel free to modify based on whatever candy is handy. (Unintentional rhyme!)  Thus, the following creation was born...

The cupcakes are vanilla - I used this recipe for the famous cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery (courtesy of YumSugar).  I cannot rave enough about this recipe... the cupcakes were absolutely delicious and perfectly moist.  You simply must give these a try.  

I'm looking forward to adapting this recipe for years to come - the vanilla cupcakes would be the perfect base for a variety of frosting flavors, and I'm hoping to try some different flavor combinations in the cupcake batter as well.  Yum.  

(As usual, I was out of something.  This time, it was cake flour.  No problem... time to play culinary MacGyver again.  If you find yourself without cake flour, don't panic - you can make a quick substitution using all-purpose flour and cornstarch.)

Anyway, after enjoying far too much of the batter, I eventually prepared the cupcakes for baking.  I filled the cupcake liners a little over halfway full and decided to throw a few M&Ms in the mix for a fun surprise.

After that, I covered the M&Ms with some more batter and popped these babies in the oven.  While they were cooking, I made some chocolate buttercream (recipe courtesy of Brown Eyed Baker).  This frosting was light and creamy... the perfect companion to the vanilla cupcakes.

I piped the frosting on and topped the cupcakes with a few M&Ms.  These were a big hit with the kids (and some grown-up kids) at the barbecue I attended the next day.  If you're looking for a simple treat, you can't go wrong with these. 

Until next time...