Strawberry Daiquiri Cupcakes

Randal loves those frozen daiquiri mixes, you know the ones you just  throw in a blender with ice and water (we don't drink, but I am sure you could add alcohol!).  So I shouldn't be surprised that he wanted me to turn one of those mixes into a cupcake!

This really was just an experiment of a cupcake, and those mixes really are strong so if you want a more subtle flavoured cupcake I would use less than the 1 cup I used in the batter.  I had some really positive reviews of these cupcakes, although at the last minute I did add some grated lime zest to the top as we both felt it needed more lime to cut the strong strawberry flavour.

Cupcakes:
4 eggs

2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup frozen strawberry daiquiri mix, defrosted
10 tablespoons butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350.  Line a cupcake pan with paper liner.

In a small bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs for 5 minutes, until thick and lemon coloured.  Add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture has thickened.  Add in the vanilla extract and the flour and mix just to combine.

Gradually beat in the butter and daiquiri mix.

Fill each liner 2/3 full and bake for 18 minutes, or until cooked through.

Lime Syrup:

2 tbsp lime juice

2 tbsp sugar

In a small bowl, stir together the lime juice and sugar until sugar dissolves. 

Strawberry Daiquiri Frosting:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 8oz. package cream cheese
2 cups icing sugar
1/4 cup frozen strawberry daiquiri mix, melted

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and icing sugar and beat for 3 minutes, until thick and fluffy, add in the daiquiri mix and beat until combined.

To assemble the cupcakes, brush the top of each cake with the lime syrup while still warm, then leave cakes until completely cooled.  Top with the daiquiri frosting, a lime wedge and grated lime zest.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

We really don't do much for Valentine's day, I usually make Randal a treat though and this year I didn't have much time so I made my chocolate cupcakes because I can make them quickly and I know they will be good.  I made my swiss meringue buttercream and threw some strawberry puree in there and topped them with a chocolate covered strawberry.

Chocolate Cupcakes:
¾ cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
6 tbsp. valrhona cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
½ cup black coffee
½ cup buttermilk
1½ tsp. vanilla extract

Strawberry Puree:
1 lb strawberries
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
Seeds from a 1/2 of a plumped vanilla bean

Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
5 egg whites
1 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
2 cups of unsalted butter at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
1/2 cup strawberry pure

To make the cupcakes, in a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt, whisk to blend and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar, vegetable oil and egg. Beat on medium speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, blend in half of the dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated. Blend in the coffee, buttermilk and vanilla just until smooth. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated. Divide between baking cups and bake at 350 for 22-24 minutes.

To make the strawberry puree, combine the berries, lemon juice, vanilla and sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar, until the berries have given off some juices and they come to a boil. Transfer to a sieve set over a bowl. Using a spatula rub the berries and juices through the sieve.

To make the frosting, put a few inches of water in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Put the egg whites and sugar into a bowl that will fit over the pan of water and whicsk until it reaches 150 degrees and the sugar has all melted. Transfer mixture to the bowl of your stand mixer and whisk on medium speed until the bowl feels cold (this can take up to 10 minutes) add the butter 2 tablespoons at a time, then add the vanilla, salt and puree.

Buttermilk Brownies

Am I the only one who is constantly searching for things to make with leftover buttermilk? I feel like I always have a bottle in the fridge just sitting in there waiting until the lid blows off (yes, that has happened more than once) for me to throw it away.

I was determined with the latest bottle to at least use some of it, and as the 4 year old in my daycare loves to help me in the kitchen I let her pick the recipe.  She chose these buttermilk brownies form Shugary Treats and why wouldn't she, the girl loves chocolate!  Sophie Bear was the first one to taste test and she gave them a thumbs up and so did the rest of us!

Brownies:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup oil
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Frosting:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

4 cups icing sugar

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400.

In a small pan combine butter, cocoa and oil.  Bring to a boil, set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together sugar, buttermilk and eggs.  Stir in the melted butter mixture.  Fold in the flour, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips.

Pour into a 9x13 baking pan, bake for 20 minutes.

To make the frosting, in a small pan combine butter, buttermilk and cocoa.  Bring to a boil and set aside.

In a large bowl add the icing sugar and pour in the melted butter mixture.  Whisk until smooth and pour over brownies. Top with chocolate chips.

Pumpkin Roll

I really don't know why I love Thanksgiving so much, maybe because my first day in America with Randal was Thanksgiving day 2002, but I really love everything about it, except for the pumpkin pie.  This will be my 13th Thanksgiving and I still haven't come around to pumpkin pie, so that's why this year I decided to make my very first pumpkin roll.  This is a really fun to make and now I feel like my Thanksgiving is complete because I finally have a pumpkin dessert I like!

1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine the flour, pie spice, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl, mix together and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer add the eggs and sugar.  Mix together until light yellow, add in the pumpkin and mix together.  Add in the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.

Pour the mixture onto a greased parchment lined sheet tray.  Spread out evenly and bake for 15 minutes.

While the cake is baking, place a tea towel or some parchment paper on the counter and dust with about 1/4 cup of icing sugar.  Once the cake is out of the oven, turn sheet tray over so that the cake falls onto the sugar covered paper.  Starting with one end of the pumpkin cake, fold the parchment paper onto the cake and start rolling.  Leave the roll to cool.

To make the filling, in the bowl of an electric mixer beat the cream cheese and sugar together.  Add in the icing sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Unroll the cooled cake and spread the filling evenly, roll the cake back up and refrigerate for an hour or until ready to serve.

Apple Pie Cake

I have been waiting a long time to make this cake.  I am seriously obsessed with the Milk Bar layer cakes, I have made many of them now, even made a few of my own layer cakes that I still need to blog, but the reason I had to wait to make this cake was because it required apple cider and we can only get good apple cider in the Autumn.  Well, Central Market now has our favourite apple cider, so no more waiting!

The original recipe is made as a 6 inch cake, however I have been making all the layer cakes as mini cakes with 2.5 inch entremet rings, I just prefer making them this way, and it means that they end up as little individual layer cakes, and I don't have to attempt slicing a large cake!

There are quite a few steps to these layer cakes, I am used to it now, but in the beginning the recipes looked overwhelming, but broken down they are not difficult just time consuming to make the entire cake.  The liquid cheesecake, apple filling and pie crumbs can all be made a few days in advance, which definitely helps make the cake more manageable.

Barely brown butter cake:
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp brown butter
1 ¼ cups sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar
3 eggs
½ cup buttermilk
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1sp salt

Preheat oven to 350 and line a quarter sheet pan with parchment paper.

combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs, and mix on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. scrape down the sides of the bowl once more.
 
Add in the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla and beat for 5 to 6 minutes, until the mixture is practically white and twice the size of the original butter and sugar mixture.

Add the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. mix just until combined.  Pour onto the baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.

Apple cider soak:
¼ cup apple cider
1 tsp light brown sugar
pinch of ground cinnamon

Whisk together cider, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Liquid cheesecake: 
8 ounces cream cheese
¾ cup sugar
½ tsp cornstarch
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp milk
1 egg

 Preheat the oven to 300.

Put the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. add the sugar and mix for 1 to 2 minutes, until the sugar has been completely incorporated. scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Whisk together the cornstarch and salt in a medium bowl. whisk in the milk in a slow, steady stream, then whisk in the egg.

Stream in the egg slurry. paddle for 3 to 4 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and loose. scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Pour cheesecake in a 6 x 6-inch baking pan. bake for 20 minutes.  The cheesecake should be firmer and more set toward the outer boundaries of the baking pan but still be jiggly and loose in the dead center.

Pie crumb:
1 ½ cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
¾ tsp salt
1 stick butter, melted
1 ½ tbsp water

Preheat the oven to 350.

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and paddle on low speed until well mixed.

Add the butter and water and paddle on low speed until the mixture starts to come together in small clusters.

Spread the clusters on a parchment  lined sheet pan. Bake for 25 minutes, breaking them up occasionally. The crumbs should be golden brown and still slightly moist to the touch.

Apple pie filling:
1 lemon
2 medium granny smith apples
1 tbsp butter
2/3 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon  ground cinnamon
¼ tsp salt

Fill a medium bowl halfway with cold water, juice the lemon into it.
 Peel the apples, then halve and quarter them. Put each apple quarter on its side and cut a small slice down the length of the apple to remove the seeds and core. cut each apple quarter lengthwise into thirds and then crosswise into fourths, leaving you with 12 small pieces from every apple quarter. transfer these pieces to the lemon water as you go.

When you’re ready to cook, drain the apples (discard the lemon water) and combine them in a medium pot with the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. slowly bring to a boil over medium heat, using a spoon to gently stir the mixture as it heats up and the apples begin to release liquid. reduce the heat and simmer the apples gently for 3 to 5 minutes. be careful not to cook the apples so much that they turn into applesauce.

Pie crumb frosting:
½ recipe pie crumb
½ cup milk
½ tsp salt
3 tbsp butter
¼ cup icing sugar 

Combine the pie crumbs, milk, and salt in a blender, turn the speed to medium-high, and puree until smooth.

Combine the butter and icing sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes, until fluffy and pale yellow.

Add the contents of the blender, paddle until fluffy and pale yellow.

To assemble the cake, put a piece of parchment on the counter, invert the cake onto it and peel off the parchment  from the bottom of the cake. use the cake ring to stamp out circles from the cake. 

Layer 1:
Use 1 strip of acetate to line the inside of the cake ring.
Put a cake round inside the ring.
Dunk a pastry brush in the apple cider soak and give the layer of cake a good, healthy bath.
Use the back of a spoon to spread some of the liquid cheesecake in an even layer over the cake.
Sprinkle some of the pie crumbs evenly over the liquid cheesecake. use the back of your hand to anchor them in place.
Use the back of a spoon to spread some of the apple pie filling as evenly as possible over the crumbs.

Layer 2:
With your index finger, gently tuck the second strip of acetate between the cake ring and the top ¼ inch of the first strip of acetate, so that you have a clear ring of acetate 5 to 6 inches tall – high enough to support the height of the finished cake. Set a cake round on top of the frosting, and repeat the process for layer 1.

Layer 3:
Nestle a cake round into the apple pie filling, cover the top of the cake with the pie crumb frosting. Garnish the frosting with the remaining pie crumbs.

Transfer the sheet pan to the freezer and freeze for a minimum of 12 hours to set the cake and filling. the cake will keep in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.

Pumpkin Spice Cookie Butter Cupcakes

I know I just posted the pumpkin spice cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting, however in reality I made those back in early September, I have no excuse I'm just a lazy blogger!
The original cinnamon frosting was great, had no complaints with it, until I found Trader Joe's pumpkin cookie butter, the minute I laid eyes on it I knew it had to be frosting.  One of my most popular cupcakes are the Chocolate Biscoff, so how could a pumpkin version for Autumn be anything short of amazing?

All I can say is that these cakes definitely made the bake sale list and I may have gone back to Trader Joe's and stocked up on jars of pumpkin cookie butter for fear they would run out!

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Pumpkin Cookie Butter Frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
3/4 cup pumpkin cookie butter spread
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
3 cups icing sugar
3 Tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350, line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, spices, salt, baking powder and soda, set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and sugars, beat until smooth.   Mix in the eggs, followed by the milk and pumpkin puree, finally mix in the flour until just combined.

Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 20-22 minutes.

For the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and cookie butter until smooth.  Add the vanilla and icing sugar and mix until combined, add the milk and beat.

Frost the cupcakes with the frosting, melt a few tablespoons of the cookie butter in the microwave and drizzle on the cupcakes, top with crushed biscoff (the original cookie butter brand) cookies.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

It is that time of year again when I am testing out recipes for the United Way bake sale that is held at my husbands office every Autumn.  This year time has just flown by though because the bake sale is being held on November 2nd, and I really don't feel prepared.  I make around 15 different recipes and have my own table to fill, so I usually spend a few months testing recipes, planning and list making, and while I have tested a few recipes, here I am just over a week away and I don't even have my completed list of what I am making, haven't even started making my huge shopping list for ingredients (the amount of eggs I buy alone is crazy!) but anyway, I started out with these pumpkin spice cupcakes the minute September arrived, it may not feel like Autumn in Houston but at least I can pretend!

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Frosting:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 8oz. package cream cheese
Seeds from 1 plumped vanilla bean (vanilla beans plumped in rum for at least 2 weeks)
2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350, line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, spices, salt, baking powder and soda, set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and sugars, beat until smooth.   Mix in the eggs, followed by the milk and pumpkin puree, finally mix in the flour until just combined.

Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 20-22 minutes.

To make the cream cheese frosting in the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla, cinnamon and icing sugar and beat for 3 minutes, until thick and fluffy.

Pipe the cream cheese frosting onto the cupcakes and top with cinnamon.

SRC - Fresh Peach Cake

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal!  I love getting my blog assignment each month and this month I was assigned the blog  Jessie Weaver.  One of the things I love the most about the SRC is discovering new food blogs.  Jessie is a mom of 3 from Chattanooga, TN, who, very interestingly, lives on-campus at a private high school with her husband, a dorm parent.

Randal helped me decide on this peach cake as it was really different from any other desserts we have made.  Last month we chose a salad  so this time we went with a sweet option.  When I first read over the recipe I was a little stumped by one of the ingredients in the frosting - Milnot.  I had never heard of it, but Randal was pretty sure it was some kind of canned milk product like evaporated or condensed milk.  A little Googling later and I discovered he was correct, and that we could substitute half and half for the Milnot because it is very difficult to find in stores.

Randal said it reminded him a little bit of the oatmeal cake his mom used to make.  The cake was brown and fluffy for the most part and a little dense wherever there was a peach.   It had a nice glaze on top with nuts and coconut.   Fresh peaches on the side made it perfect. 

Cake: 

2 eggs
2 1/2 cups mashed peaches
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour

Topping:

1/2 cups sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup milnot or half and half
1 cup coconut
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350.

To make the cake, in a large bowl beat the eggs, add in the chopped peaches and stir together.  Add in all the dry ingredients and pour into a greased 9x13 baking pan and bake for 1 hour.

To make the topping, add all the ingredients to a saucepan, stir together and bring to a boil, reduce to heat and let simmer for about 5 minutes, until thickened.  Pour over warm cake.

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Lemon Cream Cupcakes

I have been making a version of Olive Garden's lemon cream cake for years and it has always been one of my most popular cakes.  Over the last few years though I have made a shift from making whole cakes to cupcakes more frequently, so I knew I had to turn the lemon cake into cupcakes.  I started out just using the lemon cream filling to also frost the cupcakes, but I quickly discovered that the filling was just too soft and wouldn't hold it's shape when piped onto the cupcakes, so I quickly abandoned that and instead started frosting the cupcakes with a lemon cream cheese frosting.

I actually think the cupcakes are better than the original whole lemon cream cake, which can be quite messy, the lemon cream cheese frosting really adds an extra flavour to these cupcakes, and everyone seems to love them!

Cupcakes:
1 (18 1/4 ounce) white cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup oil
3 egg whites

Lemon cream filling:
8 ounces cream cheese
2 cups icing sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Crumb topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup cold butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream cheese frosting:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 8oz. package cream cheese
Seeds from 1 plumped vanilla bean (vanilla beans plumped in rum for at least 2 weeks)
2 cups icing sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest

Make white cake following directions on box. Pour batter into paper lined cupcake pans, filling each liner 2/3 full.  Bake for 20 minutes.

Make lemon cream filling by mixing cream cheese and icing sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in lemon juice.

Whip cream in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until it forms stiff peaks. Combine cream cheese mixture with whipped cream.

Make crumb topping by combining flour and powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Add butter and dribble in the vanilla extract. Use your hands to mix cold butter into flour and sugar. Break butter into smaller and smaller pieces as you incorporate it into the dry ingredients. Be sure not to press the mixture together. You want to end up with a very crumbly consistency with pieces no bigger than a pea.

To make the cream cheese frosting in the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla, lemon juice and zest and icing sugar and beat for 3 minutes, until thick and fluffy.

To assemble the lemon cream cupcakes, using the cone method fill the center of each cupcake with the lemon cream.  Frost with the cream cheese frosting, sprinkle with the crumb topping and a lemon slice.

Strawberry Balsamic Cupcakes

I love to bake cupcakes, especially ones that are a bit different than the standard cupcakes.  These strawberry balsamic cakes from Annie's Eats  definitely fit the bill for being different and interesting, and they are a really pretty looking cupcake.  I was a little concerned about the balsamic vinegar and if people would want to try them, but I think I was worried for nothing as they went over well and let people try something just a little bit different in cupcake form.

Cupcakes:
16 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
3 cups cake flour
5 eggs
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt

Frosting:
1 lb strawberries, hulled and chopped
1 cup and 6 tbsp sugar, divided
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks unsalted butter

Topping:
3 cups strawberries
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze:
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350.  Line cupcake pan with paper liners.

To make the cupcakes, put the butter in a pan and melt over medium heat, let cook until the butter is golden brown.  Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.  

Put the cooled butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, add the sugars and beat until smooth.  Add the eggs one at a time, add in the vanilla followed by the dry ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk and ending with the last of the dry ingredients.  Mix until just combined.

Fill each cupcake line 2/3 full.  Bake for 18 minutes.

To make the frosting, put the strawberries, 2 tablespoons of sugar and the balsamic vinegar in a small pan.  Cook for 5 minutes, until the berries have softened.  Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth.  Strain the puree to remove any seeds and cool in the refrigerator before using in frosting.

Combine egg whites and remaining sugar in a heatproof bowl, over a pan of boiling water.  Whisk until the sugar has dissolved, around 5 minutes.  Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer, beat on high speed until the mixture is room temp and the egg whites have formed stiff peaks.  Add the butter 2 tablespoons at a time, blend in the strawberry puree.

To make the topping, combine the strawberries, sugar, vinegar and vanilla in a medium bowl.  Mix together and let sit for 20 minutes.

To make the glaze, combine the vinegar and sugar in a small pan, heat until boiling, reduce the heat and let simmer until glaze has reduced to about 4 tablespoons.

Frost the cupcakes with the strawberry frosting.  Use a spoon to scoop out the center of the frosting and fill with the strawberry topping, drizzle with the glaze.

Sophie's Minion Cupcakes

Monday was Miss Sophie Bears 4th birthday.  Sophie has been in my daycare for 2 years now and is such a smart, sweet little girl that when she asked me to make her minion cupcakes I just couldn't refuse.  I don't know why but my daycare kids are just loving the minion movie these days, but it has to be the one with the bad bunny!

I found the inspiration for the look of these cupcakes on the Betty Crocker site, but Sorry Betty, I had to make my own vanilla cakes and swiss meringue frosting!

Cupcakes:

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 plumped vanilla bean
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk
10 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 350.  Line a cupcake pan with paper liner.

In a small bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs for 5 minutes, until thick and lemon coloured.  Add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture has thickened.  Add in the vanilla extract and the flour and mix just to combine.

In a small pan heat the milk with the vanilla bean and butter until simmering.  Remove the vanilla bean and gradually add the hot milk to the batter.

Fill each liner 2/3 full and bake for 18 minutes, or until cooked through.

Swiss meringue buttercream
2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 large egg whites
1 cup + 2 tbsp of sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt

yellow food colouring

To make the frosting, put a few inches of water in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Put the egg whites, sugar and salt into a bowl that will fit over the pan of water and whisk until it reaches 150 degrees and the sugar has all melted. Transfer mixture to the bowl of your stand mixer and whisk on medium speed until the bowl feels cold (this can take up to 10 minutes) add the butter 2 tablespoons at a time, finally beat in the vanilla and food colour.

For the Minions

Black liquorice

Large marchmallows

Brown M&M's

Black icing pen

To make the minion cupcakes, spread a layer of frosting on each cupcake.  Lay a strip of black liquorice just above the center of each cupcake.  Cut the top and bottom off each marshmallow and give some cupcakes one eye and other cupcakes 2 marshmallow eyes.  Use a little of the frosting to glue the candy onto the marshmallows and use the icing pen to draw on the mouth.

SRC - Tiramisu Cupcakes

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal,  this month I was assigned the blog Pale Yellow. April is my birthday month and with the reveal just a few days before my birthday and once I read that Tracy calls herself a baking blogger I went right to the cupcake recipes to find something sweet to make for my birthday dessert.  

Tracy has a lot of delicious looking cupcake recipes, I was torn between the Sangria Cupcakes and these Tiramisu Cupcakes.  In the end I went with the tiramisu as a good tiramisu is probably one of my favourite desserts, so those flavours in cupcake form sounded amazing to me.  

I have made many different kinds of cupcakes over the years, but there is just something about espresso soaked cake topped with mascarpone frosting and a dusting of cocoa that made these one of my very favourite.

Cupcakes:
3/4 cup and 3 tbsp cake flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp milk
1 vanilla bean
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs and 3 egg yolks

Syrup:
1/4 cup hot coffee
1 1/2 tbsp kahlua
3 tbsp sugar

Frosting:
1 cup heavy cream
8 oz mascarpone
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 tap vanilla extract
cocoa powder for dusting
chocolate shavings

Preheat oven to 325, line a cupcake pan with liners.

To make the cupcakes, place the milk in a saucepan, split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds, place the seeds and the pod into the pan.  Heat until simmering.

Add the buttter, turn off the heat, stir until the butter has melted and set aside.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the eggs and sugar.  Mix until combined.  Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water.  Whisk until the sugar has dissolved.  Put the bowl back on the mixer and whisk until the egg mixture is pale and fluffy.  Add in the dry ingredients.  Remove the vanilla pod from the milk and add to the cake batter. 

Divide batter between cupcake liners and bake for 18 minutes.

While the cupcakes are baking, make the syrup by stirring the kahlua and sugar into the hot coffee.

Once the cupcakes are baked, poke holes in each cake and brush on the soaking syrup.  Leave cakes to cool completely.

To make the frosting, whisk the cream to stiff peaks.

Beat together the mascarpone, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Fold in the whipped cream and pipe onto cupckes, dust with cocoa powder and top with chocolate shavings.
 

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Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

I have been having too much fun playing with my new ice cream maker, which means we have really good home made ice cream in the freezer, but it's not so good for any attempt at healthy eating.  This vanilla ice cream is actually so good that we have made it twice in the last 2 weeks.  It tastes so much better than store bought ice cream and I love knowing that there are no questionable ingredients in it. 

2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
5 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt

In a medium pan, whisk together the milk, cream, salt, scraped vanilla bean and half of the sugar.  Bring to a boil.

While the milk is heating, combine the egg yolks and remaining sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat until the mixture is pale and thick.

Once the milk has come to a boil, whisk about a third of the hot milk into the egg yolks.  Return the yolk mixture to the pan of milk, stir constantly over low heat until it thickens, should only take a few minutes.

Pour through a sieve and leave to cool.

When the custard is at room temperature, stir in the vanilla extract and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Pour the refrigerated mixture into the bowl of the ice cream maker (make sure the bowl has been in the freezer for at least 12 hours) and mix for 20 minutes, until thickened.  Transfer to an air tight container and freeze until ready to serve.

Raspberry Sorbet

One of my Christmas presents from Randal last year was an ice cream maker.  It has been sitting on my counter just waiting for me to use it for a while now, so as Randal was in charge of valentines day dinner, I decided to test out my new kitchen toy and make some raspberry sorbet.

This recipe is incredibly easy to make, and as long as you keep the equipment and the ingredients cold it will freeze in a matter of minutes, and for a first attempt at sorbet making it turned out very well!

4 cups raspberries
2 tbsp lime juice
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups water

Place the raspberries and lime juice in a medium pan, and heat until the raspberries melt into a sauce.  Strain the raspberry mixture to remove the seeds and set aside.

In a medium pan heat the water and sugar until it boils.  Turn down the heat and simmer for 5 minutes without stirring.

Combine the syrup and raspberry sauce together and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Once the raspberry mixture is cold, place in the bowl of an ice cream maker that has been in the freezer for at least 12 hours.  Churn for 20 minutes.  At this point it is ready to eat, but if a firmer consistency is required place in a freezer safe container and freeze until ready to use.

SRC - Pumpkin Crumb Cake

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal.  This month I was assigned the blog Flavors by Four  which is a mother and daughter blogging team.  

I always go straight to the dessert recipes whenever I get my assigned blog and this blog did not disappoint, so many great looking cakes and desserts.  I ended up choosing the Pumpkin Crumb Cake even though it isn't officially Autumn for another fortnight or so.  I just cannot wait for cooler temps and the scents and flavours of autumn, so this cake was just perfect to kick start Autumn, even if it was a little early!

Cake:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
12 oz canned pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk

Crumb topping:
3/4 cup oats
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, cold and cubed

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9x9 cake pan and set aside.

To make the crumb topping, place the oats, flour, sugar and cinnamon into a large bowl and cut in the cold cubed butter until crumbly.  Set aside.

To make the cake, in a medium bowl mix together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer add the butter and sugar and beat until combined.  Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla and canned pumpkin.  Add in the dry ingredients, followed by the milk and mix until combined.   

Pour into baking pan, top with the crumb topping and bake for 50 minutes, or until cooked through. 

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