Cookie Monster Cupcakes

I don't have a recipe for these, but I made them for Cooper's birthday earlier in March. They were super easy, and all I needed was to buy a Wilton Grass Tip. Which is awesome. I used white Wilton Candy Melts for the eyes, black decorating gel for the pupils, and mini Chips Ahoy, as the cookie mouth. Oh yeah, Noah decorated the orange ones. He's so awesome.

Super Fudgey Brownies

Those of you who know me are aware that cupcakes are my thing. If I even hear the word "cupcake" my ears perk up and I immediately start talking about them. If I could create a religion, I've always said that cupcakes would be my deity. This all might have been true until today.

When I found a recipe for brownies this morning, I was skeptical. Brownie recipes have always scared the crap out of me. This is mostly because some of my first failed baking attempts many years ago involved trying to make homemade brownies. Since then, I've mostly stuck to a box. Boxed brownies have always been faithful and there filled with dense chocolatey goodness. Today I left my safe comfort zone of boxed brownies and I may have left it for good.

I had all day to prepare myself to bake something, since I stayed home with a migraine. Maybe I decided to make this attempt because my head wasn't feeling quite right, or maybe I was just feeling more adventurous today. Whatever it was, I'm thankful. When I say these brownies were amazing, I mean it. I had to restrain myself so I wouldn't eat both pans (I doubled the recipe. Oops.) and I could save some for the members of the political club that I am a co-founder of, where I believe that politics and baked goods can mix perfectly. I hope my club members will be please tomorrow. I certainly am.

What you'll need (don't worry, this is a recipe for just one pan. You won't be on brownie overload, I promise:

• 10 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 and 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2  eggs, cold
• 1/2 cup flour
• Chocolate frosting (optional. I used chocolate frosting on one of my pans, but not the other. Some people think frosting ruins brownies. Then there's me. I say there's no such thing as too much chocolate.)

-Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 8x8 square pan with enough wax paper to hang over each side of the pan.

- Simmer a small pot of water. Place a heatproof bowl over the pot of water and add the butter, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Stir until butter melts.

-Remove the melted chocolate mixture from heat and let cool until warm. Using a wooden spoon, mix in the vanilla, then incorporate the eggs one at a time and mix vigorously. 

-Stir in flour until there are no streaks left behind.

-Pour batter over the wax paper lined pan and bake brownies for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

-Let brownies cool before removing wax paper. Frost, if desired, then cut brownies into desired sizes.

Enjoy!

Original recipe:

http://www.thetarttart.com/2013/03/alice-medrichs-cocoa-brownies/

Magdalenas

I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for spring. I'm ready for all the snow to melt away, leaving way for spring flowers and nothing but warm, beautiful sunshine.

Today makes me feel like those days aren't that far away. These lovely treats helped.

For those of you who aren't familiar with magdalenas, they are a Spanish cupcake or muffin that are usually eaten at breakfast with a cup of coffee. They are light, airy, and a bit lemony. Although they're a little dry, (that's what the coffee's for!) magdalenas are delectable.

I originally had to make magdalenas for my Spanish class since we were exploring culinary customs of the Spanish world. I made them using a recipe entirely in Spanish, but I'm convinced my conversion as far as temperature and measurements were off. All in all, I wasn't that impressed. So I tried again.


What you'll need:

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 stick of butter, melted
• 1 2/3 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

To make:

- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tins with 18 liners.

- Measure 1/4 cup of sugar and set aside

- Melt the stick of butter in microwave and set aside so it cools

-Measure out flour and baking powder in a separate bowl, mix, and set aside.

- Beat 3/4 cup of sugar with the eggs until creamy.

- While mixing egg mixture, incorporate the butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla, and milk.

- Slowly mix in the flour mixture until incorporated.

- Pour mixture into liners and bake for 18-20 minutes. Allow to cool in tins for 15 minutes, then remove from muffin tin and place on wire rack to cool completely.

-ENJOY!

Yellow Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Buttercream

Today was a cold and dreary winter day in Minnesota. I am so done with winter. It was cute when it was snowy and in the 20s around Christmas but this whole below zero thing has got to go. All in all, I needed an escape from this wintery dungeon, and what better way to liven things up than with cupcakes?!

Beautiful, spring inspired cupcakes! I got the recipe and the ideas from the two cupcake books I got for Christmas. Believe it or not, I got a lot of baking affiliated things for Christmas and I hadn't really tested them out until now. 

Easy yellow cupcakes

(Makes 24)

What you'll need:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup sour cream

To make:

- Preheat to 350 degrees

- Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

- In a large bowl, beat together the egg, egg yolks and sugar together for a few minutes until thickened.

- On low speed mix in the oil and vanilla until blended.

-Mix in sour cream until no white streaks are visible.

-Mix in flour mixture until incorporated, then add fruit or chocolate if desired. I added a 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

-Bake for about 20-25 minutes.

I love these cupcake so much that I had to take a cupcake break in the middle of writing this post. I do have a problem...

I did try a slightly different buttercream recipe this time around, and it was pretty tasty, but  not too much different from the one I typically use.

What you'll need:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar, sifted 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• up to 4 tablespoons heavy cream.

-Beat butter with mixer for a few minutes until fluffy.

-Add 3 cups of  powdered sugar until incorporated.

-Mix in salt, vanilla extract, and two tablespoons cream.

-If needed, add in remaining cup of powdered sugar.

-Dye if desired, then spread on cupcakes.

Enjoy!

New Year's Eve Cupcakes

This was a tradition I started in 2011 when I was in Florida visiting my mom's best friend, Michelle. We were meandering around a book store and opened a cupcake book only to find these.

Okay, they might have been a lot prettier in the book. But my god are they tasty. They're definitely the favorite thing that I bake.

What you'll need:
for the cupcakes

• ½ cup fresh strawberries, diced
• ½ cup good champagne (sweet rose champagne suggested)
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (European style recommended)
• 1 ¾ cups sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 ¼ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Seeds from 1 vanilla bean
• 1 ¼ cups whole milk, at room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line two mini cupcake pans with thirty-six mini baking cups, or grease pans with butter if not using baking cups.
2. Soak the fresh strawberries in the champagne.  Set aside.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt on a sheet of parchment paper or wax paper and set aside.
4. Place the unsalted butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a bowl with a handheld electric mixer.  Add the sugar; beat on medium speed until well incorporated. 
5. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition.
6. Combine the vanilla extract, vanilla bean seeds, and milk in a large liquid measuring cup.
7. Reduce the speed to low.  Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, then gradually add one third of the milk mixture, beating until well incorporated.  Add another third of the flour mixture, followed by one third of the milk mixture.  Stop to scrape down the bowl as needed.  Add the remaining flour mixture, followed by the remaining milk mixture, and mix slowly until just combined.
8. Drain the strawberries of excess champagne, and gently fold the strawberries into the batter, just until incorporated.  If you are of age, the remaining champagne is a sweet treat!
9. Scoop batter into baking cups and bake for 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.  If using paper baking cups, peel off all the paper baking cups once the cupcakes are cool.

FOR THE CHAMPAGNE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:

16 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (European style recommended)

4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon whole milk

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup good champagne (sweet rose champagne suggested)

1. Place the unsalted butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a bowl with a handheld electric mixer.  Add the confectioners’ sugar; beat on medium speed until well incorporated.
2. Add the vanilla extract, milk, salt, and champagne, and beat on high speed until light and fluffy.  Place frosting in a disposable piping bag with a large round tip.

FOR THE STRAWBERRY LAYER:

24 fresh strawberries

1 cup good champagne (sweet rose champagne suggested)

1. To prepare the strawberries, slice the strawberries lengthwise and soak in the champagne for approximately 10 to 15 minutes.  Note that these strawberries should be larger slices than the ones used in the cupcakes.

FOR THE CHOCOLATE GANACHE:

2 cups high-quality semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup heavy cream

1. Fill a medium saucepan with an inch or two of water and place over medium-low heat.  Place the chocolate chips and heavy cream in a medium glass bowl over the saucepan and melt the chocolate chips.  Stir occasionally until the chips are completely melted.  Remove the bowl of melted chocolate from the saucepan.  Pour the ganache into a plastic squeeze bottle.  (if a squeeze bottle is not available, you can drizzle with a spoon.)

To assemble: 

I'll have some pictures along the way. My mom played photographer while I was making a mess.

12 glass champagne flutes

12 indoor-safe sparkler candles

12 long spoons

1. Line up 12 glass champagne flutes.  Insert one mini strawberry champagne cupcake in the bottom of each glass.  Next, pipe a swirl of champagne buttercream frosting on top of each cupcake.  Add several slices of champagne-soaked strawberries and a drizzle of chocolate ganache.  Repeat layers.  Finally, place a third mini strawberry champagne cupcake at the top of each glass, pipe with a final Georgetown Cupcake signature swirl of champagne buttercream frosting, and top with a final drizzle of chocolate ganache.
2. Insert one indoor-safe sparkler candle in the top of each glass.  Light the candles at midnight, serve with spoons, and enjoy!

 From "The Cupcake Diaries" book