Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream & Fantasy Football

 

 

Have you ever noticed how often I start a post on this thing with an apology for not posting in an excessive amount of time?  I have.  It's annoying.  Anyway, sorry for not posting in a month!  I think that is the last apology you will get out of me because if you are reading this blog...well...you should be used to it by now, am I right?!  (Also, you are most likely a family member or friend who expects me to be late/untimely...so why should posts on my blog be any different?!).

 

Anyway, I'm playing fantasy football this year.  And my team (Lindsey and I) is totally kicking some major A$$! 

 

I don't know anything about football.  I know I like the Hawkeyes, I know some of the positions and some basic information like scoring and whatnot from my days of being a cheerleader...but I don't know ANYTHING about the NFL, and I'm being completely honest when I say I've never cared to learn.

 

This year, however, the guy who organizes the fantasy football league at work asked me if I wanted to get an all girl team together and participate.  I'm a lover of infiltrating all things generally male dominated, so I asked a couple of girls here if they wanted to participate, Lindsey (who actually does watch football) said yes, and Team Candy was born! 

 

Yes, our name is Team Candy.  One of our newest associates, Paige, named us.  I believe it is technically Team Eye-Candy, but we like to keep things appropriate (although I don't know why considering one of the teams is the Champion Whoremongers...).

 

Anyway, Lindsey, Paige, and I went to the chaotic, loud, booze-filled draft and picked ourselves a wonderful team!  While I've never been in to the NFL, I am very competitive.  Now that I'm invested in this team, I'm learning everything I can about my players and the NFL.  Actually, it has become so bad that Ian recently asked me to stop spouting off about the NFL and told me that if he broke up with because of my new found interest in football, people would totally understand...(he was joking, I think...).

 

So far we have won both of our games, which means we are ranked number one! I know, there is still plenty of time for our team to go down in a flaming ball of crap...but for now we rock! 

 

Because we are competitive, awesome, and women, we went to the mall and ordered the most girly team t-shirts we could find:

 

 

And Lindsey has been arranging/hosting team watch parties at her house:

 

Matt shown for scale...

Lindsey's basement has an awesome setup for football watch parties, which includes this lovely projection T.V. and the NFL red zone package, which makes sure you are watching whatever game currently has a ball in the red zone.

 

My contribution to the first watch party was cupcakes, of course!  Lindsey is always trying to coerce me into make certain kinds of cupcakes for her.  She recently sent me a recipe for Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream frosting and all she said was how delicious they looked and how excited she was for fall.  But I knew.  I KNEW she wanted me to make these cupcakes...

 

And I did.  I mean, making cupcakes is kind of a team effort...I like to make them, she likes to eat them...so I might as well make a flavor she wants to try, no? 

 

Seriously though, I imagine it must take a lot of effort to host even a small gathering at your home (I wouldn't know, I don't let people enter my home due to the fact that it is in constant disarray and every place I have to sit only seats two...), so the least I can do is make cupcake flavors she suggests. 

 

As I alluded to at the beginning of this long stream of consciousness post, I have a tendency to run behind.  I woke up on the Sunday of our watch party, went to the grocery store and purchased the ingredients for cupcake making, made the cupcakes (and a dip, yummy!), and then showed up one hour late to the party...but when you show up with cupcakes, I like to think that people don't care about your lateness.  I might be wrong. 

 

These cupcakes are deliciously fall flavored.  I thought they were good, they were a hit at the party (meaning Lindsey and I ate a lot of them), and when I took them to work I received numerous compliments on them (as well as numerous complaints about the general lack of cupcakes in the recent past...). 

 

I changed the recipe to use store bought caramel (what?!  I was already late!) and instead of one stick of salted butter and one of unsalted butter in the buttercream...I just used unsalted butter and added more salt...I'm too lazy to purchase two different kinds of salt for one freaking recipe!

 

Oh, and just an FYI - if you double the cupcake recipe, you should also double the frosting...

 

Quit judging the pictures in this post...I forgot my camera at work when I baked the cupcakes, so these were taken on my messy desk.  You can actually see highlighters reflected on the side...

 

Pumpkin Cupcakes - (original recipe says you get 18 cupcakes from this...I got closer to 24)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Beat on medium speed until well combined. Add dry ingredients, and mix on low until smooth. Fold in pumpkin puree.
3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Salted Caramel Buttercream -
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 teaspoon sea salt, more to taste and to garnish
1/2 cup caramel sauce, more to taste and to garnish
2 cups powdered sugar

1. In a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and salt together until lightened and fluffy.
2. Reduce speed to low and add powdered sugar. Mix until thoroughly combined.
3. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the caramel. Beat on medium high speed until light and airy, and completely mixed (about 2 minutes). 
4. Frost cupcakes and garnish with more caramel and a SMALL sprinkle of salt.

40th Surprise Party

So...remember that post I had almost a month ago where I talked about Red Velvet cupcakes and told you to check back later in the week for a post about my first order...well...this is that post you've been waiting for.  I know.  I suck.  You love me anyway.

Anyway, my first ever order was for 1 dozen Pina Colada Cupcakes, 1 dozen S'mores Cupcakes, and 2 dozen red velvet cupcakes.  This also happened to be the very first time baking in my new kitchen.  Oh, and it was the first week of the summer associate program where my law firm has activities that involve drinking booze literally every night of the week.  It was an interesting baking experience...or, and interesting experience in time management, to say the least.

First, I love my new kitchen:

I especially like the lovely island in the middle.  The one problem is that once you pull out your ingredients and your "cookbook" (aka, my iPad)...and my computer for watching TV, there really isn't a whole lot of room on the counter.  So, it took some work to figure out where my cooling racks would work best, where my ingredients should sit waiting patiently for me to use them, etc.  I did figure it out, though.

Baking for actual events makes me nervous...but happy.  It definitely makes me feel good that someone liked my baking so much they wanted to order it!  But...it makes me nervous because WHAT IF I MESS UP?! 

To accommodate all of the drinking and working I had to do that week, I baked the order over the course of a couple of days (which my customer knew was likely to happen since she ordered some complex cupcakes).  It actually went a lot more smoothly than I anticipated.  I didn't mess up the recipes at all...I had an order for baking...the S'mores turned out even better than the usually do...I made colorful Pina Colada Cupcakes (it was a 40th birthday party for a man...so I figured all pink was a no no):

I even got to use my new mini fridge for its intended purpose for the very first time:

Please see the beautiful cupcakes...and ignore the beer).

I was a little nervous that the Red Velvet Cupcakes were messed up.  You see, usually before I let anyone else eat a cupcake, I taste-test the batch first.  But, the customer ordered 2 dozen Red Velvet Cupcakes, and the recipe makes exactly that...so there weren't any extras to taste.  I was petrified that I had left out an important ingredient (like...idk...sugar!) and just didn't know it.  If they were messed up, you know, no big deal...just the birthday boy's FAVORITE FREAKING CAKE.  So yeah, that part made me nervous (they weren't messed up, in case you were concerned).

The most nerve-racking portion of the whole experience, however, was the transportation.  All I needed to do was get 5 dozen cupcakes to the customer without messing any up, and I would be good to go...but I was so nervous I was going to drop them!  I mean, I had to get them from my basement, to my car, to the fridge at work, back to my car, and then to the drop-off location.  It was a lot of travel...

I managed...but then that night I got a text message from my friend that said, "My worst nightmare just happened.  The bottom of one of the tupperwares just fell out!!!!!  Thank God the cupcakes were salvageable.  F*ck my life."  And my heart dropped...

Luckily, no cupcakes were harmed in the drop...

Anyway, the experience was good, the customer passed out some of my business cards, and maybe someone else will order in the future!  Until then, I'll just keep baking for the fun of it! 

(P.S. - the customer was going to take a picture of the cupcakes sitting out, but was too busy having fun...so no finished product pics for you this time!  Sorry folks!).

Red Velvet Cupcakes - Two Ways

About a month ago I was contacted by the sister of a friend who asked if I would be willing to bake cupcakes for a surprise 40th birthday party she was throwing for her boyfriend!  You want to order cupcakes from me?!  OF COURSE I'M INTERESTED!

Now that that's out of my system...

I (semi) promptly emailed her back, and we got to work ironing out the details.  The most important detail is that the birthday boy's favorite cake is red velvet cake.

I immediately thought of a problem...I don't recall ever having red velvet cake.  So, either I've never had it, or it wasn't worth remembering.

Rootbeer Float

Around November of 2011, I got an email from my sister, Dani, with the subject line "Challenge."  She issued me a challenge to create a cupcake that used at least one flavor of Pinnacle Vodka, preferably more.  Specifically, she wanted me to use a the Pinnacle Whipped.  She may have even strongly suggested that the cupcake be a Rootbeer Float flavor.  I promised to do so...

I intended to make these cupcakes shortly after she issued her challenge.  I purchased the Pinnacle Whipped vodka and intended to purchase the Rootbeer flavor as well.  However, the liquor store I went to didn't have it, so I just purchased Rootbeer and made a mental note to go to another liquor store.

I drank the first bottle of vodka.  It's really good.  Mixed with Rootbeer, it's like the perfect adult Rootbeer float.  No joke!

Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Swiss Meringue Butter Cream Frosting

This spring, Ian has an amazing internship working at a prestigious accounting firm...and it has the potential to lead to a full time job when he graduates.  It's a tax internship during the busy tax time, and so far he is loving it.  He is loving it so much, in fact, that he decided he wants to bribe them into giving him a job...or into liking him...which he hopes will lead to a job.

Blue Moon & Corona Cupcakes

I was recently tricked into making these cupcakes:

(can you figure out what is wrong with this picture?)

S'more Cupcakes

Have you ever had a craving for something and it just follows you around, demanding to be satisfied?  Well, for MONTHS, all I could think about was how much I wanted a s'more.  I blame Ian.  Now, he will probably tell you that I blame him for everything, but this really was his fault.  Ian insisted that we go camping (and that experience, my friends, is a whole other story, which I promise to blog about at a later time).  Anyway, on this lovely camping trip we planned to make s'mores and brought all the fixin's.  And we did make them.  Once.  But is once really ever enough for s'mores?  I would argue that it is most assuredly not.

So I went on a quest to find a recipe for s'mores cupcakes.  As you would expect, I found a plethora of cupcake options out on the interwebs.  I combined the cupcake recipe from Bakerella, the marshmallow frosting from the Annie's Eats, and my own chocolate ganache.  Let me tell you, this things are DANGEROUS.

Lemon-Limoncello Cupcakes

After I successfully made homemade limoncello, I decided I needed to bake with it!  I found this delicious looking recipe on the Brown Eyed Baker and decided to try it out.  These cupcakes are lemon-limoncello cupcakes, lemon curd filling, and limoncello frosting.  The flavor is a little out of season, but I was too impatient to wait for summer, so deal with it!

Thanksgiving Cupcakes!

I haven't been doing much baking lately...busy with work...holidays...birthdays...I'm lazy...

I did, however, do some baking for Thanksgiving.  It was to be the very first time anyone in my family would taste my baking!  I was a little nervous.  Ok, I was a lot nervous.  Have I mentioned that there are some fantastic bakers in my family?  So...I decided that it was better to be safe than sorry...I decided to bake a cupcake I had already baked before.  Kinda.

I opted to make the ultimate vanilla cupcakes and then frost half with pumpkin crème brûlée and the other half with a Caramel Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting.

I didn't have time to bake before making the trip home.  So, here was the plan - I had to leave Kansas on Tuesday after work and then drive to Iowa, leaving me Wednesday to bake my cupcakes and also spend time with my family.  I did, however, find the time to pre-make my caramel.  Here is a picture of my caramel...doesn't it look lovely?

I Brought a Torch to Work!

A few weeks back, I got an email from a local restaurant advertising a wine and tapas pairing dinner.  I get about two or three of these emails a week and I'm always tempted to go...but I never really want to spend $75 for dinner.  This one, however, sounded really good and I thought it might be fun if I could convince a couple of my friends to go with me.  I sent out an email gauging interest, and got a response back from a friend almost immediately suggesting that instead of going to a pairing, she host one at her house! 

So, we decided to have a big girls' night where everyone was responsible for bringing one dish paired with one alcoholic beverage.  I obviously offered to be in charge of the dessert.  I decided to make crème brûlée cupcakes (found at the Cupcake Project, obviously!).  These cupcakes are vanilla cupcakes with a pumpkin crème brûlée.  I've never made crème brûlée before, so that was challenge number 1.

So...here's what you need to know about this crème brûlée recipe - you need 6 ramikins, or you need to plan on baking your crème brûlée for much, much longer than 40 minutes! 

Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes and a Bachelorette Party

Ok, first things first - if you are 1 of the 5 people who looks at this blog occasionally, you will notice that I have changed the name and the URL.  I'm sorry if this caused any confusion/if you attempted to find my blog and were prevented due to the change.  However, it was a necessary evil.  Some of you may be aware that there is a cookbook entitled The Boozy Baker, which is all over the place right now.  Considering the book was published long before I started my blog (and the fact that it is now a well recognized cookbook), I assume that someday in the near future, the author (or her attorneys) is going to being the process of doing random Internet searches for people who are infringing on her intellectual property...at which time she would find me and I would receive a cease and desist letter.  So, to avoid that, I changed the blog name (and have already had one complaint...)

NOW ON TO THE FUN STUFF!

It has been a while since my last post, and for that I apologize!  I've been spending a lot of quality time in my office lately and haven't been baking as much as I would like to.  However, I did break away from the office a couple of weeks ago to attend an awesome bachelorette party of my hair stylist turned workout buddy and all around friend, Evy.  She and her beau eloped in Vegas...but before that, we had a crazy night filled with mullets, alcohol, dancing, and a party bus! 

I offered to bake Evy cupcakes for the party, and asked her what kind sounded good to her.  She, like most people when asked that question, said she didn't really care...but then she mentioned strawberry margarita cupcakes about 10 times in the course of a week.  So, it was decided.

I've already made margarita cupcakes and decided to just use that same recipe, but find a way to make it much more alcoholic and strawberry flavored.  I also fell in love with the Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting...so I decided to find a way to make that alcoholic.

Both of these changes were really simple...or would have been for someone who wasn't me. 

To make the cupcakes strawberry margarita flavored, I decided to try this filling I found at The Baker Chick.  The Baker Chick's blog post on strawberry margarita cupcakes is great, and she even tells you how to get the filling into the cupcakes.  I thought I knew better.  I was wrong.

So...I recently found this while shopping:

This is supposed to help you remove the center of your cupcake to add filling...for me, all it did was mash the center of my cupcake, making it ugly and malformed.  I only used this "handy" tool on one cupcake, and then I gave up.  I'm sure that it is very useful...and someday I may even find a way to use it...but I assumed I had a better idea.

I WAS WRONG.

Remember my Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Filling?  For those, I just put the filling in a pastry bag, put the tip of the pastry bag into the cupcake, and squeezed gently.  It was super simple...so I figured I would try that again here.

The filling in this cupcake is essentially tequila and strawberry puree.  Mistake number 1 was thinking that I could keep LIQUID in my pastry bag without spilling it everywhere.  I could not.  I ended up with puddles of strawberry tequila all over my kitchen floor.  Mistake number 2 was thinking that strawberry puree would come easily out of the tip...it did not.  The seeds got stuck in the tip...I ended up squeezing the bag a little too hard...when the LIQUID finally came out of the bag, it didn't come out nicely.  It squirted.  Everywhere. 

I did finally get my cupcakes filled...by following the directions provided by The Baker Chick.  So...take a small paring knife and cut out the center of your cupcake:

Using a spoon, fill the hole with your filling (no judging my messy baking skills):

Then replace the centerpiece.  Some people say you should cut off the tip so it fits more easily back on the cupcake after you have added filling.  My take on these cupcakes was that I was going to be frosting them with the cupcake swirl, so a little extra volume in the middle of the cupcake wouldn't hurt anyone!

For the frosting, I remade the Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting...but this time, instead of adding strawberry puree to flavor it, I made a strawberry margarita and dumped it in.  I thought it worked well! 

These cupcakes were AMAZING...and they were definitely the most alcoholic cupcakes I've made to date.  Seriously, when I opened up the box at the dinner, you could smell the tequila!  It. Was. Fantastic!

Obviously, these cupcakes being for a bachelorette party means there had to be a penis straw for the bride:

In case you were wondering, the bachelorette party was an AMAZING time...and I was NOT KIDDING ABOUT THE MULLETS! 



(Ok, the second one was a wig...but the first guy...hardcore mullet).

Margarita Cupcakes -

I'm not re-writing the recipe for you...just follow the link! 

Strawberry Margarita Filling -

1 8oz container of strawberries

Juice and zest of 1 lime

1/2 cup tequila

2 tablespoons sugar

In a bowl of a food processor (I used a magic bullet), add the strawberries, lime juice, lime zest, tequila, and sugar.  Puree until there are no chunks of strawberry.

Strawberry Margarita Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting -

Follow the frosting recipe until the point where you add the strawberries.

Make a strawberry margarita (I mixed 6 ounce of tequila, 4-6 ounces of tripple sec, 4 ounces of strawberry puree, and 2 ounces of fresh squeezed lime juice).  Dump the strawberry margarita into the frosting and mix until combined!

Fill your cooled cupcakes with the filling (using the method above, trust me), then frost...I like the cupcake swirl for these ones (mostly because I now know how to do the cupcake swirl). 

Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting

This week, something very exciting happened for me...I was approached at work by a couple of coworkers who basically wanted to order cupcakes from me.  The thought of this happening had never really occurred to me...I mean, I am learning to bake, I'm not a baker...so the fact that someone wanted to buy my cupcakes and serve them at an event was very exciting for me!  It also caught me off guard (I mean, how do you know what to charge people for things like this?).

These cupcakes were made for a baby shower.  The baby is a girl, and the mom is apparently obsessed with the Beatles.  So, the people hosting the baby shower decided that in light of the Beatles' song "Strawberry Fields Forever," strawberry cupcakes with a pink frosting would be perfect. 

The baby shower is tomorrow (Sunday), but I told my coworkers that I would try to bring the cupcakes to work for them on Friday so they didn't have to make a special trip to the office to pick them up.  Unfortunately, I hit a little baking snag.

You see, I find my recipes online, but then I print them off and work from the printout at home.  I also am not one of those good people who measures out all of their ingredients before starting to mix everything together (please don't tell my high school home-ec teacher!).  Instead, I read the step by step instructions and measure things out as they are called for.  This lead to a major cupcake default on Thursday night.

You see, the website and the printer had a disagreement, I think, and part of the directions didn't actually print off...but they looked whole, so I didn't notice.  I did my thing, mixing my ingredients and filling my baking cups and baking my cupcakes.  Then, when I pulled the first 24 cupcakes out of the oven, I noticed it...an unopened bag of sugar on the counter.  At this point I thought to myself, "Um...did I add sugar to these cupcakes?  I don't think so....I wonder how important sugar is..."

It turns out, SUGAR IS VERY IMPORTANT. 

The cupcakes LOOKED like cupcakes.  The cupcakes TASTED like biscuits with strawberry bits.  The cupcakes ended in my trash can covered with leftover batter and I went to bed knowing I would need to try again another day.

On Friday, I went back to the store, got replacement ingredients, and obsessed over the fact that I WOULD NOT forget to add the sugar this time!  And I didn't! 

These cupcakes came from Amelia's favorite baking blog, Annie's Eats.  The process of baking these cupcakes had its highs and lows...

Highs -

1. Working with new ingredients (like cake flour)
2. The cupcakes are delicious
3. learning how to separate an egg! 
4. The frosting is fantastic!
5. I LEARNED HOW TO DO A CUPCAKE SWIRL! (I watched a tutorial video...)
6. I made strawberry puree (which I had seriously never considered was JUST STRAWBERRIES...that you puree...)

Lows -

1. My food chopper (used to chop strawberries) decided it didn't want to come apart to be washed and that lead to me banging it on the counter.
2. Cake flour is hard to sift...so I had to hit the sifter with my meat mallet to get the flour through and that took a really long time.
3. Because I was making these cupcakes for other people for a special occassion, I couldnt just say, "well, that was a flop!  Guess I will just try again next week!"  Instead, I had to try again the next day!
4. I may have filled my cupcake liners too full, causing the cupcakes to be a little malformed.

I think my favorite part of these cupcakes is the frosting.  The frosting is a Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream...and it is so rich and creamy and delicious!  It was also one of the more difficult frostings I have made, so after the cupcake flop, I was nervous...

This frosting involves heating egg whites and sugar over simmering water until the mixture reaches a certain temperature and the sugar dissolves...

I don't have a thermometer, so I had to just eyeball it! 

Then there is A LOT of mixing (thank God for the KitchenAid).

The directions I followed were very helpful.  She was very optimistic and warned of problems that may happen in the frosting making process (like the frosting gets runny (which happened) or the frosting curdles (also happened))...and how all you have to do is KEEP MIXING and it will turn out just fine.  And she was right! 

So, my suggestion is that if you want a really rich, creamy, and delicious frosting and you have some extra time, you should try a Swiss meringue buttercream frosting (apparently there are many different flavors you can make!)!  Definitely worth it!  I have a lot of extras and love it so much that I am trying to convince someone else to bake a cake and frost it with my leftovers just so it wont go to waste!

I think these cupcakes are DELICIOUS!  They are light and fluffy and very moist with a good strawberry flavor.  I have no idea what the babyshower people will say...but I will update if I get any comments! 

Strawberry Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups cake flour (I didn't know cake flour existed until this recipe...)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla (I still can't get my vanilla opened, so I used vanilla bean paste)

2 cups chopped strawberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line cupcake pans with liners.
2. Sift flour, salt, and baking soda into a medium bowl (may require a meat mallet to beat the sifter...).  Set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter AND SUGAR until light and fluffy (remember, sugar is important!).
4. Add eggs one at a time until combined. 
5. Add buttermilk, oil, and vanilla and beat until combined.
6. Add flour mixture and stir until just combined.
7. Fold in chopped strawberries.
8. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter.
9. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 
10. Cool completely on wire rack.

Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting

1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries (8 oz), rinsed, hulled, and coarsely chopped

4 large egg whites

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1. Place strawberries in food processor or blender and puree until completely smooth.
2. Combine egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water.  Heat, whisking frequently, until the mixture reaches 160 degrees ferinheit and the sugar has dissolved.
3. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form and the mixture has cooled to room temperature, about 8 minutes (the bowl should be cool to the touch).
4. Reduce speed to medium and add butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, adding more once each addition has been incorporated.  If the frosting looks soupy or curdled, continue to beat on medium-high speed until thick and smooth again, about 3-5 minutes more (or longer).
5. Blend in the strawberry puree until smooth and completely incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
6. Put in pastry bad with desired tip for decorating.

If you run into issues with this frosting and you need a pep talk re: it will all work out, go here...it helps! 

Banana Chocolate Cupcakes with Honey Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

In keeping with the previous cupcake, this cupcake is the result of a special request from a coworker.  You may have noticed that I have been much better as of late in keeping with the "boozy" theme of this blog.  Personally, I have rather enjoyed the booze addition to my baked goods.  However, we have a few people at the Firm who, for various reasons, do not drink.  One of these people is Brad.

Brad is a toddler associate...meaning he is in his third year here at the Firm (in a comment to a previous post, I was asked if the designation of "baby lawyer" was something that the partners actually call us around here.  The answer to that is no, it is just my way of describing what I feel I am)!  He is on my team and offices just two doors down from me.  Brad doesn't drink.  He does, however, enjoy baked goods.  On the day of the delightful Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes at work, Brad came into my office to tell me they looked delicious...and then to request that I make a cupcake or two sans the booze so he can also participate in eating them.

Because Brad was the person who requested the non-booze cupcakes (and because I didn't have any non-booze cupcakes on my baking list), I let him decide what flavor of cupcakes he was looking for, and he settled on banana.  After a scavenger hunt through various baking blogs, and multiple emails, he decided on Chocolate Banana Cupcakes from The Cupcake Project. 

He wasn't picky about the frosting, and said he trusted my judgment on that one.  The recipe called for a Macadamia Nut Butter Frosting, which I wasn't really in the mood for.  I decided I would rather honey cinnamon cream cheese frosting...which I found various recipes for all over the Internet, and used the one at the bottom of the page, but cannot for the life of me remember where it came from. 

Anyway, baking this cupcake was...well...interesting.  The week before I baked these cupcakes, I had some bananas in my fruit bowl that were ripe, and friends told me to freeze them to save them for baking.  I've never frozen a banana before and then defrosted them to bake with.  Let me tell you...it was DISGUSTING!  The banana was all limp and floppy and brown...there were juices...definitely not my favorite part of the baking process.  But, it worked.

The batter was also strange for this cupcake.  I made a double batch of the cupcakes, which amounted to 36 cupcakes.  I only have one cupcake pan (I used to have two, but apparently soaking a cupcake pan for two days leads to rust.  Who knew?!), so I had to bake my cupcakes in three different installments.  Scooping out the batter into the pan for the first 12 was no problem.  But, as those 12 cooked, I think the melted chocolate used in the batter started to harden back up, because the batter was definitely more clumpy the second time around.  The third time around it was dang near impossible to work with.  But, it worked and all the cupcakes turned out just fine!

My absolute favorite part of this cupcake was the frosting, and I think a lot of that has to do with the HONEY!  Ian and I recently went to his cousin's wedding.  His aunt and uncle have 6 beehives and recently harvested their honey for the year, and all of the wedding guests got a cute little container of fresh from the hive honey to take home with them! 

Cute, right?  The only downfall to using this fresh from the hive honey?  I used it all in my frosting...now I definitely need to get more because it was DELICIOUS! 

Overall, I wasn't overly thrilled with these cupcakes.  I thought the chocolate tasted weird, there wasn't enough banana flavor, and the cupcakes were dry.

EVERYONE ELSE seemed to like them.  No one agreed that they were dry, the cupcakes disappeared faster than any other batch (maybe because people finally know where they are coming from and have learned to trust that I'm not going to give them food poisoning?), and overall I had really great reviews.  I did have some agreement that there needed to be more banana, so if you choose to make these, add a banana for more flavor!

Absolute best part of this cupcake, though, was the frosting, hands down! 

Banana Chocolate Cupcakes - (makes 18...if you only make 18, do 1/2 the frosting!)

1 stick butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cups sour cream

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon vanilla (vanilla bean paste)

2 very ripe bananas, mashed

8 oz dark chocolate, melted.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake liners.
2. Cream butter and sugar.
3. Add eggs, sour cream, flour, and baking soda.
4. Add vanilla and mashed bananas.
5. Stir in melted chocolate.
6. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
7. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Honey Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting -

1 cup butter, room temperature

8 oz. cream cheese

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 tablespoons honey

4-8 cups powdered sugar

1. Cream butter until light and fluffy.  Add the cream cheese and beat for another two minutes.
2. Mix in the honey and cinnamon.
3. Gradually add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time until you get your desired consistency. 

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes & Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting (aka - the orgasmic cupcake!)

I have officially been baking cupcakes and bringing them to work long enough that people have started making requests.  Well, maybe not people...maybe just Amelia...

Amelia is one of our newbies and we originally met when we interned together at the Firm.  At the time of our internship, I was in between my second and third year of law school, and she was a year behind me.  Amelia and I became very good friends over the summer, and I am VERY happy she is finally working with me!

Amelia LOVES pumpkin spice lattes.  Apparently this isn't that rare...although I personally am not a fan (I don't like anything coffee flavored).  One day at work a couple of weeks ago, Amelia walked into my office and handed me this recipe and said, "Please make these for me!"  So I told her it would go on the list (and I seriously have a list of cupcakes that I want to make!  Actually, I have multiple lists but I keep losing them)!  

Well, I finally got around to making these cupcakes, and let me tell you, they are a crowd pleaser! 

So, I didn't follow the recipe completely on this one...and I think that may be a first!  The first change I made was driven my desire to (1) not include coffee in the cupcake (although I couldn't get rid of the espresso powder) and (2) to include BOOZE!  So...instead of brushing the still warm cupcakes with coffee, I brushed them with Kahlua!  Yummy!

The second change I made was to the frosting.  The whipped cream frosting just seemed...so...BORING.  So instead, I made Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting, which is probably one of the best things ever!  The cinnamon frosting was an excellent addition to these cupcakes (also, delicious all on its own...)!

So, here's the bad news - I didn't like these cupcakes.  All I could taste was the coffee...

Now, for the good news - EVERYONE ELSE LOVED THEM!  I had TONS of people stopping by my office and emailing me all day to tell me that these were wonderful.  I had two separate people tell me that these were the best cupcakes they had had in their entire life...and, now for my favorite compliment...one coworker said the cupcakes were almost orgasmic...and then added "it was good for me!"

So...if you are looking for a seasonal crowd pleasing treat, these are an excellent option!

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons espresso powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup canola or vegetable oil
4 large eggs
Kahlua for brushing (you can also use coffee or espresso)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and line cupcake pans with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.  Stir together and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend together the pumpkin, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and oil.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
4. With the mixture on low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions, mixing just until incorporated.
5. Fill the cupcake liners about three-quarters full. 
6. Bake until the cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 18-20 minutes.  Let cool in pan for five to ten minutes.
7. Remove cupcakes from pan to a wire rack.
8. While the cupcakes are still warm, brush them two or three times with the Kahlua (you can use coffee or espresso for a non-alcoholic version), allowing the first coat to soak in before repeating.  Let cupcakes cool completely.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup (half stick) butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (add more to taste)
2-3 cups powdered sugar (add more or less to make it a stiffness that you like).
Caramel

1. Mix cream cheese and butter well.
2. Add vanilla and cinnamon.
3. Add powdered sugar to stiffness you want.
4. Pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes. 
5. Drizzle caramel on top.

Pina Colada Cupcakes

I was going to say something here about how I was on a roll, posting twice in a period of two days...that was when I started to write this blog just a day after my last post.  Obviously, that is no longer true...no roll here!  But, a new post today so YAY! 

Ok, so Pina Colada cupcakes came from, you guessed it, the Cupcake Project! 

I LOVE these cupcakes!  They were really moist and delicious!  I did, however, run into many, many, MANY issues in the baking process (aka - I learned a lot of important baking lessons!).

First, I learned that it is easier to put a lid ON a can of vanilla than it is to take a lid OFF...or I was apparently stronger when I made the margarita cupcakes than when I made the Pina Colada cupcakes...because I couldn't get the lid off the vanilla.  No worries though!  I used vanilla bean paste instead and everything worked out fine.  I'm not really sure what lesson I learned from this experience.  Grow bigger muscles?  Don't put the lid on the vanilla all the way (once I finally get the lid back off, that is)?  Who knows...

The second issue I had was with my silicups...you see, with my first 12 cupcakes, about 5 came out of their cups just fine.  The other 7, however, were stuck.  One of two things happened here.  Either I (1) did not spray the silicups with Pam, or (2) these cupcakes were just stickier than other cupcakes I have made.  I'm guessing that it was my failure to spray them.  Either way, I switched to paper liners with the remainder of the cupcakes.

The third lesson I learned was to pay attention when purchasing ingredients.  This recipe calls for pineapple juice.  So, I went to the store, found pineapple juice, purchased it, and then used it to make my cupcakes.  After the cupcakes were done, I decided to make myself a drink.  Since I had purchased both Malibu rum and pineapple juice just for this baking experience, that's what I made myself.  It was at that moment that I first actually looked at the tiny cans of pineapple juice I bought and realized that they were really pineapple orange juice.  Oh well!  No one noticed!

The fourth, and probably most important lesson, I learned with these cupcakes is THERE IS A REASON RECIPES SAY TO USE ROOM TEMPERATURE BUTTER AND CREAM CHEESE IN THE FROSTING.  I just assumed that my Kitchen Aid was good enough at its job that I could pull the cream cheese and butter out of the refrigerator and use them chilled, and, for the most part, my frostings have always been fine (even if a little lumpy).  This time, however, I actually used room temperature butter and cream cheese and THE FROSTING WAS ACTUALLY SMOOTH.  It was amazing!  So...use room temperature ingredients if the recipe calls for it!  Seriously!  It makes a difference!

Finally, I learned that sometimes you just don't need to double the recipe!  This recipe should make 18 cupcakes...I doubled it thinking I would have 36...I actually had 40.  When you are baking for no one in particular and no special occasion, 40 cupcakes is definitely too many.  Luckily, I work with PLENTY of people who are ready, willing, and able to assist me by eating them!

These cupcakes turned out very well, but I believe the Margarita Cupcakes remain the crowd favorite!

Pina Colada Cupcakes
1/3 Cup Malibu Rum (or any other rum you want to use)
3/4 Cup coconut milk
1/4 Cup pineapple juice (or, you know, pineapple orange juice works too)
1 teaspoon vanilla (or vanilla bean paste)
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 Cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 Cup + 3 tablespoons sugar
3 large eggs
1 Cup shredded baker's coconut
1 Cup crushed pineapple

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In a small bowl, combine rum, coconut milk, pineapple juice, and vanilla.  Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
5. Add eggs to the sugar mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Alternatively add the flour mixture and the rum mixture, beating well after each addition.
7. Fold in the coconut and pineapple (I'm not sure what fold means...so I just mixed in the coconut and pineapple, and all turned out well).
8. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
9. Bake for 25 minutes or until cupcakes bounce back when lightly touched or a toothpick comes out clean.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese, ROOM TEMPERATURE
1/4 Cup unsalted butter, ROOM TEMPERATURE
2 Cups powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons coconut cream

1. Mix cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.
2. Mix in powdered sugar a little bit at a time.
3. Mix in coconut cream.
4. Pipe onto cupcakes.
5. Mix shredded baker's coconut with your favorite color food coloring (I used pink) and then top your cupcakes! 

Margarita Cupcakes and My First Solo Jury Trial (kinda)

Hello to you, the people who read this blog!  So, it has been FOREVER since my last blog post.  As you would expect, I have a perfectly good excuse for my lack of blogging - I was simply too busy!

In the last two months, my work life has exploded!  I have been staying late and working weekends all to prepare for my FIRST SOLO JURY TRIAL.  Preparing for a trial is A LOT of work.  My case was a car accident/personal injury case.  The defense (aka - my argument) was that the injuries the plaintiff was complaining about were not caused by the accident.  I spent countless hours pouring over medical records and deposition testimony, creating a timeline of injuries as she explained them and comparing them to the injuries as they were documented in her medical records. 

At some point, the plaintiff's attorney must have started to do the same thing...because less than a week before the trial was set to begin he called and said that he was preparing a settlement offer for our client.  Up to this point, we had offered $7,000 to settle, and they said they would not take less than $100,000.  Well, just three business days before the trial, we received their offer - $18,500.  We countered with $8,000 and they accepted.  So...I did all of my prep work for my first jury trial...and then settled.  It was very anticlimactic, but a very good learning experience.

After the case settled, I have continued to work crazy hours in an attempt to catch up on the rest of my cases!

NOW, on to the cupcakes!

During my busy time at work, I have had very little time to bake (and even less time to blog, duh!).  However, I did find time to make some margarita cupcakes! 

I found this recipe at the Cupcake Project, which is fast becoming my favorite baking blog.  The changes I made (which might not be changes because she doesn't really specify in her recipe) are basically just quality changes (I also didn't follow the vegan recipe...cause I am not vegan).  I am a tequila/margarita snob, so I used fresh squeezed lime juice.  I also used Milagro tequila (shown here on another night when Ian made homemade pizza and I made homemade mango margaritas!  YUM!).

Edit:  Picture of tequila on baking night -

I also used cute little candy lime/lemon/orange slices for my decorations, which I thought fit better with the margarita theme.

The biggest issue I had with this recipe was the frosting.  First, it refused to thicken.  On the first cupcake I frosted and tried to add the colorful rim to, the frosting dripped down the side of the cupcake, the rim completely came off, and the cupcake didn't even look frosted anymore.  I added more powdered sugar to the frosting and whisked it more...and then I stuck it in the fridge for a while, and eventually it was thick enough to stay on the cupcakes while I decorated them.  Then I quickly put the cupcakes in the fridge, where the frosting hardened.  It was a process, but it ended up working well! 

The second issue with the frosting is that I made WAY TOO MUCH.  I never intended to make a double batch of frosting.  But apparently doubling the cupcake recipe confused my brain, because I just automatically started doubling my ingredients for the frosting.  It wasn't until I started adding the powdered sugar that I even realized I was doing it! 

In the end, I thought these cupcakes were fine.  They weren't my favorite, but they were tasty. 

Other people, on the other hand, LOVED these cupcakes.  I had more people request the recipe/stop by my office to tell me how much they loved these cupcakes than I have ever had before...so they are definitely an office favorite!

Margarita Cupcakes - (makes 12, so I doubled this recipe)

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1 1/2 tsp lime zest (about 1 lime)
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp tequila
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. In a large bowl, mix together lime juice, lime zest, milk, oil, tequila, vanilla, and sugar.
2. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the lime mixture and stir until just combined.
4. Divide evenly among 12 cupcake liners.
5. Bake at 350 F for 20-24 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcake comes out clean and the cupcakes spring back when lightly pressed.

Margarita Frosting Recipe - the Cupcake Project recommends cutting this recipe in half if you only make 12 cupcakes...I made 24 cupcakes and doubled the recipe...obviously I ended up with too much frosting.
1/4 Cup butter, melted
1 tbsp heavy whipping cream
3 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice
1 tbsp tequila
2+ cups confectioners/powdered sugar
course colored sugar (and a little salt) for the "rims"
Candy lime wedges for decorations

1. Cream together butter, heavy whipping cream, lime juice, tequila, and confectioners' sugar.
2. Add in more sugar as needed to make the frosting smooth and spreadable.
3. Spread the frosting on the cupcakes.
4. Combine the colored sugar and salt in a small bowl.
5. Roll the edge of each cupcake in the sugar/salt mixture.
6. Top with the candy lime wedges.