Tiramisu Cupcakes

Occasion

It’s a girl!!!  Unfortunately I didn’t get any close ups of these cupcakes because we were a bit distracted with the occasion… announcing the gender of our baby!  The filling in the middle was the key -- it is pink. 

Tiramisu Cupcakes
1¼ cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon coarse salt
¼ cup milk
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces
3 whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar

Coffee-Marsala Syrup
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon freshly brewed espresso
1 ounce marsala (substituted rum)
¼ cup granulated sugar

Marscapone Frosting
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature
½ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

See recipe at Brown Eyed Baker for mixing instructions.  They are very important (and long!) to ensure the cupcakes are as light and airy as they are meant to be.

Changes for Next Time

• The flavor of these cupcakes was phenomenal – exactly like eating regular tiramisu.  However, the batter was best at the beginning.  The batter that had to sit for the second batch made for much harder cupcakes instead of the light and fluffy consistency they are meant to be.
• Always make “extra” of this frosting- I’m sure it will all be used.  Mascarpone is what makes tiramisu so delicious, and so a lot of frosting is a necessity.  I had to go back to the store for more mascarpone in order to triple the batch instead of just doubling it.

Winnie the Pooh Birthday

Occasion

My niece, Grace Nelson, turns one this week!  She loves Winnie the Pooh, so he was selected as the theme of her birthday party.  Maria made the mini-Pooh cake for Grace to eat, and I provided honeycomb cupcakes for the guests.  The idea for the honeycombs came from the book What’s New, Cupcake?

Cupcakes: White Almond Wedding Cake – you can never go wrong with this recipe when trying to please 30 people!

Frosting: Vanilla buttercream

Decorations: The honeycomb is made out of a white sugar cookie (Pillsbury premade sugar cookie dough, mixed with flour to make it thicker).  The cookies were rolled and then cut into a honeycomb shape before baking.  The bumble bees are chocolate covered almonds, with almond sliver wings and yellow striped frosting; the stingers and nose were black frosting.

Changes for Next Time

• The design turned out perfectly, but to save time I would go to the hardware store and buy some pliable, thin metal to make a cookie cutter.  I cut these with a knife around a paper stencil, and it took a fair amount of time.
• On a positive note, the work in these cupcakes (honeycombs and bees) can all be done ahead of time.  This made the assembly go quickly and the overall process pretty enjoyable because it wasn’t rushed.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Occasion

This weekend is my mom’s birthday!  Anna came over to my house and picked out a cupcake that she wanted to make as a surprise.  The winning selection was a sunflower from Hello, Cupcake! made out of Red Velvet cupcakes.

Red Velvet Cupcakes
2 1/4 c flour
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c butter, softened
2 c sugar
4 eggs
1 c sour cream
1/2 c milk
2 t vanilla extract
Red food coloring- lots

Mix dry ingredients and set aside.  Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Mix in sour cream, milk, food color, and vanilla.  Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended.  Do not over beat!  Bake 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 ounces (1 package) cream cheese, softened
1/4 c butter, softened
2 T sour cream
2 t vanilla extract
16 ounces powdered sugar

Decorations: One Oreo cookie (halved) with a ladybug made out of red M&Ms and meticulously decorated with spots by Anna and a bag of chocolate.

Changes for Next Time

• Cream cheese frosting is delicious, but not meant for decorating.  It is much to runny to hold its shape.  We decorated about half of the cupcakes before calling it quits and starting over with buttercream frosting.  We still used the cream cheese for the bottom layer to stick on the oreos, but next time it would be better to use a cupcake recipe that is good with buttercream instead of cream cheese.
• To give the petals more definitions, we ended up refrigerating the cupcakes after the bottom row was added.  Waiting for them to harden before adding the second row helped maintain shape and keep even the buttercream from blending together.
• A variation of large and small Oreos/flowers would add for a nice touch.  We didn’t have any small Oreos at the time, though.

Youth Services–Graduation Cake

Occasion

The Kansas City Associated Youth Services has a neat program where they provide “occasion cakes” for youth involved in the various programs. Every month a list of the events is published and volunteers select a cake to make. I was able to make one for Steven, who was graduating high school and loved cheesecake.

No Bake Cheesecake
16-ounces (2 packages) cream cheese
3/4 c powdered sugar
8-ounces cool whip
1 T vanilla extract
1 T almond extract
Graham cracker pie crust (3/4 c graham cracker crumbs, 2 T sugar, 1/4 c butter)
Chocolate chips, melted and spread on crust.

Mix cream cheese, sugar, and extracts. Fold in cool whip. Bake graham cracker crust for 5 minutes. Cool briefly and spread melted chocolate on crust; freeze until chocolate is hardened. Spread cheesecake into crust.

Changes for Next Time

• I need to remember that with cakes, simpler is often better. I would have preferred this cake with a bit less decoration on top, but when you have a plate of fresh cut strawberries in front of you, that’s hard to remember!
• For delivery, I need to make a portable container so that I can pass the cake off and it can travel to its final destination.

Graduation Cupcakes

Occasion

Shaw graduated with his Masters today, so there was much to celebrate at the Leaches tonight.

Cupcakes: Irish Car Bomb cupcakes for the adults, standard white almond cupcakes with vanilla frosting for the kids.

Changes for Next Time

• Making the Irish Car Bomb cupcakes for the third time, I think I finally got it down…

Latte Love Cupcakes

Occasion

Katie and Derrick Stolee came into town, so I wanted to make cupcakes.  Since we all love coffee, I thought I’d try an espresso-themed cupcake, filling, and frosting… similar to the Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes that were such a success.

Cupcakes: Standard Chocolate Cupcakes, but substituting shots of espresso for the water.  1 shot with water run through to make 2/3 cup, times 2.

Espresso Filling: Mascarpone cheese (tiramisu/coffee flavored), mixed with espresso and thickened with powdered sugar, cream cheese, and cornstarch.

Frosting: Bailey’s Frosting with some of the extra Espresso Filling added to give it a hint of espresso.

Changes for Next Time

• I had a hard time thickening the Espresso filling.  I don’t think the Mascarpone, espresso, and powdered sugar mixed well.  If I had had more cream cheese, it might have worked out, but since I ran out it was a bit grainy and required a lot of cornstarch and fridge time before being ready.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Occasion

Saint Patrick’s Day, of course! This was my first attempt with the extra large star tip and I LOVE how it turned out. Kudos to Nate for turning down my attempts with other tips, thereby allowing me to branch out and use a new tip.

Guiness Cupcakes:
1 cup Guinness stout
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoons salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring the Guinness and butter to a simmer in a heavy, medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl to combine. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sour cream on medium speed until combined. Add the Guinness-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat just to combine. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture and beat briefly. Using a rubber spatula, fold the batter until completely combined. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners. Bake about 17 minutes.

Whiskey Ganache Filling:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (or to flavor…)

Finely chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then, using a rubber spatula, stir it from the center outward until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined. Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped.

Bailey’s Frosting:
2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream (or to flavor…)

Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually add the powdered sugar until all of it is incorporated. Add the Baileys, increase the speed to medium-high and whip for another 2 to 3 minutes, until it is light and fluffy.

Changes for Next Time

• Nothing!!

Source: BrownEyedBaker.com