Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

These days, our version of entertaining is hosting a playdate, so I use it as an excuse to try a fun recipe. For summer I combined two favorites, cupcakes and ice cream cones! My 3 year old helped me make them and her friends couldn't get enough of them, faces covered in icing is definitely a good sign. These can be made festive with sprinkles in colors for holidays if you want and all different flavor cake and icing combinations. Impress your family and friends with these at your next BBQ!

To help the cupcakes stand up while baking I covered the cupcake tin with foil and cut Xs out over the muffin cup. Another tip is that when you remove the cooked cupcakes, poke a tiny hole in the bottom of the cone to allow the steam to escape and prevent the cones from getting soggy.

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes
Yields: 12-15

Ingredients:
1 box cake mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 Boxes ice cream cones
2 containers icing

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F

Prepare muffin pan with foil and fill with ice cream cones. Follow directions of cake mix to combine ingredients. Fill cones 3/4 of the way.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked all the way through. They will take longer than the box directions since cones are deeper than standard muffin.

Let cool then put icing in a piping bag and swirl to look like soft serve ice cream and decorate.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

I had my first black bottom when I moved to Baltimore years ago and instantly fell in love. Where had these amazing treats been all my life?!  It only seemed appropriate to finally make them when I had a visitor from Maryland who understood how good they are.  We used to work together and the caterers would bring these as dessert for lunch meetings and other events. These delectable bites combine some of my favorite flavors, chocolate cake with chocolate chip cream cheese filling...can't get much better than that. My filling was little bit liquidy and turned it into a topping instead of a dollop but tasted just as delicious. I will definitely try the minis next time.

Black-Bottom Cupcakes
(Source: David Lebovitz The Great Book of Chocolate , as seen on Brown Eyed Baker)

Yields: 12 cupcakes or 30 minis

Ingredients:
For the Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

For the Cupcakes:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 Tablespoons naturally unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup unflavored vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon white or cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Make the Filling:
Beat together the cream cheese, granulated sugar, and egg until smooth. Stir in chopped chocolate pieces and set aside.

Make the Cupcakes:
1. Adjust the rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F (175°C). Butter a 12-cup muffin tin, or line the tin with paper muffin cups.

2. In a medium bowl sift together the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl mix together the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla.

3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients, stirring just until smooth. Stir any longer and you will over mix the batter and end up with less-than-tender cupcakes.

 

4. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Spoon a few Tablespoons of the filling into the center of each cupcake, dividing the filling evenly. This will fill the cups almost completely, which is fine.

 

5. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the tops are slightly golden brown and the cupcakes feel springy when gently pressed. These moist treats will keep unrefrigerated for 2 to 3 days if stored in an airtight container.

Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes

Happy Spring! I can't believe that it is already the first day of spring, when did that happen? These are not only cute but scream spring! I recently tested them out for a small party we had. I wanted something that wasn't your typical chocolate, vanilla or peanut butter combination and this was perfect. The lemon cupcakes are refreshingly light and spongy and the raspberry puree in the icing makes it not as sugary as a regular butter cream. I made them as mini cupcakes so people could sample all of our desserts with just a few bites of each. Beware, if you make them as a mini cupcake that they make a ton! Like I said, I made these for a party and without fail, forgot to take photos ahead of time so while these aren't works of art they portray how bright and cute these cupcakes are.

Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes

Makes 24 cupcakes or 55 minis

Source: My Baking Addiction

For the Cake
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
lemon zest from two lemons
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract

To Make The Cake:
1. Center a rack in the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare cupcake tins by using liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray

2.  Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.

4. Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and, working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the extracts, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Place the batter into the cupcake tins.

4. Bake for 18-22 minutes for regular size or 10-12 minutes for minis, until the cupcakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean. Cool on wire rack.

For the Raspberry Buttercream
Ingredients:
1/2 cup raspberries (blended into a puree and pushed through a fine mesh sieve to remove seeds)
1 stick salted butter – room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter – room temperature
1/2 cup shortening*
1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of raspberry extract*
1 1/2 pounds confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar, 10x)
2-4 Tablespoons very cold milk (add until you reach desired consistency)

Directions:
1. Cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add extracts and raspberry puree and combine well.

2. Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, begin adding the very cold milk… one Tablespoon at a time, combining very well after each addition (mixer on medium-high to high speed) until you reach the desired consistency.

Notes:
*If you don’t have raspberry extract, simply add a little bit more raspberry puree until you reach your preferred level of raspberry flavor. If you add more puree, cut back on the milk.

*If you do not like to use shortening, simply sub in butter. The frosting will not be as structurally sound, but will taste just as delicious.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

One of the first things I noticed since moving to Florida is that there are a ton of cupcake stores and bakeries around here. I love cake and cupcakes so this is very tempting since you basically drive past one no matter where you go. One thing I really love is that most places have mini cupcakes so you can try different flavors and not feel so guilty. Those little bites are perfect to put my sweet tooth at bay after dinner. 

This weekend we went to a BBQ at a friends house for a kebab party.Everyone brought something to put on the kebabs, which was a cute idea for a potluck. We were bringing dessert and I wanted to test this recipe out before bringing them. There is nothing worse than having a recipe fail and you don't have time to make something else. Also, by baking the cupcakes the night before it not only gave me a chance to make sure they turned out ok, but also allowed time for them to cool completely before icing. While a bit more time consuming than baking a cake, it is definitely easier to serve to a large group. My back up and just for fun we made some fruit kebabs to go along with the theme.

I found this recipe on Glorious Treats and it combines my love for chocolate cake with yummy peanut butter and cream cheese icing. I prefer cream cheese to butter cream icings since they don't tend to be as sweet. The cupcakes were moist and chocolatey and the icing was smooth and creamy with a main flavor of peanut butter. I might decrease the amount you put in next time but it was a hit with everyone else.

Chocolate Cupcakes

(makes 24-27 standard sized cupcakes)

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (best quality available)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup whole milk (I used 2%)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (best quality available)
1 cup boiling water

Directions:
1.  Line muffin tin with paper liners. Heat oven to 350*F.
2.  In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3.  Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for one minute.
4.  Stir in boiling water (the batter will be thin, don't worry, this is right).
5.  Fill liners 2/3 full with batter. (I usually put the batter into a large measuring cup with a pour spout, and then pour the batter into the liners.)
6.  Bake cupcakes for approximately 22-24 minutes.
7.  Cool completely on wire rack before frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup smooth peanut butter (chose a peanut butter with no added sugar)

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
4 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons heavy cream (or whole milk)

Directions:
1. Beat the butter until smooth. 
2. Add the cream cheese, and continue to beat until smooth and fully combined with the butter. 3. Add the peanut butter and beat until well combined. 
4. Slowly add the powdered sugar and continue to mix until the frosting is smooth. 
5. Add in the cream, and beat another 30 seconds.
6. Frost cupcakes.

Frosting Recipe by Glorious Treats
Cupcakes Recipe Adapted from Hershey's

Hamburger Cupcakes

Happy 4th of July! While this is a holiday most people celebrate by making hamburgers outside on the grill, I decided to make cupcake hamburgers. I was in a store and saw a cute hamburger cake and then smaller cupcakes that looked just like a hamburger. And since hamburgers are kind of a big deal around our house, I just had to try making them myself for Jason to bring to work.

Since I wasn't sure how they would turn out, I must confess I used a yellow cake mix and a jar of chocolate fudge icing. Normally I would make the yellow cake and a chocolate butter-cream or cream cheese icing from scratch and definitely will next time. I also bought red and green tubes of decorating icing, but not the gel stuff. Bake the cupcakes according to the recipe/directions.

Be sure to let them cool completely. Then remove the paper liner and cut it in to give it the look of a hamburger bun.

Next add the chocolate icing to the bottom to create the hamburger.

Then add a circle of the red piping icing to create the look of a tomato slice.

And add a zig zag or green piping icing to create the lettuce. It doesn't have to be perfect since the top will be covering it.

Finally put the top of the cupcake/bun on and press down a little bit. Add on a few sesame seeds and press gently to stay put. Voila you are done!