Week 19: Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes!

Hello!  Now a few of my family members have hinted quite a bit that they wanted cupcakes when they came up for my graduation.  They of course had to pick the craziest weekend to want cupcakes.   I did ask my mother what cupcake she would prefer because it was mother’s day that Sunday.  Her request was Strawberry Shortcake.   To make this happen, I made the cupcakes Thursday night before class and then got up at 5:00am on Friday to make the icing for the cupcakes and put them together.   Now for those who don’t know me I am not much of a morning person, so this was all out of love.  Even though I had to get up early these cupcakes were totally worth it, and were amazing!   I also do want to note that as much as I love Pinterest, this was the first recipe that I did not find through Pinterest!

I got the original recipe from: Delish.com

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

Yields: 24 Cupcakes

Topping- (if you can make the night before topping)

2 quarts strawberries (hulled, thickly sliced)

2/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Toss strawberries several times in a bowl with sugar and lemon juice until very syrupy.

Cupcakes-

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/3 cups sugar

4 large eggs

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/3 cup sour cream

Heat oven to 350 degree F.  Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners and set aside.  In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a large mixer on medium, beat butter and sugar until light and creamy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla.  With mixer on low, alternately beat in flour mixture and sour cream until combined.  Continue to beat on medium until batter is thick and smooth.

Fill cupcake cups until about 2/3 filled.  Bake for 24 to 26 minutes, until lightly golden and pick inserted comes out clean.  Cool in pan on wire rack for 5 minutes, remove cupcakes from pan and allow to cool completely.

Icing-

3 cups cold heavy cream

6 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

In a large bowl, beat cream confectioner’s sugar, and vanilla until soft peaks form.  Use a skewer to poke several holes into top of each cupcake.  Spoon some syrup from bowl over top, allowing it to absorb into cupcakes.  Top with sliced strawberries and a dollop of cream.  Arrange a few sliced berries in cream and drizzle with remaining syrup.  You can layer it however you would like to do it.

Love always, aloterella :)

Week 18: Margarita Cupcakes!

Hello!  I apologize again for the belated blog posts; however I have a feeling that until July I will keep apologizing!  Things are crazy busy, had graduation last week and next month is just going to get even crazier (I will do a post on graduation soon). 

So a few weeks ago when I made these cupcakes it was Cinco de Mayo.  I don’t know about you but the first thing when I think Cinco de Mayo is margaritas and that’s where I got inspiration for the week’s cupcake.  The cupcake did taste like a margarita minus not as much tequila.   I actually used less tequila than what the recipe called for as a I only had a nip of tequila.  But you make due with what you have! 

I got the original recipe from: http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2011/05/05/margarita-cupcakes-cinco-de-mayo/

Margarita Cupcakes:

Yields: 12 cupcakes

Cupcakes-

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

Zest and juice of 1 ½ limes

2 tablespoons tequila

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Line cupcake tin with paper liners; set aside.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugar together until pale, light, and fluffy (about 5 minutes).  Reduce the mixer speed to medium and add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the lime zest, lime juice, vanilla extract and tequila.  Mix until combined.  *The mixture will start to look curdled, but don’t worry, it will look better as you go on.  Reduce the mixer speed to low.  Add the dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk in two batches.  Mix only until just incorporated, using a rubber spatula to give it one last mix by hand.

Divide the better between the cupcake cups.  Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until just slightly golden and a skewer shows only moist crumbs attached, rotating the pan at the halfway point.

Allow cupcakes to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, and then remove to a cooling rack.  Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting them.

Frosting-

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 ¾ cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon tequila

Pinch of coarse salt

Whip the butter on medium-high speed of an electric mixer using the whisk attachment for 5 minutes.  Reduce the speed to medium-low, and gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing and scrapping the sides of the bowl until all is incorporated.  Give it a mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds.  Add the lime juice, tequila and salt mix on medium-high speed until incorporated and fluffy.  If the frosting appears a bit too soft, add some additional sugar, one spoonful at a time until desired consistency is reached.  Frost cupcakes and garnish, if desired, with lime zest, an additional sprinkling of salt and a lime wedge. 

*You can choose to make these without the tequila if you would prefer. 

*If using the lime for decoration I would recommend refrigerating them until eating, but if not using the lime there is no need to refrigerate. 

Love always, aloterella :)

Week 17: Pink Champagne Cupcakes

Sadly two friends will be moving to Kansas at the end of the month.  Since they have been members since the beginning of the club, I wanted to do a cupcake to honor to them.  When I think of Amanda and Chance, all I can think of it is Amanda and her pink studio.  So I went through my Pinterest cupcake board and came across the pink champagne cupcakes and thought this is perfect.  Pink reminds me of Amanda and the champagne is to toast them on the best of luck in their future!

Lately the shopping for ingredients has become a learning experience.  This week was finding sweet champagne and I don’t know much about champagne!  Since in NH you can buy beer and wine in the food store, I thought it would just be easier to purchase the champagne will food shopping, and yeah it took me 5-10 minutes to pick one.  Of course none of them were labeled sweet the only difference I could see was the price!  Thankfully I have an iPhone and was able to search what I thought was a sweet wine, Brut, but was totally wrong as it’s a very dry champagne. In my 5-10 minutes, I learned a lot of champagne and did end up with sweet champagne!

I got the recipe from Girly Obession: http://www.girlyobsessions.com/2012/01/baking/pink-champagne-cupcakes-champagne-buttercream-frosting-sparkly-pink-goodness/?_inv_out=9741&_inv_cp=4196017

Pink Champagne Cupcakes:

Yields: 24 Cupcakes

For cupcakes
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
6oz butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
6 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups sweet champagne

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. In a bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Set aside. Separate the eggs and discard the yolks. In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream the butter and sugar with a paddle attachment for 5-7 minutes, until light and airy. Slowly add vanilla extract and whites, scraping the bowl as needed.

Add the sifted dry ingredients 1⁄2 cup at a time to the creamed butter, alternating with 1⁄2 cup portions of the champagne (be careful as the champagne will bubble!). Scrape in between additions. Repeat until all ingredients are used. Divide the batter into cupcake liners, about 3/4 of the way full.

Bake at 350˚F for 20-25 mins, or until the cake is springy to the touch. (The cupcakes will not get brown around the edges)

For buttercream frosting
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter, softened but still cool
1/2 c champagne

Combine eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt and 1/4 cup of the champagne in the bowl of a standing mixer. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water, being careful not to let the bowl touch the water. Whisk gently and heat the mixture until it is thin and foamy and registers 160˚ on an instant-read thermometer.

Beat the egg mixture at medium-high speed until light, airy, and cooled to room temperature. (Bowl should only be slightly warm to the touch, about 5 minutes.) Reduce speed to medium and add the butter 1/4 stick at a time. Mixture might start to look curdled but it will smooth out with additional butter. After all the butter is added, add the remaining champagne, increase speed to high and beat for 1 minute, until light and fluffy. Can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.

*These cupcakes were good, though the cake was very heavy in my eyes.  I did enjoy the icing though! :)

Love always, aloterlla :)

Week 16:Churro Cupcakes with Cinnamon Mascarpone Frosting

Hello!  First off I apologize for this blog post being about 2 weeks late.  Way back when I wanted something not chocolaty or peanut, so looking through my long list of pins I decided to try a churro cupcake.  Growing up when everyone I went to Costco with my parents, I would get a churro which of course was the only reason I ever wanted to go!

Lately with the recipes there has been just one ingredient that is not always easy to fine in a grocery store.  I always try to find it myself but never have any luck.  This recipe of course had the one ingredient, mascarpone cheese.  After searching where I thought it would be, I finally gave up and asked.  It took them to figure out what it was but did finally tell me where it was. And after eating the cupcakes, I will say it was the most important ingredient.  As I keep going, I keep coming up with new favorites and this cupcake by far is my favorite so far!

I got the originally recipe from Sweet Chick: http://www.thesweetchick.com/2012/03/churro-cupcakes-with-cinnamon.html

Hello!  First off I apologize for this blog post being about 2 weeks late.  Way back when I wanted something not chocolaty or peanut, so looking through my long list of pins I decided to try a churro cupcake.  Growing up when everyone I went to Costco with my parents, I would get a churro which of course was the only reason I ever wanted to go!

Lately with the recipes there has been just one ingredient that is not always easy to fine in a grocery store.  I always try to find it myself but never have any luck.  This recipe of course had the one ingredient, mascarpone cheese.  After searching where I thought it would be, I finally gave up and asked.  It took them to figure out what it was but did finally tell me where it was. And after eating the cupcakes, I will say it was the most important ingredient.  As I keep going, I keep coming up with new favorites and this cupcake by far is my favorite so far!

I got the originally recipe from Sweet Chick: http://www.thesweetchick.com/2012/03/churro-cupcakes-with-cinnamon.html

Churro Cupcakes with Cinnamon Mascarpone Frosting

Yields: 18 cupcakes

For the Cupcakes:

·         1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

·         1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon

·         1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

·         ½ teaspoons baking soda

·         ½ teaspoons salt

·         ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

·         1 cup sugar

·         2 eggs, at room temperature

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         ½ cup milk, at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pans with cupcake lines; set aside.  In a medium bowl, combine: flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, until just combined then stir in the vanilla.  Sprinkle 1/3 of the flour mixture over the butter mixture and gently stir in until barely combined.  Add half of the milk, mixing until just combined.  Repeat these steps with the remaining flour mixture and milk, ending with the flour.  Do not over mix!

Fill each muffin cup with 2 tablespoons of batter.  Bake the cupcakes for 14 – 16 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

For the Cinnamon Sugar:

·         ½ cup sugar

·         1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon

Allow the cupcakes to cool for 2 to 3 minutes, and then dip the top of each cupcake into the cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat it.  You really have to smush them in there to get it to stick.  Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before filling.

For the Filling:

·         Carmel Ice Cream Topping

Put the topping into a piping bag or a squeeze bottle.  Stick the tip into the cupcake and squeeze the topping into the cupcake.

For the Frosting:

1 cup heavy cream

8 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature *

½ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

¼ tsp. cinnamon

With an electric mixer on medium speed, which heavy cream until stiff peaks form (be careful not to overbeat or cream will be grainy).  In another bowl, whisk together mascarpone, cinnamon and confectioners’ sugar until smooth.  Gently fold whipped cream into mascarpone mixture until completely incorporated.  Use immediately.  After frosting the cupcakes, sprinkle a little bit of the left over cinnamon-sugar onto the frosting.

*Can be found in the fancy cheese section of a food store! :)

Because of the mascarpone cheese, I would recommend keeping these cupcakes in the fridge until you choose to eat them.

Like I said, so far the best cupcake ever! 

Love always, aloterella :)