UFM Menu: Decadent Chocolate with Baileys and Vanilla Buttercream

 

(It's the one on the left, next entry will be the one on the right: Vegan Chocolate filled with Peanut butter)

 In the vein of "Cupcakes for all" I wanted to make a decadent chocolate cupcake that anyone could love.  The cupcakes turned out a little dry, but the addition of baileys cured that straight away.  There is something sublime about the combination of vanilla and chocolate, something that cannot be described.  Is it a memory from childhood coming to visit with those two flavors? Is it the rich darkness of the chocolate in juxtaposition with the light airiness of the vanilla?  I've been waxing philosophical in my thoughts about chocolate, the next Iron Cupcake Challenge theme will be chocolate.  My current line of thinking: chocolate cheese cake cupcake with raspberry filling, and a mascarpone frosting... but I digress.  

These chocolate cupcakes were fabulous.  Booze does wonders for baked goods.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcake
(Adapted from Elana's Pantry, yet another fabulous cooking blog.)
 Makes about 10 cupcakes

¼ cup rice flour
¼ cup cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
¼ cup oil
½ cup agave nectar

1. In a medium bowl, combine coconut flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda
2. In a large bowl, blend together eggs, oil and agave
3. Blend dry ingredients into wet thoroughly
4. Line a cupcake tin with paper liners and scoop a scant 1/4 cup into each
5. Bake at 375° for 20-22 minutes
6. Allow to completely cool. Soak with Bailey's Irish Cream, about two spoon fulls.  Allow the Baileys to completely soak into the cupcake before applying the next.

Vanilla Buttercream
1 sticks butter
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Beat butter until light, fluffy and holding peaks.  Slowly ad the sugar, beat until combined. Add vanilla, beat until combined.  Put it on cupcakes, put cupcakes in your mouth.  Chew, Swallow.  Don't choke.

Day 6: Drunken Lemon Cupcakes with Champagne Buttercream

 The biggest realization I had with this recipe was: I have no interest in eating as many cupcakes as I'm making.  This was the first batch that after I had one and even though it was fantastic, I couldn't stomach another.  That's a good thing for my waistline.  It's also a bad thing, because now I have to start finding people who want my confections regularly.  Any takers?  Cupcakes for a minimum donation to cover costs? ^_^

In process pics of my messy kitchen:

 

 

This lemon cake is AMAZING.  It outshone the frosting to the point that you almost wanted to wipe the frosting off, and just have the delightfully tangy cake.  Really moist and fluffy.  Make sure to really beat the crap out of the butter, so your batter is light.  I bought the cheapest champagne at my corner store, which leads me to my second favorite thing about this recipe: you get to drink all the champagne afterward.  I don't know if I could think of a better night than one consisting of fancy cupcakes and champagne.
The champagne buttercream was just ok.  It didn't taste like champagne, it just tasted like butter.  Just like a lot of different types buttercream just end up tasting like butter.  I'm thinking of experimenting with coconut oil/vegan frostings, to see if I can get some variety of taste in the cupcakes. Also of experimenting with different liquor flavorings.

Drunken Lemon Cupcakes Cupcakes:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 eggs 
1(8-ounce) cartons dairy sour cream
1/3 cup chamagne
 juice of 1 lemon
zest if 2 lemons

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Fill a standard muffin tin with about 14 paper liners.  Combine first four dry ingreedients, mix. Beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and egg until combined and moderately fluffy.  Begin to ad dry mix, alternating with sour cream, alternate 3 times.  Batter will be very thick.  Fold in champagne and lemon juice.  Fold in zest.  Fill paper liners 3/4 full with batter.  Bake for 19 to 30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Champagne Buttercream
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
2 cups powder sugar
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup champagne
pinch salt

Whip ingreedients on high until they become light and will hold peaks, about 5-7 min.  Add more powdered sugar or champagne as necessary to get the right.

Day 4: Vanilla Vanilla Cupcakes

Another recipe from the Cupcakes book.
The conundrum: vanilla vanilla.  Classic, and boring.
I really liked this cake.  It's a really nice brand of vanilla.  I'd kind of like to substitute some other type of flour, like some cake flour with a bit of corn meal, just to make an interesting flavor/texture.  This, however, is a wonderful basic vanilla cake recipe. 

Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 large egg white, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup whole milk

For the buttercream frosting

• 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Pinch salt
• 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into 16 pieces
• Seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Colored decorating sugars or nonpareils, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

For the cupcakes: Position a rack in the middle of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper or foil cupcake liners.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer; beat on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
Reduce the speed to low; add the egg and egg white separately, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and beat on low speed to incorporate. Stop to scrape down the bowl as needed.
Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, beating on low speed until just combined and alternating with several additions of milk; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for about 30 seconds or just until no traces of flour remain. Do not overbeat.
Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners, filling each about three-fourths full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until they are lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack and cool for 1 hour.
For the buttercream frosting: Combine the egg whites and sugar in a large heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over (but not touching) an inch or two of water in a large saucepan over medium heat.
Heat the mixture for about 2 minutes, whisking constantly, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture is very warm to the touch (about 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer). Remove the bowl from the saucepan.
Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer or use a hand-held electric mixer to beat the egg white mixture on high speed for 6 minutes, until it is fluffy, has cooled to room temperature and holds stiff peaks. The mixture should not look dry.
Reduce the speed to medium-low; add the salt and then the butter, a few pieces at a time, beating well after each addition. If the frosting appears to separate or is very liquid after all the butter is added, increase the speed to high and beat for 3 to 5 minutes, until the frosting is smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla bean seeds and vanilla extract; beat until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Use right away.
Frost the cupcakes with the buttercream. Garnish the cupcakes with the colored sugars or nonpareils, if using.

Day 2: Chocolate Vanilla Cupcakes

I've been working with the book Cupcakes by Shelly Kaldunski.  I really like this book because it has a wide variety of recipes that use a lot of different techniques and each recipe is geared for a relatively small batch of 12 cupcakes.  Not sure it's the highest quality baking cook book I've ever seen, but it's a good place to start. 

These turned out really really good.  The cake was rich, moist and fluffy.  The contrast (I wanted to use the word juxtaposition, but I restrained myself.  You're welcome.) between the cake and the buttercream is wonderful.  I really love buttercream, but there's something about it that makes my stomach hurt.  Maybe it's because this type of frosting is more or less just whipped butter.  I need to find a way to make a frosting that's noms-o-licious, but not so very heavy.  I mean, really, two sticks of butter?  It's like a fancy way to dip a stick of butter in sugar and lick it like a Popsicle.  I'm not sure if that sounds like a dream come true, or if it makes me vomit a little in my mouth. Probably both

Also, if you try to make buttercream and your butter is too cold, it looks nasty, like this:

Just keep mixing and it will all work out.

Chocolate Cupcakes
2/3 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup plus 3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350F.  Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.  Place the chocolate and the butter in a large heatproof bowl and set over (but not touching) simmering water in saucepan; stir frequently until melted and smooth, about 5 minutes.  Remove the bowl from the saucepan let the mixture cool to room temperaure, 10-15 min.

Using a wooden spoon, stir the sugar into the chocolate mixture until combined.  Stir in the eggs one at a time, beating until combined after each addition, and then beat in the vanilla.  gently fold in the four mixture just until no traces of flour remain, do not overmix.

Divide the batter evenly amont the perpared muffin cups, filling each about three-fourths full.  Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, 22-24 min. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 min.  Transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour. 

Vanilla Buttercream
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
pinch salt
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
In a large, clean heatproof bowl, combine the egg whites and sugar.  Set the bowl over (but not touching) simmering water in a saucepan and heat the mixture, whisking constantly, until the sugar has copletely dissolved and the mixture is very warm to the touch ( about 160F on a ninstant- read thermometer), about 3 minutes.  remove the bowl from the saucepan.  Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg white misture unitl it is fluffy, cooled to room temterature, and holds stiff peaks (the mixture should not look dry), about 6 min.

With the mixer on medium low speed, add the salt and the butter, a few pieces at a time, beating well after each addition.  If the frosting appears to separate or is very liquid after all the butter is added, continue to beat on high speed until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Add Vanilla, and beat until combined.  Use right away.

Tomorrow's Challenge: Lemon Somethings.  ^_^