Wedding | Congrats Tiffany & Jon!

A very belated post, but . . . This past July, Milo's Bonbons had the honor of appearing on my cousin's wedding menu! It was a whirlwind of a preparation for the wedding, but such a pleasure to cater desserts for Tiffany's and Jon's celebration.

 

My cousin asked for salted caramel chocolate cupcakes and lemon bars. Believe it or not, it was my first time making lemon bars! I probably should have experimented with that a little more, as I wasn't perfectly happy with my crust to filling ratio, but it's hard to go wrong with the flavor. I made both lemon and and lemon-cherry swirl bars as a nod to the wedding colors.

To give the desserts a little something extra, I decided to present the cupcakes and lemon bars on a display stand. I didn't have enough chocolate on hand to make a chocolate stand and thought nougatine would be a better vehicle for my cousins's wedding themes of red + gold and succulents. However, in retrospect, nougatine wasn't the best choice for an outdoor wedding. The display held up, but it sure got shiny and sticky! Next time I'm sticking with using isomalt instead of sugar, or just using something material.

Here is the making of the nougatine, from toasting the nuts, to cooking the sugar and rolling out / cutting the pieces:

 

Nougatine

Makes about a half sheet pan

Ingredients:

• 600g granulated sugar
• 250g sliced almonds, lightly toasted and warm

Directions

1. Make a dry caramel (or wet, if you don't want too dark a nougatine) with the sugar in a saucepan.
2. Stir in the warm, sliced almonds.
3. Immediately pour mixture onto a nonstick silicone mat and spread as thinly as possible.
4. Place a second map on top of the caramel and roll out as thin and even as possible. Begin this step as soon as your can handle the heat.
5. Remove the top map, carefully life the nougatine sheet and place on cutting board or oiled parchment paper. If mat sticks, then caramel is still too hot.
6. Using a knife or cutting mold, cut desired shape, working quickly. If nougatine is too cold to cut or shape, place back on silicone mat and into a 350 degree oven for just long enough to soften.

I was quite limited by the size of my oven at that time, which couldn't fit a full sheet pan, and thus limited the size of my cylinders and ovals. But, I'd like to think there was something "organic" or "artistic" about the pieces I built with :) I added succulent trimmings to my nougatine leaves/petals to tie everything together:

Sesame Caramel Rice Fritters & Tres Leches Cupcakes - Belated Cinco de Mayo

I didn't get a chance to make these for Cinco de Mayo like I had planned to, but I made them happen anyway over the past week.

Rice Fritters with Sesame Caramel
(see recipe from Food Network)

If you search for Cinco de Mayo desserts, churros, or variations of fried dough dipped in sugar, are likely to turn up. I thought these rice fritters would be slightly more interesting and challenging, so I decided to give them a try. Delicious, and well-worth the effort! But perhaps no healthier than churros (they are deep-fried afterall) . . .

 

Tres Leches Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche
(adapted from Saveur Magazine, see also theurbanbaker.com)

Ingredients
Makes 24 cupcakes

• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 6 eggs, separated
• 1 ¼ cups sugar
• ½ cup whole milk
• 1 ½ tablespoons dark rum
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 12-oz. can evaported milk
• 1 cup heavy cream

Directions

1. Heat ¾ cup of the heavy cream in a saucepan until it boils/simmers. Pour over white chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Let sit for a couple minutes before stirring with a spatula until the white chocolate is melted and smooth.
2. Preheat oven to 350°. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl and set aside.
4. Beat the egg whites with a whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Continue beating while adding the sugar.
5. Separately beat the egg yolks until fluffy. Using the paddle attachment, add the flour mixture and whole milk, alternating between the two and ending with the flour.
6. Add the rum and vanilla and beat briefly until smooth.
7. Folk in the egg whites.
8. Scoop batter into cupcake liners, and bake for 16-18 minutes until slightly golden. Be careful not to overbake. Since the cake will be soaked in tres leches, it will ultimately be "moist" in any event, but the cake texture is spongy and can get stiff.
9. After baking, let cool slightly (~30 minutes), and then poke holes in the top of the cupcakes with a knife, making sure to penetrate to the base.
10. Peel off the paper liners. Whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream, and spoon the mixture over the warm cupcakes (3-5 tablespoons should do the trick, with the excess sitting in the cupcake pan to ensure that the bottom of the cupcakes are moistened). I wouldn't worry about oversoaking.
11. Cover the cupcakes with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well-chilled and the liquid is absorbed (at least 4 hours).
12. Spread/drizzle dulce de leche on top of the cupcakes, and top with whipped cream.
    

Home-made dulce de leche is quite easy. It is essentially caramelized condensed milk. Some recipes prepare it directly in the can by placing the can in a boiling pot of water. I decided to go with the oven method (see, e.g. David Lebovitz's recipe):

Pour a can of sweetened condensed milk into a shallow pie pan or baking pan. Place that pan in a larger roasting dish / baking pan that has a lid. Fill the outer pan with water until near the top of the inner pan. Cover with lid and baking at 425° F for 75-90 minutes. Check occasionally in case you need to add more water. A darker crust/layer will form on the top of the condensed milk / dulce de leche. Whisk the dulce de leche until it is smooth (you may need to strain out pieces of crust). Voila!

Strawberry Cupcakes - Is It Springtime Yet?

I have a sweet tooth, no doubt about that. But don't worry mom, I do eat food categories other than "dessert". When I say I love desserts, it's not so much about eating desserts, as it is about appreciating that intersection of culinary science and art. So it's probably no surprise that I love Extraordinary Desserts in San Diego and would go work with Karen Krasne in a heartbeat if I were to ever attend pastry school. She never fails to deliver art and beauty (and incredible flavor) in her creations.

This Toutes Fraises (translation: all strawberries) from her cookbook is a sour cream cupcake containing freshly diced strawberries in the batter. The cake is filled with a strawberry jelly, and topped with a strawberry cream cheese frosting. Extraordinary Desserts is known for decorating desserts with fresh flowers and petals. Here, I decided to work on my gum paste skills and came up with these gum paste rosebuds for decoration. Tedious, but very satisfying to make. I definitely eyed some flower bouquets at Safeway in case my efforts failed, but fortunately these were presentable enough (although a bit on the "toxic pink" side in color).

I'd venture to say that the 250 degree oven setting may have been a typo in the recipe, as 350 is typical for cakes, and 250 definitely did not get the job done. The cupcake was yummy, but perhaps next time starting at 350 degrees or closer to 350 will avoid temperature adjustments and give me better control over the cake's texture.

Can't wait to try more of my favorites from the cookbook!

Guinness, Chocolate and Potato Chips - Super Bowl Sunday!

Hope everyone had a fun Super Bowl Sunday! The game ended on an exciting note . . . but of course you know I was only watching for the commercials, and for an excuse to bake more cupcakes.

These two cupcakes draw inspiration from Chuao Chocolatier again, this time from one of their newer flavors, the "Potato Chips in Chocolate" bar. This first cupcake is a simple chocolate cake. I tried to work with an even simpler recipe than my prior chocolate cupcakes, in case I ever needed to pull it together with basic ingredients, and I think this one worked out well enough. The frosting is a Swiss meringue milk chocolate buttercream frosting, topped with crushed potato chips and some added sea salt. Mildly sweet with a bit of crunch.

 

Chocolate Cupcakes

Makes 21-22 cupcakes (or 54 minis)

• 3 ounces finely chopped bittersweet chocolate
• ¾ cup Dutch-processed cocoa (2 ¼ ounces)
• 1 teaspoon espresso powder
• 1 ¼ cups boiling water
• 1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (7 ½ ounces)
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups sugar (10 ½ ounces)
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Combine the chocolate, cocoa, and espresso powder in a large bowl. Pour the boiling water over the chocolate mixture, cover, and let sit for a few minutes to help melt the chocolate. Whisk until smooth, then set aside to cool slightly, about 2 minutes. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.
3. Whisk the sugar, eggs, and vanilla into the cooled chocolate mixture. Slowly whisk in the oil. Whisk in the flour mixture in two portions, mixing gently until most of the lumps are gone (do not overmix).
4. Bake for 20-22 minutes for regular cupcakes, or about 10 minutes for mini cupcakes.

Milk Chocolate Frosting

Makes 2 ¼ cups

• ⅓ cup (2 ⅓ ounces) granulated sugar
• 2 large egg whites
• pinch table salt
• 12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 6 ounces milk chocolate, melted and cooled
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Combine sugar, egg whites, and salt in bowl of stand mixer; place bowl over pan of simmering water. Whisking gently until sugar is completely dissolved and mixture is slightly foamy.
2. Place bowl in stand mixer with whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Add butter, about 1 Tbsp at a time, and beat until smooth. Then add cooled melted chocolate and vanilla; mix until combined. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until light, fluffy, and thoroughly combined.

The second cupcake is a Guinness draught chocolate cake with a Guinness cream cheese glaze, topped with a potato chip dipped in milk chocolate. Because of the Guinness, this cake is a bit more bitter, but that makes for a nice contrast to the sweet glaze and salty-crunchy topping. 

Guinness Cupcakes

Makes 21-22 cupcakes (or 54 minis)

• 1 cup of Guinness® Draught
• 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups dark brown sugar
• ¾ cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 ½ teaspoon baking soda 
• Pinch of cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. In a large sauce pan over low heat, combine Guinness® and butter, stirring until butter melts. Remove pan from heat and whisk in cocoa powder and brown sugar. 
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Combine with beer mixture. 
4. Sift together flour and baking soda, then fold into batter.
5. Bake for 20-22 minutes for regular cupcakes, or about 10 minutes for mini cupcakes. 
6. Make the glaze. With a mixer, whip 8 oz. cream cheese until smooth. Sift 1 ¼ cups confectioner’s sugar into cream cheese, and beat. Add ⅓ cup Guinness®, and beat until smooth. Note: The recipe I found stops there; however, I added a stick of unsalted butter to provide for a sturdier frosting. Dip the top of cupcakes into this glaze/frosting and twist when lifting for a smooth coating.

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.
   

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!

Malted Chocolate Cupcakes - Baked Sundaes!

These malted chocolate cupcakes are topped with fresh whipped cream, sprinkles and a Maraschino cherry.

I also filled the cakes with a "Whoppers" buttercream (using ground Whoppers choclate malted milk balls) to add to the malt flavor (which unfortunately was largely masked in the cake itself). The buttercream filling adds a needed sweetness and moisture so that the cupcake doesn't end up tasting like a black forest cherry cake. Which, would be interesting to try . . . hmmmmm . . .

Oreo Cupcakes - Cookies & Cream

I had been planning this cupcake for a while, thinking about what ways I could make an Oreo cupcake that was something more than just a cake base and buttercream frosting on top. I'm pretty satisfied with the result here, although I think there are many more interesting variations to try. Coincidentally, my sister-in-law baked a version of an Oreo cupcake on the same exact night with a whole Oreo cookie at the bottom, which I definitely want to try next time! I was afraid a whole cookie at the base would burn or disappear somehow, but I hear it stays crunchy and is quite delicious.

Here, I have a chocolate cake with a fudge cookie bar in the middle. The fudge cookie bar is a baked Oreo cookie bar with ganache poured on top. Because the cookie is made from ground Oreos, it is crumbly rather than "crunchy", but I will continue to experiment with that. The ganache adds a smooth creamy moist filling.

For the frosting, I made an Oreo "mousse." I did in fact try a mousse base, but the egg yolks made the frosting too yellow. Then I tried the same mousse with egg whites instead of egg yolks, but that doesn't hold up. Then I tried a meringue buttercream base without the butter, but the texture and taste just weren't quite right. Finally, I ended up with a whipped cream stabilized with some gelatin, with ground Oreos folded in, and I think I achieved the light fluffy consistency I was looking for. The cookie on top is a Nabisco chocolate wafer, like the type I used in my Icebox Cake. I would not recommend grinding up this wafer for the frosting. The wafer has ground coconut in it, which results in an odd crunch/chew that does not blend well with whipped cream.

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes - Summer is Here!

My brother and his wife's garden overfloweth with fresh fruit, so we took a load of lemons off their hands. Most of them went toward fresh lemonade (with many packets of Truvia and Splenda), but of course a few had to be saved for cupcakes.

These lemon cupcakes are topped with fresh strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream to welcome summer! Last year, summer decided to not show up in San Diego, so I am celebrating the warm sunny days we are finally getting this year. The cupcakes are made especially lemony with the addition of limoncello and lemon oil. The straws are made with rolled fondant painted with gold dusting powder.

Note to self: Do not cover overnight or the straws will wilt . . .

Apricot-Chocolate Cupcakes

These apricot-dark chocolate pound cake cupcakes were inspired by a cakelove recipe, and I was happy to finally put almond extract to good use. The almond flavor in the cake is a nice complement to the bittersweet chocolate, and these were delicious straight out of the oven with the chocolate bits still melted, and the dried apricot bits still soft and moist.

Unfortunately upon cooling, I found that the dried apricot bits became harder than they were to start out with. I might have to try pre-soaking them next time!

Admittedly, I am not a big fan of pound cake texture as it is denser, and with my unreliable oven from the 80s, my pound cakes are prone to ending up a bit dry and overbaked. But, I have found that pound cakes seem to get the most enthusiastic feedback from the office, so I'll keep working on them!

Mexican Brownie Cupcakes - Happy Cinco de Mayo

I discovered spicy Mayan hot chocolate at Coupa Cafe in Palo Alto and have loved that spiced up chocolate flavor ever since. When we moved to San Diego, we found out that Chuao Chocolatier, which supplies their chocolate bonbons and hot chocolates to Coupa Cafe, is based here! I was over the moon—an endless supply of spicy chocolate (and other favorites like Firecracker and Panko). Of course, it's a pricey supply, so for Cinco de Mayo, I decided to make Mexican brownies from scratch.

I am sure there are a variety of spices that can be added, but here's a simple way to get the job done:

Take your standard chocolate brownie recipe (a box mix works too) and add about 3/4 tsp. of ground chipotle chili pepper and 1 tsp. of ground cinnamon. I baked these as mini cupcakes, which requires about 18-20 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees, and topped with cinnamon buttercream. Avoid overbaking, since that seems to bake off the spice flavors.

Peppermint Chocolate Cupcakes - A Late-Night Snack

I was hungry one night. So I said to my assistant: "Why don't we bake something? Will you help me?" What a dear husband I have.

For the mint chocolate lovers out there like me:

This is a chocolate cupcake with peppermint ganache filling. I used the Cooks Illustrated recipe for Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes with Ganache Filling that I previously blogged about, but added peppermint extract to the ganache. The frosting is a peppermint buttercream (add peppermint extract to any basic buttercream recipe). I then topped off the cupcakes with dark chocolate mint leaves, which were made by brushing tempered chocolate on the back of mint leaves, and then peeling off the leaves once the chocolate has set.

I've made these cupcakes a few times before, but I think the use of Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes this time around was a vast improvement over the one-bowl chocolate cupcakes that Martha Stewart's book suggests. However, ultimately, the mint leaves are what make these cupcakes so special.

Pig-Pickin' Cupcakes - And a Baby Shower

Pig-Pickin' Cake (also sometimes called Pig-Lickin' Cake or Mandarin Orange Cake) is apparently a tradition at a southern barbecue. It is usually served as a layered cake, but this is my vision of it as a cupcake.

The cake portion is essentially a variation on my orange cupcakes, using pureed mandarin oranges instead of orange juice concentrate. I filled these cupcakes with pineapple pudding (crushed pineapples and vanilla pudding), which is what is usually used as the layered frosting. Then I topped the cupcakes off with whipped frosting (a cross between fresh whipped cream and meringue frosting that holds its shape a little better than whipped cream—I had to make sure these would survive a 2-hour drive). Finally, to class these up a bit for a baby shower, I decorated with gum paste flowers, which were brushed with yellow pearlescent powder and accented with pearlized sprinkles. So fun to make!

You can find a recipe for Pig-Pickin' Cake with a simple search online, but here is what I did for the cupcakes:

Cake

* 1 (18 ounce) box yellow cake mix
* 1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges in juice
* 4 eggs
* 2/3 - 3/4 cup vegetable oil (I prefer to use less)
* 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Filling

* 1 (6 ounce) can crushed pineapple (some recipes call for the larger can, but the smaller portion works better as a cupcake filling)
* 1 (8 ounce) container whipped topping (thawed)
* 1 (3.4 ounce) box instant vanilla pudding

Frosting

* 3 large egg whites
* 3/4 cup sugar
* Pinch of salt
* 1/3 cup water
* 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans (this recipe should make 24 cupcakes). In a mixing bowl, combine cake mix, mandarin oranges (with juice), eggs, oil and vanilla extract. Beat until mandarin oranges break up. Pour into cupcake liners (about 2/3 full) and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Note: Do not overfill the liners, as this batter will spill over the edges rather than form a tall mound. Cool in pans for 5 minutes, turn out of pans and finish cooling on wire racks.

In a mixing bowl, combine whipped topping, pineapple (with juice), and vanilla pudding mix. Carve out the center of the cooled cupcakes and fill with the pineapple pudding.

Frosting: In a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, combine the 3 large egg whites, 3/4 cup sugar, pinch of salt and 1/3 cup water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar has dissolved, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium-high until glossy, stiff peaks form (do not overbeat), about 3 minutes; reduce speed to low, add 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, and beat just until combined. Use immediately.

Simple, and yummy. Enjoy!

I also made baby block cakes for the baby shower. These were brown sugar pound cake with brown sugar cream cheese frosting. It was a learning experience in working with fondant and trying to have a steady hand while piping royal icing. Let's just say, we are giving ourselves an A for effort, and a below average grade for execution =)

Champagne Cupcakes - Happy Valentine's Day

Okay, I admit that there now appears to be a trend in my most recent postings . . .

But I had to try making these cupcakes after seeing a version of them on Cupcake Wars. The cake here is a variation on a standard white cake recipe with about 3/4 cup of Chandon Extra Dry Riche sparkling wine added. I think the sweeter the champagne (or sparkling wine), the better this cupcake is, although dessert wines would probably be overdoing it. When looking up other bakers' attempts at champagne cupcakes, there were many suggestions for adding strawberries or using strawberry flavored wines. However, I can tell you that a simple, standard champagne works perfectly well, and I was thrilled with how light and subtly sweet this cupcake was.

To get some berry flavors in there, I topped the cupcake with Chambord buttercream. For those of you who are new to Chambord, I discovered this raspberry liqueur in a magazine ad—the kind that has the "open here and smell" panel that usually accompanies perfume ads. Since then, I have been obsessed with this liqueur's delicious scent! Chambord alone doesn't add sufficient coloring (unless you're going to use the entire bottle . . .), so I added a dab of pink food coloring. Then I topped with some sanding sugar and white pearls. Sparkly, sprinkled pink cupcakes aren't normally my style, but hey, it's Valentine's Day.

Mojito Cupcakes - Happy Hour!

Mint, lime, sugar, why not? When I think of mojitos, I think of one of my favorite restaurants, La Bodeguita del Medio, which serves up delicious Cuban fare (and mojitos of course) on California Avenue in Palo Alto. I think I will have to try a strawberry or raspberry variation of this cupcake sometime.

The cake is a pound cake flavored with lime, oven-dried mint, cloves, and a bit of limoncello and dark rum. This is probably the most alcohol I have purchased in a long time, all just for the use of a couple tablespoons. We will take any cocktail suggestions to help use up the rest of the supply! The addition of the alcohol actually results in a rather odd-smelling batter, but once the alcohol is baked away, you're left with a very refreshing and nuanced citrus pound cake. I frosted these cupcakes with a rum Italian meringue buttercream, and topped with turbinado sugar and fresh mint leaves.

I went a bit light on the mint and rum, but I figured it might not be appropriate to induce the office to imbibe too early on a Thursday morning =)

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes - Happy Holidays!

My brother has an incredible camera lens . . .

I brought these mini cupcakes to family gatherings over the holidays. These chocolate cupcakes are filled with salted caramel, sprinkled with some coarse sea salt, piped with dark chocolate frosting, and additionally topped with a little more sea salt garnish.




Have chocolate and sea salt always been paired together, or is that a recent fad? In any case, I love how the combo tastes and sounds so gourmet.