Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Wow, it’s been awhile…sorry, blog. I have been baking a lot as well as taking pictures and all that jazz – I just haven’t been able to get anything online. Plus my computer got a nasty virus so I was without it for a little bit.

But moving on, I have a nice cupcake recipe for you today! Courtesy of Ms. Martha Stewart, who had the brilliant idea of turning my favorite cookies into cupcakes. Genius, I tell you.

I made these for a party I went to a couple weeks ago, so they’re a little overdue…but delicious none the less. They may actually be my new favorite cupcake recipe. They’re pretty perfect, even without icing.

*Note: And next time, I might use cream cheese icing…cinnamon buttercream is nice, but it’s almost overkill on these.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes
(Taken from my Martha Stewart Cupcakes cookbook)

Ingredients:

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ cups cake flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1¾ cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1¼ cups milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together both flours, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk, and beating until combined after each.


Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.


I iced these with a cinnamon buttercream, which is basically just regular vanilla buttercream with a tsp or 2 of cinnamon added into the mix. However, like I said, cream cheese icing might balance the flavors better.

Mojito Cupcakes

With all the warm(er) weather that we’ve suddenly been blessed with, I’ve found myself fantasizing about summer lately…sangria, gardening, barbeques – I even went out and bought some flowery short-sleeved dresses today.

What else reminds me of summer? Mojitos. Mind you, I am guilty of drinking them year-round…but they’re just so much better on a hot summer day.

I’ve wanted to make mojito cupcakes for awhile now. I’ve seen recipes floating around the internet and with a friend’s housewarming party over the weekend, I thought it was a perfect time to try them out and use my friends as my favorite food-loving guinea pigs.

These cupcakes are unique and delicious. Plus they have booze in them. So I suggest you go make some the next time you are, like me, having pre-summer mojito cravings.

Mojito Cupcakes
(Adapted from Alpine Berry’s recipe)

Ingredients:

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1¼ tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup mint leaves, loosely packed
3/4 cup whole milk, hot
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
grated zest of 2 limes + the juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp white rum

Directions:

Preheat to 350F.

Add mint leaves to the hot milk, and let steep for 10-15 minutes. When steeped, pour milk through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl and press liquid from mint leaves. Discard leaves and allow milk to cool slightly.


Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter on medium speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Add sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in lime zest, juice, vanilla and rum.

On very low speed, add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk and ending with flour, mixing until just incorporated.


Fill paper-lined muffin cups half full. Bake until cupcakes spring back when touched, 18-22 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely.


I iced these with a mojito buttercream recipe I found here, though I ended up adapting it so much to my tastes that it really didn’t resemble that recipe at all by the end and I don’t really have a set recipe for it. However, I basically just added more mint and lime until it finally tasted like a mojito to me – so use that recipe as a guideline.

Dark Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream

Today is World Nutella Day. The one day of the year completely devoted to that addictive little chocolate-hazelnut dessert spread known as Nutella. I only first tried this dangerous treat about 4 years ago, believe it or not. I had actually been nervous to try it as everyone I knew in my life who had tried it warned me that I wouldn’t be able to stop if I did. It might just take over my life.

They were right.

I love Nutella. A lot. I will commonly spread it on just about every fruit I can find. Or on toast. Or just out of the container with a spoon. Apparently, I’m not alone on this either.

Today, all Nutella lovers unite to share their mutual love of this dangerous and delicious spread. And in its honor, I have made Nutella cupcakes.

That’s right. Nutella cupcakes.

You’re welcome.

Dark Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes
(Adapted from Cake on the Brain’s Dark Chocolate Cupcakes)
Because I mixed the Nutella right into the batter, these cupcakes are very fragile (as it doesn’t really bake too well). Just make sure you don’t fill the cupcake liners too full! Next time, I might just swirl some in…but either way, these are ridiculously moist and delicious cupcakes. They just have a weird order of being mixed together…but it was totally worth it.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup Nutella
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plain yogurt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard-sized muffin pan with baking-cup liners.

Combine butter, chocolate and cocoa in medium heatproof bowl. Set bowl over saucepan containing barely simmering water; heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted and whisk until smooth and fully combined (I just did this in the microwave and watched it really closely…and it worked the same). Stir in Nutella and then set aside to cool until just warm to touch.

Whisk flour, baking soda and baking powder in small bowl to combine. Whisk eggs in second medium bowl to combine; add sugar, vanilla and salt and whisk until fully incorporated. Add cooled chocolate-Nutella mixture and whisk until combined. Sift about one-third of flour mixture over chocolate mixture and whisk until combined; whisk in yogurt until combined; then sift in remaining flour mixture and whisk batter until it is homogenous and thick.

Divide batter evenly among muffin pan cups (no more than 3/4 full!!). Bake until skewer inserted into center of cupcakes comes out clean, 18-20 minutes.

Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes. Carefully lift each cupcake from muffin pan and set on wire rack. Cool to room temperature before icing, about 30 minutes.

World Nutella Day Icing
(Stolen from The Unrepentant Carbivore)
This icing is sweet…really sweet. But still amazing. However, I’m pretty sure it sent my blood sugar through the roof.

Ingredients:

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup Nutella
1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup whipped cream

Directions:

Place the confectioners' sugar, Nutella, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.



Linked on Sweets for a Saturday.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Mocha Buttercream

I used to hate chocolate cupcakes. Scratch that – I used to hate making chocolate cupcakes. I had mastered a pretty amazing vanilla cupcake, but I struggled to find a good chocolate cupcake recipe. They would always come out dry or not chocolatey enough and needless to say, I always ended up frustrated.

Then I found Martha. She has this “One Bowl Chocolate Cupcake” recipe and it’s pretty much perfect. It’s so simple, as you really only use one bowl, and the cupcakes turn out moist and just chocolatey enough. They aren’t too dense and fudgy so they take well to a heavy chocolate or peanut butter icing.

A good friend of my brother and I, a lovely girl named Kayla (who also has her own blog here), had a birthday this weekend. Unfortunately, since she lives in an apartment, she couldn’t have a big party so we volunteered our house to have the party for her. Naturally, I made cupcakes. She told me she wanted chocolate and since I knew she was also a big fan of coffee, I topped them with a mocha buttercream.

Unfortunately, the reviews were mixed, as about half the people at the party didn’t like coffee (crazy people...). But I still think these are amazing. They’re not too sweet so it’s a nice change.

One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes
(Taken from my Martha Stewart Cupcakes book)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ cups flour
1½ cups sugar
1½ teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside.

Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs (I actually cheat and lightly beat these first in a separate bowl), warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth (about 3 minutes). Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Mocha Buttercream

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
3 tsp instant espresso
3 tsp hot water
icing sugar
cocoa powder

Directions:

Unfortunately, I suck at using recipes for icing…I kind of just make it up as I go. But basically, first mix your hot water with espresso powder. Then, beat the butter, melted chocolate and espresso mixture together. Now you can add as much icing sugar as you need and beat it in until the buttercream is at the consistency you want. I also added a little bit of cocoa powder to give it some more chocolate flavor.

Some Post-Christmas Recipes

So Christmas has come and gone…the radio stations have stopped playing Christmas music, Christmas movies are nowhere to be found on TV…it’s all a little depressing. I plan on spending the next week in my new Christmas sweats, watching lots of movies and continuing my Christmas eating. I may also do a little shopping. I probably won’t go to the gym. I may cook instead. And speaking of cooking…

Now, I’m not one to brag about my Christmas gifts or do some “Christmas Haul” post, however my very handsome and loving boyfriend bought me a Bravetti slow cooker for Christmas…and it is BEAUTIFUL! Consequently, we will most likely be eating chilis and stews for all of 2011. I’m pretty excited. And you should be too.

But before I get into a whack of slow cooker adventures, here are a couple more Christmas recipes…in case you’re like me and just can’t let go.

However, I am Ukrainian. And our Christmas (or my 2nd Christmas) doesn’t happen until January 7th so my tree stays up until then.

Pecan Puffs
You know how everyone has that traditional Christmas sweet that their mom makes that just takes them back to their youth? These are that for me. We haven’t made them the past couple years and this year my mom gave me the flour-stained, yellowing, barely legible recipe card and told me to make them for Christmas. So I did. They lasted about 3.5 minutes on the table after dinner.

Ingredients:

½ cup soft margarine or butter
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup flour

icing sugar, for rolling

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Mix all the ingredients together (you usually have to get your hands in there by the end). Roll into balls and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 30 minutes.

After they come out of the oven, wait about 5 minutes and then roll the balls in icing sugar. Wait until they are completely cooled and then give them another healthy roll in icing sugar. You can do either of these steps or both, it doesn’t matter. We’ve done a variety of different techniques over the years but this is my favourite. The icing sugar gets a bit sticky on the warm cookies initially, so the second roll is usually needed.

Makes about 2 dozen small balls.

Enjoy!

I also made red, white and green marble cupcakes for Christmas. These are always a hit and people are always super impressed but they’re actually pretty easy – you just need a little extra time.

Basically, just whip up your favourite vanilla cupcake recipe, separate the batter into 3 bowls and add red food coloring to one of the bowls, and green to another. Then, drop a scoop of each color into each cupcake wrapper and swirl with a toothpick.

People will think you’re a cupcake magician.

I topped mine with vanilla butter cream and chopped candy canes. Delish!

Mocha Marble Birthday Cupcakes!

Out of everything I bake, I’m probably most known (by my friends and family, at least) for my cupcakes. I bake them a lot. I’m actually shocked that this is the first cupcake recipe I have on the blog. I’ve been seriously slacking in the cupcake department and for that, I apologize.

It was my best friend Krystyn’s birthday this weekend. Naturally, I offered to make cupcakes and when I asked her what kind she wanted, she replied with, “Vanilla!!! Or espresso ;)” (that is a direct quote).

I pondered the possibilities for a bit and finally decided on marble cupcakes, to have the best of both the vanilla and espresso worlds. I topped them off with a vanilla buttercream as she’s also a huge sucker for anything “vanilla or buttercreamy goodness” (also a direct quote). Don’t you just love her already?

Clearly, we are friends for a reason.

Anyways, I sifted through my stack of cupcake cookbooks and decided to make a variation of the marble cupcakes in Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes book. And they turned out beautifully.

P.S. If you’re in the market for a cupcake book, I definitely suggest investing in Martha’s. It’s my fav. And Krystyn is actually the one who purchased it for me for MY birthday last year. See? Meant to be best friends.

P.P.S. Cupcakes Galore by Gail Wagman is also an amazing book. Second favourite, for sure.

Mocha Marble Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream
(Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Marble Cupcake recipe)

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

1¾ cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk, room temperature
1/3 cup heavy cream, room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 teaspoons instant espresso powder
1/4 cup boiling water

Icing

1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2½ cups icing sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners (I used brown ones with white polka dots).

Stir together cake flour, baking powder, and salt in one bowl. Combine milk and cream in another bowl.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk mixture, and beating until combined.

To make the chocolate espresso batter, measure out 1 cup batter, and transfer to another bowl. Combine cocoa, espresso and the boiling water in a bowl. Stir into reserved 1 cup batter.

Fill prepared cups with alternating spoonfuls of vanilla and chocolate batter, filling each three-quarters full. Run the tip of a paring knife or wooden skewer through batter in a figure-eight motion to make swirls. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until tops are golden and a cake tester (or a toothpick) inserted in centers comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

To make the buttercream, mix the butter and the vanilla together and then slowly beat in the icing sugar. You can use food colouring to make it any colour you’d like; I left it white to go with the color scheme of the papers and the cake, but reserved a bit at the end and made it purple to write Happy Birthday on a bunch of them.

Makes 18-20 cupcakes.

Happy Birthday, lovely <3

Cupcake News!!

I have some exciting news!! Not even 24 hours after launching my blog online, I got offered my first catering gig!

My awesome cousin and his amazing fiancée have asked me to do the cupcakes for their wedding next September and I’m pretty excited…especially because I have a number of new cupcake recipes I’ve been wanting to try out.

So, there may be a bunch of cupcake recipes popping on the blog over the months to come as I experiment.

Yes, I am a mad cupcake scientist.

Gahh, I can't wait!!