Toffee Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Posted on February 19, 2013

Birthday girls get their wishes, and one of my friend’s was to have toffee cupcakes at her party.

toffee cupcake

These were easy. I make what amounts to toffee chip cupcakes, adding about a cup of Heath Toffee Bits to a basic vanilla cupcake recipe. For the frosting, I melted a square of unsweetened chocolate and added it to my basic buttercream recipe until it tasted right! A generous sprinkle of toffee pieces and crumbs finished them nicely.

Next time, maybe I’ll try my hand at making homemade toffee!

Her new age is the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything, but I fell short of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy theme. I did add a robot and a couple of spaceships I had on hand.

robot toffee cupcakes

What did they taste like? Well, I’ll have to tell you next week. I’m off the sugar for a few days (don’t be shocked), but I froze two samples for later research.

From the honoree:

The toffee had a chewy crunch and a very slightly salty tang. It was perfect with the sweet, moist cake

toffee2

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Tasting Tour NYC: Crumbs

Posted on January 29, 2013

I have so much to celebrate right now! A little over a week ago was both my birthday and my company‘s 8-year anniversary. I also became engaged on New Year’s Eve. (Yes, Jason wants to make sure I follow through on that lifetime’s supply of cupcakes I promised him in exchange for photographing for my blog.)

So, after lunch the other day, I decided I needed a celebratory cupcake immediately. I stopped at the first available cupcakery.

Manhattan

Crumbs Bake Shop
655 6th Avenue
www.crumbs.com

Crumbs Starlight Cupcake

There is a Crumbs near my office, and, though I pass it all the time, I never go in. I honestly never find bakeries that tempting, because I’m usually baking myself. However, it’s been awhile and I was craving a sweet bite. Even a chain would do…

The first thing I noticed was how big the cupcakes are. These things are HUGE and 500-600 calories. It’s their thing, these oversized cupcakes are their “Signature” Cupcakes. They do have minis, but I was told they only come in 6- or 12-packs.

I next noticed that Crumbs’ cupcakes are very pretty. They have put together some yummy-looking cupcakes topped with sprinkles, cookies, candy, all sorts of goodies. Several are over-the-top.

I picked a Pink Starlight Cupcake because it was pretty and sparkly and, ok, bridal. The description—vanilla cake and icing with chocolate mousse inside—sounded great.

It is too bad they don’t taste quite as good as they look. It was not bad, I just wasn’t impressed. I could tell it was not made recently, but I didn’t expect fresh out of the oven midafternoon. The cake was dense and doughy—ok but not very flavorful. The chocolate mousse inside did not taste like chocolate to me, but as there wasn’t much of it, it was hard to tell.

The verdict? My Crumbs sample tasted like good grocery store cake. I’m not bashing grocery bakeries. Some make tasty treats, but it is hard to get the freshness of a home-baked or small bakery cake. Crumbs does say that they do not use preservatives, which is great and more than can be said for your average grocery store.

Crumbs has locations all over the country. If you are in NYC, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, or Chicago, they provide local delivery. Elsewhere, order online, and they’ll freeze them and overnight them to you.

[ Posted in Bakeries ] [ 2 Comments ]

Cupcakes au chocolat et au vin rouge (Red Wine Chocolate Cupcakes)

Posted on December 31, 2012

My New Year’s Eve post involves baking with alcohol, which seems appropriate considering the revelry many will be up to tonight! Have a safe and happy NYE, everyone!

I was sad to learn that “cupcakes” does not translate to les petits gateaux (“little cakes”) in French. Apparently, they are too American. They are just called les cupcakes. Nevertheless, what else was I to make for my French class’s end-of-the-year party?

red wine cupcakes

Since cupcakes are not French, I decided to add a little something to them that the French love—wine! You may not realize it, but chocolate and wine can go well together. Dark chocolate and cabernet sauvignon, for example, make a luscious pair. Many sweeter wines such as Moscato and port will even work with a milk chocolate.

The wine for these cupcakes, of course, had to be French. I turned to Gowanus Wine Merchants (www.gowanuswines.com, 493 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn, NY) to help me choose a fruit forward red wine that would pair well with chocolate. I also wanted to be able to enjoy drinking the rest of the bottle with my classmates, so I needed more than just a cooking wine. Co-owner Rick Lopez, who opened the store with Tom Hyland earlier this year, guided me to a bottle of Tramontane Carignan Noir, which fit the bill.

tramontane wine

Wine went in both the cake and the icing. The recipe I used was close to this one from Sprinkle Bakes, though I used only cocoa in mine (and not Chianti!). I put straight wine into the batter, but I reduced a cup of le vin with sugar for the icing.

The cake didn’t taste like wine to me, but I do think the wine enhanced the chocolate. There was a strong hint of red wine grapes in the icing, though, which was interesting. Good interesting… The cake itself wasn’t very sweet, but the icing made up for that! One classmate commented that the cake tasted buttery, which I believe was a good thing, too.

cupcakes in class

La classe aime les cupcakes d’Amélie!

They were fun to make and definitely did not taste like your run-of-the-mill chocolate cupcakes. I think these would be great for many a special occasion.

I’m taking French at Idlewild Books, which has locations in both Manhattan and Brooklyn and also teaches Italian and Spanish. Learn more at www.idlewildbooks.com.

[ Posted in Booze, Fruit, Recipes ] [ 1 Comment ]

Chocolate Spelt Flour Cupcakes with Peppermint Frosting

Posted on December 24, 2012

Happy Christmas Eve!

Peppermint is one of my favorite holiday flavors. Paired with chocolate—a flavor for all seasons—I’m in dessert heaven.

chocolate peppermint

I baked these for Mala Yoga‘s Holiday Party. (Interested in me and yoga? Read my yoga story!) One of my yoga teachers doesn’t eat wheat but can tolerate spelt, so I had an opportunity to use some of the spelt flour I’d gotten from my CSA. I hadn’t baked with spelt before, and I was curious how it would go.

You will hear spelt referred to as an “ancient grain.” This is because it is an ancestor of modern wheat. Spelt has slightly fewer calories than wheat and more protein, fiber, and certain vitamins.

spelt flourspelt flour

My spelt flour came from Farmer Ground. Visit their website!

Spelt flour is NOT gluten free. It has a different type of gluten, one that is often more easily digestible for people with gluten sensitivities, but it is not suitable for those with celiac disease. Many who have a wheat allergy, however, can eat goods baked with spelt flour.

Baking with Spelt Flour

My research instructed me to reduce the liquid in my recipe by 1/4 and to let the batter rest 10 minutes before baking. Spelt apparently absorbs more moisture than wheat, or maybe it just reacts a little differently to water. Otherwise, I just used my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe, substituting the spelt flour for regular wheat flour.

chocolate peppermint spelt

They were yummy, I have to say. I could tell there was something different about them, but I couldn’t tell that much. The main thing I noticed was that they were a little more crumbly, but that was no problem. I’d be happy to bake again with spelt flour any time!

I made a peppermint buttercream (my regular vanilla frosting with natural peppermint extract) and topped them with crushed candy canes.

[ Posted in Candy/Cookies, Holidays ] [ Photos by ] [ Leave a comment ]

Chocolate Cupcakes with Coconut Frosting

Posted on December 17, 2012

coconut cupcakes

I baked a batch of chocolate cupcakes for a party and was about to frost them with vanilla, when I was inspired by a can of Coco López Cream of Coconut. I love the flavors of chocolate and coconut together, so I went for it.

coconut cupcakecoconut cupcake

The snow white frosting was a basic buttercream with coconut extract and a healthy dose of that coconut cream. I added a pinch of fresh coconut flakes on each.

You can use coconut milk to make frosting, but that would be different. I used coconut cream, not milk, for a rich, sweet, coconuty frosting.

Recipe: Coconut Frosting

This is not an exact recipe, as you can see, use it as a guide!

3/4-1 pound powdered sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1 teaspoon coconut extract
3+ tablespoons coconut cream
sweet coconut flakes

Begin by beating your butter, then slowly add the powdered sugar. Add the extract, then the coconut cream. Add more cream or powdered sugar to reach desired consistency. Top with coconut flakes after frosting cupcakes.

 

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