Not Your Average Coffee Shop Scones
Vanilla cupcakes
1 C (2 sticks) butter
2 C sugar
4 large eggs
2 3/4 C flour (I used cake flour)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 C milk
2 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds. Reduce speed to medium and add sugar, beat until soft and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add eggs, one at a time, beat about 30 second between each egg.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Alternate adding flour mixture and milk/vanilla. Beat until just combined.
Pour batter into baking cups, filling no more than 2/3 full. Bake 22-25 minutes, until golden brown and cake tester comes out clean. Mine were perfect at 22 minutes.
Allow to cool completely on wire racks.
Cherry Filling
2 C cherries, pitted and chopped (fresh or frozen)
1/2 C water (*)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C sugar
2 Tbs cornstarch
Mix cherries, vanilla, and water in medium saucepan, and heat over medium for about 10 minutes.
Add sugar and cornstarch, and cook until thickened, about 20 minutes.
(*) In a do-over, I’d pour the sugar over the cherries, let it sit, so the sugar breaks down the cherries, then heat it up, producing syrup that way, then add cornstarch as needed …
Buttercream Frosting
2 sticks (1 C) butter, room temperature
6-8 C sifted powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 C milk
Beat butter on medium high until creamy. Add half the sugar, milk, and vanilla. Beat until combined. Add remaining sugar until desired consistency and sweetness is reached.
(Okay, I cheated and used prepared vanilla frosting.)
Assembly
Dig out the center of cupcake. I did the “cone method” from Chockylit: Angle a knife and cut out an inverted cone from the center of the cupcake.
Fill the divot with with cherry filling, put the top of the cupcake back on top.
Frost.
Nom!
Extra commentary
I let everything cool completely before assembling, but I think if I made them again, I’d make the cherry filling last, and fill the cupcakes while the filling was still warm and syrupy, letting it absorb into the cupcakes. Hopefully it will soak in a little tonight, since right now it sort of glops out.
Also: Holy crap, these are tooth-achingly sweet.
I stumbled onto the picture earlier today, trying to move all my cupcake recipes to tumblr. I was not a fan of this cupcake recipe, but I loved the styling. Both chocolate or vanilla cupcakes, with a vanilla frosting. Use pomegranate seeds as the fang bites, and then make a quick red sauce - I think I did a raspberry coulis? - but a pom juice mixed with sugar and corn starch would probably also work REALLY well. Use a dropper or squeezy bottle (or a spoon) to make blood (sauce) trails from each pom bite mark.
Ta-da!
Chocolate Cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5b. Add the chocolate, mixing until well incorporated.
6. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overbeat.
7. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.
8. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
8b. Let cool 10 minutes in pan, then remove to wire rack.
9. VERY IMPORTANT: Cool the cupcakes completely before icing.
Caramel Buttercream Frosting
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp. cocoa powder (for color)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. caramel flavoring
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
3 Tbsp. heavy cream
1. With an electric mixer, cream shortening and butter together in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add vanilla and caramel flavoring to mixture and beat well on medium speed.
3. Add cocoa powder and confectioners’ sugar (1 cup at a time). Beat on low to avoid powdered sugar from flying all over the place. Once everything is incorporated into the butter mixture turn the mixer to medium speed and beat for 30 seconds. Mixture will be dry.
4. Add cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, until a medium consistency is achieved. Keep beating for 5 minutes until frosting is light and fluffy.
To finish cupcakes:
Frost cupcakes. Garnish with marshmallows, nuts (we used almonds because we couldn’t find my pecans; and Rebecca doesn’t like peanuts with chocolate), chocolate shavings, and caramal sauce.
Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 F. Wash and core apples, and place in baking dish. Bake 30-40 minutes, until soft. Allow to cool enough to handle, then remove peels (they should slip off, much like roasted beets). Mash the apple flesh, and measure out one cup, allow to cool completely.
Combine dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Then, separately, combine wet ingredients. Combine all, and mix just to combined (remember, over beating leads to dense cupcakes).
Fill cupcake papers - about 3/4 full (fuller papers leads to bigger domes for filling later). Bake 20-22 minutes/until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Filling
With electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth and glossy.
Assemble cupcakes:
Cut off top of cupcake. Use melon baller/ cookie scoop to hallow out cupcake.
Fill each cupcake with cream cheese mixture. Replace tops.
Caramel Topping
Bring butter, sugar, corn syrup, and condensed milk to a boil over medium heat. Add cream (milk) and continue to boil and stir constantly until caramel reaches 248 F.
Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and salt. Continue to stir for 2-3 minutes, to cool slightly.
Final Assembly:
Working quickly, spread caramel over cupcakes. Chocky suggested putting them in the freezer to help stop drips.
I burned myself quite quickly, so we then put the cupcakes on a tray, and just spooned caramel over the top. It dripped down the papers. Alas.
Commentary:
The cupcakes were awesome by themselves - a lot like an apple muffin, which was a nice contrast given the sweetness of the filling and the topping.
There was WAY more caramel than needed, and I was sad to throw it away. I wish I had prepared better, and could have made little individual caramels. Homemade caramels ROCK. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back.
(Source: cupcakeblog.com)
Yeastless Cinnamon Roll Muffins
I wanted so much to like these! I made really minor changes - I used my favorite vanilla cupcake recipe, but otherwise kept everything the same. Maybe it was just me, because the frosting didn’t work at all, and I wish I’d made a traditional vanilla buttercream or a traditional whipped cream, but the combo didn’t work for me, and it soured my mood. I think instead of doing the center cut out, I might just dip the top of cooled cupcakes in the ganache, let it set, and then frost.
1 3/4 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 (heaping) tsp garlic salt
5 Tbs cold butter
1 C shredded cheddar (I used aged white)
1 C milk
1/4 C melted butter (optional)
1 clove minced garlic (optional)
Preheat oven to 400F.
Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Cut in butter (annoying as it is, for a light, delicate biscuit, a pastry cutter is a priceless tool) until you have a coarse crumbly mix (butter bits should be about the size of small peas).
Make a well in the flour-butter mix, add cheese, and stir in milk (about 1 Tbs at a time) until you have a sticky dough. I think I used just over 3/4 milk.
Drop spoonfuls of dough on lightly greased baking sheets. Bake 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned. Optional: Brush tops of hot biscuits with garlic-butter (I skipped this step).
Make ahead options: Make one day before and refrigerate, pop directly into oven. Make more than one day ahead and freeze, defrost, and pop into oven.