Ice cream cone cupcakes

The other day as I was meandering around the store (Target, naturally), I saw some ice cream cones.  And a delicious looking salted caramel sauce.  And maraschino cherries.  Perfect for an ice cream party.  Except I don't have any plans to have an ice cream party, and plus, ice cream doesn't transport well in this heat.  But somehow all of these ingredients ended up in  my basket.

See, I had a plan...a cupcake, that looked like an ice cream cone!  Complete with frosting "soft serve," chocolate or caramel sauce, sprinkles, and whipped cream....and even a cherry on top!

See, I had this memory of cupcakes baked in flat-bottomed ice cream cones from my elementary school bake sale days, and I figured I had to recreate it.  I'm sure the moms of my fellow schoolmates opted for the boxed cake mixes, but you know me well enough to know that that wasn't going to fly with me today.  Plus the ice cream cone cupcakes of my youth didn't actually look like a real ice cream cone, but I was out to change that :).

I went with my go-to yellow cake recipe.  I thought that since I used so little of the batter in the ice cream cones, that they'd bake up really quickly, but I was wrong.  It took 18-20 minutes for them to bake up.  But the plain cupcakes I baked at the same time took about 15 minutes.  Bizarre!  I digress.  But after they baked, I let them cool to room temperature.  Then I made some vanilla and chocolate buttercream icings.  I piped them onto the cupcakes with a star-tip to make it look like soft serve ice cream.  Then I drizzled either (store-bought....shhhh!!!) chocolate sauce or the salted caramel sauce I bought that day, topped them with some sprinkles, some whipped cream (I got lazy and used the canned stuff....but I also thought it would hold up better than homemade whipped cream in the heat), and the not-so-proverbial cherry on top!

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Yellow Cake Cupcakes
My go-to recipe for yellow cake cupcakes from none other than Smitten Kitchen.

Ingredients:

4 cups plus 2 tablespoons (480 grams) cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon (5 grams) table salt
2 sticks (1 cup, 1/2 pound or 225 grams) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups (400 grams) sugar
2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk (475 ml), well-shaken

24 flat-bottomed ice cream cones (I halved the recipe and had leftover batter when I made these....so I made some regular cupcakes, too.  If you wanted to make all ice cream cone cupcakes, you'll probably need 48+ cones)

Other things that you will need:

Icing (see below for chocolate and vanilla icing recipes)
Chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, or any other sauce you may like on your ice cream cone (I had thought of using a magic shell on top, but didn't this time....but would love to try it next time!)
Sprinkles
Whipped cream (from the can, or made from scratch)

Maraschino cherries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. 
Place one ice cream cone in each cavity of a cupcake pan.

Sift together the dry ingredients EXCEPT for sugar in a medium bowl.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla.
Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition.
At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled).
Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated.


Spoon the batter into the ice cream cones.  I filled mine just to the top of the center cavity of the ice cream cone (NOT all the way up to the top -- the cupcakes rise and if you overfill them you'll have batter dripping out of the ice cream cone.  I ended up using a kitchen tablespoon [not a measuring tablespoon] and used about 1.5-2 of those to fill each cone).


Bake until golden on top and cooked throughout (the cupcakes took about 18-20 minutes).


Cool on a rack 10 minutes. 

Assemble the Cupcakes

First, decide which icing you want to use for your "ice cream."
I couldn't decide if I wanted mine to have vanilla "ice cream" or chocolate "ice cream," so I ended up going with both.  I used dark cocoa powder for the chocolate icing, and it came out a little darker than chocolate soft serve would look.  So if/when I do it again, I'd use regular cocoa powder.

Then, make the icing of your chosing.

Find the Chocolate Icing and Vanilla Icing recipes by clicking on the links.

Pipe the icing onto the cupcakes using a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.
Pipe the icing on in a circular motion piling it up on itself so it looks like an ice cream cone filled with soft serve.
Drizzle the sauce of your choice on top, and sprinkle with sprinkles.

Put in the fridge for a few minutes.

Top with a dallop of whipped cream (you can be lazy like me and use it from the can, or make it from scratch) and a maraschino cherry on top!

Keep in the fridge until serving, removing them about 15 minutes beforehand so that the icing can come to room temperature.

Peanut butter and jelly cupcakes

I had wanted to make a peanut butter and jelly cupcake for a while.  How I was going to execute it was the hard part.  Peanut butter cupcake with strawberry icing?  Strawberry cupcake with peanut butter icing?  Peanut butter cupcake filled with jelly and topped with peanut butter icing?  But then I came up with my Fluffernutter Cupcake (even I was pretty impressed with the end result!)....and as I was filling them with fluff I thought to myself "what if I used jam?  I bet those would make a pretty tasty peanut butter and jelly cupcake!"  And thus the execution of the peanut butter and jelly cupcake was perfected, and I had created another keeper!

Now I know that there's a debate out there about what kind of jelly should be used in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Let me tell you now - I love strawberry jelly and will not touch grape jelly at all.  Yes, if you are a grape jelly-lover, we can still be friends.  Just don't ever make me a PB&J sandwich.  I'm kidding....sorta.  But feel free to substitute whatever flavor jelly you prefer into your cupcakes (and, if it's other than strawberry, let me know how they turned out!).

The only thing that would make these cupcakes cuter would be a drizzle of strawberry jelly on top (I thought if that after the fact...).  I guess that's reason enough to make them again soon :)

Peanut Butter and Jelly (PB&J) Cupcakes

Cupcake idea by yours truly, each component listed with it's source

Yellow Cake Cupcakes

From SmittenKitchen (and featured on the blog here, here, and here -- to name a few)

Ingredients:

4 cups plus 2 Tbsp cake flour (not self-rising)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon table salt

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs, at room temperature

2 cups buttermilk, well-shaken

Jelly (flavor of your choice), for filling cupcakes [* if you are using grape or another flavor that does not have pieces of real fruit in it, skip the straining step below]

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Line a cupcake tin with liners.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy.

Beat in vanilla.

Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. 

At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled).

Add flour mixture in 3 batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated.

Fill the baking cups about 2/3 of the way full.

Bang the pan against the counter a few time to let out air bubbles.

Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 15 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and allow to cool completely.

* Prepare the jelly
While cupcakes are cooling, warm up your jam in a saucepan for a few minutes over low heat to loosen it.  
Strain into a bowl.
Allow it to cool before filling cupcakes.

Peanut Butter Buttercream

From Robicelli's, found here

Ingredients:

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Cream together butter, peanut butter, and salt with a mixer set to high until light and fluffy.

Add powdered sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating well between each addition.

Add heavy cream.

Once combined, taste for flavor.  I have never not added more peanut butter - I start with heaping Tablespoons until I find the desired peanut butteriness that I want.

Continue to beat on high for an additional minute to incorporate air.

Assembly

Once completely cooled, cut a small crater in the center of each cupcake with a small paring knife or very carefully with a melon baller (these cupcakes are very fragile).

Pipe some jelly (about 1-1.5 teaspoons) into the newly cut hole in the center.  

Allow the jelly to settle for a few seconds - you may need to refill it a little as it settles a little.

Using the piping tip of your choice (I used star for some and round for others), pipe icing onto filled cupcakes. 

Fluffernutter cupcakes

When we were kids, my friends had these sandwiches called "Fluffernutters" for lunch at school.  I was intrigued by them, and asked my mom if I could have one.  Turns out my mother didn't think marshmallow fluff and peanut butter sandwiched between two slices of white bread was a nutritious lunch, and we were "deprived" of fluffernutters as children.  I didn't even try marshmallow fluff until years later while at sleepaway camp (translation: mom wasn't there to see me try it).  But when I decided to bake some cupcakes to demo some decorating ideas (see "Background" below), I decided I'd play around with the idea of a fluffernutter....in a cupcake!  Enter my Fluffernutter Cupcake -- a yellow cupcake filled with marshmallow fluff, and covered in peanut butter buttercream!

Background: I've become a little obsessed with planning the perfect birthday party for B.  I spent the better part of my day off yesterday looking for cupcake decorations, decorating ideas for B's birthday cupcakes, and cupcake liners that go with my color scheme (I already decided what cake I'll be baking).  And yes, I realize that his birthday party is over 5 weeks away (37 days to be exact), but since I found the inspiration for the "headliner" cupcakes (on Pinterest, no less!), I figured I should try to practice the decorations in advance.  Since, you know, the week leading up to B's birthday party is insanely busy for me work-wise, and knowing myself I will have to have "all my T's crossed and my I's dotted" well before that week arrives (don't worry, the birthday party decorated cupcakes won't make it into this blog post....on the off chance that B looks at the blog...And because I need to keep some element of surprise!).  So on my day off I decided to bake up some cupcakes to decorate as a sort of test run for the birthday party.  Enter the Fluffernutter Cupcake!

Fluffernutter Cupcakes

Cupcake idea by yours truly, each component listed with it's source

Yellow Cake Cupcakes

From SmittenKitchen (and featured on the blog here, here, and here -- to name a few)

Ingredients:

4 cups plus 2 Tbsp cake flour (not self-rising)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon table salt

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs, at room temperature

2 cups buttermilk, well-shaken

Marshmallow fluff, for filling cupcakes

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Line a cupcake tin with liners.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy.

Beat in vanilla.

Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. 

At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled).

Add flour mixture in 3 batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated.

Fill the baking cups about 2/3 of the way full.

Bang the pan against the counter a few time to let out air bubbles.

Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 15 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and allow to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Buttercream

From Robicelli's, found here

Ingredients:

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Cream together butter, peanut butter, and salt with a mixer set to high until light and fluffy.

Add powdered sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating well between each addition.

Add heavy cream.

Once combined, taste for flavor.  I have never not added more peanut butter - I start with heaping Tablespoons until I find the desired peanut butteriness that I want.

Continue to beat on high for an additional minute to incorporate air.

Assembly

Once completely cooled, cut a small crater in the center of each cupcake with a small paring knife or very carefully with a melon baller (these cupcakes are very fragile).

Pipe some marshmallow fluff (about 1-1.5 teaspoons) into the newly cut hole in the center.  

Allow the fluff to settle for a few seconds -- you may need to refill it a little as it settles a little.

Using the piping tip of your choice (I used star for some and round for others), pipe icing onto filled cupcakes. 

Brownie-bottom cheesecake....with homemade hot fudge!

Cheesecake isn't my favorite dessert.  I find it too rich and too dense.  I don't mind the flavor, just the fact that the cheesecake experience is overall, well, overwhelming.  Unless I make mini cheesecakes, with individual crusts, in cupcake tins (which is kinda a pain in the you-know-what, but sometimes worth the additional work); then I will have some.  But overall, if I had to choose a dessert, cheesecake wouldn't be my first choice.  I'm not going to lie, I've had some delicious cheesecakes over the years (remember that spiced pumpkin swirl cheesecake?!, among others), it's just not my go-to dessert.

But with the Jewish holiday of Shavuot rapidly approaching, and talk of cheesecake (it's the unofficial/official food of the holiday) floating around the office, I had the urge to bake a cheesecake.  Doesn't help that I recently stumbled across a list of cheesecakes you "have" to make, and some of them actually sounded delicious.  Like this brownie-bottom cheesecake.....covered in homemade hot fudge.  Not gonna lie, even I was kinda drooling after I read that.

So fast forward to today - a short day at work, and I had all the ingredients on hand, and I had thoughts of cheesecake floating through my head - and a cheesecake was born.  Or rather baked.

Brownie-Bottom Cheesecake
From Fork vs. Spoon
(Homemade Hot Fudge Recipe follows this)

Ingredients:

For the Brownie Crust:

3 ounces unsweetend chocolate
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup all-purpose flour

For the Cheesecake Filling:

5 8-oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 3/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
5 large eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups of hot fudge (see below for homemade version, or use store bought)

Directions:

Make the Brownie crust.

Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pain with parchment paper.
Butter or spray the sides with cooking spray.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a double boiler (or in the microwave in 30 second bouts, stirring between each -- which I did) melt together the butter and chocolate.
Remove from the heat.

Stir in sugar until combined (it will look grainy).

Whisk in eggs and vanilla.

Whisk together salt and flour.
Fold dry ingredients into wet.
Mix until just combined.  DO NOT OVERMIX.

Pour batter into prepared pan and place in the preheated oven.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out nearly clean with just a few crumbs sticking to it.

Remove from oven and let cool (while preparing the filling).
Lower the oven temperature to 325F.

[The brownie crust can be made 1-2 days before the filling.  Keep at room temperature and cover tightly with foil/plastic wrap.]

Make the filling.

If you baked the crust before the filling, preheat the oven to 325F.

Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and flour until smooth.
Add vanilla.
Add eggs, one at a time.
Add yolks, one at a time.
Remember to scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl between each addition (I did it ever other addition, and it was fine).

Bake the cheesecake in a water bath.  It makes for more even baking.
Double wrap the pan in heavy duty aluminum foil (I placed 4 pieces of foil on the counter, overlapping horizontally and vertically, in a square.  I put the pan in the middle and then folded up the sides to make sure it was well wrapped.  Make sure not to let the foil overlap and go into the pan, since the filling will go to the tippy-top of the pan.).
Place the pan into a roasting pan (disposable works fine...actually my springform was a little bigger and the disposable pan was able to accommodate it).

Pour filling into the crust-lined pan.  The filling will reach the very tippy top of the pan.
Pour enough hot water into the roasting pain to reach about 1/2 way up the sides of the pan (I do this once the pan is in the oven....a heavy cheesecake in a pan filled with water is, well, pretty heavy.  And messy if the water splashes out.  So I put the pan in the oven and then add the water.  Just FYI.).
Bake for 75 to 90 minutes until the top of the cheesecake is browned/golden and the top is just barely firm to the touch (the center of the cake is just barely jiggly when the pan is nudged -- I didn't even use that as an assessment of done-ness, since the first two were spot on), and the top looks dry -- mine took 75 minutes.

Turn the oven off and open the oven door so that it is just ajar, and let the cheesecake sit in the warm water bath for an additional hour.
Remove from the oven and from the water bath and remove the foil from around the pan.
Let cool completely on a wire rack and then transfer the cheesecake to the fridge and chill completely for at least 6 hours.

If you're making the hot fudge from scratch, make it while the cake is chilling (see the recipe below).

Once the cake is chilled, remove it from the fridge and run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the sides of the pan, and remove the sides of the pan.
Transfer the cake to a plate.
Pour the hot fudge on the top of the cheesecake, spreading it to the edges, and allowing it to drip down the sides.
Return the cake to the fridge and allow the fudge to thicken/harden.
Let chill until ready to serve.

Homemade Hot Fudge

Ingredients:

2/3 cup heavy cream (or half and half)
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 oz chocolate, finely chopped and divided - milk, bittersweet, or a mixture
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

In a 1 quart pan, combine the cream, corn syrup, brown sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and 3 ounces of the chopped chocolate.
Stir to combine.

Place over medium to moderate hear and stir mixture until chocolate melts and mixture comes to a boil..
Decrease hear and cook mixture at a low boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally - about a few stirs at each minute break works well.

Remove from the heat, stir in the butter, vanilla, and remaining chocolate (3 oz), and stir until smooth.

Let the sauce cool until it is warm (you don't want to pour hot hot fudge on a cold cheesecake).
Store any remaining (if there is any remaining...) sauce in a sealed glass container in the fridge.  It will keep for one week.

When ready to use leftovers, reheat the sauce in the microwave (1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds and again after the minute is up).

Nutella cheesecake cupcakes

I'm a sucker for Nutella.  I think it's absolutely delicious.  I love the silky chocolate and the hazelnut flavor.  I get that it's not for everyone, but I'm a big fan.

So when I saw a recipe for Nutella Cheesecake Cupcakes (or as I've been calling them, individual Nutella Cheesecakes), I knew I had to make them.  Enter the Jewish holiday of Shavuot and the consistent cheesecake recipe conversations at work, and I knew now was as good a time as any to try out the recipe.  Plus, they have an Oreo crust.  And then they're supposed to be topped with fresh whipped cream, so basically it's triple yumminess in one personal little cheesecake!

The original recipe suggested topping them with chopped hazelnuts, chopped chocolate, and/or chocolate sprinkles. I, however, had my own ideas...a drizzle of slightly melted Nutella and some square milk chocolate flakes that I had bought a while ago.  I thought simplicity would work in my favor on this one.

Nutella Cheesecake Cupcakes
From Cooking Classy

Ingredients:

12 Oreos (regular, not double-stuffed), finely crushed
1 1/2 Tbsp salted butter, melted (I used unsalted butter and just a pinch of salt)
6 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
12 oz cream cheese, well softened (use full fat)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup milk (preferable whole or 2%...I used cream since my milk was old)
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup Nutella

For the Topping:
1 cup heavy cream
3 Tbsp powdered sugar

Chopped, toasted hazelnuts
Chopped chocolate
Chocolate sprinkles
Slightly melted Nutella

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325F.
Line a 12-cup muffin tin with papers.

Using a fork, blend together the crushed Oreos and butter.
Divide the mixture evenly between 12 muffin tins, about 1 heaping Tbsp in each.
Press crumbs into an even layer (I use the bottom of a shot glass).
Bake in the oven for 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool while preparing the filling.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar and flour.
Add in cream cheese and, using an electric mixer, whip just until smooth.
Add in eggs.
Add in milk, sour cream, and vanilla and mix until just combined.
Add Nutella and mix until just combined.
Tap the bowl forcefully against the countertop about 30 times to release some of the air bubbles (I started doing this but found that it was noisy and that there weren't many air bubbles in my batter, and I stopped after about 10 times.).
Divide the mixture among the muffin cups, pouring it over the crusts and filling each cup nearly full, about 1/4 cup.  I had extra batter.

Bake in the 325 oven for 20-24 minutes until centers only jiggle slightly.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool to roomer temperature for 30 minutes.
Cover loosely with plastic wrap or foil and transfer to the fridge and chill 3 hours.

Make the sweetened whipped cream.

In a mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream on high with an electric hand mixer until soft peaks form.
Add in powdered sugar and whip until stiff peaks form.
Add whipped cream to a piping bag fitted with the tip of your choice.

Serve with sweetened whipped cream, hazelnuts, chopped chocolate or sprinkles, or slightly melted Nutella.  Add the toppinsg within a few hours of serving.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge until serving.