Spaghetti Cupcakes - Trick or Treat!

The idea for these spaghetti cupcakes comes from the book Hello, Cupcake!, and I was inspired after seeing my sister-in-law make them for April Fool's Day. Instead of using canned frosting, I decided to better complement the strawberry jam (the marinara sauce) with white chocolate flavoring.

This white cake is filled with strawberry meringue buttercream, and topped with a thin layer of white chocolate whipped ganache, and then covered with white chocolate buttercream noodles. White chocolate and butter both have a pale yellow color, so that no food coloring needs to be added to mimic cooked noodles.

A Ferrero Rocher hazelnut chocolate serves as the meatball, tossed in low sugar strawberry preserves (the low sugar variety has a more realistic red shade than regular preserves). Finally, grated white chocolate serves as the parmesan cheese. By the way, I love Ferrero Rocher chocolates. I'm going to have to try a cupcake version of them one day.

These "trick" cupcakes were complemented by my pumpkin cupcakes as the "treat." Happy Halloween everyone!

Coconut Cupcakes 2-Ways - Lemon & Curry Ganache

Last weekend, I made two coconut cupcakes. The first is a fluffy coconut cupcake (lightness achieved with whipped egg whites), with lemon curd filling, and topped with a coconut-lemon buttercream. This cake recipe was taken from a Cupcake Wars episode and easily makes my favorites-list. The curd and buttercream were light and creamy, and complementary in taste and texture.

The second cupcake had a similar cake recipe, minus the whipped egg whites, and plus ground coconut. This cake (on the left) was more golden and had more texture.

I filled it with a coconut buttercream, and topped with whipped curry ganache. Unfortunately I was a bit short on ganache, so I used a comb to create some texture and then "blinged-out" with decoration (pearlized dust and toasted coconut). The flavor combination is perhaps less conventional, but yummy and memorable.

I didn't used to be a coconut fan, but the more I explore pastries and baking, the more interesting I am finding the taste of coconut. While I don't really like the texture of coconut flakes in my desserts, I may be a convert with respect to flavor!

More Chocolate Cupcakes - Peanut Butter Banana & Hazelnut

Continuing from my last post, I tried two more chocolate cake recipes this week.

1. Chocolate Butter Cupcake (Rose Levy Beranbaum, Rose's Heavenly Cakes)
2. German Chocolate Cake (Rose Levy Beranbaum, Rose's Heavenly Cakes)

The verdict:

1. The Chocolate Butter Cupcake recipe was slightly less dense/dry than the prior All-American butter cake I made, and tasty in small portions. But, I think at this point, I am going to conclude that butter cakes are not ideal for cupcakes, which are ultimately a very thick slab of cake. I think butter cakes are much better for holding up layer cakes, and I will put this to the test at some point. One exception might be a red velvet variation with cream cheese frosting, which I tasted at a recent cocktail event. Perhaps the creamier/richer the frosting, the better the pairing, which would explain why the curry ganache cupcakes I made last week worked. Important to note: These red velvet cupcakes I tried were mini cupcakes; I am not sure I would have enjoyed that much fudginess/density at the full cupcake size. Ultimately, I will admit this could be a taste/texture preference of mine, and others might like butter cakes more.
   
2. The German Chocolate Cake is fantastic, and definitely can serve as an alternative to the Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake recipe. It is slightly less rich, but it has a good texture and distinctive chocolate taste which makes it yummy to eat on its own.

Chocolate Butter Cupcake: Hazelnut Ganache Cupcakes

I filled these chocolate butter cupcakes with hazelnut ganache, and topped with whipped cream with a hint of hazelnut. Finally, a piece of sugar cone, because who doesn't like ice cream cones?

German Chocolate Cake: Peanut Butter Caramelized-Banana Chocolate Cupcakes

These cupcakes were filled with a peanut butter cream cheese filling, covered with a peanut butter chocolate whipped ganache, and topped with caramelized bananas. I am not normally a peanut butter fan, but these cupcakes came out pretty delicious, creamy without being heavy, and with the right balance of flavors. I had never caramelized bananas before, and really had no plan for how to pipe the frosting but I pulled it together somehow.