Cupcake 37 - Maple Walnut Cupcake

I mentioned I got a new oven, very recently. My techy husband is enamored with the digital control panel, not that he cooks, but he likes the "wow factor." From a purely visual standpoint, I'll give him the cool factor. The whole control panel "R2-D2" functionality didn't kick-in until this weekend. My old oven ran hot and in an effort to prevent tragedy, I set the timer to the shortest amount of time, check, add a few more minutes, check and repeat. On the new space-age oven, the "on/off" bake button is next to the timer "on/off" button. Do you see where this is going? The first batch of cupcakes would not bake, seems I was turning the oven off instead of the timer.... after 30 minutes I realized the oven was off, cooling quickly and my cupcakes were still liquid in the middle. I attempted to reheat the oven and finish baking, this didn't work so much. Dry and hard are not characteristics you look for in a cupcake. I started over, which finished off the half bottle of lovely organic amber maple syrup I was saving for another day.

With appropriate baking time, this batch was remarkably better, good maple flavor, thanks to the Canadians and their syrup, and very moist. I tried both maple and ginger frosting on the maple cupcakes and thought the ginger worked nicely, a good contrast.

Maple Walnut Cupcakes
(makes 20-24 cupcakes)

3/4 c unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 c raw sugar
1/2 c maple syrup
1 t vanilla extract
3 eggs, at room temperature
2 c AP flour
2 1/2 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/4 c whole milk
1/2 c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Line wells of cupcake pan with liners.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt in bowl, set aside.

In bowl of standing mixer, cream butter until light. Add sugar and beat 3-4 minutes on high. Add eggs, one at time. Mix well. Add syrup and vanilla, mix until smooth. Add flour alternating with milk. Beat well. Fold in walnuts.

Fill cupcake pan 2/3 full, bake 20-22 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Maple & Ginger Creamcheese Frosting

3/4 c unsalted butter at room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
4 c powdered sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
1/2 t vanilla

Cream butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy, add salt, mix well. Add powdered sugar in 1 cup increments, mixing well. Add vanilla. Whip on high speed 4-5 minutes. Divide batter in half. In first half add 3 T Maple Syrup, beat well. In other half add 1 t ground ginger, beat well.

Cupcake 36 - Mimosa

I'd been thinking about a way to incorporate the bubbly flavor of champagne into a cupcake. Why not go to the brunch staple, a Mimosa? These worked well, the OJ was the predominant flavor with a subtle hint of champagne. I opted to use cake flour which gave me the perfect texture, light but dense enough to absorb the champagne glaze.

(heavily adapted from the Cupcake Project)

Mimosa Cupcake
(24 cupcakes)
3 c cake flour
1/2 t salt
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 c unsalted butter, room temperature
1 c sugar
1/2 c + 2 T orange juice concentrate
3 eggs, room temperature
3/4 c plain yogurt

Preheat to 350. In small bowl sift together flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. In bowl of standing mixer, cream butter until light and fluffy, add sugar beating well. Add OJ, mix to incorporate. Add eggs once at a time, mixing well. Add flour in 3 increments, mixing well. Add yogurt. Batter will be thick, but smooth. Fill cupcake wells 3/4 full, bake 15-20 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Champagne Syrup

1 1/2 c champagne
3/4 c powdered sugar
Mix champagne and sugar in small pan. Bring mixture to boil, allow to boil stirring occasional so as not to scorch and reduce by half. It will not get very thick. Using a wooden skewer, poke holes in cupcakes and drizzle syrup until absorbed by cupcakes.

Champagne Buttercream Frosting

2 c butter, room temperature
4 c powdered sugar, sifted
Pinch of salt
3 T champagne syrup

Cream butter until light and fluffy, add salt, mix well. Add powdered sugar in three increments, mixing well between each addition. Add champagne syrup until desired consistency. Mix on high 4-5 minutes.

Cupcake 35 - Chai Tea Latte

This weekend was the maiden voyage of my new oven. First time out, it was all good. And actually fun again to bake without constantly monitoring the temperature. Soon, I promise, I will read the manual, but until then I'll stumble around. Really, the stove/oven book is not nearly as good as say, the new issue of Food and Wine.

Chai Tea Latte Cupcakes. I've had these on my list for a while, more of a priority when we had a chill in the air, Its July, its 90-ish and its humid, the boat has sailed.... A bit of a back story to this weeks' selection. I had purchased the Chai tea bags a while ago, last week out of curiosity I broke open the box, free from the cellophane, the fragrant spices consumed my pantry in about 10 minutes. I used the "baggie inside of baggie inside of a baggie inside of a baggie inside of a plastic bowl" method to contain the spiced tea, with limited success. I was still getting hints of chai-ness in my Honey Nut Cheerios and the boys Science Diet Mature Cat kibble was taking on a spicy aroma. Clearly it was time to bake.

I'm not a hot drink person, ever. I don't really understand the whole coffee/ tea thing as a beverage of choice. I don't understand any of the options at Starbucks - seems like a lot of choices and strong possibility of things going wrong. I'm a purist, no condiments for me, generally. I fear someone accidentally throwing in an unwanted flavoring or option. Don't get me wrong, I know Starbucks has a stellar training program for the barisitas, but things happen, attention wains.

My point is, I've never had a Chai Tea Latte in my life and had to do a little research to get to the cupcake. I needed to understand the spice combination that makes the tea so special. After many Google searches it was not clear cut, a pinch of this and that, lots of cinnamon and ginger, optional cloves, coriander, star anise, lemmongrass, vanilla, saffron, rose and cardamom. Seems most people like a tiny touch of pepper, white or black was debated. It took a little while to arrive at the proper proportions of spices to mingle with the tea and stand up in a baked good. I wanted my cupcakes to have a hint of black tea with the !BANG of the spices without an overwhelming spice leader. I didn't want anyone to say "Your cinnamon cupcakes were good." While I love compliments, clearly, the cupcakes didn't deliver if they missed the black tea, cardamon, cloves, ginger, pepper etc.

I opted for a milk based cake so that I could steep the chai and black teas a bit. I upped the spice flavor by adding ground spices to flour. I netted out with good flavor and only a little disappointment. The pretty pinkish-purple milk, thanks to the tea, did not carry over into the baked cake; they were more tan than lavender. Yogurt added moistness to the final product. To keep the latte theme going I topped the cupcakes with a rich vanilla buttercream and a sprinkle of spice. Good no matter the temperature.

Chai Tea Latte Cupcakes

Makes 30 cupcakes

3 3/4 c AP flour
4 1/2 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
3/4 c unsalted butter at room temperature
2 1/4 c sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 1/2 c whole milk
2 t vanilla extract
6 best quality Chai tea bags
2 best quality black tea bags
2 T Chai spice mix (below)

Preheat oven to 350. Bring milk to simmer, remove from heat, steep teabags in milk for 15 minutes. Remove tea bags, allow to cool.

In small mixing bowl combine flour, salt, baking powder and chair spices. Place butter in bowl of standing mixer, cream until light, add sugar beat on high until light and fluffy. Add eggs yolks one at a time, mixing well. Add vanilla. Alternately add flour and milk mixing well between each addition.

In separate bowl, whip egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Fold into batter.

Fill wells of cupcake pan 3/4 full bake 15-20 minutes.

Chai Spice Mix

1 T + 1 t cinnamon
1/2 t cloves
1 t ground ginger
1/4 t ground white pepper
pinch of black pepper
1/4 t cardamom
pinch of ground star anise

Top with vanilla buttercream.

Cupcake 33 - Brown Sugar Hazelnut with Blackberry Buttercream

So good and so pretty. The blackberry jam made the most beautiful purple frosting, the picture does not do it justice! I toasted my hazelnuts to intensify the flavor.

(heavily adapted from Raspberry Eggplant Cupcake)

Brown Sugar Hazelnut Cupcakes with Blackberry Buttercream Frosting

(makes 32 cupcakes)

1 c hazelnuts
4 T sugar
3 c AP flour
4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 c low-fat yogurt, I used greek
1 c milk
2 t vanilla
12 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 c packed light brown sugar
4 eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350. Line wells of cupcake pan with liners.

Toast hazelnuts in large skillet until slightly brown and aromatic. Allow to cool. Once cool, place hazelnuts and sugar in food processor. Pulse until nuts are ground, not to a flour but more of meal. Put scant 1 T in each well of cupcake pan. Set aside.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In second bowl, whisk together the yogurt, milk, and vanilla. Set aside.

In the bowl of standing mixer, cream the butter, add brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs, once at time, mixing well. Alternately add flour and yogurt mixtures, mixing well between each addition.

Fill each well 3/4 full. Bake 18 - 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Blackberry Buttercream

1 c unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 c shifted powdered sugar
pinch of salt
8 T blackberry jam
1/2 t vanilla

In bowl of standing mixer, cream butter until fluffy, add jam and vanilla. Mix well. Add powdered sugar in 1 c increments, mixing well and scraping sides of bowl between each addition. Turn mixer to high, beat 4-5 minutes.

Cupcake 34 - Wacky Cupcakes with Marshmallow Filling, Bittersweet Ganache and White Chocolate Buttercream

I came across a recipe for Wacky Cake this week. I vaguely remember it from 70's, along with the Tomato Soup and Mayonnaise cakes. As a kid Wacky Cake just sounded fun (and much more appealing than mayonnaise cake!) Wacky Cake is making a comeback, thanks to the simplicity of the ingredients and that it is vegan. After looking over the ingredients it wasn't wacky at all, but a very moist chocolate cake without butter, eggs or even a mixer. The fat in the recipe comes from oil, easy to make on the fly - no need to bring butter to temperature. I added some espresso powder to enhance the flavor of the cocoa. The cupcakes were super easy and quick so I spent a little more time on the filling and frosting-- creating a marshmallow filling for cupcakes, then topped them a layer of bitter chocolate ganache and finished them off with a hearty dose of white chocolate buttercream. And some red white and blue sprinkles in honor of 4th of July.
(The cupcakes were so moist, they did not need the filling or ganache, just a big glass of milk)

Wacky Cupcakes
32 cupcakes

2 c sugar
3 c flour
1 t salt
1/2 c Dutch process cocoa powder
2 T espresso powder
2 t baking soda
2/3 c vegetable oil
2 T white vinegar
2 c cold water

Preheat oven to 350. Line wells with papers for 36 cupcakes.

In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, coca, salt, and baking soda. In small bowl mix espresso powder with 2 T warm water, mix until dissolved. Add oil, vinegar, water and dissolved espresso. Mix well until no lumps remain. Fill each cupcake well 3/4 full. Bake 18-20 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Marshmallow Filling
1 15 jar Marshmallow Fluff
2 c powdered sugar, sifted
1 t vanilla
1 T whole milk

Pour fluff into bowl of standing mixer. Add vanilla beat well, add powdered sugar in 2 increments. Mix well scrape sides. Add milk and beat well. Note: this will be really sticky and somewhat thin.

Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache

16 oz bittersweet chocolate, best quality, broken into pieces
3/4 c cream heated to a simmer
Pour heated cream over chocolate, stir until creamy. Allow to cool.

White Chocolate Buttercream
16 T unsalted butter, room temperature
2 t vanilla
2 T whole milk
4 1/2 c powdered sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
10 oz white chocolate, broken in pieces, melted and cooled to room temperature

In bowl of standing mixer whip butter until light and fluffy. Add melted white chocolate and mix well. Add vanilla and salt, mixing well. In one cup increments add powdered sugar, mixing well and scraping down sides of mixer. Add milk and beat on high 3-4 minutes until desired consistency.

To assemble:
Using paring knife cut small well into each cupcake. Using pastry bag fill well with marshmallow cream. Top each cupcake with 1 t ganache, spreading to edge. Refrigerate cupcakes to allow ganache to set-up, about 1/2 hour. Frost cupcakes with buttercream.