Perfect Birthday Cupcakes

Sprinkles!

My sweet roommate Jenna had a birthday today! She's the big 19. We went to Zupa's for dinner and decorated all cute with balloons, streamers, and posters! We really like holidays around here. 

I decided to bake cupcakes for Jenna's birthday so we could all have something sweet, because what is a birthday without eating way too much and feeling sick afterward?

Perfect Chocolate Cupcakes

Yields: 18 cupcakes

• 1 cup flour (I used 1 1/4 cups because I'm at high altitude)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup oil (I used veggie oil)
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet while mixing. That's it! You could even probably do it all in one bowl at once (that's what the original recipe did). I mixed it by hand and it was super easy!

2. Fill baking cups 2/3 of the way for sea level or 1/2 way for high altitude. Bake at 350 for about 12-15 minutes for full-sized or 9-11 for mini cupcakes.

White Cupcakes

Yields 18-20 deliciously full-sized cupcakes

• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup cake flour (I used 1 cup minus 2 tbsp all purpose flour, then added 2 tbsp corn starch. This is my go-to cake flour recipe. Make sure to mix the flour and corn starch together really well.)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 large egg whites, room temperature (I put my cold eggs soaking in warm water for 3 minutes or so)
• 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375 fahrenheit (If you're at high altitude, preheat to 385). Line cupcake tins with adorable cupcake liners.

2. Mix together flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk until incorporated.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together sour cream, milk, and egg whites. Set aside. 

4. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy.

5. Add the vanilla extract to the butter mixture. While the mixer is on low, add the flour mixture in 3 parts alternating with the milk/sour cream mixture. (You'll start and end with flour mixture).

6. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. (If you make mini cupcakes, they take about 13 minutes.)

Happy Birthday, Jenna!

Andes Mint Cupcakes

I've been really into mint lately. Not just the flavor, either. I've been into the color mint, and I've recently purchased some mint pants which I'm kind of obsessed with wearing. It's such a happy color!

With St. Patty's day coming up tomorrow, I decided to make something with a little minty green. I wanted it to use Andes Mints because those things are obviously the best thing that has ever happened to after-dinner mints.

Andes Mints are the perfect marriage of silky smooth chocolate and cool mint.

I'm obsessed.

I had been craving them lately so I decided to make some Andes Mint cupcakes. I wanted a really light and fluffy chocolate cupcake, a minty chocolate mousse filling, and cool buttercream on top. I found the fluffiest chocolate cupcake recipe ever at My Baking Addiction (tweaked to my taste).

Perfect Chocolate Cupcakes

Yields: 18 cupcakes (I made 12 regular + 18 minis)

1 cup flour (I used 1 1/4 cups because I'm at high altitude)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup oil (I used veggie oil)
1 cup hot water
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet while mixing. That's it! You could even probably do it all in one bowl at once (that's what the original recipe did). I mixed it by hand and it was super easy!

2. Fill baking cups 2/3 of the way for sea level or 1/2 way for high altitude. Bake at 350 for about 12-15 minutes for full-sized or 9-11 for mini cupcakes.

Andes Mint Mousse Filling

2/3 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup Andes mints, melted (I used the Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips they came out with-- they're pre-broken up for you)

Whip up the cream until it holds stiff peaks. Add the melted chocolate mints and whip until it's just incorporated.

Cut the center of the cupcakes out with a knife or a handy-dandy cupcake cutter. I found this at Walmart (2 for $1!) and had to see if it worked. Much to my surprise, it worked like a charm! You just stick it in, twist, and pull up! Voilà! C'est magnifique!

Fill each cupcake and put the top back on, if desired. I always do just because I like how it looks better.

Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting

4 oz cream cheese
1 stick (8 tbsp) butter
3-4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
about 15 drops of green food coloring

Beat the cream cheese and butter together. Add the food coloring and beat. Add the vanilla and then the powdered sugar, slowly. Beat it until it's stiff and lovely! Frost cupcakes with a star tip. Top with Andes Mints or drizzle a little bit of melted Andes Mints in a decorative pattern. Enjoy!

I drizzled the minis because I had some leftover melted mints. 

I enjoyed mine with Martinelli's, because what isn't improved by sparkling cider?

Happy St. Patty's everyone!

Raspberry White Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes

I've been losing sleep lately.
I've been losing sleep because I have been HARDCORE craving raspberries for two weeks! I didn't know you could lose sleep over cravings!
I went to four stores looking for raspberries, and the only one that had them was the BYU creamery, which had a teeeeeny tiny container for $6.89.

I thought it was a joke. Seven bucks for raspberries?

Thankfully, my roommate Lexie is a sweetheart and used her meal plan to pay for them because I was bound and determined to not pay that much for raspberries. (She's the best.)

So I had dreamed up (literally had a dream about them) a recipe for Raspberry White Chocolate Truffle cupcakes. I looked everywhere and they just didn't exist.

So I went on an adventure to invent them.

And man, are these winners!!! They are just as good as they sound.

I wanted the base of the cupcake to be a really, really fluffy vanilla. I wanted them to be filled with white chocolate mousse. I wanted the frosting to be really fluffy raspberry buttercream with a hint of white chocolate. And I wanted them to be adorable.

I tweaked my white cupcake recipe from Couple Of Cooks.

White Cupcakes

Yields 18-20 deliciously full-sized cupcakes

• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup cake flour (I used 1 cup minus 2 tbsp all purpose flour, then added 2 tbsp corn starch. This is my go-to cake flour recipe. Make sure to mix the flour and corn starch together really well.)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 large egg whites, room temperature (I put my cold eggs soaking in warm water for 3 minutes or so)
• 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375 fahrenheit (If you're at high altitude, preheat to 385). Line cupcake tins with adorable cupcake liners.

2. Mix together flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk until incorporated.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together sour cream, milk, and egg whites. Set aside. 

4. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy.

5. Add the vanilla extract to the butter mixture. While the mixer is on low, add the flour mixture in 3 parts alternating with the milk/sour cream mixture. (You'll start and end with flour mixture).

6. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. (If you make mini cupcakes, they take about 13 minutes.)

White Chocolate Filling

1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup white chocolate chips (I used Guittard's white chocolate chips-- they're so delicious!)

Whip the cream until it holds stiff peaks. Melt the white chocolate really slowly (15 seconds at a time, stirring between each time). Add the melted chocolate to the whipped cream and whip it until it's really stiff and incorporated. Set aside about 1 cup for the frosting recipe. 

Filling the Cupcakes

Cut a cone shape out of the top of each cupcake. Cut the bottom tip of the cone shape off and discard (AKA eat that sucker before someone else does). Pipe some of the filling into the hole and put the flat top back on. 

White Chocolate Raspberry Frosting

1 cup of the white chocolate mousse filling

1 stick butter 

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup frozen raspberries, microwaved for about 20 seconds (I had fresh but I used frozen because when you thaw them in the microwave, they release so many juices. If you use fresh, microwave them to release the juices, enhance the flavor, and enhance the color.)

Cream the butter and add the powdered sugar. Add the raspberries slowly and then lastly add the mousse filling. Beat until it's really fluffy and tasty. 

Sweet action shot of me sprinkling it with white chocolate shavings

Look at that delicious white chocolate truffle filling!!

Don't mind me... I'm just going to sit here and eat my weight in cupcakes.

Cravings: fulfilled. 

The Cutest Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes

So, I have a confession to make.

I don't like chocolate cake that much. I know, I know. What's wrong with me? There's something about it. I mean, I might crave it on a very, very rare occasion. 

The only type of chocolate cake I really, truly love is red velvet. And we all know that cupcakes are always better than regular cake. 

Yesterday I got home from class and didn't feel like getting to my homework immediately (still haven't gotten to that feeling yet, ever). I decided to make red velvet cupcakes instead. 

After searching for about ten minutes for the perfect recipe, I found this recipe. I tweaked it a little (what's new?)

Y'all. They were PERFECT. The consistency of the cupcake was so smooth and soft, and I used my personal favorite cream cheese frosting to top them off. This is now my go-to recipe for red velvet. 

Adapted from The Boastful Baker. 

Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes

Yields: 36 adorably mini cupcakes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup buttermilk (1/2 cup milk plus 1 tsp white vinegar)

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 tsp red food coloring

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

Best Ever Cream Cheese Frosting

1 (8 oz) block cream cheese, slightly softened

5 tbsp butter (slightly softened-- pliable but not room temperature)

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Line the mini muffin pans with 36 mini cupcake papers. 

2. Mix the buttermilk, vegetable oil, egg, food coloring, and vanilla extract with a hand mixer on the lowest setting until it's well incorporated. 

It looks like I had a red egg.

3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, and cocoa powder. Add the dry ingredients slowly to the wet ingredients with the hand mixer until there are no more lumps. 

4. Using a cookie scoop, scoop the batter into the mini cupcake papers, filling each one up almost 3/4 of the way up. 

Super out of focus. Sorry, guys. 

5. Tap the filled muffin pans lightly on the counter a few times to get the bubbles out. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, or until they bounce back up when you touch the top. (You can also test with a toothpick but I always just touch the top. If your finger leaves a dent, they're not ready.)

6. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, combine the cream cheese and butter. Whip until it's light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and mix. Really slowly, add the powdered sugar while the mixer is going. Mix it until it's really smooth and fluffy. 

7. Tape the corner of a quart-sized bag (for reinforcement), then cut the corner off about 1/2 inch from the very tip. Insert a decorator's star tip. Add the frosting to the bag and decorate the cupcakes once they've cooled. Add sprinkles (because sprinkles make everything happier). 

Haha! Thanks for helping with the eating process, Haley!