Salted Black Licorice and Almond Cupcakes

The recipe for these cupcakes immediately caught my eye as I browsed through Google Reader. Anise and Almond are two of my favorite flavors. I jumped for joy at the thought of them together. I had to make them, they had to be divine.

And I was right. Such a beautiful combo. And I must say, my addition of extra anise (1.75-2 tsp total)and fleur de sel and Good and Plentys on top was spot on. 

Not a black licorice fan, you might still like these. A couple people who had one of my cupcakes didn't like black licorice either, but they liked these alot. Love black licorice? You will just adore these.

Recipe here. Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!: Creepy Rib Cage Chocolate Cupcakes

Have I ever mentioned that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays? If you are my friend, I probably have. It may seem weird to some who see Halloween as a secondary holiday, but thats simply because they see it as such not because its true.


Besides, I have my reasons, it's not an unfounded fondness; let me expand. The weather around this time is simply the best. Halloween night is always cool and a little breezy, not quite full fledged fall yet summer is far gone. The sound of the leaves rustling on the street mingled with the giggles of young trick-or-treaters and the loud laughter of awkward teenagers trying to figure our their new role in the holiday makes the perfect soundtrack for the night. Pumpkin carving is another perk of the Halloween season, and I must say I am pretty darn good at it. Plus my mom always makes the most delicious lentil chili and chalupa every year, which in and of itself is worth getting excited about. And needless to say, any holiday that revolves around candy and dressing little kids up in adorable costumes is amazing.

So in honor of such an amazing holiday, this year I decided to make extra special and extra creepy cupcakes, Rib Cage Chocolate Cupcakes (complete with a bleeding hearts). 

I made my favorite chocolate cupcakes (recipe here), added some dark morello cherries in the middle, topped them with dark chocolate ganache (recipe below), piped the rib cages on using leftover cream cheese frosting I had frozen (recipe here), and finished them off with a heart sprinkle. What a combo huh! And unlike most cute and kitschy baked goods, these actually taste amazing! 

Plus the surprise of the bleeding cherry hearts is to die for, moooh ha ha ha ha!

Dark Chocolate Ganache


Ingredients

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 6 tbsp corn syrup
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Put the chopped chocolate in a heat proof bowl, set aside.

2. In a small saucepan, heat the cream and corn syrup over med-hi heat until it just starts to bowl. Pour the cream mixture over the chocolate and let it sit for 1 minute. Whisk smooth, then mix in the vanilla.

A Long Overdue Tale: Wedding Worthy Cupcakes

Note: These are not my cupcakes, but it is an awesome wedding cake worthy of sharing.

A long long time ago, well maybe not that long ago, it was just this last February, I catered cupcakes for a good friends wedding. Let me begin by saying, this is the first event I have ever catered and I am in no way, shape or form in the business of catering. Nonetheless, when my friend asked if I would make the cupcakes for her wedding I was stoked! I love blessing people with baked goods, and since I usually have to make up excuse to do it, this was a golden opportunity! However, at the time, I didn't consider the pressure that comes with making anything for a friends wedding, especially since I am a class A perfectionist. 


The night before the big day I made the cake part of the cupcakes. I choose my 2 tried-and-true favorite cupcakes recipes, Elinor Klivans Cupcakes! Chocolate/Chocolate cupcake and Martha Stewart's Cupcakes Brown Sugar Poundcakes w/ Brown Butter Icing.; I didn't want to take ANY chances.


Well, I take that back. I did take one chance, which led to quite a frustrating night. I decided to make the cupcakes in my mom's kitchen since it is way bigger than mine is, knowing I was gonna need the space if I was going to make 125 of these suckers. But my mom's oven is temperamental, and I knew that going in. The result was about 24-36 wasted cupcakes because the tops shriveled and did not round as a proper cupcake should. Normally I wouldn't care, but this was my friends wedding! Everything had to be perfect! Now that I listen to myself, I was more anxious about these cupcakes than I was about my own wedding.


I moved to my tiny but reliable kitchen and finished off the cupcakes, exaughisted but finally satisfied. Next morning I skipped church to ensure I had enough time to frost all the cupcakes to my satisfaction, please don't judge me. This went a lot smoother, literally. My mom is an excellent frosting swirler, so I let her ice the Chocolate Cupcakes while I finished them off with gold dragees (illegal here in CA, but I'm a rebel!). I also iced the the Brown Sugar Pound Cakes myself, not much to it :) The end result was fab! Now I just had to transport them.


Luckily, I had seen cupcakes shops assemble cupcakes for take-out before. So I bought a bunch of large pastry boxes to which I attached the cupcakes with a small dot of spray can frosting, allowing them time to dry before moving them; worked like a charm! When I finally got the cupcakes to the venue safe and sound, I felt like a could finally breath again. 

It's amazing the stress that comes with being extremely type A and a perfectionist to the core. Well, at least I learned a thing or two if I ever do it again. I hope you gleaned some knowledge from my experience as well. But if you didn't, at least try these cupcake recipes out, they are, after all, wedding worthy.

The Best Chocolate/Chocolate Cupcakes
*adapted from Elinor Klivans Cupcakes!

Cupcake Ingredients

yields about 16 cupcakes

• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temp
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup water

Cupcake Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and line 16 cupcake tins with liners. 

2.Put the chocolate in the top part of a double broiler, sitting just above simmering water. Stir the chocolate until melted and smooth. Remove the water and set aside to cool.

3. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

4. In a stand mixer, or using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on med. speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Turn the mixer down to low and add the cooled melted chocolate.  Turn the mixer back to med. speed and add the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla and beat until the mixture looks creamy and has lightened in color, about 1 minute. Mix in the sour cream until no streaks remain. Turn the mixer down to low again and add half the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Add the water, then add the rest of the flour mixture mixing until just incorporated and smooth.

5. Fill each cupcake tin up to about 1/3 of inch from the top of the liner. Fill the empty tins half way up with water, to ensue even baking. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting. 

Frosting Ingredients

• 3 ounces of unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups of unsalted butter, at room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, at room temp

Frosting Directions

1. Put the chocolate in the top part of a double broiler, sitting just above simmering water. Stir the chocolate until melted and smooth. Remove the water and set aside to cool

2. Sift the powder sugar and cocoa powder together into the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large bowl if you have hand beaters. Add the butter, and on low speed beat until smooth and blended. Beat in the melted chocolate. Add the vanilla and cream and mix to incorporate. Then, on med. speed, beat the frosting form 3 minutes until it looks smooth and has lightened in color. 

3. Transfer the frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a wide circular tip. Frost the cupcakes in a swirl, working from the outside to the center mounding slightly as you go. Optional: Top with 3 gold dragees at the point.

Brown Sugar Pound Cakes w/ Brown Butter Icing

*adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients

yields about 26

• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temp
• 2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temp
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

Cupcake Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 and line 26 cupcake tins with liners.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together into a medium bowl, set aside.

3. In a stand mixer, or large bowl with hand beaters, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time. Then add the flour mixture in 3 increments, alternating with 2 additions of buttermilk, beating until combined after each addition.

4. Fill the cupcake tins 3/4 full and bake, rotating half-way, for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before icing.

Icing Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp milk

Icing Directions

1. Brown the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until it reaches a nut brown color. Remove it from the heat and pour into a medium bowl making sure to scrape in all the sediment, unless of course some of it burnt black.

2. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla and milk to the butter and stir until smooth. 

3. With the cupcakes out of the pan and on a wire rack, spoon the icing over the cupcakes. Optional: Garnish with a few gold sprinkles on top for an elegant touch.

(Dirt) Bombs Away!:Donut Muffins

After being enchanted by multiple donut muffins at various bakeries, I decided it was my turn to give them a shot. Because, lets face it, donuts+muffins= indulgent deliciousness! and this recipe is no exception. I christened them "Dirt Bombs," well actually I stole the name from Patisserie Philippe in San Francisco, but hey, why remake the wheel, right? Plus the name so accurately describes what happens when you bite into them, "Mouth Kick! Stomach Explosiooooon!" sort of like the Old Spice guy but in a good way.

Dirt Bombs

*adapted from Fine Cooking, yields 24 muffins

Muffin Ingredients

• 3 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
• 1 3/4 C sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 6 C (1 lb 11 oz) flour
• 1 Tbsp + 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 2/3 C milk
• 1/4 C buttermilk

Coating Ingredients

• 1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/2 C sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and grease two cupcake pans with baking spray.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together for about 3 minutes on med speed, or until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure each one is incorporated before adding the next.

3. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg into a large bowl. 

4. Combine the milk and buttermilk in a med bowl.

5. With the stand mixer on low, add 1/4 of the flour mixture then a 1/3 of the milk mixture. Repeat the process until all the ingredients have been mixed in, be careful not to over mix.

6. Scoop 1/2 C of the batter into each cupcake mold so that the batter is flush with top of the pan and bake 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted emerges cleans. 


7. Set on a cooling rack until they are cool enough to handle. Mix the cinnamon and sugar together for the coating in a shallow bowl. Brush each muffin generously with the melted butter and roll all over in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Then enjoy!

Why Santa's Loves Red Velvet

Not only is Red Velvet Santa's first choice in Holiday attire, but a little elf told me that besides Christmas cookies, which by the way he has to be sick of, Red Velvet is also his favorite cupcake! So I thought I would do a test run so that when Santa comes barreling down my chimney I will be ready with a cupcake that will make his eyes twinkle and his little round belly smile.



This Red Velvet recipe yields a heavier cupcake, which I prefer to the light and deceiving boxed cake mixes, and of course is topped with the traditional cream cheese frosting. However, the traditional frosting has a twist with the addition of brown sugar, my favorite kind, which gives the cream cheese a warmer fuller sweetness than regular sugar would. I must admit, I am not the biggest fan of Red Velvet Cupcakes, sorry Santa. I think it is because I would rather top my chocolate cupcake with more chocolate instead of cream cheese, but I thought these were pretty darn good! And very festive since the chocolate cake is dyed red and I frosted half white and half green.

So take it from Santa and give them a shot. Wasn't it Jolly Ol' Saint Nick himself who said, "Red Velvet Cupcakes to all, and to all a good-night!"

Red Velvet Cupcakes
(modified from Joy the Baker)

16 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temp

2 cups plus 4 Tablespoons granulated sugar

4 large eggs, at room temp

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 cups cake flour

4 Tablespoons cocoa powder

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1.5 cups buttermilk

scant 4 Tablespoons Red Food coloring

1. Preheat the oen to 325. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda. Add the kosher salt after sifting and set aside. Measure out the buttermilk and red rood coloring. Add the die to the buttermilk for easier incorporation later.

2. Cream the butter and the sugar using an electric mixer, until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, letting the eggs beat for 1 mintue in between additions. Scrape down the bowl in between additions.

3. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients. Start by adding one third of the flour mixture. Mix just to incorporate. Add half of the buttermilk. Add another one third of the flour mixture. Mix to incorporate. Add the last half of buttermilk, followed by the last third of flour.

4. Spoon into paper lined cupcake pans. Check the cupcakes after 12 minutes. Bake until cake tester comes out clean. Probably closer to 15-17 min total bake time. Makes 24 cupcakes.


Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

8oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk

4-6 cups powdered sugar, depending on desired consistency

1. Cream the butter and cream cheese together in an electric mixer. (Be sure that the two are at room temperature. Cold cream cheese or butter can make your frosting lumpy.)
2. Add the brown sugar and vanilla extract, and beat for about 2 minutes.
3. Turn off mixer and add 2 cups of powdered sugar. Turn the mixer on a low speed so the sugar doesn't fly out of the bowl. Slowly add more sugar alternately with the milk until you reach your desired consistency.
4. Separate the frosting into two bowls. Add green food dye to one bowl until the frosting your desired shade of green. Frost and enjoy!

Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice... and Apples!

My mom always told me that's what I was made of, I don't know about you. My guess is probably not, because I am pretty darn special. But one thing is for sure, the Cheaters Apple Spice Cupcakes my friend Chloe brought to my dinner party were definitely made out of sugar, spice and everything nice ... and apples. The everything nice part being that they are super easy to make (thus the name Cheater) and super delicious. Who knows, maybe after you have one you will be pretty darn special yourself.

PS: My post must be read with a sarcastic tone

Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 box Spice Cake Mix

Prepare as directed, substituting chunky apple sauce for the oil and milk for the water.


Cream Cheese Frosting: from MarthaStewart.com
Ingredients:
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Beat butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, and then vanilla; mix until smooth. Frosting can be refrigerated for up to 3 days; before using, bring to room temperature, and beat until smooth.

Optional Candied Pecans for the top
Ingrediants:
sugar
water
pecan halves

Add equal parts sugar and water to a pot. (I used 1 cup each.) Add pecans. Simmer for about six minutes. Drain syrup off.
In a deep fryer at about 375 degrees add pecans to oil. Heat for about 30 seconds to a minute or until frying noise stops. Be careful. The first attempt I made with these, I burned my pecans to a crisp. I guess my oil was too hot.
Lay on parchment paper lined tray and cool slightly.
Sprinkle some extra sugar on top to make them prettier.
Allow to dry completely.

The World Series of Cupcakes

If you live in Los Angeles you have either directly or indirectly experienced that cupcakes are in vogue. I mean if cupcakes were actually a trend in vogue magazines I would liken them to skinny leg pants, ie they were mildly fashionable back in the day (ie Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face) but as of late their popularity has exploded and persisted for about 5 years, and we are left wondering when will their popularity fade?

But hey, I love cupcakes and baseball, which is what this post is really about. You gotta love mounds of buttercream frosting piled on top of a single serving of moist cake. And I am here to inform you, yes inform you, of the best cupcake in LA to end your countless hours and calories of searching. And now, in honor of the world series, I will announce the World Champs of Cupcakes. Drum roll please.....and the winner is: Yummy Cupcakes! I have tried everything from Sprinkles to Auntie Em's Kitchen's red velvet (which has been featured on food network) and nothing even comes close to yummy cupcakes. The cakes is moist, the frosting is rich and has a certain firm yet smooth texture that makes it unforgettable and puts it head and shoulders above the rest. Not to mention their genius line-up of all-star hitters including Brown Sugar Cinnamon, Fudge Yummy and my favorite Happy Day (pictured above) which is the Derek Jeter of cupcakes with its classic white cake/vanilla frosting combo and it's satisfying clutch flavor that will always leave you smiling.

So if your looking for a grand slam, go to yummy cupcakes. I promise they are not as corny as I am.

Cheap and Chic Cupcake Decorations

So this blog is not so much about how the cupcakes I made for my friends bridal shower tasted (which I thought were pretty dang good, carrot cake and brown sugar buttercream are a pretty lethal combo) but about the easy and sophisticated decorations I made to adorn them.

I started with a theme, vintage wedding, and google image searched for 1950's and 60's bridal magazine covers, found a few I liked, shrunk them down to a small identical sizes, printed them on firm and glossy photo paper, cut them out, taped them to toothpicks and stuck them on top of my delightful cupcakes. To finish them off I rolled the edge in gold sprinkles and wha-la! A cheap and chic cupcake with minimal effort. And the idea is totally transferable to other occasions, themes, and events. Oh... but make sure the sweet stuff underneath isn't nasty because no amount of decoration can cover that up.

A Cupcake Recipe Even the Guys Will Go Crazy For

Everyone knows that girls can not keep their dirty paws off things like chocolate, cookies, and cupcakes. I don't know.... I think it is genetic. Something to do with how sweet we are and needing to constantly maintain the high level of sweetness in our blood, or possible our obsession with words that begin with the letter C. But isn't it frustrating when you, as a girl, are ready to down about 75 cupcakes within the blink of an eye and the guy next to you is like "Meh, I don't want dessert." Well I have found the perfect recipe that will make both girls and guys go gaga. It is a Chocolate-Oatmeal Cupcake with a Maple-Bacon Buttercream Frosting. I have made them myself and can attest to the fact that guys especially can not resist the fact that the frosting has real bacon fat and bacon bits in it. But beware girls, they are quite scrumptious to our palettes as well, limit yourself if you can! Muah-ha-ha-ha-ha! (All stereotypes do not reflect the opinion of this blogger, so don't hate)