springtime birthday cupcakes

i mentioned in my last post that i was doing all the baking for a first birthday - here are the promised results! 

i ended up with four flavors: vanilla cake with vanilla bean buttercream, vanilla cake with strawberry buttercream, lemon cake filled with lemon curd with lemon butter cream, and lemon cake with strawberry buttercream. 

all the flavors and colors fit in perfectly with the spring-time garden theme of the party and i received a very adorable photo of the birthday girl eating cookies & cupcakes, so i'd say it was a success!

hope everyone is enjoying the warming weather!

amanda

vegan funfetti cupcakes

i have an awesome boss. part of her awesomeness stems from what a great gift-giver she is. for the holidays i got a gigantic set of sharpies, a three pack of the best-smelling antibacterial gel ever, and vegan cupcakes take over the world. oh i know, she rocks.

before receiving said gifts i had spoken at length with her in our tiny office about how i wanted to get into vegan baking, but was apprehensive about it as unknown baking territory. i've been taking baby steps via breads & cookies to build my confidence, but this weekend i decided that i was ready for the big leagues - cupcakes! - and armed myself with almond milk, vinegar, and earth balance.

i won't lie to you, i was nervous from the get-go, especially since the word "curdle" was in the first step. but, i took a deep breath and trusted the process and curdled it up. 

the batter was way more like a science fair project than a cupcake base. it was bubbly and reacting to itself and i'm pretty sure i could have made it explode if i had tossed a mentos in it. i started with my paddle attachment, but that was far too messy. i switched over to a whisk and it was way smoother sailing.

additional anxiety kicked in when i realized that the batter was an unpleasant khaki color instead of the golden-y goodness that i know and love, but through magic or science or oven gnomes that issue was resolved.

and i got beautiful, springy, perfectly-domed cupcakes! amazing.

by the way, if you bake at all and have limited counter space i highly, highly recommend investing in stackable cooling racks. hell, even if you have a giant kitchen there's no reason to waste space by having racks side-by-side. plus, then you can call each rack a "floor" and pretend that your cupcakes are in a fancy hotel. or not. cause that would be weird. anyway..

while the cupcakes cooled and i prepped the frosting everyone in my house decided it was nap time, including flapjack. he's 18 pounds. seriously. (not pictured: his sister, waffles).

in the end, the frosting is what got me. i'm pretty particular about my frostings and don't really have recipes, per se, but i have a general idea of what i want it to taste like and i adjust as i go. working with shortening and earth balance was a bit of a challenge for me and i think i need to do a little more research into how to achieve the perfect vegan buttercream.

i will say that it piped on pretty nicely and tasted a lot better once i let it set up in the fridge. i'm interested in if it will continue to improve with time, so i guess i'll have to force myself to eat one tomorrow. bummer.

overall, i'm pretty happy with how these came out, especially considering i'm a complete rookie. i would not have guessed they were vegan, which is my goal for animal-free baking, and was surprised at how delicious the batter was after it hung out in the oven for a while.

vegan funfetti cupcakes

adapted from vegan cupcakes take over the world
yields 28

ingredients:

2 cups almond milk (you could use soy, i've just been on an almond kick!)
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 teaspoons almond extract

1. whisk milk & vinegar in a measuring cup and set aside so it gets nice & curdle-y

2. preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit & line muffin pan

3. sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt

4. with a whisk attachment or by hand, beat together soy milk mixture, oil, sugar, vanilla & almond extracts

5. add dry mixture to wet mixture and mix until no large clumps remain

6. carefully fold in 3-4 tablespoons sprinkles, medium-sized to large work best

7. fill up your lined pans two-thirds of the way (this is where an ice cream scoop comes in handy!) and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean

8. let cool for 5-10 minutes in pan and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely

vegan buttercream frosting

(note: this is not a perfected recipe, so make sure to test your icing out as you go and adjust!)

ingredients:

1/3 cup non-hydrogenated shortening
1/3 non-hydrogenated margarine (i used earth balance)
3 cups sifted confectioner's sugar
up to 3 tablespoons almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract
1/8-1/4 teaspoon salt (this sounds weird, i know, but i think it's essential in buttercreams)

1. beat together shortening & margarine until combined and fluffy

2. add sugar 1/2 cup at a time and mix

3. add extracts to taste

4. add salt to taste

5. if you need the icing to be less stiff, add milk a teaspoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency

6. decorate away!

nutritional information:


calories: 219, fat: 9.6g, cholesterol: 1mg, sodium: 162mg, carbs: 31.24g, sugars: 21g, protein: 1g.




as always, thank you for reading & happy baking!


amanda



ps: first of all, thank you for reading this far! secondly, if you end up making anything you've read here or have any suggestions i would love to hear from you! seriously, let's talk!

dark chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting!

my name is amanda and i purposefully hide candy from myself. yup, that's right, at any given time there are probably two or three different kinds of candy stashed out of sight with the idea that, if i really want it, i'll find it. if i'm eating because i'm bored or anxious i'll grab an apple or hummus or whatever is at the front of my fridge, because i'm actually quite lazy.

i know, this plans seems pretty genius. you don't have to tell me twice. the only problem is that i have perfected my technique so much that i sometimes forget there's even candy there. i found myself in this very situation yesterday, when while cleaning out the pantry i found a target bag full of fun size reese's. cups, pieces, and fastbreaks - the peanut-buttery trifecta!

faced with this dilemma i immediately went to my saved recipes and found something that would give me an excuse to use up all these treats and force them on my co-workers tomorrow. the solution? dark chocolate cupcakes, stuffed with reese's cups, topped with peanut butter frosting.

 

the stash i found. i cannot believe this was just hanging out in my pantry!  i should have been binging on them long ago!

  

to melt the combination of chocolate, cocoa, and butter, the recipe calls for a double-boiler. i made my own hodge-podge version out of a heatproof bowl over a small saucepan, but you can also do this in the microwave to save time. if you're taking this route though, i would recommend using the defrost setting - it will be more gentle on your chocolate!

 

i used the whisk attachment for my immersion blender. i love using this kitchen gadget when i don't feel like breaking out the big stand mixer. note: i am a big gadget nerd.

i stuck peanut butter cup quarters into the center of each cupcake while i was rotating the pan mid-bake for a secret surprise! this step is obviously optional, but highly suggested.

i had left over batter - shocking - so i made half a dozen mini-cupcakes and decorated them with reese's pieces for extra adorability. seriously, how cute are they?

dark chocolate cupcakes

yields 15 regular sized cupcakes, or 1 dozen + 6 minis!
adapted from cooks illustrated

preheat over to 350 degrees fahrenheit

8 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into 4 pieces
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup sour cream (i used a light version & it was perfect!)

1. place butter, chocolate, and cocoa in a heat-proof bowl. set bowl over saucepan with two inches of simmering water. gently stir butter and chocolate until melted and combined. set aside until mixture is warm. this step can be substituted for microwave.

2. in a small bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder together.

3. in a large bowl, whisk eggs together until combined. add sugar, vanilla, and salt until fully incorporated. add cooled chocolate mixture and whisk together. sift one-third of flour mixture over chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. stir in sour cream until combined, and then sift remaining flour mixture over and stir until batter is thick.

4. fill cupcake liners two-thirds full and bake until knife or cake tester in center of cupcake comes out with a few crumbs - about 18 minutes. if adding to batter, place in center of cupcake half-way through baking. if making mini-cupcakes, only bake for 7-8 minutes.

peanut butter frosting
  
note on frosting: i tend to frost on the conservative side. i think a lot of people go nuts with frosting because it is so delicious, but there is something to be said about too much of a good thing. plus, i don't want the cake portion of the show to be ignored or overpowered! that being said, i had a bunch of extra frosting left over, probably enough to frost two to four more cupcakes. just a heads up!
 
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
3-4 tablespoons heavy cream or half & half

1. place butter and sugar in bowl of stand mixer and beat with paddle attachment until combined and creamy.

2. add vanilla extract, salt, and peanut butter, and combine.

3. add heavy cream one tablespoon at a time until frosting reaches desired consistency.

nutritional information:

for cupcakes: calories: 172, fat: 9.14g, cholesterol: 51mg, sodium: 171mg, carbs: 21g, fiber: 1.4g, sugars: 10.89g, protein: 2.72g. 

for frosting: calories: 119, fat: 8.62g, cholesterol: 10mg, sodium: 36mg, carbs: 7.85g, fiber: .64g, sugars: 6.5g, protein: 2.8g.

so, the whole cupcake comes out to about 300 calories! mini-versions are 1/3 of that, so only 100!


thanks for reading & happy baking!

amanda