Recipe: Apple Cupcakes with Maple Butter and Fresh Whipped Cream

I went apple picking last Saturday! It was a lot of fun but at first I wasn't sure what to do with the sheer quantity of apples I picked.
I finally decided on what to make with my apples. I settled on apple cupcakes because I've never made them before and I always enjoy a challenge and trying new things.  Frosting wise I decided to use the maple butter that I bought in Canada this summer and then I'll top that with a dollop of fresh whipped cream (yes, I know I'm obsessed with it... in fact I should probably have a blog that talks just about whipped cream).

mini cupcakes with maple butter and fresh whipped cream

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp fine salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (or ginger)
8 tbs unsalted butter (1 stick) at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream
4 medium baking apples (I used a selection of apples from when I went apple picking this weekend)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. I made a tray of regular sized muffins and a tray of mini muffins. I had extra batter, so I also made 3 additional regular sized muffins.
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Mix together to break up any lumps and put to the side.
In another bowl, mix the butter with a electric mixer on a medium-high speed for about 2 minutes.

apple batter!!

Add the sugar and vanilla and continue beating until the mixture is smooth.  Add in the eggs one at a time. Mix until well blended for about a minute.
Line the muffin tins and then fill until about 3/4 full.  Tap the tin to make sure there are no air bubbles.  Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean or until the top is nicely golden. Rotate the pans about halfway through the baking time. My oven needed about a half hour for the cupcakes to be fully cooked.
Remove the cupcakes from the pans and let cool completely before frosting.

Oh my goodness... Just delicious!

Recipe: Nectarine Raspberry Cupcakes

I bought some beautiful nectarines the other day and started wondering if I could turn them into cupcakes!  I adapted a Martha Stewart Nectarine Cupcake Recipe. I was actually quite surprised to find a recipe for cupcakes with fresh nectarines, for some reason, I only expected to find recipes involving peach.  I didn't find many involving nectarines, but this one looked good so I took it and adapted it to what I had in the kitchen.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup milk (preferably whole milk)
1-2 tsp vanilla extract (for me, more is better)
6 tbs butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 medium nectarines, peeled, halved, pitted and finely chopped (which should be about 1 1/4 cup)
1 small container raspberries, cleaned and halved

Preheat the oven to 350°. Sift together the flour, baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt. In a separate bowl beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Continue mixing and add in 1 egg at a time followed by the vanilla. Then blend in the flour mixture alternating twice with the milk. Stir in the nectarines and raspberries gently.
Line a muffin tin with baking cups and fill each with about 3 tablespoons of batter. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden.  Let cool in tin.

I topped mine with fresh whipped cream and thin nectarine slices.  I think I may try this recipe again and use peaches, plums or apricots.  I lean towards apricots because they are scrumptious and I think will go nicely inside a cupcake.

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Strawberry Cupcakes with Fresh Whipped Cream

So I've been trying to get around to baking for weeks now but something always seems to get in the way. Either work, or outings, or karaoke, or exhaustion...
I told myself I was going to bake on Sunday no matter what, and then Sunday got here, and well... I almost didn't bake!  I went to the Brooklyn Botanical gardens to see the Cherry Blossom Festival and by the time I got home it was after 6pm...
I lazed on the couch reading and texting with a friend... I kept saying I was going to bake, but I wasn't feeling particularly motivated.
However, I have promised a lot of cupcakes over the last few weeks, sooo at around 8pm I searched for a new and fun recipe to use. I found Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Meringue Frosting. It looks like a good recipe adapted from something in a Martha Stewart Cookbook. I then had to further adapt it because I was missing a couple of ingredients and the stores were already closed when I noticed.
I got around to putting the mix together around 1 and then baked Monday morning.
There is no explanation for my laziness but I just could not pull myself together to finish baking Sunday night. Luckily I woke up and finished everything Monday morning!

These can be served with or without a frosting because they are super flavorful.

Chocolate Chip Strawberry Cupcakes
3 cups flour
1 tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 egg white
1 cup almond milk
2 cups finely chopped fresh strawberries
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350° and line your cupcake tins.  The recipe should make 34 cupcakes.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt, and then put to the side.

In another bowl with an electric blender, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla extract. Blend for about 3 minutes or until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Then add the eggs and egg white, one at a time, beating until each one is fully incorporated. Add the flour in two batches, alternating with the almond milk. (I actually wasn't paying attention and added all of the milk before the flour... I think it does change the consistency, as does the almond milk I used).
At this point, use a spatula to fold in the chocolate chips and strawberries. I waited till the next morning to chop the strawberries and add them into the batter because it had gotten too late. I was able to fill 34 liners.
Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes and voilaaaa.
                                        YUMMY CUPCAKES

Fresh out of the oven!

I chose to make a simple whipped cream. Just 2 cups of heavy whipping cream, 2 tbs brown sugar.  I made sure the cream was very cold andd so was the container that I whipped it in.

I served half with whipped cream and half without, and they were delicious both ways!

Recipe: Carrot Cake with Cinnamon Chocolate Swirl Whipped Cream

Carrot Cake
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 cups all-purpose flour (I misread the original recipe which only called for 1 1/2 cup but it came out delicious with that extra half cup) plus some to dust the pans
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 pinch all spice
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups grated carrots
Butter to grease pan

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease your pan(s) with butter and dust with flour. I used two pans, one 8" and one 4" so I could make a tiered cake.
Beat sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla and heavy cream together in a bowl with an electric mixer until well combined.
In another bowl mix together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Slowly add 3/4 of the flour mix to the sugar continuously stirring. Mix until well blended and then add the carrots (I meant to add chocolate chips as well, but I forgot). Add in the remaining flour.
Pour into your pan(s). Bake until a tooth pick inserted into the center of the cakes come out clean. The smaller cake pan took approximately 20 minutes to cook while the larger pan took almost 30 minutes.
Let cool completely before frosting.

I adapted the original recipe Martha Stewart's Carrot Cake Mini cupcakes and adjusted it to what I had in my cupboards. I also decided to make a cake instead of cupcakes because one of my friends already made Strawberry cupcakes for our Easter Dessert.

The original suggests using a Cream Cheese frosting but I also decided against it for this time. Mostly I didn't feel like buying cream cheese. I also really wanted a lighter topping for the carrot cake so I decided to make my own concoction. I've really enjoyed making whipped cream frostings so I decided to go with that again, and since I forgot to add in the chocolate chips to the carrot cakes I added a chocolate ribbon to the whipped cream as well for a little texture and flavor. I frosted each layer with the chocolate ganache itself and then added the delicious whipped cream

Cinnamon Chocolate Swirl Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 package of chocolate chips
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbs brown sugar

In a double boiler (or a makeshift like I use) melt your chocolate with a 1/4 cup of heavy cream (or milk) until you have a smooth creamy texture. Remove from heat and stir periodically as it cools.
In a cold bowl whip your whipping cream, cinnamon and brown sugar together until you get stiff peaks.
When the chocolate is room temperature (preferably cooler), add in about 1/4 cup of the cinammon whipped cream. Pour this ganache onto the layers of your cake.
Then very gently fold about half of the chocolate into the whipped cream. You can add as much of it as you like to the cream depending on how chocolate you want your whipped cream to be.
Refridgerate until you're ready to frost.

The whipped cream and ganache I didn't use to frost the cake I stored in air tight containers. I might just eat them on their own. Yes, they're that good!

Recipe: White Russian Cupcakes with Espresso Whipped Cream

Game Day Cupcakes number 2!

I had Bailey's coffee creamer in my fridge so the first thing that came to mind was a White Russian. A White Russian is generally made with Bailey's, vodka and cream.. so I guess I really made a Black Russian since Black Russians involve coffee.

I found a recipe online and then proceeded to tweek it based on what I had in the house. I have to say, they came out really good!

White Russian Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp sugar
6 tbs unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 oz Vodka (preferably Vanilla Vodka)
1/4 cup espresso
1/2 cup bailey's coffee creamer

Preheat the oven to 350 °F and line a cupcake pan. The recipe should make about 15 cupcakes.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl use a hand mixer to beat together the sugar (excluding 1 tsp) and butter until combined. Beat in the egg white and then add the Vanilla, Vodka and coffee.
Add the flour mixture in three additions and alternate with the bailey's cream. Begin with the flour and end with the flour.
In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites with a tsp of sugar until they form soft peaks. Gently fold into the rest of the batter.
Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. If desired, while the cupcakes are still warm, brush them with a small amount of espresso. Cool completely before icing.

Espresso Whipped Cream
1 cup whipping cream
3 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tbs espresso

Whip all of the dry ingredients together until you reach the soft peak stage. Fold in the vanilla extract  and espresso carefully.

Here are all the cupcakes! The ones in the center have the Espresso cream. It's sooo delicious!

Apparently there is a way to stabilize your whipped cream! I haven't tried it yet, but it would be really helpful.
 For 1 cup of cream, use 1/2 tsp of plain gelatin soaked in 1 tbs water. Dissolve thoroughly over heat and then add the melted gelatin while whipping the cream. Stop when you get soft peaks.

-Raspberry Truffle