Cupcake 32 - Vanilla loves Vanilla

I had never baked with Raw Sugar before this cupcake, the flavor intrigued me. The sugar was easy enough to find and seems to be in most grocery stores.

These are good, really good, so good I almost didn't share.

(heavily adapted from Raspberry Eggplant)

Raw Sugar Vanilla Cupcakes
36 regular cupcakes

2 3/4 cup AP flour
3 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
12 T unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 c granulated sugar
3/4 c turbinado sugar
3 large eggs room temperature
1 1/2 c whole milk, room temperature
3 t vanilla paste

Heat an oven to 350 F. Line the wells of cupcake pan. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in bowl, set aside.

In bowl of standing mixer, add butter and cream until light and fluffy. Add sugars and continue to beat, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at time, beating between additions. Add flour mixture alternating with milk and vanilla. Mix until combined.
Fill cupcake wells 3/4 full. Bake 15-18 minutes until pick comes out clean.

Very Vanilla Buttercream

2 sticks butter, room temperature
4 3/4 c confectioners sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
3 t vanilla paste
2 T whole milk, room temperature

In bowl of standing mixer, beat butter until fluffy, add confectioners sugar and salt one cup at a time, mixing well between additions. Add vanilla paste, mix well. Finish with milk, beating 3-4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl.

Cupcake 31 - Mango and Ginger

A recipe that has been in my head for a while and the ingredients on my shelf waiting. I just got my stash of extracts from Supreme Spice (http://www.supremespice.com) and very eager to give the ginger extract a whirl. Delish! The mango was subtle and the ginger gave a cupcakes a bit of an exotic feel. The extract had more punch than powdered ginger or fresh, it was a good choice when you need a spice to be front and center. I paired the cupcakes with some of my favorite Thai food for mini vacation.

Very accidentally this batch of cupcakes coincided with my friend Kit's wedding anniversary. She's the author of the blog Mango and Ginger (http://mangoandginger.blogspot.com) Cheers! Kit and Cooper!

To the standard yellow cupcake recipe add 1/3 cup mango marmalade and 3/4 c mango nectar, 6 drops ginger extract and 1/2 cup chopped candied ginger. Once the cupcakes cool, bush the tops with melted mango marmalade. Frost with buttercream adding 3 T mango marmalade, 3 t mango nectar and 4 drops ginger extract.

Cupcake 30 - S'mores

Sorry, no cupcakes last week. We lost power Saturday night and it did not come back until late Sunday afternoon. And it was hot outside, Baltimore summer hot and humid, I could not bear to turn the oven on.


This week was S'mores. I used finely crushed Graham crackers in place of most of the flour in the cupcakes. Topped each cupcake with dark chocolate ganache and frosted the cupcakes with marshmallow frosting. My first attempt with the frosting did not go so well, it melted into a puddle. My second try was slightly better, much more body, but sadly the frosting would not toast properly. I got a little browning with the torch, but not the drama I was looking for. Almost like the S'mores I made in Girl Scout camp without the grit from the fire.


Cupcakes
(makes 36 full size cupcakes)


3 c Graham cracker crumbs, plus additional for topping.
1 c AP flour
1/2 t salt
5 t baking powder
1 c unsalted butter, room temp
1 1/2 c sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
2 t vanilla
1 1/2 c milk
36 Hershey kisses


Preheat oven to 350. Line the wells of 3 cupcake pans with liners.
In small bowl combine flour, Graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt, set aside. Beat butter and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla. Alternately add flour and milk beating after each addition. Fill each cupcake well 3/4 full, poke one Hershey Kiss into each cupcake. Sprinkle edges with Graham cracker crumbs. Bake 18- 22 minutes. Cool on wire rack.


Marshmallow Frosting


4 sticks butter, room temperature
2 c confectioners sugar
1/2 t vanilla
16 oz jar marshmallow cream


Beat butter until light and creamy. Add vanilla, beat well. Add marshmallow fluff alternating with confectioners sugar. Beat on high 3 minutes until light and creamy.


Chocolate Ganache


8 ozs bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 c cream, heated to a simmer


Pour hot milk over chopped chocolate, stir slowly to melt chocolate until incorporated.


To assemble -
On cooled cupcake, place on teaspoon ganache on each. Refrigerate until firm. Pour one tablespoon, plus frosting on each cupcake, brown with torch if desired.

Cupcake 29 - Pomegranate Grapefruit Rickey

I didn't bake last week, took the week off after doing some a lot of painting at home. I went into the week looking forward the weekends' cupcake. I was missing the weekly routine. Early in the week I decided on my cupcake, but then kept changing my mind, again and again. By Friday I was semi-close to doing something "Sex and the City" related, maybe a Cosmopolitan cupcake? But then I backed off. Too trendy? Intimidated by the need to be couture-like? Is the Cosmo "last-year"? Was I afraid of being associated with the less than stellar movie reviews floating in the media on Friday? Not sure what was going on in my head, best to keep Carrie and Big out of the kitchen. By Sunday morning, when I settled into baking I had no idea what I was doing. Not the ideal way to enter into baking.

Pomegranate Grapefruit Rickey with some blueberries thrown in to up the antioxidant factor. (Blueberries and pomegranates - big antioxidants, right?) Over all, not loving it so much. I chose to use pomegranate juice instead of pomegranate molasses, wanted to keep it light. The juice did not give the punch of flavor I was looking for. And the color, not the deep red I had hoped for, more timid, but not pink timid. And, I couldn't detect a trace of grapefruit in the cake either, I wanted some zippy- tartness. To up the ante in the frosting, along with grapefruit zest and juice I added grapefruit oil hoping to achieve a punch of grapefruity-ness. Not so much. I saw this cupcake as more of a side-dish, not a meal or maybe a token desert to a really great meal. Forgettable.

For next week, I know what I'm doing and I'm sticking to my plan. We will see if the results follow.

Mint Syrup

1/2 c sugar
1/2 c water
1/4 c (good handful) mint, chopped

In a small sauce pan, bring sugar, water and mint to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Store in the refrigerator.

Pomegranate Grapefruit Cupcakes

1 1/2 sticks butter, unsalted, room temperature
1 1/8 C sugar
3 large eggs, separated
2 1/4 C AP flour
2 1/2 t baking powder
3/4 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
1/2 C Grapefruit juice
1/2 C Pomegranate juice
2 T grapefruit zest
2 t lime zest
1/2 C blueberries

Preheat oven to 350. Line two 12 cup cupcake pan with liners.

Beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks, set aside. In separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In bowl of standing mixer cream butter until light and fluffy, add sugar and beat well. Add egg yolks one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add dry ingredients in three increments alternating with juices. Mix well with each addition. Fold egg whites into creamed mixture. Gently add blueberries, be careful not to crush.

Fill each cupcake well 3/4 full. Bake 18-24 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Grapefruit Frosting

1/2 c butter, room temp
1/2 c Crisco (I know, I know, but it was terribly hot yesterday and I feared the buttercream would melt without a little help)
4 1/4 c powdered sugar, sifted
1 T grapefruit zest
2 T fresh grapefruit juice
1/2 t grapefruit oil

Cream butter and Crisco (I know...) until light and fluffy. Add zest and grapefruit oil, nmext well. Add powdered suger 1 cup at a time, mixing well. Add juice and beat until desired thickness. Turn up mixer and mix for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy.

To assemble, after cupcakes have cooled, poke holes in tops of cupcakes with wooden skewer. Brush tops with mint syrup. Frost with grapefruit frosting.