Chai Tea Cupcakes

I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but I do love me some good tea, especially a chai latte. So I decided to see if I could alter the spices of the cinnamon cupcakes from my last post to create a masala chai flavor. I'm not sure I really succeeded in evoking "chai tea" with this one, but it was still a tasty spiced coffee cake (tea cake?).

The cake is the cinnamon swirl sour cream cake used with my maple turkey-bacon cupcakes, but in addition to cinnamon, I added ground cloves, cardamom, ginger, pepper and nutmeg. At the last minute, I realized I forgot to add the tea component of a chai tea, and so I was light on that flavor as I tried to add in some black tea without changing the batter consistency too much. It would be easier to steep black tea in milk, so I will probably need to revise the recipe to replace sour cream with milk or cream.

The streusel on top contains the same spice combination, and the icing is made with black tea-infused whipping cream, powdered sugar, a bit of butter, and the same spices. Without this icing, I think the cupcake would have just tasted like a cinnamon streusel cake. Although I didn't quite achieve "chai tea" flavors, there was definitely something je ne sais quoi about this cupcake. I'll post a recipe once I've had a chance to tweak and optimize.

Maple-Bacon Cinnamon Cupcakes

These cupcakes are inspired by Hollis Wilder from Cupcake Wars. I love her ideas, and love that she brings her culinary experience to the pastry world. The cake is a cinnamon swirl sour cream cake, that is moist and fluffy, and much like a coffee cake. The key to the pop of cinnamon flavor is to fold in a brown sugar-cinnamon mixture, without fully blending. See swirls below.

The frosting is a strawberry cream cheese with maple butter, and the topping is maple-glazed turkey bacon, with maple sugar sprinkled on top. Maple butter and maple sugar are pretty amazing (but pricey)—check your local health food store to find those items!

Cinnamon Cupcakes
Makes 16 cupcakes (or 40 minis)

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (no need to use cake flour for this one)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups sour cream
• 1 T. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (loosely packed)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a mixer bowl, with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and then add the vanilla and one egg at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and sour cream, alternating between the two, beginning and ending with the flour.
4. Mix the cinnamon and brown sugar together in a small bowl and fold by hand into the batter. Do not fully mix into the batter, it should be swirled in.
5. Fill regular sized cupcakes, bake for 26-28 minutes or until golden and baked through.
6. Once cooled, top with cream cheese frosting (mix 1 pound cream cheese, 4 tablespoons maple butter, 1/4 cup strawberry jelly and 1/4 cup fresh strawberries, hulled, and finely diced), turkey bacon (cook as usual until crisp, then lightly coat with maple syrup and continue cooking over low heat until slightly caramelized), and maple sugar.

Firecracker Cupcakes - Starting Off the Year with a Bang ( . . . or a Pop Rock)

I love the Firecracker bonbons and chocolate bars by Chuao Chocolatier (one of the things I will miss about San Diego), and decided to make a cupcake variation. Unfortunately, I don't have any special-order connections to get my hands on bulk unflavored popping candy. So, of course I went on Amazon.com, and found the next best thing: Pop Rock's limited edition milk chocolate covered pop rocks! I was worried that by not having a dark chocolate coating, these pop rocks would be inconsistent with the rest of the cupcake, but it achieves a similar effect and offers a nice color contrast.

These are the Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes with Ganache Filling (my go-to for chocolate cupcakes now), topped with chipotle-infused ganache and dipped in milk chocolate pop rocks. The snap crackle and pop of biting down on the pop rocks is a fun contrast to the rich bittersweet chocolate cake. I went a bit too mild on the chipotle, so I think the kick got a bit lost in the dark chocolate flavor. The next time around, when I'm not rushing to bake at midnight or right before going to work, I'll fine-tune the proportions and work on the decoration.

Prosecco & Chambord Cupcakes - Happy New Year!

My original plan to gift cupcake assortments for the holidays didn't quite pan out. Milo's Bonbons went on a brief hiatus while we relocated, and baking supplies were packed away. But, we're back for 2012!

These mini champagne cupcakes are made with Prosecco, with half of the cupcakes topped with champagne Swiss meringue buttercream, and the other half topped with Chambord Swiss meringue buttercream.

Champagne Cupcakes
Makes 20 cupcakes (or 50 minis)

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (or 3 cups + 1 Tbsp. cake flour for a finer texture)
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup champagne (or in this case, Prosecco)
• 6 egg whites

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 
3. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together, and then blend into creamed mixture alternately with champagne.
4. In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into batter to lighten the batter, then fold in remaining egg whites. 
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (or 10-12 for minis), or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.