Hot Valentine Cupcakes

Posted on February 16, 2012

A cupcake for a rose? A sweet exchange...

My Valentine requested cupcakes with Red Hots, but there were none to be found. Really… Was there a run on Red Hots in Brooklyn? I had to switch gears, so I purchased a store-brand bag of cinnamon discs (individually wrapped hard candies) and a box of Hot Tamales!

Supplies

How to get the “hot” flavor in the cupcakes? I just didn’t know what to expect if I put Hot Tamales in the batter, so I went another route. I crushed cinnamon discs in a baggie with a hammer (now that’s what I call fun!) and used them instead of about half the sugar in my vanilla cupcake recipe.

I put the crushed cinnamon discs in with the sugar and butter when creaming, then proceeded as normal. The candy powder and pieces were not melding with the rest, so I let the batter sit about an hour before giving it a last mix and scooping it into the tins to bake. The time I let pass allowed the color and flavor of “cinnamon” seep into the batter for a more cohesive look and taste.

Creaming butter, sugar, and crushed cinnamon discs; newly mixed batter; after an hour

Then for the frosting… I was avoiding using any real cinnamon in these cupcakes, as I wanted to get the real fake taste of “red hot” candy right! I opened up my box of Hot Tamales with an idea.

Fun fact: Hot Tamales will burn before they melt! I cooked them on the stovetop, keeping them at a low-medium temperature with a little water, but only the outer shells melted. Sure, ok, it was partially my fault for turning away for 2 seconds, but I’m calling trying to melt Hot Tamales a “Bad Idea.”

What did work, to some extent, was simmering a couple of cinnamon discs in about 1/3 cup water, letting them dissolve. I added some of this liquid to the icing, otherwise a regular vanilla buttercream, which added a little flavor and color. I could have made it stronger, but I was scared. (As as aside, I also set some mac and cheese on fire about the same time. Oops.)

Once I had piped frosting on the cooled cakes, I added—finally—two Hot Tamales.

Mine!*

I served the cupcakes to my Valentine (and me!) with scoops of vanilla ice cream. Some lucky Webgrrls enjoyed the extra cupcakes at a workshop the next evening!

They did not taste terribly spicy, but they had a little of that red-hot kick, I’d say. I’ll let my tasters comment!

*This lovely hand-stamped vintage spoon, part of a pair (the other says “Your Ice Cream”), is from Beach House Living.

[ Posted in Candy/Cookies, Holidays ] [ 4 Comments ]

Chocolate Malted Milk Ball Cupcakes

Posted on January 24, 2012

On a whim, I made cupcakes with Whoppers to bring to a party! Not to be confused with the Burger King Whopper, Whoppers are milk chocolate malted milk balls made by the Hershey Company. They have a teeny bit less fat than some other chocolate candies and, hey, have calcium in them! Not that I am trying to say they are healthy…

I followed a recipe I like for a lighter chocolate cake, but I used only 2/3 of the cocoa it calls for. I put one cup of Whoppers in a zipped plastic baggy and went at them with a hammer. I added these crushed candies to the batter and baked as normal.

I was expecting the crushed Whoppers to really flavor these cakes, but the maltiness didn’t really come through very much. They just tasted, to me, like a very light chocolate cake. I was also thinking that the Whoppers might remain as chunks in the cake, but the candy mostly dissolved into the batter.

The consensus was that the cupcakes were good, but some had a hard time placing the flavor. “What spice is in these?” asked one party guest. (Um, only the finest ground Whopper seed?) Adding malted milk powder to the batter would have been a good idea, but I did not think of that until later!

I finished with a buttery, sugary vanilla buttercream that turned out especially well this time, according to one frequent Amélie-cupcake taster. I topped, of course, with a whole Whopper on each cupcake after frosting.

[ Posted in Candy/Cookies, Technique ] [ Leave a comment ]

Lime Cupcakes with Momélie

Posted on January 15, 2012

My mother and I had a bag full of limes and a craving for something sweet. The cover of an old magazine on her coffee table featured a beautiful lemon pie. The lemon cupcakes with lemon curd (another Martha Stewart recipe) I made for a friend’s birthday a few years ago popped into my head. “Surely I can do that with limes…”

We got on our aprons and set to work! Mama started zesting and juicing, I began mixing the batter.

I missed my stand mixer, but I loved having extra counter space and a "sous chef."

When it was time to separate the eggs, Mama had a surprise for me. Thank you to Kent of Follette Pottery for this amusingly disgusting gift to my mother, a nose (and ear and throat) doctor.

"Ewww..."

The lime curd was very yellow from the yolk. I added a drop of green food coloring. It looked awful, more slime than lime. I added a second to make it scream, “Lime!” (Or maybe… “Alien slime!”)

Martha Stewart’s recipe instructs inserting a pastry tip into the cupcake while piping to get curd in there. I didn’t have a pastry bag or tips, so I settled for a plastic baggy.  Since that wasn’t going to force any curd into the cupcake itself, I poked a hole about halfway in using the rounded end of a wooden honey dipper, which seemed about the right size (you might use a wooden spoon or similar implement). I dusted the cupcakes with powdered sugar, then piped lime curd into the holes, pooling more on the tops.

They tasted sweet and tart with a lovely lime flavor—delicate in the cake, strong in the curd.

Ready to try our creations!

Below are my modified ingredients to make these lime beauties. I halved the original recipe, which makes a huge amount! Find the full recipe (with lemons) in Martha Stewart’s cupcake cookbook, it isn’t available on her website. For the recipe online, see 52 Cupcakes or iVillage.

For 21 cupcakes
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon lime zest
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 oz. cream cheese
3 1/2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
powdered sugar

For plenty of lime curd
1 whole egg
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup lime juice
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
green food coloring (optional)

[ Posted in Decorating, Fruit, Recipes, Technique ] [ 1 Comment ]

Travel Treats: Shreveport, Louisiana

Posted on January 4, 2012

Shopping over the holidays in my hometown, I couldn’t help but check out a cupcakery I happened upon. My grandmother assisted with tasting.

Shreveport

Buttercups
6535 Youree Drive
www.ilovebuttercups.com

Buttercups at the Shoppes at Bellemead, the bakery’s second location, opened about a year ago. This is where I was shopping when I spotted frosting and sprinkles! The original Buttercups is located in Bossier in The Villaggio (1115 Villaggio Blvd., Bossier City).

As it was Christmastime, I chose the seasonal gingerbread cupcake first.

buttercups gingerbread cupcake

I hadn’t yet done my research, so I didn’t try the red velvet. You see, Kim Wood and Mary Craig of Buttercups were on season two of the Food Network’s Cupcake Wars (episode 10, if you want to check it out). Though they didn’t win overall, they were voted the best red velvet cupcake.

I settled on the most chocolately I could get for my second cupcake, and I was quite satisfied with my choice.

I had them boxed up, and I brought them to my grandmother, an expert on both chocolate and gingerbread. Both cupcakes got her stamp of approval.

“I never do this, but…” said my grandmother, as she ate up the crumbs that had fallen on her (very clean) counter!

[ Posted in Bakeries, Holidays ] [ Leave a comment ]

Mint-Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Mint Leaves

Posted on December 28, 2011

I wanted to make something special for a holiday party, so I decided to tackle Martha Stewart’s Chocolate Mint Cupcakes, complete with mint chocolate leaves. The recipe can be found online and in her cupcake cookbook.

mint chocolate cupcake

(Photo by Jason Yung)

I’m not ashamed to say that I am a Martha Stewart devotee. Some of her instructions in recipes and craft projects may be a little obsessive-compulsive, but she knows what she’s talking about. These cupcakes were more time intensive than others I’ve made lately, but they were worth it.

First, the leaves… It sounds a little crazy, but Martha’s recipe has you paint chocolate onto the back of mint leaves with a brush (one version says to use a paintbrush, the other indicates a pastry brush), refrigerate them, then peel off the mint leaf.

chocolate mint leaves

Mint leaves, newly painted (left) and after refrigeration (right)

What’s even crazier is that it worked! The chocolate leaves really came out looking like mint leaves. It was tedious to peel off the mint (I used sanitized tweezers), some broke, others melted with a touch of my hot fingers. However, I ended up with enough good-looking leaves to add one or two to each cupcake.

The cupcakes themselves were easy enough, though I felt the batter was especially thin. Noticing this as I mixed it, I added an extra 1/4 cup of flour. I know, going against Martha’s directions, but it felt like the right thing to do.

It was my first time doing this type of buttercream (a meringue buttercream of the French variety, involving yolks in addition to the egg whites), and I don’t think I realized what I was getting into. I was very glad to have 2 mixing bowls. I used my metal bowl for the steps requiring cooking in a double boiler (yolks/milk/mint and whites/sugar), washing it quickly in between, and the glass for the butter and final whipping.

meringue buttercream

Mixing the meringue into the minty butter-custard mixture

The frosting came out rich, but it was also light at the same time. It is very buttery, and might not be a match for all types of cake, but it works well on these particular cupcakes, in my opinion.

I iced the cupcakes a few at a time, peeling off mint from a chocolate leaf or two (fresh from the refrigerator or, after staying out a bit too long, the freezer) to add to each. I was pleased with the way they turned out.

mint chocolate cupcakes

Some who tasted them claimed they were amazing. They were on the rich side for me. I liked them, but one was plenty!

[ Posted in Decorating, Influences, Recipes, Technique ] [ Leave a comment ]