Chocolate Ginger Cupcakes Stuffed with Ginger Creme and Chocolate Ganache

Holy cow.

I know I rave about a lot of the recipes I make. It's not because I'm a great baker - it's because I use solid recipes from sources that I know are far more talented than I.

But this, this cupcake is my favourite. Of all the little darlings I have created, this one is currently at the top of my list. I found a really, really, good, moist, amazing chocolate cake recipe (if that isn't enough descriptors, I don't know what is),

The bad news? I have no photos. That's right, my computer suffered some minor short-term memory loss with its recent infection, and (of course) I have already deleted them off of my camera. So I will wait until I bake them again (for I will, without a doubt, bake them again...soon) to post some pictures.

I love the combination of chocolate and ginger. But for this particular recipe (which I got an idea about from chockylit's blog) I pieced together some of my favourite recipes and ideas to come up with the ultimate cupcake.

I actually think I ate about four of these when I made them.

If you like chocolate, these are for you. If you like ginger, these are for you. If you like those little stuffed snack cakes that Hostess makes, these are for you.

In short, they are delicious!

Chocolate Ginger Cupcakes
makes 24 cupcakes

1 c. baking cocoa
1 c. boiling water
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 c. sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. sour cream
2 inch piece peeled fresh ginger, grated

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Paper 24 cupcake tins
  
• Dissolve cocoa in water, let cool
• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
• Add eggs, one at a time; add vanilla
  
• Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl, set aside
• Add dry ingredients alternately with sour cream, beating well after each addition
• Add cocoa mixture, beat well
  
• TURN MIXER OFF
• Add ginger by hand, mixing well to incorporated
• Bake 20-22 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean

these puppies will dome up a lot, which is OK since you need to dig the middles out. Still, don't fill more than 2/3 of the way full or it will just be a mess. Tried it. Believe me.

Ginger Creme

2 c. whipping cream, well chilled
1/2 c. sugar
pinch of cream of tarter
4 inch piece peeled ginger, grated very fine

• Whipping cream works better when it's chilled
• Whip chilled cream with cooled utensils until soft peaks form
• Add sugar very slowly, making sure not to deflate
• Add cream of tarter (just a pinch)
• Add ginger
• DO NOT OVERBEAT. I've always heard of this, but never done it until this recipe - whip that sucker too hard and you'll get butter. Odd, ginger butter. Just believe me on this one

Chocolate Icing

1 c. heavy cream
12 oz. dark chocolate
1 c. icing sugar
2 tsp grated fresh ginger

• Chop chocolate in a small bowl, add ginger
  
• Bring cream to a low boil, pour over chocolate
• Let stand for one minute before stirring until incorporated
• Add icing sugar slowly, beating well to keep smooth

Assembly

• Wait for cupcakes to cool, then dig the middle out with a spoon
• Fill middle with ginger creme
• Ice those puppies

You know, I really have not done this post justice without any picture, but suffice it to say that this really is a wiiiiicked cupcake, that I cannot wait to make again. It was universally loved and I think claims the number one position in my heart!

Happy eats!

Strawberry Rhubarb Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Frosting

Mmm, how lovely. Rhubarb is such a lovely flavour, but it isn't something you can just buy in the grocery store. So when a friend's grandmother handed me a whole container of stewed, unsweetened rhubarb from her garden, I just knew I had to make a cupcake with them. Strawberry is the obvious counterpoint to any rhubarb recipe, so I picked me up a quart of 'em and set to work.

The cupcakes were pretty standard, which were a great backdrop for the sweet strawberries and tart rhubarb. Topped with the famous whipped cream frosting (this stuff is the best EVER) they made for an excellent cupcake. Since most of my cupcakes are consumed in lieu of breakfast (when the advisors get to work), they were the perfect taste combination for early morning - and not a single one made it past noon!

Strawberry Rhubarb Cupcakes
makes 24 cupcakes

2 3/4 c. cake flour
1 c. softened unsalted butter
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1/2 c. milk
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 tbsp. baking powder
1 c. stewed unsweetened rhubarb, in its syrup
5 tbsp. sugar
1 c. hulled and sliced strawberries

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees; paper 24 cupcake tins
  
• Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy; add eggs one at a time and beat well after each
• Combine flour and baking powder, set aside
• Combine milk and vanilla, set aside
• Alternate wet and dry ingredients until fully combined
• TURN MIXER OFF
• Fold in fruit so as not to break fruit with spatula
  
• Fill tins 3/4 full and bake 20-22 min until golden brown and slightly springy to the touch
• Cool completely before frosting

Whipped Cream Frosting

1 c. whipping cream
1/8 tsp. salt
1/3 c. flour
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
2 c. icing sugar
2. tsp vanilla

• Mix cream, flour and salt together into a saucepan on low heat
• Whisk gently to remove lumps, then mix with wooden spoon until it forms a paste that pulls easily away from the side of the pot (like play doh). Allow to cool completely
• Once cool, beat. Add butter and beat until fluffy. Add sugar and continue whipping. Finally add vanilla and mix well.

*note: this icing especially should be refrigerated because of the whipping cream.

And there you have it! Such a lovely, summery, satisfying cupcake. Give it a try!

Margarita Cupcakes (Lime and Coconut Confections!)

Mmmm. My quest for summery cupcake recipes was totally gratified by this recipe that I slightly adapted from Marcianne Miller's book The Artful Cupcake (she called them "key lime" cupcakes). This little beauties are coconut cupcakes topped with lime curd and coconut buttercream. I was really satisfied with this recipe because not only did it attempt a coconut cupcake (these are so tricky to get the coconut flavour to actually come out) but it also taught me how to make curd - and sweet heavens this is way better than anything you could get out of a box and impressively easy (if you negate the fact that you have to squeeze about half a dozen limes for juice...and I don't have a juicer).

The cupcakes themselves are a little bland (I read review that would be the case, so I even added a couple of tablespoons of coconut extract, but no luck) - but they are totally just vessels for the super-tart lime curd. I decided to pipe a little coconut buttercream around the edges just to amp up the taste, which was great.

My only warning on these little puppies is they are SWEET. You wouldn't sit around and gobble down two in a row. Well, maybe if you skipped the buttercream and just left it coconut cupcakes with lime curd - but I'll give you all the recipes and you can decide for yourself.

Coconut Cupcakes
From The Artful Cupcake by Marcianne Miller
makes 24 cupcakes

3/4 cup shredded (sweetened) coconut (plus about 1/2 cup for topping, later)
1-1/2 cups (unsweetened) coconut milk
1 egg
3 egg whites
2-3/4 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cups sugar
2 tbsp. coconut extract

• Soak coconut in 1/2 cup of coconut milk, set aside
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, paper 24 cupcake tins
• Sift flour, baking powder and salt - set aside
• Mix remaining coconut milk with egg and egg whites - set aside
• Cream the butter and sugar in the bottom of a big mixing bowl, then add soaked coconut and mix well
• Alternate wet (egg mixture) and dry (flour mixture) in three parts, mixing well until fully combined (this is where I finished by adding the coconut extract)
• Fill cupcake tins to half and bake 20-22 min (these are wet cupcakes, so they might need a few more minutes, but keep an eye on them). Use the clean toothpick test.

Lime Curd (I doubled this recipe. And it was a good idea because I think I ate half the batch right out of the bowl before I even got to the cupcakes.)

1 teaspoon water
1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
Juice of 3 limes
Green food coloring
Zest of 1 lime
2 oz. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces

• Sprinkle the gelatin over the water in the bottom of a bowl and let soften
• In a heavy saucepan, whisk together egg yolks and lime juice
• On a medium heat, continue to stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until it steams and thickens. (you need to really watch at this step, you don't want to scorch the bottom, but it needs to get quite hot. I found I needed to stir the mixture with an oven mit because it "spit" a little bit - it was worth it)
• When you can draw your finger across the curd on the back of the stirring spoon and the line stays without dripping, take it off the heat.
• Strain the curd into a bowl with the gelatin and whisk well to incorporate
• Add a few drops of green food colouring until you reach the desired colour
• Add the zest and the butter and mix well until everything has been well incorporated
• Chill for at least 20 minutes until a spreadable consistency

Coconut Buttercream Icing

1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
3 c. icing sugar, sifted
1/4 c. unsweetened coconut milk
2 tbsp. coconut extract

Mix coconut milk and extract together
Cream butter, then mix in two cups of icing sugar and beat until smooth
Add coconut milk mixture and beat again until smooth
Add last cup of icing sugar and beat until smooth

Assembly

• When cupcakes are cool, hollow out a little teaspoon in the middle and fill with lime curd
• Pipe coconut icing in stars around the lime green centre
• Top with coconut (toasted lightly 2-3 min under the oven broiler)
• Serve!

Berry-licious: Blueberry and Raspberry Cupcakes with Blackberry Cream Cheese Frosting

I know it has been a dog's age since I posted anything on here, but it wasn't because I was lazy. In fact, my next couple of posts are all going to be a blitz today getting everything I've done up on here!

Summer has long since forgotten her promise of lazy afternoons, and I have felt my schedule accelerate at break-neck speed these past few weeks.

In truth, July is always busy. One reason in particular is sailing. I love to sail, myself, but it is my boyfriend and my father, and all my male relatives who do the brunt of the heavy competitive sailing. They all compete in the Bayview to Mackinac Race every year (my boyfriend and father race on separate boats, making for competition, of course), and then my boyfriend flitts off to Chicago to do the Chicago to Mackinac Race. ::Sigh:: He left again this morning.

So getting everything ready is always a bit of a chore - but now I have six days to finally get all of these pictures posted!

So two weeks ago I made raspberry-blueberry cupcakes (they are in season, after all). One of my friends from work had let slip she was moving on in her career, so I made them with her especially in mind (since I found out she goes crazy for fruit).

The cupcakes were sensational and at least half a dozen people told me they had surpassed all others as their favourite (although, to be honest, one of those people says that every single week, so I don't know how much they are to be trusted!)

There was so much fruit in this cupcake, and since I folded them in whole instead of beating them in, they both kind of exploded in the cupcakes and were still a little oozy when they had cooled the next morning.

For the icing, I just wanted to give it some pep, but I didn't think whole fruits were the right way to go so I tried the sickly sweet blackberry syrup I just picked up at Winners (Canadian TJ Maxx, pretty much). I think any type of fruit syrup would work, you just have to be ready for a slightly thinner icing (I didn't mind that)

(the plate though did come from TJ Maxx in a set of four! Isn't that just the cutest design? I wish my camera would stop being so ridiculous. I think I need a new one...)

Ok, back on track - here's the recipe, it's dead easy. I think these are one of the best summery cupcakes I've ever had - but since I'm biased you better try making them yourself!

Blueberry-Raspberry "Berrylicious" Cupcakes
makes 24 cupcakes

2 3/4 c. cake flour
1 c. softened unsalted butter
2 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 banana, mashed
1 c. milk
2 1/2 tbsp. baking powder
1 c. whole washed blueberries
1 c. whole washed raspberries

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees; paper 24 cupcake tins
  
• Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy; add eggs one at a time and beat well after each
• Add banana and beat well
• Combine flour and baking powder, set aside
• Combine milk and vanilla, set aside
• Alternate wet and dry ingredients until fully combined
• TURN MIXER OFF
• Fold in fruit so as not to break fruit
• Fill tins 3/4 full and bake 20-22 min until golden brown and slightly springy to the touch
• Cool completely before frosting

Blackberry Cream Cheese Icing
The zingy cream cheese and slightly tart blackberry made for a stunning combo

8 oz. cream cheese, softened (1 package)
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
4 c. icing sugar
1/4 c. blackberry syrup (not jam)

• Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth; add two cups of icing sugar (one cup at a time) until smooth
• Add syrup by the tablespoon
• Add the last two cups, one cup at a time, until full combined
• If the icing is too runny, add more icing sugar by the tablespoon - but realized that this icing is just a little thinner

And voila! Ice, decorate with some leftover fruit, and enjoy!

Summery Strawberry Almond Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Frosting

Oh June. There is a reason brides are married in June, for it is truly a romantic month. June is the month (in Ontario at least) that you really feel that warm weather is here to stay. All flannel pyjamas can be safely stored and replaced by white cottons, dark coloured pants are replaced by flowing patterned skirts, and difficult, sensible shoes can be victoriously shunned for snappy strappy sandals.

Even this year, in the midst of this grey weather funk that has descended upon us in Southwestern Ontario, it feels like Spring. The poppies in the garden are bobbing diligently, and the roses are fighting the cool weather to bloom anyway!

June also marks the beginning of strawberry season. Well, late June, anyway. I have a lot of very dear memories of strawberry picking with loved ones. Just outside of town is a farm which has u-pick strawberries. Back in the patches it is as quiet as another world, and in the June the earth is still muddy and wet and smelling of new life. And what better way to celebrate the first hand picked fruits of the season than with cupcakes?!

I really like this cupcake recipe. It was given to me by a friend who wanted Strawberry cupcakes a while ago, and I've never really found out where she got it...so if I'm stealing from someone let me know! because I'd happily give credit where credit is due.

The only downfall to this recipe is the texture is a bit more muffin-y and less cake-y than I would prefer. I am a strong believer that there is a real difference between a cupcake and a muffin. A muffin is a cupcake charading health, while a cupcake is a cup of cake making no excuses and gung-ho for the journey, regardless of calories. In fact, most muffins and cupcakes have similar caloric statistics, and fat content. Just with a cupcake, there's no pretending.

I like honesty.

But the cupcake really is exquisite, especially when topped with this very odd recipe for whipped cream frosting. It's a real messy mix between a frosting, and a whipped cream topping. Somehow this technique just works and makes a truly phenomenal frosting - more like Cool Whip than whipped cream. You know? Anyway, it's awesome, and I always make a double batch so I can really load it on the cupcakes (it's not as sweet as traditional icing, and it makes this muffiny cupcake seem a little more decadent) and then use the rest for a bowl of berries on a hot day.

I didn't top them with strawberry slices, as I had hoped, because I ended up using them all in the batter, so I might sprinkle just a hint of red sprinkles on the top of the cupcakes tomorrow before work (I really mean just a hint - I want the visual, not the taste). Yep, that will be delicious.

Sensational Summer Strawberry Sweeties. I'll have two.

Strawberry Almond Cupcakes
makes 24 cupcakes
2 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
3 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 c. slivered blanched almonds (some people prefer these toasted)
4 eggs
1 c. vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. crushed strawberries mixed with 3 tbsp. sugar

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Paper two cupcake tins
• Mix flour, baking soda, sugar and nuts in one bowl. Set aside
• Mix eggs, almond and vanilla extract, oil in another bowl. Add strawberries and mix well, but leave chunks of strawberry visible
• Slowly add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly
• Bake 20-22 min. until cake is springy to the touch and testing with wooden skewer comes clean
• Cool completely before frosting.

Whipped Cream Frosting
I always double this recipe - but here is the original (undoubled) version
Also, I know this recipe looks weird. Try it anyway. It's actually amazing. Seriously.
1 c. whipping cream
1/8 tsp. salt
1/3 c. flour
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
2 c. icing sugar
2. tsp vanilla

• Mix cream, flour and salt together into a saucepan on low heat
• Whisk gently to remove lumps, then mix with wooden spoon until it forms a paste that pulls easily away from the side of the pot (like play doh). Allow to cool completely
• Once cool, beat. Add butter and beat until fluffy. Add sugar and continue whipping. Finally add vanilla and mix well.

*note: this icing especially should be refrigerated because of the whipping cream.

Hummingbird Cupcakes with Pineapple Cream Cheese Icing

My first cookbook dedicated solely to cakes was Cakewalk: Loving Spoonfuls from a Southern Kitchen by Robbin Gourley. It was an unexpected Christmas gift from my mother in 1997 when I was thirteen years old and highly impressionable. I have no idea where she found it, but I know it was more the beautiful illustrations that Robbin paints to accompany her recipes that lured my mother towards to purchase (my Mom is also an artist, after all), rather than the recipes. The illustrations are exquisite, complete with vignettes about Robbin's childhood and the family history behind each cake.

But the real artistic tour-de-force in this book is still the cakes. This is the book that first introduced me to scrumptious Red Velvet Cake, cheerful Pineapple Upside down Cake, and the ever-classic, decadent Bete Noire. Every recipe I have tried in this book has yielded amazing results - so while the book is not easy to find, if you ever happen across it...don't miss it!

I knew it was time to translate one of her cake recipes into cupcakes. Although I've tried almost every recipe in her book, I've never turned them into cupcakes - but I could hardly exclude Robbin from my cupcake quest.

You see, I've been feeling a bit of a funk these days. The weather in my hometown has been downright dreary these past few weeks, constantly drizzling out of the East in mournful shades of grey. The only days it seems to shine I am encased in my cubicle, far from the light. This is the first year with no "summer vacation" and I am feeling almost sick with lack of fresh air and vitamin D. I think my sense of disassociation with the seasons has caused me to veer towards more wintery, spicy, cupcakes, and I knew the time had arrived to seize Spring by the tastebuds and give it a shake.

Hence, Hummingbird Cupcakes. Hummingbird cupcakes are one of my most favourite recipes in Robbin's book. She writes "A long-standing favourite in the South, this cake is as delicate as the bird for which it is named". Indeed, these sweetooth pleasers are a gorgeous treat, full of sweet fruit and nuts. They have only a teaspoon of baking soda, and yet they rise gracefully and dome like a muffin. But their texture is definitely cake.

At work they were such a hit. I've recently moved to a new workstation - moving away from the front desk to my little corner just around the corner. The number one question I got when my coworkers were informed about the move was "where will the cupcakes be when you move?", which made me smile. Having the cupcakes on my desk is a nice way to have a little company throughout the day, as people come to pick up a cupcake or tell me their reviews.

Hummingbird cupcakes were the perfect salute to Spring. Fruity and sweet without the sickly taste of too much sugar, and my adapted cream cheese icing offered a nice balancing taste. Give these ones a try when the weather looks dull - they might not have much vitamin D, but they are still full of sunshine!

Hummingbird Cupcakes
From Cakewalk: Loving Spoonfuls from a Southern Kitchen, by Robbin Gourley
makes 24 cupcakes

3 c. all purpose flour
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
1 c. vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
one 8 oz can crushed pineapple with juice
1 c. chopped pecans
2 c. well mashed bananas

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees; paper 2 cupcake tins
• In a large bowl mix flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon
• Add the eggs and oil and stir until all the ingredients are moist (Do NOT Beat!)
• Stir in the vanilla, pineapple with juice, pecans and bananas (Do NOT Beat!)
• I saved three tablespoons of pineapple and juices for the icing
  
• Spoon the batter 3/4 into tins and bake for 22-25 minutes until springy to the touch

Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting
pineapple and cream cheese is one of my favourite taste combinations, and here it was a perfect marriage of tastes
one 8 oz. package of softened cream cheese
1/2 c. (one stick) unsalted butter, softened
5 c. icing sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tbsp. crushed pineapple and juices

• Cream together cream cheese and butter until smooth
• Add first three cups of icing sugar one cup at a time
• Add vanilla and pineapple
• Add last two cups of icing sugar one cup at a time until smooth
• Spread generously!

You might consider sprinkling some pecans on the top of cupcakes for a cute effect, I topped mine with a tidbit of pineapple.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chai Spice Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

Armed with my new mixer...I am invincible.

No really, the mixer is phenomenal. It's like the instrument to a set of baking super powers I never knew existed, and now that I do I'm kicking myself for waiting so long. Seriously, it's like becoming a baking superhero.

It's the batmobile of baking utensils.

With that in mind, I was ready to try anything - and I was definitely ready to try something new. I'd been asked a couple of weeks back to make chocolate cupcakes, and this seemed to be a great week to try them; however, I needed a bit more kick than that. I found exactly what I was looking for on chockylit's blog Cupcake Bakeshop, one of my most-favorite-of-all-times cupcake blogs. This is a woman who is not afraid of her ingrediants, and armed with my mixer I was suddenly eager to jump into the fray.

I was so sorry to see that her blog is now closed. On her last entry she spoke about going new places (she has had a child, and is a career woman to boot), so I couldn't help but understand - yet selfishly, I wish she had continued! :) So this recipe seemed to be an even better choice, a tipping of the cap to chockylit.

What I found was a recipe for Chocolate Chai Spice Cupcakes that looked wicked good. The recipe also called for eight eggs. Eight Eggs! However, I was not worried - I have a mixer after all!

So I jumped to it, and I must say they were pretty darn delicious. I was surprised that the batter rose as much as it did (it had a bit of a dome) and they were a nice texture - but I am still searching for the perfect chocolate cake recipe - one that is more a bit more moist. That is my only complaint.

As for the icing, chockylit tried a chai buttercream, but I was in the mood for something with a bit more punch....so I invented my own! I must say, the icing is a real winner. I will definitely use it again. I've thought about what it would taste like on a vanilla chai cupcake, which I think is worth looking in to. Finally, the raspberries (my afterthought decoration) were the perfect pairing - adding a little sharp sweet to the cupcake. My co workers loved them, a few actually said it was their favourite one yet!

However, when I brought the cupcakes to work, one of my more carb-conscious co workers took to nipping the raspberries without the cupcake...which soon lead to an angry note taped to my desk outlining proper raspberry-cupcake etiquette!

For the chai spice, chockylit gives a great recipe for do-it-yourself; however I am really committed to the chai masala spice I hunted at the Toronto International Food Show made by Arvinda's,

a company that makes authentic masala spices for gourmet Indian cuisine. Personally, I'm so much in love I cannot imagine using any other chai spice (plus cardamom is a pain in neck to grind)

So, anyway, check out the recipe on chockylit's site, and the to-die-for icing is below!

Chocolate Chai Spice Cream Cheese Icing

try saying that five times fast - it's not a tongue twister, it's just fun

8 oz. softened cream cheese

1/2 c. (1 stick) softened unsalted butter

4 c. icing sugar

2 tsp. milk

2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp. chai spice

• sift cocoa, chai spice, and icing sugar together (or dump it all together and use a wire whisk for 20 seconds to break up chunks, and blend together)
• beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy
• add icing sugar mixture one cup at a time for the first two cups
• add milk
• add last two cups of icing sugar mix
• pipe with large, round tip; top with raspberries!

Again, eyeball your icing. Icing consistency changes a lot, especially as the days get hotter you may find you need more icing sugar to get a good consistency. This icing is rich and creamy!

May the mixer be with you.

Maple Walnut Cupcakes

Mmmm, maple. I think this is one of my favourite flavours in the world. However, I need to qualify this comment - by saluting maple I am not saluting those awful maple cookies, or Aunt Jemima - because there isn't a drop of tree sap in those products anywhere.

Living in Ontario, I am blessed with an abundance of maple trees, and maple syrup. While I sometimes curse the twelve Manitoba Maples in the backyard which make growing an inch of grass next to impossible, there is is nothing better than opening a can of this Spring's maple syrup and making something decadent.

Real maple syrup is labelled in grades - the first run is like extra virgin olive oil - it comes from the very beginning of the Spring and has a very light colour. The colour will deepen as the season itself deepens, giving medium and amber grades which are just as delicious. In this batch I used a medium grade syrup from Paisley, Ontario, and I found it was a lovely deep flavour.

Nevertheless, the honest truth is that my own cupcakes were flavoured with maple extract, for the syrup was just too dense for a light, fluffy cupcake. However, I used maple syrup in the buttercream, which was amazing. At first it was sickly sweet - but the addition of the ground walnuts helped immensely.

Grinding the walnuts helps to release the woody (almost bitter) taste of the walnut oil, which infused the icing and added a nice deep taste to the lightness of the maple, and the texture of the cupcake.

What a success! They were a hit at work, barely making it to noon hour before the entire tray was devoured. My ode to spring, and my first maple recipe of the year.

Maple Walnut Cupcakes

makes 24 cupcakes

1 c. unsalted butter

2 c. white sugar

3 eggs

1 over ripe banana, mashed

2 3/4 c. cake flour

2 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla

3 tsp. maple extract

200 g. walnuts

• sift together flour and baking powder, set aside
• mix together milk, vanilla, and maple extract, set aside
• cream butter until soft and fluffy; add sugar and mix well
• add eggs one at a time, followed by banana
• alternate wet and dry ingredients until fully incorporated
• grind walnuts in food processor until meal-like, add half of the walnuts to batter and mix until full combined
• bake in 350 degree (preheated) oven for 20-22 minutes
• allow to cool fully before icing
  

Maple Walnut Buttercream

3/4 c. unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 c. maple syrup
1/4 c. milk
5 c. icing sugar
100 g. ground walnuts (the second half of the 200 g. you just ground for the cupcakes!)

• cream together unsalted butter and maple syrup
• add 3 cups of icing sugar one cup at a time, beating to incorporate each cup
• add milk (it's ok if it looks a little "chunky" here, it will smooth out)
• add last 2 cups of icing sugar, followed by walnuts on a very low speed
• beat until smooth
  

*note! I tried to do swirls with the 1M tip on these cupcakes, but I found walnut kept clogging up the tip. So, next time I would just frost them with a knife! It's not worth ruining a tip!

Bon appetit!

"Spaghetti and Meatballs" Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

There have been moments when I am a bit of a snob - turning up my nose to decadent designs with flat taste combinations. For me, it's all about the taste, the taste!, which is why I was slightly dismayed when I opened Karen Tack's book Hello Cupcake which seemed to be devoted to the art of decorating, and not the cupcakes themselves.

I know, what a snob!

Turns out the book is awesome, and in light of my new found appreciation I decided to attempt her cupcakes decorated like spaghetti and meatballs. The picture was so comical I couldn't resist, and it was the perfect way to spice up a basic vanilla cupcake recipe.

I brought them in to work today and my co-workers' mouths fell open. They couldn't believe their eyes! For one, the meatballs look really realistic which had people wondering if I had gone completely nuts, but more than anything it was just the extreme silliness of the entire situation.

So this blog entry isn't dedicated to the cupcake - it's dedicated to the decoration!

Basic Vanilla Cupcakes

makes 24 cupcake

1 c. unsalted butter

2 c. white sugar

4 eggs

2 3/4 c. cake and pastry flour

2 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 c. plus 2 tbsp. milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

• sift together flour and baking powder; set aside
• mix together milk and vanilla; set aside
• cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy in large mixing bowl; add eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly with a mixer on medium speed
• alternate wet and dry ingredients in thirds until well combined
• fill cupcake papers 2/3 full and bake at 350 degrees for 18-22 minutes
• allow to fully cool before frosting

Vanilla Buttercream

• 3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 c. milk
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 5-6 c. icing sugar

Cream unsalted butter with 1 c. icing sugar. Add milk and vanilla and then add icing sugar (4-5 c.'s) until reaches thick enough consistency to be piped consistency

Meat Sauce

adapted from Hello Cupcake! by Karen Tack

• 1 jar no-sugar added strawberry jam*
• 24 Ferrero Rocher chocolates

* I'm serious about the no-sugar added factor of the strawberry jam for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the icing is really really sweet, so the less sweet the jam, the better. It cuts the taste. Secondly, low-sugar or no sugar jam has a better colour, according to Karen Tack (and confirmed by moi!)

Assembly

• Lightly ice each cupcake; position on one tray touching each other (4x6 format)
• Use an icing bag with a 4 Round (Wilton) tip, or a ziplock bag with a very small hole for piping. If you choose to use the ziplock, try your noodle size out on a piece of wax paper before icing...my first try looked like fettuccine more than spaghetti!

• Loop that icing all over the place! Move from one cupcake to another, and let it dribble down the sides a little, to look like piles of noodles
  
• Pour the jam into a bowl, mix in chocolates gently until completely covered. Spoon one chocolate and a little jam on each cupcake*

* I would suggest that you don't add your meatsauce and meatballs until just before you are ready to serve, because the jam will set and get gelatin-ish if you leave it too long.

Voila! Excellent-ly delicious, easy, and amazing cupcakes! (Don't those meatballs look believable?)

They were very easy to make, and that vanilla cupcake recipe is easy, moist, and delicious. It's also the basis for most of my flavour experiments as I find it a really versatile recipe (except I think I should challenge that preconception soon, because as I learned last week, my orange cupcakes could have used a different base...so perhaps there is still work to be done).

Anyway, it was a great week with great results. Recommended!

Almost Orange Cupcakes with Absolutely Almond Buttercream

OK a lot of posting in a little amount of time. Turns out I lost the cord that hooks my camera up to the computer, so I had to put my pictures on CD at Shopper's Drugmart and the price for a CD is exactly the same if you have 2 pictures or 20...so I waited until I had 20.

:)

Anyway, last week for work I tried orange cupcakes with almond buttercream. The idea of the recipe started a week earlier when I read about on Wishing on Clovers' website called "Oh My Darling Clementine" Cupcakes. I tried the cupcakes and loved the clementine sharpness (which I kicked up a notch with a tsp. of orange extract) - however, when I went to make them the next week, I had lost my copy of the recipe, my computer crashed, and I had no clementines.

Time to improvise!

An orange was an easy substitute for the 2 clementines Clovers suggested, but it didn't have the same kick, even with 2 tsp's of orange extract. I also had to wing the rest of the cake recipe, and I think Clovers highlights the citrus taste a little better.

Still, it was a resounding success. Even the one Financial Advisor who used to be a professional baker said that the cake was great and the almond in the buttercream made for a fantastic fusion of tastes. It was subtle, but definitely there, and overall a pretty sophisticated blend of tastes. The morning after I took these pictures I topped all of the cupcakes with half a marachino cherry for a little colour.

The true success, though, was in my icing technique. Take a look at that swirling technique! Can you believe it? It took me a couple of tries (even to just fill the icing bag) but I totally managed it. At one moment my friend, Kiki, who was helping me bake up a storm, took a picture of me in a squatting stance to bring my eyes down level with the counter. It was embarrassing. Hence: not published!

So even more than the cupcake, I was impressed with the icing...but people hardly even noticed the artistry once they took a bite!

Almost Orange Cupcakes with Absolutely Almond Buttercream
makes 24 cupcakes

1 c. softened unsalted butter

2 c. white sugar

1 c. milk
3 tsp. orange extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract

juice of one orange

zest of one orange

2 3/4 c. cake flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder*

• Preheat Oven to 350 degrees farenheit; paper 2 cupcake pans
• sift together flour and baking powder; gently mix in zest with fingertips until just combined; set aside
• mix milk, orange extract, vanilla extract, and orange juice together; set aside
• in a large mixing bowl cream butter and sugar on medium with mixer until fluffly
• add eggs one at a time on medium speed and beat again until fluffy
• alternate wet and dry ingrediants in thirds until fully combinedtaste...does it need a few drops more orange extract? let your tastebuds guide you!
• fill cupcake liners 2/3 full; bake 18-20 minutes until golden topped and springy to the touch

* check your baking powder - it does have an expiration date. I found that my recipes turn out so much better since I splurged and got a new little container full of fresh stuff!

Almond Icing

2/3 c. unsalted butter, softened
1/4 c. milk
2 tsp. almond extract
4-5 c. icing sugar

• cream butter and 2 c. icing sugar until smooth with mixer on low (otherwise the icing sugar shoots right out of the mixing bowl)
• add milk, mix again until cottage cheese consistency.
• add icing sugar until desired thickness**
• add almond extract and beat until smooth

** I came to a breakthrough: fun 1M swirls on cupcakes need stiff icing. I used a lot more icing sugar than I generally do, which made it stiffer...and sweeter. When I finished I slipped an extra 1/2 tsp of almond extract in there. But be careful, because I think my almond extract was also a little old. I'm a big fan of the "taste test" for optimal results!

Happy Baking!