Baking Junkie

Cupcakes Category

Sunday, August 28th, 2011

Butterfinger Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from Gingerbread Bagels

I have been on quite a candy bar binge lately. It has mostly been Hershey bars and Peanut Butter Cups, but there have been some Butterfingers here and there as well. This may or may not be the reason that I am trying to cut myself off for a while and have stocked up on everything in the produce department.

These cupcakes were another birthday treat at work (I love being the birthday baker!). My coworker requested some sort of chocolate cupcake. Two instantly came to mind, and she decided on this one (I turned the other into a cake, recipe coming soon)! What I really liked about this recipe was the lack of piping on the frosting with a bag. I was able to go back to the gold old days of spreading it on with a knife, which was kind of fun.

{Don’t get me wrong, I still prefer cupcakes with nice piping on the top, but this was sort of like a vacation from cupcake decorating}!

One of the best parts about this recipe was the chocolate frosting. Oh my goodness was it good! I love that you get a double dose of it both inside the cupcake and on top. I’m actually really torn between the hot chocolate buttercream and this one. My life is filled with such tough decisions, isn’t it .

Enjoy!

Butterfinger Cupcakes
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1 box chocolate cake mix + ingredients listed on back
1 bag fun size Butterfinger candy

Hot Fudge Buttercream:
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
¼ cup shortening
⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp milk
1 cup hot fudge topping
2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make cupcakes according to directions on box. Cool completely before frosting.

Place the Butterfingers in a food processor and grind into crumbs (I had leftovers, you might want to start with just ½ – ¾ of the bag). Place into a deep set bowl and set aside

To make the frosting, cream together the butter and shortening until smooth. Add cocoa powder, then mix in vanilla and milk. Add hot fudge topping, then powdered sugar. Mix together until smooth.

Place about one cup of the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a long bismarck tip (any round tip will work). Insert the decorating tip into each cupcake, going at least halfway to the bottom. Squeeze out some frosting while slowly moving the tip out of the cupcake. Fill each cupcake in this manner.

Spread the remaining frosting onto each cupcake with a butter knife, placing a generous amount on each one.

Turn each cupcake upside down and dip into Butterfinger crumbs, turning to coat the entire frosting covered surface.

Tags: Buttercream, Candy, chocolate, Cupcakes

Posted in Buttercream, Cupcakes | 2 Comments »

Monday, June 27th, 2011

Wedding Cupcakes

I have mentioned it a few times before, but a friend/co-worker of mine asked me to make cupcakes for her wedding, which happened to take place this past weekend. This was the first wedding I have ever baked anything for, and my first big event in general. I had tried out all of the recipes ahead of time so I knew there would be no surprises. I honestly didn’t get nervous until the day before I baked everything (the day before the wedding), but it quickly turned to excitement.

I vastly underestimated how much work making 260 cupcakes would be. All in all it was a long 10 hour day spent in the kitchen, covering myself with flour, powdered sugar and frosting. I was completely exhausted, with a very sore right shoulder and hand by the end of the day. Luckily I had some helpers along the way. I wouldn’t rule out doing any more weddings or big events, but I would definitely try making as much as I could ahead of time!

It ended up being a beautiful day for the wedding, and the cupcakes seemed to be a huge hit. They were gone probably about an hour into the reception!

Here are the links to all the recipes I used:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Almond Delight Cupcakes

Carrot Cake (Cupcakes)

Chocolate Cherry Coke Cupcakes

I also made some plain vanilla and chocolate cupcakes topped with either vanilla or hot chocolate buttercream (recipe to come)!

Congratulations Heather and Matt!

Tags: Buttercream, Cupcakes

Posted in Cupcakes, Misc. | 7 Comments »

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

Chocolate Cherry Coke Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

Chocolate cherry coke cupcakes…the name just sounds refreshing doesn’t it? If you would have asked me two months ago I would have told you they sounded disgusting!

Fact #1: Some of you might cringe a little when you read this, but believe it or not I don’t drink soda (or pop, or coke, whatever you’d like to call it). I guess I can’t exactly say never, but I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve consumed soda in the past year.

Fact #2: I don’t like cherries or cherry flavored anything.

It’s quite a conundrum that a girl who doesn’t like coke, or cherries, would make chocolate cherry coke cupcakes. I never thought it would happen either. I’ve mentioned before that I’m making cupcakes for a wedding in June, and the groom requested some sort of chocolate cherry creation. It was fate when just a few weeks later I saw these in my Google reader. I sent the link to the bride-to-be (because let’s face it, she makes all the decisions anyway) and she gave me the thumbs up to try them out.

I have never made a cake with buttermilk,or melted butter, but I think I need to start doing it more often. This chocolate cake was so incredibly moist and mouthwatering! The frosting starts out like a basic buttercream but is flavored with cherry juice. Kristan added about half a jar of chopped cherries, but I only used a few. When I needed to thin the frosting out a bit at the end I added some milk instead of adding more cherry juice, but if you are a cherry lover then feel free to go with the juice. I thought the cherry flavor was perfect without being overpowering. The chocolate ganache on top is the perfect compliment to the rest of the flavors and is what completely makes the cupcakes in my opinion. I never would have guessed it, but these beauties have shot up the list and are now one of my top 3 favorite cupcakes! Enjoy!

Chocolate Cherry Coke Cupcakes
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1 box chocolate cake mix
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 cup Coke

Cherry Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature
10 oz jar maraschino cherries
4 cups powdered sugar
1-2 Tbsp milk

Glaze:
4 Tablespoons melted butter
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 cup Coke
2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together cake mix, butter, buttermilk, eggs and Coke until well combined. Pour into lined muffin tins, about ⅔ full. Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

To make frosting, beat together the butter and four tablespoons of the maraschino cherry juice. In 1 cup increments add the powdered sugar and beat until fully combined. At this point you can add some coarsely chopped cherries (I only used a few, you could use as many as you like). If the frosting needs to be thinned you can add 1-2 Tbsp of milk or substitute with some of the remaining cherry juice. Frost fully cooled cupcakes, then place in the refrigerator to chill for about one hour.

To make the glaze, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Once the butter has melted add the cocoa powder and Coke. Once this mixture begins to boil remove from heat and whisk in the powdered sugar. Spoon over chilled cupcakes and top with remaining cherries (if there are any).

Tags: Buttercream, Cherry, chocolate, Cupcakes, Ganache

Posted in Cupcakes | 17 Comments »

Sunday, March 27th, 2011

Chocolate Peanut Butter Filled Cupcakes

I think it’s probably pretty obvious by now that I absolutely love anything with the combination of chocolate and peanut butter. If you search through the archives you’ll find numerous examples. I have already made a chocolate peanut butter cupcake, but this takes it a step further.

A friend and coworker is getting married in June and she’s asked me to make cupcakes for the reception. She now gets to sample every flavor of cupcake I make, and she takes one home for her fiance as well. They have already decided on a few different flavors, but the groom is a huge peanut butter lover (my kind of man!) and requested a cupcake with some kind of peanut butter filling.

I had been trying to think of exactly what kind of filling to put in these cupcakes: peanut butter buttercream, eggless peanut butter cookie dough? After I made these peanut butter bars and couldn’t stop myself from eating the filling, I knew I had my answer. I followed the same recipe that I used for the bars, but I think next time I will cut it in half (the recipe below reflects this). I placed the filling in the refrigerator just to firm it up and make it easy to roll into balls. Once the cupcakes were finished I kept them in the refrigerator as well, but next time I would keep them out. The filling becomes too firm, and in my opinion these taste much better when the filling is at room temperature.

Looking back at my pictures I wished I would have taken one of the inside of the cupcakes, but this is what happens when you take pictures of 3 different desserts in one afternoon! I got a thumbs up to put these on the wedding menu, so there will be more pictures in the future. Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Filled Cupcakes
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Cupcakes:
1 box devil’s food cake mix
Ingredients on box + 1 extra egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour into cupcake liners, filling them about 2/3 full. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until tooth pick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool completely.

Filling:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup powdered sugar

Put butter and peanut and butter in a 2 quart glass bowl. Microwave for approximately 45 seconds or until melted. Stir together. Add graham cracker crumbs and powdered sugar and mix together (will get thick). Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes to let mixture firm. Once cupcakes have cooled completely, use a small paring knife (or any other method you’d like) to remove a hole in the center of the cupcake. Discard the tops. Roll just over a tablespoon of filling into a small ball and place into center of cupcake.

Peanut Butter Buttercream:
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup creamy peanut butter (may use more or less depending on how much of a PB flavor you would like)
4 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbsp milk

Beat butter and vanilla with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add peanut butter and mix until combined. Add powdered sugar in one cup increments, then add milk. Frost filled cupcakes.

Tags: Buttercream, chocolate, Cupcakes, peanut butter

Posted in Cupcakes | 11 Comments »

Sunday, March 13th, 2011

Shamrock Shake Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

Hello friends! I hope you have all had a great weekend. I spent mine with great friends and went downhill skiing for the first time ever. I’m writing this, so I obviously survived! Luckily I made it the entire weekend without a trip to the ER, but I still had some nasty falls. My entire body is sore right now and I have some impressive bruises (one that’s not even related to skiing) but I had fun nonetheless.

Initially I wasn’t planning on any sort of St. Patrick’s day post. To be honest, it’s not a holiday we really celebrate much (even though Derek is part Irish). When my sister-in-law sent me the link to these cupcakes it changed my mind though!

Ironically, I had never had a Shamrock Shake, so in order to fully prepare for these cupcakes I felt it was necessary to try one.

Halfway through the shake I remembered that I am mildly lactose intolerant.

Needless to say I won’t be having more Shamrock shakes (although I thoroughly enjoyed it)!

I was a little nervous while making these, because I just wasn’t a huge fan of the batter. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the frosting, but the combination is fabulous! Obviously the texture is quite different from the actual shake, but the taste is surprisingly similar. I was worried about the cupcakes not being fully baked, and I ended up over-baking them just a bit which resulted in a brown color around the edges, but they should normally look nice and green.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!

Shamrock Shake Cupcakes
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½ cup shortening
1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 egg whites, room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
¼ cup green creme de menthe

White Chocolate Buttercream
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature
6 oz (3/4 cup) white chocolate chips
⅓ cup heavy whipping cream
3 ½ cups powdered sugar
3 Tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl beat shortening for approximately 30 seconds. Add sugar in ¼ cup increments until fully incorporated, light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Add egg whites one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl combine buttermilk and creme de menthe.

Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to the batter, starting and ending with flour.

Spoon batter into a muffin pan lined with baking cups, filling approximately ⅔ full. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let cool completely.

To make frosting, heat whipping cream in small saucepan until simmering. Remove from heat and pour over white chocolate chips in a medium sized mixing bowl. Stir until smooth. Add butter and beat in with an electric mixer. Gradually add powdered sugar, then milk.

Frost cupcakes using a Wilton 1M tip. If desired, cut a straw into three pieces and stick into frosting for a garnish.

Mouthwatering Mondays

Tags: Buttercream, Cupcakes, Mint, White chocolate

Posted in Cupcakes | 6 Comments »