Stacey's Birthday Cupcakes

I have a stupendous friend named Stacey. She's beautiful and selfless and gives birth to the cutest little people. And TODAY is her birthday!
Stacey and I are leaders over the 12 and 13 year old girls at church, and last night, at our activity with them, we decided to chow down on some cupcakes to celebrate the event.
This is a recipe that could potentially fall under the category of "baking my way through 'Our Best Bites' dessert section." I say potentially because I changed the recipe. A bit. You'll see. Just know that these (the way I did them) turned out rich and delicious and oh my gosh can you really go wrong with chocolate AND peanut butter? I will revisit it again sometime and make it the way they did. Or maybe not. I mean, these turned out really really good...

I'm going to post the original recipe, and then I'll leave my psychotic notes of things I changed. You know, like I always do :)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

1 Duncan Hines yellow or white cake mix
1 cup sour cream (full-fat or light, but not fat-free)
3 eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
24 unwrapped mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Chocolate Frosting:

1/4 cup melted butter (real butter, not margarine)
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 pound powdered sugar
3 tablespoons evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Frosting:

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup  real butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 tablespoons (or more) of milk (you can use some of the leftover evaporated milk; it’s awesome in this frosting)

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all the cupcake ingredients except for the peanut butter cups with an electric mixer on medium-low speed for 30 seconds, scraping the bowl frequently. Turn the speed to high and beat for another 3 minutes.

Fill each muffin cup about 1/2 full with batter. Top with an unwrapped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup , then fill the muffin cups with the remaining batter. Make sure the Peanut Butter Cups are covered and the cups are about 3/4 full. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until the tops are golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the frostings. For both frostings, just combine all the ingredients for each one and whip until light and fluffy, adding additional milk as needed. Frost the cupcakes with the swirled frosting.

If you decide to make these as they did, with both frostings swirled, then follow their tutorial found HERE. Pretty nifty way to use two frostings together :)


Okay. 
So. 
I used a chocolate cake mix, because I thought it sounded yummier (I didn't know that was a word until just now when I typed it and it didn't put a red squiggle beneath it) to bake a peanut butter cup in a chocolate cupcake. So I did. When I did that, I decided to just do the peanut butter frosting. So I did. And when I did that, I decided to use some of the left over peanut butter cups, and chop them up for the frosting. 


It.
Was.
Bananas.


And since I changed mine enough that they don't really look the same as Our Best Bites, these are, officially, "Stacey's Birthday Cupcakes."
Ta da.

I had every intention of taking step by step pictures, filling the cups, placing the peanut butter cups, filling some more, blah blah blah. But, then I forgot. 

Just FYI, I filled my 3/4 full and...

They went a little insane. The batter is so thick (SO thick! what with all of that sour cream and peanut butter added into it) though that they shouldn't spill out everywhere. If you don't want your cupcake tops this big, then fill the liners a little less than 3/4 full.

Right? Right???

Okay, math lesson:

This ^

+

This ^

=

A possible 5 lbs weight gain/ridiculous frosting eating session.

Be still my heart. 

These things are ridiculously rich and delicious. 

Enjoy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STACEY!!!!

Recipe Source: Our Best Bites

Mint Oreo Cupcakes

This is one of those kinds of recipes that I just want to make out with. The reason for this is, it is everything that I expect it to be, perfectly. As soon as I saw the title of this recipe, I had an idea in my head of how these would look. As soon as I read this recipe, I had an idea in my head of how these would taste. As soon as I ate this recipe, it was all confirmed and my knowledge of this recipe was perfected. THESE ARE SO GOOD!!!! I'm sure they would work with regular Oreos as well, but why would you want to do that when you can use the mint ones???

(A side note, I think she must've put a TEENSIE bit of green food coloring in her frosting, because mine didn't turn out green at all, but hers did. Really, it's up to you. That is the ONLY thing I have to add to this recipe! It's THAT GOOD!!!)

Mint Oreo Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS For the cupcakes: 24 Mint Oreos Box Chocolate Cake Mix 1 stick of butter, melted 1 cup water 3 eggs Preheat oven to 350. Line 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners.   Place a Oreo in the bottom of each liner. In the bowl of a mixer, combine cake mix, melted butter, water and eggs.   Beat on low for one minute. Scrape sides of bowl and increase speed to high.  Beat for another minute. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full and bake for about 15 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched.   Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before serving. For Frosting: 15 Mint Oreos, crushed completely into superfine crumbs 4 sticks of butter, softened 4 Tablespoons milk 8 cups powdered sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 teaspoons mint extract In the bowl of a mixer, beat butter, milk, and extracts on low speed until smooth and combined.   Slowly add powdered sugar and beat on low until just mixed.   Increase speed to medium high and beat for 2 minutes.   Add cookie crumbs and beat on low until well combined. Pipe frosting on cupcakes (I used a large round tip) and top with an extra Oreo,  if desired.  You can always just regular frost them too. And also your husband can just squeeze the extra frosting directly into his mouth. The anticipation is HORRENDOUS!!! Here's the frosting. Clearly, I desperately need help with my photography skills. Look at that. Drink it in. Eat it up. It's a good thing. Recipe Source:  Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Drop everything and make these right now! They are SO good! Like most things that I bake, I did these for Mike because he "needed something good to eat." I have a really bad habit of stalking the internet for recipes, putting them in giant notebooks, and never cooking/baking them. So, lately, when I've had a desire to make something different, I've decided to delve through my volumes and find something there rather than just add to the madness :) This one has been in its notebook for so long, I don't even remember where I got it from! It even says "Submitted by Erin" on it. I HAVE NO IDEA WHO ERIN IS!!! Anyways, I think you're really going to love it!

Black Bottom Cupcakes
8 oz cream cheese
1 egg
1/3 c. sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 (6 oz) pkg semisweet chocolate chips (I would recommend the mini ones! They're absolutely perfect for this!)
1 1/2 c. sifted flour
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. soda
1/4 c. cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. water
1/3 c. oil
1 Tbs. vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla

Beat cream cheese, egg, sugar (1/3 c.), and salt in a bowl. Stir in the chocolate chips (Again, I can't say enough that you need the mini ones!). Set aside; beat all remaining ingredients until blended. Fill cupcake liners 1/3 full. Top each with a heaping spoonful of cream cheese mixture. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen.

Cream cheese frosting
4 oz cream cheese, softened
3 Tbs. softened butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

Beat together, adding milk and more powdered sugar to desired consistency and quantity. *If you have the desire to pipe this onto the cupcakes, you will need to double or even triple the amount of ingredients you use.







You really don't want to fill up the liners a whole lot...



...because once you add the cream cheese to it, it's going to fill up fast! Also, you really should use liners. I know there are those of you out there who feel that cupcake pans should be greased and floured. However, because of the heavy, cream cheese center, if you don't use a liner here, when you pull them out they'll just collapse everywhere.



Some of them might sink in the middle, where the cream cheese is, when they're done. It's okay!



Simply frost and VOILA! These are so easy to make and sooooo delicious! Those mini chips really make all of the difference :)
(Those sheep keep showing up... I think that, like the toys in Toy Story, they come to life when I'm not in the kitchen...)

Boston Cream Cupcakes

I got this wonderful book about a year ago called "A Baker's Field Guide to Cupcakes" and I had yet to actually make something out of it. Luckily, my mom likes Boston cream pie so it was a good excuse to make the Boston cream cupcakes. I highly recommend this recipe and I recommend the entire book! It's got some great looking cupcakes, for every occasion, with really easy instructions.

There's 3 different recipes to create this whole thing so GET EXCITED! Don't be intimidated by that. It has a lot of steps but these are really quite easy to make and to put all the DELICIOUS elements together :)

Yellow Cupcakes:

Ingredients

12 paper liners

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces

3/4 c sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1/2 c milk, at room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350, place liners in cupcake pan.

2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl, set aside.

3. In a large bowl, on medium speed, beat butter until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing completely after each one. Add the flour mixture in 4 additions, alternating with the milk. Begin and end with the flour.

4. Divide batter into liners, and bake for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center shows a few moist crumbs.

5. Cool pan on rack for 5 minutes, then remove cupcakes to cooling rack.

Pastry Cream:

Ingredients

1 1/2 c milk

1 vanilla bean

4 large egg yolks

1/3 c sugar

3 tbl all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

1. Place milk in a medium size nonreactive (whatever the heck this is, I have no idea. I just used a regular pot) pot. Split vanilla bean down center and scrape all the seeds into the milk. Add the vanilla bean to the milk as well. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat, but keep warm. Let bean steep for 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a large bowl until creamy. Whisk in flour and salt until smooth.

3. Remove the vanilla bean from the milk. Reheat milk until it just comes to a simmer. Pour about one quarter of the warm milk over the egg yolk mixture, whisking gently. Add remaining milk and whisk to combine. Immediately pour mixture back into the pot and cook over low-medium heat. Whisk continuously until thickened, about 8 minutes, but do not let it boil. The pastry cream should be thick enough to mound when dropped from a spoon.

4. Allow pastry cream to cool; stir frequently to release heat. When almost at room temperature, scrap into airtight container and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until thoroughly chilled. This can be made up to 3 days ahead. (word to the wise: when you put this in the fridge, put it in a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap, with the wrap actually pushed against the whole top of it. This will keep it from developing a weird film on top)

Ok now let me tell you what I did for this. I don't have access to vanilla beans in Tyler. As wonderful as Tyler, Tx is, I have yet to find a place that sells that kind of stuff. So I used 1 tsp of vanilla instead. Instead of letting it sit for 15 minutes (I had no bean to steep...), after the milk and vanilla came to a boil, I let it simmer until I had the egg mixture done. Since it was still so heated up when I added it all together, it didn't take 8 minutes to reach the correct consistency, it took about 1 minute. These are just notes to keep in mind in case you ever do this :)

Ganache (the easiest, most finger-lickin part):

Ingredients

2/3 c heavy cream

10 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (if you just use chips then that eliminates the chopping part!)

1. Place cream in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.

2. Remove from the heat and immediately add chocolate into cream. Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes. The heat of the cream should melt the chocolate. Gently stir the ganache until smooth. If the chocolate is not melting, place over very low heat, stirring often, until melted.

3. The ganache is ready! :) Lick the spoon/spatula/whatever...

Now to put all this wonderful goodness together!!!!

1. Place pastry cream in a bag fitted with a tip that's about 1/4 in. at the opening. Insert into the center of each cupcake, like so:

Squeeze to fill. As soon as the top of the cupcake begins to expand and crack, ease up - the cupcake has taken as much filling as it can. If any oozes out, wipe it away before glazing.

This is what they'll look like!

Reheat ganache if necessary to bring it to a fluid state. Use a small offset spatula to apply about 1 tbl to the top of each cupcake. Bon appetit!!

I know it seems like a lot, but seriously this tastes like an eclair in cupcake form. So good! Enjoy :)

Ginger Lemon Poppyseed Cheesecake Cupcakes

Isn't that a mouthful? Ginger lemon poppyseed cheesecake cupcakes. A really good mouthful :) This is another creation I got from the wonderful lady over at http://www.cupcakeproject.com/. What is it about combining lemon and poppyseeds that is just wonderful??

Sad news on this blog. Mike's mom wanted her camera back...so the quality of the pictures is...well they're there and that's what matters!



Look at that. Cream cheese. This is the reason a diet would never work for me.



I just want to take this moment to say, I love my Kitchenaid mixer.



Before.



After.

At first I thought "Oh no! They're cracked and sinking!" But they're supposed to.
And then you cover them in delicious whipped frosting and it doesn't matter what the top looks like anyway.

Exhibit A:


A couple things I should have done differently with this post. First, I didn't even THINK of unwrapping one of them to take a picture of the 3 layers: gingersnap crust, lovely yellow cheesecake sprinkled with black seeds, and ginger specked frosting.
Second, after frosting the cupcakes, I left them on the counter overnight...I don't know about you, but I am not willing to eat a dairy product that's been left out overnight. Mike was sad. So I made him chocolate chip cookies. I should post that recipe sometime...

I HIGHLY recommend this cheesecake/cupcake recipe. It's remarkably easy for their unique combination of flavor and textures, and it has great options for making it look extra special. Make these cheesecake/cupcakes!!!!! Now!!!

Peaches and Cream Cupcakes

This week's project wasn't so much difficult as it was something I've been dying to make because it sounded delicious. I got the recipe from a blog that I've become obsessed with lately. I highly recommend each and every one of you reading this (what is that, like 5 people including my mom?) check out Cupcake Project. Be sure and read why she started the whole project. She has this recipe she created for peaches and cream cupcakes, and I was excited about it because it first requires having to make peaches and cream. I've never had peaches and cream before, but I love peaches so it just seemed like a win-win situation.

First I made the peaches and cream. The recipe is here. It is so ridiculously easy to make, it's not even funny. It's all done in the microwave! And it tasted wonderful! I would say it kind of tastes like my Grandma Braegger's rice pudding (which is very, very good) with peaches thrown in. I recommend this recipe.

It kind of looks like a cobbler here, but again it has more of a peaches mixed in with rice or bread pudding taste. So yummy when warm!

After the peaches and cream was done, then the batter was made and I mixed the two together. Here is the recipe for the actual cupcakes.

This is when Mike told me to stop actually stirring and to just pretend stir.

And this is when he told me to stop making the face in the previous picture and just stare at the batter.


The finished product is delicious. Because of the extra thickness from the crust in the peaches and cream, the cupcake has almost a muffin-like texture but still has the sweetness of a cupcake. As you can see from the picture, they don't puff up like normal cupcakes.

The only thing I would recommend doing differently from what she suggests in the recipe, is going easy on the chunky peach jam for the frosting. It tasted good and looked pretty in the bowl, but did a stupendous job of clogging up the piping tip, which made for some interesting frosting explosions.

Also you REALLY have to let these cool for awhile before frosting them. I thought I'd given them plenty of cool down, but I had just enough time to take the final pictures before the frosting started sliding off. As you can see from this picture of me enjoying the fruits of my labor, some of the frosting has already frosted the platter. Oh well!! Another learning experience! YUM!