Cupcakes recipes

Baking cupcakes is both a rewarding and pleasurable experience, not just for the home cook but also for the family and friends who gather to enjoy the fruits of the labour. So quick and delicious, they can be made when friends drop in or just on a whim on a lazy afternoon.

Ease and simplicity have always been part of making cupcakes. They derive their name from often being cooked in a teacup, and also from all the ingredients being measured by the cup. But we have moved on since those historical times, and bring you a mini selection of cupcake recipes for you to bake and enjoy.

Chocolate velvet cupcake

Move over red velvet, it’s time for chocolate velvet! I just discovered this recipe today and it might be my new favorite cupcake. I first read about chocolate velvet in Southern Living, where they described the batter as being smooth and creamy. Not that the batter matters as much as the baked cake, but the velvety smooth texture of the batter might explain the name. As for the cakes, they are soft, moist and sure to get compliments from chocolate lovers, especially if you frost them with a good chocolate icing. I’ve included my go-to recipe along with the cupcakes.

For a larger batch (and slightly different take on the recipe), here’s a link toSouthern Living’s original version. I reduced the yield to 24, added a little cocoa powder, used bittersweet morsels/chips and used coffee in place of hot water.
Frost the cupcakes with your favorite chocolate frosting (here’s mine).

Chocolate Velvet Cupcakes

1 1/3 cups (6 ounces) all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup (6 ounces) bittersweet or extra dark morsels**
5 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, softened
2/3 packed tightly packed cups light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup sour cream
2/3 cup hot brewed coffee

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
2. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Set aside.
3. In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave morsels at 50% power 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring at 30-second intervals.
4. In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar at medium speed until well blended. Scrape sides of bowl and beat in the vanilla. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Add melted chocolate morsels; beat until blended.
5. By hand or with the lowest speed of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, gradually add flour mixture to chocolate mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed (or by hand) until blended. Gradually add hot coffee and stir until smooth.
6. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean. Remove from pans to wire racks, and let cool completely

White Sour Cream Wedding Cake Cupcakes

I thought I’d take a picture of one of our last minute cupcakes and let you know I used White Wedding Cake Cupcakes recipe from Recipezaar. It was okay – definitely still tasted like cake mix, but was very good. The kids loved it. I’m not sure what the point was in adding all the extra ingredients to cake mix unless it was extra moistness, but now I can mark the recipe off my list of things to try.

S’mores Cupcakes

I try to post recipes that don’t require lots of equipment, but today’s is an exception. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever posted anything that required so much gear — in this case, food processor, a stand mixer, a candy thermometer, and a torch. And frankly, the torch was the whole reason for making these. Ever since I bought it I’ve been looking for things to burn. S’mores cupcakes seemed perfect for my torching mood, but there are lots of s’mores cupcake recipes out there. Since I couldn’t find one I liked, I used a couple of different recipes and built a cupcake of my own. I wanted one that had a real graham cracker flavor, plus chocolate and of course, the burnt marshmallow top. This one filled the bill, though I can’t say I wouldn’t be happy with others. Also, this recipe halves well. Halving an egg yolk isn’t as troublesome as it sounds because you don’t have to be precise.

S’mores Cupcakes
32 graham crackers (squares)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened (salted butter)
5 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or milk)
Meringue Frosting
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup water
6 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Process graham crackers into crumbs. Add flour and baking powder to crumbs and pulse processor to mix.

Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy; beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Stir in milk, followed by graham cracker mixture and chocolate chips. Divide evenly among cupcake cake cups and bake on center rack for 22-25 minutes or until cakes test done.

Prepare Meringue Frosting. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat gently to dissolve sugar. Bring to a boil without stirring. Boil to firm ball stage.

Meanwhile, using a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. With the mixer on low, slowly pour in the hot sugar syrup. Gradually increase the speed to high, and beat meringue for 7 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. At this point, it should be thick and spoonable – not too droopy.
Spoon big gobs of meringue on top of cupcakes and torch them gently. I kept setting the cupcake liners on fire, so be careful.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Today’s red velvet cupcakes, adapted from an episode of Throwdown With Bobby Flay, are my favorite so far. They are moist, bright red, and don’t have too much cocoa powder to muck up the mishmash of flavors that distinguish red velvet from other cakes. The frosting is awesome, but like the reviewers on Food TV’s website said, you’re going to have some left over if you don’t scale it down. Speaking of which, the cupcake recipe on Food TV says it makes sixteen, but I halved the recipe and got 14 cupcakes so I guess the Throwdown competitors made them “jumbo”. Here’s the full batch of red velvet cupcakes from Throwdown, and below I’ve typed up my adapted half batch version. I also added some volume measurements since the original is given in mostly weights.

Red Velvet Cupcakes from Throwdown with Bobby Flay — half batch (adapted from Terry Wahl’s recipe)

7 3/4 ounces all-purpose flour (1 3/4 cups minus a teaspoon) — better to weigh, though!
1/2 teaspoons plus 1/8 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoons plus 1/8 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cups vegetable oil
6.5 ounces granulated sugar (1 cup minus 1 tablespoon)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 egg plus 2 tablespoons beaten egg
1 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon red food coloring
1/2 teaspoons plus 1/8 teaspoons vinegar
1/2 teaspoons plus 1/8 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon water

For the cream cheese frosting:
6 oz cream cheese, room temperature
4 oz butter, room temperature
1/2 pound (1 ¾ cups) powdered sugar, sifted
3/4 vanilla extract

Preheat oven 350 degrees F. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into a bowl and set aside. With an electric mixer, beat oil, sugar, and buttermilk until combined. Add eggs, food coloring, vinegar, vanilla and water and mix well. Add the dry ingredients a little bit at a time and mix by hand until well mixed. Be sure not to overmix, or the batter will come out tough.

Line 14 cupcake cups with paper liners, scoop the batter into the liners dividing evenly (a little over halfway full) and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean. Let cool.

For the cream cheese frosting: Whip the butter and cream cheese together in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until creamed. Gradually add powdered sugar to the mixture and scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and mix until combined.

Source: cookiemadness.net

baking with Bill & Sheila

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