Ahhh, springtime is wonderful- it marks warmth, sunshine and LOTS OF BIRTHDAYS!
Today is my friend Mimi's birthday. So Red Velvet cake it was. The funny part of red velvet cake though, is that its only red because the massive amount of food coloring in it. This particular recipe, adapted from Paula Deen, doesn't use a lot of cocoa powder, so you can easily make this Purple Velvet (if you were Shena) or Blue Velvet or what ever color velvet you wanted it to be. Really, its nothing more then a glorified vanilla cupcake if you ask me.
But tasty nonetheless. I made pretty much a standard cream cheese frosting, but I also added Madagascar vanilla bean. Adds a slight crunch and a lovely aromatic flavor of vanilla. Yum.
Also fun and optional is a fun sugar crystal rim.
Happy Birthday Mimi!
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese
ingredients
2.5 c ap flour
1.5 c granulated white sugar
1 tsp b soda
1 tsp salt
1 tblsp cocoa powder
1.5 c vegetable oil
1 c buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tblspn red food coloring (1 bottle) or 1 big scoop of gel food coloring
1 tsp white distilled vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
frosting
1 stick butter, RT
1 8oz package cream cheese, RT
.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp milk
2-3 c sifted powder sugar
seeds scrapped out of .5 vanilla bean (optional)
instructions
1. preheat oven to 350F, line cupcake pan with paper lines
2. in your mixer, mix together all wet ingredients for cake
3. while wet ingredients are mixing, sift together all dry ingredients
4. when all wet ingredients are well incorporated, mix in 1/2 of the dry ingredients at a time until all dry ingredients have been mixed in
5. fill cupcake pans 2/3 of the way, bake for 10-15 minutes until cake tester comes out clean.
6. let cool on wire rack
while your cupcakes are baking..... make the frosting!
7. cream together your butter and cream cheese. This should take about 3 or 4 minutes
8. add the vanilla bean, vanilla extract and milk
8. add powdered sugar until you've reached your desired consistency
9. spread over cooled cupcakes
yield = 18 ish cupcakes, with enough frosting for all 18
Showing posts with label cupcakes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cupcakes. Show all posts
Friday, March 19, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Vanilla Coconut Cupcake
Ah, what can I say? I love cupcakes. We all know that.
We had a little pot luck with the graduate council that was themed international. Logic states that I should have made something Vietnamese, but whatever, I like making cupcakes. I haven't had time to concoct red bean, mung bean, whatever bean with coconut cupcakes possibilities, so I did the next best thing: VANILLA COCONUT. YUM.
Jenny made the BEST Glass noodle chicken stir fry something or another. I seriously could NOT stop eating it. oink oink.
This recipe is super simple and isn't composed of anything fancy except for maybe the coconut milk. In a well stocked kitchen, most ingredients I'm sure you'll have handy and if you don't have the coconut milk, you can use regular milk.... you'll just end up with Vanilla Cupcakes.
I'm blogging this mainly because Mimi gave the cupcakes the OK. Its gotta be half decent if Mimi gives the seal of approval right? Feed back seemed especially positive regarding the frosting, which is nothing more then a simple egg white + sugar + cream of tartar frosting. The frosting was almost of a fluff like consistency: sugary, sticky, gooey goodness! If you have ever had royal icing and wish that there was a light and fluffy form of it, well, this would be it!
The cake itself is light-ish, and has a very subtle coconut flavor. It's also super time sensitive. I accidentally stopped paying attention and left them in about 1 or 2 minutes too long and they came out slightly dry, so as soon as that top looks ready and the toothpick comes out clean, take those puppies OUT!
Vanilla Coconut Cupcakes
ingredients
for cake
1 stick (8 tblspn) butter softened
1 c white sugar
3 lrg eggs
2.5c AP flour
1.5 tsp b. powder
.5 tsp b. soda
.5 tsp salt
.5 c coconut milk (or whole milk)
.5 c vegetable oil
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 c coconut shavings, optional
instructions
1. preheat oven to 350F, line cupcake pans with paper liners
2. in your mixer, beat together butter and sugar, about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy
3. in a separate bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients
4. in another bowl, mix together all wet ingredients, except for the eggs
4. into the mixer, beat in one egg at a time, beating well after each egg. Don't forget to scrap down the sides between egg addition.
5. in an alternating fashion (and mixing well between additions) add 1/3 dry ingredients, 1/2 wet ingredients, 1/3 dry ingredients, rest of wet ingredients, rest of dry ingredients (starting and ending with dry ingredients).
6. Your batter should be light, fluffy and quite airy at this point. Spoon in to pans until 2/3rds full.
7. Bake 15-18 minutes until slightly golden brown and cake tester (ie toothpick) comes out clean.
8. let cool on wire rack, then proceed to ice with Icing and top off with coconut shavings if desired.
makes about 24 regular sized cupcakes or 12 regular ones and 6 big ones
Vanilla Sugar Icing
ingredients
2 lrg egg whites
1 c white sugar
2 tblspn light corn syrup
2 tblspn water
.25 tsp cream of tartar
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
instructions
1. fill a pot with about 1 inch of water and heat until simmering.
2. in a heat tolerant bowl, whisk together all ingredients. (see end note)
3. place bowl over pot (but don't let it touch the water!) and whisk until the mixture temperature reaches 160F, this will ensure all bacteria have been killed off. Using a hand mixer, beat over the simmering water until you get a nice and fluffy frosting, voila! finished!
NOTE If you are like me, and do not have a hand mixer but instead a stand mixer (I know, that is reverse of how it should be), you can heat up your mixture in your mixer bowl and as long as it reaches the 160F for 15-20 seconds, you can remove from the heat and beat your sugar mixture into frosting that way.
yields about 3.5 cups frosting
We had a little pot luck with the graduate council that was themed international. Logic states that I should have made something Vietnamese, but whatever, I like making cupcakes. I haven't had time to concoct red bean, mung bean, whatever bean with coconut cupcakes possibilities, so I did the next best thing: VANILLA COCONUT. YUM.
Jenny made the BEST Glass noodle chicken stir fry something or another. I seriously could NOT stop eating it. oink oink.
This recipe is super simple and isn't composed of anything fancy except for maybe the coconut milk. In a well stocked kitchen, most ingredients I'm sure you'll have handy and if you don't have the coconut milk, you can use regular milk.... you'll just end up with Vanilla Cupcakes.
I'm blogging this mainly because Mimi gave the cupcakes the OK. Its gotta be half decent if Mimi gives the seal of approval right? Feed back seemed especially positive regarding the frosting, which is nothing more then a simple egg white + sugar + cream of tartar frosting. The frosting was almost of a fluff like consistency: sugary, sticky, gooey goodness! If you have ever had royal icing and wish that there was a light and fluffy form of it, well, this would be it!
The cake itself is light-ish, and has a very subtle coconut flavor. It's also super time sensitive. I accidentally stopped paying attention and left them in about 1 or 2 minutes too long and they came out slightly dry, so as soon as that top looks ready and the toothpick comes out clean, take those puppies OUT!
Vanilla Coconut Cupcakes
ingredients
for cake
1 stick (8 tblspn) butter softened
1 c white sugar
3 lrg eggs
2.5c AP flour
1.5 tsp b. powder
.5 tsp b. soda
.5 tsp salt
.5 c coconut milk (or whole milk)
.5 c vegetable oil
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 c coconut shavings, optional
instructions
1. preheat oven to 350F, line cupcake pans with paper liners
2. in your mixer, beat together butter and sugar, about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy
3. in a separate bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients
4. in another bowl, mix together all wet ingredients, except for the eggs
4. into the mixer, beat in one egg at a time, beating well after each egg. Don't forget to scrap down the sides between egg addition.
5. in an alternating fashion (and mixing well between additions) add 1/3 dry ingredients, 1/2 wet ingredients, 1/3 dry ingredients, rest of wet ingredients, rest of dry ingredients (starting and ending with dry ingredients).
6. Your batter should be light, fluffy and quite airy at this point. Spoon in to pans until 2/3rds full.
7. Bake 15-18 minutes until slightly golden brown and cake tester (ie toothpick) comes out clean.
8. let cool on wire rack, then proceed to ice with Icing and top off with coconut shavings if desired.
makes about 24 regular sized cupcakes or 12 regular ones and 6 big ones
Vanilla Sugar Icing
ingredients
2 lrg egg whites
1 c white sugar
2 tblspn light corn syrup
2 tblspn water
.25 tsp cream of tartar
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
instructions
1. fill a pot with about 1 inch of water and heat until simmering.
2. in a heat tolerant bowl, whisk together all ingredients. (see end note)
3. place bowl over pot (but don't let it touch the water!) and whisk until the mixture temperature reaches 160F, this will ensure all bacteria have been killed off. Using a hand mixer, beat over the simmering water until you get a nice and fluffy frosting, voila! finished!
NOTE If you are like me, and do not have a hand mixer but instead a stand mixer (I know, that is reverse of how it should be), you can heat up your mixture in your mixer bowl and as long as it reaches the 160F for 15-20 seconds, you can remove from the heat and beat your sugar mixture into frosting that way.
yields about 3.5 cups frosting
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Giant Birthday Cupcake
So I realized I haven't posted in a while in general or really post a recipe at all. So let's remedy that.
June is the month of birthdays. One of my best friends, Kristina, was turning 23 (okay, so its come and gone by now). Anyhow, she is not an avid cake eater by any means unless it is Funfetti.
We both have fond memories of late night all nighters where I would bake us a pan of funfetti cake and we would eat that all night drinking cokes to stay awake to study. So in celebration of her 23rd birthday, I thought to make her the ultimate Funfetti Cupcake.
Here I used 2 boxes of Pilsbury Funfetti cupcake mix, 1 can of funfetti frosting, and topped it off with a homemade whipped cream cheese frosting.
You'll also want to make this delightful Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting first, so that you can let it set in the fridge
Giant Birthday Cupcake
Materials:
3 8 inch, round pans prepped with parchment paper
1 10-11 inch glass bowl (that can be used in the oven), coated with Pam or other non stick spray
Stand or Hand mixer
Aluminum Foil
Parchment paper
Ingredients:
2 boxes of cake mix (flavor of your choice)
ingredients to make the mix (eggs, water, oil)
1 can frosting (flavor of your choice)
Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:
-1 pint (or 2 cups) of heavy whipping cream
-1/3 cup light agave nectar (if you do not have agave nectar, you can use 1/2 cup regular white sugar)
-1 tbl spoon vanilla extract
-1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
1. Into a stainless steel or copper bowl, cream together the agave nectar, vanilla extract and cream cheese until well mixed.
2. Turn your mixer on medium and slowly add the heavy cream. As the cream and sugar cheese mixture whippes together, it should start looking like whipped cream. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.
3. refrigerate for 1-2 hrs until stiff. This is especially important if you are using the agave nectar because the whipped cream is a little looser.
The cake:
1. Prepare the cake mix according to box directions. I make one box at a time to ensure that I do not over mix. It IS possible to over mix with box cake.
2. Fill each of the 8 inch round pan 1/2 of the way with batter. Pour remaining batter into the glass bowl.
3. Bake at 350F until tooth pick comes out clean for the 3 8inche pans. The glass bowl will take a bit longer. Once I take the rounds out, I turn down the temperature to 325F to prevent burning and bake until the toothpick comes out clean (almost 1 hr).
4. Cool on wire rack
5. While the cake is cooling, prepare the "foil wrapper". Roll out strips of parchment ~ 2.5 - 3 inches wide. Fold accordion style about 1/2 inch. Do the same with the aluminum foil
6. Layer the cakes and frost with can frosting. You can skip frosting the top because that is going to be topped with the whipped cream cheese frosting
7. Put a thick layer of canned frosting around the sides of the cake. This will help the parchment wrapper stick to the cake. Slowly wrap the folded parchment around the cake. Repeat with the foil.
8. Take your whipped cream cheese frosting out of the fridge and divide. Using food coloring (I used gel), lightly mix in the color of choice.
9. frost the top with color A, followed by color B. repeat until you have a "stacked" look.
10. Garnish with sprinkles or colored sugar if desired.
Serves 15
June is the month of birthdays. One of my best friends, Kristina, was turning 23 (okay, so its come and gone by now). Anyhow, she is not an avid cake eater by any means unless it is Funfetti.
We both have fond memories of late night all nighters where I would bake us a pan of funfetti cake and we would eat that all night drinking cokes to stay awake to study. So in celebration of her 23rd birthday, I thought to make her the ultimate Funfetti Cupcake.
Here I used 2 boxes of Pilsbury Funfetti cupcake mix, 1 can of funfetti frosting, and topped it off with a homemade whipped cream cheese frosting.
You'll also want to make this delightful Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting first, so that you can let it set in the fridge
Giant Birthday Cupcake
Materials:
3 8 inch, round pans prepped with parchment paper
1 10-11 inch glass bowl (that can be used in the oven), coated with Pam or other non stick spray
Stand or Hand mixer
Aluminum Foil
Parchment paper
Ingredients:
2 boxes of cake mix (flavor of your choice)
ingredients to make the mix (eggs, water, oil)
1 can frosting (flavor of your choice)
Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:
-1 pint (or 2 cups) of heavy whipping cream
-1/3 cup light agave nectar (if you do not have agave nectar, you can use 1/2 cup regular white sugar)
-1 tbl spoon vanilla extract
-1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
1. Into a stainless steel or copper bowl, cream together the agave nectar, vanilla extract and cream cheese until well mixed.
2. Turn your mixer on medium and slowly add the heavy cream. As the cream and sugar cheese mixture whippes together, it should start looking like whipped cream. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.
3. refrigerate for 1-2 hrs until stiff. This is especially important if you are using the agave nectar because the whipped cream is a little looser.
The cake:
1. Prepare the cake mix according to box directions. I make one box at a time to ensure that I do not over mix. It IS possible to over mix with box cake.
2. Fill each of the 8 inch round pan 1/2 of the way with batter. Pour remaining batter into the glass bowl.
3. Bake at 350F until tooth pick comes out clean for the 3 8inche pans. The glass bowl will take a bit longer. Once I take the rounds out, I turn down the temperature to 325F to prevent burning and bake until the toothpick comes out clean (almost 1 hr).
4. Cool on wire rack
5. While the cake is cooling, prepare the "foil wrapper". Roll out strips of parchment ~ 2.5 - 3 inches wide. Fold accordion style about 1/2 inch. Do the same with the aluminum foil
6. Layer the cakes and frost with can frosting. You can skip frosting the top because that is going to be topped with the whipped cream cheese frosting
7. Put a thick layer of canned frosting around the sides of the cake. This will help the parchment wrapper stick to the cake. Slowly wrap the folded parchment around the cake. Repeat with the foil.
8. Take your whipped cream cheese frosting out of the fridge and divide. Using food coloring (I used gel), lightly mix in the color of choice.
9. frost the top with color A, followed by color B. repeat until you have a "stacked" look.
10. Garnish with sprinkles or colored sugar if desired.
Serves 15
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