Chocolate Velvet Cupcakes and Ultimate Vanilla Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

I am going to first say that I can't believe I'm blogging again. It's not like I haven't been baking, I bake at least twice a month. No, not as often as my once or twice a week I was up to during the Summer, but hey, at that point I was unemployed and pretty much doing nothing, which was fantastic :). Ugh, jobs and adult responsibilities have kept me from doing what I love!  I currently have 4 recipe posts that are still drafts. And a ton of more pictures of just cookies, cupcakes, and muffins. It's sad because, at this point, I barely remember making them! I'm determined to actually post this. Why? Because these cupcakes are extremely delicious and I have to start making more time for doing the things I love. This might actually be the best vanilla cupcake recipe I've ever tried. (It better be, since it's advertised as such), and this chocolate cupcake, ah so yummy. Well, here is my latest baking extravaganza :) (I was literally in my kitchen for 5 hours, I would call that an extravaganza)


The name of this post alone is a mouth full. I made one frosting and used it on two different, fairly simple batters. 

So the first cupcake I made was the Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake from The Cupcake Project. I've been looking at this recipe for quite some time, and I just had to make it one day. The majority of vanilla cupcakes I've tried have not been that good. Sometimes they'll come out a little more like corn bread. Gross. Unless of course you want to make corn bread, but that clearly was never my intention. Anyway, I tried the batter (because that's probably one of my favorite parts of baking) and yea, it was easily the best vanilla batter I've ever had. Ever. I could probably eat it by the spoonful if I was allowed. It uses a full vanilla bean! My first time baking with those, and let me tell you, one vanilla bean can cost between $4 and $6! My advice is to go to Home Goods and pick them up there. Overall, delicious cupcake, Go try it.

Cutting the vanilla bean :)

The second cupcake was a variation on this Chocolate Velvet Cupcake recipe. It was a much larger batch, so I made about 2/3 of it. I played around with some of the ingredients and it was a greattttt success. Not something I can always say about my first-time experiments. They are definitely worth a try if you're looking for a light, chocolate cupcake as opposed to a heavy, devil's food cake, type of chocolate cake.


Chocolate Velvet Cupcakes
About 24
1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
6 oz. good chocolate
3/4 stick (6 Tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup sour cream
2/3 cup hot water


Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare your muffin tin.
In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave the chocolate until melted. Mix the chocolate every 30 seconds for about  1 1/2 minutes.
In the base of a stand mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar. Add the vanilla, then add the eggs one at a time just until incorporated. Add the melted chocolate and beat just until combined.
Slowly mix in the flour mixture. Alternate this with the sour cream until combined. Lastly, in the hot water, fully dissolve the cocoa powder. Once dissolved, pour into the batter and mix until smooth.
Fill each muffin tin about 2/3 full. Place in the oven for 16-18 minutes. After removing the tin from the oven, remove each cupcake to cool on a wire rack.


Browned Butter Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes 5 cups
1/2 cup butter
2 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
32 oz. package powdered sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract


Cook butter in a small saucepan on medium heat for 5-7 minutes, until butter begins to turn golden brown. Remove from heat. Pour butter into a heat-safe bowl, cover, and place in the refrigerator for an hour, when the butter starts to solidify. 
Beat butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes, until creamy. Gradually add the powdered sugar, about one cup at a time. Stir in cinnamon and vanilla. 


These combinations of flavors worked out so well together I was extremelyy happy. 

I used a large star tip to pipe the frosting on to each one. Mmm yummy vanilla.

 I think I'm actually obsessed with how light and fluffy these cupcakes were. These recipes may actually turn into my go-to recipes. I definitely have some other variations I'll make on the chocolate, but the vanilla, being straight from The Cupcake Project, I wouldn't change a thing. 


I also made a massive cupcake to decorate with a "25" made from chocolate as well as a ton of candles. Works well for a mini birthday cake!

Enjoy :)

Baileys Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

I think it's literally impossible to come up with a cupcake idea that hasn't already been tried.. (Actually, I think I have one, but I still have some more testing to do). I was thinking of winter related goodies and thought of hot chocolate. I've done so much peppermint, I didn't want to do it again. What else goes with hot chocolate besides marshmallows? Oh yea, Baileys. Turning lactose intolerant is such a tease. I used to be able to eat anything dairy! Now I must be careful. Luckily a little Baileys is doable :)

What do I need for baileys hot chocolate cupcakes? A deliciously rich chocolate cupcake. Check. Marshmallow frosting. Check, and even some toasted marshmallow on that one. Baileys chocolate ganache. Super delicious check.

I worked from a recipe from A Cozy Kitchen. I used her recipe for the chocolate cupcakes, except for my coffee, I brewed a Chocolate blend! I've officially fallen in love with buying coffees from Home Goods since they have awesome flavors and it's actually just about the same price as buying Folgers. Crazy, I know.

Next step is the Marshmallow frosting. Using a seven-minute frosting keeps it light and fluffy, although I may opt for a true marshmallow frosting next time by using some fluff. I used a different recipe since I knew I like to save the extras for cupcake pops. You can either use her recipe, use this one, or halve it! Having a stand mixer is a HUGE help with this one.

Marshmallow Frosting
4 large egg whites
1 3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil. Boil for 3-4 minutes or until a candy thermometer reads 240 degrees F. Meanwhile, beat egg whites and cream of tartar in a bowl until foamy. While beating the egg whites, slowly pour the sugar mixture into the egg whites for about 7 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Add vanilla then continue beating until it reaches the desired consistency. About 2 more minutes or so.

Bailey's Chocolate Ganache
9 oz. good semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Bailey's Irish Cream

Place heavy cream and Bailey's in a saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Chop up the chocolate and place in a large, heatproof bowl. Just before the cream reaches a boil, remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Whisk together until all the chocolate is melted.

Unless you're planning to serve these immediately, place the ganache in the refrigerator for about 20-30 minutes until it's cool.

Assembly:
There are several options for this. You can use a Brulee torch to toast the marshmallow frosting, place the cupcakes in the oven under the boiler, or if you're like me and have a super weird oven that doesn't broil, place them in the toaster oven! (Or you can just be perfectly happy with non-toasted marshmallow frosting)
When all of the layers are cooled, pipe the frosting onto each cupcake.

Place under the broiler for about 2 minutes while WATCHING THEM CAREFULLY. Do NOT leave the cupcakes unattended. Remove and repeat until all cupcakes are nice and browned.

Once the frosting is cooled, take a spoonful of the ganache and drizzle it on top. They can get a little messy, but I wasn't complaining.

Don't have too many, or you'll get a little buzz. Just kidding, eat a whole bunch. Maybe even eat the ganache by the spoonful.

Enjoy :)

Vanilla Cupcakes with The Best Vanilla Frosting

On to the third dessert... I was seriously on a role at this point. 
Since I bought these super cute cupcake liners back in June, I figure I had to use them again! I originally bought them for a friends graduation party and I had some leftovers, perfect for my party of course.

Mom also approved.
Anyway, I figured I'd go with a vanilla cupcake since I already had peanut butter cookies and chocolate cake pops. I'm still in search of the ultimate vanilla cupcake recipe, but this one is pretty delicious. It has a coarse texture, but tons of vanilla flavor (which might be due to the whole tablespoon of vanilla). Anyway, here's the recipe!

Vanilla Cupcakes
1 cup flour
1 cup + 2 Tbsp cake flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp 2% milk
2 Tbsp half and half or cream
(can be substituted for 3/4 cup whole milk, etc.)
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 large eggs


Set oven at 350 degrees. Combine flours, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Set aside. Cream together shortening and sugar. Add in eggs and vanilla and beat well. Incorporate half of the flour mixture and beat with a mixer until uniform. Pour in the milk, followed by the rest of the flour mixture and mix by hand. You don't want to over-beat this batter or you'll get a super dense cupcake, more like cornbread. Fill each cupcake liner over halfway full. This batter makes 18 cupcakes almost perfectly. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until knife/toothpick comes out clean.
Immediately remove from tins and let cool completely before frosting.

You might find this frosting a little weird, but I swear it is absolutely delicious. I'm excited to experiment with this recipe since it uses flour and isn't super sweet with just butter and confectioner's sugar.. those types of frosting are generally just too sweet for me, and trust me, I have a big sweet tooth. I hope you enjoy this frosting as much as I did...


The Best Vanilla Frosting (Yes, saying "The Best" is necessary)
5 Tbsp flour (yes, flour)
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter


In a saucepan, whisk together the flour and milk until combined. Place the saucepan over medium heat and continue to whisk until the mixture thickens. Stop when the mixture becomes like a rue; About 5 minutes until the consistency looks smooth

Cool the mixture completely. Once cool, add the vanilla and mix until fully incorporated.
Into a separate bowl, pour the sugar and add butter. Using a mixer or stand mixer, beat until it is light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Once the flour/milk mixture is completely cooled, it can be added to the butter and sugar mixture. Beat well on medium-high speed until the mixture looks like whipped cream. You want to be careful not to over-beat also. Spread with a knife or use a piping bag!

Clearly I went with the piping bag and some cute red sprinkles to emphasize my Maryland colors...

Enjoy :)

FlufferNutter Cupcakes

I found heaven in a cupcake. Okay, so I may not be the first to throw together a FlufferNutter cupcake, but they are certainly not as popular as say, red velvet or s'mores. Also, I did my research on peanut butter cupcakes and added some variations to the recipes to come up with pure deliciousness. I have my fabulous boyfriend to thank for this experimentation. He made himself a PB & Fluff sandwich and well, immediate inspiration. 

After concocting my own cupcake, I went online to check out the ideas that other bloggers had and most of them are quite different. The key to this is a delicious peanut butter cupcake recipe... and I definitely had one.


Peanut Butter Cupcakes
(makes 12-16 cupcakes)

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter (smooth works too, I just enjoy the extra texture)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 pinch salt
• Marshmallow fluff (Small teaspoon for each cupcake)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 12-cup cupcake pan. Beat brown sugar, shortening, and peanut butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in egg then stir in vanilla. 

Combine flour, cream of tarter, salt and baking soda in a separate bowl. Stir into the batter alternating with the milk in two batches. 

Scoop one tablespoon into the bottom of each liner. Follow each tablespoon of batter by a small teaspoon of marshmallow fluff right in the center (don't let it touch the ends of the cupcake liners. Place one more tablespoon of batter over the fluff. Cups should be about 2/3 full. The fluff melts and gets absorbed into the batter to add back the moisture. I removed some milk from the recipe for this purpose. Bake the cupcakes for 15-20 minutes. 

Marshmallow Frosting

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

2 large egg whites

1 tsp pure vanilla

1/4 tsp cream of tarter

pinch of salt

Combine sugar and water in a small, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir constantly for 3 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Beat egg white, vanilla, cream of tartar, and salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar syrup; beat until stiff peaks form and mixture is glossy in texture, about 7 minutes more.

I experimented with other things, such as purely mixing the marshmallow fluff into the batter itself, but due to the nature of fluff (super sticky, super sweet, and tends to expand in heat... I mean who hasn't put a marshmallow in the microwave just to watch it balloon up and then put it on a graham cracker with some hershey's chocolate :) ) Anyway, it tasted delicious, but it was nearly impossible to remove from the wrapper in one piece... therefore these cupcakes got combined with some of the extra frosting, mixed up real well and turned into cupcake balls. I swear the invention of cupcake balls has saved failed recipes everywhere. 

I used a plastic bag and cut off the tip in order to swirl on the frosting, then i topped it with some chopped peanuts. Aren't they pretty? Pretty delicious too....

Enjoy :)

4th of July Cupcakes!

This past weekend I went home with Andrew to go to the beach and see some of his family for the 4th of July holiday. This was the perfect excuse to bake. Since none of his family has ever tasted any of my baking, I relied on my never-fail Devil's Food Cake recipe. Since it was a summertime treat (and I wanted a red, white, and blue topping) I used a light cream cheese whipped cream frosting. It's fluffy and light for the summer but delicious as well. Overall it was a huge hit. The Devil's Food Cake recipe can be found in a previous post, but here's the frosting recipe!

Whipped Cream Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8oz. package of reduced-fat cream cheese
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups heavy cream


Combine the cream cheese, sugar, and extract in a large mixing bowl and mix on medium until the mixture is smooth. While the mixture is still whipping, slowly add the heavy cream. Scrape down the sides of the bowls frequently until the frosting can hold stiff peaks. 


Refrigeration is not necessary, but recommended to store. These are best topped right before serving and will stay fresh at room temperature. I topped these bad boys with fresh blueberries and strawberries and so therefore I refrigerated all of the leftovers, surprisingly it was even more delicious since the cupcake was also cold with the topping. It's all about personal preference.

Enjoy :)

"Maryland" Cupcakes!

Graduation was last month and a friend of mine was having a graduation party this past weekend (Technically now last weekend, I'm a little behind with my posts). Naturally, I decided to bake for the occasion. They were pretty basic with my favorite Devil's Food Cake cupcake recipe from Martha Stewart and a Cream Cheese frosting. 

The Devil's Food Cake recipe was used in a Cupcake Bite post earlier, but the batter was halved, so here are the directions again

Martha Stuart's Devil's Food Cake:
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup hot water
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp coarse salt
1 1/2 cup (3 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream, room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pan. Whisk together hot water and cocoa until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until the mixture is cooled, approx. 4-5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low and add the flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream. Beat until just combined. Fill liners 3/4 full. 

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese

14 tbsps (1 and 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter

3 cups confectioners sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

On medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add sugar 1/2 cup at a time. Add vanilla and mix until fully incorporated. Frosting can be spread on using a butter knife or piped using a storage bag (with the tip cut off) or a piping bag!

These cupcakes are decorated with sprinkles and red melting chocolates. The "M" was drawn free hand and filled in with additional chocolate! 

As a special treat, for a "super" special guy I know, I decorated the additional cupcakes with the infamous superman symbol since he's in love with superman. I colored the extra frosting with blue and yellow gel food coloring (separately of course) and used the red melting chocolates to make the shape. It's a little rough since it was free-hand, but overall I was pretty proud, and he definitely appreciate the effort :)

Happy baking :)

Some Experimentation

So my original plan was to make these "Cupcake Poppers". I knew it wasn't going to be too easy since you need just the perfect amount of batter in each tin. I didn't want to use the box cake batter, which might have been my first mistake since the consistency of the batter I made was veryyy different from a box mix. Anyway, I decided to make a basic white cake so I started off with doing a half batter, therefore the measurements may be a little wacky


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White Cake Batter:
1 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp cake flour, sifted
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp milk
7 tbsp butter, room temperature
7/8 cup sugar
2 extra large egg whites, room temperature


Combine the cake flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl; Set aside. Combine milk and vanilla in another bowl. Separate the egg whites and beat them on medium-high until stiff peaks form; Set aside. In your main bowl, beat the butter until creamy, slowly add the sugar to the butter until light and fluffy. \
To the butter mixture, alternate adding the flour and milk while beating on low-medium. Just beat until combined. Add 1/3 of the egg whites to the batter and FOLD in gently. Once combined, fold the rest of the batter. Do NOT over mix this batter. 
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I added food coloring to my batter, if you plan on doing this, add it to the milk mixture prior to combining with the flour/butter!


I colored mine teal, yellow/orange, and a rose. I tried making the mini tops with the rose, and those all failed so I put them aside. I have heart-shaped silicon baking cups that I decided to try, and turns out I just filled them a little too much. I didn't want to waste them so I decided to stack them on top of each other with a vanilla meringue buttercream in between! Here's what they came out like: 

I was pretty happy that I didn't completely waste the yummy cake!

Since I halved the cake batter, I made an even smaller frosting batter

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Meringue Buttercream Frosting:

1 extra large egg white

1/4 cup + 1/2 tbsp sugar

1 stick butter

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk sugar and egg whites in a large heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until sugar is dissolved and mixture registers 140 degrees.on an instant read thermometer, 2 to 3 minutes.

Beat the egg-white mixture on high speed until it holds stiff (but not dry) peaks and mixture is fluffy and cooled, about 10 minutes.

Reduce speed to medium-low, and add butter several tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition (meringue will deflate slightly as butter is added). Add vanilla, beat until frosting comes together, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat on the lowest speed until there are no more air bubbles, about 2 minutes. Stir with a rubber spatula until frosting is smooth.

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I just frosted the middle of the heart shapes with a knife and I think it worked pretty well. 

I ended up throwing the rose colored cake "tops" into my magic bullet and combined it with the extra frosting so I can make very vanilla cake pops tomorrow! Pictures to come soon

The heart shaped silicon baking cups really are super cute. Thanks to my roommate Emmarie for getting them for me for my birthday! I still can't believe it took me this long to use them. You can find them here!

Happy Experimenting!