Key lime pie cupcakes

I've made key lime pie before.  And I've made cupcakes before (for example: these, these, and even these, to name a few).  But this was my first pie-cupcake.  What, I know you're dying to know, is a pie-cupcake?

Well, it is a cupcake baked on top of a graham cracker crust.  And then these were filled with homemade key lime curd and topped with little dallops of whipped cream and a little key lime wedge.  But I think technically its the cupcake-atop-a-crust that makes it what I have dubbed a pie-cupcake.

Regardless of what they are -- or what makes them what they are -- the only thing you need to know is that they are good.  I mean really good.  Light fluffy lime cupcake.  Crunchy delicious graham cracker crust.  Perfectly tart key lime curd.  Delicious!

 

 

 Now, just a warning, this recipe said it makes about 2 dozen cupcakes.  So I made crust for 2 dozen cupcakes.  And I had leftover crust mixture (I'd guess enough to make about 4 more cupcakes).  And then I made the cupcake batter.  I made 24 cupcakes with crusts, another 12 without crusts, and threw away enough batter to easily make another 18-24 cupcakes.  I'm not sure if it was because I let my butter get really soft or if there was another reason, but I had a ton of extra cupcake batter.  And then I made the curd.  The heavenly perfectly tart curd, and I put it in a bowl to cool, and licked the spatula, pot, and strainer clean.  Then I filled about 18 cupcakes and had a bit of curd left over.  If you get a bunch of cupcakes (more than 24), I strongly recommend making a 1 and a half batch.  Unless you like citrus curd (I do, despite it's name.  Curd.  What a yucky sounding word), and then I'd just double it.

Key Lime Pie Cupcakes
(adapted ever so slightly from the original recipe)

Ingredients:

For the crust:

1.5 cups graham cracker crust
1/4 cup sugar
5 1/3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted.

For the cupcakes:

3 cups cake flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
16 Tbsp (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
Zest of 1 lime (or 2-3 key limes) -- I actually found key limes at the grocery store recently and so I used those.
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp coconut extract
I also had some lime extract in my apartment, and since they were key lime pie cupcakes, I added 1 tsp of lime extract as well.

For the filling (Key Lime Curd):

3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed key lime juice
4 Tbsp (2 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces

For topping:

1 1/4 cups heavy cream
6 Tbsp confectioners' sugar
Dash on vanilla extract

*Due to the insane heat spell in NYC, and the journey that these cupcakes needed to take, I actually didn't make the topping and instead  used <<gulp>> store bought whipped cream.  I thought it would stay more stable than homemade whipped cream in the heat.  It definitely worked!  I used cool whip in a piping bag with a tip* 

Directions:

Make the curd.

In a non-reactive sauce pain, combine the eggs and sugar.
Whisk together until well blended.
Whish in the key lime juice.
Place the pan over medium-low heat.
Cook, stirring or whisking constantly, until the mixture is warmed through.  *Be careful not to hear the mixture too quickly to avoid curdling of the eggs.
Whisk in the butter a little bit at a time, stirring in each addition until completely incorporated before adding more.
Continue to cook, scraping the bottom of the pan, until the mixture thickens and a spoon or spatula leaves a path when drawn through it (not higher than 175F on an instant read thermometer -- although I honestly didn't use one).
Immediately remove the pan from the heat and pass the mixture through a fine mesh strainer.
Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate.  It keeps up to 2 weeks in the fridge.

Make the cupcake crusts:

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line two 12-cupcake pains with paper liners.
In a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter; mix well with a fork.
Drop about 1 Tbsp of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner and press down to line the bottom (the bottom of a shot glass works marvelously).
Bake for 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven, but keep the oven on at 350F.

Make the cupcakes:

Combine cake flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
Whisk together and then set aside.

Add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachement.
Beat on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light and creamy in color.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for one more minute.
Beat in the lime zest. 
Add the sugar 1/4 cup at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition.
Mix in the eggs 1 at a time until incorporated.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
Combine the buttermilk and vanilla and coconut (and lime) extracts in a liquid measuring cup.
With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients, beginning and ending with dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer.

Divide the cupcake batter between the prepared paper lines, filling each about 2/3 of the way full.
Bake 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Make the whipped cream topping:

Combine the heavy cream and confectioners sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whist attachment. 
Whip on medium-high speech until stuff peaks form.
Beat in the vanilla.
Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip.

*As I stated earlier, I was afraid that this whipped cream wouldn't hold up in the heat wave that we're having in NYC, and instead I used cool whip.  I have to say that despite the heat, and the two trips on the subway, the cool whip did not melt or wilt at all.  Just something to keep in mind if your cupcakes will be taking 2 45-minute trips on the 3 train - or a long car ride in the heat*

Assemble the cupcakes:

Using a paring knife, cut a small cone out of the center of the cupcake, and remove (and eat -- you wouldn't want to waste perfectly light and fluffy lime cupcake, would you?!) the cone.
Fill the hole with about 1.5 Tbsp of the lime curd.
Pipe a rim of whipped cream around the top of each cupcake, leaving the lime filling exposed.
Garnish with key lime slices, if desired.

Samoa cupcakes (again)

B's birthday was a few days ago.  I had been thinking about what to bake for his birthday for a while, because I wanted it to be great, but I kept coming back to one thing.  Whenever the fact that I bake comes up, B always mentions my Samoa cupcakes (the ones I made for my friend J's birthday in March).  Considering it's the first thing he mentions -- and the fact that he's told me that he really likes them -- it seemed that I should save my new recipes for another occasion.  (Check back in the next day or two for one of those.)

Now, I have to admit, the Samoa cupcakes are pretty awesome.  And they really were perfect just the way they were, but this time I made two small changes -- one intentional, and one unintentional.  The first was that I made salted caramel buttercream.  That was unintentional, as I quickly grabbed salted butter off the shelf of the grocery store, and didn't realize it until it was warmed up to room temperature and it was late (translation: I didn't have the time to wait for unsalted butter to warm up to room temp).  So I used the salted butter and left out the additional salt that the recipe called for.  It turned out pretty tasty.  The other change was that, due to a lack of time and some forethought, I used store bought dark chocolate syrup, instead of the homemade one I made the first time.  The store bought syrup was super tasty, but it kinda made the icing look a little weird.  It may have been because it was a very warm room temperature.  Next time, I'd go with the homemade one in the future or try chilling the store bought syrup just for the aesthetics of the cupcakes.  But that's just me.

 

The recipe for the Samoa Cupcakes can be found here.

Triple Oreo-yellow cake cupcakes

My sister gets back from her nearly 8-month trip TODAY.  I can't wait!!  I am so excited to see her (the last time I saw her was in Thailand in January/February).

My sister's one request was that we go out for Asian food tonight in Chinatown.  So as soon as she lands, goes through customs, and gets picked up by my parents, they will head over to my sister's favorite restaurant for soup dumplings, where my other sister, B, and I will meet them for a welcome home dinner.  And, being the baker that I am, I couldn't show up to a welcome home celebration without a baked good.

 Just over a year ago, I made mini "Death by Oreo" cupcakes.  There are Oreos 3 ways, with some chocolate cupcake to hold them together.  My sister - who loves Oreos - doesn't love chocolate and at the time had requested that I make her the same cupcake with yellow cake instead of chocolate.  Well today, her request has been answered.

"Welcome Home" Triple Oreo-Yellow Cake Cupcakes

Cupcake recipe here
Icing and assembly here (substituting the above cupcake recipe for the "chocolate cake recipe" listed in the link)

Notes:

1. I halved the cupcake batter recipe.  I got 24 cupcakes.
2. I iced 19 of the cupcakes and had extra icing.  I'm pretty sure I would be able to ice 24 cupcakes with one single batch of icing.

Dried cranberry and white chocolate chip cookies

July 4th is not a holiday that I get off from work.  Unless I take a vacation day, which I just never think to do.  So on any typical July 4th, I usually come home from work exhausted and watch the fireworks on television.  Except for the one year that they opened up the roof of my building and that year I came home from work and watched them from up there.  Admittedly, the view was pretty awesome.

This year, July 4th falls on a Thursday.  Which is, of course, my late night at work.  So I'll rush over to B's after work to watch the fireworks from his building's roof deck (he lives closer to my office than I do, plus they didn't let us go on my roof last year, so I presume it's not going to be open again this year).

So, suffice it to say, I haven't really had a reason to bake for July 4th in quite some time.  Because I'm rushing from work to B's, I'm pretty sure I am not going to be schlepping cupcakes or a cake from home to work to B's. 

But, I wanted to bake today, and ended up deciding that I really wanted to have those white chocolate chip and dried cranberry cookies that I had set out to bake last month.  And then you know what I realized?  They're red and white!  I thought about adding some blueberries so that they were red, white, and blue for July 4th, but didn't think that would be too tasty.  So I went with red and white cookies for July 4th.  And the best part?  They're cookies, so they're totally transportable (may not be an actual word, but you know what I mean.).  In hindsight, I could have added dried blueberries, which would've added the blue and would have probably tasted good.  Maybe I'll try those out soon. 

Now those of you that actually know me know that I'm a little Type A/OCD (although my dad would claim that I'm not just a little type A - I believe that his actual quote was "you're not laid back, you're type A, cubed"), so I like my cookies uniform in size.  So I used my little cookie scooper.  But I find it hard to use on refridgerated dough, so this time I didn't let the dough chill and just baked them as soon as the dough was done, but baked them for 7 minutes instead of 8-9.  But the first batch still came out a little domed, and I thought about flattening the following batches, but these fell a little after the cooled, so I didn't need to.  And, as you already know, I love all things mini (OK, almost all things mini), so the cookies are small.  Which may explain why I got 75 cookies out of this batch of dough (although the original said it makes 2.5 dozen, or 30 cookies).

*And, of course, after I wrote this whole blog post, my schedule at work got changed, and guess what....I'm not working on July 4th!  Go figure.*

Soft Baked White Chocolate Chip and Dried Cranberry Cookies
From Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients:

 

3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

3/4 cup dried cranberries

 

Directions:

 

Line an ungreased cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.

Set aside.

 

In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed until fluffy and light in color.

Mix in egg and vanilla.

Scrape down the sides as needed.

On low speed, mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt.

Stir in white chocolate chips and dried cranberries.

 

Chill dough (covered) for 30 minutes or up to 3 days -- I skipped this part.

 

Preheat oven to 350F.

Drop balls of dough onto cookie sheet OR used a standard-sized cookie scoop.

Bake for 8-9 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges -- I baked mine for 6-7 minutes. Do NOT cook them longer than 9 minutes.

Remove and let cool for 5-10 minutes on the cookie sheet (If cookies do not spread at all, gently press down with a spoon when they come out of the oven.)

Transfer to cooling rack.

Moustache treats for Father's Day

Usually, I don't have the ability to delay gratification.  You see, I bought these Moustache cookie cutters in January 2012, and still haven't used them!  So unlike me!

But then a few weeks ago, when I had gone to the baking store to buy some things for graduation, I came across a moustache lollipop mold.  I had to have it!  But of course - more fitting of my typical behavior - I made some of those right away!  In milk and dark chocolate.

 

So now, for Father's Day, I decided on moustache treats.  I think it's fitting since my dad has had a moustache (and beard) for my whole life. 

Dark and milk chocolate moustache lollipops, and butter and chocolate sugar moustache cookies.  Except I decided on making chocolates ones only.  And I was going to decorate them with royal icing, but the week got away from me, and that didn't happen.  I also put some of the cookies onto sticks, so that they could (hopefully) be used as props for Father's Day pictures.  Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it to Father's Day dinner, since I'll be working, but I'll be sure to let my sister know of my intentions for the cookies-on-a-stick!

Chocolate Roll-Out Cookies
(from none other than SmittenKitchen.com)

Ingredients:
3 cups (375 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (225 grams) lightly salted butter, softened (Smitten's note: I don’t really see “lightly salted” much these days, so I used one stick salted, one stick unsalted - which is what I did, as well)
1 1/2 (300 grams) cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa (Smitten's note: approximately 60 grams — weights can vary a bit depending on brand. I use the “good” stuff–Droste, Galler or Valrhona –but I can assure you that my mother only used Hershey’s growing up, so your choice.   I used Hershey's Dark and they were decadent and rich and delicious!)

Direcctions:

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
Whisk dry flour, salt and baking powder in bowl and set aside.
Mix butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa in mixer.
Gradually add flour mixture, and mix until smooth.
Wrap in plastic and chill for at least one hour.
Roll out cookie dough on floured counter. Cut into desired shapes, brushing extra deposits of flour off the top. (It does disappear once baked, though, so don’t overly fret if they go into the oven looking white.  Sorta.  Some of my cookies had a whitish coating, on the right). *This is when I added the cookie sticks*

Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 8 to 11 minutes (the former for 1/8-inch thick cookies, the latter for 1/4-inch cookies) until the edges are firm and the centers are slightly soft and puffed. 
Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Beach themed bridal shower cupcakes

Last weekend was the bridal shower for K, a friend of my friends L + E.  I was asked to bake cupcakes for the shower.  The theme?  Old school beachy (to match the invitations).

 

A bunch of ideas popped into my head.  I could make mini bikini sugar cookies to top the cupcakes.  Or make mini flip flops out of candies.  Or, I could use this super cute mini shell mold I had, and make marbled chocolate shells as cupcake toppers.  I ended up purchasing some plain white sugar shells online from one of my favorite sugar and royal icing suppliers.  And then - brilliance, if I may say so myself - I came up with the idea of graham cracker "sand."

I also wanted to make the colors of the cupcakes match the colors of the shower - a turquoise-y blue and a coral-y orange.  I couldn't die chocolate icing any color other than brown or black, so that was out.  But the vanilla icing?  I tried to make it a blue to match the colors of the shower and also look "watery." 

Now, I have to admit, I have used all of these recipes on the blog before.  The chocolate cake and vanilla icing were the same that I used for the mini Minnie Mouse cupcakes I made for my friend's daughter's 3rd birthday party in March.  Only this time I used blue gel color instead of pink.  The yellow cake cupcakes were my go-to yellow cake recipe -- a big honor since I much prefer chocolate -- and can be found all over the blog, but the recipe was originally posted when I made these mini cupcakes with lemon.  And the chocolate buttercream was from the yellow cupcakes with chocolate buttercream from last August.  But the final product was so different from any of the past treats, so I had to post it!

L had asked for 30 cupcakes, but I made 36 for them.  I made 9 yellow cupcakes with vanilla icing, 9 yellow cupcakes with chocolate icing, 9 chocolate cupcakes with vanilla icing, and 9 chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing.  All with sugar shells and graham cracker sand!

Toffee-dark chocolate chip cookies

One of my best friends from college is coming to visit this weekend!  It's been a while since she's been in NYC -- she has two kids under 4!! -- and her husband has volunteered to watch the kids over the weekend so that R can come to visit (Thanks, J, for letting me have R for the weekend!!)!

I need to clean my apartment before R gets here -- and I'm running out of time, since I'm working a long day tomorrow and then B is taking me out for graduation.  My apartment is a bit of a mess since I was too busy working on my portfolio and not cleaning over the past month and a half.  But I spent most of today running errands, watching some TV, cleaning a little -- and baking cookies.  Because when I'm stressed and have deadlines and I'm running out of time, and don't feel like cleaning, I bake.  Clearly that makes sense, right?

So I found a recipe for chewy white chocolate chip and dried cranberry cookies - they looked delicious and I decided they'd be great cookies to make.  Why?  Because I wanted to bake for R when she was here, but also prepare a care package to take back to J and the kids, and I figured cookies would transport well on her train ride back to Boston.  And because the combination of white chocolate and dried cranberry is tasty (for instance, these copycat cranberry bliss bars).  And best of all, I had all the ingredients on hand. 

Or so I thought.  I swore I had white chocolate chips, but if I do, I can't find them anywhere.  And those craisins I had been holding onto for a while?  Yeah, they expired in March.  But seeing as I had the butter already warmed to room temperature, I started looking around the kitchen for some other mix-in options.  I'm not a huge fan of nuts in my baked goods (I prefer candying them and serving them as such), so I nixed those.  I did, however, have some toffee pieces and some dark chocolate chips, and after some deliberation -- I thought milk chocolate may be better -- I decided that they would go well together. 

Lastly, I was intrigued by the addition of cornstarch to the cookies.  Apparently they make the cookies "thick and chewy, not flat and flimsy" -- and who doesn't like a chewy cookie?!

Soft Baked Cookies
Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients

 

3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup white chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate chips)

3/4 cup dried cranberries (I used toffee pieces)

 

Instructions

 

Line an ungreased cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.

Set aside.

 

In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed until fluffy and light in color.

Mix in egg and vanilla.

Scrape down the sides as needed.

On low speed, mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt.

Stir in white chocolate chips & dried cranberries the toppings.

Chill dough (covered) for 30 minutes or up to 3 days.

 

Preheat oven to 350F.

Drop balls of dough onto cookie sheet.

Bake for 8-9 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges.

Do NOT cook them longer than 9 minutes.

Remove and let cool for 5-10 minutes on the cookie sheet.*

Transfer to cooling rack.

 

Note: *If cookies do not spread at all, gently press down with a spoon when they come out of the oven. (I didn't see this part when I baked mine, so they look a little domed)