Champagne cupcakes

Since we started planning my friend's bridal shower, I'd been Googling around, stockpiling ideas, and one thing I came across was a recipe for a pink champagne cake. Pink wouldn't fit with our theme, but champagne, that might work nicely. So when I ended up being enlisted to make the cake, I revisited that idea, and after a bit of research and a bit of trial and error, I pulled together this recipe for champagne cupcakes. I'd say that they came out pretty good, if you like champagne -- I tasted the cake and frosting and the champagne I'd used, and the flavor did come across nicely. One small warning: While there's really not that much champagne in the frosting, once it's added, it's not cooked, so you might want to keep these away from the kids. (For them and for those who don't like champagne, I made some chocolate cupcakes for the occasion as well.)

The best thing about making these, I think, is that I'd been lacking a good recipe for vanilla buttercream, and now, I've found one -- I tasted this frosting before adding the champagne, and even then, without any vanilla extract, it tasted really good. (And yes, Swiss meringue buttercream is totally worth the extra effort, 'cause the taste and texture are so much better, so much smoother and lighter and fluffier, than that shortcut recipe a lot of people use.)

Champagne Cupcakes with Champagne Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Adapted from two different Sweetapolita recipes

Cake:
3/4 c butter, softened
2 c sugar
3 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
6 egg whites, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c champagne, room temperature, stirred until flat

Frosting:
5 egg whites
1 1/4 c sugar
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 c butter, softened, cut into pieces
1 to 4 tbsp champagne

1. Cream together the butter and sugar, then beat in the egg whites and vanilla.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add this to the mixer, alternating with the champagne, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Beat just until combined.
3. Fill paper-lined or greased cupcake pan cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. De-pan and cool on a rack.
4. In the top of a double-boiler or a bowl that can sit on top of a saucepan filled with an inch or so of simmering water, beat together the egg whites, sugar and salt with a whisk. Continue to whisk gently and monitor the temperature of the mixture with a thermometer, cooking it until it reaches 150 degrees.
5. Pour the mixture into a mixer bowl (or use a hand mixer) and beat with the whisk attachment until it's thickened and glossy and forms a soft peak when you lift up the whisk.
6. Beat in the butter, one piece at a time, until it's all in there and combined. (It will probably start to look scary somewhere along the line, like it's curdling -- that's totally normal, just keep beating it and it will come together.)
7. Beat in the champagne, one tablespoon at a time, tasting after each addition, until the flavor is to your liking. Then, beat a bit more, until light and fluffy.
8. Frost cupcakes and serve.

Vanilla cupcakes

Cupcake, where have you been all my life?

I've been looking for ages for a cake like this. You'd think that a basic vanilla cake would be easy, but no, it's the simple things that are the hardest -- every recipe I've ever tried either came out heavy and flavorless or tasted like chemicals. (Any recipe that uses cake flour is a non-starter for me, 'cause it just tastes bad.) Every attempt gave me another moment of weakness, another time when I thought that maybe I should just stick with boxed mixes -- somehow, they get it right, flavor-wise at least.

Fast-forward to this June, and I found myself in New York City on my birthday, in need of some cake, 'cause hey, what's a birthday without cake? I decided to try the much-talked-about Magnolia Bakery, and I got a vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting. And it was awesome. Well, great, it's easy enough to like someone else's cake, but what about mine? Well, lucky me, Magnolia has a cookbook (multiple ones, in fact). And lucky me, my then-boyfriend's sister (we're engaged now, eeeee! :) ) got me one of those cookbooks as a belated birthday present. :)

And yet somehow, amid all of the cookie-baking, I didn't find a good opportunity for cupcake-baking until right before Christmas, when I was supposed to be bringing a desert to a Christmas party, and I'd decided to bring chocolate cupcakes, 'cause my honey's nephew had asked for them and I'd promised. The more I thought about it, the more I saw this as an opportunity to try out the Magnolia recipe and please the non-chocolate-lovers (there are always a few) at the same time.

The results were promising. In my opinion, the frosting was too sweet, overpowering the cake. But the cake itself, eaten alone, was delicious Yay, vanilla cake win! I'll definitely make this cake again, but next time, I'll probably use the chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream from the chocolate cupcakes. I always like yellow cake with chocolate frosting better, anyway. :)

Vanilla Cupcakes
From "The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook"

1 1/2 c self-rising flour (I doubled this recipe, rather than buy a special flour)
1 1/4 c regular all-purpose flour
1 c butter, softened
2 c sugar
4 eggs
1 c milk
1 tsp vanilla

1 c butter, softened
6-8 c confectioners' sugar
1/2 c milk
2 tsp vanilla

1. Whisk together the flours and set aside.
2. Pour the milk and vanilla together in a large cup.
3. Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Then, beat in the dry ingredients and the milk mixture, alternating between them, until just combined.
4. Spoon into 24 cupcake papers. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in the pans, then remove and cool on a rack.
5. Beat together the butter, 4 cups of the confectioners' sugar and the milk and vanilla. Gradually beat in the remaining sugar. Frost cupcakes.

Triple-chocolate cupcakes

The holidays are over, mostly... but it's never a bad time for chocolate, right? Especially sinfully rich, dark, fudgy goodness. And especially when all of that is packaged in a deceptively cute cupcake.

This one takes a bit of work, but it's totally worth it if you're a serious chocolate lover. Also, one big, blinking caution light: This recipe yields 12 cupcakes. Twelve. Just 12. So you'll probably want to double it.

Triple-Chocolate Cupcakes
From "Cooks Illustrated

Ganache:
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1/4 c heavy cream
1 tbsp confectioners' sugar

Cake:
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1/3 c cocoa
3/4 c hot coffee
3/4 c bread flour
3/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 tbsp oil
2 eggs
2 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla

Swiss meringue buttercream:
1/3 c sugar
2 egg whites
Pinch of salt
12 tbsp butter, cut into pieces
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Make the ganache: Place the chocolate, cream and confectioners' sugar in a bowl and microwave until melted together, stirring frequently. Chill about 30 minutes, just until firm.
2. Place chocolate and cocoa in a large bowl and pour in the hot coffee, whisking until melted and smooth. Chill until cooled.
3. Whisk in the oil, eggs, vinegar and vanilla.
4. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. Whisk into the wet ingredients.
5. Divide batter evenly among paper-lined muffin cups. Onto each, drop one rounded teaspoon of ganache.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 17 to 19 minutes, until set and just firm to the touch. Cool in the pan about 10 minutes, then remove and cool on a rack.
7. Combine the sugar, egg whites and salt in a bowl and place it atop a pan of simmering water. Whisk gently and constantly until the mixture is slightly thickened and reaches 150 degrees.
8. Pour into a larger bowl (if you're using a small one) and beat with a mixer until the consistency of shaving cream.
9. Beat in the butter one piece at a time. At some point, it will start to look curdled. Do not panic! Just keep beating it and adding the butter; it will come together eventually.
10. Beat in the melted chocolate and the vanilla. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy. Frost cupcakes.

Strawberry cupcakes

I made blueberry cupcakes last year, so this year, with plenty of fresh strawberries in the house, I thought, why not strawberry? Everyone loves cupcakes, not to mention that they're easy to make impressive-looking -- I got plenty of compliments on these beauties, not to mention the yummy taste.

Let me just say, though, that for those who aren't big on frosting, you may not like these, 'cause with these, the frosting really makes them. The cake is faintly strawberry, just a bare hint, but the frosting is bright and berrylicious. Also, one caveat: This recipe is written to only yield a dozen. I doubled it when I made it, 'cause honestly, who makes only a dozen cupcakes?

Strawberry Cupcakes
From Sprinkles Cupcakes via Martha Stewart

Around 2/3 c strawberries
1 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp coarse salt
1/4 c whole milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c butter, softened
1 c sugar
1 egg and 2 egg whites

About 1/2 c strawberries
1 c butter, softened slightly
Pinch of salt
3 1/2 c confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line your cupcake pan with cupcake papers.
2. Puree the 2/3 cup of strawberries; you'll need 1/3 cup of puree.
3. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
4. In another bowl, mix together the strawberry, milk and vanilla.
5. In a large bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy, then beat in the sugar. Beat in the egg and egg whites just until blended.
6. Beat in half of the flour mixture, then the strawberry mixture, then the rest of the flour mixture, just until combined.
7. Pour evenly into the cupcake tin. Bake for about 22 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Cool cupcakes in the pan on a wire rack.
9. Puree the 1/2 cup of strawberries.
10. Beat together the butter and salt, then add the vanilla and 3 tablespoons of strawberry puree. Then, beat in the confectioners' sugar.
11. Frost cupcakes and serve.

Pumpkin cupcakes

I just couldn't hold out anymore. Despite the pile of apples I still have, I just can't take another apple recipe, especially when pumpkin season is already upon us and Halloween is just days away. So I caved and stocked up on cans of pumpkin puree (if it's good enough for every chef on the Food Network, it's good enough for me), and here we go, it's pumpkin time.

This recipe was a nice combination of practicing things I know and new things I hadn't tried, 'cause I decided to make these Halloween-y and make my own jack-o'-lantern decorations. I'd never worked with fondant before, and I'd always heard it tastes horrible, so I did a little research online, and what I discovered is that Duff Goldman's brand of fondant is actually supposed to taste pretty decent. I won't buy a product just 'cause it has a famous chef's name on it, but if the product is actually good, I'm all for it. And this stuff's not bad. It tastes like buttercream, really buttery buttercream. I wouldn't want to eat a ton of it, 'cause it's basically chewy frosting, but it's not bad.



I was really impressed with how these came out, too, 'cause I had a picture in my head of how they'd look, but I've never worked with fondant before, so I was prepared for them to look stupid. But they don't. They look adorable! And they're just like I pictured in my head. I put together some fondant, some gel food color and an edible-ink pen, and I created these cute little buggers. Even my boyfriend remarked, "aw, those are kinda cute." :) They're not all identical, but I wasn't trying for that -- I figured that you almost never see two pumpkins alike in nature, so mine wouldn't be, either.

And oh yeah, the cupcakes are pretty tasty, too. They also made the house smell so good that I had all I could do not to scarf them all down straight out of the oven, cooling and frosting be damned.



Pumpkin Cupcakes
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 stick, room temperature
1 c dark brown sugar
1/3 c sugar
2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 eggs
1/2 c buttermilk mixed with 1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 c canned pumpkin (NOT pie mix, just pumpkin)

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
2 c confectioners’ sugar
1/4 c maple syrup (the real stuff, not pancake syrup)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line muffin cups with cupcake papers.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugars on medium until fluffy.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt and pepper.
4. To the first bowl, beat in the eggs one at a time.
5. Beat in the dry ingredients and the buttermilk mixture, alternating between them, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
6. Beat in the pumpkin until incorporated.
7. Fill the cupcake cups about 3/4 full. Bake about 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
8. Let cool a few minutes, then de-pan onto a rack to cool completely.
9. Beat together all of the frosting ingredients on medium until fluffy. Pipe or spread onto cupcakes.

Blueberry cupcakes

I've had two things in the kitchen for the past month or so that I've been itching to use. One is a few more bags of blueberries in the freezer from our berry-picking expedition last month. The other is two sets of really nice, professional-grade, extra-large pastry tips (a few of them so big that I still haven't found a coupler to use them with, and I have an extra-large coupler already). Those two things finally came together yesterday, in some most unusual cupcakes.

Now, let's be clear -- these aren't muffins (though they did end up with a little bit of a sugary crust on top that's reminiscent of muffins). These aren't your typical white cake base with blueberries thrown in. Oh no. These are BLUE. Well, alright, they're more like purple, but that's the color you get when you mash up blueberries. I suppose I could've food-colored them to death to make them actually blue, but the natural color is pretty, so I left well enough alone.

The berry flavor of the cake is pretty subtle, but the frosting adds a nice hit of flavor to balance it all out. I actually tried filling them, too, using some leftover blueberry puree... um, bad idea. It was drippy, counter-staining carnage. It might still be a good idea, but you'd need to either thicken the hell out of it with cornstarch first or else just use some jarred blueberry preserves. I'll also lay a little of the blame on the fact that I'd never tried to make filled cakes before, so I don't exactly have the technique down. Ah, well. After one disastrous-but-still-tasty test cupcake, I decided to leave well enough alone with the rest of them.



Blueberry Cupcakes
Adapted from The Casual Baker

About a pound of blueberries
Sugar

1 c butter
1 1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
1/4 c milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c blueberry puree
2 c + 2 tbsp flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
6 tbsp butter, room temperature
1/2 c blueberry puree
Few drops vanilla
2 1/4 c confectioners' sugar

1. Place the blueberries in a saucepan with a little bit of water. Sprinkle a bit of sugar over the top (use your own judgment, based on how tart your berries are). Cook until the berries soften and become a tickened sauce. Cool slightly, then puree with a stick blender or in a regular blender or food processor.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar.
3. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then the milk, vanilla and blueberry puree.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder.
5. Dump the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and beat until blended.
6. Fill muffin cups (greased or lined with papers) about two-thirds full.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let sit 5 minutes, then depan and let cool on a rack.
8. Beat together the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and blueberry puree until thoroughly combined. Beat in the sugar, adding more if needed, to crease a smooth frosting.
9. Frost cupcakes with a knife or pipe with a piping bag and large tip.