Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
From Betty Crocker
2 packages (3 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups miniature or regular semisweet chocolate chips
1 box devil's food cake mix
1 1/3 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 container vanilla frosting
- Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups.
- In medium bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and 1 egg with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips; set aside.
- In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and 3 eggs on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes. Divide batter among muffin cups (1/4 cup in each). Top each with 1 heaping teaspoon cream cheese mixture.
- Bake 17 to 22 minutes or until tops spring back when touched lightly. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Remove from pan; cool completely, about 30 minutes.
- Frost with frosting. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Store loosely covered in refrigerator.
Makes 24 cupcakes.
Halloween Cupcakes
From Kraft Foods
1 pkg. (2-layer size) white cake mix
1/4 cup Kool-Aid orange flavor sugar-sweetened soft drink mix
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
4-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp. Kool-Aid lemonade flavor sugar-sweetened soft drink mix
- Prepare and bake cake mix as directed on package for cupcakes, adding dry orange drink mix before beating all ingredients together.
- Make frosting by beating the butter, powdered sugar, milk, and lemonade kool aid mix. with electric mixer on low speed until well blended.
- Frost cooled cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles or candies or sprinkle with additional soft drink mix, if desired.
Apple Cupcakes
From Martha Stewart Kids
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups coarsely shredded apples, such as Macintosh (about 1 3/4 pounds)
Cream-Cheese Frosting
Marzipan Apples, optional see below
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside.
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla.
- Reduce speed to low; mix in apples. Add flour mixture; mix, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, until just combined.
- Fill lined cups halfway with batter; bake until tops are springy to the touch, 18 to 20 minutes.
- Remove from tins; let cool on a wire rack. When completely cool, frost cupcakes; top with marzipan apples.
For marzipan apples: Tint some marzipan red and some green (find it in the baking section of your grocery store). Roll red marzipan into balls on a cornstarch-dusted surface. Score bottoms with toothpick. For leaves, flatten teardrop-shaped green marzipan; add veins with toothpick. Roll worms from un-tinted marzipan; add green nonpareils for eyes. Use brown sprinkles for stems. Make holes for worm and stem, and insert.
Makes 24 cupcakes.
Vietnamese Coffee Cupcakes
From Cupcake Bakeshop
For Vietnamese Coffee Cupcakes:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup strong brewed
Vietnamese coffee
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon coffee grounds
- Preheat oven to 305°.
- Beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds.
- Add sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add eggs one at a time, beat for 30 seconds between each.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
- Measure out coffee and milk together.
- Add about a fourth of the flour to the butter/sugar mixture and beat to combine.
- Add about one third the coffee/milk mixture and beat until combined. Be careful when adding the coffee/milk mixture to the batter. If you add it too quickly the mixture will look curdled. Add small amounts and beat well to incorporate.
- Repeat above, alternating flour and coffee and ending with the flour mixture.
- Fold in the teaspoon of coffee grounds.
- Scoop into cupcake papers about half to three-quarters full (depending on whether you want flat or domed cupcakes. Note that these cupcakes will shrink slightly when they cool).
- Bake for 22-25 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.
Sweetened Condensed Milk Pudding Filling:
2 teaspoons gelatin
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
- Sprinkle the gelatin over a 1/4 cup of water and let sit for 5 minutes.
- In a small pan over medium heat, heat the sweetened condensed milk until warm.
- Add the gelatin and stir over heat until the gelatin melts.
- Transfer mixture to a bowl set over a pan of ice water. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens. It will get very thick and might clump if you stop stirring.
Whipped Cream Frosting:
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
- Whisk cream on high speed until soft peaks form.
- Add sugar (more or less depending on your taste) and whip until thick.
To Assemble:
- Using a small pairing knife, cut off the top of the cupcake in the shape of a cone. Flip the top over and cut off the cone.
- Fill the cavity with a teaspoon or so of sweetened condensed milk pudding.
- Replace top.
- Top with swirls or dollops of lightly sweetened whipped cream.
- Dust with finely ground coffee.
Makes 24 cupcakes.
Vanilla Cupcakes
For the cupcakes:
1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
6 to 8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.
- In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla.
- With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat.
- Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about two-thirds full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining batter.
- Once cupcakes have cooled, make the frosting: in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes.
- With mixer on low speed, add 6 cups sugar, milk, and vanilla; mix until light and fluffy.
- If necessary, gradually add remaining 2 cups sugar to reach desired consistency.
- Use a small offset spatula to frost tops of each cupcake. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Serve at room temperature.
Makes 30 cupcakes.
Brownie Cupcakes
From Martha Stewart
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
11 Ounces best-quality semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 large eggs
1 Cup sugar
3/4 Cup all-purpose flour
1/4 Cup unsweetened cocoa
1/8 Teaspoon baking soda
1 Cup coarsely chopped walnuts, (optional)
Nonstick cooking spray
For frosting:
24 Ounces semisweet chocolate morsels
4 Cups whipping cream
1 Teaspoon light corn syrup
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a twelve-count muffin tin with cupcake liners, and spray generously with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and 8 ounces of chocolate. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat, and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar. Add flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Stir in the melted chocolate until combined. Stir in remaining 3 ounces of chocolate and nuts if desired.
- Using a 2-ounce ice cream scoop, fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter. Bake until a firm crust forms on the cupcakes, about 20 minutes.
- Remove to a wire rack to cool, about 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan, and continue to cool on a wire rack.
- Make frosting: Place chocolate morsels and cream in a heavy saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, until combined and thickened, between 20 and 25 minutes.
- Increase the heat to medium low; cook, stirring, 3 minutes more. Remove pan from heat.
- Stir in corn syrup. Transfer frosting to a large metal bowl. Chill until cool enough to spread, about 2 hours, checking and stirring every 15 to 20 minutes.
- Ice cupcakes with a generous amount of chocolate frosting.
Makes 12.
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