Banana-Caramel Cupcakes!

Banana-Caramel Cupcakes!

So you know when you wake up in the morning and the warming smell of oatmeal cooking with brown sugar and butter and bananas fills the air making your stomach grumble? Oh.... well maybe that's just me.... But THESE cupcakes are the ones you wanna go for when you feel like a sugar fix first thing in the AM... I mean... they have bananas... so its almost like breakfast.... right?.... RIGHT!

Ingredients:

3 cups                    Cake flour (sifted)
1 and 1/2 tsp          Baking soda
3/4 tsp                   Baking powder 
3/4 tsp                   Salt
1 tsp                      Ground cinnamon
4                           Bananas (very ripe, mashed)
3/4 cup                 Buttermilk
1/2 tsp                  Pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup                 Unsalted butter, room temp
1 and 1/2 cup       Light brown sugar
3                           Eggs (large, room temp)

 Method

Line 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners and pre-heat oven to 350. Whisk together cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, whisk together mashed bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla. In a mixer, cream butter until its light and fluffy. Add brown sugar and mix until its incorporated (make sure to scrape down the sides on bowl to make sure it all gets in there and you are not left with clumps). Add eggs one at a time until completely incorporated. Scrape down sides of bowl and turn mixer to medium speed. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the banana mixture. Pour evenly into tins and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes (or until toothpick comes out clean). Cool completely.

Caramel Buttercream

1/2 cup                      Brown sugar
1/4 cup                      Heavy cream
2 tbls                         Unsalted butter
1 tsp                          Pure vanilla extract
                                 Pinch of sea salt
1 cup                        Unsalted butter
3 cups                       Powdered sugar
1/2 tsp                      Salt
1 tbls                        Pure vanilla extract

In medium saucepan mix together brown sugar, heavy cream, and butter. Bring to a boil and then stir continuously for 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and add vanilla and salt. Beat until smooth and let cool to room temperature. Meanwhile in a mixer, cream butter until light. Add powdered sugar slowly (will look crumbly at first but keep mixing). Add salt and vanilla and beat on high until completely incorporated and frosting is smooth.

 

The Ultimate Coconut Cupcakes.

All I have to say is... These are crazy coconutty. So if you do not like coconut. Look awayy...

Coconut Cupcakes!

 

Ingredients:

1 and 3/4              All-purpose flour
2 tsp.                    Baking powder
1/2 tsp.                 Salt
1/2 cup                 Shredded sweetened coconut
3/4 cup                 Unsalted butter, room temp.
1 and 1/3 cup       Sugar
2                          Eggs (whole), room temp.
2                          Egg whites, room temp 
1 and 1/2 tsp.      Pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup               Unsweetened coconut milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 and line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together AP flour, baking powder, and salt. Run the shredded coconut through a food processor until it is finely ground. Whisk coconut into flour mixture. In an electric mixer at medium speed, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add eggs, egg whites, and vanilla until completely incorporated (make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl so that you don't get a lump of sugar/butter in your cupcake.... yuck!... or yum?). Reduce speed and add flour mixture alternately with coconut milk (about 3 shifts). Distribute evenly into lined cups (this recipe makes about 20 average cupcakes... I would not stretch it for more unless you are making minis). Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool.

Coconut frosting:

1/2 cup                  Unsalted butter, room temp.
1 tsp.                     Coconut extract
3 cups                   Powdered sugar
4 tbls.                   Coconut milk
                             (Shaved coconut lightly toasted for decorating)

In an electric mixer, cream butter and coconut extract together. Add powdered sugar gradually until creamy (it will look lumpy and dry at first). Add coconut milk slowly until incorporated.

 

 

 

Red Velvet Cupcakes!

Red Velvet Cupcakes! (Valentines Day Edition)

 Many believe that the name "Red Velvet" comes from the naturally reddish hue of cocoa powder, which is enhanced by a chemical reaction between vinegar and baking soda. Today, most versions rely on food color or beet juice to achieve this vivid shade. I used red food coloring paste*- or rather Christmas red- in this recipe (which you can get at Michaels for around 2$).

*Note: this is not your typical red food DYE you buy at the grocery store.

 

Ingredients:

2 and 1/2 cups           Cake flour (not self rising), sifted twice
2 Tbls.                       Unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 tsp.                          Salt
1 and 1/2 cups           Sugar
1 and 1/2 cups           Vegetable oil
2                                 Eggs (large), room temp.
1/2 tsp.                       Red food color gel-paste (Red-red OR Christmas red)
1 tsp.                         Pure vanilla extract
1 cup                         Buttermilk
1 and 1/2 tsp.            Baking soda
2 tsp.                         Distilled white vinegar

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 and line standard muffin tins with paper liners. In bowl, whisk together cake flour, cocoa, and salt. In an electric mixer with whisk on medium high speed, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down sides when needed (make sure you scrape the bottom of the bowl directly under the whisk tip to get accumulated sugar). Mix in food color and vanilla. Slow down the speed on the mixer and add flour in three batches alternating with two editions of buttermilk. Whisk SUPER good after each incorporation. In a little bowl, mix together baking soda and vinegar (It will foam up so don't freak out). Add the mixture to the batter and mix for about 10 seconds until incorporated (make sure to scrape the bottom of the baking soda bowl because it will not all come out and you NEED all of it). Divide batter evenly between the lined cups filling them about three quarters full. Bake for about 20 minutes, rotating after 10 minutes (Watch them explode as they bake if you are an oven-percher like me). Test middle cupcake with toothpick and make sure it comes out clean before you take them out of the oven. Let cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 cup             Unsalted butter, room temp.
12 oz.            Cream cheese, room temp
4 cups           Powdered sugar
3/4 tsp.         Pure vanilla extract

Method:

With an electric mixer, cream together butter and cream cheese. Add powdered sugar in four batches (mixing well after each addition). Whisk in vanilla. AAAAAANND done.

*Makes 24 cupcakes

 

(Dark) Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes!

Well, today was a little bit crazy. I drove all the way to Seattle from Olympia to grab Built to Spill tickets and they were sold out even before they went on sale! Guhh... And to top it all off I was stuck in traffic GALORE on the way back.... you would think I would have been a grouchy when I got home this evening BUT  I have been thinking about these cupcakes all day.. and well... it kind of saved me. So here we go!

DARK CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE CUPCAKES!

These puppies are like a chocolate chip cookie and a cupcake combined... well duhh... but seriously try these out.

Ingredients

3 and 1/4 cups     Cake flour (sifted twice... just do it)
4 and 1/2 tsp.       Baking powder
1/4 tsp.                 Sea salt (fine)
1                          Vanilla bean (can substitute with 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract)
1 cup                    Whole milk
1 and 3/4 sticks    Butter, unsalted, room temp.
2 cups                   Sugar
5                           Egg whites (LARGE), room temp.
2 cups                  Dark chocolate chip (good quality... I used 90% cocoa dark chocolate)

For the frosting....

1/4 cup + 2 tbls.   Cocoa powder, dutch-process, unsweetened
1/4 cup + 2 tbls.   Boiling water
1 and 1/2 cups      Butter, unsalted, room temp.
1/2 cup                 Confectioners' sugar
1 pound                Dark chocolate (Best quality), melted, cooled



 Mix the cake flour (SIFTED), baking powder, and salt together in a bowl... set aside.  In a small bowl mix vanilla and milk... set aside. In a mixer cream together butter and sugar (I like to cream the butter a little and then add the sugar in a steady stream). Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter/sugar in thirds alternating with the milk mixture... set aside. With a hand mixer, whisk egg whites until they come to stiff peaks (DO NOT OVER MIX... please oh please!). Carefully...gently... fold half the egg whites into the batter to lighten it up a bit... then fold in the rest of the egg whites. Fold in chocolate chips.

This makes 30 average sized cupcakes OR 24 large cupcakes.

Bake at 350 until done.  (Meaning you insert a toothpick to the middle of the cupcake and it comes out clean)

YOU JUST CAN'T COUNT ON TIME! ha


The frosting is pretty easy-peasy... but it's rather time consuming. First off, melt the chocolate over a double boiler until it almost completely melted, take it off the heat and stir it with a rubber spatula. Let it cool for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Next, mix together cocoa powder and boiling water until the cocoa has dissolved. In another bowl, cream together butter, confectioners' sugar, and salt until its light and fluffy... slow it down a little (the mixer, I mean) and add the cooled melted chocolate. Scrape down the sides and beat in the cocoa mixture. WA-LA!




 

(NOTE: The frosting is satiny smooth... So its a little hard to pipe if you are doing the fancy-schmancy.)

Gathering ingredients...

Tomorrow night is when it all starts! Chocolate Chip is first up! I have a good start on volunteers but  I still need a few more volunteers to taste-test and critique! So contact me today if you would like to help out!


Kenzie