Almond Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream and Blackberries

There’s not much of a back story to these cupcakes.  Blackberries were on sale at my local market, and I wanted to use them to top a cupcake.  I utilized an almond cupcake recipe I’ve used before, and tried out a new way to do buttercream (inspired by my foray into vegan baking) that uses shortening as well as butter.  I’m really pleased with it and I think I’ll be using that combo for all of my buttercreams from now on!  I did a simple 1-1 ratio, and it turned out well.  I will say that with just using cocoa powder, the frosting tasted very much like milk chocolate.  Next time, I’ll try using some melted bitter-sweet chocolate to give it more depth of flavor.  All in all, a very good cupcake!

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49er Faithful – Black Forest Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

It has finally happened – the San Francisco 49ers have prevailed and will be playing in the Super Bowl this Sunday!  My father has claimed that his children have always brought the 49ers luck.  A month after my brother was born, our boys won their first national championship.  Just 15 days after I was born, they won their second.  They have been undefeated since then in their five Super Bowl games.  I am just hoping with all hope that this Sunday they can make it six!

To celebrate, I have developed a deep, rich, and tangy cupcake to show my love for my team.  I am borrowing my all-time favorite chocolate cupcake recipe (developed for a Super Bowl party three years ago), filling it with tangy and boozey cherries, with a topping of red and gold pride in the form of a rich cream cheese frosting.  Start the cherry filling a few days ahead so the cherries can reach full re-hydration and flavor.

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Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Pecan Cream Cheese Frosting

Happy Thanksgiving!  I thought I’d treat our loyal readers to a taste of the season.  I hope that you and yours enjoy your holidays and have many happy returns.  We are grateful for your dedication to our cupcake experiments, and I wish to you a happy culinary adventure :)

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Spiked Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Snickerdoodle cupcakes were recently mentioned by the now famous Sadie.  I associate snickerdoodles with Christmas, with family, and with pure deliciousness.  Thinking about how to translate my vision of a snickerdoodle cookie into cupcake form led me to come up with the idea of making a brown sugar cupcake, laced with cinnamon, topped with a brandy-spiked buttercream.  To make it absolute perfection, I decided to top the frosting off with a cinnamon and sugar dusting.  And, VOILA!  The Spiked Snickerdoodle Cupcake is born.

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The Sadie Cupcake – Vegan Chocolate Cupcake with Salted Caramel Frosting

Mels goes vegan baker! Thanks to Sadie for her comment, flavor inspiration, and push into baking, vegan style :)  These cupcakes were really fun to make, and I especially enjoyed the frosting/caramel combo with the sea salt!  Have fun with these and try out different decorating techniques.

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Strawberry Daiquiri Cupcakes

These cupcakes were made for a friend’s wedding shower.  I do have to admit that I’m still having problems with the density of my cupcakes when I put alcohol in them.  These were delicious and fresh, but were a little dense and muffin-like.  The lime really shone through, and you can taste the rum in the frosting.  If you prefer a stronger rum flavor, add more rum in the frosting, but be sure to counteract it with powdered sugar so your proportions don’t get off!

These are pretty and perfect for summer!

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This Year’s Easter Dessert – Mimosa Cupcakes!

Mimosa Cupcake

I made a cupcake similar to these for a friend’s birthday during the break from the blog.  But here they are now, ready for Easter!  I don’t know about anyone else,  but our family celebrates any holiday with some wine, beer, or any other drink.  So, mimosa cupcakes are great for our Easter dessert.

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Orange-Cranberry Cupcakes

Continuing with the fall themed cupcakes, I bring you….Orange-Cranberry!  The result of these was wonderful; they were tart and sweet at the same time.  Next time, I would experiment with using fresh, seasonal cranberries instead of dried ones.

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Welcome to Fall: Pear Spiced Cupcakes

These were actually baked at the first sign of cool weather (and I’ll ignore the fact that a mere 3 days later our fair city was hitting 95 degrees once again).  With the blend of sweet pear, the spices cut through nicely to give you an autumnal feel.  Bake these on a nice rainy day!

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Hot Buttered Rum Cupcakes: Totally a Keeper

The cupcake! Look at the fancy baking cup!

My fair/damp/slightly mildewed city has reached the time of year before it’s cloudy for basically three months running, but the lack of cloud cover makes for really chilly nights.  The days have this absurdly beautiful crisp fall weather with a few wisps of clouds floating overhead; a cool, bright light; and a gorgeous blue sky I can’t remember ever seeing when I lived in the Inland Empire.  I’m sorry for making you read through an overly-descriptive paragraph that has nothing to do with the actual cupcakes, but only partially because it is beautiful in the Willamette Valley right now.

I’ve never actually had hot buttered rum, but they were the request, so I did research.  And by “research,” I mean I googled “hot buttered rum cupcakes” so I could see if anyone has done it before and with what success.  The takeaway from that link was the browned butter frosting.  It tastes fantastically like toffee and even if it doesn’t really taste like what buttered rum would taste like IT IS SO DELICIOUS. Ye vegans, please note that earth balance has some browning possibilities, so these are still a possibility for you.

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