The best way to spread holiday cheer is by singing loud, for all to hear.

Or baking. That works too.
Or, better yet, doing both simultaneously.

Maybe you have figured out that I am watching Elf, the greatest holiday movie ever made. Will Ferrell is my life. Good grief.


Since last night was Christmas Eve, my friends (more like cousins, really) came over for our big dinner, and so I made cupcakes. I cannot believe how long it has been since I have made cupcakes.
Since it is a special day, I used Magnolia Bakery's Chocolate Cupcake recipe. If I had my way, I would eat Magnolia Bakery cupcakes all day everyday. But I live in California, so that is a bit of a challenge. Oh well.

To make them, I did this:

Magnolia's Chocolate Cupcakes:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted (see Note)
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers. Set aside.

3. In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda. Set aside.

4. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the chocolate, mixing until well incorporated. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

5. Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing. At the bakery we ice the cupcakes with either Vanilla Buttercream or Chocolate Buttercream.





Instead of doing a chocolate buttercream though, I chose to frost half of the cupcakes with a vanilla buttercream rolled shredded coconut, and the other half with a peppermint buttercream sprinkled with crushed candy canes. I used the Magnolia buttercream recipe, to go with the whole theme of the cupcakes haha.

Magnolia's Vanilla Buttercream Frosting*

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
6 to 8 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled.)


*For half of the frosting I added 1/2 tsp of peppermint extract and about 2 drops of red food coloring (for a kind of pink candy cane kind of look).


These ones I just frosted with the vanilla buttercream, then rolled in shredded coconut. I think they look, I don't know, 'snowy', or something.

They were definitely a hit. The peppermint ones got a lot more love than the coconut ones, but in my humble opinion I personally thought the coconut ones were more appealing. Oh well, more for me I guess.

Peace. Love. Cupcakes.

It feels like summer

GAHH!
As of I am leaving for New York on my dad's birthday, and my mom's birthday is today, yesterday we had a Father's Day/Double Birthday celebration extravaganza.
Usually we make my dad a key lime pie for his birthday every year, but this year I wanted to make him cupcakes.
I saw this recipe on Martha Stewart's website a while ago, and have wanted to try it ever since, so i thought this was the perfect occasion.
Of course, I really wanted to make something for my mom today since it is her birthday, but we have no sugar or eggs or butter, and I have no money to go buy some (not to mention a car or license to get to the store). I'm an awful child. =[

ANYWAY, happier thoughts, here's the cupcakes:

Key Lime Meringue Cupcakes (recipe adapted from Martha Stewart)

CUPCAKES:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
Finely grated zest of 3 limes (about 3 tablespoons), plus 2 tablespoons fresh key lime juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk



1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in zest and vanilla. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk and lime juice, and beating until just combined after each.
3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.
4. To finish, spread 1 tablespoon lime curd onto middle of each cupcake. Generously dollop on 7 minute frosting on top. Hold a small kitchen torch 3 to 4 inches from surface of frosting, and wave it back and forth until frosting is lightly browned all over. Serve immediately.



KEY LIME CURD:
8 large egg yolks
Finely grated zest of 2 limes
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed key lime juice (about 3 limes)
1 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
(8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

1. Combine yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar in a heavy-bottom saucepan; whisk to combine. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon (be sure to scrape the sides of the pan), until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, 8 to 10 minutes, and registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.
2. Remove saucepan from heat. Add salt and butter, one piece at a time, stirring until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve into a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled and set, at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.

They were really yummy, but they were definitely an all day project. I still have a butt load left over because the recipe makes 24, so if you want one, come on over to my house. Haha.

Peace. Love. Keylimes.

Are Those Deep Fried Cupcakes?

On Sunday I went to a barbecue at my good friend Katie's house, and my mommy made an angel food cake for dessert.
Good, sweet, creator of all that is good in the world, let me just tell you that angel food cake is one of my absolute favorite kinds of cakes - scratch that - desserts, in the world. I have two big slices of that baby and could have had two more. And THAT is why my love handles will not go away.
Anyway, on the ride home, I asked my mom if it would be possible to make angel food cupcakes. She told me she didn't think so, because you have to put the cake upside down and all that jazz. So I did my research and looked in my cupcake book, by Elinor Klivans, and I found a recipe for lemon angel food cakes.
I changed it a little and took out the lemon zest so they could just be plain angel food cakes.
So here is the adapted recipe:

CUPCAKES:
1 Cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 Cup sugar (plus 4 Tbsp.)
1 1/2 Cup egg whites
1 Tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 Tsp. salt
1 Tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 Tsp. almond extract



1. Preheat oven to 325. Have ready a muffin pan with 24 muffin cups (or 2 with 12 cups). Put paper liners in 6 of the cups to protect the pan.
2. Sift the flour and 4 tablespoons of the sugar into a small bowl and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt until the whites are foamy and the cream of tartar dissolves. Beat on high speed until the egg whites look shiny and smooth and the beaters form lines in the mixture; if you stop the mixer and lift up the beaters, the whites should cling to the beaters. Slowly, beat in the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time., then beat for 1 minute. Mix in the vanilla and almond extract. Beating on low speed, sprinkle 1/4 of the flour mixture over the egg white mixture at a time, beating after each addition to incorporate it.
4. Using about 1/2 cup for each, spoon the batter into the 18 unlined muffin cups. The batter may even be above the tops of the cups, but this stiff batter will not spill over the sides. do not smooth the tops - let the batter remain in fluffy mounds.
5. Bake for about 35 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry. The cupcakes will rise quite a bit.
6. Use a small knife to loosen the edges of the cupcakes from the pan. Carefully remove the cupcakes from the pan, using the knife to help release them if necessary, and let them sit on a rack.


They came out really good. I definitely think i will make this recipe again.

Black Bottoms Up

My friend Aubrey turned 16 last week, and in celebration, I made her black bottom cupcakes. She had never had them, but she loves a. chocolate and b. cream cheese, so I thought I would give her the best of both worlds.
I used to eat them a lot when I was little ( I would order them at Peet's or Starbucks when my mom would get her latte), but I probably haven't had one since I was 8 or so. So when I was making them the entire time I was paranoid that they wouldn't come out right. But then I had one (I always taste before I give them to my friends), and they tasted exactly how I remembered them.
Here is the recipe, which i adapted from Smitten Kitchen:

FILLING:
8 ounces cream cheese, regular or reduced fat, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Beat together the cream cheese, granulated sugar, and egg until smooth. Stir in the chopped chocolate pieces. Set aside.



CUPCAKES:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup unflavored vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Adjust the rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter a 12-cup muffin tin, or line the tin with paper muffin cups.
2. In a medium bowl sift together the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla.
3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients, stirring until just smooth. Stir any longer and you will over mix the batter and end up with less-than-tender cupcakes.
4. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Spoon a few tablespoons of the filling into the center of each cupcake, dividing the filling evenly. This will fill the cups almost completely, which is fine.
5. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the tops are slightly golden brown and the cupcakes feel springy when gently pressed. These moist treats will keep well unrefrigerated for 2 to 3 days if stored in an airtight container. Makes about 12 cupcakes.



Peace. Love. Blackbottoms.

Today, i have reached a peak in my baking.
Today, my friend and I not only had a cookie/cupcake day reunion, but we also made RAINBOW EFFING CUPCAKES.

I'm feelin' pretty good about myself right now, not gonna lie.
I thought it was cool when I made homemade funfetti, but gosh this is even cooler!
They taste pretty good, considering the heaps of chemicals the food coloring must have added, but they look even more badass.
we made a whipped cream to top it with, because we didn't want to take away from the epic-ness of the cupcakes. The cupcake recipe is adapted from http://bakingbites.com/, and the whipped cream is from http://www.joyofbaking.com/.

Anyway, without any further ado, I give you... Kelsey and Erica's COSMIC CUPCAKES:



Cosmic Cupcakes (adapted from http://bakingbites.com/ Rainbow Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Topping:

CUPCAKES

2 Cup all purpose flour
3 Tsp. baking powder
1/2 Tsp. salt
1 Cup sugar
4 Large eggs
1 Cup vegetable oil
1 Cup buttermilk
2 Tsp. vanilla extract
red, yellow, green and blue food colorings




1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line cupcake tin with 20 with paper cups.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk and vanilla extract. Pour in dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
4. Divide batter evenly into 6 small bowls; each should have a little more than 2/3 cup batter (approx 6 tbsp or so for each).
5. Add about 15 tsp food coloring to each bowl to make red, orange, yellow, green blue and purple batters. Stir well, so no streaks of plain batter remain. Add additional food coloring if necessary.
6. Starting with the purple batter, add a small spoonful to each of the 20 muffin cups (just over 1/2 tbsp in each). Repeat with all remaining colors, working from blue to green to yellow to orange to red, adding each subsequent spoonful on top of the previous color. Do not attempt to spread the layers of color out (as it can cause layers to get combined), but allow them to spread on their own.
7. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cupcakes on a wire rack before frosting. Makes about 20.
*Note: We doubled this from the original recipe, and it actually only made about 18. Just sayin'.

WHIPPED CREAM:

1 Cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 Tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar

1. In a large mixing bowl place the whipping cream, vanilla extract, and sugar and stir to combine.
2. Cover and chill the bowl and wire whisk in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. When chilled, beat the mixture until stiff peaks form.


(Not the best picture of us, but meh, what can you do?)



Basically, even though my parents declared that the cupcakes "look like the fake food that kindergartners play with", Erica and I decided all our friends are going to love them and that the rainbow just makes them extremely kick ass.

I'm super happy right now. YAY! (Okay, maybe I ate too much of the batter when I was baking...)

Happy Sunday y'all.
Peace. Love. Rainbowcupcakes.

Blackmothsuperrainbowcupcakes

Although Sundays are really my only real day of "weekend", I still manage to drive myself crazy and overbook myself every single week. But one thing I always try to make time for is baking. Yay! Haha sorry I don't know what that was about.
Anyway, in between chores, and my stupid documentary project, I still was able to bake, which makes things a little better. Today I decided to make homemade funfetti cupcakes with chocolate (courtesy of I♥cuppycakes! ) chip buttercream.
Best decision of my day. They came out fantastically. I love the chocolate chips, and funfetti is just hella legit, so yeah.
Anywaaaaaay, enough of my yacking, here's the recipe yo.

I♥cuppycakes! Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from Cupcakes by Shelly Kaldunski


CUPCAKES

1-1/4 Cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 Tsp. baking powder
1/4 Tsp. salt
3/4 Cup sugar
6 Tbsp. butter, room temperature
1 Large egg + 1 egg white, room temperature
1 Tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 Cup milk
2 Tbsp. rainbow sprinkles




1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.
3. In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a stand mixer, fitted with flat beater, beat the sugar and butter until well combined, about 2-3 minutes. Add egg and egg white, one at a time, beating on low.
4. Then add vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk in 2 additions, ending with the flour mixture. Fold in rainbow sprinkles.
5. Fill cupcake liners about 1/2-2/3 full. Bake for about 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire cooling rack before frosting. Makes about 12 cupcakes.


Billy's Vanilla Buttercream Frosting with Chocolate Chips

FROSTING:
1 Cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
6 to 8 Cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 Cup milk
1 Tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 Cups semisweet chocolate chips

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. With mixer on low speed, add 6 cups sugar, milk, and vanilla; mix until light and fluffy. If necessary, gradually add remaining 2 cups sugar to reach desired consistency. Mix in chocolate chips and frost like nobody's business!



My padre liked them a LOT, which means something, since the man is a sugar nazi.
Mission accomplished. I can sleep tonight.
Peace. Love. Funfetti.

Lizstomania and Lemons and Such

Hola amigos.
It was my friend's birthday the other day, so of course I baked her cupcakes. Every day Andie (the birthday girl) and I go to Mulberry's (the awesome little store right by my school) and I get my small nonfat sugar free vanilla latte, and she gets her kiddie chai and a piece of lemon bread. SO, in honor of that (and also the fact that I am very much anticipating summer) I decided to make her some lemon-y cupcakes.
After looking at a bajillion and one cupcake recipes involving lemons, i decided to make her yellow cupcakes with a lemon sauce on top. I got both recipes from Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans.


Easy-Mix Yellow Cupcake Batter

1 1/4 Cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 Tsp. baking powder
1/4 Tsp. baking soda
1/4 Tsp. salt
1 Large egg
1 large Egg yolk
1 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup canola or corn oil
1 Tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 Cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the egg and yolk and sugar until thickened and lightened to a cream color, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing.
4. On a low speed, mix in the oil and vanilla until blended. Mis in the sour cream until no white streaks remain. Mix in the flour mixture until it is incorporated and the batter is smooth.
5. Bake for about 18-20 minutes. Makes about 12 cupcakes.

Lemon Sauce

1/2 Stick unsalted butter
1/3 Cup fresh lemon juice
2 Large eggs
2 Large egg yolks
1 Cup sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch, dissolved in 1/4 cup water
1 Tsp. grated lemon zest

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the butter and lemon juice over medium heat until the butter melts and the mixture is hot, about 130 Degrees F on a thermometer.
2. Meawhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar together to blend them, then whisk in the dissolved cornstarch.
3. Whisking constantly, slowly pour the hot butter and lemon juice into the yolk mixture.
4. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a large spoon, just until it comes to a boil and thickens; it wil take about 6 minutes.
5. Immediately remove from heat, strain into a small bowl, and stir in the lemon zest.
6. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the sauce, use a toothpick to poke a few holes in the plastic wrap to let steam escape, and refrigerate until cold. The sauce will thicken further as it cools. Makes about 1 cup of sauce.

Peace. Love. Cupcakes.

Happy Monday yo.

So I've been kinda lazy about uploading pics from my camera, so one of my recipes is actually from last week, but shhh.
Saturday night my wonderful friend Olenka slept over at my house, and so in the morning, I did what I always do when people spend the night at my house, I made breakfast.
I decided to make french toast on cinnamon swirl bread from the Bread Garden (a.k.a. the best bakery EVER). This is the recipe my dad taught me, its kind of just a go with the flow kinda thing, but I'll give approximate measurements.



Mini French Toast
Ingredients:
Cinnamon Swirl Bread (or any other bread of your choice)
2 Eggs
Cup of milk
Dash of Amaretto
Butter (for pan)
Confectioner's Sugar (for garnish)

Directions:
1. Heat up a medium frying pan on a medium setting (on my stove that would be about 8).
2. Whisk together eggs, milk, and Amaretto.
3. Drop a piece of butter onto pan to grease.
4. Dip bread into batter to soak, then place in pan.
5. Let cook for about 1 minute on each side.
6. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.



So the other week, I was asking my friends what they wanted me to bake, and I got multiple requests for red velvet cake, so I had no choice to make red velvet cupcakes. I had made them one time before with my friend Katie, but I didn't love the way they came out, so I decided to try a different recipe this time. After some browsing, I decided that the red velvet recipe from Simply Recipes was the best looking. They came out a perfectly awesome red color, which made me super happy. Because really, if you are going to make red velvet cakes, why would you settle for anything less than the reddest red?




Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

CUPCAKES
1 1/2 Cups sugar
1/2 Cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2 Eggs, room temperature
2 1/3 Cups cake flour
2 Tbsp. Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 Tsp. baking soda
1 Tsp. baking powder
1/2 Tsp. salt
1 Cup buttermilk
1 1/2 Tbsp. red food coloring
1 Tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tsp. distilled white vinegar

FROSTING
1/2 Cup butter (1 stick), room temperature
8 Oz Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature
2 - 3 Cups powdered sugar
1 Tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

CUPCAKES

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer for 3 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy.
2. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is fully incorporated. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
3. In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl whisk together the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla extract, and red food coloring.
4. Add a fourth of the dry ingredients and mix, then add a third of the wet. Continue adding in a dry, wet, dry pattern, ending with the dry ingredients.
5. Scoop into cupcake papers, about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Rotate the pan after the first 15 minutes of baking to ensure even baking.
6. Allow to cool for one minute in the pan then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cupcakes.

FROSTING
1. Cream the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
2. Add the vanilla extract and mix.
3. Add the powdered sugar, continually taste to get to desired sweetness. Smooth onto cooled cupcakes.



Now I'm not the hugest fan of red velvet in general, but these came out pretty darn good, and all my friends loved them, so if your going to do red velvet, this is definitely the way to go.

Peace. Love. Cupcakes&FrenchToast.
Kelsey