Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Icing

I made these last night. I need to improve upon the recipe a tad before I post it. They really weren't bad by any means but they weren't perfect. I like PERFECTION. I am so critical of my baking sometimes to the point of ridiculousness. Argh.

I don't know if there's really a point to this blog post. I was feeling the overwhelming urge to post something since I haven't posted since December. I was originally going to post my recipe for biscuits that I made during the holidays but I somehow deleted my pictures. D'oh! How does that even happen? I remember emailing them to myself (I think!) and then deleting them from my phone. Why did I delete them? D'oh x 2! Now I can't find them anywhere. Not in my sent mail, not in my inbox, not in my trash box (that sounds naughty) or even my handy dandy flash drive that I sometimes put pictures on. Fail. I had two different kinds too; garlic-rosemary and garlic-cheddar. Le sigh. I guess I'll have to make some more.

Hummingbird Cupcakes

 nom nom nom

This is the first time I have made hummingbird cupcakes so I used a Martha Stewart recipe. I had to omit the walnuts since I am allergic but feel free to add them if you like them! I love these cupcakes. I've been eating them in the morning (unfrosted) with a cup of coffee and they are delicious. Go make these now!

Adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes roughly 24 cupcakes
Printable Recipe

INGREDIENTS for CUPCAKES

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled to room temp
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups mashed ripe bananas
8 ounces crushed pineapple
1 cup unsweetened finely shredded coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

INGREDIENTS for CREAM CHEESE ICING

8 ounces cream cheese - room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter - room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
16 ounces (1 pound) powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS for the CUPCAKES

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with cupcake liners.

2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3. Using a mixer and a large bowl, beat the butter, vanilla and sugar until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well with mixer before adding the next egg. After all 3 eggs have been added, beat on medium speed for 3 minutes.

4. In a medium bowl, mash the bananas well. Add the pineapple, coconut and walnuts (optional) and combine. Add to the egg mixture and combine well. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, and combine all ingredients.

5. Divide batter evenly in the 24 cupcake pans. The batter should go almost to the top of the liners:

6. Bake for 25-30 minutes (rotate pans halfway through baking) or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely before icing.

DIRECTIONS for CREAM CHEESE ICING

1. Using a mixer and a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until combined.

2. Add sugar, little by little, while beating with a mixer and combine well.

3. Put icing in a pastry bag or a heavy-duty freezer bag with the tip snipped off. Pipe icing onto to cupcakes.

Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum!

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Low-Fat Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake Cupcakes

I'm really loving this recipe! I found a cheesecake swirl recipe from Annie's Eats and changed it up a bit to my liking. I love cheesecake but I don't like all the fat that comes along with it so I made a low-fat version. And they are delicious! My only complaint is that the blueberry taste was not strong. Next time I'll experiment with different fruit flavors (like strawberry or raspberry) and see which one works best.

Adapted from: Annie's Eats
Printable Recipe

INGREDIENTS for the CRUST:

1 1/2 cups of finely ground graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
4 tablespoons melted margarine

INGREDIENTS for the CHEESECAKE FILLING:

2 pounds (32 ounces) of fat-free cream cheese - room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs

INGREDIENTS for the BLUEBERRY SWIRL:

1 cup blueberries
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons sugar

DIRECTIONS for the CRUST:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Line 24 muffin/cupcake tins with liners. In a small bowl, stir together the graham crackers, sugar and zest. Add the melted margarine and stir until combined. Take 1 full tablespoon of the graham cracker mixture and put into the bottom of each liner. Take a small glass and flatten the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake. Bake for 6 minutes then set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

DIRECTIONS for the CHEESECAKE FILLING:

1. In a large bowl, whip the cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy-about 4 minutes. Add the sugar and the vanilla and mix for another 1-2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, while mixing and combine well.

2. Pour 3 tablespoons of cheesecake batter over each of the pre-baked crusts.

DIRECTIONS for the BLUEBERRY SWIRL:

1. Combine blueberries, lemon juice, water and sugar in a medium-sized pan. Cook on low heat for about 15 minutes or until the blueberries have broken down and become juicy.

2. Pour mixture through a fine mesh sieve. You want about 10-12 teaspoons worth of thick blueberry juice for the cupcakes.*

3. Using about 1/2 a teaspoon of the juice per cupcake, place 3 dots on each of the cupcakes.

4. Using a toothpick (and some creativity), swirl the blueberry mixture around.

5. Bake 325 F for 22-25 minutes or until the cupcakes have set.

6. Set aside to cool for 1 hour then put in the fridge for 3 hours to chill completely before serving.

* Save the remaining blueberry mixture to top ice cream or yogurt. It's delicious!

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Carrot Cake Cupcakes

You may be saying to yourself, "But David, these do not look like carrot cake cupcakes!" I know, I know. They look more like rolls with melted Velveeta. But I promise you they are yummy carrot cake cupcakes. My decorating vision was not well executed. I've always decorated carrot cake with little carrots made of frosting but this time I wanted to do something different. I got a little carried away with the drizzling of the orange frosting. I blame the mimosa I was drinking! Oh well. They taste fantastic so that's all that matters.

Printable Recipe

INGREDIENTS for the CUPCAKE

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups finely grated carrots

INGREDIENTS for the ICING

1/4 cup cream cheese softened
2 tablespoons butter softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS for the CUPCAKE

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper muffin cups.

2. In a bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

3. In a large bowl, beat together eggs and sugar with a mixer for 2 minutes or until it becomes lighter in color and a little frothy. Add the vegetable oil, vanilla and carrot and mix with a spoon.

4. Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture and combine. Fill the 12 muffin cups to the top with the batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

DIRECTIONS for the FROSTING

1. In a medium size bowl with a hand mixer, beat together the cream cheese and butter. Once combined, beat the vanilla in. Add the powdered sugar little by little until smooth.

2. Frost the cupcakes once they have cooled to room temperature.

3. Decorate them differently than I did. Ha!

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If at first you don't succeed...

I love the recipe I recently posted for the chocolate cream cheese cupcakes so much so that I decided to experiment. Sometimes with baking and/or cooking, things don't always turn out the way you plan. And that's what happened with this experiment.

I wanted to make a similar recipe but I wanted the cream cheese part to be raspberry cream cheese. I love chocolate and raspberry together. Such a good combination of flavors! I bought raspberries yesterday. To my disgust, I opened them today and the bottom layer of raspberries were covered in black mold. Yack! Of course I was in the middle of baking so it wasn't feasible to run up to the store and take them back. Luckily I had some frozen strawberries in the fridge that I could use as a substitution.

The chocolate part of the cupcake turned out terrific. The strawberry cream cheese part unfortunately did not. It oozed and flattened out:

They kind of look like cookies in that picture. Luckily they taste good regardless of the fact that the cream cheese part oozed. I guess I'll have to keep experimenting until they are perfect. It's a tough job to taste-test but somebody has to do it. Ha! Once I get it perfected I'll post the recipe.

Also, I'm very excited about my new blog look. I designed a new banner and gave my blog a little Spring face-lift. Spring is right around the corner and I can't wait!

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes

I adapted this recipe from SmittenKitchen.com and they have quickly become a favorite. I enlisted my friend Mark to help out with this fabulous recipe. It's a perfect blend of chocolate and cream cheese. A perfect 'beat the mid-winter blues' kinda recipe. It's just the kind of sweet treat I need to make it through the final winter stretch.

Printable Recipe

INGREDIENTS

For the chocolate cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
5 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cream cheese filling:

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper muffin cups.

2. In a large bowl combine flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Combine well. Create a small well in the center of the mixture.

3. In a separate bowl combine water, vegetable oil, vinegar and vanilla extract. Pour into the the center of the flour mixture. Slowly stir, combining the flour and liquid. Do not over-stir. The batter will look a little bubbly and even just a little lumpy. That's okay as long as the dry and wet ingredients are blended.

4. In a separate bowl with a mixer, beat the cream cheese, sugar and egg. Fold in the chopped chocolate.

5. Divide the chocolate cupcake batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups.

Mark, evenly distributing the chocolate batter. What a great job he's doing!

6. Evenly distribute the cream cheese mixture, on top of the chocolate mixture, between the 12 muffin cups.

 Me, distributing the cream cheese batter. I'm also doing a good job. Ha!

7. Bake on the center rack for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

These are really delicious. Print this recipe, go get the ingredients and make them! Yum.

Lemon Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Icing

This recipe is really great for the summer. It's light and refreshing. The vanilla flavor compliments the lemon really well. This is one of my favorites!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups non-fat vanilla yogurt

FROSTING:

3 tablespoons butter softened
2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
vanilla bean seeds from one whole vanilla bean
(for instructions how to scrape a vanilla bean go here)
1 tablespoon milk

DIRECTIONS:

In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar then beat in the eggs one at a time.

Add the lemon peel and vanilla and mix together. Combine all dry ingredients well in a separate bowl and add to creamed mixture alternately with yogurt. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups with 1/4 cup of batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and happy.

Happy cupcakes baking

Cool for about 10 minutes then place on wire racks to cool completely.

For frosting, cream butter and sugar in a small mixing bowl. Add the vanilla, vanilla bean seeds and milk. If necessary add more milk until you reach the desired consistency. Now frost the cupcakes and EAT 'EM UP!


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Lemon-Lavender Cupcakes

hmmm...I think I want to keep you in suspense for a while.

Baking With Friends!

So what's better than baking? Baking with friends of course! My friends Audrey and Bianca joined me for some child-like fun in the kitchen. We chose to bake something reminiscent of our childhood, something nostalgic and playful. We chose:

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes!

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup milk
24 flat bottomed ice cream cones

DIRECTIONS:

1. Drink Miller Lite and amish wine. Now this step is completely optional of course but it makes for some good times.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

3. Cream butter and sugar together well in a large mixing bowl while Audrey and Bianca stare at you and take pictures.

4. Beat in eggs one at a time then add vanilla. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Add milk to butter mixture in 2 parts alternately with flour mixture in 3 parts, beginning and ending with flour.

5. Drink more wine and take pictures.

Cheese!

6. Fill cones about 3/4 full leaving the batter 1/2 inch from top.

NOTE: If you chose to do step 1 be careful when filling cones. Apparently amish wine can really affect your judgement during this step. Do not fill them all the way to the top! We made that mistake and our cupcakes spewed copious amounts of batter while baking.

7. Place filled cones on a baking tray. Bianca had a brilliant idea for this step. She took paper muffin cups, turned them upside down, cut an "X" in the center and put the cone through the hole. This gave the cones support.

Bake in oven for about 15 to 20 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Now let's make frosting!

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted
1/4 cup softened butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
sprinkles

DIRECTIONS:

1. Beat the confectioners' sugar, butter and salt with a mixer or make your friend mix it like so:

What great technique

2. Add the cream and vanilla and beat until smooth. If the frosting is too thick you can just add more milk until you reach the desired consistency. Now frost the cupcakes and cover with sprinkles!

Eat and enjoy!

Yum!