Fruity rum bundt cake

I saw this recipe for this fruity rum cake almost a year ago.  I had wanted to make it for New Year's Eve last year, but with my work schedule and the fact that bundt cakes take a long time to bake, well, let's just say it wasn't in the cards.  I thought about it on and off since then, but never had an occasion to make it.  Until now.

Rosh Hashanah is upon us.  The season of apples and honey and all things sweet for a sweet New Year.  But wait?!  There aren't apples or honey in this cake!  Blasphemy!

I decided that golden raisins and dried apricots and dried (ok, these are tart) cherries are definitely sweet, and therefore totally appropriate for Rosh Hashanah!  The only adjustment I made to this recipe is that I used 1/2 tsp cinnamon instead of cloves, because I utterly hate them.  Since cloves are, in my opinion, stronger than cinnamon, I used a little more.  And I have to say, the flavor of this cake was Ah-maz-ing!  B and I were devouring the cupcakes I made with the extra batter!

When I served it at the holiday meal, it was met with a resounding round of approval.  My father, who doesn't like rum, said the cake flavor was great and there was just a hint of rum that was delicious.  My grandmother, who is (rightfully so) a critic of baked goods, said it was delicious, and even took home a piece to enjoy the following day!!!  This cake is a total winner!

Fruity Rum Bundt Cake
From Bon Appetit

This cake calls for a 12 cup bundt pan.  If you have a 10 cup bundt cake pan (like I do), the recipe recommends reserving 2 cups of batter and baking into 8 cupcakes.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup dried tart cherries
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp gold rum, divided
3 Tbsp plus 3 cups all purpose flour, plus more for pan
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
5 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves -- I used 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon instead
2 Tbsp vegetable oil (believe it or not, they did not have vegetable oil at my Whole Foods.  I used Canola oil)
1 1/4 cups plus 2 Tbsp (or more) sour cream -- I ran out of sour cream and ended up using 1 cup sour cream plus 1/4 cup applesauce....by the time I iced the cake, I was able to pick up more sour cream for the icing
2 cups raw sugar, plus more for serving
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
7 large egg yolks
1 large egg
1 cup powdered sugar
Gold sugar, for a festive touch

Directions:

Combine apricots, cherries, raisins, and 1/2 cup rum in a small bowl.
Let sit for 30 minutes to allow fruit to rehydrate.
Drain, reserving the rum.
Sprinkle the fruit with 3 Tbsp flour and toss to coat.
Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Thoroughly butter the pan (don't skimp!), making sure to get into all the curves and grooves of your pan.
Dust with flour (do this even if your plan has a nonstick coating).
Whisk together the baking powder, salt, cloves (or in my case cinnamon), and 3 cups of flour in a medium bowl to combine.
Whisk reserved rum, oil, and 1 1/4 cups sour cream (in my case sour cream + applesauce) in another medium bowl to combine.

Using an electric mixer (I used my kitchenaid), beat 2 cups of raw sugar and 1 cup of butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
Scrape in seeds of vanilla bean (reserve pod for another use.....vanilla sugar, anyone?!).
Add yolks and egg, 1 at a time, beating to blend after each addition.
Beat until mixture is light and very fluffy, about 4 minutes.
Reduce speed to low.
Add dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream mixture in 2 additions, starting and ending with dry ingredients.
Fold in reserved dried fruit.

Scrape batter into prepared pan.
Smooth top of cake.
Tap pan firmly a few times on the counter to force batter into the edges of the pan.

Bake cake until golden brown and a tested inserted into the cake comes out clean, 60-70 minutes.
Transfer pan to a wire rack.
Let cake cool in pan for 15 minutes.
Invert cake onto a serving plate and carefully remove the pan.
Brush the warm cake with the remaining 2 Tbsp of rum.
Let cool completely, about 3 hours.

(I froze my cake, since I was serving it a few days later.  I recommend freezing the cake wrapped in saran wrap and tin foil, uniced.  Thaw cake before serving and ice cake.)

Mix powdered sugar and remaining 2 tbsp sour cream in another small bowl.
Thin with more sour cream if desired, until smooth.
Drizzle glaze over cake, working along the center of the top of the cake for even coverage,
Sprinkle with raw and gold sugar.
Let sit 10 minutes for glaze to set before slicing with a serrated knife.

Yellow cupcakes

It's not every day that I get an American holiday off from work.  A day off where others have the day off, and make BBQs and have pool parties and general day-off fun shenanigans.  Sometimes I make it to the tail end of the festivities after my day of work.  But no, not this year!  This year the stars aligned, and not only did I get Labor Day off, I even got invited to B's friend's home and had a BBQ.

So what to do I do when I'm invited somewhere (just about anywhere?!)?  I bake.  And bake I did.  And it was exceptionally momentous because I christened my new Kitchen-Aid!!  It was sitting on the kitchen counter so lonely for over three months, since we got married, just begging to be used.  And today was it's lucky day!

I bought some super cute red, white, and blue star sprinkles for whatever treat I baked for our Labor Day BBQ, and I ultimately decided on cupcakes because, well, cupcakes are fun BBQ food, and I also haven't baked cupcakes in what seems like forever!  I was going to use my go-to yellow cake cupcake recipe but I couldn't, for the life of me, find my cake flour.  So I set off onto the internet to find a yellow cake recipe that didn't use cake flour.  I found it in the form of Brown Eyed Baker's yellow cake, which I turned into cupcakes.

One thing I'll say about these cupcakes is that they rise a lot, so filling them 2/3 of the way like I did with my first batch yielded cupcakes that overflowed a bit.  I filled them about 1/2 way for the second batch, and they didn't overflow.  I recommend filling them halfway -- with my first 18 cupcakes being filled 2/3 of the way and the rest being filled 1/2 way, I got 28 cupcakes.  My guess is you'll get closer to 33 to 3 dozen if you filled them all 1/2 way.

Yellow Cake Cupcakes
Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker, cupcake directions by me

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line cupcake tin with cupcake liners.
Set aside

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Set aside.

Using an electric mixer or stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating for 1 minute between each addition.
Beat in vanilla extract.

Add the dry ingredients all at once.
Beat on low speed until just combined.
Add the buttermilk and beat on low for 1 minute.
Increase speed to medium and beat for 3 additional minutes.

Divide the batter evenly between prepared pans.  I recommend filling them halfway....more than that and mine overflowed.  You may need to bake them in two batches.
If filled 1/2 way, as recommended, bake for 16-18 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the came comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached.
Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes in the pans.
Remove, and place on wire racks.

Cool completely before icing.

Use the icing of your choice.  I went with this vanilla icing.  

Pipe icing onto cupcakes.
Top with sprinkles of your choice, if desired.

Peanut butter cup cupcakes

Don't get your hopes up too high, these cupcakes were made to taste like a peanut butter cup, but they don't actually have a peanut butter cup in them (just in case you were still thinking about those killer Ferraro Rocher cupcakes I made recently).

Almost everyone loves the classic combination of peanut butter and chocolate, and I thought that making it into a cupcake would be delicious!  I even topped them with two different sizes of mini peanut butter cups, for the added oomph of peanut butter cup-iness!

These cupcakes really don't even need any more of an introduction.  I strongly recommend you try them.  Now.

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes
Cupcakes assembled by yours truly.
Cupcake recipe originally from here.
Icing from here.

For the cupcakes:

8 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 oz bittersweet/semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 cup sour cream

For the icing:

3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream

Mini peanut butter cups, for topping

Directions:

Make the cupcakes.

Preheat the oven to 350F (325 if using a nonstick pan).
Line a standard muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Combine butter, chocolate, and cocoa in a medium heat proof bowl.
Set bowl over a saucepan containing barely simmering water, and heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted.
Whisk until smooth and combined.
(You could do this in the microwave, but this time I actually used a double boiler!)
Set aside to cool until just warm to the touch.

Whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a small bowl to combine.

Whisk eggs in another bowl.
Add sugar, vanilla, and salt until fully incorporated.
Add cooled chocolate mixture.
Whisk until combined.
Sift about 1/3 of the flour mixture over and whisk until batter is thick and fully incorporated.
Add sour cream and mix until incorporated.
Add remaining flour mixture and mix until combined.
Batter will be thick.

Bake until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.

Cool cupcakes in pan on a wire rack until they are cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes.
Place cupcakes on a wire rack.
Cool to room temperature before icing, about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, make the frosting.

Cream together the butter, peanut butter, and Kosher 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.  Add more peanut butter as needed.

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

Place icing in a piping bag fitted with your favorite piping tip.
Pipe icing onto cupcakes, and top with mini peanut butter cups.

Ferraro Rocher cupcakes

I came up with two answers to the question "what do you do with a box of 48 Ferraro Rocher candies that your parents give you?"  Answer number one was to eat every last one of them (I'd share with B, but he isn't a fan of hazelnut), but I decided against that since I'd probably be sick to my stomach and I'm trying to not indulge too much.  Answer number two seemed to make some cupcakes with them (and eat a few along the way).  Option number two is what I went with.

I made my go-to dark chocolate cupcakes, but put a whole Ferraro Rocher candy in the center.  That sounds amazing enough on it's own, right?  But then I topped the baked cupcakes with a fluffy Nutella cloud frosting.  I could've stopped there.  I was planning on topping them with some chopped, toasted hazelnuts, but since I didn't have those on hand, I went with a mixture of toppings: I left some without anything more than the frosting, I topped some with chopped Ferraro Rocher candies, and I topped some with another whole candy!  I debated drizzling some Nutella on top, and think I might even do that before serving them (but for now the pictures are without it).

Here's the thing about these cupcakes.....they're the perfect balance of chocolatey and hazelnutty/nutella-y, without either flavor being too overpowering.  I'd venture to guess that even my non-hazelnut-loving fiancee would like these!

Dark Chocolate Ferraro Rocher Cupcakes with Nutella Cloud Frosting
Cupcakes are adapted by yours truly (based on these cupcakes), icing is from here (originally on the blog here)

I got 12 Ferraro Rocher filled cupcakes plus 5 regular cupcakes with this recipe.

For the cupcakes:

8 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 oz bittersweet/semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 cup sour cream

12 Ferraro Rocher candies, plus more for topping.  Additionally, you can fill more cupcakes and use additional candies

For the icing:

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened, but cool
1 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup (4 ounces) premium bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
1/3 cup Nutella
1 Tbsp milk (I used cream, since that's what I had on hand)
pinch of salt

Directions:

Make the cupcakes.

Preheat the oven to 350F (325 if using a nonstick pan).
Line a standard muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Combine butter, chocolate, and cocoa in a medium heat proof bowl.
Set bowl over a saucepan containing barely simmering water, and heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted.
Whisk until smooth and combined.
(You could do this in the microwave, but this time I actually used a double boiler!)
Set aside to cool until just warm to the touch.

Whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a small bowl to combine.

Whisk eggs in another bowl.
Add sugar, vanilla, and salt until fully incorporated.
Add cooled chocolate mixture.
Whisk until combined.
Sift about 1/3 of the flour mixture over and whisk until batter is thick and fully incorporated.
Add sour cream, and mix until fully incorporatted.
Add remaining flour mixture and mix until combined.
Batter will be thick.

Fill 12 cupcake liners about half way full.
Place 1 unwrapped Ferraro Rocher into the center of each cupcake liner and push down.  
Don't worry if the candies aren't fully submerged, we'll get back to that in a second.
Repeat until each of the 12 cupcake liners have a candy in them.
If there are uncovered candies (all of mine were!), place a small spoonful of batter over each candy.
Don't worry if the candies are poking out, they'll get covered when they bake.

Bake until a skewer inserted into the side (remember, there's a candy in the center!) comes out clean, about 14-16 minutes.

Cool cupcakes in pan on a wire rack until they are cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes.
Place cupcakes on a wire rack.
Cool to room temperature before icing, about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, make the frosting.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the confectioners sugar and butter,
Beat on low for about 1 minute.

Add vanilla.
Beat on low until well combined.
Add the chocolate and beat on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Add the Nutella, milk (or cream), and salt.
Beat on medium-high speed for another minute.

Put into a piping bag with the piping tip of your choice.
Frost cupcakes.

Top with chopped Ferraro Rocher candies, a whole candy, hopped toasted hazelnuts, a drizzle of Nutella, sprinkles, or leave them as they are :-)

Pumpkin spice latte cupcakes

It's early October in New York City, and despite last week being sunny and in the 70s, this weekend is utterly cold (last night it was below 50 degrees!) and rainy.  Doesn't help that there's a hurricane threatening to dump more rain and wind on us in the next few days.  So I figured a homemade cupcake version of the Starbucks pumpkin spice latte (which aficionados of the drink affectionately refer to as a PSL, I hear) -- which is synonymous to most people with fall -- was the perfect treat to bake today!

I'm not a huge pumpkin spice fan, but I decided to give these a go anyway.  Part of it was that they were perfect for this weather, and part of it is because I was less likely to eat them all.  Plus, I really really really wanted to try this cream cheese whipped cream frosting.  Because how awesome does that sound?!

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes
From Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:
Makes 12 cupcakes (I got 18) with extra icing

For the Cupcakes:

1 1/3 cups flour
4 1/5 tsp espresso powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of cloves
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola, since that's what I had)
2 eggs
1/4 cup brewed coffee, for brushing

For the Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups heavy cream

For the Garnish:

Ground cinnamon
Salted caramel sauce
Coffee syrup (optional)

Directions:

Make the cupcakes.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
Set aide.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, espresso powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, both sugars, and the oil until completely combined.  Make sure to break up any clumps of brown sugar.
Whisk in the eggs, 1 at a time.
Add the flour mixture in 2 additions, folding with a rubber spatula (I continued to use my whisk) until no flour pockets remain.

Divide the batter between the baking cups, filling each about 2/3 full.  I opted to fill mine until they were 2/3 full and ended up with 6 extra cupcakes, although one was a bit small).
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 18-22 minutes (mine were done at 18 minutes).
Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes.
Remove cupcakes and leave to cool on a wire rack.
While the cupcakes are still warm, brush the tops with the brewed coffee (next time I might try some coffee syrup instead).
Let each coat soak in before applying the next one.  I only did 2 coats each since I didn't want them to get soggy.
Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Make the frosting.
On medium speed, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract in a mixer with the whisk attachment until smooth and completely combined, about 2 minutes.
Slowly add the cream and scrape the side of the bowl.
Increase speed to medium high and whip until stiff peaks form.

Assemble the cupcakes:
Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.
Sprinkle with cinnamon.
Drizzle with caramel sauce, coffee syrup, or both, if desired.

Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Tres leches cupcakes

I don't do things half way.  It's just not in my nature.   So when I decided to make cupcakes for Cinco de Mayo, I didn't stop at the churro cupcakes.  No.  I made these trea leches cupcakes, too!

I have to admit that I was obsessed -- obsessed!  maybe unhealthily so -- with the tres leches mixture that you pour over the cupcakes that I debated saving the extra for my coffee the next morning.  In the end, I didn't, but you can bet I had sweet dreams of sweet, milky iced coffee last night!

Tres Leches Cupcakes
From Taste and Tell

Ingredients:

6 large eggs, separated
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled (it didn't specify, but I used unsalted)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 12-oz can evaporated milk
1 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream, divided
6 Tbsp powdered sugar
Cinnamon, for dusting
Strawberries, cut into slices or quarters, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325F.
Line 24 muffin tins with foil-lined cupcake liners.

Combine egg whites, baking soda, and salt.
Whip until soft peaks form.'
Add in the yolks and the sugar, and mix until combined.
Gently fold in the melted butter.
Add in the flour in 4 batches, folding in after each addition.
Divide the batter between the prepared muffin tins.

Bake the cupcakes until lightly browned and a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 25 minutes.

While the cupcakes are baking, combine the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and 3/4 cup cream.

Remove the cupcakes form the oven.
Using a skewer or fork, poke holes all over the top of the cupcakes.

While the cupcakes are still a little warm, spoon the milk mixture over the tops of the cucpakes (You can ladle/spoon one spoonful of the mixture over each cupcake, and then repeat, until all of the milk mixture has been absorbed).

Allow the cupcakes to fully absorb the milk mixture, at least 30 minutes, but preferably overnight.

Make the whipped cream.
Beat the remaining 2 cups of heavy cream, slowly adding the powdered sugar.
Beat until the whipped cream holds stiff peaks.

Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.
Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon.
Serve with a slice of strawberry on top.

Churro cupcakes

I've been a bit delinquent lately, given the move and the (somewhat lack of) unpacking and my dad's birthday party a week ago, but I decided to jump right back into baking and blogging with some festive cupcakes for Cinco de Mayo!

In the past, I've made a few treats for Cinco de Mayo, like these margarita cupcakes (with adorable sugar toppers!) and a daiquiri bunt cake, but this time I decided to veer away from the lime-and-alcohol flavored treats and go with something a little more "traditional."  Namely, churros.  There is something about that cinnamony deliciousness that called me to these cupcakes, and the mini churro on top?!  OMG, too cute!  (I actually considered frying them up like actual churros, but lets face it, with the decadence that is these cupcakes, why add to the insanity?  Plus, I've never made anything fried like a fritter, donut, or churro before, and figured that at this point it wasn't worth starting to try while I was baking cupcakes).

B seemed interested in these when I mentioned them, and since I worked an hour earlier than usual on Monday, I figured I'd bake them after work.  And when our evening plans got canceled, I figured it was a sign and I needed to make them!  Plus, he can bring them to work today (on Cinco de Mayo) and I could slowly start feeding my new doormen my yummy baked goods!

In the end, I ended up skipping the actual churro on top, simply because I had a napping roommate (I needed the food processor to make the dough) and I was baking another Cinco de Mayo treat (which you will hear about very shortly....).  It didn't really matter -- these cupcakes were delicious and B was a huge fan!

Churro Cupcakes
from the Baker Chick

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes

2.5 cups flour
2.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2.5 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
1 tsp ground cinnamon

For the icing

2 sticks unsalted butter, soft (I use room temperature)
4 oz cream cheese
3-5 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

For the cinnamon sugar topping

1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp ground cinnamon

For the churros (if making)

4 Tbsp butter, cold
3/4 cup all purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 Tbsp sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line two muffin tins with cupcake liners.
Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and smooth.
Add in the eggs, one at a time, allowing each to be incorporated before adding the next.

Stir the vanilla into the milk.

With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk/vanilla, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
Mix until just combined.

Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 of the way.
Bake for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.
All the cupcakes to cool completely, on a wire rack.

While the cupcakes are baking, combine the "mini churro" ingredients in a food processor for 1-2 minutes or until a ball is formed.
Roll dough out on a floured surface to 1/8" thick.
Cut into strips, 1/2 inch wide, and cut 2 inch-long pieces on a diagonal.
Twist the dough pieces and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake at 375F for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon.
Set aside.

When the mini churros have cooled, gently toss them in the cinnamon sugar mixture until well-coated.
Return to the cookie sheet until ready to use.

Make the icing.
Cream together the butter and cream cheese.
Mix in the vanilla.
Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time.
Start with 3 cups and add more depending on how stiff you want it to be.

When the cupcakes have cooled completely, dip the top of each one into the cinnamon/sugar mixture, giving each a light coating.  Mine didn't stick, so I steamed them a little in a hot oven and then dipped them to allow the cinnamon-sugar to stick.

Pipe the frosting onto the ucpcakes and dust with more cinnamon sugar.
Top each with a mini churro (if you aren't lazy like me and skipped the step).

Enjoy!  And Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Dad's birthday cupcakes

For my dad's 65th birthday, my mom went a little overboard (I talked a bit about it here...she made over a dozen hors d'ourves!), and seeing as I'm her daughter, it really shouldn't come as a surprise that I make a second birthday dessert for my dad at 9 a.m. before people came over for brunch.  Brunch was supposed to be out at a restaurant with an extensive brunch and champagne cocktails, but at the end, my dad decided he wanted round two of hour d'ourves, and my mom was happy to oblige -- plus she got to serve the remaining tasty treats that she didn't get to serve the night before.

Years ago, through a series of jokes, my father gave himself the nickname of being our "shining light."  And seeing as my dad likes chocolate (I didn't fall far from that parental "tree" either), I made some double chocolate cupcakes with sugar stars on them.  Seemed only fitting on his birthday :)

The cupcake recipe can be found here, and the icing recipe here.

Rolo cupcakes

I'm obsessed with those bags of mini candies they have now.....Miniature versions of classic candies that come unwrapped in bags -- which means they are easily addictive (unwrapping those snack sized candies really puts a damper on how quickly you can shove them in your mouth) and utterly adorable because they're mini, and, well, you know how I feel about all things mini.

So for my friend's bar's 3rd birthday party, I decided I'd bake up a few cupcakes for my friend and our trivia team (I LOVE bar trivia, and how fun that the birthday party coincides with trivia night?!).  I had bought a bag of mini Rolos candies to make cupcakes with, and I figured this was the perfect time to make them!

I made dark chocolate cupcakes, and put a Rolo in each before baking.  Then, I topped each with homemade caramel buttercream, a caramel drizzle, and finished with another mini Rolo on top!

I have to say, these turned out pretty darn cute.....and tasty!

Rolo Cupcakes

Dark chocolate cupcakes 

from Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:

8 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used semisweet since the store didn't have bittersweet.  They're basically the same thing anyway).
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup sour cream

12-18 mini Rolos for cupcakes, plus an additional 12-18 to top the cupcakes (or full sized for stuffing in the cupcakes, if you feel like unwrapping them all....I used mini for both)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F (325F if using a nonstick pan).
Line standard-sized muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Combine butter, chocolate, and cocoa in a medium heat proof bowl.
Set bowl over saucepan containing barely simmering water, and heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted.
Whisk until smooth and combined.
(...or you could microwave the mixture at 50% powder, stirring every 30 seconds, until completely melted.  Which is exactly what I did.)
Set aside to cool until just warm to touch.

Whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a small bowl to combine.

Whisk eggs in another bowl to combine.
Add sugar, vanilla, and salt until fully incorporated.
Add cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until combined.
Sift about 1/3 of the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined.
Whisk in sour cream until combined.
Sift the remaining flour mixture over and whisk until batter is thick and fully incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners.
Place one Rolo, upside down, into batter.  Do not press in, just make sure that the top is flush with the top of the batter.
Bake until a skewer inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.

Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on a wire rack until they are cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes.
Place cupcakes on a wire rack.
Cool to room temperature before icing, about 30 minutes.

Caramel Buttercream 

adapted from here

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter, softened
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup caramel topping, plus more for drizzling
1 pound powdered sugar (about 4 cups), more as needed to thicken icing for piping
2-4 Tbsp cream or milk

Directions:

Cream butter until fluffy.

Add in vanilla extract and 1/2 cup caramel topping.
Add 2 cups powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
Add in the rest of the caramel topping.
Add in the remaining 2 cups of powdered sugar.
Add in 2 tablespoons of cream and beat on high.
If icing is still too thin add a bit more powdered sugar, and if it's too thick, add in some more milk or cream.

Assembly

When the cupcakes are cool, pipe on the icing.  I use a piping bag with a large tip.
Drizzle with caramel topping (I find that putting it in a small squeeze bottle makes the drizzling easier and prettier).

Top with a mini Rolo candy.  
Keep refrigerated until 30 minutes before serving.

Piña colada cupcakes

I'm not generally a complainer. But if I'm going to be honest with you, the past few weeks have been a little rough. The shortest possible way to give you the rundown is this: I started having thumb pain about 5 weeks ago....when it wasn't feeling better, I bought myself a brace.....then, about a week and a half to two weeks ago, I noticed that my thumb was swollen and went to see my colleague at our adult office....I was diagnosed with synovitis and tendonitis, prescribed some meds, was told to keep wearing the brace, and told to get an X-ray if it wasn't getting better... so fast forward to this past Friday, my day off, where I went to the orthopedist, was diagnosed with tendonitis and a ligament injury (that thank g-d does not require surgery), and ended up getting a cortisone shot in my thumb. Before going home to bake these cupcakes. Did I mention that the cortisone shot was unpleasant, at best, and it didn't make my finger feel any better right away? Oh, and the added lidocaine? Numbed up my thumb completely. Yeah, so you might imagine I wasn't in the best condition to actually be baking and decorating 2.5 dozen cupcakes...but they were for our annual party that my friends host on Long Island and I wasn't going to let them down! So I made the cupcakes. Piña Colada cupcakes, to be exact, since the theme of this years party is summer!!

So these cupcakes had been on my "to bake" list for a while.  I wanted to throw a luau this summer just so that I could make them.  The luau didn't happen, but these cupcakes remained high on my list.  So when the theme for our annual fall/winter bash was decided, and it was "summer," I was so excited to have an event to make these cupcakes for!  I have to say that these cupcakes were delicious, partly because they were really well flavored and not too sweet.  But the standout was the coconut cream cheese icing, of which I am currently regretting dumping out the leftovers instead of freezing, because there's a good chance I would've eaten it with a spoon for dessert!

Piña Colada Cupcakes

From Glorious Treats

For the cupcakes:

2.5 cups flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1 3/4 cup sugar

1 cup vegetable oil (I used canola, since that's what I had on hand)

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup sour cream

1.5 cups canned crushed pineapple (drained slightly)

For the icing:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cool

8 oz cream cheese (directly from fridge)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract

4 cups powdered sugar (I'm pretty sure that, as i'm typing this up, I only used half of the powdered sugar, since I doubled the recipe but only remember using 1 box of powdered sugar....which might explain my previous "not too sweet comment."  But either way, the icing was AMAZING and I'd add the powdered sugar to taste)

1 Tbsp heavy cream, heavy whipping cream, or milk OR 1 Tbsp dark rum

For the garnish:

Maraschino cherries, with stems if you can find them

Toasted coconut

Cocktail umbrellas

Paper straws, cut into thirds

Pineapple wedges, I actually debated using crispy dried pineapple pieces, but opted not last minute

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Line a 12-cup cupcake tin with cupcake liners (I used cups, which I thought were adorable and very "summery").

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

Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer, until slightly thickened and a light cream color.

On low speed, add in oil and vanilla.

Add the pineapple and sour cream (don't worry if it looks too liquidy....it'll be fine!).

Mix until completely incorporated.

Add the flour mixture.

Blend until just combined and smooth.

Fill each of the cups about 2/3 full.

Bake cupcakes for about 22 minutes (mine took 18 minutes, so keep an eye on them towards the end).

Remove cupcakes from the pan and allow them to cool on a wire rack.

While cooling, make the icing.

If using toasted coconut, this is a good time to toast it.  Keep an eye on it as coconut tends to go from toasted to burnt VERY.  QUICKLY.

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and blend until smooth.

Add cream cheese and blend until well combined.

Add the vanilla and coconut extracts.

Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, blending at low speed until combined.  I add the last cup in 1/4 cup increments to make sure it doesn't get too sweet.

Once all sugar is added, increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.

Slowly add the heavy cream or rum (I used cream)

Beat again, until fluffy.

Frost the cupcakes.  I used a piping bag with a star tip.

Top cupcakes with the garnishes of your choice.

Mint chocolate chip buttercream (on dark chocolate cupcakes)

Let's face it, I like to bake.  Sometimes, I bake things just to bake them, with no actual event to attend or people to serve it to.  Other times I find a reason to bake...and yet sometimes there's an event scheduled and a reason to bake and so I bake.  This was one of those times!

My parent's neighbor wrote a book and she threw a party for the book's launch (I was one of the fortunate people to have read it before it was released).  Naturally, I offered to bake.  Originally, I was going to go with a theme -- nail polish bottle cookies (the book is called "Mani-Pedi STAT") -- but then I found out that one of her friends had beat me to it and had already offered to make those.  So instead I went with mini cupcakes.  A variety of mini cupcakes, to be exact.

I had grand plans.  It's the overachiever in me.  I was going to make 5 different kinds of mini cupcakes -- seriously, have I mentioned how overzealous I am sometimes? -- but that fell by the wayside.  Instead, I simply went with dark chocolate mini cupcakes.  Then, I mixed them up with the icings.....Mint chocolate chip buttercream and Oreo icing.  For the Oreo cupcakes, click here for a link to the cupcakes, and here for a link to the icing.  But the new recipe was this heavenly mint chocolate chip buttercream!!  And it went oh-so-well with the dark chocolate cupcakes (same as the ones above for the Oreo cupcakes) I've been making a lot lately...they were simply amazing!!

Mint Chocolate Chip Buttercream
Icing is slightly adapted from this recipe
They go great on these dark chocolate cupcakes...

Ingredients:

3/4  cup butter, partially softened (preferable half salted and half unsalted -- I didn't have salted butter, so I just added a little pinch of salt)
1/2 tsp mint extract (I used peppermint, even though the original recipe said not too, so I just used less)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
Green food coloring (I used about 5 drops) -- color to your liking
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (The original recipe said to used finely chopped chocolate, which I might try next time, since it made the icing look more chocolate chippy [totally a real baking term, OK?])

Mini ice cream cones, for decoration.  I made mini cupcakes and the mini cones were just the right size, although I think I'd stick with mini cones even on full-sized cupcakes...

Directions:

In the bowl of an electric mixer using the paddle attachment, whip the butter on medium speed until it's light and fluffy.
Scrape down the sides and bottom often.
Blend in the extracts.
Add in the powdered sugar, first on low until it's incorporated.
Add the food coloring.
Increase mixer speed and beat until very light and fluffy; again continuing to scrape the bottom and the sides of the bowl.
Fold in chocolate chips.

Using a mini ice cream scooper or a cookie scoop (for mini cupcakes), scoop icing onto cupcakes.
(This got quite tiresome for me, so after a while, I piped it on with a large round piping tip, being sure to pile it on a little high, so that it still looked like a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream!)
Top each frosting scoop with an upside down mini ice cream cone.

York peppermint patty cupcakes -- Belated blog birthday post

I am the worst blog-mommy ever.  My sweet (no pun intended) little baking blog turned 3 on October 16th, and I skipped right over it.  Didn't mention it on the blog.  Nothing.  I didn't even realize that I missed it until October 29th -- nearly two weeks later!!  I am THE.  WORST.  EVER!

But the funny thing is that I baked a day or two before (this babka....it was a delayed post), and again two days later (when I made these brownies for the second time -- to rave reviews, yet again).  But neither for this momentous event.

Again, I SUCK.

Here's the thing -- I just didn't want JulieBakes to feel neglected and let it's birthday pass too long without mention, so I'm mentioning it now and am including this very, very, very belated (we're talking 17 days belated) blog birthday treat post!!!

I had actually been wanting to make this cupcake that I had come up with for a while.  I was inspired by all of those new (and not-so-new) mini candies -- unwrapped miniature candy bars in 1- or 2-bite sized pieces.  The ones that were calling to me the most were the York Peppermint Patty minis...and I wanted to make a cupcake for them.  

So my idea was to make a dark chocolate cupcakes with a white mint buttercream....and top them off with a mini York patty and a little dark chocolate drizzle....so that's exactly what I did!

I present to you the very belated "happy 3rd birthday, JulieBakes" York Peppermint Patty (dark chocolate peppermint) cupcakes!!

The dark chocolate cupcakes have become my go-to as of late....I made them first in July for B's birthday and then pretty recently for the spooky graveyard cupcakes.  They're super easy and uber chocolatey, and well, it's hard to go back to another chocolate cupcake when these are so darn delicious.  The white peppermint buttercream is completely my own recipe (albeit, when you've made enough buttercreams over time, I guess they all have a pretty basic base recipe).  The chocolate drizzle is straight from the Hershey's Special Dark Syrup bottle, but I put it into a small squeeze bottle to get a finer drizzle.  If you wanted to go completely homemade, a dark chocolate ganache would work well (which I wanted to make, but was out of cream).

York Peppermint Patty Cupcakes

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
From Brown Eyed Baker
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

8 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used semisweet since the store didn't have bittersweet.  They're basically the same thing anyway).
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F (325F if using a nonstick pan).
Line standard-sized muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Combine butter, chocolate, and cocoa in a medium heat proof bowl.
Set bowl over saucepan containing barely simmering water, and heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted.
Whisk until smooth and combined.
(...or you could microwave the mixture at 50% powder, stirring every 30 seconds, until completely melted.  Which is exactly what I did.)
Set aside to cool until just warm to touch.

Whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a small bowl to combine.

Whisk eggs in another bowl to combine.
Add sugar, vanilla, and salt until fully incorporated.
Add cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until combined.
Sift about 1/3 of the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined.
Whisk in sour cream until combined.
Sift the remaining flour mixture over and whisk until batter is thick and fully incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners.
Bake until a skewer inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.

Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on a wire rack until they are cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes.
Place cupcakes on a wire rack.
Cool to room temperature before icing, about 30 minutes.

Peppermint Buttercream

Recipe by yours truly

Ingredients:

2 sticks of butter

3 cups of powdered sugar

Pinch of salt

1 tsp peppermint extract, or more to taste (I used 1 tsp and found it to have just the right amount of mintiness aka not TOO minty...you could always start with 1/2 tsp and then add gradually to taste)

Few drops of vanilla extract (I used about 9 drops)

I wanted my icing to be white to mimic the filling of a York Peppermint Patty.  You could always add some green food coloring if you wanted to go for the typical "green" mint.

Directions:

Beat the butter with a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment fir a few minutes until light and fluffy.

Add the powdered sugar, about 1 cup at a time.  

Make sure that the mixer is not on high speed, otherwise you'll end up wearing powdered sugar!

Once all the sugar is incorporated, increase the mixer speed.

Add the salt and the extracts, and beat until incorporated.
Add more peppermint extract, as needed, for taste (I didn't need to add any).

Other ingredients you'll need:

12 York Peppermint Patties

Dark Chocolate Syrup (or homemade ganache.....you can always use the recipe from these cupcakes)

Assemble the cupcakes

Place the icing into a piping bag fitted with a large circle tip.

Pipe icing onto cupcakes.
I did half with a spiral, and half with a big dallop of icing on top.

Place cupcakes on a papertowel/piece of wax paper/piece of foil.
Drizzle the chocolate syrup on top of cupcakes -- I went back and forth a few times in a zigzag pattern.
Top each cupcake with a York Peppermint Patty mini.

Halloween treat #4: Spooky graveyard chocolate cupcakes

These were my original idea for a Halloween treat.  The idea that prompted the once-a-week Halloween treats that have graced the blog (some a little belated...oops!) this month.

Chocolate cupcakes...chocolate buttercream....covered in crushed Oreo "dirt" -- with the addition of ghoulish, spooky, totally Halloween-y bright green chocolate bones!  This was my vision.  I just had to make it happen!

I started with the chocolate bones.  A year or two ago I had purchased a Wilton candy mold with skeleton shapes.  It had been in my baking/craft closet since then just dying (haha...bad pun) to be used...and this was the moment.  I thought I had the original idea to make bright green chocolate bones when, on a recent trip to Michaels, I had come across some vibrant green candy melts.  When I fished the mold out of the closet, to my surprise, the packaging had those same bright green bones on it. So either great minds think alike, or my subconscious had stored that idea of green chocolate bones for over two years...

But I digress.  I started with the chocolate bones.  I made them two days before and let them set up in the fridge.  Since most of the cavities in the mold are long and skinny, I actually used a disposable piping bag with just the tip of the corner cut off to fill them.  Genius move, I tell you!  It was so easy and wasn't the least bit messy!  I just melted the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave at 30 second intervals until melted and then transferred it to the piping bag.

Next up were the cupcakes.  I wanted chocolate cupcakes since I was going for a dirt/ground/graveyard feel.  Same reason I chose chocolate icing, although any color or flavor would work since they're coated in finely ground Oreos to really make it look like diet.  Then, I strategically put the chocolate bones into the icing at different angles and viola, graveyard cupcakes!!

Spooky Graveyard Cupcakes

First, start with the chocolate bones....make them...

Then, make the cupcakes...

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
From Brown Eyed Baker
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

8 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used semisweet since the store didn't have bittersweet.  They're basically the same thing anyway).
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F (325F if using a nonstick pan).
Line standard-sized muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Combine butter, chocolate, and cocoa in a medium heat proof bowl.
Set bowl over saucepan containing barely simmering water, and heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted.
Whisk until smooth and combined.
(...or you could microwave the mixture at 50% powder, stirring every 30 seconds, until completely melted.  Which is exactly what I did.)
Set aside to cool until just warm to touch.

Whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a small bowl to combine.

Whisk eggs in another bowl to combine.
Add sugar, vanilla, and salt until fully incorporated.
Add cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until combined.
Sift about 1/3 of the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined.
Whisk in sour cream until combined.
Sift the remaining flour mixture over and whisk until batter is thick and fully incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners.
Bake until a skewer inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.

Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on a wire rack until they are cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes.
Place cupcakes on a wire rack.
Cool to room temperature before icing, about 30 minutes

Then, make the icing.....I used chocolate buttercream:

Chocolate Buttercream
Originally from here

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 1/2 cups confectioner's (pwodered) sugar
1/2 cocoa powder (I used about 1/6 cup dark cocoa powder and 1/3 cup regular cocoa powder)
1/2 tsp table salt
2 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tsp almond extract (I use vanilla)
4 Tbsp milk or heavy cream

Directions:

Cream butter for a few minutes in a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed.
Turn off the mixer,
Sift 3 cups of powdered sugar and cocoa into the mixing bowl.
Turn mixer onto low speed until the sugar and cocoa are absorbed into the butter.
Increase the speed to medium and add vanilla, salt, and milk/cream.
Beat for 3 minutes.
If frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add a little more sugar/if it needs to be thinned out, add additional milk/cream by 1 Tbsp at a time.

Then, make the Oreo "dirt"...

20+ Oreos

Pulverize the Oreos in a food processor until they look like dirt.

Put Oreo "dirt" crumbs in a bowl.

Assemble the Cupcakes 

Pipe the icing onto the cooled cupcakes.

Put them in the fridge for a few minutes, so that the icing isn't too mushy.

Coat the icing in Oreo crumbs.

I usually roll the cupcake at an angle to get the edges covered in the crumbs, and then use my hand to pat some of the crumbs on top.

Put them back in the fridge for a few minutes (not more than 5).

Strategically -- and artistically, and spookily -- place the bones into the icing.

I liked mine coming out at an angle.  You could also rest them on top of the icing, if you'd like, but they won't stick well since there will already be Oreo crumbs on it.

Keep in fridge until about 30-45 minutes before serving.