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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Almond and Vanilla Cupcakes

Almond Vanilla Cupcake

This will be the second baby shower for which I’ve made these cupcakes.  Their delicate flavor and lightness just lend themselves to such an event.  I decided to up my game with this batch (my last batch was made during the cupcake blog hiatus and never made it into a post), and add ground almonds into the cupcakes and vanilla bean seeds into the frosting.  I’m hoping it will intensify and fancy up the results.  Depending on where you live, you can get very reasonably priced vanilla beans at Cost Plus World Market.  They are one of my favorite places to go when I need an obscure spice and don’t want to pay insane grocery store prices.  I wish I had a market near me that offered spices in bulk, cheap.  Well, enough of my spice rant…on to the cupcakes!

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Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

When Gibbs and I announced on Facebook (friend us there!) that we would be returning to the land of cupcakes, a friend of mine suggested that I make a cupcake version of the Irish Car Bomb.  While I don’t necessarily agree with the connotations of this drink’s name (thank you Professor Crowley for my favorite undergrad class – Culture in Conflict: Ireland), it does involve tasty, tasty ingredients!  While I am using Guinness, Jameson Irish Whiskey, and Baileys Irish Cream – yes, I do have all of these on hand – you can substitute any brand stout, whiskey and Irish cream if needed.

 

Here they are, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day! :)

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Cosmo Cupcakes

These lovely cupcakes have been a long time brewing in my brain and I’m excited that I finally got to making them!  I think they turned out well; the lime plays well off the cranberry, but they would have been better with more of both flavors.  The buttercream frosting has reminded me once again that I do not like buttercreams!  However, the sweetness of this frosting contrasted well with the little tart bite of the cranberry.  I just think I will forever prefer cream cheese and whipped frostings…

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Orange Cupcakes with Liquored-up Cream Cheese Frosting

Greetings, gentle readers,

Mini cupcakes

I have returned from my journeys to the warmer climes in the south, and, having engaged in an extensive reading campaign, now find myself yearning to write a post in a poorly-conceived Victorian style, meaning many tangled, clauses, dramatic language, and swooning.

(also, you can, if you wish, be our fan on facebook)

Then again, this post is probably entertaining enough without attempting that, so here we go:

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Spiced Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

As much as I like to experiment, I love to fall back on the classics.  I decided to break out my grandma’s 1965 Better Homes and Garden Cookbook for inspiration.  I perused the pages until I found a recipe for a spice cake, decided that it would make yummy cupcakes, and started baking!  Really, I needed no inspiration because these recipes are all SO good that I left them “as is.”  If you’re feeling cold on a winter’s night (not that it’s winter now…) or want a taste of fall, bake these up.  You’ll love them!

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Homocakes (aka Rainbow Cupcakes)

These cupcakes are by far my favorite to make–all the bright colors are as much fun to mix and put in the oven as they are to take a bite out of! Very affectionately known as homocakes.

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Apple Spice Cupcakes

Apple Spice Cupcakes with [Green] Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter (100g)
2 large eggs
1 tbsp pure vanliia extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teasp salt
1 3/4 teasp baking powder
3 tbsp cinnamon
3 tbsp ginger
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup milk/soymilk
1 tbsp lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and line muffin pans with cake papers
2. In a medium bowl beat sugar and fat with a mixer on medium setting until creamy. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
3. Combine salt, flour and baking powder in another medium bowl and stir with a fork before adding to creamed mixture.
4. Stir in lemon juice and milk and mix until smooth.
5. Fill each cup 2/3 of the way to the top with batter.
6. Fill empty cups 1/2 way with water, and bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the tops of the cupcakes are golden.
Take cupcakes out of muffin pans to cool.

For frosting, if I’m going with basic buttercream, I look no further than Amy Sedaris. Her recipe is exceedingly simple (found here on Epicurious):

* 1 box confectioners’ sugar
* 1 stick unsalted butter
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1/4 cup milk or light cream
* food coloring (optional)

In a bowl combine: one box of confectioners’ sugar, one stick of unsalted butter, one teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, and 1/4 cup of milk or light cream and beat for a while. Really whip it, don’t be afraid to get in there.

I’ve now gotten to the point where I just toss a stick of butter, a quarter cup of milk, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract into the bowl and add confectioners sugar until I get the taste and consistency I like. Sometimes it’s about 4 cups, more often around 6-8. If you’re adding food coloring, I highly recommend using gel or paste (gels can be found in the baking isle of your local grocery store, usually by other food dyes and decorating icings; Wilton pastes are easy to find at Michael’s craft store) over liquids to not upset the balance of your frosting. As soon as everything is mixed, add the coloring. Don’t wait too long to add it, though, or you may end up with over-whipped frosting. (If this does happen, just pop it in the fridge for a few to let it harden a bit.)

Happy cupcaking!

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Classic Red Velvet

My most popular/well-liked cupcakes! I used a standard cream cheese frosting recipe (to be added as soon as I can find it) with my red velvet cupcakes, but I hear the vanilla bean cream cheese frosting included in Two at a Time Baking’s post (linked below) is delicious.

Red Velvet cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting!
from Two at a Time Baking

Makes about 3 dozen regular cupcakes (or 9 dozen mini cupcakes)

3.75 cups sifted cake flour
1.5 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1.5 cups buttermilk, room temperature
3 tablespoons red food coloring
1.5 teaspoon vanilla
0.75 cup unsalted butter (1.5 sticks), room temperature
2.25 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1.5 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1.5 teaspoons baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter tops of muffin tins and line with cupcake paper or foil liners.
2. In a bowl, whisk together the cake flour, salt, cocoa and baking powder to combine.
3. In a pitcher, whisk together the buttermilk, food coloring and vanilla until blended.
4. In an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
5. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until fully incorporated.
6. Add the flour mixture in portions, alternating with the buttermilk mixture, until smooth and just blended.
7. In a small bowl, combine the vinegar and baking soda, allow to fizz, then fold into the batter by hand.
8. Working quickly, scoop batter into the tins. Fill them about one-half to two-thirds full – they will rise and spread more than you think they will! Place them into the oven right away.
9. Bake until toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out with a few crumbs (approximately 10-15 minutes for mini cupcakes and 15-20 for regular sized cupcakes).
10. Cool cupcakes in pan on a wire rack until cool enough to handle, about 5-10 minutes. Carefully lift each from pan, and set on wire rack. Cool to room temperature before frosting, about 30 minutes.

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