Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes with Sea Salt

Tomorrow we are having a big BBQ at the house. Of course I'm making cupcakes for the party, but I wanted to do the chocolate ones today because the ones I am making tomorrow are going to be more time consuming, you'll see. (I'm hoping they come out as planned...) I made a Chocolate espresso cupcake topped with a dark chocolate ganache (that I had already made from my sundae cupcakes) and a sprinkling of coarse sea salt. 
For the cake:
I melted two ounces (2 squares) of unsweetened chocolate over a double boiler
1 1/2 sticks of butter, softened
3 tbsp instant espresso powder
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups of AP flour
1 tsp each of baking powder and soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup dark cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups milk
I whipped the butter, sugar, and espresso powder together, then added the eggs and slightly cooled chocolate. I added the vanilla, salt baking powder and soda. Then I alternated the milk, flour, and cocoa. Beat everything till well blended. I baked them at 350 for 16 minutes.
For the ganache- Melt 4 ounces dark chocolate with 4 ounces warmed heavy cream. Whisk till melted and smooth. 
If you have it left over, like I did, all you do is cover it, keep it in the fridge. When you are ready to use it again, just put back over a double boiler and stir till fully melted.
I dipped the cooled cakes into the bowl of ganache until tops were covered. Let them stand for an hour so the chocolate sets and then I topped with a little coarse sea salt! Super yummy cupcakes! 

Vanilla Fudge Sundae Cupcakes

The last two days have been awesome! Even though we've had some thunderstorms here and there and today is a little cloudy, it's been so warm and so inviting to be outside. I even let Charlotte play with her brand new water-table toy from Aunt Katie, which she is totally obsessed with! 
Tell me that isn't the cutest bathing suit EVER!

 So the warm weather has me thinking of yummy summer treats, like hot fudge sundaes. So, I made my cupcake version of one! Bean got in on the action today too when it came to making the batter!  We made a vanilla cupcake, topped with dark chocolate ganache and a vanilla whipped cream. Here is what we did:
3/4 cups butter, softened
3 eggs
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cups milk
The batter made 20 cupcakes which I baked @ 350 for 17 minutes.
Here are some shots of my big girl helping me out!

OOH she looks so serious with that mixer! I love it!
SO by then Charlotte was bored and tired so it was nap time for her. I had to do all the icing myself :(
For the dark chocolate ganache all I did was rough chop four ounces of dark chocolate, and pour 4 ounces of heavy cream that I had warmed in a saucepan, over it. I also added 1/4 tsp of sea salt. I whisked it until it was all melted and smooth. To be honest, I should have done half that (2and2) because it was too much ganache but I can melt it down again and use it later for something else. I frosted the cooled cupcakes with a thin layer of ganache and let it set up a bit.

For the whipped cream I beat 3 tbsp of softened butter with about 2/3 cup of vegetable shortening. I added in about 2 cups of powdered sugar, 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream and 1 heaping tbsp of clear vanilla extract. I beat it all together until it was smooth and a good consistency. Then I put it in a little sandwich baggie, snipped the end and piped it on top of the ganache. They look adorable. I was hoping that I'd have some red sugar or sprinkles to top with, but I didn't so I just added a little more ganache on the top for decoration. They are so sweet and delicious! I'm sure they'd be even better with a scoop of ice cream along with one!

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

Today it's raining. AGAIN!!! It's been raining for days and I keep telling myself it's just because it's April, but it really is a downer. Anyway, this morning when I went to get Charlotte out of her crib, she was wide eyed and bushy tailed and asked me - "Mommy, can we make the upcakes today? I want chocolatey." That's what she calls them- upcakes and she says chocolate in spanish. It's adorable. So of course I said yes! What I didn't tell her is that I had a big surprise for her today. Her cousin was coming over! I didn't tell her 'till he got here and she was beyond PSYCHED! They love each other, he is 5 and she is 2 so everything he does is just fantastic in her eyes. They didn't wanna help me bake, they were too busy chasing each other around the house and then snuggling. I still made them for them though because I knew they'd want a sweet treat after lunch.  


I made them chocolate mint cupcakes with chocolate icing. Here's what I did:
2 cups AP flour
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 tsp mint extract
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cups cocoa
Beat butter and sugar together. Add each egg, beating afterwards and then beat until very fluffy. Add in extract, baking soda, powder, salt and cocoa. Then alternate the milk and flour until fully mixed. I baked these for 17 minutes at 350. You could smell the mint - I was nervous they'd be too minty, but no, it was delicious. I frosted these cakes with a Chocolate Whipped Icing that I added a hint of mint extract into.
3 tbsp of softened butter
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup cocoa
3 1/3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp mint extract
1/3 cup heavy cream- Beat together till smooth and fluffy. This chocolate icing came out so much better than the last one I did. I think the shortening really helps instead of using all butter. I did a bit of filing in the center and then iced the tops. The kids absolutely loved them and from what John told me, so did all the guys at work!

** I found my camera charger!! Now I can have real pictures instead of the camera on my phone. I'm so excited!

Coconut Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting HAPPY EASTER!

In the spirit of Easter I made Coconut Carrot cupcakes yesterday. I love carrot cake. I love the warm cinnamon in them and the texture. I added coconut because, well I love coconut too. It added another level of texture to the cakes along with the shredded carrots.  

I could have eaten these with no icing but as you can see, I didn't. It wouldn't have been as Easter-y. Here is what I did- 

4 beaten eggs

2 cups sugar

2 cups AP flour

2 tbsp baking powder

1 heaping tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 cups shredded carrots

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cooking oil

1/4 cup coco lopez

1 cup shredded coconut

Mix the eggs, carrots,vanilla, oil and coco lopez. In a separate bowl, combine, sugar, flour,salt, baking soda and powder and cinnamon. Add dry mixture in slowly and whisk all together. Finally, fold in the coconut., Its a very thick batter. I made 18 cupcakes with it. Baked for 20 minutes @ 350- cooled on wire racks. 

I made a cream cheese frosting which consisted of 1/4 cup vegetable shortening, 6 ounces of light cream cheese, 3 cups powdered sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla. I split the frosting into two bowls and dyed them - one bright pink, one yellow. Then in another little bowl, I took about 1/2 cup of shredded coconut and added about 3 drops of green food coloring and mixed it up with a fork. I frosted the cupcakes and topped with a little coconut to make it look like grass. Topped with a few Easter colored M&M's. These were moist and rich. Like I said earlier, they'd be good even without any frosting. 

Peanut Butter n' Chocolate Cupcakes (trial #1)

Since my "almond joy-ish" cupcakes came out so delicious, I thought I'd take a stab at another candy fave- the peanut butter cup. Peanut butter is weird for me. Sometimes I absolutely can't even stand the thought of it, let alone eat it, and other times I can't get enough of it. However, there is something about the PB inside of a Reeses Peanut Cup that is just different and always better than any other jar of PB I've ever purchased. Probably the ridiculous amount of sugar in it.

So today I made a cupcake out of this idea. I have to say both the cake and frosting are a trial. The cake actually came out very yummy and I probably won't change the way I made it- but I  got distracted doing some potty training and I didn't get the cupcakes out in time. So, I think if they were in maybe, 3 minutes less, they'd be much better. The icing though- that def needs improvement. Although it tastes great, it doesn't look great..
Here's what I did:
for the cakes-
1 stick of butter, softened
1 cup of smooth peanut butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups AP sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
I beat the butter and PB together, then added the sugar, then the eggs, vanilla,baking powder, and then once that was nice and smooth, I alternated the milk and flour till fully mixed. This made a ton of batter- enough for 20 cupcakes. I baked them at 350 for 18 minutes but it should have been about 15 I think. Cooled on wire racks.
Now, the frosting-
I went with a chocolate butter cream-
1 stick of butter softened
2/3 cup dark cocoa
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
I beat all this together until smooth- what I think went wrong, b/c it seems to be separating slightly, is that I used too much cream. Next time I'm going to try no milk or cream and then if needed use it very sparingly.

After everything was cooled I pressed a mini reeses PB cup into the center of the cake- They have these new loose ones in a bag now that are smaller and don't have the foil like the other minis. Then I piped the chocolate butter cream onto them and topped with another lil' PB cup. These are very heavy but not overly sweet like I thought. The flavor is great, I just have to work on the look!

Coconut Almond Chocolate Cupcakes

This is my play on an Almond Joy candy bar, one of my favorites.  I made an almond chocolate cake, that I filled and topped with coconut cream. Here's what I did:
for the cake- 
1/3 cup butter softened
2 tsp of almond extract
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp each of baking soda and powder
2 small eggs
1/2 strong cold black coffee
1/4 cup milk
1/2 dark cocoa
This batter was so freaking good, I swear I licked the bowl and every spoon & spatula I used to make it. The combination of chocolate with the almond and bit of coffee was phenomenal!  It made 12 cupcakes- I used the cutest liners too, they are zebra but you can't tell in the pic b/c they don't stay bright. I wish they made more foil stay brite liners in patterns like this :(
I baked these at 350 for 20 minutes. Removed from pan and let cool on a wire rack.


For the coconut cream:
1/3 cup softened butter
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup of powdered sugar
6 tbsp of coco lopez
1/3 cup whipping cream
I beat everything together till smooth.

If you don't know what coco lopez is, it's a cream of coconut that you find in your mixers/drinks section in the grocery store. It's used to make pina coladas and its very thick and creamy. It gives amazing coconut flavor and you can find it in every grocery store. 


Once the cupcakes were cooled- I took about 1/4 cup of my icing and put it into a small piping bag with a small tip. I inserted it to the top of the cupcake in the middle and filled it. You could sort of see the cupcake swell and that's how I knew to stop filling.
Then I piped the rest of the icing onto each cake using a larger tip. I garnished them each with an almond and a little but of coconut flakes that I toasted in a pan.
I don't want to give these away, they are awesome. But, summers coming so I must behave!



Also wanted to take this time to show off Charlotte in her awesome new apron she got for her bday. It's beyond adorable! My house looks so messy in this pic but it was early and I hadn't straightened up yet. 

S'mores Cupcakes

I sit and think all the time of different flavor combinations and desserts that I like. That's how I came to do the Bananas Foster cupcakes. It's getting to be barbecue season, and I thought.. what about s'mores? S'mores are such a delicious treat that everyone loves. It reminds people of being young and having a good time just sitting by a campfire or having an awesome bbq with friends and family.  This afternoon I put this confection into a cupcake. There are three elements, well actually four, to a s'more. Graham cracker, chocolate, marshmallow, and fire. What I did is this:
I made a graham cracker crust like I would if I were making a cheesecake. I crumbled about 10 full graham crackers and mixed it with 1/2 stick of melted butter. I didn't add sugar b/c I felt the crackers were sweet enough. I lined my cupcake pan with little papers and took a tbsp of the cracker mixture and pressed it into the bottom of each cup. I then baked these mini crusts in an oven for 4 minutes at 375 degrees. Took them out and knocked the temp back to 350.
Next came the chocolate- I just did a very basic chocolate cake- 
1 cup AP flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cold strong brewed coffee
2/3 cup of milk
1 egg
Whisk all together in a bowl- it's a very thin batter. I used my ice cream scoop and poured the batter on top of each cup that already had the cooked crust in it. Bake these cupcakes at 350 for 19 minutes.
Next- onto the marshmallow.
I really didn't know what to do with this part. I knew i didn't want to melt down marshmallows and I did not want to use Fluff. I wanted it homemade all the way. So I found a recipe online for no bake marshmallow icing.
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup light karo syrup
Beat the egg whites,salt and cream of tartar on high till they form peaks. Add the sugar in a little at a time till it's stiff and glossy. Then slowly beat in the corn syrup. 
I then decided to add in a dash of vanilla extract for some more flavor. The marshmallow icing is thick but not thick enough to just pipe onto a cake. I spooned about a tbsp of the icing onto each cake and then placed the caked onto a silpat lined baking sheet. I put my broiler on high and moved the rack up close to the heat. I put the frosted cakes in for about 3 minutes. Keep an eye on it b/c it's sugar and will burn FAST! They come out looking like a toasted marshmallow on top! These were rich and very tasty still slightly warm. The crust stayed intact and the cake was just gooey enough to remind me of melted chocolate!