I made some rich chocolate cupcakes topped with a creamy, intense, sugary caramel on a hot summer day. They had to travel to a party in the trunk of a car.
And this is what happened to the icing:
So it goes! They were still tasty, even though some of the tops looked like topographic maps.
One of the survivors of this batch—a cupcake unexposed to the elements—featured in a (private) video for a friend’s birthday. I sampled the cupcake while my fiancé danced.
I love fresh summer berries! I’ve been getting lots of strawberries and blueberries from my CSA and baking cupcakes was a perfect way to use up some extras. It was also about time to test out my new oven. Yes, renovation of my teeny kitchen is near completion, and the appliances are installed and in working order!
I puréed the berries rather than leaving them whole (unlike the peaches and blueberries last summer) and mixed them into what was basically vanilla cupcake batter with a little less liquid than normal. I added cinnamon and black pepper for a kick.
I topped them off with a generous dollop of cream cheese icing. I was happy for lots of creamy icing when it came to eating these, as they turned out a little dry. My new oven bakes a little faster than the old, it seems. No complaints from my tasters, though! (Merci, Idlewild classmates!)
To create a fun and unique cupcake for my fiancé’s birthday party, I mimicked another popular dessert. I started with banana cupcakes and cut out a core to fill with puréed fresh pineapple, then topped the cakes with banana slices for good measure.
For the topping, I made a whipped cream icing. The secret to “whipped cream” that will stand up to hours at room temperature? Cream cheese. Get the recipe I used at All Recipes.com.
I added strawberry and chocolate sauces and finished, of course, with a cherry on top!
A couple of days during the work week, I wake up earlier than I’d like and meet what is usually a handful of morning people at my local studio for 75 minutes of yoga. Janna Leyde has been my Thursday teacher for almost a year. I leave her class awake, invigorated, and ready to face my day.
Janna also teaches yoga to her dad. He is a traumatic brain injury survivor.
Janna’s father was forever changed by a car wreck when she was 14, and she has written this book to help others understand traumatic brain injury survivors and what their families go through. Her story is one of love and perseverance, pain and frustration, and she tells it with honesty and humor. As she puts it herself, it is “the unabashedly honest perspective of a girl who lost her father and learned to love a stranger.”
I was happy to make cupcakes for the He Never Liked Cake launch party.
Why peanut butter? It’s a flavor both Janna and her dad like. In the book, she makes a peanut butter and berry smoothie for them after practicing yoga. And banana, of course, goes with peanut butter. (It’s also a great smoothie ingredient!)
What does the title mean? You’ll have to read the book. Buy it at Bookcourt in Brooklyn or online at Amazon.
I promised to bake chocolate cupcakes for my fellow classmates after I included a recipe as part of my advanced beginner French presentation. I decorated them with some leftover cupcake toppers featuring dinosaurs, cats, robots and spaceships. These acted as mini-flashcards, once I labeled them in French. Mon professeur préférait le dinosaure rouge.
Below is the recipe in French and its English translation. (Note: I’ve made a few additions/changes to the English version since this post was first published.) I also included a recipe for the basic buttercream icing I used on the class’s cupcakes. Bon appétit!
1 1/2 bâton de beurre
2/3 tasse de sucre blanc
2/3 tasse de sucre marron
2 œufs
2 cuillères à café de extrait de vanille
1 tasse de lait battu
1/2 tasse de crème
2 cuillères à soupe de café
1 3/4 tasses de farine
1 tasse de cacao en poudre
1 1/2 cuillères à café de bicarbonate de soude
1 pincée de sel
Préchauffez votre four à 350 degrés Fahrenheit. Avec un batteur électrique, mélangez le beurre et le sucre pendant cinq minutes. Puis, ajoutez des œufs, un à la fois, et ajoutez l’extrait de vanille.
Dans un bol, combinez la farine, le cacao, le bicarbonate de soude et le sel. Dans un autre bol, mélangez le lait, la crème et le café.
Ajoutez les deux mélanges au bol avec le beurre, le sucre et les œufs. Mélangez bien.
Mettez la pâte dans les moules à muffins. Cuisez-les pendant vingt minutes.
Makes about 18 cupcakes
1 1/2 sticks of butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup sour cream, buttermilk or plain yogurt (or a combo)
2 tablespoons coffee (brewed)
1 cup cocoa powder
1 3/4 cups of flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
a pinch of salt
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar for five minutes. Then, add the eggs, one at a time, and add the vanilla extract.
In a bowl, sift together the flour, the cocoa, the baking soda and the salt. In another bowl, mix the buttermilk, the sour cream (or yogurt) and the coffee.
Add the two mixtures to the bowl with the butter, the sugar and the eggs. It is best to alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients. Mix well.
Put the batter into muffin tins lined with cupcake papers. Bake them for 20 minutes. (Rotate after 10 minutes, check at 18 minutes.) Let cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove to cool completely on racks.
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