Brina Bakes

Update

2008-12-05T09:35:00.001-08:00

I'm not dead.

I have made cupcakes, though I don't think I will make it to 52 this year. Maybe I can make it 52 over two years! yeah.

I've not been in much of a baking mood these days. The last batch I made flopped (rosemary, lavendar, and savoury - should be good yes? No. Flavourless. Bland. Not good.), and the ones before that, were beautiful and perfect and delicious - but my fancy silicon cupcake liners had 50% go missing. If they were something I just bought on a whim (like I normally do!) that would be ok, but they were a present! I don't like to lose presents!

So, I'm a bit miffed at my cupcake-eaters. Don't tell them, Internet. I know I can trust you with my secret.

I would like to do a few (candy cane, gingerbread) for christmas, and I still have that back log to post, so hopefully I will be more updatey in the coming weeks!

#27 Lemon Meringue

2008-09-18T09:44:00.002-07:00

These came before coconut, but are being posted after. So technically they're #26 chronologically.

These might be the best cupcakes I've ever made.

Cake
1 c. milk (soy, almond, cow)
4 tsp. lemon juice
zest of 2 lemons
1 1/4 c. flour (baking or all purpose)
3/4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/3 c. oil
3/4 c. sugar

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Mix together the milk and the vinegar and let it sit for a minute, to curdle.
Dump everything else into the bowl, mix.
Pour into cupcake pan or cupcake liners or whatever.

Bake 20 - 22 minutes.

Filling: Lemon Curd
Recipe

Icing
Lemon juice ~2 tbsp
Lemon Zest
Shortening ~ 1/4c.
Icing sugar ~ 2c.

Meringues
120g sugar for every 2 egg whites

Beat together until super fluffy and can hold over your head upside down.
Bake at 200F for 60 odd minutes, allow to cool in the oven.

Fill cupcakes with curd, top with icing and a meringue cookie on top.

#24 / 25 Summer Fruit and White Chocolate, carrot and brown butter

2008-09-18T09:44:00.000-07:00

This is another juicer cast-off recipe, that I think went very well. It was summery and fruity and delicious.

The fruits were kiwis and apples and berries and melons.

Cupcake Recipe - where it says 'vegetable pulp' use fruits.

Icing was white chocolate, cream, and some brown sugar.

Carrot cake with brown butter were delicious (minis, above). Brown butter & brown sugar made up the frosting, and the cake was the same as above, but with carrot pulp only.

#26: Coconut

2008-09-10T12:46:00.000-07:00

Right. I have three pending which I didn't post yet (actually maybe 4.. I'm a bad updater). They're coming, I promise.

Coconut Cupcakes were a specific request from MzSavage, since she's LEAVING US FOREVER for a new province.

Cupcakes:
Recipe Here

Icing:

I forgot to get cream cheese, but I did have coconut milk, margerine, and icing sugar, so:

Coconut Milk (1tb)
Margerine (1/4 c.)
Icing Sugar (+/- 2 c.)

Roll the tops in shreddy coconut so that you don't have to worry about your poor, poor icing skills.

No photos this time.

#23 Lavendar and White Chocolate

2008-08-04T07:59:00.001-07:00

Far right.

Busy-ness does not lend well to cupcaking or blogging about cupcakes, apparently. Back-entries!

Lavendar was on my to-do list. I was worried these would taste like soap, but they don't. They're very good.

Cupcake
1 c. milk (soy, almond, cow)
3 tbsp. lavendar flowers
1 tsp. vinegar (apple cider, white, other mild)
1 1/4 c. flour (baking or all purpose)
3/4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/3 c. oil (whatever, I use ... Read Moreolive)
3/4 c. sugar
2 t. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Mix together the milk and the vinegar and flowers and let it sit for a minute, to curdle.
Dump everything else into the bowl, mix.
Pour into cupcake pan or cupcake liners or whatever.

Bake 20 - 22 minutes.

Frosting
White chocolate
Cream

Melt together, whip. Apply to cupcakes.

#22 Mixed Vegetable with Goat Cheese and Honey

2008-08-04T07:51:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah. Vegetable cupcakes.

I bought a juicer (get a juicer, you will love it). The only problem with a juicer is all the castoff material. Whatever was I to do with all the pulp. Answer? Cupcakes.

The pulp was made mostly of carrots (which, as it turns out, even in juice form, I don't like). Also: celery, yellow pepper, peach, apple, and cucumber. The cupcakes were 'different', and people seemed to really enjoy them - some having 2 or even 3 minis!

I made these for a group of folks I know are open to trying new things. The child of the group spit it out immediately - so these aren't for everyone, certainly. :)

The icing was wonderful, IMO. I adored it. Not too sweet, just right. And it complemented the odd vegetable cake nicely.

Cupcakes (24 minis)
1 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. vegetable pulp, some juice
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
3/4 c. oil

Mix mix mix, bake at 350 for 22 minutes.

Icing
Goat cheese (soft), some
Honey, about 2 tbsp

Mix mix, pipe.

Mmm, goat cheese icing.

Images are trapped on my camera, which atm has no batteries. I'll add them soon!

#21 Canteloupe

2008-07-04T08:53:00.000-07:00

I made these for the Cupcake Hero Challenge - only I didn't check the end date, and am too late :((

Oh well, they were enjoyed by all, and that's what matters!

Comments:
"Two thumbs up. Not enthusiastically up, but up"

(11:54:31 AM) MzSavage: moist and good! moist and good!
(11:54:46 AM) MzSavage: it was moist and goooooooddddd!

Cupcakes (10)
1 c flour
1 t. baking powder
pinch salt
1 t. each: ginger, cinnamon, allspice
1 c. canteloupe, cut up
1/4 c. oil
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla

Sift flour, bp, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice into bowl.
Add canteloupe, oil, sugar, vanilla to that
Get out handy dandy hand-blender and blend until not chunky.
Bake 15-20 minutes at 350

Jammy Topping
Rest o' canteloupe
sugar
coconut powder for thickening

Mascerate canteloupe & sugar overnight in fridge
Bring everything to a quick boil, heat to 220F, and wait until thickeny.

Spoon over cakes and cool.

#20 Chocolate Tahini Cake with Sesame Chocolate Icing

2008-07-02T07:42:00.001-07:00

I saw this on HCWT and thought "Sesame Chocolate is on my list. What a great way to do it!"

I think these came out really well. The sesame flavour isn't as intense as I would like it, so I added it to the icing, which helped. I probably added more than I listed below, cos I'm not a big believer in the old measuring, but 'to taste' is fine :)

Cupcakes (18)
HCWT's recipe. Double it for 18 cupcakes.

The texture of the batter is much lighter / fluffier than a normal cupcake would be. It's more muffin/bready (after bread has been allowed to rise) than cakey. The finished product is still cakey, and light, and yummy.

Icing (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World)
1/4 c. margerine
1/4 c. shortening
1/2 c. cocoa powder
2 1/2 c. icing sugar
3 T. soy creamer
1 T. sesame oil

Mix Margerine / Shortening. Add cocoa powder, icing. Add creamer, oil. Fridge. Pipe.

I've gotten better at piping! Trick is a ziploc bag. Zipper it closed, cut off a tip, pipe. Aww yeah.

Two thumbs up from me!

#19 Chocolate & Curry with Lemongras scented coconut cream icing

2008-06-25T06:51:00.000-07:00

These are, in my opinion, by far the best cupcakes I have EVER MADE. They're light and moist and really pack a curry punch. The icing is too sweet, but I always find icing too sweet (others will probably also find this too sweet, though. It's hella sweet.)

Inspired by Vosges Naga bar, and using some chips from Vosges, these are absolutely perfect. PERFECT.

I took the recipe from Vegan Cupcakes take Over the World, for both frosting and cupcake, and added curry, naga chips, replaced soymilk with coconut milk in both, and walla, perfect cupcakes.

Cupcakes (12)

1 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup oil
1.5 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

5 or so tablespoons of curry powder
1 bag (minus what you've munched on) Naga Chips, chopped

Mix coconut milk and vinegar, set aside to curdle (yum!). Mix oil, sugar, vanilla. Add to curdled milk.
Mix flour, cocoa, bs, bp, salt. Add to wet in two batches. I sifted the dry directly into the milky stuff, and blended halfway through. Because I didn't want to wash three bowls.

At the end, add the chopped naga, and as much curry powder as you like. I added more than I thought I needed, cos in baking the flavour is lessened. Keep tasting the tasty, tasty batter until you like it.

Bake 20 minutes at 350

Icing
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup margerine
1.75 cups icing sugar
1/8 cup coconut milk infused with lemongrass

To infuse coconut milk: Sounds fancy, but I just threw some lemongrass into some coconut milk and let it sit overnight.

Mix shortening and margerine until 'light and fluffy'. (2-3 minutes)
Add sugar. Mix until lighter and fluffier. (2-4 minutes)
Add coconut milk. Mix again (7-10 minutes).

Fridge a bit so it's harder and easier to pipe. Put in plastic baggie, seal, cut off edge, and glom onto cupcakes.

Enjoy.

#18 Cosmopolitan

2008-06-17T11:40:00.000-07:00

Long time no cupcake. Life, it has been busy.

I made these last night cos I had some cranberry juice laying around, and I know I'm like 6 weeks behind, so I've got to get in gear.

I baked them up, took them out of the oven, and went to eat the smallest / most pitiful looking one. And it stuck like GLUE to the paper. like gluey glue glue. It was bad news. I put them back in the oven for a bit, hoping I had just undercooked them. When they started to smell a touch like burning, I took them out again. GLUE. GLUEY like the Original Pumpkin Cakes!

So, I need a new oven thermometre, cos I left the old one in the old apartment's oven. :/

I left them on the counter, intending to throw them out this morning, but thought I would try one more and see if they maybe improved. And they had! It came out of the wrapper!! And the flavour, it was good.

Because I had planned to toss them, I didn't make the icing I had intended, but I did have the syrup I was planning to use to flavour the icing, so I just brushed some of that overtop of the remaining cakes.

Cupcakes (12)

1 1/3 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. soy milk
2 tbsp. lime juice
1/4 c. oil
1 c. sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. cranberry juice

Mix wet. Sift dry into wet. Bake 20 minutes (or more if they come out like GLUE) at 350F.

Syrup
1/2 c. cranberry juice
2 tbsp lime juice
1 c. sugar

Boil. Reduce. Drizzle over cupcakes.

#17 Raspberry and Chocolate

2008-05-16T10:01:00.000-07:00

First, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Frequent Commenter and Friend RJ! YAAY BIRTHDAY.

I made these cos I was told Raspberry are her favourites. Also, I'm making only chocolate cupcakes this month and will submit the best one for CH. IMO, these are not the best, but they are RJ's favourite, so maybe I am wrong.

Were I to remake them, I would up the dry ingredients, as I find them much too moist.

Also, the best thing ever happened. Mz. Savage was in my office when I got these IMs:

constructive criticism :P
ok, when it comes to food, and pretty much anything, there needs to be a point
so the emphesis needs to be on something
but not sure where it was on these ones, where was it?

This led to _literally_ a fifteen minute discussion in my office between Ms Savage and Mr. IM about the relative merits of this batch, including some lovely poutine analogies ("Ok, in the poutine, the focus is the gravy. The fries are a vessel - they're like the bread of the cupcake!") and some other hilarious moments. Times like these I wish I had a tape recorder.

I do get the point which was trying to get made - there does need to be a cohesive thing that holds cupcakes together, but I maintain that chocolate, raspberries, and cream is a classic pairing, though perhaps not perfectly executed by me on this. RJ disagrees, and since she's the birthday girl, that's all that matters!

Cupcakes (perfect 24!)

375 g raspberries (fresh or frozen)
6 eggs
1 c. sugar
1 3/4 c. ground almonds
1/4 c. cocoa powder
1/4 c. cocoa nibs
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda

Simmer raspberries with 1/4 c of sugar and a dash of lemon juice or water until soft. Whizz up in food processor or blender.

Mix ingredients in a bowl in no particular order. Pour into cupcake tin and bake for 30ish minutes at 350C.

Topping:
Mascarpone Cream
Raspberries, and their juice.

This is based on the Clementine Cakes from Nigella which I made earlier this year, but with added cocoa, nibs, and subbing clementines for raspberries. Since raspberries are wetter than clementines, which didn't occur to me when I was making them, I should've used less of that or more dry. Bake and Learn!

#16 Chipotle Chocolate

2008-05-05T06:55:00.000-07:00

I know, nothing for a month and then three in one day! For these I decided to go with the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World recipe, cos I know it's simple and delicious. I just threw in some chipotle powder, enough that I could taste it but it didn't burn my mouth right off. I'm not into spicy, so I'm sure some people can add more.

I made these minis cos they did come out quite spicy.

Mini-Cupcakes (18)

1/2 c soymilk
1/2 t vinegar
5/8 c sugar
1/6 c oil
1/2 t vanilla
1/4 t vanilla
1/2 c flour
1/6 c cocoa
5/8 t baking soda
1/4 t baking powder
1/8 t salt
1 t chilli

Add vinegar to soymilk, set aside.
I tend to just dump everything in the mixer for the VCTOTW cakes, and they come out perfect every time. Do that.
Bake 20 odd minutes at 350.

These are glazed with Rootham's Irresistable Chocolate Sauce which is not vegan, but is tasty. I wanted something to cut the spice a bit, and this does the trick!

Because I'm doing three entries all in a row, I realize how repeaty these baking instructions are. I should just have a 'default cooking instructions' in the sidebar or something.

#15 Flourless Chocolate Chiffon Cake

2008-05-05T06:52:00.001-07:00

I had originally planned to make these in time for Passover, but that didn't work out, because I'm lazy. I made them yesterday, and they're really good! Really! Light and fluffy, not too chocolatey.

Recipe comes from the back of the cake meal.

Cupcakes (9)
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C cake meal
1 T matzoh meal
1/8 c cocoa
1/4 t salt
3/4 t baking powder
3 eggs, separated
1/8 c oil
1/4 c water
1/2 t vanilla

Whip egg whites until light and fluffy. Set aside.
Mix together dry ingredients. Make a well in the middle, add eggs, oil, vanilla, water to the well. Mix well.
Fold eggwhites into the chocolate mixture. This part is tricky, I ended up collapsing a lot of the eggwhite cos I was too rough with it.
Bake 20-odd minutes at 350. They will rise a little but not much.

Blood Orange Glaze
1 blood orange
cocoa

Boil together orange juice and cocoa. Brush overtop of cupcakes. Mmm, glaaze.

#14 - Mango Spice Cake

2008-05-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

Finally settled in the new place! My new oven is proper temperature, too, so I don't need to rely on the thermometre so much.

I didn't want to go shopping for ingredients, so I looked around the kitchen to see what I had for these. I figured a spice cake, and looked around for a recipe. The one I found called for apple juice, which I didn't have, so I subbed mango juice. It really takes it from a plain old spice cake to something completely different and fresh tasting. These are my new favourite cupcakes:

Cupcakes (9)
1/4 C butter
1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 t. nutmeg
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. allspice
1/4 t. ginger
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. baking powder
1 egg
5/8 C flour
3/4 C mango juice

Beat butter, sugar. Add egg, add spices/bp. Alternating, add juice & flour, finish with flour. Bake 20 minutes @ 350.

These haven't been tasted by the office yet, so no word on whether others like them, but I really do.

Moving

2008-03-27T14:43:00.000-07:00

No cupcake this week, as my cupcake making tools are packed away. Hopefully unpacking will be finished next week.

#13 Update

2008-03-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

Re-Reading my last post, I didn't mention enough that the cake-bit was GOOD. The frosting, it was not for me, but the cake was for me. Meat in cupcakes is a Good Idea (see: bacon cupcakes, corned beef cupcakes).

So, in conclusion: Meat cake = good. Vegetable frosting = less good.

I'm thinking mustardy frosting would be interesting. Again, maybe not 'good', but 'a unique culinary experience'.

#13 Corned Beef & Cabbage

2008-03-17T11:52:00.000-07:00

Yes, really. I saw this on CupcakeProject and went "OMG BEST IDEA EVER"

As it turns out, I was WRONG about that. The frosting is most definately the worst idea ever. SRSLY. Not good. Comments include:

"It's not as disgusting as I imagined?"
"Wow, that's awful"
and from me: "This is the worst thing I have ever done"

I made six, cos I knew they wouldn't be super popular. The cake bit, I have to say, was good. Perfect Salty/Sweet, nice texture, everything about it was nice. I would consider making them again.

The icing, though. I feel like I need to repent.

The inspiration recipe is here

Cupcakes (6)
1/4 cup beer
1/4 teaspoon vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon oil
1/3 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons ground beef

Combine the beer and the vinegar. Add in the sugar and oil, whisk vigorously. Gently introduce the flour along with the baking soda, being careful not to over mix. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 min.

Icing
1/2 package cream cheese
butter
powdered sugar
1/4 candied cabbage (Cabbage + Brown sugar + Oven = Candied Cabbage)

Mix together cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar. Add cabbage.

Someone suggested pureeing the cabbage, but I honestly don't think it would have helped.

#12 Chocolate Stout

2008-03-17T11:39:00.000-07:00

Happy St-Patrick's Day! In honour of this wonderful holiday, some beer.

This is one of those complicated stove using recipes. I generally shy away from them cos I am not a stovetop kind of girl. It was reasonably easy, though.

Cupcakes
¼ cup		unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup		Guinness draught stout
1 cup		flour
¾ tsp		baking soda
¼ tsp		baking powder
1/8 tsp		salt
1/3 cup		butter, softened
1 cup		granulated sugar
2 large		eggs
½ tsp		vanilla extract
1/3 cup		low fat buttermilk

On the stovetop (see!) combine Guinness & cocoa powder. Heat through until smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add buttermilk to the cooled cocoa.

In a mixer, mix together butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla.

Mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder (OMG I totally forgot to add this!!), and salt (This too!!).

Alternate adding buttermilk mix and flour mix to the eggs/butter/sugar mix. End with flour.

Bake @ 350F for 20 minutes.

RecipeSource: Here

I glazed the top of the cupcakes with a beer/cocoa mixture. Beer (your choice of amount) + cocoa (til thickish) = glaze. Brush on top of cakes.

Frosting:

Chocolate (99% Scharffen Berger)
1/2 package of Cream Cheese, softened
Few tablespoons of butter
Icing sugar until icing consistency

Melt together Chocolate & Butter.
Whip Cream cheese until fluffy, add in chocobutter mix.
Add Icing sugar until frosting consistency.

This isn't my favourite icing, and I'll go back to ganache from now on. It's nice to try new things though.

Pictures are still on the camera, will update soon!

#11 Maple Bacon

2008-03-08T18:30:00.000-08:00

I saw these and thought 'I love bacon. I love cupcakes. How could I not love bacon cupcakes?'

And I do love them. They came out a bit biscuitty for me, but I think that's mostly due to conversion, and not so much the original recipe. I doubled it, and it ended up making 18 cupcakes, so I think the actual recipe probably makes more than 6.

Recipe Here @ Vanilla Garlic

I was hoping for more BACON flavour. When I make these again (and I will!!) I'll add more bacon, and more bacon fat in an effort to embacon them. As they are, they're baconny, but they're not BACONny.

The frosting, though? Heaven in my mouth. Nothing better.

I topped them with large sea salt crystals, which was a really good thing.

Without the frosting, I wasn't keen on these. - too much like a ham and cheese biscuit, not enough cupcake - I thought I might not even bring them in to Officeland for consumption. With the frosting, though, WOW.

Two thumbs way up.

#10 Carrot

2008-03-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

Long time no update. Sorry about that. I nearly missed a week of cupcakes, but luckily I wasn't feeling good at home last weekend and made myself some carrot cakes to feel better. Camera was out of order, so alas no photos! But they were alright. It's my mom's recipe from when I was a kid, and always makes me feel better. I will remake these at Shiv's request.

Cupcakes
Makes 12

1 egg
1/4 cups vegetable oil
1 cups white sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 t each ground cinnamon & nutmeg
2 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Beat together egg, oil, sugar, vanilla. Add in flour, soda, powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg. Fold in carrots and pecans.

Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes.

I love carrot cake, I really do. My mom used to make this with cream cheese icing, (Cream cheese, butter, icing sugar) but I didn't have any, so I used left over heavy cream (from Alfredo the night before) and just had a light whipped cream topping. (Heavy cream, pinch of sugar, pinch of cinnamon. Beat until peaky)

Reminds me of spring and happy things.

2008-02-22T07:44:00.001-08:00

Excellent news!

SS managed to grab photos of the Red Velvet Minis before they were devoured. See Flickr for details (sidebar!)

#8 Ghetto Cupcakes / #9 FlufferNutter

2008-02-22T07:23:00.000-08:00

Two posts in one, cos I forgot to post about Ghetto Cupcakes. We have themed lunches on Friday and last week was 'Ghetto Day' - where we eat KD, raw hot dogs, and other stuff that is terrible for you. We all felt gross afterward.

For Ghetto Day, I made Ghetto Cupcakes - Rainbow Flavoured cupcakes from a BOX, with icing from a CAN. They were awful.

FlufferNutter, though, which is this week's cake - amazing! So peanut buttery! A FlufferNutter is a sandwich made of peanut butter and marshmallow fluff. It is very sweet, but I like it. Shiv introduced the idea when I was trying to come up with my 52 flavours.

Peanut Butter Cake Bit
Makes a LOT. (c.40 cakes)

2 c. sugar
3/4 c. margarine
1 1/4 c. peanut butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups soy milk
1 t. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 t. baking soda
2 t. cream of tartar
1 pinch salt

Mix together sugar and margarine and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla.
Mix together flour, tartar, soda, salt.
Add Flour & milk to butter, alternatingly. End with flour.

Bake 18 minutes or so at 350.

Marshmallow Frosting

1 container Marshmallow fluff
1/4 c. or so of Margarine
2+ c. icing sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 t. soy milk

Whip together all ingredients. Add more/less icing sugar depending on the consistency.

Top with chopped peanuts. Mmmm, peanuts.

#7 - Update

2008-02-14T10:10:00.001-08:00

Haha!! I just went to the kitchen to get a cupcake to take pictures of and there are NONE LEFT.

Long live Red Velvet Minis!

#7: Red Velvet Minis

2008-02-14T07:16:00.001-08:00

It's Valentine's day! I was completely sick last week so I didn't make cupcakes so as to not infect my coworkers. They probably wouldn't appreciate Disease Flavour all that much anyway.

In honour of VD, and because three separate people sent me links to Red Velvet cakes, (subtle hints) I made some. I don't like red velvet cake. The last time I had it, all I could taste was food colouring, which is not a pleasant taste. I did some looking, and they actually sell red colour with 'no flavour' which tells me normal red colour has a flavour, so at least it's not in my mind. (Who would buy red colour with food colouring flavour if they know there's a non-flavoured version available?)

All in all, these came out really good. They have that nutty red velvet flavour, but almost no colouring flavour, and they're a really RED red, which I'm pleased with. I topped them wit chocolate instead of white, cos the chocolate was already made, and it really goes well with the slight chocolateyness of the cake. Two thumbs up from me.

Cupcakes
(makes 36 teeny cupcakes)

1 c. heavy cream (all I had, probably better to use milk, soy milk, or something that's not whipping cream!)
1 tsp raspberry balsamic vinegar (again, all I had, probably best to use apple cider!)
1 tsp cream of tartar
2 tbsp. cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c. oil (I used olive, use whatever)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 c. cake flour
3/4 c. sugar
An entire thing of red food colouring

Add vinegar to cream, allow to curdle.
I just tossed the rest of the ingredients in the mixer kindof willy nilly. It was late, I was tired.

Chocolate Ganache *Left over from Wasabi Cakes and frozen.

1c. heavy cream
9.7 oz. dark chocolate
1/2 c. sugar
bit of butter
bit of vanilla extract

Boil cream, pour over chocolate, melt together. Add sugar, add butter, add vanilla. Cool completely before using as icing.

#6: Chocolate Wasabi

2008-01-30T09:06:00.000-08:00

For my birthday last year, co-workers got me cupcakes from a local cupcakery, Itsi Bitsi. Among those cupcakes was Chocolate Wasabi, which I was completely excited about, cos - what a combination! Should be awesome! Wooooo!

They were good, but mostly chocolate. I didn't really get a wasabi kick with them, which is what I was expecting. When I made mine, I wanted there to be a definite "whoa, burning" with them.

These are based on the recipe for Black Pearl Chocolate Cake (a Vosges creation, and anything by Vosges can be trusted.)

Cupcakes
Makes 36 cupcakes

2 cups boiling water
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tbsp. wasabi powder*
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Whisk 2 cups boiling water, cocoa powder, and wasabi powder* in medium heatproof bowl. Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in large bowl.
Beat sugar and butter in a third bowl until fluffy, about 1 minute. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Beat in vanilla extract.
Add flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with cocoa mixture in 3 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Pour into cupcake tins, bake at 350F for 20 minutes.

*Baking completely kills the wasabi flavour, leaving nothing but chocolate. I'd leave it out next time.

Wasabi Syrup

1 c. water
1/2 c. sugar
Quite a lot! of Wasabi

Boil water, add sugar, add wasabi, reduce. I kept adding wasabi til I was satisfied that there was BURNING, which ended up being, I _think_ 1/8 of a cup. Maybe more or less. I got a 1/4 c. jar from Penzeys, and it's all gone, split between the syrup and the whipped cream.

Whipped Cream

1 c. whipping cream
1/4 c or less sugar
Quite a lot! of wasabi

Whip together cream, sugar, wasabi until light and fluffy. See above note re: wasabi quantities.

Chocolate Ganache

1 c. whipping cream
1 bar of scharffen berger chocolate
3/4 c. sugar

Boil cream, add chocolate, add sugar, stir & refrigerate until thickish.

Assembley

Once cakes have cooled, brush lightly with wasabi syrup. Allow this to cool/set (I let it go overnight, and iced them in the morning, but you can do what you like, really)

Top cooled cupcakes with a thin layer of ganache, and a generous dollop of whipped cream.

On the way to work, these had an unfortunate accident getting out of the cab, so they got a bit .. smushed. Tehy still taste like awesome, but aren't the prettiest.

#5 -or- Bonus : Kiwi Muffins

2008-01-23T08:54:00.000-08:00

I'm not entirely sure I can call these #5. For one, there's no icing, which for me makes the cupcake a cupcake. It's really a muffin. For two, I only made 6. Now, I didn't specify in my brainbox how many cupcakes per batch would make for counting as one, so I think I can count it, and then I'm ahead. On the other hand, I made these for breakfast, which kindof might be cheating, cos cupcakes are a dessert food, not a breakfast food. I'm going to make a poll.

KiwCakIns
Makes 6

1 cup flour
1 cup kiwi (crushed)
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

In a bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder.
In a more different bowl, mix sugar, oil, kiwi, and vanilla.

Add kiwi stuff to flour stuff. Mix together. Fill tins with batter, bake 25 or so minutes at 350F.

#4: Mezzo, Soy, Half-Sweet, Caramel Macciato

2008-01-21T12:06:00.000-08:00

Cupcake after my favourite drink! This is again for the Cupcake Hero challenge, this month's theme, Coffee.

I love coffee. I love it a lot. I used to drink it constantly. When I heard this month's theme I knew immediately what I wanted to make.

I've not deviated from the Mezzo Soy Half-Sweet Caramel Macciato at Starbucks for 7 years. Every time I go there, it's what I have. So translating it into a cupcake just made sense.

These are vegan, since I am finding I prefer the texture of non-dairy cupcakes to those made with. You could non veganize it quite simply I'm sure.

Cake Bit
1 c. soy milk
1 t.apple cider vinegar
1 1/3 C cake flour
3/4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. oil
3/4 c. granulated sugar
4 T. very strong coffee (I used instant coffee granules and added droplets of water until it was a paste
1/4 c. coffee grains

Boil soy milk until bubbly, add coffee grains. Steep for a while (until dark), add vinegar and allow milk to curdle.

Mix coffee mixture, oil, strong coffee bit until combined. Add flour, bs, bp, salt, sugar and flour. Mix until combined.

Fill cupcake wrappers 3/4 full, and bake for 20 minutes at 350F

Topping:
1/4 c. icing sugar
1/4 c. instant coffee granules
Drizzly caramel

Powder coffee over cupcakes, then icing sugar. Drizzle caramel overtop.

The drizzles actually rolled right off the icing sugar, and rested around the edge, so this needs some rethinking. It's *supposed* to zigzag across the top and then circle round the sides, but that was a no go.

No matter, they tasted quite nice, and I don't think anyone will pitch a fit over the lack of zigzags (but I do wish I could figure it out!)

#3: Lemon/Ginger & Mint/Chocolate

2008-01-16T07:29:00.001-08:00

I've been unwell this week so I cheated a little bit on the cupcake thing. My icing comes from a jar. Wait! Don't
stone me! I added my own junk to it as well, so it's not just gross too sweet icing.

This unwellness also made it a real chore to make 36 cupcakes, so I made 12. And I had some left in my freezer from Christmas, so I brought those to the office as well. I did make the cake on the lemon ones though! Not a total loss!

For the lemony cake bit, I re-used the Nigella Clementine recipe, but I wanted it to be lighter and more cakey, less dense, so I dropped 3 eggs, upped the fruit, dropped the almond and added some flour. Which makes them not-gluten-free, but I'm not gluten free and no one I bake for is, either.

Lemon & Ginger Cakes
makes 12 cupcakes

4 meyer lemons, boiled for 2 hours (skins on, whole)
3 eggs
200g ground almonds
2/3 cup cake flour (a bit more if it looks wet)
1/4 c. oil
2/3 c. sugar
splash lemon juice
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 c. finely chopped crystallized ginger

Whizz up lemons in food processor. These didn't break down for me as much as the clementines did, so I also pressed them through a sieve into the bowl of my mixer.

Add almongs, ginger, flour, eggs, oil, sugar, lemon juice and baking soda. Mix in mixer until mixed.

I let it stand for about an hour while I made supper, which made the batter rise quite a lot.

Pour into baking cups (3/4 full) and bake at 350F for 20 minutes.

Icing
1/2 jar of No-Name vanilla icing
2-3 tbsp lemon juice.
More finely chopped ginger

Combine. Spread over cupcakes.
Sprinkle with ginger chunkies.

All in all the cake was lighter and fluffier on the lemon ones, I'm very pleased with the result. The batter tasted really bitter and I was concerned, but they baked up perfectly.

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes : Cake recipe here
Remove cupcakes from freezer.

Icing
1/2 jar of No-Name vanilla icing
a few drops of peppermint extract
3 drops of green colour

Mix together, spread over cupcakes. Stupid cupcakes made bits into the icing. Hate you, chocolate cupcakes and non-chocolate icing. I should have iced these while they were still frozen, but I did not. Oh well.

I've had the cake before, obviously, and they were very nice. Moist and light, minty and chocolatey. The fake icing I actually prefer to the chocolate - it's far sweeter, less grown-up, more fun.

#2: Pina Colada Cupcakes

2008-01-08T07:46:00.000-08:00

Second cupcake of the year went down as well as the first. This leads me to believe all previous cupcakes were crap. Or, my cupcaking skills are getting better.

I've never had a pina colada, so I can't tell you how similar these are to the real thing. They were tasty though, coconutty and pineapply, and very very moist. No complaints.

I also have a flickr account now, where all photos of cupcakes will live. Including photos not previously seen on this here blog! It's like a cupcake EXCLUSIVE. Or something. See it here

Cake:

1/4 cup malibu flavoured rum
1/2 cup crushed pineapple
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2-3 tbsp pineapple juice
1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

In one bowl, mix together all dry ingredients.
In another, mix together all wet ingredients.
Add wet ingredients to dry.

Fill cupcake tins 3/4 full, bake 18-20 minutes at 350F

Frosting:

1/4 shortening
3 tbsp pineapple juice
2 tbsp rum
2+ cups icing sugar
1/4 cup crushed pineapple
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
pinch brown sugar

Whip together shortening, sugar, juice, and rum. Fold in crushed pineapple. Ice cupcakes.

Roll iced cupcakes in dessicated coconut, sprinkle brown sugar on top.

#1: Clementine Cream Cupcakes

2008-01-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

First cupcakes of the year were a huge hit! I'm actually a bit worried, cos these were *so* good, I'm not sure I can live up to them.

Here are some of the comments:
"These are your best cupcakes yet. GJ."
"Not only are these the best cupcakes you've made, they may be the best cakes I've ever had"
"OMG. Wow."

I almost feel bad about the feedback, because they were SO EASY.

Based on Nigella's Clementine Cake, they're dead simple, and hugely flavourful. A perfect start to the new year.

Cupcakes
Makes 24 normal sized cupcakes and 12 mini cakes

5 clementines, boiled for 2 hours (whole)
300g almonds
6 eggs
250g sugar
1t baking powder
1t vanilla

Pulse the cooked clementines in a food processor until there are no chunks.
Pulse the almonds in a food processor until they're mealy (or, buy them ground)

In a bowl, mix together the clementines, almonds, and sugar, then add the eggs and vanilla, and finally the baking powder.

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.

Topping
1 cup whipping cream
4-5T. sugar
zest of one clementine

Whip cream until it begins to thicken, add sugar and zest, whip again until it forms peaks.

I put a clementine segment on top of each cake because it looked pretty, but there was one complaint that it made them difficult to eat. I just took it off and ate that bit first. YMMV.

On top of the clementines and cream, sprinkle a tad of icing sugar.

Christmas Pies and Resolutions.

2007-12-29T15:19:00.000-08:00

I mentioned in my menu that I would be making Blueberry & Apple pies for dessert. Before my dad called and canceled lunch, I had already made them. Since no one would be eating them at the now non-existent lunch, I ate them. I ate them all. And they were gooood.

I had some dough left over in the freezer from the tarts I made for the office, so I just used that for the crusts. I recently read something I never thought of before but will now do forever and ever: wax paper under the dough, wax paper over. No sticking to the rolling pin! No tearing! Amazing!

The filling was dead easy. Chop up some apples into equally sized pieces, juice 1 clementine into a pot, add a teensy bit of sugar, and the apples, and simmer until apples are not mushy, but just crisp - bordering mushy.

Add the blueberries, and stir about until they're the same texture as the apples. Remove from heat, fill pies with apple/blueberry mixture, top with a shape or a round of pastry, (or a full covering, but I didn't have enough dough for that), and bake until golden at 350F.

Best, simplest pies ever. I ate all six. By myself.

Every year, I try to make 10 resolutions that I stick to for at least a week or so. This year, they are:

Resolutions for 2008

1. Bake 52 Cupcakes

I would like to make 52 cupcake flavours throughout the year. Seasonal, Birthday, Whatever, just 52 of them. Can skip a week and do two the next week, as long as the year averages out.

2. Be healthy - cut down on things that make you sick, such as : cream, cheese, cream cheese...

Lactose intolerant people can't eat so much cheese. I love it, I do, but it makes me very ill. Cut down. Don't necessarily cut it out -- Though, if I'm being honest, I can have vanilla soy in my tea

3. Try new things

Doesn't matter what it is, really, just do it! Eat some crocodile jerky, try a new way of tying shoes, whatever.

4. Travel

Vegas in February, England in August?

5. Actually save money, not just think about saving it

This one is going to be tough. I'm so shit at saving money. But I'm all responsible like, i should at least try.

6. Get rid of things - unclutter. Not shoes, shoes can stay.

I will never wear that size 5 dress again, and I need to accept it. Also probably don't need earrings I've not worn since 1987, that book with no cover, and 5 sets of dishes.

7. Watch less TV, read more, go out more, knit more.

i don't actually think I will manage this one. I do love my TV. maybe I could sleep less instead.

8. Finish a knitted item. Just one! But finish it, ferrealz.

This would be nice. I generally just let my knitting fall to the side and forget about it for .. about two years.

9. Carry on with Vegetarian Day, twice a week.

Should be easy enough, since I'm doing it with others.

10. Wake up early, get a good start to the day. Consider breakfast.

I loved early mornings in the summer when I was little, cup of tea with my mum on the balcony out back.. It was so nice and quiet, and even if I did nothing it felt like a good day. Early is where it's at. No more sleeping til 4PM!

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

2007-12-27T11:18:00.001-08:00

For the Cupcake Hero challenge, I present my final Christmas menu dessert: Chocolate Mint Cupcakes.

Perhaps not the most 'original' mint pairing - I considered : Mint & Balsamic, Mint & Basil Mint & Lemon, Mint & Green Tea - chocolate and mint is more a classic pairing, and something I knew my family would eat.

I made 12 normal-sized cupcakes for the Fam, and 24 mini-cupcakes for some friends. I dusted them with green, mint flavoured sugar, and chocolate shavings.

Cake:
Adapted from Cupcake Bakeshop's Dark Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes
25 regular cupcakes / 350 degree oven

1 bar 99% Unsweetened Scharffen Berger Chocolate (9.7 oz / 275g)
1-1/2 cups butter
2-1/2 cups caster sugar
8 eggs
1-1/4 cups cake flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon peppermint extract

Chop chocolate, transfer into a bowl. Add butter to chocolate and place bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir until combined. Remove bowl from heat and add sugar. Allow to cool.

I now have a fancy stand mixer, so I transferred the cooled choco/butter to it. Then add sugar, mix until combined, and add egg one at a time, then the peppermint extract. Add in flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and mix until blended.

Scoop into cupcake tins/papers, and bake at 350F for 25 minutes

Icing/Ganache

1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 tablespoon butter
about 1 section chocolate (99% unsweetened Scharffen Berger)

Bring whipping cream to a boil, remove from heat. Stir in chocolate until melted. Stir in butter, sugar, extract. Allow to cool.

Dip cooled cupcake tops into warm ganache. Set aside.

The chocolate shavings were done with a very large knife. The peppermint flavoured sugar was done by wetting my fingers with the extract and rubbing them through (dyed green) sugar, then sprinkled over the cupcakes.

Christmas Menu

2007-12-24T11:48:00.000-08:00

I had planned to make supper for my Dad, his girlfriend, my sister, her boyfriend, my dad's girlfriend's mother, and my boyfriend on Christmas day.

Unfortunately, it fell through, my sister couldn't make it, my boyfriend fell sick, my dad's gf's mom couldn't make it.. Here is what I was planning to make:

Christmas Lunch 2007

***

Figs wrapped in Parma Ham
Mince Pies (Tourtiere)

***

5-Spiced Goose
Herbed Butter Turkey

Allspice Gravy
Turkey Gravy

Sage Stuffing
Gingerbread Stuffing

Mashed Potatoes

Brussell Sprouts with Pancetta

Butter Biscuits

***

Mulled Cider
Apple & Blueberry Pie
Lemon Curd Syllabub
Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

Eggnog Cupcakes from Baking Bites / Gingerbread Men

2007-12-20T20:26:00.000-08:00

For the Secret Santa Exchange at the office, I made Gingerbread Men cupcakes what looked like staff members, and the Vegan 'Nog Cupcakes from Baking Bites.

Gingerbread Men Cupcakes
For Christmas, I got a cupcake pan shaped like Gingerbread Men (Thank you, K&E!!). To celebrate, I ate them.

Icing was white chocolate ganache, dyed colours that my partners-in-baking crime created. I suggested people treat them like a sortof Gingerbread Voodoo Doll, but I think most people just ate themselves, or their family members.

Cupcakes (based on this recipe)
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup mild molasses mixed with 1 cup hot water

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Sift together flour, baking soda, spices, and salt.

Beat together shortening, sugar, and egg until creamy. In 3 batches, alternately beat in flour mixture and molasses mixture at low speed until smooth.

Scoop into Gingerbread Man Moulds. Bake 25-30 minutes.

White Chocolate Ganache
2 bags white chocolate chips
1/2 cup whipping cream

Heat whipping cream to boiling, add chocolate chips. Stir until combined. Allow to cool, dye funky colours.

Eggnog Cakes

The Nog Cakes were by far my best cupcakes yet!

They came out moist and light and my oven didn't burn them, like it usually does!

The frosting, I used shortening, which I would have normally been against, but since I wanted them to be completely vegan, I went for it -- SO the right choice! I tend to associate shortening with what it tastes like on it's own - which is pretty gross. But add icing ingredients, and it's delicious! It also iced perfectly, I was dead pleased.

I followed the recipe exactly, here.

2007-11-22T05:41:00.001-08:00

Happy Turkey Day, Americans!

My friends and I at work are doing Thanksgiving lunch for the Americans who work with us. I made pumpkin pie, apple pie, pumkin rolls and apple crisp! Pictures soon :)

Chocolate Tarts

2007-11-11T08:28:00.000-08:00

I made these a while back for the office, and just came across the pictures that were taken of them. These were so rich, so decadent, that you can really only eat half of one.

I used the recipe here for these - minus the blood orange, and made into mini-tarts. I prefer to use grams in recipes whenever possible, since I find it more accurate. My cheapo $5 kitchen scale changed the way I bake!

This pastry melts in your mouth so perfectly, it's fantastic. Three people at the office asked for the recipe -- always a good indicator of tastyness!

The Shells:

125 g plain flour
125 g unsalted & chilled butter
60 ml sour cream

Chop all the butter into 1"cubes. Weigh flour and put into bowl. Blend flour and butter until it resembles a large breadcrumb consistency. Add sour cream.
Turn onto a floured bench and pull together with your hands into a rectangle shape. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 20 minutes before rolling out and lining your tins.
Blind bake at 200C for 12 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and bake for a further 5 minutes.

Ganache Filling:

250 g dark chocolate
250 g pure thickened cream
10 g unsalted butter

Boil cream in saucepan. Once boiled pour over the chocolate to melt. Put aside for 3 minutes before stirring. Add butter to the chocolate / cream mix while still warm. Pour chocolate into pre-baked tart case and refrigerate overnight.

These are dead-easy for the result. I highly recommend them.

Chococococococonut Cake

2007-11-08T15:53:00.000-08:00

Everyone's favourite CS manager at the office turned 32 today. Of course, I had to bake something. There was a top-secret plan to discover her favourite flavour, but unfortunately my Spy couldn't gather any intel. I had to rely on someone overhearing her say that coconut was the best thing ever.

Fortunately, chocolate and coconut actually are her favourite flavour, so it was all good.

I took Chockylit's recipe here, and modified it to be 1. cake, 2. more coconut flavoury, 3. less coconut texturey. I hate the texture of coconut, y'all.

Reviews include "That was a fabulous cake"; "You made this?"; "You should quit your dayjob and become our official baker", and my personal favourite :This is the best cake I've ever had." from the birthday girl herself. Aww.

I've never made a cake before. It was seriously time intensive. Possibly because I spent hours on the internet trying to learn how to ice corners. Apparently, you use an absolute tonne of icing. I only had 2 lbs of butter, so it was a bit see-through. Yes, only 2 lbs of butter.

The taste of this cake is phenomenal. I'm not just saying that cos I made it, it really was fantastic. Just right chocolatey, just right coconut, just.. right.

Cake (**Make 2**)
3/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cocoa
2 tablespoons unsweetened fine coconut
1-1/2 cups coconut milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, mix together: flour, baking soda, cocoa, coconut, and salt. In a small bowl, mix together coconut milk and vanilla. Set both bowls aside. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar, beat until seriously fluffy. Then add the eggs one at a time. Beat for at least 60 seconds after adding each egg. Add some of the flour mixture to the butter/egg/sugar. Add about half of the milk, and combine. Repeat. Finish with the flour mix. Pour into a baking pan and bake for about 35 - 40 minutes at 350F. This makes one layer -- you'll need two. I made them separately, because I ran out of eggs in the middle and had to go to the store again. Also I have a tiny, tiny stove, and wouldn't be able to fit two cake pans in at once even if I did have enough eggs. This also explains why I was up til three in the morning making a bloody cake.

Filling
3/4 cups butter
2 1/2 cups icing sugar (confectioner's sugar)
1/4 c unsweetened fine coconut

I detest the texture of coconut, so I pureed it. You probably don't have to. Mix the ingredients together. You want it dead stiff. Use more icing sugar if you need to. I was trying to keep the EXTREME SWEETNESS down, but failed a bit. It's really, really sweet.
Icing
2 Cups of butter
1/4 - 1/2 cup coconut milk
4 cups powdered sugar

Beat the ingredients together - aim for light and fluffy.

Assembly
When you take the cakes out of the oven, let them cool a bit, then immediately unpan them. I did not know this, and fridged them while still in their pans. This apparently made them fall in love with the pan and want to never, ever leave it. Fortunately, they were the best pans ever, and the cakes came out in one piece.

Once they're cooled, fridge or freezer them. This will make them easier to handle and easier to ice. Which is really important, cos icing is dead hard.

Trim the tops of the cakes with dental floss, so that the top is flat. Spread on filling. Have a friend help you position Cake1 over Cake2. rest cake 1 gently on top of Cake2, move around so that it's centered and whatnot.

Ice the cake like in that video, above. If desired, have your company's graphic designer add a Fred Perry logo. Enjoy!

Hallowe'en Plans

2007-10-29T12:48:00.000-07:00

We're having a little do at the office to celebrate my favourite holiday on Wednesday, and I have to decide on treats.

I'm kindof set on these cos really, that's the best thing I've ever seen. I'd also like to Frankenstein or Witch up the sweet pea cupcakes -- because everyone should taste them and go "Sorry, there's peas in this? But it's so good!"

Raspberries are on offer at my grocer, so I'll be doing raspberry filling instead of cherry (also cos I don't like cherries) for the bleeders. I'd like to do a third/chocolatey variety as well. I have some glow-in-the-dark ants, so maybe those on some chocolcate cupcakes? Unknown. We shall see.

2007-10-24T09:21:00.000-07:00

Someone has already asked for my recipe for the cupcakes. HAHAHA.

I served them at the office, as I usually do, and they went over very well. Soukia said they were my best cupcakes yet! Go me!

I've also been pointed toward these. I need that!! Hallowe'en is my favourite holiday, so I need it a lot!

Success: Pumpkin bread pudding cupcakes with apple chai glaze

2007-10-20T22:02:00.000-07:00

Cupcakes are a sucess!

The theme is re-invention, so I decided to take my two favourite desserts and cupcake them up. What is my favourite dessert? Pumpkin Pie, and Apple Crisp. Okok, those are two things. But I bet they would go really well together. Wouldn't they? They would.

My first attempt at pumpkin cupcakes was a failure, unfortunately, and I decided to go with something different: bread pudding. Pumpkin bread pudding.

I left spices out of the cupcake bit entirely, because I wanted the chai in the apple glaze to really shine. I'm glad I did, but I was a bit underwhelmed by the pumpkinnyness of the pudding. I would probably up the amount of pumpkin* -- or add a bit of filling to it -- next time.

*I ended up with a quarter cup or so of pumpkin purée left over, I plan to try to make a pumpkin glaze as well. I'm told, though, that I like my food a bit richer/more flavourful than most people. YMMV.

Apple Chai Glaze

Ingredients
6 - 8 medium apples
1 cup sugar
1 cup chai tea

Chop up your apples, and skins on put them in a bowl. I chopped them into quarters and then the quarters into about 1" pieces.

Add your cup of sugar, and pop them in the fridge for one hour to mascerate. When you take them out, there will be a load of liquid mixed in with the apples, and they'll be a bit browned.

I did this in my slow cooker. Turn it to medium and let your apples cook for about an hour. Then add one cup of brewed chai tea, and cook for another hour or so. If you're doing this on the stovetop, cook it to a temperature of 220F, then turn down the heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes, until the apples are soft enough to blender.

Go to town with your blender, hand blender thingie, or food processor. You want as few chunks as possible.

Boil some canning jars, and fill them with appley goodness. This makes about 3 1-cup jars.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Ingredients

3 eggs
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup cream
1 loaf bread
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup margerine (or butter)

In a bowl, mix the margerine, sugar, eggs, pumpkin, and cream, then add the bread, cut into 1" cubes, until completely combined. I like it a bit dry, so I ended up adding another 4 slices of bread I had in the pantry in addition to the loaf.

Bake for 25 minutes at 350C. As it turns out, my oven temperature gauge is about 50 degrees off. So I got an oven thermometer! You can see it hanging from the bottom of the rack, there. $4 for perfect cupcakes, a steal.

When a toothpick comes out clean, they're done. Let them cool for about 10 minutes.

Top the cooled cupcakes with a tablespoon or so of the apple chai glaze & enjoy.

Attempt #2

2007-10-20T19:42:00.000-07:00

My second try at cupcakes for the round-up is in the oven. Here's hopin'!

Attempt the First: Fail

2007-10-18T17:09:00.000-07:00

I was certain I had the best idea ever for my Cupcake Round-Up entry: Pumpkin cupcakes. Who doesn't love pumpkin cupcakes?

(Canadian) Thanksgiving had just passed, leaving me with a hankering for some pumpkin pie. I'm always out to try new cupcakes, so I decided to modify the Sweet Pea Cupcake recipe from Vanilla Garlic to suit a pumpkin pie taste. Brilliant, yea? No.

I started out with my ingredients:

500g all purpose flour
3 Tb egg replacer
3 Tb water
1 can pure pumpkin
1.5 C sugar
1 t vanilla
1 Tb lemon juice
1 t baking powder
1 t each nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon

It mixed up all nice. Look at the colour! Nice! I was pleased. Everything shaping up quite well, I thought.

I filled the tins, and popped them in the oven at 350, for +/-20 minutes.

In the meantime, I would make the crust-like topping - the best part of pumpkin pie is the crust, yeah? Yeah.
Doesn't that look good? 1 part butter, 1 part brown sugar, 1 part flour. Mix until crumbly and delicious. I tasted it, it was awesome. I love you, topping stuff!!

I crumbled the delicious topping over the cupcakes, took them out of the oven, waited til they cooled, and got ready for a delicious pumpkin pie cupcake.

Don't they look good? Good colour! Bright and pumpkinny. Yum!

Once they were cooled, I settled in to try one, peeled away the wrapper... Or, at least, tried. It was stuck solid. The bottom? Burnt. The middle? Goop. The top was the best part! How misleading!

The whole lot (24 cupcakes!) wound up in the bin.

I do have another idea for the round up, so look for a success post (hopefully!!) later this week!

First Post

2007-10-08T17:27:00.000-07:00

I was inspired to enter the Cupcake Roundup that Garrett and Cheryl are hosting this year. To that end, a blog.

They're unintentionally vegan, and in the oven now.