Lemon Berry Cupcakes

I have a weird thing about fruit in my dessert.  I'm really not a fan. I don't get it. It's just a thing I have.  

If I'm going to eat dessert, I want chocolate. I want ice cream. I want cookies. I don't want fruit.  That goes for pies, tarts, a fruit plate disguised as dessert. Unless that fruit is covered in chocolate. Then I can get on board.  Other than that, it's just a thing. I'm weird. We can all acknowledge this and move on to....

Fruity cupcakes! Apparently my tastebuds will allow fruit to be transformed into cake and frosting.  Though, considering it's cake and frosting, I'm not really surprised. Note to self. 

I love this sweet lemony poundcake topped with rapsberry buttercream because it's so bright and fresh.  Perfect for a summery, weekend potluck.

Almond Joy Cupcakes

 Things I dream about:

• Looking like Mila Kunis
• Getting paid to people watch
• Winning the Mega Millions (though, I have to figure out when the drawings are. Real talk: I totally tried to buy a ticket Saturday morning. Apparently they announce the numbers on Fridays...who knew)
• Anything with coconut and chocolate

That fourth one I can do something about.  (Though I'm doing my damnedest to work on that Mila Kunis thing)

Ever since I made these Snickers Cupcakes, I've been brainstorming what other candy bar concoctions I can come up with.  Why it took me so long to come up with Almond Joy, I have no clue. Considering they rank very high on the list of Sarah's Favorites. Though that list is pretty long. And anything with chocolate is tied for 1st. But I digress.... 

Candy Bar Cupcakes - Snickers

Of all the multitudes of cookies and brownies and cupcakes that I’ve made over the years, there’s one treat that my friends CONSTANTLY request that I make.  Whenever I show up with these in hands, it’s a literal “clear the room- Sarah has arrived with THE CUPCAKES”.

People flip over these Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes. I figured since they are such a hit, why not try it with other candy bars.

First up- Snickers.  Sweet caramel with salty peanuts covered in chocolate.  I can totes get on board with that.

I’ve been experimenting a bit with my chocolate cake recipes, trying to find the perfect one.  This one had a fantastic chocolate flavor without being super sweet which held up great to the over-the-top salted caramel buttercream.  Don’t be scared when your batter is really watery, it’s supposed to be like that.  Or just don’t worry about it and by all means, hit up Duncan Hines for a boxed mix :) 

Gingerbread Cupcake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

My little, Charlie Brown-esque tree? Up and decorated.

My favorite snowflake snow globe? Properly displayed on my TV stand.

The world most fantastic smelling sugar cookie candle? Lit and sitting on my countertop.

Yes, it is officially Christmas season.  (Give or take the fact that it was 70 degrees outside last week.)

And with Christmas comes my intense need to bake.

Everything.

Sugar cookies. Peppermint bark. Truffles. I have plans of filling my kitchen with everything delicious and festive.

And to start- Gingerbread Cupcakes.To be honest, I haven't sampled my fair share of gingerbread.  Growing up, my dad loved gingersnap cookies, but I always found them too hard and crunchy. So I just assumed all similar ginger baked goods were the same.  Why oh why was I so silly?

This cake is awesome- soft and moist, but has the spices that just sing Christmas.

Salted Caramel Mocha Brownie Cups

I’d like to toot my own horn if you don’t mind, so excuse me for a second while I go be a jerk....

Toot! Toot!

Ok- now that I got that silliness out of the way, how about some cupcakes?! Or rather- how about some awesome, rock your face off your face, brownie cupcakes? (Hence the tooting of the horn ;)

However, I must warn you.  These are not your average, run-of-the-mill, friendly cupcakes.

No- these cupcakes are deadly to any diet, waistline, or diabetic.  These cupcakes are so sweet they might even make your teeth hurt.  And Don’t. Even. Think. about having them without of cold glass of milk by your side.  You’ll immediately regret your decision (Yes, is this case- milk was a good choice).

But if I haven’t scared you away yet, you should get on these right away.  They make everyone your friend- I promise.  People will love you and you’ll become the coolest kid in school.  Trust me- I’ve seen it happen.



Because these things are spectacular- Caramel-filled Mocha Brownies topped with a Salted Caramel Buttercream and a Caramel Drizzle.  You ready for this?  So here’s what we do….



Adapted from this recipe

What You’ll Need:

For the Brownie Cups-

1 2/3 cups Sugar

3/4 cup Cocoa Powder

1 1/3 cup AP Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

4 tsp Instant Coffee Granules

3/4 cup Melted Butter

2 Eggs

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 cup Milk

Caramel Hershey Kisses

For the Salted Caramel Buttercream-

1 cup Butter (room temp)

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup Caramel Ice Cream Topping

1 tsp Sea Salt

4 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar

1-2 tsp Milk

What To Do:

1.       Preheat oven to 350.  In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar, cocoa, flour, baking powder, salt, and coffee granules and mix together with wooden spoon.  Then add the melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and milk.  Beat until fully incorporated- it’ll be a thick batter.  If you feel it’s too thick, add a few more Tbsp of milk.

2.       Line a cupcake tin with liners and fill cups ¾ full (you’ll have enough batter for 15-18 cupcakes).  Bake for 20-24 minutes.  Once you pull the pan out of the oven, allow to cool for about a minute and then insert a caramel kiss into the center of each brownie cup, pointed end first.  Allow to cool for another 3-5 minutes and then transfer to wire rack.

3.       While the brownies cool, whip of the salted caramel buttercream.  Stir salt into caramel and set aside.  Beat together butter and vanilla alone for several minutes until good and creamy.  Then add the powdered sugar.  It’ll be VERY THICK and might not even come together fully- don’t worry about this.  Beat for several more minutes, trying to get all the clumps of sugar out.  Then add the salted caramel and beat again.  If it’s too thick (but you want it to have body so it’ll pipe nicely), add a bit of milk, but a little at a time.  Ensure it’s all whipped completely

4.       Pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes and finish with a caramel drizzle.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

The actual title of this recipe should be Reese's-Peanut Butter-Cup-No, Friend!-Please-Don't-Leave-Us.-I'll-Make-You-Baked-Goods-in-Hopes-That-You'll-Stay Cupcakes.

I know- a bit lengthy of a name, but I never claimed to know the definition of brevity.....


Who's this friend you ask? And why did he leave? Short answer- he's one of the absolutely coolest and funniest people I know and one of my best friends that I've made since moving to MD.  And he left because our bosses suck and sent him away to North Carolina for 2 months for a work rotation, leaving me and the rest of our gang to mourn his absense.

But alas, he was not swayed by baked goods.  But at least we had amazing cupcakes to use as a coping mechanism for our loneliness......


And when I say amazing, I mean A.MAZ.ING.  Chocolate Cupcakes. Meet Peanut Butter Frosting.  Now that the two of you are familiar, I'll introduce you to an old friend of mine. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

Yeah, this is happening.

Happy Birthday to Me!

In celebration of my 24th birthday tomorrow, I've decided to make my favorite dessert.  Its made an appearance on this blog before.  However, this one is going to be simplified a bit.  I give you Tiramisu Cupcakes, Part Deux.

What You'll Need:

For The Cupcakes

For The Filling

For The Frosting

What To Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line cupcake pan with liners. In large bowl, combine cake mix, water, oil, Kahlua and egg whites.  Fill tins 2/3 full.  Bake as directed on box. Cool 15 minutes. 

2.  In small bowl, stir espresso granules and boiling water until mixed. Stir in corn syrup. Pierce top of cupcakes a few times with a fork. Brush top of cakes with espresso syrup. Cool completely, about 1 hour. 

3. After cooled, in medium bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until mixed and smooth.  Gradually beat in whipping cream, beating on high speed about 2 minutes until stiff peaks form. Spread or pipe frosting over top of cupcakes; sprinkle with cocoa (I put mine in a tea ball and use it as a sifter). Store in refrigerator.

 

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes

Have I mentioned lately that I love fall? hehe Well, this week the season lives on in Betty Crocker's Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes. Now I'll be honest, this wasn't a new recipe for me. I actually made them last year around this time. Quote of the year from a co-worker: "How did you do that? They taste like Thanksgiving!" They were a HUGE hit. I'm pretty sure all 24 were devoured before 10:30am...silly engineers.

With that kind of success, how could I not make them again.

But before I go into details, I should mention how much I love BettyCrocker.com. Tons, and I mean TONS, for quick and simple meals and desserts. One draw back is that they all require at least one BC product (obviously), so it isn't the greatest for impromptu ideas, but if you plan ahead, you'll have no problem.

And lastly, if you think I'm obsessed with fall, just wait til November 26 and I start listening to Christmas music :)

How Long Is This Gonna Take:10 minutes for the pecans and making the batter + 20 minutes to bake + 10 minutes frosting = 40 minutes total

What You'll Need:1/2 - 1 cup finely chopped pecans
3 tbsp sugar
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup pumpkin, not pumpkin pie mix (I used the whole 15oz can, mostly because I can't read :-P)
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup veggie oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 container cream cheese flavored frosting

What To Do:1. Preheat oven to 350F. Use paper baking cups to line cupcake pan or spray with cooking spray.

2. In a non-stick skillet, cook pecans and 2 tbsp of sugar over low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is melted, about 8 minutes (I had to crank my electric burner to 5 aka medium in my book to get the sugar to start melting). Spread pecans onto a sheet of waxed paper and sprinkle with remaining 1 tbsp of sugar.

3. In a large bowl, beat cake mix, pumpkin, water, oil, eggs, and pumpkin pie spice until combined. Divide among cupcake tins, filling about 2/3 full. (Hint- if you only have one 12-cup muffin pan, cover and refrigerate other half of batter while the 1st batch is baking. When baking up the cooled batter, add 1-2 minutes bake time)

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test. Remove from pan onto cooling rack and allow to full cool before frosting.


5. Frost each cupcake and then turn upside down into a bowl full of the sweetened pecans. Push down any loose ones trying to escape.

Tiramisu Cupcakes aka Heaven

If any of you know me, you'll know I have one true "foodie love". Its not one of the usual suspects: chocolate (ok- it might be in a tie with chocolate...), cheese, red wine, etc... Nope- mine is COFFEE. I love it in all forms: straight up with a little cream & sugar, lattes, cappuccinos, flavored, hot, cold. If its made from that heavenly bean, I want it. A few weeks ago, I went to PF Changs for dinner and ordered one of their "Tiramisu Dessert Minis" (think of a layered tiramisu trifle in a large shot glass- a perfect 3-bite dessert). Since then, I haven't been able to get tiramisu out of my head. But I mean, can you blame me- coffee, rum, mascarpone cheese, whipped cream, chocolate....yum!

So for this week's dessert, I'm whipping up ProjectCupcake.com's Tiramisu Cupcake. Before I get into the actual recipe, I just have to add- if you like cupcakes, check out this woman's blog. On a whim, she offered to make cupcakes for a friend's wedding having never baked a cupcake before and strangely enough, they accepted her offer. Each week, she created a new flavor and they picked their 3 favorites. An amazing blog and 2 more weddings later, she comes up with awesome cupcake ideas. I'm sure this will not be the last of her recipes I try out :)

Before I begin, this recipe is sort of a 2-parter. First you'll have to bake home-made ladyfingers into cupcake tins and then you'll have to whip up the coffee/rum/cream goodness to go on top

How Long is This Gonna Take:
1.5-2 hours, however not all is active time (baking the lady fingers, allowing some mixtures to chill for an hour). No suggested time was given.

What You'll Need:For the Ladyfingers
4 eggs, separated
2 tbsp + 2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

For the Tiramisu Goodness6 egg yolks
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup milk (recommend 2% or whole...no reason to try to be all healthy with skim or 1%)
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 lb mascarpone cheese
1 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled to room temperature
2 tbsp rum (I actually used kahlua, a coffee-flavored liquor)
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
a small amount of dark chocolate for decorative chocolate curls (I also wanted to use some chocolate-covered coffee beans on top as well, but couldn't find any in the store)

What To Do:1. We're going to start mixing up some of the "tiramisu goodness", but preheat over to 400F in preparation for baking the ladyfingers. In a medium saucepan, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until well blended. Whisk in milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Boil gently for 1 minute, remove from heat, and allow to slightly cool.

2. Cover tightly and chill in fridge for 1 hour. During this cooling time, we're going to make the ladyfingers. Line a 12 cupcake tin with liners

A couple notes about this: 1. this recipe can be used to make just a traditional tiramisu cake. For that, all you need is a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. 2. Due to the cake-to-filling ratio of the finished product, this dessert quite can't be called a cupcake. When eating, I actually left it in the wrapper and ate it with a fork. Because of this, I recommend some sturdy cupcake liners or bake them in small ramekins instead as just a bit of the liner will be filled with actual cake and much will be the aforementioned creamy, tiramisu goodness. I will most likely be taking the ramekin route next time

3. Place egg whites in a bowl and beat on high until soft peaks start to form. Your electric mixer is your friend! (My kitchen aid stand mixer and I are pals after this dessert. hehe) Slowly add 2 tbsp of sugar and continue beating until stiff and glossy.


4. In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks and remaining sugar. Whip until thick and very pale in color.






5. In a third (small) bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder.

6. Fold half the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture. The fold in flour mixture. The add the remaining egg white mixture. (The more you stir, the more air you incorporate into the mixture and the more puffy your lady fingers will bake up to)

7. If you're looking to just make regular tiramisu not in cupcake form, transfer mixture to a pastry bag with a plain 1/2 round tube (aka a Ziploc bag with the corner cut off) and pipe ladyfinger-esque strips onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. For the cupcakes, just divide evenly among the cups (The recipe said it would make 12, but considering how much they puffed up during baking, I would say you could stretch it to 18. Basically you only want cake about half way up after its done baking because you want room on top within the rest of the liner to fill with the cheese/cream mixture)

8. Bake for 8 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature. Because mine did puff up quite a bit, I pseudo-hollowed them out to allow for the filling. Also not a terrible idea to chop the top off as it will absorb the coffee/rum in Step 11 better.
                                                 Before                                          After

 

Hard to tell, but there are basically divots carved out of the cupcake to allow for coffee and filling

9. Now back to the topping. After the yolk/sugar/milk mix has cooled for its hour, remove from the fridge and whisk in mascarpone until smooth. Set aside

10. In a medium bowl, beat heavy cream with vanilla until stiff peaks form. Set aside.


11. In a small bowl, combine coffee and rum (or kahlua). Drizzle approx 1 tbsp + 2 tsp of the coffee mixture over each ladyfinger cup. Add it a little at a time and wait for it to absorb into the ladyfinger before adding more. When it stops absorbing, stop adding.


12. Spread the mascarpone mixture over the soaked ladyfingers. Fill a Ziploc "piping bag" with the cream mixture and pipe on top of the mascarpone.




13. Sprinkle with cocoa powder and add chocolate curls/beans. A great hint from projectcupcake about making curls: Make the curls using a veggie peeler on a piece of chocolate. It works best if the chocolate is slightly warm, but not melty.

14. Cover and refrigerate for 4-6 hours.