Chocolate Luver!

MMMMMMMM.... If you love Chocolate, this is the recipe for you!  My husband loved... loved... loved these! He sat down and ate 3 of them at one time!  Though I am not sure if its the actual cake so much as the rich and fabulous ganache.  Though I have to be honest... once I baked these and tried them.. I am not so sure where the donut part comes in.  They aren't textured like a donut or anything.. I am assuming it's because there is coffee in the batter. 

Chocolate Dipped Donut Cupcake

Chocolate Dip Doughnut Cupcakes
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup boiling water
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup cold strong coffee
2 tsp. vanilla.
Preheat the oven to 350F. In a large bowl, beat the butter, oil and sugars for a minute, until well blended. Add the eggs and beat for two minutes, until pale and creamy.
Meanwhile, stir together the cocoa and boiling water – it will make a thick paste. Beat it into the butter-sugar mixture. Add half the flour, the baking soda and salt, beating on low just until combined. Add the coffee and vanilla, then the rest of the flour, beating just until blended. Divide among paper-lined muffin tins and bake for 25 minutes, until the tops are springy to the touch. Tilt them on their sides to allow steam to escape and help them cool before frosting. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen cupcakes.

Quick Ganache or Glaze: heat 1/4 cup cream and 1/4 cup honey or corn syrup in a small saucepan; take off the heat and stir in 4 oz. chopped chocolate or chocolate chips. Let sit a minute or two, then stir until smooth.

Reviews and comments:

Like I said before.. I am not sure where the donut part comes in, but they were still yummy.  Also, for these you don't pipe or spread the ganache on.  While the ganache is still a little warm you dip the cupcake in it, so they are glazed instead of iced. 

These were pretty easy to make.  I think I probably could have made the coffee I used in these a little strong. The coffee taste got lost once I baked them.  It was very noticable in the batter itself, but once it was baked.. not so much.

My husband loved these... but I still tend to think its the icing/glaze he favors. I used the ganache in last week and this weeks cupcake.. and he refers to it as "Sex in your mouth"... lol.  It is pretty darn good.. and so simple to make... heavy whipping cream warmed to a light boil, poured over a mixture of milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips, and butter = WOWZA!

A---MAY---ZING!

Picture this... peanut butter, chocolate, and bananas... sounds kinky.. huh!!! (lol..sorry for the foul humor.. got keep you guys interested some how)  This weeks cupcake was to die for!  If you like Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream... you will love this!!! ( I took a lot more pics this time! I was very excited about this recipe!!!)


Chubby Hubby Cupcake!





Chunky Hubby Cupcakessources: idea from Pink Parsley Catering
cupcake recipe: adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
ganache: adapted from Tartlettefrosting:adapted from Ina Garten
For the Roasted Bananas:1 1/2 cups bananas – sliced into 1/2″ pieces – about 4 bananas plus an extra banana for garnish, if desired
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp butter, cubed small

For the Cupcakes:2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
11 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup buttermilk

For the Chocolate Ganache:

4 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 oz milk chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 Tablespoons butter, at room temperature

For the Peanut Butter Frosting:

1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup plus 1 Tablespoon heavy cream

Directions:

Roasted Bananas:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  In a shallow baking dish, toss the sliced bananas with brown sugar and bits of butter until bananas are well-coated with sugar.  Roast for 20 minutes, turning the bananas after 10 minutes.  When the bananas have deeply browned and are caramelized, transfer them to a medium-sized bowl.  Be careful, the bananas and sugar will be very hot.  Spray a potato masher with a light coating of baking spray (like Pam) and mash the bananas up. Set aside to cool almost entirely, stirring every so often to keep them from clumping up.

Cupcakes:

When the banana have finished roasting, turn the oven down to 325 degrees F.  Line two 12-cup muffin/cupcake pans with paper liners.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together on medium speed until fluffy, about 4-5 minutes.  Scrape down the bowl, add the eggs one at a time, and beat until just combined.  Scrape down the bowl again and beat in the roasted bananas just until they are combined with the batter.  Turn the mixer to low.  Add the flour mixture and buttermilk, alternating between the two in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.  Scrape down the bowl again and mix on low for a few seconds to ensure the mixture is well-combined.

Fill the paper liners about 3/4 full.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, rotating the pans 180 degrees after 15 minutes.  Remove the pans to wires rack and cool for 10 minutes.  Remove the cupcakes from the pan and allow them to cool completely on the racks.

Ganache:

Place the chocolate in a medium bowl.  Bring the cream to a gentle boil in a small saucepan.  Pour it over the chocolate, and allow to sit for 3-4 minutes.  Add the butter to the bowl, and whisk until smooth.  Allow to sit at room temperature until it reaches a consistency suitable for piping, or refrigerate, being sure to stir every 10 minutes.

Peanut Butter Frosting:

Place the confectioners’ sugar, butter, peanut butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the sides as needed.  Add the cream and beat on high speed until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.

To assemble:

Use a small paring knife to cut out a small cone from the top of each cupcake.  Cut the end off a pastry bag fitted (a 1/4″ hole is suggested), fill with the ganache, and pipe each cupcake full of ganache.  Frost as desired with peanut butter frosting.

Note: The proportions in the above recipes make enough for 22-24 cupcakes with plenty of frosting for 24-26 well-frosted cupcakes.

 

Reviews & Notes

 

This cupcake...oh how do i describe it... This one was fantastic!  The cupcake is not too sweet so it balances out the rich chocolate ganache and peanut butter frosting.  My kids and husband were sampling along as I was baking... It was so good even my six year old was making goofy faces and noises! And my 3 year old daughter squealed with joy! 

 

To quote my husband... (and I hope this doesn't offend anyone)... "I think my tongue just had an orgasm!"  (bahahahaha I thought that was quite funny!

 

I didn't make any adjustments or subsitutions to this recipe.. I followed it exactly like it is. It is a little labor intense from start to finish. But it is soooooooooo soooooooooo worth it!!!

Recipe Two

For my second recipe, I thought I would invite my husband into the cupcake relationship :). He like many people, especially men love..... you guessed it... BACON!  This treat was created for dessert for our Alabama vs. LSU National Championship hang out.  I tried to put a manly twist on it.  What else is there to make for a bunch of men but.. Maple Bacon cupcakes! 



Maple Bacon Cupcake

On this recipe I doubled up to make 24 cupcakes, as there was a complaint last week that they only got one little cupcake each.



Bacon Maple Cupcakes

Ingredients
* 4 1/2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
* 1/2 tablespoon bacon drippings (left in the fridge to become solid)
* 1 egg
* 5 tablespoons brown sugar
* 4 tablespoons maple syrup
* 1 1/4 cups self rising flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* tiny tiny pinch kosher salt
* 1/4 cup milk
* 1/4 cup of minced bacon, cooked and drained
What you’ll do–
* 1) Cook some bacon in a fry pan (I used regular cut, hickory smoked). Reserve the drippings and place in the fridge to solidify. Mince 1/4 a cup of the bacon.
* 2) Beat the crud out of the butter and solidified bacon fat ’till light and creamy. Add the brown sugar and maple syrup and beat well until combined.
* 3) Add the egg and beat until incorporated.
* 4) Sift the flour, salt, baking soda and powder together.
* 5) Add some of the flour and mix, then some of the milk, then continue to alternate the dry and wet ingredients, ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in the bacon. Taste and add more maple syrup, flour, or milk if needed for desired taste. Keep in mind the maple frosting is very sweet, and to add in very small increments for alterations as maple syrup in large amounts can break a cake batter. ( I didn't add any extra.. once you put the icing on it's sweet enough to me!)
* 6) Scoop into cupcake papers and bake at 350 F for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Be sure to rotate the pan after the first 15 minutes for even baking.

(the hubby chopped and crumbled the bacon for me while I started on the batter, it made things a lot quicker)

Maple Syrup Frosting

Ingredients
* 4 tablespoons of butter.
* 2 tablespoons of maple syrup.
* 1 cup of powdered sugar.
* turbinado sugar (optional, but recommended).
* coarse grain sea salt (optional, but recommended).
What You’ll Do –
* Combine the syrup and butter until combined. Add the sugar, a bit at a time, and whip at high speeds until combined. Pipe or spread onto cupcakes. Sprinkle on sea salt and turbinado sugar for decoration and a lot of added flavor.
(add some crumbled BACON TOO!)

I didn't use the turbinado sugar (brown sugar in the raw) or the sea salt.

Notes and reviews:

I must  admit, my icing was a complete FAIL... but that was my fault. I forgot to take the butter out so it was room temp, so I stuck it in the microwave for 15 seconds.. it made it too soft and made my icing runny (it still tasted good though).

This one is more like a muffin texture, a little more heavy. The batter is thick. Its a savory sweet cupcake. Not to sweet and just enough salty, to make you more than likely indulge in a second one!  Think of a pancake with bacon cooked in it. I liked this one while the cupcake itself was still a little warm.

There were lots of moaning and groaning coming from the men folk... and anyone in a good relationship can tell the difference in bad moaning and groaning and GOOD moaning... So i would say over all it was another... WIN!

First Rendezvous... 1/3/2012

So my initial thought when this started was.. "I wanna make cupcakes, but I don't want to just make CUPCAKES."  So, naturally, I googled... "unique cupcake recipes". and BOOM there was an abundance of FABULOUS ideas!  So I start to sift through all the tempting recipes. I wanted something simple enough to start off with!  And then I saw it! Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes! 

(This was the last one of the batch... luckily I grabbed it to snap the pic before someone shoved it in their mouth!)


Recipe

Strawberry Lemonade CupcakesRecipe developed by Big-Black-Dog

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 egg yolks, at room temperature

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tsp Instant Pink Lemonade Mix (I used Crystal Lite)

4 large strawberries, carefully diced

Makes 9-10 regular sized cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 10 muffin cups with baking cups and set aside.

Cream butter, sugar and lemonade mix until fluffy. Add vanilla, soda, salt and eggs yolks. Mix in buttermilk and gradually add flour.

Clean berries and remove the stem. With a very sharp knife slice the berries and then dice into 1/4″ pieces careful to not crush the berries. If the berries are crushed and then added to the cupcakes, there will be too much moisture and your cupcakes will not bake properly.

Fill each baking cup with about a TBL of batter. Then sprinkle in each cup 5-6 pieces of fresh strawberry. Then add more batter per cup filling each to about 2/3 full.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until a test straw can be cleanly removed.

**This calls for 4 strawberries... but if you cut up 1 or 2 fairly large ones the right way that's all you need**

**also I didn't have and buttermilk on hand, so I subsituted!  I did 1/2 c. of 2% milk (it's what I had) and then add about 1-2 TBPS lemon juice, let it sit and thicken for about 3-5 minutes.**

Cream Cheese FrostingRecipe adapted from Sprinkle’s Cupcakes

8 ounces cold cream cheese
1 stick butter, firm but not cold
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Combine butter, salt, and cream cheese in mixer and beat on medium speed 2-3 minutes. Add sugar until just incorporated. Don’t over mix. It should be thick but not fluffy. Add vanilla.

Notes and Reviews:

These are a fantastic treat! They are not too heavy, not to sweet!  The tartness of the lemonade and the strawberries in the bottom would make this a perfect summer treat!


This recipe only makes about 10-11, needless to say.. that was not enough!  We happen to have some friends come by that night so they (along with the household folks) tried them out! Rave reviews! They loved them!  The question of the night.. When and What is the next recipe!


Ah.. I love cupcakes!

The Beginning of the Affair....

It's always been an unspoken attraction with me and cupcakes.  They are just so stinkin' cute.  I have always loved baking, but the other older I am getting the more I enjoy it.  It is my "Happy Place" so to speak.  When I am baking... nothing else in the world is happening. And that says a lot when I have a 3 and 6 year old running around like monkeys!  So like any good relationship.. I have decided to nourish my love of baking.. specifically cupcake baking!  So my resolution for NYE 2012 was to try a new cupcake recipe every week!  (Yes, I know most people's resolution is to lose weight.. and I pretty much sound like I have set out to gain.. lol)  So with the start of this blog I am actually heading in to week 3.  So I have some catching up to go with post.  I hope you all enjoy watching the affair unfold.. just promise you won't tell my hubby... he might get jealous!

P.S. Just a disclaimer... I do not pretend that these cupcake recipes are my own by any means!  I will share the recipes I have used and give you links when possible.  I hope as my torred love affair progresses and gets steamy I will be able to evolve and create my own flavors and such.. but for now I will follow the leader!