Chocolate Malt

Who doesn't love a good old fashioned chocolate malt every once in a while? After seeing cupcake versions of this delectable treat on various food blogs, I knew I was being challenged to make them, but of course, TEN TIMES BETTER. ;) I found a recipe online but compleeeeetely took it into my own hands. Tripled the malt powder, added extra eggs, put in some whopper pieces...and some other minor details. I'd say they came out pretty fantastic. Since malt powder is not a strong flavor, I think I did well with having the flavor truly come through in the cake and the frosting.

Curses Cristal!!! (My mom) You are so good at taking pictures. Look at that lighting and clarity. Looks like it's out of a cookbook. I took some photos but they are nothing compared to these.

 Whooops... I should probably explain the topping as well... Yes you are seeing both whipped cream and buttercream. Even though I got many votes for whipped cream, I felt the cake needed the extra sweetness of buttercream so I threw some stuff together (no recipe, just to taste) and made it taste like a malt. I only put a thin layer of that though so it wouldn't be too sweet. Then on top of the buttercream I put together whipped cream with a touch of malt powder. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. Thiiiick, and pipes beautifully. Not to mention the flavor is superb. This is another pumpkin cupcake situation where I'm way proud of myself since I can call it my own recipe. WOOOH!

P.S. 11 cupcakes left y'all!  (I did say "y'all" because I'm that excited)

Lemon Raspberry

Let's all take a moment to celebrate. ONLY TWELVE RECIPES LEFT!!!! 12121212121212121212!!! I will have soooo much more free time when this project is done! Plus a big part of my capstone will be done. Woot woot! The project's final day is March 20th...keep your eyes out for the final cupcakes around school. I will most likely continue my blog beyond this project and beyond high school, just a lot less posting. You don't even know how many recipes I have saved on my computer. There's a world of them out there!

So the cupcakes. Same batter a the lemon chiffon since I made them together. If you want to know why they have a sucky texture scroll down. After filling half the pan for the normal lemon chiffon, I mixed the leftover batter with fresh raspberry pieces that I had cut up. They're all pretty with raspberry flecks...I love it :) I also made a homeade raspberry filling. It's not the same as the puree filling I had previously made, in case you were wondering. This takes the juice from the raspberries and boils it with some other things to form a thick sauce. I reeeeally like it and it complements the cake perfectly. Definitely my favorite cupcake so far, minus the texture thing. I just really love the flavor and could eat probably six of them right now. For the frosting I used the same lemon cream cheese buttercream as the other cupcakes... gotta keep the work on my end short!

I'm tempted to go eat another! Yuuuummy :)

Lemon Chiffon

Okay I kind of messed these up. I was hoping for so much success with these only to be let down in the end! I was mixing and separating LOTS of eggs just to make them perfect, little did I know how easy it is to over mix chiffon. When they say fold or mix lightly, they suuuper mean it. I admit, I didn't do much research before making them like I normally do. I'm getting lazy...it happens.

 I will most definitely be making them again though because I LOVE LEMON. LOVE IT! I put a whole cup of lemon juice in these...mmmm mmm! Don't worry, it is not overpowering. It's just peeerfecto! The frosting is a lemon cream cheese  buttercream, and as we all know I also love cream cheese. :) It's my perfect cupcake...minus the whole chewy, rubbery texture ordeal...whoops!

Bottom line: Fantastic flavor...not so fantastic texture.

Vegan Vanilla

Let me start off by saying that I think vegan cupcakes shouldn't exist. If you're vegan...more power to you! But you are ruining a perfectly decent cupcake. Everything that makes a cupcake so great is gone! I can't use butter! BUTTER PEOPLE BUTTER. THE YUMMY FLAVORFUL DELICIOUSNESS IN THE BATTER. I can't even use it in the frosting. All the frostings that are worth mentioning have butter or some other dairy product. Then there is the who egg issue. Eggs give the cupcakes their moistness and work as a leveler. Uhhh I need my eggs! I also kind of need milk! MILKMILKMILK. Not to mention I have a tendency to throw in some sour cream to many of my batters and obviously I couldn't here. The list of things I can't use goes on and on and ooon, but I should probably evaluate these disgrace of a cupcake. (Just being real!)

I took this picture to give these cupcakes a little credit no matter how anti I may be. They turned out to be super moist (look above!) and a pretty good, light, cakey texture. It sounds good, I know, but it's really the taste of the whole cupcake that I did not like. When my mom tried these babies, she seemed okay for half a second, then her face scrunched and she gagged them up! Appealing right? I tried them and didn't spit them out immediately, but they did make my stomach hurt a little. Being brave, I took another bite...it was only of the cake this time, and it wasn't half bad. I concluded with the frosting be wretched due to my lack of shortening and salt free butter substitutions. This cupcake is in no way my cup of tea, but I know I could improve them to make them much better.


Happy Cupcaking :)

The Final Countdown!

All that is left...

1. Lemon Raspberry
2. Lemon Chiffon
3. Coconut Snowball
4. Almond Joy
5. Froot Loops or Skittles
6. White Chocolate Mocha
7. Cappuccino Chip
8. Caramel Machiatto
9. Pistachio
10. Berries N' Creme
11. Triple Butterscotch
12. Chocolate Malt
13. S'mores
14. SPECIAL SUPER SUPRISE LAST CUPCAKE TBD!

Gluten Free Red Velvet

Oh. my. word. These were actually pretty delicious. The person who only eats cupcakes on occasion (meeee) had two! TWO! If you know me that is a big deal. I was so proud of myself for these cupcakes. I got a tip from Emily Miller to use Pamela's Baking Mix. Thank you so much! It made a difference I'm sure! These cupcakes were great. They tasted like red velvet but had more of a carrot cake texture. My friends mom told me they were the best gluten free cupcakes she had ever tried and that made me happier than you could imagine. One problem I encountered was that the cupcakes fell in the center. The manufacturers do have a little disclaimer about using a thick batter but I thought I could outsmart them and use a light, fluffy batter. My logic was that if the flour substitute is so coarse, then I need a light batter to counter balance. I can't imagine how the texture would have been with a thicker batter, but I will try that next time I make gluten free. The best part about them falling is MORE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING!!!! My favorite frosting of all time. I can eat it plain. LOVELOVELOVELOVE!!! Anyways...I'm super proud of myself and the end!

Happy Cupcaking!

Pineapple Upside-Down

I have never in my life tried pineapple upside-down. I did a lot of research on these before making them since I had no idea what they should taste like. After finally deciding on recipes, I was really not satisfied with the final result. I come to these cupcakes in the morning before school (I'm hungry and I love pineapple) and I decide to try them. First bite...I instantly spit it out. They were so gross! The pineapple made the bottom gross and runny and it didn't brown like in the pictures online. I got positive feedback but I think people may have just been nice because boy oh boy these were gross. One of my friends I could tell genuinely enjoyed the cupcake, but I really want to try making it again.

To explain these a little better, I'll do a quick break down of the cupcake. At the bottom is a buttered, brown sugared pineapple and a maraschino cherry. Over that is yellow cake with a hint of pineapple. I then finished the cupcakes off with a brown sugar frosting. I wasn't a fan of the frosting either so next time I will be making a recipe from my own brain. I just really don't like these cupcakes in the slightest.

Birthday Cake

It's a classic, and I was feeling lazy, so I made some Birthday Cake. Yellow cake and some delicious chocolate buttercream. What more can I say? I was super fascinated by the frosting. All the chocolate buttercream I've made so far has been a dream to pipe. I love it so much. I even when crazy taking up close super awesome coolio macro photos of the frosting. Seeee...

So festive and cute! Love it!

Interesting things:

Betty Crocker’s 1-2-3-4 cake is an excellent example of this way of measuring. Today, this recipe continues in use for both large cakes and cupcakes: One cup butter, two cups sugar, three cups flour and four eggs, plus one cup milk. Flavor to your taste, but a combination of vanilla and almond extracts is delicious.

I like it!

Neapolitan

This project, no doubt, has taken over my life! Just when I get a day to relax I remember that I have cupcakes to make. Don't get my wrong, baking is my passion, but this is overkill! I think I have 15 recipes left? Maybe less...I will count soon.Not only is the baking annoying but updating my blog can be a hassle. Yeah I should probably stop complaining about now...can't a girl vent??! :)

So for what's really important...these cupcakes! Neapolitan, the beloved ice cream. I am personally against mixing flavors and foods in anyway. I like having a nice dinner plate where nothing runs off onto another item. Like when you have fries and the restaurant puts a pickle over a couple of fries...EW. Absolutely hate that. I don't want soggy pickle fries!!! PICKLE FRIES, bleeeeh. Same goes for ice cream; vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry shouldn't be together but yet I put them together in cupcake form.

This recipe took waaaay to much time for me to really want to make again, but some actually really enjoyed it. My neighbor actually loved them so much, but I don't think it's appropriate to write her comment haha. My mom said it tasted just like ice cream which is what I hoped to achieve. A few people suggested a buttercream frosting, which I think is a fantastic idea. If I ever make this recipe again I will definitely try buttercream.

Originally when making these I was hoping for a perfectly layered cupcake where you could see each color separately but that didn't work out so swell. The problem as that the chocolate layer had a thinner batter. Therefore the equally thick vanilla and strawberry batters pushed the chocolate to the outside. I just need a thicker chocolate and I think it could be a real success.

I did have help making these and I am really grateful that Hannah was there. She did however mess up. We both have two sides to the story, and mine, of course, is the real story. ;) I left her in charge of starting the strawberry batter and Miss Hannah was cracking some eggs. She was being all cool with her marvelous egg cracking, but then something unexpected happened. DUN DUN DUN!!! SHE DROPPED THE EGGSHELL IN THE BOWL WITH THE MIXER GOING! AHHH On top of that she gasped and ran away from the mixer without turning it off. Superhero Jasmine came to the rescue and shut down the eggshell eating machine, saving all cupcake consumers from the horrors of the eggshell. This is a huge exaggeration, but hey, makes a great story. Regardless of this fiasco, she was a great help!

Now to reveal the beauties!!!

Upcoming Flavors

1 Neopolitan
2. Vegan
3. Gluten- Free
4. Lemon Raspberry
5. Lemon Chiffon
6. Coconut Snowball
7. Almond Joy
8. Froot Loops or Skittles
9. Pineapple Upside Down
10. Birthday Cake

More to come!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry

I've been dreaming about making these for the longest time! I'm pretty sure I invented this cupcake so if after this things start popping up, I know and you know where they got the idea from. ;) I was thinking why not put a strawberry inside a cupcake? I did some research and it turns out other people put strawberries in cupcakes so I was a little disappointed I didn't come up with it first. Nonetheless, I wanted something to be my own idea so I kept with the the whole strawberry but switched it up a bit. Then it came to me! Put a chocolate covered strawberry inside!! How much cooler is a chocolate covered strawberry than just a normal one? (The answer: A LOT!)  Then my brain was going and coming up with cake bases and frostings until I settled on this baby here!!!!

Aren't they pretty? I was trying to make them look like a chocolate covered strawberry, and I think I was pretty successful. What I decided on for the cupcake was a chocolate cake base. I then filled them with a strawberry dipped in white chocolate. ( I got the contrast going on!) Of course I had to finish the cupcake off with chocolate ganache and white chocolate drizzle. I even decided to put the strawberry tops back on. I think they're visually appealing and came out exactly how I wanted them too. I don't normally toot my own horn this much, but I'm really, super proud of myself!

The insiiiiide! (Pretty pictures with the red background, courtesy of my mama! She's good huh?)

Happy Cupcaking!! :)

Chocolate Raspberry

I'd have to say I'm not really that passionate about these cupcakes. I didn't really care about taking pictures of them or even decorating them all that nicely. I think it's because my next post is like my baby! :) These cupcakes are a chocolate base, filled with a homemade raspberry puree. I frosted them with a jam buttercream, which if not served cold with cover your hands. (Hahaha Natalia can tell you more!) Even with that flaw I got positive feedback so that's good I guess. Next time I might try have a raspberry whipped cream frosting... I love whipped cream so whenever I can use it I will!

Vanilla Bean Cookies N' Creme

Now that I'm making two recipes in one day, I needed to find something to go with the vanilla bean base for the orangesicle cupcakes. I've made regular cookies n' creme before so I just redid that recipe but with vanilla Jojo's from Trader Joe's. There are so many flavored Oreo's and Jojo's that I could make an array of cookies n' creme cupcakes...oh the possibilities!

 I think the cupcake was a great concept but I heard it was super sweet. But I also got feedback from people that really enjoyed the sweetness. So maybe if I had a bakery it wouldn't be a regular cupcake just something that rotates through the selections.

Vanilla Bean Fun Facts!!!

"In baking, cream the vanilla with the shortening or butter portion of the ingredients. The fat encapsulates the vanilla, preventing it from volatilizing in the baking process

The entire vanilla cultivation process, from planting to market, can take from five to six years!

The United States consumption of vanilla beans is approximately 1,200 tons per year!"

Source: http://www.nielsenmassey.com/vanillafunfacts.htm

Orangesicle

Sorry for posting these late! I'v been really lazy and my mom finally nagged me enough that I am here posting once again. I had seen this flavor in local cupcake shops before but their cupcakes never really seemed to catch the essence of a orangesicle pop. They tend to be just orange cake with vanilla frosting and that is not what I wanted. I did a lot of research on this recipe to figure out exactly what I wanted. For the cupcake I settled on a vanilla bean base since it resembles ice cream the most. In order to make the orange taste come through in the cupcake I chose to experiment with the poke cake technique. I had never done it before so I was worried they wold come out soggy. Basically you mix flavored jell-o with water and pour it over cupcakes that have poked holes in them. It supposed to create a tye-dyeish effect but that didn't work too well for me. I didn't pour as much jell-o as I thought I did so the effect didn't show like I wanted. Next time though I'll do it better.

As for the frosting I made two different types and swirled them together. I think this aspect is what captured the orangesicle taste most. The white is a marshmallow fluff made from scratch and the orange is an orange buttercream. I kept adding in orange juice to make the flavor come through but it was getting runny and still lacking flavor. I then just took a lemon and went to town! I bet you couldn't even tell it was lemon-orange frosting. The orange color is deceiving. :) Overall I like how they came out...next time I just need to master the poke cake technique!

Triple Chocolate

CHOCOLATE LOVERS BEWARE! These baby's are LOADED with chocolate. From the base to the filling to the frosting: you cannot escape the chocolately goodness. I used the same devil's food cake bases that I did for the dirt cupcakes since I was doing another half and half. (Getting this project done!) Inside I filled each cupcakes with a rich, semisweet ganache.

Then I topped each cupcakes off with the prettiest chocolate frosting ever. It was so smooth and easy to pipe! I will deeeefinitely be making the frosting over an over again. It consists of melted chocolate, dutch process powder, buuuttter, sour cream, and cream cheese. I absolutely love it but it is not for the weak! Be careful when you eat them, they might literally knock your socks off! :)

Worms and Dirt

Classic dirt, mud, worms pudding cake from many of our childhoods, so I really don't think these need much of an explanation. Nonetheless, they are a devil's food cake base filled and topped with fudge pudding. My dear friend Abby dipped them in crushed Oreos and topped them with gummy worms. I'm so happy Abby was there to do all the little things I didn't want to. If you are free during the week and want to help me bake come on over... I need as much help as I can get.

As you can see I'm getting pretty lazy with my blog posts but I promise the next one will be much better.

Keep on reading and Happy Cupcaking! :)

Banana Cream Pie

Since you already know I'm definitely not a fan of bananas, I'd have to say I was waaaay excited to make these cupcakes! I came up with the concept on my own and I also got a chance to make stabilized whipped cream!!! (If you don't know that means it's whipped cream with gelatin to make it stable and thick.) So I placed a nilla wafer on the bottom to serve as the pie crust, then I made banana cake, and filled each cupcakes with banana cream pie filling.

I of course had to top them off with whipped cream for the full pie effect. I'm thinking of making these in lemon pie form out of purely selfish reasons, but hey I have to bake things I like every once in a while.

P.S. Now before getting a cupcake you have a cost. You have to ask me how my day was or how I am because now people don't even greet me anymore. I think people only see me as a giant cupcake, but heeellllo I am a human who does not want to be used for her baked goods! You dig?

 :)

Banana Chocolate Chip

Today I made a half and half recipe to knock some out of the way. I decided on Banana Chocolate Chip and Banana Cream Pie. I can't give you a review of the cake just yet since I kind of really hate bananas, but I can review the frosting. I really wanted a cream cheese frosting but turns out I had no cream cheese in my fridge. Buuuummer so I threw together a sour cream/ nutella/ cocoa frosting. It was interesting tasting but it's all I have to put on the cupcakes. When you eat them pretend it's a cream cheese frosting. :)