chocolate buttercream frosting

now I know I've said that magnolia's chocolate buttercream icing is my favorite... but I think I found a new "other" favorite. I googled "best chocolate buttercream frosting" & low & behold my friend's girlfriend's blog was the first search return. I love her blog, but somehow had missed this recipe earlier. so I decided to give it a try. and get this... one of the ingredients is ovaltine! as a kid, I was always intrigued by ovaltine because of ralphie in a christmas story.

it turned out lovely. very creamy; next time I will add a little less of the heavy cream mixture so that the icing holds a little better. but I loved the flavor. and I could definitely taste the ovaltine (which for me, is a good thing). the icing goes especially well with confetti cake!

the best chocolate buttercream frosting from joy the baker, adapted from delilah bakery

1 1/2 cup (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

4 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/4 cup milk

1 cup heavy cream

2/3 cup ovaltine

cream together butter, cocoa powder and salt. butter mixture will be very thick. turn off the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add powdered sugar. turn mixer on low and mix in powdered sugar while adding milk and vanilla extract. as the sugar incorporates, raise the speed of the mixer to beat the frosting. beat until smooth. in a 2 cup measuring glass, stir together heavy cream and ovaltine. turn mixer speed to medium and pour cream mixture into frosting in a slow, steady stream, until you’ve reached your desired consistency.  you may not need the full amount of ovaltine and cream.

easter cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for easter. I know it's late, but I wanted to post the recipe, because I thought they were absolutely delicious. so if you're looking for a carrot cake recipe (without all the "stuff" in it), then you should definitely try this one.

Carrot Cake - Recipe courtesy Robert Clinton from Clifton, via food network

Ingredients:

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 4 fresh whole eggs
• 2 cups pastry flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups raw finely ground carrots
• 4 ounces finely chopped walnuts

Frosting Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds powdered sugar
• 12 ounces room temperature cream cheese
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 ounces room temperature butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, mix sugar, vegetable oil, and eggs. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Fold dry ingredients into wet mixture and blend well. Fold in carrots and chopped nuts until well blended. Distribute batter evenly into cupcake tins (mixture will be runny). Place in preheated oven and bake for 50 - 60 minutes. Let cool.

In a large mixer, place powdered sugar, cream cheese, vanilla, and butter. Beat at medium speed until thoroughly blended. Be sure to keep refrigerated. 

baked by melissa mini's

my friend kristin had been going on and on about baked by melissa in nyc, so we finally went last time I was in town. they sell mini cupcakes about the size of a quarter. and the place where they bake & sell them doesn't seem to be much larger; it's literally just a counter. but these mini cupcakes are the best mini cupcakes I've ever had in my life. the problem is, you aren't satisfied with just one or two... or three. but at a buck a piece, you'd better save your allowance if you want to feel full.

we tried the peanut butter & jelly, cookie dough, smores & tie-dye. they were all amazing. 

chocolate pink

I was in atlanta last weekend visiting my sweet sister. after hearing several recommendations for chocolate pink we figured we should check it out. it's a really cute cafe that serves all kinds of pastries & coffee. both of our cupcakes were absolutely delicious! you could definitely tell they were made with quality ingredients. kara got the coconut (coconut milk pound cake with coconut sour cream filling & white chocolate buttercream icing) & I tried the mochaccino (vanilla chiffon cake with coffee cream filling, topped with chocolate ganache & coffee buttercream). and not only were the cupcakes delicious, but the presentation was beautiful.                                      
                

                     

top-hat cupcakes

my sweet sister bought me a cupcake book for my birthday & I've been wanting to make these adorable top-hat cupcakes (they remind me of a chocolate-dipped cone from dairy queen). valentine's seemed like the perfect occasion. although the recipe is fairly involved, they weren't too difficult to make & tasted delicious.


notes on the cake: not my favorite recipe. not sweet enough (buttermilk has quite a tang to it), although it ended up working well-enough with this recipe, because the meringue was so sweet. next time I'll use my good ol' standby vanilla cake recipe.                                                    

top-hat cupcakes (from cupcakes, cupcakes & more cupcakes by lilach german)
makes 20-24 cupcakes (not 12 likes she says)
                                                                                                                                            
ingredients:
3 cups white flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, room tempt.
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

meringue:
8 eggs whites
2 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter


garnish:
2 cups dark chocolate
3 tablespoons canola oil


preparation:
1. preheat oven to 325 F. insert liners into medium cupcake pans
2. prepare cupcakes: in bowl, sift flour, baking powder & salt
3. in a bowl, cream butter, vanilla, and sugar on medium speed until mixture is light & fluffy
4. reduce mixing speed to low, add eggs one at a time; mix well.
5. gradually add dry ingredients & buttermilk, mixing until blended into smooth batter. fill the cupcake liners two-thirds full.
6. bake for 20-25 mins, or until cupcakes are springy to the touch & a toothpick inserted in the cupcake's center comes out clean.
7. remove from oven & cool on wire rack for 10 mins.
8. prepare meringue: whisk egg whites, sugar & cream of tartar in bowl placed over a pot of hot water (double boiler), constantly mixing for about 5 minutes until texture is blended & mixture is hot to the touch (be sure not to cook the eggs).
9. transfer to bowl with electric mixer, beat on high until mixture has completely cooled & meringue is completely set.
10. transfer meringue to pastry bag with round tip, pipping from sides of cupcakes up towards centers in a snail shape. freeze for 30 mins.
11. prepare garnish: melt chocolate & oil in a bowl placed over a pot of hot water (double boiler) until texture is smooth. cool.
12. place cupcakes on screen over a pan, gently ladling chocolate above. chocolate will harden as it comes in contact with frozen meringue, which is why this step must be done fairly quickly & in a single step.

cupcake toppers

I made these cupcake toppers for my friend's wedding last month. I hate not knowing the flavors of things... I mean, why choose the vanilla when you can have the crème brulée?

{photo by katelyn vonfeldt}

happy fall, ya'll

I'm not big on pumpkin pie, but I love pumpkin-flavored baked goods. So when I saw this recipe, I couldn't resist. These were easy to make and went quickly at our work Thanksgiving potluck.

ps- canned pumpkin is on the aisle with the apple sauce & canned fruit, not with the yams & veggies.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple-Cream Cheese Frosting

From Smitten Kitchen, Adapted from David Leite
Yield: 17 to 18 cupcakes (don't even try to get 24 out of this like I did. trust me)

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for greasing pans

1 cup firmly packed dark-brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 cups cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

* (Instead of these 4 spices, I used 2 teaspoons of apple pie spice)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 large eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (little less than 2 cans)

Frosting:

Two (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup (I think more like 1/2 cup of have been better... will do that next time).

Make the cupcakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° (175°C). Line a cupcake pan with 18 liners.
2. In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and pepper into a medium bowl.
3. Add the eggs 1 at a time to the mixer, scraping down the sides after each addition. Alternate adding the flour and milk mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat in the pumpkin until smooth. Scoop the batter among the cupcake liners — you’re looking to get them 3/4 full. Rap the filled pans once on the counter to release any air bubbles. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on racks completely.

Make the frosting:

In a stand mixer beat all the ingredients on medium until fluffy. To assemble the cake, frost the top of one cake, place the other cake on top. Frost the sides and top, swirling decoratively. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes to set up frosting.

Grazie Mille!

Thank you to Kendall for bringing me back this adorable cupcake shirt all the way from Rome. It's the next best thing to gelato or those delicious little Italian cookies! Grazie Kendall!

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July! Today I made some simple red, white & blue cupcakes for a cookout. I cheated and used a box mix (white cake) and then Nigella Lawson's Royal Icing, which is very forgiving. Just spread it around the top of the cupcake it becomes smooth and shiny. Taste wise, I definitely prefer a buttercream frosting, but I was low on powdered sugar, so this worked out well. I let the icing set for a few minutes and then added some blueberries & raspberries. Easy and delicious!

Hello, Sprinkles!

Last week I traveled to Dallas for work with my husband. We were fortunate to have enough time to make a "required" stop at Sprinkles Cupcakes. I love the modern design of the place. It's sleek and clean and has lots of natural light. They have a "cupcake bar" where you can sip a coffee and eat your delicious cupcake while people-watching out the window.

I love these fabric cupcakes placed under the glass on the bar. Each flavor has a different colored dot.

A trip to Dallas would not be complete without taking some of these babies back home to Florida. Oh, a dozen should do it. I had to check them through security at the airport and the lady at the X-ray scanner yelled out "Who's cupcakes are these?" I proudly exclaimed, "Mine!" And she said, "You know there's one missing. Don't go blaming the TSA employees for eating your cupcake". (I just got a little hungry on the way to the airport, okay?). The flavors included: chocolate marshmallow, vanilla with chocolate icing, ginger lemon, cinnamon sugar, red velvet, dark chocolate, peanut butter chocolate and black & white! Yum!

Mother's Day Cupcakes

My Mom is one of my biggest fans, especially when it comes to my baking. So I wanted to make her the perfect Mother’s Day Cupcakes. Yellow with chocolate is her favorite, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to try out this moist yellow cake recipe (altered for cupcakes) from one of my favorite baking blogs. This is a first for the butter flavouring and I was pleasantly surprised. I have to say, I think this cupcake recipe trumps Magnolia. It’s not nearly as dense; it’s lighter, but without being spongy or airy. It’s so moist and delicious, even my Mom votes for this recipe. I think it's now going to be my standby yellow cake recipe! Try it out and let me know what you think.

Moist Yellow Cake
1 cup (2 sticks) of butter (room temperature)
2 cups of sugar
4 eggs (room temperature)
3 cups of sifted self-rising flour (White Lily)
1 cup of whole milk (room temperature)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon butter flavouring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line 24 cupcake tins.
Using a mixer, cream butter until fluffy.
Add sugar and continue to cream for about 7 minutes.
Add eggs one at a time. Beat well after each egg is added.
Add flour and milk (alternating to creamed mixture), beginning and ending with flour.
Add vanilla and butter flavoring to mix; until just mixed.
Spoon batter into liners, filling them about three-quarters full.
Bake for 25 - 30 minutes (depending on your oven) until done.
Cool for 5 - 10 minutes.

For the icing, I used Magnolia’s Chocolate Buttercream. Yum!

Mini Baby Shower Cupcakes

We had a baby shower at work and mini cupcakes just seemed appropriate. They turned out wonderful. The cake is a new yellow cake recipe that I just tried, which was delicious and very moist. Unfortunately, I ran out of steam at 11pm and dug through the pantry and found a can of chocolate icing. I piped it on so it looked homemade and topped them with tiny silver dragées. I remember using these as kid to decorate cookies, but I was never able to find in the stores later in life. Apparently the FDA took them off the market or something ridiculous. So what's a girl to do but go to Italy to buy some. I found them in a tiny grocery store in Rome. And the way I see it, if they're good enough for Rome, they're good enough for me!

My First Cake Dome

I've always wanted a cake dome. My sweet Mom just picked this up for me at an estate sale for only $5. It looks even prettier with cupcakes inside of it!

Favors

My best friend is getting married next month so my Mom and I gave her a shower on Sunday. Since it's so close to Valentine's Day, we did a red and white theme. I bought these cute little plastic takee outee boxes for the favors, but didn't want to fill them with the usual candy kisses, so I made mini cupcakes. We tied them with ribbon, printed everyone's names on them and then used them as the place settings. A delicious take away.

Vanilla's Cupcakery

I have been meaning to post about the new (well, not so new anymore) cupcake shop in Jacksonville. It's called Vanilla's Cupcakery and is located on St. John's Avenue. I went a few months ago and got 4 cupcakes to go: 2 vanilla cake with chocolate icing, one strawberry, and one chocolate cake with peanut butter icing. Exremely delicious.

I went back over the holidays and discovered that they had changed their cupcake size from standard to jumbo. More for your money...good. But jumbo cupcakes... bad. There's something about the standard cupcake size that is delicate and simple. The jumbo ones just don't look as cute and "bite-size" to me. But they did have some new flavors (my friend Kristin and I cut ours in half and shared). They revamped the Strawberry cupcakes (which totally tasted like Bryers strwaberry ice cream!), and I was brave enough to try the Aztec Hot Coca flavor. It was definitely different.

Anyway. If you're in the area, definitely stop by. The cupcakes run from $2.50-$3.50 depending on the flavor. http://www.vanillascupcakery.com/

Cupcakes in NYC

A few weeks ago I went to visit my good friend in New York City. We both have an affinity for cupcakes, so we made a point to stop at some of the most delicious bakeries. Our original plan for the "cupcake tour" didn't officially happen, because we we always too full to stop at yet another bakery.

I did come across these too-cute-to-eat cupcakes in Chelsea Market.

We also made it to Billy's Bakery in Chelsea. I have been wanting to try this place for awhile after seeing the owner do a segment on Martha. The cupcakes were very good, and the shop was cute, too.

Of course I couldn't go to NY without a trip (okay - trips) to my favorite bakery of all, Magnolia. There is a new one that has opened in Rockefeller Center that is not as crowded as the one located in the Village, where the line wraps around the building!
So many places on the list that we didn't make it to. Like Buttercup, Sugar Sweet Sunshine and Two Little Red Hens, so I have plenty of reasons to return!

Anniversary Cake

I know this isn't cupcake related, but I attempted my first small wedding cake this week for Grammie & Pop's 60th Anniversary! Back when they got married in 1948, they didn't have a wedding cake, so I thought it would be nice if they had one to cut on this special anniversary.

The cake is my Mom's famous pound cake recipe that I absolutely love. I cheated a bit on the frosting and made a quick buttercream (instead of a traditional Swiss or French), but it was delicious! I was in a rush and didn't have time to ice it on the cake as smooth as I would have liked, but overall, it was beautiful and tasty.

Self Frosted Nutella Cupcakes

I love Nutella. On pretty much anything. I was eating it straight out of the jar with a spoon the other day when it donned on me to combine my two favorite things in the world. So I found a recipe for Nutella Cupcakes.

Now, I love icing. To me, a cupcake isn't really a cupcake with the icing... but I thought I'd give this "self frosted" recipe a try anyway.

Pretty delicious. I loved the flavor of the cupcake, however, I was a little disappointed that I didn't get more of the hazelnut taste. When the cupcake bakes, the Nutella hardens and isn't so rich and creamy anymore. What to do? Why, just ice with more Nutella, of course! That addition really helped (photo taken before I iced them).

Overall, these cupcakes were fun to make, but I probably won't make them again. I might try to make some kind of frosting using the Nutella next time instead, and forget the swirls altogether.

Self Frosted Nutella Cupcakes - Adapted from Baking Bites

10 Tbsp butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour, sifted
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
Nutella, approx. 1/3 cup (abt 1.5 tsp per cupcake)

Preheat oven to 325*F. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.

Cream together butter and sugar until light, 2 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time, until fully incorporated. Don’t worry if the batter doesn’t look smooth. Add vanilla. Stir in flour, salt and baking powder until batter is uniform and no flour remains.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill each muffin liner with batter. They should be 3/4 full, if you’re not using a scoop. Top each cake with 1 1/2 tsp Nutella. Swirl Nutella in with a toothpick, making sure to fold a bit of batter up over the nutella.

Bake for 20 minutes.Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 12.

Nigella Lawson's Cupcakes

Sometimes when I wake up on Saturday mornings, Nigella Lawson's cooking show is on TV. The Food Network must not have filmed many episodes, because the same one always comes on, called "Just Desserts". She makes these cupcakes and they always look so beautiful and delicious. Nigella has a way of describing food so descriptively and elegantly, in that British accent of hers, that I literally want to jump through the TV screen and eat with her.

So I finally decided to make these simple vanilla cupcakes, with Royal icing.

I decided to bake them in these party nut cups that I purchased at Michaels, just for something different. I obviously filled them too full with the batter, because they spilled over and started growing limbs. I cut off the excess cupcake (and consumed!) and then frosted the tops with the royal icing.


Now for the review. The cake was absolutely delicious! It had tons and tons of flavor and was very sweet. I modified the icing recipe and left out the lemon juice (reviewers of this recipe said the lemon flavor was way too strong) and replaced with a little milk. The icing was super sweet. It looked so smooth and beautiful, but I definitely prefer soft, creamy buttercream to hard royal icing.

The recipe only makes 12, so I will probably modify it the next I bake them, so that I'll have 24.

Nigella Lawson's Cupcakes:

1 stick plus 1 tablespoon soft butter

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 to 3 tablespoons milk

Take everything you need out of the fridge in time to get to room temperature - and this makes a huge difference to the lightness of the cupcakes later - and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Put all of the ingredients for the cupcakes except for the milk into a food processor and blitz until smooth. Pulse while adding the milk down the funnel, to make a smooth dropping consistency.
Divide the mixture between a 12-bun muffin tin lined with muffin papers, and bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. They should have risen and be golden on top. Let them cool a little in their tins on a rack, and then take them carefully out of the tin to cool in their papers, still on the wire rack. Ice with Royal Icing.

Royal Icing:

2 large egg whites

3 cups confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice or milk

Combine the egg whites and confectioners' sugar in a medium-size mixing bowl and whip with an electric mixer on medium speed until opaque and shiny, about 5 minutes. (Whisk in the lemon juice, this will thin out the icing.) Beat for another couple of minutes until you reach the right spreading consistency for the cupcakes.

Yield: sufficient to generously ice 12 cupcakes

Martha? In Wally World??

So apparently Martha has a new line at WalMart called Martha Stewart Celebrate! I came across this cupcake stand; it's a 3-tiered stand with decorative scalloped trim that could be used to display cupcakes, favors, or other treats. It would even make a super cute centerpiece. Now if I can just get myself into that store...