Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry Cupcakes

Tags

chocolate, cupcake, sour cream, strawberry

I know I’ve been gone for a while… again… In my defense, I’ve had no internet or computer for the last week, which makes it a little hard to do posts! 🙂 To make it up to you, I’m going to share some amazing cupcakes! Cupcakes make everything better, right? I totally thought I was being brilliant when I thought these up, that these somehow must be something that no one has ever made. Of course, I was wrong… It seems virtually impossible to make something that no one has made before, nowadays! But, in my defense, I do think these are different than most of the other chocolate-dipped strawberry cupcakes out there. Or maybe I’m just being hopeful!

I took a chocolate cupcake, filled it with some macerated strawberries, topped it with a strawberry buttercream, then finished it off with some chocolate ganache to truly epitomize a chocolate dipped strawberry. The components really melded wonderfully to mimic the flavors of the strawberry treats. And everyone loved them, which is always a good thing! 🙂

An interesting little story about when I made these… Whenever I’ve made Swiss meringue buttercream, I’ve never had a problem with the whole curdling effect and whatnot. And every time I make it, I think that to myself and hope that I don’t manage to jinx myself. Well, this time I did. I tried all the tricks that people use to help bring the frosting together again, and nothing seemed to be working. So I cheated, and it somehow worked! Which made me very happy with myself, that my frosting didn’t end up as a total epic fail, especially since I didn’t have enough strawberries to try again. So my personal trick, if all other attempts to fix a curdled buttercream fail, try adding some powdered sugar. A little bit at a time, beating for a while after each addition and crossing your fingers that it will come together. 🙂 But I’m thinking this was just a weird fluke as to why I had a problem, because this strawberry buttercream recipe has been used so many times by so many different people with such wonderful success. Maybe I was just having an off day.

So if you’re looking for a fun treat to serve at a fancy party, or as a way to say I love you to a special someone, or even just to make for fun like I did, please don’t hesitate to give these awesome cupcakes a try!!Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry Cupcakes
Yield: 24 cupcakes

Cupcakes:
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa powder
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon hot water
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¾ cup sour cream

Strawberry Filling:
1¼ to 1½ cups strawberries, finely chopped
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Strawberry Buttercream:
1½ cups fresh strawberries (8 ounces), pureed
4 large egg whites
1¼ cups sugar
1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Chocolate Ganache:
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into very small pieces
½ cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons vanilla

To make the strawberry filling: In a small bowl, combine the strawberries and the sugar; toss to fully coat the strawberries. Set aside and allow to macerate while the cupcakes bake.

To make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and hot water until smooth; set aside and let cool slightly. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Slowly mix in the vanilla extract then the cocoa mixture, beating until incorporated. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, beating until just combined.

Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners, filling them about ¾ of the way full. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the strawberry buttercream: Set a heatproof mixing bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Combine the egg whites and sugar in the bowl. Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture reaches 160 degrees F, or all sugar is dissolved and mixture is hot to the touch.

Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat on low speed for 2 minutes, gradually increasing to high speed. Beat until stiff peaks form and mixing bowl is cool to the touch. With the mixer on medium-low speed, gradually add a couple tablespoons of butter at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating on medium-high speed until thick and smooth. Add the strawberry puree and beat until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides as needed. Switch to the paddle attachment and beat on low speed for 2 minutes to eliminate air bubbles. Spoon frosting into pastry bag fitted with large decorating tip.

To make the chocolate ganache: In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the heavy cream until very hot, but not boiling; remove from heat. Place chocolate in a heat safe bowl. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and allow it to sit for about 5 minutes. Whisk the cream and chocolate until smooth and thoroughly combined; stir in the honey and vanilla. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep it smooth; don’t let it sit too long or the ganache will harden.

To assemble the cupcakes: Using an apple corer or a paring knife, cut out a well in the center of each cupcake; discard the cores. Fill each well with about 1 tablespoon of strawberry filling. Frost with strawberry buttercream then pour a spoonful of chocolate ganache over the frosting to finish the cupcakes. Refrigerate the cupcakes until the ganache has set. Store cupcakes in the refrigerator and bring to room temp before serving.

Source: Cupcakes adapted from Martha Stewart, frosting adapted from Annie’s Eats, ganache adapted from My Baking Addiction

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Oreo Cupcakes

Tags

buttercream, chocolate, cupcake, oreo, Swiss meringue

Who loves making cupcakes just for the sake of making cupcakes? I do!! They’re just so yummy and fun to make! And there are so many different flavor combos to try. If I waited for special occasions to make cupcakes, I wouldn’t make them nearly as often as I’d like. Which means my friends and coworkers wouldn’t get to enjoy them, either! 🙂I’ve made these cupcakes a few times now, and have loved them every single time. Maybe I just love Oreos too much… but Oreos blended into frosting is just soooo good! And if you haven’t tried Swiss meringue buttercream yet, I highly recommend you try it, and soon. It’s creamy, light and fluffy, not overly sweet, and just oh so amazing. Placing an Oreo at the bottom of each cupcake adds a little extra surprise that everyone seemed to love! This devils food cupcake has also become my go-to chocolate cupcake. It’s the perfect texture and flavor. Now I just need to find a go-to vanilla cupcake! 🙂Oreo Cupcakes
Yield: 32 cupcakes

Cupcakes:
32 Oreo cookies
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa powder
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon hot water
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¾ cup sour cream

Oreo buttercream:
24 Oreo cookies
5 egg whites
1½ cups granulated sugar
4 sticks butter, at room temperature

To make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. Place an Oreo in the bottom of each cupcake liner.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and hot water until smooth; set aside and let cool slightly. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Slowly mix in the vanilla extract then the cocoa mixture, beating until incorporated. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, beating until just combined.

Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners, filling them about ¾ of the way full. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the Oreo buttercream: In the work bowl of a food processor attached with the steel blade, blend the Oreo cookies until fine crumbs form; set aside.

Set a heatproof mixing bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Combine the egg whites and sugar in the bowl. Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture reaches 140 degrees F, or all sugar is dissolved and mixture is hot to the touch.

Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat on low speed for 2 minutes, gradually increasing to high speed. Beat until stiff peaks form and mixing bowl is cool to the touch. With the mixer on medium-low speed, gradually add a couple tablespoons of butter at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating on medium-high speed until thick and smooth. Add the Oreo crumbs and beat until fully incorporated. Switch to the paddle attachment and beat on low speed for 2 minutes to eliminate air bubbles. Spoon frosting into pastry bag fittind with large decorating tip. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.

Source: Adapted from Martha Stewart cupcakes and frosting

Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

Tags

caramel, cupcake, dessert, dulce de leche

Dulce de leche is essentially caramel, but it literally translates to “sweet of milk.” It seems really easy to make yourself, though I have failed on multiple occasions, and I really don’t know why. You’r basically cooking sweetened condensed milk until it thickens and carmelizes… doesn’t sound so bad, right? If you are interested in trying to make your own, check out Bakers Royale post, and I wish you more luck that I had with it!These cupcakes are one of those recipes that I’ve had intentions to make sooner, but for one reason or another, it has been delayed. The first time I wanted to make these was a few months ago. I wanted to be cool and make my own dulce de leche, since it seemed so easy. Yet somehow I failed, and without any cans of dulce de leche laying around, the cupcakes had to be put on hold. Then another time I had saved some egg whites, and realized I had the perfect number to turn into a delicious swiss meringue buttercream, but ran out of time and ended up having to quickly freeze the egg whites before they went bad. Finally, I was determined. I had the egg whites, I had the dulce de leche, and one way or another these cupcakes were being made! And so I did. And everyone was able to taste the greatness! The cupcakes did seem a little dry and crumbly, though still delicious. I think I might have over baked them.

But the frosting… Absolutely divine! It reminded me of why I love swiss meringue buttercream and made me question why I don’t make it more often. If you’ve never had swiss meringue buttercream, I must say that you are missing out. Please, make some for yourself, and soon!! It is the smoothest, most creamy, decadent frosting that there is, and adding dulce de leche to it just makes it that much more incredible.Dulce de Leche Cupcakes
Yield: 24 cupcakes

Cupcakes:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1⅓ cup granulated sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup dulce de leche
4 large eggs, at room temperature
¼ cup canola oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup buttermilk, room temperature

Swiss Meringue buttercream:
4 egg whites
1¼ cups granulated sugar
Pinch salt
1½ (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
⅓ cup dulce de leche
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake tins with 24 paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the dulce de leche and beat another minute, until thoroughly incorporated. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then mix in the oil and vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk and ending with the dry ingredients, beating each addition just until incorporated.

Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake cups, filling each cup about two-thirds full. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the tin on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then remove from the tin to finish cooling on the rack. Cool completely before frosting.

To make the buttercream: In the metal bowl of a stand mixer (or a large hat-proof bowl if using a hand-held mixer), combine the egg whites, sugar, and salt. Set the bowl over a pot of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Whisk constantly until the mixture reaches 160 degrees F.

Fit the mixer with the whisk attachment; beat the egg white mixture on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form and the bottom of the mixing bowl is cool to the touch, about 8 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and add the butter 2 tablespoons at a time, adding more once each addition has been incorporated. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat until the buttercream is thick and smooth, 3-5 minutes; it may seem to curdle but keep mixing and it will come together. Add the dulce de leche and vanilla; mix until incorporated. Frost cupcakes as desired, drizzling with any extra dulce de leche.

Source: The Way the Cookie Crumbles

Zucchini-Pineapple Cupcakes with Lemon Sour Cream Frosting

Tags

cinnamon, cupcake, lemon, pineapple, sour cream, zucchini

One last zucchini recipe to finish off the week! I realize a lot of people are switching to fall mode now, with pumpkin and apple recipes and lots of warming comfort foods. These do not fall under that category. But in my defense, it is still hot here and still feels like summer, so I can’t bring myself to shift from summer to fall just yet. There is an apple stand on my way to work that’s just calling my name, but I’m not yet ready for apple pie or other yummy apple goodies. Their time will come soon enough, and there will be a large box of apples waiting for me when I’m ready!

As for these cupcakes, they’re very light with a bright flavor, perfect for summer or hot days. I was drawn to these because I thought the pineapple and sour cream were unique twists. I try to avoid cake mixes since it’s so easy to make your own from scratch, but sometimes it’s nice to have the simplicity of using a box mix (and I couldn’t figure out a simple way to replicate box mix). The original recipe called for an orange icing, but I’m not a huge fan of orange in baked goods and lemon seemed like it would go better. While I can’t compare the lemon with the orange, I thought the lemon went perfectly, but feel free to switch it up!Zucchini-Pineapple Cupcakes with Lemon Sour Cream Frosting

Cupcakes:
1 package (about 18 ounces) yellow cake mix without pudding in the mix
3 eggs
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
⅓ cup canola or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
2 cups coarsely shredded zucchini, about 1 medium zucchini
1 (8-ounces) can crushed pineapple, well drained

Frosting:
3½ cups powdered sugar
⅔ cup sour cream (not non fat or fat-free)
¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons lemon zest

To make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 standard muffin pan cups with paper baking cups.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, buttermilk, oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice; beat according to package directions. Fold in the zucchini and pineapple, mixing well to distribute evenly. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups.

Bake 20 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on wire rack. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting: While the cupcakes are cooling, combine powdered sugar, sour cream, butter, and lemon zest in a large bowl with electric or stand mixer at low speed. Beat at medium speed until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes with an offset spatula. Garnish with additional lemon peel, if desired. Serve at room temperature. Store leftover cupcakes in refrigerator.

Source: Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Carrot Cupcakes

Tags

carrot, cinnamon, cream cheese, cupcake, pineapple

A little late for Easter, and a little early for Mother’s Day, but perfect for either holiday or anytime the craving for sweets with carrots and cream cheese hits. I made these for Easter as a last minute treat. Easter, Easter Bunny, carrots, carrot cake. It’s a logical thought process, if I do say so myself!

Carrot cupcakes are healthier than your standard cupcake… carrots make things healthy, right? The addition of oil instead of butter also helps them remain moist, even after being refrigerated with the cream cheese frosting.

These cupcakes are phenomenal. Everyone who tried them loved them, even people who aren’t big fans of carrot cake. Perfectly spiced, extremely moist without being soggy, and delicious cream cheese frosting. There may be an excess of frosting after frosting the cupcakes, but it should be the perfect amount for icing a cake and decorating. Besides, any extra can be saved for a later use… or eaten as a snack… your choice!

Carrot Cupcakes
Of course, anything that can be made into cupcakes can also be made into cakes. To make carrot cake, grease two 9-inch cake tins, split the batter evenly between the two tins, and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cupcakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
¾ cup vegetable oil
¾ cup buttermilk
1½ cups white sugar
½ cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 pound carrots, peeled
¾ cup crushed pineapple
1 cup raisins (optional)

Frosting:
1 pound cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

To make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake tins with paper baking liners for 30 cupcakes. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and salt; set aside.

In a food processor fitted with the shredding disk, shred the carrots. You should have about 3 cups. Transfer the carrots to a medium bowl. Place the pineapples in a colander and press to release the majority of the juices. Add to the bowl with the carrots and add raisins, if using. Wipe the food processor bowl clean. Using the metal blade, blend the eggs and sugars until frothy. With the food processor running, add the oil, buttermilk, and vanilla extract through the feed tube in a slow and steady stream until fully incorporated. Slowly add to the bowl of dry ingredients. Mix well then add the carrot mixture. Mix until well blended and no more flour is visible.

Scoop into the prepared cupcake tins, filling ¾ full of batter. Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool in the tins for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

To make the frosting: Use the paddle attachment on a stand mixer and beat the butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed until soft and creamy. Reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually add the sifted powdered sugar, beating until the sugar is fully incorporated. Add the vanilla extract, beating for an additional minute. Frost cupcakes as desired; to thicken the frosting for more detailed decorations, place in the refrigerator until desired consistency is reached. Store iced cupcakes in the refrigerator.